Here are some things we ate recently

Mark Bittman's Salmon Burgers with roasted cauliflower. Tasty, and not too pricey because you're grinding it up anyway so you can buy cheap pieces of salmon instead of nice filets.



Cranberry curd tart! So amazing! The crust is made of hazelnuts!



My mom made this ham, swiss and pear strata for Christmas Day. It was EXCELLENT despite not being particularly pretty.



Christmas Eve was manicotti. I think Josie liked them.



She also apparently likes hot sauce on her faux-gogi.



Roasted tofu and vegetable (delicata squash and eggplant) banh mi sandwiches, plus avocado and cucumber salad, pickled carrot and daikon radish, cilantro.



A couple of quiches (mushroom, artichoke, goat cheese and tomato, broccoli, cheddar) plus two chocolate babkas for our New Year's Day brunch.



Dave Lieberman's Moroccan Spiced Chickpea Soup, a perennial favorite here. Josie learned to dip bread in soup!



Chicken with celery seed and salt from Zahav, roasted fennel and shallot, sweet potato. Not a pretty picture, but good. Tahini sauce to go with.



Leftover chicken from above reheated in its cooking juices, plus cukes and rice and various pickles, made into lettuce wraps. Romaine isn't the best choice but it is what we had that day.



Moules frites and champagne, because it was the only white wine we had in the house, so I had to open it to cook the mussels anyway. Herbed mayo for dipping the fries.



Oatmeal. Josie is learning how to use a "puun! puun! puun!"



And just a day or two ago, swiss chard pancakes, carrot salad and #putaneggonit.

Weekend food recap, 2x toddler party edition!

Weekend recap! Saturday we had chicken wings, which Adam LOVED and Josie enjoyed and I thought were just ok. I overcooked them a bit, I think. Also Trader Joe's kale yogurt dip, which is their "reduced guilt" version of spinach artichoke that doesn't actually contain any spinach or artichoke. It's delicious.



Sunday we went to the neighbor's house for a cookie decorating party with a bunch of toddlers. It mostly turned into a cookie eating party, but not till we ate more delicious chicken wings and some Mexican lasagna casserole thingy that was really tasty.



Tonight we'll have pot roast that I pressure cooked in the instant pot yesterday, plus leftover hash from brunch. Oh! Right! We had friends over for brunch.



I made the cinnamon-toast French toast from the Smitten Kitchen cookbook (divine!) plus whipped cream, blueberries and maple syrup, and Adam made a hash of brussels sprouts, potatoes, and chicken sausage, which was really really excellent. Of course we also #putaneggonit. I didn't get any good photos of the food, but I couldn't believe how well the kids table thing actually worked. We put it in between the living and dining rooms, and the girls sat! and ate! long enough for the grownups to also sit and eat! Then they wandered around the room playing and there's some french toast in my rug but WHO CARES it was so fun.

Chicken and Orzo with Lemon and Olives

Followed this recipe. It was delicious, and I'll definitely make it again. Used a cut up chicken because that's what we have, and it worked beautifully, but I think my chickens are extra fatty and the orzo was maybe a touch greasy. Since I cook stuff like this in a cast iron-ish dutch oven I bet I could skip the oil next time and just brown the chicken in it's own rendered fat. It wasn't quite up to temp (poultry to 165 for safety, kids!) after 35 mins in the oven, so I took the lid off and left it in there another 10 minutes, which helped with the crispy skin situation. Side of roasted broccoli was thoroughly enjoyed by grownups and ignored by willful toddler. Whatever kid, more for me!

Chicken and Dumplings

One of my all time favorites for leftover roasted chicken! I use the basic White Lily recipe to start, but always add veggies. More or less as follows:

Sautee a couple of leeks or a small onion and a carrot or two in butter till just soft. I didn't have any celery, but use it if I do. Add another blob of butter, then add a quarter cup of flour, cook for a minute, add 5.5 cups chicken stock (or a mix of stock and water). Bring to a simmer.

For the dumplings, mix two cups of self rising flour (or two cups AP flour, 3 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp kosher salt) with 1/2 cup chicken stock or water, knead just to bring together. Flatten into a disc on a floured surface, cut into strips. It's really tasty to add chopped herbs if you have extra.

