Chicken and chorizo stew

December is always a crazy month, packed with family, friends and parties.  And it's the month that I'm doubly excited to go to the mail box for the promise of Christmas cards.  The rest of the year I'm only excited to go to the mailbox for cooking magazines.  But with all the holiday hubbub, even my beloved cooking mags took a backseat.  I'm finally catching up and was pleasantly surprised to find that the January issue of Cooking Light, which arrived here right in the middle of the holiday mayhem, had several recipes I couldn't wait to try out.  This recipe was the first of several I'll be piloting and while it's heavily modified to our tastes, it turned out to be an excellent winter meal.

Ingredients
4 1/2 cups fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth, divided
6 garlic cloves, divided
1 onion, quartered
1 medium carrot, unpeeled, chopped
3/4 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper, divided
1 1/2 teaspoons cumin, divided
2 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
3 cups cubed red potato
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
1 medium red bell pepper, chopped
6 ounces chopped Spanish chorizo
1/2 teaspoon cracked red pepper
1/4 teaspoon saffron threads
1/8 cup all purpose flour
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Salt to taste

Combine 4 cups chicken broth, 3 whole garlic cloves, onion, carrot, 1 teaspoon cumin, 1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked pepper and a hefty pinch of salt in a large, high-sided skillet over medium-high heat.

The poaching liquid awaiting the chicken

Add chicken to pan; bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 14 minutes or until chicken is done. While the chicken is poaching, mince the remaining garlic, cube the potatoes and chop the onion and bell pepper.

Remove chicken, reserving cooking liquid; cool. Shred chicken. Strain cooking liquid through a fine sieve over a bowl; discard solids. Wipe pan with paper towels. Sauté sausage over medium-high heat 2 minutes. Add potato, onion, bell pepper and a pinch of salt; sauté 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add garlic, cracked red pepper, saffron and remaining black pepper; sauté 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add reserved cooking liquid; bring to a simmer. Taste and adjust seasoning according to your tastes.

 Ready to simmer

Simmer 12 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add shredded chicken; simmer 5 minutes. Check seasoning again.  While the dish is simmering, add flour and remaining 1/2 cup of chicken broth to a container with a tight sealing lid.  Shake until all the flour is dissolved and no lumps remain.  Add to stew and bring to boil, and then let simmer for 5 more minutes stirring occasionally.  This will thicken the stew.  Ladle about 1 cup stew into each of 4 bowls.

 Chicken and chorizo stew, ready to be enjoyed!

Slow-cooked smoky chicken and pinto beans

I'm constantly looking for new, healthy recipe ideas.  I thumb through magazines, new and old, I browse the web, but my favorite source lately has been other food blogs.  I love taking recipes other people have test-driven and adding my own twist.  This one is adapted from just such a recipe found on Taste As You Go and had the added benefit of being both a slow cooker recipe (I'm really into my slow cooker right now) and a total comfort food.

Ingredients

1 cup dried pinto beans, rinsed
1 16-ounce jar of fire roasted salsa
2 tablespoons chopped canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
1 tablespoon adobo sauce
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup chicken stock
1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon cumin
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 medium red onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped (ribs and seeds removed)
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

In a 5-quart or larger slow-cooker, add beans, salsa, peppers, adobo sauce, flour, and chicken stock. Season chicken on both sides with salt, pepper. Sprinkle the cumin and chili powder evenly over both sides of the chicken as well. Place chicken in the slow-cooker, pressing the chicken down into the liquid mix as much as possible. Scatter the onion and bell pepper on top.

 All ingredients in the slow cooker, ready to go

Cover and cook on low heat for 8 hours. Remove chicken from the slow-cooker, shred into large pieces and serve, garnished with fresh cilantro.

Chicken kapama, a greek village tradition

The last weekend in September my Dad brought three of my Aunts, visiting the States from Greece, down to visit B and I in Virginia.  Since they were arriving in time for a late dinner, I decided to take a shot at making Chicken Kapama, a traditional village dish that I thought they would all like.  In the end it was very well received and, considering the ingredients, its a great, good-for-you fall comfort food.

