Cold Cure Soup

For my friends over at TEC, here's my recipe for Cold Cure Soup! This is a bare-bones, not fancy-looking recipe post. Deal with it!

You'll need:
2 large onions
7-8 cloves of garlic
3 cans veg or chicken broth. Stock is better if you can get it - 2 boxes of stock if you get that stuff in the boxes.
2 chicken breasts
2 carrots
2 ribs of celery
3 potatoes
dash of olive oil
pinch salt
pepper to taste
1 bay leaf
1 tsp red pepper flakes
Italian seasoning to taste (basil, parsley, rosemary, thyme)

Dice onion, mince garlic, chop celery and carrots. Pour small amount of oil in pot over medium heat, sweat onions, garlic, celery, red pepper and carrots with a pinch of salt until onions are see-through. Add bay leaf, pepper, seasoning, and broth/stock. Dice potatoes and chicken breast into bite sized pieces, add to broth. Cover and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until potatoes and chicken are cooked through.

Onions and garlic are said to help the immune system, and the little kick of red pepper should help clear clogged noses.

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Chicken and Dumplings

Nothing says comfort like one-pot meals, and as far as one-pot meals go, Chicken and Dumplings is pretty much king. This isn't quite a dish you can leave simmering all day, but it's great to go back and forth to during your dailies. I've made this recipe a bit easier by having it made with Bisquick dumplings instead of dumplings made from scratch. They taste delicious and make it a whole heck of a lot easier.

Servings: About 6-8 bowls
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 45 minutes
Difficulty: Easy

Hardware
-A Large Pot with Lid
-Long-Handled Spoon
-Chef's Knife (or other large knife)
-Cutting Board
-Small Bowl
-Large Bowl
-Spoon
-Ladle, for serving

Software
Foodstuffs
-4 to 5 frozen boneless, skinless chicken breasts
-Two medium-sized brown or yellow onions
-7 to 8 cloves of garlic
-4 to 5 carrots
-3 to 4 stalks of celery
-1 can corn
-2 quart-sized boxes of chicken stock
-Milk (at least 2 cups)
-Olive Oil
-Bisquick or similar biscuit baking mix
-4 tbsp Corn Starch

Spices
-Salt
-Pepper
-2 tbsp Italian Herb Seasoning
-3 Bay Leaves
-(optional) Fresh Parsley for garnish

Dice up your onions, mince the garlic and slice up the carrots and celery. Put your pot on the burner over medium heat and add enough olive oil to coat the bottom of your pot. Add the onions, carrots, garlic and celery to the pot, and add 1-2 tablespoons of salt. I know it seems like a lot, but you're using the salt to draw liquid out of the veggies, and besides, you probably won't be adding much more to the soup. Stir this up and let the vegetables "sweat", or give off their delicious juices. Once the onions start to look a bit see-through-y, add the chicken stock, Italian seasoning, bay leaves, and pepper (to taste), along with the corn and frozen chicken breasts. Cover the pot and turn the heat up to medium high.

After the broth's been boiling for a few minutes, fish out the chicken breasts and place them on your cutting board. But the chicken into bite-sized pieces and place it back in the pot, reducing the heat to medium and putting the lid back on. Allow to cook for at least 5 minutes. While your chicken is cooking, put the corn starch in a small bowl and add a cup of milk. Stir with small spoon until the corn starch is dissolved, then add this to your broth. This will both thicken the broth and make it more creamy and delicious.

Prepare dumplings according to directions on the box of your baking mix in the large bowl. If you don't see directions for dumplings, follow the directions for biscuits minus anything having to do with the oven. With Bisquick, you'll be mixing 2 1/4 cups of mix with 2/3 cup milk. Using your spoon, scoop dough into the boiling soup. Allow to cook uncovered for 5 minutes, then cover and cook for another 10 minutes.

Once the dumplings are finished, your dinner's ready to eat!


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Devil's in the Details: Teriyaki Chicken

Teriyaki chicken by itself is a pretty simple dish. On the surface, there's not a whole lot to it - sauce and chicken, cooked, probably served over rice. Maybe with a side of veggies. However, it is in the application of these simple elements that things often go amok, the result being a lackluster chicken. I know we talked about another application of this delicious sauce not all that long ago, but my love for a good teriyaki chicken makes me feel the need to share my tips with you.

