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Here are the tastingspoons players. I’m in the middle (Carolyn). Daughter Sara on the right, and daughter-in-law Karen on the left. I started the blog in 2007, as a way to share recipes with my family. I’m still doing 99% of the blogging and holding out hope that these two lovely and excellent cooks will participate. They both lead very busy lives, so we’ll see.

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BOOK READING (from Carolyn):

Music of Bees, Eileen Garvin. Absolutely charming book about a woman in midlife, lonely, who raises bees, also makes unlikely friends. Heart-warming and very interesting about beekeeping.

A Postcard from Paris, Alex Brown. Really cute story. Dual time line, 1940s and present day about renovating an old apartment in Paris, things discovered.

Time of the Child, Niall Williams. Oh such a good book. Very small village in Ireland, 1960s. A baby is left on the doorstep. The town all whispers and helps. I listened to an interview of the author, which made me like him and his books even more.

Sipsworth, Simon Van Booy. If you like animals you’ll swoon. An old woman who really wants to die finds a tiny mouse in her house and befriends it and finds a reason to live. Utterly charming book.

The Forger’s Spell, Edward Dolnick. True story. For seven years a no-account painter named Han van Meegeren managed to pass off his paintings as those of Johannes Vermeer.

If You Lived Here, You’d be Home by Now, Christopher Ingraham. Could hardly put it down – about a journalist who takes on a challenge to move to small town in Minnesota and write about it. He expects to hate it and the people and place, but he doesn’t. Absolutely wonderful true story.

The River We Remember, William Kent Kreuger. 1950s, Minnesota. A murder and the aftermath. Could hardly put it down. Kreuger has such a vivid imagination and writing style.

How the Lights Gets In, Joyce Maynard. An older woman returns to New Hampshire to help care for her brain-injured son. Siblings and family, lots of angst and resentments.

The Filling Station, Vanessa Miller. Every American should read this book. A novelized retelling of the Tulsa massacre in 1921. Absolutely riveting.

The Story She Left Behind, Patti Callahan Henry. Love this author. Based on a true story. A famous author simply vanishes, leaving her husband and daughter behind. She had invented a mystical language no one could translate. Present day, someone thinks he’s solved the riddle, contacts the family. Really interesting read.

The Girl from Berlin, Ronald Balson. Love anything about Tuscany. An elderly woman is being evicted from a villa there, with odd deed provenance. Two young folks go there to help unravel the mystery. Loved it.

The Island of the Colorblind, Oliver Sacks, M.D. Nonfiction. The dr is intrigued by a remote Pacific island where most of the inhabitants are colorblind. He also unravels a mystery on Guam of people born with a strange neurological problem. Medical mysteries unveiled. Very interesting.

The Bookbinder, Pip Williams. Post 1914 London. Two sisters work at a bookbindery. They’re told to not read the books. One does and one doesn’t. One has visions beyond her narrow world; the other does not. Eventually the one gets into Oxford. Lovely story.

The Paris Express, Emma Donoghue. 1895 on a train to Paris, a disaster happens. You’ll delve into the lives of many people who survived and died in the crash.

A Race to the Bottom of Crazy, Richard Grant. This is about Arizona. Author, wife and child move back to Arizona where they once lived. Part memoir, research, and reporting in a quest to understand what makes Arizona such a confounding and irresistible place.

The Scarlet Thread, Francine Rivers. A woman’s life turned upside down when she discovers the handcrafted quilt and journal of her ancestor Mary Kathryn McMurray, a young woman who was uprooted from her home only to endure harsh frontier conditions on the Oregon Trail.

A Place to Hide, Ronald Balson. 1939 Amsterdam, an ambassador has the ability to save the lives of many Jewish children. Heartwarming.

Homeseeking, Karissa Chen. Two young Chinese teens are deeply in love, but in China. Then their families are separated. Jump to current day and the two meet again in Los Angeles.

North River, Pete Hammill. He always writes such a good story. A doctor works diligently healing people from all walks of life. His wife and daughter left him years before. One day his 3-yr old grandson arrives on his doorstep.

A Very Typical Family, Sierra Godfrey. A very messed-up family. Three adult children are given a home in Santa Cruz, Calif, but only if the siblings meet up and live in the house together. A very untypical scenario but makes for lots of messes.

Three Days in June, Anne Tyler. The usual Anne Tyler grit. Family angst. This wasn’t one of my favorites, but it was entertaining and very short.

Saved, Benjamin Hall. Author is a veteran war reporter. Ukraine, 2022, he nearly loses his life to a Russian strike. Riveting story – he survives, barely.

Grey Wolf, Louise Penny. Another Inspector Gamache mystery in Quebec. She is such an incredible mystery writer.

All the Colors of the Dark, Chris Whitaker. A missing person mystery, a serial killer thriller, a love story, a unique twist on each. Could hardly put it down.

Orbital, Samantha Harvey. Winner of 2024 Booker Prize. I don’t usually like those, but I heard the author interviewed and she hooked me. This is not a normal book with a beginning, a story and an end. It’s several chapters of the day in the life of various astronauts at the ISS (Int’l Space Station). All fictional. She’s been praised by several real astronauts for “getting it” about space station everyday life.

The Blue Hour, Paula Hawkins. An island off Scotland. Inaccessible except when the tide is out. Weird goings on. An artist. A present day mystery too.

Iron Lake, William Kent Krueger. A judge is murdered and a boy is missing. Riveting mystery.

Tell the Wolves I’m Home, Carol Ricks Brunt. 1980s. A 14-yr old girl loses her beloved uncle. Yet a new friendship arises, someone she never knew about.

Four Treasures of the Sky, Jenny Zhang. 1880s, a young girl is kidnapped in China and brought to the United States. She survives with many hurdles in the path.

The Boy Who Fell out of the Sky, Ken Dornstein. Memoir, 1988. The author’s brother died in the PanAm flight that went down in Lockerbie, Scotland. A decade later he tries to solve “the riddle of his older brother’s life.”

Worse Care Scenario, T.J. Newman. Oh my. Interesting analysis of what could/might happen if a jet crashed into a nuclear plant. Un-put-downable.

Song of the Lark, Willa Cather. Complicated weave of a story about a young woman in about 1900, who has a gifted voice (singing) and about her journey to success, not without its ups and downs.

Crow Talk, Eileen Garvin. Charming story which takes place at a remote lake in Washington State, about a few people who inhabit it, the friendships made, but also revolving around the rescue of a baby crow.

The Story Collector, Evie Woods. Sweet story about some dark secrets from an area in Ireland, a bit magical, faerie life, but solving a mystery too.

A Sea of Unspoken Things, Adrienne Young. A woman investigates her twin brother’s mysterious death. She goes to a small town in California to figure it out, to figure HIM out.

The King’s Messenger, Susanna Kearsley. 1600s England, King James. About one of his trusted “messengers,” and his relationship with a young woman also of “the court.” Lots of intrigue.

In the Shadow of the Greenbrier, Emily Matchar. Interesting mystery in/around the area of the famous resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.

Isola, Allegra Goodman. Hard to describe, survival story on an island in the 1600s.

Save the Date, Allison Raskin. Rom-com, witty, LOL funny. Clever.

The Sirens, Emilia Hart. Numerous time-lines, Australia. Mysteries abound, nightmares, abandoned baby, weird allergies.

