A Life, Lived

Chicken Divan Casserole

Way, way back when in the before times my colleague and I used to organize office potluck lunches. It was always fun gathering with colleagues you rarely had time to see in the business of office living and enjoying one another culinary creations. Of course potlucks were a challenge for people like me who lived far outside the city and had to drive, walk, train, walk, subway, and walk to the office. Try doing that with a crock pot full of chili once and you'll race to sign up for buns and butter the next time!

Anyways.

Often we'd pick a theme (although word to the wise - don't try an orange and black theme for Hallowe'en or you'll get a lot of burnt offerings). No matter what the theme one of our colleagues always showed up with a giant roasting pan of Chicken Divan casserole. This was a revelation for me. I am not sure how I made it through the 70's and 80's without ever having tried this classic casserole but somehow I had.

Happily she shared the recipe and now I can make it whenever I want!

Of course, I rarely remember to do so.

The other week I had a craving so this went on the menu. It was every bit as good as I remembered. This is your classic dump, mix, dump and baker casserole. One bowl, a casserole dish, a spoon, and a spatula. I know there are those who turn up their noses and sniff at the thought of using a can of soup. Whatever. If you are so inclined made a bechamel sauce with half chicken broth and half milk, add in some cheddar cheese. Go crazy. I dumped in a can of soup. :-)

Sometimes you just need to go with easy, quick, and delicious.

Enjoy!

Chicken Divan Casserole

3 cups fresh broccoli florets
2 cups cubed cooked chicken or turkey
1 can (10-3/4 ounces) condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
1/2 cup mayonnaise
cup grated cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 cup bread crumbs (note, you can also use crushed Ritz crackers)
2 tablespoons butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350°. Steam the broccoli florets in the microwave  until crisp-tender; drain. Place in a greased 11x7-in. baking dish; set aside.

Combine the chicken, soup, mayonnaise, lemon juice, cheese and curry powder; spoon over broccoli. Top with bread crumbs and butter. Bake, uncovered, until heated through, 25-30 minutes.

Serve over buttered noodles or rice.

Oven-Baked Polenta

The other day I posted the recipe for the slow cooked pork ribs in a tomato sauce. I should post the other part of the meal that made it a perfect dinner - polenta.

Polenta, in short, is a cornmeal porridge that's a common dish in Northern Italy. Long before corn was brought from the Americas to Europe, polenta was already a staple food—it just wasn't made from corn, obviously. The name originally comes from the Latin word for "pearled grain" (like barley), and the dish, a gruel that could be made with all sorts of grains and legumes, predates the Roman Empire.

There are a lot of rules people say you need to follow to make polenta, like using a wooden spoon, stirring in only one direction, adding the polenta to boiling water, and stirring constantly. And yet, of all the things worth knowing about how to cook great polenta, those might be some of the least important (and, frankly, partially incorrect) lessons.

Forget those. What's really important is using the right ratio of liquid to cornmeal and allowing the cornmeal to properly hydrate.

Now I am going to give you another tip - ignore those recipes and try this one.

I've made polenta on the stove top many times and I have always invariably been splattered with the hot, bubbling liquid. Lord, that stuff is like magma!

Do yourself a favour and make this version the bakes away in the oven. You mix it, cover it, pop it in the oven, and pretty well forget about it. No burned arms. No mess all over the stove to clean up. Delicious polenta every time.

You can play around with the recipe too. I like to add goat cheese. Sometimes I'll add chopped tomatoes. You can try different herbs as well - I used basil this time because I had some in the fridge that needed to be used up. The recipe is pretty well foolproof and you can play with a bit.

Enjoy!

Oven-Baked Polenta

3/4 cornmeal (sometimes labelled as polenta)
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
3 cups water (you can sub in chicken or vegetable broth for more flavour)
1/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon chopped fresh marjoram

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees

In an ovenproof baking dish with a lid, whisk together the cornmeal, salt, pepper and water. Cover and bake for 30 minutes, stirring halfway through.

Remove from oven, add milk, butter and marjoram. Whisk briskly until smooth. Serve immediately.

