The Soup That Shall Be Named

So spring is right around the corner. Just a few short weeks until winter is behind us and I don’t have to worry about things like polar bears or the wife slipping on ice. It’ll be sad to see the season go, but with spring comes a vast array of colors and flavors that I kind of miss.

But I’m not here to gush over spring like I embarrassingly did last year. The winds have been howling and the nip is in the air with the occasional snow storm still passing through. So that tells me I have time to post about one more hearty soup! Sucks for you if you don’t like soup because I freaking love them and this is one of my favorites.

If there’s anything familiar about this soup, it’s probably because you've seen or had it before in The Italian Chain Restaurant That Shall Not Be Named. It’s ok, don’t be ashamed, we used to go there more often than not before we vowed to never go back again. And those last few times, the only reason why we found ourselves in their parking lot, let alone sitting in their chairs, was for this soup. That’s all we went for and that’s all we wanted (besides those stupid bread sticks). Unfortunately, the high standards of quality and service that they swear they hold were, not surprisingly, still at the level of my dog’s food. With everything so disappointing, I honestly don’t know why we kept going back. “It’s just for the soup”, we kept telling ourselves. But even though all they have to do is probably defrost a frozen block of soup and serve it, every time we went they managed to mess that up. I’ll save the rest of the details for my mandatory and way too over hyped Italian Chain Restaurant That Shall Not Be Named post that I promise is coming soon.

My point is that we went through a lot of crap just for this soup. And the last few times when it was disgustingly cold, watery, or plastic looking due to a poor attempt at thickening it up, it was just a slap on the face when I was already on the ground, not to mention disrespectful to what this soup should be.

So what did I do? Next time we had an urge for it, we went out to the store instead and bought the ingredients for it (which totaled give or take $12 depending where you go), and then I made it. And guess what? It’s effing amazing. I get to have as much as I want, it’s freshly made, I know who made it, I know what’s in it and best of all, I never have to step foot into The Italian Chain Restaurant That Shall Not Be Named, again.

Thanks to Stephanie Manley for posting the original recipe over at CopyKat Recipes!

Chicken Gnocchi Soup (adapted)

1 tablespoon ~ Olive Oil
2 cups ~ Onions, diced
1 ½ tablespoons ~ Garlic, minced
4 tablespoons ~ Butter
4 tablespoons ~ Flour
1 quart ~ Half and Half
1 cup ~ Shredded Carrots
2 ½ cups ~ Chicken Breasts, cooked and diced
1 package ~ Gnocchi
1 32oz carton ~ Chicken Stock/Broth
1 ½ cups ~ Spinach, chopped
1 teaspoon ~ Dried Thyme
¼ teaspoons ~ Nutmeg, freshly grated (optional)
To Taste ~ Salt and Pepper

Notes:

• I’ve substituted heavy cream for the half and half before with no issues.
• You can get flexible with the chicken. If you have a couple of good sized breasts [holds in an immature giggle], you can go with those or if you want to just buy an already cooked, plain whole rotisserie chicken at your local supermarket then the ball is in your quart. You just need chicken; it doesn’t matter from what part of the chicken.
• I’ll talk about Gnocchi after the notes.
• I've made this a few times, but never with the nutmeg. But after reading comments from the original post, it seems like it’s worth a shot. Next time I make the soup I’ll definitely give it a go.

Alright, if you’re wondering what the heck a Ganockey is, listen up.

Gnocchi, pronounced noki, are basically small dumplings almost always made of potatoes along with flour and/or semolina. Made famous by Italian cuisine, they can be substituted for pasta if that tickles your fancy or they can be perfect little additions to a soup. If you've never had them, their consistency is like a very soft and chewy baked potato. They hold their shape nicely, just be careful not to overcook them. They’re fairly easy to make by hand, as I've seen them done in a matter of minutes by a cook I used to work with while he was busy making orders. But if you’re like me and just don’t have time for that, you can go to your local supermarket and pick up a package for around $5. I always find them in Target. They’re a great little ingredient and I use them far less than I should.

