Monthly Archives: February 2011
Apple Cider Vinegar Braised Chicken Thighs
| February 28, 2011 | Posted by Lauren Keating under Chicken and Poultry, One Pan, Shawn's Favorites, Weekend Meals, Winter |
Voting for Round 2 of the Ridiculously Delicious Challenge opens at 6am EST on March 1st. I’d really appreciate it if you would consider voting for me HERE. Thanks!
I was flipping through an old issue of Food + Wine this weekend, when this unassuming recipe for chicken thighs braised in apple cider vinegar caught my eye. There was no picture and very little by way of a description, but for some reason I felt compelled to make it. Despite a brief moment of fear when I thought I might end up with something resembling pickled chicken, I immediately added the ingredients to my grocery list and prepared it for dinner that same night.
Within ten minutes of being put into the oven, this chicken filled the entire house with the most amazing smells and made our stomachs grumble. It doesn’t look like much in the pot, but this is hands-down the best chicken I’ve ever eaten. Shawn agreed.
Although the chicken is fall-off-the-bone tender from braising, a few minutes under the broiler crisps the skin right back up — a trick I’ll definitely use again in the future. The cider vinegar permeates the chicken with its sweetness and gives the sauce a subtle tang that goes perfectly with sides of wild rice and steamed collard greens — go ahead and make extra sides, because you’ll want something to help sop up every last morsel of sauce.
(We’re hooked on wild rice right now but brown rice, mashed potatoes or couscous would also make great starchy sides for this meal. Also, while any green vegetable would work, the combination of collard greens and cider vinegar is a classic.)
Apple Cider Vinegar Braised Chicken
Prep time: 10 min; Total time: 1 hour 15 min
Yield: 2 servings
- 1 Tbs Olive Oil
- 4 Chicken Thighs
- Salt and Pepper
- 2 Carrots, sliced
- 3 cloves Garlic, minced
- 1 Leek, sliced
- 1 Tbs Flour
- 1/2 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1-1/2 cups Chicken Stock
- 1 Tbs Butter
Preheat oven to 350F.
Heat the olive oil in a heavy, oven safe pot over medium-high heat (an enamel Dutch oven works best). Season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper, and add them to the pot, skin-side down. Cook for 10 minutes, or until the skin turns a rich, golden color and begins to crisp. Remove chicken from the pot and set aside. Pour out all but 1 Tbs of the oil/fat that has cooked off.
Add the carrots, garlic, and leek to the pot and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until they begin to soften. Add the flour and cook for one minute. Deglaze the pot with the vinegar, scraping up any browned chicken that is stuck to the bottom of the pot. Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Add the chicken back to the pot, skin-side up.
Cover the pot and transfer it to the oven. Allow the chicken to braise for 50 minutes.
Heat the broiler. Remove the chicken for the pot and place on a broiler pan or heavy baking sheet. Broil for 5-6 minutes, until the skin crisps back up. Meanwhile, Place the pot back on the stove and allow it to reduce over medium heat. Stir in the butter.
To serve, spoon the sauce over the chicken thighs.
{Ridiculously Delicious} Saffron Game Hen; Wild Rice Dressing with Cherries and Pistachios
| February 24, 2011 | Posted by Lauren Keating under Chicken and Poultry, Fruit, Grains, Greek/Mediterranean, Sides, Special Occasions, Winter |
Are you ready for something ridiculously delicious? That’s right, I made it to the second round of the Marx Foods Ridiculously Delicious Challenge! In this round, each contestant was asked to create a recipe using two of eight ingredient samples that we received. With ingredients ranging from coconut sugar to grains of paradise, it wasn’t an easy task!
I originally hoped to make a duck dish utilizing the dried tart cherries and tepin chilis, but had to change gears when I wasn’t able to find duck breasts. Despite having to rethink my entry in the middle of the grocery store (something I admittedly am not good at – I can’t shop without a list!), I couldn’t be happier with the meal that I came up with: a Moroccan-themed feast of Cornish game hens seasoned with saffron and lemon along with wild rice dressing with tart cherries and pistachios.