The Basics: What is Teriyaki?
Well, Wikipedia tells us that:

The word teriyaki derives from the noun teri (照り, teri), which refers to a shine or luster given by the sugar content in the tare (sauce), and yaki (焼き, yaki), which refers to the cooking method of grilling or broiling.

What does this tell us about teriyaki? Well, first it tells us that we are looking for some delicious caramelization of the sauce on the outside of the meat, and it even goes so far as to tell us how to get that - through grilling or broiling the marinated meat. Teriyaki chicken is not baked! This is an important distinction to make. I've seen chicken marinated in a perfectly fine teriyaki sauce baked in the oven as one would with many other marinated chicken dishes, and the result, while somewhat tasty, is definitely not teriyaki chicken. Without the caramelization and slight char on the chicken, you do not experience the same combination of flavors that teriyaki was made for.

Let's break down the three components of the process that determine our end result in order to create a truly hassle-free and delicious teriyaki chicken:

The Chicken
Good eats start with good meats, and good meats are often very subjective. It is a matter of preference whether you like white or dark meat, and I'm not going to tell you what's right here. Skin and bones, however, are important to discuss. Now, bone-in chicken will take longer to cook, and is often better if you plan to be grilling your chicken as it can impart a flavor all its own as it cooks. Some purists will tell you that your chicken must have skin in order to be real teriyaki chicken, but skin-on chicken has a lot more potential for screw-ups. While a crispy skin can add a wonderful flavor to the chicken, a soggy, flabby skin takes so much more away. If you're comfortable working with skin-on chicken, then by all means go for it! I personally recommend boneless, skinless chicken breasts to the cook just learning to make teriyaki chicken. They're foolproof and very tasty!
If you are using frozen chicken, make sure the chicken is at least slightly thawed before marinating in order to have it soak up the flavor faster. Speaking of which!

The Sauce
Now I talked a bit about sauce when I talked about teriyaki burgers. In case you missed it:

Teriyaki Sauce: You will either find this in the "Asian Foods" aisle or with the BBQ sauces and Marinades. A good teriyaki sauce is nice and thick, and coats the sides of the bottle like cough syrup. A common brand that I recommend is 'Soy Vay Veri Veri Teriyaki Sauce' - and it's Kosher, too!

This all applies here, too. Okay, so I got a bit lazy on the sauce part. But trust me, this is important to remember! Marinate your chicken for at least two hours for the best flavor.

Cooking
While grilling and broiling are most certainly the most traditional methods of making teriyaki chicken, the home cook with less experience will find cooking in a pan on stovetop much easier. Heat a large non-stick skillet on medium-high heat with a small amount of vegetable oil, no more than 1-2 tablespoons. When the skillet is hot, add your chicken breasts. Spoon a bit of sauce over the breast, let cook 2-3 minutes, then flip and spoon sauce over the other side. Continue applying sauce and flipping until you get a nice dark caramelization and slight char on the outside of each breast. If you cut open the breast, the meat should be white all the way through and the juices should run clear. I recommend you cut open the breast to check done-ness until you get the hang of what a "done" breast looks like.

Serve over sticky rice with some extra sauce from the bottle, if desired. Goes great with a bit of blanched broccoli.

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Cheap Food Mods 2: Wrath of Pasta

In our last installment of Cheap Food Mods, I told you how to make ramen extra tasty. After a very successful, very cheap pasta dinner for six last night, I thought I would share with you some of the easy and cheap ways to make your pasta extra delicious. Pasta is one of the great three cheap college staples (pasta, ramen and rice) and is super cheap - even after the added cost of toying with it and adding stuff to it.

Sauce!
When shopping for sauce, if you can afford it it's always better to get one of the slightly more expensive and tastier brands rather than settling for the bargain brands. In fact, while we're on the subject of shopping, it's always a good idea to have plenty of pasta on hand, since it's a good "what-the-hell-else-is-in-the-kitchen?" meal. If you see pasta or pasta sauce on sale, stock up!

By the by, if you're not all that into your average pasta sauce and you're a bit sick of butter or olive oil, try Italian Dressing or a vinaigrette of some kind. It's yummy! You may also be into pesto. Yes, I know, it looks funky. It's basically just a bit of cheese, basil and olive oil, though, so it's really good!

