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How to Cook "American Style", Recipe

Sauerbraten

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INGREDIENTS

5 pound Pot Roast

2 lagre onoins

1 cup red wine vinegar

1 cup water

1 tablesppon salt

1 tsp black pepper

1 tablesppon brown suagr

1 head of garlic

2 bay leaves

2 tablespoon vegetable or olive oil

10 ginger snaps very finely crushed in a zip top bag for the gravy

DIRECTIONS

In a large zip lock bag, add the vinegar, water, whole garlic cloves, brown sugar, bay leaves, salt, and pepper. Chop two large onions and add that to the bag. Add the meat, squeeze out most of the air and close it tight. Place the meat in the refrigerator. Marinate the meat for a least 5 days.

On the fifth day, place the meat in a Dutch oven. Then pour in the marinade over the top. Bake at 325 for 6 hours.

Gravy: Crush the gram crackers in a zip lock bag. I use a meat tenderizer, but a small pan works well too. On stove, stir the crushed gram crackers into the cooked marinate and meat juices. Heat the gravy up on medium high heat until the gravy simmers and thickens. the gravy should coat the back of a spoon. If necessary add more crunched cookies one at a time until the sauce it the perfect consistency .

Insta-Pot directions: Add the meat and marinate to insta-pot. Turn on to the stew setting. Set the time for two hours. Let it cool on the “Stay warm” setting one hour.

When you can open the lid without having to let out any steam remove the meat and make the gravy right in the insta-pot. I add the crushed cookies and stirred them in. Then turn on the pot to sauté and stir until it simmers. Done. Unplug and Serve.

Serve with red cabbage, potato dumplings and beer!

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LUNCH

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Some mornings the coffee just does not perk fast enough. I guess that’s why so many people prefer the Keurig. Its instantaneous coffee. I can no longer drink the coffee from it. To me the coffee from a Keurig taste likes it was made with instant coffee. I rather wait for a good pot coffee. I suppose too if you can’t wait for a pot of coffee to perk to might have trouble waiting 5 days for your sauerbraten to marinate. Yes, my meat has now been marinating 5 days and toady is the big day I get to cook it! I hope it turns out to be worth the wait.

I will share the sauerbraten recipe with you today at lunch. Having never made it before I may need to tweak it a bit, so I am waiting to taste it first before I send it to you, my dear readers. Remember the first rule of cookery: try it before you server it. That’s why I will post the recipe having eaten eat first.

Last night, I peeled, boiled and riced some potatoes. Today is also potato dumpling day. This is to go with the sauerbraten. I also went to the supermarket last night for a jar of pickled red cabbage. Who knew they would be out? They always had this red cabbage stuff when I didn’t need it. It is not as if it is that popular of a food item here in New York. They were out of a lot of stuff. What? Ugg. Apparently they are having a hard time getting deliveries. I will try another place on my way to work this morning. I do not love shopping at the crack of dawn or do I? Considering what I have been doing for this “cookbook hobby” of mine perhaps I am beginning to think I am masochistic. Nah! I just need that dam cup of coffee. Come on cook already!

So pictured below is the potatoes I made last night. It looks like rice right? I guess that what happens when you boil potatoes. Then you have to let them cool to room temperature and put it through a potato ricer (pictured below).

Well I’m to work. Enjoy your day and enjoy your own lunch!

