Baked Stew with Sausage, Potatoes and Cabbage

This has been most successful using small Charmant cabbages slightly under 1 lb. It's relatively simple and quick to put together, then you just have to sit back with a cocktail until it's done.

¼ cup (55g) olive oil + more for drizzling
1½ Tbsps balsamic vinegar
2 tsps caraway or fennel seeds
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
1 to 1¼ lb fingerling baby potatoes, or larger potatoes cut into chunks
1 onion (6oz/170g) cut into quarters (don't cut out the basal plate)
8 oz to 1lb cabbage, cut into wedges (don't cut out the heart to keep the leaves together)
¼ cup chicken broth
2 bay leaves
1½ pounds sweet Italian sausage, cut into chunks
4 garlic cloves, pressed

1. Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 425°F. 
2. In a large bowl whisk together ¼ cup olive oil, vinegar, seeds, salt and pepper until emulsified.
3. Throw in the potatoes and onions and toss until covered in oil. 
4. Layer the cabbage at the bottom of a deep glass baking dish (Corning ware 4L casserole works well) and drizzle with some extra olive oil. Glass here is important because it's better at absorbing radiant heat than metal is. Also, packing the pot to almost full prevents any stagnant air to sit on top of the dish, preventing it from more direct access to this radiant heat, effectively creating uneven heat and slower cooking in the middle.
5. Pour in the chicken broth.
6. Layer the coated potatoes and onions on top. Nestle the bay leaves in among the veg.
7. To get the rest of the sauce out of the bowl, throw in the sausage chunks and toss. Put the sausage on top of the veg mix and pour over any extra marinade. 
8. Sprinkle the pressed garlic on the very top.
9. Cook, covered, for about 45 minutes. 
10. Uncover and cook until light golden brown and fully cooked, about 20 minutes. 

Herbed Courgette Soup - good hot or cold

I've lifted this recipe pretty much exactly as it's written on the My Gourmet Connection Web site. The version below is merely my personal preference for the options provided in the original. It makes for a tasty soup to bring on a picnic since it's as good hot as it is, cold.

¼ cup (2oz/58gr) butter
1 cup onion, chopped
4 to 5 cloves garlic, minced
¼ cup flour
3½ cups chicken broth (veg stock for Vegetarian)

1½ lbs unpeeled any kind of summer squash - a mix of colours is nice
½ cup cream
1½ Tbsps lemon juice
1½ to 3 Tbsps chopped fresh tarragon OR 1 Tbsp dry
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Note: Choose small to medium squash with tender skins and leave them unpeeled for both extra colour and nutritional value.

1. Cut the squash into small (½") cubes and set aside.
2. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until soft and translucent, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, 1 minute longer.
3. Add the flour to combine and, stirring continuously, cook until the flour is pale golden in colour, 3 to 4 minutes. 
4. Slowly whisk in the chicken broth and continue whisking until the mixture is smooth and well blended.
5. Add the squash and season with salt and pepper. (If using dry tarragon, add now and mix in). Cover and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the squash is tender, 12 to 15 minutes.
6. Remove the soup from the heat and purée until smooth. Return the pot to the stove, stir in the cream and lemon juice and heat through, 1 to 2 minutes.
7. Taste and adjust the seasoning, add the tarragon, ladle into serving bowls and top with a dollop of sour cream if desired.
8. OR allow to cool completely and serve with freshly chopped tarragon sprinkled on top.

Velouté aux chanterelles - Wild Mushroom Soup

Our friend Lorenzo honoured us this weekend by bringing us to the spots where he picks wild chanterelle mushrooms. He informed us that it's a bit early in the season, but with his help we managed to harvest a little over a kilogram of the delicate flavoured beauties. Since they are specialty foods, and expensive, I've never cooked with them before, but I think this soup is a good starting place. It is mildly creamy, a little sweet, and gently mushroomy.

1 Tbsp (½ oz/14gr) butter
1 shallot, finely diced
2 tsps flour
2 cups chicken broth (veg broth for Vegetarian)
¾ cup white wine
2 Tbsps finely chopped fresh parsley
¼ tsp finely chopped fresh thyme
7 oz fresh chanterelles
½ cup milk
½ cup crème fraîche
¼ tsp salt
Pepper, to taste

1. In a soup pot melt the butter and add the shallot and flour. Cook until the butter bubbles and foams and the flour starts to go blond.
2. Add the chicken stock, white wine, parsley and thyme. Bring to a slow boil, then cover and gently simmer for 15 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, shred the chanterelle mushrooms. At the end of the 15 minutes, add the mushrooms to the broth, and cook another 5 minutes. Bring to a slow boil.
4. Low the heat to minimum. Add the milk, crème fraîche and salt. Gently simmer another 5 minutes.
5. OPTION - at this point, you can either run the mixture in a blender for a velouté, or serve immediately with it all chunky.
6. Before serving, grind some fresh black pepper on top.

