Seafood Chowder

by almost_rosey // 28Dec2015 // No Comments

The ice is late this year. Normally I would already be ice fishing. My guy, who is an ice fishing guide, has not really been working due to el nino. This warm weather is also not so great for our small town here in Almost Canada. Our town makes it’s livelihood on tourists and fishing. With the absence of ice, there is an absence of fishermen. The ice is coming, slowly but surely. It’s just about here. Soon our sleepy little town will be alive with fishermen once again. In the meantime, my guide took me ice fishing on a lake that is shallow enough to freeze. It was slow at first but then it was hot & heavy for about 30 minutes and we ended up catching our limit which is great cause we haven’t had walleye in a little while. I have to get creative with walleye. You can only eat fried fish so often. I decided to make a seafood chowder using our freshly caught walleye and it was superb.

Seafood Chowder (serves 4)

1 yellow onion, diced
1 cup diced carrots
2 potatoes, diced
1/8 tsp each cayenne, paprika, garlic & onion powder
1/4tsp salt plus more to taste
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp oregano
black pepper to taste
8 oz clam juice
8 oz milk
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 lb Walleye, cut into bite sized pieces (perhaps 3-4 average walleye, I had one vacuumed sealed pack)
Shrimp, peeled & deveined (I used about 15 medium shrimp)
small amount of olive oil

Heat a small amount of olive oil in a large stock pot. Add onion and cook until translucent, about 5-10 minutes. Add potatoes & carrots and continue to cook until potatoes begin to become softened, about 10 minutes.
Add clam juice and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, & simmer for about 20 minutes until vegetables are tender. Add the milk, cream of mushroom, and seasonings. Add water to thin if necessary (1/4-1/2 cup at most). Bring to a boil while stirring. Reduce heat to a simmer. Add the walleye and cook for 6-8 minutes. Add the shrimp and cook for 2 minutes more. Serve with french bread & enjoy.

Wild Turkey Chowder

by almost_rosey // 27Dec2015 // No Comments

This year I shot my first turkey. I made thai turkey noodles for my first dish and have kept the rest in the freezer. As I am participating in a thing called the 12 Soups of Christmas I decided to use up my turkey breasts and make a chowder. Delicious.

Wild Turkey Chowder (serves 3)

1 yellow onion, diced
1 cup diced carrots
2 potatoes, diced
1/8 tsp each garlic & onion powder
1/4tsp salt plus more to taste
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp oregano
black pepper to taste
12 oz vegetable broth
12 oz milk
2 tbsp flour
8oz wild turkey breast, silver skin removed, cut into 1in pieces seasoned with small amount of salt, pepper, onion, & garlic powder
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp shaky parmesan

Heat butter in large stock pot. Brown turkey on all sides, remove, & set aside. Add onion, potatoes, & carrots and cook until potatoes begin to become softened, about 10 minutes. Add turkey back to pot. Add vegetable stock & seasonings and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, & simmer for about 20 minutes until vegetables are tender. Add the milk to the flour to create a slurry & then add to the pot. Bring to a boil while stirring. Reduce heat to a simmer for about 15 minutes or until thickened to desired consistency. Serve with bread & enjoy.

Squirrel Chili

by almost_rosey // 5Nov2014 // No Comments

Who doesn’t love chili this time of year? It is the perfect food to come home to from October to March. At least in the mid-west this is true. Not many people want to eat a hot, steaming bowl of chili in July or August, but once the temperature changes, the menu changes. Chili is one of those items on the menu in my household this time of year. My guy, who happens to be a hunter, shot a squirrel in our yard with his bow. Since it was only one squirrel, I decided to make a squirrel & chicken chili. Simple, but delicious.

Squirrel Chili (serves 2)

1 squirrel, skinned, cleaned, & cut into bite-size pieces ( brined for 2-4 hrs)
- Brine Ingredients (4 cups water, 1/4 cup salt, 1-2 tbsp sugar, dash or two each chili flakes, oregano, & pepper)
1 cup cooked chicken, shredded or cubed (if you have 2 squirrels you can omit the chicken)
2 pieces cooked bacon, crumbled
2-3 tomatoes diced
1 onion, chopped
1 can chili beans, undrained
1/2 cup chunky salsa
chili seasoning (1-2 tsp store bought or your favorite blend. I used a combo of chile powder, paprika, cumin, garlic & onion powder, salt & pepper, oregano, & cayenne).
olive oil (to coat two skillets)

Combine the brining ingredients in a medium bowl. Add the squirrel & keep in the fridge for 2-4 hrs. Once brined, drain the squirrel but do not rinse. In a small skillet heat a small amount of olive oil over medium high heat. Brown the squirrel and place in a crockpot

Saute a chopped onion in another skillet for 5-10 minutes until softened. Add this to the crockpot with all the other ingredients. Stir to combine. Heat on low for 6-8 hrs (this can also be made on the stove in a heavy duty pot or dutch oven on simmer for 2-4hrs). Serve with cheddar cheese & sour cream if desired.

