Category: meats

Roast Chicken in a Romertopf Clay Roaster

I love a roast chicken because it’s delicious, you can cook a whole meat in one dish, and you get to make soup out of the bones.  I have a Romertopf clay baker, but had never used it for cooking a chicken – if you don’t have one, you can use any other covered dish that fits a chicken and all these veggies.  I found this to be a great dish to make for company, because I could throw it in the oven an hour before anyone came over, and then I had time to do some of the last minute jobs, such as relaxing a bit.

What you need:

a whole roasting chicken

1 lemon

a few springs of thyme

salt and pepper

a few potatoes

a sweet potato

a few carrots

1 bulb of garlic

1 onion

butter or olive oil

a few splashes of white wine (optional)

What you do:

1. Immerse the Romertopf  in water for 15-30 minutes.  This needs to be done to avoid cracking when it is in the oven.

2.  Cut up all the veggies and place them in the bottom of the roaster.  I also placed some around the sides of the chicken.

3.  Run your fingers between the skin and breast of the chicken to loosen the skin up.  Push a few springs of thyme under the skin.  Rub the chicken with a little butter or olive oil.  Place it, breast side up, in the roaster.  Stick the lemon whole or cut in half into the cavity of the chicken.  Salt and pepper the chicken and veggies liberally, and add a few splashes of wine.  Add some more thyme on top of the veggies.  I also put in a rosemary branch.  Put the lid on top of the baking dish.

4.  Place the Romertopf baker in a cold oven, then turn it up to 400F.  If you are using another type of baker, feel free to preheat the oven.  Let the chicken bake for 1 & 1/2 hours.  I didn’t even peek at mine, hoping for the best, and it turned out perfect.  Mine browned with the lid on, but if you find yours is still a little pale, feel free to pop it back in the oven for a few minutes.

5.  Let the chicken rest for about 20 minutes with the lid on before carving it.

There was quite a bit of liquid in the bottom of the baking dish, so I pulled the chicken out and drained it.  Because the chicken is literally ‘falling off the bone,’ it was a little difficult to take it out whole, so you could use a turkey baster to remove the liquid.

See this link for chicken broth.  You can use the bones and skin instead of the chicken pieces the recipe calls for.  If you didn’t make gravy with it, you could also add the juices that were drained off.

Patatas con Chorizo

Potatoes with chorizo  – I made these recently as an appetizer, but I was so glad that I made too much because they were really good heated up with my dinner the next night.  This one is really easy to make.

I got the recipe out of Rohan Daft’s Menu del Dia cookbook, and made a few changes to the original recipe:  I cooked the chorizo first and soaked up a lot of the fat that came off of them.   Rather than the dried peppers the recipe called for, I used a few pimento del piquillo a friend gave me from Spain.  I also made a smaller recipe.

What you need:

1-2 dry-cured chorizo, chopped

5-6 small white potatoes, cut in half or quarters (I left the skins on)

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium yellow or white onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

2 dried mild red pepper, or 2 chopped roasted red peppers, or 1 teaspoon paprika

1 bay leaf

boiling water

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

sea salt

What you do:

1.  Cook the chopped chorizo for a few minutes in a frying pan, then drain on paper towels.  Remove the excess fat from the frying pan.

2.  Heat the olive oil on medium-low heat, then add the chopped onion, stirring well and cooking for about 10 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook for a few more minutes, so the onion is soft but not browned.

3.  Add the potatoes and stir until they are coated in oil.  Add the chorizo, peppers and bay leaf, and stir well.  Cover with boiling water and simmer for 30 minutes, or until most of the liquid has disappeared.  Give it a stir every now and then, but do it carefully so you don’t break the potatoes.

4.  Remove the bay leaf and sprinkle on some salt and the chopped parsley.  Serve it up hot!

Feel free to leave a comment if you like the sounds of this, if you try it out, or if I’ve made any mistakes!

Salmon Croquettes

These are a yummy way to use up leftover salmon.  I planned ahead and made mashed potatoes with barbecued salmon so that I could try out this Mark Bittman recipe.  Shaping these into croquettes was a little finicky, so next time I might try to form them into patties instead.

