pan roasted chicken with honey mustard dressing

you'd think from this blog that i'm some sort of natural gourmand. but the truth is, i ate horribly until i met mr. mimi -- my palette was unadventurous and whatever i did eat was of the worst nutritional balance. one of the things i love about our relationship is how much i've learned and experienced with new foods over the years.

and although this dinner isn't so lofty, it was something new for me since i've never had a real honey mustard dressing before. it's embarrassing to admit, but the only honey mustard i've ever had is the sticky sweet kind in those plastic containers from random eating out at mcdonalds. and i don't mean to sound like a gourmand, but how does one ever think that is the way food tastes? mcdonalds might be an extreme comparison, and it's not like i ate junk food or fast food on a regular basis. but so much of what i used to eat that's considered "natural" was just a processed version of something that is so simple to make at home -- and dressings are a prime example. if you don't believe me, then surely you'd believe mark bittman! but if you need more proof, try this recipe that is super easy but full of flavor (aren't all donna hay recipes pretty easy but so tasty? that's why i love them).

pan roasted chicken with honey mustard dressing: serves 4
adapted from donna hay (spring 2009, issue 47)

4 chicken breasts
4 large carrots, sliced
6-8 baby potatoes, halved (or quartered if too large)
1 package of baby spinach leaves
olive oil
salt and pepper
1 tb whole grain mustard
1 tb honey
1 tb white wine vinegar

1. preheat oven to 375F. make the honey mustard dressing by combining the mustard, honey, vinegar, and 1/4 cup olive oil in bowl; set aside.

2. toss carrots and potatoes with olive oil and salt and pepper, place on baking sheet and roast for about 15-20 minutes.

3. meanwhile, salt and pepper the chicken breasts and heat oil in skillet on medium high heat. sear each side of chicken breast until golden brown, about 4 minutes each side.

4. put chicken breasts on top of carrots/potatoes on tray and continue roasting everything until chicken has internal temp of 165F, and carrots/potatoes are cooked through, about 20 more minutes.

5. toss spinach leaves with carrot and potato to warm and slightly wilt. serve with chicken breast on top and spoon over dressing to serve.

chicken with clementine salsa

this is going to be another one of those don't look at that photo, just listen to how wonderful this dinner is kind of post. i tend to not repeat making a recipe more than once, but this is definitely going into that small pile of eat, enjoy, repeat recipes. and yes i know that it's now mid-may and past clementine season, but it never hurts to bookmark this and try out later (later, like in next winter when they returns!). or maybe you can try this with regular oranges and see how it works out. a light, easy weeknight meal originally for chicken, surely this clementine salsa would work fabulously with fish, too!

chicken with clementine salsa: serves 4
adapted from bon appetit (december 2009, original recipe click here)

4 chicken breast halves
4 clementines, diced (about 1 cup)
1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup finely diced red onion
1/2 cup finely diced celery
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil
2 tb fresh lime juice
1 serrano chile, minced
4 tb olive oil
1/2 cup clementine juice (need about 6 clementines)
salt and pepper to taste

1. place chicken breasts between two sheets of parchment paper and pound chicken to 1/4 inch thickness.

2. mix clementines and next 6 ingredients in medium bowl, with 2 tb olive oil. season with salt and pepper.

3. season chicken breasts with salt and pepper, heat 2 tb olive oil in large skillet over medium high heat. add chicken and cook until slightly browned and cooked through, about 3 minutes per side. transfer chicken to platter, but do not turn off heat.

4. add clementine juice to skillet and boil until reduced to 1/4 cup, stirring often, about 2 minutes. drizzle sauce over chicken and spoon salsa on top.

fish and fowl: origins unknown

even though i wasn't on my blog doesn't mean i wasn't actually cooking and taking photographs. i actually have quite a few photographs of some tasty meals that i'm going through now, some very good, indeed.

then there is this one that i remember being very tasty, but for the life of me i can't remember where i got the recipe from and i've looked everywhere. you can google something like fish, fennel, orange and get a recipe or two to try out. but none of them were the one i used. besides the tomato base it also looks like there is some sliced potatoes in there, too. i wish i could remember as fennel is one of my favorite vegetables!



and here's another origins unknown photo. although i remember that this one wasn't from a recipe, but just a dish that we created. evidently we must have been in a tomato phase, even though these were both made in the dead of winter. so much for seasonality! but a sauce of chopped carrots, onions, and tomatoes over grilled chicken and topped with capers -- not sure how exactly we made it, but still looks tasty!

holidays at home: lemon-caper crusted turbot and roasted rack of lamb

the holidays were quiet at the mimis, in a new city without having many new friends yet. i don't feel quite at home, yet. my stuff is here, but it still doesn't seem like something i can really nestle into (which only makes it worse to own so much stuff). i had the small epiphany that for every other apartment we've lived in, we always made sure to paint the walls of each room before moving in. i always thought it made the rooms show off our personality, and i guess now that my walls here are pure white, a palette of color made those old apartments feel like home, too.

