Mexican Chicken Soup

I had to back out of Barefoot Bloggers for a little bit because I wasn't keeping up as well as I would have liked with everything I had going on. The group was challenged with this recipe (by Ina Garten) last month and since I still had the recipe on hand, I decided to make it last week. I made it on one particularly cold day and it was perfect after walking the dogs out on the trails and in the snow!

I used fresh veggies for this soup--carrots, onions and celery--and added some herbs and spices to include fresh cilantro, cumin and crushed coriander seeds. It was quite fragrant and delicious, especially with the chicken breast I shredded and threw into the pot. What was cool about this soup was that Ina had me cutting flour tortillas into 1/2 inch strips and adding them to the soup to act as noodles. I thought they were going to get all soggy, but they didn't. I served the soup with a dollop of sour cream, some shredded mozarella cheese (since it's the only cheese I had on-hand) and some tortilla scoop chips. Yum-o! The soup is even more delicious as leftover. It was enough to feed me for about three days straight! If you want the recipe, please click here. Forgive me, I'm too lazy to type out the entire recipe myself!

Barefoot Bloggers: Herb Roasted Onions

A little late posting for BB, I know, but I actually have until the end of the month! I sure have been busy. Let me tell you...I love onions. Well, not raw, but grilled or roasted! I was excited to give Ina's Herb Roasted Onion recipe a try. It's so simple. You take some red and yellow onions, marinate them with dijon mustard, olive oil and a few herbs and you've got yourself a wonderful accompaniment to chicken (as you can see below) or, well, anything. Shoot, it can be eaten alone too!


Please don't be fooled. I didn't bake the chicken. I was in a hurry to whip up something for lunch the other day and ran over to Wal-Mart to buy it. Talk about convenient. And it indeed was a perfect combination. Aren't all those colors just pretty too? I ended up taking this dish to my mom's work to share with her. Needless to say, we were both so full. We both loved the onions. They were so sweet and tender and the dijon dressing was so deliciously flavored. The lemon juice definitely gave it some kick! I even poured some of the leftover dressing over the chicken. Deee-lightful! We definitely plan on making these again! Here's the recipe for ya!

Herb Roasted Onions (by Ina Garten)

2 red onions

1 yellow onion

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1/2 tablespoon minced fresh thyme leaves

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup good olive oil

1/2 tablespoon minced fresh parsley leaves

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Remove the stem end of each onion and carefully slice off the brown part of the root end, leaving the root intact. Peel the onion. Stand each onion root end up on a cutting board and cut the onion in wedges through the root. Place the wedges in a bowl.
   For the dressing, combine the lemon juice, mustard, garlic, thyme, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Slowly whisk in the olive oil.
3. Pour the dressing over the onions and toss well. With a slotted spoon, transfer the onions to a sheet pan, reserving the vinaigrette that remains in the bowl.
4. Bake the onions for 30 to 45 minutes, until tender and browned. Toss the onions once during cooking.
5. Remove from the oven, and drizzle with the reserved dressing. Sprinkle with parsley, season to taste and serve warm or at room temperature.

Barefoot Bloggers: Vegetable Pot Pie

JUST IN TIME!!! I was finally able to make Ina's Vegetable Pot Pie, as selected by Deb of Kahakai Kitchen. She has a wonderful blog, complete with gorgeous pictures and yummy recipes; not to mention I'm a big fan on the basis of her being from Hawaii! I did a lot of growing up there and my mom's side of the family is from there. Anyway, I actually waited until today to make the pie since I had company coming over. There's nothing like some good comfort food to indulge in on a beautiful, fall Halloween evening, and I'm sure my Uncle Raymond and Anna would agree!

Okay, so I'm guilty....I snuck chicken into the recipe (like many other BB-ers). I simply couldn't have it any other way. I also did away with the fennel, the small onions, asparagus and butternut squash and substituted the Pernod with some brandy (only because I couldn't find any Pernod), since some people made the recommendation. However, what scared me most about the entire recipe was making the pie crust. I'd honestly never made pie crust by hand before, nor have I ever made a pie without the ready-made pie crust already in the pie pan! Well ladies and gents, I finally broke out of my comfort zone and made it all happen. And let me just say that it was delicious! The crust was perfectly done, and the filling was so hearty and seasoned to perfection!

I used small baking dish, since I wasn't expecting too much company. I had so much filling left over, I was able to create another pie, which I put in the freezer for another evening.

Now, don't laugh! The only cookie cutter I have is of a small dog bone and I wanted to make it look nice. I thought it was appropriate seeing how I had my own dog and Anna's dog over. Let's just say it was tribute to the fur-babies! Not too bad for my very first pie crust, huh?

Ta-da! The finished product. I had so much fun making this and am so glad that it turned out so well. I am definitely going to make this again and try to play around with the fillings.

If my husband were here, he would have enjoyed this. He loves anything and everything with chicken in it. He's checking on this blog from time to time, so here's a bowl of the good stuff for you baby!