I served them with honeyed-ginger carrots and lemony kale with onions, garlic and pine nuts.

What you need:

1 cup leftover salmon meat

1 cup leftover mashed potatoes

1/2 cup finely diced onion

a few chopped parsley leaves

1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

1 egg

1 teaspoon dijon mustard

salt and pepper to taste

bread crumbs

olive oil

lemon wedges (optional)

What you do:

1.  Mix all the ingredients except the olive oil and lemon together, using just enough breadcrumbs to stiffen the mixture.

2.  Form into small logs or patties, then coat in bread crumbs.  Place on a rack, then refrigerate for 15 to 20 minutes to dry them out a little.

3.  Heat some olive oil over medium heat, then cook the croquettes until they are browned.

Serve them with lemon wedges if you like, or a yogurt dill sauce.

Spanish Stew With Vegetables and Olives

The weather is turning a little cooler, and I always look for an excuse to put olives into a recipe.  This one has tons of flavour, and it’s got lots of veggies to keep you healthy.  This one comes from Maryana Vollstedt’s Big Book of Soups and Stews.  It’s pretty easy, just a bunch of chopping, sauteing and stewing.

What you need:

1 – 2 tablespoons olive oil

1 & 1/2 pounds boneless pork loin, cut into 3 cm-ish cubes

1 cup chopped sweet onion

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 red pepper and 1 yellow or orange pepper, cut into chunks of about 4cm

10-12 mushrooms, cut in half, or quarters for large ones

1 large can diced tomatoes with juice

1 cup chicken stock

1 cup dry white wine

1 teaspoon fresh oregano

1/4 teaspoon fresh thyme (less of each herb if you use dried)

1 cup kalamata olives, or a mixture of olives of your choice

1 pound green beans, frenched

salt and pepper, to taste

What you do:

1.  Heat the olive oil in a large pot, then add the pork and brown it for about 5 minutes. You may want to do this in batches.

2.  Add the onion and cook for a few minutes, then add the pepper and mushrooms and cook for about 5 more minutes.  Add more oil to keep the veggies from sticking, if you need to.

3.  Add the tomatoes, wine, oregano and thyme, then reduce the heat so it is just simmering, for about 30 minutes.

4.  Add the olives and green beans and cook for a few more minutes, until the beans are lightly cooked.

5.  Season with salt and pepper, remembering that the olives will add a bit of salt to the stew, so don’t use too much salt without tasting it first!

Serve it up with a nice loaf of crusty bread!

Beef Quesadilla

A great comfort food – I love fried onions and steak together, add the salsa and yogurt and it’s a dream come true!  This one is great to make if you’ve got some left over  steak from your barbecue the night before.  Another amazing addition is some slices of avocado – that puts it over the top!

I don’t eat cheese very often, so when I do but it I grate the unused part and keep it in the freezer.  Same goes for the tortilla, just pop them in the freezer to use later, maybe even in a tortilla pizza.

What you need:

1/2 onion, sliced

1 red pepper, sliced

1 beef steak

cheddar or another favourite cheese, grated

salt

olive oil

yogurt or sour cream

salsa

tortilla shells

What you do:

1.  Take the steak out of the fridge so it isn’t completely cold when you cook it.  Rub a little olive oil on each side, then liberally salt each side, then set aside.

2.  Heat a little olive oil in a frying pan.  Add the onions and cook for about 5 minutes.  Add the sliced red peppers and continue to cook until the onions are quite browned.  Remove from the pan and set aside.

3.  Heat the pan to medium high.  When it’s good and hot, place the steak on the pan.  Cook it for just a few minutes, depending on the thickness of the steak and your preference.  I love mine quite rare, so I don’t leave it for long, plus it continues to cook while it rests out of the pan before cutting.  Use tongs to flip the steak and cook the other side for about 2 minutes.  Remove from the pan to rest for at least 5 minutes.  Slice very thinly.

