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Kalguksu (or Korean chicken noodle soup)

~ lisaandfrancescook ~ 1 Comment

Growing up, this was one of the best meals to have when feeling sick and under the weather. As I got older, it finally occurred to me that this was basically just chicken noodle soup, but how the Koreans made it.

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I almost never make my own noodles for this, though I was feeling inspired last weekend and finally gave it a shot.

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In general though, if I can’t find a Korean grocery store or if I’m just feeling lazy I’ll just use udon or ramen noodles.  Kal-guk-su literally translates into “knife cut noodles” so to get the authentic flavor of these, it really is worth either making the noodles or finding them at a Korean grocery store.

For the soup

  • 2 lb of chicken
  • 1/2 cup of “gook-gang-jang” or soup soy sauce (if you can’t find it, I’ve heard you can substitute with fish sauce found in Asian aisles at grocery stores)
  • 1 zucchini, diced finely in matchstick pieces
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 5 tbsp soy sauce
  • 4 tbsp sesame seed oil
  • scallions (1 bunch)
  • sesame seeds
  • Korean red chili pepper flakes (go-chu-garu) optional for garnish

For the noodles

  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/2 cup cold water
  • 1 tbsp vegetable oil

To make the soup:

  1. Bring a 5 qt pot of water (where the pot is about 70% full of water) to boil.  Add the chicken and cook for about 20 minutes or until the chicken is fully cooked.
  2. Skim the surface of the broth, and take out the chicken and move to a cutting board.
  3. Shred the chicken using 2 forks and put into a medium sized glass mixing bowl.  Add the soy sauce, scallions, sesame seed oil, and sesame seeds and mix thoroughly.  Feel free to add some more soy sauce if it’s not enough to coat all the shredded chicken.
  4. Add the soup soy sauce and the zucchini to the broth on the stove and let simmer for about 15 minutes.

To make the noodles:

  1. In a large mixing bowl, add the flour and vegetable oil, and slowly add the cold water mixing to make a dough as you go.
  2. Mix and knead the dough until it hold shape in a ball.  Knead for another 5 minutes or so and then let rest for about 30 minutes in a covered bowl.
  3. After the 30 minutes, knead the dough again for about 5 minutes, and then roll it out like a large pancake until it is rather thin.  Add flour to the top of this “dough pancake,” flip over and add flour to the other side as well.  Then fold the pancake a few times over.  Cut the folded panckae in about 1/8″ increments to make the noodles.

Putting it all together

  1. Once the broth is back up to a boil, add the noodles and cook for about 5-7 minutes.
  2. Put some noodles in a bowl, add some liquid broth, and then garnish with a clump of the marinated chicken. Sprinkle some kochugaru if you have it, and enjoy!

(I personally love to add a lot of kimchi to this hearty dish – plus I think it helps with clearing out the sinuses!)

 

Eggplant stuffed with Ground Lamb

~ lisaandfrancescook ~ Leave a comment

I’ve rediscovered eggplant as of late, and enjoy making any dish that calls for roasting them.  While I grew up with eggplant making appearances at dinner, in Korean cooking it is generally raw or very lightly tossed in a pan and so you never really got that wonderful, rich eggplant flavor.  This makes for an easy dinner that looks beautiful and goes very nicely with any rich red wine, we like using a California Zinfandel.

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Ingredients

  • 1 lb ground lamb (or ground beef but ground lamb has a nice flavor)
  • 1 yellow onion (diced)
  • 2 serrano peppers (depending on how spicy you want it)
  • 1 vine ripened tomato
  • 2 eggplants
  • 1 tbsp cumin
  • 1 tsp coriander
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • EVOO

Directions

  1. In a large pan, add some olive oil and sauté the onions until translucent, about 10 minutes with the cumin and coriander and salt.  Add the ground lamb and cook until browned, about 10-15 minutes.
  2. In the meantime, heat your oven to 400 degrees.  Cut the eggplants in half length-wise, drizzle with olive oil and place on foil on a baking sheet.  Scoop out a little bit of each eggplant where the seeds are.
  3. Bake in the oven for about 45 minutes or until the edges of the eggplant are starting to look crispy.
  4. Keep the heat on in the oven after roasting the eggplants, and add about 1/4 of the ground lamb mixture to each eggplant, carefully mounding them on top of the eggplants.  Add a tomato slice and half of a pepper.
  5. Return to the oven, and bake at 400 degrees for another 20 minutes.
  6. Serve immediately!

