Wednesday, January 28, 2009

congrats kellie

Kellie D is the winner of our $20 gift certificate to Dirty Demoulas.

congrats!

Monday, January 26, 2009

lemon tarragon pasta with chicken


Here's a glimpse of the finished dish.
It should serve about 6 with salad and bread.


Let's start with ingredient prep...


First, mince two cloves of garlic and set aside.



Take a handful of parsley...



Finely chop and set it aside.



Take a can of chicken broth and pour about a half a cup into a container with a tight cover.
Add a teaspoon of cornstarch and shake to combine. Set aside.



Next grab a handful of kalamata or other black olives.
Remove the pits by smahing the olives with the side of a heavy knife.
The pits will pop right out.



Splash about a tablespoon of olive oil into a heavy skillet and warm over medium heat.
Add the garlic and move around for about 30 seconds.
Add the unadulterated chicken broth, the black olives and about a half a teaspoon of dried tarragon.
Simmer for a minute, stirring to combine.


Grate the lemon rind into the skillet. Add the juice of one half of the lemon and stir.



Add the cornstarch mixture and stir to combine.
Add kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.
Pour over 1 pound of hot cooked pasta.



Garnish with the chopped parsley and sliced lemons.


roast chicken 101

Basic Roast Chicken. Simple, Delicious and Frugal....



Preheat the oven to 435 degrees....
get yourself a couple 4-5 pound whole chickens.

Today I made three for the photo shoot recipes, and in this photo they look sort of like pets.


Pale, fleshy, headless pets.
Rinse the chickens in cold water in the sink and pat dry.


Tuck them breast side up into a dish or shallow roasting pan just large enough to hold them. Sprinkle liberally with kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper.

Roast for 1 hour and ten minutes.
Chicken is done when legs move easily in their sockets when you wiggle them, and all juices are clear yellow without any traces of pink.
If you tip a chicken up by shoving a wooden spoon up the open end, the juices will run out and you can check the color.

If the juices show traces of pink, put them back in the oven for another 10 minutes.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

making the panini

These are really delish. I know, I know veggies in the grilled cheese sandwiches have a little bit of an ick factor for the rug rats, but Robin and I both got most of our kids to choke a couple of these down. And the day of the photo shoot, we stood around and devoured them bit by bit, (because as we well know, cutting anything into little pieces destroys the calories) slathered with the red pepper herb mayo.

Note: The recipe in the paper calls for adding shredded cheese to the veggies. I didn't have any shredded cheese, and didn't feel like getting out the cuisinart and the special shredding disks, so I just sliced up some cheddar. It's all good.

Here are the steps to make a pan of panini:

First, lube the cookie sheet with some olive oil.

Add the toasted bread (and try not to notice my missing cabinet door).

Here's a look at the veggies, sauteed until fairly dry...

Load the cheese and the sauted veggies onto the bread.


Top each panini with some more cheese and another slice of toasted bread and drizzle with olive oil.

Place another cookie sheet on top of the sammies and place on the oven rack. Top with a really heavy pot or a couple of bricks. This pot is cast iron, weighs a ton and was a super score at TJ's for forty bucks on clearance last summer.


Cook at 425 degrees for about 15 minutes.


And Voila!

Monday, January 12, 2009

the dill mayo and another doctored up condiment option



I was gonna make Robin's dill mayo for the column running 1/14/09 to serve with the panini, but when I untwisted the bag of fresh dill, it had turned into a slimy green ooze. Then I realized it was prolly time to clean out the fridge. Oh well.

You can see Robin's dill mayo recipe here.

And this is what I made instead.....

Herb and Sweet Pepper Mayo:
Mix together:
1/2 cup mayo
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
handful of minced parsley or other fresh herb
2 tablespoons minced red pepper
1 minced clove of garlic
3 squirts tabasco
kosher salt and pepper to taste