Lentil Soup

We hope all of you had a loving Valentine's week!

We had such a sweet Valentine's Day! The downside was our choice of steaks but the steak sauce from Nigella that we made could have made a pair of Nikes taste delicious! I just love her.

This week has been a real challenge with work and family demands and just plain human fatigue! Plus, I made the mistake of not planning meals so everything was hit or miss. We must have gone to the grocery store a half a dozen times and usually we go once. That's why planning is so important (and even more so if you're busy). Haven't got time to plan? You just can't afford not to! It streamlines your life, keeps you on budget, and meal prep is a joy instead of a thrown-together-at-the-last-minute fiasco!

Another confession concerns my Friday night Polynesian chicken catastophe. I thought I'd try a recipe out of one of Grandma's more obscure cookbooks. The sure sign of recipe success is the amount of wear on the cookbook. If it doesn't have dogeared corners, scribbles, recipe adjustments, and random math calculations in the corners, it wasn't one of Grandma's favorite books. This one was apparently not one of her favorites. First mistake.

Second mistake: Too much ginger.

Third mistake: Grilling with a new cast iron grill pan...inadequately seasoned

Fourth mistake: Cooking a meal when no one was even home! Why?

Those are all the mistakes I can think of at the moment. Suffice it to say I spent the better part of Friday night scrubbing my new cast iron grill pan with a nylon scrub pad. My kitchen window will testify to that. I had to scrub that on Saturday morning. Ewwww!

On Sunday when we did our weekly fridge cleaning, my dear husband cut up the Polynesian debacle and we sampled a few bites. It actually didn't taste bad chilled and I thought it might be great atop an Asian variety salad. The disaster ended up okay after all.

So that's my week. Just like everyone else, mine don't always work out as expected! Such is life!

I will admit that my lesson learned from no planning last week began with a plan this week--hearty soups will be on the menu and I might even try some bread recipes to go along with them--in the bread maker, of course.

So this week is going to be great...I just know it!

Lentil Soup

1 cup dry lentils
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon cooking oil
3 cans beef broth (or 4 cups homemade)
½ can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
¼ teaspoon cumin
¼ teaspoon thyme
¼ teaspoon pepper

sea salt
1 bay leaf
½ cup carrots, chopped
½ cup celery, chopped
1 pound smoked beef sausage, sliced (opt.)

Rinse lentils thoroughly and set aside. In Dutch oven, heat oil and cook onion and garlic until tender. Stir in lentils, broth, ½ can of tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, cumin, thyme, pepper. Add bay leaf. Bring to boiling then reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Add carrot and celery and bring to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer again for 20 minutes. Add water if necessary to reach desired consistency.  Cook until lentils, carrots and celery are tender.  If using meat, stir in last and heat through. Add sea salt to taste. Pull out bay leaf before serving. 6 hearty servings.

Layered Mexican Casserole

Here's a mild but hearty "Mexican" casserole that could be spiced up if you have the palate for it. Grandpa wasn't big on spicy food and Grandma always toned things down out of respect for him. This one was a flavorful favorite though and even Grandpa liked it. It's easy, budget friendly, and the servings are generous. Served with a little cornbread and salad on the side, it's a full meal deal. You could probably go meatless on this one too and never notice a difference!

If I were to jazz it up a bit I might sprinkle some pepper Jack cheese on top instead of the cheddar, add a little more chili powder and some hot sauce. That would be all you'd need to warm up a cold winter day!

Layered Chili Casserole

1 pound ground beef
2 tablespoons butter
1 large chopped onion
1 teaspoon finely minced garlic
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon oregano
Dash pepper
4 cups (2 1-pound cans) red beans
1 cup (8-ounce can) tomato sauce
¾ cup crushed corn chips
1/3 cup grated Cheddar cheese

Brown meat in heavy skillet; spoon into a 2-quart casserole. Melt butter in skillet. Add onion and garlic; sauté until onion is clear. Add spices, beans, tomato sauce, and corn chips. Mix thoroughly and spoon over meat. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake in 350F oven for 25-30 minutes or until heated through and bubbly. Serves 4.

Super Chicken

On Super Bowl Sunday, we served this make-ahead, marinated chicken for our crowd and it was a hit! This is one that's suitable for almost any casual gathering any time of year.

