Pappardelle with Chicken and Winter Greens

This is a quick post of a recipe too good not to share that I made for Younger Daughter and her visiting foodie friend.   

Make this.

Seriously.

MAKE. THIS.

Please.

Pappardelle with Chicken and Winter Greens

www.myrecipes.com

Ingredients

1 bunch (1lb) green Swiss chard

1/2 medium head of radicchio (I used a big handful of arugula)

1 medium lemon (you will use the zest and juice)

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced (I used 6, minced)

1/2 cup chicken broth

1/3 cup of dry sherry

1/3 cup heavy cream

1 cup freshly shredded asiago cheese (I used Parmesan)

3 cups of shredded white chicken 

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

8 ounces of pappardella pasta

Directions

Cook the pappardelle.  While the pasta is cooking, trim the chard and cut the leaves into 1/3” ribbons.  Peel away the outer leaves of the radicchio and cut out the tough core.  Slice the remaining into 1/3” ribbons.  Zest the lemon and set aside.  Juice the lemon and set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium heat.  Add garlic and cook until translucent, about 2 minutes.  Increase heat to medium-high. Add the broth, chard, radicchio and lemon zest.  Turn to coat and cook until chard is just tender to the bite, about 3 minutes.  Add cream, sherry and half the cheese; stir to combine.  Stir in chicken and cook until warmed through.  Stir in the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper.  When the pasta is al dente, drain and add to the pan and combine with tongs.  Transfer pasta to the serving bowl, sprinkle with the remaining cheese and serve.

Hearty and fresh with a surprising variety of flavors. YUM.  I am told it's just as good, if not better, the next day after the flavors had time to soak into the pasta and chard.

Baked Lemon Chicken

Every now and then we invite a visitor to join us for our Wednesday evening dinners.  We don’t expect them to bring anything, we just periodically like to share our evening with a new face.

The town in which we live is filled with amazing and talented people…. professors, entrepreneurs, entertainers, attorneys, artists (of all types) and authors.  Once such author — a children’s book author — is a mutual friend of ours and we had the pleasure of her company this past Wednesday.  We listened as she delighted us with the antics of some new characters she is developing.  

When you read a book written by an author you know personally, there’s a deeper appreciation for the words, and in this case, the absolutely stunning illustrations that bedazzle the words, like that little critter right over there, Skippyjon Jones.  I envision our dear friend in her studio, pen in hand, wangling inspiration from the world around her all so she can make her readers smile.  

And smile we do.

I live vicariously through such creative people.  It was a joy spending time with her.

And she brought a really good bottle of wine.  

And flowers.

As you read in the Zucchini Brownie post, Younger Daughter has a friend at the University of Delaware who is a bit of healthy foodie and Younger Daughter likes to share her recipes.  As you also read before, I stress when it’s my turn to cook…I ponder for days what to make.  I want to serve something healthy and tasty while being mindful of mixing the menu up from past meals.

So once again I borrowed inspiration from the UDel fledging foodie and made a version of her Lemon Chicken, gussied-up a bit courtesy of The Barefoot Contessa.

Many cultures dish out their own version of lemon chicken.  It’s a standard on any Chinese restaurant menu (along with orange chicken) and in Italy pollo al limone is a roasted whole chicken drizzled with white wine, fresh lemon juice, fresh thyme, celery and onions.  On Wednesday, I served boneless chicken breasts (Target stocks some flavorful organic chicken!), coated with flour, lightly fried and baked in a luscious lemon sauce.

Baked Lemon Chicken

Adapted from The Barefoot Contessa and Foodie Friend

Ingredients

Chicken Breasts

4 boneless chicken breasts, cut in half and pounded to 1/4”

1 cup of milk

1 cup flour with 1 tablespoon dried oregano mixed in

Butter for frying

Lemon Sauce

1/4 cup olive oil

3 tablespoons minced garlic (9 cloves)

1/3 cup dry white wine

1 tablespoon grated lemon zest (2 lemons)

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 teaspoons dried oregano

1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves (I still have some in my garden; I used lemon thyme)

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 lemon

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Melt the butter (and a bit of olive oil if you’d like) in a large frying pan.  Dredge the chicken breasts in the milk and then the flour/oregano mixture and lightly fry each breast half until golden but not cooked all the way through.

