recipes – Page 7 – Annie DeMoranville

Instant Pot Easy Chicken Noodle Soup

Cool weather has settled in and I’ve had a pot of soup on most days. Today I felt like some simple, quick chicken noodle.

Easy Chicken Noodle Soup

8 cups water
12 oz sliced carrots (I used frozen)
2 stalks of celery, sliced
1 lb boneless chicken breast, cubed
1/2 onion, diced
2 tsp crushed garlic
2 tsp dried poultry seasoning
salt and pepper to taste
8 oz egg noodles

electric pressure cooker (instant pot, multi-pot, etc), blender

In the blender, add 4 cups water, 1 stalk of celery, and 6 oz of the carrots, blend until smooth. Add mixture to the instant pot, along with remaining water, chicken, vegetables and seasoning. Cover and cook on soup setting for 30 minutes.

Depressurize, add egg noodles, and set to saute setting, cooking uncovered for 10 minutes or until the noodles are tender. Add more salt and pepper as needed.

x-posted at What’s 4 Dinner Solutions

How To Brown Ground Beef And Bonus Blueberry Crisp

Let’s talk about browning ground beef. I had someone tell me they hated ground beef because of the texture and flavor. But they like hamburgers…a lot.

I then assumed it was because of the way they were browning their ground beef. Often folks just put it in a pan, break it up, and heat it through until it is completely cooked. Then add it to whatever they are making: tacos, spaghetti sauce, chili, etc.

This can leave you with gummy, flavorless pebbles in your meal. Instead, let’s use the Maillard Reaction to create better ground beef. (See a good explanation here)

To make a flavorful ground beef with good texture, start with the raw meat.

Season it with salt, pepper and whatever spices you’ll be using in the meal – Italian spices, Chili spices, taco seasonings, etc. and generous amounts of salt and pepper. Mix it into the beef well.

Next, spread the mixture into the skillet – flatten it like you’re making a very large hamburger and turn on the heat. Medium-high.

Important – leave it alone! Let it cook on one side until it has a deep crust on it – reduced to medium heat if it looks like it might burn. You want it browned, not burned.

Once it’s completely browned with a nice crust, turn it over. I usually break it into three to four pieces to flip easily. Now repeat the browning process. Once it is fully browned on both sides, use a spatula or a metal pastry cutter to create larger crumbles of meat. These will be full of flavor and a good texture to complement any sauce or seasoning.

I wanted to make Crisp to celebrate Autumn. I went with Blueberry Crisp (recipe here) because I was enjoying slicing and eating my apples. I’ll pick up some Macintosh if I can find them for crisp next week.

x-posted at What’s 4 Dinner Solutions

September Grilling: Cantanzaro Chicken and Tuscan Panzanella Salad

Tonight’s menu features the Cantanzaro spice mix. Cantanzaro is a city in Italy. So there are a lot of herbs this Italian girl recognizes: marjoram, basil, thyme, rosemary and oregano. And garlic, lots of garlic. But the kicker is the lemon and lemon peel.

It’s all very fresh for late summer/early fall harvest and great for grilling. Then I’ve added a fresh take on how to use the last of those fresh tomatoes. And just because I’m feeling ambitious, I included Gelato recipes.

On the board tonight:

Grilled Cantanzaro Herbed Chicken Breasts
Grilled Potatoes and Peppers (recipe here)
Tuscan Panzanella Salad (recipe here)*
Gelato (recipes here)

*the recipe calls for bread bowls, but with this meal, I served it over a bed of bibb lettuce.

Grilled Cantanzaro Herbed Chicken Breast

1 to 1-1/2 lb boneless chicken breasts
2 tsp each: garlic powder, dried marjoram, basil, oregano, thyme and rosemary,
1 tbsp lemon peel
1 cup lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

grill, marinade container

Butterfly chicken breasts (slicing them open down the center so they lie flat like butterfly wings). Place them in between two pieces of plastic wrap, and pound until they are about 1/2 inch thick – you don’t want them much thinner because they will dry out on the grill.

