Okay, so I'm moving this weekend and I just got hit by Denver's "Blizzard of 2006." This creates two (culinary) problems: All my dishes are packed and all my food is at it's bare minimum, and I can't go out and buy anything as all the supermarkets have been closed down.
Last night we had a little less than a half chicken breast and some assorted foods, and we wanted to make some warm soup to get through the night. We really didn't have enough broth, but we have a fridge full of wine from a going-away party earlier in the week, so I thought I could make a tasty liquid. As I'm cooking I realize that I have a can of crushed tomatoes, and I realized that I'm saved. Yes, saved.
While watching her show makes me want to die, Rachael Ray usually has some recipes that can be easily changed to fit your situation so that you, too, can have a tasty meal with some pantry staples (and really, we're down to just the pantry duct tape at this point!).
So, one of our favorite Rachael Ray recipes is her *sigh* Italian Sub Stoup. We had recently altered the recipe to make an Italian sausage stoup for an appetizer party, so I decided to save the day and make a delicious concoction that I probably wouldn't have thought of without her.
I took the 3/4 of a box of broth, juice-box sized box of stock, some leftover wine, and the crushed tomatoes to create a hearty base. I then added some cooked chicken, two carrots, garlic, half an onion, and bit of green pepper to create a "stoup." We added the last of our croutons and parmesan cheese and had a delightful and healthy meal (when our alternative was about 1000 crackers). It's not so much Rachael Ray's exact recipes, but really her methods that will come in handy in a pinch.
But please, do yourself a favor and DON'T watch her talk show.
Thursday, December 21, 2006
The Usefulness of Rachael Ray, and other Snowbound Thoughts
Sunday, November 05, 2006
Product plug: Better than Bouillon
I don't know if this is a new product or an old product that I only just discovered, but let me say I love it already (and not just because their name is so close to ours!) Better Than Bouillon is a lovely, concentrated goop that packs more flavor (and significantly less sodium) than traditional bouillon cubes, but doesn't take up as much room as cans/boxes of the liquid stuff. Basically, you take about a teaspoon of the BTB goop - the texture makes it difficult to measure precisely - and mix with a cup of boiling water/add with a cup of boiling water to make a cup of stock. So, the 8 ounce can that you can get at Trader Joe's for $2.99!, makes 48 cups, or about 12 boxes worth, of broth.
Around this time of year, I do a lot of cooking that involves broth (soups, casseroles, tagines, gravy) so it's fabulous to have this much of it on hand, without having to keep 12 boxes in our already-rather-cramped cabinets. And it's cheaper, too. The other cool thing? While it comes in all the usual flavors (chicken, beef and vegetable), they also have lobster, clam, chili, mushroom AND there are organic and vegan versions of each. Might have to get those through the website, though.
