Recipe: Chicken Satay, Chicken Salad and Apple Tarte Tatin

On Monday night, I was in a real mood to cook. I have no idea why, but it overcame me. Earlier that day I read smitten kitchen and was inspired to make an apple tarte tatin. I had all of the ingredients except the apples. I couldn't just go to the store for apples, so I also decided that chicken Satay sounded good. About $20 and two hours later, I had a pretty tasty dinner.

First, the apple tarte tatin. If you're not familiar, its basically a French, upside-down apple pie. You cook the apples in butter and sugar, then top it with pate brisee, a butter-based pastry, and bake it. It sounds really difficult, but it isn't!

Molly's directions are so darn great, I can't improve upon them. I will give you a few additional tips: make sure that the crust is slightly BIGGER than the pan so you can tuck it in, and also make sure you've separated the pastry from the pan. Really. It'll still taste good if it falls apart.

The chicken satay was really easy as well. I used Tyler Florence's recipe and doubled it. One batch was made with hot madras curry and the other with Thai yellow curry. You see, Terry doesn't like curry-- he had a bad experience involving Air India and food poisoning. I'm convinced he just needs to try it in ways that don't involve airline food. After eating three skewers' worth of chicken, he said, "Wow, these are good, what's in them?" Turns out, he liked the curry!

Yum. I served them with couscous, peanut sauce, and sweet chili sauce. My upstairs neighbor, Ilan, came down to see what smelled so good and I sent him home with some satay and peanut sauce. He liked it too!


Since I had a ton of chicken left, I did what I love to do with leftover chicken: make chicken salad. My favorite is curried chicken salad, also known as Coronation Chicken. Mine's not terribly traditional, but I still think it's great-- and a great use for leftover chicken.

There aren't a lot of measurements here-- I hate to be Rachael Ray and say "eyeball it", but that's what I do-- taste and eyeball.

1 pound of cooked chicken, chopped
1/2 cup golden raisins
1 tablespoon (or to taste) curry powder
handful of chopped cilantro
Mayonnaise (I use Light Hellman's), about a half cup, or enough to moisten the chicken

Mix it all together. Easy, peasy. Let it sit in the refrigerator for the flavors to develop. It tastes great alone or on some nice, crusty bread.

Recipe: Simple Salsa

Salsa
Originally uploaded by winemedinemeI seriously don't know why I buy salsa in a jar anymore. It's so darn easy to make it myself, particularly in tomato season (unfortunately, as I've heard from many of the farmers down at Findlay, tomato season has been cut short by the storms from last week). When it isn't tomato season, cherry tomatoes make a great substitute as they tend to be sweeter and more flavorful even "off-season". My friend Maria got this recipe from another friend, and I've made it several times in the few weeks since she shared the recipe with me and it's gotten rave reviews, including "the best salsa I've ever had!" Awesome.

Most of the recipes I post are up for interpretation; change it to your tastes. This is how I've been making it lately. I like a lot of onion and cilantro in mine.

1 container of cherry tomatoes, or 6 or so homegrown tomatoes. Heirlooms work well, and look so pretty, with all of their different colors!

1 red or white onion, chopped semi-coarsely

1-2 jalapenos, chopped finely. I use 1, some people like it super spicy. I am not one of those people.

1/2 bunch of cilantro, chopped. This is also to taste. I like a ton of cilantro, but some people say it tastes soapy. I think it tastes fresh.

1-2 cloves of garlic, chopped finely. I love garlic, so I use 2.

Zest and juice of 1 lime.

Salt to taste

This is so easy and a great way to practice knife skills. You just chop everything up, throw it in a bowl, juice the lime over the top of it, zest the lime over the top of it and mix it up. Taste it-- it probably needs salt. Add some. Taste it again.

You could easily modify this recipe to be more or less spicy, more or less citrusy, add some peaches or pineapple or corn or beans or whatever. It tastes best if it's sat around for an hour or two. You can take a half cup or so of it and add it to some mashed avocado for guacamole. It's just tasty stuff-- you'll never go back to the jar.

Recipe: Bon Appetit's Cheddar Burgers with Balsamic Onions and Chipotle Ketchup

It's fairly rare for me to see something in my blog reader and immediately say, "I must make this tonight." Well, I didn't say this, it was more like, "Terry! You must make this tonight!" And he did.