Salmon in Chermoula with Couscous

~ lisaandfrancescook ~ 1 Comment

Some time ago, American Express used to send me Food and Wine cookbooks and I just stacked them in a corner, never really using them for inspiration.  At some point in the Fall, I started leafing through and have since found some amazing recipes that we’ve been cooking over and over again.  One of these has been this delicious salmon recipe.

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We LOVE salmon – or rather, the “ocean trout” that we get at our grocery store that happens to look like salmon and in my opinion actually tastes better than salmon.  So when we found this Michael Solomonov recipe for salmon in our book (surprising that it is *not* in our Zahav book) we had to try it!

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The mushroom sauce is perhaps not the prettiest thing, but oh my goodness so delicious.  As they say, can’t judge taste by its looks!

INGREDIENTS

SALMON
  • 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
  • 1/4 cup canola oil
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons sweet paprika
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
  • Four 5-ounce skinless salmon fillets
TAHINI SAUCE
  • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1/4 cup sliced cremini mushrooms
  • 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
  • 1 tablespoon tahini
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon finely chopped dill
  • Kosher salt
COUSCOUS
  • 1 cup Israeli couscous (6 ounces)
  • 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped Spanish onion
  • Pinch of cinnamon
  • Kosher salt
  • 1/2 cup tomato puree
  • 1 1/2 cups warm water

Directions

  1. PREPARE THE SALMONIn a blender, puree the cilantro, canola oil, garlic, ginger, paprika, salt, turmeric and cumin until smooth. Pour the marinade into a resealable plastic bag, add the salmon and seal the bag. Turn to coat the fish and refrigerate overnight.
  2. MAKE THE TAHINI SAUCEIn a small skillet, heat the olive oil. Add the mushrooms and garlic and cook over moderately low heat, stirring, until the mushrooms are well browned, 10 minutes. Scrape the mushrooms and garlic into a blender and let cool. Add the tahini, lemon juice and 1/3 cup of water and puree until smooth. Stir in the dill and season with salt.
  3. PREPARE THE COUSCOUSIn a medium saucepan, toast the couscous over moderate heat, tossing, until golden, 10 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl. In the same saucepan, heat the olive oil. Add the onion and a pinch each of cinnamon and salt and cook over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until the onion is softened and just starting to brown, about 8 minutes. Add the toasted couscous and cook for 1 minute, stirring, then stir in the tomato puree. Add the warm water 1/2 cup at a time and stir constantly over moderately low heat, allowing the liquid to be absorbed between additions, until the couscous is al dente, about 20 minutes. Season with salt and keep warm; add 1 or 2 tablespoons of water if the couscous seems dry.
  4. PREPARE THE COUSCOUSLight a grill or preheat a grill pan. Scrape the marinade off the salmon, season the fish with salt and grill over high heat, turning once, until lightly charred and nearly cooked through, 3 to 5 minutes. Spoon the couscous onto plates, top with the salmon, drizzle with the tahini sauce and serve.

MAKE AHEAD

The tahini sauce can be refrigerated overnight. Bring to room temperature before serving.

SUGGESTED PAIRING

Peach-scented, full-bodied French white like Viognier.

From Food and Wine, Michael Solomonov’s Salmon in Chermoula

Pistachio, Chocolate and Dried Cherries Tart

~ lisaandfrancescook ~ 1 Comment

Valentine’s Day for some reason always means chocolate dessert for me.  Whether it’s a molten lava cake or a sachertorte or really any other chocolate dessert.  This would be great for this year’s weekday Valentine’s as it is easy to make ahead.

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We found this recipe after watching the Food Network and much to my pleasant surprise, this ended up being one of those recipes turns out exactly as you would expect.  I might have had to go to two or three different grocery stores to find the ingredients (dried cherries in a pinch are at Trader Joe’s, though I’d recommend buying from nuts.com if you have the time to plan ahead)!

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This is a very rich dessert though, so wouldn’t recommend making for a crowd that is looking for lighter desserts.  On the other hand, if one of your crowd members is a dedicated chocolate enthusiast (ahem, Matthew) this is a winner!

