Sausage and White Bean Cassoulet

This is one of those recipes that you would be proud to serve to company yet it's ridiculously simple. My favorite recipe type by far. While it could definitely be gussied up by adding some confit, some homemade bread crumbs, or maybe serving it over some sort of puree, I liked it just the way it was. Served with some french bread torn right off the loaf, a glass of wine and a simple salad with nothing more than red leaf lettuce and some homemade vinaigrette. Yup, this was winter Friday night staycation worthy alright. Follow it up with a documentary and some downloading of Nico records and I'm in heaven.

I modified the recipe a little and added some spices to the tomatoes before they went into the oven. I also added much more than a "glug" of wine...I like to drink my wine in as many ways as possible. Enjoy!

Sausage and White Bean Cassoulet

recipe from Sweet Sugar Bean

2 pints of cherry tomatoes
4-6 hot Italian sausages OR Chorizo sausages
4 large garlic cloves, smashed
1 onion, cut into wedges
extra virgin olive oil
balsamic vinegar
coarse salt and pepper

few sprigs fresh thyme OR rosemary

3 cups cooked white navy beans or white kidney beans OR 1 19 oz can (540ml) of white beans, rinsed and drained well
chicken broth or white wine(optional)

Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 425 *F.
Scatter tomatoes over bottom of dish (reserve about 1/2 cup to add later). Add garlic, onion and sausages over top. Drizzle with balsamic and olive oil. Toss on rosemary and sprinkle with S & P and other spices if using. Bake about 25-30 minutes, for sausages to be golden and tomatoes start to burst. Remove from oven and stir in beans and reserved 1/2 cup of cherry tomatoes. If you'd like a bit more sauce with your beans, add a glug or white wine or chicken stock. Return to oven and bake 20 minutes longer or until beans are cooked through. Serve with bread and butter for dunking; green salad on the side. Makes enough for 4.

Snug as a bug

In go the beans

C'est fini

Hot and Sour Mushroom, Cabbage and Rice Soup

This was seriously the most delicious thing that I have made in a while. The moment I saw this recipe in my email from The Kitchn I knew I had to make it as soon as humanly possible and I am so very glad I did.

I have always loved hot and sour soup at Chinese restaurants, though I have not had it in a very long time. This soup was not quite exactly the same as how I remember traditional hot and sour soup, but the flavors were very similar. This soup is much different than soups I typically make, flavorwise, but I loved it. I never thought I would create such a close replica of hot and sour soup at home as quickly and easily as it was with this recipe.

I modified the recipe a touch from the original, but only adding an onion and shredded chicken. I didn't have any home made stock to use, but store bought worked great for me. I could not stop oohing and aahing over how delicious it was! In fact I think as soon as I finish with this post I will go eat another bowl of it.

I highly recommend making this soup if you are in dire need of a winter blues remedy, as the original post suggested. It definitely made me happy.  This could very easily be made vegan by omitting the chicken and using veggie broth. I also think it would be great to add more vegetables like carrots or using brussels sprouts in place of cabbage or tossing some spinach in or any other veggie that needs to get used up. The broth is so flavorful!



Without further ado, here is the recipe as I made it.

Hot and Sour Mushroom, Cabbage and Rice Soup: (makes about 8 servings)

Ingredients:
-1 tablespoon canola oil
-1 small onion, julienned
-1/2 pound cremini or shiitake mushroom caps, thinly sliced
-1 to 3 jalapeno peppers, finely diced (I used 2 red peppers because the store didn't have jalapenos, and I wish I had used more, but topping the finished soup with Sriracha chili sauce did the trick!)
-6 cloves garlic, minced
-One 3-inch lump ginger, grated, or 1 tablespoon ginger puree
-3 limes, zested and juiced
- 8 cups broth — turkey, chicken, or vegetable
-2 boneless and skinless chicken breasts
-1/2 cup jasmine rice
-1/2 small head green cabbage, cut in half and shaved thin 
-2 tablespoons soy sauce, plus more to serve
-Chili garlic sauce or kimchi, to serve

 

Process:

-Heat the oil in a large heavy pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until translucent.

-Add the mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes without stirring. Toss the mushrooms after 5 minutes and cook for an additional 5 minutes, or until well-browned.

- Add the diced peppers, garlic, and ginger and cook for about five minutes or until fragrant and slightly softened. (This smelled incredible!)



-Add the lime zest, chicken, and broth and bring to a simmer. Simmer for about 15 minutes or until chicken is cooked.

-Remove chicken from pot, add the rice, cover, and simmer for about 20 minutes or until the rice is just barely soft.

-While the rice is simmering, shred the chicken.

-Once the rice is barely soft, add the shredded chicken back to the pot along with the shaved cabbage, lime juice, and soy sauce.

