Pineapple Bourbon Spiral Ham and Creative Uses for the Leftovers

Our family is deeply divided when it comes to Easter. We all look forward celebrating Easter, but we just look forward to different aspects of the day. For the kids, it's all about the eggs: the hunt and the chocolate and candy free for all that follows it. When I look at their big smiles, their glazed over sugar coma eyes, and their messy chocolate mustaches, I can almost forgive them for waking me up at 5:30. This is the stuff of childhood memories. But as much as we like to stuff the eggs, hide the eggs, and then steal candy from our kids, for my husband and I, Easter is all about the spiral ham.

In previous years, I've tried to talk Steve into varying our menu. I've suggested rack of lamb, or garlic studded leg of lamb on the grill, even baby quail, but he won't even consider skipping his yearly ham, he loves those thick, pink, meaty slices too much. This is a marital battle I don't mind losing, because I love the ham leftovers. I can make a week's worth of lunches and dinners from the remains of our Easter dinner without getting bored. Spiral ham is so rich and its texture is so forgiving that it makes a wonderful base for:

• Pastas (pic to be added tonight once our pasta is cooked!)
• Soups
• Blow your family away with a sweet and savory apple pie
• scrambled eggs
• quiche
• stuffed tomatoes
• risotto
• Grilled Cheese
• Salads
• and even tacos

I had grandiose plans to cook the ham from scratch this Easter instead of reheating a pre-cooked version, but between the Passover holidays and my ob appointments, I ran out of time. Instead I settled for buying a nitrate-free, organic, free-range ham from Whole Foods and throwing that little dried out flavoring packet. We concocted our own basting liquid instead and combined it with fresh pineapple. The ham was even tastier than in years past, and tonight the fun of leftovers begins.

Pineapple Bourbon Spiral Ham
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 90 minutes
Ingredients
1 fresh pineapple
1/2 cup of brown sugar
1/4 cup of Bourbon
2 tablespoons of maple syrup
1 teaspoon of garlic powder
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
2 tablespoons of ground mustard
1/4 cup of soy sauce
salt and pepper to your liking

1. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Peel and core your pineapple and cut it up into 1 inch chunks. Take half the chunks and puree them in a food processor. Put the other half of the pineapple chunks in a bowl and set aside.
3. Add the remaining spices and ingredients to the food processor, just to make sure you don't forget any (as I've been known to with catch-all instructions like this one), I'll list them here: brown sugar, Bourbon, maple syrup, garlic powder, cinnamon, ground mustard, soy sauce, and salt and pepper. Pulse two or three times to mix. The liquid will now be frothy and will smell a little boozy.
4. Place the spiced pineapple liquid in a small saucepan and cook on low-medium flame until it begins to simmer. Stir frequently. Continue cooking for 2-3 minutes, just to blend the flavors together well and boil away a little of the alcohol.
5. Place the spiral ham in a large oven-proof casserole dish. Arrange the leftover pineapple chunks alongside. Pour a third of the pineapple liquid on top of the ham, using a spoon to drizzle some liquid over most of the ham.
6. Cover with foil and heat for an hour.
7. Turn the oven up to 400 degrees. Remove the foil and pour the remaining glaze on top of the ham. Cook for another 30 minutes to get the top of the ham nice and brown.
8. When serving, feel free to cut the ham in a criss-cross pattern. We chose not to.

Sweet Potato and Date Chicken Tagine

I met my husband at work. I was young, just out of college, and was instantly smitten by this sophisticated New Yorker with his jazzy ties. We were friends at first, wasting countless work hours in whispered conversations in office cubicles, commiserating over our love lives, and talking about food.

Yes, food. I liked his ties, but I fell in love with his appetite and enthusiasm for food. We could talk for hours about great meals, favorite restaurants, and food memories. Our first dates were spent cooking for each other, timidly revealing our cooking repertoire.

Over a decade later, Steve and I are still equally passionate about each other, and about food. Our tastes have evolved, but they've evolved in sync. Chances are that if I see something in a cookbook that looks good to me, it will look good to him too. We're suckers for a sweet savory combination, like Cider Braised Pork Roast.

Last week, I made a chicken dish based on another recipe in the Dorie Greenspan Around my French Table Cookbook, Chicken Tagine with Sweet Potatoes and Prunes. I had never made it before, but I knew, before Steve walked in through the door, that it would be a winner. I used dates instead of prunes, and left out some of the spicier exotic ingredients in the recipe. The resulting dish was the perfect fall dinner, sweet, savory, and a rainbow of golden reds, browns, and yellows.


Not only was it delicious, but it was one of those throw it together and leave it alone to cook dishes, perfect to set up a romantic candlelight dinner.