Put dumplings on top of liquid, cover, and cook 15 mins or until dumplings are cooked through. Add half a bag of frozen peas, leftover chicken, half a cup of milk, and plenty of pepper, and stir. Takes a few minutes for the peas and chicken to warm up, but it's always way too hot to eat immediately anyway.

Balsamic Braised Chicken with Swiss Chard from Slow Cooker Revolution

Not bad. I only had a whole chicken, so I cut that up and used all the pieces, but it definitely would have been better with just thighs - the breasts got a little dried out in their 5 hr braise. Wish I had served it over polenta, but I needed a cup of cooked quinoa for Thursday's dinner, so just did it all last night.

Also, NB: quinoa expands more than rice and therefore WILL over flow the rice cooker. Oops.

Finished at the table with more salt and a little Condimento drizzle (balsamic-ish, but less expensive!). Someday I'll learn how much salt to put in the slow cooker, but when I'm only going to reheat half a dish (cooked this Monday, reheated half on Tuesday for dinner, the rest was packed up for Wednesday lunches), I'm never sure how heavily to season.

Leftovers Repurposed: Chicken Soup with Shitakes and Kale

Sometimes I end up with leftover chicken. I bet you do, too. In fact, here's a little secret: whenever I roast a chicken for just the two of us, while we're eating... I'm already thinking about what I'm going to do with the leftovers. This time, I made soup, but I wasn't in the mood for classic chicken noodle. I know it doesn't look like much, but it's earthy from the mushrooms with a little bit of heat from the ginger and scallions, plus it's basically a bowl of kale, so hippies love it. Next time you've got a chicken carcass, don't trash it: make soup!

Chicken Soup with Shitakes and Kale
serves 4, generously


The broth takes an hour or two, so get that started before you prep the soup, ok? I usually carve the rest of the serving pieces off a carcass, then start the broth, then dice or shred the meat while the broth comes up to a boil. This makes more broth than you need for the soup, and if you don't have immediate chicken broth needs you can freeze the extra or keep it in the fridge for up to a week.

For the broth:
1 roasted chicken carcass
one small onion
one stalk of celery, cut into big chunks
2 cloves garlic, peeled, smashed
4-5 slices ginger

For the shitakes:
about 10 dried shitake mushrooms (approximately 1.5 ounces)

For the soup:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
4 scallions, white and light green parts finely chopped, dark greens sliced and reserved for garnish
3 small cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon minced ginger (about a one inch piece)
1 bunch lacinato kale, sliced crosswise into 1/4 inch (or thinner) strips*
about 2 cups cooked chicken, diced
soy sauce to taste
lime juice to taste
cooked white or brown rice
sliced scallion greens and sriracha for serving (optional, but tasty)

*Cutting the kale this way means you don't have to yank out the nice, nutritious stems - when you cut across the leaf the stems end up in small pieces that cook quickly and don't feel tough or fibrous in your mouth. 

First, start the broth: carve or pick all the serving pieces and remaining meaty chunks off the chicken carcass, then stick it in a 6-8 quart pot. Cut the hairy end off the onion, then cut it in quarters (I cut it through the root for ease of fishing-it-out-later) and stick that in the pot. Add a couple of smashed garlic cloves and a few thick slices of ginger. Add water just to cover the carcass - it shouldn't float, but it shouldn't stick out - and bring it up to a boil, then back it down to a simmer and let it go for about an hour, or two if you have time.

While the broth simmers, put the shitakes in a heat proof bowl and add 2.5 cups of very hot water. Weigh the mushrooms down with a plate, if need be, to keep them submerged. They'll need at least 30 minutes to soften. When they're soft, lift them from the liquid (but don't dump it!). Use a sharp knife to trim off the stems, then thinly slice the caps. Add the stems to the simmering broth. Let the soaking liquid sit so any grit settles to the bottom, then carefully pour it into a clean measuring cup, leaving the sediment behind (or strain it through a fine mesh filter, if you prefer). You should have about 2 cups. NB: while the mushrooms soak is a good time to start cooking some white or brown rice - I use a cheap-o rice cooker that I got about 6 weeks ago and I reeeally like it. So nice to have the rice cooking over on the counter across the room instead of taking up space on the stove.

