by TheLastWonton | Jan 13, 2022 | Appetizers & Snacks, Crock Pot, Main Dishes, Recipes, Soups & Stews
Plush, potato-riddled chowder, touting the flavourful zip of Poblano, the utter yumminess of fried pancetta and, of course, a generous shake-shake of freshly ground black pepper.
I love crock pots and I cannot lie
You other home cooks can't deny……..
Ha! Some days I just can't help myself.
But it is true, Crock Pots/Slow Cookers sure do make things easy peasy, or in this case easy PPPP-sy? Get it?
For this soup, just a little bit of hands on prep, then throw everything into the crock pot, and it's hands off, until the very end, when those finishing touches come into play.
Adding the Poblano and fried pancetta create an extra depth of flavour, transforming old-fashioned potato soup, into groovy comfort food. Then the cherry on top is that extra boost of black pepper.
I can't help but mention, that if you are in an area/town/city with an Italian deli or market, that's the place to buy good quality pancetta. (My stand-by, and happy place, to go for all things Italian, here in the Okanagan is Valoroso.) Supermarket pancetta is a good fill in, but seriously, Italian deli's rock pancetta.
Okay now, to get things started, fry the diced pancetta, to crispy, deliciousness. Then, again, to add flavour flavour, fry the chopped onion and chopped Poblano in the pancetta drippings. Oooh yeah, baby!
Enter the crock pot. After 7-8 hours on low heat, or 3-4 hours on high heat, we get to finish our PPPP soup, in all the right ways. Either with an immersion blender, or potato masher, smush smash about half (or more, if you so desire) of the potato chunks, to add glorious texture and consistency.
Stir in a bit of sour cream and heavy cream; stir, stir. Then stir in the beurre manié, which is one of my favourite ways to thicken soups or sauces.
What is beurre manie, you ask. Beurre Manié (French for “kneaded butter”) is made by mixing equals parts of softened butter and flour. This paste is used to thicken sauces, soups and stews.
There you have it. Slurp on, and whenever you get a chance, do whisper sweet nothings to your Crock Pot, they seem to really like it. And who doesn't want a happy Crock Pot?
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I got inspired by Damn Delicious, one of my fave food blogs,
to get creative for The Last Wonton. Thanks Chungah!
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SLOW COOKER PPPP SOUP ~ 4 Servings
2 slices pancetta, sliced 1/3-1/2 inch thick, diced
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1 medium Poblano pepper, diced
4 medium Yukon gold (or your favourite potato), peeled and diced (about 5 cups)
3 cups chicken bone broth, or good quality chicken or vegetable broth
2 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons sea salt
1-2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons butter, softened
2 tablespoons flour
2/3 cup sour cream (or plain Greek yogurt)
1/2 cup heavy cream (or quality coconut milk)
Grated cheddar
Fried pancetta pieces
Sliced green onion
Butter
In large skillet, over medium high heat, fry pancetta pieces, turning often until browned and crispy, about 4-6 minutes. Transfer to paper towel lined plate.
To the same pan, add chopped onion and cook, turning occasionally, adjusting heat if necessary, until softened and starting to get golden brown edges, about 4 minutes. Add diced poblano to onion, mix, flip and saute another 3-4 minutes.
Place potatoes in 4 quart slow cooker. Stir in broth, fried pancetta, onion and poblano, 2 tablespoons butter, salt, pepper and Worcestershire until well combined.
Cover and cook on low heat for 7-8 hours or high heat for 3-4 hours, or until potatoes are tender.
Meanwhile make a paste, by mixing 2 tablespoons softened butter, with 2 tablespoons flour. Set aside.
Using an immersion blender, or potato masher, smush about 1/2 of the potato chunks (or more if it suits your fancy). Stir in butter-flour mixture, sour cream and heavy cream. Stir, stir.
Cover and cook on low heat until warmed through, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes.
Ladle into bowls, hot from the crock. Top with grated cheddar, fried pancetta pieces, sliced green onion and butter. Yippee! It's time to Slurp up this delicious, groovy, comfort fare.
by TheLastWonton | Jan 9, 2022 | Appetizers & Snacks, Baking & Desserts, Breads & Sandwiches, Holiday & Seasonal, Recipes
Just pull apart and munch, munch. Crispy, buttery, edges hiding tender, soft, old-fashioned, warm-from-the-oven goodness. Fun to make, fun to eat.
