Mediterranean Chicken Stew

Speaking of new cookbooks, I've become attached to Martha Stewart Living's Everyday Food: Great Food Fast. I borrowed it from the library when I saw it in the top ten cookbook bestsellers on Amazon, and I've already renewed it 4 times. :)

I've been relying on it more recently since my husband has decided he can't handle spicy food (this is the man who told me he could tolerate more spice than I could when we first got married). This is a great recipe with lots of flavor but not too many ingredients, which is why I really like this book in general. Simple, good food.

Mediterranean Chicken Stew
Prep time: 30 min
Serves 4

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut into 3/4 inch chunks
coarse salt and fresh ground pepper
3 tsp olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 can (15.5 oz) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
4 plum tomatoes, cored and cut into 1/2 inch pieces (2 cups)
2 tbsp chopped pitted kalamata olives (about 5)
1 tsp white-wine vinegar
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

1. Season the chicken with 1 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. In a large nonstick skillet, heat 2 tsp of the oil over medium-high heat. Add the chicken, turning occasionally, until golden, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer to a plate.

2. Reduce the heat to medium-low; add the remaining tsp oil to the skillet. Add the garlic, and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the chickpeas and 1 cup water. Bring to a boil; cook until the liquid is reduced by half, about 2 minutes.

3. Add the tomatoes; cook over medium heat until starting to break down, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the olives, vinegar, and chicken along with any accumulated juices to the pan; toss until warmed through, about 1 minute. Stir in the parsley.

Serve over polenta or with couscous (my preference :)).

The recipe can also be made with peeled and deveined shrimp; replace chickpeas with cannellini beans.

Jamie Oliver recipes...

I bought Jamie Oliver's latest cookbook..Jamie at Home..it's big, beautiful hardcover with beautiful color pictures and has this fascinating new book smell. Anyways I love it but at first glance didn't think it was very useful, some of the recipes look intimidating and he uses a lot of fresh ingredients and herbs, which I usually don't buy because they go bad.

Anyways after a few recipes, I'm enamored with Jamie Oliver. His recipes are so so simple, use few ingredients and are really reliant on the quality of the items in the dish. He's taught me to respect and love fresh ingredients and vegetables and that simplicity is king.

Take this soup for example: it's stellar in taste! And so easy my friend's 4 year old kid was helping her make it. Afterwards, he ate bowls and bowls of it. Try not to love this soup. You might think salt and pepper is not much for taste, but try this soup out without any of your own touches at first. It's a perfect recipe.

The book it comes from can be found here:
http://www.amazon.com/Jamie-Home-Cook-Your-Good/dp/1401322425/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1225218475&sr=8-1


Jamie Oliver's asparagus leek soup

p.s. i omitted the eggs

serves eight

1 3/4 lb asparagus, woody ends removed
olive oil
2 medium white onions, peeled and chopped
2 sticks of celery, trimmed and chopped
2 leeks, trimmed and chopped (after chopping, drop in a big bowl of water to wash)
2 quarts good quality chicken or vegetable stock
sea salt and fresh ground black pepper
eight slices ciabatta or other fresh bread
extra virgin olive oil (for drizzling)
eight small eggs
---

chop the tips of the asparagus stalks and put aside

roughly chop the rest of the asparagus

in a large deep pan, add a good glug of olive oil and gently saute the onions, celery and leeks for 10 minutes, until soft and sweet. do not brown

add the asparagus and stock and simmer for 20 minutes with a lid on it
remove from heat and blitz with an immersion blender or in a standard blender until just smooth

season the soup bit by bit with salt and pepper until it's just right
put soup back on heat, add asparagus tips and bring back to a boil- simmer just until asparagus tips soften.

in a wide fry pan heat three to four inches water to boiling- gently crack eggs into the water and poach for just a few minutes, until softly cooked- they should still be a litle runny. serve on top of soup with toasted slice of bread and drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Corn pudding

Closet Cooking is one of my favorite blogs to follow, and I knew when I saw the recipe for corn pudding I just had to try it. Especially because it looked soooo good in the picture. Pictures speak louder than words, sometimes. :) My mom used to make a great corn pudding-type thing every thanksgiving when I was young, and I still remember it and crave it sometimes. I should probably ask her if she still has the recipe, but I was hoping this would save me the trouble. :)

It was yummy but a bit sweet, and I think I'd prefer a less sugary version. Maybe next time I'll cut down on the sugar in the recipe. Otherwise, it was pretty good! The recipe recommends 30 min in the oven, but my oven took about 50 min to brown the top (but I was also making something else in the oven). I would start with 30 min and keep checking until it has browned sufficiently.

