Chicken Tagine with Fennel and Onion

This recipe is another Bon Appetit find that I had dog-eared for later.  I love Chermoula, another Moroccan dish, so I was sure that Chicken Tagine would be right up my alley.  I did make several modifications from the original recipe.  Nick hates olives, so I swapped in onion for them.  I also added wild rice to the plating of this, as we usually try to pair dinners with a starch, but it can be easily left out, so that the final product is more of a stew.

One thing I love about the results of this dish is that it reminds me of Tom Yum soup at a Thai restaurant.  Something about the lemon citrus, paired with a broth and a hint of heat from the cayenne really rang true to my taste buds.  I will definitely be adding this to my rotation of C2B Kitchen Classics (I just made that up).  ;)

Chicken Tagine with Fennel and Onion

Here's what I used:

1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
6 skinless boneless chicken thighs (1 1/2 pounds)
2 tbsp olive oil, divided
2 medium fennel bulbs, stalks trimmed, bulbs halved vertically, then cut crosswise into 1/2-inch slices
2 cups low-salt chicken broth
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 white onion, chopped
1 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
1 bag 90 second Wild Rice from Uncle Ben (gasp.)

Here's what I did:

Mix all spices in a large bowl. Cut chicken crosswise into thirds. Add chicken to bowl of spices, and stir to coat.

Add 1 tbsp oil to large non-stick stock pot (I used my Mario Batali Dutch Oven) over med-high heat.  Brown chicken, about 2 minutes per side, and then remove.  Add 1 tbsp oil, fennel and onion to same skillet. Sauté until golden brown in spots and onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Return chicken to pot, add broth and lemon juice. Bring to simmer, scraping up browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Cover, reduce heat to low, and cook until chicken is cooked through and sauce begins to thicken, about 20 minutes. Stir in cilantro just before serving, and add salt and pepper to taste.

I plated this in a soup bowl, with about a cup of rice, topped with 2 heaping ladles of chicken, vegetables and broth.

PW's Braised Short Ribs with Bacon Cheddar Mashed Potatoes

Do you know the Pioneer Woman?  You should, she's a World Famous Blogger.  A gifted photographer.  And soon to be even more mainstream...because she's having a movie made about her right now.  Being played by none other than Reese Witherspoon.  Ree Drummond is also an INSANELY good cook.  I know.  I just made her Braised Short Ribs.  You should too. 



PW's Braised Short Ribs w/ Bacon Cheddar Mashed Potatoes

Here's what I used:

8 whole Bone-in Beef Short Ribs
1/4 AP Flour, for dredging
6 pieces pancetta, diced (I used bacon)
2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 whole medium onion, diced (I used 2)
2 shallots, peeled and finely minced
3 regular carrots, unpeeled, diced
2 cups red or white wine (I used Barefoot Merlot)
2 cups Beef broth
2 sprigs fresh Thyme
2 sprigs fresh Rosemary

4 peeled russet potatoes
1/2 cup colby jack cheese, shredded
1 tsp garlic powder
1/3 cup sour cream
bacon crisps from Braised Short Rib recipe above

Here's what I did:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Season ribs w/ S&P, and dredge in flour.

In a large dutch oven, cook pancetta (or bacon) on medium until crispy and then remove (and set aside for mashed potatoes).  Add olive oil to pancetta/bacon grease and raise heat to high.  Brown ribs on all sides for 1-2 minutes per side, and remove.  Turn heat to medium and add onions, carrots and shallots to pan.  Cook for several minutes and then add wine.  Deglaze pan (scrape bits off bottom) with cooking spoon to get the yummy bits into the mix and off the bottom of the pan.  Boil for 2 minutes.

Add broth, 1/2 tsp salt and fresh ground black pepper.  Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.  Add ribs, thyme and rosemary (whole).

Put lid on pot and cook for 2 hours in the oven.  Reduce heat to 325 and cook another 35-45 minutes.  Ribs should be falling off the bone.

While ribs are cooking, set a large pot to boil with potatoes.  Cook until soft.  Add potatoes and the last 4 ingredients together and mix with hand mixer in large mixing bowl until smooth.  Add S&P as desired.

Plate with mashed potatoes on the bottom, 1-2 ribs on top, and then drizzle/heap sauce/vegetables on top and around the plate or bowl. 

This dish definitely has a "fall/winter" vibe, but we weren't complaining.  It was decadent, delicious and surprisingly simple for what you get as a result.  Yummm.

Stuffed Acorn Squash

My mom picked up the October Martha Stewart Living magazine for me the other day. I thumbed through all the cute project ideas for fall, and happened on a recipe towards the back. Beautiful acorn squash, stuffed with a mixture of bulgar wheat, ground beef, acorn squash and other hearty, yummy ingredients. Lo and behold, I had actually picked up an acorn squash at the store. I always love when gourds show up at the store, so I sometimes buy a few...and figure out what to do with them later. So I modified it a bit, but here's my version of Martha's stuffed acorn squash.

