easy

June in the Kitchen – Pesto Chicken
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June in the Kitchen – Pesto Chicken

Pesto Chicken

Pesto Chicken

Once summer begins my thoughts turn to easy, simple dishes that highlight outdoor cooking and the wonderful produce that is available this time of year. That doesn’t mean that a regular weeknight meal needs to be fancy or take time, grilled chicken and a sliced tomato salad sounds like heaven. But, what do you do midweek when you don’t want to fire up the grill and the troops need dinner NOW?

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Enter the Breville Panini Press and Grill. I know, you don’t want any more appliances. I understand, I’m trying to cut out unnecessary electric appliances that just sit in the top of my cabinets too. But this one is different. It has earned its keep in my house for quick snacks or dinners, we are now on our second the first having burned out after several years of regular use. It makes the best grilled sandwiches in the world. How would you like a Sunday brunch sandwich with ham and cheese and a fried egg? Yes, us too. And, it grills chicken breasts perfectly without drying them out. You can also use it for chopped meat patties, although I haven’t done that much. What makes it different from other grills is that the top adjusts to the thickness of the food being grilled, you don’t overcook the back corner because the top isn’t flat (that happens in a George Foreman). You can also control the temperature for the food being cooked.

It would make a wonderful wedding gift. It’s great for parties, simply lay out a variety of breads, meats, spreads, and cheeses and let your guests create their own custom paninis. Once cooked, cut them into small pieces and hand them around. Let everyone vote on their favorite combination.

Grilled Chicken with Pesto

Grilled Chicken with Pesto

Grilled Chicken with Pesto

  •  1 chicken breast half for each person, boned but skin on if possible (I used one whole breast with the skin)
  • 1/5 cup of home-made or commercial pesto sauce
  • Extra garlic, minced if you like garlic (unless pesto is freshly made)
  • Olive oil
  • Salt to taste
  1. If you love garlic like our family, add an extra minced clove to the pesto. I have pesto in the freezer from last year and it has lost its heat although it is still good. Almost time to make more.
  2. Rub the chicken breast with the pesto, spreading some under the skin. Brush with a olive oil and salt lightly.
  3. Preheat your panini maker or stove top grill.
  4. Add the chicken breast, close the lid and cook until no longer pink in the middle.
  5. This will take about 5-10 minutes on the grill, depending on the thickness of the chicken. If frying in a stove top grill, use medium hight heat and turn after about 10 minutes. If browning too quickly, turn down the heat.
  6. Let the chicken cool for 5 minutes then slice thinly to serve.
Grilled Chicken with Pesto

Grilled Chicken with Pesto

The skin was brown and crisp and the meat still juicy.

March in the Kitchen – Obe’s Chicken
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March in the Kitchen – Obe’s Chicken

This recipe came to me via a long time friend of my parents, Obe. He had retired to Florida from a long career traveling the world in the merchant marines. Obe was a character (understatement), told wonderful stories, and threw great parties. His recipe has been in my files for decades. It seems timeless, and I return to it again and again when I want something simple but impressive. Do you have those as well? What are your timeless recipes? Obe’s Chicken is simple but it’s a winner because of the presentation. My mother called it “Game Hens Obe” because Obe made it with halved Cornish game hens. I’ve adapted the recipe (the first spring asparagus was too inviting and the game hens were all frozen). The original recipe called for halved game hens, small baking onions, and lightly steamed green beans. That’s the way Obe served it. The sumac is my own addition, I like the slight lemony flavor and lovely color. You could easily leave it out without compromising any flavor.

This is the perfect introduction to spring, an attractive platter full of lovely colors and aromas. The recipe is easily doubled or tripled and could be the centerpiece of a large dinner party. It’s time for your best china and stemware.

Chicken Obe

(serves 4-6)

Chicken Obe

Chicken Obe

  •  6 chicken leg/thigh pieces or 3 game hens, halved
  • 6 Plum tomatoes (one for each serving), may substitute whole canned plum tomatoes
  • 12 large shallots or small boiling onions
  • 1 tablespoon ground sumac
  • 1 tablespoon sweet paprika
  • Kosher salt 
  • Freshly ground pepper
  • 4 tablespoons of olive oil
  • 1 bunch of asparagus, tough ends snapped off and peeled if necessary
  • 1 tablespoon of brown sugar
  • splash of wine vinegar
  1. Dry the chicken with paper towels and put into a large bowl. Rub with the sumac, paprika, and 1 teaspoon of salt. Cover and refrigerate for an hour or overnight.
  2. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
  3. Peel the shallots or onions.
  4. Skin the tomatoes (if using fresh) by dropping them into boiling water for 30 seconds. Drain and cool, the skins should easily peel off. Leave them whole.

