Chicken Divan

Everyone’s mom has a go-to “casserole”, at least if you’re from the Midwest they do. Well, my mom’s was Chicken Divan.  Right now you might be thinking of cans of questionable cream-of-something-soup. Well, you would be right. I ‘m normally the one to upgrade things like this, or make my own cream-of-something-soup to replace it; this is one of those recipes (like beef stroganoff) that you just don’t mess with. Well, I mess with it a little, but I swear it’s just a little.

What makes this casserole different than your typical bag of frozen this, can of cream of that, is that it’s made with fresh ingredients. It’s poached chicken breasts, freshly steamed broccoli, and a lightly curried cream sauce. Sounds delicious doesn’t it?

Chicken Divan- from the Kitchen of Sue’s Mom.

Ingredients:

2 medium to large heads of broccoli

4 large chicken breasts

1 can cream of chicken soup (light is fine)

¼ cup mayo (light is fine)

½ cup milk (once again, skim is fine)

1 Tbs fresh lemon juice

½ tsp curry powder

1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

½ cup bread crumbs

2 Tbs melted butter

Method:

Start by poaching the chicken. In a large pot of boiling water cook the chicken for about 30 minutes or until completely cooked through. This will largely depend on the size of your chicken breasts, check them by cutting into them with a knife, don’t worry about appearance, they are going into a casserole after all. While the chicken cooks, cut the broccoli into spears.

Steam the broccoli until it is fork tender.

In a 9X13 baking dish, arrange the chicken alternating with spears of broccoli. I place two stems of broccoli, florets facing opposite sides, in between each piece of chicken. In a small bowl whisk together soup, mayo, lemon juice, and curry powder. Pour over chicken and sprinkle with cheese.

In another small bowl pour the melted butter over the bread crumbs and sprinkle over the top. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

A few notes:
-Cat hasn’t eaten this in years- she won’t eat things with warm mayo. But I think after reading this and seeing the pictures even she may reconsider.

-My slight modification is extra curry. The recipe above reflects the original but when I make mine I use a highly mounded ½ tsp of curry. I love curry, what can I say.

-I always serve this with a side of Uncle Ben’s wild rice. It just goes together perfectly.

-My Mom also used to make an excellent version of this on pizza. That’s right- PIZZA. I may have even liked it better than this. She would use a plain pizza crust (which she of course made from scratch) use the curry sauce as the base, and top it with shredded chicken, broccoli florets, and sprinkle it with shredded cheddar. I think I need to make this soon…

-You can make this ahead of time and refrigerate it until you are ready to bake it. Or you can freeze it before you cook it and let it defrost in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours before you bake it. I’m mentioning this because this is super common of Midwest style casseroles; they are often made ahead of time or given to neighbors and friends in times of need.

-Sue

Sweet Onion Jam

I have had things like this on cheese plates across town; I have also had it as a lovely accompaniment to charcuteries, pates, and mousses. I was pretty much obsessed.  No one had to win me over on the onions, I already love those, but this was something better. This was a slightly sweet, slightly savory, wonderful version that begged to be eaten by the spoonful but was even better when combined with a smear of brie.

I worked on this recipe for awhile, and I finally found this one. It is a wonderful combination of tangy from the wine and the vinegar, savory from the onion, and sweet from the sugars. The grenadine, which some may think as odd, adds a stunning garnet hue to the jam. As it slowly cooks everything reduces and thickens to the perfect consistency for spooning onto crackers.

This recipe originally comes from Food and Wine Magazine.

Ingredients:

1 Tbs unsalted butter

2 medium Vidalia or other sweet onions diced into ¾ inch pieces

½ cup white sugar

1/3 cup red wine vinegar

1/3 cup grenadine

1/3 cup dry red wine (I use malbec)

Method:

Melt the butter in a medium skillet or sauce pan, cook over medium heat until the onions are soft and just translucent, about 8 mins. Add the sugar, wine, vinegar, grenadine and a pinch of salt.

Cook over low heat stirring occasionally until the liquid thickens significantly and all of the onions have been saturated with the red color. About 35 mins. Transfer onion jam to bowl and let cool.

This can be refrigerated for up to a week

Notes:

I used a small enameled dutch oven to make this- I think it’s the best a caramelizing the onions and the non stick is unsurpassed (at least in my opinion).

I like to use a malbec in this dish as it is a dry red, but with slightly fruity and spicy undertones. A cabernet sauvignon would be nice in this, as well as dryer zinfandel.

