I use the term “stew” loosely in titling this recipe. The result is not so much a stew as a braise, as I use whole chicken thighs and the broth is rich and thick. However, I find it to be delicious and satisfying as a stand alone dish, and as I am always chatting with people looking for ways to cut back on carbohydrates, I thought I would offer this as a nice alternative to the chicken breast and broccoli meal.

Beans, often referred to as “slow” carbs, add a lot to a dish that doesn’t include pasta or grains. The fiber and protein aid in long term fullness, and they have a buttery flavor without adding fat. In this recipe, I chose to use cannellini beans as they have a sweet, mild flavor. Black eyed peas (rumored to be lucky) or giant white beans would also be delicious.

Finally, the addition of the eggplant makes this a hearty, thick stew and balances the savory flavor with a smokey sweetness. I cut my eggplant into small cubes and leave the skin on, both for the nutritional value and the color, but if you prefer, you can peel the eggplant before you cut it.  I also added Kale to this dish because I love it and I know it is so good for me.  To be honest, I add kale to just about as many dishes as I can get away with for both of those reasons.

For those of you who can’t do a meal without pasta or grains, throw the stew over your favorite pasta or some brown rice. Or, grab a crusty loaf of sourdough and call it dinner.  Either way, make extra because it’s even better left over.

Ingredients

• 6 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
• 1 large Italian eggplant, cut into 1 inch cubes
• 3 cups chopped kale
• 1 large onion, roughly chopped
• 4-5 cloves of garlic, peeled and cut into quarters
• 10 oz. crimini mushrooms, sliced
• 1 28 oz. can chopped tomatoes (or 3 cups chopped fresh tomatoes)
• 1 15 oz. can of cannellini beans (or 2 cups pre-soaked dry beans)
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme
• 2 tablespoons chopped basil
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 3 cups chicken stock
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons butter
• Salt and crushed red pepper to taste

In a heavy-bottom pot with a tight fitting lid (such as a dutch oven), heat the olive oil over medium high heat.  Season the chicken with salt and pepper.  Place it in the hot pot skin side down and do not touch it until the underside is well browned and slides easily in the pot.  Turn and brown on the other side.  Remove from the pan and set aside on a plate lined with a paper towel.

Add the butter, thyme, garlic, and onions.  Reduce the heat to medium and saute the onions until they become translucent and golden, about 7-8 minutes.  Add the cubes of eggplant and mushrooms.  Stir to coat with remaining oil and butter, season well with salt and add red pepper if desired, and then place the lid on the pot.  This will allow the eggplant to steam and cook through without adding more oil to the pan.  Every five minutes or so, remove the lid, give it a stir, and then cover again until the eggplant and mushrooms are soft and moist.

Add the chopped kale and stir well.  Add the wine and, with the lid off, allow it to reduce by at least half.  While the wine is reducing, scrape the bottom of the pan to deglaze. Once the wine has reduced, add the tomatoes, beans, and chicken stock.  Return the chicken thighs to the pot, covering each thigh completely in the liquid.  Cover the pot with the lid, and reduce the heat to low.  Cook on low for 45 minutes to an hour.

After 45 minutes to an hour, the chicken thighs should be tender enough that the meat should slip easily from the bone.  At this point, I like to (carefully) remove them from the cooking liquid, and with tongs and a fork remove the chicken meat from the bones.  I return the chicken meat to the liquid, stir in the chopped basil, and the stew is ready to serve.  Serves 4-6 people.

Sorry for not posting more lately.  Aimee and I are getting married very soon, and that means that our lives are literally consumed by planning and work with little time to do other things we love….like cook and write here on TFD.  In any case, tonight was one night that I did find some time to get some cooking done, and after our dear friends Katie and Tyson hooked up the Momofuku cookbook for a wedding gift, I’ve hardly been able to put it down.  Seriously, if you’re into Asian-influenced, just plain old downright dirty awesome grub, get the Momofuku cookbook.  It’s righteous and one fo the best books on cooking I’ve seen in quite a while.

One thing I dig about it is how quirky the chef David Chang is in his recipes – his constant use of Grapeseed oil (or other neutral oil), the funky stories that you can tell have come out of his totally organic growth and rise to popularity.  He’s humble and a bit overwhelmed at the recognition he’s received, and from his book alone it’s partly because his food appears honest.

