It’s no secret that I love soup. What’s not to like about it? Easy to make, you can use scraps from your kitchen, they’re usually healthy, and make great leftovers. Win, win, win, WIN in my opinion.

Two weekends ago it was cold here in SF, and I was craving an Italian-style soup, but one without any pasta (I’ve been continuing to lay off the refined carbs). This Minestrone inspired soup, thick with shredded chicken, lots of vegetables, and a light garnish of salty parmesan cheese did the trick. To amp up the flavors, I roasted some fresh tomatoes and garlic — each tossed in olive oil and balsamic vinegar — and beyond the extra richness it added to the soup, the smell alone made this step worth it. While they were roasting, Joe kept drifting in and out of the kitchen, until he finally came in and asked, “Why does it smell so GOOD in here?”

Need I say more?

Get the recipe (and more food pics!), after the jump!

Roasted Tomato and Chicken Stew with White Beans
Serves 6

14 oz vine tomatoes, halved, cored (I used the Campari variety. To core the tomatoes, just use a spoon to gently scoop out the seeds and innards)
4 cloves garlic, unpeeled
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
–kosher salt and pepper
1.5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs
3 carrots, peeled and diced
1 medium onion, peeled and diced
1 28 oz can tomato puree
1 quart chicken stock
1 bay leaf
1 pinch crushed red pepper flake
1 can great northern beans, rinsed and drained
parmesan cheese rind (buy a small wedge of Parmigiano Reggiano, then cut off the rind. Yes, it’s edible!)
1/2 bunch rainbow or red chard, chopped into bite sized pieces

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a small baking dish, arrange the tomatoes so that they’re all core side up. Nestle the garlic cloves in the baking dish as well. Drizzle 2 tbsp of the olive oil over the tomatoes, as well as the balsamic vinegar. Season with salt and pepper. Roast for 30-40 minutes, or until the tomatoes are very soft, and the garlic is tender and fragrant. The balsamic vinegar may caramelize on the bottom of the dish a little too. Remove from oven and set aside.

In a large soup pot, heat the 1/4 cup of olive oil over medium high heat. Once hot, season the chicken thighs, then brown in the oil, flipping to brown the second side (each side should take about 2 minutes). Remove the meat from the pot and set on a plate. Add in the carrots and onions, and stir. Remove the garlic (it should be cool enough by now) from their papers and add to the pot as well. Season with salt and pepper.

Once the onion has softened, add in the tomato puree, the chicken stock, the bay leaf, and the crushed red pepper flakes. Season the soup with salt and pepper. Carefully add the chicken back to the soup, along with any accumulated juices. Cover and simmer on medium low heat for 1 hour. The chicken should be fall-apart tender. Taste the soup and adjust for salt.

Remove the chicken thighs from the soup, and using two forks, shred the meat. Add it, the beans and the parmesan cheese rind back to the soup, and simmer covered for another 15 minutes. Add in the chard, simmer for five minutes more, remove the cheese rind and the bay leaf, then serve immediately. Garnish with a little grated parmesan cheese. Enjoy!

This year, as part of a plan to save more money, I’m pushing myself to bring lunch to work at least 4 days per week. For me, it saves a TON of cash (I work in an area where eating lunch out will cost you anywhere from $10-$20 per day, unfortunately), but the other benefit is that there’s a huge opportunity to eat healthfully more often too.

The only difficulty is coming up with dishes that can last a few days, because the reality is, I can’t cook every night and guarantee leftovers for myself. It can also be tough because dishes that hold especially well — namely, pastas and casseroles — tend to be refined carb heavy, which is something I’m trying to get away from. Soups are great, but I can only deal with so many weeks of soup before I’m ready for something else.

This week, I decided to make a simple bean salad, dressed with lemon and olive oil, which will hold at least until Wednesday. My plan is to bring a side serving of it each day, and then have it accompany a small sandwich or whatever leftovers I end up scrounging together from the previous night’s dinner (this would be great with some roasted chicken, or even atop a green salad). It’s colorful, flavorful, and filled with items that I specifically selected so that they wouldn’t be mushy by day 2 (I’m looking at you, cucumber).

You could easily take this idea and substitute whatever beans and herbs you have on hand. And if you’re eating it straight away, feel free to add in items like cucumber, tomato, even a little bit of feta cheese.

Get the (very easy!) recipe, after the jump.

Simple Bean Salad

1 can cannellini beans
1 can adzuki beans (these aren’t always in stores; substitute kidney beans instead)
1 can quartered artichoke hearts
2 carrots
1 bunch curly leaf parsley, washed
1/2 medium red onion, finely diced
2 lemons
1/4 cup + more to taste extra virgin olive oil
–kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

In a colander, pour out the beans and the artichoke hearts, and rinse under cool water. Set aside and allow to drain.

Using a box grater, grate the carrots. Add to a medium sized glass bowl. Cut away the leaves from the stems of the parsley, and quickly chop. Add this and the chopped onion to the bowl. Using a microplane, zest the lemons over the bowl, then cut and half, and juice them over the bowl. Add in the beans and artichoke hearts, pour in the olive oil, season with salt and pepper, then toss to combine. Taste the salad and season with more salt and pepper, lemon juice, olive oil, or even the vinegar of your choice (red wine, white wine, or even apple cider vinegar could work well here) until you like the way it tastes. Refrigerate for up to 3 or 4 days.

Remember, this is a plain salad meant to last me a few days for lunch. Spruce it up with more veggies, cheese, diced chicken — whatever you have on hand!

UPDATE: And, after eating this about 24 hours later, I can vouch that it’s even better after marinating in the lemon juice and olive oil. Lunch today = YUM.

Early last week, I felt a cold coming on, and even though the symptoms never got too bad, I took it as a sign that I needed to slow down and take it easy for a few days. The fatigue was the worst part — it felt like rolling out of bed would be the most laborious thing imaginable.

On the day I headed home from work early, I was craving a soup that was thick and chicken-y (always a sure sign that I’m sick). I stopped by the store and picked up a few ingredients to make myself a “get well soon” soup. Along with lots of rest, I’m convinced this is what got me back up on my feet!

This soup is extremely easy to make, even when you’re under the weather. After quickly browning some chicken and sweating vegetables, everything simmers together until soft, then is pureed to velvety smoothness. Try this on a cold, snowy night…or when you’re feeling the effects of the season. Either way, it’s guaranteed to satisfy.

Get the recipe:

Chicken and Potato Leek Soup

Easily serves 6-8; you’ll have enough for a few lunches!

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 package boneless, skinless chicken thighs (I used probably a 3/4 lb package)
3 carrots, washed very well (peeled if you like), and chopped
4 stalks of celery, cleaned and chopped
1 very large yellow onion, peeled and medium diced
1 large leek, green part and root tip removed, white and very pale green part cleaned and chopped
3 medium Russet potatoes, washed VERY well, and diced (I like to leave the skins on but you could remove if you wanted)
Juice of 1 lemon
1 qt chicken stock
1 qt water
4-5 sprigs of thyme, leaves stripped
1/2-3/4 cup milk (can substitute 2% too)
–kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a large, heavy bottomed pot (I use this one, which is 4 qts), heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Remove the chicken and set it on a small plate. Season the chicken well with salt and pepper, then add to the pot once hot. Allow to brown on the first side, about 3-4 minutes, then flip the meat and brown the second side. Remove the meat from the pan and set it back on the plate.

