Did Your Turkey Stock turn to Jelly?

Originally published on January 14, 2014

A weird thing happened to me after Christmas break this year. I had the honour of having most of my family over to my house on Christmas Day, and I cooked up a big gorgeous turkey for us to indulge in. Afterwards of course, I scooped up all the remaining bones, put them into a bag, and threw them into a freezer to be made into a wonderful soup once everything calmed down a bit. Well, make the stock I did. But something totally unexpected – and totally weird – happened when I put it in the fridge. It turned to jelly!! Not just the top layer (where fat usually sits and hardens,) but the entire thing! So naturally, I had to find out why this happened. And more importantly, was it still okay to eat?

It turns out that if your turkey stock turns into a jelly-like consistency after it’s been cooled in the fridge, you’ve made your stock perfectly. Apparently the bones have collagen inside of them, and when you simmer that collagen for a long time, it breaks down into gelatin. I’ve also read that this is the goal you’re trying to achieve with stock. Fortunately as I found out, once you bring that stock back up to temperature, the gelatin will melt and you’ll not only have a simmering potful of liquid stock – but it will be super rich and flavourful too. If you bring your stock up to a simmer and it’s still too tight for you, just dilute it with some water and it should become that rich flowing stock once again.

Now, I’ve made chicken stock about five thousand times, and this has never happened to me with chicken bones. Maybe because they’re smaller? I have no idea. But maybe it’s because I didn’t simmer it long enough for the collagen to turn into gelatin. I have also read that the more you reduce or simmer the stock, the more it will tighten up into gelatin.

Has this ever happened to you?

Doritos Chicken Casserole

Originally published on January 15, 2014

This casserole was sent my way via my mom, who finds some pretty fantastic stuff from around the Web. When I made it, my kids were instantly in love and have asked for it repeatedly since. If you feel strongly about not using canned soups or mixes in your home cooking, substitute the cream of chicken soup with a bechamel made with equal parts of chicken stock and milk. Also, keep in mind that this is not a recipe that freezes well. The chips turn to mush, and make the entire thing much less appealing. That just means that when you make this, you’ll have to eat all of it up that day. It’s pretty good, so that’s not hard to do.

Ingredients:

2 cups chicken, cooked and shredded (about 2 breasts)  
2 cups Mexican or taco cheese, divided
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup milk 
1/2 cup sour cream 
1 can diced tomatoes 
1/2 packet taco seasoning 
1 large bag Doritos
Shredded lettuce (optional) 
Diced tomatoes (optional)

Directions:

1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 2-quart casserole dish.

2.) In a large bowl mix together shredded chicken, 1 cup of the cheese, cream of chicken soup (or substitute), milk, sour cream, can of tomatoes, and taco seasoning. Mix well.

3.) Place a layer of Doritos chips along the bottom of the casserole dish. Top with a layer of the chicken mixture. Top with remaining cheese. If desired, and if you have any left, add a layer of Doritos chips on top.

4.) Cover with aluminum foil and bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes until it’s hot and bubbling. Remove from the oven, top with shredded lettuce and tomatoes if you choose.

5.) Serve and enjoy!

Stuffed Tomatoes

Originally published on January 16, 2014

You can take just about any vegetable and stuff it with just about anything and I’ll love it. The same is true for these tomatoes (I know, I know, tomatoes are actually a fruit!) The things I stuffed these with are just the items I happened to have on hand, but you can use anything you want. Just remember that if you’re using meat, you should cook it before you stuff it into the tomatoes; and you should try to use bread crumbs on top as they add some texture and give them a nice golden brown colour on top.

Ingredients:

4 large field tomatoes
1 green pepper, chopped
1 red onion, diced 
1 clove garlic, minced 
1 cup chopped mushrooms 
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese 
1/4 cup bread crumbs 
4 tablespoons olive oil, plus 2 

Directions:

1.) Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Using a paring knife, cut out the core and the middle of each tomato, leaving about an inch around the edges.

2.) In a medium-sized skillet, heat two tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Add chopped mushrooms and cook until mushrooms are brown and carmalized.

3.) In a large bowl mix together the green pepper, red onion, clove of garlic, and mushrooms. Mix so that all ingredients are thoroughly combined. Stuff this mixture evenly into the hollowed tomatoes.

4.) In a small bowl, mix together the Parmesan cheese and the bread crumbs. Top each tomato with this mixture.

5.) Place the tomatoes on a baking sheet or in a casserole dish and place them into the preheated oven. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the tops are golden brown and the skins of the tomato are just starting to split. Remove from oven.

