Taco Soup

Brown

1 lb ground beef or turkey or plant-based "ground beef"

with 1 diced onion

add 1 packet taco seasoning. 

Drain and add:

1 can black beans

1 can kidney beans

1 can carrots

1 can corn

Add

1 can beef broth (14 oz)

1 can diced tomatoes (14 oz)
1 can diced green chilies (4 oz)

1 can tomato sauce (8 oz)

Simmer for 10-15 min. OR put in crockpot on low until warmed through, up to 6 hours.

Top with sour cream, cheese, avocado, tortilla chips, etc.

Curry Pizza

We've been imagining all sorts of crazy pizzas to try out. This one was born of the fact that my pizza crust is so much like naan. It was amazingly delicious. We will be making it again.

Pizza dough*
Leftover curry
Mozzarella cheese
Pickled red onion**
Cilantro

Spread your pizza dough on a baking sheet till it's 1/8-1/4 in thick. Spread the curry on top, chopping up your chicken if the bits are too big. We used leftover chicken tikka masala with chicken thighs.

Sprinkle some mozzarella over the top and bake for 10 min at 450*

Sprinkle with chopped cilantro and pickled red onion before serving.

(If you don't want to pickle your own red onions, use fresh red onion or chopped jalepenos or something to give it some tang. Just the curry and dough was a little too tame. Definitely try the pickled red onions, though. It takes like one minute to make the brine and they aren't spicy at all, I really do love them on anything I've thought they might work with.)

*I made this pizza dough but I added about 3-4 TBSP of plain yogurt. Don't add too much extra flour to account for the wetness. You want a really wet dough. This will make 3 large, thinner crust pizzas.

**Pickled Red Onions: Mix 1/4 cup red wine vinegar + 1/4 cup cold water + 1 1/2 teaspoons granulated sugar + 1 tablespoon Diamond Kosher salt or generous 1/2 tablespoon Morton or another brand of kosher salt until sugar and salt have dissolved. Add thinly sliced red onion. Let marinate for 30 minutes (for very light pickling) or up to a week in the fridge. Put on everything.

Triple Chocolate Cheesecake

I only make this once every other year or so, so I never remember the adjustments I make and decided to write them down this time.

• 1 package (9 ounces) chocolate wafer cookies (or 1/2 pkg family size oreos or 2/3 pkg regular size oreos)
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 3 bars (8 ounces each) cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 cup + 2 TBSP sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 large eggs
• 3/4 cup sour cream
• 6 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted
• Rich Chocolate Ganache, for topping
• 1/2 C heavy ceam
• 4 oz semisweet chocolate
• 1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Assemble a 9-inch springform pan with the raised side of the bottom facing down.
• 2. In a food processor, pulse cookies until finely ground. Add butter, and pulse to moisten. Transfer to prepared pan, and press crumbs firmly and evenly into the bottom. Place pan on a rimmed baking sheet; bake 10 minutes, and set aside.
• 3. Wipe out bowl and blade of food processor. Add cream cheese, sugar, and salt; blend until smooth. With motor running, add eggs, then sour cream, and finally chocolate; blend filling until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.
• 4. Wrap bottom half of springform pan in foil, using one long piece, the length of the circumference of the pan. Pour in filling; place in a roasting pan. Place roasting pan in oven. Pour in boiling water to come halfway up side of springform pan. Bake just until set, 1 hour. Turn oven off, and let cheesecake sit 1 hour in oven, without opening (this helps prevent cracking).
• 5. Remove foil. Run a thin knife around the edge of the pan (this helps prevent cracking, too); leave in pan, and cool completely on wire rack. (After 1 hour of cooling, gently loosen pan edges to release any trapped water. Cover loosely and refrigerate, at least 6 hours or up to overnight.
• 6. Prepare Chocolate Ganache: Mix cream and chocolate in glass measuring cup. Heat in microwave at 10 second intervals stirring after each heating, until smooth and melted, about 1-2 min.
• 7.Unmold cheesecake. Spread ganache in center of cheesecake; let set before serving.
• 
  

sookhi murgi

Sookhi murgi means dry chicken. It is basically curry chicken without any water. This is my made-up recipe for it, just from having eaten it at various Indian all-you-can-eat restaurants.

