Monday, February 22, 2010
Wedding cake revealed
This past weekend I presented the first wedding cake I've made to my brother in law and his lovely wife, Geraldine. Below is a photo...
Some room for improvement for sure, but I'm proud of it for a first attempt. It can only get better from here!
Friday, February 12, 2010
On Cake...
So I thought I would share a recipe this morning. A basic, easily executed recipe... for buttercream. Buttercream is the most common icing for a cake, and the stuff you buy in a container at the grocery store for $5 is closest to buttercream. I've been experimenting with various recipes for a few years, trying to find the most promising. There are many methods to making a buttercream that range in effort from butter and powdered sugar beat together all the way to boiling sugar to "soft ball stage," whipping egg whites, and putting together one hugely precocious mess. Both of these methods can work and make a delicious icing, however, I don't have room in my fridge to refrigerate a cake that the icing may melt off because it is all butter and I don't have the patience for dirtying every dish in the kitchen just for the icing...
The recipe I've found and quite enjoy is considered, "Decorator's Butter Cream." I'm currently taking a Wilton Cake Decorating Course and this is our "class buttercream." Let me give you the recipe and then gush about what I love about it...
Buttercream Icing (Stiff Consistency) yield: 3 cups
1 cup solid white vegetable shortening
1 tsp flavoring (most commonly vanilla, but there are many options, almond, orange, peppermint, etc)
2 Tbsp milk or water (use water if you want to be able to leave out at room temperature)
1 lb pure cane powdered sugar
1 Tbsp Wilton Meringue powder
1 tsp butter extract
PINCH salt
Cream shortenings, flavorings, and water. Add dry ingredients and mix on medium speed until all ingredients have been thoroughly mixed together. BLEND AN ADDITIONAL MINUTE. (doing so does make an important difference in your consistency).
Now let's talk consistency: This recipe makes stiff consistency, because you can always add water, its harder to take it away. Stiff icing is only used for 3-d flowers such as roses.
MEDIUM: this consistency is great for the decorating portion of icing your cake. Its the perfect consistency for borders, stems, and flowers with flat petals. To get your icing to medium consistency, add 1 teaspoon of water per cup of stiff icing (1 Tablespoon for the whole recipe)
THIN: This is the icing you will use to ice your cake as well as for writing and leaves. Add 2 teaspoons of water per cup of stiff icing (2 tablespoons for the whole recipe).
About some of these ingredients:
~The shortening: Shortening is preferred over butter because food safety wise, shortening is more stable at room temperature. And no one wants food poisoning over birthday cake! You can get the butter flavored and cut out the butter extract, however at my local grocery store the store brand that does not come in butter flavored is 3 times the size as the butter flavored crisco for the same price. And when you need a full cup of shortening for 3 cups of icing (which is the minumum I bring to class every week), it helps the budget to buy in bulk. Additionally, butter flavored crisco (if I remember correctly) is yellow... which will affect the "pure white" of your product.
~The powdered sugar: pure cane is preferred because anything that does not say pure cane, probably contains beet sugar (a cheaper source). Beet sugar tends to leech out water into your icing RUINING the texture. (I know you're asking how much water can powdered sugar really "leech out"? But the consistency of your icing is a very touchy subject that can be altered with just a fraction of a teaspoon. So any unanticipated moisture is too much.)
Also, the recipe calls for a pound. My recipe clarified that 1 pound was approximately 4 cups. I did the weight to volume change at http://www.traditionaloven.com/conversions_of_measures/sugar_amounts.html and found that 1 pound of powdered sugar is 3.63 cups. The difference os 3.63 versus 4 when you are measuring your liquid by the teaspoon is large... So, use a digital scale, buy sugar in a 1 pound incremement, or buy two pounds and double the recipe are your best bets.
~The Water: On the subject of moisture, you may need to play around with the exact amount for your locale's humidity. I had to add a few extra drops when I lived in Colorado and the air is pretty much negative humidity all the time. San Diego seems to have pretty middle of the road humidity and sticking to the exact amount on the recipe is good.