Slathered with a combination of butter, saffron, and lemon, these brightly flavored hens boast a beautifully golden skin that crackles under your fork and gives way to succulent, juicy meat. The wild rice dressing is the perfect side dish — the rice itself is fabulously nutty and moist, while the pistachios and tart cherries contribute unexpected texture, flavor, and color. Make sure to buy dried tart cherries for this recipe — check the package closely! It’s very easy to accidentally buy dried cranberries that are only flavored like cherries, but those are much sweeter and I don’t think they would work nearly as well.
Served with a glass of wine and a side of cajun-blackened green beans, this meal was a real weeknight treat — and every bit worth the slightly longer than normal cooking time. After all, while it takes a little over an hour to prepare, it only requires you to be in the kitchen for about 15 minutes.
Lemon and Saffron Game Hens
Prep time: 5 min ; Total time: 1 hour
2 servings
- 2 Cornish Game Hens
- 1 Onion, quartered
- 1 Lemon, zested and quartered
- 1 sprig fresh Sage
- 1 sprig fresh Thyme
- 1 Tbs Butter, softened
- 1 pinch Saffron
- Salt and Pepper
Preheat oven to 350F.
Rinse then hens (inside and out) and pat them dry with a paper towel. Place one piece of onion, one piece of lemon, and one sprig each of sage and thyme into each hen. Set the hens, breast-side up, in a roasting pan. Season with salt and pepper.
In a small dish, stir together the butter and saffron. Spread each hen with half the saffron butter.
Roast hens for 45 minutes at 350F, then increase the oven temperature to 400F. Spread each hen with 1 tsp lemon zest. Roast at 400F for an additional 15 minutes or until cooked through — juices should be clear and the skin should be browned and crisp.
Remove from oven and let rest for 10-15 minutes before serving.
Wild Rice Dressing with Cherries and Pistachios
Serves 4
- 2 cups Wild Rice
- 1.5 cups Chicken Stock
- 1 tsp. Butter
- 1/4 cup Dried Tart Cherries, chopped
- 1 tsp. Olive Oil
- 1/2 Onion, diced
- 3 ribs Celery, diced
- 1 clove Garlic, minced
- 2 Tbs Pistachios, chopped
- Sage and Thyme, chopped
Combine the wild rice, chicken stock, and butter in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the cherries, cover, and reduce heat to medium. Simmer for 15 minutes, or until rice is tender.
Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a small pan. Sauté the onion, celery, and garlic for 5 minutes, or until softened. Add the sauteed vegetables and pistachios to the cooked rice and toss to combine. Season with sage and thyme.
Lemon and Black Pepper Pasta with Seared Scallops
| February 13, 2011 | Posted by Lauren Keating under Fish and Seafood, Indulge, Italian, Special Occasions, Weekend Meals |
After reading the article about Spaghetti al Limone in the most recent issue of Cooks Illustrated, I couldn’t wait to get into the kitchen. I figured anyone who spent that much time and effort trying to recreate a dish was clearly on to something, plus we all know how I feel about entrees that feature lemon….
Of course I’m never content to leave good enough alone, so I pulled out the pasta machine that I received a while ago and set out to make a special Valentine’s Day dish that was thoroughly infused with bright, lemon flavor. Topped with a few seared sea scallops, this pasta definitely didn’t disappoint — the only thing that could have make it better would have been to eat it at a table outside, steps away from the ocean.
No pasta machine? No Problem! While a machine definitely makes things a lot smoother, you can easily make this without one — just place the dough between two sheets of parchment paper and roll it to about 1/8-inch. Remove the paper and cut into thin, fettucini-like strands with a sharp knife or a pizza roller dipped in flour.
