I started this blog with the idea that I’d blog my dinner, which turned into cooking for the blog which turned into freelance work and somewhere around starting an LLC and registering trademarks I realized that I rarely or never blogged my dinner.
I did an interview recently and the interviewer asked for links to my "go to week night meal," and I was more than embarrassed to say that I’d never really blogged it. This is just one version of my 15 minute chicken that seems to make it into regular rotation.
I always use boneless skinless chicken thighs, the flavor is worlds above the chicken breast and it is almost impossible to dry out. I love to cook them in a cast iron skillet because of the awesome crust it gives the chicken. The sour cream version was a big hit, so I’m sure it will make it into my busy weeknight menu again.
Skillet Sour Cream Chicken
Total Time: 15 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
4 boneless skinless chicken thighs
salt and pepper
1 tbs olive oil
2 tbs minced basil (about 3 large leaves)
2 tbs Dijon mustard
½ cup sour cream
1 tbs lemon juice (about ½ medium sized lemo)
1 tsp honey
1 tbs vinegar (apple cider or rice wine)
rice, pasta, potatoes or quinoa for serving
Instructions
sprinkle the chicken thighs on all sides with salt and pepper.
Heat olive oil in a cast iron skillet until hot and almost smoking.
Add the chicken thighs and sear on both sides until browned.
Whisk together the remaining ingredients, pour over chicken. Lower heat to medium-low, cover loosely and allow to gently simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 8 minutes.
My grill could replace my oven at this point. I love the smokey char, the quick cooking time, and the way that food just tastes transformed. This is a really quick and easy recipe that’s perfect for weeknights, but fit for weekend parties.
I would absolutely recommend chicken thighs for this. The flavor is so much bigger and the high heat of the grill is really drying on chicken breasts. If you’ve never cooked with chicken thighs, give them a try, I really think it’ll be your new go-to cut of chicken. Most stores sell boneless, skinless, chicken thigh filets, making it a really easy cut to use. I switched over about two years ago and haven’t even thought about going back, the flavor is just so much better, plus they are often much cheaper than chicken breasts. More flavor, less money, that’s just a big win all the way around.
Bacon Wrapped Chicken Skewers
Prep Time: 8 minutes
Cook Time: 8 minutes
Ingredients
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tsp smoked paprika
4 boneless skinless chicken thighs
8 slices bacon
Instructions
Whisk together the honey, vinegar and smoked paprika in a pot over medium high heat. Allow to simmer until thickened, about 8 minutes.
Preheat the grill to medium high.
Cut each slice of bacon into thirds.
Cut chicken thighs into cubes.
One at a time place a chicken cube onto a small slice of bacon. Wrap the bacon around the chicken cube and skewer onto a grill skewer.
Brush all sides of the chicken with honey glaze.
Place on a hot grill. Turn every two minutes, re-brushing with glaze, until cooked through about 8 minutes.
Notes
If using wooden skewers, place them on a rimmed baking sheet, cover with water, place a heavy plate on top to submerge for 30 minutes.
I have two very distinct sides to my personality, dueling forces that pull me in opposing directions with near cartoon ideation. Although Devil and Angel would be easier to deal with, mine are more Old Lady and Free Spirited Gypsy.
As much as I would like to tell you that Gypsy wins the battles, it’s Old Lady that tends to run the show.
A few years ago Gypsy got ahold of the controls and decided to buy a motorcycle. Paying penance to Old Lady, I signed up for a Motorcycle Riders Training Course. It was a three-day crash course (pun intended) in how to ride a motorcycle without killing yourself.
I also allowed the Old Lady side of me to buy the safest helmet and motorcycle jacket with armor I could find.
The first day of class I was equal parts nervous and intimidated, as I noticed I was the only novice in the group and one of the youngest. Most were crotch rocket guys wanting to "blast the Crest" as soon as possible. The only other girl was a woman who wanted to learn to ride so she could bike cross-country with her partner for their 20 year anniversary.
No one talked to me. Really, no one talked. We were all a bit insular trying to figure out how to learn not to kill ourselves, drowning in the Dead People Smeared On The Road stories told by the ex-bike-cop who taught the class.
On the final day of class we met early in the morning in a parking lot in Long Beach just as it started to rain. A little drizzle that scares the crap out of most of Los Angeles. We were given the opportunity to come back on a non-rainy day but collectively decided, with a series of sideways glances and nods, that we would all stay and ride like Bad Ass SoCal People in the very light drizzle.
The final segment of the day was an obstacle course through the gigantic empty parking lot. Trying to make sure I was at least in the top half of the pack, time-wise, I set out a bit faster than I should have.
As I rounded the first curve, set over a large white arrow painted on the pavement of the parking lot, my bike slipped out from under me and began to skid along the wet ground as I tumbled in the opposite direction.
Ex-bike-cop was visibly relieved to see that I was fine and address the issue with the group by saying, "I think now is a really good time to tell everyone that paint on the pavement gets really slippery when it rains."
To which I responded, "No, ten minutes ago would have been a really good time to say that. At this point, it’s pretty obvious."
Sometimes, when you are so immeshed in an activity, you don’t think to state what’s really obvious to you, like ex-bike-cop and the paint. For me, it’s this chicken. Maybe you’ve noticed that I tend to lean away from that popular Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast that we all grew up with. Mostly because it’s so often dry and flavorless.
If you favor that cut, try the boneless skinless chicken thigh fillets, so much more flavor and they can take some serious heat before they dry out. Chicken thighs are a bit of secret ingredient when it comes to chicken dishes, making your favorite chicken breast recipe taste at least 30 percent better if you use the thighs instead. They do take a bit longer to cook, but it’s completely worth it.
