4.7.12 - A nice soup to make on a Saturday - not a whole lot of prep. Just put things in and let them cook. I didn't add corn or green beans but I did cook the chicken according to the directions. I liked having a piece of chicken in the bowl to eat with my soup. Lime juice, cilantro, jalapeño and Srirachi sauce really make this dish.
Caldo De Pollo Ranchero (Ranch-Style Chicken Soup)
Recipe By: Rick Bayless (with some changes by LaLa)
Serving Size: 6
Ingredients:
One 5-pound roasting chicken, cut up (into thighs, wings, breasts, and back)
Kosher salt
4 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
1 medium white onion, finely chopped
3 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram (I use oregano)
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 lb. (2 medium-large round or 6 to 8 plum) ripe but firm tomatoes, cut into ½-inch cubes
2 sprigs fresh mint
2 to 3 medium carrots, peeled and cut into ½-inch cubes
8 small (about 1 pound) boiling potatoes (such as red-skins), scrubbed and halved (I cut these into the same small dice as the carrots)
2 large ears corn, husked and cut across the cob into 1-inch sections
1 cup trimmed green beans, cut into ½-inch pieces and steamed until barely tender (optional)
3 to 4 fresh jalapeno chiles, stemmed, seeded and finely chopped
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 limes, cut into wedges
Sriracha (my addition and love it!)
Directions:
1. 1. The chicken and basic broth: Measure 4 quarter of water into a soup pot (an 8-quart pot works best here). Add the chicken back, neck and wings along with 2 teaspoons salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Skim off the grayish foam that rise during the next couple of minutes. Add the garlic, half of the onion, the bay leaves, majoram and thyme and simmer gently, uncovered, for about 1 hour. Add the legs and thights and simmer for 10 minutes, then add the breast pieces. When the broth returns to a simmer, cover the pot and turn off the heat. Let stand for 30 minutes.
2. 2. Cooking the vegetables: Add the tomatoes to the pot along with the mint, carrots and potatoes. Partially cover and simmer for 20-25 minutes, until the potatoes are tender but firm. Taste the soup and season it with salt, usually about a generous teaspoon.
3. 3. Finishing and serving the soup: Just before you’re ready to serve, add the corn and cooked chicken to the pot. Simmer gently for 5 to 10 minutes to warm everything though, and you’re ready to serve. Ladle a portion of the soup into each of six warm large wide soup bowls, making sure each has 1 or 2 pieces of chicken and a little of each vegetable. Scoop the remaining onion into a small bowl and set on a table along with bowls of the chopped chiles, chopped cilantro, and lime wedges, for guests to sprinkle on or squeeze in to their liking. Guests will need a knife and fork for the chicken.
Notes:
Working Ahead: You can prepare the broth and chicken a day ahead or so. Refrigerate the broth and chicken pieces separately. (It’ll be easier to degrease the broth if you chill it). Flavoring the broth and finishing the soup should be done shortly before serving.
4.6.12
Chicken Cacciatora with Eggplant
Recipe By: Lidia Bastianich Cookstr.com
Serving Size: 6
Summary:
From Lidia: Manfredi’s version of chicken cacciatora was chock-full of delicious Sicilian eggplant. Indeed, the vegetable chunks shared the spotlight with the meat and made it more bountiful and satisfying. Undoubtedly, I realized, this dish must reflect the resourcefulness of cooks in Sicily in generations past. With many mouths to feed, and a limited supply of chickens (or money to buy them), they could extend the dish with the sweet tomatoes and meaty eggplants that grow so prolifically in every small garden patch.
I hope you’ll be creative with this recipe too: if your chicken is smaller than the one called for here, or if you want to serve more people, fry up more eggplant and cook up more tomatoes for sauce. From one small chicken, you’ll have prepared a feast, all in one pot. Serve this with polenta or dress a bowl of pasta with the sauce and eggplant. Rest assured, no one will leave your table hungry.
Ingredients:
2 or 3 small firm eggplants (1 pound total)
2 teaspoons coarse sea salt or kosher salt, or to taste
3½-poun d chicken (preferably organic), trimmed and cut in pieces
1 cup vegetable oil
1 or 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup finely chopped bacon (2 thick-cut strips)
6 garlic cloves, crushed and peeled
1/2 teaspoon peperoncino flakes, or to taste
1 cup dry white wine
3 cups (or a 28-ounce can) canned Italian plum tomatoes, preferably San Marzano, crushed by hand
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
I would serve it with pasta, rice or some crusty bread as the sauce is really good (I used a short tubular pasta)
Directions:
1. Trim the eggplants, and slice them (skin on) into chunks 2 inches long and 1 inch thick. Toss them with 1 teaspoon of salt, and drain in a colander for 30 minutes to an hour. Rinse, and pat them dry with paper towels. Rinse the chicken pieces, pat them dry as well, and season all over with ½ teaspoon salt, so they’re ready for frying after the eggplant.
Step 2 notes: I would use my Le Creuset the next time for this step. Used a cast iron skillet and it was OK but not perfect. Also check and be sure the temp is at least 350 before adding the eggplant. They soak up so much oil that if it isn't hot enough they get real greasy.
2. Pour the vegetable oil in the skillet, and set over medium-high heat. Sprinkle flour over the eggplant chunks, dusting them on all sides. Spread them in the hot oil in one layer, leave them in place until sizzling, then turn and toss until nicely browned on all sides, about 4 minutes. Lift out the eggplant chunks with a slotted spoon, leaving the oil in the pan, and spread them on paper towels to drain.
Step 3 notes: Bring the temp back up to 325 or 350 before adding chicken.
3. With the skillet again over medium-high heat, lay in all the chicken pieces in one layer in the hot oil. Let them sizzle in place for a minute or two, coloring the underside, then turn to brown another side. Fry the chicken, turning frequently, until each piece is golden all over, 6 minutes or longer. As the pieces are done, lift them, let the oil drain off, and set on a platter.
Step 4 notes: I would definitely wait and use the same pot that you use for the eggplant and chicken. Less clean-up which is always a good thing.
4. Meanwhile, start the sauce in the deeper pan (or wait until you’ve finished frying the eggplant and chicken, if you prefer). Pour in the 2 tablespoons olive oil, and set the pan over mediumhigh heat. Stir in the chopped bacon, and cook until the fat starts to render, then scatter in the garlic cloves and peperoncino flakes. Cook, stirring and tossing, until the bacon and garlic are lightly colored.
5. Pour in the wine, stir well, and raise the heat. Boil for a minute or so, until the wine is reduced by half. Pour in the crushed tomatoes, and stir well. Slosh a cup of water in the tomato container to rinse it clean, and stir in along with another ½ teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil, and adjust the heat to keep the sauce perking steadily.
6. One at a time, submerge all the browned chicken pieces in tomato sauce, and pour in any juices collected on the platter. Return the sauce to a bubbling simmer, and set the cover slightly ajar. Simmer the chicken for about 20 minutes, then drop the eggplant chunks on top of the sauce. Don’t push or mush the eggplant down, but shift the chicken aside so the eggplant chunks fall into the sauce and are completely covered.
7. Heat until simmering again, and cook 10 minutes or so, until the chicken and eggplant are cooked through and tender. Leave the pot uncovered if you want the sauce to reduce and thicken. Near the end of cooking, taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning.
8. Remove the pan from the heat, and let the dish rest for 20 minutes before serving. Or let it cool in the pan and reheat slowly, gently turning the pieces in the sauce. Just before serving, sprinkle the chopped parsley over the chicken and sauce.
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