A personal kitchen diary. I try new recipes and make notes on what works and what doesn't. Sometimes I can things, and sometimes I dry herbs. This is the story of my kitchen.
Ingredients 4-5 bone in chicken thighs (if they have skin on them, pull off and discard) 2 cups blended roasted green chilis 2 cups chicken broth 1 small onion, diced 2 garlic cloves, minced 1 tsp kosher salt 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin 1 1/2 …
It was a fridge foraging day yesterday, and this was a pretty good result. It could be improved upon, maybe simply with a longer simmer. 1 pound raw shrimp, shelled and deveined 2 links andouille sausage, in 1/2 inch slices 1/2 cup diced celery 1/2 …
Pasta e Fagioli Soup
1 lb ground beef
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 medium yellow onion
2 carrots, peeled and diced
2 stalks celery, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
3/4 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
1 15 oz can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 15 oz can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 15 oz can tomato sauce
1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
(or equivalent in home canned tomatoes and Rotel—but don’t replace all with Rotel or it will be too spicy)
4 cups chicken stock
3/4 cup ditalini pasta
In large dutch oven over medium heat, thoroughly brown the ground beef. Season the beef with salt and pepper to taste as you brown it. Drain and remove from the pot.
Add 1 tablespoon oil to the pot and turn up the heat slightly. Add the onions, carrots, and celery, and sauté 5-6 minutes until slightly softened—do not brown the onions. Add the garlic and stir until the fragrance is released, about 30 seconds.
Add the herb mixture and stir together, again releasing the fragrance. You are slightly toasting the herbs, but be sure not to burn them. Stir back in the ground beef, and then add all the remaining ingredients except for the pasta.
Bring the soup to a boil, and then lower the heat and cover the pot. Simmer 1-2 hours. Check the vegetables to your taste and texture, as well as the broth for any additional salt and pepper seasoning. When you are close to wanting to serve it, add 3/4 cup ditalini, recover the pot and simmer for 7 minutes.
Let’s get started. Just don’t call it a Cuban Black Bean soup. The ingredient list is short 1 lb dry black beans 1 medium yellow onion, finely diced 1 green bell pepper, finely diced 3 cloves garlic, minced ham hocks 1/2 cup olive oil 2 …
Beans: 1 lb Great Northern dried beans 1 bay leaf 1 stalk celery 1 medium onion Chili: 2 lbs cooked chicken 1 T olive oil medium onions, chopped 4 cloves garlic, minced 2 4 oz cans mild chopped green chiles 2 tsp ground cumin 1 …
1/2 lb pork Italian Sweet Sausage, rolled into small balls.
1 small yellow onion, peeled and diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
Olive oil
2 cups chicken broth
2 cups tomato sauce
2 cups white beans
2 or 3 cups roughly chopped sturdy spinach or other greens
Salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, paprika, Italian seasoning mix, to taste
Heat olive oil (maybe two tablespoons?) over medium heat, then gently brown the meatballs and remove.
Add diced onion, and cook about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Try not to brown them, just soften them. Add the minced garlic and stir about a minute, until fragrant, and add the red pepper flakes. A generous pinch. Stir in the tomato sauce and chicken broth, bring to a simmer.
Add the meatballs and let them simmer about 10 min. Stir in paprika, salt, pepper, Italian seasoning mix, to taste. Seriously, I basically shook some in, tasted the broth, decided if I needed more, and so on. Add two cups of white beans of your choice. If they are canned, drain and rinse before adding.
Gently stir and let simmer for another five minutes, then stir in the spinach just until wilted.
Notes from my no recipe experiment.
1. I made Rancho Gordo Cassoulet beans the day before, and those are the beans I used. They are simply delicious, and cooking on low in the crockpot is my favorite new way of cooking beans. I threw in some celery and a bay leaf.
2. I made my own Italian Sweet Sausage mix, but I think any sweet sausage will be fine. With the red pepper flakes and paprika, it had plenty of heat, so I wouldn’t add a hot italian sausage.
3. I used a sweet smoked paprika—it really makes a difference to have a high quality paprika.
Crockpot Ham and Beans 1 lb dry Great Northern Beans, rinsed and sorted Leftover ham, ham hocks, or leftover hambone 2 carrots, peeled, trimmed, and cut in half 1 stalk celery, cut in thirds 1 onion, peeled and quartered 1 bay leaf 6 cups chicken …
Merri’s Saturday Chili 1 lb 80% lean ground beef 1 yellow onion, chopped 1-2 cloves garlic, minced Chili spice mix (see below) 1 can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed 1 can diced tomatoes (do not drain) 1 quart tomato juice (mine was home-canned) Chili …
Crockpot Butternut Squash Soup
1 butternut squash (appx 2 lbs) peeled and seeded, halved and quartered. Very big pieces are fine.
1 medium yellow onion, peeled and diced
4 cloves garlic, peeled
3 cups chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon each: ground ginger, cumin, coriander, paprika (I used s semi-sweet smoked paprika)
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Olive oil to taste
To serve:
Fresh lemon juice
roasted pumpkin seeds (or clean and roast the squash seeds)
Sambal Oelek
Add the squash, onion, garlic, and spices to the slow cooker. Drizzle olive oil over, and turn veggies and spices to cover. Pour over the chicken broth and cover. Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8.
Use an immersion blender and blend right in the slow cooker.
Right before serving, squeeze in some lemon juice and stir, and garnish as you like.
Sweet Potato Coconut Soup 2 1bs (about 2) sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided 1 medium yellow onion, chopped 1 leek, sliced and chopped 1 red chili (or two small chilis like me), cut in half, seeding and removing the …