Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup

Labor Day weekend finally is here and gave me more and more opportunities to cook and shop, two things I love to do. I've noticed the more I'm cooking the more pots and pans and utensils that I'm lacking. So before heading to the store to buy all my ingredients to make several recipes I've earmarked in several cookbooks (including watching Food Network as usual), I decided to get some of my kitchen supplies in order. I headed to Target as I figured I could find what I needed cheaply and pick up some new lipgloss too (a girls got to stay pretty even while cooking). So I got a spring release cake pan (forgot to get just a regular cake pan too), cooling rack and some tongs.
Then I hit the store with my list of ingredients to make a full on meal for myself. The menu is to include lemon chicken orzo soup, heirloom tomato bread salad and yogurt lemon cake. Unfortunately I'm only got time for the soup, but it was well worth it.
This soup was a cross between the greek lemon/egg soup Avgolemono and chicken with rice soup. It has a slight tartness from the fresh lemon juice and the protein and carbs to fill you up. My recipe turned out a little more cloudy then the picture in the cookbook, I think I might have over-whisked my egg lemon juice combo. In fact you couldn't see any of the chicken or rice but it was in there. Also I burnt my onions while whipping together the second part of the ingredients, but you couldn't taste it and it added some extra color to the soup (I omitted the carrots and celery as I don't like either cooked). Otherwise it was pretty quick to whip up and enjoy right away. I was expecting a long simmer process to be considered soup, but really in total the cooking time was under 30 minutes. The only thing I was hesitant about was another pot of hot oil and chicken (if you read my jerk chicken blog you would know why), but luckily this is a pot and not a skillet so no need to worry.
Luckily I had also purchased some artisan bread for my tomato and bread salad that I was to make (we'll try that tomorrow along with the yogurt lemon cake). So I cut off a few slices, toasted them and then rubbed fresh garlic on them for a hint of flavor. It turned out to be a very filling dinner, very tasty and lots of leftovers. I highly recommend this recipe and can't wait for fall to have lots of different soups.

Here is the recipe from the Food You Crave cookbook:

4 tsp olive oil
8 oz boneless chicken, cut into small chunks
1 med onion, diced (approx. 1 1/2 cup)
2 stalks of celery, diced
1 med carrot, diced
2 tsp chopped fresh thyme
6 cups low sodium organic chicken broth
2 large eggs
3 tbl fresh lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste.

Heat 2 teaspoons of the oil in a soup pot over medium-high heat. Season the chicken with the salt and pepper and add it to the pot and cook, stirring a few times until just cooked through (about 5 minutes). Transfer the chicken to a dish and set aside.
Add the remaining 2 teaspoons of oil to the pot. Add the onion, celery, carrot and thyme and cook, stirring over medium-high heat until the vegetables are tender (about 5 minutes). Add 5 cups of the broth and bring to a boil. Add the orzo and let simmer until tender (about 8 minutes). Turn heat down to low to keep the soup hot but not boiling.
Warm the remaining 1 cup of broth in a small saucepan until it is hot, but NOT boiling. In a medium bowl, beat the eggs. Gradually whisk the lemon juice into the eggs. Then gradually add the hot broth to the egg-lemon mixture (You can't have the broth too hot or it will cook the eggs). Add the mixture to the soup, stirring well until the soup is thickened. Do not let the soup come to a boil (again this will cook the eggs). Add the cooked chicken to the soup. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

Nightstand Reads

Someone suggested that I should add to my blog book reviews as it seems I go through a book a week. I usually read for an hour before actually falling asleep as a way to relax. But, as I have found it does make me sleepy, sometimes it has the opposite effect as I enjoy what I'm reading so much I stay up longer or think about it long after I close the book.
Since I have finished 3 books in the last 3 weeks, I thought I would just do a quick review of them and then try to do a more through book review going forward.

First book is Skinny Bitch by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin. I thought the book was going to be just sarcastic ways to stay skinny, like be on the grapefruit only diet. But as it turns out it actually had a lot of good information on why one should be a vegetarian, if not a vegan. The book definitely has some straight forward humor about the reason behind your big behind... Like eating cheese and dairy products pumped full of hormones (notice the kids going through puberty a lot sooner nowadays?). They give a very in-depth, sad look into animal factories and slaughterhouses which will definitely make you want to become a vegetarian for sure. At first I found this book really funny with facts (or so I think they are as I haven't looked them up myself) turned into a real education about the food you are putting into your body and why we are now a very overweight, sick nation. Definitely a worthy read for anyone thinking of changing their eating habits. I know I will be eating a lot less meat and diary and if I do it will be local and organic.

Next book was a fun novel Italian for Beginners by Kristin Harmel. I read somewhere on the internet that they are planning on making a movie out of it, even though in the book it references the old film Roman Holiday. It reads very quickly and easy and fun. It's about a woman who is in her thirties, not married and no real prospect in site who loves Italy and photography (No, it's not my biography, but very familiar subject for me). She ends up meeting a man who turns out to be married and on a whim takes a vacation back to the last place she was happy, Rome. The book follows her misadventures while there. There are some good laughs. I would say it falls a bit under the chick lit category and will translate well into a movie, as long as they don't completely change it like they did to Under a Tuscan Sun and RUIN the book. For those who have been to Rome will enjoy it for it's familiar surroundings and people. Look for it on the big screen soon staring someone like Anne Hathaway in the lead role.

