If You Can't Take The Cheat, Then Get Out Of The Kitchen

It's OK to cheat once in a while. All chefs do it somewhere in their kitchen. It's unavoidable. There are somethings where a corner can be cut and customers usually won't even notice. Muffins and cookies are usually made from frozen batters. Pastries are made in pastry shops and shipped in. Salad dressings are tricky: some restaurants insist on making all dressings in-house while others couldn't be bothered.

It boils down to money. Is it cheaper to have one of the cooks make the dressing from scratch or just order the damn stuff? Like Caesar. Thousand Island. Balsamic. Whatever.

Soups and stocks is another gray area where it may be easier and more cost effective to simply purchase soups either in a can or in the form of powder. Consumme for example is a pain in the ass to make and if made improperly, it can go cloudy. Or you can buy the can and the product may even better than something made in-house.

This is a recipe from my mother-in-law. It is extremely easy because you mostly put together canned items. She makes this soup every Thanksgiving and it is always a hit with the family. Truth is that it is the item that we finish off first. I like it for it's ease and simplicity and it's usually one less thing I have to cook on Thanksgiving.

So this is a first: a recipe that is not my own at all. In fact, I would even make it a little bit differently but that's OK. It is probable that I may get grief for posting a recipe from my mother-in-law first and not from somebody else. So, without any further ado . . .


The Port Carling Thanksgiving Special

350 ml Canned Cream of Corn
700 ml Cream of Mushroom Soup
350ml 2% Milk
1 Spanish Onion, medium dice
2 Stalks of Celery, medium dice
1 Red Bell Pepper, medium dice
100g Mushrooms, sliced
250g Bacon, roughly diced
Pinch of Chili Powder
Salt and Pepper to Taste

In a soup pot, on medium heat, saute bacon until most of the fat is rendered. Add onion, celery, pepper, mushroom and chili powder and cook for 2 minutes. Add milk, canned corn and canned mushroom and bring to a scald. Adjust to seasonings and let your spouse try it to confirm. Just this one time.

Makes 1.5 l.

Serves 8.

Variations: Naw. Why bother with this classic? I mean, you could add potatoes for some heartiness, or some canned clams for a nice twist, or perhaps even add Sage Oil for a garnish but . . . then you would be adding work. And for a recipe that designed to save on time and effort, it seems slightly incongruous to make work for yourself.

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Roll Out The Roller

Here is a recipe for the food enthusiast: home made pasta. I don't make this too often anymore because I find that it doesn't really have a good pay-off. You don't save much money, it requires work and patience and the final product, though may be good, isn't always better than something you can buy. Let's face it; purchasing dried pasta is cheap and, unless you have difficulty boiling water, cooking pasta is the simplest thing to do in the kitchen. Besides, you can purchase fresh pasta and many major grocers (though it is usually way overpriced).

Pasta is flour, eggs, salt and olive oil. That's it. No magic. No secret. No Strega Nona required to cook the pasta. Just some adventurousness, enthusiasm and curiosity.

I would make fresh pasta if I was interested in experimenting with a filling for ravioli or agnolotti; perhaps I would make it for canelloni or manicotti but other than that, I would have to be in the mood. Fresh tagliatelle is quite good but someone would have to request it for me to make it.

So there it is; my take on fresh pasta. If you've always wanted to use your pasta machine you got as a gift for your wedding, try this very simple recipe and impress your spouse this weekend.

One last paragraph on cooking pasta. When cooking dried pasta, use a tall pot, lots of water and enough salt in the water to give the water a slight (not overpowering) salty taste. With fresh pasta you can add a little oil to the water if you want; when cooking fresh pasta the starch from the pasta bleeds fairly easily. A little oil hinders the water reaching a rapid boil and prevents the starch from boiling over the sides of the pot.

Fresh Pasta

350 g All Purpose Flour
5 Eggs
10 ml Olive Oil
Pinch Of Salt

Make a mound with flour and create a well in the centre of the mound. Add all ingredients in to the well and stir with a fork. Once eggs are beaten, use hands to knead the dough. If flour is sticky, add more flour a little at a time. Knead thoroughly. Exercise your arms for fifteen more minutes then cover dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Give arms a rest.

Now the tricky part. Rolling out the dough flat enough to cut and use. If you have a pasta roller, then it's easy. Use the machine following manufacturer's directions (sounds like a cop out, but it's not really, believe me) and cut into desired shapes. If you rolling out with a rolling pin, keep flouring your surface and flatten to desired thickness or until frustrated.

Makes 600 g.

Variation: So you've done it! You've made fresh pasta for your loved ones. I hope they appreciated the work you've put in it. Now, you've done it and you want to make it different to show how creative you are. Well, change the colour of the pasta with either spinach or red pepper puree and really impress your guests. I would be surprised if anybody were to actually try making this so I won't be expecting any comments. I would like to be proven wrong.

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Why Did The Chicken Cross the Road? To Catch A Tory

By popular demand, I have been asked to post a recipe that requires little time to prep and can be cooked in a slow cooker (or crock pot or whatever you call it). When I say "popular demand", I mean my sister-in-law who is a mother and likes to cook simple meals that has no dairy and can be enjoyed by her kids.

This is a "Hunter Style" recipe for the people who love their hearty comfort food. There are numerous ways to cook Chicken Chasseur (or Cacciatore) and it frequently involves what's left in the fridge or whatever herbs are grown in the backyard.

There are a few things that are required of course, and the technique is usually the same, but if you prefer shallots over red onion, yellow peppers over red, or cremini mushrooms over button, go ahead and use up whatever you have in the fridge.

You can use chicken legs or breasts, whatever you prefer. Personally, I prefer both so I typically purchase whole chickens and portion it myself and make a stock with the carcass and the trimmings from the vegetables. If you are like my wife and abhor the idea of touching dead, lifeless poultry, purchase just breasts and legs and you will ready to go.

"Hunter-Style" Braised Chicken

1 Whole Chicken, 1 kg, portioned into 8 or 2 Chicken Breats and 2 Chicken Thighs and 2 Drumsticks
1 Large Red Onion, finely diced
2 Cloves of Garlic, chopped
100 g Mushrooms, thinly sliced
150 ml Wine, red or white
125 g tomatoes, canned and crushed
200 ml chicken or vegetable stock
1 Red Pepper, medium diced
1 Green Zucchini, medium diced
2 Sprigs of Fresh Basil, thinly chiffonade
1 Sprig of Oregano, finely chopped
1 Sprig of Parsley, finely chopped
Salt and Pepper to taste

Season chickens with salt and pepper.

On medium high heat, brown all sides of the chicken portions. Remove from heat. Add a little oil and saute onion, pepper, mushroom for 1 minute. Add zucchini and garlic and cook for one minute. Deglaze with wine and reduce by half. Add crushed tomatoes and stock. Add salt and pepper.

Add chickens to pot and cover. If you are using a crock pot, use same method and cook for 45 minutes on low heat. If you are cooking in a stock pot, place into a preheated oven at 300 degrees and cook for half an hour.

Add fresh herbs and stir well. Adjust to seasonings. If the sauce is too thin, remove chicken and keep hot. Reduce the sauce on high heat until desired thickness.

Serves 4.

Variation: You can go nuts on this one. Serve this with pasta and it Chicken Cacciatore, serve it with rice, add some cream and it's Chicken Hongroise, omit the herbs and use paprika and sour cream and you have Chicken Paprika. Or go nuts and add some bacon, use red wine only and use up the pearl onions you've in your cupboard for the past year and wow your friends and family with Coq au Vin. Pretty easy and impressive stuff.

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