Gourmet Doomsday Menu for Foodies
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Kellene's Kitchen
Think the end of the world means you'll be holed up for years eating boring rice and grains? Think again! Kellene Bishop, the self-proclaimed gourmet prepper, has a few recipes sure to please and transport you far from the chaos surrounding you in the event of doomsday—if only for a moment. From a molten chocolate cake to four-cheese Italian risotto, Kellene has managed to come up with recipes made entirely from shelf-stable food ingredients. Click on to discover the possibilities of gourmet doomsday prepping.
Kellene Bishop, The Preparedness Pro, has been educating on panic-free, practical preparedness information for over 12 years. You can find more information at www.preparednesspro.com or Kellene's Facebook and Twitter pages.
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Chocolate Molten Chocolate Chocolate Cake
This dessert is the epitome of comfort food. Chocolate is always a great fix, but warm and gooey chocolate is even better. No one will ever guess that such a dish could be made from shelf-stable food ingredients.
This dish can be made in a small Crock-Pot or even better, in a solar oven. Some might find it unusual to consider sour cream and eggs as shelf-stable items, but with the availability of powdered sour cream and eggs today, or simply storing your eggs like the farmers of yesteryear, you can be assured to have everything you need for this scrumptious dessert.
Ingredients:
1 box of devil’s food cake mix
2 small (1.4 ounce) boxes of instant chocolate pudding or 1 large (3.9 ounce) package
2 cups of sour cream
¾ cup of non-hydrogenated oil (I like coconut oil the best as it enhances the flavors)
4 large eggs (or eggs equivalent)
1 t. of vanilla
1 t. of almond extract
12 ounces of semisweet chocolate chips
In a large bowl combine all of the ingredients except the chocolate chips. Mix by hand with a wooden spoon to avoid over-stirring. The mixture will be somewhat stiff to stir and a bit lumpy but you’ll need to keep stirring until you’ve incorporated all of the dry ingredients in the mix. Then add your bag of chocolate chips and stir just enough to incorporate them through the mix.
Spray a nonstick spray or rub butter on the sides and bottom of a 1.5 quart slow cooker. (The oblong ones work best for this recipe for even cooking.) Dump the mixture into the slow cooker, cover, and cook on low for three hours. Then turn the Crock-Pot to high for 35-45 minutes until done. When it’s finished, you’ll be able to gently touch the center top of the cake without getting the molten chocolate on your finger.
Serve warm for best results, but I guarantee you that even cold, it’s a memorable dessert! Most often we just dig in and serve up this dessert in a bowl of our choice, but it’s so gooey that you can actually dress it up as a far cry from “food storage.” Scoop and pack the finished cake in a small ramekin. (It’s best to spray it first with a nonstick spray or smear a little butter around the sides and bottom.) Then drizzle chocolate syrup on a large plate (Hershey’s Chocolate syrup is just fine). Quickly turn the ramekin upside down on the center of the plate, and allow the cake to release from within. It will then be a beautifully formed mound of luscious dessert. Then drizzle caramel syrup (again, Hershey’s is just fine) and add a dollop of vanilla pudding, whipped cream, or a bit of Shirley J’s Dessert Cream (prepared). Either way, you’ll have a fabulous looking dessert that will transport you far from the present state of chaos around you—if only for a moment.
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Four Cheese Italian Risotto
Pressure cookers should no longer be feared by the modern cook, as they have come so far in development and technology. A quality brand will not only provide you with the utmost in safety, but with a fabulous cooking experience regardless of whether you use the pan as a pressure cooker, or simply a pan for any other task. Pressure cookers also dramatically cut down on your fuel usage and cook time. This recipe, for example, would normally require one hour of high-maintenance cook time, constant stirring, and continually adding liquid. But this recipe requires only seven minutes of cook time and it’s so delicious it disappears in a flash.
Ingredients:
2 T. of butter (salted or unsalted is fine)
1 T. of olive oil
2 T. of dehydrated or freeze-dried onion (minced)
1 t. of minced garlic
1 t. of Shirley J’s Pizza & Pasta Seasoning (optional)
2 cups of risotto, otherwise known as arborio rice
½ cup of white cooking wine or dry white wine
4 ½ cups of water mixed with 2 teaspoons of Shirley J’s Chicken Bouillon (You can use canned chicken bouillon, but the recipe will be a bit more salty.)
1/2 to 1/3 cup of grated Parmesan or a mix of hard, white, Italian cheeses such as Asiago, Grana Padano, or mizithra,etc.
1 t. freshly ground nutmeg
Salt and pepper to taste
On medium heat, place the butter, olive oil, onion, and garlic in the pressure cooker. Stir until the butter has melted, being certain not to let the butter turn brown. Then add the Shirley J’s seasoning and the risotto. Stir just long enough to coat the risotto with the mixture. Briefly remove the pan from the heat and then add the cooking wine. With a wooden spoon, deglaze the bottom of the pan, being sure to scrape any bits of onion or garlic. Add only four cups of the chicken bouillon mixture and return to high heat, stirring the risotto to incorporate it.
When the mixture begins to simmer and steam, put the pressure cooker lid on according to the manufacturer’s directions.
Once the pressure cooker is cooking at high pressure, reduce the heat to medium-low, while maintaining the high pressure and cook at this pressure level for seven minutes.
