It's time to grill!

The weather in the Bay Area is finally stabilizing into summer, it's time to get out the grill.

On the menu: Mediterranean chicken burgers and a Caprese inspired salad. Fresh mozzarella and tomatoes, toss with some chiffonnade of basil, olive oil, balsamic vinegar and serve on a bed of butter lettuce.

First, the chicken burgers (this can be easily doubled to feed more than a few people). In a large bowl, combine the following:
1 lb. package of ground chicken meat
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon minced rosemary
1 Tablespoon minced sun dried tomatoes
2 Tablespoons shredded Parmesan cheese
2 Tablespoons crumbled feta, garlic & herb flavor
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 egg
1/2 cup bread crumbs (optional, will help to firm up the patties)


Smoosh this all together (using clean hands is fine, unless your squeamish, then mix together with a spoon until well incorporated). Form into 3-4 patties, set on a plate in the fridge to firm up a little.


For the salad, dice up two vine ripened tomatoes, and three to four mozzarella balls into 1/2 inch dice. Set aside. Place some clean, fresh basil leaves on the cutting board- make a stack of four leaves. Roll the leaves up (from the side of the leaves in) to make a cigar shape. Cut the leaves into ribbons by cutting across the leaves from the tips to the stems. Toss into tomato and cheese mixture. Wash and dry some lettuce, cut or tear to your desired size. Just before serving: dress the lettuce with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper, add the tomato mixture, toss to combine.

About the chicken burgers- you may notice that the meat is sticky. So, when you go to grill or pan cook them, you will need to grease up the pan or for the grill, try this technique: Tear off a square of tin foil. Pour a little olive oil in it, smear the olive oil around (not too much, just enough to coat). Heat the grill or your pan to medium high heat. Place the chicken patties on the oiled foil, then place this on the grill, away from the flame. Cover and cook about five minutes, flip, and continue cooking another two minutes. For the last five minutes, place directly on the grill (dispose of the foil), flipping once to get some color and char. Take one off the grill, check it to make sure they are done. The burgers should be cooked through to the middle. Serve on toasted buns with lettuce, tomato and whatever other accompaniments you may like.

Cooking by feel. Pesto and salad.

Some times, you just have to trust your instincts and cook by feel. I always find it fascinating when someone tells me that they don't know how to cook. Don't get me wrong, I get nervous sometimes and screw things up but I've been eating my whole life... so I have a fairly decent understanding of what I like and what tastes good together.

Tonight, I was inspired by some gorgeous basil I found at Trader Joe's. So, I decided on making some pesto, but didn't have a recipe in hand, and didn't care. I was in a groove.

Here's what I did:
Got out my food processor. Loaded it with washed basil leaves- fairly well packed, but not super tightly packed... about 6 ounces, maybe. Sprinkled in a handful of pine nuts. Sprinkled in a handful of grated Parmesan cheese,  threw in four cloves of garlic, closed the lid and ran the processor. When it was mostly broken down, I drizzled in olive oil till it was the consistency that I wanted. I stopped, tasted it, added a bit of salt, whizzed again and tasted it. Yum!
I had some purchased gnocchi, so I followed the instructions to cook it. You can use whatever pasta you like. I happen to love the texture of gnocchi, so that's what I used.
While that was going on, I cleaned some lettuce leaves. In the bottom of a large bowl, I poured a puddle of olive oil- just enough to cover the leaves I was going to throw in there- maybe 2 tablespoons. Then, I added red wine vinegar- about 1/3 the amount of the olive oil. I took a fork, dipped it in some dijon mustard, and proceeded to use it to whisk the oil and vinegar together. I threw the leaves in on top of it, salted and peppered the leaves. I didn't toss it till I brought it to the table. 
I drained the gnocchi, threw it back in the hot pan with some of the pesto and stirred it to coat. I served that with a little additional grated Parmesan and called it dinner.

The gnocchi were rich, herby and garlicky. The tangy lettuce cut through the richness left on my palate from the dinner. Delish.

I'm having some fresh strawberries for dessert and pretend that summer is really happening, despite the fact that it's 60 something and raining. Enjoy!

Duck dinner- Easy duck a l'orange

It's the first day of June, but it's cool and rainy here. Normally, the BBQ would get a lot more use by now, but since it's getting cold at night, I felt like firing up the oven.

I've heard some people get intimidated still by classic French dishes. Duck a l'orange is not that hard.
This recipe is inspired by a recipe I found on the Food Network online. I've altered it a bit to streamline the process and to mellow out the sauce a bit.

