Showing posts with label summer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label summer. Show all posts

Monday, July 6, 2020

My Favorite Summer Soup - Gazpacho - A Quick and Easy Pantry Recipe

I learned about gazpacho (gahs-PAH-cho) in high school Spanish class.  It's a tomato-based cold soup (stay with me, here - it's delicious!) originating in Andalusia (southern Spain) that's perfect for those hot hot hot summer days when nothing much sounds good except a plunge into a bathtub full of ice water.  When I first served it to That Man, I told him to think of it as a salad, because that's basically what it is.

The original recipe I have is preprinted on a 3x5 card.  I'd sent away for a packet of these recipes from Campbell's - yes, the soup people!  I tried a few of them and kept a couple - one for fettuccine alfredo and this one for gazpacho.  The original version makes quite a bit - just about 9 cups counting all the vegetables (which is nearly half again as much as what the recipe says it will make!), but I'll give you my cut down version first.  You'll need a blender that can crush ice for my blender version.


Quick Blender Gazpacho

1 can (10 3/4 oz) condensed tomato soup
1 c ice and water (I put crushed or cubed ice in a measuring cup, then fill it with water)
1/4 t garlic powder (or more, if you're a garlic aficionado like I am!)
1 slice bread, toasted
4 t vinegar
2 t olive oil
1/3 c chopped bell pepper (any color)
2 T chopped onion
2/3 c chopped cucumber, divided
1/3 c chopped tomato

Put everything in the blender except for half of the chopped cucumber and all the chopped tomato.  Put the lid on the blender and puree until everything is well blended.  By the time you serve the soup, all the ice should be melted, and the soup should be good and cold.  You should be able to get 3 to 4 small bowls of soup from this recipe.  Serve the soup topped with the remaining chopped cucumber and the chopped tomato.  If you want, you can omit the toast and add some croutons to the toppings. although authentic gazpacho has bread in the soup.  Because I use ice as part of the water, you can serve this right away, instead of having to chill it for 4 or more hours before serving.


Here's the original recipe, as printed on the card from Campbell's:


Gazpacho (soups / sauces)

2 medium cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cans (10 3/4 ounces each) Campbell's Tomato Soup
3 cups cold water
1/4 cup wine vinegar
2 cups chopped cucumber
1 cup chopped green pepper
1/2 cup chopped onion
Croutons

In a small saucepan, cook garlic in olive oil; combine in a large bowl with soup, water, and vinegar.  Chill for 4 hours.  Serve in chilled bowls.  Pass chilled vegetables and croutons for garnish.  Makes about 6 1/2 cups.

Blender Version:  Cook garlic as above.  Combine in electric blender with 1 can soup, 1 cup water, 1/4 cup cucumber, 1/4 cup green pepper, 2 tablespoons onion, and 2 slices toast.  Blend until smooth; combine in a large bowl with remaining soup, water, and vinegar.  Chill as above.  Garnish with remaining vegetables.

TESTED RECIPE / HOME ECONOMICS DEPARTMENT / CAMPBELL SOUP COMPANY

Tuesday, May 26, 2020

It's SUMMER! Time for Fried Chicken!

Memorial Day has passed, and it's officially SUMMER, for all intents and purposes.  It used to be that a staple of picnics and pitch-ins was fried chicken, and NOT from a red-and-white-striped bucket.

I pulled out my cast iron skillet and made fried chicken a couple of days ago, and it always gets the same comment from That Man - "This is better than KFC!"  I used split chicken breasts instead of the skinless boneless Chick-zilla breasts I usually buy, but darned if those split breasts, which were even from a different company, were still HUGE - 2 1/2 pounds, and only TWO breasts in the package.  I had to cut them in half with my trusty kitchen shears.

Fried chicken really ought to be made with bone-in chicken with the skin on, but you can still make it with boneless, skinless breasts or thighs.  It's up to you, of course!