Honest, simple food is something that I typically look for in a chef and in a cookbook.  With Chang and Momofuku, even when they get a little nuts and use transglutaminate (AKA meat glue) it’s accompanied by a cool story from his own experiences, which makes it seem more approachable as an ingredient.

This recipe was the first I’ve tried from the book and comes from the ‘Noodle Bar’ section of the book – which is sectioned off between the different Momofuku restaurants all in NYC (Ssam Bar and Ko are the others, and both considered more high end I believe).  This is the fried chicken recipe, which jumped out to me as I read the book, because of the uniqueness of the recipe.  No breading, and tossed in a vinaigrette, but brined and steamed first, instead of pre-baked or just fried from raw. Here’s how we did it.  First the brine:

• 4-5 cups water
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup salt

Now the Chicken itself:

• Sections of chicken, mostly dark meat – we used 6-8 thighs here, but you can use breasts too
• Garlic-ginger vinaigrette (recipe follows)
• Peanut oil for frying

For the vinaigrette:

• 2 Tbsp. finely chopped garlic
• 2 Tbsp. finely chopped ginger
• 1/4 cup light sesame oil
• 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
• 4-5 slices of pickled jalapenos (or other picked peppers) – diced
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• Fresh ground black pepper

Making this recipe is somewhat simple, though the cooking process is rather unique.  The basic process is 1) brine 2) steam and 3) fry.

For the brining step, simply combine all of the brine ingredients in a large bowl and stir until all of the salt and sugar are disolved.  Add the chicken, cover and let brine for between 1-3 hours in the fridge.

Once it’s done, pull the chicken out of the brine and pat dry with some paper towels.  Prepare a steamer on your stovetop and when the water begins to boil, add the chicken and cover with a lid that’s barely ajar.  Let the chicken steam for around 20-30 minutes or until it’s fully cooked through.

Meanwhile, you can whip up the vinaigrette by combining all ingredients besides the oil, then whisk in the oil at the end to emulsify.

Once the chicken is done, remove it from the steamer and let it rest.  Chef Chang in the book says to let it rest for up to a day or two, but as I didn’t really have time for this, I let it rest for around an hour before frying, but I think the longer you can let this go, the better it will end up.

When you’re ready to fry the chicken, prepare a wok or pot with peanut oil and heat to 375 F.  Add the chicken and fry for around 7 minutes or until the chicken gets a nice golden brown color.  Once it’s done, remove to paper towel lined plate, then toss with some if the vinaigrette and serve.  Enjoy!

Aimee got me a great cookbook for Christmas – Thomas Keller’s Ad Hoc At Home and I immediately really began to enjoy  the organic, seasonal recipe that were featured in the book.  This is one of the first recipes that caught my eye, so I wanted to make it.  Braised chicken perhaps doesn’t do as well in the braising pot as beef or pork, but when you can keep the skin crispy and have a delicious piece of dark meat, it’s awesome.

This dish combines some excellent flavors that aren’t typically found in your typical braise – the first of which has to be one of my favorite vegetables – Fennel.  There’s also some good olives and the infusion of some lemon zest which adds a great kick.

Plus, there’s just something wholly comforting about a braise in the winter.  It makes you whole house or apartment smell awesome, yet is easy to make and even better to eat.  I served this over some simply cooked egg noodles and topped it with the chicken and braising liquid which I cooked down a bit after the chicken was done. I also added bacon to the equation (how can you go wrong, right?) which added a certain richness.  This version of the dish serves 2, so double or triple it if you’re cooking for a larger group.  Here’s how it’s done:

Serves 2

• 4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
• 2 slices good quality bacon – cut into lardons
• 1/4 cup good dry white wine
• 1/2 – 1 cup good quality (low sodium) chicken stock (homemade preferred)
• 1 medium head fennel – stalks and end removed – layers separated and sliced lengthwise into 1/2″ spears
• 1 medium carrot – peeled and diced
• 1/2 a large yellow onion – diced
• 3 cloves garlic – diced
• 1/2 cup pitted green Spanish olives
• 2 peels of lemon zest (cut with a vegetable peeler)
• 1 tsp. red pepper flakes
• 1 dried bay leaf
• 1 tbsp. thyme leaves – off the stalks and chopped
• Splash of canola oil
• Salt to taste

Season the chicken with a little salt and preheat the oven to 375 F.  Prep the vegetables and heat a heavy bottomed braising pot or dutch oven over medium heat and add the canola oil.  When the oil is almost smoking, add the chicken, skin side down and cook for 5 minutes or so, until the skin nicely browned and crispy.  Flip and sear the skin on the other side for a minute or two.  Remove from the pot and place on a cooling wire rack or parchment paper.

