Cornish Hens with Cranberry Paste

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CSA Week 2: Filets de poulet au sauce de moutarde, menthe et persil

Week 2 of our CSA and we had another exciting haul: 5 more garlic scapes, 4 baby turnips with their greens still attached, 3 more heads of lettuce, 1 bunch swiss chard, parsley, mizuna and field greens. Obviously, salads are in our future, but I'm also trying to come up with some scrumptious cooked dishes as well.

While not cooked, I made this sauce on Thursday night when I came home hot and sweaty with my vegetables. I wanted a tasty, refreshing, light meal that wouldn't require too much work to prepare. After browsing online for a while, I found a recipe for a Mustard-Mint-Parsley Sauce that Alosha served with salmon. The sauce sounded delicious, but I was more interested in having meat than fish. So I searched for a turkey dish that would go nicely with the sauce. I finally settled on Turkey Cutlets from Kalyn's Kitchen. After tweaking both recipes quite a bit (and discovering that there actually are no turkey cutlets to be found in Chinatown), I created my own dish which, served with a simple salad with almonds, turned into a delightful meal.

Chicken fillets with mustard mint and parsley sauce

Sauce:

• 2 tablespoons yogurt
• 1 tablespoon aioli
• 2 teaspoons dijon mustard
• 2 teaspoons chardonnay
• leaves from 1 stalk fresh spearmint, finely chopped
• leaves from 1 stalk fresh Italian parsley, finely chopped
• 1 spring onion, finely chopped

Chicken:

• 1 tablespoon breading mix
• 1 1/2 teaspoons poultry seasoning
• dash kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 pound chicken fillets

Begin by making the sauce so the flavors have sufficient time to meld. Simply mix all ingredients in a bowl and stir well. Reserve until ready to use.
Now make the chicken. Mix breading mix, poultry seasoning, salt and pepper together on a plate. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add butter and melt into olive oil. Dredge each chicken fillet in breading, then add to hot pan. Cook 4 minutes, then flip, lower heat, cover and cook another 4 minutes until fillets are cooked through. Remove from pan and serve accompanied by sauce. Enjoy!
Links to other parsley noshes:

• Parsley Hummus with Whole Wheat Pita Chips from Kalyn's Kitchen
• Basil Mint Parsley "Pesto" Sauce from Karina's Kitchen
• Parsley-Herb Salad from Mark Bittman
• Quinoa Salad with Tomatoes, Feta and Parsley from The Perfect Pantry
• Quinoa, Parsley and Pepper Salad from Just Bento
• Pear Parsley Dressing from Elana's Pantry

Blancs de poulet et cotelettes de porc braises, avec des olives manzanilla et kalamata et des capres

Sometimes, you're at a complete loss as to what to make for dinner. You know what you have in the fridge and you know the kind of food that you want to make, but when you go to the supermarket to pick up some essentials, nothing strikes your fancy. That's what happened to me the other day. It was quite cold out, so I wanted something slow-cooked and warming. I had quite enjoyed the last braise I made, so I considered just repeating it, but that seemed rather boring. Plus the Boy announced he didn't particularly want Chicken for dinner. So I bought some Pork Chops and figured I'd braise them. Unfortunately, I didn't read the package carefully, so, when I opened it up, I realized that if I was going through the trouble of slow-cooking something, I wanted to make more than just two pork chops. So I defrosted a couple of Chicken Breasts and added those as well. It was truly delicious, the pork falling off the bones after the long cooking. Definitely something I'd make again, but with one change--because it's cooked with two kinds of Olives as well as Capers, go easy on the Salt. You really need very little (something I didn't realize until too late). Ah, well. I'll remember next time!

Blancs de poulet et cotelettes de porc braises, avec des olives manzanilla et kalamata et des capres

• 2 tablespoons Olive Oil
• 2 Pork Top Loin Chops
• 2 Chicken Breast Halves
• Pinch Kosher Salt
• 1/8 teaspoon Poultry Seasoning
• 1/8 teaspoon Pepper, freshly ground
• 4 slices Bacon, diced
• 1 Green Onion, chopped
• 7 Carrots, diced
• 1/8 cup Manzanilla Olives, pitted
• 1/2 cup Kalamata Olives, pitted
• 1/4 cup Capers, rinsed if packed in salt
• 1 Bay Leaf
• 2 cups Chicken Stock

Preheat oven to 350 F. Pour Olive Oil into large, oven-proof pot and heat over a medium-high flame until it slides around easily. Season Pork Chops and Chicken Breasts with Salt, Poultry Seasoning and Pepper. Add Pork to pot and cook 5 minutes, until browned. Turn over and cook 5 more minutes on opposite side. Remove to a plate and add Chicken Breasts to pot. Brown about 5 minutes on one side, then turn over and repeat on other side. Add to Pork Chops on plate.

