The Foodies Cook Dinner

Up until now I have regaled you with the many restaurant adventures we had while in Bellingham and Orcas Island, Washington. Except for CARNAL, all of our meals out ended up being big lunches. By the time dinner rolled around we were either still full from lunch or just weren’t in the mood to go back out. After all we had this wonderful lodge with a full kitchen and wonderful decks and grounds with walking trails. We had great views and good friends who certainly knew how to prepare food..

House and Deck

Deck on the water w/ these views to the right and left

Dinners usually ended up being scrambled eggs and toast, or frozen pizza. Cheese and crackers, fruit and of course, wine. However one night we decided to put some of our cooking skills to work. Earlier in the day we had gone to the weekly Farmer’s Market in Eastsound. It was small and close to the end of season but the veggies we found looked pretty good. Curt bought a bag of fingerling potatoes and Barbara purchased some freshly picked broccoli. That broccolini at CARNAL was still in the back of our minds. Even with a pretty well-stocked kitchen, at least with dishes and utensils, we didn’t have all the extras needed to properly cook meat and besides timing would have been an issue. So we stopped at a local grocery and picked up a rotisserie chicken. Back at the lodge that evening, we got to work.

Six in a kitchen is pretty crowded so by the time I took these shots, Curt had the potatoes in the oven, Barbara was doing the broccoli, Kenn was cutting up the chicken, Michael was opening wine and Pam was getting all of the dishes ready. I was taking pictures.

Cooperative Cooking

The chicken was easy. Well at least the cooking of it. Kenn made sure all of the pieces were equal portions and he even presented a separate platter with bones, carcass and skin (Darn! missed a picture of that plate). I think he was making sure nothing would go to waste, a true hunter.

Curt made use of the juice that surrounded the chicken in the pan. After quartering the potatoes, he rolled them in olive oil so they were well coated. Put them in a 375 – 400 degree oven and roasted them till they were a nice golden brown. Once they came out of the oven he drizzled them with the roast chicken juices and once again gave them a good stir.

Along with the broccoli, Barbara had bought a red onion. She thinly sliced it and sauteed it in olive oil. Once the onions started to brown a bit she added the peeled stalks of broccoli. Once the broccoli started to brown she added about 2 Tbls.of water and covered the pan for several minutes. If you do this make sure it doesn’t overcook and get mushy. You want the broccoli (or broccolini) to be crisp but tender. Salt and pepper to taste and wa-la, a simple yet great vegetable dish.

Along with a couple of bottles of wine, we tucked in. Were there leftovers? Ha! Everything, though fairly simple, was so good we practically licked the platters clean.

The Leftover Chronicles: Chicken or Turkey

Since we are approaching a holiday that primarily is devoted to roasting a large bird, you may soon have some leftover turkey or chicken, especially if you won’t be able to feed a table full of relatives. A couple of weeks ago one of the many food sites we subscribe to had an entire article on casseroles or, as they say in Wisconsin, hot dishes. I was raised on casseroles so there is fond place in my heart when I read about them, even if they all weren’t great.

When I was first out on my own, in my own apartment, feeding myself, I didn’t do a lot of cooking. Simple stuff yes, but I did buy my share of microwave or oven meals. One that I especially liked was Stouffer’s Turkey Tetrazzini. It has been years since I have had this but when I came upon Classic Chicken Tetrazzini in the casserole article I immediately printed it off. We had recently had a chicken for dinner and there was leftover meat in the fridge so I wanted to see if my love of tetrazzini was still there or if it just was good because I was a hungry single person with few cooking skills. I used to like Spaghettios too, but they taste really bad to me today. One’s palate definitely changes.

I halved the original recipe and made some minor changes and that is what I’m giving you here.

Chicken Tetrazzini a la Jeanne

Ingredients:
4 oz. vermicelli ( or thin spaghetti )
6 Tbls butter
1/4 C all-purpose flour
2 C milk
1/4 C dry white wine
1 tsp chicken bullion granules or “Better than Bullion” chicken base
1/2 Tsp seasoned pepper
1 C grated Parmesan cheese
2 C diced cooked chicken (or turkey)
5 oz fresh mushrooms, sliced
1/4 C slivered almonds

Directions:
* Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare pasta according to package directions.

