Onion, Cheddar and Bacon Pasta

This is more of a cold weather dish, with the warmth of the browned onions and smoky bacon. Wonderfully warming and creamy. 

5 servings 

6 to 8oz bacon, cut into lardons

(reserve ¼ cup bacon fat)

4 medium onions (24oz/680g) thinly sliced

¼ cup white wine

1 lb spaghetti, linguini or fettucine etc.

1½ cups whipping (heavy) cream

6oz shredded Cheddar cheese 

Salt, to taste

1. Cook the bacon until just before it crisps, or until it is of a light golden colour. Remove it from the fat and set aside, keeping about ¼ cup of fat (if there isn't enough fat, add butter). 
2. To the hot bacon fat add the onion to caramelize. To properly caramelize, cook the onions over med-low heat, preferably using a diffuser, stirring often; this can take a half hour+, be patient. It's worth it. 
3. When the onions are of a delicious brown and very soft, the sugars will have stuck to the bottom of the pan creating the fond and a lot of the flavor. Deglazed with the wine. Add as much wine as you need to get that lovely fond moving... (within reason. If you want more white wine, pour some in a glass and drink it).
4. Put the pasta on to boil.
5. Add the cream to the onions and bring to the boiling point. Turn off the heat. Mix in the cheese and the bacon.
6. Pour over the noodles; toss to coat. Test the seasoning and add salt to your liking, a pinch at a time.
7. Serve with a good grind of black pepper.

Pasta with Bacon, Swiss chard and Gruyère

This delicious concoction harbors hidden chunks of crisp bacon that don't make it into every delicious bite, but when they do, they are like little secret savory explosions of crunchy deliciousness.

1lb Swiss chard, leaf separated from stem and sliced, stems sliced thin

2 tsps. vegetable oil

2 oz bacon cut into lardons

3 garlic cloves

½ cup white wine

½ cup heavy cream

2 tsps. chopped fresh sage

½ tsp salt

½ tsp black pepper

8 to 12 oz chunky pasta OR spaghettini

3 oz Gruyère, If using Chunky Pasta, cube 1/4"; If using spaghettini, coarsely grate

1. In a pot of boiling salted water, cook chard stems for about 2 minutes, then add chard leaves and cook an extra minute. To save the water for cooking the pasta, remove the chard with a slotted spoon and drain in a colander.
2. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add bacon, and cook until crispy and rendered; set aside. 
3. Reduce heat to low, add the garlic and cook until just starting to go brown. 
4. Add the wine and simmer until reduced by half. 
5. Add the heavy cream and sage and simmer for 2 minutes. 
6. Add the salt, pepper and reserved chard; cover and remove from heat. 
7. Return the pot of water to a boil and cook the pasta until al dente. Drain and add to the skillet. 
8. Toss the hot pasta with the sauce, Gruyère and reserved bacon until the cheese starts to melt. 

Stovetop Scalloped Potatoes "Gratin" with White Wine sauce

Sometimes you want scalloped potatoes and you don't have an oven. You can make this version on a hot plate and enjoy the creamy, cheesy potatoes. It's a bit fancy because instead of only dairy, the sauce is also made with white wine for a depth of flavor that really sets off the browning of the onions.

As a Side Dish for 6-8 people

2 Tbsps (1oz/28gr) butter

1 large onion, chopped

1 lb 8 oz potatoes, thinly sliced

1 tsp salt and pepper to taste

pinch nutmeg or 1 tsp minced fresh thyme

¾ cup heavy cream

¾ cup white wine

2 oz shredded Gruyère cheese

1. Sauté the onion in butter until well browned and soft. 
2. Add the potatoes, salt, spice of choice and wine. 
3. Cook for a couple of minutes or until the wine starts to thicken from the potato starch and has loosened up all the browned bits from the bottom. You may have to scrape the bottom with a wooden spoon to get the yummy browning to move.
4. Add the cream and mix through. 
5. Cover and cook slowly, approximately 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender. 
6. Remove the cover and sprinkle with cheese. Stir in very gently. 
7. OPTIONAL : place under a broiler until the top starts to brown.

