This IMBB’s theme this month — graciously chosen and hosted by Derrick at An Obsession with Food and Wine — is stale bread. Wonderful things can be made from stale bread — things like french toast and bread pudding and croutons and this spinach and bread salad.

I came across this recipe at Epicurious. Once I read through it, I knew I had to make it. The recipe is originally from Bon Appetite. That recipe also had a chicken component but I actually opted for a different roasting method for my chicken.

The directions I followed are from The Bouchon Cookbook by Thomas Keller. It just seemed so simple and the reviews were practically fawning in their awe and recommendations. Now, I know that the main star of this meal should be the stale bread, as that was the IMBB theme but….well…huh…crackling, salty, tasty chicken skin. That is my defense!

I have to say, both jwa and I were in gastronomic heaven while eating this meal. The chicken was amazing. Who knew throwing a bird into a super hot oven and not touching it (no basting, no turning, no nothing!) at all for the next hour would produce something so succulent and tasty? The bread and the spinach mixed together with all the pan drippings and currants/raisins to create a savory, crunchy and sweet bedding for the juicy meat of the chicken.

I bought my chicken at New Seasons — a nice 3.5 pounder. However, their small chickens were sporting some lemon and parsley. So, my chicken had a few strands of lemon zest and some chopped parsley on top. It seemed to work fine but a plain chicken is what the original recipe calls for.

The one thing to keep in mind with this recipe though — there were reviews on Epicurious that cooking the chicken at this high of a temperature produced a lot of smoke in some kitchens. I didn’t have a big problem with that but it is something to be aware of while making this meal. Make sure you have good ventilation and that you are starting with a pretty clean oven!

Roast Chicken with Bread & Spinach Salad
One 3- to 4-pound chicken
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons minced parsley and/or thyme

6 cups 1-inch cubes of stale bread
1/2 cup low-salt chicken broth
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 red onion, diced and cooked in 1 tsp olive oil over low heat until golden and caramelized
1/2 cup dried currants & golden raisins
3 bunches fresh spinach, trimmed (about 2 cups)
1 head garlic

To start, if your bread isn’t stale, pop it into a 250 degree oven for about 10 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 450°F. Rinse the chicken, then dry it very well with paper towels, inside and out.

Salt and pepper the cavity. Just for fun, I added half a red onion to the inside of the bird. Next, comes the trussing. Fold the wings back under the bird and tie the legs together with cooking twine. At least, that is my version of trussing.

Salt the chicken liberally. I used almost a tablespoon of salt. It sounds like a lot but after the roasting, it was really good. The skin is all crispy and salty. Trust me, it just works. (Or rather, trust Thomas Keller).

I cooked my chicken in the bottom half of the oven so that I didn’t really have to worry about the parsley burning. The skin also just got golden. If you want more color, place your rack about halfway in the oven. Likewise, if you want to live dangerously, sprinkle some chopped parsley and/or thyme on your chicken before roasting. If you want to make sure it doesn’t burn, just sprinkle with chopped herbs after roasting.

Oh, I also sliced the very top off of a head of garlic, wrapped it in foil and let it roast in the oven with the chicken for about 40 minutes.

Roast the chicken in the hot oven until it’s done, 50 to 60 minutes. The skin should be crackly and golden. If during the cooking time, the chicken does get too dark, you can tent it with foil. Move to a cutting board and let it rest 15 minutes before carving.

Meanwhile, pour pan juices into 4-cup measuring cup. Pour fat off top of pan juices, returning the bottom 1/3 of liquids to roasting pan. Add chicken broth and vinegar to pan. Bring to boil atop stove, scraping up browned bits. Add the cooked onions and currants. Simmer 3 minutes to reduce liquid slightly.

Remove from heat. Add bread to pan and toss with juices.

Mix in Spinach and stir while it wilts a bit. Season with salt and pepper. Place bread salad in a big bowl and top with whole chicken.

I figured this would make a nice presentation and also, when carving the chicken, all of the juices would drip onto the bread salad. Yeah. Brilliant.

The skin was just so good and the chicken was very moist. And the bread cubes! Wow, they soak up all of the drippings and the vinegar and it was all just awesome. Rounding it out, the raisins and currants add a little bit of sweetness.

Place the roasted garlic head on the platter. Not only does it look pretty, but you can squeeze the paste onto bites of chicken and bread salad as desired.

Oh and since it’s in the title photo, I’ll mention that we had our chicken and bread salad feast with a bottle of Benton Lane pinot noir. Thanks again Derrick for hostng this event!

Tagged with: IMBB25.