Also, I might have called this a cake for the 4 days it was around before Matt finished it off, and was reminded multiple times that this is a TART not a CAKE.  Not that that in any way diminished from its deliciousness.

Ingredients

Crust:
  • 1/2 stick unsalted butter, chilled, cut into 1/2-inch pieces, plus more for greasing pan
  • Eight 4 1/2-inch-long plain or almond biscotti cookies, coarsely broken (about 5 1/2 ounces)
  • 1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
  • 3/4 cup cherry preserves or jam, such as Bonne Maman 
Filling:
  • 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips, such as Ghiradelli
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1/2 cup dried cherries
  • 3/4 cup chopped shelled pistachio nuts
  • Salt flakes, such as Maldon, optional

For the crust: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan. Combine the biscotti, butter and sugar in a food processor. Blend until the mixture forms moist crumbs that stick together when pressed. Firmly press the crumbs into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake until golden and feels firm to the touch, about 15 minutes. Cool to room temperature, about 20 minutes. Spread the cherry preserves over the cooled crust leaving a 1/2 to 1-inch border.

For the filling: Place the chocolate chips in a medium bowl. Heat the cream in a medium saucepan over medium heat to just below a boil. Remove the pan from the heat and pour the cream over the chocolate chips. Stir until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. Add the dried cherries and 1/2 cup of the pistachios. Pour the chocolate filling over the cherry preserves and sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup pistachios on top. Refrigerate for at least 5 hours or preferably overnight.

Loosen the tart from the sides of the pan by running a thin metal spatula around the edge. Unmold the tart and transfer to a serving plate. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt flakes, if using. Cut into wedges and serve.

 From the Food Network, Giada de Laurentiis

Pear and Walnut Cake

~ lisaandfrancescook ~ Leave a comment

I’m always intrigued by dessert recipes that sound hearty and rustic, so when Matt found this recipe in the Financial Times one weekend, it was a no brainer to try it out.  Of note, I had no idea which pears to use, and was surprised to find five different varietals at the store.

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I went with my gut of getting a crisper pear (Bosc pears) and it seemed to turn out fine. In fact the little bit of crunch went very nicely with the texture of the walnuts in the cake.

For the topping
(which starts as the base)

4 small pears (I used Bosc, and I think only about 3.5 ended up fitting)
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
2 tbsp unsalted butter cut into six pieces

For the cake batter

2 sticks and 2 tbsp unsalted butter at room temperature
1 2/3 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup ground almonds
1 cup ground walnuts
1/2 tsp ground nutmet
1 tsp ground cinnamon
4 large eggs
zest and juice of an orange
3/4 cup easy cook polenta
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt

Directions

  1. Heat your oven to 325 degrees.
  2. Line your 9″ cake tin with paper, and then wrap the outside with foil (in case it leaks, don’t want it leaking into the oven which makes a mess)
  3. Peel the pears and halve them. Use a teaspoon to remove the seeds. Sprinkle the sugar on the base of the tin. Cut the butter into eight small pieces and place them in the pear cavity you created by removing the seeds. Place the pear on to the bottom of the tin in a flower formation so the butter touches the sugar and the flat part of the pear also touches the sugar. It should look like seven petals around and one in the middle. You may need to trim the pears so they fit snugly.
  4. Cream the butter and sugar, using a mixer with a paddle attachment or by hand with a large spatula, until they are well-combined but not too fluffy. Add two of the eggs and mix well, then add the remaining ingredients including the last two eggs and beat together until you have a smooth mix. Spoon the mix over the pears to cover entirely and use the back of a spoon to smooth it out as much as possible.
  5. Place in the centre of the oven and bake for 30 minutes before rotating to assure an even bake, and continue for a further 20-25 minutes. This cake is a little tricky; the texture will feel rather soft when it comes out but it will settle and firm up after 20 minutes. Check the cake after the provided times — the centre of the cake should feel like the outer rim. The best way to tell if it’s ready is to poke the sides, then poke the centre — they should feel the same. If your finger sinks immediately, add another 10 minutes to the baking time.
  6. Remove from the oven and leave the cake in the tin. If you try and turn it out straight away, it will collapse. Set a timer for 20 minutes, then take a serving plate and place it on the baking tin, flip the cake and ease it out, peel away the baking paper and serve. It is lovely warm but will also keep well at room temperature.

