Super Easy Hearty Gluten Free Chicken Soup

I sometimes cook for the church where I am one of the pastors.  Some of our members are on gluten and dairy restricted diet and I wanted to make a simple supper for a crowd that would be enjoyed by most and not a problem for anyone to eat.  I also am pretty busy with my various responsibilities as a pastor, as a chaplain, with my family and in my community involvements.  This morning I went to the store to figure out a quick, hearty soup to make for a meeting tonight. I don't usually use frozen vegetables, but since I was in such a hurry, they were great in a pinch.  Here is the result.  I think it came out pretty good.  It has a bit of a southwestern taste.  If you wanted to thicken it up you could blend a couple of ladles with a corn tortilla until smooth, pour it back in and bring it to simmer for a bit, but I like it just the way it is.

Super Easy Hearty Gluten Free Chicken Soup

2 T olive olive
4 chicken thighs with skin on
4 chicken breasts with skin on
2 cloves of garlic minced
4 stalks of celery, chopped
1 bag of frozen chopped onions
4 boxes of low sodium, gluten free chicken stock
2 bay leaves
2 medium red peppers, chopped
1 bag of frozen corn
1 bag of frozen Lima beans
1 bag of frozen hash browns (cubes, not shredded)
1 t. cumin
a pinch or two of cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to tase

Brown the chicken very well in the olive oil in a large soup pot.  Remove chicken and set aside.  There should be a good fond in the pan.  Sweat celery and garlic in the fat remaining and when somewhat cooked add the frozen onions, salt, pepper and cook together until veggies are soft.  Add the chicken stock , the bay leaves and put chicken back in the pot.  Simmer for about and hour. Remove chicken, set aside and let it get cool enough to handle.  Remove any skin or other bits remaining in the pot.  Add the peppers, the frozen corn, the Lima beans, the hash browns, the cumin and cayenne pepper. Cook until veggies are soft, about 30 minutes or so. Take the chicken meat off the bone and add it back into the pot.  Adjust salt and pepper as needed.

Enjoy!

My Original and Delicious Manhattan Clam Chowder Recipe

I grew up eating hot and steamy bowls of clam chowder when I was a kid spending my summers at the Jersey Shore. My very first summer job was working at the Sign of the Fish Restaurant on the southend boardwalk in Ocean Grove, NJ. Dave Shotwell and his lovely wife ran it for a couple of summers when he was taking his summer break from directing the marching band at Neptune High School. My official title my first year there was dishwasher, but Mr Shotwell would often use me to do the peeling and chopping for the soups that were a staple of the menu. This is where I learned to love the kitchen and cooking. Mr. Shotwell cooked up a very awesome clam chowder that would sell out in one day. My clam chowder recipe tries to recall the flavors from the Delicious steamy bowl I used to help make back in the day. Of course it's base is a tomato infused clam broth, enriched with bell peppers, potatoes and flavored with a good dose of black pepper and thyme. It is so simple to use fresh clams and so economical, at least in our area, that I can't imagine why anyone would use the canned stuff. Give my recipe a try and let me know what you think.

House Hubbie's Own Manhattan Clam Chowder

12 chowder clams (the size above cherrystones also called quahogs)
1 cup of water

Wash off clams, make sure they all alive, steam in a closed pot until clams are open. Remove clams from pot, when cool remove clam meat from shells, chop and set aside. Strain cooking liquid through paper towel or coffee filter in order to remove sand. Set aside.

4 strips of bacon, diced
1 medium onion
2 stalks celery
4 carrots
2 bell peppers
Salt

Cook bacon in bottom of pot until rendered. Drain off fat and return bacon and 2 T of bacon drippings to pot. Chop vegetables into about a 1/2 inch dice. Season with salt. Sweat veggies in bacon drippings over medium heat until onions are clear.

Clam steaming liquid plus enough bottled clam juice to make six cups.
2 12 oz cans of diced tomatoes
2 bay leaves
1 1/2 t. thyme
freshly ground pepper to taste
3 medium potatoes, peeled and diced.
chopped clams
salt, pepper
fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
oyster crackers

Add the clam broth and clam juice to the vegetables. Add the tomatoes, by leaves, thyme and pepper. Simmer for about an hour or so. Add the potatoes and cook until they are soft but not mushy and soup has begun to thicken (20 or 30 minutes). Add clams. Cook for another 10 minutes or so. Taste and correct for seasoning with salt and pepper.

Serve chowder in bowls garnished with parsley with oyster crackers on the side.

Enjoy!

