If you are looking for the keto version, there are two ways to enjoy keto chicken pot pie, and I’ll list those at the bottom of this post.

Made with roasted white meat chicken, leeks, rutabagas, green peas, onions, carrots, celery, it has just the right balance of textures. Chicken broth, white wine, butter and heavy cream enhance the flavor.

What Kind of Chicken for Chicken Pot Pie

You have choices, depending on time and budget.

• Roast a whole chicken, use the white meat and freeze the roasted thighs with legs intact for another time.
• Poach boneless chicken breasts.
• Use a store-bought rotisserie chicken

I like to roast a whole chicken, use the white meat and eat the thighs and legs on another day. You can also just roast two chicken breasts on the bone with skin or poach boneless chicken breasts.

Ingredients for Best Chicken Pot Pie

I like leeks instead of onions, but you can use a half onion in place of a leek. I like rutabagas instead of potatoes. They are mild tasting yet hold a better structure than potatoes.

Butter, heavy cream, white wine and organic chicken broth for the sauce. Herbs like parsley and thyme are great neutral herbs. In other words they add flavor, but don’t overpower.

Flaky Pie Crust

The key to a really amazing traditional chicken pot pie is not just what’s inside. The pie crust has to be light, flaky and buttery. This pie crust has just the right amount of flour to butter ratio and will be the flakiest crust, as long as you don’t overwork it.

These are a few kitchen tools that I think are worth it and yield success.

• Kitchen Scale – If you are going to do any baking at all, invest in a food scale. We all have a tendency to overpack a cup of flour. Weighing flour and butter yields a consistent product.
• Pastry cutter – You could make your dough in a food processor, but I have found I get a better product just cutting in the butter. This way I don’t over mix the butter.
• Silicone Baking Mat for Rolling Dough – Helpful but not completely necessary.

What kind of Flour Makes the Best Flaky Pie Crust?

There are a lot of opinions about this, but I recommend buying the best all purpose flour you can buy. Some will say to add in a portion of bread flour, but I like to use a soft wheat all purpose flour. I actually use a flour from Italy, but that’s expensive and you can still get a high quality pie crust with the all purpose flour of your choice. A good pie crust really depends on getting the technique right.

Chicken Pot Pie with Store Bought Rotisserie Chicken or Pie Crust

You might be wondering how to short-cut the chicken pie recipe. You CAN use a store bought rotisserie chicken. You can even use a store bought pie crust or even top your chicken pot pie with a store bought puff pastry. I do, however, like to make everything from scratch for this recipe because it’s a very special recipe for my family. However, there may be times I buy a roasted chicken or use a puff pastry. Just know some of the roast chickens are not always high quality. If you use puff pastry, just top the pie and avoid Peppridge Farms. Publix Greenwise is a better, cleaner choice.

More Recipes

• Keto Chicken Pot Pie with Almond Flour Crust
• Keto Chicken Pot Pie with Grain Free Biscuits
• Chicken Francaise
• Spatchcock Chicken Greek Style
• Ricotta Stuffed Chicken Breast
• Parmesan Mayonaisse Chicken Bake

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Chicken Pot Pie with Flaky Pie Crust

Homemade chicken pot pie made with leeks, white wine and the most tender pie crust.

Course Entree

Cuisine American

Keyword Chicken pot pie, pie crust

Prep Time 1 hour hour

Cook Time 35 minutes minutes

1 hour hour

Servings 6 servings

Ingredients

Chicken Pot Pie

• 1 recipe double pie crust see below
• 4 tablespoons cold butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil or avocado oil
• 3 carrots peeled, diced
• 1 leeks or 1 small onion see notes
• 2 celery stalks diced
• 1 small rutabega peeled, diced (optional)
• 1 teaspoon umami seasoning Trader Joe's (see notes)
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme (4 sprigs)
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 2 cups chicken broth more if needed
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2 cooked chicken breasts, shredded See Recipe below

Baked Chicken Breasts on Bone (Method 1)

• 2 chicken breasts on bone with skin
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup frozen peas

Poached Boneless Chicken Breasts (Method 2:

• 2 boneless chicken breasts
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Pie Crust

• 226 grams all purpose flour more for rolling dough
• 14 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup ice water (more if needed up to 1/2 cup)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg for egg wash
• 2 tablespons water for egg wash

Instructions

Poached Chicken

• Boil water. Turn to simmer and add chicken. Simmer chicken in water with a little salt until chicken reaches 165 Degrees F. (10-15 minutes). Do not overcook.

Baked Chicken Breasts

• Salt chicken breasts. Roast in oven at 400 degrees F. until chicken reaches 165 F. Don't over bake. I like the texture of baked chicken. See blog notes for more ideas. You CAN roast a whole chicken as I did.

Make Pie Crust

• Mix the flour with salt.
• Add cold butter that has been cut into very small pea sized pieces and refrigerated again to make sure it's very cold.

  Don't grate the butter. It must be in pieces to turn flakey. Cut it into the flour with a pastry cutter or very slowly with food processor.
  
• Add cold water 1/4 cup at a time. Use up to 1/2 cup, no more than that. You will be able to bring the dough together. One way to bring together is to put it all in a large ziplock and smoosh together. This keeps the warmth of the hands off.
  
• Form into a two discs. Refrigerate for one hour or more. Take out about 15 minutes prior to rolling.
  

Make Chicken Pie

• Melt butter and in large frying pan or dutch oven.
• Add vegetables (except peas) to pan. Cook about five minutes. Add sprigs of thyme (to be removed later).
• Sprinkle flour over vegetables, Stir well.
• Deglaze pan with white wine about a minute.
• Stir in chicken broth. Add more if you think it's too dry.
• Once chicken broth is warmed through about twenty minutes, add in heavy cream.
• Add chicken and frozen peas to vegetables. Season with salt, pepper, umami seasoning (if you have it) and fresh thyme. (or herbs of your choice).
  