Now that we’re all on the same page, let’s get it goin’:

Before you even think about making the soup, you’re going to make the chicken and have it ready. I made the chicken as I was making the soup and it felt like my brain was going to explode. It’s not difficult to manage; I just hate waiting for something to finish in order to finish something else that I could’ve finished if I wasn’t waiting for the original thing to finish in the first place.

Go ahead, reread that, I’ll wait.

• Ok, are we back now? Good. Turn on your oven to 350°. If you’re working with an already made rotisserie, then just ignore anything I say about making the chicken and go straight to tearing it apart.

• Season the chicken breasts with salt, pepper, garlic and a little oil, and put them on a tray in the oven for a about 20-25 minutes or so depending on the size. Whenever the timer goes off, take them out and make sure they’re done before you let them cool. Once ready, just start ripping them apart with your hands. Keep them in uniform bite sized chunks and set them aside.

Ok, now that that’s out of the way, let’s get on to the soup.

• Oh! Put a 2 quart or so sized sauce pan filled with some salted water and set it to boil.

Alright, now the soup.

• Heat up the oil in your favorite soup pot and add the onions and garlic and cook until they’re sweated. Plop in the butter and wait until it melts before you add the flour. Give it a good stir and you’ll be able to call that clumpy mess a roux. Let the roux cook for a minute or two just to get the flour taste out.

If it starts burning the bottom of the pan then it was totally your fault because you had the heat up too high for the roux. See? This is why I talk you through things.

• No, don’t lower the heat now, it’s too late. As longs as it’s not too bad, go ahead and add the half and half and stir or (I recommend) whisk until the roux is incorporated. When you don’t see anymore roux floating around, add the carrots as well as the chicken that you didn’t have to worry about because you had it ready.

Geeze, could you imagine what you would’ve done to that roux if you were worrying about the chicken? I could almost hear the news report.

• Heat up what you have in the pot until it thickens up. Once it does, add the chicken broth, and give it a good stir.

• At this point, since the gnocchi only takes about 3 or 4 minutes to cook, go ahead and add the gnocchi to the boiling water that you probably already forgot why it was on the stove. I know, that roux really effed you up. When the gnocchi is done, just drain it and put it in something until it is needed.

• After you add the chicken broth to the soup, wait for it to thicken up once again. If it doesn’t magically happen just let it gently simmer while stirring and it should thicken up slowly. When it does, add the cooked gnocchi, spinach, thyme, nutmeg if you’re using it, and some salt and pepper.

Give it a stir, give it a taste, does it need salt? Add salt. Does it need pepper? Add pepper. Seriously, do I have to hold your hand through everything? Rule of thumb: If you taste something and it doesn’t really taste the way you think it should taste, it’s probably because it’s bland. If something is bland, guess what? You have to add salt. Go a pinch at a time if you’re scared. Always remember you can add but you can never take away.

When the soup is heated through, that’s it, you’re done. Ladle it into some bowls, get a nice crusty loaf of bread or even some bread sticks if they don’t bring back too many suppressed memories, and enjoy the gnocchi out of this. If you were a fan of this soup before or if this is your first time making it, you’ll fall in love with how easy it is. You'll probably go into shock when you realize you can have this at home where you don’t have to worry about all the hassle and disappointment that comes with going to that place. Not to mention the fact that it tastes better because you just made it with your own two hands.

So enjoy.

Put de Curry in de Co-co-nut

Sorry. I know you guys have probably been snowed in and made prisoners in your own homes by the below freezing temperatures hitting most of the nation. Just sitting there bundled under mountains of blankets waiting for me to update my blog with another soul warming soup. But like always, I miss these opportunities that other bloggers write posts for months in advance.

It's not my fault this time! Yes, I could have written this a week ago, but I was distracted. See, season 3 of Game of Thrones premiers on March 31st and my amazing wife surprised me with the third book in the series, A Storm of Swords, as an early Valentines gift. So yes, while you've been freezing, waiting for blog updates, I've had my nose buried in a book. I know, I'm terrible, I'm sorry. I'll never do it again and I promise I'll give you more attention.

...After I finish the book. So let's hurry this up so I could get back on it.