And that was the only time I ever dumped a bike. At least so far.
6boneless skinless chicken thigh filletscut into cubes
oil for the grill
Chopped cilantro for garnishoptional
Instructions
In a small bowl whisk together the garlic, honey, porter, red pepper flakes, mustard, soy sauce and pepper. Add the chicken cubes, refrigerate for 1 hour and up to overnight.
Remove the chicken from marinade (reserve the marinade) thread the chicken through wooden skewers.
In a pot over medium high heat, add the olive oil and shallots. Sautee until shallots have softened, about 5 minutes. Add marinade and boil, stirring frequently, until reduced and thickened, about 8 minutes.
Grill directions:
Preheat grill to medium high.
Brush the grill lightly with oil.
Brush the chicken with the glaze, place on the grill. Brush with glaze and turn every 2-4 minutes until cooked through, about 10 minutes.
Sprinkle with chopped cilantro prior to serving.
Oven directions:
Preheat the oven to 400. Place chicken on a baking sheet covered with aluminum foil. Brush liberally with glaze. Roast at 400 for 30-40 minutes, brushing with glaze every 8-10 minutes until cooked through.
The above picture is pretty strong illustration of what I did nearly the entire weekend. Along with spicing up my beer wings, I also made a Sriracha butter for grilled corn. In other news,I ran out of Sriracha.
Maybe it’s the new grill that found it’s way into my backyard, or maybe it was eyeing this chicken recipe, or this one, but I really wasn’t able to think about anything but beering up some chicken and giving it a good grilled char.
I’m also trying to figure out how to grill a pie, but more on that later.
Grilled Beer and Buttermilk Chicken with Sriracha Glaze
In a large bowl whisk together the buttermilk, 12 ounces beer, salt, smoked paprika, cayenne, cumin, and brown sugar. Add the onions and chicken to the marinade. Cover and place in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours and up to 12.
Just prior to grilling, make the glaze. In a saucepan over medium high heat, whisk together all the glaze ingredients. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently, until thickened, about 8 minutes.
Remove the chicken from the marinade, discard marinade.
Place the chicken on a preheated grill, brush with glaze, cook for about 2 minutes, flip and brush with glaze. Continue to flip and brush with glaze every 2-4 minutes until chicken is cooked through, about 20-25 minutes (depending on the size of your chicken). Transfer chicken to a serving platter and sprinkle with cilantro.
Recently I read a response that a famous food personality had to the aggressive criticism of what is arguable to the worst food show on TV. She said that people who expect American households to cook with real, whole, unprocessed ingredients just don’t understand how real US households function, that it isn’t realistic to expect people to cook food that isn’t mostly can-and-box, defrost-and-feed type food.
I can’t underscore enough how much I not only disagree with this mentality, but how that line of thinking devalues food and the abilities of working America. I grew up in a family of ten, a family that was pay check to pay check on our best months, I’m not naive to what American households face when it comes to limited time and money.
I also have more faith in America, in food, and the resources we all have access to that can empower people to cook for their families in ways that don’t necessitate can openers and microwaves. The mentality that the best we can do is a jazzed up Hungry Man and a can of apple pie filling in the middle of a pre-made cake is demeaning. We can do better, regardless of budget. Corn is inexpensive, it’s easy to grow herbs in even the windowsill of an apartment, and inexpensive meat like chicken thighs have more flavor than their light meat counterparts. We can buy vegetables in season, when they are the least expensive, and freeze batches for months. We have options and abilities that extent far past what may be expected of us. Some of the best food I’ve ever had was handmade food in the poorest parts of the world, made with simple, inexpensive ingredients. America isn’t old enough to have a rich culinary history, but it isn’t too late to start building one that doesn’t begin with yelling a food order out of a car window into a metal speaker.
Heat olive oil in an enamel cast iron pot or Dutch oven.
Sprinkle salt and pepper on chicken cubes.
Once the oil is hot but not smoking add the chicken, cook until browned on all sides, about 8 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove chicken from pot.
Add red peppers, carrots and shallots (plus additional oil if the pan is dry), cook until vegetables have started to soften, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds.
Sprinkle with flour, add the beer, scrapping to deglaze the pot, making sure the flour is well combined without lumps.
Add the chicken back into the pot along with the corn and peas.
Reduce heat to maintain a low simmer, cover with the lid at a vent and allow to simmer for ten minutes.
Stir in the lemon juice, remove from heat.
Stir in the cream, turmeric, salt and pepper. Sprinkle with basil.
Lettuce wraps are Asian, right? Those PF Change guys make one that people seem to like. I love Asian flavors, but giving you a new take on an Asian dish isn’t at the top of my current skill set. So I went a new route, and put in some of my favorite flavors that also happen to be (mostly) healthy.
Let’s talk about that PF Chang wrap. It’s listed as an appetizer that has 4 “servings,” but if you eat it as an entrée, it’ll feed one. As a entrée it has close to 600 calories, 2600 milligrams sodium (!!!), and 47 grams of carbs (I don’t even get bread!). Just as a comparison, an In-N-Out cheeseburger with ketchup has 400 calories, 1080 milligrams sodium and 41 grams carbs.
I’m not trying to dissuade you from eating them, they look delicious, and if you want to order it, you should do that. More or less, I’m trying to get you excited about these lettuce wrap because it’s just as delicious and the numbers are amazing. It actually qualifies as diet food, even with the goat cheese and chicken thighs. It has only 255 calories for a generous serving, 650 milligrams sodium, and only 6 grams of carbs! Plus 24 grams protein and some fabulous vitamin C from those strawberries. And it only takes 20 minutes!