• Allow to cool, while rolling out prepared pie dough.
• Take pie dough out of fridge and let sit for 10 minutes.

Prepare Pie

• Roll out two discs, using extra flour to make sure they don't stick.
• NOTE: If you want to use a decorative cut out, cut out first and then refrigerate your rolled out pie dough and cut-out for ten minutes in fridge so it will be easy to handle. Then place the pie dough over the chicken filling first. THEN place the cut-out back in.
  
• Place first pie crust in pie pan, not forcing or stretching.
• Add cooled chicken filling. Top with remaining pie dough. Cut slits on top for steam to escape. Cut off excess around the pie. Crimp or use fork to press together.
• Egg Wash: Beat one egg with two tablespoons water. Brush over pie crust.
• Bake for 45-50 minutes at 400 degrees F. in lower third of oven.

  Cool for ten minutes before cutting.
  

Notes

Slice leeks down the center. Wash, rinse. Slice across. 

Flour for Pie Crust: 2 cups flour less 2 tablespoons. 

Butter for Pie Crust: 7 ounces or 14 tablespoons

Umami Seasoning (I  use the one from Trader Joe’s). You can substitute with poultry seasoning, or your seasoning of choice). 

Rutabega: You can sub with potato, cauliflower florets or leave out.

 

 

The post Chicken Pot Pie with Flaky Pie Crust appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

Leeks are often used in creamy potato soup, and are a great choice for the cauliflower soup.

The challenges to making cauliflower soup is the same as making potato soup. It can be bland, if not seasoned enough. The right spices will take this soup in the right direction. I used thyme and dill and a little white people along with some umami powder (Trader Joe’s). I also used a base of chicken broth and a little heavy cream.

The creaminess comes more from blending some of the cauliflower, so you could skip the cream. My final touch was a splash of white wine to bring a little acid to the mix, which is an optional.

So far I’ve made this soup twice, once more brothy and once thicker. I actually prefer the brothier choice. You can always make it thinner by blending less of the cauliflower or make it thicker by blending more. Just don’t skip the leeks!

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Tips for Creamy Cauliflower Soup

• Brothy: Use more broth to thin the soup.
• Leeks: You can sub with onion or shallots, but leeks really do the trick. Remember to wash them well as they tend to gather dirt inside.
• Bacon: Make sure bacon is crisp. Sub with croutons. For low-carb: use Parmesan Crisps.
• Garnish: Add leeks and bacon right before serving.
• White Pepper: Gives a little kick to the soup. Sub with a small small pinch of cayenne.
• Herbs: Parsley is always great. Dill is even better. In the Fall, crispy sage is amazing. Thyme works for almost every recipe, and is one of my to herbs.
• Cream: Use a splash of heavy cream, half and half, coconut milk. This is optional.

More Soups from Spinach Tiger

• Creamy Mushroom Soup
• Butternut Squash Soup
• Golden Cauliflower Soup
• Broccoli Basil Soup
• Carrot Ginger Soup

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Cauliflower Soup with Bacon and Leeks

Creamy Cauliflower Soup with Bacon and Leeks

Course Soup

Cuisine Mediterranean

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes minutes

Servings 6

Ingredients

• 1 large head cauliflower
• 4 leeks
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup heavy cream or half and half. can use coconut milk
• 4 cups chicken broth or vegetable broth
• 4 slices bacon
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon white pepper optional
• 1 teaspoon mushroom powder (umami) optional

Instructions

• Trim off the stems of the cauliflower.
• Cut cauliflower into pieces. They don't need to be super small, but enough to fit into a pot of boiling water or broth.
• Mix butter with 2 tablespoons turmeric. Rub butter all over cauliflower.
• Boil cauliflower in broth until softened. Drain cauliflower RESERVING the broth.
• Once you drain cauliflower, either use an immersion blender or put into your blender. RESERVE a few end tidbits for garnish.
• Using a heavy-duty blender, put in coconut milk or heavy cream, 1 cup broth, 1/2 of the cauliflower, leeks. Blend and add more broth according to your desire for how thick or think you want.
• Season with salt and pepper to taste. Garnish.

Saute Leeks, Cook Bacon

• Melt 1 teaspoon butter in frying pan. Sautè leeks to soften. Reserve some for garnish
• Rinse all the dirt off leeks. It can hide in between the layers. Cut across.
• Cut bacon in to small bite-sized pieces and then fry to crispy. Drain. Use for garnish.

Garnish Soup

• Pour soup in bowls. Add cauliflower tidbits, crumbled bacon, leeks, herbs for garnish.

The post Creamy Cauliflower Leek Soup with Bacon (Low Carb) appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

Currently I’m crushing on the color purple, and making  purple potatoes recipes a few different ways. These are not the purple  “sweet” potatoes that I made here. These are the beautiful purple potatoes I want put into this veal stew with peas.

I get on food kicks. I’ll find something I like and make it over and over for about a week or two. Dijon Roasted Purple Potatoes is high on my list right now, as they are easy, tasty, beautiful, and make for great leftovers for morning hash!

Potatoes get a bad rap in some circles, but you won’t believe how unfair that is to these jewel colored roots. They have some added health benefits the white guys don’t have.

The dark purple pigment, known as anthocyanin, is a type of phytonutrient that belongs to the flavonoid family. Flavonoids are associated with lowering cholesterol, fighting heart disease, and protecting the body against oxidative stress, which will help you age more gracefully, fight cancer, and protect our brains.

Purple potatoes contain chlorogenic acid which aids in lowering blood pressure. 

The best health benefit I’ve seen so far is from Dr. Michael Gregor, on the lowering effects of inflammation versus the white potato. Watch this 2 1/2 minute video and then run out and buy some purple potatoes.