I had actually seen this recipe at B&N when I browsed through Bon Appetit magazine's July issue, which had this baby right on the front cover. Terry did make a few changes.

Here's a link to the recipe. He used soft, cornmeal-dusted burger buns instead of the English muffin (though looking at their pictures, I've never seen an English muffin that looked like that). I'm not a huge fan of raw tomatoes on burgers, so I skipped those, and no spinach graced them either (I'm not sure why).

The burger itself was good and juicy, but the toppings of balsamic onions and the chipotle ketchup were the real winners. The onions were incredibly easy to do, and really flavorful-- I love balsamic with caramelized onions. The ketchup was spicy and needed just a bit more balsamic to be "wow", but was really good on the fries Terry made to go with the burgers.

In all? Great recipe. Man, do I love Bon Appetit.

Lost Recipes and the Best Summer Drink Ever

(Guest post by The Boyfriend)

Do you ever forget about favorite recipes?

Perhaps you prepared a dish so often that you temporarily burned out on it...and then forgot about it. Maybe you made the dish only on special occasions...and those special occasions didn't occur for a while.

But have you ever said to yourself, for whatever reason, "You know, I haven't made Dish X in ages!"? And then ran to the store to get the ingredients because you couldn't wait to put it together? All the while recalling pleasant memories of the dish?

It was in this vein that re-discovered the perfect summer drink: The Bourbon Slush.

On a recent hot afternoon, I was looking for something to add to my mental file of "Beverages, Summer, Refreshing." This file normally contains three beverages:
1. Beer
2. A 50/50 mix of fruit juice and Sprite
3. Beer

About fifteen years ago, I stumbled across the bourbon slush. And it was a happy accident, indeed. Light. Refreshing. Quick. Perfect for summertime. I made at least one batch of the drink during each of the next several summers. Then, inexplicably, the drink just dropped off my culinary radar for probably ten years.

Just as inexplicably, the drink re-emerged from recipe purgatory. I have no idea as to why I thought of it, but I did. I pulled the recipe that a friend and I had freely adapted from an old charity cookbook that I found years ago on a bargain table in a Philadelphia bookstore (A Second Helping, published by the women's ministries of Gloria Dei Church).

And I headed to the grocery store.

I returned half an hour later and went to work...

The Bourbon Slush
2 cups strong tea (3 or even 4 teabags)
1 1/2 cups sugar
12-oz. can frozen orange juice concentrate
12-oz. can frozen lemonade concentrate
2 1/2 cups bourbon
6 cups water
Sprite or 7-Up

Dissolve the sugar in the tea while the tea is still hot. Add all remaining ingredients, and pour into a large freezer-safe container. Put the mixture into the freezer. Stir the mixture every couple of hours for the next 24 hours, until the mixture has frozen. Because of the alcohol, it won't freeze solidly, but will retain a slushy consistency (hence the name "Bourbon Slush"...clever, no?) (Note: The original recipe, titled "Slushy Beach Drink," called for only a half cup of bourbon, and listed even THAT as "optional." Right.)

To serve, fill a glass (any size) two-thirds to three-quarters full of the slush mixture. Give the mixture an extra splash of bourbon (this step is optional, but highly recommended). Finish filling the glass with Sprite or 7-Up. Stir. Enjoy.

The mixture will keep in the freezer for weeks. Once you've made the slush mixture, it's two minutes from freezer to glass. Quick. Easy. Extremely tasty.

So...when was the last time you remembered a long-lost favorite recipe?

I will post reviews later, but for now, links!

I'm a real fan of Orville Redenbacher's Naturals popcorn, particularly the individual serving bags that I grab from costco (with no funny chemicals, thank goodness). However, I don't know why I didn't think of just brown bagging it-- literally. Mark Bittman writes today about how easy it is to make your own microwave popcorn. Why didn't I think of that? I have some garlic-macadamia oil that needs some use...

I'm hoping I can drag Terry to Findlay Market early on Saturday morning so we can pick up some Ramps at Madison's. I really, really want to make Ramp Compound Butter. I have no idea what I will do with a huge log of ramp compound butter, but how can I resist?

And in case you're wondering, my next reviews are Habanero, Via Vite and a full review of The Quarter Bistro's menu (not just sandwiches). This weekend, I'll do a special dinner theater review and Chalk (finally), with special blog guest, My Mom!

