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Asian Chicken Soup with Noodles and Home Made Duck Sauce

October 15, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Inspired by Adam Richman’s Soup on the Chew.

When I saw this soup, I knew I had to make it.  Of course I had to change things up a little and when I went to the store I couldn’t find Duck Sauce that didn’t contain the dreaded HFCS (pretend I said it in a big bellowing voice, ok?).  So what’s a girl to do?  Make her own. I scoured the web for ideas and picked and chose what I wanted to put in mine, but I was most inspired by Lauren Groveman’s Kitchen

Duck sauce:

  • 1 cup apricot preserves
  • 4 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
  • 1 pinch red pepper flake
  • 1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons, grated ginger
  • 2 teaspoons sesame oil

Combine all ingredients except sesame oil in a non-reactive pan,

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whisk well and bring to a boil.  Lower to a simmer and let cook for about 5 minutes.  Remove from heat, whisk in the oil and set aside.

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Let it cool and then transfer to a refrigerator container with a lid. Refrigerate.  This can be done ahead, as it will keep well in the fridge for at least a week. You will never eat the packet stuff again.

Soup:

  • 2 hearts celery, cleaned and chopped
  • 1 bunch of carrots, cleaned and chopped (if they’re organic, I leave the skin on, it’s delicious)
  • 2 medium onions, peeled and chopped
  • pinch of salt
  • olive oil
  • About 96 oz. of stock (I used 2 chicken and 1 vegetable boxed broth – use home made if you have it, I never have it)
  • about 6 thin sliced chicken breast (boneless skinless)
  • 8 tablespoons duck sauce
  • 2 teaspoons sriracha
  • 2 cloves garlic chopped
  • Two packages (six nests or bunches) of cellophane noodles
  • 1 bunch scallions

Heat a large pot with a lid on med/high heat.  Add enough olive oil to cover the bottom of the pan – when the oil is hot, add the carrots, celery and onion, then the salt.

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There are a lot of vegetables in this recipe so, I sautéed them for about 12-15 minutes to release a good amount of liquid, soften them a bit and even get a little caramelization going. Add the stock and bring it to a boil,

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then lower the heat, cover and allow to cook for at least an hour.

About 30 minutes before you’re ready to eat, preheat your oven to 350 and line a sheet pain with foil.  Add the duck sauce, sriracha and garlic to a large bowl

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Whisk to combine. Dredge the chicken through the sauce making sure to get it on both sides. Put the chicken on the sheet pan and pour whatever’s left in the bowl of the marinade on top of the raw chicken (discard any that may be left in the bowl – I used a scraper to get it all on top of the chicken).

Bake for 10 minutes, flip the chicken and bake for another 10 minutes 0r until cooked through and no longer pink in the middle.

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Put 1 bunch or nest of cellophane noodles into each bowl

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Ladle soup on top of the noodles until they’re completely immersed. Slice a chicken breas and place on top of soup, garnish with scallions.  Let sit about five minutes to soften the noodles and then serve.

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This was spectacular. The spicy chicken with the sweet duck sauce and the chunky chicken vegetable soup. It was like Jewish/Asian Fusion.  Exotic, yet comforting and completely delicious!

Makes six generous servings with a little soup left over.

 

 



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Penne with Capers and Basil in Tomato Sauce

October 4, 2011 By 2 Comments

 

The other night my husband called and asked me to meet him for dinner.  I jumped at the chance to go out, but I still had to make sure my children were fed, so I made them a very quick and tasty pasta dish.  Of course I cooked enough to feed an army, but this heats up beautifully for lunch the next day.

  • 2 packages whole wheat penne
  • 2 containers chopped tomatoes (I use Pomi)
  • 2 medium onions peeled and chopped (I like the chop slightly bigger in this dish, it’s more rustic)
  • 5-6 cloves of garlic peeled and chopped
  • a big pinch each of dried, basil, oregano and red pepper flakes
  • 1 jar capers drained
  • 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
  • a handful of basil leaves cut into a chiffonade
  • olive oil
  • shredded Locatelli cheese (or any hard Italian cheese)

Make this a one pot meal – put up a pot of water to boil and in the meantime, set up all of your other ingredients. Cook the pasta according to package directions, drain and set aside (I just leave it in the colindar in the sink)

Put the pot back on the heat and add enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan.  When it’s hot, add the onions and the garlic and saute until softened and onions are translucent.  Add your dried herbs and saute and stir for a minute to release their oils.

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Lower the heat to medium and add the tomatoes. Stir until they’re completely heated

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Add the vinegar and capers and stir to combine.

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Add the pasta back to the sauce and gently toss to coat the pasta. Add the basil right before serving and toss once more.

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Plate and serve. Grate some cheese on top, salt and pepper to taste.

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I had to have a tiny taste just to make sure it was perfect.

It was.

It took about 20 minutes, No fuss, no muss, the kids were fed, lunch for the kids, hubby and myself was ready for the next day and I got to enjoy a lovely night on the town.

 

 

 



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Herb Butter

August 22, 2011 By 4 Comments

 

 

Oh my.  Sometimes just a little bit of effort results in something so delicious, so luscious that you can’t imagine that you don’t make this every day.  Then you remember that it’s an entire stick of butter and it doesn’t last very long because it’s so good – so you decide to only make it occasionally.

  • 1 stick of butter, set out at room temperature until it’s very soft
  • fresh herbs (I used flat leaf parsley, basil, chives and I didn’t mean to, but some cilantro got into the mix. You can use whatever you like)

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Chop the herbs as finely as possible (as the butter melts you’ll be left with the herbs and you don’t want them to be too big).  Add the herbs to the butter.

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With a fork, mash the herbs into the butter until it’s completely combined

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Cover and put into the refrigerator for about 20 minutes until it’s a little bit harder so that it will be easier to work with.

Cut a piece of aluminum foil and a piece of plastic wrap.  Set the plastic wrap on top of the foil.

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Spread the butter out into a sort of log onto the plastic wrap.

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Fold over the plastic wrap like you’re going to start to roll it up.  Shape the butter and then roll the plastic wrap all the way up.

Then roll and fold the foil (I do this because I’m not great with plastic wrap – if you are, you can skip the foil step).

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You can put this in the fridge or you can freeze it and slice off what you need when you need it.

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We used the bulk of it on corn and green beans with roasted chicken breast.  There’s not much left, truth be told.  The brightness of the herbs against the creamy butter is fantastic.  And biting into the fresh sweet corn on the cob with the herbs and some salt.  Yum.

You could put anything into this butter really.  Garlic, dried herbs, spicy peppers, sauces, the possibilities are really endless.

 

 

 



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