Archive for the 'chicken & turkey' Category

Day 67: Chickenoodle soup


At this point in the program I have to pause and ponder how much detail I should divulge when it comes to relaying the events that occur in my life over dinnertime. Suffice to say that today there was a crisis; everyone is OK, more or less, but at dinnertime we converged at my sister’s house to do some damage control. My other sister brought roast chickens from Safeway, a loaf of sourdough bread, some oranges and a salad. I brought coffee.


To be honest, in the late afternoon I made another batch of chocolate covered hazelnuts, and ate enough to qualify calorically as dinner. When it became apparent I had to leave the house quickly, with Willem, I put on the pot of chickenoodle soup (I have to say it like that now, since reading it in Nigella’s Feast) that I made yesterday from the chunky, chickeny stock Mike made from a roast chicken left over from shooting a few days before. I poured out most of the stock into freezer containers, leaving all the shredded chunks of chicken in the bottom, brought the rest to a simmer, and threw in a handful of frozen peas and wide egg noodles. Salt and pepper to finish once the noodles were tender, and that’s it.

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March 08 2008 | chicken & turkey and soup | 1 Comment »

Day 60: Turkey chili with barley


Today was the grains show, and the slow cooker show. Another long day.

A couple weeks ago, in a panic over the thought of being away from home for dinnertimes on end, I made a few batches of freezable things to stash away for Mike and W. Not that I didn’t think they could survive happily on eggs and toast.

One of those things (as part of an article I was working on for What’s Up Kids magazine in Toronto) was turkey chili with barley. Barley has more fiber than whole wheat bread, brown rice, or oats. It’s great stuff. And Canada is the second largest producer of it. In Alberta, we produce half the Canadian crop.

The trade-off tonight at 9:30 was so fast that I didn’t get a chance to ask Mike what they ate tonight, but the empty container evidence in the sink suggests it was a turkey chili night. This photo was one I did for the magazine - the piece was on edible bowls. (For kids who like to play with their food, and parents who hate doing dishes.)

Turkey Chili with Barley
  
Canola or olive oil, for cooking
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
2 lb. lean ground turkey
¼ cup chili powder
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried cumin
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper (white pepper, if you have it)
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1 can chicken stock, undiluted
1 28 oz. (798 mL) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 cup jarred salsa, hot or mild (optional)
2 19 oz. (598 mL) cans white kidney or navy beans, drained
1/2 cup pot or pearl barley
 
Low fat sour cream and fresh cilantro, for garnish (optional)
 
Heat a drizzle of oil in a large, heavy pot set over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté for a few minutes, until softened. Add the turkey and cook until no longer pink. Add the chili powder, oregano, cumin, salt, pepper and cinnamon. Cook for another minute.
 
Add the chicken stock, tomatoes, salsa, beans and barley and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 45 minutes. By then the barley should be cooked through.
 
If you want to serve it right away, let it simmer for another 15-20 minutes, then taste and adjust the seasonings. Otherwise, let it cool and then refrigerate overnight; reheat on the stovetop over medium heat after a day or two. Add some extra stock or tomatoes if the barley has absorbed too much liquid and it has become too thick.
 
Serves 8.

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February 29 2008 | beans and chicken & turkey and grains | No Comments »

Day 57: Snacks on the set: mostly Macaroni & Cheese with Caramelized Onions and Bacon and Peanut Noodles with Chicken


Just got home. Taped the Lunchbox Meals and Salads episodes today. Mike and W ate noodles for dinner. Am feeling like a negligent Mum.

Above are two of the very best camera guys that exist - I truly can’t imagine working with better or funnier people. We have a blast, especially after the 12th hour, when we all start to get a little punchy. They were still hard at work when I left tonight. Here they are getting first crack at the Mac & Cheese with Caramelized Onions & Bacon, which went over quite well as you can imagine.

Picked through the whole day; not sure what exactly was being consumed at dinnertime. The set is totally devoid of outside light and sound - it’s like a deprivation chamber, where you can’t tell what time of day it is unless you look at the numbers on the microwave, or run across the parking lot to Starbucks. Here are a couple of the recipes I picked at most (the Mac & Cheese is Ned’s recipe - I haven’t gone through and made it more clear yet, so just wing it. It will all work out.):

Mac ‘N’ Cheese with Caramelized Onions and Bacon

This is a very hearty flavourful Mac ‘N’ Cheese Recipe, and so much better than the stuff out of the box. It is simple to do on the day you want to eat it but also great to make the night before and bake the next night or even portion it into small containers to re heat at work for lunch. It would also work cold for a picnic.