* Saute mushrooms in 2 Tbls butter. Set aside.

*Melt 4 Tbls butter in a large pan over low heat; whisk in flour till smooth. Cook 1 minute, whisking constantly. Gradually whisk in the milk and wine; cook over medium heat, whisking constantly about 8-10 minutes, or until mixture is thickened and bubbly. Whisk in the bullion, seasoned pepper and 1/2 C parmesan cheese.

*Remove from heat; stir in the chicken, mushrooms and hot cooked pasta. Spoon into a lightly greased, approx. 6″ x 4″ baking dish. (half of a 13 x 9).

Sprinkle with slivered almonds and remaining 1/2 C Parmesan cheese.

Bake a 350 for 35 minutes or until bubbly.

This half recipe was plenty for two for two meals. I added a side of steamed broccolli the first night and a green salad the next. And it tasted great. Sort of like I remembered the Stouffer’s dinner but a whole lot better. Of course turkey would be a perfect substitute for the chicken.

Do you have a Thanksgiving leftover recipe? I know this one will be mine.

The Son Takes Over

So after Curt cooked for us and Nathan assisted and learned some tips it was time for Nathan to take the lead. We told him he could do whatever he wanted but to keep in mind the garden was overflowing with tomatoes and zucchini. Curt would be sous chef and the person at hand to find the necessary pots, pans and utensils since Nathan was unfamiliar with our kitchen.

We sprung this on him on a Wednesday evening for a Thursday meal. By dinner time on Thursday he had plans for a Tomato/Zucchini/Chicken Curry.

Questions on our immediate supplies were asked. Ingredients were gathered.

4 Chicken thighs, 1 onion, 2 med zucchini, 2 C cherry tomatoes, coconut milk and curry paste and powders.

And Nathan took command of the kitchen. I think both of them were a bit out of their element with the reversal of rolls and the fact that the son wanted to do well for the father. Except for a few frantic moments, I think it went rather well.As for most dishes, the chopping and cutting took the most time. Once that was done, the frying of the chicken and the addition of the vegetables was easy. The addition of spices and the tasting to get the dish to be a good curry was the tricky part. But soon everything was rolling along quite nicely. The sous chef had the rice cooking and the head chef was getting the finishing touches on the curry. Both guys survived the experience and we had a fine dinner. We accompanied our meal with a some interesting beer Nathan brought from Eau Claire. He happens to live right by a local small craft brewery called Lazy Monk. Because no one could choose we ended up sharing an unfiltered farmhouse ale called Biere de Garde and a tart wheat brew called Blackcurrent Berliner. Both were great with curry.

Comfort Food for a Chilly Saturday Night

It’s been unseasonably cold here in the upper Midwest. On Saturday we had just spent a lot of time outside getting the last of the pre-winter projects done. Put away the BBQ, filled the bird feeders and chipped at the ice already forming on our driveway. Last weekend we went off of day-light savings time so by 4:40 pm it was getting dark. Once we were in the house, there was no going out again. So, what’s for dinner?

Mostly we were tired and some comfort food would certainly be in order. We had the remainder of a chicken carcass from the night before so that was a place to start from. Enchiladas? No, we always do that with leftover chicken. How about chicken pot pie? We’ve got vegetables, we’ve got bisquick. What else do we need? After a little research Curt found the answer, Betty Crocker’s Impossibly Easy Chicken Pot Pie. Key word, Easy! Sounds just right.

Btw, this recipe takes a can of soup. We may be foodies but we aren’t snobs. Of course Curt tweaked the recipe and that’s what I’ll give you here. Changes are in green type.

Impossibly Easy Chicken Pot Pie
6 Servings ( plenty of leftovers if there only 2 of you)

Ingredients:
3 cups vegetables of your choice. ( We used potatoes, onion, peas, carrots, celery and some leftover brussels sprouts). Par cook each separately, cut larger vegetables into bite-sized chunks) Original recipe used 1 2/3 C.