but i'm too lazy (and uncertain of the future) to take the time and effort to paint the walls now that we've moved in. the only way to create some sense of comfort is in our cooking. so we decided that for both christmas and new year's eve, we would stay inside, trying to recreate the warmth of home with dinners that would hopefully make us feel like there was nowhere else to be.

we originally had this idea of crab stuffed sole for christmas eve, but when we got to whole foods (sadly, we haven't found a "real" fish monger here in DC, yet. we miss blue moon!) the turbot looked unbelievably fresh, as if you could eat it as sashimi. mr. mimi's dictum is always buy the freshest looking fish, even if it isn't what you thought of making. so we bought a fillet and crusted it with some lemon breading, broiled with white wine, and garnished with capers and chives.



for new year's eve, it was the rack of lamb that was looking the freshest that afternoon and who am i to refuse a beautiful rack! i guess i'm making up for all those years i didn't eat any, but i just love lamb.we cooked this up with a port wine reduction glaze, with deep roasted garlic and rosemary. it was all so rich and delicious, for a moment there, it almost felt like home again.



milo loves lamb, too.

grilled lamb chops with salmoriglio sauce

wow for someone who was vegetarian for about a decade, i do seem to eat a lot of meat now!! it's not something i'm necessarily happy about. i would be lying if i said i didn't like the taste of certain pieces of meat. but i would be definitely lying if i said it didn't make me feel morally conflicted.

i try to assuage this conflict by at least only buying locally raised meats from the farmer's markets. this past weekend i went to a new farmer market (new for me folks, and that was thankfully light years better than that other one i tried out) and some of the farms even had photo albums of all their happy chickens, sheep, pigs, and bison in real fields and mucking grounds. it certainly convinced me that, indeed, these animals probably lived their lives as naturally as possible. but it made it that much harder for me to look at those photos and then buy a piece of cryovacked loin. but like i read somewhere recently, these chickens had a really good life for several months and then one very bad day.



i don't mean for this to devolve into a manifesto of sorts, although i do believe too little attention is paid to what we put into our bodies. i spend the majority of my disposable income on food. i believe that i should spend an equal amount of thought and conscious effort in making sure i know the provenance of that food. if not because of the animal i am eating, or the inevitable environmental damage, but at least because of the very fact that i am ingesting it!

i might think a lot about food, but when it comes to cooking, simpler is a lot of times better! i was looking for a new lamb chop recipe and came across this unassuming idea. salmoriglio is a strong, pungent lemon-herb sauce, originally form calabria and sicily. i could not believe how delicious it was! if you like lamb, please try this recipe! and then we can go back to debating whether i should be vegetarian again :-)



grilled lamb chops with salmoriglio sauce: serves 4
from gourmet (may 2000, original recipe click here

1 1/2 tb finely chopped fresh oregano
1 1/2 tb finely chopped fresh thyme
2 tsp freshly grated lemon zest
1 1/2 tb fresh lemon juice
1 tsp coarse salt
salt + pepper to taste
6 tb olive oil
4 shoulder-blade lamb chops

1. grind herbs, zest, lemon juice, and 1 tsp coarse salt to a paste with a mortar and pestle. transfer to bowl and add oil in slow stream, whisking until emulsified. season with salt and pepper to taste.

2. pat lamb dry and season with salt and pepper. heat a lightly oiled well-seasoned ridged grill pan over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking. then grill lamb, turning once about 4 minutes on each side for medium-rare.

3. spoon sauce over lamb. if this is how the sicilians eat, then i need to move there.

chicken fajitas with mojo de ajo

when i lived in new york city i had a favorite quick, cheap mexican place as a go-to for dinner. it wasn't nearly "authentic" mexican, but somewhere between that and the oozy, greasy, cheesy, incarnation that tex-mex often becomes. it had all the usuals, and normally i like fajitas because i'm such a sucker for sizzling platters of food! but i wasn't terribly fond of the fajitas at this particular place because while sizzling in temperature, it never seemed to really dazzle me in flavor.

so when i saw this recipe in martha's magazine a couple months ago i definitely wanted to try it. and fajitas are one of those recipes where one can think, do i really need a recipe? cut up some peppers, onions, meat and toss it in a hot skillet! and true, it doesn't really get (and shouldn't get) much more complicated than that. but i was really curious about this "mojo de ajo," especially since we loved bobby flay's mojo on a grilled pork tenderloin.

evidently mojo is the cure-all because it's definitely what my go-to place was missing in their fajitas! plus the combination of thighs and breasts (gee, that phrase seems awkward, huh?!) made it so much more flavorful. we only served ours with guacamole and pico, no cheese or sour cream (the guacamole is creamy enough!) i think this is a perfect dish for impromptu summer dinner -- quick, easy, and ready to share with friends or family!



