Chicken with Preserved lemon, olives and artichoke stew

I made "wet lemon peel" - preserved lemon a few weeks ago. I am amazed how fast and simple it is when the weather is warm and sunny. The preservation process just went so much faster. A batch of lemon used to take me 6-8 weeks in Minneapolis during the cold season verse just 4-5 weeks here. The best part is: I got fresh lemon at the farmers market. It is the end of Eureka lemon season, I had to take advantage of those beautiful lemon!

A few people asked me what I do with the lemon... I donʻt make Prune Mui all the time! Itʻs a special treat I make it once a year. Preserved lemon is great to have on hand. It works great with sore throat. 1/4 of the lemon smashed up with hot water, sip it while itʻs hot. Itʻs very soothing. I also add strips of lemon in steamed fish or some of the shoyu base sauces.

The other reason: I love Moroccan cooking. Here is a recipe very similar to the classic tagine. Here is the trick with this recipe - you donʻt need any salt. The salt from the olives and the lemon is enough. I also used the packaged steam artichokes from Trader Joeʻs, itʻs less salty. If you are using the can or jar, please make sure you rinse it and drain well before use.

You will notice I use chicken thigh here. I prefer chicken breast usually, but the meat gets very dry in a stew. The thigh meat on the bone gives the stew more flavor, and the meat stay moist. It is a bit more work to remove the skin and fat, but it is well worth the extra step. You can also purchase skinless and boneless thigh if you prefer.

I also leave the carrot and potatoes in bigger piece, I would love to still "see" them in the stew. If they can cut too small, they will completely disintegrate in to the sauce. The potatoes in this dish also helps to thickened the sauce.

Chicken with Preserved lemon, olives and artichoke stew
3-4 chicken thighs about 2 lb.. Skinned and fat removed.
1 onion, peel and cut into 1/2" pieces
2 cloves garlic. Peeled, end removed and roughly chopped.
4-5 green-top carrots, cleaned and peeled. Cut into 1" pieces. I am using red carrot, the regular carrot will be fine too.
4-5 potatoes, cleaned and peeled. Cut into 1" pieces. I happened to have a few purple potatoes that I need to use up
1 package or 1 can of artichoke heart. Drained and quartered.

1 tsp Herb de Providence
1/2 black olives. Rinse in cold water, drain. half the larges pieces.
1/2 perserved lemon.
2-3 tbsp olive oil
3 cups low sodium stock - chicken or vegetable
1/2 cup Greek yogurt or sour cream if you prefer a heartier dish. I am using yogurt cheese I made, it is slightly thicker than Greek yogurt.
1/4-1/3 cup finely chopped Italian Parsley
1 lemon, cut in half and reserve 3-4 slices for garnish. Leave the rest in half.
Pepper to season
Directions:
Rinsed the preserved lemon under cold water to move some of the salt.

Cut the lemon in 1/2. Chopped 1/2 the lemon and reserve the other half for later used. Keep the unused 1/2 in covered container in the fridge.

 In a medium pot, heat a 2-3 tbsp olive hot till hot over medium heat. Add the onion

 Once the onion caramelized, add the garlic and sauté till lightly browned.

 Add in carrot and potatoes to brown. About 4-5 mins. Remove the vegetable.

Brown the chicken in the same pan. The chicken may stick at the beginning. Lower the heat to render the fat in the meat.

 While browning the meat on both side, add 1tsp of Herbs de Providence. Once the meat is well browned. Remove the meat from the pan.

 Add 2 cups of stock in the pan, bring to a boil

 Deglaze the pan over low heat. The stock will thicken slight with the flavorful "brown bits" from the chicken and the vegetable.

Once the stock comes to a boil, add chicken and vegetable back in. Keep at low heat.

 Add in preserved lemon

 Olives

 Artichoke and season with freshly granted  pepper

Combine well and add reminding cup of stock

 Bring to a boil, lower heat to low. Cover

Let it simmer over low heat for 30 mins till the chicken is very tender.

 Add chopped parsley, mix well.

 Add yogurt, then bring the stew to boil.

 Finally squeeze juice of the 2 halves of fresh lemon in the stew. Check for seasoning. Ready to serve.

To serve: the chicken piece can be served whole  with the vegetable
Or
Remove the chicken from the stew. Debone the chicken and return the meat to the stew.
Garnish with parley and lemon twist.

Serve 2-3

Enjoy
Aloha

Carrot Tea cake with cream cheese frosting

Christmas time was busy baking time for me. For years, I would make quick bread and cakes instead of purchasing something in the store. With the years gone by, I would actually have a request list! As usual, I made a few loafs of eggnog bread, the pumpkin gingerbread. The most requested was always my Hawaiian banana bread. Out of all these baking, I made a carrot tea cake for my fellow yogini/ photographer friend Jeffrey Austin. I have known Jeffrey for many years and I know he loves carrot cake. He was hosting a Christmas party at his home. I thought it would be a good host gift. I made it in a bundt pan and did a soft cream cheese drizzle to make it more festive.

The recipe is an adaptation of the Carrot Tea Cake from Martha Stewart. I added another cup of carrot so that it would be moist. I also used a couple of rainbow carrot from the Co-op. They have more flavor and sweeter in my opinion.
Carrot tea cake with cream cheese drizzle

1/2 cup (4oz) unsalted butter at room temperature
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 eggs - neatened
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups packed peeled and grated carrots

Frosting:
3 oz cream cheese at room temperature
1 oz butter at room temperature
1/2 cup of confection sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1-2 tbsp milk or cream

Directions:
Pre heat oven to 350F. Spread and flour a 12 cup bundt pan and set aside
In the medium bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices. Set aside

In a large mixing bowl/mixer,  cream butter with brown sugar till light.

