CONFESSION: Chicken soup is reserved only for when I’m sick. Much like 7-up and flat coca-cola, chicken soup just tastes like being sick to me when I’m healthy. I feel pretty much the same for all chicken broth-based soups. Conversely, when I’m not feeling well, there’s nothing better.

I prefer to make this with a whole chicken, making my own stock, but sometimes I just don’t have the time. Shortcut Wife Soup is actually quite easy if you’ve got the chicken stock to start with. I love the Kirkland Chicken Stock that we buy from Costco by the case. It’s not overly salty like Swanson’s, and has a richer flavor. The trick to it is seasoning it to your tastes. I prefer mine very heavy on the herbs, not so much with the salt, but again, I don’t really measure spices much, but this is how I made Wife Soup… this time around, anyway.

INGREDIENTS:

• Two chicken breasts (or one full split breast)
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 medium-large carrots, diced
• 1 large potato, diced (seeing a theme here?)
• 1/2 small cabbage, chopped
• 8 cloves of garlic — yes, I said eight — crushed. Keep three or four separate.
• Ground Sage (a couple pinches)
• French Thyme (a couple pinches)
• Rosemary (yup, a couple pinches)
• Seasoned Salt (I prefer Penzey’s 4S Seasoned Salt) and Pepper to taste
• Fresh Parsley, chopped. I probably use about 1/4 cup. I love the stuff in this soup
• 1 Bay Leaf
• 64 oz. (2 cartons) of Chicken Stock
• Kluski Egg Noodles (if you can find them) or other egg noodles (I used No Yolks this time)

Put about 1 tbsp EVOO in the bottom of your soup pan. Add all but 3-4 of the crushed garlic cloves and the diced onion. Sauté until soft, then add the carrots and potatoes. Sprinkle with the ground sage and sauté for a couple minutes. Add one container of broth and the rest of the dried herbs and bring to a boil.

While this is going, dice the chicken breasts and toss with seasoned salt, pepper and some rosemary. Heat another tsbp of EVOO in a sauté pan an add the garlic when hot. Cook until it is a little soft but not browned and add the chicken. Cook until the outside of the chicken is browned slightly and add the chicken, herbs and oil to the soup base. Lower heat.

Add the second carton of chicken stock, the bay leaf and parsley. Add the cabbage and let simmer for 30 minutes, tasting frequently and adjusting the seasonings to your taste.

This is even better after the first night, but it’s really yummy right away.

When I offered to host vegan friends for our weekly TV night this seemed like an exciting challenge! I combined the recipe for Mark Bittman’s Faux Pho with a couple recipes I found online to create the amazing broth. I made a double-batch for our dinner party, and served it up with all the fixins, many picked up at my local H-Mart Asian Grocer:

• Mung bean sprouts
• Thai Basil
• Cilantro
• Sliced Jalapeño
• Five-Spice Tofu, cubed
• Napa Cabbage
• Pea Pods
• Fresh Lime Wedges
• Hoisin Sauce
• Sriracha Sauce
• Thinly sliced steak for the carnivores

The recipe for the wonderfully rich vegan broth follows behind the cut. This made 8 dinner servings for my dinner party but could easily be cut in half. It was an enormous hit and I’ll definitely be making it for another dinner party in the future!

Vegan Pho Broth

• 2 tbsp peanut oil
• 8 cloves of garlic, minced
• 3 tbsp ginger (I minced some fresh and the rest I used from a jar)
• 3/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
  
• 3 star anise pods
• 3 cinnamon sticks
• 4 bay leaves
• 12 cups water

In the bottom of a stock pot heat up your peanut oil. Sauté the garlic and ginger until just softened. Add the soy sauce, coriander and nutmeg and stir to combine. Let cook for 1–2 minutes and add the water, star anise, cinnamon sticks and bay leaves.

Bring to a rolling boil and let cook for 10 minutes. Remove the star anise and cinnamon sticks or the flavor runs the risk of becoming too strong. I let my broth sit for 3–4 hours (made it at lunchtime, served it at dinner time) so the flavor of the broth could really develop.

Serve the broth over Vietnamese rice noodles (prepare to package directions) and garnish with fresh veggies and condiments as listed above.

