April « 2010 « Gourmet and Comfort Food Blog by Two Hot Potatoes

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Roasted Chicken & Ravioli Soup

Tuesday April 13th 2010

I know, I know. It’s springtime in Dallas, and I’ve posted back to back soup recipes. And Angela just posted a recipe for hot tea, so we’re obviously clinging to our warm weather favorites. But don’t worry – fresh, citrusy salads and recipes for the grill are right around the corner.

I’ve made several variations of this soup over this years as it’s easily adaptable to the ingredients you have on hand. As long as you have chicken & ravioli then the rest is really up to you. This soup is one part chicken noodle soup, one part minestrone and one part herb ravioli with pomodoro sauce. It’s a great soup for the indecisive.

So this soup starts with a roasted chicken. You can either use the leftovers from Thomas Keller’s roasted chicken or you can buy a small fryer and throw it in the slow cooker for the day, which is exactly what I did yesterday. If you haven’t figured it out by now, I have a small love affair going on with my crock pot.

You can also make the crock-pot roasted chicken and serve it with rice for an easy weeknight meal. It’s not the same crispy, brown chicken that you’ll get from the oven – it’s more of a tender, fall-off-the-bone chicken that pairs well with rice or couscous. Delicious in it’s own right.

Slow Cooker Roasted Chicken

3-4 lb small fryer chicken
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
1 celery stalk, diced
1 TBS Thyme
1 cup chicken broth
Salt & Pepper to taste

Clean and dry the chicken then season with thyme, salt & pepper. Place onions, carrots, celery and chicken broth in the bottom of the crock pot. Put the chicken on top of the vegetables and cook on low for 8 hours. Easy enough.

Roasted Chicken & Ravioli Soup

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 medium carrots, cut diagonally into 1/2-inch-thick slices
2 celery ribs, halved lengthwise, and cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
1 zucchini, diced
1 can diced tomatoes
1 bay leaf
2 quarts chicken broth, or you can use the broth from the slow cooker
2 cups of shredded roasted chicken
8-10 medium frozen ravioli (I use Rising Moon Organics Garlic & Herb Ravioli from Whole Foods)
1 can cannellini beans
1 cup chopped arugula
Chopped Basil
Pecorino Romano Cheese (you can substitute parmesan cheese)

Place a soup pot over medium heat and coat with the oil. Add the onion, garlic, carrots, celery, zuchinni and bay leaf. Cook and stir for about 6 minutes, until the vegetables are softened but not browned. Pour in the chicken broth, can of diced tomatoes and bring the liquid to a boil. Add the ravioli and simmer for 5 minutes until tender. Fold in the chicken, add the cannellini beans and arugula, and continue to simmer for another couple of minutes to heat through; season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with chopped basil and pecorino cheese before serving.

Cure All-Comfort Tea

Wednesday April 7th 2010

I’ve been sick as a dog this week. We’re talking coughing, sneezing, achy-head, fever; the whole bit. Whenever I’m feeling like this I have one special recipe that always makes me feel better. This honey lemon ginger tea is an excellent cure-all comfort tea. The ginger and lemon awakens your senses, and the sweet smooth honey and touch of mint is just what I need to warm me up inside.

Cure All Comfort Tea

1 Lemon

2 tbs Honey

Fresh Ginger

Handful of Mint

Put some water in a tea pot and simmer until steaming hot. Pour your water in to a mug, add a drizzle of honey, squeeze the juice of one lemon wedge and stir to combine. I like to then cut a large wedge of ginger root to stir in my mug as a stir stick and then add a few leaves of fresh mint.

If you want a stronger flavored tea- you could muddle the ginger and mint together in the cup then strain the tea and serve. But I’m tired, I’m sick, and I just need a warm soothing cure for my cold. This is the perfect remedy.

Get well soon.

Cioppino

Tuesday April 6th 2010

The weather is starting to heat up, so I’m trying to squeeze in a few last soup recipes before we hit 100 degrees here in Dallas. Because once the weather becomes sweltering my diet solely consists of snow cones and popsicles.

Cioppino is a fish stew originating in San Francisco and derived from the various regional fish soups and stews of Italian cuisine. Cioppino is traditionally made from the catch of the day (I caught mine at Central Market), which is typically a combination of dungeness crab, clams, shrimp, scallops, squid, mussels and fish.

The ingredient list may seem a tad overwhelming, but the recipe itself isn’t complex. It’s an inviting, healthy weeknight meal that’s easily adaptable to include your favorite seafood items. I serve mine over whole wheat orzo (or sometimes white rice) with crusty french bread on the side, but it’s also hearty enough to stand on its own.