Warm the olive oil in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, add the garlic, and cook for just 1 minute (but no brown garlic!). Remove the pan from the stove and add the white wine, lemon zest, lemon juice, oregano, thyme, and 1 teaspoon salt and pour mixture into a 9 by 12-inch baking dish and place the fried chicken breasts on top.  Spoon a little sauce on top, cut the lemon into wedges and tuck it among the pieces of chicken.

Bake for about 25 minutes,until the chicken is done and browned enough. Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil and then a towel (to keep it warm) and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and serve hot with the pan juices.

I served the chicken with Risotto and Peas. Yum.  We had our cobbler dessert in front of the fire...it was a perfectly lovely evening.   Buenas noches, mis amigos!

Chicken Marabella

In my Chicken with Clementines and Arak post, you may recall that I talked about Chicken Marabella, a recipe from the wildly popular cookbook of the 80’s, The Silver Palate Cookbook.

I decided to surprise my crew and make this dish on Wednesday. 

Memories would surely follow. 

As we were sitting happily eating our dinner and chatting away, Architect mentioned that she first had this dish at Foodie’s house twenty-something years ago (that’s how far back our friendships span).  At first, I didn’t think I ever had Chicken Marabella, but the flavors reminded me otherwise….there was something about the union of chicken, olives, prunes, capers and wine that was quite familiar. I may have also enjoyed this dish with them many, many years ago when cell phones were the size of Shaquille O’Neal’s shoe and the idea of an on-line diary (now a “blog”) was just a twinkle in some techie’s eye.

If Benjamin Franklin were alive today, I’m pretty sure he would have written the first blog post, immediately after he invented the Internet.

Sorry Al.

Anyway, Wednesday was indeed my inaugural preparation of this all-time favorite, which was the first entrée ever offered at The Silver Palate Gourmet Food Shop in New York City.

Nestled in the Upper West Side of Manhattan, The Silver Palate was a 165 square foot-little gem of a shop with a simple mission:  to prepare and offer good, simple food and a one-stop-shop to buy cheese, bread, pastries, salads and main courses, along with a pleasant place to enjoy people and European-like ambiance.  The restaurants founders, Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins retired from the restaurant business in 1988 (you can read the NY Times article here) but 274 Columbus Avenue still offers bakery, coffee and tea fare at the renamed Arte Around the Corner.

New York City has thousands of little culinary jewels sprinkled around the city.  It’s sad one pioneer eatery that introduced a generation to delicious, beautiful, and flawlessly prepared food is gone, despite the fact that it closed 26 years ago.

Chicken Marabella

From:  The Silver Palate Cookbook

Ingredients

5 lbs chicken (I used skinless, boneless breasts and thighs)
1 head garlic, peeled and finely pureed (I just used a garlic press)
1/8 cup dried oregano
Coarse salt & freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup pitted prunes
1/4 cup pitted Spanish green olives, sliced in half
1/4 cup capers with a bit juice
3 bay leaves
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white wine (I used a nice Steven Kent Chardonnay; to quote across-the-street-neighbor…"if you won’t drink it, don’t cook with it!")
1/4 cup Italian parsley

Directions

In a large bowl or zip lock bag combine chicken quarters, garlic, oregano, pepper and coarse salt to taste, vinegar, olive oil, prunes, olives, capers and juice, and bay leaves. Cover and let marinate, refrigerated, overnight.  I have read reviews that suggest you can skip this step; I wouldn't because it keeps the baked chicken moist.  Plus, marinating makes the chicken more juicy, tender and flavorful, absorbing the acids, oils and herbs that work together to perform their magic. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Arrange chicken in a single layer in a large shallow baking pans and spoon marinade over it evenly. Sprinkle chicken pieces with brown sugar and pour white wine around them. Bake 1 hour, basting frequently with pan juices.  Chicken is done when thigh pieces, pricked with a fork at their thickest, yield clear yellow (rather than pink) juice.

With a slotted spoon transfer chicken, prunes, olives and capers to a serving platter.  Moisten with a few spoonfuls of pan juices and sprinkle generously with parsley.  Pass remaining pan juices in a sauceboat. 

I served this dish on the perfect platter adorned with beautiful sunflowers and rich colors....very Italian.

