I’ll begin the week’s note but talking about last week’s celery. I still have plenty and luckily it keeps well so I’ve included a few recipes that I turned to thanks to the celery, including poaching a whole chicken. It served me well all last week. Plenty of other quick and easy things to do with the tomatoes and eggplant and a corn chowder recipe that uses this week’s green peppers as well. Happy cooking!
Poaching a Chicken (for Chicken Salad with lots of Celery, etc.)
Eggplant and Summer Squash Green Curry
Corn, Cucumber Salad with Buttermilk Dressing
Corn Chowder with Leeks and Green Pepper
Simplest Tomato Sauce and its Many Uses
Pasta with Eggplant and Tomato
Fennel and Onion Soffrito
Poaching a Whole Chicken
When you poach a chicken, you’re doing two things: You’re making a delicious poached chicken, and you’re making a savory chicken broth that you can use in many ways.
The reason I’m including this recipe in the packet this week is that I was inspired to poach a chicken last week because of all the celery. You use it to poach and in many of the recipes you might make to use the cooked chicken—chicken salad, chicken noodle soup, etc.
- Rinse the chicken and giblets/neck (if there were any) under cold running water and shake off any water.
- Put the chicken in a large pot with ½ an onion, chopped up a bit, 2 carrots, quartered, 3-4 stalks celery and any attached celery leaves, chopped up a bit.
- Add 2 teaspoons whole peppercorns; a clove of garlic (peeled and crushed); 2-3 bay leaves and a sprig or two of thyme and parsley if you have them.
- Cover the chicken with water, add 2 teaspoons sea or Kosher salt and bring to a boil. Then lower to a simmer, cover and cook for about an hour and 10 minutes.
- If you’re making soup, after about an hour, you can add some diced potatoes, turnips, peeled and diced, etc.
- After the full hour and 10 minutes, turn off the heat, remove the chicken and transfer it to pan or a rimmed baking sheet to cool for about twenty minutes. Check to see if the chicken is fully cooked and the meat comes off of the bones easily and the juices run clear. Strain and use broth immediately for soup or strain into quart or pint jars and refrigerate or freeze for future use. Use it for soup, risotto, sauces, etc.
- When the chicken is cool enough to handle pull off all the meat. The juicy poached chicken meat is wonderful in chicken noodle soup, chicken salad, enchiladas, moles, curries (like the one below) tacos, chicken pot pie, pasta dishes, etc.
- Alternately, you could let the poached chicken cool for about five minutes and then just pull it apart into the main eight pieces (two each of breast, thigh, drumstick and wing) and serve with the broth and vegetables.
Green Curry with Eggplant and Summer Squash
I have made variations of this Thai-inspired curry for 15 years. It is not an authentic green curry but a tasty, quick adaptation. You can easily add chicken (if you poached a chicken—see above—this is a great place for some of the meat) or tofu to it for an even heartier dish though it’s wonderfully rich and satisfying without as well.
The curry is even better if you have kaffir lime leaves–Whole Foods and New Seasons and many Asian grocery stores typically have them. They freeze perfectly so if you see some but plenty and freeze for future curries. But don’t worry if you don’t have any.
This version has green beans rather than summer squash in it but is otherwise identical.
