Well, now. Let me just say, right here at the beginning, that this dish is just off-the-charts delicious. It may not look like that much in the photo – I mean, it is a casserole. But oh, the flavors in this! And although it’s called an easy cassoulet, it’s not something you can throw together in 30 minutes. Nope. Probably takes about 1 1/2 hours or so to do it all.

In case you aren’t familiar with cassoulet (pronounced cass-eau-lay in French), let me just enlighten you. It means a slow-cooked bean stew or casserole. Typically a cassoulet contains some pork, some sausage and some duck. This version contains pork (chops), smoked sausage (kielbasa chunks) and some chicken thighs. And canned beans, to make it as easy as possible. It has some other things, minor stars, to be sure, to add character and flavor or texture. I think I could eat this dish at least once a week – and likely in Southern France, many families do, with some leftovers from the last dish incorporated into the new dish, to keep the flavors moving onward.

The below photo shows the cassoulet with the topping – the croutons that are crumbled on top just before serving, along with the fresh herbs – Italian parsley and thyme. The meats (the pork chops and chicken and the coins of kielbasa) are scooped into a middle layer in between a bean layer on the bottom, and another bean layer on top. I topped mine with a thin layer of grated Parmesan cheese. Once it bakes until it’s bubbling hot, you add a thin layer of croutons and sprinkle on some more fresh herbs and serve immediately. To absolute raves.

This recipe, with a couple of modifications, came from Cathy Thomas, the food editor of our local newspaper, in a December, 2010 article. The original of this easy version started with a recipe from Bon Appetit. Cathy Thomas tweaked it some. She says this is one of her favorite company meals. You can make a double batch if you’re feeding a crowd. Now, I did tweak it a little bit too, from Cathy’s version, as I mentioned above – I didn’t have smoked pork chops. I had regular pork chops – so I used those and then added in two slices of smoked, thick sliced bacon. The other change I made is probably very non-traditional – I sprinkled the top of the casserole with some freshly grated Parmesan cheese. I wanted that umami taste. The croutons are a last minute garnish – I toasted the fresh bread cubes  (from a regular baguette) tossed in a little bit of oil for about 15 minutes in the oven, then I sealed them in a quart-sized ziploc bag and used a pounder to break the cubes into smaller pieces. Those, then, were sprinkled on the top just before serving, along with the fresh herbs that gave the dish some color. The croutons give a delicious crunch to every bite, and they soak up a little liquid from the casserole too. Definitely don’t eliminate the croutons – they help make the dish, in my opinion.

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A year ago: Shchi (a Russian pork and cabbage soup)
Two years ago: A silly post – 25 random things about me you never knew, and probably don’t care about anyway!
Three years ago: Shells with Pancetta and Spinach

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Ah .  .  . I’m finally back in the kitchen. It’s SO wonderful to feel good after so many days of a bad cold. Of not being able to taste. Or to be able to breathe, hardly. Or to swallow without pain. I just lost eight days of my life. Although, I did completely empty my Tivo recordings.

One of them was an Ina Garten Barefoot Contessa segment on Parmesan chicken. So it was the first thing I wanted to make. And in the interim, I’d received an email from someone at Frieda’s Produce. There are a few perks of being a food blogger – once in awhile I’m approached by a company, asking if I’d like to sample their products. The wholesaler has offered specialty produce to grocery stores for decades. Frieda Caplan actually introduced kiwi to California, years ago.

Perhaps the marketing person had read my blog and knew I was already a big fan of lemons, period. Meyer lemons in particular. That my favorite ice cream is made with Meyer lemon juice and zest. Or that I adore lemon juice in nearly anything! In any case, it took me about 30 nanoseconds to say yes. They kindly asked if I liked the product, would I mention the company on my blog. Sure thing! If you’re interested in knowing more about Freida’s I’ve included a paragraph at the bottom. You may be able to find Friedas products at your local grocery store (here in Southern California they’re available at Ralphs, Albertson’s, Bristol Farms, Lucky, Wal-Mart, Safeway, Vons, Whole Foods, and Trader Joe’s, among many others). If you want to find out where to buy Freida’s products in your area, go to this section of Frieda’s website and input your state to see. She markets to all U.S. states and Canada.

Back to the recipe. On nights when you might need a quick chicken throw-together dinner, this could fill the bill in a snap. Boneless, skinless chicken breasts are pounded out thinly, dipped in a seasoned flour, then egg, then in a bread crumb and Parmesan mixture before being lightly sautéed in a bit of olive oil and butter. While it’s cooking (not long – you’d best have made the dressing ahead) you chop up a nice little salad – Ina did hers with lovely light and dark field greens like arugula and mache – I had only Romaine on hand. Ina used an extra-simple lemon juice and olive oil combo with just salt and pepper. I prefer my own lemon-juice based dressing that also contains just a bit of blue cheese in it. If you want to use Ina’s version, by all means do. I just like the added dimension and layer of flavor.

