So, this was an experiment of meaty, epic proportions — and it was pretty good too! I was a little concerned about the shrimp being overcooked, but it wasn’t at all. Good job, paella recipe from the cookbook I forgot I had!

I changed a few things — I added garlic, red bell pepper, fennel and oranges. I used sweet Italian sausage instead of chorizo, mainly because I had sweet Italian sausage in the freezer and I didn’t have any chorizo. If you do this, you may want to add a few red pepper flakes for a bit of spice. Also, since the sausage I used was uncooked, I had to cook it longer in the beginning. You know, because it was raw.

On the side: a salad of sliced mangos, sweet onion and cilantro with a dressing of olive oil (3 tbsp), honey (2 tbsp) and lemon (2 tbsp). Add a few grinds of pepper and some crumbled feta cheese too! Also, crusty bread and goat cheese on the side.

Paella, Italian Style
Adapted from a recipe from the cookbook, At Home with Michael Chiarello, this is a half recipe and will feed 4-5 people. For the original recipe, double amounts below to feed 8-10
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, about 2 pounds total
Finely ground sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 sweet italian sausage links, casings removed (you can also use Spanish chorizo, cut crosswise into 1/8-inch slices)
1/2 pound large shrimp, peeled and de-veined
1 3/4 tsp Spanish smoked paprika, divided
1 tbsp whole fresh oregano leaves (plus more for garnish)
1 small yellow onion, finely chopped yellow onion
1 medium carrot, finely chopped carrot
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 small fennel bulb, cored and diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups arborio rice
3 cups chicken stock
3 medium tomatoes, chopped
1/2 tsp saffron
Pepperoncini and quartered oranges, for serving

Cut all the chicken into 1 1/2-inch pieces. Season with a little salt and pepper.

Heat the oil in a large ovenproof pot over high heat. When the oil is almost smoking, add the chicken. Cook until well browned on 2 sides, turning once, 6 to 7 minutes total. If using cooked (cooked) chorizo, add it to the pan with the chicken and cook for about 30 seconds. Remove and cover with foil. If using raw sausage, remove the chicken from the pan and cover with foil.

Then, add the sausage to the pan and cook about 5-6 minutes. Add to the bowl with the chicken when done. Cover with foil. Next, season the shrimp with salt and pepper. Add the shrimp to the pan, stir once then cook for 2 to 3 minutes total. Remove from the pan and add to the bowl with the other meat. Stir in 3/4 teaspoon of smoked paprika and the oregano. You guessed it, cover it back up with foil to keep warm.

Return the pan to high heat. Add onions, carrots, bell pepper, fennel and garlic. Pour in any accumulated juices from the chicken, sausage & shrimp bowl. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Cook until the vegetables are soft, but not brown, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Raise the heat to high under the veggies. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and remaining 1 teaspoon of paprika. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the rice. Stir to evenly coat the grains with oil. Cook for 1 minute. Add the stock and bring it up to a simmer.

Add the tomatoes and stir to incorporate. Sprinkle in the saffron.

Taste and adjust the seasonings, if needed. Cook until the liquid comes back to a simmer. Cover and put the pan in the oven. Cook for 15 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven.

Return the chicken, sausage, and shrimp to the pan. Cover the pan again and put it back in the oven to cook for an additional 10 to 15 minutes until everything is warm.

Serve the paella surrounded with the orange wedges for squeezing. Sprinkle the top with additional oregano and a drizzle of olive oil. Also, serve with a bowl of pepperoncini on the side. I don’t really like pepperoncini, but jwa does.

So, squid. Yeah but wait, come back, this was really, really good! Seriously! And at about $4.50/pound (cleaned even at Whole Foods), this is a great entry in the Cheap Fish Project. As a person who loves deep-fried calamari (I have a standard calamari clause while dining out — if it’s on the menu, we’re splitting it to start, no discussion), I was very intrigued to try squid (aka: calamari) in other preparations.

This was very easy and the vinaigrette is fabulous! I found this interesting wine-soaked manchego cheese at the store while buying my squid, which is why that is on the side here. Plus, I have no problem mixing fish and cheese, so there.

I think we’ll be having this a lot this Spring and Summer. I am even making grilled calamari tacos next Friday! Squid: the other seafood that’s really good and surprisingly inexpensive, especially as you can buy it already cleaned. Hooray!

There are a lot of pictures — squid is very photogenic.