Turn the heat down to medium/low and add the bacon.  Brown it for a few minutes and then add the onions and carrot. Cook the onion mixture for 5 minutes until they become soft and sticky.  Next add the fennel and garlic and cook for a solid 10 minutes until it becomes tender.

Turn up the heat a little bit and add in the wine and let the alcohol cook off for a couple minutes.  Next add in the olives, red pepper, lemon zest, bay leaf and thyme and stir to combine.  Taste the broth and season with salt as needs be.  Add in the chicken stock, then return the chicken to the pot skin side up and place into the oven.

Cook for around 15 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.  Remove the pot from the oven and turn on the broiler.  Place the chicken pot back into the oven under the broiler and crisp up the skin (making sure it’s out of the liquid) for a couple minutes being careful not to burn it.  Serve with the braising liquid over cooked egg noodles or rice or whatever you like.  Enjoy!

What’s not to like about Chicken rolled up with good ingredients inside and then baked or fried?  I’ve always liked the idea, so I decided to do my own spin on it and see how it went.

The results were pretty good (good enough to post here at least), and incorporated some very traditional cordon bleu ingredients, as well as a very non-traditional one in some fresh basil pesto.  Now that I think about it, the way I made this chicken cordon bleu makes me think that this recipe should belong to the Italians rather than the French, who are credited for the dish.

Try it and incorporate your own ingredients and let me know what you think.  Here’s my Italian Chicken roulade (or ‘cordon bleu’ if you like)  Here’s what I did:

Ingredients:

Serves 4

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• Around 1 cup Gruyere cheese – grated
• 6-8 thinly sliced pieces of Prosciutto
• 1/2 cup or so of basil pesto (see recipe below)

• 3 Tbsp. butter
• 2 organic eggs
• 6-8 sprigs of thyme
• 1 cup panko bread crumbs (more as needed)
• 1/2 cup flour (more as needed)
• Salt and pepper

Here’s the pesto ingredients:

• 2 cups basil – rinsed and dried (like lettuce)
• 4 Tbsp. pine nuts – toasted until medium brown
• 1/3 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 cloves fresh garlic – raw
• Extra virgin olive oil to bring together (about 1/3-1/2 cup)
• 1 tsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp lemon zest – grated on a microplane
• Salt to taste
• Dash of black pepper

Start by making the basil pesto, in advance if you can.  For the recipe, check out the basil pesto method in this post.  Basically, it’s pretty easy – do it in advance if you can, you’ll benefit form making it in advance, as the ingredients will come together overnight.

Next you can start with the chicken roulade.  The key with any roulade is to get the meat into a ‘roll-able’ shape.  The way I do this is to take the chicken breast and place it between two separate pieces of saran wrap and pond it with a meat mallet or rolling pin (what I use).  Make sure you pound it out very evenly, to around 1/4 inch thickness.  You want to make sure that the chicken breast is pounded very thin, but not ripped or torn at all.

Preheat the oven to 400 F.  You can now add the fillings to the chicken.  Remove the top saran wrap from the pounded chicken, but leave the bottom half below.  Start with the pesto – smear a thin layer of pesto onto the chicken over only 1/2 of the breast.  Make sure you use a decent amount of pesto (at least I do, because I really like the flavor of the basil).  Next, add the prosciutto, one layer at a time, try to use around 2 thin slices of prosciutto topped evenly over the pesto.  Next, add the Gruyere cheese on the top of the prosciutto.  It should all pile up on the lower half of the chicken breast.

You then want to roll the breast up into formation.  Start at the bottom of the breast where the fillings are.  Pick up the saran wrap and fold the bottom part of the chicken breast up to wrap up the fillings.  Pull back the saran wrap and roll the rest of the chicken up in full, leaving the saran wrap around the rolled breast.  You then want to wrap the breasts up tight inside the wrap and twist the ends up to seal the chicken up tightly.  Place the wrapped chicken in the fridge while you prepare the rest of the dish.

