Chipotle Pepper Chicken Soup by Colleen

I live on this soup. I have been working for months on trying to match the soup that is served at Palo Alto Sol, the Mexican restaurant. This isn’t an exact replica, but it is close enough and it is healthy (a little less so if you add a lot of chips and cheese to the bowl). You can also add chopped avocado (which PA SOL does) but I’m allergic now to avocado (phooey) so I’m not including it here so I don’t feel even more deprived. (But avocado will give the soup a nice creamy touch, plus a little hint of green).

—- Colleen

Chipotle Pepper Chicken Soup
(Inspired by Sopa Azteca from Palo Alto Sol)

Serves 8

1 large shallot, chopped fine
olive oil
2 heaping teaspoons of chipotle pepper powder
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
2-3 Tablespoons Bomba tomato paste
1-2 teaspoons of dried garlic
1 large can of crushed pomodoro tomatoes
1 can chipotle Rotel
1 can of diced mild green chilis
3 red/yellow bell peppers, seeded and chopped
2 large containers of Swanson’s chicken broth
1 rotisserie chicken, boned and shredded
salt to taste
Optional:  chopped avocado for garnish


Saute the shallots in olive oil until soft. Add in chili powder and pepper flakes and sauté for about 2 minutes. Add in the paste, garlic, tomatoes, Rotel, green chilis, and chopped bell peppers and toss with the shallots. Then pour in the broth and add the chicken. Stir and season with salt to taste. Let simmer for 20-30 minutes until bell pepper is softened.

Serve with crushed tortilla chips and shredded cheese.

Freezes well.  

Butter Chicken by Tom

It tastes better than it looks!

Butter chicken (or murgh makhani) is popular in countries with a tradition of Indian restaurants.  It is tomato based and quite rich.  The addition of butter and heavy cream gives it a thick, velvety texture.

 I started it a little too late in the day, so we ended up not eating until around 8:00 pm.  What I missed originally when reading the recipe was the need to marinate the chicken in the "paste marinade" for three hours prior to cooking.  I will know better next time, which is why I am highlighting that in this section first.

I put the butter chicken on a bed of Nishiki Japanese rice.  The meal was filling and delicious.  And there were lots of leftovers to enjoy.  I will make this again.

 ---Tom

Butter Chicken  
(adapted from New Curries)

Serves 4

For the paste marinade:
1 cup unsalted raw cashews
2 teaspoons garam masala
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
3 cloves of garlic, chopped coarsely
1 1/2 inch piece of fresh ginger, chopped coarsely
3 tablespoons white vinegar
1/3 cup tomato paste
1/2 cup yogurt

For the rest of the recipe:
2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs, halved or quartered
6 tablespoons butter
1 large onion chopped finely
1 cinnamon stick
4 cardamom pods, bruised
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1/2 t. hot red pepper flakes
1 14-ounce can tomato puree
3/4 cup chicken stock
3/4 cup heavy cream

At least 3 hours or even the day before start the preparation of the paste marinade.

Dry fry the raw cashews, garam masala, coriander, and chili powder in a small frying pan over medium heat.  Stir constantly until the nuts are slightly browned and the spices are quite fragrant.  Be careful to not let the spices burn.

Remove from the heat and empty the frying pan into a food processor.  Blend the nut mixture with the garlic, ginger, vinegar, tomato paste, and half of the yogurt (1/4 cup).  Process until the mixture forms into a paste.

Transfer into a large bowl and stir in the remaining yogurt and the chicken.  Cover and place in the refrigerator for 3 hours or overnight.

Remove the marinating chicken mixture from the refrigerator.

Melt the butter in a large skillet.  Add the onions, cinnamon and cardamom pods to the skillet and cook until the onion is lightly browned.  Then add the chicken paste mixture and cook for an additional 10 minutes.  Stir frequently.

Now stir in the chicken stock, paprika, tomato puree and the red pepper flakes. Simmer uncovered for 45 minutes,  stirring occasionally.

Discard the cinnamon stick and cardamom pods.  Add the heavy cream and simmer uncovered for another 5 minutes.

Prepare rice based on the directions on the package.  Rice usually takes about 20 minutes to cook and another 5-10 minutes to steam off the heat.  I started the rice when there were about 25 minutes of cooking time left for the butter chicken mixture that was simmering.

Plate a spoonful or two of rice on a plate and then spoon the butter chicken mixture over the rice.

You are now finished and time to enjoy this concoction!

                    ---Tom

Fisherman's Pie with Biscuit Topping

Fish, Shrimp and Mushrooms in a luxurious sauce with herbs

Wanted to make something special for Good Friday.  This isn't a dish that you'd make everyday.  It is decadent but well worth the time and organization it takes to pull it off. 

A traditional fisherman's pie would have a mashed potato topping, but I used a biscuit topping with my new-found skills at making them (see Baking Powder Biscuits).  We didn't have any potatoes since we were under the stay-at-home order, so time to innovate.

