Broccoli & Cheddar Chicken Soup #2

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This is a lighter variety using more commonly available ingredients.

Boneless, skinless chicken breasts are used to develop a fond and enrich the soup base. The chicken may be diced and added to the soup, or served as part of a side dish.

Ingredients

  • 1lb (approx) Boneless, skinless chicken breast
  • 1 medium head broccoli, diced (about 2 cups)
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 2 carrots, diced
  • 2 ribs celery diced
  • 2 or 3 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
  • 6 cups chicken broth
  • ½ cup dry vermouth
  • 3 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 ½ cup cheddar cheese shredded
  • ½ cup half and half
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
  • 1 teaspoon fine ground black pepper, or to taste

Directions

Oil and season chicken breasts. The breasts will be pan seared to create a fond for the soup, and may be diced for the soup or used in a side dish.

Heat 3 tbsp olive oil in a 5 quart pot over medium-high heat. Sear breasts 5 minutes per side until a fond forms. Remove breasts and set aside.

Lower heat to medium and add 2 tbsp unsalted butter, stirring to prevent scorching or browning. Add diced onion, diced carrot and diced celery. Saute over medium heat until softened, about 10 minutes. Clear a space in the middle of the pan and add minced garlic, sauté 1 or 2 minutes until fragrant and soft, but not browned.

Deglaze with ½ cup dry vermouth.

Add 6 cups chicken broth, 3 tbsp soy sauce and broccoli. Raise to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 25 to 30 minutes, until vegetables are softened.

With an immersion blender, puree broth and vegetables until larger vegetables are reduced. Alternatively, allow the soup to cool and puree in a blender. Return puréed soup to pot and raise heat.

Add Cheddar cheese in handfuls, stirring to combine thoroughly. Slowly add ½ cup half & half stirring continuously.

Serve topped with sour cream, chives, cheddar and/or bacon bits.

Bloody Mary mix #1

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Makes approximately 750mL of Bloody Mary mix.

This has an intense salty and savory flavor by itself which it is normally diluted into a cocktail.

Ingredients

  • 500mL V8 or tomato juice
  • 100mL beef broth
  • 50mL dry vermouth
  • 50mL Worcestershire sauce
  • 25mL soy sauce
  • 25mL lime juice
  • 6 dashes fish sauce
  • 6 dashes hot sauce
  • 2 tsp prepared horseradish
  • 1 tsp celery salt
  • 1 tsp celery seed
  • ½ tsp ground oregano
  • ½ tsp ground black pepper
  • ½ tsp granulated garlic
  • ½ tsp granulated onion
  • ¼ tsp smoked paprika
  • Salt to taste

Combine ingredients in a jar and shake well. Rest 30 minutes before serving to allow dry ingredients to rehydrate.

Store refrigerated up to 1 week.

Sourdough Buttermilk Pancakes

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This is an excellent use for discarded sourdough starter. This recipe yields a fluffy and spongy pancake with balanced complexity and firm chew.

The starter should be unfed.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup sourdough starter
  • 1½ cups buttermilk
  • 1 large egg, beaten
  • 2 tablespoons melted butter
  • ½ cup milk, reserved

Directions

Preheat a griddle to 350°F.

Whisk together flour, salt, sugar, baking powder and baking soda in a large bowl.

Combine unfed starter, buttermilk and beaten egg until smooth. Pour over dry ingredients and add melted butter. Fold together until just combined. Add up to ½ cup milk to thin the batter, if necessary.

Ladle ⅓ to ½ cup portions onto the griddle. Batter will form bubbles. Turn over when bubbles have slowed, and cook 1-2 more minutes. May need to turn an additional time if the batter has not cooked through, or the pancake is squishy when probed.

Basic sourdough bread

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Uses a 100% hydration starter (“mother”) ripened and added to a preferment. Also uses an autolyse to hydrate the flour and encourage gluten formation.

This will make an 80% hydration dough based on 1kg total weight of flour among the starter, preferment and bulk flour.

Makes 2 loaves.

Preferment

  • 150g flour
  • 75mL room temperature water
  • 30g ripened (“fed”) starter

Combine in a bowl and allow to rest until doubled in size

Autolyse

  • 850g flour
  • 650mL room temperature water

Combine gently in a large bowl and rest 30 to 60 minutes. Anticipate the dough to double in size.

Dough

  • Preferment, as above
  • Autolysed flour, as above
  • 70mL room temperature water
  • 20g salt

Dissolve 20g salt into 70mL room temperature water. Add the brine to the preferment and combine by pinching the brine into the sponge.

Add the preferment to the autolysed flour, and combine. Knead the dough for 3-5 minutes until smooth and stretchy.

