Roasted Chicken & Butternut Squash Soup

Great for a cold, stormy day.

I love this soup because it is so f-ing easy! Oh, and tasty too, of course. If you've never broken down a butternut squash before, don't be scared. It's fairly easy once you get the hang of it. Everyone has their own way of doing it but here's a good tutorial video. Just remember to cut your squash into fairly uniform pieces so they cook evenly. Depending on how large your squash is, and how soupy you like your soup, you may have to add more chicken broth. For a heartier soup, try adding some small pasta, noodles or even rice. I like to eat this soup with some crusty toasted bread on the side. Make a double batch and freeze half for a rainy, lazy day dinner.

Roasted Chicken & Butternut Squash Soup

(4 servings)

1 medium butternut squash, peeled, cored & diced into medium cubes

1 medium yellow onion, medium diced

4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs

2 tbsp olive oil

salt & pepper

4 cups low sodium chicken broth

1/4 tsp ground cumin

1 lemon, zested & juiced

more lemons, cilantro, green onion, sour cream for garnish

- Preheat oven to 425F. Toss cubed squash, onion & chicken thighs 

with olive oil, salt & pepper. Arrange on a sheet pan in a single layer 

(you may need two sheets to hold everything- if so, place one in the top 

third and another in the lower third of the oven, rotating halfway through cooking)

- Roast 30-35 minutes until chicken is cooked through and squash is tender.

- Transfer chicken to a plate to cool. Discard skin & bone, chop into desired size.

- Combine broth, cooked squash & onion, cumin, lemon zest into a large pot. 

Bring to a simmer & mash the squash to your desire (use the back of your spoon 

or a potato masher). Add the chopped chicken & lemon juice into 

the soup, salt & pepper to taste. Add more broth if you want it soupier. 

- Serve with a dollop of sour cream, a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, cilantro & green onions. 

Some crusty bread on the side would be delicious as well.

Garnish to your heart's desire!

Psst! Here's a quick little tip: instead of keeping cans of chicken broth in my pantry, I keep this little jar in my fridge, "Better Than Bouillon Chicken Base". Just add 1 tsp of this paste to 1 cup of hot water et voila, instant chicken broth that allows you to make as much or as little as you need. You can also adjust the concentration of the broth by adding more or less paste. Don't you hate opening a container of chicken stock then not using all of it (then forgetting about it in the fridge...)? One jar makes about 38 cups of broth which at $5/jar turns out to be a huge money saver. You can find this little guy next to the regular chicken stock in any grocery store. Love this product!

Linguine with Chicken Ragu

 

Maple-Chipotle Hot Wings

White Wine Coq au Vin

BBQ Chicken Pizza

Making pizza at home is easy! It all starts with the pizza dough, then pile on anything your heart desires. Don't be put off by the barrage of recipes that follow. If you don't want to or don't have time to make toppings from scratch, use store bought items: BBQ sauce, a rotisserie chicken (shred at home), mozzarella cheese, etc. It's also a really good way to use up left over sauces and lunch meats you have sitting in your refrigerator. But I like to make things from scratch at home so here are the recipes I used:

Super Simple Pizza Dough
(one med-sized pizza, about 4 slices)
from SmittenKitchen

1.5 cups bread flour (or all purpose flour)
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp active dry yeast
0.5 cup lukewarm water, plus 1-2 tbsp more
1 tbsp olive oil

1. In a large bowl: mix together flour, salt and yeast. Add water and olive oil and stir until all liquid is absorbed and a ball of dough forms. Add 1-2 tbsp more water if dough is too dry to form a ball.
2. Turn dough out onto well floured work surface. Knead 1-2 minutes until dough is smooth. Lightly oil same bowl used to mix dough, return dough to oiled bowl and turn to coat all sides in oil. Cover with plastic wrap or clean kitchen towel and let dough rise in warm area until doubled in size, 1-2 hours.
3. Turn dough out onto floured surface. Gently press air out and roll into a ball. Return to bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise another 20 minutes.
   
4. Preheat oven to its highest temperature. If using a pizza stone (optional), preheat stone in oven as well. Roll out dough onto well floured surface using floured rolling pin, very thinly for a crispy pizza, and top with whatever. To transfer pizza to stone, use a large plate, slide pizza onto plate then slide pizza from plate onto stone. Could also use a baking sheet (which I did) instead of a stone: sprinkle baking sheet with a little flour (or corn meal if you have it) and roll out dough right onto baking sheet, top with whatever, and pop into oven. Bake until cheese has browned and crust is blistered and crispy, 10-15 minutes.
   

This recipe can easily be doubled to make two pizzas. Use 2 baking sheets (or stones), placing them in the top and bottom third of the oven. Half way through baking, rotate the pizzas for even baking.

