Chipotle Smoky Split Pea Soup

The Andersons stopped by this weekend on their way to visit Ethan at Warren Wilson, and stayed in the Princess Suite. Thinking of the Anderson's made me decide to make up some Split Pea Soup.

Years ago, we had been traveling from Monterey to Los Angeles on 101 when we saw signs for miles and miles advertising Pea Soup Andersen's. Of course we stopped there, and were served refillable bowls of delicious pea soup for like $3.95. It really hit the spot during the five hour drive. I found the actual recipe, but it was too boring to use, and instead made up this spicy, smokey soup for the week.

Chipotle Split Pea Soup

2 T olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
8 cloves garlic, minced or 2.5 T minced garlic from jar
1 medium carrot, chopped
¼ lb. bacon slices
1 lb dried split peas (about 2 cups)
7 cups water/vegetable stock (32 oz stock, 3 cups water)
1 t thyme
1 t basil
1 t smoked paprika
1 t rosemary
bay leaves
1 Tbsp. chipotle powder
10 drops hot sauce
salt/pepper to taste

In a heavy bottomed soup pot over medium heat add the oil, onion, garlic and bacon, and sauté for several minutes. Add the spices and stir well.

Add the carrot and the peas. Stir to coat with the veggie/spice mixture then add the water and stock. Bring to a boil for several minutes then cover and turn down heat to a strong simmer.
Cook for 30 minutes or until the peas are tender. Add the hot sauce and stir.

Remove bacon strips, cut off and throw away the fat, and cut bacon into small dice.

Taste and adjust seasonings. Puree half of soup in blender. Then mix with unblended portion. Add bacon pieces to soup.

GRILLED VEAL CHOPS WITH ARTICHOKES AND WHITE BEAN COULADE (Restaurant Quality)

This was an amazing meal, made up by Sherry because her original recipe just had no excitement to it. This is definitely restaurant quality!

2 veal chops
Herbs de Provence
Salt and pepper
Olive oil

2 cans cannellini beans, drained
Salt
Fresh mint, chopped
Red pepper flakes

1 can artichoke hearts (not in oil), drained
1 shallot, minced
Spoonful of garlic
Coriander seeds
Dried Thyme
Salt
Squeeze of lemon juice
White wine

Grated parmesan cheese

1. Rub the herb marinade and olive oil on the veal chops, and let sit for 30 minutes. Brown in olive oil. Set aside.
2. Cook cannellini beans with salt, mint and red pepper flakes in pot until well combined over medium heat until thickened.
3. Cook garlic and shallot in olive oil until soft. Add coriander seeds, thyme and artichoke hearts and cook over low heat until well combined. Add salt, lemon juice and white wine and cook over low heat until well mixed.
4. Grill veal chops until done (medium). Serve beans on plate, place veal chops over beans, top with artichoke hearts, and grated parmesan cheese.

We wanted to cook up more figs, as Trader Joe's has them in abundance. So we decided to make the Israeli Couscous with Eggplant, Figs and Feta.  Sherry thought that we should make a spicy marinated chicken breast to accompany it, so we came up with the following recipe.  It was Mah-velous!

Marvelous Middle-Eastern Marinated Yogurt Lemon Chicken

Ingredients

·         1/2 cup plain yogurt

·         2 tablespoons lemon juice

·         2 garlic cloves, crushed

·         Fresh mint

·         1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

·         1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

·         1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

·         1/2 teaspoon black pepper

·         1/2 teaspoon salt

·         2 lbs boneless skinless chicken, cut thinly in half

Directions

1. Mix the yogurt with the seasonings. Place in a plastic bag with the chicken. Marinate for 2 hours to overnight.
2. Pound chicken in the bag with the marinade to 1/2 thick and grill, sauté, skewer or bake until lightly browned and cooked through.
3. Serve with Israeli Couscous Salad with Grilled Eggplant and Feta and enjoy!

Rosh Hashanah

Happy New Year.

Figs, Figs, Figs

This is fig season. We purchased a large box of figs, and decided to make a fig-themed dinner. I made Grilled Pork Chops with a Fig-Chipotle sauce, and we made Katie's Fig Risotto. Katie and I had made this risotto last week at her apartment, but because she does not have her computer, she has not been able to blog about it. Key to both recipes is the use of red, rather than white, wine. Makes for a heartier and tasty risotto. The sauce was so good that we are using it on other dishes this week!

Pork Loin Chops with Fig Sauce
The spicy sweetness of the chipotle pepper blends beautifully with the figs to give a little kick to the pan gravy which is also flavored with onions, garlic, and thyme. Prepare all your ingredients in advance. This goes together quickly.
Ingredients:
• 4 (about 8 ounces each) boneless pork top loin chops, 1-1/2 inches thick
• Kosher salt
• Fresh ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon ground chipotle peppers, or 1 chipotle in adobo, chopped
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup minced onion
• 2 large cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1/2 cup red wine
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• 1 cup diced fresh figs
Preparation:
Place each pork loin chop between sheets of plastic wrap and pound down to a 1-inch thickness. Season with salt and pepper, and ground chipotle.

Heat a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add olive oil and swirl to coat the pan. Sear pork loin chops until golden brown on each side, turning only once. Remove to a platter and keep warm. Alternatively, grill the pork chops, and begin with the sauce below.

