Chicken Stew with Butternut Squash and Roasted Poblanos

The inspiration from this stew came from one of my coworkers. She loves roasted poblanos and uses them in many recipes. She makes a stew with lean ground chicken, acorn squash, and roasted poblanos. I texted her one day and asked her what sesasoning she used for her stew. She texted back and said she varied the spices depending on her mood. Some days it's herbs de provence and other days it's jerk seasoning and rosemary. Sometimes she adds parmesan cheese and other days she uses white wine vinegar and tobasco.

I went ahead and I used whatever I found in my spice drawer. I didn't have ground chicken so I just chopped up some chicken breast.


Chicken Stew with Butternut Squash and Roasted Poblanos

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound chicken breast (fine-medium dice) or 1 pound ground chicken
1 clove garlic
1 shallot, diced
1 tablespoon Jerk Seasoning
1 tablespoon Essence of Emeril
black pepper, to taste
sea salt, to taste
1 butternut squash, peeled and cubed
water, to cover
1 teaspoon Better Than Buillion
1 to 2 poblanos, roasted and diced

1. Heat olive oil in a medium dutch oven over medium heat. Saute chicken breast, garlic, and shallots. Cook until chicken is lightly golden.
2. Add jerk seasoning, Essence of Emeril, black pepper and salt.
3. Add butternut squash, water and Better Than Buillion. Bring to a boil and cook until squash is soft.
4. Add poblanos and return to a boil.

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Khao Piak Sien (Laotian Fresh Rice Noodle Soup)

It's been awhile but I hope this recipe was worth the wait.

I was craving some good Laotian Khao Piak Sien and then I remembered the stewing hens in my freezer. My dad sent me home with a few stewing hens and cocks during one of my visits home. I also asked my mom to pick up some homemade pho meatballs, som moo and isaan sausage from her lady. My grandpa packed a cardboard box for me. It was inspected by TSA. I wonder what they were thinking when they searched the box.

This is one of those dishes that really benefits from a tougher old chicken although, my mom has made it with regular old whole fryers because my sister didn’t want to eat her pets.

Khao Piak Sien is a great dish to serve a crowd. We took turns cooking the meals during our snowboard/ski trip back in February. My friend was in charge of dinner day 2 and was undecided between Khao Piak Sien or Pho. She decided on the Khao Piak Sien. Everyone was glad to have a steaming bowl of Khao Piak Sien after a day on the slopes.

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Black Bean Soup

The weather in Denver has been a bit strange lately. It snowed last Wednesday and the temps are still pretty chilly. I had a ham bone tucked away in the back of my freezer so I decided to make a bean soup. I checked pantry to see what types of dried beans I had on hand. I went with black beans but this can really be made with your choice of beans or even split peas or lentils.

To soak or not to soak? The soaking of dried beans is a controversial subject. Some people do it and some people do not. The other question is: To salt or not to salt? I salt at the end because my mom said so. I personally like the quick hot soak method. I sort and rinse the beans, boil for few minutes, turn off the heat, let them sit about an hour and then another rinse.

Some people simply toss the beans in with the soup stock. I would recommend at least rinsing and scrubbing the beans first. Who knows what sort of grime is stuck on the exterior?

Another method I’ve read about is the oven method. It involves preheating the oven to a pretty low temp, bringing the beans to a boil on the stovetop and then 90 minutes in the oven.

Black Bean Soup

1 pound dried black beans
1 teaspoon oil
½ onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
¼ cup sofrito
¼ cup recaito
water
1 ham bone or 2 ham hocks or 1 smoked turkey drumstick, remove meat from the bone and set aside
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon cumin
¼ teaspoon Mexican oregano
salt
pepper
cilantro, chopped


1. Sort through beans and discard any debris or stones. Thoroughly wash beans with cold water. Transfer to a medium pot and cover 2 inches with water. Bring beans to a boil, boil 2-3 minutes and turn off heat. Allow to sit, covered for 1 hour.
2. Heat a medium dutch oven; add oil when hot. When oil is heated - add garlic and onions. Saute about a minute. Add sofrito and recaito. Saute another minute.
3. Drain and rinse soaked beans.
4. Add water, ham bone, beans and bay leaf to dutch oven. Bring to a boil and lower heat to a medium boil. Cook until beans are soft.
5. Remove ham bone. Add ham and season with salt, pepper, cumin and oregano. Serve with cilantro.