Ingredients
8 bone-in, skin on chicken thighs
1 heaping teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 large yellow onions, chopped
5 peeled garlic cloves
1/2 cup dry white wine (for this dish I prefer Pinot Grigio, but any dry white will do)
1 cup water
1 cup chicken stock
6 oz (1 can) of tomato paste
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
Finely grated mizithra cheese
1 1lb box of orzo

Rinse the chicken and pat dry with paper towels. A wet chicken will cause the oil to spatter while browning.  Mix the cinnamon, salt and pepper in a small bowl.  Rub the chicken pieces on all sides with the seasoning mix.

Heat the olive oil in a large, deep, non-reactive skillet or dutch oven over high heat.  Place the chicken in the pan with enough space between the pieces to allow it to brown without steaming (overcrowding the chicken will cause it to steam, not brown).  Brown the chicken for about four minutes on each side or until it is a rich, golden color.  If all the chicken does not fit at once, brown in batches. Remove the browned chicken to a plate layered with paper towel (to absorb excess oil).

The first batch of chicken browning in the dutch oven

Browned chicken, resting on a bed of paper towel

While the chicken is browning, chop both onions and all the garlic.  Reduce the heat in the pan (after the chicken has been removed) to medium.  Add both onions.

Onions on their way to caramelized

Allow the onions to caramelize in the pan.  Add garlic and allow the mixture to continue cooking for another two minutes.

Caramelized onions with garlic added

Turn up the heat to medium-high.  Deglaze the pan by adding 1/2 cup of dry white wine and scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to loosen the browned bits of flavor stuck to the bottom.

Once the wine has evaporated, add the water, chicken stock and tomato paste. Stir until the tomato paste has dissolved into the broth.  Add the fresh oregano.  Nestle the browned chicken into the pan.  The liquid should cover about 3/4 of the chicken (if not a bit more).  Bring the liquid to a boil.  Reduce to a simmer and allow to cook, low and slow, for at least one hour.

 The whole dish ready to simmer slowly

In the last twenty minutes of the chicken's cooking time, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Add half the contents of the one pound box of orzo.  Cook until al dente.  Drain and portion out immediately. Top the orzo with two chicken thighs and a heaping ladelful of the sauce. Top with finely grated mizithra* cheese and serve.

*If you do not have mizithra, serve the dish without cheese, as there is no good substitute.

Maple Mustard Chicken Thighs

This recipe is courtesy of Cooking Light and get's a huge Gold Star! It's exceptionally flavorful, super healthy and portion-wise, it doesn't leave the plate feeling empty (or my belly).  And for you WW folks, it's a 7 points plus value dinner. 

As a tip, the recipe calls for marinating the chicken for 2 hours. The last time I made this I left the chicken overnight.  This added a LOT more flavor.

Ingredients

1/3 cup spicy brown mustard
2 tablespoons brown sugar
3 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons yellow mustard
1 tablespoon grated onion
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
2 teaspoons lower-sodium soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 garlic clove, minced
8 bone-in chicken thighs, skinned
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Combine the first 9 ingredients. (TIP: If you have a food processor you can skip grating the onion or mincing the garlic and just throw about a 1/4 of a medium onion and the clove of garlic into the food processor, along with the remaining 7 ingredients.) Place half of mixture in a zip-top plastic bag; reserve the remaining mixture. Add chicken to bag; seal. Chill 2 hours or more, up to overnight.

Preheat the grill to medium-high. Remove chicken from bag. Sprinkle chicken with salt. Place chicken on a grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 8 minutes on each side or until done. Baste the chicken with remaining mustard mixture as you grill it, this will help to further concentrate the flavor.

I like to serve this dish with a quick rice pilaf (recipe follows).

For the rice:

1/2 red pepper, diced
1/2 green pepper, diced
1/2 medium yellow onion, diced
1 cup white rice
2 cups chicken stock
1 tsp olive oil

Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan. Bring to boil.  Reduce heat to low and simmer without removing the lid for 20 minutes.

Magic chicken

This one's for you DS.

We stumbled onto this combination just playing with chicken breasts, the grill and spices.  We've fed it to many people and one of them dubbed it "Magic Chicken." Why magic?  Because you would never think that by taking chicken and adding just two spices could make it so unbelievably delicious.  But somehow you can - it's like magic!