Should you want to try this upscale version of your frozen-aisle favorite (that version doesn't even compare!), then scoot on over to Deb's blog for the full recipe. And Deb...Mahalo! For choosing a great recipe! Stay tuned for tomorrow, I'll be posting the recipe for a Pumpkin Chocolate Cheesecake I made today.

Barefoot Bloggers: Butternut Squash Risotto

Rachel of Rachel Likes to Cook chose this week's BB recipe challenge--Butternut Squash Risotto. I'd like to thank her for allowing me to step out of my comfort zone to make something new and different. I love butternut squash, so I figured this would be a wonderful dish. Lucky for me my friend, Vickie, was visiting from Texas and she was excited to get a taste of it too. We prepared it late at night after returning from the gym.

I had purchased the ingredients earlier that day. Can you believe that I spent about $13.00 each for the pancetta and the saffron? I was thinking, "man, for all the money I'm spending, this better be good!" I loved the smell of the pancetta and the onions. I'd honestly never cooked pancetta myself until this moment and I was so excited.

And then came the saffron. I don't know if there's any other saffron but the Spanish kind, which is the only kind the grocery store carried. It just smelled funny to me and at that point, I was hoping it came out tasting better than it smelled.

Well, the saffron gave the mixture a nice color and even more so when the butternut squash pieces were added. The squash came out so nicely, I had to sneak a few bite-size pieces before I added it.

Once everything was mixed, I ladled the risotto into bowls and Vickie and I both set out to try our new concoction. She liked it, although she said it was a little salty (probably from the pancetta). Me? I didn't like it so much. I just couldn't get over that strong saffron taste. Maybe it was just me. I had some of the leftovers the next day and it actually tasted better then. But I'm not sure if I'll ever make this dish again. I don't think enough of my friends and family like butternut squash enough to see it in this dish. Who knows? But thanks again to Rachel for the challenge!

Barefoot Bloggers: Cream of Wild Mushroom Soup

Chelle of Brown Eyed Baker chose this week's recipe--Ina's Cream of Wild Mushroom Soup! This is my first Barefoot Blogger assignment and I was especially excited. I really do love mushrooms, so it was perfect. I actually made the soup over the weekend and was surprised to find that everyone enjoyed it. I was only able to reserve about two cups or so as leftovers, which a friend and I indulged in earlier this week. Yummy!

The recipe called for a couple types of mushrooms, but I wasn't able to get my hands on either porcini or cremini mushrooms. So I just bought the typical packaged mushrooms you can find at any grocery store and they worked just as well. After all, the fact that I still had the shiitake and portobello mushrooms still made it wild, right? Here's a picture of all the mushrooms I had:

I've seen leeks before but hadn't used them in a recipe until now. Like an idiot, I got ahead of myself while reading the recipe and mistakenly mixed the leeks into the broth.

Lucky for me, I still had enough leeks left to saute the mushroom caps with later on. And it actually wasn't too bad a mistake after all. I think I enhanced the flavor of the broth in the process!

While this was cooking, I took a small taste of the mixture and it was delicious! Maybe it was the good Riesling white wine I used (I accumulated a good collection of wines at our housewarming party). I actually saved all the vegetables from the broth and ate them later on as well. It was wonderful!

As I mentioned earlier, I served this at a dinner party I had last weekend and it was a hit. The only picture I got of a family member was of my brother, Jon. He liked the soup too, although the first thing he said after his first spoonful was, "hey, where's the meat in here?" So typical. It was actually kind of cool that evening too, so it was nice addition to the dinner table. If you're interested in trying it, you should! Here's the recipe (taken from the Food Network website):

Cream of Wild Mushroom Soup

5 ounces fresh shiitake mushrooms

5 ounces fresh portobello mushrooms

5 ounces fresh cremini (or porcini) mushrooms

1 tablespoon good olive oil

1/4 pound (1 stick) plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, divided

1 cup chopped yellow onion

1 carrot, chopped

1 sprig fresh thyme plus 1 teaspoon minced thyme leaves, divided

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

2 cups chopped leeks, white and light green parts (2 leeks)

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup dry white wine

1 cup half-and-half 1 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley

Clean the mushrooms by wiping them with a dry paper towel. Don't wash them! Separate the stems, trim off any bad parts, and coarsely chop the stems. Slice the mushroom caps 1/4-inch thick and, if there are big, cut them into bite-sized pieces. Set aside.

To make the stock, heat the olive oil and 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large pot. Add the chopped mushroom stems, the onion, carrot, the sprig of thyme, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and cook over medium-low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, until the vegetables are soft. Add 6 cups water, bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. Strain, reserving the liquid. You should have about 4 1/2 cups of stock. If not, add some water.

Meanwhile, in another large pot, heat the remaining 1/4 pound of butter and add the leeks. Cook over low heat for 15 to 20 minutes, until the leeks begin to brown. Add the sliced mushroom caps and cook for 10 minutes, or until they are browned and tender. Add the flour and cook for 1 minute. Add the white wine and stir for another minute, scraping the bottom of the pot. Add the mushroom stock, minced thyme leaves, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the half-and-half, cream, and parsley, season with salt and pepper, to taste, and heat through but do not boil. Serve hot.

Serves 5 to 6.