Chicken Tortilla Soup

Wow! It has been since September that I posted anything. I haven't cooked much new. I have been in two plays at the Granbury Opera House and had so much fun. "Its A Wonderful Life, The Musical" closed last weekend so back to cooking.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

I have wanted to make some and had a couple of chicken breast that I had grilled last summer in the freezer. I got them out and here goes.

Saute 1 cup diced carrots, 1 cup chopped onion, 2 cloves garlic chopped, sea salt and fresh ground pepper for about 5 minutes.

Add 4 cans chicken broth and bring to a broil ( I only had one one I added more diced tomatos)

Add 3 cans of diced tomatoes, 1 can Rotel tomatoes, 2 tbs chili powder, 1 tsp cumin and 2 big chicken breasts chopped. I also added 1 can of low fat cream of celery soup.

Recipe that I had called for 10 corn tortillas cut into pieces. I did not have that so I crumbled a couple of handfuls of blue corn chips. Let boil for 20 minutes stirring occasionally to keep from sticking.

Reduce heat to simmer and add 8 oz monterery jack cheese schredded or Mexican blend cheese.
Simmer additional 10 minutes.

Add 1 cup skimmed milk and simmer for 10 more minutes.

Garnish with shredded cheese and broken tortilla chips and serve.

Mind was pretty thick because of lack of chicken broth, but all in all it was pretty good. I got to make it in my NEW big cooking pot (must be two gallons) but I don't have it slopping over the side. Thanks Anna, Susannah and Gladine for the pot and the 7 piece Paula Dean cookware set from Walmart. It was my birthday on November 12, number 68, I cannot believe it.

Grilled Corn-on-the-Cob with BBQ sauce

Once again this is from the Neeley's on the Food Channel. Slathered the corn with canola oil and salt and peppered. Then grilled for 2 minutes on each side. Covered with BBQ sauce and grilled again. It was fabulous, but don't need the BBQ sauce. They suggest that you make your own BBQ sauce with everything in the refrigerator door. I used a cheap store bought sauce with lots of high fructose corn syrup. Don't do that again. Corn on the cob is in season and cheap right now.
Anna and I watched "Julia and Julie" again tonight, such a great film. I am encouraged once again to try "Boeuf Bourguignon" (Beff Stew in Red Wine, wtih Bacon, onions and Mushrooms). I will let you know when I get up the nerve to try it.

We went by The Pandhandler on the square in Granbury this afternoon and bought some coffee. They are getting some Texas olive oil in October. I can't wait to try it.

Jamaican Tomato Mango Salad

I watched the Neeley's on the Food Channel Saturday morning and they had this recipe. I made it yesterday and was not impressed but Anna and I added juice from 1/2 lemon and another can of black beans and it was good. Check out the Neeley's at www.mrandmrst.com

1 mango diced
1 15 oz can of black beans (we added a second)
1 cup sliced cherry tomatoes
1 cup cooked brown rice
1/4 cup olive oil (I bought California instead of Italian)
juice of 2 limes (we added juice of 1/2 lemon)
1/2 red onion chopped
1/2 jalapenoe (seeded)
1/4 cup of cilantro (I ommitted this as I don't care for it)

Mix all ingredients together and refrigerate for one hour

I am still working on Cariberrean flavor that I had in Belize last October. I will let you know about that.

Not many posts recently because I had 15 second cameo appearance at The Granbury Opera House for "The Sunshine Boys" for seven performances. I will do better now.

CHICKEN & BISQUITS

A couple of day ago I had two chicken breasts to cook for dinner the next night. I used a recipe from the South Beach cookbook called Tequilla Chicken. I had no tequilla, so I substituted a little red wine to which I added lime juice, salt, pepper and chili powder. I marinated the chicken in this mixture overnight. Using Julia Childs recipe for sauted chicken, I rolled the breasts in whole wheat flour and sauted in butter. It was so good and Anna has asked for it again.
The bisquits were not as successfu. I am still tring to do light and fluffy. Well, these were from a "healthy" Bisquik and skimmed milk. The dough was very stiff and they turned out flat as my baking always does. Send suggestions?
My next feat will be lunch or dinner for Jerrold and Jenna Ford, but Ihave a bit part in Granbury Opera's The Sunshine Boys. I will be on stage a minute for Friday and Saturday twice a day. I don't know what I will cook or when, so watch for the next installment. Bon Appetit and come to see the show

THE CUPCAKE

I have been preparing to work on a Chrysallis for Young Men next week. This is part of the Walk to Emmaus www.ctcemmaus.org only for young men 18-25. Unfortunately we only have 5 young men sign up so it has tenatively been rescheduled for December right after Christmas.