Red Clay, Charles Fancher. LOVED this book. Mostly post-Civil War story about the lives of slaves in Alabama during Reconstruction.

Stars in an Italian Sky, Jill Santopolo. Dual time line, 1946 and recent time. Love stories and a mystery.

Battle Mountain, C.J. Box. Another one of Box’s riveting mysteries. Love his descriptions of the land.

Something Beautiful Happened, Yvette Corporon. A memoir of sorts in Greece, tiny island of Erikousa, where the locals hid Jews during WWII. All elusive stories told by the author’s grandmother.

The Jackal’s Mistress, Chris Bohjalian. 1860s Virginia, about a woman who saves the life of a Union soldier. Really good story.

Song of the Magpie, Louise Mayberry. Really interesting story about Australia back in the days when it was mostly a penal colony. Gritty strength of a woman trying to thrive with her farm.

The Boomerang, Robert Bailey. A thriller that will have you gripping the book. About a lot of secrets surrounding the president (fictional novel, remember) and his chief of staff and about cancer. A cure. Such a good story.

Care and Feeding, Laurie Woolever. Really interesting memoir of a woman driven to succeed in the restaurant business. She worked for Mario Batali and then Anthony Bourdain. Gritty stories.

Everything is Tuberculosis, John Green. Maybe not a book for everyone. A real deep dive into the deadly tuberculosis infection, its history. I heard the author interviewed and found the book very interesting.

The Book Lovers Library, Madeline Martin. Fascinating read about Boots’ drug stores’ lending library. And the people who worked in them.

The Arrivals, Meg Mitchell Moore. LOL funny, about a middle-aged couple whose children (and their various family members) return to the family home and the chaos that ensues.

My Life as a Silent Movie, Jesse Lee Kercheval. About grief. A big move to Paris, finding herself a new life with a new set of real blood family.

Escape, Carolyn Jessop. Another memoir about a woman really in bondage in Utah, Mormon plural marriage.

 

Tasting Spoons

My blog's namesake - small, old and some very dented engraved silver plated tea spoons that belonged to my mother-in-law, and I use them to taste my food as I'm cooking.

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Posted in Chicken, on June 6th, 2012.

kellers_roast_chix_veggies

If I were to tell you that this dish is super-easy, would you believe me? Most of Thomas Keller’s recipes are long and arduous. Not this one. And to me, there’s really nothing quite so tasty as a freshly roasted whole chicken hot out of the oven. Read on.

lo_cropAfter being away for a few days (attending our oldest grandson’s high school graduation – see Logan, right) and after having numerous rich (and very enjoyable) meals, some in, some out, we were ready for a more simple, less caloric dinner once we got home. I picked up a nice big, fat 6 pound chicken at Trader Joe’s – a whole chicken.

Then, I was reading through some other people’s blog posts and learned about the Amateur Gourmet – have you ever read his blog? He won Saveur’s #1 rating for best overall blog. The magazine’s list of blogs is long. Really long, although some are categorized. Most of them I’d never heard of. Oh my, I’m in trouble . . . I already follow about 60 food blogs. How am I ever, ever going to keep up? But I had to go back through some older posts on the first ones I looked at. Anyway, on someone’s blog there was a link to watch a youtube video of Thomas Keller making one of his many chicken recipes. This one from Bouchon, the eponymous restaurant in Napa Valley.

whole_chicken_roastedThe video was really interesting. And it looked so EASY! So I scribbled down the simple directions and did it – with only minor modifications. I let the roasting chicken I’d bought sit out at room temp for about an hour to get it closer to room temp. To the inside cavity I added a thyme sprig and salt and pepper. Then I prepared all the vegetables (I used onions, celery, carrots and later on during the baking time added about a pound of sweet potato chopped up). You can use your own choice of veggies. Those were lightly drizzled and tossed with olive oil and put in the bottom of a roasting pan. I used a Teflon-coated 9×13 pan and loosely covered the bottom with the veggies.

Next you truss the bird so the wings and legs are tight up against the body (I didn’t do this one step cuz I was lazy), then rub it all over with some olive oil and sprinkle liberally (really liberally) with salt, pepper and I added some dried thyme. The birdie is placed on top of the veggies and popped into the oven. Keller’s 3-4 pound bird roasted in a 450° oven and was done in about 45 minutes. My chicken at 6 pounds took about 80+ minutes. I also lowered the temp by 25° too because the bird was so big. You want to get chicken to an internal temp of about 165°.

Once out of the oven I removed the chicken to a grooved cutting board and let her sit with a little dome of foil over her to keep her warm. Also covered the roasting pan with all the veggies in it – and they were pooled in a lovely liquid of juices and fat. Talk about tasty! I tasted one piece of sweet potato (to make sure it was cooked through – it was) and could hardly keep my fork out of the pan.

The veggies went onto the plate along with pieces of the dripping, juicy chicken. With a salad, that was dinner. Fantastic is about the only word to describe!

What I liked: first, how EASY it was. Secondly, the flavor – oh yes – the salt really made a difference. It was extra-specially juicy. And the veggies – I had to talk to myself about not eating the entire pan full of veggies all by myself. They were that good.

What I didn’t like: gosh, nothing. It was magnificent. Worth doing again and again.

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Thomas Keller’s Roast Chicken & Vegetables

Recipe By: From a youtube video of Thomas Keller
Serving Size: 4
NOTES: The nutrition info assumes you will consume all the chicken skin, which you may not do! You can use your own choice of vegetables – these were my choices. Keller says one of the secrets to this chicken is the generous amount of salt on the outside. Most of it will stay with the skin, that you probably won’t eat anyway. It adds lovely flavor to the chicken.

3 1/2 pounds whole chicken
Salt and pepper sprinkled on the inside cavity
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 tablespoon kosher salt — (or more)
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 large thyme — sprig, for inside chicken cavity
VEGETABLES:
4 large carrots — peeled, chopped large
2 large onions — peeled, cut in big chunks
3 stalks celery — chopped
1/2 cup parsley — chopped
1 1/2 pounds sweet potato — (or use a turnip)
1 tablespoon olive oil — tossed with the veggies
Finishing salt for garnish, if desired

1. Allow chicken to sit out at room temp for about an hour.
2. Preheat oven to 450°. [I used a larger 6 lb. roasting chicken so cooked it at 425° for about 90 minutes.]
3. With a boning knife, remove the wishbone (makes for easier cutting after it’s baked – this is not a mandatory step).
4. In a roasting pan that’s a few inches larger than the chicken, add the cut and chopped vegetables. Drizzle them with a little bit of olive oil and toss with your hands.
5. Truss the chicken so the wings and legs are snug against the chicken body. [Note: I was lazy and didn’t do this step.] Rub the exterior of the chicken with the olive oil.
6. Place chicken on top of the vegetables [Since sweet potatoes cook quite fast, I didn’t add those pieces until 30 minutes before I thought it would be done]. Sprinkle chicken liberally with salt and pepper. [Note: I added some dried thyme to the exterior – not in Keller’s recipe.]
7. Place in oven and roast until the chicken is golden brown and has reached an internal temperature of 165°. Remove from oven and allow to rest on a cutting board for 15 minutes. Cover veggies so they don’t get cold. Slice chicken and serve with vegetables along side. If desired, sprinkle the top of the chicken with some finishing salt [I didn’t think it needed it since I’d used ample salt already].
Per Serving (assumes you eat all the skin): 835 Calories; 48g Fat (52.3% calories from fat); 54g Protein; 45g Carbohydrate; 8g Dietary Fiber; 247mg Cholesterol; 971mg Sodium.