All the wonderful flavors of soy, ginger, garlic and onion give the chicken a little tang and the white wine vinegar tenderizes to perfection. Not only is it super tasting, but it's also super easy to prepare and a budget pleaser! We made all this chicken for about $6. Far less than buying a bucket of fried or even a tray at the grocery deli counter.

Now that I look at the picture, it's actually a "pretty" dish too (even in the aluminum pan)!

Super Chicken

18 chicken legs

3/4 cup soy sauce

3/4 cup white wine vinegar

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

4 cloves of garlic, peeled but left whole

1-2 bay leaves

8 green onions, chopped (reserve half for garnish when serving)

2 cans chicken broth (or 2-1/2 cups of your own homemade stock)

2 tablespoons flour (made into roux with 1/2 cup water)

2 tablespoons dried parsley

Wash chicken legs, pat dry, and place in plastic bag or marinade container.  Whisk together the soy sauce, vinegar, and ginger. Add garlic, bay leaves, and half the chopped onion and pour into marinade container or plastic bag thoroughly coating the chicken legs. Secure container and place in refrigerator for 2-3 hours.

After marinating, remove bay leaves and put chicken, marinade liquid, garlic cloves and onion in a large pan and add chicken broth. Heat to boiling and cook for 45 minutes. 

Remove cooked chicken and garlic cloves and place on serving plate.  Continue boiling liquid, add flour roux, and stir constantly until liquid has thickened slightly. Spoon some of the thickened liquid over chicken and garnish with parsley and remaining chopped green onion. 

Tuna Casserole

On those rare occasions when Grandma would buy a bag of potato chips, we knew there was a good chance that (1) either she was having a guild meeting and would whip up a delicious crab dip to pair with the chips or (2) she was going to make one of her delicious tuna casseroles.

Her tuna casseroles were unsurpassed for crunchy golden deliciousness and, yes, it has the potato chips mixed in and crumbled on top. This is not only simple to make, but also a good budget meal. However, let me tell you right now there probably won't be any left for lunches or leftovers. It's that good! So savor this one for the record books. You and your family will love it!

Tuna Casserole

5 cups uncooked egg noodles (or No-Yolk Noodles)
1 can cream of mushroom soup (or Grandma's homemade version)

    PLUS 1 soup can of half & half
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 regular cans of tuna packed in water, drained
3 cups regular potato chips, coarsely crushed (reserve 1 cup for topping)
1 cup frozen petite peas
Freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 350F and grease a casserole dish with butter. Cook the egg noodles according to the directions on the bag.

In separate bowl, combine soup with a can of milk. Stir in cooked/drained noodles, Worcestershire sauce, drained tuna, 2 cups of the crumbled chips, and peas. Pour into greased casserole dish and top with ground pepper and reserved cup of potato chips.  Bake at 350F for 35-40 minutes.

Ham & Vegetable Stuffed Crêpes

Crêpes are one of the most versatile things in the culinary world. You can make them for breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, or appetizers--it all depends on what you fill them with. 

Of  course, Grandma knew all that and when the budget was a little tight, she would abandon any thoughts of a big heavy meal and go for light crêpe fare filled with something delicious.

She had a funny-looking flat-topped, non-stick crêpe pan with no lip and it took her some amount of practice to perfect its use. If she poured too much batter on top, it would run off the sides onto her electric burner and into the pan beneath. (Even with the aluminum covers most of us remember what a dried on mess that could be.)  Eventually she gave up on the crepe pan (remember garage sale fodder?) and just cooked them in a non-stick skillet, which worked just as well. 

Another plus with crêpes--other than the fact that they contain about 4 ingredients and can practically be cooked while unconscious--is that they can be made in advance and stored in the fridge or freezer until you're ready to use them, which prevents pans, skillets and mixing bowls from causing a counter top crisis. Just bring the refrigerated batch to room temperature and then fill them with your items of choice.

We may be having crêpes most of this week simply because my meal planning and prep has been put to the test with our kitchen project. I am thanking God above for giving me the good sense not to do a full blown, down-to-the-studs kitchen renovation, because even having our cupboard contents temporarily boxed up in the living room is challenging enough!

With those constraints in mind, today's crêpes will be simply filled with ham and vegetables and topped with a yummy cheese sauce. Is there anything more divine than that?

