Chicken Soup with Toasted Garlic, Mushrooms, and Celery (from Golden Chicken Broth)

Alison Roman’s Dining In: Highly Cookable Recipes is the perfect antidote to your extended winter blues (despite the supposed arrival of Spring). Reading her cookbook is just as enjoyable as cozying up by a fire with an enthralling fiction novel, or engaging in an intimate conversation with a dear, dear friend. Roman’s direct and animatedly humorous prose is so refreshingly familiar that it’s hard to turn the pages without feeling like she is there in person, championing the luxuries of a well-cooked homemade meal with a shrug, giggle, and excellently made stiff drink in hand (or so I imagine). 

The prevailing theme of Dining In is that cooking should be fun, not taxing, and not take up too much time or have too many ingredients. In Roman’s kitchen, imperfections are welcome and eccentricities essential. Just look at some of her recipe titles—"Decidedly Not-Sweet Granola"; "Baked Pasta with Artichokes, Greens, and Too Much Cheese"—for reassurance that your comfort in the kitchen is Roman’s chief consideration.

“There is no reason that the food cooked in your own home should be any less fabulous or bring you any less joy [than dining out]”, Roman writes. “Here you’ll find a collection of recipes that are neither obnoxiously aspirational nor so obvious that you’d wonder why you bought this book, but fall somewhere delightfully in the middle.”

Her declaration couldn’t ring truer for the first recipe I made, Golden Chicken Broth with Turmeric and Garlic for Chicken Soup with Toasted Garlic, Mushrooms, and Celery. A unique twist of ingredients (celery galore, star anise, turmeric, coconut oil) piqued my interest, and an emphatic list of easy substitutions (homemade broth was not mandatory; any hot sauce could substitute for her homemade chili oil) convinced me that the soup wouldn’t be too tall of an order for the two hour slot I had available for it on a Saturday morning. (If you are using store-bought broth, that is. If making broth from scratch, I recommend getting this out of the way the night before—it breaks up the time commitment and refrigerating overnight allows you to skim off extra fat the next day).

The soup was incredible, a true winter woe healing experience. Drinking the broth seemed to melt off any traces of lingering seasonal affective disorder and was as warming and rejuvenating as a bright sunny day (“bottled sunshine”, Roman calls it). Ginger, turmeric and star anise added impossible richness to the liquid, and the earthy, meaty mushrooms contrasted beautifully to the sprightly, crunchy celery slices. A stir of fish sauce and lime added plenty of salt and acidity to the golden tonic, along with a nod to Thai cuisine, emboldened by the cilantro leaves and chili oil that finished off the dish. The crispy garlic slices are the cherry on top, sautéed luxuriously in coconut oil and bringing a final pop of delectable flavor to the finger-licking (bowl-slurping?) dish.

Golden Chicken Broth with Turmeric and Garlic (from Dining In)
Makes 10 cups

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp canola, vegetable, or coconut oil
1 large yellow onion, unpeeled, halved
2 heads of garlic, halved crosswise
2 (2-inch) pieces fresh turmeric, peeled and halved lengthwise, or 1 teaspoons ground
1 (4-inch) piece ginger, peeled and halved lengthwise
4 celery stalks, chopped
1 large fennel bulb, chopped (I skipped this and doubled celery)
2 fresh or fried bay leaves (optional)
2 whole star anise or 3 whole cloves
1 (3.5- to 4-lb) chicken or 3.5- to 4-pounds chicken carcasses, backbones, and/or wings (I use Trader Joe's Organic Free Range Chicken Family Pack, which comes with 2 split breasts and 4 drumsticks)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
1. Heat the oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic, fresh turmeric (if using ground, you’ll do it later), and ginger, all cut-side down. Cook, without stirring, until everything starts to lightly char and smells good, about 4 minutes. Add the celery, fennel, bay leaves (if using), and star anise, and stir to coat (add the ground turmeric now also). Cook, stirring everything around, until the vegetables start to soften and take on a touch of color, about 4 minutes. Add the chicken and 12 cups water. Bring to a simmer and reduce the heat to medium-low.

2. Simmer the stock, uncovered, until the chicken is just cooked through but still has some life left in it (you don’t want to dry it out), about 30 minutes. Remove the chicken and let it cool enough to handle (if using chicken parts, skip this step and keep simmering), keeping the stock at a simmer while the chicken cools.

3. Pick the meat from the cooled bird, separating it from the fat, bones, and cartilage, and set the meat aside. Place all the fat, bone, and cartilage into the pot and keep simmering for another 2 to 2.5 hours, seasoning as you go with salt and pepper.

4. Once the stock has been reduced by about a third and is as delicious as can be, strain everything. From here, you can drink it, freeze it for later, or start building a soup.

