Adventures in Food... experiencing life through sight, smell, touch, and TASTE

Adventures in Food... experiencing life through sight, smell, touch, and TASTE
Le Neubourg market in Normandy, France. September 2009

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Long Winter Nights and Colombian Chicken Soup


The January issue of Martha Stewart Living magazine features an eye catching bowl of chicken soup on the cover...


Rachel and I came home late from a movie (we went to see It's Complicated) and decided we were starving! While sitting down to a quick bowl of chicken noodle soup form a can, my eye ran across the magazine sitting in front of me at the table.  I flipped trough to the featured article and decided that I needed Columbian chicken soup- YAOWZA!!!  it was delish.


COLOMBIAN CHICKEN SOUP
1 whole chicken (about 4 lbs)
8 cups of water
  coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
2 medium white onions, thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves, minced and smashed with some coarse salt
6 canned whole peeled tomatoes finely chopped (1 cup)
1/2 bunch fresh cilantro (2 cups packed)
1 serrano chile, thinly sliced (not optional, in my opinion)
4 medium carrots, sliced 1/2 thick
1 medium yuca (8 oz), peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces


1. Bring chicken, water, and 1 tablespoon salt to a boil in a large stock pot. Skim foam, Add onions, garlic, tomatoes, cilantro, and chile.  Return to a boil. Reduce heat. Simmer, partially covered, for 30 mins.
2. Remove breast; cover to keep warm.  Add carrots and yuca.  Simmer, partially covered, until carrots and yucca are tender, about 40 mins.
3. Remove remaining chicken' discard back, wings, and cilantro. Skim fat. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Serve chicken on the side, or remove meat form bones, cut into bite-size pieces and stir into soup.


TWEAKING...
To smash the garlic I minced it and then sprinkled some coarse sea salt on it and ground both together with the back of a spoon on my cutting board.  It produces a good pulpy consistancy.


In retrospect, I would have used a cheesecloth to create a "bouquet de garni" with the cilantro.  It would have been much easier to remove it from the soup before serving.  I did remove it with a little skimmer, and then added fresh cilantro on top before serving.


Martha's recipee makes a note that the traditional way to serve this soup is to remove the chicken and serve it on the side with white rice and a simple green salad with russian dressing.  I wasn't going to make rice or salad, but upon Rachel's recommendation I pulled out some white rice form the pantry shelf and steamed it with some salt and pepper and duck stock I had on hand from the Christmas duck she prepared last week.  To serve I cut the chicken into pieces, returned it to the soup, and ladled the soup into shallow bowls.  I topped it with a scoop of the white rice, sprinkled fresh cilantro on top, and seasoned with sea salt and fresh ground pepper.
It was hot, spicy, and sooooooo good!
P.S. good call on the rice, Rach.  It totally completed the dish.




Friday, January 1, 2010

A New Year, and Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies



The first food experience of the year is peanut butter swirl brownies!  The perfect combination of creamy salty peanut butter and Scharffenberger chocolate were cooling on my kitchen table this morning; ready to be cut and packed up for a New Year's Day celebration and Sean and Katie's.
This is the fourth time I've made this recipe- and I'm finally thrilled with the results...

Recipe:

Ingredients

  • 1 pound unsalted butter
  • 1 pound plus 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips, divided
  • 6 ounces unsweetened chocolate
  • 6 extra-large eggs
  • 3 tablespoons instant coffee granules
  • 2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
  • 2 1/4 cups sugar
  • 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
  • Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 12 by 18 by 1 1/2-inch sheet pan.
Melt together the butter, 1 pound of chocolate chips, and the unsweetened chocolate in a medium bowl over simmering water. Allow to cool slightly. In a large bowl, stir (do not beat) together the eggs, coffee granules, vanilla, and sugar. Stir the warm chocolate mixture into the egg mixture and allow to cool to room temperature.
In a medium bowl, sift together 1 cup of flour, the baking powder, and salt. Add to the cooled chocolate mixture. Toss the remaining 12 ounces of chocolate chips in a medium bowl with 1/4 cup of flour, then add them to the chocolate batter. Pour into the prepared sheet pan. Spoon the peanut butter over the top of the chocolate mixture and using a knife, swirl it through the chocolate mixture.
Bake for 20 minutes, then rap the baking sheet against the oven shelf to force the air to escape from between the pan and the brownie dough. Bake for about 10 to 15 minutes more or until a toothpick comes out clean.
TWEAKING...
The first change started with preparing the pan: I buttered a half sheet pan with parchment paper cut out to line the bottom, then I dusted the sides with coco powder instead of flour.

I used two tablespoons of ground coffee, instead of three tablespoons of instant coffee

I dusted the additional chocolate chips with coco powder instead of flower

I evened out the distribution of brownie batter in the pan with a large offset spatula before dropping dollops of peanut butter on top, then I slammed the pan of brownie batter on the table three times before sticking the pan in the oven (to help trapped air escape).

I checked the brownies at 15 mins into the baking time, and picked the pan up again and dropped it on the oven rack to release any remaining trapped air.

I removed the pan five minutes early-  I've over baked them in the past when following the cooking time, and it dries out the brownies!!  The shatter into shards when you try to cut them, and the butter and flour turn white and crystalize; not very appetizing.  Don't wait until the toothpick comes out clean, that means they're overdone... they continue to cook a bit when you take them out of the oven.

I allowed them to cool overnight in the pan, covered with plastic wrap before cutting them.

Yum, yum!