You should now set up the breading station.  Add the flour to a plate or bowl and season with salt and pepper.  Whisk the eggs with a splash of water and set them next to the flour.  You then want to add the thyme to the bread crumbs and place in a pan with the butter over medium heat and gently melt the butter into the bread crumbs.  Letting the bread crumbs cook a bit will help them brown in the oven.  Once you cook the crumbs a bit, move them to another plate.

Take the chicken out of the fridge and dredge in the flour, then move to the egg and lightly coat with egg mixture.  You then want to coat the chicken with the bread crumb mixture and place in an oven proof dish.  Bake the chicken in the heated oven for around 25-30 minutes, then remove and let rest for 5 minutes before serving.  I like to slice the chicken up and serve it over a vegetable dish like shredded Brussels sprouts or roasted sweet potatoes with rosemary.  Enjoy!

This is one of those recipes that I’ve been making for years.  In fact, chicken salad was something that I learned to do as a kid, when I preferred it over tuna salad, so I’d convince my Mom to get me canned chicken instead of canned tuna.  The recipe has evolved quite a lot over time, and eventually settles with these basic ingredients.  I’ll sometimes make this with some other things in it – artichoke hearts (not the pre-marinated sort) or some sort of nuts come to mind.  But my favorite types of chicken salad are heavily seasoned with herbs (basil, tarragon, sage, whatever) and include some sort of fruit – apples, cranberries or grapes perhaps, which I really think is key for sweetness.  Chicken salad in my mind should be that classic combination of salty (from the chicken, sauce, and nuts) and sweet (from the fruit).

That being said, the real secret to chicken salad is the way you cook the chicken.  Don’t let other people fool you, take some time and care cooking your chicken when you make chicken salad.  Don’t just boil pre-cut breasts that you buy at the supermarket.  Buy a whole chicken and roast it in your oven – like my friend Tyson just did in this post.  When you roast your own chicken and leave come of the skin on (the breast skin that is nicely browned), it gives the chicken salad an awesome caramelized flavor that I love.  Tyson’s method of cooking chicken inspired me to make this chicken salad, and trust me, roasting chicken for it will make a big difference.

Tarragon is another herb that is so classic in this dish.  If you’ve never used tarragon, it’s flavor is reminiscent to licorice, stronger than fennel, but really good (and I don’t really care for licorice candy).  I recommend using fresh tarragon instead of dried, and also adding some basil.  You can also use sage or oregano or any herb of your choice.  The dressing here is super simple and heavy on the lemon.  Seven ingredients total and 2 of them are salt and pepper.  Here’s how it goes:

• 1 whole roasted chicken – see this post – or a combination of 2 breasts and 2 thighs – roasted and cooled in the fridge
• 1 granny smith apple – diced
• 1 small onion – small dice
• 2 stalks celery – diced
• 2-3 Tbsp. fresh tarragon – chopped
• 5-6 large basil leaves
• Salt and fresh ground pepper

For the Dressing:

• 1/2 – 3/4 cup good mayonnaise
• 2 Tbsp Dijon mustard (or any mustard you like)
• A few dashes of Tabasco (or other) hot sauce (1 tsp.)
• A few dashes of Worcestershire sauce (1 tsp.)
• 3 Tbsp (around 3/4 to a whole) lemon juice
• Salt and pepper to taste

Start by chopping your vegetables and tossing them into a bowl and mixing them up to combine them.  Then start on picking the chicken.  I like to remove all of the skin that hasn’t been browned, but leaving the skin that has turned that classic, delicious color.  Basically, it you’d be tempted to eat the skin with the chicken you’ve cooked, put it in the salad!  Pick all of the chicken off of the bones, chop it keeping it the size of your liking and add it to a bowl with all the rest of the chopped veggies.

Meanwhile, mix the mustard, Tabasco and Worcestershire together.  Add in the mayo, salt and pepper and lemon juice and mix to combine.  Adjust seasoning as necessary.  I really like a good amount of pepper in this…and add more Tabasco if you like your chicken salad a little spicier.  Add the herbs to the veggies, mix to combine – then add the dressing and mix together.  You can adjust the seasoning as you like, adding more mayo or mustard or herbs or whatever.