North African Chicken Stew

This is something I created. I tried to emulate the flavors of North Africa without having to go to an exotic grocery store. I used the thighs, drumsticks and wings I processed in my 2 chickens, 3 meals, 5 mouths to feed post. I browned the chicken in olive in oil, deglazed the pan with some chicken stock, removed it to a baking dish and added green olives, raisins, onions, tomatoes, pine nuts and seasoned it with oregano, cuman, ginger, coriander, cinnamon, cloves, cayenne, allspice, salt and pepper. I baked it until the chicken was falling off the bone and served it over cous cous. It came out great. Christine says its a keeper.

North African Chicken Stew

2 T. olive oil
one large onion coarsely chopped
1 t. ground cumin
1 t. ground ginger
1 t. salt
3/4 t. black pepper
1/2 t. ground cinnamon
1/2 t. ground coriander
1/2 t. cayenne
1/2 t. ground allspice
1/4 t. ground cloves
4 each, skinless chicken thighs, drumstick and wings
1/2 c. chicken stock
3/4 c. pitted green olives
1/3 c. raisins
1/4 c. pine nuts
1/2 t. oregano

Sweat chopped onions in 1 T olive oil. Mix together the cumin, ginger, 1 t. salt, 3/4 t. black pepper, cinnamon, coriander, cayenne, allspice, and gloves. Sprinkle this mixture liberally on the chicken parts. Brown the chicken parts in the rest of the olive oil, being sure to get a good carmelization. Deglaze the pan w/ the chicken stock. Put the onions in a backing dish and the chicken on the top of the onions. Add the tomatoes, the pan juices, the olives, raisins, pine nuts and oregano to the dish, cover w/ tin foil, and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Remove tin foil and bake for another 15 minutes or so to allow sauce to reduce and thicken up a bit. Taste sauce and correct seasoning. Remove for oven, allow to sit for about 15 minutes. Serve over cous cous.

Enjoy!

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Lemon Garlic Shrimp and Bow Ties

There a couple of little tricks to make a great shrimp and pasta dish. First, I always start with raw shrimp with the shells on. The frozen bags of shrimp come in an "easy peel" raw packaging and these are the ones I use. After gently thawing the shrimp, I peel the shrimp and make a stock of the peels by covering them with water and simmering them with parsley, a shallot and a couple of stalks of parsley. The second trick is to use the right cooking technique for the shrimp. The shrimp need to be as dry as possible. Then they should be cooked over high heat in small batches in a small amount of olive oil. If you are not careful to dry the shrimp and cook them quickly they will give off a lot of juice and will boil in their juices. This results in a rubbery and tough shrimp instead of the tender crisp shrimp you are looking for. The shrimp should be cooked on one side until slightly brown, turned over and cooked until just opaque.

With your perfectly cooked shrimp and stock, you can do all kinds of good things. For this dish, I made a sauce from tons of garlic (you can never use to much garlic in my opinion), shallots, stock, fresh lemon juice, crushed red pepper and butter. It tossed some bow tie pasta with the sauce, added the shrimp and served. It was very tasty.

Lemon Garlic Shrimp and Bow Ties

1 package frozen raw "quick peel" shrimp

water
1 shallot, halved
2 stalks of parsley
1 bay leaf
4 pepper corns
1/2 t. salt

2 T olive oil
2 shallots, diced
6 cloves of garlic minced
1/4 t crushed red pepper
3/4 cup shrimp stock
juice from two lemons
2 T butter

1 box fafalle (bow tie) pasta
1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water
2 T chopped parsley
salt and pepper to taste

Thaw the shrimp according to the package directions.

Stock:
Peel shrimp and put peels in a small pot, cover with water, add the shallot, parsley, bay leaf, pepper and salt. Simmer for a half hour or so.

Saute shrimp in small batches in a small amount of olive oil per batch.

Sauce:
In the same pan as the shrimp were sauteed, cook the shallots in a bit of olive oil, then the garlic and crushed red pepper. Add the stock and reduce by half. Add the lemon juice and reduce by half again. Turn off heat and melt butter into the sauce.

Add the cooked pasta to the pan w/ 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking liquid. Cook the pasta in the sauce until the pasta is coated with the sauce. Taste and adjust seasonings. Add the shrimp and the parsley and toss together. Makes 4-5 cook size servings.

Enjoy!

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Tortellini with Turkey, Tomatoes and Brocolli

I needed something quick and easy last night so I made this dish. I don't usually use prepared foods, but I did last night to save time and because the prepared Perdue Turkey Breast was on sale. I adapted the recipe from one that was on the package. It turned out really good. My vegetarian son is home from college for the summer so I was able to scoop out a serving of the pasta and veggies before adding the meat.

