~Roasted Corn Soup~

Today's tasty kitchen adventure is Roasted Corn Soup.  Now even though this soup has a chicken base the roasted corn is really the star of the show.  Well, that's what my top soup eater would tell you; and so would I.

It's  kind of like the Tortilla soup you might find at your favorite Mexican restaurant, but you can feed a whole family for less than what you paid to buy it there.  And I am pretty sure you will enjoy it just as much if not more.

So to make this fabulously delish soup here is what you need:

3 boneless chicken breasts cut into chunks; or 2 cups leftover roasted chicken from previous meal

3 celery stalks, chopped

3 roasting ears

1 tbls. Knor Chicken Flavoring

1/2 tsp. Poultry Seasoning

1/2 tsp. Onion powder or 1 whole onion chopped

1/4 tsp.(1/2 tsp. if you're brave) Cayenne Pepper 

Fresh Cracked Pepper

A pinch of oregano

Cilantro for garnish

Lemon Wedges

Jalepeño slices for those who like to bring on the serious heat.

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Fire up the grill to roast those ears of corn.  Baste them first with some corn oil, salt and pepper and roast away until they are almost done.  Or, if you like to plan ahead then the next time you have a BBQ roast a few extra ears of corn so you can freeze them for when you get a hankering for roasted corn soup and don't have time to fire up the grill.  Don't forget to freeze the shucked roasting ears too, they'll add a ton of flavor to the soup.

When the roasting ears are roasted and shucked you can get the soup base started.  Place the chicken in 6 cups of water and cook gently over a medium heat.  When the chicken about finished remove the roasting ears and add the celery and the kernels of corn and spices.  Cook another 10 minutes until the celery is tender.  Serve hot with a squeeze of lemon.  Garnish with cilantro and tortilla strips.  Enjoy!

A King's Hawaiian Breakfast

This breakfast is brought to you by King's Hawaiian Bread. You know, the company that makes those oh so tasty rolls most of us love and enjoy. Well today I used their sliced bread, which, by itself is ~AwEsOmE~ just sayin y'all.

>But breakfast is more interesting when there are some other tasty elements involved. 

So today's breakfast adventures were....

Gas House Eggs and French Toast using King's Hawaiian. Although they were both equally delicious, the bread was not quite hearty enough to make a firm, not soggy French Toast. To remedy this I placed the cooked pieces of French Toast on a cookie sheet and left them in a 350* oven to "dry out" for about 12 minutes or so

Gave me just enough time to fry up the Gas house eggs. 

Spice It Up!!!

Here in Cammie's Kitchen we use a lot of spice. And when I say a lot, I mean A LOT. Like we should probably own stock in the spice industry a lot. Yeah we love our spice. 

One of our favorite ways to "spice it up" is with a spice combo for blackening chicken or fish. I found a recipe that I absolutely love and just have to have on hand All. The. Time. I think it's the smoked papricka that puts it over the top. You could follow the recipe and make a single use portion, but it's so easy to make bunch to keep on hand; so go ahead and do it. You can thank me later. 

The Best Blackening Spice

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 2 tablespoons smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (cut in half if you prefer less spicy)
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Instructions

1. Mix all ingredients together and store in a cool, dry place. Will stay fresh for three months if sealed well.
2. To use: coat whatever meat or fish you’re using with extra-virgin olive oil, just enough to coat, then coat liberally with spice mix. Grill, broil, roast or saute as desired.
   

http://www.thewickednoodle.com/blackening-spice/

Confessions Of A Chronic Cook

Monday I went to pick up a new prescription at the pharmacy and I spied with my eyes some Russell Stover's Raspberry Whip eggs.  They were on Easter clearance and I knew that I had hit the mother load.  No, seriously I felt like the grand prize winner of some contest. Looking all around to see if anyone else had seen them I grabbed up every last Raspberry Whip Egg.  No, I didn't  take the coconut or the peanut butter ones; just the Raspberry Whip eggs.  Yep, I took all 23 of them. Just for me. They bring back such fond childhood memories.  I can never resist them.  I figure if I have one a week as a treat when I give my chemo injections then I will have 23 weeks of treats to sweeten up my otherwise unpleasant moment.  Hey, whatever makes life bearable y'all.