Posted in Chicken, on May 7th, 2012.

lemon_chicken_breasts

If lemon is a flavor you like, these chicken breasts will put you in lemon nirvana! This is a quick and easy baked chicken dish (you don’t even have to brown them first) that’s even worthy of a company meal.

Don’t you have nights when you need to get dinner on the table in a big-fat hurry? Even though I enjoy cooking most of the time, there are days when I just don’t seem to get myself into the kitchen until about 5:30 or so and realize we need to be out of the house in an hour. So, with lemons still loading down our Meyer lemon trees, I quick-like went in search of a lemon chicken recipe. Going to Eat Your Books, I looked at their list, scanning about 30 or more recipes amongst my cookbooks (which lists the main ingredients) before I found a simple and quick recipe that I thought sounded really good. It came from Ina Garten’s book Barefoot Contessa How Easy Is That?

Reading through the recipe completely I heated the oil, added the garlic and just let it mellow in there for a minute. Off the heat I added the dry white wine, lemon juice and lemon zest, oregano and thyme. The chicken breasts I used were skinless (that’s all I had), and I think breasts with skin would definitely be better (because it would protect the top from over baking), but when you’re in a hurry you don’t quibble over chicken skin. I did pound the chicken slightly. While I worked on the rest of my meal, I let the chicken just marinate in that stuff for about 20 minutes. Also waited for the oven to heat up. I made this for 2 servings, so I had part of a lemon which was cut into wedges and snuggled in with the chicken pieces. I checked the chicken early – good thing – as the chicken was done in about 25 minutes. I probably could have removed it at 20 minutes. The recipe indicates to tent with foil once you take it out of the oven and let it sit for 10 minutes. During that time the temp will rise about 5-10 degrees, so you DO want to take it out early.

I suppose professional chefs just know the finished temperature of cooked chicken. Because the chicken was just slightly overcooked, I thought, I needed to research this. Today I went on the ‘net and read several websites, just because I wanted to know. The USDA has apparently recently put out there that chicken breasts need to be cooked to 165°. And especially if you have any health or immune system issues, you’d want to make sure it’s cooked sufficiently. It used to be higher, but in recent years they reduced the temp to 160° and now changed it to 165°. SO, if I were making this again, I’d bake it to exactly 160° and take it out of the oven then. And tent it for 5-10 minutes before serving. Here’s what I found at one website:

Many experts recommend that chicken breast meat must be cooked to an internal temperature of 170 degrees F, but others say 160 degrees F is fine. You will have moister chicken if you cook to 160 degrees F. According to Dr. O. Peter Snyder, the chicken has to reach a temperature of 160 degrees F for 5.2 seconds to kill pathogens. Now the USDA is recommending that, because of bird flu fears, chicken should be cooked to a temperature of 165 degrees F. Remember that the meat will continue to cook after it’s removed from the heat; the internal temperature will rise about 5-10 degrees in the first few minutes it’s off the heat.

Now – once it was baked – it looked really nice – just a bit golden brown. I sprinkled just a little bit of grated Parm on top (because I’d made some risotto where I needed it anyway) and garnished it with one sprig of fresh thyme and a wedge of the cooked (and mellowed) lemon. My DH ate all of the lemon, peel and all. What I DID do, though, was spoon the pan juices into tiny little ramekins (not in the picture, because I did it afterwards) and put those on our plates. With each bite of chicken, we dipped it into the jus. It was good. I liked the chicken a lot – but I might reduce the temp by 25° next time. And, I would be very precise about removing the chicken when it reaches 160°, so I’d want to use a probe in the chicken.

What I liked: the very lemony chicken flavor. Loved dipping the chicken into the ramekin of jus. Liked how easy it was to make – with fresh thyme in my garden, and lemons on our trees, I’ll almost always be able to make this. I think the addition of lemon zest was an important step – it just steps up the lemony-ness. Thank you, Ina.

What I didn’t like: not much of anything – I’d be very careful about cooking it JUST to 160°. And if I had chicken breasts with skin, I’d use them. I usually don’t, however.

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Lemon Chicken Breasts

Recipe By: Ina Garten, How Easy is That?
Serving Size: 4
NOTES: The nutrition info assumes you’ll eat the skin. If you don’t, the fat and calorie numbers will go down significantly. Mostly the chicken skin is kept on to protect the chicken from drying out.

1/4 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons minced garlic — (9 cloves)
1/3 cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon lemon zest — (2 lemons)
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 chicken breast halves — skin on (6 to 8 ounces each)
1 whole lemon

1. Preheat the oven to 400°. [My suggestion: try 375° instead and definitely use a probe-in thermometer.]
2. Warm the olive oil in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, add the garlic, and cook for just 1 minute but don’t allow the garlic to turn brown. Off the heat, add the white wine, lemon zest, lemon juice, oregano, thyme, and 1 teaspoon salt and pour into a 9 by 12-inch baking dish.
3. Pat the chicken breasts dry and place them skin side up over the sauce. Brush the chicken breasts with olive oil and sprinkle them liberally with salt and pepper. Cut the lemon in 8 wedges and tuck it among the pieces of chicken.
4. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, depending on the size of the chicken breasts, until the chicken is done and the skin is lightly browned. The internal temperature should be about 160° Once removed from the oven, it will continue to cook and will rise in temp about 5-10 degrees. If the chicken isn’t browned enough, put it under the broiler for 2 minutes. Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and serve hot with the pan juices. [My suggestion: there is a lot of lemony juice in the bottom of the baking dish – spoon it out into individual mini-ramekins and serve alongside the chicken and invite your diners to dip each piece of chicken into the jus before eating.]
Per Serving: 399 Calories; 27g Fat (62.8% calories from fat); 31g Protein; 5g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 93mg Cholesterol; 94mg Sodium.

Posted in Chicken, on May 3rd, 2012.

saffron_chicken_curry

With chicken thigh meat (skinless, boneless) in my refrigerator, I decided to try my hand at some authentic Indian chicken curry. Over a cup of ginger tea in my Indian friend Kunda’s kitchen, I’d asked her if she makes chicken curry the same way she makes lamb curry. Kunda had given me some of her lamb curry a week or so ago and I loved it, but have never made it myself. I will, though – just in a few weeks. She said basically yes, but handed me the book, Royal Hyderabadi Cooking,  opening it to the chicken curry recipe she usually uses. The book is written (in English) by two chefs – but Sanjeev Kapoor is the more famous one – he’s kind of like the Emeril of Indian TV, Kunda explained.

She’d loaned me this cookbook before and I’d copied out 8-10 recipes, but not this one. She’d explained to me that the Hyderabadi people are considered the more gourmet of all the Indian cuisine regions. At one time it was a royal cities, hence the traditions of Hyderabadi cooking (for royals) have been handed down. Hyderabad is in southern Indian, kind of in south central, so to speak. It’s very near all the high tech Google and Microsoft facilities, and is more upscale than some Indian cities.