chicken fajitas with mojo de ajo: serves 4
adapted from martha stewart living (june 2009, original recipe click here)

mojo de ajo
1/4 cup olive oil
3 tb minced garlic (4-6 cloves)
3 tb fresh lime juice (about 2 limes)
1 tsp red-pepper flakes
1/2 tsp coarse salt

fajitas
1 tb olive oil
1/2 large onion, cut into 1/2 inch thick slices (about 1 cup)
1 large green bell pepper, cut into 1/2 inch thick slices
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, sliced 1/2 inch thick
8 oz boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 2), slicked 1/2 inch thick
8 small 6-inch flour tortillas, warmed
salt + pepper to taste
guacamole
pico de gallo

1. make the mojo: cook oil and garlic in small saucepan over low heat until garlic is soft and fragrant, about 8 minutes. remove from heat, stir in lime juice, red pepper, and salt.

2. heat large skillet over high heat, add oil and gently coat. add onion and bell pepper, season with salt. cook, stirring frequently, until onion is bornwed in spots and pepper has softened slightly with blistered skins, about 5 minutes.

3. add chicken, salt, and stir and cook until chicken is browned and thoroughly cooked, 5-7 minutes (you can finish in the oven if you chose).

4. add mojo de ajo, and stir to coat. season with salt and pepper. serve immediately with guacamole, pico de gallo, and warm tortillas!

pork chops with rhubarb-raisin compote

yes, yes i'm still here!! although i have had a lousy track record, these past two weeks were not entirely my fault for not posting. i finally started a new job, yay! but it meant leaving my beloved new york city, sniff sniff.

except i haven't had really any time to mourn the loss of living in the best city in the USA because i received the offer one week, and moved myself down the next weekend (with the faith that i would be lucky enough to find an apartment in a day, and not be camping out on a park bench), and started working last week! i'm still living in a basically empty room -- i'm living on an aerobed and not much else! -- because the rest of my belongings don't come down until next weekend. and hopefully mr. mimi will follow soon thereafter.

so you see my absence was not intentional, and to prove it here's a post about an obviously previously made dinner. why obviously? because folks, it has rhubarb!! and we all know the peak rhubarb season is only in spring. i was a little late to the party because i was in nigeria, but there were still some good bunches left in june.



we didn't have cherries so we used the raisins from the pantry. the compote (as expected) was delicious and could easily be used with a chicken dish as well. in this heat of august you probably won't find any good rhubarb around, but bookmark this for next spring and i'm sure you'll love it!

for the recipe, click here.

roasted chicken stuffed with dried fruits

how fitting that my election night post was about roasted chicken, and here we come back to roasted chicken for today.

besides my political dreams, as an adolescent i also thought i was going to be a famous artist. i'd skip classes for days on end to be in the art class studio all afternoon. i was passionate about van gogh, cezanne, and kandinsky. i loved hopper. i was sure i was going to be the next contemporary brice marden or julian schnabel.

then my tortured adolescence of drawing and painting came to an end, but i still loved visuals - typography, design, illustration. and so when i ended up working at a bookstore, i was always a sucker for the cover of a book. i bought man without qualities because when both volumes are put together, the spines are a image of his face. and no, i have never gotten past page 100, but i still love that cover.

another thing i learned working at the bookstore is that the holidays are prime cookbook buying time. who knew? but several years ago we joined that tradition and bought claudia roden's middle eastern book for someone. back then i was pretty ignorant and all i knew about middle eastern food was your standard kebabs, hummus, and tabouli. and i was definitely ignorant about what a great writer claudia roden is. she doesn't just give recipes, she's a storyteller - of food, history, and culture. honestly i really didn't know anything except that this book had a gorgeous cover! so gorgeous in fact that i had to buy a copy for ourselves the next year.

and after all that babbling, all i have to say is: make this chicken. you will love it.



roasted chicken stuffed with dried fruits: serves 4-6
adapted from claudia roden's new book of middle eastern food (excellent book, highly recommended, 2000, p. 225)

1 chicken, about 3 1/2 - 4 lbs (preferably organic, humane)
1 onion, finely chopped
butter
olive oil
1/2 lb dried prunes, soaked, pitted, and chopped
1/2 lb dried apricots, soaked pitted, and chopped
1/3 cup raisins, soaked
2 apples, peeled, cored, and chopped (a specific type is not mentioned; we used granny smith)
salt + pepper
1 tsp cinnamon

1. preheat oven to 325F. fry the chopped onion in 2 tb butter until soft and golden. add chopped fruits and raisins and sauté for a few minutes. season to taste with salt, pepper, and cinnamon.

