Here’s a super, tasty soup recipe, especially if your weather is crappy (like ours has been). Or, if there are some sniffles and complaints of sore throats around the house. Oh and last weekend, when it was uh 80 degrees and sunny out, I took the flannel sheets off the bed. Note to self: the flannel sheets stay in the bed until June. Grr.

Ah, hey, I don’t want to scare anyone that’s heading this way in say, uh 2 weeks or so, but it we had hail, rain and uh, snow this weekend. But, I bet in a couple of weeks the weather will be B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L! Really! Sure it will!

Okay, back to the food. This recipe is from the Shoalwater Restaurant and it is really good. I found it online a couple of days ago and couldn’t wait to try it. The lime and the ginger and fish sauce are just a fabulous combination. I altered the amounts a little bit to accommodate a whole can of coconut milk and I added some veggies that I needed to use up. Hooray!

Asian Chicken and Coconut Soup
Adapted from a recipe by Shoalwater restaurant
1 tbsp canola oil
1 small onion, diced
1 cup diced carrots
12 medium shitake mushrooms, sliced
1 large garlic clove, minced
3 cups Chicken Stock
1 lime, juice and finely chopped zest
4 tbsp fish sauce
1 tsp ginger, minced
1/2 tsp roasted chili paste
1 14 oz can coconut milk
1/2 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into small cubes
1 cup cooked brown rice
Garnish: Fresh cilantro, chopped

Add oil to a large soup pot and add chicken and brown briefly, 2-3 minutes. Remove and cover with foil until ready to use. To the hot pan, add the onion, garlic, carrots, chili paste and shitake mushrooms. Saute over medium heat until soft, about 6-7 minutes.

Add the stock, lime zest and juice, fish sauce, and ginger and simmer for 5 minutes or so. Add the coconut milk and chicken. Simmer for about 4-5 more minutes.

To serve, add about 1/4 cup of cooked rice to each bowl and ladle the hot soup over the rice. Garnish with cilantro.

This will serve about 4-5 bowls so there will be leftovers. Excellent.

This is a reader recipe in the current issue of Everyday Food. I didn’t change that much — I just opted to cook it in a slightly less hot oven (down from the original recipe’s 475 degrees for 60 minutes) and I added an onion in the cavity and broth/carrot/onion half on the bottom of the pan, as I tend to burn roasting pans without some liquid down there. And once you add broth, you might as well add some veggies.

Oh and I doubled the curry paste because, dude, that is good. Extra for dipping seemed like a given. And the best part? With only two if us, there’s roast chicken for lunch the next day!

Remember to check it after the first 20-30 minutes and cover it up as needed. The curry paste/honey will burn. A little is good, smoke billowing from your oven is bad. I covered after the first 25 minutes, then uncovered for the last 10 minutes of oven time. My chicken got a pretty dark but all was completely fine under the skin — moist and tasty! But, if I could back and do it again, I probably would have not uncovered it so long at the end — so, there’s a lesson for you.

Thai Curried Roast Chicken
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
2 tbsp red curry paste
2 tbsp canola oil
2 tbsp honey
2 tsp roasted chili paste
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 5-6 pound chicken
1 onion, halved
2-3 carrots, chopped into 2-inch pieces
salt & pepper
1-2 cups chicken broth
limes

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Add the cilantro through the garlic in a food processor and combine. Divide curry mixture in half and set one of the halves aside, to be used as a dipping sauce. You can also just mix in a bowl if you like.

Rinse and pat dry your chicken (inside and out). Salt and pepper it generously.

Place one onion half inside the cavity and tie the legs together. Loosen the skin over the breast meat and run some of the curry paste under there. Then, slather the rest of the paste over the chicken and put on an oiled rack set in a roasting pan. Add 1 cup of stock to the bottom of the pan to prevent burning. Add veggies if you wish.

