Chicken, grain, salad

Menu: Baked chicken thighs * wild mushroom couscous * mixed green salad

Preheat oven to 400. Place boneless chicken thighs in glass baking dish; pour Salt Lick BBQ sauce over. Bake 20 minutes; turn off oven but do not open.

Prepare couscous according to package directions.

Salad: mixed fresh greens, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, small salad pepper, red bell pepper, Sass smoked tomato ranch dressing. Chop and mix.

Serve chicken on couscous.

Chicken, Pasta, Veg

Menu: baked lemon-rosemary marinated chicken * oven-roasted zucchini romanesco with parmesan shavings * trecce dell’orto pasta with roasted cherry tomatoes and fresh basil * vanilla yogurt with fresh blueberries
Wine: Famega vinho verde

I made my grocery run this afternoon to provide main dishes with the farmers market veggie sides this week. Tilapia and salmon from Sam’s, marinated chicken breasts, marinated pork tenderloin, and a flank steak at Central Market.

Zucchini romanesco
1 large-ish zucchini romanesco, purchased from the fine water-challenged growers at Tecalote Farms

Preheat oven to 400. Slice zucchini in half; place cut side down on oven rack. Roast 30 minutes.

Roasted cherry tomatoes
Three dozen cherry tomatoes
Olive oil
Drizzle oil on nonstick rimmed baking sheet. Add tomatoes; shake to coat. Place in oven with zucchini. Roast 25-30 minutes.

Chicken
1 large split boneless chicken breast, marinated in lemon juice with chopped garlic and rosemary by the fine butchers at Central Market
Olive oil
Drizzle olive oil in glass baking dish. Set marinated breast in; place in oven for last 15 minutes of zucchini and tomatoes’ 400-degree baking. Turn oven heat to 375. Continue roasting until chicken reaches safe poultry temperature of 165.

Pasta
Note: this is the same pasta I cooked last week, and last week I completely mis-read the package. Trecce dell’orto, not trecce dell’oro. Which makes it, rather than “braids of gold,” “braids of the vegetable garden.” It’s a specialty pasta whose multi colors come from vegetable. I love “braids of the vegetable garden” (or, to make it even more fun, “braids of the kitchen garden” or “braids of the market garden”). Boil water; add pasta; cook 10-12 minutes. Drain; toss with butter and fresh-ground salt. Chiffonade a handful of fresh basil leaves.

Plate a zucchini half for each person; grind fresh salt and garlic over, add parmesan shavings and basil chiffonade. Plate a pile of pasta; top with cherry tomatoes and basil chiffonade. Plate chicken. Serve.

For dessert, a handful of blueberries with Brown Cow organic vanilla yogurt over.

Chef’s sustenance:
vodka-tonic (still no gin) with Beemster graskase (a Belgian pilsner for M)

Chef’s soundtrack:
final round of the U.S. Open, play-by-play provided by M as I cooked

How did it turn out?
I loved all of it. M felt the zucchini was bland. I thought it was intensely zucchini-flavored, and loved the rich note of the parmesan, but could experiment next time with a shake of cane vinegar or lemon juice for him. Would have tied it in nicely with the chicken. That chicken, by the way, is now on my standby list of Things To Pick Up At Central Market To Cook Quickly In The Evening. Very nice. And I am convinced that you just cannot go wrong oven-roasting (or sauteeing) cherry tomatoes. It really concentrates the flavor.

Would I make it again?
Yes.

Chicken, Greens, Rice

Menu:
Royal Chicken Cooked in Yogurt (Shahi Murgh) * Indian-Spiced Lentils with Kale

I chose this Madhur Jaffrey chicken recipe because it didn’t call for marinating, and because it would go with the kale, which M had requested be cooked with some kind of beans. Each recipe looked like it could be made in 45 minutes or less.

Shahi Murgh
1 c plain yogurt * 1 tsp salt * fresh ground black pepper * 1 tsp ground cumin * 1 tsp ground coriander * 1/4 tsp cayenne, or to taste * 1/4 c finely chopped fresh cilantro * 3-1/2 lb chicken, cut into serving portions * 1/4 c vegetable oil * 8 cardamom pods * 6 whole cloves * 2-inch stick of cinnamon * 3 bay leaves * 2-1/2 T blanched slivered almonds * 2-1/2 T golden raisins

Put yogurt into bowl. Beat lightly until smooth and creamy. Add 1/2 tsp salt, some black pepper, the ground cumin, ground coriander, cayenne, and cilantro. Mix and set aside.

