West Coast Oriental Beef Soup

Ingredients:

3 strips bacon
1 pound beef (I used chuck steak)

Fry the bacon in the bottom of a cast iron dutch oven.
Add 1-1/2" of the white end of a leek, thinly sliced.
Preheat a large cast iron fry pan while this is cooking.

Remove the bacon when it's crispy. Pat dry and set aside.
Pour some of the bacon grease into the fry pan.
Add water to the leeks in the dutch oven, to 3" or 4" depth.
Add 2 tsp concentrated chicken stock (not beef stock).
Bring the stock to a boil; turn back to medium.

Slice the beef thinly (1/8") across the grain, and then into 1-1/2" lengths.
Season generously with freshly ground pepper.
Brown the beef strips quickly on both sides in the bacon grease, a few at a time.
As soon as they're brown on the sides, transfer to the boiling chicken stock.

Add vegetables, all cut to very thin 1-1/2" lengths:
3/4 cup carrots.
The rest of the white portion of the large leek.
1 entire leek leaf.
2 large stalks of celery.
1/2 of a jalapeño pepper.

Optional:
A handful of fresh brown mushrooms, thinly sliced.
A few cloves of garlic, peeled and either sliced or smashed.

Season aggressively with:
celery seed
freshly ground pepper

And season gently with:
ground cinnamon.

Chop up a portion of Chinese cabbage into the now familiar 1-1/2" lengths. Fill a large soup bowl 1/3 full with the chopped cabbage. Ladle boiling soup over the top and let it rest for five minutes. The boiling soup will cook the cabbage, and the cabbage will cool the soup to a temperature that can be eaten.

I like this soup with fresh milk and white bread or a roll that will handle dipping.

Subjective evaluation: this is one of the best things that I've ever cooked. The flavors have elements of both boldness and subtlety, the vegetables include the gently crisp cabbage with the gentler carrots and the tender beef. The chicken broth gentles the boldness of the beef wonderfully, but I think it's the cinnamon that brings it all together. This is better fresh than day-old.

Chili Chicken Sandwich

Layer it up:

1 slice whole wheat bread, toasted & buttered.
¼ cup shredded cheddar cheese.
⅓ can of prepared chili con carne, heated.
½ hard boiled egg, sliced.
¼ cup shredded parmesan cheese.
Season to taste.

Broil it in a toaster oven until the cheese melts.

Chow down and enjoy.

Serious Meat Rolls

Into the bread machine, in this order:

1½ tsp active dry yeast

2 cups whole wheat flour

2 cups white flour

2 TBSP white sugar

2 TBSP dry milk powder

2 TBSP butter

1¼ tsp salt

1⅓ cups water, lukewarm.

Set the bread machine on “dough” setting. When it's done, cut it in half, and roll each half out on a flowered surface, until it's less than 1/4" thick. Coat with:

Sliced steak (season and grille a 12 oz steak; refrigerate, slice thinly; half for each roll)
one chicken breast, seasoned and grilled, refrigerated and sliced.
3 oz thinly sliced pepperoni
4 slices of bacon, soft cooked
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3/4 cup frozen veggies (I like French cut beans)
4 ounces (1/4 pound) of crumbled cooked pork sausage.
Season with a fair bit of freshly ground pepper (the bacon provides enough salt).

Roll up the dough like a cinnamon roll, resulting in a roll that's 12" x maybe 4" diameter. Let it raise for 20 minutes, then bake at 350 for 35 or 40 minutes until the inside is completely cooked. Cool on a cooling rack. Serve warm, sliced thick as a main dish (I like it with fresh corn on the cob), or slice it into appropriate size pieces and freeze separately for re-heating later.

Interesting Ham-Wrapped Things

This was mostly an experiment, albeit a yummy one.

Get some Black Forest ham from your favorite deli, relatively thinly sliced. Black Forest is cured as a whole ham, so the slices can be quite large; mine were about 6" x 9". I used two at a time, as if they were a tortilla, wrapping the rest of the ingredients.