This was a true experiment the other night as I really had no idea how it would turn out and it pretty much came about from me just finding things in the kitchen to make soup out of. I had a huge can of plum tomatoes, some time to kill and a hankerin’ for something a bit spicy. Originally, I thought I had some tofu as well, which I had planned to put in the soup to make it creamy. Checked the fridge — nope.

On to Plan B. I looked around and found yogurt and figured I could use that and some milk to do the trick. But, if you have tofu, I’d try that as it usually works really well in soups. You can still add some milk if you want the consistency a bit thinner. Or, go ahead and use the yogurt, it worked well for me. This is like one of those choose your own adventure books except with soup.

Spicy & Creamy Roasted Garlic and Tomato Soup
1 28oz can plum tomatoes
1 onion, diced
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp dried basil
10 cloves garlic
1/4 tsp (or less) red pepper flakes
1 cup fresh spinach leaves, loosely packed
1/2 cup tofu or 1/2 cup low fat yogurt + 1/2 cup milk
salt and pepper to taste

Optional: Trader Joe’s Roasted Minced Garlic*, fresh basil leaves and toasted pita chips

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Wrap the unpeeled garlic cloves in aluminum foil and roast for about 30-40 minutes until soft. Set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, dice onion and sauté in olive oil over medium heat for 5-6 minutes. Let the onions develop a little color. Add the dried basil and red pepper flakes. (Start with less than 1/4 teaspoon unless you know you want it spicy).

Add the canned tomatoes (everything in the can) and let simmer for 10 minutes or so. Add the spinach and let wilt down. Also add the roasted garlic cloves. Peel or just squeeze the paste out into the soup. If you are using tofu, cut it into cubes and add it with the spinach as well.

Let cool a little and blend in batches until smooth. If you are using yogurt and milk, blend the soup without the dairy, then, whisk that in after the initial blending.

Taste and add salt and pepper as needed. Warm over low heat and serve with pita chips, roasted garlic sprinkles and fresh basil leaves.

In the Summer, I think this would also be very good served cool (especially the version made with yogurt) — add some diced cucumber and red onion on top and I bet that’d be tasty!

* Jar of Roasted Minced Garlic — worth its weight in gold!

Tomorrow: IMBB#25!

Hotel del Sol
3100 Webster
San Francisco

We liked this place a lot. And, more importantly, the price was right and it smelled of cookies while we were checking in. Try finding a reasonably priced hotel within walking distance of Fisherman’s Wharf that smells like freshly-baked chocolate chip cookies! Then, try to find one with some character and free parking. It takes a while and an excel spreadsheet for all the comparison and calculations, I tell you.

Our second choice was the Cornell Hotel de France mainly because of the price, the cuteness and the free restaurant meal the price included (which is supposed to be amazing). Alas, the restaurant was going to be closed while we were there so we decided against it. As this is, at heart, a food blog, I felt compelled to mention the Jeanne d’Arc restaurant and what would have probably been a delicious and memorable meal.

But…back to where we did stay. The Hotel del Sol is a remodeled 1950’s motor lodge type place with all neon, beachy, bright colors and mosaic designs all about. It’s touted as a “family-friendly” hotel so it’s not overly luxurious or romantic but it was a little funky and completely comfortable and nice.

The king room we had overlooked Webster street and had screened windows that opened up for a nice breeze. The good-sized room was uncluttered with a table and chairs, sitting chair, bed, tv, walk-in closet and a small bathroom stocked with Aveda products .

The area is called Cow Hollow and it’s a few blocks just north (downhill) of Pacific Heights. It was a 25-30 minute (flat) walk to the Wharf, through Fort Mason and past Ghirardelli Square.

We stayed here two nights and would be happy to stay there again. We paid $129/night (with free parking), booking directly through the hotel, about 2 months before our trip. They also had a pool, courtyard bistro tables, a free continental breakfast in the morning and cookies in the evening.

Menlo Park Inn
1315 El Camino Real
Menlo Park

Moving on. Sigh. This place had really good reviews on tripadvisor so I booked it even though it turned out that we would need to stay in Menlo Park an additional night when this place was full. In hindsight, this was a good thing. The Menlo Park Inn wasn’t horrible by any means but it really wasn’t as nice as all the reviews made it out to be, nor, was it as nice as the pictures on their Web site make it appear.

From the outside, it looks like a Motel 6 or something (sitting right on El Camino Real) and the rooms (at least ours) seemed a bit cramped. It was decorated interestingly though, with Klimt prints and a vase with fresh flowers, but it really didn’t seem worth the $114/night price.