1 package Perdue Shortcuts Turkey Breast
1 lb. bag of cheese tortellini
2 T. olive oil
2 heads of broccoli cut into florets (about 1 lb)
4 cloves of garlic minced
1 can of tomatoes drained and diced.
about 1 cup of the pasta cooking water
1/4 cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 T. butter
salt and pepper

Prepare the tortellini in boiling water. Be sure not to overcook.

Heat olive in skillet. Add the broccoli and cook until bright green. Add the garlic and cook, but do not allow it to brown. Add the tomatoes and the pasta cooking water. Cover and cook until broccoli is almost tender. Remove cover and add the tortellini. Continue cooking until liquid is almost evaporated. Add the cheese and the butter. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add the turkey and heat through just before serving.

Enjoy

Cavatelli with Broccoli

This is one of my family favorite recipes and one I developed on my own. You can find many different variations on this dish, but I think what sets this recipe apart is that it does not have a heavy and gloppy sauce. The secret is create the sauce by deglazing the pan with cooking water to the pasta and then enriching it with some butter and parmesan cheese. I think you will enjoy it.

Cavatelli with Broccoli (a Meyer family secret recipe revealed)

2 T extra virgin olive oil
A bunch of fresh broccoli chopped (usually the broccoli is sold with three heads in a bunch)4-7 cloves of garlic
one package frozen cavatelli
1 cup pasta cooking water
2 T butter
1/2 Parmesan cheese
a splash of extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper

Cook pasta, being sure to reserve some of the water.

Chop broccoli. Saute in 2 T extra virgin olive oil. when broccoli is bright green make a hot spot in the pan and saute the garlic. Add about a 1/2 cup of water, cover and steam for about 5 minutes until broccoli is tender. Remove from heat.

Add the cooked pasta to the pan and deglaze the pan with about 1 cup of the cooking liquid. Cook off most of the liquid. There should be a light sauce that clings to the pasta and broccoli. Add the butter and the Parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Add a bit more extra virgin olive oil just before serving.

This is a really quick, easy and inexpensive family supper.

Pork Schnitzel with Brown Butter Noodles

Schnitzel is one of those common Northern European dishes. It is most commonly made with veal, but given that it is so expensive, I make mine with pork. I don't know where we got the recipe for the gravy we serve this with or what ethnicity it is from. I do know that my grandmother who passed away in the 1960's was the one who handed this recipe down to my mother, who then handed it down to me. It is definitely on of our family favorites.

You could serve this with boiled or mashed potatoes, but I prefer noodles, which I always dress with brown butter. The brown butter imparts a nutty sweet flavor to the noodles. I also usually serve this with red cabbage, but the asparagus are really good right now so that's what we had for the vegetable.

Pork Schnitzel

6 thin boneless pork chops or pork cutlets (If using pork chops trim them of all fat)
flour
salt
pepper
2 eggs
bread crumbs
2 Canola oil
1 T Butter

Pound the chops or cutlets until they are about a quarter of an inch thick. Mix about 1 t of salt and 1/4 t of pepper per cup of flour. Dredge pork in flour. Shake off excess flour, dip in beaten eggs and then breadcrumbs.

Heat oil and butter in pan until it is shimmery. Brown the pork on one site until it is a deep golden brown. Turn over and brown on other side. Drain pork of excess fat on a paper towel or brown paper bag.

Tomatoes and Onion Gravy

1 1/2 T butter
1 small or 1/2 medium onion diced
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup ketchup

Discard excess fat from pan. Heat butter in pan until it bubbles. Add onion and cook until clear. Add water and cook for a few minutes more scrapping off all the brown goodness from the pan. Reduce by 1/2. Add ketchup and cook until sauce is thick enough to coat a spoon. Serve on the side of the schnitzel.

Pea Soup

This is a great recipe to make when you have a ham bone left over. We had a spiral sliced ham when my daughter was home from college and I put the bone and the leaving in the freezer. When it snowed the other day it was my signal to make this simple and stick to your ribs comfort food. You have to make the homemade croutons. It just isn't the same without them.

Pea Soup

Stock

Ham Bone and left over ham
1 onion
2 carrots
2 celery ribs
bay leaf
thyme
6 pepper corns
water

Place all ingredients in stock pot. Add enough water to cover. Bring to boil. Skim any scum that rises to the top. Lower heat to a gentle simmer, cook for 4 or more hours. Strain stock and put aside ham bone and ham pieces. Chill stock and remove fat. You should have 6 to 8 cups of stock.

