Comfort Food: Chicken Soup with Sweet Potatoes

As the weather gets colder, you really can't beat chicken soup.  A big bowl can comfort and cure.  Feeling a bit under the weather?  Grab a bowl of chicken soup to help warm you and clear your sinuses!  The lack of daylight hours post-daylight savings gotcha down?  Ladle out the chicken soup and light a fire (or, as in my apartment, flip the switch to turn on the gas!).  Chicken soup can be extremely simplistic, but this time of year gives you an excuse to gather a plethora of seasonal, delicious produce and other ingredients to put a twist on the old favorite.

Believe it or not, I am also keeping with the "Travel" aspect of my blog with this entry.  Chicken soup is one of the most versatile "foods" - it can be found anywhere there are chickens.  Each culture puts its own twist on the dish - from Colombian ajiaco to one of my absolute favorite soups, Thailand's Tom Kha Gai.  I'm keeping things relatively simple with this recipe, though - I like to think of it as pure American comfort food.

I frequent a college friend's blog, aptly named, "Get Off Your Tush and Cook."  If anyone is interested in easy, healthy cooking, make sure to visit!  The soup recipe that I have enclosed in this blog entry is adapted from her version of a Foster's Market recipe.  Anyone who went to Duke knows the significance of Foster's Market - if you are ever in the Durham/Chapel Hill area, make sure to pay a visit!

Ingredients (Makes about 3 quarts of soup):

- 2 tbs. butter

- 1 tbs. olive oil

- 1 red onion

- 3 shallots

- 1 green bell pepper

- 4 ribs of celery

- 6 tsp. minced garlic (6 cloves)

- 2 large sweet potatoes

- 14 1/2 oz. can of diced tomatoes

- 1 rotisserie chicken (I bought mine already cooked from my grocery store)

- 8 cups chicken broth

- 1 tsp. red pepper flakes

- 1 tsp. dried marjoram

- 3 bay leaves

- salt and pepper

Start chopping and dicing!  You should start with your red onion and shallots in one bowl, then your celery and green pepper in another bowl.  Feel free to dice or chop as finely/coarsely as you please.

It's helpful to have another helper to help with the chicken.  Help.  But seriously, this part is kind of fun - you basically get to rip apart a chicken.  Just pull off whatever chunks of meat you can.  Just remember that you will eventually put the entire carcass into your soup, and a lot of the remaining meat will just fall off into the soup (aka soooo good).  So don't spend too much time on the chicken!

Pull out a big pot or Dutch Oven and add the olive oil and butter.  Heat and melt over medium heat.  Then add the shallots and onion and sauté until soft and golden, about 10-15 minutes.

As the onion and shallots cook, chop up your sweet potatoes into 1-inch cubes.

Now add your celery and green bell pepper.  Season with a bit of salt and pepper.  Cook for another 5 minutes as the pepper and celery start to soften.

Now add the garlic.  Cook for another 3 minutes.

Add the sweet potatoes, tomatoes, broth, red pepper flakes, marjoram, bay leaves, and about a teaspoon each of salt and pepper.  Add the chicken pieces, as well.

Now add the big chicken carcass!

 

 

Simmer uncovered at a reduced heat for about an hour until the sweet potatoes are nice and soft.

Remove the chicken carcass and bay leaves.  Also try to remove any other chicken bones that may remain.

And now you are ready to serve, perhaps with a bit more salt and pepper to taste.  I highly recommend accompanying this yummy, comforting soup with a nice whole grain bread.  And it is GREAT the next day or the day after that...or later that week.  Just reheat and add a bit more broth if necessary!

Excursion to Nashville for Music and Southern Inspired Food

Over Columbus Day weekend, my family went out to Nashville, Tennessee, to visit my brother.  And by "my family," I mean 20 people.  Why would we flock to Nashville in such large numbers?  Clearly just "to visit my brother" would not be enough (love you, bro!).  And eating some delicious Southern cookin' was almost a good enough reason.  But the real reason is because my musically gifted brother had his senior recital, and several of his compositions were performed by a total of more than 45 musicians (one piece was written for an orchestra).  That justified the trip, for sure!  All those that are musically inclined (and those that are not) - feel free to visit his website to listen to some recordings of his compositions.  You won't regret it.

