Saturday, November 15, 2014

Pesto with Chicken and Tomatoes

My wife loves this recipe.

Ingredients

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 pint tomatoes (grape or cherry)
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
White wine
1 lb pasta like ziti or penne
Pesto

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place tomatoes on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper or tin foil. Lightly coat with olive oil and season lightly with salt and pepper. Cook until they start to burst and shrivel. 

Cook the pasta. 

Meanwhile, cube the chicken into smallish pieces. Season with salt and pepper and cook in olive oil over medium high heat until the cubes are browned all over. Add a splash of white wine to deglaze the pan and scrape up all the chicken bits. 

Toss in the tomatoes, pasta and pesto and mix well. Serve immediately. 

Herbed Balsamic Roast Pork

Lindsey Johnson has created a great recipe. The pork came out tender, moist and the perfect amount of sweet. I let the roast cook longer so it shredded with a fork and didn't reduce the sauce. It was awesome for tacos. Don't worry if you don't have a slow cooker, you can use a Dutch oven too. 

Ingredients:

One, 3-5 pound pork roast (shoulder or loin are great)
1 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup honey
2 teaspoons dried rosemary
3-4 sprigs fresh thyme, or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoons sea salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Instructions:

Place pork roast in the slow cooker and top with the other ingredients. Cook on low for 6-8 hours, or high for 4-6 hours, depending on the size of the roast. (I put mine in frozen and it was done in 4 hours, but I left it for longer so it was more fall-apart tender*.)

Remove the cooked roast from the slow-cooker. Cover and keep warm. Pour the accumulated juices and vinegar into a saucepan and bring to a boil. Let it reduce by about half. Slice the roast and pour the sauce over the top and serve.

Note: If you let the roast cook even longer, it will shred easily with a fork and makes delicious sandwiches. Don’t reduce the liquid, it will be absorbed into the shredded meat. We’ve done both ways and like them equally. It’s a great thing to make when you’re having company for dinner.

Serves 6-10 depending on size of roast

Preparation time: 10min

Total time: 6hours including cooking time. May take less or more time depending on size of roast and slow cooker settings.




Pork Chops

I never ate pork chops as a kid. Recently, a couple friends and I bought a half of a pig so we have a bunch of cuts that I have never really thought about before. So I googled "how to make pork chops" and found this recipe. It was good and now I like pork chops. Next time, I would let the chops cook longer in the pan to sear and get more browned so they look more appetizing when done.

Ingredients

For the brine (optional):

3 cups cold water, divided
3 tablespoons coarse kosher salt (or 2 1/2 tablespoons table salt)
Optional flavorings: 2 smashed garlic cloves, 1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns, 1 bay leaf

For the pork chops:

2 to 4 pork chops — center cut, bone-on, 3/4-inch to 1-inch thick (about 1 pound each)
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Instructions

Brine the pork chops (optional): Bring 1 cup of the water to a boil, add the salt and optional flavorings, and stir to dissolve the salt. Add 2 more cups of cold water to bring the temperature of the brine down to room temperature. Place the pork chops in a shallow dish and pour the brine over top. The brine should cover the chops — if not, add additional water and salt (1 cup water to 1 tablespoon salt) until the chops are submerged. Cover the dish and refrigerate for 30 minutes or up to 4 hours.

Heat the oven and skillet: Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 400°F. Place the skillet in the oven to preheat as well.

Remove the chops from the brine; if you didn't brine, remove the chops from their packaging. Pat dry with paper towels. Rub both sides with olive oil, then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Set the chops aside to warm while the oven finishes heating.

Remove the hot skillet from the oven and set it over medium-high heat on the stovetop.

Sear until the undersides of the chops are seared golden, 3 minutes.

Flip the chops and transfer the skillet to the oven.

Roast until the pork chops are cooked through and register 140°F to 145°F in the thickest part of the meat with an instant-read thermometer. Cooking time will be 6 to 10 minutes depending on the thickness of the chops, how cool they were at the start of cooking, and whether they were brined. Start checking the chops at 6 minutes and continue checking every minute or two until the chops are cooked through.

Rest the chops: Transfer the cooked pork chops to a plate and pour any pan juices over the top (or reserve for making a pan sauce or gravy). Tent loosely with foil and let the chops rest for at least 5 minutes before serving.