2. stuff the chicken with some of this mixture, securing the opening with a toothpick. rub chicken with olive oil, salt, and pepper. put the remaining mixture in a roasting pan. place the chicken - breast side down - on top of the mixture. salt and pepper. (this roasting method of breast side down is unsual, but mr. mimi is convinced what gave the chicken such great flavor and moistness and wants to try it with other dishes.)

3. roast the chicken for about 1 1/2 hours total, turning the chicken over after 40 minutes. serve the chicken with the extra stuffing mixture, accompanied by rice.

thyme roasted chicken with apples and bacon

sorry there's no tuesdays with dorie here today (but please check out everyone else on the blogroll for a very awesome kugelhof as chosen by yolanda from the all-purpose girl!)

but i don't want to leave you empty-handed, so let's revisit a week ago tonight, election night. what a strange ride this has been, when the only reasonable discussion of policy and politics i could have was with my republican cousin-in-law because everyone else in my immediate circle was an obamaholic who couldn't see beyond their own assumptions and stereotypes. i'm a 110% dyed in the wool liberal - love me or leave me - but go ahead and challenge me! i love to refine my arguments with debate and deconstruction until alas, you just have to concede that i was right all along ;-)



we had some people over for election night and wanted to serve a family style meal that was easy but comfy. we settled on roasted chicken, butternut squash risotto (that was awesome), and arugula salad (thanks J!)

so here's to change, here's to hope, and here's to turning that map a little more darn blue.

thyme roasted chicken with apples and bacon: serves 6

large whole chicken (ours was 5 lb)
1 bunch thyme
2-3 apples
4 garlic cloves
3 slices turkey bacon, cooked
1 quart chicken broth
1 cup dry white wine
olive oil
salt + pepper
lemon juice

1. preheat oven to 425F. rinse chicken inside and out; discard gizzard and neck.

2. dice apples and mix with lemon juice. slice garlic cloves and dice turkey bacon. toss all in bowl with a little olive oil, a couple thyme sprigs, and salt and pepper.



3. place remaining bunch thyme sprigs in roasting pan. stuff chicken with apple/garlic/bacon mix. rub with olive oil and season with salt and pepper (and other seasonings as desired). place on top of thyme sprigs.



4. roast in oven for 20 minutes. turn down to 325F and pour some of the chicken broth and all the white wine over chicken. continue to pour a little fresh broth on chicken every 20 minutes until roasted to an internal temp of 165F.

5. take out and let rest for half hour. carve and set on oven-proof platter with stuffing, pouring juices over the chicken/stuffing. put the platter back in the oven and bring back up to internal temp. serve sizzling and enjoy!

pasta e fagioli

i have to sheepishly admit ... many times i go through my google reader and think so many things look delicious and i post a comment "got to try this soon!" - sometimes even a "definitely trying this out!" - and then i guiltily never come through on my encouraging promise.

but for some reason, this pasta e fagioli bucked the trend when i saw it on jen's blog use real butter. folks, i saw this yesterday and made it tonight ... that's how much i was impressed by this so simple, but so delicious supper soup!



i made some slight modifications based on what we had in the pantry, and our preferences. we used our favorite turkey bacon instead of the italian sausage, and navy beans instead of northern. we did splurge on the ditalini (oh when am i going to use this again?!) and we had fresh rosemary instead of dried (if you use fresh, add and remove with the cinnamon, not in the beginning as written in the recipe).

i worked later than usual tonight so i asked mr. mimi to have it ready for me when i came home (i know, spoiled by a professional chef!) and when i walked in the hallway, the spicy aroma - combination of cinnamon, rosemary, and vinegar - was sooo nice!! it was a perfect meal with some crusty bread, and even though i was tempted to halve the recipe i'm glad i didn't because i bet it will taste even better (as all soups inevitably do) for tomorrow's, and the next day's, and next day's lunch!

now you might notice that my soup doesn't really look like anything from jen's soup. although i'm sure her photographs benefit from natural mountain sunshine, my soup was definitely a dark red in real life too, so it could have something to do with brand of tomatoes i used. regardless, it tasted great, so who cares what color it came out!



plus! when i started getting ready to write this post and upload my photos i noticed that unbeknownst to me at the time of my clicking - both of us did a spoonful money shot. great pasta e fagioli minds think alike :-)

for the recipe, click here.

daring bakers: pizza, pizza, pizza

i've said it before but i'll say it again: i love pizza. plain, white, vegetables - you name it, i love it. well, actually, i prefer my pizza meatless. is that an aberration?

anyhoo, what a happy surprise when rosa from rosa's yummy yums picked pizza for this month's daring bakers challenge. and it was even more special as this month's selection was in honor of sherry, who was to co-host with rosa, but who tragically passed away this summer.

i just had one wee mistake. i've only made pizza dough once before and it was made, proofed, and baked on the same day. so even though i waited to the very last minute - because i like to put the challenge in a daring bakers challenge! - i was cool as a cuc, and anticipating a fun night of when the moon hits your eye ....

