Half-Ass Pantry Recipe: Skillet Rosemary Chicken

This is a super easy, Fall kind of a dish.  My favorite kind in that it is simple, requires minimal washing of utensils/ dishes but doesn't come out like a pile of mush.  Hubs like the mushy recipes that come for single pot suppers, not so much for me.

This comes out really lemony, almost too much so, so be prepared if you're not a huge citrus fan.  

I used boneless, skinless breasts.  Two of which were already cooked from the green egg the night before, so I added them in with just a few minutes left to heat them up, but not overcook.  

Food Network's Skillet Rosemary Chicken

3/4 pound small red-skinned potatoes, halved, or quartered if large

Kosher salt

2 sprigs fresh rosemary, plus 1 tablespoon leaves

1 clove garlic, smashed

Pinch of red pepper flakes

Juice of 2 lemons (squeezed halves reserved)

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

4 skin-on, bone-in chicken breasts (6 to 8 ounces each)

10 ounces cremini mushrooms, halved [or any kind of mushroom, I used baby bellas bc they sound cute]

Preheat the oven to 450. Cover the potatoes with cold water in a saucepan and salt the water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook until tender, about 8 minutes; drain and set aside.

Pile the rosemary leaves, garlic, 2 teaspoons salt and the red pepper flakes on a cutting board, then mince and mash into a paste using a large knife. Transfer the paste to a bowl. Stir in the juice of 1 lemon and the olive oil. Add the chicken and turn to coat. [Marinate those bad boys for a bit.]

Heat a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken, skin-side down, cover and cook until the skin browns, about 5 minutes. Turn the chicken; add the mushrooms and potatoes to the skillet and drizzle with the juice of the remaining lemon.  [If you're using skinless, I'd say just cook 3 minutes instead of 5.]

Add the rosemary sprigs and the squeezed lemon halves [don't use all 4 halves unless you really like lemon] to the skillet; transfer to the oven and roast, uncovered, until the chicken is cooked through and the skin is crisp, 20 to 25 minutes.

[Note: I found myself wishing I had some white wine around (who doesn't) as there wasn't as much liquid produced as I had hoped.  You can throw that in there halfway through the baking, I would say, for max yums.]

The accidental you're-not-a-potato selfie. 

Big deal - put them in cold water and then bring the whole thing to a boil.
Don't just drop them into already boiling water.

Looks so Christmassy!  

This mashing bit took a lot of coordination to photograph.

Good trick - squeeze the lemon over your fingers (using your iPhone hand) so the seeds get caught.

This was just one half of a very fertile lemon! 

Marinade concoction.

Raw chicken is one the most fowl (get it?) things I can think about sticking my phalanges on.
Hence my love of prepacked breasts.  Everyone loves a good plastic breast.
You can rinse and even slide the suckers out without ever touching them!!!

Snuggle butt chicken marination.

Browning - no touchy for 3 min!

Your rosemary will get torched, so keep some extra for garnish/ last minute adds.

I totally threw in leftover chicken with 3 minutes remaining on the clock to heat up but not overcook them.

Roasty toasty goodness!

Half-Ass Pantry Recipe: Beef Daube Provencal (Beef Stew)

The hubs and I have very, very different likes and dislikes when it comes to food.  Neither of us is particularly picky, but our preferences are basically polar opposite.  I want nothing more than to snack on a meat and cheese plate or other mini finger food ("squirrel food" according to Patrick) and he loves a good hearty soup, or a casserole or other sloppy single-pot fiasco.  Chili is a favorite of his.  

Our last meal pre-marriage I got all cutesy and made meatloaf.  Writing the word meatloaf makes me want to gag.  So I squirrel food-ed it up and made miniature meaties in a muffin tin pan - so much cuter and we popped the left overs in the freezer individually for him for some weekday meals.  I have no photos of that, so instead here is a recipe of one of his other favorites, which actually turned out to be quite spectacular:

Cooking Light's Beef Daube Provencal

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 12 garlic cloves, crushed (you'll be removing these from the pan, so don't chop em up too fine)
• 1 (2-pound) boneless chuck roast, trimmed and cut into 2-inch cubes
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
• 1 cup red wine
• 2 cups chopped carrot
• 1 1/2 cups chopped onion
• 1/2 cup lower-sodium beef broth
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
• Dash of ground cloves
• 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 cups cooked medium egg noodles (about 4 cups uncooked noodles)

First, a lesson in no-tears onion cutting, thanks to my mom.  This was my very first, and still one of my only "tricks" in the kitchen, ha!

