Cooking at Home with Judy

Ginger, why it is so good for you!

First there is a recipe for you!

Download Asparagus & Chicken Cheese Soup.pages

Here is why Ginger is so good for us!

Download Ginger bnefits.pages

Last, but not least, here is my home remedy for swollen ankles. 

Download Swollen Ankles Home Remedy.pages

From your friend in the kitchen, Judy

Soup-Stu

Soup-Stu
serves 4 -- E-Z to freeze

1/2 peeled and diced FRESH eggplant

1/2 C Picante sauce

1/2 C jar tomatoes

1T jar garlic

large pinch coarse black pepper

4 C homemade chicken stock

2 C caramelized baby portabella mushrooms

1/2 C diced red bell pepper

1-2 small or 1 medium bay leaf

• Take note there is no mention of salt. YOU don't need any. There is plenty of sodium in your veggies.

The one thing I wish I had added was to grate FROZEN whole lemon over the top, either in the soup or as a garnish.

People are always asking me what I'm going to make next week? Well, I NEVER know until I get to the grocery store and see what looks good in the produce aisles and what's on sale in the butcher shop. And of course, whatever catches my eye in the cheese case. And don't forget my own freeze for luscious homemade sugar-free desserts. This week there is both Dark Cherry and Old Fashioned Lemon Custard Ice Cream. Plus your choice of New York, Chocolate Chip, or Milk Chocolate Cheesecake.

Back to Soup-Stu . . . Earlier this week, the most beautiful purple eggplant was calling my name in the produce section. And further down was a perfect size box of Baby Portabella mushrooms. They along with fresh Italian parsley, carrots, broccoli, spaghetti squash, gorgeous red bell pepper, yellow beets with the tops on, celery, onions, cucumbers, and romaine lettuce plus the usual lemons, limes, oranges, grapefruit, strawberries, grapes, bananas, apples, pares and this week pomegranates (while they are still in season) made it into my basket.

When I got home I prepped my parsley and lettuce, (page 38 in Cooking with Judy, also Unstuffed Eggplant is on page 34 in the same volume). Removed the cellophane wrap from the mushrooms and placed the box in a brown paper lunch sack and stored in the crisper. I also placed my eggplant there knowing I'd have it out before supper.

But I couldn't wait. As soon as the groceries were all stowed away. I grabbed two cereal bowls and my med-sized ceramic skillet. Using my Fairytale Fingers recipe on page 42 in Volume 3, I peeled and sliced up my beautiful purple med-sized eggplant. In less than 15 minutes I was munching down on delicious Eggplant Parmesan rounds.

However I knew I couldn't eat the whole eggplant so I only prepared 1/2. Now what was I going to do with the other half? I'll tell you in a minute, I just hit an oh oop's.

I normally have several snack size bags of homemade Spaghetti Sauce in the freezer. Ooop's none today. Now what? Well there is a tiny bag of left-over frozen Picante sauce and a small bag of plain jar (page 21 Volume 5) tomatoes. What if I combine them in a small skillet and simmer them down to a thick sauce? Plus it would be a good idea to add a small spoon of jar garlic and FRESH basil. YUM

So while the sauce is reducing and the Parmesan rounds are browning. I diced up the remaining eggplant.

I plated up the drained Parm-rounds and spooned the sauce over. Garnished with more FRESH basil, which I always keep a plant by my kitchen sink all winter long. There was sauce leftover so I dumped the raw diced eggplant in, added a splash of water, covered with a lid and left on LOW while I enjoyed my lunch.

NOW for Soup-Stu . . . You guessed it the cooked eggplant in tomato-Picante sauce went into a soup pot two days later. Along with 4 cups of frozen homemade chicken stock from Thanksgiving. So it was seasoned with rosemary, thyme and sage.

So now what else can go into the pot? That brown paper bag of mushrooms caught my eye. I love caramelized mushrooms. They are so yummy. Why not?

