Spicy Asian Chicken Soup

Made this for the first time tonight and it turned out great! The spices can be changed up to increase or decrease the flavor. See the note at the bottom for more options.

Ingredients

3/4 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast cut into 2" strips

4 cans (14oz) nonfat, low sodium chicken broth

3 tbsp cornstarch

1 tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp lime juice

1 tsp lime zest

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/2 inch piece of ginger (peeled)

1/2 tsp asian chili sauce

2 tbsp fresh cilantro

Shelled edamame , mushrooms and red pepper (seeded) can be added to the recipe. We used edamame and it was awesome.

In large pot combine broth, brown sugar, asian chili sauce, lime juice, soy sauce and ginger. Boil for 5 minutes. Mix cornstarch with a small amount of cold water to dissolve and mix in with broth. Add chicken to broth and simmer for 15 minutes. Add mushrooms now if you have them.

Remove from heat and add beans/peas, red pepper, cilantro and zest. Let stand for a few minutes and you're good to go.

Notes:

- 1/2 tsp of chili sauce makes it pretty mild. If you like spicy adjust accordingly.

- If your beans/peas are frozen add them with 10 minutes left of simmering.

- Shittake or portabello mushrooms are recommended if you would like to add them.

- 1/4 cup of soy sauce made the broth very strong. Reduce if you're sensitive to strong flavors.

We made this a second time tonight and it turned out pretty good. Here are the changes we made.

-Only 1/8 cup of soy sauce.

- Added egg noodles which picked up the flavor well and are a great addition to the soup.

- Only used 1 tbsp of cilantro which was still very strong flavored.

-Used ginger powder instead of fresh root. I would advise against this. The root has a much better flavor.

-Used only 1tbsp of corn starch and instead of coating the chicken in it which gave the chicken an unpleasant coating after cooking we mixed it in with a small amount of cold water (to dissolve) then added it to the broth.

Deli Meat Toasted Sub!

Here's a toasted sub sandwich that I absolutely love. I make one at least 3 times a week for lunch and there's a TON of options to choose from.

Ingredients:

8 slices deli meat

1 sandwich roll or french roll (Fry's Food and Drug 8 for $2)

1/2 cup shredded cheese (your choice)

A couple of notes first. The deli meat should really be a high quality. Boar's head is my favorite. It's important to stay away from the cheap, prepackaged stuff because it just doesn't cook right. If you buy the more expensive shaved, prepackaged meat it's much better. I pretty much only make this with turkey but anything will work.

Heat frying pan to medium and place deli meat in pan. Once it starts to brown use a spatula to cut the deli meat into strips about 1" across. There's no science to it. Just chop, chop, chop!

This is a good time to put your bread into a toaster oven. Regular oven works too. Toast until just barely brown.

Once that is done add any toppings you want that will add flavor or need to be cooked. Jalapeños, onions and mushrooms are good examples. You can even do what I do and pour some jalapeño juice in and let it cook into the meat. Bacon needs to be fried or microwaved before it's added, even if it's the precooked stuff. Otherwise the grease stays solid. Stir mix until it's sufficiently browned. **Don't let your bread burn!!**

Remove from heat and bunch the meat up on one side of the pan. Put cheese on top and let it melt. Place the bread on a plate wide open and add meat mixture.

Mmm, meat mixture.

At this point you should have something that probably won't stay on the plate long.

This picture is a lower quality meat and a french roll. Neither of those things are what I prefer but this is all about what you have on hand in the fridge. I also added a ton of avocado.

Enjoy!

A short one

Basic Beef Stew for beginners!

1 1/2 lbs Beef Chuck/Stew Beef

6 Cups Water

1 Tbsp Butter/Margarine

2 Large Potatoes

2 Carrots

Flour!

This is a very basic stew. Follow these directions and add what you would like at any point.

Melt butter in large pot. Cut beef into 1/2 to 1" cubes and place in zip lock bag with flour to coat. Sear beef on medium heat. Add water and bring to a boil for 3 minutes. Reduce heat to simmer for 2 hours. The longer you simmer the more tender the meat.

After 2 hours add potatoes cut into 1/2" cubes and carrots cut into thin slices. At this point I usually add green onions and garlic. Add anything else you want at this point. Simmer for 30 minutes to an hour.

If the stew is too thin you can use butter/margarine and flour to create a roux. Add stew liquid into the roux pan until completely dissolved and mix in with stew. Simmer for another 20 minutes.

This stew is great with sourdough bread bowls. The longer you simmer the stew the better. I let this simmer for 6 hours once and the beef fell apart when I picked it up off the spoon. I have to credit my father in law Chester with helping me out. I really screwed this up the first time and he saved me!

Enjoy and please comment on any successful additions!

Fried Ramen

As promised here is the recipe for my famous Fried Ramen!

Ingredients:

1 packet Ramen

-I recommend Maruchan over Top Ramen. Flavor is your choice.

1 cup Water

Fresh Ground Pepper (optional)

Bring 1 cup Water to boil in medium sized pot. **DO NOT USE THE RECOMMENDED 2 CUPS OF WATER!** Keep heat on Medium High. Open packet of Ramen and add noodles. Use spatula to flip Ramen brick when the underside starts to become soft. When able break apart ramen brick so noodles are free. Add flavor packet.

Stir constantly till water is nearly gone (see below picture, Ramen should freely move, do not let it stick to the pan). Remove from heat.

Place 10" non-stick frying pan on burner and let it heat. Now is the perfect time to add pepper if you wish. Drop Ramen into pan and spread out evenly (see picture). Use spatula to break Ramen free when able, this will take a moment. Be careful not to let it burn. When Ramen is broken free

FLIP IT!

You can use the spatula to flip but using the pan handle is way more fun. I wouldn't recommend taking a picture while doing it. Or maybe do and post it as a comment. I bet it doesn't work very well.

Grab a plate! Once flipped the Ramen will only take 10-15 seconds to finish cooking.

Now enjoy alone or with friends as pictured.

This could be big!

Hello my non-existent readers! I'm starting this blog in order to see how well I can write about cooking. When I first struck out on my own, leaving the comfort of my parent's house, I was a terrible cook. I burned everything and I quickly became the worst cook I have ever seen. When I was 23 I married and I decided that I needed to take another shot at cooking. I discovered at that time that not only did I love to cook but I was pretty good at it. Or so my wife tells me.

I am currently working on a cookbook that holds my take on pretty much everything I cook. I find something interesting and I put my spin on it. My recipes are simple and easy to recreate. They also will allow experimentation by adding your own ingredients into the mix! My goal is to provide easy, cheap and fun recipes that anyone, no matter how bad they may be at cooking, can follow and enjoy.