Chop off one end, leaving the other intact and remove outer layer of onion.
Cut a small sliver off one side, perpendicular to the end, so it lays flat and you don't add finger bits to your food.

Slice sideways in parallel to the board.  This one gets tricky when you get close to your hand.
Just stick your palm on top and close your eyes.

Chop vertically down towards the board, creating a cross-hatch effect.
Then, and I forgot the pic, cut the other way in vertical, so you're parallel to the intact end.
Tah-dah!  Diced onion!

My prep.  You always need wine in your prep.

1. STEPS TO YUM HEAVEN AND MANLY TUMMY PRIDE
2. 1. Preheat oven to 300°.
3. 2. Heat a small Dutch oven over low heat.  (Nobody has an actual dutch oven, except Patrick when he's feeling extra hilarious on the weekends.  You can use a normal stock pot.
4. 3. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. 
5. 4. Add garlic; cook 5 minutes or until garlic is fragrant, stirring occasionally. Remove garlic with a slotted spoon; set aside. Increase heat to medium-high. 
6. 5. Add beef to pan; sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Cook 5 minutes, browning on all sides. Remove beef from pan. 
7. 6. Add wine to pan; bring to a boil, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. 
8. 7.  Add reserved garlic, beef, remaining 3/4 teaspoon salt, remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper, carrot, and everything you haven't used yet, minus the noodles bc you're not dumb.  See how helpful I am?
9. 8. Cover and bake at 300° for 2 1/2 hours or until beef is tender. Discard bay leaf. Serve over noodles.  I used some crusty bread for dipping instead of the noodles.
10. Note: To make in a slow cooker, prepare through Step 2. Place beef mixture in an electric slow cooker. Cover and cook on high for 5 hours or until beef is tender.
11. 
    

After digging on some other blogs, I have come to the conclusion that it's really annoying trying to find the recipe steps hidden amongst the photos.  So looky there.  Consolidation my friends.

Heating up a solid 12 monster hunks of garlic.
Mmmm.  No such thing as too much garlic.  Ever.

Unless you're a vampy.  I'd give it up for some of those True Blood dudes.
I meant the garlic, but who's counting?

I keep shitty, almost undrinkable red wine on hand for moments like this.
Such a waste of a fine thing.

My goodies.

1. 
   

Mmmm stewy stewy stewwwww
Has anyone else seen that horrible Will Ferrell move, Semi-Pro?  Where the bear gets loose in the stadium?
Stewyyyyyy.... STEWWWYYYYYYYYYYY!

This also freezes really well!

Cooking Class: Tuscany Style

Patrick's parents gave us a class at the local Cook's Warehouse for Christmas last year and in between my traveling, life and the pursuit of happiness, we had totally forgotten to take advantage of the fun idea!

So last week we finally signed up and got to attend a really great class called "Fall into Tuscany."  Our chef-teacher was fantastic and has spent half of each of the last bunches of years in Tuscany, taking tours of people through the countryside learning about the cuisine and culture.  I die.  I will scrub potatoes whine about it for years if it means I could live that kind of lifestyle.

The class itself was kind of fun, kind of juvenile.  I think everyone out there can follow a recipe that involves zesting a lemon and reducing wine and mushrooms, so it was pretty basic, but we still had a good time, and a great meal.  

We made a four course meal consisting of some goat cheese & walnut bruschetta, four mushroom linguini, salad bisteca and ricotta pie.  It was definitely a different kind of date and pretty fantastic for a week day meal!

Goat cheese + cream cheese, with chives and walnuts and lemon zest.  Yum!

Ricotta pie.  Definitely had some consistency issues with this bad boy.

Hubs is a master mixer!

Foodspotting: Instagram for Your Belly

Just because nobody on Facebook gives a shit what you ate for lunch, doesn't mean I don't give two of them.  Turns out someone smarter than me made an app for that.

