Fresh Tart

My current Facebook status: desk. bills. laundry. voicemail. dog poop. errands. dishes. reality. darn.  That pretty much sums up my post-vacation blues, and I didn't even mention the weather: grey. cold. minnesota. february.

Right.

In an effort to shake off my stale mood, I plopped a dollop of spicy salsa on the egg I had for lunch.  I peeled both a clementine and a grapefruit for dessert, inhaling the refreshing zest before biting into the tart, juicy fruit.  Both endeavors did cheer me up a bit - I'm typically energized by good, fresh smells and flavors.  But they bothered me too... Couldn't quite put my finger on why...  And then it hit me - I felt a little mocked by the fresh chilies and citrus, gently reminding me that I'm far from warm sunshine and am going to be for a long, damn time.

Sigh.

After I figured out why the flavors made me a bit sad, I concluded that I'm better off just embracing my cold reality and sticking with comforting favorites, like the chicken I'm going to roast (on the grill, with my Weber poultry roaster, not quite ideally pictured above) for dinner tonight.  There are few things cozier (or more fabulous) than a roasted chicken, skin crisped, flesh moist and flavorful (with garlic and rosemary for tonight's version, I think).  Ooh, perhaps John and I will eat in front of a roaring fire.  (Although is it worth his grumbling about sitting on the floor?  Meh, probably not.)  Fire or no, sauteed Swiss chard tossed with garlicky-warm croutons, a bread salad of sorts, will be the perfect side - and in addition to being delicious, won't mock me one bit.  I think a slice of cheese will make the perfect dessert.

There!  I'm already cheered up.

(For an approximately 4 lb. chicken - we have a gas grill, I preheat it until nice and hot.  I pour wine into the poultry roaster's receptacle, add a few cloves of smashed garlic, and fresh or dried herbs.  I remove and discard the giblets from the chicken, then rinse and dry it, rub it with some olive oil, sprinkle it lightly inside and out with coarse salt, and set it up on the roaster (the key, I theorize, is the roaster's "plug" that you press into the top, to hold in the steaming herby-garlic-wine, oh yes).  When the chicken is actually on the grill, I monitor the grill temp to keep it between 450-500 degrees.  Try that in your oven and you'll understand why I do this on the grill.  I might give the chicken a shift to the right or left to keep it browning evenly.  I might baste it a bit with pan juices for the same reason.  In about an hour, the chicken will be very crispy-browned, and very, very tender (move a leg around - it might even just pull right off).  I carefully - it's splattering, sizzling hot - bring it in the house, let it calm down for a few minutes, then remove the bird from the roaster (with tongs) and set it on a cutting board, letting it set up for 10 minutes or so while I put the finishing touches on a vegetable or salad.  I carve the chicken and try very hard to not steal bits of crispy, salty skin.  Quite simple, really.  And most definitely heavenly.)

Oooh, I love my new Weber vegetable grill pan.  I made chicken fajitas tonight and grilled the onions and peppers right alongside the chicken breasts.  I spritzed the pan with oil first, and tossed the vegetables with a little bit of olive oil (sprinkle of salt, few shakes of ancho chili powder) before spreading them in the pan, so had no sticking problems.  I heated the tortillas (wrapped in foil) on the grill as well - without the beans and rice I also made (for the kids), it could have been a completely grilled dinner.  Oh, except for the guacamole - gotta have guaaaaahcamole wth fajitas.  (Or anything - definitely one of the world's greatest dishes, guacamole!)

We ate on the deck, our first time for the season.  It's been warm enough a few times, but also windy, windy, windy, and really, who wants to eat elm seeds with their salad?  Tonight it is completely still, 75 perfect degrees.  The air smells of lilacs and barbecue.  I enjoyed a long, idyllic walk around Lowry Hill and Lake of the Isles earlier in the day, then read The French Lieutenant's Woman by the pool while Nathan swam, then sipped a beer while I prepped din...

Yeah, just one of those days.

Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times

I'm always looking for yummy zucchini recipes - I love zucchini, plus I end up with a boatload of it with my summer community-supported-agriculture (CSA) veggie share from La Finca Organic Farm in Willow River, Minnesota.  (I pick up my first share of the season later today, in fact; I'll have details over the weekend, although a preview email reveals my treasure will include salad greens, saute mix of dark leafy greens, garlic shoots, French breakfast radishes, and arugula - NICE!)  Although zucchini isn't showing up in my share, at the farmer's market, or in your gardens quite yet, it's worth checking out this NYTimes Recipes for Health dish, zucchini ragout with polenta.  Lightly simmered zucchini, tomatoes, onion, garlic, and fresh herbs, spooned over creamy polentaaah...  Looks simple, healthy, filling, and divine - good combo.

Other happenings this weekend include John's brother and his two children coming in for the weekend.  I'm planning on roasting a couple of whole chickens tomorrow night, on the grill, using my beloved Weber poultry roasters.  While the chickens rest up, more chapa vegetables (see below), this time a seared warm "salad" of Swiss chard, mushrooms, sweet onion, and tomatoes - a nice pairing with roasted chickens, I think. More to come, so stay tuned...

...and have a great weekend!

From www.cookinglight.com

I hope you're relaxing right about now, enjoying the start of a long Memorial Day weekend.  It's a weekend for griling, of course - I'm planning a little grilled tasty every day.

First up, tonight, skewers of salmon and shrimp, marinated first in something citrus-y/garlicky, to serve alongside pasta (for the kids) and stir-fried pea pods.

Tomorrow night, chicken fajitas - more marinade, this time spicy/garlicky (always the garlic).  I'll marinate peppers and onions too and grill them in my new Weber vegetable grill pan (it'll be the first time, I'll let you know how it goes...).  Soft tortillas, salsa, avocado, all good.

And Monday, for a late lunch, I plan on roasting potatoes on the grill (an experiment, on a baking sheet; again, I'll let you know how it goes...), then grilling halved baby zucchinis and onions which I'll finish with a little balsamic vinaigrette and fresh herbs (I'm picturing a warm salad) and a few hot dogs (mostly for the kids; I'm thinking I'm going to be very happy with grilled potatoes and zucchini).

For more inspiration (and actual recipes!), check out this Cooking Light link for grilling fish.  The swordfish skewers (pictured above) look particularly delicious, as does the orange/bourbon marinade for salmon (to me, orange and salmon are dreamy together).

And oh, if you're looking for something a bit more ribstickin', like say, ribs, check out my favorite (no-fail) pork rib recipe.  The Texas-style beef rib recipe featured this week in the NYTimes looks fun (and easy) too.  (In fact, for inspiration, check out the whole Times Topics on grilling - packed with info and recipes.)  And for full-on porkiness, it's hard to beat a slow-grilled pork shoulder (pictured), rubbed with lots of sweet spice and pulled apart to devour in buns.  Oh yeah...

Happy grilling!

Ooh, I have a cool new grill tool to rave about - the Weber Poultry Roaster! A sort of Chicko for the grill, or as Weber bills it, "beer-can chicken without the beer can." It has a little depression to fill with liquid - I innovated and poured in a bit of white wine with several cloves of smashed garlic - and the same phallic shape as the Chicko for spearing the chicken upright, always fun. The results? Completely delicious - crisp skin (salty, well, cuz I oiled and salted it), tender meat, even some nice pan juices (skimmed of oil, probably only a couple of tablespoons afterward, but very concentrated and tasty). All in all a success, especially with potatoes grilled in foil (with dill and scallions), finished with a dab of creme fraiche (scraped them from the foil into a bowl, stirred in a dab of creme fraiche), and LaFincapeapods sauteed quickly in a bit of butter. Uber-Frenchy, uber-yum, especially on the deck with a little tune-age, yeah.

What else? A dee-licious and romantic din at Cafe Lurcat last night, just John et moi, in the pretty bar. We shared the mini-burgers (to die), shrimp fritters, roasted cauliflower, apple salad, and gazpacho with anchovy crouton (again, to die).

