Peppery Chicken

I'm here!  I didn't drop off the face of the earth.  I've just been less than inspired lately in the cooking department and have pretty much stopped going out to eat.  But I'm here, and I have a new recipe.  I was intrigued when I saw a dish from Rao's in NY featured on a TV show recently and decided I'd give it a go.  I'm not saying I could ever make something as good as you can get at Rao's, especially because you cannot get a table there ever.  Last time I checked, there were seats available at my dinner table every night!

This is a one skillet dish and it's relatively quick and painless.  I used bone in/skin on chicken thighs.  I get the best deals on them lately and I generally prefer thigh meat.  But if you want to go for a little less fat, by all means use breasts.  In a heavy skillet, put in 2 Tablespoons of olive oil and heat it up.  When the oil is hot, put in your chicken (seasoned with salt and pepper), skin side down.

Cook on medium high for about 5-7 minutes, until you get a nice golden brown on the skin and then turn the chicken and brown on the other side.  Watch for splatter.  Also add a small chopped sweet onion of your choice.  Once the chicken is brown on both sides and the onions are starting to do their thing, add four chopped potatoes.  Cut them in smaller bite sized pieces and if you want more than four, go for it.  I'm a spuddy gal myself, love potatoes.  So I would probably use more. 

Give the potatoes a few minutes to work in the pan with the chicken and the onions, giving them a little salt and pepper.   Then add a cup and a half of chicken broth.  If you're not using homemade broth or one that has lower sodium, then make sure you adjust how much salt you use as you go.   So far, pretty standard stuff huh?  Nothing too interesting here.   But now it gets interesting.  Add a cup of chopped pepper rings and a half to three quarters of a cup of the juice from the pepper jar.   Ahhh, now things are getting interesting!

Stir it all up and let it simmer for about 20-30 minutes, until the chicken and potatoes are done.   Potatoes should be fork tender.  I use a mild pepper ring, but I believe Rao's actually uses hot cherry peppers.  I don't do hot, so I chose to go the mild route.  The brine from the pepper jar mixed with the broth, the chicken juices and the onions turn this dish into something kind of special.  The potatoes take on so much of the flavor it's amazing.

 

The chicken is juicy and succulent... yeah I said succulent!   It is.   The potatoes have tons of flavor, the peppers add a nice zing to the whole thing.  It's easy and delish.  I think next time I make it I'm going to try making it with spaghetti instead of potatoes.   I must keep tweaking, it's just how I roll.

Buon Cibo mia Amici.

Soupy Goodness

Last week I went to Kreiger's Market in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio to see what kind of yummy fresh stuff I could get. While there, I saw some beautiful fresh escarole and knew immediately that Italian Wedding soup would be on the menu very soon!

Italian Wedding Soup is probably my favorite soup with a close contender being my mom's oxtail soup for the top spot. mmm oxtail soup. *shaking myself out of the oxtail reverie*

Let's start with the mini meatballs. I'm pretty much exclusively using ground turkey these days and I know there are some people out there who do not like it at all. In truth, it took some getting used to, but now that we are used to it, I rarely ever buy ground beef. On the day I was making the soup, I also had several other things going on so forgive my lack of photo documentation. There is some, but not as much as I would usually have. The brain can't hold on to too many things at once.

I used half a pound of ground turkey, 1 half cup of Italian seasoned bread crumbs, one small onion and 3 cloves of garlic finely chopped (I actually put them in the food processor so they would be super fine!) and sauteed in 2 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, a quarter cup of grated Parmesan cheese, one egg and salt and pepper to taste. Once you mix all these ingredients together, by hand is best, shape into small meatballs. Not so small that they will disappear when you cook them, but not as big as a ping pong ball. Place them on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 until they are nicely browned, about 20 minutes or so. I got about 30 meatballs or so from the half pound of ground turkey.




While the meatballs are baking, take one leek (or two shallots, or a small onion), chopped, and saute it in 1 Tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. If you use a leek, be sure to clean it well. If you watch any cooking shows you probably already know how to clean a leek, but I'll tell you anyway. Cut off the tops and the root, cut down the middle and then chop so you have half moon shapes or a half circle shape. Then soak in a bowl of cold water so the grit can go to the bottom. My leek was so full of grit, I almost need to toss it in the washing machine! Speaking of, did you ever see Alton Brown using his washing machine as a salad spinner? He did!



I like leeks in soup for their mellowness. Don't brown them, just cook them enough that they soften and become yummy deliciousness.

Then in a large pot, add 4-5 cups of chicken stock or broth (homemade is always best but if you don't have it, a good quality boxed broth will do - Kitchen Basics is my fave, but Giant Eagle's Market District broth is also good and a little less expensive), your baked meatballs and the sauteed leeks on medium low heat. You don't want this to boil, just simmer. If you use store bought broth, be sure to taste before you season. Some of them can be a bit salty. You may not want to add more salt. Otherwise, always season as you go!




Now you need another pot to boil your pasta. When I get Italian Wedding soup out, most of the time the pasta used is a pearl type pasta. I like it, and I would like to use it. But I have never been able to find it in the store. It is not Acini di pepe. It is a little bigger than that. So the question I pose to you readers is, is pearl pasta actually Israeli Couscous? Or is it it's own thing that I just cannot find in my area anywhere, even specialty shops? Are they interchangeable or is Israeli Couscous a good substitution for pearl pasta?

Since I can't find pearl, I use orzo. And I don't like to cook my pasta directly in the soup. I prefer to boil water and cook the pasta separately and then add it to the soup. To me, the consistency of the pasta is just better this way. So while your pasta water is boiling, you can prep your escarole.




There are certain things I just will not do when it comes to Italian Wedding soup. For instance, I will not abide by spinach in Italian Wedding soup. It must be escarole. No exceptions! Spinach is just plain wrong. And I don't dislike spinach. It's just not how this soup was meant to be. So suck it up and buy the escarole! Clean and chop up a whole head and then put it in your soup.




It's going to look like an overflowing pot of greens, but they cook down very quickly. Just stir it in a few times.



You may be wondering why I'm not using the glorious red pot for this soup. Truth be told, I probably should have used it. But I was thinking it I was making a small amount of soup and the glorious pot was too big. It probably wasn't. Anyway, once your escarole cooks down and your orzo or other pasta of your choice (I know some who do use the Acini di pepe and others who use ditalini) is done cooking, add that to the soup. And then all that's left after letting all the ingredients cook together for about 10-15 minutes, is pure enjoyment!