Sopa de Fideo

Sopa de Fideo

One of the best things about moving from New England to the Southwest is I am being acquainted with a new culture, traditions, food, and people.  So different and yet we are still so much alike!  The mind and the waistline are expanded, grins.

Fideo is like the Italian vermicelli and the vermicelli can be substituted if your grocery does not have a well-stocked Hispanic food section.  The vermicelli just needs to be broken up into small pieces and you're good to go.

It seems to me that a lot of Mexican style food is pretty spicy, with the addition of different chili peppers, cumin, turmeric and oregano.  And no question, we have acquired spicy taste buds and will crave wonderful, warm (hot!) deliciousness. But then there is this little soup.  Very simple to make and delicate in flavor as written.  I belong to a Hispanic cooking site on Facebook and one of the ladies recommended adding pinto beans and hamburg; it's the way she makes it in her home.  I love that she shared that with me, and I think that would be good as well.  Make pinto beans as if for refried beans but pull some out before they are mashed and just add them to the soup towards the end to heat through since they'll already be cooked.

This would be a great soup when you aren't feeling tip-top but need to eat something.   The one thing I really liked about this soup is that it uses fresh tomatoes and with some nice buttery avocado.  Very farmers' market.

SOPA DE FIDEO

2 tablespoons vegetable or olive oil
6 Roma tomatoes, roasted
1 thick slice of white onion
1 large clove garlic or 1/2 teaspoon jarred minced
3 cups chicken broth
1 cup of fideo noodles
salt and pepper to taste
garnishes:  avocado, cilantro, lime juice

Oil a boiler proof pan and roast the tomatoes on both the top and the bottom until the sides have blacked slightly.

Add the tomatoes, the onion and the garlic to a blender or food processor and blend until pureed.

In a medium skillet heat some oil and add the uncooked fideo.  Cook the fideo over medium heat until golden brown. Add the chicken broth and the tomato mixture.  Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to medium and cook for 7 or 8 minutes or until the fideo are almost done.  Add the cilantro, if using, and cook an additional two minutes or until the fideo are done.  The fideo will continue to expand upon cooling.

Serve in bowls with diced avocado or other garnish of choice.

DIY Dried Onion Soup Mix

Make It Yourself Dried Onion Soup Mix

Okay, true story--not the most inspiring picture in the world.  Kind of an ugly duckling, but we all know how that story ended.  The ugly duckling was actually a swan and looks can be deceiving.

It's the same with this DIY dried onion soup mix.  I haven't had the packaged stuff in a very long time.  I mean, two pouches for over $2.00, wow!  I suppose $2.00 in a world of billions is laughable chump change, but my world isn't made up of billions, millions, or even hundreds.  There have been times when I had to shake out my handbag or couch dive to find loose change.  So yeah, $2.00 does matter.  You need $2.00 before you can have a million.

Some years back I used to ride the bus to work, and there were a couple of young people who were having a loud conversation for the benefit of their bus buddies, being snarky about people trying to save nickles and dimes at a local gas station. Waiting in line at a gas station to save five cents a gallon at the gas pump was incomprehensible.  Well, I said to them, if you found fifty cents on the ground in a parking lot, would you pick it up or would you walk over it. They quite smugly assured me they'd walk over it, that fifty cents was "nothing" but I think most people would pick it up and pocket it. When I find money like that I tend to donate it to charity but okay, whatever.  Bless your heart.

Anyway, saving money is as close as your spice cabinet or pantry and I kid you not when I say this is superior to the packaged mix. Big beefy and onion flavor, just what you'd expect. How many spices do you have in your cabinet that go stale from years of not being used.  Many of us are guilty of that.  We buy a spice for a recipe and then don't use that spice or herb for another year or so.  Like celery seed.  Just how often do you use that?  I use it in my potato salad that I make several times a year but other than than it's pretty neglected.

So, with making your own spice mix or bulk food mix, not only do you save money and have equal to or better quality and flavor, but also in the long run save money because you are using ingredients that you have on hand at their optimal freshness and not tossing them out.

I repurposed a spaghetti sauce jar (it was a jar of Classico spaghetti sauce); I love these jars.  They have markings for ounces on the side, which I don't use, but it gives a bit of pizzazz to the jar, and I feel green re-using it.  I appreciate that it has a wide mouth so I fit a tablespoon in it. No fighting to get the spoon in and out. Just as an aside I'm keeping more of the jars to store other pantry items in it, like brown sugar and flaked coconut, dried beans and the like.  It looks nice, takes up less space on my pantry shelves, and is a great way to store food if you're not one who happens to like a lot of plastic.

To fill the jar, I double the recipe.

MAKE-IT-YOURSELF DRIED ONION SOUP MIX

3/4 cup dried, minced onion
1/3 cup beef-flavored bouillon (I use Knorr)
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon crushed celery seed
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Combine all ingredients.  Shake to combine.  Makes 1 cup mix.

5 tablespoons is equal to one store-bought packet.

COOK'S NOTES:  I wrote the recipe on a 3x5 card and taped it with clear packing tape to the side of the jar so that way I always have the recipe on hand and I don't have to do a search to remember how much to use to equal one packet.  I suppose I could've posted a picture of the jar but how many ugly brown pictures do we want to look at?  LOL

Breakfast is Ready

Darned Good Salsa on Cheese Omelet and English Muffin Batter Bread

Breakfast Burrito

No new recipes, just messing with my camera.

Previously posted recipes are here though.  Some recipes I just have to make over and over because they're that good.

https://cactuskateskitchen.blogspot.com/2018/04/darned-good-salsa.html

 https://cactuskateskitchen.blogspot.com/2017/09/english-muffin-batter-bread.html

Just a word about that salsa on the egg and cheese omelet.  Stop the train!  It was so darned good with the "darned good salsa."  Never thought I'd eat salsa on eggs, but boy am I glad I tried it.  Oooh the flavors. Swoon.  Swoon.  The salsa definitely kicked up the omelet to new heights.  I question whether I'll ever be able to eat a "plain" omelet again.  We've since been out to breakfast and I ordered the restaurant's omelet and salsa special, and all I'm going to say, in all humility, is they do't have anything over on me.  Going to save myself a bundle and make it at home.  Plus I get to eat breakfast in my pajamas.  Win-win all around I'd say.

And, of course, I love the buttery crunchiness of my English muffin batter bread and warm yeasty aromas.  It's a bread that has substance, not air.  Mmmm.  If I want to spoil myself, a little jam goes great.  My Sweetie Pie likes to dob on peanut butter and let its melty goodness just sink into it.

Nothing fancy with the breakfast burrito.  Just some scrambled eggs and diced ham rolled up in a tortilla.  A burrito makes everyday items look kind of fun and fancy, plus it's convenient to eat.