View the recipe on PepperPlate.com

It’s soup weather in South Texas, and what better soup to have in South Texas than Caldo de Pollo. Every Mexican or Tex-Mex restaurant worth their salt has Caldo de “Something” on the menu, and this is my take on how to make it without having to stand over a pot for several hours. Enter the Instant Pot, or, in a nod to George Sr. on Arrested Development, the “Pot-o Instant-o.” So here’s my recipe for Instant Pot Caldo de Pollo, also known as Caldo de Pollo de Pot-o de Instant-o, but probably more correctly known as Caldo De Pollo De Pote Instantáneo.

ACTIVE TIME 15 minutes
TOTAL TIME 1 hour
CATEGORIES soup

INGREDIENTS

Broth
4 chicken leg quarters, skin on
water to cover
1 T salt
1 t pepper
1 t oregano
1/2 T garlic powder
1/2 T onion powder
1/2 T paprika

Vegetables
2 carrots, sliced
2 potatoes, quartered
2 onions, quartered
2 ears corn, cut into 1/2 inch sections (or 1 c frozen corn)
2 c cut fresh green beans
4 cloves garlic

Garnish – All are optional
avocado
sour cream or Greek yogurt
Oaxaca cheese, grated or crumbled
corn tortilla chips
fresh cilantro leaves
fresh diced white onion
lime or lemon wedges

INSTRUCTIONS

Broth

1. Add chicken, salt, pepper, oregano, garlic powder, onion powder and paprika to Instant Pot
2. Cover with water
3. Close lid and set the Instant Pot to Poultry
4. When the Instant Pot is done, remove the chicken pieces to a larger holding pot
5. Cover the chicken to keep it warm while the vegetables are cooking

Vegetables

1. Adjust the broth’s seasoning as you see fit
2. Add all the vegetables to the broth
3. Close lid and set the Instant Pot to Soup
4. When the Instant Pot is done, transfer everything to the holding pot
5. Serve with any or all of the optional garnishes

NOTES

Traditionally, caldo is served bones and all. However, if you prefer, you can de-bone (and/or de-skin) the chicken while the vegetables are cooking.

Eryk has enjoyed cooking ever since he was two or three years old. One morning, Melissa heard the microwave (which at the time was an over-the-range microwave) “ding,” and little Eryk’s voice saying, “Sready,” a two-year-old conjunction of “it’s ready.” As she rushed to see what was going on, Melissa saw Iain clinging to a bar-stool-height chair that Eryk had pushed over to the range. Eryk was atop the chair, opening the microwave. Turns out they were hungry, and rather than bother mom, who was busy with a flooring project, they found leftovers and decided to heat them up themselves.

Here we are, about seven years later, and Eryk has progressed from heating things up in the microwave to experimenting with his own recipes. Below is his latest recipe for fried chicken sandwiches…and I’ve got to tell you…toss them on a buttered and toasted bun with a little mayo and pickle, and these things rival Chick-Fil-A.

View the recipe on PepperPlate.com

Eryk Style Fried Chicken!

This is Eryk’s recipe, in (mostly) his own words.

INGREDIENTS

chicken breasts
hamburger buns
butter for toasting buns
pickles and mayo

for fry
1 c flour or flour substitute
3 eggs
1 t paprika
1 t salt

INSTRUCTIONS

1. whisk the eggs separate from the flour
2. mix all the dry ingredients
3. pound each chicken breast flat
4. cut flattened breast into a good size for a bun
5. dredge in egg, then flour, then egg
6. fry in deep fryer at 350 degrees until done
7. larger pieces (adult palm-sized pieces) take 4-6 minutes
8. smaller pieces (for breakfast sandwiches on Hawaiian rolls) take 2-3 minutes
9. while frying chicken, butter and toast buns
10. enjoy!!!!

These are reminiscent of my fast food days, and lunches at Taco Bell. That food was so bad for me, but these are not!

View the recipe on PepperPlate.com

This recipe is based on a copy cat Taco Bell Pizza recipe that I found. I made quite a few modifications in order to fit our dietary needs, so I have no problem claiming it as my own. If you are following THM, this would be an S.