1 box dry Macaroni or penne pasta, whole wheat or regular, or really any pasta you have around your house
1 onion, white or red, thinly sliced
4-5 cloves garlic
6 strips of bacon, sliced
Mustard (Dijon works well)

Half & half cream
Cream cheese, half and half cream, pre grated mixed cheeses, like the Kraft Italian mix

To begin, in a medium sized pot cook your sliced onions in a small amount of canola oil. You need to cook them for probably 12 -15 minutes so the good deep brown in color (also called caramelized) Do not blacken the onions. After they are brown, take the onions out of the pot and add you strips of bacon, cook until they are crisp, pour off the fat, add your garlic and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Then, add back your browned onions, your half and half cream and your cream cheese. Allow the mixture to melt all together. Check for salt and pepper. At this point you can add some mustard, Dijon works very well for its sharpness. It cut through some of the richness of all the cheese and bacon etc. Then add about half or you’re mixed cheeses, your warm cooked pasta and stir thoroughly. At this point you can toss the whole mixture into a baking dish and bake in a 400 oven until golden brown and serve with a simple green salad and you have a great dinner or late lunch dish.

Peanut Noodles with Chicken and Veggies

Peanut noodles are best eaten cold, which makes leftovers perfect to keep in the fridge and take to work for lunch. You can add all sorts of fresh veggies to this dish – peppers, zucchini, bok choy, bean sprouts, broccoli, asparagus, and pea pods are all good choices.

1/2 lb. (250 g) steamed Chinese noodles or spaghetti
1/4 cup (60 mL) chicken or vegetable broth
3 Tbsp. (45 mL) peanut butter
3 Tbsp. (45 mL) soy sauce
2 Tbsp. (30 mL) brown sugar or honey
2 Tbsp. (30 mL) rice vinegar
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1-2 tsp. (5-10 mL) grated fresh ginger
1/2 tsp. (2.5 mL) curry paste (optional)
2 cups (500 mL) chopped cooked chicken, pork or shrimp, or diced tofu
1 carrot, peeled and grated
1 red bell pepper, cut into slices
1-2 green onions, chopped
1/2 cup (125 mL) chopped peanuts (optional)
Fresh cilantro for sprinkling (optional)

Cook the noodles according to the package directions. Rinse with cold water in a colander and drain well. Set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together the chicken broth, peanut butter, soy sauce, brown sugar, vinegar, garlic, ginger, and curry paste (if using) until smooth. Or instead of whisking it, shake it all up in a jar.

In a large bowl, toss the noodles, chicken, carrot, pepper, green onions, and peanut sauce. Serve in bowls sprinkled with chopped peanuts and/or cilantro. Serves 4-6.

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February 26 2008 | cheese and chicken & turkey and one dish and pasta and salads | 1 Comment »

Day 56: Cheddar Beer Bread and Sticky Chicken Thighs


(I like this photo because it looks like Ned is being sucked up into the light fixture.)

I was on set all day and evening today too - there before 7:30 am, left at 10 pm. I’m not really sure what Mike and W ate for dinner, but they appear to have survived. Since we shot the Snacks & Finger Foods and Breads episodes today, that’s what I snacked on around dinnertime. Here are some of the things we made (try the beer bread!):

Cheddar Beer Bread

3 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup grated old cheddar cheese
1 bottle beer, at room temperature
2-4 Tbsp. melted butter, or canola or olive oil

Preheat the oven to 375°F. In a mixing bowl, combine all the dry ingredients. Add the cheese and toss to combine. Add the beer all at once, mixing as little as possible just until blended; the batter should be lumpy. Pour the batter into a 4″x8″ or 9″x5″ loaf pan that has been sprayed with nonstick spray, and brush with the melted butter or oil. Bake in the oven for 40-45 minutes, or until a skewer poked into the middle comes out clean. Turn out onto a rack to cool.

