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Posts Tagged ‘stock’

Tarteletter med Høns og Grønærter – Tartlets with Chicken, Peas and Carrots

Posted in Appetizers, Chicken, Danish, Main course, Stock, tagged , , , , , , , , , on September 8, 2013| 6 Comments »

Tarteletter with Chicken, Peas and Carrots

Tarteletter with Chicken, Peas and Carrots

Tarteletter is a classic Danish dish. It can be served as an appetizer or as the main course. The Tartelet shell is delicate, flaky and buttery. I have tried to make the tart shells in the past but so far I have not been successful. In the meantime, I purchased these tart shells online and amazingly enough they arrived without a single crack, imagine that 🙂

Tarteletter was probably my all-time favorite meal when I was a little girl and it was the dish I always requested for my birthday.  The way my parents prepared it was with a filling made up of diced ham, carrots and peas in a Béchamel sauce.  For today’s post, however, I chose to replace the ham with chicken, since I was making a chicken stock anyway. When you heat the Tartlets in the oven, make sure it’s done at low temperature and just until they are heated through. These Tarteletter turned out super delicious and it’s still one of my favorite meals.

Ingredients for Homemade Chicken Stock:

2 large split chicken breasts

4 carrots

4 celery sticks

1 large onion, quartered

2 bay leafs

10-15 pepper corns

1 small tablespoon salt

water to cover by 1 inch

Ingredients for Filling: (makes filling for 10 tarteletter)

homemade chicken stock, approx 2-3 cups

small bunch fresh parsley, chopped

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

4 tablespoons all-purpose flour

8-10 oz. frozen peas and carrots

1-2 cups cooked chicken, cubed

salt and pepper, to taste

Tarteletter

Direction for Homemade Chicken Stock:

Place all ingredients in a large cooking pot and cover with 1 inch of water. Bring to medium heat and simmer for 1 1/2 – 2 hours. Strain stock through a sieve, making sure to reserve the stock for later use, refrigerate. Discard vegetables. Allow for chicken to cool completely before cutting into bite size cubes.

Directions for Filling:

Place chicken stock into a saucepan with chopped parsley and bring to medium-low heat, turn off heat and let sit.

Place butter into saucepan and melt over medium heat. Once butter has begun to bubble, add flour and stir vigorously. Allow to simmer for two minutes while stirring often. Add warm chicken stock a little at the time to butter mixture while stirring until desired consistency (a somewhat thickened bechamel sauce). Adjust taste with salt and pepper if needed. Add frozen peas and carrots, allow to heat through. Add cooked cubed chicken and allow to heat through.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place tarteletter on foil and warm in oven for 2-3 minutes.

Fill warm tarteletter with filling and serve immediately. Enjoy!

Source: My Danish Kitchen

Tarteletter

Tarteletter

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Hardy Carrot Soup With Tomatoes

Posted in Comfort food, Lunch, Main course, Soup, tagged , , , , , on February 27, 2012| 11 Comments »

Hardy Carrot Soup With Tomatoes

What’s up with the weather in Virginia Beach? So far, winter has been unusually mild and the most snow we have gotten is a few flurries which literally melted within a couple of hours. It never ceases to amaze me how the weather here changes all the time. It’s been fluctuating between 70 degrees and close to freezing. But despite the temperatures bouncing around I feel like there is still a bit of winter left in the air, even though I saw daffodils in full bloom while driving home from work (the poor little things are confused too). So I say, there is still time for a delicious warm soothing soup.

One of my favorite types of lunch food is home-made soup. I make a big batch, divide it up and stick it in the freezer. Then just take it out as I need it, easy! This is my version of carrot soup, of course I had to add some tomatoes in there just to make sure I meet my daily tomato quota.  I didn’t want any dairy products in this particular soup but still got a wonderful creamy consistency by blending the vegetables. I choose to leave it a little on the thick side but it can certainly be thinned out by adding more stock. Please note: do not blend hot liquids or there is a good chance that you and your white kitchen cabinets will be wearing it. I speak from experience 🙂

Ingredients:

28 ounces canned whole plum tomatoes

5 large carrots

2 celery stalks

1/2 large white onion

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 cup chicken stock

1/2 tablespoon pesto

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Dice carrots, celery and onions. Place butter and oil in a pan over medium heat, add diced vegetables and cook until tender. Run canned tomatoes through a food mill to break up tomatoes and remove any seeds/skin. (If you don’t have a food mill, the same effect can be achieved with a food processor  and then pressing tomatoes through a sieve.) Place tomatoes into a cooking pot over medium heat. Place cooked vegetables in food processor (or blender) and process until desired coarseness. Add vegetables into tomatoes. Add chicken stock and pesto and bring to a simmer. Add salt and pepper in small increments to taste. Continue to simmer for 1 hour. Serve warm with crusty bread and enjoy!