Chicken Sofrito

Of the three lovely ladies with whom I share dinner night, two others have a birthday in July, one – Architect – earlier in July and one – Foodie – later in July, the day after me.  We celebrated Architect’s birthday earlier in July and the menu included these little jewels: 

Eggs poached in peppers on the grill…easy and so damn stinking good.

Anyway, we knew Architect received the Jerusalem cookbook for her birthday.

Now we all have a copy.

She agreed to host the late-July birthday celebration.

She said she wanted to make something special.

We were all waiting in mouth-watering anticipation!

Yep, she made a dish from the Jerusalem Cookbook, Chicken Sofrito.

The cookbook explains that “sofrito” is actually more of cooking method than a name of a dish and is “a perfect example of how frugality yields some superb delicacies and it is tremendously popular in Jerusalem.” Many inhabitants of the city are comfortable financially but just as many are struggling and this cooking method “reflects the scarcity and costliness of many ingredients.”  The word sofrito comes from the Spanish verb sofeir (to fry lightly) and the frying the chicken is the starting point for this method of cooking that culminates in a wonderful, slow-cooked braise that encourages the meat to just fall off the bone while eating….I am a witness to that effect! 

Architect prepared this dish in a beautiful 8 quart Cuisinart Dutch oven.  With a pan that big you can lay the whole chicken flat by butterflying it through the center of the breast…a butcher can do this for you too.

Chicken Sofrito

From:   Jerusalem Cookbook

1 tablespoon sunflower oil
1 small free-range chicken, butterflied or quartered
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
¼ teaspoon ground turmeric
¼ teaspoon sugar
2 ½ tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 large onion, peeled and quartered
Sunflower oil for frying
1 ¾ pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled, washed and cut into ¾” cubes
25 cloves of garlic, unpeeled
Salt and freshly ground pepper.

Pour the oil into a large, shallow pan or Dutch oven and place over medium heat.  Place the chicken flat in the pan, skin side down, and sear for 4-5 minutes, until golden brown.  Season all over with paprika, turmeric, sugar, scant ¼ teaspoon salt, a good grind of black pepper, and 1 ½ tablespoons of the lemon juice.  Turn the chicken over so that the skin faces up, add the onion to the pan, and cover with a lid. 

Decrease the heat to low and cook for a total of 1 ½ hours; this includes the time the chicken is cooked with the potatoes.  Lift the lid every now and then to check the amount of liquid in the bottom of the pan.  The idea is for the chicken to cook and steam in its own juices, but you may need to add a little bit of boiling water, just so there is always 1/4”  of liquid at the bottom of the pan.

After the chicken has been cooking for about 30 minutes, pour sunflower oil into a medium saucepan to a depth of 1 ¼” and place over medium-high heat.  Fry the potatoes and garlic together in a few batches for about 6 minutes per batch, until they take on some color and crisp up.  Use a slotted spoon to lift each batch away from the oil and onto paper towels, then sprinkle with salt.

After the chicken has been cooking for 1 hour, lift it from the pan and spoon in the fried potatoes and garlic, stirring them with the cooking juices.  Return the chicken to the pan, placing it on top of the potatoes for the remainder of the cooking time, 30 more minutes.  The chicken should be falling off the bone and the potatoes should be soaked in the cooking liquid.  Drizzle with lemon juice and serve. 

As our birthday cake, we had a fruit tart, then we exchanged gifts...a picture, perfect celebration.  We are so lucky to be able to enjoy this dinner club with each other.

Lemon Chicken Piccata

I don't know about you but after a holiday season of relative gluttony overindulgence, I am ready to eat a bit more sensibly.  It was my turn to cook on Wednesday and, I thought, what could I make that is easy, delicious and somewhat light?  

I get a daily recipe email from kraftrecipes.com  Some recipes don’t appeal to me and get immediately deleted but others get filed away, like this recipe for Lemon Chicken Piccata.  

Chicken Piccata is a protégé of the Italian dish, Veal Piccata.  Piccata is simply a method preparing meat that is pounded thin, sliced, coated, sautéed and served with a sauce. The meat is traditionally dredged in flour then browned in butter or olive oil. The drippings are used to make a sauce with lemon juice, white wine, butter and capers that is poured over the browned beauties.  This version uses Ritz Crackers instead of flour and chicken broth instead of white wine, although white wine could be easily substituted.

