Hey, it’s the first French Fridays with Dorie of 2012 (for me, anyway)! And this week….M. Jacques Armagnac Chicken. This is a pretty easy and delicious weeknight dinner. I typically prefer roasted-type birds with golden, crackly skin, but to its credit, this was one helluva moist bird. And, with the new year’s resolutions and all, it’s probably best to not be tempted to eat all that tasty, golden, crackly skin.

Notes:

1. My bird was about 2.75 pounds and I roasted it for 55 minutes. It came out perfectly done and super moist. 2. I used a mix of gold, red and purple potatoes and two rosemary sprigs (no thyme). 3. I added garlic to the pot (duh). 4. I only had fairly cheap brandy. I used that, although, I did contemplate using some marsala wine instead. The cheap brandy seemed to work fine. 5. I wish I had salted . . . → Read More: FFwD: M. Jacques Armagnac Chicken]]>

Hey, it’s the first French Fridays with Dorie of 2012 (for me, anyway)! And this week….M. Jacques Armagnac Chicken. This is a pretty easy and delicious weeknight dinner. I typically prefer roasted-type birds with golden, crackly skin, but to its credit, this was one helluva moist bird. And, with the new year’s resolutions and all, it’s probably best to not be tempted to eat all that tasty, golden, crackly skin.

Notes:

1. My bird was about 2.75 pounds and I roasted it for 55 minutes. It came out perfectly done and super moist.
2. I used a mix of gold, red and purple potatoes and two rosemary sprigs (no thyme).
3. I added garlic to the pot (duh).
4. I only had fairly cheap brandy. I used that, although, I did contemplate using some marsala wine instead. The cheap brandy seemed to work fine.
5. I wish I had salted everything just a smidge more.

Okay, onward to the photos and here’s a link to everyone’s chicken posts.

Onions, carrots, potatoes and rosemary in the pot. Is there room for the chicken?

Yes. If it’s tiny. Notice the sliced garlic cloves.

I put foil around my lid nob knob just in case it wouldn’t be oven-safe at 450 degrees F.

After almost an hour…chicken-y deliciousness.

After removing the chicken and adding water (if I had any chicken stock on hand, I would have used that, I think).

Oh look how moist the white meat is!

Plated and ready for dinner.

I was trying to delete some blog spam the other night and I got distracted (I know, so rare!) by looking through my iphoto annals. It got me to thinking, “hey! I should go through all my pictures from 2011 and pick my favorite two (or three) from each month and put them in a blog post.”

So, that’s what I’ve done here. It was a lot more fun than deleting spam comments from the moderation queue. Although, you have to admit, this one has a certain charm:

I beloved as much as you’ll receive carried out proper here. The caricature is tasteful, your authored material stylish. nonetheless, you command get bought an nervousness over that you want be delivering the following. unwell surely come further previously once more since exactly the similar just about very regularly within case you defend this hike.

It’s weird. It always seems . . . → Read More: 2011 in Pictures]]>

I was trying to delete some blog spam the other night and I got distracted (I know, so rare!) by looking through my iphoto annals. It got me to thinking, “hey! I should go through all my pictures from 2011 and pick my favorite two (or three) from each month and put them in a blog post.”

So, that’s what I’ve done here. It was a lot more fun than deleting spam comments from the moderation queue. Although, you have to admit, this one has a certain charm:

I beloved as much as you’ll receive carried out proper here. The caricature is tasteful, your authored material stylish. nonetheless, you command get bought an nervousness over that you want be delivering the following. unwell surely come further previously once more since exactly the similar just about very regularly within case you defend this hike.

It’s weird. It always seems like the year went by very fast, but then looking at all these pictures, I guess we did do a lot of fun stuff. I also still think that on the whole, 2011 was a pretty bad year, but this exercise definitely reminded me of some very nice moments that it had going for it.

It seems like I hardly ever sit around on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon anymore and watch cooking shows. I used to do that all the time. Now, meh. I should really try to get back in the habit of doing that, as I feel like I’ve been in a little bit of a food rut lately.

Now this recipe…this is what happens when I actually see something on a cooking show and right then, go out and get what I need to make it. Except, in this case, I forgot limes. Thankfully, I found an orange in the fridge that I used as a substitute. And, although I think that limes would work really well in this recipe (duh), I have to admit, the orange was quite nice. A little sweeter, but it complimented the tomatillos and jalapeno well.

Plus, this is seriously some braising . . . → Read More: Braised Chicken with Tomatillos and Jalapenos]]>

It seems like I hardly ever sit around on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon anymore and watch cooking shows. I used to do that all the time. Now, meh. I should really try to get back in the habit of doing that, as I feel like I’ve been in a little bit of a food rut lately.

Now this recipe…this is what happens when I actually see something on a cooking show and right then, go out and get what I need to make it. Except, in this case, I forgot limes. Thankfully, I found an orange in the fridge that I used as a substitute. And, although I think that limes would work really well in this recipe (duh), I have to admit, the orange was quite nice. A little sweeter, but it complimented the tomatillos and jalapeno well.

