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Filtering by Tag: chicken

we went to spain!

December 04, 2012Andrea

Hi, friends! Since the last time I checked in here at Bella Eats, Brian and I traveled to Spain. It was the most amazing trip, our honeymoon 6.5 years post-wedding, and we still can't quite believe that it's over. I have so much to share, and was so inspired while there, that I can barely contain myself! Once I parse through the thousands of images we captured I will share more, here, along with the recipes sure to emerge from our kitchen. We're already craving tortilla and albondigas like you wouldn't believe.

Also, if you're on Instagram, you can follow me there @andreahubbell. Brian (@brianmhubbell) and I made a special hashtag while abroad, #hubbellsinspain, which I still visit multiple times a day to relive small pieces of our time in Spain. Oh, how we miss it!

Also, have you met Sarah and Megan, the lovely ladies that I work with every week on Beyond the Flavor?

Together, at the beginning of November, we hosted the first annual Beyond the Flavor Friendsgiving. It was the best evening, filled with contributors, supporters, and friends of our project, without whom Beyond the Flavor wouldn't exist. You really should hop over to see our recap of the event, even if only for food inspiration. While the recipes shared were originally intended for the Thanksgiving table, several have made it to our regular menu and would be wonderful for other holiday meals as well. My favorites so far: Autumn Israeli Couscous, Crispy Kale Salad, and Pecan Corn Bread Pudding.

[photo by Sarah]

Coming home from 12 days of travel makes one crave cooking in one's own kitchen, and I am no exception. While I won't make any promises, I do have the best of intentions for Bella Eats. I hope to see more happening here, soon. We made the best, simplest roast chicken on Sunday, and it deserves an audience. Until then...happy December!

categories chicken, dinner
tags andrea hubbell, bella eats, beyond the flavor, charlottesville, chicken, culinary, food, food photographer, roast, san sebastian, spain, virginia

leftover bird + orzo soup

November 24, 2011Andrea

Happy Thanksgiving, friends! I hope you are all enjoying a leisurely morning of coffee and cooking with loved ones. We are about to embark on our meal prep, after a bit of time invested last night. Oh, and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter is magical...in case you were wondering. :)

I have a day-after recipe for you this morning; a hearty, veggie-filled soup that uses your leftover turkey meat as well as the carcass. We're all about using the whole animal around here, and fresh stock is truly the best base for any soup you can make. So chop some extra onions, celery, and carrots today and stow them away in a ziplock bag in your refrigerator. You can even make the stock tonight to keep things really simple tomorrow. Because tomorrow is all about relaxation and dirtying as few dishes as possible, right? :)

Again, Happy Thanksgiving! I am thankful for so many things this year, including each one of you for continuing to read and share your comments here at Bella Eats. Have a wonderful holiday, all!!!

Leftover Bird + Orzo Soup

for the stock:

3 tbsp vegetable oil

2 medium onions, diced (about 2 cups)

3 large carrots, chopped (about 1 cup)

3 ribs of celery, chopped (about 1 cup)

water

1 turkey or chicken carcass

for the soup:

3 tbsp vegetable oil

2 medium onions, diced (about 2 cups)

3 large carrots, chopped (about 1 cup)

3 ribs of celery, chopped (about 1 cup)

2 garlic cloves, minced

10 cups of stock (if you have less than that, add water. more, simmer it until it reduces)

2 bay leaves

3 large sprigs of thyme

(1) 15-oz can of diced tomatoes, drained

2 cups leftover chicken or turkey, chopped or torn into bite-size pieces

1 cup dried orzo

3 large handfuls of swiss chard leaves, stems removed, torn into bite-size pieces

salt + pepper

method:

First, make the stock. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onions, carrots, and celery and sauté until soft and translucent, about 8 minutes. Add the bird carcass and enough water to mostly cover, about 16 cups. Bring everything to a boil and then drop the heat to medium-low, letting the stock simmer for 2-3 hours until full of flavor and reduced to 8-10 cups. Strain the stock through a fine sieve, and discard the bird carcass and all vegetables. Let the stock cool completely before refrigerating if you're not going to use it the same day.