6.) Serve and enjoy!

Sweet and Spicy Chicken

Originally published on January 17, 2014

I had taken some chicken drumsticks out of the freezer one day, not knowing for most of the day what I had planned to do with them. I did a quick search when I just couldn’t go on being indecisive any longer, and had to get dinner onto the table. The A Spicy Perspective blog had this fantastic recipe and not only did I make that night, our daughter, Maddie, asks me to make it all the time. It’s something that’s super delicious, and cooks up in almost no time.

I’ve always kept all the measurements the same, but used only about 10 drumsticks at a time. Even as much as we love this one, 20′s still a lot for us to eat! The original recipe also calls for pineapple juice, something I just don’t usually have on hand. I always substitute it with orange juice, and it’s really good!

Ingredients:

10 chicken drumsticks
1/3 cup flour
3 tablespoons corn starch
1 tablespoon salt
3 1/2 cups orange juice 
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, grated
3 large cloves garlic, minced 
1/4 cup – 1/2 cup sriracha chili sauce (depending on how hot you like it)

Directions:

1.) Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil, spray with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.

2.) Mix the flour, corn starch and salt together in a bowl. Rinse the drumsticks and pat dry with paper towels. One by one, roll the drumsticks in the flour and corn starch mixture and place on baking sheet in individual rows.

3.) Place in the oven and bake drumsticks for 15 minutes, then flip and bake for 15 minutes more.

4.) Meanwhile, pour the orange juice and all remaining ingredients in a sauce pot. Bring the sauce to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

5.) After drumsticks have been baking for 30 minutes and sauce is cooked, remove chicken from oven and pour sauce entirely over each drumstick.

6.) Place chicken back in the oven and bake for another 20 minutes until the sauce has thickened and chicken is nice and sticky.

7.) Serve and enjoy!

Jamie’s Roasted Potatoes

Originally published on January 23, 2014

I think roasted potatoes was one of those things I made even when I first started cooking. They were so easy. Wash and cut up some taters, toss them with oil, salt, and herbs, put them in the oven, and you’re done. Do you know that this is actually the wrong way to make roasted potatoes? Jamie Oliver recently did roasted potatoes on one of his shows, and they are simply amazing. It involves parboiling, chuffing, dressing, and roasting, but it really doesn’t take much more time than just simply roasting them. And while I still love my baked and mashed potatoes, I have to say, these have become my very favourite. I made these for the holidays and had rosemary and sage on hand, but you can use whatever fresh hearty herbs you’d like.

Ingredients:

8 potatoes peeled and washed
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 sprigs rosemary 
1 sprig sage
Salt
Pepper 

Directions:

1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

2.) Place potatoes in a large pot of salted water. Bring up to a boil and parboil just until the potatoes are fork-tender.

3.) Drain potatoes in a colander and let them air-dry for about 3 minutes, until the potatoes start to get a glossy sheen to them.

4.) With the potatoes still in the colander, toss them around and “chuff” them a bit (Jamie’s word.) They should start to break up a bit around the edges, which will give you tons of crispy surface area.

5.) Place chuffed potatoes in a large bowl and cover with olive oil, salt and pepper. Give another toss gently, and place them in a casserole dish.

6.) Place in preheated oven for about 35 minutes, until the potatoes just begin to brown.

7.) When cooking time is up, pull potatoes out of the oven and increase the temperature to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.

8.) Tear the sprigs of herbs over the potatoes, distributing all the herbs pretty evenly over the potatoes.

9.) Place potatoes back in the oven and allow them to roast at the high heat for about another 20 minutes, or until they are utterly golden brown and smell amazing.

10.) Serve and enjoy!

Radish Chips

Originally published on January 25, 2014

Pita chips and potato chips are really delicious when you make them at home. But when you need a snack that’s even easier to make than those two, and won’t leave you feeling guilty for eating them all in one sitting, these radish chips are a real treat. I made them for myself to get me through a long day of cooking, and my girls came in just as I was taking them out of the oven. I let them try some, thinking they’d leave them alone after that, and they ended up eating the whole bowl. Guess next time I’ll have to make a double batch.

Ingredients:

1 bunch of radishes (about 10)
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder 
1/2 teaspoon paprika 
Salt 
Pepper 
1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions:

1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

2.) Slice radishes very thinly, using a mandolin if needed. Place in a medium-sized bowl and drizzle olive oil over top.

3.) In a small bowl combine chili powder, garlic powder, paprika, salt and pepper. Sprinkle this over top of the radishes and toss to completely coat.

