Chicken Bouillabaisse and Guayo in the Snow

           You know you’re a dedicated, somewhat anal, cook, when you’ll put on your husband’s shoes (sorry honey, they were right there and I didn’t want to get mine full of snow!), plod through 10” of snow, dig down through the piled snow to find the rosemary bush you know is there as you saw it for a couple of days between the last snow and this one, just to get fresh rosemary leaves for the Chicken Bouillabaisse being made for dinner. 

As you may have guessed by now, it snowed again.  Now I have a love/hate relationship with winter and snow. On one hand I hate being cold and want winter to make way for the warmth of spring and summer and the gardens that I am planning to grow.  On the other hand, I’m not immune to the stunning and glaring beauty of an 8-10” base of white pristine snow covering over trees, roads, and all items not protected, shimmering and glistening in the cold and clear rays of first sun.  A light airy dry powder, that whenever the slightest breeze moves the boughs of the juniper or pinions, giant pods fall, hitting the earth and exploding into the air making it look like a blizzard has befallen all.  Put then it settles down, and the sun shines through the intermittent clouds, with the beauty of the blue sky against the white blanket and it’s truly magical.  Mother Nature at her best--if you like snow.

So while I pray for spring to come and yearn for warmth and sunshine and the smell of fresh soil beneath my hands, I can’t deny the beauty outside my windows.

            Guayo is outside jumping and running and cavorting as he is a snow puppy.  He loves it. I let him out after putting on his coat, so he could run through the piles of snow in the front yard.  He was crying at the window because Roy was out there scraping and brushing the snow off the windows of the truck so we could have clear windows for partaking in a movie later in the day. Guayo loves to put his nose underneath the thick snow,  and then he snuffles around to see if maybe there’s a lizard hiding from him. Then he looks up and there’s a little mountain of snow on the top of his dark brown nose and it makes us laugh.

Guayo is over a year old now, but he’s still a puppy at heart, and we hope he stays that way. Last week’s snow had him on high protection detail.  He found a huge green snake underneath and in line with his duties as a guard dog supreme, he viciously attacked it, disembodying a 3’ section out of its middle.  Minor detail…it was our garden hose and not a snake. But it was an honest mistake…at least that’s what we’re assuming. I can tell already that we are going to have to be diligent and creative to keep him out of the garden beds that are within his domain!

The Chicken Bouillabaisse came from Ina Garten, Back to Basics, with a few changes/additions.  One, I omitted the Pernod (just didn’t have any!), and I amped it up a bit in the spice department by the addition of chili pepper flakes, and a bit in the herb category by using more rosemary than she had originally suggested and adding thyme to the broth too.  Also, I pureed some of the sun dried tomatoes I dehydrated from the garden last year. I dried them with a sprinkling of Italian Herbs, and then I put in some crispy bacon pieces, so that added to the flavor also. I used turkey bacon, or you could use prosciutto…yum!....or just leave it out all together.  I’m serving it with the potatoes in the recipe, along with a mixed green salad and crunchy French bread. I’ll use my GF bread from yesterday’s post and toast it.  You’ve just gotta sop up those juices with some bread….too good to let go to waste!  Bon appétit!

Chicken Bouillabaisse

1, 4-5 pound chicken, cut into 10 pieces               salt & pepper

2 T. fresh rosemary, minced                                  1 t. saffron threads

1 large head garlic, individual cloves separated and peeled

Olive oil (I used Blood Orange olive oil to give it a rich flavor)

1 t. whole fennel seeds                                          1/2 c. sun dried tomatoes w/Italian herbs

1, 14 oz can diced tomatoes                                 1 c. dry white wine

1 1/2 c. chicken stock                                          2 t. chili flakes

1# medium to smallish potatoes cut into quarters   8 oz. sliced mushrooms (crimini are best)   

 Pat the chicken dry and season generously with the salt and the 1 1/2 t. of the chopped rosemary, leaving the rest for the sauce. heat olive oil in a heavy pan and brown the chicken piece sin batches to a crisp goldne brown. Put into the pot you'll be useing to bake in later, and continue cooking chicken until all pieces are browned. They should not be cooked through as that will be done in the oven/crockpot, so just make sure they are beautifully brown.

        While chicken pieces cook, put the sun dried tomatoes into a blender with 1/2 of the diced tomatoes and puree to chop of the pieces of dehydrated tomato. Do not puree so much you have juice. Pour into a bowl, add the rest of the tomatoes and juice and pulse lightly until pureed. Pour into the smae bowl and mix together.

         Once the chicken is well browned, drain fat out of the pan you fried the chicken in, leaving around 3 T and all the drippings in the bottom. Turn the temperature to medium. Put in the garlic and saute for 1 minute. Add the fennel, saffron, tomatoe puree, chicken stock, wine, 2 t. salt and 1 t. black pepper, and the chili flakes. Stire & simmer, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan, for approximately 30-40 minutes or until the garlic is very tender. Stir occasinoally during this time. Sauce will reduce by about 1/4 to 1/3. 

        Put the potatoes into the casserole dish with the chicken pieces.  Add the sliced mushrooms. Carefully puree the sauce from the pan in a food processor untilsmooth.  Pour the sauce over the chicken pieces and potatoes and stir gently to mix well. 

        Cover the pot and bake for 45-55 minutes in a 300 degree oven.  Or you can use a large crock pot on low for 2 hours. Taste to check the seasonings and adjust as needed.  Serve with a green salad and crusty French bread.