If you want to make them ahead for lunch (you should!) just store the chicken, strawberry salsa, cheese and lettuce all separate and assemble at lunch time. Because interactive lunch is more fun.
Strawberry, Chicken and Goat Cheese Lettuce Wraps
Prep Time: 12 minutes
Cook Time: 8 minutes
Yield: Serves 4
Ingredients
½ tsp black pepper
3 tbs corn starch
½ tsp chili powder
1 tsp salt
½ tsp brown sugar
½ tsp garlic powder
5 chicken boneless skinless chicken thigh fillets
1 tbs olive oil
1 cup strawberries, chopped
¼ cup red onions, small dice
¼ cup cilantro, chopped
1 jalapenos, chopped (stem and seeds removed)
2 tbs lemon juice
1 head butter lettuce
3 ounces chevre goat cheese
Instructions
In small bowl combine the pepper, cornstarch, chili powder, salt, brown sugar and garlic powder. Chop the chicken thighs, removing any large pieces of fat. Toss the chicken in the spice mixture until well coated.
Heat the olive oil over medium high heat until hot but not smoking. Add the chicken, sauté until cooked through, about 5-8 minutes.
In a small bowl add the strawberries, red onions, cilantro, jalapeno, and lemon juice, toss to combine.
Fill butter lettuce leaves with chicken, strawberry mixture and top with goat cheese.
I don’t make a lot of sandwiches that I want to post about. But this is a sandwich I could eat every day. One that I would even serve at a party, especially one revolving around sports viewing or card playing. It’s spicy, beery, cheesy, and totally necessitates several napkins.
I used a beer that seems to be in regular rotation in my "beer cellar" (which is currently the bottom shelf of my fridge). If you live outside the Southern California area, you might not be familiar with the San Diego brewery Greenflash, but it’s hard to ignore this well distributed craft beer in these parts of the world.
Greenflash has an unapologetic love of the hops, wielding the bitterness with brute force. Which suits the hop frenzied California craft beer crowd. I’m a little choosier about my IPA’s than the average Los Angeles beer girl, and Greenflash gets it right when it comes to hopping the hell out of a beer. The Imperial IPA is really solid example of a West Coast IPA, well bittered, notes of pine, citrus, grapefruit, pineapple and a mild malty finish.
All of those flavor notes balance well with the spicy sauce I covered this giant sandwich with. A sandwich that also pairs very well with a nice cold IPA. But be careful, alcohol intensifies heat so that spicy sandwich may end up hotter than you wanted because of that same beer. And, please, get the good bread, none of that hot dog bun nonsense.
¼cupfresh shredded or fresh grated parmesan cheeseplus additional if desired
1cupflour
3tbsolive oil
4crust Italian sandwich rollssplit
1ball whole milk mozzarellasliced into 4 slices
Instructions
In a sauce pan cook the onions in the olive oil over medium high heat until softened. Add the tomatoes, cook until the skins starts to peel, about 5 minutes.
Ad the garlic, cook for 30 seconds.
Add the beer and tomato paste. Allow to simmer until most of the tomatoes have broken down, about 10 minutes.
Transfer to a large food processor or blender along with the chipotle pepper, basil, salt, smoked paprika and oregano, process until smooth. Taste the sauce at this point, add additional chipotle peppers for a higher heat level, if desired. Sauce can be made up to three days in advance (If the sauce is too watery, return to the stove and simmer until it has reduced and thickened).
Preheat oven to 400.
Filet the chicken breasts in half, creating two thin slices per each chicken breast for a total of four, pound to an even thickness using a meat mallet, heavy rolling pin or heavy skillet.
Pat the chicken dry. Place eggs in a bowl, beat well. Place the flour in a separate bowl. Mix the bread crumbs with the parmesan in a third bowl.
Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat until shimmery but not smoking.
Sprinkle chicken with salt on all sides.
Dredge in the flour shaking off excess.
Dip in the egg bowl, turning to coat, then dredge in the breadcrumbs until fully coated.
Fry chicken in hot oil until golden brown on the underside, about 3 minutes, turn and cook until cooked through (try not to turn the chicken more than once).
Place rolls on a baking sheet, spoon generous amounts of sauce into the rolls. Cut the chicken fillets in half lengthwise so they better fit into the rolls.
Fill each roll with chicken, top with mozzarella. Sprinkle with parmesan if desired.
Cook in a 400 oven until cheese has melted, serve immediately.
I’ve started to think about dishes that have made an impact on me over the years, a salt roasted whole fish I ate in italy, curried soup I had in New York, even pancakes from my Grandfather. I didn’t grow up in a culinary family, I grew up in a defrost-and-feed family and decided I wanted to figure out this cooking thing when I was in High School. I met a guy who was older than me, SO old, in fact, that he had his own apartment. I wanted to impress him, so I offered to cook him dinner. Newly licensed, I drove to the grocery store all by myself for the first time. I had planned to buy steak and try to figure that out, but a combination of seeing these tiny chickens and realizing how expensive good steak was made the decision easy. Two "tiny chickens" were only $4, and I peeled the price tag off so that he wouldn’t know how cheap I was.
I just rubbed them with butter (probably margarine, to be honest) and salt and pepper, and cooked them until I thought they were done. They turned out amazing, I think I was more impressed than he was. It was my first official Kitchen Win, Roasted Cornish Game Hens at 16 years old, in the kitchen of a crappy post war era apartment off George Washington Way.
I haven’t made them since (until now), and I can’t even tell you why. I make roast chicken all the time, and this is just as easy, and if you are having a dinner party, it’s really impressive, everyone gets their own tiny chicken. You don’t even have to tell them how cheap they are.