Back on the topic of normal sauces, if you need to buy the bargain brand (or even if you buy the good brand), you can easily augment your sauces to make them your own and very tasty, to boot. Always taste your sauce warm before adding anything to it, as without knowing how it tastes you won't know what to add. Salt and pepper are often the first things that people think of adding, and you'll probably know when to add that. A touch of cayenne can add a nice little bite to your sauce. A little bit of sugar is a nice addition to some of the all-natural, super-healthy sauces but is probably not needed for most mass-manufactured sauces. Adding meat can also add some flavor to the sauce...

Protein!
One of the reasons why you feel so unfulfilled when eating nothing but ramen or pasta is the fact that you aren't getting any protein in your diet. Now, meat is usually a bit costly, but you can make a little bit go a long way with pasta. For example, take a half pound of cheap ground beef and cook it up with some diced onions, salt and pepper, drain the fat and add it to your sauce. Easy! For something a bit more flavorful, take a half pound of Italian sausage, cut open the casings and crumble off pieces of the meat into a hot pan, cook with onions, and add it to your sauce. By breaking apart the sausages, you stretch out the meat a bit farther. Chicken is delicious just by itself in pasta, but you can get a bit fancier...

Pan-fried Chicken for Pasta
Serves: 2-3
Active Cook time: ~30 minutes
Difficulty: Super Easy

Hardware
-Medium-sized or smallish pan (I use a 10" diameter pan)
-Fork
-Small Mixing Bowl
-Plate with Paper Towels

Foodstuffs
-2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
-1/2 cup breadcrumbs, preferably Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
-1/2 cup all-purpose flour
-1 tsp Italian seasoning
-2tsp pepper
-1 tsp salt
-2 to 3 cups Olive Oil

Cut the chicken into small pieces, no bigger than one inch cubes. Mix the breadcrumbs, flour, and seasonings in the bowl until all the seasonings are evenly spread throughout the mixture. Bread each piece of chicken in the mixture. Meanwhile, place your pan over medium-high heat and put in enough oil to cover the bottom well. When the oil is hot, place some of the chicken pieces to the pan, leaving about 1/4 inch of space between each piece - you'll be cooking in batches, so don't worry when you can't fit everything in the pan.

Cook for 2-3 minutes, flipping over each piece of chicken when the bottom is golden brown and the edges have gotten a bit white. Cook for another 2-3 minutes on the other side. Check for done-ness on the first piece you remove by breaking it in half with your fork. If the meat is white the whole way through, it's done. Remove from pan and put on a plate covered with one or two paper towels to absorb the excess oil. Start the next batch when there's room and cook as above. Serve with Pasta and enjoy!
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Raid-Friendly Kitchen: Setting Up a Pantry

One of the keys to a successful raid is preparation. From simple things such as repairing your gear and showing up at the instance on time to the slightly more difficult and time-consuming process of gem socketing or enchanting your gear and gathering up consumables such as flasks, preparation is a key to success. It is much the same with getting your kitchen together - with a little preparation, you can make it so even when you forget to do a bit of shopping there's something good to eat in your house.

Today we'll discuss the foodstuffs and spices that you should keep around the house, and we'll save what equipment you should keep in your kitchen for another time. Yes, there's a recipe in this post.

Click here to skip past all the lovely information and get straight to the recipe.

Spices
An easy wasy to add a lot of flavor to even the most basic dishes is to keep a well-stocked spice rack. Even if you're on a bit of a budget, picking up one container of spices or herbs at the store each time you make a trip will see you quickly amass a worthy collection of spices. I've placed them in order from most important to least important below:
-Salt
-Pepper
-Italian Seasoning (A simple combination of marjoram, thyme, rosemary, savory, sage, oregano and basil - this blend if useful in a lot of dishes and is an easy seasoning for a lot of dishes)
-Ground Cumin
-Chili Powder
-Dried Basil
-Dried Parsley Flakes
-Curry Powder
-Bay Leaves
-Garlic powder
-Chicken or Beef Bullion Cubes
-Ground Cinnamon
-Nutmeg
-Vanilla Extract

