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

Roasted Chicken Thighs with Potatoes and Arugula

January 10, 2016 by Mary 34 Comments

The inspiration for this recipe of Roasted Chicken Thighs with Potatoes and Arugula came from a Melissa Clark recipe in The New York Times several weeks ago. However, I have changed it big time, making it more of roasted chicken and potatoes atop a salad of arugula as opposed to a few arugula leaves scattered on top.You probably know by now, I love warm things atop greens.

I prepared this for a dinner party Friday night in the city. Throwing a party on a Friday night is a great way to start the weekend! First of all, your guests are really excited that the week is over and they can truly relax because a Saturday sleep-in is possible. The noise level was intense. Of course that may have had something to do with the whiskey tasting that was going on. But that’s what I mean, that would have never gone on on a school night!

Tomatoes and dill air drying on a white paper towel.

Looks like Christmas all over again, right?

The beauty of this dish is that you do most of the work in the morning, marinating the chicken and potatoes in the harissa, olive oil and cumin, and the rest is easy. I even washed my arugula, tomatoes and dill in the morning, and let it get good and dry by laying it out on a clean counter before putting it in a plastic bag with a few paper towels to wick up the extra moisture that would form from being in the fridge. I had help from one guest to make the yogurt dressing, and voila, we had dinner!

Our oldest son has a friend who loves yogurt on EVERYTHING!! He would clearly LOVE this dish. He is half Austrian and half Turkish, mainly raised in Turkey. I always want to have yogurt on hand for him, and Zach says, “NO, not necessary, serve the dinner how you want … ” So he would really love this dish.

The day before New Year’s Eve, I had made a big pot of pea soup, so I froze half of that and used it to start the dinner. With light appetizers, just nuts and a smoked salmon tartare in phyllo shells, starting with a slightly heavier soup worked out just fine.

I hope you try this dish. It’s got a lot going for it. The spiciness of the harissa on the chicken and potatoes, mixed with the creamy yogurt dressing atop the cool arugula and every once in a while you get a hit of dill, it’s delicious!!

Easy, delicious and different – all that I’m after!

ROASTED CHICKEN THIGHS WITH POTATOES AND ARUGULA – serves 8

10 chicken thighs with skin and bones, fat and extra skin removed
2 ¼ pounds small Yukon Gold potatoes, (creamers), cut into 1/2-inch slices
2 ½ tsp. Kosher salt, more as needed
½ tsp. black pepper, more as needed
6 Tbs. harissa (or use another thick hot sauce, such as sriracha)
1 heaping Tbs. ground cumin
¾ cup extra-virgin olive oil, more as needed, divided
5 medium leeks, white and light green parts only, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
Lemon zest (from 2 large lemons), divided
1 heaping cup plain Greek yogurt
3 garlic cloves, grated or finely minced
Juice from one large lemon
10 oz. baby arugula, washed, air dried and chilled
21 cherry tomatoes
Chopped fresh dill, as needed

Combine chicken and potatoes in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper. In a small bowl, whisk together harissa, cumin and 1/2 cup of olive oil. Pour over chicken and potatoes and toss well to combine. Let it marinate up to 12 hours in the refrigerator or in a pinch, at room temperature for 30 minutes. If you have refrigerated it, let it stand at room temperature for one hour before roasting. While it’s marinating, if you can, toss and mix it up every so often.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine leeks, lemon zest, a pinch of salt and the remaining ¼ cup of oil.
Heat oven to 425 degrees. Arrange chicken (skin side up) and potatoes on a large rimmed baking sheet in a single layer. Roast for 15 minutes. Toss potatoes lightly. Scatter leeks over pan. Roast until chicken and potatoes are cooked through and everything is golden and slightly crisped, 25 to 30 minutes longer.

While chicken cooks, place yogurt in a small bowl. Grate garlic over yogurt and season to taste with salt and pepper. Thin with lemon juice from one large lemon. Zest another large lemon over the yogurt. Mix with a whisk to combine all.

To serve, place arugula evenly over a large platter. Distribute chicken and potatoes over all. Drizzle all pan juices on top. Spoon yogurt over chicken and vegetables. Scatter the dill and cherry tomatoes over all.

For dessert, I served a platter of Christmas cookies – date bars, pecan crisps, bourbon balls, and Hello Dolly squares – along with a touch of ice cream and strawberries.

Make this tonight! Perfect for a Sunday night dinner. Serve this magnificent colorful platter with LOVE. Your family or guests will love you back big time – guaranteed!

