Spanish Chicken done with Grace and Style

Stop the presses!

This recipe is simply amazing.

And easy.

I know, I know, I say that about all my recipes.

But it’s true.

Anyway, the easy part comes from knowing basic skills in the kitchen and not freaking out when a recipe has you do something you’ve never done.
And also it comes from the ability to react quickly when you do something you weren’t supposed to do in a recipe.

And that you do it all with a sense of grace and style as opposed to shrieking at the top of your lungs and using lots of words that normally would come out of the mouth of a sailor, as my mother so eloquently puts it.

You don’t expect flames when you add vermouth to drippings and shallots, do you. Unless the recipe tells you to do this, right? Well, you should if you get over enthused about what you’re doing and decide you’re related to Julia Child and swirl the pan so the liquid sloshes out and all of a sudden you’re flaming the shallot/white wine mix.

And a wooden pepper mill.

But I digress.

The ease of cooking is also demonstrated by the ability to stay on task.

Deciding it’s time to water the gardenia that has been wintering in the guest bathroom because you have two minutes until dinner is done and the last time you watered it was in February is not really staying on task, now is it?

A glass of your favorite wine helps with the sense of grace and style you demonstrate because you are relaxed, creating an incredible meal for the man you love after you put out the flaming peppermill.

The result of this graceful concentration on the task at hand?

A meal that blows your mind.

One bite and you’re transported to the coast of Spain, lounging on the beach, waiting for Cabana Groom to bring you a glass of fabulous Spanish red wine and you are the cutest thing on that beach, the sound of the ocean in your ears.

Another bite, you’re back at the Red Brick Ranchero, smoking peppermill on one side and on the other is Groom, smiling and saying, I don’t know how you make it all look so easy.

A comment you hear as you race back to the guest bath to turn the ocean off.

You see?

Grace and style.


Spanish Chicken done with Grace and Style

4 bone in chicken thighs, skin on
2 links chorizo sausage, pierced in several places
4 fat garlic cloves, sliced thinly
1 large shallot, minced
1/3 cup dry white wine
1 15 ounce can plum tomatoes
½ cup chicken stock
2 red bell peppers, cored seeded and sliced thinly in strips
About a tbsp chopped fresh thyme
¼ cup chopped Italian parsley

Heat a bit of extra virgin olive oil in a skillet. Add the two pierced links of chorizo and let cook til brown. This will take about 15 minutes.

Remove the chorizo and slice diagonally. Add the chicken to the skillet and season with coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper. Cook til golden and remove from pan.

Add shallots to pan and dry white wine…cook quietly til its reduced by half and add the tomatoes, garlic, red peppers, thyme. Cook 15 minutes. Add the chicken stock. Cook five minutes. Add the chicken back to the pan and cook 35 minutes.

Remove the chicken from the pan and add the chorizo and cook about five more minutes. Sauce should be pretty thick by now. Plate with a chicken thigh and sauce over. You could garnish with Italian parsley if you remember.

Serve with lots of crusty bread.

Serves 4.

Spanish Chicken done with Grace and Style

Pan Fried Rainbow Trout Fillets with Pancetta and a Zucchini Tian

Total déjà vu.

Once again I’m standing in the kitchen with pig(pancetta) in one hand and fish (fresh rainbow trout) in the other and the pig and fish thing takes charge.

I turn around and there’s a zucchini, a potato and a couple of tomatoes and garlic cloves sitting there looking at me on the counter top.

My brain starts working and the games begin.

This turned out even better than I thought it would.

I got out my handy dandy mandolin and sliced the potatoes, tomatoes and garlic and zucchini. I stood them up in the individual gratins in layers and drizzled with olive oil, seasoned at the last with lots of freshly ground black pepper. They went into the oven for 35 minutes. In the meantime, I crisped the pancetta and removed it to a platter. The trout is floured and seasoned and cooks in the fat the pancetta released. Trout removed, Meyer lemon and capers added off the heat.