Chicken Soup with Toasted Garlic, Mushrooms, and Celery (from Dining In)
Serves 4

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp unrefined coconut or vegetable oil
8 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 large shallots, thinly sliced crosswise into rings
1 lb mushrooms, such as maitake, oyster, shiitake, or crimini, quartered
8 cups Golden Chicken Broth (from recipe above) or store-bought low-sodium chicken broth
4 celery stalks, thinly sliced on the diagonal, plus 1/2 cup celery leaves
2 to 3 cups cooked chicken meat
1 tsp Asian fish sauce (preferably Red Boat), plus more as needed (optional)
1 lime, quartered
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, tender stems and leaves
Crunchy chili oil or hot sauce/sesame seeds/chili flakes, for serving

Directions:
1. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the garlic, and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the garlic is lightly fried and turning golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove the garlic and drain on a plate lined with a paper towel. Season with salt and set aside.

2. Add the shallots to the same pot and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the shallots are lightly fried and turning golden brown but are not yet crisp, 3 to 4 minutes.

3. Add the mushrooms, seasoning them with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until they’re beginning to brown and are totally softened, about 4 minutes. Add the broth and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer and cook, uncovered, for 30 to 40 minutes, until the flavors get to know each other and the broth tastes a little shalloty and a little mushroomy, seasoning with additional salt and pepper as needed.

4. Once the broth is as good as can be, add the sliced celery and chicken. Cook until the celery is just tender and the chicken is warmed through, 3 to 4 minutes. Season with fish sauce, if using, and lots of fresh lime juice. Stir in the celery leaves, cilantro, a generous spoonful of chili oil (or drizzle of hot sauce or chili flakes) before topping with toasted garlic and serving. (The soup can be enjoyed on its own, or served over rice, rice noodles, or quinoa).

Sumac Chicken with Cauliflower and Brussels Sprouts

Where have you been, woman? I know, I know! I have not posted a new recipe in nearly 2 months, and the one below is paired with a single measly photo. So sorry but I’ve spent the past 8 weeks on a sun-drenched tropical island, taking a vacation from technology and clutter to idly wander white sand beaches, stopping to eat the occasional coconut or papaya should it happen to bounce my way. Sike! I’ve been trudging through this miserable Nor’easter-heaped sludge Spring with all you fools, just busy busy busy with the other writing I do (aka the one that is paid). 
I’ve still been cooking up a storm, of course. Jam-packed days mean less involved dinners, and I have fallen in love with the sheet pan method. For the better part of an hour, vegetables and proteins are heaped together on a single wide sheet pan as I go about cleaning/laundry/yoga in my living room. Forty-five minutes later, presto! A deeply roasted, bronzed and bubbling denouement— that looks and tastes as if I’ve been slaving away for the past week— materializes right before my tired eyes.

The namesake of Sumac Chicken with Cauliflower and Brussels Sprouts is definitely the winsome ingredient here. Sumac, a tart, lemony spice featured in Middle Eastern cooking, is humbled with a pinch of brown sugar and smoky paprika. Both the chicken and vegetables get roasted in this sprightly rub, then finished with a lovely drizzle of fresh herbs and lemon juice. The chicken is roasted bone-in and skin-on, giving it that moist, fall-off-the-bone consistency of an expertly done rotisserie. It took my husband and I three days to finish the pan’s offerings (I doubled the recipe), and the flavors only seemed to intensify every day that passed.

A quick note on chicken: as someone who’s been a skinless, boneless chicken breast devotee my whole life, the transition to skin-on, bone-in cuts of both dark meat and light was a bit intimidating. But the fat content of these cuts is nothing to fear here. In fact, its where all of your flavor and succulence will come from. If you cannot bear the thought of drumsticks and thighs, chicken breast is fine, just make sure to follow the aforementioned preparation so it doesn’t dry out. However, I really liked using a mixture of dark and light meat. I was also blown away by the cost-efficiency of buying these cuts: at Trader Joe’s, a “family pack” (2 breasts and 4 drumsticks, all organic) was only $2.99/lb. You can also buy an entire chicken and have the butcher counter cut it up for you, which will give you a nice variety of all these pieces.

Sumac Chicken with Cauliflower and Brussels Sprouts (altered slightly from Cooking Light)
Serves 4

Ingredients
3 Tbsp olive or avocado oil, divided
1 Tbsp sumac
1 tsp kosher salt, divided
1 tsp light brown sugar
1 tsp paprika
¼ tsp red pepper flakes
1 lb cauliflower florets
1 lb Brussels sprouts, halved lengthwise
2 lbs chicken thighs/drumsticks/bone-in, skin-on breast
1 small lemon, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
1 small red onion, cut into ¾ inch wedges
1 cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley or cilantro; preferably, a mix
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 small garlic clove

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425°F. 
2. Combine 2 Tbsp oil with sumac, ¾ tsp salt, brown sugar, paprika, and red pepper in a medium bowl. Place cauliflower and Brussels sprouts on a foil-lined baking sheet. Add half of oil mixture; toss to coat. 
3. Add chicken pieces and lemon slices to pan. Rub remaining oil mixture over chicken. Bake for 20 minutes. Stir vegetables. Sprinkle onion wedges over pan. Bake for 20 more minutes, or until chicken is done. 
4. Combine remaining 1 Tbsp oil, parsley, and remaining ingredients in a small bowl. Spoon parsley mixture evenly over chicken and vegetables. Serve with warm whole-wheat couscous, if desired. 