~The meringue powder: This is the big ingredient difference in "decorator's" buttercream as opposed to different recipes. This will give your icing just a little but of crust and help it maintain the design you put into it. It is also what causes icing flowers to harden and keep their shape. You can find the wilton brand in the same aisle as cake decorating supplies in walmart or a craft store. And I just recently saw online that it is commonly available in your average grocery under the name, "Just whites." I've only worked with the wilton brand and its not too expensive, so I'm don't think I'll be taking the risk of switching for probably just a couple cents savings.
~The salt: If we've learned anything from Alton Brown, its that a bit of salt helps bother bring flavors together and accentuate them. Thats why there is a small amount in your brownies, chocolate recipes, muffins, etc. Put just a pinch in your icing as well.
~The flavors: Go crazy here! You can use whatever you put your wild imagination to. Vanilla, almond, orange... there are so many extract options on the market these days, that you can make your buttercream any flavor at all. You could also use your favorite flavored liquor to replace the amount of water and flavoring. However, the "Wilton method" suggests using only a clear liquid so you don't affect the "pure white" of your icing. This makes coloring more true. I'm pretty impressed with my cake decorating colors in creating a true color even though I did not use clear vanilla in my recipe of buttercream. I will, however use clear extract on the wedding cake I'm icing in mostly white next week.
There are two things I really love about this recipe:
1) Its non-dairy and therefore shelf stable. Buttercream consistency is made to be best at room temperature. So if you are having to refrigerate and work with it for a limited time out of the refrigerator, you are not working with the ideal product. As well, even if your cake is completely cooled to room temperature (which it should be before icing), refrigerated icing is not going to go on smoothly or go on without you accidently take chunks out of your cake.
2) The meringue powder makes it. As a kid, my mom decorated most of the birthday cakes in the neighborhood. She used icing out of the can. And the thing I loved most about her methods was that when something went wrong, she would just let it harden a second, stick her finger in warm water and smooth it out simply and quickly. I've never been able to do this with homemade icing until I added that meringue powder. That ability give you the ability to have smooth corners and get rid of the peaks where you pulled your spatula up for more icing or whatever. Do not use too frivously because as I said earlier, extra moisture will kill your frosting.
So thats my piece for the day. Go crazy and have fun! If you are not having atleast as much fun decorating the cake as you do eating it, you're way too stressed... its cake, I'm pretty sure that fun is in the definition!
Cheers, LiA
The recipe I've found and quite enjoy is considered, "Decorator's Butter Cream." I'm currently taking a Wilton Cake Decorating Course and this is our "class buttercream." Let me give you the recipe and then gush about what I love about it...
Buttercream Icing (Stiff Consistency) yield: 3 cups
1 cup solid white vegetable shortening
1 tsp flavoring (most commonly vanilla, but there are many options, almond, orange, peppermint, etc)
2 Tbsp milk or water (use water if you want to be able to leave out at room temperature)
1 lb pure cane powdered sugar
1 Tbsp Wilton Meringue powder
1 tsp butter extract
PINCH salt
Cream shortenings, flavorings, and water. Add dry ingredients and mix on medium speed until all ingredients have been thoroughly mixed together. BLEND AN ADDITIONAL MINUTE. (doing so does make an important difference in your consistency).
Now let's talk consistency: This recipe makes stiff consistency, because you can always add water, its harder to take it away. Stiff icing is only used for 3-d flowers such as roses.
MEDIUM: this consistency is great for the decorating portion of icing your cake. Its the perfect consistency for borders, stems, and flowers with flat petals. To get your icing to medium consistency, add 1 teaspoon of water per cup of stiff icing (1 Tablespoon for the whole recipe)
THIN: This is the icing you will use to ice your cake as well as for writing and leaves. Add 2 teaspoons of water per cup of stiff icing (2 tablespoons for the whole recipe).
About some of these ingredients:
~The shortening: Shortening is preferred over butter because food safety wise, shortening is more stable at room temperature. And no one wants food poisoning over birthday cake! You can get the butter flavored and cut out the butter extract, however at my local grocery store the store brand that does not come in butter flavored is 3 times the size as the butter flavored crisco for the same price. And when you need a full cup of shortening for 3 cups of icing (which is the minumum I bring to class every week), it helps the budget to buy in bulk. Additionally, butter flavored crisco (if I remember correctly) is yellow... which will affect the "pure white" of your product.
