Chicken & Wild Rice Soup

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chicken, dinner, lunch, recipe, rice, soup, wild rice

Sore throat. Fever. Aches. Blah! Is it strange that my sister and I both have the same symptoms when we live in different countries?.. on different continents?

Yesterday I slept about 18 hours. I was too tired to make pasta for my chicken soup, but I knew I needed to get some into me. I made wild rice instead.

Chicken Soup with Wild Rice

Ingredients: 1 small chicken, 2 carrots, 2 turnips, 4 stalks of celery, 1/2 sweet onion, 1 shallot, 1 Tbsp. butter, cayenne pepper, cumin, garlic, 4 oz. uncooked wild rice, fresh ground sea salt, fresh cracked black pepper,

Directions:
Put chicken in soup pot and cover with water, boil chicken until it easily falls apart. Cook wild rice. Cut carrots and parsnips into julienne strips. Chop celery, onion and shallots.  Remove chicken bones, skin and cartilage from pot and discard. In a saute pan, melt butter, and brown onions, celery and shallots. Add all ingredients to soup pot and bring to a boil. Sprinkle with fresh grated cheese and warm breadsticks!

I’ve been drinking gallons of tea, eating chicken soup and sleeping, so let’s hope I kick this thing soon! John, if you’re reading this, I was too sick to make your quadretti this time. Next time I make chicken soup though!

Usually I make my classic Chicken Noodle Soup… but this soup was perfect for this weekend!

What’s in your soup pot this weekend?

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Nanny Florida’s Old-Fashioned Rice Pudding

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brunch, cinnamon, dessert, family, food, foodie, nutmeg, postaday2011, pudding, recipe, rice, tradition

We called my great-grandmother Nanny Florida, because she lived in Florida. When she cooked and baked, she didn’t record her recipes online on a blog, she wrote them on index cards and tucked them away in a small metal box. I inherited this recipe box and I was looking through the pudding section…

Nanny Florida's Recipe Box

She had three recipes for rice pudding, one to be served with cream, another to be served with wine sauce and a recipe for rice custard. I plan to try each of them eventually and them create my personal recipe. This one I’m calling Old-Fashioned Rice Pudding, since it had a classic flavor. Next time I might not let it bake as long.

Nanny Florida's Old-Fashioned Rice Pudding

Ingredients:
1 1/2 qt. milk, 3/4 c. sugar, 3/4 tsp. salt, 1 tsp. vanilla, 1/8 tsp. cinnamon, 1/4 tsp. nutmeg, 2/3 c. rice

Directions:
Butter a 3 qt. baking dish. Pour 1 qt. milk into baking dish, add sugar and salt and stir until dissolved. Wash rice and add to dish. Bake in at 325°F for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes with fork. Pour in remaining milk and bake 1 hr, every 20 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and blend. Bake 30 minutes more. Serve with cream and a small pinch of nutmeg.

What family recipes do you treasure?

Simple Stir Fry

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dinner, food, foodie, health food, healthy eating, lunch, pasta, peppers, postaday2011, prawn, recipe, rice, sauteed vegetables, shrimp, side dishes, stir fry, supper, vegetables

Stir Fry 101
Like a curry, stir fry is so versatile and easy. It’s a perfect dinner that’s quick to prep andhealthy. With fresh vegetables more readily available, stir fry is one of my favorite Spring dinners. One pan for dinner makes clean-up easy too!

Simple Shrimp Stir Fry

1. Heat pan, then warm oil. Add seasoning.
Suggestions: vegetable oil, sesame oil, olive oil, canola oil, etc…
Suggestions: garlic, ginger, shallots, onions…

2. Add meat or protein source and cook until done.
Suggestions: beef, pork, chicken, shrimp, scallops, lobster, tofu or tempeh

3. Add veggies and cook.
Suggestions: bell peppers, baby corn, carrots, green beans, Italian beans, squash, broccoli, snow peas, water chestnuts, alfalfa sprouts, mung bean sprouts,

 4. Add sauce and stir well.
Suggestions: white wine, red wine, liquid aminos, teriyaki, brown sauce, vinaigrette

5. Toss in rice or pasta or serve over rice or pasta.
Suggestions: basmati, brown rice, angel hair, penne, couscous, barley, etc…

6. Garnish
Suggestions: sesame seeds, poppy seeds, mustard seed, parsley, cilantro…

I prepared mine with shrimp, ginger, red bell peppers, orange bell peppers, baby corn, Italian green beans, water chestnuts, carrots and white white.

What is your favorite stir fry combo? 

Tarragon Pear Rice

Tags

dinner, food, foodie, lunch, pear, postaday2011, recipe, rice, shallot, side dish recipe, side dishes, sides, tarragon

This week has been a typical rainy April week, and I’m thrilled (that it’s not snow)! The temperatures have all been above 50°F so far. Despite the rain, I’ve been sporting my sandals and have been yearning to be outside enjoying Spring. In Pennsylvania, April is my favorite month of the year. So while I’m dreaming of cherry blossoms, I’ll share this recipe with you. It’s always fun to combine my favorite ingredients to create new recipes. This tarragon pear rice makes a fantastic side dish to my apple smoked turkey tenderloin.

Tarragon Pear Rice

Ingredients:
1 c. uncooked rice, 2 1/3 c. water, 1 Tbsp. butter, 1 small shallot minced, 2 Tbsp. chopped tarragon, 2 Tbsp. pan drippings from turkey tenderloin or 2 Tbsp. of marinade (before meat touched it), 1/2 an anjou pear chopped, fresh ground sea salt

Directions:
Melt butter in sauce pan and brown shallots. Add drippings and rice until warm and rice is lightly browned. Add tarragon, salt and water. Bring rice to a boil, cover and simmer for about 20 minutes, adding pears two minutes before finished. Let stand for a few minutes and then fluff with a fork.

