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Braised Beef with Kale and Polenta

I'm realllllllly hoping this will be my last wintry recipe. This is a Game of Thrones-style winter that never ends. I'm ready for the long summer and all the beautiful fresh foods it will bring. So the solution for surviving this cold spring is naturally to cook things in red wine. #DrowningSorrows

This beautiful braise is fork tender and a pairs perfectly with chewy, flavorful kale and sweet, soft polenta.

So braising sounds fancy, but it's really quick easy. Just start by browning the meat a bit, adding flavor and gorgeous color. Once they've got a good brown remove from the pan and cook up your onions, garlic and seasoning in the fat left from the beef. Then add the tomatoes, wine and vinegar; scraping up all the good brown bits from the bottom of the pan.

Add the beef back to the sauce and top with herbs. Admire how friggin' lovely this is. Seriously pretty stuff.

OhMyGahhhhh then it cooks for 4 hours. It got better... all red wine soaked and cozy.

Just before serving saute the kale and cook up the polenta. You're so close to beef time.

Raise a glass to the end of winter. You made it. Oh... and you should probably get a pedicure. That shit is funky.

Braised Beef with Kale and Polenta
For Beef
3-4 lb chuck roast, cut into large chunks
4 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper
2 yellow onions, chopped
One head garlic, peeled and minced
1 teaspoon red pepper flake
1 28-oz can chopped tomato
1 1/2 cups red wine
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
7-8 sprigs fresh thyme

For Polenta
2 cups quick-cooking polenta
6 cups water
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

For Kale
1 large bunch kale, rinsed and torn into small pieces
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup water

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Season all sides of the beef with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil over high heat in a heavy bottomed dutch oven. Add beef and sear for a few minutes on each side. Do this in two batches to avoid crowding the pan. Once seared on all sides, remove to a plate.

Cook onion in remaining olive oil until softened, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add garlic and red pepper flake; cook for another 2 minutes. Add tomatoes, red wine and vinegar; scraping the bottom of the pan for 3 minutes. Add meat back to pot and top with thyme. Cover and cook in oven for 4 hours.

Remove meat from oven and allow to cool for 30 minutes. After meat has cooled for 15 minutes, start boiling water for polenta. Once boiling, slowly whisk in polenta. Stir constantly for 5-6 minutes, adding in butter and cheese at the end.

Heat remaining olive oil over high heat and add kale. Cook for 2 minutes, tossing in oil. Add water and immediately cover. Cook for another 2 minutes, until wilted.

Serve immediately, topping polenta with beef and kale.

Weeknight Meal Idea: Orzo Pesto with Asparagus

Sometimes you just don't have it in you. We travelled on Sunday, so I was totally off my grocery game. No lists were prepared and I aimlessly wandered the aisles hungry after work. This is against everything I stand for.

Shit happens. It's just groceries.

So I threw together a quick pasta dish that I knew would provide leftovers for lunching. Enter Orzo Pesto.

Here's all it takes:
Boil water for pasta and cook to package instructions.

In a large pan, heat one tablespoon olive oil and sauté a chopped shallot (onion would be fine too). Add one bunch sliced asparagus, one pint cherry tomatoes, halved, and one can chickpeas, drained and rinsed. Don't forget salt and pepper. Sauté for five minutes, then add one small jar store bought pesto.

Toss with cooked orzo and top with Parmesan cheese.

Boom. Dinner is done in 20 minutes.

Homemade Chicken Stock

So now you have a chicken carcass... lucky you! Seriously. You have the stuff of kitchen gold. The stuff cooks dream of. You can make homemade chicken stock. 

You've seen my snarky "preferably homemade" quip when I put it in recipes, but I do this for a reason. Homemade chicken stock has remarkable depth of flavor that is tough to find in store bought stock. Not to mention, when you make it yourself you can exert much more control over the sodium. You wouldn't believe how much the canned stuff has!

A little effort after a roasted chicken gives you a big yield and can stretch to punch up recipes for weeks to come.