Clean the pot, and start again with heating the oil and sautéing the second batch of onions, carrots, celery, and garlic. After 3 minutes, add the stock, herbs, tomatoes, and leftover meat. Bring to a boil and drop to medium-low, letting the soup simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes. Add the orzo and continue to simmer until tender, another 10 minutes. Add the swiss chard and cook until wilted, about 3 minutes. Season with salt + pepper and serve, being careful to remove the thyme sprigs and bay leaves.

categories chicken, soup
tags chicken, leftovers, orzo, soup, thanksgiving, turkey

the perfect solution

January 12, 2010Andrea

I’ve been in a funk, dear readers. Well, not a funk exactly...more of a rut. A frosty weather-induced, post house-full-of-company rut that had me holed up every night last week in my yoga pants, fuzzy socks and Brian’s old sweatshirt. Meals consisted of leftovers pulled hastily from our refrigerator and freezer, thrown together haphazardly with as little effort expended as possible, eaten on the sofa in our den. I was tucked into bed by 8pm most evenings - electric blanket on high, humidifier humming away, Burt’s Bees coating my lips, book in hand. When the air temperature hasn't come close to 40* since well before Christmas it becomes very difficult to motivate oneself to climb out of a toasty bed to be productive. Even more so when you're a little burnt out from all of the cooking and cleaning and entertaining that took place the month prior.

Now, don’t for a second feel sorry for me. I was in my own little world, a vacation from cooking and socializing and looking decent after 6pm. I needed to lose myself to my thoughts for a few days, indulge in some guilty-pleasure reading, take lots of bubble baths while sipping red wine, ponder some 2010 projects. It was a lovely way to spend five evenings and quite a bit of last weekend, the only elements to improve the situation might have been a wood-burning fireplace and a view of the snow-dusted mountains to the west.

I emerged Saturday afternoon with a renewed desire to reacquaint myself with my kitchen beyond refrigeration and microwaves, a small stack of recipes in my hand and a posting schedule for Bella Eats on my iphone. The main criteria for dishes on that schedule is basic...they must be warm, they must be whole, they must be satisfying. Even better if they require that my oven be operating for at least 30 minutes, heating the kitchen and my fuzzy-socked feet. Braising seemed to be the perfect solution.

I've been reading reviews of Molly Stevens' All About Braising for quite some time now, noting that many foodies count the cookbook as one of their favorites. Its been on my wishlist, and was finally purchased in December to add to our collection, along with additional copies for family and friends. We've tried just two recipes so far, but have received enthusiastic comments from those we gifted the book to who didn't come out of the holidays in quite the same unmotivated rut as I. Between us all we've tested 10-12 of the dishes featured, from spicy green cabbage to pork sausage with grapes and wine to this chicken braised in hard cider with parsnips. There hasn't been a dud yet - the cookbook certainly seems to be living up to its IACP and James Beard Foundation award-winning name. Our copy has had a permanent home on the end of our dining room table, just off the kitchen, for daily browsing and recipe selection. You're sure to see a few pop up here in the next few months.

Hard apple cider infuses the chicken in this recipe with a light tang and incredible moisture as it cooks in a covered pot. The cider turns to a silky glaze that coats the sweet parsnips which, mingled with bits of salty bacon, provide the perfect accompaniment to the chicken. We served ours with garlicky collard greens on the side for a comforting meal hinting at our southern roots. Oh! Our hard cider is local, from Albemarle Ciderworks, and highly recommended if you live in the area. It's wonderful in this recipe, but especially good on its own.