Serves 4 (generously)
About 2 cups summer squash, cut into half-rounds or ½-inch dice
1 medium Japanese eggplant or smallish globe eggplant, halved and sliced into half rounds or diced
3-4 kaffir lime leaves (optional–see headnote)
1 – 2 inch piece of ginger, peeled and minced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 1/2 heaping teaspoon (or to taste) green curry paste (Thai & True is a great local Oregon brand)
2 teaspoons soy sauce
2-3 teaspoons fish sauce (can omit to make it vegetarian/vegan)
1 can coconut milk (full fat preferably but light will work too)
3 tablespoons basil, packed and roughly chopped
Salt to taste
Juice of half a lemon or lime (optional but excellent especially if you don’t have kaffir lime leaves)
White or brown cooked Jasmine or other long grain rice
Heat wok or large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add ½ cup of coconut milk (use the thickest, part usually at the top of the can) and bring to a simmer. Stir occasionally for 2-3 minutes. Add the curry paste, garlic and ginger and fry it for about 3-4 minutes until it’s fragrant. Then add the remainder of the coconut milk plus ½ can’s worth of water, lime leaves, if using, soy sauce and fish sauce. Bring to a boil and then turn down to a simmer and add the eggplant and squash and simmer for about 10-15 minutes until the vegetables are tender. Add the basil and cook for another minute or two. Adjust seasoning with a bit of salt or more soy sauce and/or fish sauce or salt if needed and finish with a generous squeeze of lime or lemon juice, if using. Serve hot over rice.
Corn, Cucumber Salad with Buttermilk Dressing
This is a cook-with-what-you-have salad—add leftover diced celery if you have it or whatever else you want/need to use up. You can add 2 cups of thinly sliced lettuce to lighten up this salad if you’d like but it’d good as a denser salad too. The dressing will be more than you need for this salad but it’s a great on boiled potatoes or other vegetables or salads.
Serves 4-5
Corn kernels from 3-4 ears of cooked corn, cut off with a sharp knife
2 cups cucumber, well-scrubbed but no need to peel, cut into small dice (deseed them if you are going to need to let the salad sit for a while–it will get watery if it sits and you leave the seeds in)
1/3-½ cup of diced sweet or torpedo onion
½ cup diced or thinly sliced fennel
A little diced green pepper (optional)
2 cups, thinly sliced lettuce (optional –see headnote)
Couple of tablespoons chopped fennel fronds
Dressing:
1/4 cup buttermilk (or heavy cream or just use a bit more yogurt but you’ll need to thin it with more oil or a little water if you just use yogurt as it will be pretty thick)
1/2 cup Greek or plain whole milk yogurt
1 tablespoon white-wine vinegar or lemon juice (or more to taste)
1 small clove garlic, minced and mashed with a pinch of salt
2 tablespoons good-tasting olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
3 tablespoons chopped parsley or 1½ tablespoons chopped dill or parsley (optional)
Mix the dressing in a small bowl until emulsified. Toss the vegetables with the dressing and serve with wedges of hardboiled eggs and some boiled new potatoes for a light supper.
Corn Chowder with Leeks and Green Pepper
I love corn chowder, with or without bacon. This week’s green peppers will make for a beautiful and delicious chowder.
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ onion, finely diced
1-2 leeks, trimmed (though I use a fair amount of the green parts) washed well, halved lengthwise and cut into ½-inch half rounds
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 slices bacon, diced (optional) or 1 teaspoon smoked Spanish paprika (pimenton)
1 teaspoon fresh thyme or dried thyme (optional but very good)
1 large or 2 small green peppers, seeds and membranes removed and diced
Kernels from 4 ears of corn (or more if you have it), sliced off the cob
2 cups (or more) potatoes, well scrubbed but not peeled and cut into 1/2 –inch dice
3 cups whole milk (or part milk, part cream)
3 cups homemade veggie bouillon broth (if you have it) or stock or broth of your choice
Salt and freshly ground pepper
A little chopped parsley or basil (optional) for serving
Drizzle of good olive oil
Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy pot over medium high heat. Add the onions and leeks and bacon (if using) and thyme (if using) and sauté for about 5 minutes. If you’re not using bacon and have smoked Spanish paprika (pimenton) add a teaspoon of it at this stage. Add the garlic and the peppers and cook for another 5 minutes. Add the potatoes and all the milk (or milk and cream) and stock or broth. Add salt if your stock is not very salty. Bring to a boil and let simmer briskly for about 8 minutes. Add the corn and cook for another 10 – 15 minutes until everything is tender. The potatoes should be falling apart and will help thicken the chowder. Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve with chopped parsley (if you have it) and a good drizzle of olive oil.