]]> http://www.shortcutchef.com/archives/529/feed 0 http://www.shortcutchef.com/archives/515 http://www.shortcutchef.com/archives/515#comments Sat, 19 Feb 2011 16:06:55 +0000 Tiara Lynn http://www.shortcutchef.com/?p=515 Last night I came dangerously close to choosing a jarred sauce to pair with the lobster ravioli we splurged on at The Pasta Shoppe in Oak Park. I had the jar of alfredo all ready to go, and while I’m sure I’d have loved it (Bertolli Alfredo may not be authentic, but it’s divine), I was in the mood for something fresher, and I wanted a great way to use the large bunch of spinach from our produce delivery. That’s when the idea for vodka sauce came to mind.

I’ve never made a vodka sauce before, but this was easily the best homemade sauce I have ever made. I found a bunch of recipes online. Some asked for one cup of vodka, others called for only 2 tbsp (!?!). Very few used spinach, but that was a key ingredient of mine.  So, without a clear recipe I ended up combining elements of  to create this amazing sauce. I served it with lobster ravioli, but it would also be an amazing vegetarian dish if you substitute vegetable stock for the chicken stock. Here’s what I did (the recipe is behind the cut):

Spinach Vodka Sauce

• 1 shallot, diced fine
• 1/2 small onion, diced fine
• 4 cloves garlic, diced fine
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp butter
• 4–6 cubes Dorot frozen basil (get it at Trader Joes in the freezer section)
• 1 cup chicken stock (I’ve been singing the praises of Kirkland Organic Chicken Stock from Costco lately)
• 1 can (28 oz) chopped or crushed tomatoes
• 1 large bunch spinach leaves (or a bag of baby spinach). Leave baby spinach leaves as they are, but cut large leaves down.
• Splash of half & half (what I had on hand) or heavy cream
• 2–4 tbsp fresh grated asiago, parmesan or romano cheese
• Salt, pepper, crushed red pepper to taste
• 1 cup plus 1 splash vodka (we used whatever we used to refill our Crystal Head Vodka bottle; a Russian vodka in a less awesome bottle, I thnk… but I digress)

Heat your oil and butter in a large skillet or saucepan. Add the garlic, onions, shallots and basil and sauté for about 5 minutes or so. Add 1 cup of vodka (keep the bottle around for a splash later) and reduce by about half. Add the chicken stock and tomatoes (with juice). When it starts bubbling, reduce the heat. Taste often and season with salt, pepper and crushed red pepper to taste.

After the mixture reduces and starts to become thick and saucy, add the cheese, fine-tune the flavors and add the splash of vodka. Reduce a bit more, then add the spinach until wilted. Before you serve it, add a splash of cream to taste. I like a little, but you can use up to 1/2 cup or more if you want it creamier. The little bit of creaminess will help it stick to your pasta. Taste again and adjust seasonings as necessary before serving.

Serve over pasta and garnish with some freshly grated cheese.

We’re not saving any money by joining a produce delivery service. Buying local and organic is hella expensive, and it’s even more expensive to have a Fresh Picks Double Box delivered to our door farm-fresh (or damn near it) every other week. That said, signing up for deliveries from Irv & Shelly’s Fresh Picks is one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. We worried we’d feel that we were wasting money, but so far it’s been worth every penny.

Why’d we do it?
For a couple reasons, really. Sure, we can get produce for much less from our local grocery store, but I love the idea of buying local and supporting local farmers. But that’s not the main reason we do this.

A Nudge in the Right Direction
The most common argument we hear from people considering joining a CSA or service like Fresh Picks, is that they’re afraid the produce will go to waste. But that’s the beauty of this, for us at least.

• The produce is SO much fresher than in the grocery stores it seems to have a never-ending shelf-life. Since we started we haven’t thrown a bit of produce away. We’ve easily been able to cook everything before it goes even a little bad; plus it lasts us the full two weeks between deliveries.
• We’re making TONS of veg for every meal now, and getting creative!! We’ve both lost weight and are feeling loads better since making this change to our diet. Having the piles of veg encourages us to (a) cook at home more and (b) cook with more veg, which necessarily makes everything healthier.
• We’re trying new things? Who knew rainbow chard would become a new favorite? When would I have ever bought fennel, or mizuna?  Probably never, but I’m having so many cooking adventures!

