Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

Today I was feeling a little under the weather and thought how I would feel better. Then I remembered the cure all for all ailments, Chicken Noodle Soup. I had some Chicken in the fridge that I had to use for something soon, so I threw it in the freezer and went to the store. I needed more materials. This recipe is the delicious result.

Ingredients:
3 Chicken Breasts, diced
1 bag Whole Wheat Egg Noodle Pasta
4 Carrots, diced
1 White Onion, finely diced
4 Celery stalks, halved and sliced
1/2 stick Butter
Caesar Salad Dressing
Italian Herb Mix
Ground Black Pepper
32 oz Vegetable Broth
32 oz Chicken Broth
1 cup Water (optional)

So, I began at the store for this recipe. I knew I wanted to make Chicken Noodle Soup and all I had for it was the Chicken and Carrots. So I picked up some White Onions, Celery, and the 2 Broths.

I put the Chicken in the freezer first because when it's partially frozen it is a lot easier to cut into small pieces.

I then added some Caesar Salad Dressing to it and set it aside since it comes into play much later on.

Now dice up your Carrots, White Onion, and Celery stalks.

Alright, put a stockpot on the stove. Throw or lightly toss your Butter in there.

Once the Butter is mostly melted, throw in your diced White Onion, Celery stalks, and Carrots. Stir and add a few pinches of an Italian Herb Mix with a single pinch of Ground Black Pepper.

Let cook for about 6 minutes or until the Carrots are somewhat softened and Onions have caramelized.

Then you find the 2 Broths.

Pour them in. Stir.

Add Noodles.

Stir and then put a saucepan on a different burner with heat on medium. Put the Chicken and Dressing on in.

Make sure to keep stirring them around in the pan so they do not burn to it at all.

Now add in 1 cup of Water to the stockpot if you think the liquid level is low. I did and it turned out amazing.

Alright, once the Chicken is done cooking you strain out the excess Dressing and put the Chicken into the stockpot. Stir it in well.

Once the Carrots are soft enough it is done. For the entire recipe, I want to say this took me like 30 to 45 minutes total. I am sure if I let it cook longer it would taste a bit different, however as is it is a very rich soup. Enjoy!

The Chef's Beef Stew

I love Beef Stew. I don't know any other way of putting it that even comes close to my obsession with this delectable dish. Everyone should make their own version of it. I have several versions of it, and so far this is my favorite version. It is subject to review and change, so suggestions are welcome. I'm sorry it took so long to get on here in it's truest form.

Ingredients:
1 lb Beef Stew Meat
1 cup Pearl Barley
6 stalks Celery, sliced
Carrots, diced
Russet Potatoes, diced
1 bottle Cabernet Sauvignon
1 qt Beef Stock
Garlic Salt
Lawry's Seasoned Salt
Smoked Sweet Paprika
Sea Salt
Fennel Powder
Fenugreek Powder
Ground Turmeric
Ground Black Pepper
Ground Aleppo Pepper
Dill

I began by gathering the main ingredients. I diced the Potatoes, Carrots, and Celery up. You can decide how much you want to use, although the rough ratio seen here is what I find to be a good mix.

I plug in my slow cooker and set the heat to HIGH. I dust the bottom with Lawry's Seasoned Salt first followed by the Garlic Salt.

In goes the Beef Stew Meat.

On top of the meat I added some spices because I like the meat part of this dish to be extra seasoned. It's optional since you can just add spices to the top of everything and it will still be pretty good. I just go the extra mile. I used the Smoked Sweet Paprika, Fennel Powder, Fenugreek Powder, and Ground Aleppo Peppers.

On top of that went the diced Carrots. They tend to take longer to cook so in the middle I think is a good place for them to absorb the liquid and heat involved here.

On top of that the diced Potatoes. Pay no attention to the Brandy in the corner of the picture, it was out for something that did not make the Blog. Maybe once I perfect that recipe, you all will get to see what it is!

Then the sliced Celery.

On top of the Celery I added about 2 pinches of Dill. Then the Pearl Barley went into the slow cooker. I listed it as 1 cup, however it is probably closer to 1.5 cups. I love barley.

Now that I have everything in the slow cooker, it's the main serving of spices. Ground Turmeric, Garlic Salt, Smoked Sweet Paprika, Fennel Powder, Ground Black Pepper, Sea Salt, and Ground Aleppo Peppers rounded this mix out.

Now locate your wine. Spare no expense...I spared $3.00 USD. I know, I have expensive tastes in wine.

I put in the entire bottle. I noticed it wasn't high enough, so I added in about half of the Beef Stock container I had. It was one of those pre-made containers that has about 2 quarts in it. There was some left over, so I rounded my usage to 1 quart.

When pouring in the Cabernet Sauvignon, make sure to pour it directly onto the spices you have on top of everything. If you don't, you run the risk of the spices cooking directly into just a portion of your dish. This causes some parts to be really spicy and flavorful while the rest tastes like nothing at all/red wine.

I left the heat on HIGH for the duration of this recipe since I am very impatient. If you have the time, like 10 hours, then bring it to a boil, stir, and put on LOW for the duration. It will cause the meat to be more tender, oh well. This picture is about 1 hour in.