But now back to travel and food.  My brother was in charge of the music, I was in charge of planning food and events for the group (aka I appointed myself for this highly important position).  Our first stop on the tour was a visit to the Cheekwood Botanical Gardens.  There just happened to be (it was planned) a wonderful Chihuly Exhibit going on at the time.  About 15-20 of his glass sculptures were on display, but not in a museum, as you might expect.  The pieces were integrated with the plants and gardens at Cheekwood.  Beautiful fire red and ocean turquoise glass were intermingled with bamboo shoots and reeds.  Large glass towers and shiny glass balls were set in Japanese gardens and grassy fields.  Take a look at the beauty of nature and glass:

It was a wonderful day, and the group thoroughly enjoyed the fusion of art and the outdoors.  But the group got hungry rather quickly...good thing I had lunch all set up!  We graced the Belle Meade Plantation with our presence for Southern inspired café style food at Belle.  My husband had a Reuben, of course.  And he was SO happy that they had Russian dressing - because the substitution of Thousand Island dressing just never quite hits the spot!  My mother had fried chicken and waffles - it doesn't get more Southern comfort than that.

I had one of the best sandwiches I have ever had in my life: the Southern BLT.  I LOVE a typical BLT.  Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato just seem to hit the spot.  But this was not your typical BLT.  This Southern adapted, slightly gourmet sandwich contained Applewood smoked bacon, lettuce, and FRIED GREEN TOMATOES on lightly toasted sourdough bread with a basil mayonnaise.  If your mouth ain't waterin' right now, you got problems.  And to top it all off, I had some pretty amazing sweet potato fries on the side.  Just sayin'.

In keeping in line with my Southern inspired lunch, we then visited The Hermitage, the plantation home of President Andrew Jackson.  The Hermitage opened as a museum in 1889 and has a nice museum and historical film narrated by the one and only Martin Sheen.  You can then tour the grounds and the home, which is in great condition. 

On the grounds, one can also view Andrew Jackson's tomb in the pretty gardens adjacent to the house.

All of the day's sightseeing certainly worked up an appetite (which was partially quenched by lunch, but we inevitably got hungry again for dinner).  In celebration of my brother's future (next day) accomplishment and the accumulation of family, we went to the Capitol Grille, one of the nicest restaurants in Nashville.  The Capitol Grille is also located in one of the most luxurious and historic hotels in Nashville, The Hermitage Hotel (not to be confused with Andrew Jackson's home).  My brother worked at the restaurant over the summer, so it was a perfect location for such a celebration.  And the food was very, very, very, very good.

We started out with Vidalia Onion Bisque with chives, bacon, and brie grilled cheese (they poured the soup into our bowls on top of the added ingredients - I LOVE when restaurants do that!  It's so cool!).

Then you had the choice of Roasted Chicken with Santee broccoli, glazed Kentucky chestnuts, and vin blanc OR Harris Ranch Beef Tenderloin with potatoes boulangerie and Sour wood braised carrots.  I, of course, had the steak...

 

For dessert, you could order the Coconut Cake with blueberry compote and yuzu anglaise or the Opera Torte with Espresso butter cream, hazelnut and chocolate ganache.  I ordered the Torte and ate a hefty portion of my husband's coconut cake.
 

 

Sunday was filled with Italian food at Amerigo, Mexican food at Taco Mamacita, and music.  Most of the crowd left on Sunday night or Monday morning, but a few of us were left behind to explore Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky.  The largest cave in the world deserves quite the tour, so four of us went on the 4 1/2 hour marathon excursion through a practically minuscule portion of the massive, or should I say mammoth, cave.  The tour included a brown bag style lunch--although the lunch was nothing to write home about, it was pretty good considering we ate it in a CAVE.  Take a look at this crazy underground wonder:

What can I say?  It was a fantastic weekend full of good company, good sites, and good eats.  Nashville is a great city - make sure to stop by sometime!  The saying, "Now y'all come back now, ya here?" definitely applies to our group!  Especially because we will venture out to Tennessee next May for someone's graduation...

