Engaging stories of love, joy, comfort and friendship with proven scrumptious, healthy recipes, we celebrate LOVE as the secret ingredient for wonderful food!

Creamy, dreamy…

September 19, 2012 by Mary Frances 6 Comments

…parsnips!! Yes, parsnips! Who would have thunk it? This dish, in the newest October Food and Wine magazine, appealed to me. I had parsnips and I had chicken thighs. I always have white wine that can be used up. If not that, use dry vermouth and feel very French. And the rest of the recipe I just improvised and changed.

Yesterday, my day was challenging. Our refrigerator and freezer went kaput in the middle of the night and I had to work from home while waiting for the repair men to come. Meanwhile I had the bright idea to call the super and ask if there were any empty apartments that had a refrigerator and could I please store all my food there? Yes, there was one on the third floor. Bingo! So here I am, hauling bags of food down there and then I’m trying to work at our kitchen counter and our darn refrigerator keeps on beeping to tell me that the temperature is below where it should be. Duhhh!!! Do you know how annoying that is?

Meanwhile, I’m dealing with two very inexperienced clients and I am frustrated. After the repair guys finally fix the refrigerator, I had to go to the Bronx for a meeting with the new board president at the school I volunteer at and I am not in a pretty mood. I tell them what I really think about their name at this meeting and leave. I am nice about it but firm.

I get back home and decide I need to sweat all this meanness out so I go to the gym and ride a bike for over 5 miles and come back up to cook this dinner which was so delicious and creamy dreamy that I am now a nice person again.

You see how food has the ability to comfort and soothe, curing all that ails you? When you cook with love, you only magnify that tenet.

Parsnips are in season now. Buy only fresh young ones — no big fat woody ones allowed! This really is a must-make dish. We served a Vouvray and some steamed Jasmine rice with this and all was well and back to normal in our household!

CHENIN BLANC BRAISED CHICKEN THIGHS WITH PARSNIPS AND SAGE
– serves 4

2 tbs. unsalted butter
2 tbs.extra-virgin olive oil
8 medium chicken thighs, with bones and skin
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
4 large shallots, peeled and quartered
1 lb. parsnips, peeled and cut into 3″ lengths and then quartered or halved
1 large sage sprig with numerous leaves
1 cup Chenin Blanc or other dry white wine
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth, preferably homemade
Chopped fresh sage leaves and chives for garnish

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. In a large, deep ovenproof skillet, melt the butter in the oil. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and dust lightly with the flour, tapping off the excess. Add the chicken to the skillet skin side down and cook over high heat, turning once, until browned, 6 minutes. Transfer to a plate.

Add the shallots, parsnips and sage sprig to the skillet and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the wine and boil until reduced by half, about 3 minutes. Add the broth and bring to a boil. Nestle the chicken skin side up in the skillet, tucking it between the parsnips. Transfer the skillet to the middle rack of the oven and braise the chicken uncovered for about 25 minutes, until cooked through.

Turn the broiler on. Broil the chicken for 3 minutes, until the skin is crisp. Return the skillet to high heat and boil until the sauce is thickened, 3 minutes. Discard the sage sprig, if you like. Transfer the chicken and vegetables to bowls, garnish with chopped sage leaves and chives and serve with steamed Jasmine rice.

Sumac!

April 20, 2012 by Mary Frances 8 Comments

Sumac is a wonderful spice – not the poisonous kind but lemony and nice! It is used in many Arab, Iranian and Turkish cuisines. I like to use it on roast chicken or roasted vegetables. They say you can also sprinkle it directly on salads, rice and hummus, which I have not yet tried.

As I’ve mentioned before, my husband has to be on this crazy diet to cut down on his acid intake. He has had a constant cough that apparently if left unchecked, can turn into esophageal cancer. Yikes! Therefore I am not allowed to use any garlic, onions, peppers of any kind, lemons or any citrus for nearly 6 months! All the things that give recipes the real flavor! So I have been struggling to cook around all of this. Fresh ginger and herbs de Provence have become my new best friends and so has sumac!
Roasted sumac chicken with roasted Jerusalem artichokes

Sumac is a beautiful purply red, coarse ground powder. I recommend a heavy sprinkling on a chicken before roasting. Check out my Roast Chicken recipe and sprinkle the sumac all over to coat. See the photos above for before and after cooking. So give it a go and let me know what you think!

(This article is also featured on Spice4Life in South Africa)

Herbes de Provence and fresh ginger

March 19, 2012 by Mary Frances 3 Comments

Okay, so we got a little respite from Steve’s diet with the beet and tangerine salad in my last posting. I obviously made that before he went on this diet. Hope you will try it as I know you’ll love it!