Sticky, Sweet & Spicy Chicken Thighs

Instead of making chicken wings, which are mostly skin and fat (the fat resides under the skin), and very little meat, we like to make sticky chicken thighs or drumsticks – remove the skin and you have a much more meaty piece you can still eat off the bone with your fingers.

about 2 lbs. chicken thighs and/or drumsticks, skinned
½ cup soy sauce
½ cup maple syrup or honey
1-2 Tbsp. chili sauce
2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp. grated ginger

Place the chicken in a bowl. Add all the sauce ingredients and toss it all about to blend and coat the chicken. Cover and refrigerate for a couple hours, or overnight.

When ready to roast, preheat oven to 375F. Spread the chicken pieces onto a rimmed baking sheet or in a large, shallow dish. Bake for an hour or so, turning occasionally and brushing with leftover marinade (making sure that you do this for the last time at least 15 minutes before the chicken comes out of the oven, to give it a chance to cook) until the juices run clear.

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February 25 2008 | bread and cheese and chicken & turkey | 1 Comment »

Day 51: Simple roast chicken: plain, stuffed into a pita with hummus, and made into chicken Caesar salad wraps


Emily and Ben were over for dinner again tonight. To make things easy, I pulled a pair of chickens out of the freezer this morning; they weren’t fully thawed by the time I had to go pick them up at school - no matter, roast chicken is very forgiving. I patted them dry, rubbed them with oil, sprinkled them with salt and pepper and put them in at 350 for about an hour and a half. That’s all you really need to know to roast a chicken - pat the skin dry first if you want it crispy, then rub it with soft butter and/or oil, and sprinkle it with salt and pepper. Paprika too, if you like, or rub curry paste under the skin. If you have a lemon, halve it, squeeze some overtop and throw the rest inside the cavity. If you have garlic, throw a few cloves in there, or rub the skin with a cut clove. Timing wise, I have never weighed and timed a chicken; cook it until it looks golden and done, the juices run clear and the joints wiggle in their sockets. Baste it if you think of it, don’t worry if you don’t.

The fantastic thing about roasting a chicken is that it takes exactly as much time and effort to roast two, and there is nothing more versatile than an extra roast chicken. Any meat cooked on the bone is more flavorful, so I use chopped roasted chicken in any recipe that requires the chopping and sauteeing of a chicken breast. It’s usually Mike’s job to shred the meat, which is then stashed in the freezer and the carcass simmered for stock.


Emily’s favorite thing to do with chicken is to wrap it up in a whole wheat tortilla with some romaine lettuce and a drizzle of low fat creamy Caesar dressing. It’s her favorite lunch: my sister baggies up individual serving sizes of shredded chicken and freezes it; Emily then takes a tortilla, adds a leaf of lettuce, pulls a frozen chunk of roast chicken from the freezer and plops it on top, drizzles it with dressing and rolls it up. The frozen chicken keeps the lettuce and dressing cool until lunchtime, at which point everything is thawed enough to eat.


Fortunately, I made a batch of garlicky hummus earlier in the week to snack on (a bowl of hummus with some pita and veg is a great lunch to munch on at your desk), and one of my favorite ways with roast chicken is to stuff it in a pita half that has been slathered with garlicky hummus, then tuck in some lettuce, tomato, cucumber or chopped purple onion, if there is any to be had. Today there was only lettuce. Willem and Ben chewed on the drumsticks.

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February 20 2008 | chicken & turkey | 4 Comments »

Day 43: Jerk Chicken Satay and Red Beans & Rice


In honour of the 20th anniversary of the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, I made some Jamaican food for CBC this morning, since the Jamaican bobsled team was one of the most memorable part of our Olympics. Jerk chicken, of course, threaded onto skewers for easy in-studio eating (saved a few for dinner) but I wanted to do something with my new favorite condiment: Pickapeppa sauce. Straight from Jamaica, it’s a blend of tomatoes, onions, sugar, cane vinegar, mangoes, raisins, tamarind and spices that resembles HP and is delicious with crackers and cream cheese, simmered into red beans and rice, spread on roast chicken or pork, and is a great vegetarian substitute for Worcestershire, which contains anchovies.