4.) Spread radishes out in a single layer on a baking sheet and place in the oven. Bake for 10 minutes, then flip and bake for about another 10 minutes, until radishes are browned and crisp.

5.) Serve and enjoy!

Chips and Dip

Originally published on January 26, 2014

While I gave you a very healthy snack recipe yesterday, today marks exactly one week until Super Bowl Sunday, and I have a feeling those radish chips just won’t satisfy a grease-craving crowd. If you’re still searching for awesome appetizers to serve during the game, these potato chips and dip are things that everyone always love. The chips do take some time, but be sure to make lots. I’m not kidding when I say they go quick! They can also be quite salty, as I season after each batch comes out of the fryer. If you want to tone down the salt a bit, season every other batch, drain, and then toss them in with the rest of the cooked batches and give a good toss.

I don’t know when I learned to make potato chips. I’ve been doing it for a while. The dip recipe I tried for the first time last summer when I attended a potluck barbecue, and it comes from Alton Brown.

Ingredients:

For the chips:

12 potatoes, scrubbed clean and thinly sliced with a mandolin
About 8 cups of vegetable oil, for frying
Salt

For the dip:

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 large onions, diced
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 cups sour cream
3/4 cups mayonnaise 
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder 
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 

Directions:

1.) Place the potato slices in a large bowl (or two) of ice water. Allow them to sit, completely covered by water, for at least an hour, but as many as three.

2.) Drain potatoes completely on paper towels after they have been iced. Lay them flat in a single file on paper towels, and then dab dry. Allow them to sit and air dry for at least 30 minutes longer.

3.) Place the oil for frying in a large Dutch oven or deep-fryer and bring to a temperature of 375 degrees Fahrenheit. In batches, fry potatoes for about 5 – 7 minutes (depending on how big your batch and fryer) until they turn crisp and golden brown. Using a spider or slotted spoon, remove from fryer, drain on paper towel, and season with salt. Set aside in a large bowl and repeat with remaining potato slices, frying in batches, draining, and seasoning. The chips can be served right away, or stored in an airtight container for up to a week. You may need to crisp them in the oven for just a few minutes after storing.

4.) When all of the potatoes have been fried (you don’t want to be doing anything else during that time,) start making the dip. Add two tablespoons of olive oil to a skillet over medium heat. When oil is hot add diced onions and salt.

5.) Cook the onions until they are soft and carmalized, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

6.) Combine the rest of the ingredients in a medium-sized bowl and mix thoroughly. Add cooled onions, and mix once again. (At this point, I always blend it all up with an immersion blender. That’s my own preference, not Alton’s requirement, but I like my dip smooth.)

7.) Place the dip in the fridge for at least half an hour before serving, and stir again before placing on the table.

8.) Serve and enjoy!

Soft Pretzels

Originally published on January 27, 2014

I just love soft pretzels. I typically reserve them for hockey games, when you get them out of that warming stand piping hot, and dunk them in mustard until it’s falling down onto your fingers. But now that I no longer live just down the road from the arena, my craving has gone unfulfilled. Until now, anyway.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups warm water (about 110 degrees, just above body temp.)
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons salt 
1 package dry active yeast
4 – 5 cups all-purpose flour 
4 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
10 cups water, for boiling
2/3 cup baking soda
1 egg yolk 
1 tablespoon water
Coarse pretzel salt

Directions:

1.) Combine the egg yolk with the one tablespoon of water and beat lightly.

2.) Combine the water and sugar in a very large bowl and sprinkle the yeast on top. Allow to sit for about five minutes, until the yeast starts to foam. Then add four cups of the flour, the cooled melted butter, and the salt. Mix slowly, allowing all the ingredients to incorporate with each other. Then, begin to beat the mixture in the bowl with a wooden spoon by mixing very quickly and really working the dough. Do this for four or five minutes, until the dough becomes smooth and starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl. If you need to, add more flour to make it smooth and firm, adding only half a cup of flour at a time. (You can also do this in a stand mixer, but until I can save up enough for one, I get my bicep workout in while I do this step.)

3.) Place a small amount of vegetable oil in a separate, larger bowl, and then place in the dough. Turn to completely cover it in oil, cover with plastic wrap, and then allow it to sit in a warm spot for 50 to 55 minutes, until it has doubled in size.

4.) Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

5.) Combine the baking soda with the ten cups of water and bring to a rolling boil.

6.) While the water is coming to a boil, turn out the dough onto a work surface that’s been lightly dusted with flour. Roll out each piece of dough into a rope that’s 15 – 20 inches long. Be sure to make the ropes the same length so the pretzels are the same size when you cook them.