A beer brine is incredible, the combination of the subtle flavors and the meat tenderizing properties of beer give you a fantastic final product. I usually use brown ale, I love the notes of molasses and nuts that are easy to find in brown ales. I remembered Brother Thelonious from North Coast, a strong, dark, Belgian Style Abbey Ale . The notes of nuts, fruit, malt, brown sugar and cherries, along with a relatively high ABV of 9.3%, it was exactly what I was looking for. North Coast is a stellar brewery out of Northern California, that has brought us such hits as Old Rasputin and PranQster. North Coast has been preaching the craft beer gospel for 25 years, producing beer that is diverse and on point, you’ll never hear anything but praise out of me for North Coast.
The sauce can be made with what you have "leftover" from the beer brine, but let’s be honest, it probably won’t last that long. You can also use a lighter wheat beer, or a pale ale. Just a warning, alcohol intensifies heat so the higher ABV you use, the higher the heat level will be. Removing the seeds from the pepper gives you a greater control over the sauces final heat level. Most of the heat of a pepper is found in the seeds, with almost no flavor.The flesh of the pepper still has significant heat, but also contains the flavor of the pepper. If you are worried about the heat not being high enough, reserve some of the seeds and add them into the sauce as needed.
Beer Brined Roasted Cornish Game Hens with Orange Chili Sauce
In a pot over medium high heat, add the wheat beer, salt, sugar and cloves. Cook, stirring frequently, until the sugar and salt have dissolved, remove from heat. Add the ice, stir until dissolved.
Rinse the game hens inside and out, place together in a large bowl. Pour the brine over the hens, refrigerate for 6 to 12 hours.
Preheat oven to 425.
Remove hens from brine, rinse thoroughly and pat dry.
Place in a roasting rack of a roasting pan or on a wire rack on a rimmed baking sheet. Cut lemon into quarters. Place one quarter into each hen, place the remaining two in the roasting pan beneath the hens.
In a small bowl combine melted butter, salt and pepper.
Brush the hens liberally with the butter mixture.
Roast at 425 for 45 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 165.
While the hens are roasting, make the sauce. Using gloves remove the seeds from the habanero, discard seeds and stem, chop remaining pepper.
Add habanero, orange juice, cornstarch and white sugar to a saucepan over high heat, whisk frequently until mixture has thickened. Remove from heat, add beer and vinegar, bring to a boil just until re-thickened, stir in about half (1-2 tsp) of the 1 tbs chili flakes. Taste sauce, add additional red chili flakes for a higher level of heat.
Serve the orange chili sauce in small sauce dishes along side the hens for dipping.
Notes
This recipe makes an abundance of sauce, enough for 4 to 6 servings. If you make more Game Hens, you won't need to double the sauce unless you make 8 or more servings. If you are worried about the heat not being high enough, reserve some of the seeds and add them into the sauce as needed.
When I first got into food blogging I had this idea that I would just take pictures of my dinner and post the recipe online. Somewhere between installing Google Analytics and starting an LLC, I realized that I was cooking in order to develop content rather than just posting what I was eating.
I guess that’s inevitable when I started to earn an income and see my website as a small business. I also realized that although I often stray from who I am as a cook in order to cultivate blog hits, I love cooking, I love food and I got in this business because of those things. When the recipes you love get ignored and the ones you don’t have strong feelings about go viral, it’s hard not to just continue to post those Pandering to the Masses recipes that go viral, but I know that I am the most happy when I cook the food I want to cook and hope that you love it, too.
I loved the way this came out, even though I know it wont go viral. It’s how I like to eat, and how I like to spend my time in the kitchen, hope you don’t mind too much.
Mirin Stout Glazed Roast Chicken with Maple Sweet Potatoes topped with Caramelized Shallots and Balsamic Glaze
4chicken leg quartersor 1 whole roasting chicken, cut into quarters
For the Glaze:
1cupstout
2/3cupmirin
¼cupsoy sauce
½tspchili powder
1tbscornstarch
3tbshoney
For the Sweet Potatoes:
2large shallotssliced (2/3 cup)
2tbsbutterplus 4 tbs divided
1tbsoil
3large sweet potatoespeeled and sliced
2tbsreal maple syrup
2tbsheavy cream
¼tspnutmeg
¼salt
1/4cupchopped pecans
3tbsbalsamic gaze
Instructions
In a pot over medium high heat, add the water and the salt. Stir until salt has dissolved, remove from heat, add the beer and ice. Stir until ice has dissolved and brine is at room temperature or below.
Add the chicken quarters to a large bowl. Pour the brine over the chicken, cover loosely with plastic wrap, refrigerate for 3 hours and up to 24 hours.
Preheat oven to 425F.
Add the stout, mirin, soy, chili powder, cornstarch and honey, whisk to combine. Add sauce pan to high heat, allow to boil until slightly reduced and thickened, about 5 minutes.
Cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil, place a wire rack over the foil lined baking sheet.
Remove chicken from brine, discard the brine. Rinse the chicken well and pat dry. Place chicken on the wire rack.
Brush liberally with the glaze.
Roast at 425F for 45 to 55 minutes, brush with glaze every 10-15 minutes. Remove from oven when the internal temperature reaches 175F.
While the chicken is cooking make the sweet potatoes. In a saucepan, melt the butter with the oil over medium heat. Add the shallots and cook over medium-low heat until caramelized, about 20 minutes.
Boil the potatoes in a pot of lightly salted water until fork tender, about 12-15 minutes. Drain, return sweet potatoes to the dry pot. Add 4 tbs butter, cream, maple syrup, salt, and nutmeg, mash with a potato masher until well combined and potatoes are well mashed, transfer to a serving dish. Top with caramelized shallots, chopped pecans and drizzle with balsamic glaze.
