Easy Surf and Turf Paella

Chicken Broth and Diced Tomato

Featured Ingredients: Chicken Broth X 2 and Petite Diced Tomatoes

I miss my blog.  I started a new job on Wednesday.  Back in Marketing, the old 9 to 5 grind... but really, who in Marketing works 9 to 5?  After the 25 mile commute against traffic and wolfing down whatever my husband threw together for dinner, chasing down my boys to do homework, walking the dog, or working out, there is not much energy left to cook. I don't have the pleasure of the extra time anymore. 

On the flip side, my culinary choices are based now even more on recipes with fewer ingredients or things that can simmer or bake so I can multi-task. So now Uncanny Goodness really lives up to its Time Saving philosophy.

That said, what's easier than the one pot meal.  Now that the snow and ice dams have melted, the trees are budding and robins are scurrying around, stew weather is behind us.  But the crisp spring air is perfect for a satisfying paella.

I make mine with chorizo. Chorizo is available in varying degrees of heat. I used this kind:

It says it's hot, but it was a mild heat. Only a little more kick than kielbasa.(Trust me I'm a wuss when it comes to spicy food.) Whole Foods sells a really good chorizo, which I wouldn't classify as hot. If hot is your thing, you can use Andouille or Linguica or a hotter Chorizo.

I also add chicken.  This is a great way to use up leftover cooked chicken, from say a store-bought rotisserie chicken.  Finally, to me, a paella is not complete without some form of seafood, so I add shrimp.  My older son and I are the only shrimp eaters.  So in this case, I saute them separately and place them on the plate that wants them.  By cooking and adding them last minute, this also ensures that the shrimp don't get overdone and gummy.  Plus it takes not time to cook them in a saute pan.

Easy Surf and Turf Paella - Serves 8

Extra virgin olive oil as needed

12 oz. package or 4 links chorizo sausage sliced into about 1/2 in rounds

1 medium onion finely chopped

1 cup diced red pepper

2 gloves garlic minced

1 1/2 cups long grain white rice

1/4 tsp turmeric (turns rice yellow and cheaper than saffron)

1 14.5 oz. cans diced tomatoes, undrained

2 14.5 oz. cans low sodium chicken broth

1 cup diced cooked chicken 

1 cup frozen peas, thawed

salt and pepper to taste

24 shrimp, shelled and deveined (less if not everyone is a shrimp eater)

1/2 lemon for lemon juice

1/4 cup parsley, finely chopped

In a heavy 12 inch pan, heat 1 tbsp oil over medium heat.  Saute chorizo about 4-5 minutes until it starts to brown.  Remove from pan.  Add red pepper and saute about 2 minutes to start cooking process, scraping up brown bits.  Remove to the pan with sausage.  Add onion and saute until translucent 3 to 4 minutes.  Add rice and toast a few minutes until you start to see translucent grains 1 to 2 minutes.

Stir in turmeric, tomatoes and broth, scraping any more brown bits. Stir in chicken.  Heat to a boil and reduce to a low simmer.   To borrow a line from Guy Fieri... Everybody in the pool.

Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.  Check liquid level and doneness of rice.  Add a little water if needed Stir in peas. NOTE: the peas will also release a little water.  Cook about 5 more minutes.  Finish with parsley.

Separately, squeeze a little lemon juice on your shrimp.  I usually put them in a colander with a bowl underneath.  Heat a non-stick saute pan with 1 tbsp olive oil.  Add shrimp and saute. Turn shrimp over when you start to see pink underneath.  Shrimp should take more than 5 minutes to cook.  When they are pink and begin to curl they should be done.  

Plate paella and top with shrimp.

Easy Surf and Turf Paella

Tuscan Ribollita - Reinventing Soup and Yourself

Chicken Broth, Cannellini Beans

Featured Ingredients: Chicken Broth, Cannellini Beans

Ribollita is the pinnacle leftover soup.  In fact Ribolitta in Italian means twice cooked or reboiled.  The concept being it tastes better the next day.  I'd say this is also true for other Italian dishes, like lasagna and tiramisu. As I recall from culinary school, ribolitta is a Tuscan dish that was basically created from leftover minestrone. Thus reinventing it  into another meal.

