You waited for it.
You hinted that you wanted some more...
And I'm back!
Two plus years later - here I am.
Still hungry, still running, and as always... in love with food, Vincent, and our pups Alpine and Pepper.
A few things have changed, though. I suppose I never gave myself an exit post in 2011 when I was accepted in the LSU Shreveport PA program, but as you can see I've been a little busy since then. To make a long story short you'll be happy to know that Vincent and I recently got married (yayyyy!) I am also a certified Physician Assistant, which is a journey that I've been on for some time now. We live in Mandeville, Louisiana and I am currently working in Urgent Care nearby. I will begin a full time position in the Emergency Department at a local hospital next month. I think it's safe to keep my Blog title because I'm sure there will still be some Lights, Sirens, and Gumbo
:)
We have only been back from our honeymoon for 2 days. The first day we were welcomed with open arms by all of our parents, a champagne toast, and lunch at Zea's - our local favorite. Other than Bistro Byronz, which I'm obsessed with. They were closed. Anyway - that evening we reported to Mimi and Papa's house for shrimp gumbo - YUMMM. I mean hello, is this a good time to talk about food, or what? Not to mention that I just debarked a cruise ship where I was a total glutton for the last week. Ha! It wasn't until last night that I finally cooked something for us to eat, and I have to say... for our first home made meal as married people it was pretty damn good. I made sure to point out to Vincent that not all newly married men are as lucky as he is in the food department...
I made chicken tortilla soup - and you need to make some too!
Chicken Tortilla Soup
2 split chicken breasts
4 cups chicken stock, preferably home made
1 can ro*tel tomatoes, drained (I used mild with green chiles)
1 15oz. can diced tomatoes with juice
1 small can low sodium tomato sauce
1 can sweet whole kernel corn, drained and rinsed
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 small yellow onions, diced
1 red bellpepper, diced
1 cup baby carrots, diced
1 jalapeno, seeds and ribs removed, finely diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
Head of cilantro rinsed, dried, and chopped
Juice of half a lime
1/2 Tbsp cumin
1/2 Tbsp Mrs.Dash Fiesta Lime seasoning
1 Tbsp Hot mexican chili powder
Sea salt and fresh black pepper to taste
Preheat the oven to 375.
Y'all know I love mexican food.
If you like mexican food, you need to have Mrs.Dash fiesta lime seasoning in your cabinet. It's good on everything from guacamole to fajitas and even in this dish. If you are reading my blog for the first time, as I realize you might be because I have a whole handful of new and awesome friends since I last posted, pay close attention to this... Good food is easy when you keep the ingredients simple, you use fresh ingredients when possible, and you try to stick to the perimeter of the grocery store. When you're at the stove, one of the most important things that you can do is season every layer of a dish so that the end result is perfect. You don't want to find yourself dumping some unknown sprinkle or dash of something at the end that will ruin all of your hard work. If you're like my best friend Fram - you're probably saying, what do you mean season every layer? Tell me exactly how much of that to put in there. I like sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper. If you don't have a pepper mill, get up and leave your house right now - go to TJ MAXX and get one. I mean it! Every time you add another layer to your pot, give your goodies about 3 handshakes of sea salt and 3 turns of the cracked black pepper mill. No other way to do it!
Roast the chicken.
If you've read before, you know how to make the roasted chicken because it's in everything. Nothing is better than simple roasted chicken (when it comes to meat.) Get your split chicken breasts with the skin on and bone in. If you have time to "dry brine" them - please do. All this means is that you sprinkle them with a heavy coating of COARSE sea salt and leave them covered in the fridge all day. Don't worry about doing that if you are going to make this right now. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil... y'all know I like to keep my pans clean. Pat the chicken dry. Drizzle a light coat of olive oil over the top and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and Mrs.Dash fiesta lime seasoning. Don't measure it.
Come on, you can do this... just sprinkle a good amount. Bake at 350 for 1 hour.
(If you're really busy, you could probably get away with using a rotisserie chicken. I've had to do that before but this is better).
My dad always taught me Mes en place. Everything in it's place.
Get out all of your other ingredients and wash your veggies. Dice them up.
In a large soup pot, heat about 2 Tbsp olive oil and add the onion. Salt and pepper them and cook until they start to get a little translucent. Add the red bell pepper, carrots, jalapeno, garlic, and cumin. Salt and Pepper again. Cook for about 5 minutes or until soft. Add the ro*tel tomatoes, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, chicken stock, corn, black beans, mexican chili powder, and another hefty sprinkle of Mrs.Dash fiesta lime seasoning. Stir to combine and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Leave the lid off.
Now is the time that you can spend chopping the cilantro, and hopefully if your chicken is done cooking, you can have it cool off enough for you to remove the meat and shred it with 2 forks.
Once again, pepper proves to be extremely interested in chicken. She barks at it.
Simmer the soup for about 30 minutes. Add the shredded chicken, cilantro, and lime juice. Simmer for an additional 15 minutes.
Prepare various toppings if you wish such as diced avocado, shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream, tortilla strips or tortilla chips. We use blue corn tortilla chips and crunch them over the top! Yumm.
So delicious and just right for this refreshing fall evening weather that we have! This should last us a few days, which is perfect for my work schedule that includes 9am-9pm shifts the next few days.
By the way - since there is a partial Federal Government shutdown at this time, I was told by the clerk of court that I cannot change my name at this time.... gotta love 'merica.
Hope you enjoy,
Megan Procido *Hamblin*
to everyone except the federal government
No comments:
Post a Comment