Thank you Nigella

I think this came across my Twitter feed, or maybe a blog RSS, regardless, it was fast, filling and tasty. Oh and there is bacon!

Chicken Schnitzel with Bacon and White Wine

Cook up some bacon, in strips or diced. I find it easier to evenly cook bacon when diced. When cooked, remove to a paper towel lined plate.

Season the chicken cutlets with salt & pepper. Cook in the bacon fat until golden brown, a few minutes per side. Remove the chicken to a plate.

In the pan, add 1 teaspoon of minced garlic, saute for only a few seconds. Quickly add 3/4 cup of dry white wine. Stir and scrape up any bits on the bottom of the pan. Allow to reduce by 1/2. Add one TB of chopped parsley. Stir and add the bacon back into the pan.

Serve chicken with egg noodles and spoon the bacon wine sauce over. A squeeze of lemon is nice to cut the fat.

Chicken Schnitzel with Bacon and White Wine
Adapted from Nigella Lawson

8 slices of bacon, diced
4 chicken cutlets, thinly sliced, seasoned w/salt & pepper
1 garlic clove, minced
3/4 cup of white wine
1 TB chopped parsley

Cook diced bacon in a fry pan over medium-high heat. When done, remove to a paper towel lined plate to drain.

In the bacon fat, cook the chicken, 2-4 minutes per side, until cooked through and golden brown. When done, remove to a plate.

In the remaining fat, add the garlic and cook for just a few seconds. If you cook too long the garlic will burn and get all sorts of nasty. Add the wine, stirring up any bits on the pan. Reduce by half. Add the bacon and parsley to the pan, stir.

Serve chicken with egg noodles or spaetzle, with bacon wine sauce served over the top.

Enjoy.

Playing Catch Up

Yesterday I finally shared an update about our Thanksgiving and how tasty it was. Today is the rest of the highlights from the past month....

I made a yummy meatloaf. Except I think I over cooked it. I was trying to get the bacon crispy, but in the process, the actual meatloaf dried out! Bummer. I used a ground beef/ground pork blend. I also added some yummy to it. I sauted some onions and chopped bacon the meatloaf mixture, along with herbs and spices. Mmmm, not only did I drape the meatloaf in bacon, it was inside too!

Here's the meatloaf with mashed potatoes and corn. Lots of gravy help with the dryness!

This was a delicious quiche. Sauted potatoes, a French herb pork sausage and Havarti and dill. So tasty and satisfying.

Here's the quiche just as it was about to come out of the oven. Yes, I used a pre-fabbed crust. It was a quick to do. All good.

Here was a thrown together Asian style stir fry with green beans and pork tenderloin medallions. I coated the pork with cornstarch and Asian 5-spice. The sauce was soy, ginger, garlic and oyster sauce.

I found hangar steak for cheap! It had been in the freezer for awhile and one night when I had no idea what was for dinner, I pulled it out, thawed and rubbed it down with a spicy blend of herbs and spices. Paprika, a few types of chiles, garlic, cumin...salt and pepper. Cooked until medium raw, sliced and tossed with sauted peppers and onions. A fast delicious dinner!

Great Brunch

On Sunday we headed into DC's Logan Circle neighborhood for a lovely visit with The Sommeliatrix and a great brunch. We were greeted with cheers and amazing food.

Awesome Bacon. Seriously Awesome Bacon. Thick cut, rich, chewy, meaty. Awesome Bacon.

We were instructed, no ORDERED not to bring anything. Well, I can't do that. So, I brought a jar of mango-ginger jam, with the intent that it could be used later, for say, grilling chicken. The plan was accepted and then altered to enjoy with some fresh bread and butter as well.

But the main course. An amazing frittata. I wish I could make a frittata as amazing as this. Eggs with tomatoes, corn, basil and leeks. Topped with parmesan cheese, I believe. Oh so good. Great brunch, but would be totally awesome for lunch with a salad and chilled glass of wine. Perfect.