Notes
Balsamic glaze can be bought at the store, often by the balsamic vinegar, or you can make it by reducing 1 cup balsamic and 1 tbs white sugar or honey in a saucepan until reduced and thickened.
I’ve made a decision. I am going to redefine the word "rich".
When I was a kid, we didn’t have a lot of money, on our best months we lived pay check to pay check. I vividly remember standing in line at a Stater Brothers Market as my mother rapidly added the groceries in her head, factoring in coupons, putting back items and trying to feed ten mouths for the month with a thin envelope of cash. I remember thinking I would be rich if I could go to the grocery store and buy anything I wanted.
As I got older I though this was funny, how small my definition of rich was. But why not? Why is rich defined by excess, yachts and handbags that cost 10 grand? I’m going back to my 10 year old definition. We are rich. We have a refidgerator full of groceries, warm beds, we can turn on the heat and air on a whim, and our kids have several pairs of shoes. In many, many, parts of the world, that is rich. Who cares about billon dollar Hampton Hideaways, Rolls Royce and Hermes bags, we have well fed families!
So, in honor of our new found wealth, I have decided to start a Cheap Eats category as a way to expand the limited resource that is our grocery dollars. I’m in the process of making the switch from Director at my previous company, to freelance stay at home mom and I’ve had to adjust the budget, but I still want to eat great food. I don’t want to add two jars and some meat to a crock pot, I want to eat well, but I want it well priced.
Cheap Eats will be food that’ll be fancy enough for company, cheap enough for a budget, and include real-life ingredients with minimally processed foods. I hope you love these Rich People Dishes as much as I do, and never forget to be grateful for all that we have. Check us out, we 're rich!
Roasted Chicken, Green Beans and Potatoes Feeds 4 for $10
Ingredients
For The Chicken:
1 4.5 lb whole chicken
3 tbs softened butter
1 lemon, juiced
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt
For The Potatoes:
1 lbs red potatoes (cut into quarters)
2 tbs olive oil
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
For The Green Beans:
1 lb Green Beans, trimmed and cut in half
1 tbs oil
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
½ tsp pepper
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 425.
In a small bowl mix together the lemon juice, butter, salt and pepper.
Rinse the chicken and pat it dry.
Rub the chicken all over with the butter (under the skin as well as over).
Place chicken in a roasting rack inside a roasting pan.
Roast in a 425 oven for about 1 ½ or until the internal temperature reaches 165.
About 10 minutes before the chicken is finished, start the potatoes.
Add 2 tbs olive oil to cast iron skillet over medium high heat until hot but not smoking.
Add the potatoes, one of the cut sides down.
Cook until browned, about 3 minutes.
Push each piece of potato over, toggling it onto its un-browned cut side.
Cook for about one minute, remove from heat.
Once the chicken is cooked, remove from oven and allow to rest.
Transfer the potatoes to the oven, reduce heat to 375, allow to cook until fork tender, about 10 minutes.
For the Green beans, heat a skillet over high heat with 1 tbs olive oil until hot but not smoking. Add the green beans, toss until starting to blister. Add the balsamic and cook until the balsamic has reduced and the green beans have softened, add the pepper.
Once the chicken has rested (about 10 minutes) transfer to a cutting board and carve.
Note about the chicken: If you have never roasted a chicken, you should start. It’s fairly easy to buy a whole roasting chicken for about $1 to $2 a pound. They are cheap, healthy and easy. For a step by step on how to roast a chicken, check out my How To Roast A Chicken post.
I have to admit, I did think about adding blood orange juice to this. I have a thing for blood oranges. But, I refrained, I was afraid I’d lose all of you who aren’t as into those guys as I am.
But I did fall back on my love of chipotle. We all have these "go to" flavors, don’t we? Even though we want to broaden our culinary horizons, we seem to be drawn back to that same section of the pantry. That’s ok, isn’t it?
I’m a chipotle, smoked paprika, roasted garlic, fresh basil, sriracha, kinda girl. I also love with burrata cheese, masa harina and almost bitterly dark chocolate.
Just once I’d like to walk into the kitchen and have Ted Allen hand me a "basket of mystery ingredients" just so that I can figure out how to use them in a delightful way without any of my usual culinary crutches.
But for now, here are some chicken wings, beautifully balances with sweet and heat.
Maple Chipotle Chicken Wings
Ingredients
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
2 chipotle peppers plus tsp adobo
2 lbs chicken wings
salt and pepper
½ cup flour
½ tsp brown sugar
pinch cayenne
Olive oil spray
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 450.
Add maple, balsamic and chipotle to a food processor, process until smooth and well combined. Set aside.
Rinse the wings in cold water and pat dry, sprinkle with salt and pepper on all sides.
In a large bowl add the flour, brown sugar, pinch cayenne. Toss the chicken wings in the flour until completely coated.
Cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Spray with cooking spray.
Add chicken to the baking sheet in an evenly spaced layer. Lightly spray with olive oil.
Bake at 450 for 10 minutes. Remove from oven, brush with glaze, return to oven for 10 more minutes, turn over, brush with glaze. Repeat. After 30 minutes (3 rounds) turn the oven to 500 and cook chicken until cooked through, about 10 to 15 additional minutes. Remove from oven, brush with remaining glaze.
I’ve been wanting to make you some beer fried chicken for a while now, but it’s a bit intimidating.