Once the cooking time has expired, remove the pressure cooker from the heat source and release the pressure via quick-release method. Carefully open the pan with the lid facing away from you. Add the remaining one-half cup of chicken bouillon mix, cheese, salt, pepper, and freshly ground nutmeg. Stir to incorporate and serve immediately.
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Coq au Vin
This is a favorite dish of French bistro heritage and typically requires hours and hours of watchful cooking throughout the day. Some recipes even insist on preparing it in three steps, allowing for an overnight rest period, but with a pressure cooker, we’re going to convert your chicken of choice into a delightful dish that can be served on its own or with your favorite starch. This dish makes plenty of delicious gravy, so be sure you have some crusty bread to sop up the rich sauce.
Traditional recipes call for a whole chicken that’s cut into eight pieces and skinned. I personally prefer to make it with boneless, skinless thigh meat because bits of meat incorporate into the sauce, usually making it a meal in and of itself. Traditionally this recipe calls for small or pearl onions in addition to thick slices of regular onion, however, I use the dehydrated or freeze-dried minced onions. You can also incorporate fresh or freeze-dried produce in the recipe, including the addition of carrots and asparagus. The recipe traditionally calls for fresh herbs, and though they are always my first choice in any dish, dried herbs are more likely to be on your shelves at home. So feel free to use them as I’ve outlined in the recipe.
Ingredients:
4-5 slices of bacon
Whole, 4-6 pound roasting chicken, cut into 8 pieces, skinned OR you can use your own canned skinless chicken thighs
1-2 T. of olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, finely minced
2 cups of thinly sliced leeks (Use reconstituted freeze-dried or fresh, favoring the white parts the most. If using fresh be sure that they are thoroughly cleaned.)
2 T. of dehydrated crosscut celery
1.5 cups of dry, red wine or red cooking wine or sherry cooking wine–or red juice of your choice
1 cup of water combined with 1 teaspoon of Shirley J’s chicken bouillon OR 1 cup of canned chicken broth
1 large bay leaf
1/2 t. of thyme leaves
1/3 to 1/2 cup of freeze-dried mushrooms
1/3 cup of dehydrated minced onion or 1 pound of small white onions, peeled
2 T. of dried, minced parsley
2 T. of all-purpose flour combined with 2 T. of room-temperature butter
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Over medium-low heat, fry the bacon in the pressure cooker without the lid until crispy. Your goal is to render as much of the fat from the bacon as possible. Remove bacon from the pan, drain well, and then crumble. Set aside.
Using the bacon fat in the pan, brown the chicken pieces, separating them in batches as necessary to brown each of them on all sides. Set aside the chicken when finished browning. Increase the heat to medium and add the leeks and garlic, sautéing them for two to three minutes until soft. Add the celery and cooking wine and be sure to scrape up any bits of leeks and garlic from the bottom of the pan as you deglaze it with the cooking wine. This gives added flavor to your dish and prevents the pan from cooking unevenly. Stir in the chicken stock, bay leaf, thyme, and mushrooms. Stir to coat all of the ingredients. Gently place the chicken on top of the herb and vegetable mixture and then place the lid on the pressure cooker in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions.
Increase heat to high. Once high pressure is achieved begin set your timer for nine minutes. When time has expired, remove the pan from its heat source and release your pressure via the quick-release method.
Remove the lid with it tilting away from you and gently remove the chicken pieces with a slotted spoon. Set aside on a serving platter. Discard the bay leaf. Increase the heat to medium heat and then using the pressure cooker as a regular pot, bring the remaining ingredients to a boil without the lid. Slowly add the butter and flour mixture, stirring constantly to avoid scorching, until the sauce has thickened. (About two minutes). Pour about half of the sauce over the chicken and top with the crumbled bacon. Serve with your favorite starch such as pasta, rice, or potatoes. Serve the additional sauce according to your diners’ preference.
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Kellene’s Kick-Butt Breadsticks
This recipe uses about one to two pounds of your favorite bread dough (thawed) and converts it into irresistibly seasoned breadsticks that will have folks talking for years. One of the keys is to resist the urge to flour your work surface and hands as you work with this dough. Instead use butter or some other nonhydrogenated fat source on your hands and workspace.
Ingredients:
1-2 pounds of your favorite bread dough, thawed.
½ cup of melted butter
3-4 tablespoons of Mccormick’s Salad Supreme Seasoning or Shirley J’s Pizza & Pasta Seasoning
1 cup of finely grated Parmesan cheese
Roll dough out into a rectangular or oblong shape on a greased—not floured—surface. It should be about ¼ inch thickness. With a sharp knife, cut out strips of dough measuring about 1 ½ inch wide x 5 to 6 ounces long. These do not need to be exact, but they sure are pretty that way. Lightly coat the dough with the melted butter and then roll it in the shredded cheese to coat it lightly. Place the breadstick on a prepared cookie sheet (sprayed with a nonstick oil). You can place them within ¼ to ½ inch of each other on the cookie sheet. Continue this until all of the dough is used. Generously sprinkle the seasoning over each of the breadsticks. Allow to rest about 20 minutes and then bake at 350 degrees for 20-22 minutes. Serve immediately or when cooled. Cover to store at room temperature. Makes about 36-42 breadsticks.
