Soup!

Anyone see 30 Rock the other night? Barefoot Contessa had her moment, and I basked in it. I love that woman.

I don't have a picture of this, but I'll get one next time I make it and add it to this post.

I have a sketchy recipe to share that I think tastes good but I change the quantities everytime so it almost tastes different every time. Sometimes I skip an ingredient and add something else. Once I added red-pepper flakes. Once I didn't. Basically what I'm saying is that if it's a bust for you, it's your fault. Haha! That said:

7 cups chicken broth (or 7 cups water with maybe 2-3 chicken wings/thighs boiled into it)
5 sticks of celery, chopped way thin
1 large onion cut into thin slivers
1 level teaspoon of parsley
About 8 shaker twists of salt
About 5 of pepper
1 level tablespoon of super finely diced garlic
1 green pepper diced into itty bitties
1 28oz tin of plum tomatoes (whole, chopped, doesn't matter)
4 carrots, but julienne the heck out of those bad boys

I bring the lot to the boil, skim off the foamy stuff, and then when I turn it down to simmer, I throw about 4 uncooked chicken breasts in there and leave the whole thing to simmer for about 70 minutes.

At the end of the 70 minutes I do something really unprofessional. I take my clean kitchen scissors and basically stick them in my pan and snip snip snip to get the chicken into smaller pieces and make sure there are no huge vegetables in there because Andy hates huge vegetables in soup. It occurred to me the other day that I could use a potato masher, or just cut the chicken before I pop it into the pan to cook but who wants to make life easier for themselves, eh?

In a separate pan I cook an entire box of those dittalini pasta shapes

Right before I'm ready to serve the soup, I dump some pasta thingies into the soup, add a tablespoon of Romano cheese on top of the vegetable soup and that's about it.

I'd tell you how many people this serves but in all honesty, I am unsure because I eat such 'healthy' serving sizes. I get about 6 bowls out of this, but I have a feeling that if you're not a pig, it's more like 9.

It's really good Winter Soup. I think.

I've started making my pasta from scratch lately (linguine, spaghetti, lasagne) so if anyone has any good ideas for ravioli filling, let me know. I kind of want to try that next.

Cucumber Mint Tea Sandwiches

**Finally harvested some beautiful English Baby Cucumbers in my garden and wondered what I should do with them. These tea sandwiches are delightful for an afternoon tea or garden party (we have those all of the time...right??). Best part about them is that I can use mint from my garden as well. Sorry that my photo is not of the actual sandwich, I forgot to take a photo until after I ate them. That's how good they are.

Gourmet | July 1992

yield: Makes 12 tea sandwiches

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

ingredients

• 1/4 cup loosely packed fresh mint leaves, rinsed, spun dry, and chopped fine
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 2 tablespoons cream cheese
• 6 slices of whole-wheat bread
• a 3-inch length of seedless cucumber, cut into thin slices

preparation

In a small bowl combine the mint, the butter, and the cream cheese and stir the mixture until it is combined well. Spread the bread slices with the butter mixture, top 3 of them with the cucumber, distributing the cucumber evenly and seasoning it with salt, and top the cucumber with the remaining bread slices. Cut off and discard the crusts and cut each sandwich diagonally into quarters.

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Cucumber-Mint-Tea-Sandwiches-12337#ixzz0utO7Rao4

the BEST chocolate cake you will EVER eat!

This is by far my most favorite chocolate cake.

I'm not a huge cake eater, but this is pure delight.

If you like dense, chocolate cake. you HAVE to try this.

It's so easy!

Chocolate Bundt Cake

1 pkg chocolate cake mix

1 (5 oz) pkg of instant pudding mix

1 C sour cream

1/2 C oil

1/2 C warm water

4 eggs

1 (6oz) pkg chocolate chips

powdered sugar or hot fudge

Preheat oven to 350. Mix first 6 ingredients together until blended. Fold in chocolate chips. Pour batter in greased bundt pan. Bake at 350 for 50 minutes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar or drizzle hot fudge over the top.