2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp curry powder
1 tbsp cumin powder
2 tsp caraway seeds
1 can chicken

Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add everything else and stir it up. Serve with cooked rice or cooked potatoes with peas.

caraway seed cake

I was thinking about how much I like rye bread with the seeds in, and it occurred to me that you could probably buy just the seeds, and eat as many of them as you wanted. I looked on Amazon, because it didn't seem like the sort of thing you would find at Walmart when you buy your weekly seven gallons of milk and its not like I'm going to drive to another store, and it turns out you can get a pound of the pokey little puppies for eight dollars.
The first thing I decided to make was a seed cake. (This was mainly because I have successfully made cakes before, so it seemed doable.) The ingredients list looked pretty easy: eggs, butter, caraway seeds, sugar, a bit of milk, and  self rising flour. I figured that just meant flour with baking soda mixed in. But it turned out I didn't have any flour, and I wasn't about to drive to a store,so I thought for a bit and I saw a box of lemon cookie mix from 2014. I looked on the ingredients and it looked like the mix was flour, sugar, baking soda, and a little lemon flavoring. I figured it was probably the right mix of flour and sugar, but since cookies are not as fluffy as cakes I added a teaspoon more of baking soda. So this is the recipe I used:

1 and a half sticks of butter
1 box of lemon cookie mix
1 tsp baking soda
3 eggs
1/3 cup of caraway seeds
1/3 cup (or so) of milk

The website had this complicated method where you were supposed to beat the butter and fold in the eggs and flour or something, but I just put it all in a bowl and used the mixer. The batter tasted okay, so I greased the small square glass pan and poured it in. I cooked it for half an hour at 350F, but it was all jiggly in the middle so I put it in for another 7 minutes and that seems to have been just about right. It turns out that cookie mix is still not bad after 5 years in a sealed bag, which I wasn't really sure about. Walnuts and olive oil seem to go bad really fast, but apparently not lemon cookie mix.
It could have been moister though, so maybe next time I'll add some applesauce, or maybe pour some kind of sweet liquid over it.

One Pot Cheesy Mexican Lentils, Black Beans, and Rice

Rachel found this recipe at https://reciperunner.com/one-pot-cheesy-mexican-lentils-black-beans-and-rice/ It's delicious. I could eat the whole pot by myself, it goes down so smooth, but it's enough food to feed a family of eight if six of them are kids or teenagers.

ONE POT CHEESY MEXICAN LENTILS, BLACK BEANS AND RICE
yield: 5 SERVINGS
prep time: 20 MINUTES
cook time: 50 MINUTES
total time: 1 HOUR (if you overlap some of the prep time with the cook time)

INGREDIENTS
1/2 of a yellow onion, diced
1 clove of garlic, grated or minced
1/2 cup uncooked long grain brown rice
1/2 cup uncooked French green lentils, rinsed (red or brown lentils may also be used)
2-3 cups low sodium vegetable stock
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground chipotle powder (optional)
Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
15 ounces black beans (canned), rinsed and drained
1/2 cup fire roasted tomatoes, drained
4 ounces diced green chiles (canned)
1 small zucchini, shredded
1/2 cup frozen corn, defrosted
1 cup red enchilada sauce
3/4 cup shredded cheese, I used sharp cheddar and part skim mozzarella
Cilantro for garnish (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Heat a large pot or saucepan over medium high heat.
2. When the pot is heated spray with cooking oil and add in the onion and garlic.
3. Sauté for a couple minutes then add in the brown rice and lentils.
4. Add in the vegetable stock, stir and bring to a boil.
5. Once boiling, cover and reduce the heat to low.
6. Simmer for 30-40 minutes, or until lentils and rice are tender.
7. If there is any excess liquid drain it.
8. Season the rice and lentils with salt, pepper, chili powder, cumin and chipotle powder.
9. Add in all of the remaining ingredients except 1/4 cup of the cheese and stir together.
10. Heat the mixture until the cheese is melted.
11. Top with the remaining cheese and cover with a lid.
12. Heat on low until the cheese is melted and the mixture is bubbly.

