Knit & Play with Fire

New Soup Recipe

To distract you from the fact that I have not taken any recent pictures of my knitting, I am sharing my new soup recipe.

I was at my mother's house last week and switched the TV on to Food TV. One of my favorite star chef's was on the air at the time and I liked the recipe that she was making. I really like Giada de Laurentiis. The recipe that she was making was Escarole and Bean Soup. It looked like something that would be really good and make up fairly fast. And I had everything on hand except the escarole.

The only problem was that my favorite grocery stores were out of escarole. So I picked up some fresh spinach to use instead of the escarole. And me being me, I tinkered with the recipe. The first time I made the recipe, I added some Aleppo pepper flakes to heat things up. The soup was good but I felt the recipe could be made better.

And so, I tinkered with it yet again the other night and I know that I have a favorite fast soup to add to my recipe files. If you try this recipe, let me know what you think. And you can leave out the pepper flakes if you want but I think they add to the soup.

 

Escarole and Bean Soup
loosely based on a recipe by Giada De Laurentiis

2 tablespoons olive oil or just enough to coat the bottom of the pan
1 medium onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, chopped (it depends on how well you like garlic)
1 or 2 boneless chicken breasts cut into large chunks
1 package of baby arugula, roughly chopped (I found it with the bagged salads)
sea salt
3 to 4 cans of low-sodium  low-salt chicken broth
2 (15-ounce) cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed, preferably Goya brand
1 (1 to 2 ounces) piece Parmesan (I crumbled mine into big chunks)
Freshly ground black pepper
Aleppo pepper flakes to taste
Serving suggestion: crusty bread

Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a heavy large pot over medium heat. Add the chicken chunks, onion, and garlic and saute until the chicken is almost cooked through. I seasoned my chicken, onions, and garlic with some sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Add one can of the chicken brother and add the drained beans. Add a pinch of salt and more black pepper.  Add another 1 or 2 cans of the chicken broth and the Parmesan. Add some of the Aleppo pepper flakes at this point. (You want enough broth to cover the beans.) Cook over medium heat until the beans are almost warmed through which was about 10 to 15 minutes. The chicken should be completely done at this point. You need to use a slotted spoon to get the chicken chunks out. As soon as the chicken has cooled enough that you can handle it, shred the chicken and add back to the soup pot. Check your seasonings at this point and adjust if needed. Add the chopped arugula and stir into the soup. Turn the heat off the pan and cover. Let the soup sit for about 3 to 4 minutes. Serve the soup in big mugs and have some crusty Italian bread on hand to dip into the broth.  This will probably serve 5 or 6 easily. And the best part is that it gets better over the next two days.

And by shredding the chicken, you may be able to use just one chicken breast if it is on the large size to feed your whole family. I buy chicken breasts at Sam's Club and they are really big.

Two of my Favorite Stores

I had planned to show off my new yarns but it kind of helps to charge the batteries on the camera. So instead, I am going to tell you about two of my favorite stores and only one of them is a yarn shop.

My LYS is Keep-Me-In-Stitches located in Frederick, Maryland. It is a very small shop as anyone who has ever been to the shop will verify. But it is packed to the rafters with yarn. Cathy and Nancy are sisters and co-own the shop. When you stop in, you will always find Cathy except on Saturdays when you will find both sisters. (Nancy has a real job that helps to pay the bills.)  There is a little bit of everything in the shop. You find yarn in all price ranges and all fiber types. If Cathy doesn't have it in stock, she will find it for you. One of the nicest things about Cathy and Nancy is that they will help you when you are stuck on a project even if you didn't buy the yarn from them. Plus I love the way the classes are priced. You only pay for the ones you attend. If you are ever near Fredreick, Maryland, I would highly recommend stopping in. Just call the shop for directions or you can email me.

Now to the second shop. And it is not the bookstore. It should be but it isn't. It is a food establishment. You know that you are visiting quite a bit when the girls behind the counter know your order. See I am addicted  to white mochas. And there is now a store located right across the river from me. I mean we are talking less than 3 miles. See, I am addicted to white mochas. Yeah, you guessed it - S***bucks! The new store opened early January and they already know my regular order. A venti soy white mocha, extra hot, no whip. And we are not talking just one or two people know my order. We are talking like 5 or 6 people. But I don't feel too bad about that since my fire chief 's regular order is also known.  I think we need one closer to the station but he thinks that this one is close enough because he and I, along with one or two others, would be spending all of our time there.  Actually I like this particular store so much that I was able to get my knit group to meet there tomorrow night.

So there you have it - my two favorite stores. And to have some actual knitting content, go over to the Must Have Too Knit Along to look at my swatch photos. And just to have some photos ('cause I like them) I will post a photo of one of my favorite flowers. (There is a prize to be had if anyone can correctly guess the
name of the flower.)

Added later - I have already had winners. And yes, the flower is a plumeria.