Add the chopped carrots, celery, onion, leeks and potato to the pot, season well with salt and pepper, and stir. Allow to cook for several minutes, until the onions begin to soften and the mixture is very aromatic. Add in the lemon juice, and stir to release any browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Pour in the chicken stock and water, add the thyme leaves, then season the soup well with salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes, or until the potatoes fall apart when poked with a fork or knife. Be sure to taste the broth of the soup at this point to ensure that it doesn’t need more salt.

Using an immersion blender, puree the soup to the desired consistency — I like it pretty smooth. If you don’t have an immersion blender, can you puree the soup in batches in either a blender or a food processor. Be careful not to overfill the vessel, as burns from hot soup are no fun! Pour all the soup back into the pot if you’re using a blender or food processor.

Dice the chicken into bite sized pieces and add it and any accumulated juices into the soup, and stir in the milk. Let the soup cook over very low heat for another ten minutes, to ensure the meat has cooked through. Don’t let it boil at this point — we’re just looking to reheat it.

Ladle into bowls, garnish with a bit of chopped thyme or parsley, and serve.

Note: If you wanted to make this soup vegetarian, it’s very easy! Just omit the chicken, and use vegetable stock instead. Make it vegan with the use of a nut milk!

And for the record, I took these photos using leftover soup, once I was feeling better. :)

I’m a girl who, when I can swing it, has no qualms about indulging in little luxuries for herself. A good facial, a heavenly massage — these things are all so worth the expense, in my opinion.

For the last few years, I’ve had massages from a fantastic woman here in SF named Nell Waters, who runs a practice named Whole Body Tonic. It’s located in the city’s Dogpatch neighborhood, and shares a space with an acupuncture practice, called Acupuncture Kitchen. So when Nell emailed me to let me know that the two practices had opened up a pop-up shop selling bath salts, soaps, various linens, and a homemade hot cocoa mix that was out of this world, I popped down to learn more.

The pop-up shop consists of a reclaimed antique cupboard filled with lots of fun goodies to peruse while you wait for your massage or acupuncture. Adorable. If you’re in SF, I highly recommend you check out Whole Body Tonic or Acupuncture Kitchen. While I haven’t experimented with acupuncture (have any of you? What was it like??), Nell gives the best massages in the city, I’m sure of it. She was kind enough to contact Apotherie Chocolates, the inventor of the famed hot cocoa recipe, so I could share it with all of you. How delicious does this sound?

{Image Credits: Note to Self; Parsec Traveller Flickr; Pinterest}

On our menu for the big day tomorrow:

+ Hot spinach and artichoke dip (gotta have a good app!)
+ Brown sugar and herb brined + roasted turkey breast
+ Cornbread dressing with bacon, leeks and apples
+ Red wine gravy
+ Roasted garlic and parmesan smashed potatoes
+ Classic southern green bean casserole
+ Sauteed Swiss chard with cranberries, butternut squash, and toasted walnuts (Maybe? Joe doesn’t seem so interested in this)

With the exception of the casserole, I’m creating each recipe. I spent last night prepping lots of the items (making cornbread, getting veggies chopped, making and cooling the brine). I’m going to be a busy girl tonight and tomorrow, but it will be so fun! Completely worth it for that moment when you sit down and take the first bite. CAN’T. WAIT.

I was going through some old archives and remembered I put together these two posts last year: the first, on Thanksgiving wine pairings; the second, on what to do with all your leftovers! The recs definitely still stand, so check them out if you’re at a loss on either front.

[And fret not... Behind the Scenes will be back next week with a very fabulous lady. I just didn't want to give anyone the shaft post date of the day before Thanksgiving!]

What are you doing to prepare today? For those of you traveling, stay safe!!

{Image Credit: A Well Traveled Woman, Lyla & Blu}

A couple weeks ago, Lara from Simply Irresistible posted two pasta recipes that looked SO good. Well, I mean, all of her recipes look really good, but I must’ve been craving pasta, because the minute I saw these, I wanted to make them right then and there. Which is weird, because at home, Joe and I typically stay away from pasta, mostly for dietary reasons. But the weather has been cooler, and the thought of a big, warm bowl of noodles just sounded really delicious!

Two Saturdays ago, we spent the day out and about, running errands and buying a coat for Joe, and it was drizzling all day. Inspired by Lara, I suggested pasta for dinner to make up for the miserable weather. I was blown away when Joe said, “Spaghetti and meatballs?” Done and done. And to make things extra special, I told him I’d even make the sauce from scratch.

This dish turned out really well! If you’re following exactly what I did, I’d recommend you save this one for a weekend, when you have a bit more time. However, you could easily make it a weeknight meal by using your favorite jarred marinara sauce.

Get the recipe after the jump!

Bucatini with meatballs and homemade marinara

For the meatballs:
2 large eggs
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 c grated parmesan
1/2 lb ground beef (chuck is fine)
3/4 lb ground pork
1/2 small onion, finely diced (save the other half for the sauce, below)
1/2 cup fresh white bread crumbs (see note, below)
10 sprigs fresh oregano, leaves striped and minced (half will be used in the meat; half in the sauce)
1/3 cup loosely packed parsley, chopped
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

For the sauce:
1.5 small onions, cut into julienne (use one whole small onion, and the other half from the onion used in the meatballs)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp tomato paste (see note, below)
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flake
1 cup dry red wine
2 28-0z cans crushed tomatoes, cans set aside (I like San Marzano brand.)
2 tbsp sugar
1 lb bucatini or the long pasta of your choice (spaghetti, angel hair, fettucine, etc.)

–kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the meatballs:
In a large bowl, combine the eggs, the garlic, the grated parmesan, the ground meat, the diced onion, the breadcrumbs, half the oregano, and the chopped parsley. Season with 1 teaspoon of kosher or sea salt and half a teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper. Use your hands to mix until all the ingredients are well combined and evenly distributed.

In a heavy bottomed pot (I used a cast iron enameled Dutch oven), heat the olive oil over medium high. Using your hands, begin rolling the ground meat mixture into meatballs the size of golf balls. Set the first few on a plate; once the oil is hot, carefully add them in. While these cook on the first side, roll the rest of the meatballs and set them on the plate.

Use a slotted spoon or tongs to gently roll the meatballs onto another side to brown. Each side should brown in a minute or two. I find that I can usually get three sides of the meatball browned. Once browned, remove the meatballs to the plate, and swap in the un-browned ones. Repeat until your meatballs are all browned. Use paper towels to quickly soak up some of the excess fat at the bottom of the pot, but leave enough to have a thin coat, about 3-4 tbsp.

For the sauce:
Add in the onions and garlic into the pot and stir. Lower heat to medium and cook until the onions are very soft and translucent. Stir in the tomato paste and chili flakes and continue cooking until the onions are meltingly soft, and the tomato paste has begun to caramelize on the bottom of the pot. You’ll notice it smells like sun dried tomatoes.

Pour in the red wine and stir to release any browned bits on the bottom of the pot . Allow to cook for 1-2 minutes. Add in the crushed tomatoes. Fill one of the cans about half filled with water, and swish around to get that extra bit of tomato sauce. Pour in 1/2 cup of the ‘tomato water.’ Add in the sugar, and the rest of the oregano, and season the sauce with salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer, and let cook for half an hour (or however much time you have). Taste, and re-season, either with more sugar, salt and/or pepper.

Use tongs to add the meatballs into the sauce. Be sure to pour in any juices that have accumulated on the plate. Continue simmering until the meatballs are cooked through and the sauce tastes really good.

