Roast Potatoes and Chicken with Romesco (FM)

• 6 tablespoons olive oil, or more as needed
• 1 1/2 lbs new potatoes or small potatoes, halved
• Salt and black pepper
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 4 bone-in chicken thighs
• 1/2 cup almonds
• 1 large red bell pepper, roughly chopped
• 1 large or medium ripe tomatoes, cored and roughly chopped
• 1 garlic clove, or to taste
• 1 packed cup fresh parsley
• 2 tablespoons sherry or white wine vinegar [I used sherry vinegar]

Toss potatoes with 2 tablespoons olive oil, salt and pepper.  Roast for 10 minutes in single layer.

Top potatoes with rosemary sprigs, then chicken and salt and pepper.  Drizzle with another 2 tablespoons olive oil.

Roast for 25 to 30 minutes.

 

Throw ingredients for romesco into blender.

Romesco (Catalan pronunciation: [ruˈmɛsku]) is a nut and red pepper-based sauce from Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain. It is typically made from any mixture of roasted or raw almonds, pine nuts, and/or hazelnuts, roasted garlic, olive or sunflower oil, bitxo peppers (similar to New Mexico chiles) and/or nyora peppers (a small, round, variety of red bell pepper). Flour or ground stale bread may be used as a thickener or to provide texture. Other common ingredients include roasted tomatoes, red wine vinegar and onions. Leaves of fennel or mint may be added, particularly if served with fish or escargot. It is very often served with seafood, but can also be served with a wide variety of other foods, including poultry and some red meats like lamb and vegetables. During the springtime, salsa romesco is served as an accompanying dip for calçots, a spring onion typical to Catalonia, during traditional springtime calçot barbecues called "calçotades". During calçotades, calçots are roasted over an open fire until their outer layer is charred. The charred layer is then removed and the tender part of the onion may be dipped into the romesco.

Deliciousness in wait.

 

OMG, I found a new favorite sauce.  Romescu is beautiful, rich, tangy, nutty, flavorful...  Awesome on the roast chicken and potatoes.

Plenty of leftover sauce for my forthcoming Mixed Grill entry.

Camarones Enchipotlados (Chipotle Shrimp)

from the Rick Bayless iPad app:
recipe to follow as per Joe A's request

• 1 15-ounce can diced canned tomatoes in juice (preferably fire-roasted), drained OR 1 pound (about 2 medium-large round or 4 or 5 plum) ripe tomatoes, roasted and peeled [They didn't have fire-roasted tomatoes at Stop and Shop, so I broiled some cheapo tomatoes since the techniques really concentrates their flavors anyway]
  
• 2 or 3 canned chipotle chiles en adobo
• 1 tablespoon chipotle canning sauce
• 2 tablespoons vegetable or olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
• About 1 1/2 cups fish or chicken broth or water [Somehow didn't really occur to me to boil the shrimp shells from prepping the dish and making a broth from that. Silly Judy.]
  
• Salt
• 1 to 1/4 pounds medium-large shrimp (21 to 25 shrimp per pound), peeled and deveined, tail left on if you wish
• About 1/4 cup (loosely packed) fresh cilantro leaves for garnish

1. Puree the tomatoes and chiles. Pour the drained tomatoes into a blender or food processor. Add the chipotle chiles and chipotle canning sauce and process until smooth.
2. Sautee the garlic. In a very large (12-inch) skillet, heat the oil over medium. Add the garlic and stir until fragrant and golden, about 1 minute.
3. Cook down the base for the sauce. Pour the tomato mixture into the pan. Cook, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes as the pureee thickens and the flavors meld.
4. Finish the sauce. Add enough broth or water to achieve a light tomato sauce consistency. Taste and season highly with salt, usually about 1 teaspoon.
5. Cook the shrimp. Add the shrimp to the pan. Cook, stirring nearly constantly, until the shirmp are cooked through, about 4 minutes. Stir in a little more broth or water if the sauce has thickened too much. Scoop onto dinner plates and sprinkle with cilantro leaves.

Tomatoes on my trusty quarter-sheet cake pan.
Which will soon get a couple workouts for its intended purpose this month. Blog entry on Apple Cake (MMB) quite soon.


About 15 minutes under the broiler. It would have probably been easier to core the tomatoes when they were raw, but... Next time.


The peeled shrimps and their shells. I read somewhere that leaving the tails on promotes better cooking of the shrimp.
Should've used those shells to make stock for the broth but I just threw them out.


Blended sauce.


Sauteing garlic for the Nth time.


Cooking down the sauce a bit to concentrate the flavors.


Thinning out the resulting mixture with boxed chicken broth and cooking the shrimp.


Mmm, quite good and simple to put it off. I will definitely cook it again.
Joe A. was there and the recipe struck him as simple enough that he would want to cook the dish. When asked if he could help, I had him pick off the cilantro leaves.
However, I realize that every time I use fresh herbs I should practice chiffonading them.

Rolled Kaled with Tofu and Fermented Black Beans (HCEV)

• about 8 large kale leaves, washed (or collards, mustard greens and chard. I've been using chard because they consistently have large leaves at the moment.)
• about a pound of tofu (preferably baked, pressed, or panfried [I've gone with baked which is as easy and 1-2 pounds of tofu baked at 350 degrees F for 1 hour]
• 2 tablespoons neutral oil, like grapeseed or corn
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1/2 cup sake or mirin (Honestly I don't think sake has a place here) or water
• 1/2 cup fermented black beans
• soy sauce and dark sesame oil to garnish

Pretty, pretty rainbow chard. I didn't even glance at my other options when I saw this at the Whole Foods in Central.

Chopped chard stems nestling with the "minced" garlic. Bittman claims that he only goes so far to finely chop the stuff. ATK believes garlic pressing is the way to go (which is what I do when I cook ATK). I read at least a couple of times that pressing bruises or muddies or whatevers the flavor of garlic. But then again I'm also told that prep of garlic and onion right before use (like when it goes in the pan and not 30 minutes before) is the only way to get the optimal flavor from these ingredients. What the hell you say? I've read too much cooking literature, but I still refrigerate tomatoes even though that destroys cell walls and loss of flavor.


Wikipedia:

Mise en place ( literally "putting in place") is a French phrase defined by the Culinary Institute of America as "everything in place", as in set up. It is used in professional kitchens to refer to organizing and arranging the ingredients (e.g., cuts of meat, relishes, sauces, par-cooked items, spices, freshly chopped vegetables, and other components) that a cook will require for the menu items that he or she expects to prepare during his/her shift.

Resting on a bed of Trader Joe's Tri-Color Quinoa.