First, get a duck- preferably 5 lbs or more. If you can't find one that large, just buy the biggest one you can find. I get mine at Safeway. Found them on sale (frozen) for $2.49/lb.




What you will need:

• Duck- as close to 5 lbs as you can find
• 2 cups orange juice
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon bitters- I use Peychaud
• 2 cups hot chicken stock
• 1 cup Grand Marnier
• 2 tablespoons corn starch dissolved in 2 tablespoons cold water

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Take the (thawed) duck out of the plastic, empty out anything in the body cavity, rinse the duck and then pat it dry. Put it in a large, metal pan. Poke the duck with the tip of a knife (just through the fat) all over the breast and down the front of the duck. This will help drain some of the fat- there is a lot. Sprinkle salt and pepper over the duck. Roast for 30 minutes per pound.

While the duck is cooking, let's start the sauce.
In a large sauce pan, combine 2 cups orange juice and 1/3 cup sugar. Cook over medium heat until cooked down to about 3/4 cup. Add bitters to orange sauce. Add chicken stock, simmer over medium low heat for about ten minutes. Can be left on lowest setting on stove until duck is done. When you bring the duck out of the oven, bring it back up to to simmer over medium heat.

When the duck is done (should reach internal temp of about 170), remove from oven, then remove duck from the pan. Carefully drain off the fat, leaving other drippings in pan. Save the fat- put it in a jar, stick it in the fridge. It's wonderful for frying potatoes in.. or eggs, or making duck confit. I digress.
Place pan over two burners on the stove, on medium heat. Pour the Grand Marnier into the pan. Bring to a boil, stirring the drippings in the pan into the alcohol. Add this to the simmering orange sauce. Add cornstarch slurry, stirring until thickened. If you get lumps, strain them before serving with the duck.

By the way- this makes a lot of sauce. Serve as much of the sauce as you like, then put the rest in the freezer for later use. I keep it on hand so when I find duck breasts cheap, I can just sear them and warm the sauce. Easy peasy. And really tasty.

Carve the duck, serve with the sauce.
You might want to serve some rice or bread to help sop up some of the tasty sauce.

Viola! C'est magnifique, non?

Salvaging berries that are on their last legs

Beautiful, plump, sweet colorful berries are so lovely to have around and eat. But, their lives are so short.

I got some gorgeous and delicious organic strawberries from Trader Joe's, and managed to mow through about 1/2 of them- I had about a 3 cups left, and they were starting to get mushy around the edges and dull looking. I didn't want to throw them out. Light bulb moment- refrigerator jam.

No need to can anything, or do anything too extensive, plus I only had enough for about a jar after cooking.

I washed and hulled my berries, threw them in a pan with about 2-3 tablespoons of sugar (these were rather sweet berries in the first place), and about half a lemon's worth of juice. I love the compliment that lemon juice gives berries. I've yet to find a berry that isn't complimented by lemon. I turned it on medium, and cooked it down until thick and the berries were broken down. If desired, mash them a bit with a potato masher or a fork. Take a taste half way through the cooking process to make sure it's sweet enough for your tastes.

Put in a clean jar, let cool, put the lid on and in the fridge it goes. Should be good for a few weeks. It won't be as firm as regular jam because there is not any added pectin. Blueberries may get a little more congealed, as they do contain compounds that make them solidify more when cooked or blended.

Excellent on toast, french toast, pancakes, waffles, scones, biscuits, vanilla ice cream, you name it.

Bread Pudding with Grand Marnier and Chocolate

So, I've been on this Frenchie kick lately, and have acquired some odds and ends of baguettes. They were hard and basically inedible at this point, but I couldn't bring myself to chuck them just because they were stale. I got to thinking... what could I do? I could whiz them in the food processor for crumbs, throw them out for the raccoons... or make dessert out of them.

Being that dessert has always been my favorite course, that was the direction I decided to go in. I also am basically a glutton, so I didn't want to make it TOO sweet, because I wanted to justify to myself that eating it for breakfast was ok. So, I left out the optional sugar... but, I love orange, I love Grand Marnier and I love those two with chocolate. Without the optional sugar, it was rich and buttery. I would suggest that you make it the first time with the optional sugar.

Here we go. You will need:
1 baguette, torn into chunks (or if you're feeling fancy, cut it up)
1 stick of butter, melted
1 cup milk
1/2 cup heavy cream (if you don't have it, just add another 1/2 cup of milk)
4 eggs
1/2 cup orange marmalade
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 tablespoons Grand Marnier (skip if you don't have, or you can use brandy or rum...)
Optional- 1/2 cup sugar (if making this for the first time, add this)
Chocolate chips- I had half a bag left, but feel free to use more if you are so compelled.