Best Ever Chicken Noodle Soup

Despite having a blog with a yiddish appellation, it took this Jew two months shy of 29 years to accomplish two cooking staples of the chosen people. First, make chicken stock from scratch, and second, use schmaltz to form matzo balls. Sacrilege! You and my grandmothers cry. The truth is, I was scared of the process. The rudimentary details seemed daunting to me. Buying a whole chicken. Dissembling that whole chicken. Separating the chicken fat. Utilizing the chicken fat.  As the daughter of a nutritionist and sister of a lifelong vegetarian, I can't say I have a lot of meat-handling under my belt. As far as cooking fats go, mine usually pours smoothly out of glass bottle with the words "extra virgin" etched in front.


The funny thing is, its those very details that make stock-making so darn easy. First and foremost, your butcher (that includes guys behind the meat counter at Whole Foods) can chop up that chicken for you.  Mine even separated the edible parts from the stock-only parts, and wrapped up the liver (shudder), isolated from everything else. That being said, I did find the process of using (almost) the whole animal primitively satisfying; and the whole no-part-goes-to-waste concept is undoubtedly sustainable. Price-wise too, you get such better bang for your buck with the full bird.

If the idea of chopping onions, carrots, celery, and herbs to flavor your stock—and then repeating the process all over again for an actual soup—sounds like too much work, here's a newsflash: The first part doesn't exist. When you make stock, you throw in everything whole. Onions in the skin? Yes. Carrots unpeeled? Si señor.

Also, there is no work! You throw all this stuff in a pot and let it simmer for two hours. Only two! Then, at the end, you have a fantastic, from scratch, aromatic broth—along with the most tender, moist, fall-off-the-bone chicken you could ever imagine. It's a total win win situation. I have already become a total broth-from-scratch convert. And, like a good Jewish girl, stored my schmaltz in the freezer for next occasion's matzo ball making. Now, Grandmas are proud.

So what's the secret to why this chicken noodle soup is the "best ever"? It's not a secret, but rather a formula; one of those foods where the homemade, from-scratch version is truly better. If your stock/broth is not from a box, it too can be the best chicken soup ever. Also, this recipe is from Joan Nathan, rebbe of Jewish cooking.  She pairs her stock with a kick-ass matzo ball recipe, but for the purposes of this post, let's stick to classic chicken noodle soup.  It's cold, pitch black out by 4:30pm, 80% of the people you know have a cold—all things begging for a batch of body and soul warming via bowl.

Best Ever Chicken Noodle Soup (from Joan Nathan via Food52)
Serves 6

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken (about 4 pounds)

3 large onions (2 for stock, 1 for soup)

6 parsnips (4 for stock, 2 for soup)

5 stalks celery (2 for stock, 3 for soup)

10 carrots (6 for stock, 4 for soup)

6 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley (optional, I didn’t use)

6 Tbsp snipped dill, divided

6 oz spaghetti or fusilli

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp salt

¼ tsp coarse ground black pepper

2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)

Thick, crusty bread for serving; like sourdough

Directions:

1. Put the chicken and enough water to cover by two inches (about 4 quarts) in a large pot and bring the water to a boil. Skim off the froth as it rises to the top.

2. Add 2 onions (whole and unpeeled), 4 parsnips (unpeeled), 2 stalks celery, 6 carrots (unpeeled), parsley (if using), 4 tablespoons of the dill, and the salt and pepper. Half-cover and simmer for at least an hour and up to 2 hours, adjusting the seasoning to taste.

3. Refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours or overnight so the liquid solidifies. When the fat rises to the top, skim it off (reserve if making matzo balls).

4. Strain the soup. Set aside the chicken and discard the vegetables.  Remove skin from chicken and shred meat into pieces with your hands (because the chicken is so soft, this should be really easy). Discard the bones and any pieces too gizzardy to eat.

5. Transfer stock to another pot or bowl. In your now-empty pot, heat EVOO over medium heat. Peel and dice the remaining onion, add it to pot along with the garlic. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until garlic is fragrant and onions start to become translucent.

6. Peel and chop remaining carrots and parsnips. Chop celery. Add to the pot. Sprinkle with ample salt and pepper. Cook for 7 more minutes, stirring frequently, until vegetables soften.