~The powdered sugar: pure cane is preferred because anything that does not say pure cane, probably contains beet sugar (a cheaper source). Beet sugar tends to leech out water into your icing RUINING the texture. (I know you're asking how much water can powdered sugar really "leech out"? But the consistency of your icing is a very touchy subject that can be altered with just a fraction of a teaspoon. So any unanticipated moisture is too much.)
Also, the recipe calls for a pound. My recipe clarified that 1 pound was approximately 4 cups. I did the weight to volume change at http://www.traditionaloven.com/conversions_of_measures/sugar_amounts.html and found that 1 pound of powdered sugar is 3.63 cups. The difference os 3.63 versus 4 when you are measuring your liquid by the teaspoon is large... So, use a digital scale, buy sugar in a 1 pound incremement, or buy two pounds and double the recipe are your best bets.
~The Water: On the subject of moisture, you may need to play around with the exact amount for your locale's humidity. I had to add a few extra drops when I lived in Colorado and the air is pretty much negative humidity all the time. San Diego seems to have pretty middle of the road humidity and sticking to the exact amount on the recipe is good.
~The meringue powder: This is the big ingredient difference in "decorator's" buttercream as opposed to different recipes. This will give your icing just a little but of crust and help it maintain the design you put into it. It is also what causes icing flowers to harden and keep their shape. You can find the wilton brand in the same aisle as cake decorating supplies in walmart or a craft store. And I just recently saw online that it is commonly available in your average grocery under the name, "Just whites." I've only worked with the wilton brand and its not too expensive, so I'm don't think I'll be taking the risk of switching for probably just a couple cents savings.
~The salt: If we've learned anything from Alton Brown, its that a bit of salt helps bother bring flavors together and accentuate them. Thats why there is a small amount in your brownies, chocolate recipes, muffins, etc. Put just a pinch in your icing as well.
~The flavors: Go crazy here! You can use whatever you put your wild imagination to. Vanilla, almond, orange... there are so many extract options on the market these days, that you can make your buttercream any flavor at all. You could also use your favorite flavored liquor to replace the amount of water and flavoring. However, the "Wilton method" suggests using only a clear liquid so you don't affect the "pure white" of your icing. This makes coloring more true. I'm pretty impressed with my cake decorating colors in creating a true color even though I did not use clear vanilla in my recipe of buttercream. I will, however use clear extract on the wedding cake I'm icing in mostly white next week.
There are two things I really love about this recipe:
1) Its non-dairy and therefore shelf stable. Buttercream consistency is made to be best at room temperature. So if you are having to refrigerate and work with it for a limited time out of the refrigerator, you are not working with the ideal product. As well, even if your cake is completely cooled to room temperature (which it should be before icing), refrigerated icing is not going to go on smoothly or go on without you accidently take chunks out of your cake.
2) The meringue powder makes it. As a kid, my mom decorated most of the birthday cakes in the neighborhood. She used icing out of the can. And the thing I loved most about her methods was that when something went wrong, she would just let it harden a second, stick her finger in warm water and smooth it out simply and quickly. I've never been able to do this with homemade icing until I added that meringue powder. That ability give you the ability to have smooth corners and get rid of the peaks where you pulled your spatula up for more icing or whatever. Do not use too frivously because as I said earlier, extra moisture will kill your frosting.
So thats my piece for the day. Go crazy and have fun! If you are not having atleast as much fun decorating the cake as you do eating it, you're way too stressed... its cake, I'm pretty sure that fun is in the definition!
Cheers, LiA
Monday, February 8, 2010
On my intellectual plate. . .
So, as I brieftly mentioned in my last post, I was a picky kid. How I define this pickiness may be different from how my parents describe it... as they were the one trying to cook for me. But here is what I recall: I ate off plate with seperated sections until I was about ten, and I remember eating a lot of: fishsticks, corndogs, hot dogs, and peanut butter sandwiches. Here is an unbiased example: the only sandwich I ate until probably about the age of 10-12 was peanut butter OR peanut butter and honey. That is two to three ingredients and when you really think about it... peanut butter and honey is just slightly sweetened peanut butter... There were slight changes throughout my life to make me a little less picky... going through growth spurts and playing sports made me so hungry I suddenly liked more things. Living in the dorms gave me the same appreciation. And then... I worked in a kitchen. And suddenly I was expected to taste and comment on all sorts of things that I had been so sure I didn't like.... But I still don't like a lot of things that most people would enjoy just thinking about: beans, avocados, squash and pumpkin pie are the few that come easily to mind.