To make this super easy and extremely versatile chicken favorite simply buy boneless, skinless chicken breast.  We prefer the air chilled chicken breasts from Whole Foods, but that's just personal preference.  Preheat your grill to very hot (we let ours get up to about 550 - 600 degrees). Lay the chicken breasts out on a plate.  Brush each breast with a thin layer of olive oil to help the spices stick to the chicken and to keep it from sticking to the grill.  Sprinkle liberally with Kosher salt.  Add fresh cracked pepper, also in a liberal amount.  Cover the entire breast with chili powder (the whole thing should be more or less red when you're done).  Finally sprinkle a couple of teaspoons of cumin over each breast.  Pat the chicken to adhere the spices. Flip with tongs and repeat on the opposite side.  When you're done it should look something like this.

Mmm...magic chicken

To get really juicy flavorful chicken, the trick to grilling it is fast and hot.  Preheated to its highest temperatures, the chicken goes down on the grill for about five minutes per side, just until its firm to the touch and cooked through.  Allow it to sit for a few minutes to let the juices redistribute.

 B's pretty grill lines and tasty spice crust

Once you've allowed it to rest you can use it for any number of delicious meal creations.  Our two favorites are fajitas (add oven roasted butternut and yellow squash and zucchini, Trader Joe's handmade tortillas and carcaramelized Vidalia onions) and Southwest chicken sandwiches (whole wheat hamburger buns, sliced extra sharp English cheddar, sliced avocado and caramelized Vidalia onions).

One delicious borough

The morning dawned bright and sunny, albeit a little chilly with the wind.  We started our morning out with a trip back to the Tasty Deli for breakfast.  Pancakes, eggs and/or french toast later we were back on the street headed the Green-Hill Cemetery again to do the exploring we were timed out of the night before.

 Dex about to munch on some banana at breakfast

Once we arrived, Dave's mom found a grave on the map that she was keenly interested in visiting, that of Jean-Michel Basquiat, a graffiti artist from New York who died in 1988 of a heroin overdose at age 27.  However, his grave was at the absolute back of the 640 acre cemetery.  But with nice sunny weather we decided we'd give it a whirl anyway. I would guess the walk was a little over a mile each way, but we enjoyed each others company along the way, finding all the tombstones with names that could be considered inappropriate.  Finally we arrived at a line of newish graves (there a civil war era graves in the cemetery, so anything in the last 40 or so years you'd consider new).  Let's just say Basquiat's grave was more than a little anti-climactic.  As a well known artist, we were expecting something large, ornate and a little out there.  But his tombstone was of normal size with his name and dates of birth and death, sitting side-by-side with grandmothers, war veterans and others, all in a line.

Strolling through the cemetery on our way back from Basquiat's grave

After deciding we'd had enough of the cemetery we headed back to the hotel to regroup and decide on a venue for lunch.  Yet again, Dave's yelp-ing ways didn't disappoint.  He had several suggestions for more hole-in-the-wall restaurants, this time near Prospect Park.  So we hopped on the subway and away we went. 

Gotta love the NYC subway - RODENTICIDE

Amy, Alyce, Dex and Patrick on the subway. This is one of several times Dex decided she was offended by Patrick, took one look at him and proceeded to get quite upset.  Poor Patrick. 

We arrived at "The Islands" to find a TINY takeout restaurant that specialized in delicious Caribbean food with its only seating up a crazy steep staircase in what felt like the inside of an old ship. 

The frighteningly steep stairs leading to the seating area at "The Islands" (pic stolen from Alyce)

One end of the crazy ship-style seating

Amy and Tony inside the tiny restaurant

While the place had a menu, we had arrived after prime lunch time and many of its specialties were already gone for the day, so we had to choose between just a handful of their remaining dishes.  But we learned that they make more of their best dishes so we were able to enjoy some amazing things, even with the limitations of our arrival time.  Amy, Tony, Jody, Patrick, Ben and I, who were all at one end of the crazy ship seating decided sharing was the way to go and settled on four large dishes to split, including two orders of the BEST jerk chicken I've ever had, garlic shrimp and curry goat.  All of them were delicious and made the long wait and cramped quarters completely worth it.

 Garlic shrimp with Jasmine Rice

Curry goat with Jasmine rice

Amazing jerk chicken with rice and beans and plantain

When we'd eaten our fill (and we basically cleaned all the plates) we got the bill and all shook our heads at the marvel of $27/couple for the delicious meal we'd just had. Yes, you're reading that right. $27 per couple for lunch in New York.  Proof that if you know where to look good food doesn't have to be expensive.  Way to go, Dave! Again! 