Roasted Carrot Ginger Soup

This is such a comforting soup. I like to finely dice the gingerroot so that I get small bursts of ginger while I'm eating my soup. It is definitely warming and good for cold and rainy or wintery weather. Can be made with Olive Oil instead of butter.

2 lbs carrots, peeled and cut into 2" lengths
2 + 2 Tbsps. olive oil
1 onion, diced (6oz/170g)
2 large rib celery, diced (to yield about ½ cup) or a good pinch celery seeds
1" piece of fresh ginger, tiny dice (not grated)
8 cups chicken or veg broth
2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper
Chopped fresh chives or chervil for garnish (optional)

1. Heat the oven to 375°F.
2. Drizzle the carrots with the oil and place them on a baking dish in a single layer. Roast them in the oven until they start to blister and brown, about 30 to 40 minutes. Browning is essential for flavour.
3. Meantime, in a soup pot, start to cook the onion in butter until it's soft, about 2 to 3 minutes. 
4. Stir in the celery and ginger and and continue to cook until the onions start to brown, about 5 minutes. 
5. Add the roasted carrots, broth, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, cover, and let vigorously simmer until the carrots are tender, about 15 to 20 minutes. 
6. Let the soup cool before putting in the blender - hot liquid makes the air expand in the blender urn and the liquid can explode out of the blender and burn.
7. Purée the soup in batches in the blender (also, don't overfill the blender).
8. To serve, return the soup to the pot and reheat it over a gentle flame. Garnish with the chives or chervil. 

Chicken Curry

My cooking snobbery prevented me from posting this recipe earlier, and all that means is that I haven't made it as often as it deserves to be made. I am ashamed. And yet glad to have finally gotten over my snobbery and recorded this fine recipe.

2 Tbsps. flour
1 tsp salt
½ tsp cayenne pepper
1 chicken, cut up into 8 pieces
2 Tbsps mild flavoured vegetable oil
1 Tbsp generic curry powder
1 onion, sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup chicken broth
⅓ cup raisins OR candied ginger
1½ Tbsps tomato paste
garnish - chopped fresh cilantro
garnish - plain yogurt

1. Cut up your chicken into 8 pieces and remove the skin.
2. In a paper or plastic bag, mix together the flour, salt and cayenne pepper. Add the chicken and shake well to coat.
3. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large pan over medium-high heat.
4. Dump the chicken and any remaining flour into the pan and cook until browned. Remove from the pan and set aside.
5. Add the onion and garlic to the pan, adding a little more oil if necessary, and cook for 2 minutes.  Add the curry powder and toss to coat then add the broth, raisins, and tomato paste (it doesn't matter if the onion is completely cooked). 
6. Return the chicken to the pan and simmer for 20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and the meat thermometre registers 165°F or juices run clear.
7. If necessary, remove the chicken and cook down the sauce to the desired thickness.
8. Garnish with cilantro and a dollop of plain yogurt.
9. Serve over the rice.

Braised Baby Bok-Choy

Simple and good. 'Nuff said, go eat!

2 baby bok-choy

3⁄4 cup broth (vegetable, beef or chicken)

1⁄4 cup white wine

Salt and pepper

1. Put the broth and wine to boil in a saucepan. Reduce to a high simmer.
2. Slice the bok-choy in half and arrange, cut-side down, in the pan. Cover and cook a few minutes, then turn bok-choy onto its 'back', simmer until knife inserts easily. Serve cut-side facing up, sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Kitchen Ready Soup - Lentil Soup

This is a great soup for me because it contains ingredients that are usually always in my kitchen. It's quick, tasty, and easy. The first time I made it was this past month, with my niece Isabelle, for our last meal together before she left us to, of all things, spend the summer with her parents! I know! Kids these days have their priorities all mixed up!
Addendum: I didn't have red lentils on hand, but I did have green lentils and tried the recipe using these as a substitution, and it was quite tasty. This makes the soup far more flexible!

