Thomas Keller's Fried Chicken

The Mister works in Beverly Hills, right next to Bouchon. One day he was walking though the courtyard near Bouchon and saw Thomas Keller having a lunch meeting. They locked eyes and gave each other the gentleman's nod, but if I could go back in time I would make Adam go over there and tell Thomas Keller that we own a blow torch because of him. We'll talk about Blow Torch Prime Rib another time, I promise.

Point is, Thomas Keller rules, and I love that Adam catches glimpses of him every so often. I have two of his cookbooks (French Laundry and Ad Hoc at Home) and they are the most gorgeous cookbooks that I own. The very first recipe in Ad Hoc at Home is for buttermilk fried chicken and it's outstanding. Truly a SND, lots of steps but a big payoff!

The first trick is to brine the chicken. You brine that Thanksgiving turkey, don't you? So why not brine all poultry? It makes such a difference! The brine seasons the chicken and helps it stay incredibly moist. Thomas recommends you brine this chicken for 12 hours (but no more, or the chicken will be too salty). If you're like me and are too lazy to make the brine the night before, get up early in the morning so that the brine has time to chill before you use it. My chicken brined for about seven hours and was delicious - so tender and juicy and lemony.

In a large stockpot, combine 5 halved lemons, 12 bay leaves, 1 bunch of fresh parsley, 1 bunch of fresh thyme, 1/2 cup of honey, 1 head of garlic (halved lengthwise), 1/4 cup black peppercorns, 2 cups of Diamond Crystal kosher salt (the preferred salt of Thomas and myself, if you have a different kind use exactly 10 ounces - Diamond Crystal is considerably lighter than most kosher salts like Morton's), and 2 gallons of water. Give everything a big stir, and bring to a boil. Take the pot of off the heat and cool completely, then chill before you use it.  Now get yourself two 2 1/2 pound chickens and have the butcher (go to Whole Foods!) cut it up for you. Add your chicken to the chilled brine and refrigerate for up to 12 hours. After that time, remove the chicken from the brine and rinse under cold water, then dry with paper towels. Do this an hour and a half before you start the rest of the recipe, you want the chicken to come up to room temp.

Time to make the coating! In a mixing bowl, combine 6 cups all purpose flour, 1/4 cup of garlic powder, 1/4 cup of onion powder, 1 heaping tablespoon of paprika, 1 heaping tablespoon of cayenne pepper, 1 heaping tablespoon of kosher salt, and 1 teaspoon of black pepper. Pour one quart of buttermilk into a separate bowl and season lightly with salt and pepper.

Okay, now set up your dredging/frying station. You want to dredge your chicken next to the stove so it can go in this order: flour, buttermilk, flour, oil. In a large stockpot, heat some canola oil to 320 degrees (use a candy thermometer to monitor your temp). No matter the size of your pot, the oil should not come more than 1/3 of the way up the sides. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set a cooling rack on top. If you don't have a rack, line your sheet with paper towels so that the chicken can drain.

Start with the thighs and legs - dredge as I mentioned above, first in the flour, dunk into the buttermilk, then back into the flour one more time. Lightly shake off any excess and set aside on your cooling rack until all the dark meat is coated. Once your oil comes up to temp, carefully lower the thighs/legs into the pot (don't crowd! If there isn't enough room for everything, do it in batches). Adjust your flame as necessary to maintain the temperature and turn your pieces gently to evenly brown. The chicken will turn a deep golden brown in around 11 to 12 minutes - they will be crazy crispy and cooked through. Set the dark meat aside to drain (skin side up) and sprinkle with kosher salt.

Coat your white meat with the flour and buttermilk, then turn your oil up to 340 degrees. Carefully lower the breasts into the oil, monitor the temp, and cook similar to the thighs for 7 to 8 minutes (golden brown, crisp, and cooked through), set aside to drain (sprinkle with salt) and cook the wings for 6 minutes (then drain and salt). Add a handful of fresh thyme and rosemary sprigs to the hot oil and fry for a few minutes until crisp, then scatter over your beautiful fried chicken on its platter.

Serve immediately with your favorite sides - mac 'n cheese, beet salad, collard greens - have at it, kids! It's time consuming, but fairly simple and totally worth it. Go try it and make Thomas and I proud!

xo,
d

Chicken Enchiladas

Hey kids! Have you just made the below recipe for slow cooker tacos and realized it was crazy delicious but you made far too much? Not to worry, dear friends! Take that leftover shredded chicken and turn it into some delectable and easy enchiladas! And no canned sauce either - you're going to make that yourself and you're going to like it.

So! The sauce. I found this recipe on about.com and it's really quite simple but develops a great flavor. Heat two tablespoons of vegetable oil in a saucepan over medium heat with two tablespoons of flour and two tablespoons of chili powder. Whisk together for a couple of minutes, then add 3/4 teaspoon of cumin, 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper, one teaspoon of garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon of onion powder, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, a few grinds of black pepper, one fifteen ounce can of tomato sauce, and one cup of water. Mix well, then simmer for 20 minutes stirring occasionally. You want the sauce to be pretty thin in consistency, so if it looks thick (like marinara) add more water. Taste for seasonings and adjust accordingly - if you want it spicy, add more cayenne. Turn off heat and set aside.

Now for that leftover shredded chicken from the slow cooker tacos. You should have around two cups of meat, place that in a mixing bowl and add 1 cup of thinly shredded cheese (mexican blend!), 1/2 cup of sour cream, 1/2 cup chopped cilantro, and two tablespoons minced chives. Blend together with a spatula, and add a few dashes of your favorite hot sauce if you fancy.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and heat 1/2 cup of vegetable oil in a frying pan. You're going to lightly fry your twelve 6 inch corn tortillas to make them nice and pliable. Cook each tortilla for 20 seconds per side (you don't want them to brown) and drain on paper towels. Time for assembly!

