Everyday Dorie: Subtly Spicy, Softly Hot, Slightly Sweet Chicken Stew
January 27, 2023 at 10:56 pm | Posted in cook the book fridays, everyday dorie, groups, other savory, savory things, soups | 3 CommentsTags: everyday dorie, savory, stew
You may be thinking that Subtly Spicy, Softly Hot, Slightly Sweet Chicken Stew is a strange name for a number of reasons, including the part about chicken in a recipe that actually calls for beef. I don’t eat red meat, so I swapped boneless, skinless chicken thighs in for the beef stew meat in this traditionally-made, but unusually-flavored, stew.
Dorie admits to doing a bit of a pantry raid to come up with the flavorings in this recipe. Meat is marinated in a bath of gochujang, soy, red wine and aromatics like ginger and cilantro stems. Because I used chicken thighs, I only marinated them for a few hours, instead of the overnight soak Dorie calls for with beef. Again, this is a recipe where I didn’t measure a thing, just eyeballed amounts and taste-adjusted as the stew cooked. I decided to leave the cranberries out of the stew because I didn’t want to have to buy a big frozen bag of them just for a handful, and they sounded odd to me anyway in here. Instead, I tossed in a parsnip along with the carrots (and I didn’t strain them out at the end, since my stew only took about and hour to cook with the chicken thighs, as opposed to three hours with beef). Towards the end of the stew’s cooking time, I thought it seemed to be missing something in the flavor department, and then I looked at the ingredient list and realized it was! I entirely forgot to add the cinnamon stick and star anise. D’oh! I stirred in a spoonful of five-spice powder instead. Because I think just about everything can use a bit of acid, I added in a splash of Chinkiang vinegar off the heat.
The scallion, cilantro and orange gremolata sounded like a bizarre garnish to me, but I’m glad I didn’t skip it because I really liked that fresh herb punch and raw garlic zing as a finisher. I thought this stew was quite (surprisingly!) delicious made with chicken, and I’ll keep it in mind because I usually do have the needed pantry ingredients on hand.
For the recipe, see Everyday Dorie by Dorie Greenspan, and head over to Cook the Book Fridays to see how the group liked this one.
Everyday Dorie: Eggplant and Ginger Tartines
January 13, 2023 at 11:28 pm | Posted in condiments, cook the book fridays, everyday dorie, groups, other savory, savory things, veggies | 3 CommentsTags: everyday dorie, salad, savory
Eggplant and Ginger Tartines are another “things on toast” recipe that makes for a good lunch, if you have some extra time or if you do some prep in advance. These open faced sandwiches feature a charred and seasoned chunky eggplant spread on top of crusty bread. I’ll just be straight here and tell you that it would never even occur to me to actually measure the flavorings and seasonings in something like this eggplant spread. I looked at the ingredients list and added enough stuff (tahini, pom molasses, lemon, sumac, ginger, scallion, cilantro and salt) to the smush until I liked the way it tasted. Also, I grated my ginger, as opposed to coarsely chopping it, because I was, in fact, not paying attention to anything other than the names of the ingredients themselves. I only realized the ginger was supposed to be chopped when I read Kim’s post– haha- sounds like maybe it was a good mistake.
I assembled my tartines on some toasted homemade polenta sourdough. The eggplant spread is, shall we say, drab in color, but the tartines are garnished with some pretty bits to jazz them up. Sliced pear (or apple, in my case) and radish give the tartines some crunch. Arugula provides more pepperiness and pomegranate seeds give some pop.
For the recipe, see Everyday Dorie by Dorie Greenspan, and head over to Cook the Book Fridays to see what we all thought.
Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Potato-Parm Tart
January 10, 2023 at 6:22 pm | Posted in BWD, groups, other savory, pies & tarts, savory things, tuesdays with dorie | 6 CommentsTags: baking, savory, tarts
I made and froze a disk of Savory Galette Dough the other day for this Potato-Parm Tart and then promptly forgot about it. New year, same me. Luckily, if you either have the dough RTG or have a sheet of shop-bough puff pastry kicking around, you can finish the tart off pretty quickly for an on-the-fly lunch. A par-baked round of your chosen crust (this isn’t made in a tart pan, but instead is baked off as a flat disk) gets a schmear of cream cheese, Parmesan and a scattering of something in the allium family. I used leftover sautéed leeks. Then overlapping circles of potatoes sliced on the mandolin, or thin as you can cut them, are spiraled on top and seasoned. Pop it into the oven and then pull it back out 25 minutes later with frilly, bronzed potatoes and a salty, crispy crust. I really wanted to have my slice with a glass of white wine, but stuck to just an arugula salad, since I had to go to the dentist later in the afternoon and felt weird about drinking before a doctor’s appointment. Maybe with a re-toasted leftover sliver to celebrate no new cavities…
If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan, get it and join us as we bake through it twice a month. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll!
Everyday Dorie: Candied Cocktail Nuts
December 23, 2022 at 5:44 pm | Posted in cook the book fridays, everyday dorie, groups, other savory, savory things, snacks | 2 CommentsTags: everyday dorie, salad, savory
I’m late to the party in posting these Candied Cocktail Nuts because I wanted to have them around for Christmas Day snacks. I knew that if I roasted them two weeks ago, they would not have made it that long!
These are simple: toss lightly toasted nuts in a sweet and salty melted butter mix and roast for about ten more minutes. I raided the nut drawer for this and used macadamias, pecans, cashews, hazelnuts and pistachios. While Dorie flavors hers with thyme in the recipe, she does suggest playing around with spices. I took her suggestion to use garam masala, and since I was going down that route, I replaced the maple syrup and brown sugar in the butter mixture with jaggery for sweetness and the red pepper flakes with Kashmiri pepper for heat. I also added in some fresh curry leaves, which roasted up crispy. As anticipated, these nuts are totally addictive (and since they were a snap to put together, I could easily have made another round…)
For the recipe, see Everyday Dorie by Dorie Greenspan (it’s also here), and head over to Cook the Book Fridays to see what we all thought.
Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Pear-Comté Tart
November 8, 2022 at 5:18 pm | Posted in BWD, groups, other savory, pies & tarts, savory things, tuesdays with dorie | 6 CommentsTags: baking, savory, tarts
My last two posts were separately about pears and cheese, and now here I am combo’ing the two with this Pear-Comté Tart. It has basically all the good stuff from a cheese plate (cheese, fruit, nuts, cracker, mustard) held together with custard. I really liked the salty, nutty Comté together with pears and walnuts, and I felt very sophisticated enjoying this for a weekend lunch in my sweatpants with some lightly dressed radicchio leaves and a glass of wine.
If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan, get it and join us as we bake through it twice a month. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll!
Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Blue Cheese Bites
October 24, 2022 at 9:55 pm | Posted in BWD, groups, other savory, savory things, tuesdays with dorie | 3 CommentsTags: baking, muffins, savory
I made these Blue Cheese Bites last holiday season as part of a little snack plate to have with wine. Since that was almost a year ago now, I thought about remaking them (even bought the cheese) but, of course, I let it slide. So I will have to dig deep in the vault for this post. What I remember most about the savory mini muffin bites was thinking the base batter was very similar to that of a madeleine, made with olive oil instead of melted butter, and with a long rest period. I’m a blue cheese fan, so I used it in these, along with some dried cherries and figs. These were good bites with a glass of red, so maybe I will repeat them soon after all.
If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan, get it and join us as we bake through it twice a month. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll!
Everyday Dorie: Marinated and Pan-Seared Chicken Cutlets
October 14, 2022 at 10:21 pm | Posted in cook the book fridays, everyday dorie, groups, other savory, savory things, snacks | 5 CommentsTags: dip, everyday dorie, savory
The title of this recipe is actually, “Marinated and Pan-Seared Hanger, Skirt, Flank or Take-Your-Pick Steak.” I don’t eat red meat, so my pick was going to be taking a pass on this recipe. Then I noticed Dorie made a little note about the marinade also being good for chicken cutlets, and I felt like I couldn’t take the week off after all. The marinade is Asian-inspired with curry paste, soy, ginger, lime, garlic and cilantro (it would probably be good with pork or shrimp, too…maybe she should rename it, “Marinated Take-Your-Pick Meat”). I used thin-sliced chicken breasts and marinated them for a few hours. They cooked super quickly in my cast iron pan, so this actually wound up being an easy, fast and flavorful weekday dinner that I’m glad I didn’t skip out on.