Foodspotting is like Instagram for your face.  Yelp without all the wanna be foodie critics begging to attend their first UYE ("Unofficial Yelp Event", I'm admittedly jealous).  #foodspotting if you're of the Instagram variety.

It's a happy place for you and all your photog-contortionists-at-the-table friends to share each other's meals with the world.  Complete with voting, badges and the ability to "Want/ Tried/ Love" the dish.

[Side note: I just realized I talk like Anthony Bourdain in my head while I type this crap.]

The app compiles dishes per restaurant, is pretty good about not duplicating dishes and let's you group sections of dishes into specific Guides.  For instance I saw an "Atlanta: Bahn Mi" Guide that a girl put together of... suprise!  Bahn Mi dishes around Atlanta.  

Follow me and my delicious dishes: rachunkie

Cucina Asellina

This past weekend we ended up in Midtown and stopped by Cucina Asselina, an Italian modern/industrial-claiming-to-be-rustic spot by the One Group (of STK ownership).  P was actually the project manager in charge of building both restaurants, and while we've been lucky enough to eat at STK on several occasions this was our first time at Asellina.

Lucky for us, it also happened to be the Oysterfest weekend in Atlanta just down the street, which meant a nonstop flow of absurd and awesome people watching.  

The food was pretty good, small plates with big flavors - we were definitely there at a weird time (who eats at 5pm?  hungover people like us, that's who) so I don't think they were rocking their A-game on the cuisine side.  However, we learned a new shot, thanks to some teen-somethings next to us, and for that, we thank you underage drinkers of Atlanta.

The Breakfast Shot

2/3 Jameson and 1/3 Buttershots

Orange juice chaser

Pancake Shot!

Tastes like a McDonald's pancake.  No joke.  You don't even need the OJ, and I freaking hate Jameson/all brown liquor, but I'm telling you - amazearama in your mouth.  Screw Bloody Mary's and PBRs, this is the way to go.

Aforementioned teens had 4 of them back to back on Sunday at 5pm.  Oh unemployment, I do miss you occasionally.

Until the bill comes...

Oh yeah, the food:

Saffron Strozzapreti with shrimp, spinach and butternut squash (front) - could've done without the tiny little uber briny shrimpettes - totally blew out the saffron flavor I was really hoping for.  Strozzapreti is exactly like German Spaetzle if you've ever had that.  Super dense.

I can't remember what the one in the back was, but it had some awesome little lamb meatballs and was otherwise forgettable, apparently.

Wedding Bells: Final Catering Tasting

P and I recently had our final tasting at Affairs to Remember, or as I like to call it, the only wedding item P happily participates in.  Affairs was recommended to me by our good friend Ali, as they did a fabulous job on their wedding, at our same venue!  I swear the similarities stop there :)

We tested out a few caterers just to be sure, but once we tasted their menu items the first time, we were set.  And they give you an inclusive price w decor and plating and all sorts of great stuff that I am SO grateful I don't have to negotiate pennies with companies for now.  Seriously, how you can vary by up to 100% for a fork is beyond me.  Outcha damn mind.  Anddd after you go, they always send you home with a cute little jar of completely calorie/fat free caramel popcorn drizzled with white chocolate.  

Affairs is awesome.  And here are some pics of what's to come to prove it!   A few of these will be in the final shindig in July, you'll just have to drool until then!

lobster with spicy creamed corn shot

crab cake with lemon dill cream

beef tenderloin with carrot and celery in a blue cheese shot

mint julep chicken grilled finished with southern ambrosia chutney

champagne dijon chicken with an asparagus goat cheese salad

pimento three ways - open faced with fried green tomatoes, deconstructed and
spreadable with roasted vegetables

Birmingham Bites: Brick & Tin

Brick & Tin is one of those industrial-meets-rustic-with-local-ingredients concepts that actually doesn't come off as pretentious as a lot of them do these days.  We get it, everyone likes sourcing from local farmers.  Everyone likes exposed brick and reclaimed wood.  But these guys do it in a really non-presumptuous way, with legitimately yummy seasonal lunch options that don't go crazy and don't have too many choices.