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Chicken Rice Porridge...

This is all I’ve been able to stomach the last few days:

The reason for my ailment was too much of this:

The weekend started off with some eating, shopping, drinking and then checking-in at our hotels. The other girls stayed at Bellagio and TI while we stayed at THEhotel.


A few of us entering XS at Encore.


The club is really beautiful.


We immediately started drinking. (Drinks were expensive!)


Then it started raining money on the dance floor.


Guess what we were planning on doing with our new-found wealth?
(...and yes, I am holding my heels. I ditched them for flats.)


Buy more drinks of course.

At the end of the night, I discovered that I left my debit card at the bar. The Vegas lost and found system works pretty well. We picked up a shirt left by someone who attended the bachelor party two weeks ago and we picked up my debit card from Wynn the next day. On the taxi ride to the airport, I spotted a sign in the cab about noting the cab number just in case you leave something. The Las Vegas Taxicab Authority has a pretty good lost and found department.

Isn't he a cutie? He's the bride's twin brother. (Notice how sober everyone looks during the ride to the club.)


Just left JET and on our way to eat pho at the 24 hour pho restaurant. Apparently my friend and my future sis-in-law wheeled and dealed a drop-off and pick-up at the pho restaurant. I also have a very silly video of us talking about our cute driver, Unga. (I'm not sure if he was really cute.)


I won't post any pictures from the restaurant. It was my last real meal. Here's a picture of me waiting outside the restaurant. I'm holding two bags full of heels.

***Pictures are courtesy of my friends. I'm a terrible photographer. I borrowed the bf's point-n-shoot camera and I didn't know how to operate the darn thing.

To make the rice porridge:
1. Rinse and boil some rice until soft. Add coarsely minced chicken breast. Bring to a boil and simmer until chicken is cooked.

2. Add salt and pepper. If you're really ill, you may want to stop here. Add MSG, maggi sauce, chili in soy bean oil, fried shallots or garlic, sliced green onions and chopped cilantro when you're feeling better. Enjoy!

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Shrimp Corn Chowder

I found a shrimp corn chowder recipe in this (next) month's issue of Real Simple. It looked fine but it didn't look quite as good as my trusty lobster corn chowder recipe from Williams-Sonoma. The recipe can be found on the Williams-Sonoma site.

This chowder ideally should be made at the height of summer when both corn and lobsters are plentiful but I did not want to wait for summer so I decided to make a few substitutions to the original recipe. I used frozen sweet corn kernels and shrimp instead of the ears of corn and lobster. The chowder still tasted pretty good without the corn cobs and lobster. I made the stock using homemade chicken stock, shrimp shells and the legs from the lobster I bought for the curry.

I served it with a nice crusty sourdough.

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Napa Cabbage Soup

My mom made this really simple soup when I was home a few weeks ago. She bought about fifty pounds of napa cabbage because she found a great deal on it (5 pounds for $1). When I returned to Denver, I sent the bf to get some napa cabbage from the store.


Chicken (Use bone-in chicken for more flavor. I used drumsticks.)
Napa cabbage, sliced
green onions, sliced
ginger, cut into matchsticks
salt
MSG
fish sauce

Method:
Simmer chicken in a medium pan. Add the rest of the ingredients. (I'm sorry. It's not much of a recipe.)

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Chicken Posole

I'm only posting pictures tonight. I was almost done typing up the recipe when Word froze on me. I suppose it's fair since I'm running Microsoft Office on a Mac. I'm surprised Outlook works so well on my phone, considering it is an Apple product, when my sister had a hell of a time getting Google Apps to work on her iphone. (Her work uses Google.)

I had to do a Command+Option+Escape and although it did auto recover my documents, it didn't save the recipe I just typed up. When I'm working up a new recipe, I usually will sit down and write the ingredients down on a piece of paper. I will then write the amounts I use and notes on my method as I cook. I have the "recipe" scribbled on a piece of paper. I just need to type it up.