Hardy Carrot Soup With Tomatoes

Source: My Danish Kitchen

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Winter Minestrone Soup….with Chicken

Posted in Chicken, Comfort food, Main course, Soup, tagged , , , , , , on January 7, 2011| 2 Comments »

Winter Minestrone with Chicken

Chicken does not belong in a good Minestrone soup! yes I know this. But it does add a little more bulk and flavor of course. Besides, I had some left over chicken that was begging me to be put to good use. So the chicken is totally optional here. Leave it out and you’ll have a wonderful Winter Minestrone soup….without the chicken. And this soup really is wonderful. It’s packed full of flavor from all the vegetables and pancetta. And if you have a left-over piece of Parmesan rind, please don’t throw it out, but instead toss it into the soup. Trust me, it brings this soup to a whole new level.

Winter Minestrone

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, chopped

2 carrots, peeled and chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped

3 ounces thinly sliced pancetta, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 russet potato, peeled and cubed

1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes

1 fresh rosemary sprig

1 (15 oz) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

28 ounces chicken stock (recommend homemade but can use store-bought)

1 ounce piece Parmesan cheese rind (if you have it on hand)

1 pound fresh baby spinach, lightly chopped if you desire

2 cups shredded pre-cooked chicken (optional)

2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Heat the oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat. Add onions, carrots, celery, pancetta and garlic. Saute until onions are translucent, about 10 minutes. Add potatoes and saute for 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and rosemary sprig. Simmer until tomatoes starts to break down, about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, blend 3/4 cup of the beans with 1/4 cup of the chicken stock in a food processor or blender until almost smooth. Add the pureed bean mixture, remaining chicken stock and Parmesan rind to the vegetable mixture. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Simmer until the potatoes pieces are tender, about 15 minutes. Stir in the whole beans, baby spinach, pre-cooked chicken and parsley. Heat through until the spinach is wilting and the chicken is brought up to temperature. Remove the Parmesan rind and rosemary stem. Enjoy hot.

Winter Minestrone Soup with Chicken

Source: adapted from Giada De Laurentiis

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Chicken Stock

Posted in Chicken, Soup, Stock, tagged , , , , on October 29, 2010| 6 Comments »

 

Making Chicken Stock

Making Chicken Stock

Lets make Chicken Stock. This is definitely worth your time and effort, and really, it’s no trouble at all. Simply add all ingredients to a large stock pot, add water, let it simmer, cool down and freeze…easy. You get the most flavorful and aromatic stock you can imagine and even better, you get to control the amount of salt, not to mention, no chemicals in your stock. You can vary the flavor of your stock by adding different veggies and herbs, this time I added Rutabaga and it was wonderful. But if you can’t find Rutabaga you could use Turnips, Parsnips or whatever you like.

A note about fat, I like to separate it out from the stock by using my fancy fat separator thing-a-ma-jing, but it is not necessary at all. If you freeze it with the fat, the fat will actually help create a seal and after thawing it in the refrigerator you simply just lift the fat off the surface before using the stock. No need for a fancy fat separator…but I like mine 🙂

Chicken Stock

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken, pre-cut into breasts, thighs and wings. Giblets discharged.

3 large carrots, cut into large chunks

3 celery stalks, cut into large chunks

2 large onions, quartered

1 large parsnips, cut into large chunks

1/2 rutabaga, cut into large chunks

a small bunch fresh thyme (10-12 sprigs)

2-3 bay leaves

1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns

Directions:

Place chicken, vegetables and all herbs in a large stock pot. Pour in only enough cold water to cover, about 3 quarts. Bring it to a slow boil and then lower heat to medium-low. Cover partially and simmer for 1 1/2 hour or until chicken is done. As the chicken cooks, skim away impurities that rise to the surface. Add a little more water, if necessary to keep chicken covered while simmering.

When done, remove chicken pieces to a large Tupperware. Let cool slightly and then cover and place in refrigerator. Once completely cooled, discard skin and bones and place meat back into storage container.

Strain the stock through a fine sieve into another pot to remove vegetables. Use stock immediately or if you plan on storing it, let it cool down and refrigerate for up to one week or freeze 2-3 months.

Strain out veggies

Chicken Stock

Source: adapted from The Cook’s Encyclopedia of Soup

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