This was my first time using the machine (I have the Kitchen Aid press attachment, but I’ve never had good luck with it), and once I figured out what I was doing it was really easy. A few tips I picked up: Dough dries out quickly, so work with one piece at a time. Initially, I rolled all of my dough through the thickest setting of the roller, then all through the next setting, and so on. But it dried out too fast and I ended up having to throw a bunch of it out. I had much better luck when I started rolling each piece of dough to the level of thickness that I wanted and cutting it before I moved on to the next piece. I also found that the dough rolled the best when I cranked the machine at a steady, moderate speed. The instructions said to crank it slowly, but that resulted in weird, crinkly pasta (you can see them to the left in the photo below) — it still tasted great, but it wasn’t as pretty to look at.
Drying the pasta after its cut will help it to not clump together. I have this neat little tree to hang it on, but in the pat I’ve also hung pasta off of chopsticks or skewers suspended between two boxes or cans. It doesn’t take long to dry – 10 to 15 minutes is plenty.
Lemon and Black Pepper Pasta with Seared Scallops For the pasta: For the sauce: To make the pasta: Combine all ingredients in a food processor fitted with a dough blade. Pulse several times, until a ball of dough forms. The dough should be smooth and soft (similar to bread dough) but should not stick to your fingers — add more flour or water if needed to achieve the right texture. Divide the dough into 8 portions. Feed one portion of dough through your pasta machine or roll between two sheets of parchment paper until it is about 1/8-inch thick. Using the cutter attachment of your pasta machine or a sharp knife, cut into thin strands. Hang to dry, and repeat with remaining pieces of dough. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook for 3 minutes, or until done. Drain, reserving about 1/2 cup of pasta water. To make the sauce: Heat 2 Tbs of water in your now-empty pasta pot. Add the shallot and cook until softened. Stir in the cream and about half of the reserved pasta water. Add the cooked pasta back into your pot, and stir so that it is coated with cream. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, and cheese. Season to taste with sea salt and black pepper. Remove from heat, cover, and let stand for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the remaining Tablespoon of oil in a heavy pan over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, sear the scallops for three minutes on each side, or until a golden brown crust forms and the release easily form the pan. Mix the parsley into the pasta. Serve pasta topped with seared scallops. Approx. 650 calories, 35 grams fat, 47 grams carbohydrates, 6.5 grams fiber, 38 grams protein
Serves 2
*****
I’m submitting this to Presto Pasta Nights, which is being hosted this week by Pia of Cook Healthy.
****
Disclosure: I received the Norpro Pasta Machine and drying stand from Johnsonville Sausage months ago, while they were promoting their recipe contest. Unfortunately, that contest is long over and I’ve only just now gotten around to using the machine. First life got in the way and I was unable to cook, then I couldn’t find any Johnsonville sausage (only breakfast sausage, which doesn’t exactly go with pasta, and cheddar bratwurst, which kind of freaks me out). The, I just plain forgot that I had it. But now that I’ve used it, I love it! I(I can’t wait to use it to make lasagna!) So thanks, Johnsonville!
Garbure & A Ridiculously Delicious Challenge
| February 7, 2011 | Posted by Lauren Keating under Fall, French, One Pan, Quick Weeknight Meals, Soups and Stews, Winter |
Garbure is a ridiculous soup with an even more ridiculous name. It’s also one of the most delicious things I’ve ever eaten. With a half pound of proscuitto (and a smidge of bacon fat for good measure), how could it not be? Don’t worry though, in addition to all that porky goodness there’s enough healthy stuff to land this soup solidly in the “good choices” category of eating. Which is a good thing, considering if you’re anything like me you’ll be licking your bowl clean.
Proscuitto makes a great quick stock with subtle floral notes and reminds me of spring even as we dig ourselves out from under what must be the 50th snowstorm this winter, while a potato and some white beans cook down and let off so much creamy starch that its hard to believe that there’s no milk or cream in the recipe. Topped with blue cheese crumbles that take the flavor of this soup through the roof, this dish is rich, comforting, and filling.
I usually get tired of soup before I can finish all of the leftovers, but I ate every last drop of this and still wanted more. It’s a good thing it’s cheap an easy to make!
