sprinklefingers

well, here we are again. another soup post from me.

of course i’d love to be working on summery dishes - of course I would! but we’re in the middle of a rainy slump in portland and i just can’t imagine summertime delights when it’s dumping rain and completely soggy outside.

not too long ago i told you about a cookbook that i’ve been enjoying. it’s called chicken and egg. it’s a class-act cookbook. the soup we’re going to talk about today is from chicken and egg with a few of my own tweaks: instead of simply adding the onions to the soup with the majority of the other ingredients, i start the soup by cooking the onions until golden. i really like the way the onions form a golden & sweet base for the rest of the soup, and i don’t often like an onion in soup that’s simply been boiled. additionally i added a bunch of kale and a carrot to the soup…not for any reason other than we’re on that salad for dinner diet d-word i told you about and a bunch of kale and carrot in a soup should qualify as a salad. at least in my book.

red lentil chicken soup with kale
from chicken and egg by janice cole
makes one big pot

you need:

• 1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 1 T plus 2 t ground cumin
• 1 t cinnamon
• 3/4 t allspice
• 2 T olive oil
• 1 large yellow onion, diced small
• 3 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 large carrot, chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 quarts homemade chicken stock (store bought is fine in a pinch)
• 28 oz can plum tomatoes
• 1 1/2 cups red lentils
• 1 1/4 t kosher salt
• 3/4 t black pepper
• a few pinches of red pepper flakes
• 1 bunch lacinato kale, thick parts of stems removed, leaves cut into thin ribbons

make the soup:

1. carve the chicken thighs into bite size chunks - about 1” pieces will be perfect. add the chicken pieces to a bowl and sprinkle with the cumin, cinnamon and allspice. mix the chicken to evenly coat with the spices. set aside.
2. open the can of plum tomatoes and, using your hands, pull the tomatoes out of the can and set them on a cutting board. give them a rough chop (you want them to be chunky) and then add them back to the can with their juice. set aside.
3. in a big soup pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. add the diced onion and cook until golden.
4. add the celery and carrot to the onion and let cook until tender.
5. next, add the garlic and cook until fragrant.
6. add the chicken pieces and cook for 5-8 minutes, stirring to brown the chicken on all sides.
7. once the chicken is a bit browned, add the chicken stock, the choppy tomatoes with their juice, the lentils, salt, black pepper and red pepper flakes. stir the soup well and raise the heat to medium-high so that it comes to a steady simmer.
8. let the soup simmer for 20 minutes then add the ribbons of kale. 
9. let the soup simmer for 30 more minutes or until thick & hearty, stirring occasionally. 

because the soup contains chicken, lentils and vegetables, i serve it alone. a whole meal in one bowl!

this soup will keep well in the fridge for up to three days. it also will freeze like a dream. although it’s so good i don’t think any will make it to the freezer… 

no, this isn’t a post about baker’s twine. or even nests of pasta. it’s a post about my brain. a tangled mess indeed.

while i was physically absent from work last week, i was kept up to date on the goings-on…thanks in large part to email & txt messages. but now that i’m really back, there’s so much to do. for example, my brain is so tangled it absolutely will not let me pick flooring for our new shop. additionally, while chairs got crossed off our list last week, picking tables is making my brain an even bigger mess. and don’t even get me started on countertop material. add to this the fact that i’m woefully behind on menu planning and my brain just feels like it’s going to expire.

and then i get two new cookbooks and suddenly the brain is calmed. amazing that even the thought of food tames me. [well. i guess it’s not that amazing, especially if you’ve been reading this diary for a while.]

while i haven’t yet cooked a single thing from either of these two books, i still highly recommend them. beautiful design, pretty pictures and perfectly written. i’ve been reading them like novels.

first up, chicken & egg by janice cole. i don’t keep chickens. i have no plans to keep chickens. but my lack of chicken husbandry doesn’t mean i don’t like reading about chicken coop drama - and this book is full of it. in addition to tales of actual hens, the book is stuffed with recipes…and i can honestly say that there isn’t one recipe in the entire book that i don’t want to make. my upcoming easter brunch features a dish from this book - of course i’ll tell you all about it in due time.

look at that cover! so adorable!

——
and second, the glorious pasta of italy by domenica marchetti. with photographs by my favorite food photographer, france ruffenach. i cannot wait to make the spring pea soup recipe. and, hello, a sauce made of zucchini? FINALLY something new to do with the abundance of zucchini my friends grow each year.

don’t you just want to eat this cover?



more to come after i get cooking!