homemade canned cream of mushroom soup

April 22, 2011 //
4

i have become more and more inspired by farmers markets, julia child, laura ingalls wilder, and the basics of cooking. ultimately, i would really like to take as much processed food out of my diet as possible. for example, i never have ketchup in my fridge, but a recipe called for 2 tbsp of it, so instead of going to the store and buying a bottle of ketchup, i made my own out of what i already had at my house.

a few weeks back, i had a craving for my grandma’s wild rice casserole. now, it is not a healthy dish by any means, but her recipe calls for canned cream of mushroom soup and canned asparagus (blech). i read the soup label only to discover MSfuckingG in it.

are you kidding me?! i thought that crap was banned by now. regardless, the basic ingredients were simple, so why couldn’t i make it from what i already had in my kitchen: butter, flour, seasonings, broth, milk and mushrooms?

homemade canned cream of mushroom soup
3 tbsp butter
3 tbsp flour
1 tsp poultry seasoning
1/2 cup broth
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup mushrooms, diced small
s+p

melt the butter.
whisk in the flour, one tbsp at a time.
add poultry seasoning.
whisk in broth.
whisk in milk.
stir in mushrooms.
s+p to taste.
heat until desired thickness.


you’ll have the same amount in a can of campbell’s without all the extra ingredients you don’t need like vegetable oil, modified food starch, dried whey, soy protein concentrate, yeast extract, and monosodium glutamate! plus, it tastes better and took less than 5 minutes to make. it made me think: what other processed food can we just make ourselves? or, what would laura ingalls wilder do?

a version of this post first appeared in my sister kate’s blog smart girls who do stupid things.

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Categories how to, recipes

chicken pot pie

April 20, 2011 //
2

the great thing about chicken pot pie is that it can be made with basic ingredients you already have on hand. i like to switch the veggies up a bit here and there, but this is what i did tonight:

  • 1 unbaked double pie crust dough (this should be made first, so you can prep and cook the rest while it is in the refrigerator. if it chills longer than an hour make sure you let it sit out for 5-10 mins before rolling it out.)
  • 1 lb boneless, skinless cooked chicken meat, bite sized pieces
  • 1 1/4 cups carrots, diced
  • 1 3/4 cups fingerling potatoes, diced
  • 1 cup fresh peas, or thawed frozen ones
  • 1/2 cup celery, diced
  • 1 1/2 cups onion, diced
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 5 tbsp unsalted butter
  • 1/3 cup flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp pepper
  • 1/4 tsp celery seed
  • 1/2 tsp paprika
  • 1 3/4 cups chicken stock
  • 2/3 cup milk
  • 1 egg

put the chicken, carrots, potatoes, peas, and celery in a sauce pan. toss in a touch of  s+p and celery seed, and add enough water to cover. bring to a boil for about 15 minutes, or until your veggies are just soft, but not mushy.

let them drain…

in the meantime, you will make the roux (use the same sauce pan if you like) with the remaining ingredients shown below:

cook the onions and garlic in the butter over medium heat until soft and translucent. gradually stir in the flour, add the spices, and then add the stock and milk slowly, stirring continually. simmer over medium-low heat until thick. set aside while you roll out your dough (or, if you are cheating, take your pre-made pie dough out of it’s package, and put in the pie pan.) place the chicken and veggie mixture in the now lined pie pan.

pour the roux over the chicken veggie mixture slowly, making sure it doesn’t overflow…

lay the top pie dough over the filling, trim if necessary, fold both layers under, and crimp. whisk the egg and brush over the top of the crust and crimped edges. make 4 slits with a sharp knife.

bake in a pre-heated oven @ 450° for 45 minutes. let cool for at least 15 minutes, or longer (it’s not to torture you) if you can stand it, before cutting in to it, just so the filling has a chance to set. cut and serve in wedges. enjoy!

(note: i have substituted some of the carrots and fingerlings, for turnips and parsnips, but i don’t see why trying other types of veggies might be interesting too. as long as you end up with roughly 3 1/2 cups of uniformly diced veggies to boil with the chicken you should be good.)

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Categories pie, recipes

window farms

April 20, 2011 //
0

if you are like me and live in a loft condo where there is little to no green space on the property, or have to jump through hoops to get approval from your hoa to utilize communal space as a garden, there are solutions.

the windowfarms project has developed a way to grow fresh fruits, veggies, and herbs in your own home:

even though i do think it would look really cool hanging in my window, it does seem like quite an undertaking, and i worry if i have a green thumb to be successful.

i am also concerned about any possible bpa or other chemicals leaching from the plastic water bottles into the plants. they do state this on their FAQ’s page:

“Some scientists in the community are unconcerned, postulating that the size and complexity of the BPA molecule size and complexity is likely too much for plants root hairs to uptake. To be safe, the community and core team are developing alternatives to the use of plastic water bottles. We are also looking for science-minded volunteers with the appropriate equipment to take-on the challenge of measuring any chemical leaching to verify these concerns.”

so, i did a little research. here is what nestle waters (their 1.5l bottle is the recommended bottle to use in the window farm system) has to say on their ‘are plastic water bottles safe?’ page:

“BPA is not present in our bottled water packaging smaller than three gallons. Our single-serve bottles (typically 1.5 liters and smaller) are made from PET plastic (marked with the “1” symbol), which is flexible and lightweight.”

but then, as somewhat of a disclaimer, at the bottom of the page, they state this:

“The available scientific evidence indicates that bottled water is safe when stored properly and consumed in a reasonable amount of time. We recommend consumers treat bottled water as they would any food product and store it at or below room temperature, out of direct sunlight, and away from solvents and chemicals.”

i’m not ruling this out as an option, but being that window farming is dependent on direct sunlight, and that there are numerous warnings on re-using plastic bottles with a #1 on them, i might just wait for verification, or at least more evidence, that planting in them is safe.

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Categories farming

lemon roasted chicken

April 19, 2011 //
4

this was extremely simply and produced juicy lemony meat. first you will need to butterfly your bird. then shove about 2 tbsp of salted lemon zest under the skin, sprinkle the skin generously with s+p, and put it in a roasting pan (preferably one that is not aluminum or non-stick, such as glass).

whisk together 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice, 2 tbsp lemon zest, 2 cups of chicken stock, and 1 cup of water. then give the chicken a bath. pour the mixture into the roasting pan until it reaches the sides of the thigh skin.

bake at 475° for about 40 minutes (the thigh meat should register 170°-175°) and the skin is crispy. let it rest on a cutting board for about 20 minutes. i recommend one with a reservoir, because it will ooze juices. while you wait, you can reduce the pan juices down to about a cup, thicken it with a tsp of cornstarch, whisk in 3 tbsp of butter (off heat) and some fresh thyme, and you will have a delicious sauce to put on top.

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Categories recipes

in the words of a genius…

April 19, 2011 //
2

“find something that you’re passionate about and keep tremendously interested in it.” –julia child

Categories julia child
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