Getting Creative with Walleye

by almost_rosey // 29Jan2014 // 1 Comment

A few weeks ago my fishing guide took me out ice fishing. Let me explain how wonderful this is…

We get up and get ready and leave on snowmobiles from the house. We cross the street to reach a ditch and drive for a very short distance to a park with access for us to get on the river/lake. We continue to drive until we find a suitable place to fish and move if necessary. We fish and then drive home. It’s amazing if you ice fish.

We went out fishing and stopped at a point but there were no fish to be found. We moved to another spot a smidge over 5 miles away where my fishing guide was sure there would be fish. The water was a bit too shallow so we moved just a few feet away to where it was deeper. That’s when the action started. It was slow at first but around lunch time the bites were constant and they were all nicely sized fish. We ended up coming home with one shy of our limit but added a perch in there as well to make up for it. I caught the biggest walleye of my life so far…a solid 18 inches.

Now what to do with all these fish…

Of course for lunch the next day we fried them up in beer batter. A method of eating fish that is always delicious. In the past I have made fish in a bag or en papillote where I got the recipe from Emiglia. I always add onions to the bag when I make this & use olive oil instead as I have that readily available.

Cabillaud en Papillote

I decided to look to her again for guidance as I have never really cooked fish. Almost 30 and never cooked fish. Well now I need to start. I need to get creative as I have lots of walleye and will continue to have lots of walleye to work with. I decided to make blackened walleye. There are no pictures as it was too delicious and I forgot to take them. My fishing guide who has been eating fish his whole life said it was the best walleye he ever had. I messed up and used 1tsp oregano instead of 1/4 but it didn’t matter. The fish was so flavorful! I also served it with rice & sautéed onions and roasted broccoli. The sauce was divine on the rice & onions.

Blackened Fish

As I had just finished a 12 Soups of Christmas challenge I thought I should attempt a seafood chowder. I used my freshly caught walleye & shrimp that I had in the freezer. I did not have fish stock or clam juice so the next time I make it I would replace the water with one of those items.

Seafood Chowder

1/4lb bacon
1 yellow onion, chopped
3 small to medium carrots, peeled & chopped
2 potatoes, diced
1/4tsp cayenne
1/4tsp salt
1tsp thyme
black pepper to taste
16-24oz water
10-12 oz milk
1 can cream of mushroom soup (feel free to use cream of potato or another cream based soup)
Walleye, cut into bite sized pieces (perhaps 4 average walleye, I had one vacuumed sealed pack)
Shrimp, peeled & deveined (I used about 12-15 medium shrimp)

Cook bacon in large pot until crispy. Remove and set aside. Add onion & carrots to bacon grease and cook until translucent, about 5-10 minutes. Add potatoes and continue to cook until potatoes begin to become softened, about 10 minutes.

Add water and simmer for 20-30 minutes until vegetables are tender. Add more water as needed.

Add the milk while stirring and add the cream of mushroom soup & seasonings. Stir until combined and allow to come back to a simmer. Add the fish and cook for 8minutes. Add the shrimp and cook for 2 minutes more. Crumble the bacon and add to the soup. Serve with French bread or garlic toast.

Now that I have cooked walleye in a few different ways I am very excited to continue to come up with recipes. I’ve discovered that walleye doesn’t have to be just a beer battered fish and if you get a little creative it can be used in many new & interesting preparations. Stay tuned.

The 12 Soups of Christmas

by almost_rosey // 9Jan2014 // 3 Comments

I worked briefly at a company in Plymouth, MN and met a wonderful person who helped me see the light & believe in my skills as a chemist. Prior to working there I had a position as a chemist for a different company. Towards the end I dreaded going to work. I would wake up feeling sick every morning and there was nothing to be done to help my career at this company. The company was great, but without going into details, let us just say that it was not a good fit. I started to actually believe I could not do chemistry and that I had made a grave mistake going into this line of work. The lady with the magic wand at my temporary position made that change. She made me realize that I did love my field of work and that I was good at what I do. Although I ended up leaving that position to go to a different company in a dream location – Almost Canada. I won’t ever forget her inspiration. This lady also told me about the 12 Soups of Christmas. I remember thinking that it was a cool idea. I had to ask again what it was…

About seven years ago I had the idea to make soup for 12 days in a row. I was really into soup and I had just gotten a really good soup cookbook from half price books. I did not succeed my first year, or any year after that. But, every year, I make an effort to make twelve soups between black friday and epiphany. I usually peter out around new years. I think I average about 7-8 soups.

