One Pot Tortilla-Style Coconut Chicken Soup
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! And no, I don’t mean the holidays (they’re fine). I mean DUTCH OVEN season.
My enameled cast iron dutch oven is one of my most prized kitchen items, especially in the cold months. My reasons:
- It lasts *forever.* I got mine five or six years ago and even though it looks worn in, it still functions just as well as the day I got it. And I use it A LOT.
- It’s naturally non-stick, but still gets an incredible sear because of the heavy bottom.
- It’s multi-purpose. I use it for soups, stews, braised meats, pastas, literally whatever. It also bakes bread beautifully.
- There is nothing on this earth more convenient than a one-pot meal, and dutch ovens are one-pot meal royalty.
- Nothing says “cozy” more than standing over a heavy pot, cooking up something piping hot and nourishing while your kitchen smells like heaven. Some of my favorite, most lasting food memories have been created around my dutch oven, or dutch ovens in general.
If you don’t have a dutch oven yet, I HIGHLY recommend you invest now or tell Santa (or whatever you call your aunt) to put it on your gift list, because it will be the real MVP when you’re staying at home this winter. I use a Lodge brand 6 qt., which at less than $100 (sometimes less than $75!) is an incredibly good value for its durability.
I digress. The moral of this very long introduction is… Get your hands on a dutch oven, and then make this soup.
My Favorite Easy Shakshuka
Shakshuka is pure comfort food. It doesn’t have a season, and it doesn’t need a reason.
But oh, are there reasons.
Since I last posted in October, a LOT has happened, but the biggest news (which is news to absolutely no one) is that we are in the midst of a global pandemic. And in New York City, we were at the very epicenter for quite a long time and are still finding our way out. My loved ones and I have been fortunate in that we have been able to stay home and stay healthy. Although this is something we do not take for granted, it doesn’t diminish the fact that social distancing and living under quarantine for months can be mentally taxing.
A lot of my time in quarantine has been spent cooking and eating comforting foods and of course, making bread. It’s been great to see so many of my friends learning to make sourdough, because now I feel like part of a big club!
But if you’re like me, you’re having trouble keeping up with your bread-baking habits. With a loaf in the freezer, a loaf in the bread drawer, two loaves proofing in the fridge, and jeans up in my closet that I haven’t worn since March giving me side eye from beneath a thick layer of dust, what am I supposed to do with all of this BREAD?!
ENTER: Shakshukaaaaaaa.
