soup at home

Chicken broth + sautéed summer squash, carrots, onions, and kale + leftover kasha(buckwheat) made this meal in my parent's backyard a loving and nourishing treat.

chicken marbella at marla's

Sooo.. I've been out of town for the last two weeks. And now I'm going to attempt to catch you up a bit. Probably more than 1/2 of my meals were at restaurants.. a true vacation.. but I did get to do a little cooking all along the way. I didn't take photos of food during the first leg of my trip in Chicago.. but I did sing a lot of jazz and go out tango dancing. The next stop I made was Cleveland, to visit my uncle, aunt, and cousins. Here's one of the dishes we enjoyed together :)

It's the famous chicken marbella from the Silver Palate Cookbook - also on epicurious.
"It's good hot or at room temperature. When prepared with small drumsticks and wings, it makes a delicious hors d'oeuvre. The overnight marinating is essential to the moistness of the finished product: the chicken keeps and even improves over several days of refrigeration; it travels well and makes excellent picnic fare."

(we cut the recipe in 1/2.. to serve 6, instead of the original 12, and we also substituted honey for the brown sugar)

You'll need:
2 chickens, 2 1/2 pounds each, quartered
1/2 head of garlic, peeled and finely pureed
2 tbsp dried oregano
coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup pitted prunes
1/4 cup pitted Spanish green olives
1/4 cup capers with a bit of juice
3 bay leaves
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup white wine
2 tbsp parsley or fresh cilantro, finely chopped

Oven! 350. (I almost just used the words straight from the book.. sorry.. if that's not good enough for you:)

In a large bowl combine chicken quarters, garlic, oregano, pepper and coarse salt to taste, vinegar, olive oil, prunes, olives, capers and juice, and bay leaves. Cover and let marinate, refrigerated, overnight.

Arrange chicken in a single layer in one or two large, shallow baking pans and spoon marinade over it evenly. Drizzle chicken pieces with honey and pour white wine around them.

Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, basting frequently with pan juices. Chicken is done when thigh pieces, pricked with a fork at their thickest, yield clear yellow (rather than pink) juice.

With a slotted spoon transfer chicken, prunes, olives and capers to a serving platter. Moisten with a few spoonfuls of pan juices and sprinkle generously with parsley or cilantro. Pass remaining pan juices in a sauceboat.

To serve Chicken Marbella cold, cool to room temperature in cooking juices before transferring to a serving platter. If chicken has been covered and refrigerated, allow it to return to room temperature before serving. Spoon some of the reserved juices over chicken.

Enjoy!!!

sorry it's been so long!

So... I graduated from the University of Missouri last Friday, and I've been busy with that. But iphoto has been broken on my laptop for the last 3 weeks, and that's the main reason I haven't been blogging. But now.. It's finally fixed! Thanks to my friend Ryan. Thank you Ryan, and all the other good people who've tried to help me.

Let me explain some of these photos..

1. A salad I was eating a lot of.. spinach from Phil at the farmers market, with shredded carrot and sliced pieces of roasted red bell pepper, with this delicious Italian dressing I made up.

1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup flax seed oil
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp shallot salt
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1 dash paprika
1 dash garlic powder

2. New plants in my window.. and boy, has this spring been raaaaaaainy.

3. My new Toms shoes! And another herb to add to my collection: savory.

4. My new favorite meal: broccoli, onions, garlic, and cashews sauteed in schmaltz! YUMMMM! And it makes my apartment smell AMAZING.

5. Soaked oatmeal for breakfast with my sister, who flew in from NYC for my graduation weekend. Oatmeal soaked the night before, as usual (with water and about 1 tbsp lemon juice) then instead of water, add coconut milk in the morning, with cinnamon, honey, and raisins. :)

6. That's me.

7. Spinach, dried cherries, walnuts, and chicken with spicy honey lemon dressing


I promise you'll hear more from me.. now that school's out and I have so much free time! (that was a joke.) But really.. I hope to be blogging more. Peace out.

brodo di pollo

Chicken broth, Italian style! I sautéed some onion in olive oil, then added a huge clove of garlic. Then came the chicken broth with 1/2 a tomato, seeded and chopped, and finally some fresh parsley and basil. Oh yeah, and some salt. :)
These posts are short, I know - but I shouldn't even be blogging right now.. there are 5 more days left of possible school work.. Or should I say 120 hours..

chicken stock and schmaltz

It's been a while since I made chicken stock.. this time I did it a little differently than before, and the process went SO much faster. Or maybe, I'm just getting good :)

1 as whole as you can find, organic chicken (include feet, necks, and other bony parts)
2 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
1 onion, roughly chopped
3 stalks of celery, roughly chopped
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
4 quarts of filtered water
1 bunch parsley - which I always forget.. I need to figure out a way not to forget..

1 - I get my chicken frozen, so I let it thaw all the way out in the fridge first.
2 - Cut up chicken, and cut breast meat off the bone, because you'll be taking the large portions of meat out of the stock after about 1-2 hours (take the liver out and save it for later!)
3 - Put all ingredients, san parsely, in a large stock pot and let it sit for 30 minutes to 1 hour
4 - Bring to a boil, then skim the foam off the top. Then bring down to a low low low simmer.. and leave it alone (covered, of course)
5 - After 1-2 hours, remove the breast meat as well as the legs and thighs - this is good meat to use, as it hasn't been simmering for 12-24 hours.. put away for later use.
6 - After 12-24 hours, remove from heat and strain out vegetables and leftover chicken.
7 - Return stock to the big pot it was just in, or dirty up another one if you'd like, and let it sit out on the counter until it cools off a bit.. so you don't put it in the fridge when it's still piping hot.
8 - Put the pot of broth in the fridge, and wait for the schmaltz (chicken fat) to collect and harden at the top. Then remove the schmaltz, and save it in a different container.
9 - Pour stock into different containers - I keep some in jars in the fridge and the rest I put in single serving sizes in the freezer for my future chicken soup lunches.