I felt a little like Ribollita last night.  I went to a speed networking event in Manhattan.  It's like speed dating for the underemployed. It was actually a lot of fun.  Your mission is to condense who you are, what you do, what are your goals in 2 minutes or less.  If you have 20 years of history under your belt, are looking to change careers and are tackling a couple of key projects at the moment it's not that easy.  The good thing is it forces you to self edit.  I'm not the best at interviews, as I'm not the most articulate person on the fly so the practice was good.  I think that is why I am most comfortable behind a keyboard, or quite honestly with paper and pencil in hand.  As you met each potential contact you needed to reboil your speech. You would start out at a slow simmer and slowly build to a rolling boil and then overflow with your hopes and dreams or at least short term goals.  It was neat to meet people I probably would have never encountered in such a short amount of time.  These were all people from the culinary world, recipe developers, food writers, event planners ranging from just out the school to approaching retirement, a very interesting diverse bunch.

The biggest challenge was having four people on either side of you, yammering about who they were to their partner while trying to listen to your partner and not lose your train of thought when your turn came up.
If it were up to me, I would have used up the extra bit of table they had left over and separated the seats a bit more. This type of networking was good forum for me. As cocktail parties aren't my forte, I don't think I would have been very successful meeting these people if I had to rely on just my mingling skills. On that note, let's mingle some ingredients together and get Ribollita:

Ribollita - Serves 4 or more

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 cup onion
3 medium carrots, sliced
3 stalks celery, sliced
3 garlic cloves minced
4 oz. pancetta diced
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 bay leaf
Salt and Pepper as needed
1 48 oz. can chicken stock (plus water as needed)

2 cups sliced napa cabbage (the thinner more delicate leaves cook quicker)

1 15 oz. can cannellini beans
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese for garnish

Heat olive oil in a large pot.  Saute onion for 3 to 4 minutes until translucent, add carrots and celery and saute about 3 more minutes.  Add garlic and pancetta and saute for a couple of minutes more. 

Add tomato paste, chicken stock, cabbage and bay leaf and bring to a boil then reduce to simmer. 

Simmer for about 15 minutes until vegetables are near tender. Add canned beans and simmer until heated through. Add parsley in the last couple minutes of cooking.  Taste soup and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. 

Garnish with parmesan cheese.  Serve with bread.

Some hard core ribollita recipes insist on adding bread to the bowl and ladling the soup over the bread.  Up to you!  It really depends if you are a crackers in the soup or crackers on the side kind of person.

Tuscan Ribollita

On the way out of the networking event, I realized I had a little deja vu.  I passed by Michael's Restaurant with its big bow windows that jut out onto 55th St. It was comforting to see with all the restaurants that have come and gone in Manhattan in the last 19 years, that this one was still there.  This familiar sight also reminded me that I used to work in the building on the corner.  It was when I was in my young 20's starting out in the advertising business.  My clearest memory of this place was the office was so dimly lit, you could unintentionally match dark navy and black in your outfit and no one would know the difference.
It's funny when you think about it. I couldn't I have predicted when I walked this street back then, that nearly 20 years later I would be on this same block, reboiling and reinventing myself.

Moroccan Spiced Chicken Braise with Figs

Featured Ingredient: Figs

As a part of my mission to expand the list of canned good options for this blog, I give you the following recipe.  It is inspired by a Chicken Tagine recipe I made in Culinary School.

My first impression of these figs was not what I expected.  While they are in light syrup, the flavor they gave off was more of a salty brine with a teeny bit of sweet.  I had found a similar recipe for Moroccan Chicken that used green olives, but after tasting the figs, I think I had that color and flavor covered, so I did without the olives.  I added golden raisins for additional sweetness.   The addition of the almonds was my own inspiration.  Not only are they good for you, but if you are nuts over nuts, they work really well with this dish and add a nice delicate texture.

Moroccan Spiced Chicken Braise with Figs

Olive oil as needed
2 lbs bone in chicken thighs without skin
1 3/4 cup Spanish onion chopped
1/2 tsp powdered ginger
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp coriander
1 tbsp honey
2 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 15oz can Figs, cut into bite sized pieces (about 1 1/4 cup)
1/2 cup golden raisins
Sliced almonds for garnish

Heat a small amount of olive oil in a deep skillet or wide rondeau on medium high heat.  Season chicken with salt and pepper.  "Brown" chicken until lightly golden on each side, but not cooked through. Remove to another pan.