Roast for about 30 minutes, then cover with foil so the top doesn’t get too dark. Roast 45 - 60 minutes more, checking a few times to see if you need to add more stock to the bottom of the pan or adjust the foil for optimal browning/non-burning.

When white meat is 165 and dark meat at least 170, remove from the oven and let rest for about 10 - 15 minutes before carving.

Serve with lime wedges and coconut rice. We also had some sauteed green beans on the side which were really, really good. Also, bring out the unused half of the curry past for a dipping sauce. Mmm!

Oh! Oh! I totally forgot the “secret” ingredient! Based on the Fine Cooking recipe, I added about a tablespoon of honey in the sauce with the lemon, chicken stock & wine. I’ve amended the recipe below!

This was sort of one of those meals where I looked around at what we had and then figured out what to do with it. Chicken breasts? Yes. Capers? Right there. Lemons? Uh-huh. Wine? Well, duh. Feta stuffed green olives that I love-love-love? Oh yeah. So, here we go.

This recipe is also a combination of many different recipes I found online. The fried capers bit is from Fine Cooking magazine and the rest is a little bit Everyday Italian (Little Big Head) and a little bit I love my smoked paprika and I love my Parmesan cheese.

Chicken Piccata with Olives and Fried Capers
2 skinless and boneless chicken breasts, pounded flat*
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup AP flour
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1 tsp smoked paprika
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 tbsp brined capers, rinsed
1 clove garlic, minced
Juice of 1 big lemon (should be about 3 - 4 tbsp, you may need another lemon if yours isn’t super juicy and/or big)
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup of white wine (I used a chardonnay)
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp butter
1/4 cup chopped green olives (rinsed) — stuffed with feta if you’ve got ‘em
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped

Combine flour, cheese, and paprika and pour onto a rimmed plate. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Dredge chicken pieces in the flour mixture and shake off excess.

In a large 10 or 12-inch skillet over medium high heat, add the olive oil. When hot add the capers and cook for about 60 seconds until they get a little color.

They will also expand a little, almost pop open a bit. Use a slotted spoon and remove the capers and let drain on a paper towel.

In the remaining oil, add the chicken and cook about 2-3 minutes.

When chicken is browned, flip and cook other side for 3 minutes. Check for doneness with a meat thermometer. You are looking for about 165. Remove and transfer to plate. Cover with foil to keep warm.

If you are making pasta to go with this, now is a good time to have your pot of boiling water and your pasta ready to go. We had spaghetti and some green beans. I added the pasta to the water when the sauce was about 8 minutes from being done and then the green beans to the pasta for the last 3-4 minutes of cooking time.

Okay, now back to the sauce. Reduce heat to medium and add the lemon juice, stock, honey, wine and garlic. Bring to boil, scraping up brown bits from the pan for extra flavor. Reduce for about 10 minutes. Check for seasoning and overall taste. Add more wine, stock or lemon as needed. I have to admit I fiddled a bit here. I added a bit more wine. Tasted. Then added a bit more stock. Then gave it a couple more minutes to reduce. When it is just where you like it, add the fried capers, the olives, parsley and butter. When butter is melted, it’s done.

To serve: plate up some drained pasta and green beans. I thought a large rimmed plate worked well but jwa thought a big bowl might have been better. Pfffftttt…whatever. Give each plate a chicken breast and top with the sauce, dividing it between plates.

This was really, really good. We will definitely be having this again. I was kind of sad I only used two chicken breasts and that there were no leftovers.

* To pound your chicken, Place some plastic wrap over a cutting board and put a chicken breast down. Fold the wrap over the chicken and pound with –
a: a pounding mallet
b: a rolling pin
c: some other instrument of choice

I actually have a metal tenderizing side/flat side mallet that I use. I like it because I can just throw it in the dishwasher. That’s one thing to remember, you might get a little raw chicken on whatever you’re pounding with so make sure that what you are using is washable. Then, pound each breast until it has pretty much doubled in size and is about 1/2 - 1/4 inch thick.

