The Best, Easiest, Quickest Chicken Noodle Soup Ever

There are few things I love as much in the cold heart of winter as a bowl of chicken noodle soup.  I'm most definitely not talking about the one in the can.  I'm talking about soup in a rich, flavorful broth with chunks of roasted chicken, freshly chopped tender pieces of carrot and celery, bow-tie noodles soaking up the chicken taste and fresh parsley and thyme floating throughout the whole thing.

Sounds long and involved and exhausting, right?  Well, usually that is right.  What usually happens is that you start out with all great intentions and energy and a nice whole chicken.  You toss it in the soup pot with some water and a prayer or two, and hours and days and weeks later you have a cooked chicken and some "broth."  But the chicken is a little rubbery from having boiled away for ages and I'm sorry, all the onion and carrots in the world have not been able to produce a nice rich broth  -- for me, anyway.  It ends up watery and sad and you have to skim the top of it, and on and on and on.  

It was time for something to be done.  It's our right to have a fantastic chicken soup that doesn't require a nap and a degree from the Culinary Institute of America.  So here's what needs to happen.  First of all, the foundation is the broth, and while pre-made chicken broth used to be a sad state of affairs, things have gotten a whole lot better lately.  There are two brands that are actually EXCELLENT, and they both come in boxes that are stacked in the supermarket right next to those nasty cans of chicken broth.  My fave is this one:

Although this one is pretty good as well:

 

Don't be tempted by the canned broth - go for one of these guys.

Next, you need a bone-in split chicken breast.  Put in in a baking pan, brush that baby with a little olive oil, sprinkle with some salt and pepper and roast it for about 50 minutes.  Meantime, chop up some carrots, some celery, an onion and some fresh parsley and thyme.  If I have a leek on hand I'll chop that up too.  Once your chicken is roasted and cooled a little, the chicken soup is about 20 minutes away.  Bring the broth to a nice simmer and drop in the veggies and some bow-tie pasta and simmer it covered until the veggies are tender and the pasta is cooked.  While this is going on, take a fork (or your fingers, if you are me) and pull the roasted chicken off the bone into bite-sized pieces.  Now toss the chicken pieces and the herbs into the soup and simmer for another few minutes until everything is all warm and perfect.  Taste to see if you need to add in any salt or pepper...and that's it, folks.  You have now made the perfect chicken noodle soup.  It will keep for several days and get better and better.  If it gets too thick, pour in a little more broth and it will be just fine.

Doesn't everything seem right with the world now?

Quick and Easy Chicken Noodle Soup

• 1 split bone-in chicken breast
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• Two 32 ounce boxes of chicken broth
• Two large carrots, sliced
• Two stalks celery, sliced
• One leek, sliced or one onion, chopped
• 1 cup bow tie pasta
• 1/2 cup fresh chopped parsley
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
• Salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 375.  Place chicken skin side up on baking sheet lined with foil.  Rub olive oil onto chicken and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Roast for 50 minutes and then cool until chicken is cool enough to shred with your fingers.  Discard bones and skin.

2. Heat broth until simmering.  Add carrots, celery, leek or onion and pasta and cook until pasta is done, about 10 minutes.

3. Stir in parsley and chicken and season to taste.  Ladle into bowls and serve.

Click here for printable recipe

Veal Artichoke Ragout

I'm currently in a mad, passionate love affair with artichokes.  This happens to me sometimes.  I go for these long stretches without having anything to do with an artichoke, and then I see one across a crowded room and something comes over me.

Hello, handsome.  

Now before you get the wrong idea, I didn't exactly use that dashing specimen in the picture.  Nope, this recipe uses the couldn't-be-easier frozen artichoke hearts that come in a box in your handy frozen food section, and all you have to do is let them thaw and then toss them in the ragout at the last minute.  The rest of this dish is an easy veal stew that cooks for a couple of lazy hours on the stovetop in a luxurious sauce of beef broth, white wine, lemon juice, chopped onion and garlic, rosemary, tomato paste and just a little bit of flour to make it just the right amount of thickness.  It's the perfect dish for a cold snowy Sunday when you are hankering for a comfort food dinner that is just a little bit elegant, but still simple enough to eat in your favorite old soup bowls.

Plus it has artichokes.  Did I mention my undying love for artichokes?  Just don't tell the bacon.

Veal Artichoke Ragout, adapted from Simply Elegant Country Foods

• Olive oil
• 3 onions, chopped
• 3 cloves minced garlic
• 2 1/2 pounds veal stew meat, cut in 1-2 inch cubes
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1 1/2 cups beef broth
• 1 cup white wine
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• Juice of one lemon
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
• Pinch thyme
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 package frozen artichoke hearts, defrosted
• Grated lemon peel from one lemon
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

1. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in large skillet.  Saute onions and garlic until translucent, about 3 minutes.  Transfer to 5 quart Dutch oven.