Risotto Cacio e Pepe

This recipe comes from Massimo Bottura via Saveur. The dish was wonderfully creamy and the risotto had a great texture. For some reason, I really wanted to add peas and I think an added garnish of freshly made bacon crumbles would also go very well with this recipe. With the right cheese this dish is special. 

With the right cheese... boy did I learn the hard way. We have always used Pecorino Romano and Parmigiano Reggiano fairly interchangeably in my house for grating. And in small amounts they can have a very similar flavor profile. So I didn't really think twice about substituting Pecorino for the Parmigiano since my grocery store sells a very good Pecorino that I use all the time for grating as a garnish and as the cheese ingredient in Pesto. Well, that didn't turn out so well for this recipe. Pecorino is a sharper, saltier cheese emphasis on the salt, and for this recipe it was way too intense.

It was so intense that my wife and I were overwhelmed after eating about half a serving. After making this dish with Pecorino I re-read the article in Saveur, “The broth is slowly stirred into the risotto, taking the place of chicken stock, while the cream is added toward the end of cooking, giving the risotto a luxurious texture and little need for any additional salt.”

If for some reason you cannot get Parmigiano Reggiano and only have Pecorino, then I would make either a half batch of cheese broth and make up the rest with chicken broth/water or make a double batch of risotto (4 cups of rice) by making the regular amount of broth and adding 6 cups of water. That should dilute the Pecorino broth correctly for this recipe.

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE PARMESAN BROTH:

2 lbs. Parmigiano Reggiano, coarsely grated

FOR THE RISOTTO:

6 cups parmesan broth
⅓ cup parmesan cream
2 tbsp. unsalted butter
3 medium shallots, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups Arborio rice
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Parsley leaves, for garnish

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Make the parmesan broth: Combine parmesan and 8½ cups water in a 6-qt. saucepan over medium-low. When the cheese becomes stringy, remove from heat. Let cool to room temperature, and repeat heating once more. Refrigerate broth 8 hours or overnight. The next day, the broth should have separated into 3 distinct layers: a cream layer, on top; a broth layer, in the middle; and solids, on the bottom. Carefully remove the top cream layer and reserve. Strain the broth, discarding remaining solids (bottom layer).

2. Make the risotto: Heat broth in a 4-qt. saucepan over medium heat; set aside and keep warm. Heat butter in a 6-qt. saucepan over medium heat. Add shallots and garlic to saucepan; cook, stirring, until soft, 3 minutes. Add rice; cook 2 minutes. Add reserved stock ½ cup at a time, cooking until each addition is absorbed before adding more. Cook, stirring often, until rice is tender and creamy, about 20-22 minutes. Stir in parmesan cream and cracked pepper; garnish with parsley leaves.

Sunday, November 9, 2014

Leek and White Bean Gratin

This recipe comes from Food and Wine. I think this would be a good holiday dish. It's cheesy and uses a vegetable that most people don't eat except for during the holidays. ;) Really though it's a good dish and pretty easy to make.

4 medium leeks, dark green tops discarded, white and light green parts halved lengthwise
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Two 15-ounce cans cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup chopped parsley, plus more for garnish
1/2 cup grated Gruyère cheese

Preheat the oven to 400°. Brush the leeks with the olive oil, season with salt and pepper and place cut side down in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Add 2 tablespoons of water to the dish, cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes until tender. Uncover and continue roasting the leeks for 10 minutes until caramelized. Let cool slightly, then coarsely chop and set aside.

Clean out the baking dish and spray with vegetable oil spray.

In a large bowl, toss the roasted leeks with the cannellini beans, garlic, lemon zest, chicken broth and 1/4 cup parsley and season with salt and pepper. Spoon the leek-and-bean mixture into the prepared baking dish. Top with the Gruyère cheese and bake for 15 minutes, until bubbly around the edges and browned on top. Garnish with parsley and serve.

Bean Soup with Rice and Tomatoes

This recipe comes from Bon Appetit. I love soup and I love winter because I get to eat soup. I could not get skinless fava beans (hipsters you know who you are) or lima beans at my local super market, so I substituted navy beans. They were very tasty. If substituting dried navy beans that have been soaked overnight, cook them for 40 mins before adding the rice. Pepitas make a good substitute for the so-expensive-I-have-to-sell-my-child pistachios.

