Wild Mushroom Bisque

One of my absolute favorite places to eat is Zupa's - especially when I'm in the mood for soup. They have a wonderful selection of soups, but I always tend to order the same thing - their Wild Mushroom Bisque. Sadly, I have moved outside of the radius of any Zupa's locations… so I had to come up with my own replacement. I used Season with Spice's Homemade Mushroom Soup recipe as a base, and I have to say, it turned out quite splendidly. It is definitely helping with my Zupa's separation anxiety.

Wild Mushroom Bisque

Ingredients:
-1 lb mushrooms (I used Cremini) - I diced half of the mushrooms, then cut the rest in half (I like my soup chunky)
-1 tbsp olive oil
-3-4 cloves fresh garlic, diced
-1 tbsp butter
-1/2 tsp thyme
-2 bay leaves
-2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
-3 cups chicken stock
-3 tbsp flour dissolved in 4 tbsp water
-1/2 pint whipping cream
-dash of nutmeg
-salt & pepper to taste
-green onions or fresh parsley to garnish

1. Heat olive oil in pan - add butter & garlic and sauté over medium heat (be careful not to burn).
2. Add mushrooms, bay leaves, thyme, and Worcestershire sauce to pan. Continue to cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes.
3. Add chicken stock & let boil - then turn down heat to simmer. Let simmer for 10 minutes.
4. Whisk in diluted flour, and add salt, pepper, and nutmeg to taste. Add cream, bring back to a simmer, then remove from heat.
5. Serve warm & garnish with green onions or fresh parsley. Enjoy!

Quinoa Shrimp Salad

I enjoyed the last quinoa dish (Quinoa Burrito Bowls) so much, that I just had to try another one. This one is somewhat similar to the last, but it definitely has a different kick. Nothin' like healthy food that actually tastes good!

Quinoa Shrimp Salad
1 cup quinoa
2 cubes chicken bouillon

1 bag frozen baby shrimp (12 oz.)
1/2 cup butter, melted
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt & pepper

1/2 red onion, diced
1 can corn, drained
1 can black beans, warmed
2 oranges, peeled & chopped
1 bunch cilantro, chopped

Lemon Vinaigrette 
Juice of 2 lemons
6 tbsp. olive oil
2 cloves garlic
pinch of stevia, or other sweetener
Salt & pepper

In a medium saucepan, combine the quinoa, chicken bouillon, and 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil, then turn down to low and simmer, covered, 15-20 minutes, stirring periodically. Remove from heat.

While the quinoa is cooking, begin the shrimp. In a small bowl, mix together the frozen shrimp, melted butter, and lemon juice. Cover a baking sheet with foil, pour shrimp mixture on top, and salt & pepper. Broil for 8-10 minutes, or until well done.

To make the vinaigrette, combine the ingredients in a container with a tight-fitting lid, and shake well.

Instead of sugar, sweeten the dressing with a calorie-free
sweetener, such as Truvia. 

In a medium mixing bowl, combine the shrimp, quinoa, and the rest of the salad ingredients. Pour the vinaigrette over the top & mix (you may not use it all). This salad can be enjoyed warm or cold. Yum!

This recipe was modified from the version found at Iowa Girl Eats.

Quinoa Burrito Bowls

So... I've been hearing all this hype about "quinoa." After finally learning how to say it (keen-wah), I decided I better get on this bandwagon and learn to cook it. I went to buy some at Wal-Mart, and the cashier was asking me all these questions about it. I felt like kind of like an idiot when I didn't even really know what it was, so here are some quick fun facts about quinoa before we start:

• It is a species of goosefoot, which is a grain-like crop primarily grown for its edible seeds.
• It is classified as a "chenopod," which makes it closely related to species such as beets, spinach, and tumbleweeds.
• Nutritional value: high protein content (14%), and it is a complete protein (meaning it contains all nine of the amino acids necessary for our dietary needs). It is also a good source of dietary fiber, phosphorus, magnesium, iron, and calcium. Source

So, pretty much, quinoa is an amazing superfood. I feel good about that. And, turns out, it tastes pretty darn good.