Chicken Breasts Braised with Hard Cider & Parsnips

from All About Braising by Molly Stevens, pg. 151 (Molly gives excellent instruction on braising in her book, which I could never properly repeat here. I highly recommend purchasing it if you enjoy this recipe and think braising will be a regular part of your repertoire.) serves 4 Ingredients

2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
4 slices thick-cut bacon, cut into 1/2-inch wide strips
4 bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts (about 3 pounds total)
coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 large shallot, minced (about 3 tbsp)
2-1/2 cups hard cider (still or bubbly)
1 tbsp finely chopped fresh rosemary
1 pound parsnips, peeled, any woody core removed, and cut into sticks about 3 inches by 1/2 inch

Method What I love most about braising (so far) is the one-pot meal aspect of the technique. Instructions seem long and lengthy, but in reality are uncomplicated and make for a very easy clean-up.

Preheat oven to 325*.
Combine the oil and bacon in a large deep lidded skillet or shallow braising pan. (the pan needs to be large enough to hold the parsnips and 4 chicken breasts eventually, as you'll be using the same pan throughout the recipe) Heat over medium heat, stirring a few times, until the bacon renders most of its fat and is just crisp, about 6 minutes. Remove bacon pieces to a paper towel-lined plate to drain.
Rinse the chicken breasts under cool running water and try thoroughly with a paper towel. Season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper all over all sides.
Pour off and discard all but about 2 tbsp of the olive oil and rendered bacon fat from the original pan. Heat the remaining fat over medium-high heat. Place the chicken breasts, skin-side down, in the pan and brown, without disturbing, for a few minutes. Check the underside of the chicken breasts to see if they are crisp and bronzed, which should take about 5 minutes. Turn with tongs once brown, and repeat on other side for another 4-5 minutes. If the breasts are very plump, stand them on the side rounded edge, leaning them against the sides of the pan or holding them upright with the tongs, and brown this edge for about 2 minutes. Transfer the chicken breasts to a large plate or tray to catch the juices, and set aside.
Add the shallot to the braising pan. Heat over the same medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, for 1 minute. Quickly pour in 2 cups of the cider to deglaze the pan, scraping the bottom with a wooden spoon to dislodge and dissolve the browned bits. Let the cider boil to reduce down to about 1/2 cup, 10 to 15 minutes. Add the rosemary and the remaining 1/2 cup cider and boil down again until there's about 3/4 cup total, another 6 to 8 minutes. (watch carefully, you want to be sure to have liquid left for the braising)
Add the parsnips to the pan and season with generous grindings of black pepper and a pinch of salt. Sprinkle the bacon over the parsnips and arrange the chicken pieces on top, skin side down. Cover with parchment paper, pressing down so that the paper nearly rests on the chicken pieces and hangs over the sides of the pan by about an inch, and set the lid in place. Slide the pan onto a rack in the lower third of the oven to braise at a gentle simmer. After 25 minutes turn the chicken pieces and check the liquid. If it is simmering too strongly, lower the oven temperature by 10 to 15 degrees. Continue braising until the meat at the thickest part of the breast is cooked through when you make a small incision with a knife, another 20 to 25 minutes.

categories dinner
tags braising, chicken, cider, parsnips

summery tostada and a giveaway

August 04, 2009Andrea

Its August 4th. Can you believe it? If the summer season were a train, loaded down with multi-colored heirloom tomatoes, plump red bell peppers and blackberries the size of my thumb, I’d be the overwhelmed woman running after it, trying desperately to catch up while grasping wildly at any produce falling off the back. That’s how I feel when I go to the farmer’s market, visit our garden or just take a peek at the bella eats drafts folder. tostada merge 2

I’m feeling very behind, watching a pile of seasonal recipes I want to share grow taller and taller and realizing that I’ve been spending a lot of time in the kitchen and behind the camera but not enough at my computer. There are simply too many wonderful foods in season right now and not enough time in the day to cook all of the recipes I’m itching to try, let alone write about them. tostada merge 1

I was so overwhelmed last weekend that instead of sitting down to write in order to relieve some of the pressure, I simply closed the lid of my MacBook Pro, poured a lovely glass of vino verde and started baking. It did help, my de-stress baking (or maybe it was the effervescent white wine?), and made me realize that more important than giving you long, wordy posts is sharing with you the quick, simple and healthy meals we've been having at our house. tostada4