Reduce heat, add onions and saute for 2 minutes. Add garlic and saute an additional 1 minute. Carefully pour in red wine and stir to deglaze the pan, scraping up browned bits. Cook 1 minute, then add chicken broth, chipotle in adobo (or ground chipotle), thyme, and figs. Cook over medium heat about 10 minutes, stirring often and mashing the figs until the sauce is thickened.

Serve pork loin chops with the fig sauce.

Fig Risotto
• Time 40 minutes
• Serves 6
Ingredients
• 32 oz chicken broth
• 4 TBSP olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 - 1 1/2 cups arborio rice
• 1 cup red wine
• 1 pint fresh figs, quartered
• 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
• 1 tsp cardamom, coriander, nutmeg
• 1 pat of butter
• salt and pepper
How to make it
• Bring the broth and red wine to a simmer over medium heat. Reduce the heat to low and cover it to keep it warm.
• Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and lightly saute' until soft. Add the rice and stir to coat, 3 minutes.
• Add the broth 1 cup at a time, stirring until the broth is fairly well absorbed and the rice is tender and it looks creamy.
• When most of the broth is used up, mix in the spices and figs. Continue to cook until all liquid is absorbed.
• Stir in the cheese and pat of butter until blended in.
• Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Lobstahs

Eric went to Boston and brought back lobsters. Nothing more to say. Went through security with no problem! Yay!

Csipos and Csemege

It was a cold and cloudy day in Charlotte, or as we would say in Boston, “summer”. Sherry wanted some food that would fit the change in seasons, so I decided to cook a paprika-based meal. We had purchased some paprika in a tube while in Budapest, and thought it would be interesting to use them. I decided on two Hungarian dishes, Chicken Paprikash, the classic and yummy dish, and Gombaporkolt, a mushroom-paprika stew. The chicken was served with Whole Wheat Gnocchi (available at your local Trader Joe’s). What a wonderful meal. We are saving the sauce for another meal.

Chicken Paprikash
Chicken, onions, oil, stock, paprika, salt, sour cream. That's about it, and all you need for one of the best dishes on the planet, chicken paprikash. Uncomplicated. Unpretentious. So good you'll be drinking the sauce. Cooks up quickly too. Serve it with gnocchi or

Ingredients
• 2 to 2 1/2 pounds of chicken pieces, preferably thighs and legs (2-3 chicken leg quarters)
• 3 Tbsp canola oil/olive oil, evenly mixed
• 2-3 onions, sliced top to bottom
• 1 14 oz can diced tomatoes, drained
• Black pepper to taste
• 2 Tbsp sweet paprika, preferably Hungarian
• 2 tsp (or to taste), hot paprika or cayenne
• 1 Tbsp smoked paprika
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1/2 cup sour cream

Method

1 Let the chicken pieces sit at room temperature. Slice the onions lengthwise (top to root).

2 Add oil and heat a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, pat the chicken pieces dry with paper towels and place them skin-side down in the pan. Let the chicken pieces cook 4-5 minutes on one side, until well browned, then turn them over and let them cook 2-3 minutes on the other side. (Take care when turning so as not to tear the skin if any is sticking to the pan.) Remove the chicken from the pan to a bowl, set aside.

3 Add the sliced onions to the sauté pan and cook them, stirring occasionally, scraping up the browned bits from the chicken, until lightly browned, about 7 minutes.

4 Add the paprika and some black pepper to the onions and stir to combine. Add the tomatoes, chicken broth, again scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan, and then nestle the chicken pieces into the pan, on top of the onions. Cover and cook on a low simmer for 30 minutes (depending on the size of your chicken pieces). When the chicken is cooked through (at least 165° if you use a thermometer, or if the juices run clear, not pink when the thickest part of the thigh is pierced with a knife) remove the pan from the heat. (If you want, you can also keep cooking the chicken until it begins to fall off the bone, which may take another 30 minutes or so.)

5 When the chicken is done to your taste, remove the chicken from the pan. In a small bowl, mix sour cream with flour. Temper the mixture with some of the pan juices. Return tempered sour cream mixture to pan and simmer until juices are thickened. If the sour cream cools the sauce too much, turn the heat back on just enough to warm it through. Add the chicken back to the pan and coat with the sauce.

Gombapörkölt; Hungarian Mushroom Stew

Ingredients:
2 tbsp canola oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 large sweet onion, diced
1 lbs mushrooms, sliced
1 red or green bell pepper, diced
2 tbsp flour
2 tbsp Hungarian sweet paprika
1 1/2 tsp Hungarian hot paprika
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 cup cold water
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 tsp Carmel chicken soup mix, or 1 cube bouillon, crushed
3/4 cup plain yogurt
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Add the garlic and cook for about a minute, then add the onion. Continue cooking until the onion takes on an amber hue.

Add the mushrooms and red pepper. Stir and cook until the mushrooms begin to soften.

Combine the flour and paprika in a small bowl. Slowly whisk in the cold water, tomato paste and soup base, and whisk until smooth.

Pour this over the mushroom mixture. Lower the heat and cover the saucepan. Allow to simmer gently for about 20-25 minutes. Stir occasionally.

Stir in the yogurt until well combined; heat through. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper.

Can be served over cooked rice or egg noodles. I usually just have it on its own, like soup or stew.

Garnish with additional yogurt if desired.