Rainy Day Kitchen Adventures

It was a cold and rainy day. I decided to combat the gloominess with some kitchen adventures.

First up was scones.  I had never made scones before (they seemed complicated for some reason), but I discovered a Martha Stewart recipe that seemed pretty straightforward and I was feeling ready to try it.  The recipe called for some sort of dried fruit (cranberries!) that I didn’t have, but I did have just a bit of candied ginger in the cupboard that seemed ready to meet its destiny.

I discovered the great things about making scones: 1) you don’t wind up with a huge batch of something (at least not with this recipe); and 2) there isn’t a bunch of rolling out, cookie cutter nonsense, you just flatten the dough into a round-ish blob and cut it into wedges.

• 

• 

I’m going to guess that the thing that makes scones so scrumptious is that they are made with half-and-half. Probably most important is brushing the tops with half-and-half and sprinkling them with sugar before baking.

After I had munched a warm scone (or two), I was ready to move on to something a bit more savory.  Of course, cold and rainy day kitchen adventures wouldn’t be complete without soup!

Mr. Man had made chicken tacos the night before and there was enough leftover chicken for a week’s worth of tacos. Or … chicken tortilla soup!

For the soup, I strictly adhered to the just throw a bunch of stuff in the crockpot and let it cook for as long as possible technique.

First, I chopped an onion, some celery, and carrots.  Those went in the crockpot with the box of chicken broth and can of diced green chilis.

• 

After a couple of hours, I went to check on my veggies and started to get nervous.  I started to question why I wouldn’t have sautéed them up in a pan before throwing them in the crockpot?  What was I going to do now?  Those onions did not look like they were anywhere near melting into the broth the way that I wanted them to.  Oh well, at least I had another solid 5-6 hours for this to hang out in the crockpot.  Better keep it on high. 

I did go ahead and throw the chicken in at this point as if the pre-cooked chicken would set an example for the vegetables of what they should inspire to be. Because the chicken was already very seasoned, I didn’t really worry about adding any spices.

A few hours later I checked on it again.  Maybe it was starting to try to come together?  The carrots weren’t crunchy anymore so that must be progress.  At this point I tore up about six corn tortillas and added them to the crock to dissolve.

I just love the way that a few corn tortillas can add so much body to a really simple soup. They not only thicken the broth but add a dimension of flavor and subtle sweetness. Its one of those great uses for stale bread kind of kitchen tricks.

• 

After all day, we had soup!  I served it with some homemade taco chips (oven-baked of course) a sprinkle of cheese, a bit of diced avocado, and a squeeze of fresh lime juice.  Mr. Man approved.