2. Add another 2 tablespoons olive oil to skillet and brown the veal over medium high heat, working in batches and adding more oil as needed.  Add to Dutch oven.

3. Lower heat under skillet and add 2 more tablespoons oil and the flour, stirring to make a paste.  Add broth, wine and lemon juice, and stir up brown bits from the bottom of the pan.  Add bay leaf, spices and tomato paste.  Simmer for 5 minutes.

4. Pour sauce over the veal in the Dutch oven.  Cover and simmer for one hour.  Uncover and simmer for another 50 minutes, stirring from time to time.  

5. Add artichoke hearts and lemon peel and simmer 10 more minutes.  Stir in parsley and serve.

Click here for printable recipe

Butterscotch Pudding

A couple of months ago, the Southern husband and I went out to dinner to this fabulous place (pay attention, all you Rockland County New York readers out there) called Hudson House.  We had a simply fabulous meal there, and when it came time for dessert, we ordered butterscotch pudding, which you don't often see on menus and which sounded like a nice, regular dessert.  The owner (who is also the dessert chef) promised we would love it, saying it was based on Wolfgang Puck's recipe.

It was not a regular dessert.  It was an outstandingly creamy, silky, smooth pillow of butterscotch heaven on a spoon.  We devoured it down to the last molecule of butterscotch, and ever since then the Southern husband has been reminiscing about it.  Remember that butterscotch pudding?  Man, wasn't that butterscotch pudding out of this world?  Oh, that butterscotch pudding!

All right, all ready.  I thought, how hard could this be, and I went down a rocky, alarming butterscotch pudding road that was a little similar to the chicken-fried steak road I have been down before.  But I wasn't going to let that butterscotch pudding get the best of me, and I finally smartened up and Googled "Wolfgang Puck Butterscotch Pudding Recipe," and what do you know?  There it was.  And while it is supposed to be served chilled, let me just say that the Southern husband was licking the spoon, the bowl, the pot and the butterscotch drips on the counter, and musing aloud that warm pudding might be just as good as cold pudding.

Side note: when I was taking the picture, the pudding looked a little lonely by itself, and since I am STILL stumped about what to do with all the mint that is growing about 10 feet a day in my Aerogarden....

...I popped a sprig on top of each one, and it was just the right amount of festive.   So there you go - never let it be said that a butterscotch pudding got the best of ME!

Last but not least, I have to end with this seemingly unrelated picture of a cat.

It's my mom's cat, and his name is...Butterscotch.  Now it's all clear to you, right?

Butterscotch Pudding, from Wolfgang Puck via the LA Times

• 6 ounces butter
• 2 1/4 cups brown sugar, packed
• 2 1/2 cups half and half
• 10 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 cups milk or half and half
• 6 egg yolks
• 1 tablespoon vanilla

Combine butter and brown sugar in saucepan over low heat. Simmer 5 minutes, stirring. Add half and half, stirring until smooth.

Combine cornstarch and salt in bowl. Slowly stir in 1 cup milk or half and half until cornstarch dissolves. Add to saucepan with remaining 3 cups milk or half and half. Bring to boil over low heat, stirring constantly to prevent burning. Boil gently 2 minutes, stirring constantly until thickened. Remove from heat. Slowly whisk in egg yolks, stirring until smooth. Add vanilla.

Return saucepan to heat and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Strain and pour into 12 custard cups. Serve warm or cold. Makes 12 servings.

Click here for printable recipe

Kentucky Hot Brown!

I think this MAY be the most delicious thing I have ever made, eaten, seen, smelled or otherwise come in any contact with over the course of my entire life.  This, my friends, is called a Kentucky Hot Brown, and my only regret is that I have gotten to the ripe old age of...well, never mind...and this is the first time I have eaten one.  I have a lot of catching up to do.

Here's how this all happened.   Back around Thanksgiving, I found a recipe in the New York Times for a very unusual way of cooking turkey.  I finally got around to making it, and let's just say that it involved a lot of Saran Wrap, a meat thermometer and a steam bath for the turkey,  and the stress of it all took about five years off my life.  But it resulted in some outstanding tasting turkey.  Because of the stress part I am not going to do one of my usual blog posts about it, but if you want to live life on the edge, turkey-wise, you can find the recipe by clicking here. The rest of you can either make your turkey the normal way, or even get some from your friendly neighborhood deli counter - just make sure they slice it thick, about 1/4 inch or so.

