Feel Good Simple Soup

Even when I am at the sickest of sick, I always seem to have enough strength in me to make chicken broth and turn it into some sort of comforting soup. There is something deeply therapeutic about standing over a stockpot full of chicken, vegetables and garlic, breathing in the salty plumes of steam. I came down with a flu on Tuesday and wanted nothing more than a perfect bowl of something chicken. I had roasted a chicken on the weekend (lucky me) and decided that a good broth was the best place to start.
After a slow-moving morning of lemon ginger tea and snoozing, I plunked the chicken bones in a stockpot with a large, quartered onion, three carrots cut into chunks, and a few ribs of celery, cut into large pieces. I also added about 5 cloves of garlic, with the skin still on. I filled the stock pot up with cold water, enough to generously cover the bones, turned the heat onto medium high, and waited for it to come to a boil.
Snooooze, sip, read.
I'm reading The Unbearable Lightness of Being right now, can't put it down. Thank goodness for riveting literature when one is ill!!
After the stock came to a boil, I turned it down to simmer (medium low) and let it cook away, uncovered for about 2 hours. When I woke up from my nap my apartment was filled with the comforting smell of nourishment and steamed up windows. I strained the broth into a bowl and let it cool for a couple of hours. The fat formed a film on top of the broth, and I just skimmed it off with a spoon.
After I make chicken stock I always sit in this place of possibility: what kind of creation will come out of this batch?
I wanted something quick, easy and that would get my blood moving. Lots of ginger and garlic. I decided to use the template of the Vietnamese Beef Ball soup that I can make in my sleep and would jab someone with my elbows to eat (it's that good) but I made it with ground chicken instead of beef, and I was really lazy about rolling them into balls. Good news: it turned out great.
I mixed a pound of ground chicken with lots of minced garlic (5 cloves), ginger, fresh chilies, soy sauce, sesame oil, fish sauce, minced cilantro and minced green onions. I brought my stock up to a boil, and reduced it to just a bit higher than medium. For the first round of chicken balls, I did roll them, but even by the time I had rolled enough to fit on a plate, I was getting lazy and really just spooning them onto the plate. I slid about 25 balls into the hot, bubbling broth, stirring occasionally until they rose to the top. I removed them with a slotted spoon and set aside. For the second round, I couldn't be bothered to roll each one out, so the process looked like scooping up the chicken mixture on a spoon with my right hand, using my left palm to shape it into a sort-of ball, and then dropping it into the broth. It turned out fine - gave the soup a sort of rustic look (or an "I'm really sick and lazy and my balls look sloppy look"- I'm not quite sure). When those were finished cooking, I removed them and then seasoned the broth. I used soy sauce, fish sauce, pepper and lime juice. Remembering that the chicken balls would be salty, I kept the broth simple. I added a bit of bok choy and torn up basil leaves, and cooked them until crisp and tender. I served the hot broth poured over the chicken balls, with the greens piled on top, and some beansprouts as garnish.
I impressed myself with this one. The broth was rich and complex, the chicken was fresh and bright, with the ginger and cilantro giving it a good zing. The fresh lime livened up the soup and the sprouts provided that gratuitous crunch that I can't seem to get enough of. I ate it for dinner last night, breakfast this morning...and I'm fairly certain I am going heat some up for a spot of lunch. The perfect, feel-good soup!!

End of the Week Fridge Fry

Status of my belly: Hungry.
Status of my fridge: Mostly empty.
Solution: Getting really creative.
Result: Surprisingly delicious.

So I came home from work tonight, ravenous and ready to put my feet up for the night.
20 minutes, I tell myself. Make something in 20 minutes and you'll make it.
First thing I do is measure out 1/2 cup basmati rice, rinse it a couple times with cold water and put it in a small pot with just under a cup of water. Bring it to a boil and then turn it down to low. Timer set for 15 minutes. I open the fridge, and it's pretty sad. I take a deep breath and looked closer: Swiss chard, dijon mustard, shallots, a lemon, a leek, butter, fresh chilies, garlic...so I just started slicing.

