![Pumpkin Saffron Soup]()
by Yvonne Maffei | Oct 31, 2014 | Soups
‘Tis the season for lots and lots of pumpkins everywhere…and I definitely can’t bear to see them going to waste any time soon. So, if you don’t quite have the time to make baked desserts like pumpkin pies or pumpkin rolls from scratch, you can definitely make this quick and easy soup over the weekend, in a pinch.
Having guests over? Perfect! The saffron in this soup adds touch of elegance that will make it seem like you’ve made a gourmet restaurant style soup – because you just did! I recommend using Saffron Road’s Classic Culinary Vegetable Broth (you can also use their Traditional Chicken Broth, too, which would be nice). They’re also certified-halal by IFANCA (Islamic Food & Nutrition Council of America). I love them because they taste like something I would (and used to) make from scratch, but I can keep them in my pantry and use them in a pinch, which these days is more often than not.
I would also use a hand (immersion) blender to make the soup smooth once the cream is added but before the saffron is dropped in. If you don’t have an immersion blender, use a regular blender at the very end of the cooking process and only once the soup is cooled down.
Beautiful, right? Wait till you taste it…
*This post was sponsored by Saffron Road Foods*
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![Red Lentil and Carrot Soup]()
by Yvonne Maffei | Sep 19, 2014 | American, Fall, Soups
Those of you who’ve been reading my recipes for a while probably already know that I’m a total soup lover and a lover of the Fall season. I love warm and cuddly sweaters, crisp and dry weather. A good bowl of freshly made soup is the perfect way for me to get comfy at home with a good book or magazine and just chill out for once. That’s probably why I make so many soups and devise up all sorts of recipes using novel ingredients, especially those Fall ones. I’m also so grateful that now there’s a halal broth by Saffron Road I can use readily when I haven’t had time to make my own and it can be easily added to strengthen up my soups, adding all sorts of great things like calcium and other important minerals it’s essential to have in our diets. Their brand is also gluten-free and rooted in ethical business practices to protect and preserve the sanctity of food. I love that, don’t you?
My latest soup is something I’m making often now, as it’s finally cooled down and dried up here at home just outside of Chicago. I use red lentils in this lentil and carrot soup because they are so much quicker to cook than the brown ones. I also mix up butter and olive oil to make the flavor nicer but also to keep the olive oil‘s burning point low.
In a Dutch oven over medium heat, warm the butter. When it froths, add the olive oil until it has warmed. Add the onions and sauté until translucent for 3-5 minutes. Add the carrots and lentils and sauté for a few more minutes.First, I mince up the carrots and the onions and begin by sauteing them in the oil-butter mix, carrots first then onions since they aren’t as coarse in texture as the carrots.
Add the tomato paste and stir well to combine.
Add the lentils, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper.
Then the chicken broth. Saffron Road has two kinds- one is Classic Culinary and the other is Artisan Chicken broth, the Artisan broth containing more roasted vegetable flavor. These products are certified humane raised and handled, too.
You can also use vegetable broth, if you like instead.
Increase heat and bring to boil.Reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes.Use a hand held mixer to blend the ingredients then remove from heat.
Roasted pumpkin seeds, also known as pepitas, are a great addition to the final dish so I sprinkle a few on top for each of my guests. You don’t have to roast them yourself; simply buy them already roasted.
Their gorgeous green color is also a lovely addition to the orange-ish color of the soup.
Just the right colors to match what’s happening outside to all our leaves, too…
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![Creamy Fusilli Pasta with Swiss Chard and Chicken]()
by Yvonne Maffei | Sep 20, 2013 | Dinner, Pasta Dishes, Recipes
I have the most convenient times for food cravings. Right now my kitchen is completely unusable while it’s under construction. The stove is off the gas line, the sink is not even anywhere in the kitchen but resides in the middle of the living room hanging out and waiting for the demolition to be over and the re-building to begin again. All in the name of kitchen renovation.
I’m not sure I ever want to go through this again- but ask me six months from now and I may want to redesign something in the kitchen, or paint a wall a different than is there now…
Back to the food craving part.
Yes, it’s Fall. My favorite season of year. It reminds me of starting school (I loved that), going to farmers markets, and the smell of pies. As my taste buds grew more sophisticated and I learned all about fall produce, which includes leafy greens like kale, spinach and Swiss chard I decided to make what every good Italian woman would do- add them to pasta. Not make smoothies out of them.
I love this recipe so much I’ve actually shared it often. I’ve made it for my family a lot but I’ve also shared it for the Quick Weeknight Meals section of SISTERS magazine earlier this year, and I taught a cooking class at the non-profit organization, the UMMA Center, where class participants loved it so much they actually came back and told me they made it at home using whatever leafy greens they had.
You can make it with or without chicken, but you may also want to add beef or fish, too. Very versatile. That’s the way I like it- don’t limit the variety of possibilities in food. That’s what makes things stressful.
I bread the chicken lightly with all-purpose flour, not bread crumbs, for this dish. Otherwise you’ll have lots of crumbs getting into the pasta and that’s not very appealing. The flour bag- don’t mind it. I fold mine up and put the bags in the freezer to keep them fresher for longer. It works.
Get some really nice Swiss Chard- even the kind that has yellow stems.
Separate the stems from the leaves. The stems take longer to soften up during cooking.
Chop up the stems small, they’ll cook more quickly.