I decided the other night to make cupcakes as a test to make them for the weekend. You all know how much I like Julia Childs and my first sponge cake was pretty much a disaster. I went to www.cupcakesrecipes.com. They have a ton of cupcake recipes. I found one for "sponge cake cupcakes". The egg whites with the addition of cream of tartar were lovely and tall and stiff, but the egg yoke mixture was dry and yuk. I attempted to "fold" it in but it was lumpy and dry. I baked the cupcakes anyway and they turned out ok, but not the light and fluffy that I want to accomplish. I got a recipe for butter cream frosting from "North Creek Cooking" by Olive Rumage. Olive was Anna's next door neighbor when she was in high school in Jacksboro, Texas. The recipe called for cream and I had none so I substituted skimmed milk. Well, the frosting was tasty but never really set up. I took the cupcakes to the office www.winstonproperties.net and we ate at our Parrish Team meeting www.granburyhomes.net. The rest were consumed by the office during the day. People said they liked them, but I want to make something that they love.

Before I made the cupcakes, as Anna was in Arlington staying with Penny Ellerd who just had double knee replacement, I made my famous Bobby Dean goulash. It always turns out a little different because I put in different seasonings. It makes a lot and it freezes well. Now the freezer is filled with containers of goulash.

That night the goulash wasn't ready and I went to show a house so I made grilled cheese toast in the oven made from whole wheat bread from Niester's German Restaurant in Granbury. It contains no preservatives and lasts a long time in the frig. Try some. They serve a great breakfast with thick bacon cooked just right and grilled toast made with their own bread.

It's a great day to try something new. I don't know what I will make next but I will let you know. God Bless and Bon Apetite