**Edit** 1/19/2010
I finally got around to retyping the recipe after that catastrophic Microsoft crash.

Chicken Posole

1 3 to 4 pound chicken (cut up) or bone in thighs, breasts or drumsticks
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 bay leaves
1 pound frozen posole, rinsed well
8-15 dried chiles (New Mexico or Guajillos), stems and seed removed
½ teaspoon Mexican oregano
½ teaspoon cumin
salt
pepper

Typical Garnishes:
Sliced cabbage
Sliced radishes
Cilantro
Sliced green onions
Diced avocados
Cheese
Lime wedges
Reserved chile puree

1. Heat a large dutch oven over medium heat. Add chicken pieces and brown. If using skinless chicken, coat the bottom of dutch oven with oil or lard before browning.

2. Add onions and garlic and cook a few minutes until onions are translucent. Add bay leaves. Cover with water, bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Cover and simmer about an hour or until chicken is cooked. (Breasts will take less time than thighs and drums.)

3. Meanwhile, bring rinsed posole and water to a boil and cook 1 to 2 hours, or until soft. Strain and set aside.

4. Toast chiles under broiler. (Be very careful because it literally takes seconds. Some people like to toast them in a cast iron skillet but I find the broiler easier.) Once chiles are toasted, place them in a saucepan and cover with water. Cover pan with lid and simmer about 20 minutes. Leave the lid on and allow the chiles to cool. Once chiles are cool enough, pour chiles and liquid in a blender and puree. Strain the puree to remove seeds and skins. Set aside.

5. Once chicken is cooked, remove from broth, allow to cool and shred. Set shredded chicken aside. Strain the broth to remove onions and garlic. (This step is not necessary and most people leave the onions and garlic but I felt like removing them. Sometimes I will puree the onions and garlic with the chiles but I wanted a pure chile puree.)

6. Bring strained broth back to a boil; add cooked posole and shredded chicken. Season with Mexican oregano, cumin, salt and pepper. Add about half to three quarters of the chile puree, depending on the level of spiciness you desire. Save the rest of the puree to add when serving.

7. Garnish with toppings.

Dried chiles from my two potted Big Jim plants.

Rinse and boil the posole.

Toast, boil, puree and strain chiles.

Remove cooked chicken and then strain broth. Return strained broth to a boil and then add shredded chicken, cooked posole and half of the chile puree. (I wasn't sure how spicy my chiles were so I only added half. I ended adding more chile puree to my bowl because the puree was pretty mild.)


Garnish and eat. I only garnished with cabbage, cilantro and green onions. I don't like radishes and I wasn't interested in the other topping options.

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Sour Bamboo soup with Chicken

I believe this is a northern Thai or Laotian dish. I found a recipe on Joy’s Thai Food website but I didn’t follow her recipe. I don’t recall having this soup with lemongrass so I put something together using my memory.

This soup uses a different variety of basil called bai mang luk. I believe there are three main varieties of basil used in Thai cooking: Thai basil (bai horapa), holy basil (bai krapow), and lemon basil (bai mang luk). I believe bai mang luk is similar if not the same as lemon basil. (I’m not the expert on Thai herbs.) I have a lemon basil plant on my balcony right now. I am convinced that the fragrance is very similar to the bai mang luk plants that my grandma grows in her garden. I really should get some of her herb seeds. She has a wonderful variety of cilantro that is a thousand times better than the variety sold in most grocery stores. The seeds origins are from southern China. I think she brought it with her from China.

Spicy Sour Bamboo Soup
1 boneless chicken breast, sliced or 1 pound chicken drumsticks or thighs
1 slice dried galangal root
2-5 thai chilies
1 jar sour bamboo (I think I used a 24 ounce jar)
salt
pepper
MSG
handful of lemon basil leaves
2 green onions, roughly chopped

Method:
In a medium stock pot, bring about four cups of water to a boil. Add chicken, galangal root and thai chilies. (I like to roast the chilies over an open flame first but it is not necessary.) Simmer until chicken is cooked. Add the rest of the ingredients and return to a boil. Serve with jasmine rice.