Lower heat to medium and add the onion and sweat until translucent. Add ginger, cumin, cinnamon, turmeric, coriander and cook about 2 more minutes, until fragrant.  Add broth, honey and bring mixture to a boil, then reduce to simmer.

Return chicken pieces to pan and simmer chicken bone side up for about 15 minutes.  Turn pieces over and add figs, and raisins.  Simmer an additional 10 minutes until chicken registers at 180F.  Sprinkle with cilantro and slivered almonds if desired for additional texture.

Serve with Israeli Couscous



Moroccan Spiced Chicken Braise with Figs

Winter Cassoulet with Italian Sausage and Chicken



Chicken Broth, Tomatoes, Beans

Featured Ingredients: Chicken Broth, Cherry Tomatoes, Cannellini Beans

Is there anything better on a frigid winter night than a stew? Although cassoulet sounds so much prettier, it is literally the French translation for stew. This one tastes as good as it sounds.

I pulled this recipe from my vast binder of printouts and torn magazine pages that I have collected over the years.  The end result is an adaptation of one from Real Simple magazine.  It's one of those recipes that I set aside to try, but never got around to it.  Now I'm wondering why I waited so long.  The original recipe only called for Italian Sausage. When I wrote out my grocery list, I actually misread the recipe and thought it also needed chicken.  As I recall when I made cassoulet in culinary school, there was more than one protein. So now I had to work in the chicken.

I reduced the number of beans (3 cans - or 1 can too many if you ask me) and added 1lb of chicken thighs to share the stage. This addition makes the cassoulet not too filling but doesn't leave you hungry.

Cassoulet - Serves 6 to 8

1 tbsp olive oil
1 lb sweet Italian Sausage (casings removed)
1lb boneless chicken thighs, most of fat removed and cut into 2 inch stew size pieces
1 1/2 cups Chicken Broth
1 onion, thinly sliced
3 carrots cut into 1/2 inch pieces (about 1 1/2 cups)
3 parsnips cut into 1/2 inch pieces (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 15 oz. can Cherry Tomatoes undrained
2 15 oz. cans Cannellini Beans
1 tsp dried thyme leaves
1/2 tsp salt
Dash of black pepper
3 cloves garlic minced
1 cup plain dry bread crumbs
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 tbsps unsalted butter melted

You will need a 5 1/2 quart cast iron dutch oven or a vessel that you can use on your rangetop and then put safely into the oven.


In your vessel of choice (I love my Le Creuset pot) heat oil over medium heat.  Cook the sausage until browned, breaking up into bits with a wooden spoon or spatula.  Place in a dish lined with paper towels.

In remaining oil/fat saute chicken for about 4-5 minutes to soak up sausage flavor and begin cooking process.  Do not cook through.  Remove to another plate.  Pour out any excess fat.

Add chicken broth, onion, carrots, parsnips, beans, thyme, salt, pepper,1/3 of the garlic and return sausage and chicken to pot with any remaining juices.  To borrow a line from Guy Fieri, "everybody in the pool."

Stir and scrape up any brown bits.  Bring to a boil and reduce to a slow, steady simmer. Cover and cook for about 35 minutes until vegetables are nearly tender and liquid has thickened.

Heat oven to 400F.  In a bowl combine melted butter, breadcrumbs, parsley and remaining garlic. 


(I combined it in the pot where I melted the butter.  Anywhere you can save doing a dish.) Sprinkle evenly over the cassoulet and place in the oven.

Bake uncovered for 10-15 minutes until crust is golden and your cassoulet is bubbly and delicious.  If you find your crust isn't browning fast enough and you don't want to over cook vegetables, put the broiler on for 1 minute or 2 to help you along.

Your final stew should be moist but not have a lot liquid leftover. The flavor of the Cassoulet marries perfectly with a glass of Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc.

