Pizza Soup

A warm, thick soup with the taste of pizza. Sub in your favorite pizza toppings to make it your own.

You'll need:

• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• ½ pounds Sausage
• 1 whole Yellow Onion
• 1 whole Red Onion
• 10 ounces, weight Mushrooms
• 4 cloves Garlic
• 1 teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper
• 1 teaspoon Oregano
• 1 teaspoon Thyme
• 1 whole Green Pepper
• 2 cans Diced Tomatoes, 14 Oz
• 1 can Tomato Paste, 8 Oz
• 6 cups Water
• 1-¾ cup Flour
• 2 teaspoons Baking Powder
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1 Tablespoon Sugar
• ½ cups Corn Meal
• 1 cup Milk
• ½ cups Yogurt (Greek Style If Possible)

To do:

Chop the onions, green pepper, and mushrooms.

Crush the garlic into a small bowl and add the crushed red pepper, oregano and thyme. Set aside.

Put a strainer or colander in a bowl large enough to hold it. Pour the cans of tomatoes into the strainer and press with a spoon to extract most of the liquid. Reserve both the tomatoes and the liquid.

Heat 1-2 tsp of olive oil on medium high heat in a dutch oven until just smoking. Add the sausage and brown. When completely browned, remove the sausage to paper towels, leaving the fat in the dutch oven.

Add remaining oil. Add onions to the dutch oven. When just softened (3-5 minutes), add the mushrooms. Cook until the mushrooms and onions are browned. 5-10 minutes more. Add green peppers and saute until fragrant (~1 minute). Add garlic and spices and stir, cook until fragrant as well (~30 seconds).

Add the tomatoes to the pan and stir. Scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Add in reserved tomato juice, tomato paste, and water. Bring to a simmer.

Mix flour, salt, sugar, baking powder, and corn meal in bowl. Add milk and yogurt and mix well.

Drip the dough by small spoonful into the soup. Cook for 10-15 minutes, uncovered.

Serve with shredded cheese.

Dessert: Chess Pie with Pineapple Sauce and Caramel

Made this recipe tonight mostly on a whim. Well, this afternoon into evening. Only real alteration is using my usual blend of 50/50 whole wheat/white flour in the dough.

Very good, though I think I'd bake the pie dough a bit less in the initial part (it was a little dark by the end of the pie baking) and maybe whisk the egg mixture a bit better (it was, perhaps a bit textured). Or maybe leave out the corn meal (not sure what it's doing there...) or use Real Buttermilk instead of my usual substitute of slightly curdled (via lemon juice) normal milk.

But! I've got caramel down now.

Mole Chicken or is it Chicken Mole

I've fallen in love with Cook's Illustrated's line of cook books. They have very good recipes along with cooking tips/styles to help make sure things come out right. This one is adapted from their The Best International Recipe: Chicken Mole

You'll need:

• 2 Ancho Chiles
• Olive oil (~3 tbsp)
• 1 medium onion, minced
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp ground cloves
• 1 oz dark chocolate, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced or put through a garlic press
• 2 c chicken broth
• 2 cup diced tomatoes (or 1 can)
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 2 tbsp sesame seeds
• 1/4 c tahini
• ~1 lbs chicken breasts, skin/bones removed. If large, slice to 1/2-3/4" thick

To do:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees.
• Place chiles on a baking sheet and bake for 5-7 minutes, until puffed
• Remove chiles to cool, leave oven on.
• When chiles are cool, break into small pieces after removing stem and seeds
• Heat oil in skillet on medium head until shimmering
• Add onion and saute until soft, 5-7 minutes
• Add chile pieces, cinnamon, cloves, and chocolate and cook until chocolate is bubbly, about 2 mins
• Add garlic and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds
• Add in broth, tomatoes,raisins, sesame seeds, and tahini and cook for 10 minutes stirring occasionally
• Transfer to a blender or food processor and process until smooth, about 20-30 seconds
• You can let the sauce cool and keep it in the fridge at this point for a few days
• Set oven to 400 degrees
• Pat the chicken dry and season with salt and pepper
• Arrange chicken in the bottom of a shallow baking dish
• Pour sauce over the chicken, turning the pieces to make sure they are coated.
• Bake uncovered for 35-45 minutes
• Remove chicken from oven and tent with foil, let rest for 5-10 minutes
• Serve and enjoy

And bad me for not updating recently. Will try to be more regular.

Slow Cooker Beef Vindaloo

Tried this one out this weekend to much success. Inspired from the Lamb Vindaloo recipe in Cover & Bake.

You'll need:

• ~5 lbs of boneless beef roast, trimmed, cut into 1 1/2" cubes
• salt and pepper
• 2 tbsp olive oil, divided
  
• 3 onions, chopped medium
  
• 8 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
  
• 2 tbsp paprika
• 1 tbsp cumin
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 1/2 c chicken broth, divided
• ~14 oz chopped tomatoes
• 2 tbsp wine (red preferred, I used the white zin we had in the fridge because we don't drink white zin.)
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/4 c flour
• 1/4 c fresh cilantro, chopped

And to make it:

• Dry meat and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
• Heat 2 tsp oil in skillet until just smoking over medium-high heat
  
• Drop half of meat into skillet and sear without stirring for 4 minutes or so
• Stir meat and continue to cook until browned, 3-5 minutes more
• Transfer meat to slow cooker
  
• Repeat with other half of meat (I had to do 3 passes, as I had a 10" skillet rather than a 12")
  
• When all the meat is browned and in the slow cooker, heat remaining oil over medium heat in the skillet until just smoking
• Add onions and cook until soft and browned, scraping the bottom of the pan, about ten minutes
  
• Add garlic, paprika, cumin, and cayenne. Cook until fragrent, <1 minute
• Add 2 c of the broth, tomatoes, wine, and sugar, scraping the bottom of the pan again
• Turn heat to high and bring to a boil
• Transfer to slow cooker
• Cover and cook in the slow cooker on low for 6-7 hours (on high for 4-5 hours)
• Set the slow cooker to high if it's not there already
• Mix remaining 1/2c of broth with flour
• Whisk flour mixture into the slow cooker and let cook for 10-15 minutes, until thickened
• Add cilantro and serve over rice

Makes about 8-12 servings. WW data unavailable simply because the type of roast you use will vary the fat content a lot. I used a fairly lean roast and we guessed at somewhere between 5 and 7 points per serving.