My younger brother was also a picky kid. And I admit I spent much of my time living with my parents pointing out which ways he was pickier than I. He didn't like pasta. He didn't like cheese unless it was mozzarella melted on a pizza. And anything green and healthy looking? You can forget about either of us being tricked into that. The list of vegetables consumed in our house was short: corn, carrots, and broccoli.
I never understood what made me and my younger brother so picky and my older brother and so many other kids in the world so food accepting. This was one of the things that led me to study nutrition in college (I didn't finish that study, I failed some science classes and switched my major). While I have now accepted more and more foods onto my plate, I am still regularly reminded of how picky I am by my husband who will pretty much eat anything. Meanwhile, his younger brother: a picky kid.
To me it is fascinating what makes kids like my husband or older brother look at something (no matter what the name or smell or appearance) and say, "Yeah I'll try it" and like it versus me or my younger brother or brother in law look at the same thing and say, "I don't like it." My brother in law, who is youngest of the 5 combined siblings has been practically made famous by the fact that he looked at something, was told to try it and said he didn't like it. When he was asked repeatedly to try it because how could he know that he didn't like it without trying it, he replied: "I just know by thinking. I thought about it, and I don't like it." I've recently defended this long told "family legend" by mentioning that, even though I am not nearly as picky as I was as a kid, sometimes I make a dish (usually things with lots of veggies or a new sauce... things that have lots of ingredients such as a stir fry or a salad) and I finish it... and despite knowing that I like every individual ingredient that I have included or even knowing that I have made this recipe before.... something in my brain just acknowledges the dish in front of me (appearance, smell, ingredients) and fires back with: "You are not going to like that."
So anyway, I know some picky people... lets move on to my point. WHAT CAUSES THIS? How come my husband can look at anything indiscriminately and think, "This could be delicious!" and meanwhile I have the same foods and I scoot everything around the plate with my fork and think, "I am going to be hungry at the end of this meal because I am NOT going to enjoy this."
I am currently reading "How We Eat" by Leon Rappoport. He is primarily a psychologist interested in.... well, how we eat. In his book, he examines the things we eat and why we, as a species come to establish a food as good or bad. Additionally, he has researched extensively on how we develop our food habits. It looked like an interesting library book which it has turned out to be... but it also has brought me back to some of my initial feelings on what was so interesting about studying human nutrition.
I'm not far along and he hasn't had much to say about being picky but he does mention this in chapter two, "Its not necessary to study psychoanalytic behavior to recognize the obsessive-compulsive tendencies shown by people who insist on arranging their food in a certain pattern; having their bread toasted lightly, darkly, or in-between; or having their coffee not too hot and not too cold with just the right amount of sugar and cream. All forms of obsessive behavior... can be understood as defenses against anxiety. People who show obsessive food behaviors are evidently trying to cope with anxieties..."
I definitely see a relation to the mental aspect of not liking a lot of foods. I've long held the belief that kids avoid foods which their bodies have reactions to. Perhaps not always a correct correlation (many people avoid a specific food after having a long night of gastro-intestinal issues, but they didn't necessarily have food poisoning from that item) I mention this because I admitted earlier that I don't like pumpkin pie. A notable thanksgiving of my childhood, we had all the aunts and uncles and cousins at my house. Two came with the stomach flu. I was asked to try the pumpkin pie, didn't enjoy it and then had the stomach flu all night. To this day a traditional pumpkin pie makes me a gag a little... even though I enjoy pumpkin in all sorts of other things (including pumpkin cheescake, yum). And perhaps a food being avoided does not neccessarily a strong reaction that others around can observe such as a "typical" allergic reaction of anaphylactic shock or vomiting... But something in the brain seems to connect that the food is not going to be enjoyable in some way. So I mention that part first, but lets get back to Rappaport's thoughts on the subject.