Garbure
Serves 6
- 1/2 pound Proscuitto, chopped
- 1 Tbs bacon fat (optional)
- 1 Onion, chopped
- 2 Garlic Cloves, minced
- 1 Bay Leaf
- Sage, Marjoram, and Thyme
- 1 white Potato, diced
- 4 cups Cannellini Beans, rinsed and drained
- 2 cups Fava Beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 cup Cabbage, chopped
- 3 ounces Blue Cheese Crumbles
Add all ingredients except the blue cheese to a large pot filled with 5 cups of water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes, or until the potatoes are soft. Season to taste with black pepper.
Ladle the soup into bowls and top with blue cheese crumbles.
*****
I’m submitting this recipe to Souper Sundays at Kahakai Kitchen!
****
Before I sign off for the night, I’ve been presented with a challenge. The guide to risotto rice I wrote at the end of last year won me an entry into the Marx Foods Ridiculously Delicious Challenge. Since other commitments prevented me from participating in Next Food Blog Star this past fall, I’m all about this opportunity to flex my creative culinary muscle (it’s also the kick in the butt that I need to get back into the kitchen and actually cook something. There’s been a lot of take out in this house the past few weeks.)
For the first challenge, I’m supposed to pick three items from the link above and say what ridiculously delicious thing I would do with them… the kicker is that these items become my prize if I win the entire challenge. Do you have any idea how much pressure that is? Or how difficult it is?
Everything seems to go together perfectly — making it next to impossible to limit my fantasy dish to just three items — but at the same time, I want the oysters and the duck, and try as I might I couldn’t figure out how to craft that mess of meat into a single meal. But what I really want is the sausage sampler. OMG I’m drooling just reading the descriptions! So what I would make with my three items is huckleberry-glazed semi-boneless quail with a side of lamb merguez sausage dressing/stuffing. It would be the most fantastic meal of my life… until the next day, when I would stuff my face with the remaining sausages, only taking breaks to wash them down with huckleberry margaritas. Healthy be damned.
Garbure
Serves 6
- 1/2 pound Proscuitto, chopped
- 1 Tbs bacon fat (optional)
- 1 Onion, chopped
- 2 Garlic Cloves, minced
- 1 Bay Leaf
- Sage, Marjoram, and Thyme
- 1 white Potato, diced
- 4 cups Cannellini Beans, rinsed and drained
- 2 cups Fava Beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 cup Cabbage, chopped
- 3 ounces Blue Cheese Crumbles
Add all ingredients except the blue cheese to a large pot filled with 5 cups of water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes, or until the potatoes are soft. Season to taste with black pepper.
Ladle the soup into bowls and top with blue cheese crumbles.
*****
I’m submitting this recipe to Souper Sundays at Kahakai Kitchen!
****
Before I sign off for the night, I’ve been presented with a challenge. The guide to risotto rice I wrote at the end of last year won me an entry into the Marx Foods Ridiculously Delicious Challenge. Since other commitments prevented me from participating in Next Food Blog Star this past fall, I’m all about this opportunity to flex my creative culinary muscle (it’s also the kick in the butt that I need to get back into the kitchen and actually cook something. There’s been a lot of take out in this house the past few weeks.)
For the first challenge, I’m supposed to pick three items from the link above and say what ridiculously delicious thing I would do with them… the kicker is that these items become my prize if I win the entire challenge. Do you have any idea how much pressure that is? Or how difficult it is?
Everything seems to go together perfectly — making it next to impossible to limit my fantasy dish to just three items — but at the same time, I want the oysters and the duck, and try as I might I couldn’t figure out how to craft that mess of meat into a single meal. But what I really want is the sausage sampler. OMG I’m drooling just reading the descriptions! So what I would make with my three items is huckleberry-glazed semi-boneless quail with a side of lamb merguez sausage dressing/stuffing. It would be the most fantastic meal of my life… until the next day, when I would stuff my face with the remaining sausages, only taking breaks to wash them down with huckleberry margaritas. Healthy be damned.
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