Spread 1/3 to 1/2 cup of your fantastic enchilada sauce in the bottom of a glass baking dish (13x9x2 inch pan), then spoon 1/4 cup of your meat mixture into each tortilla one at a time, roll up, and place seam side down in the pan. Spoon the rest of your sauce over the tortillas, then top with 1/2 cup or so of shredded cheese.

Bake that sucker for thirty minutes, keep a weather eye out and don't burn that cheese! Let cool as long as you can stand to wait and serve those enchiladas up with some sour cream and more freshly chopped  cilantro. Boom. Double duty dinner.

xo,
d

Crock Pot Tacos

Hey ya'll! My awesome brother gave me a crock pot for Christmas, and I've made these slow cooked tacos three times since. They're super delicious and SPICY. Man up for this one, friends.

So obvi, you need to have a crock pot for this one. You could also do it with a dutch oven over medium low heat, but convenience says to get a freaking crock pot, people. They're all of $20-$30 at Costco. Get there.

This recipe is courtesy of the marvelous Martha, with a few adjustments (but you shouldn't mess with perfection ;). Start with two pounds of boneless, skinless chicken thighs. Throw those in your crockpot with four cloves of chopped garlic, 2-3 chopped chipotles in adobe (you can find these in a can in the market, use three if you love the spicy, two if you're a little wimpy), one tablespoon of chili powder, 1/2 cup of your favorite salsa (be aware of the spice level; again, if you're a spice champion no worries, but I went with a mild salsa because of the chipotles), 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper. Give everything a good stir, then cover and crock pot on high for four hours, eight hours on low. Between the third and fourth hour, give everything a stir and taste for seasonings - you may need to add more salt. You'll know when the chicken is done because you'll be able to shred it easily with a fork which is what you should do. Right in the crockpot (turn it down to warm), shred all of the chicken up

with two forks, then cover until you're ready to serve.

Now for the accoutrement! The man and I are fond of hard shell tacos, but only if we make them ourselves. No no I haven't made tortillas from scratch yet, but I do like to fry soft tacos and shape them into hard shells. Super healthy (ha!), but it makes a huge flavor difference and I insist you try. It's super easy. Start with a wide frying pan that has fairly tall sides to stop splatter. Pour 1/2 inch of canola oil in the pan and heat over medium-high heat. After pre-heating for five minutes or so, drop one small corn tortilla in the oil with tongs. It should start sizzling immediately - if not, your oil is not hot enough.

Fry on one side for ten seconds, then flip with your tongs and fry on the opposite side for five seconds. Now you need to fold your tortilla in half, and this will take some practice. You don't want to fold too far or you'll have to break the shell in half to fill it with the chicken and other goodies. Use the side of the pan to help you fold, and after one or two you'll get it.

Once you've folded the tortilla successfully, cook it on either side until light golden brown. Transfer to an oven safe plate lined with paper towels in the 200 degree oven. The excess oil will drain off and your fancy homemade hardshells will remain hot and crispy until ready to serve.

To build the tacos you should have your favorite shredded cheese blend, shredded lettuce, guacamole (if buying or making, watch the spice level - you'll want mild guac to help cool the spicy tacos), salsa (ditto), and sour cream.

These tacos are delicious and dangerously addictive. Be brave and give the fried taco shells a try, you'll be surprised at how easy they are. Totally worth the extra effort. Let me know how you do!

xo,

d

Grandma Lillian's Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

Last month I got the rare treat of a visit with my dear Aunt Sandy and cousin Tricia, when Tricia's husband Johnny was at a conference in Anaheim. Adam and I drove down to have dinner with Tricia and Sandy and it was delightful. As we chatted, I mentioned to Sandy that I hadn't had chicken and wild rice soup in forever and wondered if she could send me Grandma Lil's recipe, to which she readily agreed :) The recipe came this week, and today was the perfect day to try it: cold and rainy. As I typically do, I altered the recipe just slightly (love you Grandma!), but it's mostly OG. Oster-cousins: do you have any additions/alterations? Mom says Aunt Kay puts duck in her version and that sounds divine.

Alrighty, start with a rotisserie chicken for this soup, as it's my ultimate soup cheat. Skin, de-bone, and set aside. You'll need two cups of the chopped chicken. You should also start your wild rice at this point - the recipe calls for 2 cups of cooked wild rice, and it usually takes and hour, so get that going first. Slice six slices of bacon into lardons and fry in your stock pot with a one count of olive oil until crispy. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon then set aside, and pour out most of the bacon fat. Add one stick (yup!) of butter, then 1/2 cup of minced onions and cook over medium heat. As the onions are cooking, finely chop (or use your food processor if you don't like the texture of celery) 2 stalks of celery. Remove the leaves from the top of the stalks before you chop, slice those up and add to the onions. Add the minced celery, then chop up 1/2 pound of crimini mushrooms. Add the mushrooms to the pot and season with salt and pepper. Stir these veggies occasionally as you chop and be sure not to burn. Peel and slice up one cup of carrots and add to the pot. Add one teaspoon of dried dill and taste for seasonings, add s/p if needed. Deglaze with a few glugs of white wine (optional, I like the flavor it adds) and cook for a few minutes more to cook the wine out. Add 1/2 cup of flour and cook for a moment, stirring well to combine. Now pour in six cups of warmed chicken broth slowly, stirring constantly until the soup has thickened. Turn to medium low and bubble away for a few minutes. Taste again for seasoning, I added a few shakes of celery salt and more pepper at this point.

Now for some decadence: add 2 cups of half and half. Yum. I used whole milk that is lactose free because as we know, Adam does not tolerate lactose. Aunt Sandy also recommends whole milk, so use either. Simmer, stirring occasionally for a few minutes more. Be sure to taste for seasonings again before serving.

Ladle some of this thick, delicious amazingness into bowls, and crumble the crispy bacon on top. I served this soup with some crusty bread infused with rosemary on the side and it was heaven. Absolutely perfect for a rainy day, and I can't wait to have it for lunch tomorrow.