1 1/2 cup cut-up cooked chicken (Original recipe used 1 cup)
1 can condensed Cream of Chicken soup (Cream of Chicken and Herbs)
1 cup plus 1/2 cup milk
1 tsp cornstarch
1 cup Bisquick
1 egg
1 tsp Penzey’s Justice spice
1 tsp poultry seasoning
1 tsp marjoram
S & P to taste

The original recipe didn’t call for additional herbs so use your imagination, Curt did.

Steps:
Heat oven to 400 degrees F.

Warm 1/2 cup milk with cornstarch in microwave till it starts to thicken.

Mix vegetables, chicken, soup, herbs and cornstarch/milk together and put in an ungreased 9″ glass pie plate. (10″ pie plate if you use our recipe)

Stir together remaining 1 C milk, bisquick and egg with a fork until blended and pour over the vegetable mixture

Bake 30 minutes or until golden brown.
Serve.

When your Grocery gives you Lemons…

Earlier this week Meyer Lemons popped up in the produce department of our local grocery. My Sweetie, the chef and shopper in our family, happily grabbed a bag and brought them home for a culinary event. He also must have had an idea of what he was going to do with them because he also bought chicken.

When I asked what we were having for dinner, he cheerily said,”Lemon Rosemary Chicken.” “Do you have a recipe,” I asked. “Nope, but I’ll figure it out,” was the reply.

Thanks to the internet he found several Roasted Lemon Chicken recipes, which he proceeded to tweak. (After all most served 4 or 6 and we were only 2). Here is the very easy dinner prep from last Wednesday.

INGREDIENTS

2 chicken breasts, skin on, bone in
1/2 lb of potatoes, cut into halves or quarters, if large
1 medium onion, cut in large pieces
2 lemons, 1 sliced, 1 juiced. Note: Meyer Lemons are sweeter than regular lemons
3 Tbs. of olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 small bunch of fresh rosemary, about 10 sprigs
1/4 tsp Calabrian (Italian) chili paste, or other chili paste or equal amount of dried chili flakes
3/4 tsp salt per pound of chicken
1/4 tsp fresh black pepper

Before you start assembly, in a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, chili paste or flakes.

Step 1: Scatter your rosemary sprigs over the bottom of your cooking pan. Last fall when the garden was being put to bed I brought in a couple of my herb plants. So glad I did because we had fresh rosemary at hand for this recipe. Curt used his cast iron skillet which is well-seasoned and ready to go. If you are using, say, a glass baking dish, spray it with cooking spray first.

Fresh rosemary in the pot and the pan

Step 2: Add the layer of potatoes, and onions. NOTE: Next time we will add more onions and cut them in much larger chunks.
Step 3: Add on the lemon slices.Step 4: Salt and pepper both sides of your chicken breasts and place them on top of the lemons.Step 5: Spoon or pour the whisked lemon juice-olive oil mixture over the chicken. Put the pan, uncovered, in a 400 degree oven for about an hour or until the chicken and potatoes are fully cooked. NOTE: Your chicken is done when the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.If yours comes out looking like this, you are ready to have dinner. The Meyer Lemon slices because of their sweetness and softer skin can be eaten right with the potatoes and chicken.

Done!

This recipe is easy to double or triple, depending on how many diners show up at your table. We paired this with a Sauvignon Blanc. Bon Appetit!

More Eating in Berlin

My continuing tale of food. It’s a good thing we walked alot.

The rest of the week in Berlin was a flurry of lunches, dinners and simple breakfasts. The best morning coffee and pastry was at Zeit für Brot. This bakery, with great coffee and seating, was a half a block away. If you didn’t get there early you had to join the line that snaked out the door and into the street. This was true on the Sunday we were there.