The Drunken Chef (Russ) 

How to Cook "American Style", Recipe

Minestrone Soup

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Minestrone Soup   

Serves 6 – 8

SPECIAL IMPLEMENTS

Large Pot

INGREDIENTS

4 cups chicken broth (no sodium/salt)

4 cups tomato sauce

3 tablespoons olive oil

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 Large onion, chopped

2 large stalks chopped celery

2 large carrots, diced

1/2 cup red wine (optional)

1 cup canned kidney beans, drained

1 (15 ounce) can green beans

2 cups baby spinach, rinsed

3 zucchinis, quartered and sliced

1 tablespoon Italian Seasoning (marjoram, thyme, rosemary, savory, sage, oregano, and basil

2 – 4 tsp Chicken Bouillon instead of salt (depending on taste)

Fresh ground black pepper to taste

1/2 cup seashell pasta or Ditalini (the little round tubes)

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese for topping

1 tablespoon olive oil

DIRECTIONS

In a large stock pot, over medium-low heat, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil and sauté garlic for 1 to 2 minutes. Add onion and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes. Add celery and carrots, sauté for 1 to 2 minutes.

Add chicken broth, water and tomato sauce, bring to boil, stirring frequently. If desired add red wine at this point. Reduce heat to low and add kidney beans, green beans, spinach leaves, zucchini, Italian Spice mix, chicken bouillon and pepper. Simmer for 30 to 40 minutes. For best results refrigerate overnight then reheat the portions needed.  

Fill a medium saucepan with water and bring to a boil. Add macaroni and cook until tender. Drain water and set aside.

Once pasta is cooked and soup is at a simmer (reheated if the next day) place 2 tablespoons cooked pasta into individual serving bowls. Ladle soup on top of pasta and sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top. Drizzle on olive oil and serve with bread.

NOTES: Don’t forget the Salad and/or Saltine Crackers

The Drunken Chef (Russ)

Recipe

Old Fashioned Chicken Soup

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This is my traditional chicken soup recipe. Made in a large stock pot over the stove. When its done you can always add Matzo ball or noodles or extra vegetables like bok choy. enjoy.

INGREDIENTS:

6-7 pound whole chicken (remove neck and liver from cavity)

5 quarts water

½ tsp. dill

½ tsp. white pepper

¼ tsp. thyme

¼ tsp. marjoram

1 Bay leaf

½ tsp. rosemary

½ tsp. Savory

2 medium onions (quartered)

2 large carrots (peeled and quartered)

1/2 pound baby carrots (diced)

1 large parsnip (peeled and diced)

2 celery stalks (quartered)

4 celery stalks (diced)

5 or more chicken bouillon cubes instead of salt to taste

1 tbsp. Fresh parsley (chopped)

DIRECTIONS:

Place the chicken in a large stock pot. Pour in 5 quarts of water and put on high heat. Add½ tsp. dill, ½ tsp. white pepper, ¼ tsp. thyme, ¼ tsp. marjoram, 1 bay leaf,

½ tsp. rosemary, ½ tsp. Savory, 2 medium onions (quartered), 2 large carrots (peeled and quartered), 2 celery stalks (quartered). Bring to a boil. Cover and turn to low and cook for 2 hours. Allow to cool for a few minutes and remove chicken to a platter. Pour broth through a large strainer removing all the solids and discard to garbage. Return broth to pot and add

1/2 pound baby carrots (diced), 4 celery stalks (diced), 1 large parsnip (peeled and diced)

1 tbsp. Fresh parsley (chopped). Return to a slow boil.

Cover chicken and allow to cool until you can safely handle it. When chicken is cool cut off breasts and save in a zip lock bag to make chicken salad.  Next carefully remove all the dark meat from the chicken discarding the skin bones and cartilage. Dice dark mean on a clean cutting board and return to soup. When the vegetables have softened add 5 or more chicken bouillon cubes and taste for saltiness. Add more if necessary. Serve HOT.

NOTES

The first thing I add to the soup is two or three and handfuls of fine egg noodles. Next I sometimes add Matzo balls.

How to Cook "American Style"

Chicken Matzo Ball Soup

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Good morning. I think this is still the morning. Its dark out so who knows. I made coffee and I flipped over my meat for the sauerbraten. So it a good start to the day.