The recipe was in grams for some things and in tablespoons for others (not both sadly, in any case I found it odd), but I just punted my way through it. I added more spices to the recipe, and more yogurt. It called for a kind of nut we don’t have here (chironji or charoli), so I used pine nuts instead. And when I was done, the sauce was too thin for my taste, so I mixed up a little flour and water to thicken it a bit. I don’t think that’s done in Indian cooking, but I didn’t know what else to do. Sometimes recipes will add some ground almonds to thicken, but this already had some ground nuts in it. Usually Greek yogurt will help thicken a sauce, but it wasn’t enough. So the recipe below is my riff on the authentic Hyderabad recipe.

The dinner came together in a jiffy – that I liked a lot! Not a whole lot of chopping required (onions) and just a moderate amount of spice measuring required. The two nuts (almonds and pine nuts) along with the poppy seeds were whizzed together in my spice blender. Ideally it should have been enough to thicken the sauce. For whatever reason, it wasn’t. The addition of saffron gave it an exotic taste, I thought, although there wasn’t all that much saffron. I served it alongside some rice (just plain) which soaked up all the delicious sauce. We ate it all with a soup spoon.

What I liked: the sauce/gravy was delicious especially with all the flavor from the spices. I liked that it didn’t take a lot of chicken (I used less than the recipe indicated because that was all I had on hand). I didn’t add any other veggies to it (like green beans or sugar snap peas) but I could have to make it totally a one dish meal – with rice.

What I didn’t like: nothing, really. I adapted the recipe, which surely isn’t Indian-authentic, but what the heck! I did it anyway.

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Saffron Chicken Curry

Recipe By: Adapted from Royal Hyderabadi Cooking by Sanjeev Kapoor and
Harpal Singh Sokhi
Serving Size: 4
NOTES: If you use low fat or fat free Greek yogurt, don’t bring the mixture to a boil or it will separate – it won’t taste bad, but it won’t look very attractive! I added the flour/water mixture because the curry sauce was just too thin for my tastes. If yours thickens sufficiently, eliminate that step. Or, you can add some nut flour to the curry to thicken it also.

1/4 cup olive oil
14 ounces boneless skinless chicken thighs
1/4 cup almonds
1 tablespoon pine nuts
1/2 tablespoon poppy seeds
1 large onion — chopped
1 tablespoon ginger — smashed or grated
2 large garlic cloves — minced
1/4 teaspoon red chili flakes
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon curry powder — mild or medium heat
1 cup Greek yogurt, full-fat
1/2 teaspoon saffron, dissolve in 1 T warm water
3 cups chicken stock
2 tablespoons flour — mixed with about 4 tablespoons water [my addition]
1 teaspoon garam masala
Rice to serve with or under the curry

1. In a spice blender (or mortar and pestle) grind the almonds, pine nuts and poppy seeds together. Set aside.
2. Heat oil in a large saute pan and add onions. Cook until onions are golden brown. Add ginger and garlic and saute briefly. Stir in chili flakes, turmeric and curry powder and stir for about one minute.
3. Add chicken pieces to the pan and saute for about 5 minutes, turning the chicken as it browns. Do not allow it to burn.
4. Add yogurt, saffron, ground nut mixture and cook for 5 minutes, stirring continuously. Add chicken stock and bring to a boil. Lower heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes, or until the chicken meat is tender.
5. If using, mix up the flour with water, shake vigorously and stir into the curry. Simmer for 2-3 minutes until thickened. Add the garam masala and stir in. Serve on or next to plain rice. Garnish with some cilantro if you have some.
Per Serving: 410 Calories; 29g Fat (61.9% calories from fat); 25g Protein; 15g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 99mg Cholesterol; 1864mg Sodium.

Posted in Chicken, on April 21st, 2012.

A relatively simple chicken dish – although it did require two pans – but it was well worth it because the flavors and texture were lovely.

Just so you know – there’s a goodly amount of butter and oil in this dish. Both oil and butter are used to sauté the chicken (that was in one pan) and several tablespoons of butter are added to the lemon caper sauce too (the second pan). Was it worth it? I suppose it depends on how many grams of fat one should consume in a day, or a week. It was spread out over several servings, of course, but my recipe program, MasterCook told me this had 30+ grams of fat per serving. Hmmm. When I saw that I decided to shave a tablespoon of butter off the lemon caper sauce. And I used less oil and butter in the sauté pan too. That brought the fat grams down to 29. Every little bit helps; that’s my motto. But low fat this is not. And those garlic green beans you see in the background? Those aren’t low fat either, although it’s all EVOO, so that’s supposed to be healthy fat, right? We can’t ever seem to get enough of those green beans – we eat them cold, even, as a snack. If you haven’t ever made that recipe, you really should. I make those at least once a month. Maybe once every 3 weeks or so.

chicken_dipsBack to the chicken. Delicious. Must be made at the last minute – not a do-ahead meal. But I got everything (just about) ready ahead of time (like pounding the chicken breasts to 1/2 inch, making the fresh bread crumbs, chopping the shallots and measuring out the capers), so all I had to do was dip the chicken in the egg and herbed fresh bread crumb mixture and plop them into the hot pan. After browning, the pan itself went into a 400° oven for about 9 minutes. The recipe says 7-9 minutes. I checked at 7 minutes and they weren’t quite done, but it would depend totally on how thick the chicken was.

Then I made the sauce – fairly easy, really. I made it once the chicken was in the oven, although I’d already minced the shallots ahead of time. The capers were measured out and the cold butter was cubed and chilling. Just don’t let the sauce bubble (boil) or the sauce will break. Keep it just below that temp and add the butter gradually. Then just spoon it over the chicken breasts the moment they come out of the oven. Do serve on hot plates if you can. The recipe came from Phillis Carey‘s chicken cookbook.

What I liked: the crunchy texture of the breading – fresh bread does wonders for making a crispy crunchy topping for fish or chicken. The chicken was perfectly cooked, tender and juicy too.

What I didn’t like: maybe the amount of time to make it, but then it really wasn’t that much. My DH wasn’t very happy with all the pans and dishes, and little mis en place dishes I used (he does the dishes, you see). But it was really delicious, so I think it was worth the time and the dirty bowls and pans!

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Fresh Herb Crusted Chicken Breasts with Lemon Caper Sauce

Recipe By: Adapted a little from Phillis Carey, Fast & Fabulous Chicken Breasts, 2005
Serving Size: 4

4 pieces boneless skinless chicken breast halves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 whole eggs
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon water
2 cups fresh breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon fresh thyme — minced
1 tablespoon Italian parsley — fresh, minced
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
LEMON CAPER SAUCE:
3/4 cup dry white wine
3 tablespoons shallots — chopped
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
4 tablespoons unsalted butter — chilled, cut into 8 pieces
2 tablespoons capers — drained

1. Preheat oven to 400°.
2. Trim chicken breasts and pound between two sheets of plastic wrap to an even 1/2 inch thickness. Season chicken with salt and pepper to taste.
3. In a shallow bowl or pie plate whisk together the eggs, mustard and water. In another shallow bowl combine the breadcrumbs, thyme and parsley. Dip chicken pieces in egg mixture and then coat with breadcrumb mixture, pressing to adhere.
4. Melt butter with olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken breasts and cook 2 minutes per side to brown – do not burn. Transfer chicken to a baking sheet. Bake for 7-9 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
5. SAUCE: Combine wine, shallots and lemon juice in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat and cook to reduce the amount to 1/4 cup, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to very low and add butter, one piece at a time, taking care not to let the sauce bubble. Remove from heat and stir in capers. Season to taste with salt and pepper if needed. Pass sauce and spoon over the chicken pieces.
Per Serving: 481 Calories; 29g Fat (58.1% calories from fat); 33g Protein; 14g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 221mg Cholesterol; 325mg Sodium.

