[Recipe] Easy Pot au Feu

Easy Pot au Feu

The traditional recipe of Pot au Feu (translation: pot on the fire) involves making your own broth using ox tail, veal shank, short rib and brisket. Although it does taste heavenly, these are not ingredients I have on hand on a weeknight. If you are the kind of person who has these handy, by all means follow a traditional recipe. If you are like me, I can make due with yummy, albeit non-traditional versions of recipes. This dish is not your average stew- forget thick and heavy gravy like sauce. It has a broth-like consistency that is flavored with all the veggies and meats you decide to cook in it.

Total time: 90-120 mins
Serves 6-8

Ingredients:
2 cans consomme
5 chicken thighs, boneless if desired
3 Italian sausages
2 tsp oil
salt and pepper
8 whole cloves
1 onion, cut into quarters
6 leeks, white part only (if desired)
1 celery stalk, cut in half
4 carrots, cut into 4-inch lengths
2 bay leaves
1 bunch of of fresh parsley (divided)
1 tsp dried thyme (or 1 fresh sprig)
15 small potatoes, cut in half
1 head of cabbage, cored and cut into 6 to 8 wedges
1 rutabaga or turnip, cut into 2 inch pieces
1 cup white wine

Instructions:
1. In a huge pot or dutch oven, heat the oil and brown the chicken (~5min). Once browned, remove from the pot and set aside. 
2. Push 2 cloves into each onion quarter add the onions to the pot, along with the leeks (if you are using them), celery, carrots, potato, rutabaga, cabbage and herbs (using a few sprigs of parsley). 
3. Pour consomme and equal parts water (use the cans to measure) and 1 cup of white wine over the vegetables. Cover the pot and bring it to a boil. 
4. Add the chicken back in and the sausages. Turn down the heat so the pot is on a slow simmer. Cook over medium-low heat for around 2 hours, or until the meat has fully cooked and vegetables are tender. 
5. Mince up about 10 sprigs of parsley so as to have 6 tbsp. Sprinkle each portion with about 1 tbsp of the herb.

Larb- Thai chicken salad

Imagine the tang of lime and lemon lingering with fresh flavors of basil and coriander and the heat of ginger and garlic.
Is your mouth watering yet?

Although the name of this dish- larb- leaves much to be desired, it could not be more jammed packed with flavor.

Larb has roots in Thai cooking but is easy to reproduce in North America. It is quick to make and can be served at room temperature - perfect for summer!

Here is my version of chicken larb.

Chicken Larb
Makes 4 servings

1 tbsp sesame oil
1 small red onion, minced
2 green onions, sliced
2 clove garlic, minced
1 inch piece of fresh ginger, minced (or 1 tsp dry)
1 (4-inch) piece lemongrass, minced (about 1/4 cup)
1 Thai chile or 1 serrano chile, stemmed and thinly sliced (optional)
~600g of ground chicken (or turkey, or pork, or tofu)
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
1/4 cup fresh mint, chopped
1/4 cup fresh coriander leaves, chopped
3 tbsp fresh chives, minced
Dressing
1/4 cup lime juice
juice of 1 lemon
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp honey or sugar

2 cups sticky rice, prepared
20-30 leaves of lettuce like Boston or Romaine

-Heat the oil over medium heat and soften the onions, ginger, chile, lemongrass and garlic (about 5 min)

-Add the ground meat and cook until done. Season with salt and pepper. Take off the heat.

-Mix together the ingredients for the dressing. Pour over the meat. Add in all the herbs and toss to mix.
-serve with sticky rice and lettuce cups. You can use Boston lettuce, romaine or even iceburg. Use the lettuce as a vehicle for rice and chicken.

Note: to be honest, I don't love spicy food, so I leave out the chile. Also, I rarely have lemongrass in the house so I substitute for lemon thyme, lemon zest or sometimes nothing at all. Lastly, I use what herbs I have on hand- so sometimes I have them all and other times I have only a few mentioned.

P.S. Don't be scared of fish sauce! It is super cheap to buy and adds a ton of flavor that is not too fishy.

No fry, easy, crispy chicken recipe

It is rare that I post recipes as blogs but when I find a tasty, quick & easy recipe, sometimes you just have to share it!
We have been cooking a lot more chicken in our house lately and although BBQ chicken is delicious, it is nice to expand our horizons once in awhile. We were in the mood for a baked version of fried chicken. Here is a quick recipe (it took a total of 35 minutes to make but only 10 minutes of prep with 25min of cooking) that contains ingredients we already had in our pantry!

1 tbsp grainy mustard
2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp coriander powder
2 eggs
1 tsp salt

2 cups panko
1/2 tsp curry powder

10 small chicken thighs, boneless

1. Preheat the oven to 400oF.
2. Put a rack on a baking sheet and spray with cooking oil spray.
3. Mix together the first 5 ingredients in a shallow bowl.
4. In another shallow bowl, mix the panko and 1/2 tsp curry powder.
5. Dredge the chicken through the wet mix then coat in panko mixture.
6. Place the coated chicken onto the sprayed rack. Spray with cooking spray.
7. Place in oven for about 20-25 minutes or until the chicken reaches 77oC or 170oF.
8. Serve with a ketchup curry dip: mix 3/4 cup ketchup with the juice of 1 lime and 1/2 tsp of curry powder.

The curry flavor was not overwhelming and the chicken thighs were juicy and tender. The panko stuck well to the chicken and the poultry did not even need to be cut since the thighs were already in small pieces.

Bon appetit!