Good to Great: Why Some Soups Make the Leap... And Others Don't

Don't mind the nerdy business school title. But, as in business, there are a few key lessons to learn to take your cooking from good to great. I apparently didn't heed any of these this week because my Chicken Tortilla Soup (from The Best Cookbook Ever) was just good, not great, but good.

1.) Use Fresh Ingredients
     
From spices to produce to poultry... it makes a difference.

2.) Cook for the Season
    
When I come home to a stuffy 80-degree apartment, it doesn't matter how good the soup smells, I still don't want to eat something that will only make me warmer.

3.) Don't Overcook It
   
This is the challenge of slow cooking - it's designed to cook food for hours. But, some dishes aren't meant to be cooking for 9-10 hours, which mine always do. This chicken tortilla soup would have been better if it had cooked for a shorter time. The peppers and onions wouldn't have been mushy and the pre-cooked chicken would have retained its consistency better.

If you're feeling studious, try your hand at this recipe and make the leap from good to great, or at least better than mine.




What your Chicken Tortilla Soup Could Look Like
Source: foodnetworktv.com

 Chicken Tortilla Soup

Heat 2 TB oil in skillet over medium high heat.
Add 2 bell peppers, chopped
Add 2 medium sweet onions, chopped
Saute until softened.

Add 4 cloves chopped garlic, 2 TB chili powder, 2 tsp ground cumin and cook for 2 minutes.

Transfer the contents of the skillet to the slow cooker.
Add:
14-ounce can chopped tomatoes, drained
4 cups chicken broth
3 cups shredded cooked chicken.

Cook on low for 6-8 hours.
Top with tortilla strips, cheese, cilantro and avocado slices.

Baby Announcement

This week, in lieu of making a slow cooked meal, I am traveling to Baltimore for work and will probably be eating the finest dinner that the Doubletree Inn has to offer on Monday. So, this week’s post is not food-based. Instead I have exciting news – a baby announcement in my family.

No, I’m not talking about the adorable 8 pound boy, Arne Melby IV (named after my father and grandfather), my brother and sister-in-law introduced to this world on Tuesday, March 29 at 9:47pm.

Gratuitous cute nephew pic!

 

No, I’m not talking about my brother’s news of my precious new nephew. No, they’ve had enough attention for one week. I’m talking about the new addition to my family, which makes it a family of two. I adopted a bouncing bundle of joy from Japan via Chamblee, GA. The gender is still yet to be determined, so names are still up in the air. He/she is a city boy/girl but I can tell he/she will become a real sports/outdoors enthusiast someday. And true of his/her Asian heritage, he/she has a real knack for technology. Please welcome my new Nissan Murano. 

Stock photo

 

Please note the heavy use of sarcasm in this post – I couldn’t be more overjoyed about my new nephew.

Boeuf Bourguignon for the Lay Person

After taking a few weeks off of the crockpot cooking, I've decided to retake the helm of the S.S. Slow Cooker. This Monday I took it up a notch and made Beef Bourguignon. But this is not Julia Child's Boeuf Bourguignon recently made re-famous by the book/movie Julie and Julia. This is my mom's Beef Bourguignon, a Midwestern version of the French dish, meaning it's delicious yet simple, and it can eventually become a casserole.

Now, I'm sure my mom has been called many things in her day, but I like to call her Apple Pie with an Edge. At one hand, she is the most caring person who would always make me hot chocolate when I came in from sledding, wore homemade sweatshirts to my sporting events proclaiming that she was the proud parent of yours truly, and to this day, makes me new pillows and curtains whenever I move to a new place. But, at the same time, she'll laugh at you when you're in pain (like the time she fed my brother and I ketchup-filled donuts for April Fool's Day), she has no problem yelling at rednecks parked too long in front of a busy gas pump, and she gets no greater joy than when she forces you through a haunted house and sees the look of terror spread across your face just as your body goes limp with fear and you hit the floor.

