The best grilled cheese sandwiches eva!

http://cookinchicka.blogspot.com/2008/04/sisters-special-grilled-cheese-sammie.html

I was out of town visiting my older sis and we threw together some grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato soup for lunch Sunday morning. They were absolutely delicious! Visit my sister’s blog….she’s almost as talented as me in the kitchen ;p

Just kiddin’ Sarah! I love your cooking!

Tips to share!

Ok, I’m feeling very “teaching-like” today and I’ve been meaning to share some of my wisdom with you all out there ;p  At any rate, here are some kitchen tips….hopefully you’ll find at least one thing you didn’t know already!

• Store cheese in a tightly covered container with a couple sugar cubes, this keeps the cheese mold-free longer
• Cheeses should ALWAYS be served at room temperature to get the full flavor of the cheese.  Refrigeration mutes the taste of cheese.
• Over-ripe bananas can be peeled and frozen in a freezer-safe container until it’s time to bake with them.
• To see if yeast is still good, add a little bit of the yeast in a mixture of warm water and a pinch of sugar.  If you see bubbles, the yeast is still alive.
• Quick breads, though as tempting as it is to eat them right away, taste better the day after baking them.  Cool, wrap them and store them in a cool place for the next day.  They will slice easier too!
• Use instant potato flakes to thicken stews.
• If a soup or stew is too salty, add raw cut potatoes to it then discard once the food is done cooking.  The potatoes will have absorbed some of the extra salt.
• Cottage cheese stays fresh longer if it’s refrigerated upside down in it’s original carton.
• When hard-boiling eggs, add a pinch of salt to the water before adding the eggs to prevent cracks.  Also, to peel them easier and prevent the green ring around the yolk, place eggs in cold, icy water immediately after taking them out of the boiling water.
• To make strong onions taste sweet, slice the onion and soak it in a mixture of milk and sugar.
• When boiling corn on the cob, add a pinch of sugar to bring out the corn’s natural sweetness.
• To quickly bake potatoes, parboil them in boiling water for 10-15 minutes, drain and poke with fork then bake in preheated oven.  You get that baked potato flavor in a fraction of the time!
• For an easy meal, grill your vegetables alongside your meat on the grill.
• For every cup of raw noodles, it will yeild roughly 1 1/2 cups of cooked noodles.
• Canola oil is great for frying!  It has a high smoking point and doesn’t have a strong flavor either.  Also, it is slightly cheaper than peanut oil.
• To soften hard brown sugar, add a slice of soft bread to the package of brown sugar, close bag tightly and in a few hours the sugar will be soft again.
• Never add vanilla extract or other flavoring extracts to a mixture that is on direct heat for most of the flavor will be lost.  If possible, add the mixture when it is cool.
• Add an 8-ounce container of cream cheese to a 16-ounce can of prepared frosting.  It will reduce the sweetness of the frosting, increase the volume of it and enhance the flavor.
• To improve a boxed cake mix, add a tablespoon of butter to the batter.  It will make the cake taste richer.
• Spray tupperware with a nonstick cooking spray before storing tomato based sauces in them, no more stains!
• Wrap celery tightly in aluminum foil to store in refrigerator.  This will extend the self-life and crispiness of celery dramatically.
• To extend the freshness of a cucumber once cut, wrap in a paper towel and put in vegetable drawer of refrigerator.
• To prevent spicy chilies from depositing hot oils onto your skin, rub a little cooking oil onto your hands before cutting and wash immediatly after cutting with soap and water.

Alright, I hope there is something in here that is helpful to you.  If you ever wondered about something that isn’t listed here, just ask! 

Beer Poached Cod

Still don’t have a camera, I apologize But this recipe is sure delicious!!! The fish came out nice and moist.

Beer Poached Cod

• 1 can beer
• 4 fillets of cod (I just used a package of frozen cod that had roughly 4 fillets in it
• 1 Tbs cheasapeke bay seasoning
• Lemon wedges

Empty can of beer into a saute pan. The beer should be high enough to reach about halfway up the fillets. Bring to a boil and put cod into pan, season with about half of the bay seasoning and let poach till the sides of the cod are flaky, about 4-5 minutes. Flip fish over, season with remaining bay seasoning and cook until done through, only about another couple minutes. Cooking time will vary depending on how big the fillets are. Fish is done as soon as it’s flakes easily with a fork, so if you aren’t sure, just take a fork and see if flakes apart easily. As soon as fish is done, remove from liquid and squeeze lemon juice on it. I served these with tartar sauce.

FYI, if you are out of tartar sauce, like I was, you can make a quick version by mixing pickle relish with mayonnaise. Works good in a pinch!