Here's the basic recipe and the first step to crêpe heaven.  (Keep in mind it takes longer to explain how to do it, than to actually do it. Bottom line? If you can cook pancakes, you can cook these.)

Basic Crêpes

½ cup milk

½ cup cream

3 eggs

2/3 cup all-purpose flour

2 Tbsp butter

With wire whip (or in food processor), blend milk, eggs, and flour until smooth. 

Place a 6 or 7 inch crêpe pan (or other flat-bottomed frying pan) over medium heat. When pan is hot, add ¼ teaspoon of the butter and swirl to coat surface. All at once, pour in 1 ½ to 2 tablespoons batter, quickly tilting pan so batter flows over entire surface. Cook until surface appears dry and edge is lightly browned; turn over with spatula and briefly cook other side. Transfer to plate and repeat procedure for each crêpe, stacking them when finished. After all the crêpes are cooked, you can wrap airtight and refrigerate up to a week. Makes 12-16 crêpes.

NOTES: 

Unfilled crêpes may be frozen stacked one on top fo the other between pieces of wax paper and wrapped airtight. To serve, remove the number of crêpes you need and let them come to room temperature before filling (they tear when cold). Avoid refreezing.

Filled crêpes may be frozen individually then baked (without thawing) in whatever quantity is needed. To freeze, place filled crêpes, seam side down and not touching, on greased baking sheet. Freeze uncovered, then package airtight.

Ham & Vegetable Stuffed Crêpes

12-16 pre-made basic crêpes

5 tablespoons butter, divided

1 small onion, finely chopped

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2/3 cup chicken broth

1/2 cup half & half or milk

2 cups cooked ham, cut in julienne strips

1 (10 oz) package frozen peas, thawed and drained well

1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

1/4 tsp dry rosemary (optional)

salt and pepper

1 cup Swiss cheese, shredded

Prepare crêpes or bring to room temperature, if refrigerated. In a wide frying pan over medium heat, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter. Add onion and cook until onion is soft. Add remaining 3 tablespoons butter and flour; cook, stirring until bubbly. Gradually pour in broth and half and half and continue cooking and stirring until sauce boils and thickens. Add ham and peas. Remove from heat and stir in Parmesan cheese, rosemary (if using), and salt and pepper to taste; cool slightly.

Spoon filling down center of each crêpe and roll to enclose. Arrange crêpes, seam side down in shallow greased casserole or baking dish. (At this point you may cool, cover and refrigerate until next day or freeze as noted in Basic Crêpe recipe.)

Baked covered in 375F oven for 20 minutes (30 minutes if refrigerated; 35-40 minutes if frozen) or until heated through. Remove from oven, uncover and sprinkle Swiss cheese over crêpes. Return to oven and bake uncovered for 5 more minutes or until cheese melts.

Servings: 6-8.

Basic Homemade Cream Soup

One of the staples of the kitchen are cream soups. Grandma preferred to make her own, rather than depend on a can. After all a creamed soup is just a simple white sauce with milk, chicken broth and mushrooms or celery added, along with your good taste to flavor it. You can whip up a couple batches of it in about 15 minutes over the weekend and save it for your casseroles during the week. Delicious, cheaper, and much healthier than the "synthesized" version.

So here's Grandma's "secret" recipe.  Hello? You can wake up from your faint now! It IS that simple. Funny how we think things are more complicated than they are.

Basic Homemade Cream Soup

2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp flour
¼ tsp salt (optional)
1 cup whole milk or half & half (we use heavy cream)

Heat milk over medium low heat until just steaming. Do not boil.

In a heavy pan, melt butter, sprinkle flour in and whisk to combine, then continue cooking over medium low heat for 2 to 3 minutes whisking continuously. Slowly pour in heated milk and whisk until thickened. (Season to taste...you may have enough salt if using the broth.)

*For cream of chicken use ½ cup chicken broth and ½ cup milk. 

*For cream of mushroom, saute ¼ cup finely diced mushroom in the butter, then add flour and prepare as you would cream of chicken, using ½ cup chicken broth and ½ cup milk.

*For cream of celery, saute ¼ cup finely diced celery in the butter, then add flour and prepare as you would cream of chicken, using ½ cup chicken broth and ½ cup milk.