Easy Recipe for Dijon Roasted Purple Potatoes

Lemon Dijon Roasted Purple Potatoes Recipe

In this recipe for I simply washed, quartered and tossed with garlic, dijon mustard, olive oil, fresh herbs and leeks. Rosemary, and olive oil have also been shown to reduce inflammation, so this recipe is a triple winner.

The Process for Roasting Purple Potatoes

I threw onto a baking pan and roasted for twenty minutes, turning halfway. If you roast them in the same pan as a chicken, add them during those last twenty minutes, or they may turn mushy, but will sop up all those good chicken drippings. One night we roasted them next to a rack of lamb, a perfect duo, as both will be done about the same time.

Another idea for these nifty little purple gems is to toss them with other roasted vegetables such as eggplant, zucchini, green beans, or kale.

In the following recipe, I used the left overs to make a hash and added spinach.

If you like this recipe, you may also like these.

Purple Cabbage Salad

Purple Cauliflower

Purple Lime Roasted Sweet Potato Fries

Purple Potatoes with Blue Cheese

Veal Stew with Onions, Purple Potatoes, Peas

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Dijon Roasted Purple Potatoes

Roasted Purple Potatoes perfect as a side dish for any protein or tossed with other vegetables.

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 8 purple potatoes
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1 large garlic clove minced
• 1 leek washing sliced
• fresh herbs such as rosemary lemon thyme, oregano (see notes)
• Optional teaspoon dried herbs if you don't have fresh
• salt
• pepper

Instructions

• Scrub potatoes. Cut in quarters.
• In a mixing bowl, whisk together, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, dijon mustard.
• Add potatoes, sliced leeks.
• Season with salt and pepper and toss with half of the herbs.
• Roast at 400 degrees F. for twenty minutes. Turn over at 10 minutes.
• Once out of the oven, toss with remaining fresh herbs.

Notes

If using fresh herbs, consider what you are using. 3-4 tablespoons of a mix of fresh herbs is good. If using only rosemary, use less, as it's pungent. If using parsley, you can use as much as you like.

The post Lemon Dijon Roasted Purple Potatoes appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

The hit Netflix series, Orange is the New Black, just presented its third season. It’s as addictive as a bag of chips and hot sauce. Binge watching at its best, once you start, you can’t stop. (Spoiler Alert: There are some details from Season Three).

Each season, I have a favorite character and this season, it’s Red, brilliantly played by Kate Mulgrew, and recognized as the leader of the white girls, and not someone you insult, made very clear in Season One.

One of my most favorite moments of Season Three was watching Red cook a special dinner for hand selected inmates. When the grateful ladies of Litchfield prison sat down to eat, she comforted them, loved them, soothed them with a special treat of corn and leek quiche with a crispy sage leaf as a gourmet bonus. I nearly wept, thinking about how special that bite of quiche was because this season the prison food took a real dive.

Galina “Red” Reznikov, a middle aged Russian woman, who got herself a long prison sentence for some kind of Russian mob activity,  was master chef  in season 1, running her kitchen with an iron fist, yet soft enough that she attracted a few very loyal daughter figures. Unlike some prison leaders, she is anti-drug, and you root for her and feel sad when she loses her kitchen for all of Season Two. (I hated that).

Red has clout, and knows how to maneuver things enough to get herself back in the kitchen this season, only to heartbreakingly come under new bureaucratic regime and all the food is delivered in big plastic bags, in heat, serve and barf style.

Red is devastated because this hits her inner pride, and she repeatedly tells the inmates she didn’t cook the food.

No to be defeated, she decides to hold special vegetable dinners (from the garden she planted in Season Two) in part to restore her own sense of identity.

One of the dinners surrounds the most precious of jewels, real corn on the cob, but things take a dicey turn, when the corn is eaten by another gang of women. Then something wonderful happens.

Red discovers a new batch of delivered corn, and you’d think she’d just gotten her release papers. She hugs that corn as if it were gold. There is nothing like real food, when one has been deprived of this most basic right.

The ladies show up for their very coveted invitation,  and she serves them corn and leek quiche. Then she shows them she has added a crispy sage leaf, a moment that showed me how we on the outside can take all our food blessings for granted.

That little crispy sage leaf  on top of the corn and leek quiche stole my heart. Sage is one of my favorite herbs and I grow it all year, yet it had never had the supporting role that Red gave it.

Sometimes a bite of food is powerful and full of pizazz like a marching band. Other times, it’s quiet, like a violin solo, more romantic than adrenalin flowing, sublet and comforting. That is how I see a corn and leek quiche. It’s a quiet comfort food with a little surprise of flavor added by the leeks and sweetness from the corn. The buttery pie crust holds it all together and the crispy sage leaf assures that this cook doesn’t fool around.

There are two ways you can go. You can make a traditional quiche with pastry crust, my favorite if I have the time. Or you can make a quiche with a tortilla. It’s quick, easy and surprisingly works. You can make small 4 inch quiches, or one big quiche. (see notes on that).

So tell me, do you watch Orange is the New Black? Who is your favorite character?

More Quiche from Spinach Tiger

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Corn and Leek Quiche

Corn and Leek Quiche inspired from Orange is the New Black TV Show

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Prep Time 1 hour hour

Cook Time 18 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 18 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

1/2 recipe Pie Crust

Quiche Filling

• 4 eggs
• 4 tablespoons heavy cream
• 1-2 ounces grated medium cheddar cheese
• 1 large ear of corns
• 2 leeks
• salt
• pepper

Instructions

• Prepare Pie Crust (1/2 of recipe)
• Butter each quiche pan.
• Put pie crust in each individual pan. You can use one large pan to make one quiche instead of individual. In that case, double your filling ingredients.
• Clean leeks. Cut off stem, slice thinly.
• Saute leeks in butter just until softened, not browned.
• Preheat oven to 400 degree F.
• Wrap the corn in wet paper towel. Microwave for two minutes. Cool. Cut corn off cob.
• Beat eggs with cream, salt, pepper. Add in cheese.
• Pour eggs into each pie shell. Add corn and leeks evenly.
• Bake for 15-20 mins until light golden brown.

