Hearty Chicken Stew with Butternut Squash and Quinoa
January 19, 2012 | Filed Under Butternut Squash, Foods I Never Liked Before Until I Started to Cook, Poultry, Quinoa, Stew | 8 Comments
Introducing one of my new favorite meals of the season. I’ve discovered that I love squash and quinoa. Yay for the two!
Paz
Hearty Chicken Stew with Butternut Squash & Quinoa Recipe
from Cookin’ Canuck
Yield: Serves 6
Ingredients
1 1/2 lb. butternut squash, peeled, seeded & chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
3 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
1/2 tsp kosher salt
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 can (14 oz) petite diced tomatoes
2/3 uncooked quinoa
3/4 cup pitted and quartered kalamata olives
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/4 cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
Instructions
Steam the butternut squash until barely tender, about 10 minutes. Remove half of the squash pieces and set aside.
Steam the remaining squash until very tender, an additional 4 to 6 minutes. Mash this squash with the back of a fork. Set aside.
In a large saucepan set over medium-high heat, bring the chicken broth to a simmer.
Add chicken thighs, cover, and cook until chicken is cooked through, about 15 minutes.
Transfer the chicken thighs to a plate and allow to cool. Pour broth into a medium-sized bowl.
Return the saucepan to the stovetop and lower heat to medium. Add olive oil.
Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is starting to turn brown, 8 to 10 minutes.
Add minced garlic and oregano. Cook, stirring, for 1 additional minute.
To the saucepan, add tomatoes, butternut squash pieces, mashed butternut squash. Stir to combine.
Stir in reserved chicken broth and quinoa. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook until the quinoa turns translucent, about 15 minutes.
Shred the chicken with your fingers or a fork.
Stir the chicken, olives and pepper into the stew and simmer, uncovered, to heat, about 5 minutes.
Stir in parsley and serve.
Italian Stir-fry Improv
November 14, 2010 | Filed Under Italian Cuisine, Italian Recipes, Pasta, Poultry | 7 Comments
The other day, I pulled out the only food left in my fridge — some chicken cutlets. I had no idea what to do with it. So, I e-mailed a friend who likes to cook.
"Got any suggestions of what to do with chicken cutlets? Hmmm… I’m cooking for my mom and myself."
He responded:
1) – Dice them into 1/2" cubes, add Olive oil, salt, oregano, "Italian seasoning" to taste. Chop onions, carrots (very thin), mushrooms, chunks of pineaple, fresh tomatoes, and stir fry over a hot fire. Serve over pasta for Italian Stir-Fry.
2 – leave them whole, put them in a 2" deep sauce pan or baking dish, cover with 1/2 bottle of ranch dressing, add 2 big handfuls of grated Parmesan cheese (not the powdered stuff, the fresh hard Parmesan. bake for an hour (give or take) then serve over pasta or with baked potatoes.
3) – Season and salt to taste, pan fry at a high heat, server over a fresh salad with the best thai peanut dressing you can find.
4) – Put cutlets on sheet of Saran wrap. Wrap and seal. Put all cutlets in a zip lock bag, pressing the air out. Seal back, stick in freezer, go out to dinner.
I laughed at suggestion #4 and emailed him back to let him know that I was going to try suggestion # 1. Except that I had to go grocery shopping for the rest of the ingredients — mushrooms, pineapples and carrots… etc… My fridge was empty.
He wrote back:
Italian stir fry is my "what’s left in the fridge?" recipe. Add anything you want. Be careful with the pineapple. It’s a strong flavor, so don’t use too much. Season to taste. This is improvisational cooking at its best.
Ready to start cooking, I went grocery shopping. Okay… Okay… I didn’t go shopping. Instead, I had the grocery store deliver my groceries. When I finished preparing the meal, I garnished it with cilantro, my favorite herb (parsley would have been nice, too.). And since I like a little bit of heat, I added some chili sauce. Loved it! Delicioso! I should do some more improv cooking, for sure.
Paz
Italian Stir Fry Improv
Chicken cutlets (diced into 1/2" cubes)
Olive Oil
Salt
Oregano
Italian seasoning
Onions (chopped)
Carrots (sliced thinly)
Mushrooms
Pineapple (chunks)
Tomato (fresh, diced)
In pan, add olive oil, diced chicken cutlets. Add salt, oregano, Italian seasoning to taste. Add onions, carrots, mushrooms, chunks of pineapple, fresh tomatoes. Stir fry over a hot fire. Serve over pasta for Italian Stir-Fry.
