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

Pasta with Pancetta, Chicken, Pecorino and Broccoli Rabe – A HANGOVER HELPER!

December 31, 2019 by Mary 3 Comments

Happy New Year to everyone!! Be safe out there celebrating. I wanted you to have this recipe of Pasta with Pancetta, Chicken, Pecorino and Broccoli Rabe as it can be a real hangover helper for tomorrow. Top it with an easy-over egg for extra protein, should you need it, and you’ll be in good shape to be able to enjoy New Year’s Day, 2020.

Pasta with Pancetta, Chicken, Pecorino and Broccoli Rabe

Comes together in only 40 minutes!

This dish comes together easily and quickly and should take no more than 40 minutes from start time to serving, even with a hangover. I use only one pot for the pasta and to blanch the broccoli rabe, in order to remove the bitterness.

Cooking for me now, is at once a pain and a joy. It is labor intensive – as I have to clean up too. However, when I do muster the energy, I find I get my mojo back and truly enjoy it! I can literally feel getting back in the grove. Because this recipe that I made up on the fly is really worthy of sharing with you, dear readers, I wanted to make sure you got it today, for help with tomorrow.

Admittedly, I LOVE to cook. I hate to clean. But I love to eat good, healthy food. So, there you have it; I continue to cook. It’s just that some things I make may last 4 – 5 meals. Which means I have to plan carefully, around dinner dates with friends or just needing the company of other humans as I frequent certain restaurants by myself and eat at the bar, hoping to have nice conversations with folks, besides of course, the bartender.

Toasted breadcrumbs are always a good addition.

I absolutely adore toasted breadcrumbs on top of pasta dishes, so I added them here as I had some leftover croutons (that I had sautéed in duck fat to make them divine!) that I just crushed to make crumbs. Genius, right? (heh)

I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.

Wishing you all health, happiness and everything you’ve dreamed of for 2020!! Another new decade!

PASTA WITH PANCETTA, CHICKEN, PECORINO AND BROCCOLI RABE – serves 3 – 4

½ lb. of pasta – Strozzapreti or fusilli
Coarse sea salt
2 Tbs. olive oil
1 ¼” thick slice of pancetta, cut in ¼” cubes
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, all fat removed and cut into ¼” slices
5 cloves of garlic, sliced
½ of a fresh serrano chile, thinly sliced with seeds and membrane
½ cup of chicken broth, preferably homemade or low salt if in a box
1 head of broccoli rabe, ends trimmed off and sliced in 11/2” sections
½ cup of Pecorino cheese, grated
Salt
Fresh ground pepper
Toasted bread crumbs or crushed croutons

The easy process.

Put a large pot of water on to boil. After it comes to a boil, salt liberally with the coarse sea salt. Salt only after it comes to a boil so you don’t pit your pot. Add the chopped broccoli rabe and blanch for 1 – 2 minutes. Remove the broccoli rabe with a strainer, leaving the water to boil to cook your pasta.

Meanwhile, warm the oil in a large skillet, on medium heat, large enough to hold everything. Add the pancetta and sautè for 5 – 6 minutes until nearly cooked. Then add the garlic and your chicken strips and cook, tossing until all pink is gone from the chicken. Slice the serrano chili over the skillet with a hand mandoline and toss.

Meanwhile, salt the boiling water again and add your pasta, cooking it 2 minutes less than the lesser number on the package for your cook time.

Add the drained broccoli rabe to the skillet with the chicken and toss and continue to cook.

When the pasta is nearly at its time, add the chicken broth to the skillet.

Drain your pasta and add it to the skillet. Toss everything together for about 2 – 3 minutes to finish cooking the pasta. Do a taste test for the pasta, keeping it al dente. Then add the grated cheese and a good amount of fresh ground pepper. Toss everything together and serve in warm bowls.

Top with toasted breadcrumbs and serve with LOVE.

Farro Pasta with Portobello Mushrooms, Chicken, Tomatoes, and Green Beans in a Sherry Cream Sauce

April 26, 2019 by Mary 16 Comments

I know it’s been a very long time. Too long in that I almost don’t know where to begin. I have a sister-in-law who has been begging me to write again, desperate for recipes. Since Steve passed, quite frankly I haven’t been making many worthy dishes. Not good enough to share. I make up very simple stuff on the fly with parchment paper being my best friend and roasting being my go-to method, therefore dirtying the least amount of dishes while still eating healthy. It’s pretty lazy. But last night, I had some energy and made this oh so delicious dish, Farro Pasta with Portobello Mushrooms, Chicken, Tomatoes, and Green Beans in a Sherry Cream Sauce. It’s not a very pretty dish as it’s rather brown, but it was so very yummy.

