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Mustard mashup with smashed potatoes

Week two brings another test of what my little Le Creuset can hold.

And once again, I turned to Jamie Oliver’s wonderful “5 Ingredients” cookbook. So, I know, I know, I keep going on about it, but this week especially demonstrates how versatile and useful it is. Because, scandal, I used way more than 5 ingredients in this list. In fact, I mashed up two recipes, and then still added more. I’m calling it a mustard chicken mashup.

Mustard chicken mashup ingredients.

In doing so, I also tested the limits of the 9-inch braiser.

Tl; dr, I might have gone a tad overboard, but it all still worked out.

If you have a 10-inch skillet, this will be fine; if you are using a 9-incher, perhaps do scant amounts or stir very carefully.

As its name suggests, this recipe has some mustard and chicken. It also has some veggies, some cream, and Worcestershire. I stole the carrots and Worcestershire sauce from a 5-ingredient beef recipe that also called for mustard, but the chicken recipe sounded easier, and creamier.

And aside from some careful stirring, it all worked out really well. My only regret, actually, is that the stone ground mustard was rather mild and I had hoped for it to be stronger. If you love mustard like we do, I recommend getting a stronger mustard or mixing stone ground and Dijon mustards. I liked the way the stone ground looked mixed with heavy cream, but I wanted more of a kick.

Other than that, it was a perfectly wonderful and quick two- to three-serving dinner, especially when served with the smashed potatoes my sweetie made in our new Instant Pot. I also thought about serving it with rice, but potatoes were perfect; plus, then I get to have a mashup and smashed potatoes.

Easy as pie, but tastes like creamy mustard. Noms.

Here’s what I did:

Ingredients

  • 1 lb. chicken, sliced into thin strips
  • 1 carrot, thinly chopped
  • 1 onion, thinly sliced
  • 6 oz. Brussels sprouts
  • ⅔ c. heavy cream
  • ½ c. water
  • 1 T. Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 T. stone ground mustard (or to taste)
  • Pepper, to taste
  • Olive oil

Directions

Add some oil to your Le Creuset (or 9- to 10-inch skillet), and stir in the carrot, onion, and Brussels sprouts. Cook over medium heat about 3 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, to slightly soften. Add the chicken slices, and cook another 3 to 5 minutes until the chicken is mostly cooked through.

Then, add the mustard, cream, water, and Worcestershire. Add pepper to taste.

Bring to a boil, and then simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the liquid thickens slightly into a sauce and the chicken is cooked through.

Season with additional pepper or mustard as desired. Serve with smashed potatoes or rice, or on its own, and enjoy!

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Springing into fall with super soup

I set out this week to make a soup. This is partially weather-related and mostly due to the fact that I had a head cold for about half the week and wanted my cozy hot comfort food.

The recipe that stood out most to me was a light spring soup called a brodo. But this is fall, dammit. Of course, I’m sure it’s possible still to find asparagus in the grocery store, either fresh or frozen, but it just didn’t feel right.

Brodo ingredients, sans broth. Isn’t it ironic, don’t ya think?

Also, because this soup had some cream and gnocchi, I thought it’d work as a fall dish.

So, I did some swapping and some additions, and boy, did I make a good, and pretty easy soup. The biggest difficulty was that I made my own broth. However, it’s not entirely necessary, and stupid me, I had some broth in the freezer that I realized to late. So, good reminder to make broth way ahead of time and freeze it, but yeah, try to remember it’s there when needed. Or, just buy some high-quality broth.

To fully fall this soup, I changed asparagus for Brussels sprouts and added bacon. It wasn’t even that many changes, but it sure felt perfect for autumn.

Soup is gone. So sad.

Here’s what I did, adapting from my Soup Nights cookbook (one of too many/not enough soup cookbooks I own):

Ingredients 

  • 2 T. vegetable oil
  • 1 lb. Brussels sprouts, sliced
  • 8 c. vegetable or chicken broth (store bought or pre-made)
  • ⅓ c. heavy cream
  • 4 to 5 oz. blue cheese crumbles, divided
  • 4 t. cornstarch
  • 4 t. tap water
  • 16 oz. pre-made potato gnocchi
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • Cayenne pepper, to taste (I like it spicy so I used closer to 1 t. but very taste dependent and a little goes a long way)
  • 1 to 1 ½ bunches green onions, sliced, to taste
  • 8 slices bacon, cooked to package directions, for serving
  • Chives, to taste, for serving

Directions

In a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat, add the oil and then the Brussels sprouts. Cook until softened and starting to brown. Add the vegetable broth and heat to boiling.

Meanwhile, mix together the blue cheese and heavy cream in a small bowl. Once the broth is boiling, add the cheese and cream mixture.

In the same bowl (or separately), mix together the corn starch and water, and then add that mixture to the soup mixture. Stir often for about 3 minutes until the soup begins to thicken.

Add the salt and pepper, cayenne, green onions, and the gnocchi, cooking another 3 to 5 minutes until the pre-made gnocchi is cooked through. Season more, as needed.

Ladle soup into bowls, serve with cooked bacon, any additional blue cheese crumbles as desired, and chives, and enjoy!