THANKS for an amazing brunch. Awesome food. Awesome conversation. Awesome views of the local soccer field that was getting some World Cup inspired use. And of course, Awesome friends. Plans are coming together for the next adventure...stick around.

Cozy Braised Chicken

The other night the Fabulous Becca & Mia from Red Letter Days in San Diego rolled into town on a cross country drive. As I continue to lobby the creation of Red Letter Days East Coast, I thought I'd try seducing the ladies with some braised chicken and plenty of sparkling wine!

It might take some time, but I'm pretty sure it worked!

Start with the recipe here.

Braised Chicken with Shallots, Fennel and Bacon

Get some of your ingredients ready. Fennel. Shallots. Carrots. Bacon.


Season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper. Sear until the skin is crispy in the reserved bacon fat! Don't worry, the chicken doesn't cook through, just get the skin crisp and some of the fat is rendered out.


Pour out the fat from the pan, reserving one to two tablespoons. Start sauting the vegetables.


Carrots, Fennel, Shallots with an herb blend of thyme, sage, rosemary and parsley.


Snuggle the chicken into the vegetables and add some dry white wine and chicken broth, bring to a simmer, cover and place in the oven for an hour.


Remove the chicken from the braising liquid and scoop the veggies out to the side. Boil the liquid until it's reduced down to about one to two cups. Stir in a tablespoon or two of butter. In the last minute or two of simmering, add the bacon. Pour over the chicken.


Serve steaming hot.

Random Flavors

This was a fun adventure the other evening. We've been trying to avoid the store and use up any of our pantry items. I don't really have a name for this, but it's almost a cross between an Alfredo and Carbonnara sauce, with some French, German or Alsatian influences.

I started by browning some bacon pieces until crisp. I set the bacon aside and poured out the fat. To the pan I melted a TB of butter and browned about half an onion, diced small. When the onions were just beginning to brown I added some dried thyme and rosemary. I deglazed the pan with one cup of chicken broth. When that had reduced by half, I added some heavy cream. Bring this to a simmer and allow to reduce further until the sauce coats the back of a spoon. Turn off the heat and add about 1/2 a cup of grated Parmigiana Reggiano. Stir until incorporated, melted and smooth. Add half the bacon to the sauce and add whatever cooked pasta your are using. Stir. Garnish with the rest of the bacon.

This was very tasty, but it was an interesting blend of flavors. With the rosemary and thyme, I felt the sauce was more of an Alsatian style cream sauce. With the cheese and bacon I felt it resembled a standard Alfredo or Carbonnara. The bacon also seemed to lend itself to a German influence as well. All in all, it was tasty. But a tad salty, with the bacon and cheese, I didn't need an extra few pinches of salt to the cream. Oh well. Great on a chilly night.

Beets, Lentils & Strawberries

An interesting evening and very satisfying dinner! We started strong with beets from the Cheverly Community Market. The main course was a blending of two recipes involving lentils and pork products. Dessert included fresh strawberries, also from the Market, paired with a delicious scone and fresh whipped cream~~yippee~~Strawberry Shortcake!!!

This weekend, we bought a single bunch of fresh beets. Neither of us like beets. So we bought them on a hunch...why not...give beets a chance. So I peeled and quartered them. They received a little salt and were wrapped in foil and put in a 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes, until they were fork tender. Since we still weren't sure what to do to them, we settled on some butter.

And they were delicious. Think of the freshest, sweetest sweet corn you can imagine. It's weird to think of sweet corn, but they were really good! We both would have had more, but alas, the small, single bunch only included 4 little beets.

The main course of the evening was a blending of two different lentil recipes. Lentils with Sausage & Bacon and Warm French Lentil Salad. Bacon, sausage, simple dressing, and lentils. Very filling and super tasty. Easy. Cook the lentils, the bacon, stir and enjoy!

The lentils are good for you in all sorts of ways. They are only made better for you with the addition of the bacon and sausage! Right. RIGHT!!!! Good. And they are filling.

