Chicken Noodle Soup

Why buy canned soup when you can easily make a better and healthier soup for a lot less.  I always keep a jar of condensed Better Than Bouillon chicken stock on the door of the fridge so I don’t have to plan, you never know when you’re going to need a bowl of chicken soup. 

Start with the fresh vegetables, chop them up, and sauté in the bottom of a soup pot with a little bit of oil; Onions, celery, carrots, mushrooms, fennel, cabbage, whatever you like.  If you use arugula or escarole, or frozen corn or peas, you should add them to your soup at the end.  After ten minutes add your raw meat cut up into small pieces; Chicken, sausage, beef, pork, again, anything goes.  If you’re using leftover meat that’s already been cooked do not add it until the end. 

Add a couple of cups of water per portion of soup and figure about a teaspoon of stock for each cup of water.  Bring to a boil and immediately turn down to a simmer before adding your leafy or frozen vegetables, cooked meat, canned beans, or dry pasta.  For the pasta make sure you simmer long enough to cook through.  I broke a small handful of angel hair pasta into one inch pieces this time around.  This is also the point at which you scour the fridge for suitable leftovers, chop them up and throw them in, very satisfying.  Now all you need is some great bread…soups up.

Creamy Chicken Polenta

You know when you haven’t made something in a while and then when you do you say, “why don’t I make that more often?”  Polenta is one of those things, such a great comfort food.  In a large frying pan sauté an onion and some sliced mushrooms in a little bit of oil for a few minutes.  Slice your chicken breast into one to two inch chunks and brown them for a minute on each side in the pan with your vegetables.  Once browned add a jar of your favorite tomato sauce, I prefer Rao’s Marinara.  While your chicken mixture is simmering, in a small pot add a teaspoon of chicken stock to three cups of water, bring to a boil, add a cup of dry polenta, then turn down to simmer.  I find it definitely helps to stir the polenta often but it only takes a few minutes for it to reach oatmeal consistency.  At this point turn off the heat, add a one inch slab of butter, a generous amount of grated parmesan, and a little salt…stir then cover until you are ready to serve.  I know, “why don’t I make this more often?”

Raw Butternut Squash Salad

Who would have thought, butternut squash, raw?  The texture reminds me of a green papaya salad.  Start by soaking your raisins of dried cranberries in a small bowl of rice wine or white balsamic vinegar.  Peel and seed the squash and shred into a bowl with a box grater.  Before serving toss with your soaked fruit and vinegar, pine nuts or slivered almonds, a few splashes of extra virgin and olive oil, and kosher salt and pepper to taste.  Don’t hesitate to add additional vinegar if you think it needs it.  Crunchy, sweet, sour, and totally refreshing…a great winter salad.

Kale Caesar Salad

The kale is a nice for a change, especially this time of year.  After deveining and chopping the kale into small pieces it’s all about the dressing.  In an empty Ball or peanut butter jar add one whole egg, a chopped garlic clove, an anchovy or squeeze of anchovy paste, a dollop of Dijon mustard, and a half inch of extra virgin olive oil.  Insert your stick blender so it’s resting on the bottom of the jar and blend on high while slowly lifting the blades up through the mixture.  Once it starts to thicken add another half inch of oil, kosher salt, black pepper, and lemon juice, then blend for another ten to twenty seconds.  You could probably use the same technique in a blender or Cuisinart but I've never tried.  Regardless, it’s important to let it sit for fifteen minutes before tossing with your kale, parmesan, and croutons.  You will never buy another bottled Caesar or go to the trouble of whisking again.

Nachos Supreme

With the final two weekends of football upon us nachos should be very much on your brain.  Amazing nachos are all about the layering, you don’t want any naked chips.  Start by preheating your oven to 450 and then combine a can of enchilada sauce and a can of pinto or black beans in a small pot on low heat.  In a frying pan cook a pound of your meat of choice; ground beef, braised brisket, chili, or Italian or pork chorizo sausages.  I simply split them down the middle to remove the casing and they easily broke apart while cooking. Turn off the heat once the meat is cooked. 

There’s going to be two layers, begin by covering the bottom of a cookie sheet or large oven proof dish with your favorite tortilla chips.  Following, spoon about half of both your enchilada bean sauce and meat mixture evenly over the chips in addition to a little shredded cheese, I like the Cabot Fancy Blend of Mozzarella and Cheddar.  Pile on the rest of your chips then spoon out the rest of your sauce and meat before covering completely with the shredded cheese, and I mean completely, no skimping on the cheese.

Bake for ten to fifteen minutes then when the cheese has completely melted finish off under the broiler for just a minute.  Serve with sour cream, chopped scallions, avocado, and your favorite salsa.  If you like your nachos on the spicy side add some hot sauce to the enchilada sauce and beans, this way the heat will be spread throughout.

Smoked Paprika Fried Chickpeas

These are amazing in a salad, I tossed them with some chopped cabbage, cilantro, extra virgin olive oil, kosher salt, and rice wine vinegar…the combination of flavors and textures was fantastic.

Strain a can of chickpeas then roll and let them dry for half an hour in a dish towel.  While they are drying heat an eighth inch of veggie oil in a pan until it’s hot enough for a pea to sizzle when it hits the oil.  In a large bowl combine a half teaspoon of salt with a teaspoon of El Rey smoked paprika, half dulce and half picante if you like a bit of a zip.  They have both here at the East Warren Store and most finer food stores.  After testing your oil to make sure it’s hot enough add the peas and roll around occasionally for ten minutes or until they are slightly browned and crispy on the outside.  Remove the peas from the oil and let them sit for a minute on a brown paper bag.  Then it’s just a matter of tossing them in the bowl with your smoked paprika mixture until they are evenly coated.  I actually used two cans of chickpeas so there would be leftovers, it just took a couple of minutes in the toaster oven to crisp them up again the next day....great snack with a drink or perfect in my squash curry soup.

