Mexican Corn Soup

When I saw this on the Cooking Channel, it looked like a tasty, and easy soup to make. I was correct.

Corn, tomatoes, chicken broth and oregano are pureed in a blender, and then set aside. In a large saucepan, bacon is cooked until crisp. The bacon is removed and onion is softened in the bacon fat. Garlic is added and cooked for an additional minute.

The tomato-corn puree is added to the pot, along with additional chicken broth. This is brought to a boil and more corn is added. This simmers until thickened, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. The recipe calls for any foam that develops to be skimmed off and discarded. I didn't bother.

The soup is finished with some heavy cream and some chopped flat-leaf parsley. Rather than garnish with crumbled bacon, I just mixed it into the soup, after crumbling it. I garnished with a small dollop of sour cream, and a bit of flat-leaf parsley.

This came out superbly! I loved it. Susie loved it! No doubt the dog would have loved it as well, had we been willing to share.

Bon appétit!

Deep-dish Polenta Pie

My inspiration for this came from a Weight Watchers' recipe. Even the name. I added a few things. I love polenta! You can do so many things with it. And I can too.

Milk (1%), water and salt are brought to a boil. The heat is reduced to medium-low and yellow corn meal is slowly drizzled in while whisking continually. Continue whisking until the polenta thickens to the consistency of mashed potatoes. This takes about seven minutes. Stir in a tablespoon butter and three tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese.

Away from the heat, the rest of the ingredients are mixed in. Chopped broccoli, diced cooked chicken, reconstituted sun-dried tomatoes, chopped garlic, and chopped onion. Mix thoroughly until all the ingredients are well coated with the polenta.

The mixture is pressed into a lightly-oiled 10-inch deep-dish pie pan. I used a spring-form. A tablespoon of grated Parmesan is sprinkled over the top. It bakes at 400° for 35 minutes. Allow to cool for at least 30 minutes. Or serve at room temperature.

This makes eight servings, each of which counts as 4 Weight Watchers' points. Just 4! At that rate, you may have seconds! If you've been good.

I served each slice with a spoonful of salsa and a couple slices of avocado. Absolutely yummy!

Bon appétit!

Ginger Honey Cheesecake

In fact, the name of this cheesecake is Honey & Ginger Cheesecake. My rework of the name is a nod to Gilligan's Island. You fill in the rest. This is the penultimate payday cheesecake I will make for work. After five years of cheesecakes and other payday desserts, I am calling it quits.

The crust for this cake is made with ginger snap crumbs and melted butter. The crust mixture is pressed into the cheesecake pan and then it is frozen.

The batter begins with two packages cream cheese and a cup of sour cream. I have been struggling lately with cracks appearing on my cheesecakes, so I mixed the cheese and cream on medium-low speed, to minimize the amount of air that would be incorporated. Next came flour, brown sugar and honey. When that was fully blended in (again on slow speed), two eggs were added, one at a time, until fully incorporated. Ground cinnamon and ginger were mixed in next. Finally, the recipe calls for candied ginger, minced. Well, I have some ginger candy. That would have to do. I chopped it up and folded it into the batter. By hand.

The batter is poured over the frozen crust and bakes at 325° for 55-65 minutes. I lowered the temperature by 25° from what the recipe said because I read that 325° was at the upper maximum for baking cheesecakes, without cracking them. Or drying them out.

After an hour, I removed the cake from the oven, only to find a crack. A fairly small one, but a crack nonetheless. Not the yawning abyss that developed on the cheesecake I made for Benton County Mental Health earlier in the month. But a crack nonetheless.

Bon appétit!

Quick & Spicy Tomato Soup

We had to have more than just the Linguine with Shrimp & Lemon Oil. Didn't we? From the same episode of Everyday Italian, hosted by Giada De Laurentis on the Cooking Channel, I made Quick and Spicy Tomato Soup.

Olive oil is heated in a large soup pot. Carrots, onion and garlic are added and cooked for two minutes, or until soft. A jar of marinara sauce, two cans of chicken broth, a can of butter beans, a cup of mini farfalle patsa, salt, pepper and achiote (a spice used in Cuban cuisine) are added. This simmers for ten minutes, and is ready to serve. I sprinkled a little grated Parmesan cheese over the top of my bowl.

It was delicious. And, as importantly, quick and easy.