Jerk Chicken Skewers

Although the ingredient list is long, these are a snap to put together. If you want to prep them far in advance, freeze the baggie full of chicken and marinate for up to three months; thaw before threading onto skewers and grilling.

1 lb. skinless, boneless chicken breast or pork tenderloin
4 green onions or 1 small yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 -2 jalapeno or small hot red peppers, seeded and chopped
2 Tbsp. orange or lime juice
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 Tbsp. canola oil
1/2 tsp. allspice
1/2 tsp. thyme
1/2 tsp. curry powder
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

Combine everything but the chicken in the bowl of a food processor or blender and whiz until well blended. Cut the chicken into strips and put them in a bowl or zip lock baggie; pour the marinade over and stir to coat well. Put it in the fridge for at least an hour or leave it overnight.

Thread the chicken onto 12 wooden skewers that have been soaked in water for at least 10 minutes to prevent them from burning. Grill or broil for about 5 minutes per side, until cooked through. Serve warm. Makes about a dozen skewers.

Per skewer: 62 calories, 1.9 g total fat (0.3 g saturated fat, 0.8 g monounsaturated fat, 0.5 g polyunsaturated fat), 8.9 g protein, 2.3 g carbohydrate, 21.9 mg cholesterol, 0.5 g fiber. 28% calories from fat.

Jamaican Red Beans and Rice

Because it’s one of the healthiest and most inexpensive sources of complete protein, beans and rice is one of the earliest known culinary combinations, one that is found in cuisines all over the world.

A drizzle of canola or olive oil
1 onion, peeled and chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 red or yellow pepper, seeded and chopped
2 19 oz. (540 mL) cans red kidney beans, or one of kidney beans and one of black beans, drained
1 14 oz. (398 mL) can of diced or stewed tomatoes
1/2 bottle Pickapeppa sauce
Steamed rice, for serving with

Heat the oil in a large saucepan or Dutch oven set over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, red pepper and garlic and sauté for about 10 minutes, until the onion starts to turn golden. Add the beans, tomatoes and Pickapeppa sauce and simmer for about an hour, until nice and thick. (Add a little water, stock or tomato juice if it’s too thick.) If you like, cool the mixture down and refrigerate overnight, then reheat it after a day or two.

Serve hot, over rice. Serves 4-6.

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February 12 2008 | appetizers and beans and chicken & turkey and one dish | 2 Comments »

Day 34: Super Bowl braised beans with sticky chicken

I’m just about to leave for Toronto, but am leaving dinner behind. It takes the edge off the guilt, a little.

On Friday morning we had a little pre-Super Bowl party in the studio at CBC radio. As Jen Keene so aptly put it, it was the perfect Super Bowl party: tons of food, and we didn’t have to watch football.

I made shrimp wrapped in prosciutto and quickly cooked, then dipped in pesto (my sister and I already have plans to have a Friday night couch dinner of these sometime very soon, so just wait for that one), chocolate panini, quesadillas with leftover roast chicken, black beans, sauteed mushrooms and roasted red peppers, and chicken drumsticks and thighs, skinned and done up like chicken wings.

I love wings, but really, they are mostly skin and fat, very little meat. Chicken little. I do love eating them with my fingers though, particularly when they are sweet and sticky enough to require stacks of napkins, or better - wet wipes. So here’s my tip for the day: any chicken wing recipe can be made with skinless chicken drums or thighs. Just cook them a little longer, since they’re bigger. You’ll never miss the skin.

I made these with equal parts soy sauce and honey or maple syrup (actually, come to think of it, I used Lyle’s Golden syrup - mostly to use it up so that I’d stop wanting to eat it on toast with butter), a squirt of chili sauce, a few cloves of crushed garlic and a spoonful of grated ginger. Mix this all up in a bowl or baggie, and add the chicken pieces to it, tossing to coat. Let them sit for a few hours or overnight, then bake them in a 400F oven for about an hour, turning as you need to until they are cooked and the sauce is darkened and thick. If there’s lots left over, you can reduce it in a small pot on the stovetop for dipping, or add a little cornstarch to slightly thicken it instead.

