Stout Chili

The original name of this recipe is "Stout Beer Chili," which is a little redundant.

The first time I made this, I doubled it, though I shorted the chili powder because I didn't have an entire cup of chili powder. 8 Tablespoons (1/2 cup, though I don't know why they didn't use that measure) is a lot of spice, and double that... well. It was quite hot enough with the approximately 3/4 cup I had, so much so that Gary got heartburn pretty badly that evening. The next day, it was more bearable, but I don't know if that's because we just put more sour cream in it, or if it toned itself down.  You may want to go light if you don't like a lot of heat, and then taste to adjust.

Ingredients:

Olive oil

1 lb ground beef

2 t salt

2 t pepper

1 large onion, diced

30 oz can of kidney beans, drained and rinsed

28 oz can of crushed tomatoes

2 T cumin

1 T paprika

1 T red pepper flakes

8 T chili powder

1/4 cup water

14.9 oz can of stout

In a dutch oven, brown the beef with salt and pepper in olive oil. Remove the beef with a slotted spoon (I skipped this and browned the beef a little before dumping in the onions to cook with it; saved me a dish to wash), and cook the diced onion in the grease until softened. Return the beef to the pot (if in fact you removed it) and add the rest of the ingredients. Stir and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and cover and simmer for 1 hour.

Serve with grated cheddar and sour cream.

Notes: 

I like using a dutch oven for this. I have a lovely cast-iron dutch oven (thank you again, Grant!) that held the doubled amounts quite well, and I didn't have to stir it during the simmer because I wasn't afraid it would scorch. If your dutch oven isn't thick-bottomed, or if you have to use a regular pot, give it a stir and check the heat periodically (every 10-15 minutes) to avoid burning your soup. 

I am guessing, because the original recipe (which was a Buzz-feed video) didn't mention servings, that this recipe serves 6-8. Since I doubled it, and after dishing out about 10 bowls, I still have at least 4 bowls-full left.

And like many soups and stews, it's better the next day!

Spaghetti Carbonara (II)

This is one of those recipes I don't make very often anymore because of the evil-carb nature of all pasta, but it was requested for a birthday dinner recently, and I thought it would be a good addition to this list.  I found this on allrecipes.com, and I'll post it here with the modifications I normally make noted as such.  Hats off to the original poster, Sabrinatee!

This isn't a difficult dish, but once you have the onions cooked, it goes very quickly, so the mise en place process of getting everything prepared and measured beforehand is your friend. So I chop the onion and beat the eggs, and if I'm lucky enough to have a block of Parmesan, I grate it first. Then I cook the bacon, and about halfway through that process, I put the water on to boil. When the bacon is all done and crumbled, you can move very quickly through the rest of the process.

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb. spaghetti (I usually only use 1/2 lb.)

1 Tablespoon olive oil

8 slices to 1 lb. bacon, diced (I usually just cook the bacon then chop it up)

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 cup dry white wine (optional)

4 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

salt and pepper to taste

2 Tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

1 Tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

PREPARATION:

Cook pasta in boiling salted water until al dente, then drain and toss with 1 T olive oil, and set aside.

While waiting for the water to boil, fry the bacon to just crisp and then drain on paper towels. Empty out the rendered grease, reserving some for cooking the onions and garlic (the original recipe says 2 Tablespoons, but I generally use 4 or 5). I just fry the bacon without chopping it up first, and after it's all cooked I give it a rough chop to make it all bite-sized.

Add the remaining olive oil and the reserved bacon grease to the same skillet, and cook the onions over medium to medium-high heat until translucent. (I use an electric food chopper to make the onion bits pretty small, but they can be any size you choose.)  Add the minced garlic (I usually do 3-4 cloves of garlic because we like the flavor) and cook for 1 minute. If you are using the white wine, add it and cook one more minute.

Return the bacon to the pan, and add the cooked and drained spaghetti. Toss well to coat with the oils and to mix the bacon and onion-garlic mixture into the pasta. Add more olive oil and/or bacon grease if the pasta seems too dry or is sticking together.

Working quickly, pour in the beaten eggs and mix, tossing thoroughly, until the eggs are cooked. Quickly add 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese and toss again. Season with salt and pepper, but remember that Parmesan and bacon are very salty in themselves.

Serve immediately with fresh chopped parsley and extra Parmesan.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Mini Muffins

A long time ago, when Hans was in preschool, our class put together a cookbook of favorite recipes, just sharing among the 15 families represented in the class. This one came from Melissa Lozier, who coincidentally used to be on staff at CURE (pre-CityCURE, pre-City Gospel Mission). She left CURE to get married, and it was her leaving that precipitated Gary going on staff there.

This recipe has become one of those things that it just isn't Christmas without, and Grace has taken it over as her specialty. I've never tried them in a regular muffin pan, and have never had to use muffin papers in the cups, so I don't know the variables involved. I've also included a table, of sorts, for increases in all amounts for doubling and tripling the recipe.

Mini Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins

makes 3.5 to 4 dozen mini muffins

o      1 2/3 cups flour (if using self-rising flour, you may omit the salt and baking powder, but do not omit the baking soda)

o      1 cup sugar

o      1 Tablespoon pumpkin pie spice (OR 1.5 teaspoons cinnamon, 3/4 teaspoon ginger, 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves)

o      1 teaspoon baking soda

o      1/4 teaspoon baking powder

o      1/4 teaspoon salt

o      2 large eggs

o      1/4 cup melted margarine or butter (4 Tablespoons)

o      1 cup canned pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie filling)

o      1 cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Sift or stir dry ingredients together.

3. In a large bowl, blend eggs, melted butter or margarine, and pumpkin together until smooth.

4. Add dry ingredients and mix until everything’s blended. Don’t over-mix.

5. Stir in chocolate chips.

6. Spray mini muffin pan with Pam, and fill each cup about 2/3 full. (We have found that the medium cookie scoop is perfect, which is about 1 Tablespoon.)

7. Bake at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes each. Cool on wire racks or tea towels.

They freeze well, if you ever have any left over. This has never happened to me.

