Lyon-Style Chicken

Made this back in November just before Thanksgiving.  Ooh yes! 10+/10 everyone raved about this at dinner. For the record, despite the amount of vinegar, it does NOT have a strong vinegar taste at all. Absolutely will repeat!

Link to original recipe: https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/lyon-style-chicken-with-vinegar-sauce

Ingredients:

3 T. extra-virgin olive oil
~4 lbs. bone-in chicken pieces (I used all chicken drumsticks)
salt and freshly ground pepper
3 T. unsalted butter, divided
12 large garlic cloves
1 bay leaf
1 c. Banyuls vinegar (or red wine vinegar, which is what I used--Alessi brand)
2 c. chicken stock
1/4 c. crème fraîche

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 450°F.

2. Heat the oil in a large, deep skillet over moderately high heat.  Season chicken with salt and pepper, then add to skillet.  Brown on both sides.

3. Add 1 T. of the butter to the skillet and swirl to coat the chicken pieces, then add garlic and bay leaf.

4. Transfer skillet to oven.  Bake for 8 min, then carefully add vinegar to skillet.  Continue baking for additional 15 min, basting a few times with the juices.  Remove and transfer chicken and garlic to a plate/bowl.

5. Return skillet with sauce to stovetop and add chicken stock.  Bring to a boil, scrape up any browned bits, and continue boiling until reduced to 1 1/4 cups (around 10 min.)

6. Whisk in crème fraîche and remaining 2 T. of butter.   Return chicken and garlic to skillet, along with any accumulated juices.  Simmer over moderately high heat until sauce thickens slightly, around 3 min.  Season with salt and pepper, serve with desired side and enjoy!

Dark Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies

Loooove these.  Have made these a few times now, 10+ all the way. Ghirardelli white chocolate melts for the coating (in double boiler) are perfect and easy!  Set out your eggs now to get them at room temp and get ready for addictive, delicious cookies :)

Link to my YouTube video of preparation: https://youtu.be/ftdWRiqt-J0

Link to original recipe: https://livforcake.com/dark-chocolate-candy-cane-cookies/

Ingredients:

2 c. all-purpose flour
1/4 c. sifted Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1/4 c. sifted black cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1 c. unsalted butter, softened
1/2 c. sugar
1 c. light brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs room temperature
1 tsp. peppermint extract
1 bag Ghirardelli white candy melts
crushed candy canes (I think I used 3 regular sized ones)

Directions:

1. Whisk together flour, Dutch cocoa, black cocoa, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together butter, sugar, and brown sugar for 2-3 min, or until light and fluffy.

3. Add egg and peppermint extract, beat on lower speed until well combined.

4. Mix in the reserved flour mixture until just combined.  Cover bowl and refrigerate for at least 1 hour (up to overnight).

5. Heat oven to 350°F.  Line baking sheets with parchment.

6. Use a cookie scoop (or drop by Tablespoonfuls) to drop dough balls onto prepared sheets, at least 2" apart.  Bake for around 10 min, or until middles are set. 

7. Let cookies cool on sheets for 5 min before transferring to wire rack to cool completely.

8. Line a baking sheet or countertop with parchment. Heat double boiler (water gently simmering) and add candy melts.  Stir until melted, then dip cookies halfway in, let excess drip off, then sprinkle crushed candy canes atop dipped area.  Let rest until set and enjoy!

Pressure Cooker Chicken Leg Quarters

Back in December, I came up with this recipe myself (mostly)!  While there are many recipes out there for pressure cooking, there are not many for chicken leg quarters (this is also true in general, not just for pressure cooking).  I did manage to find a guide in a cookbook at the library for how long to cook them, so that helped. And this is delicious--10/10, will absolutely make again!

Note: this was enough for 4 leg quarters, but I only had 3 on hand

Ingredients: 

1/4 c. herbes de Provence
3 T. olive oil
1 T. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. coarse ground black pepper
3 chicken leg quarters
~2 T. butter
6 T. Chardonnay
10 T. chicken broth
2 cloves garlic, minced
~1/2 lb. baby yukon gold potatoes, quartered/cut in large dice size
1 T. cornstarch
dollop of crème fraîche

Directions:

1. Combine first 4 ingredients to make a rub, use to coat the chicken legs.

2. Heat butter in cast iron skillet over medium to medium high heat.  Add chicken legs and brown on both sides (around 4-5 min per side).  Transfer to the pot of pressure cooker.

3. Add chardonnay and broth, followed by garlic, then potatoes.  Close pot, set for 'poultry' with time of 12 min.  After pressure cooking time has finished, do natural release of pressure.

4. Transfer chicken to a plate, turn cooker on to sauté setting.  Dip out around 4 tsp. of the juice and whisk with cornstarch to make slurry, then add back to pot.  Stir in the crème fraîche and simmer for a few min.

5. Transfer potatoes to dish with chicken and let sauce simmer for a few more min.  Serve chicken and potatoes with sauce and enjoy!

