Chicken Soup

Every one I know seems to be under the weather right now, making it the perfect time to make a pot of chicken soup.  The beginning of fall signals the beginning of soup season in my kitchen.  A big batch of soup is easy to make and lasts all week.  This chicken soup recipe is great because feels light, but is very filling.  Soup is also very customizable and adaptable.  Some variations I’ve tried are leaving out the noodles or potatoes to cut carbs, and swapping the chicken stock for veggie stock and omitting the chicken to make it vegetarian.

I take a few short cuts to make this recipe easy.  First I pre-chip mirepoix and freeze it in advance.  Whenever I want soup, I just take some out of the freezer.  This really cuts down on the labor.  You can also purchase pre-chopped mirepoix, but it’s usually a little pricy.  I also use store bought chicken stock (I like to have a few boxes on hand in the pantry).  I have never made my own stock, but maybe someday I will.  I use a rotisserie chicken from the supermarket.  I have poached chicken breasts before for this recipe and it works really well, but rotisserie chicken is usually more cost-effective and makes for easier prep.  This recipe makes a lot of soup, which I like because it can be frozen for later or shared. Packing up some of this soup into a beautiful Weck Jar and picking up a baguette from a local bakery would be a great gesture to a sick friend.  
Chicken Soup

2 tablespoons of butter or olive oil, or 1 tablespoon of each
2 trimmed leeks (I like the package you can get at Trader Joe’s), sliced
1 bunch of fresh thyme
1 cup diced onion
1 cup diced carrots
1 cup diced celery
2 quarts chicken stock
4 small or 2 large Yukon Gold potatoes, cut in one-inch pieces
1/2 lb small noodles
1 rotisserie chicken or poached chicken breast, shredded
Salt and Pepper

Start by chopping and prepping all the ingredients so when it’s time to cook everything is ready.  Add the butter or olive oil to a large stock pot or dutch oven over medium heat.  Add the mirepoix (onion, celery, and carrot) and leeks to the pot and cook until soft.  Season with salt, pepper and thyme.  Once the onions are translucent and the carrots and celery give a little, add the stock, potatoes and noodles.  Bring everything to a boil and then turn the heat down and simmer until the potatoes are cooked (usually takes at least 25 minutes).  Add the shredded chicken and season with additional salt, pepper and thyme.  Let the soup cool and transfer it to containers to refrigerate or freeze.  When reheating a portion of soup, I like to add 1/2 cup of water because the stock tends to get absorbed by the chicken, noodles and vegetables.  

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Potato Leek Galette

 

What’s a reasonable way to have pie for dinner? A savory galette, naturally. Recently, I made one featuring leeks and Yukon golds. The beauty of the galette is that it really doesn’t have to be much of a beauty. The scraggly, folded edges give it somewhat of a rustic charm. A galette comes together pretty quickly and bakes for less than an hour. I was very tempted to use a store-bought pie dough, but it didn’t seem reasonable since I had all the ingredients for dough on hand. Galettes work well in a lot of places: a small wedge could be an appetizer or side dish with salad, roast chicken, or scrambled eggs. The versatility of a galette really lends itself to a lot of dishes. We had ours with a glass of White Burgundy.

Potato Leek Galette 

Pie Crust 

1 1/4 c. Flour
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/2 c. Butter
2-3 tbl. Water

Filling 

2 Leeks
2 Large or 4-6 Small Yukon Gold Potatoes
Thyme
3 tbl. Butter
1 tbl. Grated Parmigiano Reggiano
Salt & Pepper
1 beaten egg
Assemble the pie dough by mixing the dry ingredients, cutting in the butter, and bringing together with water.  Form the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic, and chill for at least an hour.  Preheat the oven to 400F.  For the filling, thinly slice the leeks and add to a pan with butter, thyme, salt, and pepper.  Cook until leeks soften.  Thinly slice potatoes (either using a mandolin, a knife, or a vegetable peeler).  Toss the potatoes with the cooked leeks.  Add the grated Parmigiano Reggiano.  Roll out the dough into a large circle.  I can’t emphasize enough that it doesn’t have to be perfect.  Add the filling to the center and fold up the dough around it.  Brush the pie dough with the beaten egg.  Bake for 45-55 minutes until crust is golden brown.

 

 

 

Recipe: Baked Coconut Shrimp

Baked Coconut Shrimp

 

Eating healthy while on vacation is absolutely a challenge.  For me it’s so hard to pass up the opportunity to try new things.  Back in April on a trip to Sanibel Island, Florida, I made a point to cook a healthy (Whole 30-compliant) meal.  Inspired by Florida flavors, I made coconut shrimp with an avocado-lime slaw.  I love this dish because it has a great balance of protein, healthy fat and nutrient-dense vegetables.  To cut down on cooking time I bought a pre-made slaw mix and just made the dressing.  Simplicity is key when cooking in someone else’s kitchen.