INGREDIENTS

2 medium onions, peeled, quartered
4 garlic cloves
½ cup olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons ground cumin
½ teaspoon ground coriander
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
1 14.5-oz. can crushed tomatoes
8 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
8 oz. dried skinless fava or lima beans (about 1½ cups)
¼ cup short-grain brown rice
⅓ cup plain Greek yogurt
⅓ cup chopped unsalted, roasted pistachios

PREPARATION

Process onions and garlic in a food processor until finely chopped. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onions and garlic, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring often, until softened, about 3 minutes.

Add cumin, coriander, and allspice and cook, stirring often, until onions start to brown, about 5 minutes.
Add tomatoes and cook, stirring often, until mixture is jammy, about 5 minutes.

Stir in broth and bring to a boil. Add beans, reduce heat, and simmer, partially covered, 20 minutes. Add rice and simmer, partially covered, until rice and beans are soft, 30–35 minutes; season with salt and pepper.

Top soup with yogurt and pistachios just before serving.

DO AHEAD: Soup can be made 5 days ahead. Let cool; cover and chill.

Mexican Chicken Soup

Jane Coxwell contributed this recipe to Food and Wine and she deserves some definite props. I loved the cinnamon vibe. I think you could use corn tortillas instead just fine.

10 cups water
One 3 1/2-pound chicken
3 medium tomatoes, cored and quartered
1 medium carrot, sliced 1/2 inch thick
1 small red onion, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 small cinnamon stick
1/2 cup chopped cilantro, plus more for garnish
Salt
Pepper
2 small flour tortillas, halved
6 tablespoons fresh lime juice

In a saucepan, combine the water, chicken, tomatoes, carrot, onion, garlic, coriander, cumin, cinnamon and the 1/2 cup of cilantro. Add a generous pinch each of salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Cover partially and simmer over moderately low heat for 30 minutes, skimming as necessary. Discard the cinnamon stick and continue simmering until the chicken is cooked through, 30 minutes longer.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, toast the tortillas over moderate heat, turning once, until crisp in spots, 3 minutes. Cut the tortillas into thin strips.

Transfer the chicken to a plate and let cool slightly. Shred the meat; discard the skin and bones. Return the chicken to the saucepan and reheat the soup. Stir in the lime juice and season with salt and pepper. Ladle the soup into bowls. Garnish with the tortilla strips and cilantro and serve.

Pasta with Cauliflower and Peas

This recipe comes from Food and Wine. I like cauliflower and I like Indian food. So this recipe makes sense to me. The orecchiette are a good pasta to use to get little "spoonfuls" of sauce with each bite. Shells would work as well. I learned that my wife doesn't like peas, but oh well, more for me. :)

2 tablespoons cooking oil
1 onion, cut into thin slices
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cumin
1 1/4 teaspoons ground coriander
1/2 head cauliflower, cut into small florets (about 4 cups)
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 cups canned crushed tomatoes (one 16-ounce can)
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup frozen petit peas
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
3/4 pound orecchiette

In a large frying pan, heat the oil over moderately low heat. Add the onion and cook until starting to soften, about 3 minutes. Stir in the garlic, cumin, and coriander and cook until fragrant, 2 minutes longer.

Add the cauliflower to the onion mixture; stir to coat. Add the water, bring to a simmer, cover, and steam for 3 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes and salt. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes. Add the peas and cilantro and cook until the cauliflower is tender and the peas are hot, about 2 minutes longer.

In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the orecchiette until just done, about 15 minutes. Drain and toss with the sauce.

Triple Garlic Linguine

This recipe comes from Saveur magazine. Great recipe! I love garlic and this does not disappoint. It's also interesting how the garlic is not overwhelming. Raw garlic can have a real sharp and bitter edge to it but I think the fact that it's all cooked and the most obvious pieces are the soft baked pieces from the oven really tempers that sharpness.

I tried this recipe with gluten free spaghetti and it almost failed horrendously. (I know I'm a glutton for punishment. It was similar to the Arroz con Pollo brown rice fiasco, but I was able to salvage it.) Rice based gluten free pasta does not absorb liquid like typical semolina pasta. Who knew? So, while I'm cooking the liquid is boiling off and the starches in the pasta are expressing out making a big gloopy mess and the pasta is not getting cooked enough either. So I had to keep adding liquid to keep everything cooking but wasted the chicken broth because the pasta is not absorbing it. To save the dish, I added enough liquid to cook the pasta and then drained it but didn't rinse it per the gluten free pasta directions. Then I added some chicken broth to get a little liquid to mix with the cheese. By doing that, I ended up with the creamy/cheesy "chickeny" flavor base of the original recipe.