Brown Sugar & Coffee BBQ Sauce
(about 4 cups)
from Bon Appetit magazine, Sept '09

*I didn't have any molasses so substituted maple syrup instead. Still came out well but next time will probably try it with molasses. Also, this makes a lot of sauce so if you plan to make just one pizza, halve the recipe.

2 tbsp olive oil
1 3/4 cup white onions
6 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tbsp minced & seeded jalapeno chile
0.5 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
2 tbsp chili powder
2 tbsp molasses (or maple syrup)
2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
1 tsp ground cumin
1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup freshly brewed strong coffee or 1 tbsp instant espresso powder dissolved in 1 cup hot water

1. Heat oil in large saucepan over med-high heat. Add onions, garlic and jalapeno. Saute until onions are tender, 7 minutes. Add brown sugar, chili powder, molasses, cilantro and cumin. Stir until sugar dissolves. Stir in crushed tomatoes, broth and coffee. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, until sauce thickens slightly and is reduced to 4 cups, stirring often, about 35 minutes. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper.
   

Roasted Chicken Breast
(about 3 cups, shredded)

2-3 split chicken breast, bone in, skin on
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp dried herbs (Italian mix or Herbs de Provence)
salt & pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
   
2. Coat chicken in oil and sprinkle liberally with salt & pepper and dried herbs. Roast, skin side up, 35-40 minutes. An instant read thermometer should read 160F when inserted in the middle. Remove from oven and let cool before shredding.

The BBQ sauce and chicken can be made while waiting for the dough to rise. I shredded the chicken and mixed it with a little BBQ sauce. I spread some more sauce onto the rolled out dough, then spread the chicken out on top and topped with mozzarella cheese. Bake the pizza 10-15 minutes then top with arugula and bake another 2 minutes until wilted. For an added kick, sprinkle on some red pepper flakes. YUM!

Roasted Chicken and Mango Salsa

So I did end up making chicken soft tacos for dinner the other night. The chicken was delicious of course! Lean and ever so chicken-y. I roasted mine a little too long and they came out a bit dry, but if you follow these directions, they're sure to come out juicy and tender:

Roasted Chicken Breast
2 skinless, boneless chicken breast
olive oil
salt and pepper
fresh rosemary (optional - I just happened to have some on hand)

Preheat oven to 400F. While it heats up, drizzle the chicken with olive oil on both sides. Season with salt and pepper and chopped fresh rosemary. Roast for 30 minutes. Chicken should be nice and golden brown. Let rest 5 minutes before shredding.

As an additional garnish, I also made a super simple, super delicious mango salsa. OK, so mangoes are not local to Virginia, actually this mango came from Mexico, but they are technically "in season". So, no brownie points for me on this one. But if you're reading this from California or Florida you have nothing to feel bad about so go out there, get some mangoes, and make this salsa to eat with some mulitgrain tortilla chips!

Mango Salsa
1 mango, diced
1/4 cup red onion, diced
1/2 lime, juiced
5 cherry tomatoes, diced
cilantro, finely chopped
salt and pepper to taste
pinch red pepper flakes (if you like it spicy)

Combine all ingredients into a bowl and mix. Let sit for 10 minutes so all the flavors can blend. And now you may eat!

Full Quiver Chicken

A few days ago I went to the neighborhood of Ghent to pick up some chicken I ordered online. Full Quiver Farm is a local, family-run farm located in Suffolk - just 30 miles from where I live in Norfolk. Orders are placed through their website and once a month Scott Wilson drives in to the Norfolk/Virginia Beach area to drop off the orders at hostess homes located throughout the city. I ordered 4 chicken breast filets, a thigh pack with 6 chicken thighs and 1lb of Italian-style pork sausage. The grand total: $37.13, including taxes and delivery charge.

The Wilson family does everything the old-fashioned way on their farm: they use natural compost and manure instead of synthetic fertilizers; all the animals (chickens, cows, pigs, turkeys) are free-range meaning they pasture freely and aren't locked up in cages all day; no growth hormones are used to un-naturally fatten the animals; and they enjoy a natural diet: the chickens eat insects, grass and a natural feed mix, the cows are grass fed - not corn fed (which is not part of their natural diet!).

But the best (and most adorable) part of Full Quiver Farm? The Wilson Family! That's mom, dad, 3 boys and 6 girls! All the children play a large role in the running of the farm - just read their newsletter. Things can't get much more wholesome than that! So, even though the chicken was pretty pricey, I feel better spending that kind of money when I know I'm contributing to the livelihood of a family of ELEVEN. Jon and Kate move aside - you guys have nothing on the Wilson family!

I've yet to make anything with the chicken. Maybe I'll grill up two of the breast filets and make chicken soft tacos for dinner tonight... I do anticipate a more distinct "chicken flavor", as weird as that may sound. Like the chicken we caught and killed on my grandfather's farm in Vietnam - lean, not much meat, but had a very distinct (i.e. strong) chicken flavor compared to that stuff you get in the supermarkets. I'll let you know how it turns out :)