Purple Chicken Soup

I've never made soup. Ever. I've never watched my mother make it, I've never attempted to make it. Ever. At all. Zilch.
So this was an interesting experience! My mother was disappointed because I didn't make my own stock, but oh well.  I don't have time! But I bought free range chicken stock, which was fantastic!
I bought a lot of these ingredients awhile ago when I actually had money, and let me tell you what.. this will definitely last me forever! But it will be good when, in the middle of the semester, I have no money and it's cold out.  Sounds like a plan, right?? :)

The memories I have of soup growing up are phenomenal.  Mom always made some sort of soup every fall - Cincinnati-style chili, turkey noodle soup, chicken vegetable alphabet soup, white chili, or vegetable soup were her main soups.  She normally made two a year, and froze a bunch of it to keep and reuse on a lazy evening (along with homemade spaghetti sauce).  You'd know when she was making something good because she would always get out her pressure cooker on Sundays, after we had roasted chicken, to pressure cook the bones and make her own stock.  And after Thanksgiving, she'd always make a turkey stock.  Gosh! I can remember the smell of the house the next morning was amazing - you almost floated to the kitchen.  And she'd be in there, working away, to feed her family.  That morning you'd have fresh turkey sandwiches and then for a late afternoon snack, the first turkey noodle soup bowl of the season.

But me? No thought. I kind of just winged this, so if you have any suggestions please don't hesitate to comment!

Purple Chicken Soup
Ingredients:
3 large chicken breasts, skinless and boneless
32 oz. + 1 cup free range chicken broth, or homemade equivalent
12 cups of water
1 1/2 cups red cabbage, chopped
1 1/2 cups green cabbage, chopped
6 stalks of celery hearts, chopped
5 large carrots, chopped
Dried basil, rosemary, and thyme
Salt
Cajun seasoning
Olive oil
1/2 red onion
1 package of pasta (I used campanelle)

Purple Chicken Soup

In a large pan, put all the vegetables (not onion) in there with about 2 tbsp of olive oil.  Cook for a couple of minutes and then add salt and the 1/2 cup of chicken broth and cover with a lid.  Let them cook until almost tender (you don't want them to be tender). Stir them every few minutes.
Meanwhile, dice the chicken into bite size pieces.  Then cook them in a large sauté pan with olive oil, and the herbs, and the cajun seasoning.  Or season the chicken to your liking :) Cook until ALMOST finished cooking.  You don't want to over cook the chicken.  Once the chicken is finished, put it in a separate container and cook the onions in the same oil.
Cook the pasta al dente with salt.
In a large stock pot, add the rest of the chicken stock and water.  Drain and add all of the above cooked items.  Stir it up and let the liquid simmer for at least an hour.
Garnish with a sprig of fresh basil.

And here ya go!

Ciao e Bella Cucina!
Katherine

Friday Fish Night!

Growing up my parents taught me to appreciate food.  My mother is an artist, and she loves to express herself through cooking.  I learned all my basics from her - how to make a roux, how to cut vegetables, how to devein shrimp... after my many tears and cries "I'm going to ruin something!" my mother taught me to trust myself through my cooking.  She also taught me that when food is made with love, it always tastes so much better.  And apparently a pie can only be made when you are happy, or else something bad will happen (and that is why she would get up before the sun to start pies during the holidays, to avoid any distractions from her two wild, salivating children).
She respected food so much, the meat guys at the local grocery store knew her by name. Her favorite was her meat man Joe, who always told her when good pieces of meat were coming in, when things were going on sale, or whatever - he had her back when it came to meat.  I had met him a couple of times when I was dragged to the grocery store, but I never really thought of him outside of that store.  Then he was laid off, and my mother was heartbroken.  She eventually made nice with the new meat guys, but it was never the same.
Then I started hanging out with my dear friend Emily, whom I explained in an earlier post that I hated her when I first knew her (and now she's one of my dearest friends, or "in my top 10 I'd like at my wedding," as she would say).  Band kids would start hanging out at her house at night, but it was always late when we were there so her parents and sister were asleep. But when Emily and I became better friends, I came over at different times.  And then I met her dad.  And I instantly knew that he was Joe, my mom's favorite meat man.  Clearly our friendship was meant to be.

But back to 2010, today was Friday Fish night at my apartment - Emily and I made spade fillets and salmon fillets.  We are both going through a "we can only go out if it is cheap" stage and we decided to stay in (because what isn't cheaper than that?!).  I was at the store today and I bought some salmon, which only costed $5.00, and between two people that's dirt cheap! I had all of the other ingredients at home, so cooking this evening was quick, painless, and easy on the wallet.