Some notes about canned pumpkin: a) There is no appreciable taste difference between homemade pumpkin puree and canned pumpkin. There is a BIG difference in the amount of work involved. It's completely up to you how long you want to slave over this part.  b) You can’t buy a 1-cup can of pumpkin. I think they come in 14 or 15 ounce cans, in the smallest size. If you double the recipe, you can use the whole can without having leftover pumpkin or throwing any away. The less-than-full amount still makes perfectly lovely muffins.

Doubled and Tripled:

3 1/3    or            5 cups flour

2          or            3 cups sugar

2 T       or            3 T pumpkin pie spice (or 3 OR 4 1/2 t cinnamon, 1 1/2 OR 2 1/4 t ginger, 1 OR 1 1/2 t cloves)

2          or            3 t baking soda

1/2       or            3/4 t baking powder

1/2       or            3/4 t salt

4          or            6 large eggs

1/2       or            3/4 cup melted margarine

2          or            3 cups pumpkin

2          or            3 cups chocolate chips

Moroccan Tagine

I found this recipe at allrecipes.com  before they went all "mobile-app" and were still actually useful.  I had a butternut squash for some reason, which at that point was not something I would have bought on purpose (I think someone gave it to me). So I was on allrecipes.com looking for things with butternut squash in them, and most of them sounded as revolting as I thought squash was at the time, but then I happened on this one, and I liked everything else in it, preparation didn't seem too onerous (silly me!), so I tried it. Everyone else liked it pretty well, and it helped that you serve it over couscous (which, as our friends Aaron and Marcus tell us, is a food so nice they named it twice), and it's pretty much yum.  This recipe serves 6, and I have not tried freezing it, but it would probably do okay.  And the ingredients are verbatim off the allrecipes site, but this is a recipe you can play with proportions a little--maybe your squash isn't small, or you want to feed 8 people and 3 chicken breasts feels a bit skimpy. Be advised it's pretty mild, so you'll probably want to increase the seasonings if you increase one of the main ingredients.

Ingredients:

• 1 Tablespoon olive oil (or more) for frying
• 2 boneless-skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1/2 small onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 small butternut squash, peeled and chopped into bite-sized pieces (this is the onerous part that I hinted at above: peeling the squash and cutting it up)
• 1 (15-ish ounce) can of garbanzo beans (a.k.a. chick peas), drained and rinsed
• 1 carrot, peeled and chopped (I chop up a handful of baby carrots)
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can of diced tomatoes (do not drain them, throw the juice in with the fruit at the right time)
• 1 (14 ounce) can of vegetable broth (or chicken, if you want)
• 1 Tablespoon sugar
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon salt
• dash or two of cayenne pepper 

Method:
1. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet, and cook the chicken and onions until browned, about 15 minutes, adding the garlic a minute or two before the end so you don't scorch it.  (You can cheat a little on the time, cooking it just until the chicken isn't pink anymore, and the onions are translucent. It doesn't hurt the flavor, and if you're rushed for time this is the corner to cut.)

2. Mix everything else in with the chicken mixture, including the seasonings.  Bring it to a boil, and then reduce it to a high simmer and cook 20-30 minutes, until the vegetables are tender.

Serve with couscous.


NOTES:  You can easily make this vegan by leaving out the chicken and making sure you use vegetable broth. Adding tofu is unnecessary (and yucky) (sorry, I'm not a fan).

The hardest part of this recipe is peeling the squash. There is no easy way to do it. Be careful, whether you pare the rind off with a knife or use a potato peeler. The skin is very hard, and the vegetable is very firm. Allow yourself enough time to do this.  I have read that microwaving the squash briefly or blanching it makes it easier to peel, but I haven't tried this yet. Maybe next time.

The prep can be done ahead, but be aware that this squash kind of sweats its juice when cut. No big deal, don't freak out. It isn't gone bad or anything like that.

Apple Dumplings

I want to give Pioneer Woman full credit for this recipe. I have modified it a little, but I would never have thought this up on my own.

Ingredients:

• 2 cans of crescent rolls
• 2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, sliced into 8 slices each
• 2 sticks of salted butter
• 1 1/2 cups of sugar (I used 1 cup of brown sugar because I was almost out of white sugar, and I am probably NEVER going to try this without brown sugar EVER, because caramel.)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• cinnamon to taste
• 1 can (12 oz) of Mountain Dew (I used a 7.5 oz tiny can, and the sauce may have been a little bit skimpy, but there was still plenty)
• Vanilla ice cream or sweet whipped cream for serving

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Butter a 9x13 inch casserole dish. (You can also use Pam spray.)

Peel, core, and slice the apples.

Open a can of crescent rolls, and separate the dough triangles. (I did one can at a time, since the dough expands out of the can and gets stickier, so for ease of handling, one at a time.) Wrap each slice of apple in a triangle of dough and snuggle them all up in the casserole dish. It fits nicely with 8 on each side.  Sprinkle cinnamon over all.

In a 2 quart saucepan, melt the butter. It seems like a lot of butter, but don't skimp. It's necessary. When melted, stir in the sugar and vanilla. You don't need to boil it, or stir it until the sugar dissolves. You want it to be kind of grainy. All that is necessary is to stir it until the sugar and vanilla are all wet and mixed in.  Then pour it over the apple-in-a-blanket things you made. I took the trouble to get a spoon and make sure all the pastry had some of this syrup over it.

Bake in your 350-degree oven for 40 minutes. I nearly over-baked it (too many other things happening, and I didn't get to it the moment the timer went off),  and the pastry on the end dumplings was a bit chewy. But still yummy and delicious. Serve with ice cream, pan sauce, and bask in the compliments and proposals of marriage.

If you want to see photos of the process and the finished product, google Pioneer Woman Apple Dumplings.

Easy Basil Chicken

I saw this on Facebook, actually. I'm not proud of it, except it really makes fantastic chicken. There are no amounts, proportions, or ratios listed, so you can make 1 serving or 100.