Melting butter. That's all. Delicious, golden, melting butter!

The scones. They came from a mix that we received at Christmas and are just getting around to making them. The mix was simple. I enhanced the flavor with some cinnamon, cardamom and freshly grated nutmeg. I gave the scones a brush with some egg wash and sprinkled some grainy sugar on top! They are good just like that. But let's gild the lily shall we...

Fresh strawberries from the Market. Sliced up and mixed with a wee touch of sugar and a vanilla bean. Simmer over medium-low heat until the sugar is melted and mixing with the juice. Allow to sit for awhile until they come almost to room temperature. Split the scone in half, spoon strawberries over the bottom half, add some fresh whipped cream, add the top half of the scone...spoon some extra strawberry juice over the top for more fun! The scones hold up really well, maintaining their structure while soaking up the juice. They were also a great foil to the sweet berries. Woo hoo!

Insert Snooty French Laugh

Remember when I had this craving several weeks ago? Yeah, that scratch got scritched!

Woo hoo!!!

My version of Frisée Aux Lardons, sans frisée!

The dressing; a lemon Chardonnay vinaigrette! Tasty.


The dressed salad with bacon, home-made croutons and a side of oven pomme frites.


Top with a soft poached egg. Add some freshly cracked pepper and pinch of salt.


Dig In! The preferred salad would be frisée, but Giant didn't have any-go figure, so I got a bag mix of baby arugula mix, which had a small bit of frisée in it. It worked...and I'm not fond of arugula.

Lemon Chardonnay Vinaigrette
1 small shallot finely diced, about 1 TB
pinch of sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
1-2 tsp Chardonnay vinegar (see 2nd photo above for the bottle)
2-4 TB olive oil
salt/pepper to taste

Whisk together, taste and adjust seasoning as necessary. The quantities are good faith estimates, as I didn't measure. This was enough dressing for one bag of salad mix, which as a main course, served the two of us.

As for the pomme frites...I sliced the potato and...get this...tossed it in some of the bacon fat...yeah, that's right...bacon fat...the roasted until crispy! Tee hee...



Enjoy!

Another Flavorful Braise

This dish is the cover recipe of the recent Fine Cooking magazine. Before I get to the recipe; Fine Cooking has undergone a make-over and I'm not loving it. Makes me a little sad, as it has been THE food magazine for me for ages, I credit it often in teaching me new recipes, techniques and tips. Most of the changes have been cosmetic, but I also felt a lack of recipes in this first re-designed issue. Just my opinion...

Anyway, braised chicken. I seriously have grown fond of braising chicken thighs for some serious flavor and beautifully tender meat, as well as the thighs are very affordable, and who doesn't like that! If you're not a fan of dark meat, give this method of cooking a chance, you may not turn back. Also, braising is easy, fairly forgiving and open to many different interpretations for flavor.

Using bone-in/skin-on chicken thighs, you need to sear the meat. I switched the recipe steps around and cooked the bacon first, then seared the chicken in some of the bacon fat.

When the chicken is done, you start to saute some fennel, carrots and shallots, add some fresh parsley and thyme.

Braising has one downfall, you can't have crispy skin on your chicken. Usually, I sear the chicken to render the fat and start to establish a flavor base for the cooking liquid, then I remove and discard the skin. This time, when the braising was complete, I put everything on a baking sheet and put it under the broiler. The skin crisped up perfectly. The veggies got a light touch of crispness as well.

The braising liquid (wine & chicken broth) is fairly light and needs to be reduced on the stove top to make a rich, lovely sauce. Let this boil for about 10-15 minutes, reducing to about one cup of liquid.

Plate up. Chicken, veggies, bacon, sauce. Delicious. The carrots kept a bit of crunch, the fennel and shallots were soft, the bacon chewy. Great textual contrast paired with wonderful flavor components. The fennel's anise flavors paired beautifully with the carrots and contrasted the rich sweetness of the bacon and shallots and complimented the moist chicken. Well done.