My good friend Margaret gave me this pasta, which is delicious! It’s made with farro, instead of flour and I do love farro. Margaret loves this too, but her husband, Wayne, not so much, which she forgot about and bought it again, so I got to be the lucky recipient of it!

Farro Pasta from Italy. — Delicious Farro Pasta

I made this combination, because that’s what I had around in the fridge and the tomatoes and green beans were added to give color. But they also added some super good flavor. The acid from the tomatoes cut the richness of the cream, while the green beans, lightly sautéed, gave it a nice crunch. The chicken was a smooth protein and I love using thighs as they are hard to overcook. The only way this dish could have been better is if I were in Tuscany and using fresh Porcini’s instead of Portobello’s. Now that would have been amazing and you probably wouldn’t even need chicken as those Porcini’s I cooked in Italy were To. Die. For. Seriously. I actually have never seen fresh porcini’s here, have you? Well if you do, buy them up and use, but they still probably won’t taste as good as they do in Tuscany.

WHAT DO WE DO TO OUR VEGETABLES?

Honestly, I don’t know what we do to our vegetables here but with all the gassing and packaging to make their shelf life longer, we must certainly lose nutrients too. We definitely lose taste. The best part of my time in Italy was being able to cook there with their ingredients. Every Saturday morning, I would start with a Porchetta sandwich, (yes! Even garlic in the morning, the porchetta was soooo good.), and then visit all the stalls for vegetables, cheeses and some very delicious pre-made dishes like round zucchini stuffed with bread crumbs, pancetta and vegetables – total yum!!

But here’s the thing, I had to learn to not buy too much, because the vegetables do not last long there. You have to be able to use most all of them within 2 – 3 days. Yes. That is certainly the maximum for leafy greens and maybe eggplant, zucchini or unripe tomatoes will keep longer. But their flavor is so much more intense, therefore more satisfying and much more delicious. And therefore, you don’t need to eat as much!

I do miss Italy. I miss my marvelous friends there. The pace is slower, taking in the enjoyment of each other’s company, coupled with the delicious food and wine, accompanied by the sexy lyrical sound of the language. Perhaps I will go back either this fall or next spring.

Back to reality, here is this simple but totally yummy dish of Farro Pasta with Portobello Mushrooms, Chicken, Tomatoes, and Green Beans in a Sherry Cream Sauce. This is a quick and easy one-dish meal, perfect for a weeknight dinner!

FARRO PASTA with PORTOBELLO MUSHROOMS, CHICKEN, TOMATOES, and GREEN BEANS in a SHERRY CREAM SAUCE – serves 2

3 Tbs. unsalted butter
2 Tbs. olive oil
2 large Portobello mushrooms, cleaned and cut into chunks
1 – 2 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, washed, dried, and cut into strips
½ lb. green beans, ends removed, cut into 1.5” lengths
1 large tomato, cut into thick slices, and then chunks
¼ cup dry sherry
¼ cup of heavy cream
½ lb. farro pasta
Freshly grated Parmigiano and Pecorino cheeses

Place a large pot of water on to boil for the pasta. When boiled, salt liberally with coarse sea salt before adding pasta.

In a large skillet, melt the butter in the olive oil on medium-high heat and then add the mushrooms in a single layer and do not touch them for 8 minutes. They will soak up the oils and then release their own moisture and turn a nice golden brown, but you must resist the urge to stir them. After 8 minutes, stir and push them to the side of your skillet and add the chicken thigh strips in the center of your skillet to brown.

When the chicken is browned on one side, turn over to brown the other. Add the sherry and let that cook down and then stick your face in the skillet while you inhale the marvelous aromas! Then add the tomatoes and green beans, cooking until bright green and still crisp. Turn the heat to medium.

Meanwhile, cook your pasta until al dente. Drain and save some pasta water. Add the pasta to the mushroom chicken sauce in your skillet, along with the heavy cream and 2 – 3 Tbs. of pasta water.

Then grate the two cheeses on top, stir gently to combine and serve in warmed bowls, with love.

I hope you love this as much as I did!!

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!

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.

Best Quick Roasted Chicken

November 3, 2011 by Mary Frances 3 Comments

Roast chicken in a cast iron skillet just out of the oven.