Squid Bread Salad with Smoked Chile Vinaigrette
Recipe adapted from Bobby Flay*, I halved this recipe for two, as written, it should work for 4
1-pound medium-sized squid, tentacles included, cleaned
Extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
1 loaf day-old Italian bread, cut into 1-inch thick slices
2 tomatoes, sliced
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1/4 cup fresh mint leaves, torn
2 cups arugula leaves
1 orange, cut into wedges
Optional: A few slices of Manchego cheese

For Smoked Chile
1/3 cup red wine vinegar (I actually used balsamic as I had no red)
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp (or so) pureed chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
1 tbsp honey
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Salt and freshly ground pepper
3/4 cup olive oil or canola oil
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh mint leaves

Make the Vinaigrette first. In a food processor or blender, combine the vinegar, mustard, chipotle puree, honey, and garlic. Slowly incorporate the oil until emulsified. Stir in the mint and season with salt and pepper. Let sit at room temperature for at least 15 minutes before using.

Okay, the squid. Heat up a grill pan (you can also do this outside on the grill). Place the squid on a large platter or board, drizzle with a few tablespoons of oil, and season with salt and pepper.

Grill the squid bodies and tentacles for about 2 minutes per side.

Remove from the grill, let rest 5 minutes, then cut the bodies crosswise into 1/2-inch thick rings. You can either keep the tentacles whole or halve them — I halved mine. Toss the warm squid with the minced garlic. Set aside.

Brush the bread lightly with oil on both sides and season with salt and pepper. Grill for approximately 2-3 minutes per side on a gril pan or 1 minute per side outdoors, until lightly charred. Remove and cut each slice into 1/2-inch dice.

Toss the bread cubes, arugula and cilantro.

Add the squid and with some (or all) of the vinaigrette in a large bowl. Toss.

Let stand for 10 minutes. Lay your tomatoes slices down on the platter. Top with the squid and bread salad and surround with the orange slices.

Garnish with torn mint and drizzle with additional olive oil, if desired.

Serve with the cheese if that’s how you roll.

* Standard, amended Bobby Flay disclaimer applies.

I found this recipe both delicious and frustrating. The flavor was very good and the meat eventually turned out great, but I made a recipe error early on and from there, nothing seemed to work as it was supposed to. Mainly, my cooking time was off. I believe this was because I forgot to take the chicken out of the fridge for about an hour before I started roasting it.

It ended up okay, because I just turned the oven up a bit (allowing the skin to get more golden and crunchy too) and gave it a bit more cooking time. This is also a recipe, where, if you have a different cooking time/oven temperature combination that you use regularly, you could just use these marinade/ingredients with your regular method of chicken roasting. I may do that next time myself.

Salad rolls! — recipe here.

We had this with some coconut rice and some salad rolls. Was super good!

Lemongrass Roasted Chicken
Adapted from a recipe by Mai Pham in The Pleasures of the Vietnamese Table
4 tbsp minced lemongrass (I used 4 stalks)
2 tbsp minced shallots (2 shallots)
2 tbsp minced garlic (4 garlic cloves)
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp roasted chili paste
1 tsp kosher salt
1 whole chicken (about 3-4 lbs)
2 tbsp minced cilantro
3 tbsp Vegetable Oil
1/2 cup soy-lime dipping sauce

If you are going to marinate the chicken overnight, mince all your lemongrass except 2 stalks (using the bottom of the stalks). Leave this for the roasting. Otherwise, remove half of the lemongrass and set aside in a small bowl. Combine the remaining lemongrass, shallot, garlic, soy sauce, sugar, fish sauce, chili paste and salt in a large bowl.

Add the chicken and turn to coat, tucking some marinade underneath the skin. Pour any excess marinade into the bird cavity. Cover the chicken with plastic wrap, then marinate in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.

Bring the chicken to room temperature before baking. Okay, so I forgot that last bit. I think that’s why my chicken took longer too cook. Plus, I believe my chicken was closer to 4 pounds. Also, I found that all my marinade B-U-R-N-T on the bottom of the pan. I recommend adding about a cup of chicken broth or stock to the pan before you stick it in the oven.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Put the chicken, breast side down, on a rack in a roasting pan. Brush the back with a little of the vegetable oil. Bake for 40 minutes.

Here’s where I discovered my roasting issues: Turn the bird over and roast until the chicken is cooked and nicely browned, about 20 to 30 minutes more. My chicken was at like 120 degrees after 20 minutes and no where near brown.

Again, probably because my bird was not room temp to start with and it was a bit bigger than 3 pounds. So, here’s what I did — I turned the oven up to 400 degrees F after the 20 minutes at 350, breast-side up. After this tweak, I’d say my chicken took about 20 more minutes to finish roasting. I also added the described-below lemongrass and cilantro paste to the bird at this time, when I turned the oven up.

