Thursday, December 12, 2013

Chicken Pot Pie Soup

Recipe adapted from: 

Heatovento350.com

Ingredients

  • 2 cups shredded, cooked chicken
  • 2 stalks celery, chopped
     
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
  • 1 bag frozen mixed veggies (I used Kroger brand)
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
     
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground sage
  • 3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 1 cup heavy whipping cream

Instructions

  1. Cook chicken however you like. I steamed mine in my steamer from totally frozen with steak seasoning sprinkled on it for 30 mins.
  2. Shred chicken. (I used my Kitchenaid mixer to shred mine, just make sure you put a towel over the mixer so you don't have flying chicken).
  3. Add butter to a large pot, add celery, onion and carrots along with 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are starting to soften, about 5 minutes. Add flour and spices. Cook and stir one minute.
  4. Stir in broth and milks, cover the pot, and bring soup to a simmer. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, until vegetables are tender, about 6 minutes.
  5. Stir in chicken and let simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 5 minutes.
  6. Divide soup among serving bowls.

Notes & Tips:

The original recipe called for parsnips, which sounds good to me, but as I didn't have any I added the frozen veggies to bulk it up. You can also lower the fat in this by subbing the cream for whole milk and the whole milk for skim. I wouldn't use all skim milk though, I feel it would make the soup kinda watery. I served this with biscuits. The original recipe called for puff pastry adornments, but honestly if I was going to go that far, I'd just make chicken pot pie.

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Beef Bourguignon

Recipe adapted from: Julia Child's Joy of Cooking

Ingredients


  • One 6-ounce piece of chunk bacon (or 6 slices of thick cut bacon)
  • 3 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 3 pounds lean stewing beef, cut into 2-inch cubes
  • 1 carrot, sliced
  • 1 onion, sliced
  • Salt and pepper
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • 3 cups red wine, young and full-bodied (like Beaujolais, Cotes du Rhone or Burgundy)
  • 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 cups brown beef stock
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 2 cloves mashed garlic
  • 1/2 teaspoon thyme
  • A crumbled bay leaf
  • 18 to 24 white onions, small
  • 3 1/2 tablespoons butter
  • Herb bouquet (4 parsley sprigs, one-half bay leaf, one-quarter teaspoon thyme, tied in cheesecloth)
  • 1 pound mushrooms, fresh and quartered

  • Cooking Directions

    -Remove bacon rind and cut into lardons (sticks 1/4-inch thick and 1 1/2 inches long). -Simmer rind and lardons for 10 minutes in 1 1/2 quarts water. Drain and dry.
    -Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
    -Sauté lardons in 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a flameproof casserole over moderate heat for 2 to 3 minutes to brown lightly. Remove to a side dish with a slotted spoon.
    -Dry beef in paper towels; it will not brown if it is damp. Heat fat in casserole until almost smoking. Add beef, a few pieces at a time, and sauté until nicely browned on all sides. -Add it to the lardons.
    -In the same fat, brown the sliced vegetables. Pour out the excess fat.
    -Return the beef and bacon to the casserole and toss with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
    -Then sprinkle on the flour and toss again to coat the beef lightly. Set casserole uncovered in middle position of preheated oven for 4 minutes.
    -Toss the meat again and return to oven for 4 minutes (this browns the flour and covers the meat with a light crust).
    -Remove casserole and turn oven down to 325 degrees.
    -Stir in wine and 2 to 3 cups stock, just enough so that the meat is barely covered.
    -Add the tomato paste, garlic, herbs and bacon rind. Bring to a simmer on top of the stove.
    -Cover casserole and set in lower third of oven. Regulate heat so that liquid simmers very slowly for 3 to 4 hours. The meat is done when a fork pierces it easily.
    -While the beef is cooking, prepare the onions and mushrooms.
    -Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons butter with one and one-half tablespoons of the oil until bubbling in a skillet.
    -Add onions and sauté over moderate heat for about 10 minutes, rolling them so they will brown as evenly as possible. Be careful not to break their skins. You cannot expect them to brown uniformly.
    -Add 1/2 cup of the stock, salt and pepper to taste and the herb bouquet.
    -Cover and simmer slowly for 40 to 50 minutes until the onions are perfectly tender but hold their shape, and the liquid has evaporated. Remove herb bouquet and set onions aside.
    -Wipe out skillet and heat remaining oil and butter over high heat. As soon as you see butter has begun to subside, indicating it is hot enough, add mushrooms.
    -Toss and shake pan for 4 to 5 minutes. As soon as they have begun to brown lightly, remove from heat.
    -When the meat is tender, pour the contents of the casserole into a sieve set over a saucepan.
    -Wash out the casserole and return the beef and lardons to it. Distribute the cooked onions and mushrooms on top.
    -Skim fat off sauce in saucepan. Simmer sauce for a minute or 2, skimming off additional fat as it rises. You should have about 2 1/2 cups of sauce thick enough to coat a spoon lightly.
    -If too thin, boil it down rapidly. If too thick, mix in a few tablespoons stock. Taste carefully for seasoning.
    -Pour sauce over meat and vegetables. Cover and simmer 2 to 3 minutes, basting the meat and vegetables with the sauce several times.
    -Serve in casserole, or arrange stew on a platter surrounded with potatoes, noodles or rice, and decorated with parsley. 

    Notes & Tips:

    Ok... so where to start. I've always wanted to make this and have admittedly been a tad intimidated to make it. But I bought the ingredients because we thought we were going to have guests for dinner. That fell through and I almost backed out, but I figured I had all the good stuff so I'd go ahead and make tonight a special night anyway. I started this recipe at 11:50am, and we ate at 6pm. There was LOTS of hands on time, there was also a 3.5 hour period where it just simmered. It was very very good, you could taste the wine and the rich beef flavor. I'm not sure I will be making this anytime soon, but it is truly something every cook should attempt. I served this with roasted potatoes and crusty bread.