Phenomenal Fennel Chicken

Okay, okay, okay!  I know you've missed me.  I'm SORR-EEEEEE!  The spring got away from me....the summer got away from me...and here we are in the fall!  The kids are back to school and I KNOW you are looking for some ideas to spice up, or flavor-up the dinner table. 

Here's a good one that I have to say, I was quite reluctant to try.  It calls for an ingredient called fennel.  Fennel is similar to celery, with a licorice-like, anise-like flavor.  But PLEEEEZE don't let that scare you away.  Most people who know my food style know that I DO NOT LIKE LICORICE.  In fact, my top three NO GO foods are liver, lima beans and licorice.  That being said, fennel is something altogether different, especially when cooked.  It adds a layer of flavor that will make your tongue both think and sing. 

This delightful, sublime dish also calls for leeks.  Leeks are a milder, sweeter, wonderful member of the onion family.  Make sure you only use the white and the pale green part of the leek and WASH it very well.

The final key ingredient is cream.  The cream makes this dish luxurious.  Don't skip it. 

Here are the particulars:

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken, cut up into pieces
1 tbs. olive oil

3 tbs. unsalted butter
1 fennel bulb (about 1 pound), cored and cut into slices small enough to fit comforably in your mouth, about 1/2  inch slices
3 leeks, cut into 1/2 inch slices

1/3 cup dry white wine such as pinot grigio
1 cup heavy cream

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Pat chicken dry and season with salt and pepper.  In a large dutch oven or oven-proof saute pan, heat the oil over medium high heat.  Add the chicken in batches, skin side down, until golden brown, about 5-6 minutes.  Transfer to a plate, repeat until all the chicken in browned. Add all the chicken back to the pan, cover and put in the oven until the chicken reaches 160 degrees internal temperature.  Pour the fat and pan drippings into a gravy separator or a glass measuring cup.  Let the drippings sit a few minutes and remove the fat from the top.   Transfer the chicken to a sheet pan or a platter and cover with foil to keep warm. 

Turn down the pan to medium and add the butter to the pan.  Add the fennel and stir well to coat.  Cover and cook the fennel until it softens, about 5 minutes.  Add the leeks and cook, stirring occasionally until the fennel is tender, about 5 minutes longer.  

Add the wine, the cream, and the pan drippings. Raise the heat and bring to a boil, about three minutes.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve the chicken, and cover with some of the fennel leek sauce.  Garnish with fennel fronds if you are so inclined.


I served this with wild rice, as you can seen in the picture.  I was looking for a contrast in color and in flavor.  You might argue that you have your veggies covered with the leeks and the fennel, but you could serve this with sauteed mushrooms or a caprese salad to add some color.  And do let me know what you think!!!

Sweet Plus Savory: Sugar Snap Peas with Soy and Sesame

Greetings and salutations!  I hope you didn't think that I had forgotten you!  Somehow life just keeps getting more and more complex, but I am deep into food more than I have ever been!  I am now working part-time at Williams-Sonoma on their Culinary Team, and that has opened up a new opportunity for me to learn more about food.  In addition, I have been working with some local caterers on some television shows, so that has been very exciting.  Lastly, I have a new client that has requested low carb, high taste options for the family.  The good news?  You all get to benefit.  At the same time that all of this excitingness has taken place in my culinary life, my trusty camera died.  And a blogger is nothing without her camera!  :)  Anyway, it's high on the "to be purchased" list, so that should help increase my output to you! 

Many of you know that I am a carnivore.  Through and through.  But recently, I have backed off the flesh and am focusing on my inner vege.  With that said, I'm happy to share with you an easy preparation for sugar snap peas.  Right now, they are available in abundant supply.  Costco even has them.  You can eat the whole thing, or if you are fussy, you can string them.  You decide.  I like the expeditious approach...I eat the whole thing. 

Well, I was in a quandary about what to do with them.  I was thinking about stir-fry, but wasn't into the hassle.  Then I had an "ah-ha" moment:  Why not make THEM the stir fry.  I heated up a skillet with canola oil (or any other vegetable oil), and added the snow peas.  About a minute later I added soy sauce, a little sesame oil (a little goes a long way), a little fresh ginger and some minced garlic (you don't want to add garlic too early on high heat, because it will burn).  I tasted one, it was crunchy, yet soft (al dente, I guess) and that was my easy-breezy side dish.  Serve it with steak, grilled chicken or even pork and fish. The peas are sweet, the contrasting soy sauce is salty and savory. 


This dish is high in vitamins A, C, K, B6 and fiber.  The fiber means that it will help you feel full faster.  For those of you that follow the Glycemic Index, this dish is estimated to be extremely low on the Index.  That means it will not cause a significant spike in your blood sugar. Yummy goodness.  Enjoy! 

Grilled Veggies: Not just for Summer Anymore!