This was the best sandwich. Personally (and I know I am probably crazy) but I’m not a huge fan of corned beef or pastrami. I’m much happier with turkey or in this case, turkey pastrami.

So, this is kind of like a Ruben in that there is tasty bread (pumpernickel instead of rye), the earlier-mentioned turkey pastrami, swiss cheese and instead of sauerkraut, coleslaw. Oh and not just any coleslaw, fennel-herby coleslaw with orange zest.

It’s kind of like a Tyler Florence recipe I recently saw on Tyler’s Ultimate, except different (I went for cilantro and orange while he used lemon and tarragon). But, man, this was good. Throw in a grill pan for tasty grill marks and it’s like heaven on a plate. Oh and I just know I will be making this coleslaw all Summer long, with or without Turkey Rubens in mind.

Fennel-Herb Slaw:
1 large fennel bulb, fronds removed and halved
1/2 orange, juiced
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup sour cream or Greek yogurt
1 bag coleslaw mix
2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro leaves
2 tbsp chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 tbsp chopped chives
zest of 1/2 and orange
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Finely slice fennel using a mandoline (again, not the instrument), or the grater attachment on your food processor or just a knife (I went the knife route).

In a food processor, combine the orange juice, mayonnaise, sour cream, herbs and olive oil. Process until combined.

Add the dressing to the fennel and coleslaw mix and add the orange zest. Taste and season with salt and pepper.

Make the Sandwiches
Slices of pumpernickel or rye bread
Turkey pastrami (or regular sliced turkey will work)
Dijon Mustard
Swiss Cheese
Tomato slices
Fennel-Herb Coleslaw
Olive oil

Lay the bread out and cover with the cheese and the turkey. Generously apply coleslaw.

Top with tomato slices and spread a little Dijon mustard on the other bread slices before bringing the sandwich together.

Heat a grill pan and add a little olive oil. Cook each side for about 3-5 minutes over medium heat. Covering will help the cheese meltage. You’re not really trying to heat it completely all the way through, just get good grill marks and melt the cheese. That is all.

Let sit about 2 minutes before slicing in half.

Holy crap that was tasty!

***
And now, it’s Wedding Stuff:

Oh look, I figured out the beverage menu stands (for the reception table). Four wine corks, tied together make a great stand for dinner menus or wine menus. I would love to take credit for this idea but I’ve seen it many places online…whoever came up with this? You are a genius!

I made three of these tonight…only 5 more to go.

I had so much fun with the other day’s WCC meal, that I made another crockpot dish a couple of nights later. Really, any excuse to use my smoked paprika.

Chicken Paprikash w/ Sour Cream
Adapted from a recipe on Epicurious.com
2 medium onions, thinly sliced
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tbsp sweet paprika
1/2 tbsp smoked paprika
2 garlic cloves, peeled and halved
2.75 - 3 lb pounds chicken pieces — legs, thighs, breasts (all bone in, skin on and ready for business)
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp + 2 tbsp olive oil
1 cup cup chicken stock or low-sodium chicken broth
1 can artichoke hearts in water, drained and quartered
1/3 cup sour cream (use full fat, low fat could curdle)
Fresh dill, chopped, for garnish

Add the 1 teaspoon oil to a heavy skillet and add the onions and paprikas and 1/2 teaspoon salt.

Cook until onions soften and paprika smells really good — about 4-5 minutes over medium heat. Spread mixture evenly over bottom of insert.

Rub garlic halves over chicken then throw the garlic in the crock pot. Sprinkle chicken with pepper and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt. In the same pan used for the onions, heat the remaining olive oil until hot but not smoking (over moderately high heat).

Add chicken pieces and brown, turning occasionally, until golden, about 6 minutes. Transfer to slow cooker (do not clean pan), layering chicken on top of onion mixture.

In same saucepan over high heat, bring stock and artichoke hearts to simmer, scraping up browned bits from bottom of pan.

