"Lighter" Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

Chicken and Wild Rice soup is something of a tradition in the Kubitz/Mahannah household. The Luther cafeteria always had it for Sunday brunch and after a hearty night of drinking, this was some sort of comfort food for my dear Ryan. I didn't try chicken and wild rice soup until much later in life and have found that it's damn tasty stuff.

I found this recipe on Recipezaar and the person who posted this adapted it from Cooking Light magazine. I added a twist of my own and could think of a couple other ways to tweak this recipe for the better.

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup Recipe

1 hour 15 min prep
SERVES 8
1 cup uncooked quick-cooking wild rice (** I had some leftover cooked wild and brown rice in my fridge, so I just dumped it in - it was about 2 1/2 cups worth)
1 T. olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 grated carrots
3 cups reduced-sodium fat-free chicken broth
1 1/2 cups cubed peeled baking potatoes (that's about 2 large potatoes)
3 cups 2% low-fat milk
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
10 oz. sharp cheddar cheese
2 cups chopped roasted cooked boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 2 breasts)
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt

Cook rice according to package directions, omitting salt and fat.

Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Saute onion and garlic in oil - saute for about three minutes. Grate carrots into the mixture. Add broth and potato; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes or until potato is tender.

Combine milk and flour, stirring well with a whisk. Add the milk mixture to potato mixture; cook 5 minutes or until slightly thick, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; add cheese, stirring until cheese melts. Stir in rice, chicken, pepper, and salt. Garnish with parsley, if desired.

A couple of notes ... the original recipe called for 10 oz. of light processed cheese (think Velveeta Light), but I didn't have any on hand so I used sharp cheddar. Which since I'm trying to avoid processed food, I thought this was a good call. Also - I think that you could use 1% milk and get similar results and further reduce your fat content. One more thing - I think that you could put chopped celery in the soup as well for additional veg.

Fear Conquered! Champagne Vinegar

Don't get me wrong - vinegar is a good friend of mine. From eating cucumbers soaked in white vinegar and sprinkled with sugar to a childhood trick of rinsing my freshly washed hair with vinegar, I try to have a bottle hanging around my kitchen (mostly for cleaning out the coffee pot). I actually have a couple bottles - some plain white vinegar and a bottle of balsamic vinegar. Well yesterday, I added another one to my pantry ... champagne vinegar.

According to the Cook's Thesaurus: "This light and mild vinegar is a good choice if you're want to dress delicately flavored salads or vegetables. Mix it with nut or truffle oil to make a sublime vinaigrette."

I bought champagne vinegar for a vinaigrette recipe that I saw on the Barefoot Contessa. Prior to watching that episode, I was kind of afraid of trying to make my own dressing. More about my dressing later, but for now champagne vinegar is a fear conquered.

The Omnivore's 100

omnivore - noun - 1. a person who eats all kinds of foods; 2. an animal that feeds on both animal and vegetable substances.

I'm trolling food blogs this morning at the cab company and came across this list on Sweet Charity Pie's blog. I'm a little late on this phenomenon, but I decided to play anyway.

Here’s what you're supposed to do:
1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating. (I've italicized them)
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:
1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding (the words black and pudding together kind of scare me)
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects (believe me ... it was not intentional)
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst (this just sounds wrong)
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam (is it wrong that I LURVE Spam casserole? Topped with potato chips?)
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

Roasted Chickpeas

I've been on a health kick lately and was super excited when I saw this recipe for roasted chickpeas. Mostly because I love chickpeas. I eat them straight from the can, I eat them in hummus - I just love chickpeas.

Roasted chickpeas? Not so much. A) They take for freakin' EVER to roast and B) I'm worried that if I eat them that I'm going to do some serious damage to that uncrowned root canal in the back of my mouth. Strange - I know, but these puppies are CRUNCHY!

Who knows - this might trip someone else's trigger. I might even make them in the future for a party, but I'm afraid of the lawsuits that might ensue for the resulting dental work needed in my friends and loved ones.

Here is the recipe from AllRecipes.com.

Breakfast Casserole

I suck and I'm blurry

I found this recipe on Recipezaar.com when I was searching for some brunch recipes in anticipation of company.

Yeeaaah - although Ryan ate the leftovers and my friend Anne assured me that it was a good casserole - I thought it stunk. Especially when I went to my mom's house the next day and had a taste of her egg casserole. That was what egg bake should be - mine was a runny, icky mess that was redeemed by copious amounts of cheddar cheese and plenty of bacon.

The problem was that the recipe called to sit overnight and I think if I made this again, I would have not had it sit overnight and that I would have just made it the morning of.

Let me know if any of you have better success.


Overnight Breakfast Casserole
from Recipezaar.com

1 lb. bacon, cooked crisp and chopped
1/2 lb. of sausage, cooked (I used Italian turkey sausage)

Cook both of these ... I did it separately so I could use the bacon grease for sauteeing stuff.