Anyhow, as is usually the case with any turkey-cooking, I ended up with a whole lot of leftovers, and I dimly remembered that I had heard of something called a Hot Brown that called for sliced cooked turkey.  Googling ensued.  Soon I found the original recipe for it, which dates back to a dish from the 1920's at the Brown Hotel in Kentucky.  This recipe called for a QUART of heavy cream, and that was enough to stop even me in my tracks.  So I moved on to Bobby Flay's version of it, which is not slenderizing by any means, but at least uses milk instead of the cream.

To cut to the chase, what you are putting together here is this: a piece of french toast that is topped with sliced turkey, sliced tomato and a succulent cheddar cheese sauce.  You run the whole thing under the broiler, lay a couple slices of bacon on top, sprinkle with some chopped parsley, and there you have it.  A Kentucky Hot Brown.

Do not let one more second go by without having this yourself.  It's worth roasting a turkey just to have leftovers to make this baby.  Kentucky Hot Brown...you heard it here first!

Kentucky Hot Brown, adapted from Bobby Flay's recipe

Ingredients:

For the sauce:

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 cups whole milk
• 2 cups grated sharp white Cheddar
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
• Pinch freshly ground nutmeg
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the egg bread:

• 4 large eggs
• 1/4 cup milk
• Salt
• 8 (1/2-inch) thick slices good day old white bread
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 4 tablespoons vegetable oil

For assembly:

• Roasted turkey breast, sliced into 1/4-inch thick slices
• 3 ripe beefsteak tomatoes, cut into 1/2-inch thick slices and griddled until slightly charred and just cooked through
• 1 1/2 cups grated sharp white Cheddar
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
• 16 thick slices slab bacon, cooked until crisp
• Finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Directions:

For the sauce:

Melt butter over medium heat in a medium saucepan. Whisk in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Whisk in the milk, bring to a boil and cook, whisking constantly, until thickened and the flour has cooked out, about 4 to 5 minutes. Whisk in cheese and cook until the cheese has melted. Season with nutmeg and salt and pepper, to taste.

For the egg bread:

Whisk together the eggs, milk and salt in a medium bowl. Dip each slice of bread in the mixture and let sit about 30 seconds, or until completely soaked through.  Heat 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 tablespoons of oil in a large nonstick saute pan over medium-high heat. Cook 4 slices of the bread at a time until golden brown on both sides. Remove and place on a baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining bread.

For assembly:

Preheat broiler. Place the egg bread on a baking sheet.  Top each slice of bread with 2 to 3 slices of turkey and 2 slices of tomato, ladle sauce over the top and divide the cheddar cheese and Parmesan over the top of each slice. Place under the broiler and cook until bubbly and the top is golden brown. Remove from the oven, top each slice with 1-2 slices of bacon and sprinkle each slice with parsley.

Click here for printable recipe

Pecan Pie Muffins

Okay, so I have an issue to discuss today.  There are many times when I will run across a recipe for a pie or a cake that I would love to make.  The issue is that I live with the following individuals:

Exhibit A: The Southern husband.  Who is fully capable of having one small slice, saying all the right proper, appreciative, romantic things, and then not having any more.  Just leaving the rest of the pie/cake/other large dessert there on the counter, undisturbed.  I do not understand this man.  I love and adore him, but I don't understand him.

Exhibit B: The teenager.  Who does not like the following: Pecans. Piecrust. Walnuts.  Coconut.  Lemon. Peanuts (unless mashed into peanut butter than comes in a jar clearly marked "Skippy.")  Dark chocolate.  Strawberries.  I could go on and on.  I do not understand this child.  I love and adore her, and I spent many long hours birthing her so I know she is mine, but I don't understand her.

Exhibit C: The dog.  The dog will eat anything and everything that I put in front of her, behind her, drop on the floor or don't lock up or put on a very high counter.  I completely understand the dog.  It's just that dogs are not supposed to eat people food, and I try (as much as I can bear it) to follow the rules.

So here's the issue: if I go ahead and MAKE one of these nice big desserts, unless it is on a day when the teenager is having hordes of her less-picky friends over, there it sits on my counter.  Calling my name.  And so this is why I am so obsessed with cookies and muffins and other delicacies that at least have a little portion control going for them.  So when I ran across this recipe, which gives me pecan pie in a nice managable muffin size...well, yahoo!  It's all those great pecan pie ingredients...brown sugar, eggs, pecans...all in a convenient, willpower-friendly muffin form.  I added on to this recipe just a little by topping them with a little whipped cream and a shake of cinnamon sugar.

Just goes to show you that once again, pretty much anything gets that much better when you put it muffin form.  Happy sigh.

Pecan Pie Muffins, adapted from SOUTHERN PLATE

• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1 cup light or dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup flour
• 2 eggs
• 1 stick melted butter
• Whipped cream
• Cinnamon sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 and line muffin pans with baking cups to fill 9 holes.  Coat with cooking spray.