To finish:
While this is happening, you can bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta according to package directions. From here you, can either drain the pasta and serve some of the sauce on top, or to make things extra delicious do this:

Cook the pasta two minutes fewer than whatever the box tells you to do. In a large skillet, heat two tbsp of olive oil, and ladle in several cups of the tomato sauce (without any meatballs). Once the pasta has finished cooking, do not drain it, but instead, use tongs to transfer the noodles directly into the skillet with the sauce. Toss to combine. This will coat the noodles in sauce and allow them to finish cooking. It also prevents you from having water tomato sauce at the bottom of your bowl. This is my favorite way to finish pasta.

Pile the pasta onto plates or bowls, ladle a bit more sauce over the top, and garnish with as many meatballs as you want. Sprinkle parmesan cheese on top, and serve. YUM.

Notes: For fresh breadcrumbs, you can take some white sandwich bread, cut away the crusts, and quickly pulse it in a food processor for crumbs. Or, do what I did, which is even more rustic: I bought a ciabatta roll from the bakery, cut it in half, and used my fingers to tear out the inside part, leaving the crust behind. I tore this up into tiny pieces, and mashed it in with the meat. Works great. Fresh breadcrumbs will help make the meatballs seem even more moist and tender.

If you don’t want to buy a jar of tomato paste only to waste most of it, look for tomato paste sold in tubes. You can squeeze out what you need, then save the rest in the refrigerator for another day. Genius!

Even with boots, chilly weather, and blog posts about pumpkins, to me, it’s not officially fall until I make a batch of butternut squash soup. For one thing, it’s easy, filling, and oh-so healthy. But the soup’s gorgeous, saturated orange color? The way it warms you from the inside out? Fall. Totally fall.

Butternut squash soup is great in that it’s simple on its own, but you can zhush it up with garnishes and other add-ins to make it fancier. It’s also the perfect thing if you’re looking for a vegan/vegetarian friendly recipe — there’s definitely no rule that says you have to include chicken stock or cream in it!

Below is a version I made on Monday night to bring for lunches throughout the week. I like making my soup with something to add just a touch of sweetness. This time, instead of apples, I used two pears that were on their last leg. Along with a sweet potato and some regular potatoes to help thicken things up, this soup was SO satisfying. Feeling fancy? You could dress it up with a dollop of crème fraîche, or swirl some cream right into the soup once you’ve heated it. I’m guessing a garnish of chives and crumbled bacon would also not be horrible. I’ve tried butternut squash soup with toasted hulled pumpkin seeds on top, too — it’s really good!

Simple Butternut Squash Soup
Serves 8 (at least)

1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 medium sized butternut, peeled and diced
–kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 tsp dried thyme, or 1 tbsp if you are using fresh
1 dried bay leaf
2 Bosc peers, peeled, cored and roughly chopped (could substitute apples, too)
1 large orange sweet potato, peeled and diced
2 large red potatoes, peeled and diced (you could also substitute Yukon gold or russet — whatever you have)
2 quarts vegetable stock

In a large heavy bottomed pot or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Once hot, add in the onion and the diced squash, then season well with salt and pepper. Stir and let sweat, until the onions are softened and beginning to turn translucent. Pour in the white wine and stir. Add in the thyme, the bay leaf, the pears, the potatoes and the stock. Gently stir, and season well with salt and pepper.

Bring to a simmer and let cook for half an hour, or until the largest pieces of potato or squash are very tender. Remove the bay leaf. Using an immersion blender, puree the soup until it is velvety smooth. If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can add batches of the soup to a blender and process. Be careful not to add too much; work in small batches so as not to accidentally burn yourself. Taste the pureed soup and adjust the seasonings.

Serve hot with the garnishes of your choice.

Also, here’s a quick tutorial on how to cut up a butternut squash. No need to be intimidated by their strange shape and hard skin!

1. Of all the winter squashes, I think butternuts have the thinnest skin. I used to cut away the skin with a knife, but I hated how much squash I’d lose (and I almost chopped off my finger a time or two). A few years ago when I was recipe testing for a local newspaper, a chef showed me how I could just peel it with a sturdy vegetable peeler (I like the Good Grips one from OXO), and I’ve never looked back. It’s much safer, and you get more squash that way. You can also cut the squash in half first (see below) if it’s easier for you to peel it this way.

2. Once you’ve peeled the butternut, cut it crosswise where the base of the squash starts to balloon or bell out. This is approximately where the seeds are.

3. Cut both pieces in half; this will make them more manageable to cut down further. Use a spoon to scoop the seeds out and discard any of the stringy pulp.

4. If you’re cubing the squash like I was for the soup, cut the longer part into planks, then into sticks, then into cubes. You can cut the round part of the squash into half circles, then dice from there.

Presto! Your squash is all cut up and ready to go, and you didn’t slice off your hand trying to deal with it.

1. J.Crew stripe shirt in crepe de chine   2. J.Crew hacking jacket   3. J.Crew Pixie Pant
3.5 J.Crew Mona Pumps in brick red (forgot to number, wah)   4. Disco sweater
5. Rosel boxy sweater dress    6. Sanctuary cowl pullover

I’ve mentioned it a little bit on Twitter, but this week I’m doing a mini-cleanse/detox thing. Don’t ask me which one, I made the medically sound decision to semi make it up as I went along. But no need to call the paramedics yet, it’s pretty simple — lots of raw veggies, limited cooked ones, no meat, no dairy, no gluten, no ultra-processed foods of any kind (I say ‘ultra’ because I’ve been noshing on Lara bars for snacks). Lots of low sugar juices. Lots of kombucha. Tons of water and detox tea.

This is the first time I’ve done anything like this. What brought it on? Oh, let’s see. I’ve been to a party of some sorts for 3 of the last 4 weekends. I made carnitas. Sunday night we had steaks. I kind of want to throw up a little bit even thinking about it.

I had noticed my skin getting a little weird, and while at first I chocked it up to the changing seasons, eventually I had to face hard facts. Side note: Did you know your skin is a great indicator of what’s going on inside your body? Stress, poor diet, lack of sleep, lack of water — they ALL show up in your skin. So if you’re not glowing, it might be time to make a change!

HOWEVER. Even though after a few days I’m feeling pretty good and have definitely dropped a few el bees, the craving for food has settled in. Not like pizza or anything gross. Ok, that’s a lie. You know what I’m craving? Some fried chicken. And mashed potatoes. Without the side effects, please!

I’m doing the gentle cleanse/detox diet thingy until Friday evening; it ends just in time for my regular date night with Joe (how convenient). I can’t get too crazy, first regular meal out of the shotgun. Any suggestions? I’m kind of thinking veggie or fish tacos at our favorite little Mexican joint might be the ticket.

Mexican food. Surprise, surprise.

Have you ever done a cleansing program before?

{Image Credit: Martha Stewart; Bon Appetit}

If you’ve met Joe and I, it’s no huge secret that Mexican is pretty much our favorite genre of food. It was omnipresent for me growing up in Texas, and since Joe grew up in the Midwest… well, let’s just say that once he discovered good Mexican food in California, he’s never been able to get enough of it.

When eating at home, we’ll usually stick to simple things like tacos and basic enchiladas, so last week when I saw Sara share a recipe for carnitas, I thought it might be the perfect thing to try on a lazy Saturday. Since we were staying home and doing absolutely nothing, there’d be no problem in letting the meat cook away in the oven for hours.

This would be a GREAT recipe for entertaining — the meat can be braising while you hang out with your guests or do other things around the house. I topped our tacos with peppers and veggies pickled in escabeche, a must for a rich, fatty taco filling like carnitas. Ever been to a taco truck? Escabeche is that delicious, spicy, vinegary concoction of jalapenos, peppers, carrots, onions and sometimes cauliflower. So good. A little avocado and a few sprigs of cilantro, and we were ready to go.