As a Main Dish for 4 people (with bread and salad)

2 Tbsps (1oz/28gr) butter

1 large onion, chopped

2 lbs potatoes, thinly sliced

1¼ tsp each of salt and pepper, to taste

pinch nutmeg or 1 tsp minced fresh thyme

1 cup heavy cream 

1 cup white wine

3 oz shredded Gruyère cheese

1. Sauté the onion in butter until well browned and soft. 
2. Add the potatoes, salt, spice of choice and wine. 
3. Cook for a couple of minutes or until the wine starts to thicken from the potato starch and has loosened up all the browned bits from the bottom. You may have to scrape the bottom with a wooden spoon to get the yummy browning to move.
4. Add the cream and mix through. 
5. Cover and cook slowly, approximately 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender. 
6. Remove the cover and sprinkle with cheese. Stir in very gently. 
7. OPTIONAL : place under a broiler until the top starts to brown.

Gratin Italian sausage and kale

I love teasing people about kale. It's the new kid on the block and folks are still discovering it and getting that shiny new convert look when you tell them it's survival food (ie. people eat it when there's nothing left to eat). The truth is that 1) I like kale just fine and 2) it is not new food. It's been around for a long, long time because it's so hardy and reliable. Cook it right, and it's a sweet treat. But it does have a very strong flavor and not everyone is a fan, so if you want to serve kale to a finnicky table, match it with equally strong flavors. This dish is a cheesy saucy gooey warming dish with a lovely crunchy topping.

Some olive oil

1 lb fresh mild or hot Italian sausage, casings removed and crumbled

⅓ cup dry white wine

2 bunches (about 1 pound) kale, stemmed and torn into large pieces

½ cup (4oz/114gr) + 3 Tbsps (1.5oz/42gr) butter, melted

⅓ cup flour

2 cups milk

8oz fresh goat cheese or feta

3oz freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

1 cup fresh bread crumbs

1 Tbsp minced fresh herbs (such as a combination of parsley, oregano and basil)

1. Heat the oven to 350°F degrees.
2. In a large stainless steel sauté pan, heat the oil and cook the sausage, breaking it up. Cook until browned (usually when the moisture has evaporated). Remove any excess fat.
3. Add the wine scraping up the fond. Continue to cook until the wine reduces and is mostly evaporated, 1 to 2 minutes. 
4. Decrease the heat and stir in the kale, one handful at a time. Mix in the kale and cook until it begins to wilt and turn a bright green. Don't worry about overcooking the kale; it is impossible, unless you burn it! Remove from heat and set the pan aside.
5. Meanwhile, dump the bread crumbs in a medium sized bowl.
6. Melt all the butter in a saucepan. When melted, put 3 Tbsps of it into the breadcrumb bowl.
7. Into the remaining butter, whisk in the flour; continue wisking until starting to brown. Add the milk, whisking constantly, until it thickens into a sauce.
8. Add the crumbled goat cheese to the roux and continue to whisk until the cheese is melted and the sauce is smooth.
9. Pour the sauce into the sausage and kale and let sit 5 minutes to allow any more fond to lift. Stir vigorously with a wooden spoon to scrape up the fond and mix the sauce evenly in the sausage and kale.
10. Spoon the mixture into a shallow, 2 quart gratin dish.
11. To the breadcrumb and butter, add parmesan and minced fresh herbs. Mix thoroughly, then evenly distribute over the kale and sausage to form the topping.
12. Bake the gratin until the topping is golden-brown and the filling is bubbly, about 30 minutes (briefly broil at this point if not browned enough).
13. Cool slightly before serving with crusty bread if eating as a main dish.

Merguez Pasta Sauce

In buying grass-fed free-range mutton and lamb, we've gotten a chance to try out the merguez sausage everyone's been talking about. Frankly, I don't see what the fuss is about but, since we got some in our box of meat, I wanted to find the most delicious way of eating it, and by George, I think I've found it.
Since the sausage tends to be fatty, cooking with wine and tomato helps to both match the flavour and cut the fattiness.

Good for 4 people as a main course.