Pastry counter at Zeit fur Brot

For our other meals we did very little planning. The only time we ever made a reservation was on our last night together. For lunches, we just looked around at what was available in the area. There was never a lack of choices. The only time we were restricted to one choice was the day we did a day trip to Potsdam. Potsdam is the home of the Sanssouci, which was the summer palace of Frederick the Great, King of Prussia.

part of Sanssouci Palace

The closest eatery was a short walk from the palace. Our other choice was to get the bus and go back into Potsdam but this place looked very promising. It was The Drachenhaus (Dragon House). There are a total of 16 dragons on the corners of the roofs.It was built by King Frederick the Great of Prussia in 1772 for the winegrowers of the area to inhabit but they never did. Since 1934 it has served as a restaurant. Beautiful dining rooms inside and wonderful outdoor terraces. Since it was sunny and in the 70’s we chose al fresco.The service proved to be very slow but the weather was beautiful and we really didn’t need to be anywhere so if they didn’t want to turn the table we were fine. For an out-of-the-way place the food was fresh and beautiful. Everything came with baguettes but curiously no butter unless you asked. We found that true in all of the restaurants in Berlin. On the right below was my lunch. This was Roasted Chicken Breast, Pickled Vegetables, Mango Chutney and a Salad Bouquet. Yes, there were flowers in the salad. Curt had Seawater King Prawns in Herbal Sauce, Salad and three dips: mango chili, aioli horseradish and sweet mustard. Both were excellent.Our friends had some wonderful dishes as well with equally long names. On the left Kenn had Euro Prussian Soup with Marinated Leeks. His salad was described as Salad Leaves of the Season with Lots of Healthy Stuff (That’s the German translation). As close as I can tell the other dish was Chicken with White Wine Risotto & Caponata.

Once we were back in our neighborhood, we stopped for coffee. We did this often after a long day. Here is one such stop. I must say, the Germans do coffee quite well. But sometimes instead of coffee we would stop for a beer, the Germans do beer equally well.We wanted to make our final dinner in Berlin special and through an accidental circumstance it was. The night before we decided to go to Gugelhof. This is a restaurant made popular in 2000 when President Bill Clinton and Chancellor Gerhard Schröder had dinner there together. Once we arrived we were told they only took reservations, no walk-ins. So we reserved our table for Sunday evening, our last time together in Berlin. When we arrived the following evening we had the choice of outdoor or indoor dining. The weather was mild but the inside had a warm glow and a cozy atmosphere so inside we went. Our waiter was a wonderful young man who knew a lot about the wine choices and answered all our questions about the food. Gugelhof features Alsatian and Southern German dishes. The lighting in the restaurant was low so I apologize for my rosy photographs. We began with appetizers. Below, Curt’s Creme Brulee of Duck Liver and my Alsatian Onion Soup w/ a Cheese Crouton. Similar choices for others except Michael had the Escargot.For our mains we chose Rosti dishes which when described we realized were potato pancakes. Mine was Rosti with a Veal Ragout in Zurich Style Cream. I really don’t know what that means but it was very good. Curt had Rosti au Gratin (Raclette cheese which is Swiss-like), Black Forest Ham and Salad. We knew Kenn (Mr. Duck Tongues and Chicken Feet) was going to have the pig knuckle and we were right, Crispy Knuckle of Suckling Pig in Black Beer Sauce w/ Sauerkraut Dumplings. Pam was hoping for the Beef Burgundy ( which they were out of!) but went with the Coq au Vin. The pork was a success but the chicken was not as flavorful as she had hoped.But taken all together it was a wonderful. A fitting meal for the old “Gourmet group.” Now here is the kicker to this story. When they brought the bill Pam inquired if she could purchase a tureen like the one her Coq au Vin came in (It also had a lid). Yes, was the answer, 20 Euros. Such a deal and what a great souvenir! Her carry-on just became a lot heavier.

Guten Appetit!

March 14th – 3.14 – Pi Day

Yesterday was Pi Day. If you have no knowledge of math this may make no sense. But Pi or π is a mathematical constant. Originally defined as the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter, it appears in many formulas in all areas of mathematics and physics. Pi is 3.14159265359 or briefly 3.14. Get it?

But how to celebrate Pi Day, well of course, with Pie!

At the beginning of the week I informed my Sweetie ( the head chef in our house) that I wanted to make dinner on Wednesday.

“Okay,” he said. “What are you making?” “Never you mind,” I said.
“Do you need anything from the store?” He said. “No.” I said. “It’s a surprise and that would just give it away.”
“Does it have something to do with St. Patrick’s Day? Or, with the Ides of March? Sure, that’s it, something Roman, Italian.”  “No, no, and NO,” I said. “Just relax.”