She shoots.

She scores.

Pan Fried Rainbow Trout with Zucchini Tian

Preheat oven to 400.

1 small zucchini
1 baking potato
3 small tomatoes
2 fat cloves garlic
Extra virgin olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper

Slice the zucchini, baking potato, garlic and tomatoes very thin. Put a little bit of extra virgin olive oil in baking dish ( I did these individually, but it would certainly work just fine in a 8x8 pyrex dish). Start with potatoes, and take 4-5 pieces and stand them up, the sprinkle a bit of garlic, then a couple of sliced tomatoes, then garlic, then a bit of zucchini, then garlic and repeat til you use up all the veggies. Drizzle with olive oil, season with the black pepper and run in the oven. They cook about 35 minutes.


2 rainbow trout fillets
2 ounces pancetta, diced
Extra virgin olive oil
A cup of all purpose flour seasoned well with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
1 tbsp capers, drained
1 Meyer lemon

Heat large cast iron skillet and put a good swirl of extra virgin olive oil in the pan over moderate heat. Add pancetta and cook til crisp. Remove from pan . Dredge trout in flour mix on both sides and put in hot skillet. Cook on both sides til golden brown. Remove trout from pan and remove pan from heat.

Add capers and lemon juice and stir to combine.
Plate trout and put caper lemon sauce over and garnish with pancetta. Serve tian on the side.

Serves 2.

Pan Fried Rainbow Trout Fillets with Pancetta and a Zucchini Tian

Grilled Lamb Patties with Red Peppers, Nicoise Olives and Creme Fraiche

Okay. Here’s the deal.

There are times that certain flavors are what I want to eat. There are times that I know I want these flavors but don’t have a clue what those flavors are going to end up in. Sometimes the flavors and ingredients are the same, but the whole recipe is totally different.

A month or so ago, I did an incredible recipe for Merguez, a lamb sausage. The sausages were fried/sautéed on top of the stove and served on top of couscous with fresh spinach. They were amazing, if I do say so myself.

I wanted to do something again with the flavors of the Merguez, but in a different presentation. I wanted to add Nicoise olives, and red bell peppers and I wanted to grill the ground lamb that had been highly seasoned and this time had bread crumbs, lots of fresh cilantro, garlic and sweet red onion added and have more of it to eat than just a small sausage.

So, I did.

To top off the grilled lamb patties, I did an adapted version of a fabulous recipe of Perla Meyers that uses sautéed red bell peppers, garlic, and crème fraiche with the addition of the Nicoise olives, fresh cilantro and toasted pine nuts.

It worked.

Grilled Lamb Patties

3 garlic cloves

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon paprika (sweet)

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon cayenne

1/3 cup finely chopped cilantro
1 lb ground lamb
1 cup fresh soft bread crumbs
¼ small red onion, grated

Combine and form into small oval patties.

Grill for 4-5 minutes per side.

Makes 8 patties.

Plate the patties, then put the pepper sauce over. Garnish with the Nicoise olives and the fresh cilantro.

Serves 3-4.

Red Bell Peppers with Garlic, Black Olives and Crème Fraiche

with inspiration from Perla Meyers

1/3 cup pine nuts, toasted
A couple of swirls of extra virgin olive oil
2 fat garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
2 large red bell pepper, seeded and cut into julienne
1/3 cup chicken stock
2 tbsp crème fraiche
1/3 cup pitted Nicoise olives
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Heat a large cast iron skillet on top of the stove. Add a couple of swirls of extra virgin olive oil. When hot but not smoking, add garlic and moderate the heat so garlic doesn’t burn. When you can really smell the garlic, add the red bell pepper and cook them until they start to soften.

Add the chicken stock and stir over moderately high heat until almost all the liquid is gone. Then add the crème fraiche.