 

Rosticciana con le Olive (pork ribs with black olives)

This is a classic Tuscan dish that showcases pork ribs slowly cooked in a rich tomato sauce. That’s right, pork ribs aren’t just for barbecuing.

Years ago we had this for lunch on our first visit to the Tuscan walled city of Lucca. It features a deliciously rich tomato-based sauce infused with red wine and herbs, dotted with black olives, and pork ribs so tender they fall right off the bone. It is a brilliant example of classic Italian cooking (and unlike so much of what we think of as 'Italian' food). Simple ingredients which come together beautifully in a hearty dish.

This is cool weather food. Served on a mound of polenta and you've got a heaping serving of comfort.

I used to make this dish a lot but for some reason I hadn't pulled it together for quite a few years. After making it the other week I know it won't be a decade + before I make it again.

Enjoy!

Rosticciana con le Olive (pork ribs with black olives)

4 pounds of pork ribs, cut into three rib sections
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 sprig fresh rosemary
Bay leaves
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 can (500 g) peeled chopped tomatoes, with juice
½ cup black olives, pitted
1/4 cup olive oil
pinch of ground red chile
Salt and freshly ground pepper

In a skillet large enough to hold all of the ribs, warm 1/4 cup of olive oil. Add the garlic, rosemary and safe, and cook until the garlic starts to brown, about three minutes.

Raise the heat to high. Add the ribs to the skillet and brown on both sides, turning often. This should take about 15 minutes. Drain off most of the fat from the pan.

Pour the wine over the ribs, reduce the heat to medium high. Cook until the wine has reduced,  about 5 minutes.

Add the tomatoes, ground chile, cover and cook over low heat for 2 - 2.5 hours. The sauce should maintain the consistency of a dense tomato sauce. if it becomes too dry add water, 1/2 a cup at a time. The ribs are ready when the meat is moist and falling off of the bone.

Before serving, discard the bay leaves and rosemary. Add the olives, and cook for about 10 minutes.

Travel Tuesday - Lucca

On the weekend I reproduced a dinner that we had had when we were visiting Lucca a wonderful walled city in north-western Tuscany. We've visited twice - the first time was on a day trip with my mom and sister. It impressed us so much that when we were planning our tenth anniversary trip to Italy we decided to stay there for three days.

Let Me Tell You a Story . . .

This will be all of us . . .

and 2021 and 2022 . . .

Who Me?

Cat owners will understand this immediately. Others, well, you may need to borrow a cat for a bit.

Tomato Vegetable Soup

When you were a kid did you ever get vegetable soup from a can?

I did and I loved it - even though I would likely not eat any of those same vegetables had they been severed to me separately on a plate. That bowl of soup was delicious and comforting.

This tomato vegetable soup recipe is a simple, comforting and tasty way to eat more veggies. When it is made in the Instant Pot it is ready in about 30 minutes.

I made it for dinner last Friday and we both were super impressed. I was also impressed that I was able to use tomatoes, beans and corn from the garden plot.

The only change I made to the recipe was to add alphabet noodles because who doesn'; need to spell words while they eat their soup? Once the Instant Pot had released the steam I dumped in 1/3 cup alphabet noodles and let is sit for 10 minutes.

Perfect.

Tomato Vegetable Soup

1/2 Tablespoon oil
1/2 yellow onion, diced
stalks celery, diced
1 cup carrots, diced
1.5 cups frozen corn
1 cup green beans (frozen or fresh)
1 can diced tomatoes (14.5 ounce)
1/2 can tomato sauce (14.5 ounce)
2 cups diced potatoes
4 cups chicken broth
salt and pepper, to taste

Use the sauté setting, and cook the onion, celery and carrots in the oil until tender, about 5 minutes.

Add the broth, plus all remaining ingredients to the Instant Pot.

Put the lid in place, lock it, and cook for 5 minutes on manual high pressure. 

Allow the pot to natural release (NPR) for 15 minutes, and then quick release (QR) any remaining pressure.

This is where I added in the alphabet noodles.

Taste test to see how much salt and pepper needs to be added. (This will vary greatly, based on how much salt is already in your chicken stock, tomatoes and tomato sauce.)

Travel Tuesdays - Love

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Irony Convoy

Such a national embarassment.