Cluck, Cluck

Dear Love at First Bite:

Excuse me, Ms. Rockefeller, but I happened to notice you had a recipe that included radicchio, and I was just wondering if you'd gotten the memo that radicchio is Eight Dollars A Pound. Hello? Sure, it's delicious, but if you spend that on salad, where's the money for the rest of the meal?

Frugal Frieda

Dear Frieda:

Thank you for sharing. Now put down that latte and listen. Sure, there's radicchio for eight dollars a pound. But didn't your mama tell you that you'd better shop around?

The savvy shopper could have found gorgeous radicchio, escarole, and other delights at the Ferry Plaza Farmers' Market for $6/lb. or a lovely endive mix for $5/lb. last week. For that matter, while some folks have been selling radicchio at $7.99/lb., their lettuce mix, at $4.99 a pound, is often loaded with radicchio and other chicories. And who said you need pounds and pounds of it, anyway?

You could also plant some greens in the backyard or in a pot on your windowsill. They take no time to grow and you can just pick the amount you need for the salad.

Since my motto is: "I will only stop keeping track of money when
I start printing it," I also shop the sales. Mollie Stone's wonderful bone-in chicken breasts are $2.99/lb. this week.

BREAKING NEWS, 5/18/11: Those bone-in chicken breasts we were just talking about are once again on sale for $2.99/lb. at Mollie Stone's, through next Tuesday (which happens to be the 24th). In other news, the Ferry Plaza Farmers' Market has radicchio for $3/lb. Which farmer? I should deprive you of the joy of discovery? And Real Food on Polk has it for $3.99/lb.

No, no, don't thank me. For you, anything. And no, I don't get a commission. Life is so unfair.

Which means it's time for Sopa di Lima, chicken salad, and simple, delicious cold poached chicken which, along with Chinese food*, is the cure for just about everything.

"Perfect Poached Chicken Breasts"
(from Lorraine Bodger's Chicken Dinners):

3 whole chicken breasts (with bone), halved
1T butter
1/2 cup chicken broth

Put the butter and broth in a large skillet and bring to a simmer. Place the chicken, flesh side up, in the skillet. Cover the skillet, tilting the lid slightly so a little steam can escape during cooking.

Cook the chicken for 15 minutes, keeping the broth at a simmer (not a boil) over low heat. Then turn off the heat and leave the chicken in the skillet for 15 more minutes.

Cut into one piece of chicken to see if the meat is cooked through. If the meat is pink, turn the heat back on and simmer for 5 more minutes.

Lift the chicken from the hot broth and rinse in cold water; refrigerate until cool. Separate the chicken meat from the bones, discarding the bones as well as any bits of fat and gristle. Refrigerate the chicken until needed; strain the broth into a container and refrigerate or freeze for future use.

Makes 2-1/2-3 cups cooked chicken.

"Sopa di Lima: Yucatecan Soup with Chicken, Tortillas, and Lime"
(from Joyce Goldstein's Back to Square One):

Serves 4

2T mild olive oil
1/2 cup diced onion
1T minced garlic
1t finely minced jalapeño peppers
3 cups reduced chicken stock, plus stock for poaching the chicken
1/2 cup diced, peeled, fresh or canned tomatoes
2T chopped fresh cilantro
2T fresh lime juice
1t (or to taste) salt
1/4t freshly ground pepper
1 whole boneless, skinless chicken breast, split,
and cut into 1-inch chunks
8 paper-thin slices of lime, cut into quarters
2 corn tortillas, cut into strips, 2 inches long by 1/2 inch wide, and then deep-fried (or bake in a 400° oven until crisp)

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and jalapeño and cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the stock and bring to a boil. Then add the tomatoes, cilantro, lime juice, and salt and pepper. Taste and adjust seasonings. Poach the chicken separately in a saucepan with chicken stock to cover until just cooked through. (The chicken is not cooked directly in the soup because this would cloud the soup.) Divide the chunks among 4 bowls and pour the hot soup over. Top with little pieces of lime and the deep-fried/baked tortilla strips.

Time-saving tip: Poach the chicken and reduce the chicken stock a day or two ahead. Reducing the broth takes about an hour at a low heat, and combines beautifully with doing laundry. If you're using already-poached chicken in the recipe, just cut it into cubes and reheat it in some chicken stock.

Chicken Salad with Carrots and Roasted Walnuts:

For the salad:

Carrots, sliced on the diagonal
Walnuts, dry roasted in a skillet or in a 400° oven
Poached or leftover roast chicken (or turkey), chopped
Capers

For the dressing:

2 parts extra virgin olive oil
1 part good red wine vinegar
Pinch basil mustard (or use Dijon and add more basil)
Pinch orange zest
Handful fresh or dried basil (use less of the dried)
Salt and pepper

Steam the carrots. Whisk together the vinaigrette ingredients, add
the carrots, and toss. Add the chicken and toasted walnuts, toss again, top with capers, and serve.

*I nearly dated a man not long ago who suddenly turned out not to eat Chinese food. That's not the official reason we decided to ix-nay our inner-day, of course, but I wondered why he didn't eat it and looked online and holey-moley, turns out there's an awful lot of sodium in some of my favorite dishes.

There was a moment of despair. Would I have to give up Chinese food? No more Hunan Wor Wonton Soup? (Don't tell my rabbi.) No more hot and sour?

Just then, an angel whispered in my ear. (They're so handy when
you're dating.)

"Relax, Toots," she said.

Then she told me the simple solution. You might want to sit down.
Drink water with it. That's right. Extra salt means you need extra water. Drink some more when you get home. And if it makes you really happy, eat nothing but apples and lettuce for the next three days while continuing to drink lots of water. That ought to balance out the sodium until next time.

©2009, 2011 Laynie Tzena.