Well, once the margaritas got made.

Recipe notes

For the carnitas, I basically followed Sara’s recipe with a few changes. I used 1.5 beers (specifically, Victoria lagers leftover from our party) instead of one. I did not drain off the fat before putting everything in the oven, instead, choosing to let the meat cook in it and then draining it off at the end. Carnitas, after all, is basically pork confit. I also quadrupled the garlic and used Mexican oregano instead of regular. When the meat was done (I let it go for about 3 hours), I shredded it with two forks, and after draining the fat off of the cooking liquid, had so little left that I put all the meat back in and mixed it up with the softened garlic and juices. Do I really need to say more? It was ridiculously good.

For the escabeche, I followed this basic recipe, but of course had to make a few changes to that too. I used the same amount of apple cider vinegar recommended, and sauteed the veggies as instructed. However, since I was using a large aluminum pan (which can be reactive with that much acid), I made the sure the veggies were good and soft before adding the vinegar. I then quickly warmed the mixture up (but did not simmer it) before transferring to a glass bowl and allowing to sit for several hours. Also, I quartered the jalapenos instead of leaving them whole. And I did NOT attempt to can anything.

Really, this was so good and something I’d make again and again. Tons of leftovers too. Give it a try!

[PS -- Don't forget to enter the I Am print giveaway! There’s also lots of other places you can go to try your luck and win. Go here to see where!}

I don’t know what it is, but so far this summer, I really feel like I have not been taking advantage of the amazing produce available this time of year. Seriously, that baked ratatouille I made recently has kind of been the highlight. I’m lucky enough to work somewhere that has a farmers market right outside my office door each week, so I really, REALLY have no excuse not to be enjoying as many fruits and veggies as possible!

Last Friday night, Joe and I decided to stay in and make something summery at home to remedy the situation. I opted to roast some bone-in chicken breasts, smothered in garlic, lemon zest and LOTS of basil. While they were in the oven, I tossed together a simple salad of fresh corn, tomatoes, chopped kale, avocado and even more basil, dressed with a zippy lemon and dijon vinaigrette. Despite the fact that it was 55 and misting outside, it was totally summer on a plate.

Green Chicken (aka Roasted Chicken with Lemon, Basil and Garlic)

Serves 2, easily

This chicken is so named because before you stick it in the oven, the herbs should cover it so fully that it looks, well, green. Once this starts cooking, your kitchen will smell amazing. Fair warning.

• 2 cups loosely packed basil (about two loose handfuls), cleaned and finely chopped
• 5 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• Zest and juice of one lemon
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 tbsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 2 bone-in split chicken breasts, rinsed and patted dry with paper towels. 
  

Preheat your oven to 425°.

In a small bowl, combine all the ingredients except for the meat and stir to combine. The mixture should be pretty thick with herbs. If it’s not, chop some more basil and throw it in.

In a baking dish, place the chicken skin side up. Gently loosen the chicken skin from the breast, then using a small spoon, stuff/spread some of the herb mixture underneath the skin. Using your fingers, move the herbs around under the skin until it’s coating most of the meat. Repeat with the other chicken breast, then pour and spread the rest of the herb mixture all over the top of the chicken. Go wash your hands. Transfer the baking dish to the oven and roast for 25-30 minutes (this could take a bit longer if the chicken breasts are large). Half way through the cooking process, use a large spoon to baste the chicken with some of the juices accumulating in the pan. Roast the meat until a thermometer inserted into the deepest part of the breast reads 160°. Remove from the oven, baste with the juices again, and let rest for five to ten minutes. Serve.

Summer Corn Salad

Serves 2-3 easily (probably more if you’re doing a light serving of this salad!)

For the dressing:

• 1 small shallot, skin removed and minced
• Juice of 2 small lemons
• 1 tbsp dijon 
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• – kosher salt and freshly pepper to season

For the vegetables:

• 2 cobs of corn, husked, de-silked and kernels cut from the cob with a knife
• 1/2 pint sun gold (orange) cherry tomatoes, halved
• 2 small heirloom tomatoes, diced
• small handful of kale, chopped (any variety of kale will work — lacinto or curly)
• 1 avocado, peeled, seeded and diced
• 6-7 basil leaves (whatever’s left of the bunch), cut into a chiffonade or chopped

In a small bowl, combine all the dressing ingredients and gently whisk together until emulsified. In a medium bowl, combine all the vegetables, then pour in as much of the dressing as you’d like. Toss everything together and allow to sit while the chicken finishes cooking. Serve together.

Quite a ways back, I posted a recipe for homemade sweet cream butter, which I’d whipped up in an emergency to go with some muffins I’d baked for Joe. Like I mentioned before, muffins are one of his favorite breakfast items on the weekend, but I hadn’t made them in forever — they didn’t really mesh well with our beach-ready summer diet! But now that the trips have passed, we’ve been a bit more lenient and have fallen back into our hedonistic, refined-carb ways. So, the muffins made an appearance this past weekend.

This muffin recipe is something I’ve experimented with over the years, and reflects my personal taste in the pastry. They’re pretty rich, definitely cake like, and the raw batter may almost confuse you since it doesn’t take on the usual thick, gloppy consistency one might expect in a muffin mix. What’s great about this recipe is that you could make it with no fruit or other garnishes and have a very basic vanilla-almond muffin that you could load up with your favorite jam. But this time of year, when there is so much good fruit in season, I like to add in different berries or stone fruits.

Bake a batch, settle in with some freshly brewed coffee and a stack of magazines, and you’ve got the perfect start to the weekend.

Blueberry and nectarine muffins

Dry ingredients:

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (you can also substitute 1 1/4 cups of whole wheat flour)
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 granulated sugar
• 1/4 c light brown sugar, packed
• –a few shakes of ground cinnamon

Wet ingredients:

• 2 cups milk
• 1 tbsp canola oil
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 tsp good quality vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp almond extract (if you don’t have this and don’t want to buy it, you can omit it)
• 1/2 pint blackberries, washed and drained
• 1 whole nectarine, diced

Preheat your oven to 400º. Line a muffin tin with paper cups, or brush the tin with melted better, so that the muffins don’t stick.

Mix together all the dry ingredients in a large bowl, and set aside. In a separate medium bowl, mix together the wet ingredients with a small whisk or fork, being careful not to stir too vigorously and smash the fruit.

When you’re ready to bake, pour the wet ingredients into the dry, and use a spatula to gently fold the mixtures together. Don’t stir too hard, or the batter will develop gluten and become tough. You just want to blend these together — in fact, if you see a couple loose pockets of dry flour, that’s okay. The consistency will be like a thick cake batter.

Using a 1/4 cup measure, spoon the batter into the muffin tins. Bake for 15-20 minutes (depending on your oven), until the tops of the muffins are golden brown. Let cool for 5 to 10 minutes, then gently remove from the tin and serve with a pat of butter.

Fall may have my heart when it comes to fashions, but food wise? I’m totally a summer girl. Who can say no to the bounty of fresh vegetables, fruits and fragrant herbs that hit their peak this time of year?

One of my absolute favorite dishes to make in the summer time is ratatouille. A traditional dish hailing from the Provence region of France (and pronounced rat-eh-too-ee…it took me forever to get it right), ratatouille is traditionally made by stewing together tomatoes, onions, peppers, eggplant, squash and herbs. There’s much debate about the ‘proper’ way to make it, and like many French dishes, it seems like the right way to make it is the way your grandmother did.