Quinoa Burrito Bowls
1 cup quinoa
1 cube tomato bouillon with chicken flavor (you may find it in the store as "caldo de tomate")

Cook the quinoa as directed on the package, but add the bouillon to the water as the quinoa is boiling. This will give it an amazing flavor, similar to Mexican rice.Make sure to stir the quinoa as it is cooking, so it doesn't burn.

Toppings (serve these Hawaiian-haystack style):
Shredded chicken (as usual, I prefer rotisserie chicken - brown in a medium saucepan with a bit of olive oil)
Black beans (heat in a medium saucepan)
Lime juice
Corn
Cheddar or Jack Cheese
Shredded Lettuce
Greek yogurt
Diced tomatoes
Cilantro
Sliced avocados or guacamole
Hot sauce

I loaded all of this on my bowl, and it was AMAZING. I didn't even realize I was eating something totally healthy, which is the way I like it! This recipe yields about 4 servings.

This recipe was altered from the recipe found at The Shiksa In the Kitchen.

White Chicken Alfredo Lasagna

Here's the story: I love lasagna. I love white sauce. I love chicken... I love spinach. So, pretty much, this lasagna is the perfect combination. I combined a few different recipes in search of the perfect recipe... and I think it turned out pretty fantastic.

White Chicken Alfredo Lasagna
2 tsp. olive oil
1 pkg. lasagna noodles
1/2 c. butter
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 c. drained oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
2 c. chicken broth
1 1/2 c. milk
4 cups shredded mozzarella
1 1/4 cups grated parmesan
3 tsp. fresh basil
1 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
2 cups ricotta cheese
2+ cups chicken meat (I used rotisserie chicken, because it's easy and delicious)
1-lb. bag spinach
1 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil, and add lasagna noodles. Add a little bit of olive oil to keep noodles from sticking together. Drain, rinse with cold water, and add a bit of olive oil again. You really don't want these noodles sticking together.

The original recipe called for frozen spinach, but I say fresh is ALWAYS better. 

While the noodles are boiling, rinse and dry the spinach. Remove stems from spinach leaves. Add 2 tsp. olive oil to a large saucepan, and cook spinach until bright green & tender. (For a good tutorial on cooking spinach, go here.) Add salt to taste.

The last part you will need to make before putting the lasagna together is the white sauce. This sauce is GOOD. You could definitely just eat it out of the pan. Start by melting the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook the onion & garlic in the butter until tender. Stir in the flour and salt, and simmer until bubbly. Mix in the broth and milk, and boil, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Stir in 2 cups mozzarella cheese, 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, and sun-dried tomatoes. Season with basil, oregano, and ground black pepper (keep a bit of the fresh basil to sprinkle on top of the lasagna). Add more salt to taste, if desired. Remove from heat. Set aside about 1 cup of the sauce (enough for the top of the lasagna), then add the chicken to the rest.

Be liberal with the noodles and cheese for best results.

You may layer however you want. I prefer to be especially liberal on the NOODLES and CHEESE. This is about how I ended up layering: put a tiny bit of the chicken-less sauce on the bottom to keep from sticking, then start with a layer of noodles. Add ricotta, chicken sauce, spinach, cheese, noodles - and repeat until your pan is full. Finish with a layer of noodles, topped with the rest of the chicken-less sauce, and a hefty portion of mozzarella & parmesan cheese. Sprinkle with fresh basil & parsley. Bake 35-40 minutes in the preheated oven. This lasagna was especially tasty with these parmesan knots on the side. Enjoy!

Grandma's Chicken Noodle Soup [with HOMEMADE noodles]

There's nothing like good ol' homemade chicken noodle soup on a cold fall day. The homemade noodles in this recipe are my grandma's recipe... and they are what really bring this soup home. They are also surprisingly easy to make!