Funny, I don’t know about you other bloggers but I always seem to write better posts if I write them and then let them simmer a bit so I can think of other tidbits I want to add or embellish on and then have the time to do that before I actually post. How about you?

Many thanks to our friends, Sumantra and Indrani Sen for taking some of these pictures!

POURfect Measuring Spoons & Curry Pho with Veal & Veggies

October 16, 2015 by Mary 7 Comments

My mother used to say, “You must have the right tool to do the best job.” How true that is – for anything! Well for cooking, there are measuring spoons and then there are these POURfect measuring spoons. Completely accurate – perfect for bakers where that accuracy really matters – a dream to use in that each spoon easily snaps on and off of the holding ring so you don’t have all of these dangling spoons all around while you’re trying to measure something, and all the sizes!!

First, there’s the 2 tablespoon size! Simple, but genius, because how often do you use 2 tablespoons? All the time!! Then, there’s the 11/2 teaspoon size and ¾ teaspoon – again genius. And I haven’t even gotten to the dash, pinch, smidgen, or drop measurements. Who knew there were real standard measurements for these? All these years, I just guessed!

And then there’s the leveling tool and the shiny surface area of the interior bowl of the spoon so ingredients slip out easily yet the rest of the spoon is matte so you have a better grip on it. The depression in the middle of the spoon is also so clever – a pourfect thumb grip! (couldn’t resist.)

Do I like these spoons?

You bet!

These spoons were designed when owner, Randy Kaas,unfortunately lost his sight in 2001. He had been in the kitchen utensil business since 1978 and was inspired by the TV show, The French Chef starring Julia Child. The need for a mixing bowl that wouldn’t spill when you couldn’t see what you were doing was recognized. POURfect Products solve common cooking problems making your life easier, less messy and more enjoyable.

POURfect measuring spoons are the only, Made in USA, 100% accurate spoons that snap off one at a time, have markings in English, Metric and Braille and are comfortable to hold. There isn’t another set of 12 measuring spoons that include all of these hard to find sizes.

Take a look at this luscious recipe I made recently featuring these spoons upfront as this has a lot of different ingredients, yet this soup comes together very quickly. I made this on a weeknight and it was perfect!

CURRY PHO WITH VEAL AND VEGGIES – serves 5 – 6

1 Tbs. olive oil
1 medium onion, cut into quarters and then 1/4” slices
1 lb. ground veal
2 Tbs. curry powder
Salt to taste
10 cups vegetable broth or vegetable pho
5.5 oz. brown rice udon noodles
4 kale stalks – main artery removed, rolled and cut in a chiffonade
1/3 of a bunch of beet greens, stalks separated from greens, greens sliced thin
¾ of an orange pepper, cut in 1/3” squares
¼ cup chopped oil-cured black olives
1 tomatilla chopped
Handful of sorrel leaves, leaves sliced, stems chopped for garnish, or use sliced scallions

Warm the olive oil with the onions in a large skillet. Cover and sweat the onions for 5 minutes on low heat. Add the ground veal and brown partially, until just pink and broken up into small chunks. Add the curry powder and salt to taste. Stir well to combine.

Meanwhile pour the broth into a large soup pot and bring to a boil. Add the udon and cook 2 minutes less than the package directions.

Turn heat to low and add the meat and all the rest of the vegetables, except for the sorrel stems. Stir for a minute or two. Add the chopped olives and the very end.

Serve immediately in bowls with chopsticks and LOVE. Garnish with the chopped sorrel stems, or you could use thinly sliced scallions. Enjoy!!

POURfect 13-piece measuring spoon set was one of the products in our MARY’s secret ingredients fall box. You can get your winter box here! Make a great gift and helps us in our support of Feed The Children.

Chipz Happen Cinnful Sweet Heat Ice Cream Sandwiches

July 13, 2015 by Mary 17 Comments

Spicy, sweet, crispy and cinnamony, Chipz Happen Cinnful Sweet Heat Ice Cream Sandwiches have it all going, using these spicy cinnamon flavored corn chips!! This is the first product I want to talk about from the MARY’s secret ingredients summer box and it’s neatest company with the most interesting background story. This is the story of a mom who made homemade chips for her kids and extended family as just a part of their life. Then at the age of 73, with the urging of her children, together they set out and decided to spread the great taste of their mother’s creation to the rest of the world and formed this company, Chipz Happen! All flavors of Chipz Happen have no artificial ingredients, no trans fats, are made with all non-GMO ingredients, gluten-free, vegan and use only antioxidant rich rice bran oil. Whoa – that’s a whole good mouthful!!