The pasta needs to be prepared ahead of time so that it can be quickly incorporated into the dish when the chicken and Swiss chard are finished cooking.
Sprinkle the pasta with olive oil to prevent it from sticking until you’re ready to add it to the dish. It’ll also help make it easier to fold into the other ingredients during the cooking process.
I use a lot of Swiss chard- about a head for this dish, and it shrinks up so much, you may want to use to. Get in all those vitamins and minerals- Swiss chard and other leafy greens are high in Vitamins K, A, C and magnesium, potassium and iron.
Wow, that’s a mouthful.
![Skillet Chicken Parmesan Sub Sandwiches]()
by Yvonne | Aug 24, 2013 | Dinner, FOOD, Italian, Lunch, Recipes
I crave Italian food in a hot and steamy summer because it reminds me of Sicilian tomato sauce cooking in my Nonna’s kitchen. She used to make gallons of sauce and jar them every summer so that the whole family would have plenty all winter long. That’s why, in the winter, all I want is the sauce from those jarred tomatoes, smothering some chicken in basil and melted Parmesan. It’s the perfect comfort food that is a nod to summer preservation of food, culture and traditions.
One dish I make a lot in the winter (simply because it is so easy and contains basically every one of my favorite ingredients), is this incredible Skillet Chicken Parmesan which can be made eaten right out of the pan with some rustic Italian bread dunked in the sauce, or you can make some pretty scrumptious sandwiches out if it, too.
It all starts with great halal chicken, of course and then is prepared much like a regular Chicken Parmesan dish in that the meat is seasoned the same way, although it is cooked on the stove top instead of baked.
Then sauce and cheese are added straight into same skillet once the chicken is in.
The cheese melts so nicely, right into the fresh basil…that’s the best part of it all…
This is when you get to decide whether or not you want to enjoy this over spaghetti, on some rustic Italian bread as a sandwich fit for dinner…
…or right out of the pan…
I always seem to choose the sandwich. I’m an 80’s kid and we seem to have made sandwiches out of everything.
This is more like a gourmet Italian sub.
I can’t get enough of them, and I don’t have to look around at any restaurant to serve it up, especially when halal chicken is hard to come by in many Italian places, not to mention any of the issues around bread (i.e. the dough conditioners I talk about in the My Halal Kitchen cookbook) and cheese (i.e. enzymes and rennet that I also discuss in my cookbook), and anything else that might be processed or not so fresh.
It’s so good you’ll want to make it over and over again, trust me.
What’s your go-to comfort food sub or sandwich?
Skillet Chicken Parmesan Recipe
No time for the long version of Baked Chicken Parmesan? This is the perfect way to satisfy the craving for something Italian, filling and delicious, without all the fuss or time involved.
Makes 2-3 sandwiches
Directions
- Prepare one bowl and two plates for the egg wash, bread crumbs, and breaded chicken.
- Slice the chicken in half to thin it out, or alternatively, use a meat hammer to thin it out (this helps it to cook faster and more thoroughly). Cut chicken into 2-inch vertical strips.
- Crack the eggs into a bowl and whisk vigorously.
- In a medium size bowl or rectangular dish, combine the bread crumbs, sea salt, black pepper, Parmesan and parsley.
- Dip one piece of breaded chicken into the whisked egg and turn so that it is fully covered in the egg. Remove and place in the bread crumb mixture, then onto a separate plate. Repeat until all chicken has been breaded.
- Heat the oil in a medium-large saute pan.
- Place the chicken in the heated oil and cook until browned, about 3-4 minutes. Flip and cook the other side until brown for the same amount of time.
- Add the sauce to cover the meat. Slice the mozzarella and place directly on top of the sauce. Add the basil leaves, too.
- Lower heat to a simmer and cover. Cook for about 20 minutes.
- Remove the lid and turn off the heat. Add fresh parsley on top, if desired. Sprinkle with freshly grated Parmesan, if you like.
- Move chicken to a serving platter if serving over cooked spaghetti; remove each piece individually if placing on rustic bread for sandwiches.
- If making sandwiches, place chicken on one half of a large slice of the bread, then close with the top half and cut. This is much easier than making two small halves.
![Slow Cooker Beef Stew: My Family Recipe for the Ultimate Comfort Food]()
by Yvonne Maffei | Dec 17, 2012 | American, Beef, Dinner, Recipes, Red Meat Dishes, Slow Cook, Stews & Curries, Winter
I always crave comfort food in the winter time, but right now as a nation and a global community, it looks as though we could all use a lot of comforting, whether it’s through the gathering together of a community or our small family meals we need to be there for one another and offer support, a lending ear or a shoulder to lean on.
The smell and taste of my mom’s recipe for her Classic Beef Stew is one that has been with me since I was a child. Although she was a working mom, on her shorter days or days off she would often begin making it early in the morning and put it in the crock pot to cook all day long so it would be ready by the time I arrived home from school. I still remember all of the ingredients by heart and how they looked on the kitchen counter as she prepared it. I also remember being in a bit of awe as to how it would all fit so neatly into her round crock pot with the glass cover that eventually began to steam underneath. Later in the day she made white rice on the side, which indicated that it was almost time to eat since that was the last thing to do before getting ready to serve what to me was the ultimate comfort: knowing exactly what to expect in this meal and feeling cared for, loved and comforted through every bite. (more…)
