the stew
hi friends, lovers, & people probably related to me —
131 — wow we are more than halfway through january already. how did that happen? my resolutions are already out the window…just kidding i’m excellent at resolutions & never give up on anything.1
bean girl era
confession there was a point in my life where i thought i did not like beans. i really had just never had them. now they are v. delicious to me. but all the cool food girls are always talking about their brothy beans, etc. etc. which is nice for them. i need a little more protein than that / also something that sticks to your ribs a bit more since it is v. effing cold in chicago right now. this stew is that — it will also keep you well nourished if you have some sort of weird virus and can only eat soup like things for a week. not that i know from experience or anything.
ingredients
chicken breasts (2 large, thick ones)
dried beans (ideally 2 types, ideally rancho gordo)
8 cloves of garlic
1 large yellow onion
broth
olive oil
parmesan rind
small tomatoes
red pepper flakes
calabrian chili
stray nuts (cashews, pistachios, pine, almonds, whatever)
parmesan / pecorino
basil, arugula & parsley
lemon
bread & good butter
salt & pepper
steps
1st i drizzle a generous amount of olive oil in the pot and brown the chicken breasts a bit with a little salt & pepper. remove the chicken and add 4 cloves of chopped or sliced garlic. once softened and fragrant add the chicken back in, a whole onion cut into thick wedges, 2 half bags of beans ( i used rancho gordo alubia blanco & cranberry beans, you can buy them @ agora market on western). cover with chicken broth in my case (4 to 5 cups of chicken bouillon + water) and season with some salt & pepper, drop a parm rind in if you have it, let it come to a boil for about 15 minutes & then reduce to a simmer & put the lid on. forget about it for the next 2 hours or so.
2nd while the stew is stewing we’re going roast our lil tomatoes with 3 whole cloves of garlic, salt, pepper, olive oil, red pepper flakes & a lil calabrian chili in like 350 degree oven till they are all jammy & bursty. next we are going to make clean out the fridge/pantry pesto. toast a small handful of nuts and blend with 1 clove of garlic, whatever herbs/tender greens you have, plenty of olive oil, salt, pepper, the juice of one lemon & some parm or pecorino or both till your desired pesto consistency. this is a real measure with your heart/ season to taste type of thing.
3rd if it’s been at least an hour or almost two take the chicken out of the stew and let cool slightly before shredding and adding back in, also fish out the parm rind here (it will be really melty at this point). using the back of your wooden spoon smoosh some of the beans to thicken the stew if they don’t smoosh easily it needs more time. add the chicken back in & taste the broth. add a lil more salt, pepper or some lemon depending on how you feel. smoosh the beans a bit more if you want the thicker consistency that i desired.
4th 3ish hours later & or longer if you want, yay the stew is basically done! ladle into bowls, top with a generous dollop of pesto, the confit tomatoes, a lil parm/pecorino, a kiss of lemon & some extra black pepper. serve with some warm bread & softened butter. eat till cozy & full. eat it for lunches the rest of the week & freeze the rest for future you.
particularly good things i consumed recently
winter activities take 2. florida w/ the famdamnily for christmas — gnocchi alla vodka might be a gamechanger. airport chilis w/ bridge before we flew back. diversey wine’s $10 for 10 bubbles tasting a buzzy lil hang w/ ashton & audrey. the best dumplings i’ve ever made — ryan, dave & i finished them in one sitting. new years — we went to two parties. i made chips, salsa & guac for both of them, we stayed out a bit too late! the chipotle chicken sandwich from north buena deli — delicious & pretty much a hangover cure. the shake frites @ par barisette — a perfect hh snack. adult spaghettios & tini spritzes w/ janel — did i set the pan on fire? yes, did it make the vodka sauce deliciously smoky also yes?! the field museum w/ ryan bc we are trying to be more cultured. allison & billy’s for a wine party ( yes kennedy was there!, yes there were tacos, yes i made chips, yes this is the same party ryan & i met at). barbaro w/ caroline & kate a.— lovely catching up over some v. strong margs & plenty of chips. a coffee walk w/ megan — an absolutely beautiful way to start your saturday. onions & cilantro, they will deliver a v. tasty steak quesadilla, refrieds, chips, salsa & guac to your house when you have no groceries. the bright big full moon this week — you could see it in the mornings too, love you winter moon, you look like a pizza. a toda madre w/ meghan, for her last dinner before heading back to school, still so v. good.
a 4 corner pepperoni pizza from jets — the perfect friday night dinner w/ a couple glasses of wine & a red onion & pepperoncini heavy salad you made @ home. chinatown w/ ryan, where we got a fried dumpling, an egg tart & some buns @ chiu quon bakery and followed that up with soup dumplings @ hing kee. we both needed a nap afterwards but it was so delicious & worth it. a couple of drinks w/ audrey & kate — my red puffy coat looks fantastic in a photo booth & also we need to eat more onion rings
books, tv shows & movies. have a couple of books from the library but haven’t gotten v. far in any of them bc work is frying my brain a little. justine snacks new cookbook though has been giving me some nice inpso (you’ll see soon). other than an odd episode of psych or 30 rock we haven’t been watching much tv — more of a hardcore movie kick. some standouts: when harry met sally (iconic & made me want some dark wash denim) the talented mr. ripley (watch this instead of saltburn plz & thank you), heat (the original heist movie, am i movie boy now?) a dead poets society & birdcage double feature (robin williams greatest hits), how to lose a guy in 10 days (cringe & hilarious as ever) i love you man (surprisingly heartfelt & sweet), the score (another heist movie, i have a type), 2 weeks notice (hugh grant playing (un)likeable romcom leads forever), the last showgirl (a nice vibes movie for sure but a good lil weeknight hang w/ janel & an excuse to eat popcorn for dinner) crazy, stupid love (ryan had never seen this & he actually found it pretty funny) maggie moore(s) (a kind of offbeat thriller but tina fey & jon hamm)
things. i bought this dress in navy during their sale & i absolutely love it already (have not worn it out of the house though, it just came yesterday). these lil espresso cups i got for ryan (us) for christmas.
currently consuming
a leisurely morning spent sleeping in a bit, drinking coffee, a topo & having a steamed pork bun before going for a lil workout, reading one of my library books & maybe a v. chilly fake errands run
as always,
mk
p.s. finally going to frame some (eventually all) of my shit — let me know if you have any tricks to do it relatively inexpensively / diy or a guy you really like who does a good job for when i win the lottery. ty!!!
this is somewhat of a lie & also my christmas tree is still up. i just felt need share that bc it feels embarrassing but also quite wholesome