The Efx3 Recipe Collection

CHICKEN TORTILLA  SOUP

This is very tasty!

Serves 5 or more if you double the recipe

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 60 minutes

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INGREDIENTS:

2 teaspoons oil

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast

1 large onion

1/2 cup chopped celery

2 large cans chicken broth

1 cup frozen whole-kernel corn

1 tablespoons ground cumin

1 tablespoons chili powder (or a little more if you like spice!)

1 28-ounce can tomatoes chopped

2 (5.25-ounce) cans chopped green chiles

1 finely chopped seeded jalapeno pepper

sour cream

cilantro sprigs (optional

Tortilla chips

cheddar cheese

TO PREPARE:

Boil the chicken until done. When cool, slice into small cubes, or shred, depending on your preference. I like it cubed.

In medium size pan, add 2 teaspoon of oil, the onion and celery. Saute until  tender.

Add garlic and saute 2 minutes more.

Transfer to a large pot,  add the broth and remaining ingredients, including chicken.

Bring to a boil and then simmer for 45 to 60 minutes.

TO SERVE:

Place handful of tortilla chips in bottom of soup bowl. Ladle soup into  bowl. Put cheddar cheese on top along with a dollop of sour cream. Sprinkle cilantro if desired.

Stir and enjoy with some warm bread or  crackers.

This is a staple casserole around the Midwest, folks around here call it a “hot dish” I got the recipe from my Ma and I make it quite often, it’s simple to prepare and the ingredients are pretty inexpensive.

1.5 lbs of lean hamburger(I use half hamburger and half ground venison when I have it)

1 tsp garlic powder

2 tsp onion powder

dash of salt and pepper

Lawry’s seasoned salt or Famous Dave’s burger seasoning is good in it too

1lb(454g) bag of frozen mixed veggies( I use corn/carrots/peas/green beans)

1 can 10 3/4 oz(305g) cream of mushroom soup

a bit of milk(1/2 cup?)

1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

tatter-tots

Prep time: about 15 minutes

Cook time: 1 hour at 350 Fahrenheit.

1. take the ground meat and mash it flat into the bottom of a 9×13 pan, season with the spices to taste, leave a few gaps in the center so it doesn’t shrink away from the sides of the pan as much

2. dump the bag of veggies evenly over the meat.

3. mix the can of cream soup with a bit of milk so it’s easier to spread, I use about half a can(yes the same can the soup came out of) then spread the soup mixture evenly over the meat and veggies.

4. sprinkle with the shredded cheese

5. top with an even layer of Tatter Tots,  some of the under layer can show through just have them spread evenly, you can get all OCD and put them in neat lines or make a pattern if you want to

now bake it, and it will smell nummeh and you will eats it

Chocolate cake with chocolate sauce and cream

I use this basic formula whenever I’m making a sponge cake; however many eggs you use, use twice the quantity (in oz) of flour, sugar and butter (for chocolate cake, substitute around 1/4 of the flour for cocoa).  My mum taught me how to make cake and I think the most important part of the recipe is that everything is done by hand – no machines, no packet mixes. Just you and the spoon. ;p

For this recipe I’ll list the quantities you’ll need for two 6″ cake tins (6″ diameter, 1″ deep or thereabouts).

Before you start, pre-heat the oven to Gas Mark 6 / 400F / 200C, and grease both of your cake tins (use greaseproof paper – the wrapper of a stick of butter will do – scoop up a little butter or margarine and rub it over the tins so that they’re well coated).

Ingredients:

3 eggs, whisked
4 oz self-raising flour
2 oz cocoa powder (NOT hot chocolate powder!)
6 oz caster / granulated white sugar
6 oz unsalted butter or margarine at room temperature
1/4 tsp baking powder

Preparation time: 15-20 minutes
Cooking time: around 15 minutes

Method:

1) Cut the butter into cubes. In a large mixing bowl, combine the butter and sugar. Using a wooden spoon, ‘cream’ (drag the butter into the sugar with the back of the spoon) the butter and the sugar together until the mix is fluffy, light and pale. Your elbow will hurt. Your forearm will hurt. No pain, no chocolate cake.

2) Pour a little of the whisked egg into the butter/sugar mix. With a fork, beat the egg into the mix until it is thoroughly mixed and not curdled. Pour a little more of the egg in, and beat again. Continue bit by bit until all of the egg has been whisked into the butter/sugar, and the mix is smooth without any ‘lumps’. This takes a lot of vigorous beating. Your elbow will hurt. Your forearm will hurt. You might sweat like a pig-dog. Remember – no pain, no chocolate cake.

3) Balance or hold a fine mesh sieve over the bowl, and sieve the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder into the bowl. Use a metal spoon to encourage the flour/powders through the sieve. Using the sieve to introduce the dry ingredients in this way ensures that your flour and powders are fine and full of air.

4) Using the edge of a metal spoon, ‘fold’ the flour/powders into the runny mix. Do this slowly, and only with the edge of the spoon. This will take a while, but eventually the ingredients will all be mixed together evenly and you will see no ‘bubbles’ of flour. This ‘edge of a metal spoon’ technique keeps the air in your mixture, helping it to stay light and fluffy so that your cake will raise nicely.

5) Distribute the mixture evenly into your cake tins. Try not to ‘handle’ the mixture too much, but spread it lightly over the base of both tins.

6) Place both tins in the center of the oven (if you have room on one shelf; otherwise, don’t worry too much) and bake for 15 minutes. It is very important that you do not open the oven door in the middle of the baking, as this will interrupt the rising process and make your cakes ‘collapse’.

7) This is perhaps the most vital part of the whole process. LICK THE BOWL!

After 15 minutes, open the oven door and, if you can do it without removing one of the tins, slide a metal knife or a toothpick into the middle of one of the cakes and if it comes out clean, your cakes are cooked. Otherwise leave them for another five minutes and try again.

Turn your cakes out onto a metal cooling rack (if you don’t have one, any clean flat surface will do – or even the ‘grill’ part of your grill) and let them cool off for 10-15 minutes.   When they’re cool enough, spread one of the surfaces of the cake with a filling of your choice, and place the other half on top of it. Spread the top too if you like.  There’s a recipe for the chocolate sauce I make here.

If you want to make a vanilla sponge instead of chocolate, use 6oz of self-raising flour, leave out the baking powder and cocoa powder, and add a teaspoon of vanilla essence. We only use the baking powder in the chocolate cake recipe because we’re substituting a part of the self-raising flour and the baking powder it contains, and because cocoa powder is heavier than flour.

Other yummy alternatives are making the plain (non-cocoa) sponge and grating the zest of one lemon or orange (or both) into the mix. Lemon and rosemary is lovely too.

You can use this crumble topping to top any savoury casserole-type dish. I used it over cauliflower and broccoli in a cheese sauce.

Ingredients:

60g butter, softened
120g wholemeal flour
1 tsp grain mustard
2 tsp Provencal herbs
75g strong cheddar cheese, grated
40g whole porridge oats

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 20-30 minutes at around 250C

Method:

1) Rub the butter and the flour together into breadcrumbs. It helps if your hands are very cold so that the butter doesn’t stick to your fingers.

2) Stir in the remaining ingredients, being careful to not over-mix so that you keep the crumbly texture.

3) Spread evenly over whatever you’re using as your ‘filling’ and bake at around 250C until the crumble starts turning golden on top.