2.  Combine the pecans, sugar and flour in a large bowl and make a well in the center of the mixture.  In a separate bowl, beat the eggs until foamy.  Add the butter, then pour into the dry ingredients and stir until just moistened.

3. Spoon the batter into baking cups, filling 2/3 full.  Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

4. Remove from pans immediately and let cool.  Top with whipped cream and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.

Click here for printable recipe

Lemon Shrimp Scampi with Linguine

So, I better start this post off by saying that you must love and adore the following things in order to love and adore this recipe.

Lemons.  There are lemon slices, lemon zest and lemon juice in this dish.  A whole lot of lemon juice, freshly squeezed from four, count 'em, four lemons.

Garlic.  There are nine, count 'em, nine cloves of garlic in this recipe, all minced up and cooked with the lemon juice, along with a good amount of butter, a lot of fresh chopped parsley, and some lovely large shrimp.  The whole process takes about 7 minutes (not kidding), which is just about the amount of time you will need to cook up a nice pot of linguine.  Then all that is left to do is drain the linguine and toss it with the shrimpy, buttery, lemony, garlicky sauce.

If you are like me, welcome to heaven, where everything is made with lemon and garlic.  And bacon.  And chocolate.  And bacon.

(Note to self: possible to make this recipe with bacon next time?  Must ponder...)

Linguine with Lemon Shrimp Scampi, adapted from Barefoot Contessa Family Style

• 1 1/2 pounds linguine
• 3/4 stick butter
• 5 tablespoons olive oil
• 9 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
• 3/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• Grated zest of one lemon
• Juice from 4 lemons (about 1/2 cup)
• 1/2 lemon, cut in half and thinly sliced
• 1/4 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes

1. Cook linguine in salted water until done, drain and put back in the pot.

2. Meanwhile, melt butter and olive oil in large skillet over medium low heat.  Add garlic and saute for one minute.  Add shrimp, one teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, turn up heat to medium and saute until shrimp are pink, about 5 minutes.  Stir often, turning the shrimp over to make sure they are cooked through.

3. Turn heat back down to low and add lemon juice, zest and slices, and red pepper.  Stir for about a minute to combine and heat up the sauce.

4. Pour sauce with shrimp into pot with drained pasta, toss well and serve.

Click here for printable recipe

Cauliflower Soup with Lobster Dumplings

I am head over heels in love with this recipe, because it looks and tastes so incredibly fancy and elegant and complicated.  And it definitely IS fancy and elegant, but it definitely ISN'T complicated.  I just love it when that happens.  The soup itself is a simple puree of cauliflower and shallots and chicken broth with just a teeny hit of cream.  The dumplings are a quick mixture of bread crumbs, a little egg, some chopped fresh tarragon, a hint of soft butter and (here comes the beauty part), just a little bit of chopped up cooked lobster.

The rest of the lobster (and you only need one lobster for every two people in this recipe, so you don't have to take out a second mortgage to make this) you chop up and divide among the soup bowls.

After you puree the cauliflower and chicken broth into a nice smooth soup, you drop in your teeny little dumplings and cook them for about 5 minutes, just enough to make them hold together.  Then you ladle out the fabulous soup and dumpling mixture over that lobster in the soup bowls.

Then you stand back and let the love and adoration and amazement wash over you.  Even though the whole thing took 30 minutes from start to finish.

Important note: I used one steamed lobster to make this recipe for the Southern husband and myself for dinner, and because I am a girl who gives credit where credit is due, I need to tell you that the Southern husband went out in a pretty good-sized snowstorm to fetch the aforementioned steamed lobster.  Evidence of the good-sized snowstorm below.  This footage was taken about an hour before I started making the soup.

Names have NOT been changed to protect the innocent.

Anyway, if you are looking for a show-stopper of a soup that is pretty dang easy, you have come to the right place.  Or if you just like lobster.  Or cauliflower.  Or badly-filmed videos of crazy hound dogs.

Cauliflower Soup with Lobster Dumplings, adapted from Michael Symon's Food Network recipe

• 4 ounces butter
• 4 tablespoons shallots, minced
• 1 head cauliflower, greens removed, head cut into small pieces
• Salt
• 6 cups chicken stock
• Lobster dumplings, recipe follows
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 pinch nutmeg
• 3 (1 1/2 pound) whole lobsters, cooked, meat removed from shell, 1/2 cup tail meat reserved for dumplings, tail meat sliced into rounds

1. Heat butter in a large saucepan over low heat. Add shallots and cauliflower and season with salt. Saute the cauliflower until it begins to lightly caramelize and become tender. Add stock and simmer for 20 minutes or until vegetables are completely soft.  Meanwhile make the dumplings (directions below).