Chicken Tagine with Sweet Potatoes and Dates (adapted from Dorie Greenspan's Around my French Table cookbook)
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour and a half
Ingredients: 
1/4 cups of olive oil
1/2 large yellow onion, chopped finely
1/2 cup of water
salt
1 chicken, cut into 8 pieces
2 large pinches of saffron threads, crushed
1/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
1 bay leaf
4 tablespoons of honey
1 cup of chicken broth (preferably homemade)
12 chopped and pitted dates
1 pound of sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch cubes

1. Pour two tablespoons of vegetable oil in the bottom of a dutch oven or cast iron casserole over medium-low heat. Now add the onion, stirring to coat it with oil, then add 1 tablespoon of water, season with a little salt, and cover the pot. Cook the onions gently for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they are soft but not brown.
2. In a separate skillet, brown the chicken. Heat a tablespoon of the olive oil over medium heat. Put the chicken in the pan, skin side down, and brown for 3-4 minutes on each side. Transfer it to a plate.
3. Once the onions are soft, add the saffron, honey, bay leaf, chicken broth, and the rest of the water. Throw in the dates, and then the chicken. Toss the sweet potatoes on top and bring the mixture to a boil.
4. Reduce the heat to medium, bringing the liquid to a low simmer. Cover and cook for 45 minutes to an hour. Resist the temptation to lift the lid before the 45 minute mark. The steam is what makes this dish so good. The dish is done once the sweet potatoes are soft.
5. Feel free to reduce the liquid once the chicken is cooked. Just remove the chicken and sweet potatoes and boil the liquid until it is a consistency to your liking. We left ours as is: my man likes a lot of sauce.
6. Serve immediately, but don't get rid of leftovers. This dish was even better the next day.

Dorie Greenspan's 20 Minute Honey Duck

Do you ever make duck at home? Or is it the type of thing you would only ever think to order in a really fancy French restaurant?

Duck must have a bad rap in America. It's the only reason I can think of that more home cooks don't make duck at home. People must assume it is expensive, but a package with 2 boneless breasts is only $9.99. As duck is so rich, a little goes a long way, and two breasts is plenty of food for a dinner for two.

When I was living in Ohio, I was struck by the limited variety of meat available at most supermarkets. The meat case would be filled with row after row of plump pink boneless chicken breasts and packages of ground beef in various shapes and sizes. Finding pork and lamb was a serious challenge, and finding duck breasts was nothing short of a miracle. 

Whenever I find a package of frozen duck breasts, I pounce and stock up to fill my freezer. It's a great meat to have on hand for last minute dinners. In 20 minutes, you can be forking rich and tasty little morsels of duck into your mouth, with an amazing sauce that will be better than what you'd find at most neighborhood French restaurants. And if you want a real treat, save the duck fat from the pan to whip up some decadent pan fried potatoes.

This recipe for 20-minute honey duck is from the new Dorie Greenspan cookbook: Around my French Table which is filled with easy to make French home cooking recipes, more than enough comfort food to get you through this winter. I enjoyed Dorie's stories of her love affair with France almost more than the recipes; she describes the cooking of my childhood perfectly. I had the pleasure of having coffee with Dorie and a handful of other local Dorie fans two weeks ago, and she is even nicer in person than she seems on her blog.

This duck recipe really does take 15-20 minutes and it's so good, I guarantee that you will lick the plate. And with all the sweet flavors in these recipes, your kids will lick the plate too, and amaze your friends at the playground when they ask you to make duck again soon.


Dorie Greenspan's 20 Minute Honey Duck 
Ingredients:
4 small boneless duck breasts
2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon of honey
juice of 1 lime
salt, pepper

1. Preheat your oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit. (No, not a typo - just to warm it).
2. Using the point of a sharp knife, score the duck skin in a crosshatch pattern, cutting deeply into the layer of fat but taking care not to nick the meat. Season both sides of the breast with salt and pepper.
3. Heat a dutch oven over medium-high heat. You could use a regular pan here, but the Dutch oven really helps with the spattering. When the pan is really hot and a drop of water dance and evaporate quickly, add the duck breasts, skin side down. Cook for 8 minutes, or until the skin is brown and crisp.
4. Turn the pieces over and cook for 3 minutes more for very rare breasts that will cook a little more in the oven. I know it sounds strange to cook a bird to medium-rare, but trust me on this, well done duck is very, very tough.
5. Lift the breasts out of the Dutch oven and place onto a sheet of aluminum foil. Seal them loosely in the foil and put in the oven to keep warm.
6. Pour off most of the fat from the pan (I used it as a base for the carrots you see in the picture) and put the pot over medium heat. When the fat is warm, stir in the balsamic, honey, and lime juice, along with any duck juices at the bottom of the aluminum foil. Cook, stirring constantly and vigorously with a wooden spoon for 1 minute. Return the breasts to the pot and turn once, cooking each side about 30 seconds. 
7. Slice the duck and drizzle the sauce on top. Serve immediately.

