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!

Homemade Pasta

So, college boys invaded the inner sanctum of Wednesday evening dinner club last week.

Not just any college boys, but C’s son and his buddy.  As you can imagine, the conversation was quite lively and entertaining and, at some point, turned to generations.   I know a little bit about this subject.  There were two distinct generations (possibly three since one of us — not me — is on the cusp between a Boomer and an X-er) sitting around the table and it was interesting to hear their spin on the popular research.   I will tell you this, it is widely believed that the Millennials are a very literate generation, highly influenced by world events and not afraid to speak-up and act on what, to them, is right and just.  I was quite impressed with how these young men articulated their points.

The tuition is working…brought a little tear to my eye. And I got to participate in a generational case study, even though the data was quite limited!

What we did have in common was quite clear…we all devoured the HOMEMADE pasta that C served.  Homemade pasta is a total treat and it doesn’t need to be gussied up with a fancy-schmancy topping so C served it with a simple tomato sauce.  Marcella Hazan — the cookbook author who changed how we prepare Italian food — offers a delicious 3-ingredient version:

INGREDIENTS

2 cups tomatoes, with their juices (for example, a 28-ounce can of San Marzano whole peeled tomatoes)

5 tablespoons butter

1 onion, peeled and cut in half

Salt

PREPARATION

Combine the tomatoes, their juices, the butter and the onion halves in a saucepan. Add a pinch or two of salt.  Place over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Cook, uncovered, for about 45 minutes. Stir occasionally, mashing any large pieces of tomato with a spoon. Add salt as needed. Discard the onion before tossing the sauce with pasta. This recipe makes enough sauce for a pound of pasta.

On Wednesday, the sauce was the co-star and the pasta, of course, was the leading lady.  Like Arancini, making homemade pasta is a labor of love but so worth the effort.  

Homemade Pasta

To make plain pasta dough, make a well in the middle of three cups of flour and add three eggs and a little salt. Using a fork, gradually incorporate the eggs into the flour (not all at once!) from the middle working your way out. When pliable, knead the dough until it is a bit elastic and somewhat shiny and bounces back easily when poked. 

Wrap the dough in plastic and let it rest for 15 minutes. My grandmother used to put the dough in a bowl and cover it with a towel…both methods keep it from drying out.

Cut off ¼ of the plain dough, sprinkle it with flour and run it through the pasta machine on gradually thinner settings several times. When running the dough through on the thicker settings, fold it over three times before running it through the pasta machine each time.  To make the pasta you want, pick a setting and run the dough through the pasta machine on that setting.  

Let the newly formed pasta dry for a bit.   

Cook the fresh pasta in 6 quarts of boiling salted water (the rule of thumb is 6 quarts of water for each pound of pasta).  Fresh pasta cooks quickly so in about 1-3 minutes, it will be ready to plate with your favorite sauce.   If you are freezing, sprinkle the pasta with more flour and store in the freezer in freezer bags.

My dear grandmother used to make homemade pasta and that’s her Regina Macaroni Machine you see over there, to the right….she bought it in South Philadelphia, Giunta Brothers at 11th and Christian Streets, shortly after she arrived in the United States in the early 1900's.  The wonderful wooden case you see in the background was lovingly made by my grandfather to preserve her newly acquired apparatus, now my cherished treasure. 

Butternut Squash Lasagna

We had dinner at Foodie’s house on Wednesday – always a treat – and she made Butternut Squash Lasagna. The particular lasagna calls for a Béchamel Sauce to moisten the layers so what better source to consult about this classic velvety blend of butter, flour and milk than Ms. Julia Child. Julia explains that “Sauce Béchamel in the time of Louis XIV was a more elaborate sauce that it is today. Then it was a simmering of milk, veal, and seasonings with an enrichment of cream. In modern French cooking, a Béchamel is a quickly made milk-based foundation requiring only the addition of butter, cream, herbs or other flavorings to turn it into a proper sauce.”

Well, Foodie’s sauce was a proper sauce indeed because this lasagna was delicious.

First, I share how to make a proper Béchamel Sauce…according to Julia, page 57.

Sauce Béchamel
“In a heavy sauce pan, melt 2 Tablespoons of butter over low heat. Blend in 3 Tablespoons of flour and cook slowly, stirring with a wooden spoon until the butter and flour froth together for 2 minutes, without coloring. This is now a white roux.

Remove the roux from heat. As soon as the roux has stopped bubbling, pour in 2 cups of heated milk and ¼ teaspoon of salt OR 2 cups of heated chicken stock. Immediately beat with a wire whip to blend liquid and the roux, gathering in all bits of roux from the inside edges of the pan Set saucepan over moderately high heat and stir with a wire whip until the sauce comes to a boil. Boil for 1 minute, stirring. Whip in salt and pepper to taste. Add 2 Tablespoons of butter or herbs to enrich the sauce.”

If lumpy: Force the sauce through a sieve or whirl it in a blender then simmer for 5 minutes.

Can’t you just hear Julia saying “whirl it in a blender?”

If too thick: Thin out with milk added gradually

If too thin: Either boil it down or add 1 Tablespoon of butter made into a paste with a ½ Tablespoon of flour.

