Lemon and Chive Pan Sauce

The sauce is from Cook's Illustrated, but for the chicken, I follow the instructions to make Sauteed Chicken Breasts.

1 shallot, minced (about 3 tablespoons)

1 tsp all-purpose flour

1 cup low-sodium chicken broth

1 Tbsp juice from 1 lemon

1 Tbsp minced fresh chives (I've also used green onion tails)

1 Tbsp (½ oz/14gr) butter

Salt and ground black pepper

1. If required, add a little oil and sautée shallot in a skillet and cook over medium heat until softened, about 2 minutes. 
2. Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for about 30 seconds. 
3. Add the broth, increase the heat to medium-high, and bring to a simmer, scraping the pan bottom to loosen browned bits. 
4. Simmer rapidly until the liquid is reduced to ¾ cup, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in any accumulated chicken juices; return to a simmer and cook 30 seconds. Off heat, whisk in the lemon juice, chives, and butter; season with salt and pepper. Spoon over chicken and serve immediately.

Chestnut and chocolate, a sweet consonance - Fondants Chocolat Marron

My favourite recipes are the simple ones that give the impression of great luxury. This is one of them. The cake is so moist and thick with dark chocolaty gooey goodness, it's a miracle they're not sold at McDonald's. It's a recipe from the Limousin region in France, and I've adapted it from the Recoins de France Web site.

1 can sweetened chestnut paste

100g 70% chocolate (usually 1 bar)

3.5 oz (100g) butter 

3 eggs

1. Preheat oven to 375F.
2. Melt together chocolate and butter in a bain marie.
3. Whisk in the chestnut paste until the mixture is uniform, then add eggs one-at-a-time.
4. Pour into a single cake tin or smaller containers such as ramekins.
5. Bake 25 minutes or until centre is firm.
6. Let cool completely before removing from containers and serving
7. Recommended with crème anglaise, raspberry coulis or caramel sauce.

Irish Mutton Stew

People prefer lamb over mutton because it's so much more tender. Well, I don't know if it's the recipe or the mutton I used, but this was a delicious dish, full of flavour with tender morsels of mutton. The original, lost in the mists of time (I didn't save the Internet page it was on, all I remember was that it was an extract from a book with a picture of the cook on the cover, a sweet Irish grandma... really, with the cloud of white hair on her head and everything. Very cute), asked for more than three times what I've used, and I'm pretty sure I made a few mistakes in my calculations, but it worked! And it also means that it'll be easy to multiply the quantity. The ratio of meat to veg in my first attempt wasn't quite right, so this is still a work in progress, and the following is what I think the next batch should be.

1½ lb mutton, cubed into 1/2 inch pieces

Grapeseed oil (optional)
1¾ cup stock

2-3 large carrots, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces

1 onion, cut into eigths

1-2 potato(es), sliced into 1/4 inch rounds

sprig of thyme

1 Tbsp (½ oz/14gr) butter

1 Tbsp flour

chives and parsley

1. If you're chopping up your own piece of mutton, trim the fat and render it in a saucepan, removing the solid portion once the fats have melted out. You can use this to lightly brown the meat instead of using vegetable oil.
2. If you don't have extra or enough fat to render, use about a tablespoon of grapeseed oil.
3. Note the 'lightly' in lightly brown the meat. Set aside. Use meat stock to deglaze the pot, remove from the heat source, and set the stock aside.
4. The next step is to layer the ingredients in strata. Start with laying the cooked meat (and any juices) at the bottom of the pot, season with salt and pepper, then layer with the chopped carrots, sprinkle with salt and pepper and nestle the sprig of thyme on top, followed by the onion, again with some salt and pepper, followed by the sliced potato with, yes, a brief shower of salt and pepper.
5. Using the saucepan's lid as a guide, cut out a round of parchment paper and lay this on top of the veg, then put the saucepan lid on top of that. Bring to a boil and let simmer gently for 1 to 1 1/2 hour.
6. Once cooked nicely with the meat all tender, in a saute pan, melt the butter on high heat, sprinkle in the flour and whisk until it starts to brown; the browning is important for flavour. Whisking constantly, drizzle in all the stock from the stew pot, let it simmer for about 5 minutes, then chop up some chives and parsley, mix these in, then pour it all back over the meat and veg.
7. It's ready to serve.