It's no wonder that a woman with this much character can make a great stew. Tonight I took her recipe (which she makes on the stovetop) and adapted it to the crockpot. It was amazingly simple and the scent of beef and red wine that greeted me when I walked in the door reminded my of my childhood. (Is it weird that the scent of red wine reminds me of my mom and my childhood?   Just kidding, mom.) This is a very satisfying dish and perfect after a long day at the office. Bon appetit!



Beef Bourguignon


Mom's Beef Bourguignon

Combine the following ingredients in the insert of a slow cooker:
   3 cups red wine
   2 TB ketchup
   1 14-oz can beef broth (next time I might only use half a can)
   3 cloves garlic, minced
   2 TB sugar
   1/2 tsp salt
   1/4 tsp thyme
   1 bay leaf
   1/8 tsp pepper
   2 lbs cubed beef for stewing

Cook on low for 8 or more hours.

During the last hour of cooking, add:
   1 bag frozen pearl onions
   1 or 2 12-oz bags frozen mixed veggies

Top with 4 pieces cooked bacon, crumbled.

Serve with egg noodles and a glass of red.

Girl v. Food v. Music (A Taste of Austin)

Note: No crockpots were actually used in the making of this post.

The Crockpot took a vacation this Monday to Austin, TX. My friends Kelly, Krista, Loriana, and I went to celebrate Lori's 28th birthday (Happy Birthday, Lor!) and to catch the tail end of the music festival SXSW. While we may not have done the best job of navigating the free music scene, we did manage to give Adam Richman of Man v. Food some competition in the eating arena. And,  all this good food gave me some ideas for future Crockpot Mondays.

To start the weekend off right we stopped by el naranjo taco truck. Food trucks these days have done for street food what Mr. Peanut did for the peanut, donning his top hat and cane, he made it classy. Mobile food trucks are making tacos, kebabs, pho, and the like classy and convenient. And the tacos el pastor and guacamole at el naranjo were nothing if not classy.



el naranjo food truck



Somebody likes their first taste of Austin!

 

Next stop was Frank Restaurant, which dubs itself the Purveyors of Gourmet Sausage. I couldn't agree more. The hotdog I had was stuffed with cheese, wrapped in bacon and topped with hot peppers and lots of cheese. Not very dietetic but gloriously good.

We did manage to catch some live music when we stopped at a courtyard to see The Naked and Famous.




On Sunday we drove out of the city in search of Texas barbeque. When in Rome....  eat Salt Lick Bar-B-Que. I learned of this place from Man v. Food and vowed that if I made it to Austin I would eat here. The wait can be up to 3 hours, but the brisket, sausage and ribs are well worth the drive and the wait.


Salt Lick's bbq pit
Source: NYTimes





To complete our Man v. Food tour of Austin and to enjoy Loriana's annual birthday brunch we went to Juan in a Million in the hopes of shaking the hand of Don Juan himself. Don Juan is the owner of this Mexican eatery, the namesake of the restaurant's famous breakfast taco, the Don Juan (of which Adam tried to eat 8 on the show) and was voted the best handshake in Austin. Fortunately on our way out the door we each shook his hand and grabbed a photo with him. Oh, and the breakfast tacos are great, as well as the chips and salsa!

For a sweet ending to our tour of Austin we picked up some of Amy's Icecream. My flavor of choice? Chocolate Peanut Butter Filled Pretzel. Enough said.

Add in one celebrity sighting (David Denman - Roy from The Office), and we had a well-rounded trip to Austin. I'm sure we only scratched the surface, but that's the perfect reason to go back next year.

Roy!

Keeping Austin weird. :)

Fat Monday... For Those of Us Who Can't Wait For Tuesday

Yep, we are in the pre-Lenten season, aka the Mardi Gras days of debauchery. Funnily enough, this yearly celebration of decadence and depravity actually has its origins in Catholicism. As an appreciator of irony, I had to celebrate it this Crockpot Monday.

I invited my friends Mandy, Kimia, Bina and Amish over to enjoy a baked potato bar. Baked potatoes are great for groups of people because it allows everyone to customize their spuds to suit their tastebuds. Given that I made veggie chili in the slow cooker (which was actually just my chili from the "Super Bowl of Chili" post without the meat), baked potatoes in the oven and had everyone bring their favorite baked potato topping.