Quick and Easy Honey Carrots
Ingredients
1 bunch of carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch slives (rondelles)
4 tablespoons of honey
salt, pepper

1. Put a frying pan on the burner at medium-high heat. When hot, pour the duck fat into a frying pan. If you don't have duck fat, then just use butter, about 2 tablespoons.
2.  Once the fat is melted, add the carrots and stir well to coat. Pour the honey on top.
3. Cook, stirring frequently, for 5 to 7 minutes, until the carrots are becoming soft. Season with salt and pepper to your liking. Serve immediately.

Bacon Crusted Pork Tenderloin to Woo Picky Food Snobs

Are your kids generally open to trying new things at the dinner table? At dinner time, my kids lose all trust in me, approaching the table with betrayal in their eyes, as if I'm trying to poison them, clearly still reeling from that sweet potato with turkey baby food jar I tried to feed them when they were toddlers.

I'm a huge fan of pork, specifically pork tenderloin, as a cheap, tasty and easy dinner solution. A pork tenderloin is cheaper than chicken breasts or steak, and requires a lot less fuss to get on the table. Just pop it into the oven with a little sauce or seasoning and 30 minutes or so later, dinner is ready.

CSA produce is clearly poison, right?

But my kids are not exactly sold on the concept of pork, the other white meat.

Last night, when they came to the table, and found the unfamiliar meat sitting on a platter, they frowned, moaned and complained, "What is that? What new yucky thing did you make for us tonight Mom? Why couldn't you make us a nice filet mignon or some sous vide lamb chops?" I kid you not. I couldn't make this stuff up. This is what my foodie snob kids request. Any day now they're going to add truffles and foie gras to their shopping list demands, along with Spongebob Mac & Cheese and Oreo Cakesters.

Carnivore Bella kissing a lamb chop made in the Sous Vide Demo unit.

I had anticipated their reaction, and I was ready to address it with the help of my other favorite pork product: bacon. Like some sort of picky food specialist, I coated the tenderloin with bacon, shallots, and breadcrumbs. Every bite was tender, juicy, and topped with a delicious bacon-y crunch. I was sorely tempted to lick the plate, just like my kids were doing.

With a little bacon help, I am nothing short of invincible.

In the picky eater war, Bacon Crusted Pork Tenderloins are almost like not playing fair.

Bacon Crusted Pork Tenderloin
Serves 4 to 6 
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes


Ingredients:
2 1 pound pork tenderloins
1/2 cup of panko bread crumbs
6 strips of bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2 shallots, chopped finely

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, begin sauteing the bacon. 30 seconds later, once the bacon has rendered a little fat, add the shallots. Saute until the shallots are soft and the bacon is lightly browned.
3. Remove from heat and toss in the bread crumbs, stirring thoroughly to absorb all the decadent bacon grease.
4. Roll the tenderloins in the seasoned bread crumbs, one at a time. Place them side by side in a large Pyrex pan. Scrape the remaining breadcrumbs on top.
5. Place in the oven and cook for about 30 minutes, until an internal meat thermometer reads 160 degrees. Begin testing at 20 minutes to make sure you don't overcook the tenderloin. There are few things more dry and chewy than an overcooked pork tenderloin.
6. Slice and serve, generously spooning the toasted bread crumbs on top.

Truffle Butter Chicken Made Divine with Sous Vide

Truffles are a powerful ingredient. A little goes a long way, and that's a good thing considering how expensive they are. An individual fresh black truffle typically costs over $100. Last week I performed a minor miracle when I made an incredible truffle butter chicken breast that tasted as though it had been marinating in a second mortgage amount of truffles. And it cost me less than for under $10.

Truffle Butter Chicken Served with Very Mushy Butternut Squash

The source of all that intense flavor was just a pat of truffle butter bought at Whole Foods for $8.99, no doubt made from specks of discarded truffles. But I had a little help from a secret weapon: the Sous Vide Supreme demo unit I was trying out for a week.

Lowering the Chicken in the Sous Vide Unit

One of my favorite benefits of Sous Vide technology is how it intensifies the flavors of the spices that are vacuum sealed with the meat or fish it is cooking. Even dried and dusty supermarket herbs can taste magical after an hour or two in the Sous Vide water bath.

