Based in San Francisco, Valerie's blog provides recipes and ideas using local, fresh, and organic foods. The idea is that one does not need more than a few simple ingredients to make a great dish if they are fresh and in season.
For the last two weeks, I was fighting off a cold, and yesterday I lost the battle. So when I got home from work today, I whipped up a batch of spicy tortilla soup. Felt like I needed more than a traditional chicken soup. Here's what I did.
2 tbsp olive oil 1 onion, finely chopped 1 carrot, finely chopped 1 stalk celery, finely chopped 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 tbsp chipotle chili powder 1 tbsp ancho chili powder 1 tbsp tomato paste 1 zucchini, diced 1 cup frozen corn 1 can stewed tomatoes (check labels - some have high fructose corn syrup) 6 chicken thighs, seasoned with salt and pepper 8 cups chicken stock or water, or combination of both Salt 1 avocado tortilla chips Mexican crema
saute onions, carrot, celery, and garlic in olive oil in a heavy soup pot till soft, about 8 minutes.
add chipotle and ancho chili powders, and tomato paste and cook about a minute.
add zucchini, corn, tomatoes, chicken, and stock. season with salt
bring to a boil, reduce to simmer, and cook for about 45 minutes.
remove chicken thighs, shred meat, and return to pot
ladle into bowls and garnish with tortilla chips, avocado, and Mexican crema.
The other night, I made a tilapia "en papillot" with some coconut milk instead of wine. Came out really well... but I forgot to take a photo! So, I had about 3/4 of a can of coconut milk leftover and decided to try and make a coconut curry chicken. Been on this Indian food kick lately.... it came out pretty well for a first attempt, and I have a bunch of leftovers to take to lunch this week! Here's my "rough" recipe.
1 tbsp olive oil 1 onion, finely chopped 1 tbsp fresh grated ginger 3 cloves garlic, minced 6 boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite size cubes. 2 tbsp curry powder 1 tbsp red curry paste 1 cinnamon stick 4 dry red chiles 2 potatoes, cut into 1" pieces 3/4 (or 1) can coconut milk 1 28 oz. can tomatoes, chopped water or stock as needed salt pepper
Heat olive oil in a wide heavy skillet. Add onion and saute until soft, about 10 minutes. Add ginger and garlic and cook another minute or two.
Add chicken to skillet and brown over high heat.
Add curry powder, paste, cinnamon and chiles and cook for about a minute.
Add potatoes, coconut milk, tomatoes, and extra water or stock if it seems like it needs more liquid. Season with salt and pepper.
Simmer until chicken and potatoes are cooked through, about 20 minutes. Serve with plain or coconut rice.
I recently "discovered" a great store in the Mission that carries all sorts of imported Latin American products. It was all I could do not to buy everything there! They have all sorts of packaged foods, fresh meats, and vegetables. I'll definitely be going back there to check out more stuff. The store is calledEvergreen Market. Pictured are two of my purchases. The one on the left is Aji Amarillo, which is a Peruvian Yellow Pepper (in paste form). This is used in many Peruvian dishes, including my last recipe, Aji de Gallina. So happy to find it, as I've been searching for the paste form for quite a while. Should have known to look in a small Mission store all along! On the right is Dulce de Leche, from Argentina. Takes me right back to my childhood. This has recently become a little more known here, as it is now a Haagen Dazs flavor, but this is the real thing! I will try to find a good recipe for Alfajores, the Argentine cookies that my grandmother used to make. An Alfajor is a sandwich cookie consisting of two shortbread cookies with Dulce de Leche in the middle, and the whole thing is covered in powdered sugar. Yum! They also have Empanada shells - I will be sure to make those soon (they're in my freezer for now) and will post the results here.