I took the traditional recipe from Irish Pub Cooking and pumped up the ingredients.  It was lots of fun to adapt, and both Tom and David (who we delivered a big helping to for after work at the hospital) thought it was really, really good.

Always makes me happen when my experiments turn out well.   

Baked Halibut with Tarragon in White Wine

You can make any of these elements and serve them separately, and they would be delicious, like the fish baked with tarragon and white wine.  
---Barbara


Fisherman's Pie with Biscuit Topping
(adapted from Irish Pub Cooking)

Serves 6 generously

1 lb. white fish filet, like halibut
salt and pepper
1 T. tarragon, dried or fresh
olive oil
2/3 cup dry white wine
12 ounces baby bella mushrooms, sliced
2 T. dry sherry
12 medium to large raw shrimp, defrosted, peeled and cleaned
cayenne pepper
2 -3 T. butter
1/8 -1/4 cup Wonder flour
3/4 - 1 cup light cream

Biscuit Topping:  see Baking Soda Biscuits, click on link

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 1/8 teaspoons sea salt

1 tablespoon sugar

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, grated

361 grams all-purpose flour (3 cups)

1 1/8 cups whole milk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Prep all of the biscuit ingredients:  mix the dry ingredients together, and have the butter grated and in the fridge, and the milk measured and ready to go, but set aside.  Have the surface floured, and biscuit cutter and rolling pin ready.

In a skillet on the stovetop, on medium high heat, add some olive oil, add the mushrooms, a pinch of salt and brown and cook down the mushrooms for about 5 minutes, then add the sherry, and cook until evaporated, another 3 minutes or so.  They should be deep brown.  Set aside.

Dry off the defrosted peeled and cleaned shrimp, place them on a plate in one layer, and sprinkle with salt and cayenne pepper and set aside.

Dry off the fish fillet, add salt and pepper to both sides. Put a little olive oil in the bottom of a wide shallow baking dish.  Add the fish and sprinkle with tarragon.

Bake for 8 minutes or so, until you start to see the sides of the fish start to become opaque.  It will depend on the thickness of your fillet.  Watch carefully. You can add the wine now if you want, but I waited to have more control over the doneness of the fish.

Add the shrimp along the sides.  Return to the oven.  Add the wine.  And cook until the shrimp turns pink.

Then remove from the oven.

Turn up the oven to 425 degrees.  Don't forget to do this step or the biscuits won't bake as well.

Drain the juices from the fish and shrimp into a bowl.  This will be used for making the sauce.

Flake the fish and evenly distribute throughout the baking dish.

Add the mushrooms.

Now make the sauce:  In the skillet where you cooked the mushrooms, over medium-low heat, add 2 T. butter, melt, and sprinkle the Wondra flour over the melted butter, and quickly stir with a spatula or spoon, until the roux starts to brown.  This will eliminate the flour taste, and be the basis of the sauce.  Add the juices from baked fish.  And keep stirring.

Keep stirring -- these lumps will go away.  

It will be a pretty thick paste.  Then, add the cream, and keep stirring until you have a nice sauce.  Add more cream if your sauce is too thick.

Pour over the top of the fish.  And let it sit until you make the biscuit topping.

Now make the biscuits, and place them on top of the fish with the sauce.  Use the leftover biscuit dough to fill in the cracks in between the biscuits, so that the topping doesn't have any gaps, and will keep the steam inside the pie.

Bake in the oven, which should now be at 425 degrees, until the biscuits are golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes.

Serve warm in a deep bowl.

Recipe ideas: What we've been cooking

Shrimp and Edamame Fried Rice by Tom

Isolation cooking, stay-at-home cooking, quarantine cooking, COVID cooking, call it what you will.  It is hard work and takes some planning to make food every...single...day.

The biggest change for us has been doing once a week shopping and having to rely on freezing what we buy. We are used to running out to the store almost daily. 

We've been utilizing Feast Everyday to make recipes that are comforting to us or recipes to match what we can find in the stores. 

Hope you find something from our list that might give you a new idea for the duration.  

---Barbara

Orecchiette with Broccoletti and Sausage

16 Bean Soup with Smoked Ham

Chicken with Wild Mushrooms

Spanish Rice with Chickpeas and Chorizo

Don't Tell Roasted Potatoes

Lamb Shanks, my mother in law's favorite recipe

Halibut Sauteed in Brown Butter

Tom's "Go To" Pasta

Beef Broccoli Lo Mein

Our Favorite Butterflied Leg of Lamb Recipe

Orzo with Proscuitto and Asparagus

Tomato Orzo Soup with Grated Parmesan

Fajitas

Baking Powder Biscuits (Gesine Bullock-Prado)

I learned how to make these biscuits watching the Isolation Baking Show with Gesine Bullock-Prado by King Arthur Flour.   

