Pollo alla Cacciatora

Nigella Lawson came into my life when I needed her very much. I was studying abroad in London in the Fall of 2000, but living in a town in the northern suburbs called Harrow. The majority of the kids from my school in my program were living in flats in the city--I had been duped into volunteering for a new home-stay arrangement that the study abroad office at my college wanted to try out. At the time I agreed to it, I thought that I would be living in the city also, so I was very disappointed that summer when I got a letter from the home-stay agency and realized that it was not to be. I pushed myself to be social and go out every night possible, but the truth was that most weeknights I ended up back home before the tube stopped running. Luckily, the family with whom I stayed was really cool, and I had a room all to myself with my very own TV. I spent many an evening curled up on my cozy bed, studying, drinking tea, and exploring British television.

Nigella Bites had just started that autumn, and she was getting a lot of press attention. My house mother had a copy of How to Eat: The Pleasures and Principles of Good Foodsitting on the huge sideboard in the kitchen. The first time I caught her show on Channel 4, it was like taking a pleasant, mild sedative. I was stressed out with work, school, friend drama, and missing my boyfriend back in the States. I loved my temporary home, but I felt little peace there. It was wonderful to watch Nigella moving around on the TV screen, bringing elegance and order to her kitchen and family. I was soothed, knowing that in at least one corner of London, someone was leading a calm, beautiful life, or so it seemed!

Suffice it to say, I was very excited when Food Network started carrying her shows in 2006. I love her books, but watching her is the true Nigella experience. I think that her new series, Nigella Express, has been good, but not great. Her persona and presenting style are a little over the top now! I'm sure it's a purely marketing-related decision, but I miss the more subdued and witty Nigella of the Bites days. In the episode I caught this weekend she made an "express" version of chicken cacciatore that looked very tasty. Having most of the ingredients on hand, I decided to give it a shot tonight. I deviated from her notes a little bit, so here's my version!


1 tablespoon olive oil
5 strips of bacon, cut or snipped with kitchen shears into bite-size pieces
6 green onions, finely sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed of excess fat and cut into bite-size pieces
1/2 teaspoon celery salt
1/2 cup chicken stock or broth
1-14 ounce can diced tomatoes
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon sugar
Salt and pepper

Put the oil in a dutch oven or soup pot and warm over high heat. Put the bacon, green onions, garlic, and rosemary into the pot and fry for a couple of minutes. Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper and add to the pot, stirring well. Sprinkle in the celery salt. Cook for a few minutes until the chicken starts to brown a little.

Pour in the chicken stock and bring up to a bubble. Stir in the tomatoes, bay leaves, and sugar. Put the lid on the pot and let the contents simmer for 20 minutes. When the time is up, taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper if needed. Remove the bay leaves and serve over rice.

Rating: This is awesome

It was a quick, comforting dish, just the thing for a chilly Monday night!

Szechuan-Style Pork & Bell Pepper

I got this recipe from a book that I found in the bargain section of the bookstore a couple of weeks ago, Perfect Chinese. It turned out really well; the rice vinegar gave the sauce a tangy note that complimented the spice of the crushed red pepper flakes. I loved that it had 4 different kinds of vegetables in it! It makes me feel better about the ice cream I'm going to have for dessert in a little bit ;-)

1 pork tenderloin, trimmed of excess fat and silverskin
2 tablespoons cornstarch
3 tablespoons soy sauce, plus 1 tablespoon for marinade
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup chicken broth
Peanut oil
1 medium onion, sliced
1 red bell pepper, sliced thinly
1 zucchini, cut into long matchsticks
1 carrot, peeled and cut into long matchsticks
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (use more if you want it spicier!)
White pepper

Slice the tenderlion against the grain into roughly 1/4-inch thick slices. Cut each slice into 2 or 3 strips. Place the pork in a bowl and pour in 1 tablespoon of the soy sauce and sprinkle over the crushed red pepper flakes. Stir to coat and let the meat marinade while you chop the vegetables.