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Gazpacho

I cannot take credit for this recipe. One of my dear friends makes this gazpacho every summer. I love it but I never make it because this makes a HUGE batch and I am the only one that will eat gazpacho. The bf doesn’t like gazpacho. Whenever I crave it I will stop by Whole Foods and buy a little container of their gazpacho.

This last weekend we got together to cook a few things for our dear friend that just had a baby last week. We made Whole Foods tuna cranberry salad, Whole Foods egg salad, Israeli couscous soup, fresh baked bread, breakfast burritos (for their freezer), and gazpacho.

Gazpacho

2 hothouse cucumbers
1 each red, yellow, and green bell peppers, cored and seeded
12 plum tomatoes
1 red onion
1 bunch green onions
1 bunch flat leaf parsley
6 garlic cloves
64 ounce bottle of tomato juice
½ cup white wine vinegar
½ cup good olive oil
kosher or sea salt, to taste
freshly ground black pepper, to taste

For Garnish:
Avocado slices (not pictured above because I forgot to slice up the avocado)

Directions:

Roughly chop vegetables so that they fit easily in food processor chute. Process each vegetable separately into a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse until all vegetables are coarsely chopped. (I prefer a my gazpacho with a little more texture. You can blend everything for a more liquid gazpacho.)

After each vegetable is processed, transfer them into a very large bowl and add the tomato juice, vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Mix well and chill before serving. You want to let it sit for a little while for the flavors to meld.

I find that the gazpacho will last a few days in the fridge. Some people will eat it even after week. I rarely eat leftovers but this is one dish that I will eat even after sitting in the fridge for three days.

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Cellophane Noodle Soup and Other Fun Presents

I posted this soup a long time ago but I didn't post the ingredients or method for preparing the soup. I also made the soup carb-friendly by not using any potatoes.

Growing up this was one of my favorite soups. I’m not quite sure of the origin. It is similar to Thai Kang Chut Wun Sen but it is not exactly the same. I’m not sure if this version is an evolved soup that my mom put together depending on the resources available. I don’t believe the Thai version includes lily buds or potatoes.

I think potatoes are an American addition and the lily buds are a Chinese addition. The lily buds provide a nice delicate and earthy flavor to the soup. I think the only time I ever use lily buds is when I make this soup. I soak the buds in hot water and when they are malleable, I tie them into little knots. I never really understood why we tied them in little knots. Recently I learned that the reason why they are tied into knots is to keep them for unfurling in the soup.

The other strange ingredient in the soup is wood ear mushroom or as the package reads, “black fungus.” I buy the whole and the sliced versions. I don’t think it adds much flavor to the soup. It is more for the texture. I don’t know how to describe it. It is a little gelatinous and yet crunchy at the same time. It is very similar to cloud ear mushrooms but of a different species. Cloud ear mushrooms are smaller and brown in color while the wood ear is larger in size and black in color. The wood ear mushroom is “tougher” than cloud ears. They can be used interchangeably. Another favorite fungi is the Chinese snow fungus or silver ear.

My mom usually made this with little pork meatballs or ground pork. I only had a boneless chicken breast.

• 1 boneless skinless chicken breast or ½ pound of minced pork or pork meatballs
• 1 dried galangal root (I actually prefer the dried to the fresh. My parents grew fresh galangal root but I grew up eating dishes cooked with dried rather than fresh galangal.)
• Water
• 2 cups diced potatoes
• ¼ cup diced tomatoes (fresh or canned)
• ½ onion, large dice
• Handful lily buds, soaked and tied into knots
• 3 to 4 dried wood ear or 5 to 6 cloud ear mushrooms, soaked and cut into thin strips
• ½ pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
• Fish sauce
• Salt
• Pepper
• MSG
• 2 packages cellophane noodles, soaked
• Cilantro, for garnish

Bring a pot of water to a boil. Don’t worry about the amount. You can always add more in. When water boils, add the chicken breast or pork and reduce to a simmer. Simmer for about ten minutes and then add the diced potatoes. Simmer another 15 minutes or until potatoes are almost cooked. Add the rest of the ingredients except for cellophane noodles and cilantro.