I used to just buy one of the prepared fry mixes, like Drake's or Kentucky Kernel, but I always ended by doctoring them up.  This recipe for my fry mix should be enough for 5 to 6 pounds of chicken.  I used half for those two monster split breasts, and there wasn't more than a spoonful left, so I just sprinkled it over the chicken pieces once I had them in the pan.


Fried Chicken

5-6 lb cut-up chicken (rinsed and patted dry with a paper towel)

1 c all-purpose flour
5 t seasoned salt
1 t pepper
1 t paprika
1 t poultry seasoning
1 t Montreal grilling seasoning for chicken
1/8 t ginger
1/8 t MSG (optional)

1 c Crisco shortening (one stick, if you buy it that way)
1/4 c bacon fat (optional, but everything's better with bacon!)

If making the full recipe, you'll need two 12-inch skillets with lids, or a large electric skillet with a lid.  Melt the Crisco and bacon fat at medium-low heat while you make the mix and dredge the chicken.

In a medium bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients.  Dredge each piece of chicken in the prepared mix, coating each piece thoroughly.  Set the coated pieces on a sheet pan while you finish dredging all the pieces. 

Turn up the heat to about medium.  Start with the first piece and dredge each piece in turn a second time.  After all the pieces have been dredged twice, place them in the skillet(s) skin side down (if you're using bone-in chicken with skin), or what would have been the skin side down (if you're using boneless skinless pieces).  Cover the skillet(s).  Turn down the heat to somewhere around medium-low, so the chicken is gently sizzling.  You may need to turn it down a little more.  Cook 20 minutes on each side.

Using tongs, transfer the chicken from the skillet(s) to a paper-towel-lined sheet pan to catch any excess fat.  Dig in!

Wednesday, August 22, 2018

Caprese Salad - A CSA Box Recipe

Caprese Salad

Tomatoes, sliced
Olive oil
Salt
Fresh mozarella cheese
Fresh basil leaves, chiffonade (about 10-15 leaves)
Balsamic glaze

Arrange tomato slices on a plate or platter.  Drizzle olive oil over the slices.  Lightly salt all the tomatoes.  Arrange the cheese pieces and basil leaves over the tomatoes.  Drizzle balsamic glaze over all.

This is a great way to use up the late summer tomato explosion, and it's quick and easy to make.   

Monday, July 9, 2018

That Summer Feeling - OUTSIDE!

A couple of weeks ago, I had a weekend that reminded me of Summer.  Not summer, the hot season full of projects and busy-ness, but Summer, as in Summer Vacation from School.

And not the short, anemic, pitiful, so-called "summer break" so many kids have now.  Our school calendar ends the first week of June and starts August 1 - about a seven-week break, if there are no snow days to make up.

For me, Summer was thirteen glorious weeks of freedom - plenty of time to get bored and long for school to start again.  I'd get on my bike, pick up a friend or two, and we'd ride all over the neighborhood, aimlessly exploring all the streets.  Or we'd head to the creek that ran behind our houses and explore - again, aimlessly.

I've been adulting for decades.  It's been a long time since I had a Summer with a capital "S" but I got a taste of it.

That Thursday, I went exploring in the country - aimlessly!  I found a park I'd never visited and two quiet public access sites to the river.  Once I turned off the car, it was as if I were far away from home in the middle of nowhere.  At both places, I could only hear birds singing, and at one, just barely, a lawnmower.  I sat there for a little while and just soaked in the quiet and the sounds of being outside.

Friday, I drove up to the marina and went sailing.  I haven’t sailed the boat in a couple of years, what with bad weather, babies, schedules, working, and all the typical excuses.  I was on the water for a couple of hours - sunburn!  But not bad.  Just enough to know I’d been out a while - another Summer sensation.  It was soothing to just sail around - aimlessly!

Saturday, I went on my first Volksmarch since 1993 (now there's a thought)!  The route wandered from a park in the next town north, through the town, across the lake, through another park, and back.  Crossing the lake, I saw turtles basking on logs and a great blue heron guarding a dock.  They looked like they were enjoying Summer.

