How to beat stress through cooking. . .

So, when I'm really stressed out, I find that I cook a lot more. In fact, right now, I have a pot of stuffed pepper soup simmering on the stove, and a from scratch blueberry pie in the oven. Sad thing is, the kids are at their dad's this weekend so I'm by my lonesome with all this food.

While I'm a cookbook junkie, I am running out of things to cook. (Thank God I like yoga, and a good run or I'd be big as a house between this month and last.) So gimme, people! Good recipes? Anyone?

I'll post the recipes for the two items above later if you like.


Mine isn't quite as big as this Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen version.

Stuffed pepper soup sounds delicious. I'd like to have the recipe. I enjoy cookbooks but rarely use them.

Ooh, I'd like the recipes, please!

Any particular types of recipes you'd like to see, or will anything do?

I'd like to stuff your peppers too er your stuffed pepper soup.

I like to cook on occasion, I'm more of a make it up as you go guy and I hate having people hovering over my shoulder watching. If I had a bigger/better kitchen I'd probably cook more.

I'm a cookbook junkie too.

Some people knit or build ships in bottles, i copy recipes by hand into notebooks.

As long as you don't beat stress by eating...

Stuffed Pepper Soup

1 lb ground beef
1/2 green pepper, chopped
1/2 red pepper, chopped
1 cup sweet onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
15 ounces tomato sauce
14 ounces beef broth or tomato based vegetable juice (V8)
1 tsp dried Italian herbs or twice as much fresh herbs of your choice
salt and pepper
1 cup cooked rice

Brown the beef and drain. Throw in the onions, garlic, and peppers, and fry until translucent. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer 30 to 45 minutes. (If you like it a bit thicker, you can toss the rice in without cooking it.)

Thanks for posting that recipe.

Eilan said:

Ooh, I'd like the recipes, please!

Any particular types of recipes you'd like to see, or will anything do?

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I'm open to just about anything when it comes to recipes.

Quoll said:

I'd like to stuff your peppers too er your stuffed pepper soup.

I like to cook on occasion, I'm more of a make it up as you go guy and I hate having people hovering over my shoulder watching. If I had a bigger/better kitchen I'd probably cook more.

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When I worked in the bakery, the owner's mother had this obnoxious habit of coming over to your table when you went to get something, stirring your bowl and then tsking. I threatened to throw her in the Hobart.

rosco rathbone said:

I'm a cookbook junkie too.

Some people knit or build ships in bottles, i copy recipes by hand into notebooks.

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I've been doing that since I was about 6. I've been reading Bon Appetit since I was 4--my mom thought it was cute. When I moved last, I got rid of half my collection. I'm down to about 700 now. . .

DarkBee said:

As long as you don't beat stress by eating...

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I don't. My work friends all gained about 25 pounds when I was going through the separation with my husband. I lost 15. When I'm really freakin out, I don't eat at all. I just swig coffee and suck down Rolaids.

Eilan said:

Thanks for posting that recipe.

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My pleasure. Hope you like it.

Ooooh boy, Quili...

I have cook books abounding in my house. I'm running out of space. I'm going to love this thread. I love cooking, and sometimes I do cook to relieve stress. I cook a lot and take it into work for everyone!

I've been digging a simple chicken marinade lately. I haven't used specific amounts, just go with your tastes. I've actually been nixing the honey because I don't have any at the moment.

fresh ginger root, grated
extra virgin olive oil
a lime, cut in sections and squeezed
honey

Coat some boneless skinless chicken breasts or tenderloins with it and let it sit in the fridge for about an hour, but not much longer.

I've been frying the chicken up in some olive oil, removing to a side dish, then adding some chopped garlic and more grated or sliced ginger to the oil. Dump in a chopped tomato and some chopped mushrooms and let it cook for a few (I squeeze a little more lime into the veggies, cause I'm a citrus freak). Add the chicken back in for a few minutes, then serve over white rice, or whatever suits your fancy. It's yummy.

Snagged this one off NPR.org a while back but have yet to try it. Is that bad etiquette when sharing a recipe? Hmm. It sounds good to me though...