Stuffed Acorn Squash (for 2)

Here's what I used:

1 acorn squash
3/4 lb ground beef (calls for 90% lean, but I used what I had, 80/20)
1 cup quick-cook brown rice
1 3/4 cups water
1 medium onion chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 tbsp good olive oil
2 tsp salt
pinch cinnamon
pinch nutmeg

Here's what I did:

Set the oven to 400 degrees F. Cut the acorn in half width-wise, and then cut a small amount off of each end so that when flipped over, they will sit flat. Turned upside down onto a baking sheet, and baked for 35 minutes.

Meanwhile, heated oil in a stock pot, and added ground beef, cinnamon, nutmeg and 1/2 of the salt. Browned, and then reserved ground beef on a plate, using slotted spoon to keep juices in the pot.

Then, I added the onion and allowed it to soften for about 5 minutes. Added in garlic, and let cook for another minute. Finally, I added the rest of the salt, the uncooked brown rice and the water, brought to a boil, and allowed to simmer for 25 minutes (or as directions for your rice state).

By the time the rice mixture is cooked, the squash should be ready to come out of the oven. I did not remove the seeds from the inside prior to cooking, so I used an ice cream scoop (think of it as a giant melon baller) and gently scooped out the seeds and discarded. Then I scooped out most of the inside of each squash (leaving about 1/16" so that the sides don't fall in). This creates our "bowl" for the squash/rice/meat mixture.

Now that the rice was done, I added the ground beef back in, as well as the squash. Mixed well to incorporate all ingredients and then piled them into each "squash bowl". Here's where I deviated. This recipe is pretty sweet, and we tend to go with more savory meals. I sprinkled some shaved parmesan on top.

Then I popped the stuffed squash back in the oven for another 10 minutes so that the cheese would melt, and the mixture would get a little browned on top.

On to reviews. The only complaint I heard, and it was prefaced with "this is not a complaint", was that this was too sweet. Nick went back and added more parmesan to get a little more salt into his mix. I really liked it as it was, very subtle, and a little sweet. And the cinnamon and nutmeg add a really festive, fall-like vibe to the meal. I also did not serve this with anything else. I think it would have been nice with maybe some grilled asparagus or brussel sprouts, but I just ran out of time. Also, having a toddler attached to both legs while I hobble around the kitchen to produce something "gourmet-like", repeatedly saying "Mommy UP! Mommy UP!" tends to wittle down the variety that I can cook up.

Filet Mignon with Sweet Potatoes & Onion Rings

Last night I made several of my favorite things for dinner. Steak. Potatoes. and something fried.

Here's what I used:

2 sweet potatoes

2 filet's of beef
about a cup Soy Sauce
1 tbsp. McCormick's Montreal Steak Seasoning

1 vidalia onion
about a cup of AP flour
S&P
about a cup of Heavy Cream
2-3 cups of Olive Oil


Here's what I did:

First I washed and poked holes in the sweet potatoes and threw them in the oven at 400 degrees for an hour.

Next, I marianated the filets in a glass baking dish by pouring about a cup of soy sauce, and generously shaking the steak seasoning into the dish (about a tablespoon). I allowed the steaks to marianate until about the last ten minutes of the sweet potatoe's cook time, so about 45-50 minutes.

Finally I skinned, and cut the onion into ringlets, and placed them into a bowl with the heavy cream (this gives my breading something to grab onto). I was out of Canola Oil, so I winged it with Olive Oil instead. I added about 2-3 cups of it to my skillet, and allowed it to heat up. Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl I combined the AP Flour with a good amount of S&P, and then tested the oil with one little onion ring.... Once it got good an hot, I added just enough rings until the bottom of the skillet was full, you don't want to overfill the pan or the breading won't get nice and crispy, and the onions won't cook as well. It took about three rounds of rings until they were all a nice golden brown. As they cooked, I used tongs to move the rings onto a cookie sheet lined with paper towels. Once all rings were on the towel, I sprinkled liberally with Tony Chacherie's Cajun Seasoning.

As the final round of onion rings were in the pan, I started up another skillet with about 2 tbsp. of butter. Once that was crackling, I added my steaks and let them sear for 2 minutes per side. Just as the sweet potatoes were coming out of the oven, I lowered the heat to 300 and popped my seared steaks in for about 5-7 minutes. This finishes off the cooking to about medium rare without burning the surfaces of the steak.

On to the plating: I cut the sweet potatoes lengthwise, and then pushed/mashed them in from the long sides to open them up a little. I don't feel the need to add any seasonings or butter to them, they're great as they are. Add the steak, and top with the onion rings. YUMMM.

This got very high reviews from my foodie husband - who is never shy to give me honest feedback on my cooking. His one remark was that he thought the Olive Oil may have made the onion rings a little greasy-tasting, and that Canola Oil may have been better.

C'est la Vie. Maybe next time...