Cioppino (adapted from Gourmet, 2002)

4 large garlic cloves, minced
1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
1 Turkish bay leaf or 1/2 California bay leaf
1 teaspoon dried oregano, crumbled
1 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
1 green bell pepper, cut into 1/4-inch dice
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 1/2 cups dry red wine (I’ve also substituted white for a lighter flavor)
1 (28- to 32-ounces) can chopped plum tomatoes
1 cup bottled clam juice
1 cup chicken broth
1 pound peeled & deveined shrimp
1/2 pound of mussels (scrubbed and de-bearded)
1 pound skinless halibut fillets, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
3/4 pound sea scallops, tough muscle removed from side of each if necessary
3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil

Cook garlic, onions, bay leaf, oregano, and red pepper flakes with salt and pepper in oil in an 8-quart heavy pot over moderate heat, stirring, until onions are softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in bell pepper and tomato paste and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add wine and boil until reduced by about half, 5 to 6 minutes. Add tomatoes with their juice, clam juice, and broth and simmer, covered, 30 minutes (I actually simmered mine for 90 minutes for a deeper flavor, but 30 should be fine). Season with salt and pepper.

Lightly season fish fillets, shrimp, and scallops with salt and add to stew, then simmer, covered, until just cooked through, about 5 minutes. Discard bay leaf, then add mussels to pot and gently stir in parsley and basil.

Serve cioppino immediately after the mussels open in large soup bowls.

Serve over: Orzo, linguini, white rice or couscous
Accompaniments: Sourdough bread, French bread, salad

Abstract Easter Cake

Monday April 5th 2010

So it started out as a bunny cake, but then somehow morphed into a goose cake. Regardless, it’s simple and delicious, and was made with love. How can one resist a cake with green coconut and jellybeans?

The frosting is a simple buttercream recipe (basically butter and powdered sugar thrown into a mixer with food coloring), and the cake itself is even simpler.

Lazy Day Cake (courtesy of Better Homes & Gardens)

1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
2/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in egg and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with milk. Pour into a greased 8-in. square baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

Easter Peeps

Friday April 2nd 2010

Homemade marshmallows are one of my favorite sweet treats. They are so simple to make, and the flavor possibilities are endless – all you need is a standing mixer, sugar + water + gelatin + (flavored extract if you wish) and you’re in business. I’ve made standard marshmallows quite a few times before, so I thought ~How hard can it be to pipe out a few peeps?

So I went to my trusted crafty homemaker Martha and found the perfect recipe for homemade peeps. Quick caveat – it was a whole lot more difficult than I had anticipated to make these little guys. And I consider myself to be pretty good at projects like these. I’m an artist for crying out loud! It took a lot of trial and error to get only a few recognizable peeps out of the bunch, but no worries from me – even the globby disfigured marshan looking eggs were just as delicious as the pretty bunnies and chicks. Here is my rundown of what to do and not to do if you try this.

Homemade Peeps (adapted from Martha’s recipe)

1 package unflavored gelatin (2 1/2 teaspoons)

1/3 cup cold water, for gelatin, plus 1/4 cup for sugar syrup

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 flavored extract (I used Vanilla, and Strawberry)

Colored/ Flavored Sugar for dusting

Handful of Confectioners sugar to dust your piping surface

In the bowl of your electric mixer – Begin by sprinkling your gelatin packet over 1/3 cup cold water. Allow gelatin to soften, about 5 minutes while you prepare the sugar syrup.

In a small saucepan, combine 1/4 cup water and sugar, and stir over medium-high heat until sugar is dissolved. Stop stirring, and place a candy thermometer into sugar water; wipe sides of pan with a wet brush if sugar crystals have splattered up. Boil sugar until temperature reaches the soft-ball stage (238 degrees).

Remove syrup from heat; add to softened gelatin. Hand-stir the mixture a few minutes to cool; then place bowl on the mixer stand and using the whisk attachment of an electric mixer beat on medium high until soft peaks form and the marshmallow mixture holds shape, about 8 to 10 minutes.

Once you have soft peaks you can then add a few drops of your desired flavored extract and food coloring. (a little goes a long way).

As soon as your fluffy mix is colored, scoop it into a piping bag and begin piping immediately. (this is where I messed up a little in my first batch. After I mixed it up and got it in to my piping bag, I took my sweet time dusting my wax paper surface with powdered sugar, took a phone call from a friend, and then started at it. What happened was I had waited too long and my fluffy mixture was already beginning to set in my bag, making it very thick, globby and hard to squeeze out of the bag)

As you can see below- my version of Martha’s bunny peep, and what it is actually supposed to look like pictured on the right…

Next step is to sprinkle the still sticky marshmallow globs with sugar. I used an assortment of flavored sugars that I got from the new Whole Foods. I sprinkled the pink bunnies with strawberry sugar (to compliment the strawberry flavored extract I used n the marshmallow mix) and Lemon and Tangerine sugar to cover the yellow chicks.