The post Corn and Leek Quiche appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

How are you holding up out there during flu season? Me. I’m fine now, but I didn’t do so well. I just had a terrible bout with pneumonia and then relapsed and then celebrated with a perfect check up and a 4th chest x-ray in 8 months. All symptoms were resolved. I didn’t want to talk about it here. Somehow I managed to keep the blog going, and it might have been the thing that kept my spirits up.

Finally after  8 weeks, I started boot camp classes. I even broke a speed record in our boot camp group the second week.I was happy to see that I hadn’t lost most of my fitness level because of a thing called muscle memory. If you work out consistently, the body remembers and it’s much easier to get back to it.

Ten days after that great doctor’s report, I got the flu. It took the wind out of my sails, and I admit to feeling discouraged, defeated and even a little depressed. I’ve never been sick in my life longer than a week. I’ve never had to battle anything serious or be hospitalized.  I have much gratitude for this, and even more so now because health is a gift, and its not guaranteed.

I had to do some deep thinking about what my life is. What do I need to do before I leave here? I came to the conclusion that I don’t need to do anything. The question is who do I need to become? Is it more important to have a cookbook on the Amazon to prove something to myself or is it more important that I know how to be a consistently kind person waiting in line in the grocery store. Kindness changes the world more than a good recipe. I can do good recipes all day long. I can’t do kindness as easily.

I thank God every day for having had a lifetime of general good health, and I try to do my part in the fight.

During this time of fighting back, this 30 Minute Health Soup was something I relied on. I made many variations of it, and this one was my  favorite. I wanted a soup, not only tasty, but I was looking for that bright green color that made me happy.

Broccoli, potato, spinach, watercress, chicken broth, leeks, onion, and fresh lemon. Even the color of the soup was what I had been hoping for, a bright green, as I thought it might be therapeutic to look at, and I didn’t want any mossy green color.

This couldn’t be any easier to put together. After I chopped the leek, onion and potato, I threw it into the chicken broth and let it start boiling away. I added in some black pepper and starting chopping broccoli. I used one whole broccoli stalk. Once everything was softened, put it all in the Vitamix with handfuls of raw spinach. This was blended and put back into the pot with a half of  lemon and it’s juice. Watercress was added right before serving, but one night I skipped it and it was just as good.

This soup is creamy with no cream.

I’m fighting back with good food and plenty of liquids, mostly water and green tea.  How do you fight your flu symptoms or fight for your health?

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30 Minute Health Soup

A quick and healthy soup of broccoli, potatoes, and raw spinach cooked in chicken broth and put into the Vitamix for a delicious, bright, green, healthy soup.

Course Soup

Cuisine American

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 2 quarts chicken broth see note
• 1 large broccoli stalk cut into course pieces
• 1 onion cut coarsely
• 1 leek chopped
• 1 large potato peeled, diced
• sea salt
• black pepper
• Squeeze of lemon
• 1 or 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 2 handfuls of raw baby spinach
• handfuls of water cress optional
• Note: Water must cover the vegetables by 4 inches. I used a heaping tablespoons of Better than Bouillon organic Chicken broth paste to make the broth.

Instructions

• Put all the vegetables in cold water and bring to boil. Continue on slow boil until the vegetables or fork tender. Squeeze lemon into cooked vegetables Put into a blender or Vitamix including broth. Serve immediately. Garnish with watercress, drizzle of olive oil.

The post 30 Minute Health Soup appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

We know he had two companions, hunger and nakedness, and that the gnawing in his belly and the chill on his exposed skin were his worst sufferings, acutely painful presences that could not be shaken off.

From this scant information—Patricius is not a man of many words—we can deduce that the boy had a hardy constitution and had probably been a beloved and well-nourished child; otherwise, he could not have survived. Like many another in impossible circumstances, he began to pray.

He had never before paid attention to the teachings of his religion; he tells us that he didn’t really believe in God, and he found priests foolish. But now, there was no one to turn to but the God of his parents.

One is reminded of the reports of contemporary hostages about how they make it through the dreary years of captivity. “Tending flocks was my daily work, and I would pray constantly during the daylight hours. The love of God and the fear of him surrounded me more and more—and faith grew and the Spirit within me was ardent.” Patricius endured six years of this woeful isolation, and by the end of it he had grown from a careless boy to something he would surely never otherwise have become—a holy man, indeed a visionary for whom there was no longer any rigid separation between this world and the next.

Cahill, Thomas (2010). How the Irish Saved Civilization (Hinges of History) (p. 102). Random House, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

I spent some of my morning rereading for the third time, How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill. The remarkable thing about St. Patrick, born a Roman Catholic, who was kidnapped and taken to Ireland as a slave, is that he had a private conversion and by a miracle escaped back to Rome.

But this raucous group of nearly tribal folk who sang, danced, fought, wrote poetry, and had a lot of sex, stayed with him. They had literally captured his youth away and yet captured his heart. He went back to Ireland of his own free will to bring God’s truth and love. And, it mattered more than he knew, for they would be the ones responsible for saving a civilization that had nearly destroyed itself.

This might be a bit much for most folks, but I tend to be a deep thinker, always looking for answers and help in navigating life. I don’t think it’s natural to return to your enemies who made you suffer. It has to be supernatural, a quest he couldn’t say no to. I have found myself in these kind of unnatural situations at various times in my life, where I’ve been compelled to commit to something that didn’t look sensible or logical to the outsider.