I really like to serve this by shredding some romaine lettuce, cutting it super thin and mixing that into the chicken salad.  Almost like having a salad with chicken salad in it…yum!  Of course, the classic sandwich presentation isn’t bad either.  Have fun and enjoy!

For some reason it never occurs to me to roast a chicken at home.  It certainly isn’t a tricky prospect, I just never think to, and so the other night I did.  I was pretty happy with the results, but as ever, it all comes down to the quality of the product.  Our eleven dollar chicken was a free range, air dried bird the we picked up at Whole Foods, as was all the veg.  I’m really partial to air dried poultry if you are roasting them.  Air drying makes it easy to achieve that perfect crispy skin without a convection oven.  To accompany the bird we opted for a simple potato salad.

There are a few key ingredients that you’ll need.  As you can see in the picture, one is a magnum of Champagne.  While we didn’t cook with any of it, upon the recommendations of Julia Child and Fernand Point, we had one on hand anyway.  The others you see are tarragon, thyme, chives, shallots, leeks, garlic, carrot, a bottle of Vouvray (to pair with the chicken once the champagne was done), bacon, and my favorite secret ingredient, Kewpie mayonnaise.

So, to start, we made the potato salad using small Yukon Gold potatoes (Yukon “C” potatoes if your market uses the standard grading sizes).  I like to cook them with the skins on.  The boys at the Fat Duck in Bray, England have done a lot of research on cooking potatoes and have shown that potato skins contain a substantial amount of what we recognize as potato flavor, though they like to peel their potatoes, put the peelings in cheese cloth and cook them with the potatoes to remove any textural contrast.  Either way, start the potatoes in lightly salted cold water over medium heat (it’s easier on starch conversion if you use cold water instead of hot).  To test the doneness, insert a paring knife into one of the potatoes and lift it from the water.  If the potato immediately falls off the knife, you’re done.  HOWEVER.  I like to cook my potatoes for another two to three minutes.  My reasoning is that by overcooking the potatoes just slightly, I will have a little bit of broken down potato starch to thicken whatever dressing I add to the potatoes.  And more to the point, that’s how I like my potato salad to taste.

Once cooled, chop your potatoes into bite size pieces.  To the potatoes we added some chopped celery, shallot, red onion, and rendered bacon (what the French call Lardons). Please, please don’t throw out the grease left from cooking the bacon (or for that matter any other cooking liquid you may encounter).  To dress the potatoes we made a slight variation on a basic vinaigrette.  By most cookbook standards a vinaigrette is two to three parts oil, one part vinegar.  We opted for one part mild olive oil, one part assertive olive oil, one part rendered bacon fat, and one part champagne vinegar, a tablespoon of mustard, an egg yolk for richness, some chopped tarragon, thyme, and chives.  I whisked this all together and then my inclination for all foods Asian, snuck in with a generous helping of Kewpie mayonnaise.  Kewpie can be found in most Asian markets in a non-descript transparent bottle with a red cap (see the pictures).  It is flat out delicious.

On to the chicken.  Essentially any time I roast chicken, I slip some kind of aromatics under the skin, a very classic French approach.  We used tarragon, thyme, chive, marjoram, and shallots.  Start by mincing the shallot and chopping all of the herbs.  Mix the herbs and shallot with a pinch of salt and ground black pepper.  Now, very gently lift the skin of the bird at the top of the breast, near the cavity.  Using a very slight pressure, slide your hand back and forth between the skin and meat of the bird.  The skin will release slightly, but be careful not to tear any holes.  Work your way forward until you have reached the wishbone.  I try to leave the skin attached at the keel bone (the bone running in between the two breasts) as that helps the skin shrink back around the bird easier.  Once you have loosened the skin, generously rub your aromatic mix between the skin and meat.

If you are going to be presenting this bird to a crowd (or are an OCD chef), I recommend trussing the bird.  The best description for this is given in The French Laundry Cookbook, and I won’t bother with it here.  It just makes for a more even roast, and a fantastic look.  I also like to roast the bird on a bed of vegetables (onion, carrot, leek, celery, thyme, marjoram), as well as a glass of the Vouvray that we will be drinking with dinner.  All the drippings from the bird and vegetables will be collected for the sauce.