While both are incredibly delicious- this large granular sugar presented me with yet another challenge – The sugar was too coarse, and when I sprinkled it over my bunny blobs, they lost any detail that they might of once had. So I improvised… I pulled out my blender and ground up the big sugar granules in to a fine sugar dust, which wasn’t as attractive, but it made the sugar fine enough to sprinkle evenly. (the next time I attempt his I think I’m just going to make the extra stop over to Michael’s and buy the fine decorative glittery sugar to use, that would be much prettier, however the flavored sugar is much more unique.)

Once you are done piping and dusting all of your Peeps with sugar you need to let them sit for at least an hour. Then you can package them up in an airtight container, with plenty of extra sugar.

Then crack em’ open on Easter Sunday and enjoy!

Almond Macaroon Torte

Thursday April 1st 2010

So I was looking for the perfect Easter dessert that didn’t involve pastels, candy eggs or food coloring, and I stumbled across SmittenKitchen’s adaptation of Bon Apetit’s Almond Macaroon Torte with Chocolate Frosting. I love almonds, macaroons and chocolate so it seemed like the perfect combination. And let me tell you, it is.

The recipe isn’t particularly difficult to make, but it might be difficult to make perfectly. SmittenKitchen’s torte turned out a little prettier than mine, but I’m pretty proud of my novice baker version. The recipe looks like it has a lot of steps, but it didn’t take me more than an hour to prep and bake. It takes slightly longer to assemble, but that’s the fun part!

Almond Macaroon Torte with Chocolate Frosting
Slightly adapted from SmittenKitchen who adapted heavily from Bon Appetit

Serves 12 (or five people if you’re serving my hungry family)

Almond macaroons
2 1/2 cups (10.5 ounces or 300 grams) slivered almonds (or an equivalent weight of blanched, sliced or already ground almonds)
1 cup (196 grams) plus 3 tablespoons (37 grams) sugar
2 large pinches kosher salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
6 large egg whites

Frosting and assembly
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
Vanilla, almond or other extract
20 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chocolate chips
1 cup sliced almonds, toasted (at 350 degrees for 7 to 9 minutes on a tray, stirring once or twice)

Make macaroons: Position an oven rack in the top and lower third of oven and preheat oven to 325°F. Draw two 12 x 4-inch rectangles, spacing 2 inches apart [I honestly used a box to trace two large rectangles on each piece] on a piece of parchment paper, then two more of the same size on a second sheet. In total, you’ll use 2 sheets of parchment paper and draw 4 rectangles. Turn each sheet of parchment over (so your ink or pencil lines don’t seep into the macaroon).

Place almonds, 1 cup sugar and coarse salt in a food processor (you can skip the food processor, however, if you use an equivalent weight of almond meal or ground almonds, just mixing the ingredients in a bowl) and blend until finely ground.

Using electric mixer, beat egg whites in large, dry bowl with clean beaters (or a whisk attachment) until soft peaks form. Drizzle in vanilla extract, then slowly add remaining 3 tablespoons sugar. Beat until stiff but not dry. Fold nut mixture into egg whites. Spread 1/4 of macaroon batter evenly within each rectangle, filling completely.

Bake macaroon layers until golden and almost firm to the touch in the center, reversing sheets halfway through — this took a total of 25 minutes in my oven, but I would start checking every five minutes after 20 minutes. Cool macaroons on their sheets on a cooling rack.

Make frosting: Simmer 1/2 cup of water and sugar in a medium saucepan until sugar dissolves. Bring the syrup to a boil and add chocolate to the saucepan. Remove from heat and let sit for one minute, then stir the chocolate until smooth. This should yield a medium-thick frosting, good for spreading. If yours is on the thin side, you can let it cool for 5 or 10 minutes until it is a good spreading consistency.

Assemble torte If needed due to spreading, carefully trim your macaroon layers back to their intended rectangular sizes. I had to trim a lot because my macaroons spread out while baking. I just tried to guesstimate the same size for each of them. worked okay.

Place one macaroon layer on a long platter. Spread 1/2 cup frosting evenly over. Top with another macaroon layer. Spread 1/2 cup frosting evenly over. Repeat 1 more time then top with last macaroon layer, flat side up. Spread remaining frosting over top and sides of torte. Press sliced almonds onto sides of torte.

Do ahead: Can be made one to two days ahead. Cover with foil tent. Store at room temperature.