Most people take the glamorous road. I have often tended to travel along the rougher roads hoping for more meaningful intrinsic rewards. Sometimes rough roads are forced upon us and we don’t have a strong enough constitution to navigate the terrain.  This was St. Patrick in his first several years as a shepherd freezing on an Irish hill.

But, then sometimes we choose the rough roads because they are the right roads, the path that leads to a supernatural experience, a miracle, a blessing, something that only can be experienced through hardship.

Has that ever been you? Can you think of a time in your life you knew going into a situation, that you needed to pack an arsenal of supplies, and thicken your skin, but that it was the right thing?

Patrick prayed, made peace with God, and then looked not only into his own heart but into the hearts of others. What he saw convinced him of the bright side—that even slave traders can turn into liberators, even murderers can act as peacemakers, even barbarians can take their places among the nobility of heaven. In becoming an Irishman, Patrick wedded his world to theirs, his faith to their life.

Cahill, Thomas (2010). How the Irish Saved Civilization (Hinges of History) (p. 115). Random House, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

I doubt that I have the courage or conviction St. Patrick had. I know in reading about him, he would be amused at all the parties in his favor, only because he understands the deep need in human beings to connect, to face their demons, to have fun. He loved the Irish people for all they were, which was the opposite of the polished, cultured Roman.

I think he would appreciate the green beer, and this rugged, yet warmly satisfying combination that resulted in green potato soup.

Green Potato Soup

This is a healthy soup, even if there is a dollop of butter and a splash of cream. Most of this soup is made from watercress, leeks, shallots, and spinach. I even added in some left over dandelion that I didn’t use in this dandelion salad.

I used a homemade vegetable stock, nothing fancy. For the best flavor, I think chicken stock wins out. If you don’t use chicken stock, you may find you need a lot of salt. This is quite a satisfying soup and I nearly ate it all by myself for lunch today.

The added pleasure in making this soup was trying out my new OXO Good Grips Hand held mandolin slicer.  I received it just yesterday, one for me and one for you. Stay tuned this coming week for a giveaway.

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Green Potato Soup with Watercress, Leeks, and Spinach

Green potato soup is a chunky pureed soup made with watercress, spinach and leeks, flavorful, healthy and still hearty.

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 35 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups thinly sliced leeks
• 1 shallot minced
• salt and pepper
• 1 medium sized yukon gold potato thinly sliced
• 2 bunches watercress
• 1 bunch baby spinach
• handful of fresh Italian parsely
• 2 cups chicken broth can substitute with vegetable broth
• splash cream optional
• pinch of freshly ground nutmeg

Instructions

• Turn heat to medium. Melt butter in sauce pan. Add olive oil.
• Add leeks and shallots and cook for three minutes to soften. Season with salt.
• Add potato and cook until softened, turning often. Season with salt
• Once potato is cooked, add watercress and spinach and mix together until wilted.
• Add chicken broth.
• Using emulsion blender or VItamix, blend soup until potatoes are thoroughly broken down.
• Add splash of cream.
• Add nutmeg. Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed.
• Garnish with sliced leeks, splash of cream and chopped parsley.

Notes

You can use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth, but will probably need to add more salt.

More Green Food from Spinach Tiger

Arugula Salad with Berries and White Chocolate

Baked Oysters with Spinach

Baked Green Lasagna

Broccoli Basil Soup

Chopped Kale Salad with Toasted Almonds

Crostini with Edamame Avocado Spread

Dandelion Pasta Salad

Dandelion Salad with Blood Orange Salad Dressing

Swiss Chard Salad with Toasted Pecans

Shredded Brussels Sprouts Salad

Split Pea Soup with Portabello Mushrooms

Spring Pea Soup with Tarragon and Pea Shoots

Spinach Soup and Some Spinach 101

The post Green Potato Soup with Watercress, Leeks appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

Now on first looks, you might thing I’m talking about Martha Stewart, as she often offers smashing, elegant food. (I am a Martha lover and I admit it). But, no, I’m referring to La Cucina Italiana, Italy’s premier food and cooking magazine. I have no stake in promotion; but, if you are the least bit curious about learning to cook regional, authentic, approachable, yet exquisite Italian food, then do subscribe. The food is gorgeously photographed with a modern, stylish viewpoint, which is also very Italian.

Simple carrots, leeks, pastry and one key ingredient that takes this from anything French or American and puts it assuredly in the Italian camp. Parmigiano-regianno is THE cheese of Italy, in that no matter how different each region prepares food, it is parmigano-regianno that brings Italian cuisine together.

You probably already know how special this cheese is, in that like many Italian ingredients, it is protected under Italian law and must come from Parma, Modena, Reggio Emilia, Bologna and Mantova. It is a hard cheese, made from cow’s grass-fed milk. Parmigiano is the adjective for Parma. You may also know parmigiano by the french word, parmesan, but be careful when you see cheese named parmesan. You might not be getting what you think your are. I know you don’t purchase the green can, but even the pre-grated cheeses that have an Italian name and appear freshly grated all to often have no flavor, no bite and will not do your dish any justice. Inferior imitations may be legally sold in the United States under the name parmesan, so don’t be fooled.

Not Just Any Cheese
There is a difference in the “real” cheese and the many imposters. The best way to be assured that you are eating authentic parmigiano-regianno, that has passed strict inspection is to buy it with the rind on, which will be stamped with the words parmigano regianno, and grate it as you need it, taking it out to sit at room temperature first. The real deal should be and is good enough to eat as a table cheese and is perfectly paired with pears.

Grana Padano
This recipe allows for a choice between parmigiano-regianno and grana padano. Grana is also from Northern Italy, made in the Po Valley. It is a semi-hard cheese, less salty, less pungent, than parmigiano-regianno, and often used for that very reason, where one does not want the dish overpowered. The cows that produce both cheeses graze in different valleys and this also causes a distinct difference in taste. Parmigiano-Regianno is made with a mix of skim milk and whole milk, while the Grana is made with partially skim milk. Italy can produce more of grana padano, so it will be less expensive.

