A deep
freeze has blanketed Toronto and I've been thinking about comfort food that’s
warm without being heavy. I’m a huge soup fan – see the evidence here,
here,
here
and here.
Sometimes I want something quick and easy, other times I want a labour of love
soup… you know, one of those soups with lots of different textures and layers
of flavour providing complete satisfaction in a single bowl.
Rewind to
last October. J and I had an early dinner, on an especially cold night, at The Ace on Roncesvalles. We sat at the
table by the window, just as the sun was starting to set, and tucked into warm
apple cider spiked with bourbon, followed by a delicious dinner of Fried
Chicken with Collard Greens, Cornbread and Ham Gravy for J and Crispy Roast Chicken with Bok Choy, Potato Gnocchi and
Reduced Chicken Stock for me.
So why am
I telling you about this? Because I’m still thinking about that Crispy Roast Chicken with Bok Choy,
Potato Gnocchi and Reduced Chicken Stock! There was something so satisfying
about the soft, pillowy gnocchi combined with the crispy, salty chicken and warm broth. And okay, it wasn't really a soup per say,
but it was 100% delicious. I decided to try my hand at recreating this
dish at home. Be warned, this dish took a lot of work, thanks to multiple
elements that come together at the end, but was well worth the time. It’s a
great dish to make with a partner or when you’re in the mood to spend a couple
hours in the kitchen.
You'll need (serves 4):
For the Chicken Broth
- 3 skin-on,
bone-in chicken thighs
- 1 medium onion,
diced
- 2 celery stalks,
diced
- 2 carrots, diced
- 2 cloves of
garlic, diced
- 1/2 teaspoon
peppercorns
- 3 sage leaves
- 2 sprigs of
rosemary
- 2 sprigs of
thyme
- Salt, to taste
For the Roast Chicken
- 4 skin-on,
bone-in chicken thighs
- 4 skin-on,
bone-in chicken breasts
- Salt and pepper,
to taste
- Cayenne pepper,
to taste
- 1 tablespoon
vegetable oil
For the Gnocchi
- 3
large Russet potatoes
- 1 large Yukon
Gold potato
- 1 egg
- 2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
To finish
- 2 heads of baby
Bok Choy, steamed and set aside
Start by making the
chicken broth. Place all the broth ingredients in a stock pot, cover with water
and bring to a boil. Reduce to low heat and simmer for 4 hours. Make sure to
check for seasoning throughout the cooking process. Once the stock
has cooked, remove the chicken, strain and set aside.
Meanwhile,
preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Poke a few holes in each potato and place on
a baking sheet. Cook the potatoes until they are fork tender, about 1 hour. Allow the potatoes to
cool until you can handle them.
Scoop out the flesh and pass it through a potato ricer or a
food mill. Spread the potatoes onto a clean, lightly floured surface.
Whisk the eggs and salt together and drizzle over the riced
potatoes. Sprinkle 3/4 to 1 cup of the flour over the potatoes. With a bench
scraper, work the ingredients together, gathering them
into a mass. Add flour to reduce stickiness. When the mixture holds
together knead briefly, continuing to add flour if the dough is sticky.
As soon as the dough is smooth, soft and holds together, stop
kneading and shape it into a thick log. Working with a quarter of the dough at a time,
roll the dough into long 1/2 inch ropes. With the bench scraper or a knife, cut
them into 1-inch-long pieces. Transfer the gnocchi to a lightly floured baking
sheet while rolling out the remaining dough. At this point, you may
refrigerate the uncooked gnocchi for up to 2 hours.
When you are ready to serve: bring a large pot of water to
boil, preheat your over to 450 degrees and begin to reheat the chicken broth.
Season the chicken
thighs and breasts with salt, pepper and cayenne pepper to taste. Heat the oil
in an oven proof cast-iron skillet over high heat.
Place the chicken in skillet, skin side down, and cook for 2 minutes. Reduce the
heat to medium-high and continue cooking skin side down, occasionally rearranging the
chicken and rotating the pan to evenly distribute the heat, until the the skin is golden brown, about 12 minutes.
Transfer the skillet
to the oven and cook for 10 more minutes. Flip the chicken and continue cooking
until the skin crisps and the meat is cooked through, about 5 minutes longer.
Transfer to a plate and let rest for 5 minutes.
While the chicken in
resting cook the gnocchi, in batches, briefly in a large pot of salted boiling
water until they float. This takes just a minute or so, depending on the size
of your gnocchi.
To
plate: add gnocchi and the steamed boy choy to a soup bowl. Ladle in the
desired amount of broth and serve with crispy chicken on the side.
**In all fairness, this dish was too delicious to take pictures of. I was more concerned with eating it.
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