{recipes} Lemon Chicken and Orzo Soup

It was a rainy day here in LA and the perfect time to make some Lemon Chicken Soup. In my freezer I had a whole chicken, and my lemon tree had just yielded many lemons. Having this soup simmering all day made the house smell so good, and my husband was very pleased when he came home. I was planning on there being leftovers, but he almost ate the whole thing! So I had to share the recipe.

The Stock:

Ingredients:

1 4-5 lb whole young chicken

2 carrots, cut up

2 stalks of celery, cut up

1 onion, halved

1/2 lemon, sliced

1 bay leaf

15 or so peppercorns

Directions:

Rinse chicken and place it in a stock pot. Cover with water and add carrots, celery, onion, lemon, bay leaf, and peppercorns. Simmer until chicken is cooked through and begins to fall off the bone (About 1.5 hours).

Remove chicken from pot to cool. Skim fat off the top of the stock.

The Soup:

Ingredients:

Your stock (or if you are going to use store-bought, 6 cups of stock

1 medium onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 medium carrots, cut into rounds

1 stalk of celery, chopped

1/3 cup white wine

8 oz orzo

2 tsp thyme (I used dried, but fresh would also work)

3 egg yolks

juice of 2 lemons

salt and pepper to taste

2 tablespoons of fresh parsley, chopped.

Directions:

Strain your stock into a separate bowl.

Heat 2 tablespoons of olive or canola oil in your stock pot. Saute the onion over medium-high heat until golden and tender. Add the garlic and saute for 1 minute more.

Deglaze the pan with white wine and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the broth and carrot. Bring to a boil. 

Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks and lemon together. Add 1 cup of hot broth from the dutch oven very slowly to the egg yolk mixture, whisking as you pour. Then, transfer the mixture to the dutch oven. Stir in the orzo and chicken.

Add the thyme. Continue cooking over medium-low until the pasta and carrots are tender. 

Just before serving, stir in parsley. Serve immediately with crusty bread, or a greek salad.

Forgive my iphone photos.

Gourmet pizza

I used to think I hated pizza. But what I hated, I discovered later, was cheap sausage, pepperoni, and greasy cheese thrown onto some crust. I now know (especially after visiting Rome and getting pizza al taglio) that I love pizza, and love the endless possibilities.

I saw a lot of unexpected combinations in Rome, like sausage, potato, and olives, or zucchini flower and anchovies. Today as I was sitting hungry in class, I stumbled upon Martha Stewart's collection of pizza recipes. Martha Stewart's pizzas have provided that same pleasant surprise for me as I found discovered these new flavors that I plan to add to my pizza repertoire.

1. Roasted Vegetable and Wild Mushroom with Pesto

 2. Mini Deep Dish Pizzas

 3. Three Cheese Pizza

 4. Pesto Pizza

 5. Sausage and Olive Pizza

 6. Roasted Vegetable and Ricotta Pizza

 7. Fontina and Arugala Pizza

 8. Clam Pizza 

 9. Asparagus and Sun Dried Tomato Pizza

 10. Pizza Margherita

 11. Beer Lover's Pizza

 12. Pizza Sandwiches (Are you kidding me?)

 13. Fig Pizza

 14. Red Pepper and Spinach Pizza

Aren't they positively mouthwatering? Check out all 43 pizza recipes here.

P.S. I got a pizza stone for my wedding and will never make my homemade pizza on anything else!

{recipes} white bean, kale, and sausage soup

Winter has finally come to Los Angeles. It was a 58 degrees today and rained harder than I've seen in a while. It was very unexpected for me, so I was unprepared when I left for school in the morning. After class I was left cold, wet, and in need of some warmth. 

I've been wanting to make White Bean, Kale, and Sausage Soup for a while, and tonight was the perfect opportunity. I adapted this recipe, and it was just what I needed. There was a little bit of spice, and the broth was flavorful. 

White Bean, Kale, and Sausage Soup


Ingredients:
1 lb of sausage (I used hot Italian from Trader Joe's, and took half out of the casing and left half whole)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 yellow onion, diced
3 carrots, halved lengthwise and then chopped into one inch pieces
6 large garlic cloves
pinch of red pepper flakes
pinch of salt
1/4 cup of white wine
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
8 cups chicken broth (I love Trader Joe's free range organic)
1 lb kale , rinsed, stems removed, leaves torn into bite-sized pieces (8 c. firmly packed)
2 cans of white beans
1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 tsp finely grated lemon zest

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a 4 or 5-quart heavy pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add sausage and cook, working to break into bite sized pieces, until lightly browned. Cook the whole sausages about 4 minutes on each side. With a slotted spoon, transfer the sausage to a plate, leaving any rendered fat in the pot.

2. Add the remaining olive oil to the pot, increase the heat to medium-high, and add the onion. Cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant and beginning to soften, about 2 minutes.

3. Add the carrot, stirring frequently, until they begin to soften and brown, about 2 minutes more. 

4. Stir in the garlic, pepper flakes, salt & black pepper and cook, stirring, until the garlic is fragrant, about 1 minute more. Deglaze the pan with the white wine and scrape up any brown bits from the pan. Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil over high heat.

5. Cut the whole cooled sausages into 1/4 to 1/2 inch pieces.

6. When the broth reaches a boil, reduce the heat to medium, add the sausage along with any collected juices.

7. Stir in the kale, adjust the heat as necessary to maintain a gentle simmer, and simmer until the kale is tender, 15 to 20 minutes. (I cover the pot loosely during this step to prevent too much reduction in the broth.).

8. With about 10 minutes left, add the cans of beans (I do not drain them).

9. Stir in the lemon juice and zest just before serving.

10. Serve with a crusty bread, and enjoy!

Serves 6-8