Recipe: Hummus

My hummus is a party favorite-- I've been making it ever since my dear friend Elisa visited me for two weeks when I got married and she showed me how simple it was to do it. I'll add that it's far easier to do this in a food processor than in a blender, as Elisa and I learned the hard way (heretofore referred to as "The Great Hummus Incident of 2004") I'm fairly sure that until we remodeled the kitchen, you could still find bits of chickpeas in corners of the kitchen. Elisa's now busy with her political career, and I'm no longer married, but I can't help but think of her every time I make hummus.

This one's a pretty rough recipe-- there are no real measurements; I eyeball everything.

2 16 ounce cans of chickpeas
2-3 cloves of garlic (these can be roasted or unroasted; if roasted I use a few more than that, sometimes a whole head).
Olive oil
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Salt

In a food processor, process the chickpeas until they look sort of like wet sand. Through the chute, add oil slowly, until you notice that it looks less like wet sand, and more like peanut butter. Turn off the processor and taste the olive oil/chickpea mixture. Is the texture creamy? Then it's almost done! Now, squeeze in the juice of half a lemon and pop in the garlic cloves. Process until smooth. Salt to taste-- it shouldn't be salty, but the salt should brighten the flavors of olive oil, lemon and garlic and cut the blandness you tasted when you checked for consistence.

Smooth out on a plate, and garnish with paprika, olive oil, cracked pepper, whole olives-- whatever you want-- and serve with pita chips. It also makes a great lunch spread and it's darn good off of a spoon around midnight, straight out of the refrigerator.

Recipe: Roasted Leg of Lamb, Tzatziki

This recipe is adapted from Emeril Lagasse and Simply Recipes. I didn't have time for a marinade, so I decided to do a rub.

1 4-5 pound leg of lamb, sirloin end
8 cloves of garlic, minced
3-4 stems' worth of rosemary, removed from stems
1/4 cup of lemon juice
1 tablespoon of kosher salt
1-2 teaspoons cayenne pepper (to taste)
Freshly cracked pepper

Preheat your oven to 450.

Rub the lamb all over with lemon juice, then the minced garlic, then the rosemary, then salt and cayenne pepper. Crack as much pepper over the top of it as you'd like, and place in a roasting pan, fatty side up.

Roast at 450 for 20 minutes, then reduce the heat to 325 and roast for an hour more (about 12 minutes per pound) or until the internal temperature reaches 135-140. This will result in a medium rare lamb, which is how it should be ideally prepared. The ends, of course, will be more well done than the center. Let rest for ten minutes until slicing against the grain of the meat.

If not serving gyro-style, as I did, you can mix a tablespoon of flour with water to make a milky slurry to thicken the drippings into gravy.



(Photo courtesy 5chw4r7z)


My tzatziki is loosely based on the tzatziki from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone.

4 english cucumbers, chopped roughly
1 8-oz container strained greek yogurt (I used fago)
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon (or so) of fresh dill leaves
salt and pepper to taste

This one's easy: Mix it all together. Yum.

Sunday Dinner: Sauerkraut and Mettwurst

One of my grandma's favorite meals to make for us was sauerkraut and metts. For her, it was pretty simple: Eckerich Farm smoked sausage, canned sauerkraut, an apple (to cut the sour, she said), simmered on the stove until everything is heated through.

When Terry and I started dating, I remember going to Findlay Market-- one of the first times he'd been-- and explaining this to him. He likes sausages, and he likes sauerkraut, so I made it for him. He loved it! He asked me for it again this weekend, as we stared at the sausages at Kroeger Meats at Findlay, so I happily obliged.

Sauerkraut and Metts (a little updated)

1 pound of mettwurst (I used the bier metts from Kroeger's)
2 pints of sauerkraut (I used their house-made sauerkraut; I really should get my friend Ed to give me his recipe, I hear it's great!)
1 apple
1 bottle of beer

In a heavy pot, sear the mettwurst-- just a nice brown crust on the outside. This should take just a few minutes. When browned, top with sauerkraut and nestle in a cut apple. Take a good sip of your beer (test for quality!) and pour the rest in the pot. Turn the heat down to medium, and allow to simmer, undisturbed, for about an hour.

Super simple, and super delicious. This is often served with mashed potatoes (at least it was at my house), but since Terry had made dessert that evening, we skipped the potatoes.