Ingredients:

• boneless/skinless chicken breasts
• enough basil pesto to put about 1-2 tablespoons on each breast
• sliced tomatoes (I didn't have fresh, so I used canned diced tomatoes, drained)
• mozzarella cheese (I used shredded, but you could also use sliced, just make sure you can cover each piece of chicken)

That's it.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Arrange the chicken in a baking dish (I did spray mine with Pam), spread pesto over each piece, layer on tomatoes, then cover with cheese.

Bake for 20 minutes.

There you have it: a terrific Italian-flavored dish with no pasta. (You can have pasta, but it doesn't need it.) Serve it with garlic bread, tossed salad, and Bellissimo!

Hot Fudge Pudding Cake

I am pretty sure this comes from some edition of the Hershey Cocoa Cookbook. I learned it from my mother. It's one of those recipes that she tended to make on winter nights when she was craving chocolate but couldn't get out to the store, because all of the ingredients were always on hand at our house.  Generally I mix it up while waiting for the last things to cook, and get it into the oven just before serving dinner. Then it's hot out of the oven when it's time for dessert.

Batter:

• 1 cup flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 Tablespoons melted shortening
• 1/2 cup milk

Pudding:

• 1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 3/4 cups hot tap water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 

Mix the ingredients for the batter. Spread it in a 7x11 rectangle pan. (9x13 is too big, but if you don't have a 7x11, you can use a square cake pan or a smaller oval.) You do not have to grease the pan. In fact, DON'T grease the pan. 

Mix the brown sugar and 1/4 cup cocoa. Sprinkle it evenly over the surface of the batter. Then pour the hot water over that.

Transfer it carefully into the preheated oven. Bake 45 minutes. Serve it hot! (You can get 8 servings out of a rectangle pan if you keep them small.) 

Some people swear by vanilla ice cream to accompany hot fudge pudding cake. Some like lightly sweetened whipped cream. Cool Whip or Redi-whip is delicious on this.  Personally I like it without any topping at all.

I can't really advise you on how to store leftovers, because it's always gone by nightfall, or breakfast latest. In theory, I guess I would portion it out in individual servings and refrigerate it, then microwave it for about 30 seconds before serving.

White Chicken Chili

I found this on howto-simplify.com. It's really pretty easy, and you can make it hot or mild, however you like it.

• 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 cups cooked chicken, shredded *(see notes)
• 2 cans Great Northern Beans, drained and rinsed *(see notes)
• 1 can corn, drained
• 1 can (4 oz) diced green chiles
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano
• 1 box (32 oz) chicken broth
• salt and pepper to taste
• the juice of one lime

1. In a large pot, saute the onion and cook it until it starts to become translucent.
2. Add the chicken shreds, beans, corn, green chiles (with the juice from the can), cumin, and oregano to the large pot. Stir to combine everything, and then add the broth.
3. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 20-30 minutes to allow the broth to reduce. Add salt and pepper to taste, and the juice of one lime. (If you like cilantro, you can add 1/2 cup chopped fresh at this time, or you can serve it as a topping on the side.
4. You can simmer the chili until you're ready to serve.
5. Serve with sour cream, shredded cheese, avocado, tortilla chips or corn muffins.

Notes:
*I might have mentioned before that if you use frozen boneless-skinless chicken breasts for your shredded chicken, an easy way to prepare it is to boil them, right out of the freezer, in water to just cover, and a few cubes of chicken bouillon. Boil them until cooked. Remove them from the water and let them rest a couple minutes, and then toss them in the bowl of your stand-mixer, and use the paddle attachment to reduce them to shreds. It only takes less than a minute.
*You can use black beans or pinto beans, as well. It reduces the whiteness of the chili, but it doesn't change the taste.

Chinese Cabbage Salad

I saw this on Pinterest (http://jamiecooksitup.net/2011/08/chinese-cabbage-salad/), and it was similar to a recipe I got from a friend years ago, so I gave it a try. (I'll include the first version as a variation at the end.) It's Gary's and Hans' favorite.  This is slightly different than the site I've listed, as I go ahead with the peanut butter even if I have peanut oil. We just like the flavor.

Time: 40 minutes            Yield: 15 servings

2 1/2 pounds nappa cabbage

5 green onions

3 packages ramen noodles, chicken flavor if you use the variation recipe

1/2 C butter

1/4 C sliced almonds

1/4 C sesame seeds

Dressing:

3 T peanut butter + peanut or canola oil to equal 3/4 C

1/2 C sugar

1/4 C rice vinegar

2 T soy sauce

Cut the tail end off of your cabbage and toss it in the trash. Thinly slice the rest of the cabbage and place it into a large bowl. (NOTE: This is actually the way to chaos. Start at the opposite end, slice the cabbage off the stem in thin slices. The stem holds it all together. I don't know about you, but my hands are not large enough to hold that thing together once it comes off the thing that holds it together AND still slice through it with a large knife. So just slice it until you're about 3 inches from the end, where the leaves are really thick, and then throw the end away. This is the voice of experience.)

Slice your green onions and add them to your bowl.

Open up your packages of Ramen Noodles. For this recipe, put the flavor packets aside. If you're making the variation, save them for the dressing. Take the noodles and place them in a gallon sized freezer zip lock bag and pound them into small pieces with a meat tenderizer or rolling pin or iron skillet or heavy book, whatever totes your goats.

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Melt your butter and then add your almonds, sesame seeds, and ramen noodles.  (IMPORTANT NOTE: I seldom use the butter. I just toast my mixture in a dry hot pan, and it works fine without the fat. ALSO: Toast your stuff in stages, doing the ramen noodles first, then the almonds, and then add the sesame seeds at the end. If you put them all in at the same time, the sesame seeds will burn, the almonds will mostly burn, and the ramen will still be white. That is the voice of experience. Learn from my culinary tragedy!)

Cook the mixture over medium high heat, stirring frequently, until everything turns a nice toasty brown.  Set the crunchy mixture aside to cool.

Place 3 T of peanut butter into a glass measuring cup pour oil into the cup, right over the top of the peanut butter. Your total measurement with the peanut butter and oil should be 3/4 C. (I have also done it where I forgot about displacing the pb in the oil and I just used 3 T of pb and 3/4 cup oil, and no one but me knew the difference.)

