My day didn’t go exactly as planned, yesterday. Which isn’t all that uncommon for me since that fateful day a little over eleven years ago when I gave birth to my first child.

Over the years I have discovered and mastered a key parental survival skill; the ability to change course and speed on a dime and without a grumble; at least not where the children can overhear you. Which is why I dropped (gently) what I was doing at work, got in the car, and drove for a half an hour to my daughter’s school when the nurse called to inform me that my little rug-monkey had a fever, a sore throat and needed her mommy to pick her up as soon as possible.

My mother’s prescription for whatever ailed me was a steaming-hot bowl of Campbell’s chicken noodle soup, with salted-top saltine crackers coarsly crumbled and added in while it was still bubbling on the stove. This step was extremely important, as the crackers would soften up and become the pseudo-dumplings that made everything right with the world.

In keeping with family tradition, it is required that I make chicken noodle soup whenever one of my girls is sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching has a stuffy head or fever. Unlike mom, I have always made my soup from scratch.

That may have been a mistake.

You see I’ve painted myself into a corner. If a daughter gets sick and I suggest a nice, easy-to-open can of Campbell’s soup, I get pouted at.

“But the last time <insert sibling name> was sick, she got real soup.”

Oh dear…

“How come she gets real soup and I don’t?”

Here it comes…

“Don’t you love ME as much as you love HER?”

I really can’t win.

So I’ll just be in the kitchen. Cooking soup.

I won’t lie to you; this isn’t a 30 minute meal. But if you start making it just after onset of symptoms, it’s usually ready to eat by the time the Tylenol kicks in, the fever breaks, and the patient is starting to feel just the teeniest bit hungry.

You will get a nice big bowl of chicken meat from your bird, and a really ugly carcass with leftover meat bits clinging to it. This is the best part. Honest. Throw that sucker back into the pot with your aromatics, and let it simmer away until you finally remember you have something cooking on the stove.

After that things get a little ugly . Strain all of the cooked bits out of your rich, chickeny stock.  You can use cheesecloth, but I use a clean cotton kitchen towel. I rinse it before use to get rid of any residual detergent. Soapy soup is not what I’m going for here.

FYI: This is the same recipe I use when I have chicken scraps to use up and it makes a darn fine chicken stock.  

Chop up some fresh carrots and celery.

Any noodle will do ya, but I love a thick and substantial egg noodle. If the patient is complaining of a sore throat, I might use a smaller, easier-to-swallow soup noodle. Maybe. If I felt like it.

Then you will need to corral your youngest daughter when she gets home from school and have her pose with the exceedingly sharp knife so that you can get a picture of real hands cutting real food, so that people don’t think that your ingredients magically chop themselves. Then you must quickly remove said knife from said little hands before they magically become a finger shorter.

Chicken. Chopped. Sort of self explanitory, really.

What all of this boils down to is a warm, rich and hearty soup that I’ve been told makes the sniffles just a bit more bearable and the aches just a little less achy. And if consumed in sufficient quantities, it can even make a pouty, sick girl smile, just a little.

So tell me, what food do you make that helps someone you love feel better when they’re sick? What makes you feel better when you’re sick?

Chicken Noodle Soup

For the stock:
4-5 lb whole chicken
1 medium onion, skin removed and halved
2 cloves garlic, smashed
½ tsp whole peppercorns
1 bay leaf
2 or 3 whole allspice berries (optional)
1 carrot, quartered
1 celery stalk, quartered
2 sprigs parsley
2 tsp kosher salt
3 quarts (or more) water

For the soup:
8 oz egg or other soup noodles
4 cups chicken, diced, reserved from making stock
1 carrot, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
1 batch chicken stock (see above)
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
Salt and pepper to taste

Place all of the stock ingredients in a Dutch over or other heavy pot. Add water to completely cover the chicken, about 3 quarts. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium low and simmer, covered, for 30 minutes. Turn off heat and remove chicken from pot. Leave the vegetables in the stock.  Allow chicken to cool until you can handle it easily. Remove the chicken meat from the carcass and set it aside. Return the carcass to the pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 1 ½ hours. Allow stock to cool slightly, then strain through a double layer of cheesecloth or a cotton towel set over a strainer. Return stock to the pot and add diced chicken, fresh carrots and celery.  Bring to a boil and add the egg noodles. Cook until noodles are tender (according to package directions). Remove from heat adjust for seasoning with salt and pepper, and add the fresh parsley. Serve with crusty bread or crackers.