4.  Clean your pan out and place a tortilla in it, on medium-low heat.  Sprinkle a little cheese on one half, then add some onion and pepper and some slices of steak.  Add a little more cheese, then pull the other half of the tortilla over the fillings.  I like to put the cheese on the top and the bottom because I think that when it melts it helps hold all the fillings in.  Plus people love cheese, so often a little more is better.

5.  Let the quesadilla cook until that side it slightly brown and crispy, then flip it over and do the same to the other side.

6.  Serve with some salsa and yogurt or sour cream on the side.

Thanks for the great photo, Megan!

Pistachio and Chorizo Bread

I wish I had gotten to posting this recipe earlier in the summer, because it makes a great picnic food.  It would be a great appetizer too, any time of year.  It’s pretty easy, impressive, and loved by many.   Feel free to add more or less of the chorizo, sun-dried tomatoes, chili powder and pistachios depending hon how much you like each of those ingredients.

I forgot to put the pistachios in when I made it, so I piled a few on top when I ate a slice.  This worked great because the nuts stayed crunchy.

This recipe comes from David Lebovitz’s blog.  I also recommend his book The Sweet Life in Paris for a taste of life in Paris and some good recipes.

What you need:

butter for greasing the pan

2 tablespoons sesame seeds, for the bottom of the pan

1 & 1/4 cups flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon chile powder

3 eggs at room temperature

1/2 cup plain yogurt

85 grams or so of chorizo sausage, diced (the kind that doesn’t need cooking)

8 or so sun-dried tomato halves, finely diced

3/4 cup unsalted pistachios (hard to find, but they are available at Trader Joe’s)

1/4 cup parsley, chopped (optional)

What you do:

1.  Grease a 9-inch loaf pan with some butter.  Toss the sesame seeds around in the pan until there is a layer of them over the bottom.  Preheat your oven to 350F.

2.  Mix the egg and yogurt together in a bowl.  Add the dry ingredients – flour, baking powder, salt and chili powder.  Stir, being careful to mix only until just incorporated.

3.  Fold in the chorizo, tomatoes, nuts and parsley.  Pour into the loaf pan.

4.  Bake for 40-50 minutes, then let it sit in the pan for about 15 minutes after you’ve taken it out of the oven before removing it to cool on a rack.

When it’s cool you can cut it into thin slices to serve.  Wrap leftovers up tightly in plastic wrap; apparently it lasts a few days at room temperature.  Mine didn’t last the night, so I didn’t get to test that out.

Let me know how you like it!

Poulet Calvados

Chef Jeremy, one of my fabulous hosts in Paris, made this amazing dinner the other night.  Unfortunately I don’t have a picture of the plated meal because it was so good that we dug in right away without pausing for the photo.  Served with a baguette and white wine, this is an impressive and not too challenging recipe.

Jeremy found this recipe online, at allrecipes.com, and feels it is a close approximation to the recipe that he lost, which used chicken stock and cider, and was flambeed with calvados.

What you need:

1/2 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon salt or fleur de sel

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts

1/4 cup butter

3 cups fresh mushrooms

3 granny smith apples, peeled and sliced

1 cup apple brandy (calvados, or brandy in a pinch)

1-2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 cup cream

What you do:

1.  Combine the flour and salt in a bowl and the coat the chicken in it.  Heat the butter in a large pan over medium-high heat and brown the chicken on each side, about 3 minutes each side.  Transfer the chicken to a plate and cover.

2.  Put the onions, mushrooms and apples in the pan.  If the pan is too dry you can add a little olive oil.  Cook until the apples are tender, about 5 minutes, stirring from time to time.

3.  Stir in the brandy, thyme, salt and pepper and bring to a simmer.  Put the chicken back in the pan and cook, uncovered, for about 10 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked.

4.  Add the cream and simmer until thickened, for about 5 minutes.

Served with a baguette this is fabulous because you can use the bread to soak up the amazing sauce.  We had crème caramel for dessert… amazing, and hopefully a recipe that I will post soon!  Bon appetit!