I must first say, please excuse my hiatus!  It's not that I haven't been thinking about you.  I've had the wonderful opportunity to explore the world of Gluten-free with a cient of mine.  It's a challenging task to make things taste good despite a long list of restrictions.  I will share some tips in the future.  Now on to the subject at hand...grilled veggies!

As a child, I must admit that grilled vegetables was not my idea of a party.  In fact, if you have children, try to expose them to as much of this kind of thing as you can while they are still young.  I encourage you to at least have them TRY everything.  If they don't like it, don't force them to eat it....just move on and let them know that in a few weeks they may like it, as their tastes evolve so much over time.

Grilled vegetables are really a simple thing.  And believe it or not, you don't even need a grill!  Just buy one of those square or round pans that has those "speed bumps" to create the grill or "hash" marks.  Pick the veggies of your choice...eggplant, zuchini, summer squash, mushrooms, asparagus, tomatoes......  Marinate them for about an hour in the fridge using olive oil, a little balsamic vinegar, Kosher salt, pepper and Herbs de Provence. 

Heat your grill to really hot.  Layer the veggies so they have enough room and are not touching eachother.  Once they have cooked on one side (peek underneath and look for that black grill mark), turn them over.  Once they are done on the other side, remove them and put them in a dish and cover with foil until all the batches are done.  They will "weep" and express water.  That's ok.  Salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with omeletes, steak, chicken or fish.  They are also nice over cous cous. With your indoor grill pan, it will feel like summer all winter long!!!!

Pan-fried Filet of Sole with Butter and Lemons

In 2011, I have purposed to eat more fish.  These days, I never eat fish.  It's actually a very strange phenomeon.  You see, I grew up in New England.  We ate fish about once a week.  Lobster, scallops, swordfish, bluefish, clams...the typical stuff.  Although, interstingly, no shrimp.  I'm not sure what that was about.  I will have to ask my mother.

But as I matured into busy adulthood, seafood has been in my diet less and less.  I guess I would attribute it to three things.  First, my favorite preparation of seafood is simple:  lemon, butter, salt, pepper.  Done.  But as you can imagine, that can get a bit monotonous.  Second, seafood is one of those things that is best eaten fresh.  And sometimes we get busy and don't have time to prepare it that day.  So it goes bad or goes in the freezer until we throw it out 3 months later.  I also regret that I did not put extra emphhasis on seafood when I had my children.  Now, they are reluctant seafood eaters, and that pushes seafood further down the dinner list.  Well, NO MORE, I say.  in 2011, I vow to experiment with and present new (to me) recipes with seafood.  If you have any suggestions of recipes that I should make or makeover, please let me know.

This first dish is made with some of those key favorite ingredients I mention above.  It has a nice, subtle flavor and is packed with good stuff: omega 6 and 9 fatty acids (essential fatty acids.  They are called essential becuase your body can not make them for itself and HAS to get them from food), antioxidants and FLAVOR!!!!

Ingredients


•1/2 cup all-purpose flour

•Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

•4 fresh sole fillets, 3 to 4 ounces each

•6 tablespoons unsalted butter

•1 tablespoon olive oil

•1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

•6 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (approximately 3 lemons)

•1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley

•1/4 cup rinsed capers (optional)



Directions

Combine the flour, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper in a large shallow plate. Pat the sole fillets dry with paper towels and sprinkle season with salt and pepper.

Heat 3 tablespoons of butter and olive oil in a large (12-inch) saute pan over medium heat until it starts to brown. Dredge 2 sole fillets in the seasoned flour on both sides and place them in the hot oil. Lower the heat to medium-low and cook for 2 minutes. Turn carefully with a metal spatula and cook for 2 minutes on the other side. While the second side cooks, add 1/2 teaspoon of lemon zest and 3 tablespoons of lemon juice to the pan. Carefully put the fish filets on the ovenproof plates and pour the sauce over them. Keep the cooked fillets warm in the oven while you repeat the process with the remaining 2 fillets. When they're done, add the cooked fillets to the plates in the oven. Sprinkle with the parsley, capers, salt, and pepper and serve immediately.

"Super" easy Salsa for the Big Game!!!!

OK, I admit it.  For most of my life, I have been lured in by those jars and plastic containers of salsa.  They're easy, pretty good for you, and, really, truly, not that bad. 

My life was changed about a week ago when I tried this salsa.  It's easy, it's fast and it's delicious!!!

There are 7 simple ingredients:  tomatoes, yellow onions, cilantro, fresh jalapeno, fresh squeezed lemon or lime juice and salt.  Salsa is packed full of anti-oxidants (beta carotene, Vitamin C, lycopene and quercetin) as well as fiber.  For those of you trivia buffs, Cilantro, also known as Chinese Parsley is called Corriander in Asian cultures. 

When you invite all your friends over for the Big Game, they don't need to know that you made it yourself, but, despite who wins or loses, they won't forget your hospitality or your salsa.  Go team!