Once on its bed of veg, take a small stick of butter and lightly rub it over the skin (the butter fat will help in the evaporation process and render the skin more crispy, not to mention all those caramelized milk solids).  Place the bird in a 425 degree oven.  Roasting times will vary, but every six or seven  minutes, pull the bird out, and rub it with the stick of butter.  Our bird was a little over four pounds and took around thirty five minutes to cook.  To check your bird, insert a thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh (the slowest part of the bird to heat up).  When the thermometer reads between 140 and 145, pull the bird and let it rest on the counter for fifteen minutes.  The residual heat will carry the internal temp up to nearly 160 degrees without drying out the bird.

While the bird is resting, take the all the drippings and the veg that the bird was cooked on, and press them through a strainer.  Add a little chicken stock (I don’t recommend store bought stock, but if you do use it, be sure it has no salt added, and cook it until it has reduced by half, in order to concentrate the flavor).  Bring this to a simmer and add three to four tablespoons of the best quality whole cream you can find.  I personally like Strauss Family Creamery, but unless you are in Nor Cal, it could be hard to come by.  Bring to a simmer and add some chopped tarragon, as well as salt and pepper to taste.  Turn off the heat.

Now slice up the bird and serve.  The thighs should still be somewhat pink.  If they aren’t, then the bird is over cooked, and the breast meat will be bone dry.  I know it is contrary to the FDA and everything your third grade school nurse taught, but if you source your products as we all should, there is nothing to worry about.  Do watch out for pups though.  Robbie nearly knocked the table over because his tail was wagging so hard.

Check out some of Tyson’s other posts:

• Friends in the Industry
• Cooking Well
• Spoiled in San Francisco

Our crew of friends loves food and loves to cook.  A lot of what we do socially revolves around a meal of some sort, be it potlucks or restaurant club meetings.  So with it being Taylor’s birthday this past Monday, he decided what better way to celebrate than a potluck with a bunch of good food.  What transpired was fairly typical, all delicious and loads of fun.  I have become a great fan of potlucks and recommend hosting them to anyone who loves to cook and talk food!

So the obvious question on my mind was what to make and bring.  I’ll be honest, I’m a fan of small plates or appetizers – one biters.  If I’m hosting the potluck, then I’ll usually opt for doing a protein or some sort of more of a main dish type of thing.  But I was going over to a friends, so I decided to do an app instead.

Having still a ton of garlic from a recent visit to Costco, I whipped up a bunch of roasted garlic paste the night before and decided to integrate it into the dish: scallops wrapped with prosciutto with the garlic paste and a little basil.  Pretty simple recipe actually:

• 12 or so scallops – I halved them because I was serving apps…up to you what to do
• 6-8 thin slices of prosciutto
• 4-5 large basic leaves, julianned
• 1/2 c. roasted garlic paste

Pretty simple assembly: Take 1/4 of a slice of prosciutto (use a sharp knife to cut it), smear a little of the garlic paste on it, add a little piece of basil, and wrap it around a scallop like a burrito.  If you see a little of the scallop hanging out, that’s fine, but you want to make sure the pieces of prosciutto are long enough to wrap around the whole scallop.  Then, in a hot pan, add a little oil and sear them on both sides for a few minutes, but try not to overcook.  Once the prosciutto becomes a little crispy, they should be done.

–

So the scallops were served with a whole bunch of other dishes for starters, and then we hit up the main courses: braised cabbage (recipe coming soon), Johnny’s spicy jambalaya, Amanda’s stuffed bread (which got eaten so fast I missed out on a piece, grumble, grumble), Tim’s BBQ steak tips (amazing) and most impressively: Matt’s whole roasted stripped bass – a local fish and favorite.

This thing came out so delicious, I’m still thinking about it today.  It was well seasoned and surrounded by root and other vegetables that did well by gaining some of the fish’s flavor in the pan.  I was lucky enough to grab a cheek of the fish, which was succulent and delicious.  The whole thing was great and made for a really fun and interesting presentation.  I’ve never actually roasted a whole fish like this.  I cooked trout after catching them on the grill, but this bass was about 4 times the size of your average rainbow trout.  Just one of those great presentations and cooking methods that ensured the fish stayed moist.