One of my issues was the coffee and cups. Yes, that’s what I said. Perhaps silly, but a $100+ a night hotel, imho, should have good coffee and mugs –just a pet peeve of mine, I guess. But seriously. If you’re going to have an in-room coffee maker, for god’s sake, have coffee packets of something I either haven’t heard of before or coffee that I know is good. The Menlo Park Inn had packets of Maxwell House and weird 70’s plastic mugs — not ironically, mind you. That’s just plain wrong.

For around $85 a night, this place would have been a good deal but it just seemed over-priced for the amenities and environment offered. The service was very nice and they made an effort with decorating the room and all, but really, I was just expecting more and ended up being way underwhelmed.

The MP Inn staff had booked us into a Best Western that they also managed farther down on El Camino, past Redwood City for the second night. We did a drive by after checking out. It looked a little sketchy and was right next to a liquor store, so I canceled that reservation, hoping to find something better (which I did).

I spent a few minutes with a phone book at Ann’s Coffeehouse and over a very diner-esque ham and cheese omelet, I got the very last room at the Red Cottage Inn for our last night before heading back to Portland. Whew!

Red Cottage Inn
1704 El Camino Real
Menlo Park

When I was first making reservations for this trip, I was torn between the Menlo Park Inn and the Red Cottage Inn. Tripadvisor had more positive reviews of MP Inn, with some posters saying that the Red Cottage Inn was a little rundown. Wow — was my impression of these two places ever the opposite!

Red Cottage Inn sits a ways back off of El Camino, surrounded by flowers, landscaping and assorted greenery. The staff was very nice and with our AAA discount, our room (with 4 hours advance reservation of check-in) was $104 a night. Cheaper than the Menlo Park Inn and so much nicer.

We had a queen room, with a private balcony over looking the pool and good coffee for the in room coffee maker, as well as glass mugs. The ceiling was high, white and slanted and gave the room a lot of character.

Although I appreciated the darker colors and patterns of the previous room, there’s something to be said for light, airy colors. The hotel is about 5 blocks from downtown Menlo Park, so it’s certainly still walkable. I’d also add that nothing I saw looked rundown and that everything was very clean.

It was very nice and quiet and we would definitely stay here again!

So, to recap:

Hotel del Sol: Smells like cookies, is bright and funky and a very affordable place to stay in San Francisco.
Menlo Park Inn: Not as nice as it should be for the price, bad in-room coffee but friendly staff.
Red Cottage Inn: Very pleasant looking, balconies, relaxing and nice landscaping.

Today’s post was supposed to be about Bay Area hotels but my chair was just delivered and well…I’m slightly giddy with happiness. It’s so BIG and COMFY and I love it! LOVE IT! The chair is from Dania and I have longed for it for over two years.

I need to go into work now but honestly, I just want to sit in it all day and maybe take a comfy little nap.

Sure, there will most likely be hairballs and spilled wine and who knows what else in the future. But right now? It’s just perfect!

Soon: hotels, dinner at Farallon, creamy roasted garlic and tomato soup and more phyllo! Whee!

I made this meal last week when it was all cold — around 45 degrees — and rainy here. Ah, April in Oregon! This week we are near 70 and sunny — go figure. Oh right, this is a food blog and not a crazy weather blog. Okay.

Originally, I saw this recipe on Good Deal with Dave Lieberman, while lazily flipping through channels a little while ago. I haven’t really seen much of his show but this dish looked pretty interesting, so I thought I’d give it a try. Who can resist the lure of macaroni and cheese topped with tortilla chips? No one, I tell you. No one.

While dl’s original version is fine and dandy, I’m sure, I just had to make some changes. In my version, I added onion, bell pepper, roasted jalapeno and tomato and used black bean chips instead of regular corn tortilla chips. I also replaced one tablespoon of the butter with olive oil, just for experimental fun (and to sauté some veggies). Another difference is that I used fat free milk, which I thought worked just fine and saved a few calories and a little fat. I did, however, keep the 1/2 cup of half and half, as directed in the original recipe.

Mexican Mac & Cheese
1 pound elbow macaroni or other pasta of choice
Salt for the water
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp butter
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 small onion, diced
1 yellow bell pepper, cored and diced
2 cups fat-free milk (you can also use 2% or whole)
1/2 cup half-and-half
8 ounces shredded sharp cheddar
8 ounces shredded mozzarella
4 ounces grated Romano or Parmesan cheese
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp chili powder
1 jalapeno, roasted peeled and diced
1/2 cup crushed tortilla chips (I used black bean-jalapeno chips)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
zest of 1 lime
12 or so cherry tomatoes, halved

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cook pasta until al dente in a large pot of boiling, salted water. Drain and set aside. Next, add the oil to a large saucepan over medium heat. Sauté the onion and bell pepper until soft. Then, melt in the butter.