Basically, I figured out that if I had used 8 cups of water to cook the pasta and then added some chicken broth at the end to give it that flavor, you get a pretty close facsimile of the original recipe with rice based gluten free pasta.

SERVES 4-6

INGREDIENTS

1 head garlic, plus 10 cloves (7 thinly sliced, 3 minced)
1 cup olive oil
½ tsp. crushed red chile flakes
12 oz. linguine
4½ cups chicken stock
½ cup grated parmesan
2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp. roughly chopped parsley, for garnish
Kosher salt, to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

Heat oven to 350°. Slice garlic head in half crosswise and set cut side up on a piece of aluminum foil. Drizzle with 2 tbsp. oil and 2 tbsp. cold water; wrap into a tight package. Bake until tender, 1–1½ hours.

1. Heat remaining oil and the sliced garlic in a 1-qt. saucepan over medium; cook until garlic is golden, 4–6 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer garlic chips to paper towels to drain; set ⅓ cup oil aside. Reserve remaining oil for another use, if you like.

2. Heat reserved ⅓ cup oil, the minced garlic, and chile flakes in a 14" high-sided skillet over medium. Cook until garlic is soft but not golden, 2–3 minutes. Add pasta and stock; bring to a boil. Cook, using tongs to stir pasta occasionally, until liquid is almost evaporated and pasta is al dente, about 12 minutes. Unwrap roasted garlic and squeeze cloves into pasta. Add parmesan, lemon juice, parsley, and salt; toss to combine. Garnish with reserved garlic chips.

Fennel Orzo Salad

Heidi Swanson contributed this recipe to Food and Wine. I loved this recipe. The orzo and fennel and everything was just yummy. It was great to have for lunch and you can add small feta cubes for a different vibe just to mix things up.

I substituted bread crumbs for the bread and used a food processor because I don't have a large enough mortar and pestle.

8 ounces orzo (1 1/2 cups), preferably whole-wheat
One 4-by-4-inch, 1-inch-thick slice of country bread, crust removed and bread cubed
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1 garlic clove
Kosher salt
3 tablespoons capers, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup roasted almonds, chopped
2 scallions, chopped
Fronds from 1 leafy fennel bulb (1/2 cup), finely chopped (see Note)
10 pitted black olives, such as kalamata, chopped
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 small head of radicchio—halved, cored and shredded (4 cups)

In a large saucepan of salted boiling water, cook the orzo until al dente; drain and transfer to a large bowl.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, soak the bread in the vinegar. In a small skillet, toast the coriander seeds, stirring, until fragrant, 2 minutes. Transfer the seeds to a mortar. Add the garlic and 1/2 teaspoon of salt and pound with a pestle until a paste forms. One at a time, pound in the capers, almonds, scallions, fennel fronds and olives, until the mixture is chunky.

Pound in the soaked bread, then pound in the olive oil, 2 tablespoons at a time.

Add the dressing and radicchio to the orzo, season with salt and toss well.

NOTES You can finely chop the fennel bulb and add it to the orzo as well, if desired.

Orzo with Caramelized Onions and Raisins

Danny Seo contributed this recipe to Food and Wine. I finally found gluten free orzo! DeLallo makes the orzo and it's really, really good. That's the one thing that is most frustrating about gluten free pasta, there is a very limited selection of shapes. Now that I have gluten free orzo, I have the 3 main areas covered: short pastas like penne or ziti, long pastas like spaghetti and linguine, and soup pastas like ditalini or orzo.

My wife thinks that I should have left out the raisins, but I liked them. It reminded me of couscous.

12 ounces orzo (2 cups)
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced lengthwise
Kosher salt
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives, thinly sliced lengthwise
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
Freshly ground pepper

In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook the orzo until al dente, about 8 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, cover the raisins with warm water and let stand until softened, 10 minutes. Drain the orzo and rinse under cold water. Drain the raisins and transfer them to a large bowl with the orzo.