So confession... I keep a crazy lady bag of chicken bones and another of veggie scraps in my freezer. Very Grey Gardens hoarder. I actually have a weird hatred of throwing away/wasting food, so my bags o' crazy in the freezer are perfect to assuage. Onion skins... keep 'em. Carrot peels...keep 'em. Celery leaves... keep 'em. Mushroom stems... okay you get it. 

Dump all that crazy freezer goodie in you biggest pot and add some extra carrots, celery and seasoning. Cover with water and let it simmer for at least two hours.

Your house will start smelling really good and the broth will be golden. Turn off the heat and remove the big chunks using a slotted spoon. You can discard the bones and veggies at this point they've done their job.

You'll need to allow the stock to cool before removing to containers. If it's cold outside, cover and put out there to cool. It will go much quicker and you'll drive your neighbor's cat crazy.

Place a fine mesh strainer over the container and give one last strain to catch all the tiny bits.

I keep take-out containers to freeze stock in. It's an issue in my marriage, because it drives my husband batty. But they're perfect for this. They hold about 4 cups each, which is typically about how much I use at at time. You could certainly freeze in smaller containers, if that's convenient for you. You may also drive your husband less crazy.

Homemade Chicken Stock
1 chicken carcass OR bones from 4 chicken breasts
3 cups onion scraps OR 3 onions peeled and quartered
5 carrots, cut into big chunks
5 stalks celery and leaves
1 cup mushroom stems
3 tablespoons Herbes de Provence
4 bay leaves
2 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
12 cups water

Place the carcass, vegetables and spice in a large pot and cover with water. Add more water if necessary to cover all ingredients. Bring to a boil and allow to simmer for 2 hours.

Remove from heat and then use a slotted spoon to remove large chunks. Allow stock to cool and then strain into plastic containers. Freeze for up three months.

*This ingredient list is a suggestion. You can add more or less, based on what you have in the fridge. 

Perfectly Roasted Chicken

There are few meals more satisfying and comforting than a perfectly roasted chicken. This is truly something every cook should know how to do. And it's not about fancy ingredients, it's about good technique.

Isn't she gorgeous? There's a reason countless schmancy restaurants serve it. Juicy meat, crisped skin and vegetables cooked to perfection in the drippings.

The variations are endless, but when I'm making roasted chicken, I'm craving traditional comfort. Red potatoes, onion and carrot make the perfect roasting rack and lemon, rosemary and garlic give classic flavor.

Technique Tip #1 -- Rinse out your chicken inside and out and then take the time to pat it dry, both inside and out. If the skin is wet, not only will the spices not stick, but skin won't crisp. The extra moisture would, in effect, just steamed the chicken. No no.

Technique Tip #2 -- Pack the inside full of flavor. Sometimes people only season the skin of chicken, but seasoning and stuffing inside will infuse flavor throughout the meat. The bright floral notes of rosemary are perfectly complemented by hot garlic. With lemon and onion pulling it all together.

Technique Tip #3 -- Tie the legs and tuck the wings. One of the tricky things about a whole chicken, is that the dark and white meats cook at different rates. If you tie up the legs, it holds the bird together and ensures the entire thing cooks more evenly.

Technique Tip #4 -- Grease and season the outside. Give that chicken a full body massage with good olive oil and then load up with salt, pepper and Herbes de Provence. Once the bird is oiled and seasoned, pull the wing tips around front and tuck under the chicken. This will help ensure even cooking and prevent the tips from burning.

Some extra effort in the technique department pays off when you see this beauty come out of the oven.

Your nose will tell you when it's ready and yes, your apartment will smell heavenly. But since this is chicken, it's important to confirm that it's cooked through. Make a small cut between the breast and leg and check the juices. If they run clear, it's all done; but if they're still pink, back in to the oven. 

While this small cut is important, you should NOT cut in to the chicken straight out of the oven. Allow the chicken to rest for at least 20 minutes before slicing. This allows the juices to redistribute within the meat. 

Oh and fancy that, all those veggies are done too. Hello complete meal.