Well, she made a group called the 12 Soups of Christmas (which later changed to the 12 Soups, Stews, & Chilies of Christmas) and invited me. I love soup. I love soup in the winter. To have a reason to make more soup just makes plain sense. So I embarked on a soup journey.

My 1st Soup was a Leftover Veggie Soup. I just used what I had in my pantry/fridge to make it (veggie stock, kidney beans, cabbage, carrots, onion, green pepper, & crushed tomatoes). It was simple, yummy, and no food got wasted.

My 2nd Soup was a Light Broccoli Cheese Soup. I have never made broccoli cheese but didn’t want to deal with the calories & fat so I looked for a lightened up version. My Recipes/Cooking Light helped me out. It was yummy (not the same as the original version) but one I could make anytime without guilt. Broccoli Cheese Soup

My 3rd Soup was a Light Potato Soup. I had the same line of thought as I did for the broccoli. Cooking light came to the rescue again with a recipe that uses cauliflower with the potatoes. No one will be able to tell this is a light soup. The cauliflower blends in so well. Creamy Light Potato Soup

My 4th Soup was French Onion. Again, a soup I had never made. For the recipe I looked to my friend who resides in France and of course she had one for me. Everyone, MAKE THIS SOUP. I will not order French onion again – at least from a restaurant in the U.S. French Onion Soup

My 5th Soup was a Chicken & Summer Squash Corn Chowder. I had a few issues due to the fact that the food processor I was using did not have all the attachments so I will write it with how it should be made but with notes for how I made it.

Sautee 1 chopped summer squash in small amt of olive oil in pot until tender.
Add 1/2 C chopped green onions with salt, pepper, and thyme to taste.
Puree one can corn with 1 C milk (this is where I failed and it would not puree cause I didn’t have appropriate blades). Add another 1C milk & blend till combined. Pour onto veggies in pot.
Add 1.5-2C chopped cooked chicken (I used leftover rotisserie chicken).
Add another can corn if your puree worked. If it didn’t…Skip this step and add potato flakes until soup reaches desired consistency. Serves 3

For my 6th Soup I thought about making a tomato soup but then thought of an old soup recipe which I love. It is from my pumpkin & squash cookbook and is roasted squash, tomatoes, onions, garlic, red pepper, and various seasonings. So I decided that I would make Roasted Tomato & Red Pepper Soup to stick closer to the tomato soup aspect but so that it would be embellished a bit for grilled cheese as I had leftover baguette to be used as well. Soup 6: Roasted Tomato & Red Pepper Soup

2.5lbs tomatoes
2 red peppers
1 onion
5 cloves garlic
2C chicken stock
bay leaf
salt & pepper & basil to taste

Preheat oven to 400 & Lightly oil a baking sheet.
Cut off tops off tomatoes. Cut tomatoes in half. Cut red pepper into 4 pieces. Slice onions into rings. Peel garlic cloves.
Place all onto a lightly oiled baking sheet & drizzle liberally with more olive oil. Roast for 20-25minutes.

Place vegetables into a pot and add 2C chicken stock, a bay leaf, & salt, pepper, & basil to taste.
Bring to a boil & then simmer for 15-20 minutes. Remove the bay leaf.
Puree with an immersion blender or a food processor. Enjoy with grilled cheese or with baguette slices with melty gouda.

Since it is winter I decided to make a squash soup. Soup 7: Butternut Squash Soup

1 butternut squash
1C chicken stock
3/4can evaporated milk
2-3 sprigs thyme

Cut butternut in quarters, remove seeds, and coat all surfaces with olive oil. Place cut side down on a baking sheet and roast for 45-60minutes at 375.
Remove pulp from skins and place in food processor with chicken stock & evaporated milk. Blend till combined.
Place mixture into pot and heat until desired temperature with thyme. Remove thyme and enjoy. Serves 1 hearty portion or 2 lunch/starter portions.

For Soup number 8 I made a soup I recently posted about, Carrot Soup, as I had just received some more garden carrots from a co-worker. Serve with an over-easy fried egg on top and try it for breakfast. It is a great way to get vegetables into your diet right away in the morning.

For Soup 9 I made Cream of Chicken with Wild Rice. I have never made this soup & was not even going to try to make it healthy. I did use a slow cooker to help me out as I went fishing on this day, so all I had to do was come home and add some rice & cream and let cook a bit longer. In a crockpot add…

1 chopped onion
3-4 chopped carrots
1 can cream of chicken
1 can cream of mushroom
1 C water
1 lb chicken cubed
1 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp each thyme, basil, & pepper
1/8 tsp each garlic powder & onion powder.

Cook on low for 7 hrs and add 1-2C cooked wild rice (use amount you prefer). Add 1C half & half with 1-2 tbsp flour and cook on high for 30 minutes to thicken.