The quote above ends like this, "People who show obsessive food behaviors are evidently trying to cope with anxieties that probably can be traced to harsh or tramatic childhood experiences with eating." Some people just have parents that react to "I don't like it" with force or anger or frustration. Having been the daughter of a picky kid, I did not suffer from that. To me it sounds excessive to make picky eating about having a tramatic childhood. But I guess there are kids out there that are forced to clean their plates even when they don't feel good, that have to eat their vegetables to get up from the table, and that age old threat... "You can sit there til breakfast, I don't care, but you will not get up from that table until you finish." Perhaps I would not have been willing to try things over and over again until I liked them (such as with many of the vegetables I eat now) had I endured this treatment. Perhaps I would still be as picky. But... perhaps not.
I will say, to credit my parents patience with us: my younger brother, the fellow picky kid is not picky anymore. He works in a popular health food store as a cook and eats all sorts of vegetables, beans, squash, grains... Every time I talk to him, he mentions something else he enjoys that I never imagined he would. Our last conversation was on avocados. I think I will ask him next time if there is anything he can think of that he still would not eat no matter what. I bet there's something... but its probably something simple and "kid-friendly" like Kraft macaroni and cheese.
Now a brief disclosure: I am not a parent. So maybe we should just ponder and revisit this when I have kids that look at me like I'm trying to poison them and say, "But mom, I know by thinking and I don't like that!" But maybe and one can only hope: they eat like my husband.
My younger brother was also a picky kid. And I admit I spent much of my time living with my parents pointing out which ways he was pickier than I. He didn't like pasta. He didn't like cheese unless it was mozzarella melted on a pizza. And anything green and healthy looking? You can forget about either of us being tricked into that. The list of vegetables consumed in our house was short: corn, carrots, and broccoli.
I never understood what made me and my younger brother so picky and my older brother and so many other kids in the world so food accepting. This was one of the things that led me to study nutrition in college (I didn't finish that study, I failed some science classes and switched my major). While I have now accepted more and more foods onto my plate, I am still regularly reminded of how picky I am by my husband who will pretty much eat anything. Meanwhile, his younger brother: a picky kid.
To me it is fascinating what makes kids like my husband or older brother look at something (no matter what the name or smell or appearance) and say, "Yeah I'll try it" and like it versus me or my younger brother or brother in law look at the same thing and say, "I don't like it." My brother in law, who is youngest of the 5 combined siblings has been practically made famous by the fact that he looked at something, was told to try it and said he didn't like it. When he was asked repeatedly to try it because how could he know that he didn't like it without trying it, he replied: "I just know by thinking. I thought about it, and I don't like it." I've recently defended this long told "family legend" by mentioning that, even though I am not nearly as picky as I was as a kid, sometimes I make a dish (usually things with lots of veggies or a new sauce... things that have lots of ingredients such as a stir fry or a salad) and I finish it... and despite knowing that I like every individual ingredient that I have included or even knowing that I have made this recipe before.... something in my brain just acknowledges the dish in front of me (appearance, smell, ingredients) and fires back with: "You are not going to like that."
So anyway, I know some picky people... lets move on to my point. WHAT CAUSES THIS? How come my husband can look at anything indiscriminately and think, "This could be delicious!" and meanwhile I have the same foods and I scoot everything around the plate with my fork and think, "I am going to be hungry at the end of this meal because I am NOT going to enjoy this."
I am currently reading "How We Eat" by Leon Rappoport. He is primarily a psychologist interested in.... well, how we eat. In his book, he examines the things we eat and why we, as a species come to establish a food as good or bad. Additionally, he has researched extensively on how we develop our food habits. It looked like an interesting library book which it has turned out to be... but it also has brought me back to some of my initial feelings on what was so interesting about studying human nutrition.
I'm not far along and he hasn't had much to say about being picky but he does mention this in chapter two, "Its not necessary to study psychoanalytic behavior to recognize the obsessive-compulsive tendencies shown by people who insist on arranging their food in a certain pattern; having their bread toasted lightly, darkly, or in-between; or having their coffee not too hot and not too cold with just the right amount of sugar and cream. All forms of obsessive behavior... can be understood as defenses against anxiety. People who show obsessive food behaviors are evidently trying to cope with anxieties..."