2 hours later the color drastically changes to a muddy brown. It smells amazing and permeates everything in it's vicinity.

About 2 hours after that making it a total of around 5 hours, this is what it should look like.

Make sure to taste test each part to make sure everything is cooked properly. I checked everything about 4 times each. Yes, I'm a little piggy but I had to make sure.

If it isn't done, then just let it cook longer until it is. Mine was done so I plated it quite readily. Enjoy!

Center Cut Pork Chops w/Tomato based Sauce

Today before I went out for my NFL team's game, I decided that Pork Chops in the afternoon was a great idea! After creating that sauce the other day for my Short Ribs, I thought that a sauce would be a great idea.

Ingredients:

For the Chops
2 Center Cut Pork Chops
Fennel Powder
Fenugreek Powder
Ancho Chili Powder
Aleppo Chili Powder
Garlic Salt
Ground Black Pepper
0.5 stick Butter

For the Sauce
2 Anaheim Peppers
2 Tomatoes
3 Carrots
4 Scallions
2 White Onions
Ancho Chili Powder
Aleppo Pepper Powder
Turmeric Powder
Sweet Paprika
2 cup Cabernet Sauvignon Red Wine
1 cup Vegetable Broth
0.5 cup Red Wine Vinegar
0.5 cup Lime Juice
Fresh Oregano

Alright, so this recipe is very split up between the sauce and the Pork Chops themselves.

The sauce was created by getting the ingredients together first.

I then diced up the Anaheim Peppers, Scallions, and Carrots. I put these in the saucepan along with the Cabernet Sauvignon and Vegetable Broth. I also added the Lime Juice and Red Wine Vinegar at this point.

I then turned the heat to HIGH-MEDIUM and diced up the White Onions and Tomatoes and added them in, along with a sprinkling of fresh Oregano.

I then turned to the Pork Chops. I had the spice mix I used on the Short Ribs the other day pre-prepared so I spooned it out and added it to the Chops. In case you don't want to go look it up, it's roughly 1 spoonful of each ingredient with 2 spoonfuls of the Ancho Powder.

Using a large saucepan, I put in the Butter and let it mostly melt. Once it was at that point, I added in the Pork Chops spice side down. One spoonful of the spice mix went on top.

After about 2 minutes, I flipped the Pork Chops. They aren't that thick so they cook quite quickly.

About 2 minutes after that, the sauce should be almost done. I took everything but the liquid out and put it into a blender. I then pureed the mix for 1 minute. Then poured back into the liquid from before and heated to boiling. Shut it off at that point and stir together.

Your Pork Chops should be done about the time you turn off that Blender. Take them off and put them on a plate to serve. Add the sauce once you are done. Enjoy.

Chef's Original: Zesty Sauce on Farfalle

Now, this was a spur of the moment dish when I was digging through the fridge looking for stuff to cook today. I had all the ingredients and thought that they would make a great sauce for pasta.

Ingredients:
2 LG Tomatoes
1 Sm Tomato
1 cup Basil Leaves
2 White Onions
6 Scallions
5 Carrots
Italian Herb Mix
Ground Cumin/Coriander
Cayenne Chili Powder
Sea Salt
Ground Black Pepper
Fennel Powder
Turmeric Powder
Fenugreek Powder
Dry Sherry
Olive Oil
Teriyaki Sauce
Soy Sauce

This dish began by gathering the ingredients.

Now, I took the Basil Leaves and cut them up into smaller pieces. Along with the Carrots I chopped up into small pieces, go into the deep saucepan.

Step 2 of this was to add in the diced Scallions and diced White Onions. Make sure there is air flow cause the Onions make you tear up and that's no good when you are using a knife.

Step 3 is dicing up the Tomatoes. They don't have to be that small of pieces since everything gets pureed later on.

Now put the saucepan on the stove and turn the heat to MEDIUM. Pour in about a half cup of Olive Oil. Add a good quarter cup of the Teriyaki Sauce and Soy Sauce too.

Then season it. I did a dusting of the Fennel Powder, Fenugreek Powder, Turmeric Powder, and Ground Black Pepper. The Cayenne Chili Powder measured about a 1/3 of a spoonful. Too much of that will make the sauce too spicy, so do that if you dare! I added a couple of pinches of the Italian Herb Mix coupled with 3 spoonfuls of the Ground Cumin/Coriander mix.

Then mix together thoroughly. Add in your 1/4 cup of Dry Sherry as well. Mix again.

Now it should take a good 5 to 7 minutes for it to be done cooking. It should be mostly mushy and soft when it is done cooking. The carrots might still be hard, but that's of little consequence.

Turn the heat off and grab your blender or food processor. Pour the contents you just cooked up into the blender or food processor. Puree until smooth. I used a blender and had to do it in 2 batches. I served on some Farfalle Pasta. I did not include how to cook the Farfalle Pasta here since it's easy to cook. You also might know it as Bowtie Pasta.

I plated the Farfalle Pasta with a healthy serving of this Zesty Sauce on top. A garnish of a pinch of Shredded Asiago Cheese topped it off. Enjoy.