His diet of no garlic, onions, tomatoes or citrus is really hard for me. He can’t even have chocolate for dessert! So upcoming entertaining will be challenging.

I must admit, however, that each night, my kitchen floor is much cleaner. Why? There’s no little bits of onion or garlic skin dancing around. But really, I’d gladly have them back and pull out the old dustbuster each night.

So basically he’s just supposed to eat seafood, chicken or turkey for the next 4 weeks. He’s cheated a bit with lamb and pork but he’s been good. And I’ve been trying to be a good do bee, helping him adhere. By the way, Do Bee, comes from Romper Room – I had no idea! Check this out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtI1t_3wWLM&feature=channel

So my two new favorite go-to seasonings have been herbs de Provence and fresh ginger! I like to slowly melt the ginger, like you would garlic, before sautéing it with vegetables. This particular night, I again had vegetables begging to be used so I did a drawer clean-up and it was delicious!! I combined some oven-roasted ones with sautéed ginger and cabbage and it was truly amazing. Here’s to all my vegetarian readers!

The turnips will be sweet, the cabbage adds a little crunch, the fennel, interesting flavor and radicchio adds some bite. All interesting, satisfying and delicious. Not to mention, also good for you!

Here’s what I made.

OVEN ROASTED AND SAUTEED MIXED VEGETABLES
– serves 4

2 medium turnips, peeled and cut into 3/4” cubes
1/2 of a large fennel bulb, cut into 1/3” strips
1 very small radicchio or 1/2 of a large one, cut into 1/2” wide wedges
2-3 tbs. olive oil
Salt
Pepper
—————-
One 2” piece of fresh ginger, peeled, sliced thin and cut into matchsticks
2 tbs. olive oil
1 head of Chinese or Napa cabbage, outer leaves removed, and sliced into 1/2” slices
Salt
Pepper
1/2 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Pile your turnips, fennel and radicchio in the middle of a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with the olive oil, salt and pepper to taste and toss well. Roast for about 25 minutes until the turnips are fork tender. Be sure to toss halfway through so they brown evenly. Keep warm.

Meanwhile, warm the 2 tbs. olive oil for the sautéed vegetables. Add ginger and cover to sauté slowly, over low heat for 15 minutes. Add the thick pieces from the bottom of the cabbage, cover again for 5 – 7 minutes until they are tender. Then remove the cover, raise the heat and add the rest of the cabbage, salt and pepper to taste, tossing quickly until crisp tender, about 1 – 2 minutes.

Turn into a large bowl, add the roasted vegetables, all their juices and half of the chopped parsley, and toss all to combine with two large spoons. Sprinkle the remaining parsley on top and serve.

Now in the bowl you will have a lot of liquid as cabbage has a lot of water in it so serve this with a slotted spoon.

I served this with:

PROVENCAL TURKEY BURGERS
– serves 6 – or 4 with leftovers for lunch

2 lbs. ground turkey
1 raw egg plus 1 egg yolk (the egg yolk is optional, I had an extra one and wanted to use it up)
1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
2 tsp. herbes de Provence
Salt
Pepper
2 tbs. olive oil

Combine turkey, egg, panko, herbes de Provence, salt and pepper. Mix well but lightly with your hands and form into 6 patties. Do not pack tightly.

Heat olive oil until shimmering but not smoking. Add patties, lower heat a little and sauté 4 – 5 minutes on each side until done.

Enjoy!

No garlic?

February 28, 2012 by Mary Frances 2 Comments

For some time now my husband has had this persistent cough, that mainly occurs after he eats a meal. Finally, he went to the doctor and he suggested going on this acid-free diet. There are details to the diet but we must be very strict for 2 weeks and the main things are: no garlic, onions, tomatoes, or spicy or regular peppers and of course no fruit, except for bananas, pears and some apples.

Well telling me no garlic, onions, tomatoes or peppers is like well, I don’t know what!! I’d say the only dish I cook without garlic would be duck breasts with a fruit sauce!!!

So we started this diet on Monday and I’ve been reacquainting myself with Herbs de Provence. I used it to roast a chicken last night and on some tilapia fillets tonight. Tomorrow I’m making striped bass fillets and if any of you have any suggestions, please pour it on. He also should have limited olive oil and butter, only skinless chicken or fish, no meat or fried foods.

Help!

We must know what we’re eating!

February 27, 2012 by Mary Frances Leave a Comment

This is from an email I just received from the Center for Food Safety.