NOTE: The recipe will be forthcoming when I have it in front of me.

Quick & Easy

Last night for dinner I made a Frittata. A quick egg dish that is perfect for using up leftovers and for cleaning out the fridge. But, since I haven't been to the grocery store in over a week, I'm running out of stuff in the fridge. For this version I grabbed a potato (peeled and diced), small onion (diced), 5 slices of bacon (cut into 1/2 inch pieces), parsley (1/4 cup, chopped), 6 eggs, and a small handful of shredded cheese. Oh and butter!

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

If you have leftover hashbrowns from your weekend brunch, you can use those. If not, fry up some potatoes and onions. I had one large potato and one small onion. I used 1 TB of butter. Season with salt and pepper. When the taters are tender, pull them off the heat and put on a plate or in a bowl. Then fry up your bacon until crisp. Drain on a papertowel and pour off the fat and wipe the pan clean.

Crack your eggs into a large bowl and whip them until frothy with a wisk. Add salt and pepper and chopped herbs. A drizzle of water or cream. Return your cleaned pan to high heat and add one TB of butter. Add the potatoes and bacon back to the pan. When the pan is searing hot, pour in the eggs. Carefully tilt the pan to allow the egg to surround all the filling. Don't stir. Let it sit. Sprinkle cheese over the top if you like. Watch the pan, you want to see the egg setting around the edges. Place in the oven for 8 minutes (remember, I had 6 eggs, if you use more, you may need more time). Remove from the oven and allow to rest for a minute. With a rubber spatula, carefully work your way around the pan to losen the frittata. Slide it out onto a cutting board.

This is great served hot or even room temperature for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Serve with a salad for a light lunch. Use any filling you have!

Also. I need to note, this is a thin frittata. In addition to using just six eggs, I also used a large (14 inch) non-stick pan. If your pan is smaller, the frittata will be thicker and require additional time to cook properly in the oven. And the non-stick pan...works great for this dish as you want the frittata to slide out without tearing or sticking!

It's no IN-N-OUT but it makes me very happy

Bacon Cheeseburger w/Fried Onions and Oven Fries

YUM.

Burger seasoned with salt, pepper, onion and garlic powder, few dashes of Worchestshire and Hot sauce. Nice. Potatoes seasoned with salt, pepper, olive oil, Mrs. Dash and baked at 450 for about 30 minutes. Crispy. Very satisfying. Oh, and why not butter and toast the bun? You're already eating a big fat burger, I little extra fat won't hurt no one. Don't tell my Doctor please!

A first for me!

OK. I think everyone knows I do not like mayonnaise. Can't stand it. Have never liked it. If it shows up on something (sandwiches mostly), I scrape it off as much as I can. If I can't get enough of it off the sandwich, I remove that piece of bread. I don't know what it is, but I just can't deal with the taste and texture. I think you should have to ask for mayo on a sandwich, and the sandwich maker shouldn't assume you want it! Ick. Can't stand it. So...this leaves a lot of things off my menu. Items that have mayo as a major component of the recipe. Potato Salad is on of those.

I've never made a potato salad and I don't eat any mayo based potato salad.

This week changed. I found a potato salad that has a vinaigrette dressing.

Oh, and there is bacon in the this potato salad.

Yukon Gold Potato Salad w/Shallots, Chives, Bacon & Lemon Vinaigrette
from Fine Cooking, March 08, #91
Serves 4-6

1 3/4 lb baby Yukon Gold potatoes, scrubbed
Kosher salt
4 strips bacon
1/4 cup minced shallot (1 large shallot)
2 TB cider vinegar or white wine vinegar
1 TB fresh lemon juice
2 tsp finely grated lemon zest
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 TB chopped fresh chives
Freshly ground black pepper

Put the potatoes in a 4-5 quart pan and cover with about 2 inches of water. Add 1 TB salt and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Boil gently until the potatoes are tender enough to pierce easily with a skewer, about 20 minutes. Don't overcook them or they will fall apart.