I definitely see a relation to the mental aspect of not liking a lot of foods. I've long held the belief that kids avoid foods which their bodies have reactions to. Perhaps not always a correct correlation (many people avoid a specific food after having a long night of gastro-intestinal issues, but they didn't necessarily have food poisoning from that item) I mention this because I admitted earlier that I don't like pumpkin pie. A notable thanksgiving of my childhood, we had all the aunts and uncles and cousins at my house. Two came with the stomach flu. I was asked to try the pumpkin pie, didn't enjoy it and then had the stomach flu all night. To this day a traditional pumpkin pie makes me a gag a little... even though I enjoy pumpkin in all sorts of other things (including pumpkin cheescake, yum). And perhaps a food being avoided does not neccessarily a strong reaction that others around can observe such as a "typical" allergic reaction of anaphylactic shock or vomiting... But something in the brain seems to connect that the food is not going to be enjoyable in some way. So I mention that part first, but lets get back to Rappaport's thoughts on the subject.
The quote above ends like this, "People who show obsessive food behaviors are evidently trying to cope with anxieties that probably can be traced to harsh or tramatic childhood experiences with eating." Some people just have parents that react to "I don't like it" with force or anger or frustration. Having been the daughter of a picky kid, I did not suffer from that. To me it sounds excessive to make picky eating about having a tramatic childhood. But I guess there are kids out there that are forced to clean their plates even when they don't feel good, that have to eat their vegetables to get up from the table, and that age old threat... "You can sit there til breakfast, I don't care, but you will not get up from that table until you finish." Perhaps I would not have been willing to try things over and over again until I liked them (such as with many of the vegetables I eat now) had I endured this treatment. Perhaps I would still be as picky. But... perhaps not.
I will say, to credit my parents patience with us: my younger brother, the fellow picky kid is not picky anymore. He works in a popular health food store as a cook and eats all sorts of vegetables, beans, squash, grains... Every time I talk to him, he mentions something else he enjoys that I never imagined he would. Our last conversation was on avocados. I think I will ask him next time if there is anything he can think of that he still would not eat no matter what. I bet there's something... but its probably something simple and "kid-friendly" like Kraft macaroni and cheese.
Now a brief disclosure: I am not a parent. So maybe we should just ponder and revisit this when I have kids that look at me like I'm trying to poison them and say, "But mom, I know by thinking and I don't like that!" But maybe and one can only hope: they eat like my husband.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Something to start with
As long as I have resisted the... blogging phenomenon, I'm finding it hard to decide on an exact subject for this first entry. I think its because i have so many ideas of what I want to post in this space that I don't know which to start with. SO... here we go. A recipe. The following is a recipe that has been passed around my husband's family for a few years now. I was entrusted with it and the acceptance of "and you can do whatever, I know you'll find some great way to improve it." and I feel that the changes to our most recent pot have indeed changed it from something great to... WOW. I'll put this in a traditional recipe format, but I do have a few footnotes to make... I suggest reading all the way through.
Chicken Tortilla Soup... by a series of Gringos (including myself)
Ingredients:
1 medium red onion, diced small to medium
1 medium yellow onion, diced small to medium
1 large can diced green chili
1 small can chipotle chili in adobe, diced *
~Saute these ingredients over medium high heat until onions have carmelized and liquid has pretty much evaporated
2 (14oz) cans fire roasted tomatoes***
1 can whole kernal corn (drained)
1 can whole kernal corn (dumped the juice in the pot too)
1 can black beans (rinsed and drained)
1 lb chicken. cubed, shredded, or pulled off rotisserie chicken
10 cups water
6 chicken Bouillon cubes **
4 beef Bouillon cubes
3 shakes worcestshire sauce
teaspoonish cumin
pinch chili powder
~Dump all these ingredients in a soup pot and bring to simmer over medium heat. When Onion/pepper mix is done, add to pot. Let simmer atleast 30 minutes to let all the flavors come together and honestly, its better on day two... but who can wait until then to enjoy!?!?!?!
~Serve with a sprinkle of cheese, a splash of lime juice and a small spoonful of sour cream. Tortilla chips or corn tortilla strips put under the broiler until crispy should be added upon serving. Personally, I like mine to stay crispy so I eat them on the side or as a dip, but I guess that kind of takes the tortilla out of the tortilla soup.
FOOTNOTES:
*Chipotle chili in adobo is delicious. Its a mediumish chili. Using the whole can will mean this soup will be medium spiciness for about two days and as it sits longer get spicier. If you're worried about overdoing, use less, or pull the seeds out of the peppers before dicing. (You should be able to find this in the mexican food aisle. You can also just use an extra can of diced green chilis)
**Use whatever your favorite broth source is. We sometimes boil the chicken bones for added flavor, use canned broth, use base... but the 60% chicken, 40% beef is an important element.
