My ruminations on my life, my family, cooking, baking, and whatever else comes to mind
Today was a very weird weather day around these parts. Shaun said it was overcast but not much else down in Seattle, but up here in south Everett, I encountered a mini-sleet blizzard driving into work, and throughout the day it wavered between rain, drizzle, snow, sleet, and soft hail. Very very weird. Emma enjoyed the reappearance of the white stuff, though, and once we were back inside she was hoping for the blinds to be opened 🙂
Inspired by my friend Rachel, I went looking for a good recipe for chicken francese. This one by Tyler Florence got very good reviews, so I used it as my starting point. We liked this decently well, but it seemed to be missing something, and I’m not sure what. It would be very kid friendly, I think – it’s fairly bland, but not insipid. I served this with some roasted asparagus.
Chicken Francese
Serves 4
4 medium boneless skinless chicken breasts (1.5 lbs)
1/3 cup all purpose flour
kosher salt and black pepper
3 eggs
2 tbsp olive oil
1 lemon
1 cup chicken broth (I like fat free, low sodium)
1 small bottle (187 ml) dry white wine
2 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into small pieces
a few sprigs of fresh parsley
Place the chicken breasts one at a time into a large plastic food storage bag and pound with a meat mallet until they are about 1/4 inch thick. Season the flour with salt and pepper and place the mixture in a shallow dish. In another shallow dish, beat the eggs with 2 tbsp of water to make an egg wash.
Cut the lemon in half equatorially. Thinly slice one half of the lemon into rounds and set aside. Pour the chicken broth into a 2 cup measuring cup and juice the other half of the lemon into the measuring cup.
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Dredge the chicken pieces, coating completely and shaking off any excess. Dip each piece in the egg wash to coat on all sides, letting excess drip off. Place the chicken in the skillet and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side, or until nicely browned and cooked through. Remove the chicken to a platter.
Add the lemon slices to the skillet and brown on both sides, 20-30 seconds. Add the broth, wine, and lemon juice to the pan and scrape up any brown bits from the skillet. Turn the heat to medium high and let the sauce bubble for 5 minutes to reduce by 1/3. While the sauce is reducing, toss the butter pieces in the flour from earlier and coat them well, smashing the butter into the flour a bit. Drop the butter pieces into the sauce and whisk until the butter and flour are completely incorporated.
Bring the sauce back to a boil then reduce heat to medium low. Return the chicken to the skillet and turn to coat in sauce. Simmer for a final 2-3 minutes to warm the chicken and let some sauce soak into the coating. Serve warm with the lemon slices on top and a parsley garnish.
This was a very tasty take on lettuce wrap thing. My version was inspired by this recipe. I’ve done Chinese chicken lettuce wraps that are a big hit in our house, and I think these will become a regular too with a little modification. The chicken wraps have the cornstarch thickened sauce that really binds it all together, so the filling stays in the leaves. This recipe had no such thickener, and I’m not sure that one would even work particularly well, so this was a lot messier to eat. Very tasty, though. I was thinking that the thin rice wrappers used in my summer rolls would work well, as would mu shu pancakes. If you try one of those options, let me know how it goes!
Sweet Chili Turkey Lettuce Wraps
Serves 4
1 large head Bibb lettuce
2 tsp canola oil
20 oz ground turkey
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1 tsp freshly grated ginger
3/4 cup sweet chili sauce (I like Mae Ploy Sweet Chili Sauce
Tear the leaves off of the head of lettuce, rinse, and gently pat dry. Set aside.
Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the turkey and brown well, breaking the meat up into small pieces. Push the turkey to the sides of the pan, leaving the center open and add the garlic and ginger to the pan in the middle. Sauté the garlic and ginger for 30-60 seconds, or until fragrant. Add the sweet chili sauce and stir to combine with the garlic, ginger, and turkey. Simmer for 2-3 minutes to meld the flavors.
Spoon the mixture into a serving dish and serve alongside the lettuce leaves so each person can make their own wraps.
Another winning recipe based off of one from Fine Cooking! This is a fairly easy and very tasty way to prepare pork chops. We both enjoyed this a lot. I served this with some roasted asparagus and Baked Butternut Squash with Apples (see post below). Shaun tried sprinkling a few roasted pecans from the squash recipe on top of his chop, and it was an outstanding addition to the recipe, so I’ve added it to the my version of the recipe below and we’ll be making it that way in the future!
Pork Chops with Ginger Maple Pan Sauce
Serves 4
3/4 cup chicken broth (I like low sodium, fat free)
2 tbsp light rum
1 tbsp pure maple syrup (grade B)
4 thin bone-in center-cut pork chops (about 1.25 lb)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup flour
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
1 medium clove garlic, pressed
1 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley
1/2 cup toasted chopped pecans
Whisk together the broth, maple syrup, and rum in a small bowl and set aside.
Season the pork chops generously with salt and pepper. Dredge pork chops in the flour, coating well and shaking off any excess.
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the pork chops and brown on both sides (1-2 minutes per side). Remove the chops to a plate. leaving as much oil in the skillet as possible.
Add the ginger and garlic to the skillet and saute until just turning golden and fragrant (about 15 seconds). Add the broth mixture and stir to deglaze the pan, scraping up any brown bits on the bottom of the skillet.