Crush together the dry herbs. You can do it with your fingers or use a mortar and pestle. Combine with the lemon peel.

Place chicken breasts in a shallow container with a lid (I love my pyrex containers for this). Sprinkle 1/2 the herbs over the chicken, flip, and sprinkle the remaining over the other side. Cover with lemon juice (start with 1/2 cup and use up to a cup to get coverage).

Marinate for at least 30 minutes to an hour.

Grill quickly over high heat to get a good sear on both sides, reduce heat (or remove the chicken from directly over a coal fire, to the side of the grill), and grill over low heat until the internal temperature is about 160 degrees F. Once removed from the grill, tent loosely with foil and it will quickly reach an internal temperature of 165 without drying out. Because they are thin, this will not take long, so keep an eye on them.

x-posted at What’s 4 Dinner Solutions

Life Is Short…Eat Ice Cream!

Ice Cream or Gelato? Why not both?!

Yummy Vanilla Nut Crunch can be found here.

And two Strawberry Ice Cream recipes here.

I have also made plenty of gelatos. It is definitely one of my favorite styles of ice cream. Smooth, creamy and not as heavy as many full cream styles.

Pictured above, Chocolate Hazelnut Gelato – one of my favorites. Recipe here.

Gelato starts with a good base that you can then add any number of flavors to:

Gelato di Crema (Gelato Plain Base)

2 cups whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
4 large egg yolk
2/3 cup sugar

In a heavy-bottom saucepan, combine the milk and cream. Place over medium-low heat and cook, stirring occasionally so a skin doesn’t form, until tiny bubbles start to form around the edges and the mixture reaches a temperature of 170°F.

Meanwhile, in a medium heat-proof bowl, whisk the egg yolks until smooth. Gradually whisk in the sugar until it is well incorporated and the mixture is thick and pale yellow. Temper* the egg yolks by very slowly pouring in the hot milk mixture while whisking continuously. Return the custard to the saucepan and place over low heat. Cook, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon, until the custard is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon and it reaches a temperature of 185°F. Do not bring to a boil.

*The best way to temper is to add a tablespoon at a time until you’ve added about 1/4 cup. Then you can add a full ladle at a time, slowly.

For Vanilla Gelato: Just before freezing the gelato, mix in the vanilla and then add to the ice cream freezer. Use 2-3 teaspoons of vanilla extract depending on how intense you like your vanilla flavor.

More flavor treats: Dutch Chocolate Gelato (here)

Key Lime Gelato (so refreshing) here

So before summer slips away, time to make some ice cream treats.

x-posted at What’s 4 Dinner Solutions

Put The Lime In The Coconut…Bars

So I had another birthday not too long ago and there was much celebrating. I prefer a Key Lime Pie (recipe here) to cake on my birthday. But this year, I decided to go with Key Lime Bars instead. Easier to transport and package up as ‘thank-yous’ to various folks.

This time, I had just a few extra coconut shreds, so instead of storing them, I decided to toast them and add them to the top after I removed the bars from the oven.

Key Lime Coconut Bars

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (approx 28 squares)
3 heaping tablespoons shredded coconut
4 tbsp butter, melted
8 oz pk cream cheese, softened
14 oz can sweetened condensed milk (I use fat free)
1/4 cup Key Lime juice or regular limejuice
1 tbsp lime zest
1/2 tsp lemon extract (opt)
1 lime, sliced into thin slices, then quarter

9×9 glass baking dish, mixing bowl and 36 cupcake papers

Heat oven to 350ºF. Grease square pan, 9x9x2 inches.

Mix graham cracker crumbs, coconut and butter thoroughly with fork. Press evenly in bottom of pan. Refrigerate while preparing cream cheese mixture. Beat cream cheese in small bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in milk until smooth. Beat in lime juice, lemon extract and lime peel. Pour into pan, spreading evenly over crust. Bake about 35 minutes or until center is set. Cool 30 minutes on rack, then cover loosely and refrigerate at least 3 hours until chilled. Cut into 24 to 36 pieces, place in cupcake papers and top with lime quarters.

x-posted at What’s 4 Dinner Solutions