2. Puree mixture until smooth in a blender, or right in the pot with an immersion blender. Add the heavy cream and nutmeg and bring the soup to a simmer.

3. Add the dumplings and poach them in soup for 3 to 5 minutes. Check your seasoning and remove from heat.

4. In a soup bowl place the lobster meat and 1 claw in center and pour 8 ounces of soup and dumplings on top.

Lobster Dumplings:

• 1 1/2 cups white bread crumbs
• 1/2 tablespoon softened butter
• 1 egg beaten
• 2 teaspoons chopped tarragon
• 1/2 cup chopped cooked lobster meat
• Milk, to bind if needed
• Salt and ground white pepper

 

Mix all ingredients together and roll into small firm balls about 1/2-inch in diameter.

Click here for printable recipe

Coconut Shrimp Salad

So, this happens to me WITHOUT FAIL every January.  Right about now, I get a hankering for something tropical.  Something made with coconut and corn and seafood.  Something that makes no sense to be eating when all of us here in the Northern Hemisphere are pretty much standing around in a big old pile of this:

But I want it anyway, and since it isn't always practical to hop on a plane to the Cayman Islands, this recipe might possibly be the next best thing.  The most challenging part of it is the corn - I was lucky enough to snag some Actual Fresh Corn at my local market (probably flown in from the Cayman Islands.  I try so hard to be a locavore, but sometimes I stumble in big ways), but if you need to, you can definitely sub in some defrosted frozen corn.  Aside from that, you are home free in terms of the ingredients.  The basis of the salad is that corn, some nice cooked shrimp that you have chopped into bite-sized pieces, some fresh parsley or cilantro, and a chopped up avocado.  The dressing is a mixture of olive oil, fresh squeezed lemon juice and some minced jalapeno.  I tossed in a chopped shallot just because I happened to have one lurking around.

But the crowning glory, the thing that makes this dish sing, is about a half cup of toasted sweetened coconut flakes.  Scatter a generous handful over the whole thing, turn up the thermostat, put on some shorts and some Bob Marley music and you can almost forget that your mailbox looks like this.

(Note to self: get Southern husband to dig path to mailbox so mailman will be able to deliver packages from Stonewall Kitchen.)

Coconut Shrimp Salad, adapted from Cooking Light The Essential Dinner Tonight

• 16 large cooked shrimp, chopped into bite-sized pieces
• 1 cup fresh or thawed frozen corn
• 1/3 cup chopped shallots
• 1/3 cup chopped parsley (or cilantro, if you like that better)
• 1 peeled diced avocado
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
• 4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 head frisee lettuce, chopped
• 1/2 cup toasted sweetened coconut

1. Combine corn, shallots, parsley, avocado and pepper in large bowl.  Stir in shrimp.  Combine lemon juice and oil and pour over salad mixture, toss to coat.

2. Divide lettuce among 4 plates, top with shrimp mixture and sprinkle coconut over all.

Click here for printable recipe

Avgolemono Soup with Chicken and Orzo

Okay, so where should I start with this soup?

Let's start with the name, which is pronounced Ahv-go-leh-MAN-o. 

I think. 

It's Greek, and I am Irish-American, and so I am on shaky ground here.  I've now picked out the recipe, made the recipe, photographed the recipe, eaten the recipe, and I am STILL asking the Southern husband how to both pronounce and spell it.  

So next I should tell you that I posted on my Facebook page that I would be making this soup for dinner, and I got a whole string of comments in response.  Which were pretty evenly divided between people who (based on the word avgolemeno) had NO idea what I was cooking in my kitchen these days, and people who knew exactly what it was and left all kinds helpful advice about combining eggs with hot broth.  Because the base of this recipe is a mixture of chicken broth, lemon juice and beaten eggs, and if you are not both EXTREMELY CAREFUL and EXTREMELY LUCKY, you will mess the whole thing up by adding the beaten eggs to the hot broth and the whole thing will curdle and the world as we know it will come to an end.

I was actually worried for a few minutes, and then I remembered this happy fact: recipes are pretty much all about Following The Directions, and if you do this, you will almost always end up with something that looks like the picture in the cookbook.  Which is what I did, and which is exactly what i ended up with.  So do not, I repeat do NOT be afraid.

Lastly and most importantly: this soup is SO amazingly easy and delicious that you (if you are me) will have one of those moments where you smack yourself on the forehead and wonder how you have managed to live all these years without knowing about it and making it and eating it at every possible opportunity.  The soup is as healthy as you can get - the ingredients are pretty much chicken broth, a few eggs, lemon juice, chicken, shredded carrots, a handful of orzo pasta and some herbs - but because of how it is put together, it comes out in this rich, creamy format that feels positively sinful.  If you didn't know better, you would swear that there was a boatload of heavy cream lurking in this one...but there isn't!  Not a drop!  That in and of itself makes this worth a try.  