About Frieda’s: Obviously one very smart cookie, Frieda Caplan began selling produce at the Los Angeles Produce Market in 1962. She brought a variety of more unusual products to her produce stand over the years, many that were unknown in the U.S. at the time. She introduced kiwis, shallots, cherimoyas, those small doughnut-shaped peaches, sugar snap peas and habanero peppers, among others. Obviously she began distributing produce further and further away, not just at the humble produce stand in LA! I heard her interviewed on local radio many years ago and began seeking out her products – when I could find them. Frieda’s Produce is still a family-run company, (she’s Chairman of the Board) although her two daughters manage the firm now. A great success story for a woman in the 1960’s to enter the then male-dominated produce sector. Good for Frieda, I say!

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A year ago: Make-Ahead Coffeecake (yes, really, make the batter the night before, bake in the AM)
Two years ago: Chicken a l’Orange (can’t say that this was a particular favorite for me)
Three years ago: Coconut Banana Bread (and low-fat to boot – delicious)

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Oh, EASY. So EASY. Love these kinds of dishes. As with many families, on some nights (for us, Thursdays, choir practice night) I need to get dinner on the table in a timely manner. And I never seem to get started with making something until I’m under the gun for time. I’d defrosted some boneless, skinless chicken breasts, grabbed a recipe in my to-try arsenal and it was on the table in about 45 minutes. The recipe came from Homesick Texan, a blog I read regularly.

I made a couple of adaptations – I used chicken breasts instead of drumsticks – and I didn’t add the cayenne since I thought the chipotle gave the chicken enough heat already. Oh, and I didn’t add any additional salt, since mayo, I think, has ample. The blogger reminded her readers that even if you don’t like mayo, you  never taste it in the dish as it cooks off. All it does is keep in the moisture.

Top picture is the chicken just out of the oven. The mayo bathes the chicken, but it drains off, leaving the chipotle and other flavorings on top of the chicken. Having baked for 35 minutes, I sliced into the chicken, in the below picture, it was dripping in moisture. Perfectly cooked. I served this with roasted broccoli (which went in the oven along with the chicken) and a sliced avocado with a cilantro dressing. Delicious. I’ll be making this again.

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Three years ago: Carrot-Ginger Slaw

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I interrupt this ongoing travelogue from our trip, to just tell you a little bit about our Thanksgiving this year. Since Dave had heart bypass surgery just 9 days ago, celebrating Thanksgiving was not all that high on my order of things to devote time to. Eat some of it: yes. Cook it myself? No. Although giving thanks to God that my dear hubby survived this surgery is/was in order!

Our son Powell and his wife Karen and our grandson did come for several hours that day and brought some lovely food. We had a potato/cauliflower casserole, a delicious parsnip and apple mash (Karen’s going to give me the recipe and I’ll share it), some soup made by her sister, Janice (recipe to come). I made one of my old-standby salad dressings to go on a simple green salad. A neighbor bought a Costco pumpkin pie for me (I think their pumpkin pies are just wonderful). Karen brought some already-whipped cream, and some cranberry relish (she used my recipe that I’ve made for years), some guacamole and chips too. I made gravy from the drippings in the roasting pan (removing 90% of the fat). No salt needed as the kosher brining provided sufficient sodium. We didn’t have mashed potatoes. We didn’t have stuffing. We didn’t have sweet potatoes. No peas. No green bean casserole, either. I didn’t miss them. At least not this year, although I never make green bean casserole – I just threw that in to see if you were still reading my blog!

There’s a funny story to tell about the turkey . . . last week I stopped at Trader Joe’s one evening on my way home from the hospital and bought a few things, including a 15 1/2 pound kosher turkey. On Thanksgiving I let the turkey sit out at room temp for an hour or two, put it onto my roasting pan with Teflon v-shaped rack. Feeling no particular desire to research the latest and greatest turkey roasting methods, I took a quick glance in one of my Thanksgiving cookbooks and thought I’d committed to memory (albeit quickly) what I needed to do. I coated the bird with some canola oil, plopped it in the pan breast side down, preheated the oven to 500. Into the oven it went. After 50 minutes the oven was smoking, so I turned the temp down to 325 and the bird was turned over breast side up. The meat thermometer had been inserted and I went about working on other things about the dinner, assuming we’d have another 1 1/2 hours to go. Exactly 30 minutes later (so the bird had been in the oven for 1 1/2 hours total) the bird was done. It was supposed to take about 2 1/2 hours. Done in 1 1/2 hours? Huh? I stuck the meat thermometer into the thigh. Also done. Wiggled the leg. Moved some. Yup, done. We removed it, put it on the carving board, loosely covered it for about 45 minutes while Karen and I whipped up the rest of dinner. Served. Delicious, all of it.