Baked Potato Version 1



  But, baked potatoes don't scream Mardi Gras. You know what does? King Cake!

My King Cake

The king cake is a Mardi Gras tradition. The "king cake" is named after the three wise men, or three kings, who visited Jesus after his birth and brought the notorious gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. The cake celebrates the Epiphany and tastes like a coffee cake or large cinnamon roll with purple, green and gold sugary frosting. I got the recipe from allrecipes.com. I did, however, change the frosting to a mixture of cream cheese and confectioner sugar. And, it was tasty!

The colors of the king cake are symbolic. Purple represents Justice, Gold represents Power and Green represents Faith. But the real treat is a small toy baby, symbolizing the baby Jesus, hidden inside the cake. Whoever finds the baby in their piece of cake is declared King or Queen for the day and is responsible for hosting the next Mardi Gras party.

Baby Jesus atop the King Cake



Kimia the Queen for the Day













Spanish Lesson

Among my many New Years Resolutions this year was to become more proficient in Spanish. After 7 years of Spanish lessons through high school and college, the extent of my Spanish knowledge consists of saying hello, asking what time it is, asking where the library is and ordering a beer and a taco. Now, I know what you're thinking, why would I need to know any more than this? What can I say, I'm overly ambitious.

In order to help me in this quest I have started to listen to the podcast, "Coffee Break Spanish" during my walk home from work. Each podcast is a 15 - 30 minute lesson on conversational Spanish taught by two Scottish people. This is like a double workout for my brain. First I have to decipher their Scottish accents and then translate the phrases into Spanish. I love it. I optimize my commute time by learning another language and no one approaches me because I look like a crazy person talking to myself while I walk down the sidewalk. It's a win-win situation.

To complement my new pursuit, I made fajitas this week. This is a recipe MUY FANTASTICA for 3 reasons: it tastes great, it is incredibly simple and it works with beef, chicken or pork. I chose beef because it was on sale on Sunday and it was pre-cut into cubes. You simply combine all the ingredients in the slow cooker and cook on low for 8-10 hours. When it's dinner time, assemble the beef, shredded cheese, avocado slices and fresh cilantro on whole wheat tortillas and enjoy. Fresh cilantro makes all the difference. If every time you buy cilantro it spoils before you get a chance to use it, purchase this herb keeper. It's the best purchase I've made recently. My cilantro lasts twice as long as it did before, at least.

Fajita Beef
Combine the following ingredients in the slow cooker:
1/5-2 pounds cubed beef (or chicken or pork)
4 cloves garlic minced
1 jar prepared salsa ( I used a smoky habanero salsa)
1/2 cup beef broth
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder

Cook on low for 8-10 hours. During the last 30 minutes of cooking add one 16-ounce bag of frozen corn.

Serve on tortillas with shredded cheese, avocado slices and fresh cilantro.

Next time I might add chipotle peppers in adobo sauce and a bag of frozen pearl onions.

Chicken and Rice and Everything Nice

I recently read that 80% of the American population owns a slow cooker. That is 4 out of 5 people in this country, which seems astonishingly high to me when 50% of the population is male, not to mention 1% of the population is homeless and 0.75% of the population is in prison.

Even if this statistic is true, what percentage of that population that has actually taken their slow cookers out of their cabinet since they received it as a wedding or house-warming gift, I'm not sure.

But one thing is for sure, one of those 4 out of 5 people that likes to cook slow is my aunt, who gave me this week's recipe. It is the epitome of simplicity - there are 4 ingredients, all of which you probably have on hand and no preparation is required. And it's very very tasty and pretty healthy. Thanks Aunt Jane!

4 Ingredient Chicken and Rice

Place the following ingredients in a slow cooker and cook on low for 8-10 hours.

4 frozen chicken breasts

2 cans of black beans

16 oz fresh salsa

1/2 cup rice

Optional: 1/4 c molasses or brown sugar for a touch of sweetness


And let's not forget that this Monday was President's Day. Enjoy!