[Scroll to bottom for complete recipe.]

I have the recipe in my grandma's handwriting... doesn't get more authentic than that!



Using a rotisserie chicken is also the secret to this recipe... the meat is just so yummy!



Chicken Noodle Soup 
Soup
Carcass & meat of 1 rotisserie chicken
(You can also use a whole uncooked chicken)
2 cups chicken broth
2 bay leaves
3 celery stalks, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
1 pinch dried thyme
1 pinch dried basil
1 pinch dried parsley
Poultry seasoning, to taste
Fresh ground pepper, to taste
Salt, to taste

Noodles
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. milk
flour

Start with the soup portion of the recipe. If you are cooking the whole chicken, put it in a pot of boiling water (enough to cover the chicken), turn down heat, and simmer until the chicken is cooked through--about 30-40 minutes. If you are using rotisserie chicken (which I recommend), remove the meat from the carcass and put the chicken carcass in the pot of water. You will want to cook the carcass for about 30 minutes as well to start the chicken base. Remove the carcass, and add the broth, celery, carrots, seasonings, and chicken. Cook for about 10 minutes, or until vegetables are tender.



To make the noodles, mix the eggs, salt, and milk together in a medium mixing bowl. Add flour until the dough is thick enough to roll out (you will want it to not be sticky any more). Roll out the dough until it is about 1/4 inch thick. Use a pizza cutter to cut the noodles lengthwise. They don't have to be perfect--it gives them more character that way. Add the noodles to the soup and cook for another 5-10 minutes, until noodles are cooked through. Yum!

Creamy Tomato Basil Soup

Okay, this is the BEST tomato soup I have ever had - and that includes Zupa's, Paradise Bakery, etc. It is just REALLY delicious, and it is actually a SUPER easy recipe. 

[Scroll to bottom for complete recipe]

Start with the onions - dice them well!

Sautee the onions until they are translucent.

The sherry is optional... but I think it makes the soup extra delicious.

It's not a good soup without cream!

Use fresh parsley & basil - much better than dried! 

Creamy Tomato Basil Soup*

• 6 T butter
• 1 whole medium onion, diced
• 1 bottle (64 oz.) tomato juice 
• 2 cans (14.5 oz. each) diced tomatoes
• 2 chicken bouillon cubes (or more to taste)
• 3 T sugar (or more to taste)
• 1 pinch salt
• freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1/2 cup cooking sherry (optional)
• 1-1/2 cup heavy cream
• fresh parsley, chopped
• fresh basil, chopped

Sautee onions in the butter until they are translucent. Add the tomato juice, diced tomatoes, chicken bouillon, sugar, salt, and pepper. Bring to a slight boil, and then turn down low to simmer. You can add the cream, basil, & parsley at this point and serve it - or, if you are adding the sherry, cook for another 30 minutes without adding the cream, basil, or parsley. For best results, cook for 2 hours. I like to let it simmer while I'm watching a movie or something - it just gets better the longer it simmers. Once you are satisfied with the amount of time the soup has cooked, add the cream, basil, parsley, & serve. You will never need another recipe for tomato soup, I promise!

*This recipe is a slightly modified version of The Pioneer Woman's Sherried Tomato Soup.

Lasagna (not the frozen kind.)

So, two weeks ago I got the chance to go to an Italian cooking class. It was pretty much a dream come true... I mean, I love cooking, and I love Italian food... I was in heaven. We learned how to make REAL Italian lasagna from Jessie (check out her Facebook page for more info. on her classes. She's awesome!)



Anyway... the title of this post comes from a conversation we had right after the class. I told Jessie that I had never made lasagna. I told her that, in fact, I had only made frozen lasagna. I thought she might keel over and die from shock when I said that... needless to say, I think I had reached a point in my life when I needed to make lasagna from scratch. For reals.