Using remaining salt, season chicken pieces on both sides and sprinkle on fresh ground black pepper.

Put oil in a wide, preferably nonstick pan, and set over med-high heat. When oil is hot, put in cardmom pods, cloves, cinnamon, and bay leaves. Stir once and put in some chicken pieces, only as many as the pan will hold easily in a single layer. Brown on both sides and remove to a large bowl. Bronw all chicken this way; transfer to the bowl. Put almonds and raisins into the same hot oil. Stir quickly. The almonds should turn golden and the raisins should plump up, which will happen very fast. Now put chicken and accumulated juices back into pan; add seasoned yogurt, stir to mix, and bring to simmer. Cover, turn heat to low, and simmer gently 20 minutes, stirring once or twice during this time. Remove cover, turn heat up a bit, and reduce sauce until thick and it just clings to chicken. Turn chicken over gently as you do this.

Note: The large whole spices – cardamom, cinnamon, cloves – are not meant to be eaten.

What I changed:
I had about half that much chicken, boneless skinless breasts. It didn’t occur to me until mid-cooking that this was the case. The yogurt I used was non-fat, and I wonder whether this is why the sauce sort of evaporated in the first 10 minutes. That, or I cooked it too high. Instead of golden raisins, which I didn’t have, I used dried cranberries. Otherwise, I followed the recipe until the sauce evaporated into yogurt solids and oil… at that point, I whisked it, then gently whisked in some rice flour to make a slightly different sauce.

Indian-Spiced Lentils with Kale
1 c lentils, picked over and rinsed * 1 tsp salt * 1 lb kale, stemmed and chopped * 2 T unsalted butter * 1 tsp ground coriander * 1/2 tsp ground cumin * 1/2 tsp ground mustard * 1/4-1/2 tsp hot red pepper flakes * 2 garlic cloves, minced * 2 tsp minced fresh ginger root

Bring lentils, 6 c water, and salt to boil in medium saucepan; boil for 5 minutes. Reduce heat; simmer until lentils are tender but still hold their shape, 20-25 minutes. Add kale during last 5 minutes of cooking. Drain, reserving 1 c cooking liquid.

Meanwhile, heat butter in large skillet over medium heat. Add coriander, cumin, mustard, and hot red pepper flakes; saute to develop flavors, about 1 minute. Add garlic and ginger; saute until softened and fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add lentils and kale and reserved cooking liquid. Simmer to blend flavors, about 5 minutes. Adjust seasonings and serve.

What I changed:
I started by toasting mustard seeds in the dry pan before starting the lentils. I didn’t bother with draining; M likes what the old Southern cookbooks call “pot liquor.” I spaced out briefly and put in a minced 2-inch piece of ginger rather than 2 teaspoons. I didn’t mind, because I love it, but M gave it a definite “too much.” He’s right.

I made a quick pot of plain rice to provide a bed for the chicken.

Chef’s sustenance:
Another vodka-tonic (really, I need to stop and get some gin)

Chef’s soundtrack:
Foo Fighters, “Times Like These”
My Morning Jacket, “It Beats 4 U”
Prince, “Let’s Go Crazy”
Beck, “Tropicalia”
Pearl Jam, “Given to Fly”
Fleetwood Mac, “Big Love”
Kate Bush, “This Woman’s Work”
Kermit Ruffins, “Chicken and Dumplings”
R.E.M., “Driver 8″
Britta Phillips and Dean Wareham, “Your Baby”
Spoon, “Don’t Make Me a Target”
Roy Orbison, “Go! Go! Go!”
Duran Duran, “Ordinary World”
Depeche Mode, “Just Can’t Get Enough”
The Wallflowers, “Into the Mystic”
Kate Bush, “Oh to Be in Love”
Steve Earle and Reckless Kelly, “Paradise”
Marty Stuart, “This One’s Gonna Hurt You”
Squeeze, “Pulling Mussels (From the Shell)”
Patty Loveless, “Sounds of Loneliness”
Sam Phillips, “I Don’t Know How to Say Goodbye to You”

How did it turn out?
The chicken flavors were subtle. Maybe just a little too subtle, though I liked having hints rather than anything overwhelming. The kale itself was tough, though I chalk that up to the kale itself (fibrous, probably past its picking).

Would I make it again?
Maybe. Maybe not. I was a little underwhelmed. We’ll see if the flavors develop overnight.