Crazy vegan Thai medley

There are nights where I make things for dinner that I would never share with company. They are too unpredictable and weird.

Like tonight.

I put two cups rice in the steamer with 2.5 cups Thai stock from Wegmans and 1.5 cups water. (to keep it from getting too spicy for my daughter)

In my skillet I combined:
- about 14 ounces(?) black beans
- about two to three cups stock
- two cups water
- one can water chestnuts
- two cups frozen French cut green beans
- chunks of 2/3 of a large golden delicious apple

It's simmering now. I'm hoping a slow simmer will allow the apples to cut the 'heat' of the broth and sweeten it some.

Chicken, shrimp and broccoli

Today, forgetting I still have half a broccoli cheese pot pie in the fridge, I embarked on chicken and broccoli for lunch.

So, I preheated the oven to 350 and set the Le Creuset skillet on the front burner on low with 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil, 1 teaspoon butter, and 1 teaspoon four color peppercorn.

I took two slightly thawed chicken breasts and about two cups shrimp and dropped them in the skillet. I sprinkled garlic powder and paprika (lightly) on everything. Ten minutes each side, but about halfway I did turn the heat up to almost medium.

I added as much broccoli as I could get in the skillet (fresh) and then added one cup chicken broth. and one more teaspoon butter distributed in chunks. I also got out two cups of wegmans thai vegetable stock. I thawed both of these broths in the microwave must still had an icy chunk for each so I set one on top of each chicken breast thinking it could baste as it melts.

Into the oven it goes. Husband home for lunch in 45 minutes.

*This is the last of our shrimp.*

Experimental Stew

So, I do it every time. I start cooking the beef cubes in butter in my Le Creuset skillet for French-style beef stew and I don't check the cupboard to make sure we have stock.

I had chicken stock and Thai stock. So I piled some chives and parsley from the garden into the skillet with the cooking meat, about a teaspoon of garlic salt and a teaspoon of four color black peppercorn. When that got done cooking, I added enough thai broth to fill the skillet. And basil. And more pepper.

Then I poured the broth, after about 30 minutes, into the stew pot. Then I added half a bottle of red wine to the skillet and cooked the wine in that. I combined everything and put the stew pot over the heat. I added the rest of the wine, and a wine bottle of water. I boiled and tasted. Too much red wine.

So I added a can of vegetarian vegetable soup (with alphabet noodles, classy, eh?) and some more basil and chives.

And set it to boil for about ten minutes. Added green beans from the garden.

Starting chili

We got about a foot of snow... okay, it's probably more like eight or so inches. But that makes me want something hot and stew-like. Beef bourgogne would be fabulous, but working with what I have on hand, it looks like chili. And if I can gather the ingredients, I'd like to make the kind with cornbread dumplings...

If this link works, it should take you to my previous chili recipes:
http://angelfoodcooking.blogspot.com/search/label/chili
If not the link in the labels below for chili should help...

But let's see today...

• about a tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• about one and a half cups browned hamburger crumbles from the freezer
• one clove garlic coarsely chopped
• about 3/4 teaspoon Indian chili powder
• about one teaspoon pizza and pasta seasoning
  

That's sizzling in the pan. I added:

• almost two cups Wegmans vegetable stock

As I wait for that to boil, I'm debating between Hunts Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes or the cheap Italian style from Aldi... I'm thinking fire-roasted.

• One can Hunts Fire Roasted tomatoes

Waiting for that to boil. I'm going to boil it for about 10 minutes to reduce some of the vegetable stock. Then I'll simmer covered for about an hour. I added:

• one tablespoon cocoa powder
• about a half teaspoon four color organic peppercorns

I let it cook for about 30 minutes and seeing how it reduced down, I added:

• 1 cup thai broth (also Wegmans, I had it in the freezer)
  

Perusing my chili recipes, I'm thinking this calls for:

• one can (15.5 ounces) light red kidney beans
• one can dark red kidney beans

(I'm out of black. I love black beans.) I'm still debating whether to add corn and/or pineapple. It all depends on the flavor.

Well, my goal is always to make chili that has a nice flavor but isn't too spicy for the child. I usually only succeed in making either bland chili or five-alarm chili. Today, it seems like this concoction is three-alarm chili. So I added:

• 20 ounces crushed pineapple (minus a couple ounces for the tortoise)

Smells and looks great.

Mulligutawny (II)

I've made Mulligutawny before, but today I'm revising slightly for the use of leftovers... I will place in crock pot on low...

• About 1.5 cups shredded turkey
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 apple, peeled and chopped
• 1 teaspoon curry
• 1 teaspoon garlic pepper

Sauté in skillet.

Add:

• one can petit diced tomatoes, drained

Cook about 30 minutes on low, stirring occasionally. While that cooks, in crock pot combine:

• about 20-25 ounces Thai broth
• 14 ounces low salt chicken broth
• about 3/4 cup brown rice (I used instant)

Then put everything in the crock pot on low...

The original post on this soup:

http://angelfoodcooking.blogspot.com/2009/02/mulligatawny.html

Chicken Rice Soup

I'm not good at soups. So my attempt to try and make a soup out of the chicken leftovers is a feat. I poured the leftover Thai chicken in broth with brown rice and peas into the crockpot. I added some basil and some garlic powder. Then I tossed in the last of the mixed Italian vegetables with the green beans, lima beans, zucchini and such. I added a glass of water. And the crock pot didn't look very full. I added a can of chicken broth. I really wish I had an apple... I think that would give it a superb flavor... but I don't have an apple...

Last night for dinner we had spaghetti and vegetarian sausage.

Update: 11 a.m. Soup smells incredible and the broth tastes fantastic.

Thai chicken?

I'm feeling lazy so I took the chicken breasts in the fridge and sprinkled with curry powder and organic four color peppercorns. Then I poured Wegman's Thai Culinary Broth on it and baked it in the oven for about an hour on 375. At about 45 minutes in, I added instant brown rice, the rest of the container of broth and peas.