Chez Panisse Chicken au Poivre

Chez Panisse. The very words conjure up visions of superb food. I've never had the pleasure of eating there - in fact I haven't been within 300 hundred miles - but all the same, when I came across the Chez Panisse Cafe Cookbook on the shelves of my local library, I was tranfixed by the possibility of culinary adventures in my own kitchen.

n.o.e.'s notes:

- You can find the recipe, with some of my notes, at the end of this post. It's not particularly difficult to prepare, but has several steps. You can finished the sauce up to a day ahead of time.

-The ingredients include chicken breasts (skin on) and also chicken thighs, which are used to make the sauce for the breasts.

- The chicken breasts I bought were on the bone. I de-boned them using this link which describes how it's done.

- According to the instructions, we are to cut the chicken legs in 4 pieces each. I had to wonder, for a basic home cook with ordinary kitchen equipment how is this practicable??? (And why? They're just going to get browned, then simmer in stock.) I wasn't going to cut crosswise through bones, so I got out my most cleaver-like knife and cut through each leg at the joint then cut each piece in half lengthwise, along the bone.

- The herbs were from my garden.

the verdict:

This chicken dish had the most wonderful layers of flavors. The subtle richness of the sauce complemented the spiciness of the cracked black peppercorns perfectly. This recipe is a definite keeper.

the recipe:

Chez Panisse Grilled Chicken Breasts au Poivre

(adapted)

serves 6

6 large boneless chicken breast halves skin on

2 chicken legs

extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup white wine

2 quarts basic chicken stock (I used 1 quart homemade and 1 quart purchase

2 sprigs parsley

2 thyme branches

2 garlic cloves

3 T peppercorns

Salt

Optional: red wine vinegar

Directions for the sauce (can be prepared several hours ahead, or even the day before):

1. remove the fillets from the chicken breasts. With a cleaver, chop each leg into 4 pieces.

2. in a large, deep saucepan, brown the chicken leg pieces and the fillets in a little olive oil. When they are well-browned, deglaze with the white wine and cover with the chicken stock.

3. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and add the parsley, thyme, garlic, and 1 tsp of peppercorns. Simmer hour, then strain, reserving the cooked meat for another purpose, if desired.

4. Skim off the fat, then reduce the broth until rich and slightly thickened; only about 1 1/2 cups should remain. (I actually measured)

Directions for the chicken:

1. Prepare a moderately hot grill (I used a grill pan on the stovetop)

2. Carefully pound the chicken breasts to flatten slightly

3. Crack the remaining peppercorns in mortar and pestle or using the bottom of a heavy pan (I used spice grinder)

4. Coat the breasts lightly with olive oil and season with salt and the cracked peppercorns.

5. Grill the chicken breasts skin side down, rotating for even cooking. When 2/3 cooked, turn the breasts to finish cooking, about 8 minutes in all. Let the breasts stand for a few minutes.

6. Warm the sauce, check seasonings, and add a few drops of red wine vinegar, if desired.

7. Serve the breasts whole or slice each diagonally into 4 slices.

Roasted Broccoli with Chile, Parmesan and Lemon

As a child I was quite a picky eater. Although I was required to eat certain vegetables which sometimes meant long stretches of sitting at the dining room table by myself, my mother knew that there were some things that were just outside the pale for me. Broccoli was one of them. Actually I found out years later that my father didn't like broccoli so I could probably have thanked him that I escaped childhood relatively broccoli-free.

As you can imagine, I was not the most adventuresome eater or cook when I went off on my own. Left to my own devices, I usually whipped up grilled cheese, ham and cheese sandwich, tomato soup with cheese, or a cheeseburger. See the common thread here?

My last year in college I lived with 7 other people in a rambling old house with a spacious sunny kitchen. One weekend my friend C and I decided to cook dinner together. I don't remember what we cooked for a main course. Chicken? Fish? I've no idea. But I do remember two things about that dinner. We had Lover's Salad ("lettuce alone" - get it?) and broccoli. C promised me that I'd like broccoli if I had it with cheddar cheese sauce. I was pretty impressed until he let me in on his cooking secret - the cheese sauce came in a can. OK, this was not gourmet eating. But that day I realized that I could accept, if not like, broccoli if it were smothered in cheese. I will always be grateful to C for introducing me to what is now one of my favorite vegetables - and I haven't had it with cheese sauce in at least 25 years!