BELIZE MISSION TRIP 2010

This is not about food though food that was cooked by Mario in Belize was wonderful. We left air coniditioning and comfort on July 24th and flew to Belize. I was one of 20 adults with 50 teenagers from Lakeside Baptist Church in Granbury. We got to sweltering Belize and got on the school bus for the orphange. The 60 kids were looking forward to our visit. I recogized many of the kids from our visit last October including Christopher. A cute 10 yr old black boy who told me that he came there when he was a baby. Such sadness from our parts to these happy little kids. We left the orphanage and drove to King's Park Church of the Nazarene, which was to be our home for the week. We had a declicious meal cooked in the little kitchen by our beloved Mario. She does amazing things with little facilities. After a moving service where we told what we hoped to happen during the week, we went to bed (my sleeping pad was on a pew next to a window where a breeze came most of the time). The men were in the sanctuary and the women were in the school building on the grounds of the church. There is little public education in Belize. The schools seem to be mainly church related with some private schools. All the children go to school in uniforms.
I woke up at 5 AM by knocking on the door and a car horn tooting outside. Someone had locked the door to the church and Maria and her helpers were trying to get in. I got my cold shower (no hot water) and got ready for the day. Someone had made the coffee, I got my cup and took a chair and went outside where it was cooler. As time went on several others made it out including my friend Cathy Childers. The paster, Mark Forrest, and Micky Shearon went on a five mile sweating run. I went by to ask Maria what was for breakfast. Some wonderful jack things much like a sopapia plus scrambled eggs and fruit.
Lakeside did the Sunday School and church service with Mark preaching. We had to put off our shorts and tees and dress for church. I had forgotten this so had to get out my "good pants" and the shirt that I had worn on the plane. I flew on a buddy pass thanks to Rick Huber, so I had to be dressed appropriately. By the way, I couldn't get on the direct flight with the group because it was book. I got up at 2 AM on Saturday and sweet Lou Hendrix took me to the airport. Thanks Lou. I flew to Miami where I waited 3 hours for Belize flight and got to ride first class on the leg. Back to the mission, the services went well. We had lunch and then had 90 kids (60 from the orphanage) for Vacation Bible School. Our kids did a great job, loving and teaching these precious kids. The favorite were the pupits, which we had brought from Granbury along with a curtain setup for the pupits. Our kids and some adults did a great job with the pupits and all the children loved it. Mark Forrest does an amazing job playing the guitar and singing with the children. He probably needs to do this in church and show our member how talented he is.
But we are probably too high class for that. Oh Well!
The next morning was VBS from 9 to 12. Then off to the Juvenile Detention Center for half our group and the other half to the old folks home. I was in charge of this part due to my prison work. The Center is most depressing with about 40 or 50 teens. We did our service in the dining hall. Lincoln Wiseman led the music, followed by Carolyn George with her testimony. Next was a dramatic presentation by our kids of "The Prodigal Son". One of the girls read the scripture as our team acted out the skit. This is a real favorite with the kids in Texas Youth Foundation on Epiphany weekends. I ended up the service with a talk to "Choices" in which I compare two young men that I met in TYC in Brownwood. One, Matt, became a preacher and the other, Michael, is now in prison on a 28 year sentence. It is my prayer that one of the kids catches on and flys right.
Tuesday is day 3 of VBS. We have all gotten in and gotten started and here comes the rain. It rained, it poured, it rained and it poured some more. We watched as the water filled the yard, came up on the porch, covered the porch and came to the front door. There were big lightening bolts at times knocking out the power. I think we were more scared than the Belizians because this is normal for them. When the rain let up about 1 PM we got the kids off to home. Then we discovered that the entire sewer system of Belize City was backed up. Hence we had NO toilets for the rest of the week. The Praying Pelican (the mission group that we booked our trip with) quickly got portapotties delivered and we had that joy the rest of the week. The girls really enjoyed that part.
After this busy morning we got off to the detention center and the old folks home. The groups traded places. This time Lucas Byrd (who was by this time sick) played the guitar and a group of girls led the music. We were outside this time and it was hot though most were in the shade of a building. This time Nicholas Henney gave his testimony, another dramatic presentation this time it was Jonah and the whale. (I was part of the boat). Mark Forrest delivered a strong message to the children on following God. We had time afterwards to get with the kids and visit awhile. This is hard for our kids and for the children there. I was inside was this kid who was playing loud not so nice music which he would not turn off. I later saw him in the dining hall and he told me that he planned to go to school to be a chef and work at the Raddison Hotel in Belize City. The Raddison is one of two really nice tourist hotel/casinos in the city. I was impressed with him and wished him well.
The final day of VBS was Wednesday. The bible study was on salvation and that sweet Curstin George did a beautiful job of teaching. I was sitting next to a 10 yr old named Vince. We talked about Jesus and salvation and he accepted Jesus as saviour and lord. What an awesome experience for him and for me.
Later at VBS in recreation a 12 year old was caught with a knife. I followed him the rest of the morning. Another teenager from Belize who was helping out with VBS told me that the boy had come to the church to stab him. There was a lot of staring at each other. I called for a Belizean man to come and talk to the lad. Things seemed to settle down, then there was a commotion in that area of the church and a bunch of kids went out the front door. There was a drunk man up by the road who wanted his daughter to come with him. She was crying and did not want to go. I told her that she didn't have to go. A Belizeian woman from the church came and out told the man to leave and that the girl did not have to go with him. There was another teenager who came to pick up his siblings and that was allowed. I was emotionally drained by the time VBS was over. We drove to a country outdoor restaurant for lunch. Then on to the Belize Zoo for a visit.
That evening we had an awesome steamed black snapper dinner by Maria (food information). We all went to a downtown city park with big amplifiers, key board, guitars and puppet. The kids did the stomp with basketballs, bottles and the girls did their dance. It was quite an evening, after Pastor Mark and Pastor Maganua spoke two ladies accepted Christ.
Thursday morning we got up and caught a water taxi to Chauker Kaye, an island 45 minutes offshore. The bulk of the group went snorkeling, but I stayed in town and ate and shopped the day away. We had our final closing service on the rooftop of the hotel that night. Everyone got to share about this incredible week.
Friday morning we water taxied back to Belize City and took shoebox gifts to all the kids at the orphanage. Mine was to a 12 month old little girl who just looked at it all. I got to tell Christopher two things: 1) Jesus is Lord. 2) Education is Power.
Off to the airport, after 3 hour wait we boarded the plane and I got a first class seat next to Sheri Hammond. The Miami flight earlier in the day had been cancelled and consequently they came and got me and took me off the flight. Sheri said that I looked like "what do I do now?"
We had stayed at a hotel near the airport so I knew where to go as the next flight to the US was Saturday morning. I must have looked pretty helpless (I did not have one penny left) and a man from Maya Airlines (the Belizean airline) took me to his office, called the hotel and waited with me until they picked me up. I paid for my room and then paid for dinner with my credit card. Now I will call Anna on the pay phone, shouldn't cost much, right? The credit card has been cancelled because of the out of country charges (always call you credit card company before going overseas). No money, no credit card, what to do? The hotel owner allowed me a $5 phone card to call home, Anna didn't answer, so I called the credit card company and explained the situation. They put me on hold and the card expired. OK what now? I thought that the Praying Pelicans had a room there, so I asked if they had Toti's phone number. He said Toti here in her room. What a relief, she let me use her phone to call Anna and loaned me some money. Anna had cleared up the credit card situation, so I was set to wait at the airport the following day. They had told me that the flights were booked all day with few seats available. After a very, very long sleepless night I had the meager hotel breakfast and off to the airport to sit and wait.
I got checked in and the lady said it looked like I had a chance on the first flight out at 11 AM. People kept coming and coming. Large tour groups. Finally boarding, I got the very last seat, which was first class by the way. So after a nice lunch, another wait, by the way I am in Miami again. About 3 hours I think and the plane loads and loads and loads, I ask the gate agent and there are 5 people on stand by in front of me. The people just kept coming and finally they called my name and once again I got the last seat.
My sweet Anna was waiting at baggage claim.
A great trip, many adventures, Yes I would do it again.
FLY WITH JESUS