Adapted from The Financial Times, Pear and Walnut cake

Thai Coconut Chicken Soup with Rice

~ lisaandfrancescook ~ 2 Comments

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I’m always on the lookout for easy recipes that are full of flavor – especially if they can be made in under an hour. Much to my surprise, the basis for this soup came from the Parade Magazine supplement in my Sunday paper. Of course I had to play with it a bit to get it to suit my tastes and also to be a satisfying meal, but the genesis of this delicious and easy dinner came out of a single paragraph recipe from this otherwise throw-away supplement. Sometimes inspiration can come from unlikely places.

Thai Coconut Chicken Soup with Rice

Yield: 4 dinner portions

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons Canola or coconut oil, divided

1 Tablespoon minced or grated fresh ginger

1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped

2 large cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped

5 chicken thighs with skin removed (I used bone-in) or 3 chicken breasts

About 4 ounces fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and sliced thinly

5 cups of low sodium chicken stock

13.5 ounce can of light coconut milk

2 Tablespoons Asian fish sauce

1 Tablespoon chili garlic sauce or paste

1 teaspoon granulated sugar

Zest of one lime

Juice of 2 limes

1 cup white rice

2 jalapeno peppers or 1/2 of a Cubanelle pepper

3 scallions, white and light green parts, thinly sliced

1 cup chicken stock and 1 cup water

1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt

About 4 Tablespoons coarsely chopped cilantro

Directions

  1. Heat 1 Tablespoon of oil in a 3.5-4 quart heavy saucepan with a lid. Add the onion and minced ginger and sauté until the onion is translucent. Add the garlic and the pieces of chicken.
  2. Pour the 5 cups of stock over the chicken. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer, cover the pot and cook for 2o minutes.
  3. Using tongs or a fork, remove the chicken from the pot and place on a plate or cutting board. Using 2 forks, shred the chicken meat off of the bone. Add the shredded meat back to the pot.
  4. Add the mushrooms, fish sauce, sugar, chili-garlic paste/sauce and the coconut milk.
  5. Add the lime zest and the juice of 1.5 limes. Stir to mix everything through. The soup can be made earlier in the day up to this point.
  6. Sauté the jalapeno peppers and scallions in 1 Tablespoon of oil in a 2-quart saucepan with a tight-fitting lid for about 1 minute.
  7. Rinse the rice. Add the rinsed and drained rice to the peppers and scallions. Add the salt, 1 cup of stock and 1 cup of water to the rice and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover the pot tightly and cook for about 14 minutes. The water should be absorbed but the rice is still very moist. Squeeze in the juice of half a lime and fluff through the rice.

When you are ready to serve, heat the soup through and cook for about 5 minutes. I served a bowl of soup, with chopped cilantro on top and the rice in a separate bowl. Each person can then decide if they want to add the rice to the bowl or if they want to eat the rice separately.

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Christmas Lamb Shanks

~ lisaandfrancescook ~ 2 Comments

img_2629Okay, so I don’t celebrate Christmas and these lamb shanks can be eaten any time. I named them Christmas Lamb Shanks because I am using an heirloom Christmas Lima Bean that I bought through Rancho Gordo, the premier site for heirloom beans and other wonderful one-0f-a-kind goodies from south of the border. I was introduced to this company on a trip to Napa Sonoma that my husband and I took with Frances and Matthew a few years ago. Of course, if you don’t have access to these beans, which are meaty and unctuous and taste ever so slightly of chestnuts, you could substitute a good dried lima bean or other large runner bean.

Chicago is currently under a polar vortex and a former colleague from Russia says that we are living in Chiberia! This dish only takes about 30 minutes of prep time but then you want it to cook low and slow so it is wonderful to make on a day when you are stuck indoors. Alternatively it could probably be made in a slow cooker or cooked overnight and then reheated when you are ready to eat. This dish cries out for a really full-bodied red wine, preferably from California or Oregon, but a Shiraz or Spanish Rioja would also be wonderful.

I really don’t do any serious measuring and this dish can be increased easily – only limited by the size of your Dutch oven. The amount I made is enough for four servings and I used a 5 quart oval Dutch Oven to give you a reference point.

Christmas Lamb Shanks

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

3 to 3.5 pounds of lamb shanks (The lamb shanks these days seem to run really large so I am using only 2. The meat will be falling off of the bone so it is not a problem; however, if you are really looking for presentation, try to find 4 small shanks or serve the 2 on a platter and then remove the meat from the bone.)