I'm so grateful to add this recipe to my repertoire, and it reminds me of sitting at Grandma's table. I still miss her every single day, so cooking her food makes me feel a little closer to her. Love you, Gram! Thanks Aunt Sandy for this precious food memory.

xoxo,

D

Lemon Chicken Under a Cast Iron Pan

Hi friends! It's been a long time, yadda yadda yadda, let's cook!

I've been wanting to try Chicken under a Brick for a while now, but as some of you might know the grill is not my favorite place to cook. Give me a gas stove and I'm a happy camper. So instead of finding a brick to make this delectable treat I took Mark Bittman's advice and used a cast iron skillet (well, two actually - one to cook in and one for the weight). This seriously is in my top five best chicken preparations ever. The skin get so crispy and amazing, and inside it's so juicy you won't believe it.

Start with one whole chicken that is 3-4 pounds (responsible dining, people! try to get organic, cage free birds). If you get it from a butcher, have them remove the backbone. If you're brave and have a very sharp knife, you can do that yourself. I got this recipe from Mark Bittman's "The Minimalist", and there are directions and pictures on how to remove the backbone. Or you can google it. Just remove the backbone. I've changed his recipe slightly for more lemon flavor.

In a large bowl or cake pan, mix together 2 tablespoons of chopped garlic, 1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary, 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, and the juice of two lemons. Throw the husks of of the lemons in too, why not? Add S&P to taste (be liberal here, you want this chicken to have lots of flavor). Place your flattened chicken in the bowl and rub your lemon mixture all over, even putting some under the skin (without detaching the skin, be careful). Cover and marinate in your refrigerator for at least a half and hour and up to a day. Turn it over every now and then until you're ready to cook.

Which is now! Preheat the oven to 500 degrees, and preheat an ovenproof skillet that is at least 12 inches in diameter. I used my trusty cast iron skillet, and right before I put the chicken in I sprayed some non-stick spray (since there is already olive oil in the marinade). Put the chicken in the pan skin side down, along with the rest of the marinade. Weigh your chicken down with another (smaller) skillet or cast iron pan (or a brick wrapped in aluminum foil). Doing this will flatten your chicken to cook evenly - cook over medium high heat for 5 minutes, then move to the oven. Roast for 15 minutes (use the timer people!), then remove from the oven, remove the weight, and turn the chicken over (it should now be skin side up, der). Place the pan back in the oven and roast for 10 more minutes. And voila! This can be served hot or at room temp. Be sure to garnish with lemon slices for squeezing.

Serve with your favorite sides (I think we did rice pilaf and salad) - and enjoy! Let me know how it goes!

Grilled Chicken and Radicchio w/Roasted Garlic Vinaigrette

Hello friends. It's been a while, I have some backlogged SNDers to report, but let's go with the most recent, shall we? Sometimes I get lazy, what do you want from me.

Okay! No cranky blogging.

This grilled chicken is fantastic, and is courtesy of Mr. Tyler Florence. Side note: Tyler - you looked and sounded out of your element on Food Truck Road Trip. Please shoot more Tyler's Ultimate episodes. That is all.

So Tyler does this awesome grilled chicken with a whole cut up (bone in, skin on) chicken. Adam and I used some great, huge organic (bone in, skin on) chicken legs. Start by tossing the chicken in some olive oil and salt and pepper, then refrigerate while you prepare everything else. Now let's roast some garlic! Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut a bulb of garlic in half horizontally, and set the halves on a square of aluminum foil. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle on some salt, a tablespoon or two of water, and add two sprigs of fresh thyme. Fold the aluminum up around the garlic like a packet and place in the oven for thirty minutes or so. Your kitchen will smell wonderful! The garlic should be nice and soft. Let it cool, then squeeze it out of the peels into a food processor. Add a handful of chopped parsley, the leaves from six or seven sprigs of fresh thyme, 1/2 cup of olive oil, and the juice of 2 1/2 lemons. Whir until you get a vinaigrette - it will be on the thicker side. Add salt and pepper to taste. YUM.

Cut a head of radicchio into quarters, and place into a bowl. Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper, and set aside for the grillin'.

You should have preheated your grill. I always forget to tell you that. Go do it, I'll wait.

/Sips glass of white wine.

Okay good. Now that your grill is magically preheated, let's get to it! Spray some nonstick spray on the grate, and cook the radicchio for two minutes a side so you get some nice grill marks. Remove the radicchio into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap so it can steam and finish cooking.

Place your chicken pieces skin side down on the grill. Cook for twenty minutes, turning once. After twenty minutes have passed, baste all of the chicken with half of the roasted garlic and lemon vinaigrette, making sure to rotate so that the vinaigrette caramelizes. That will take ten or so more minutes. Dude, it's awesome. While the caramelization process is happening, cut a couple of lemons in half, and set them flesh side down on the grill for a few moments. When everything is ready, peel the leaves of the radicchio quarters apart and distribute them in a bowl with the chicken pieces. Squeeze the grilled lemon on everything and drizzle the rest of the roasted garlic vinaigrette and toss. YUUUUUUM. Seriously yum. So easy and fresh tasting. You must try it.

I made some mashed taters with this, but you could have roasted taters or sweet po-tay-toes or rice or whatevs. Go nuts! Try it!

Chicken Pot Pie with Biscuit Topping

Hi kids! Oooooooh this one's a good'un. But Dana, you say, pot pie in the summer? Hell to the yes. Pot Pie is delicious during all seasons, and also West LA has not been having much of a warm summer, so the pot pie was just the thing I needed.

The mister and I started this fab SND off with some AMAZING artichokes for an appetizer, and the mister is going to guest blog the recipe in a separate post. Ya'll are going to love it and never eat an artichoke any other way. Yeah I said it.

