The Best Part of the Chicken with Braised Radish and Kale

Dear Devon,

Thanks for introducing me to kale. No longer will I pass up kale on menus or at the market. Since first eating it at your house, I can't get enough. I hope that's not a reflection of a poor iron count in my body! I've been reading up on the ways to prepare kale: soups, pastas, and side dishes. I will be sharing my discoveries with you.




A few months ago, I bought my first bunch of radishes and braised them in butter. The results were pretty fantastic. Since then, I've incorporated radishes into my diet, in both main courses and side dishes. The bright green, tangy kale seemed a likely companion to butter braised radishes. I started by melting a good lump of butter in a hot skillet and tossing in my radishes. I turn the flame down to medium-low / low. The slow cooking gives the radishes a nicely browned exterior but still maintains the slight crunch and really brings out their wonderful sweetness. After removing the stalks, I chop the kale into 2-inch pieces and wash. The kale is then added to the radishes and liberally salted. Kale can be a bit fibrous, so I poached the vegetables in a mixture of 1/2 cup of water and 1/4 cup of red wine. I finished my side dish with a sprinkle of lime juice.


A wonderful side dish calls out for a piece of fantastic meat. A beautifully carmelized thick cut pork chop or a fatty piece of prime rib would be great pairings. I opted for juicy roast chicken. For me, roast chicken is one of the easiest and most comforting meals to make. In my family, we fight over the dark meat; the white meat is eaten at room temperature or more likely is secreted away in tomorrow night's dinner. To avoid this, I roast only chicken thighs and legs. Though it doesn't look as impressive as beautifully roast whole chicken, roasting select parts allows everyone at the table an equal chance at the choice pieces.


Pick chicken with the skin on--it will insure juiciness. Once, when I wanted to cook a bit healthier, I tried roasting skinless chicken. I'm sure you can imagine how that turned out. Rub meat with olive oil, salt and pepper and toss in the oven. For added tastiness, I like to lay the chicken over a bed of onion rings (sometimes I use fennel fronds, rosemary sprigs, or lemon). This infuses flavor into the meat and gives the skin a nice crispness. Because the process is so easy, I try to roast enough chicken to last about three meals (including dinner). With the leftover chicken, I cut the meat off the bone and shred. Later in the week, I use it for chicken salads, tacos, or fried rice. It's a nice time saving solution.

Making pies tomorrow for the big feast. Promise to write about it soon!! Send my greetings to your parents.

Love love

M

Roast Chicken with Braised Radish and Kale
serves 2

2 chicken legs with skin
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 onion, sliced into rings
salt
pepper

2 cups chopped kale
5 large radishes
1 clove of garlic, smashed
1 tbsp butter
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup red wine
sprinkle of lime juice

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place the onions rings on the pan in a single layer. Remove chicken from packaging. Pat dry with paper towels. Drizzle each chicken leg with one tablespoon of olive oil. Generously salt and pepper on all sides. Roast in the oven for about 30 minutes. The chicken is done when the skin is nicely browned and crisp and the juices run clear when the meat is pierced with a fork.

In a large skillet, melt the butter. Clean radishes. Remove the roots and the stems. Cut into sixths or quarters, depending on size. For even cooking, cut radishes into similar sized pieces. Add radishes to melted butter and cook over a medium-low / low flame. After about five minutes, add the smashed garlic. Salt. Slowly braise the radishes until nicely golden on all sides, about 10 additional minutes. Prepare the kale by removing the hard stems. Save the stems for stock. Chop the leaves into 2-inch pieces. Add chopped kale to the skillet with radishes. Gently saute kale. Salt. Add 1/2 cup water and 1/4 cup red wine. Cover and steam for about 5-7 minutes, until most of the liquid has evaporated. Taste for seasoning. The radishes are done when they can be easily pierced with a fork. The kale should still have some crunch and retain its bright green color. Sprinkle with lime juice to taste.