-Simmer for another few minutes or until cabbage is hot.

-Serve with extra soy sauce, lime wedges, and kimchi or chili garlic sauce.

 Now I'm hungry. Enjoy!

Chicken Pot Pie

We arrived home from a two week trip to Spain to find that fall has hit in Portland! Which is just dandy by me, I sure do love this season. All the traveling and hotel hopping left me yearning to spend the day in my kitchen so I decided to spend my Sunday making this very involved, from scratch, chicken pot pie that I got from the new Bon Appetit magazine. It was the perfect cure for fall weather and the need to cook. I went above and beyond on this one and even pulled the meat from the chicken carcass with my bare hands, a first and most likely a last for me. I'm not as carnivorous as I may have thought after shirking my vegetarian upbringing some 12 years ago. Overall, this recipe turned out really well but I think I prefer Ina Garten's Chicken Stew with Biscuits more. It's an all time favorite. This recipe can be a close second though and one to keep around should I ever need to impress anyone with my chicken ripping skills.


Chicken Pot Pie
slightly altered from Bon Appetit

Crust
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup (2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2" cubes
1/4 cup vegetable shortening

Chicken
2 cups peeled, coarsely chopped carrots
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
1 leek, coarsely chopped
1 3-pound whole chicken
4 celery stalks, coarsely chopped
6 sprigs thyme
1 cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
1 tablespoon tomato paste

Filling
2 tablespoons dried chanterelle or shittake mushrooms
1 cupo 1/2" slices of carrots
1 cup fresh (or frozen, thawed) peas
1 cup fresh (or I used frozen already peeled) pearl onions
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
3/4 cup all purpose flour
6 fresh sage leaves
4 thyme sprigs
2 sprigs rosemary
1 cup button mushrooms
1 cup 1/4" rounds sliced fingerling potatoes
1 egg, beaten to blend
coarse sea salt and ground pepper

PREPERATION:

Crust

Mix flour, salt, and baking powder in a food processor. Add cubed butter and shortening and process until mixture resembles coarse meal with some pea-size lumps. With machine running, add 1/2 cup ice water and process, adding more water by teaspoonfuls if dry, until dough forms. Form dough into a ball; flatten into a disk. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place chilled dough on a lightly floured surface and roll out to a 12x9 1/2" rectangle, about 1/4" thick. Place on prepared sheet and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Chill. DO AHEAD: Can be made 6 hours ahead. Keep chilled.

Chicken

Preheat oven to 400°. Place carrots, onion, and leek on a rimmed baking sheet and roast until golden brown, about 30 minutes. Transfer to a large pot fitted with a lid. Add chicken, breast side down, celery, thyme sprigs, wine, salt, and peppercorns to pot. Add 8 cups water to cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer gently for 10 minutes. Remove pot from heat, cover, and poach chicken until cooked through, about 35 minutes.
Remove chicken from pot and set aside until cool. Reserve broth. Shred meat; discard skin and bones. Set a large strainer over another pot. Strain broth into clean pot. Stir in tomato paste. Return to medium heat and simmer, uncovered, until reduced to 5 cups, about 40 minutes. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Chill uncovered until cool. Cover chicken and broth separately; keep chilled. Rewarm broth before continuing.

Filling

Place dried chanterelles in a small bowl and cover with 1 cup hot water. Let steep for 10 minutes; set aside. Reserve soaking liquid. Cook carrots in a large saucepan of boiling salted water until crisp-tender, about 2 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a medium bowl. Add peas to saucepan; cook for 1 minute; transfer to bowl with carrots. Add onions to saucepan and cook until crisp-tender, about 2 minutes. Remove from pot and set aside; let cool. Peel onions. In a large heavy saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Whisk in flour. Cook over medium-low heat, whisking constantly, until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Whisk in herbs and warm broth from chicken. Using a slotted spoon, transfer chanterelles to saucepan. Pour in soaking liquid, leaving sediment behind. Simmer for 20 minutes. Set a strainer over another large pot. Strain broth into pot; discard solids. Add chicken, carrots, peas, onions, mushrooms, and potatoes. Bring to a simmer. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Chill uncovered until cool; cover and keep chilled. Rewarm before continuing. Preheat oven to 400°. Spoon filling into an 11x8x2" or 2 1/2-qt. round baking dish. (Add pie bird, if using.) Top with pastry, pinching edges to seal. If not using pie bird, cut a 1" slit in center of crust for steam to vent. Brush pastry with beaten egg, and sprinkle with sea salt and pepper, if desired. Place pot pie on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly, about 45 minutes.

Poaching the chicken and making the stock base

Stirring the roux

The filling. so good


et voila