Slowly Cooked Spiced Red Cabbage Soup

This has Fall and Winter written all over it. All of the main ingredients are late season products or products that keep in the winter: bacon, onion, carrot, apple, cabbage. It has such a warming, comforting flavor, not quite like a dessert but it has all the earmarks of a soothing cold weather soup.

Number of portions: 6 servings
Serving size: ~540 g per serving
Calories per serving: ~410 kcal (mostly from bacon and stock fat)
Speed: Slow Food (hands-on cooking is moderate, but simmering is long and patient)
Experienced cook (active time): 35–45 min
Novice cook (active time): 50–65 min
Total elapsed time: 1 hr 30–1 hr 45 min
LHSS Score: 7.5 / 10

6 slices smoked bacon (approx. 190g), chopped en lardons
1 large onion (10oz/285g) finely diced
1 large carrot (4 to 5oz/145g) finely diced
1 firm, tart apple, finely diced
1½ tsps. caraway seeds
1 small head (1½ lbs.) cabbage, diced (preferably red but just for the appearance)
¼ tsp pepper
⅛ tsp nutmeg
In a cheesecloth bundle collect: 5 or 6 juniper berries; 3 or 4 whole cloves; 2 fresh bay leaves; a strip of fresh lemon or lime peel (grated instead, maybe?); 1 small cinnamon stick
1⁄4 cup plum vinegar or cider vinegar or red wine vinegar
1 Tbsp dark brown sugar
6 cups chicken stock
2 cups water
1 tsp salt

1. In a soup pot render the fat from the bacon until the meat is crisp. Remove the bacon bits and set aside. If there isn't enough fat at the bottom of the pot, add some oil.
2. Add the onion, carrot, apple, and caraway and cook until the onion is soft. 
3. Add the cabbage and season with pepper and nutmeg. Cover and cook just to wilt the cabbage. 
4. Return the bacon to the pot and add the spices, the vinegar, brown sugar, stock, water and salt, and bring to a boil. 
5. Simmer uncovered until the cabbage is very tender and the soup has thickened/reduced, about 1 to 1½ hours.
6. Adjust the salt to your taste.
7. Serve with the Autumn Grain & Green Salad for a LHSS score of ~8.7–9/10.

Roast Chicken with Savoury Apple Mash

3 to 4 (1lb before coring) quartered and cored apples
2 (1 lb before coring) peeled and quartered onions
½ to 1 whole head garlic, cloves peeled
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
2 sprigs thyme
1 tsp rosemary powder
1 generous pinch of salt and pepper
½ cup apple cider vinegar
4 lbs whole chicken
¼ cup (2oz/58gr) butter

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
2. Toss the apples, onions, garlic, rosemary and thyme together in a roasting pan large enough to hold the chicken. Pour in the cider vinegar. 
3. Season chicken well with salt, pepper and rosemary powder and rest it on top of the apple mixture, on its left side. Put the butter as a block on top of the chicken and put in the oven; roast for 15 minutes and turn onto its back; roast another 15 minutes and turn onto its right side; Turn onto its breast and roast 30 minutes; turn onto its back and roast until the skin browns and the internal temperature of the breast is 165°F, about another 10 minutes.
4. Let the chicken rest about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, scoop out the apple, onion and garlic, leaving the juices behind to serve separately. Either use the coarse setting on a food mill or mash roughly, to push down the skins and herb stems and push up the delicious savoury/sweet apple and onion garlic and drippings blend. Scoop up the top part and discard the skins. Carve the bird, spoon some of the broth over it, and serve with the mashed apple mixture. 

The beginning of a sauce obsession - Caraway and Cream Sauce

Cook's Illustrated has an awesome Web site with amazing recipes. It's turned me on to sauces in a big way. I figure it would be great for a bistro - cooking the chicken ahead of time, a quick fry in a pan to liven it up, plate it, and drizzle with sauce. The following is a sauce inspired by one of theirs. I have made it to use with the recipe for Chicken Cutlets, but it could just as easily be made for a whole chicken cut into pieces and grilled as below.

For the chicken

2 to 3 Tbsps vegetable oil

1 whole chicken cut into pieces (either 4 or 8)

1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
2. Pat chicken thighs dry.
3. Add chicken pieces to the skillet, smooth side down; cook for 5-7 minutes without moving, and then turn over when the chicken easily releases from the pan on its own. Cook until the juices run clear, an additional 7-10 minutes, depending on the thickness of the chicken piece.
4. Set the chicken aside and keep warm.
5. Remove all but 1 Tbsp of oil and immediately start to cook the shallot as per below.

