I do not draw animals well . . . but was surprised and rather pleased to do this one. I found a picture of baby chicks – chickens seem too complicated to draw! – and did a rough pencil sketch, then a pen overlay, erased the pencil, and here ya go. Total time about 3 minutes.
Brrr! Although we are not digging out of miles of snow and ice, the cold snap is hitting us here where I live. Frost on the windows in the morning and waking to a 55 degree house remind us (a bit!) how other people in other climes live.
Tonight, the idea of a salad left me feeling cold – ugh! Soup sounded good, so soup for supper it became. Leftovers and a few vegetables here and there, and this is what we have.
California Cold Night Soup
Olive oil
1 large white onion, chopped fine
3-5 minced cloves fresh garlic
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
2 zucchini, diced
5 tomatillos, diced
2 cooked chicken breasts, diced
Basil, oregano, ancho chili powder, pepper, salt
1 T tomato paste
1/2 c. Italian parsley, chopped
1 qt. low sodium chicken broth (like from Trader Joe’s)
Add 1-2 T oil to large kettle. Add onions and garlic; saute till it begins to caramelize a bit. Add the vegetables; continue to cook. Add herbs, tomato paste, parsley and chicken. Cook a bit longer, then add chicken broth. Simmer about 20 minutes.
Balance flavor with a bit of lemon juice to taste.
Serve with a garnish of parmesan cheese curls.
Cooking and baking can be “gotta follow the recipe to get it right” or “just throw it all together and hope for the best” in approach. Every culture and country has its national dish for leftovers all thrown together. When I was growing up, it was called “mish-mash” and usually had egg noodles, onions, sour cream, and whatever else was lying around. The Japanese have, I think (if I understood a friend correctly) “okazu,” which is mostly rice, with leftovers. Hash is another variant. Anyway, you get the idea: use it up if you got it!
For some things, you don’t really need a recipe, just ingredients. Granola is perfect for this. Tonight, I did need some cooking / baking skills for chicken pie. The mish-mash side was chicken and vegetables. Leftover roast chicken, potatoes, corn cut from the cob, red pepper, onion, celery, and carrots. Sauteed the chopped up stuff in a bit of oil and butter. Boiled up new potatoes (diced), about 3, and then saved some liquid. Into this, I threw some sour cream (natch!) and homemade chicken broth. After sauteeing the other stuff in the pan (which would then go into the oven), I sprinkled the mix with some flour, stirred it up a bit, and then poured the potato water / sour cream / chicken stock over it. Season with herbs and spices. I like rosemary, sage, thyme, garlic, pepper, and bay leaves. Sometimes a lot of celery seed is also good.
Next step: biscuit dough. 1 stick butter, about 3 c. flour, a T. of powder, and a bit of salt. Add pepper if you like, or sage or parsley. Use your hands and fingers to rub the flour and butter together until crumbly. Add about 1 1/4 c. milk or cream (I had neither, so mixed up the rest of the sour cream and some water), dump it in, stir it up briefly, knead out on a floured board, shape into a lump, and roll out, adding flour as needed. Roll from center out, making a circle about the diameter of the pan you will be putting into the oven. Fold into quarters, transfer to pan, unfold, slice into it for venting, pop into the oven. Oven is preheated to 400; bake about 1 hour. Prep time – about 1 hour, so about 2 hours total.
Virtuous little housewife, ain’t I?
Ink, Yarn & Beer 