Simple Yellow Squash and Mushroom Penne

Dear Devon,

Cooking in someone else's kitchen is always a challenge. When you walk in, you don't know what you'll find. The simplest dishes can seem overwhelming when you don't have your favorite knife or trusty pan. Best case scenario, the kitchen is better supplied than the corner restaurant, offering an army of pans, gadgets, utensils, spices and herbs, salts and oils. In my experience, these kitchens are rare birds. Most have the requisite skillet, pot, and baking tray with maybe a wooden spoon or a spatula or two. These are the situations that really test me. I have to adjust how I cook to a new environment, which leads to innovative uses of limited resources and sometimes absurd situations. I love the challenge!

For the past few weeks, I've been staying at a friend's apartment. Her place is nicely situated on the main drag of a bustling neighborhood in Brooklyn. The food culture is amazing and really accessible. I've taken to eating out a lot during my stay, but occasionally, I do fire up the stove. The kitchen is tucked into a tiny corner of the apartment. It contains the mandatory stove, sink, and fridge...but not much else. A cutting board takes up the entire counter space. The stove is possibly the smallest I've ever seen. And most amazingly, her microwave is a toaster too!! It toasts amazingly well for a two in one unit. At the moment, the biggest challenge is getting the pan on the stove. The burners are placed so close together that the pan actually straddles several burners. Fitting a pan and a pot on the stove is a tight squeeze. But somehow, I've managed to figure out a way to control the temperature and cook some pretty fantastic food.


I didn't want the first meal I prepared in this kitchen, other than cereal, to be too strenuous. This simple yellow squash and mushroom penne was the perfect place to start. Simple in its execution; a pretty basic recipe. It allowed me to get a feel for the kitchen- how to set myself up, the pitfalls of the over-sized pan, etc. I must admit, a small kitchen isn't that bad. I'm an arm's distance away from the sink and the stove. In one spot, I can chop onions, wash squash, and saute mushrooms.

I didn't really think too much about this dish before I made it. It came together pretty organically. Both the squash and mushrooms looked nice at the store, so I bought them without any real intentions. I love mushrooms sauteed in a bit of butter and sprinkled with salt. The mushrooms exude a wonderful earthy flavor and become almost meat-like. The yellow squash with its delicate flavor and light texture pairs nicely with the dark tones of the mushroom. I browned both in melted butter to give them a nuttiness and a bit of color. I finished off the pasta with a light sauce made simply by deglazing the pan with a bit of red wine. Parsley lends a bit of freshness and olive oil for richness.

I suppose, it really isn't about how good your pans are or the size of your kitchen. In the end, fresh ingredients, a bit of organization, and basic cooking techniques can take you a long way.

Yellow Squash and Mushroom Penne
serves 2

two small yellow squash, sliced
5 oz. small mushrooms, sliced
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/4 c. white onion, chopped
1 tbsp butter
1/3 cup parsley, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup red wine
1/2 cup pasta water
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp olive oil
penne

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add enough penne for two servings.

In a large skillet, melt butter. Gently cook the onion and garlic until translucent. Add the squash and mushrooms. Spread out the mushrooms and squash into a single layer. Cook over a medium low flame, browning the squash and mushrooms on both sides. Sprinkle liberally with salt and toss. Add wine and pasta water to the skillet. Reduce the liquid until about half. Add cooked pasta, olive oil, and chopped parsley. Toss to distribute evenly.

Granola Again

Dear Michelle,

I feel like it's been taking me forever to get this post up. Days of attempts to sit down and just write it all out have passed, with nothing worthwhile going from my brain to the keyboard. Finally, I have a day with nothing due and nothing pressing to do, and I am sitting with my laptop at the kitchen table, drinking a pot of delicious white tea, determined that today I will successfully tell you how much I love granola.

I've been craving granola ever since I read your post about it. The cooler the weather gets, the better it sounds, and so last weekend, on a cold, rainy day, my good friend Koren came over with her tiny little baby and we made three different kinds of granola. It sounds ambitious, but when you've dedicated the whole day to granola-making and catching up, it's not only do-able, but relaxing.

The rain was blowing against the windows on and off all day, but we were drinking tea in an apartment warmed by the oven and the scent of toasting cinnamon, nuts and oats. Rain can be so nice when you are watching it from inside, and listening to all of the noises that come along with it: the "swoosh" of the cars passing in the street, the pitter-pat on window panes and roofs and in the puddles, and if you are unlucky enough to be outside, on your umbrella, or oppressively on the roof of your car.