Printable Recipe

You might also enjoy:<:

1. My Favorite Chicken Salad
2. Roman Egg-drop Soup – Stracciatella
3. Asian Noodle Salad

©EclecticCook.com, 2010. | Permalink toChicken Noodle Soup Remedy | 28 comments |

On the pendulum of taste, chicken salad has two extremes; dry and flavorless, or swimming in enough mayonnaise to make you almost believe that it’s not dry and flavorless. Somewhere in between lies perfection; moist, tender and bursting with flavor chicken salad with just enough mayo to hold everything together. A salad so good that you could eat the whole bowl. Not that I have ever done that, at least not in one sitting.

There are two essential ingredients and a no-fail cooking method that make this chicken salad so magically delicious:

Tarragon: Tarragon is the yin to chicken’s yang. Sweet and with a hint of fennel, tarragon brings out the best in chicken.

Raisins or dried cranberries: Bring a little sweet and tart to the party with these dried fruit. Chop them up fine so that you get a hint in every bite. If you like more tart than sweet, use the cranberries.

The Method: Since one post can’t possibly have too many analogies, lets think of perfectly poached chicken breast as Dr. Jekyll, and dry, overcooked chicken breast as Mr. Hyde. All it takes is a little too much heat to go from the good, to the bad and the ugly. The poaching method in this recipe is my chicken salad’s BFF. Use bone in breast with the skin on, or you might get a visit from Mr. Hyde despite your best efforts.

My Favorite Chicken Salad

2 lbs skin on, bone in chicken breast
1 cup (3-4 stalks) finely diced celery
½ cup raisins soaked for 15 minutes in hot water and finely chopped
½ cup red onion, finely diced
½ cup lightly toasted slivered almonds
¾ cup mayonnaise
1 tbsp dried tarragon
1 tbsp lemon juice
½ tsp salt (or to taste)
½ tsp freshly ground pepper

Place chicken in a single layer in a deep skillet or pot and cover completely with water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium and simmer for 10 minutes*. Remove the pot from the heat and let the chicken steep for an additional 15 minutes. Let the chicken cool until you can handle it comfortably. Remove the skin and bones, and then cut into half inch pieces, or shred into strips along the grain, similar to pulled pork.

Add the remaining ingredients to a bowl with the cooled chicken and stir to combine. Serve as a salad or as a sandwich filling.

*If for some reason you feel the burning need to use boneless skinless chicken breast, reduce the cooking time by about half.

(Printable Recipe)

You might also enjoy:<:

1. Asian Noodle Salad
2. Roasted Three Potato Salad
3. Chicken Noodle Soup Remedy

©EclecticCook.com, 2009. | Permalink toMy Favorite Chicken Salad | 20 comments |

Warning: Boring historical content. May not be suitable for some readers. Reader discretion is advised.

If you hated history and geography in high school, you may want to skip the next couple of paragraphs and head straight for the recipe. For the rest of you, try to follow along, but if your eyes glaze over and you start to drool, run, don’t walk, to nearest recipe.

Culturally and linguistically, my home province of Québec is unique in North America.  The official language is French, and ensuring the continued existence of this island of Québécois French culture in the sea of English-dominated North America, is the defining factor in much of Québec’s policy and politics. A long drop off of a steep cliff in the birth rate among Québecers in the 1960’s led to some changes in Québec’s immigration policy that gave preference to native or fluent French speaking immigrants. Where would these French speakers come from, you ask? France and the rest of Europe, you say? Well it might surprise you to learn that the largest number of people who speak French as a first, or fluent second language is found in Africa, not Europe; over 115 million people in 31 countries. Right up until the 1960’s, France had been giving Britain a run for its colonial money in creating a global empire with colonies or protectorates on almost every continent, including a huge swath of Northwest Africa. So learning to ask “Where is the bathroom?” in French would come in handy in way more places than you had thought possible.

