The Ciambotta

Ciambotta (or giambotta) is an Italian vegetable stew. Most of my personal Italian knowledge is of Northern Italian fare, so I've explored a lot of Southern Italian food in the last few years.

Ingredients:
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 2 medium onions, chopped
- 2 celery ribs, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
- 3 carrots, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
- 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 1/4 pounds eggplant, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 (28-ounces) can whole tomatoes in juice, drained, juice reserved and tomatoes chopped, or 1 3/4 pounds fresh tomatoes, chopped
- 2 red bell peppers, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
- 3/4 pound green beans, trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces
- 1 1/4 pounds zucchini, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
- 3/4 pound boiling potatoes (about 2 medium), peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces


Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat until it shimmers. Add onions, celery, carrots, and garlic. Cook until tender (about ten minutes).


The eggplant comes next. Mix it in and cook for an additional ten minutes until tender. 


Add the tomatoes and bell peppers, reduce heat to low, and simmer uncovered for fifteen minutes. 


Finally, add the rest of the vegetables and simmer uncovered for thirty minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. 

Your soundtrack for this entry: The Soviettes - Ten. 

The Chicken I Forgot

It's clear that I didn't write for almost all of February. A lot of recipes were banked in February, though. Of course sometimes you risk forgetting a few things and in this case I don't even remember what the recipe was.

Obviously the main dish is a chicken breast. There are kalamata olives, probably some onions, tomatoes, and peppers. It could be chicken breasts provençal. But I don't really know. And clearly I was in a rush if the side dish was so obviously frozen mixed veggies (don't knock 'em).

Sure looks tasty.

Your soundtrack for this entry: ohgr - water.

The Roast Chicken with Wasabi Sauce

Tonight I'll start off by saying do not make my wasabi sauce. In fact, I'll just not include the recipe to ensure you don't. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't good and my chicken is fantastic without it. In that light, let's make a roast chicken.

NOTE: This recipe requires six to seven hours of preparation.

Ingredients:
1 4 1/2 pound chicken
11 cups of water
1/2 cup of coarse kosher salt
2 tbsp. lemon juice
peel from 1 lemon
1 bay leaf
3 sprigs of thyme
2 cups chicken broth


Bring the water, salt, lemon juice, lemon peel, bay leaf, and thyme to a boil in a large pot. Boil a few minutes and remove from heat. Cool the brine in a refrigerator (or on your winter windowsill as I did).

While the brine is cooling, wash your whole chicken. If it has giblets, set them aside for some other recipe. Once washed, place in the brine and soak for six hours.

Drain the chicken form the brine...

...and pat dry. 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Coat the sides of a dutch oven in olive oil (yes, that's my new Le Creuset dutch oven), and then place the chicken inside.

Place cover on the oven and roast chicken for 20 minutes, then add 1 cup of chicken broth. Roast another 20 minutes, then add the second cup of chicken broth. Roast another 20 minutes, then remove cover. Roast an additional 20 minutes or until golden brown.

I made a nice romaine, leek, radish, jalapeno, and parsley salad with balsamic, olive oil, and salt and pepper. 

The chicken came out very juicy and tasty with enough juice for gravy. 

This was my final product, but as I said the wasabi sauce wasn't so good. Enjoy your roast chicken all week as sandwich, stew, or tostada (as I will)!

Your soundtrack for this entry: Black Sabbath - Neon Knights.