Eating Waffles

Can't believe The Month of Soup is over.  With arrival of the last day, I discovered there were so many soup recipes uncooked.  Some were previously tried recipes like 16 Bean Soup  and PoFolks Stew . Some were new like Black Bean & Butternut Squash Chili (Vegan)  and Mexican Meatball Soup .  Being the last day of the month, I thought it was only fitting to serve a new recipe Summer Corn and Zucchini Chowder to keep in with Eating Waffles new recipes routine.  And because it had bacon. Cause why not? Modifications Made: Parsley and thyme were omitted, milk was reduced by half, and bacon was doubled.  Zucchini was added to the corn for additional browning and cooking. Scaled for Likability: Great Man oh man, what a way to end a month of soup.  This was freaking fabulous, even with zucchini.  More pepper was needed along with more of a thickener to create a chowder consistency. Next time, the zucchini will be cooked directly alongside the onion and celery and all three along wit

Another day another soup. With soups of lately taking two days to finish, lots of dinner rolls have been made to meet soup requirements. First it was Potato Rolls  with the best results yet to date, then  Should Have Been Bread Rolls  with too many rolls per capita, then there were two batches of Parker Potato Folds with moderate success albeit slightly dense, and today it was Brown & Serve Dinner Rolls . Modifications Made: Recipe was reduced by half, powdered milk replaced whole milk, and sugar was reduced to quarter cup.  Understanding yeast needs sugar to activate, but doesn't a third of a cup seem excessive?  These are dinner rolls, not french toast. Scaled for Likability: Good Fluffier than the Parker House Rolls with a better taste than the soft dinner rolls.  The bottoms yet again cooked too quickly leaving the tops well underdone and these were not square.  I am wondering how critical the pan is when cooking rolls.  None of the rolls rise as high and fluffy as they sh

Broth based soups are some of my favorite soups. Heavy cream based souls are rich and filling but often times over power the soup itself. Tomato based soups are always too tomatoey. Chicken Soup with Lime and Hominy is a perfect example of a broth based soup that fits this table best. Modifications Made: Four chicken thighs were boiled in a pot with one small white finely, diced onion, one tablespoon minced garlic, one halved large jalapeno with seeds removed, broth from hominy, one small handful chopped cilantro, one heaping teaspoon comino, and one chicken bouillon cube. While thighs cooked and deboned, hominy and lime juice was added to pot along and heat was decreased to a simmer. Thighs returned and soup allowed to rest for 30 minutes before serving. Cheese was omitted. Scaled for Likability: Great There is something so down to earth, soul filing, heart warming about hominy. Even with a soup as simple as just chicken and hominy, flavors are well paired and taste buds are made hap

Spices are defining ingredients to a regional location.. Comino is to Mexican as curry is to Indian as soy is to Asian. Therefore, when Easy Garlic Ginger Glazed Sticky Pork was discovered without soy sauce and five gloves of garlic, I knew we immediately had to try it.  Modifications Made: Sauce ingredients were reduced to quarter cup honey, one tablespoon sriracha, one heaping teaspoon rice wine vinegar.  One teaspoon ginger powder for fresh grated was added to sauce mixture. Scaled for Likeability: Great So spicy.  So sticky.  So sensational.  Even the teen tablecounter part liked it because it did not have soy however, it would have been preferred with less sriracha or ginger or black pepper.  Combining all three did add up to quite a bit of heat but when mixed with rice the heat was negotiable.  My only complaint, not enough for leftovers.  Bummer.

Some soups are just plain simple to cook.  And no, I am not talking about soup from the can.  Genuine, homemade soup like Egg Drop Soup.  Don't be fooled by the internet on this one.  This soup is super simple. Ingredients (one serving): Two cups chicken stock One teaspoon soy sauce One  well  scrambled egg One teaspoon cornstarch  One tablespoon water Sliced green onions Instructions: Mix cornstarch and water to slurry, set aside.  Bring chicken stock to boil, add soy sauce.  Bring stock to a swirl by vigorously moving fork in a clockwise location.  You want this to be moving, as in about to over swirl the side of the pot.  With stock swirling, gently pour WELL scrambled egg slowly thru tines of fork.  Stir egg strings around to keep from sticking to pot, turn off heat, add cornstarch slurry add green onions to taste. That's it.  Super simple Scaled for Likability: There is nothing better than egg drop soup for a late night dinner/snack/stir fry not filling enough so add a sou

