Which brings me to stews. Mediterranean Chicken Stew to be exact. I found this recipe way back in college in one of the Everyday Food magazines at the checkout line in the grocery store. I used to make it a lot. Since then however, it fell out of favor and remained in the back of my recipe book.

When I used to make it, it NEVER looked like the picture. Things weren’t chopped well; it was too soupy and well let’s just say it wouldn’t be something I served to impress others.

Flash forward 4.5 years and I finally decided to make the stew again. This time, things worked. The stew reduced, the tomatoes broke down, it looked presentable (as far as stews go) and it was delicious.

Notably, I took my time while cooking. I let things simmer longer. I chopped them evenly. I used my instinct. Cooking, like lots of things, requires patience. There are tons of shows and books devoted to cutting corners while in the kitchen. We’re all busy these days (just look at the number of blog posts I’ve done over the last year!), but at the end of the day, nothing beats a home cooked meal you’ve put some effort into.

Cooking instinct also requires patience of course. No one is born an awesome chef and like most things, it requires practice. I’ve seen improvements and advancements in what I’ve made over the years. It just takes time. And patience.

So in a really cheesy ending to this post, I’m going to add being more patient in the kitchen to my list of New Year’s Resolutions. Happy 2011 everyone.

• 1 ½ lbs chicken breasts, cut into ½ inch chunks

• Salt and pepper

• 2 tbsp olive oil

• 4-5 garlic gloves, minced

• 1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained

• 1 qt cherry tomatoes, cut in half

• 1 tsp dry white wine

• ¼ c chopped fresh parsley

• ¾ cup cornmeal

• 1 tbsp butter

• ¼ grated cheese (Asiago or Parmesan works well)

Stew

1. Season chicken with salt and pepper.

2. In a pan, heat the olive oil and cook the chicken completely.

3. Remove the chicken from the pan and add the garlic. Cook until fragrant.

4. Add the chickpeas and 1 cup of water. Boil until liquid reduced by half.

5. Add the tomatoes, cooking over medium heat until they start to break down.

6. Add the chicken and wine and heat through, just a few minutes.

7. Stir in the parsley.

Polenta

1. Bring 4 cups of water and 1 ½ tsp salt to boil over high heat.

2. Whisking constantly, slowly add the cornmeal. Whisk until smooth before adding more.

3. Reduce the heat to medium and stir until the polenta thickens.

4. Remove from heat and stir in the butter and cheese.

Almost Spring calls for Spring-time recipes, which is what led me to this risotto recipe.

The main problem I have with risotto.

Is that it is a painstakingly slow process.

And that I must fight the urge to eat the risotto right away.

Or even 20 minutes into cooking because it still tastes awful (not that I’ve tried).

Luckily, I always make a large batch, so I will be able to eat leftovers all week without having to wait as long. phew.

Spring Risotto with Peas and Zucchini

from Everyday Food

• 2 cans (14.5 ounces each) chicken broth
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 to 2 large zucchini (1 pound), peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
• 1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1 cup frozen peas, thawed

1. Heat broth and 2 1/2 cups water in a small saucepan over low heat; keep warm. Meanwhile, melt 2 tablespoons butter in a 3-quart saucepan over medium heat. Add zucchini; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring often, until zucchini is golden, 8 to 10 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer zucchini to a plate.
2. Reduce heat to medium-low. Add onion; cook until soft, 5 minutes. Season with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Raise heat to medium. Add rice; cook, stirring, until translucent around edges, about 3 minutes. Add wine; cook until absorbed, about 2 minutes.
3. Cook, adding 1 cup hot broth at a time (stir until almost all liquid is absorbed before adding more), until rice is tender, 25 to 30 minutes total.
4. Add zucchini and peas; cook until peas are bright green, 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in remaining tablespoon butter and Parmesan. Serve, topped with more cheese. Serves 6.

CoSkay Note:

I’ve now made this recipe twice altering the type of chicken broth used.  The original recipe calls for reduced sodium chicken broth.  The first time I used College Inn, regular because I had it in my pantry already.  The second time 365 Reduced-Sodium Chicken Broth (Whole Foods’ private label) was used.  The winner: College Inn.  I’m not sure if it were the difference in brands or the reduced sodium that made the difference, but the College Inn version produced a more pronounced flavor.  I also added a cup of chopped onion instead of a half cup each time because I like onion and it produces a very subtle flavor in this recipe.

Let’s be honest here.  I do love to cook, but boiling corn is kinda a pain in the ass on a stove that looks like it was designed for a Barbie doll and I don’t own a grill.  Raw corn is just as delicious, especially when mixed with other ingredients, such as avocados, bell peppers and cheese….oh yea and the scallops.

