Order in the Kitchen

I honestly don't think there is much compulsive French chef in me. I don't keep my kitchen super well organized (organized chaos is probably closer), I'm not all that good at cleaning as I cook, and I tend to shy away from trying complicated sounding recipes that include fine knife work or pastry making. However, my inner French Chef does appear occasionally like when I'm making this lovely vegetable gratin. I really love laying the tomatoes and zucchini in perfect, concentric circles. I will follow later with the recipe.

Rack of Lamb

I hope these photos are somewhat appealing because this is a delicious lamb recipe. For so little effort it comes out feeling and tasting like a special, fancy dinner.

pre-heat oven to 500

1 rack of lamb, trimmed of extra fat

3 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 teaspoon salt, plus salt for seasoning meat before searing

1 small sprig fresh rosemary, finely chopped

black pepper

olive oil for pan and for drizzling

make a paste with the blunt side of your knife with the garlic, teaspoon of salt, and rosemary

heat a skillet over med-high (on the high side - you are searing meat) with a little olive oil

season rack with salt and pepper

sear meat on both sides until you have a crispy brown crust

remove rack to a baking sheet and use a fork (so as not to burn your self) to press paste evenly over top side of meat

season with pepper and drizzle a little olive oil on top

put in 500 degree oven for 7-10 min depending on desired degree of doneness

let meat rest 10 min before slicing

Truffle Brownie

I finally have started playing around with the iphoto program on my computer so I've saved a bunch of food images that were on my camera and will therefore be playing some posting catch-up. This is the truffle brownie I made for Valentines Day (that's right...as in February...sigh). It was unbelievable. A rich chocolate cake topped with a chocolate ganache. I would eat this any day of the year. The recipe comes from my Martha Stewart Baking Book, but can also be found on her website.

The Cornbread

I mentioned in my post below that I was not sure of the origin of our family cornbread recipe. Well my Mama saw that and promptly emailed me to let me know where it's from. Apparently she found the bones of the recipe in a Craig Claiborne cookbook. The recipe was for a "diet" cornbread (Claiborne had survived a heart attack and after that most of his recipes appeared without salt and generally low in fat). Mama thought the proportions in the recipe were perfect so she took that and added back in butter, salt, sour cream, and half and half! Hahaha...so much for Mr. Claiborne's dietary suggestions. In her email she states that she thinks had he seen her recipe tweak he would have been, "horrified and honored".

Simply a Good Dinner

Last night I wanted a very simple and easy dinner. I had also received a bag of cornmeal in my CSA box this week and I was curious to try it. I have to admit I am somewhat of a cornmeal connoisseur. If it's organic and stone/water ground I will buy it and try it. Hi my name is Tina and I'm a cornmeal addict. So I had gotten some cornmeal and I always have some chicken on hand because according to the nutritionist it is the great and easy source of high protein that is low in fat(blah blah blah). I also had it in my head to make a ratatouille of sorts. So here is the dinner that ended up one my plate: chicken breast, corn bread, ratatouille(ish). Now I have a moral dilemma. Do I share my beloved corn bread recipe on the internets or be greedy and hold it close. I'm not sure where this recipe came from originally, but it's the one my Mama makes and it is delish. A double batch of it goes in our Thanksgiving dressing. It is so good. Now if you are one of those yankees who likes their corn bread full of sugar then you can stop reading now because this ain't it! This is a traditional savory, rustic bread. If you want a little something sweet you can do what I do and slather some (more) butter on it and douse it in sorghum syrup. If you don't know what sorghum syrup is I'm gonna go ahead and say you are missing out. Google it and buy some (mine comes from the Buckners in Junction City, Ga - also a pretty good source for cornmeal and grits although I have to admit I have not bought from them in a couple years while I have been on my corn meal holy grail search). Ok on to the recipes. I am going to give out the corn bread recipe, but for the record the ratatouille was really good too and you should also make that.