Luckily he hadn’t thought of Pi Day. But geez, what a third degree. He really gets weirded out when I want to take over the (his) kitchen. Anyway I was making PIE. Chicken Pot Pie to be exact. And fruit pie for dessert. My pot pie was pretty basic except instead of pie crust I was using puff pastry which I think turned out way better. Here’s the recipe. I found it on the internet but did a few change-ups so this now my recipe.

Chicken Pot Pie with Puff Pastry
serves 4

1 sheet of puff pastry ( I used Pepperidge Farm)
1 Tbls olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 cup carrots, cut into bite sized chunks.
1 cup diced celery
1 large potato, diced or just largish chunks
1 tsp fresh Thyme
2 cups chicken broth
4 Tbls butter
4 Tbls flour
3/4 lb cooked chicken, cut into 1 inch pieces
salt and freshly grd pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Butter your casserole dishes. I used two 5×7 pyrex dishes. Make sure your puff pastry is thawed enough to unfold. It should still be cold.
3. Heat olive oil in medium saucepan and add the onion, cook and stir 2-3 minutes until softened. Add carrots, celery, potato (if raw), and 1 cup broth. Add thyme. Bring to boil and then reduce heat and simmer till vegetables are nearly tender. ( I think green beans, mushrooms, or peas would work well too).

My potato was cooked so I added it later.

4. Meanwhile heat a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the butter and once melted, add the flour all at once. Whisk until combined. Then add in the other cup of broth and whisk till smooth. Cook and stir till the mixture thickens.
5. By now your vegetables should be tender so pour the sauce in with the vegetables and stir. Season with salt and pepper. If sauce doesn’t seem thick enough cook for a while longer, continuing to stir. At this point I added in my pre-boiled potato and my pre-cooked chicken. Stir to combine.
6. Pour the mixture into your prepared baking dishes ( four 1 1/2 C dishes or in my case, two 3 C dishes).

7. Cut your puff pastry sheet to fit. A pizza cutter works really well. And you can piece your pastry if it won’t fit your pans exactly.  At this point folks, my Sweetie certainly knew what was happening and of course, couldn’t help but insert himself into the kitchen. The ruler and the pizza cutter were his ideas so I didn’t complain…too much.

8. Top each dish with puff pastry. Note the extra piece on the right dish. It is just lying on top, no wetting the pastry underneath to make it stick.

9. Put the dishes on a cookie sheet to catch spills. Transfer to oven and bake for 25 – 30 minutes or until pastry is puffy and golden brown. Once done. Let cool for 5 minutes before serving.

It turned out really good and we had one whole dish leftover for the next day. Also if you have any scraps of pastry left once you cover your dishes, bake them too. My Sweetie tied one strip in a knot and the other piece he sprinkled with coconut sugar. They baked for the same time.

pastry scraps

And for dessert…store bought fruit half pies. Choice of blackberry or strawberry rhubarb. I went with the strawberry rhubarb, had the blackberry for breakfast.

Happy Pi(e) Day!

What did you do Today?

Or what did you do all day? This was a question that we got a lot when we first retired. Usually when asked this I go blank. I know I didn’t just sit around (though that occurs), or take a nap (Curt does like to nap) or read ( yep, everyday), but what exactly did I do with the rest of the time? Well here goes, not a typical day but close.

I am not an early riser but I did want to go to the Farmer’s Market yesterday morning and Curt promised he wasn’t planning on being out the door at 7am. So we were up at 8 am and out the door by 8:20 am. We found a good parking space (yes, it is much more crowded when you get there a bit later) and hit the market. Four bags later we had mushrooms, zucchini, butternut squash, eggs, raddichio, peppers, cilantro, Spartan apples, carrots, eggplant, baby pattypan squashes, blueberry kringle (our breakfast) and apricots. Home by 9:30 where we made coffee and ate the kringle.

