Chicken Noodle Soup

It's winter! Which means it's the season for for colds and bugs and all kinds of seasonal unpleasantness. And if you ask any doctor, they'll tell you that chicken noodle soup (and hot tea with honey and lemon) is the best remedy. Around our house this week there has been a yucky stomach bug and, needless to say, I haven't made anything off of my weekly menu, so I whipped this up instead.

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
1 carrot
1 stalk of celery
4-6 cups of chicken broth
1 cup of noodles
1 1/2 cups of chicken, cooked and shredded (I use half a rotisserie chicken - it's yummy!)
Salt and Pepper, to taste

In a large pot, saute celery and carrot until they're just beginning to soften.



Add onion and saute until lightly browned.



Add broth and chicken and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, about 20 minutes.



Add the noodles and simmer until the noodles are soft.



Serve with your favorite saltine cracker.

Tortilla Soup

1 -1 1/2 lb chicken torn (I buy a roasted chicken and pull all the meat off. If you have a medium chicken, you can use half of the meat for this soup and save the other half for another meal. If you can't get or don't want to use a whole roasted chicken, you can always use chicken breasts, boiled and torn ahead of time)
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 1/2 cup chopped or sliced carrots
1 can corn
1 can Rotel
1 can black beans
1 sm can sliced olives
1 can tomato sauce
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
1 tsp cumin
salt and pepper to taste



Missing from the lineup: corn and olives (I forgot to picture the corn and forgot to buy the olives - even if you don't like olives, try them in there anyway; it gives the soup a great flavor) And my Rotel is in a ziplock baggie because it's not actually Rotel, it's a tomato/jalapeño concoction I made to substitute for Rotel.



*Let's take a moment to commemorate the appearance of Goya black beans at Moje Česká Kuchyně. I have searched high and low in this city, scouring the International aisle of every grocery store I enter for this coveted product to no avail. I finally gave up, feeling so sorry for the poor Czech souls who would never know the greatness of black beans. Today at the corner market - as in, the corner right by our apartment building - Matt and I were grabbing the veggies for this meal when I heard Matt say, "Hey baby, look at this." I turned find my glorious, hunky husband pointing to 5 cans of Goya black beans. Seriously? Goya? If you live in Texas, you know what I mean. Goya can usually be found with the Mexican food at any Texas grocery store or in great abundance at your local Fiesta. And we found it here. At the Vietnamese fruit & veggie stand. On the corner. Is anyone else catching the irony here? Oh well, I'm not complaining. In fact, I'm hoping we'll see more Goya products in the future. So, for now, here's to you, Goya black beans, for saving my Tortilla Soup from the kidney beans I was going to use as your substitute.*

And now back to the soup:

In a large stock pot, saute onion and garlic until onion is clear.



Add carrots and enough water to cover the bottom of the pot by about an inch. Cook the onion/carrot mixture like this for about 5-10 minutes or until the water is almost gone. This is to soften the carrots up a bit so they're not still crunchy while the rest of your soup is falling to pieces.



Add chicken, corn, Rotel, olives, beans, tomato sauce and tomatoes. Season with cumin, salt, and pepper. Add water to desired consistency.



Cover and simmer about 2 hours. Served w/ tortilla strips, sliced avocado, and cheese (my favorite: Colby Jack).

Number of Servings: 8

Chili

It's cold outside! In reality, it's only fall here in Prague but the temperatures (40's and 50's) are more like winter weather for this Texan. So what better way to warm up than with a big bowl of chili? Funny story: My sister-in-law Jennifer was never a huge fan of chili and my brother was never a big fan of introducing his girlfriends to our family (until I met Jennifer, I wasn't even sure my brother dated). The first time I actually met her was around the time she and Brian got engaged and they came over for dinner, which just happened to be chili. Jennifer graciously sat through dinner, pretended she liked the chili, and put up with Brian's pesky little sister (who probably instructed her exactly how to fix her bowl of chili). She really should have said something at the time because, by chance, the next few times she ate with us, we happened to have chili again and again. The poor girl had to eat the stuff over and over. I guess she didn't hate it too much because she did eventually marry my brother and give us two adorable nephews. So here's Jennifer's favorite chili:

1-2 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, diced
1 small bell pepper, diced
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound chili meat or ground beef
2 tbsp flour
1 small can tomato paste
2 cans stewed tomatoes
1 can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained (optional)
2 tbsp chili powder
salt and pepper to taste
water

In a skillet or dutch oven, saute onion and bell peppers in oil until onions are transparent.



Add garlic and meat, cooking until meat is browned.



Add flour and mix well. If using a dutch oven (if not, place the meat mixture in a crock pot), add tomato products, beans and spices. Stir until tomato paste is dissolved. Add water to desired consistency (I usually just fill up one of the cans of stewed tomatoes halfway), keeping in mind the chili will thicken some.



Cooking times:
Dutch oven: simmer 1 1/2 - 2 hours
Crock pot: on low, 6-7 hours; on high, 3-4 hours

Here's how I eat my chili:
1. It's going to sound strange, but don't knock it 'till you've tried it: Serve chili over rice, topped with a spoonful of baked beans. Mmmm, my favorite.
2. Serve chili over Fritos, topped with Cheddar-Jack cheese.
3. Serve as is with a side of saltines or corn bread.

*Courtesy of: my Mama

Paprikas Csirke (Paprika Chicken)

Matt came home from Budapest, Hungary in 2002 with this recipe he got from his language tutor. It is now one of our winter staples because we love eating soups and stews during that time of year. It's filling and warm and spicy. I'm looking forward to it when I'm freezing my tush off here in Prague. Originally, the recipe called for chicken thighs and sour cream, but I lightened it up by using chicken breasts and light sour cream. You are welcome to return to the full fat (i.e. full flavor version) if your thighs (ha, get it!) can handle it. Also, you can adjust the amount of paprika, depending on how spicy you want it.

3 chicken breasts, cubed
2 tbsp paprika
2 bell peppers, chopped (large pieces)
1 large tomato, chopped
3 tbsp olive oil
1 c light sour cream

Salt and pepper chicken and brown in olive oil in skillet. Add onion and paprika (1/2 tbsp or more) and about 1/4 c water. Braise for about 5 min (cover it and let it simmer). In a large pot or crock pot combine, chicken mixture, sour cream, tomato, peppers, and remaining paprika. Add water to desired consistency. Cook on low for 5 hours or high for 3 hours or until vegetables are tender. Serve over rice, egg noodles, or if you're feeling adventurous, nokedli (Hungarian dumplings).

Number of Servings: 8