But back to pot pie. This one is a little fiss-fussy, so that makes it perfect for SND. The recipe that inspired me calls for pearl onions in the stew, and Adam had the brilliant idea to make the onions a la Julia: brown braised. I made them in my Beouf Bourgignon post, but here are the instructions again:

You'll need two thirds of a bag of frozen pearl onions, defrosted. Melt 1 and 1/2 tablespoons of butter in a three count of olive oil. I'd say over medium heat, and use a frying pan that has a cover. Drop in your baby onions with a little salt and pepper, and roll those guys around until they brown. As Julia says, "You cannot expect them to brown uniformly". That cracks me up, I don't know why. Anyhoo, after you've browned your onions lightly, add 1/2 cup of beef stock and (this is a Dana addition) 1/3 cup red or white wine (I used white cause that's what I drink). Cover the pan and lightly simmer those beauties for thirty for forty minutes until most of the liquid has evaporated. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Do the onions first, because you'll want them ready for the stew - you can start the stew after the onions have been cooking for 15-20 minutes if you'd like. You'll need a pan (cast iron is best, but it needs to be oven safe) that is at least nine inches in diameter and four inches thick. Now you'll want to preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Heat four tablespoons of butter over medium heat. Add one celery stalk (cut into 1/2 inch pieces), three medium carrots (1/2 inch pieces), and 7-8 quartered crimini or button mushrooms. If you want to brown the mushrooms more, add them first for a few minutes, then throw in the carrots and celery. Add a little S/P and and stir stir for about five minutes. Add your brown braised mushrooms and any leftover juices in that pan, and then add a heaping 1/3 cup of flour to your veggies. Stir everything together and cook for one minute more to get the flour cooked down a little. Now add four cups of chicken stock, bring everything to a boil, stirring your life away. Simmer until the stew thickens, 3-5 minutes or so. I added a couple of glugs of beef stock to the pot for a little depth of flavor when my stew was looking too thick. Try it if you have some on hand, otherwise if you think your stew is too thick you can add a little chicken stock or white wine.

Now it's time to add the chicken. If you'd like, poach a couple of chicken breasts in some stock with herbs (thyme/bay) but that's more work that I'd prefer, and I'm not a fan of poached chicken. Boring, dry. I go with the rotisserie chicken from the market, de-skinned, de-boned and shredded. Easy peasy. Plus Ella loses her mind when we get a rotisserie chicken, so she gets to have a few treats. That cat thinks she's people, and loves roasted chicken. But I digress.

So put your shredded rotisserie chicken into your simmering stew. I'd say we used about 2/3 of the meat from the chicken, but use your own judgment. Stir in the chicken, then add a handful of chopped parsley, minced chives, and some asparagus that you've cut into bite sized lengths. I used half of a bunch of asparagus, but put in as much as you like. Stir everything together, taste for seasoning, then turn off the heat and set aside whilst you make the biscuit dough.

Biscuit dough on a pot pie! I know right - sounds nuts! IT'S NOT. It's so freaking good. In a large bowl, whisk together 2 cups of flour, one tablespoon of baking powder, one teaspoon of sugar, and one teaspoon of salt until well combined. Rub 2 tablespoons of cold butter into the flour with your fingertips until it is completely absorbed into the flour mixture. Add five more tablespoons of cold butter (I cut it up into cubes) into the flour in the same manner, until the butter is combined and in pieces the size of a pea. In a separate bowl combine 3/4 cup of milk with the zest of half of a lemon and a handful of minced chives. Gently stir the milk, lemon and chives into the flour mixture to make a loose sort of dough.

Dust your clean work surface with a handful of flour and turn your dough out onto it. Pat the dough with your hands into a 1/2 inch thick rectangle, then fold it into thirds like you would a buisness letter. Now pat that bad boy into a 10 inch in diameter circle. Bring your stew back up to a low boil, and gently place your biscuit circle on top. Word of sage, experienced advice: do this with a rolling pin or a bottle of similar shape. I've made this recipe a few times before, and never used a rolling pin until the other night. No rolling pin = epic fail. Rolling pin = clean execution. Roll the dough onto the pin without any smushing, and re roll it back onto your stew. Lovely. Also please note, you do NOT need to hang the dough over the sides of the pan like you would with a regular pot pie. Note my picture above, and just try to get the dough to the edges of the pan as best you can. Use a sharp paring knife to slice a small hole in the middle and shove that pan into the oven for around 20 minutes. You want your biscuit dough to get nice and golden brown.

Remove your pot pie masterpiece from the oven and let cool for ten minutes and enjoy! You'll never go back to regular pot pie, I'm tellin' ya! Make it and report back to me, BFFs!

Word.

D

The Perfect Roast Chicken

I really can't believe I haven't written about the perfect roast chicken yet - it's the Mister and I's go-to Sunday Night Dinner. In fact, I think it was the first SND that I made for us. I really can't think of anything better than a roast chicken - amazing, tender, and juicy. It's a little fussy, but when it comes out right OH MAN is it tasty. I'd love to hear your versions of this classic dish, but for now here's what I think you should do. My version is inspired by the great Ina Garten, and I will NOT tell you what Robb calls her because it's super mean and I love her. So there.

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. Start with a 4 - 5 pound whole chicken - try to go for organic/free range if you can. It makes quite the difference in flavor, and it's way better for you. Both Trader Joe's and Whole Foods have great options. Remove the giblet package (you can freeze this and use later if you make your own chicken stock) and then give that chicken a rinse inside and out. Be sure to pat dry thoroughly with paper towels and set aside.

Slice up two large onions - white, yellow, or red are all fine - or a mix would be nice. Scatter those in the bottom of your roasting pan with 5 carrots that you've peeled and chopped into pretty diagonally sliced chunks. Don't make them too small or they'll cook too quickly, but you want them to be bite sized. Another don't - don't salt and pepper your veggies at this point, when you S/P the chicken, plenty of that seasoning will fall off into your onions and carrots.

