OMG! It's Snowing!

It's Tuesday, and it's snowing and I am at home trying to get caught up on the one-thousand things I have to do, so what am I doing? Blogging! But, I made chicken stock today. Which is really easy to do.

Homemade Chicken Stock

Chicken carcasses, You know, the ones leftover from the roast chickie on Fridays. Take as many as you have, I usually have two or three before I make stock. And today, I used all the leftover chicken thighs and breasts that had been in the freezer for oh, I don't know, a month or more.

Put them in your biggest stock pot.




Cover them with water and add a couple of quartered onions, three or four carrots, some celery if you have it, one or two lemons quartered, salt, pepper, and any other seasoning you want it to have and cover with cold water. Bring it to a boil, skim all the crud off the top and then cover and let it simmer for 2 or 3 or however many hours you want to.

Then you will strain it, let it cool on the counter before you put it in the refrigerator. I then wait until it's chilled in the refrigerator and skim the fat off the top, and then transfer it to different sized ziploc bags, because they lay flat in the freezer. And then I have different amounts depending on what I need.

I asked Rob what he wanted for dinner and he said "Bierochs". If you are from the Welton family, you love Bierochs. Some people call them runza. They are some of my favorite one-handed food.

It's pretty easy to make these lovely pillows of dough and goodness. Start with making the dough. The recipe is as follows:

1 tsp yeast
5 cups flour
1/2 c.sugar
salt

Mix all this together in a bowl and then add

1-1/2 cup lukewarm milk
10 tbs. melted butter
2 beaten eggs.

Turn all this out of the bowl and knead until smooth. Place in an oiled bowl and let it rise for about 1 hour.






While this is rising, make the filling.

1 really large yellow onion, diced
4 - 6 cups of green cabbage shredded
1.25 pounds of ground meat. I use ground turkey, but ground beef is awesome too.

Sautee the onion in 2 tbs. of olive oil and then add the ground meat. When the meat is cooked, add the cabbage and 1 tsp of salt. You will then add 2 tbs. of dijon mustard and 1/4 lb. of cheddar cheese. Let the cheese melt and stir into the meat.



Now you want to make the wonderfulness!

Divide your dough into twelve balls. Take each ball and roll it into a square, about 4 x 4. Then take a heaping spoonful of filling and put it in the middle of the dough. Bring the opposite corners together and pinch. Tuck all dough underneath, and then put seamside down on a greased baking sheet.



When all twelve are done, bake for 25 minutes at 400 until golden brown. Brush with melted butter and serve with spicy mustard.

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig!

We made it back to Elko on Monday evening. It was a long week away. Friday, we had leftovers. Saturday we had a meal from Whole Foods. Sunday Rob and I ate at the Blind Onion on the way back in Reno.

Last night I made a leek soup. This is what you get when you come home and there isn't much in the house. I've got to remember to turn the fridge down too, the veggies freeze in the drawers when there isn't much in the main part of the refrigerator.

So here goes: Cheesy Leek Soup

Two large leeks, cut into rounds, use only the white parts, particularly if they are partially frozen.
One medium onion diced
2 - 3 medium potatoes
1 bottle of good beer
3 cups of chicken broth
1 c water
1 tbs. minced garlic
olive oil
worchestershire sauce
1 cup of grated cheddar cheese
1 cup of shredded gouda or edam cheese
red pepper flakes
1 1/2 cups of half and half

Cook the potatoes in water with salt until tender.
Saute the leeks, onion, and garlic in two tbs of olive oil in your soup pot.
Drain the potatoes and add them to the soup pot, along with the beer, chicken broth, and water. Let this simmer for about 20 minutes and then add the worchestershire sauce. This is to taste. I added a lot, because I wanted that flavor. Probably up to 1 tbs. Take this off the heat and put it through the food processor to puree your vegetables. Now whisk in the cheese, the half and half and he red pepper flakes. Heat a few minutes on very low and then serve.

We had this with smoked herring open-faced sandwiches.

Take a baguette and cut it in half length wise. Slather a little dijon mustard on the bread, add the smoked herring, and a few slices of very thinly sliced manchege cheese. Very good and very good for you.

It's good to be home!

Been, Gone, and Been Again

Thursday, April 29, 2010:I decided to make a salad I found in Rachel Ray's Magazine called Sicilian Tuna and Potato Salad. It is fabulous.