Then I glanced at the Thanksgiving book again. Uhm. I was supposed to leave the temp at 500 for just 30 minutes, not 50. No wonder the kitchen was smoking! But, you know what? It was delicious nevertheless. Not dry or chewy. I probably won’t try that again, but it’s amazing how resilient turkey can be!

Friday I couldn’t wait to have a turkey sandwich. For lunch I made a half a sandwich and Dave and I shared it, so we each got 1/4 of a turkey sandwich. Good wheat grain bread that I buy regularly from Corner Bakery, Best Foods mayonnaise, a generous dollop of the cranberry-apple-orange relish, some slices of moist, tender turkey breast and some fresh arugula from Karen’s garden. I think I enjoy the turkey sandwiches from the leftover turkey almost as much as the big turkey feast on Thanksgiving Day itself. How about you?

PS – thanks to all of you who have emailed me or commented on my blog about my hubby. He’s healing, although slowly. Understandably, open heart surgery is extremely hard on the body. He keeps thinking he’ll just wake up one morning and feel as good as new. Sorry, no, my dear! As a Type 1 diabetic (he’s been insulin dependent now for 63 years) heart disease is a common side effect. He’s been lucky to not have any kidney issues or eye problems. He’s got vascular disease, though (that’s why he lost both legs below the knee in the last 10 years) and he had a heart attack in 1997 (two stents). I knew yesterday that he was feeling better however, because he wanted a glass of red wine at 5 pm. We had a fabulous bottle of wine on Thanksgiving Day – a Foxen pinot noir. Dave said he didn’t know what he was saving it for (it’s a pricey wine, to be sure). We four adults enjoyed it immensely.

A year ago: Rum Raisin Apple Cake with Apricot Glaze

Two years ago: Cabbage and Noodles

Three  years ago: Turkey Gravy

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The photo is a little blurry – sorry – when I use my point and shoot camera, I tend to place the camera a little too close to the food. What you see there is a tender, juicy chicken breast that’s stuffed with some provolone cheese, then rolled up in 2 ultra-thin slices of prosciutto. It’s briefly browned, then baked for a few minutes while you make the pan sauce (butter, shallots, white wine, chicken stock, lemon juice and fresh basil). Once you gather up the ingredients, the entire dish can come together in a matter of minutes.

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Usually here in Southern California in mid- to late September we’re still lingering under hot and humid summer temps. Not so this year. We’ve had a 2-week cool spell where temps maybe get into the low 80’s and always down to the mid-50’s at night. Makes for very comfortable sleeping. And pleasant evenings on our patio.

Leeks are something I usually associate with Fall and Winter, but this recipe just appealed to me, maybe because of the cooler temps. I was deciding what to make for our friends Gloria and Grant, who are undergoing a kitchen remodel at the moment, and they really needed a break from the ho-hum food Gloria can make in a microwave.

This recipe is really VERY easy, although there are several steps to it. I don’t want to mislead you – it’s not something you can put together in 5 minutes. But definitely in 30. There are 4 components to this: (1) the leeks;  (2) the sweetened lemon peel; (3) the chicken; and (4) the vinaigrette and toppings. I got everything (except cooking the chicken) ready ahead of time. I cooked the leeks (10 minutes to prep and about 5-6 to cook, yes really). I sugared the lemon peel (5 minutes to prepare and about 3 minutes to cook). I made the vinaigrette (about 5 minutes). I pounded the chicken breasts to a mostly even thickness and chilled them until cooking time (another 5 minutes).

When it was show time, I used the same skillet I used for the leeks (I reheated them in a separate bowl in the microwave so I didn’t have to use another big skillet). The chicken was lightly seasoned with salt and pepper, and just sautéed in the large skillet. Nothing fancy about that part. Be sure to not overcook them (this took about 5 or 7 minutes for me). I cut into one of the breasts to make sure it was done.