Now back to your chicken - salt and pepper the cavity, then add one half of a large orange, a big ol' handful of fresh thyme, a halved lemon, a halved clementine (you can skip this citrus if you don't have, just add another halved lemon if you'd like), a bulb of garlic halved crosswise, and finish with the other half of your orange, if you can fit. You want the skin of the orange to be showing through the top of the cavity - it will hold everything in if you do this. Tie the legs of the chicken together firmly with some butcher's twine (any butcher will give you a length of this if you bat your eyes, but it's also readily available at kitchen supply stores). Soften two tablespoons of butter - don't melt it completely, just soften it. Time to give that chicken a butter massage! Set the chicken in the rack of the roasting pan breast side up over your veggies and rub that butter all over the skin. Liberally salt and pepper (AFTER you've buttered, it sticks that way - also some of the seasoning will fall down on your veggies) and you'll get a delicious salty crust when you roast.

Pour 1/2 cup of white wine and 1/2 cup of chicken stock over the veggies, and then slide the roasting pan into the oven - make sure the rack is in the middle of the oven. Roast the chicken and the vegetables for ninety minutes. Make sure that there is always some liquid covering the onions and carrots - they will burn otherwise. Add more wine or chicken stock accordingly. When there is about thirty minutes left, take the chicken out of the oven and quickly turn it over so that the underside can brown as well. Turn the chicken back breast side up for the last ten or so minutes of cooking. You want your guy to be 160 degrees - I really recommend a digital thermometer that has an oven safe cord, they're amazing. Mine lets off a little alarm when the desired temperature has been reached. Once your chicken reaches 160 degrees, take it out the oven and transfer it to a wooden cutting board (preferably one with a groove running around the border of the board to catch the delicious juices). Tent that guy with some aluminum foil and let it rest at least twenty minutes before you carve - you'll scald your fingers if you don't wait.

Remove the onions and carrots from the roasting pan with a slotted spoon and cover with foil to keep warm for later when you're ready to eat. Strain the pan drippings into a saucepan and spoon off any fat that has risen to the top (or you can use a handy dandy fat separator - it's the greatest invention ever and available at Crate and Barrel). Add any juice that has collected around the chicken on the cutting board and a splash or two more of the white wine you used before as well as bit more chicken stock. Just eyeball it - you want to have a cup and a half or so of liquid in the sauce pan. As you're simmering that, whisk three tablespoons of cornstarch with a quarter cup of chicken stock in a separate bowl, then whisk that into your saucepan. The gravy should start to thicken right away. Keep whisking, and if it's too thick, add some more chicken stock - too thin, mix a little more cornstarch with some chicken stock and add to the gravy. Taste for seasoning and you should have some spectacular gravy!

You can serve this amazing chicken with the onion, carrots, kick-ass gravy, and some mashed taters or crusty bread. When I made this the other night, I served it with the artichoke gratin that I've featured in an earlier post. Check it out, it makes a really nice accompaniment.

And there you have it! Fairly simple - once you've gotten the chicken in the oven you've got plenty of time to relax with a glass of wine and some port salut.

XO,

D

Brooklyn SND - Pulled Pork/Chicken, Coleslaw and Goat Cheese Polenta

Hullo friends! I spent a fab weekend in NYC with my sisie for her birthday, so I now present to you Brooklyn Sunday Night Dinner! Sis wanted pulled pork for her birthday SND, so I came up with a kick ass marinade....which I proceeded to pour some beer into 'cause it would be delicious. Fail. For those of you that don't know, Sisie is allergic to all wheat and gluten. Ah, balls.

But wait! It all turned out okay - I made the gluten soaked pulled pork BUT ALSO some kick ass pulled chicken! Huzzah! Here's how I did it all:

For the pulled pork, I did an all night marinade. I used a three pound bit of pork shoulder that had a lovely fat cap on it. In a large glass bowl I whisked together 3 tablespoons of salt (kosher, people!), 1 tablespoon of cracked black pepper, 1 and 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup red wine vinegar, 3 smashed cloves of garlic, 1.5 to 2 tablespoons of cayenne pepper (yup! make it as spicy or not spicy as you want though - but don't be wussy) and the leaves from three sprigs of fresh thyme. Next add half to three quarters of a bottle of your favorite beer - I recommend a summer brew or a hefewiezen to counter act the cayenne; I used Honeymoon by the makers of Blue Moon. Dude, it's delish! Whisk everything together and put your pork shoulder in. Make sure the pork is covered with this delightful mixture, then cover with saran wrap and refrigerate overnight. If you can't do overnight, I'd recommend at least three hours so the flavors can penetrate (heh) the meat.

Okay, fast forward to the next day, time to cook! I heated a three count of olive oil in a heavy bottomed frying pan (Sisie's Le Creuset risotto pan to be specific) and browned that gorgeously marinated piece of pork shoulder. After I got a good sear on all sides, I put the meat along with the liquid marinade into a handy dandy crock pot and covered. I went with the high setting for three hours, then set it down to low until we were ready to eat. The liquid was poured out and discarded (thank you delicious gluteny marinade!) Take two forks and shred that meat - it will fall apart and you'll be taking taste after taste because you won't be able to resist! After the meat was shredded, I poured some BBQ sauce over it and it was AMAZING. Use your favorite flavor of sauce - Sweet Baby Rays would be good, especially with the cayenne pepper that you used. Serve on some buns and you're in pulled pork heaven.

Hold on! If you are allergic to wheat and gluten, here's what I made for sis! I bought three leg/thighs combos from the butcher - bone in skin on. Gotta go dark meat here, sports fans, if you want the falling apart consistency. Prepare the chicken by giving it a good ol' spice rub. Use your favorite BBQ spice rub, or make one up! I used chili powder - probably a tablespoon total and just massaged it all over the meat. Next, take one leek and thoroughly clean that sucka. Dirt loves to hide between those leaves. Slice up the leek and and throw it in a frying pan that has a cover with a three count of olive oil. Saute the leek for three minutes (add some S and P), then add two sliced carrots. Cook for a few minutes more, then make some room and add the chicken skin side down. Once the chicken is properly browned, add enough rose wine (NOT white zinfandel, shudder) to deglaze and simmer the chicken in. There should be about a half inch of wine covering the bottom of the pan - I eyeballed it, probably a third of a bottle. You could also use white or red wine, or your favorite beer. Cover the pan and turn the heat down to low and simmer for about an hour. You'll know when it's ready - the meat will be fall off the bone, just poke at it with a fork. Once it's ready, turn off the heat and let it cool a bit so you can debone and deskin the chicken. After you've removed the skin and bones shred the chicken back in the pan with the veggies and mix with your favorite sauce! For Sisie's chicken I used a spicier sauce because the chicken was cooked with sweet carrots and the wine. We served her sammich on a delicious gluten free roll and she was in birthday heaven!