NUTRITION INFORMATION: YIELD: 5 SERVING SIZE: 1
Amount Per Serving: CALORIES: 498 TOTAL FAT: 14g SATURATED FAT: 8g TRANS FAT: 0g UNSATURATED FAT: 5g CHOLESTEROL: 39mg SODIUM: 1274mg CARBOHYDRATES: 65g FIBER: 18g SUGAR: 11g PROTEIN: 30g

Apple Streusel Pie

1 hour 30 minutes,plus cooling time to prepare serves 8-10

INGREDIENTS
1(9-inch) pie crust
Pie filling:
6 large baking apples,peeled,cored,and sliced,1/2 inch thick
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 large egg
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For streusel topping:
1 stick cold,unsalted butter, cubed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Preparation: is
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Press pie crust into a 9-inch round baking dish.
Prepare streusel topping.Combine brown sugar,granulated sugar,1/2 cup flour,1teaspoon cinnamon,ginger,salt,cubed butter. Mix with clean fingers until crumbly. Set aside.
Mix 1 cup sugar,2 TB flour, 1/2 tsp cinnamon and 1/4 tsp nutmeg,in a bowl.Set aside.
Beat egg,heavy cream,and vanilla in a large bowl until well combined.Add sugar mixture to egg mixture and whisk to combine.Evenly distribute apple slices around pie shell.Pour liquid mixture over top of apples.
Place pie on a baking sheet and bake for 18-20 minutes. Remove from oven and evenly spread streusel mixture over top of pie. Return pie to oven and bake for an additional 45-50 minutes. Let pie cool completely before slicing.

Chicken and rice "casserole"

This is the laziest meal that doesn't come in a prepackaged box to be microwaved. This is for when you don't even have any leftovers or lunchmeat in the fridge, and there is nothing in the freezer but strange dark splotches left over from when the door was left open the last time and mysterious tupperware with ominous chunks of something freezer-burned. I make this for supper, like, once a week.

1 bowl of 1-minute microwave rice
1 can of peas
1 can of chicken
2 tbsp mayonnaise

Drain off the peas and chicken. Microwave the rice for 1 minute. Add everything to a bowl and stir it up. 

Peach dump cake (aka peach cobbler)

This is good for if you have too many peaches.

12 small peaches (some not ripe yet, some ripe, some slightly overripe) quartered with pits removed
1 box of Duncan Hines Apple Caramel Decadent Cake Mix (that's what I used)
1 stick butter
1/3 cup water

Preheat oven to 350.
Mix the caramel mixture from the cake mix box with the water.
Throw the peaches in the bottom of the glass pan. I don't mean you have to actually throw it. Just dump it in. That makes it a dump cake.
Pour the cake mix over top of them.
Chop up the butter into slices and place them on top of the cake mix.
Drizzle the caramel mix all over the top. By doing it this way with the butter and caramel you are making some variety in the flavors of each bite which makes it more interesting.
Cook uncovered for 45 minutes. This seems like a long time, but that's just how long it takes for cakes to cook, I guess.

Serve with vanilla ice cream.

It looks kind of like this.

The nice thing about this recipe is that you can substitute whatever is handy. The fruit can be any kind of sweet fruit (apples, pears, peaches, plums, nectarines), fresh or canned, skins on or off. The cake mix can be whatever cake mix you have handy, although I haven't tried chocolate-- that would be a very different kind of dessert. Or you can make your own from flour and sugar, with a little baking powder and salt, maybe a little vanilla extract. Sometimes people like to use dried oats in the topping, too. The cake doesn't have any eggs or water in it, so it is more crunchy than a real cake.