I go back and forth on the whole scallops thing.  I didn’t try them until I was much older and liked them and went through a scallop phase.  Then I didn’t eat them for a couple of years because I preferred other fish.  Now I’m back to liking them again.  They are super easy to prepare and flavor.

Raw Corn Salad

• 2 ears of corn with kernels removed
• 1/2 avocado
• 1/2 bell pepper diced
• 1/4 c. goat cheese
• Small handful chopped cilantro
• 1/2 tspn olive oil

1. Really difficult step of combining all ingredients and letting sit for 20 minutes for the flavors to combine.

Cumin Scallops

• 4-5 scallops
• Cumin
• 2 tspn butter
• 2 tspn olive oil

1. Melt the butter and coat the scallops with it.
2. Coat the scallops with cumin
3. Heat the olive oil and remaining butter on medium heat
4. Sear the scallops, 1-2 minutes each side

The best part: there are no classes.  This of course meant that I flew off to Portugal with 13 of my nearest and dearest directly after my Tuesday seminar finished.  Yep, it was awesome.  I’ll put up some pictures on my other site eventually (there was scratch on my filter, so I have to go in and edit the stupid dot on all my pictures), but in the meantime, let’s discuss the food.  Or rather, let’s just look at it.

Night 1: Sea-bass

The whole fish was super-fresh and delicious.  I was proud of myself that I successfully de-boned the fish and didn’t manage to choke on any bones!  The salad dressing was also really good (no idea what it was) and didn’t saturate the lettuce.

Night 2: Sol

Yes, that is raw meat. Yes, that is a hot stone. You put one on the other and eat. And yes, I ate it all.

Night 3: Fado

We went big. We went expensive.  We went Fado.  Fado is the traditional music in Portugal and we wanted to experience it first-hand.  The entire group went to a nice restaurant where we got traditional dishes and were swooned by singers.  It was filling, long and wonderful.  I got octopus.  It was yummy.  It was huge.  I didn’t finish this one.  I didn’t even try.

Night 4a: Argentinian!

We had steak. and sausage. and pork. and pork belly. and thank god I’m not a vegetarian because this was amazing.  One of my good friends is half-Argentinian, so he picked the best stuff for us.  I thought I would never eat again, I was wrong.

Night 4b: OH MY GOD WHY DIDN’T ANYONE TELL ME PORTUGAL HAS RIDICULOUSLY GOOD HAMBURGERS?

I always find it amusing that I never ate off of food carts in NY, but adore them in Europe and even in China (which retrospectively probably wasn’t the smartest idea).  I just feel the quality is much improved.  The food carts in the states is getting much better though and I love the Clover Food Truck at MIT.

Anyway, the burger I will dream about for the rest of my life:

• A delicious bun
• Perfectly cooked patty
• Mustard, Ketchup AND mayo
• Lettuce
• Mushrooms
• Crispy fried onions
• Corn
• Carrots

Some of my friends polished off three (3!).  Another friend doesn’t eat red meat and devoured hers.  I think this will go down in hamburger-history.

PS – I apologize for the quality of these pictures.  I didn’t take my SLR out to dinner with me, so I was using a point-and-shoot.

In the meantime, I decided to prepare my steak halibut-thick-enough-to-be-a-steak and pop that in the oven.  Sometimes I wish fish were cheaper so I could make it more often, but it is a nice treat every now and then.  I created a concoction of dijion and honey mustard for the fish then covered it with panko.  I generally prefer panko to other breadcrumbs because they are less dense and crispier than the traditional kind.

Then back to those squashies.  What to make.  A little help from the interwebs and I decided on zucchini fritters.  Frying your vegetables is a great idea.  The fish was healthy, so a little olive oil won’t kill you, right?  As a side note, make sure your pan heats evenly otherwise you will end up with half-cooked fritters.

Halibut and Horseradish

• 1/4 c dijion mustard
• 2 tbsp horseradish
• 1/3 c panko breadcrumbs
• 2 lbs halibut fillet

1. Pre-heat oven to 375.
2. Mix the mustard and horseradish together and generously spread over the fillet.  Cover the fillet with the panko.
3. Bake until cooked.  I don’t have a time because it really depends on the thickness of your fillet.  The one I purchased was exceptionally thick an took approximately 45 minutes to cook.

Zucchini Fitters

Adapted from Martha Stewart

• 1 pound (about 2 medium) zucchini
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Grated lemon zest (1 lemon)
• 10 sprigs fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• Sour cream

1. Grate the squash using the large holes of a box grater, food processor or any other contraption you have.  Add salt, lemon zest, parsley, garlic, and eggs. Mix well to combine. Slowly add flour, stirring so no lumps form.
2. Heat olive oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat.  Place some of the mixture into the pan and flatten it out so it forms a small disc.  They take about 2-3 minutes per side.  Serve with sour cream.