A word about capers.  Although they taste like olives and are frequently substituted for olives in drinks and recipes, capers are not a member of the olive family.  They are the mature lemony-tart buds of an evergreen bush common in the Mediterranean that are picked and preserved in wine vinegar.     I skipped the harvesting and pickling part and just picked the jar right off the supermarket shelf.

Lemon Chicken Piccata

www.kraftrecipes.com

Ingredients

3 large lemons, divided
4 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves (1 lb.)
¼ cup  KRAFT Reduced Fat Mayonnaise
22 RITZ Crackers, finely crushed, about 1 cup (I used wheat Ritz Crackers)
2 Tbsp. olive oil (I used Meyer Lemon Olive Oil)
2 tsp. chopped fresh parsley
½ cup chicken broth
1Tbsp. butter
1 Tbsp. capers

Directions

Cut 4 thin lemon slices from half of 1 lemon; squeeze juice from remaining lemons. Coat chicken with mayo, then cracker crumbs.

Heat oil in large skillet on medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook 5 min. Turn; cook on medium heat 5 min. or until chicken is golden brown on both sides and done (165ºF). Transfer chicken to platter; sprinkle with parsley. Cover to keep warm. Carefully wipe the skillet clean of big crumbs with a paper towel. Don’t clean the skillet too well because you want some of the browning residue to flavor the sauce.  

Add lemon juice and broth to skillet; cook on medium-high heat 6 to 8 min. or until slightly reduced, stirring occasionally. Add butter, lemon slices and capers; cook and stir on low heat 3 to 4 min. or until butter is melted and lemons are heated through. Serve over chicken.

This dish was delicious…lemony, light and low calorie* just what I was looking for.  We also had a wonderful French red wine, La Frande, 2011 Cotes Du Rhone, and a refreshing salad of greens, oranges and pistachios served in the lovely traveling salad bowl.  To end the evening, we (nearly) finished the leftover – but mouthwatering nonetheless – tiramisu that Foodie made for New Year’s Eve.

*About 300 calories per fist-sized serving.

Honey-Jalapeño Chicken

I get a lot of emails from cooking and knitting sites. Kinda predictable since this is a blog about cooking and knitting.

So, I open an email a few days ago from The Splendid Table and this deliciousness appeared:

Chicken Pot Pie Cups

It was Architect's turn to cook but her kitchen is all torn up due to a flood courtesy of a destructive little critter. So we switched nights and I decided to make Chicken Pot Pie. I love Chicken Pot Pie...with its blend of of meat, vegetables, cream, and herbs, it's like heaven on a fork. And - BoNuS - it takes the "what should I make with it?' quandary off the table.

I've posted a recipe for this comfort classic before so I thought I would try something a little different....Chicken Pot Pie Cups. I first saw the inspiration on Pinterest and, as I've been known to do, I gave it my own twist.

Ingredients
2 packages of crescent rolls
1 cup chicken broth (sometimes I use 3/4 c broth and 1/4 c of white wine)
1 bag of frozen veggies. These bags usually include veggies that are diced smaller ...works better in the cups.
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 cup chopped onion
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup half-and-half
1 tablespoon of garlic (my addition)
1 1⁄2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme or 1⁄2 teaspoon dried (this time I added some freshly chopped sage and rosemary too)
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
1⁄2 teaspoon pepper
2 cups bite-size pieces cooked chicken (I like to grill mine)

Preparation
Grill the chicken and when cool chop it into small, bite-size pieces. Spray each cupcake cup with cooking spray. Open the crescent rolls -- I used Immaculate Baking Company crescent rolls --and line each cup with a roll, pushing the dough up the sides and along the bottom. Leave some pastry hanging over each cup. Note that you may have to reserve one of the rolls to "patch" some holes.

Put the frozen vegetables in a saucepan, add the stock and the wine, cover and cook over medium heat just until tender, about 5 minutes. Drain, reserving vegetables and broth in separate bowls.

Return the saucepan to medium heat. Add butter, and when melted, add onion and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, 3 to 5 minutes until soft. Stir in flour and cook 2 minutes more. Gradually whisk in reserved broth, then half-and-half, herbs, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring often, until thick and hot, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat; stir in chicken and cooked vegetables.