Congress to FDA: LABEL GENETICALLY ENGINEERED FOOD
Have YOUR Senators and Representative Joined the Letter?

In the U.S., we pride ourselves on having choices and making informed decisions. Under current FDA regulations, we don’t have that choice when it comes to GE ingredients in the foods we purchase and feed our families. This led the Center for Food Safety to submit a legal petition to the FDA demanding that the agency require the labeling of GE foods. In response, Senator Barbara Boxer (CA) and Representative Peter DeFazio (OR) have authored a bicameral Congressional letter in support of our legal petition and will be urging their fellow Members on Capitol Hill to sign onto their letter.

Unsuspecting consumers by the tens of millions are being allowed to purchase and consume unlabeled genetically engineered foods, despite the fact that FDA undertakes no testing of its own, instead relying only on a voluntary consultation with industry and confidential industry data to assure safety. Internal FDA documents discovered in prior CFS litigation actually indicated the foods could pose serious risks, but those views were overruled.

Genetically engineered foods are required to be labeled in nearly 50 countries around the world including the United Kingdom, Australia, South Korea, Japan, Brazil, China, New Zealand and many others. A recent poll released by ABC News found that 93 percent of the American public wants the federal government to require mandatory labeling of genetically engineered foods. As ABC News stated, “Such near-unanimity in public opinion is rare.” Yet the United States is one of the only countries in the world that doesn’t require labeling of GE food!

Please write and call your U.S. Senators and Representative and urge them to join the Boxer-DeFazio letter in support of labeling!

A different chicken dish!

January 27, 2012 by Mary Frances 4 Comments

Sesame braised chicken with shiitake mushrooms and daikon on a white plate.

Sesame Braised Chicken with Shiitake, Daikon & Ginger

This is a great Sunday dish, as it does take some time. It’s a Melissa Clark recipe from The New York Times that I have altered, again. Not much, but I just can’t help myself. But I really do like Melissa’s recipes! She and I must be on the same wavelength. That’s the thing. There are millions of recipes out there. I pick the ones that I think I’m going to love, (based on the ingredients, time to prepare, ease of preparation, will it be fun to make?) If you make things you love, you will serve them with love – because love really is the secret ingredient!

Now I did make a mistake in making this – had to do with not reading the recipe all the way through carefully. I threw in the scallion tops into the pot to roast with the chicken so you don’t see raw scallion rings in my photo. No matter, the dish was great – and different!! We all love chicken but we’re always looking for something different, right? Melissa talks about the daikon radish getting silky and she’s right. You’ll want to crawl right into this dish. Perfect for a winter night.

I also used the stems of the mushrooms but I don’t think I’d use them again as they were a bit woody. Maybe save them to chop fine and use in a risotto later.

I served this with Jasmine steamed rice and some sautéed okra. It was yummy!

SESAME BRAISED CHICKEN IN A POT WITH SHIITAKE, DAIKON AND GINGER – adapted from Melissa Clark and The New York Times
– serves 4

3 bunches scallions (about 3/4 pound)
3 tablespoons peanut oil
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 pound Daikon radish, peeled and cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks
1/2 – 3/4 cup shiitake mushroom caps
8 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
2 inches ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
1 whole chicken (3 1/2 pounds)
2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt
2 teaspoons black pepper
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup dry sherry
1 tablespoon soy sauce
4 whole star anise pods
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Trim the roots off the scallions. Separate the dark green tops from the bottoms.

In a 5- or 6-quart Dutch oven, heat 2 tablespoons peanut oil and 1 1/2 teaspoons sesame oil over medium-high heat. Add the scallion bottoms, daikon, mushrooms and garlic cloves. Cook, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 7 minutes. Add the ginger and cook 1 minute more. Use a slotted spoon to transfer vegetables to a platter.

Pat chicken dry; season inside and out with salt and pepper. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon peanut oil and 1 1/2 teaspoons sesame oil to the Dutch oven. Brown chicken, turning, until the skin is well browned about 3 – 4 minutes on each of the 4 sides. Turn chicken breast-side up. Scatter the vegetables around the chicken. In a small bowl, whisk together the stock, sherry and soy sauce. Pour over the chicken. Drop in the star anise pods. Tightly cover the pot and transfer to the oven. Cook until the chicken is no longer pink, 40 to 60 minutes.

Remove to a cutting board. Skim fat from the surface of the cooking liquid. Chop the scallion tops and stir in, with the vinegar. Carve chicken and serve, topped with vegetables and pot juices.