Arroz con Pollo (TTH)

• 8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (about 2 pounds), rinsed and patted dry
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, cored, seeded, and chopped
• 3 jarred piquillo peppers, seeded and chopped, or 1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and chopped [Eh, was moving soon.  I don't really need to buy a jar of pickled peppers right before.]
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 Roma (plum) tomatoes, halved, seeded, and chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon ground Espelette pepper, cayenne pepper, or hot paprika [I may have used double this amount.  I imagine half cayenne and half pimenton.]
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 cup basmati rice
• 1 small packet (1 1/4 teaspoons) Sazon seasoning [Completely failed to see that an actual measurement is listed here]
• 1/2 teaspoon saffron threads
• 3 cups chicken broth
• Hot sauce, such as Crystal, to taste
• 2 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro [Pretty sure I didn't bother buying this]
• 2 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 cup plain whole milk yogurt for serving
• Lime zest (optional)

Mise en place.

Browning the chicken thighs.  it's probably impossible to tally up the number of chicken thighs I've browned since I started cooking.

Drain off half of the copious oil (we rendered plenty of fat from the chicken thighs) and cook onion, bell pepper, garlic, tomatoes, Espelette (I'm pretty sure this is some fancy pepper that my idol Richard Blais digs, but I've finally bought the pequin chiles April Bloomfield is into.  Really, I only need so much specialty red pepper in my life, thanks.), and bay leaves.  Cook until the onion softens.

La di da, add tomato paste and caramelize.  Apparently this is also a big Richard Blais thing.

Add rice, Sazon, and saffon and cook, stirring for 2 to 3 minutes.

Pour in chicken stock.  Season with salt, pepper, and hot sauce (which is surprisingly rarely ever used in my cooking even though I like things hot).  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and maintain a simmer.

Nestle in chicken thighs (I guess try to keep the skin from getting totally submerged.)_  Cook until chicken has cooked through.

Somehow it escaped me to take a photo of the finished dish itself.  Top with herbs, yogurt, lime zest, and copious amounts of the condiment I otherwise almost never use for some damn reason.
Arroz con pollo surely hasn't shot up my list of favorite things to eat, but this is arguably better than the ATK skillet version.

Moroccan Tuna Bolognese (TTH)

Tomato Sauce

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large yellow onion, minced
• 8 garlic cloves, minced
• Two 28-ounce cans San Marzano tomatoes in juice [ATK says San Marzano is not at all inherently better quality and I take what they say as gospel]
• One 4-inch piece Parmesan cheese rind [Didn't have this]
• 1/4 cup finely diced charcuterie scraps, such as prosciutto or hard salami rinds (optional)
• 4 teaspoons dried oregano
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 18 to 20 fresh basil leaves [I threw the basil into the back of the fridge even though I knew they were a strong possibility that they would freeze and become ruined...  C'est la vie.]
• 5 to 6 leaves from an organic or nonsprayed tomato plant (optional) [Better be]

Tomato sauce mise en place.

Cook onion and garlic until softened over medium heat.

Add tomatoes, mash with potato masher and simmer for 1 hour.

Moroccan Tuna Bologneese

• Three 6- to 8-ounce tuna steaks
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
•  1 carrot, finely minced
• 1 stalk celery, finely minced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon Moroccan spice blend [I'm judging you if you need to resort to this] or 1 teaspoon each ground coriander, cumin, and cinamon
• 1 bay leaf
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 cup dry sherry or red wine
• 2 cups Tomato Sauce
• 1/2 cup pitted Picholine or other green olives, roughly chopped
• 2 teaspoons grated orange zest, plus more for garnish
• 1 pound Fresh Pasta Dough, rolled out and cut into linguine, [Didn't happen], or store-bought dried linguine
• Juice of 1/2 lemon (about 2 tablespoons)
• 4 ounces feta cheese, crumbled, for garnishing
• 1/4 cup mixed chopped fresh dill, parsley, and basil [I think I just had parsley]

Mise en place.

Very finely mince one of the tuna steaks and cook in olive oil over medium-high heat until it begins to brown.  Remove with slotted spoon.

This is a utensil I didn't exactly have when I cooked this, but I do now.

Add aromatics (I guess I need to be more explicit here and say this only includes the oncion, carrot, and celery.) and cook until softened.

Add garlic, spices, bay leaf, and salt and pepper.  Cook to toast spices.

Add tomato paste and cook to caramelize.

Add tomato sauce and cooked tuna.  Bring to a boil.  Simmer until the sauce is very thick, 25 to 30 minutes.

Stir in the tuna chunks, green olives, and orange zest, cover, and cook for 10 minutes.  Taste and adjust seasoning.

Add pasta to the sauce, then add the lemon juice and half the feta and herbs.  Toss until pasta is well-coated.
Sprinkle with remaining feta, herbs, and extra orange zest if I really wanted to bother pulling out the microplane again.

