VALENTINE’S DINNER FOR TWO: SECOND ACT

Posted in Poultry, Salads by sallybr

As I mentioned in my previous post, I am doing a series of collaborative Valentine’s Day posts with Jamie, from Cooking in Red Socks. Go check her site for a great recipe this morning: Cherry and Pecan Stuffed Endive… She pointed out that in cocktail parties the food served is not always user-friendly. So true! I often find myself in serious trouble, trying to negotiate a glass of wine with a meatball that definitely needs to be cut in half or else… Her stuffed endive is classy, elegant, and perfect to enjoy while having a great conversation with your friends. No fear of that chicken wing flying off and landing on the guest of honor. 😉

And now, it is time to share my choice of main dish, a recipe that I’ve been wanting to make for a long time. It was featured in one of my favorite food blogs, Elra’s Cooking. Her recipes have that aura that put me into a dreamy mode, they always bring together exotic spices, long-simmered, complex sauces, and her photography is simply superb! Cornish hens turn any meal into a festive occasion, so they seem perfect for a romantic meal.

FRAGRANT BAKED CORNISH HENS WITH APRICOT SAUCE
(adapted from Elra’s Cooking)
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2 (3 lbs) cornish hens
2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium shallot, finely chopped
1 small garlic, minced
24 dried apricot
¼ cup golden raisins
2 cinnamon sticks
1 whole star anise
1 tsp ground ginger
½ tsp ground cumin
1-2 tbsp orange flower water (I omitted, could not find it)
¼-½ tsp saffron threads, soaked in 2 tbsp hot water
½ cup chicken stock
salt and pepper to taste
chopped parsley
a handful of slivered almonds
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Heat oven to 375 F.

Saute shallot over medium heat until translucent, add minced garlic, dried apricot, raisins, cinnamon sticks, star anise, ground ginger, ground cumin, saffron water, and the chicken. Stir to mix the ingredients, season with salt and pepper. As soon as it starts to boil, turn the stove off, add the parsley, mix, and let this mixture cool completely.
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Clean, and cut the hens into quarters. Pat dry with paper towels. Arrange them neatly on an oven proof ceramic dish. Pour the apricot-spice mixture directly on the hens, turning to coat each of the pieces with this mixture, then arrange them back with the skin side up. Transfer to the oven, and bake for 1 hour. About 10 minutes before the hens are done, scatter slivered almonds on top, and continue to roast until the skin is brown and the meat cooked thoroughly. If you want, increase the heat slightly at the end to brown the skin, but make sure the liquid won’t dry too much.

Serve hot, with steamed rice or couscous.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

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The apricot sauce is luscious, smells absolutely amazing!

Dinner is served! Tender pieces of cornish hen, a sweet and spicy sauce, plain couscous to soak it all up…

And, to brighten up the palate, a simple salad with fresh spinach, grape tomatoes, and black walnuts, with a delicate dressing of creme fraiche…

SPINACH SALAD WITH GRAPE TOMATOES AND BLACK WALNUTS
(from the Bewitching Kitchen)

for the dressing:
2 tbsp champagne vinegar
1 medium shallot, very finely minced
1 tbsp creme fraiche
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

for the salad:
fresh baby spinach leaves
grape tomatoes, cut in half
black walnuts
salt and pepper to taste

In a large bowl whisk together the shallots, vinegar, creme fraiche, Dijon mustard and salt. Slowly whisk in the olive oil to make a creamy dressing. Reserve.

Toast the black walnuts lightly. Assemble the salad, and drizzle the prepared vinaigrette on top. Adjust seasoning with more salt if needed, and freshly ground pepper.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

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Comments: This was a super-delicious meal, the apricots soak the sauce and develop a hint of spice to marry their natural sweetness. Make sure you remove the star anise and the cinnamon stick before serving the dish, you don’t want to have the favorite person in your universe to break a tooth right in the middle of a romantic dinner. That would pretty much spoil the mood. 😉

A double thank you is in order: Elra, thanks for bringing this recipe to my attention, and Jamie, thanks for playing with me on this Valentine’s week…

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Stay tuned for the final act of our romantic meal… dessert coming up tomorrow!