Sprinkled a good pinch of coarse ground black pepper (page 25 Volume 6) in the bottom of my med-size ceramic skillet. Turned on the heat to med. When I could smell the pepper I added a good swirl of EVOO (see abbreviations page in any volume).

Now I know all cooks tell you NOT to wash your mushrooms. But I find JUST BEFORE slicing them up . . . if I remove the stems, run each one under running water and rub off the excess soil it is a GOOD thing! They don't get all that wet and I know they are CLEAN before I cook them.

As the oil is heating I am slicing and separating the slices, as I put them in the hot oil. Stir often to keep them from sticking.

To this I got the brilliant idea of adding a small snack-size bag of diced red bell pepper from the freezer. All the while the tomato/eggplant is bubbling away in the chicken stock. That's it folks. DRAIN the mushrooms and peppers before you add to the soup. ADD 2 small or 1 med bay leaf to the pot and let it simmer uncovered for one hour.

From the freezer I grabbed a slice of Pizza Bread (page 18 in Cooking with Judy) and zapped it in the microwave for 30 seconds. From the fridge I grabbed a green salad with Creamy Peppercorn Dressing (page 29 in Cooking with Judy). I dumped half of it in a bowl. In my soup bowl I broke up a piece of grilled chicken tender (could use beef or pork) ladled my Soup-Stu, over it and garnished with FRESH parsley. In a single scoop dish I placed a hand full of pecans and a Spoonful of Chocolate (page 47 Cooking with Judy) for dessert and grabbed a glass of milk!!!!!!

From your friend in the kitchen, Judy

 

 

Over the Top Mushrooms

Over the Top Mushrooms

Don't you just love it when a mistake turns into something oh so GOOD?

You see, on a whim, I decided to pick up a large package of sliced mushrooms to make my Sweet Mushroom Soup, page 14 Volume 5. First of all I never buy sliced mushrooms, because they are always too dry meaning too old. I prefer to hand pick each one; whole and FRESH. Then slice just before making my dish. I also place them in a brown paper lunch size bag, as soon as I get them home. Then store in the crisper of my fridge to be used as soon as possible. 

Second mistake, I had not checked the freezer to see if I even had any chicken stock on hand. You'll find E-Z homemade chicken stock on page 19 in Cooking with Judy. I did however pickup a sweet onion, fresh carrots and celery. I knew I had fresh garlic on hand and frozen FRESH ginger and turmeric in the freezer. 

All excited when I got home, put the groceries away and got out my soup pot and med size glass skillet. Put both the pot and the skillet on the stove over med low heat. Added a couple of pinches of extra coarse black pepper (page 25 Volume 6) to the bottom of each pan. Set out the onion, garlic and mushrooms. Added a swirl of EVOO to each pan. Diced the onion, added it to the soup pot, sprinkled a big pinch of Kosher salt and mixed well. 

In order to caramelize (page 14 Volume 5) the mushrooms I added two swirls of EVOO to the skillet. Tossed in the box of mushrooms and mixed well. To my cringe I found far too many mushrooms still had their woody stems attached. I quickly (they were starting to get hot) picked those out and pinched off the offending tough stems. 

At this point I went to the freezer for my ginger and turmeric and thought I might as well pull out a couple of bags of chicken stock to thaw while I peeled the carrots and kept an eye on the mushrooms. They needed to be stirred as they begin to brown. 

Oooop's NO chicken broth, not a drop. NOW WHAT????? Well calm down, take a breath, stir the mushrooms, check the onions. Grate the garlic, ginger and turmeric over the onions and still well. Reduce the heat while I try to figure out what to do???

Then I remembered, last month I had caramelized too many mushrooms for my perfect steak (page 22 Volume 2 or page 58 in Cooking with Judy, Sexy Date Night Meal), so I had put the leftovers in a small snack size zip bag and tossed them in the freezer. They were excellent another day weeks later. 

