Adventures in Garlic Cookery
Jul. 14th, 2009 07:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jaunthieSo needless to say, dinner over the last few days has included quite a bit of garlic.
I wanted to make a garlic-based soup with some of the harvest. I've made Mexican garlic soup before, sans tomatoes of course, and it's really good. But I didn't have the right ingredients on hand for that, so I improvised. The end result was quite unexpected, but really, really tasty. We had it for dinner on Sunday, and I've been eating the leftovers for lunch.
1 tsp olive oil
1 large red onion
20-30 cloves garlic
2 poblano peppers
1 quart vegetable broth
1 quart water
1 box frozen spinach
1 16-oz package frozen corn kernels
1 can black beans
1 can kidney beans
cumin, salt, pepper, smoked paprika to taste
optional: 1 package chipotle turkey meatballs or other meat, chopped into bits
Get out your trustiest stockpot and start the oil heating in the bottom. Chop up the red onion and start it carmelizing (you really want to genuinely carmelize the onions for this recipe). While that's carmelizing, peel the garlic and chop up the poblanos. Add them to the carmelized onions and sautee/brown until they're nice and soft. Add broth and at least part of the water, reduce to a simmer, and let cook and reduce for at least an hour. (I let it simmer while getting in some writing.) The resulting broth will be very rich and flavorful, almost like a mole sauce. When you're ready to get soupifying, turn up the heat, add the spinach, corn, beans, and any additional water you might need. If you're going to add meat, add it now. Get everything hot, adjust seasonings with spices, and serve with a slice of toasted bread on top. Makes a lot of a very thick, very flavorful soup.
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into four pieces
12 medium-sized garlic cloves, halved (or 24 small ones)
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried tarragon
1/2 to 1 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp onion powder
pinch of kosher salt
1 tsp olive oil
1 cup chicken broth
Preheat oven to 450. Mix the dry spices (thyme through salt) together. Heat the olive oil in an oven-proof skillet. Coat the four chicken pieces with the spice mixture. Place pieces in the pan; surround with garlic cloves. Cook chicken 2 minutes on one side, turn, and 2 more minutes on the other. Add 3/4 of the broth to the pan and transfer into the oven. Cook for 10 minutes in the oven or until meat is cooked through and garlic cloves are soft. Remove from oven and transfer the chicken pieces to a plate to rest. Return pan to stove on medium heat. Add the rest of the broth and mash garlic cloves with a fork. If necessary, thicken the sauce further with a little flour. Pour sauce over chicken and serve with steamed green beans (fresh from the garden) and french bread slices spread with roasted elephant garlic (if you're going to turn the oven on anyway, might as well go for it, right?).
Both the chicken and the soup are even better the next day. Yum!
I wanted to make a garlic-based soup with some of the harvest. I've made Mexican garlic soup before, sans tomatoes of course, and it's really good. But I didn't have the right ingredients on hand for that, so I improvised. The end result was quite unexpected, but really, really tasty. We had it for dinner on Sunday, and I've been eating the leftovers for lunch.
1 tsp olive oil
1 large red onion
20-30 cloves garlic
2 poblano peppers
1 quart vegetable broth
1 quart water
1 box frozen spinach
1 16-oz package frozen corn kernels
1 can black beans
1 can kidney beans
cumin, salt, pepper, smoked paprika to taste
optional: 1 package chipotle turkey meatballs or other meat, chopped into bits
Get out your trustiest stockpot and start the oil heating in the bottom. Chop up the red onion and start it carmelizing (you really want to genuinely carmelize the onions for this recipe). While that's carmelizing, peel the garlic and chop up the poblanos. Add them to the carmelized onions and sautee/brown until they're nice and soft. Add broth and at least part of the water, reduce to a simmer, and let cook and reduce for at least an hour. (I let it simmer while getting in some writing.) The resulting broth will be very rich and flavorful, almost like a mole sauce. When you're ready to get soupifying, turn up the heat, add the spinach, corn, beans, and any additional water you might need. If you're going to add meat, add it now. Get everything hot, adjust seasonings with spices, and serve with a slice of toasted bread on top. Makes a lot of a very thick, very flavorful soup.
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into four pieces
12 medium-sized garlic cloves, halved (or 24 small ones)
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried tarragon
1/2 to 1 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp onion powder
pinch of kosher salt
1 tsp olive oil
1 cup chicken broth
Preheat oven to 450. Mix the dry spices (thyme through salt) together. Heat the olive oil in an oven-proof skillet. Coat the four chicken pieces with the spice mixture. Place pieces in the pan; surround with garlic cloves. Cook chicken 2 minutes on one side, turn, and 2 more minutes on the other. Add 3/4 of the broth to the pan and transfer into the oven. Cook for 10 minutes in the oven or until meat is cooked through and garlic cloves are soft. Remove from oven and transfer the chicken pieces to a plate to rest. Return pan to stove on medium heat. Add the rest of the broth and mash garlic cloves with a fork. If necessary, thicken the sauce further with a little flour. Pour sauce over chicken and serve with steamed green beans (fresh from the garden) and french bread slices spread with roasted elephant garlic (if you're going to turn the oven on anyway, might as well go for it, right?).
Both the chicken and the soup are even better the next day. Yum!