1 pound of dried runner beans, soaked 18 hours (I changed the water 3 times before going to bed. You could soak them for less, but I want them REALLY unctuous.)

2 to 3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 to 3 Tablespoons of EVOO or Grapeseed oil

1/4 cup of whatever red wine you will be drinking or have opened from the night before

5 large shallots, peeled, split into its 2 parts and left whole

1 head of garlic, separated into cloves which are trimmed, peeled and left whole or are lightly smashed img_2622

4 carrots, peeled and cut into 3 or 4 chunks each

2 bay leaves

1 Tablespoon dried rosemary

Kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper to taste

4 cups of chicken stock

28 ounces of whole San Marzano tomatoes, squeezed by hand into rough chunks

1 Tablespoon tomato paste

8 ounces whole button or Cremini mushrooms

3 Tablespoons of chopped fresh flat-leaf Italian parsley for garnish

Directions

  1. Drain your beans which should have almost doubled in size. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
  2. In a Dutch Oven or heavy duty casserole (I recommend Staub or Le Creuset) large enough to fit the lamb shanks in one layer and hold everything else, heat the EVOO or Grapeseed oil to hot but not smoking. (If I am being totally honest, I added 1 Tablespoon of duck fat to the EVOO for flavor and its burning point, but since everyone may not have it around, I didn’t want to complicate things for you.)
  3. Make 3 or 4 deep slits in each lamb shank and stuff the slit with a sliver of garlic. This took 2 cloves from the total. Lightly dredge the shanks in the flour, shaking off any excess. I put the flour in a one gallon plastic freezer bag and threw in the shanks and sealed the bag. I tossed the shanks around to coat. It’s easy and you then just throw away the bag. You can season the flour if you wish with salt and pepper, but I didn’t.
  4. Brown the shanks in the hot oil – about 5 minutes a side. They will brown best if you don’t move them around except to turn once. Adjust your heat so the oil doesn’t burn. Once the shanks are browned, pour in the 1/4 cup of red wine to quickly deglaze the pan, using a wooden spoon to scrape up the brown bits.
  5. Add everything else to the pot except for the parsley and mushrooms and stir through to mix. The beans and shanks should be covered with the liquid from the stock and tomatoes. Bring the mixture to a boil on top of the stove, then cover and place in the oven. Cook it for 3 hours, checking once to stir things. Then add the mushrooms and cook covered for 30 minutes more.img_2626
  6. Serve garnished with the parsley. Make sure you have plenty of crusty bread to soak up the sauce or some starch of choice. This dish reheats beautifully and only gets richer with time.

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Kugelhopf

~ lisaandfrancescook ~ 2 Comments

kugelhopf2When I was a junior in college back in the ’70s, I spent five weeks of winter break in France – much of it in a small town in Alsace. I was the guest of a family that I have long since lost contact with, but that holiday was indelibly written into my food memories. Breakfasts consisted of cafe au lait with Kugelhopf (an Alsatian brioche) and beautiful breads baked in whimsical figures. We slathered the bread with fresh, creamery butter and homemade raspberry confiture. Every day we would take long walks on the snowy mountainside and would return ravenous. What we call lunch was the main hot meal of the day and the entire family would sit down together for at least a 2-hour meal. There was no central heating and so afternoons were spent by the fireplace, reading, talking and playing chess. We somehow managed to survive until supper by eating handmade chocolates filled with delicious liqueur and other fillings from a small shop in the village. We then sat down to a late supper of different “wurst” and cheeses and I tasted Clementines from Spain for the first time in my life. There was always a tisane before bed to help us sleep and to “cleanse our liver.” We ate wild boar for Christmas dinner and delicious fish in a cream sauce for New Year’s Eve, ending the celebratory meal with a gorgeous Mont Blanc of chestnut puree and whipped cream. No wonder the French obsessed about their livers! Amazingly, I didn’t gain an ounce that trip. Perhaps it was all of the walking and the energy required just to stay warm in houses lacking central heat. Of course, there was also the compensation of sinking into a feather bed every night where I dreamed about what food wonders the next day would bring.

