I need cooking help!!!!

[3catsn1dog]

I need some cooking help...so if possible can I pick at your brain for two things.

First...I would love love love to make Ham and bean soup but not with green beans like my step dad makes but with navy beans. Do you happen to have a recipe or advice on how to go about it. I do not want anything bland Im addicted to flavor and most times Ive had this soup its been lacking that vavavoom of ham flavor. Also what kinda ham should I get and how can I cook it? I have a really big crock pot and I could get a disposable roasting pan if I needed to do it that way.

Second question...how could I go about making fried chicken with boneless chicken breast? Ive seen a could ideas but they are all for bone in chicken...Im kinda leaning more towards the KFC type texture vs the shake n bake type.

I need cooking help...I am so hopeless with trying new things.

If you can help me thank you thank you thank you...

 

[natalie_ca]

Try using split peas. It's yummy!! You can use yellow or green split peas

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/y...ipe/index.html

 

[3catsn1dog]

Originally Posted by Natalie_ca

Try using split peas. It's yummy!! You can use yellow or green split peas

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/y...ipe/index.html

I like that suggestion. I'll have to do it in a small batch for Df. Hes the only one who likes peas aside from the dog.

 

[Winchester]

Here's a recipe that we love. It has both dried navy beans and green beans, as well as a few other things. I'll give you the recipe, then I'll you how I made it. I did not add the green beans. If you don't have a ham bone or don't feel like baking a ham, just grab a ham slice at the market and use that.

Ham and Bean Soup

3/4 cup dry navy beans
1-1/2 pounds smoked ham shank
6 cups water (I probably used four cups)
4 celery ribs, sliced
4 carrots, halved and sliced
1 large onion, chopped
1 cup fresh green beans, cut into 1-inch pieces (I didn't use any)
1-1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1-1/2 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. salt (I used about 1/2 tsp.)
1 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 tsp. dried thyme
1/4 tsp. white pepper
1/4 tsp. Liquid Smoke
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
2 cups shredded cabbage

Place beans in a Dutch oven and add water to cover by 2 inches. Bring to a boil; boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat, cover, and let stand for one hour. Drain and rinse beans, discarding liquid.

In a Dutch oven, place ham shank and water. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer for one hour. Add beans, simmer one hour longer or until meat and beans are tender. Remove from heat. Cool slightly. Remove ham shank. Cover and refrigerate the ham shank and the soup.

Remove meat from the ham bone and discard bone. Set meat aside. Remove fat from broth. Return broth with the beans and meat to pan. Add celery, carrots, onion and green beans. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for ten minutes. Add tomates and seasonings and cook for ten minutes. Add cabbage and cook 35 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Makes 7 servings.

Note: This was too much work for me on a Monday night. Besides, I didn't have a ham bone in the freezer, but I did have an 8-ounce ham slice, so I chopped that and used that instead. I didn't have to chill the ham shank or anything, which saved quite a bit of time.

I covered the beans, brought them to a boil, then turned the heat off and covered them for an hour. Then I cooked the beans for an hour to get them tender. At that point, I added all the vegetables (except for the cabbage), the tomatoes, and the seasonings. Simmered the soup for about 15 minutes or so, then added the cabbage. Simmered for another 30 minutes. Put it in containers and chilled it a while outside on the deck. Then froze some of it and put the remainder in the fridge.

Oh, I had had about 1 cup of so of canned navy beans from something I made a few days ago. I threw those beans into the soup when I added the vegetables. I didn't add any green beans.

When I first added the seasonings, Rick actually asked me what in god's name I was cooking.....we were both afraid the soup was going to be really spicy. But as it cooked, it really mellowed out. Rick liked it just the way I did it. He told me to please make it again, and not to lose the recipe!
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Here's another one....

The person who gave me this recipe (and I don't know where she got it) suggests putting 1-1/2 cups of the soup into the food processor to puree it, then adding the puree back into the soup pot to thicken the soup. It gives a thicker soup. I did that and we liked it that way. I'm sure you could mash it with a potato masher or even a fork.

Ham and Bean Soup

1 lb. dry great northern beans
8 cups water
1/2 tsp. salt
1 ham bone
1 cup finely chopped or shredded carrots
1/2 stalk chopped celery
1 cup chopped onions
1 ts.p minced garlic
1 tsp. dry mustard
2 bay leaves
2 cups chopped cooked ham
1/2 tsp. ground white or black pepper

Rinse beans. In a large pot over high heat, bring the water to a boil. Add the salt and the beans and remove from heat. Let beans soak for an hour.

Return the pot to high heat and place the ham bone, carrots, celery, onion, garlic, mustard and bay leaves in the pot. Stir and bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 60 minutes or until the beans are almost done.

Remove the ham bone, cut off any meat on the bone and add the meat to the pot. Discard ham bone. Stir in the 2 cups chopped ham and simmer for 30-40 minutes or until beans are done. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Note: This is a good soup. You might want to increase the spices a bit...more mustard, garlic, onion, another bay leaf....to suit your own tastes. And do puree the 1-1/2 cups of soup to thicken the rest of the pot. It's worth the time.