Making so many batches of granola does take a little while, but it provided us with the perfect opportunity to chat about various things and play with the baby, who was on the couch with Jeff most of the time. Nothing warms this girl's heart like seeing her fiancee not only playing with the baby he's been tasked with watching, but also appearing to enjoy it. Except, that is, a perfect hot chocolate, and maybe foie gras.

Koren had come loaded with goodies from the Park Slope Food Co-op, which is legendary on this island of overpriced groceries, and we sorted out what variations we were going to make based on what we had all together:

- walnut, pumpkin seed, orange flavored dried cranberries (I love those things!), and dark chocolate
- pecan, dried cherry, meringue bits, and milk chocolate
- cashew, slivered almond, sunflower seed, dried blueberry

I've mentioned before how much I like this recipe from the site that never lets me down, which was the first I ever tried, and the only one I have tried so far. It really makes a great granola, rich and crunchy but not too sweet, and easy to modify. I kept the wet ingredients, the oats, and the sugar constant for the most part, and substituted various other things for those components that really make granola tasty: the nuts, seeds, and fruits. Meringue bits combined with the butteriness of the pecans made the second variation my favorite. The meringue crunches nicely, like "lucky charms marshmallows" (Jeff's words). I also added puffed rice for lightness; it's not all that noticeable, so next time I'll probably double it.

Granola in Three Variations:

1- Walnut, Pumpkin Seed, Orange Flavored Dried Cranberries, and Dark Chocolate

Dry Ingredients:

2 1/2 c oats (rolled, not instant)
1 1/2 c walnuts
1 c raw shelled pumpkin seeds
2 c puffed rice (doubled from the 1c I used; let me know how it works out)
1/4 c sugar (the recipe called for brown, which I didn't have and didn't want to venture out to get, so I added 1t molasses to the wet ingredients. Do either)
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t ginger
1/4 t nutmeg
1/2 t salt

3/4- 1 c dried cranberries
4 oz dark chocolate, either chopped or in chips ( I used 6 oz, and maybe I didn't mix it up enough, but parts of it were more like granola candy. Which is all fine and good and scrumptious, and if that's what you want, increase chocolate to 6 oz)

Wet Ingredients:

1/2 c unsweetened applesauce (this is the genius ingredient in this granola, and the reason I will always come back to this recipe. I wish I'd tried pureed pumpkin for this version. I'll try it next time.)
1/4 c rice syrup
1/8 c honey
1T oil (I used walnut; use something either mild or complimentary in flavor)
1t molasses (if white sugar is used above)

Preheat oven to 300 F. Combine all dry ingredients except fruit and chocolate in a large bowl, and wet ingredients in a smaller bowl, and mix each thoroughly. Mix together. Spread uniformly in a large baking sheet, and pop into oven. Stir every 10 minutes to ensure even cooking. At 30-45 minutes, when granola smells toasty and looks golden-brown, pull from oven. Stir, very thoroughly if you like your granola looser, less if you like it clumpy, and add fruit now if you are using it. This is one of those times when you add it till it looks like the right amount. At this point I put it in a large glass baking dish to re-use the baking sheet, but if you are one of those lucky people who has several of these, there's no need for that. Once granola has cooled to warm, but is no longer hot, add chocolate and stir gently to distribute. You do not want the chocolate to uniformly coat the granola; it should retain some of it's shape so that you find it in small clumps.
Let cool completely, and put in glass jars (Koren was prepared and brought some) or large plastic bags.

Variation 2: Pecan, Dried Cherry, Meringue Bits, and Milk Chocolate

Follow above directions, with the following ingredients:

2 c oats
1 1/2 c pecans
2 c puffed rice
2 c crushed meringue cookies
1 c chopped dried cherries
4 oz chopped milk chocolate (wait till just barely warn to mix in the milk chocolate; it has a lower melting temp.)
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t ginger
1/4 t nutmeg
1/2 t salt

Wet Ingredients:

use above listed, plus 1 T vanilla


Variation 3: Cashew, Slivered Almond, Sunflower Seed, Dried Blueberry

Dry Ingredients:

2 1/2 c oats
1 1/4 c slivered almonds
2 c puffed rice
1 c cashews
1 c sunflower seeds
1c dried blueberries

Wet Ingredients:

See first variation.