Then it was plating time. I had preheated the plates because I didn’t want the dish to get cold from kitchen to table. First the leeks (and the sugared lemon slivers were added to the leeks) went onto the plate in a kind of row. Onto the side of the leeks went the sizzling hot chicken breast, then I spooned the vinaigrette on top and sprinkled it with some toasted walnuts and chopped parsley. Done. I served it with  the onion bloom I posted a few days ago, and I also served it with the Balinese Yellow Rice I made a few days ago. The vinaigrette didn’t stay on the chicken very well, of course, but it tasted wonderful pooled under the rice. I hate how that happens!

The recipe I started with came from a 2009 Food & Wine magazine. I changed it some (I could not find my little jar of preserved lemon, so I used fresh instead and I used rosemary instead of tarragon). We all raved about the wonderful taste of the chicken. I’ll definitely be making that again. Maybe sooner than later. This one’s a keeper.
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We entertained a group of friends for an early (1:00 pm) dinner on a recent Sunday. I had to hustle to get a full-on dinner ready by 1:00, because I didn’t start until about 10:30 when we got home from church. I’d done what I could the night before, and fortunately my DH helped me a lot. This recipe has been in my to-try file for years. It was originally published in the Los Angeles Times food section in a column called “Culinary SOS,” in which readers request a recipe from a restaurant somewhere in the L.A. area, or they ask for a long ago recipe that appeared in the newspaper.

Someone had written in asking for this specific recipe served at a cafe in Pasadena called Happy Trails Catering & Cafe. The marinade is what makes the dish, no question. And there’s nothing in it that’s unusual, but I’d guess the secret to the recipe is the 1/2 cup of defrosted orange juice concentrate. That’s what gives it the zingy taste. I served it with the Grilled Panzanella Salad from a few weeks ago (this was the third time I’ve made it), the  watermelon feta mint salad that I serve all through the summer. And I made a peach crisp with maple cream sauce , which I wrote up a day or so ago.

The recipe didn’t indicate to do so, but I whizzed the marinade in the blender, which made it an homogenized mixture, which didn’t separate, even days later. About a third of it you remove to serve drizzled over the top, and the 2/3 you use for marinating and basting. The original salad at the cafe was served with greens, pea pods and diced red bell peppers. I served it as an entree, on a bed of dressed greens.

The chicken was wonderful. Definitely I’d make it again. Loved the marinade or sauce – loved that I had a little drizzle of it to put on top – just in case the chicken was dry (it wasn’t). My DH grilled it over a slower grill setting than usual (at my suggestion because I thought the chicken might burn with the sugar from the OJ concentrate) if cooked too high. He did it perfectly – it was tender and moist, and oh-so flavorful from the marinade. Once cooked I sliced the chicken in wide pieces and laid them on the dressed greens. And instead of including the sesame seeds in the marinade I sprinkled them on top just before serving.

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A year ago: Orzo Risotto
Two years ago: Danish Ground Round Steaks with Onions
Three years ago: Siciliana Sauce

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Whenever we come home from a long trip abroad we always talk about it on the flights, what exactly we have missed the most and what must we buy at the grocery store when we arrive. We always miss our beds. I miss my pillow, big time. And my usual morning cup of coffee latte. Naturally we buy the usual stuff: bread, milk, yogurt, fruit, cream for my coffee, fresh vegetables, coffee beans. On this trip to England, we did have vegetables. It’s just that they were the same ones, day in and day out: carrots, cauliflower and maybe green beans. Steamed only. And often just flavorless.

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On one hand I can count the number of times I’ve made fried chicken. And I just about never order it when we’re out. I’m totally indoctrinated with the chicken skin=fat, fat=bad. Of course, here in Southern California, very few restaurants would even serve fried chicken. But it is making a resurgence in food circles. It’s been featured in several of the foodie magazines in the last year too. So I finally succumbed.

And the answer is yes, I cooked them a tad too long. But, it didn’t make a whit of difference to the taste – they were tender and juicy. The coating was crispy and tender.

My only trouble was I couldn’t control the temperature of the deep fat. I used my tall-sided Le Creuset pot (recommended, or a Dutch oven) because it would splatter less that way and help hold the oil temp. I have a candy thermometer and it perched on the edge of the pan with no difficulty. But the temp on the thermometer was either way up or way down. I think I didn’t have enough oil in the pot, so the temp meter wasn’t submerged sufficiently. I finally gave up and just used my gut feel about it. The recipe was quite specific about what temp the finished thigh or drumstick meat should be – 175°. Well, in trying to cook enough for 11 people I had no time to be testing temps.

Trusting the folks at Cook’s Illustrated as I do, I had turned to their America’s Test Kitchen TV cookbook and found a long, explanatory recipe. The recipe is not available online except by premium membership. I did change it slightly, but not noticeably.