Chocolate Pear Pudding Cake


Ingredients

2 cans (14 ounces each) pear halves in juice
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
10 tablespoons (1 ¼ sticks) softened butter, plus more for greasing
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly grease an 8 1/2-inch square ovenproof dish with butter.
2. Drain the pears and arrange them in the dish.
3. Combine the remaining ingredients in a food processor and blitz till you have a batter with a soft dropping consistency.
4. Spread the batter over the pears. Bake for 30 minutes.
5. Let stand for 5 or 10 minutes before slicing. (I cut 2 down and 2 across to make 9 slices.) Serve with chocolate sauce.

Serves 6 to 9.


This is a cross between pears Belle Helene and Eve's pudding, but that's an irrelevance, really. The only important thing to remember is that this is easy, quick and very comforting — and it seems to please absolutely everyone.

For hot days when baked cake and sauce seems inappropriate, bear in mind that canned (or jarred) pears and chocolate sauce — with or without vanilla ice cream — make a lovely dessert on their own.

You can make the chocolate sauce or buy one, obviously. I have a pantry standby I make by heating together ¾ cup evaporated milk, ½ teaspoon instant espresso powder, ½ cup dark corn syrup and 3 ½ ounces semisweet chocolate.

The cake itself does make a little bit of its own sauce, so if you don't want to make some separately, just serve with chocolate ice cream.

As with most baking, you want all ingredients at room temperature before you start.

For those of you who have bread machines, and/or, like me, are too lazy to make bread by hand, here's a really good recipe. I found it on allrecipes.com when I was looking for bread machine recipes. My oldest daughter is ultra-picky, and she loves it!

Jo's Rosemary Bread (Makes a 1 1/2 lb loaf)

1 cup water
3 tablespoons olive oil*
1 1/2 teaspoons white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon dried rosemary**
2 1/2 cups bread flour***
1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

Place ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select white bread cycle; press Start.

* I prefer to use light-tasting olive oil.
** After reading some of the comments and noticing that a lot of people who made this bread found 1 tbsp of rosemary to be a bit much, I decided to use 2 tsp instead.
*** I use 1 1/4 c whole-wheat flour and 1 1/4 c bread flour on my machine's Basic setting. The bread is slightly denser that way, but still very good. It's also fine if you follow the recipe as written.

JustSkye said:

Ooooh boy, Quili...

I have cook books abounding in my house. I'm running out of space. I'm going to love this thread. I love cooking, and sometimes I do cook to relieve stress. I cook a lot and take it into work for everyone!

Click to expand...

I told you you'd like it.


Quoll's what the hell are we going to have for tea Chicken and Sweet Corn soup.

Left over chicken (or fresh), diced and browned in pan with onions and garlic, bacon is ok too.

In large saucepan or boiler add either two or three cups water or half stock (whatever you have) and half water, add to this two cans of creamed corn and one can of corn kernels (I have tried it with baby corn as well but they were rather bitter and unpleasant).
I packet of two minute noodles (crushed or whole) plus flavour sachet.
Bring to a light boil, add salt and pepper, taste. Add one or two packs of instant/cup-a-soup if needed. You can either add the chicken and other stuff just before serving, or add it and boil until the chicken falls apart.

It's not exactly rocket science but it tastes good and the kids come back for seconds.

so far

Everything sounds yummy. Can't wait to make the rosemary bread (have a huge rosemary plant outside), and the soup for dinner today. Been in a soup making mood lately.

In honor of my youngest who is away at camp (and I'm obsessing over whether she is having a good time), here is Em&m's favorite dinner.

Dijon Chicken Emma (serves 4)

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, flattened a little bit
1/3 cup mayonaisse
3 Tbsp fresh grated parmesan
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
dash of salt and pepper

Preheat broiler to low. Mix all the ingredients except the chicken. (duh, I know). With the rough sides up, spread half the Dijon mixture on the breasts. Broil for 6 minutes. Flip the breasts and spread with the remaining mixture. Broil an additional 6 minutes.

I like that one since it sounds sort of dirty. We always serve this with rice when we need to get dinner on the table in 15 min or less. You just cheat and get minute rice going while you are broiling your breasts.