Posted in Chicken, Salad Dressings, Salads, on March 8th, 2012.

deconstructed_chicken_caesar_salad

There’s a short story to tell: when I was still in college (oh, many years ago) I worked every Friday night and all day Saturday at Marston’s (an old family-run San Diego department store). I worked in the Personnel Dept. (remember when they used to call Human Resources the Personnel Dept.?). My job was to train new sales employees – things like how to use the cash register (no electronics at all although they were electrically run). And about the company’s general policies including ethics – plus some limited safety info – mostly boring stuff. Anyway, on Saturdays when I wasn’t teaching I’d walk to a diner a few blocks away. They had a Caesar Salad on their menu that I was crazy about. It was just the best. It had all the elements of a perfect Caesar – Romaine, an egg-based olive oil dressing with good Parmesan, some big honkin’ croutons and a strip or two of anchovies on top. And lemon. That began my my appetite for anything Caesar, I’ll tell you. Hence you’ll find many Caesar type dressings here on my blog.

It would logically follow, then, that as I was reading the most recent issue of Bon Appetit, I was motivated by a recipe in the issue for a Parmesan Chicken and Caesar Roasted Romaine (salad). As I’m writing this, it’s not yet “up” on epicurious or I’d link to it. It got me to thinking. I had everything I needed to make this, but I wanted some dressing on the salad. So I improvised a bit, although I roasted the chicken and Romaine as indicated in the recipe. I went to my current favorite Caesar dressing – a Phillis Carey one that is cinchy easy made with mayo as the base. I’ve printed it up below as a separate recipe – you need that recipe IF you like Caesar. Phillis served it on a steak salad (and I wrote it up then as an integral part of that salad) at a cooking class a couple of years ago and I’ve been a fan of it ever since!

It was an easy dinner. Well – let me re-phrase that – it took me one hour to do it all – make the dressing, prep the chicken, make the panko crumb topping, prep the Romaine, heat the oven, roast the chicken, then roast the Romaine, cook some haricot verts (my very favorite recipe, garlic green beans), toss them in a skillet with some garlic and olive oil, plate it, drizzle on some of the Mayo Caesar dressing and serve! Whew! I felt a little like a one-armed paper hangar. Normally time isn’t of an element, but we had choir rehearsal and my magic time is “sit down to eat by 6:00.” We made it at 6:05, fortunately. (As an aside – we had sufficient leftovers of the chicken – so I chopped them up, cut up about a cup of the garlic green beans, made a Romaine salad with tomatoes, celery – and tossed it with more of the Mayo Caesar Dressing – that was out dinner the next night.)

pecorino_trufflesThe photo at left shows you one little deviation. I have good Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, but I decided to use some Pecorino cheese I bought recently that contains some truffles. You can see some of the truffle stuff (little black specks). Oh does it make this cheese fantastic. It’s called Pecorino al Tartufo. It was sprinkled on top of the salad only – I used good Parmigiano for the dressing.

chicken_caesar_roastingOnce I lightly pounded the chicken breasts, they were placed on a large baking sheet (you need a large one to fit the big Romaine head halves). The panko crumb/cheese mixture was spooned on top and it went into the oven for exactly 10 minutes. The crumb mixture had just started to brown. Meanwhile I had brushed the cut Romaine halves with olive oil. They went on the tray and were baked another 5 minutes. At that point I didn’t think the lettuce had enough color, so I turned the oven on the broil for about 1 minute only (more and the chicken would have turned too firm and the Romaine would have been a black mess). Remove and serve. With the dressing dribbled over the Romaine and some cheese sprinkled on top.

What I liked: the overall taste – but then I love chicken Caesar salad under most circumstances. As long as the dressing is good.

What I didn’t like: not a thing. Delicious.

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Deconstructed Chicken Caesar Salad

Recipe By: Adapted from Bon Appetit, 2012
Serving Size: 4
NOTES: I used a little sprinkle of Pecorino cheese on top of the roasted Romaine – and what I had contained some truffles. You can use regular Pecorino, or Parmigiano too.

4 pieces boneless skinless chicken breast halves
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup Pecorino Romano cheese — grated (or Parmigiano)
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons Italian parsley
2 large garlic cloves — smashed, minced
GRILLED ROMAINE:
2 whole Romaine lettuce — heads, halved lengthwise
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 whole lemon — cut in wedges, on each plate
About 1/2 cup Mayo Caesar Dressing
1/4 cup Pecorino Romano cheese — grated, for garnish on the lettuce (or Parmigiano)

1. Trim chicken breasts as needed, and pound them slightly to an even 1/2 inch thickness.
2. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper to taste.
3. In a small bowl mix together the cheese, panko, olive oil, parsley and smashed garlic.
4. Preheat oven to 450°.
5. Using a large baking sheet, line it with foil. Place the chicken breasts on the foil. Gently spoon the cheese/panko mixture on top of each breast.
6. Bake for 10 minutes, until the topping has just begun to brown (no longer).
7. Meanwhile, cut the Romaine heads in half, lengthwise, leaving some of the root end intact, so it holds together. Brush the cut side of each half with oil.
8. After the chicken has roasted for 10 minutes, remove pan and place the oiled Romaine heads on the baking sheet, and try to roll them so the cut edge is level, if possible. Return to oven and continue roasting for about 5 more minutes. Watch the pan carefully. If the Romaine hasn’t browned much, turn heat element to broil, and cook for about 1 more minute, just so the Romaine begins to brown on the edges (not necessary for the cooking, but it looks more interesting).
9. Place chicken breast on each plate, with the Romaine half next to it. Drizzle the Romaine with the Mayo Caesar Dressing. Sprinkle with additional Pecorino cheese, if desired.
Per Serving: 377 Calories; 17g Fat (39.8% calories from fat); 41g Protein; 17g Carbohydrate; 7g Dietary Fiber; 80mg Cholesterol; 411mg Sodium.

. . .

Mayo Caesar Dressing

Recipe By: Phillis Carey, instructor and cookbook author
Serving Size: 6

2 cloves garlic — peeled
1/2 cup mayonnaise — Best Foods or home made
1/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese — grated
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon capers — drained (or use anchovies, if desired)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1. Turn blender motor on and removing lid slightly drop garlic cloves into bowl. Turn motor off.
2. Add all remaining ingredients and blend until mixture is smooth. (Ideally you might want to double the dressing quantities because this amount “throws” the dressing all over the workbowl.) Pour dressing into a container and refrigerate. It tastes best if used within a week, but will keep for several weeks under refrigeration.
Per Serving: 190 Calories; 21g Fat (94.6% calories from fat); 2g Protein; 1g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 9mg Cholesterol; 365mg Sodium.

Posted in Chicken, easy, on February 23rd, 2012.

chicken_jalfrezi

A simple, but very spicy and flavorful chicken curry, served over basmati rice. You can adapt the vegetables to your choice (this one uses red, yellow and orange bell peppers and onion).