I first had this soup in the Animal Kingdom Lodge at Walt Disney World in a restaurant called Boma. It's a great buffet style place if you're ever in the area. When we tried this soup, both the wife and I were blown away. The flavors, while not usually paired to anything we've had, went perfectly together. A couple of weeks later I found a recipe and recreated the magic. And now, for you, I've done it again:

Coconut Curried Chicken Soup:     (adapted from here)

                                  1 each ~ Chicken, whole, cut in 8

                            1 1/2 each ~ Onion, medium, roughly diced

                                  1 each ~ Red Bell Pepper, roughly diced

                        1 tablespoon ~ Garlic, chopped

                                     Roux ~ 4 tablespoons butter, 4 tablespoons flour

                                  1 each ~ Coconut Milk, 13 oz can

                      3 tablespoons ~ Curry Powder, toasted

                           1 teaspoon ~ Dried Rosemary

                                  1 quart ~ Chicken Stock

                               5 ounces ~ Honey

                                  1/2 cup ~ Cilantro, chopped

                                  to taste ~ Cayenne Pepper, Salt, Pepper

Notes:

• I understand you may not have the technical prowess to cut a whole chicken into its 8 equal pieces (2 each of breasts, wings, thighs and legs). So if you'd like, you can buy it already cut, Or just use 4 or 5 nicely sized chicken breasts. 
• If you scratched your head when you read the word Roux then relax. A roux (pronounced "ru") is one of the many ways you can thicken up a sauce or a soup. It's one of the more traditional thickening agents and when done right, will not add any wild flavors to what you're making (unless you want it to). It will just do it's job and magically thicken what you want to thicken. 
• Yes, toast the curry powder. No, it's not a waste of time. When you toast a spice, you're bringing out natural oils and enhancing not only the flavor but the fragrance of the spice. And when you enhance the fragrance, you're making the spice stand out more in the dish to not just your nose, but your taste buds as well. So to toast, just get a nice dry pan and put the curry powder in it and turn up the heat. Swirl it around and let it heat up to the point where the smell is filling the air. 
• I omitted jalapeno peppers, potatoes and tomatoes from the original recipe. While they'll give the end product more layers, I'm not a big enough fan of either in soups to have them in here.  
• We're going to do this all in one pot so get your favorite one out.

Now, let's put the curry in de co-co-nut and drink 'em bot' up:

• First, turn on the oven to 350. Then as always, make sure everything is ready to go. Cut all your veggies, get everything out of your pantry, just be prepared. In the industry we call this Mise-en-place (miz on plas). It's a French phrase meaning "everything in place". You'd hate to have your roux ready for the liquid and then no idea where your coconut milk is. Be ready!

• Part of your mise-en-place is preparing the chicken. So whether you cut it up yourself or are going the easy route, take salt, pepper and 1 tablespoon of curry powder and season the chicken. I cooked skin on but took it off later, so be sure to get underneath the skin as much as you can with all the seasonings. 

• In your pot, heat up some oil and sear the chicken on all sides. Cook it about halfway if you can, then set the chicken on a sheet tray and put it in the oven for about 10 minutes (depending on how long you cooked it in the pan).

The recipe I got this from had you cooking the chicken 3/4 of the way and then letting it finish cooking in the soup. There are plenty of things I find wrong with this method, but most of all, I just don't have the time to sit there and wait for chicken to finish cooking inside of my soup. So I just finished cooking them in the oven. 

• Now that you have all the goodness in the pot from the chicken, add a little more oil and throw in the onion, pepper and garlic. Saute it until the onions are translucent.

• Usually, when you make a roux, you make it on the side and add it in while whisking. Well here we're twisting it a bit. So add the butter and the flour to the veggies and make your roux in the pot. 

• Once your roux is together, go ahead and add the chicken stock, coconut milk, rosemary and curry powder. Whisk it or turn it with a spoon until you feel all of the roux has been incorporated. Once it comes to a boil, it will thicken up. If it does thicken before you're ready to continue then set it aside. But while it's thickening, your chicken should have been out of the oven and should look something like this...