Soup

2 leeks
2 ribs celery
2 carrots
2 T olive oil
ham stock
1 bag of dried peas, rinsed and picked through
salt and pepper to taste
ham or smoked sausage
croutons


Dice the leeks, carrots and celery. Sweat the vegetables in the olive oil. Add the ham stock and simmer for about 1 hour. Add the dried peas and simmer for 45 minutes to an hour until peas are tender. Take about half of the soup and put through a food mill. Shred the left over ham or dice the smoked sausage and add to soup. Correct for seasoning. Serve soup with croutons.

Croutons

Good quality bread cubed
olive oil
garlic salt

Toss bread in olive oil and bake in one layer until brown and crispy. Sprinkle with garlic salt.

Apple Butter Glazed Pork Chops

This is one of those "whatever I can find in the fridge" recipes I threw together last night. It turned out pretty good.

6 Pork Chops 3/4 of an inch thick
1 T. canola oil
salt
pepper
sugar
3/4 cups dry vermouth
3 T apple butter
1/3 cup orange juice
1 T butter

Season chops on both sides with salt and pepper. Sprinkle one side of chop with sugar. Put oil in cold skillet. Place chops sugared side down in cold skillet, pressing into the pan. Turn pan to medium heat and cook on one side for about 6 minutes until chops are browned on one side. (You should hear pan sizzle after about two minutes or the pan is not hot enough). Turn over chops and cook for another 4 to 6 minutes until internal temp is 140 on an instant read thermometer. Remove chops from pan and cover with aluminum foil.

Turn up heat on pan and brown the juices that are left in the pan. Deglaze the pan with the vermouth. Reduce by half. Add the apple butter and orange juice and any juice that the meat has given up to pan. Stir over heat until a sauce is formed. Add a bit of water if sauce is to thick. Stir in butter over low heat. Correct seasonings. Return chops to pan and gently heat, coating chops with the pan sauce.

YUM!

I served this last night with a side of this noodle, cabbage and sour cream dish I make. Was it good!

Chicken Cacciatora

Tonight I have to make a quick chicken dish when I get home from Kidz Club. Then it's the season premiere of Lost, which I am totally pumped about. Even though I am not of Italian extraction I find myself doing a lot of Italian dishes because they are quick and easy.

Chicken Cacciatora is "hunter's chicken". It is chicken browned and then stewed in mushrooms, onions, tomatoes and green peppers. I try to sneak a little heat in in the from of crushed pepper, but the girls don't like hot stuff so I have to be careful.

I am going to serve this over farfalle pasta. It would also be nice with a side of potatoes roasted with garlic and rosemary.

Chicken Cacciatora

1 frying chicken cut into pieces
2 T. olive oil
1 green bell pepper, cubed
1 large yellow onion, sliced
1 12 oz can of tomatoes
10 or so mushrooms (porchini will give the most flavor, but white mushrooms are OK in a pinch)
1/4 t. crushed red pepper
1/2 c. dry red wine
Salt and pepper to taste

Brown the chicken until well carmelized in 1 T. olive oil. Remove from pan. Cook the bell pepper, and onion until soft. Remove from pan. Saute the mushrooms in another T of olive oil. Deglaze the pan with red wine and reduce by half. Add the tomatoes and the red pepper. Return chicken and vegetables to the pan. Cook for about 45 minutes until chicken falls off the bone. Taste and adjust seasoning

Serve over pasta.

Mary's Spagehetti Sauce (Gravy)

Well, today I am cooking my wife's best friends spaghetti sauce. Since I am not Italian I can get away with calling it spaghetti sauce. It is actually known as "gravy" a term I have picked up since all the paisanos from Brooklyn started moving down the shore. One of the wonderful benefits of that migration to us beach bums is that our stores are now filled with the best Italian provisions and there are several Italian specialty stores where you can get fantastic bread from Brooklyn or Newark, NJ.

Before Mary taught my wife to make sauce, I was never very happy with our attempts. It just was never right. Mary generously unfolded for us the secrets of the best sauce I have every had. Here are some of the secrets. First of all, you must brown the tomato paste in olive oil before adding the rest of the tomatoes. The carmalization of the tomato paste adds to the depth of flavor so it is important not to skip this step. Another secret is to infuse the olive oil with onions and garlic rather than cooking the onions and garlic along time in the sauce. A final secret has to do with the tomatoes you use. It is important not to use imported tomatoes. The reason this is the case is that imported tomatoes are a cooked product. This is to get around import taxes on imported vegetables. If you use American tomato products you get more actual unadulterated tomatoes. (Who knew?)

So here goes the recipe. The recipe make quite a bit and it freezes well.