It was about 3 years ago I was reading Cook Sister’s blog and put this recipe into my software to try someday. I have an “internet” category within my recipe software, so I know I got the recipes somewhere on the web. Jeanne (that’s Cook Sister) is South African, but the recipe is Indian. What I liked about the recipe was Jeanne’s long list of spices. Actually, I think her husband Nick made the dish, but it’s Jeanne’s blog. More spices = more flavor in my cooking book, if you get my drift. And since I have coriander, green cardamom, cumin seeds and powder, turmeric, and garam masala in my spice pantry, it was just a matter of opening a bunch of different bottles to get this spice rub and sauce enhancer going. Don’t get bogged down when you see how many spices are in this dish – you need them to make this dish taste so darned good!

dulcet_sauce1Jalfrezi is a curry dish that is generally marinated in spices, then made into an all-in-one pan dish with bell peppers and onion. It can have many different proteins in it (chicken, fish, beef, even paneer [a cheese]). And that’s really all it is. It took me about 30 minutes to make the dish from beginning to end (except for the 2-3 hours of marinating, that is).

I did adapt this recipe some – when I read the directions I decided to simplify them a little bit – and I decided to add some of this sauce you see pictured at left. Dulcet is a new brand of products that you can find in some markets, and this sauce was recommended to me by a friend, a Mild Indian Curry Sauce. I suppose I could have used the entire bottle in this preparation, but I just decided to use some of it and use the recipe for the balance. If you don’t have this sauce, don’t worry – just make it without it. The sauce makes a really dark amber-colored mixture. Oh, so full of flavor.

What I liked: how easy it was to make. And how flavorful it was. My dinner came together in not time once I set the rice cooker going and cut up the onions and peppers.

What I didn’t like: nothing at all. My DH loved this dish. Fortunately for him/us, I had leftovers which I put in the freezer for a later dinner.

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Chicken Jalfrezi

Recipe By: Adapted from Cook Sister blog, 2009
Serving Size: 6
NOTES: Note that you use most of the spices in the marinade AND in the chicken preparation, so the easiest thing to do is put all of the dry spices together and separate for each use. If you don’t have the multi-colored bell peppers, use what you can get – all red, all yellow or whatever. I don’t like green bells, so I never use those, but you could easily use all green bells if you like them.

MARINADE:
1/2 teaspoon ginger — mashed to a paste
1/2 teaspoon garlic — smashed and minced
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
CHICKEN:
3 boneless skinless chicken breast halves — diced into 1-inch cubes
1 large onion — thinly sliced
1 whole orange bell pepper — slivered
1 whole red bell pepper — slivered
1 whole yellow bell pepper — slivered
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 stick cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger — mashed to a paste
1/2 teaspoon garlic — mashed and minced
1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 whole cardamom — green pods, left whole
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup water
3 tablespoons Dulcet Indian curry sauce — optional
1 teaspoon Sriracha sauce — or other hot sauce to taste
Salt to taste

1. Mix marinade ingredients, add the chicken cubes and mix until each cube is coated. Allow to marinate for 2-3 hours. Heat 1 Tbsp of oil in a non-stick pan and fry the chicken pieces until the pieces start turning brown. Remove pieces and set aside.
2. Heat rest of the oil in same pan and add the cumin seeds, cardamom pods and cinnamon stick and cook until fragrant. After a few minutes, add the ginger and garlic and sauté for another couple of minutes. Do not burn. (Remove cinnamon stick and cardamom pods if you prefer – otherwise you may bite down on one of them when you eat this.)
3. Add the onions and all the peppers and sauté for a couple of minutes until the onions turn translucent, but not brown. Remove from the pan and set aside.
4. To the same pan, add the chicken pieces, tomato paste, and all the remaining spices. Let the chicken cook over low heat uncovered until it is well-coated with spices. Add about 1 cup of water and salt and simmer covered over medium heat flame 10 minutes till the chicken is almost cooked. Add Dulcet bottled sauce, if using, and hot sauce to taste.
5. Add the reserved peppers and onions back into the pan and let it all cook together for another 10 minutes until chicken is done and the sauce has reached the consistency that you like. Taste sauce for seasoning – add more water to the pan if the fluid evaporates too much. You want enough sauce so it will soak into the rice somewhat.
6. Serve over steamed basmati rice and garnish with minced cilantro.
Per Serving (the rice isn’t included, but even with it, it’s very low calorie): 155 Calories; 7g Fat (37.1% calories from fat); 15g Protein; 10g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 34mg Cholesterol; 285mg Sodium.

Posted in Chicken, easy, on February 1st, 2012.

almond_crusted_chicken

My friend Gloria was telling me the other day about a chicken dish she’s been making for many years, and is a top favorite of her husband, Grant. A recipe she said she’d pulled out of a Martha Stewart Living magazine years and years ago. She didn’t have the recipe handy, but described it to me, so I went online to search, and voila! it was there at the website. This technology is amazing sometimes!

almond_crusted_chicken_sauteeingThe recipe is very, very easy. Actually when I opened the pouch of chicken breast(s) I discovered there was just ONE in it. But it was a large one, and once I pounded the chicken to an even thickness between pieces of plastic wrap, there was ample for the two of us. I made several changes to the recipe: (1) I used a lot less sliced almonds [the recipe called for 1 1/2 cups for 4 servings]; (2) I left the almonds in their full sliced shape and didn’t chop them up [I wanted to see the bigger pieces, which also meant not as much stuck to the chicken, I suspect]; and (3) I drizzled the finished servings with a bit of freshly squeezed lemon juice [this part wasn’t even IN the recipe but I thought it needed a little something to brighten the taste]; (4) I didn’t bake them at all [the original recipe has you brown the chicken, then put the pan into a hot oven for 10 minutes]. Because I had pounded the breasts thinner, I  knew they wouldn’t need to go into the oven. They cooked in about 6 minutes on the stove top. I also sprinkled the top with some chopped Italian parsley, but that was just for show.

Recipe Tip:

If you pound the chicken breasts gently between two sheets of plastic wrap you’ll get them to an even thickness of about 1/2 inch –that way they will cook evenly in the frying pan.

It’s really very very easy to make. I know, I said that already. Forgive me! The chicken breasts are dipped in a mixture of egg and a little tiny bit of water, into bread crumbs, then into the egg again, and finally into the almonds. They’re sautéed in a bit of oil and butter. That’s it! I drizzled the lemon juice onto each serving when it was on the plate and then sprinkled on the parsley. Dinner was cooked and on the table in less than 30 minutes.

What I liked: obviously, how easy it was. The flavor was good. Not exactly over the top – I mean, there’s just chicken, bread crumbs and almonds in it. Well, a little egg. And the lemon juice. It gets lovely-pretty brown (the little bit of butter helps that along). Next time I might try Panko crumbs instead of plain bread crumbs.

What I didn’t like: nothing at all. Next time I might possibly sprinkle the top with some lemon zest (you wouldn’t want to put it in the breading mixture because it would burn). I just didn’t think of doing  it this time.

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Almond-Crusted Chicken

Recipe By: Adapted from Martha Stewart Living, April 2001
Serving Size: 4
NOTES: You could also try using Panko crumbs instead of regular bread crumbs.