In a medium skillet, heat the olive oil. Add the onion, season with salt and cook over moderately high heat, stirring, until lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add the onion to the orzo along with the olives, cheese and parsley and stir. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

Arroz con Pollo

José Andrés contributed this recipe to Food and Wine. Ugh what a mess I made. I tried to make this recipe with brown rice and it was a ginormous failure. Otherwise, my wife and child and I all really liked the flavor. My boy loves chicken and this was good chicken. The brown rice, not so much. ;)

3 plum tomatoes, halved lengthwise
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
One 3 1/2-pound chicken, cut into 8 pieces
Kosher salt
Pepper
1 medium Spanish onion, finely chopped
1 medium green bell pepper, finely chopped
5 garlic cloves, minced
4 thyme sprigs
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon sweet pimentón de la Vera (smoked Spanish paprika)
1/2 pound oyster or cremini mushrooms, cut into 1-inch pieces
3 cups water
1 cup Bomba or Calasparra rice
Small pinch of saffron threads
Hot sauce, for serving

Working over a bowl, grate the cut side of the tomatoes on the large holes of a box grater; discard the skins.

In a very large, deep skillet, heat the olive oil until shimmering. Season the chicken with salt and pepper, add it to the skillet skin side down and cook over moderate heat, turning once, until nicely browned on both sides; transfer the chicken to a plate.

Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of the fat from the skillet. Add the onion and green pepper, season with salt and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until just starting to brown, 10 minutes. Add the garlic, thyme sprigs, bay leaf and pimentón and cook, stirring, until fragrant, 2 minutes. Add the grated tomatoes and cook, stirring, until the liquid has evaporated, about 5 minutes. Stir in the mushrooms and cook over moderately high heat until they start to soften, 3 minutes.

Add the water to the skillet and bring to a boil. Stir in the rice, saffron and a generous pinch of salt and return to a boil. Nestle the chicken in the rice and cook over moderately low heat, without stirring, until the rice is tender and the chicken is cooked through, 20 to 25 minutes. Discard the thyme sprigs and bay leaf. Season the dish with salt and pepper and serve with hot sauce.

Braised Vegetables in Olive Oil

Lesley Porcelli contributed this recipe to Saveur. I definitely like the flavors of this recipe but I think it could use some help because the bottom layers of vegetables got too burnt and it just seemed like they were wasted. It certainly can be that my Dutch oven gets too hot and I just haven't learned how to regulate it, but I think doing things in the following way would be better.

1. Put 1/2 c olive oil, anchovy paste, chile flakes, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, rosemary, and lemon slices in a 6-qt. Dutch oven. Place over medium-high heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until fragrant and the garlic and the lemon slices are lightly browned, up to 5 minutes, but make sure they don't burn. 

2. Reserve everything to a small bowl. Do not wipe out the Dutch oven. Add the remaining 1/2 c oil and let it heat up. 

3. Add the zucchini in a single layer and cook, without stirring, until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Flip the zucchini, and cook for 5 minutes more.

4. Add the potatoes, broccoli, and cauliflower to the pot and stir to coat in oil. Cook, covered, without stirring, until the vegetables begin to brown and soften, about 30 minutes. Make sure to adjust the heat so things don't char. At 15 minutes add the reserved items from Steps 1-2. Stir vegetables gently to let the oil seep down over the layers and continue to cook without stirring for another 15 minutes.

 5. Stir vegetables gently, replace the lid, and reduce the heat to as low as necessary so the vegetables can cook until they are very soft and tender without burning, up to 60 minutes more.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tbsp. anchovy paste
½ tsp. crushed red chile flakes
6 sun-dried tomatoes, thinly sliced lengthwise
6 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed with the side of a knife
6 sprigs rosemary
1 lemon, ends trimmed, thinly sliced crosswise, seeds removed
1 large zucchini, cut diagonally into 1½″-long pieces
1 lb. baby Yukon Gold or new potatoes
1 medium head broccoli, cut into florets, stalk cut into large pieces
½ medium head cauliflower, cut into florets, stalk cut into large pieces
2 tbsp. finely chopped parsley
2 sprigs marjoram, stems removed
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Put the olive oil, anchovy paste, chile flakes, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, rosemary, and lemon slices in a 6-qt. Dutch oven. Place over medium-high heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until fragrant and the garlic and the lemon slices are lightly browned, about 5 minutes.

2. Add the zucchini in a single layer and cook, without stirring, until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Flip the zucchini, and cook for 5 minutes more.

3. Add the potatoes, broccoli, and cauliflower to the pot and stir once or twice to coat in oil. Cook, covered, without stirring, until the vegetables begin to brown and soften, about 30 minutes.

4. Stir vegetables gently, replace the lid, and reduce the heat to medium-low; cook until the vegetables are very soft and tender, about 60 minutes more.