TOP TEN REASONS TO MAKE BUTTERY MONKEY BREAD
10. Family and friends will sing your praises, and then some.
9. It's best fresh from the oven, so you don't even have to wait for it to cool down.
8. You will be so proud of how impossibly satisfying the crispy, buttery, edges are.
7. Good with soup, salad, spaghetti, stew, eggs, steak, chili, fried chicken, noodles.
6. Birds may suddenly appear, whenever you are near.
5. Every piece is good with jam, golden syrup, peanut butter, Brie or honey.
4. Monkey bread is sometimes called Bubble bread. That's cool!
3. Your kitchen will smile.
2. Once baked and you turn them upside down to plate, you'll want to exclaim,
"Boom-Shaka-Laka!"
1. You will be in the running to win the coveted TOP BANANA Award.
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Thanks to Huckleberry Life blog for this recipe inspiration,
for The Last Wonton.
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BUTTERY MONKEY BREAD ~ Makes 1 Bundt
1 cup warm water
1 tablespoon + 3 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 1/4 cups of flour
1/2 cup butter, melted
Pour warm water into bowl of electric mixer. Mix in 1 tablespoon sugar. Sprinkle yeast on water. Let sit for 10 minutes, until yeast starts to bloom.
In separate bowl, beat salt, eggs and oil together. Using dough hook attachment add egg mixture to yeast mixture and mix on medium low. Next add 1 1/2 cups of flour and mix, mix. Add remaining flour and mix 2-4 minutes until all of the flour is incorporated. Dough should be firm, and a little sticky. Cover and let rise, in a warm place, 1 1/2 hours, until doubled.
Transfer dough onto a clean, floured surface. Roll dough out, with rolling pin to about 1/4 – inch thick. Cut dough into circles with 2 1/2 – inch cookie cutter. I usually get 25 to 30 rounds.
Add 1/2 cup melted butter to bundt pan. Dip both sides of each dough circle in butter and stack around in the bottom of the pan until you've used all the dough.
Cover and let rise, in a warm place, until doubled, about 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 400F. Bake for 20 minutes. Let cool just a bit, then turn on serving plate. Serve warm. Boom-Shaka-Laka!
by TheLastWonton | Jan 7, 2022 | Appetizers & Snacks, Breakfast & Brunch, Crock Pot, Holiday & Seasonal, Main Dishes, Recipes, Soups & Stews
Rustic, hearty, happy, throw-together chowder loaded with corny goodness, winter veggie happiness, and touting a bit of a kicky oost of spice, from fresh poblano. Yes please!
Baby, it's cold outside! Brrrrr!
January always makes us crave comfort food, it seems. But throw in this particular January where Ol' Man Winter is endlessly flaunting his expertise, and all I seem to want is that kind of homey goodness that warms our tummies and souls.
Enter, The Crock Pot. Don't you just love to love the ease of throwing a few things together into our trusty 'crocks' then later, after some damn fine winter day aromatherapy, dinner is ready, ready, freddy.
I know I've mentioned it before but January is National Soup Month, in the USA. Such a good 'nationalization'!! In my mind it's delightfully International. (Well, if you're going to borrow something from your neighbours it should be worthwhile!)
(I know, it makes me smile, too.)
Now, you can throw all the main ingredients right into your crock pot without any preparation. But I sure do like to take the one easy, extra, step and saute the chopped onion and poblano pepper in butter and olive oil. This quick step adds a rather tasty depth of flavour. But, you decide.
Okee dokee, let's get our happy soup on!