I love good food but I'm not a food snob!

This may seem a little pedestrian but I made it for a friend going through a really tough time (financially driven tough time of course) and she really isn't a very adventurous eater. She loves going to the Olive Garden for soup, salad and breasticks but has had to cut it out of her budget. She was so thrilled when I made her this soup and IMO, it tastes pretty close to the one you get at the restaurant.

Olive Garden's Pasta E Fagioli Soup Recipe


Another really good Copycat recipe! Serve with Salad and Hot Italian Bread or Bread Sticks, and offer grated Parmesan at the table.
by DiB's

1½ hours | 15 min prep

SERVES 8

* 1 lb ground beef
* 1 cup diced onion
* 1 cup julienned carrot
* 3 stalks celery, chopped (1 cup)
* 2 garlic cloves, minced
* 2 (14 1/2 ounce) cans diced tomatoes
* 1 (15 ounce) can red kidney beans (with liquid)
* 1 (15 ounce) can great northern beans (with liquid)
* 1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
* 1 (12 ounce) can v-8 vegetable juice
* 1 teaspoon vinegar
* 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
* 1 teaspoon oregano
* 1 teaspoon basil
* 1/2 teaspoon pepper
* 1/2 teaspoon thyme
* 1/2 lb ditali pasta

1. Brown beef in a large stock pot over medium heat-drain off fat.
2. Add onion, carrot, celery and garlic and saute for 10 minutes.
3. Add remaining ingredients, except pasta, and simmer for 1 hour.
4. After 50 minutes boil pasta to al dente.
5. Drain well.
6. Add pasta to the large pot of soup and simmer for 10 minutes.

A while ago I was in a cooking course. I hear your frustrations on being watched over, Quoll and Saucyminx; while I was busy jamming a metric fuck-ton of chocolate chunks, chopped nuts, and quartered caramels (the delicious little cubes of caramel that are individually wrapped in plastic), this jackass walks up behind me and tries to jam his hand in the bowl.

"If you touch that batter you'll die."
"Oh. Has raw eggs in it?"
"No. I'll just kill you."

Finally got some space. In retrospect I wish I hadn't taken that course, didn't learn anything new so it wasn't worth the money, but it was nice getting credit for something I enjoy.

Same course wanted me to make a cake. They kept talking about a pound cake, but never explicitly told me to bake them a pound cake, so I made this instead. Let's see... no flour, no leavening agent aside from the eggs, and ridiculously tasty. I think I demonstrated my capability there, and baking is my weak area. Recipe:

Orange Almond Cake.
6x eggs, separated
3/4 cup sugar
Zest of 3 oranges
1 1/2 cups almonds, ground

If you can make a simple syrup and add a glug of Gran Marnier (an orange liquer) you're good to go for the rest of this. Directions follow.

Heat the oven to 350°F/180°C. Grease and line the cake tin.

Separate the eggs into two bowls. Beat the yolks with the sugar and zests, then stir in the almonds. Beat the whites to peaks. Stir a spoonful into the yolk mixture, then fold in the rest, gently. Pour the batter into the pan and bake until set, about 45 minutes. Let cool slightly, then unmould onto a serving platter - at this point I like to soak it in the syrup, but if you wait for it to cool a bit and then hit it with the syrup it ends up a touch fluffier. I prefer a slightly 'richer' cake with something of a 'melt in your mouth' texture to it.

I've been in a soup mood lately. Thanks for the recipe sugaredwalls.


The orange cake sounds wonderful. Need something for my best friend's birthday on Sunday, and may need to take that for a spin this week. Sounds like something she would love.

Minxy's dammit I'll make a Smoothie since there is no chocolate left in the house

3 big chunks fresh pineapple
2 frozen bananas
1/2 cup frozen raspberries
1/2 cup Niagra grape juice
1/2 cup orange juice
4 oz container raspberry yogurt
4 or 5 ice cubes

Throw it all in a blender and blend until smooth. It makes a whole blender full so you can share if you want. (I also vary the fruit depending on what I have hanging around in the freezer, or what is starting to look a little elderly in the fridge.)