Both cheeses are loved for their texture, flavor and the way they melt. They do not get stringy or gooey and can be easily added to so many dishes, including hot soups.

Why am I making such a fuss about the cheese? There is a cup and half of cheese in this recipe, making it a key ingredient. The wrong cheese or one of those imposters could result in a bad experience.

The Process
I am providing the recipe with a few shortcuts and changes. Next time, I would bring the pastry all the way up the sides and I would skip the breadcrumbs, so I’m going to give you the adaptation of the recipe in the way I would prefer it.

This is a lovely side dish to a protein, or a perfect choice for a light supper or lunch with a salad

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Savory Leek and Carrot Tart

An Italian version of leek and carrot tart.

Course Tart

Cuisine Italian

Ingredients

• Use 4 fluted individual tart pans or one large tart pan
• Pastry
• 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoons fine sea salt
• 4 T unsalted butter at room temperature
• 2 tablespoons blanched slivered almonds
• 2 large egg yolks
• 1 tablespoon ice water
• Combine flour and salt. Add butter until mixed. Add almonds egg yolks until almonds, then ice water. Knead until smooth, form into disc, wrap in plastic, refrigerate at least 30 minutes.
• Place parchment paper on bottom of tart pans and butter. Roll out dough bring up the sides. LCI suggests to not bring up the sides, but I prefer this. Use a fork to make a few holes in pastry.
• FILLING INGREDIENTS
• 2 pounds organic carrots washed, peeled and cut into coins
• 2 large leeks washed, trimmed, using white parts only, sliced lengthwise and sliced
• Few sprigs fresh thyme
• 4 leafy sprigs flat-leaf parsley finely chopped
• 2 T extra-virgin olive oil
• Fine sea salt
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter plus more for tart pans
• 1 1/2 cups freshly grated parmigiano-Reggiano or Grana Padano cheese divided 1 cup and 1/2 cup
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

• For Filling:
• Slice carrots into coins. Place sprigs of thyme over carrots and steam until cooked through, but not mushy. Reserve 2 T of hot water used for steaming. (You can also boil carrots, submersing in water. I Set 1 cup of coins aside to top the tarts. Make sure you have enough to cover the top of the tart. Saute sliced leeks in olive oil. Add salt.
• Puree carrots (except those reserved to top tart) with 1 cup parmgiano-regianno, salt, pepper, eggs, chopped parsley.
• Assembly
• Once dough is pressed into tart pans, layer with leeks, carrot puree, carrot coins. Top with remaining cheese. Bake until tarts are set, about 25 minutes at 350.
• Note: There was marjoram in filling; I deleted. There was a layer of breadcrumbs on bottom of tart. I found this to be unnecessary.

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Beef stock is at the heart of many comfort foods. I’m thinking of minestrone and french onion soup as starters, and heading onward to ossobuco, which is what prompted my obsession with meat broth this weekend. I couldn’t wait to make a perfectly tender veal shank and off  to market I went. I came home with beautiful marrow bones from a sustainable, local farmer, a few bones from Whole Foods,i including a veal bone.

I was so pleased with my chicken broth recipe from Ad Hoc at Home, by Thomas Keller, that I consulted the book again. The main differences are that the bones are roasted, most of the grease is rendered before it hits the water and the simmer time is more than five times longer, a full five hours. Your smoke alarms may go off, but your house will smell incredible. Add to this, a pan full of roasted, caramelized vegetables, and you know this is not the canned broth you pick up at the store.

Ten Tips for Making Beef Stock
1. Ask your healthy local farmers for meat bones and strike marrow gold.
2. Roast the bones until the smoke alarms go off. Drain grease periodically.
3. Start your broth with COLD water, bringing the heat up SLOWLY.
4. Use salt from the beginning, but carefully, as stock concentrates, so does the salt.**
5. Never abandon your broth in the first hour of simmering as you need to skim the scum repeatedly. However, with roasted bones, you will not see a lot of fat.
6. Never boil your broth (it will turn cloudy); only bring to a simmer.
7. Be prepared for a good five hours of simmering for Stock and 24 Hours or more for Bone Broth.
8. Caramelize your vegetables by roasting them first.
9. Never pour your broth when straining; ladle to avoid bottom sediment.
10. Don’t squeeze vegetables for broth; may turn broth cloudy.

**Note: there were a few comments about salt and the concern for over salting. It’s a good point and care must be taken to consider the reduction. I still like to salt from the beginning, at least a touch. Due to this caution, I tend to make an under-salted stock.

Eleven bones purchased from local farmer and Whole Foods.

Roast bones, draining grease every 15 minutes. Watch out for your smoke alarm.

I ended up with a lot more broth than I needed for my recipe, and way more than my one silicone cupcake pan would hold for freezing. Improvising, I took a baking pan, placed it in the freezer and used plastic sundae dishes and plastic glasses to freeze the stock. The next day, I simply rested the bottoms in hot water for a few minutes and they slipped right out and into plastic bags. I’m not going to make stock for five hours if I don’t get at least three special meals from it. This makes “made from scratch” sensible.

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Beef Stock and Roasted Bones

There is nothing like homemade beef stock made from roasted bones, adapted from Ad Hoc at Home by Thomas Keller.