The best fried chicken comes from the south, it’s a fact of sorts. As is the fact that, other than a few weeks in Atlanta, I haven’t spent much time in the Southern states. And, let’s be honest, a white girl from Washington State isn’t exactly your go-to when you want the worlds best fried chicken.
But I have some confidence in this recipes because it isn’t really mine. I’ve added a few things, but the heart and soul of it belongs to a woman who’s chicken was so incredible, Ruth Reichl spent weeks, and copious amounts of beer, extracting the recipe from her. Even 40 years after plying Claritha with enough beer to obtain said recpe, Ruth not only remembers it, she writes about it in Tender at the Bone: Growing Up at the Table.
Like any great recipe, it travels. How I hope my recipes become your recipes. My Chocolate Stout Cake becomes your Chocolate Stout Cake, the one your boyfriend begs you to make him for his birthday and tells his friends, "My girl makes the best cake." Because once your hands have cut the butter, stirred the batter and frosted the cake, it’s not my recipe any more, it’s yours. As it should be.
So, from Claritha, to Ruth to Random House to me and finally to you, is the best fried chicken I’ve ever made. I hope it becomes your fried chicken too.
Beer and Buttermilk Fried Chicken
Adapted from Claritha's Fried Chicken, Ruth Reichl, Tender at the Bone
Place chicken in a wide bowl. Cover with salt, place uncovered in the refrigerator for 2 hours. Remove chicken from the bowl.
Rinse the chicken well and clean the bowl to remove all the salt. Add buttermilk, beer and onion slices to the bowl, stir to combine. Add the chicken back in the bowl, cover and refrigerate overnight, 8 to 20 hours.
Add the flour, salt, cayenne, brown sugar, and pepper to a bag, shake to combine. Drain the chicken. add chicken to the bag, shake until the chicken is well coated. Place chicken on wax paper or parchment paper. Allow to sit at room temperature for 1/2 hour.
In a large skillet melt the vegetable shortening and butter over high heat. Add chicken (working in batches if necessary), cover and lower heat to just above medium. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown, turn and cook on the opposite side for about 8 additional minutes or until cooked through.
This needs to be made with an IPA. The buffalo sauce (which has to be Franks, let’s just get that out of the way) needs a big kick to the face. The only beer up for that job is an IPA. read more
I love resolutions, I just don’t make those "I’m going to remove things I love from my life" kind.
I make resolutions that are more inline with goals. As in:
-I’m going to take a homemade pasta class
-I’m going to read more food lit
-I’m going to explore vegan cooking, because produce is amazing
Someday I’ll set the "I’m going to start homebrewing this year" resolution, but I’m not there yet.
It’s possible that were you live, it’s actually cold right now. And maybe you set a resolution about cooking more often, if that’s the case, I have the perfect thing for you.
Chicken pot pie, with cornbread build right in. Oh, and some beer.
4boneless skinless chicken thighschopped into bite sized pieces
3tbsflour
3cupschicken broth
4sage leavesminced (about ½ tsp)
½tspsalt
½tsppepper
1/3 more, plus more chicken
Cornbread top:
3/4cupyellow cornmeal
3/4cupflour
1tbsbaking powder
1/2tspsalt
½cupbeerpilsner or low to medium hopped pale ale
1large egg
3tbsmelted butter
Yield: 6 servings
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400.
Cut the corn off the ears, set aside.
In a large pot, melt 2 tbs butter. Add the shallots and cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Add the carrots, peas, and celery, cook until the vegetables have soften about an additional 5 minutes. Remove from pot, set aside.
Heat the olive oil. Add the chicken, cook until browned on all sides, about 5 minutes, remove chicken from pot.
Add remaining 2 tbs butter, heat until melted. Spinkle flour on top, whisk until well combined. Add the chicken broth and bring to a low simmer. Return the chicken and vegetables to the pot along with the corn, allow to simmer for about 10 minutes.
Place 6 individual, oven safe bowls (about 1 ½ cup sized) on a baking sheet. Pour chicken soup into bowls until about 2/3 full.
Ina large bowl, add the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, salt and stir until combined. Make a well in the dry ingredients, add the beer, egg and melted butter. Stir until just combined.
Top the bowls with cornbread mixture (it’s OK if the batter sinks, it’ll rise during baking).
Bake at 400 for 20 minutes or until cornbread is golden brown.
As I throw this soup together with ingredients I picked up at my local Mexican food market, it occurs to me how few of you live just a few hours from the US/Mexico boarder. You might not have access to some of the best handmade Mexican sauces and chilies north of Tijuana. You might even only have access to these ingredients via the canned goods section of your grocery store.
This makes me appreciate my town so much. It’s a great food city. Of course, lots of famous chefs and food reality show contestants head for the Sunshine State and set up shop, but my favorite food in Los Angeles comes from the hands of immigrants, handed down through the generations, made from scratch just the way it was by their great grandmother in her kitchen on another side of the world. We also have more produce than all the other states combined. California grows more than half the produce in the United States. So many things, like California Strawberries, are in season all year long. That’s amazing.
If you visit LA, please, skip Rodeo Drive, and Hollywood Blvd, that’s not really L.A., it’s just a caricature, a fun house mirror of a place that doesn’t really exist, full of lost tourists and overpriced mementos. Here is where you will find the real L.A., especially if you are a food lover:
1. Farmers Markets. This is a must. And no matter what time of year you visit, we’ll have one for you. All year long, any day of the week, you can find one. Everything from produce, to fancy salt, to home grown honey to the goat cheese guy who even brings along his goats.
2. Butchering Classes at Lindy & Grundy. This is the butcher that all of L.A. has a collective girl crush on. Two amazing women started this butcher shop and from time to time offer classes on how to expertly break down meat. Even if you can’t partake in a class, stop by and check out the incredible shop. Then go next door to The Fat Dog and have yourself a Croque Madame and a glass of craft beer.
