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Archive for April, 2020

Dinner 11 April 2020 Crispy Baked Chicken Wings, Macarrones Con Crema Y Queso, Blistered Shishitos

April 23, 2020

We love wings but sadly our favorite wing place is shut down for the duration. So I have been eyeing a recipe in my file for baked wings that promise to be crispy as well. And when I ventured out to Market Basket I was able to get organic Bell & Evans chicken wings. We have learned, it does make a difference. It is not just because they are organic, I know that, but it is that the product is higher quality.

The recipe for Crispy Baked Chicken Wings is from Bon Appetite and I expect you can find it there. But summarizing, I spread out the wing on a plate, salted, let stand a bit, added a lot of David’s Devil Dust and let sit a while.

Then on to a wire rack and into the oven at 400 F convection roast for 40 minutes. Was perfect, these smaller wings were showing some nice crispness.

The sauce is sorta your standard Buffalo sauce, butter, cayenne or more David’s Devil Dust, salt and pepper and some hot sauce, like Frank’s. Tossed the wings in it just before serving.

I had some poblanos in the fridge so wanted to make up some Mexican Mac & Cheese. I blistered the poblanos, then removed skin, stems and seeds and cut into strips. Then slow cooked some onions in butter, added the roasted poblanos, sliced serrano, garlic and oregano. Then added some cooked penne, creme fraiche and queso fresca. Add some more pasta water if too dry.

The shishitos are wicked simple, wash and dry them then toss in a blistering hot skillet with a bit of oil, let them take on some color and then season with flaky sea salt. Done.

There you have it. Serve with a nice red wine, Cattoo reminds us of our cat Wavey, she must have been their model at some point. Or some beer, your choice. Not only an excellent fun meal, but the leftovers a few days later were every bit as good.

Posted in Chicken, Pasta, Pepper Coast Recipe, Supper | Leave a Comment »

Dinner 10 April 2020 Haddock Fish Fry, Crispy Kale, Lemon Potatoes

April 14, 2020

We were very lucky this day to get a delivery of fresh caught haddock from New England Fishmongers by Captain Tim himself. He placed it in a cooler on our front porch, all social distancing protocols properly observed.

We got hooked on cooking fish this way when we were up in Newfoundland in 2018 and had their wonderful fresh caught cod often. Its really simple, cut the fish up into bite sized pieces, salt & pepper, flour and then pan fry in a modest amount of oil. Hint: on the small pieces near the tail you can fold it in half, skin side in, set them carefully in the oil that way and they will stay folded.

I like to make my own tarter sauce, I use a really simple recipe from Rebecca Charles of the Perl Oyster Bar in NYC.

1/4 cup chopped red onion
1/4 cup roughly chopped capers
1/4 cup chopped cornichons, plus 2 tbls of the juice
3 cups Hellmann’s mayonnaise
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper.

Just mix all of those together.

For a bit of crispyness I did some Crispy Kale, a simple version. Cut kale from the stem and then cut into moderate pieces, sprinkle with a bit of Diamond kosher salt and some David’s Devil Dust. Make sure the seasonings get evenly distributed, kale has wrinkles and folds that can fill up, then give it a good coat of oil and massage it in. Yes, hands work best, and the kale loves it.

Spread on parchment on a baking sheet and in the oven at 350 convection roast for 10 minutes. Keep an eye on it and give it good toss and turn about half way through. Go a little longer if necessary, but what you want is just crispy, not desiccated. I shut off the heat and leave the oven door ajar to keep them warm as the rest of the dinner comes together.

French Fries would be fun, but I have some lemon potatoes made a few nights ago that will be just fine. After a brief warm up in the microwave in a cast iron skillet they go to get a bit of fresh sear on them.

An there you have it!

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Dinner 4 April 2020 Texas Twister Chicken Tenders, Green Salad with Avocado and Creamy Dressing

April 11, 2020

This is one of our all time favorites, good for a casual Friday night, especially if your favorite wing place is closed during the pandemic.

I usually get a pound of Bell & Evans chicken tenders, and while it is a bit of a pain, removing the “tender” tendon does improve the final product. And I cut the larger pieces in half. The process is to first salt them a bit and let them sit while you gather up the rest of what you need or work on the salad.

