Tag

comfort food

Paella de Pollo

written by Ali

My paella de pollo this week is a little Final Fantasy XV fun. It’s also a good indicator that the season has changed. We’ve had several days of intense rain and wind here on the south coast. I’ve loved every minute of it. It definitely makes me want to make lots of comfort food, though. Paella de pollo fits that bill.

If I was Ignis, from FFXV, I would use a chickatrice leg and Saxham rice to make this. Since I have neither, I substituted chicken thighs and jasmine rice. I also tossed in some Andouille sausage, along with some veggies and a pinch of saffron. A little bit of smoked paprika rounds out the flavor.

One of the best parts of this recipe is that it freezes like a dream. This made three nights worth of dinner for the two of us, which means I’ll have a few nights in the future when I can come home, toss the paella de pollo in the oven to heat up, drink a glass of wine, and watch the rain come down.

Yum

Paella de Pollo

Ingredients

1 onion, diced
1 shallot, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
3 garlic cloves, smashed and diced
2 tablespoons olive oil
6 boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite sized pieces
2 1/2 cups rice
4 cups chicken stock
1 cup water
1 15 ounce can diced tomatoes
1 pinch saffron
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
2 teaspoons salt
ground pepper to taste
1 cup frozen or fresh peas
2 pre-cooked Andouille sausage, sliced

Instructions

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan or dutch oven. Add the onion and shallots and cook for five minutes or until lightly browned. Add the bell pepper and cook for two minutes. Add the garlic and cook for two minutes more. Remove the mixture from the pan.
Add the chicken to the pan and brown on all sides - about two minutes per side. Remove the chicken.
Add the rice to the pan and toast for a minute or two or until fragrant. Add the chicken stock, water, diced tomatoes, saffron, paprika, salt. Add in the onion/pepper mixture and the chicken. Stir and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and simmer for 20 minutes. If needed, add another cup of water. Add the peas and sausage and cook for another seven minutes.
Serves six. Enjoy!

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October 23, 2017 0 comment

Appetizers Baked Goods Breakfast Holiday Recipes

Cacio e Pepe Scones

written by Ali

Cacio e Pepe scones are my contribution to Food’n Flix this month. Food’n Flix is a fun blogging opportunity to watch the same movie as other amazing food bloggers and be inspired. This month’s movie, Burnt, was hosted by Caroline Makes. Burnt is an absolutely quintessential cooking movie about a burned out chef who makes a major come back and finds love and inspiration along the way.

The first time I watched Burnt was on an airplane on my I-Pad on the way to Indianapolis a few weeks ago. I thought that creating food inspired from this movie would be easy – it’s a movie about a chef and about food, after all, so how hard could it be? After watching the movie through the first time, I realized it was going to be more challenging than I’d originally thought. There are so many fast paced camera shots of all the food that the main character Adam, played by Bradley Cooper, plates, serves, and eats that I couldn’t quite figure out what was actually being cooked. Then I was distracted by the plot line and found myself more engaged with the drama between the characters than the food. So I watched the movie a second time this past week while I was in Chicago, pen and notebook in hand. It provided a great distraction from all the real-world drama that was going on with the US election. So much beautiful food: seared shrimp, bouillabaisse, summer vegetables on ricotta cheese, turbot, beets, oysters, omelettes, mushrooms, beef, lamb. But my favorite food moment in the film is at the very start when Adam suggests adding chopped sage to a luscious looking bowl of cacio e pepe (cheese and pepper pasta). I got to thinking about the combination of cheese and black pepper and then even more about food and how it can bring such comfort – whether one is taking care of a chef who has gone on a binge by cooking a simple omelette or if one is just trying to recover from the election hangover. I love cheese and black pepper and I love scones, so decided to see what would happen if I combined these elements.

I have to say that I’m very pleased with how these scones turned out. I even went digging through the pantry to find a jar of tomato jam I made last year to see how it would taste on a scone (it’s delicious). These are so creamy they are nearly biscuit like, so I’m pretty sure we are going to make some sausage gravy next weekend and warm up a few scones in lieu of biscuits. I also think these would be great with a glass of a robust red wine as a holiday appetizer.

Cacio e Pepe Scones
Makes 12 scones

2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper
1/2 cup butter
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese, Pecorino Romano or similar
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 egg

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and black pepper. Cut the butter into slices. Add the butter into the dry mixture and either use a pastry cutter or your hands to incorporate the butter until it forms pea size chunks. Add the cheese and mix it in. Add the heavy cream and egg gently incorporating until all the flour/butter mixture is wet and sticks together in a shaggy dough.

