Barefoot Bloggers: Catching Up

I know, I know - I've sort of abandoned this blog for the past month or so. I've been in something of a funk recently, and despite the fact that we continue to cook really great food on a regular basis, and I've been keeping up with my assignments for Barefoot Bloggers, I just haven't had the motivation to come here and sit down and spend the hours required to get any of it down on virtual paper. To tell the truth, I still am not feeling particularly motivated, but I'm trying to force myself through some of my self-imposed backlog in the hopes that once that source of stress is gone, I'll be more interested in writing about the new stuff.

To that end, I'm going to bend the BB rules a bit and post the last three challenges in this post, so I can start fresh with the second recipe for April.

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1st Recipe for March: Chicken Picatta
plus a bonus recipe, Sauteed Broccolini



Chicken Picatta is definitely one of those classic dishes that I think every cook should know how to make, and though I've made it myself once or twice, I was usually guessing my way through it. I was thrilled when Lindsay of Noodle Nights and Muffin Mornings chose Ina's recipe as one of the challenges for March, as I would finally have a recipe to follow from a cook I trust.

I made only a few small changes to this recipe (and for once, halving it wasn't one of them - I made the full recipe in the interest of having leftovers for lunch the next day). First, I used panko breadcrumbs that I seasoned myself in place of the seasoned Italian breadcrumbs Ina calls for. Second, I couldn't quite see my way to making chicken picatta without capers, and I put garlic in everything, so when I saw that Ina's recipe called for neither I knew that would have to change. I used a couple of tablespoons of brined capers and a couple of minced cloves of garlic and sauteed them in the pan before adding the stock, wine, and lemon juice. I also used just a tiny bit of cornstarch near the end to thicken up the sauce a bit, as I wanted it to sort of hold its own on top of the chicken rather than being immediately absorbed, as clear-liquid-based sauces are wont to do even when reduced. Finally, I topped our servings of chicken with a fine fresh grating of real parmiggiano reggiano, because everything deserves a little cheese.



I also used this as an excuse to make one of the BRCs (Bonus Recipe Challenges) for March, Ina's Sauteed Broccolini (technically I guess this was supposed to be February's BRC, but whatever) as chosen by Mary of Meet Me in the Kitchen. Since the recipe called for garlic and lemon and I already had all that out for the chicken, it seemed like a perfect match.

And indeed, it was. This was just about exactly what I expect when I think of chicken picatta. The chicken was toasty and crunchy on the outside while still being tender and moist inside, and the sauce was tangy, savory, briny, and bright from all the fresh parsley. And I'll say it again, I really can't imagine this dish without capers, as the little pop of salty pungency you get when you bite into one with the chicken is just perfect.



The broccolini was also a really great side for this, very clean and fresh-tasting, the simple preparation and seasoning allowing the flavor of the broccolini to really shine. I love broccolini though and cook it pretty frequently, and this is pretty much my usual method for cooking it - sometimes I roast instead of sautee, sometimes I use balsamic or soy instead of lemon juice, but the basic idea is the same - so I knew before I even made it that it would be good.

I do feel like the meal as a whole could have used something a little bit neutral, like some whipped potatoes or bread, to help counteract the acidity from all that lemon, so next time I'll probably add another side to help round things out. But overall, this meal was definitely a winner, and I can certainly see myself going back to these recipes.

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2nd Recipe for March: Tomato and Goat Cheese Tarts



I just recently saw Ina make these Tomato and Goat Cheese Tarts on her show, and I remember thinking that it sounded extremely good. I was pretty happy when I saw that Anne of Anne Strawberry had picked this as one of our challenges, because I was sure it'd be tasty.

I had to make a few small changes to the recipe out of necessity, specifically because we neglected to buy either basil or thyme that week at the grocery store. I had dry basil that I could use as a substitute (not that dry basil is ever a good substitute for fresh) but didn't even have dry thyme, so I had to improvise with some oregano and poultry seasoning. I couldn't find garlic and herb goat cheese that didn't cost an arm and a leg, so I bought fresh plain chevre and added seasonings myself (a grated garlic clove, some dry basil, oregano, and poultry seasoning, and some black pepper). I couldn't find a nice big tomato that looked like it'd be tasty to cut into big single slices, so I had to use a small vine-ripened tomato and use two slices per tart, halved and arranged as evenly as possible. Finally, I grated the parm instead of shaving it, which was really just an aesthetic change more than anything else.



The tarts came out perfectly, they really did - I was actually really shocked that Ina's technique for creating the tart shell worked as well as it did, and I think I will be using that technique quite a bit in the future - but I have to say, I was not thrilled with this. At all. And its not Ina's fault.