3/4 cup dry bread crumbs
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons water
4 whole boneless skinless chicken breast halves — (1 1/2 to 2 pounds)
1/2 cup sliced almonds — broken into pieces, or leave in full slices
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 whole lemon — halved, seeded
4 tablespoons Italian parsley — minced

1. In a medium bowl, season bread crumbs with salt and pepper. Place eggs in a small flat bowl with 2 teaspoons water, and beat lightly.
2. Remove chicken tenders and use for another purpose (or cook them along with this, but they cook much faster). Gently pound chicken breasts between two pieces of plastic wrap, until all pieces are about 1/2 inch or less thick. You can cut the chicken into two or more smaller pieces if desired.
3. Dip chicken in egg, wiping away excess with your fingers, and dip in bread-crumb mixture. Dredge until lightly coated. Dip in egg again, and coat thoroughly with almonds, using your hands to pat the almonds into the chicken if it doesn’t want to stick to it well.
4.  Meanwhile, heat butter and oil in a 12-inch ovenproof skillet over medium heat. Saute chicken until nicely browned, about 3 minutes, and turn over. Cook 3 minutes more until chicken is cooked through. Garnish with Italian parsley and drizzle tops with a bit of freshly squeezed lemon juice. Add some grated lemon zest if you have it available.
Per Serving: 468 Calories; 27g Fat (51.8% calories from fat); 37g Protein; 20g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 190mg Cholesterol; 291mg Sodium.

Posted in Chicken, easy, on January 2nd, 2012.

chix_bacon_thai_curry

Today I’m going to tell you about a really simple, easy dinner entrée. I’d defrosted some chicken breasts and needed to come up with something very easy and very quick. Walking into my kitchen pantry I spotted a jar of Trader Joe’s Thai Green Curry Sauce. I wrapped the chicken breasts with a slice of bacon, plopped them into the bottom of a small casserole dish (just big enough to hold the chicken with a little room left over). Then I poured the Thai Green Curry Sauce all over it, put it into a 375° oven for about 25 minutes and it was done. Meanwhile I also put a pan of olive oil rubbed broccoli in the oven to roast along with the chicken, and I made some egg noodles which served as a bed for the chicken and was great with the sauce drizzled all over it. Dinner was done in about 45 minutes.

chix_bacon_curry_casserole

What I liked: The chicken didn’t need to be browned. The bacon added lots of flavor. The sauce was an easy one – just pour it out of the jar. The curry flavor is very subtle – I might like it a stronger element, even. My DH loved this dish. He wanted seconds, but there weren’t any!
What I didn’t like: the sauce is pretty soupy – the jar contains enough to serve 4 people (I wrote the recipe that way), so with only 2 people and 2 chicken breasts, there was a lot of sauce. Also, the sauce is very spicy. If you don’t like spicy, you won’t like this.

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Bacon-Wrapped Chicken Breasts with Thai Green Curry Sauce

Recipe By: My own concoction
Serving Size: 4
Serving Ideas: I served it with roasted broccoli (25 minutes in the oven alongside the chicken) and some egg noodles with just a smidgen of olive oil on it, with salt and pepper. You’ll want something to soak up the sauce.
NOTES: Do note that this is a very low calorie, low fat dish, even with the bacon!

4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
4 slices bacon
16 ounces Trader Joe’s Thai Green Curry Sauce
4 tablespoons fresh basil — cut in slivers, or mint if preferred

1. Preheat oven to 375°.
2. Remove chicken tender if you’d prefer, for another use. Gently mound the chicken breast lengthwise and wrap it in the slice of bacon.
3. In the bottom of a small casserole dish – just slightly larger than the amount of chicken you’ll add – pour a bit of the Trader Joe’s sauce. Add the chicken pieces and pour the remaining sauce over the chicken.
4. Bake for 25 minutes. Serve immediately sprinkled with the fresh basil on top. Accompany the chicken with something to soak up all that good sauce (rice, potatoes, pasta).
Per Serving: 167 Calories; 5g Fat (26.1% calories from fat); 29g Protein; trace Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 74mg Cholesterol; 180mg Sodium.

Posted in Chicken, Soups, on December 30th, 2011.

white_chicken_chili

Some years back I signed up (online) for Cook’s Illustrated’s weekly email newsletter. I’ve made plenty of recipes from reading those newsletters. This last week I made yet another. It wasn’t a new recipe – – they recycle them, and this one was from 2007.  In the blurb about it, they said that so often white chicken chili ends up being kind of insipid, totally lacking in flavor, so the innovative chefs in their kitchens decided to do something about it.

In the write-up, they headed this part with Why This Recipe Works: (I’m paraphrasing here) you (1) puree some of the beans with the flavor-providing green chile/onion mixture (to give the soup more substantive texture); (2) brown, poach and shred or cube up the quickly-cooked chicken to add in later (so it doesn’t get dry or rubbery); and (3) use a variety of three chiles – poblano, Anaheim and jalapeno.

Now, they used chicken breasts, skin on, cooked it, then cooled it, removed the skin and shredded it. I had defrosted boneless skinless chicken thighs, and I had some white meat chicken in the freezer (cooked), so I combined them both. I used the same techniques, but cooked the chicken thighs a bit longer, that’s all. Meanwhile you combine a couple raw yellow onions and all the green chiles in a food processor. That gets whizzed up in the food processor – not to a puree – it needs more texture than that, but not much. Then everything is simmered for awhile with some chicken broth, garlic, cumin, ground coriander. I cubed up the chicken thighs in bite-sized pieces and it simmered for about 30 minutes. The already cooked chicken I had was added in just long enough to heat it through. Some of the cannellini beans were pureed with the onion/pepper mixture; the rest of them were added in during the 30-minute simmering portion. You add in some fresh lime juice at the end, and I garnished the chili with cilantro, minced radishes, some red bell pepper and some minced green onion. Those were my additions. The recipe includes cilantro and onion, but they stirred those into the soup just before serving. I wanted more crunch, so that’s why I included the radishes and red bell pepper and added all of those things as a garnish. The 2nd time I served this I crumbled up some tortilla chips on top too – that gave it lots of crunch. And I added a big mound of thinly sliced Romaine lettuce.

What I liked: the mellow chiles; there are a lot of chiles in this recipe and you might think it would be hot, but it wasn’t. Now, I did use just 2 jalapenos, and I think that was enough. If you want more heat, add a 3rd one. I also liked the crunch of the garnishes, but that’s totally up to you. I really liked the flavor.  It’s also quite low in calories and fat.

What I didn’t like: well, I whizzed up the chiles and onions too much. You want it to be chunky like salsa – I pulsed that food processor a few times too many. I’d have liked a bit more texture in the chili part. Just keep that in mind.

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Chicken Chili

Recipe By: From Cook’s Illustrated online, Jan. 2007
Serving Size: 8
NOTES: Adjust up the heat in this dish by adding the minced ribs and seeds from the jalapeño as directed in step 6. If Anaheim chiles cannot be found, add an additional poblano and jalapeño to the chili. This dish can also be successfully made by substituting chicken thighs for the chicken breasts. If using thighs, increase the cooking time in step 4 to about 40 minutes. Serve chili with sour cream, tortilla chips, and lime wedges. [My additions: diced fresh radish and red bell pepper.]