For lunch there are 6 sandwiches, a few salads and a couple of soups to mix and match.  A great side option of deviled eggs with shaved country ham and some daily desserts I haven't stuck my fork in yet...

While I'm really missing their knock-out fall menu (butternut squash & prosciutto sammy?  Daily!) they have some fun options on the winter block right now.  My most recent lunch consisted of a gratin of white beans, Alabama collards with fennel, onions and root veg, and a cup of potato-fennel-leek soup.  My squash obsession of the fall has migrated to a fennel one apparently...

That perfectly crunchy gratin is going to be recreated in my kitchen, for sure!

The Tuscan panini is really great as well, but I suggest substituting the ciabatta for the bread.  And there's always the "B-ham Mi" if you're feeling froggy.  

Wine-o Wednesday: if you see kay

This is a weird wine to be blogging about as my first favorite.  There is nothing cutesy or sweet about it, but it is seriously damn good.

P and I got our first taste of this stuff at a little neighborhood gem called Baci in Brookhaven (which, side note, is totally under-acknowledged and has become our date night go-to).  The owner, Nellie, is a super cool girl with an awesome menu of worldly influences and Mediterranean cuisine.  The sea bass is just awesome, and this is literally the only, ONLY mac and cheese I have ever liked.  Loved, really.  It's got lobster and 3 kinds of fabulous cheese - no runny crap... The perfect ratio of lobster to cheese to noodles (70-25-5, in case you're counting).  So yummy!

But I digress.  The second or third time we went there we were perusing the menu for a glass of wine each and the waiter asked what we liked.  I described my usual: medium body, with some spice and fruit... more sweet than dry.  He suggested the most expensive glass, as they do, so of course we were suspicious.  But he promiseddd we would love it and even coerced us into trying a sip.  We bought the $50 bottle.  We have every time.  It is fabulous, and so worth the price.  Once you get over the bizarre labeling:

Sound it out slow: if you see kay.  That's right, just as classy as Miss Britney herself.  So strange.  And with a tatted up, braless hipster chick in a bizarre car throwing a Hawaiin shaka sign...  I cannot explain.  There's an even weirder description here about Kay being some ethereal open-throttle chick, named after the Odyssey. Yes, as in Homer's Odyssey classic.  

The owners describe the wine in a story form of bizarro (as in... "kay is a creature, she is an embodiment of a lifestyle... womp womp), but basically it's a super juicy, smooth Cab from the Lazio region of Italy (near Rome) with just one year to its name: 2010.

Even weirder was when I saw the brand for only the second time (outside of Baci)... in Birmingham at a total divey hipster college bar, on $1 liquor night.  Yes, I was the girl drinking $9 glasses of Cab on $1 liquor night (a phenomenon I  haven't see since college, appropriately nicknamed "Well, Hell" night, I'm told).  The real issue isn't me drinking wine in a clearly non-wine location, it's that this place had the bottle at all!  I'm guessing the owners went solely on the name/look, because I promise I was the first to crack a bottle there, ever.  Cartoonish comic book looking website for proof.  Well Hell night is Wednesday, by the way.  I should be there right now...

Go find kay.  The crazy bitch is my favorite and it's worth the quizzical looks.

Wine-O Wednesday: Antinori Vineyards

Considering my seemingly endless supply of material for this weekly idea, I figured it would be fun to discuss various wines as consistently as I consume them.  Hiccup...

I don't know a whole heck of a lot about wine, but my parents introduced me to the stuff at a relatively young age and taught me how to discern some of the more basic flavors.  I hated it.  A whole wine cellar full of delicious bottles and I didn't really want anything to do with them.

Until sophomore year of college when I discovered white zinfandel.  At Sam's club.  By the magnum.  Makes my lip curl thinking about it now...  My favorite brand: Sutter Home (ie, more fondly and accurately, Stutter Home).  Foul.  Just foul.

That excuse for wine opened up a whole world for me, eventually, as I made the typical female route from pink wine to Riesling then on to Pinot Grigio/ Sauvignon Blanc and finally moved to my now favorite neck of the woods, the big reds.  Zinfandels and Pinot Noirs are pretty much my go-to these days, but I still can't say no to a citrus-crisp glass of Sauv-Blanc on a sunshine drenched patio.  Oh Spring, I miss you.