but this recipe from peter reinhart instructs one to rest the dough in the refrigerator overnight before proceeding the next day .... frickety frick!!



well, there was not going to be any overnight rest and i made do with the time i had (about 3 hours in the fridge). this made the dough harder to work with as it was relatively warm and soft. i used more flour than usual to get it working. i also think next time i won't make the dough balls so small, as it is counter-intuitively easier to work with larger pieces of dough.

even without the longer fridge time, these pizza babies still came out terrific. it had a wonderful flavor, soft but crispy at the same time, it was great to bite into. but i felt badly i didn't do this recipe the justice it deserved. however, this is definitely going to be my go-to recipe for pizza dough from now on, so i'm excited to see just how amazing it can be!

for the recipe, from reinhart's the bread baker's apprentice, please check out rosa's blog. however please note the original recipe did not call for sugar, and listed oil as only suggested for high gluten flour like bread. for more pizzas check out the entire daring bakers blogroll, all zillion of them!

pizza #1: fresh mozzarella, anchovies, capers, hot chilis, and sauce (inspired from jaime oliver)



pizza #2: fresh mozzarella, artichokes, spanish olives, and sauce



pizza #3: gruyère, onions, garlic, mushrooms, and turkey bacon. um yeah, just forget about that first comment about meatless pizzas! this one was definitely my favorite, so damn tasty. i loved having the gruyère instead of mozzarella, it's more flavorful and such a good contrast to the earthy mushrooms and onions.

alsace onion tart

savory tarts are one of my favorite meals.

i had bookmarked this alsace onion tart a couple of months ago. caramelized onions in a tart? i'm happy to report it tasted as amazing as it sounds!

we used turkey bacon to assuage our fat intake guilt, and of course it tasted just as lovely. i was tempted to add a sprinkling of gruyère, but decided to leave the recipe as written. i never think a little bit of cheese makes anything taste badly, but this tart was perfectly creamy and rich just the way it was.



for the recipe, click here (from gourmet 2004, posted on epicurious).

think spice ... think paprika ... think chicken paprikash!

this recipe is a family hand-down from mr. mimi's great grandma, who came from czechoslovakia (and supposedly somehow through marriage - and maybe some tale telling - is related to the great masayrk) and brought all her amazing cooking with her.

mr. mimi's fondest memories of his great grandma is visits to her large, ornate apartment in the bronx, especially on christmas eve when she hosted the family dinner. but regardless of when the visit was, and what it is for, the minute he stepped into her home, he was greeted with the most amazing smells coming from the kitchen. she was the one who inspired him to be "chef boy rp" (rp is mr. mimi's real initials). she always had something cooking, and was famous for her chicken soup with egg drop. it was crafted from hours of labor and a heart full of love.

one of his other indelible memories is his great grandma sticking a big brown bar of soap in his mouth when "damn" came out of his precious four year-old mouth. he never said it again in front of her ;)

this recipe is in honor of his great grandma, who taught it to his mother (yes it skipped a generation; his nana was of the 'everything convenient is good' mantra of the postwar 50s), and who passed it to him. although it is less a "recipe" because there are no real exact measurements. what's written below is a close approximation of what happens without thinking about it in the kitchen. it's a cliché, i know, but it is one of those family dishes that was taught by feel and look and taste rather than teaspoons and cups and pounds.

even thought it doesn't look like much the best thing about it is the smell that is so warm and fantastic while it's braising. by the time it's finished you will think you're starving because it smells so good. this must be what mr. mimi means when he talks about his great grandma's kitchen.

and when i chose paprika for think spice this month, i knew i would make this. if you'd like to join this event, you still have a week left! for the rules, click here.



mr. mimi's chicken paprikash: serves 4
adapted from great grandma

1 whole chicken, cut into parts
1 large onion, medium diced
4 garlic cloves, sliced
2-3 bay leaves
1-2 big cans crushed tomatoes
hungarian sweet paprika
salt + pepper
1/2 cup sour cream (give or take)
tomato paste
olive oil
1 lb large pasta shells

1. season chicken with salt and pepper, and heavily coated with paprika on both sides; rub in paprika. in heavy dutch oven, heat olive oil on medium and lay chicken skin side down carefully and sear until deep golden red, about 5 minutes. then flip over and sear on the other side for another 5 minutes. note: depending on your dutch oven size, you probably will have to do this in two batches; for the best sear, don't crowd the chicken!

this isn't the prettiest photo, but just to show you the chicken should be well coated with paprika!



2. take out chicken and place on plate. pour out oil and wipe out dutch oven if necessary. add a little fresh oil and sauté the garlic and onion until caramelized. stir in a tiny bit more paprika.