Best Chicken Stew (CI)

from November & December 2013

• 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, halved crosswise and trimmed
• Kosher salt and pepper
• 3 slices bacon, chopped
• 1 pound chicken wings, halved at the joint
• 1 onion, chopped fine
• 1 celery rib, minced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 teaspoons anchovy paste
• 1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
• 5 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup dry white wine, plus extra for seasoning
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons butter, cut into 3 pieces
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 pound small red potatoes, unpeeled, quartered
• 4 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Arrange thighs on baking sheet and season both sides with salt and pepper.  Cover with saran wrap and set aside.

Mise en place.  I guess "party wings" are already separated at the joint.

Cook bacon over medium-low heat until fat renders and bacon browns.  Transfer bacon to bowl with slotted spoon.

Brown chicken wings and add to bowl with bacon.

Add aromatics and cook until dark fond develops on pan bottom.  Frankly, it's already got a nice dark fond.

Add wine, 1 cup broth, and soy sauce and reduce until liquid evaporates and vegetables sizzles again.

Add butter and stir until melted.

Sprinkle flour over vegetables and stir to combine.

Gradually whisk in remaining 4 cups broth until smooth.  Add wings, potatoes and carrots and cook, uncovered for 30 minutes, in a 325 degree over.  Stir halfway.

Use spoon to draw gravy up sides of pot and scrape fond back into stew. Add chicken thighs and cook, uncovered, until chicken and vegetables are tender.
I pulled it out when the potatoes were tender and I had hit the 45 minutes mark.  I guess the carrots could have gone on for a little longer, but they were fine.  Remove chicken wings (the flavor's all cooked out of them) and season.

Deep, rich, soul-satisfying.  I wasn't sure beforehand how this would differ from my favorite ATK recipe for Chicken and Dumplings, but it was pretty awesome.  They're both chicken stews, but this one is much darker and richer in flavor.  This would be poor match with dumplings and I might not make this annually, but it still really, really good.

Also I tossed the remainder of a bag of frozen peas in for good measure.  I like peas in my chicken stews.

Simplified Cassoulet with Pork and Kielbasa (CATKTV)

Chicken

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup table salt
• 10 (5-6 ounce) bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, trimmed and skin removed [Oops, guess I screwed up a little by leaving the skin on]

Beans

• 1 pound dried flageolet or great Northern beans, picked over and rinsed [Great Northern]
• 1 medium onion, peeled plus 1 small onion, minced
• 1 medium head garlic, outer papery skind removed and top 1/2 inch sliced off plus 2 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed through a garlic press (about 2 teaspoons)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Ground black pepper
• 6 ounces (about 6 slices) bacon, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
• 1 (1-pound) boneless blade-end pork loin roast, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 (14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes, drained
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 large sprig fresh thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 3 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 1/2 cups dry white wine
• 1/2 pound kielbasa, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/4-inch slices

Croutons [Although I didn't bother)

• 6 slices high-quality white sandwich bread, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted 

Dissolve salt and sugar in 1 quart of cold water in gallon-sized bag and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Not all the salt and sugar got dissolved and the chicken was still pretty frozen, but I don't think it hurt the dish THAT much.

Pat the chicken dry with paper towels afterward.

Mise en place minus the beans.

Practically the same picture as the previous entry.  Except no bay leaves, less water, the onion's hole, and there's some pepper.  Cook until almost tender, 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours.  Drain beans and discard onion and garlic.

Fry bacon until it's just beginning to crisp and most of the fat is rendered.  After that, dump half in with the beans and reserve the rest on a paper-towel-lined plate.

Cook chicken until lightly browned.  Start skinned side down or since I screwed up skin-side down.

Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of fat and cook pork until lightly browned.

Add onion and cook until softened.

Add minced garlic, tomatoes, tomato paste, thyme, bay leaf, cloves, and pepper and cook until fragrant.

Deglaze with chicken broth and wine.  I sort of did this in stages since I didn't start the beans until later for some stupid reason.  I guess that reason would be not reading through the whole recipe and making the correct logical decision.

Submerge the chicken, bring to a boil, and simmer covered for 40 minutes.  Uncover and cook under pork and chicken are fully tender, 20 to 30 minutes more.

Gently stir in beans, kielbasa, and reserved bacon.  Season to taste.  (Apparently, if I had brined the chicken right, I wouldn't have needed to season with salt as aggressively as I did.) I guess this would be the right time to top with the croutons I didn't make and bake until they were deep golden brown.
When I first made this dish, back before the blog, a previous roommate had said this dish was the best thing he had ever put in his mouth.  I declared the dish a bit too rich for me though still good.  I'm not sure I got as walloped by one serving of this as the first time, but it's still rather more than I'm comfortable with eating multiple times in a day.  It's typically made with duck confit but that's hella expensive and would probably push this even further over my limits.

Good dish, I figure, if one really appreciates French food way more than I do.