That is what summer is all about, right? Wonderful, fresh, delicious produce cooked simply and paired with other whole, healthy (hopefully local!) ingredients? If you're on board with that thinking then I have a nice little recipe to share with you. This one was a collaboration between Brian and I, thought up shortly after visiting our farmer's market and coming home with a basket full of local produce and even some locally made chevre. We happened to have a bottle of Saucy Mama Lime Chipotle Marinade in the pantry (for the recipe contest I am participating in) and decided that the tangy, smokey, pleasantly spicy sauce would pair nicely with roasted peppers, sweet corn and creamy goat cheese. Toss it all on top of a toasted whole wheat pita and you've got yourself a delicious, fast and filling summer meal. tostada6

Now, as much as I appreciate Saucy Mama asking me to participate in their contest and as much as I really, really, love each of the products I've tried, the purpose of this blog is not product advertisement. So, while I do recommend the Saucy Mama Lime Chipotle Marinade, I know that you can make this recipe with other sauces as well. Look for something tangy with a nice spice that hits you at the sides or back of your mouth, not right at the tip of your tongue. And, two lucky readers will actually get to try out the Saucy Mama Lime Chipotle Marinade! Just leave me a comment telling me about your favorite summer produce by Sunday, August 9th Monday, August 10th at 6pm EST. I'll announce the winners at the beginning of next week. I'll be hosting one more giveaway, courtesy of Saucy Mama, during the month of August so stay tuned... Summery Chicken Tostadas serves 4 for a light dinner Ingredients:

3 medium-sized boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Saucy Mama Lime Chipotle Marinade, to marinate chicken in and also to drizzle on top of tostadas
1 red bell pepper, sliced into strips
1 poblano pepper, seeds removed and sliced into strips
1 medium onion, sliced into strips
2 ears of fresh corn, corn removed from husk
2 tbsp olive oil
salt + pepper
4 oz chevre (goat cheese), crumbled
4 whole wheat pitas (8"), brushed with olive oil and toasted in oven

Method:

First, turn your oven on to 350*. Coat chicken breasts with marinade and let sit in small glass dish for 10 minutes.
As the oven preheats and the chicken marinates, chop up your veggies and toss in a 9x13 glass dish. Drizzle with olive oil and toss to coat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Place in oven and set timer to 30 minutes.
When oven timer has 20 minutes remaining, pour excess marinade out of chicken dish. Bake chicken for remaining 20 minutes at 350*.
Pull chicken from oven and bump oven temperature up to 400*. Stir veggies and let roast for an additional 5 minutes, while chicken cools slightly. Place pitas directly on rack to toast, turning halfway through 5 minutes.
After 5 minutes, shred chicken with a fork. Pull pitas and veggies from oven. Place one pita on each plate and top with shredded chicken, roasted veggies and crumbles of chevre. Drizzle Lime Chipotle Marinade over top of tostada, to taste.

categories dinner, healthified favorites, meat, product review, recipes
tags chicken, corn, goat cheese, healthy living links, peppers, pitas, tostadas

figs. also, some kale.

January 06, 2009Andrea

I was a little slow this morning, both mentally and physically. The snooze button on my alarm was pressed for a full 45 minutes before I finally crawled out of bed. I knew the weather was supposed to be cold and dreary today so I'll blame my lack of motivation on that. When I puttered out to the kitchen to work on prepping today's eats I had nary a clue as to what I would fix. As I shuffled things around on the top shelf of my fridge, I accidentally knocked a small container of Fage to the floor. After picking it up and discovering the crack that had formed in the bottom of the container, I realized that breakfast was solved. Breakfast: one 6oz cup of 0% Fage, 1/2 a pink lady apple, 1/4 cup of homemade granola from my lovely friend Beth and a drizzle of cranberry ketchup. 090106-b1