Leave dough in the bowl to ferment. Fermentation can take as little as 4 hours at room temperature to 12 hours while refrigerated. If refrigerated, allow dough to warm to room temperature before shaping.

Divide the dough and shape. Proof the dough until it has doubled in size, again several hours or refrigerated.

Preheat a cast iron dutch oven in a 480°F oven. Transfer the shaped loaves to the dutch oven, being carful not to deflate the loaves or injure hands. Slash the tops of the loaves about 1cm deep with a sharp knife or baker’s lame, and cover the dutch oven. Bake covered 30 minutes at 485°F. Uncover the dutch oven and bake an additional 25 minutes at 450°F until well browned.

Cool 30 minutes on a rack before slicing.

Cracked Hominy Corn Porridge

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Not as smooth as traditional corn grits made from polenta or coarse ground corn meal. This recipe uses cracked hominy corn which needs to be soaked overnight, or simmered.for several hours in a slow cooker or pressure cooker.

Prep time: 8 hours

Cooking time: 1 hour

Ingredients

  • 1 part cracked hominy corn
  • 2 parts water (or broth)
  • 2 parts milk or half & half
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 tbsp butter per cup of hominy

Directions

Combine 1 part cracked corn with 6 parts water and a pinch of salt in a medium bowl, and allow to soak 8 hours or overnight.

Drain and rinse soaked corn. Combine with 2 parts water and 2 parts whole milk. Milk may be substituted entirely or in part with half & half for a creamier product. Add a pinch of salt. Raise to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for 1 hour until corn is soft. Remove from heat and stir in butter.

Serve immediately with honey or syrup, or transfer to a mold and chill.

Adapted from Cooking Methods for Cracked Hominy Corn (Maíz Trillado)

Long Island Iced Tea

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For 1 serving, use 25 mL or ¾ oz measures

  • 1 part neutral vodka
  • 1 part neutral white rum
  • 1 part neutral silver tequila
  • 1 part neutral gin
  • 1 part top-shelf orange curaçao (e.g., Cointreau or Gran Gala)
  • 2 parts sour mix (2 parts 50:50 simple syrup, 1 part lemon juice, 1 part lime juice)
  • Cola to taste

Combine alcohols and sour mix in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake vigorously for 20 seconds, and pour into a pint glass. Top up with cola. Garnish with a citrus round.

Cookies-n-Cream Icebox Cake

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An easy, no-bake cake recipe oozing with rich cookies-n-cream flavors. Made from whipped cream and chocolate wafers and then refrigerated, the cookies absorb liquid from the cream to become soft and cake-like while the cream thickens.

Ingredients

  • 2 boxes Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers (9oz ea.)
  • 1 pint heavy cream
  • 1½ tablespoon confectionary sugar
  • 1½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Try to source two boxes of unbroken wafers. Broken wafers can still be used in to center of the cake.

Combine cream, sugar and vanilla in the bowl of a stand mixer. With a whipping attachment, start mixer on medium-low speed until cream begins to thicken, to prevent splashing. Increase speed and whip cream until soft peaks form. Reserve up to ⅓ of the whipped cream for frosting cake,

Assemble the cake. Place a generous tablespoon sized dollop of cream on the flat underside of each cookie. Press the cookies down on top of the cream, working in layers to your desired pattern (6 point star with a center stack, pictured.) When all of the cookies are used, frost the cake with the reserved whipped cream.

Refrigerate 8 hours, or overnight until the cookies take on a cake-like softness.

Serve chilled. Keep tightly covered up to 1 week.

Beef Jerky Original #3

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Ingredients

  • 2 lb eye round beef
  • 4 oz soy sauce
  • 2 oz Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 oz Tamari soy
  • 2 oz honey
  • ¼ cup Texas BBQ rub
  • ¼ teaspoon Prague Powder #1
  • Water, as needed

Directions

Trim roast of surface fat and silver skin. Freeze roast 45 minutes to an 1 hour before slicing. Slice across the grain into 5mm (about ⅜ in) thick rounds. Split rounds in half, along the fat seam. Trim fat from edges.

Whisk together remaining ingredients, topping up liquid measure to 2 cups with water.

Combine meat and marinade in a gallon freezer bag, and expel any air. Gently massage the contents of the bag to distribute marinate evenly. Place the sealed bag in a bowl to catch any leaks, and refrigerate overnight to 24 hours, massaging occasionally to redistribute marinade.

After marinating, transfer meat to a wire rack, blotting off excess marinade with paper towels. Dehydrate in a food dehydrator, smoker or oven at 165°F until beef is stiff and bends without cracking,8 to 10 hours.