Put the peanut butter/oil mixture into the microwave and heat it for 30 seconds. Stir it all around until the peanut butter dissolves.  (You can put this into the sauce pan and heat it there if you don't have a heat-proof measuring cup. Or if you have to do dishes by hand and don't want to wash ANOTHER thing.)

Into a medium sized sauce pan, pour the sugar, peanut butter/oil mixture, soy sauce, and rice vinegar. Mix it thoroughly. Bring the mixture to a rolling boil over medium high heat. Let it boil hard for one minute. Then set it aside to cool. If you do not cool the dressing first, it will wilt even the heartiest greens. You can put it in the fridge or freezer to hurry it along.

When you are ready to serve, toss the cabbage and green onions with the crunchy ramen mixture, and pour the dressing over the top to coat. Serve immediately.

VARIATION: You can use romaine lettuce if you can't get nappa cabbage. If you don't like peanut butter or are allergic, you can use regular vegetable oil and use the chicken flavor packets instead of peanut butter. You can also use apple cider vinegar or white vinegar.

ONE LAST NOTE: When I make this for a large dinner or potluck (It's a Large Salad), I do mix everything together. When it's just my family or a small dinner party, I out the greens in the bowl and pass the toppings and dressing separately. This is because the crunchies will not be crunchy as leftovers, and they are very unappetizing when they are uncrunchy. This recipe makes more crunchies than people tend to put on their own salads, and less dressing than people tend to put on their own salads.

Grandma Fish's Lemonade

Our kids, when they were little, didn't pay much attention to last names, so their grandparents had nicknames. My parents were Grandma and Grandpa Barn, because they had a barn in their back yard. Gary's parents were Grandma and Grandpa Fish, because they had aquariums and tropical fish.

When Olivia decided to serve lemonade at her wedding reception, I went in search of recipes that would be easy, inexpensive, and make lots of delicious beverage. Everybody wants me to boil a simple syrup! What is up with that? Why would I want to COOK it?  So I decided that squeezing 60 lemons and 30 oranges was what I really wanted to do anyway, and it would taste better in the long run. (And we were right! We made 15 gallons, and after the reception was over there was less than one gallon left.)

This recipe is so easy, and yet it makes an amazing pitcher of lemonade.

INGREDIENTS
2 lemons
1 orange
3/4 to 1 cup sugar
water to make 2 quarts of lemonade

PROCEDURE
Do I really need to write this? Apparently. I don't want anyone to think they have to boil something.

Juice the two lemons and one orange into a 2-quart pitcher. Add the sugar and enough water to make 2 quarts, and stir until dissolved. Taste it to see if it's sweet enough. (When we made this for the wedding reception, I thought 3/4 cup would be enough, but it wasn't. But everyone has different tastes.)  Serve over ice, refrigerate leftovers. (If there are any. There probably won't be. Don't count on it.)

Homemade Laundry Detergent

I started making laundry detergent at a time when money was seriously tight. Gary asked me to spend less money on the household budget, and food seemed non-negotiable, so I started looking for ways to cut out really expensive portions of that budget. Household cleaners seemed to be SO expensive, and they just kept going up. So I gave it a try, and was so impressed with the results that I kept on making it.

There are LOTS of formulae for homemade laundry detergent. Mine is not necessarily original, but it is the one that seems to work best for us (it cleans well, vs. Gary and Grace are both mildly allergic to certain brands) and doesn't have fancy ingredients to jack up the price.

EQUIPMENT:
grater or food processor that you don't mind grinding soap in
4-quart saucepan
stove top
5 gallon bucket with lid
sifter or mesh strainer
long-handled spoon (long enough to stir the bottom of your 5-gallon bucket with 4 gallons of liquid in it)
1 cup dry measuring cup
gallon or half-gallon pitcher
long latex or nitrile gloves

About this stuff: Some people have designated soap-making equipment. I guess they are afraid of cross-contamination or something. If you have serious sensitivities to chemicals, I can see that it would be an issue. Otherwise, here's my take on it: It's SOAP. It rinses off. So I use the same box-grater that I have owned since the last century, the same 4-quart pan I make fudge in, the same measuring cups... you get the picture.

You need a big bucket, and it needs a lid. Your detergent has to rest 24 hours after making it.  You may want to store your soap in this bucket as well, and only fill up an old detergent bottle to go to the laundromat, or to make it easier/less messy to pour and measure.

I use a flour sifter for two reasons: boxes of detergent and cleaning powders are not plastic-lined, and if they're stored in a dampish place, or if there is high humidity, the contents clump up. I sift all three powdered ingredients for this reason, and also because sifting them into the water is easier than pouring water on top of them and trying to get them to dissolve. Borax particularly clumps together in hot water, and the clumps are really hard.

After the first time I measured 3 gallons of water into my bucket (which in a former life was a cat-litter bucket), I took a paring knife and scratched a mark inside at the water level, so I didn't have to measure that again. (The bucket is square, so I marked it on all four sides. If your bucket is round, consider marking it under the handle hinges. Sharpie marker isn't a good tool to use for this, because they don't like water and the mark will come off, no matter how permanent it might seem.) If you have joy in filling a pitcher 3 or 6 times, you need not mark the inside of your bucket. To me, it's really boring and I lose track of the number.

INGREDIENTS:
1 bar of soap (I use Fels Naptha, but I have, in a pinch, used 2 bars of Ivory or 1 Lever 2000)
6-8 cups water
and
3 gallons hot water
1 cup 20 Mule-Team Borax
2 cups Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda
1 cup baking soda

PROCEDURE
Grate the bar of soap into the saucepan. Sometimes the soap is soft, sometimes it's really hard and dry. In general, if it's soft I use the side of the grater with big holes. If it's hard, I use the side of the grater that has the pointy sticky-outy surface like you'd grate a nutmeg on. If the soap is soft, it will melt pretty well, but if it's hard, the smaller the better. You can use a food processor on hard soap to great effect, but you lose some of the softer soap on your equipment.