While we were quite full all of our mouths were burning from the extreme spice of our meal.  So Jody whipped out her trusty Iphone to find us some dessert that would cool us off.  Five blocks later we were standing in Blue Marble Creamery for some tasty treats.  It had many interesting flavors including cinnamon, pistachio, and blood orange sorbet.  Everyone found something they liked.

Ice creams in hand we headed back out onto the street for the Brooklyn Museum of Art.  We arrived at 430 giving us about an hour and half to explore the five floors filled with galleries.  We split up as soon as we got inside, each couple choosing to pursue our different interests. Ben and I spent a fair amount of time in the Contemporary Art galleries.  Being from the Detroit area, the piece pictured below was my favorite from the museum.

Ignore my reflection in the glass

A metaphor for the auto industry

At about 545, Ben and I headed back downstairs for a much needed seat on the benches, thinking we'd have a few minutes to wait for everyone else. Alas, everyone was a tired as we were and within 5 minutes we had all congregated on the benches to chill for a few minutes before the museum closed and we had to be back on our feet.  A few minutes later we were rather unceremoniously tossed out onto the street headed for the subway and our hotel.  Sadly, Amy and Tony had to depart for their puppies and we had to say our goodbyes as we would be leaving before they came back to the city on Sunday.  After they left, we all retired to our rooms for a few minutes of much needed rest and relaxation before meeting back downstairs at 730 for dinner.

Unfortunately, as our little group started to reassemble in the lobby my cell phone rang.  I answered to hear Alyce telling us that Dex, who had been a little fussy all day (we assumed the travel was just not agreeing with her) had spiked a fever and that they would be staying in for the night.  I'm not sure if we were more disappointed for poor Dex, feeling gross and being away from home, or for Alyce and Dave having to handle a sick baby without their normal comforts either.  In the end, we went on to dinner without them, but all three were greatly missed.

While we'd been waiting in the lobby, Patrick had done some more Iphone searching and had located a restaurant near the Brooklyn Bridge called Noodle Pudding that had great yelp reviews, was decently priced and was cash-only (a good sign for Italian restaurants as we were told by both Jody and Patrick who used to reside in Boston's little Italy).  One very long wait for an R train and a 10 or so block walk and we had put our name in and found a seat at the bar to wait the approximate 45 minutes required to get a table.  Once we had an appetizer and a drinks, beers for Ben and Patrick and Prosecco for Jody and I, the 45 minutes went quickly and we were soon seated.

One annihilated appetizer plate (it was an antipasto platter when it started)

We'd spent a good part of our time at the bar deciding what we'd have for dinner since we were all ravenous.  We started with two orders of beef carpaccio, piled high with arugula and shaved parmesan.

Mmm...thinly sliced raw meat!

For our main courses, Ben and I both selected the gnocchi with butter and sage.  These little potato dumplings were homemade and absolutely perfectly prepared, tender and buttery!  Patrick ordered the ravioli with a tomato sauce, eggplant and ricotta salata.  It too was extremely delicious.  Finally, Jomo order lasagna which Ben dug into so fast that I didn't get a picture but the bolognese it was made with was fantastic.  If you can't tell, we're big time food sharers, all of us, which means everybody gets a bite of everything.  It's a great way to eat! 

Gnocchi with butter and sage

House rigatoni pasta with eggplant and ricotta salata

Since everything we'd shared had been good, we decided we had to sample the dessert too.  Jody and Patrick shared a warm gooey brownie with hazelnut ice cream.  Ben and I shared spicy chocolate gelato (he ate the gelato and I ate the berries).  Both were tasty and a nice, sweet end to the meal. Since it was after midnight when we finished dinner, we hopped a cab back to the hotel for another shot at sleep.  All in all, a wonderful day.

A friendly convergence in Brooklyn and also I love New York

Back in January we started planning a weekend adventure with some of our closest friends - Alyce and Dave and their adorable toddling 11-month old daughter Dexter, in bound from Halifax, Jody and Patrick coming from Boston and Ben and I, headed north from DC all converging in Brooklyn.  Add in Amy, Alyce's high school friend, and her husband Tony (both of whom fit with our little traveling group like gloves!) and you have a recipe for one fabulous weekend in the not-as-traveled borough.