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 lb Merguez sausages cut into bite-sized pieces OR squeezed out of the casing and crumbled
2 garlic cloves or 2 Tbsps garlic scape paste
1 cup red or white wine
1 Tbsp tomato purée (optional)
1 can (400g) diced tomato
1 lb dry linguine (recommended)
2 Tbsps pesto
½ tsp salt (or to taste)
Permesan to serve

1. Heat the oil in a large sauté pan and cook the sausage until well browned. If the sausage is very fatty, drain off most of it.
2. Add the garlic (or scapes) and cook another minute.
3. Add the wine and reduce at least by half but preferably until almost gone, like a quarter cup or so.
4. Add the tomato and salt and simmer until the sauce thickens.
5. Start the salted water to boil while the sauce simmers.
6. When the pasta is al dente, drain. Add the pesto to the sauce.  Mix in the cooked pasta, or ladle on top.
7. Serve with parmesan and freshly ground pepper

Alcoholic Pasta

A complex yet comforting dish. Because they're roasted the texture of the mushrooms becomes more dense and meaty while the earthiness of the flavour sweetens. The sauce, generally pretty light, is perfumed by the alcohol and you'll swear there were herbs added to it.

Part 1 - the mushrooms
18oz mushrooms, thickly sliced in 4 pieces
2 Tbsps olive oil
Generous pinch of salt
Generous pinch of black pepper

Part 2 - the sauce
2 Tbsps olive oil
2 Tbsps (1oz/28gr) butter
1 large onion, diced
¾ cup dry white wine
½ cup whiskey (Jack Daniels is fine)
¼ cup chicken broth
¾ cup heavy cream or crème fraîche
¾ tsp salt and pepper, to taste

Part 3 - combining it all
9oz chunky pasta such as penne, cooked al dente

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Put the mushrooms in a single layer on a cookie sheet and drizzle with the olive oil, then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 30 to 40 minutes, or until golden brown and the liquid the mushrooms sweat while cooking has completely evaporated. Set aside.
2. In a large pot, heat additional olive oil along with the butter over medium heat. Throw in the onions and saute until beginning to turn translucent. 
3. Pour in the wine and whiskey and allow to bubble for a minute or two. 
4. Pour in the broth and allow the liquid to reduce by a quarter cup. 
5. Stir in the cream and reduce the heat to low. 
6. Add the mushrooms, salt, and pepper, and gently simmer to avoid any curdling, until the sauce thickens.
7. Toss in the cooked pasta, using a little hot pasta water if the sauce needs thinning. Taste for seasonings and serve immediately.

Italian Sausage and duPuy French Lentils

This is a lovely, hearty comforting dish, perfect for cold, snowy and rainy days. The trick to its success is not letting the sausage cook too much once sliced because they'll become tough.

1 cup duPuy lentils
3 cups chicken stock
1 small onion, peeled and cut in half (use the part of the onion with the root basal plate and leave it intact to make it easier to take out the onion afterwards)
2 to 3 sprigs fresh oregano or a generous pinch dry marjoram
1 bay leaf
3 mild Italian sausages
½ cup white wine
2 Tbsps olive oil
1 shallot, minced (or small onion)
¼  to ½ cup chopped fresh parsley
½ tsp salt and a few grinds of pepper

1. Put the lentils in a saucepan with the stock, onion, and oregano (or marjoram) and bay leaf. Bring to a boil then simmer, covered, for 20 minutes. Continue to simmer the lentils, uncovered, until al dente, approximately another 20 minutes. Pluck out and discard the aromatics.
2. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a skillet and prick the skins of the sausages. Brown the sausage on all sides in the oil. Remove from the pan and set aside. 
3. Add the shallot to the skillet and cook until translucent, adding a splash of oil if the pan is too dry. Add the wine and bring it to a simmer scraping up any fond. Continue simmering until the wine has mostly evaporated. Add the sausages, the parsley and the lentils, simmering until the desired sauciness is achieved, the lentils are tender, and the sausage has cooked through (internal temp should be 160°F).
4. Remove the sausage and stir in the salt and pepper.
5. Cut the sausage into sixths and reintroduce to the lentils, stirring to distribute.
6. Serve. with crusty bread.