Course Soup

Cuisine American

Prep Time 40 minutes minutes

Cook Time 2 hours hours

Total Time 2 hours hours 40 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 5-6 pounds of beef veal bones
• tin can at the ready to drain grease.
• 4 quarts cold water
• 2 Spanish onions quartered divided (1 1/2 chopped, 1/2 charred)
• 3 bay leafs
• 1 leek sliced lengthwise, cut in one-inch pieces
• 2 large carrots peeled, cut into 1 inch pieces
• several sprigs fresh thyme
• 1/4 cup peppercorns my addition
• sea salt pepper

Instructions

• Rinse soup bones thoroughly. Some bones may have meat attached, and you may want to make a vegetable beef soup, reserving that meat.
• Roast in hot oven at 425 on flat baking sheet. Roast until all the fat is rendered, meat is cooked. Discard rendered fat.
• Put roasted bones in large pot, cover with cold water, just enough to cover the bones. Add one small onion, that has been charred in frying pan. Bring to strong simmer, skim any fat that may appear. Simmer for five hours.
• NOTE: If you want to make bone broth, put your bones into slow cooker and cook on low for at least 24 hours. Don't worry about using the leeks, onions and carrots, although you could.
• Caramelize leeks, remaining onions, carrots by roasting at 400 for 20-30 minutes.
• Add to broth, simmer for 40 minutes. Turn off heat, rest for 10 minutes.
• Strain broth. Set in ice bath to cool. Refrigerate for up to 3 days. Freeze for up to two months.

How to Make Chicken Broth

How to Make Vegetable Beef Soup

How to Make Italian Beef Stew with Red Wine, Paleo

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Which type are you when life is having its moments? Do you run to creamy cheesecake, crunchy chips or chocolate? Or, are you like me, with barely an appetite and the only thing I want is soup, and it has to be homemade soup. This is where chicken stock (or chicken broth) comes in. It is the base for so many soups and comfort foods.

If you take out the best of the best cookbooks looking for THE recipe for chicken stock or chicken broth, you will find a lot of different opinions, but I believe that after scouring through, I have found the secret to a good broth (or stock). Just look at that golden color of delicious, organic broth.

Stock and broth are not the same thing, but sometimes these words are used interchangeably. I still can’t give you a definitive answer on this, but basically stock is concentrated and made from bones, whereas broth is lighter and made from meat. But, what about the stock/broth that is made from both meat and bones?

To add to the confusion, Thomas Keller has a broth recipe that uses backs and necks, and Marcella Hazan has a broth recipe that requires that only 2/5 of the meat/bones can be bones.

When does stock become chicken stock and chicken broth become chicken broth?

Stock has more body, getting its luscious quality from the collagen extracted from the bones, as this homemade beef stock.

Broth (which is made from meat or mostly meat) has more flavor. Even if one is using bones that have meat on them (chicken necks), a shorter cooking time can end up with more of a broth than a stock.

For example, Thomas Keller suggests a rather quick cooking time in which the necks and backs (and chicken feet) are simmered for up to two hours in total, but not to the point where the bones begin to disappear and a thick gelatin is extracted, which is what Alton Brown suggests. So, even if you decide to make a broth using bones that tend to release more of that good collagen (like neck bones) and you adhere to a shorter cook time, you may be closer to making a broth than a stock.

When stock becomes bone broth.

However if you cook those bones for 24 hours or more, you are extracting all the collagen and nutrients into the broth and we call that bone broth. 

Is your head feeling like cotton and all you are hearing from me is blah blah blah?

Well, don’t worry, whether you decide to cook your bones down for hours to get a very concentrated stock, or you are looking for a lighter, nearly fat free broth, the same rules and kitchen secrets apply. You can decide in the end what ratio of meat/bones to use and cooking time.

Thomas Keller and Ad Hoc
In all of my research and trial and error, I have learned the most from Thomas Keller’s chicken broth recipe, found in one of my favorite cookbooks, Ad Hoc at Home.

It’s from his most casual restaurant that was inspired by what the staff ate every day, meaning the kind of food you and I eat at home.

He wanted to make it the very best home cooking possible. You might know Thomas Keller as one of the most renowned chefs in the world, legendary for The French Laundry which could cost $1000 for a meal.  

However, Ad Hoc is more my style, and the cookbook is one that anyone could cook from. His recipe is the one I studied the most, adding in peppercorns as suggested by Alice Waters.

Why You Should Consider Making and Stockpiling Your Own Chicken Stock/Broth
If Spinach Tiger had a restaurant, it would be much more along the Ad Hoc style, giving people the best home style cooking possible, preparing everything fresh, seasonal and simple. Chicken broth is the basic foundation for so many of these types of dishes, and an important recipe to master.

How to Save Your Chicken Stock

Once the broth is made, freeze it in silicone muffin cups, then store in freezer bags for up to three months

Once frozen,  store in plastic ziplock bags for up to three months.

Ten Tips for Making ChickenBroth/Stock/Bone Broth

1. Chicken backs and chicken necks (and feet) rock, but get them from a reputable chicken farmer. Organic necks and backs are affordable.
2. Wash your chicken parts very thoroughly in cold water.
3. Do not add organs to the pot, as they will make your broth bitter.
4. Start your broth with COLD water, bringing the heat up SLOWLY.
5. Use salt from the beginning, but carefully, as stock concentrates, so does the salt..
6. Never abandon your broth in the first hour of simmering as you need to skim the scum repeatedly.
7. Never boil your broth (it will turn cloudy); only bring to a simmer.
8. Have equal amount of ice cubes ready to add to that first simmer to bring the fat to the surface. Do this before you add vegetables.
9. Do not add any vegetables until the first simmer and skimming, then use onion, leeks, carrots, celery, which will be discarded during the straining process.
10. Never pour your broth when straining; ladle to avoid bottom sediment.

Once broth is simmering and skimmed, add onion, leeks, carrot, bay leaf, peppercorns.

This fine mesh strainer works well for skimming even the finest particle.

Freeze in flexible muffin pan, place in freezer bags, for up to three months.

Enjoy!

I have a video for  beef bone broth here.