10Feb2014

VALENTINE’S DINNER FOR TWO: OPENING ACT

Posted in Appetizers, Breads by sallybr

I am absolutely thrilled about this post! I usually don’t publish blogs linked to special celebrations such as Thanksgiving, Christmas, or 4th of July. However, this Valentine’s Day will receive special attention from the Bewitching Kitchen. I was invited by Jamie (who hosts the great blog “Cooking in Red Socks“) to write a collaborative series of posts to celebrate it. So here is the deal: we will both be blogging three days in a row to cover the appetizer course, dinner, and dessert. My posts will center on a romantic meal for two. Jamie will blog on the same courses, but her posts will be about Valentine’s Dinner for Friends. Her posts are made super special as one of her best friends, Allie, celebrates her Birthday on V-day. How cool is that? 😉 Make sure to stop by her blog and marvel at her choice for the appetizer course: Sun-Dried Tomato Palmiers… WOW!

To start the day on a great note, I offer a perfect Valentine’s Day breakfast bread: Chocolate Currant Sourdough. A slice, slightly toasted, and a cup of hot cappuccino: heavenly!

CHOCOLATE CURRANT SOURDOUGH BREAD
(from Farine’s blog, original recipe from How to Make Bread)

Recipe overview: This bread takes a regular sourdough starter, at 100% hydration. The starter is incorporated into a final dough containing white flour, cocoa powder, chocolate chips, and currants. After a series of foldings, the dough is shaped, either as two small loaves (as shown in Farine’s blog), or as a large round boule (as I did). My shaped loaf fermented for 4 hours in our bread proofing box, temperature set to 78 F. I baked it inside a covered clay pot for 30 minutes at 435 F, then removed the lid, and baked for 15 more minutes.

For the detailed recipe, visit Farine’s site or get your copy of Emmanuel Hadjiandreou’s book. Both links are included underneath the recipe’s title.

Comments: Even though this bread contains a good amount of chocolate and currants, it is not overly sweet. The cocoa powder and the sourdough starter act together to counteract excessive sweetness. We loved it, in fact I did not expect to like it as much as I did. If you have a starter going on in your kitchen, add this bread to your “to bake soon” list. And don’t keep it there for too long…

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Now, let’s move on to the appetizer course of our romantic meal for two… I wanted something light, and red. Hummus is a favorite in our home, so I went with a twist on this classic, turning it into a shockingly red dip. Food coloring? No way! This is a Roasted Beet Hummus, and it was absolutely wonderful…

ROASTED BEET HUMMUS
(from the Bewitching Kitchen)

1 medium beet
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1 can (15 ounces) of chickpeas, drained, rinsed, peeled
1 lemon, zest and juice
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 cup tahini
2 Tbs olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
cold water to desired consistency
sesame seeds and lemon zest for decoration

Peel the beet, cut it in quarters, coat with a little olive oil, season with salt and pepper. Place in a roasting dish covered with foil, and roast at 400 F for 30 minutes or until fully cooked through.

Place the roasted pieces in the bowl of a food processor, and process it for a few seconds. Add all other ingredients, up to olive oil. Process until completely smooth. Season with salt and pepper, and adjust consistency with water if necessary. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Depending on the acidity of your lemon and your personal taste, a little more lemon juice right before serving might be a good idea. Sprinkle sesame seeds and lemon zest on top, and…

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: Phil is not too fond of beets, so I took a risk by choosing it for a Valentine’s Day menu. But the flavor of this spread is very complex, and the beets stay mildly sitting in the background, their presence big in color but mellow in flavor. Perfect for those who don’t jump up and down with joy when such bright red beings are found in the middle of the groceries. Serve this spread with crackers, or for a lighter appetizer course, celery or carrot sticks.