Last night I stopped on the way home for bread. I came home with my loaf of bread and heated up meats balls and spaghetti. I ate and watched Jeopardy. Then I added 1 cup of sugar, 1 cup of flour and 1 cup of milk to my friendship bread starter. It still lives. Then I flipped over my meat for the sauerbraten and went to bed. Side note: I didn’t win the lottery of $700 Million dollars. It was someone in California. As the French say: say la vie.

On a positive note, yesterday’s lunch was Chicken Matzo Ball Soup. I cheated and used my insta-pot again. I also used 2 boxes of no salt chicken stock that was on sale for $1.99 each. To this, I added 3 whole chicken breasts (with the bone). To the stock, I added 1 Carrot diced, 1 Celery Stalk diced and 1 tsp Chicken bouillon (instead of salt). I turned on the pot and set it to broth. This is high pressure and 25 minutes of cooking time. I let it cool down for 30 minutes before opening it up. While is cooling I mixed up package of Matzo ball mix. The package is nothing more than matzo meal and baking soda ,but its all premeasured and packaged so I don’t have to worry about the matzo meal going stale. To that, I added ¼-cup vegetable oil and two eggs. Let it sit in the regenerator for the rest of the time (20 minutes) then added golf ball size pieces of dough to the soup along with a cup of fine noodles. I turned on the Sauté setting until the soup simmered. Then I hit cancel. I put on the lid to the the insta-pot and pressed the “keep warm” button. I let those balls cook like that for 35 minutes.   

When I finally tasted it, it seemed to have turned out perfect. Soft vegetables in a tasty and rich broth that complimented the light matzo balls and fine egg noodles. The true test is if Maryanne’s mother approves. Maryanne was going to bring some to her. This is comfort food at its best. The only thing missing was maybe a grilled cheese sandwich. Hmmm…maybe I can have any leftover soup with grilled sandwich today.

Well lets hope I can stay awake long enough to cook dinner tonight. Keep following along all week to see how this Sauerbraten thing turns out. Until tomorrow wishing you a happy and healthy hump day!

The Drunken Chef (Russ)

Blog Post, How to Cook "American Style"

The Sauerbraten Saga Begins

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Good morning. It’s Tuesday October 5th 2021 and too early in the morning for me to be up but I am. I am still not sleeping well. I seem to wake up at 4:30am every day. Then I have to be up an hour later for work so I can’t fall back to sleep. Maybe when we turn the clocks back I will be able to fall back to sleep.  Enough about my problems. There is cooking to be done.

Last night I started the sauerbraten marinating. The beef (two small chuck pot roasts) is marinating in a vinery mixture of: 1 cup red wine vinegar, 1 cup water, 1 tablespoon brown sugar, two onions, a tsp of black pepper and a whole head of garlic. I squeezed it all into a zip lock bag. (see picture above) This needs to marinate for five days so it will not be until Friday before we will see and taste the fruits of our efforts. I will also be making some side dishes. I will write more about that tomorrow. Rich, from my office, has requested applesauce to go with his. This seems to be a reasonable request so apple sauce for Richie it is.

I also made moms meatballs and sauce last night. I served them with spaghetti. Mine is the one that has parmesan cheese on it. It was yummy but I feel like I gained ten pounds. I miss my teenage metabolism. Lunch today will have to be low calorie soup and a salad.

That all for now good readers. Follow along this week and see how this Sauerbraten saga plays out. Until tomorrow wishing you a happy healthy Tuesday!

The Drunken Chef (Russ)

How to Cook "American Style", Recipe

Beef Vegetable Soup

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Good Morning. Its a chilly morning here on Long Island New York. Thursday for dinner, I made one of my favorite soups, Beef Vegetable Soup. Just like always, it seems this recipe takes me back to my childhood. I remember how large my mother would cut up the carrots and celery. The reason of course was my brother and I, but mostly me. I remember not always liking the carrots in the soup so I would eat around them. That’s when she just stopped putting them in my bowl. I guess making them a nice large size helped her to avoid them. That’s a mom for ya! Always trying to make their children happy!! Thankfully tastes change and today I love carrots in soup and use them ALL the time. You can’t have a mirepoix without carrots and mom knew that. Today the only thing I have changed over the years is now I add baby bok choy to the soup in the last ten minutes of cooking. I am excited to share this recipe with you all and hope you enjoy it.