Add Bacon, Green Onion and Carrots to pot and cook 2 minutes, until beginning to soften. Add both kinds of Olives, Capers, Bay Leaf, Chicken Stock, Pork and Chicken Breasts. Submerge Meat in liquid as much as possible, then raise flame to high and bring mixture to a boil. Cover pot and place to oven to braise for 45 minutes, until Meat is cooked through and Carrots are soft.

Remove from oven and return pot to stove, over a high flame. Boil 5 minutes, to concentrate braising liquid. Lower heat and cook another 5 minutes, to better combine the flavors. Serve, preferable over pasta to soak up the extra liquid. Enjoy!

Uncle Wiggly's Stir-fried Turkey and Scallion

Dr. Biggles over at MeatHenge is having a contest : Uncle Wiggly's Goodtime Cooking Contest - Version Weekday, to be more precise. What this means is that Dr. Biggles is on a quest for easy meals he can serve his family on weeknights. A worthy cause, no?

Very often, our easy meals are pasta, often with a heavy meat sauce--the Boy's specialty. Or I'll make a frittata using up whatever left-overs are floating around the fridge. But it's too hot here for a heavy pasta and, well, with EoMEoTE coming up, I just wasn't in the mood to write about eggs.

I've been playing with Mom's wok since I came home and realized that stir-fries are always fast. The most time-consuming part of a stir-fry is cutting everything up! Even then, it won't take more than ten minutes of prep and the actual stir-frying is only about five minutes.

This can be a meal in itself, with a nice side of rice to preserve authenticity. If you're craving vegetables, make a quick salad on the side.

When creating this recipe, I used Grace Young's delicious book, The Breath of a Wok, for inspiration.

Stir-fried Turkey and Scallions

1 pound skinless, boneless Turkey thighs, cut into 1-inch cubes (Chicken works as well)
2 1/2 teaspoons Soy Sauce
1 teaspoon very dry Sherry
1/2 teaspoon Brown Sugar
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 tablespoon Cornstarch
1 tablespoon cooked, canned Soy Beans (you can also use Black Beans)
2 cloves minced Garlic
1 1/2 tablespoons minced Ginger (or to taste; we used a lot of ginger)
1 tablespoon Vegetable Oil
4 Scallion, cut into 1-inch chunks + 1 Scallion, chopped
1/3 cup good-quality Chicken Broth

In a medium bowl, combine Turkey, 1 1/2 teaspoons Soy Sauce, Sherry, 1/4 teaspoon Brown Sugar, Salt, Pepper and Cornstarch. Mix well, preferably with your hands. The Turkey will be slightly sticky. In a small bowl, mash the Soy Beans, then mix with the Garlic, Ginger and the rest of the Soy Sauce (1 teaspoon) and Brown Sugar (1/4 teaspoon).

Heat a flat-bottomed wok (or skillet) over high-heat until smoking. Swirl in Vegetable Oil and add Turkey mixture, spreading it evenly over the bottom of the wok. Let cook for 1 minute, allowing the Turkey to brown. Then stir-fry, lifting the Turkey with a spatula, for another minute. Add the Bean mixture, 4 Scallions and Broth and stir-fry for another minute until the Turkey is fully cooked and the sauce is thickened. Add the final chopped Scallion. Serve quickly over rice.

Cannette rotie aux fraises et rhubarbe

Because of moving and traveling, my entry for Blog Appetit is late. Also, because Blog Appetit is a French blogging event, this entry will be in French. If you don’t speak French and want the recipe anyway, I'll e-mail or post the translation.

Quand j'ai vu que le theme de ce Blog Appetit etait fraises et rhubarbe, j'etais un peu decue. Je ne suis pas tres forte avec les desserts et cette combinaison me semblait etre vraiment parfait pour un dessert. Neanmoins, j'ai reflechi et j'ai cree cette sauce des fraises et de la rhubarbe pour une cannette rotie. C'etait vraiment delicieux !

