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.

Instead we ventured to Schmidt’s Deli, a German place nearby. I’ve been to Suppenkuche in the city and loved it, so we were all pretty excited to try Schmidt’s. Standard to any German place is a pretty long list of German beers; surprisingly few on tap though (under 10). We each grabbed a drink during our wait for a table, which we were told would be about 20 minutes (we didn’t want to sit at the bar).

After a while, we noticed an open table begging for us to sit there. We finally asked the waitress what was up and she had been waiting for another party to leave to sit us in a different location so our party didn’t have to be sandwiched in between other groups. The table was easily large enough for us, so we were a bit confused, but whatever.

We were finally seated, ordered another round of drinks and pretzels for the table. The waitress came back and apologized, there was only one pretzel left, but she would bring it to our table. Sadness. About 10 minutes later she came back to inform us our pretzel had been claimed by someone at the bar. Double sadness. Instead she brought us a free bread basket (um, ok). Apparently they always run of out pretzels Friday and Saturday evenings. One would think they would start making more to compensate, but I guess they haven’t figured out the supply/demand relationship yet.

Our sausages finally came and they were awesome. Smoked bratwurst, so good. The homemade potato salad was also great, nice flavoring and not too heavy (for potato salad). The portion on the potato salad was pretty generous as well, so there was no way I was going home still hungry. The table also ordered a side of spaetzel, pretty tasty, but a little too oily in my opinion. My friend was super excited by the prospect of Christmas cookies on the menu, so a plate was also ordered. It would have been nice if the waitress informed our party of three that the place came with two of each type of cookie. We most likely would have asked if we could get 1.5 orders instead. Regardless, I didn’t really like the cookies that much, so it worked out.

As we were gearing up to ask for the bill, the waitress came over with four bottles of Underberg. She apologized for the wait and the pretzel fiasco and said to make up for it, we were getting a free shot on the house and she would take it with us. Underberg natural herbal bitters aka a ‘digestif.’ So we drank and were happier with the service. She realized our frustration and took action to fix it, with alcohol.

Overall, the food at Schmidt’s was good and the service was decent. Surprisingly, when we left around 10:15, the place was essentially empty, probably in part to the location. If I’m hunkering for German food in the future, it’s likely I’ll either try Walzwerk since I haven’t been yet or head back to Suppenkuche because of the convenient location and surrounding bars. Essentially, Schmidt’s was good and I’m glad we stumbled upon it, but not worth going out of my way for.

So since the last update:

• Graduated with my MBA from MIT Sloan
• Drove across country
• Moved to SF
• Started real life v2.0
• Been lazy about updating websites (but not about eating).

Today I woke up to pouring rain and decide to make pumpkin bread.   It was also about this time that I realized I didn’t have eggs, baking powder or half the spices needed. Phfff. Details.

Thanks to Google I learned 2.5 tbsp of ground flax seed + 3 tbsp of water can be substituted for 1 egg…so that’s what I did.  The other stuff…um, ignored.

The bread was still pretty good, I love improvising.

Pumpkin Bread

• 1 ¾ c flour
• 1 tspn baking soda
• 1 tspn salt
• 1 tspn cinnamon
• 1 tspn nutmeg
• 16 oz. can pumpkin puree
• ¼ c vegetable oil
• 1 c sugar
• 2 eggs or 5 tbsp flax seed & 6 tbsn water
• 1/3 c Chopped pecans

1. Pre-heat oven to 350
2. Sift the first six ingredients together in a medium bowl
3. In a large bowl, add the pumpkin, oil, sugar and eggs
4. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ones and mix
5. Add the mix to a greased bread pan and top with pecans
6. Bake for one hour
7. Let the bread cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan

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.

At approximately 5:50 pm EST, I bought a Flip cam.  This isn’t even the good part.  I finish my MBA in June (hurrah!) and will be leaving Boston.  I don’t actually start work until August, which means I am without permanent home for a little while.

Which means:

It’s a perfect opportunity to take a cross-country road trip!

Starting in June, my friend Emily and I will be embarking on a cross-country road trip.  Now you’re probably wondering what this has to do with food and/or video.  Emily, also being a fellow food-o-phile, and I will hunting for some great places to chow down.  I hope to document the process with my Flip cam!  It will be much easier to just show you what we’re eating than continuously write about it! Plus, you’ll get to see real-time reactions.

We’re (tentatively) planning to stop in these cities, let me know if you have any recommendations on things to see and places to eat!

• Charlottesville
• Nashville
• Memphis
• Dallas
• Austin
• Grand Canyon

Oh yea, I just finished making a batch of risotto, recipe to come soon.