Tag: Epicurious

Roast Chicken with Potatoes and Olives

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This VERY simple recipe helped me use up leftover kalamata olives. Basically, it was roasting chicken, olives and potatoes on a sheet pan at 450 degrees.

The use of a ground bay leaf was surprising and new to me. The spice blend for the pan was: fennel seeds, bay leaf and red pepper flakes all ground together. Sweet, spicy and fragrant. Usually, I look at a bay leaf as a choking hazard. This recipe made me consider the leaf in a different way. Sometimes the most familiar and simplest recipes can still teach us something new and makes cooking so much more interesting.

Tonight the roast chicken has a second life as a chicken pot pie. Again trying to use up pie crust I made a while back. The potatoes could easily become a potato salad. This is a great dish for a weekend, hot one night, cold another. But, I left the soft and flavorful potatoes alone. If they don’t disappear in the next two days,  they can always find their way to a croquette, curry or bhaji.  It seems a lot of my cooking has to do with creative ways to honor what was extra or left behind. Tried to do the same with some chocolate bars from a night of smores end of last summer. We made chocolate chip cookies but took the cookies out of the oven too early. It will have to be covered in ice-cream and eaten as a cookie dough ice-cream dessert. I don’t imagine anyone complaining.

Remember that fancy pomagranate-chili sauce I made I while ago? Well, it is just as delicious on the chicken as it was on the duck. Again, appreciating and using left-overs. It is quite a cycle of using left-overs to make something new, to make more left-overs with…so on and so on. Depending on what we make, our creativity, skill and willingness, I suppose a tasty or a boring cycle.

Makes me wonder about what I do with “leftover” stuff from my day that is not culinary. Can I use the joy of a peaceful Sunday to make myself an enjoyable Monday? Now that I’m writing about our roast chicken dinner, I might be doing exactly that!! Hah….with that thought…

Hope you have delicious weekend leftovers to make your Monday tasty,

Hungryphil

 

 

 

Date Night and Duck Breast with Pomegranate-Chile Sauce

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It is spring break for schools in the area. The girls abandoned us to brighter places with their respective other parents.  I can’t remember the last time I cooked for Jim. Just Jim. So…on an unusual weeknight dinner date at home, I decided to make

Caesar Salad, Duck Breast with Pomegranate sauce, Mushroom Risotto and Chocolate Creme Brulee.

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Most of this I had never made before. It was a risk. But, if it turned out badly we could always just order pizza. There was no urgency or expectation. Perfect for cooking experiments for a forgiving and kind loved one.

What I learned:

The anchovy paste I used tasted bitter for the caesar salad dressing. Next time I’m sticking with the canned anchovies. I like those better.

The Duck Breast was perfectly cooked thanks to the Epicurious Roast Duck Breast with Pomegranate-chile Sauce  recipe. Dear Ms. Selma Brown you are an artist.

  1. Score the duck breast.
  2. Cook skin side down on a dry pan (it won’t stay dry for long).. 7 minutes.
  3. Flip cook other side for 1 minute.
  4. Bake in preheated oven at 400 degrees for 5 minutes.
  5. Let meat rest for 5 minutes. Slice and serve.

I adapted the sauce [now my new favorite!]

1/2 cup sugar and 1/3 cup water. Simmer until caramalized.

Add 2 cups pomegranate juice and 2 cups chicken broth.

I didn’t have dried California Chilies. I did have dried Carolina Reapers…I simmered one-half in the sauce for five minutes. It was HOT….even for me. I was afraid that I would injure Jim with this lovingly prepared lethal sauce.

Reduce until thick. About 25 minutes.

Add one and half teaspoon of Chipotle in adobo sauce and Balsamic vinegar each. This gives the sauce a surprisingly beautiful smoky warmth along with the fruity sweetness.

I strained it. I was left with this deep red, translucent sauce with a honey consistency and spicy hot strength. Amazing. I want to bottle it and share.

It held when I drizzled the sauce on the plate but once I added honey in an effort to tame the angry heat…the sauce sort of dissolved. Maybe next time I’ll drizzle the honey on the duck breast itself and leave the red drizzle alone. Regardless, this was easily one of the best duck preparations I had. Complex flavors, crispy skin, tender meat. Each bite felt full. Next time maybe add some greenbeans to the plate.

The Mushroom Risotto was perfect company for the duck. Next time I need to remember to add more liquid before I serve. The rice had tightened up a bit and lost its creaminess. Basically, every cup of rice needs about 3-4 cups of water.

The Chocolate Creme Brulee was a grown-up cross between chocolate mousse and pudding. I adapted it from Michael Symon’s recipe. Didn’t use a tart shell. The salt in the salt and coffee in the recipe add a……hmmmmm…this is different but familiar taste.

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Jim helped with the salad, slicing the duck and torching the creme brulee sugar.

We were both very happy with dinner.

Wishing you delicious dinners with your beloved,

Hungryphil