Now you know one of my special treats.  Fess up y'all.  Do you have a special food or treat that brings back fond memories from your childhood?  Is there some food or treat that sweetens up your unpleasant moments or puts a happy smile on your face?

Minion Fun

Banana Minions???

Yes, I say!

I, mean how totally cute are these?

What kid or grandkid wouldn't want one of these?

Hey, I am not a kid and I want one of these.

Right. Now.

If you want one too, and trust me you do, then head on over to the cool website where you can get a free printable.

Party Delights

Improv Cooking Challenge: Chicken and Noodles

This months ingredients chosen by Lesa for the Improv Cooking Challenge were chicken and noodles. Well, it just so happens that I had bought some couscous a while back and had been meaning to try it, but just never got around to it. I thought why not use it in the cooking challenge?  So, I headed over to one of my favorite cooking sites Epicurious to see what I could find for couscous and chicken. There were so many recipes that choosing was not easy. Let's just say I had to try a few different recipes. They were all soooo doggone good. My family, who are my unofficial, official taste testers, are my toughest, but most honest critcs. And I was pleasantly surprised because they actually enjoyed each recipe I tried.  In the end they chose the recipe I am sharing today as their favorite one. 

Yep, it's a keeper recipe. I've already tucked it away in my recipe binder for next time. I did tweak the recipe just the tiniest bit to leave out the olives and I replaced the currents with dried cranberries. Also, I used canned chicken chunks, because I had then on hand. I think next time I would definitely use the roasted chicken. Other than these changes the recipe remains the same. 

 

Couscous and Chicken Salad with Orange Balsamic Dressing

4-1/2 cups water

3 cups couscous

1 cup dried currents (I substituted dried cranberries)

1-3# roasted chicken, boned and cubed (I substituted 1 can of chicken chunks, drained)

1-1/2 cups , diced and drained roasted red peppers

1-15.5 oz. can of chick-peas, drained

1 cup chopped and pitted kalamata olives

1 bunch green onions, chopped

1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Orange Balsamic Dressing

3/4 cup Orange juice

3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

3 tablespoons orange zest

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1/2 cup olive oil

Bring the water to boil in a large saucepan, add the couscous.  Cover, remove from the heat and let stand for 5 minutes.  Fluff with a fork.  Transfer to a large bowl and let cool.  Mix all remaining salad ingredients into the cooled couscous.  Set aside while you mix the dressing.  Mix together first four ingredients, then gradually whisk in the oil.  Pour over salad and toss to incorporate.  Serve immediately on a bed of romaine lettuce leaf, or can be made one day in advance and refrigerated.  I actually enjoyed it more on the second day when all of the flavors have had a chance to mix and mingle and get happy. 

This makes a really nice spring/summer salad and serves 8 people.

...check out some of the other fabulous recipes in this month's:

Improv Cooking Challenge

An InLinkz Link-up

Yeasty Waffles

My baby boy, OK, he's not so little anymore.  He's actually a senior who is about to graduate the from the University of Arizona. Go Son!!!   He is home for spring break and can I just say that I am one happy mama for sure.  I have been cooking up some of his favorite foods.  Starting with some yeasty waffles. 

They have all the goodness of regular waffles plus all of the wonderful yeasty flavor.  If you eat these you will never go back to the boxed kind again.  Oh, these freeze well too; so you can make ahead if you like. 

Here are the ingredients you need:

2-1/2 cups flour

2 cups warm milk

3 tbls. sugar

1-1/2 tsp. yeast

2 tbls. vanilla bean paste (you can use plain vanilla, but the vanilla bean paste adds all the wonderful seeds that make the waffle look so nice, plus they're just so doggone cool)

1/4 tsp. salt

1/3 cup melted butter

Mix the dry ingredients together.  In a separate bowl mix the eggs and vanilla and the melted butter. Slowly add the warm milk.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until there are just a few big lumps left.  Cover and set in a warm place for about an hour till it becomes all yeasty and bubbly. Cook them in your waffle maker for about 5-7 minutes.  Serve warm with maple syrup or your favorite fruit syrup.