Canal House Style Chicken Thighs with Lemon

Good Yard Bird
The kitchen can be the world’s best reality check. The outcome of your endeavors is not always guaranteed—no matter how good a cook you think you are—and for that reason, it is best to always check one’s ego at the door (and keep your instant-read thermometer handy). Just when you think you can totally take on an Iron Chef, karma has its nasty way with you. I need only to look back a couple of weeks to the epic fail that was my attempt to make Pearly Rice Balls with Red Bean Paste in them. Instead of producing lovely round rice balls, I managed to make a gelatinous, shapeless glob that looked like scary fried eggs.

And yet, sometimes (cue the choir of angels), you make something so tasty, so utterly divine that your obvious talent just can’t be denied. (Move over Thomas Keller! I laugh at you and your Michelin stars!) Last night was one of those nights…

To be fair, my genius had some help this time around. (OK. Yes. Most of the time I need help.) Mine came in the form of the book Genius Recipes by Food52 by way of The Canal House. This cookbook has been getting a lot of buzz lately and for very good reason. It is the bomb-diggity. It really is genius. It is also the cookbook we are using for our next cookbook club.

Looking at my copy right now I have at least twenty recipes that I have flagged to try. One of them is Canal House Style Chicken Thighs with Lemon which is what I made for dinner last night à chez moi. My husband told me it was the best chicken I have ever made. I’ve made a lot of chicken, which means either this recipe is just that good or I need to go back to school. Full disclosure, I used preserved lemons. made by a friend, who also happens to be in our cookbook club. It’s possible that they were the secret ingredient because man, they were good.

Do yourselves a favor, go get this book. Or, you can follow along on their blog as Kristin Miglore cooks her way through the book.

And look-y there. The BEST EVER CHICKEN is front and center….

Canal House Style Chicken Thighs with Lemon
Recipe adapted from Food 52 Read more…

Amy’s Roast Chicken

Bird Is The Word

Most years I try to make an effort to put together a traditional dinner for Passover since my husband is technically Jewish—I say technically because while he may have been born into the Jewish faith, he does not practice it. I am more into it than he is; mainly because I love the food and the lore. For dinner I make foods that are in keeping with the traditions. We don’t do the whole Seder.

This year it’s going to be a struggle to do anything, but for a good reason. We’re heading on vacation for spring break. I like a keeping in touch with your roots as much as the next guy but frankly, sand, sun, and pool-side cocktails will trump that every time…so will the amount of laundry I have to get done in order to get everyone packed and ready.

This year’s Passover celebration will be simple. Very simple. I’m going with a roasted chicken. Roasting a chicken is one of the easiest things you can do for dinner, and you can roast multiple chickens on a basic sheet pan. (I always do two. One for dinner, and the other for sandwiches, tacos etc,) Of all the things I have taught my kids about cooking, this recipe is the most important one. As long as they can roast a chicken, they will be able to feed themselves.

I like to rub my chicken with olive oil and chopped fresh herbs, but you can do whatever you want. Rubbing your favorite spice blend all over the chicken is a no-brainer. Sometimes I put a lemon with the ends cut off into the cavity, other times I do the same with a head of garlic that has had the top cut off. The possibilities are limitless. Feel free to experiment as you see fit.

Amy’s Roast Chicken
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Crispy, Crackly Apple-Almond Tart

Bon Anniversaire
Last Sunday my mother turned 70. (She’s going to love that I published that.) Since this is one of those big birthdays we, of course, had to do something big to mark the occasion. So, as per usual in my family, we ate. We ate very well. And we drank. We drank very very well. (The French do know their way around fermented grape juice.)

Since I was hosting the soiree, I decided that it would be fun to do a “70 in Paris” theme so we had the Eiffel Tower centerpiece on the dining table and everything we ate and drank was French. We even tried to speak in French but, well, at least we tried…

There were a number of tasty items on the menu including gougeres (cheese puffs), a wonderful country pate (my son took it in his lunch as a sandwich the next day…um, okay?), a bacon, egg and asparagus salad (perfect for this time of year) and a few other bacon and butter laden offerings to round things out. Vive La France!

While it was all super tasty (yay me!) I think by far everyone’s favorite dish was the Crispy, Crackly Apple Almond Tart. I noticed more than one person sneaking back for a second slice, and not all of the thieves were under five feet tall.

I first made this was for our cookbook club last month. It was a big hit. It’s a little tricky if you aren’t accustomed to using filo dough, but I have to say that it was easier this time around. So easy in fact, that my 8 year-old daughter buttered and sugared all of the layers on her own. It’s spreading the almond cream that takes patience so that you don’t rip the filo.

Add a little scoop of ice cream (I recommend Talenti Salted Caramel gelato—it will make your mouth happy), and you have a simple, but oh-so-good, and definitely oh-so-French, dessert.

This Crispy, Crackly Apple-Almond Tart can be served warm or at room temperature. I like to serve it a room temperature so that I can make it ahead of time. It would be a perfect addition to any Spring brunch buffet table. And, it makes for a wonderful breakfast when paired with a cafe au lait…

Crispy, Crackly Apple-Almond Tart
Adapted from Around My French Table by Dorie Greenspan
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Cashel Blue, Spinach, and Smoked Salmon Tartlets

Go Green
To most people mid-March means St. Patrick’s Day. When they think about Irish food and drink, those same people generally think of potatoes, corned beef, cabbage, lamb and Guinness.

While those ingredients are frequently featured in Irish cooking, the Emerald Isle has so much more to offer. Their cheese alone could occupy most of your time—and don’t get me started on the charcuterie. The Irish know their way around a butchery. While traveling through Ireland years ago, one of the things that surprised me most was the incredible seafood. (I’m not sure why I was surprised. It is an island after all.) The seafood…it was sensational.

Mussels, Herring, Shrimp, Cod, Crab, Haddock, Skate and Salmon (both fresh and smoked) could be found on most menus along with many other native species. Fish was mostly prepared simply but elegantly, and with obvious skill. Occasionally, if you were lucky, you could find a seafood pie. (Yes, topped with potatoes). Yum!

This year for St. Patrick’s Day, set the green beer down and do something truly Irish like these Smoked Salmon tartlets from the cookbook The New Irish Table by Margaret Johnson. You’ll be glad you did. Erin Go Bragh!

Cashel Blue, Spinach and Smoked Salmon Tartlets
Adapted from The New Irish Table by Margaret Johnson
Yields 30 Tartlets

Oak-smoked Irish salmon is often eaten simply with a squeeze of lemon and a slice of brown bread. But its flavor pairs so well with other ingredients, It’s no surprise to also find it in a paté, atop roasted potatoes, or combined with blue cheese and fresh spinach in these tartlets from David Foley, chef-owner of the Wild Geese Restaurant in picturesque Adare, County Limerick. Chef Foley fills handmade pastry cases with the mixture, but these use frozen filo dough shells. Read more…