Simplest Tomato Sauce and its Many Uses
Tomatoes, olive oil, salt. That’s it. When the tomatoes are good it’s honestly all you need. And I make sauce with slicer and heirloom tomatoes all the time. It takes longer to cook down because they’re so juicy but with a little patience and high heat it’s perfect. You can of course add a diced onion or a clove or two of garlic and it will be wonderful but it’s also good just as is. And you can blanch the tomatoes—toss the whole tomatoes in boiling water for 10 seconds, remove peel and proceed—or skip that step.
I made this the other day, in about 15 minutes and I topped pizza dough with it and some mozzarella and basil and had the perfect dinner.
Dice as many tomatoes as you want to use. Add them to a wide skillet to which you’ve added a generous splash of olive oil. Cook at a lively simmer until it’s thickened to your liking. Salt to taste. If the sauce seems too acidic or not quite perfect add a tablespoon or two of butter. Butter is THE perfecter of tomato sauce.
More suggestions for use:
- Fill crepes with a few tablespoons, some grated cheese and fresh basil; roll up and bake, topped with a bit more sauce, until hot.
- Layer the sauce with thick, eggy herb crepes (add 4-5 tablespoons of chopped parsley, chives and/or basil to the crepe batter of 4 eggs, 1 3/4 cups milk and scant 1 cup of flour, salt and pepper) and grated Parmesan or other cheese. Layer the crepes and sauce in a cake pan or other round or oval dish and bake until heated through and the cheese is melted and browning on top. This is a perfectly sublime dish and beautiful cut into wedges.
- Make eggplant parmesan by layering pan-fried or broiled slices of eggplant with the sauce and grated parmesan and baking until bubbly and browning.
Pasta with Eggplant and Tomato
This is a quick, hearty pasta dish.
Olive oil
1 medium globe eggplant or several smaller ones, cut into ½ -inch dice (no need to peel, salt or soak)
2-3 medium tomatoes, diced (depending how saucy/tomato-y you want it)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon capers, rinsed and roughly chopped (optional)
2-3 tablespoons chopped parsley (or basil or a combination)
½ cup grated Parmesan or other hard cheese
3/4 lb fusilli, penne or other stout pasta
1/3 cup pasta cooking water, reserved before draining
Sauté the eggplant in a heavy skillet with 2 tablespoons of olive oil over high, then medium-high heat stirring frequently. When the eggplant is soft, add the tomatoes, capers, if using, and the garlic and several generous pinches of salt. Cook on high heat until the tomatoes break down just a bit and some of their liquid evaporates so you have a nice thick, chunky sauce—about 10 minutes. Add the parsley and/or basil.
Meanwhile cook the pasta in plenty of salted, boiling water until al dente. Right before you drain the pasta scoop out about ½ cup of pasta cooking water. Drain the pasta, toss with the sauce, add the reserved cooking water to loosen it up a bit and serve immediately with the cheese.
Fennel and Onion Soffrito
This is a delicious garnish/condiment/side for fish, roasted vegetables, or simply on toast.
Olive oil
1 ½ cups thinly sliced fennel (or more—you can use a lot of fennel in this dish, just add a bit more tomato)
1 ½ cups thinly sliced onion
1 cup diced tomatoes (or more if you’re using more fennel)
2 cloves garlic
Red wine vinegar to taste
Salt and pepper
Chopped parsley (optional but very good)
In the largest skillet you have heat about 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the onions and fennel all at once and cook, stirring occasionally over medium heat until starting to brown and quite soft. Add the garlic and the tomatoes, a couple of generous pinches of salt and some pepper and cook until the liquid has evaporated. Finally add a little vinegar, you’ll probably want at least 2 teaspoons and plenty of black pepper. Taste and adjust seasoning.
This is delicious with a bunch of chopped parsley and black olives too.