Butternut Squash, White Bean, and Kale Chicken Soup

As promised, here's another great way to prepare a winter squash. This soup recipe is so simple, yet flavorful, hearty, and satisfying, it's the perfect comfort food for a cold winter day in New York City! And it is definitely still winter time over here. I seriously can't believe spring officially starts in 9 days. Just last week (on Wednesday, February 10th), all NYC public schools and Catholic elementary and middle schools were closed due to the snow. By the way, maybe only New Yorkers will know what I'm talking about, but you know those patches of snow that look deceivingly stable, yet when you step on them, your feet are instantly plunged into this freezing, nasty, dirty, black water that the snow was just floating on top of? Yeaaa, I stepped on a couple of those. $%$%@#$$#@$! Oh well, nothing a hot shower and a bowl of chicken soup can't cure...

Butternut Squash, White Bean, and Kale Chicken Soup Ingredients: • 1 cup dried cannellini beans or 2 15-ounce cans of cannellini beans (possible substitutions: navy beans or Great Northern Beans) • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil • 2½ pounds chicken breast or thighs (bone-in chicken has more flavor, just remove the bones later, but boneless chicken is obviously more convenient to use; or alternatively, you could use some other type of meat - spicy Italian sausage would work well) • 2 yellow onions, diced • 6 cloves garlic, minced or pressed through a garlic press • 5 cups chicken broth, preferably homemade chicken stock • 6 ounces white wine (optional) • 2 inch piece kombu seaweed (I used canned cannellini beans that already contained kombu seaweed) • 1 teaspoon salt • ½ teaspoon pepper • 4 sage leaves • 2 sprigs thyme or rosemary • 2 bay leaves • 1 large butternut squash, about 4½ pounds, peeled and chopped into ½-inch cubes (Helpful tip: butternut squash can be peeled using a normal swivel-headed vegetable peeler) • ½ cup garlicky kale, or ¾ pound lacinato kale before cooked • slices of country-style bread with garlic and olive oil spread (optional) Instructions: 1. If you are using dry cannellini beans, soak the 2 cups of cannellini beans overnight in water, or alternatively, quick-soak the cannellini beans using the following method: First pick through the beans to remove small stones and other foreign materials. Place them in a large stock pot and add water (6 - 8 cups of water per pound of beans.) Boil vigorously for 3 minutes. Then turn off the heat, cover the pot and let it sit for at least an hour, which will usually be enough time to soften the beans sufficiently. Soaking the beans allows shorter cooking times, which preserves the most nutrients, and also allows for the beans to cook more evenly and completely. 2. After the beans are soaked, drain them and put them in a large stock pot along with the chicken stock. (Never cook with the same water that you soaked the beans in because this soaking liquid is dirty.) Bring to the boil, then lower the heat and simmer until the beans are tender. Start checking after 45 minutes. Taste, and if necessary, adjust the seasonings. 3. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan. Add chicken and brown about 15 to 20 minutes. 4. Remove the chicken to the stock pot and add the onion, sage leaves, rosemary/thyme sprigs, and bay leaves to the sauté pan. Sauté on medium heat about 10 minutes. Add butternut squash and garlic, and sauté for another 5 minutes. 5. Remove the vegetables and herbs to the stock pot, and add wine, kombu seaweed, salt, pepper, and bring to a boil; simmer about 45 minutes to 1 hour or until the squash gets very soft. 6. (optional) Stir in garlicky kale. Serve hot soup over thickly sliced country-style bread that has been brushed with minced garlic and extra virgin olive oil and toasted in the oven until crisp and golden brown.

Garlic-Thyme Pollo Al Mattone (Chicken Cooked Under A Brick) With Onion Rings and Sautéed Broccoli and Cherry Tomatoes

Of all the ways you can cook chicken, this is my favorite recipe so far! It produces the perfect chicken with a moist and juicy meat on the inside and crispy skin on the outside. This Tuscan method of cooking chicken traditionally uses a whole young chicken, split down the back and flattened, and often, the chicken is brined or marinated overnight, but in this version, the technique has been simplified and adapted for boned chicken legs made in one day. However, if you feel like being extra ambitious, here are detailed instructions for preparing a whole young chicken for "pollo al mattone" (including some very helpful illustrations).

A few rules to keep in mind to get that crispy skin on the outside:
1. You'll need a large cast-iron skillet, or if you don't have one, a heavy stainless steel aluminum pan will work but not as well as the cast-iron skillet would. Non-stick pans won't work at all.
2. You want to have a clean brick, or if you don't have one, find something that's very heavy that you can use to press down on the chicken, like another heavy skillet. I improvised by using a rice cooker bowl with heavy objects inside to weigh it down.
3. You want to make sure you've cut up the chicken in such a way that it is flattened so that the skin will cook evenly.
4. Make sure the skin of the chicken is dry before cooking. Otherwise, the skin will basically steam and melt onto the pan, rather than become crispy.
5. The oil in the pan has to be hot before you put the chicken in.

Just remember: right pan, heavy brick, flat bird, dry skin, and hot pan.

Here I've flavored the chicken with extra-virgin olive oil, thyme, and garlic, and paired it with cherry tomatoes, broccoli and oven-baked onion rings. The onion rings could either be a side for a main course or eaten alone as a snack. Feel free to get creative -- chicken is one of those versatile meats that you can pair with all kinds of different flavors!

