The Silver Screen Oasis

My mouth is watering again.

I'm accident prone and not the most patient person in the world when it comes to cooking so I usually have some wound, I've cut my fingers more times than I care to remember, burnt my fingers too. I carry on though. My husband hates to see me using a knife, not because I'm careless but because I'm left handed and therefore to him look a liability. Still I've only ever wounded myself, my mother in law got a knife wedged in my father in laws back. Thankfully he was OK.

Um, an accident, no doubt?

Here is my Chicken Soup Recipe. It is quite daunting and I spend two hours on it after it is done cooking. By the way, the wonderful cooking odor will melt you. Do not turn off the cooking before 2 1/2 - 3 hours after boiling and simmering starts.


GRANDPA’S STEVE'S CHICKEN SOUP

INGREDIENTS
TWO SMALL ROASTERS OR LARGE FRYERS OR LARGE ROASTER
THREE MEDIUM TO LARGE YELLOW ONIONS (LEAVE SKIN ON)
ONE WHOLE BUNCH CELERY WITH TOPS
ONE OR TWO POUNDS OF CARROTS – MINI PEELED
ONE BUNCH OF CARROTS WITH TOPS (OPTIONAL)
ONE WHOLE BUNCH OF PARSLEY (ANY STYLE – CURLY OR PLAIN)
TWO BUNCHES OF DILL (VERY IMPORTANT INGREDIENT)
ONE BUNCH OF WHOLE LEEK
2-3 PARSNIPS
FOUR CHICKEN BOUILLON CUBES OR PACKETS (THIS IS NOT CHEATING – IT IS A FLAVOR ENHANCER
ONE TEASPOON OF CHOPPED GARLIC OR 4 CLOVES OF FRESH GARLIC
ONE TABLESPOON KOSHER SALT
(NOTE – A BAG OF SOUP GREENS DOES NOT HAVE ENOUGH DILL OR LEEK. - BETTER TO BUY FRESH IN SUPER MARKET)

PREPARATION
WASH CHICKENS IN AND OUT W/COLD WATER
WASH AND USE GIBLETS BUT REMOVE AND DISCARD LIVERS (OR PREPARE SEPARATELY}
RINSE CELERY W/COLD WATER DEEP IN THE STALKS AND REMOVE ROOT END
WASH ALL CARROTS BUT LEAVE SKIN AND TOPS ON
RINSE PARSLEY AND DILL CAREFULLY THEY ARE DIRTY
PULL LEEK STALKS APART AND WASH – IT IS VERY DIRTY INSIDE
RINSE AND CUT UP PARSNIP
CUT OFF BOTH ENDS OF YELLOW ONIONS

COOKING
USE STOCK POT WITH STRAINER INSIDE TWO THIRDS COLD WATER
PUT IN CHICKENS, ONIONS WITH OUTSIDE SKINS ON, LEEKS, QUARTERED PARSNIP, HALVED TURNIPS, ALL DILL AND PARSLEY, CUT THREE INCH CHUNKS OF CELERY AND USE IT ALL BUT THE TRUNK END, ALL CARROTS INCLUDING TOPS.

START COOKING ON HIGH FLAME. IT WILL TAKE ALMOST ONE HOUR TO BOIL. AFTER BOIL ADD SALT, GARLIC, AND BOULION AND LOWER FLAME TO MEDIUM SIMMER (NOT LOW SIMMER). COOK FOR AND ADITIONAL TWO AND A HALF HOURS.

SOUP PREPARE
REMOVE INSIDE STRAINER WITH GLOVES AND AFTER SOME DRIPPING IN POT PUT IN LARGE MIXING BOWL. LET COOL. SALT SOUP TO TASTE.

FROM STRAINER THROW OUT ALL HERBS AND VEGETABLES EXCEPT CARROTS. CAREFULLY MOVE CHICKEN TO ANOTHER LARGE MIXING BOWL ALONG WITH GIBLETS. AFTER SOME COOLING SLICE CARROTS AND RETURN TO SOUP. AFTER COOLING REMOVE ALL BONES FROM CHICKEN AND STORE IN LARGE SQUARE PLASTIC CONTAINER EITHER IN CHUNKS OR MAKE CHICKEN SALAD.

NOTE: SOME PEOPLE LIKE SOME OF THE HERBS AND OR VEGETABLE PUT BACK IN THE SOUP. THAT IS OK AS A PREFERENCE. MINE IS TO NOT DO IT.

ENJOY! FOR MATZOH BALLS I JUST BUY MANISCHEWITZ DRY MIX WITH SOUP AND FOLLOW DIRECTIONS.

I am a pretty good cook in general, can bake delicious cookies and cakes, which are easy, but pie crust completely eludes me. My mother could make pie crust that was a dream, and baked bread, and cheesecake that was heavenly. My pie crust is either so crumbly that it doesn't even hold up to baking, or it is rubbery and impossible to chew. I do everything they say to get flaky crust, but it never works. Thank goodness for pre-made pie crust. One day, I will figure it out!I'm not giving up.