I think you could use a crock pot for this soup, as long as you cook the dried beans in the kettle....don't try to cook dried beans in your crock pot. I don't know how well that will work. I've never done it, to be honest.
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Now, I have not tried this recipe, so I can't say anything about it. We don't eat fried chicken anymore. But my GF loves it, FWIW; she's the one who gave me the recipe. Although this is more like the shake'n'bake type, I think.

Oprah’s Un-fried Fried Chicken

6 chicken drumsticks – skins removed
6 chicken breast halves – skins removed
3 ½ c ice water
1 c plain nonfat yogurt
Cooking spray (pam)

Breading:
1 c dried Italian breadcrumbs
1 c all-purpose flour
1 tbsp old bay seasoning
½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp creole seasoning
1/8 tsp fresh ground pepper
Dash cayenne pepper
½ tsp dried thyme
½ tsp dried basil
½ tsp dried oregano

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Coat a baking with 3 sprays of cooking spray. Put chicken in a large bowl of ice water. Put yogurt in a medium bowl. Set both bowls aside. Toss all breading ingredients in a large Ziploc bag. Seal & shake well to mix. Remove 2 pieces of chicken from ice water. Roll each in yogurt. Put chicken in the bag, seal and shake to coat thoroughly.

Transfer breaded chicken to prepared baking sheet. Repeat the process until all pieces are breaded. Spray the chicken lightly with the cooking spray.

Place the sheet on the bottom shelf of the oven. Bake for 1 hour. Turn pieces every 20 minutes to allow even browning. Serve hot or at room temperature.

2.2 g of fat, 185 calories, per breast
4.2 g of fat, 195 calories, per drumstick
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[3catsn1dog]

Thanks Pam.

Question though...well a couple and one is really dumb. What is a dutch oven? And if Im going to Weis for my groceries (gas points lol) can I get the kind of ham I need there? I dont know what kind my step dad gets but its flipping goooooood. Its the kind he does in a roaster thinger for Christmas dinner and I know it has a bone in it and then he uses all the leftovers for his soup. Im weird about meats and Ive gotten some ham steaks before that were more gummy than hammy. If that makes any sense. Im kind of dumb when it comes to trying new stuff because I only know what I know to cook like roast and my homemade chicken soup and 99% of it is all a guess because I tweak everything to how I like things.

I feel so dumb lol like I need a cooking for dummies book. Id like to know how in the world I dont know what a dutch oven is. LOL.

Ohhh another random question..for the beans is it better to use the dried ones or is cheating allowed since I do know that Weis has beans in a can. LOL whichever one will taste better Im fine with because I plan on taking an entire day to make this soup.

 

[Winchester]

When you get a set a cookware, the really big sauce pan (about 5 quarts or so, with a lid) is usually called a Dutch oven...well, that's what we always called it. That's the pan that you can make beef stew in, or soups, or pot roasts, and the like and then put it in the oven with the lid on and simmer for hours.

As for your ham, sometimes the store will carry ham bones. If they don't, just buy a small ham (with the bone; I think it tastes better) and bake that. Usually I'll buy a nice ham, bake it in the oven and we'll have it for dinner. Than a day or so later, I'll use the leftovers in soup or a casserole. Or I'll freeze the leftover ham in serving-size portions and then make soup later on.

But if I don't feel like dealing with a large ham, I'll look for a nice ham slice and brown it. And then I'll chop it up and use that in my soup. We really may only have baked ham twice a year....I always make a stuffed ham at Easter and then a small baked ham sometime during the fall.

If you don't have some of the spices and want to try recipes, let me know and I can help you out. I usually have a ton of different spices and I always have Liquid Smoke, too. I can give some to you. There's just no need to go out and buy something that you may only use once or twice. Let me know!

Oh, and substituting canned beans for dry is OK. Just make sure that you substitute the same amount. 3/4 cup of dried beans is NOT the same thing as 3/4 cup of canned. Beans will expand to about twice their size, depending on the bean, when they're soaked and cooked.

 

[calico2222]

A dutch oven is usually a large two handled soup pan that can be used either on the stove or in the oven. I think the main differences between a dutch oven and a regular soup pot is the material it's made of (most dutch ovens are either cast iron or heavy cast aluminum) and the way the lid fits, making it almost air tight. I have an aluminum one I inherited from my mother and I make everything from soup and spaghetti sauce to roasts and meatloaf in it. It seems like I'm always washing the dang thing!

For bean soup, a regular large soup pot should be ok. Just make sure there's enough room in case you have to add more water along the way.

If your market has a meat dept where they butcher on site you should be able to find a ham shank. Usually our market will have shanks or "soup bones" package up with the packaged ham steaks. Just make sure you get one with a good amount of meat left on it.

I don't really have a recipe for bean soup, I just kind of wing it. But I take one or two bags of beans (depending on how much I'm making) and soak them overnight. Drain and rinse them in the morning and put them and the ham bone in water until they boil. Simmer and add garlic salt, pepper, oregano, thyme, parsley, onions, a little celery and a few bay leaves (season to taste but we go a little strong on the garlic salt). Let simmer for a few hours tasting occasionally and adding more seasoning as needed. This is when you may have to add more water since the beans will absorb it.