Potato and Kale Soup

from the America's Test Kitchen Healthy Family Kitchen
Or as I like to tell Helen S who is a big fan of this book over the company's more serious work, this book is America's Test Kitchen for Dummies.

• 1 teaspoon canola oil
• 4 ounces chorizo, halved lengthwise and sliced crosswise into 1/4-inch thick pieces
• 1 onion, minced
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• Pinch red pepper flakes
• 6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 1/2 pounds red potatoes (4 to 5 medium), scrubbed and cut into 3/4-inch chunks
• 1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed
• 12 ounces kale, stemmed and leaves sliced 1/4 inch thick
• 1 teaspoon minced fresh oregano or 1/4 teaspoon dried
• Salt and pepper

Since this is ATK for Dummies, the recipe doesn't care if you use Mexican or Spanish chorizo when there is a world of difference between the two.  Since I'm a gourmand I sprung for the expensive dry-cured expensive stuff.

Man, I want to be able to make this some day.

Whole Foods: Shame on you for not carrying any type of chorizo.

I was supposed to cook the chorizo until browned, but I didn't think the dry-aged stuff was going to get there.  I gave up when I figured that enough fat had rendered out.

Again, the mise en place in process.  I weighed out the chorizo on my scale, but when it came to the kale...  I just stopped once that bowl was full.

After transferring the chorizo to a plate, soften the onions in its beautiful fat.

Add garlic, cumin, and pepper flakes and cook until fragrant.  Stir broth, potatoes, and chickpeas.  Bring this all to a simmer and cook until potatoes are almost tender.

Add chorizo, kale, and the fresh oregano here (I used dried so I'm pretty sure I added that in with the broth) and cook until the kale and potatoes are tender.  Crush some of the potatoes against the sides to thicken the soup up a bit...
And what can I say?  I'm kind of a sucker for brothy soups with good flavor and veggies.  Immensely charming dish.

Thai Green Curry with Chicken, Broccoli, and Mushrooms (CATKTV)

Green Curry Paste

• 1/3 cup water
• 12 fresh green Thai, serrano, or jalepeno chiles, seeds and ribs removed, chile chopped coarse [Finally using a significant amount of peppers off the jalapeno plant my parents gave to me.]
  
• 8 medium garlic cloves, peeled
• 3 medium shallots, peeled and quartered
• 2 stalks lemon grass, bottom 5 inches only, trimmed and sliced thin [Now, I realized I've gone too far with the peeling off of layers.]
• 2 tablespoons grated zest from 2 limes
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro stems
• 1 tablespoon minced or grated fresh ginger
• 2 teaspoons coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon table salt
  

A large amount of prep went into all this this.


The paste was really blistering since I left all the seeds in ribs in. The recipe also left at least a cup of paste rather than a half cup the recipe calls for. I suspect that was due to my having used jalapeno pepper rather seeking out the more authentic and preferred Thai chiles.
Therefore half of it is sitting in my fridge.

Thai Green Curry with Chicken, Broccoli, and Mushrooms

• 2 (14-ounce) cans unsweetened coconut milk, not shaken
• 1/2 cup Green Curry Paste or 2 tablespoons store-bought green curry paste
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed and sliced thin
• Table salt
• 8 ounces broccoli (1/2 small bunch), florets cut into 1-inch pieces
• 4 ounces white mushrooms, wiped clean and quartered
• 1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and cut into 1/4 inch strips
• 1 Thai, chile, stemmed, seeded, and quartered lengthwise (optional)
• 1/2 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves
• 1/2 cup loosely packed fresh mint leaves
• 1 tablespoon juice from 1 lime
  

Mise en place.

Whisk curry paste and 1 cup cream from the top of the coconut milk (it's weird how I haven't used coconut milk with really solid tops recently). Boil until almost all the liquid evaporates.

Add remaining coconut milk, fish sauce and sugar. Cook to meld the flavors and thicken the sauce.

Wound up using the pork loin I had from the earlier stir-fry recipe.

Everything looked all fine and dandy and then I decided to cover the pot even though I wasn't instructed to do so by the recipe. I was scared the broccoli wouldn't cook through, but it just might have. While allowing some the liquid the mushrooms were releasing to decrease.
Oh well, I still have 1/2 the Curry Paste to play with.

Even though trying to the curry paste before cooking the dish was blistering, the dish was remarkably mild and rather similar to what one would get in an average Thai restaurant. The pork was tough; maybe chicken will be better next time.

Lost my stage at L'Espalier for a stupid mistake I made that I would rather not talk about. For the last month, I have been miserable for several reasons that include the influx of interns there to roommate drama at home.
Maybe restaurant work isn't for me; particularly if my options are to start off as a dishwasher like Jen Y or spend $40,000 at culinary school and make less money than I do right now. Perhaps I'll wait a full year before enrolling in pre-reqs for nursing school; after that, clearly I'm never going to hear back again from America's Test Kitchen.
I'll continue trolling craigslist for opportunities. I nearly went to an interview today, but the distance from the train seemed far.