Perfect combination. I truly loved this breakfast. Have I mentioned that the CK is good on EVERYTHING? I know you're probably sick of reading about it, but I've got just over one jar left to finish up before it goes bad so I'll happily continue to experiment over the next week. In fact, this morning I made my hubb a brie, apple, spinach and cranberry ketchup sandwich on honey wheat bread. He LOVED it, as did I when he brought over a bite for me to taste. After solving my breakfast and the hubb's lunch, I was at a bit of a loss thinking about what I wanted for lunch. I thought about more meatball soup, but decided I should give it a rest and add some variety back into my meals and my blog. There are a couple of sweet potatoes on the counter that I thought about baking, but didn't have time. Same with the spaghetti squash. I finally settled on a bag of dried french lentils in the pantry that I've been meaning to make a salad with for quite some time. It seemed that I had enough time to quickly simmer them soft, but I wasn't altogether sure since it had been awhile since I'd made them. I brought 1 cup of french lentils to a boil in 2 cups of chicken broth, reduced the heat and simmered for 40 minutes, 10 minutes longer than I had anticipated which resulted in a very rushed salad prep. They are still slightly crunchy, which I like. I'm not a big fan of lentils when they turn to mush. 090106-l1

Tossed with chopped bell pepper, cucumber, olive oil, balsamic vinegar and creole mustard, this simple salad turned out pretty well. I'll be experimenting more though because I've had many better lentil salads at restaurants around town. Lunch: Lentil Salad with 1/2 a whole wheat pita and a pear. I meant to sprinkle some crumbled feta on top of the salad, but in my rush I forgot. Maybe tomorrow. 090106-l2

For snacks I brought: 2 clementines and an Iced Gingerbread Clif Bar, I only ate one of the clems. 090106-s1

This was my first experience with any of the holiday-flavored Clif Bars. I know, I'm way behind. I wasn't sure what to expect as I've read many mixed reviews about them, so I was very pleasantly surprised when I nibbled on the bar a bit before lunch. It was quite tasty! I saved the rest for an afternoon snack and enjoyed it immensely. Looks like I'm in for a hunt around town before they are all gone for another year. Now if I could only remember where I found them... I also had two more dark chocolate covered potato chips. Yes, I said potato chips. I don't know why they don't show the dark chocolate option on the website, but I definitely prefer dark to milk chocolate these days. I wish the chocolate was a little thinner so you could taste a bit more of the salted potato chip, but they are delicious all the same. During my lunch break I perused the last couple of days of the NY Times Dining + Wine section on the web. I came across this recipe and couldn't stop thinking about it. I'll blame it on the rain again. So, I hopped in the car with my hubb for a couple of late-lunchtime errands and purchased 4 chicken thighs, some dried figs, honey and lemons. Also, some kale. I've been craving greens since I couldn't find them for our New Years Day lucky dinner. Dinner: Broiled Chicken with Honey Fig Sauce, sautéed kale and roasted garlic rice. 090106-d4

I discovered a new love for dried figs. 090106-d5

They are perfectly sweet and soft, and the seeds provide a wonderfully satisfying crunch. Love. 090106-d9

The chicken is broiled in the oven until the outside is delicately crispy and the inside still moist. The figs are simmered with honey, white wine and spices until a thick glaze forms, then drizzled over the chicken. Paired with one of my longtime favorites, sautéed kale, this meal was a sure winner. 090106-d2

We sautéed the kale in olive oil with some garlic, salt and pepper until the leaves wilted slightly and turned bright green. 090106-d6

Before serving, we squeezed a bit of lemon juice across the kale. Perfect. 090106-d8

The hubb and I were pretty happy with the results. If we make the chicken recipe again we will make a few changes...

Use ground coriander instead of whole, and cut amount accordingly
Omit lemon juice from fig glaze
Lessen honey, perhaps substitute a bit more wine? :)

At any rate, I'm a very happy girl after eating this simple gourmet meal. Especially since we paired it with one of my new favorite wines, a local white that we used in the glaze as well. 090106-d7

And now, its bedtime after another long post. I hope you've all had a pleasant day, and that tomorrow brings better weather for those of us that have been plagued with rain and cold for the last 24 hours. Good night! :)

categories breakfast, dinner, lunch, product review
tags Clif, chicken, cranberry "ketchup", fage, figs, granola, honey, kale, lentils

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