Just before you make the soup, strain the broth, or just ladle 4 cups of broth through a strainer into a bowl and deal with the rest of the broth after you eat.

To make the soup, heat the oil in a large pot (I use a 5 quart dutch oven... and I just realized it's basically the only pot I ever use for making soup. Huh.) over medium high heat. Add the scallions, garlic and ginger and saute for a minute or two, until the scallions soften up a bit and it starts to smell really good. Add a good pinch of salt, then add the 2-ish cups of mushroom soaking liquid. Add 4 cups of chicken broth, then add the kale and stir/poke the kale down under the liquid. Let the kale cook for a couple of minutes, then taste it to see if it's soft enough for you. Let it go a little longer if need be, then add the shitakes and chicken. Let them warm up, then season the soup with a splash of soy sauce (start with a teaspoon or two). Stir, then taste again. It might need a squeeze of lime juice or more soy. Once it's seasoned to your liking, serve it ladled over rice and sprinkled with the scallion tops. If you like spicy, feel free to add sriracha.

Ras al Hanout Roasted Chicken Thighs with Warm Carrot Arugula Salad

Oof, long recipe title. Tasty dinner, though. We had some chicken thighs that I got super lazy about Sunday night (that is, we got pizza during all the football and didn't eat anything later). So tonight I resorted to my recent favorite chicken cooking method: season, sear, roast. Usually I just season with salt and pepper, cook, and then build a quick sauce in the skillet when the chicken is done (deglaze with wine, add mustard and cream or creme fraiche, whisk).

There's nothing wrong with a mustard cream sauce, but tonight I knew I wanted something warmly spicy, and I turned to Ras al Hanout, a North African spice blend. Ingredients vary from blend to blend, and in fact Ras al Hanout is Arabic for "top of the shop" meaning the spice shop owner mixes it from the best things in the shop. Using the old reliable sniff test, I can tell you mine contains cinnamon, coriander and cumin, but probably a few other things too. I know my jar isn't very spicy so I added cayenne for kick, but if you blend your own you can make it as spicy or cinnamony as you like.

I found myself with rather a lot of carrots in the fridge, and I thought a warm salad with wilted arugula would be nice, and I just built it as I went. The onion from beneath the chicken brings the flavors from the skillet into the salad and ties the whole thing together.

Ras al Hanout Roasted Chicken Thighs with Warm Carrot Arugula Salad
serves 4, or two with leftovers

for the chicken:
4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, trimmed of excess fat
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons ras al hanout
1/4 teaspoon cayenne or more to taste
hearty pinch of salt
1 small red onion, sliced (not too thinly)

for the salad:
2-3 pounds carrots or a mix of carrots and parsnips, peeled and cut into 2 inch lengths, then quartered or cut into six wedges if large
1 cup walnuts, toasted
8 ounces baby arugula
2 ounces feta cheese, diced or crumbled
1/2 a lime, juice only
salt and pepper
olive oil

Preheat the oven to 400.

Mix together the olive oil, ras al hanout, salt and cayenne into a thin paste. Rub all over the chicken thighs until thoroughly coated and set aside (don't refrigerate) while you peel and cut the carrots.

Toss the carrots with a tablespoon or so of olive oil and a big pinch of salt and pepper, spread on a baking sheet and roast for 15 minutes. Toss to redistribute and see if they're done; they'll probably need another 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat until almost smoking. Add the chicken (if there's a lot of excess spice paste, leave it in the bowl, but no need to wipe them off or anything), skin side down. It should sizzle aggressively. Cook for 5-8 minutes until it releases easily from the pan. Remove the chicken from the pan and add the onion, then put the chicken back in, skin side up now, more or less covering the onion. I actually just picked up each piece, tossed a quarter of the onion slices under it, and flipped the chicken piece. Put the skillet in the oven and roast until the chicken is cooked through, another 20 minutes or so. A meat thermometer inserted into the meaty part (but not touching the bone) should read 165 or more. Take the chicken out and remove it to a plate to let it rest for 5-10 minutes before eating.