While your meat is cooking, lightly toast chunks of white bread. Enough to line the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan. (I used French bread, my mom told me I should have just used plain ol' white bread.) Also - start choppping up:

1/2 onion
8 oz. of mushrooms

When the bacon was done, I sauteed these both in the bacon grease. Oh man that was good.

After your bread is done toasting, put it in the 9 x 13 pan. Then grab a large mixing bowl and whisk together 8 eggs and 4 c. of milk. Add to this 1 T of dijon mustard (I used horseradish mustard because it's all I had ...)

When the veg is done, dump that over the toasted bread in the 9 x 13 pan. Top with 1 chopped tomato. Then pour the egg mixture over all. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Next day: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Top casserole with about 1/2 c-1 c. of cheddar cheese. Bake for 45 minutes or until eggs are set. This could take longer than 45 minutes.

Like I said - not my favorite. Much love to my friends and company for actually eating this crap!

25 Culinary Things About Me

There's been a list floating around Facebook lately that's been a riot to participate in and to read. It's called "25 things about me" and the basic premise is that you tell folks 25 random things about yourself and then tag 25 other friends to participate. So I thought I'd riff on it a little bit and tell you all a bit about me in the cooking world. I don't have 25 blogging buddies to tag with, but if anyone wants to participate - just leave it in the comments!

1. I love cooked carrots, but I cannot stand them raw.
2. The first time I ever ate avocado I was in 5th grade, visiting relatives in California. My cousin Sharon and I split a crepe and she insisted that we get the one with guacamole in it. I love you cousin Sharon!
3. That trip was also the first time I ever tried feta cheese.
4. I would love to author a cookbook someday
5. I would love to blow an inordinate amount of money on a proper chef's knife - but I probably won't. The set from Ikea has done me good.
6. I wish that my grandma Sophie would have lived longer so I could have learned recipes from her. I also wish that I would have paid more attention when my great-grandma Florence was alive. I could have learned a lot from so many of my relatives.
7. I like cake, but I hate wedding cake. I think wedding cake is overrated, which is why Ryan and I are having a dessert table at our reception.
8. My favorite candy is Bit O Honey.
9. I love trying new beers and find that any amber is a friend of mine.
10. I hope that when Ryan and I decide to have kids that we will have a little girl so I can teach her how to cook. But if we have all boys, one of them is going to learn how to cook and I'm going to raise a miniature Mario Batali. :)
11. I don't know what I think about the organic craze, but I think I will care when we have kids.
12. The best meal I ever ate was a several course affair that I ate 10 years ago. The restaurant was in Rome - I think the name was Papa Re's, but I could be wrong. We had several different courses, chased down with many, many pitchers of wine (that came from a tap in the wall.) The meal lasted about two or three hours and I've never experienced anything that good since then.
13. When I tell Ryan I want to visit places, it's usually because it's been featured on some show on Food Network and I want to try their barbeque, or their custard, or whatever regional speciality they have on hand.
14. I love sauerkraut.
15. Holy shit ... I still have 10 more?
16. I have a vast collection of cookbooks and I haven't cracked open over half of them.
17. I like collecting antique cookbooks - my grandma Boots and I once had a random discussion where we talked about how different cookbooks are nowadays as opposed to cookbooks from the 1950s-1970s.
18. I didn't eat spinach until I was in college.
19. My favorite food at the Luther College cafeteria was from the vegetarian line. The vegetarian chili and lasagna were both to die for.
20. I was a vegetarian for a whole year when I was in junior high. It was right after River Phoenix died ... I was so bummed that he had OD'd that I announced to my parents (the pork farmer father, incidentally) that I would no longer eat meat. It lasted a year. Maybe less. After that I didn't eat a lot of red meat and went through a chicken phase.
21. I didn't appreciate how awesome the food was when I was growing up. We were farmers so the pork we ate came from our own farm and when I was a kid, my mom canned tomatoes and froze corn. I don't think I ever had it as good as I did when I was growing up.
22. I really love a good steak.
23. I got food poisoning at a newspaper conference in September 2000. The chicken wasn't cooked properly and I was convinced that I was going to die. But after I emptied my stomach of all things terrible, I went to my friend Tony's house and proceeded to drink lots of beer.
24. I don't know what my favorite dessert is.
25. I have never made peanut butter cookies - I don't know if I ever will.

Insta-Love: Leinenkugel's Amber Classic

File this under a reason that I'm jealous of Wisconsin: They're the first in the nation to try a new year-round beer produced by Leinenkugel's brewery.

Leine's is known for their seasonal beers (1880 Bock is one of the newest ... HEAVEN! Berry Weiss is a quintessential summer brew) and all of Leine's brews have made appearances in the Kubitz/Mahannah refrigerator.

Today's Star Tribune featured an article announcing a new year-round beer from my favorite brewery. It will be called Amber Classic and I cannot wait until March 1 when it goes national.