So...ahv-go-leh-MAN-no.  Go for it.  Eating is believing!

Avgolemono Soup with Chicken and Orzo, adapted from Cooking Light's The Essential Dinner

• 6 cups chicken broth (I like the boxed Imagine and Pacific brands)
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh dill
• 1/2 cup uncokked orzo
• 4 large eggs
• 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 cup shredded carrot
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
• 8 ounces cooked chicken breast, shredded into bite-sized pieces

1. Bring broth and dill to a boil in large saucepan and add orzo.  Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.  Turn off heat and remove one cup of broth from the pot (without any orzo in it.)  Let it cool for 5 minutes.

2. Put eggs and juice in blender and process until smooth and frothy.  With blender on, slowly pour the one cup of cooled broth that you removed from the pot into the blender and process until smooth.  This is to thin out the eggs a little more so they will blend in to the soup obediently later on.

3. Add carrot, salt, pepper and chicken to the broth and orzo in the pot.  Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes or until orzo is tender.  Reduce heat to low.

4. Slowly pour in egg mixture, stirring constantly, until soup is heated through, about 1-2 minutes.  Do not let it boil or you may get the dreaded curdling.  If you do, remind yourself that it is still going to taste just fine.  

5, Ladle into bowls and serve at once.

Click here for printable recipe

Buttered Rosemary Orange Nuts

I don't know about you, but when I am throwing any sort of little (or big) dinner party, I have no trouble with the main course, and no trouble with the dessert, but the appetizers always leave me a little stumped.  Maybe I've used all my culinary brainwaves on the later courses, but my mind goes completely blank and all I can visualize is a wooden board with a hunk of cheddar and some Triscuits.  Maybe a few nice grapes.

So when I actually come up with a passable appetizer, like the watermelon bites from last summer and the recent fig crostini, I feel ridiculously proud of myself.

However.

I can't be satisfied with just ONE nibble before dinner, because God forbid anyone leave my house without feeling completely stuffed, and that is where these delectable and easy little nuts come in. You start with whatever brand or mix of mixed nuts you like.  The Southern husband buys them in those large (obviously) plastic jugs at Costco, so we always have some around.  Melt about a tablespoon of butter in a large skillet and toss in 2 cups of the mixed nuts, three tablespoons of sugar, two tablespoons of coarsely chopped fresh rosemary, and two tablespoons of orange zest (most of a good sized-orange.  If you have a microplane zester, this will take you about 90 seconds tops).  Stir the whole thing around just until the sugar is melted and everything is well-combined, which will take about 2 minutes.

Now pour the whole thing onto a piece of parchment paper or non-stick foil and let it cool.  That's it...and just WAIT until you taste them.  Sweet and salty and rosemary and orange and completely addictive.  Try 'em!

Buttered Rosemary Orange Nuts, adapted from Real Simple

• 2 cups salted mixed nuts
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh rosemary
• 2 tablespoons orange zest

1. Melt about butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  When melted add the mixed nuts, sugar, rosemary, and  orange zest.  Stir just until the sugar is melted and everything is well-combined, which will take about 2 minutes.  

2. Pour onto a piece of parchment paper or nonstick foil and let cool before serving.  This will keep for at least a week...if it lasts that long!

Click here for printable recipe

Quick Banana Sticky Buns

So, the teenager has a small army of friends, and periodically (and by periodically I mean at least once a week) she says, "Mom, can I have a few people over?"  And by that she means, can I have thousands of teenagers come over, eat everything in the fridge and all the cabinets, bring their sleeping bags, watch all the Harry Potter/Batman/etc DVDs until the wee hours of the morning, finally fall asleep (girls upstairs in actual beds, boys downstairs sleeping on the floor), and wake up the next morning ravenous and needing to be fed again?

To which I always say yes, because I secretly love all of that, and all of them.  Here's a small sample of what some of them look like...

I show you this picture because it is actually LESS scary than showing you a picture of all of them in their pajamas.  And by pajamas I mean their oldest, grubbiest sweatpants and tee-shirts, which is apparently what pajamas mean now-a-days.

Anyway.  In the mornings I turn into a short-order cook, and to make things even more exciting, they don't all get up at the same time.  They trail into the kitchen in dribs and drabs, starving - STARVING, I tell you!! - despite the fact that they ate 17 bags of sour cream and onion chips a mere 8 hours ago.  They need to eat immediately or they will keel over, and they all need something just a little bit different.  So while I am cooking up the french toast/scrambled eggs/two eggs over easy, I like to have a plate of something on hand that they can eat while they wait to eat.