I heat up a wok and add some butter and a little olive oil on medium high heat. I throw in the sliced shallots, chilies, some minced garlic, salt and pepper. Smells warm and sweet and golden. I add the chopped red stems of the chard and the sliced leeks. I cook these until soft and fragrant, about five minutes. Then I toss in a spoonful of dijon, stir and then a good, healthy squeeze of lemon. I finally throw in the sliced chard leaves. I cook for a couple minutes and pour onto a bowl of hot rice.

I'm scraping the bowl with chopsticks as I finish typing this post...

Who would have knew that could have come out of a 'mostly empty' fridge?!

Sausage and White Bean Soup (and my love for pork sausages)

The man in my life doesn't eat pork, so when he goes out of town...well..I pork out. I don't think the absence of regular pig in my diet is such a tragedy, it's pushed my culinary creativity to new limits. When I am out for breakfast, though, there's always an order of crispy bacon on the side.

Often times my inspiration for food comes to me while I am napping. Yesterday, for instance, I awoke with sausage and white bean soup on my mind. I could not stop thinking about the creaminess of the beans mixed with the salty richness of pork sausage. I hit the grocery stores with intention and let the inspiration flow. I chose some beautiful Swiss chard to green up my soup, navy beans, leeks, carrots, celery and mini farfalle pasta noodles.

My favourite butcher in this city is Jackson's on West 4th avenue. It's a historical landmark in Kitsilano - it's been there since 1911. The butchers there are friendly, knowledgeable and extremely helpful. The man helping me didn't even judge me for drooling over the sausages. I had my eyes on the stacks and stacks of pork sausages behind the squeaky clean glass. I chose hot italian and chorizo for my soup and got a litre of turkey stock (three cheers for thanksgiving living on!), a half litre of chicken stock and a half litre of lamb stock.

I am a huge proponent to finding inspiration for dinner as one shops. I could practically taste the clear, rich, flavourful broth in my mouth as I walked out of the butcher shop. Maybe it was Thanksgiving weekend, leaving me totally breaded out. I probably ate my body weight in stuffing on Monday. Regardless, I wanted something light yet dramatically satisfying. This was going to be it.

I hurried home and got to chopping. I chopped 4 cloves of garlic, an onion, 2 leeks
(I cut the tough green ends off, sliced them lengthwise, cleaned out the sand, and then sliced them thinly) 4 carrots, 5 ribs of celery and 2 chili peppers. I heated up a large stock pot just past medium head, added a good healthy glug of olive oil and then added the garlic and chilies. I fried this for maybe 30 seconds before adding the leeks and the onions. I cooked these until they were soft and translucent and then added the carrots and celery. I like chopping all my vegetables for soup small and in uniform size. It makes the soup look fancy and it assures that everything cooks evenly. I chopped three chorizo and three hot italian sausages up and added them to the pot next. After a few minutes I added the three types of stock, brought the soup to a boil and reduced the heat to medium low. I also added a couple sprigs of fresh thyme, salt and pepper. I let this simmer for about half an hour, then added about 1/2 cup of the mini farfalle noodles. I always overestimate how many noodles I'll need, and then the soup ends up sucking up all that beautiful broth I work so hard for. This time I was not so foolish. 1/2 cup looks like nothing, but those little noodles plump up!! When the pasta was cooked al dente (still a bit of bite to it) (Italian for 'to the tooth'), I added the sliced chard, cooked it until it was bright green and tender. I seasoned the soup with a bit more salt and pepper before serving it.

Now, I have to admit, sometimes I really impress myself. This was most certainly one of those times. Please, make this soup, share it with your friends and family. Nothing like a warm bowl of nourishing soup on a cold, Autumn night to keep you warm. Try it, love it, learn it, share it.

Happy Cooking!