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.

Huevos en los Pimientos

I had a wonderful time this weekend in Rehoboth Beach with Architect and her family....Foodie was there too. The weather was glorious and it was nice to relax on the beach and do absolutely nothing but people watch...one of my favorite beach activities. We saw some dolphins swim by and they surprised their beach-bound spectators with a spontaneous performance…they jumped completely out of the water…so exciting!

Architect's hubby, also an architect, and Foodie's hubby -- architect # 3 – grilled on Saturday evening and among the assortment of grilled goodies were peppers and eggs. Peppers and eggs…on the grill?

This dish was unlike any pepper and egg sandwich or omelet I ever had.

And, I have to admit, I was a little skeptical.

Let me clarify.

These were actually eggs poached in grilled peppers – Huevos en los Pimientos. Each red pepper was cut in half lengthwise and rubbed with a bit of olive oil. Mr. Architect placed the peppers cut side up on the grill and when the peppers softened a bit, he cracked an egg into each pepper half....the egg cooked right inside of the pepper. When served, each pepper half was flawlessly grilled and the egg was perfectly poached right inside!

Please give this a try...they are quite delicious. An ideal breakfast treat too!

The Reunion

Remember reading about my Italy trip? If not, you can read all about it here .

During the trip, I enjoyed the company of four other chaperones and three of the four got together today for a reunion brunch before one of our crew moved to Florida (don’t worry….we’ll visit!). We missed our cohort...but he will, no doubt, read all about our antics!

Our hostess graciously welcomed us into her absolutely lovely home and we had a blast reviewing photos, reminiscing about the trip and fantasizing about going back …it was a very pleasant mid-morning.

The delightfully set table, complete with freshly cut hydrangeas, welcomed a delicious Tomato Quiche (perfect for the Italian reunion), fruit salad and Creamy Berry Scones.

Aren’t friends wonderful?

Best of Show Tomato Quiche
(from tasteofhome.com)

Crust Ingredients
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/3 cup shortening
4 to 5 tablespoons cold water


FILLING:
2 cups chopped plum tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup shredded Swiss cheese
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 eggs
1 cup evaporated milk

Directions
In a small bowl, combine the first four ingredients. Cut in shortening until crumbly. Add water, tossing with a fork until dough forms a ball. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to fit a 9-in. pie plate; transfer pastry to plate. Trim to 1/2 in. beyond edge of plate; flute edges. Bake at 375° for 10 minutes. Cool completely.

Place tomatoes in the crust; sprinkle with salt, basil, pepper, onions and cheeses. In a small bowl, whisk the flour, eggs and milk until smooth. Pour over filling.

Bake at 375° for 40-45 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting.

Creamy Berry Scones
2 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon of salt
½ cup raspberries or blueberries or blackberries or cherries, etc…
1 Tablespoon of zest - lemon, lime, orange, grapefruit, etc…
1½ cup heavy cream
Sugar to sprinkle

Mix dry ingredients, fruit (or fruits) and zest (or zests) of choice together. Add 1¼ cup of heavy cream (a bit at a time) and stir with a fork until a biscuit-like dough forms. RESIST the urge to add more cream! Knead the dough a few times and press it into a ball. Break on into golf-ball size pieces of dough and flatten each onto a cookie sheet with bit of space between them for baking. You should get about 12 scones, depending on size. Brush the top of each scone with a bit of the leftover cream and sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 350° for 15-17 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. Enjoy!

“I Don’t Have Much of Anything in the Frig” Frittata.

As you know from past posts, dear readers, I am trying not to be wasteful. I can’t tell you how many times in the past few weeks I saw an adorable item and told myself that I just didn’t need it….except for shoes…it is still very difficult for me to walk away from shoes (notice the pun…I hope you chuckled) but I am getting better!

So considering that little soliloquy, I opened my refrigerator door this afternoon and pondered what to have for dinner….there wasn’t much of anything to work with (I am working on an event to be held this weekend and food shopping was not on the program – another pun – the past couple of days). Anyway, I made a “I don’t have much of anything in the frig” Frittata.

What I had on hand….about 8 cherry tomatoes, 1 ½ cups of arugula, a cup of mozzarella, one cup of leftover pasta (plain or with a sauce, it doesn’t matter), and two eggs. So, here’s what I did…

I sautéed the tomatoes in garlic and red pepper flakes, added the arugula and sautéed until wilted.

I placed the pasta, eggs and cheese in a bowl and added the tomato mixture.

After I incorporated the ingredients, I fried it in the same pan as the tomato mixture until the top was set and the sides were slightly brown. Then, in that very same oven-safe frying pan, I baked it for 10 minutes at 350°.

To serve, flip it onto a dish and enjoy! Quick, easy, delicious and best of all, no food wasted!

There has been some lovely knitted items donated for the auction….I will post some photos.