Once again, I would’ve serve this over a bed of sautéed spinach, but it didn’t look so fresh at the supermarket. Another thing I love about April? Farmer’s markets are starting back up!

Do you have a favorite month?  What makes it so special?

Maple Ginger Salmon

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amino acids, Bragg's, brown rice, cooking for two, dinner, dinner for two, edamame, fish, food, foodie, ginger, gluten-free, grilling, health, health science, healthy eating, liquid aminos, lunch, meals for two, nutrition, omega 3, omega-3 fatty acids, postaday2011, recipe, rice, salmon, seafood, seasoning, side dishes, soy beans, soy sauce, vegetable protein, vegetable protein seasoning

I usually make my salmon with a lemon marinade and creamy dill sauce over top. Last Friday, my mother mentioned salmon and I’ve craved it ever since. On Wednesday I spotted this recipe on Weelicious after I made dinner, so I planned to make it for dinner on Thursday. Then Thursday night ended up being Girl’s Night with some work friends, so I put off making it another day. Tonight, I finally got to indulge in my salmon.

Maple Ginger Salmon with Edamame & Rice

Maple Ginger Soy Salmon Ingredients:
2 salmon filets, 2 Tbsp. Bragg’s Liquid Aminos, 2 Tbsp. maple syrup, 1 Tbsp. rice vinegar, 1 Tbsp. fresh grated ginger

Maple Ginger Soy Salmon Directions:
Whisk together Bragg’s, syrup, vinegar and ginger. Pour marinade over salmon and let sit for 30  minutes. Bake, broil, pan-sear or grill your salmon to completion. I like to remove the skin before serving. Serve hot.

Pan-sear about 3 minutes eat side, bake 450ºF covered for about 9 minutes, broil high for about 7 minutes, grill 3 minutes each side…

I looks like Catherine served her salmon with soy or lima beans and brown rice, the pairing was simple and sweet for her toddlers. For my consumption, I felt the need to turn it up a notch. I served my salmon over a bed brown rice drizzle with Bragg’s Liquid Aminos and edamame sprinkled with crushed red pepper flakes. Yum!

What was on your plate tonight?

Basmati Pistachio Rice

Tags

basmati, easy meal, easy recipe, Indian cooking, Indian cuisine, Indian food, pistachio, postaday2011, quick & easy, recipe, rice, side dishes, vegan, vegetarian

As a side dish I was going to make plain basmati rice and daal. However, when I looked in my pantry there were no lentils. I had to quickly change my plans to create a lightly flavored rice.

Basmati Pistachio Rice

Ingredients:
2 c. water, 1 c. basmati rice, 1 c. pistachios, 2 bay leaves, 1 small piece of cinnamon stick, 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

Directions:
Bring water, olive oil and bay leaves to boil. Add rice and cinnamon stick, cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer for about 20 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes. Remove cinnamon stick and bay leaves. Fluff rice and stir in pistachios. Serve hot.

Serve as a side dish with curried vegetables.

What quick substitutions have you had to make recently?

Galumpkis Or Golabkis

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cabbage, ethnic, food, foodie, galumpkis, golabki, green cabbage, postaday2011, purple cabbage, recipe, red cabbage, rice

I loved when my mom used to make galumpkis for dinner. A few weeks ago I was going to make some, but I wanted to jazz up the traditional galumpkis by using green and purple cabbage. I went to my fridge only to find what I thought was cabbage was a head of lettuce and radicchio, so I ended up baking the filling in a pie dish. Galumpkis Lesson #1, lettuce does not work!

Yesterday, I knew I had purple cabbage and green cabbage. So it was round two in my kitchen, game on!

Galumpkis Before Baking

Ingredients:
6 purple cabbage leaves, 6 green cabbage leaves, 1 Tbsp. celery seeds, 1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil, 1/4 c. dry red wine, 1 egg, 1 lb. ground meat (I use chicken), 3 c. cooked rice, tomato sauce, minced garlic, minced onions, fresh ground sea salt, fresh cracked black pepper, 1/2 c. extra sharp grated cheddar cheese (optional, I separate the filling and add this to Hubster’s, but not mine.)

Directions:
Bring a pot of water and celery seeds to a slow boil. Preheat oven 350ºF. Warm olive oil in skillet over medium heat and brown meat with garlic and onions. Remove from heat and mix in red wine, cooked rice, 3 Tbsp. tomato sauce, egg, salt and pepper. Combine ingredients throughly. Add purple cabbage leaves to water and allow to slowly boil for about 5 minutes. Add green cabbage leaves and boil for 3 minutes. Galumpkis Lesson #2, purple cabbage leaves are thicker and take longer to soften. Remove leaves from water with tongs. Galumpkis Lesson #3, purple cabbage leaves will stain your fingernails. Add filling to base of the leaf, fold bottom up and sides in and roll towards the top. Place galumpkis in casserole dish. Continue with remaining leaves and filling. Pour tomato sauce over galumpkis and bake for 45 minutes. Serve hot.

Galumpkis

*I used scissors to trim the bottom of the purple cabbage. Galumpkis Lesson #4, remember common sense! When you knock your scissors into the small space between the counter & hot oven, do not reach for them with your hand.

*My friend gave me her Grandmother’s Polish tip… she suggested I mix sweet & sour sauce with traditional tomato sauce for this recipe. I mixed up a small batch to taste before adding… and was really glad I didn’t waste all my sauce. Galumpkis Lesson #5, make sure your friend’s Grandmother is really Polish (not Italian) before taking her advice.

Last night’s dinner was definitely a production. What have you learned or relearned in the kitchen recently?