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Easy Seafood Salad
Categories: Soups & Salads

This concoction is what some cooking shows call a "semi-homemade" recipe, but the only "homemade" bit is that you buy the ingredients separately and mix them together yourself. You could duplicate the effects here completely from scratch, but this version is neither more nor less than a big ol' cheat.

However, I've timed myself making it. Total prep: about five minutes. So I'm not concerning myself about the cheating part.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon prepared mustard, any style
1 tablespoon chopped horseradish
1 jar (12 ounces) Italian-style sweet fried peppers and onions mixture (usually available in the pickle section of your supermarket, near the jars of roasted peppers)
1 can (14 oz) bean sprouts, drained
24 ounces of any combination of cold cooked shrimp, crabmeat, or imitation crab*
1 jar (32 oz) mayonnaise

Directions


  • In your largest mixing bowl, combine mustard and horseradish and whisk vigorously to combine.
  • Add entire contents of the fried pepper jar, including all the packing oil, and stir well enough to coat thoroughly but not so hard as to mash up all the peppers and onions. The oil will combine with the mustard and horseradish, creating the base for the dressing
  • Add bean sprouts and seafood; stir again to coat thoroughly.
  • Gradually add mayonnaise, stirring till thoroughly combined with the other ingredients.

Makes six to eight servings.

This can be eaten immediately, but it really develops its flavor if you make it the day before. Because of its reliance on prepared foodstuffs, I've found it does not tend to require added seasonings (though you may want to crank a small amount of black pepper just to feel like you did something fresh).

* In general, I'm not fond of imitation crabmeat, but in particular, I find myself needing to use it because I am fond of my husband, who has shellfish allergies. Any mildly flavored, fully-cooked seafood will work in this preparation.

Posted by Golfwidow on July 1, 2006



Matzo Ball Soup
Categories: Soups & Salads

You will need two large soup pots for this: one for cooking and one for straining. Use bigger pots than you think you will need. Also, after you strain the soup from the cooking pot into the other pot, wash out the cooking pot so you can use it to prepare the matzo balls.

SOUP

Ingredients

4-5 pounds chicken with bones
4 quarts cold water
1 whole medium onion, peeled
2 whole carrots
1 clove garlic, peeled and lightly cracked
4 to 6 stalks celery, including the leaves
½ ounce flat leaf parsley, whole, with stems
2 tablespoons salt to start
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions


  • Cut up the chicken if it isn't already, and place it in the pot. Add water, cover, and bring to a full, rolling boil.
  • Add remaining items on top of chicken, allow to come back up to a boil, then lower heat to a simmer and cook for at least three hours.

During this time period, you and everyone else in the house will Mess With the Soup. Someone will toss in a little more salt, then, half an hour later, it will be too salty, so someone else will add a little more water. This cycle will repeat over and over, which is why you need a bigger pot than you think.

Also, someone will decide it's cooking too fast, and will turn off the burner, so you will need to turn it back on periodically.

  • When the chicken is falling off the bones, strain it into the second pot, using a colander lined with a clean lint-free dishtowel or tea towel, and discard all the solids.
  • Skim the chicken fat from the strained soup. You may either discard this or use it to flavor the matzo balls. (If you saute some chopped onion in it, it takes on an even better flavor.)

MATZO BALLS

Ingredients

2 eggs
¼ cup chicken fat (if you're observant), butter or shortening (if you're not), or bacon drippings (if you want really delicious matzo balls and aren't afraid of hellfire)
1 cup matzo meal
½ to 1 teaspoon salt
¼ to ½ cup water or seltzer.


Directions


  • In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs well, then add the fat and matzo meal and beat vigorously.
  • Add salt, then beat in the water or seltzer till it forms a stiff batter. The amount of liquid you wind up adding may vary depending on the other ingredients and conditions. The batter at this point should be much thinner than cookie batter, but much thicker than pancake batter.
  • Cover bowl and chill in the refrigerator for 1½ to 2 hours.
  • Place a bowl of water nearby. Dip your hands in the water to keep the batter from sticking, pinch out about a teaspoonful of batter, and roll it into a small ball. Repeat till all the batter is used up.
  • Bring 3 to 4 quarts of water to a full boil. Using a slotted spoon or a spider basket to prevent splashing, drop the matzo balls gently into the boiling water and cook for 30 minutes. They will fluff up to about twice their size.