For Christmas I had duck for dinner. I decided to use the leftovers to make duck noodle soup. Soup 10: Duck Noodle Soup

Boil a duck carcass from leftover duck dinner for 45-60 minutes to make a duck stock and loosen all the leftover meat. Remove carcass and let cool slightly to pull meat off. Set meat aside.
Sautee 1 chopped onion, 1 stick chopped celery, & 3-4 chopped carrots for 10-20 minutes until slightly softened.
Add veggies to stock with 1 bay leaf, 1tsp oregano, basil & thyme to taste, 1/4 tsp each black pepper & salt.
Bring to a boil and then let simmer until vegetables are tender. Add the meat back to the pot while you cook 3-4C wide egg noodles. Add the noodles to the pot and enjoy a very flavorful soup

As I approached the end of my soups to make, I had no idea what to choose. I had been choosing soups I had never made before so wanted to keep along that theme. There are so many soups to choose from! I decided to make Stracciatella Soup. I had never made it and loved. It is like Italian egg drop soup. The plus side, it takes about 10 minutes to make!

Soup 11: Stracciatella Soup (Recipe courtesy Giada de Laurentiis)

For my last soup I decided to make one of my favorite soups which is lentil soup. I had plenty of dried lentils and bacon that needed to be used as well so it was a win for my pantry & fridge. Soup 12: Bacon Lentil Soup In a large pot…

Cook 4 slices of bacon until very crispy. Remove and set aside.
Sautee 2 chopped carrots, 1 large chopped onion, 2 chopped cloves of garlic in bacon grease until slightly tender (5-10minutes).
Add 1/2lb dried lentils, 3-4C chicken stock, and 1C water.
Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer until lentils are tender & soup is thick (about 90minutes).
Top with bacon. Serves 4

I did accomplish the 12 Soups of Christmas (I stayed pure to the original – No stews or chilies) before January 6th which was the deadline. It was a simple yet fun cooking challenge. I find that cooking or baking challenges give me an extra boost of motivation. I also tried making many new soups which is a win as well. There are many more soups to be conquered out there so I will continue to do this every year and hopefully come up with a list of favorite soups.

And if you are wondering, the lady who invented this group also accomplished the 12 soups.

Wild Duck Stew

by almost_rosey // 18Oct2013 // No Comments

It is rare that I cook the protein or meat for meals. I have always been the vegetable or side dish girl. Sure I can cook chicken breasts, roast a whole chicken, make meatloaf, hamburgers, etc, but I never cook anything of substance. I make casseroles & I use my slow cooker a lot. I live in the mid-west, I have a long commute, enough said. Needless to say, I have also never cooked wild game. Yes I grew up in the mid-west, but until recently I never was exposed to it. As fate would have it, I ended up with a hunter.

He brought home some wild duck and I decided that I would try to cook it. I love duck, but I have never had wild duck. My hunter does not even like it very much. He says it is too gamey and bloody, which is what many people say. I decided that I would look to various recipes for wild duck and thought of a blog I follow (Food for Hunters) as surely they would have some recipes for this wild game. They had a few recipes and I decided to adapt one of them to my own needs.

Wild Duck Stew (Adapted from: Apricot Wild Duck with Swiss Chard & Goat Cheese Polenta )

2 to 3 wild duck breasts (depending on the size of the duck), skinned & cubed
salt and pepper
1/2 C of all-purpose flour
1-2 tbsp olive oil
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
1/4 C whiskey (or water)
1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, minced
1 C red wine (make sure it is drinkable so you can it enjoy with dinner)
3 C vegetable stock
1/3 C good honey
2 tsp dried thyme
2 sweet potatoes

Heat a large dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil. Salt and pepper the wild duck and coat in flour. Shake off excess flour and cook in the dutch oven until browned on all sides. Remove duck and set aside.

Reduce heat down to medium and add the carrots. Cook until slightly tender, about 5-10 minutes. Turn off the heat and allow to cool slightly. Add the whiskey, or water, and turn heat back on. Allow liquid to evaporate with slight stirring.

Add the duck back to the pan, the adobo pepper, the wine, the vegetable stock and slightly stir. Add the honey while stirring so it does not settle to the bottom of the pan. Add the dried thyme and additional pepper to taste. Allow the mixture to come to a boil for 3-5 minutes.

Place cover on and put into a preheated 350F oven and bake for 2.5 hours or until tender. Remove from oven and place on stovetop. Remove cover and reduce liquid to desired consistency (about 10-15minutes).

Approximately 45 minutes before stew is finished, start to boil water for the sweet potatoes. Boil potatoes for 30 minutes. Remove skin and mash. Serve duck stew over potatoes and enjoy wild duck.

Feeling Almost Rosey

Put Those Glasses On

stew