While I can’t recreate those wonderful five weeks, I am including a small taste with this kugelhopf recipe. The Italians have their panettone  and the Alsatians have their kugelhopf. There are many versions of this delicious treat, but all are a yeast dough, rich with eggs, almonds and raisins. Try it dipped in cafe au lait for breakfast or with a sweet dessert wine later in the day.

As with so many recipes, I always read several and pick and choose judiciously what I believe are the best features of each. This kugelhopf comes from two pastry chefs – David Lebovitz and Christine Ferber. I looked at a third recipe, but since I didn’t use any take-aways, I haven’t included it here.

Kugelhopf

Yield: One Bundt cake serving 8 to 10  img_2618

Ingredients

1⁄2 cup raisins
2 tbsp. kirsch
2⁄3 cup plus 2 3⁄4 cups bread flour
1 cup milk, warmed for 1 minute in the microwave (or just until warm to the touch)
2.5 teaspoons active dried  yeast
3 Tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 large egg yolks
Zest of one large lemon
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
13 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, plus more for greasing, cut into 1 Tablespoon-size pieces
1⁄3 cup whole blanched almonds, lightly toasted and coarsely chopped
1/2 cup sliced almonds
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting
Directions
  1. In a small bowl, soak the raisins in the kirsch and 2 tablespoons of water. Heat on high in microwave for 30 seconds. Cover and soak for 30 minutes, then strain, discarding liquid.
  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment, combine 2⁄3 cup flour with the milk and yeast. Let stand for 30 minutes, then add the remaining 2 3⁄4 cups flour, the sugar, and the salt and mix until evenly combined. Add in the egg yolks and continue kneading until incorporated.
  3. Add in the butter and knead on low speed until smooth and shiny, about 8 minutes. (If you are making this by hand, it will probably take 10 to 12 minutes of kneading.) Add in the raisins, lemon zest and toasted, chopped almonds and knead 2 minutes longer. Cover the dough with a dry towel and place in a warm place until the dough has doubled in size, about 1 1⁄2 hours. (My house was pretty chilly so it took considerably longer for this first rise, but under normal circumstances 1.5 hours should do it.)
  4. Punch the dough back down, cover with a dry towel again, and let sit until the dough has risen again, about 45 minutes longer.
  5. Lavishly butter an 8 cup Bundt pan, scatter the sliced almonds around the bottom and sides and set aside.  Using your fist, punch a hole in the middle of the dough and place dough in prepared mold. Cover with a dry towel and let rise an additional 45 minutes.
  6. Heat the oven to 400°. Place the Bundt pan in the oven and lower the temperature to 350°. Bake until golden, 45 to 50 minutes. Immediately turn out onto a wire rack and let cool. Dust with confectioners’ sugar to serve. After the first day, assuming you have any left-overs, you can lightly toast thick slices of the kugelhopf that have been buttered in the oven. Okay, so this may not be exactly on the heart-healthy diet, but once a year, this is heaven!

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Chicken Legs with Wine and Yams

~ lisaandfrancescook ~ Leave a comment

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While I have gotten out a little bit, I am beginning to feel like a shut-in. The week of Thanksgiving I had my third stress fracture in 2 years. It is getting quite tiresome and I am filling my days while I stay off my foot with online baking classes and reading recipes. I am taking an online Artisanal Bread Baking class with the author of the Bread Bakers Apprentice – Peter Reinhart through a site called Craftsy that I came across almost by accident. So today I am trying some of my newly acquired techniques on a French Farmer’s Bread.

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Well as much as I probably could make a meal out of good bread and a bit of cheese, I thought it might be nice for my husband to actually have something with a bit more to it than that. I tried this recipe from the Jacques Pepin’s Table cookbook, which I have used successfully over the years. This recipe is new for me, though.

If you are like me, you never remember the difference between sweet potatoes and yams. However, after power watching the Netflix series Grace and Frankie with Andrew recently (I highly recommend the series with Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, Martin Sheen and Sam Waterston) the arc about yams and the “Yam Man” makes it pretty unforgettable.  Unfortunately, while I am using a “Garnet Yam” because that is what I had in the house, this is actually a sweet potato! Confused? Whether you use yams or sweet potatoes for this dish, it is simple to prepare on a weeknight and delicious to eat. Each element retained its shape and distinct flavor, while melding as a whole. The garlic became unctuous and was wonderful spread on bread. I was skeptical that the garnet yams would be cooked through but they were perfect. My pan could have been a touch bigger ideally but the Lodge pans have a dimpled lid which keeps the moisture circulating so everything was kept moist, while being totally cooked through.