Add 6-8 cups of water and set on heat to simmer. (I usually pour the water over the grater into the pan to get all the soap I can.) Stir it occasionally. You don't actually want it to boil. The heat helps the soap melt faster. If you were trying to do this with zero energy consumption, you can dissolve the soap in water without heat, but it takes a lot longer.

While the soap is dissolving, put 3 gallons of hot tap water into your bucket. Once again, the heat just helps things dissolve faster. Into this, stirring after each addition, sift 1 cup of borax, 2 cups of super washing soda, and 1 cup of baking soda. Stir until dissolved.

When the soap is melted, pour it into the bucket and mix well. Put a lid on it and let it sit for 24 hours.

The next day, your soap will be a fairly hard gel. It may have a thin layer of water on top. Use your long-handled spoon to cut it into chunks, and wear the gloves to squeeze the chunks with your hands. You can also refine it with a wire whisk. The reason I go to this length is that high-efficiency machines don't use a lot of water, and large lumps of detergent don't always dissolve in the course of the cycle (which means white streaks on your clothes, it's a mess, don't do it). I don't recommend a blender for this process. It put too much air into the mixture, and it's just generally messy. You can use a hand mixer at a low speed, being careful not to submerge any electrical motors, and you can use an emersion blender which adds little to no air.

When your soap is reasonably lump-free, you can transfer it to smaller containers for portability, or just store it in the lidded bucket (which is what I do, but I don't have to travel to do laundry).

Use 1/2 to 3/4 cup per large load, depending on how dirty your laundry is. 

The detergent is low-sudsing, so don't freak out if you can't see bubbles. It works well in h-e machines, as long as there are no lumps. It rinses clean, and doesn't have a strong odor in and of itself. It cleans well (I still have to treat protein-stains and grease stains, but I'd have to do that if I was using Tide). It makes 4 gallons, approximately. Using 1/2 cup per load, that is 128 loads per batch. Googling each ingredient and taking the price that seems most like what I would pay at Kroger, buying all the ingredients costs about $10.30, and it makes several batches. (For the sake of comparison, a 64-load bottle of Tide costs $11.97.)

For powdered detergent fans, you can put these ingredients together without the water, and use about 1 to 2 tablespoons per load. I have done it, but I tend to use too much in this form (just can't stop myself), so it's not as economical for me.

Lipton Onion Roasted Potatoes

Right off the box, y'all. And SO simple. This is one of those recipes I multiply by 4 or 5 for potluck dinners, and I never bring any leftovers home. This serves about 8.

1 envelope Lipton Onion Soup Mix (splurge of you can, and get the Lipton. The other tastes weird.)
2 lbs russet potatoes, scrubbed and cubed (or peeled and cubed)
1/3 cup vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. In a bowl, add all the ingredients and toss until the potatoes are evenly coated.

Spread the mixture out in a shallow baking dish. Bake, stirring occasionally, for 40-45 minutes, until tender and golden. (If you cut your cubes smaller and don't have too thick a layer of potatoes, they cook faster.)

Garnish with parsley, if desired.

Very Easy Pork Chops

We haven't been cooking much at our house because of a certain wedding, but the other night I made pork chops. When I say these are easy, I mean these are cheating-easy. But the reason I'm posting this here is to let you know that not all delicious food has to be fiddly or difficult or even terribly original. The only thing about this recipe is that you have to have time to marinate.

• Pork chops. Bone-in, boneless, thin or thick, whatever you like, whatever's on sale. I tend to get the big packs that are discounted, so the other day I made nine boneless, medium-thick.
• a bottle of Lawry's marinade (garlic & herb is my personal preference) [I told you this is cheating-easy]. You can also use an 8-oz bottle of store-brand Italian salad dressing. If you are only doing 4-6 chops, you can just use half the bottle.
• a zippered plastic bag large enough to hold your chops (like a gallon)

It almost seems absurd to write this out.

Place all your chops in the zippered bag, pour in the bottled marinade or dressing, close the bag (really do; I didn't double-check the seal, and ended up wearing a good-sized portion of marinade), give it a good shake or otherwise massage your chops around so they're all covered liberally, and put it in the fridge. It needs at least 30 minutes, but you could leave it in there for several days. Really. Because that's what happened here. I set this up to cook on Thursday, no one came home for dinner, so they waited until MONDAY. And they were still good, and still delicious.

After you finish marinading, spray a baking dish with Pam and pour your chops and marinade in. Arrange the chops to lay flat. (I got nine into a 9x13 casserole dish with no problem.) Bake 20-30 minutes in a pre-heated 350 degree F oven, until the chops are AT LEAST 165 degrees F inside. (I recommend getting the best meat thermometer you can afford. You won't be sorry.) They can be hotter than that, but they should not be cooler. (Note: you can grill the chops, but you should throw away the marinade and not use it to baste. Basting is kind of a pointless exercise unless we're talking about barbecue sauce, and that's a different matter altogether.) Do not over-cook your chops. They'll taste great, but they'll be really tough. (I know, I know--how long is too long? Frankly, I don't know. It's taken me years to get enough of a feel for pork chops that I don't massively overcook them. I just know that for medium-thick chops, 20-30 minutes is long enough.)

Let your chops rest 5 minutes, and serve with mashed potatoes, a big salad, and cinnamon apple sauce.

Pressure Cookers and Pot Roast

Pressure cookers are almost archaic. 

Except.

Even though no one I know owns and uses one, new models are developed all the time, and they are better and better. So SOMEONE is using them. 

If you can afford to buy new, do it. This is a case of do as I say, not as I do, because my pressure cooker is older than I am. I am not exaggerating. It's from the 50s. (I am from the 60s.)  My mother gave it to me, and it is the pressure cooker that inhabits all my memories of delicious dinners.  (It is also gigantic. I have not seen a new one as big.)

The reason I'm urging you to get a new one, rather than something you find at a garage sale or church rummage sale or out of Grandma's basement is because of metal fatigue. Pressure cookers build up a lot of pressure, and metal can only handle so much of that before it fractures. If the metal fractures at full pressure, it results in an explosion. This shrapnel damages your stove and kitchen in profound and expensive ways, and if you are in the room at the time it can kill you. Literally. No joking around.

