The 60-Second Food Schmooze

Want to bring out the kid in everybody? Watch your guests light up when you serve them delicious homemade English Muffin S’mores for dessert. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Place split English muffins on a sheet pan. Sprinkle on your favorite chocolate chips and miniature marshmallows. Pop the pan into the oven for about two minutes, until the marshmallows puff up and turn golden. If you want, you can sprinkle on a touch of sea salt or chopped toasted almonds just before serving. You can also make this dessert gluten-free.

Photo: Kristen/Flickr, creative commons

French toast is fantastic all by itself, but I say we can make it even better. It’s simple to make crispy-crackly French toast. It’s the usual drill with sliced bread dipped in milk, egg, vanilla, whatever you like. But now the crazy-great texture tricks come into play. After you’ve soaked your bread slices, dip them into something crispy—panko bread crumbs, or crushed nuts, cornflakes, or your favorite granola. Fry or bake the French toast the way you always do, but wait for that crispy crackly mouth-feel in every bite. Doesn’t get better for breakfast, lunch or dinner—why not?

Photo: Mariam/Flickr, creative commons

The post How to Make Crispy French Toast appeared first on Faith Middleton's Food Schmooze.

Support the show: https://foodschmooze.org/donate/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

French toast is fantastic all by itself, but I say we can make it even better. It’s simple to make crispy-crackly French toast. It’s the usual drill with sliced bread dipped in milk, egg, vanilla, whatever you like. But now the crazy-great texture tricks come into play. After you’ve soaked your bread slices, dip them into something crispy—panko bread crumbs, or crushed nuts, cornflakes, or your favorite granola. Fry or bake the French toast the way you always do, but wait for that crispy crackly mouth-feel in every bite. Doesn’t get better for breakfast, lunch or dinner—why not?

Photo: Mariam/Flickr, creative commons

Stock is the key to fantastic chicken soup, so I have a quick trick for you. To make a super-fast soup with hearty flavor, buy two containers of supermarket chicken broth but be sure it’s low sodium. Add that to a pot with chicken bones from your last meal, some diced up carrots and a few cloves of garlic. Let it all simmer on the stovetop for 15 minutes, strain the broth and add whatever you want—cooked rice, noodles, extra shredded chicken, shrimp, mushrooms, parsnips, diced sweet potatoes—and you’re set for a week of meals. Change it up every night by adding different things, even some Asian ingredients like a dash of soy, a squeeze of fresh lime juice and sesame oil.

Photo: tifotter/Flickr, creative commons

The post Fast, Homemade Chicken Soup appeared first on Faith Middleton's Food Schmooze.

Support the show: https://foodschmooze.org/donate/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Stock is the key to fantastic chicken soup, so I have a quick trick for you. To make a super-fast soup with hearty flavor, buy two containers of supermarket chicken broth but be sure it’s low sodium. Add that to a pot with chicken bones from your last meal, some diced up carrots and a few cloves of garlic. Let it all simmer on the stovetop for 15 minutes, strain the broth and add whatever you want—cooked rice, noodles, extra shredded chicken, shrimp, mushrooms, parsnips, diced sweet potatoes—and you’re set for a week of meals. Change it up every night by adding different things, even some Asian ingredients like a dash of soy, a squeeze of fresh lime juice and sesame oil.

Photo: tifotter/Flickr, creative commons

Sweet potatoes, pecans, and shredded chicken! That’s all you need to toss together a quick or anytime meal that makes everybody happy. Just bake the sweet potatoes in the oven or microwave. When they’re done, cut them in half, scoop out the cooked sweet potato into a bowl, add shredded store-bought rotisserie chicken and chopped toasted pecans. Stir it up, refill the sweet potato shells with the mixture and pop them in the oven to reheat and crisp up. They’re delicious, good for you and gluten-free.

Photo: Su-Lin/Flickr, creative commons

The post Delicious, Fast Baked Stuffed Sweet Potatoes For a Weeknight Dinner appeared first on Faith Middleton's Food Schmooze.

Support the show: https://foodschmooze.org/donate/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sweet potatoes, pecans, and shredded chicken! That’s all you need to toss together a quick or anytime meal that makes everybody happy. Just bake the sweet potatoes in the oven or microwave. When they’re done, cut them in half, scoop out the cooked sweet potato into a bowl, add shredded store-bought rotisserie chicken and chopped toasted pecans. Stir it up, refill the sweet potato shells with the mixture and pop them in the oven to reheat and crisp up. They’re delicious, good for you and gluten-free.

Photo: Su-Lin/Flickr, creative commons

How about fast, easy, delicious garlic shrimp on a busy night? When you get home, throw some defrosted, peeled shrimp into a plastic sealable bag along with a couple of garlic cloves, a glug of olive oil, a dash of cumin and a squeeze of lemon juice. Set the sealed bag aside for 20 minutes, then just remove the shrimp and broil them in a pre-heated oven for about three minutes until they’re pink. Instant garlic shrimp. It doesn’t get easier. Serve them on top of pasta, rice, salad greens or whatever sounds good. I love garlic shrimp on top of quinoa that I boil in chicken stock.

Photo: Pixabay.com

The post Instant Garlic Shrimp For Busy (or Exhausted) People appeared first on Faith Middleton's Food Schmooze.

Support the show: https://foodschmooze.org/donate/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How about fast, easy, delicious garlic shrimp on a busy night? When you get home, throw some defrosted, peeled shrimp into a plastic sealable bag along with a couple of garlic cloves, a glug of olive oil, a dash of cumin and a squeeze of lemon juice. Set the sealed bag aside for 20 minutes, then just remove the shrimp and broil them in a pre-heated oven for about three minutes until they’re pink. Instant garlic shrimp. It doesn’t get easier. Serve them on top of pasta, rice, salad greens or whatever sounds good. I love garlic shrimp on top of quinoa that I boil in chicken stock.

Photo: Pixabay.com

What if your hors-d’oeuvre for the holiday starts with a Saltine cracker? Take your cracker, add a slick of store-bought olive tapenade, top it with a poached shrimp and a few crumbles of Feta cheese. It’s the simplest Mediterranean appetizer on the planet. Delicious, too.

Photo: Kevin/Flickr, creative commons

The post Saltines Make the Base for a Quick Mediterranean-Inspired Appetizer appeared first on Faith Middleton's Food Schmooze.

Support the show: https://foodschmooze.org/donate/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.