Turn the dough out onto a parchment lined baking sheet and form into a circle. Cut the dough into twelve pieces that radiate out from the middle of the circle. Gently separate each piece – you want just a bit of space between each scone so that they can rise.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the tops of the scones are golden brown. Enjoy!

November 14, 2016 17 comments

Farmer's Market Freezer Meals Lunch Recipes Main Dishes Soup

“Magic” Chicken Orzo Soup

written by Ali

I was delighted to see that Simona Carini was hosting another Novel Food edition on her lovely blog briciole. I have such fun thinking about the various books I read and what food gets cooked and consumed in those books, as well as how food can play an important role on a character’s development.

This year, I decided to make an attempt to read my way through Popsugar’s Reading Challenge, which is a list of 40 or so categories of books like satire, or a book that will be made into a movie this year. I thought it might force me out of my book comfort zone, which tends heavily toward the mystery aisle in the bookstore. One of the categories was a romance set in the future. I did some searching and came up with…a mystery that’s set in the future and is also a love story. Ok, so maybe this didn’t push me out of my reading comfort zone, but it did turn me onto a new mystery series: JD Robb’s series featuring Detective Eve Dallas and her handsome hubby, Roarke. To say that I’m hooked would be something of an understatement – I’ve been going to our used bookstore every month to add to my stash (there are over 50 books in the series so far and I’ve read 14 of them). I’ll read three or four of these at a time and then take a little break, read something else, and then start again.

One of the things that has struck me is how much food plays into each story. Eve Dallas is a tough but lovable character and her criminal turned civilian consultant husband Roarke spends much of his time taking care of her, including making sure she eats well. Dallas’s tastes lean toward red meat, pizza, and coffee, but Roarke often makes her eat her vegetables and tries to get her to appreciate the finer things in life in between her saving people and finding murderers.

There is also a wonderful surrounding cast of characters that includes Dallas’s partner, Detective Peabody. Peabody also likes to make sure that Eve eats while she is on the go and tracking down the bad guys. In one of my favorite parts of Calculated in Death (book 45 in the series), Peabody and Dallas stop for soup in between interviews of murder suspects and Dallas calls the soup “magic” – it’s just how good it is. I don’t recall that she actually ever reveals what’s in the soup, but magic soup becomes a touchstone throughout the book – later on, when Dallas and Peabody are back at their headquarters, Dallas eats some minestrone soup and sniffs at it, saying that it isn’t bad, but it isn’t “magic”.

Since soup is one of my favorite foods, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what my “magic” soup is and decided it would be chicken noodle soup of some sort. This weekend, we’ve been inundated by rain and wind here in the PNW, so I thought it was probably time to make chicken soup. Sadly, we just don’t have enough storage space in our kitchen in our Vancouver rental, so I don’t have any chicken stock stored. I decided I was going to poach some chicken breasts, with both skin and bone still on and in, and magic up some stock. Combined with a lot of garlic, a little bit of green chili, and orzo, I think this soup could make even Eve Dallas come back for seconds.

“Magic” Chicken Orzo Soup
Serves 4

For the poached chicken and stock
2 bone-in with skin chicken breasts
3 bay leaves
1 teaspoon whole peppercorns
1 carrot
2 celery stalks
1/2 red onion
1/2 leek
2 teaspoons salt

Cut the carrot in half. Do the same with the celery stalks. Cut the onion into four chunks. Cut the leek in half and make sure it is thoroughly clean. Toss the bay leaves, peppercorns, carrot, celery, onion, leek and salt in a large saucepan. Lay the chicken on top and cover with water. Bring to a boil and then turn to a low simmer. Poach for 15 – 20 minutes or until the chicken reads 165 degrees on a meat thermometer. Strain out the chicken and other soilds and reserve the poaching liquid.

For the soup
Poached chicken breasts
8 cups chicken stock from the poached chicken
1 carrot
2 celery stalks
1/2 red onion
1/2 leek
8 garlic cloves
1 roasted Anaheim chili (optional)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup uncooked orzo
Salt to taste

Chop the vegetables into bite size pieces. Shred the chicken. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan. Add the carrots, onions and celery and saute until the onions are translucent. Add the garlic, leek and Anaheim chili. Saute for another two minutes. Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Add the orzo and cook for eight minutes. Stir in the shredded chicken and cook for ten more minutes. Season with salt to taste. Enjoy!