See, I used to love goat cheese, but last summer J and I had sort of a binge on it after visiting an incredible cheese shop in Mattituck and picking up the best chevre we'd ever tasted, a local product from Catapano farms. It was mild and creamy and incredibly fresh, and I think we ate goat cheese on bread every night for a week as an appetizer. But at the end of the week, after eating said goat cheese, later in the evening I wound up sick for some other as-yet-undetermined reason, and let me just say that no matter how good that cheese tasted on the way down, it was NOT pleasant on the way back up. I know, TMI, but I think you'll all understand when I say that ever since then, my taste for goat cheese has waned somewhat.

Its a shame, because recipes that call for it always SOUND so good, much like this one did. But I just couldn't do it. I got through half my tart, and despite it being perfectly cooked with deliciously sweet caramelized onions, juicy tomato, and crisp pastry, that pungent goaty flavor just got in the way. So, unfortunately, the remainder of my tart went in the trash. Sorry Ina... its not you, its me.



J gave the tarts his seal of approval though, so that's something. I'm thinking that if I ever made these again, I'd just make mine with feta - I KNOW I'd like that.

(I have since discovered that I'm still pretty much ok with goat cheese when eaten plain, just on some bread or crackers - I think when it gets muddled up with other flavors, though, particularly sweet ones, it just doesn't work for me. Will continue to experiment until I figure it out.)

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1st Recipe for April: Chinese Chicken Salad



This recipe was a surprise hit. When I saw that McKenzie of Kenzie's Kitchen had chosen this recipe for Chinese Chicken Salad, I was a little skeptical - my first thought was of that salad that people make with uncooked instant ramen noodles, which I happen to love but couldn't imagine Ina making in a million years. When I saw the actual recipe, and how simple it was, I expected it to be ok, but not great. I must admit to being totally wrong.

As usual, I made some changes here, but the biggest one was something I really had no choice over. I have a very severe peanut allergy, so the peanut butter-based dressing was definitely a no-go. Instead, I used tahini, as its texture and flavor seemed like the closest thing to peanut butter that I could safely use. (Am I the only one who always thinks that toasted sesame smells vaguely peanutty?) I also upped the veggie quotient by adding some sugar snap peas and baby carrots to the asparagus and red bell peppers that the recipe called for, making this even more springy and fresh. Finally, I made some small adjustments to the dressing itself to compensate for the tahini substitution and my own tastes, adding a bit more soy and using sugar in place of honey (which I didn't have) and even a smidge of spicy dijon mustard for tang and body.



This salad was excellent - a great mix of flavors, colors and textures, supremely fresh and light while still managing to be completely satisfying all on its own. I was a hair's breadth away from cooking up some soba to have with this, but it really didn't need it. I had one noodle-bowl's worth of the salad and was perfectly content and full, without feeling stuffed. We loved this, and I am certain we'll be making it again when the weather gets warmer - I think this will be perfect picnic and bbq chow, just screaming to be eaten outside in the sunshine and fresh air, preferably with a cold beer or a glass of white wine.



Even though I didn't try it this time, I do think that this dressing would be perfect for a cold soba salad as well, so I'm pretty sure I'll be trying that out at some point soon.

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PHEW. All caught up. I've got some other backlog to work through, along with another Ile de France cheese review (more goat cheese... ack!), but then I promise to start posting new stuff again. I've got a great original soup recipe to share, and my first original cookie recipe, both from the past week. So stay tuned!

A Lot from a Little Series 1, Post 3: Smoked Chicken Salad Over Greens

I'm starting a new semi-regular feature here at Table for Two, in which I will try to offer some tips and tricks on eating well without breaking the bank, especially when cooking for a small number of people.

A Lot From A Little Series 1, Post 1: How to Smoke a Chicken
A Lot From A Little Series 1, Post 2: Grilled BBQ Smoked Chicken Pizza

Now, I'm going to admit something right off the bat here: this didn't come out all that good. And that's a tragedy to me, because it ended up being a waste of a lot of really tasty chicken. However, I'm going to post about it anyway, partly because despite our failure this is still a perfectly valid way to use up that chicken, but mostly because I'm hoping someone might be able to give us some ideas of how better to execute this dish. Because honestly, it SHOULD have been awesome.

The idea was to make a standard mayo-dressed chicken salad more interesting by using the smoked chicken in place of the usual poached chicken, and eat it over some mixed greens for a somewhat healthier lunch than sandwiches. It didn't seem like it ought to be difficult, so we followed our usual method for salads like this: mix up some light mayo and mustard with chopped red onion, celery, and carrots; lighten it up with a splash of red wine vinegar and balance it out with a bit of salt, few grinds of black pepper and a drizzle of honey; add in the shredded chicken, mix it up, and eat. Simple right?