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CROCK POT CORNY VEGGIE CHOWDER ~ 6 Servings
3 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/2 large sweet onion, chopped
1 medium-sized fresh poblano pepper, seeded and chopped (about 1/2 cup)
2 cups frozen corn
1 – 14 ounce can creamed corn
3 cups good quality chicken or vegetable broth
1 cup chopped rutabaga, 1/2 inch dice
1 cup chopped carrots, 1/2 inch dice
1 large-ish Yukon gold or yellow potato, chopped, 1/2 inch dice
1 tablespoon sugar
2 – 3 teaspoons sea salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 scant cup evaporated milk
2 tablespoons cornstarch
Heat butter and olive oil in a medium skillet, over medium high heat. Add onion and cook until softened, and starting to get golden brown edges. Stir in poblano pepper pieces and cook about 3 minutes more, adjusting the heat if cooking too fast.
Scoop onions and peppers into slow cooker with creamed corn, frozen corn, broth, rutabaga, carrots, potato, sugar, salt and pepper. Stir, stir. Cover and cook on high for 6 hours until vegetables are tender-cooked, just right.
In a small bowl whisk together evaporated milk and cornstarch until smooth. Stir, stir, mixture into chowder, in crock pot. Cover and cook 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until your crock pot is brimming with comforting deliciousness. Ladle into bowls, top with a dob of butter. Slurp, munch.
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p.s. Ssshhh! Don't tell anybody, but when I serve up my own bowl of chowder I snag more of the bodacious broth than I should. Mmmm!
by TheLastWonton | Jan 6, 2022 | Appetizers & Snacks, Beef, Pork & Lamb, Breakfast & Brunch, Holiday & Seasonal, Main Dishes, One-Pan & One-Pot, Pasta & Noodles, Recipes, Soups & Stews
Easy, peasy, throw-it-in, souped up lasagna. One of our favorite pastas becomes a hearty, indulgent, hot soupy bowl of deliciousness just like that!
South of the border, in the ol' USA, our neighbours are unofficially celebrating January, as National Soup Month. Perfectamundo! I'm so borrowing this. Who wouldn't, right?!
Besides that, here in the Okanagan we're into one of the coldest, snowiest, winters that anyone can remember. Bring on the soup!!
This time around, we're talking ladles of hot soup that overflow with all the spicy, comforting, goodness of one of our all time favorite pasta dishes. Yup! Perfectly al dente, broken shards of lasagna basking in a tomato-y broth brimming with those most loved Italian flavours that we so often crave when we want that comfort food that warms our tummies and soothes our souls. Mama Mia!
But it keeps getting better. Lasagna Soup comes together easy peasy, quick and teasy. Bonus!
And then, oh yes, and then, after just a bit, when your soup is already ready you get to throw in some chunkers of good mozzarella that get all dramatic, in all the right ways. Ooey, gooey, cheesy, soupy comfort, in a bowl.
And I don't think it's my imagination, but either way I just have to mention that possibly, if you listen closely, this soup can be heard whispering, "have your way with me!"
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Delightfully inspired by one of my fave food blogs, Half Baked Harvest,
for The Last Wonton. Thanks Tieghan!
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SPICY LASAGNA SOUP ~ 6 Servings
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 medium sweet onion, chopped
1 poblano pepper, seeded and chopped
1/2 pound ground beef
1/2 pound spicy Italian sausage meat
2 teaspoons sea salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 plump garlic cloves, minced
4 cups good quality chicken broth, or chicken bone broth
1 can (28 ounce) crushed tomatoes
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons dried basil
2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 teaspoons chili powder
Pinch of baking soda
1/2 cup whipping cream
10-12 lasagna noodles, broken into pieces
1 1/2 cups good quality mozzarella, cut into smallish chunks
(my favorite for it's glorious melty-ness is TreStella)
Heat olive oil in a large pot or dutch oven over high heat. Add onion and cook until softened, and starting to get golden brown edges. Stir in poblano pepper pieces and cook about 3 minutes more, adjusting the heat if cooking too fast.
Add the ground beef and sausage. Season with salt and pepper. Add garlic and cook, breaking up meat as it cooks, until browned all over, about 10 minutes.
Add chicken broth and tomatoes. Stirring add brown sugar, Worcestershire, basil, oregano, chili powder and baking soda. Cook about 20 minutes until thickened slightly, adjusting heat as necessary.
Stir in the cream and cook until warmed through, 5-10 minutes.