Make sure to visit Jamie’s site for her appetizer course on a Valentine’s Day Party for Friends! Stay tuned for the dinner course tomorrow…

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ONE YEAR AGO: Sesame and Flax Seed Sourdough

TWO YEARS AGO: Spanakopita Meatballs

THREE YEARS AGO: Saturday Morning Scones

FOUR YEARS AGO: Pain de Mie au Levain

7Feb2014

ALMOND MILK CREAMED SPINACH

Posted in Side dishes, Veggies by sallybr

Remember my cauliflower puree made with almond milk instead of cream? In that post I mentioned another recipe from Food and Wine that uses almond milk: a creamed spinach finished in the oven with a coating of bread crumbs and Marcona almonds. Of course, right after publishing that post, Marcona almonds were nowhere to be found… Apparently there has been a shortage of these almonds in Spain, so if you happen to find them where you live, act fast. Our Dillon’s store got a shipment last month, and I grabbed a bag faster than Buck catches a cookie in mid-air.

ALMOND MILK CREAMED SPINACH
(from Food and Wine magazine)

Four 5-ounce bags baby spinach
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 shallots, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups unsweetened almond milk
1/2 cup grated Cotija cheese
Salt
Freshly ground pepper
3/4 cup panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
2 tablespoons finely chopped marcona almonds

Preheat the oven to 425°. In a large saucepan, heat 1 inch of water. Add the spinach by the handful; allow each handful to wilt before adding more. When the spinach is wilted, drain it, pressing out as much water as possible. Wipe out the pot.
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Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in the pot. Add the shallots; cook over moderate heat until softened. Stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Add the almond milk and simmer until very thick, whisking occasionally, 5 minutes. Stir in the cheese and spinach. Season with salt and pepper. Spoon into a baking dish.
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In a small bowl, melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter. Stir in the panko and almonds and sprinkle over the creamed spinach. Bake for 15 minutes, until golden.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: My Mom used to make creamed spinach the old-fashioned way, basically a bechamel-sauce into which some sautéed spinach was mixed in. Much to her despair, I never touched it. I actually never touched spinach in any type of recipe, raw, cooked, even a ravioli with spinach filling was not welcome on my plate. But, of course I wised up at some point and to quote my virtual friend Sawsan: “I made peace with spinach”. 😉

When I made this recipe, I did not think it would have a happy ending. The key point is to have the right proportion of almond cream to spinach, and that’s not very easy to achieve. I printed the recipe exactly as published in Food and Wine, but I halved it. To do so, I needed only 10 ounces of spinach, but more spinach would have been better. I advise you to made the almond cream, wilt all the spinach you have and then hold back some of the cream. You want the spinach to be nicely coated by cream, but not swimming in it. I did not add melted butter to the Panko, just sprinkled all over the dish and half way through baking I softly pressed the coating into the cream. Since my concoction already seemed to have too high a cream to spinach ratio, I thought the melted butter would complicate matters further. So, to summarize, I think this recipe has potential, but it needs some tweaking.

Creamed spinach goes very well with fish, so I served it with grilled salmon & white rice. Simple, but very tasty. Almonds and spinach make a very nice combination. If you don’t like almond milk, a regular bechamel sauce like my Mom used to make, decorated with toasted slivered almonds would be a nice dish too.

5Feb2014

SWEET FIFTEEN

Posted in General by sallybr

Today Chief turns 15 years old! He was just a tiny, incredibly cute puppy when I got him, but his strong personality was already evident. Whenever I corrected him with a loud and firm “NO!” he would furiously bark back at me, much like a teenager challenging the orders of a parent. To celebrate such an important milestone in the life of our dear four-legged friend, let me share a few pictures.