Pour over chicken in slow cooker, cover, and cook on low until chicken is tender but not falling off bone, 5 to 6 hours. Mine was good in about 5 hours. Remove the chicken to a platter and cover with foil. If there looks like there is a lot of chicken fat on the surface, try to skim some out.

Turn the crockpot off. If you are kind of nervous, stir a little sauce into the sour cream to bring it up in temperature a bit. I am not ashamed to admit that I did this. Then, stir the warmed up sour cream into sauce. Combine well. Pour over the chicken. Garnish with dill and serve.

You can also put the chicken on a bed of spinach noodles and serve everything individually in bowls. Leftovers make a great lunch, as this makes at least 4 - 6 servings.

The other night I had a hankerin’ to make something a little different. Since jwa and I do enjoy the curry, I decided to give this recipe a try. It’s from the book, Pleasures of the Vietnamese Table by Mai Pham and it was really good!

The lemongrass gives it an awesome flavor. Whack your stalks with a rolling pin or a wine bottle, or to live dangerously, the flat side of a knife. You want to kind of crack it open and release all the lemongrassy goodness.

I really didn’t change all that much. I probably used a little less chicken (maybe 1.5 pounds) called for originally and I added halved cherry tomatoes as a garnish.

Chicken Curry with Sweet Potatoes
3 tbsp curry powder
1/2 tsp salt, or to taste
2 pounds skinless chicken thighs
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp chopped shallot
2 tsp minced garlic
2 tsp ground chili paste or dried chili flakes, or to taste
3 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp sugar
2 lemongrass stalks, cut into 3-inch pieces and bruised with something flat
1 (1-inch) piece ginger, peeled, cut into 3 slices and bruised with something flat
1 1/2 cups fresh chicken stock or store-bought low-sodium chicken broth
3 carrots, peeled, cut on the diagonal into 2/3-inch pieces
1 1/2 cups unsweetened coconut milk
1 yellow onion, cut into wedges
1 medium sweet potato (about 1 pound), peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes

garnishes
1/2 cup basil leaves, cut in half
8 sprigs cilantro, cut into 2-inch pieces
2 scallions, chopped
8 cherry tomatoes, halved

Combine 2 tablespoons of the curry powder and the salt in a bowl. Add the chicken and turn to coat the meat evenly. Set aside for 30 minutes.

Heat the oil in a medium pot over moderate heat. Add the shallot, garlic, chili paste and the remaining 1 tablespoon curry powder, and stir until fragrant, about 10 seconds.

Add the chicken and cook until the edges of the pieces are golden, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the fish sauce, sugar, lemongrass, ginger and chicken stock.

Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat. Add the carrots and cook for 10 minutes. Add the coconut milk, onion and sweet potato and cook until the vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes.

Transfer to a serving bowl, garnish with basil, cilantro, tomato halves and scallions, and serve.

Now this is one of the ultimate comfort foods, ever. I actually tried to make a chicken pot pie before — maybe 5 years ago — and it was a complete disaster. Flavorless, too much work and just kind of meh. It’s taken me 5 years to want to attempt another one. Wow, am I glad I did! This chicken pot pie is anything but meh…it is awesome!

It’s also a great project for a Saturday or Sunday, it seems like there are a lot of steps, but it goes very quickly. Plus, you can use up lots of vegetables, pretty much add any combination that you have. I subbed frozen lima beans for the peas and added about 4 stalks of cut up (about 1 inch pieces) of asparagus right before I added the flour.

Oh, diced butternut squash would probably be wonderful in this, or maybe even some sweet potato chunks! This is based on a recipe in Gourmet magazine, but that was for a turkey pot pie with a cheddar-biscuit crust, so, really this is much different!