Today, I worked off the excess by hauling my bike into Erik's Bike Shop (on an upside-down bike rack, no less, how embarrassing). I ride my bike every week or so, every time miserably uncomfortable and pretty much hating it. I finally brought it in to address the fact that my hands are painfully numbish after just an hour ride, plus I always feel like I'm sliding off the front of my seat. Well, hallelujah Erik's, my seat was too low, my handle bars were WAY too low, my seat was too big and tilted too far forward, and my tires were seriously under-inflated. The guy wryly said, well, we are making this quite a tall bike, but then again, you are not a short woman. Ha! No one else in the fam will be able to ride the thing (at least not if they want to touch the ground) - it even looks tall to me - but I got on that bad boy afterward and biked for an hour and a half today, happy as a clam. Do not underestimate the importance of a properly fitted bike - sheesh, what a difference.

Moderate it: it's tough at a spot like Cafe Lurcat, with arguably the best frites in the city. In the end, John and I chose between the burger and frites, and were happy with our choice (we were needing some protein in our order). We fleshed out the rest of our meal with veggies - gazpacho, cauliflower, and salad. Does a Bloody Mary count as veg? Who cares...damn goooood.

If you were waiting for me to post recipes for gazpacho or shrimp saltimbocca, both recipes are up now. My apologies for the lame (let's face it, lazy) delay!

Last night I whipped out my new Weber Poultry Roaster again, man I love that thing. Absolutely no mess or fuss - I opened the grill to baste the bird (chicken) a few times, but that's about it - et voila, a browned, crunchy little lovely, with some nice drippings at the base to turn into a bit of sauce. With sauteed broccoli and sugar snap peas alongside (I've got a thing for snap peas this summer, briefly sauteed in a bit of olive oil or butter until just heated through, so sweet and crunchy), it made a tasty din for the Wild Wednesday crowd.

Tonight, as I mentioned, dinner at Morton's with Zim's and Mack's to celebrate Aaron's birthday. Happy Birthday Aaron! My plan is to bow out early and head over to catch the end of Nathan's baseball game - he's had a little post-season tourney pop up. See you there, I'll be the one in a dress gnawing a side of beef in the stands. Rarrr...

Moderate it: oh Lord, Morton's is the most immoderate place on the planet. I man, I eat meat, grunt.It's all delicious, but even the potatoes are gargantuan - where do they find those things? I don't know what I'm ordering, probably a fishy appetizer of sorts - I'm making beef tenderloin on the grill tomorrow night, so no steak, sniff. I do love their steamed veggies, with just a teeny bit of Bearnaise (The Kill). Hopefully right about when those naughty hash browned potatoes appear, I'll be driving to Nathan's game...

I half ruined this whole barbecued chicken and it was still so provocatively delicious that John and I attacked it (and each other, get back!) like wolves.  Snip, snap, gone.  Wow, dudes, if you have not heeded my unpaid over-representation of the Weber poultry roaster (I have no relationship with Weber), heed it now.  It will make your summer.  It will!  You will dream about the chickens that you impale upon it, the chickens that you roast into sublime, golden (or in this case, blackened) glory, the chickens that almost fall apart when done, insanely juicy and tender and crisp.  With just salt and olive oil, or with the dry rub and barbecue sauce below, it matters not.  They're all...perfect.

 

 

 

 

 

 

My mistake was the sugar I added to the dry rub before massaging it into the chicken.  Dumb, given the blast of searing heat it takes to produce a tender/crisp bird, but it was left over from another recipe (coming soon) and I lazily used it.  I've adjusted the recipe below accordingly so your bird will be browned-not-burned.

To roast the chicken plain, read here.  To roast it barbecue style, see below.  Either way, write me if/when you've tried the roaster, I seriously can't wait to hear how yours turns out - that's how much I know you're going to love this chicken.  (That is if you eat meat; and if you don't, no worries, I'll be back soon with plenty of tasty meatless options!)

If you're thinking Memorial Day entertaining...I posted a strawberry shortcakes recipe at Dara & Co./Minnesota Monthly magazine this week.  The Easiest Biscuits This Side of Pie, filled with sweetened berries and topped with mounds of freshly whipped cream.  Yeah.