 

Charcuterie dans Paris

After a visit to the Castle of Saint-Germain0en Laye, just outside of Paris, I went with my hosts Julie and Jeremy to gather supplies for our charcuterie.  We visited a fromagerie, boulangerie, cave aux vins, le marche plein air, et le Monoprix to find what we need.

Here’s what we had:

cheeses: a brie, de melun lait cru

a chèvre, cabri cendré fermier

a tantation lait cru from St. Félicen

a Tomme de Savoie from Abondance Fermiere

The meats: jambon cru fumé de la forêt noire

jambon cru Espangnol

jamón serrano

salame di milano

chorizo Espangnol

We also had: pimento olives

olives stuffed with almonds

apple , figs and melon to wrap the meat around

dried strawberries

The wine was a Chateau Chavrignac Bordeaux 2009

and a fabulous baguette from the Boulangerie au Petit Duc!

We ended with a decadent chocolate treat called a Royale, chocolate mousse decorated with some praline and topped with chocolate ganache.

Alleosse Affineur Maitre Artisan dans rue Poncelet, Paris

Quick and Yummy Chicken and Veg Noodles

This is another old standby, usually with just the broccoli, but I try to add extra veg whenever I can.  It’s comfort-foody, plus it’s pretty easy.  Feel free to switch it up with your favourite veg.

I use plain yogurt in this, but you can use sour cream if you prefer.

What you need:

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

2-3 boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch pieces

1 small onion, chopped

1-2 red/yellow/orange peppers

1 clove garlic, minced

3 cups chicken stock

3 cups medium egg noodles

1 large head broccoli, broken into florets

1 cup yogurt or sour cream

salt and pepper to taste

What you do:

1.  In a large frying pan heat the oil, then add the onions and saute until translucent.  Add the garlic and chicken and cook for a few minutes.

2.  Add the stock into the frying pan and bring to a boil.  Add the noodles and cook for about 6 minutes, or until the noodles are almost cooked, stirring from time to time.

3.  Add the broccoli and cook for a few minutes, making sure the broccoli is still bright green when it is served.

4.  Add the yogurt/sour cream just before serving and season with salt and pepper to taste.

This recipe is from More Six O’Clock Solutions by Ruth Phelan and Brenda Thompson.

Quinoa-Stuffed Peppers: Turkey and Chorizo with lots of Veggies

Stuffed peppers look so pretty, and this recipe is pretty healthy too, stuffed with lots of veggies and quinoa.  I like to make dishes that have it all – lots of healthy veg, some protein and a complex carbohydrate.  So I put together some of my favourite ingredients, and this is what I came up with.

You can prepare the filling ahead of time, even stuff the peppers and pop them in the fridge.  Throw them in the oven just before serving, make a little green salad on the side and you’re ready to go!

What you need:

sweet peppers (a dozen mini or half a dozen regular sized)

200 grams ground turkey

1 chorizo sausage, removed from casing

1/2 cup quinoa, uncooked

1 sweet onion, diced

4 mushrooms, diced

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 sweet red pepper (for filling), diced

1 stalk celery, diced

2 tablespoons dried currants

salt and lots of pepper

olive oil

What you do:

1. Before cooking the quinoa rinse it, then put it in a pot with about a cup of water.  Bring it to a boil, then lower the heat and put a lid on it, cooking for 15 minutes.  If the water doesn’t all get absorbed in this time, put it back on the heat for a few minutes, stirring until the liquid is gone.

2. Cook the chorizo, removed from its casing, along with the turkey meat.  Drain the fat off and set the meat aside.

3.  In a little olive oil cook the onions on medium-low heat until they start to brown. Add the mushrooms and cook for a few minutes.  The onions will  begin to get quite brown, which is exactly what you want, because a lot of the flavour in the dish is coming from the nicely browned onions.

4.  Add the garlic and the rest of the veggies, stirring and cooking until they begin to soften.

5.  Mix the meats, quinoa, currants and veggies together, adding salt and quite a bit of pepper to taste.

6. Cut the tops off the peppers, the  fill each pepper and put the tops back on.  Preheat the oven to 350F.

7.  Arrange them in a baking dish as you fill them, then pop them in the oven for about 45 minutes!