Well, I'm not sure what went wrong, but it just didn't work this time.

Part of the problem was that it was overdressed, I think - the salad was on the runny side and that generally kinda grosses me out when it comes to mayo-based salads. I also think we made a mistake by salting the dressing, as the chicken itself had a fair amount of saltiness from the brining step. And we decided to toss in some finely chopped fresh parsley this time around as well, which really didn't work at all for me. I'm a little picky about parsley, admittedly, but I think it was overpowering here.

Regardless, neither of us was thrilled with it. We each took it for lunch one day out of the week, and the rest went in the trash... heartbreaking, when I think of how good that chicken was, and also embarrassing as I'm trying to write about getting the most for your money here, and I just threw out a third of a chicken's worth of meat. Sigh. Unfortunately, there was just no rescuing it.

This marks the third time, now, that we have attempted to make chicken salad with smoked chicken, and while the previous attempts were better than this one, none have been exactly stellar. It makes me wonder if we need to try a completely different approach, because I feel certain that there must be a way to make this work. Perhaps a mayo-based salad would work if it was VERY lightly dressed, and the dressing was VERY simple. Or perhaps we need to play with seasonings or explore other options for a creamy salad base (Greek yogurt, perhaps?). Or maybe we should abandon the creamy salad idea completely and go a different direction, using perhaps a vinaigrette dressing instead.

Anyway, aside from this being a disaster from a taste perspective, it was a success from a stretching-your-ingredients perspective - using about a third of the meat (mostly white meat) that was left from our bird, we had easily enough salad for us both to have lunch for 3 days or so. Its a shame we couldn't actually follow through with that plan.

So folks, anyone have any brilliant ideas to make a smoked chicken salad that actually works?

Next up in this series: Smoked Chicken and Cremini Crepes with Two-Cheese Bechamel

How to Say Goodbye to Summer

I don't know what things are like in your neck of the woods, but around here summer has been quietly fading away into the amber chill of autumn, and its all I can do not to jump and cheer out loud because MAN have I had enough of heat and humidity. I'd nearly forgotten what its like to actually sleep comfortably at night. And with a blanket! Truly, my friends, a delicious luxury.

But despite being overjoyed at the slow return of golden days and crisp blue skies, long-sleeved shirts and pumpkins in the markets, I will admit a lingering sadness that all the summer cooking and eating that I love dearly are going away for another year.

The transition from summer to fall is always a bit difficult to navigate for me - I'm so totally ready for soups and braises and long-roasted hunks of meat, but I'm not quite ready to give up the grill. I haven't had enough corn and tomatoes yet! And I've only JUST made my first batch of pickles. And its getting colder by the day.

So, over the last two weeks (when I've been embarrassingly absent from this blog) J and I have been milking what's left of summer for all its worth and enjoying lots of warm-weather foods for probably the last time this season. Maybe in another week or so I'll be ready to say farewell to summer, and at least I'll have the memories of these dishes to carry me through until May.

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Roasted Chicken Thighs with Summer Corn Salad

Yes, yes, perhaps I'm playing out the chicken thigh thing, but seriously, if you were able to get consistently fresh, juicy, BIG chicken thighs for less than $3 a pair, wouldn't you get a little bit obsessed?



This was, until this past weekend, the best chicken that J or I had ever eaten, bar none. The preparation really wasn't all that different that this recipe with lemon and oregano, but we adjusted the cooking technique a bit by switching the oven from bake to broil when the meat was still just slightly underdone, turning the thighs skin side up and moving them close to the heating element to crisp the hell out of the skin. And for once, it really worked! The skin was crisp almost to the point of shattering, and so incredibly flavorful from the lemony marinade and pre-cooking sprinkle of kosher salt. The meat beneath stayed moist and tender and intensely chicken-y, more so than any chicken we've ever cooked or eaten before. It was PERFECT. And of course, when we tried to do it again a week or so later, we failed. Eventually, I swear, we will learn to take notes and be consistent with our cooking. (In all seriousness, I hope that this blog will help with that, but its yet to be proven so we'll see.)

As good as the chicken was though, it was very nearly surpassed by summer corn and tomato salad we had as accompaniment. Making and eating this salad was a humbling lesson in simplicity - I tend to forget that sometimes, the most basic preparation is the best, and that when you have really good ingredients the only way to do them justice is to let their flavors shine all on their own. And that's what I did here.