Morocco is located on the Northwest coast of Africa, in the heart of formerly French controlled territory, and it is home to the oldest monarchy on the continent. The country regained its independence in 1956, but the French language continues to be the primary language of business and government and is spoken fluently by most urban Moroccans. Moroccan cuisine has been heavily influenced by the many outside cultures this ancient civilization has had contact with throughout its history, and it is considered one of the most diversified in the world.  It’s also one of the more under-represented cuisines in North America.

Further reading on the global distribution of the French language can be found here, if you are fascinated by the topic, or if you are so bored you’ve thought about braiding your dog’s tail hair.

Lesson concluded, thank you for your patience. Class dismissed.

Why, oh why, did I subject you to all of this historical rambling? Basically in order to be able to say that, not surprisingly, there is a thriving Moroccan community in Montreal, Québec (where I was born and bred, in case you missed it) which means you can find good Moroccan markets and restaurants all over the city.

I find history fascinating, and I sometimes wonder if I should have been a historian and not a scientist. I think Historians dress better, which would count as a plus.

Since Wichita is a tad more Morocco-deficient than Montreal, and since I had a craving, I decided to cook up a Moroccan inspired dish using a Chermoula sauce as both the marinade and the dipping sauce for grilled chicken skewers.

Moroccan Chicken Brochettes

2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Chermoula sauce for marinade and serving (recipe follows)

Cut the chicken into 1 ½ inch cubes.  Pour about half of the chermoula over the chicken and marinade in a covered glass bowl or freezer bag in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours or overnight. 
Thread the chicken onto skewers, about 5 pieces per skewer.  If you are using wooden skewers, soak them in water for about an hour before using. Preheat the grill to medium. Grill the chicken for about 5 minutes per side or until cooked through (165°F). Serve with some couscous and the reserved chermoula sauce for dipping.

Chermoula Sauce
Adapted from Gourmet, April 2001 via Epicurious

½ cup chopped fresh cilantro
½ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
4 cloves garlic
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons sweet paprika
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 cup olive oil

Place all of the ingredients except the olive oil in a blender and blend until smooth. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil with blender running. Chermoula can be stored in refrigerator for at least a few days. 

(Printable Recipe)

You might also enjoy:<:

1. Mom, Memories and Souvlaki
2. Strip Steak and Chimichurri Sauce
3. Couscous with Raisins and Toasted Almonds

©EclecticCook.com, 2009. | Permalink toMoroccan Chicken Brochettes with Chermoula Sauce | 13 comments |

There are exactly 2 Indian restaurants in Wichita, Kansas, population 400,000+. 

And they are right across the street from each other, completely on the other side of town from where I live.  I suppose that makes it easy for them to walk across the street and borrow a cup of curry, or maybe they save on delivery costs and just have suppliers ship combined orders to the middle of the street. Don’t get me wrong, they both serve some pretty good stuff.  One is a buffet, and the other is a sit-down and order place.  I’m just saying it would be nice to have a little diversity, and maybe some better geography. Until one or the other of those things happen, I’ll just do my best to bring the taste of India (or a facsimile thereof) to my table all on my own.

I found this recipe for chicken curry in a cookbook called 660 Curries, by Raghavan Iyer . This cookbook was on the NPR top ten list of cookbooks for 2008  which I stumbled upon during some random Googling for Indian cookbooks the other day.

It occurred to me that it might be fun to see how many of cookbooks listed I could find at my local library and whip me up some new and exciting recipes from. Which I am definitely going to do.  Sometime soon.  I swear. But for now, 660 Curries was available, so I grabbed it.