Portuguese Cauliflower Soup

When I visited Lisbon, I had delicious soups of a kind I had never tasted. They had a smooth, creamy consistency and subtle flavors. When I asked my hosts, they explained, in words and gestures, that the white one was cauliflower. It was a lot like potato soup.
When I got home I looked up how to make it, and was pleased to find that it fit my two criteria for cooking dinner: it costs less than five dollars, and it takes less than five minutes to prepare. The only really necessary parts of the recipe are boiling and blending the cauliflower, though you at least need some kind of spice or it's too bland. This is my way of making it.

1 head of cauliflower
1/3 stick of butter (2 or 3 tbsp)
garlic salt
pepper
dried onion bits
1 cube of chicken bullion in gold foil
1 cup milk

Start some water boiling. Chop the cauliflower into half-inch pieces or smaller. Drop it in the water and boil for four minutes. Strain the boiling water and drop all the cauliflower in the blender.
In a glass two-cup measure, mix the rest of the ingredients and microwave for two minutes and stir. Pour this in the blender with the cauliflower. Blend on high until it is all looks like foamy mashed potatoes.

McIntosh Apples

McIntosh is by far the best variety of apple that is widely available. The flavor is tart, almost as sour as a Granny Smith (which would be, perhaps, a less ironic choice for a Scottish moniker), but unlike a Granny Smith the flesh is the tenderest of any variety, and the skin is the thinnest. McIntoshes are juicy: when you bite into one the skin tenses and gives way with a satisfying pop of flavor. They are round but somewhat oblate, with only a shallow impression at the calyx end.
The color is patchy, freckled light-green and red, a natural appearance that brings to mind songbirds or traditional Raku pottery. As the poet-monk Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote:

Glory be to God for dappled things –
   For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;
      For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;
Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches’ wings;
   Landscape plotted and pieced – fold, fallow, and plough;
      And áll trádes, their gear and tackle and trim.

All things counter, original, spare, strange;
   Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)
      With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;
He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:
                                Praise him.

 They are in every way the opposite of that most pernicious and ubiquitous breed of apple, the Delicious; whose uniform color, hard or woody texture, thick skin, and flavorlessness are the antithesis of every quality that makes an apple good to eat. In their sourness, irregular coloration, small size, and susceptibility to bruising, McIntoshes are closer to the wild apple than the artificiality of many other breeds.
The very delicacy of the McIntosh makes them difficult to store. The process of bringing them home from the store in a bag is often enough to bruise them. For that reason, you rarely can find good McIntosh in stores out of season (late September). In its peculiar way, this very rarity enhances their appeal; like eggnog, it is a seasonal treat one looks forward to and then longs for, and is all the sweeter for it.
However, the reason I am writing this is that I frequently find that what is marketed as McIntosh is no true Scotsman, as it were. Frequently they tend toward more yellow coloring, a sweeter flavor and a firm texture more reminiscent of a Jonathan or Gala.
I recognize that categories are defined by their members, and not a single ideal (as Plato would have it) of which the members are imperfect copies. Surely the people selling these apples are more expert in the lineage and cultivation of apples than I am, and can say with more authority to which variety their apples belong. On the other hand, there must be strong financial pressures to sell as the authentic McIntosh hardier forgeries. So which is it, dear reader? Am I mistaken in taking a preferred subvariety as defining the variety as a whole, or have I fallen victim to some dark conspiracy of greed and deceit among apple growers? Is the industry, I must ask, rotten to the core?

Rachel's preferred hummus

I'm posting this because Rachel's copy of the recipe is getting so filthy that I can hardly read it.

2 19 ounce cans of chickpeas drained and rinsed
1/2 cup tahini
1 tablespoon olive oil
Three cloves garlic
Juice from 2 to 3 lemons
3/4 cup water

1 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Place chickpeas, tahini, olive oil, and garlic in food processor, then process until smooth. Next add lemon juice, then add water until desired consistency is reached. Then add remaining ingredients. Process again until smooth, scraping sides occasionally. 

Instant Apple Pie

I like pie a la mode. Here's my instant recipe:

Cut up an apple
put a couple spoonfuls of sugar on it
and some cinnamon.
Microwave it for one minute
top with a scoop of ice cream
and Golden Grahams for the crust.