Winter Cassoulet with Italian Sausage and Chicken

A Super Bowl of Soup - Roasted Chicken Tortilla Soup

Canned Tomatoes & Chicken Broth

Featured Ingredient: Muir Glen Fire Roasted Tomatoes with Green Chiles and College Inn Chicken Broth (Lower Sodium)*

Super Bowl is around the corner. Not that I follow football, I am only mindful of this time as my dog was born on Super Bowl Sunday 3 years ago. But like the Super Bowl players I like to have game plan that will help me achieve my goal of great meal in record time.

After dinner last night, I was already thinking about what would be on tomorrow's menu.  I knew I had a 3.5 lb raw chicken in the fridge that I could throw into the oven, to save myself some prep time today. Below are my go-to ingredients for a simple roast chicken: 

Onion, lemon, celery, butter & some form of fresh mild herb.  For this chicken I had dill on hand.

I put a couple slices of onion, lemon, and two small stalks of celery into the cavity of the chicken. (Don't over stuff).  Soften about 4 tbsps of butter and blend in 1/4 cup of chopped herb, salt and pepper. With a butter knife loosen the skin on the chicken breast and insert butter under the skin and then spread out the butter by running the knife over the skin.  Be sure to leave little butter mixture. Melt butter and herbs and glaze the top of the chicken with a pastry brush. Put a little water in the bottom of your pan. Bake at 400 for about 25 minutes Baste chicken with juices and add more water if needed (about 1/2 way through baking for a 3.5 lb bird).  Roast for an additional 25 minutes until thigh registers at least 175F. Let chicken rest for 10 minutes so it can reach 180F.

Now all you have to do is put together your soup.

Roasted Chicken Tortilla Soup - This soup serves 4 very generously.

1 cup thinly sliced/shredded cooked chicken
1 14.5 oz. can Muir Glen Fire Roasted Tomatoes with Green Chiles undrained
2 tsps oil
2 cloves garlic minced
3 scallions
1/2 tsp cumin
3 cups low sodium chicken broth* (if you don't use low sodium don't add the additional salt in the recipe)
2 tsps salt
1/2 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 avocado peeled, pitted and cut in chunks
1 tbsp fresh squeezed lime juice + a little extra

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Add scallions and garlic and saute for 1 minute.  Add broth, tomatoes, cumin.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.  Add chicken and simmer an additional 5 minutes, until heated through. Stir in lime juice.

Meanwhile cut up chicken and avocado. Drizzle avocado with lime to help retain color and deter oxidization. Grate cheese.

Don't you just a love a perfect avocado



The Fire Roasted Tomatoes with the Chiles already pack a lot of flavor, so you don't need a lot of extra ingredients. There is a subtle heat to this product that gives the back of your throat a slight burn.

 You could also garnish with cilantro, but I didn't think it needed it. The creaminess of the avocado and the cheese counter balance the heat from the tomatoes. Sometimes when there are too many ingredients it becomes a clutter of flavors, that is not necessarily ideal. In this recipe you can taste each note individually and how well the ingredients work together as a team

Topped with Tortilla chips, avocado, cheese and you have your soup and deconstructed nachos all in one SUPER BOWL.

 A Super Bowl of Soup - Roasted Chicken Tortilla Soup

 This post is linked to: Girlie Chef - Tortilla Soup Challenge

Chicken Stew with Scallion Cornmeal Dumplings



College Inn Chicken Broth

Featured Ingredient: College Inn Chicken Broth 48 oz. (Industrial Size)

How do you define comfort food? I would like to know.

For me, three things immediately come to mind... Macaroni and Cheese, Mashed Potatoes, and Chicken Stew with Dumplings.

Yesterday the Northeast got hit with one of the worst blizzards in 14 years. Our fate was nothing worse than little cabin fever by the end of the day.
After fighting the crowds at the grocery store earlier that morning I came back with the contents to this wonderful creation.

This recipe was adapted from a little cookbook called Cheap Eats, that I received about as long ago as the last big snow storm. The author and I share a similar philosophy, nourishing, hearty family meals for about $10. The recipes in the book are even classified by season.  This one falls in winter, exactly where it belongs. I'm the only person I know who actually looks forward to the colder months. You just can't enjoy the warmth and the comforting smells your oven or Dutch Oven emits in the middle of summer.