Ingredients:

6 ripe roma tomatoes
1/2 medium yellow onion  
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
1/2 - 1 fresh serrano chile pepper or a fresh jalapeno pepper, seeded
2 tsp fresh squeezed lime or lemon juice
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1-2 tsp salt, to taste

Quarter the tomatoes.  Cut the onions to a similar size as the tomatoes.  Put all ingredients in a Cuisineart or a blender and pulse until it resembles the texture you want.  Some like it chunky, some like it smoother.  Serve or store in the fridge immediately for freshness.

Beat the Chicken Doldrums with Tarragon Chicken

It's a challenge.  I get it.  We love chicken, but we find ourselves cooking it the same way each and every week.  And then we get tired of that which we love so dearly.  Enter Indulge Me to rescue you and the chicken (well...sort of....the chicken probably wouldn't agree!).

Chicken and tarragon pair wonderfully together.  There are a few other of my favorite ingredients:  fresh chives, proscuitto and wine. 

Here we go:


Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless breast halves
1/2 cup AP flour for dredging
2-4 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil
8 oz. button mushrooms or white mushrooms
3 oz. proscuitto, sliced (if you don't eat pork, omit it)
1 cup dry white wine, like a Savignion Blanc or low sodium chicken broth
1 cup heavy cream
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
2 Tbs. Minced Chives

Instructions: 
Season chicken with salt and pepper.  Dust each breast with flour, shaking off the excess.  
Saute chicken in hot oil in a saute pan until lightly browned on both sides, about 5-7 minutes.    Remove chicken and set aside, covering or tenting with foil to keep warm.
Add mushrooms and proscuitto to the pan.  Cook until mushrooms soften and begin to brown, about 2-3 minutes. 
Add wine or broth and cream to the pan.  Return chicken to the pan, reduce heat and summer until sauce thickens slightly, about 7 minutes. 
Stir in tarragon,  and vinegar and cook for 1 minute.  Season the sauce with salt and pepper and garnish with chives.

Divine Chicken Piccata - It's all about the brine....

Chicken Piccata has some of my FAVORITE INGREDIENTS in it.  First off, lemon is my all around ace numero uno fave flavor.  Sarburst, Sourpatch Kids, Sweedish Fish...the lemon ones get reserved till the end so I can save the best for last!  And this savory winner packs a wonderful pucker.

Second, I have always been a sucker for pickled (now we use the word "brined") food.  Relish, pickles, olives, cornishons.  And the list goes on.  When I discovered capers, I just about lost my pickle-lovin' mind.

If you are like me, this will be one of your favorite go-to recipes.  It's not that hard to whip it up on a weeknight.  I like to reserve the seasoned dredging flour for the next time my life calls for pan-fried or fried chicken.  Have a separate one for fish, too.  Make it with the pasta, outlined below, and serve with a salad, or broccoli.  I would suggest peas, but the capers and the peas start to look alike and it doesn't quite have that visual appeal.  Enjoy!!!


Ingredients


• 2 boneless skinless boneless chicken breasts, butterflied, cut in half and flattened a little

• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

• All-purpose flour, for dredging and for sauce thickening.  I like to season my dredging flour with garlic powder, onion powder, a little salt and pepper.

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter

• 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

• 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

• 1/2 cup chicken stock

• 1/4 cup white wine

• 1/4 cup brined capers, removed from brine.  You may rinse them if you choose.  I don't.

• 1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped (optional)

Serves 4.

Directions

Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Dredge chicken in flour and shake off excess.

In a large skillet over medium high heat, melt 2 tablespoons of butter with 3 tablespoons olive oil. When the butter and oil start to sizzle, add 2 pieces of chicken and cook for 3 minutes. When the chicken is browned, flip and cook other side for 3 minutes. Remove and transfer to plate. Melt 2 more tablespoons butter and add another 2 tablespoons olive oil. When butter and oil start to sizzle, add the other 2 pieces of chicken and brown both sides in same manner. Remove pan from heat and add chicken to the plate.

Into the pan add the lemon juice, wine, stock and capers. Return to stove and bring to boil, scraping up brown bits from the pan for extra flavor. Return all the chicken to the pan and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove chicken to platter. Add remaining 2 tablespoons butter to sauce and whisk vigorously. Take 4 Tbs of the pan juice out and put in a small bowl. Add 1 Tbs of AP flour and make into a paste. Add the paste back to the pan sauce and stir till combined. Check the seasoning.  Pour sauce over chicken and garnish with parsley (optional).

Pasta Accompaniment:

1 lb. Low Carb Pasta (like Dreamfields), cooked al dente

½ stick butter

¼ cup white wine

¼ cup fresh basil, rough chopped

1 Tbs. minced garlic

¼ cup shredded parmesan cheese

The juice from a half of a lemon

Kosher salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Cook the pasta in salty water, drain and add to a skillet. Add all of the remaining ingredients, and serve with the chicken.