This is the meat after cooking but before the vegetables are added

The reasons I have not replaced my pressure cooker are manifold. I can't afford it. I can't find one as big that costs less than a used car. I am sentimentally attached to everything my mother gave me.  So I carefully inspect my p.c. every time I use it for signs of stress.

A friend gave me a new electric p.c. that is about half the size of the old one, has a non-stick interior, an attached pressure weight, and a steamer insert. After using it once, I approved it, and I told Libby she could have it when she gets married and moves out. (It isn't that I don't like it. I do. If it turns out that she doesn't want it, I will use it. But my history with electric cookers is... well, they just seem to have a short life for the money. I have worn out three electric skillets and two electric woks, a rice cooker, a kettle, a mini-crock pot and a regular crock pot. This is not counting the hot-pot contraptions I had at college--four of them, in succession. They just don't last as long as a traditional pot, obviously. HOWEVER, if you need to cook and you don't actually have a stove, you should by all means get electric cookers.)

On to the recipe.

Pot Roast in the Pressure Cooker

• a piece of meat (I prefer beef, and pot roast is always beef unless otherwise stated. However, you can cook pork or poultry in a p.c. as well. I have never personally done a bone-in roast, but I remember my mother doing bone-in pork this way. I am writing this for beef, but everything applies to whatever meat you're cooking. FISH PROBABLY WON'T DO WELL HERE.) Get whatever size will feed you and yours. I tend to try to find something around five pounds, at least over 4, even if I have to buy two pieces. There are wonderful leftover recipes for pot roast, so it never goes to waste.
• 1/2 cup flour
• 2-3 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon ground pepper
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup Crisco vegetable shortening (I have never used any other kind, so I can't advise you. Butter-flavor or regular, doesn't matter. If you have confidence in the store brand, feel free to save a buck.)
• Lipton Onion Soup mix. I use 2 envelopes, the whole box, because I like a lot of gravy, but I have been told that one is enough, and my mother always used only one.
• water
• 2-3 large onions, peeled
• potatoes, peeled and halved, 1 potato per person PLUS at least 1 extra.
• a scant 1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
• flour and water to make gravy at the end (I save the leftover seasoned flour from the beginning and use it here)

Trim excess fat from your roast, but it tastes better if you leave some on. Mix the flour, salt, and pepper on a piece of waxed paper (or in a shallow dish, if you have a dish washer). Roll your roast in the flour mixture. Cover all sides.

Melt the shortening in the pan of the cooker. When it's hot, put your meat in and sear it on all sides, or as many sides as you can reasonably do. Some of those irregularly cut roasts are challenging. To sear it, the shortening has to be pretty hot, almost smoking. Flop your beef in there and let it fry for about two minutes. Then change sides. Putting a cold piece of meat lowers the temperature of the shortening, and searing requires the high temperature. You aren't trying to cook more than an eighth of an inch on the surface, but it does take some patience to get a good crust. (That being said, the meat is perfectly tasty without searing it, but it's riskier. It can lose a lot of flavor.)

After searing, sprinkle on the onion soup mix, and add water (carefully! Hot oil + water = steam and splattering). Each packet of soup mix should get two cups of water, but a word of caution: tender cuts of meat become oddly tough when pressure-cooked with too much water. So if you have a rump roast, you're good with 4 cups of water, because a rump roast is tough, and more water will make it more tender. So if you have a really good cut of beef, feel free to short the water here. 

Close and lock the pressure cooker, and if it has a valve weight, put it on 10 or 15. (The electric model I have doesn't have adjustable pressure.) Turn the heat up to high until pressure builds and begins to release, and then lower the temperature to a simmer, so that the pressure releases only a few times a minute. 

Cook time depends on the size of the roast. If it's between 4-5 lbs, and if the cut is flatter (more like a steak than a chunk) I usually cook it for an hour and a half, and two hours for a large lump. It's getting hard to find roast-shaped roasts at my grocery. Usually I have to settle for a slab cut.

After cooking, turn off the heat and let the pressure release. You can hurry this along a little by removing the weight from the vent, and sometimes when I'm really impatient I put the cooker in the sink and run warm water over the outside, turning it gradually cooler. Modern p.c.s will not open without the pressure being completely vented. This saves you from serious burns caused by escaping steam. Use caution.  

Add your vegetables to the liquid. It's pretty critical that the vegetables are in the liquid, even if you have to lift the meat up and lay it on top of them. If you have to add more, you can use a beef bouillon cube per cup of water. You need enough liquid to cover all of the vegetables at least part-way. If you want additional flavoring, like red pepper flakes or Montreal Steak Seasoning, this is the place to add it. Close and lock your cooker again, and return it to the heat. Once pressure builds and rattles the valve, cook for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and release the pressure.

Remove the meat and vegetables to a platter and bring the remaining liquid to a boil. Mix flour and water (I go for a consistency like cream, pourable and not too thick), and whisk into the boiling liquid slowly (stir fast, pour slow), until the gravy is almost as thick as you want it. The let it cook another minute to thicken completely.

I cannot stress how important it is to make the gravy, here. Like the roasted chicken, it's worth the trouble, but it's more than that. Pot roast without gravy is just...not right.

Single folks, if you master this dish it can win you a spouse. It will ensure your place in the hearts of your children as a great cook. It will wow even the most jaded palate. 

Slow-cooker Beef Burgundy

At our house, Monday dinners are one of the few times we can all be there. Unfortunately, it’s also the day when I’m out of the house all afternoon. I finally figured out I can USE the crock pot to solve the problem of a hot dinner for 8+ on Monday without dinner being put off until 9 p.m. It only requires a little planning.

This recipe was originally from a blogger who had IBS issues, and she used things like white rice flour and special beef broth. These aren’t an issue in our house, though we try to avoid starch and sugars for the diabetic one’s sake. I am writing it out here as I made it.