In any case, I had yet to make a batch this summer, and was dying to get back in to the kitchen after several weeks of vacationing and dining out. I had also had this image pinned on Pinterest for a while, and it inspired me to try my hand at a sort of baked ratatouille, made a bit more decadent (and very non-traditional) with a crusty, cheesy topping. All the same flavor, but it would look much prettier when it was finished! As I was making this, I remembered another French dish called confit byaldi, which is a variation on ratatouille and was also featured in the 2007 Pixar film by the same name. Mine is definitely not as fancy as that, but it was SO simple to put together and it tasted like summer. On a Wednesday night in August, who can ask for more?

Baked Ratatouille

Serving: The recipe below makes enough for one large round baking dish. I divided my vegetables up in to one medium oval dish, and another smaller one. Depending on whether you were serving this as a main course or as a side dish, the recipe can feed between 2 and 4 people.

• extra virgin olive oil
• 1 medium onion, peeled and sliced
• 5 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
• –pinch crushed red pepper flake
• 1 medium-large zucchini
• 1 medium-large yellow zucchini
• 1 orange heirloom tomato
• 4 medium vine tomatoes
• 1 small Japanese eggplant
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• –Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to season

Note about the vegetables: Be sure to purchase squash, eggplant and tomatoes that are roughly the same size in diameter. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but if you end up with a really skinny zucchini and a fat eggplant, you may have to do some trimming to get the dish to look as nice. When I made this dish, I used a regular bell shaped eggplant, and that made things more difficult, which is why I’m recommending the use of Japanese eggplant. They tend to be more cylindrical.

For garnish:

• –Asiago or your choice of cheese (I’d try Parmigiano Reggiano, or even goat cheese! But whatever you have around and will melt well.)
• –Fresh basil, julienned

Preheat your oven to 400°.

In a medium skillet, heat 2 tbsp of olive oil over medium heat. Once hot, add in the onions and let cook for a minute until they just begin to soften. Add in half of the chopped garlic, the crushed red pepper flake, and season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Continue cooking over medium heat, stirring occassionally, while you prepare the vegetables. Lower the heat if you notice the onions are browning too quickly.

While the onions cook, slice the ends off the squash and eggplant, as well as the stems off of the tomatoes. Then, slice each vegetable so that it is about 1/4″ thick. You can make this more thick or less thick — the most important thing is that you make your cuts consistent, so the vegetables will all cook evenly. If you make the cuts thinner, keep in mind they can cook faster; thicker, and they will take a bit longer (though the flavor can develop more).

Once the vegetables are prepped, add in the tomato paste to the pan with the onions. Stir to distribute and “melt,” until the paste has coated the onions and the mixture is fragrant. Transfer the onion mixture to the bottom of your baking dish, and drizzle with a tablespoon or so of olive oil.

Next, begin arranging your sliced vegetables in the dish, alternating by color. You can arrange these in whatever pattern you want; I like to stack them in an outer circle first, then fill the inside area with leftover pieces. Sprinkle the rest of the garlic over the top of the arranged vegetables, then season the whole thing with salt and pepper, and drizzle with a bit more olive oil.

Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake for 40 minutes to an hour, or until the mixture is very bubbly and the vegetables look tender. Remove the dish from the oven, and turn your broiler on to high. Layer shaved or sliced cheese on top of the cooked vegetables, then bake underneath the broiler until the cheese gets bubbly and brown. Let the dish sit for a couple minutes, garnish with freshly chopped basil, and serve. This is delicious with grilled steaks, roasted chicken, and would also be awesome with pasta or cous cous!

I appreciate virtually all genre of foods, but one of my absolute favorites is Mediterranean. The textures, bright flavors and use of healthful ingredients (greens! citrus! herbs! olive oil!) make it easy to love. Last week, I woke up one morning with a big  craving for Mediterranean, and set out to make something to sate my appetite that evening. The catch? I’m going to Cabo this week. I needed it to be bikini friendly!

Now, lest you read the rest of this recipe and think “bikini friendly?!”, I should note that for me, that meant limited carbs and only healthy fats. I don’t mind being stuffed to the gills if it’s with mostly vegetables! But, my splurges in this recipe included the use of dark chicken meat (which, to be honest, I normally use anyway because I think it has so much more flavor and is easier to cook), as well as a little bit of feta cheese. But otherwise, I think I did pretty well!

Starting with a quick marinade of lemon juice, honey and herbs, I cooked the chicken legs to golden brown deliciousness. While they finished in the oven, I whipped together a side “Greek” salad with tomatoes, cucumber, shallot and feta cheese. I loved that this dinner packed so much flavor and nutrition, but since everything was cooked in one skillet, it was also a cinch to clean up!

Mediterranean Chicken with Honey, Lemon and Oregano, Quick-braised Chard and Greek Salad

Easily serves 2 hungry people; Difficulty Level: Intermediate-Beginner

For the Chicken:

• 3 Meyer lemons (see note at bottom)
• 5 sprigs oregano, leaves stripped, minced
• 1 tbsp honey (more to taste, see note at bottom)
• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus 2 for cooking
• –kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to season
• Two whole skin on, bone in chicken legs, split between leg and thigh (you can also buy separately if whole legs are not available), cleaned and pat dry with paper towels

For the Salad:

• 4 extra small vine cluster tomatoes (look for ones a slightly bigger than golf balls — I used the Campari variety), cut into eighths
• 5″ piece of organic cucumber, washed well, sliced however you prefer (I did quarter rounds. Note: you can peel the cucumber if you like, but I personally like the rind, as long as it’s from an organic cuc)
• 1 medium shallot, outer paper peeled and roughly chopped 
• 2 sprigs oregano, leaves stripped and minced
• 0.2 oz feta
• Juice of half a lemon (use the leftover lemon half from the marinade, above)
• extra virgin olive oil to taste (I used about 3 tbsp)
• –kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to season

For the Chard:

• 1 whole bunch white Swiss Chard, cleaned, tough white stems removed and leafy greens chopped into large pieces

For the chicken:

Preheat your oven to 375°. Zest two of the lemons and place the zest in a small bowl. Cut all three lemons in half and juice 5 of the halves (2.5 lemons total) into the bowl, taking care to not let any seeds fall in. Reserve the last half of lemon for the Greek salad. Add in the minced oregano, the honey, 3 tbsp of the extra virgin olive oil and season well with salt and pepper. Stir until the honey and lemon juice are well emulsified into the oil.

Place the chicken pieces in a shallow baking dish. Pour the marinade over the chicken. If you have time, you can let this sit for 20-30 minutes, otherwise, let it sit for five (I was in a hurry and did the quick marinade, and it turned out great). In a medium oven-safe skillet, heat the remaining 2 tbsp of olive oil over medium high heat until very hot, but not smoking. Add in the chicken pieces skin side down with tongs (do not pour in the marinade yet) and allow to brown on the first side, about 2 minutes. Try not to move the meat around, so it will turn brown without tearing. The honey will cause things to brown more quickly, so keep an eye on it.

When the meat has browned on the first side, quickly turn all the pieces over with tongs and pour in the marinade from the baking dish. Quickly stir with the tongs to release any browned bits on the bottom of the pan. If you are using a pan that has a wider diameter and the amount of liquid looks low, add in a few tablespoons of water. You want the total amount of liquid to be about 1/4″ deep, maybe a tiny bit more. Immediately move the entire pan to the oven. Cook for 15-20 minutes, uncovered, or until the chicken is just cooked through, depending on the size of your pieces and your oven. The juices/sauce will have reduced down.

Remove the chicken from the oven, and transfer the pieces onto a heat proof plate. Using oven mitts (careful!), pick up the skillet and pour about 2/3 of the leftover juices over the chicken on the plate. Tent with foil until ready to serve.