Chicken Stew with Dumplings

1.25 lbs boneless chicken thighs fat removed and cut into stew like pieces
1 medium onion chopped
2 cups carrots
1 cup celery
5 cups College Inn chicken broth
1 tsp marjoram
1 tsp dried thyme leaves
2 small bay leaves
Dash of black pepper

Scallion Cornmeal Dumplings (Recipe follows)

Heat 1 tbsp olive oil on medium heat in a 5 quart Dutch Oven, sautee onion, carrots and celery until onion is translucent to release aromatics.  Remove to plate. 

Add additonal olive oil if needed and sautee chicken pieces until lightly golden on outside. Add vegetables back to pot and add broth, marjoram, thyme and bay leaves.  NOTE: I used the not low sodium chicken broth for this and the recipe did not need any additional salting.

Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. 

Meanwhile stir together dumplings:

1 cup plus 2 tbsps all-purpose flour
2 tbsps cornmeal, preferably yellow
2 tsps baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsps minced scallions, including green tops
3 tbsps chilled solid vegetable shortening or butter (I used shortening)
1/2 cup milk

In a medium bowl, mix the first 5 ingredients.  Cut the shortening or butter in with a pastry cutter or rub it into the mixture by rubbing your hands together until it resembles coarse meal.  Add milk and stir until a soft dough forms.

Drop the dumplings by rounded tablespoonfuls into the hot liquid around the pot.  To give each little guy room to expand. You will get about 12 dumplings.  Cover with lid and don't peek for 20 minutes.  You are actually poaching biscuits.

The beauty of these dumplings is that they help thicken the stew. Ladle into wide shallow bowls and be comforted.

Chicken Stew with Scallion Cornmeal Dumplings

Chicken Cacciatore Bake with Rice



Featured Ingredients

 Today's featured ingredients are a trifecta of flavors:  Diced Tomatoes, White Beans, Chicken Broth

Ah, the one pot meal.  One of my favorites after a long day. There is something magical about throwing a bunch of ingredients into a Le Creuset dish and having it yield a protein, a starch and some vegetables a mere 35 minutes later.

As an aside, My 5 Quart Le Creuset dish, is the best cooking investment I ever made, next to my stand mixer - and I got it on sale at discount store. It's worth its weight in gold.  I'm not sure why, maybe the way it distributes heat, that food cooked in it, just ends up tasting better compared to any other pot I've used.  I also love that it works as well on my range top and transfers safely to the oven.

This is a recipe I adapted from a torn out page of an old Working Mother magazine.  It is only recently I took literally hundreds and hundreds of torn pages that I have been saving in file folders and organized them in a 3 inch binder.  Those recipes that I like, and would want make again, go into another "test kitchen" binder.   This recipe will definitely find a home in the latter binder.
Chicken Cacciatore Bake with Rice

2 tbsp olive oil
1.75 lbs bone in skinless chicken thighs (5 pieces) - Thighs are great as they don't dry out like breasts
1 medium onion chopped (1 cup)
3 small cloves garlic - finely chopped
3 celery hearts sliced in 1/2 inch pieces (1 cup)
3 carrots sliced in 1/2 inch pieces (1 cup)
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste
3/4 cup uncooked white or brown rice (not quick cooking)
1 can 14.5 oz. chicken broth
1 can 14.5 oz. diced tomatoes (undrained)
1 can 15.5 oz. white beans (rinsed and drained)
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped

Preheat oven to 375F

Heat 1 tbsp oil in an oven safe sauce pot over medium high heat.  Sear chicken on both sides to get some golden color -- about 3 - 4 minutes per side. Once a "fond" or crust begins to develop the chicken won't stick.  Remove chicken from pan set aside.

Heat additional tbsp of oil - Add onions, celery, carrot, garlic, and cook for several minutes until onions are soft.  Lower temperature to medium and add herbs and rice and stir until everything is coated in oil.  Sautee for a couple minutes to "toast" the rice.

Pour in broth, tomatoes and beans and gently combine.  Add chicken back to pot and bring pot to a simmer.  Cover pot with lid.  Transfer to oven and bake for 30-35 minutes, until liquid is almost all absorbed and bubbly, rice is tender and chicken is cooked to 180F.  Sprinkle with fresh parsley.

Scoop and Serve.  Clean one pot.

Chicken Cacciatore Bake with Rice