The last book I finished this weekend is Homemade Table by Molly Wizenberg. This is a combo life stories mixed in with recipes. I really enjoyed this book a lot. The chapters were quick and each recipe came with the story behind it. She started with a blog called Orangette, which then turned into this book. (wonder if the movie is far behind with the success of Julie and Julia?) This book made me laugh and cry. I know it sounds like a cliche, but she puts a lot of heart into personal stories, having to do mostly with her family and it's very clear how important they are to her as well as cooking. She has some mouth watering recipes in there, mostly vegetarian because she is, but they all sound great. You don't know if you want to read the next chapter or go straight to the kitchen to try the recipe (I'll be trying her French Yogurt Lemon Cake tomorrow, look for that blog). She has spent time in France but most of the recipes are from family, are user friendly and not intimidating at all. I believe she also just opened a restaurant called Delancey in Seattle according to her blog, Orangette. Hopefully I can talk my boss into having a meeting up there so I can find an excuse to stop by and give the food a try in real life.

What a Jerk of a chicken!

Tonight I got home early from a crazy day at jury duty. Almost didn't get dismissed from a 2 month murder trial. Luckily I had a vacation in the beginning of October to get me out of it. I'm already loving Yosemite just for the fact that it got me out of jury duty.
So now as I try to type this my mouth and arm are literally burning. I figured I had the time to prepared Jerk Chicken for tonight's dinner. I took careful care to chopped all the ingredients finely, even using plastic baggies when chopping up the habareno peppers and making sure NOT to rub my eyes....
But what I should have been more careful with was the HOT burning oil. In the rush of trying to get the chicken in the med-high heated oil I dropped the flatten chicken only to have a huge wave of hot oil splash up on my arm. It took about 30 seconds to realize that my arm seemed to be on fire. I ran it under the cool water washing it off with soap and looking for any immediate blistering. So far only one has appeared, but my wrist is completely red and in pain. I let the chicken brown while I rushed to the internet to look up home remedies as it wasn't so bad I needed medical attention (only feels like it).
After applying a huge amount of aloe vera gel and running it under cool water for 5-10 minutes, the chicken popped away in the hot oil, now I'm afraid to approach my oven. I finally threw in the remaining ingredients, keeping a safe distance from the hot pan. And after a few more minutes marinading in the oil, peppers, and broth it looked like it had enough.
Unfortunately I couldn't enjoy the dinner as much as I should have as my arm was killing me to cut the chicken or make any movement (like it is now) and then my mouth starting to burn with the habarenos. But I must say it was quite tasty and hopefully the leftovers will be just as good if not less painful.

Sorry no pictures as I just didn't have the motivation. Maybe tomorrow with the leftovers and less painful arm.

What does a million dollars taste like?

Well after hiding inside from the 100 degree weather yesterday, watching Food Network and HGTV I had the idea to try to reproduce the winning recipe of the Pillsbury Million Dollar Cooking Contest. So I went online and found the recipe to Double Delight Peanut Butter Cookies that took last year's prize.
I have to tell you the recipe look relatively easy and didn't have many ingredients, so I figure how hard can it be and how can it be worth a million dollars. I headed to the store, after the sun went down so I wouldn't melt in the parking lot and got the makings of my cookies.

I would first suggest maybe doing this in cooler weather as the peanut butter balls tend to get rather warm quickly and melt in your hands. Also the Pillsbury dough need to stay cool when cutting and trying to flatten them. And having the oven on tends to add about another 10 degrees to your already warm house. But other than that the recipe was really quick simple.
Now for the taste. I can't really say I can see why they won a million dollars, of course I can't really think of any recipes that would be worth that much. But I must say I think homemade peanut butter cookies taste a lot better. Not that these tasted bad or anything but just not a million dollars worth. Also they were more like a triple delight with a ball of peanut butter wrapped in a peanut butter cookie dough rolled in peanuts and sugar. I liked the outer layer with the sugared crushed peanut mixture on it and would suggest adding that to homemade cookies.
But if I had to give a million dollars to a cookie recipe I would probably go with the Levin chocolate chip cookies from New York I found after watching Throw-down with Bobbi Flay. These cookies are massive and difficult to make, but I got the best reviews from my co-workers last Christmas when I made them (was told by one older co-woker they were the best she has ever had and she looks like she has eaten a lot of cookies in her lifetime). They are about 400 calories a cookie and have a texture of a scone, but they are well worth it and I would even say a million dollars. You will probably see them in a future blog.

Here is the Pillsbury Double Delight Peanut Butter Cookies winning recipe for you to try yourself.

Ingredients

1/4 cup dry roasted peanuts, finely chopped
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup Jif Creamy Peanut Butter
1/2 cup confectioners' powdered sugar
1 roll Pillsbury Create 'n Bake refrigerated peanut butter cookies, well chilled.

Procedure

1. Heat oven to 375°F. In small bowl, mix chopped peanuts, granulated sugar, and cinnamon; set aside.

2. In another small bowl, stir peanut butter and powdered sugar until completely blended. Shape mixture into 24 (1-inch) balls.

3. Cut roll of cookie dough into 12 slices. Cut each slice in half crosswise to make 24 pieces; flatten slightly. Shape 1 cookie dough piece around 1 peanut butter ball, covering completely. Repeat with remaining dough and balls.

4. Roll each covered ball in peanut mixture; gently pat mixture completely onto balls. On ungreased large cookie sheets, place balls 2 inches apart. Spray bottom of drinking glass with Crisco original no-stick cooking spray; press into remaining peanut mixture. Flatten each ball to 1/4-inch thickness with bottom of glass. Sprinkle any remaining peanut mixture evenly on tops of cookies; gently press into dough.

5. Bake 7 to 12 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Let cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets to cooling rack. Store tightly covered.