Butternut Squash Lasagna
1 box of Barilla ready-to-use lasagna noodles
One butternut squash or a bag of butternut squash from Trader Joes
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
4-6 cloves of Garlic
4 cups of Béchamel sauce
Parmesan cheese – enough to use generously between each layer
1 cup Mozzarella cheese
Fresh Sage leaves

Dice the butternut squash and sauté in olive oil and garlic until slightly caramelized. Add chicken broth to moisten, cover and simmer until tender, about 15-20 minutes depending on how large the diced pieces are. When done, mash with fork.

Place a layer of squash in the bottom of a baking dish, add the noodles, then butternut squash, top with several spoonfuls of Béchamel sauce, but do not completely cover the squash, top with parmesan cheese. Repeat. End with Béchamel to cover the noodles. Top with mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese and sage leaves and bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees.

A little fancy and full of flavor. Plate with a lovely Caesar salad and a nice bottle of red wine. For dessert, pumpkin bread….

Fair One: Gravy or Sauce

If you are from an Italian family - especially in the northeast part of the United States - you likely call the stuff you put on pasta, gravy. I know this particular moniker is the source of fierce debate, but whatever you call this blend of tomatoes, onions, garlic, and spices cooked for at least three hours with a lot of meat, it’s delicious.

How did this term “gravy” originate?

My Wikipedia search extensive research reveals that "gravy" is an erroneous English translation from the Italian sugo which means juice, but can also mean sauce (as in sugo per pastasciutta). The expression for "gravy" in Italian is sugo d'arrosto, which is literally "juice of a roast" and is not specifically tomato sauce.”

Che cosa?

This explanation has apparently been adapted to explain that a spaghetti topping cooked with meat is called gravy and a topping made with other ingredients and no meat, such as Pesto or Alfredo, is called sauce.

Well, I’m glad that’s settled.

South Philly native and Philadelphia radio/TV personality and author Lorraine Ranalli wrote a book called “Gravy Wars” about this inexhaustible cultural conflict…when I finish reading it, I’ll write a review! In my family, we always called it gravy since my Italian grandmom made hers with meatballs, sausage and, if she really liked us that week, braciole.

So, this discussion is only useful if I tell you how to make this traditional Italian favorite:

The ingredients:

* Olive Oil
* 1 medium onion, diced
* Garlic, 4 (or 6 or 8) cloves, minced
* 1 can each of tomato puree, sauce and paste
* 1 puree can full of water
* 2 Tablespoons Italian seasoning
* 2 Tablespoons fresh oregano
* 2 Tablespoons fresh parsley
* Brown sugar, about two tablespoons (I find this mellows the acidity of the tomatoes)
* Salt


Brown the meat -- homemade meatballs and pork sausage made with parsley and romano cheese -- in a large pan. Once browned, remove and set aside…juices will flow to the bottom of the bowl.

In the same pan in which you browned the meat (do not wash it!), sauté the onions and garlic until a bit brown.

Add the puree, sauce and paste and the water and give the mixture a good swirl until the paste dissolves.

Add the spices, sugar and salt.

Add the meat with the juices and simmer for at least three hours.

I started my gravy at 11:34 a.m. and we did not eat until after 5:00 p.m.....and that's how it's done. This may have been my best batch ever. I served the gravy on fresh pasta accompanied by my house red wine, Cantina Zaccagnini.

Youngest daughter loves spaghetti and meatballs so I made her a special dinner for her last weekend home before heading off to the Honors Program at the University of Delaware next Saturday...she will do amazing things, trust me! Mom, sister, older daughter and her BF came to say "see you later."

Where did the time go?

Homemade Gnocchi

We had dinner at Foodie’s house on Tuesday and she made homemade gnocchi with caramelized onions and bacon.

Making gnocchi may seem intimidating but it is a relatively simple process…and the result – fresh pasta – is totally worth the extra time. I usually just snip a bag open but perhaps now that I can’t proffer the “I don’t know how excuse” my scissors will have to take a hiatus.

Foodie used the basic gnocchi recipe from the Silver Spoon cookbook. I am excited about the flavor possibilities now that I am enlightened about the gnocchi-making process so please comment if you have some favorites that you’d like to submit to my project! There is a pumpkin gnocchi recipe in the book that I am eager to try.

Basic Potato Gnocchi
2 1/2 lbs of Russet Potatoes (they are starchier and hold together nicely)
1 egg, beaten
1 ¾ cups of flour
Salt to taste

Steam unpeeled, whole potatoes until soft – this will keep moisture from getting into the potato which help the gnocchi to hold together.

When cool enough to handle, remove the skins...

Run each potato through a ricer or food mill.

Make a “well” in the middle of the riced potatoes and pour the beaten egg into the center. Begin to (gingerly) incorporate the potatoes into the egg working from the middle out.

Gradually sprinkle in the flour and salt and knead into a soft, elastic dough – do not over knead.

Break the dough into quartered sections. Roll each section into a long, round strip...

...then cut the strip into 1” pieces. Roll each 1” piece along a fork to form the classic gnocchi pattern and place each on a floured cookie sheet until ready to cook. Boil the gnocchi in salted water until they float to the top. Drain and serve with your favorite sauce. Foodie caramelized onions in bacon fat with a dash of sugar and herbs de provence. Then she added a few cloves of garlic and finished the sauce with a dollop of cream, crisp bacon pieces and fresh chives.

We also had a field green salad with roasted beets, goat cheese and walnuts in the lovely traveling salad bowl and homemade (by Foodie) blood orange sorbet. I will post a very easy roasted beet recipe this weekend…fabulous!