Ps. Today for lunch I'm going to eat the left over ratatouille on top of some quinoa with a little crumbled goat cheese (also from the CSA www.moorefarmsandfriends.com)

Corn Bread

pre-heat oven to 350

1 Cup white or yellow, organic, stone ground cornmeal

1/4 all purpose white flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

mix dry ingredients in a bowl

in a wet measure cup:

1/3 cup sour cream

add in enough 1/2 and 1/2 or whole milk to bring up to 1 cup (i don't say 2/3 cup bc when you are basically putting spoonfuls of sour cream in a wet measure it's just easier this way)

beat 1 egg into the milk and sour cream mixture

add wet into dry

in an 8 inch cast iron skillet melt 4 tablespoons of butter

pour half of melted butter into batter and mix in well and leave other half of butter in skillet

pour batter into skillet and bake in 350 oven until top is golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean

Ratatouille (sort of)

heat a non-stick skillet over med high

add 2 tablespoons olive oil

saute: 1/2 sweet onion, 1 small zucchini, half a small eggplant, and 1 fresh tomato all chopped

add one clove of garlic minced before tomato goes in

season with Italian seasoning or herbs de provence, salt and pepper

Like I said you could add some fresh goat cheese, some mozzarella like in my pasta recipe, top it with fresh herbs, you could eat it with an egg on top or with some quinoa. Endless possibilities I tell you. Go forth and cook!

Spring has sprung!

Make this! Make this NOW! It is so very yummy and barely even counts as cooking. The inspiration of this recipe comes from a dish they serve at Bistro Niko, a French Brasserie here in Atlanta. They serve a paillard of chicken that is pounded so thin that it is the size of a dinner plate. It is browned on each side until cooked through and then topped with a salad of endive, arugula, halved cherry tomatoes, and asparagus. My take on it uses a pre-thinned chicken cutlet and incorporates some more veggies. I had been to the farmers market over the weekend and came home with some beautiful, crisp watercress, radishes, and carrots that were a deep orange and tinged with red on the outside. It is such a nice combination of flavors and textures. Crunchy and fresh! Oh Spring, I love you so.

Ingredients:

1 chicken breast or cutlet, pounded so that it is even across

olive oil

salt and pepper

watercress or arugula

endive, thinly sliced

asparagus, broken into thirds, bottom third discarded, then blanch the edible pieces

6-8 cherry tomatoes, halved

optional: carrots, radishes (sliced very thinly, I used my mandoline)

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

4 tablespoons olive oil

1 small clove garlic

1 teaspoon dijon mustard

salt and pepper

Method:

heat olive oil and a sliver of butter if you like over med-high heat

season chicken with salt and pepper

brown on both sides until cooked through

while chicken is cooking and resting prepare the salad and dressing

prepare veggies as described in ingredients list

in the bowl of a blender add lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, and mustard and blend

season with salt and pepper to taste

Toss the salad in some of the dressing (you will have extra dressing so just save it for your next salad) and serve with the cooked chicken.

Tuscan Bean Soup

I did not take a photo of this soup because to be perfectly honest it's not very pretty. My photo skills are just not that great and it's hard for me to make this humble, putty colored soup look beautiful. My hope though is that you'll try this anyway and see first hand how delicious and easy it is to make. This is a variation of a soup found in Frank Stitt's "Bottega Favorita" cookbook. His is truly wonderful, but a bit more large scale and more time consuming to make. My version takes advantage of canned beans and has the addition of kale. I have it for lunch pretty often and it freezes well. Give it a try!

Ingredients:

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

3-4 slices pancetta (approx 1/4 inch thick), diced

1 small sweet onion diced

2 carrots, peeled and diced

1 leek, white and light green part only, halved and thinly sliced

1 sprig rosemary, leaves stripped and finely chopped

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

2 cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

approximately 2 cups chicken broth

salt and pepper

4-6 leaves lacitano kale (also known as Tuscan, Black, or dinosaur kale), de-stemmed and sliced thinly crossways

Method:

Heat Olive Oil in dutch oven over med-high heat

add pancetta and saute until fat renders and meat begins to turn golden

add onion and then carrot, and leek and stir all together so everything gets well coated in the fat in the pan, turn heat down to med

add the rosemary and salt and pepper and let the mixture cook and soften for about 7-10 min, stirring occasionally

add garlic and incorporate to other vegetables

add beans and broth and stir well, use a wooden spoon to deglaze the pan scraping up any browned bits that have stuck to the bottom of the pot

bring to a simmer and add strips of kale

continue light simmer until the kale is wilted

adjust the salt and pepper

eat immediately or save to reheat later, also freezes well