Murphy's Law: Christmas Edition

It's been a long week in our household. I had to cancel Christmas due to a lovely cough and fever, which I'm just now getting over, and my husband has just started developing.

Since I'm finally starting to feel well enough to cook, it's time for soup! The first time I ever saw Rachel Ray on TV, she was making her version of this soup. I didn't write down the directions, so I'm not sure how accurate this replication is, but the husband approves.

As with all my soup recipes, the ingredients and measurements are more like guidelines. Use your own judgement, and tweak it 'til you find your perfect blend!

Pasta Fagioli
bacon (or pancetta, if you're fancy)
sweet onion
2-4 ribs celery
2-4 carrots
chicken broth, chicken stock, or chicken bouillon
~1 C noodles or short pasta
4-8 oz mushrooms, fresh or canned
1 can white beans (butter beans, navy beans, etc)

Start by placing 3-6 slices of bacon on a cutting board and using a large, sharp knife to cut across the slices, making ~1/8" wide bacon rectangles. Turn the cutting board and slice the bacon the other way, so that you have a pile of bacon cubes. (If you're smart, it'll occur to you before you start cutting that this may be easier if you put the bacon slices in the freezer for 5-10 minutes to firm them up a little.)

Dump the bacon pieces into your soup pot, over medium-low heat. Chop your onion while the bacon gets started cooking. I had a huge onion and a small soup pot, so I only chopped half my onion, but if you're making a larger batch, go for the whole thing. Dump the onion in with the bacon and give everything a stir. We want to sauté everything, so the bacon gets crispy and the onions just start to brown but not burn, so give the pan contents a stir every time you add something or walk past the stove while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. Turn the heat down a little if seems like things are cooking too fast.

Rinse the other veggies well, peeling them if you feel it necessary, and adding each to the pot as you finish preparing them. I just scrub the carrots and trim off the ends. If your celery is nice and fresh, you can chop the whole rib, adding leaves and everything to the soup. If your celery is turning yellow and the ends are less than fresh, trim that off and chop up the firm parts. If you have any other firm veggies that you'd like to add to the soup, do that now. I slice the carrots last, then add the chicken broth.  I used 5 C today because it was a really small pot, but more is probably better because the pan's getting a bit crowded now. This would also be a good place to add a dash of your favorite Italian spices. Maybe 1/2 tsp thyme and basil? (I forgot. Husband didn't care that much because, bacon.)

Bring the soup to a boil, turn down to medium, and let simmer for 5 minutes or so. Then add a couple handfuls of pasta and let continue simmering for at least as long as the directions say to let the pasta cook. (This varies by shape. My egg noodles were 7 minutes, but the bow tie pasta I almost used was 14. Rice would probably take 20-30 minutes.) If you're using fresh mushrooms, you want to add them to the soup about 10 minutes before cook time is finished. This gives them enough time to soften, but not get mushy.

Meanwhile, pour the beans into a strainer and rinse all the can goop off of them. When the pasta is done, stir in the beans and turn off the heat. Let the soup sit for a few minutes before serving. Garnish with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese, if you wish.

Options:  If you like, you can add a can of diced tomatoes and their juices at the same time as the chicken broth. I prefer mine without. If you use canned mushrooms, drain them and add at the same time as the beans. Of course, if you're vegetarian or don't have bacon handy, you can skip the bacon and use olive oil to sauté the veggies. Vegetarians will use vegetable stock in place of chicken broth, naturally.

All The Whos in Whoville Don't Know What They're Missing

I get zero points for creativity today. Am I bovvered? Nah. I just took my last final!!

I'm celebrating with my new favorite holiday drink. I still love eggnog, but sometimes it's nice to have a less-creamy alternative. And this drink uses Midori! Midori is fabulously green and tastes like melons.

The less you water it down, the more dramatic the green.

The Grinch

Mix 4 parts Midori with one part lemon juice. You can sweeten it with a tsp of simple syrup. 

I put my own twist on it by adding Cranberry Sprite and a maraschino cherry. The cranberry flavor is really subtle, and the Sprite is completely clear, so it won't overwhelm the color of the Midori, even if it does tone it down a bit.

I Probably Shouldn't Be Allowed to Name Things Creatively

I'm one of those people that's impossible to take out to a bar. If you're lucky, I'll find something interesting on the Specialty Drink menu, but I don't drink beer or straight wine. I'm very particular in my tastes, and inevitably the bar won't be stocked with some crucial ingredient in my go-to favorite. Despite it being listed in the "Classic" section of every bar tending book I've ever browsed through, I still have to give the waitress/bartender the actual recipe (and possible substitutes) every time I order a B-52. Apparently, classic = ancient history.