Whole Barbecued Chicken
Serves 4

1 4-5 lb. whole chicken, giblets discarded, rinsed and dried
1 Tbsp. each ancho chili powder, salt, garlic powder, and oregano
3 Tbsp. or so white wine or beer
2 cloves garlic, smashed
1/2 c. your favorite barbecue sauce (I like Daddy Sam's)

Preheat grill.  In a small bowl, stir together chipotle chili powder, salt, garlic powder, and oregano.  Spoon over the chicken and rub thoroughly into the chicken skin.  Sprinkle some inside the cavity.  (If you haven't touched the dry rub with your hands, store remaining rub for up to 3 months.)  Fill receptacle in Weber poultry roaster with white wine or beer, add smashed garlic cloves, replace the receptacle top.  Set the chicken, legs side down, over the receptacle.  Tuck wings under themselves and push the roaster's plug into the top of the chicken.  Place chicken/roaster on hot grill (moderate to around 450-500 degrees on a gas grill) and roast for about 1 hour, or until deeply browned and crisp and a leg moves freely in its socket (you'll even see the skin pulling away from the leg).

Carefully carry the sizzling, splattering chicken/roaster into the house.  I set mine on my cooktop because it is so very hot.  When the splattering slows, use tongs to remove the roaster's plug and transfer the chicken to a cutting board.  Let the chicken rest for about 10 minutes, then carve.  Serve immediately.

Yay for Friday Morning Coffee with Suz! Well-timed, loads to talk about, things have been so crazy-busy I feel like I haven't seen her for a year. We sipped our yummy joe, ran into a few old neighbors, gossiped some more, and cackled and shrieked so loudly we damn near chased away all the other customers. Woops! Man, good friends are worth their weight in gold (or in this case, much more, since Suz is pretty tiny and doesn't weigh very much at all)!

I had to tell her about the blast of a night I had last night - my mom invited me along to her office holiday party at The Chanhassen Dinner Theater for their production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. I admit, I'm not a big Broadway musical fan of the Andrew Lloyd Weber variety, but I've always had a soft spot in my heart for Joseph. I first saw it in oh, 1983, it was my high school's spring musical production. I remember going in with low expectations...and walking out completely charmed. I went at least another five times (hey, I was 16). I had last seen it in the mid-90s, the big-time Donny Osmond version at the State Theater, very fun. And then not again until last night, almost 25 years after my first viewing (ouch!) - still fun, still charming. Good stuff.

While I was out, John was wrapping up the two-month-long celebration of our 5th anniversary. Huh? Well, back at the beginning of October, after much brain-wracking in an attempt to come up with a gift worthy of my sweet husband, I birthed two pretty friggin' awesome ideas. Idea One: a surprise dinner with his boys, his long-term buds, at 20.21. I got emailing right away, tossing out dates, and came up with...December 13th?! Ack, so far away from October 19! I felt I needed something else too, something closer to the big day, hmmm...

And then, Idea Two: I commissioned my coolicious sister Stacey to paint a portrait of Sigmund, John's dear, sweet dog who passed away last March (and who he's been missing mightily, sniff). An entire painting obviously couldn't be ready by the 19th either, but Stace thought she could have it done by Thanksgiving, so I told John he had two kickin' gifts coming. And so...Stace did her thing and delivered the painting on the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend. It is, as you can see, completely amazing, a fabulously Stacified Siggy Roo, John was (is) absolutely blown away. BIG time hit. (Yesss!) Then last night...finally the dinner with his boys, total blast, a bawdy feasty feast that had the guys thanking me for thinking of it. (Yesss again!) So there. We are really, truly, absolutely done celebrating our anniversary.

Although for dinner tonight perhaps we could....

...the movie.  I was so excited to see it and let me say, I was not disappointed.  Love, love, loved it.  Was actually kind of weepy throughout, particularly during the Julia & Paul Child scenes.  The food, the romance, the finding one's passion, even the blogging and funnily enough, the tallness (Julia was 6'2", I'm 5'11") - oh my goodness did I connect with this movie.  As I sat next to my completely supportive and loving husband - seriously, he would back me and cheer me on if I decided I wanted to weave baskets for a living, although he'd be much hungrier - I coudn't help but be completely charmed and taken in by Meryl Streep's portrayal of Julia Child.  Absolutely outstanding, on every level.

