cream

It’s human nature to have many routines, whether they’re conscious or unconscious! Often, we’re not even sure how long we’ve had them or how they got started. One of mine is cleaning the fridge the night before the compost, recycling, yard waste, (garbage, if you’re not from Seattle) are collected. I’m pretty sure my mom does the same thing. However, now that I have “more time than money” I am very conscientious about the wasting of anything. It’s not that I was not conscious before, but when your unpredictable work schedule takes you away from home 3-5 days a week, you don’t always manage the larder as efficiently as possible; leftovers get tossed, planned meals don’t get cooked, and the freezer quickly fills with foil packets I call UFO’s….unidentifiable frozen objects, that are rarely interesting a month or two later!

Even with the best intentions, sometimes what’s left at week’s end, is pretty drab and has very few opportunities to be repurposed! I’d love to hear ideas for leftover lettuce based salads, as that is one item that fills my compost bucket routinely! Chicken or salmon – easily become next days sandwich with a little help of mayo, celery, bell pepper. Potatoes, vegetable and gravy – perfect set up for Shepard’s pie, or “dinner for breakfast” potato pancakes.

I got lucky this week, when I opened the produce drawer to “clean it out”. I had a few ears of corn, a half-dozen poblano peppers, a couple jalopeno peppers, cilantro and some leftover chicken. I knew immediately I would be making a corn, pepper, chicken chowder. We had onions, garlic, baby potatoes and chicken stock in the pantry, so I jumped right in. This could all be thrown together in a crock pot, but I actually made the base one day, and reheated it with cream the second day. This soup is delicious and will stay in our rotation throughout the winter, even though we will have to sub frozen corn for the fresh.

For the corn, poblano and chicken chowder

1 large sweet onion, chopped

4-6 cloves of garlic, minced

2 jalopenos , stems and seeds removed and finely chopped

5 poblano peppers, stems and seeds removed and chopped

4 ears of corn, cut away from the cob

12 tiny potatoes, quartered

1 quart chicken stock

2 cups water

2 cups cooked chicken meat in bite size pieces (from leftover chicken)

1/2 bunch of cilantro, chopped – retain a few leaves for garnish

1 pint heavy cream

oil for sautéing

salt and pepper

grated cheese for serving – Mexican style

Heat about 2 tablespoons of oil in the bottom of a heavy soup pot over medium heat. Sauté the onion, garlic, peppers until soft, about 7 minutes

Add the corn cobs, chopped cilantro, potatoes and chicken stock, and allow to simmer at least an hour.

At this point, I added the chicken, simmered it about an hour more and then moved the pot to the fridge. You could easily complete the soup, but I think the extra day with the corn husks in the pot really pumped up the corn flavor! Add salt and pepper as needed.

About an hour before serving, I brought the soup to a slow simmer. I reduced the heat as much as possible and added the pint of cream.

We served this with grated cheese and fresh-baked corn bread. I really hope you’ll give it a try, whether you have the ingredients on hand or not!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great evening.

Laura

A friend recently asked how I come up with all the different things I end up cooking, which I thought was a great question! My personal email box is filled with blog posts from my favorite bloggers, daily recipe blasts from Saveur, Food and Wine, Bon Apetite, and Food Network TV, just to name a few. While most of these are deleted after a quick glance, there are those that stand out do to their uniqueness, or familiarity, or implied adventure into the unknown.

This Transylvanian recipe, published by Saveur in February of 2012, was so delicious and different! I made it with pork chops, but I could see making it with a whole pork loin, and being a very elegant presentation. Though the recipe recommended white rice, I served the dish with farro. The nutty farro went perfectly with the sauce! http://www.saveur.com/gallery/Transylvanian-Recipes?page=6

Ingredients

1/3 cup olive oil

4 tbsp. unsalted butter

4 pork loin chops – boneless, bone in – your choice

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1/2 cup flour

2 tart apples, such as Granny Smith, peeled, cored, and cut into 8 wedges each

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 small yellow onion, finely chopped

1/2 red Fresno chile, stemmed, seeded, and minced

1 1/2 cups hard apple cider (Buy a 750ml bottle, and serve the rest with the meal!)

1/2 cup chicken stock

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup Dijon mustard

1 tbsp. finely chopped marjoram

1 tbsp. finely chopped parsley

Instructions

Heat 2 tbsp. each oil and butter in a 12″ skillet over medium-high heat. Season pork on both sides with salt and pepper, and dredge half the pieces in flour; add to skillet, and cook, turning once, until lightly browned on both sides, about 1 minute.

Transfer to a plate, and set aside; repeat with 2 tbsp. oil, remaining butter, and remaining pork and flour; transfer all pork to plate.

Return skillet to heat, and add remaining oil; add apples, garlic, onion, and chile, and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 3 minutes.

Add cider, and cook until reduced by half, about 5 minutes.

Add stock, cream, and mustard, and bring to a boil; return pork to skillet, and add marjoram. Reduce heat to medium, and cook until pork is cooked through and sauce has thickened, about 10 minutes.

Season with salt and pepper, and sprinkle with parsley; serve with rice or *farro.

*If Farro is new to you, check out the great article here from NPR’s Kitchen Window!

http://www.npr.org/2013/10/02/227838385/farro-an-ancient-if-complicated-grain-worth-figuring-out

Garbage Day Soup!

Székelyalmás (Pork with Apples and Cider Cream Sauce) with Farro

Ingredients

Instructions