If you've timed it right, the chicken and the carrots will be done around the same time. It's ok if they're not, though. If the carrots are done before the chicken you can always stick the carrots back in to warm up while the chicken rests. If the chicken is done first, no worries, it needs to rest.

Now we combine the tasty things! Put the arugula and walnuts in a bowl. Add the warm carrots and any carroty roasting liquid amassed on the baking sheet. Scoop the onions out of the chicken pan and add them to the salad, squeeze the lime over the whole thing. Toss to combine. If you need more dressing, scoop some of the liquid from the chicken roasting skillet into the salad. Add the feta and toss gently, and serve.

Three Bird Soup

Well here it is, folks. The end of the Thanksgiving leftovers. I know I just told you not to mess with them, but then this idea popped into my head and I just had to use the last bits of turkey to make soup. It's not the standard post-holiday turkey soup, I don't think. First of all, it's more vegetable than turkey: onion, celery, carrot, turnip, and garlic.



I didn't put any rice or noodles in, though I could have, I suppose. Here's the thing that I chuckled at. I used three different birds! I cooked the vegetables in duck fat, then added chicken stock, then at the end I added the chopped, cooked turkey. Duck, chicken, turkey. OMG, I think I made turducken soup.

Lemon + Basil Chicken Meatballs

When I get an idea for a meal, I have a very, very hard time letting that idea float back into the ether. These meatballs bounced around like a ping pong ball in my head for two weeks (two weeks!) before I had a chance to make them. The thing is, I wanted meatballs, but the traditional type with three kinds of meat, woody oregano, heaps of garlic, long-simmered tomato sauce... nah. It is just too dang hot outside for classic meatballs.



I wanted something appropriate for the summer weather that has finally arrived here in the northeast, so I turned to basil, the summeriest herb. I started out with this recipe but I made some alterations because I wanted them to be fresh and citrusy... and I didn't have any milk in the house. Turns out I didn't need it. Lemon juice softened up the breadcrumbs just fine and I didn't miss the dairy fat because I used DUCK FAT!



I had duck leftover from my creative practicum for school (I made duck rillettes as part of my alternative charcuterie plate) and now I look for opportunities to use it. It's an animal fat so it's not as light as, say, olive oil, but since ground chicken tends to be pretty lean, adding back some fat really enriches the meatballs. If you don't have any duck fat or chicken fat (maybe saved from a roast), butter or oil would be just fine. No matter what fat you choose to use, you should try these meatballs.



Lemon and Basil Chicken Meatballs
serves 4, or 2 twice

The first day we ate these over spaghetti tossed with some sorrel pesto, but later in the week I split open a baguette, smeared it heavily with basil pesto (frozen from last summer, I'm trying to make room in the freezer for this year's haul), topped it with shredded mozzarella and stuck it under the broiler until the cheese bubbled. They were so good I didn't even get a chance to take a picture. I also think these would be excellent as cocktail nibbles, maybe with basil oil drizzled over or a pesto dip. 

1 cup fresh bread crumbs (from about 3 slices white sandwich bread)
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1/2 a medium onion, very finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon duck fat or chicken fat if you have them, butter or oil if not
salt and pepper
1 egg
1 pound ground chicken
4 tablespoons basil, finely chopped

Preheat the oven to 400 F.

Combine the breadcrumbs with the juice of the lemon and set aside.

Heat a saute pan over medium low heat and heat the fat or oil. Gently cook the onion until translucent, then add the garlic and cook for another thirty seconds or until the garlic is fragrant. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. If you move the onions to another bowl, save the fat in the pan.

Combine the chicken, egg, lemon zest, lemony breadcrumbs and cooked onions. Season with salt and pepper to taste (at least 1/2 a teaspoon of each). Use your hands to gently mix the ingredients together until thoroughly combined. Heat a little more fat in the saute pan or use what's leftover in the pan to saute a little patty of the mixture and taste it. Does it need more salt or more lemon? Adjust the seasoning if you need to.