Bring the mixture to a boil and reduce by about 2/3 (4-5 minutes). Turn the heat off and add the butter, stirring to combine. Return the chops to the pan along with any accumulated juices and turn to coat in the sauce. Return the pork chops to the plate, pour the sauce over the top, and sprinkle with parsley and pecans. Serve warm.
This recipe comes from my friend, Christina. She saw my post the other day on roasted butternut squash and told me I had to try this version, which she says is “SO SO SO SO SO delicious.” Oh my goodness, was she right! Shaun’s not much a fan of winter squash, so more for me 😀
Baked Butternut Squash with Apples
Serves 8
2 tbsp butter
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1 1/2 lbs cubed butternut squash (1/2 inch cubes)
2 large granny smith apples, cored and cubed (1/2 inch cubes)
1/4 cup real maple syrup
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup chopped toasted pecans
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Melt the butter in an 8 in X 8 in baking dish. Stir the cinnamon and nutmeg into the butter. Add the squash and toss to combine. Cover the dish with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
While the squash is cooking, whisk together the maple syrup and balsamic vinegar in a mixing bowl. Add the apples and toss to combine. Remove the baking dish from the oven and stir in the apple mixture. Recover the dish with foil and bake for 15 minutes, stir well, recover, and bake for a final 15 minutes, or until the squash and apples are fork tender.
Remove the dish from the oven, uncover, top with the toasted pecans, and serve warm.
This is a simple, tasty way to enjoy clams. With just few ingredients, make sure you get the best!
Steamed Clams in White Wine Garlic Sauce
Serves 1 as an entrée or 2 as an appetizer
2 tsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic, pressed
1 small bottle (187 ml) chardonnay
1/2 cup water
12 live manila clams (about 1.25 lbs)
1 tsp butter
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
Warm the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes, until just turning golden and fragrant. Pour the wine into the skillet, turn the heat to medium high, and reduce the liquid by half. Add the water and bring the liquid back to a boil. Arrange the clams in a single layer in the skillet and cover. Steam for 8 minutes or until all the clams are open (if any do not open, discard them). Remove the clams to a bowl, leaving the liquid in the skillet. Stir the butter and parsley into the liquid, melting the butter completely, and then pour it over the clams. Serve warm with crusty bread.
Tonight I made a version of my beer roasted chicken. I spatchcocked my chicken (doesn’t that sound funny 😛 ), which means placed the chicken breast side down, cut out the backbone, being careful to leave the little tenderloin pieces on the thighs, flipped the chicken back over, and pressed down firmly to break the breast bone and flatten the bird. This increases the surface area exposed to the heat, which helps it to cook faster. I placed the bird breast and skin side up in a 9″ x 13″ baking dish, seasoned well with salt, pepper, and thyme, poured a beer into the bottom of the pan, and baked until the internal temperature in the breast reached 170 degrees F. I let it rest for 10 minutes to coast up to 180 degrees F and then carved and served with some steamed brussels sprouts.
Today marks the 6th anniversary our wedding day 🙂 Serendipitously, it was my Friday off and the last day of Shaun’s spring break, so we spent the day together having fun. We got a great lunch (more on that very shortly), wandered around a bookstore, then watched Rango in the theater with a big tub of popcorn to share, got some pizza for dinner, and then came home to play with Emma. A very nice day!
Now, back to lunch. We went to Din Tai Fung, which I’ve mentioned before on here. This time, I took pictures. I gave in to the smart phones and upgraded from my tiny little pre-paid bar style phone. I have to admit that I’m having fun with it. We’ll see it I think it’s worth the monthly bill in a few months 😛
Din Tai Fung was utterly packed, even just a few minutes after they opened. It’s been featured in a few recent newspaper articles, so that was pretty much expected. We waited outside where we could watch the dumplings being made in the kitchen behind a large plate glass window. The wait wasn’t too long, luckily.
Making shu mai in the front of the restaurant
Pleating dumplings
Our server was really lousy, unfortunately. She was mostly absent after taking our order, not even taking the time to mix the dipping sauce. My iced tea didn’t come until after another server had come by with our first round of dumplings. The xian long bao (soup dumplings) weren’t quite as juicy as they were last time, but they were still good.
Pork xian long bao on the spoon ready to be slurped
Pork xian long bao in the steamer
We tried the chicken lo mein as well, but weren’t much impressed.
The shu mai were excellent and at least as juicy as the xian long bao.
Overall, a good meal, but the mediocre service was a bit of a damper. Ah well.
This is a take off of a couple of my other turkey meatball recipes. It turned out quite well! I served this with some roasted brussels sprouts.
Asian Turkey Meatballs
Serves 4
20 oz ground turkey
1/3 cup bread crumbs
1 egg, lightly beaten
3 tbsp oyster sauce
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp onion powder
dash cayenne pepper
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
Mix all of the ingredients until they just come together. Form into 8 large meatballs and place on a baking sheet that has been sprayed with non-stick spray.
Bake for 30 minutes or until the internal temperature is at least 165 degrees F.
Serve warm.
Somehow, despite eating a fair bit of junk food this past week and being well over my target points, I still lost two pounds. A full dozen oysters for me! Six Kusshi and six Sister Point – my two favorites 🙂