Squash/Tomato Casserole

This story begins about 20 years when my wife, Anna, was working on a Walk to Emmaus weekend in Georgetown, Texas (check out Walk to Emmaus at www.gbgm-umc.org/ctcwte )
Our son, Chip, and I were going down to pick her up and we went by Fredricksburg on the way. We had lunch at the Fredricksburg Herb Farm www.fredricksburgherbfarm.com . You really need to check out their site. For lunch they served this squash/tomato casserole.
We liked it so much that Anna and I went home and made up a recipe to make it and we have enjoyed it many times over the years. On Wednesday of this week I went by the Granbury Square Plaza www.granburysquareplaza.com to their new little farmers market. It is open on Wednesday and Saturdays from 10 to 4. The two men that were there had fresh peaches, squash and tomatoes. Squash is plentiful right now, except in my garden where it will not grow, but I will figure that out as well. I went home and made the casserole (I still have some tomatoes in the garden)
Here's how it goes: Saute the sliced squash (4 to 6) with onions for about 5 minutes. Transfer to casserole dish and add tomatoes on the top and about 1/2 to 1 cup of grated cheddar cheese. Salt and pepper to taste and pop in in 350 oven for about 20 minutes and you have a whole mean or side dish. We love it and it is so easy.

Bobby Dean's Goulash

I have made this twice and it is so good. I highly recommend it. I did substitute ground turkey for ground beef and used whole wheat elbow macaroni. I divide it into small dishes and freeze to take to work. It is soooo gooood! Link to goulash is below.

http://www.pauladeen.com/index.php/recipes/view2/bobbys_goulash/

Tip from Julia Childs

Instead of just adding a little oil to pan to keep from sticking also add a little butter. It works great.

