Cook Lisa Cook: September 2015

Monday, September 28, 2015

Jalapeño Popper Soup Re-visited

We have been sick with the crud this month so soup and scrambled eggs have made up the bulk of our diet. We made some super-easy Cheaters Chicken Soup and then turned around, once we got a bit of our energy back, and turned some of the stock into this delicious, creamy, spicy, hearty, filling soup as it’s a great way to use up the leftover chicken. We enjoy the soup quite hot and spicy but you can mellow it out some by either removing the seeds from the jalapenos or using less of them. Also, we use white meat in the soup but if you have a preference for dark meat, go for it!

Jalapeño Popper Soup

2 chicken breast halves, roasted, skin & bones removed, shredded
1 lb bacon, cut crosswise in 1/8-in strips
1 medium onion, diced
4-6 whole jalapenos, stems removed, sliced in thin 1/2 rounds
6 cloves garlic, minced
6 cups cheaters chicken soup, or chicken stock of your choice
6 oz. sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
8 oz. block of cream cheese, cut in chunks
salt & pepper to taste

In a soup pot, slowly cook the bacon pieces until crispy. Remove the bacon from the pot and set aside, leaving the fat behind. To the fat add the onion and sauté until golden. Add the jalapenos and garlic and sauté until the jalapenos and garlic are fragrant and softened. Remove half of the onion/jalapeno mix and set aside with the reserved bacon. Add the chicken broth to the pot and bring to a simmer. Stir in the cheddar cheese and while stirring, allow it to melt. Add the cream cheese and using a hand blender, blend until fully mixed and creamy. Return the soup to a simmer and add in the shredded chicken and reserved bacon and onion/jalapenos. Allow to simmer for a few minutes and season to taste with salt & pepper.

Enjoy!

Monday, September 21, 2015

When you’re sick it’s time for Cheaters Chicken Soup

Today we are re-visiting a favorite recipe of ours Cheaters Chicken Soup, as we’ve spent so much of the month sick with the crud and honestly when everyone is doing just enough to make it through the day, no one wants to cook or have heavy meals but chicken soup is love and makes everyone feel better. We purchased roasted chickens from Whole Foods, took off some of the meat we wanted to eat and the rest, along with the bones, skin and juices from the container all went in the pot and in a short time the house smelled wonderful and we were all sipping steaming mugs of soup. Healing stock for our sick bodies!

Cheaters Chicken Soup

The carcasses, skin, leftover meat and juices from 3 roasted chickens
1 large onion, roots removed but you can leave the skin on
1 head of garlic, sliced in half to expose the cloves, skin left on
3-4 carrots, scrubbed and skin left on
3-4 bay leaves
1 TBS. apple cider vinegar
a few sprigs of cilantro and/or parsley
Salt & Pepper to taste

Place everything in a large stockpot and cover with cold water. Cover the pot and bring to a boil. Once it reaches a boil remove the lid and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook for about 1 to 1.5 hours. Add salt & pepper to taste. Allow the soup to cool a bit so that it’s easier to handle then strain it through a colander or sieve and discard the solids.

To make the matzo balls in the picture, purchase this and follow the directions or enjoy a bowl of this soup with some delicious huge popovers, total yum!

After the soup has cooled completely I package it in freezer bags in two cup portions so that I can easily pull it for recipes or for a nice cup of tasty soup.

Enjoy!!

Sunday, September 6, 2015

Egg-in-the-Hole

Have you ever had a dish which you always enjoyed growing up but over the years it was forgotten? Well that’s the deal with this easy, past loved recipe from our Secret Recipe Club assigned blog this month. We were perusing Laura’s blog, Mother Would Know, and saw her recipe for Egg-in-the-Hole and all the delicious memories returned. It was a done deal as to what was going to be made this month, especially as Maisie had never tried Egg-in-the-Hole and no child should be deprived of it’s deliciousness! Like Laura, we grew up having this made with cheap white bread but Laura suggests using the best bread you can find. In our case, because of Maisie’s gluten allergy, we went with gluten free bread which worked perfectly and was a huge hit with little Miss. M.

Laura is an attorney that loves to cook and though she’s never worked in a restaurant and doesn’t have a certificate or degree in cooking she has the best credentials of all. As she says, “My credentials are the meals that I make, the fun I have in the kitchen, and the fact that even people who aren’t my kids call me when they have cooking quandaries,” sounds perfect to me! Laura’s site is filled with plenty of great recipes for the home cook or any cook so check it out.

Egg-in-the-Hole (from here)

1 egg
1 slice of bread, we used A-Maisie-ingly Wonderful Gluten Free Bread but use whichever bread you prefer
butter
salt
ground pepper

Heat a skillet and add a generous pat of butter. Using a juice glass or biscuit cutter, cut out a round hole in the center of the slice of bread. Place the slice of bread and the cut-out hole side by side in the pan and allow to slightly brown. Turn the hole as necessary until golden and remove to a plate. Once the first side of the bread slice is slightly golden, flip it over and add your egg to the hole. It is fine if the egg white is completely contained or spills out over onto the bread, it’s all good! Cook the egg in the bread until the white is almost completely set and then flip it over to continue cooking to desired consistency. Remove to plate, add salt & pepper to taste and enjoy along with the toasty cut out bread circle.