Truemans Chicken Tortilla Soup

So here's a dish sure to get the taste buds dancing and the brow beading. I've been making Chicken Tortilla soup for years and is a favorite of many of those willing to sample my wares. Now for those of you that have had it over the years let me go ahead and tell you you will not be getting a portion of this recipe! I am leaving the dried spices portion and another ingredient, out... sorry campers. But you probably will be able to do a generic version after reading this.

In a large pot I drizzled some vegetable oil. Anything more would be a waste of good oil as it would be lost in the complexity of flavors. I sliced into strips 1/2 a red onion, 4 bells peppers, (2 red, 1 yellow, and 1 orange, no green,) and one medium jalapeno, and tossed them in the pot. After they began to sweat nicely, I added 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, (one per diner, 3 of us eating,)  and one bunch of coarsely chopped cilantro, covered and let simmer, flipping and stirring as needed until the chicken was almost cooked all the way through. I added a blend of spices and cooked the chicken until just before brown.

After the chicken is thoroughly cooked I removed the chicken, allowed it to cool in a microwave safe container, and set in in the fridge as it would be hours before it would be reintroduced. DO NOT Leave the chicken in. The remainder of the items with the broth need to simmer for a couple of hours at least and this will make the chicken very bland.

 I added approximately 8 cups of chicken broth as well as one cube of chicken bouillon, another bunch of chopped cilantro, 2 whole jalapenos and one large habanero pepper, piercing all 3 peppers and squeezing the habanero to insure its flavor and heat would disperse nicely. I covered and let simmer over very low heat for a couple of hours, stirring, ( and tasting, oh yum,) on occasion.

Removing from the heat, I allowed the broth and veggies to cool. As it cools most of any fat left, will rise to the top as seen below. I like to skim off the fat but this is not a requirement. Once it is cool enough into the fridge it went for a few hours to chill allow the flavor to marinade... kind of like decent take out tasting better the next day... and this makes skimming much easier as well.

After it is completely cooled, you can take it out, skim it, and return it to the stove on low heat. I prepped some green onion and a few cilantro sprigs.  Taking the chicken I warmed it up in a microwave. Folks microwaves are great tools for flavorful food when used properly. Watch and listen. Do not over microwave the chicken!

I took a 3 nice size bowls and placed a small handful of stone ground white tortilla chips in the bottom of the bowls. Then using a slotted spoon I divided the chicken and veggies and then gathered my friends that would be joining me. Why is this important? Once the broth goes in the bowl, the chips will begin to get soggy. Not an issue as there will be more chips at the table while dining. Add the broth and then top with sour cream, green onion, cilantro sprigs, any Mexican shredded cheese, I used a Cheddar Pepper Jack blend. Then a little Habanero Lime salsa was placed in the center. Last but not least, I placed the 3 whole peppers the were used in each bowl. So two had a whole jalapeno and one had the habanero.

The end result is a nice spicy flavor bowl of Chicken Tortilla soup that will warm the heart and soul.

One person gets the privilege of eating the mighty orange pepper. Last nights winner was Corinne and what a trooper!

Pain? Pleasure? One things for sure, there was quite a smile on her face. And she ate the whole thing. Way to go Amiga!

Portabella Mushroom Burger

Now I have been a self-proclaimed, well why lie, most know me as a solid meatatarian for many years. I don't need to self-proclaim. Skip the starch and veggies. Give me meat, lots of it, the rarer the better. But I got to tell you other meat lovers out there, Portabella Mushrooms, done properly, are a great alternative if you are sharing a meal with non-meat eaters.

As I said in the previous entry, I have been frequenting the local farmers market and picking up some great little items. On my last trip I picked up 2 cooking/salad oils. One was a White Truffle oil and the other was a Rosemary Garlic Roasted Cabernet oil. The oils are from Bistro Blend of Napa Valley, CA. Both were used in this meal and really is what made this meal so incredible.

I put in a bowl some grape tomatoes sliced in half, cucumber, cilantro, and red onion and set in the fridge to stay chilled. I rinsed my spinach and set aside.I used the White Truffle oil as a dressing. I was tempted to use a raspberry wine vinegar but being I was using a Cabernet oil for the Portabellas, I decided it might be too conflicting to the palate. In a bowl I whisked together some White Truffle oil, white vinegar, sea salt, fresh ground black pepper, and dried dill. This was quite tasty, but I will be playing around with it to find something that really sets this dressing over the top. Still a good dressing.

The Portabellas I grilled on the BBQ over a medium flame. I covered both sides on the mushroom with the Rosemary Garlic Roasted Cabernet oil, a little salt and pepper. Do be too hasty in taking Portabellas off the grill. They do turn pretty dark but not charred. I cooked the first side for approx. 10 minutes, flipped it and cooked the other side for about 5 minutes before putting a slice of real mozzarella cheese and some large leaf basil I picked out of my garden on top. The RGRC oil was so wonderful I used a little more on the onion buns and toasted them on the grill as well.

I plated the spinach and spooned on the cucumber/ tomato/ dressing mix. I also added to the plate some Cerignola olives. These olives are tri-colored and very unique in flavor.

As you can see it was a beautiful plate. The White Truffle dressing on the salad really tied the Portabella Burger together.

I am happy with this meal, but I will be toying with some alternatives to the Portabella Mushroom Burger plate. Maybe a different cheese or bread. Again this was very good. But I don't think it's quite enough to really stand out in the foodie world.