Which brings me to the point of this post - these very quick, very easy banana sticky buns.  They are ready in about 15 minutes flat, and if I can get them going as soon as I hear the first teenager stirring, I can just about have them on the plate when they start stumbling into the kitchen.  Here's the drill: you get a can of 10 buttermilk biscuits - that's right, the ones in the tube that we all secretly love and adore.  Get the regular size ones, not the grands.  Take out your handy muffin tin and drop the following items into each of ten muffin openings: a little butter, a little brown sugar, a few slices of banana and some chopped pecans.  (I usually make half with pecans and half without, because of course they don't all like the same thing.)  Pop a biscuit on top of each, and bake the whole shebang for about 10 minutes.  When the biscuits are nice and golden, take the muffin pan out, run a knife around the outside of each muffin to make sure it is loose, and then invert the muffin pan onto a cookie sheet.  The sticky buns should fall right out, and if some don't just scoop them out with a spoon.  Sometimes a banana slice or two will stay in the muffin pan - scoop those up and stick 'em right back on.

That's it - delicious, warm, easy sticky buns.  Now all you have to do is figure out what you are going to feed them for lunch.

Quick Banana Sticky Buns, adapted from Real Simple

• 1 tube refrigerated buttermilk biscuits (tube of 10)
• 2 tablespoons butter,  cut into 10 slices
• 1 banana, sliced thin
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 375.

2. Drop one piece of butter into each muffin compartment.  Put a few banana slices on top of the butter, then sprinkle with a little brown sugar and some nuts (if using).  Place a biscuit on top of all and press down slightly.

3. Bake until golden, about  8-10 minutes.  Remove from oven and immediately run a knife around the edge of each sticky bun, and then put a cookie sheet on top of the muffin tin.  Flip the tin over and tap the bottom to release the buns.  If any nuts or bananas are left in the tins, just scoop them out and place them on the top of the buns.

4. Serve warm (and these reheat well in the microwave if they aren't gobbled up right away.)

Click here for printable recipe

Peppermint Fudge

So, the holidays are over.  The shopping is over, the  presents are unwrapped, the cards have arrived, and you can sort of, maybe get a parking spot at the mall that isn't 5 miles from the door.  Does this mean our making of chocolate treats is over for another 11 months?

HECK no!  

I know, I know - new year, new you, and by all means get on the treadmill - I could certainly stand a little of that.  But you still need to keep your energy up, and you only go around once, and...and...okay, the only other excuse I have is basically the name of this post, which is Peppermint Fudge. 

Peppermint.

Fudge. 

This is one of those things that I truly did mean to post before the holidays were done, but between the chocolate pretzel bites and the mixed nut brittle and the eggnog cookies, well, you know how it goes.  One moment it is November and then you turn around and somehow it is January.

So with a teeny apology for sabotaging some very well-behaved New Years resolutions, here's some peppermint fudge.  Because honestly?  It's really really good all year long.

Peppermint Fudge, adapted from Everyday Food

• 16 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips (I use Ghiradhelli)
• 1 cup peppermint candy - canes or the round candies
• 3/4 cups heavy cream
• 3 1/3 cups mini-marshmallows
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt

1. Lightly coat a 9 inch square baking pan with cooking spray.  Line with two pieces of parchment paper going in both directions, leaving about 2 inches of overhang on each side.  Spray parchment with cooking spray.

2. Put chocolate chips in food processor and process until finely chopped.  Transfer to large bowl.

3. Now put peppermint candies in food processor until finely chopped.  Set aside about 1/8 cup for garnish.  

4. In medium saucepan, combine chopped peppermint, cream, marshmallows, butter, sugar and salt over medium high heat.  Stir until everything is melted and smooth, about 5 minutes.

5. Pour peppermint mixture through a strainer into the bowl with the chopped chocolate.  Let stand for one minute and then stir until smooth.  Pour into baking pan.

6. Sprinkle reserved chopped peppermint over top and refrigerate until set, about 3 hours.  Using the parchment sides as handles, lift out of pan and cut into 1 inch squares.

Click here for printable recipe

Naked Ravioli

Okay, so I would like to clear up something right away.  When I posted on my Facebook page that I was making this particular recipe for dinner, there was a fair amount of, shall I say ALARM, about the title of the recipe.  Some people were concerned for my safety.  Others were just discombobulated in general about what on earth was going on in my kitchen. So just let me state clearly and for the record: it is the RAVIOLI that is naked.  Not the cook.  The cook remained fully clothed at all time, as you can see from the photograph below.

Now that we can all breathe a deep sigh of relief, let me tell you what is going on here.

