POTS AND PANS CITY BLOG

What better way to warm up your loved ones on a cold winter day or when they are sick in bed than with a hot bowl of chicken noodle soup!  This tasty recipe will warm their hearts as well as their stomachs.

• 2 chicken breasts, cubed
• 3 large carrots, peeled and sliced
• 2 parsnips, peeled and sliced
• 1 onion, finely sliced
• 1 stalk celery, sliced
• 1 TBSP. oil
• 6 cups water
• 4 packets chicken bouillon
• Salt & pepper
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 tsp. dried thyme
• 1 tsp. dried sage
• 1 ½ cups fine egg noodles

In a large stock pot, heat oil and brown chicken cubes.  Add water. Bring to a boil and skim liquid of fat.

Reduce heat and all remaining ingredients, except egg noodles.

Simmer, covered for approximately 2-3 hours.  Add egg noodles and cook for another 15 minutes.

Serve hot.

Although typical chowders contain bacon, this recipe offers a bit of a lighter flavour.  The taste is all about the creaminess of the soup broth and the delicate seafood.  It is a great soup to start a gourmet dinner, but it is still relatively easy to prepare.  Wow your guests by preparing this wonderful seafood chowder!

Ingredients:

• 3 onions
• 1 tsp. minced garlic
• 3 TBSP. butter
• 2 TBSP. flour

In a large stock pot, melt butter.  Add onions and garlic and sauté until onions are transparent.  Stir in flour and brown.

Add to pot:

• 6 cups chicken stock
• 3 small potatoes, peeled and cut in small cubes
• 2 stalks celery, sliced
• 1 tsp. Salt
• ½ tsp. Pepper
• 1 TBSP. Basil
• 1 tsp. Thyme

Bring to a boil.  Turn heat down and let simmer until vegetables are tender when pierced with a fork.  In small batches, puree soup in blender until smooth.  Return mixture to pot.

Add:

• ½ pkg. Mixed seafood
• 2-3 pieces of fish (cod, sole, etc.) cut in chunks
• 1 cup baby shrimp

Bring soup to a boil and turn down and simmer for 12 minutes.  Add 1 cup half and half cream.

Heat through and serve hot.

Although rhubarb is often mistaken for a fruit, it is actually a vegetable.  It is closely related to garden sorrel, which makes it a vegetable.  Its unique tart taste is a favorite in many desserts and it is especially good in pies.  It is often combined with other fruit like apples or strawberries to give it a sweeter flavor.

Rhubarb was initially cultivated for medicinal reasons and it was not until the 18th century that it began to be grown for culinary purposes in England and North America.

Rhubarb is a perennial plant that is rich in Vitamin C and dietary fiber.  The leaves of the rhubarb plant crop up in early spring and can grow up to a foot or more in width and length.  The plant can reach the height of several feet if not cut back.  The leaves of the rhubarb plant are poisonous and should not be eaten.  Only the stalks are used for cooking purposes.  Rhubarb is often used in jams, jellies, sauces, stewed fruits and juice, as well as in pies.

Although rhubarb is commonly found in most supermarkets around the country, it is also very easy to grow.  Once planted the rhubarb stalks appear yearly (because it is a perennial) and the plant expands.  The best quality rhubarb is said to be found in Michigan, other northern states and in Ontario, Canada.  You can find fresh rhubarb in early spring through to summer, and winter rhubarb is commercially produced in forcing houses in Michigan and Ontario.  You can usually get two crops of rhubarb out of your garden per year, the first in early May or June and then a second crop in late August.

There are several varieties of rhubarb and it comes in a spectrum of colors ranging from deep red to green.  You can also get pink or speckled rhubarb.  Many believe that the red rhubarb is sweeter than the green, but that is not necessarily true as the sweetness is not really related to the color.  The red is the more popular type among consumers, but the green varieties are often the more productive plants.  Any type of rhubarb can be used in cooking.

As mentioned, rhubarb is excellent when teamed up with other fruit.  The sweet crispness of apples makes a great pairing with the tartness of the rhubarb.  Firm, crisper apples like Granny Smith’s hold up better when cooked with rhubarb, which generally tends to soften and provide a fair bit of juice. 

Here is an excellent recipe for you to try for a true rhubarb taste experience.  It offers both the fruity goodness of apples and rhubarb and has a bit of crunch with the topping.

Apple-Rhubarb Crunch Pie

Pie Crust:

• 1 cup flour
• ½ tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. white sugar
• 1/3 cup vegetable shortening
• 2 ½ TBSP. cold water (approximately)

Add flour, salt, sugar and shortening in food processor.  Process in short bursts until ingredients are combined and has the texture of small peas.  Add cold water a little at a time.  Add only enough water to hold pastry together.  Shape into a ball and wrap with plastic wrap.  Refrigerate for about an hour.  After and hour, unwrap and roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface, about 1/8” thick shaping into a circle as you work.  Gently lay pastry in pie plate.

Preheat oven to 350? F.

Filling:

• 1 cup quick-cooking rolled oats
• ½ cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• ¼ cup melted butter

Mix together above ingredients in a small bowl.  Spread evenly over top of pie.

Bake for 50-55 minutes, until top is golden and filling is bubbly.