Chicken Not Pie

What a coincidence!  Mark Bittman was on the Today show yesterday with his recipe for Chicken Not Pie. (See Todayshow.com for January 6, 2010.) 

Basically, we're talking chicken vegetable soup, which was exactly what I was planning to make for dinner. 

Exactly, only different. 

Is it ok to adopt a clever name for a dish and not follow through with the recipe?  I figure Chicken Not Pie should contain whatever you can find in your fridge or your garden, plus chicken.  If you want the original, go to TodayShow.com.  If you like a good hearty free-for-all of a one pot chicken wonder, wing it yourself!

Oh.  First, you earn it.  Check the temp.  39!  Check the wind. NW at 15!  Then you bundle up and walk to the beach, because it's no kind of day for the bike.

Winter in Florida.  "Spindrift" has the look of "snowdrift" when it's ultra bright out.  But not the quiet.  It's crashing out there!

Now, back to tonight's meal with the borrowed title. 

Chicken Not Pie 

Just suppose that you happened to have a couple of chicken breasts, a cabbage from the garden, some Vidalia onions, and a rutabaga, of all things, floating around the fridge.  Rutabaga?  Now there's a starting point!

First:  Boil up some barley if you have some in the pantry.  Be warned, the stuff takes an hour or more to become tender.  If you don't have the time, go for noodles.  The chicken soup, start to finish is about a half hour.

Then comes the fun.  Start rummaging in the fridge!

I find:

2 chicken breasts

a half bag (1 cup) of carrots (We have some in the garden but it's too cold to go rummaging out there!)  

a Vidalia onion

a quarter head of cabbage

one rutabaga

one Yukon Gold potato

frozen peas, about a cup

frozen green beans, about a cup

asparagus ("fresh", from Peru), about a cup

fresh mushrooms, about a cup

Chop all the veggies into bite size pieces.

Saute the onion in a little olive oil in the bottom of your soup pot.

When the onion is translucent, throw in the chicken breasts, whole, and brown them a little too.  

Add a cup of white wine and a cup of chicken broth, some dried herbs.  (Tarragon and Tyme were calling to me, but whatever you like.  Go for it!) 

Bring to a boil, lower the heat, cover, and simmer for 15 or so minutes, until the chicken is cooked through.

Remove the chicken to a cutting board. 

Throw the veggies into the broth.  Yes, all the veggies.  At once.  They'll all cook together and be delicious.  If you must have uniform tenderness, check Mark Bittman's recipe.   

Stir 'em in, add a little more broth if you like, and simmer until the firmest vegetable is tender.  In this case, the rutabaga is my guide.  10-15 minutes.

Once the chicken has cooled enough to handle, chop into bite size peices.  When the veggies are cooked, put the chicken back into the pot to heat it through. 

Taste!  Cook's choice.  Add: salt and pepper, or even chicken base or bullion, if it's not rich enough tasting.   

Serve over barley, noodles, or rice.  

Be sure to share.  Then, go to bed with full tummy.