Another great idea was the BBQ steak tips, which were really good to me, as I don’t eat steak much, but these were cooked perfectly – on the medium rare side, which I enjoy and that awesome BBQ sauce crusty char that you get from the grill.  Johnny Mac made some really good and spicy jambalaya, which had chicken and sausage and some good slow heat to it.  Tomato based rice with lots of good spices are always good in my book and this didn’t dissapoint.  Awesome meal and great potluck overall.

My first experience at Oleana, the fantastic restaurant in the Inman Square Neighborhood of Cambridge, MA was with our restaurant club.  Our friend Amanda Bellino picked the spot, and I’m quite happy she did.  This place is straight up wholesome and insanely delicious in every way.  Part of the appeal is the fact that the head chef Ana Sortun and her husband get all of their ingredients during the growing season from their very own farm – Siena Farms in Sudbury, MA.  Need I say more?  This is a family that is literally growing the food that they then turn around and make into amazing middle eastern inspired dishes at their restaurant.  Awesome.

The food stands up too.  I took my mom back there for a little birthday dinner when she was in town, which is when I had this chicken that I decided to try to reproduce – chicken under a brick.  For the record, this is actually the third dish from the restaurant that I’ve attempted to reproduce, with moderate success.  This one though, is probably the easiest to do and also the most delicious.

There are two main pieces to this recipe that makes it so good: First, the rub that you put on the chicken – it has to be flavors that you love.  Oleana uses Za’atar – the popular middle eastern spice blend that typically includes thyme, marjoram, oregano, cumin, coriander and sometimes sumac, among other exotic things.  I decided to try to make my own Za’atar, with a few variations.

The second piece of this chicken puzzle is the cooking method: under the brick.  The brick should be on the heavy side and when you start cooking the chicken in an extremely hot cast iron skillet and put the brick on it, it makes the skin of the chicken super crispy, as if its been deep fried.  The result is a quick cooking time and really moist, delicious chicken.  Here’s how it goes down:

• 4-6 chicken thighs – skin on but de-boned.  See if you can get your butcher to do this.  If not, bone-in is ok too.
• Za’atar spice blend – play around with this at your will, I did:
• 2 Tbsp. paprika
• 1 Tbsp. cayenne
• 2 Tbsp. dried thyme
• 1 Tbsp. coriander
• 1 Tbsp. cumin
• 1 Tbsp. fennel seed – toasted (toasted fennel seed is awesome)
• 2 Tbsp. sesame seeds – toasted
• 2 Tbsp. Salt
• Vegetable or canola oil
• 2-3 Bricks – You can use just one and rotate it too, but it’s easier with multiple bricks.  Wrap them in aluminum foil, unless they’re very clean!

Combine the Za’atar spices in a mortar and pestle, until they’re pretty well blended.  Rub the chicken down with the stuff, focusing on the skin side, but well coating the chicken at the same time.  Let the chicken sit with the spice rub on it for an hour at least, and for many hours if your time allows.

For the cooking step, a key here is the pan – it should be really heavy bottomed like cast iron or even a dutch oven and you want to have a pretty tight fitting lid.  If you don’t have a lid, then preheat your oven at 400 F.  Heat the pan over medium high heat, and add the oil.  You don’t want to add the chicken until you can almost see the oil smoking – really hot.  When you reach that point, put the chicken in – skin side down and place a single brick over 2 of the thighs.  Repeat until the chicken is all covered with bricks.  Do this step in segments if you don’t have enough room in the pan.

Flip the chicken when the skin of the first side becomes pretty dark and crispy.  Once you flip the chicken to the other side, cover the pan with the lid or put it into the oven.  The lid will create an oven effect and let the chicken cook through better.  The chicken is done when it reaches an internal temperature of around 165F.  Once you pull the chicken, let it rest for at least 10 minutes before serving.  I paired this dish with some califlower cooked with come of the Za’atar, dried cranberries, almonds, onions and garlic.  Turned out really good.

Here are some other Za’atar Chicken Recipes:

• Brooklyn Enthusiast
• Kitchen Caravan
• Sarah Cooks

Tonight was one of those nights when there wasn’t much in the house, it was raining all day, and I didn’t feel like venturing back out into the night to face the perils of the grocery store. I was rummaging through the pantry and I had, luckily, defrosted some chicken, and with only a few ingredients I whipped up this dish. It turned out to be better than I expected: cozy, full of flavor, and an excellent way to make two bone-in chicken breasts feed four people. I will definitely be making this again.