Spoon the chicken mixture into the prepared cupcake cups, flip the hanging dough over the top of the mixture and bake at 375° for 25 minutes or until the dough is browned.

I don't have small children any more but this would be a hit with kids! Beef stew or any vegetable stew would also work.

We had a lovely bottle of French red wine from the Rhone Valley, Perrières. The bottle says that "The vineyard is cultivated following strict biodynamic principles." Oh. Regardless of the fancy-pants standards, the wine was very tasty!

It’s in the Bag

So, I decide to make a roasted chicken for dinner…I figure a whole chicken will give me plenty of leftovers for a couple of lunches during the week.

Paying $10/day for lunch is just plain crazy.

I had to pick some things up at Target and I’m thinking….”I wish they sold whole chickens here because I really don’t feel like going to the market.” As I’m meandering through the fresh produce/meat/bakery/cheese aisle, I spot a handy-dandy Perdue whole roaster, in a bag, ready for the oven. Hmmm, this might be worth a try for $9.99. Among the touted features:
• Fully seasoned;
• Non-caged chickens fed an all vegetarian diet;
• No hormones or steroids added;
• Oven ready…in its own cooking bag;
• Clean-up is a snap.


The directions say to preheat the oven to 400º and remove the chicken from its outer bag (good thing they made that clear). Place the inner sealed bag in a shallow baking dish and cut a 1” slit in the cooking bag to vent during cooking. Roast for 90 minutes or until a meat thermometer register 180º. Remove the chicken from bag and let it sit for 10 minutes before slicing. Use juices remaining in the bag to make a delicious gravy (the recipe for which is also provided on the back of the bag). Note the special directions on the inner bag say "This side up." Hmmmm...

The nutritional facts: not shocking…the sodium content: fair, most likely from the seasoning ingredients.

Sold…and no additional trip to the market.

REVIEW

This chicken did not get “fight for the crispy part” brown (I expected that because it was baked in a bag), it was, however, very moist and succulent. A bit too salty (for me). The fact that I could stick it in the oven and forget about it for an hour and a half was a major plus.

Overall, this chicken is okay…better cold (believe it or not) so, with the leftovers I'll make a tasty chicken salad with pecans and dried cherries. Maybe some Italian Wedding Soup.

I like my beer-can chicken better!

I Call the Chicken to the Stand

After a brief hiatus (for various and sundry reasons, not the least of which is this globe-trotting blogger) our Tuesday evening dinners have resumed. Now, the weather in the northeast has been unusually hot – downright toasty – and such temperatures are just not conducive to cooking. Enter the perfect solution, GRILL….Architect grilled a whole damn chicken! She has this little contraption on which the chicken sits and is grilled upright.

Intriguing.

So I embarked on a hunt to find this little item. I typed “chicken grill stand” into an Amazon.com search and, there it was…in all its grilling glory

and BONUS I can have it by this Saturday if I order within the next 21 hours and choose next day shipping.

Done.

That was easy.

I was just as curious about the beer-can chicken recipe book for $8.51 but I passed on that.

This little piece of equipment produces the best roasted chicken ever…moist on the inside and fight-for-the-crispy-part on the outside. Delicious indeed. Architect also grilled asparagus and I contributed a zesty green salad with raspberries, goat cheese and sunflower seeds. Foodie made a quinoa salad. What, you ask? Quinoa (keen-wah) is a low carb grain with a taste and texture that is a cross between brown rice and oatmeal….tasty indeed. We also had a tiramisu cake that was left over from a weekend soiree.


Oh, mojitos…had those too. Might explain my sluggishness the next morning.

Mojito
Crush mint and sugar to taste in a little bowl, add a shot of clear rum and 1/4 cup of fresh lime juice. Fill a tall glass with ice, add the rum mixture and top off with sparkling water. Garnish with a few sprigs of mint...yummy.

Youngest daughter’s Senior Ball is this weekend…they grow up so quickly!

Chicken with Sautéed Leeks

I am happy to report that our Tuesday evening rendezvous has resumed. It was Foodie’s turn to cook and earlier in the day she gave Architect and me full disclosure that she was ready and willing to host but that she was coming down with some sort of bug. Architect and I sent emails back, almost simultaneously, that we both fully intended to brave any potential microbes to enjoy a meal together…..I think we all missed our Tuesday evening retreat.