First thing was to snip off all the excess fat from the drumsticks and thighs (top left). Then I made the buttermilk marinade (oodles of garlic, top right, and the finished mixture in a plastic bag, bottom right). I managed to snap one photo of the first batch of frying drumsticks (bottom left).

The chicken pieces are marinated for 2-3 hours, is all. But the marinade contains a lot of mashed garlic, sugar, salt, paprika, and crumbled bay leaves. It’s a cross between a marinade and a brine (there was a lot of table salt in it!). The pieces are removed and placed on a rack to drain for awhile. Then they’re dipped into flour, then an egg/baking soda/baking powder/buttermilk mixture (different than the marinade, which is tossed out), and again back into the flour before being plopped (carefully) into the boiling fat. You were supposed to maintain the oil temp at 325. And if you cooked only 3 pieces at a time you were able to maintain that fairly well.

Initially you heat the oil to 375° because once you add the room temp chicken it lowers quickly to 325°. If you let the oil reheat briefly between frying batches, you hopefully won’t have too much trouble. BUT, the whole process (marinating, draining/drying, dipping, draining again, and frying) will take you a fair number of hours (up to about 6). None of it is intense (well, except the frying part – I got a bit frantic then), but there just are a number of steps to making it.

What I changed about the recipe was the volume of the marinade/brining. It called for 7 cups of buttermilk for 4 pounds of chicken pieces. I had 5 pounds and divided the chicken between two freezer bags and was fine with half that marinade quantity. So I’ve changed the recipe below.

And the result? Well, as I mentioned above – it was VERY juicy and tasty. I know there is some magical temperature that if you deep fry, you’ll have almost no absorption of oil. I’d guess that’s at about 350° or as low as 325°. I don’t know if I hit that number or not. I’d like to try making this again when I’m not so pressed for time (I made this for a lunch we had, and there weren’t enough hours from the time I started the marinating in the early morning to getting it all done by 12:30 when our guests arrived).  I did slip the fried chicken into a 200° oven (on a rack over a tray) for about half an hour before we served the lunch at about 1:00. They kept perfectly warm. According to the recipe, maintaining that deep fat temp is key to the success. If I were to make this very often, I’d need to invest in a deep fryer. But since fried chicken is a big treat, I won’t be doing that! I could try it in my electric skillet – it has fairly high sides. Maybe I’ll just have to do that . . . and I’ll let you know.

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Two years ago: Chicken with Poblano Peppers
Three years ago: Balsamic Fig Sorbet

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Aren’t you always looking for a new recipe for chicken breasts? I certainly am. I buy those vacuum packed boneless, skinless ones from Costco and when I need them for dinner I submerge one package (2 breasts) in cold tap water for about an hour, and they’re defrosted just like that. Then what? Got to find some interesting way to cook them.

It so happened I’d bought some fresh apricots at the farm stand the day before, and we hadn’t eaten any of them yet. For two chicken breasts (half of the below recipe) I used three apricots. I glanced through some of my to-try recipes and there was one calling for dried apricots. What the heck – I could alter it some! I did. And it was delicious.

First you dry off the chicken breasts and pound them to an even thickness. I seasoned them with salt and pepper. Into a hot skillet with some olive oil they went, to brown on both sides. They weren’t cooked through yet, but I removed them to the side while I made the pan sauce. I chopped up an onion, a clove of garlic and sautéed them a bit. Then added some vermouth and some rich, flavorful chicken broth (my Penzey’s soup base) plus a little bit of apricot jam. And a bit of dried thyme (I put fresh thyme on top of the finished dish). I simmered the sauce for about 10 minutes (to reduce down the amount of liquid) then added the sliced apricots. Now apricots don’t need much cooking or they fall apart, so it only took a couple of minutes before I added the chicken breasts back in, covered the skillet and cooked it for just a few more minutes.

The chicken breasts were removed and I added a little bit of butter to the sauce, then the sauce was spooned over the chicken. The recipe makes a goodly amount of sauce, so ideally serve it with some rice on the side. You’ll be very glad to have something to soak up some of that sauce. The whole thing took about 30 minutes to make including all the chopping. So, it’s easy.

The original recipe, from Food & Wine, called for dried apricots (refreshed in water before being added to the pan sauce). If you wanted to, you could also add the dried apricots to this (about 1 1/2 ounces chopped up), which would make the sauce even better, I’d bet. Meanwhile, if you want a really quick and easy chicken dish, try this with some of the delicious fresh apricots available right now.

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A year ago: a photo from the Mendenhall glacier, Alaska
Two years ago: Ina Garten’s box mix, Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting (incredible)

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