3. put chicken back in, skin side up. add bay leaves, tomatoes, salt and pepper. turn heat down to low, cover, and simmer for at least 1 hour and up to 2 hours. occasionally stir and turn chicken.

4. pull chicken out. temper the sour cream by adding a little bit of the tomato sauce to the sour cream and whisk; then add back the tempered sour cream. you will have to adjust the amount by eye, it should be similar in color to a dark pink vodka sauce. if necessary, tighten it up with some tomato paste.

5. meanwhile, bring salted water to boil and cook pasta according to directions.

6. skim off fat from tomato sauce and add back chicken. slowly bring back up to heat. add in cooked pasta and stir well so the shells get nice and coated. bon appétit from the old world!

note: if you're not in budapest or going there any time too soon, the best readily available (at least in the US) hungarian sweet paprika is from szeged.

pork chops with pomegranate-fennel salsa

i confess. i often ... okay, yes almost always! ... buy pomegranate seeds already hulled out of the shell. i'm really not that lazy. it's more that i just can't help it. they are coming into season now and when i go to the market and see the little containers full of those gorgeous red tangy seeds i just can't help buying one or two! which is exactly what i did a couple days ago.



totally unrelated, one thing that i've been surprised about since i've been eating meat this year is how much i like pork chops and tenderloin. and with flying pigs up at the farmer's market every saturday by us, it's very tempting to treat myself at home with a nice pork dinner.



so i searched around for a recipe and when i found this one with pomegranate seeds i just knew i had to try it with the seeds i just bought! we added a bbq spice to the rub for the pork chop, just to give it a bit of complementary flavor to what i expected to be a relatively sweeter salsa.

and in the end, dinner was perfectly delicious. i'm not sure if it's because we bought the fennel at the farmer's market as well, so it was more fresh than usual, but it really had a great flavor. i highly recommend trying this! the recipe also suggests the salsa would pair well with lamb.



pork chops with pomegranate-fennel salsa: serves 4
adapted from gourmet (jan 2002, original recipe online at epicurious, click here)

1 lb fennel bulb, stalks cut off and discarded (although you probably could use some of the greenery as garnish if you'd like)
1 cup pomegranate seeds
2 tb chopped chives
1 tsp rice vinegar
2 tsp honey
olive oil
salt + pepper
coarse sea salt
spice rub of your choice (we used a moderately spiced pre-made bbq rub)
4 thick cut pork chops

1. preheat oven to 400F. halve fennel bulb lengthwise and core it, then cut into 1/4 inch dice. cook fennel in olive oil in a skillet over moderate heat, stirring until tender, about 15 minutes. transfer fennel to bowl and stir in pomegranate seeds, chives, vinegar, honey, and salt and pepper.

2. pat pork chops dry and season with coarse sea salt, pepper, and spice rub. heat olive oil in skillet over high heat until hot (but not smoking). sear chops until golden brown on each side, about 2 minutes each side. pour off excess oil - the easiest way is to use tongs to hold chop in the skillet and then pour oil out. put skillet in oven (make sure it has a metal handle!!) until 150F internal temperature, turning pork chop over once about 5 minutes in.

* note: we had very thick pork chops and that's why we suggest finishing off in the oven. if you only have very thin pork chops, you could very well just finish in the skillet on top of the stove.

braised chicken with mushrooms and polenta

i love being pleasantly wrong about food. this dish had "meh" written all over it. but the polenta brilliantly soaks up the broth and it turned out to be delicious in that carb-heavy comfy kind of way!

the pounded chicken breast was actually bought a couple of weeks ago when we had a craving for chicken parm. but no one does it better than gino's so why even bother trying? consequently it remained in freezer limbo until a more interesting idea came along.

so while it might not be the prettiest thing out there (thank goodness for green parsley!), this is the perfect go-to dish for a quick weekday dinner. we enjoyed this with a side of steamed green beans fresh from the farm, because mushrooms really don't count as a vegetable serving do they?? ;-)

braised chicken with mushrooms and polenta: serves 4
adapted from martha's great food fast (2007, p. 201)

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
salt + pepper
olive oil
1 lb white mushrooms, sliced 1/2 inch thick (feel free to use other mushrooms)
4 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup white wine
1 3/4 cup vegetable broth
2 tb chopped parsley

1. season chicken breasts with salt and pepper. heat oil in large skillet over high heat. add chicken and cook until lightly browned, 2-3 minutes per side. transfer to plate.

2. heat some more oil in the skillet and add mushrooms, garlic, and salt. cover and cook over medium heat until mushrooms release their juices, about 2-3 minutes. remove lid and cook over high heat, tossing occasionally, until mushrooms are golden, about 4-5 minutes.

3. pour wine into skillet and stir until evaporated. add stock and parsley, cook over medium high heat until liquid has reduced, about 8-10 minutes.

