Chix Dig Me

And I dig Chix.  Yes, the ladies, the dames, the birds, of course.   No surprise there.  But tonight I'm talking bout "chix".  Short for chicken...of the noodle soup variety.  Ok, so I've been on a bit of a soup kick lately.  But it ain't easy, and it takes a little time.   And then there's - well, the uhhh. . . alright alright, who'm I foolin'.  It's easy and it's quick, and what the hell - it's complex and limitless and delicious...just like zee womenz.  And but of course, just like zee women, practice makes perfect.

So today was another cool rainy day in Southern California.  It's been this way for a few days, and going to stay that way for a few more days, but I don't mind (yet).  But around lunch today I could feel that damp coolness settling in, and it just felt like chicken soup weather.   I'm not going to go on and on about this tonight - but I'm really digging this method I've "devised" of sauteing a base of vegetables - in this case garlic, onion, celery, mushrooms  - adding half of them to a chicken stock, letting that cook down a little more, then hand blending it all down to a much bolder broth.  Then adding the other half of sauteed vegetable intact, so you have a little something for the spoon.   Some chopped carrots are always a nice addition to the pot.   I also pan seared some chicken breasts, and then cut them into bits to be added to the soup.   Then, I added da noodle.  A nice, thick, fresh, pappardelle.  They cook down so-so-a nize.
Chopped fine some rosemary, tyme, and sage (what a great scent), added to the pot.  Eh, a little water, a little more salt/pepper. Simmer simmer simmer.   I dunno.   Practice makes. . . practice makes a helluva really awesome friggin chicken soup in about 45 minutes.

Also worthy of note:  Paired this with a glass of very affordable, and surprisingly enjoyable (as a neighbor concurred) zin from Trader Joes called Steelhead, from Sonoma, $6.99.  One of those lucky cheap picks from TJ's.  Notes of cherry and chocolate, kinda jammy, very nice with a stewy soup.

The Big Ragu

Ya know these little ads you see on the side of MSN.com or CNN or something for "recipe of the week" or "low calorie 30 minute meals!" ?  Maybe you don't.  I generally don't notice them either.  However,  today... something with Marcus Samuelsson's face referred to flank steak and ragu.   Marcus Samuelsson, ya know, Aquavit.  Celeb chef.  Yeah he's badass.   He's generally more on the Swedish/Scandinavian cuisine, so I don't know why he's pushing steak n potatoes, but ...

I saw him in New York once, at a Japanese restaurant where I was dining post-dinner-shift with two chef friends of mine.   He was sitting at a table with 5 or 6 supermodel types, a little toasted on aquavit(?) or sake or something, but we were all having fun and I'm pretty sure there are pictures/evidence of this floating around somewhere in the universe.  Anyway, I owe tonight's home cooked plate of awesomeness to him.
It was a very simple recipe.   Trader Joe's didn't have any flank steak though, so I opted for a nice, small NY strip.

Started with dicing about 2 cups of potatoes.  This was an exercise in knife skills - me dicing potatoes, trying my best to keep them equal in size.  Respectable job, but slower than a seasoned chef.  All things in due time, friends.  
Anyway - sauteed the buhdaydas for about 4 minutes w/ a little oil, salt, pepper.  Introduced a sliced red onion.  Let that cook down a bit.  Added a small can of diced tomatoes and a can of chick peas.  More salt pepper.   Let it cook down to a stewy ragu.   While this is cooking. . . marinated the steak in oil, salt, pepper, garlic, and chopped rosemary (ohhhhh yessss).   Heated up a pan nice and hot and seared that sucker!!  Nice char on both sides, even seared the big fat-strip on the side for added flaaavor.  Smell this:  Searing NY strip steak, garlic, rosemary, right next to a stewing pan of potatoes, onions, chick peas and tomatoes (and a little garlic in there too).   Friggin ree-diggaluss.

So simple.  So quick - even though I took my time.   Sooooo good.   Very much in part cuz I cooked that steak PERFECT medium rare (pics not showing the true reddish pink), and I let it rest for a good 6 or 7 minutes before slicing it, so them juices stayed put in the meat.   I don't sear steaks that often, so getting this right the first time was part gut, part luck.   But I'm telling ya, if I can cook a six dollar steak this precisely well with no practice - no one should ever accept a $30 steak from a steakhouse that is not cooked exactly how you want it.  Send that sh*t back if they can't do it right - at a steakhouse, that's ALL they do, there is zero tolerance for poor execution.
Well, another Monday - another very fine, very affordable home cooked meal for one.  And a good portion of the ragu leftover for tomorrow.   Thanks again Marcus.

Stew Deux

Quick update: Even better the second day!

Chicken Vegetable Stewp

Pictures aren't doing this justice. This was one of the finer tasting things I've made. Lot's of simple ingredients seasoned with nothing more than salt and pepper. It's the first cool, rainy night of autumn. Easy soup night.

Yes, more soup. But THIS time... more flavor. So much flavor and. . .texture(?), that it's kind of a cross between a soup and a stew. I'll call it a Stewp.

At Trader Joes. Picked up some essentials and got some good ideas along the way walking through the produce isle.

Home: diced a whole medium onion, chopped two medium yellow squash, 4 sticks of celery, 3 carrots, minced 5 small cloves of garlic. Sautee.

Took two medium boneless skinless chicken breasts, and cross cut them through the middle (they were a little thick). Salt, peppered, pan seared, put to the side.

Dumped a large can of diced tomatoes in a pot with a pint of chicken broth. Added the sauteed veggies, let them all simmer for 20 mins. Turned off the heat and broke out the immersible. Pureed all this goodness. At this point, by the way, two neighbors had forced their way upstairs and in to my kitchen because they could smell what was emanating from these pots and pans from all the way across the street. Of course they were welcomed to partake.

So now that I've blended everything down to one bold complex flavor, I separately sauteed some more roughly cut vegetables so there'd be some bite to this stew. Yellow squash, crimini mushrooms, carrots. Once they were cooked, I added them to the pot. Shredded three of the chicken breasts and added that to the pot. I also added a can of white kidney beans - it adds a little starch and well, there's a bean for just about any situation.

I let this all simmer down for a while, tasting along the way. Again, I only seasoned with salt and pepper, but I seasoned all of the steps individually, so that all the ingredients were seasoned just right on their own. Ultimately I didn't need to add any salt or pepper to the big pot because of this. However, the ultimate product tasted almost like I added chili powder or some additional heat. Kind of unexplainable.

For me, the test of how good something is, particularly soup, is how hard of a time I have putting it away. If it's good, I'm probably already in 3 bowls deep - but if I can't keep the spoon out of the pot on the way to the fridge, it's probably pretty dang good. So a dark rainy Monday night became a leisurely, soupy, chicken vegetable stew-filled bowl of hearty October. And actually I'm enjoying the rain, which is such a rarity. Of course, I just washed my car two days ago, so now it's spotty and muddy. But. . . ahhh chicken vegetable stewp.