Last weeks Should Have Bread Rolls  sent me on a mission. A mission for smooth in texture, puffy with some weight, slight chewy dinner rolls. What I found when searching for dinner rolls was a recipe for lemon bread pudding staring Parker House rolls as the base. Never have I eaten, seen, heard about Parker House rolls. Apparently, Parker House rolls have a cult following.  After reading several sites noting slight differences in ingredients, King Arthur Baking recipe was used because it contained potato flakes and came with a great step by step photo blog. Dinner rolls for dinner and dinner rolls for dessert tomorrow. Perfect, perfect. Modifications Made: None.  Bread making skills are still lacking. Scaled for Likability: Good One day bread will be produced at this table that is county blue fair award winning.  Until then, lots of dense, under or over risen, too chewy, lacking fluffy bread and bread rolls will be consumed.  These Parker House rolls were very tasty just not made corr

Good grief us heat loving Texans have made it. What a week it has been. Winter is over and Texas winter is back. Last night to celebrate the end of The Great Freeze 2021 with heating pads, electric blankets, and space heaters we indulgently ate ice cream. Yes, it was 32 degrees outside but directly in front of the space heater it was bliss.. Tonight it was back to everything lemon with The Best Lemon Curd Loaf Cake  using this Lemon Curd recipe. Modifications Made: For the bread, sugar was reduced by a quarter cup, greek yogurt was used instead of sour cream, lemon extract instead of lemon zest, and glaze was omitted. Scaled for Likability: Good Love this lemon curd.  Have made several versions and this is by far the easiest.   Bread was not excessively sweet, had a moist, crumby inside, and a crunchy top layer.  Layers of bread to curd was good but the addition of a sweetened cream cheese would have been better.  Bread was served cold and would have been great with a drizzle of lemon

Went to the store with the hopes of gathering fresh produce for soup. With more than 45 people in line for two packages of any meat product and the produce section containing only avocado, orange, and most randomly, strawberries, I settled upon canned soup.  Well not canned soup since that section was still void of food, too.  Instead soup made from canned goods as the canned vegetable section had been mostly restocked. Soups like this 15 Minute Vegetable Soup  are ideal in dire food situations such as current times. Modifications Made: Plain petite diced tomatoes omitted, frozen carrots instead of canned, green beans and corn undrained, peas omitted (gross, nasty little pods), one cup celery, three cups diced potatoes, one can tomato sauce, two beef and two pollo de tomate bouillon cubes, six cups water.  Once onions were softened, carrots/celery/potatoes/juice of green beans and corn, sauce, bouillon cubes, water were added and allowed to simmer until carrots almost tender.  Green be

Never thought the day would come so soon when grocery stores were barren of product.  Again. Produce, zip. Meat, nada. Cheese, only generic American slices. Milk/Eggs/Dairy, closed. Bread, just broken chalula shells. Soups/Pasta/Sauces, zilch. Chips/Crackers/Cookies, few hit and miss brands nobody really likes anyways. Dry dog/cat food, zero. Toilet paper and paper towels, that's laughable as those shelves have never been fully restocked in the first place.  Good grief. Covid-19 caused unplanned cooking. Winter Storm Uri, or The Great Freeze of 2021 as the locals are calling it, caused creative cooking. Meals,  healthy meals, well healty-ish meals require vegetables. The only veggies left in the pantry are broccoli, carrots, baby spinach, and kale and they are all frozen from the freeze. Have to say, Gluten Free Lion's Head Meatball Soup was looking more and more like my only choice.  I am sure there were other choices but the sight of the store depressed me so I went home to