Roasted Chicken

Once again, I apologize for lack of pictures.  I still have no AA batts to put in the camera.  I know I’m lame….I can’t help it ;p Anyways, this is the chicken hubby and I had for dinner tonight and it was fabulous!!  Here’s the rub I put on the chicken:

All-Purpose Chicken Rub (makes enough to cover 2 lbs of chicken)

•  1 tsp coriander
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• 1/4 tsp curry powder (used a non-spicy curry in this rub)
• pinch of cayenne pepper
• salt and pepper to taste (I kept these separate from the rub, sprinkled them right onto chicken)

Roasted Chicken 

Place bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts in a shallow roasting pan.  Salt and pepper chicken, then add rub.  Coat with extra virgin olive oil and bake in a 375°F oven for about 45 -50 minutes, depending on thickness of breasts.

That’s it!  Too bad I don’t have any pics of the chicken….it looked gorgeous!

The secret to the rub is the coriander….it’s a very under-utilized spice IMHO.  Coriander is the seed from the cilantro plant.  It tastes nothing like cilantro, but does have a wonderful bright flavor…almost lemony in a way.  Coriander tastes best when placed on food that is either roasted for about an hour or cooked at high temps (grilling, pan-searing, broiling, etc.).  Coriander needs the heat to really develop it’s flavor.  Coriander pairs well with ginger, but also cumin in my opinion.  The smokiness of the cumin with the bright, lemony coriander is a good combo, and one that I use on chicken A LOT!

The rub is good on pork, beef and maybe would work on fleshier fishes (salmon, etc) that could withstand the flavor.  Delicate fishes (tilapia, etc) wouldn’t work here.

Braised Cabbage

Ok,  I’m gonna start by apologizing because I have no pictures to post as I had no batteries for my camera.  :(  But never fear!  The recipe still kicks ass though!  Here is a great side dish made of cabbage.  Not only is cabbage inexpensive, it stays well in the refrigerator and is a satisfying to eat (if done right). 

Braised Cabbage (serves 2-3 side dishes)

• 1/2 head of cabbage (about 2 cups packed) sliced thin
• 4 strips of bacon diced
• 2 cloves of garlic diced
• 1 Tbs. rice wine vinegar
• 2 Tbs. spicy mustard
• 1/3 cup chicken stock
• 1 Tbs. caraway seeds
• salt and pepper to taste

Render bacon in a large skillet.   Remove bacon and reserve drippings.  With heat at medium, add garlic and saute for 15 seconds, then add cabbage.  Add salt, pepper and caraway seeds to cabbage and let cabbage saute for a couple minutes (don’t burn it, just soften it slightly).   Next, add chicken stock to pan then cover.  Let cabbage braise to desired doneness (I like mine crisp-tender, roughly 5 minutes).  Remove cover, add mustard to sauce and reduce till it just coats cabbage.  Add bacon back into cabbage and serve.

Spinach Artichoke Dip

Hubby and I love this dip….it’s not very healthy, but very delicious and satisfying!  It’s great for lent and to serve at parties.

Spinach Artichoke Dip (serves 6 appetizer portions)

• 1 can artichokes
• 1 package of frozen spinach
• 1 8 oz container of cream cheese
• 1/2 cup  mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• salt and pepper to taste

Thaw spinach in microwave and drain well, squeeze the spinach in paper towels to get extra water off.  Drain canned artichokes and break into small pieces.  In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, mayonnaise, sour cream, artichokes, spinach and salt and pepper.  Transfer dip to a 8-inch or 9-inch pie plate, bake in a preheated oven at 450°F until hot and bubbly, about 15 minutes.  Turn on broiler and move dip closer to broiler in oven and let sit just for a couple minutes till some of the cheese darkens to a nice golden brown.  Keep a close eye as it will burn very quickly under broiler.  Serve with crackers, toast points, tortilla chips or whatever you desire!

Slow Cooker Pot Roast Stew

I know it’s been awhile since I’ve posted, but I haven’t been cooking a lot recently….to be honest, I’ve been doing a lot of easy slow-cooker meals lately, most that I wouldn’t even bother posting. This one is an exception though….this came out really well and is very tasty! Also, it’s great for a cold winter night. This recipe makes plenty, which is a good thing, because as with most soups and stews the leftovers get tastier and tastier.