Seared Ahi with Mango Salsa

Every Thursday we have a farmers market that comes in and brings the freshest fruits, veggies, fish, and meats. One Thursday picked up some sashimi grade Ahi Tuna and thought that I could do more with this than just sashimi. I Googled Ahi Tuna and found 100's of recipes. Hmmmm... Seared Ahi. I grabbed some basic info and into the kitchen I went.

Something I'm going to say upfront when it comes to preparing Seared Ahi Tuna. Don't toy around with quality. Although it is being seared, this is still a raw fish dish. The center will be raw. The Ahi should have deep red meat and not be overly fishy in smell. The difference between sashimi or sushi grade tuna and regular tuna is sashimi grade is flash frozen to below 31F degrees which insures that all parasites are killed. There is also something to be said about the fat content of the fish. Nice fatty lines in the meat are a very good thing.

On to the dish. Searing is the process of quickly cooking the outside of an item at high heat to seal in the juices. Because high heat is needed I find that olive oils and butter have too low of a burn temp. I used a simple vegetable oil on a flat skillet over a med high flame. I took some sea salt, fresh ground pepper, and some dried dill and mixed them on a plate and lightly coated the Ahi. As the oil gave a wisp of smoke I added a little butter. Doing it this way allows for a higher burn temp and the wonderful flavor and browning that butter gives. Placing the Ahi on the hot skillet I let it cook for about 2 minutes. Flipped it and cooked for about another 90 seconds. Cook times can be adjusted somewhat but cooking the fish longer changes the flavor and texture of the dish. Once it was seared I plated it. I let it sit for a couple of minutes before slicing it. It seems to help make for cleaner slices. I then topped it off with home made mango salsa.

The mango salsa was actually so simple and of course made ahead of the Ahi. I used a jar of already peeled and sliced mangos in a light syrup that I rinsed and drained. I chopped them up along with grape tomatoes, cilantro, avocado, jalapeno, red onion, fresh lime juice, and a touch of sea salt to draw out the flavors. After GENTLY folding these items together, I placed it in the fridge to allow the flavors to combine.

Taking the plated and sliced Ahi, I topped it with this salsa and invited a neighbor to join me. It was excellent, and not just excellent for the first time I prepared it, but just down right delish!

Welcome

Welcome to my Webpage, "Cooking With Trueman." I am so glad to have you take this journey with me, diving into a variety of dishes, that will hopefully be as exciting to you, as it is for me. Cooking and food are two of my greatest pleasures in life.

My influences are many. I started cooking as a young child, maybe 10 years of age, with my older sister, preparing supper for us and our parents. The food was simple and frugal, but we always had plenty on the table. In my early teens, having been befriended by a family from Greece, I became interested in cooking, seeing the incredible yet simple dishes prepared by both the mother and son. Soon I was cooking any chance I had.

In my late teens, I met the mother to my son who introduced me to homestyle Mexican food. Her mother, took it even further back with mole' and an incredible menudo that 23 years later I still remember and can not find anything remotely close.

My early 20's found myself on the east coast, mainly lower upstate New York, but also Philadelphia, Boston, and a few towns in Conneticut. Crazy enough, these places influenced me in meats... especially BBQ. Now I know that these are not the typical places one thinks of when thinking of BBQ. Places like Texas, Kansas City, Memphis, St Louis, and all of the South are the norm for most BBQ influences. But, I have never been to those locations long enough to say that I gathered anything from those areas.

In my late 20's and 30's, I was always cooking for whomever I was with. No real outside influences... Unless you call Food Network and Travel Channel, "outside influences." I really took an interest in smoking meats. My Aunt bought me a pit smoker with offset firebox for my birthday one year and soon I was watching and reading all that could find on smoking. Low and slow... low and slow. Soon I was smoking some of the most tender luscious meats from pork shoulder to beef brisket.

In my mid 30s I started growing peppers in the garden. Not your sweet peppers, oh no. I started growing Jalapenos, Anaheims, and Thai peppers. The following year I added Habaneros and Tepin peppers. After experimenting with these, I found a favorite, the Habanero. The Tepin is incredibly hot, but sadly, lacks any flavorful attributes. I found that I could prepare that Habanero in different ways that affected the heat and the wonderful flavor of this pepper. The Habanero has a fruity and smoky flavor and a firey heat that will have you drenched in no time. I found by removing the membrane and seeds, thoroughly rinsing and then smoking the Habanero, tamed the heat to just below your typical Jalapeno, while still holding its natural flavor. In no time I had created both a bottled Habanero hot sauce and a Honey Habanero glaze, (especially good as a baste for smoked meats.) Now, when I fire up the smoker, it becomes, Toddy's Habanero Smokehouse!

After the passing of my best friend who I was fortunate enough to call my wife, I was lost. I stopped cooking. I just had no desire to prepare creative dishes for myself. I realized that my cooking joy came from sharing dishes with others. After a long bout of depression and grieving, time dulled the heartache and I was able to start seeing life again. With that, came a strong desire to start preparing dishes again. This time with more than just meats peppers and simple basic sides and salads.

Now, I am going to say right here and now that I often times use a semi-home made approach to my cooking. I will buy already peeled mangos or a simple pasta sauce from a jar and then add my own spin to it. )I do have a marinara meat sauce that I make from scratch, but 8 to 10 hours is a bit much to make a sauce. I can obtain a somewhat similar, but much quicker result by using paste and a simple tomato sauce.

I am available to make many of the items I post here for you.

So welcome aboard and lets begin.