These days I usually steam broccoli and eat it with salt and pepper. Last week I served a lot of leftovers, and decided to spice things up with a Real Recipe (albeit a very simple one!) for our veggie. I turned to Tyler Florence, and found a recipe for Broccoli with Parmesan and Lemon. The broccoli is roasted in the oven, which sounded like an interesting preparation method.

n.o.e.'s notes:

- My broccoli spears were fairly slender

- I decided to add some heat and used a hot chile-flavored olive oil

- After 10 minutes, the broccoli was bright green but still pretty hard, so I roasted it for 4 minutes more, then just 8 minutes with the cheese (= total of 2 extra minutes)

the verdict:

The broccoli was perfectly tender - it could be cut with a knife and fork but wasn't soft or mushy. The flavors were great. I added minimal lemon juice, and liked it that way. The chilis in the olive oil sort of snuck up and I felt the heat in the back of my throat after finishing a bite.

This was a great way to prepare broccoli. If you have any reluctance to eat the veggie, this preparation, with lots of great flavor, might make a broccoli lover out of you. If not, try the canned cheese sauce!

I'm sending this off to Tyler Florence Fridays, a weekly roundup of bloggers cooking Tyler's recipes. Stop by and see what everyone has been cooking up!

Bobby Flay Rebounds for Corn Muffin Throwdown!

After losing in my kitchen's red chili throwdown, Bobby Flay just begged for a rematch. "Really?" you say. "Well," I reply, "we didn't actually speak about it. But out of the kindness of my heart I decided to give him another chance."

Right after baking Dorie Greenspan's spicy corn muffins, I came across the Mesa Grill Blue Corn muffin recipe, and just had to bake them immediately! (Edit: I saw these muffins mentioned on Katrina's TWD post - thank you for the tip!)

Since I baked Bobby Flay's muffins right after Dorie's, and the recipes are so similar, I think conditions are ideal for another throwdown post!

(As a little bloggy aside, I'm posting this from out of town, and don't have access to all my photos, so if you come back in a couple of days, I'll have added some more pix)

Dorie Greenspan's Savory Corn and Pepper Muffins

First up was Dorie Greenspan's muffin recipe. You can read my recent post about these muffins, and see the recipe here. To summarize my experience with Dorie's muffins: I made some changes in the interest of health (reduced the fat, upped the whole grain quotient) and stepped up the spice and heat a bit.

the verdict on Dorie Greenspan's muffins:

Recapping: We liked the muffins a lot, finding them very moist and tasty. They had lots of flavor, but were not really hot per se. A great recipe and one that I'd gladly make again (I have a zipper bag of the dry ingredients all pre-measured out for another batch).

Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill Blue Corn Muffins

You've probably already noticed that Mesa Grill muffins, pictured up top, are not blue. I love the thought of using blue cornmeal in muffins - I love blue corn chips - but I didn't locate any in the ordinary course of grocery shopping. My choice was: (1) to wait until I located blue cornmeal (if I even could locate any), or (2) bake the muffins with yellow cornmeal - the same cornmeal that I used for Dorie's, in fact. I had all the other ingredients, and there was a pot of black bean soup on the stove, so I went ahead and baked the muffins.

n.o.e.'s notes:

- Trader Joe's Desert Mesquite Honey was perfect for these muffins. [edit: I saw two very similar versions of the Mesa Grill recipe online. I linked to one, above, but actually baked from the other, whose link I didn't save. It had 1T honey instead of granulated sugar. Other differences: 2 cloves garlic instead of 1, 1/4 cup diced onion in place of 3T. ]

- My jalapeno was very large - and very hot - so I used most but not all of it.

- [As with Dorie's muffins, I chopped the corn kernels roughly]

- I baked the muffins in the same silicone muffin pan as Dorie's. They cooked with a lovely golden brown bottom and edges but an incredible moist yet sturdy but not tough crumb.

- The kitchen was filled with the most amazing smell while these muffins were in the oven.

the verdict: Mesa Grill Corn Muffins

With the fresh and cooked ingredients, these muffins had lots of crunch and flavors. I love the complex flavor that the sauteed onion and garlic gave to the muffins. The slight hint of an outer crust was my favorite part. Well, and the taste! They were just about perfect, although I might experiment with adding a tiny bit of chili powder the next time.