I discovered that mixing all three together is even better than any on it's own. It's a testamentto how good this stuff is that it's almost gone, though we made it last Saturday. I'm not even having it for breakfast, either; this is all snacking.

Citrus Cornmeal Crisps

Dear Devon,

A large bowl of lemons was left on my desk at work (props from a recent exhibition). This brings about the old joke: what do you do when the world gives you lemons? Ask any foodie and lemonade probably won't be the only answer. I wanted something besides lemon meringue pie and lemon scented roast chicken. In the Joy of Cooking, I found a master recipe for butter cookies and fourteen variations, including this recipe for Cornmeal Citrus Cookies.

I wanted to highlight the crisp, bold taste of fresh lemon. Basically, I wanted the cookies to have the character of a lemon pie. To achieve this, I increased the amount of zest ten fold, adding the entire zest of one lemon. Next, I worked the zest into the sugar, releasing the ultra fragrant lemon oils. It seems a shame to throw out the lemon peel, especially when it contains great flavor. I love the intensity and bright color of lemon zest and try to incorporate zest into my cooking and baking as much as possible.


The recipe called for vanilla extract, but I used a fresh vanilla bean. The tiny black seeds of the vanilla look nice against the pale yellow of the cookie. Nothing beats fresh vanilla beans. Super fragrant, the beans can be expensive and are quite fragile, but are definitely worth it. I store mine in ziploc bags in the dark corner of my pantry. I've also found a great website that sells high quality beans at affordable prices. Beans can be purchased individually or in packs of 10 up to 1,000. I find that a 10 pack lasts me about a year. I keep used beans in a jar with sugar for vanilla sugar at any time. It's another great staple to have in your pantry.


At first, I objected to the grittiness of the cornmeal, but have since been won over by the effect. I expected more of a shortbread-type cookie but instead got a crunchier, almost cracker-like cookie. The flavor of lemon pervades the entire cookie and pairs nicely with the coarseness of the cornmeal. I used a fluted round cookie cutter to give the cookies a rustic look.

The dough can get a bit difficult to work with once it has been rolled out too many times. I advise rolling out the dough twice, which will make about 60 - 65 cookies at 2 1/2-inches in diameter. I gathered the scraps and flattened them into a rough square, which I baked along with the cookies. I intended to use the scraps as a crust for a simple fruit dessert. My plan was to smear the baked cookie with jam and top it with fresh berries. However, the cookie was too sweet when topped with jam. Instead, I broke it into pieces making rough shards and stuck them into a large bowl of ice cream.


Cornmeal Lemon Crisps
adapted from The Joy of Cooking
makes 60 cookies

1 lemon, zested
1 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
1 egg, whole
1 cup cornmeal
1 1/2 cup flour
1 vanilla bean
1/2 tsp salt
2 sticks (8 oz) butter, softened

Let butter come to room temperature, maybe an hour's wait. Meanwhile, zest one lemon. Mix lemon zest with sugar. Crush the zest into the sugar to release the oils onto the sugar. Measure out corn meal and flour, set aside.

Using an electric mixer, beat softened butter and lemon sugar together, until fluffy and pale yellow. Add in egg yolk and egg, beating thoroughly after each addition. Periodically scrape down the sides. Slice vanilla bean down the center. Using the back of a knife, scrape the bean to remove the tiny black seeds. Add vanilla seeds to the butter mix. Beat in cornmeal, flour, and salt. A wet dough should form. Gather into a ball and wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to one day.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with foil or wax paper.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Halve dough. Refrigerating the second half. With a floured rolling pin, roll out dough to a 1/4 inch thickness. If the dough begins to tear, return to the fridge. Using a cookie cutter, cut dough. A flat spatula can be helpful to transport cut cookies onto a baking sheet. Bake about 12 minutes, rotating the baking sheet half way through baking. Cookies should be golden brown but still soft. They crisp up when cooled. Remove to a cooking rack. Allow the baking sheet to cool before filling with cookies. Repeat with the reserved second half of dough.