This is perhaps my favorite shot of Chief ever! Before getting married to Phil, I lived in a small house, my backyard separated from the neighbor’s by a simple wire fence. My neighbor also had a dog, a female Springer Spaniel called Maria. Chief used to squeeze through the holes of that fence very easily to play with her. At some point, I traveled to attend a meeting, and left Chief with a friend. When I came back 10 days later, he had grown so much that passing through the holes was impossible! The photo captured well his expression of frustration faced with a reality he could not quite comprehend. 😉

He loved to eat his treats laying over the lawn. But you can more or less read his thoughts… “Why are you taking my picture? I am not sure I should allow it!“

All those treats gave him strong jaws! As an adult dog, he had no problem to deal with leftovers from a pulled pork. The bone ended up clean as a whistle… And, in case you are wondering about that bulky thing on his collar, it is a gadget he had to wear all the time to prevent him from digging under the solid wood fence in our home in Oklahoma. Quite a digger!

He loved playing with the hose… Still does, but his jumping days are over…

And loved playing in mud almost as much. This particular photo was taken 45 minutes after a bath, and almost caused me to go into cardiac arrest.

Always able to find the best spot in any room…

He loved his buddy Pits, and we know his life has never been quite the same ever since we had to say goodbye to our beloved dalmatian. Pits had the patience of a saint. Seriously.

Happy Birthday, Chief, you will always be a puppy for me!

ONE YEAR AGO: Sesame and Flaxseed Sourdough

TWO YEARS AGO: Green Beans with Miso and Almonds

THREE YEARS AGO: Saturday Morning Scones

FOUR YEARS AGO: White Bread

3Feb2014

AVOCADO AND ORANGE SALAD WITH CHARRED JALAPENO DRESSING

Posted in Salads, Seafood by sallybr

No hesitation to jump on the preparation of this salad: from the moment I saw the post at Fer’s site to enjoying it as our dinner only 20 hours elapsed. Keep in mind that most recipes sit on my “to make soon” folder for months, not hours. Some have been waiting there for a decade! The protein quotient of this salad was increased by the addition of seared scallops on top, with a delicate drizzle of this amazing dressing. One word: awesome.

AVOCADO AND ORANGE SALAD WITH CHARRED JALAPENO DRESSING
(adapted from Chucrute com Salsicha, original recipe from Bon Appetit)

1/2 cup fresh orange juice
1 jalapeño
1 small shallot, finely chopped
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
salt & freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup grape seed oil
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 avocados, sliced
2 oranges, cut in segments
mixed greens
6 large sea scallops (optional)

Simmer orange juice in a small saucepan until syrupy and reduced to about 2 Tbsp. It should take a little over 5 minutes. Let cool.

Roast jalapeño directly over a gas flame, turning occasionally, until charred on all sides. Let cool; remove stem, skin, and seeds, then finely chop.

Whisk shallot, vinegar, reduced orange juice, and the jalapeño in a medium bowl; season with salt and pepper. Whisk in vegetable oil, then olive oil. Set vinaigrette aside.

Toss avocados, orange segments, salad greens, and vinaigrette in a bowl. Serve with seared scallops on top, if so desired.

ENJOY! (I know you will….)

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: You might be tempted to use store-bought orange juice for the dressing, but fresh is best, since it will be concentrated by cooking. Also, I wimped out and used only half the jalapeño, but it would be even better with the whole pepper. Go for it and you won’t be disappointed. What a great twist the charring of the jalapeno! I do that all the time with bell peppers, but had never seen a recipe applying the same treatment to a much smaller (and hotter) pepper.

For the scallops, I used a sprinkle of Mycryo to help get that nice sear, but use whatever method you like. Just do not over-cook them. The salad will stand on its own without the scallops, it is very flavorful. Great combination of ingredients, plus a dressing that will be made often in the Bewitching Kitchen. I can see it would be wonderful spooned over a thick piece of grilled salmon…

ONE YEAR AGO: Green Olive, Walnuts and Pomegranate Salad

TWO YEARS AGO: Romanian Flatbreads

THREE YEARS AGO: Ziti with Artichokes and Meyer Lemon Sauce

FOUR YEARS AGO: Blasted Broccoli, Stove-top version