When ready to serve, place a bundle of cellophane noodles in each bowl and ladle soup over the noodles. The hot liquid will cook the noodles. Garnish with cilantro. The reason why I like to add the cellophane noodles is because the noodles will absorb all the liquid if left to sit for too long. I don’t like the texture of the noodles once it sits in liquid for a long period of time.


This is not food related but I just had to post about my newest addition to my makeup collection. I'm a huge MAC and Urban Decay addict but I read great things on makeup blogs such as Nessasary Makeup about NYX (pronounced niks) products. Last week while perusing through the slickdeals forum, I ran across a link to the NYX lot sale. A lot of 30 pairs of eyelashes for $24? No it can't be! I had to purchase the eyelashes. I also purchased the 11 lipgloss tubes & 8 eyeshadow trios for $27 and the 10 liquid eyeliners & 20 double-tipped eyeliners/shadows for $22. I saved a butt-load of money! Hey it can't be as bad as the Smashbox holiday shadow set I purchased over the holidays! The shadows are still sitting in my train case.

Urban Decay's 30% off Friends & Family sale just ended on the 17th. I only purchase UD and MAC items during their F&F sales. I didn't buy anything from this last sale since I purchased a hefty amount during the last sale. I was eyeing some of their new 24/7 eyeliner colors but I decided to hold off. Even at 30% off the eyeliners are still over $11 each.

The presents:

Using makeup blogger lingo, "the haul."

The lashes on the top are teal, the middle are magenta and the bottom have rhinestones on the lash line!
The pencils didn't fit into my train case. So I stored them Sephora style instead. I cannot take credit for these brush and eye pencil holders. I saw them on youtube.

Some of my frequently used eye makeup brushes. My favorite are the Shu Uemuras that my friend bought for me years and years ago. I also like the Ecotools brushes made of bamboo and taklon fibers.

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Israeli Couscous Soup

It looks like we will have winter temps tomorrow. I’m so excited! Temps have been in the 70s lately. I feel like I have been cheated out of a winter. The precipitation levels are quite pathetic. The mountain resorts have really suffered. Some winters we have so much snow that it takes up all the good parking spots in the parking lot.

The 2006-2007 winter shut down the city for a few days. I managed to get on a plane the night before the blizzard. I didn't even realize that Denver was covered in over two feet of snow. The storm came in quick and dumped the snow in just a few hours. And because I am usually away that time of year, I also missed the second blizzard on the December 28th/29th. My friends emailed me tons of pictures of their cute dogs playing in the snow. When I came back a few weeks later, I saw the massive mounds of snow everywhere. I felt a little cheated. I missed the blizzard I've been waiting for.

I took this picture from my bedroom window. This was a few days after the second blizzard. The seats are Coors Field still had snow on them.

In the years since moving to Denver, I've been waiting and waiting for a blizzard. I missed the 2003 blizzard by a few month. I believe that in Denver, blizzards come in cycles of about 3-4 years. I was hoping we would get a blizzard this March. I said March 15th because I think it sounds sort of cool to have a blizzard on ides of March.

The problem with Denver is that the city does not take snow removal very seriously. The blizzard that shut down the city shouldn’t have. If we had proper snow removal like most major cities, we would be able to get places. Denver has this idea that the sun will come out and take care of it all. I’ve lived in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Do those states come to a screeching halt when it snows? No. Plows are out all night.

Since it will be 39 degrees tomorrow (according to my car thermometer, it was 84 degrees today), I decided it was time to make this wonderful Israeli Couscous soup that a fellow SoupGroup member made a while back. I’ve been hounding her for the recipe and she finally sent it a few weeks ago. I'm also trying to make something light since we had dinner at Brasserie Felix last night. I ordered the duck breast and duck confit in an orange gastrique. I didn't eat the duck confit. I never eat the duck confit because I find it too salty for my taste. We also ordered a basket of pommes frites.