(I don't have a photo of this.. But I sautéed the liver from the chicken with chopped onions thyme, rosemary, and garlic in a spoonful of the schmaltz.. and it was awesome. I'll make it again and post it later..)

chicken soup and hanukkah gifts

Thank you Emily for the awesome engraved cutting board, which you will be seeing over and over in posts from now on.. and thank you to my aunt Allie for the cute new soup bowl :) They knew just what I wanted!

Lately, I've been eating A LOT of chicken soup.. but there are so many different versions; I can never get tired of it - and certainly neither does my digestive system. Today's version consisted of:

2 cloves of garlic
1 shallot
1/2 a red bell pepper

In a big iron pan, I sauteed the veggies while thawing out one serving of chicken broth from the freezer. After 8 minutes or so, once the veggies were giving off the right aroma, I added the chicken broth and let it simmer together for a few more minutes.

Done. The most nourishing meal in 10 minutes. I'll remember that next time I complain about picking bones out of an 18 hour chicken broth.

a paleo's dinner plate (and paper writing procrastination)

I'm not sure if I was hungry, or if I just didn't want to write my final paper.. (it's finals week for those of you who aren't in school..) I'm guessing both.

Dinner tonight:
Steamed broccoli, green beans, and kale with chicken (leftover from the stock) & topped with a sweet and sour sauce. Yes... A store bought sauce (it's finals week!).. but all the ingredients were kosher.


It's the next day.. I'm editing this post to include my paper, because I wrote it on the subject of chicken soup. Yes! I finished it. It was my final art history assignment, and the project was to prepare a PBS documentary on American visual culture.. The main part of the assignment was to include 5 items from at least three different generations of time, for the documentary to follow. If you feel like reading a 9 page paper, click here... ha. I accidentally wrote "cluck here" ... I should have left it because it was such an awesome typo. Speaking of typos.. don't mind the few in the paper. I just found them, but have already turned it in :( oops.

sally fallon's chicken stock

This chicken stock is the concentrated and even more nourishing version of the other broth I have posted. This is Sally Fallon's chicken stock, which probably means - it's my great great great grandmother's chicken stock too. I've only added my commentary.

Ready for the best tasting soup of your life?
1 chicken (whole is best..)
gizzards from 1 chicken (optional)
2 chicken feet (you can find these at an Asian market.. because Asians know better)
4 quarts filtered water
2 tbsp vinegar
1 large onion, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
3 celery sticks, chopped
1 bunch parsley

Cut the chicken into pieces, even cut the wings and neck into pieces. Place the chicken in a stock pot with all the ingredients except the parsley. Let stand for 30 minutes to 1 hour.. Then bring to a boil. Remove scum that rises to the top, then reduce heat and simmer for 6 to 24 hours. The long you cook, the richer the flavor.
10 mintues before you finish add the parsley. This is an easy step to forget - but it adds important mineral ions to the broth. Remove the chicken with a slotted spoon, let it cool, and keep the meat for tomorrow's soup, chicken salad, enchilada, sandwich, or curry.
Strain the stock into a big bowl and reserve in the fridge until the fat collects and congeals on top. Then you can easily remove the fat and store the stock in the fridge or freezer.
Good job!

chicken soup for the heart

If you need healing of any kind, pretty sure this will do the trick. It's also delicious, if you're just hungry.

I got the recipe out the the Eating for Life cookbook. I'm not a huge fan of the book, so I don't recommend getting on to amazon right now - but this is one good recipe.

Kale, Lentil, and Chicken Soup.. what an unimaginative name.
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped carrots
2 cloves garlic, minced
6 cups chicken broth
1 tbsp snipped fresh basil (or 1 tsp crushed dried basil)
4 cups coarsely chopped kale
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 1/2 cups cubed cooked chicken (I had it all ready from making the broth the day before)
1 medium tomato, seeded and chopped,
1/2 cup dry lentils (I soaked mine for 7 hours with a dash of apple cider vinegar, then rinsed them!)

1. In a large saucepan heat oil over medium-low heat. Add onion, carrots, and garlic. Cook covered for 5-7 minutes until veggies are nearly tender, stirring occasionally.
2. Add broth and, if using, dried basil to vegetables. Bring to a boil then reduce heat. Simmer covered for 10 minutes.
3. Stir in kale, salt, and pepper. Bring to boil then simmer for 10 more minutes.
4. Stir in chicken, tomato, lentils, and, if using, fresh basil. Simmer covered for 5-10 minutes or until kale and lentils are tender. Makes 6 servings.

Feel better!
Here it is again, the next time I made it during the Hunt + Gather diet - without the lentils..

making chicken stock.. is important

I can't tell you exactly why it's important.. I just have a feeling..

Ingredients:
1 whole (fresh) chicken or leftover chicken parts.. Or a whole frozen chicken (thaw it safely!)
5-6 quarts water (A bit more or less doesn’t matter, since you can reduce the stock to the intensity level you want, anyway).
Vegetable and herb trimmings (Use what ever you have - such as ends from onions, cores and scraps from bell peppers, celery leaves, herb stems, asparagus throwaway stalks ends, fennel leaves, etc.)

Put all the ingredients in a big pot.
Bring to a boil, then reduce to a medium simmer.
After about 30 minutes, take the chicken out. That's something nice about homemade chicken stock.. it comes with chicken!
Continue to simmer the rest for an hour. (simmer longer for a more concentrated stock)
Drain it out, compost the veggies, and add salt and pepper to taste!

Let the stock stand in the fridge overnight if you're not going to use it right away.. then you can easily skim the fat off the top.