STEAK DINNER IN NASHVILLE

Anna and I are in Nashville for the Fourth of July with our daughter, Susannah. Last night we took some beautiful steaks over to her friend Laurie's house. Laurie's niece, Julia, did a wonderful job of grilling the steaks. She marinated them in a sauce which was made up of worchester sauce, soy sauce, some liquid smoke and a steak rub. They were cooked perfectly to our order, which is something that I have never been able to do. Julia is quite a chef and we are encouraging her to start a blog called "thesiouxchef" as she is 1/16 Sioux indian. I will let you know when that happens.
Julia marinated the steaks for just a few minutes. I looked in Julia Childs book and she suggests that you marinate for six hours which seems logical to me. We did not have that option as we had just gotten there and were ready to eat soon. Julia Childs also suggests that you wash to steaks and pat dry to allow them to brown quickly.
Julia also prepared grilled vegetables which had been lovingly marinated as well. The flavor was great. We had corn on the cob which was just boiled for 4 minutes in salt water (Julia added a little sugar for flavor) and served. Fresh corn is in season right now and is available at most local vegetable markets.
Susannah brought a peanut butter pie which was excellent. The peanut butter pie (recipe from a local restaurant) is made from a store bought graham cracker crust. The filling is 4 oz cream cheese, 1 cup powdered sugar, 1/2 cup peanut butter and 1 large tub of whipped topping. The filling was put in the crust and chilled then she added a sprinkling of homemade chocolate sauce. The recipe actually called for a liner of hard shell chocolate sauce before putting in the filling and then chilled before the filling put in. Susannah used low fat ingredients in most cases.
All in all it was a nice evening with wonderful food and good conversation.
HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY

THE GARDEN

This picture was way back in the spring when I first planted the garden after digging up the garden, I added a bunch of cow manure and mixed it in, but I was told that I should have aged it first. The tomatoes are at each end, with lettuce on the left, two rows of green beans in the middle and puny black-eyed peas on the right. I had some squash, they made one harvest and then died, I planted a second batch with some lime added to soil and they died. No squash next year I guess. I have had the best year of tomatos ever with about 2 dozen tomatos harvested. They were really good. I have planted some "celebrity" tomatos in pots for the fall, we will see.

The lettuce has been really good. It is black english and has really produced. I just wash in, put in spinner and serve.

The green beans have produced about three times and with the help of Julia Childs they have been good. This is what she says to do: Wash the beans in very hot water the moment before cooking. A handful at a time, drop the beans into rapidly boiling salted water. Bring the water back to the boil as quickly as possible and boil the beans slowly, uncovered for 10 to 15 minutes; testing after 8 minutes (usually worked for me as I had fairly small amounts each time). A well cooked bean should be tender, but still retain the slightest suggestion of crunchiness. Drain the beans as soon as they are done. To serve immediately turn the beans in large saucepain and toss them gently over moderately high heat by flipping the pan (?). This will evaporate their moisture in 2 or 3 minutes. Now if you are going to serve later, you run cold water over the beans for 3 or 4 minutes. This will stop the cooking and the beans will retain color, taste, and texture. Drain, spread them out on a clean towel and pat dry. She does not say this but I freeze them now and serve later. When you are ready to serve either now or later, you toss beans in saucepan over moderately high heat, add salt and pepper, turn into serving dish and add butter.

Bon Apetit

Mindy English's Cake Catastrophe

The Great Cake Catastrophe

A couple of years ago when my daughter-in-law was expecting our grandson I decided to host a baby shower for her. I had been watching FoodNetwork and specifically the cake shows. They always worked with fondant icing and it always looked so nice. So I decided to bake the cake for the baby shower and frost it with fondant icing. I had grand design plans. It looked so cute in my mind's eye! I got a fondant recipe from my sister and after baking the cake and setting it on cooling racks I began to mix up the fondant. I had spent almost $30 on the ingredients as it called for egg white powder, clear butter flavor extract and a couple of other finishing tools that could only be found in the Wilton cake section and prices reflected this. I was now short on cash but long on imagination! I put the ingredients in the bowl and turned on the mixer. In about one minute with a grind and a puff of smoke the mixer was toast! So I put everything in the fridge and ran to Wal-Mart. Keeping in mind that I am now low on cash I purchased the cheapest mixer I could find and returned home. Pulling everything back out of the fridge, I proceeded to mix again and with a second gind and puff of smoke that mixer was toast as well! At this point, determined to finish I rolled up my sleeves, washed my hands and plunged into the fondant with both hands. Finally it was mixed well and I plopped the wad of fondant out onto a powder sugar dusted sheet of waxed paper. The next step was to roll it out but when I ran the rolling pin across it the whole wad encircled the rolling pin like a fat tire! Finally using tons more powdered sugar I was able to roll the fondant out into a semi-flat product that I could work with. Stacked the 2 layers with a strawberry cream cheese frosting between them. I carefully laid the fondant on top of the stacked cake layers and turned around to get a sharp knife to trim around the bottom. When I turned back to the cake the fondant had split right down the middle like The Great Divide and was lying on either side of the stacked layers! So I pulled it off, dusted a new wax paper with confectioners sugar and adding more sugar as I went, re-rolled the fondant into a dryer and thicker layer than before. Laid it back over the cake, trimmed around the edges, piped regular frosting onto one section to make a VERY BASIC stroller. I added 2 big frosted oatmeal cookies for the wheels. I went to sprinkle on crystallized sugar for the stroller hood and it rolled right off the cake every time! So I got the distilled water spray bottle that I use for ironing and sprayed that section, leaned the cake carefully and SWATTED crystallized sugar onto the cake so hard that it had to stick!
I will NEVER work with fondant again! I am attaching a pic of that silly cake. It doesn't reflect all the hours, money and heartache I spent on it!
Ha! Ha!