Read the instructions. This issue plagues my cooking quite often.  In this case my apparent inability to read plagued the salsa jar. What should have been Chicken & Hatch Chili Stew  turned into something with a little more heat than intended when a jar of jalapeno salsa was bought instead on salsa verde.  Didn't even know straight jalapeno salsa was made.  And to think I call myself Texan.  Huh. Modifications Made: As always, one small chicken was boiled in the minimalist of water alongside finely diced small yellow onion, one tablespoon garlic, one teaspoon comino, half bunch cilantro, two cubes chicken bouillon cubes, and a quarter cup of diced jalapeno salsa. With the chicken removed for cooling, the stock was tested for spice level and found it just fine.  A half cup of rice was cooked in the stock until almost done.  Not too done as it would become soggy sitting in the remaining heat.  Once the rice was done, one small bag of sweet corn was added along with shredded chick

Another frozen day another meal planned based upon what's available.  Dinner was modified Beans and Fideo Soup and dessert was  Soft Dinner Rolls instead of lemon bread.  Yes, dinner rolls.  They were actually served with lunch but leftovers were warmed on the skillet and served with homemade Cranberry Jallyserves.  Modifications Made: Not having power meant the entire recipe was made by hand.  A large bowl, a counter, and a sturdy wooden spoon. Scaled for Likability: Good These were soft and fluffy on the inside but the sides and bottoms got too hot in the RV oven in a cast iron skillet.  This always happens with my breads and biscuits, too.  If the bread is cooked to perfect bottom temp, the insides are not done.  The issue lies with the ovens' inability to maintain correct temperature and not being able to raise the cooking rack far enough from the heat source.  Another issue was the pan was too small for the amount of rolls.  A 10" cast iron skillet is not the same d

Day three of the Great Freeze.  There is no end in sight.... Ever since Covid, there have been a few select staples bought in mass bulk every time: flour 25 lbs at a time and frozen in gallon bags, sugar 20lbs at a time and frozen in quart bags, 4 packs of salted butter and frozen, powdered milk, evaporated milk, beans, rice, noodles, bouillon cubes, canned veggies.  It is a good thing there was still a stock pile of staples otherwise this table might have had a tough time surviving on condiment soup.  Meals might have been simple but there were sweets everyday to cheer up the cold soul and warm dinners at night to warm the heart.  We are doing just fine.  Today was a staple Beans and Fideo, slightly modified to soup format. Ingredients: 1 box fideo 1 tablespoon oil 1 cube tomate de pollo bouillon cube 1 28 oz can pinto beans 28 oz water Instructions: To large pot, fry fideo noodles in oil until nice and golden brown.  Add beans and tomate cube.  To bean can, add small amount of water

Cooking with limited heat, limited water, and limited supplies is interesting.  No we are not camping off the grid, we are just off the grid thanks to Texas Grid Failure 2021 .  Day three to be exact of no power, no water.  Times are interesting. Having the contents of the fridge freeze, The Great Freeze of 2021 Vegetable Broth  was made with okay results.  Not having much flavor to the eight cups of stock, two low sodium chicken bouillon, one full salt chicken bouillon, and one pollo de tomate bouillon cubes were added and allowed to simmer for 15 minutes before one bag of wheel noodles were cooked.  Diner served! Scaled for Likability: Great Once the flavor cubes were added, the veggie broth was tasty.  Guess one could really say this was chicken bouillon cubes noodle soup.  Whatever it was, it made a wagon full, was boiling hot, and once consumed there was not a wheel left.  It was the warmest we had been all day.  Delish. Edit Feb 27, 2021: When scouring the web for a new recipe fo

Good grief, this cold snap.  Every year I wish and wish for cold weather so this table can eat soups without melting.  Well this year winter came and came with a vengeance.  Two days below freezing with no water, no power, no internet/cell service.  It's the dark ages.  If you need more info just search for Texas Grid Failure 2021 .  Yes, this tragic affair has its own wiki page.  Good grief. Did you know that if temperatures drop below freezing for too long, refrigerators will not keep your cold stuff from freezing?  Well, they don't.  And with 17℉ temps, this tables fridge contents froze.  What to do with a fridge full of frozen fresh veggies? Veggie stock. No recipe was used, it was just all the veggies in the fridge (white and yellow onions, garlic, jalapeno, green onions, three roma tomatoes, celery, two russet potatoes, seven carrots, and a red and green bell pepper) salt and pepper, and enough water to just touch the top layer of veggies.  I did not want the veggies floa