1 large onion (10oz/285gr), chopped

1 Tbsp vegetable oil

4 garlic cloves (20grams), finely chopped

1 tsp ground cumin

1 bay leaf

2 sprigs of fresh thyme

1 1⁄2 cup split red lentils or green lentils

3 1⁄2 cups chicken (or vegetable) broth

2 cups water (add 1 cup more if you want it soupier)

1 tsp salt
1⁄2 tsp pepper

2 Tbsps chopped flat-leaf parsley for garnish

lemon wedges as accompaniment

1. In the soup pot, heat the oil and start by cooking the onion over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the onion has softened. This should take about 8 minutes.
2. Add the garlic, cumin, bay leaf, and thyme and cook, stirring, 1 minute more. Add the lentils, broth, water, salt, and pepper; simmer, partially covered, stirring occasionally, until the lentils are very soft and falling apart, about 30 to 45 minutes.
3. Optional - coarsely blend with an immersion blender.
4. Stir in the parsley and adjust the season until it tastes right to you.
5. Serve with a spritz of lemon to brighten the soup.

The foundation of goodness - Chicken Stock

This is a recipe I've not spent a lot of time researching because I really liked the results the first go 'round. It's from Steven Raichlen's High-Flavor, Low-Fat Chicken - a most unromantic title for any book, but I'm willing to overlook it even if it's just for this recipe.

I've made chicken stock before, either from just boiling some roast chicken carcass or saving the excess liquid from Poule-au-Pot, but when I made this stock, I was amazed at the wonderful flavour and, yes, the wonderful aroma with which it perfumes the air. And, as Raichlen mentions in his book, it's a great way of using scraps. I was saving chicken backs in the freezer from when I cut up a chicken for pieces, just for such an occasion. I love being thrifty like this, and learned that I can be even more so. Raichlen recommends saving vegetable scraps to use in the making, also just kept in the freezer, which I will do next time - everything just gets strained away when the stock is done anyway, so vegetable heels etc will do just fine, so long as they are clean. In the recipe below, it mentions cutting sizes etc, but that's just to give an idea of the best size to extract flavour. I also discovered that it's best to remove the skin from the chicken because it produces so much fat I would just skim off afterwards.

I've also included the instructions for chicken broth at the end. I haven't tried this, but plan on it, soon.

3 1⁄2 to 4 lbs chicken backs, wings, necks, or the carcass from a large roast chicken

1 large onion, quartered with skin

1 leek (6oz/170gr) trimmed, washed, and cut into 1-inch pieces

3 carrots (6oz/170g) cut into 1-inch pieces

3 stalks celery, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 head of garlic, cut in half

Water enough to cover everything in your pot

4 large parsley sprigs or parsley stems

4 fresh thyme sprigs or 1 teaspoon dried thyme

2 bay leaves

10 peppercorns

2 allspice berries 

1. Remove the skin and any lumps of fat from the chicken pieces (unless you want lots of schmaltz floating on the surface of your stock). Rinse the chicken pieces well.
2. Place all the ingredients for the stock in a large stockpot with enough water to cover the chicken. Bring the stock to a boil and skim off any foam that rises to the surface. Lower the heat and gently simmer the stock until well flavored, 2 to 3 hours. Add cold water as necessary to keep the chicken covered. Skim the stock often, especially if you've added water because the cold water brings the fat to the top. It's also very important to only bring the stock to a boil once; any boiling after that will cause the fat to emulsify and make the stock cloudy.
3. Strain the stock into a clean container and let cool to room temperature. I've transfered them to 1-cup containers and froze most of it. Stock will keep four to five days in the refrigerator and for several months in the freezer.

Note: For an extra-clear stock, pour the stock through a strainer lined with paper towels.

Yield: Makes 10 to 12 cups

Chicken Broth Variation:

1. Chicken broth is richer and meatier than chicken stock. Use it for soups and sauces.
2. Prepare the preceding recipe, substituting a 3 1⁄2 to 4 lb chicken for the bones. Wash the chicken and remove any lumps of fat. (For a leaner broth, remove the skin, too.) Simmer the chicken for 1 hour, skimming the stock often. At this point the broth is ready. The chicken meat can be pulled off the bones and used for salads.

Yield: Makes 10 to 12 cups

Lemon and Chive Pan Sauce

The sauce is from Cook's Illustrated, but for the chicken, I follow the instructions to make Sauteed Chicken Breasts.