As for the ever-pressing question of sweetness, these were not "sweet" corn muffins by Northern standards. There was a sweetness to them, however, and we thought 1 T was plenty of honey. I could see cutting it next time by a third or so. With all those savory ingredients stirred in, I personally wouldn't want them any sweeter.

Despite the quantity - and the undeniable heat - of the jalapeno I put in the batter, the muffins were not hot or spicy, just flavorful. My husband, who recently read an interesting article about hot peppers, reminded me that dairy products bind the capsaicin in the pepper, and so does bread. I guess that by stirring the jalapenos into the muffins (along with milk) they lose most of their heat, but transmit their pepper flavor.

Winner of the Throwdown

Although I previously described Dorie's savory corn muffins as "perfect", Bobby Flay was the indisputable winner of the throwdown! His muffins had great texture and flavor, and I will make them again in a heartbeat. Now I'm ready to track down some blue cornmeal to see if it improved the taste.

To be perfectly fair to the contesting muffins, I need to admit right up front that I made changes to both recipes, mostly to reduce the fat content of the muffins. I believe the fat content ended up roughly equivalent, as I cut some butter in Dorie's and used skim milk and egg substitute in Bobby's. I meant to use part whole-wheat flour in Bobby's muffins as I had done in Dorie's, but I forgot when the time came. I don't think that would have changed out vote, however, and I intend to make the Mesa Grill muffins with part whole wheat flour next time.

I'm glad that Bobby redeemed himself on the rematch!

My very own Red Chili Throwdown: Bobby Flay vs America's Test Kitchen

Above: Bobby Flay
Below: America's Test Kitchen

I didn't set out to have a chili throwdown. Really, I didn't. Most accurately, this is an ex post factum match-up of two recipes that were in my draft folder.

I've cooked chili over the years, but I've never had a recipe for a good solid red chili. When we were in the mood for chili, most of the time we'd cracked open a bag of Carroll Shelby's chili mix. Just add 2 lbs of beef, a can of tomato sauce, and some water, and you've got chili in less than half an hour. You can customize your chili by adding as much or as little as you want of the included masa flour (thickening), salt, or cayenne pepper. Or you can get fancy and jazz it up, adding your own extra tomato, or onions, peppers, beans, cheese, etc. We've never had any complaints about good ole' Carroll Shelby's chili.


But I did want a standby chili recipe. As I've browsed the food blogisphere, I've planted various bookmarks, not to mention real paper bookmarks in some of the cookbooks on my shelves.

The one I decided to try was a Red Beef Chili recipe from the "Chili" episode of the Food Network's Throwdown with Bobby Flay. It sounded delicious (and had a bunch of rave reviews), and might be a fantastic special-occasion chili (this is not a contradiction in terms!) I made the chili back in November, but in between my trip to Germany and the holiday crush I never got it posted.

Recently another red chili caught my eye: in my America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook there's a recipe for Weeknight Slow Cooker Chili. It sounded easy (and good) so I cooked it right up to eat alongside the Extra Spicy Corn Muffins that I baked for TWD.

When I realized that I had these two separate draft posts about chili, I decided to combine them. In each recipe I used ground beef and pretty much the same combination of chili powders, so there is actually a decent base of comparison. Throwdown time!

I will describe and give a verdict for each of the chili recipes separately and then at the end of the post, I will give an overall verdict.

Bobby Flay Red Beef Chili
cook's notes:

- This recipe was more complicated than I'm usually willing to cook. It called for 4 kinds of chili powder alone. After running all around town, I had accumulated an assortment of chili powders - none of which really matched what he specified. I decided to add them in, and hope for the same complexity of flavor. (I haven't seen the TV episode with his chili, but I'm guessing I was supposed to grind my own from the different chiles? Or source them at some obscure online chili powder emporium?)

- The ingredient list also includes 5 different chile peppers including prepared ancho chiles (that had to be separately pureed). I had better luck locating the peppers.

Here are the many different peppers, all chopped up and ready for the pot

- I used a 14.5 oz. can of diced tomatoes with mild green chiles, because I had one that I'd opened by mistake. I drained them and pureed them in the blender.