Israeli couscous is not the same as the north African couscous that most people are used to eating. It is very different. Israeli couscous is a pasta made with wheat flour but unlike regular pasta, the couscous is shaped into tiny little balls and then toasted. The taste is smooth, nutty, and delicious.

This is the only brand I was able to find. They do not sell Israeli couscous in the bulk bins.

I didn't exactly follow the recipe. I omitted the cilantro and the mint. I don't recall seeing cilantro or mint in the SoupGroup version. I did add a little dried parsley for the green color. I think dried parsley has very little flavor but it does add a bit of color. I dried the parsley myself. I also toasted the cumin in the pot before adding the stock. I didn't season the soup with salt, pepper, and cayenne until the very end.

Tomato Soup with Israeli Couscous (adapted from Jewish Traditions Cookbook)
Serves 4 to 6

30 ml/ 2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1-2 carrots, diced
400 g/14 oz can chopped tomatoes
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 ½ liters/2 ½ pints/6 cups chicken broth (veggie broth can be substituted)
200g-250g/7-9 oz/1-1 ½ cups Israeli couscous (came in 8.8 oz package)
2-3 mint sprigs, chopped, or several pinches of dried mint (omitted)
1 ½ ml/¼ tsp ground cumin
1/4 bunch fresh coriander or about 5 sprigs, chopped (omitted)
cayenne pepper, to taste
salt and ground black pepper
dried parsley, for garnish

1. Heat the oil in a large pan, add the onion and carrots, and cook gently for about 10 minutes until softened. Add the tomatoes, half the garlic, the stock, couscous, mint, ground cumin and coriander, with the cayenne pepper, salt and pepper to taste.

2. Bring the soup to the boil, add the remaining chopped garlic, then reduce the heat slightly and simmer gently for 7-10 mins, stirring occasionally, or until the couscous is just tender. Serve piping hot, ladled into individual serving bowls.

**If you buy the chicken stock in the 32 ounce cartons like I do, you will need 1 ½ cartons. Use the other ½ to thin out the soup as the couscous starts to absorb more water.

This recipe makes exactly 2 quarts.Pacific Natural Foods chicken broth is the brand that I use in many of my soup recipes. I buy them by the case from Costco. I think they come to just over $1.30 per carton. I go through a lot of chicken broth for SoupGroup. I also use it for my curries when I don't want to use a whole chicken.

My pepper grinder was out of peppercorns. I went to look for the container of peppercorns in my pantry and I couldn't find it. I thought I was out of peppercorns. I swore I bought a huge container at Costco. I finally found it with the other spices that I gathered for my spice re-org project that I am just not motivated to complete right now. Why did they package it in a container with a spice sifter? I couldn't get the peppercorns out of the container and when I tried to pry the sifter off, the peppercorns went flying.

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The Best Potato Leek Soup

I've made this soup countless times. It is just one of those recipes that I enjoy making on a regular basis. I made this for a late lunch/snack when we had a girls weekend up in the mountains. I also made for the very first SoupGroup meeting. I've given it out to several people and it has become one of their regular soups.

The soup freezes pretty well. I freeze them in little 2 cups containers leaving a bit a room at the top. When frozen, I top with some bacon pieces.

* 1 pound maple bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces (optional, sub 2 tablespoons butter)
* 3 large leeks, sliced (pale parts only)
* 5 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cubed
* 1 carton (32 ounces )organic free range chicken broth
* Water to cover
* kosher salt, to taste
* fresh ground black pepper, to taste
* 1 cup half & half or milk

1. Place bacon in large skillet. Render bacon over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, reserving 3 tablespoons of drippings.

2. Sautee leeks in reserved bacon drippings or butter until soft.

3. Place potatoes and leeks in large stockpot. Add chicken broth (may need some water to cover). Cook until potatoes are tender.
4. Blend soup in until creamy or use potato masher for a chunkier soup. Season with salt and pepper. I prefer the chunkier soup so I usually blend 75% of the soup and then mash the rest.
5. Serve hot with a splash of half and half or milk and top with bacon pieces. It is also delicious without the milk or half & half.

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