Add the flour and stir to form a paste. Cook for about 2 minutes, being careful not to let it get too brown. Gradually add the milk and the half-and-half and simmer until thickened slightly, stirring. Remove from the heat. Stir in the cheeses and season with black pepper, the chili powder and the chili flakes. Add your diced, roasted jalapeno* at this time as well.

Add the cooked pasta and mix into the cheese sauce thoroughly. Taste and add salt as needed. I probably added about 1 teaspoon of salt to mine. Pour mac and cheese into an 8 by 8 by 2-inch baking dish. In a mixing bowl combine the crushed corn chips together with the oil and the lime zest.

Top the mac and cheese with the corn chip mixture and arrange tomato halves around the top.

Bake 15 minutes or until the topping has nicely golden and pasta is bubbly and creamy. Serve with a side of steamed broccoli, chipotle tabasco sauce and enjoy!

The verdict
Both jwa and I thought it was pretty good. The texture was good — nice and creamy and very cheesy! I also found that my favorite chili powder blend worked quite well in this dish.

* To easily roast a jalapeno: blacken all sides of the pepper under the broiler. Place it in a plastic bag and let steam 10-15 minutes. Peel off the skin, slice in half, remove most of the seeds and dice. Wash your hands and don’t touch your eyes or be very, very sorry…

We got back last night and I really wish I had a day to do laundry, unpack and sleep in our own bed for much, much longer. But no — off to work.

I’ll get a new post up tonight — either about hotels in the Bay Area, one of the meals we ate there, books I bought there or the much-anticipated Mexican Macaroni and Cheese recipe. Which will it be? Ohhhh…suspense.

I decided to just go ahead and post this tonight, as I will be out of town on Friday. It’s a posting-palooza, I tell you!

Thanks to Lick the Spoon for coming up with a fun, creative theme for this month’s Sugar High Friday. Yay for alcohol! This was a very simple yet delicious recipe — I think it’s a keeper. I especially loved the visible vanilla seeds in the cream cheese filling. I made this version with frozen berries from Trader Joe’s, but I imagine that this will be even better in the sumer with fresh fruit.

The original recipe called for plain vodka but I had vanilla on hand, so I used that and cut down a bit on the vanilla extract. If using plain vodka, add 1 tsp vanilla extract to the gelatin mixture. This recipe can also be doubled easily, to make eight little tartlets.

Originally from Epicurious — Bon Appétit Magazine, specifically.

Vanilla Vodka Cheesecake Tartlets with Berries
1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
7 tsp vanilla vodka
2 tsp teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 tsp unflavored gelatin
1 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
1/3 cup plus 1 tbsp sugar
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
3 tbsp half and half
3 cups mixed berries (such as raspberries, blueberries and halved strawberries)

Crust
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix the first three ingredients in large bowl until evenly moistened. Divide mixture among four 4 1/2 x 3/4-inch tartlet pans with removable bottoms; press the crumb mixture over bottoms and up sides.

Bake until light brown, about 12 minutes. Cool crusts completely in pans on a rack.

Filling
Mix 4 teaspoons vanilla vodka and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract in small saucepan; sprinkle gelatin over. Let stand 10 minutes. Stir over very low heat just until dissolved. Cool to barely lukewarm.

Combine cream cheese and 1/3 cup sugar in a mixing bowl. Combine on medium speed.

Slice vanilla bean in half and use the knife to scrape the seeds from bean. Add seeds into the cream cheese mixture and mix.

Beat in half and half, then gelatin mixture. Divide filling among cooled crusts.

Cover tartlets lightly with parchment paper and chill three hours or overnight. Remove the ring from each tart. This is easy to do by placing the tart on a can or something smaller than the ring opening. Then, pull the ring down gently.

Berries
Gently stir the berries, 3 teaspoons vanilla vodka, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 1 tablespoon sugar in bowl. Let stand 15 minutes.

Top tartlets with berry mixture and serve with an optional garnish of fresh mint leaves.

Arty shot of cream cheese filling after mixing.

New post hopefully up next Monday. Tuesday if I’m too tired after the drive back. Have a nice week, everyone!

Tagged with: shf18 & sugar high friday

The sauce on this was amazing and so very simple. I’m still kind of learning my way around the pork chops and the pork loin roasts and all of that but the other white meat is getting more familiar to me. I found this recipe on Food Network and in their meal grouping, it was served with a Pumpkin Polenta. That recipe called for plain canned pumpkin which didn’t seem very appetizing to me (I know! I love pumpkin but…). Recently, though, I saw Giada (lbh) make an herbed polenta that looked pretty tasty. I made something along those lines to go with this dish and it turned out really good!

