Tomato Chowder with Mollet Eggs

I'm posting a recipe that isn't from America's Test Kitchen. I can't believe it! But Dave and I love to watch Jacques Pepin - especially when he's making cous-cous - because he's so fun to listen to with that silly French lisp. And because Create on PBS is the closest thing we have to the Food Network (although I would argue that it's actually better).

I watched Pepin make this Saturday morning, and although we have yet to try it, I can't stop thinking about it. Can't wait to make it this weekend with some Gruyere grilled cheese. Nom Nom. 

A French favorite, mollet (moll-ay) eggs are similar to poached eggs in texture, with runny yolks and soft whites. The eggs are cooked in their shells in barely boiling water for about 6 minutes, then thoroughly cooled and carefully shelled. This basic tomato soup, topped with the eggs and large croutons made from country-style bread, can be made vegetarian by replacing the chicken stock with vegetable stock or water. Serves 4.

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped (1 1/4 cups)
6 scallions, trimmed (leaving some green) and chopped (3/4 cup)
1 carrot, peeled and coarsely chopped (1/2 cup)
3 garlic cloves, crushed and chopped
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 cups homemade chicken stock or low-salt canned chicken broth
12 ounces cherry tomatoes
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon dried sage
1 15-ounce can plum tomatoes

GARNISHES
4 slices country-style bread, preferably stale, for croutons
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 small garlic clove
4 large eggs
1/2 cup grated Gruyère or Emmenthaler cheese

Heat the olive oil in a large stainless steel saucepan. When the oil is hot but not smoking, add the onion, scallions, carrot, and garlic and cook over high heat, stirring constantly, for 4 to 5 minutes. Sprinkle the flour on top of the mixture, stir thoroughly, and cook for 1 minute longer, stirring. Mix in the stock.

Meanwhile, process the cherry tomatoes in a food processor until coarsely chopped. (You should have about 1 1/2 cups.) Add the cherry tomatoes to the soup, along with the salt, pepper, thyme, and sage. Process the can of plum tomatoes for 5 seconds, and add to the soup. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, then cover, reduce the heat to low, and cook for 20 minutes.

MEANWHILE, PREPARE THE GARNISHES: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Brush the bread slices with the olive oil and arrange them in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until nicely browned. Rub one side of the croutons with the garlic clove, and set them aside.

Using a thumbtack or pushpin, make a hole in the rounded end of each egg. Gently lower the eggs into a pan containing enough boiling water to cover them and cook for about 6 minutes in barely boiling water. Drain the hot water from the pan and shake the pan to crack the shells of the eggs on all sides. Fill the pan with ice and water and set the eggs aside to cool completely.

When the eggs are cool, peel them carefully (so as not to damage the yolks, which are still runny) under cool running water. Keep the eggs in cold water until just before serving. (The eggs can be cooked up to a few hours ahead and refrigerated in the cold water.)
At serving time, drain the cold water from the eggs and replace it with hot tap water. Let stand for 5 minutes, so the eggs are lukewarm inside.

Bring the soup to a strong boil, and ladle it into four bowls. Place an egg in the center of each bowl, and wait for a couple of minutes for the eggs to warm in the center. Place a crouton in each bowl and serve, sprinkled with the cheese.

Simpler Shrimp Bisque

I've never met a bisque I didn't like.

"To build a shrimp bisque with real shrimp flavor, we didn’t toss out the shrimp shells. Instead we sautéed them until bright pink, added mirepoix, and made a quick shrimp stock. This shrimp stock formed the base of our bisque. Heavy cream added richness, and a little sherry rounded out the flavor. Finally, to keep the shrimp from overcooking and becoming rubbery, we added them off the heat and let the residual heat of the bisque gently cook them though. Serves 6 to 8."

4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 pounds medium-large (31-40) shrimp, peeled and shells reserved, shrimp deveined and chopped
2 onions, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 celery ribs, chopped
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons tomato paste
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups dry white wine
6 cups water
2 sprigs fresh thyme
2 cups heavy cream
1 tablespoon dry sherry
Salt and pepper

1. Melt butter in Dutch oven over medium heat. Cook shrimp shells until spotty brown, about 5 minutes. Add onions, carrots, and celery and cook until browned, 6 to 8 minutes. Stir in flour and cook, stirring constantly, until golden, about 2 minutes. Add tomato paste and garlic and cook until fragrant and paste begins to darken, about 2 minutes. Stir in wine and simmer, scraping up any browned bits, until thickened, 2 to 3 minutes. Add water and thyme and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until slightly thickened, about 30 minutes.

2. Strain contents of pot through fine-mesh strainer into large saucepan, pressing on solids to extract as much liquid as possible; discard solids. Stir in cream and sherry and bring to simmer. Off heat, add chopped shrimp, cover pot, and let sit until shrimp are cooked through, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve.

Lasagna Soup

What a perfect day for some "nice" soup! It's cold outside and some snow flakes have started to fall. I tried this recipe last year and it has become one of my favorite soup recipes! So, I came across it the other day and decided it was time to make it again. Alex helped me with the preparation and it turned out better than I remember! We both had seconds.