Pork and Grainy Mustard Stew

I can take no credit for this wonderful recipe. I've made several recipes published by the good people at Canadian Living magazine and find that they are exactly to my tastes. Here's the link to the original recipe: Pork and Grainy Mustard Stew

3 lbs pork shoulder, trimmed and cubed
2 Tbsps flour
3 Tbsps vegetable oil
2 onions, chopped
4 carrots, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
A few sprigs of fresh thyme or 1 tsp dried thyme
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
2 cups chicken stock
½ cup white wine

1½ cups water
1 bay leaf
¼ cup grainy mustard
⅔ cup fresh green peas
¼ cup minced fresh parsley

1. Toss pork with 1 tbsp of the flour. In Dutch oven, heat half of the oil over medium-high heat; brown pork, in batches and adding more oil as needed. Remove to plate.
2. In same Dutch oven, heat remaining oil. Fry onions, carrots, celery, garlic, thyme, salt and pepper, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes.
3. Add stock, wine, bay leaf and 1½ cups water; return pork and any accumulated juices to pan. Bring to boil; reduce heat, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 45 minutes or until meat is tender. Discard bay leaf.
4. Whisk in the mustard and simmer, uncovered, until it thickens a bit. Stir in the peas and the parsley a continue simmering until they're heated through, about 3 minutes.

Velouté aux chanterelles - Wild Mushroom Soup

Our friend Lorenzo honoured us this weekend by bringing us to the spots where he picks wild chanterelle mushrooms. He informed us that it's a bit early in the season, but with his help we managed to harvest a little over a kilogram of the delicate flavoured beauties. Since they are specialty foods, and expensive, I've never cooked with them before, but I think this soup is a good starting place. It is mildly creamy, a little sweet, and gently mushroomy.

1 Tbsp (½ oz/14gr) butter
1 shallot, finely diced
2 tsps flour
2 cups chicken broth (veg broth for Vegetarian)
¾ cup white wine
2 Tbsps finely chopped fresh parsley
¼ tsp finely chopped fresh thyme
7 oz fresh chanterelles
½ cup milk
½ cup crème fraîche
¼ tsp salt
Pepper, to taste

1. In a soup pot melt the butter and add the shallot and flour. Cook until the butter bubbles and foams and the flour starts to go blond.
2. Add the chicken stock, white wine, parsley and thyme. Bring to a slow boil, then cover and gently simmer for 15 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, shred the chanterelle mushrooms. At the end of the 15 minutes, add the mushrooms to the broth, and cook another 5 minutes. Bring to a slow boil.
4. Low the heat to minimum. Add the milk, crème fraîche and salt. Gently simmer another 5 minutes.
5. OPTION - at this point, you can either run the mixture in a blender for a velouté, or serve immediately with it all chunky.
6. Before serving, grind some fresh black pepper on top.

Lamb Stew with Lemon and Thyme

This is a quicker than usual stew recipe, taking under an hour of actual cooking time, therefore very little actual stewing time. The original recipe was published in the New York Times, and this is a slightly altered version of it. To be truthful, our friend Susan was over and I'd invited her for dinner and made her wait longer than I should have since I usually buy my stewing meat as whole roasts which I cut up and de-fat (to my liking), and hadn't prepared the meat beforehand, compounded by the fact that it was my first time making this recipe. I only really changed the amount of wine from 1 cup to 3/4 cups because, er, I only had that much left in the bottle. But I think it was a happy accident because the end product was such that Susan asked me to post in in my blog right away, and to forego the usual testing I put my recipes through. This, therefore, is for Diyan, to make for Susan; or so I've been informed. Enjoy!