Beet and Fennel Salad with Lime and Cilantro

Dearest Michelle,

It's been a rough week. I've had some short deadlines on retouching work, and I had a few misses in the kitchen, plus, even worse, an undocumented success!

The biggest confidence crusher was the ramen. I decided I wanted to make Korean ramen soup from scratch (except for the noodles; I'm not insane). The whole doomed idea started with two beautiful pieces of beef shank, and then cold weather always makes me crave Korean food. It's the best non-dairy comfort food around, as far as I'm concerned.

So I picked up some noodles that looked like ramen at the giant Asian grocery store in Chinatown (an aisle of just noodles! It's amazing), grabbed some mushrooms, veggies, and Korean hot chili paste, and prepared to make my fiance's heart swell with pride. Looks like it would be good, right?





There's no after photo for a reason. It was ok, and I managed to alter the final product to create some satisfactory lunches, but it was more of a using up than a tucking in. Pretty blah, and muddy tasting. I'll conquer it someday.


Sunday I decided to make a Mexican-spices roast chicken to go with the rest of the chimichurri. It was good; the chicken was juicy (it's a never-fail recipe, but I'll write it out in the original form someday), but not overwhelmingly flavored with the spices. It was great with the chimichurri and smashed roasted potatoes, but nothing new or exciting enough to write about.


And then, finally, I found inspiration in the vegetable store. I had a migraine, and I was craving vegetables and vinegar, something clean and fresh. Now, I love beets, and they now show up in our meals on a regular basis. I get this from my grandmother, who will eat them right out of a can. I didn't even know I liked beets until a few years ago; my father hates them, and denigrated the undeserving roots (along with tuna casserole) so much in my childhood that I thought them not worth any attention. Oh, boy was I wrong. They are sweet and tender, and go so well with vinegar. Plus, you know how I love anything with an intense color. Sometimes I mix the leftovers with egg salad; the pickled flavor goes so well with it, and who doesn't like magenta lunch food? (turns out a lot of people think it's very strange, actually)



Here, I took boiled and marinated beets and tossed them with bright, crisp fennel that had been sitting in a little lime juice to mellow it. I'm not a big fan of cooked fennel, but I love it thinly sliced in salads, especially in the winter for some reason. I had limes on hand, so I thought I'd substitute that citrus for the traditional orange that fennel goes so well with. The whole dish is rounded out by a sprinkling of pungent cilantro. It was exactly what I wanted. I just ate the leftovers for lunch with a thick slice of buttered toast, and it was amazing.




Fennel and Beet Salad

1 bunch beets (look for beets with greens attached. These are an indication of freshness, and can be prepared like kale or chard. Leave 2 inches of stem on the beet when trimming leaves off, and don't trim the root)
1 large bulb of fennel, shoots trimmed off
2 small limes, 1 zested
vinegar ( I used orange-muscat-champagne vinegar from Trader Joe's that I am partial to. White wine vinegar would be good as well)
cilantro
olive oil
Dijon mustard
kitchen gloves

Trim and wash beets, then boil till tender when pierced with a knife, about 20-30 minutes. While they cool a bit, make the vinaigrette: squeeze half a lime into a bowl, and add about a 1/2 t mustard, a pinch of salt, the zest, and about 5 T vinegar. Blend, then slowly whisk in about the same amount of olive oil. I tend to like my vinaigrette tart, so keep tasting and use more or less oil as desired, but remember that the beets are naturally sweet. Add juice of the other half a lime if it needs more.
Use the kitchen gloves to rub the beet skins and stems off under running water. I love this part; the skins just slip right off, and everything in your sink turns magenta. Keep gloves on (or your hands will also turn magenta), and slice beets in half, then into half-moons, and add to vinaigrette. Let sit at least an hour, tossing occasionally.
Thinly slice fennel, and let sit in juice of half a lime and a few T of vinegar for a few minutes. Add beets, toss. Sprinkle with a small handful of cilantro leaves; how many depends on final amount of beets and fennel. The flavor should be just noticeable, not overwhelming.