Traditions start somewhere - Tarte à la Citrouille a Papa

I just called home to ask my dad for his special pumpkin pie recipe. I always thought it was a recipe passed on from one generation to the next. My dad was in the bathroom and my sister's family was there with their little dog and so it was my mom who gave me the recipe after I'd had the chance to say 'hi' and chat a bit with the others. My mom said she was tired and she'd read the recipe out to me in English - whoa, wait a minute, why is it in English? I asked. Apparently it isn't an ancient family recipe, it's something my mom found in a magazine or on the back of a tin label that my dad started to make because he'd use pumpkins from the garden (like many straight men of his generation, there were only certain things a man could do in the kitchen and retain his manliness - barbeque being one of them). The original recipe is apparently called "Magic Pumpkin Pie", but to me, it will always be:

1 blind baked pie shell (crust recipe)

2 cups pumpkin, mashed (to roast a pumpkin, 350F oven, cut in half, scoop out middle, oil cut edges, cut edges down bake for 50 minutes or until a knife easily pierces the skin. Cool, scoop out flesh, mash or puree in a blender)

1 1/3 cups eagle brand sweetened condensed milk *(1)

1 egg

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp. ginger

3/4 tsp. cinnamon

1. Pre-heat the oven to 375F.
2. Blind bake pie the crust for 10 minutes.
3. Blend all the ingredients together in a bowl, then pour into the pie shell.
4. Bake for 50-55 minutes.
5. Cool, and refrigerate for 1 hour before serving.

*(1) (I am testing out a recipe to make my own sweetened condensed milk)

Spaghetti Al Limone

With my vegetarian niece coming for dinner on Sundays I've had to explore other cuisines - French food doesn't offer much in terms of vegetarian food. However, Italian does, and I know this from the near decade I spent as a vegetarian. I discovered David Rocco, handsome Italian man who cooks, too!

1 lb. spaghetti

1 clove garlic, for rubbing

lemon juice from 2 lemons, freshly squeezed

5 Tbsps. olive oil

salt to season

1 cup parmigiano cheese, finely grated, plus extra for sprinkling

bunch fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped

zest of 1 lemon, freshly grated

1. Place the spaghetti in a pot of boiling salted water.
2. Cut the garlic in half and rub all over the inside of a large serving bowl. This way the flavour of raw garlic will lightly infuse whatever you put in it. To the bowl, add the freshly squeezed lemon juice and salt then slowly drizzle in the extra virgin olive oil while whisking until the ingredients emulsify.
3. When the spaghetti is ‘al dente’, drain it and dump into the serving bowl. Mix well, sprinkling in the parmigiano cheese, parsley and lemon zest. Serve immediately.

Chilli con Carne

For the moment, I'm essentially saving this from Cook's Illustrated. This was one of the recipes I'd lost when our computers were stolen. I'll have to go through the whole process of figuring out what I'd changed. One thing I remember is that I skipped the thickening part with the Masa Harina.

Serves 6.

To ensure the best chilli flavour, I recommend toasting whole dried chillies and grinding them in a mini-chopper or spice-dedicated coffee grinder, all of which takes only ten (very well-spent) minutes. Select dried chillies that are moist and pliant, like dried fruit. Count on trimming one-half to a full pound of waste from your chuck roast, so start with a four-pound roast to end up with three to three-and-a-half pounds of beef cubes. For hotter chilli, boost the heat with a pinch of cayenne, a dash of hot pepper sauce, or crumbled pequin chillies near the end of cooking. Serve the chilli with any of the following side dishes: warm pinto or kidney beans, corn bread or chips, corn tortillas or tamales, rice, biscuits, or just plain crackers, and top with any of the following garnishes: chopped fresh cilantro leaves, minced white onion, diced avocado, shredded cheddar or jack cheese, or sour cream.