This recipe, then, is an Italian recipe. It is a little different from what I was used to (no ricotta or cottage cheese, for example), but it was AMAZING.

There are three things that really make this lasagna work. First, the bolognese sauce (also known as the red or meat sauce). Jessie taught us that this is the KEY to a good lasagna. If you get the bolognese sauce down, you will be fine.

Second, the besciamella, or white sauce. Yes, this lasagna has red AND white sauce in it. Get excited.

Last (at least in my opinion), CHEESE. Don't skimp on it. You're making lasagna. Don't fool yourself into thinking this is going to be a healthy meal. You will use around 2 cups per lasagna.





Bolognese Sauce
The biggest thing with the bolognese sauce is letting it cook... forever. The longer, the better. Jessie's recipe said 1-3 hours, but she said you could cook it pretty much all day and it just keeps getting more and more delicious.

I made it on a Sunday, so I decided to do an experiment with the crock pot while I was at church. I took three 28 oz. cans of Hunt's diced tomatoes, pureed two of them, and poured them all into a large pot. I then added the spices - 1 tbsp. oregano, 1 tbsp. basil, 1 tbsp garlic, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. ground pepper, and 2 bay leaves. I added more of the seasonings to taste, but those were good amounts to start with.



I also threw in two fresh tomatoes...



I then added the wine. This was the first time I've used wine in cooking, and it won't be the last. Jessie told us she likes to use white wine in her red sauces even though people usually use red wine... so I tried it out and was not disappointed. After adding the wine (1/2 cup white cooking wine), I brought it to a boil and let it cook for a few minutes without a lid, to let some of the alcohol cook out. Then I poured it all into the crock pot and let it cook on low for another half hour without the lid, to let any additional alcohol cook out. We didn't seem too crazy after eating it, so I think we were good. At least we weren't any more crazy than usual. After a half hour, I put the lid on the pot and left for church, leaving my delicious sauce to simmer for a good three hours.



When I got home from church, I finished up the red sauce. I decided to use Italian sausage mixed with ground beef. Some random guy in the store told me it was amazing, so I trusted him. It ended up being a good choice.

Before cooking the meat, I had to make the soffritto. This is a basic seasoning for your sauce that is used in a lot of Italian cooking. It is made up of the "holy trinity" - onions, celery, and carrots. First, you sautee one large white onion, diced, in 1 tablespoon of olive oil.



Can we take a moment of silence to contemplate how wonderful olive oil is? I truly love it.



Moving on...

Cook the onion for a few minutes alone, and then add 2 medium carrots and 2 stalks of celery, chopped. You will cook this combination until the onions are translucent and the celery and carrots are soft (about 5 min). I also added Italian spices to this mixture (the same ones I added to the sauce) as well as some crushed red pepper flakes for a little kick. Once that was cooked, I added 1 lb. each of ground beef and Italian sausage, and then cooked until browned.



I added the meat to the sauce, and moved it all to a pot on the stove (set to low). I let the bolognese sauce cook for another 2 hours, covered, while I finished the rest of the ingredients. Like I said... the longer the red sauce cooks, the better.

Besciamella
Now for the besciamella. First, you bring 4 cups whole milk (don't use skim or 1%... you can maybe get away with 2%) to simmer in a saucepan and cook until a very thin skin forms on the top. Make sure it's barely simmering, so as not to scald the milk. In another pan, melt 8 tablespoons of butter until it is just barely brown. Make sure not to burn the butter. You will then slowly add 6-8 tablespoons of flour to the butter, whisking constantly to avoid lumps. Once this mixture (the rue) is formed, you will add it slowly to the milk, whisking constantly. The heat should be lowered slightly at this point, and you will mix it until it is thick. Add salt and NUTMEG to taste. (Nutmeg? Those Italians are geniuses.)