Cannette Rotie aux fraises et rhubarbe

Cannette

1 Cannette entiere
2 gousses d'Ail + 2 gousses d'Ail
1 tige de Basilique + feuilles d'une autre
Sel et Poivre Noir
1 brin Romarin + feuilles d'un autre
6 + 6 brins Thym
250 g Pommes de Terre, coupees en des

Faire chauffer le four au 180 C. Vider la Cannette et la nettoyer. Avec vos doigts, arracher autant du gras que vous pouviez. Creer un espace entre la peau et la viande. Ecraser ensemble 2 gousses d'Ail, feuilles d'une tige de Basilique, Sel, Poivre Noir, feuilles d'un brin de Romarin et feuilles de 6 brins de Thym. Mettre ce melange dans l'espace cree entre la peau et la viande de la Cannette. Mettre le reste des Herbes, Sel, Poivre et 2 gousses d'Ail dans le creux [cavity] de la Cannette. Mettre la Cannette dans un plat de verre qui va dans le four. Le plat doit etre assez large pour la Cannette et les Pommes de Terre. Mettre la Cannette dans le four pour 1 heure.

Apres 1 heure, mettre les Pommes de Terre dans le plat avec la Cannette et cuisiner le tout pour encore 30 minutes, jusqu'a ce que le jus de la Cannette soit presque clair.

Quand la Cannette cuisine, faire la sauce :

Sauce
1 Oignon, coupe en des
4 Clous de Girofle
2 gousses d'Ail
10 Baies Roses
1 brin Romarin Sel
1 + 1/2 tasses Jus de Fraises
2 tiges Rhubarbe, coupees en morceaux
1 barquette Fraises, coupes en moitie

Mettre l'Oignon, les Clous de Girofle, les Gousses d'Ail, les Baies Roses, le Romarin, le Sel, 1 tasse du Jus de Fraises et le Rhubarbe dans une casserole au feu moyen. Le mijoter pour environ 20 minutes, jusqu'a ce que le Rhubarbe soit tendre. Ajouter la 1/2 tasse de Jus de Fraises et les Fraises et laisser le tout mijoter pour encore 5 minutes. Si vous voulez que la sauce soit plus epaisse, la mettre dans un Cuisinart [blender en anglais].

Pour servir :

Mettre la sauce au-dessous de la Cannette. Enjoy !

Canard aux 4 epices et coriandre

Duck and my giant mound of Carrots

It's been beautiful here the past few days, so I wanted to spend as little time indoors as possible. It was also in the 80's this weekend, though, so I needed something a little spicy for dinner. On Friday I had no classes, so I had the time to cook and decided I wouldn't mind something more interesting that the turkey breasts I've been pan-cooking for myself. And I had a container of Creme Fraiche sitting in my fridge begging to be used up before it expired. So I searched through some blogs and found this duck recipe on Mijo's Je Mijote, a down-to-earth French cooking blog with some really enticing recipes. What really caught my eye about this recipe was that it needs to marinate for several hours, so I put it in the fridge while I went and read outside, then came home after sunset and cooked it up. I was as loyal to Mijo's recipe as I know how, though I threw in a couple of dried cayenne peppers for extra punch. The play of spicy cayenne and sweet 4 epices blend (it has nutmeg, ginger, cloves and white pepper) was perfect. As you can see, I served it with a giant mound of boiled carrots that worked very well in the excess sauce. Although I forgot to buy bread, I would strongly recommend a nice crusty baguette.

Canard aux 4 epices, coriandre et cayenne
Very gently re-worked from Mijo's recipe.
Serves 2 meat-eaters as the main course.

700 grams Duck breast (fillet de canard), cut into small strips
10 grains of Coriander, smashed (I used my mortar and pestle)
2 dried Cayenne peppers, smashed
1 tablespoon 4 epices (or equal parts Nutmeg, Ginger, Cloves and White pepper, all ground)
2 tablespoons Soy Sauce
Salt and Pepper
1 Onion
1 Red Bell Pepper
Olive Oil
25 cl Rose wine (I used the one still left from WBW)
2 spoonfuls Creme Fraiche

Marinate the Duck with the Corander, Cayenne peppers, 4 epices, Soy Sauce, Salt and Pepper. Place it all in a bowl in the fridge for 3-4 hours.

Finely chop the Onion and Bell Pepper, then cook them with the Olive Oil in a pan over medium heat, until Onion is golden.

Add the marinated Duck and cook about 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Pour in the Wine and let it cook 5 minutes. If the Duck is not yet cooked (this will depend on how big your pieces are), continue cooking until it is.

Take pan off stove and stir in Creme Fraiche, mixing everything together.