It's About Time We Ring in the New Year!

2018 definitely was a long time coming.  I was happy to say farewell to 2017 and ring in the new year!  I'm looking forward to a year filled with new recipes and more blog posts! 

So, let's kick things off on this cold January day with some spicy, warm soup! 

Lemon Chicken Orzo

I've been making this soup for a couple of years now, but each time I make it, I always try something new. 

Here's what you will need...

• 6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 8 cups homemade chicken or turkey stock (I had turkey stock left over from the holidays)
• 1 cup orzo
• 2 leaks, white parts only, sliced thin
• 3 celery ribs, chopped
• 3 carrots, chopped
• 1 Serrano pepper, seeds removed, minced
• Zest and juice of 1 large lemon (or 2 small)
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp sweet paprika
• 1/4 cup white wine (your choice, but I used Pinot Grigio)
• Canola oil
• Kosher salt and black pepper

Start by mixing the coriander, cumin, and paprika together.  Season the chicken thighs generously on both sides with salt, pepper and the spice mixture.  Heat a large dutch oven with about 2 tablespoons of Canola oil.  When the oil starts to shimmer, brown the chicken on both sides and remove it from the pot.

Add a little more Canola oil to your pot and once it starts to shimmer, add the leeks, celery, carrots, and Serrano pepper.  Saute the vegetables with any of the remaining spice rub, the zest of one lemon, and a dash of salt and pepper.  Once the vegetables start to get a good color, add the white wine and scrape the brown bits from the bottom of the pan.  Once the wine has been totally absorbed, add the chicken back to the pot along with the stock.  Bring the soup to a boil, then lower the soup to a simmer, cover it, and let it cook for 25 minutes.

At the 25 minute(ish) mark, remove and shred or chop the chicken.  Bring the soup to a boil and add the orzo, shredded chicken, and the juice of one lemon (taste the soup and add more lemon to taste).  Reduce the heat to medium and cook the soup until the orzo is cooked al dente.  If you are making this in advance, you could also cook the orzo separately in a pot of salted, boiling water, for about 8 minutes.  Drain the orzo, then add to the soup and cook on low for about 5 minutes.  Make sure you let the soup completely cool before you package and refrigerate it, if you are making it in advance.   

Beef Barley Soup 

This receipt is based on a recipe from Melissa Clark.

I have made beef barley soup before, but I wanted to try a new recipe.  Melissa Clark's recipe intrigued me because of the lemon and the fennel.  When I read the recipe it just seemed super fresh and bright, which is not typical of most beef-based soups.

The link above will take you to her recipe, but I wanted to share a few tweaks I made below.  

• Instead of the cayenne, I used a minced Serrano (seeds removed), mostly because I had Serrano peppers in the fridge.
• I skipped the parsnips and turnips, only because I'm not a huge vegetable fan.  I'm sure the addition would be great though!
• I added Escarole instead of the kale or baby spinach.  
• I added a small amount of red wine (maybe 1/4 cup) because I had a small bit leftover from last night.  I added this when I added the broth and water.

The best part of this recipe is when you add the tomato paste and spices to the dutch oven. The entire house filled with an amazing, smoky aroma that made my mouth water.  That step alone made the prep work worth it!

After about four hours of cooking (and tasting) today, I finally sat down and had a glass  of Kobler Estate's 2016 Rose of Grenache with a splash of Pelligrino and a handful of fresh raspberries and blueberries and a couple slices of blood oranges.  

Best cooking day every! Happy 2018!

Pork Tenderloin Stuffed with Herbs and Capers

I love pork tenderloin, but I seem to gravitate to the same recipes over and over.  Luckily, as I was searching for something new, this recipe popped up from Melissa Clark.  Yes, I'm a bit of a fan of her, but this recipe was a mash up of two of my favorite things...braciole and pork tenderloin!

The hardest part of the receipt was the prep.  Lots of chopping on this one, so if you don't mind spending some time with the knife, this is the recipe for you!

Ingredients (my inspired version, of course):

• 2 pork tenderloins
• 8 shallots, minced
• 1 1/2 tablespoons capers, minced plus a splash of their liquid
• 2 1/2 tablespoons rosemary, chopped
• 2 1/2 tablespoons thyme, chopped, plus a few additional sprigs 
• 4 garlic cloves, grated or minced
• 1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• Salt
• Black pepper
• Lemon
• Unsalted butter
• Olive oil
• White wine (recipe called for Vermouth, but I was out!)