Beef Vegetable Soup  

Serves 6 – 8

SPECIAL IMPLEMENTS

Large Pot

INGREDIENTS

2 lbs. Beef Stew Meat (cut into large bite size pieces)

2 cups Celery (large cuts)

2 cup2 Onion (cut into 1 inch pieces)

2 cups Carrots (cut into 1 inch pieces)

4 medium Potatoes (peeled and cut into pieces)

8 cups of water

6-8 bouillon cubes (or 8 tsp of better then Bouillon)

¼ tsp pepper

 2 – 4 tablespoons of Olive oil

2 heads baby bok choy (optional)

1 package wide noodles (Optional)

DIRECTIONS

In a large pot sauté beef in small batches in olive oil until is browned and there no juices in the bottom of the pot. Drain off excess fat and then add onion and celery. Sauté until onion are translucent.  Add back in all the beef. Add water, carrots and potatoes.  Bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes. Add baby bok choy if you like and simmer an additional 10 minutes. Serve Hot!

Serving suggestion:

Wide noodles; prepare wide noodles according to package directions and serve them in a separate bowl. Add a little olive oil or butter to keep the noodle from sticking together. This was your family members can then add as many or as few of the noodles as they like. Plus, when you refrigerate the leftover soup overnight. The noodles don’t get all soggy and absorb all that luscious beef broth.  

NOTES: Serve with crackers and butter.

The Drunken Chef (Russ)

Recipe

Chicken Stock

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Chicken Stock

INGREDIENTS:

6-7 pound whole chicken (remove neck and liver from cavity) or

2 Roasted Chicken carcasses

5 quarts water

½ tsp. dill

½ tsp. white pepper

¼ tsp. thyme

¼ tsp. marjoram

1 Bay leaf

½ tsp. rosemary

½ tsp. Savory

2 medium onions (quartered)

2 large carrots (peeled and quartered)

2 celery stalks (quartered tops included)

DIRECTIONS

Place the chicken in a large stock pot. Pour in 5 quarts of water and put on high heat. Add½ tsp. dill, ½ tsp. white pepper, ¼ tsp. thyme, ¼ tsp. marjoram, 1 bay leaf, ½ tsp. rosemary, ½ tsp. Savory, 2 medium onions (quartered), 2 large carrots (peeled and quartered), 2 celery stalks (quartered). Bring to a boil. Cover and turn to low and cook for 2 hours. Allow to cool for a few minutes and remove chicken to a platter. Pour broth through a large strainer lined with cheese cloth removing all the solids and discard to garbage.

Cool in refrigerator and remove Fat.

Recipe

Chicken Soup with Rice

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In October, I’ll be host to witches, goblins and a ghost. I’ll serve them chicken soup on toast. Whoopee once, whoopee twice, whoopee chicken soup with rice. – Maurice Sendak

I love Maurice Sendak’s work. In honor of him and a gentleman in my office, when asked their favorite soup…….it is chicken soup with rice. I made a small pot of chicken rice soup for lunch yesterday. Along with several grilled cheese sandwiches.

The chicken stock I had made from scratch just two days earlier. Therefore, I had the stock and the chicken. Some of the chicken I have been using for Jen’s chicken salad. The rest went into this small batch of soup.