No, it's not a real pie. But is a pie really what you wanted? What you really wanted was to spend time reading about Aztec philosophy, while eating baked apples and ice cream and Golden Grahams.

Pineapple upside-down cake

Pineapple upside-down cake was invented in the U.S. sometime in the 1920s, I think. Basically it was just skillet cake that used the new invention of canned sliced pineapple for a pretty, easy pattern. I kind of associate it with the whole 1950s fascination with Hawaii (not that it is authentic Hawaiian anything, but then, 1950s cooking wasn't really about authenticity anyway. Picture women's home magazines, ward dinners, etc...) Mom used to cook it, and I'm pretty sure La Fawn and Helen did, too, so you can call it an old family recipe.
It's pretty easy to make. Get a glass or aluminum pan, and cover the bottom with a mixture of melted butter and brown sugar. Maybe half a cup? It should be about a quarter inch thick on the bottom of the pan. Lay canned pineapple slices in a symmetric arrangement over the brown sugar. If you have maraschino cherries you can put those in the middle of each ring.
Then make up a yellow cake mix from a box (the kind where you add eggs, oil, and water. Betty Crocker or something like that.) But instead of using water, use the liquid from the pineapple can. Pour the batter over the pineapples and sugar. Then bake it how it says on the cake box. I'm guessing 350 degrees for 25 minutes? I guess it depends whether you made a short fat cake or used the biggest glass pan you have and made it really flat.
It tastes best when you eat it hot, maybe with a little vanilla ice cream or a glass of milk.
The key to the flavor is that the brown sugar becomes caramel in the cooking process, and the flavors of the pineapple, sugar, and butter all kind of soak into the cake.
If you cut half of it off and put it inverted on the other half, you can have pineapple inside-out cake. But this is messy and is really done just so you can say that silly phrase.

Cajun rice and sausage

I made rice and sausage the other day with kielbasa instead of ground sausage. I chopped up a bell pepper with the celery. I added some thyme and cayenne pepper (maybe 1/4 tsp) and a bay leaf to make it more cajun-y. We liked it a lot.

summer tomato soup with shrimp, zucchini, and corn

I found this in a magazine last summer and I loved it. I've decided poblanos are my favorite pepper. They're not too hot, but because of them and the onions/garlic you only need to add salt and pepper for seasoning.

Here's a link to the original recipe.

INGREDIENTS

1. 2tablespoons olive oil
2. 2poblano peppers, seeded and chopped
3. 1large onion, chopped
4. 3cloves garlic, sliced
5. Kosher salt and black pepper
6. 2small zucchini, chopped
7. 128-ounce can diced tomatoes
8. 1pound raw medium peeled and deveined shrimp
9. 2cups fresh (from 4 ears) or frozen corn kernels, thawed

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat.
   Add the poblanos, onion, garlic, and ½ teaspoon each salt and black pepper.
   Cook, stirring, until softened, 10 to 12 minutes.
   Add the zucchini and tomatoes (and their juices).
   Cook, stirring, until the zucchini is crisp-tender, 12 to 15 minutes.
   Add the shrimp, corn, and 3 cups water. Bring to a simmer.
   Cook, stirring occasionally, until the shrimp are white throughout
   and the corn is tender, 5 to 6 minutes.
   Sprinkle with black pepper and serve.

Dill Mushroom Rice

I took all the about-to-go-bad ingredients from our fridge this week and put them in a pot with a few other ingredients. Lo and behold, it turned out tasting pretty great! (This is according to Rachel, not just me, so yes you can trust that assessment.)

Ingredients:

One bunch of fresh dill, chopped fine

One bunch of fresh cilantro, chopped rough
One medium brown onion, halved, then sliced the other direction to make a bunch of c-shaped onion pieces
6-8 oz of fresh button mushrooms, sliced
1 medium tomato, smashed
Two cups of white rice
1T butter
2 t vegetable oil
1 bouillon cube, vegetable or chicken (I actually used some leftover packets of flavoring from two kinds of ramen noodles, but I think the boullion cube would approximate it pretty well)
In a separate sauce pan, melt the tablespoon of butter on medium heat
Add the dill, cilantro, and bouillon, then sautee the onions and mushrooms for three minutes.
Add the cooked rice and vegetable oil, and mix well.