After the show, there were a lot of leftovers - I have a bad habit of making too much food (better to overestimate than under, I always think, being a fan of leftovers) and Michael, the director, brought a crock pot full of his own wings as well. So I took a few legs and thighs home for Mike and W, swimming in all the excess sauce left from the at the bottom of the bowl. I hate to throw food out, so it occurred to me that that sweet, chickeny sauce would make an excellent pot of baked beans. And wait - why be limited to pork with beans? I threw the whole lot in the slow cooker (although a nice sturdy pot, like this bean pot my friend Sue got me years ago, would work as well) with a chopped up onion, a can of red kidney beans and a can of white kidney beans. They may have benefited from a squirt of mustard and chug of Worcestershire sauce, too. They simmered for a few hours and looked great, with the meat pulling itself off the bones.

Too bad I won’t be around to actually taste them.

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February 03 2008 | beans and chicken & turkey and one dish | No Comments »

Day 32: Leftovers

I had a nap this afternoon. We all did. It was absolutely delicious - in my sleepy stupor I remember likening it to falling backward into a big, soft, voluptuous coconut cream pie. It was that yummy. Apparently I dream a lot like Homer Simpson.

But then when we woke up, it was 6:22, Mike had to leave in an hour, and we were all starving.

Solution: combine what was left of that brown and wild rice salad with the chopped remains of the slow-cooker chicken and a few halved grape tomatoes. Voila! Dinner.

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February 01 2008 | chicken & turkey and grains and leftovers and salads | 1 Comment »

Day 29: Brown & Wild Rice Salad with Dried Fruit and Pecans, and a whole chicken, done in the slow cooker



Once in awhile, particularly on days when it drops below -30 (seriously - it was minus 47 yesterday morning with the wind chill factor. -47! Global warming, where are you?) I get the urge to pull out my slow cooker and experience the gratification of smelling dinner simmering all day long. It could be this urge was subconsciously triggered by the current barrage of ads for McCain’s Slow Cooker Solutions - those $10 frozen meals packaged in an ice cream tub instead of a bag, that you toss into your slow cooker instead of your microwave. (It doesn’t say much that their ultra-styled photo still looks like Puritan beef stew in a can. And look… they even bought the Health Check symbol to go on the front. Have you seen the recent exposé on CBC’s Marketplace?)

People. Slow cookers ARE the solution, they don’t require a solution. People don’t bring them home and think, what on earth am I going to do with this contraption? It takes a full four minutes to dump some meat, vegetables and liquid into it and press the “on” button! Thank goodness someone found a way to shave a precious minute or two off of that daunting process. I love it when companies come up with solutions to problems that didn’t even exist in the first place.

I’ve heard you can roast (and I use the term “roast” loosely… since it’s really an entirely different cooking method) a whole chicken in the slow cooker, but I haven’t tried it before. So I did. All you need to do is loosely crumple up three balls of tin foil a  and put them in the bottom of the slow cooker, and set the chicken on top to keep it from sitting against the bottom. If you want to shove a few cloves of garlic or half a lemon inside the chicken, feel free to do so. No need to truss it. Just drizzle with a little oil or rub with soft butter (this ensures a crispy, golden crust - in the oven, anyway) and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Set it on low for 8 hours. I’ve seen recipes that call for 10.

Now in theory, if you want your skin more golden, crank it up to high for either the first hour or the last. Many cooking methods for roast beef and pork blast the meat with high heat at the beginning or end in order to create a crisper, deeper crust, which adds flavor and a more appealing texture. But as long as the chicken is cooked through; the juices run clear and joints wiggle freely in their sockets, there’s really no need if you’re not concerned with aesthetics. Besides, the chicken skin doesn’t really brown much in a slow cooker even if you do crank it up.


The bird was totally done after 6 hours, but I let it go awhile longer - because the lid traps any moisture that might escape from a traditional oven environment, it stayed perfectly moist and juicy. When I tried to lift it out with tongs, it fell apart as if it was delicately made out of cards. No need to carve this thing. For a crisp, crunchy skin I prefer the oven method, but this meat will be fantastic in sandwiches, salads, curries, quesadillas, fried rice… really anything chicken goes into when you’re not eating it off the bone. And because it literally strips itself for you as you try to get it onto the plate, you can slip away the skin and still be left with plump, flavorful meat.