This blog post is linked to two really awesome blog link parties, so please take a look at the other great recipes that are out there:

Kahakai Kitchen Souper Sundays

Novel Food #28 on briciole

October 16, 2016 5 comments

Breakfast Main Dishes

Egg and Sausage Poutine

written by Ali

Egg and sausage poutine is a glorious comfort food. I could easily eat it for breakfast (preferably with a Bloody Mary), but am just as happy to make this for dinner, particularly on a cool, rainy autumn night, served with a crisp Chardonnay and eaten watching a comedy.

My husband, Clay, is the person who brought poutine into our world. I am pretty sure he found a recipe for it on a video on Facebook. My initial reaction was one of skepticism – sure, it was a food that included French fries and cheese, but gravy? After some trial and error though, this has gone into my rotation of go-to comfort foods for days I’m feeling especially stressed out or unhappy. It’s a tie for me which is better – poutine or pasta carbonara.

Some food trivia: poutine is a dish that originated in Quebec and is very popular in Canada and some of the states that border Canada. In its simplest form, it is fries, curds, and gravy, but you can definitely add other things to it, including bacon (my favorite), ham, etc. I suppose if you felt really guilty about eating it, you could add a veggie component – I can imagine (though have yet to try) that some shaved and crisped Brussel sprouts could be really lovely with this.

Egg and Sausage Poutine
Serves 4

Brown gravy (recipe below)
1 bag frozen French fries
1 package link breakfast sausages
4 eggs
1 package cheese curds

Brown Gravy
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup beef broth

Bake the fries according to the package directions. As the fries bake, cook the breakfast sausages until they are browned. While fries and sausage cook, make the gravy. Melt the butter in a small saucepan and gradually whisk in the flour to make a roux. Cook the roux for a minute, continuing to whisk. Pour in the beef broth and continue to whisk. Cook for about five minutes or until the gravy comes to your preferred thickness. Remove the gravy from the heat and set aside.

Set aside the sausage. Fry the eggs – I prefer a slightly runny yolk with this recipe, but you can also cook the eggs until the yolk is set if you prefer. Once all components are cooked, plate the poutine by setting down a base of French fries on each plate. Divide the curds over each plate of fries. Drizzle some of the gravy over the top. Place the sausages and egg on top and top with more gravy. Enjoy!

September 29, 2016 0 comment

Freezer Meals Main Dishes

Sausage and Spinach Mac and Cheese

written by Ali

The past weekend was the weekend for comfort food, including this sausage and spinach mac and cheese. As the weather turns gloomy and we realize that the three hour move north really will make a difference in terms of the number of cloudy days and rain, I’m starting to dig around more in Pinterest and my own recipe archives to find foods that evoke warmth and coziness. Mac and cheese is definitely one of these – it’s super indulgent and satisfying.

I much prefer making my own cheese sauce rather than eating mac and cheese made out of the contents of a box. Making cheese sauce can be intimidating, as to get it to the proper thickness, you start with a roux. A roux definitely borders the line between easy cooking into a more Martha Stewart or Nigella Lawson world, but I promise you, it’s not nearly as complicated as it might seem. The key is low heat and paying attention to the butter and flour in the first stage and then keeping a close eye on the milk or cream in the second stage. Keep it on low, use a whisk to keep stirring, and just keep stirring and it will turn out just fine.

I recommend some sort of chicken sausage for this recipe – I used an Olympia Provisions sausage (OP is quite popular in this part of the PNW). Spinach is a good go-to green to include, though this would work well with chard or kale, as well.

Sausage and Spinach Mac and Cheese
Serves 4

Cheese Sauce
1 head roasted garlic (optional)
3 tablespoons butter
1 ½ tablespoons flour
1 cup half and half or milk
2 cups cheese (gruyere works well, as does cheddar)

Filling
4 precooked sausages, chopped into ½ inch pieces
1 bunch spinach
1 teaspoon olive oil
½ package rotini pasta or similar

Breadcrumb Topping
½ cup Panko breadcrumbs
2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
1 tablespoon olive oil

Bring a pot of water to a boil and boil the pasta according to the directions on the package.

While the pasta is cooking, wash and chop the spinach. Sauté the spinach on medium heat in 1 teaspoon olive oil until it is wilted. Remove from the heat and drain in a colander to remove excess moisture. Set aside.

