Recipe-Schmecipe

 I always envy my friend, J, who meticulously measures and writes down what she does when she cooks.  (Except when it comes to her famous sauce, because you can't write down Gramma's secrets and live.)  To me, it has always seemed tedious.  So I dabble in the kitchen sort of like some dabble in painting.  It's like art.  How do you ask the artist exactly what tones of paint he used when he probably mixed a dozen times before it was just right?  

So when someone asks me for a recipe, I invariably end up flaking out and not giving it to them.  It's not because I'm stingy or secretive.  I just can't explain it in regular terms.  "Oh, you know, I threw in about a half a handful of this and a smidgen of that."  More often than not, I simply can't remember what I all I put in - not to mention actually /shudder/ measuring.

Recently, I made a wonderful soup that even Mr. Pickypants himself ate with great gusto. Of course I adapted it from somewhere, but I can't remember where...  A couple of friends asked me for the recipe.  My sister-in-law, who (I think) cooks in much the same way laughed at their requests.  She knows my plight.  Luckily for the friends, i HAD written this one down, sort of.  Call it a fluke.  Be warned that it might not be exact.  But the soup was yummy!

Chicken-Pumpkin Soup

INGREDIENTS:

3 boneless skinless chicken breasts halves, cut into 1 inch cubes

1 red onion, diced

3 cloves of fresh garlic, minced

1 TBS minced fresh ginger 

1/2 to 3/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (Here's where the heat comes in so adjust as you wish)

1 tsp curry powder

2 stalks celery, diced

2 carrots, diced

1 cup pumpkin (canned)

2 cups cooked, pureed butternut squash

1 cup frozen mango, pureed

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

6 cups chicken broth

1 chicken bullion cube

1 cup coconut milk (you can use regular milk if you’re a sissy or don’t like coconut)

2 TBS cornstarch, flour, or arrowroot powder

!/4 cup pepitas (Trader Joes) or use toasted pine nuts

French’s Fried Onions

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat 1 TBS of oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add chicken and cook , stirring occasionally, about 3 mins. Add onion, garlic, ginger and red pepper flakes; Cook 1 or 2 minutes longer or until mixture is fragrant. Remove from heat.

2. Place the chicken mixture in a Crock Pot. Add bullion, celery, carrot, pumpkin, squash, mango, peanut butter, and broth; stir to combine. Cover and cook on LOW 8 hours or on HIGH 4 hours.

3. Mix coconut milk and cornstarch together in small mixing bowl. Stir mixture into soup. If soup was cooked on the LOW setting, turn setting to HIGH. Simmer, uncovered 10 minutes or until soup thickens.  Serve topped with pepitas and French’s Fried onions. 

P.S. For the pepitas:  toss with one egg white, 2 Tbs brown sugar, a dash of cayenne, and about a pinch of cinnamon.  Put them on a baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray and bake for about 20 minutes at 350. 

If you want, serve with some gingered french bread.  Here's the recipe in BON form:  (Nope.  I can't give it to you any other way - -I've never written it down.  Sorry)

1 cup warm water

1 and 1/2 TBS yeast

3 TBS sugar

1 and 1/2 tsp ginger

Mix those together until the yeast explodes.  Then add:

some olive oil (probably 2-3 TBS)

enough flour to form a soft, knead-able non-sticky dough  (3-4 cups, maybe?)

Let rise 15 minutes.  Shape into loaves and let rise another 30 minutes.  Bake at 375 about 20 minutes.