I say it was a small batch because it was just enough for the eight of us. It is funny how at first no one was interested in soup (except mike) or the grilled cheese sandwiches until it started cooking. By the time it was done, not one person turned down a bowl of soup but not everyone had a grilled cheese sandwich. Maryanne, one of my coworkers, suggested that I make her grilled cheese sandwich with mayonnaise. I did as she requested because as a personal chef we cater to our “clients” as she tried to convince me it was the best way to make it.  She shared her sandwich with Eric who thought it was good but still prefers butter over mayo, as do I.  So, however you like it, with butter or mayo everyone agreed (who ate them) that grill cheese goes well with chicken soup with rice on a cool day in the fall.

If you would like to try my soup recipe I have attached it below and if you like grilled cheese I have posted that too (click the link below)!

The Drunken Chef (Russ)

Chicken Soup with Rice (ala Insta-Pot)      

Serves 6 – 8

SPECIAL IMPLEMENTS

Insta-Pot

INGREDIENTS

8 Cups chicken stock

2 chicken breasts (from chicken stock) (cooked and cubed)

2 small carrots (diced)

2 celery stalks (diced)

2 teaspoons salt or chicken bouillon

1 bay leaf

Chopped fresh parsley

1 cup uncooked long-grain white or brown rice

1 head baby bok Choy (Diced) (Optional)

DIRECTIONS

Add all the ingredients into the Insta-pot. Set to the poultry setting for 0 minutes and make sure the keep warm button is lit. When the temperature and pressure hit there mark, the keep warm setting will start counting up. Wait for 60 minutes. After 60 minutes are up, let out any remaining steam. Stir and serve.

NOTES:

Use the Chicken Stock Recipe to make the stock.

You can also use boxed/canned stock; you can even cook the chicken in the canned stock if you do not have cooked chicken. I would use whole chicken breasts, on the bone for added flavor when using canned stock but you can use boneless breasts too. Serve with grill cheeses.  

The Drunken Chef (Russ)

Recipe

Jambalaya

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Last night I had pizza. It was Sicilian pizza. Thick crust and cooked in a pan. Lots of sauce and even more mozzarella cheese. I did not make this lovely creation myself. It was made at Anthony’s Pizzeria and it was very good! I have not had Sicilian pizza in years and this was well worth the wait but that’s not what I’m here to tell you about.

Dessert was the highlight of the meal for Jennifer (I liked the pizza). Jennifer wanted ice cream sandwiches. I don’t know if you remember but yesterday I baked some large chocolate chip cookies. Luckily there were still some left and I had vanilla ice cream in the freezer, so of course you know what happened next…….. ice cream sandwiches.

I left the ice cream out just a bit to get soft. Otherwise, it would break the cookies. They too were just a bit soft having been in a zip lock bag. I put the ice cream between the two cookies and voilà, an ice cream sandwich. I popped it into the freezer for a few minutes to harden up the ice cream again and served it up to Jennifer. She was now in bed.

That is not all I made yesterday. For lunch I made Jambalaya.  

The Drunken Chef (Russ)

Jambalaya (ala Inta-Pot)    

Serves 6 – 8

SPECIAL IMPLEMENTS

Insta-Pot

INGREDIENTS

1 pound of boneless chicken breast

1 pound Cooked Shrimp

2 Kielbasa

32 ounces Chicken stock

2 boxes Zatterans Jambalaya Rice

1 small Onion

2 stalks Celery

2 cloves garlic

½ tsp red pepper flakes

½ tsp black pepper

1 tbls hot sauce (Cholula Sauce)

4 tbls olive oil

1 tsp salt

DIRECTIONS

Set the Inta-Pot to sauté. Brown the Kielbasa in 2 tbsp. in olive oil and set aside. Next cube and cook the chicken in the oil next and set it aside. Cook the onions, celery and garlic until the onions are translucent. Add chicken stock, bring to a boil and add the rice, red pepper flakes, black pepper, Cholula, and salt.

Return the chicken, raw shrimp and kielbasa to the pot. Stir.

Place on the lid. Cook on poultry setting for zero minutes. Leave on warm for 30 minutes. Release steam. Open lid and serve.   

The Drunken Chef (Russ)