5. Remove the vegetables from the heat, and stir in parsley and marjoram. Season with salt and pepper.

Ma's Chicken Cacciatore (Hunter Style)

This is my mother's recipe. :)

6 boneless chicken breasts
1/4 cup or more of olive oil
Flour
Salt pepper
4-6 cloves garlic, sliced thinly
1 yellow onion sliced thinly
6-8 small red and yellow peppers
1/2 to 3/4 cup red wine
1 can of crushed tomatoes
1 teaspoon of gravy master (optional)
1 cup of sliced cremini mushrooms
Fresh basil, cut into ribbons
Fresh oregano, chopped
Fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
Pinch of red pepper flakes
Chicken broth or water

Season the flour with salt and pepper and then dredge the chicken in the flour; shake off the excess.

Brown the chicken in the olive oil slowly on all sides. Remove and drain on paper towels.

Now add garlic, onions, peppers and mushrooms to pan, cook and stir up the drippings for about 5-6 minutes until they are softened. Add back the chicken.

Combine the tomatoes, gravy master, wine, spices and add to the pan. Bring mixture to a gentle boil, lower heat, cover and simmer for about 30-35 minutes, turning once. Check the liquid level, if too dry add small amounts of water or chicken broth to keep liquid covering the chick and veg. Adjust salt if needed. Can be served over pasta or rice. Garnish with parsley.

Tabbouleh

Making this recipe was a bit odd because the version that I read in Saveur magazine was slightly different than the version I was able to find online at saveur.com. Ultimately I did a mash-up of the 2 recipes and it worked out. :) My wife didn't like the cinnamon and allspice and I think the recipe would be good without it as well. I happen to like that spice undercurrent. If you leave out the spices, I would use less of the pomegranate molasses so the dish is not too sweet.

The pomegranate molasses is pretty easy to make. 4 c pomegranate juice to 1/2 c sugar and 1 T lemon juice. Mix together and dissolve the sugar over moderate heat. Bring to a boil and then immediately lower heat to a low simmer and cook for 45 mins till it reduces to a syrup.

SERVES 4-6

Magazine version

3 c packed parsley rough chopped
1 ½ c packed mint rough chopped
½ c olive oil
½ c lemon juice
1 T pomegranate molasses
½ t allspice
½ t cinnamon
4 tomatoes minced
1 medium red onion minced
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Online version

3 tbsp. fine bulgur
1 lb. ripe tomatoes, cored and minced
3 ½ cups minced flat-leaf parsley
1 ¼ cups minced mint leaves
⅓ cup fresh lemon juice
5 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
¼ tsp. ground allspice
¼ tsp. ground cinnamon
4 scallions, thinly sliced crosswise
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Mash-up

1/2 c quinoa (gluten free bulgar replacement)
3 c packed parsley rough chopped
1 ½ c packed mint rough chopped
½ c olive oil
½ c lemon juice
1 T pomegranate molasses
½ t allspice
½ t cinnamon
1 lb. ripe tomatoes, cored and minced
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

Combine bulgur and ½ cup warm water in a bowl and let soak for 10 minutes. Drain bulgur, rinse thoroughly, and transfer to a large bowl along with remaining ingredients. Toss to combine; serve immediately. (mag version - let sit 10 minutes before serving)

Bucatini all’Amatriciana

This recipe comes from Maria De Cesare and Romano Gordini in Food and Wine magazine. It's very similar to another dish that I posted not too long ago - Pasta with Guanciale, Tomatoe, and Chile. This one is more acidic since it has the wine and vinegar, but just as good in its own way. I up the amounts to make this for 1 lb of pasta by using 26-28 oz tomatoes and 2 1/2 T wine and vinegar.

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1/4 pound guanciale or pancetta, cut into 1/2-by- 1/4-inch strips
1 1/2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons dry white wine
One 14.5-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes with their juices, crushed
Salt
Freshly ground pepper
10 ounces bucatini
Freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese

In a large, deep skillet, heat the oil. Add the onion and cook over moderately low heat until very soft, 7 minutes. Add the guanciale and cook until translucent, 3 minutes. Add the vinegar, wine, tomatoes and 2 tablespoons of water and simmer until thick, 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

In a pot of salted boiling water, cook the bucatini until al dente; reserve 2 tablespoons of the cooking water. Drain the pasta, add it to the sauce along with the reserved cooking water and cook over moderate heat, stirring, for 1 minute. Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in 3 tablespoons of cheese. Serve right away, passing more cheese at the table.