On to the Wine

My first wine-o entry should be dedicated to this past weekend, when P and I went to a local wine tasting at the amazing Tuscan resty, Antica Posta in Buckhead (an under-acknowledged gem and definitely one of the best in Atlanta)

The event was hosted by an Antinori sommelier, a 26 generation strong vineyard in Tuscany.  They served some fabulous apps like sea bass puree on a biscuit (believe me), house made veal sausage, classic bruschette and mouth watering seared scallops.  Divine.  If you go for dinner, their gnocchi is seriously the best I've had in the states.

The whites line-up:

Vermentino Bolgheri 2011 - light table wine, nothing too special

Bramito Chardonnay 2011 - very light and fruity, the opposite of 

what you typically expect from a Chardonnay!

Cervaro della Sala 2010 - 93 points - smooth buttery flavor without 
oak notes, which I found unusual.  Loved the richness of this guy.

The red line-up:

Il Bruciato Bolgheri Rosso 2010 - apparently not memorable, literally

Chianti Classico Riserva villa Antinori 2010 - literally just came to the US last week!  
Quite spicy with a nice, short finish leaving you wanting more.

Chianti Classico Riserva Badia a Passignano 2006 - 89 points - deep, smooth

 flavors and a really, really long finish

Tignanello 2009 - holy bajeezus this was fabulous.  94 points.  

$100 bottle or I'd be after this daily.  Flavor punch to the faceroo.

Our favorite ended up being the very reasonably priced Chianti Villa Antinori at $29/bottle!  Spicy with a short finish and the coolest part is it's only been in the US for a week and a half!!    We scooped up half a case, for us and for a few friends as gifts :)  

Sous Vide Savvy

My parents got us this crazy chef contraption for Christmas: a Sous Vide Supreme water oven. We had no idea what to do with it, but after some research in my equally fabulous Modernist Cuisine book, it looks pretty easy!  The idea is basically to cook your food at a specific temperature without the food ever contacting a heating element.  (Shrink wrapped inside of a water filled oven.)  All the temperature cooking without any of the charring/coloring/taste altering effects.  A medium rare steak is medium rare out to the very edges, NO gray.  Sear it for 30 sec a side and there you go, literally melt in your mouth.  

Who knew putting your food in a ziplock bag and giving it a little spa bath for a few hours would make perfectly cooked, tender yummies?  Reminds me of the crazy Japanese practice of massaging cattle for perfectly marbled wagyu beef...  How come my food is getting more pampering than I am??  Hmmmm.....

Going with this year's Christmas gifting theme of one-for-you, one-for-me-too P-5 got us a huge delivery of Omaha Steaks.   Score one for Omaha because those suckers are already shrink wrapped and ready for bath time!
We added the perfectly cooked, ridiculously moist and tender chicken to a risotto recipe from Cooking Light: Pumpkin-Shiitake Risotto with Pancetta and Pine Nuts served with a side Pear and Winter Lettuce Salad (see below)

I used a package of dried Asian shrooms I picked up at an international market in Vegas (because who doesn't grocery shop in Vegas?!)   I subbed in bacon for pancetta because we have 80 pounds of it after our NYE group ski trip in Boone, NC, and Bibb lettuce for the endive bc the endives at Kroger were looking a little janky today...
Popped in a movie and propped up by the fire in our matching little for a comfy little wintery Sunday supper!

Rehydrated shroom assortment (no clue what language that is... but apparently these mushrooms are fancy!)

Omaha shrink wrapped chickies in for a swim!

Saute - take 1

Saute - take 2 (con cerveza)

Risottofied!

Ready for their debut!

Heat up some olive oil on medium, and sear for literally less than a min per side, just for color!

Pear and Winter Lettuce Salad (4 servings, 103 calories): 
2 heads thinly sliced Belgian endive (I subbed 1 head Bibb lettuce)
1 small head thinly sliced radicchio
1 large sliced pear

Dressing
In a large bowl, combine and whisk together:
2 Tbs olive oil
1 Tb white balsamic vinegar (I used white cooking vinegar)
1 tsp Dijon mustard
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper in a large bowl. 

Complete with toasty pine nuts!