3 pounds chicken breast halves — with skin & bones, trimmed of excess fat
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 medium jalapeño chiles
3 whole poblano peppers — stemmed, seeded, and cut into large pieces
3 whole Anaheim chili peppers — stemmed, seeded, and cut into large pieces
2 medium onions — cut into large pieces (2 cups)
6 cloves garlic — minced or pressed through garlic press (about 2 tablespoons)
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander
29 ounces canned cannelini beans — (2 – 14.5-ounce) drained and rinsed
3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice — (from 2 to 3 limes)
1/4 cup cilantro — minced fresh
4 whole scallions — white and light green parts sliced thin
Additional garnishes: diced radishes, red bell pepper, tortilla chips

1. Season chicken liberally with salt and pepper. Heat oil in large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add chicken, skin side down, and cook without moving until skin is golden brown, about 4 minutes. Using tongs, turn chicken and lightly brown on other side, about 2 minutes. Transfer chicken to plate; remove and discard skin.
2. While chicken is browning, remove and discard ribs and seeds from 2 jalapeños; mince flesh. In food processor, process half of poblano chiles, Anaheim chiles, and onions until consistency of chunky salsa, ten to twelve 1-second pulses, scraping down sides of workbowl halfway through. Transfer mixture to medium bowl. Repeat with remaining poblano chiles, Anaheim chiles, and onions; combine with first batch (do not wash food processor blade or workbowl).
3. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon fat from Dutch oven (adding additional vegetable oil if necessary) and reduce heat to medium. Add minced jalapeños, chile-onion mixture, garlic, cumin, coriander, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables soften, about 10 minutes. Remove pot from heat.
4. Transfer 1 cup cooked vegetable mixture to now-empty food processor workbowl. Add 1 cup beans and 1 cup broth and process until smooth, about 20 seconds. Add vegetable-bean mixture, remaining 2 cups broth, and chicken breasts to Dutch oven and bring to boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, until chicken registers 160 degrees (175 degrees if using thighs) on instant-read thermometer, 15 to 20 minutes (40 minutes if using thighs).
5. Using tongs, transfer chicken to large plate. Stir in remaining beans and continue to simmer, uncovered, until beans are heated through and chili has thickened slightly, about 10 minutes.
6. Mince remaining jalapeño, reserving and mincing ribs and seeds (see note above), and set aside. When cool enough to handle, shred chicken into bite-sized pieces, discarding bones. Stir shredded chicken, lime juice, cilantro, scallions, and remaining minced jalapeño (with seeds if desired) into chili and return to simmer. Adjust seasonings with salt and pepper and serve.
Per Serving: 383 Calories; 16g Fat (36.2% calories from fat); 38g Protein; 25g Carbohydrate; 6g Dietary Fiber; 87mg Cholesterol; 323mg Sodium.

Posted in Chicken, easy, Soups, on December 19th, 2011.

coconut_lime_turkey_soup

Do you still have leftover turkey in your freezer, needing some way to use it? Try this delicious, head-to-toe-warming soup with lots of full-bodied flavor.

As soon as I read this recipe over at Kalyn’s Kitchen, I knew I’d be making it – what with leftover turkey in my freezer and all the ingredients I needed to make this.  Kalyn said the original recipe came from a Sunset cookbook. She adapted it some, and I did too. We all put our own little twist on things, don’t we? I added some peas. Some of the packaged “Minted Peas” from Trader Joe’s. Those little guys are really delicious – they’re nothing more than plain frozen peas with a few little cubes of butter with some minced mint in it. As it cooks the butter melts and provides flavor. If you don’t have a TJ’s or can’t find the minted peas, just add regular frozen peas and some fresh mint (probably about a tablespoon) in addition to the fresh cilantro. I doubled the recipe and used the full 15-ounce package of peas. Use less, or whatever you’d prefer. Another great addition to this soup would be some sugar-snap peas or Chinese pea pods (chopped). I always try to figure out a way to add some other vegetables to soup. This soup is fairly carb-centric if you don’t. And peas just added to the carbs as well.

The making of this soup is a slight bit different – you start with some chicken broth – add some coins of fresh sliced ginger and fresh garlic – plus some soy sauce and freshly squeezed lime juice. That simmers for awhile, then you add in light coconut milk, some brown sugar or Splenda, the cubed or shredded turkey or chicken meat and allow that to simmer briefly. Add in a few seasonings, then the cooked rice only long enough to heat it through. That’s when I added the peas – but I really dislike peas that have cooked much – they turn gray. Not appealing. So in this soup you heat through the peas and serve it right away quick with some fresh cilantro sprinkled on top. This soup came together in less than 30 minutes. I served it with a slice of fresh ciabatta bread and that was dinner. I have enough leftover for another dinner for 2 and a package I’ll freeze to serve 2. Doubling the recipe serves 6 if you’re eating it as dinner.

If these flavors appeal to you, I’m sure you’ll like it. Thanks, Kalyn, for a great recipe.

What I liked: how easy it was to put together. It’s full of flavor too. Loved the peas in it with the addition of mint. And a great use of leftover Thanksgiving turkey!

What I didn’t like: nothing at all.

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Coconut-Lime Turkey (or Chicken) and Rice Soup

Recipe By: Adapted slightly from Kalyn’s Kitchen blog, and she adapted it from The Sunset Cookbook, 11/2011
Serving Size: 3
NOTES: I didn’t try this, but I think some sugar snap peas and/or some Chinese pea pods (chopped) would be nice additions to this soup. I used Sriracha sauce in lieu of the green Tabasco – you don’t use very much so it doesn’t color the soup at all.

3 cups chicken stock
3 tablespoons lime juice — fresh-squeezed
5 thin slices fresh ginger root — (5 to 6)
2 medium garlic cloves — sliced in half
1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar — or Splenda
12 ounces light coconut milk
2 cups diced turkey — or chicken
1/2 teaspoon green Tabasco sauce — (or more) or use a diced fresh chile if you really like it spicy (or other hot sauce of your choice)
1 1/2 cups cooked rice
3/4 cup frozen peas — or use Trader Joe’s “Minted Peas”
1/2 cup chopped cilantro — or use 1/4 cup chopped basil, Thai basil, or sliced green onions

1. Slice 5-6 thin slices of ginger root. Peel 2 medium garlic cloves and slice in half. Put chicken stock into a heavy soup pot and start to simmer, then add ginger root slices, garlic cloves, lime juice, soy sauce, and Splenda or brown sugar. Let simmer on low for about 20 minutes, or until flavors are well blended.
2. While the soup base simmers, shred the leftover turkey (or chicken) into bite-sized pieces until you have 2 cups. After 20 minutes add diced chicken, light coconut milk, and green Tabasco sauce (or other hot sauce or diced chile) to the soup and let it continue to simmer on low about 6 minutes more. Be sure the heat is low enough that the soup won’t boil after the coconut milk has been added.
3. After 6 minutes add the cooked brown rice and peas and let it simmer for a couple of minutes while you wash and chop the cilantro (or other herbs of your choice.) Add chopped herbs or green onions and simmer for 1-2 minutes more. Serve hot, with sliced limes to squeeze into the soup if desired.
Per Serving: 441 Calories; 13g Fat (27.1% calories from fat); 29g Protein; 50g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 59mg Cholesterol; 3163mg Sodium.

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