I set up one small pan with flour in it, then a bowl with two eggs beaten, and another small pan with 1 cup of panko, 3 tablespoons Sprinkle Plenty, and 1 of David’s Devil Dust. Heat up some oil in a large skillet and you are ready to go. Lightly flour each piece, then dip in egg, and then roll in the panko with the seasonings. Add to skillet but do them in batches so the heat stays up. But do watch the heat, these pieces are small and you can burn them. Remove to a serving platter when done, about 3-4 minutes.

I usually make a blue cheese sort of dip to go with them, Some diced red onion, some scallion, a bit of mushed garlic and salt, and grated blue cheese mixed in to creme fraiche, Greek yogurt with a dash of black pepper.

Looking for something to do on the salad tonight. I have very little Romaine left so used boxed greens. Made a dressing based on something I found in one of my notebooks, a rift on something Rick Bayless did. A creamy dressing, made with some mayo, some Worcestershire sauce, some smushed garlic & salt. I chopped up an avocado, and some red grape tomatoes. I dressed the greens, topped with veggies, a grind of black pepper and a squeeze of lime. And a bit of grated Ricotta Salata to finish it off. Came out quite nice.

And be sure to have some Frank’s Red Hot to splash on the tenders.

Beer works good with this but tonight we had a variety of almost empty wines to finish up.

Posted in Pepper Coast Recipe, Supper | Leave a Comment »

Dinner 1 April 2020 Provencal Chicken Breasts, Asparagus.

April 6, 2020

This is a recipe I came across long ago in Cooking Light and have been making a variation of with Pepper Coast Products. The original calls for herbes de Provence. We have a blend we are working on but, sorry, we have not put that one on the market. However Finessence makes a mighty good Mediterranean seasoning that that you can get from us.

Start with 4 medium chicken breasts, if you can find them. I was lucky this time and was able to get Bell & Evans breasts that were 6 1/2 oz. Often they tend to run much larger, around 9-10 oz. You might want to consider cutting those larger ones in half horizontally. You can pound them a bit to make them more equal thickness but this is optional. Season with Diamond kosher salt and a generous coat of Finessence. You be the judge of how much, but the heat in Finessence is restrained so most people will find it tolerable.

Cook the beasts in a large skillet in oil for about 6 minutes a side and remove to a plate to keep warm.

Next make a sauce in the pan. Add some minced garlic, cook briefly then add about a cup of chicken broth and some more Finessence and loosen up the brown bits on the skillet. Cook until the mixture is reduced by about a half. Then remove from heat and stir in some unsalted butter and lemon juice.

Serve sauce over chicken and garnish with thyme sprigs. (I did not have any fresh thyme this night so used a bit of dry. )

This night I has some nice looking fat asparagus. I have come to prefer the fat ones, they cook nicely with lots of flavor. My simple method is to remove a bit off the butt, I still snap them, then wash and placed in a large non-stick skillet. Sprinkle with Diamond kosher salt, add a good splash of good extra-virgin olive oil and some balsamic vinegar and then turn the heat on.

I keep an eye on the while cooking the chicken and keep their butts to the fire so to speak to keep them cooking evenly. That is I move the butts toward the center of the pan and slide the pan off center. When done I toss some lemon zest curls over them, a bit of lemon juice and some Maldon Flake salt.

Plate up and time for dinner!

Tags:Finessence
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Dinner 12 March 2020 Brazilian Shrimp and Fish Stew, Kale Salad

April 1, 2020

I had been eyeing this recipe in the Cook’s Illustrated Annual for 2018 and now that we are hunkered down at home I have more time to organize meals and give them a try. I had some shrimp, and a pound of cod as called for. Cooked up in the Big Blue Dutch Oven. Interesting method here, make the stock and veggies, add coconut milk, bring to a boil and add fish, shut off the heat and cover. That’s it. Cooks perfectly.

The dollops of red you see in there are a salsa made with pickled red cherry chiles from a jar. They promised it would be a hit, and they are right, wonderful hot chile taste but nicely balanced.

To go along with this I made up a kale salad, some organic purple kale torn, a bit of salt and some oil rubbed on it to soften. A dressing with anchovy paste and mustard with the oil and vinegar, and then topped with some crumbled feta and pomegranate seeds. Just a bit of dressing.