Jacks,

My mother says the key to a delectable pie crust is to use real lard instead vegetable oil or crisco. Don't know if that helps but I thought it worth passing along.

Moira,

As for southern stuffing, we use three different types of bread including cornbread and rye (I add sourdough instead of wheat), onions, mushrooms, celery, lots of sage and melted butter and the very best stuffing is cooked in the turkey. Non-turkey stuffing never tastes the same as that cooked in the bird.

To avoid opening the oven every half hour to baste the bird, I wrap him in bacon (non-fried, of course), tent him with aluminum foil and roast away. An hour before he is done, I remove the bacon and the alum foil tent and let him turn nice and brown.

It is juicy and tender thanks to the bacon fat, you would have sworn I did it the old fashioned way and wore myself out opening the over, picking up the roasting pan, basting him with butter, retenting him, securing the aluminum foil so he stays juicy and hoisting the roasting pan back into the oven every half hour.

But with the bacon, none of that and no bacon taste to the turkey!

Whoever came up with this idea is a genius. Less hot air escaping into the kitchen as well!

JackFavell wrote:Um, an accident, no doubt?

No, well only partly, she's a little tempetuous. It was a long time ago.

Thanks for the recipe Uncle Stevie.

Stevie,
Thanks for posting that soup recipe. I just decided to make it later for the weekend. Sounds so good.

Lynn,
I love your version of Southern stuffing and the bacon idea on the turkey is a good one that I think I'll try. It must cut down on the need for basting too.

CCfan,
Could you please share your rum ball recipe?

Thanks gang!
moira

Thanks, Lz...I'll try lard next time.

JackFavell wrote:Thanks, Lz...I'll try lard next time.

Butter-flavored Crisco works very well for baking. While hardly a health food, it has half the saturated fat of butter and is palatable for people who are lactose intolerant.

JackFavell wrote:Thanks, Lz...I'll try lard next time.

I've tried half lard half margarine, my pastry making skill is unpredictable, sometimes I resort to frozen pastry.

My recipe for rum truffles (I've made 400 of them for the school fair) is

150g (6oz) dark chocolate, it's worth spending the money here if you want to show off ,although it works well with cheaper chocolate
150ml (6fl oz) double cream
2 tablespoofuls of rum (30ml)
1oz margarine
1 tablespoonful of greek yoghurt
1 tablespoon of cocoa powder.

melt the chocolate in a ban marie (a pan of boiling water with a bowl on top, put the chocolate in the bowl and let it melt in the heat) don't melt the chocolate in the pan it might burn.
Whilst melting, heat the cream, margarine and rum to simmering point, don't let it boil it will boil off the rum.
Combine the melted chocolate and rum cream. At this point I thought I'd gone wrong, it doesn't look like it will ever mix together but it does, I find folding the mixture works better than stirring. Once combine mix in the Greek yoghurt then once cooled place in the refrigerator overnight to cool then shape into balls, I use a heaped teaspoon of mixture. Finally roll in cocoa powder. These are fine to freeze, I've found it better to leave the dusting of cocoa powder until the truffles have defrosted.

I hope I've not made it too easy or complicated, I'm unsure what cooking terminology is British and which is universal.

1 tablespoonful of greek yoghurt

Once combine mix in the Greek yoghurt then once cooled place in the refrigerator overnight....

Ahhh, yes. The key is Greek yogurt. Accept no substitutes.

First, you find a woman dressed in black. Then, you find a YiaYia (but I repeat myself).

Can ouzo be substituted for the rum? If not, then Metaxa? (Retsina cannot be substituted for anything except kerosene or diesel fuel.)

I thought Windex was an important Greek ingredient.

It certainly was to Michael Constantine!
Yasou!

.
MR. Klondike: I'm so amazed at your total grasp of your heritage that I can't help but think of you as a 'Sir'.

Glug: No comparisons, just an unusual name for a traditional holiday drink, like haggis to my inexperienced knowledge of foreign cuisine as an unusual name for sausage.

Think thick:I apologize if my spellcheck tendency came at a bad time of month for you, but it took me a few minutes to figure out what 'think' gravy was - then I laughed when I realized it should be thick - that's a goof I would do, more than you.

Stomach/haggis: I've never spoken directly to haggis, but assumed it was a proper name for a special sausage, which had been explained to me years ago as sausage baked in the stomach of some animal - so my source told me the wrong thing.

Kilt: Again I apologize since I was speaking in plurals - kilts, plaids, socks. I've often heard the term tartan plaid and obviously the person speaking was unaware that plaid was an unnecessary word addition. When I saw The River Dance, the stockings were all at the knee, not between the knee and ankle. Some people, you never know what they will do, do you?

Artichokes: Uh, uh, uh, not fair to take out of context. Traditional foods . . . was a lead in to my comment about artichokes which many, many people have never heard of. Neither of my husbands ever saw them before when I brought them to my Aunt's for Christmas dinner. I hope you liked them, and I also hope they were stuffed like we Italians make them.
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I would put any alcohol in the truffles, whatever is open at the time and that gives me quite a choice