I also made a yummy cole slaw. I threw ingredients together into a bowl until it tasted right. It was mayo based, so all you mayo haters out there just need to GET OVER IT. Mayo is freaking delicious. Use one cup of mayo, and whisk in in the bottom of a salad bowl with a 1/4 cup of white or red wine vinegar, two tablespoons of Dijon mustard, a squeeze of honey or maple syrup, a pinch of cayenne or chili powder and some S and P to taste. Whisk and taste, whisk and taste until it's right. A squeeze or two of lemon would be great too. Add some shredded cabbage and carrots on top of your dressing (we used shredded broccoli too, yum) and toss. Now, if you're super cool, you'll put coleslaw on top of your pulled pork or chicken and eat the sammich like a pro.

Serve this all up with some goat cheese polenta and you've got a Brooklyn SND for the ages!

-D

PS I realize I've written this post in several different voices/tenses. Deal with it. It's Sunday Night Dinners not Sunday Night Grammar. Boosh.

(Pretty) Easy Lemon Chicken

Oh hai everyone! Listen I don't want to hear it. It's been a while but c'mon. Planning a wedding is a LOT of work! Now I'm a married old lady, and Sunday Night Dinners are back bitches.

Okay, so Lemon Chicken. This is an Emeril Lagasse recipe that I've jacked just a little bit. His recipe calls for just white meat but I'm a big fan of dark meat too, so I've added that and made it a bit saucier.

First thing: full disclosure. I hate making rice with the fire of 1000 suns. Hate it. Maybe because I'm super bad at it. I always mess it up. So I have Adam make it. Since you guys don't have Adam, you should make it in a rice maker. Or just be better than me at making it. But make it first, mmkay? Just keep it warm without overcooking. Good luck with that.

All right, so then you should make the lemon sauce, it'll save you time later. Mix 1/2 cup of lemon juice with 4 tablespoons (plus a pinch more cause I like it) of soy sauce, 2 tablespoons of brown sugar, 2/3 cup chicken stock, and the zest of one lemon. Wisk it up and set aside for the right moment.

Finely chop up four teaspoons each of fresh garlic and fresh garlic, as well as 1/2 cup of green onions. Set aside FOR LATER. Trust me.

Okie now, take one package of chicken breast tenders and one package of chicken thighs. The tenders are the right shape and size that you need, so slice the thighs into thinnish strips to match the tenders. Next, put 1/2 cup of cornstarch in a shallow dish, and beat two eggs into another. Dip each strip of breast and thighs into the cornstarch, egg, then cornstarch again. Your hands will get all gooey but get over it. It washes off. Set those aside to set up for about five minutes after you're done.

Ooh! One more thing to do as prep! Mix three teaspoons of cornstarch with one tablespoon of water. Wisky wisk that and then set aside. It's totally worth it later to do the prep work first. And clean as you go, right Mom?

Take a large frying pan or wok and heat up 1/4 to 1/3 cup or so of canola or peanut oil until almost smoking over medium high heat. Fry the chicken strips for three minutes on each side. They should get browned but not super dark. Set aside to blot on paper towels. Pour out most of the oil, and put the pan back over medium heat. Toss in the green onions and fry for one minute. Add the garlic and ginger and fry with the onions for thirty additional seconds. Next you're going to add that delectable lemon sauce mix. Give it another wisk then put it in the sauce pan with the ginger, garlic and green onions. Bring the sauce to a boil and then add your cornstarch/water mix and wisk in. The sauce should thicken immediately. Add the chicken back to the pot, cover all the chicken with the sauce well, and turn the heat down to low.

Serve this deliciousness with some veggies if you'd like. I like to buy a fresh "stir fry" ** packet at the market - it's carrots, snow peas, and broccoli all cut up and cleaned neat and proper like. I just heat up a bit more canola or peanut oil in a separate pan with some red pepper flake and more chopped ginger, garlic and green onion. Sautee those veggies for a bit to soften but make sure they still have some crunch. ** Be sure to buy the fresh vegs, not frozen. I purchased the frozen packet once it was an epic fail.

Serve your fantastic meal with over your properly made rice, and enjoy!

It's good to be back! Let's continue this super ride, and hit me back and let me know if you made this or any of my other dinners. I'll take Sunday Night Suggestions, too!

Kisses!

-Mrs. B.

Matzoh Ball Soup

Yeah yeah I haven't posted in a while....blah blah blah. I got engaged, what do you want with me? I'm busy planning a wedding here!

Oh yeah, Matzoh Ball Soup. This is a really good, super easy Sunday Night Dinner. Thanks to my dear fiance for teaching me this delicious recipe. Make it anytime you or your loved ones feel sick, you'll feel better in no time. If you like chicken soup with dumplings, you will love matzoh balls. Trust me, kids.

Start yourself off with a big stock pot. As you heat a three count of olive oil, roughly chop one yellow onion, 4-5 stalks of celery (leaves and all), and 3-4 carrots. You don't have to be too concerned with size or nice little conform pieces, you are going to strain these veggies out later. If you plan on eating your veggies (and you should, Grandma says so), then chop them into bite sized pieces. Toss the veggies in the olive oil and sautee for a few. You don't really want to get much color here, you are just softening the veggies. Add some salt and pepper, and if desired some fresh or dried dill. I'm not a huge fan of dill, but Adam is and says it is a major part of the recipe. Meh. I put in a pinch of the dried dill. The things we do for love.