Although the recipe below is for truffle butter chicken, it could be used for any type of chicken dish in the sous vide machine. As time is not critical in sous vide cooking, the only important factor is temperature. Ten degrees can mean the difference between a pink center and a gray center. For white meat chicken, the target temperature is 140 to 146 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Pan frying the chicken to give it some texture

I topped the truffle butter chicken with a creamy shiitake sauce. Although the sauce was earthy and delicious, it didn't mask the truffle flavor in the least. Each bite of the chicken was soft, tender, and exquisitely infused with the unique aroma of truffles.

Truffle Butter Sous Vide Chicken 
Serves 2
Active Cooking Time: 5 minutes
Total Cooking Time: 1 hour
Ingredients
For the Chicken:
2 Boneless Chicken Breasts
4 tablespoons of truffle butter (or any other flavored butter such as thyme shallot)
1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
For the mushroom sauce:
1 cup of shiitake mushrooms, sliced into 1/2 inch pieces
4 tablespoons of salted butter
2 shallots, chopped finely
1/3 cups of creme fraiche or heavy cream

1. Set the Sous Vide machine to 140 degrees Fahrenheit. It may take up to 30 minutes for it to reach that temperature.
2. Cut a flap halfway through each chicken breast. Lift the flap and place the pat of truffle butter under. Repeat for the other chicken breast.
3. Vacuum seal the chicken breasts individually in a small BPA-free sous vide safe plastic bag. Place each bag in the sous vide machine. Cook for at least 45 minutes.
4. Heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a large frying pan on high heat. Remove the chicken breasts from the sous vide and the vacuum sealed bags. Crisp them in the pan for 30 seconds on each side. Set aside.
5. Add the salted butter to the large frying pan on medium heat. Add the shallots and the mushrooms and saute until soft and fragrant. Add the creme fraiche and stir well until boiling. Make sure you scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
6. Pour on top of the chicken breasts and serve immediately.

(Relatively) Healthy Homemade Chicken Nuggets

These Healthy Baked Chicken Nuggets Will Be a Hit with the Kids

Tonight I'm going to give you a gift: a baked chicken nugget recipe that you can whip up in less than 5 minutes. And it's good. Let me tell you how good. So good that my kids ate them with a babysitter tonight and when I came home, Bella came to thank me for making "such delicious chicken." Let me tell you, that's not something that happens every day. I actually don't think it's ever happened before. Of course when I teared up, she told me I was being embarrassing... again.

The reason I qualify them as "relatively" healthy homemade chicken nuggets is that they could be healthier. These little chicken bites would certainly be better for you if they weren't breaded, or if they were steamed or poached, but then they wouldn't be chicken nuggets. They would be bland, plain chicken, and your kids would not be thanking you for making such a delicious dinner. So I'm sticking with the healthy label, and making baked chicken nuggets at home is certainly a lot healthier than ordering chicken nuggets from the McDonald's drive-thru window.

So go ahead, try this recipe. But don't be surprised if your kids throw you a parade.

Baked Chicken Nuggets
Prep Time: 5 minutes (or possibly less!)
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Ingredients
2 boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch wide strips, tendons and yucky bits cut off
15 butter crackers, like Ritz or Townhouse
1/3 cups of grated parmesan
2 eggs

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Place the crackers in a small ziplock bag. Seal it and crush them to coarse crumbs. Go ahead, have fun with it, let out the stress of the day. Pour the crumbs into a small bowl. Add the parmesan and toss to mix. 
3. In a separate small bow, crack and mix the eggs well, to omelette consistency.
4. Dip a chicken piece in the egg and then roll it around in the parmesan crumbs until crumbs cover all sides of the chicken. You won't be able to cover it completely. That's okay. It's meant to look homemade. Then place the coated chicken in a Pyrex or other baking pan. Repeat with the rest of the pieces.
5. Cook the chicken for 45 minutes.
6. Serve with whatever sauces you please. I chose apple jelly in the picture above, but if you want to dip them in McDonald's BBQ sauce, I won't tell anyone.

Poached Chicken, a New Food for Picky Eaters

Last spring we traveled to Paris with the kids. We rented an apartment and traipsed all over the city every day. Fueled by croissants and baguettes, we climbed the Eiffel Tower, played in the fountains around the Pyramid of the Louvre, and picnicked amidst the statues of the Jardin des Tuileries. At night, our noisy tribe settled at outdoor terraces of local restaurants and feasted. Nine months later, we still talk about our magical days and nights in that beautiful city.

One of the most wonderful things about our meals was the freedom from the tyranny of children's menus. The kids' meals were concocted from suggestions from the waiter. In this new land of good food and good living, the kids didn't even notice that the ubiquitous chicken nuggets were not available. The first night, they enjoyed grilled juicy steaks with crispy French fries. And the second night, the waiter produced tender, melt in your mouth chicken breasts on a bed of mashed potatoes with some gleaming carrots, so sweet they tasted like candy. When I told them the meat they were eating was chicken, they didn't believe me. Poached chicken was a revelation.