Carrot Soup

Dear Devon,

Growing up in San Francisco, I was not a big soup drinker. Moving to LA didn't change that. But somehow, cold weather changes everything. Now that I live in New York and spend seven months in a scarf and gloves, soup makes sense. Over the years, I have developed a number of soups to fit my lifestyle. I have quick impromptu soups, when I find myself making soup almost without intending to; then there are the soups that I prepare in advance and save for later, sometimes in the form of a concentrated base. When I am ready to eat, I pour the concentrate into a pot, add water or stock, heat, and eat.

Making a smooth and light carrot soup is tricky. If it is too smooth, the texture comes off more like baby food than a soup for adults with a full set of teeth. Another pitfall is the stick-to-your-ribs, hearty lumberjack soup. This happens when you don't blend long enough or add enough liquid. I still struggle with this step and live in fear of burning out my blender.

I always purchase carrots with the greens still attached. It's the best way to insure the maximum freshness. Choose bright orange and blemish free carrots with vibrant green leaves. Freakish shapes are fine. It doesn't affect the taste, and once they've been pureed, no one will know. I find the funny shapes charming. I also love the crisp, fresh smell released when I chopping off their stems. That alone is enough to make me purchase carrots with their greens every time.
For this soup, carrots are the star, but I sneak in a couple of important supporting actors. Fennel, if you haven't already discovered it, is amazing. Some people dislike the dark, licorice or anise-like taste of fennel, while others can't stop munching on it. Eaten raw, it makes for a refreshing salad or snack, but I prefer fennel roasted. The flavors are calmer and less intense. Fennel balances the sweetness of carrots. Barely noticeable in the soup, it is more of an interesting background flavor. For this soup, roasting the carrots and fennel brings out the most flavor. Sunflower seeds, nutmeg, and cumin give the soup an earthy quality and a bit of spice.

How much to dilute the soup depends on how thick you like it. It's not an exact science. For reference, in this recipe, I used three cups of water for an entire batch. I did not make concentrate this time.

I like to top the soup with a small handful of arugula to add some freshness. If you are feeling decadent, finish the soup with a drizzle of cream or chopped walnuts. Serve with crusty bread, perfect for mopping up soup sloshed on the sides of the bowl. I made a wonderful parsley and garlic goat cheese spread. No recipe- just softened goat cheese, parsley, a few cloves of raw garlic, and coarse salt. It tasted unbelievable.


Carrot soup, not just for babies and lumberjacks, but New Yorkers too.


Carrot Soup
serves 6 as a main course, 8 as an appetizer

2 bunches of carrots
1 bulb of fennel
2 cloves of garlic
1 1-inch nub of ginger, skinned and chopped
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 tsp fennel seed
1/2 tsp cumin
3 tsp sunflower seeds
1 sprig of rosemary
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp nutmeg
3 cups of water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Peel and chop carrots into 2-inch long pieces. Remove the upper fronds and base of the fennel. Halve the fennel and slice into 1/2-inch thick slices. Cut the ends off two cloves of garlic. Crush with the flat side of a knife, do not remove the papery skin. Place chopped carrots, fennel, and crushed garlic on a foil-lined baking sheet. Toss the veggies with 1 tbsp olive oil, salt, and pepper. Roast in the oven until the carrots can be easily pierced by the tip of a knife, roughly 30-35 minutes. Cool about 10 minutes.

In a large Dutch oven, heat 1 tbsp of oil over moderate heat. Add one sprig of rosemary. Cook until the oil is fragrant. Add chopped onion and ginger. Saute until the onions are translucent, 5 minutes. Add sunflower seeds, cumin, and fennel seeds and gently toast. Remove rosemary. Set aside.

Working in batches, place the cooled veggies into a blender along with sauteed onion mixture. Pour in one cup of water. Puree until smooth. Return the pureed mix to the Dutch oven. I managed to puree everything in two batches, using one cup of water per batch. In its pureed form, the soup is powerful and thick. At this point, I reserve some of the puree in glass jars and set aside for future use. Pour one additional cup of water into the Dutch oven. Add 1 tsp salt and nutmeg. Bring to a gentle boil, just to heat through.

Serve with a small handful of arugula and black pepper.