Peas with Mint and Radishes

Minty and bright

While we wait for fresh peas from the local farms, I found this recipe to adapt to work with frozen baby peas.  

A vinaigrette of oil and red wine vinegar elevates the dish from being a common side veg.  

And the radishes are crunchy and offer a nice color contrast.  

Frozen peas can actually be quite good, if you look for sweet baby peas.  

No mint in the stores, due to the pandemic, and it is too early for mint from the garden, so I used dried mint and it was surprisingly good.  

---Barbara

Green Peas with Mint and Radishes
(adapted from Southern Cast Iron)

Serves 4

1 13-ounce bag of frozen baby sweet peas (or 3 cups fresh)
6 radishes, very thinly sliced (about 1/2 cup)
1/3 cup chopped fresh mint (2 -3 T. dried)
For the vinaigrette:
2 T. olive oil
1.5 T. red wine vinegar
1/2 t. sugar
1/4 t. salt
1/4 t. freshly ground black pepper

Microwave the peas. About 6 minutes on high, if frozen.

To stop the cooking and keep the peas bright green, spread them out in one single layer on a baking sheet and put them in the freezer.  Alternatively, you can plunge the peas into an ice bath, and then drain well.

Whisk together the vinaigrette in the bottom of your serving bowl.  Be sure it is well blended.

Add the peas, chopped mint, sliced radishes, and stir well to coat.

Let stand for 15 minutes before serving to develop the flavors of the mint and the vinaigrette.

Pork Chop with Savory Apple Butter

A Quick and Easy Sauce

We are all getting used to cooking during the COVID-19 pandemic.  And we are no exception.  We are adapting to what is available in the stores, and what is comforting.  

Here's something that has worked for us that I thought worth sharing.

We can get pork chops when lots of other items, like chicken and hamburger meat are out of stock. That's been my strategy --- look for things that other people would not --- like lamb shanks, and duck confit.  Plus we've been making things that use beans or come in cans.  In all cases we are doctoring them up with items from the pantry. 

In our pantry, we had a jar of  LMR apple butter.  It came with one of our wine shipments last year, a tag-along gift item.  Not something I picked out; nonetheless, I was intrigued. 

I remember my grandmother talking about making apple butter in the fall at her church.  They would do it in a big cast iron pot outside.  And I remember that my dad enjoyed it.  He would put it on toast. 

Apple butter --- and all fruit butters --- are made from over-ripe fruit and cooked down into a dark thick "butter."  A liquid is added, like apple cider.  And a spice, usually cinnamon.  And sometimes a sweetener, like sugar or honey.  But no butter. 

It is available commercially by companies like Mott's Apple Butter.  Or at Trader Joe's.  But we can get it locally because we have a big Mennonite population in the area.  If you look for it, you will probably find it. 

To my taste, it is too sweet "as is" for roasted pork, so I decided to mix in Worcestershire Sauce.

A 2 to 1 ratio works well, for example, 2 T. apple butter plus 1 T. Worcestershire sauce, then mixed together well. 

That's what I did the first night.  Then, I mixed up a whole jar and stored it in the refrigerator for future use.  About 2/3 cup apple butter to 1/3 cup Worchestershire sauce.  Taste as you go, adding on as much Worcestershire sauce until the butter no longer tastes sweet, but stays thick.  

We've had this dish  three times already during our self-quarantine, varying the vegetable that goes with it. It's so easy, and yummy!

--Barbara

Pork Chop with Savory Apple Butter

Serves 2

2 center cut pork chops
oil
salt and pepper
4 T. apple butter
2 T. Worcestershire sauce

An hour or two prior to preparing your meal, remove the pork chops from their packaging, dry them with paper towels, and place them in one layer on a plate to air dry.  Refrigerate.

A half hour before roasting, bring the meat out to warm up, while you get everything else ready.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Combine the apple butter with the Worcestershire sauce.

If you are roasting veggies along with the pork chop, prepare them, add to a bowl, toss generously with olive oil, salt and place on a sheet pan, in one layer.

For the pork chops, use a roasting pan (I use original CorningWare) which can go under the broiler, because you will broil them at the end for a few minutes.

Add a little olive to the bottom of the pan.  Salt and pepper both side of the pork chops and place them in the pan, leaving space in between.

Put both the pork chops and the veggies in at the same time.  (You can always remove the veggies when you like if the meat takes longer.)

The amount of time the pork chops take will depend on the thickness of the meat.  I plan for 30 minutes.  These took 35 minutes.  You can tell they are done because they will start to get firm in the center.  Do not overbake.

To brown them, turn the broiler on high and roast for a minute or two until golden brown, but not burnt.

I roast the veggies on the rack below the pork chops.  The broccoli shown here may look a little over done but it is not.  It is delicious.  I just left it in the whole time that the pork chops were baking.

Spoon some of the savory apple butter over each pork chop and serve.