So why not do the same now? Just more bags to enjoy later. What about the onions, garlic, ginger and turmeric? Toss-'em all together! Why not? Of course by now I'm disgusted that I've wasted time and $ and won't have my delicious Sweet Mushroom Soup! 

Too impatient for the mushrooms to completely caramelize, I mixed them all together in the soup pot. They were not cooking fast enough to satisfy my impatiences. I grabbed an old Corning Wear casserole dish, buttered it and dumped the mess in. Turned the oven on to 325º and slide it in. 

Decided checking email would brighten my dark mood. When I smelled it I turned off the oven and put the glass lid on top. Left it in the oven for another 20 minutes or so. Then let it cool. 

Fixed myself a perfect steak and grabbed leftover green salad with Peppercorn Dressing (page 29 in Cooking with Judy) and made Stinky Cheese page 24 in Volume 5) in place of croutons. Darn fine meal, if I say so myself. 

The next day I bagged up 6 individual servings of Over the Top Mushrooms and placed them in the freezer to enjoy for months to come. YEA!!!!!! Another mistake bites the dust and becomes a healthy, delicious and nutritious whole living food to build strong bodies and sharp minds. 

Ingredients:

In a med-size glass skillet over med-low heat add:

  Good pinch Extra Coarse Black Pepper, page 25 Volume 6

•             One big swirl of Extra Virgin Olive Oil in skillet
• 1           Sweet onion, diced
•             Big pinch Kosher salt

Stir often and steam until translucent then add

• 2          Cloves fresh garlic, grated
• 1/2"      Frozen fresh ginger, grated
• 1/4"      Frozen fresh turmeric root, grated

Mix well and add: 

• 3 C Washed, stems removed, sliced button or portabella mushrooms or both*

Stir often and cook until tender or place in a butted glass casserole dish and bake at 325º until tender. 

* I think it perfectly okay to run mushrooms under running water and remove stems before slicing, as you are going to immediately cook them. 

From your friend in the kitchen, Judy

Let me know what you think after you try it. 

Cucumber Salad

Cold, simple, quick and E-Z, perfect for the lunch box or mid-day snack and so good for you. Serves one but you can easily multiply for a whole army. Can be made a day or two ahead. 

1  cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced

1  T sour cream

1  T heavy cream

                                  1/2 t  dill weed

Tiny pinch salt & pepper, mix well and refrigerate.

I love it with leftover cold grilled or pan seared salmon or chicken. 

Leftovers Soup

FRESH Sage from my friends garden, an onion form the pantry and a red bell pepper and half a bunch of celery that needed used up from the fridge and then leftover cooked cauliflower, butternut squash and roasted sweet Anaheim peppers from the freezer along with the zest of one lemon and a couple of cloves of garlic made an amazingly delicious soup on a cool fall day.

If you've never use butternut squash in soup you must try it. Most people will never know it's in there they'll guess it to be carrots. And try my Butternut - Apple - Spinach Salad on page 7 in Cooking with Judy . OH SO GOOD!!!!!  

Download Leftovers Soup.pages

 

 

Sausage & Fresh Spinach Soup

Yummy good -- pays to keep Holy Grail or Trinity, as some refer to soup starter, in the freezer. Working on yet another project that took all my time and attention I didn't take a break until I was starving. Nothing in the fridge that wouldn't require more time than I was willing to give, so up to the freezer I moved. There I found a frozen sausage patty and a bag of soup starter. 

 

Download Sausage and Spinach Soup.pages

 

From your friend in the kitchen, Judy

 

Chicken Alfredo

Using Guilt Free Fried Chicken, on page 15 in, Cooking with Judy in this recipe makes it a snap.

See how E-Z it is to grow on page 51 in Volume 3. 

Download Swiss Chard and Chicken Alfredo.pages

Download Swiss Chard Nutrition.pages

From your friend in the kitchen, Judy

Spaghetti Sauces

Never - ever buy it in a jar. It is so E-Z to make your own FRESH sauce with FRESH ingredients + you control the sodium and NO sugars. 

Page 20 in Volume 5