Perfect Roast Chicken
1 4-5lb roasting chicken (I prefer organic)
1 lemon, quartered
2 yellow onions, quartered
1 head garlic
1 bunch rosemary
3-4 carrots, cut into 1-inch chunks
1 lb red potatoes
Salt
Pepper
Olive oil
Herbes de Provence
Kitchen twine

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Rinse chicken inside and out with cold water. Use paper towels to thoroughly dry the inside and outside of chicken.

Liberally sprinkle salt and pepper on the inside of the chicken. Slice off the top of a head of garlic and stuff the head of garlic inside the chicken, follow with 1/2 an onion, lemon quarters and rosemary. Use kitchen twine to firmly tie the legs together.

In a large roasting pan, spread remaning onions, carrots and potatoes in an even layer on the bottom. Transfer the chicken to the pan, resting on top of the vegetables. Rub down liberally with a few tablespoons of olive oil and then sprinkle with salt, pepper and a few tablespoons of Herbes de Provence. Tuck the wing tips under the chicken.

Roast chicken for 1 1/2 hours. If skin begins to get too brown, loosely cover with aluminum foil. Test chicken doneness by making a small cut between the chicken breast and leg; juices will run clear when chicken is cooked through. Allow chicken to rest for at least 20 minutes before serving.

Serve chicken with vegetables and pan juices.

Salted Caramel Popcorn Sundae

What is it about a dinner party that makes you think you need a fancy dessert? In reality, I'm usually so full after a big meal that I just want a little bite of sweet. Even better if that little bite is frozen and in cream form. Boom... ice cream sundae.

Even better? Ice cream sundae with unexpected depth of flavor and texture. This time I paired good vanilla ice cream with my Salted Caramel Sauce and Rosemary Olive Oil Popcorn. This combo is salty/sweet in all the right ways and the popcorn's herbaceous crunch adds an element of surprise.

There are so many incredible ice creams on the market these days -- even in regular grocery stores -- that with some well-thought toppings, you have a bangarang entertaining-ready dessert. When it comes to store-bought ice cream, I love the vanilla bean from Trader Joe's or Graeter's. Its a Cincinnati classic which happened to employ one of my dearest friends in high school and they've got great Midwest distribution these days. I figure, if they managed to wrangle that wild child they must be geniuses. Frozen treat geniuses.

 

Rosemary Olive Oil Popcorn

Step away from the microwave popcorn. It's gross and makes the roof of your mouth feel weird. Also, "turn your fingers orange" is not an actual flavor. Okay... end rant.

Real popcorn is where it's at. Cooking on the stovetop takes 5 minutes, which is the same amount of time you spend waiting for your inconsistent microwave to potentially burn/uncook half the kernels. Cooking it yourself also opens up a world of flavor options. Various grated cheeses, spices galore and in this case, delicious Rosemary Olive Oil.

Start in a heavy-bottomed pot and heat oil over medium heat. Throw in 3-4 kernels from the beginning and cover. When you hear those tiny pops, you know the oil is hot enough. 

When the oil is hot, I actually remove it from the heat when I add the remaning kernels and wait about 20-30 seconds. This ensures you don't burn your kernels from the outset.

Return to heat and cover. Now shake it, shake shake shake it (like a polaroid). Well, as much like a polaroid as you can while keeping on the burner. If anything make a crapload of noise.

The excitement builds. Your smelly-good snack is almost here. Smells like good movies.

Serve with a sprinkling of salt and side of dental floss. Once you've had the real stuff, you'll never go back to the microwave.

Rosemary Olive Oil Popcorn
1/4 cup rosemary olive oil
1/2 cup white corn kernels
Sprinkling of kosher salt, to taste

Heat olive oil in a heavy bottom pot over medium heat. Add 3-4 kernels and cover. Once kernels pop, remove from heat and add remaining corn. After 20-30 seconds, return pot to heat and cover; shaking frequently. Cook until there are several seconds between each pop. Sprinkle with salt and serve hot.

*A bit of recipe inspiration from Giada de Lauretiis