Mindy

THE CAKE

Actually it was the third cake, the first cake was for Mimi's birthday (Anna's mother). Anna was having a luncheon for some ladies for the big 90th birthday and I asked her what kind of cake she wanted. She requested a carrot cake. I had never baked a cake before so I went to Paula Dean online and got son Bobby's carrot cake and I baked it. Then I baked another for a Realtors luncheon and it was auctioned off for $20. The recipient said it was good.
So now for The Cake, 40 years ago we had 15 weddings from the single adult group at the First Baptist Church of Arlington. Anna and I being one of them, since that time this group (none divorced, but several have passed away) has met from time to time for dinner. Since we are now spread out we mainly meet once a year at Greg and Mary Jim Allen's big farmhouse in Bremond (between Waco and Bryan). Anna did not get to go as her mom just had cataract surgery on Thursday (it was successful). I went by myself on Friday afternoon and came back on Saturday. I volunteered to bring a cake. Luckily Anna spent Thursday night at her mother's, so she missed the "Baking of The Cake". Since I recently joined NetFlicks I had just gotten a movie, "The Kingdom of Heaven". This 5 hour epic is about the crusades with Jerusalem being The Kingdom of Heaven. It was 5 hours of battle, fights and much excitement to add to the drama of baking the cake. I used two cakes mixes (the easy kind) and filled the two cake pans, not realizing that each cake mix was for two pans. I soon found my mistake as burned smells started coming from the oven. I look in and to my dismay both cakes were running over and spilling onto the bottom of the oven. I decided to let them cook and clean up later. I began work on Julia Child's chocolate butter frosting and louder smells came from the oven. Looking in I found small fires burning with the spilled cake mix. I wet a dishcloth and smothered the flames. They were just little flames. I continued to smother flames until the cakes were done. Of course that were overflowing the pans which had to be later trimmed and sampled. I now have every fan in the house on, the windows open, candles burning and room spray often to try to kill the "burn" odor. So back to Julia's frosting, it was long and laborious and I knew that it would be good. I sat down to watch some of the battles on the TV and let the cakes cool. After sufficient time, I went back to the kitchen to frost the cakes. After frosting the first layer and no frosting left, I reread the recipe to find that the frosting was for ONE layer not two. I got out my mom's Better Homes and Gardens cookbook and got an easier recipe and made another batch of frosting and finished the cake. I sat down to watch the rest of the battles, then I tackled the kitchen with every possible pan, pot, cup, spoon and a multitude of other utensils which were all dirty. Finally about midnight I got it all done, the odors mainly gone, the windows closed and went to bed. Whew! The cake was a big hit in Bremond. It was a yellow cake with chocolate icing. Bon Apetit!

THE BEGINNING

Last fall Anna, my wife, starting working parttime as a receptionist at an assisted living facility with Monday, Wednesday & Friday hours of 3 to 7 PM. Several nights I would fix something for dinner, like salad or canned soup. In January, I decided to borrow a South Beach cookbook and try to loose a few pounds that I had picked up over the holidays. It worked out pretty good.
Then we went to see "Julia and Julie" and I really became interested in cooking. I watched several Paula Dean and Gaida shows on the Food Channel. I started copying the recipes and that is where we begin.