2 lbs. stew beef, cubed
1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 cup dry red wine, divided (I used Marsala because I was out of red wine)
1 cup baby carrots
4 green onions, sliced (or a small onion, diced)
8 mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup fresh parsley, minced (or dry, to taste)
1/2 cup beef broth
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1. In a large resealable plastic bag, combine the flour, salt, pepper, and then add the beef, shaking to coat.
2. Heat the oil in a large skillet to shimmering. Add the beef pieces and brown on all sides.
3. Remove beef to slow cooker. Deglaze the skillet with 1/2 of the wine, scraping up any brown bits. Pour this into the slow cooker. Add the remaining wine, baby carrots, onions, mushrooms, parsley, broth, bay leaves, and thyme in the slow cooker and stir to combine.
Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours, or on high for 2-3 hours. Remove bay leaves and serve over pasta, rice, or mashed potatoes.

Slow-cooker Moroccan Beef Stew

I am always looking for recipes that are low in carbs, and this is a pretty good one. I made it this evening for the first time. You can leave the vegetable pieces a little large for this stew, as they cook very thoroughly, and too-small pieces will turn to mush.

• 3 lbs. stew beef, cubed small-ish
• 2-3 Tablespoons olive oil
• 5-6 carrots, peeled and chopped (or use peeled baby carrots, about 1.5 cup)
• 3 medium onions, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic (or more), chopped or minced
• 1.5 teaspoon yellow curry powder
• 1.5 teaspoons garam masala
• 1 8-oz. can of tomato sauce
• 32 oz. beef broth (I used 4 cups of water and 4 bouillon cubes)
• 1 14.5oz. can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 2 single-serve boxes of raisins
• 1/2 cup chopped dried apricots
• 2 Tablespoons chopped cilantro (we passed the tin of dried cilantro at the table, because not everyone likes it, and I didn’t have fresh)
• 1/4 cup slivered almonds (or sliced), toasted if desired

Heat oil in a large saute pan until it’s shimmering. Sear the meat as much as you can, at least two sides. Remove the meat and set it aside. (I found this rendered a lot of liquid, so don’t be shocked.) Add the carrots, onions, and garlic to this. (I tend to add the garlic only a minute or less before the pan-cooking is done, so it doesn’t scorch.) Saute for about 5 minutes. Add the spices and the tomato sauce, stirring to combine.  These steps can all be done the night before, if you are pressed for time in the morning.

Add the beef, vegetables, and broth to the slow cooker. If you are doing all this the same day, you can use part of the broth to deglaze your saute pan, so you can get all the spices and yummy flavors! Cook on low for 6 house, then stir in the chickpeas and the chopped fruit. Cook for one more hour.

Serve with couscous, and pass the cilantro and almonds!

Home-made Chicken Soup

That chicken you roasted? Here’s what you do with the stuff that didn’t land on the table. You’re going to make the stock and meat for the soup, and then make the soup. It will be FABULOUS.

• Leftover chicken, the back and wings and other parts you cooked but didn’t eat- skin, bones, and meat.
• Enough water to cover the chicken as completely as possible (but don’t overdo–Just covered. It’s okay if a few points stick out.)
• 3-4 carrots, scrubbed and cut into 2-3 inch lengths.
• 2-3 ribs of celery (if you have ribs with leaves on them, this is the place to use the leaves!), scrubbed and cut like the carrots
• 1-2 medium to large onions, peeled and quartered.
• a little salt and pepper

Place everything in a large pot and bring it to a boil. Reduce heat so that it’s simmering. Let it simmer until the chicken carcass comes apart. (It doesn’t have to be every bone disjointed from the others, but the major things, like where the wing is attached, or the thigh, those ought to come apart.)  If you’re worried about whether the broth has any flavor, taste it. If it’s too bland, toss in a bouillon cube or two. Just remember that any salt you add now doesn't need to be added later.

Let it cool until you can handle the chicken. (I usually render the carcass after supper the night I roast the chicken, and tackle the boning in the morning. And leaving it at room temperature is fine, because everything in there has been thoroughly cooked.) Using a colander and a big bowl or a stock pot, I pour everything in, letting the stock drain. Don’t pour it down the sink! This is the soup part of your chicken soup, and it is SO much better-tasting that anything that comes out of a can or box or a jar. Now separate the meat from everything else. Since I am making soup, I throw the meat into the pot with the broth. EVERYTHING ELSE gets thrown away: skin, bone, tendon, and all vegetables. This is the time-consuming part, and the main reason hardly anyone makes chicken soup from scratch. But I promise you, this soup is a game-changer, and it is worth digging through the bones and skin and mushy carrots. Being right-handed, I put a garbage bowl on my right and the pot for the meat on my left, and the colander in the middle. And sometimes I wear disposable vinyl gloves, because otherwise I’m fighting the urge to wash my hands the whole time I’m doing it.

Once the meat is separated from the garbage, I heat up the broth again. And I evaluate how much soup I want, versus how much broth and meat I got from this operation. If I need more broth and meat, this is the place to add it. Usually I end up adding at least 2 cups of broth and 2 or 3 frozen boneless-skinless breasts. It’s okay to throw it in there frozen and uncooked. It will cook.  Then I start chopping vegetables.

• 6-8 carrots, peeled and sliced (or you can use 1/2 lb. baby carrots)
• 3 ribs celery, or more, washed and sliced thin (no leaves)
• 2-3 onions, peeled and diced in your favorite size
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced (optional)
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
• herbs of your choice (sage, thyme, rosemary, basil are all favorites)

Once you have chopped your carrots, onions, and celery, put everything in with the chicken. Check the meat, if you put in extra, and if it’s cooked through you can shred it up. Put your herbs in now, too. Cook it at a high simmer-low boil until vegetables are tender. (If you have leftover vegetables that would enhance the soup, put those in when your other veggies are not quite done. I might add leftover cauliflower, leftover rice, or mushrooms, but not broccoli or Brussels sprouts, for example.)  Remove the bay leaves.

You can serve it now, and it will be delicious. You can also put a lid on it and let it cool down, and then reheat it later, and it will taste even better. I grew up eating crackers with soup, but we almost always go with bread now at suppertime. (Crackers are for lunch, apparently.)