Our trip started with a new phenomenon for Ben and me - traveling by bus.  We've traveled on planes, trains and automobiles and the occasional local bus route, but never a long distance.  Since many bus lines have cropped up over the last few years offering cheap round trip service ($60 or less) from DC to NYC, we thought we'd give it a whirl.  We were not disappointed.  The Vamoose bus, departing from Rosslyn (most other lines only leave from downtown DC) was on time, relatively well-organized throughout the boarding process and as comfortable as can be expected when traveling by charter bus.

We arrived in mid-town Manhattan without incident and walked the few short blocks to the R train to Brooklyn.  As soon as we were on the train I started to remember why I love New York!  We had been on the train for about 15 minutes (it takes about 30 to get to where we were staying in Brooklyn) when a kid stood in front of us waiting to get off the train and I looked up to realize he was HOLDING A LIVE SNAKE! Just a little baby Burmese Python, but really, only in NYC.  I should probably state that I am not afraid of snakes, especially that kind, so I didn't find this situation altogether off putting, just more than a touch odd.

After arriving at our hotel we had just a few minutes to rest before Alyce and Dave arrived with Dexter.  After some quick hellos among us as well as Dave's mom, Maryann and his sister, Megan, also in town to visit with AD&D, we headed over to Tasty Deli, a super-cheap local sandwich shop.  Nothing to write home about, but A&D tell us that there are no delis to be had in Halifax, so this stop helped address a long-term craving they had been nursing.

After our late afternoon sandwiches, we meandered just three or four blocks to the Green-Wood Cemetery.  The second largest cemetery in the world, this 638 acre site is home to the burial sites of famous artists, historical figures, and mob bosses.  Unfortunately, since we didn't arrive until after 5 we only had about 40 minutes to explore before the front gate closed.  Below are a few pics from our cemetery teaser. I call it that since we saw just enough to know we wanted to go back and explore some more the next day.

The entrance to the Green-Wood Cemetery

The Temple inside the Cemetery

Best attempt to get a shot of AD&D, Maryann and Megan - Dex wasn't sure she liked this idea

Dex getting in some walking time on the hilly path with Dave

The crazy exotic monk parrots that live in the cemetery 

(apparently this is one of many feral monk parrot populations across NYC)

Just as we were getting ready to head out of the cemetary my cell phone rang, Patrick had made it to Brooklyn to meet us.  At nearly the same time, Amy and Tony were converging on us too.  It was funny to watch Patrick walking toward the cemetery gate on one side and Amy and Tony on the other, not realizing they'd soon be joining the same group of travelers.  Hellos were exchanged and lot of wonderful exclaiming over Amy's adorable 6-month pregnant belly before we wandered back to the hotel to await Jody's arrival and to form a plan for dinner.

 Dex and Momma Al teething on my Pepsi bottle while we wait for Jomo

Just minutes after our return Jody arrived and finally we were all present and ready to start our weekend together in earnest.  First stop? An awesome dinner.  Dave had found several good options on Yelp in the Park Slope/5th Avenue area that we decided to head down to check out.  The catch for us was that we were a group of 10, which in most of the best "hole in the wall" style food places can be really hard to accommodate. But we really lucked out.  One of the places Dave had found was called El Pollo, a tiny Peruvian chicken place. Now these places flourish in DC with varying degrees of quality. But this little place beat every other restaurant of its kind.  Delicious, moist chicken with perfect crispy, brown skin. Yum!

Patrick and Dave ordered the chicken stew, served with black beans and rice

Ben, Maryann, Megan, Jody, and I all ordered the basic 1/4 chicken with black beans and rice

Dinner for 10 takes a while, but that didn't really matter. We were having a great time chatting amongst ourselves, getting to know Tony better (most of us had only met him once), and catching up with each other.  As dinner wrapped up it was clear that Dex was tired and ready for some quiet time, so Alyce and Dave headed back to the hotel with Maryann and Megan. Once we'd settled up, Jody, Patrick, Amy, Tony, Ben and I spilled out on the street to find our next destination. Amy and Tony had puppies waiting at home to be let out, so they headed back to their car for their drive back to Nyack, leaving the four of us to strike out for a bar. We walked up Union Street, debating our options, discovering a dive bar or two and ultimately settling on Moutarde, a french bistro with a big tin bar.  We were all the market for dessert and/or drinks and Moutarde didn't disappoint.  Three pistachio eclairs and one vanilla later our sweet tooths were thoroughly satisfied and our night cap cravings had been filled by wine and a very Irish coffee.  