7.) One by one, make a U-shape with the ropes. Take the top of one, and bend into a loop, placing it at the bottom corner of the same side, pressing slightly so that the dough stays in place. Then, with the other end of the U-shape, place it through the loop you’ve made on the other side, and then over to the other side of the dough (now the two loops should be connected in the middle of the pretzel.) Once again, press the other side down lightly so it will stay in place. As each pretzel is finished being shaped, place it onto the parchment paper-lined baking sheets.

8.) When the water is boiling, gently drop the pretzels in one by one, and allow it to boil for about 30 seconds. Use a slotted spoon or a large spider to remove them from the water, and place back on the baking sheet. Allow to air dry for just a minute before brushing the top of each pretzel with the egg yolk/water mixture, and sprinkle on the coarse salt.

9.) When all pretzels are boiled and brushed with the egg wash, place into the preheated oven and bake for 12 to 14 minutes, until they are golden brown and crisp on top.

10.) Remove from the oven and allow them to rest for at least five minutes before serving.

11.) Serve and enjoy!

Egg Rolls

Originally published on January 28, 2014

I’ve given you the recipes for chips and dip and soft pretzels to get you ready for the Super Bowl, and today I bring you crispy, greasy, delicious egg rolls. (Although they really don’t have to be greasy if you bake them like I did.) These are so good, I get requests for them before any holiday party we throw and from friends we’ve known for years whenever they come back from out-of-province to visit.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon light brown sugar 
6 cups vegetable oil, for frying 
1 head Napa cabbage, thinly sliced 
4 carrots, grated
4 garlic cloves, minced 
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
Salt 
Pepper 
1 pound ground pork
6 scallions, thinly sliced 
16 egg roll wrappers
1 large egg, lightly beaten

Directions:

1.) Combine soy sauce, vinegar, and sugar in a small bowl. Place a large skillet over medium-high heat and add one tablespoon of oil and bring to temperature. Add cabbage, carrots, garlic, and ginger and season with salt and pepper. Cook vegetables until they are tender, about 3 to 5 minutes.

2.) Increase heat to high and add pork and soy sauce mixture. Place into the skillet with the pork and toss, until meat is no longer pink and the liquid has nearly completely evaporated, about 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in the scallions and then move entire mixture onto a plate and set aside to cool.

3.) When pork mixture has cooled enough to handle, start assembling egg rolls. Place 3 or 4 egg roll wrappers down on a work surface, and place a damp towel over the remaining wrappers to keep them from drying out. Place about 1/3 cup of pork mixture into the centre of each. Brush each border of each egg roll with egg. Fold the point closest to you up and over the pork mixture, tucking in the filling underneath. Fold both both end sides up to the centre of the egg roll, and then tightly roll up the rest of the egg roll. Keep pressing under the pork mixture to ensure a tight seal, and then gently press down on the seal to keep it from opening during cooking.

4.) In a Dutch oven filled with the frying oil, or in a deep fryer, heat remaining oil to a temperature of 350 degrees Fahrenheit. When oil reaches the temperature, drop egg rolls in, starting with about 4. Cook for about 2 minutes, turning once, until egg rolls are golden brown. Remove and drain on paper towels. (These can also be baked without losing anything in the way of crispiness or taste. Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit until they are golden brown. They can also be frozen, and baked from frozen for about 15 minutes.)

5.) Serve and enjoy!

Perfect Coleslaw

Originally published on January 30, 2014

If you’ve read some of my past posts, you know that I’ve long since been on the hunt for the perfect coleslaw. Now I’m here, happy to tell you, I’ve gotten it. This one is a little creamy, a little vinegary, is big on crunch, and my kids love it, so it’s a great way to get some veggies into those that are picky. I find that grating the vegetables on a mandolin gives you those tiny slivers you’re looking for, and also cuts the time down by about half.

Ingredients:

1 head Napa cabbage, shredded
3 large carrots, peeled and shredded 
2 shallots, shredded or finely grated
1 cup parsley, finely minced
1 cup mayonnaise
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon honey
1 tablespoon horseradish
1 teaspoon celery seed
Salt 
Pepper 

Directions:

1.) Make the dressing by combining the mayonnaise, white wine vinegar, honey, horseradish, celery seed, salt, and pepper.

2.) Place cabbage, carrots, shallots, and parsley in a large bowl and pour dressing over. Mix to thoroughly combine all ingredients. Place in fridge and allow to sit for at least one hour, to marry all the flavours. Can be kept in the fridge, covered, for three to four days.

3.) Serve and enjoy!