1½ lbs boneless lamb shoulder, cut into 1 ½-inch chunks, fat removed
2 Tbsps flour (I use rice flour)
2 Tbsps grapeseed oil
2 shallots, minced
3 leeks ends trimmed, green parts discarded, thinly sliced (total (18oz/510gr)
1 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp thyme, minced
1 cup chicken stock
¾ cup dry white wine
2 tsps lemon juice
2 strips lemon peel
Salt and pepper
Chopped parsley

1. Heat the oil over medium heat until it's shimmering.
2. Meanwhile, toss the lamb cubes with the flour; you can do this in a bowl or shallow plate, but I find it's easier and I get more even coverage if I put it in a bag and shake it around... and it's more fun. Immediately dump the floured lamb cubes in the hot oil (otherwise the flour draws out moisture from the lamb and they start to stick together. If this happens though, it's no big deal, you just have to work harder at separating them).
3. Cook the lamb until it's browned on each side, about eight minutes total. Remove the cubes and set aside.
4. Add shallots, leeks, garlic, and thyme to dutch oven, adding a little oil if the pot is too dry. Cook, stirring often, until the leeks are lightly browned, about four minutes. The temperature should allow for the moisture from the alliums to start unsticking the browned bits at the bottom of the pot so that, in the next step, very little of the fond is left stuck to the bottom.
5. Pour in the stock, white wine, lemon juice, and lemon peels. Scrape any browned bits off the bottom of the Dutch oven with a wooden spoon. Season with pinch of salt and pepper, put the lamb back in.
6. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce heat to a slow simmer, and partially cover (the lid to my pot doesn't fit perfectly, and this is enough for me). Cook, stirring occasionally, until the lamb is very tender, 45 minutes to an hour.
7. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve with the chopped parsley.

Braised Baby Bok-Choy

Simple and good. 'Nuff said, go eat!

2 baby bok-choy

3⁄4 cup broth (vegetable, beef or chicken)

1⁄4 cup white wine

Salt and pepper

1. Put the broth and wine to boil in a saucepan. Reduce to a high simmer.
2. Slice the bok-choy in half and arrange, cut-side down, in the pan. Cover and cook a few minutes, then turn bok-choy onto its 'back', simmer until knife inserts easily. Serve cut-side facing up, sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Poulet au Paprika

It's always such a pleasure when I discover that a negative prejudice I have about food is wrong. I've never had anything against paprika, but it always seemed like an afterthought kind of seasoning that I often wondered what it's use was. That is, until I tried Laura's Poulet au Paprika. It creates such a smooth blend of flavours, all couched in this noticeable taste of paprika. I strongly recommend exploring different types of paprika each time you make this recipe. And I'm fairly confident that you will want to make it again and again.

The original recipe required only chicken thighs, but the cooking instructions are the same as cooking a whole chicken in pieces that I just did that, and it turned out wonderfully.

1 whole chicken cut in 6 to 8 pieces

1 pinch salt and pepper

1 Tbsp bacon drippings or oil

1 red pepper, julienned

1 onion, sliced

half of a small fennel bulb, finely chopped

1 Tbsp hot or sweet Hungarian paprika (or try with other types of paprika)

1 clove garlic, minced

1⁄2 cup white wine

1 tomato (6 to 7oz) roughly chopped

1 bay leaf

2 Tbsps crème fraîche

garnish with a wedge of lemon

1. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Heat the fat in a sauté pan and, working in batches, brown the meat on all sides, 5 to 8 minutes per side. Remove and set aside.
2. Drain off all but a tablespoon of fat from the pan.
3. Lower the heat and add the julienned pepper, onion, fennel, and paprika. Cook until soft, but not coloured, about 12 minutes, adding the garlic for the final minute.
4. Deglaze the pan with the wine. Add the tomatoes and bay leaf. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Put the chicken back in. Cover the pan, and cook, turning the meat occasionally, until tender, about 30 minutes or until breasts register 165°F on a meat thermometre.
6. Remove the chicken to a serving platter and cover with foil to keep warm.
7. Turn up the heat under the sauce and boil down to sauce consistency. Turn off the heat, stir through the cream, check the seasonings (including the paprika, adding more if you like), then pour over the chicken, and serve with wedge of lemon. Squeeze lemon before eating if desired.