Meanwhile, boil the lasagna pieces until just al dente. Drain and add to the soup, stirring to evenly combine. Ladle hot soup into bowls, throwing a few mozzarella pieces into each bowl. Serve with a smile, and a quiet Ta Da!
by TheLastWonton | Dec 30, 2021 | Appetizers & Snacks, Breakfast & Brunch, Chicken & Poultry, Hawaiian, Recipes
Crispy crunchy bits, tender, spicy-sweet bites, all riddled with gutsy amounts of garlic, lazing in a sweet shoyu sauce. Island style take-out, at home.
Baby, it's cold outside!! Brrrrr! Ol' Man Winter has a wickedly cold (-20C) sense of humour this year. This year being one of the only in recent memory that we are not whiling away glorious tropical days and nights on the beguiling Big Island of Hawaii. Which, I'm pretty damn sure makes it feel colder than it even is.
I miss Kona and Hawaiian-ness so very much. Needless to say, everyday, at least one sigh of yearning to be wayyyy out there on that far-away idyllic paradise of an island, slips out of me.
Our December view from our Kona vacation rental, a couple of years ago.
Our home-sweet-home December view this year.
You can take the girl out of the Islands, but you can't take the Islands out of the girl. Nosirreebob! So I threw on some happy Hawaiian tunes, starting with my fave, John Cruz belting out Island Style, like only he can.
Now we're cookin'! Or just about.
There's this great little homey, definitively Hawaiian nook of an eatery in Kona, called Broke Da Mouth Grindz. It's a funky, offbeat, neighbourhood joint that does up local style so deliciously. Thus, Broke Da Mouth, which in pidgin means 'this food is so delicious'.
They serve up rather famous Garlic Furikake Chicken, as do a few other memorable eateries in and around Kona. I'm not crazy for furikake, but I sure do like all the variations of Crispy Garlic Chicken that I've come across in the Islands. So what's a girl to do?
Time to warm up my Okanagan kitchen with tasty Aloha. That's what!
So, I took mouthwatering inspiration from Broke Da Mouth Grindz, other special tucked-away Kona eateries, one of my fave food blogs, Dinner Then Dessert and I was off and running, or should I say, off and cutting, slicing, marinating, dredging, frying and simmering.
And yippee, ended up with what is now our family favourite version of Crispy Hawaiian Garlic Chicken. I daresay tossing and splashing these hot-from-the-wok, crispy tender chicken thigh morsels with the sweet, soy-drenched, minced garlic sauce makes the flavours and textures dance do the Hula, in your mouth. Aloha!
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CRISPY HAWAIIAN GARLIC CHICKEN ~ 4-6 Servings
1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 8 medium sized thighs)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon granulated garlic
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup water
10 nice plump garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon sambal oelek, or other chile paste
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
2/3 cup flour
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Canola or corn oil, for frying
Cut chicken into 1 inch pieces. In small mixing bowl combine chicken pieces with 2 tablespoons soy sauce and granulated garlic. Mix well to evenly coat chicken pieces. Cover and refrigerate 1-6 hours. Happy chicken = Tender, tasty chicken.
Soy glaze can be made ahead and quickly reheated when chicken is fried. In a small pot combine 1/3 cup soy sauce, brown sugar, water, minced garlic, sambal and rice vinegar. Whisk well to combine and bring to a boil. Simmer 2 minutes. Turn off heat.
In a bowl combine flour, cornstarch salt and pepper and whisk, whisk. Transfer mixture to smallish paper or plastic bag. All the better to shake, shake, the chicken pieces to evenly coat.
Heat oven to 250F to keep fried chicken pieces nice and hot, while frying the rest of the chicken.
Now let's do it. In a wok or fryer, heat oil, over high heat to 350F. Coat chicken pieces with flour mixture. Cook 1/4 to 1/3 of the chicken at a time, frying in batches, about 3-4 minutes per batch. Remove and quickly drain on paper towel, then put into oven on cookie sheet with rack. Continuing frying the remaining chicken pieces.
Quickly heat soy glaze. Toss, toss, toss fried chicken pieces in the sauce, sauce, sauce. Serve up Island style with sticky rice and macaroni salad. That's Aloha!