I have just about everything for that smoothie, I'll be making that tomorrow once I have a chance to drop by a store and pick up some raspberries.

I prefer to cook without slavishly measuring ingredients. I can do this when cooking because by sight, texture, smell, you get a good approximation of how something is going to turn out. Of course when baking, there's a reason you measure everything. Recently had a lovely salmon filet, decided to do something light as it was a kick ass day outside, so I seeded a tomato, diced it, shredded some fresh basil (I have a herb garden growing in window-pots), and hit it in a pan quickly with a bit of olive oil.

Do try to avoid using too much olive oil, keep in mind you're not poaching this filet, and that salmon is a oily fish. As to what constitutes too much, you'll have to use your discretion. Bake the filet scales-down on a piece of tinfoil in your oven. 325F should do it - about 160C, if I remember my conversions right. Once the fish is done you simply spoon the infused oil, basil, and tomato onto the fish. I used steamed vegetables as a side.

Oooh, thank you for posting these great recipes

Do you have anything for a soon to be three year old that looks just as good coming back up as it did going down, there's some nasty looking stuff in the bucket?

well now. . .

A fruit smoothie would look about the same. . . .do you want colorful? or were you thinking something bland that would match any decor or bucket?

This is more of an autumn recipe, I find, but it has beef and it has beer, and for me it is therefore suitable for any time, any where.

You'll need:
2 tbsp beef drippings or butter, more as needed
1 tbsp olive oil
3 pounds sirloin tip, cut into fat fingers
3 x onions, sliced
4 cloves garlic, chopped
Salt and pepper
2 tbsp flour
1 tbsp brown sugar
1-1/2 cup beef stock
2 cups beer
1 tbsp red wine vinegar

A lot of this you can do by look and what feels right to you when you're cooking. It's cooking, not baking, you can fiddle quite a bit with the recipe without ruining the dish or turning what was supposed to be a loaf into a brick.

Oil your pan and melt the butter; brown the beef strips on all sides. You'll probably have to work in batches to achieve this. In the same pan, fry your onions until soft (usually takes ~15 minutes) and then add the garlic and remove from the heat; check the level of fat in the pan. If the onions and garlic have absorbed all of it, add a tablespoon of butter. You'll need it.

Add the flour and sugar to the pan and cook for a minute - stirring - to make a roux. Gradually whisk in your stock and bring the heat up, the contents of the pan will boil. This is a good time to get your oven preheated to 160C/325F, add the beer and vinegar to the boiling stock, and lower the heat to simmer. This'll take ten minutes to thicken, then remove it from the heat again.

In a large casserole dish, layer the onion mixture alternately with the beef strips, seasoning each layer with salt and pepper as you build it. Tuck in the bouquet garni, pour the liquid over, cover and bake for two and one half hours. If you can wait a day before eating, cool the dish completely and let it stand for a day. This will allow the flavours to set up. The beef braises in its own juices and the garlic, onions, beer, and is so, so good.

Pure summer

I have some setting up in the freezer for tonight. YUM. Got this off the Fine Cooking website.


Lemon - Vodka Cream Pops

3 - 4 medium lemons
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/8 tsp. table salt
2 Tbs citron vodka

Using a vegetable peeler, zest 3 of the lemons in 3 - 4 inch long strips. Set the lemons aside. Combine the lemon zest, cream, milk, sugar, and salt in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer over med. heat, stirring occasionally to dissolve the sugar, about 5 min. Remove from the heat. Let steep at room temp, stirring occasionally for about 20 min. Squeeze 2/3 cup of juice from the lemons, using the 4th if necessary. Stirring constantly, pour the lemon juice into the cream in a slow stream. Stir in the vodka. Strain through a fine sieve into something easy to pour from, pressing the solids to get as much liquid as possible. Divide among 8 3-oz pop molds or wax lined paper cups. Freeze 5 -6 hours or until just barely set. Insert craft sticks and freeze until completely set, about 2 more hours. Unmold, or peel off the cups and serve.

(I've done this with orange juice and orange vodka if you are in the mood for an adult creamcicle.)