butternut squash soup with shrimp

Everyday Food is great with making recipes that repeat ingredients so that you use up all that you buy but without getting bored of the flavors. I love that. This used that left over butternut squash from the chicken recipe as well as the fresh sage. I also used what was left of the chicken stock I made. You're definitely going to want to try it.

braised chicken with butternut squash and cranberries

I subscribe to Everyday Food magazine and love it. I like it so much I've given as a gift. I found this delicious fall recipe in this month's issue. It's also a way to use that delicious chicken stock I made. Here's the good part:

1 large butternut squash, peeled, halved and seeded
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 chicken leg quarters (2 1/2 lbs) split into drumsticks and thighs
1 red onion, cut into 1/2-inch wedges
2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
4 teaspoons all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup dried cranberries
course salt and ground pepper

1. Cut half the squash into 1/2-inch pieces and refrigerate for another recipe you'll see another time. Cut remaining squash into 1" pieces and set aside.
2. In a large dutch oven or other heavy pot, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium-high. Season chicken with salt and pepper and, in two batches, cook, skin side down, until skin is golden and crisp, about 5 minutes per batch. Transfer chicken to a plate; pour off fat from pot.
3. Add 1 tablespoon oil, reserved squash, and onion to pot and cook until vegetables are beginning to soften, about 5 minutes. Add sage, flour, coriander and nutmeg and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add broth and cook, stirring and scraping up any browned bits with a wooden spoon, 1 minute. Nestle chicken, skin side up, in squash mixture, add cranberries and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, partially cover, and simmer until chicken is cooked through and squash is tender 20-25 minutes.

Yum, right? I made a few tweaks. I used boneless skinless chicken breasts and didn't have coriander. I also added a tiny dash of curry powder. I used the stock from a previous post, which had thyme, lemon and garlic in it, which would change the flavor of the final product some.

I covered mine fully, instead of partially, so it was more soupy than intended, but it was delicious! I loved this recipe and it's a great dish for fall. I will definitely make this one again. Thanks Martha!

Knives

Every so often my mom gives me a gift that hits the nail right on the head. A couple years ago she gave me a red Kuhn Rikon 6" chef's knife.

It rocked my world. It's so sharp and cuts like a dream. It even comes with a cover so that it doesn't get dull kicking around your utensil drawer. I decided I needed more and bought a couple on Amazon.

A yellow mini prep knife that rules vegetables like a boss. And a curved herb knife, in green, of course.

I used my herb knife for the first time tonight to chop sage. It was awesome. It worked just like I wanted it to and was super sharp. So sharp that a funny thing happened.

Oops! Got a little close on that one. Thankfully it just took my nail off and didn't cut my skin. And don't worry, I removed the bit of nail before I added the sage to the recipe. If you can learn from me and be careful, then I highly recommend these knives.

Use that chicken carcass to make stock.

A roasted chicken is beautiful and delicious. It's also especially frugal if you're not feeding a family. I usually get 4 or 5 meals out of one. But you can stretch it even further by making stock. It's also super easy. If you can boil water, literally, you can make stock. I cleaned most of the meat from the chicken I just roasted and put it back in the dutch oven. I didn't wash out the pot because of all the good browned bits on the bottom. Those make for great stock. Fill the pot with water until it just barely covers the chicken. Then let it simmer. Easy, right?

After I took that picture I decided the lemon rind may make the broth bitter. I took it out and squeezed the soft, cooked pulp into the broth but threw the rind away. When I make stock I let it simmer until it has a good color and full flavor, usually a couple hours. Once you're happy with it, take your pot of the heat and let it cool. Remove the bones and strain out the solids. I use a regular old colander. When it fully cools the fat will rise to the top. I usually put mine in the fridge so the fat solidifies, but I know not everyone does. Either way, use a slotted spoon to remove the fat from the top of the broth and you're good to go. You can make a multitude of things with it and it freezes very well. It also tastes WAY better and is healthier than store brands.
p.s. Can we talk about the color of that stock? Gorgeous!!

Roasted chicken

One of the biggest reasons I wanted a french oven was for chicken. Specifically, for Julia Child's Coq au Vin recipe, but that's for later. For starters I wanted to do a basic roasted chicken with vegetables. I like the simplicity and flavors of Ina Garten's recipe. It's straight forward and uncomplicated while still sounding delicious. I also freaking love fennel and was pumped to try it like this. But alas, my local grocery store didn't have any. The only thing I changed out the recipe was swapping tiny red potatoes for fennel.

I am so pleased with the result! It was gorgeous and so flavorful. A roasted chicken is an economical, yet impressive way to serve guests. I would be proud to put this dish on the table.

The vegetables were so good. I could eat myself sick on roasted carrots. The onions from the bottom of pan poured over the chicken was amazing. I will absolutely try this the next time I see fennel in the store. I may try other vegetables like turnips or cauliflower.

Swoon

I know, I know. It's been far too long since I've blogged, but I'm back. I've been trying to eat healthy and haven't been cooking much while I got into the swing of things. I'm getting better at making rich, flavorful foods that don't pack on the pounds and will be sharing some of those things with you. I also got a new kitchen item I'd like to share.

Dear Le Creuset French Oven, I've waited so long for you. You're just as gorgeous as I'd imagined. I hope we never part. Love, LuLu

I've honestly been dying for one of these for a good five years but couldn't bring myself to spend the money. Then I visited a Le Creuset outlet in Michigan which had all french ovens 40% off the outlet price. At first I only saw yellow, cream, black and kiwi. I hemmed and hawed and decided that I couldn't spend the money on a color I didn't want and was ready to leave the store empty handed. But when I turned to leave I saw a stack of teal ones tucked away on a shelf and wanted to start screaming. Exactly what I wanted for 60% off!! I roasted a chicken in it last night and it's amazing. You'll get to see it later. I'm going to roast stuff all winter long.

I also got a new cookbook that I'll be trying recipes from. "Tender: a cook and his vegetable patch" by Nigel Slater. I hadn't heard of him, but my darling sister in law had. Apparently he's big news in the UK. The book is thick like a dictionary and is laid out in alphabetical order by vegetable. There are absolutely stunning pictures of his garden, ingredients and dishes. There is also excellent information on growing said vegetables, but I won't be going that far. I'm looking forward to sharing recipes like "an extremely moist chocolate-beet cake with creme fraiche and poppy seeds," "carrot and cilantro fritters," and "a rich dish of sprouts and cheese for a very cold night."