4. return chicken to skillet, cover and simmer over low heat until cooked through, 10-12 minutes. serve cutlets over polenta, topped with mushrooms and broth liquid.

for the polenta: martha has an oven-baked recipe, but i just made regular polenta over the stove top which is basically ... 5 cups salted boiling water, add 8 oz polenta, whisk until it thickens and then take off heat and let stand for 30 minutes. stir in salt, pepper, grated parmesan cheese, butter, milk for desired consistency and taste.

best turkey burger for the end of summer

this relentless head sinus cold couldn't have come at the worst time - new york city weather has just been shamelessly gorgeous the entire week!!

but i've gone through three boxes of tissues. one pack of ricola and albuterol. lots of vitamin C and zinc. countless pill popping. add on to that ... the stress of getting everything ready for mr. mimi's big surprise party last weekend, all the math work i'm supposed to be doing for my economics class, the mess of papers on my desk (i hope there isn't anything important in that mail), i haven't played tennis in eons, i want to start training, et je veux prendre des leçons françaises ... what i need is a vaca and a detox, stat!!

well, the vaca is long over and the detox isn't going to be until next month. so i have to comfort myself by giving you a recipe to enjoy those last days of summer grilling. i have to admit that since i've been selectively eating meat again, the thing i seemed to most enjoy - you know, eating sensually with all five senses - were the hamburgers!



i never craved them before, but they were so good this summer, i just loved them. maybe it has to do with the context of lazy summer evenings with a grill and friends? how much of the food we like or don't like has to do with the memory of that food, with the context, with what we were doing or who we were with? it's like the memory of music, n'est-ce pas?



best turkey burger: serves 4
from martha's great food fast (2007, p. 123)

1 1/2 lbs ground turkey - note: try to get the best quality, from your local farm or farmer's market if possible, it truly does make a difference!
1/2 cup finely grated gruyère cheese
4 scallions, thinly sliced (we omitted b/c i hate scallions!)
1/4 cup dried breadcrumbs
1/4 cup dijon mustard
1 garlic clove, minced
salt + pepper
vegetable oil for grill

1. heat grill to high. in medium bowl, use fork to gently combine turkey with cheese, scallions, breadcrumbs, mustard, and garlic. season generously with fresh salt and pepper. divide the mixture evenly and gently form four 1-inch thick patties.

mr. mimi tip: in order to avoid the shrunken flying saucer hamburger syndrome ... while forming the patty, press the middle so that it is thinner in the middle and wider on the outside. then when the meat contracts while grilling, it will shrink to a normal hamburger shape.

2. lightly oil the grill. place patties on hottest part; sear until browned, 1-2 minutes per side. move patties to cooler part of grill and continue grilling until cooked through, about 5-10 minutes each side.

salad days: classic chicken caesar

my motto: if i salad is complicated, it shouldn't be made. and if it isn't tasty, it's just a bunch of rabbit food. this caesar is perfect on both points. we forgot to make the croutons, but a little less carbo is always a good thing anyway.



chicken caesar salad: serves 4
adapted from martha's great food fast (2007, p. 119)

4 oz italian bread, cut into cubes
3 tb olive oil
4 chicken cutlets (each about 2-3 oz)
1 package romaine lettuce leaves (18-20 oz)
salt + pepper

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup soy mayonnaise
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 anchovy fillets, coarsely chopped (essential, not optional!)
1 small garlic clove

1. preheat oven to 375F. place bread on rimmed baking sheet. drizzle 2 tb olive oil and season with salt and pepper; toss to coat. bake, tossing occasionally, until golden about 12-15 minutes. remove and let cool.

2. heat remaining oil in large skillet over high heat. season chicken with salt and pepper. cook until done, 1-2 minutes each side. remove and let cool. slice chicken crosswise into strips.

3. cut romaine hearts crosswise, wash and dry.

4. whisk together all ingredients for dressing until smooth (martha had you use a blender, but that is totally unnecessary).

5. toss all ingredients with a bit of drizzled dressing - a little bit at a time - caesar dressing is very strong and you won't need much for flavor. grate some extra cheese if you'd like on top of each plated salad.

garlic chicken

anyone who knows me, knows i'm only not only never speechless, but i'm passionate about politics. when i was an adolescent, my nickname was "madame president" until someone had the courage to burst my dream and tell me that only american-born people can be president. then i decided first female secretary of state would be good enough, but ms. albright beat me to it. now i'll just have to settle for senate majority leader :)

so even though this is my food blog, you'll have to indulge my occasional political ramblings, particularly at a time like this.

i remember in my 11th grade US history class, a photo of hillary clinton was posted beside the chalkboard. she looked so powerful, and so graceful; it was just a photo-op but i knew she was looking right at me. i remember staring at it, thinking i could be anything i wanted to dream of. emotionally i am still saddened by her loss. strategically i still think she would have been the better VP choice. but honorably i am proud to be part of her 18 million cracks. she didn't have to apologize for anything; her speech was for us.