Chicken Pot Pie with a Feta Herb Biscuit Crust
For filling:
1 lb chicken breasts, cut into bit-sized pieces
1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 large carrots, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 tsp chopped thyme
1/2 tsp chopped rosemary
3 tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 pound mushrooms, trimmed and quartered
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup frozen baby peas, thawed
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 cup fat-free milk
3 tbsp Parmesan cheese

For biscuit crust:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 cup feta cheese crumbles
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
6 tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 1/4 cups well-shaken buttermilk
1/4 cup mixed chopped herbs (chives, rosemary, thyme, and sage are good, and although it is not an herb, so are green onions)

Add olive oil to large pot and brown chicken over medium-high heat for about 4-5 minutes until golden. Remove and set aside, leaving any extra oil in pan.

In that pan, add the 3 tablespoons of butter and cook the onion, garlic, carrots, rosemary and thyme with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper, over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are almost tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Add mushrooms and cook, uncovered, stirring, until tender, 5 to 7 minutes.

Sprinkle with flour and cook, stirring constantly, 2 minutes. Stir in wine, broth and milk, scraping up any brown bits, and bring to a boil, stirring, then simmer until slightly thickened, about 3 minutes. Stir in chicken pieces, peas, Parmesan and salt and pepper to taste. Reheat over low heat just before topping with biscuit crust.

Preheat oven to 400°F with rack in middle.

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pepper into a medium bowl. Add cheeses and herbs and toss to coat.

Blend in butter with a pastry blender or your fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add buttermilk and stir just until a dough forms.

Drop biscuit dough onto filling in 8 large mounds, leaving spaces between biscuits. If you have extra biscuit dough, drop them down on a cookie sheet and bake alongside the pie, for about 15 minutes.

Bake until biscuits are puffed and golden brown and filling is bubbling, 35 to 40 minutes.

Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Oh! So good. And besides a wonderful dinner, we will be having tasty lunches this week for sure.

February’s Weekend Cookbook Challenge is hosted by Foodie Chickie this month and she’s chosen Nigella Lawson as the theme. This is awesome as I recently got a Nigella Lawson cookbook. Perfect!

This is a super quick dinner (it’s from Nigella Express) and it was pretty tasty. Something about bacon drippings (or pancetta, I s’pose), wine, rosemary, white beans and tomatoes. Mmm!

Pollo alla Cacciatora
1 tbsp garlic oil
1/2 cup pancetta cubes (alternately, you can the fat from cooking 1 piece of bacon and add a clove or two of garlic)
6 scallions, finely sliced
1 tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
1 pound chicken thigh fillets, each cut into 4 pieces (I used breast meat)
1/2 tsp celery salt
1/2 cup white wine
1 (14-ounce) can chopped tomatoes
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp sugar
1 (14-ounce) can cannellini beans

Nigella writes to put the garlic oil into a pan with the pancetta, sliced scallions and chopped rosemary and fry for a couple of minutes. Now, what I did is use some bacon grease I had in the freezer (instead of the pancetta), about a teaspoon and a half’s worth and sauteed the rosemary and green onions in that. I also added two minced cloves of garlic here. Worked well. But was there really any doubt? No. Not really.

Add the chicken pieces, stirring well, and sprinkle in the celery salt.

Pour in the wine and let it come to a boil before adding the tomatoes, bay leaves and sugar. Put the lid on and let everything simmer for about 20 minutes. Next, drain and add a can of cannellini beans and let it go for an additional 2-3 minutes.

Dish up, grab a spoon and nom-nom-nom-nom-nom.

Next time, I might try dredging the chicken in a little seasoned flour just to see what (if anything) that adds to it. Just because I’m like that.

Thanks again to Foodie Chickie for hosting this month’s event!

So, the other day I realize that I have a whole bunch of basil that I need to use, like yesterday. A quick survey of the fridge also shows some ground chicken and a small container of roasted chili pepper flakes from pokpok (the little container that comes with the curry-noodle-chicken soup). Hmmm, I think to myself, I know what I could do — I could go online and find a recipe for Thai Basil Chicken and make that. Do you see where this is going?