Ben attempting to suck the center out of his pistachio eclair

After drinks and dessert there was limited discussion of finding another bar, but the old lady in me had already been sleepily rubbing my eyes for the last hour.  At about 11:15 we headed back to the hotel, full, happy and ready to get a good night's sleep in preparation for the coming day.

Moutarde eclairs

Pan Fried Chicken & Spinach, White Bean and Bacon Salad

In my continued efforts to feed us different, interesting and/or comforting food, I went on a serious e-hunt last weekend for some new, healthy recipes.  I found both the main and the side dish for this post courtesy of Cooking Light.  As usual, the pics leaves something to be desired since I still can't find my camera battery charger.  Really you wonder? We moved in May 2010, you'd think I'd have found everything by now, but no, there's a considerable list of things I'm still looking for without success (to date, I'm sure they'll turn up eventually).  And also as usual, I've tweaked the original recipe for more desirable results, at least in my opinion. As a heads up, the recipe for the chicken is time consuming in that you have to refrigerate the chicken quite a while, but at least that's inactive time for the cook.

Pan Fried Chicken 

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon hot paprika
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon freshly ground nutme teaspoon fine sea salt
2 bone-in chicken breast halves, skinned
2 bone-in chicken thighs, skinned
2 chicken drumsticks, skinned
1/4 cup peanut oil

Sift together first 6 ingredients; place mixture in a large zip-top plastic bag. Sprinkle salt evenly over chicken. Add chicken, one piece at a time, to bag; seal. Shake bag to coat chicken. Remove chicken from bag, shaking off excess flour. Place chicken on a cooling rack; place rack in a jelly-roll pan. Reserve remaining flour mixture. Loosely cover chicken; chill 1 1/2 hours. Let chicken stand at room temperature 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

While the oven is preheating, line a 13x9 inch casserole dish with paper towel at least three sheets thick.  Return chicken, one piece at a time, to flour mixture, shaking bag to coat chicken. Discard excess flour mixture. Heat peanut oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken to pan.  Brown the chicken on all sides to a rich, golden color.  Remove the chicken from the frying pan and place in the casserole dish.  Bake until the chicken is cooked through, about 25 minutes. Serve with Spinach, White Bean and Bacon Salad.

Spinach, White Bean and Bacon Salad

1/4  cup  maple syrup
3  tablespoons  cider vinegar
1  tablespoon  extravirgin olive oil
1  tablespoon  Dijon mustard
1/4  teaspoon  salt
1/4  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper
1  (15.5-ounce) can Great Northern beans, rinsed and drained
1/2  cup  thinly sliced green onions
1/2  cup  finely chopped red bell pepper
5  bacon slices, cooked and crumbled
11 ounces fresh baby spinach

Combine first 6 ingredients in a small microwave-safe bowl, stirring with a whisk; microwave at HIGH 1 minute or until hot. Place beans in a 2-cup glass measure; microwave at HIGH 1 minute or until hot.

Combine onions, bell pepper, bacon, and spinach in a large bowl. Add syrup mixture and beans; toss well to combine. Serve immediately.

I would also recommend that if you have a Whole Foods or some other source of decent store bought corn bread, this is a great chance to enjoy that too!

Chicken Bouillabase

Ina Garten, some days, you're my hero and today is one of those days!  I made her chicken bouillabasse and it was a great rainy day dinner!  I've included the recipe here but I'll note my modifications.  Of particular note, if you look at this recipe on Food Network you will find that it is accompanied by a rouille recipe.  DO NOT MAKE IT! It changes the flavor of the dish in a very unpleasant way, but without it, this meal is delicious!  As you can see that I have strong opinions about the rouille, therefore, I've omitted it from this post!!

Ingredients

1 (4 to 5-pound) chicken, cut into 10 pieces
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary leaves
Good olive oil
1 large head garlic, separated into cloves and peeled
1 teaspoon saffron threads
1 teaspoon whole fennel seeds
1 (15 ounce) can tomato puree (If you can't easily find tomato puree in your grocery store, just throw a can of any cooked tomato into a food processor with a couple tablespoons of tomato paste)
1 1/2 cups good chicken stock, preferably homemade
1 cup dry white wine
3 tablespoons Pernod (I only use 1 tablespoon because I like a less pronounced anise flavor)
1 pound baby Yukon gold potatoes, halved
Rouille, for serving, recipe follows (NO! NO! NO!)
Crusty French bread, for serving

Directions

Pat the chicken dry with paper towels and season it generously with salt, pepper, and the rosemary. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat in a large Dutch oven and brown the chicken pieces in batches until nicely browned all over, about 5 to 7 minutes per batch. Transfer the browned chicken pieces to a plate and set aside.

