My theme for these postings is simple and easy. I realize most people don't enjoy cooking as much as I do, and for that reason they want to keep it simple. I know most of my readers are very busy people too, and for that reason they want to spend as little time in their kitchens as is necessary. Many of you have little ones like myself, and I have had to adjust my own cooking as well for this reason (it's hard to enjoy making dinner when your toddler is screaming because she's tired of being in her jumperoo or swing for 30 minutes too long already!). Hopefully I will have pictures for each of these recipes too, though this might not always be the case.
I hope to be able to post at least one recipe a week. This first post has been a long time in coming only because I tend to put off daunting tasks, and getting started has always been the hardest part for me. This one is giving me as much trouble as the opening paragraph to an essay I once wrote on the life of St. Columba for a medieval history course (don't ask...the memories aren't too pleasant). :)
I'll be using quite a bit of detail, so for those of you who are avid Food Network watchers it may seem a little tedious. But I know I have friends who think "deglazing a pan" refers to something in the production process of cookware forging, and I want them to enjoy these recipes as well. While I'm not convinced we're in a recession just yet, I do know that prices of all sorts of things are horrendous right now and many of you who don't cook at home very much might want to start doing so to save money.
I do tend to ramble (big shocker right?!) even when writing out recipes, so I will try to keep this to a minimum but I'm not making any promises! Rambling is the temptation of all history teachers. Maybe I'll just make footnotes...ok, here goes.
This first recipe I cooked just this last Sunday for dinner. It's very easy and tastes like it took forever to cook. I love to cook soups because they're a curl-up-and-enjoy type food. They also remind me of fall and winter, and I've been known to crank down the A/C on occasion and get the full enjoyment of a hot bowl of soup on a 100 degree day if only for an hour or so.
Anything marked with an * means there's a note at the end...how does that work for reigning in my rambling? :)
Quick Chicken Noodle Soup
2 chicken breasts*
4 chicken legs*
*garlic pepper
2 tbs butter
2 tbs olive, vegetable, or canola oil
*1/2 cup each chopped onion, celery, and carrots
2 tbs chopped garlic
1/2 cup *white wine or water
1 32 ounce box or 4 cups chicken stock
1 tsp dried herbs de provence or dried thyme
1 bay leaf
1 cup dried egg noodles
salt and pepper to be used throughout recipe, about 1 tsp each total, maybe a little less pepper
Sprinkle chicken pieces with salt and garlic pepper. Put butter and oil in a good size pot (soup pot or dutch oven...better too big than too small) and heat it on medium to medium-high heat (depends on your stove...I cook on an electric stove and I'm always having to play with my heat settings because electric cooktops cycle hotter and cooler...you want something hot enough to brown the meat but not scorch it). Brown the meat on both sides to a nice dark brown caramel color. You may have to do this in batches depending on the size of your pot, but they will brown better with fewer pieces (overcrowding produces steam and they won't brown nicely). Don't worry about stuck-on or burned bits in the bottom of the pan. These are great and we'll address them in a minute (and by the way, those bits are called "fond" in case you're ever on Jeopardy and need to know). Once browned, remove them to a plate for the time being.
Saute the onion, celery, and carrots for about 5 minutes and add a little more oil if necessary. Add your chopped garlic and saute another 5 minutes or so. You just want to soften everything nicely. Sprinkle with a little more salt and pepper.
With the veggies still in the pot, add your wine or water to the pan and start scraping up those burned bits in the bottom of the pan. The liquid should bubble up pretty quickly, so adjust your heat if you need to. It should make the wine or water pretty brown (unless you're using a nonstick pan, in which case there won't be as much but it'll be ok). Add the chicken stock, bay leaf, and herbs de provence or thyme. Bring to boil, then lower heat to keep a nice simmer. Add chicken pieces back to the pot and any accumulated juices. Simmer for 20-30 minutes or until chicken pieces are done (not sure if they're done? take out a piece of dark meat, if using, and cut into it...the meat should show no pinkness and the juices should run clear).
Remove the chicken to a cutting board. If you're ok with removing hot meat from the bone, go ahead and add the noodles now while the soup is still simmering. If you need to let the meat cool first, put the soup on low and let it cool. For timing sake, when you're ready to debone the chicken, bring the soup back up to a boil and cook the noodles while you remove the meat from the bones. Cook the noodles according to package directions, usually about 8-10 minutes. Check for seasoning and add more salt and/or pepper if needed. Don't forget to remove the bay leaf before serving.
*tbs=tablespoon
tsp=teaspoon
*chicken
I made this with 4 legs and 2 breasts, but you can use whatever combination of white and/or dark meat that you want. I would guesstimate it was 1 to 1 1/2 pounds of uncooked meat.
*garlic pepper
This stuff is awesome! Joshua introduced it to me when we were dating, and I've been using it ever since. The brand I buy is Tone's, and I get it from Sam's. But you can find smaller bottles of it in grocery stores. I use it with all my meats. It gives more flavor than just pepper alone.
*onion, celery, and carrots
The amounts of these are optional. I'm a big believer in making recipes your own, so if you hate carrots, don't include them (you'll see in the picture that I added a handful of frozen peas at the last minute because I like them). As long as you have about 1 1/2 to 2 cups of veggies that can stand up to the saute in your soup, whatever combination, you should be good to go. Softer veggies should be added later, either with the chicken or noodles depending on how long they need to cook.
*white wine
I know some of you don't drink alcohol for various reasons and that's cool with me. But I do like it for cooking and most of the alcohol goes up in the steam it produces when deglazing. Problem is many recipes never offer substitutions and I think this stinks. Good substitutes for white wine are apple juice or cider, veggie or chicken stock, or white grape juice; red or purple grape juice, cranberry juice, or beef broth are good for red wine; you can also sub water for either in a pinch. If using juices, add 1 tsp lemon juice to each halfcup of juice to avoid an overly sweet flavor to savory dishes. I do like to drink wine, but Joshua does not, so I have a hard time convincing myself to buy a whole bottle of it sometimes. I love the little bottles of red and white wine that come in cute little boxed four packs now...I've even seen them at WalMart. These are perfect amounts for cooking, as each bottle measures about 1 cup. Any leftover wine can also be frozen in ice cube trays, then popped out and stored in freezer bags to be thawed and used later. I have become such a frugal person! I hate to throw anything away! Someday I'll probably post on that too.
*One last note
The cool thing about this recipe is that it's pretty changeable. Leave out the carrots, herbs, and noodles, and add in canned green chiles, chili powder, cumin, dried oregano, a chipotle or two, and a can of Rotel; throw in some chopped cilantro and corn at the end; garnish with tortilla chips, shredded cheddar, sour cream, etc and you've got a great southwest chicken soup.
Let me know what you think! :)
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