Pork Chops with Maple-Balsamic Sauce
4 (5-ounce) boneless center-cut pork loin chops
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1/4 cup chicken broth
1 tsp fresh, chopped rosemary

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Pat the pork chops with a paper towel to remove excess moisture. Season them liberally with salt and pepper.

Add the oil to the pan and heat until shimmering. Lay the chops in the pan and cook until lightly browned on the first side, about 4 minutes. Turn the chops over and cook until the second side is browned and the chops are cooked through, about 3 minutes more. The internal temperature should be around 160 degrees. Transfer pork chops to a platter and cover with foil. Wow, I’m shocked I don’t have more picture of the pork — oops!

Add the balsamic to the pan and return it to the heat. Use a wooden spoon to scrape up any brown bits that cling to the pan. Stir in the mustard, maple syrup, and chicken broth, along with any juices from the pork chops that have accumulated on the platter. Cook over high heat until the mixture is syrupy, about 5 minutes. Add the rosemary and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Creamy Herbed Polenta
1 cup polenta (or course ground corn meal)
3 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup milk
3 cloves garlic, minced
salt & pepper
1 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
1 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Heat the broth, milk and minced garlic, bring to a boil. Whisk in polenta and reduce heat to low. Stir frequently, as it cooks, about 35-40 minutes. If it gets too thick, you can whisk in more broth.

I found myself doing that and it turned out just fine. When the polenta is cooked and creamy, add the herbs and Parmesan.

Stir to combine and serve hot with the pork chops, drizzled with the maple-balsamic sauce.

For extra-crazy-tastiness, caramelize some onions in a little olive oil and serve on top of the pork chops. It’s fabulous!

Finally pushed the new theme last night. Yay! The picture is of a scraped vanilla bean being ready to add to….my Sugar High Friday post. I’ll be able to get a new post up tonight — either Maple & Balsamic Pork Chops with Creamy, Herbed Polenta or Mexican Mac & Cheese and then it’s off to California for the rest of the week.

Hopefully, we won’t get trapped!

I threw this together the other night for dinner, as I am trying to work my way through the leftover phyllo dough. jwa and I both liked it. The filling is creamy and gorgonzola-y, with a crisp and flaky pastry covering. I also experimented with using olive oil instead of melted butter to brush between the sheets of phyllo — seemed to work just fine.

Only 28 more sheets to go…

Chicken, Apple & Gorgonzola Strudel
6 sheets phyllo dough, stored under a damp towel while assembling
3 tbsp olive oil, plus 1 tsp
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 2/3 of a pound total), each breast cut in half
1 granny smith apple
1/4 cup walnuts, toasted
2 leeks, white parts cleaned and sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup low fat cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
2 tbsp Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grate the apple. I find this is easiest by cutting the apple into pieces, off the core. Grate each piece, pressing against the skin, so that everything up to the peel is grated. You’ll probably get about a quarter of a cup of grated apple. It’ll be pretty wet — don’t worry about squeezing that out. Just use it as is.

Heat a pan over medium heat and cook leek, garlic and grated apple in the teaspoon of oil, until most of the moisture from the apple has evaporated and leek is soft. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.

Poach the chicken in simmering water until cooked through, about 15-20 minutes. Let cool briefly and then shred. Add to the apple and leeks. Mix in cream cheese, Gorgonzola and walnuts. Add salt and pepper to taste. Mixture should be creamy anf hold together, but not too wet.

Spray a baking sheet lightly with nonstick spray. Lay a phyllo sheet down and brush with olive oil. Sprinkle with a little Parmesan cheese. Repeat this process with all five remaining sheets. Place chicken filling down the center of the phyllo sheets, leaving atleast a 2-inch border at the short ends.

Fold the short ends up, towards the center.

Then, roll one of the longer ends towards the center, so that there’s just one end still laying flat. Then, roll the whole thing towards that end, like you a rolling a jelly roll or a burrito. Hey! All those trips to Una Mas…er Pepinos finally pay off — I figured out how to roll this in a nice, neat shape!

Brush top with olive oil and sprinkle lightly with Parmesan. I made three diagonal slits in the top of the roll — mainly to be decorative but I think it also does something. Lets steam out? I dunno. I just think it looks nice.

Bake in a 400 degree oven for 25-30 minutes until top is golden.

When it comes out, “ohhh” and “ahhh” over it for a few minutes, then slice diagonally, into about six nice sized pieces. Two slices, along with a salad made a mighty tasty dinner!

ps: Why oh why do jwa and I both always wait until the last day possible to do taxes? Why? Oh, that’s right, we are lazy!