Turn the heat down just a little and stir til the peppers absorb the crème fraiche. Add the pine nuts. This would be just as wonderful with rack of lamb or chops grilled to perfection!

Serves 3 -4.

Grilled Lamb Patties with Red Peppers, Nicoise Olives and Creme Fraiche

Artichoke Heart and Toasted Pine Nut Salsa on the Perfect Salmon Fillet

I’ve branched out.

I managed to prepare a seafood dish without the pig.

It was difficult. Prosciutto would be absolutely divine in this salsa , but I didn’t do it.

Howsomuchever… this artichoke heart, red bell pepper, Nicoise olive, toasted pine nut salsa for salmon ROCKS!!! It's an old recipe heartily adapted from the Food Network.

Seriously.

It’s amazing stuff. It’s good in a spoon, on a Tostito..it is divine.

Throw in some tuna canned in olive oil (truly the only kind of canned tuna to eat) and call it lunch.

Add cannelini beans and call it bruschetta.

Make it your own.

It is a portent of things to come this summer and I, for one, cannot wait.

Artichoke Hearts and Toasted Pine Nut Salsa

1 6 ounce jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained
1 fat garlic clove, minced
1 tbsp capers
2 tbsp chopped sun dried tomatoes in olive oil
1 small red bell pepper, seeded and diced
¼ cup pine nuts, toasted
1/3 cup Nicoise olives, pitted and chopped coarsely
Freshly ground black pepper
About ¼ cup coarsely chopped fresh Italian parsley

Combine all of this , mix well and season.
Makes about 1-½ cups.

Perfectly Seared Salmon

adapted from Michael Fennely

Preheat oven to 400.

Heat a cast iron skillet on top of the stove. Add a good swirl of extra virgin olive oil.
Put two nice sized fillets of wild salmon in the pan skin side down.

Cook until skin is crispy, takes about three minutes or so.

Put the pan in the oven for 5-7 minutes til salmon is done.

Top with salsa and wait for applause.

Serves 2.

Artichoke Heart and Toasted Pine Nut Salsa on the Perfect Salmon Fillet

Pots de Creme au Chocolat

Simple. Easy. Deadly. Divine.

All in one dessert.

Make this one when you want to impress, shock, and/or seduce.

Candlelight required.

Enough said.

Pots de Crème au Chocolat

1- 4 ounce bar bittersweet chocolate, broken into small pieces
1 cup heavy cream
3 egg yolks
Splash Grand Marnier

Put chocolate and cream in small heavy saucepan. Heat, stirring, until chocolate melts and starts to boil.

Reduce heat to simmer, and cook, stirring for three minutes exactly. Remove from heat.

Put egg yolks in bowl.

Take small whisk and dip into chocolate then whisk the eggs. Do this several times to warm the egg yolks. Then add chocolate cream mixture in thin stream, beating eggs the entire time. Splash a bit of Grand Marnier into the chocolate and stir.

Pour into four 3-ounce pot de crème pots, or espresso cups. Let cool. Then you can put the tops on the pots, or cover with plastic wrap.

Chill til you’re ready to impress, shock and/or seduce.

Makes 4 servings.

Pots de Creme au Chocolat

Grilled Scallops with Prosciutto, Leeks and Red Pepper

I’ve got seafood on the brain.

It could be that vacation is coming up very soon and I’m practicing all the recipes I want to do at the beach. Or it could be that all the rain that’s falling in Tennessee is reminding me of the ocean.

Or it just could be that we love seafood.

So, okay. Clams one night. Scallops the next.

That’s cool.

Then again, I am quite fond of the pig.

It could be all that pork belly floating around the blog world these days that’s got me much more into Porky than ever before. I haven’t tried the belly yet, but it’s on my to do list.

Chorizo one night . Prosciutto the next.

I’m seeing a pattern here.

And when the pig and seafood get together it’s a marriage made in heaven. Two nights in a row.