Plus, this is seriously some braising weather lately. Go braise something! Why not this?

Braised Chicken with Tomatillos and Jalapenos
Adapted from a recipe by Anne Burrell (she with the crazy hair). Serves two as written below. Double it up and you’ve got lunches for the next day as well!
3 tomatillos, husked
1 jalapeno pepper
Extra-virgin olive oil
4 chicken drumsticks
Kosher salt and black pepper
1 medium white onion, cut into 1/4-inch dice
1 carrot, peeled and diced
1 green bell epepper, cored and diced
3 cloves garlic, smashed and finely chopped
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 orange, zested and juiced
2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro, plus a few more leaves for garnish

Citrus Sour Cream:
1/4 cup sour cream
1 limes (or 1/2 orange), zested and juiced

Place the tomatillos and jalapenos on a foil lined baking sheet and put under the boiler, turning as needed, until charred and black. When they are done, remove and put in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap or foil to steam. After a few minutes, you should be able to peel the blackened skins off. Chop the tomatillos and jalapeno (removing some of the jalapeno seeds, if you want it less spicy).

Coat a large, wide straight-sided saute pan with olive oil and bring to medium-high heat. Sprinkle the chicken generously with salt. Add the chicken legs to the hot pan. Brown the chicken well on all sides. Remove from the pan and reserve.

Remove any excess fat from the pan and add a few drops of new oil. Add the onion, bell pepper and carrot, season with salt and cook 7 to 8 minutes. Add the garlic to the pan and continue cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Next, add the reserved tomatillos and jalapenos. Stir to combine and add the chicken stock, orange juice and zest. Taste and season with pepper and more salt if needed. Return the chicken to the pan and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cover. Cook for 15 minutes. Remove the lid and let cook for 15 more minutes, allowing the sauce to reduce. Taste for seasoning and adjust if needed.

For the sour cream: Combine the sour cream with the lime (or orange) zest and juice.

To serve: Remove the chicken from the pan and stir in the cilantro. Spoon the sauce over the chicken, sprinkle with cilantro leaves and serve with the citrus sour cream.

I’m not going to write too much about this for an introduction because it’s a pretty long post. I will say, “Wow! This was wonderful!”

My hand did get a little tired after the 6th or so ball of dough, but it was well worth it. I definitely want to make more of these little ears (I always thought they looked more like UFOs), before pasta weather is no more. Say, around July in Portland…

Fresh Semolina Orecchiette From Gourmet Magazine 2 cups semolina 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour 1/2 tsp salt 1 cup lukewarm water

In a large bowl stir together semolina and flour and form a well in center. Add water and salt to well and with a fork gradually incorporated semolina mixture until a dough is formed (some of the mixture will not be incorporated).

If after pulling the dough out of the bowl, you find . . . → Read More: Semolina Orecchiette (& What To Do With It)]]>

I’m not going to write too much about this for an introduction because it’s a pretty long post. I will say, “Wow! This was wonderful!”

My hand did get a little tired after the 6th or so ball of dough, but it was well worth it. I definitely want to make more of these little ears (I always thought they looked more like UFOs), before pasta weather is no more. Say, around July in Portland…

Fresh Semolina Orecchiette
From Gourmet Magazine
2 cups semolina
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup lukewarm water

In a large bowl stir together semolina and flour and form a well in center. Add water and salt to well and with a fork gradually incorporated semolina mixture until a dough is formed (some of the mixture will not be incorporated).

If after pulling the dough out of the bowl, you find you have a lot of flour mixture leftover (I did), go ahead and add a bit more water to make more pasta dough. You do want about 1/2 cup leftover semolina mixture that you will use while forming the pasta.

On a work surface knead dough, incorporating more semolina mixture from bowl as necessary and discard any hard clumps, until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. I have to confess, I cheated and used my stand mixer here — about 5 minutes with the dough hook.

Divide dough into 8 pieces and wrap separately in plastic wrap. I was so surprised at how nice and soft this dough was after the kneading. A beautiful, soft, workable dough!

Line 2 trays (you may need a third) with a dry kitchen towel (or paper towels) and dust your hands with some semolina mixture. Remove plastic wrap from 1 piece of dough and roll between your hands and a work surface to create a rope 3 to 4 feet long and 1/2 inch wide. At this point, it seems a lot like make gnocchi. With a sharp knife cut into 1/2-inch pieces, separating pieces as cut so they are no longer touching. Lightly toss cut pieces with a little of your leftover semolina mixture.

Put each cut piece of dough, a cut side down, in palm of hand and form a depression by pressing thumb of other hand into dough and twisting slightly. I wish I had another arm and hand, because then I would have taken a picture of my thumb pressing into the dough. Please use your imagination for this.

