Soup Season is upon us!
Gus's Chicken Noodle Stew
Ingredients:
1ea rotisserie chicken (shredded)*
1lb bag frozen peas and carrots
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 T salted butter
¼ C heavy whipping cream
8oz skinny egg noodles
2T chicken base (bouillon)
1T Gus’s Fowl Mouth Poultry Seasoning
1T Gus’s Petite Palermo Italian Seasoning
1T fresh cracked black pepper
1tsp sea salt
1qt water
In a 5qt pot over med-low heat, add butter, chicken base, cream of chicken, seasonings, and water. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally until cream of chicken and bullion base is dissolved.
Add shredded chicken and frozen veggies, cover, and simmer for about 30 min, again stirring occasionally.
Add egg noodles and stir in. Bring back to a simmer and cover for another 10-12 min or until noodles are tender through.
Uncover and reduce to low. Add the heavy cream, stir well until incorporated. Let it rest for about 5 minutes before serving.
*Tips – if you don’t have rotisserie chicken, this is a great place to use up leftover baked or grilled chicken. Either way, you’re looking or about a 1.5lbs of meat.
Gus's El Campesino Chili
Ingredients
1 lb beef chuck (double ground)
1 med yellow onion diced
28oz can tomato puree
1 15oz can diced tomatoes
1 8oz can tomato paste
2 15oz cans red beans (optional)
1 packet Gus's El Campensano Chili Mix
1 12oz Dark lager beer (can sub beef stock)
2 T Beef tallow or Pork Lard
1 pint water
Instructions:
In a cold 5qt pot of dutch oven, break up the ground beef into the pot as finely as you can. Add in the pint of water (use more if needed until it covers the beef), turn heat to med-low, and let simmer covered for an hour, stirring every 15 min to break down beef even finer. Uncover and continue to simmer until the water has evaporated.
Pushing the ground beef to the edges of the pot, turn heat up to medium and add the beef or pork fat and onions to the middle of the pot. Recover for 5-10 min until onions are sweated. Uncover and allow to cook until again the juices have evaporated. Stir and add diced tomatoes. Allow to simmer for another 5-10 min.
Stir well, and once again, push all of the mixture to the edges of the pot. Add the can of tomato paste to the middle of the pot, chopping apart with a spatula but not mixing with the other ingredients. Increase heat to med-high and simmer for 2-3 min. Once the tomato paste begins to leave a film on the bottom of the pot, add the beer to deglaze.
Add Gus’s El Campesino chili mix and stir well to incorporate. Next, add in both cans of beans (drained and rinsed), and tomato puree. Allow to simmer over low heat, covered, for at least 30 min but an hour or more is ideal (the longer the better).
*For a thicker chili, dissolve 2 tablespoons of cornstarch into a 1/2 cup of cold water and add (stirring in well) about 15 min before serving.
Casseroles & More
Gus's Zucchini Lasagna
Red sauce
1 lb mild Italian sausage (ground)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 can tomato paste (6oz)
1 can tomato sauce (15oz)
2 tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp red pepper flake
2 tbsp Gus’s Petite Palermo Italian seasoning
2 tbsp sea salt
1 tbsp cracked pepper (I use rainbow peppercorns but black is fine)
4 oz red wine
In a large saucepan over med-low heat, brown off the sausage and break it down well. Do not drain. Move meat to the outer edges of the pan and add the tomato paste to the center of the pan. Increase your heat to med-high, and press/flatten out the paste against the bottom of the pan. Leave to have contact, only stirring every 30 seconds or so. Keep it moving so that it doesn’t burn, but allow it to get some color and create a fond on the bottom of the pan. Next add the olive oil, red pepper flakes, and garlic. Once your kitchen smells like garlic (about 15-20 seconds), add the red wine in and deglaze the pan, scraping up all the fond and stirring everything together well. Add salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning next and stir in. Add can of tomato sauce, refill can ¾ of water, add and mix in. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for about an hour. (may need to remove the lid for the last 15-20min as you want this sauce to be thick, not runny at all).
Let cool before building the lasagna.
Noodles
6 ea zuchinni (med to large)
Preheat oven to 200F. Cut ends off and slice lengthwise into strips 1/8” thick. (a mandolin slicer makes this much easier). On two large sheet pans, line with foil and then paper towels. Lay out the strips on the paper towels, sprinkle with sea salt, and cover with more paper towels to draw out moisture. Leave like this for 30-60 minutes. Remove the paper towels, spray with pan with oil, and lay strips out in a single layer. (this may take more pans).
Place in preheated oven for approx. 30min or until they no longer look “wet”. Remove from oven and let sit for 10-15min.
White Sauce
½ stick butter
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 pint heavy whipping cream
1 pint ricotta cheese
2 ea egg yolks
¼ cup chopped basil
¼ cup chopped Italian (flat leaf) parsley
1 tbsp sea salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp white pepper
In a medium saucepan over med-low heat, melt the butter and then add in the heavy whipping cream. Put the egg yolks in a small mixing bowl (a coffee cup works well for this too) and scramble with a fork. Once the cream and butter mixture is hot to the point of creating steam (do not boil it), temper the egg yolks.
Tempering egg yolks = use a ladle to slowly add about a cup of the hot liquid into the bowl/cup with the yolks while vigorously stirring them with the fork. Do not add the liquid too fast or you will scramble the eggs. It should still be a smooth liquid once mixed. If there are any lumps (bits of cooked egg) it’s no good.
Next, slowly add the mixture back to the pan while stirring well with a spatula or whisk. Let this sit over med-low heat for about 2 min or until it comes back to a slow simmer. Add salt, pepper, garlic and onion powders. Next, add the parmesan cheese slowly, while stirring it in. Let simmer again for 2-3 minutes. By now, the sauce should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove from the heat and pour it in a large mixing bowl to cool. (about 15 min). Once cool enough that you can put a finger in it, add the ricotta cheese, basil, and parsley and fold/mix until incorporated.
Other Ingredients
4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
Building & Baking
In a sprayed casserole dish (I often make this in deep 9x13 aluminum pans and freeze them), spoon a just enough red sauce to barely coat the bottom. Add your first layer of noodles, placing them close together but not overlapping. Then layer in this order: white sauce, shredded mozzarella, red sauce and repeat. (should get 3 layers, but you might have enough for 4). Top with the remainder of the mozzarella, cover with aluminum foil, and bake at 350F for 45 min. Uncover, and bake for an additional 20-30 min, or until the top is bubbly and a little toasted.
Serve hot with a side salad, bread sticks or garlic bread, and a glass of your favorite red wine. Enjoy!