After the beans are cooked and it's seasoned the way you like it take the bone out and let cool (or soak in a pan of cool water until you can touch it) then pick the meat off and put the meat back in the pan. Then eat!

Usually it takes pretty much all day to do it this way but it's not like you have to constantly watch it. Sorry I can't give you exact measurements on the seasoning but I just keep adding until I like it.

 

[3catsn1dog]

Thanks again. My biggest pot is not oven safe the lid has a plastic top on the handle but its a big huge pot. I use it for my spaghetti and meatballs which generally makes about 3 meals for us and I use it for my chicken noodle soup. If it fits a whole 3lb chicken in it to cook it should be good to make soup right?

I def want to bake a ham because we loooooveee ham and so do the hooligans so I know if I do that it will feed us forever and I plan on freezing some for my lazy I dont feel like cooking or driving to go out to eat days.

Im trying to branch out from my regular go to meals which is generally chicken breast cut up with bbq sauce, pork and saurkraut, roast and hot dogs and mac and cheese. LOL DF is pretty routine in what he likes but Im getting sick of the same stuff every week. Most of the ingrediants I actually have on hand even though I rarely use them.

Im gonna try the dried beans so I have less of a chance of messing it up. LOL its really 50/50 for me to either WOW myself or really hate myself for messing it up that badly. LOL and DF wonders why I hate cooking sometimes. I tried a ginger chicken recipe that sounded really really good and I followed the directions to a T...needless to say we didnt eat a real dinner that night and ended up snacking on chips and cupcakes it was that bad..Franklin woudnt even eat it and that dog eats everything.

 

[Winchester]

Yes, you can use your large kettle for soup....just not in the oven, not with that handle. If you have a universal lid (they're not expensive), you can use that and then you can put the kettle in the oven, if you want.

As for things that don't turn out quite right? I made Czechoslovakian Cabbage Soup one night and followed that recipe exactly. It was the worst stuff I ever made in my life. Nobody would eat it, Rick refused and Graham, our son, took one bite, grabbed his car keys and said, "Who wants what at McDonalds?" It took me forever to make that soup and it was awful stuff. And it's taking even longer to live that one down....to this day, they still talk about that soup and how horrible it was.

And cooking mistakes? One night, many years ago, I was making chicken soup with dumplings. My neighbor had called and I was talking on the phone and trying to put the ingredients together for the dumplings. I couldn't understand why the dumpling batter wasn't thickening, so I just kept adding more and more flour. I finally got disgusted and spooned the batter into the soup, thinking that the dumplings would thicken as they cooked. Worse soup ever. Rick put a spoonful into his mouth and got up and went to the sink, followed by Graham. (Lesson learned: Dumpling batter will not thicken if the cook is using confectioners' sugar instead of flour! Oy!) Horrible stuff. Just horrible. I think that was a McDs night, too.

And to this day, I am not allowed to cook and talk on the phone at the same time. When the phone rings and I'm cooking, Rick will answer it. And he will tell the person, "Pam can't come to the phone right now....she is cooking and she can't be trusted to cook and talk on the phone at the same time!"

 

[3catsn1dog]

Omg that's my problem I actually have a preset text I set up that says dinner bell for when df is in the garage and its time for him to come in. I have burnt many meals trying to get ahold of him to come inside. Lol

I have messed up things I make all the time once it was because I was testing and grocery shopping and bought the wrong cut of meat. Lol driest roast ever made. I also mess stuff up when people are at the house and try to talk to me I have to say that im not trying to be rude ut leave me alone till im done cuz ill get distracted. Or if the animals bother me I can mess stuff up cuz I start giving treats and talking to them lol.

I told df im definitely making ham and bean soup this weekend and now he's excited and scared. He told me not to screw it up cuz now he wants to eat it lol.

 

[nanner]

Originally Posted by Winchester

.........And to this day, I am not allowed to cook and talk on the phone at the same time. When the phone rings and I'm cooking, Rick will answer it. And he will tell the person, "Pam can't come to the phone right now....she is cooking and she can't be trusted to cook and talk on the phone at the same time!"

Okay, this made me laugh out loud this morning!!!

And now I'm really, really craving bean soup, so might make some!!

I usually buy ham hocks - boiling them with some onion and salt and pepper makes a relly good "hammy" stock. If there's not enough meat on them (which there usually isn't), I'll add cut up pieces from a ham steak.

Dang. Really hungry now.

 

[Winchester]

Originally Posted by nanner

Okay, this made me laugh out loud this morning!!!

And now I'm really, really craving bean soup, so might make some!!

I usually buy ham hocks - boiling them with some onion and salt and pepper makes a relly good "hammy" stock. If there's not enough meat on them (which there usually isn't), I'll add cut up pieces from a ham steak.

Dang. Really hungry now.

Well, it's true....I am not allowed to do both!

Ohhh, ham hocks make wonderful soup!

I'm starving right now, thanks to wanting beans soup....and it's only 10:00. My yogurt is not going to cut it for lunch today, that's for sure.