More Soups from Spinach Tiger

Asparagus Detox Soup

Broccoli Basil Soup

Spicy Italian Sausage Soup

The Best One Hour Roast Chicken

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Ten Tips for Making Chicken Bone Broth

Recipe for Chicken Broth adapted from Ad Hoc at Home, Thomas Keller

Course Soup

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 2 hours hours

Total Time 2 hours hours 20 minutes minutes

Servings 6

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 5-6 pounds of chicken necks. you can mix in chicken backs, chicken feet
• 4 quarts cold water
• 8 quarts ice cubes
• Bay leaf
• 1 1/2 cups carrots cut into 1 inch pieces
• 2 leeks cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 1/2 cups onions
• 1 cup celery my addition
• 1/4 cup peppercorns my addition
• Sea salt pepper

Instructions

• Rinse chicken parts thoroughly in cold water. Place in large stock pot, with just enough cold water to cover by about an inch. Put on a low heat, bringing to a simmer very slowly. Do not allow to boil.
• Once simmering, skim repeatedly, and add ice cubes one cup at a time, which will force more fat to the surface.
• Add vegetables and continue to simmer for 40 minutes. If broth is too light for your taste, you can concentrate by cooking longer remaining at a very low temperature.
• This is where broth become stock, highly concentrated in body.
• If you want bone broth, transfer on low to a crock pot and continue to cook for the next 12 hours, up to 24 hours until the bones begin to almost disappear.
• When using chicken necks, you will see more collagen and get that jelly like substance that covers the broth.
• Once you are finished simmering, allow to sit for 10 minutes before straining.
• Strain out all bones and vegetables. Discard.
• Cool entire pot in ice bath, if storing.
• Store in refrigerator no longer than 3 days. Store in freezer up to three months.

Notes

Bone Broth: Continue cooking on a very low simmer for 24 hours until the bones nearly disappear.

The post Ten Tips for Making Chicken Broth, Stock or Bone Broth appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

The Christmas decorations were still staring at me, along with a few extra pounds and some left over fruit from all the festivities. My body was screaming for fruits and vegetables and, with several gloomy days in a row, my spirit was craving color.

Fruity, nutty carrot soup was born.

This soup is beautiful from beginning to end.

The vegetables are carrots and leeks and the fruits are blood orange, pear, and a sprinkling of pomegranate.

The pomegranates is a nice surprise, juicy and nutty, and at the same time, adding texture.

My first attempt at this soup wasn’t what I envisioned, a little too thick resembling mush. I remade the soup, using almond milk to get a thinner texture, and I added another layer of crunch with toasted sliced almonds.

My new and improved version was so good that he never got more than a spoonful. I’m not bragging. I’m just happy that I decided to remake it and that my effort paid off.

Even though I was craving the taste of carrots and fruit, I needed to cut the “sweet“ with heat and use a small dollop of hot chile sauce.

Almond milk, is a surprisingly good choice  for thinning down the soup to make it creamy, and the nice surprise was a subtle taste of the almond which led me to garnish with toasted almonds.

The result was a happy balance, as you can taste each ingredient. When I tried a spoonful, I tasted carrot, then I tasted, the pear, the leek, the almond, and a tiny bit of ginger and orange, followed by two unique textures from the pomegranate and toasted almond slices.

Pomegranates

A powerful antioxidant with many health benefits, this is possibly the most ancient fruit known to man. Many people know more about the juice, less about the fruit, because it can pose a challenge to eat. Please don’t let that stop you.

To open a pomegranate: Roll over counter with some pressure, or use meat pounder or hammer all around the fruit. You are causing the fruit inside to retract from the peel. Then, with a knife (OVER A BOWL) slice vertically and open the fruit with both hands. You may need to wear an apron your first time, as the juice can stain. The little pomegranate seeds should be easily loosened into the bowl. Only loosen what you’re going to eat. Wrap the rest. It should keep for several days.

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Fruity Nutty Carrot Soup

Vegan carrot soup made with fruit, nuts, almond milk.

Course Soup

Cuisine American

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes minutes

Total Time 55 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 1 pound carrots
• 1/2 blood orange (peeled, reserving rind for some zest)
• 1 large leek reserve a few slices for garnish
• few sprigs thyme or basil each work equally well
• organic vegetable broth or water
• 1 cup almond milk you can substitute regular milk or cream
• Toasted slivered almonds
• sprinkling of pomegranate
• sea salt pepper
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon chile sauce

Instructions

• Chop carrots into big chunks. Put in large dutch oven sized pot.
• Cut off stalk and end of leek, using white part only.
• Clean well: Hold vertically, run under water, squeezing dirt out. Slice, thinly.
• Peel, seed 1/2 blood orange. Squeeze juice over carrots, add remaining pulp to pot.
• Add carrots, leeks, orange to large pot, add salt and pepper.
• Cover with about 3 inches of water or vegetable broth (see recipe under notes) in large pot bring to boil and cook, just until carrots are soft.
• Use blender or emulsion blender right in the pot. Start streaming in almond milk.
• Add more broth if needed.Measure chile sauce and add. Blend thoroughly and taste. Add more as desired.
• Season to taste. Garnish with orange zest, pomegranate seeds, and toasted almonds.

Notes

Vegetable Broth
Vegetable Broth
My preference is to make my own vegetable broth. Whenever you have a little left over (uncooked vegetable) wrap, freeze and save for vegetable broth.

Organic vegetables can be expensive. Purchase when specially discounted or specially priced in bulk. The next best thing is produce from your local farmer, which may not be organic, but a great second choice.

Coarsely chop all or any mix of the following:

Veggies: carrots with tops, onions, shallots, celery with leaves, peppers,
turnips, yellow beets, yams, fennel with leaves
Herbs: basil, mint, thyme, dill, chives, sea salt, pepper

Wrap in cheesecloth, boil in water.

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