Line a sheet pan with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat (incidentally, you should use separate mats for savory and sweet cooking, those things absorb smells and flavors and cookies that taste like onion are... not delicious).

Roll the meat into small balls, about an inch in diameter, trying not to compress them too much as you roll. Easy does it, ok? Line them up on the sheet pan as you form them. Bake the meatballs for 20-30 minutes or until bits are golden brown and the meatballs are cooked through. Enjoy with pasta or as a meatball sub or on toothpicks with pesto for dipping, yum.

Fried Chickpeas with Sausage and Spinach

I have a thing for garbanzo beans. I eat them at least three times a week in soup, or salads, or as hummus, and I'm always on the lookout for a new way to use my favorite bean. When I saw Mark Bittman's Fried Chickpeas with Chorizo and Spinach in last week's New York Times I put it immediately into rotation.

I followed the method and the main ingredients of the recipe, but I did make one pretty big change. Instead of chorizo, I used spicy chicken sausage that I squeezed out of the casings and broke it into bits as it cooked. I wanted to stay true to the flavors of the original, so I added a scant half teaspoon of smoked hot paprika (pimentón de la vera) as the chickpeas and sausage cooked, and I think I could have been more generous with it.

Finally, I forgot the sherry. Oops! I didn't have any in the house, but I had thought it through and I was going to use dry vermouth or maybe a splash of vinegar to cut some of the oil a bit, and while I LOVED this the way I made it, it was missing that added depth that wine gives a dish. When I make it again (which will be very soon) I will not be so forgetful.

Fried Chickpeas with Sausage and Spinach
adapted from Mark Bittman at the New York Times
serves 3-4

Don't skip the drying off the chickpeas step, or they won't get crispy and browned, they'll just stay sort of mushy. I like mushy beans just fine, but that's not really what you're going for here.

1/4 cup olive oil
1 can (or two cups) cooked chickpeas, rinsed and patted dry with paper towels
3 links spicy chicken sausage, casings removed (1/2 - 3/4 lb)
1/2 teaspoon hot smoked paprika
salt and pepper
10 oz spinach (if you use grown up spinach, remove the tough stems and tear the leaves into smaller pieces)
approximately 1 cup bread crumbs (I used panko, but homemade breadcrumbs -sandwich bread whizzed in the food processor - would be ideal here)
1/4 cup sherry, dry vermouth or white wine OR a splash of wine vinegar

Heat the olive oil in a large ovenproof skillet over medium heat. When hot, add the chickpeas in one layer and cook, shaking or stirring occasionally, for five minutes. Then add the pimentón and chicken sausage, breaking it up in the pan with a wooden spoon. Cook for another 5-10 minutes until the sausage is cooked through and the chickpeas have taken on some color. Remove to a bowl using a slotted spoon.

Add the spinach and sherry to the oil remaining in the pan and saute until the spinach is thoroughly wilted down and liquid has evaporated, 5-8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, then add the chickpeas and sausage in one layer on top of the spinach. Turn on your broiler.

Sprinkle the dish with the breadcrumbs, drizzle with a little more olive oil if you like, and stick it under the broiler for a couple of minutes until the breadcrumbs brown.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Hi, friends! Did you have a good weekend? I spent most of this weekend enjoying the awesome weather, and I'll tell you all about it tomorrow, but today I wanted to show you the soup I made a few weeks ago. I was very, very bad while making it: I did NOT take enough pictures to show you a step by step, but it's easy and delicious and may be the perfect fall food, because it takes advantage of the hot peppers and end of season corn that are still kicking deliciously around the farmer's markets.




I used a combo of jalapeno and poblano peppers but I added cayenne and red pepper flakes in the cooking. Nex time, I'll probably add another hot pepper, though I like the mellow flavor of the poblano. You could make a delicious soup with whatever heat level you can handle.





There are tons and tons of tortilla soup recipes on the food blogs and on recipe sites like epicurious, so google away if you're looking for an option sans chicken or avec something else. Most of the recipes I read called for corn tortillas, but we didn't have any, so I used wheat and they were just delicious. I also made too many and snacked on crunchy tortilla strips all day.




