The other day, I had Greek chicken soup at the Sun Rose Cafe. It was really good and I thought, "I should find a recipe like this." I started a search in my go-to for all things food, footnetwork.com. I only found three recipes and none of them really had the ingredients I was looking for. I decided to try and invent my own. I have this all-purpose Greek seasoning so I figured I'd start there. During the process of trying to achieve the flavor I was looking for (which of course I can't really describe), I turned to a Google search of Greek spices. As I ran down the list of spices typically used in Greek cooking, a few things caught my eye: coriander, cumin, cinnamon. I added those and I think I'm closer to where I'm trying to be.
The Greek seasoning mix, Cavender's (I know, that doesn't sound like a Greek name to me either), is not so helpful as the label states An Ancient Greek Formula and at the end of the list of ingredients is "five other spices." Presumably the spices that make it anciently Greek.
Here's what I ended up with:
Greek-ish Chicken Soup
Ingredients
2.5 pounds boneless chicken thighs (because Bobby Flay has taught me that's where all the flavor is)
32 oz chicken stock (I started out with an extra can besides but the pot got too full)
16 oz carrot chips (because I didn't feel like chopping carrots)
3 small zucchini, sliced
2 bell peppers (I used a green and a red for color)
Juice of 1 lemon
1/4 cup Cavender's Greek Seasoning
1 T dried oregano
2 T cumin
1 t ground coriander
1/2 t ground cinnamon
2-3 T minced garlic (I didn't measure, kind of dumped... I like garlic)
2 T ground black pepper
salt to taste
Rinse chicken thighs, put in a crockpot with the chicken broth. Cook on low for about four hours.Add the vegetables and the spices. Cook for an additional 2-3 hours. Add lemon juice at the end and stir.
I think it turned out really well. Of course, I'm going to have to go have that soup again at the cafe to see if I can figure out what flavor I may be missing.
I've been following thecountrycook.net because of a recipe my sister-in-law posted on FB one day. Brandie has some great recipes for comfort food, and her specialty is taking cake mixes and transforming them into these really yummy desserts. I follow her page on FB as well, and one of the things she posted this week was the recipe for Strawberry Shortcake Cake. I decided I had to make it. Strawberry shortcake always makes me think of summer, so I'm jumping the gun a little (we just had 6 inches of snow last week). Brian asked me if we were celebrating something. I replied, "No, I just want to eat this cake."
And on a completely random note, my desktop background today is Sam and Dean Winchester. Good choice, Webshots!
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