Crispy Chicken Thighs, with Schmaltzy Viaigrette

I made this about a week or so ago - its a Cooking Light recipe - which almost always are excellent.  With this dish, you get all the richness of a roasted chicken, but it uses bone in thighs, instead of a whole bird.  The recipe uses the chicken fat from the cooked thighs ( the "Schmaltz" ) for a really nice, bright vinaigrette sauce over the finished thighs.  I used my cast iron saute pan for even heating, but if you use a steel pan, watch the heat so you don't scorch the fat.  Here is the recipe - this is a GREAT Fall, comfort food meal, that truly does serve 4 at about 420 calories per serving. ( 23g of fat, because of the thighs though)

Ingredients:

1/3 cup EVOO, divided
3/4 tsp kosher salt
1 lb small Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into about 3/4 inch pieces
4 (6oz) skin on, bone in thighs
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper, divided
2 cups Brussels Sprouts, cut in half
1 1/2 cup rough chopped carrots
3 tbs finely chopped shallots
4 tbs apple cider vinegar
1 tbs light brown sugar

1) Pre heat oven to 450
2) Combine 1 to 2 tbs olive oil, 1/4 tsp salt and potatoes in a bowl, and toss to coat.  Line a 1/2 baking sheet with parchment paper, add potatoes, and bake at 450 for 15 minutes, or until tender when pierced with a fork.  Remove pan from oven, cover with foil to keep warm, and set aside.
3) Place a wire rack on another baking sheet.  Heat 1 - 2 tbs oil in a large cast iron skillet on medium high.  Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper, add to hot skillet skin side down.  Cook about 8 minutes, or until skin gets crispy.  flip and cook 2 more minutes  ( chicken will NOT be cooked through) Reserve drippings in skillet. Place chicken on wire rack, and bake at 450 for about 10 more minutes, or until juices run clear, and temp is 165 degrees.
4) Return skillet to medium high heat.  Add remaining salt, and pepper, halved Brussels Sprouts, and carrots to drippings in the pan, cover, and cook about 8 minutes stirring frequently, until carrots are al dente, and the sprouts are browning.  Remove vegetables from pan with a slotted spoon and set aside.  ( do NOT wipe out pan)
5) Place shallots in a small bowl.  Add vinegar to skillet, and scrape loose brown bits up.  Add this vinegar mixture, remaining oil ( should be at least 2 tbs or so) and brown sugar to shallots, and stir to combine.
6) Place 1 cup potatoes, 1/2 cup veggie mixture on plate.  Top with a thigh, and spoon shallot vinaigrette sauce over ( about 1.5 tbs or so)

Enjoy!

Oh, Man..... the PERFECT Summer Grilling Salad! Grilled Romaine, with Tomato and Corn Tumble.

So I died and went to heaven tonight.  Some of the women with whom my wife works out had been talking about grilling Romaine lettuce during exercise class last week.  She said to me - I think I pulled a recipe for that somewhere...... and lo and behold, in our massive recipe files - she found it!  Its from Better Homes and Gardens, June 2013 ( yeah I know - we save a ton of stuff!!  But in this case it was worth it!)  We did this salad ....... almost....... exactly to the recipe.   It called for grilling corn on the cob, but we were hungry, so I had a bag of frozen sweet white corn, and sauteed it in butter till slightly caramelized.  The finished product was crunchy and nicely charred, the dressing was amazing.  We gave it a 10 out of 10.  In fact, we are going to an outdoor cookout tomorrow night - I think I will bring it - it is the PERFECT company dish.  Especially one to bring and really wow your host.  Make the tumble and the dressing ahead of time - grill the lettuce for a couple of minutes and serve it at the party - guarantee it will be a hit! This will make 4 servings.  We served it with a grilled Rib Eye that we split, and it was plenty!  The flavor of the grilled Romaine really complimented the steak!

Here we go:

Ingredients:

1 cup frozen, or one ear's worth of grilled fresh corn
5 tbs extra virgin olive oil
2 tbs red wine vinegar
1 tbs Dijon mustard
1 tbs snipped green chives ( these grow like weeds in our garden)
1 clove garlic, minced
2 hearts of Romaine lettuce halved
1 cup grape and yellow grape tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup feta cheese

Sautee corn in butter till slightly caramelized if using frozen, grill fresh till slightly charred. Cut kernels from cob, and set aside.