This is a big book. Really big.  Which I suppose it would have to be, to hold 660 curry recipes. (I’m always happy to point out the obvious). Many of the dishes are simple, with easy to find ingredients. Some of the dishes would require me to use up my air miles to get the stuff I need to make them. (or improvise, which is always an acceptable plan B in my book). The lack of illustrations is a bit of a disappointment, though. When cooking the unfamiliar, it’s always nice to have a pretty picture to compare my creation to, so that when I’m done cooking and I look at my dish and think “Is it really supposed to look like that or did I miss something important?”, I have some sort of a visual reference.

I’ve made 2 dishes from this book, and plan to make more when I get it for my birthday (<—-husband, please re-read last sentence and bookmark. Thank you for your time.).  The chicken curry turned out quite well, even with some plan B substitutions going on. I just love the combination of curry, coconut milk and tomato, slightly sweetened with sugar. They work together to make a flavor that is uniquely different from the individual parts.  The second dish tasted wonderful, better than the chicken curry even. But visually…how shall I put this…it was less than appealing? Butt ugly? I have the photos and the recipe, and I may sneak it up on the blog late at night when no one is looking. I haven’t quite decided yet. Bottom line, 660 Curries is an excellent book of never-ending source material for any type of curry craving you might be having, along with some great recipes for Indian breads and chutneys. For vegans, vegetarians and people just scaling back on meat consumption,  it also has a huge selection of hearty but meatless legume and veggie curries.

I do suggest that you have at least occasionally eaten, if not cooked Indian food before you invest in this book.  If you don’t know your masala from your elbow, I would recommend you start with something a bit simpler and more illustrated, like Madhur Jaffrey’s Quick and Easy Indian Cooking. I used to watch her cooking shows on PBS religiously years ago, and she really has a knack for explaining and simplifying such a complex and unfamiliar cuisine.

Quick Chicken Curry
Adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer
Serves  4

2 tbsp canola or grapeseed oil
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
2 tbsp garlic, minced
4 tsp ginger, minced
1 large tomato, diced (about 1 cup)
1 ½ lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 tbsp curry powder
1 tsp kosher salt (or to taste)
1tsp sugar
½ cup unsweetened coconut milk
2 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped

Preheat a skillet over medium high heat.  Add the oil and sauté the onion, garlic and ginger until lightly golden, about 5 minutes. 
Add the chicken and the curry powder and cook until the chicken is browned on all sides, about 5 more minutes.
Add the tomato and any juices, salt, sugar, and coconut milk.
Reduce heat to medium low and simmer until the chicken is cooked through, 5-7 minutes.  If the sauce gets too thick, add a tablespoon of water. Remove from heat and stir in the cilantro. 
Serve with rice (basmati rice is wonderful with this) and/or an Indian flat bread, such as naan.

 (Printable Recipe)

You might also enjoy:<:

1. Thai Curry and Coconut Butternut Squash Soup
2. My Favorite Chicken Salad
3. Moroccan Chicken Brochettes with Chermoula Sauce

©EclecticCook.com, 2009. | Permalink toQuick Chicken Curry | 12 comments |

You know that dish that everyone always begs you to bring to the backyard BBQ even when you really really (really) want to bring something different for once, so you end up making both, and then they barely touch the new dish that took you *forever* to prepare and that you were so excited about bringing, but completely devour your regularly requested one?

(Pause to let punctuation catch up)

Souvlaki Pita is that dish for me, the dish I will never escape.  Good thing it’s pretty darn tasty. I could probably eat it every week without going crazy. I may or may not be speaking from personal experience.

I’ve searched high, low and even under a few beds, but I just can’t find good pita bread in Wichita. I can find “pita pockets”, which are small thickish pita’s that you can cut in half and split open to make a pocket, or “pita bread” which is a small, thick and dry thing with no pocket inside. Pita bread for souvlaki should be soft and thin enough to be able to wrap around the filling, similar to how you would wrap a soft shelled taco. Yes, I realize that I should simply make my own pita bread. I haven’t yet found the motivation (or a recipe that doesn’t scare me; I’m not a baker) to go that route, so I use the pita pockets.