- I substituted ground beef for the cubes of bottom round beef. It was in the freezer. I debated buying new beef, but ultimately decided if I loved the chili's flavor then next time I'd go the extra mile with the beef.

- The chili was pretty thin so I sprinkled 1/8 c. masa flour to thicken the chili slightly


- The chili recipe doesn't call for any beans (Texas style), but we like them so I added some canned pinto beans.

the verdict - Bobby Flay's chili:

This recipe took a ton of time, and featured plenty of hard to find ingredients. We liked it but didn't love it. My husband said, "in the realm of all possible chili recipes this falls in the middle." Not enough of an endorsement for me to make it again!

It could be that I really missed out by not using Bobby's formula of magic special chili powders, but here's my opinion: If, after my best efforts at several specialty stores, and every pan in the kitchen dirty, I only end up with average chili, this is not the recipe for me.

America's Test Kitchen Weeknight Slow Cooker Chili

After Bobby Flay's fancy chili didn't pan out, I was back in the market for a chili recipe, preferably something just a tad easier. It took me a while before I could actually face cooking chili again, but when the savory corn muffins came up as a January TWD pick, I decided the time was right for more chili experimentation.


I figured if anyone was going to have a good, reliable chili recipe it would be the America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook. This 3-ring binder- style volume has got some great basic recipes, all backed by that exhaustive ATK testing.

The biggest draw? The recipe looked good, could be made in a crock pot, and was easy. Very easy. Already this recipe had an advantage over Bobby Flay! (In the Family Cookbook there's actually another slow cooker chili recipe that's an even closer match to Bobby Flay's, but I was in the market for simple this time)

cook's notes:

[edit: I just realized that I didn't give any info about the ATK recipe. Their recipes aren't generally available for free online, but here's a summary of ingredients: 2 T. vegetable oil, 2 chopped onions, 1 chopped red bell pepper, 1/4 c. chili powder, 1 T. cumin, 1/2 tsp cayenne, salt, 6 minced cloves of garlic, 2 lb 85% lean ground beef, 1 28 oz can tomato puree, 1 28 oz can diced tomatoes, 2 15 oz cans red kidney beans, rinsed. Everything gets cooked on the stovetop before being added to the slow cooker.]

- I made 1/2 recipe

- Again I decided to use beef from the freezer. This time I had just 3/4 lb 'chili ground' beef (instead of the 1 lb that I should have had for a half recipe). The recipe specifies no leaner than 85%, because the long cook in the crock pot would toughen a leaner grind of beef. I don't know the fat content of the beef I used, but I could tell from looking at it that it was plenty.

- I didn't have any bell pepper, so used a large jalapeno in place of the half bell pepper.

See the three different chili powders? Each had a distinctive flavor.

- I mixed 3 different kinds of chili powder - pretty much the same ones that I'd used for Bobby Flay's red chili:

Urban Accents Mesa Rosa Chipotle
Urban Accents Rio Grande Chili Blend
Whole Foods 365 Valle del Sol Chili Powder

- My pantry search netted tomato sauce but no puree. The internet informed me the two products are similar in texture and close to interchangeable, so interchange I did. Since I only had 3/4 of the meat, I reduced the tomato sauce a little bit.

- The chili cooked on high for 3 1/2 hrs and low for 1 hr.

- A full recipe would have filled my 4 quart slow cooker - maybe too full.

the verdict on America's Test Kitchen chili:

We found this to be a great basic red chili, and it will become my chili for everyday and for chili-type entertaining. It doesn't save any dishes, or really any prep time over most other chili recipes, but the slow cooker really does meld the flavors and smooth the textures, while providing an easy way to set up the food in advance and have a fabulous hot meal later.

Winner of the Throwdown:

The crock pot chili soundly whupped Bobby Flay's chili. It was easier, used far fewer dishes, and still benefited from the variety of flavors found in the three chili powders. Someday I'll grind all my own chiles, but until that time, this chili recipe will be a fantastic way to use up all that specialty chili powder that I bought! It's good with or without a corn muffin...

{Cooking Light Night} Roast Potatoes with North Indian Spices

I have no idea what led me to the recipe for these potatoes, but it made its way to the top of The List, and I'm glad it did! I'm a big fan of potatoes, especially roast potatoes, which I usually toss with olive oil, salt, pepper, and some fresh herbs. I've never seen this combination of ingredients (jalapeno, mustard seed, fresh ginger, garlic, turmeric, dried hot peppers, mint, cilantro, lime juice), and was very curious to see how all those flavors melded.

cook's notes:

- This recipe is very fast-paced, so I'd recommend that you have everything chopped, measured, ready, and in prep bowls.