Edible Breakfast Dishes - Ham and Eggs Cups

This is really delicious and simple and cool looking. I still have to figure out the right time for baking because my first couple of attempts were overcooked, so that the yolk, while not rock hard, was definitely solid. It's a great breakfast item that easily serves for dinner. This is one version of many possibilities. Try it with crème fraîche instead of cheese, ratatouille instead of mushrooms, etc.

½ lb mushrooms, chopped into cubes

1 finely chopped shallot

1 Tbsp (½ oz/14gr) butter

Pinch of fresh or dried thyme

Splash white wine

6 Cherry tomatoes

12 slices cured ham

6 large eggs

Parmigiano, grated

Salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Cook mushrooms and shallot in butter over moderately high heat until mushrooms are tender and liquid they give off is evaporated. Add white wine and allow to evaporate.
3. Assemble and bake:
4. Fit 2 slices of ham into each oiled ramekins. Divide mushrooms among cups, portion out thyme into each cup and crack 1 egg into each. Pop in a cherry tomato in each ramekin, and sprinkle with Parmesan. Bake in middle of oven until whites are cooked but yolks are still runny, less than 15 minutes (I turn on the broiler for the last minute. Season eggs with salt and pepper and remove (with ham) from muffin cups carefully, using 2 spoons.
5. Eat with baguette or crusty bread.

Chicken Stew

This is a good quick meal. You can use crushed tomatoes instead to shorten the cooking time.
TIP: To prevent white meat cooked in a broth from going stringy, make sure that the vegetables are underneath, in the liquid, and the meat is on top, above the liquid, when adding the vegetables and meat, so that the meat cooks more gently.

2-3 Tbsp grapeseed oil
1 large chopped onion
14oz (398mL) can diced tomatoes
2 cups chicken broth OR 2 cups white wine
1-2 cloves minced garlic
1 tsp. thyme or a couple of fresh sprigs
1 bay leaf
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
2 medium potatoes, diced
3 carrots, sliced
2 stalks celery, diced (optional)
2 chicken breasts, chopped

1. Heat the oil in a soup pot and sauté the onions for 2 minutes.
2. Add the tomato, broth (or wine), garlic, thyme, bay leaf, salt and pepper. Bring this mix to a boil and let simmer until the tomatoes cooks.
3. Add the potatoes, carrots, (celery if using). Layer the chicken on top - apparently it cooks better if it isn't braising in the liquid (see TIP).
4. Simmer until the vegetables are done, about 30 minutes.

Boeuf aux carrottes

This is an odd recipe. While cooking, it smells good, then smells really bad, then smells good again.  But power through, because it's a really, really tasty stew. And it's good to be surprised.

Boeuf aux carrottes

4 lbs. stewing beef, cut into chunks (bones left on if there are bones)

salt and pepper to season

1 oz. of (preferably thick) bacon, cut into paper clip-sized pieces

2 Tbsps. oil, more if needed

2 medium onions, sliced

2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

2 Tbsps. Jerez vinegar or red wine vinegar

3 cups beef stock

3 cups dry red or white wine

1 bay leaf

1 celery stalk, cut into two

1 bouquet parsley (small bunch tied together with string to be removed later)

1 bouquet thyme (small bunch tied together with string to be removed later)

4 black peppercorns

3 lbs. large carrots, thickly sliced

1. Season the meat on both sides with salt and pepper. In a large casserole, fry the bacon until cooked, 7 minutes. Remove, and set aside. Add half the oil and fry the onions until soft, adding the garlic towards the end, 10 minutes total. Remove into the same bowl as the bacon. Add the remaining oil to the pot and brown the meat well in batches on both sides, 3 minutes per side. Remove into the bowl with the bacon and onions.
2. Deglaze the pan with the vinegar, scraping up the good bits from the bottom. When the vinegar has almost disappeared, add the wine. Now, put the meat, bacon, onions, and garlic back in the pot. Pour over the stock, adding more water if needed to cover.
3. Wrap the bay leaf, celery, parsley, thyme, and peppercorns together in a bundle, and tie with a string. Add it to the pot. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer for an hour and a half.
4. Add the carrots and continue cooking for half an hour, until they are tender. Discard the string-tied bundle of flavourings.
5. Cool the contents completely, cover, and refrigerate overnight. (You can actually eat it straight away, but it's one of those things which is always better the next day.) To serve, bring to a simmer for half an hour, until the sauce has reduced to gravy consistency.