Anyhoo, once you see a little color on the bottom of the pan, pour in three glugs of white wine and deglaze that stuff. Next add a 64 ounce can of chicken stock. I usually empty the can into the stock pot, then fill the can about up almost to the top with water, add that to the pot, then add four or five chicken bullion cubes. Bring this all to a boil, then cover the pot and lower to a simmer. Cook that for at least an hour, but the longer you cook it, the better it will get. Be sure to taste often for seasoning, you'll probably want to add some salt and pepper.

Once the soup has cooked for at least an hour, get your rotisserie chicken out that you bought at the market. If you want, you can poach some chicken in the broth, but I'm not a fan. I really think it tastes dried out. The rotisserie chicken is really flavorful. Pour the juices from the chicken into your stock, and then take the skin off, de-bone, and shred. Strain the veggies out of the soup and set those aside, then add the shredded chicken to the broth.

Time for the matzoh balls! Matzoh is made from un-leavened bread cracker crumbs. You can buy matzoh ball mix at the market, there is a brand called Manischewitz that is great. Be sure to get the Mix, not just the meal, or you'll have more work on your hands. While you're at the market, get the Manischewitz yolk-free noodles too.

So, after you've strained the broth and added the chicken, get out your trusty matzoh ball mix, and follow the directions carefully. The directions for the matzo balls say to boil some water to cook them in, but you should ignore that part and bring your freshly made stock to a boil and cook them in there. It's super easy, I know you can do it. In a separate pot, boil some water with a bullion cube for the noodles. Cook, strain, and set noodles aside. They only take 2 or so minutes, so be careful.

Okay! So you've followed the directions on the matzoh ball mix box and you're done! Get your bowls out, put some noodles in the bottom, followed by some of the strained veggies, and then broth, chicken, and of course one or two matzoh balls! You will have traveled back to delicious town, and will be welcomed with open arms. Enjoy, and Mazel Tov!

Better late than never Sunday Night Dinner

I totally made Sunday Night Dinner, but I had a cold so I forgot to write it up. I swear. But here's what I made and it was yummy. Give it a go.

Chicken with Riesling

Rice Pilaf

Mixed Green salad with mustard vinaigrette

Okay here is how it went: the chicken with Riesling is a Mark Bittman recipe, from his cook book called "The Minimalist". I totally recommend picking it up, it's an amazing book, along with Bittman's "How to Cook Everything". It's the cooking encyclopedia.

Anyhoosers, start with a whole chicken (bone in, skin on), cut up. In a heavy bottomed dutch oven (le crueset people!), heat a three to four count of olive oil over medium high heat. Salt and pepper the chicken, then sear all of the pieces in batches in the oil. Don't overcrowd the pan, get some good color on both sides of all pieces and take it out of the pan. While the chicken is done browning, slice four onions. Yeah that's right I said four. To avoid stingy onions tears, refrigerate the onions beforehand. It's the only trick that's ever worked for me - it seems as if the onions are cold they don't release as much of the tear inducing air. That's science right there, peeps. Theater degree, what.

After removing the last of the chicken from the dutch oven, put all of the sliced onions in with a good dose of salt and pepper. I also added five or six shakes of garlic powder, one bay leaf, and a good handful of fresh thyme wrapped in butcher's twine. It's easier to do the thyme that way because you don't need to scrape all of the thyme leaves off - they fall off in the sauce and you can remove the stems in one fell swoop. Stir the onions often and get them nice and soft. I let them go a bit farther than soft, because I like a little carmelization on the onions, but don't let them burn. Once they are to the color and texture that you like best, add half of a bottle of dry Riesling. Be sure to look for a Riesling that says "dry" on the bottle, because you do not want this dish to be too sweet. Add the browned chicken pieces back to the pot, and settle them in the sauce - make sure all of the chicken is mostly covered by sauce. Add more wine if necessary. Cover the pot and reduce the heat to simmer, and cook that deliciousness for about forty five minutes. As I like to say: taste taste taste. You really need to balance the sweetness of the Riesling with salt, so be sure to taste and season to your liking. When it's done, the chicken on the thighs and legs should be falling off of the bone.

As the chicken cooked, towards the end I made two boxes of Near East Rice Pilaf. I know that's cheating, but like I always say - take the help where you can get it. You know that the boxed rice pilaf will come out perfect every time, so why not do it. I also made the mustard vinaigrette for the greens: two tablespoons of Dijon mustard, a splash of the Riesling that you cooked the chicken in, three tablespoons of red wine vinegar, salt/pepper and a 1/4 cup of olive oil. Whisk all ingredients together and set aside. Right before serving, toss your greens in the vinaigrette. Ha, toss it.

Once the chicken is done, remove it from the pan and then get out my favorite kitchen tool. Say it together people: "immersion blender". Awww yeah. Immersion blend that sauce until it thickens a bit, then add the chicken back in and heat through. Again, if you don't have an immersion blender, dudes, buy one. Orrrrrrrrrr blend it in a blender, sheesh.

Serve the chicken with the rice pilaf and the pan sauce, along with your salad with mustard vinaigrette. A baguette to soak up the sauce is also helpful, and everyone loves bread! It's a delicious, slow cooked meal worthy of the coldest of days. It will warm the cockles of your heart. Haa, I said cockles.

As always, let me know how it goes.

BFF,

Dana

White Bean Chili Sunday Night Dinner

Hey kids, sorry for the absence last week. I was super busy....getting engaged! Woot!

But back to the grind. There was a bit of chill in the air today, fall is finally coming. Well, fall in California terms anyways. So of course I immediately thought of chili! However, instead of a heavy red meat chili, I went with a white bean and chicken chili. It's creamy without having any cream, and it still has the nice burn down the throat that you want from chili.

So, start with a rotisserie chicken from the deli. Like I've said before, take the help where you can get it, even when you are making a Sunday Night Dinner. Take the skin off, de-bone, and shred the chicken. Set aside for laters.