***I just recently learned about fire roasted tomatoes. They are awesome for soups and chilis. In my grocery, they are available only by hunt's and only in the 14oz cans. But however you can get them, it should add up to 28oz. Before using fire roasted tomatoes, we used 2 cans of "Mexican" tomatoes, the ones with the peppers. So if you're unlucky in finding fire roasted, don't despair... you can still have tortilla soup.
I've been experimenting in the soup department for a couple months now. Having been a picky kid, I wasn't ever a soup fan. I started learning the basics in the first kitchen I worked in: a student run restaurant at my now alma mater. It was there that I was thrust into trying the soups of the day every day and realized that soup is delicious, comforting, can be quite healthy, AND is cheap to make. What's not to like? We're planning on making a gumbo for the superbowl. (because its in New Orleans or New Orleans is playing? Maybe both... thats how much I know about football) I haven't made gumbo since that first kitchen prep job and even then I was mostly just the stir-er. I remember it being time consuming (but atleast at home I can have a beer while I wait for the roux to brown) but well worth it.I'll let you know how it goes.
But for now, CHEERS! LiA
Chicken Tortilla Soup... by a series of Gringos (including myself)
Ingredients:
1 medium red onion, diced small to medium
1 medium yellow onion, diced small to medium
1 large can diced green chili
1 small can chipotle chili in adobe, diced *
~Saute these ingredients over medium high heat until onions have carmelized and liquid has pretty much evaporated
2 (14oz) cans fire roasted tomatoes***
1 can whole kernal corn (drained)
1 can whole kernal corn (dumped the juice in the pot too)
1 can black beans (rinsed and drained)
1 lb chicken. cubed, shredded, or pulled off rotisserie chicken
10 cups water
6 chicken Bouillon cubes **
4 beef Bouillon cubes
3 shakes worcestshire sauce
teaspoonish cumin
pinch chili powder
~Dump all these ingredients in a soup pot and bring to simmer over medium heat. When Onion/pepper mix is done, add to pot. Let simmer atleast 30 minutes to let all the flavors come together and honestly, its better on day two... but who can wait until then to enjoy!?!?!?!
~Serve with a sprinkle of cheese, a splash of lime juice and a small spoonful of sour cream. Tortilla chips or corn tortilla strips put under the broiler until crispy should be added upon serving. Personally, I like mine to stay crispy so I eat them on the side or as a dip, but I guess that kind of takes the tortilla out of the tortilla soup.
FOOTNOTES:
*Chipotle chili in adobo is delicious. Its a mediumish chili. Using the whole can will mean this soup will be medium spiciness for about two days and as it sits longer get spicier. If you're worried about overdoing, use less, or pull the seeds out of the peppers before dicing. (You should be able to find this in the mexican food aisle. You can also just use an extra can of diced green chilis)
**Use whatever your favorite broth source is. We sometimes boil the chicken bones for added flavor, use canned broth, use base... but the 60% chicken, 40% beef is an important element.
***I just recently learned about fire roasted tomatoes. They are awesome for soups and chilis. In my grocery, they are available only by hunt's and only in the 14oz cans. But however you can get them, it should add up to 28oz. Before using fire roasted tomatoes, we used 2 cans of "Mexican" tomatoes, the ones with the peppers. So if you're unlucky in finding fire roasted, don't despair... you can still have tortilla soup.
I've been experimenting in the soup department for a couple months now. Having been a picky kid, I wasn't ever a soup fan. I started learning the basics in the first kitchen I worked in: a student run restaurant at my now alma mater. It was there that I was thrust into trying the soups of the day every day and realized that soup is delicious, comforting, can be quite healthy, AND is cheap to make. What's not to like? We're planning on making a gumbo for the superbowl. (because its in New Orleans or New Orleans is playing? Maybe both... thats how much I know about football) I haven't made gumbo since that first kitchen prep job and even then I was mostly just the stir-er. I remember it being time consuming (but atleast at home I can have a beer while I wait for the roux to brown) but well worth it.I'll let you know how it goes.
But for now, CHEERS! LiA
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