Naked ravioli basically means that you are getting the filling of the ravioli - in this case a scrumptious mixture of veal, parmesan cheese, herbs and some other things - OUTSIDE of the pasta. So the ravioli filling is, well, naked.  I toss some bow-tie pasta into this dish so you still get the happiness of the pasta part, it's just not wrapped around the filling.  Making the filling naked.  Are you getting the drift here?  

So now that we all understand each other, here's what happens.  You mix up some ground veal, chopped onion, a beaten egg, some grated parmesan, a little chopped fresh parsley and some salt and pepper, and roll them into a whole batch of little tiny meatballs - about 1/2 inch inch in diameter, give or take.  Drop them in some salted boiling water, and at the same time melt about a half a stick of butter with some fresh sage leaves until the butter is melted and golden brown.

When the meatballs are done, scoop them out with a slotted spoon and cook up a batch of bow-tie pasta in that same water.  Save about 1/2 cup of the pasta water and when the pasta is done, toss everything together in one bowl - pasta, meatballs, butter mixture, some of the pasta water to loosen up the sauce - and add in some peas and a little more parmesan cheese. And there you have it - all the makings of ravioli, but WAY easier than making it from scratch and with the filling on the outside rather than being contained in the pasta.  Or in other words...naked.

I think I have now used the word "naked" on my blog more times than I ever have before, or ever will again.  I'm hoping and wondering if this might actually increase my blog traffic.

One way or the other, give this fun dish a try!

Naked Ravioli

• 1 pound ground veal (you can also use ground pork or beef or any combo thereof!)
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1 pound bow-tie pasta
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 20 fresh sage leaves
• 1 cup frozen peas, thawed
• Salt and pepper
• Extra grated parmesan for garnish

1. Combine meat, egg, cheese, parsley and onion.  Roll into balls about 1/2 inch in diameter and pop in the fridge until ready to use.

2. Bring a large pot of water to boil and add a tablespoon of salt.  Cook meatballs in boiling water for 5 minutes and remove with slotted spoon.  Put in a bowl and cover to keep warm.  Cook pasta in the same water until done, adding the peas during the last minute of cooking.  Reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water.   Drain.

3. Meanwhile,  cook butter and sage leaves together in small pot until butter is light brown, about 5 minutes.  Toss pasta with butter mixture, reserved meatballs and enough pasta water to make a light sauce.  Salt and peper to taste.  Top with grated parsmesan and serve.

Click here for printable recipe

Baby Chocolate Coconut Cream Pies

Lately I seem to be all into the little individual servings of things. Macaroni and cheese cupcakes. French toast muffins. Banana bites. So when I spied this recipe for little individual chocolate coconut cream pies on the always fabulous Baking Bites website it made my heart go pitter-pat. Yes, a chocolate coconut cream pie where you can have the entire thing YOURSELF and not feel the slightest bit guilty.

Now, I am very sure that there is some recipe out there in the world somewhere that calls for making your own homemade graham cracker individual perfect crusts, but this is one of those cases where I invoked the chicken fried steak rule (and for you newer readers who have NO idea what I am talking about, click HERE). Anyway, this particular recipe called for using individual pre-made graham cracker crusts, and I thought there was no way on earth my supermarket was going to have them. But lo and behold! there they were right there in the baking aisle.

Now, one word about these little crusts. They come in foil pans, which was rubbing me the wrong way in terms of the whole look of my little pies. I tried taking one out of the foil pan before I started and it broke into a million delicious, unusable pieces. BUT...after the crusts were filled and chilled down in the fridge, they popped out very easily -- I pushed up just a little on the bottom to ease it out. And then I felt like all was right with the world.

So the next time you are hankering for something a little bit chocolate and a little bit coconut, these are for you!

Baby Chocolate Coconut Cream Pies, from Baking Bites

• 5-oz bittersweet chocolate, melted and divided
• 12 miniature graham cracker pie crusts
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups half & half/light cream
• 1 1/2 cups coconut milk (regular or light)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups finely chopped sweetened flaked coconut
• lightly sweetened whipped cream

1. Brush individual graham cracker crusts with melted chocolate, using about 1.5-oz. Place in the refrigerator to harden.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar and salt. Whisk in eggs, half & half and coconut milk until very smooth. Strain mixture into a medium saucepan.

3. Heat mixture over medium heat, whisking frequently, until custard begins to come to a simmer. Add in remaining 3.5-oz bittersweet chocolate and stir until chocolate is fully incorporated and mixture has thickened. Remove from heat and stir in finely chopped coconut and vanilla extract.

4. Pour into chocolate-lined pie shells and refrigerate until chilled – about 3 hours, or overnight.

5. Top with sweetened whipped cream and garnish with a little more coconut.

Click here for printable recipe