For the sauce

1 Tbsp oil
2 medium shallots, minced

OPTIONAL: 1 Belgian endive or 5 large Romaine lettuce leaves, cut cross-wise, in thin strips

2 Tbsps apple cider vinegar

1 tsp caraway seeds

½ cup beef stock

½ cup heavy cream or crème fraîche

1 tsp Dijon mustard

Salt and pepper, to taste

1. Set the skillet over medium heat. Add the shallots (and leaves if using) and sauté until softened, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the caraway seeds and continue cooking until the shallots are lightly browned, an extra 1 to 2 minutes.
2. Add the cider vinegar and bring to boil, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the skillet with a wooden spoon (remember, browned bits = flavor!).
3. Add the stock and cream; bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened and reduced to a generous ½ cup, about 5 minutes. Stir in the Dijon mustard; season to taste with salt and pepper. Add the chicken pieces, spoon over the sauce and cook together another 5 minutes or until internal temperature of the breasts reaches 165°F. .
4. OR: Spoon the sauce over chicken cutlets and serve immediately.

 Originally published Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Dragon Bowl

I made this for my mom in November 2013 when she was recovering from a major operation. She was working with a naturopath who had her on a special diet where she had to eat a lot of beans. Now, my mother doesn't like beans. So I was trying to find some interesting ways of preparing some for her. In this instance it was as mung bean noodles and tofu.

8 servings

  

The Sauce

¾ cups rice or apple cider vinegar

1 cup mild vegetable oil

4 Tbsps toasted sesame oil

¼ cup Tamari or Braggs aminoacids

5 Tbsps lemon or lime juice

3 Tbsps tahini

2 Tbsps grated fresh ginger

2 or 3 grated or pressed cloves of garlic

1 cup very hot vegetable or chicken broth

1. Put everything together in a bowl and whisk until well combined.
2. Keep on a low simmer on the stove-top.

The Layers
1 cake tofu, cubed

1½ cups brown rice

250g package rice or cellophane (mung bean) vermicelli noodles

9oz grated carrots and/or beets

2 head broccoli, cut into florets

1lb/500g daikon radish or zucchini, grated

Lettuce, thin slice

Parsley, minced

Green onion, small chop

2 avocado, cubed

340g/12oz sprouts of some description (mung, sunflower, alfalfa, broccoli, whatever)

Pumpkin or sunflower or hemp seeds

1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds

1. To prepare the tofu turn on the oven to 400F. Use about a ¼ cup of the sauce and toss with cubed tofu. Put the tofu in the oven to bake for 30 to 45 minutes, turning every 15 minutes.
2. Meanwhile cook the brown rice in 3 cups of lightly salted water for 45 minutes.
3. Grate the veg you are using: either carrot, beets, zucchini, daikon
4. Boil some water and pour over the noodles and let soak for 1 minute or until pleasantly al dente.
5. Put the broccoli on to steam - only cook until al-dente, about 5 minutes.
6. Chop up the parsley and green onion.
7. Once the rice is cooked, layer each ingredient into bowls like this, 1 being the bottom of the bowl, 10 being the garnish on top:

• noodles
• carrot and/or beet
• steamed broccoli
• brown rice
• grated daikon radish or zucchini
• cubed avocado
• baked tofu
• some form of sprouts, and fresh lettuce
• pumpkin, sunflower or hemp seeds (about 1 Tbsp per bowl)
• sprinkles of parsley, green onion, and toasted sesame seeds

The last step is to pour the steaming hot sauce over the whole thing and serve with a bottle of hot sauce on the side for those who like it spicy.

Sweet and Sour Sauce with Cherry Tomatoes and Cilantro

A lot of what I have been practicing in the kitchen for our daily meals has been wintery types of foods - creamy sauces etc. Today I tried a Cook's Illustrated sauce for chicken breasts that is light and summery with a bit of kick.

4 sautéed chicken breast strips (or see recipe to cook whole chicken breasts)

2 medium shallots, minced

1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

1 1/2 tsps. ground cumin

1 tsp. granulated sugar

2 Tbsps. apple cider vinegar

6 Tbsps. orange juice

1 Tbsp. lime juice

1 cup cherry tomatoes, quartered

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves

1. Prepare your sauce ingredients before cooking the chicken so that the cooking time is reduced and the chicken won't have the chance to get cold, or you can cover the chicken with foil and keep warm in a 250F oven.
2. Cook chicken breasts first and set aside.
3. To make the sauce is a quick affair. Set the skillet with the remaining oil and chicken bits over medium heat. Add shallots, chilli, and cumin; sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute.
4. Add sugar and cook until shallots begin to caramelize, 1 to 2 minutes.
5. Stir in vinegar and orange and lime juices; increase heat to medium-high and bring to boil, scraping up browned bits from bottom of the skillet with a wooden spoon. Boil the sauce, stirring occasionally, until thickened and reduced to about 1/4 cup, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat.
6. Immediately stir in tomatoes and cilantro so they slightly cook in the residual heat of the pan; season to taste with salt and pepper (not really necessary).
7. Spoon sauce over chicken; serve immediately.