Chicken and Rice with Mushrooms and Green Beans

This is another one based heavily on the Cover and Bake book.

You'll need:

• 10 oz of boneless, skinless chicken breast fillets (mine were cut into 4 pieces)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion
• 10 oz mushrooms (I used canned, I think it would be better with fresh button 'shrooms) cut into quarters
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 1/2 cups wild rice (I used a long-grain brown and wild rice blend)
• 1/2 c white wine
• 3 1/2 c chicken broth
• 1/2 lbs fresh green beans, trimmed and broken into 2" sticks
• 4 oz semi-soft cheese (I used co-jack. It might have been a bit mild)

And to do:

• Pat chicken dry and sprinkle with salt and pepper
• Heat old in (12") skillet until just smoking
• Place chicken in skillet and sear until brown, about 4 minutes
• Flip chicken and sear until brown, another 3-4 minutes
• Remove chicken from skillet and place on a plate. 
• Remove all by 2 tbsp of the grease from the pan
• Heat over medium heat
• Add onion, mushrooms, and garlic and stir the browned bits off the bottom of the skillet
• Cook until the mushrooms give off their juice, about 8-10 minutes (Note: if you do use canned mushrooms, you won't get this effect and it will dry out a bit)
• Add rice and cook until it starts to turn translucent, 3 or 4 minutes
• Add wine and broth and bring to a simmer
• Set the chicken down on the mixture and cover
• Simmer for 15 minutes or until chicken is about 160 degrees in the center
• Transfer chicken to a plate and cover with foil
• Add beans and stir, mixing well.
• Cover and simmer for another 10 minutes, until beans and rice are tender.
• Stir in cheese
• Serve

For the WW curious, assuming 6 servings of rice, that's about 6 points, the chicken will add a point per oz.  (I ended up with 6 services of rice-and-beans and 4 of chicken.)

Kung Pao Shrimp with Rice

So I was staring into the freezer looking for what meat I was going to use for dinner's stir fry and saw shrimp, which needed used. So was born Kung Pao Shrimp:

Ingredients:

• 1 bag (14oz) raw shrimp, shelled and deveined.
• 2 tbsp mirin (sweetened rice wine)
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp corn starch dissolved into 1 tbsp water
• 1 tsp hot chili paste (adjust to level of required spice)
• 1 tsp rice viengar
• 2 tsp brown sugar
• 1 onion, sliced
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 carrots, peeled and sliced 
• 1/2 c water
  

I like the onion and carrots sliced into sticks, but pick your favorite veggie shapes.
To do:

• Mix the mirin, soysauce, 1 tbsp oil, cornstarch/water, chili paste, vinegar and sugar in a small bowl. Set aside
• Heat 1 tsp oil in skillet until shimmering on medium to medium high heat. Saute shrimp until they turn pink on both sides. Place in a bowl and set aside. Wipe skillet clean.
  
• Heat remaining oil in skillet until shimmering on medium heat. Add onions and garlic. Cook until translucent.
• Add carrots and shrimp back to pan. Add sauce mixture and water. Simmer until the sauce has thickened.
• Serve with rice.

For the WW included, it's 5 points plus rice (1 c white rice is 4 pts.) Inspired by this  Kung Pao Chicken recipe.

Chicken Tortilla Cassarole

Sorry for the lag posting. Busy as school starts. But without further ado, Chicken Tortilla Cassarole. (From Cover and Bake)

You'll need:

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped fine
• 2 red bell peppers, stemmed, seeded, and diced
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 4 medium garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 2 chipotle chiles in adobo sauce and 2 tsp sauce (canned)
• 2 cans (15.5 oz) pinto beans, rinsed and drained
• ~2 cups fresh tomatoes, chopped
• 2 lbs chicken breast, cut into 1/2" cubes
• 1/4 cup cilantro
• 2 tbsp line juice
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 18 corn tortillas
• 12 oz shredded cheese (mexican variety or chedder and jack cheeses blended)

To do:

• Preheat oven to 300
• Heat oil in a Dutch oven until shimmering
• Add onion, bell pepper, cumin, chili powder and salt. Stir until soft, about 10 minutes
• Add Garlic and cook about a minute, until fragrent
• Add flour and cook, stirring constantly, until golden, about another minute
• Whisk in broth and bring to simmer
  
• Add chipotle, sauce, beans, and tomatoes
• Simmer for about 5 minutes
• Add chicken, cook until no longer pink, about another 4-5 minutes
• Stir in cilantro and lime juice
• Spray both sides of the tortillas with cooking spray
• Lay them on baking sheets and heat in oven for 5 minutes
• Remove tortillas from oven and turn oven to 450
• Spread 1/3 of the chicken mixture on the bottom of a 9x13 pan
• Layer 6 tortillas over the chicken mixture
• Sprinkle 1 1/2 cups of cheese over the tortillas
• Repeat to make a second layer
• Spread remaining chicken mixture in the dish
• Cut remaining tortillas into quarters and spread over the top
• Sprinkle remaining cheese
• Back for 15 minutes
• Let cool for 10 minutes before serving

Using 2% cheese, it's about 8 points/serving in WW. Makes 8 servings.