Slow Cooker Pot Roast Stew (serves 4)

• 2 1/2 pounds chuck eye boneless round roast
• 1 can of cream of mushroom soup
• 3/4 cup beef broth (about half a can of broth)
• 3 small white potatoes diced
• 1/2 cup diced carrots (about 2 large carrots)
• 1 large onion
• 1 bay leaf
• salt and pepper to taste

Put broth on bottom of slow cooker. Add potatoes, season with salt and pepper, then add carrots and onions. Cut up roast into 1 inch cubes and place on top of vegetables. Season with salt and pepper and add cream of mushroom soup on top. Add bay leaf and cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours. Remove bay leaf and serve.

Now you will notice that there isn’t any garlic in the stew, and that’s very odd for me to not cook with garlic….that’s because if you put fresh garlic in a slow cooker, it turns bitter. Ya see, garlic has a very interesting property…it has to be either cooked only slightly, or for a very long time (like roasted) in order to taste good. Anything in between results in garlic tasting bitter. When fresh garlic is added to slow cooker recipes, it cooks waaay longer than the “short” cooking limit and it doesn’t roast because slow cookers don’t get hot enough….the result: bitter garlic! You could use garlic powder, this works fine in slow cookers, but I found another way to sneak garlic into this meal. I served this stew with garlic crostinis. To make these, take a day old french baguette, cut into 1 inch diagonal slices. Arrange on a baking sheet, brush with olive oil, season with salt and pepper and bake in a 500°F oven until crispy, about 10 minutes. Take a garlic clove and rub over bread when it comes fresh out of the oven. Ta da!

Some like it hot….

This is the buffalo sauce I use to make wings or in this case, make buffalo chicken tenders.   This makes A LOT of sauce, so you can definitely reduce the amount, just keeps the proportions of sauce and butter equal – 3:1

Buffalo chicken tenders will marinade 3 pounds of chicken

• 3 pounds of chicken tenders (about 20 tenders)
• 1 1/2 cups of buffalo sauce (I use Franks™ Red Hot buffalo sauce)
• 1/2 cup of melted unsalted butter
• 1 Tbs garlic powder
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients then toss over chicken tenders.  Cook chicken tenders in 350°F preheated oven for 15 minutes, then turn broiler on.  Move rack up in oven till baking sheet is about 1-2 inches from broiler.  Cook chicken under broiler until chicken gets a little brown, about 3 minutes.  Serve with blue cheese dressing or ranch dressing.

Chickpea Salad

While this wasn’t one of the dishes I served at the boxing match party I threw, it would be a perfect dish to entertain with.  You can make this ahead of time, it’s delicious and easy to make.

Chickpea Salad makes about 4-6 side dish servings

• 1 can of garbanzo beans drained
  
• 1 carrot grated
• 1 scallion, white and green parts, chopped
• 2 Tbs balsamic vinegar
• 1 Tbs red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 Tbs sweet pickle relish
• 1 Tbs dijon mustard
• 1/2 tsp dried dill
• salt and pepper to taste

In the bottom of a bowl, combine vinegars, relish, mustard, dill, salt and pepper.  While whisking vigorously, drizzle in olive oil until dressing is emulsified.  Adjust amount of oil depending on personal taste of dressing.  Add beans, carrot and scallion into dressing and toss.  Let sit for at least an hour in refrigerator before serving.  May be served cold or room temperature.

Basic Salsa

 

If you know anything about boxing, you would know that the current middle-weight champion belongs to a lanky looking fellow named Kelly Pavlik, who happens to be from my original hometown of Youngstown, Ohio. That being said, he had a rematch this past weekend against the one from whom he took the title from, Jermain Taylor. This rematch wasn’t for the belt, but just a big paycheck for both the fighters as it was a Pay Per View fight. Now of course, yours truly happens to be the hostess with the mostess, so I had a spread of food for my brother in law and father in law who came over to watch the fight with my hubby and myself. First off on the menu, a very tasty and basic salsa. This one is not a spicy salsa at all, in fact, it almost tastes a little sweet, though no sugar was added. If you like it hot, you can leave the seeds in the jalapeño if you wish, but since I served something else on the menu that was spicy, I left this salsa mild. Here it is:

Basic Salsa makes about 1 1/2 cups of salsa

• 1 can of fire-roasted tomatoes (if you don’t have this, don’t sweat it, just use regular)
• 1 jalapeño, seeds removed and roughly chopped
• 1 small yellow onion, roughly chopped
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 lemon
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro
• couple tablespoons of olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Combine tomatoes, jalapeño, onion, garlic and the juice from the lemon in a food processor. Pulse until smooth but still slightly chunky. Drizzle in a few tablespoons of olive oil (enough to get consistency right as salsa will be too thick without the oil), add chopped cilantro and salt and pepper to taste. Pulse once or twice again and serve.