Combine the rest of the soy sauce, cornstarch, rice vinegar, chicken broth, and garlic in a small bowl. Whisk to dissolve the cornstarch, then set aside. Warm up one tablespoon of oil in a wok or large skillet over high heat. When the oil is smoking, add the pork and marinade mixture and stir-fry until the pork is no longer pink, 3 or 4 minutes. Remove the pork to a plate with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Warm up another tablespoon of oil in the wok or skillet over high heat. Add the onion and bell pepper and cook until they soften, 3 or 4 minutes. Throw in the zucchini and carrot and continue to stir-fy until the carrot loses its bite, about another 4 minutes. Add the pork and any accumulated juices back to the pan and stir in the cornstarch mixture. Bring it up to a boil and let it bubble and thicken for a minute. Give everything a final sprinkle of white pepper. Serve over freshly made rice.


Rating: This is awesome

It was very easy to make: a lot of chopping, but I'm coming to love my spacing-out-while-chopping time every evening. It was a very tasty result for not a lot of work!

Soy Braised Chicken Thighs

In an effort to cut down our grocery bill, I bought a big package of boneless, skinless chicken thighs, rather than our usual, more expensive, big package of boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Like most female, white Americans of a certain age, I have an unfounded fear of dark poultry meat. I'm not sure why, but the gobs of fat and reddish, fibrous meat on thighs are spooky to me. I've read enough to know that all chefs prefer the flavor of dark meat to the non-flavor of white meat, and I have to agree with them there. I still don't love prepping thighs (breast portions are so much easier), but I'm determined to get more comfortable with them and make dark meat the rule, with white meat becoming the occasional exception.

One way to learn to love the dark (meat) is to cook it in ways with which white meat simply would not work. Braising is one such technique; the lengthy cooking in liquid would turn white meat dessicated and rubbery. Dark meat stays flavorful and moist, and its natural juiciness turns the braising liquid into a tasty, savory sauce at the end. After much googling last night, I came across this recipe for an Asian-inspired chicken braise. The flavor of the salty-sour cooking liquid is enhanced by whole star anise, a cinnamon stick, and strips of orange peel.


The star anise and cinnamon are best bought at your local Asian grocery store. Such "exotic" ingredients are marked up at chain groceries, while at an Asian store, you can buy big bags of the stuff for under $2 each.

2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup chicken broth or stock
1- 1.5 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed of excess fat
Peanut oil
3 green onions, white and green parts separated, sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon of minced fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
5 short strips of orange peel, removed with a vegetable peeler
2 whole star anise
1 cinnamon stick
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

In a small bowl, stir together the soy sauce, vinegar, fish sauce, honey, and chicken broth. Set aside for later.

In a dutch oven, warm up a tablespoon of oil over medium-high heat. Season the chicken with salt and pepper on both sides. When the oil is hot, add the chicken to the pot in an even layer to brown. You will probably have to do this in 2 batches, unless you have a very big pot! Let the chicken cook for about 5 minutes on each side, until golden and seared. Transfer the chicken to a plate.

Pour off all but about one tablespoon of fat from the pot. Return it to medium heat, and throw in the white part of the green onions, garlic, ginger, and crushed red pepper flakes. Stir around for about half a minute, until you can smell the garlic and ginger. Pour in the reserved soy mixture. Top off with more chicken broth and soy sauce if needed to reach a depth of about 1/4 inch of liquid. Stir to combine, and add the orange peel, cinnamon, and star anise.

Add the chicken thighs back to the pot, adding any accumulated juices from the plate. Cover with a lid and place in the lower third of the oven. After 15 minutes, turn the chicken pieces over with tongs and top off with more chicken broth if needed to maintain the 1/4 inch of liquid. Replace the lid and let cook in the oven for another 15 minutes, or until fork tender.

With a slotted spoon, transfer the chicken to a serving platter and cover with tin foil to keep warm. Remove the orange peel, cinnamon, and star anise from the pot, place over a medium high heat, and bring the liquid up to a simmer. Skim off any surface fat if desired. Stir in the green part of the green onions.

Make a slurry out of the cornstarch and a tablespoon of either chicken broth or water. Pour into the pot and stir to thicken. Let it bubble up for a minute and taste for seasoning. If it's too salty, add a bit of vinegar. If it's too sour, add a bit more soy sauce. Take the foil off the chicken, and carefully pour in any juices from the platter.

Spoon the sauce over the chicken. Serve with rice or egg noodles.


Rating: This is awesome

I tried to refrain myself from slurping the sauce out of my bowl when the chicken and rice were gone. No such luck.