Corn Pudding, from A Yankee in a Southern Kitchen, via Closet Cooking

Ingredients:
2 ears worth

of corn kernels
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 egg (beaten)

1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon of melted butter
1/4 teaspoon freshly

grated nutmeg

Directions:
1. Mix everything in a bowl.
2. Pour into a baking dish.
3. Bake in a preheated 350F oven until it is golden brown on top and set like a custard, about 30 minutes. (A knife inserted into the center should come out clean.)

Chicken Biryani

My hyderabadi cookbook always comes to the rescue. I had some chicken pieces defrosting at home and I thought it was the perfect time to make biryani. I went online looking for some recipes, but they all seemed to require too many ingredients and too many steps. Even using pre-made biryani masala there was still too much to do and it was giving me a headache. So I went home and pulled out the trusty cookbook and found a recipe for biryani after 6 dozen recipes for pullao. What's up with hyderabadi's and pullao?!

This recipe wasn't simple, but it had minimum steps and didn't require a lot of standing over a pot or pan; which I like, because it gave me the opportunity to do other things, like make corn pudding. :) It also turned out well, and had the color I was looking for without adding artificial biryani color that some recipes suggest using. I used chicken in this recipe, but you could use any meat.

Chicken Biryani (Chicken and Rice)

8 servings.

For rice:

4 cups rice

2, 2" cinnamon sticks

4 cardamom pods

4 cloves

4 green chillies

10 mint leaves

1 tbsp salt

1/2 tsp saffron

1/4 cup milk

2 tbsp lemon juice

For chicken:

1 1/2 cups shortening (or veg oil)

2 lbs chicken in pieces

2 medium onions, sliced

1 tbsp ground ginger and garlic

1 cup yogurt

1/2 tsp red chilli powder

8 ground almonds (I left this out, not a fan of too much sweet)

1 tbsp ground coriander

1 tbsp ground coconut

4 cloves

4 cardamom pods

2, 2" cinnamon sticks

1 tsp salt

Cook chicken:

Heat shortening and brown sliced onions. Add all ingredients and cook until liquid dries. Add 2 cups of water, and cook until chicken is tender and water has dried. Fry 3 minutes or until oil separates. 

Cook rice:

Soak saffron in milk. Wash rice and set aside. Boil 12 cups of water with remaining ingredients, except lemon juice. Add rice and cook until half done. Drain the rice.

To make biryani:

Remove half of rice to another container, and spread chicken and gravy over first half in pot. Reserve a little of gravy for top of rice. Cover with other half of rice, and remaining gravy. Sprinkle saffron milk over top, and add lemon juice. Cover and bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes. Before serving, blend rice and chicken together.

Mongolian Street Food

I love Mark Bittman (I mean his cooking style, of course) and I've been following his blog lately. He posted a recipe for mongolian street food straight from the food carts of queens, and it reminded me of food from the halal carts in manhattan (haven't eaten street food in queens :)). I tried it with chicken breast recently, but I'll be using lamb when I have some around next time.

Stir-Fried Lamb With Chili, Cumin and Garlic

Yield 4 servings

Time At least 30 minutes

Mark Bittman

Summary

You absolutely need cumin seeds, not ground cumin. It's worth the two or three minutes it takes to toast the seeds before marinating the meat. You can grind them if you like, but I like the little bit of crunch the seeds add.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds lamb shoulder
• 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red chili flakes, or to taste
• 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Peanut or neutral oil, like grapeseed or corn, to film the bottom of the skillet
• 1 cup trimmed and roughly chopped scallions, optional
• Chopped fresh cilantro leaves for garnish, optional

Method

• 1. Cut lamb into 1/2-inch cubes (easier if meat is firmed in the freezer for 15 to 45 minutes). Toast cumin seeds in dry skillet over medium heat, shaking pan occasionally, until fragrant, a minute or two. Toss together lamb with cumin, chili, garlic, soy sauce, a large pinch of salt and a healthy grinding of pepper. If you like, cover and refrigerate until ready to cook, up to 24 hours.
• 2. When ready to cook, put a tablespoon of oil in a large skillet (ideally, it will hold the lamb in one layer, or nearly so) and turn heat to high. When hot, add lamb. Cook, undisturbed, for about a minute, then stir once or twice to loosen lamb from skillet. Cook another minute, then stir again. Add scallions, if using, and cook, stirring occasionally, until scallions glisten and shrink a bit and the meat is about medium.
• 3. If you want a slightly saucier mixture, stir in 1/4 cup water and cook another minute. Serve hot over rice, garnished, if you like, with cilantro.