Bon appétit!

Linguine with Shrimp & Lemon Oil

This dish is as seen on the Cooking Channel. Again. A light, quick and easy entrée that can be whipped up in a jiffy. And again, I diverged from the original recipe in places.

A couple hours ahead of time I zested a lemon into some olive oil. Then I watched some television.

When it was time to get down to it, I boiled some salted water in which to cook the linguine. The pasta is cooked until al dente.

While the pasta cooks, olive oil is heated in a large skillet. Sliced scallions and garlic are added and cooked until softened. Shrimp are added and cooked until pink. This takes about five minutes. To the skillet are then added the cooked, drained linguine, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt and pepper. This is tossed to combine. Arugula and chopped flat-leaf parsley are then added. The lemon zest is strained from the olive oil and the oil is added to the skillet and tossed to coat the pasta. The zest is discarded.

That's all there is to it. I told you it was quick and easy.

Bon appétit!

Panko Pork and more

I recently started getting the Cooking Channel with my cable television package. It is the default channel when there is nothing riveting on TV. I watch it often. Chef Roger Mooking has a show called Everyday Exotic and that is where I was inspired for this dinner. He prepared Panko Schnitzel with Apple Salsa and Roasted Cauliflower. I deviated slightly from the recipes. Here and there.

I made the apple salsa first. Two Granny Smith apples are cored and diced. A celery stalk is also diced, smaller that the apples. Really tiny. I don't care a lot for celery so the smaller the dice, the further from my mind would it be as I ate it. Apple cider vinegar and honey are added and mixed in until the apples and celery are coated. Chopped tarragon finishes the salsa. I deviated here by not adding chopped fresh mint. I just didn't have any on hand.

Next I prepared the cauliflower. Vegetable oil, chopped garlic and cumin are mixed well. Cauliflower florets are added and tossed until they are coated. This is poured into a baking dish and few pieces of butter are placed on top. Panko is sprinkled over the top. This roasts in a 425° oven for 20-30 minutes, until the panko is golden and the cauliflower is al dente. Chef Mooking used whole cumin seeds that he ground coarse. I didn't. I simply used powdered cumin. It was, afterall, a week night.

Schnitzel requires pounding out pork cutlets until they are very thin. I didn't have any desire to do this. Nor did I need to. The pork I had purchased was already less than a half-inch thick, and would suffice. Each cutlet was dredged in flour, dipped in beaten egg, and breaded with panko crumbs. They are pan fried in vegetable oil over medium-high heat for about five minutes a side. The breading will be a deep golden brown.

We simply loved this meal! The pork was tender and moist. The breading light and crispy. The salsa was a nice variation from applesauce on pork chops. And the cauliflower was just amazing. Susie was more than willing to finish cleaning the dishes after she ate.

Bon appétit!

Quick, Colorful & Easy Dinner

I decided to surprise Susie by having dinner almost ready to serve when she got home today. But, it is a work day so I didn't want to get in over my head with prep work. Hmm. What to make? I settled on some frozen four-color, five-cheese ravioli from Costco as the basis for the meal.

Instead of using a sauce, I decided on some dried heirloom tomatoes from the jar on the shelf. I boiled these for a few minutes, let then sit for another few minutes, then poured them into a strainer. (The plan is to cook the pasta when Susie gets home, add the reconstituted tomatoes, then toss in some grated Parmesan cheese).

My inspiration for the salad came from the classic Greek horiatiki salad. I whisked together a tablespoon of red wine vinegar, two tablespoons of lemon juice, and a quarter cup of olive oil. From the herb garden I picked some oregano, then microwaved it until it was dry and crumbly. I mixed the oregano into the dressing. I picked a couple cucumbers from the garden, and a couple handfuls of a few different cherry and pear tomatoes. I peeled then sliced the cucumbers thinly and added them to the dressing. Next, I halved the tomatoes and added them. I tossed the salad with a rubber spatula and placed it in the refrigerator.

There is a bird-seed roll from the Metropol bakery. I quartered the roll and toasted it. I still have some aioli that I made last weekend to serve with the roll. The aioli is really garlicky. Really, really garlicky, so I'll serve butter for Susie. As for me, I'll have no worries about vampires.

Put all together, these elements make up a very colorful meal. But, almost as importantly, a very quick and easy meal.

Bon appétit!