Directions:

-Cook the rice

-In a separate sauce pan, melt the tablespoon of butter on medium heat
-Add the dill, cilantro, tomato, and bouillon to the butter, then sautee the onions and mushrooms in it for three minutes.
-Add the cooked rice and vegetable oil to the sauce pan, and mix well.

Salmon and root Vegetables in Creme sauce

So sorry I didn't get a photo of this: it was delicious.

We have church from 2 to 5.  We usually get home about 6 or 6:30.  It is so nice to have dinner ready and hot.  But today's dinner was going to be salmon and I didn't want the fish overcooked.  

So, I cut up potatoes, peeled carrots and peeled sweet potatoes. I put them all in a bread pan and added 2 T olive oil, and some broth made with Knorr Delikatess Bruhe, a soup base made from all veggies and herbs.  I baked those covered with foil for one hour at 170 degrees C. 

Then I cut the salmon in half, laid it on the veggies, put some onion slices on top and replaced the foil.  This I put in the warm oven, but TURNED OFF THE HEAT.  And we went to church.
Upon arriving home, we found the salmon was perfectly cooked all the way through, not raw but flaky.  And really nice and moist.  I thickened the soup/sauce with  Saucenbinder (für Helle Saucen)  Gravy (for Light sauces), which is similar to cornstarch, but I don't think it is corn.  After it thickened, I removed it from the heat and stirred in 2 heaping T of Creme Fraiche.  Oh, my goodness. 

We are definitely having this again.

Doug's fancy chicken soup for lazy people

Ingredients:
1 package chicken flavored instant ramen
1 scoop Cape Cod Chicken Salad (from Costco)

Put water, noodles, flavor packet, and the scoop of chicken salad in a pot and boil it until the noodles are soft enough. It has chicken, oil, celery, cranberries, and walnuts. All of which are good in chicken soup!
It's kind of similar to the orange chicken soup recipe, but doesn't require any crazy things like putting an entire chicken in a pot and waiting for the flesh to fall of its bones, or peeling carrots or anything at all, really.

Roasted Vegetable Enchiladas

mine looked kind of like this, but with corn tortillas

2-3 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced into half-inch cubes

2 zucchinis diced into half-inch cubes

1 green or red bell pepper diced into half inch pieces

2-4 cloves garlic, whole

1 onion diced

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 can red enchilada sauce

corn tortillas

Jack or Pepper Jack or Jack/Cheddar shredded

cilantro, avocado, and sour cream for serving

1. Preheat oven to 400*

2. Toss sweet potatoes and garlic cloves with enough olive oil to make them glisten. Sprinkle with salt. Roast for 15-20 min until soft enough to poke with a fork, but not mashable. Dice garlic finely,

3. Toss zucchini, peppers, and onions with enough olive oil to make them glisten. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 10-15 min until soft enough to poke with a fork.

4. Turn oven down to 350*

5. Mix all the vegetables, beans, 1/4-ish C of red sauce, and a couple handfuls of cheese together.

6. Fill tortillas with scant 1/4 C of mix and a sprinkle of cheese. Roll them up and lay them seam side down in a pan.

7. When your pan is full, pour some enchilada sauce over the enchilada sauce and sprinkle with more cheese. Bake for 25-35 min until everything is bubbly. Immediately top with chopped cilantro. Serve with avocados and sour cream. 

Makes about 2 9x13 in pans of enchiladas. I think total there were 26 enchiladas. My kids ate 1-2 and we ate 2-3. 

I made one pan and froze the rest of the mix and kept the second half of the enchilada sauce in my fridge. The next week I thawed the veggie mix, added some left over rice that had no other destiny than the trash can, and filled some more tortillas. I've made similar enchiladas with a cup of frozen corn I tossed on with the roasting veggies. You could also roast a jalapeno or anaheim if you want more heat. You could add some spinach.