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees (or heat your grill to about 400 degrees - you will want to cook on indirect heat for most of this).  Slice the pork tenderloins lengthwise to butterfly it, but don't cut all of the way through.  Season the pork with salt and pepper.  Heat a pan on medium-high heat and add 2 tablespoons of olive oil.  Add the shallots, capers, rosemary, thyme, and some salt and pepper to the pan and let the mixture cook until the shallots start to turn brown.  Add the garlic and saute for 1 minute, then remove the mixture and let cool.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  Spread about 3/4 of the cooled mixture over the pork, then fold the thin end up, and tie the pork with kitchen twine.  Heat a pan on medium-high heat on the stove top with some canola oil.  When the oil begins to shimmer, add the pork and sear it on all sides.  Add two tablespoons of unsalted butter and a couple of sprigs of thyme.  As the butter is melting, spoon it over the pork, then place the pork in the oven.  Let the pork cook until it reaches 145 degrees internal temperature.  Remove the pork from the pan and cover.  Discard the thyme.

Heat the pan with the cooking juices on the stove on medium-high heat.  Add about 2 tablespoons of white wine (I literally pour the wine in the pan and count "1, 2" and that is my 2 tablespoons) and scrape up the browned bits.  Add the remaining herb mixture, the orange juice, a splash of the caper liquid, and the chicken stock.  Let the mixture thicken, then add butter, salt and pepper to taste, and a squeeze or so of lemon. Taste the pan sauce and add more lemon if the sauce is too sweet.

Remove the kitchen twine from the pork and cut the pork into 2 inch medallions.  Spoon the pan sauce over the pork, then serve!  I also roasted some potatoes and spring onions with canola oil, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, and salt and pepper.  Add a squeeze of lemon and some olive oil to the potatoes and onions before serving.

And, as you can see, we also enjoyed a bottle of Emily's Cabernet Sauvignon (2013) from the Miner Winery.  Love Miner wines! 

Enjoy everyone!

Roasted Chicken with Roasted Poblano and Lime-Ancho Chile Butter

This weekend, I had planned to start cooking my way through the Dinner, Changing the Game cookbook by Melissa Clark.  On the menu was Chile-Rubbed Chicken.   

My first step was to visit Sages Meat Market, a new specialty meat market in Oswego.  The shop may be small, but the options are plentiful! The display cases are full of meats farmed from local sources, some already prepared in super flavorful marinades, in individual, vacuum-sealed servings.  Today I had one of the butchery staff spatchcock two chickens for me.  One for this recipe and one for later in the week.

While I was there, I saw that they had fire roasted poblano compound butter in the case. Although the Melissa Clark recipe called for more of a lime-chipotle rub, I couldn't pass up the butter and figured I could easily incorporate it into the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 whole chicken, spatchcocked (butterflied) 
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon fresh ground black pepper
• 1/2 tablespoon ancho chile powder 
• 4 individual portions of roasted poblano compound butter (about 2 tablespoons per portion)
• Zest of one lime, plus lime wedges for serving

Pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees.  Mix three portions of the compound butter with the lime zest and ancho chile powder.  Season the chicken with salt and pepper and then rub the butter all over the chicken (season and butter both sides).  Set the chicken skin side up on a sheet pan, drizzle with a little bit of canola oil, then cook the chicken for 45-55 minutes, or until the meat is no longer pink and the juices run clear.  Let the chicken rest 10 minutes on a cutting board before slicing and serving.

I roasted potatoes on a separate sheet pan while the chicken was cooking.  I cut the potatoes into cubes and tossed those with about 10 whole shallots.  I seasoned the potatoes and shallots generously with salt, pepper, garlic powder, ancho chile powder, and the remaining portion of the compound butter.  I added a few tablespoons of canola oil, just to make sure the potatoes were well coasted. The potatoes will (and did) burn at 450 degrees if you leave them in the full cooking time.  At 450 degrees, they probably only need 35-40 minutes.  Check them at 20 minutes and flip them.  Keep an eye on them after that or...you can guess what happens.  I also squeezed a bit of lime on the (burnt) potatoes before serving them.  The flavor was good, but I would probably NOT use the butter until the end next time.  I would let the potatoes cook with the oil only, then toss them with the compound butter when they came out of the oven. 

Enough about the unsuccessful potatoes!  The good news is that the chicken turned out super moist with crispy skin.  The hint of lime was present in every bite and the heat from the poblano and ancho was subtle but left a nice aftertaste.  As you can see above, I poured the pan juices on the chicken before serving.  Melissa Clark's recipe calls for an herby avocado sauce, which I didn't make this time, but it sounded delicious!  Will do my best to follow the recipe more closely next time!

Enjoy!