I was slightly inspired by my Pecan and Ginger Crusted Tilapia because I still have some left over ginger, so the salmon became my asian-inspired dish and the spade was cooked for a delicate pallet, only using fresh herbs and a little garlic.

Pecan and Garlic Sautéed Salmon
Ingredients
1 salmon filet, with skin
1 tsp fresh ginger, minced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper
1 tsp dried basil

Rub the basil, salt, and freshly ground pepper into the flesh side of the salmon.
In a small sauté pan, start browning the garlic and ginger together in the olive oil, once it starts to brown, remove the garlic and the ginger and set aside (these will be used later), leaving the oil in the pan.  Turn the oil up on a high heat and once the oil is hot, put the salmon in skin side down, to crisp the skin.  Then flip and cook until the salmon is cooked through.

For this recipe, I made the same honey balsamic glaze that I made for the tilapia, but I added in both the browned garlic and ginger, as well as some ginger powder.

Herb and Garlic Fish
Ingredients
2 filets of white fish (whichever you choose)
2 tbsp fresh herbs, mashed with a little salt and olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Rub the fish filets with the herbs before adding to the heat.
Start to brown the garlic on a medium-high heat, and after a couple of minutes add your fish.  Sprinkle each side with a little salt and freshly ground pepper.  Cook on both sides, until the garlic starts to brown and the herbs start to cook as well.  Once the fish is cooked through, remove from heat and put in a warm oven.

Spicy Rice
Let's just say I'm always doing something crazy with my rice! Haha! :)
Ingredients
1 cup white rice, cooked per packaging directions
1 tbsp butter
Salt to taste
2 tsp herbes de provence
2 tsp habanero sauce

Once rice is cooked through, add in all the ingredients above and stir.  You may need to adjust per your taste, but I found that the spicier it was, the better it balanced the fish's delicate flavor.
Serve the white fish over the rice.

Ciao, e bella cucina!
Katherine

Herb Roasted Chicken, Stuffed Mushrooms, and Asparagus Fettuccine

Wow! It's been awhile since I've made something and posted it on here. But let me tell you what, my friend Alicia and I decided to make a homemade dinner for Memorial Day and we came up with some yummy stuff!!

Herb-Roasted Chicken Thighs
Ingredients

• 4 chicken thighs, deboned and chopped into bite-size pieces (or equivalent of any cut of chicken)
• Olive oil
• Fresh herbs (the more the merrier!)
• We used basil, lemon balm, thyme, parsley, and rosemary
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• Salt and pepper
• Panko breadcrumbs

Preheat your oven to 400°F.
Toss the chicken in about 3 tablespoons olive oil (if you cook with a less-fatty cut of chicken, you probably want to add more oil) and then lay it in a small, glass baking pan. Then sprinkle all the herbs over top of the chicken and toss again.  Then sprinkle the garlic over the chicken.
To make a breadcrumb topping, mix Panko and olive oil until lightly moist. Then, sprinkle the Panko topping over the chicken.
Place chicken in the middle of the oven and cook for about 40 minutes. The topping should be dark-golden brown.

Stuffed Mushrooms
Ingredients

• 2 packs of mushrooms, stems removed
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• Basil and parsley
• Salt and pepper
• Italian bread crumbs
• Asiago, Parmesan, and Romano cheese
• Olive oil

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Finely chop the mushroom stems, putting the caps in a baking pan.
In small bowl, mix chopped stems, garlic, herbs, salt, pepper, and about 1 tablespoon of italian breadcrumbs. Once even mixed, cook in olive oil over medium heat for about 3-4 minutes, until the mixture is warmed. Then put the mixture back in a bowl and mix in about 2 more tablespoons of breadcrumbs and about a tablespoon of the mixed cheese until incorporated into the mixture. Then fill the mushroom caps and top with more cheese. Pop in the oven, on a lower level, for about 15 minutes. Or until the mushrooms are cooked thoroughly.

Kickin' Asparagus Fettuccine

Ingredients

• Fettuccine, half of a box
• 1 bunch of asparagus, julienned
• Soy bean oil
• Olive oil
• 2 cloves of garlic
• Cajun salt
• Pepper
• Habanero sauce

Start to brown the garlic in 1 tablespoon of soy bean oil and once it begins to brown, add asparagus and toss. Cook asparagus for about 2-3 minutes before starting to cook the pasta. Toss in cajun salt and pepper in the asparagus.  You can continue cooking until the pasta is finished, or take off the heat once the asparagus reaches the desired consistency.
When the pasta is finished, drain it and toss it in the pan with the asparagus.  Add salt, olive oil, and habanero sauce to taste, continually tossing until it is incorporated into the pasta.

Pretty proud of this meal! It wasn't inspired by any recipe - it was totally off the top of our heads!! Yummy!!!

:)