Egg Pizza

This one came out of no where, a pizza ball I had pulled out of the freezer two days before, and a few hungry teenagers for breakfast.  After sautéing up some onions and mushrooms and preheating the oven to 500 I cut the pizza ball up into lime sized balls.  I then rolled them as thin as I could one at a time with a rolling pin, brushed them with olive oil, covered with a little shredded mozzarella and kosher salt, and spread the mushroom and onions out making sure to leave a space in the middle for the cracked egg.  After dropping the egg I quickly and carefully transferred them one at a time to my hot pizza stone and baked for ten to fifteen minutes.  They were a huge hit, would work just as well with arugula, peppers, or just the cheese.

Lemon Caper Anchovy Chicken

Last night it was a lemon, caper, anchovy sauce but with this classic preparation it could be made a lot of different ways depending on your taste and what you happen to have on hand.  Start by cutting your boneless skinless chicken breasts in half then pound the pieces out to half their thickness by individually placing them in a clear plastic bag and flattening with a meat pounder or rolling pin.  After salting, peppering, and dusting each piece in flour brown them on both sides with olive oil in a large frying pan then set them aside before they cook through.  Turn heat down to medium then add your capers (I prefer the ones packed in salt rather than vinegar), minced anchovies or a squirt of anchovy paste, and lemon juice;  or sliced mushrooms and scallions;  or chopped olives and shallots…you get the idea.  Sauté for a few minutes then add a cup of liquid: white wine, chicken stock, marsala, or sweet vermouth.  Let the sauce reduce for a couple of minutes, salt and pepper to taste, then return the chicken to the pan long enough to heat through.  Serve with the sauce, and if you really want to get fancy garnish with some chopped parsley.

Beef Carpaccio

What can I say, I roasted a tenderloin for New Years Eve, well actually the night before New Years, but yes, I was cliché.  But there’s a reason why a tenderloin for New Years is cliché, it’s really really good every time…as long as you don’t overcook it.  So when I saw the leftover very rare tenderloin in the fridge late Sunday morning I got very excited…Carpaccio.  I put it in the freezer for half an hour to firm it up and sharpened my best knife.  After slicing the beef as thinly as I could I covered the bottom of a chilled plate carefull not to overlap the slices then topped them with some coarse salt, a little bit of arugula, a generous drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, and some shaved parmesan.  An incredible way to bring in the New Year, can’t believe I had never served it before.  Happy 2012!

Shrimp Cakes

Looking for that special appetizer for the holidays, think shrimp, here’s a bit of Cuisinart magic.  To the Cuisinart add a chopped garlic clove, fresh minced ginger, two chopped scallions, some chopped cilantro, a few slices of minced jalapeno, a squeeze of lime, then some hot sauce, kosher salt, and pepper to taste…pulse until pasty.  (If you're lacking some of the fresh ingredients you could improvise with some Asian condiments, hoisin, black bean paste, curry, or fish sauce.)  Then add an egg and a pound of shelled raw shrimp, I like the IQF easy peel variety.  Pulse until the shrimp is coarsely chopped, not mushy.  Pour out into a large bowl, mix with two cups of panko bread crumbs, form into small patties, and fry up with a small amount of oil in a large pan.  I served them with a cilantro lime sauce that I made intin the cuisinart like I would a pesto using cilantro leaves, oil, salt, hot sauce, and lime juice.  Cheers!

Turkey Soup

Don’t throw out that turkey carcass!  The post holiday dinner turkey coma is a tough one to overcome but what I like to do is break the carcass into pieces and seal them in a zip lock bag with whatever other bones are leftover and throw them in the freezer.  I was so excited to rediscover my Thanksgiving turkey carcass last weekend, perfect for a winter Sunday soup.  In a large pot I coarsely chopped and sautéed a large onion, half a dozen carrots and celery stalks along with some coarsely ground black pepper.  Once the vegetables began to brown I placed my assorted turkey components in the pot and filled with enough cold water to submerge all. After bringing to a boil I lowered the heat to a slow boil and let reduce for two hours. 

At this point I removed the bones with a pair of tongs and added some additional chicken stock concentrate to taste, I prefer Better Than Bullion.  A jar of stock paste only costs a bit more than a box of liquid stock, yields four times the amount, and will last in the fridge for months and months.  A much better way to go and you are always sure to have stock on hand.  Anyway, once cooled I pulled whatever meat I could find from my carcass and added it to my simmering soup along with a bag of arugula, a couple of cans of white navy beans, and some leftover chicken meatballs.  But just about anything goes, rice, noodles, spinach, cabbage, or some cooked sausage…and the smell of your house will make that Sunday afternoon on the couch reading or watching football that much better.  Happy Holidays!

Sausage Appetizer

This was a last minute pot luck appetizer, would work with just about any sausage.  I grilled the sausage in a frying pan over high heat until both sides were nicely browned.  With a pair of tongs I took the links out one by one and on my cutting board sliced them into chunks before returning them to the pan.  Once I could see they were cooked through I added two heaping tablespoonfuls of my favorite hot and spicy mustard, tossed for a minute then plated them with a slotted spoon so as not to pickup too much of the grease.  A little green onion for garnish.  Instead of mustard a spicy tomato sauce or a mixture of honey and hot sauce would work as well.