Comfort Foods and Indulgences

braisedchicken.jpgBraising is a perfect one-pot, cold weather cooking technique that doesn't take much effort. The resulting meat is fall-off the bone tender. Adding fresh vegetables and herbs completes the dish.

As the braise simmers, the kitchen fills with a warming sweetness, further helping to banish the cold.

Using bacon with it's smoky flavor and good fat content adds even more flavor to the succulent chicken.

A couple of suggestions about braising: add the vegetables after the meat is tender to avoid overcooking and use on-the-bone chicken to gain the sweet advantage that the bones give the broth.

The dish can be made with chicken breast but I prefer the on-the-bone parts of the chicken--thighs, legs or wings. If you are using wings, disjoint them, using the wing tips to make stock.

Read more ...

To make amazing buttermilk biscuits, you don't have to make them by hand.  Using a stand mixer is the way to go when changing up a few ingredients that yield tender, flaky biscuits everytime.

This recipe also calls for cake flour which is not the norm for biscuits.  However, cake flour has a lower protein content, allowing the dough to withstand more mixing without overworking it and developing gluten, which will ultimately toughen the biscuits.

Read more ...

bacon-bbq-oysters"The BBQ oysters were inspired by cookouts I’d have down in New Orleans. My friends and I would pull oysters out of the Gulf, crack them open and throw them on beach fires, and add all kinds of different sauces. Then, when I brought the recipe up to New York, I also was making this BBQ bacon sandwich. I thought, these two would be great together, so I combined the BBQ with the bacon and with the oysters." - Chef Paul Gerard, Exchange Alley, NYC

Oyster Barbecue Sauce:

1 bunch fresh thyme
Extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1/4 cup fresh chilies
2 cups ketchup
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1/8 cup tablespoons white vinegar
1 tablespoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon pimenton…smoked paprika
Freshly ground black pepper

Read more ...

jacketpotatomediterreanWith our 12th wedding anniversary right around the corner, I thought I’d look up 12th year wedding gifts. The traditional gifts are silks and linens. Who came up with those? Does that mean I should expect a linen table cloth? Should Jeff expect silk pajamas? I think not.

In fact, after 12 years together, I want to give Jeff something memorable, something unique. So, I was thinking a potato. Not any potato. (What kind of wife do you think I am?) A jacket potato, as they call it in England, or as we Yanks call it, a stuffed potato. Now, before you consider me the most un-romantic person you’ve ever met, read on.

 Our honeymoon had an inauspicious start. Our scheduled non-stop flight from Boston to London was cancelled due to thunderstorms, and consequently our luggage was “misplaced” (the Brits’ genteel word for “lost”). In part due to a choppy ride and part due to just-married-bliss, we did not sleep on the flight over and landed in London late and red-eyed.

When we arrived, we discovered that our inn was just as we anticipated: a Victorian brownstone on a tree lined, thoroughly British street. There was even a consummate Brit, heels clicking on the pavement, with his walking stick swinging in one hand and the Sunday Times in the other.

The woman at the inn greeted us warmly then asked for our name. After Jeff told her, she looked at him, then at me, then back at him and back to me. She said, “Uncanny how much you two look alike. Are you brother and sister?”

Read more ...

candy.almondjoy.sm_.jpgI don’t drink, I don’t smoke, I am not addicting to shopping, but I do confess to overindulging when it comes to chocolate. I have always loved chocolate and I pretty much need it everyday. I do admit to being addicted and it isn’t an addiction I care to break.

Sees candy was my first love. It was always the same selection; California Brittle, Scotchmallow, and Almond Royal. A trip to Sherman Oaks Fashion Square wasn’t complete with out a visit to Sees. Bess, an elderly lady with short white hair, was always behind the counter and as she saw me opening the door, she would start filling a little bag with all of my favorites. Bess was one of the special ones. I was blessed to have found her and would have loved her even if she didn’t work behind the glass counter at Sees.

Other favorites included Honey Comb at Little Johns in The Original Farmers Market, the perfect melt in your mouth truffles from Kron and now, as an adult I treat myself to Recchiuti caramels, and anything from Fran's.

With Valentine’s Day around the corner, I am thinking about what to give to all of those that I adore. Last year I made caramels, heart shaped butter cookies, and a rocky road fudge(originally chocolate covered marshmallows that turned into a disaster). Truly, I am not there yet, but I wanted to start with one of M’s childhood favorites – Almond Joy.

Read more ...