(also great for cupcakes and frost with whip cream)

LAVENDER LEMONADE

• 3 cups sugar
• 7 sprigs lavender (stems and buds), plus additional for garnish*
• 2 cups fresh lemon juice (from about 12 lemons)
• 1/2 cup fresh lime juice (from about 5 limes)

Directions:

In a large saucepan, bring one gallon of water and the sugar to a boil. Remove from heat; add 7 lavender sprigs and lemon and lime juices. Cool to room temperature, strain, and chill. Serve on ice, with additional lavender for garnish.

Risotto-Style Orzo with Spring Vegetables

Hopefully this post isn't too late since it is now feeling like summer instead of spring, but I found this recipe on the Whole Foods app on my phone and it was delightful. I added a little bit of chicken because Jared could've "eaten a horse" that night.

Risotto-Style Orzo with Spring Vegetables

Serves 4 to 6

Try this quick and easy risotto-style dish made with orzo pasta. No constant stirring necessary! Ingredients with an asterisk (*) are available in the Whole Foods Market Family of Brands.

Ingredients

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter*
1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 1/2 cups uncooked orzo pasta*
1 cup sliced carrots
1/2 cup fresh or frozen peas*
4 cups chicken or vegetable broth*
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Chopped parsley
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Melt butter in a large heavy saucepan. Add onions and mushrooms and cook until tender but not browned. Add orzo and stir to coat. Add carrots, peas and broth. Bring to boil and cook until orzo is tender, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in Parmesan and cover. Let rest 5 to 8 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley and season with salt and pepper.

(Go here to see the recipe. The recipe and photo are from wholefoodsmarket.com.)

Creamy Chicken and Garden Soup

DE-LISH. Easy.

makes 4 servings: cook time: HIGH 3-4 hours

1/2 Package (16 oz) frozen pepper stir fry veggie mix ( or just a couple of chopped bell peppers)

1 cup frozen corn

1 medium zucchini sliced

2 bone-in chicken thighs, skinned

1/2 teaspoon minced garlic

1 can (14 oz) fat free chicken broth

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

2 oz uncooked egg noodles

1 cup half and half

1/2 cup frozen green peas

2 TBS chopped parsley

2 TBS butter

salt and pepper to taste

Place stir fry veggies, corn and zucchini in crock pot on bottom. Add chicken, garlic, broth and thyme. Cover; cook on high 3-4 hours or until chicken is no longer pink in center. Remove chicken and set aside to cool slightly.

Add noodles to crock pot. Cover; cook 20 min longer, or until noodles are done.

(meanwhile,debone and chop chicken, return to crock pot. Stir in remaining ingredients. Let stand 5 min before serving.)

Barefoot Contessa's Chicken Piccata

I made this the other night in 15 minutes with some lemons we brought home from Jared's dad's trees in California. It blew our minds even though this picture isn't that good. I found it in Barefoot Contessa at Home, but it can be found here as well.

Chicken Piccata

2007, Ina Garten, All Rights Reserved

Ingredients

• 2 split (1 whole) boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 extra-large egg
• 1/2 tablespoon water
• 3/4 cup seasoned dry bread crumbs
• Good olive oil
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature, divided
• 1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons), lemon halves reserved
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• Sliced lemon, for serving
• Chopped fresh parsley leaves, for serving

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

Place each chicken breast between 2 sheets of parchment paper or plastic wrap and pound out to 1/4-inch thick. Sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper.

Mix the flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper in a shallow plate. In a second plate, beat the egg and 1/2 tablespoon of water together. Place the bread crumbs on a third plate. Dip each chicken breast first in the flour, shake off the excess, and then dip in the egg and bread crumb mixtures.

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large saute pan over medium to medium-low heat. Add the chicken breasts and cook for 2 minutes on each side, until browned. Place them on the sheet pan and allow them to bake for 5 to 10 minutes while you make the sauce.

For the sauce, wipe out the saute pan with a dry paper towel. Over medium heat, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter and then add the lemon juice, wine, the reserved lemon halves, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Boil over high heat until reduced in half, about 2 minutes. Off the heat, add the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and swirl to combine. Discard the lemon halves and serve 1 chicken breast on each plate. Spoon on the sauce and serve with a slice of lemon and a sprinkling of fresh parsley.