3. Happy Hour At Bar Bouchon. I had an office in Beverly Hills and spent two years immersed in that little town. Although I never really came to love it, I did get to know the 90210 fairly well. My favorite happy hour was at Thomas Keller’s Bar Bouchon. You can sit on a little patio that opens to the Beverly Canon Gardens, opposite Scott Conants Scarpetta at the Montage. While we are on that subject, I have been fortunate enough to have been invited to a seven course tasting dinner at the Chefs table in the kitchen of the Scarpetta, twice, and it was incredible. Although I didn’t have to pick up the tab either time, that may have colored my opinion, but if you can swing it, the pasta is even better than you would expect from the Modern Master of Italian Cuisine. Given the vast price difference, I would have to give my final Beverly Hills recommendation to Bar Bouchons Happy Hour, if you are in town Monday though Thursday from 4-7pm. Bar Bouchon is great for people watching, the food is fabulous AND well priced. There are very few places in Beverly Hills that you can get such great food will out feeling like your bank account has been pillaged.
4. Surfas and Helms Bakery. These two food and baking Meccas of Los Angeles are located conviently close to each other and offer everything from professional grade products, to classes to one of the best hamburgers in all of Los Angeles. Food events, food shopping, food markets, restaurants, bars all make this little area a must for the food travelers. Check both websites for events and classes, Surfas often has free cooking demos that don’t make the website. You can call ahead to check.
5. Fast Food Worth the Hype and the Sodium: In-N-Out, especially if you haven’t had it, it’s a must. Check out the Secret Menu to order like a pro, although most of us just order the Double Double Animal Style. Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles, and you have to eat the chicken and the waffles together, none of that side by side nonsense. Pink’s Hot Dogs, it’s an institution. In a land where even historic landmarks are torn down for ultra-modern mini lofts, Pinks has managed to keep it’s foot hold on the corner of Melrose and La Brea for 73 years. You would be hard pressed to find a Los Angeles resident, famous or commoner, who hasn’t eaten there. But beware, even at midnight on a Tuesday, there will be a line. Randy’s Doughnuts. Before Sprinkles, before Krispy Kreme, before the Macaron Madness, there was Randy and his little hand held treats inside a tiny shop with a gigantic doughnut shaped sign on the roof. It’s conveniently close to LAX, and worth a cab ride if you find yourself at the airport with nothing to do for a few hours.
6. Downtown After Dark. Unlike most cities, the Downtown we have in Los Angeles is a bit skeevy and unused. By day it’s mostly a financial district peppered with the house-challenged, and little to do. But in recent years the night life has taken off. Right now, it’s my favorite place for a night out. Coles is one of my favorite places to stop for a drink, along with it’s back bar, Varnish. It’s the oldest bar in Los Angeles, over 100 years old and even served as a speakeasy during prohibition. Although it had a slight remodel, it’s decor is authentic and true to it’s roots. The food is….OK, but the bartenders are complete pros. If you are looking for an expertly crafted cocktail and possibly the definitive Old Fashion, this is a place to go. These are people who know their stuff and are in love with art of the cocktail, don’t even think about ordering a Scooby Snack or a Jager Bomb, show some respect for the cocktail. Library Bar is almost always busy but the vibe is great, and the Pork Belly Skewers are the best pig bites in all of L.A. Make reservations at Baco Mercat and go with someone who wants to share food, family style. The Edison is worth the trip just to see the amazing space. Housed in a 100 year old building that once served as powder plant, and now has a Golden Age feel, and even a beautiful, but very tame, burlesque shows on the weekend.
So there you are. My Cliffs notes on my little town. There is so much here that I love, even my small local markets that I wish I could take you too. If you do visit, think like a local, try your best to stay off the tourist-beaten path, that is where the best stuff happens.
Chicken Enchilada Soup
Ingredients
4 cups low sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup mild enchilada sauce
8 oz chicken, skinless (breast or thighs will work)
1/4 cup Masa Harina
1/2 tsp cummin
1/2 tsp black pepper
¼ cup roasted mild green chilies, diced
1/3 cup sliced black olives
1 ½ cups cooked black beans
2 large tomatoes, diced
Hot sauce, to taste
1/2 cup cheddar cheese, grated
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
1 avocado, diced
(Makes 4 Servings)
Instructions
In a large pot, add the broth and the enchilada sauce. Bring to a simmer. Add the chicken and poach until cooked though. Remove the chicken from the pot, shred chicken using two forks.
Add Masa Harina, cumin and the pepper to the broth, whisk until well combined.
Add the chicken back into the pot with the chilies, olives, and beans. Allow to simmer until slightly thickened, about 15 minutes.
Add tomatoes, and then add the hot sauce to taste.
Pour into bowls, garnish with cheddar, cilantro and avocado.
Note: Try to buy as few of these ingredients in cans as possible. Look for jars or even cartons, if you can. Too many ingredients from a can will give you an overwhelming metallic taste.
As Americans spend the day thinking of little else, wedged firmly between Barack and a hard place, I wanted to give you a little motivation to get through this day.
We will soon find ourselves at the end of this exhausting Election Season, our feelings of separatism from those who disagree with us will fade. We will find Facebook to be a friendlier place, and those Someecards of a political nature will ebb.
Regardless of the outcome, you have a reason to grab your favorite beer. Either in celebration of your guy winning the mad race to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, or as a way to console yourself over the fact that the other guy came out ahead.
Given that you may be too distracted to spend all that much time in the kitchen tonight, this meal only takes about 20 minutes.