Some ideas for variations:
-Use different herbs, such as rosemary, sage, or tarragon
-Use different spices, such as paprika or dried chili peppers
-Add sweetness, such as honey or unrefined cane sugar
-Change the acidic component; instead of lemon, you could use orange, lime or a kind of vinegar, such as balsamic vinegar, Sherry vinegar, or red wine vinegar, depending on the other flavorings in the dish
-Create an Asian combination of flavors: how about honey, soy sauce, and five spice powder? or peanut oil, minced garlic, ginger, and scallions? or sesame oil, minced ginger, five spice powder, and scallions?
-Pair the dish with different sides (grilled, sauteed, or roasted vegetables go especially well with this dish): garlic mashed potatoes, garlicky kale (one of my favorite pairings), spinach, broccoli raab, Swiss chard, escarole, green beans, or olives are just a few options

Garlic-thyme Pollo Al Mattone (Chicken Cooked Under A Brick) With Broccoli, Cherry Tomatoes, and Onion Rings Adapted from Alice Waters' Chez Panisse Café Cookbook Pollo al mattone Ingredients: • 4 chicken legs (drumsticks and thighs attached) • ½ teaspoon salt • ½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper • ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil • 1 branch thyme • 16 garlic cloves, peeled • 1 lemon, cut into wedges Directions: 1. Pour olive oil into a small saucepan. Press the garlic cloves through a garlic press and put the minced garlic into the pan, or alternatively, use a microplane zester to grate the cloves over the saucepan. Pull the tiny leaves off the thyme branch and drop them into the pan. Bring the oil to a simmer for about a minute - not too long, or the garlic will burn. Reduce the heat to low and stir the thyme and garlic very slowly until softened, about 15 minutes. Turn off the heat, and strain the oil with a mesh strainer into a large cast-iron skillet or stainless steel aluminum skillet, reserving the garlic and thyme for the topping. 2. Bone the chicken legs, preferably with kitchen shears. (Don't throw away the bones! Reserve them to be used in homemade chicken stock.) Spread the legs out into large, flat pieces with the skin intact. Trim the excess fat and skin from the edges. At this point, you can rinse the legs, if that's your thing - there's actually an ongoing debate about whether or not you should rinse raw chicken before it's cooked, but I personally don't do it because 1) it can cross-contaminate your kitchen and 2) any bacteria should be destroyed if it's properly cooked. Whether or not you rinse the legs, pat thoroughly dry with a paper towel. Season both sides of each piece with salt and pepper. 3. Heat the large skillet over medium heat (not to worry, extra virgin olive oil smokes at approximately 375°F, although it depends on how the olive oil was produced). When the pan is hot, add the chicken legs in one layer, skin side down. Lay a piece of parchment paper or foil over the chicken. Then weight the chicken with another cast-iron pan, skillet, brick, or another heavy object that can cover the chicken and weigh it down sufficiently. Cook for about 15 minutes, occasionally checking the chicken to make sure that the skin is browning evenly. Adjust the heat if the legs are cooking too quickly. Remove the weight and parchment paper or foil. Turn the legs over, and cook for 5 minutes more, uncovered. Test doneness either with a paring knife, making sure that the juices are running clear, or with an internal meat thermometer (the internal temperature should be at least 165°F). The skin should be crispy and golden, and the flesh moist and tender. 4. Reserve the garlic-thyme infused olive oil for later use, such as: drizzling over the chicken or other dishes , cooking other dishes, or simply spreading it on a piece of bread. The oil will solidify a bit when refrigerated, but this does not affect the quality of the oil. 5. Arrange the chicken and the sides you have chosen (in this version: broccoli, cherry tomatoes, and fried onion rings) on a platter, and top with reserved garlic-thyme topping. Garnish with lemon wedges, if desired. 6. Optional: Add ½ cup dry white wine to the saute pan and using a spatula, scrape the excess fat from the bottom. Cook over high heat until the wine has reduced by more than half, continuing to scrape the fat until it has completely dissolved (this is called deglazing the pan). Add 1 cup chicken stock, season with salt and again reduce by half. Sautéed Broccoli and Cherry Tomatoes Ingredients: • 6 broccoli stalks, washed • 1 dry pint cherry tomatoes, washed • ½ teaspoon salt • ½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper • 2½ tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil Directions: 1. Cut the stalk from the head of the broccoli, leaving an inch or two of stalk attached to the florets. Discard the rest of the stalks. Cut the larger individual florets in half through the base of the head with a knife, pulling the florets apart. Gather the two halves and cut into quarters. Cut the cherry tomatoes in half. 2. Sauté all the ingredients together in a sauté pan for about 10 minutes or until the broccoli becomes tender. Oven-baked onion rings Ingredients: • 1 yellow onion • 1 extra-large egg, beaten • 1 cup of hot brown rice cereal • ½ teaspoon salt Directions: 1. Cut edges off onion, and remove the outer layer. Slice the onion into ¼ to ½ inch sections (width can be increased or decreased depending upon how large you want your rings to be). Separate the sliced sections into rings. 2. Fill a small bowl, just large enough for onion rings to fit in, with the beaten eggs. Pour the hot brown rice cereal and salt onto a small dish or into another small bowl. Stir the hot brown rice cereal and salt together so that the salt is evenly dispersed through the cereal. One by one, coat each ring in egg, shake off any excess egg, and then dip the ring into the brown rice cereal, making sure it is thoroughly coated. 3. Bake the rings on a cookie sheet sprayed with nonstick extra-virgin olive oil spray in a 375°F oven for 20-25 minutes, flipping rings over about halfway through.