My Go-To Smoothie Recipe

I don’t have a cutsie name for the green smoothie I start my day with every morning but I would describe it as well-balanced and tropical.  It’s made with spinach, pineapple, orange and coconut.  The spinach is packed full of vitamins, the fruit adds sweetness and potassium, and the coconut milk adds plenty of fat to keep me full.  I usually have this with eggs for breakfast but will sometimes just take the smoothie alone to go.  No, I do not have a Vitamix.  I use this blender by KitchenAid.  I would recommend this blender because it’s only $100 and has never given me any issues.  I make a big batch of the smoothie, pour it into silicone ice cube trays and freeze.  When I want to make a smoothie I just blend a 5 cubes with a half cup of water. Surprisingly to me the cubes keep their flavor for well past a week in my freezer.  I love making the smoothie with frozen cubes because it creates a refreshing, slushy effect and the smoothie will stay cold for a long time on the go (I love Working Glasses because they are inexpensive, durable, and easy to clean).

Hot Chocolate

When the weather looks like this (my actual back yard) and people are throwing around terms like Polar Vortex nothing is more appealing than a little hot chocolate.  Now I can’t hate on Swiss Miss too hard, but, Parisians are the true masters of Le Chocolat Chaud.  Powder packets are a staple in American “rip and dump” cooking.  But you know what tastes better?  Actual melted chocolate.

Straight Up Hot Chocolate the European Way:

1 c. Milk

1/3 c. Chocolate Chips

1/2 tsp. brown sugar

Let me talk about the milk situation for a second.  People are really weird about milk.  I’m team skim milk and it’s honestly the only milk I’ve ever known.  Now I understand that sometimes for cooking skim is not ideal but I usually just use it anyway.  The milk isn’t really the star of this recipe, now is it?  Just use whatever milk you have and I’m sure everything will be fine.  I’m sure a heavier milk would make this taste better but it’s fine with skim milk.  When I want to get fancy I might do like 3/4 skim milk and 1/4 half and half or whatever.  I’m sure almond milk would also be pretty awesome here.

Anyway the direction is pretty simple.  Just throw the milk in a little sauce pan (it’s better if it has a pseudo spout on the end for the sake of pouring) and put it on medium-lowish heat.  It shouldn’t boil.  Now I chose to get fancy and use two milks here but again the milk thing is really not a big deal.  Whisk that milk until it’s a little foamy looking.  Here’s an action shot.

Now turn the heat down a bit and slowly pour in the chocolate chips and brown sugar.  The brown sugar is critical, it makes the stuff taste like a cookie.  I caution the chip pouring because of the splash factor.  This hot chocolate is so good you won’t want to waste even a single drop.  When you pour in the chips stir it up until it’s all melted and the mixture is a really nice rich brown.  Now it isn’t going to look dark enough but as the chocolate melts the color deepens so just be a little patient before dumping in more chocolate (I’ve made this mistake).

And that’s it!  This is really strong so serve it in an espresso cup.  It’s not a lot of effort and usually the ingredients are on hand but it’s way more impressive than powder packet hot chocolate.  A little suggestion, if I may: skip the marshmallows.  This is super sweet and it doesn’t need anything add ins.  I know mini marshmallows would look adorable in this mini cup of hot chocolate, but it would just be a mistake.  You have to be strong and resist.

Bialetti Moka Pot

Recently I purchased an Italian coffee pot and it makes a truly great product.  I love coffee and espresso but not enough to spend thousands of dollars on a legit espresso machine, but my Bialetti Moka Pot works just fine.  From what I’ve heard, the more the pot is used, the better the coffee tastes.  The Internet is full of stories about people pulling these out of their grandma’s attic and using them for years.  They are relatively inexpensive ranging from about $20 upwards depending on retailer and capacity (note that the capacity is measured expresso cups, approximately 2 oz, not 8 0z of liquid).  The coffee is not a true espresso but it is very strong and richer in taste than drip coffee.  I hear the coffee produced makes a great cappuccino or latte but I only like black coffee.  These little pots are pretty intuitive but don’t actually come with instructions.  After scouring YouTube tutorials, articles, and forums, lots of trial and error, and a moderate dose of patience, I think I’ve come up with a good method.

Here’s what to do:

• Warm up a burner to medium heat
• Boil water
• Once water is boiled and the burner is warm, add hot water to the bottom chamber of the moka pot, fill just below the steam valve
• Place in coffee holder and fill with coffee (I used Illy), then screw on top.  Make sure to hold the bottom with a pot holder (it’s hot)
• Set the pot directly on the stove until coffee erupts and fills the pot (listen for a gurgling noise), remove from heat when top is full
• Place hot pot on a trivet
• Serve coffee with a small cookie and enjoy.

Bialetti Moka Pot Sur La Table (34.95), Illy Coffee Sur La Table (15.95), Plate CB2 (1.95), Espresso Cup and Saucer Crate and Barrel (3.95), Espresso Spoon Crate and Barrel (2.50)