The Basics
These everyday staples are ones you'll find yourself using on a somewhat regular basis, things you'll want to have on hand so that when you're making most simple recipes you only need to purchase the perishable goods. You can gradually stock up on these as you need them for a recipe you're using, or just gather them up in one go. Make sure that you replace any of these that you use on your next shopping trip so that you can have them on hand! Unlike the spices, I've put these in no particular order:
-All Purpose Flour
-Baking Soda
-Baking Powder
-Granulated White Sugar
-Brown Sugar
-Olive Oil
-Vegetable Oil
-Cornstarch
-Bread Crumbs
-Soy Sauce
-Worcestershire Sauce
-Vinegar
-Peanut Butter
-Vegetable Shortening
-Onions and Garlic (Okay, so these are technically fresh vegetables. However, they can last in your cabinet for a while if they must, and they are crucial in most dishes. Keep this stuff around!)
-Dried Pasta
-Pasta Sauce
-Egg Noodles
-Ramen
-Rice (I personally recommend using a short or medium grain rice as your everyday rice. My personal favorite variety is Calrose.)
-Canned Diced Tomatoes
-Chicken Broth
-Beef Broth
-Cooking Sherry
-Canned Tuna
-Canned vegetables, beans or fruits that you enjoy

Your Freezer
Okay, so it's not technically your pantry, and your freezer should never be considered a stasis chamber where nothing ever goes bad. However, it is true that stuff in the chill box can last months, maybe even years. Do try to clean out your freezer at least once a year, more if you find it getting crowded in there. Here are a few things to consider keeping in your freezer:
-Frozen Chicken Breasts
-Frozen Hamburger Patties (Get them already frozen, as they will preserve better than freezing your own ground beef. You can use the beef from the patties in other dishes in a pinch.)
-Frozen Vegetables (Your call here. I'm never without a bag of frozen corn in the freezer, though some people like peas better.)
-Butter (Yes, butter! Keep a box in your freezer and you'll thank me the day you run out of butter and are too lazy to go to the store. Just thaw it out in your fridge for a few hours and it'll be good as new.)
-Ice Cream or Popsicles (Spoil yourself a little!)

So what are the benefits of keeping a fully-stocked kitchen?
I'm starving. So hungry I could eat my own arm, and we haven't gone shopping in a while. With only my basic pantry stuff on hand, I was able to cook up a nice little dish that served both my boyfriend and myself with very little fuss at all. It's nothing very fancy, but it's fast and very tasty.

Herb Chicken with Buttered Noodles
Serves: 2-3
Cook Time: 20 minutes or so of defrosting, plus 20 minutes actual cooking.
Difficulty: Easy

Hardware
-Microwave
-Plate
-Small pot with lid
-Colander (strainer)
-Large Pan
-Knife
-Cutting Board
-Stovetop

Foodstuffs
-2 to 3 Frozen Chicken Breasts
-4 tablespoons butter
-1 medium-sized onion
-Italian Seasoning
-Salt and Pepper
-Worcestershire Sauce (about 2 tablespoons)
-One Package Egg Noodles

Place chicken breasts on a plate, microwave to defrost. Follow your microwave's directions on defrosting poultry, as microwave settings vary by manufacturer. This will take somewhere between 15-20 minutes, during which you can be doing something else, like farming primals. Although, it may be handy to dice up your onion now to save you a minute or so of time. So yeah, dice up that onion into small pieces.
Once the microwave tells you it's done, take the chicken out and cut into bite-size pieces. Heat up 2 tablespoons of the butter in your pan over medium heat. Fill your small pot with water up to about 2 inches away from the top, add your lid and set it over high heat to boil. Add the onions to your melted butter in the pan. Sprinkle Italian seasonings, salt and pepper to taste over your chicken, then add to the pan. Sprinkle on some more seasoning to the backside of your chicken, then add the Worcestershire Sauce. Let this cook, stirring every so often to ensure even cooking, for about 10-15 minutes until your chicken is cooked all the way through. You can tell because it's white all the way through and also very tasty.
Long before your chicken is done, though, you'll notice your water boiling in the pot. Remove the lid and add your egg noodles. These noodles will take somewhere between 5-7 minutes to cook through. Don't let them get too soggy - check them for done-ness every minute or so after the 5 minute mark. Once done, drain and rinse these in your colander in the sink, then return the noodles to your pot off the heat of the stove. Once your chicken is cooked through, add the chicken to your noodles along with the remaining two tablespoons of butter. Stir to combine and melt the butter and serve while warm.

Also: hai Saruin~. To the Anvil Raid: Yeah, I didn't do the ramen recipe, I'll save that one for next week. I mainly wrote this up to remind myself that I need more egg noodles when I go to the store today. >.>
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