To go with, a rice pilaffy-salad that I learned while food styling for Rose Reisman. It’s dead easy - since brown and wild rice require the same cooking time, you boil about half and half in a big pot of water (or stock, for more flavor), as if you were cooking pasta. Drain, cool, and add chopped dried fruit, a big bunch of parsley (a great way to get your greens - it’s not just for garnish anymore), toasted pecans (I was sad to find I didn’t have any, but always keep a jar of roasted almonds in the cupboard) and a delicious dressing made with orange juice, sesame oil and garlic.

Rose’s Brown & Wild Rice Pilaf with Dried Fruit & Pecans

(a variation of)

3/4 cup wild rice
3/4 cup brown rice
4 cups vegetable or chicken stock or water
1/2 cup chopped toasted pecans
1-2 green onions, chopped
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup dried chopped apricots
almost a whole bunch of fresh curly or flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Dressing (I always double this):
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp thawed orange juice concentrate
1 Tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
1-2 tsp sesame oil
1 clove garlic, minced

In a medium pot, combine both types of rice with the stock or water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer, and cook for 40-45 minutes or just until the rice is
tender. Drain excess liquid in a colander, transfer to a large bowl and set aside to cool. Once the rice has cooled, stir in the pecans, green onions, cranberries, apricots and parsley.

To make the dressing, whisk together all of the dressing ingredients, or shake them all up in a jar. Pour over the salad and toss to coat. Serves 8.

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January 29 2008 | chicken & turkey and grains and salads | 3 Comments »

Day 27: Chicken Stew with Pesto

Except that I can’t eat any. I’m having a minor test done tomorrow, which means I can only ingest clear fluids for 24 hours. Me! Going without food for 24 hours! Plus however much time I spend at the hospital tomorrow afternoon, which I’m sure will seem far longer on an empty stomach.

So, planning to spend a full Sunday out of the kitchen (very unusual for me), I made a batch of chicken stew with pesto yesterday for Mike and W. If I didn’t work in the food world, and had just a few go-to dinner recipes in my repertoire, this would be one of them. If I was one of those Moms who made meals on rotation - meatloaf Mondays, spaghetti Tuesdays, pork chop Wednesdays, and so on, this would definitely make the cut. Willem loves it (possibly on account of the pesto, which he seems to be in love with), and so do Mike and I. For some reason it turns out creamier tasting than it should, and is far more interesting than the sum of its (veg, legumes and skinless chicken or turkey) parts. Plus, it’s another one of those meals that’s freezable or keeps well in the fridge; ideal for dipping in to all week long. And because it’s all in one pot yet isn’t runny like soup, it makes a perfect portable lunch. If when it cools down you divide it into individual freezable containers, you can pull one out in the morning and by lunch it will be partially thawed - still cold enough to be safe, but with a head start on the reheating process.

I have to stop talking about food and go read a book or something to distract myself. Maybe I’ll open up A Stew or a Story, an assortment of short works by M.F.K. Fisher. If I can’t eat food, I can at least read about it…

Chicken & White Bean Stew with Pesto

Canola or olive oil, for cooking with
1 large onion, chopped
1 lb. skinless, boneless chicken thighs or turkey breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
3 big cloves of garlic, crushed
½ tsp. ground cumin
1 19 oz. (540 mL) can white kidney or navy beans, drained
1 can chicken broth
a few drops of Tabasco or a pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)
Salt & pepper to taste
1/4 cup (or a couple of big spoonfuls) basil or sun-dried tomato pesto
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese, for serving (optional)

Heat a drizzle of oil in a large pot set over medium heat. Cook the onion and chicken pieces for about 5 minutes, until the onions are starting to brown and the chicken is opaque. Add the celery, carrots, and red pepper and cook for a few more minutes, until the vegetables begin to soften. Add the garlic and cumin and cook for another minute.

Add the beans, chicken broth, Tabasco and some salt and pepper and bring to a simmer. Turn the heat down to low, cover and let cook for about 45 minutes.

Stir in the pesto and serve topped with Parmesan cheese. Serves 4-6, or 2-3 with leftovers. It doubles easily if you want to make a bigger batch.

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January 27 2008 | beans and chicken & turkey and freezable and one dish and stews & braises | 4 Comments »

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