Two ears of corn and one Italian green frying pepper went under the broiler for awhile to roast and blacken a bit, allowing the sugars in the corn to caramelize and the pepper to soften. Meanwhile I chopped up some red onion and halved some tiny sweet grape tomatoes and tossed them in a big bowl. When the pepper and corn were cool enough to handle, I peeled, deseeded, and chopped the pepper and shaved the kernels off the cobs, and tossed them in with the tomatoes and onions. Add a dash of red wine vinegar, a splash of good olive oil, a pinch each of sugar and kosher salt, and a few cracks of black pepper, and combine.

That's it.

Seriously, trust me on this. If you've never had corn cooked this way, you'll be amazed at how much sweeter and, well, more like corn it will taste. Fresh corn turns into sweet, tender gold when it gets hit by some dry heat, and combined with the sharply pungent red onions, fruity and juicy tomatoes, and slightly bitter roasted peppers, you end up with a salad that is beautifully balanced in both taste and texture, and truly beautiful on the plate in its yellow, red, and green glory. The dressing here is mostly just a binder and a flavor enhancer - you shouldn't really notice it on its own, but it should complement all the other flavors that are going on. We've made corn salads and salsas before, but never one as good as this. I'll be coming back to it next year, for sure.

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Grilled Curry-spiced Pork Tenderloin with Chana Masala

There isn't really much to tell about this meal except that it was almost shockingly good. The pork was brined overnight, then rubbed with J's homemade curry spice mixture and grilled until just cooked through and blacked a bit on the outside. The Chana Masala was made using the recipe on Orangette almost verbatim, though I halved the recipe and added in some potatoes, and it was absolutely perfect - buttery chickpeas, velvety potatoes, sweet-tart tomatoes, and just the right amount of spice (so many of the Indian recipes I've tried have just been so heavily spiced that I couldn't really enjoy them). That recipe is going in our tried-and-true collection. Thanks Molly, for posting it, and thanks to Brandon for coming up with it!



Incidentally, though the grilling made this pretty summery for me, I think I can say with a fair amount of reliability that we'll be repeating this meal in the fall and winter - the chana masala is so hearty, and the pork can just be cooked in the oven. Because really, who doesn't love a hunk of roasted pork when the weather's cold?

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Surf-n-Turf with Grilled Portobello and Mixed Greens

We gave the grilled surf-n-turf another go, and it came out much better this time. The shrimp were grilled on skewers rather than in a pouch, and were still slightly overdone but miles better than the last attempt, and the steak was cooked to somewhere between medium-rare and medium. Still a bit overcooked for my tastes, and to tell the truth it just wasn't a great cut of steak so it as still a bit tough, but it certainly tasted good. And the salad was an easy-peasy success, made up of some washed spring mix, thinly sliced red onions, a couple grilled and sliced portobello caps, some shaved parmesan and a drizzle each of fruity EVOO and aged balsamic. Fresh and tasty, for sure, and look how colorful!



(This was also the first meal I photographed with my new set-up, so I just had to share!)

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Masala Burgers with Fresh Mango and Sweet Potato & Pea Salad

This was one of those hugely dichotomous meals where one part was made of total win, and the other was a nearly dismal failure. In this case, the garam-masala-spiced burgers with fresh mango? Delicious. Almost tropical with their blend of spicy and sweet, and an extra little twang from a squeeze of fresh lime juice and a hint of richness from a drizzle of curry aioli. I could've eaten those burgers for a week straight.

The salad, however? Not so much. It seemed like a great idea: sweet potatoes go great with both tropical and Indian flavors, and potato salad is a classic pairing for a burger, and we could even grill the potatoes at the same time as the burgers - thus, the curried sweet potato salad was born. The peas were sort of a last minute addition, in an effort to get a green vegetable onto our dinner plates, but I reasoned that peas are pretty common in curries as well, and their natural sweetness ought to complement that of the sweet potatoes. It all made perfect sense. Right?

Well, apparently not. I'm not even sure I can pinpoint where it went wrong, though I'm pretty sure the dressing had a lot to do with it - I was hoping for a light, saffron-scented dressing with a bit of Indian spice for warmth and lime juice for brightness, but what I ended up with was an oddly-colored concoction that didn't really taste strongly of anything you could pick out and tasted disturbingly milky to me because I used some creme fraiche in place of part of the usual mayo.

Even with the less-than-stellar dressing, it might have been alright had the sweet potatoes had any flavor of their own to speak of, but they were oddly bland despite having been seasoned and grilled.

I barely ate any of mine (though that was partially due to a minor allergic reaction that I sometimes get with curried foods). J ate his with enthusiasm and said he really liked it, but then the extras that got shoved in the fridge sat there for a week until they finally needed to be thrown out, so I'm guessing he didn't like it as much as he claimed. Ah well. You can't win 'em all, right?

In Photos: BBQ for Two (a.k.a. The Perfect Sunny, Summer Saturday)