I ended up at Thai Table and basically sort of followed the recipe there…well, except for a few things. So, I am in no way claiming that my version is authentic Thai cooking, let’s get that straight right now. If you want that, definitely use the Thai Table recipe!

See, I just used normal basil, way less chili pepper spiciness than called for and I added a bunch of halved cherry tomatoes that, like the basil, were crying out to be used. The result? Very tasty!

Kind of Like Thai Basil Chicken — Except Less Spicy, with Normal Basil and Some Tomatoes Thrown in for Fun
Adapted from a recipe at Thai Table
2 tbsp peanut oil
1/2 tsp Thai red chili paste (roasted if you’ve got it, make it spicier if that’s what you’re into)
1 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 cups basil leaves, loosely packed (If you can get actual holy basil, use that), if your basil leaves are really big, give them a quick chop
3/4 lb ground chicken
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 tbsp fish sauce
10 cherry tomatoes, halved

Heat the oil in a big pan and add the minced garlic and chili paste. Cook for a few minutes until you can really smell the spiciness and everything looks a little golden, about 2-3 minutes or so.

Add the ground chicken and break up with a wooden spoon. Stir while the chicken cooks. This part will take a few minutes and the chicken will produce liquid.

Just keep cooking and stirring until most of that is reduced. Add the sugar and stir that in, cooking for about 30 seconds. Next, add the fish sauce. Stir. Finally add all of your basil leaves and the cherry tomato halves.

Stir until the basil wilts down a bit, a minute or so, and serve over rice.

***

Wow. Today is a bonus day. The other night I sauteed up some spinach to go with some fish and I started the same way I always do — a little olive oil, brown some garlic, red pepper flakes (just a pinch), a bunch of spinach and some salt.

Then, I got the idea to add about a 1/2 teaspoon of Dijon mustard right as the spinach was getting wilty. Oh my god, so good! Dijon spinach with toasted garlic is the best. Seriously.

PS: It’s frickin’ cold in here, Mr. Bigglesworth.

We had this meal a couple of weeks ago and I think we’ll have to have it again soon. It was really tasty. The original recipe called for chicken thighs but it worked really well with chicken breasts. You could probably go with skinless and boneless (that would take less cooking time) but go ahead and live a little and use bone-in breasts.

Seriously, this was really good. Give it a few days before you actually want to cook again after Thursday and then make this…

Braised Chicken with Apples and Sage
Adapted from a recipe in Gourmet magazine
2 big chicken breasts with skin and bones (you could probably get away with 3-4 breasts with the amount of sauce that this makes, but lost of sauce is good so it woks with 2 breasts fine)
1 1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tbsp packed brown sugar
2 apples (preferably Gala; 3/4 lb total), peeled, cored, and cut into 1/2-inch-thick wedges — I used one Gala and one Granny Smith, and I didn’t peel
1/4 cup toasted walnuts
1/2 cup chopped shallots (2 to 3) — I subbed half a white onion as I didn’t have any shallots
2/3 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 tsp cider vinegar
1/2 tsp chopped fresh sage (rosemary would work well too)

Pat chicken dry and sprinkle all over with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then brown chicken well, starting with skin sides down and turning over once, 10 to 12 minutes total. Transfer chicken to a plate and pour off some of the fat if you have a lot in the pan — you want about 1 tablespoon in the skillet.

Add butter, brown sugar, apples, walnuts and shallots to fat in skillet and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until apples are browned, about 5 minutes.

Add broth, vinegar, and sage and deglaze skillet by boiling, stirring and scraping up any brown bits, 1 minute. Return chicken, skin sides up, to skillet along with any juices accumulated on plate. Reduce heat and simmer, loosely covered with foil, until chicken is cooked through and sauce is slightly reduced, 30-35 minutes. Check the temperature — you want it to be about 165 degrees.

Mmmm….it’s moist and tasty!

Okay, off to California Wednesday. Have a nice Thanksgiving, everyone!