Foodie made Chicken Breasts with Sautéed Leeks served on a bed of Spinach accompanied with Asparagus Risotto…YUM! The meal was, of course, delicious, but the company satisfied a hankering that only being with the girls can…are you smelling what I’m cooking? We caught up, laughed, talked about an upcoming concert (remember the Mavericks?), and Foodie helped me to decipher a convoluted (for me) knitted instruction. It was really quite simple after she explained it (I felt kind of dim-witted, actually)…I am a kinesthetic learner – I learn by doing!

To prepare this meal, Foodie chopped and sautéed the leeks in a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper. For those of you who don't cook much with leeks, it is a root vegetable in the onion family. The bulb of the leek is edible as well as the light green portion of the stalk, very much like a scallion. Some describe leeks as a cross between an onion and a cucumber and they are delicious sautéed, tossed in a salad or pureed into a soup! When a recipe calls for onions, try half chopped leeks and half onions for a more subtle, but sweet, flavor! You should let leeks sit for a few minutes after slicing and before cooking them. Why you ask...according to decidetobehealthy.com “The most beneficial compounds in an onion or a leek, are separated by the cells' walls. The act of slicing the onion or leek ruptures these walls and releases compounds... which then combine to form a powerful new disease-fighting compound: thiopropanal sulfoxide. You want to give the compound time to fully develop and concentrate before heating.” Who knew! Maybe some of my dear readers with science backgrounds can elaborate?

To plate, Foodie prepared a bed of sautéed spinach, topped it with the chicken that was lightly pan fried, and sprinkled the duo with the sautéed leeks and homemade sourdough breadcrumbs. How pretty is this dish?

I have not mentioned this, but I leave for Italy next week for ten days. I will be sure to return with lots of wonderful recipe ideas and wine choices – and souvenirs!

Image of the leeks from Google images.

Nothing says loving like Chicken Pot Pie!

When you think wholesome food, one dish that comes to mind is Chicken Pot Pie….there’s something about the fresh vegetables, moist chicken, creamy sauce and flaky crust that just screams comfort food (not really…..it’s a metaphor that I’m using for effect). Don’t you just love metaphors…we use them to legitimately overstate a point and because we hear them so often in our everyday conversations, no one notices. Some (sappy) examples in honor of Valentine’s Day:

Love is a camara, full of memories.
My heart is on fire.
Love is in the air.
We were made for each other.

Oh brother, I'm faint from all this love talk.

Think I'll just stick to Pot Pie.

Way back in July of 1996, I found a recipe for “Blue-Ribbon Chicken Potpie” in Woman’s Day (the paper magazine) that I CUT OUT and saved and have been making ever since. Of course, I’ve made some minor adjustments, but this recipe is so good that adjustments aren’t really necessary (I made them anyway).

Ingredients
1 sheet frozen puff pastry (from a 17 1⁄4-ounce box), thawed according to package directions
1 cup chicken broth (sometimes I use 3/4 c broth and 1/4 c of white wine)
3 medium carrots, thinly sliced
8 ounces green beans, cut in 1-inch pieces (I have been known to add frozen corn)
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 cup chopped onion
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup half-and-half
1 tablespoon of garlic (my addition)
1 1⁄2 teaspoons coarsely chopped fresh thyme or 1⁄2 teaspoon dried (tarragon too)
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
1⁄2 teaspoon pepper
3 cups bite-size pieces cooked chicken (I like to grill mine)
1 egg, slightly beaten

Preparation
Have ready a deep 2-quart soufflé dish or other round casserole about 7 inches across the top and 3 inches deep. Using dish as a guide, trim pastry with kitchen scissors into a circle, leaving a 1-inch border. Discard trimmings. Refrigerate pastry on a large plate or cookie sheet until firm.

In a large saucepan bring broth to a simmer. Add carrots and green beans, cover and cook over medium heat just until tender, about 5 minutes. Drain, reserving vegetables and broth in separate bowls.

Return saucepan to medium heat. Add butter, and when melted, add onion and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, 3 to 5 minutes until soft. Stir in flour and cook 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in reserved broth, then half-and-half, thyme, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring often, until thick and hot, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in chicken and cooked vegetables.

