naked notes

I have to admit that I haven’t been cooking as much as I’d like these days.  I’ve been traveling and dealing with starting a new job part time.  My fiancée and I will be relocating to Portland, OR at the end of next month, where I’ll start full time with the Oregon Wine Board.

On one hand, I’m terribly excited, as I love Portland and this job is a dream one for me.  But, on the other, I’m terribly sad to leave.  I’ve lived here in New York City for the last 10 years.   Lately, I cannot walk down a city street without being jogged by a memory of a certain time and place.  It’s hard to leave a city that you love and one where you grew from a college graduate to a full-fledge adult with a soon to be husband, cat, dog and apartment that you have taken the time to put love, warmth and care into.

That said, the one thing I have been making is my friend Kevin recipe’s for Chicken tomatillo soup quite a bit.  With leftover turkey from Thanksgiving and the occasional roast chicken around the house, I’ve made this soup three times since my last visit to Portland in October.   It hits all the right notes for me.  It’s satisfying and the tangy tomatillos balance out the heat from the peppers, and the consistency of the soup is comforting as you puree the vegetables, which thickens it a bit.  It is quick to pull together and works well if you want to make it from scratch, but it also is a great way to utilize leftover meat.

The following recipe isn’t exactly like Kevin’s.  He uses breasts on the bone for a richer flavor, and I bet thigh meat would be pretty great, but it’s close enough to do the trick.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Tomatillo-Soup/Detail.aspx

Category: NY Eat IN

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