Lower the heat to medium-low and add the garlic, saffron, fennel seeds, tomato puree, chicken stock, white wine, Pernod, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon of pepper to the pot. Stir and scrape up any browned bits on the bottom, and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes, until the garlic is very tender, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 300 degrees F (As you can see the recipe calls for 300 degrees F, for my oven, 325 gives better results).

Carefully pour the sauce into the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Puree until smooth. Return the sauce to the Dutch oven and add the sliced potatoes and browned chicken pieces with their juices. Stir carefully.

Cover the pot and bake for 45 to 55 minutes, until the potatoes are tender and the chicken is done. Check the seasonings and serve hot in shallow bowls with big dollops of Rouille and slices of crusty bread.

Mediterranean Chicken Salad Pitas

In the mood for a more casual dinner? This is the recipe for you. My personal recommendation is to tag this recipe up with another chicken recipe the night before so you can cook the chicken ahead of time and give the flavors more time to marry. That was my plan, roasted chicken with butternut squash last night, chicken salad pitas tonight. The flavors in this dish are fantastic! A couple words to the wise, use good olives, not the kind from the jar, it makes a big difference in the flavor and feel free to be a little liberal with the cilantro, it adds such an intense freshness to the chicken salad, it's worth a little extra chopping.



1 cup plain whole-milk Greek yogurt (such as Fage Total Classic)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
3 cups chopped cooked chicken
1 cup chopped red bell pepper (about 1 large)
1/2 cup chopped pitted green olives (about 20 small)
1/2 cup diced red onion
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 (15-ounce) can no-salt-added chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained
6 (6-inch) whole wheat pitas, cut in half
12 Bibb lettuce leaves
6 (1/8-inch-thick) slices tomato, cut in half

1. Combine first 4 ingredients in a small bowl; set aside. Combine chicken and next 5 ingredients (through chickpeas) in a large bowl. Add yogurt mixture to chicken mixture; toss gently to coat. Line each pita half with 1 lettuce leaf and 1 tomato piece; add 1/2 cup chicken mixture to each pita half.

Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 2 stuffed pita halves)

CALORIES 404 (23% from fat); FAT 10.2g (sat 3.8g,mono 4g,poly 1.5g); IRON 3.4mg; CHOLESTEROL 66mg; CALCIUM 110mg; CARBOHYDRATE 46.4g; SODIUM 575mg; PROTEIN 33.6g; FIBER 6g

Herbed Chicken and Dumplings

Keeping on my fall comfort food theme of late, this dish was a great find! And, yes, again, it's courtesy of Cooking Light. I think they should pay me to advertise their recipes! I made some modifications to this recipes when I finished it. Rather than leaving the broth as is, I added about a half a cup of thickening (2 Tbsp flour and a half cup water shaken together). This gave the dish a more stew-like consistency. Very tasty.


Cooking spray
8 ounces skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces
3/4 cup (1/4-inch) diagonally cut celery
1/2 cup (1/4-inch) diagonally cut carrot
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/8 teaspoon dried thyme
3 parsley sprigs
1 bay leaf
3 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
2.25 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1/2 cup)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup 1% low-fat milk

1. Heat a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add chicken to pan; cook 4 minutes, browning on all sides. Remove chicken from pan; keep warm. Add celery and next 5 ingredients (through bay leaf) to pan; sauté 5 minutes or until onion is tender. Return chicken to pan; cook 1 minute. Add broth to pan; bring mixture to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 30 minutes.

2. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour, chopped parsley, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Add milk, stirring just until moist. Spoon by heaping teaspoonfuls into broth mixture; cover and simmer 10 minutes or until dumplings are done. Discard parsley sprigs and bay leaf.

Yield: 2 servings (serving size: 2 cups)

CALORIES 285 (16% from fat); FAT 5.2g (sat 1.5g,mono 1.9g,poly 1.2g); IRON 3.4mg; CHOLESTEROL 55mg; CALCIUM 133mg; CARBOHYDRATE 35.2g; SODIUM 596mg; PROTEIN 25g; FIBER 3.1g