Fancy food: Poulet Saute au Vinaigre

It’s a lot of fun to play ‘fancy’ every once in a while. I don’t get the chance very often, being on a budget and all. However, that doesn’t keep me from illusions of grand dinner parties, where I feed my guests on fine china and everyone gasps in delight at the feast I put before them.

Last week, I celebrated my birthday. I’m old. To make sure this was properly celebrated, I scoured the internet to find the perfect dish that would make me happy, feel decadent, and leave me smacking my fingers. I found this recipe through Reddit, and I was surprised to find that even my mister loved it. It’ll definitely make for an easy date night meal. I hope you enjoy!

 

Poulet au Vinaigre

4 lb chicken, cut into 8 pieces

Salt and pepper

½ cup butter

2 tbsp olive oil

6 very ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped

1 cup best-quality red wine vinegar

1 cup chicken stock

1 heaped tbsp chopped parsley

   ·      Season the pieces of chicken simply, with salt and pepper.

   

   ·      Heat the butter and the olive oil until it begins to turn brown. 

   ·      Slowly add the chicken and allow it to fry until the exterior is golden brown all over.

   ·      Add the tomatoes, and keep cooking everything at the same temperature. You will notice that your tomatoes will become darker, and will lose a significant amount of their moisture.

   ·      Pour in the vinegar and allow the mixture to reduce. Allow it to reduce until nearly disappeared. Add your stock, and simmer once again until the liquid reduces by half. This will take a while!

   ·      Add 1 tbsp chopped parsley, and serve immediately. Serve with a simple starch. We chose an easy white rice.

Not your momma's chicken soup

When I was a freshman in college, I had the worst cold I've ever had in my life. I couldn't breathe, slept all day, and was a complete zombie for a few days. I had never missed my mother the way I did while I was sick; I missed her giving me medicine, and most importantly, doting on me with some delicious chicken soup. 

I would've killed for some soup. It immediately made me feel better, and I knew that the moment I started sipping the broth, my foggy state would clear. However, I was in the dorm. There were no Mexican mothers there, so I had the next best thing: cup of noodles. 

I was so sad. It didn't do the job, especially since it didn't have the right texture, taste, or smell. 

Now that I'm grown, I have crafted my own version of Mom's soup. It' delicious, hearty, filling and flavorful. Unlike some soups that call for itty bits of vegetables, my soup calls for large pieces, which add huge amounts of flavor. It'll keep for several days, but it probably won't last long. 

If you're sick with a cold, or if you need to warm up from the cold, this is the soup for you. Enjoy.

Not your momma's chicken soup

4 chicken breasts
2 large potatoes (can be substituted for 4-6 small potatoes)
1/4 yellow onion
3 garlic cloves
1/2 tablespoon oregano
salt, to taste
2 cups frozen starchy vegetables of your preference
2 medium zucchini
1/4 lb. string beans
1/4 cup cilantro
avocado 

• Place chicken breasts in a 7-qt Dutch oven or soup pot, and cover with water. There should be enough water for the chicken to be completely submerged. It will float. Add the onion and garlic, and allow your chicken to boil on medium high for 45 minutes. Cover your pot, but leave it cracked so that steam may escape. Once your chicken has fully cooked, salt the broth to taste. Add your oregano.

The water will get murky as the chicken begins to cook.

• Carefully and thoroughly scrub your potatoes. Cut your potatoes into halves (if you use smaller potatoes, they may stay whole), and place into the water with the chicken. I leave the skin on so that your potato stays intact. Your potatoes should cook completely, but not dissolve, about 20 minutes, depending on the potato.

Since this potato is medium sized, I cut it in half. Some might need to be cut into thirds.

• Pour your frozen vegetables into your soup. I prefer broccoli, carrots, corn and cauliflower. Allow for your vegetables to defrost. 

Your soup will start smelling heavenly.

• Carefully clean your zucchini, string beans and cilantro, cutting off ends. Place them into your pot whole, and allow to boil, approximately 10 minutes.

• Serve carefully, so as to not dissolve the vegetables. One way to keep your vegetables intact is to place them in a separate container while serving, and pouring broth over them once they have been served on top of the chicken. Garnish with avocado slices.

• To really enjoy your soup in true Mexican style, serve with Spanish rice, salsa, and tortillas. It'll clear up any sniffles you have, guaranteed!

I can't really guarantee this will heal you. Sorry. 

Three-meat, two cheese lasagna

There’s something comforting about a delicious lasagna that makes me happy on all levels. It’s saucy, cheesy, and just a little spicy. It hits all culinary levels of satisfaction, and leaves me perfectly sated.

Don't you just want to eat all the cheese?

Lasagna also happens to be a favorite of my husband, who is the most meat-and-cheese focused man you’ll ever meet. If I am ever in trouble, you can bet that this will be the dish that I make him so that he forgives and forgets (Mostly he’d forget because he’s so busy eating).

I’ve adapted this recipe from my mother’s own, removing the ricotta for preference. Of COURSE you can add ricotta mixed with eggs. Of COURSE you can add spinach, fresh mushrooms, or other veggies of choice. However, for sake of beauty and simplicity, I present to you my most basic three-meat, two cheese lasagna.

Andrea’s three-meat, two cheese lasagna.