I had never thought of it as a child food, having only eaten it napped with delicate sauces in white tablecloth restaurants. But poached chicken is actually ideal picky eater fare. It has no brown bits, no hard bits, and definitely no yucky bits. It is just plain, tender enough to cut with a fork, bland chicken.

Poaching sounds fancy, but it is actually an incredibly easy way to prepare chicken. Submerge it in a liquid of your choice, bring it to a light boil, and boil it for 10 minutes. Then turn the heat off, and leave the chicken in the liquid for another 10 minutes. Voila! Your chicken is now poached.

The liquid you choose will greatly impact the flavor of the chicken, especially if you use chicken breasts. They will soak up whatever flavors you offer. I like to poach chicken breasts in chicken broth, but you could use plain, salted water if you choose. A nice tomato flavored broth might be nice as well.

Poaching some chicken breasts early in the week will give you material to work with all week long, to make chicken salad, to toss with shelled edamame and teriyaki sauce for a quick Asian stir fry, to make breadless chicken fingers to dip into ranch dressing, apple sauce, or ketchup, or to top plain buttered noodles on a soccer practice night. It's the type of ingredient that will become a staple as soon as you introduce it in your life.

Chili Con Carne, a Crowd Pleaser for the Oscars or Any Other March Gathering

This month for the Snackpicks website, I made a big bowl of Chili Con Carne.

I was asked to create a dish to serve with Cheez-It Crackers and I immediately thought of meaty, satisfying chili as the perfect match to the intense cheese flavor of Cheez-its. And the fact that the orange crackers look great over the deep red chili doesn't hurt.

My post at Snackpicks suggests chili as a great dish to watch basketball games... but you really could serve it for any gathering you're having, even for the Oscars this weekend. I had it at a party over New Year's and everyone gathered around pot chatting and customizing their bowl with their choice of ingredients. 

Head on over to Snackpicks for more entertainment ideas and to get my chili recipe...

Hanger Steak with Shallot Browned Butter: my New Addiction

Ever cruise your local meat case, looking for something a little different? I often do, just to keep things exciting at dinner time.

I tend to stay clear of the overly solicitous butchers at Whole Foods who stand behind their neat rows of ruby red cuts of meat.  They're a little like the snooty girls at Cartier, guardians of such luxury that their mere gaze pressures me to commit to standing rib roasts of beef or delicate Frenched racks of lamb with the frilly little white paper hats to cover the nude bones. I only approach their lair when I'm ready to succumb for special occasions, fully intending to bust the budget a bit for a memorable dinner. During my weekly shopping trip, I stay in the shallow end, at the meat case whose neatly wrapped celophane packages are much less likely to inspire acts of folly.

Yet the meat case is exactly where I found my latest obsession: hanger steak. There I was, standing there under the bright blinking fluorescent lights, trying to tame the pace of our life by planning a week's worth of dinners ahead of time. One hand on my chin, the other clutching a pencil and a stained and wrinkled shopping list. I was so deep in thought that I almost missed it, a small package lost between rows and rows of ground beef.

But something about it caught my eye. It could have been the gorgeous marbling, or maybe the swell of its pillowy folds. The label had no description, no marketing copy full of promises. Just two words: hanger steak.

I grabbed three packages quickly, without looking around, terrified that someone would pry them out of my hand. I quickly finished my shopping and raced home to deposit my prize in a position of honor in the fridge. That night at dinner, I told everyone that I had something really special for them.

The hanger steak did not disappoint. The kids had it plain, just pan fried with a little butter. They couldn't get enough of it. Steve and I had ours pan fried with a drizzle of browned butter shallot sauce on top. As tender as fillet but as flavorful as ribeye, it was a meal we won't soon forget. It's no wonder that Hanger Steak is also known as the butcher's tenderloin. It's a well-kept secret that the world should know about.

Hanger Steak with Browned Butter Shallot Sauce
Serves 2
Prep Time: 2 minutes
Cook Time: 7 minutes
Ingredients:
1 pound of Hanger Steak, cut into 2 chunks to fit your pan
2 large shallots, chopped finely
4 tablespoons of salted butter

1. Take your steaks out of the fridge 15 to 20 minutes before cooking to bring them to room temperature.
2. Heat your pan on high heat to get it very hot.
3. Melt a half a tablespoon of butter in the pan, swirl it around to grease it, and quickly add your steaks.
4. Sear on one side for 5 minutes and then flip to the other side to achieve even browning, another 2-4 minutes. Remove from pan and place on plate to let the juices distribute.
5. Add the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter to the pan. As soon as the butter begins to turn brown, add the chopped shallots and lower the heat to medium. Cook until the shallots are softened, adding more butter if the sauce begins to evaporate too much.
6. Spoon over steaks and serve immediately.