Turkey Wings a la Helin
February 9, 2010 | Filed Under Honduran recipes, Poultry, Sofrito, Turkey | 7 Comments
Chopped cilantro and onions — part of the ingredients to make sofrito.
I’m not so crazy about turkey. The only part of the turkey I like LOVE is the wings. Yeah, I love turkey wings and that’s it. For a long time, I’d just sprinkle salt and pepper and drizzle olive oil on the wings before putting them in the oven. That was it for me. Then family friend, Helin mentioned how she usually prepares her turkey. Intrigued, I decided to try her method on my wings. It sounded so easy and the added enticement was that I could use the same recipe when preparing chicken, too.
First she made her version (Honduran) of sofrito. For those new to sofrito, it’s basically a flavorful sauce, freshly made and added to meats, poultry (in this case turkey), stews and sauces. It’s used in different types of cuisines, such as Latin, Spanish, Mediterranean and more. Ever since I made my first sofrito a few years ago, I’ve learned that there are different types of sofrito.
Helin’s sofrito was simple and consisted of 5 cloves of garlic, 1/2 bunch of cilantro, 1/2 bunch of culantro, 1 onion, 1 green bell pepper, water and apple cider vinegar, which was then mixed in the blender.
Sofrito prepared in the blender
Next, she carefully cleaned and washed the turkey, making sure to remove stray feathers. I confess that I was never that thorough when preparing any type of poultry. Then Helin rinsed the wings with fresh lemon juice and water. I’d never seen it done that way before but she said that’s what she does to help get rid of the bacteria. Another confession: I normally just wash with cold water and call it a day. Well, I’ve learned something new now.
Next we seasoned the turkey with Adobo, Sazón with coriander and annatto and covered the wings with the freshly-made sofrito (The wings could also be marinated a few hours in the sofrito.). Helin said that when she prepares a whole turkey, she pokes holes into it so the the sofrito seeps into the turkey and flavors it more.
Turkey wings covered with sofrito before going into the oven.
We covered the wings with foil and place them in the oven. After 40 minutes, we removed the foil and left the wings in the oven for another 15-20 minutes. Uncovered, we spooned the juices/gravy over the wings.
When ready, the turkey came out full of flavor and very tasty.
A few days later, I tried the same method with chicken pieces. Again, I wasn’t disappointed. Delicious.
Paz (very happy)
Three remaining pieces of turkey wings after everyone served themselves.
Orzo Paella
January 27, 2010 | Filed Under Orzo, Paella, Pasta, Poultry | 8 Comments
Orzo! I love this rice-shaped pasta and jumped at the opportunity to make Orzo Paella when I saw the recipe on Haalo’s blog, Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once. Orzo Paella? Never heard of it before. Gotta try it, I thought to myself. Try it I did. And did I like it? Did everyone else at home like it? Yup. Like it we did.
One of the things I liked about this recipe was that it’s quick and easy to make. The ingredients are very simple. I didn’t have to go to Timbuktu in search of anything special or exotic. I had almost all the ingredients right there in my kitchen. The only ingredient I didn’t have was the chorizo. I could only get it in a store a couple of blocks away. But I was feeling too lazy to walk down there. So I called another store closer to me (about a block away) and had them deliver Italian sausage since they didn’t carry chorizos.
Haalo suggests topping the orzo paella with shards of manchego or grated Mizithra/Myzithra. I didn’t have that either, so good ole Parmesan cheese substituted. I’ve never tasted Manchego or Mizithra cheese. I’ll have to go buy some one of these days because I’ll definitely make Orzo Paella again. Thanks, Haalo!
Paz
Orzo Paella
Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once
2 red onions, sliced
2 garlic cloves, sliced
1 red capsicum (bell pepper), sliced thickly
4 skinless chicken thighs, sliced thickly
1 chorizo, diced
green peas
chopped tomatoes (fresh or canned)
Heat a little oil and butter in a large pan and saute the chicken in batches until browned. Set to one side and in the same pan, saute the onions and garlic until softened.
