I am not the greatest recipe pre-reader. Today I was all set to make Grilled Chicken with Cucumber, Radish, and Cherry Tomato Relish (from the bounty of summer-y recipes in August’s Martha Stewart Living) and reread “grilled.” Realistically, grilling was not happening. How to quickly cook the boneless skinless to make it moist and yummy? How To Cook Like Your Grandmother’s Pan Fried Chicken in Butter was a revelation: pound the chicken thin, lightly flour it, and pan fry it in butter.
The result was perfect. Moist and chicken-y all the way through paired perfectly with the fresh summer-y flavors and crunch of the cucumber, radish, cherry tomato “relish” (Martha-Stewart-ese for a salad on top of your chicken). If you crave a summer salad atop chicken, this is what you are looking for.
Recipe and notes after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »
During my senior year of high school I used to have pad thai and Reed’s Ginger Brew at Saffron once a week. I was craving the combo on Tuesday and disappointed to see that at some point Ginger Brew was replaced with a homemade Ginger Ale. The Ginger Ale was refreshing (a tiny bit flat to be honest), but just didn’t pack the same gingery punch. So when later that day I saw a recipe for homemade Ginger Ale in Dan’s away message, I was off to 99 Ranch Market for the ingredients.
Like the Amateur Gourmet, I am now sure I’ll be drinking this all summer. The recipe below makes a nearly a syrup which you add to sparkling water. I used the lemongrass and one deseeded Serrano, which gives it a great kick. Half a Serrano is probably plenty though. And sounds like some yeast derived carbonation would only make this better…
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Yesterday my coordination and brain were ridiculously clumsy in the kitchen. I was making Paprika-Braised Chicken with Salt Pork and Spinach, with ad hoc tripling, this involved: Raw chicken liquid all over the floor twice. Chopping skills not quite as shaky as carrying, but close, “rustic chop” would have been a compliment for the carrots and onions. Tongs + chicken slipping and sliding about. Hot oil splatter. Staring at the braising liquid unsure why it wouldn’t thicken. Cleaning up (another sloshy mess), I realize, oh yeah, the cornstarch. Other recipe steps forgotten: drying the chicken, heating the chickpea mush. Read the rest of this entry »
SarahR made Beet Cupcakes!
Camera phone pictures clearly demonstrate that though beet cake batter is pepto-bismol purple/pink (!) and beet cake is not red.
Batter is purple/pink:
Baked cakes are brown:
All iced up:
Recipe review, via Gchat:
5:59 PM me: were the muffins yummy?
6:16 PM Sarah: fine–i prefer carrot cake, though.
I was eating the leftovers of raw beet slaw along with carrot cake for lunch and thought, if beet cake exists, it must have an awesome color.
Unfortunately, when I turned to the internet, I learned that’s not the case. According to this recipe from Cooking Light, beet cake can indeed be made just like carrot cake and the batter is bright red but the cake bakes up to a golden brown:
From Cooking Light
This is really disappointing. Shredding that many beets would be way too messy to justify a golden brown cake.
Like Caponata, fennel and garlic confit is a regular on my recipe rotation. It’s flexible with what I have in the kitchen (garlic can be replaced or supplemented with shallots or onions) and can be made more or less healthy or vegan by modifying the butter and oil quantities. And once I’ve got some in the fridge, with some toasted pita it’s the perfect satisfying snack or part of dinner.
Since I have been making it, I have modified it slightly from the original recipe from The Kitchn. (If you look at the original recipe, the fennel fronds burnt and the thin lemon slices resulted in a bitter confit so I dropped them.)
Recipe and pictures after the jump…
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My formative cooking years included a vegetarian coop and an Armenian roommate. From the two, one basic cooking strategy I have developed is: buy fresh vegetables, chop them up, saute them with whatever you have around, add canned tomatoes. Caponata falls into this strategy and having a recipe taught me to add red wine vinegar and put the tomatoes in later than I would have otherwise. The result is very tasty.
The recipe is really easy and can be modified to your heart’s/taste’s desire. I only faltered at toasting pine nuts. I am a terrible toaster. If anyone has any no-fail toasting tips, send them along. To quote a Food Network chef, “toasting takes as long as it takes you to forget that you’re toasting.” Which is exactly my experience both in the oven and on the stove.
Pictures and recipe after the jump…
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Greek Panzanella Salad
My mom and I made this tasty bread salad from House Beautiful’s Ask the Barefoot Contessa column last night. (The recipe itself is not on House Beautiful’s website yet.)
Review = Yum. I love bread salad, specifically, all the different textures and how the flavors soak into the bread. This Greek version had a nice balance of crunch (cucumbers and bread), sweet (tomatoes, bell peppers), salty (olives), and tangy (onions, dressing). Also it assuaged my guilt for not finishing really good Ciabatta from Bread and Cie.
Even with the simplest of recipes I often mess something up and this was no exception. Read the rest of this entry »