This blog was 100% inspired by Julie Powell's Julie/Julia Project blog - and book, which I received as a Christmas gift from my stepmom Susanna almost four years ago.   I obviously haven't come up with nearly as cool an idea as cooking 524 recipes in 365 days (the Julie/Julia Project concept), but I sure have had fun cooking and writing about food!

So, in honor of Julia Child, I decided to roast a chicken for dinner tonight.  No, I didn't smear it with a stick of butter and roast it in my oven (although I have before, and it's delicious), but I did coat it with a small amount of olive oil, and a generous sprinkle of salt, and roast it on my Weber gas grill (with my genius Weber poultry roaster) for an hour until insanely tender-crisp.  I also sauteed a panful of mushrooms with garlic and tarragon, and added 2 Tbsp. of cream at the end to make a nice sauce.  I boiled fingerling potatoes, and finished them with a bit of butter, fresh tarragon, and chives as well.  And I finished the whole lot by adding the degreased pan drippings and crusty bits from the chicken to the pan of mushrooms, along with a splash of wine to thin things out.  As a final touch, I halved lovely cherry tomatoes, tossed them with a drizzle of olive oil, a small clove of minced garlic, and a generous shake of salt, and spread them on a baking sheet.  I ran them under the broiler until browned at the edges, and served them alongside the crispy-skin chicken, mushroom sauce, and fingerling potatoes.  Nice dinner.

In fact, tres bon.  Salut!

I'm really enjoying the concepts and recipes in my new cookbook, Seven Fires: Grilling the Argentine Way, by Francis Mallman.  In particular, I'm a bit obsessed with cooking vegetables on a chapa - (from the book) a flat piece of cast iron or a cast-iron skillet set over a fire.  I'm using my big Le Creuset cast-iron skillet, set on my Weber gas grill.  I preheat the grill until it's very hot (600+ degrees F), then lay the pan on the grate and preheat it until it's hot too.  Most of the recipes in Seven Fires are cooked on a chapa, which quickly sears and caramelizes food - perfect for vegetables.  I mean prrrrrfect. I've created two insanely simple and delicious dishes so far - one Friday night for my friend Michelle (alongside salmon), the other tonight for just John and me.  Tomorrow?  Yep, but more on that in a second.

Let me back up a bit and explain the two dishes I've already made.  The first was Burnt Fennel and Zucchini with Parmesan, Lemon, and Basil (recipe here).  The technique is to thinly slice the vegetables, separately toss them with a bit of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt and pepper, then cook them separately (fennel first, pictured above, then the zucchini) on the hot (unoiled) chapa until tender and blackened in spots.  The warm vegetables are tossed together and finished with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, chopped fresh herbs, and crumble of Parmesan cheese.  I plated the vegetables over a slice of grilled whole-grain bread, and served alongside salmon fillets that I also cooked on the chapa (Arthur, if you're still looking for a way to achieve crisp salmon skin, this may be the answer, since the pan is so much hotter than you can achieve indoors).

Tonight, armed with my new technique/experience, I rustled around in the cooler and unearthed wild mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, zucchini, English peas, and spinach.  I grilled each vegetable one at a time, scraping into a serving bowl as I went along, finishing with a handful of quickly-toasted nuts, minced fresh herbs from my pots on the deck (basil, mint, oregano), a crumble of Parm, and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.  Frankly, that was dinner - whole-meal-worthy and truly yummy.

I was needing a just-vegetables dinner after Saturday's not-moderate feast, uff.  Stacey, Debbie and Stu The Wine Genius Williams, and Michelle (here for the weekend) joined us for a pool-n-grill Saturday, sunny and hot and perfect for a barbecue.   I slow-braised two spice-rubbed pork shoulders pretty much all afternoon in the oven, then finished them on the grill, crisping up the exterior and slathering them in barbecue sauce.  We ate the pork pulled apart on rolls, with a side of blue-cheese coleslaw, fresh farmer's market snap peas, and apple pie a la mode for dessert.  The wine - thanks to Stu, so delicious.  Blast!

So tomorrow, more chapa vegetables, this time to toss with pasta.  I'm thinking more swiss chard, garlic, and sweet onion, as well as the one little slice of pancetta I have left from last week's Springtime Fava Bean Salad with Poached Egg (like I said, I'm seriously digging this book).  Stay tuned...