Add the diced chorizo and cook until golden. Add the sliced capsicum and continue to saute for 5 minutes before adding the tomatoes, peas and chicken. Stir through and add enough water or stock to just cover the mixture. Simmer until reduced.
The orzo will only take about 5 minutes to cook so make sure that this chicken mixture is cooked and seasoned to your liking.
Over a very low flame, stir in the orzo and top with enough water to just cover the mixture. Place a lid on the pot and let it cook undisturbed for about 5 minutes.
After this, stir the mixture and taste — check that the orzo is cooked through and adjust the seasoning if necessary.
Serve at once. Top with shards of manchego or grated Mizithra/Myzithra.
Archives: (Christine’s) Sunday Night Whole Roasted Chicken
November 25, 2009 | Filed Under From the Archives, Poultry, Roasted Chicken | 12 Comments
**I haven’t been cooking or food blogging lately. So, I’ve decided to go through my archives and repost some of my earlier posts, from the days when I started learning to cook and bake (I’m still learning). It certainly brings back good memories.
It’s Thanksgiving in the U.S. and part of the customary meal as everyone one knows is a turkey. I’m not so crazy about turkey. I’ll eat it, but I’m not crazy about it. The only part of the turkey I seriously like is the wings. I love turkey wings but that’s it. I’m also not crazy about turkey leftovers after the Thanksgiving meal is over. It’s like turkey overload to me.
If I were to prepare this year’s Thanksgiving meal, I’d include a roasted chicken in my menu — Christine’s Sunday Night Whole Roasted Chicken. I’ve made the chicken several times but have never been able to take a photo. One of these days… 
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I’m thankful for all of you who stop by here.
Paz
* * * * *
First posted March 10, 2008
I swear! There was a succulent chicken (a cornish hen) with deliciously cooked onions and portabella mushrooms swimming in the seasoned roasted chicken juices in the pan above. Really. Oh, my goodness! It was too delicious for words.
Christine of Christine Cooks made roasted chicken and one look at her chicken had my mouth watering. I finally had a chance to make it. So, where is the chicken in the photo, you ask? Well, after preparing this easy roasted chicken dish, we were starved. I didn’t have time to pick up the camera — I didn’t want to pick up the camera. "Food first, photograph later," my stomach commanded. When I finally did get the camera, there was nothing to photograph.
Oh, and Christine, my dogs have asked me to relay their thanks. You suggested frying the gibblets and feeding it to the kitties. Since I have dogs instead of cats, I fed it to my dogs. Oh, they were so happy.
Perhaps next time I’ll be able to take a photo of my roasted chicken. In the meantime, look here to see what Christine’s tasty roasted chicken looked like. Mmm Mmm good!
Paz
Sunday Night Whole Roasted Chicken
Christine’s original recipe
Ingredients:
1 whole fryer chicken, 3-4 pounds
1 large Meyer lemon
1 heaping tablespoon Italian herb seasoning
1 tablespoon smoked paprika, I used sweet but if you like it spicy, go for it
1/2 pound crimini mushrooms, sliced
1 large sweet onion, sliced
1 head of garlic, separated into cloves, peeled and left whole
Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
Olive oil
Preparation:
Remove the giblets from the cavity of the chicken. (Reserve the giblets for another use or cook them with the chicken. Or fry ‘em up, chop ‘em and give ‘em to your kitties.)
Wash the chicken thoroughly with cold water then pat dry both inside and out.
Rub olive oil over the entire chicken then rub the Italian herbs and the paprika all over the outside.
Slice the lemon in half and squeeze over the chicken. Put the lemons halves inside the cavity.
Sprinkle the chicken body with kosher salt and black pepper.
Truss the chicken by cutting a slit in each side of the vent, then bring a leg across and push the end through the opposite slit. Repeat with the other leg.
Scatter the garlic cloves and the mushrooms around the chicken. Drizzle a little more olive oil over the top of the vegetables, cover with a tight fitting lid and place in a 375-degree oven for 45 minutes.
Remove the chicken from the pan and allow to rest for 10 minutes.
To serve, slice the chicken and place on warmed plates. Be generous with the garlic and onions, as well as the delicious pan juices. A medley of roasted winter vegetables makes a well rounded meal.
Christine’s Notes:
No potatoes, polenta or pasta accompanied our meal but if I were to serve this to company, oven roasted potatoes, creamy polenta or pappardelle pasta would be a nice touch.