    Plum tomatoes ready to peel

    Plum tomatoes ready to peel

  5. Line a roasting pan with foil, put a rack in the pan to keep the chicken above the juices (I used a couple of cake cooling racks). Place the chicken on the racks in a single layer.

    Chicken with Shallots, ready for the oven

    Chicken with Shallots, ready for the oven

  6. Drop the shallots or onions into the bowl which had contained the chicken, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and roll them around to cover with any residual spice mix. Add them to the roasting pan with the chicken, nestling them among the chicken pieces. Brush the chicken with any olive oil remaining in the bowl. Bake in middle part of the oven for 45 minutes. Check to see if cooked through (game hens could take longer depending on their size).
  7. Meanwhile rinse the asparagus and place in a single layer on a parchment lined baking pan. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Roast in the oven with the chicken for the final 12 minutes.
  8. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a medium skillet, preferably non-stick, on medium heat. Add the tomatoes and cook, turning occasionally, until they are beginning to soften. Remove with a slotted spoon to a bowl.

    Italian plum tomatoes

    Italian plum tomatoes

  9. When the chicken is done, remove from the oven and carefully add any juices to the skillet where the tomatoes were cooked. Bring to a boil, add the sugar and continue to cook until it turns syrupy. Add a splash of wine vinegar.
  10. Carefully add the tomatoes (plus any accumulated juices) and shallots (or onions) from the baking pan to the skillet to warm and coat with the sauce.

    Sauce

    Sauce

  11. Spread the asparagus on a warm platter, top with the chicken, then the tomatoes and shallots. Pour any sauce over all.
Chicken with asparagus, tomatoes, and shallots.

Chicken with asparagus, tomatoes, and shallots.

Serve each person a portion of asparagus, chicken, a tomato, and two shallots.

Baked Chicken Obe

Baked Chicken Obe

I’m taking a platter to the party at Fiesta Friday hosted by Angie at the Novice Gardener.

Fiesta Friday

Fiesta Friday

November in the kitchen – slow simmered beef stew
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November in the kitchen – slow simmered beef stew

Slow Simmered Beef Stew

This recipe could be the answer to “what’s for dinner” when you have a busy afternoon (holiday shopping?), but want something warming and filling. There will be wonderful smells when you walk into your kitchen at the end of the day. It cooks for 5 hours completely unattended. Try it; the results are delicious and good enough for company. The original idea came from a cookbook (mine now well-used, stained, and tattered) called Cold-Weather Cooking by Sarah Leah Chase. She was one of the co-authors of the Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook. She lives in Nantucket and the recipe is perfect for stormy, cold evenings.

Quick and easy beef stew

Slow Simmered Beef Stew

Slow Simmered Beef Stew (6-8 servings)

You will need:

  • 2 ½ to 4 lbs. of lean beef stew meat, cut into 1 – 1 ½ inch cubes
  • 6-8 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks the size as the meat
  • 6-8 shallots, peeled and left whole
  • 3 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 tablespoon fresh thyme
  • 1 tablespoon herbs de Provence
  • 2 teaspoons freshly ground pepper
  • 2 ½ cups of spicy vegetable juice (use regular if you prefer it less spicy)
  • ½ cup of hearty red wine
  • 1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard
  • 2 tablespoons of light brown sugar
  • 3 ½ tablespoons of tapioca, I used Minute Tapioca
Slow cooked beef stew

preparation for slow cooked beef stew

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  1. Preheat your oven to 275 degrees F
  2. In a large mixing bowl combine the beef with all the vegetables. Season with the garlic and herbs. No, you don’t need to pre-brown the meat! I know, I didn’t believe it either but I’ve made this many times and it works.
  3. In a small bowl whisk together the vegetable juice, wine, mustard, brown sugar, and tapioca, making sure to dissolve the sugar and tapioca. Add this mixture to the meat and vegetables, stir to blend well.
  4. Transfer the stew to a large casserole or Dutch oven. Cover tightly and cook 5 hours without opening the lid or disturbing. You can serve this directly or refrigerate overnight and reheat the next day.