Chicken Piccata and Roasted Asparagus: Weeknight Chicken Will Never Be Boring Again

Chicken breasts are usually boring. Hum drum, forget what I'm eating, dry, what's for dessert, dull. When I'm planning my weekly menus, I rarely get inspired by chicken breasts, opting for pork, beef, and even lamb instead. Roast chickens, with their crispy golden skin and moist meat, are in a different category.

But the other day, enticed by a killer sale at Whole Foods, I threw a package of chicken breasts into my cart. And that night, I attacked the breasts, and made them into something exciting, something that had us all licking our plates, grabbing bread to sop up sauce, and moaning with pleasure. This chicken piccata recipe, with its savory tangy sauce, will spice up your weeknight dinner too.

Our first order of business was to pound the breasts into thin cutlets. I took the breasts one by one and sandwiched them between two long sheets of plastic wrap. Then I handed the job over to my sous-chefs. I'm always looking for novel ways to get my kids involved in the cooking, and the challenge of pounding the meat with all their strength was the most fun they'd had in weeks. They took to it with gusto, taking turns, shouting words of encouragement to each other. Even three-year-old Juliette got into the action.

For the kids' dinner, I simply took their flattened cutlet and pan fried it with butter and a dash of lemon juice - a junior version of Chicken Piccata. The adult version was just as easy, but just with a little more flavor. And if you've steered clear of this dish because you don't like capers, I urge you to give it another try. The pan sauces and the lemon neutralize the harshness of the capers, giving the sauce a fresh and savory richness.

Chicken Piccata

Ingredients:

1 package of chicken breasts

3 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons of capers

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

3/4 cups of chicken broth

1 lemon

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

1 tablespoon of salted butter

1. Between two sheets of plastic wrap, pound the chicken breasts, one by one, until they are about 1/2 inch in thickness.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add chicken cutlets (as many as will fit in a single layer), and cook until lightly browned on both sides and cooked through (about 2 minutes on each side). Place on a platter, and cover with foil. Add more oil to the pan and repeat with the remaining cutlets.
3. Reduce the heat to medium and add another tablespoon of olive oil. Then add the capers, and garlic. Cook, stirring, until the garlic softens, about 2 minutes.
4. Cut the lemon in half and squeeze the juice into the pan. Add the chicken broth. Raise the heat to high and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture reduces by half, about 3 minutes.
5. Turn off the heat and swirl in the tablespoon of butter as well as half of the parsley. Season with salt and pepper.
6. Drizzle the sauce over the chicken cutlets. Decorate with a sprinkling of the remaining parsley. Serve immediately.

I served roasted asparagus alongside the chicken piccata.

Roasted Asparagus
Ingredients

1 bunch of asparagus spears (with bottoms snapped off)

1 lemon

4 tablespoons of olive oil

kosher salt

pepper

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Spread the asparagus on a cookie sheet, all flat in one layer.
3. Sprinkle the olive oil, juice of one lemon, salt and pepper on top.
4. Roast in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes, until just caramelized.

Golden Butternut Squash Risotto: Bring on the Fall Food Coma

Last year I fell in love with butternut squash. I came to it with the gusto of young love, delighting in its bright color and sweet flavor. Every week, I made vats and vats of roasted butternut squash soup and served it roasted as a simple side dish.

And when the crocuses began to poke through the snow, the squash quality waned and began to dry out, I mourned the end of our affair... right up until the spring peas hit the stands.

This fall, when the butternut squash gourds returned to the produce stands, I greeted them like a familiar friend, excited to catch up and get reacquainted. My first batch of apple and butternut squash soup was even better than I remembered, but I was ready to do more, to try new dishes and challenge the squash in different ways.

Last night I took my butternut squash to Italy and folded it into risotto after roasting it with some olive oil and maple syrup. The sweet roasted squash paired up with the salty and creamy risotto perfectly. Steve and I walked away from the table in a contented fall-food coma.

And if the word risotto scares you, making you picture yourself sweating and stirring over a hot stove, read this recipe. You don't need to stir it constantly and this is such a satisfying dish - I know you'll add it to your repertoire once you've tried it.

