Chicken Not So Noodle Soup

while the rest of you were eating nachos, chicken wings, and artichoke dip on sunday.  i got a request for chicken noodle soup, and i got excited.  soup nights are full of healthy vegetables and great crusty bread to dunk in the broth (i love to get the roasted garlic ciabatta bread from stop & shop).  and while noodles are great in things like lo mein, i think small cut pastas actually work better.  so here’s my chicken not so noodle soup:

Chicken Not So Noodle Soup
1 tbs butter
1 tbs olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 medium carrots, sliced in bit size pieces
3 celery stalks, sliced in bit size pieces
1 tsp rosemary, minced
salt and pepper
2 tbs white wine
2 quarts chicken stock
1/2 cup corn
1/2 cup peas
1 tbs parmesan cheese
12 ounces ditalini, cooked seperately
2 cups chicken, cooked seperately

heat a large soup pot over medium heat with butter and olive oil.  once butter is melted added the onion, cook until softened, about 10 minutes.  add the garlic, and cook for another minute.  then add carrots, celery, rosemary, and salt and pepper.  cook for 5 minutes.  add wine and release the browned bits from the bottom of the pan with your spoon.  once the liquid has dissipated, add the chicken stock then cover the pot and bring the soup to a boil. once up to a boil reduce the heat to low, add the corn, peas, and parmesan cheese, and let simmer for 5 minutes.  then add pasta and chicken to heat through for another 2 minutes. serve and enjoy.

Lemon Chicken

it’s been a while since i last posted.  unfortunately a stomach bug got the best of me, needless to say writing about food didn’t feel like the best thing to do.  but the good news is that i’m back and better than ever.

i’m going to be quite frank with you…i’m not very good at writing my own recipes.  what i am good at is taking other’s ideas and transforming them into something else.  sometimes that something else will be a close relative to the original, while other times you can’t even see the slightest trace from the first dish.  so when i had chicken starring back at me, i thought back to yesterday’s Today show.

Ina Garten presented a simple, but surely flavorful lemon chicken.  i could have taken the recipe as is, but instead i looked at what it could become.  all the ingredients were cleverly chosen, and i knew better than to mess with them…besides this is Ina we’re talking about.  it’s the process that i tinkered with.

i chose to marinate my chicken.  i find chicken breasts can be a little tough; lemon juice is a sure way to combat any of those issues.  i discarded the sautéed garlic and used fresh uncooked instead.  once it goes in the oven the garlic will perfume the chicken and oil.  to make it easier i also thought to change how the ingredients were listed.  i hope you like this as much as i did.

lemon chicken
1/2 c olive oil
5 large cloves of garlic, minced
1/3 c white wine
zest of 2 lemons
juice of 1 lemon
1 1/2 tsp oregano
1 tsp thyme
4 boneless chicken breasts, skin on
salt and pepper

in a large baking dish add the garlic, white wine, lemon zest, lemon juice, oregano, thyme, and 1 teaspoon salt. marinate for 4-6 hours, or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

pat the chicken skins dry then brush with olive oil and sprinkle them with salt and pepper. cut one of the zested lemons in 8 wedges and tuck it among the pieces of chicken.

bake for 30 to 40 minutes, depending on the size of the chicken breasts, until the chicken is done and the skin is lightly browned. if the chicken isn’t browned enough, put it under the broiler for 2 minutes. cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil and allow to rest for 10 minutes.

Carbonara Risotto

so there i was in the kitchen and i needed to cook dinner to go.  i wanted carbonara and i wanted risotto….so i figured why not push them into a lovely marriage with one another.  in any other circumstance pushing something/someone into marriage would not be desirable…but this works.  this dish has the same creaminess of the carbonara with the bacon and peas, but in a risotto.  the recipe is for one dinner portion, the amounts for 4 servings are in parenthesis.

Carbonara Risotto
1 tsp oil (2 tbs)
2 tbs onion, diced (1/2 c)
1 slice of bacon (4 slices)
1 garlic clove, minced (4 cloves)
1/4 c arborio rice (1 c)
3 tbs white wine (2/3 c)
1 c chicken broth (4 c)
1/3 c peas (1 1/3 c)
2 tbs parmesan cheese, freshly grated (1/2 c)

in a sauce pan heat the chicken broth over low heat covered.  in a seperate sauce pan heat the oil over medium heat then add the onions once the oil starts to smoke.  let cook for 4 minutes then add the bacon and the garlic, cook till cooked (haha)…2 minutes.  then add the rice and toast until lightly browned.  pour in the wine and stir as it is added.  once the rice has soaked up all the liquid add 1/8 c chicken stock and stir as it is added.  once the rice has soaked up the liquid add more and continue till all of the chicken broth is used.  then mix in the peas and the cheese.  and enjoy.

tips

• arborio rice must be used to achieve the creamy texture that only their starch can provide.
• if you want to make the dish a little more figure friendly but eat your bacon too, cook the bacon seperately (whether in the microwave or on the stove) then crumble it in at the end.
• you can also use pancetta since that is more authentic, but bacon is what i had on hand.  you can also use ham.