Sausage and Mushroom Pizza

Hmm, let's see if I can remember how to do this :-)

I can't make homemade pizza and not think about my father. He was very proud of his pizza, and he used to make it almost every week when I was growing up. He would always make it on a Saturday, starting during the afternoon, which made me think that it was labor-intensive. In truth, this was a really easy weeknight dinner! I used this recipe for a make-ahead dough. With the help of my stand mixer, it came together in under 5 minutes this morning. Even if you don't have a mixer, I think you could still make it in 10 minutes.

I let the dough rise for an hour while I got ready for work and punched it down just before heading out the door. It sat all day in the fridge. When I got home this evening, all I had to do was saute the sausage and mushrooms, roll out the dough, assemble the pizza, and bake it off. Less than 45 minutes after I came in the front door, I had a hot, fresh pizza to chow down!

Dough
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 envelope (1/4 ounce) dry active yeast
3 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for coating bowl

Pizza
1 pound hot Italian turkey sausage
8 ounces button or cremini mushrooms, sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup tomato sauce, homemade or jarred
2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, shredded
3 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
Olive oil for drizzling
Sea or kosher salt

Stir the yeast into 3/4 cup of warm water (105 degrees F - 115 degrees F) and let stand until the yeast dissolves, about 5 minutes. Put the rest of the ingredients in a mixing bowl and pour over the water-yeast mixture. Stir together until the dough is a shaggy mass. Sprinkle a work surface with flour and knead the dough until smooth and springy, about 1 minute. Alternatively, use the paddle attachment on your stand mixer to do the initial mixing, and switch to the dough hook for the kneading.

Lightly coat a medium sized bowl with olive oil and place the dough in it. Cover with a dish towel and let rise for an hour. Punch the dough down and transfer it to an airtight container. Leave in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours.

When you're ready to make the pizza, take the dough out of the fridge. Punch it down again and let it sit while you get everything else ready. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Take the casings off the sausage and place in a large skillet. Cook over medium-high heat, breaking the sausage up into bite sized pieces, until browned and cooked through, about 5 minutes. Place the sausage on a plate and set aside. Warm up a tablespoon of olive oil in the skillet and saute the mushrooms until they release their liquid and turn brown.

Dust a work surface with flour and roll out your pizza dough until it will fit your pan. Drizzle olive oil over the rolled out dough and brush or smooth with your hands over the surface of the dough. Gently place the dough in your pan, oiled side down. You could also spread the olive oil out in your pan first and then flop the dough into it (I can't do this because my pan has holes in the bottom to keep the crust crisp!). Press the dough into the sides of your pan to form a crust.

Spread tomato sauce over the dough with the back side of a spoon and sprinkle with sea salt. Evenly place the sausage, mushrooms, and garlic over the pizza. Top with the mozzarella cheese and basil and scatter over the parmesan cheese for the final touch. Bake for 15 minutes. Let sit for 5 minutes after taking it out of the oven. Cut into wedges and serve!



Rating: This is awesome

The great thing about pizza is that you can change it up to totally meet your tastes and what you have in the fridge. The dough is your canvas!

Minute Steaks

This is another dish from my childhood; my father used to make it often. Minute steaks, also known as cube steaks, aren't steak at all; they're tenderized cuts of top round beef. They're fabulously inexpensive (sometimes you can even find them less per pound than ground beef), which make them very attractive when you need a cheap red meat fix. However, you have to braise them for a good length of time to break down the connective tissue. Your patience will be rewarded with fork-tender meat and a tasty, savory gravy.

1 - 1.5 pounds cube steak
1 medium onion, chopped finely
4 cloves garlic, minced
Olive oil
Salt & pepper
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups beef broth
2 cups water
1 tablespoon grill seasoning
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons flat leaf parsley, chopped (optional)

Warm up one tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat in a large, deep sided pan. Add the onions and cook gently until they start to turn translucent and soft, about 10 minutes. Throw in the garlic and cook until fragrant, another 3 minutes. Turn off the heat and pour the onions and garlic into a small bowl.

Add another tablespoon of olive oil to the pan and warm up over high heat. Season both sides of the steaks liberally with salt and pepper. Spread the flour out in a plate, and sprinkle in about a teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Toss the seasonings through the flour, and dredge each piece of steak in it, shaking off the excess. Lay the steaks in the pan and cook for 4-5 minutes on each side to get a nice sear. Once both sides are browned, pour in the beef broth, water, and the onion/garlic mixture. Stir in the grill seasoning. Let the liquid come up to a boil, then turn the heat down to low and clamp on a lid. Let the steaks simmer for an hour, flipping them over half way through.