When the mixture starts to stick to the whisk, it is ready. I also added some parmesan cheese to the sauce... you can never have too much cheese.

Last, you will cook the lasagna sheets. You will use around one box per lasagna. Follow the package directions--but make sure the pasta is cooked al dente. This means it is soft, but still has a little bit of "bite" to it. No one likes mushy pasta.

To finish off the lasagna, you will do the different layers. I started out the pan with just a little bit of besciamella to keep the pasta from sticking. Then I did the pasta sheets, the bolognese sauce, the besciamella, and a mozzarella/parmesan cheese mixture. Keep layering until your heart is content (or until the pan is full). I found it was extra delicious when I was generous with the pasta and cheese. Go figure...



This recipe makes two pans, which seems like a lot... but, somehow, I had no problems getting rid of the extra.

Finish it off with a LOT of cheese. Think pizza.



Stick the lasagna in the oven (375 degrees) for 45 minutes to an hour, until all the cheese is melted and slightly browned on the top. Delizioso!!

Chicken Scallopini

Can I just say before I start this post how much I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE this dish. I remember the first time I tried it at Johnny Carino's and nearly died of happiness. Sheer happiness.

Well, of course I had to replicate it! I found a copycat recipe online and found out why it was so blissfully divine: loads of butter, cream, and not to mention BACON. How could it be bad?

So, if you're feeling a bit indulgent, try this recipe. You had better bring an appetite, though.

First, you will want to make the lemon butter (yeah, that's right, lemon butter... and we're just getting started):

1/2 lb. butter
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. garlic, minced


Combine these three ingredients in a mixing bowl until smooth. Keep refrigerated until needed.

Now, let's get to the nitty gritty:

4 tbsp. butter, melted
3 chicken breasts (you can do more if you have more mouths to feed)
3/4 cup roma tomatoes
3/4 cup sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup onions, chopped
1/2 cup cooked bacon, chopped (Don't forget to cook it first. I did, and it still turned out okay... but I think using cooked bacon would work better)
(you can do as much of the tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, and bacon as you'd like--I feel like the more, the better!)

1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. garlic salt
10 oz. spaghetti (I used whole-grain, but who am I kidding. There's no real redemption for this meal. Just accept the fact that it is super fattening... and delicious.)
8 oz. heavy cream (oh yeah baby)

Prepare the spaghetti as you would normally.


While it is cooking, cut each chicken breast in half. Combine the chicken and butter in a large saucepan, and sautee until chicken is brown and almost done. Add the tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, bacon and spices. Simmer until the tomatoes begin to dissolve and the chicken is all the way done.


Add the heavy cream, and allow the sauce to cook until it boils in the middle. Remove from heat, add the lemon butter, and fold together to make the sauce.

Serve over spaghetti, and die of happiness. I also served it with freshly grated parmesan over the top…

YUMMM.

Smoked Korean Chicken

My brother, Reed, left his smoker at our house when he moved into his apartment and there was no room. Ever since then I've been waiting for the day he would come use it... and that day finally came. The recipe for the marinade came from a family friend, but the smoker gave it that extra something.


For this recipe, you will need a few ingredients:

1 c. soy sauce
1 c. sugar
1 tbsp. sesame oil
1 tsp. minced garlic
chopped green onion
sesame seeds (sprinkle on chicken before cooking)
chicken thighs & legs, with skin


This marinade works for a 3 lb. bag of chicken, so adjust as needed.


Make sure the chicken is completely covered, refrigerate, and marinate overnight.


Reed also used this little contraption to make sticky rice... and I'm not exactly sure how it works. But the rice was delicious. Maybe I'll have to dedicate an entire post to sticky rice in the future...


After marinating the chicken for about 18 hours, we smoked it for about 3 hours. It is also delicious grilled, or baked in the oven (350 F). I recommend doing the last few minutes on broil if you bake it in the oven to get it nice and crispy on the outside.


DELICIOSO!!!