Mary's Tomato Sauce

1 #10 can of crushed tomatoes (not imported)
1/5 #10 can of tomato sauce
1 18 oz can of tomato paste
1/2 c. olive oil
2 large onions, diced
3-6 cloves of garlic, minced
3 T garlic powder
salt & pepper
sugar

3 lbs sweet Italian sausage, well browned
meatballs (recipe below)

In a large stock pot, sweat the onions and garlic in the olive oil until the onions are soft and translucent. (Adding a couple of pinches of salt at the beginning of cooking helps this along). Remove onions and garlic from pan, drain as much olive oil as possible back into the pan. Over high heat brown the tomato paste in the olive oil. Add the garlic powder, about 2 t. of salt and 20 grinds of pepper to the tomato paste. Blend in while continuing to cook a bit longer. Add the crushed tomatoes and the tomato sauce. Taste and correct for seasoning. If the sauce is to acid add a couple of teaspoons of sugar. Bring to simmer. At this point I put aside a couple of cups of sauce for my son who is a vegetarian. Add sausage that has been browned on all sides (again the browning is important as it adds to the flavor profile) and the meatballs. It is actually the addition of and cooking with the meat that turns the sauce into "gravy". Cook at a slow simmer for 3-4 hours.

Mary's Meatballs

3 lb. of ground beef
6 eggs
6 cloves of garlic, finely minced
1/2 cup of dried parsley
1/2 cup of pecorino romano cheese
salt, pepper
unflavored dried bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 375%. Beat the eggs together with the parsley, cheese, salt and pepper. (Go easy on the salt as the cheese is salty). Mix in the garlic. Mix the meat into this mixture. Add enough bread crumbs so that the wetness is gone and the mixture holds together well. (About 3/4-1 and 1/4 cups). Make sure the everything is mixed together well.

Dip your fingers in oil. Roll mixture into balls about 1 and 1/2 times the size of a golf ball. Place in baking dish. Add about 1/4 of an inch of water to the baking dish. Bake in oven for about 40 minutes until the meatballs are browned. Add the meatballs to the sauce.

Enjoy!

Chicken Fricassee

This is one of our family favorites. I made it today. It was the prefect comfort food for the rainy, icy weather. I like to use chicken breast on the rack as it produces a richer broth, but I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts because that's what was in the fridge and it was quick, easy and tasty. I serve this over brown rice cooked in a rice cooker, which make this meal a cinch.

3 large chicken breasts
2 ribs of celery, cut into chunks
4 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
1 medium yellow onion sliced into small wedges
enough water to just cover
6 peppercorns
salt to taste
3 T butter
3 T flour

Put chicken breasts, celery, carrots, onion and peppercorns into a medium pan with a tight fitting lid. Add water to just cover the ingredients. Bring to a boil. Remove any scum that rises to the top. Reduce heat to a gentle simmer, cover and cook until carrots are soft, about 45 minutes to an hour.

Remove chicken, celery, carrots, and onions, season these ingredients with salt to taste. Bring broth back to a boil, reduce by half. Knead the butter and flour together (beurre manie). Wisk 2 T of buerre manie to broth, which should result in a white sauce. Sauce should coat a spoon. If more thickening is needed wisk in additional buerre manie. Taste, add salt to taste.

Pull chicken apart into large shreds. Return chicken, celery, carrots and onions back to the pan and heat through.

Serve over steamed rice.

Home Fried Potatoes

I cook these potatoes when I have steak or for breakfast.

1 medium potatoe per person plus 1 or 2 extra for the whole gang.
(use a starchy potatoe like a russet)
oil
optional (onions, herbs)
salt
pepper

Peel the potatoes, cut the larger ones into quarters and the smaller ones in half. Slice them into 1/8 thick slices. Heat up about 1 or 2 Tbs. of a vegetable oil in a cast iron or other heavy skillet. When oil thins and ripples in the pan add the potatoes, press down into the pan. Turn heat very low. DON'T turn the potatoes until you hear them start to sizzle. Leave for 3 to 5 minutes without turning after sizzeling. Turn potatoes with a metal spatula scrapping all the brown bits off the bottom of the pan. Repeat this process several times until the potatoes are almost soft. At this point you could also add diced onions and various herbs such as thyme, parsley, chives, or whatever your favorite is. (My daughter doesn't like onions so I just leave them plain). Cover pan with a tight fitting lid and cook until potatoes are tender. Scrape and turn one more time. Add salt and pepper. Turn heat to high and cook until a nice brown crust forms on the bottom of the potatoes. Serve portions by lifting out of the pan and turning the serving over so the brown goodness is on top.

The ones I mad last night were yum, especially with the mushroom, shallot and wine pan sauce from the steak running into them.