I have plenty more photos where these came from.  If you want to see more, feel free to send me an email at kitchentravel@gmail.com.  I can send you (assuming you are somehow connected to me or to someone I know) public links to my facebook albums.

Littleneck Clams in a Spicy Thai Broth

I CAN'T BELIEVE that this is my first official post on Thai cuisine.  After spending our honeymoon in Thailand and eating our weight in curry, my husband and I have taken Thai cooking by storm.  I had long been a fan of Thai food, but cooking Thai dishes had been somewhat of an intimidating mystery.  If you want Thai food, you go to a Thai restaurant, right?  Wrong!  Well...you can get Thai food at a Thai restaurant, of course, but you can also make it yourself!!

Since the beginning trepidations, we have mastered the art of utilizing the grocery store bought curry paste, as well as other fresh, organic ingredients.  This recipe actually doesn't call for the pre-made paste--turmeric is the main spice that this meal relies on instead.  And while Thai dishes typically do include seafood, it's rare to see a dish on a Thai restaurant menu that only contains clams.  Why is that?  Clams are pretty awesome...

And while we are talking about clams, why do many people shy away from these delicious shellfish, in general?  Maybe they seem difficult to cook?  That's a myth (as I intend to prove in this blog entry).  Maybe eating whole clams in the shell are a bit outside of some people's comfort zone?  Get over it, clam chowdah lovers.  These are the same things, in a (nut)shell.  Maybe some are allergic to shellfish?  Uhhhh...I guess you probably shouldn't eat them then...that's an acceptable excuse.

But this delicious recipe should make (almost) everyone's mouths water.  And it is SUPER easy to make.

Ingredients (for 2 people):

- 2 lbs. littleneck (or similar) clams (available at most seafood departments of grocery stores - make sure you scrub and clean them)

- 1 1/2 cups bottled clam juice (in seafood department of grocery store)

- 5 shallots

- 2-3 vine ripened tomatoes (you need a cup, diced)

- 1 inch fresh ginger

- 1 jalapeño

- 2 green onions

- 1 can of unsweetened (and NOT light) coconut milk (typically 12-14 oz.)

- 1 tbs. vegetable oil

- 1 tsp. ground turmeric

- 1/4 tsp. ground cumin

- 3 tbs. lime juice

- White rice (I'll let you cook this on your own)

OK - get chopping!  You need to chop up your shallots, dice up your tomatoes, and mince your ginger and jalapeño (make sure to remove the seeds).  In the below image, I separated them into two different bowls (in the order that I will add them to the recipe) - shallots and ginger in one bowl, tomato and jalapeño in the other bowl.  I did this also because it photographs well...

Heat up the 1 tbs. of veggie oil in a large pot over medium heat (I prefer to use a Dutch oven for this...not sure why because it's not like it goes into the oven...but nonetheless, I use it).  Add the ginger and shallots to the pot and sauté until tender, about 3-5 minutes.

Now add the turmeric and cumin and stir up the mixture for a minute.

Now add the clams, clam juice, coconut milk, tomatoes, and jalapeño.  Add some salt and pepper, as well (eyeball it).  Bring this to a boil (you may need to increase the heat a bit). 

 

 

Cover the pot and simmer until the clams open up, which should take about 7 minutes. Make sure not to eat any that don't open up.  They may have their own clammy problems, or you may get a nice broth shot to the eye if you try too hard to open them.  But the main reason is so you don't get sick.  While simmering, finely slice/chop your green onions.

 

 

Now stir in the lime juice.  And you are all set to eat!  Put some white rice in a bowl, and serve the broth and clams on top.  Sprinkle with green onions and chow down!  I highly recommend accompanying your meal with a nice, light white wine like a Sauvignon Blanc.  And make sure to have an extra plate to discard the empty shells.  You could even make a necklace out of them!  ขอให้เจริญอาหาร!

 

 

Credits: My Littleneck Clams in a Spicy Thai Broth recipe is adapted from a Bon Appétit recipe that I found online.  All of the photos are of the cooking process.