I know. Sauerkraut and mettwurst don't really photograph well. But trust me, it was tasty.

Unfortunately, I do not have pictures of the banana pudding. I don't know why. Maybe I was tired? Who knows. However, here is the recipe:

Not Yo' Mama's Banana Pudding
Recipe: Paula Deen on Food Network

2 bags Pepperidge Farm Chessmen cookies
6 to 8 bananas, sliced
2 cups milk
1 (5-ounce) box instant French vanilla pudding
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (12-ounce) container frozen whipped topping thawed, or equal amount sweetened whipped cream

Line the bottom of a 13 by 9 by 2-inch dish with 1 bag of cookies and layer bananas on top. In a bowl, combine the milk and pudding mix and blend well using a handheld electric mixer. Using another bowl, combine the cream cheese and condensed milk together and mix until smooth. Fold the whipped topping into the cream cheese mixture. Add the cream cheese mixture to the pudding mixture and stir until well blended. Pour the mixture over the cookies and bananas and cover with the remaining cookies. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Balsamic Chicken and other Sunday delights

This Sunday, I decided it was a nice day for a chicken dinner. I didn't want to roast one-- I just didn't feel like a whole chicken that day-- so I decided to fall back on one of my favorite recipes: Chicken in Balsamic Vinaigrette.

Roasted Chicken with Balsamic Vinaigrette, courtesy Giada di Laurentiis.
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 (4-pound) whole chicken, cut into pieces (giblets, neck and backbone reserved for another use)
1/2 cup low-salt chicken broth
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley leaves

Whisk the vinegar, mustard, lemon juice, garlic, olive oil, salt, and pepper in small bowl to blend. Combine the vinaigrette and chicken pieces in a large resealable plastic bag; seal the bag and toss to coat. Refrigerate, turning the chicken pieces occasionally, for at least 2 hours and up to 1 day.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Remove chicken from the bag and arrange the chicken pieces on a large greased baking dish. Roast until the chicken is just cooked through, about 1 hour. If your chicken browns too quickly, cover it with foil for the remaining cooking time. Transfer the chicken to a serving platter. Place the baking dish on a burner over medium-low heat. Whisk the chicken broth into the pan drippings, scraping up any browned bits on the bottom of the baking sheet with a wooden spoon and mixing them into the broth and pan drippings. Drizzle the pan drippings over the chicken. Sprinkle the lemon zest and parsley over the chicken, and serve.

Seriously. Yum. And really good cold, too. I just did the thighs-- I think the flavor is perfect with thigh meat-- but it works well with any chicken part. Maybe not feet.


Instead of doing the pan dripping sauce as called for in the recipe, Terry requested actual gravy. So I threw together a slurry, popped it in the pan, thinned it with some chicken stock and voila: gravy.

He also wanted mashed potatoes, so I cut up some potatoes, boiled and mashed, added cream and butter and parmesan cheese. Delish. Too bad I was an idiot and used my chef's knife when my paring knife would do. This was the result:

However, the food turned out great. The mashed potatoes-- skin on-- went well with the gravy, which went well with the chicken. The conversation went something like this:

Me: "So how is it?"
Him: "Mmmm. Oooh. Mmmm."
Me: "Is that a good 'mmm'?"
Him: "Mmmph. Ohm nohm nohm."

He's normally far more loquacious. He had earlier complained about the portion I gave him (for photographic purposes, of course) but he only left about two spoonfuls of potatoes. He said, and I quote, "This is the best gravy I've ever had." This man is from Alabama. He knows gravy. I am pleased as punch.
My organic co-op delivery came (thus the potatoes and broccoli), and it also delivered green peppers. Due to a pizza-and-drinking binge in college, I don't eat a whole lot of green peppers anymore, and definitely not stuffed ones, so I used them to make stuffed peppers for Terry's lunch. I followed a recipe out of the America's Test Kitchen cookbook, which I don't have here to copy. They're stuffed peppers. Not that complicated.

This is pre-baking; I popped them into the oven when we ate and sent them home with him for lunch this week. I had borrowed his loaf pan, so it worked out quite swimmingly. Yesterday, he reported that they were pretty darn good.

The finger, by the way, is recovering nicely, though I now realize that I use my left thumb far more than I thought...