Cilantro Chicken over Saffron Rice

I have dubbed this meal "Chicken Irene" in honor of last night's impending hurricane while the meal was being consumed.  Luckily there was no damage and my 6 gallons of bottled water did not need to be utilized.

So this is pretty simple.  Prepare saffron rice according to package instructions.  The package looks like this:

I then chopped 1/4 of an onion, about 10 mushrooms, 2 cloves of garlic, 2 large chicken breasts, and 1/2 cup cilantro.  Add some butter to a saute pan and cook the garlic, onion, and mushrooms first.  Once softened add your sliced chicken.  Cook until no longer pink and add a pinch of the cilantro, salt, and pepper, to the pot.

I added about 1/2 of the remaining cilantro to the fully cooked rice and mixed.  Plate the rice, then top with the chicken mixture, and garnish with the remaining chopped cilantro.  I was lacking any sort of sauce for this dish so for a little extra flavor we gave ourselves the option of mixing in hummus.  These portions served 3 people.

Broccoli Soup

 

Hello faithful followers!  The brief hiatus in cooking and blogging is due to the fact that I just moved across the country and have primarily been dining out as a result of empty pantries.  I made this broccoli soup before the move, but due to the hectic nature of relocating, I am just posting it now.  

The original broccoli soup recipe came from an old Martha Stewart cookbook and is relatively straight forward:

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter
1 leek, minced
1 carrot, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups chicken stock
1 head broccoli, cut into small flowerets
1 cup heavy cream
1 pinch cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon celery seed

1.  In a pot melt the butter over medium heat.  Add the leek, carrot, and garlic.  Cook until they are tender, about 5 minutes, making sure they do not brown.

2.  Add the stock.  Bring to a simmer, and add broccoli.  Cook for 8 to 10 minutes, or until broccoli is tender.

3.  Pour the soup into a food processor and process until the vegetables are finely chopped but not pureed.  Pour soup back into the pot.  Stir in the cream, cayenne pepper, and celery seed.  Reheat before serving.

That's all well and good, but I amended it, as per usual.  I did not have any leeks so scallions sufficed.

Since carrots don't soften so easily I cooked it for more like 10-15 minutes.  Next up came the broccoli and chicken broth which I also let stew for a good 15 minutes or so. 

Finally, the best part, I used an emulsion hand blender, rather than a food processor.  It's way cleaner, easier, and definitely more fun.  

So if you like your soup with remnants of veggies left behind, by all means, don't puree it completely, but for this soup I like to blend it fully because I still notice a little texture creeping in from the broccoli and carrots that doesn't completely turn to mush.  I added a little cream, but was lacking the celery seed so used salt and pepper instead.  You can throw some cheese in at the end for a broccoli cheese soup or serve as is.