LASAGNA SOUP

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1 pound hot italian sausage

1 large onion, diced

2 large cloves garlic, minced

2 medium zucchini, halved and sliced

1/2 tsp. dried basil

1/2 tsp. dried oregano

1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

One 14.5 oz. can diced fire roasted or italian seasoned tomatoes

One 15 oz. can tomato sauce

32 oz. chicken broth

kosher salt & freshly ground pepper

1 package frozen spinach

1 c. mini Farfalle pasta - optional

ricotta cheese - optional

fresh basil chopped - optional

In a saucepan or stockpot heat the olice oil over medium heat. Add the sausage, onions, and garlic. Cook until sausage is browned and onions are softened. Add zucchini, spices, tomatoes and sauce, and chicken broth. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to med-low and simmer for 15 minutes. Add spinach and pasta, if using, and continue to cook until pasta is done, about 7 minutes.

Mix ricotta cheese and basil together and use for garnish if desired.

Cajun Chicken, Sausage & Corn Stew

Taken from The Best Slow & Easy Recipes by the Editors of Cook's Illustrated, 2008.

This homey dish is usually served with a crusty, rustic loaf of bread to help sop up the sauce and plenty of hot sauce; you can also serve this over plain baked rice. We just ate it straight up.

6 ears corn, husks and silk removed (we used frozen kernels instead)
3 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (8 to 10 thighs), trimmed
salt and ground black pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 pound kielbasa sausage, sliced 1/4 inch thick (we used turkey kielbasa)
2 red bell peppers, stemmed, seeded, and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 medium onion, minced
2 celery ribs, minced
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed through a garlic press (about 4 teaspoons)
1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme or 1/4 teaspoon dried
3 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 bay leaves
1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves, minced

1. Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 300 degrees. Working with one ear of corn at a time, stand the corn on end inside a large bowl. Use a paring knife to cut the kernels off the cob. Using the back of a butter knife, scrape any remaining pulp off the cob and into the bowl. Discard the cobs.

2. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add half of the chicken and brown on both sides, 5 to 8 minutes, reducing the heat if the pot begins to scorch. Transfer the chicken to a medium bowl. Repeat with the remaining 1 tablespoon oil and the remaining chicken; transfer to the bowl. When the chicken is cool enough to handle, remove and discard the skin.

3. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of the fat left in the pot. Add the kielbasa and cook over medium heat until it begins to brown, about 2 minutes. Stir in the peppers, onions, celery, cayenne, and 1/4 teaspoon salt and cook until the vegetables are softened, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in the garlic and thyme and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the corn, scraping up any browned bits. Stir in the broth and bring to a simmer.

4. Add the chicken with any accumulated juices and the bay leaves and bring to a simmer. Cover, place the pot in the oven, and cook until the chicken is very tender but not quite falling off the bone, about 1 1/4 hours.

5. Remove the pot from the oven, transfer the chicken to a cutting board, and remove the bay leaves. When the chicken is cool enough to handle, remove the meat from the bones and shred into large pieces; discard the bones.

6. If the sauce is too thin, continue to simmer the stew over medium-high heat as needed to thicken. Off the heat, stir in the shredded chicken, cover, and let stand for 5 minutes. Stir in the cilantro and season with salt and pepper to taste before serving.

Farmhouse Chicken Chowder

Since Dave and I love Cook's Illustrated so much, we decided to subscribe to the other publication by America's Test Kitchen, Cook's Country, which is equally as good and arguably better based on number of recipes and your own personal tastes. The April/May cover features some fluffy cream cheese biscuits which are a similar variation of the cream biscuits Jeni just posted. Biscuits are absolutely essential for the Farmhouse Chicken Chowder.

I was first drawn in by the picture and then the fact that it didn't require a whole lot of ingredients (we have to get rid of all perishable items before the impending move so our kitchen is looking pretty barren these days), loved that it only takes thirty minutes but then was completely sold when it called for a store-bought rotisserie chicken! I was planning to hold off until I was out in Denver with my trusty sous chef by my side, but just couldn't wait, so I recruited some friends to help me eat the whole pot. It was super yummy and even better with some fresh biscuits. Think chicken and dumplings with bacon fat!

6 slices of bacon, chopped
6 scallions, white parts chopped fine and green parts sliced thin
2 carrots, peeled and sliced thin
1 celery rib, sliced thin
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
5 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 pound red potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 rotisserie chicken, skin discarded, meat shredded into bite-size pieces (about 3 cups)
1 cup half-and-half

Cook bacon in Dutch oven over medium heat until crisp, about 8 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer bacon to paper towel-lined plate. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of fat from pot. Cook scallion whites, carrots, celery and 1/2 teaspoon of salt in bacon fat until vegetables are softened, about 5 minutes. Add flour and cook until golden, 1 to 2 minutes.

Stir in broth and potatoes and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, until vegetables are tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Add chicken and half-and-half and simmer until chicken is heated through, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with bacon and scallion greens. Serve.

Note: For a richer soup, use cream instead of half-and-half (of course I did this).

Sweet Potato and Sausage Soup

I've been looking for some recipes for soup that my family will love. I came across this soup recipe at SmittenKitchen.com and wowza, was it good! The chorizo that I had on hand was not "sliceable" and cooked up into a sort of mash. It had such great flavor, but little substance. I sliced up a package of beef brats and threw them in and that did the trick! I made a rustic loaf of no-knead bread that went perfectly with the soup. I've learned by trial and error, that the best way to make the bread is to let it do it's second rising in a large bowl, lined with a piece of parchment paper. Then you just lift it into your heated dutch oven and you don't have to fuss with wheat bran or cornmeal. This was a meal that made us all happy. It deserves a smiley face!