For the salad:

While the chicken is cooking (or marinating, you can do this step during either break), combine all the ingredients for the Greek salad, toss, and refrigerate until ready to serve. Having this extra time will allow the ingredients to meld a bit.

For the chard:

Okay, so your cooked chicken should be resting on the plate and now you have the skillet with a bit of the marinade leftover. Using an oven mitt (’cause remember, the pan is hot since you just took it from the oven!), place the skillet with the chicken juices and reduced marinade onto the stove over medium heat. It should begin simmering quickly, since the pan is already so hot from being in the oven. Add the chopped chard into the skillet, turning with the tongs until it is wilted and cooked through, about 5 minutes. You shouldn’t need to season this very much since the juices in the pan already had seasoning.

To plate, mound a bit of the greens up, place one or two of the chicken pieces on top, and garnish with the salad on the side. Pour as much of the reserved chicken juices over the meat as you’d like.

NOTES: If you can’t find Meyer lemons, use regular lemons instead. You might want to taste the marinade and see if you want to add in more honey, as Meyer lemons tend to be sweeter than regular lemons. You can also try this recipe with chicken breasts if you don’t want to use dark meat, just be SURE not to overcook them, because the moist heat in the oven will quickly make the meat tough if you don’t watch it. Finally, if you have any leftovers and store this in the fridge, don’t forget to pour any reserved sauce over the chicken. It’ll continue to marinate overnight and be extra delicious when you heat it up tomorrow (I did this and trust me, it’s good stuff).

But after a bit of trial and error, I’ve discovered the easiest, no-fuss way to cook really delicious fish is to roast it. Virtually any fish can be easily cooked in the oven, whether it’s a light, flaky red snapper, a heftier, richer salmon, or even a whole fish like branzino. You can throw it in with nothing more than some slices of lemon, some thyme, and a drizzle of olive oil, or go all out and create a sauce to bake it in (like Ina’s mustard roasted fish I made a ways back).

Last week, I picked up a couple salmon filets, and with a few simple ingredients, was able to create a bright, zippy little marinade/coating/sauce in about five minutes. In another 10, dinner was done. I can’t argue with that!

Weeknight Salmon with Lemon and Chive Sauce

• 1 whole bunch of chives, rinsed and finely chopped
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• zest of 1 lemon
• 2 tbsp lemon juice (about the juice of half a lemon)
• – kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 4-6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (depending on how big your filets are — the final ‘sauce’ should be thin enough to easily mix, but thick enough to spread and not run everywhere.)
• 2 6-8oz filets of wild salmon. Ask your fish monger to give you similar size pieces, that are cut from the center of the fish, so that one end of your filet does not taper too much into a thin little piece that will overcook! I look for pieces that are less skinny and rectangular and more square(ish).

Preheat your oven to 400°F.

Mix all of the ingredients (except for the salmon, natch) in a small bowl until well combined. Spread on the flesh side of your filets (the skin should be face down in the baking pan), and bake until the fish is cooked through but still tender and flaky, around 10-15 minutes depending on the thickness of the filet. The sauce that has oozed over the sides will be bubbly and smell really good. I served our fish with a garnish of parsley and lacinto kale sauteed in olive oil and garlic!

A little note about purchasing salmon. I personally choose to only buy wild salmon. I saw a news segment on farmed salmon a few years back and it kind of grossed me out. From what I’ve read, the quality of the omega-3s you get from wild salmon (and almost all wild cold-water fish) is better than that of farmed fish. And, wild salmon doesn’t always have to cost more. Look for sockeye or coho varieties, which do not refer to any quality difference, but are an entirely different variety of salmon that I think taste great and are usually much less expensive than king salmon!

The other day I was at the gym at a Barre Pro class (kind of similar to a Bar Method class, except more awesome), and we were in the middle of set 1,000,000 of some shoulder press/squat routine. The whole class was starting to poop out, but Stephanie, our fearless and amazing instructor shouted, “C’mon ladies, you can do it! Four more sets!” When this didn’t have the intended effect, she simply yelled, “SWIMSUITS! BEACH! BIKINIS!”

Like magic, we were all ready to do five sets instead of four.

I don’t know about all of you, but with my tush getting ready to make its beach debut at the end of June, I’ve been a little extra conscious not only with how often I’m hitting the gym, but also what I’m chowing down on. This isn’t to say that I’ve been binge dieting or doing anything crazy (um, hello, on Tuesday night I went out for Mexican food and yesterday I had Thai for lunch). But, you know, a few extra vegetables, easy on the refined starches and dairy. That kind of thing.

Last night I made a big pot of soup that was not only super filling, but was packed with flavor, and chock FULL of vegetables and fiber. It was also a snap to make, and I’m betting it will be perfect for lunch over the next couple days.

As I was cooking, I was trying to come up with a name for it. Was it a dal? Kind of, except I put in way more vegetables and pureed it, so not really. The best I could come up with was Curried Carrot and Cauliflower soup. If the ‘curried’ part scares you away, fear not — this soup strikes a perfect balance. It’s bold enough to feel satisfying despite its humble ingredients, and even with such zippy flavor, I thought it could still handle a little dollop of crème fraîche on top.

Since it’s pureed, you could easily throw in other vegetables you have on hand. And depending on how smooth you like your soup, you can either do a quick puree and leave a few chunks of veggies in there, or blend it to velvet. A little 3C soup, some pilates, and you’ll be beach ready in no time.

Curried Carrot and Cauliflower Soup

• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 medium onion, skins removed and finely diced
• 1 small bunch carrots, tops removed, washed, cleaned and sliced into rounds (I used a small bunch of carrots sourced from my local farmers market. All in, the rounds amounted to about 2.5 cups of carrots)
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• 1 head cauliflower, cored and roughly chopped
• 1 tbsp curry powder, any variety (I used a basic, somewhat non-authentic variety from McCormick)
• 1 tbsp ground cumin
• 1/8 – 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, or even less if you don’t like spicy
• Dash of paprika powder
• Dash of turmeric (optional — this will help give the finished product color)
• 1 bay leaf
• 1.25 cup brown lentils (see here for a visual. You can use any variety of lentil you like, but I think brown lentils puree the best, and they also cook quickly. Weeknight bonus!)
• 1 large yukon gold potato, peeled and diced
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• 1.5 quarts chicken stock (can also substitute vegetable stock)
• –kosher or sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, lemon juice to season
• –chopped parsley for garnish

Heat a large soup pot over medium high heat. Once very hot, add in the olive oil and turn the pot about to coat the bottom with the oil. Add in the onion, garlic and carrots, and saute until fragrant and beginning to soften. Stir in the cauliflower, and let cook for 1 minute. Add in all of the spices except the bay leaf, and stir. Adding in the spices this early, along with the oil, will help toast them and give more flavor to the soup later on. Add in the lentils, and stir again. Season with salt and pepper.

Once the vegetables are softening and the brown bits forming on the bottom of the pot, add in the potato, and the white wine. Stir to release any golden bits on the bottom of the pot. Cook for two minutes to allow the alcohol in the wine to burn off.

Pour in the chicken stock. Season the mixture with salt and pepper. Cover and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, until the cauliflower and potatoes are very tender. Test a few of the lentils to make sure they’re also tender. If they need a few more minutes, give it to them. It’s okay if the vegetables are very soft at this point — you’re going to puree it all anyway.

