Monday, Blue Monday

Well yesterday I turned my kitchen over to Kelly to develop a new recipe for us. We'll call it Kelly Lute's Mexican Minestrone. Nice catchy name for one very delicious and nutricious soup. Let me say that all of the ingredients except ONE were left over from Sunday evenings Braised Chicken Taco feed with Sue and Dave. Here goes, give it a try and let me know what changes you made and how it came out.

2 whole 1/2 chicken breasts or 6 thighs
1 Qt chicken stock
6 Dried California/New Mexico Chilis, roast and cut up remove stems.
1 lg. canned plum tomatoes chopped coarsely
2 medium fresh tomatioes coarsly chopped
4 cloves fresh garlic crushed
1 can (2 cups dry) black beans
2 corn tortillas, julienned wide
2 large white onions coarsely chopped
2 Teaspoons smoked paprika
1 Teaspoon lemon juice
8 small radishes, thinly sliced
1/4 head red/black cabbage coarsely chopped
OPTIONAL: 1 Teaspoon red pepper flakes
4 Tablespoons chopped fresh corriander (cilantro)
4 Tablespoons grated monterey jack or cheddar cheese.

Soak beans overnight or cook til just done (3 hours)
Chop the chicken into 1 1/2" pieces, fold into smoked paparika and saute in olive oil til just done.
Combine all the rest of the ingredients except the CILANTRO in a large pot. Simmer 1 1/2 - 2 hrs.
Serve in large bowls and cover with tablespoon of cilantro and a tablespoon of the grated cheese.

Easy filling meal for 4 - 6. Serve with slices of fresh bread and butter for dipping.

Did you know in the middle ages the word "SOUP" was the piece of bread to be dipped in the porridge of the day.

Have fun! Be healthy!

Sous Chef and the Saladarie

Huh? You ask, what is this post about? Well, while I have been laid up these last three weeks my expert sous chef has been preparing meals, making salads and soups as is her will. I watch these goings on with some particular interest as the chef of the house and presumably the keeper of the kitchen. The division of labor is blurry at times admittedly so...as the sous chef Kelly takes all aspects of food preparation quite seriously. I do too but with somewhat less vigor I think. I have learned, over time, that she needs this creative outlet herself so that I don't get the idea that somehow I am the ONLY cook on the premises. Nooooo. So at this time she is making clam chowder, a soup, her recipe or her mother's and I am but a witness. This is definitely a sous chef job even in a professional kitchen, making delicious, nutritious soups and porridge's. I, as a chef person apparently do not posses that set of skills as she has been the only one to ever make soup under this roof that I can recall. The sous chef also has other assignments taken as her charge, ie: salad making and salad dressings. All hers...I do not meddle in greenery eaten fresh, I will cook it. The dressings are always hers as well and are uniformly delicious and properly applies to said salads. In France this division of labor is heightened as we possess no less than 2 kitchens under one roof. Thus we have her kitchen and his. I refer to her kitchen as a saladarie, a place where salads and associated foods are prepared, while my rustic, wood beamed place of cuisine is the True Kitchen. I make some of the things that she uses in the saladarie, that is true. I bake bread, roast chicken, make stocks that ultimately find their purpose under her careful eyes. Rarely does she venture into my kitchen except to be sure I've cleared all the pots and pans and dirty dishes to the saladarie where the kitchen cleanup chores are completed by the dishwasher (don't ask). I do the cleaning of all my pots and pans and put them away. Silverware is transported to the saladarie along with all dishes from the adjoining dining room and prep area. You see this is a serious undertaking this food preparation stuff and we both are quite involved much to the chagrin, sometimes, of the other. Such goes Life in France and Life in Suisun this day. The chowder smells great!