YIELD 4 Pizzas
ACTIVE TIME 25 minutes
TOTAL TIME 35 minutes
CATEGORIES s, dinner, mexican, beef, beans

INGREDIENTS

1 lb ground beef (I use one pint jar of my canned ground beef, speeds things up)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon diced minced onion
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
2 tablespoons water
2 Lavash breads (Joseph’s Lavash Bread – cheaper in the store, but here’s a link)
1 can refried beans
1/3 cup diced tomato
2/3 cup salsa or enchilada sauce (my favorite is the THM recipe book enchilada sauce)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup shredded monterey jack cheese
1/4 cup sliced black olives

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Cook the ground beef over medium heat until brown, then drain.
2. Return meat to pan and add the salt, onions, paprika, chili powder and water.
3. Let mixture simmer over medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring often.
4. Preheat deep fryer. Cut Lavash sheets in fourths.
5. When oil is hot, fry each Lavash for about 30-45 seconds and drain on paper towels.
6. Heat refried beans.
7. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
8. Stack each pizza by first spreading 1/3 C beans on one Lavash.
9. Next add 1/3 C meat, then another Lavash.
10. Top the second tortilla with 2 T of salsa.
11. Divide the tomato, cheese, onions and olives evenly and top in that order.
12. Bake for 8-12 minutes.

A couple of weeks ago, while sitting in a Mexican restaurant about to eat our breakfast tacos, Iain said, “Mom, I think something’s wrong with this taco. The eggs are kinda pale-ish.”

“My son,” I explained, “that is because in 6 months, you have become accustomed to the vibrant and flavorful egg that is laid by the pasture raised chicken. These ordinary eggs will no longer satisfy your palate or your senses.”

I tell you this story because my potato pancakes are very yellow. More yellow than I have ever seen a potato pancake. Not an unappetizing shade by any means, but you’ll be hard pressed to replicate our yellow patties without farm fresh eggs. And while the eggs are delicious, the secret to a really good potato pancake is in the mashed potatoes, not the eggs; and the secret to great mashed potatoes is cream cheese. Start with good potatoes, you get great pancakes.

Great breakfast side for your eggs and bacon. Start your bacon first, because you want to fry these babies in plenty of bacon grease, a bacon grease deficiency can be detrimental here.

View the recipe on PepperPlate.com

Yield 6 pancakes
Active Time 15 minutes
Categories breakfast

Ingredients
1 cup leftover mashed potatoes
1 egg
1 teaspoon grated parmesan cheese
1 small clove garlic, diced
1/2 teaspoon parsley
1/2 teaspoon chives, onion greens, or onion powder, optional

Instructions
Combine all ingredients, drop by ice cream scoop onto hot greased griddle or skillet. Flatten into pancake shape. Flip when golden brown, serve hot.

Beef & Noodles has been a Hunt family tradition for generations. As best I can tell, it began as a way to stretch a limited and relatively expensive meat supply across a large family. My grandfather had six sisters, so just imagine for a bit what it took to feed a family of nine. In turn, my grandparents had five boys.

A slight digression

I like cottage cheese – the good stuff, not that low-fat garbage. And my grandparents always had “the good stuff” as part of a relish tray at family gatherings. I remember asking my dad why he didn’t like cottage cheese, since obviously his parents did. He replied that they never had it growing up. So the next time I was with my grandparents, I asked my grandfather why they never had cottage cheese when their kids were growing up. I’ll never forget his reply. “Oh we love cottage cheese. But we had five boys to feed. We couldn’t afford it.” The idea that a certain food was such a luxury item that they never bought it – even though they liked it – has stuck with me ever since. To this day, we keep a quart of “the good stuff” in the fridge, and Macy and I often sit down and share it in memory of my grandparents.

Recipe

Ingredients

• Beef Roast
• Flour
• Eggs
• Salt
• Pepper
• Garlic
• Potatoes

Egg Noodles

You can do this the day before, or you can do it while the beef is boiling. Grandma used to make loads and loads of egg noodles, dry them, and then freeze them for later use.

1. Add salt and pepper to a cup of flour. Start with 1/4 tsp each salt and pepper.
2. If you want a slightly lighter, fluffier egg noodle, add some baking powder (about 1/4 tsp per cup of flour). I prefer them without the baking powder.
3. Start with one egg for each cup of flour and mix together. Technique doesn’t really matter here – just get a good eggy dough going.
4. To make the noodles, roll them out with a rolling pin using plenty of flour to get them good and thin. Cut them into strips with a pizza cutter, then cut the strips into 1-2 inch lengths.
5. Toss the noodles in a little extra flour and let them air dry. If you want to freeze them, dry them in a warm oven and then freeze them.