Meanwhile, put the bacon slices in a cold 10 inch skillet and cook over medium heat, turning occasionally, until crisp, about 1o minutes. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate, reserving the drippings. Coarsely chop or crumble the bacon and set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine the shallot, vinegar, lemon juice, lemon zest, sugar and 1/2 tsp salt.

Drain the potatoes in a large colander and let them cool slightly. When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, cut in half any that are larger than a walnut. Taste a bit of the potato skin; if it's bitter or feels tough, peel all the potatoes with a pairing knife.

Drop the potatoes into the bowl with the shallot mixture. Add the olive oil, 2 TB of chives, 1 TB bacon drippings and the chopped bacon. Toss to combine. (It may appear that there's too much dressing, but it will be absorbed.) Let the salad sit for 20 minutes. Season to taste with black pepper and more salt, if necessary. Sprinkle with the remaining 1 TB chives. Serve warm or at room temperature. If you must refrigerate it, let it return to room temperature before serving.

Shallots, Lemon zest, Vinegar and Lemon juice.

I choose to add the Olive Oil, chives and bacon fat all at once, to the shallot mixture. It was very easy to mix into the potatoes. I was worried about mixing too much and breaking apart the potatoes.

I couldn't find baby Yukon Gold potatoes, so I used regular and peeled and cut them all.


The final dish. Very lovely. Light and lots of flavor. Now, there was a general consensus that the lemon flavors were very strong and nearly over-powered the potato. Next time I might cut back on lemon ingredients.

Potaytoe, Potahtoe

BAKED POTATO


This is nearly perfect as it...but...it can get better....

...with some bacon, cheese and sour cream...

sure, it's not all that good for you, but you know what...it's soooo satisfying.

step 1: heat the oven to 400 degrees.
step 2: wash the potato
step 3: poke it
step 4: rub with a little olive oil
step 4: bake for 50-60 minutes
step 5: done

No foil wrapping. The skin was slightly crispy. Perfect.

RayRay gives us stuff in a pan...

Not bad...

Tonight's dinner came from a Rachel Ray mélange. She gives us pasta with bacon, tomatoes and cheese. All wonderful things, by themselves...together, they aren't bad...

I don't have the recipe in front me so let's see if I can get this right.

~~~~~

Boil a shapely pasta until al dente.

Fry up cut up bacon until crispy. Remove to a plate to drain. In the pan, with the fat, saute one onion, diced. When soft and just starting to brown add four gloves of garlic, minced. Add a pinch of salt, black pepper and red pepper flakes. Add 1/2 cup of wine. Simmer until reduced. Add 1/2 cup of chicken broth and 1/2 cup of water from the cooking pasta. Simmer for a few minutes. Add a pack of grape tomatoes. Cook for a minute until they are about ready to burst. Add the pasta. Cook for a minute, the sauce will start to soak in. Add basil, cubes of fresh mozzarella (1 cup?) and freshly grated parm. Toss to coat. Serve immediately.

You surprised...? More bacon!

Dinner...Start with sauteed pork chops!
Make a smothering accompaniment. Onions, Apples, Cider. Stir in crispy bacon bits at the end.

Top the pork chops!

And my new range...it's nice...but I have to watch so I don't hit my head on the hood. And the actual space is a little smaller, than I had, but so far I haven't had much of a problem.

* Start by cutting four bacon slices into small pieces. Fry until crispy. Pour off the fat and reserve. Put two tablespoons of fat back into pan and saute pork chops until browned and delicious.

*Add one medium yellow onion, sliced. Saute for a minute until they begin to become transluscent and start to carmelize. Season with salt and pepper.

*Add 1/2 an apple, cut into slices or small diced. Saute just until they become tart.

*Add 1 tsp apple cider vinegar, a few dashes of Worchestshire sauce and 1 tsp of grainy mustard. Stir to incorporate. Add 1/4 cup hard cider. Simmer until reduced.

*Stir the bacon bits into the onions and apples. Spoon on top of the pork chops. Delish.