Friday lunch in the hood ~

Lunch for two

At 2:18p. I blurted out, "Oh my gawd!  I love myself!  If good cooking attracted men, I'd have a man harem."  :)  My son is used to talk such as this, he laughs with me.


Every so often I have moments when I fall in love with myself.  This happens when I cook or bake something that I am very happy with.  Today that was at 2:18p.  A late lunch, but what a great lunch today.  I had company.  Former Little Dude has been home ill, so I had a little extra motivation to take extra time to make something special for lunch this Friday.  This was it.  And it will be repeated for dinner many times over in our future family lifetime.  Never mind that he only ate half the pepper itself, I loved a cutting of the pepper with each bite of the filling.  


I found this recipe earlier in the week, it was such an appealing picture to me.  Especially appealing because I had two poblanos on the counter.  Two, not four.  This meant this wasn't going to be a dinner without a store run - no, thank you.   FLD becomes ill, but no loss of appetite...suitable lunch for two.  


I strayed quite a bit from the recipe.  First off, 1/2 an onion?   I won't cut an onion unless I use the entire thing.  This is one reason I love shallots - they are the perfect size for the flavor without waste.  I was out of cumin seeds to grind. I'm not sure what is up with that, that's almost unacceptable.  No cinnamon, and I forgot the lime entirely.  I didn't roast the poblanos, but charred them over the gas burner flame, leaving the skins intact.

2 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 T. olive oil
2 poblanos
1/4 c. thinly sliced shallots
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 c. diced tomatoes, fresh or canned 
1 c. cooked brown rice (I used jasmine)
3 oz. cheese, shredded (I used half jack, half sharp cheddar)
1/4 c. chopped cilantro

• Char the poblano peppers over gas or roast in the oven.  Put them in a bowl, covered with plastic wrap to steam them a little - or to peel the screen.  I did gas, kept the skin.  This doesn't make them as soft as roasting, but gives a nice bite when eating.  Slit open, clean out all the seeds.

• Heat a small saute pan over medium.  Add olive oil when hot, add chicken that has been salt and peppered on both sides.
• Saute 5-7 minutes on one side, turn and cover until just cooked through.
• Remove from heat to cool enough to handle.
• Save the juices in the pan.  Shred the chicken.

• Heat a 12 inch saute pan over medium heat, add olive oil when hot, and onions.  Saute to some color.  Add garlic and oregano, stir.
• Add the tomatoes, cooked rice, shredded chicken and cilantro, and the reserved chicken pan juices.  Heat through.
• Add the cheese, mix well.  Divide and stuff into the peppers.  Use a pick to hold the pepper together if you have lost a stem. Top with a bit more cheese.
• Heat in a 450 degree oven as desired, or simply broil to melt the cheese.

Warm wishes

 

Rosemary rolls ~

The before and after shots of olive oil

Out on the counter ~~ flour, both white and wheat, (I only had AP white and whole wheat pastry flour), yeast, olive oil, kosher salt, fresh chopped rosemary.  As I went along....


1 tsp. yeast
1/4 c. warm water - 110 degrees or so
Pinch sugar

Let sit for a bit, a few minutes.


Add ~

1/2 tsp.more yeast
3/4 c. warm water
2 c. flour
1/4 c. chopped rosemary

Mix, let sit for 30 minutes.

Add 4 T. olive oil
A couple tablespoons warm water
1 1/2  tablespoons kosher salt (yes, tablespoons)
1/2 c. whole wheat flour
1 c. flour

Adjust flour here if needed, but keep it slightly tacky and soft.  Mix, knead, let rise until double.

• Portion into 16 tight small rolls, let rise until not quite double.  About three-quarters of the way to double.  
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Slit rolls on top.
• Drizzle with olive oil.
• Salt tops if desired.
• Bake for approximately 20 minutes.  Three-quarters through baking, drizzle more olive oil on the rolls and return to the oven to finish baking.

I was very happy with these.  I was craving rosemary bread for our supper accompaniment.  Given my mood today, along with the few hours of steady snowfall we had today, I didn't feel like venturing out or spending the money.  I figured I would make rosemary bread and would know that it would not be close to the flavor pack of some of the artisan rosemary bread that is made here in town...with a home gas oven, only a few hours, no levine...I decided soft rosemary bread would be fine. Sort of fine....


I went looking at three of my favorite bread baking books, knowing that I wasn't going to find a quick yeast bread in their contents.  I was grasping.  Grasping the "not good enough" though never yields peace.  (Ohm.)  I practiced letting go of expectations, put the baking books away and decided to just wing an approximate general soft yeast dough made with olive oil, getting out the few ingredients I needed.   Oh...these turned out so very very nice, so much more than I had expected.   I'm grateful for how things turn out just how they are supposed to at every given moment.  *inhaling breath*  Mmmmm.  Exhale.


These were dense, full of rosemary flavor.  A fun result of the olive oil drizzle is that it makes the bottom of the rolls have a very crisp crackling finish.  

Slit one way

Slit another way

A peek at the underside

Chicken corn chowder ~

~ Mmmm, onions ~

Rough estimates - soup makers understand this.   Additional salt with each added ingredient when sauteing, building layers.  Account for the salt that is in any favorite stock.   There can be a feeling of contentment at what the stockpot will produce before the process is even started...simply with the feeling of knowing it's time to make soup....starting slow...taking time, as I imagine soup lovers do when they enter the kitchen to make such comfort ~~ as I wish for lovers, too.    


Chicken corn chowder ~

Four chicken thighs
Two cobs of corn, kernels removed (of course frozen is fine)
One yellow onion, diced
Three cloves of garlic, minced
Four yukon gold potatoes, large dice
Roasted red peppers, diced, maybe less than 1/4 c.
Chicken stock - 2 quarts - more if you like
Small can of chopped green chilis, drained
Thyme
Touch of cream if desired

• In a stockpot....
• Saute (salt and pepper) chicken thighs in olive oil until done.  Remove, set aside.  Shred when cool.
• Add onion, saute until there is some brown color (add a touch more olive oil if you need it)
• Add garlic and corn, saute until soft  
• Add chicken stock, and potatoes.  Cook until potatoes are almost done.
• Return chicken to the pot.
• Add green chiles and red peppers.
• Add your desired cream, or half and half.  Go light at first.
• Adjust seasoning, more fresh pepper here is good.