7. Pour chicken stock into pot. Bring to a boil. Add shredded chicken and pasta. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook per pasta package directions, stirring pasta frequently. Just before serving, add the remaining snipped dill (I used closer to 3-4 Tbsp here because I happen to love dill). If needed, add more salt and/or pepper before serving. Accompany with a large slice of toasted bread.

Spaghetti Squash with Market Tomato Sauce and Turkey Sausage

Two years ago, I abandoned my quest for the perfect tomato sauce recipe because I found it in a jar. It is Cucina Antica Spicy Arrabbiata, par excellence thanks to robust flavor, whole ingredients, and absence of excess sugar or salt.  I use it for everything, from chicken parmigiana to Shakshouka.

At the Greenmarket, gourds, pumpkins, and Indian corn carouse Autumn’s arrival front and center, but I couldn’t help notice the cornucopia of late-season tomatoes, ripe and bursting in a myriad of shapes and size, that populated the tents.  As excited as I was to jump on the season’s first delicata or acorn squash, I knew these guys would stick around for months, while the tomatoes were approaching final harvest. A raw preparation seemed to a la summer, and I craved a slow-cooked concoction. As I surveyed the rest of the produce, picking at my ratatouille sample courtesy of National Gourmet Institute, it came to me. I would make a ratatouille-inspired marinara sauce! A fabulously chunky, tomato-based fusion of early Fall’s best offerings: slow cooked tomatoes, carrots and red peppers; riddled with fresh basil and thyme.  Part French country, party Italian basic. The sauce would dress spaghetti squash noodles, and accompany DiPaola Turkey Farm hot turkey sausage.

I used Mollie Katzen’s Moosewood Italian Tomato Sauce for the basic recipe, and the end result was outstanding. The carrots and peppers added a sweet, complex flavor to the late season tomatoes, so that the sauce felt unique and interesting without straying too far from a classic marinara flavor.  Notes of hot red chili and fennel from the sausage added a burst of heat to the mild sauce.

The red sauce is a bit time consuming, which is why I fervently recommend you gather a giant haul of market tomatoes and make a huge batch at once. It will keep in the refrigerator for over a week, and in the freezer indefinitely.

If you are a vegetarian? Substitute cannellini beans for turkey sausage.

If you are feeling creative? Add late summer squash, sundried tomatoes, capers, or olives to the mix.

If you are lazy? Sautee onions, carrots, red pepper, garlic, and thyme for eight minutes. Add it to your favorite jarred tomato sauce.

If you are in a time crunch? Substitute spaghetti squash noodles for zucchini noodles, which take only minutes to cook.

If you are human? You can’t deny the undeniable power of a good spaghetti and meatballs…consider this its evolution of sorts. A healthier, more flavorful, locally-sourced cousin of everyone’s beloved classic dish.

 

Spaghetti Squash with Market Tomato Sauce and Turkey Sausage (inspired by Mollie Katzen)

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 large spaghetti squash

2 to 3 Tbsp olive oil

1 cup chopped yellow onion

2 red peppers (sweet or bell), diced

1 carrot, diced

5 large tomatoes, such as Jersey or beefsteak, chopped

¾ cup loosely packed basil leaves

1 Tbsp fresh thyme

1 tsp dried oregano

½ cup tomato paste

½ cup red wine, or, 1 Tbsp honey or sugar

4 garlic cloves, minced

Salt & pepper

10 to 12 oz turkey sausage

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut the spaghetti squash in half, lengthwise, and place (cut sides down) on a baking sheet covered with aluminum foil lightly coated in olive oil. Bake for 45 minutes.

2. While the spaghetti squash is cooking, prepare the sauce. Heat olive oil in a Dutch over or large skillet. Add onion, pepper, carrot, thyme, oregano, and 1 tsp salt. Sauté over medium heat until the onion is soft, 8 to 10 minutes.

3. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, wine/honey/sugar, and black pepper. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer, partially covered, for 20 to 30 minutes.

4. While the sauce is simmering, cooking the sausage. Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a medium sized skillet, and cook sausage, turning frequently until it is browned on all sides and cooked through in the middle, about 10 minutes. Set aside.

5. Add garlic to the sauce, and cook about 10 minutes more. The sauce will have a loose, chunky consistency, but if you desire a more uniform thickness, take an immersion blender to the pot once it has cooled a bit. Stir in basil leaves.

6. To serve: scrape out the seeds of the spaghetti squash and discard. Using a fork, scrape out the flesh of the squash—it will dislodge in spaghetti-like strands—distributing evenly amongst four plates (each squash half serves two). Top each plate with two heaping spoonfuls of sauce, and turkey sausage cut into pieces of ½ inch thickness. Garnish with extra basil or thyme, and enjoy with a side of thick, toasted whole grain bread.