Did you know that grenadine used to be made from pomegranate juice? If you can find the real stuff I highly recommend using it.

This would also be a wonderful accompaniment to grilled or roasted meat, especially pork. I really love cheese though, so I’m pretty much sticking with that.

I most commonly serve this with goats milk Brie, and a smoked white cheddar with black pepper (Tillamook).

-Sue

Thanksgiving Crostini

Appetizers may seem like overkill for Thanksgiving, and they probably are, but people still want them.  You sit around all day pretending to watch football, you get a little hungry.  To quote Joey Tribbiani:  “Let me explain to you how the human body works. I have to warm up my stomach first. Eatin’ chips is like stretching.”

Stretch ‘er out- get ready for that turkey. If you’re really channeling Joey, you may want to throw on a pair of maternity pants.

from one of the best thanksgiving episodes ever.

A great idea for appetizers anytime, especially Thanksgiving, is crostinis.  Crostinis are a chef-ey word for little toasts. For this post we are going to give you some ideas, but get creative, you can literally put anything on them.

To make these, buy a big baguette (you can find these in the deli section of most grocery stores).  Slice on a bias (angled cut so the slices are longer-thus better for holding more delicious toppings) and toss them in the oven to toast. In general you want to toast them lightly before you top them so they are crisp and will stand up to the toppings, but depending on what you put on them you may want to throw them back in to melt or warm your toppings.

Cat and I made a few while I was in Portland and we had a little dinner party:

- Store bought artichoke tapenade (Trader Joe’s), thinly sliced Fontina cheese, topped with peppadew peppers

- Raspberry jam with blue cheese crumbles

Here are some other ideas you could use:

• Salami, cream cheese, cornichons (fancy little pickles, you could use any kind)
• Fig jam with prosciutto
• Hummus or white bean spread topped with arugula and balsamic vinegar
• Goat cheese and strawberries drizzled with honey
• Cream cheese, smoked salmon and capers
• Pesto, roasted red peppers, topped with mozzarella
• Classic bruscetta- diced tomatoes, basil, olive oil, salt, pepper, and a drizzle of balsamic (reduction if you have it or want to make it)
• Apples with melted brie and walnuts

Happy Snacking!

-Sue

P.S. The salami cheese pickle crostini’s are a riff on the most delicious snack in the history of delicious snacks, made by Bryan Monaghan, the Snack King.  When we were kids, he used to slather cream cheese on regular deli salami, put in a dill pickle spear and roll it up into a tube.  Best snack ever.  – Cat

Homemade Ricotta Cheese

Homemade cheese? Yes, I’m serious. You can do this, I swear!  I’m not about to tell you that making cheese is easy….but making ricotta cheese is. Not to mention that once you try fresh ricotta, you will never buy the other stuff again.

Ingredients:

2 qt whole milk

1 cup heavy cream

½ tsp salt

3 tbs fresh lemon juice

1 or 2 pieces of cheese cloth or a very fine mesh strainer

Method:

Prep work first, mise en place. This is a fairly quick process, so you need everything ready to go before you start

Line your colander with a few pieces of cheesecloth. You can also use a fine mesh strainer placed over a bowl, just make sure it’s big enough to hold 2 cups of cheese. Squeeze the fresh lemon juice and set aside. Measure out salt and set aside.

Pour cream and milk into a heavy bottom sauce pan. Bring to a simmer over medium high heat, stirring occasionally with a spatula to prevent scalding. When the mixture has reached a steady simmer add the lemon juice and stir quickly with a spatula- just to blend. Turn the heat down to medium/ medium low. Keep the mixture at a low simmer, let it sit for one minute. Stir with the spatula again, then let it sit another minute. When it looks like most of the liquid has separated into curds and whey, it is done. There will be an initial separation when you add the lemon juice, but you need to continue to cook it to separate all the curds.

Pour the mixture into your lined colander and let drain for 1 hour at room temperature.  Towards the end of the hour you can squeeze the cloth to get out the remaining moisture.  Transfer to an airtight container and store in the fridge.

Makes about 2 cups.

A few notes:

I have heard people have had success making this with 1% milk, but I haven’t tried it yet myself.  There are also a number of methods you can use to make ricotta ranging from buttermilk to vinegar, but I like lemon the best.

Ricotta can be used for so many things; lasagna, stuffed manicotti, cannolis, and a million other things. I mixed ricotta with a little bit of honey and egg and made it into a peach tart!

- Sue