The night I made these cutlets, we had them over rice with some green beans. There were a couple of cutlets left over, so I saved them to turn into chicken sandwiches for work-at-home lunch day (on the excellent Daily Bread from Baking with Dorie).
For the recipe, see Everyday Dorie by Dorie Greenspan, and head over to Cook the Book Fridays to see what we all thought.
Everyday Dorie: Shrimp-Mousse Squash Blossoms
August 12, 2022 at 10:05 pm | Posted in cook the book fridays, everyday dorie, groups, other savory, savory things, snacks, veggies | 6 CommentsTags: everyday dorie
This time of year, zucchini abounds at my farmers’ market, and thankfully, a couple of farm stalls sell the blossoms, too. I buy them frequently in the summer; usually for Mexican recipes, like soups or quesadillas with flor de calabaza. I also do love me an Italian-style cheese-stuffed squash blossom, although I usually only order them out because I don’t love me a pot filled with fryer oil. That said, I have, a few times, made those cheesy ones myself so I was game to try these Shrimp-Mousse Squash Blossoms.
These zucchini flowers are stuffed with a chunky “mousse” of chopped shrimp and herbs and spices bound with egg white. The stuffed blossoms get dunked in a tempura batter and fried up. I only made six and didn’t use nearly the amount of oil Dorie calls for, but instead did a true shallow fry…one side and then the other. They did wind up super crisp and the filling reminded me of what’s probably my favorite fried shrimpy treat– shrimp toast. I’ll have to give that a try next!
For the recipe, see Everyday Dorie by Dorie Greenspan, and head over to Cook the Book Fridays to see what we all thought.
Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Tomato Tart
August 9, 2022 at 9:51 pm | Posted in BWD, groups, other savory, savory things, tuesdays with dorie | 5 CommentsTags: baking, savory, tart
Tomatoes are spectacular at the farmers’ market right now. I could happily just eat them raw, in salads or on toast, but this Tomato Tart really does showcase them beautifully. They are the stars of this show for sure, but they get some support from a schmear of honey-mustard, a few herbs and a bit of cheese (I went with a combo of Gruyère and a French spreadable cream cheese). Oh, and a tasty pastry crust. Even though this tart is baked in a tart pan and not free-form, I used Dorie’s savory galette dough, which held its shape really nicely. (Speaking of galettes and tomatoes, this Cheese and Tomato Galette was one of my favorite recipes from BWJ). The tomatoes become a bit more concentrated in flavor in the oven, and combined with the sweet-salty filling and the crisp crust, well, this tart makes a lovely Summer lunch or dinner. I have a leftover slice and, in the morning, I’m going to put a fried egg on top of it because I think it will be a good brekkie, too.
If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan, get it and join us as we bake through it twice a month. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll!
Everyday Dorie: Basta Pasta Potato Salad
July 23, 2022 at 9:49 pm | Posted in cook the book fridays, everyday dorie, groups, other savory, pickles, salads, savory things, veggies | 2 CommentsTags: everyday dorie, salad, savory
This Basta Pasta Potato Salad really threw me for a loop. I judged a recipe by its name and not its actual ingredient list and was thoroughly convinced it was a pasta and potato salad. Sounds unusual, but mash-ups are all the rage, and I’m down for some carb-on-carb action. I saved aside a small portion of a twisty little dried pasta shape that I thought would look cute in photos just for this. Imagine my surprise when I finally set out to make the salad and there was no pasta to be found in the recipe.
What this recipe (based on a potato salad Dorie had at a restaurant called Basta Pasta– mystery of the missing pasta solved!) does have are typical pot sally mix-ins like mayo, scallions, capers and pickles, as well as some not-so-typical ones like saffron, wasabi, OJ and cukes. Dorie wouldn’t lead us too far down a crazy path, though, and it all works together nicely. It’s kind of what you’re used to, but with a twist, and sometimes it feels good to keep things interesting.
For the recipe, see Everyday Dorie by Dorie Greenspan, and head over to Cook the Book Fridays to see what we all thought.
Baked Fresh Weekly
Blog at WordPress.com.
Entries and comments feeds.
a whisk and a spoon 