We’ve thought about joining a cropshare program, but the annual commitment scares me a bit. For now, we’re loving Fresh Picks and can’t say enough good things about them! We’re looking forward to a year full of new adventures in cooking with these interesting ingredients!

(Note: I found the photo all over the internets. I’d be happy to credit it to someone if I learn who the photographer is)

I’ve loved the original How to Cook Everything for years, so when my husband and I decided to become Less-Meatarians and make vegetables and fresh produce a more prominent part of our diet I immediately picked up the vegetarian version of the book and I’m so glad I did!!

For the tilapia served in this meal I just seasoned it with some Spice House Chesapeake Bay seasoning, but the star of this meal was certainly the Chard with Orange and Shallots.

Luckily, Mark Bittman has posted the recipe online to share with all, but I’m going to share it here with the changes that I made to the recipe.

Rainbow Chard with Caramelized Onions, Shallots and Clementines

• 1 pound chard, washed and trimmed
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 shallots, thinly sliced
• *1/2 small sweet onion, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• *1 clementine, coarsely chopped with the skin on
• *2 tablespoons O Pomegranate Champagne Vinegar
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

You can get the prep instructions here.

The flavor was incredible. The sweetness of the orange and caramelized onions, the sourness of the vinegar, the bitterness of the chard greens and the clementine peel that softened deliciously and really completed the dish in a surprising way. I would actually consider making this as a main course because it was so delicious.

Stick around. I think this is going to be pretty awesome.

When I bought the pork chops from Costco, I thought they were stacked two deep in the package. What I found when I opened the package was beautiful, impossibly thick chops that were begging to be stuffed.

QUICK TIP: StoveTop Stuffing is boring and salty on its own, but bulk it up with carrots, pears or apples, onions and celery and it cuts the saltiness down considerably. I start by putting a little butter or olive oil in a small pot. I sauté the vegetables (and apple/pear) until a little bit softened before adding  the vegetable or chicken stock (whatever I have around, in the quantity required for the recipe). I bring the veggies to a boil until the carrots are soft. From that point, just follow the box directions and you’re set!

I’ve also developed an obsession for squash soup thanks to Irv & Shelly’s Fresh Picks, a local produce service that we’ve had delivering new and exciting produce to us every other week. My secret to amazing squash soup?

1) Roast the squash with some red pepper, onions, olive oil and herbs

2) Blend with chicken or vegetable stock (I like a thicker soup, so I don’t use much)

3) Add a splash of half & half

4) LET IT SIT FOR AT LEAST 24 HOURS. Seriously. The flavors in this need to blend and evolve.

I love this on its own or mixed with chunks of chicken breasts as a delicious saucy treat. I’m sad butternut squash is pretty much done for the season, but I did the same thing with a carnival squash and it was *almost* as good. Almost.

The Gruyere Chik’n Cutlets made the most phenomenal “chicken parm” (although it lacked both actual chicken and parmesan cheese). Once again, this was another case of meat? Who needs meat?!

I made a sauce that started with a jar of marinara sauce, a bunch of carrots and onions. I cannot express how amazing this product is. Quorn’s not for everyone, I’ve heard, but it’s one of my favorite things in the world.

CONFESSION: I really want a Mexican grandmother. I make outstanding Mexican food, if I do say so myself. I’m incredibly comfortable with the flavor profiles, but there are some dishes — some of my favorite dishes — that I just can’t tackle. Chiles rellenos, stuffed peppers, and tamales, are the ones best taught, I figure, by a nice Mexican grandmother.

Don’t let the looks of the above dish deceive you. Even though this was absolutely delicious, it’s actually kind of a failure. The batter barely stuck to the peppers and they exploded all over the place. I was barely able to form this one into something that looked appetizing.

But, as I said, it was delicious, despite it’s questionable success. For Meatless Monday I stuffed the pepper with soy chorizo — all the flavor of chorizo with a LOT less grease and fat. I served it up with a cheese and green chile tamale from Trader Joe’s and some meatless Mexican rice.

One of the things I’m really loving about Meatless Mondays is how little I miss the meat in these meals. This felt hearty and meaty.

Also, if anybody’s got a favorite chiles rellenos recipe to share, throw it my way. Or, y’know, if you have a Mexican grandmother, I’d totally pay for an afternoon-long cooking class.