To serve, spoon a few matzo balls into the bottom of a soup bowl and ladle the soup over them. If you want to add cooked chicken and vegetables at this point, cook them separately - don't try to recycle what was used in making the broth.

Makes anywhere from four to twelve servings, depending on how many times you Mess With the Soup during preparation.

If you're short on time, the matzo balls will work in store-bought chicken broth, but my grandmother won't love you anymore.

You can buy preground matzo meal in most supermarkets these days, especially around the Jewish holidays, but if you can't find any, buy whole matzos, break them into pieces, and blitz them in the food processor till they are the texture of toasted bread crumbs. You can also do this with a rolling pin and a lot of patience.

If you haven't got any access to matzos and still want to try to make this, you can use saltine crackers, but begin by spreading them on a cookie sheet and drying them in your oven at its lowest setting for one to two hours. (No, saltines aren't dry enough as is. Trust me.) Also, you'll need to reduce the amount of salt you ultimately use.

Posted by Golfwidow on April 23, 2005



Creamy Cheesy Onion Soup
Categories: Soups & Salads

About 2 years ago, my wife and my mom decided it would be fun if my father and I did a home competition of Iron Chef. It was pretty fun except the chosen ingredient was pearl onions. You can't do jack or shit with pearl onions. Well, I ended up being the winner of the competition and it was because of this recipe. This recipe is 100% made up ... created out of thin air. To this day, I don't know how I came up with it.

Ingredients

2 - 15 oz. jars of small pearl onions
4 cups chicken broth
6 oz. Colby/Jack cheese, grated
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tsp. Salt

Chopped green onion for garnish
A few tortillas cut into strips and fried to crispyness in some oil.

Directions

  1. Use a strainer to drain juice from the onions.
  2. In a deep sauce pan, add the onions and chicken broth. Bring to a boil for a about 10 minutes.
  3. Remove from heat. Pour entire mixture into a blender and blend to a very very smooth puree.
  4. Pour through a medium mesh strainer back into the pan. Bring mixture to a simmer over medium-low heat, stirring constantly. Add the salt.
  5. After a few minutes, add the cream. Keep stirring. You don't want it to scorch. Heat until it simmers again.
  6. Slowly add the grated cheese while stirring. Continue to heat until all of the cheese is melted and the mixture is smooth and creamy
  7. Serve immediately. Garnish with chopped green onion and crispy fried tortilla strips.

Serves 6-8 people

Posted by Roachhaus on July 7, 2003



Super Easy Summer Pasta Salad
Categories: Guest , Soups & Salads

Ingredients

1 package bow-tie pasta
1 8-oz. bottle Catalina dressing (more if you like it goopy)
1 8-oz package crumbled Feta cheese
1/2 onion, diced real small

Directions

  1. Cook the pasta.
  2. Let it cool.
  3. Dump it into a big bowl and mix all the other stuff with it.
  4. Chill.
  5. Eat.

Variations: It's also good with shredded chicken. Or pepperoni. Or just about anything, really. Play with it.

From everybody's favorite barista, Daisy.

Posted by Jennifer on June 2, 2003



Chicken Pasta Soupliscious
Categories: Soups & Salads

Ingredients

2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup (approx) grilled chicken, cubed
1/2 cup celery (chop into bite sized pieces)
1 large clove garlic
1/2 cup of Acini Di Pepe (or some other small semolina pasta), uncooked
White pepper and salt to taste

Directions

  1. In a medium sized pot, bring chicken broth, grilled chicken, and celery to a running boil.
  2. Reduce heat and add garlic and uncooked pasta. Heat until pasta is soft but not mushy, and remove from heat.
  3. Add white pepper and salt to taste (You probably won't need any salt at all, unless you have a hankerin' for some high blood pressure).

Makes a whole bunch of soup. Well, maybe not a WHOLE bunch, but it's enough to make a girl and a small child have to eat soup for 3 days straight.

Posted by Jennifer on May 22, 2003





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