chicken soup

sorry i haven't posted in ages i'm so sorry you look beautiful/handsome today and i love that color on you it's such a great color.

no, i'm not dead. i just started a new job last week that has involved six and eight hour shifts during the week and very little time to squeeze in for cooking that isn't frozen. on the plus side, i've rejuvenated my love affair

with stouffer's frozen mac and cheese. on the negative, i miss cooking a lot and miss food that is hot. with this new job has come the harsh and cruel arrival of cold weather. somewhere around the middle of my seven hour shift in forty degree weather on monday night, i felt the call of soup. like, right that second. alas, work.

this is that soup and you know what? it takes forty minutes tops including prep and cooking which isn't too shabby for weeknight soup. i don't have to tell you how good hot soup is when it's cold out and you can't feel your fingers - you surely know.

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts

6 cups chicken stock

1 cup diced carrots

1 diced onion

2 cloves garlic

1 teaspoon herbes de provence

1 cup chopped spinach

1 cup grated parmesan

1 tbsp vegetable oil

salt and pepper

firstly, heat the vegetable oil until it's just about smoking in a dutch oven or large pot. while that's happening, salt and pepper the chicken breasts. brown on each side in the hot oil and set aside. continue until all of the chicken is browned and you've some nice bits. leave the chicken breasts whole - you need them whole. shh just trust me.

add onions, garlic, and carrots to the pan (add a drizzle of olive oil if needed to keep things moving along and, you know, not burning). cook, tossing frequently until soft and brown. pour in the chicken stock and add chicken breasts to the stock. add the seasonings (i did a few healthy grinds of salt and pepper in addition to the herbes de provence), stir, and put the lid on.

let the mixture simmer for about fifteen minutes. while this is happening, chop the spinach and grate the cheese. you could totally use preshredded cheese in this case but for the love of god, don't use the stuff in the green can. you want it to get nice and melty, not dissolve. 

once the chicken is cooked (165 or bust), remove it from the liquid and get to shredding it. you could also chop it if you'd like but shredded chicken is my preferred method. at this point, you could also add a handful of small noodles to the broth and turn it into chicken noodle soup and i wouldn't judge you at all. return the shredded chicken to the broth and add the cheese and spinach. 

serve with crusty bread and you're in soup city.

stuffed shells + shade at fifty shades

fun fact: despite the amount of italian food i make, there is not a drop of italian blood in me. i suppose the nearest i come geographically is czech and even then...yeah, not so much italian. it does explain my love of a good meat/potato combination but not even slightly the love of italian food. i suppose it's that i just love the ingredients so much. i love that you can take tomatoes, cheese, and pasta and have infinite possibilities. i also really love reeking of garlic. tonight, we're making stuffed shells. it's somehow become a signature of mine - i recently had to text the entire recipe to my sister - and it is one of the few vegetarian dishes in my repertoire. vegans are shit out of luck though - the theme here is cheese and lots of it. 

Half box jumbo shells
1 portion of red sauce (here or use a jar of your favorite brand)
1 fifteen ounce container of ricotta cheese.
2 tbsp italian seasoning + more to taste
3 cups mozzarella cheese (the more finely grated the better and mine's an Italian blend)

first up, whip the ever loving hell out of the ricotta. i'd make a fifty shades of grey book but i read the first one and was offended as an aficionado of well written smut. like come on. whatever happened to jackie collins? go read jackie collins. she's a cool lady. you'll get proper plots, good smut, and a book that didn't originate as twilight fanfiction. 

oh yeah, this is a cooking blog. SO ANYWAY, once you have whipped your ricotta into a fluffy, and flustered state, work in the mozzarella and seasonings and taste it. this filling can go super bland super quick, despite the salt of the seasoning (i blame you ricotta, you delicious devil). have salt standing by and add to taste. cover it with saran wrap and pop in the fridge to let it settle.

(note: that paragraph was more erotic than fifty shades of grey.)

fun tip about the shells: DO NOT COOK THEM ALL THE WAY.  five to seven minutes in violently boiling water should about do it. remove and let cool until you can handle them with your bare fingers without destroying your fingertips (again, not that i speak from personal experience or anything.) 

when the shells are cooled, gather your spoon, your shells, and your bowl of cheese and get to filling. about a tablespoon per shell should do it but i'll be honest - it's usually more. who likes a skinny stuffed shell? no one, that's who.

now. assembly. stay with me. pour about half of your sauce on the bottom of your baking dish to give the shells something to rest on. at the shells, slit up. spoon sauce in between shells - it'll keep the edges from drying out also more sauce is always welcome. sprinkle with more shredded cheese and cover with aluminum foil. 

bake at 350 for half an hour covered and 15 minutes uncovered. let them stand for a good five to ten minutes before digging in - the fillings is going to be hot enough to peel off the roof of your mouth.

now this is good eating. it's decadent - like come on, look at that shell up top. it's positively oozing. it's simple but impressive and i am all about simple but impressive food. it's one of those meals you keep going back for more even though you're full because it's just so damn good. and how could it not be? cheese, red sauce, and pasta. the winning team.

meet sam. he was our super special guest.
yes that shirt has cats and tacos on it.