My good friend, Cyber Momma at Homegrown Minds brought Food & Wine’s Garlicky White Bean Soup with Chicken and Chard recipe to my attention a couple of weeks ago, and I decided to give it a try tonight. I followed the recipe exactly with two exceptions: I added portobello mushrooms and a little white wine. Per the recipe’s suggestion, I paired the soup with a fresh loaf of Dutch Crust and a green salad. It turned out to be a delicious meal about which I could feel good.
I’ve been experimenting a bit in the kitchen of late.In the last two days, I’ve backed two loaves of Honey-Whole Wheat Bread from Betty Crocker’s New Cookbook.
and Coq au Vin from Clean Eating magazine’s November/December 2012 issue.
Truth be told, I’m not too thrilled with either endeavor. I prefer my bread to have more texture. Although this was wheat bread, it had the texture of white. So, I’m now in search of a bread recipe with more twigs and bark. 🙂
As for the coq au vin, it’s delicious, but somehow mine has the consistency of mush. I’m trying to figure out where exactly I went wrong. I’m thinking it has something to do with the potatoes. The picture in the magazine looks much more appetizing. Still, as I said, the flavor is good, and this dish wont go to waste.
P.S.: I think I finally realized why my coq au vin became mushy. The recipe called for new potatoes. I used larger potatoes that I peeled and diced. If I had used new potatoes still in their skin, I think they would not have become mushy. Next time!
After all of the sugar and white flour that was our Christmas, I craved some healthy food. At the same time, I didn’t want to brave the shops just yet. So, I put together this fabulous stew from items on hand. Since I made it up as I went, the proportions are imprecise. This made two large crockpots of stew.
6 chicken breasts
4 stocks of broccoli
5 large yams, peeled and cut into chunks
1 large red onion
2 cartons of sliced mushrooms
a colander full of assorted red, yellow, and orange mini bell peppers
1 pound kidney beans
1 pound white beans
2 cartons of chicken broth
1 cup white wine
2 boxes of Pomo diced tomatoes
oregano
thyme
basil
garlic salt
4 bay leaves
Soak and cook the beans according to directions. Divide between two pots. Dice the onion and bell peppers and saute with the mushrooms in olive oil. Divide between pots, along with the broccoli and yams. Pour one carton of chicken broth in each and split the wine between the two pots. Place three chicken breasts in each pot and pour the tomatoes over the chicken. Make sure the chicken is submerged. Season to taste. (I threw in liberal amounts of each spice.)
Cook on high for two hours and on low for 10. The chicken should break up with a fork.
Enjoy!