Make the cheese sauce. Add the butter and roasted garlic (if using) to a small sauce pan. Melt the butter over low heat and mash the garlic as the butter melts. Once the butter is melted, add the flour a little bit at a time and whisk it into the butter as you add. When all the flour is incorporated, cook on low for a minute, continuously whisking. Add the milk or half and half and continue to stir for about 5-7 minutes or until the sauce begins to thicken. Once thickened, remove from heat and add the cheese, stirring to incorporate.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Assemble the pasta, sausage, and spinach in an oven-proof pan. An 11 x 13 Pyrex pan works well for this. Spoon the cheese sauce over the pasta mixture and gently fold in. In a small bowl, combine all ingredients for the breadcrumb topping and then spread the topping over the mac and cheese. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the topping is golden brown. Enjoy!

September 24, 2016 0 comment

Baked Goods Freezer Meals Main Dishes

Chicken, Broccoli, Cheddar Calzones

written by Ali

For this week’s Sunday Supper, I want to share one of my comfort foods: chicken, broccoli, cheddar calzones. Calzones are such a perfect food – dough and filling. Best yet, they are very, very freezer friendly, so, though they can take a bit of time to put together, they work well for super easy weekday meals: pull the calzone out of the freezer and toss it in the oven (still foil wrapped) for 45 minutes or so at 350 degrees.

It’s started to rain again in my part of the PNW, so I have little desire to do much beyond sit around, read, and cook comfort food. With this weather, I’m also much more likely to want to cook something “fancy” on the weekend, so you’ll likely see a few posts like this one this fall and winter. I also can’t resist roasted garlic – so if you aren’t a fan, feel free to leave it out. Calzones are so very versatile – I highly encourage you to think of other great combinations for the filling and use the dough as a base for your own creations.

Chicken, Broccoli, Cheddar Calzones
Serves 6

Calzone Dough
2 cups warm water
2 packets active dry yeast (or 4 ½ teaspoons yeast)
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons salt
6 cups flour

Cheese Sauce
Roasted garlic from one head roasted garlic
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons flour
¾ cup half and half
¾ cup shredded cheddar or gruyere cheese

Filling
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 head broccoli
¾ cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 teaspoon salt
Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place chicken thighs into an oven proof dish and drizzle with 2 tablespoons olive oil and sprinkle with one teaspoon salt. Bake for 20 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 165 degrees. Once thighs are cooked, set aside.

While the chicken is cooking, make the dough. Sprinkle the yeast over the warm water and let sit for a few minutes until the yeast becomes foamy. Add the olive oil to the yeast, and then one cup flour and the salt. Mix. Continue to add flour until the dough comes together in a shaggy ball. Turn out on a well-surface and knead for 6 to 8 minutes. The dough should be a bit sticky still but not so much so that it sticks to your hands or to the surface. Let the dough rise for an hour in a bowl covered with oiled plastic wrap or a few clean tea towels. Punch the dough down and let it rise for another hour.

Reduce the oven temperature to 425 degrees.

In the last half hour that the dough is rising, prepare the cheese sauce. In a small saucepan, melt the butter over low heat and add the roast garlic. Stir a few times and then whisk the flour in a little bit at a time. Once the flour is fully incorporated, let cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for a minute. Add the half and half slowly, continuing to stir until it is fully incorporated. Continue to stir until the sauce starts to thicken. Take the sauce off the burner and stir in the cheese. Set aside.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Chop the broccoli into small pieces. Sauté in a non-stick pan for five to seven minutes to slightly soften. Chop the chicken into small pieces.

In a large bowl, combine the chicken, broccoli, sauce, and remaining shredded cheese. Stir well.

Punch down the calzone dough and split into six pieces. On a well-floured surface, roll out the first piece into a circle. Place 1/6^th of the chicken and sauce mixture in the middle of the circle and fold half over the filling. Crimp down around the edges and place the calzone on the parchment lined baking sheet. Do the same with the remaining dough and filling.

Bake for 30 minutes or until the calzones are golden brown on top and bottom. Enjoy!

I’m pleased to have this recipe on the Saucy Saturdays Blog Hop. Please take a minute and check out the links to the hosts’ websites – these are some of my favorite blogs and Instagram feeds!

La Petit Chef
Mid-life Croissant
Take Two Tapas
The Flavor Blender

September 18, 2016 0 comment