Layer the filling inside:
3 or 4 thin slices (cut into ribbons) of hard salami
2 or 3 spears of zucchini
4 or 5 shrimp
a few shards of sliced onion
a few ounces of shredded cheese (I used cheddar, but use whatever you have!)
a tablespoonful of honey mustard salad dressing

Pin the whole thing together with toothpicks, and bake (toaster oven!) at 400 for 10 minutes. Use a knife & fork: it'll be juicy.

Sausage & Onion Roll

Into the bread machine, in this order:

1½ tsp active dry yeast

2 cups whole wheat flour

2 cups white flour

2 TBSP white sugar

2 TBSP dry milk powder

2 TBSP butter

1¼ tsp salt

1⅓ cups water, lukewarm.

Set the bread machine on “dough” setting.

While the bread machine is producing dough for you, sauté and set aside:

1 pound of pork sausage

Then in the same pan, sauté in
1 TBSP of olive oil plus
1 TBSP butter:

2½ large onions, sliced

When they're medium brown, add

the previously cooked pork sausage,

2 tsp beef soup base or bouillion

1 small can tomato sauce

freshly ground black pepper

1 tsp chili powder

¼ tsp cumin

and sauté until they're dark brown. Set aside to cool.

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.

When the dough is done, roll it out on a floured board, until it's about 12" x 20". Spread with:
2 TBSP butter, melted
all of the sausage/onion mixture, and
½ cup grated cheese (Cheddar works; Jack is better.)

Roll up the dough like a cinnamon roll, resulting in a roll that's 12" x maybe 4" diameter. I like to slice the top artistically and brush with:
1 egg, beaten (you'll probably not use more than half of that).

Let it raise for 20 minutes, then bake at 350 for 35 or 40 minutes until the inside is completely cooked. Cool on a cooling rack. Serve warm, sliced thick as a main dish (I like it with fresh corn on the cob), or sliced thin as a side dish or re-heated for a snack.

Onion Garlic Bread

Into the bread machine, in this order:
1½ tsp active dry yeast
2    cups whole wheat flour
2    cups white flour
2 TBSP white sugar
2 TBSP dry milk powder
2 TBSP butter

1¼ tsp salt

1⅓ cups water, lukewarm.

Set the bread machine on “dough” setting.

While the bread machine is producing dough for you, sauté and set aside:
2   large onions, sliced
6   cloves of garlic, smashed and chopped


Sauté these in 1 TBSP of  olive oil plus 1 TBSP butter.
When they're light brown, add
2 TBSP brown sugar


and sauté until they're dark brown. Set aside to cool.

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.

When the dough is done, roll it out on a floured board, until it's about 12" x 20". Spread with:
2 TBSP butter, melted
all of the onion/garlic mixture, and
½ cup Parmesan cheese.

Roll up the dough like a cinnamon roll, resulting in a roll that's 12" x maybe 4" diameter. I like to slice the top artistically and brush with:
1   egg, beaten (you'll probably not use more than half of that).

Bake at 350 for 35 or 40 minutes until the inside is completely cooked. Cool on a cooling rack. Serve warm, not hot. We sliced it thin and served it alongside barbecued steak.

This produces a hearty bread, slightly sweet. It's more filling than I expected.

Olive and Feta Shred Bread

Into the bread machine, in this order:
1½ tsp active dry yeast
1½ TBSP fresh rosemary, removed from the stem, roughly chopped
1½ TBSP fresh lemon thyme, removed from the stem
1½ cups whole wheat flour
1½ cups white flour
1¼ tsp salt
2 TBSP white sugar
2 TBSP dry milk powder
2 TBSP butter
1 1/3 cups water

Set the bread machine on “dough” setting. Three minutes before it’s through kneading, add:
¼ cup Kalamata olives, very roughly chopped (quartered lengthwise is fine)
¼ cup feta cheese, crumbled or very roughly chopped

(I buy these at an olive bar in the local specialty food store, which means that they come in oil – olive oil, I presume. I drain much of oil from the olives and feta when I buy it, but I include what remains in the bread: it carries much of the flavor!)

When the bread machine pronounces the dough ready, remove and shape into a loaf. I prefer to slice the top of the loaf, brush the top with melted butter, and sprinkle some shredded parmesan cheese on top.

Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 30 minutes until done. We prefer not to slice the bread, but to rip hunks off of it, hence the name “Shred Bread.”