Approximately 12 servings

1 pound hot Italian sausage 

1 ½ pounds lean ground beef

50 slices of pepperoni

½ cup cubed yellow onion

3-4 roma tomatoes

½ cup water

2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste

2 (6.5 ounce) cans canned tomato sauce

3 teaspoons Italian seasoning

sea salt

ground black pepper

seasoning salt

red pepper flakes to taste

10-12 lasagna noodles

16 ounces mozarella cheese

 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 tablespoon cooking oil

•  Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
• Cube your tomatoes and onions. In the pot you’re planning to cook your sauce, sauté your onion and tomato at a medium heat, seasoning them with your Italian seasoning. Cook until the onion becomes tender. This lends a great flavor to your sauce.
• Add your water, tomato paste, and tomato sauce to your pot, and set it at low to simmer while your meat cooks.

Leave it boiling as you prep your other ingredients. 

• Cook your ground beef at a medium heat, seasoning it with seasoned salt, salt and pepper to taste. Allow it to cook completely, then drain the grease.
• Remove casing from hot Italian sausage, breaking it apart with a wooden spoon as it browns. Make sure that the sausage cooks completely.

• Slice pepperoni slices into halves, drizzling them into sauce. 

• Add sausage and ground beef as well, stirring well. At this point, taste your sauce. If it’s too sweet, add some more seasoned salt or salt to your sauce, stirring it and tasting again. I also like to add ½ teaspoon to a full teaspoon of red peppers to the sauce. Leave it on low.

Thick and beefy, the way I like my... sauce.

• Now it’s time for noodles. Bring water to a boil in another pot, and add salt. Place noodles in the water and cook until al dente.

• While the noodles boil, begin shredding your cheese. If you’re cool, you’ll use this activity as a way to work out your forearms.

My arms are SO buff. 

• Once the noodles are ready, begin layering your lasagna. Begin with a thin layer of sauce, followed by lasagna noodles. Make sure to overlap noodles. Cover noodles with a heavy layer of mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Repeat layering process until you have reached the top of your pan. Sprinkle the top liberally with mozzarella.
  

Sauce to die over. 

Noodles.

The more cheese you add, the more flavor. 

• Cover your lasagna with foil and place in the oven for 20 minutes. At the end of the 20 minutes, remove the foil and leave in the oven for another 10 to allow for the cheese to brown.
  

• Serve after ten minutes, allowing for the lasagna to set. If you don’t mind soupy lasagna, dig in!

We may have gotten over-excited and over-eaten.

Quick blueberry biscuits... in under 30 minutes!

We had a dinner party go bust today. Matt was going to have a friend over, and I was supposed to cook a beautiful meal for all of us to enjoy. But… then Matt had to work late. I had a headache. We were both tired. It was downhill from there.

I felt badly that I wasn’t going to make something, so I looked online for something sweet and simple that I could put together quickly. I had a small basket of blueberries, and had a hankering for something comforting. I found this recipe on Plain Chicken, and the biscuits were heavenly.

Quick blueberry biscuits

Approx. 14 biscquits

2 1/4 cups Bisquick

1/3 cup sugar

1 cup wild blueberries

3/4 - 1 cup buttermilk (I used fat-free)

• Preheat oven to 450.

• Stir together bisquick, sugar and buttermilk until soft dough forms. Fold in blueberries. 

Your dough will be wet.

Be careful to not over-mix the blueberries!

• Scoop dough with large cookie scoop or ice cream scoop (3 tablespoons) onto ungreased cookie sheet. 

• Bake 9-12 minutes or until golden brown.

If this isn’t enough sweet for you (it was for me), add an icing to the biscuit.

You’ll need:

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 to 2 Tablespoons milk

Combine powdered sugar and milk. Drizzle over biscuits.

Really Good (and Real) Spanish Rice

Is there anyone who doesn't love side dishes? Sometimes I wonder why people don't immediately serve huge portions of sides. I firmly believe that a good side could easily be made into a main dish. 

That's how I feel about my Spanish rice. It's got a lot of flavor packed into a small grain. 

Doesn't this enchilada plate look so much better with rice?

That said, it's also pretty easy to make. If you end up with leftovers, do what I do: put some cheddar on the rice, add sour cream, salsa and go to town.

Really Good (and real) Spanish Rice

1 cup long grain rice

1/8 cup chopped white onion

1 roma tomato, diced

2 1/4 cup water **chicken stock may be substituted for up to 1 1/2 cups of water 

3-4 tablespoons chicken bouillon, to taste

2 tablespoons cooking oil

• In a pot, begin browning your onion and your oil to cook on medium high heat. 

• Once your onion becomes aromatic (approximately 4-5 minutes), mix in the rice. Stir your rice every 3-4 minutes, allowing your rice to be coated in oil. Your rice should become toasted and begin browning.

Your rice should be a beautiful color, and  your kitchen will smell like heaven.

• Once your rice has reached a light brown color, carefully pour in water or stock. **Be careful not to burn yourself with the steam that comes up the moment the water makes contact with the pot.
• Stir in the tomato, and add chicken bouillon a tablespoon at a time, stirring with each addition. Once the broth has reached the right level of flavor, cover the mixture.

• Once the water comes to a boil, lower the heat to the lowest setting. Allow the rice to continue cooking for approximately 12-15 minutes. The rice should be soft, with no water left in the pot.

Do not lower  your heat until the rice bubbles, like so.

• Immediately remove from heat and serve.  Enjoy!

Don't you just want to grab a spoon and go to town?