Finished chicken just out of the oven

They say that many a chef is judged by how good their roast bird is. I have tried many different ways over the years. Debating whether or not to truss the bird with string (Julia) or cut slits in the skin and shove the legs in there. (Anthony Bourdain) Starting with high heat to sear and then lowering it and basting it throughout (I still do like this method – more on that later) or Julia Child’s recipe that involves turning the bird every 15 minutes (more work) or Jen’s method (our long term nanny for the boys) of covering it and roasting it longer. My brother, Mark, thought hers was the best! When he would come to visit in NJ, he would request Jen’s chicken for the first night of dinners. Then there’s Zuni Café’s version of salting the chicken several days ahead of time (really a brining of sorts) and then roasting in a not too dissimilar way from the method I like below. Tell me your favorite! I think this is the best quick roasted chicken.

This is a version adapted from Mark Bittman and my oldest son on the way to cook it, with my added touches. They say great chefs never throw anything away. I believe in that so I always save my parmesan cheese rinds. Shove them into the cavity of a bird or throw into your risotto and you will be amazed at how much flavor they impart. Using them in a roast chicken provides a parmesan flavored sauce, mixed with the chicken juices that is just divine. (That’s the end of the cheese rind sticking out of the cavity – don’t you go thinking of other things!)

THE BEST QUICK ROASTED CHICKEN – serves 4

One 3.5 lb. chicken (I like Bell and Evans, still)
Fine grind sea salt
Fine grind pepper (I use Tex-Joy brand)
4-5 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
10 sprigs of fresh thyme
½ lemon
Parmesan cheese rinds
20 – 25 cremini mushrooms, washed, stems trimmed a little bit and left whole

Preheat oven to 450 degrees with a cast iron skillet or heavy ovenproof skillet in the center of the oven. Trim the ends off of your mushrooms, wash, pat dry with a towel and let air dry. Thoroughly wash and dry your bird, inside and out. Distribute and shove sliced garlic, along with the thyme sprigs, under the skin on both sides of the bird – both breasts and legs and both sides on the back. Be careful not to rip the skin. Take the half of lemon and squeeze it inside the cavity to refresh the bird. Salt and pepper the cavity. Place the squeezed lemon half in there, along with more sliced garlic and thyme and shove in the parmesan cheese rind.

Pat dry the outside of the bird again, salt and pepper the outside.

Take the pan out of the oven and leave a hot pad on the handle immediately so you don’t forget and grab it. Quickly put the bird in the pan, breast side up (it will not stick) and shove mushrooms all around. It will be snug and please remember this pan is blazing hot so be careful.

Shove the hot pan with chicken and mushrooms back into the oven and roast for 35 – 40 minutes, undisturbed, until meat thermometer reaches 155 degrees. Remove chicken immediately from the hot pan by grabbing the cavity with long tongs and let rest on a platter, for at least 10 minutes before carving. Pour juices from pan on top and scatter mushrooms around. Please remember again to use a good hot pad on the handle. Too many times I have grabbed one of these, forgetting it had been in that crazy hot oven. (For burns, tea tree oil is the best but is not a good smell around food.)

Now, you tell me if this isn’t the easiest and fastest way to serve a delicious, moist, mouth watering roast chicken?

Delicious and easy roast chicken with mushrooms

Too rich

September 28, 2011 by Mary Frances 2 Comments

Last night I made April Bloomfield’s recipe of Lyon-Style Chicken with Vinegar Sauce and her suggested Herbed Steamed Rice recipe that’s in the October edition of Food & Wine magazine. It was scrumptious……. but boy was it rich and fattening! I just don’t usually cook like this. Actually, at The Breslin, one of April’s restaurants here in NYC, I can only eat a half of her lamb burger. And don’t let me fool you, I can eat. So I took a look at these recipes. Six tablespoons of butter for both, plus 3 tablespoons of olive oil and no draining of the chicken fat plus a quarter cup of creme fraiche. Well I was originally going to cut back on everything and then I thought, no. I’ll make it this one time her way. Well my husband and Zach loved it and I did too but it was just way too rich in the end. I felt the fat cells expanding on my hips as I was eating, and believe me, they do not need to do that.

This is the thing. My cooking is full of flavor, clean and relatively low fat – meaning I really don’t use much butter. My big flavors come from lots of garlic, onions and all kinds of fresh herbs. I hope I can convince you that cooking this fresh way is not hard, gives you beautiful colors to play with and spreads your love to everyone around you, even in a healthy way!