Saturday Supper Club

Got a partner in the kitchen tonight for a little dinner get-together — Mr. Ben Gurley. More later, including photos, but here's the menu for now:

chilled corn and crab salad

roasted lemon-basil chicken

broccoli and wild rice gratin

risotto with cannelini beans and kale

Risotto is not as difficult as its reputation would suggest — in terms of technique it's actually one of the easiest things to make. In terms of commitment, not so much: for good risotto, you really do need to stir so frequently that you can't leave the stove.

Once you get down the basics, you can add most anything to it: roasted mushrooms and leeks with a little Parmigiano-Reggiano, or English peas and ramps with fresh herbs, are two combinations I like. This particular version is crisp and fresh, with a mere sprinkle of cheese and the nice bitterness of the kale  cutting through the buttery flavors of the rice, beans and broth. Plus, it reheats well — a lot less gummy than very cheesy risottos tend to get.

- Put about 4-5 cups of chicken broth in a saucepan on medium-low heat, so it'll be warm by the time you need it.
- Tear up the kale until each piece is roughly the size of a spinach leaf. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large saute pan , and toss in kale, stirring so all pieces are covered. Stir occasionally so kale doesn't scorch, cooking 4-5 minutes until wilted. Turn off heat and set aside.
- Melt 2 tablespoons of butter on medium-high heat in large stock pot. Add 1/2 a yellow onion, roughly chopped, and toss until coated. Cook 2-3 minutes, until soft but not browned.
- Add arborio rice (about 3 cups works with these proportions) and toss with butter and onion. Toast slightly, about 3 minutes.
- Add 1/2 cup dry white wine and cook until almost evaporated.
- Add 1 cup of the chicken broth and turn the heat to high/medium-high. Simmer, stirring constantly, until broth is completely absorbed. Repeat, 1/2 cup of broth at a time, until all the broth is used.
- Take off heat, add beans, kale, 2 tablespoons of pecorino cheese, black pepper. Stir it all together and serve.
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whole wheat penne with chicken sausage and sauteed vegetables

After tutoring, I need something quick — partly because I'm starving after skipping lunch in favor of making photocopies, and partly because I've been on my feet since waking up at 5:30 and want the day (or at least the work of it) to be over.

- Get some water boiling. Once it is, add a ton of salt. I hold to the old maxim that pasta water should have roughly the salt content of the Mediterranean.
- Meanwhile, throw a few tablespoons of olive oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Cut 3-4 medium-size sausages into coins, maybe 1/4" thick.  (I prefer sundried tomato and basil chicken sausages, but you could use pretty much anything short of a breakfast link.) Toss them into the hot, not yet smoking, olive oil and toss to coat.
- While those are browning, cut 2-3 medium bell peppers (red or green, doesn't matter) into strips, then halve the strips. Throw these into the pan and stir well.
- Cut 1 medium onion into rough semicircles — i.e. peel the onion, cut it in half, then chop thin semicircular strips down each half — throw these into the pan. Saute the sausage, peppers and onions with a little salt and pepper until the sausages are brown, peppers soft, and onions mostly translucent. Then turn the heat as low as it can go and add 1/2 a jar of vodka sauce.
- Cook pasta per box directions, strain, and throw back into pot. Pour sauce over it all and mix well. Top with grated Parmesan or Pecorino Romano. NO KRAFT. Otherwise the delicious dinner you just cooked is void.

chicken fricassee, carrots, and mustard greens with garlic mashed potatoes

I talk about food all the time; eat it even more frequently; cook every night Sunday through Thursday without fail. So I've long thought about being one of those people who blogs about what they cook, what they eat, how it goes. But I won't be lamenting that Julia Child doesn't like me, that Top Chef rejected my audition tape, that I can't get a segment on The Today Show. This is really about recording what I eat, and how I do it. In other words, this is a compendium for me. Secondarily, it's a place for dedicated amateurs with day jobs; people who like to cook homemade, semi-serious food without too much fuss; those who don't have the time or inclination to mess around with intricate recipes, but who don't think Sandra Lee is necessarily something to aspire to, either.

Day 1: Labor Day. Instead of a backyard barbecue, I decided to go with something rich and slow-cooked, one I'd cook in a Le Creuset pot if I owned one. Instead I use pans inherited unopened from my parents when I moved to New Orleans. Fricassee is, fittingly, a French word popularized in Southern cooking. It means "to cook chopped food in its own juices" (swoon!), and probably comes from the words frire ("to fry") and casser ("to break"). The process keeps the chicken unbelievably moist, leaves you with a great broth or sauce to give flavor to sides, yet retains a little crispness and texture because you brown the chicken before getting those juices flowing. It's a perfect Sunday (or holiday Monday) meal — it takes a little longer, but you can have a glass of wine and watch sports [oxymoron alert?] while you do it. 

Full disclosure: I got the idea from a recipe on epicurious.com (http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Chicken-Fricassee-with-Carrots-Mustard-Greens-and-Avgolemono-Sauce-5682), but the whole thing was a little involved (even for a day off), so here's my modified version:

- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

- Take chicken pieces — skin on, for sure, maybe 2 breasts and 2 thighs —and drizzle them with lemon juice, parsley, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Heat olive oil (enough for a nice thin coat on the bottom of a big saucepan) and add the chicken. Cook chicken until brown on all sides and remove.  Keep the pot going.

- Add 4 chopped carrots and about 12 whole cloves of garlic to the pot and saute for about 2 minutes. Then add a cup of dry white wine, about 1/4 cup of lemon juice and turn down the heat. Simmer until it reduces and starts to become somewhat more sauce than cooking liquid. Add 3 cups of chicken stock and the chicken pieces, turn off your stove and pop the pot into the hot oven. Cook uncovered for maybe 30 minutes. (One way to know chicken is done: pierce it with a sharp knife, and if the juices run clear, you're all set; if they run pinkish at all, give it another 5 minutes.)

- Take everything out of the pot except the cooking liquid, and tent it with foil so it stays warm. Back on the stovetop, boil the liquid until reduced by half. Maybe 7 minutes? Who cares...

- Add the mustard greens to what's left, cook for 2-3 minutes, then throw in some chopped scallions, Dijon mustard and parsley.

- Meanwhile, I have been making instant garlic mashed potatoes, according to the directions on the box (here's where I'll let a little bit of Sandra Lee into my kitchen).

- Serve, making sure you get a good amount of that cooking broth on the plate, while avoiding "whole chicken breast and mashed potato soup." If you want to thicken the liquid into more of a sauce/gravy, throw in 2 tablespoons of butter and maybe a teaspoon of flour, and stir well.


Roommate rating: "The mustard greens were my favorite. It was good, it was really good. It was delicious, like everything you make." 3 stars