1 shallot, minced (about 3 tablespoons)

1 tsp all-purpose flour

1 cup low-sodium chicken broth

1 Tbsp juice from 1 lemon

1 Tbsp minced fresh chives (I've also used green onion tails)

1 Tbsp (½ oz/14gr) butter

Salt and ground black pepper

1. If required, add a little oil and sautée shallot in a skillet and cook over medium heat until softened, about 2 minutes. 
2. Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for about 30 seconds. 
3. Add the broth, increase the heat to medium-high, and bring to a simmer, scraping the pan bottom to loosen browned bits. 
4. Simmer rapidly until the liquid is reduced to ¾ cup, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in any accumulated chicken juices; return to a simmer and cook 30 seconds. Off heat, whisk in the lemon juice, chives, and butter; season with salt and pepper. Spoon over chicken and serve immediately.

Chicken Stew

This is a good quick meal. You can use crushed tomatoes instead to shorten the cooking time.
TIP: To prevent white meat cooked in a broth from going stringy, make sure that the vegetables are underneath, in the liquid, and the meat is on top, above the liquid, when adding the vegetables and meat, so that the meat cooks more gently.

2-3 Tbsp grapeseed oil
1 large chopped onion
14oz (398mL) can diced tomatoes
2 cups chicken broth OR 2 cups white wine
1-2 cloves minced garlic
1 tsp. thyme or a couple of fresh sprigs
1 bay leaf
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
2 medium potatoes, diced
3 carrots, sliced
2 stalks celery, diced (optional)
2 chicken breasts, chopped

1. Heat the oil in a soup pot and sauté the onions for 2 minutes.
2. Add the tomato, broth (or wine), garlic, thyme, bay leaf, salt and pepper. Bring this mix to a boil and let simmer until the tomatoes cooks.
3. Add the potatoes, carrots, (celery if using). Layer the chicken on top - apparently it cooks better if it isn't braising in the liquid (see TIP).
4. Simmer until the vegetables are done, about 30 minutes.

Chicken Leftovers Pot Pie

What to do with bits of cooked chicken other than slapping them into a sandwich? Slap it in a pot pie! Even there is no stuffing in this pie, there it has a flavor similar to it, and it has just the right amount and quality of gooey sauce inside. I've made this almost as many times as I've made roast chicken. Which is often. 

1 small potato, diced

1 small onion, diced

1 stalk celery, diced

1 carrot, diced

1/4 cup (2oz/58gr) butter

1/4 cup flour

2 tsp. fresh thyme, minced

1 cup chicken broth

½ cup crème fraîche

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

2 heaping cups chicken, cooked and chopped
2 batches of pie crust, uncooked

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Sauté onion, celery, carrots and potatoes in butter until cooked through and starting to brown, about 10 minutes.
3. Add flour to sautéed mixture, stirring well. Cook one minute, at least, or until well browned. This is important - cooking the flour in the buttered vegetables means the flour is absorbing all the liquids and fats in the pan, then cooking so that when you make the sauce, it will have carried all the lovely browning flavour with it, and it won't taste floury.
4. Combine the broth and the crème fraîche. Dump into the vegetable mixture and stir thoroughly. Stir in the thyme, salt and pepper. Cook over medium heat stirring constantly until the broth thickens and gets bubbly. If you feel you haven't browned the flour mixture enough, it's not too late. Leave on a high simmer and let cook a bit more.
5. Mix in the chicken and stir to combine well.
6. In a shallow pie pan lined with uncooked dough, pour in the chicken mixture and top with the remaining pie dough. Cut slits in the crust to allow steam to escape. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown and the filling is bubbly and heated through.

Not So Simple Pot Roast Made Simple

Pot roasts have really been hit-and-miss with me. Sometimes I've made pot roasts to melt-in-your-mouth perfect that we ate it all in one sitting, other times the meat came out very dry. I like buying tough cuts of meat and braise them to get a lovely, moist roast, so I decided I'd trust Cooks Illustrated, which was partly the right thing to do, because the broth is delicious, but the roast itself came out dry, dry, dry. Enough is enough, I said, so I did my research and figured out what I was doing wrong.

NOTES:

1 - Use a meat thermometre. The size of the roast dictates how long it should cook for. Braising is good for tough cuts because the meat gets hotter than roasting in the oven, which allows for greater collagen break-down and moist meat. However, because braising is hotter, it cooks the meat faster, and cooking for too long is what dries out the meat. Read the recipe instructions below before cooking.

