Savory and Chives

Mama’s Chicken and Rice Soup

savoryandchives — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 00:16:53 +0000

This soup has been in the recipe boxes of my mother’s family for awhile. This incarnation is my take on my mother’s version of my Yaya’s recipe. It’s notes of garlic, herb and mirepoux never overpower the chicken. Best served with garlic bread crutons.

Mama’s Chicken and Rice Soup

.5 to 1 lb Chicken Breast (Dependent on your taste)
1 tbsp minced Garlic
1 cup Rice
Approx 3 quarts Water
1 cup diced onion (1 m-l onion)
½ c chopped carrots (about 2)
½ c finely diced celery( 3-4 ribs of celery)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 med onion
Adobo powder(Make it yourself or make sure there is no MSG in the brand you buy)
salt and pepper to taste
½ tsp ea savory, majoram and thyme

Chop carrots and celery, dice onion. Liberally season chicken with Adobo and cut up in pieces. Put the olive oil in the pot and saute garlic, onions, celery and carrots together, then sear chicken. Add water to cover ¾ of pot, add herbs and salt and pepper to taste. Boil water, and once boiling turn it to low flame. Add 1 cup of rice and then cook til rice is almost done. Remove from the heat immediately, and serve when the rice is done. Add croutons if you like, they are great when made with leftover garlic bread.

Back from my long hiatus!

savoryandchives — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 23:45:35 +0000

Wow, I was gone awhile. I started this blog and then my life blew up. I plan to start anew as of today! I will post up the next meal by 8pm today.

Evil Oreo Recipes

savoryandchives — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 15:49:11 +0000

I promise to get a new recipe up soon. While you are waiting, here are some evil, non-healthy Oreo recipes from The Kitchn.

Oreo Truffles

Oreo Cake

Slapdash Spinach and Goat Cheese Pie

savoryandchives — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 14:16:36 +0000

So I stole a recipe off the interwebs and gave my Mom the ingredient list so I could make it for Easter at her house. She failed to buy all of them, so I made an emergency run to the supermarket. They were out of leeks, amoung other things. So I bought what I could and faked it. It still came out good in my opinion.

Spinach and Goat Cheese Pie

1 Wholewheat Organic Frozen Pie Crust

1 Bag Organic Spinach

1 bunch of Scallions

1/2 Medium White Onion

1 small Red Onion

2 tbsp Earth’s Balance or Butter

2 cloves minced garlic

Pinch of Dried Marjoram

2 Tbsp Chopped Fresh Parsley

Salt and Pepper

1 whole eggs

1 egg yolks

5 oz goat cheese (I like chevre)

1/2 cup milk (or soy milk)

1/2 cup ricotta

Nutmeg to taste

Partially prebake the pie crust, or make your own and prebake it.

Trim the roots and most of the greens off the scallions. Wash thoroughly and thinly slice. Do the same with the onions. Melt the butter in a wide skillet and add the scallions, garlic, onions, marjoram and parsley. Cook over medium heat for a couple of minutes. Add the spinach and cook until wilted. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.

Beat the eggs and egg yolks with half the cheese until fairly smooth. Add the milk and ricotta, nutmeg, 1/2 tsp salt and some pepper. Mix.

Preheat the oven to 375. Lay the spinach on the bottom of the partially baked crust and crumble the remaining cheese on top. Add the custard, then bake the pie until it is set and lightly browned, 35 to 45 minutes. Let it rest 10 minutes at least before serving.

Root Beer Barbecue Roast Beef

savoryandchives — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 18:38:04 +0000

My friend Keith came over yesterday to discuss geeky hobbies and work on a craft project with my husband Andrew and I. As he is single, I try to cook something homemade and yummy for him every time he comes to visit. It was the first time I have cooked meat in over 4 months. I was a little worried about it, being so rusty. I decided to make my famous roasted rosemary potatoes to go with it, and some steamed string beans I had purchased from my favorite farm market. This is so simple you really don’t need recipes for it. However I provided them below, mostly as preparation guides.

I used an eye round roast, It weighed about 2.5 pounds. I used a bottle of Root Beer BBQ sauce my friend Eric, affectionately known as Food Satan, had given me. I normally would make my own, but I decided to cheat since I hadn’t prepared meat for a while. It was so good I don’t regret the tiny piece of meat I ate. I used a probe thermometer to monitor the temperature so I could take the meat out in time to rest. It was worth the effort, as the meat was a delicious medium rare and so soft and juicy. It was hard to eat the tiny 1 ounce piece I had and leave it at that.

Root Beer BBQ Roast Beef

1 Eye Round Roast, 2.5 to 3 lbs

Salt and Pepper to taste

8 oz of Sprecher Root Beer BBQ Sauce

Preheat oven to 400° F. Trim defrosted roast of extraneous fat and season thoroughly with salt and pepper. Cover with half of the BBQ sauce and let marinate in the refrigerator until oven comes up to temperature. Place meat in 9×13 glass baking dish lined with parchment paper. Bake the meat for approx 1 hour or until 140-145° in the center, occasionally basting with the rest of the sauce. Let the meat rest for 10 minutes covered in foil.

Rosemary Roasted Potatoes

1 lb Yukon Gold or Fingerling potatoes

3 tbsp Rosemary Olive Oil*

1/4 tsp of the following, mixed:

Oregano, Rosemary, Thyme, Parsley, Basil, Red Pepper Flake

Salt and Pepper to taste

*I make my own, just combine 8 oz of Regular Olive Oil and 1/4 c of dried Rosemary and let sit for a few weeks. Shake it up whenever you remember it.

Peel potatoes and slice into 1/2 inch rounds. Toss with oil, season with salt and pepper and then sprinkle the herb mixture over top. Place in small glass baking dish or casserole. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until golden brown on the edges. Toss with tongs or spatula every 10 minutes. You want the potatoes to stick to the dish just a little, so you get crisper edges. I popped these in with the roast and they took about 20 minutes.

First Post Jitters

savoryandchives — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 19:19:05 +0000

After procrastinating for as long as possible, I have finally started this food blog. I have been in the process of transitioning my diet for the last year, not for the sake of weight loss but to improve my health. As such, in the past year I have read many blogs ranging in subject from going vegan to how to butcher your own meat. And as much I appreciate others opinions, I feel the need to broadcast my own. So let me state for the record that pretty much everything stated herein will be opinion unless otherwise noted. I will also try to include pictures whenever possible. First update should be tonight.