Heat oven to 375°F. Scrape chicken mixture into soufflé dish, cover with foil and bake 30 minutes or until warm throughout.

Brush 1 inch border of pastry circle with beaten egg. Invert carefully over hot casserole. Gently press edge of pastry to dish until it sticks, then brush all over with more egg. Cut 2 vents in middle of pastry for steam to escape. Bake 20 to 25 minutes until puffed and browned.

Let cool slightly before serving.

Happy Valentine’s Day dear readers!

xoxoxox

Yogurt Raita

We had dinner at the Foodie’s house on Tuesday night… she always surprises us with the most unusual dishes and this week she did not disappoint. She made chicken marinated in ginger, blood orange juice, garlic and cilantro, lightly fried and served atop mashed white sweet potatoes and sautéed spinach. As if this wasn’t enticing enough, she drizzled the creation with a yogurt "raita” and served it with a garnish of blood orange and cilantro. Very rare for us, but we were suddenly very quiet…being careful to appreciate the complex flavors of this dish. Tasty indeed.

Raita is a yogurt-based condiment commonly used as a sauce or dip. Typically used in Indian/Pakistani cooking, a raita is made by sautéing seasonings -- cumin, mint, cayenne pepper, ginger, garlic, and other herbs and spices – and mixing them into yogurt with fruits and vegetables such as cucumber, onion, or carrot, mango or pineapple. Foodie used ginger, blood orange juice, garlic, cilantro and, of course, yogurt, in her raita, recreating a dish she had in a San Diego restaurant during a recent trip to visit her daughter.

Blood Orange Raita
Ingredients
2 cups of plain yogurt
¼ cup cilantro
2 cloves of garlic
Juice of a ½ blood orange
Grated ginger to taste
Salt to taste

Directions
Grind together cilantro leaves, garlic and ginger and sauté to release flavors. Add salt, yogurt and blood orange juice and heat just until warm.

If you can contribute a raita variation (I imagine these are endless!), please share.

While eating our homemade cardamom rice pudding (a lovely complement to the savory meal)we somehow got talking about poetry and Foodie read us a delightful poem entitled "Forgetful-ness," by Billy Collins, Poet Laureate of the United States from 2001 to 2003. There is a line in the poem that says something about information “retiring to the southern hemisphere of the brain” and I found this strangely soothing…knowing that even a Poet Laureate can sometimes be a scatterbrain!

Oh yes….damn, forgot what I was going to say.

Chicken Marsala

Ok, so before I tell you about the perfectly lovely dinner we had on Tuesday evening, I want to give you a verdict on the Cardamom Pound Cake. What I really want to do first is whine because it took me two hours to get home from work because there was a dusting of snow on the ground. Ok. I’m done.

Back to the cake.

The cake was delicious. It was just the right consistency, not too sweet with a hint of cardamom and vanilla…. perfect to serve with afternoon tea.

On Tuesday, it was my turn to cook and I made Chicken Marsala with Sautéed Spinach and Arugula. This dish is very simple to make, but very fancy and delicious.

For the Chicken Marsala you will need:

3 Chicken Breasts
1 cup flour
1 tablespoon of dried basil leaves
Salt to taste
¼ cup olive oil
1 teaspoon of butter
1 8 oz package of sliced mushrooms
¾ cup Marsala wine
¼ cup of any other red wine (I like a Cabernet for this recipe best)


Pound the chicken breasts thin. Cut each in half.


Mix flour, basil leaves and salt and dredge the chicken in the mixture.


Heat oil and butter in the pan and when hot, add the chicken and brown on both sides.


Add mushrooms and cook until tender and golden.

Add the wines and cook for a few minutes longer until the chicken is cooked through. The sauce will thicken a bit from the flour and the butter.

The Sautéed Spinach and Arugula is super easy….coat the bottom of a pan big enough to hold the fresh spinach and arugula (I use a wok) with olive oil. Add garlic, salt and red pepper flakes and sauté for a minute. Add the spinach and arugula and cook until wilted.

See…lovely, simple and so good! We also had a salad with mixed greens and fresh pears served in the traveling salad bowl and Cardamom Pound Cake for dessert...this would be nice with homemade whipped cream.


Architect’s hubby is quite the cook as well and he whipped up a delicious dinner for himself and son…I think it’s a toss up!