Tortilla Soup

serves four

1 jalapeno pepper, diced as small as you can
1 poblano pepper, diced not quite as small as you can
1/2 onion, chopped
1 chicken breast, cut in strips or bite sized pieces
4-5 c. chicken broth
1 can roasted diced tomatoes
kernels from 2 cobs of fresh corn (see this removal method), or a generous cup of frozen corn
red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper to taste
salt to taste (start with half a teaspoon)
juice of one very juicy lime
1-2 handfuls cilantro (half a bunch)
1/2 an avocado per serving
tortilla strips (from 5 6-inch corn or four tortillas)

For garnish:
sour cream
shredded jack cheese

Heat a splash of olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the peppers and onion and sauté until they've softened a bit, about 3-5 minutes. Don't worry if they get a bit of color on them, but don't let them burn. Add the chicken and sauté until it is mostly cooked through - 5-7 minutes.

Now add the chicken broth, diced tomatoes, and a shake of the pepper flake of your choice. Let the soup come almost to boil, then knock the heat back to low and let it simmer uncovered for 15 minutes. Taste and add salt and more pepper flakes or cayenne if you need more heat - mine did. Simmer another ten minutes or so.

While soup is simmering, make tortilla strips: using a sharp knife or pizza wheel, cut the tortillas into strips about 3/8" wide. Toss with a little olive oil, spread on a sheet pan and bake in a 350 degree oven, tossing a couple of times for 10 - 15 minutes.

About a minute before soup is done (though really the timing is quite loose) add the corn kernels - give it a few minutes if you're using frozen corn. When it's done, turn off the heat and add the lime juice. Now build the soup: dice the avocado and place in a bowl. Add half a handful of chopped cilantro and some tortilla strips. Ladle soup into bowl, then garnish with shredded jack cheese and a dollop of sour cream.

I made all of these things on the same day. Really.

Has it already been six days? Oh my goodness. What deliciousness I have to share with you!


As you can see, last week I roasted a chicken. I used the Zuni Cafe method and there are many pages in the book dedicated to "the practice of salting early" which you can also read about over on Cooking Zuni (who I believe is working on the Zuni Roast Chicken Post also!). I cannot yet say that I turn to this book again and again, but there are some amazing ideas in here and I think salting early is one of them. I bought a 5 pound chicken last Sunday (bigger than her suggested 2-3 pounder, but the smallest I could find at my store), took it home, rinsed it off, and covered it with kosher salt and pepper. I made some holes under the skin in four spots and stuck some fresh thyme sprigs in (which you can sort of see in the next photo), then I stuck the whole chicken in the fridge. Yep. In the fridge for... twenty four hours. According to Judy I should have left such a big bird in there another day, but hey, I'm a rebel.
Anyway, I preheated the pan (I used an enameled cast iron dutch oven but I'll use something shallower next time) and preheated the oven and did the whole flip every half hour thing as directed. I'm not sure my bird got quite brown enough, frankly. Perhaps I'll go back to Alton Brown's method next time, or perhaps I should have turned up the heat a bit. The skin on this bird was aaabsolutely fantastic, and even a certain roommate of mine who "doesn't like chicken" thought it was great. In fact when I went back into the fridge the next day some of the leftovers had mysteriously disappeared. WEIRD.

With the chicken we had this heirloom tomato casserole thingy. Can you call it a casserole when there are no eggs in it? Well, I used Noble Pig's recipe (on a smaller scale, though) and it was AWESOME. We had stopped up at the farmer's market at lunch that afternoon looking for impressive tomatoes and I liked the purple striped ones the best, they had a tremendously rich flavor. Maybe next time I'll learn what they're called.

Oh, and also, I tried those famous Jacques Torres New York Times cookies. Meh. Perhaps it's because I used AP flour instead of the combo cake+bread flours or perhaps it's because I went by measure and not weight, but they were a little too crispy for me. I used Ghirardelli 60% chocolate chips and also chopped up a 3 oz bar of the same, which I think is where the color comes from. I WILL try them again, because the flavor was good, and the quest for the ideal chocolate chip cookie is a quest I can get down with, but until then, I have a ball of dough in my freezer... that recipe is HUGE. Anybody want a (giant) cookie?