Having scored a clearance package of fresh spinach and cheese tortellini at the store, an easy pot of Creamy Sausage Tortellini Soup was made with a frozen package of spinach feta chicken sausage scored at half price a few weeks ago.  Double score. Modifications Made: Since the chicken sausage had feta and spinach, the links were boiled, casings removed, and sausage roughly chopped to attempt a recreation of crumbles.  If sausage had been cooked in crumbles first, the feta would have burned.  Water from the boiled sausage was kept for later usage in the soup as the water base for the chicken bouillon cubes. Shallots, extra salt, and italian seasoning were omitted.  Half and half was replaced with two tablespoons of flour added once the onions, carrots, and garlic were softened. Scaled for Likability: Good Too many flavors.  The soup would have been just fine without the sausage as the tortellini was filling enough.  Again, as with Vegetable Pot Pie Soup , the soup would have been just

Using Instant Pot Potato Spinach Soup as a starting platform, a flour based vegetable soup was made with the simplest staple ingredients in less than 30 minutes.  Modifications Made: Parsley and spinach were omitted and low-sodium vegetable broth was switched for full sodium chicken broth.  Cashew cream sounds disgusting on any platform but especially soup.  Once veggies were soft, two tablespoons of flour was added and cooked for one minute or so before broth was slowly added. Scaled for Likability: Good Would have been better without the flour based and just left as a simple veggie broth soup.  If a filler was needed, adding a simple half cup of rice or noodles would have been better than the flour.  Tasted like chicken pot pie without the chicken or the pie.  Bummer. Would I eat this again, yes.  Was it worthy of a romantic, freezing my ass off Valentines day dinner, no.  

What better way to celebrate winter than with lemons! Yes, lemons. A couple years ago pull apart breads were all the rave on social media food feeds. While I can make lovely homemade bread (well, sometimes), I like every other working woman lacks the time. With a true winter raging outside I found myself with nothing but time to cook and bake. Dinner was a simple chili (what a debacle!) but dessert was Lemon Pull-Apart Bread . Modifications Made: No icing needed.  Vanilla extract was reduced by half and the half was replaced with lemon extract.  Zest for filling was doubled. Scaled for Likability: Great It was really beyond great!  It was great, great.  It was an entire loaf consumed in one sitting.   Edit Feb 14, 2021: Today the bread was made again and served with icing.  Icing was nice but the bread did not need the extra sweet layer.  However, the extra lemon taste was great. Edit Feb 16, 2021: Oh my word, winter is STILL here with no end in sight.  Three days in freezing weather,

The table counterpart said over dinner last night that chili shouldn't contain tomato sauce or diced tomatoes. Chili should be chili based. What! A thousand years we have been together and chili always has tomato.  Seeking to prove the counterpart wrong,  Tomato Free Chili  was made and promptly modified. Modifications Made: I am not even gonna go there with the modification being listed.  Just hear me out as they are easier to read than type.  To a dutch oven, meat was browned, set aside and drained.  To pot, one small diced yellow onion, one half green, and one half red bell pepper were sauteed.  Meat was added back to pot along with one tablespoon of minced garlic, one tablespoon of chili powder, one teaspoon of comino, and one cup water.  Chili was allowed to simmer for one hour.  Heat turned off and one can well rinsed and drained kidney beans were added. Scaled for Likability: No, Thank You Almost taco meat.  Taco meat with the wrong beans.  Runny taco meat at that.   Editor&

Table counterparts are still complaining about the Not Chili Taco Soup not being chili.  What part of NOT CHILI taco soup did they miss?  To ease their complaints, The Best Classic Chili was made.  Besides who can turn down chili.  Its classic. Modifications Made: Nothing.  There is complaint filed against me and my lack of chili cooking. Scaled for Likeability: Good It was a little too saucy for our taste as this table likes thick chili.  Chili you eat with a fork and lose nothing.  Rib sticking chili.  With broth, paste, and sauce, there was just too much liquid.  Either the sauce needed to be left out or the chili needed to be cooked way longer than instructed.  With exception to needing a spoon and crackers to soak up juices, the chili was very good.