1 pound of fingerling potatoes, sliced 1 inch thick.
salt and pepper
2 lemons, 1 juiced and 1 cut into wedges
1 tsp anchovy paste
1 large garlic clove, grated or finely chopped and mashed with a little salt
1/4 c extra virgin olive oil
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
4 ribs celery with leafy tops sliced 1 inch on an angle
1 small red onion, quartered lenthwise and thinly sliced crosswise
1 cup loosely packed flat-lear parsley, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup capers
A generous handful of brine or oil cured olives, pitted and coarsely chopped
1 small red hot chile, seeded and finely chopped (I used a small sweet red pepper.)
2 - 6 ounce cans italian tuna, drained. (I used two cans of sardines that had been skinned and boned, (Rob doesn't like tuna).
1 loaf ciabatta, torn into pieces.

In a large saucepan, combine the potatoes and enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, salt the wter and cook until tender, about 8 minutes. Rinse under cold water, then drain well.

In a large bowl, whisk the lemon juice, the anchovy paste, and the garlic paste. Whisk in teh EVOO until thickened. Add the colled potatoes, the tomatoes, celery, onion, parsely, capers, olives and chile; season with pepper and toss to combine.

Add the tuna(sardines) and toss gently to flake it. Squeeze the lemon wedges over the salad. Serve with the bread.



I made a soup from her magazine as well and it went realy well with the salad.

Lemon Chicken Tortellini Soup

2 tbs. EVOO
1/2 pound of chicken breast cut into pieces
salt and pepper
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups shredded escarole
1-1/2 cup frozen peas
4 scallions, finely chopped
grated peel and juice of 1 lemon
1/4 c chopped fresh mint

In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Add to pot and cook, turning occasionally, until golden, 6 to 8 minutes; transfer to a plate. Let cool slightly before shredding.

Add the chicken broth and 2 cups water to the same pot and bring to a simmer. Ad dth etortellini and cook according to the package directions. Remove from teh heat and stir in the shredded chicken, the escarole, peas, scallions, lemon peel, lemon juice and mint. Season with salt and pepper.

Friday: Sushi at Kibuki

Saturday, May 1: I cooked a chicken, but we were not hungry and had leftovers.

Sunday: May 2; Went to a birthday party and had great hamburgers. I love hamburgers. I brought a dessert. Again from Rachel Ray:

Blueberry Cookie Bars:
2-1/4 cups flour
1 cup blanched sliced almonds
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1-1/2 sticks cold unslated butter, cut into pieces.
1 cold egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup blueberry preserves ( I used marionberry)



Preheat the ovent to 350. Line a 9 inch square baking pan with a 12 inch long sheet of foil. Using a food processor, mix the flour, almonds, sugar, baking soda, and salt until the nuts are finely ground. Add the butter and pulse until coarse crumb form. Beat together the egg and vanilla; drizzle over the dough mixture. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and knead with your fingertips until clumpy.




Transfer 2/3 of the dough to the pan and press into the botttom to form an even layer. Spread the preserves on top. Dot the top with the remaining dough in clumps.



Bake until the edges are lightly golden 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool completely. Turn out of pan, remove the foil and cut into squares.

These were a big hit!!!

Sunday we had a traditional chicken dinner with stuffing and veggies. It was good.

Monday: I don't even remember, chicken I guess. I was trying to get ready to go to San Francisco as Rob's mom had her first chemotherapy on Wednesday. She did well, but it was nerve racking.

Tuesday: Las Brisas: Mexican food on the way out of town.

Wednesday we went with Doris to the Hospital. The chemo was very tolerable and she has done well.

I fixed dinner on Wednesday night. We had roast chicken, stuffed mini peppers, and red chard with pine nuts and golden raisins.

Stuffed mini peppers:

Took some small red, yellow and orange peppers and halved them, drizzled them with olive oil and then roated them. Cooked up some brown rice, sauteed an onion, some of the peppers, some garlic, salt and pepper and some mushrooms. Piled this all on top of the peppers and covered with feta cheese.

Red Chard

Clean two bunches of red chard, discard the stems, and then put into a pan with 1/4 cup of water. Steam the chard and then add 2 tbs. of pinenuts and 3 tbs of golden raisins, douse with balsamic vinegar and serve.