Souvlaki Pita

The Meat
2 lbs grilled souvlaki. Use chicken, pork or both.

Traditional Toppings
2 tomatoes, cut into cubes
¼ tsp oregano
1 yellow onion, sliced fine
1 tbsp vinegar
1 tsp olive oil plus more for drizzling
Tzatziki

Mix the tomatoes with the oregano and 1 tsp olive oil. To remove some of the bite from the onions, soak then in cold water and the vinegar for about 10 minutes. Drain, then soak them again in fresh, cold water for an additional 10 minutes. Drain and pat dry. Drizzle the onions with a bit of olive oil before serving.
Fill the pita with souvlaki, top with tomatoes, onions, any additional toppings you choose, and plenty of tzatziki. Get a napkin ready, then take a big bite and enjoy!

If you want to mix things up a bit, you can also use shredded lettuce, feta cheese and/or some chopped olives for toppings.

(Printable Recipe)

You might also enjoy:<:

1. Mom, Memories and Souvlaki
2. Tzatziki
3. Moroccan Chicken Brochettes with Chermoula Sauce

©EclecticCook.com, 2009. | Permalink toSouvlaki Pita | 6 comments |

My mother was a feisty little Greek woman from Thessalonica; short in stature, with a big, warm, giving heart.  She was a naturally talented cook who never wrote down a single recipe. She passed away when I was a teenager, before I had the chance to really learn from her in the kitchen.  Dad was a set-in-his ways, meat and potatoes Irish fireman who couldn’t really appreciate many of the Greek dishes she was capable of preparing.  Mom would reserve those dishes for when Dad worked nights and it was just her and I for dinner. I have so many wonderful memories of those special nights; picking dandelion greens from the side of the road and taking them home to cook up for just the two of us,  watching mom make phyllo from scratch for her spanakopita. I treasure those memories today as I treasured those moments spent together, just her and I.

One dish Dad would devour without complaint was souvlaki, which she made quite often during the summer grilling season. I recreated this recipe from my memory of its taste many, many years ago. It isn’t a recipe my mother handed down to me, but I don’t suppose that really matters in the end. I think of my mother, and all of our special moments, every time I make this for my family, and that means so much more to me than authenticity or accuracy.

I use pork loin in my recipe, but pork butt or shoulder will also work well. Just be sure to trim it well to remove the excess fat before marinading.  Pork butt/shoulder may also take a bit longer to cook on the grill.

I have also used chicken breast for this recipe. Dark meat would also work fine, but I prefer the breast meat.

Souvlaki
Serves 4-6

2 lbs pork loin and/or chicken cut into 1 inch cubes
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp dried oregano
3 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp lemon juice (the juice of about 1½ lemons)
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper

Whisk together garlic, oregano, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper.  Combine the marinade with the pork in a large freezer bag. Marinade in the refrigerator for at least 24 and up to 48 hours. Rotate the bag to redistribute the marinade at least twice during this time.
Preheat the grill to medium high heat. If you are using wooden skewers, soak them in water before using, or use metal skewers. Thread about 5 pieces of meat onto each skewer, enough for one serving. Grill the skewers for about 15 minutes, turning two or three times. The chicken will take less time to cook than the pork, so start checking for doneness at about 10 minutes. The meat should register about 150°F for the pork and 160°F for the chicken when you take them off the grill. Let rest for 5 minutes before serving. Because of the marinade ingredients, the meat (both the pork and the chicken) may still be slightly pinkish inside even when fully cooked. 

(Printable Recipe)

You can serve the souvlaki skewers as they are with a side of rice pilaf or a Greek salad and tzatziki sauce for dipping, or you can make a souvlaki pita sandwich, which is my personal favorite way to eat them.

You might also enjoy:<:

1. Souvlaki Pita
2. Hot and Sweet Glazed Pork Chops
3. Moroccan Chicken Brochettes with Chermoula Sauce

©EclecticCook.com, 2009. | Permalink toMom, Memories and Souvlaki | 2 comments |