Using an immersion blender or stand blender, puree the soup. If you use a standing blender, do this in batches and put in far less soup than you think will fit into the blender. Since this is boiling liquid, you don’t want to take any chances in having this spill or explode on you. Puree the soup to desired texture, then taste (NOTE: If you want your soup velvety smooth, use a blender). Season with salt and pepper and lemon juice as needed (I find that sometimes these soups with lots of spices need a bit of acidity to separate out all the flavors).

Ladle the soup into bowls, and garnish with parsley. You could also try garnishing with sour cream, crème fraîche, or even toasted pumpkin seeds. Super healthy!!

I cheated a little. This last photo is from our visit to the oyster farm last June, but guess what? They’re STILL out of kumamotos and they’re STILL out of Atlantics. I think they’ve had a bad couple of seasons or something.

We have been going up to Hog Island for a spring picnic for the last three years, and it’s becoming one of my favorite traditions. If you are ever in the area and have the inclination to picnic (and you like oysters), you must pay Hog Island a visit! 

My blogging buddy Julie is taking a well-deserved getaway to LA over the next few days, and I’m thrilled to be guest posting on her blog today. All her guest posters will be tackling different topics this week; my post features picks for kitchen must-haves (as well as those items you should NOT be tempted to impulse buy!).

Please visit me on Julip MADE and let me know what you think!

I was curious to learn more about the origins of afternoon tea, so I headed to Wikipedia to see what I could find out. Here’s the scoop:

Afternoon tea, also known as low tea, is a light meal typically eaten between 3pm and 5pm. The custom of drinking tea originated in England when Catherine of Bragança married Charles II in 1661 and brought the practice of drinking tea in the afternoon with her from Portugal. Traditionally, loose tea is brewed in a teapot and served in teacups with milk and sugar. This is accompanied by sandwiches (customarily cucumber, egg and cress, fish paste, ham, and smoked salmon), scones (with clotted cream and jam, see cream tea) and usually cakes and pastries (such as Battenberg, fruit cake or Victoria sponge). Nowadays, a formal afternoon tea is usually taken as a treat in a hotel, café or tea shop. In everyday life, many Britons take a much simpler refreshment consisting of tea and biscuits at teatime.

High tea (also known as meat tea) is an early evening meal, typically eaten between 5pm and 6pm. It is now largely followed by a later lighter evening meal. High tea would usually consist of cold meats, eggs or fish, cakes and sandwiches. In its origin, the term “high tea” was used as a way to distinguish it from “low tea” or afternoon tea. The words ‘low’ and ‘high’ refer to the tables from which either tea meal was eaten. Low tea was served in a sitting room where low tables (like a coffee table) were placed near sofas or chairs generally. The word high referred to a table, this one on a dining room table, and it would be loaded with substantial dinner dishes – meats, cheese, breads, perhaps the classic shepherd’s pie or steak and kidney pie.

Who knew that high tea originally referred to the table height??? I love learning about the history behind cultural customs!

Are you going to be having tea while you watch the Royal Wedding? If so, you simply must try this recipe for delicious currant scones, written by my friend Lesley Elliott, from Five o’Clock Food.

Based in Orange County, Lesley is a fabulous cook and even picks up catering jobs on the side when she can (so if you’re in OC and need someone to cater your next shindig, she’s your girl!). According to Lesley, “these scones are perfectly light, not too sweet, and the flavor of the currants balances very well with all of the other flavors. You can use this “base” scone recipe and add a myriad of ingredients: chocolate chips, cinnamon and apples, lemon zest…the sky’s the limit.”

Currant Scones (recipe posted with permission from Five o’Clock Food)

4 C All Purpose flour
4 tbsp sugar, plus a little extra for garnish
1 tsp kosher or sea salt
5 tsp baking powder
8 oz butter, cold, and cubed into pea-size pieces
1 C currants
1 1/2 C (plus extra for brushing) heavy cream

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Using a standing mixer with the paddle attachment, add the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder to the mixing bowl; turn on mixer and thoroughly combine dry ingredients. [Editor's Note: If you don't have a stand mixer, you could make these scones using a food processor, a pastry cutter, or even a wooden spoon and your fingers if you work quickly. I don't have a stand mixer, so these are the techniques I use when making pastries.]

Next, add chilled butter to the dry ingredients. Make sure to try to separate each of the cubes into the flour.

Turn the mixer on, starting slow and working up to medium speed, allowing the butter to “break up” or “cut” into the flour mixture, creating what sort of looks like crumbly sand. This will take about 8 minutes if not longer.

Next, add the currants to the butter-flour mixture. Turn mixer on to low to combine all of the ingredients thoroughly.

Add the cream to the mixer, and starting on low mix the ingredients together until the dough just comes together. Then turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface; lightly knead the dough until it comes together in one cohesive mass.

Roll out the dough to about 1″ thick, and cut as you desire. Lesley prefers cutting the dough into triangular shaped wedges. Brush each scone with a little cream and sprinkle with a little sugar.

Bake at 375°F for about 10-15 minutes or until the scones are light brown on top and appear cooked through on the sides. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 8-10 minutes before serving.

{Image Credits: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7. If you would like to see more pictures of the scone recipe, please visit Lesley’s blog here}

But before I tell you all about a recipe that, according to urban legend, has resulted in countless proposals and many happy bellies, let me back up a bit and also provide some context.

A few weeks ago, I was perusing my Google Reader when I came across this round-up post on Taylor’s blog It’s The Little Things. The post featured this cookbook cover, and I was immediately intrigued, for two reasons.

One, I’ve never known a recipe to get me everything I wanted in life. And two, what the heck is Engagement Chicken??? A quick Google search later and I found this:

First comes chicken, then comes marriage? Be skeptical if you must, but this recipe may be charmed. It all began 26 years ago, when then-Glamour fashion editor Kim Bonnell gave the recipe to her assistant, Kathy Suder, who made the chicken for her boyfriend, who, a month later, asked her to marry him. “It’s a meal your wife would make. It got me thinking,” says Jon Suder, who now has three children with Kathy. Details of the simple dish passed from assistant to assistant like a culinary chain letter. When Bonnell heard that her recipe had inspired three weddings, she dubbed it Engagement Chicken.

This sounded completely ridiculous. The comments on the recipe post were even better (my absolute favorite: “I made it Sunday night for my date, and followed it up with a delicious chocolate cake with fudge sauce and whip [sic] cream. He took me to see Chicago and Earth, Wind & Fire. Then we had a fabulous time at home on his very nice mattress! He even made me pancakes for breakfast! I sure hope we end up together forever because we had a great time, I adore him, and he lets me drive his [P]orsche.”).

So after I scoffed a lot at the recipe and went on a minor rant about it at work, my friend Meredith calmly suggested that it could be great blog fodder. She’s a genius, that one.

“What if it works,” I asked her, “and Joe proposes in like 3 weeks or something?”

“That would be funny. Also, you’d never be able to tell anyone that Engagement Chicken actually worked.”

And she’s right, I NEVER WOULD.

Fast forward to two Fridays ago. I often make chicken for dinner on Sundays anyway, so I told Joe, “This weekend I’m going to make this recipe I found from Glamour magazine. It’s called engagement chicken. Supposedly it’s so good, men take one bite and are convinced to propose to their girlfriends.”

He grunted a lot, but managed not to drive the car off the road.

“Can we skip all that and I’ll just tell you now that your regular chicken will be better?”

“You’re sweet, baby. But no. The Internet needs to know whether or not this recipe has any merit.”

Forget chicken. As you can see, open communication and flattery are probably the true secrets to a lasting relationship.