In a stock pot, pour a five count of olive oil and add on large onion, sliced. Add some salt/pepper and let the onions sweat out a bit. Next add four chopped garlic cloves and one can of diced green chiles (the brand is Ortega, it's a small-ish can; you can usually find it in the salsa aisle at the market). Let those flavors meld a bit, and when the onions start to get some color, add a few glugs of white wine or light beer to deglaze. Cook that down for a bit, and then add a box and a half of chicken stock and two and a half cans of white cannelloni beans. You will use the rest of that half can later. Give it all a stir, and then it's time to add the seasonings that make chili taste like chili! I really eyeball this when I make it, so I apologize for not being able to give you specific measurements, but you'll just have to deal. Man up, and add some chili powder, cumin, and cayenne pepper. Go eaaaaaaasy on the cayenne at first, maybe five or six shakes. You can always add more, but you can't take it out. You can go heavier on the chili powder and cumin, but remember that cumin can overpower a dish quite easily, so be careful. You'll probably need some salt at this point, so season away and taste taste taste. Let the chili bubble away for about twenty minutes at this point so all of the flavors can meld. Keep tasting and adding more cayenne if you want more heat. You could also add a few shakes of tabasco or sriracha.

Okay now we want to thicken this chili up so that it resembles chili and not tortilla soup. Get that handy dandy immersion blender out and blend it up! If you are super lame and don't have an immersion blender, go get one. Or use a normal blender, but blend in batches and don't burn yourself. Then go buy an immersion blender.

So now that your chili is nice and blended, add your shredded chicken along with a can and a half of white cannelloni beans, and half a bag of frozen corn. Let this all bubble away while you make some corn bread.

Oooh I love me some corn bread. I am not a giant fan of baking, so I used a mix. Just follow the directions on the box and bake - it was delish. But if you want to make it from scratch, good on you.

Now, no bowl of chili is complete without some accoutrement on top. I shredded some pepper jack cheese, chopped some avocado, and put out a bowl of tortilla chips. Please add whatever you love best on top of your bowl of chili, and do it now! Try this recipe, it's a really great twist on traditional chili but it still gives you that chili love that I know you are jonesing for.

Let me know how it went!

Thanks for the great recipe, momma :-)

Tuesday Night Sunday Night Dinner

Hi everyone! I am sorry that tonight's dinner wasn't on a Sunday Night. I had to make some cash Sunday night to support my cooking, and last night was a very important birthday party. Next week will be all Sunday Sunday Sunday, I promise! Or not. You don't own me.

Any hooooooo.

Tonight's menu:

Chicken Marsala: Revamped!

Spinach Salad

So this Sunday Night Dinner isn't as involved as usual because it's a Tuesday Night Sunday Night Dinner. You could totally do this after work, even if you have to stop at the store for ingredients. Give it a shot.

I've been making chicken marsala for a while now, but I saw a Giada recipe today with a twist, so I added some things from her recipe while keeping a few of my favorites.

Start by filling a large pot of water to cook the pasta. Seriously do this first. That is one of my biggest flaws. I never put the pasta water on to boil soon enough. Just do it. If it boils too soon, tough. Let 'er boil away. A watched pot never boils. It's totally true.

Or not at all. Whatever. Just put the pot on.

While the water gets all hot and ready for your pasta, take four chicken breasts that you've pounded flat with a meat mallet - DO NOT try to take your meat mallet on a plane with your carry on luggage, right Karla? Preheat a pan (I used my larger cast iron skillet, ten inches) with a three to four count of olive oil. Salt and pepper those guys and throw them in the pan. You want to get some good color on them, but do not over cook. If they are underdone, totally fine. You are going to put them back in the skillet with the sauce later to finish cooking. Probably four to five minutes per side, depending on how thin they are. Take them out and put them aside.

Slice up some prosciutto and add it to the pan, I'd say four ounces or so. While it cooks, slice a medium sized onion. I'm not a fan of chopping onions. I've become a grown up lately about onions, I can eat them in their cooked form, the more cooked the better. So I find when I slice them they brown faster. Go figure. When the prosciutto has cooked a bit (but not too much - you don't want it to burn - I'd say one minute), throw the sliced onions in with one tablespoon of butter (yup, even on a Tuesday) and some salt/pepper. If the pan looks dry, and a little more oil. Whilst your onions cook, slice some mushrooms. DO. NOT. WASH. MUSHROOMS. Lightly wipe them with a damp cloth. If you wash them they get all rubbery, and I think they have a tendency to be rubbery to begin with. But I am trying to become a grown up about mushrooms too. So after the onions have cooked for a few minutes, toss the sliced mushrooms in. You want those to get some color on them as well. While the mushrooms cook, smash and chop a few cloves of garlic. Put those in only after the mushrooms have cooked at least eight or so minutes. Let the garlic cook just a minute or so until you smell it, then add a cup and a half of marsala wine. MMMM, delish. Let that simmer for two to three minutes to cook the alcohol off. Next add one and a half to two tablespoons of dijon mustard. I made it with two tablespoons and looooved it, but my other half found it to be a little mustardy, so I think it depends upon your love of mustard. I'm Daddy's girl, so I love me some mustard. With the mustard, also add half of an eight ounce container of mascarpone cheese. This will really thicken the sauce and make it deliciously creamy. Once the mustard and mascarpone cheese are mixed in, slice up the chicken in large slices and add them back to the skillet, along with any accumulated juices. Be sure to taste taste taste for seasoning. I found I wanted more garlic, so I added a few shakes of garlic powder. Also add some chopped Italian parsley at this point. It really brightens up the flavor.

Did you put the pasta in the water? You should have put the pasta in around the time you put the mushrooms in. I used farfalle, it's really great to hold this sauce. But you could go with linguine or spaghetti if you like the twirling effect. Once the pasta is al dente, drain it and add a little olive oil so that it doesn't stick.

And you're done! Build your plate with pasta on the bottom, chicken and sauce on top, and a lightly dressed spinach salad on the side. The sauce is velvety and creamy, but still has that unmistakable Marsala taste. It's really delicious, and I urge you to give it a go! Thanks, Giada, for the inspiration!

As always, let me know how it goes with you!

-D