• Take the chicken and cut it up into bite sized chunks. This is the point where I took the skin off and may or may not have ate it. If you want to leave it in, be my guest. If you are using all breasts then chop it all up. If you're using a whole chicken, I cut up the breasts and the thighs and it gave me enough meat to work with. I saved the legs and wings as appetizers for the soup. 

• Once the soup is thickened and the chicken is cut, go ahead and add the chicken to the soup. Add the honey and then give it a taste. It will need salt and pepper so add it. If you're looking for a little more kick, add the cayenne pepper a pinch at a time.

• When it's all seasoned, add the cilantro and you are ready to bathe in it! 

It's a great soup to get cozy with especially if you have a nice, hot, crispy loaf of bread with it. Like I said, the flavors that work together here are phenomenal and are hard to put into words. So give it a go and see for yourself.

Winner , Winner ...

______________________________

Even were a cook to cook a fly, he would keep the breast for himself.

 

                                                  ~ Polish  Proverb

______________________________

Growing up, my mother cooked everyday. Yeah, we’d occasionally get a pizza night or go out to that seafood place with the big red bottom dwelling crustacean. But most of the time, she’d be slaving away in the kitchen, cooking up a storm for who ever was home, living or visiting. I was always a fan of her cooking but some dishes I liked more than others. This was one of those dishes.

Stuffed Chicken Breasts.

Yeah, that’s it. Simple. Nothing fancy, no special sauce or crazy cooking technique, just a regular ol’ stuffed chicken breast.

Why am I putting something so simple on here? Well, a few reasons:

First, it’s my blog; I’ll do what I want. You don’t like it, go watch the Food Network till your eyes burn (usually takes about 3 minutes). Second, like I said, I always enjoyed it. And if stuffed chicken breasts aren’t in your regular rotation of things to make for dinner, it damn well better be now. And lastly, you’d be surprised at how the simplest things are often overlooked because they have a “Chef/Kitchen Master Required” reputation. I hope to put an end to reputations like that for a few dishes, so let this be the first.

Want to know how simple I’m talking? It’s getting stuffed with Stove Top Stuffing! Oh yeah, I just went there. If you just buy this stuff(ing!) for Thanksgiving you’re missing out!

Don’t get me wrong, I know how to make proper stuffing. Only problem is it takes too damn long. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m a stay-at-home Dad; I don’t have time to be slaving over a cutting board and hot stove if I don’t have to. Stove Top is the perfect way to make this an easy, quick, and memorable meal. And if you don’t agree, remember, it’s my blog!

Quick story: When I was in Culinary School, I was taught the importance of making things from scratch and how much better it was. So for practice, I’d give my mom a few nights off while I cooked the meal. I did crazy, crazy things like make my own pizza - sauce and dough - from scratch. And make things like stuffing for stuffed chicken from scratch. In the end, although tasty, the time it took for me to cut all the ingredients, get everything sorted and cooked, I could’ve made 3 meals if I was not making from scratch.

So here I am, 10 years later. Looking back and laughing at myself. Not jokingly either, I’m totally mocking me.

I still know the importance of cooking from scratch. Only now, I know when it matters, and when I should just use something out of a box.

Stuffing chicken is one of those times.

So here it is:


Stuffed Chicken Breast:

        (however many needed) ~ Chicken Breasts, boneless skinless

                                     1 box ~ Stove Top Stuffing Mix

                                     To Top ~ Bread Crumbs and/or Grated Parmesan Cheese

                                     To Taste ~ Seasoning

                                     3x each breast ~ Toothpicks

                                                               Olive oil

Depending on how many people you're cooking for, 1 box of Stuffing should be able to stuff 4 decently sized breasts.

• Before you even touch the chicken, get the stuffing fixed. 

You do the method you prefer following the box instructions, but I’m keen to the microwave. Hey, you’re already using something out of a box, why waste time cooking on the stove?! Once done, check out the size of the chicken breasts because you’ll want to set aside however much stuffing you’ll be using to actually stuff with into a separate bowl so you won’t cross contaminate. Nobody likes salmonella in their stuffing. Well, maybe models.