Herbed Chicken Saute

Yes, another wonderful recipe from Laura Calder. The first time I made this I used parsley with some dill, and Ben didn't seem to like it as much, but I did. I figured it was probably that the herbs were subtle flavours, and my Ben tends to like stronger flavours (although he has an amazing palate). The second time I made it was with tarragon and parsley, and Ben, Susan and Diyan loved it. It was also a confirmation that following through with each step is very important. I think the first time I made it I didn't brown the chicken at a high enough temperature (the time was the same, but the result was different). Browning is where loads of flavour comes from, so why skip this step?

The one thing was the cooking time - the last 15 minutes may be a bit too long. I checked about half-way through with a thermometer and immediately pulled it off the heat because it was way over.

1/4 cup (2oz/58gr) butter or vegetable oil
1 chicken (about 3 pounds) cut into eight
salt and pepper to season
½ cup dry white wine
4 Tbsps chopped, fresh herbs (such as thyme, rosemary, parsley, chives, dill, tarragon, chervil or coriander)
Half a lemon, for seasoning

1. Melt the butter in a sauté pan. Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper, and brown well on all sides, 5 minutes, working in batches if necessary. Remove the chicken. Deglaze the pan with the wine, scraping up the good bits from the bottom. Put the chicken back in the pan, cover, and cook gently for 15 minutes.
2. Sprinkle in the herbs, cover, and continue cooking until the chicken is tender, 15 minutes more, or until white meat reaches 165F and dark meat 180F. Remove the chicken to a serving dish and allow to rest while boiling the pan juices down, if necessary. Check the seasoning, adding a squirt of lemon if you like. Serve.

Tarragon Chicken

Ok, so I've made another Laura Calder recipe. So what? And no, I'm not defensive about it... much. I might as well admit it, I think she's great and I will likely be making a lot of her recipes. It's actually really unusual for me to glom onto one food writer, but, well, there you go! I have!

I tried, for the first time, her Tarragon Chicken recipe, but I altered it without considering the alterations. I used skinned and boned chicken breasts I'd cut into chunks because I wanted more of a stir-fry kind of dish. Well, I overcooked the chicken, although the sauce turned out very nicely. I can still use skinless and boneless chicken breasts, I just have to make sure I use the right cooking techniques for it before applying the sauce.

NOTE: If using CHICKEN BREASTS, follow the instructions for sautéeing chicken breasts and make the sauce as directed. Do not cook in the liquid for 30 minutes - cook breasts using the sauté method and make the sauce to pour on top.

1 Tbsp (1⁄2 oz/14gr) butter

1 Tbsp vegetable oil

1 chicken (about 3 pounds/1.4 kg), cut into 8 pieces

Salt and pepper

1⁄2 cup chicken stock

3⁄4 cup dry white wine

1 shallot, minced

1 cup crème fraîche

1⁄2 cup chopped fresh tarragon

Lemon juice to taste

1. Melt the butter with the oil in a large skillet over quite high heat. Season the chicken pieces and fry in batches until well browned, about 5 minutes per side.
2. Put all the chicken back in the pan, add the chicken stock and reduce the heat to medium. Cover and cook until tender, about 30 minutes - the internal temperature of the breast should read 165F. Remove the chicken to a plate and keep warm.
3. Keep cooking the leftover juices and reduce until sticky - the correct moment of reduction can be heard, it's like making ghee, just listen to the sauce and when the sound changes, wait a few seconds longer and it's ready.
4. Add the shallot and wine and reduce to a thickish sauce, about 5 minutes. Add the cream and half the tarragon. Boil down again until it thickens into a sauce, about 3 to 5 minutes.
5. Season the sauce with salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Put the chicken pieces back in, turning to coat, then transfer to a platter. Pour the sauce over the chicken, joyfully scatter over the remaining tarragon, and serve.