The Commons at Paulie World

Through the years I have become a fan of a more savory breakfast than cereal with milk. I loved breakfasting in Bavaria with nice cheeses, meats, and bread, fortified with strong Euro-style coffee. What I loved more were the bowls of noodles or curry I had for breakfast in Singapore.

I made a simple Spicy Pork Noodle Soup:

2-3 oz. thinly - thinly - sliced pork (a pork chop would work here, add bone to broth)
1 tbs Italian Hot Peppers - the kind you get for sandwiches, in vinegar
1 tsp lime juice
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp minced lemongrass
1/2 tsp fish sauce or 1 tsp shrimp paste
1.5 cups chicken broth
1 package ramen noodles, throw away the seasoning packet
pinch of salt
black pepper to taste
fresh cilantro for garnish.

Reserving the cilantro and the lime juice, put all of the ingredients into a 2-qt covered saucepan. Bring to a boil, simmer 2 minutes, take off heat, let stand for 3 minutes. Let it sit only until the noodles are just ready.

Transfer to soup bowl, add cilantro and lime juice.

This is a lot better if you can marinate the pork overnight, using all of the ingredients and reserving a bit of lime & cilantro to the end to spark it at the end. Okay to omit the lemongrass: it's a pantry item for me.

A tip to remember: a bit of acid to finish a dish really pops the flavor.

Your breakfast hot and sour soup.

This came up out of the blue this morning as I was getting on my way to go down to referee a rugby match today. The match was good. It was my first run of the year. I have had a balky knee all winter, and, much to my own surprise, have been working out a bit on a rehab program. I haven't done off-season workouts since I quit playing. (Yes, I have the girth as pennance....)

Rugby is an interesting sport as a referee, as we are encouraged to be very vocal with the players in order to prevent infractions. And there is only one referee, and fifteen players on each team, 30 total. After the initial terror of having to watch everything all the time, the game started "slowing down", and now I find it great fun. Being able to influence play - to keep the game clean and flowing - is really a pleasure. I had two good teams today, that responded well to instruction and kept things moving. Good afternoon.

Also, I got to do one of my favorite things: penalize the coach for criticizing me. Oy! I think it is Law 6.4.a: "The referee is the sole judge of fact and law." We even have a signal for "talkback penalty." Marched off two consecutive penalties and took them out of a scoring opportunity. Military team: "You, coach, of all people, should know what a terrible example you are setting by undermining my authority.... I can keep walking off ten meters against you all day."

Okay, the recipe:

Faux Tandoori Chicken with Creamy Spinach

Serves 6

6 chicken breasts, boneless okay. Skins on and bone in will taste better.
1 lb frozen spinach
1 large onion, coarse chop
2 carrots, coarse chop
4-5 cloves of garlic, coarse chop
1 small bunch fresh oregano
1 small bunch fresh thyme
1 15 oz can of diced tomatoes, juice included
1-2 cups chicken stock, as needed
2-3 tbs cumin
2-3 tbs spanish or hungarian paprika
1 tsp smoked paprika (or 1/2 tsp liquid smoke)
Salt and Pepper to taste
medium pinch red pepper flakes
2 tbs olive oil

To finish:

8 oz sour cream
2 tbs lemon juice
Salt & Pepper
Dried oregano
Thinly sliced cherry tomatoes or julienned red pepper, or yellow pepper.

Okay, I think that's right. I used Empire Kosher chicken. It's almost all I use at home now.

I was surprised when Joanna said it reminded her of Tandoori cooking.

1. Reserve the spices and olive oil
2. Put the rest of the ingredients (except the finishers) into the crock pot, and mix them around a bit.
3. Put the chicken breasts about halfway down into the mix.
4. Drizzle the chicken with olive oil.
5. Sprinkle the chicken with the spices, salt, and pepper.
6. Put crock pot on low, set timer to 3 hours, 30 minutes.

*******

Hmmm, hmmm, hmmm, go to the rugby, stop for a burger and a beer, come home....

*******

The chicken should crisp up on top. I often do whole roast chickens on top of veggies (to keep them from braising in their own juices) in the crock pot, and it comes out crispy and moist. I am starting to really like roasting chickens in the crock pot. It's like a dry braise. Just don't overcook the chicken....

7. Check the temperature of the chicken. Breast meat should be cooked to 165 degrees.
8. If done, remove the chicken to a platter or a sheet pan, tent with foil. If not, leave it in the crock pot or put it in oven at 425, checking it every 2 or three minutes so it doesn't overcook.
8A. DON'T FORGET: remove them nasty stalks from the herbs
9. Add sour cream to crock pot
10. Using a stick blender, make a coarse puree out of the spinach and vegetables. Coarseness is a matter of preference. Mine was - ugh - oatmeal consistency. And "cooked spinach green."
11. Reseason with S&P, and any of your spices to suit your palate.
12. Squeeze fresh lemon juice over chicken.

13. I served with a piece of chicken over a bed of rice, covered with sauce.
14. Garnish with the tomatoes or peppers. Gotta add some color to that nasty green.

15. In addition to the rice, I broiled some fresh asparagus that I tossed in olive oil, salt, and pepper. 10 - 15 minutes under the broiler. Finished with S&P, and a little lemon juice.

The leftover spinach sauce: what to do, what to do. I was thinking that a nice smoky andouille or chorizo, and some white beans, would make this a really awesome soup, served in a toasted bread bowl.

I would love to hear your comments. I thought this was pretty good.