So while attending a wedding reception this summer, I told the bartender, "I like Shirley Temples, but I want something with alcohol in it. Surprise me." And surprise me he did. On the spot, he created a delicate, fruity, pale pink beverage that was perfectly delicious. I watched what ingredients he used, and  headed to the liquor store the very next say so I could start trying to recreate it.

Moonlight Blush

1 1/2 oz mango/passionfruit/orange liqueur (XXX, Kinky, or the brand shown above)

1 oz orange flavored vodka (originally Mandarin vodka)

1/2 oz other orange liqueur (originally triple sec)

Mix the liqueurs, add ice cubes, top off the glass with your favorite clear soda.

The drink on the right was made with Grand Marnier. On the right, the same recipe made with Blue Curaçao. They don't taste radically different, but in a side by side taste test, my husband preferred the Grand Marnier and I preferred the Blue Curaçao. Maybe the version should be called Blue Moon, since the color's so different?

Sage, Glorious Sage!

I've got a couple days to breathe before finals take over my life, so today I'd like to share a simple sauce  recipe I made up that tastes great with  both pasta and vegetables.

Sage "Cream" Sauce
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 rounded Tbsp rubbed sage (or more, to taste)
2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 C parmesan cheese (I used the powdered stuff we keep around for spaghetti)
skim milk (or whatever type you usually keep around)

In a saucepan over medium-low heat, melt the butter. Keep an eye on it, swirling the pan as necessary to keep the melted bits from getting burned. Add the olive oil, then stir in all the spices. It'll get a bit thick, but continue stirring it for a few minutes, letting the spices become fragrant and infuse their flavor into the butter blend.
Add the parmesan cheese, then slowly stir in 1/2 C milk. Turn the heat up to medium and stir gently, until the sauce begins to bubble. Add another 1/4 C milk and bring to a simmer again. Continue stirring the sauce until it reaches your preferred thickness. If you'd like it thinner, you can use up to 1 C milk total.

Serving suggestions:
This is great as a sauce on vegetables, preferably the "big" kind (as seen in the photo above). Broccoli, cauliflower, etc.
I love using this as a pasta sauce, but it's definitely better on a small or long pasta. The first time I made this, I had butternut squash ravioli, and I ended up with the sauce all over my face. Delicious, yes, but not worth looking like a toddler who's accustomed to finger foods.
This is a great way to serve leftover meat. The first time I made it, I shredded some leftover beef into the sauce. In the picture above, I chopped up a cooked chicken breast. I'm sure this would work well with turkey or sausage, too.

Beef. It's what's for dinner.

I'm in the last two-week stretch before graduation! Expect posts to be a bit farther apart for the next couple weeks. With last projects and cramming for finals, I'm living on take-out and anything I can stir together and forget about.

I lived in Germany for about 5 years when I was growing up. Once I graduated to, "Sure, we'll let her order off the grown-up menu," my favorite meal was jaeger schnitzel. It's a venison dish with a nice mushroom sauce. I'm sure you can find a real recipe for it online, but I've been making my own bastardized version for over a decade now. Luckily, it also requires very little effort.

And because I forgot to plan ahead for Boozy Tuesd'y,

 I'm having a nice glass of red wine with dinner.

Jaeger Schnitzel, for the truly lazy
1 beef roast, 2-4 lbs (whatever fits in your slow cooker)
1 can of Golden Mushroom soup (Beefy Mushroom works in a pinch)
1 packet dry onion soup mix
Recommended: carrots, potatoes, other vegetables to serve with the roast

Place the beef in the slow cooker. Pour the mushroom soup over the beef. Sprinkle the packet of onion soup mix over the beef. Pour 1/2 -1 whole can of soup around the beef (not over it). Cover and cook on low 6-8 hours or high 3-4 hours.
For the last hour of cook time, you can add in carrots. potatoes, whatever hard vegetables you want. I always add the potatoes first because they don't seem to cook completely unless they're submerged in the gravy. Then add your other vegetables. If you really like mushrooms, you can add fresh mushrooms, quartered or sliced. (If you can't put the vegetables in for a whole hour, place them in a saucepan, add just enough water to cover them, and boil for 20 minutes or until the potatoes are easily pierced with a fork.)
Serve everything with the gravy. Depending on how much water you added and whether the potato starch thickened things, the gravy may be a bit on the thin side. It'll still be rich and delicious.

You can try to slice the beef for pretty servings, but usually I just resort to pulling it apart with two forks. This roast was almost too tender to slice.