The Chicken:

Ingredients:

• Two bone-in, split breast chicken breasts
• 1-2 tablespoons of flour
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 small or one large onion, sliced (red or white or both)
• 4 – 5 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped

• 1 large eggplant, peeled in one inch cubes
• 2 tablespoons of tomato paste
• 1 small can of whole tomatoes in sauce (I prefer San Marzano)
• 2 cups of red wine
• 2 cups of chicken stock
• crushed red pepper (to taste)
• 2 tablespoons of capers
• Salt and pepper

Begin by seasoning the chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Lightly coat with the flour. In a dutch oven, or a deep pot that has a lid, brown the chicken breasts, one side at a time, in the olive oil over high heat (this usually takes about 5 minutes per side). Remove the chicken breasts from the pan.

In the same pan, add the onions and about a teaspoon of salt and cook until they begin to become translucent, stirring as necessary. Add the garlic and the eggplant. If you want to taste spice, add the crushed red pepper now.

Cook the vegetables until the eggplant starts to soften, about three or four minutes. Add the tomato paste and the wine. Stir until the tomato paste is dissolved, thickening the wine. Cook about four or five minutes, or until much of the alcohol cooks off. Add the tomatoes and the chicken stock. Stir to combine. Add the browned chicken breasts to the liquid. Cover and cook over low heat for about 45 minutes. Add the capers and serve!

Parmesan Orzo

This is a great and simple side dish for any braised dish. Try substituting the parsley with poppy seeds for a different rendition with great texture.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups orzo

• 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, or butter, or both
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1 clove of garlic, crushed using a garlic press
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
• Salt and crushed red pepper to taste

Cook the orzo pasta until al dente and drain. Add the remaining ingredients. Stir and serve immediately.

Although I have no Italian blood in me, my culinary gene does.  My mother grew up with an Italian step-mom who, along with many classic cookbooks, taught her most of what she knows about cooking. Donna, my step-grandmother, was a quintessential Italian woman:  short, thin, brown hair and huge brown eyes, and a genius with any sort of pasta dish.

Though I only knew her for the first seven or eight years of my life, prior to discovering how much I love to cook, I have a bond with her that can only be passed down through food.  Since I spent most of my adolescent years cooking with my mother every evening, my foundation of knowledge about food is rooted in traditional Italian cuisine.  For that reason, I always feel comforted by anything Italian and it is my instinct to prepare it for guests.  Donna would be proud.

Chicken piccata is a classic Italian dish and, unlike some of the other commonly prepared Italian chicken dishes, this one won’t take you all afternoon.  The simple sauce and beautifully browned chicken never fails to impress those who try it.  Serve it with a little pasta, or prepare a nice green side dish for a comforting and satisfying meal.

Ingredients:

• Four boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• Two Tbsp. of all-purpose flour
• One tsp. of paprika
• Half a tsp. of cayenne pepper (this addition came after my grandmother, and can certainly be omitted for non-spice lovers).
• One tsp. of salt
• Half a tsp. of fresh ground black pepper
• Two to three Tbsp. of capers with a splash of caper juice
• Juice of one lemon
• Optional:  A splash of dry white wine
• One Tbsp. of butter
• Three Tbsp. of olive oil

Begin my mixing all of the dry ingredients, including the flour, paprika, cayenne, and salt and pepper together in a small bowl. Next, place the chicken breasts in between two layers of wax paper (the butcher paper will work too).  Pound the chicken away from the center until it is about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch thick.  Liberally dust the chicken with the flour and spice mixture.

In a large, skillet (preferably not non-stick), heat up the butter and oil over medium high heat.  Place the chicken breast in the pan and don’t touch it for five to six minutes, or until it is a nice golden brown.  Then, flip the chicken breast and brown the other side for an additional four to five minutes.  Remove the chicken breasts and place in a low heat oven (~200 degrees).

Add the juice of one lemon (or a bit more if the lemon is not very juicy) and a splash of dry white wine into the pan with the drippings from the chicken.  Stir to de-glaze and lower the heat.  Cook on low until the lemon juice and wine thicken from the flour left in the pan.  Add the capers.  Pour the sauce over the chicken and serve.

Serves four.