Standing in the freezing cold parking lot trying to decide on soups for the next three days leads to rushed choices and inadequate grocery lists. Looking through the list of 40 potential soups to serve Award Winning Cheeseburger Soup  was one of the quickly decided upon soups.  I was skeptical about another cheese soup after Cheesy Potato Soup with Broccoli but this seemed more similar to a T&T cheesy meat dish served over chips than a new soup.  Safety in familiarity, right.   Modifications Made: Recipe was reduced by half.  In case of failure like the broccoli soup, I did not want tons of leftovers. Parsley was omitted.  Cheese was half Velveeta for creaminess and sharp cheddar for taste. Scaled for Likability: Good Maybe if the broccoli soup had been made with Velveeta it would have been better.  Very similar to the meat cheese dip but with color.  The potatoes were almost unnoticeable as compared to the meat and cheese. Next time, the potatoes would be pureed for a thick base o

There is a fine line between chili and taco meat.  That line is even finer when taco meat in made into an  Easy Taco Soup . Modifications Made: I really did not intend to rewrite this entire recipe.  It just kinda happened.  Here we go... 1 pound hb meat, cooked, well drained 1 medium onion, diced  1 green bell pepper, diced  1/2 red bell pepper, diced 1 jalapeno, diced 1 tablespoon chili powder, heaping 1 teaspoon comino  1 tablespoon fresh cilantro, chopped 1 tablespoon garlic, minced 28 oz petite diced tomatoes  8 oz tomato sauce (frozen from leftover diced tomatoes used for salsa) 7 oz green chilis  8 oz beef broth 8 oz water 1 can pinto beans, rinsed drained  1 can black beans, rinsed drained 1 cup frozen corn 1/8 cup lime juice Instructions: To large dutch oven, add all ingredients from meat to water and allow to simmer on medium low for minimum one hour.  Once flavor developed to taste, turn off heat, add beans/corn/lime juice, let rest for 15 minutes. Scaled for Likability: Gre

Can't win them all.  With last's night cheesy fail, today I wanted a soup light in stock and chocked full of veggies.   Ginger Garlic Noodle Soup with Bok Choy  fit the bill.  And it was easy to boot! Modifications Made: Thin spaghetti noodles were used instead of rice noodles, sesame seeds were omitted, the entire green onion was added at once, and red pepper flakes were added to the stock instead used as a topping. Scaled for Likability: Grood From first bite, I LOVED this soup.  The table counterparts would gladly eat again but will not actively ask for it. Their loss.  Its garlicy, light, and tangy with a bit of heat from the ginger. Would be good with kale or chard instead of bok choy and would be good without the noodles, too.  My one word of advice, do not skip the star anise.  Its' flavoring is the backbone of this soup.  So good!

Winner, winner, soup dinners.  Four winners in a row and I have decided I am being choosy in my soups to ensure winners.  To vet against my own theory,  Cheesy Potato Soup with Broccoli .  A recipe i have wanted to make for years but could never muster the energy to make.   Cheese based anything if done wrong which is SO, SO easy to do results in an grainy texture.  A texture similar to curdled milk.  Gross, gross, gross.  Having had both good luck and bad luck as cheese bases, I hold no expectations to this soup. Modifications Made: Recipe was reduced by half. Chicken stock was increased to three cups instead of two to add a richer flavor. Due to the increase of chicken stock, salt was omitted. Scaled for Likability: No, Thank You It would have been better to make a creamy potato soup, add cooked broccoli and cheese once cooked.  The cheese did not curdle nor did the broccoli over cook.  This was more of a cheese soup with a smashing of broccoli.  Completely edible, just not to this t