Sunday, I went to church at my church's woodsy outdoor chapel.  Sitting on a wooden bench under the trees for a worship service took me back to church camp.

Those few days felt like summer vacation.  All that time outside, the exploration, and the aimlessness.  It seems everything you do as an adult has a specific purpose or goal.  It was freeing to just BE for a change.

Enough adulting!  I’ll keep trying to recapture that feeling - aimless and outside!

Saturday, July 28, 2012

My Summer Bucket List

Back in May, I read a blog by Jason Kotecky at  http://kimandjason.com/blog/  where he made a summer bucket list.  Here's what Jason came up with:



I decided I needed a summer bucket list, too, so the summer doesn't slip away without my doing anything DIFFERENT from the norm.  Mine wasn't nearly as artistic as Jason's, but it'll do:

1 park concert
1 live theater performance (inside a theater)
Shakespeare in the Park (Noblesville)
1 free outdoor classic movie
Fireworks – Noblesville?   Indy?  Cicero (over the lake)?
Indianapolis City Market farmers market day (Wednesdays)
Noblesville farmers market (Saturday)
Westfield farmers market
Carmel farmers market
Visit 3 state parks (choir retreat doesn’t count)
1 camping trip
1 overnight backpack trip
Use my camp dutch oven 1 time
Use the grill 1 time
Sit on the porch 1 time/week
Sit on the patio 1 time/week
Visit the State Museum
Go to the State Fair
Go to 1 garage sale
Go to the Strawtown flea market 1 time
Art on the Square (Noblesville)
Visit an antique shop
See all 46 of the Indianapolis murals painted for the Super Bowl
Go to a festival in a different town (Elwood glass festival, Tipton pork festival, etc.)

Hmmm...  Quite a long list - somewhat ambitious.  Let's see what I've done so far.


I went to my first outdoor classic movie last night - The Awful Truth starring Cary Grant and Irene Dunn.  What a hoot!  I'm looking forward to more.

I haven't been to the farmers market here yet, but I've been to the one at the Indianapolis City Market four times.  I've bought kale, tomatoes, bakery goods, and a crock pot curry lentil mix.  And of course, it's always a great place to eat lunch, even when it's not market day.  I've visited the Carmel farmers market, but not Westfield's or Fishers'.

I'm sitting on my porch right now, and I've become a fixture out here on the days it's been nice enough (that means when it's not a hundred and four degrees).  This weekend has been perfect porch and patio weather.  I've been out on the patio, too, but not as much as the porch.

I've seen several of the Super Bowl murals.  There are ten on the canal in downtown Indianapolis near my office, so I've seen those, plus a few more.  Here's the website:

http://www.artscouncilofindianapolis.org/murals/

There are maps and pictures and all kinds of information about the murals.  This is one of my favorites.

PamelaBliss 700

I had planned on going to a fireworks show, but Cicero's was cancelled because of the dry conditions, I didn't feel like driving all the way to downtown Indianapolis, and it was so hot, I couldn't stand the thought of sitting outside in the heat for the Noblesville show, so I went to bed instead.  I actually HEARD the Noblesville fireworks while I was lying there.  Kind of cozy- like lying in bed during a thunderstorm.


I haven't been able to use my grill or dutch oven because of the burn ban here.

Shakespeare in the park started last night.  I'm planning to go Thursday or Friday.


Art on the Square and the State Fair are in a couple of weeks, and there are lots of free movies and concerts in the parks still to come.  The farmers markets mostly run through October.  Plenty of time!


Then there's a camping trip and visiting some state parks.  Hmmmm...  If you read the previous blog post, you'll know how THAT worked out.


All in all, I think I've done well enough with my list.  Not spectacularly, but the goal isn't to do EVERYTHING on the list, but to CONSIDER everything on the list, and actually DO some of them.


What's on YOUR bucket list?