Tag: comfort

Spicy Mexican Soup

 

Spicy Mexican Soup

The weather has been nuts in Houston. One day it’s cold and then next day it’s hot. It just so happened to be cold for a few days and I was craving soup. Something spicy was perfect to help stop the beginning of my cold. I pulled together all of these ingredient that I already had on hand which is so convenient. Not only did I add flavorful Mexican spices  but I had a small piece of salami which really added meaty richness to the soup.

We had just finished celebrating a weekend of our friends wedding and got these cute heart shaped pasta- they made an appearance  in my soup.

I suggest making this soup when you have a spicy craving, it’s fulfilling and heart warming 🙂

 
Print Recipe
 Spicy Mexican Soup
Dairy Free
Servings
4
Ingredients
Servings
4
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Pour 2 Tbs grapeseed oil into soup pot.
  2. Once heated, add shallots, garlic, and onion.
  3. Cook until translucent and season with salt and pepper to taste.
  4. Add carrots , tomato, and salami.
  5. After a few minutes, add the chili in adobo sauce, tomato paste, chili powder, cayenne, cumin, and chipotle powder.
  6. Once everything is mixed well together, add the chicken stock and simmer covered for about 30 minutes.
  7. In a separate pot, cook pasta until al dente. Once drained, add the pasta to each serving bowl then cover with soup.
Recipe Notes

You will have extra chilies in adobo and tomato paste. Spoon a teaspoon of each onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment leaving space between. Freeze for 1 hr then put them in a plastic bag and place back in the freezer. Whenever your recipe calls for each of these ingredients, you can pull the exact amount right out of the freezer.

Lemon Garlic Chicken

The other day I did a little cooking lesson with Julie from the blog, From Prosecco to Plaid. I absolutely loved teaching her some basics in the kitchen. We started out with which knife to use and how to use it. Then we moved onto her oven setting and how I love to use the convection setting and why. This was my first experience teaching someone in the kitchen and I really had so much fun doing it with Julie.

Julie and Morgan

 I chose to teach one of my favorite recipes, lemon garlic chicken, because anyone can make it, really, anyone!

Cleaning Chicken

If I can give any advice in the kitchen it’s to be clean and organized. If you aren’t, it’s a recipe for disaster.

Chopping garlic

Always be careful when cutting, you never want to chop a nail or finger off.

chopping

Keep all of your ingredients organized and separated. Julie did a particularly great job at this 🙂

Pour

Pour the wine, shallot and garlic mix over the chicken.

bake

Bake for 30 minutes on convection and voile! Dinner is served!

chicken

 
Print Recipe
 Lemon Garlic Chicken
Dairy Free, Gluten Free Adapted by Ina Garten's recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Passive Time 10 minutes
Servings
4
Ingredients
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Passive Time 10 minutes
Servings
4
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
  2. Warm the olive oil in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, add the garlic, and cook for just 1 minute but don't allow the garlic to turn brown. Off the heat, add the white wine, lemon zest, lemon juice, oregano, thyme, and 1 teaspoon salt and pour into a 9 by 12-inch baking dish.
  3. Pat the chicken breasts dry and place them skin side up over the sauce. Brush the chicken breasts with olive oil and sprinkle them liberally with salt and pepper. Cut the lemon in 8 wedges and tuck it among the pieces of chicken.
  4. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, depending on the size of the chicken breasts, until the chicken is done and the skin is lightly browned. If the chicken isn't browned enough, put it under the broiler for 2 minutes. Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and serve hot with the pan juices.
Recipe Notes

You can check out Julie's  must see blog, From Prosecco to Plaid. I've gotten some pretty helpful tips and tricks from fashion to hair suggestions.

Chicken Dumpling Soup

 

Chicken Dumpling Soup 1
I have never actually tried making chicken and dumplings — ever. I guess it’s because I grew up on matzo ball soup and it was good enough.  There was no need to learn how to make other dumpling soups.

  The other day I was watching my favorite channel, The Cooking Channel; It’s pretty much where I get a lot of my inspiration from. It was my second time watching the show Little Paris Kitchen and this one recipe caught my eye. It stars an adorable girl, Rachel Khoo who makes really easy delicious French style food.  She made a take on chicken dumplings without the “and.” It’s practically a rich chicken broth with veggies and dumplings made with chicken. I never knew a concoction like this would be so delicate and tasty.

The last time I made quenelles was in pastry school so it was fun practicing again!

Chicken Dumpling Soup 2

I’m not going to type out the entire recipe because this blog, Eat Little Bird does it oh too well. Her pictures are really wonderful too. My only changes were that I sautéed a minced shallot, 2 cloves of garlic, 2 leeks, diced carrots, and celery. I cooked all of these ingredients until wilted and soft to touch. Other than that, follow her recipe.  Oh and this is a “meat and potatoes” boyfriend approved recipe.