Butternut Squash Risotto

Ingredients:

1 Butternut Squash

4 tablespoons of olive oil

1/4 cup of maple syrup (preferably grade B or dark amber)

salt and pepper

4 to 6 cups of chicken stock

4 tablespoons of salted butter

1 1/2 cups of arborio rice

1 large minced shallot (1/3 cup)

2 slices of bacon, minced

1/2 cup of white wine

3/4 cup of freshly grated parmesan

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees fahrenheit.
2. Peel and cut butternut squash into large chunks, removing all seeds. Toss in large bowl with olive oil and maple syrup. Pour into rectangular Pyrex dish and roast in oven for 30 minutes, until tender.
3. Heat the chicken stock in a saucepan or in the microwave.
4. Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add minced shallots and bacon. Cook over medium heat until shallots are translucent and soft and bacon is cooked but not burned, about 10 minutes.
5. Add rice and stir well to coat with butter and bacon grease. Add the wine and cook for 2 minutes to boil off the wine-y taste.
6. Add 2 cups of stock. Stir and simmer until the stock is absorbed. Continue to add more stock every time the mixture seems to be a little dry, 2 cups at a time, stirring occasionally. After four cups of stock have been added, begin tasting the rice to see if it is done to your liking. All of the stock additions should take about 30 minutes.
7. Remove the squash from the oven. Cut the pieces into small dice.
8. When the rice is done enough, take off the heat and fold in the diced squash and the parmesan. Toss gently and serve immediately.

Throwing in the Towel on Brining

I tried another recipe from Chef Marcela's upcoming Fresh Mexico cookbook this week: Roasted Pork Loin with Pineapple Glaze. I thought the combination of pineapple with roasted pork sounded delicious. And it was, with the small exception of the brining of the pork.

For years I've heard foodies rave about the benefits of brining to turn typically dry meats like turkey and pork into moist dishes. Soaking a piece of meat in a salt and water solution for a day or two seemed like a small inconvenience compared to the promise of a succulent golden bird on the Thanksgiving table.

The last (and only) time I tried brining was on Christmas eve four years ago. I bought a special pot to hold the magic mixture I would be soaking my turkey in for 24 hours, infusing it with delicious flavors. The bird came out of the oven with a beautiful golden crust, but its beauty was definitely only skin deep. The meat was so salty that we literally couldn't eat it.

We didn't risk another Christmas turkey with a brine soak, but when I saw this recipe for pork roast, I decided to give it a try. I soaked the pork roast in a mixture of warm water, brown sugar, salt and spices for 12 hours. The meat was moist, but very salty, not inedible, but still way too salty. The crust, caramelized onions, and sauce were absolutely delicious though. I'll definitely be doing this recipe again, just without the brine.

There are so many great recipes in Fresh Mexico that I can't wait to try like Mascarpone-Stuffed Squash Blossoms with Raspberry Vinaigrette, Chipotle Cream Shrimp, and Ancho-Chocolate Braised Short Ribs. I love how approachable Marcela makes Mexican cooking, offering easy substitutions for hard to find ingredients like Mexican chocolate and jalapeno jelly.

Roast Pork with Pineapple Glaze (minus the brine part)
Ingredients
1 center cut boneless pork loin (3 to 4 pounds)
5 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons plus 1/2 teaspoon olive oil
1 tablespoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
1/3 cup of dry white wine
1 cup pineapple juice
1 pound pearl onions, peeled

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Farenheit.
2. Mix the garlic, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, salt, pepper, rosemary and thyme in a small bowl. Spread this mixture over the side of the roast that is not covered in fat.
3. Heat the remaining olive oil in a saute pan over high heat. Add the pork, fat side down, and sear until browned (about 4 minutes). Carefully flip the pork over and sear the mixture covered side for another 4 minutes.
4. Transfer the pork to a rectangular baking dish that leaves an inch around all sides of the pork.
   
5. Add the wine to the saute pan you just used to brown the pork. Cook, scraping the bottom of the pan to remove the browned bits, for 1 minute, until almost evaporated. Stir in the pineapple juice and remove from the heat.
   
6. Pour the mixture over the pork and arrange the pearl onions around it.
7. Roast the pork, basting with pan juices every 20 minutes until a thermometer inserted into the middle registers 150 degrees Farenheit, about one hour and forty minutes.
8. Let pork stand for about 10 minutes to let the juices redistribute. Then cut into 1/4 to 1/2 inch slices and serve topped with sauce and pearl onions.
   

Ancho, Pecan, and Honey-Glazed Chicken Drummettes from Fresh Mexico

Chefdruck's Tasty Tuesday

I love to cook. It relaxes me, makes me feel a great sense of accomplishment, and as a bonus, when I really get creative, I eat better at home than at many restaurants. But I have to admit that I sometimes fall into ruts. Life gets in the way and I don't spend the time I should perusing magazines and new cookbooks for fun dishes. I start making the same old boring dishes and all the fun goes out of the kitchen.

