Thrifty Thursday: Soup for Supper

View at Picasa 01-Apr-2010 07:25, 3.2, 5.9mm, 0.05 sec, ISO 500

There is nothing like a hearty soup and a salad for a super-easy, super-delicious meal. Here’s a savory soup that you can make in less than an hour. While I typically avoid soups with cream – this curried seafood chowder is worth the splurge. Don’t save this recipe for a fall evening, it is equally tasty on a spring or summer evening.

Curried Fish Chowder

Serves 4 – 6

View at Picasa 01-Apr-2010 18:52, Apple iPhone, 2.8

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tsp curry powder
• 2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
• 1 cup half-and-half (light cream or 2% milk)
• 1 can creamed corn
• 3 red potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 3 stalks celery, chopped
• 3 carrots, chopped
• 1 pound white fish (cod, halibut, grouper, etc), cut into pieces

Preparation

1. In a large pot over medium-high heat melt butter. Add curry powder; cook stirring constantly for 1 minute. Slowly add broth, milk, corn, potatoes, celery and carrots. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
2. Add fish; cook for 5 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork.
3. Serve immediately.

Serving suggestion: Mixed green salad and bread.

Quick and Healthy Fish Tacos

This is my favorite go-to middle-of-the-week dinner. These fish tacos are quick-to-make, healthy and make any mealtime feel like a fiesta!  To jazz things up add a couple of ramekins with optional condiments like cheese, lettuce, cabbage, sour cream or plain yogurt. Almost any fish will work and you can  pan sear the fish if you prefer.

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Tilapia Fish Tacos with Guacamole Salsa

Chicken paprikash is an old time Hungarian stew – rich in flavor, beautiful in color, and easy to make.  It’s a great weeknight meal, and if you make enough, you can have leftovers for another meal.  I like to serve it over rice, but the traditional way is to serve it over egg noodles.  Enjoy!!

INGREDIENTS

1 cut up chicken

1 sliced onion

1 cup chicken broth

1 tablespoon paprika

1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 thinly sliced red bell pepper

1 can of diced tomatoes (14.5 ounce) with juices

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat the oven to 400 degrees.  Season the chicken with salt and pepper.

2. Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium high heat.  Brown the chicken skin side down about 4-5 minutes.  Turn over for another 3 minutes.  Transfer to a plate.

3. Drain most of the fat from the Dutch oven.  Cook the onion and bell pepper for 2 minutes.  Add the broth and stir, cook for 1 minute.  Add the tomatoes and paprika.  Bring to a simmer.

4. Put the chicken back in the pot and put in the oven for 30 minutes.

5. Serve over rice, noodles, or polenta.

5 tips to preserve leftover wine

View at Picasa 12-Feb-2010 10:01, 3.2, 5.9mm, 0.05 sec, ISO 500

What do you do? You open a bottle wine to serve with dinner and don’t finish it with the meal. What should you do to save the leftover wine so you can either drink it at another time or use it for sauces and marinades?

While the wine won’t taste the same as it during the initial tasting, there are some techniques you can use to save leftover wine. Here are five of our favorite tips to save leftover wine:

Refrigerate the Wine. It is essential refrigerate leftover wine. This rule applies to red and white wine, as chilling keeps the leftover contents as fresh as possible. Store for approximately 3-4 days.

Remove the Air. Purchase a gadget (wine pump, wine saver, wine vaccum) to help you remove the extra air from the bottle thereby creating a vacuum effect to preserve the wine. Prices range around $6 and up. Simply pump out the air from the bottle, refrigerate and consume within 3-4 days.

Recork. Moisten the cork by dipping into some wine, push it back into the bottle (as far as possible) and refrigerate. This method works for red and white wine.  The wine will lose some of its luster, but will be drinkable for a few days.  Take the red wine out 30 minutes prior to drinking. Stores for approximately 3-4 days.

Repurpose an Empty Wine Split. A clever option to store leftover wine is to put the wine into a smaller wine bottle. You can find empty wine splits at specialty stores or recycle a wine split. Simply transfer the leftover wine into the smaller bottle, cork the bottle and refrigerate. Stores for approximately 3-4 days.

Freeze. Transfer the wine to a plastic container or heavy-duty zip-lock bag and freeze it to use in cooking at a later date.

Do you have a favorite technique or tip to save (or use) leftover wine? Share it with us in the comment section below.

Mama Says, waste not want not! Even with leftover wine.  Don’t forget February 27th is Open That Bottle Night (OTBN) 2010.

View at Picasa 24-Jan-2010 09:41, 3.2, 5.9mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 250

Portobello mushrooms were on special at the market this week, which inspired this budget-friendly and satisfying pasta for a meatless main course.  Serve with a hearty green salad for a quick and delicious week night dinner.

Penne with Portobello Mushrooms

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 12 ounces fresh (small) Portobello mushrooms
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3 large garlic cloves, chopped
• Salt and pepper
• 3 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 cup dry white wine (or combination of wine and chicken stock)

12 ounces penne

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preparation

1. Wipe mushrooms with a dry paper towel to clean them. Don’t wash them! Trim off the bottom of the stem along with any bad parts, and slice the mushroom with the caps 1/4-inch thick (bite-sized pieces). Set aside.
2. In a small stockpot or medium saucepan, heat the olive oil and butter. Add the chopped onions; sauté until soft, about 5 minutes, add garlic and stir for one minute.  Add the mushrooms and thyme sprigs, salt and pepper and cook over medium-low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, until the vegetables are soft. Add wine and broth if using, bring to a boil, reduce the heat medium, simmer until liquids are reduced by half and vegetables are tender, about 25 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, cook, pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite. Drain pasta, reserving 1 cup cooking liquid. Place pasta in a serving bowl and top with mushroom mixture. Add ½ of the grated Parmesan cheese. Toss. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with using, remaining Parmesan cheese as a garnish.

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  Note from the cook: I used whole wheat penne pasta and served the mushroom mixture on top of the pasta. Per my usual preference, I cooked with Evolution Wine from Sokol Blosser (a nod to my former home in Oregon).

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