Take an 9" x 9" pan (or a little larger), brush with some of the melted butter. Throw the bread chunks into the pan. Drizzle the remaining melted butter over the bread. (Oh, just do it!)
Mix the milk, cream, eggs, marmalade, vanilla, booze and sugar together in a bowl. Pour over the bread. Now here comes the fun part. Mash the bread down a bit. Then, place tin foil over this mess, place a heavy weight on top of it (I used two large cans), leave to soak for an hour... like while you're eating dinner. This will help get the custard into the bread. Or, you can refrigerate it over night (covered) to let it soak in. Whatever is easiest for you. Confession time: after 30 minutes, I was growing impatient, so I mashed the bread down again into the custard... my hands. It was fun. It was gooshy, and made funny noises. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove the tinfoil, sprinkle with chocolate chips. Bake for 30 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

Simple, quasi-French inspired Chicken Dinner

I don't know what was going on with Blogger. I couldn't log in for quite some while. I kept getting some bizarre error code.

Ok, with that said, let's go ahead with dinner. It's simple, contains a lot of butter and is pretty tasty. It's also very rich, so I'd suggest adding a salad with some vinaigrette as a side dish, and serving with some bread or rice to help sop up the sauce.

You will need:
6 pieces of chicken (I used skin-on thighs, as this is what I had. Boneless, skinless breasts would be fine too)
2 tablespoons of unsalted butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 cups white wine (I used pinot gris)
1 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons unsalted butter (Yes, I have butter listed twice. They're used in different stages of the process).

Melt the first two tablespoons of butter together with the olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.
Mix the flour, salt, and pepper together. Dredge the chicken in the flour mixture, be sure to shake of excess. When the butter is foaming, add the chicken. Cook on each side only golden brown. At this point, the chicken is not cooked through unless you have very thin chicken. Check it. If yours is done, remove it, cover with tin foil to keep warm. If it's still pink in the middle, leave it in the pan. Add the 2 cups of wine, cover and cook for 20 minutes. Check the chicken again, it should be done. Remove the chicken, cover with tin foil to keep warm. Reduce the wine down to about 1/4 cup of liquid. Add the chicken broth. Reduce that mixture down to about 1/2 cup of liquid. Shut off the heat. Throw in the last two tablespoons of butter, stirring to melt and incorporate. Serve over the chicken.

Enjoy!

When life throws you a curve ball, make cookies.

Stress makes me want to bake. I find it relaxing, almost meditative to measure and stir. So, tonight with Monday staring me in the face once again, and other types of stress knocking on my door, I decided to make some cookies.

I decided on a riff of my holiday oatmeal cookies because I didn't have any oats and I had a lot of dried fruit staring at me. So, these cookies have the following in them: dried cranberries and blueberries, pistachios and white chocolate chips. The base is good with anything you want to throw in it- left over trail mix? go for it... got large stuff like dried apricots or prunes? Chop 'em up and toss them in there. Or, alternatively, pick up one bag of chocolate chips and throw them in there and forget everything else.

Here we go!
In a large saucepan, melt two sticks of butter (unsalted, but if you have only salted, just omit the salt in the next steps). Once it's melted, take it off the heat and stir in the following:
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional, but suggested)

Once that is all well incorporated (and cooling a bit), stir in two eggs. Mix well. Next, in a separate bowl, mix together 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour and 1 teaspoon baking powder. Stir well. Dump into the sauce pan, mix into the batter- don't over stir. Just mix till incorporated. Now comes the fun part.

I had some pistachios in the freezer (always taste one first to make sure they are still good), and a bunch of fruit on the counter, so I added the following:
1 cup pistachios (shelled and unsalted)
1 cup dried blueberries
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup white chocolate chips
Stir into the batter until well incorporated, then chill in the fridge for 20 minutes till you get the oven heated to 350.

Try not to eat all the dough. Seriously. Don't even taste it. (And NO, I've never gotten sick eating cookie dough...) Seriously. It's dangerous.

When the oven is ready, line a baking sheet with aluminum foil (easier clean up), scoop the batter into golf ball sized balls. Return the dough to the fridge. Bake for 12-14 minutes (depending on how well done you like your cookies). Let cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes, then use spatula to move the cookies to a plate. Repeat until you make all the cookies... or alternatively, you can dump the batter in a Ziploc bag, and freeze it for later use. Should be good for a few months in the freezer, until you next cookie attack.

Ideas: apricots, cherries and milk chocolate chips might be a nice alternative- especially with some slivered or slice almonds. Yum!

Enjoy!