The original recipe said, about 10 minutes before the chicken is done, combine the remaining 2 tablespoons lemongrass with the cilantro and oil. Brush the mixture on the bird, then continue to roast until it is done and the juices run clear. Here, my oven was hotter and the lemongrass-cilantro was on the bird for probably about 20 minutes. It got nice and brown.

This is how I will do the bird in this recipe next time:

350 degrees F for 40 minutes, breast-side down. Then, flip bird and turn oven up to 400 degrees F. Give it about 15 minutes, then slather on paste. Then another 20 or so minutes to get that all brown. If your chicken is room temperature and/or closer to 3 pounds, this will take less time. Remember, a meat thermometer is your friend here, so monitor the temperature and adjust the cooking time as needed.

After it comes out of the oven and the breast meat is at least 160 degrees F and the dark meat is at least 170 degrees F, let the chicken rest 10 minutes before carving. Serve with Soy-Lime Dipping Sauce, any pan juices and rice.

Soy-Lime Dipping Sauce (No pictures, but it was great!)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 fresh Thai bird chilies, diced finely (or an appropriate amount of chili paste, which is what I used)
2 1/2 tbsp sugar
1/3 cup soy sauce
juice of 1 lime,
with pulp
2-4 tbsp hot water

Combine all ingredients. Stir until well blended. This sauce will keep up to 3 weeks if stored in the refrigerator in a tight-lidded jar.

I used the recipe “Super Quick Minestrone” by Michael Chiarello as the base recipe for this. Of course, since it was cooked it the crockpot, it wasn’t super quick. It was moderately lengthy. But so, so, good. Especially as we were in the 30’s last night and I had to put flannel sheets back on the bed. Hello? April? Are you there? Jeez.

Anyway, I added mushrooms and oregano and started with dried beans here. The house smelled wonderful while this was cooking. But really, when you start with pancetta, garlic and olive oil would you expect any less?

Crockpot Minestrone
1 cup dry cannellini beans
Extra-virgin olive oil
6 cups chicken stock
1/4 pound pancetta, diced
6 medium garlic cloves,minced
1 white onion, diced
1 medium celery stalk, diced
2 medium carrots, diced
1 sprig rosemary
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 dried bay leaf
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
2 medium zucchini, diced
12 cremini mushrooms, quartered
2 small yellow or red potatoes, diced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup tubetti pasta, or other small pasta shape (I used wheat elbow macaroni)
Optional: 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan

Quick soak your beans — rinse and pick through. Add to a pot, cover with water and bring to a boil. Let sit and hour. Drain and set aside.

In a saucepan, heat 1/4 cup olive oil. When the oil is hot but not smoking, add the pancetta and cook until it begins to brown, 3 to 4 minutes, turning occasionally.

Add the garlic and cook until it begins to brown, about 1 minute, stirring occasionally. Turn off heat and add the pancetta and browned garlic to your crock pot, leaving some of the oil in the pan.

Add the zucchini and bay leaf to the crockpot.

Return the pan to the heat and add the onion, celery, carrot and mushrooms. Let saute about 5 minutes. Add the rosemary spring and move around a bit with a spatula.

Okay, add it all into the crockpot, all the oil too. Next, add your drained beans, dried oregano and diced potatoes to the crockpot.

Now, if you are like me, your stovetop pan will be kinda brown on the interior — all the good stuff from everything you sauteed there. Wait! You can get that off and add it too. Put some heat under your pan and add about 1 cup of your chicken stock. Scrape up the brown bits with a wooden spoon. Pour it all into the crock pot, along with the rest of the stock and the canned tomatoes.

Cover the slow cooker and give it about 7.5 hours on low.

Add your pasta about 1/2 an hour before you want to eat it.

After 8 hours total, taste and adjust seasonings, adding salt and pepper. Serve warm with Parmesan and olive oil.

I saw this last week on Serious Eats. Brilliant!

It’s pretty self-explanatory.

Yeah, I made high-end s’meeps with the fancy-pants chocolate…so what?

Get graham crackers, chocolate & marshmallow peeps. Assemble.

Toast. I did mine for 4 minutes in the toaster oven.

Remove from oven.

Put top layer (un-toasted) of graham cracker on. Smoosh down.

Eat.

Grumpy-cat is not amused by s’meeps.

Completely unrelated, I played around with some possible new house colors today. We’ve never been happy with the grey/no contrast exterior of the house. Nothing pops. It’s kind of dreary.

Hopefully, this Summer we will re-side and paint. And do something like this (excuse the kind of crappy photoshop):

Dark orange door and accents. Green siding/paint. Bright ivory (with a hint of yellow) trim and columns. It would look so nice…