1 3lb sirloin tip roast, boneless

2 Tbsps. vegetable oil

1  onion, chopped

1  carrot, chopped

1 rib celery, chopped

a couple of dried shiitake mushroom

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 teaspoons sugar

1 cup chicken broth

1 cup beef broth

1 sprig fresh thyme

1 1/2 cups water

1/4 cup dry red wine

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 300 degrees. Wash and thoroughly pat roast dry with paper towels; sprinkle generously with salt and pepper.
2. Heat oil in large heavy-bottomed Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering but not smoking. Brown roast thoroughly on all sides, reducing heat if fat begins to smoke. The entire process should take about 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer the roast to large plate to set aside. 
3. Reduce the heat to medium; cook the onion, carrot, shiitake and celery in the remaining oil, stirring occasionally, until beginning to brown, 6 to 8 minutes. 
4. Add the garlic and sugar and cook until the garlic is fragrant, about 30 seconds. 
5. Add the broths, the red wine and thyme, scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to loosen the browned bits. 
6. Return roast and any accumulated juices to the pot; add enough water to come halfway up the sides of the roast (half-way up is essential for proper braising). Bring liquid to simmer over medium heat, then place large piece of foil over the pot and cover tightly with the lid. Transfer the pot to the oven. 
7. Cook, turning the roast every 30 minutes, until fully tender and meat fork or when a sharp knife easily slips in and out of the meat, and the internal temperature reaches 130-140F (internal temperature will rise another 5-10 degrees while resting), about 1:30 to 2 hours.
8. Transfer the roast to a carving board; tent with foil to keep warm, and let rest 10 minutes. Meanwhile, allow the liquid in pot to settle for about 5 minutes, then use a wide spoon to skim any fat off the surface and discard the sprig of thyme. Boil over high heat until reduced to about 1 1/2 cups, about 8 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
9. Using a chef’s or carving knife, cut the meat against the grain into 1/2-inch-thick slices, or pull apart into large pieces; transfer the meat to a warmed serving platter and pour about 1/2 cup of the sauce over the meat. Serve, passing remaining the sauce separately.

Averted Fiasco à la Poule au pot

Laura Calder is fallible! I made her Poule au pot, and part of the recipe calls for 12 onions... TWELVE! I almost blindly followed my Hestia's directions and halted before it was too late, researched Poule au pot on other sites and saw that it must have been an error (although Martha Stewart does list 8 leeks in her recipe). I also put in 11 whole pepper corns instead of ground pepper. I'm not sure if that made a difference or not, but it turned out really yummy. Ben said it was 'scrummy'; he's cute when he's enthusiastic about my food so I let that one slide...
NOTE - this is also a good way of making some lightweight chicken stock; just save the cooking liquid you don't use when serving.

1 3-pound/1.5 kg chicken

Enough chicken stock to cover (about 8 cups)

1 bay leaf

1 sprig thyme

1 sprig tarragon

Salt (lots)

11 peppercorns

6 cloves garlic peeled

2 large leeks or 4 small, cleaned, trimmed and thickly sliced (18oz/510gr)

2 onions, peeled

4 carrots, scraped and cut into chunks

3 celery stalks, cut into finger lengths

1 small turnip, sliced

3 parsnips, scraped and sliced

1. Lay a large piece of cheesecloth onto a work surface and put the chicken breast-side down onto it. Gather up the edges and tie them with the kitchen string. Put the chicken into the pot, breast-side up and pour over chicken stock. Bring to a boil. Skim off the foam that rises until no more forms, about half an hour.
2. While chicken boils, assemble 1 bay leaf, large sprig thyme, sprig tarragon, lots of salt, 11 peppercorns, prepare garlic and leeks, and set aside. Prepare rest of vegetables and keep aside until next step. NOTE, don't cut the veg too big - they won't cook quickly enough.
3. When chicken has boiled for 30 mins, add the bay leaf, thyme, tarragon, salt, peppercorns, along with the garlic and leeks. Turn the chicken, breast side down. Cover, and simmer very gently about 20 minutes more. Add the remaining vegetables, turn the chicken breast side up, and continue cooking until the juices in the chicken run clear and the vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes longer. When removing from cheese cloth, be careful; the chicken will be so tender it pulls apart easily. Serve pieces of chicken and vegetables with some broth pooled around.