Apples, squash and apricots from Farmer’s Market

Once home I got the first of two loads of laundry in the washer. Curt started working on his chicken which was to be smoked. I got the miscellaneous dishes cleaned up and loaded the rest in the dishwasher. By now it is close to lunchtime. After lunch I got the last load into the dryer and went off to printmaking workshop over at the university. Last weekend we were part of a huge printing project ( 26 artists, each doing a 7″x7″ woodblock of a letter of the alphabet. These were put together into one huge print.) This week the print studio was open to anyone who wanted to do shorter individual prints using the same letters. I did three prints. You may notice I made a rookie mistake on one of the prints. Yes, the word DRIB was supposed to be BIRD. Whoops!  Later I’m cutting the letters apart.

Top: HEUER (read vertically). Middle: Individual letters/symbol RX@X Bottom: DRIB (Bird backwards)

Once home again, I saw Curt had potatoes on to boil and he had already smoked a pile of chicken breasts. One breast for dinner, the others to be frozen for meals later in the fall or winter.

I had muffins planned for the zucchini I had bought in the morning so I got those mixed and into the oven. While they baked I folded and sorted the laundry.

The potatoes for our dinner were done and cooling. The chicken was done. So Curt worked on a batch of cherry tomatoes (blanched and skinned) to put in the smoker. These get frozen in small batches and are great additions to soup, stew or sauce.

Smoked tomatoes

The tomatoes and chicken got packed and put into the freezer. We had a great dinner of potato/smoked chicken salad and finished out the day cleaning up the kitchen which looked pretty trashed after all the cooking and smoking and baking. Time to collapse into those comfy front room chairs.

What’s on for today? I think some reading, napping, a little football (Go Pack!). Afterall, Sunday is the day of rest. Ha! Oh wait, I was going to do something with those apples.

Damn! It smells good in here.

Dinner is complete, our guests have departed with smiles on their faces and I’m ready to give you some of the highlights.

Moroccan Spice Market

It is going to be hard to give you all the recipes, 1) because there were seven dishes and 2) once we were in the frenzy of cooking we forgot to take final pictures. Many of our dishes had advance prep which was good because by the time the guests arrived we were actually able to talk to them. But that is also why most of the pictures are from the beginning and not so much the end. Things just get crazy once food is about to go into the oven or onto the stove top and then our friends arrive and we are stashing coats, talking, hugging, pouring wine and getting the appetizers out, (I did squeeze in one shot of my half eaten plate).

So what did we eat? Well,foodie fans, the cuisine was Middle Eastern and that meant spices, spices and more spices. Throw in a couple of herbs for balance. Here was the run down for the evening.

APPETIZERS:

Kofta (Middle Eastern meatballs) These are usually served on skewers but we put out picks and accompanied them with a mint yogurt dip. This is the only recipe we did not take from Ottolenghi’s cookbooks. See an earlier post crediting the originator of this recipe, Conor Bofin.
Spices/Herbs: ground sumac berries, caraway, cumin, Aleppo pepper, fresh mint, garlic

Stuffed Portobellos w/ melted Taleggio cheese
Spices/Herbs: basil, tarragon, pepper, garlic

mushrooms being stuffed

SOUP:

Watercress & Chickpea w/ ras el hanout
Spices: ras el hanot is a North African blend and you just can’t find it in Wisconsin no matter how hard you try. After reading a few variations Curt created his own just like a good North African Jew.
Cardamom, clove, cinnamon, coriander, ground chili, cumin, pepper, paprika, fenugreek, turmeric, ginger, mace, allspice, nutmeg and fennel. (count’em – 15!)

ENTREE and SIDES:

Roasted Chicken w/ clementines and arak
Spices/Herbs: Whole grain mustard, thyme, fennel seeds, salt, black pepper, parsley

1) chicken thighs marinating w/ spices and clementines 2) ready to eat

Saffron Cauliflower
Spices/Herbs: Saffron, black pepper, parsley, bay leaves

1) vegetables gathered 2) mixing in saffron 3) out of the oven

Herbed Rice
Herbs: Parsley, dill, chervil, chive, tarragon, marjoram

DESSERT:

Sweet Filo Cigars
Not herby or spicy. Lemon zest, honey and sugar

rolling and frying the filo cigars

As you can imagine from the above lists of spices, our house smelled amazing, beautiful, lusty, yummy. It was like entering a Moroccan Spice Market (let it be noted, I have never been to Morocco) or an Iranian or Middle Eastern grocery ( nah, haven’t been in those either but I have a good imagination). It was heady. Colorful too. And on top of it all, it tasted wonderful.

the parts of the main plate

Here is my plate after a few minutes into eating. Obviously I was enjoying myself and almost forgot to grab the camera. I suggest you grab the Jerusalem cookbook and start spicing up your life.