Keep leftovers in the fridge for up to 10 days, or you can freeze it and keep it for up to 3 months.

Brined Roasted Chicken for the Newbie

This is probably one of my favorite entrees to eat. I probably like it a lot more than anyone else in my family.

• Roasting chicken, 4-6 lbs.
• 1/4 cup salt
• cold water to cover
• oil or softened butter (about 1/4 cup)
• salt
• pepper

Mix the salt and the water in a container that is big enough to completely submerge the chicken. It can be glass, plastic, or metal. I usually use a soup pot, but a 2-gallon ziploc will work for most chickens. This is the brine. It can be fancier (this is a great place to put lemon slices, poultry seasoning, bay leaves, sage and thyme, sugar, brown sugar, etc., or you can skip the salt water and go to buttermilk, but it’s kind of expensive to cover a whole chicken in buttermilk, and it’s better to use parts if you’re going that direction), but it can be as simple as salt and water and it will still be tasty.

Remove anything that some butcher stuffed in the cavities of the bird in order to make it weigh more, and throw that stuff away. No, I don’t make giblet gravy or fry the livers (although that is delicious) or anything like that. Rinse the bird inside and out.  Stick it into the brine, making sure that the cavities are all filled with brine, and leave it there for 30-60 minutes. It’s only a chicken. You don’t have to leave it in there for more than an hour. (Yes, I know that a turkey has to be brined for 12-20 hours, but that is a turkey.)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray the inside of your roasting pan and rack with Pam or something similar.

Remove the chicken from the brine, and discard the brine. Rinse the bird inside and out. Now pat it dry. Inside and out. (If you use a clean dishtowel, do not use it for anything else. Put it directly into the laundry.) Place the chicken on the roasting rack. Whether it’s breast-up or breast-down doesn’t actually matter, according to America’s Test Kitchen. Rub the skin all over with your choice of olive oil or butter. Salt and pepper moderately, both sides. (Because of the salt in the brine, the chicken does not need much salt, but you can go crazy with the pepper.)

Place the roasting pan, covered, in the oven and let it cook 20 minutes per pound plus 15 minutes extra. So if my chicken is around 5 pounds, I would cook it for 115 minutes. I usually uncover the bird for at least 20 minutes at the end to crisp the skin. When the internal temperature (stick a meat thermometer into either the breast or the thigh, not touching the bone) reaches 165 degrees, remove the chicken from the oven and tent it loosely with aluminum foil. (I have made the mistake of putting the lid back on the roaster instead of a foil tent, and this traps the steam in the pan and ruins the lovely crisping of the skin. It was not pretty. Heed my warning.)

Let the chicken rest for 10-15 minutes. This is an important part. Cutting the bird without letting it rest causes all the moistness to leak out immediately, and the meat is the Sahara by the time it gets to the table. Between the brining and resting, this should be a succulent bird, so don’t skip it!  While it rests, you can make gravy from the drippings. (This is a worth-while use of time, because the drippings make FABULOUS gravy.)

• drippings from the roasting pan  (if there isn’t much, you can add 1 cup of chicken broth, or however much you need to make 1/4 cup of gravy per person)
• flour
• water

Put your drippings in a smaller pan, first. It’s just easier to control. Add stock to it if you need to. I try to wind up with at least 2 cups of gravy because my kids really like gravy, and that’s at least 1 1/2 cups of juice.  Bring it to a boil. While it’s coming to a boil, whisk together 1/3 cup flour with 1/2 to 2/3 cup cold water. (If this mix has to wait for a while as the chicken broth gets going, it tends to settle, so give it a stir occasionally to keep the particles suspended.) Whisk the flour/water mixture into the boiling drippings very gradually, a little at a time, and whisk quickly to avoid lumps. Stop adding flour/water when it seems like it’s almost thick enough, and let it boil a minute or two. You can always add more thickener, but you’ll have to add more water if it’s too thick. You can add salt and pepper, but taste if first, because the drippings will be salty from the brine.

After rest period is over, THEN you can cut the chicken. You can look up all sorts of tutorials on how to carve a bird, and they all work. I usually take the legs and thighs off first and then carve the breast, but you can do what you want. (I also ignore the wings and the back, because tomorrow I’m going to make chicken soup.)

Garlic Cheese Drop Biscuits

These are LIKE those biscuits you get at Red Lobster, but they are not copy-cat. They go great with soup, with fried ham, with breakfast….

• 2 cups Bisquick (regular or reduced fat)
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1 cup shredded cheddar
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1.5 teaspoons garlic salt

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Yes really. Do it now, because once you mix these babies up, you won’t want to wait for your oven.

Mix Bisquick, cheese, and milk in a bowl until well-combined. No dry spots. Let it rest 5 minutes.

Spray a cookie sheet with Pam, or if you’re owner of a seasoned pizza stone you can use that and you don’t even have to spray it.  

Now here you have a choice: I use a small cookie-scoop and make 3 dozen (or more) bite-size biscuits, or I use a fork and make the biscuits about twice that size. This takes some practice to make them round rather than oblong, and you’re going to get dough on your finger. If you have a normal ice cream scoop with a lever, you can use that. I don’t have one of those anymore. (I don’t miss it.)

Bake 8-10 minutes. You might need to go longer if you use a bigger scoop. You want them to get brown on the edges and the rough parts.

While it’s baking, mix your butter and garlic salt. If you want to be REALLY fancy, you can use fresh crushed garlic and sea salt. In my opinion, it’s BISQUICK. Fresh garlic might be a little over the top. Sea salt is just wrong.

As soon as the biscuits are out of the oven, start brushing on the garlic butter. You want to baptize every single one of those golden-brown lumps of Fabulousness. I use my pastry brush. I have a silicone one, and it’s perfect. (The old bristle-one that I had and wore out worked perfectly well, too.) I usually have enough butter to thoroughly coat every biscuit.

You’ll have to use a spatula or pancake turner to get them off your baking sheet. Serve hot or warm or cold. You will be a hero.

And if you make a batch and eat them all yourself, I won't judge you.