Add eggs, one at a time. Mix well

 Slowly add in the dry ingredients, 1/2 cup at a time

Mix well, add vanilla.

 Remove batter from the mixer and fold in carrot.

  Transfer carrot batter to a bundt pan and bake for 45 mins till the cake spring back when pressed in the center or a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the center. The cake will not raise to the top of the pan, it will be about 1/2 way.

 Let the cake cool and remove from the pan and let it cool.

To prepare drizzle:
Cream cream cheese, butter and sugar in a medium size bowl.

 Mix well.

 Add vanilla

 Check the consistency of the drizzle, you want this to be thick, but not "solid" so that you can spoon the mixture over the cake. Add cream/milk as needed.

 Drizzle the cream cheese mixture over the top of the cooled cake, let the drizzle runs down the sides of the cake. Chill in the fridge for about an hour to set the cake.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar to add a festive touch

Serve 6-8

Enjoy

Aloha!

By request - Fall Vegetable bread

Life has been a bit crazy, I have been a little out of sort. I was not even interested in cooking anything. I got an email this morning from a young lady I met at Momi's women yoga retreat last weekend, reminding me I promised her the recipe for the vegetable bread. I was thrilled that she wrote me and got me off to do some cooking.

I had a lot of fun cooking for some wonder ladies at the retreat. I made the bread to go with a simple lentil soup. I was amazed how everyone loved it. I was worry that it was an odd combination, I whipped up some cream cheese with honey on the side. Just in case... As they say in the Midwest, "cheese fixes everything." Well... I brought most of the cream cheese home and it was barely touch. My Wonderful is using it with toast in the morning.

Here is to you Stephanie, thanks for getting me off the computer and back into the kitchen... Namaste

Fall Vegetable bread
1 1/2 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 1/2 cup apple sauce
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2-2.5 shredded root vegetable, I am using 2 carrots, 1 beets and 2 small sweet potatoes, you can vary the amount to your taste.

3 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp grounded ginger
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp clove
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup dried cranberry
1/2 cup chopped pecan or walnut
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350
Shred vegetable in a food processor, you may have between 2-3 cups, depending on the size of your vegetable. It is OK to have a little extra vegetable, it does not change more of the texture.

Spray 1 13x9 pan or 1 large bundt pan. I am using 2 small bundt pans today to make 2. Set aside

In a medium size bowl, mix flour with baking soda and salt

In a large bowl, combine sugar with egg

Add apple sauce

Stir in vegetable oil

Add shredded vegetable and blend well

Add flour mixture and spices: grounded ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon and clove

Add vanilla and mix well

Fold in cranberry and pecan

Transfer the batter into the prepared baking pan.

Bake for 60-75 mins at 350 till a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the center.

Let the bread rest for 10 min. Remove from pan and ready to serve!

Enjoy!
Aloha

Sweet carrot and buttercup squash… Fall is here

Week 14 of my CSA came with some sweet carrot and the first of the fall squashes. It is indeed the sign of fall. It is going to be a beautiful weekend. Mr. Wonderful and I are planning to be out and about. I made some soup that we can heat up easily.

The photo here does not completely reflect how I could make this soup normally. I had to cater this to Mr. Wonderful’s taste buds! He said he could eat anything and he did not have a preference… not really true! I usually make a few things on the weekend and package those meals for him. All he needs to do is reheat! A couple of months ago, I decided to curry his pot roast… hmm he said he was “surprised” when he open the container. I learned that spice is relatively new to him. I started to step back my spiciness a little. I am going to present this recipe to you, the way that I would usually make this.

Ginger and Lemongrass infused carrot and buttercup squash soup

4 med carrots. Cleaned, peeled and cut into 1” pieces. About 2 cups

1 buttercup squash or other squash of your choice. Peeled and cut into 1” pieces, about 3 cups. 

4 cups of chicken or vegetable stock

1 tbsp ghee

1 tbsp garlic

1 onion, peeled and cubed.

1 tsp chopped thyme

2 tsp chopped lemon grass

2” piece of ginger, peeled, smash lightly and chopped. (I sliced it here, so that it does not get too strong in the soup)

4 slices of bread to make some crouton, or you can use ready-made one.

Directions:

Clean and prepare all the vegetable.

In a  medium 1.5” diameter tea ball (infuser). Place the ginger on one side and ginger on the other. Close and lock.

Heat a soup pot or Dutch oven, melt 1 tbsp of ghee.

Sauté onion and garlic till translucent.

Add the carrot and squash. Cook for 5 mins

Add thyme, mix well.

Add in 4 cups of stock.

Drop the infuser on the side and attach the chain to the pot handle. Bring to a boil. Lower to med low heat.

Cover and cook for 30 mins till the vegetable are soft and tender.

Meanwhile, if you want, you can make some homemade crouton.

I made some Challah during the week. I cubed some of the bread. 

Tossed with some olive oil. 

Season with salt and pepper. 

Bake at 400 degree oven for 15 mins till golden and crunchy.

When the vegetable soup is ready. Remove the infuser. Disgard the content.

Puree the soup in a processor or blender. 

Check the consistency of the soup. I am making a thicken version. Mr. Wonderful likes hearty soup. 

If the soup is too thick, return to the pot and thin it out with some stock. Reheat, check your seasoning.

To serve: Ladle the soup in a bowl and top with a few croutons. Garnish with sprinkle of thyme.

Serve 4.

PS: I wrote this last week and didn't get a chance to post...

Enjoy

Aloha!