and bubba ... amazing then, amazing tonight, amazing always. i'm so glad he tried (in vain, i'm sure) to make people realize that this is politics, not a peace parade, and that obama is a stronger candidate because of the primary contest against hillary. the people who constantly berate hillary with this delusion that the republicans would never have come up with this negative ad shit on their own has been living under a rock for the past 8 years.



both clintons have reminded me why i'm proud to be in the democratic party, and why the party still owed them the gratitude that they never have been given since he left office. but i anxiously wait for tomorrow night to see if obama can convince me that he has earned the vote to celebrate this historic moment. i am certainly not as undecided as before, but i am definitely not as convinced as i need to be.

now how to segue to some garlic chicken??! ;)

this was made some time ago, and what it might lack in the creativity department it sure does make up in the delish factor. so if you're looking for a quick and easy meal, this is all you need! (sorry the photos have such a yellow hue - photoshop expert i ain't!)



garlic chicken: serves 2
adapted from donna hay magazine (issue 37, p. 136)

cook one chicken breast in olive oil on high heat until cooked through. add 2 cloves crushed and 1 clove chopped garlic and season with salt and pepper. toss with a handful of chopped parsley and chives and a squeeze of lemon.

grilled pork tenderloin with glaze and mojo

if you were lucky to have nice weather (which we finally were!), like you, the mimis took full advantage and grilled every night this long holiday weekend. every time i think i want to move back to manhattan to be closer to school, a perfect early summer evening arrives and my brooklyn garden is like an oasis. i could never give this up, voluntarily.

so what did the mimis have? one night was boca burger night, but that's not very photogenic, huh? so no photos of that, but tasty as always. the first night we started with fresh grilled clams. if you have not tried this method of clamming, please do! very easy, and super delish.





we followed that with beef kabobs with cubano peppers and onions. the first rule of kabobs is keep it simple, don't go adding on a zillion different vegetables. i have learned that it never works right! the zucchinis never cook entirely and the tomatoes always fall off. and the second rule is to use the best meat. these morsels came from arcadian farms. wow, if there was ever proof that happy cows make delish meat, these kabobs were it!





for sides we keep to our motto of simple is almost always best. our go-to sides include small red potatoes grilled in an aluminum foil pouch, and whatever great green vegetables are around. for late spring, this means asparagus and some snap peas. everything is tossed with a little bit of olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper. once my herbs are a bit bigger, fresh thyme and chives are added too. mr. mimi likes a sprinkle of paprika on the potatoes.



but the crown jewel of the weekend grilling bonanza was what we just enjoyed tonight.

back when the food network was actually about food (i loooved the two hot tamales!) the mimis weren't terribly fond of the popular bobby flay. it wasn't that we thought he was a bad chef, but his show was horribly lame with that token woman and his schtick was just unbearable to watch. but i was cruising around epicurious to find some special grilling recipe, and came across one of his menus. lame show or not, i assume bobby knows a thing or two about grilling.



i promise you, if you try this recipe you will not be disappointed!! mojo is a classic cuban sauce. combined with the glaze, this dish has a sweet and spicy kick that is gorgeous. a clean spiciness, but with half a habanero chile, it was definitely spicy. if you don't like spicy at all, then this isn't for you. if you like less spicy, just reduce the amount of chile. but don't skimp on any of the other ingredients or components, it really just works perfectly together.



grilled pork tenderloin with glaze and mojo: serves 6
adapted from bobby flay on epicurious (click here)

for glaze:
1 cup guava jelly (found in latin markets) or apricot jam (we used the jam)
1/4 cup dijon mustard
1/4 cup orange juice
salt + pepper

for mojo:
2 tb mild vegetable oil, such as canola
1 small red onion, finely diced
4 garlic cloves, finely diced
3 cups orange juice
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
1/2 habanero chile, seeded and finely chopped
2 tb chopped cilantro leaves
1 tsp cumin seeds (we used about 1/2 tsp ground cumin)
salt + pepper

for pork:
2 pork tenderloins, about 1 1/2 pounds each
2 tb vegetable oil, such as canola

1. make glaze: whisk ingredients together and season with salt and pepper to taste.

2. make mojo: heat oil in saucepan over medium-high heat. add onion and garlic and cook, stirring, until soft, about 5 minutes (do not brown). add habanero and cook for about 1 minute. add orange juice and lime juice and bring to boil. cook until reduced by half. whisk in cilantro and cumin and season with salt and pepper to taste.

3. make pork: prepare hot grill. brush pork with oil and season with salt and pepper. grill, brushing each side often with glaze, until just cooked through (reaching 150F at the thickest portion). be careful not to overcook. remove pork from grill, brush with remaining glaze if desired, and let rest for 10 minutes. cut into slices and drizzle with mojo.