Arrange orecchiette on your towel-lined tray. Make more orecchiette with remaining 7 pieces of dough in same manner, transferring to kitchen-towel-lined trays.

The first ones you make will look mostly like orecchiette, but by the 8th ball of dough you will definitely be channeling your inner-Puglian and making perfect shapes. Gourmet Magazine says the orecchiette may be made 2 days ahead and chilled on towel-lined trays, covered with plastic wrap.

I stuck one of my trays in the freezer overnight and in the morning, gathered up my frozen pasta into a freezer bag for storage. I have every reason to believe this will work. I’ll let you know. I got a little bit more than 1.5 pounds of pasta from this recipe.

So, now what to do with your Orecchiette? How about this…

Orecchiette with Kale, garbanzo Beans, Cherry Tomatoes and Parmesan
1 lb orecchiette pasta
1/2 cup diced onion
3 cloves garlic
2 Italian sausages, casings removed (I used chicken sausage)
1 bunch kale, center rib removed and discarded, the leaves roughly chopped
1 can garbanzo beans, rinsed well and drained
1 cup dry white wine
12-15 cherry tomatoes, halved
a handful of fresh basil
1/2 cup + Parmesan cheese, grated

Start a large pot of water over high heat to cook your pasta. Then, heat the olive oil in a huge skillet and saute the onion and garlic until soft. Add the sausage to the pan and break up with a wooden spoon.

After sausage has browned and is mostly cooked through, add the kale, beans and wine. Scrape any brown bits off the bottom of the pan, then lower heat and cover with a lid and let cook while you cook the pasta in your boiling water. For fresh orecchiette, it’ll take about 6 minutes and for dried pasta, 9-11 minutes.

Testing and tasting pasta for doneness.

When pasta is almost done, add it to the skillet, along with about a half a cup of the pasta water.

Add the cherry tomatoes, Parmesan cheese and basil. Salt and pepper to taste and serve.

This was so good! I can’t believe I’ve never tried making this before. Now I have to figure out what to do with the 1/2 pound or so in my freezer.

Oh, wow, having a cold is horrible. It’s been so long since I’ve been sick, that I couldn’t really remember how annoying it is to be under the weather. But, last weekend it all came back to me. It started with a lump in the throat and then the fun continued on from there — fever, chills, stuffed up nose, aches, pains, coughing. Grr! And to top it all off, this cold started while we were on a previously-had-to-be-postponed trip to Seattle to see the Battlestar Galactica exhibit.

Luckily, it’s been about six days now and I think I’ve mostly recovered and ohmygod!, am I sick of canned soup. By the way, you know you’re sick when canned soup sounds good (and you have absolutely no interest in making soup — an endeavor you normally love).

So, here’s to good health! Let’s celebrate with some tasty, . . . → Read More: Risotto with Savoy Cabbage and Chicken Sausage]]>

Oh, wow, having a cold is horrible. It’s been so long since I’ve been sick, that I couldn’t really remember how annoying it is to be under the weather. But, last weekend it all came back to me. It started with a lump in the throat and then the fun continued on from there — fever, chills, stuffed up nose, aches, pains, coughing. Grr! And to top it all off, this cold started while we were on a previously-had-to-be-postponed trip to Seattle to see the Battlestar Galactica exhibit.

Luckily, it’s been about six days now and I think I’ve mostly recovered and ohmygod!, am I sick of canned soup. By the way, you know you’re sick when canned soup sounds good (and you have absolutely no interest in making soup — an endeavor you normally love).

So, here’s to good health! Let’s celebrate with some tasty, creamy risotto!

This was a dish born out of having half a head of savoy cabbage leftover from making lamb cabbage rolls and having no idea whatsoever what to do with that half a cabbage head. Make more cabbage rolls?? It was starting to look like that when I found this recipe online.

This was very good and comforting, with just a bit of heat from the chicken Sicilian-style sausage I used.

Risotto with Savoy Cabbage and Sausage
risotto con verza e salsiccia…Adapted from La Cucina Italiana Magazine
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 Savoy cabbage, cored and thinly sliced
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 chicken Italian sausages, removed from casings
1.5 cups Arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
5 cups lower-sodium chicken broth, heated to a simmer
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Grana Padano cheese
1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley
Salt and Freshly ground black pepper

Heat oil in a large pot over medium-low heat. Add cabbage and onion; cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are softened, about 8 minutes. Add sausage and stir to combine. Add rice and cook, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes.

Add wine and 1 cup broth; cook, stirring, until liquid is mostly absorbed, about 7 minutes. Add 1/2 cup more broth and cook, stirring, until mostly absorbed.

Repeat, adding liquid in 1/2 cupfuls, until rice is tender yet still slightly firm to the bite (you may not use all the broth).

Stir in the tablespoon butter, most of the parsley and the cheese. Taste. Add a bit more cheese. (Repeat that last step a few more times). Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve immediately, garnishing with the leftover parsley. About 4-5 servings.