Chicken Soup (The Medicine)

Well, I sure didn’t think I'd be talking about plain old chicken soup in my second week of blogging. I was aiming for something a wee bit more glamorous. But the thing is, I have got myself a nasty mcnasty flu the likes of which I have not experienced since I was a kid. To tell you the truth, I wasn’t planning to blog at all this week, but today I mustered up the strength to crawl out of my cave and made a huge pot of chicken soup… simple, basic chicken soup, the cure of all ailments. And maybe it’s just because I’m so sick, but it’s been tasting like the best thing in the world to me (despite its not-so-handsome appearance as you may notice in the video). I’ve been sipping it all afternoon in the hammock, between snoozes, a bit of knitting, and reading Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle (a MUST-READ for any food lover). Maya, my roommate’s dog came sauntering over and I gave her a little chicken skin. At first she didn’t like it. But then she sort of clued in to the deliciousness and I captured our ensuing interactions on video. To tell you the truth, I’ve always been a big-dog-person, and not very appreciative of little dogs, until I moved here that is, and met Maya.

She pretty much stole my heart from day 1. Now, I realize that to some of you this video may seem like terrible canine etiquette (feeding the dog as I’m eating) but just so you know her mommy did say that I could. 

Maya and the Chicken Soup from Kitchen Vignettes on Vimeo.

CHICKEN SOUP (THE MEDICINE)

Broth:

Organic chicken (ideally a whole chicken, but I used a bag of wings and it was great)

Fresh sage, parsley, a head of garlic, lots of ginger, and salt & pepper

Garnish: Fresh-squeezed lime juice & chopped cilantro

Gently simmer everything together for a couple hours, until the chicken meat falls off the bones. Ideally separate the meat and strain out the broth (but I didn’t even have the energy to do this, hence all the skins & fat I had in my bowl to give to Maya). Squeeze in lots of lime juice and serve which fresh cilantro. C’est tout.

Gooseberry (or any berry!) Cobbler

Gooseberry cobbler is very special to me. My mom used to make it every summer. It was her signature summer dessert. She wouldn’t put very much sugar so the berries were always bright and tart, and the dumpling dough’s sweet softness soothed the zinging tastebuds. A great marriage of opposites.

On one of my visits home, a few months after my mom died, I opened the freezer door and found a container of gooseberries from our garden. A note was scribbled on top: “To make cobbler when Aube comes home”.

I still have an ache in my heart when I think of my mom putting those berries aside and writing that note. She didn’t get to make that cobbler, so I dug out her recipe, and made it myself. Now I think of her whenever I make it. In this photo you can see her cooking and singing in her kitchen.

In the great cobbler versus crumble versus crisp debate, it’s a very close call, but I am of the opinion that cobbler takes the cake (excuse the pun). Except that this Apricot Berry Crumble and this Cherry, Blackberry, and Almond Crisp could have the power to sway me to the other side.  

You can make cobbler with pretty much any berries. I was just in Norfolk County this weekend where the cherries and blueberries are at their prime. Peaches also make superb cobbler! And for the gluten-intolerants out there, this recipe works beautifully with a gluten-free flour mix. My mom used to sometimes make a gluten-free version not because anyone was gluten-intolerant but just because she liked the texture.

Gooseberry Cobbler from Kitchen Vignettes on Vimeo.

GOOSEBERRY COBBLER

Berries: 

4 cups of berries or chopped fruit

1 cup sugar (more or less depending on berries)

Dough: 

2 cups flour

3 tsp baking powder

½ cup sugar

1/2 cup butter

1 cup milk

Mix all dry ingredients. Cut in butter. Add milk, and mix gently together to form soft dough. Don't overmix. Mix berries and sugar in a pan, and drop dough by spoonful on berries. Bake around 30 min in a 350F oven. And voila!

Some notes on the recipe: I ended up being short on gooseberries so I used red and black currants as well. If using juicy berries like those, add 1 or 2 teaspoons of cornstarch or tapioca flour to the berries so that the juices aren’t too runny. Also, 1 cup of sugar may be too much for sweeter berries like bluberries or strawberries so adjust sugar depending on your berries of choice. 

Les aubergines...

Holy smokes! It’s been so exciting to get so much encouragement and nice feedback about this blog, I’ve been itching to get another post out. I’ll have another video for you all this weekend (gooseberry cobbler!)… but in the meantime, I just had to show you these marvelous little jewels of an eggplant I found at Riverdale Farmer’s Market. 

I’ve gone a little eggplant mad since I was taking photos for the blog banner earlier this week. I went on an eggplant shopping spree and hunted down every shape, size, and colour I could find. In the end, just the round little baby ones from Chinatown made the cut. But the day after I put the banner up, I found these, even CUTER ones!

They’re called Fairytale Eggplants. I think the name suits them quite well. So now I have a whole pile of beautiful eggplants. I need to gaze at them for a few more days before I make anything with them…  but I promise to be back with an eggplant recipe before too long.

Meanwhile, our very own garden jewel is getting bigger everyday in the backyard! With a bunch of plants all in flowers. (Thanks to my wonderful roommate Julie who was on top of the garden this spring!)

Fingers crossed, we’ll have a nice harvest in a few weeks time.