Three for three on soups, let's keep the streak going.... Last year a corned beef was cooked and when sliced in half to eat, the meat was fatty and tough.  Knowing the meat needed more time to cook but not having the time to put back in the oven, all cooking liquids and cubed corned beef was tossed into a pot along with whole carrots, halved potatoes, and quartered cabbage.   Today a huge corned beef was cooked for sandwiches and soup.  Not wanting full size veggies in my soup, I looked for cooking guides from  Corned Beef and Cabbage Soup  and then chose  Corned Beef and Cabbage Soup  for its simplicity. Modifications Made: Meat was cooked as instructed per package instructions.  Once done it was set aside to cool. To large dutch oven, carrots/diced yellow onion were sauteed till soft.  Garlic/cabbage/potatoes/cooking liquid from corned beef/two bay leaves were added.  Soup was cooked on low until veggies just barley fork tender.  Cubed beef was added and soup cooked until veggies

Five days into the Month of the Soup.  Two soups served, one old, one new, both winners.  Wonder if  Hearty Ground Turkey Soup with Vegetables  will keep the winning streak? Modifications Made: Bacon omitted.  What?  I know, how unlike me.  Chicken feta sausage for the ground turkey.  Spinach omitted.  Crimini mushrooms replaced instead.  One tablespoon garlic and three tablespoons of flour added. To a large dutch oven, chicken sausage was browned whole.  Once cooked, links were set aside.  To fat, onions, carrots, and mushrooms were added and quickly soften.  Garlic was added along with flour.  Flour was allowed to evenly coat veggies and slightly brown before chicken stock was added (yes, from cubes).  Cooked bits were scrapped off, sausage was halved, diced, and returned to stock along with one cup frozen zucchini and three cups diced potatoes.  A dash of red pepper flakes, one teaspoon of black pepper , and soup simmered on low until veggies tender. Stir frequently and adjust seaso

Couple of days ago a wild pork shoulder was BBQ and served with potato rolls and a cold bean and corn salad.  Everything on that meal turned out just fabulous, like I knew how to cook.  There was just enough leftover pork for two sandwiches but not three, even if served with sides.  Needing a meal to use up the pork and enhance its flavorings, a  Healthy Pulled Pork Soup  was served. Modifications Made: Recipe was halved.  Stock was a combination of two cups chicken broth, two cups beef broth, both from a bouillon cube.  Zucchini was omitted. One tablespoon of minced garlic and one cup uncooked risotto was added.  Cubed leftover BBQ pork replaced shredded pork. Scaled for Likability: Great The table counterpart worried the entire time the soup gently cooked that the final results were going to be overly smoky.  And by the smell of the soup, I was worried myself, too.  However, once the soup flavors cooked together, the smoke was only noticeable in the pork itself.  Barely.   Next time,

Three winters ago it was cold and miserable for weeks on end.  Inspired by the bone chilling days, lots of soul warming soups were made.  Most were T&T recipes but the one soup that stood out the most was Front Seat Pozole.  At the beginning of the cold snap a cauldron of Pozole Rojo was made.  It took all day to prepare, required new and interesting ingredients never cooked with before, and it smelled fantastic.   Smelled being the keyword in the description.  Pozole Rojo tasted horrible.  Bitter, almost rancid.  An entire cauldron soup containing three pounds of pork shoulder and one #10 can of hominy wasted.  Completely inedible.   Not having garbage day for a week, the entire pot was placed in the front seat of the truck for safekeeping against critters and to open up space in the fridge for more soup.  Good soup.  With temperatures not above upper 30's for a week, the soup sat in the truck and chilled.  Trash day came and when the truck door was opened it smelled of wonde

The Month of ________. What a fabulous idea. 12 months, 12 selected food items, a minimum of 156 new recipes. Soups are a combinations of veggies, meats, and grains in a savory stock  served warm (or usually too hot to eat at my table) but never cold.  According to Wiki, "s oups are similar to stews,  and in some cases there may not be a clear distinction between the two; however, soups generally have more liquid (broth) than stews".  Today's soups are as distinctive as the region they originate from and I can only image how simple the soup was served way back in 20,000 B.C. Below is the list of soup dishes. Each dish is linked to its corresponding recipe.  If it is a new recipe, the link will be  BLUE . If it is a previously used recipe from this blog, the link will be  GREEN . If it is self explanatory or does not contain a recipe, it will be uncolored (black). February 1: Front Seat Pozole  February 2: Front Seat Pozole with Toppings February 3: Front Seat Pozole with