While grilling corn, combine 3 tbs olive oil ( reserve the rest), the vinegar, mustard and chopped chives, and garlic.  Whisk well until emulsified.  ( One of those salad dressing makers with the internal mixer works really well here)

Combine cheese, corn and tomatoes in a small bowl.  Drizzle with some vinaigrette to coat.  Set aside.

Brush both sides of Romaine halves with remaining olive oil ( you might need a little more - don't be stingy here.)  Lightly sprinkle cut half with salt and fresh ground pepper.  Place heads on hot grill cut side up for about 1 minute to soften.  Flip and grill cut side down for about 2 - 3 minutes until lightly charred.  Tip:  DONT walk away, these cook really fast, depending on your grill.  Keep an eye on them, as they will go from perfect to burnt in about a nanosecond!

Place heads cut side up, and drizzle with remaining vinaigrette to tase.  Spoon corn , tomato and cheese mixture over the top - enjoy!!

Bon Apetit!

Sausage Ragu, with Polenta

Kudos to Cooking Light for this recipe - REALLY tasty, and fairly easy to make.  Total time to cook, about 25 minutes.  We just used off the shelf  Stop and Shop Italian Sausage links - very tasty, with lots of fennel.... yumm.

Ingredients:
1 tbs olive oil
12 oz Italian Sausage - chopped.  If you get links - squeeze out of the skin.
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
2 cups coarsely chopped onion
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped carrot
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 1/2 cups water, divided
1 15oz can  unsalted tomato sauce
2/3 cup polenta
1 oz parm cheese, grated ( about 1/4 cup)
1/4 cup chopped flat leaf parsley, for garnish

Directions:

Heat, oil in large, high sided skillet.  Crumble, and cook until browned, about 6 minutes or so.  Stir in pepper.  Remove sausage from pan, and remove pan from heat - do NOT wipe out pan.  Add onion, carrot and garlic to pan, Cook 7 - 9 minutes until tender ( add a splash of water if needed to help the carrots along), cook until tender.  Add sausage mixture, 1/2 cup water, and tomato sauce to pan, cook a couple of minutes .

While sausage is cooking, bring remaining 3 cups water to a boil in a medium sauce pan, and whisk in polenta.  Reduce heat, and cook for about 3 minutes until thickened, whisking frequently.

Serve pork mixture over polenta, garnish with parsely.

Enjoy!!

Cauliflower Fried Rice

Cauliflower Fried Rice!

Yummy Fried Rice, with no Rice!

So I made this the other night, while my wife is away on a biz trip.  Pretty simple recipe - no rice involved.  You can make it vegetarian, but I chose to add some Chicken.  I also took the time to dice and saute fresh carrots, instead of using the tasteless frozen peas/carrots combo.  I used a knife to dice up the cauliflower - I think a food processor would render it too fine.  It's good to be a little chunky.

So, here it is:

Ingredients:

1 head cauliflower, cleaned, center cut out.  ( I quartered it and diced it by quarter, a little easier, than trying to dice the whole thing)
1 egg, beaten
1 small onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup carrots, diced fine ( about 3 medium sized)
2 stalks celery medium diced
1/2 c frozen peas
2 TBS soy sauce
1/2 TSP Sesame oil
Pea sized squirt of Ginger paste ( tubes available in the produce section)
3 Green onions, not the white parts.
2 TBS olive oil
1 pkg pre cooked chicken breast, diced fine ( optional)
Sriracha Sauce to taste ( optional - I like hot...lol)

Directions:

Dice fairly small.

Heat olive oil in large saute pan till hot.  Add onion, garlic and carrots and celery,  saute till tender, about 5 minutes or so.  While that is cooking, mince the cauliflower, fairly fine.  Add to pan, and cook for about 8 minutes or so, stirring constantly.  Cauliflower should be fairly soft.  Add the egg, and cook for another few minutes, till cooked.  Add soy sauce, sesame oil, peas, ginger, and green onions, and chicken if you wish.  Cook till soft and fragrant - probably another 5 minutes or so.  Serve garnished with green onion

Saute till cooked and soft