Red Chicken Salad

Hm. Guess it's been a while. Hans has been experimenting with Variations on a Pizza, and I've thrown a few things together.

I had dinner with Mom tonight, and she sent me home with most of a cooked chicken, accompanied by stuffing in the bottom of the pan.

The bones of the chicken, and quite a bit of the meat, are simmering with a couple sage leaves right now, and a couple chunks of candied ginger. The broth is going to become Hot & Sour Soup, because Hans is sick. The combo of spices and Jewish Stereotype ;-) will knock it out like a champ!

I diced about three cups of the meat and set it aside for chicken salad, because I don't like how reheating dries it out. And as the chicken salad went along, I realized that most of what I was adding was red. I think I'll make it next May Day.

RED CHICKEN SALAD
(all measurements are approximate)
3 c cooked, diced chicken
Stir in 6-8 oz mayonnaise, until it's starting to act more creamy than chunky.
Add paprika: I'm going to say a couple teaspoons. Go slowly, but you'll use more than it'll seem you should need. This is what will give it a nice pinkish, adobe-ish color.
A little ground red pepper. Again, add in slow increments until it's right for you.
I threw in about a tablespoon of roasted minced garlic. This came from a local pizza place, and added a little cruncy texture. They were brownish red, close enough. If you can't find any, experiment with something else... maybe bacon bits?
Finally, balance it out with 1-2 T dill relish.

The stuffing in the bottom of the pan had soaked up more juice and grease than Mom expected it to. I scraped it into a baking pan and added corn meal until it was firmer. Actually, I went a little too far and had to add some water. Just as well. It baked at 350 for 45 minutes, and I gave it about an hour to set.

Soup.... Hot and Sour!

This isn't a perfectly traditional recipe, but it gets pretty close to what you'd find in a Chinese restaurant.

In a 5-quart pot, start simmering 4 cans of chicken broth. Add in small increments until the flavor is right:
Rice vinegar
Red wine vinegar (or just cheap red wine)
Soy sauce (I use low-sodium)
Sesame oil
Siracha hot sauce
Lime juice
Black pepper
Red pepper
Chili powder
Celery salt
Minced garlic (a couple tablespoons)
A few fresh sage leaves, to be removed before serving

Then there's the cornstarch, about a tablespoon-and-a-half. Don't dump it straight in the pot. You'll regret that. Put it in a separate measuring cup, add 1/3 to 1/2 cup of hot water, and stir. When it's milky, not lumpy, you can add it to the soup.

Two egg whites... use the technique of cracking the egg and letting the white run out into the soup, in little strings and globs, without breaking or dropping the yolk. Yeah, it takes some practice.

Add tofu chunks, different kinds of mushrooms, slivers of chicken or pork, green onions or chives, bamboo shoots. Experiment. I used drained pineapple in the latest batch, since someone put my bamboo shoots on a pizza.

A Non-Kosher, Non-Vegetarian Casserole

Here's something I posted a few months ago on my all-purpose blog:

Potato-Ham Casserole

It was yummy. It's just not very summery... I can't wait for fall. This will taste good on a crisp night that smells like fallen leaves.

Vegetarian Passover Lasagna

I'll admit, the first two words in the title would ordinarily make me stop reading, and go make a ham sandwich. But then there's that magic word "lasagna," and I realize this could be worth further investigation. I'm using the term "lasagna" loosely, the way bars call anything a martini if they can serve it in a pointy glass. If it's layered with a starchy thing and baked in a big flat dish, it's some kind of a lasagna.

When I made the veggie lasagna for our seder this year, I didn't really use a recipe, but I looked at several online. I also didn't write down what I did, and I've been trying to remember it for about four months. I think I'm going to have to try to recreate it, but for now, since I've been asked, here's about how it went.

The basic idea is: make layers of veggies, matzah, cheese/egg mixture and sauce. If you want it vegan, skip the cheese and egg. The matzah does the same job that noodles would, in terms of the dish's composition.

The sliced vegetables I used were zucchini, portabella mushrooms, and onions (just an accent amount, not as much as the other veggies). In the same layers, I used eggplant pureed mostly smooth with garlic and a little lemon juice, spread thickly on top of the matzah. Other things to try: shredded carrots, spinach (well-rinsed and de-stemmed if fresh), pine nuts. Or perhaps meat.

The cheese layers were the same as any other lasagna: a 15-oz. tub of ricotta, a couple cups of shredded mozzarella, a handful of Parmesan, an egg and a toss of parsley, mixed together and spread. I used about 16 oz. of tomato sauce, adding basil, oregano, black and red pepper, more garlic, and celery salt as an alternative to regular salt. Modify to your own taste, or use a can/jar of store-bought spaghetti sauce if you'd like.

Let's see if I can remember the order of the layers, from the bottom up:
sauce
matzah
eggplant puree
mushrooms & onions
sauce
matzah
cheese mix
matzah
eggplant puree
zucchini & onions
sauce
matzah
cheese mix
sauce
shredded mozzarella & Parmesan

That sounds about right. Once it's put together in a 9"x13" casserole dish, cover it with foil and bake at 350 for, let's say, 35 minutes, then remove the foil and bake another 10 minutes or so, until the top is nice and brown.

If you try it out before I post any corrections, uh... good luck?

Sour Dough Pizza

Start with sour dough starter.
Add the following "flavor enhancers" to starter:
olive oil ( 1/4 c? I do not really measure )
oregano
basil
minced garlic ( or powdered garlic, if I'm lazy )
dash of garlic salt.
honey
( can also add butter ).
More or less amounts are so that you can see a change in the dough, 1 teaspoon - 1 Tablespoon, maybe, of the oregano, basil, and garlic. 1 Squirt of honey ( I have no idea what a squirt is, it just squeeze until I cannot squeeze the honey anymore )

Sauce:
1 (small ?oz) can of Hunt's tomato paste
1 T of cream cheese
oregano
basil
garlic powder.
1 splash of water

Microwave until cream cheese is soft ( ~30s - 1 min )

Roll dough onto 2 buttered pizza stone until about 1/8 - 1/4 think.
( or just go with one, but it will eat like bread with toppings. )

Preheat oven to 350
Spread sauce onto dough.
Add whatever.
shred ~ 6oz of mozzarella cheese, or just until covered, really how much to like cheese?
sprinkle parmasean on top, I like to use freshly grated from the block, and I do think it makes a difference.
Cook for 1/2 hr to 1 hour ( depends on thinness, number of toppings, etc. )
Until the cheese is melted and is a golden brown color.

Let cool for 5-10 minutes.
Slice
Enjoy

Sour Dough

Sourdough:
Note: Use only a wooden spoon when mixing sourdough.

1.) Warm sour dough starter to room temp.
If refridgerated, wait about 6-12 hrs.

2.) Split
Place 1 c of the start dough starter in a bowl.
Add 1 c milk or 1 c water to starter (milk I think works best.)
Add 1 c flour to starter
Refridgerate or Leave out overnight if planning another loaf the next day.

3.) Sour dough bread:
Add 1 C milk/water to the bowl
Add 1 - 2 c flour to bowl, make it think but still a little sticky.
Add "flavor enhancers" here
Garlic, honey, olive oil, butter, etc.
Let sit for a few hours or overnight.
Add flour until it it no longer sticks to the spoon
Add flour and knead until it no longer sticks to your hands.
Preheat oven to 350
Let riase for about 1/2 hr.
Bake for about an hour.
Let sit until cool.
Slice.
Enjoy.