Say it with me… Yotam Ottolenghi

Say it out loud.

Yo-tam O-tto-len-ghi

Doesn’t that sound exotic? Evoking warm places that we might visit in our dreams? Rare flavors to savor?  Particularly in sub-Siberian Green Bay, Wisconsin in winter.

Yotam Ottolenghi is a person; an Israeli with Italian/German roots.  His business partner Sami Tamimi is a Palestinian/Arab.  Both grew up in that soup of a city, Jerusalem, and now hold forth in London where their delis and restaurant, Ottolenghi and NOPI, have set a new standard for innovative Middle-Eastern inflected cooking.

Back here in Wisconsin, we have a dinner gathering coming up and while casting about for a menu I stumbled upon Yotam and Sami’s cookbook, Jerusalem (they also have two other books, Plenty and Ottolenghi).  A casual flip through the book yielded quite a number of possible recipes (note the slips bookmarking possibilities in the photo below) that could work for a small dinner party.

Jerusalem by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi

Surprisingly, there were few ingredients that were totally unfamiliar.  What sets this cookbook apart, in my mind, are the combinations and approaches that take the familiar into uncharted territory.  As a trial, in advance of our dinner, I tried one of the simpler ones to see if things tasted as good as the pictures promised;  Saffron Chicken & Herb Salad.

Saffron Chicken & Herb Salad

Part 1

1 orange, seedless or with seeds removed
2-1/2 Tbs honey
1.2 tsp saffron
1 Tbs white wine vinegar
1-1/4 C. water

Take a 3/8″ slice off the top and bottom of the orange.  Cut the remainder, leaving the peel on, into 12 wedges.  Put the orange wedges and all other ingredients into a non-reactive sauce pan, bring to a boil then reduce heat to a low simmer and cook gently for about 1 hour.  Towards the end of the cooking time, the liquid will reduce to a near syrup – watch carefully to avoid burning – add a tablespoon or two of water if it seems to be getting too dry.  When done, the orange wedges will be quite soft and you should have about 3 Tbs. of syrup.  Set aside to cool.  In a blender, puree the orange wedges and syrup into a smooth, runny paste; if needed, adding a little water to loosen it up.

Part 2

4 Tbs. olive oil
2-1/4 lb. chicken breast, skinless and boneless
2 small fennel bulbs, thinly sliced
1 C. cilantro leaves
2/3 C. basil leaves, torn
15 mint leaves, torn
2 Tbs. lemon juice
1 red chile, seeded, thinly sliced (adjust quantity to suit your spicy meter)
1 clove garlic, crushed

Ingredients for part 2

Preheat oven to 400˚F.  Salt and pepper the chicken breasts.  Drizzle with half the olive oil.  Sear the breasts in a very hot grill pan, preferably iron.  After about 2 minutes, turn the breasts then put into the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, until just done.  Let the chicken cool enough to handle then tear into rough, fairly large shreds.

In a large bowl, combine the chicken and the remaining ingredients including the rest of the olive oil.  Add half of the orange paste (reserve the rest to use in other salads or as a sauce with fish).  Toss gently.  Adjust salt and pepper to taste and, if needed, additional olive oil and lemon juice.

Saffron Chicken & Herb Salad with Pepper and Baked Egg Galettes

This salad was great and will be a regular on our table, especially in summer where the fresh herbs and fennel will make for a refreshing lunch or light dinner.  The chile I used turned out to quite hot! So the end salad came off as somewhere between a Thai Larb Gai and a middle-Eastern Meze salad.  We served the salad with another recipe from Jerusalem for Pepper and Baked Egg Galettes.  I over-cooked the peppers, hence the richly colored char visible in the photo.  They tasted fine though.

So the trial run was a success but we won’t be cooking these at our dinner. A note to any of our diners who may read this, “You’re in for a delicious adventure.”