Grilling scallops was the plan tonight, but rain changed the outdoor action, so the handy dandy grill pan came to the rescue.

Prosciutto is crisped to perfection to be used as a garnish for the grilled scallops. Garlicky leek and red bell pepper saute on top of buttery spinach as a base for the sweet seafood.

Surf and turf takes on a new meaning.

Maybe I’ll do salmon and pancetta tomorrow…hmmmm….

Grilled Scallops with Crispy Prosciutto, Leeks and Red Pepper

6 large sea scallops
4 fat cloves garlic, chopped
1 large red bell pepper, diced
2 leeks, cleaned, light green to white parts only, diced
About a pound of fresh spinach, cleaned
¼ lb prosciutto, diced
1 tbsp butter
A couple of good swirls extra virgin olive oil

Heat a cast iron skillet and add a couple of good swirls of extra virgin olive oil. Add prosciutto and cook about 8-10 minutes til crispy. Remove from pan and drain on paper towels. Add leeks to the pan and saute five minutes, then the red bell pepper and garlic. Cook ten minutes until very soft and golden. Remove from pan and season with coarsely ground black pepper.

Grill scallops about 4 minutes per side depending on how big they are. While scallops are cooking, cook spinach. Put rinsed spinach in a hot skillet and cover for five minutes, remove the top and cook til wilted and water evaporates. When done add the tbsp of butter.

Plate with the spinach on the bottom, the leek and pepper mix on top of that finishing with three scallops per person. Sprinkle prosciutto over all and serve.

Serves 2 generously.

Grilled Scallops with Prosciutto, Leeks and Red Pepper

Linguini with Clams, Fennel and Chorizo

Sometimes, an ingredient will pop into my head and for the rest of the day I’m thinking about what to do with said ingredient. It can happen most any time during the day.

This morning, I woke up thinking about clams.

I thought about clams all day long. I thought about fried clams, white clam sauce, red clam sauce, clams with potatoes, clam chowder, Clams Casino, clams steamed open in a savory broth. I felt like that guy in Forrest Gump that could recite every single shrimp recipe.

Driving home, I remember the chorizo in the fridge, not Groom’s homemade version as we finished the latest batch last week, but some from Niman Ranch so the chorizo is not slacking in the taste department. Sweet bell pepper and fennel that needed a home would be fabulous with the clams.

I could have gone to the store and gotten fresh clams, but I haven’t had the best of luck with those. One of these days I’ll grow up and give them another try, but for now, the cans would work fine for the clam sauce that was percolating in my head.

And such a fine clam sauce it is. Totally different from any I’ve had before. Sweet, spicy with a touch of heat from the chorizo.

A bit of this for dinner, a good night’s sleep and I’m ready for the next ingredient.

Linguini with Clams, Fennel and Chorizo

2 links chorizo sausage, remove the casing and crumble as best you can
(or use homemade chorizo and get enough for a scant ¾ cup of cooked sausage)
Couple of swirls of extra virgin olive oil
1 fennel bulb, diced (save a nice piece of the fennel fronds)
1 sweet yellow onion, diced
1 small red bell pepper, diced
2 cans clams, drained reserve juice
4 fat cloves of garlic, chopped
1 good sized tsp fennel seeds
Freshly ground black pepper
Linguini

Heat a couple of good swirls of extra virgin olive oil in cast iron skillet. When hot but not smoking add chorizo and cook til nice and browned and releases the fat. Remove from the skillet.

Add the fennel, onion, red bell pepper and cook about 10 minutes til golden, then add the garlic and cook another ten minutes.

Heat water for pasta and start that process.

Add clam juice to skillet and bring to boil. Reduce heat to simmer and add the clams.
When pasta is done, add a ladle of pasta water to skillet and drain the pasta. Add pasta to skillet, combine well and cover and let sit for five minutes. Add the fresh fennel and serve.

Serves 3 generously.

Linguini with Clams, Fennel and Chorizo