Of course you can eat these chips right out of the bag – and with summertime grilling, they’ll go great with anything! But I created this super easy delicious dessert with them to beat the summertime heat.

Crush your chips, follow instructions, add some LOVE, and you’re all set!! (and enjoy the compliments!)

CHIPZ HAPPEN CINNFUL SWEET HEAT ICE CREAM SANDWICHES – serves 6

12 chocolate wafer cookies or any other thin, sturdy cookies you like
1 pint vanilla ice cream
1.5 oz. bag of Chipz Happen Cinnful Sweet Heat Tortilla Chips
Strawberries for garnish

Remove tortilla chips from the bag and crush.

Scoop out a good spoonful or 1/6 of the ice cream on a chocolate wafer, top with the other wafer, press down gently so you don’t break the cookies and then roll the ice cream sides in the crushed chips to coat. Place in a covered plastic container and freeze until ready to serve.

Serve with LOVE, on a plate, garnished with 2 strawberries.

Enjoy!!

I also used these chips, crushed, to garnish my Smoked Tomato Soup that I served at room temperature. The cinnamon flavor with the smoky soup was truly wonderful – and so different. The crunch of the chips added a great extra texture.

Experiment and have fun!! No matter, these chips are great!

Let’s talk about temperature

July 5, 2015 by Mary 16 Comments

I hope you all had a great July 4^th holiday weekend! We certainly did and the weather is glorious today, not too hot, actually amazing for July 5^th, with the temperature in the low 80’s accompanied by cool breezes. We are here in upstate New York and had our friends Margaret and Wayne over for dinner last night. Margaret said she had even turned on the heat yesterday in her house!!

For our meal, I followed my own instructions, if you got our recipe email from MARY’s secret ingredients for dinner suggestions for the 4^th. I made Barbecued Ribs, Corn on the Cob, Sweet and Sour Coleslaw, and I started our dinner with my Smoked Tomato Soup, (minus the Nueske’s sausage and Flathaus Cheese Straws) but decided to serve it at room temperature, which turned out to be a fantastic idea. Some time ago, I remember reading an article in Food & Wine magazine about famous chefs and their mentors. This one focused on April Bloomfield and she said her mentor taught her the most about temperature. Something she was making, she served way too hot. Her mentor said, in so many words, that all of the flavors were not blossoming with all that heat.

Well my soup, because the tomatoes were smoked and it contained smoky bacon, was actually intended to be served hot, but who wants hot soup on July 4^th? So then, I thought, I’ll serve it cold and it’ll be a different form of gazpacho. But no, I said to myself, that won’t work. Serving it cold would obliterate the beautiful bacony, smoky flavors that I had worked so hard to create. So after I pureed it, I just let it sit on a cool burner on the stovetop, letting it come to room temperature – and it was divine!!

I made this decision to take a leap of faith – fortunately we were with good, forgiving friends if it turned out to be a really bad idea. However, this was a really great idea! So I just thought I’d share.
This soup also contains one of our new ingredients from our summer box. You’ll find it to be surprising so stay tuned for the upcoming posts where I’ll reveal all of the great new products!

Let’s all appreciate our freedom and give thanks!!

Broth Bowls at Panera Bread

January 26, 2015 by Mary 22 Comments

Right before the holidays, I received an email invitation from a sweet Emma at Panera Bread to a Broth Bowl tasting. Hmm, broth bowls… sounded interesting. And now with this frigid weather we’ve been having, what could be better? The formal invitation arrived, positioning the event as “An Evening of Umami.” A small group of folks interested in food, nutrition and cooking gathered in this lovely loft in Chinatown. We were treated to a terrific presentation from their Culinary Institute-trained and former teacher, Dan Kish. Dan and his colleague, Mark McDonough, (Director of Product Development) traveled the world (wouldn’t I love to be them!) to research and pull together umami tastes, spices and fresh ingredients to create the newest four dishes, these broth bowls at Panera Bread. Then they served us our choice of broth bowl(s) for dinner, along with some lovely wine.

Here’s what I knew about Panera Bread. They started in St. Louis as the St. Louis Bread Company! I am originally from St. Louis, so you know, they have to be good.