When the hour is up, taste the cooking liquid for seasoning and add salt and pepper if needed. Dissolve the cornstarch in two tablespoons of cold water and pour into the pan. Give it a minute to thicken, and if it's not thick enough for you, feel free to add another slurry, using only 1 tablespoon of cornstarch this time. Stir in the parsley if you have it.

Serve a piece of steak and plenty of gravy in a shallow bowl over rice, mashed potatoes, or egg noodles.


Yep, I still don't have any flat leaf parsley on hand--I forgot about buying it at the store the other day. I'm sure the pretty flecks of green would have made this picture look less, well, poo like!

Rating: This is awesome

It ain't pretty, but it tastes really good on a cold night in December.

Shrimp Scampi Pasta

(Dinner for one)

This might be my ultimate dish for solitary dining: it's fast, easy, somewhat decadent and full of garlic. Just what I want when I'm not trying to impress anybody! Of course, you can increase the amounts to feed as many people as you want; I'm a firm believer that heavy garlic consumption at dinner doesn't matter as long as both you and your date eat it.

10 medium (41-50 count) shrimp, shelled and deveined
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 ounces linguine
A spritz of lemon juice or a splash of white wine
1-2 tablespoons freshly grated parmesan
Salt and pepper

Get a large pot of salted water on to boil for the pasta, and cook the pasta for about a minute less than it says on the package, since you'll be finishing its cooking with the shrimp.

In a large skillet, warm up the olive oil and butter over medium heat. Add the onion and gently saute until soft and golden, about 15 minutes. Throw in the garlic and saute for another few minutes. Season the shrimp with salt and pepper and add to the skillet. Cook until pink on both sides.

Drain the pasta and add to the skillet. Toss thoroughly and stir in the lemon juice or white wine. Let everything simmer together for 2 or 3 minutes. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper if needed. Stir in the parmesan and some chopped flat leaf parsley if you have it (I did not). Take off the heat and serve. You might want to light a nicely-scented candle in your kitchen at this point since it will be reeking of shrimp and garlic!


Be careful not to add the shrimp too early; overcooked shrimp are the worst. If the onion and garlic have to cook a little bit longer on its own while the pasta finishes, that's fine.

Rating: This is awesome

Just lovely :-)

Sesame Chicken

I have been wanting to make a good sesame chicken dish at home for a very long time, but it has eluded me so far. I tried one preparation several months ago that just tasted like flour. Blech! When I saw this recipe on Culinary in the Desert, I thought it would be worth a try. Instead of using a heavy flour coating on the chicken, it is dipped into a mixture of cornstarch and egg whites to give it a faux deep-fried crust. I changed a couple of things in his recipe, so here's mine!

For the sauce:
3 tablespoons honey
3 tablespoons teriyaki sauce
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 inch length of fresh ginger, grated
2 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted

For the chicken:
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts or chicken tenders, cut into bite-sized chunks
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 egg whites
Peanut oil
Salt and pepper

Whisk together all of the sauce ingredients in a small bowl. If you didn't buy toasted sesame seeds, dry fry your seeds in a small skillet over medium high heat until they start to change color. Give them a flip every now and then to prevent them from burning.

Season the chicken pieces well with salt and pepper. In a large bowl, whisk together the cornstarch and egg whites until thoroughly combined. Dip the chicken pieces in the mixture to coat. Warm up a tablespoon of oil in a large nonstick skillet over a medium high flame.

Swirl the oil around the pan and add about half of the chicken pieces. DO NOT stir fry the chicken--just let them sit there and cook until golden on the underside, about 5 minutes. Flip the chicken over and let cook for another 3 or 4 minutes. The pieces will be sticking together by this point because of the egg whites. Gently break them apart from each other with a wooden spoon and turn out onto a plate. Add another tablespoon of oil to the pan and repeat with the rest of the chicken.

Once the second batch of chicken is cooked, throw the rest of the chicken into the skillet. Pour over the sauce, and stir to coat. Let it come up to a bubble to thicken slightly.

I served my sesame chicken over white rice and steamed broccoli.


Rating: This is not awesome

It didn't blow me away. Back to the drawing board... :-(