Chicken Legs with Wine and Yams by Jacques Pepin

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

4 chicken saddles  on the bone (drumsticks and thighs) about 2 pounds (or buy the drumsticks and thighs separately as I did)

2 Tablespoons EVOO

1/4 cup chopped onion

4 large shallots, peeled and left whole (I only had 2 on hand so added some extra onion)

8 medium whole mushrooms

1 pound of yams (I had one big beauty, so that is what I used), peeled and cut into quarters. If it is large like mine, I halved it first and then cut each half into quarters.

1 cup dry white wine (I thought this was enough liquid but my husband would have liked more in the final dish, so you could add 1/2 to 1 cup of chicken stock in addition for more sauce)

8 large garlic cloves, peeled and left whole

1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

2 Tablespoons, flat leaf parsley, chopped

Directions

  1. Using a paper or cloth towel to help you, remove the skin from the chicken. I there was any extra back bone attached to the thigh, remove it and freeze it for soup stock. Separate the drumstick from the thigh if you have purchased “saddles” rather than drumsticks and thighs.
  2. Heat the EVOO in one large or two smaller skillets with lids. (I LOVE my Lodge brand cast iron skillet and recommend getting yourself one if you don’t already have it.) Brown the chicken pieces on medium high heat, partially covered to prevent splattering, on all sides for about 10 minutes.
  3. Add the onion and cook for 1-2 minutes. Then add the shallots, mushrooms, yams, wine, garlic, slat and pepper.
  4. Bring everything to a boil, cover, reduce the heat to a simmer and boil very gently for 20 to 25 minutes. Garnish with parsley and serve.

Lobster Fra Diavolo

~ lisaandfrancescook ~ Leave a comment

Somewhat recently a new fishmonger opened shop near our apartment, and when we popped by most recently, they had delicious looking, shelled lobster.  I also happened to have a hankering for fra diavolo and so we decided to get the lobster and the lobster stock they had on hand.

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There are quite a few recipes out there for fra diavolo, and most were either for a generic seafood medley (which we felt wouldn’t highlight flavors from the lobster) or just in photos looked totally different from what we’ve always seen when we (rarely) ordered lobster fra diavolo in restaurants.  It was also surprising how many recipes for specifically “lobster” fra diavolo called for Cognac or some variation of brandy.  When we asked our friendly local fishmonger about this, he mentioned that apparently lobster and brandy are considered a classic taste pairing.  He also noted that he had tried lobster fra diavolo both with and without the brandy and didn’t seem to know the difference.

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The recipe that we finally decided appeared to be the closest to the fra diavolos of memory was this one from Saveur.  Given the cost of the lobster and the stock, we figured we would go all in and made the recipe with some Armagnac, and we would argue that you really could taste it in the sauce.  It turned out fantastic, and if you can moderate the amount of chili pepper flakes for the “spicy” levels.

Ingredients
1⁄2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 lb pre-cooked lobster meat (if you can find it, otherwise the Saveur recipe has some very detailed instructions on how to cook your own lobster)
1⁄2 cup flour
2 tsp. crushed red chile flakes
1 tsp. dried oregano
5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tbsp. tomato paste
1⁄2 cup cognac or brandy
1 cup seafood or fish stock (I used lobster stock)
1 (28-oz.) box whole peeled tomatoes in juice, crushed
1 bay leaf
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 lb. fettuccine pasta, cooked
1 tbsp. chopped parsley
Directions
  1. Heat oil in an 6-qt. Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add chile flakes, oregano, and garlic to pot; cook until lightly toasted, about 3 minutes.
  2. Add tomato paste; cook until lightly caramelized, about 2 minutes.
  3. Add cognac; cook until almost evaporated, about 2 minutes.
  4. Add stock, tomatoes, and bay leaf; boil.
  5. Reduce heat to medium-low; cook, partially covered, until thickened, about 30 minutes.
  6. Add lobster to pot; cook until cooked through, about 10 minutes.
  7. Season with salt and pepper. Add pasta; toss with sauce.
  8. Transfer to a large serving platter; sprinkle with parsley.

Adapted from Saveur Lobster Fra Diavolo.