Breaking out of a cooking rut calls for a bold recipe, and that's just what I tried last night. I made a dish from Chef Marcela Valladolid's new cookbook, Fresh Mexico. I had the opportunity to meet Marcela at an event last week where I tasted a few of her dishes inspired from her Mexican heritage. Everything was delicious and I loved how approachable she made Mexican food by suggesting easy substitutions to hard to find ingredients.

Last night's dish was easy to make, but definitely out of the ordinary. Steve and I have both been so stressed with all the logistics for our move and dealing with the kids' acting out that we've become accustomed to just shoveling food and collapsing on the couch. But after one bite of the Ancho, Pecan, and Honey Glazed Chicken Drumsticks, we settled in for a leisurely meal. I stepped back into the kitchen, broke out a cold bottle of white wine, and got reacquainted with my husband.

Marcela's recipe calls for chicken drumettes, the part of the chicken wing that looks like a miniature drumstick. I used chicken drumsticks instead.

Ancho, Pecan, and Honey-Glazed Chicken Drumsticks
1/2 cup of honey
1/2 cup of chopped pecans
3 tablespoons of unsalted butter
1 tablespoon of white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon of Worcestershire Sauce
1 tablespoon of ground ancho chile (I only used a teaspoon)
1 teaspoon of garlic powder
Salt and pepper
5 chicken drumsticks (or 1 1/2 pounds of chicken drumettes)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Farenheit.
2. Stir the honey, pecans and butter in a medium-size heavy saucepan over medium-low heat until the mixture bubbles. Remove from the heat.
3. Stir in the vinegar, Worcestershire Sauce, ancho chile powder, and garlic powder. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
4. Place the chicken drumsticks in a bowl. Pour the mixture over it and toss until covered well.
5. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through. Serve hot.

Roast Chicken Croquettes

Chefdruck's Tasty Tuesday

I love roast chicken. I love the way it fills the house with such a delicious aroma, making everyone, including my kids, clamor for dinner. I love how easy it is, just rub it with some spices and pop it in the oven. I usually make a roast chicken most weeks, just to feed the kids and to make lunches.

This week I had some leftover roast chicken and stuffing and I decided to vary our routine by using those leftovers to adapt a Christmas family favorite: chicken croquettes. At Christmastime, my father is the one that normally whips these up from the mountains of leftover turkey. I have a new appreciation for his labor of love after putting these together! They were more work than I realized, but well worth it. Each bite is pure comfort, and they were a hit with the kids, even with the veggies I added in.

Chicken Croquettes
Ingredients For Veloute:

• 3 tablespoons of butter
• 6 tablespoons of flour
• 3 cups of chicken stock
• 2 egg yolks

For Croquettes

• Leftover roast chicken and stuffing*, coarsely chopped (about 3 cups, I used 4 drumsticks and a breast to make 30 croquettes)
• 1/2 cup of chopped carrots
• 1/2 cup of chopped celery
• 1 cup of breadcrumbs
• 4 eggs, beaten

*Note - the stuffing is optional, but it adds to the taste and texture. I would substitute some bread crumbs and raisins if you don't have stuffing.
1) Make a veloute (this sounds much scarier than it is - it's just stock thickened with flour). Melt the 3 tablespoons of butter in a medium stockpot over medium heat, add the flour and stir constantly for about 3-4 minutes, until the flour taste is cooked off. Don't let this brown. Add the chicken stock all at once, stirring constantly until thickened. Once it is thickened and coats the back of your spoon, turn off the heat. Then add in the egg yolks and stir until thoroughly mixed. Set aside.
2) In a food processor, chop the leftover chicken and stuffing until fine. Add in the vegetables and pulse until well incorporated.
3) Pour chicken mixture into the veloute and stir until completely incorporated.
4) Refrigerate the chicken/veloute mixture for an hour or two, to firm it up.
5) Remove from the fridge and form into 3 inch long logs on a cookie sheet covered with foil.
6) Heat some vegetable oil in a pan on medium heat. Dip each croquette first in the beaten egg mixture and then roll in the breadcrumbs. Pan fry in batches until brown on both sides, about 4 minutes on each side. Set on paper towels to dry.
7) These can be eaten hot, but honestly I prefer them the next day, reheated in the oven or microwave. We've made fancy sauces to go with them, but I love to dip them in ketchup too.

The veggies go right in with the chicken. You could get more creative than me and throw in some peppers into the mix too.

The chicken mixture being added to the veloute.

My croquettes don't look perfectly formed here, this is a homey dish, no perfection necessary!

Can you see the gap where I couldn't resist popping one in my mouth, hot from the pan?