• Pre heat the oven to 350°. Once the stuffing is ready in its own bowl with a spoon, get some aluminum foil on a sheet tray and hit it with cooking spray. Then take the breadcrumbs and/or parmesan cheese and mix them in a little container. You’ll probably be using a tablespoon of each per breast, once that’s mixed, set it aside in arms reach, along with the bowl of stuffing, the toothpicks, and whatever spices you’re going to be using. (Not sure of what spices to use? Intimidated by the aromas? Don’t know that there is more than one type of salt? Check This Out First. I beg of you) 

Be prepared! It’s always good to do a mental rundown of how you’re going to do something, especially with chicken. You don’t want to have your hands full of raw chicken and remember that you didn't foil the pan or get your seasonings out. I know I hate that.

Another good tip: When you’re dealing with any meat, always try to use only one hand to handle it and keep the other hand dry. The other hand will wield a knife or sprinkle the seasoning, whatever it does it’ll be clean, just in case, you know, you have an itch or something. Which I can almost guarantee, with the utmost confidence, you’ll get once you start the prep.

• Now that everything is ready to go, stick the knife HALF WAY in your chicken and slice it like so:

• You want to make a pocket. You don’t want to slide your knife in one end and out the other, you’ll just filet it; and instead of stuffed chicken you’ll look like a crazy person serving Stove Top between two chicken strips. Huge difference. 

Once you made the initial cut, look inside to see if the pocket is big enough. You can go to about a quarter of an inch from the edges and be ok. If you go too far, or slice a hole in the bottom of the breast, for the love of God, don’t freak out. It’s not the end of the world; it’s just food, so stop crying.

• Once the pocket is ready, it’s time to season. Season the top, bottom, inside - everywhere. When you have a nice coating of seasoning, get 2 or 3 spoonfuls of stuffing into the pocket. Pack it in there nice and tight, if you did cut a hole or whatever just hold it to make sure nothing comes out of it. You want to pack it in there enough so that you can’t close the pocket completely, but it’s also not falling out of it. 

• Once the pocket is packed, place it on the sheet tray and do the others. When you’re done, get your toothpicks and stick 3 of them along the opening of the pocket. You want them to act like stitches so that it doesn’t open up when it’s cooking and stays a nice closed shape. 

I use toothpicks when traditionally you would use butchers twine to tie up your meat. But honestly, who has butchers twine just sitting in their kitchen drawer? … Ok, maybe I’m the only one that doesn’t. But still, there’s a better chance the regular person would have toothpicks and not butchers twine. Plus it’s easier to just pluck them out.

For crying out loud, don’t forget to pluck them out. If you forget one time, trust me from experience, you’ll never forget again.

Ok, Breasts are stuffed, and poked and ready on the tray. If you were handling them a lot and rubbed off some of the seasoning, don’t be afraid to sprinkle a little more. But just a little.

• Next, sprinkle the breadcrumb mixture on top of the breasts. Pat it down so that it kind of gets in there. I like to be generous with the breadcrumbs because I love the texture and taste. Ok, maybe generous is an understatement. Once the breadcrumbs are on, drizzle some olive oil on top to help with the browning and throw that tray in the oven! 

• Set it for 20-25 minutes, depending on size. Wash your hands and then give yourself a pat on the back, you deserve it. 

You can make whatever else you like as a side, but the leftover stuffing is usually enough for us. I like my stuffing a little crispy so I put it on the same tray as the chicken halfway through cooking so it could warm up and get toasty.

Once it comes out, find yours and give it a little slice in the thickest part just to make sure it’s cooked (never be too sure with chicken, and all ovens are different). You could check the temperature with a thermometer or watch the color of the juices flowing out of it, but really, who has time for that? Slice the sucker in the back and peak inside. And remember:

• TAKE OUT THE TOOTHPICKS.

This is a nice looking meal once it’s done. It looks like you spent a lot longer on it than what you really did, so it’s good for impressing company or loved ones. We’re simple so we just plop it on the plate and go to town, but if you want to make it presentable, slice it 4 or 5 times on a bias (at an angle), and leave out the ends. Fan it out on a plate with a few vegetables and maybe some garlic mashed potatoes. Boom, color someone impressed!

Ok, I’m getting carried away.

Enjoy.