Here’s what I learned. They’re now huge (1,845 cafes) and an incredible company! I mean, having Culinary Institute trained chefs create their dishes and also be concerned about their green footprint, is BIG. For instance, they’ve considered the repercussions of transporting the broth (water is heavy) to all locations or deliberated if it should it be concentrated and then concerned if it can it retain the taste, as well as, considered how to efficiently make the bowls out of components and achieve the desired consistency, using the least amount of energy through all of the processes. Their ingredients are nearly all organic – no antibiotics in the chicken and nearly all cage-free eggs. That’s huge! This “fast casual” food has been designed to be genuinely healthy, even low calorie and totally delicious! I mean this company is really doing amazing things to feed our bodies and take care of our planet. It is not easy to create healthy food available in about 5 minutes after you order at their counter. But boy if they can change our fast food culture into something this great, wouldn’t that be way cool? Really!!! Having healthy energetic people walk the planet exuding wonderful positive energy is just what we all need.

The problem is, is that I never knew any of these things about Panera. (I think they need us to do their marketing and to spread the word, don’t you think?)

So what exactly is Umami? I wanted a succinct answer. Here’s what the Umami Information Center says. (Yes, it’s true, there is one. Just Google it.) Taking its name from Japanese, umami is a pleasant savoury taste imparted by glutamate, a type of amino acid, and ribonucleotides, including inosinate and guanylate, which occur naturally in many foods including meat, fish, vegetables and dairy products. As the taste of umami itself is subtle and blends well with other tastes to expand and round out flavors, most people don’t recognize umami when they encounter it, but it plays an important role making food taste delicious.

Could it be that fake Umami is monosodium glutamate – MSG? Well there’s none of that here.

Check out these broth bowls – they’re delish!!!

I particularly liked the quinoa lentil one with the hard boiled egg on top!

Roasted Vegetable Soup and Meat Buns

January 6, 2015 by Mary 27 Comments

For my birthday, back in November, one of the gifts from my boys was a meat grinder to attach to the KitchenAid that they gave me last year. This thing will grind meat, vegetables and even hunks of hard cheese – think Parmesan for pesto! I’m excited about that. So my husband has had this fantasy of recreating his grandmother’s meat buns. He’s talked about it for at least 20 years. I have no idea what he’s talking about, never having had a meat bun, nor did I grow up with knishes. So this was his project. I knew to get out of his way and spent the afternoon in my painting studio, working on a new canvas. He did, however, ask me to make a vegetable soup to complete our dinner.

Here he is grinding away. He used ground chuck and corned beef!

So I took out 4 cups of homemade chicken broth from the freezer and gathered a variety of vegetables from the fridge. I decided to oven roast the beauties first, to bring out their natural sweetness. Besides, I love making pretty arrangements on the baking sheet.

Look at this – so pretty!

And then at the very end, I threw in several handfuls of escarole. I LOVE escarole in soup, as long as it’s still bright green with a little crunch.

The meat buns, as Steve claims, were pretty good, not yet ready for prime time as they were not like his grandmother’s. So I’ll let him practice some more before turning over that recipe.

Do you have dishes from your grandmother that you long for?

After all the richness of holiday food, this soup can bring you to your senses with some good clean cooking. It is healthy deliciousness that will warm your innards and satisfy. To make, this soup was simple and quick. Can’t go wrong with that!

ROASTED VEGETABLE SOUP – serves 4

4 cups of chicken broth, preferably homemade
4 plum tomatoes, cored and cut in half
3 carrots, peeled, halved lengthwise and cut into 3” long pieces
2 parsnips, peeled, halved lengthwise and cut into 3” long pieces
5 cremini mushrooms
Handful of green beans, cleaned
Handful of okra, cleaned and top ends trimmed
1 shallot, peeled and cut in half, lengthwise
1/2 of a red bell pepper, cut into 1/2″ strips
1/4 of a fennel bulb, cut into strips
2 stems of rosemary
3 stems of thyme
4 leaves of escarole, washed and cut into 1” ribbons
1 Tbs. chopped Italian parsley

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Warm chicken broth in a medium sized saucepan.

Arrange all vegetables, except for the escarole and parsley on a baking sheet, along with herbs, drizzle on some olive oil, season with salt and pepper, toss to coat. Roast until not quite fork tender, about 12 – 15 minutes. You may want to remove some vegetables before others.

On a cutting board, cut the vegetables into bite size pieces, and add to the chicken broth, scraping all the juices and olive oil into the soup as well. Discard the herbs. Taste and correct seasoning.

Warm everything until it’s nice and hot. About two minutes before serving, stir in the chopped escarole to wilt. Portion out into 4 bowls, garnish with chopped parsley and serve with LOVE!