3 Tbsps. ancho chilli powder or 3 medium pods (about 1/2 ounce), toasted and ground (see illustrations below)

3 Tbsps. New Mexico chilli powder or 3 medium pods (about 3/4 ounce), toasted and ground

2 Tbsps. cumin seeds , toasted in a dry skillet over medium heat until fragrant, about 4 minutes, and ground

2 tsps. dried oregano , preferably Mexican

7 1/2 cups water , divided

1 beef chuck roast (4-pounds), trimmed of excess fat and cut into 1-inch cubes

2 tsps. table salt , plus extra for seasoning

8 oz. bacon (7 or 8 slices), cut into 1/4-inch pieces

1 medium onion , minced (about 1 cup)

5 medium cloves garlic , minced

4 - 5 small jalapeño chillies, cored, seeded, and minced

1 cup crushed tomatoes (canned), or plain tomato sauce

2 Tbsps. lime juice from 1 medium lime

5 Tbsps. masa harina or 3 tablespoons corn starch

Ground black pepper

1. Mix chilli powders, cumin, and oregano in small bowl and stir in 1/2 cup water to form thick paste; set aside. Toss beef cubes with salt; set aside.
2. Fry bacon in large, heavy soup kettle or Dutch oven over medium-low heat until fat renders and bacon crisps, about 10 minutes. Remove bacon with slotted spoon to paper towel-lined plate; pour all but 2 teaspoons fat from pot into small bowl; set aside. Increase heat to medium-high; sauté meat in four batches until well-browned on all sides, about 5 minutes per batch, adding additional 2 teaspoons bacon fat to pot as necessary. Reduce heat to medium, add 3 tablespoons bacon fat to now-empty pan. Add onion; sauté until softened, 5 to 6 minutes. Add garlic and jalapeño; sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add chilli paste; sauté until fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes. Add reserved bacon and browned beef, crushed tomatoes or tomato sauce, lime juice, and 7 cups water; bring to simmer. Continue to cook at a steady simmer until meat is tender and juices are dark, rich, and starting to thicken, about 2 hours.
3. Mix masa harina with 2/3 cup water (or corn starch with 3 tablespoons water) in a small bowl to form smooth paste. Increase heat to medium; stir in paste and simmer until thickened, 5 to 10 minutes. Adjust seasoning generously with salt and ground black pepper. Serve immediately, or preferably, cool slightly, cover, and refrigerate overnight or for up to 5 days. Reheat before serving.

Tart Chicken

Another delicious chicken recipe from Laura Calder. The first time I made this I forgot to strain the sauce at the end and to add to last tablespoon of butter, and it was still delicious with the tomato chunks all the same.
August 2017 - I've made a few amendments to reflect how I make this. Namely it is the description for the vinegar reduction as well as added element in reducing the sauce at the end, before incorporating the knob of butter. It makes it more syrupy and gooey. :)

1 chicken (3-1/2 pounds/1.6 kg) cut into six-to-eight pieces

Salt and pepper

1 Tbsp (14gr) butter + plus another for finishing

1 Tbsp mild vegetable oil

6 cloves garlic, peeled

1 cup white wine vinegar

1 cup chicken stock

1 bay leaf

1 sprig thyme

1 Tbsp. tomato paste

4 medium tomatoes, roughly chopped

2 good handfuls of chopped fresh parsley

1. Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper. Melt 1 spoonful of the butter in a sauté pan with a drizzle of oil to prevent it burning, and brown the chicken (don't use non-stick or you won't get the rich fond to form). You’re not cooking the chicken here, just making the skin crisp and giving it colour and flavour. Four to five minutes per side is about right, depending on the cooking temperature, which should be medium high or more. Set aside the chicken.
2. Lower the temperature and let the pan cool a bit to avoid burning the garlic, then cook 5 minutes. Deglaze the pan with the vinegar and boil down by half, about 10 minutes (you'll know when the sound changes and you can run a wooden spoon along the bottom and it leaves a trail because the liquid has thickened). 
3. Return the chicken to the pan, and pour the stock over. Add the herbs, tomato paste, and the tomatoes. Cover and simmer until the meat is cooked, about half an hour (with a meat thermometer the white meat should read 165F and the brown 180). Remove the chicken to a dish and keep warm.
4. Strain the liquid into a saucepan, pressing to get all the juices through, then using a wooden spoon to strain as much matter from the veg as possible. Boil the liquid to reduce again until you get a nice syrup (wooden spoon trick again. Whisk in the last spoonful of butter, and pour over the chicken. Sprinkle over the parsley, and serve.