Use your imagination as far as vegetables. I used carrots and shallots this time. In the past, I’ve added turnips, potatoes, parsnips, boiling onions, kohlrabi, and elephant garlic. Use this recipe as your canvas for what you find at the market or in your garden.

I served this with a simple mash of parsnips and potatoes (about half potatoes and half parsnips), flavored with a bit of butter, a couple of tablespoons of cream, and some horseradish for a punch.

If you have some, serve the pickled mustard seeds on the side. I did and it was a good counterpoint to the richness of the meat.

Easy Beef Stew

Easy Beef Stew with Potato/Parsnip and Horseradish mash

Add a salad freshly gathered from the garden, you have an easy weeknight dinner which feels much fancier than it is.

Note: I would not transfer this recipe to a slow cooker, it will have far too much liquid. Slow cooker recipes need an entirely different formula for success. Also, please check your tapioca label if you need this recipe to be gluten free, not all of them are. Minute Tapioca is gluten free.

November in the kitchen – Pot of Chocolate
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November in the kitchen – Pot of Chocolate

My friends know I don’t do dessert. I’m happy with cheese and bread, or chocolates and candied ginger, or both. However, I realize that not everyone is of the same ilk. If you are coming to my house for dinner and want to bring something, dessert it is, almost always. There are some fabulous bakers among my friends; their creations are always a hit. I never turn down dessert, as long as I don’t have to make it.

Don’t you think folks fall into two groups, those whose weakness is sweet and those who love salty things? I’m in the later category. Don’t put a bowl of chips in front of me…gone! It’s embarrassing. I like salty, crunchy foods.

However, to get back to dessert and Pot of Chocolate, everyone needs an easy quick delicious dessert in their back pocket. This one is my ‘go to’ recipe. I do love chocolate! The original source is a little book titled “Appendix to the I Hate to Cook Book”. It was published in 1966, written by Peg Bracken, who died in 2007 at the age of 89. The 60’s were the days of Julia Child; this book was for the anti-Julia Child group. Ms. Bracken wrote for reluctant cooks like herself, who knew that some activities — particularly childbearing, paying taxes and cooking — “become no less painful through repetition.” Her book, she wrote, was “for those of us who want to fold our big dishwater hands around a dry martini instead of a wet flounder.”

Of all things, my mother introduced me to the book, she of the classical French cooking school. She could sure cook, but she wasn’t a snob. She made this chocolate mousse for large parties (and never gave out the recipe). So you, my friends, are getting one of the family secrets.

The “I Hate” books are still in print and are fun to read for their irreverent backlash to spending hours in the kitchen.

Ms. Bracken calls this by the fancy name “Pot-de-Chocolat”.

Pot of Chocolate (serves 8)

  • 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
  • 1 ¼ scalded light cream or half and half
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 3 tablespoons brandy or run or your choice of liqueur
Coffee Nibs - Pot of Chocolate

Coffee Nibs – Pot of Chocolate

  1. Put the chocolate chips into the bowl of your blender; add the scalded milk, egg yolks and liqueur.
  2. Turn on the blender to high and blend until everything is smooth and creamy
  3. Pour into small teacups or serving dishes (this is very rich, you don’t need very much to satisfy a sweet tooth)
  4. Chill for at least 3 hours, it will firm up as it cools
  5. Garnish with whatever you have at hand…maybe a dollop of whipped cream, or a fresh raspberry, or a piece of candied ginger, a few toasted almonds, or a curl of chocolate. It’s also very good just plain, as-is.

Presentation wise this lends itself to any event you have planned…earthy or fancy.

Pots of Chocolate

Pots of Chocolate

Pot of Chocolate

Pot of Chocolate

 

Does your taste run to sweet or salty?

I’m hoping that you have all recovered from your Halloween sugar high and are ready for more. So, I’m taking this to party with Angie from the Novice Gardener for Fiesta Friday #41, and Full Plate Thursday hosted by Miz Helen’s Country Cottage, and Mouthwatering Monday hosted by Rachel at Southern Fairytale. Come join us at the party.

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I am very excited to be featured in this week’s Fiesta Friday. Thank you Angie.  Don’t miss the fantastic dessert created by Angie at the The Novice Gardener in honor of the movie “The Grand Budapest Hotel”.

Fiesta Friday I was featured