Beef Broth

1. Boil the beef roast with plenty of salt, pepper and garlic cloves. We brine ours for a couple of days, but grandma never did. Boil it until the beef falls apart.
2. Remove the beef roast and fat chunks from the broth let it cool a bit. Taste the broth and add salt and pepper as necessary for a good broth.
3. Get the broth to a rolling boil and add the egg noodles.
4. Once the noodles are cooked, reduce to a simmer.
5. The extra flour on the noodles will help the broth to thicken.

Fried Beef

1. Add salt and pepper to a cup of flour.
2. Shred the beef into bite-sized chunks and coat in flour.
3. Fry the beef in butter in a cast iron skillet until it’s crispy. We use a deep fryer with beef fat. It’s not 100% authentic, but it’s a good trade-off for the time savings.

Potatoes

1. Peel 3-5 pounds of Idaho (white) potatoes. Dice and boil in salty water until fork tender.
2. Strain potatoes and place in mixer. Add a stick of butter, 8oz package of cream cheese, and a slosh of whole milk.
3. Mix on low speed until well blended. Add salt as necessary.
4. Once thoroughly mixed, increase the speed for a minute to whip the potatoes.

Serving

Place a heaping scoop of potatoes into a shallow bowl. Add a scoop of noodles and broth to the center of the potatoes, pressing out a well in the process. Top with a few pieces of fried beef. Grab a spoon and enjoy!

Leftover Potatoes

We usually make extra potatoes so that there will be leftovers for breakfast the next morning. To make some of the best potato pancakes you’ve ever had, form a pancake and fry in plenty of salty butter until golden brown on both sides.

Good borracho beans are a staple in all good Mexican (or Tex-Mex) cooking. We make a big pot, the use the leftovers to make refried beans, which we can to have on hand for tacos. You can use bacon, which in the THM world would make these a delicious on plan crossover, or you can use your leftover ham bone with all the fat trimmed off for flavor, and to keep this in E territory. The alcohol (which cooks out) is optional, but in order for them to truly be “borracho,” or drunken, don’t neglect the beer. Also, this is an instant pot recipe, but they can be made more traditionally in a pot simmering on the stove all day, if you prefer.

View the recipe on PepperPlate.com

Iain adores the Rutabaga The Adventure Chef series by Eric Colossal. It’s a graphic novel type book, where the main character, Rutabaga, mixes the stories of his journeys with recipes that he makes along the way. It has inspired him not just to read, but also to get in the kitchen and have some adventures of his own. The recipes have no measurements, and are filled with fictional ingredients, forcing creativity when trying to reproduce them. This is Iain’s take on Rutabaga’s Poison Pot Pie. Watch out for the “poison” bean! Iain’s friend, Alexis, was the recipient of the bean when we shared this with our friends. It was great fun for the kids, who happily gobbled down all their veggies. Whomever gets poisoned get to do the dishes!

View the recipe on PepperPlate.com

Yield 1 large or 4 individual pies
Active Time 15 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Categories dinner, s, chicken, casserole

Ingredients
For Filling
1 small onion
1/4 cup butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup chicken broth or stock
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
2 carrots, chopped
1 cup chicken or turkey , diced
1 lima bean, or other bright green colored bean
For Crust
1 can large biscuits, we use flaky

Instructions
Melt butter over medium heat in a large skillet, and add the chopped onions. Sauté until the onions are translucent, then whisk in the flour; cook for two minutes, stirring constantly. Whisk in the broth, then add the rest of the filling ingredients, stirring to incorporate. spoon into 4 oven safe ramekins, or 1 pie plate. Cover the pie or pies with biscuit dough, leaving some holes for steam venting. If you like a thin crust, separate the layers of biscuit dough before stretching over the filling. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30-35 minutes, until crust is lightly browned.

Notes
You can also use an additional can of biscuits to line the bottom of the pie plate, if you prefer a bottom crust as well.

Looking for something to do with those bits of leftover turkey from the Holidays? Give this a try!

This is inspired by Trim Healthy Mama’s recipe for Cilantro Lime Burst Chicken Thighs. I had some of the sauce left over, which we loved, but was craving a chicken noodle soup. The recipe ended up being more casserole than soup, but truly delicious.

If following the THM plan, this would be an S.

View the recipe on PepperPlate.com