Before I had even started, I must confess I was extremely skeptical of this dish. The recipe calls for a 4 lb chicken to be stuffed with halved lemons, drowned in pure lemon juice, then seasoned prodigiously with a tablespoon of salt and a bit of black pepper. That’s it. The end. Oh, and also, you’re supposed to cook it breast side down for 15 minutes in a barely-375 degree oven, then flip it on its back and “roast” at 350 until it’s ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY DEGREES coming out of the oven. In case you didn’t know, 180 degree chicken meat is dry. Real dry.

But I thought that maybe I was missing something. Did the breast-side down method create some kind of quick-caramelization of the skin that I couldn’t conceive of? Did the acidity in the 1/2 a cup of lemon juice — to be poured over the chicken and into the roasting pan — tenderize the meat in some weird way?

Here’s what I found:

I began, as instructed, by dousing the chicken with 1/2 a cup of lemon juice. Though the recipe doesn’t mention it, you’ll need around two lemons to procure this volume of juice. I pre-mixed 1 tablespoon of sea salt and 1/2 a teaspoon of freshly ground pepper, and sprinkled this all over the bird. Here’s where things already began to go awry.

I’ve been cooking since I was 7, and I know better than anyone that a recipe should always be treated as a guideline. I immediately felt like the amount of salt suggested was WAY too much, even after seasoning the cavity and the entire exterior of the bird. I didn’t use all the salt and pepper, but had only maybe 1/4 teaspoon of the mixture left. In the end, I should’ve omitted more.

I poked holes in another two lemons using a fork, sliced them in half, and shoved as many as could fit into the cavity of the bird (for my bird, it was 1.5 lemons total). The recipe doesn’t specify on trussing the bird (and I normally don’t either), but this bird looked so limp and sad in its un-trussed state and the lemons were sticking out of it in a very unappetizing manner. Maybe this is where I went wrong, but I trussed that sucker.

Also, as you can tell, I didn’t use a traditional roasting pan for this recipe. I always roast chickens in a 14″ stainless steel All-Clad. Exact same (if not better) results as a regular roasting pan.

Next, as instructed, I flipped the bird breast side down. And it all just felt wrong, wrong, wrong.

The recipe has you heat the oven to 375, then as soon as you put the bird in, you lower it to 350. Then, 15 minutes later (as if that does anything), you flip the bird over on its back. To me, 350 is the temperature to bake cookies — NOT to roast. And sure enough, after about 50 minutes, the chicken came out looking like this:

So sad. Hardly any color. Parts of the skin that had been over seasoned looked like a salt lick. The temperature in the thigh at this point was 145. I had no intention of roasting the chicken to 180 (I roast to about 155 or 160, and aim for a finished temp of around 165). You guys, looking at this picture, this is truly the saddest little roasted chicken I think I’ve ever made.

I poured olive oil over the breast and legs to try and amp up the browning during its final minutes in the oven. Not part of the recipe.

Straight out of the oven, I also added a bit of thyme to the bird, because (contrary to what the recipe suggests), serving it with raw herbs doesn’t really do anything for me. If you sprinkle a bit of herbage on top of a hot bird and let it sit while it rests, it retains its vibrant green color, but still wilts and becomes aromatic. And it makes photos of your finished product look slightly more appetizing.

The recipe is adamant in its suggestion to pour the juices from the roasting pan on top of the sliced chicken— “this is the ‘marry me juice,’” it claims, the secret weapon to getting any man to put a ring on it. To be honest, it was mostly just a salty, acidic mess.

Okay, so this chicken was not inedible. But it wasn’t good. My five recommendations for a better roasted chicken, whether you’re trying to get engaged or not:

1. Never stuff anything in the cavity. Short of perfuming your kitchen, it doesn’t really add any flavor to the chicken. Instead, it slows cooking time, since there’s no hot air circulating inside the cavity of the bird.

2. If you like crisp skin, never pour liquid of any kind into a roasting pan or onto/into your bird. The best way to get shatteringly crisp chicken skin is to prevent steam in the oven. I seen it!

3. Trust your instincts when seasoning. If it seems like too much salt, it probably is. If the pan juices look too greasy, they probably are.

4. If you want to infuse the meat with a particular flavor, try brining. You can also try making a simple compound butter (mix together 1 stick of butter, salt, pepper, and finely minced herbs), then smear underneath the skin of the chicken. The skin won’t be as crisp if you do this, but you’ll get some added flavor from the melted butter oozing all over the cooked meat.

5. The less time your chicken is in the oven, the better. I’m convinced that the longer it’s in there, the more it’s just drying out. This isn’t a pork shoulder. When it comes to chicken, nothing should be “slow-roasted.”

Whew. So that’s the story of my engagement. With engagement chicken. Sorry this post got a little long. File it under one of my classic food rants.

Have any of you heard of engagement chicken before? Do you know of anyone who’s made it and resulted in its intended outcome?

{Image Credit: See.Shop.Eat.Do.}

I like to stuff peppers with ground turkey meat, but you could of course substitute chicken, pork or beef — anything you’d like really. During my most recent attempt, I used a mixture of dark ground turkey meat, onions, garlic, lots of herbs and just a hint of parmesan. The mixture is spooned into red and yellow peppers, then baked with marinara sauce until the peppers have browned and the meat cooked through. The best part? The juices from the meat always leak out of the peppers, mixing with the marinara and leaving you with a tomato sauce that tastes like it was cooking all day.

The great thing about stuffed peppers is that you can customize them to any genre of food you’d like. You could stuff them with cooked rice, corn, black beans and diced chicken, top each with some monterrey jack, and bake with green enchilada sauce. I’m betting they’d be delicious stuffed with ground lamb, spinach and feta, then smothered in a creamy white sauce (yes, that would definitely fall in the ‘decadent’ category). Stuffed peppers are a great way to clean out your fridge, if you think about it!

You can also choose to make these as a side dish — just buy smaller peppers and adjust the amount of filling you make.

Hearty Stuffed Peppers

• 4 medium to large bell peppers, if serving as a main dish (I used two red and two yellow)
• 3-4 springs fresh thyme, leaves stripped
• 3-4 sprigs fresh oregano, leaves stripped
• 6-8 fresh basil leaves, cleaned
• 1.25 lb ground dark turkey meat
• 1/2 yellow onion, very finely diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 8-10 cremini (dark brown) mushrooms, cleaned, stemmed and finely chopped
• 1 extra large egg
• 1/4 cup shredded parmesan, plus extra for garnish
• –salt and pepper to season
• 2 jars of your favorite marinara sauce
• –extra virgin olive oil

Preheat your oven to 375°.

Slice the tops off of the peppers and set aside. Using your fingers, clean out the seeds and white ribs from inside the pepper, being careful not to tear the sides of the vegetable.

Combine the herbs on a cutting board and mince together. In a medium bowl, combine the turkey meat, onion, garlic, herbs, mushrooms, egg and parmesan cheese. Season well with kosher or sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Use your hands to thoroughly combine, as if making a meatloaf. With a spoon, tightly stuff each pepper with the turkey mixture. It’s okay to overfill these a little.

Select a baking dish that will fit all your peppers. Pour enough marinara into the dish to completely cover the bottom. Place the peppers into the baking dish, then top each with a little extra parmesan if you’d like. Pour sauce over each pepper and into the baking dish (I used a little less than 1.5 jars of marinara total), drizzle extra virgin olive oil on top of each pepper, then place its “lid” on top.

Bake for an hour to an hour and a half (depending on your oven and the size of the peppers you chose) until the peppers have begun to brown and the sauce mixture is bubbly. You may want to spoon some of the sauce over the peppers part way through baking to help speed the pepper cooking process along. Serve with pasta, vegetables, or on its own!