- I didn't have black mustard seeds, so used the yellow variety. I found that the seeds popped right on time, but that they seemed to continue cooking a bit too much. I'd add the next ingredients after about 30 seconds, instead of waiting for the seeds to pop.

about to pop!

- I used a spatter guard so that the popping seeds wouldn't jump out of the pan.

- Turmeric is highly STAIN-producing. We've actually learned this in various interesting ways over the years, but I thought my blue silicone baking dish would be impervious. I was wrong, and now I have a blue + green baking dish. Use glass or metal bowls and pans for this recipe (unless you have a yellow baking dish already).

- I only had a tiny bit of fresh mint, so I cut the herb/lime part way back. It was great on the potatoes, so next time I'd make sure to have enough.

ready for the oven

the verdict:

- these potatoes are unusual and delicious. You can increase the spice level by adding cayenne pepper powder, or more of the jalapeno.

- I served the potatoes with some lamb chops from the freezer (left over from a catered party), and a simple green salad. The potatoes shone in their starring role.

As always, thanks to Clara (CB) of I Heart Food4Thought for giving permission to use her "Cooking Light Night" logo. I've really enjoyed exploring the Cooking Light archives!

{Note: I'm celebrating my first 100 blog posts with a cookbook giveaway - to enter, go here and leave a comment before December 3}

Hot and Spicy!

This is the second time I've made Grilled Chicken Breasts with North African Spice Paste, and it's our new favorite chicken! The recipe calls for several different kinds of seeds as well as peppercorns and dried chiles that have to be ground up in a spice mill/coffee grinder or a mortar/pestle. I don't have a spice mill, so the first time I ground everything with a mortar and pestle, over the course of about three days. This was for 4 chicken breasts! I vowed that I would not do the grinding by hand again, and promptly placed an order for a new electric coffee bean grinder which can be used for spices. Unfortunately a week later the vendor realized the grinder was out of stock and cancelled my order. In the meantime I'd decided to serve this at a family gathering, this time doubling the recipe. I took my backup pepper grinder and fed all the spices, the chiles and the peppercorns through it, grinding it by turning the little crank manually. This took several hours' worth of time, and although the results are delicious, I will not be making this recipe again without electrical grinding assistance. I've also been working out substitutions of already ground spices, although I'm sure it will not taste as fresh. Here is a picture of the spice rub. As far as I'm concerned, this is a bowl of liquid gold: The Verdict: This is absolutely delicious - do not count on any leftovers. It can be made spicier by increasing the red chile peppers or not as hot by reducing the amount. Here's the recipe with my notes and directions for broiling rather than grilling: Yield: makes 4 servings. ingredients: 8 (2-inch-long) dried hot red chiles - I used 6 of my own which are extremely hot 2 tablespoons coriander seeds 1 tablespoon cumin seeds 1 tablespoon caraway seeds 2 tablespoons minced garlic 1 tablespoon black peppercorns 2 teaspoons kosher salt 5 tablespoons olive oil 4 large chicken breast halves with skin and bone (about 3/4 pound each) - I used Bell and Evans chickens from Whole Foods special equipment: an electric coffee/spice grinder or a mortar and pestle; directions: 1. Coarsely grind chiles, spice seeds, garlic, and peppercorns in grinder or with mortar and pestle, then stir together with salt and oil in a bowl to form a spice paste. This can be kept, covered and chilled for up to 4 days. 2. Rub paste all over chicken. Can do this up to 4 hours in advance, refrigerating the chicken. 3. Oil broiler pan, then place chicken, skin sides up, on the pan and broil the chicken on “convect broil”, high heat, approx. 3” from the flame, turning once, for 7 minutes or so, until skin begins to brown, turning chicken over once with tongs. 4. Moved the pan down to the center of the oven, still set on convect broil – high heat - skin side up, until it is browned nicely. Then set the oven to “convect roast” on 375 degrees until done. Instead of broiling, you can also roast chicken in the oven at 375 degrees. 5. Transfer to a platter and let stand 5 minutes before serving.