And, I’m pretty certain it has bipartisan support.
For this recipes, I like a brown ale, a blonde, a pale or a wheat beer. Be aware that using an IPA will kick up the beer flavor considerably and may be too bitter in the end.
In a pan over medium high heat, melt the butter. Sprinkle chicken thighs on all sides with salt and pepper. Add chicken to the pan and cook on both sides until browned, about 4 minutes per side. Remove chicken from pan.
Add onions and saute until soft and translucent, about 3 minutes.
Add garlic and mushrooms, cook until mushrooms are soft and have darkened, about 5 minutes.
Add the beer, scraping the bottom to deglaze the pan.
Reduce heat to medium, add the cream and stir.
Add half of the cheese, stir until melted. Add the remaining half, stir until combined.
Add the chicken and allow to cook until sauce has thickened, about 5 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste, serve over rice or pasta.
Although most of you are starting to pull out those wool sweaters you neatly packed away a few months ago, here in Los Angeles we are in the throws of a record heat wave that drug us into 108 degree heat yesterday. While most of the sane people of LA stayed indoors and avoided the oven, I spent the morning interviewing ex-cons turn foodies, and then came home and made soup.
Like i’ve mentioned before, my inherent rebellion pushes me to buck tradition and even reason. I drink stouts in the summer, eat ice cream in the winter and make soup in triple digit heat.
Beer Braised Chicken and Hefeweizen Cornmeal Dumpling Soup
4boneless skinless chicken thigh filletscup into bite sized peices
3clovesgarlicminced
1/4cupwhite onionschopped
1/2cupcelerychopped
1/2cupcarrotschopped
1cupsweet white corn kernelsfresh is best, frozen is acceptable, canned is disgusting
2cupsHefeweizen Beer
2cupschicken broth
2tbsflour
1/4cupcream
For The Dumplings
1/2cupMasa Harinacorn flour used to make corn tortillas
1/2cupfine ground corn meal
1/2cupall purpose flour
1/4tspsalt
2tspbaking powder
1/2tspchopped fresh rosemary
2tbsbuttercut into small cubes
1/4cupmilk
1/2cupHefeweizen beer
Instructions
In a large pot with a lid, like a dutch oven or enamel cast iron pot, melt the butter over medium high heat. Add the chicken and cook until seared on all sides, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic, onions, celery, carrots and corn, stir. Add the beer and broth, stir. Allow to simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 15 minutes. Sprinkle the flour over the pot and whisk until combined. Remove from heat and slowly add the cream while stiring. Return to medium/low heat.
In a large bowl, add the masa, cornmeal, flour, baking powder, salt and rosemary, stir to combine. Add the butter and rub into the flour with your fingers until completely combined.
Add the milk and hefeweizen and stir until combined. You don't want the dough too thin or it will fall apart during cooking, you want a biscuit like consistency.
Drop mounds of dough, about 3 tbs in size, equally spaced on top of the pot until all dough has been used. Cover the pot and cook on low heat until the tops of the dumplings are dry, about 15 to 20 minutes.
When it seems like your entire life revolves around a food blog, small things make you really excited.
Like making homemade tortillas with beer and realizing how much better they are than any other tortilla you’ve ever had.
Or getting a shout out from The Cooking Channel as if they knew just how to fuel your obsession with them.
Or realizing that because Foster Farms is willing to fly you into Napa a few days early for the National Cook-Off Finals, you get to visit the following breweries: Laguanitas, Russian River, and Bear Republic.
And then your Aunt tells you that your Grandma and Guy Fieri’s Grandma where roommates in college, which sounds like a Mad Lib, but turns out to be true.
Small wins that make me so excited, you’d think I won a Beer Cooking Oscar. This is what keeps us playing the Man Behind the Curtain on these little blogs we are so dedicated to. Bloggers are easily excitable, which maybe why we spend so much time on the other side of these computer. Sometimes our excitement isn’t fit for public consumption.
Back to these tortillas. Homemade tortillas are a completely different animal from those cardboard disks they sell in supermarkets. Soft, slightly sweet, and they only take 5 minutes to make. To use a beer analogy fit for an SAT exam:
Coors Light is to Pliny as Store Bought Tortillas are to Homemade Tortillas
I’m not kidding, that much different. If you don’t believe me, and really, why should you, I’m just the overly excited girl behind the screen, try it and report back. I really think you’ll be amazed.
For this recipe, I used Lagunaitas IPA. And like I’ve mentioned before, IPA’s give you a huge punch of beer flavor. If you want a milder beer flavor, grab a traditional Pale Ale, a Blonde or a Wheat Beer.
Beer Braised Chicken Tacos with Beer Corn Tortillas
Chop Chicken thighs into small, bite sized pieces. In a bowl, place all spices and mix well. Add the chicken pieces and toss to coat.
Heat olive oil in a dutch oven. Add the pieces and sear quickly. Reduce heat, add beer, cover and cook until cooked through, about 10 to 15 minutes.
In a large bowl, add the Masa and the salt, stir to combine.
Add the beer and butter, stir to combine. If the dough is too dry to hold together, add additional beer or water. If it is too wet, add more Masa.
Form into balls a bit larger than golf balls.
Prepare a tortillas press by wrapping in plastic wrap or covering with parchment paper (you can place tortilla ball between two sheets of parchment and use a rolling pin). Place one ball in the center.
Press, rotate and press again until thin.
Heat a griddle (or cast iron skillet) to a medium high heat (about 350 for electric griddles).
Cook until slightly brown on the bottom (about 30 seconds to a minute) flip and cook on the other side. Don’t overcook.