Triple-Flavored Cookies

Made these back in February (before going to France).  The original recipe calls them 'Triple-Flavor Big Batch Cookies', but I didn't want to make a big batch (as I didn't know if we'd like them), so I made a half batch.  They are very good, but I forgot to write down a rating for them, so I'll have to add the rating next time I make them (I know they were good enough to make again at least!)

Link to original recipe: https://www.midwestliving.com/recipe/cookies/triple-flavored-big-batch-cookies/

Ingredients (for HALF BATCH):

1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 c. rolled oats (old-fashioned)
1 1/2 T. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 c. unsalted butter, softened
1/2 c. chunky peanut butter
3/4 c. sugar
3/4 c. brown sugar
1 1/2 eggs (for the half egg, I whisked one in cup and measured out half)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 c. semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, oats, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.  Set aside.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter and peanut butter together until smooth.

4. Beat in sugar and brown sugar.

5. Beat in eggs and vanilla.

6. Beat in as much of the reserved flour mixture as possible, mix in the rest by hand.

7. Stir in the chocolate chips.  Drop dough in rounded Tablespoonfuls (or use cookie scoop) onto cookie sheets.  Bake for 12-14 min.  Let cool on cookie sheet for at least 1 min before transferring to cooling racks.  Enjoy!

Deep Pan Pizza

Am back in the states, which is bittersweet.  I'm happy to be back in my own kitchen, but I miss my best French friend and all the food I was making there.  Anyway, today, I was going to make a stir fry, but then some emails informed me that it was "National Pizza Party Day" and I felt inspired to try for a virtual one, with homemade pizza.  I invited close friends and family to join us online, but alas, no one took me up on the offer.  Oh, well, no big deal, we enjoyed our pizzas anyhow!  I had come across a deep dish recipe on King Arthur Flour the other day, thought I might try it today, but then I read through it and stopped when I got to the 12 hour proofing part.  Oops.  Save that for another time.  I still wanted to try a deep dish recipe, and finally found one that was suitable for same-day prep.  This one turned out great and was fairly easy!  We all liked it, but agreed that it needed a bit more cheese, some pepperoni, and probably 2 min less oven time to make it reach 10/10 level...we'll go 9/10 for the way it came out this time.

Link to original recipe: https://bakerbettie.com/homemade-pan-pizza-perfectly-crispy-crust/

Ingredients:

1/4 c. nonfat dry milk powder
1 T. sugar
2 1/4 tsp. (or 1 packet) active dry yeast
1 1/3 c. warm water (110°F)
2 T. canola (or veggie) oil
4 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
6 oz. canola (or veggie) oil, divided (for oiling the pans)
pizza sauce
pizza toppings

Directions:

1. In the bowl of a sand mixer, add the dry milk, sugar, yeast, and water.  Stir together with a spoon and let sit for 2 min.

2. Stir in the 2 T. of oil, then add the flour and salt.  Attach the dough hook and set to medium speed.  Let mix for 8 min.  *note: I tried to do it this way, but after about 3 min, the dough was climbing out of the bowl and the mixer was bumping so much I worried it would break, so I stopped it and finished kneading by hand for the remaining 5 min.*

3. In two, 12" cast iron skillets or similar pans, add 3 oz. of the oil to each.  Swirl it around to coat all over, including the sides of the pan.  Yes, it will seem like too much, but its necessary to achieve the crispy crust during the baking part.  Divide the dough into two even balls, then flatten each to the size of each pan and place in the pan.  (Original recipe indicates that if the dough is not holding shape after trying to flatten to pan size, cover it with plastic wrap and let rest for 10-15 min, then try again.)

4. If you have a proof setting on your oven (I do :)), set it, then place pans in oven to proof (or set in a very warm area if your oven does not have this setting).  Let proof for 1 1/2 hrs.

5. Remove from proofing area, then set oven to 500°F.  While oven heats, top pizza with sauce and preferred toppings.  Just before the oven has reached temperature, heat pans over high heat on stovetop for 2 min, then transfer to oven.  Bake for 15 min...or possibly slightly less (as mentioned above, I think I should have gone 1-2 min less).  Let sit for 5 min after removing from oven before slicing.  Enjoy!

Grilled Asian Tri-Tip with Rice Noodles

Mmmm tasty! I made this with my mom back at Christmastime (2019).  Yes, we grilled in chilly December weather!  The dish is spicy, but not overwhelming--just the right amount.  9.5/10.  Half point off because this is not good leftover.  We altered original recipe by boiling the marinade and tossed it with the noodles--highly recommend.  Also recommend metal skewers for the grilling part. The tri-tip we used was around 3lbs, marinade amount was perfect. We cooked rice noodles according to package directions (like pasta-style, not soaking). used balsamic vinegar instead of the black Asian vinegar (could not find in her area).  I forgot to get pix, so I'll have to add those next time I make this.

link to original recipe: https://www.foodservicedirector.com/recipedia/asian-grilled-tri-tip-noodles

1/2 c. peanut oil
1/4 c. low-sodium soy sauce
1/4 c. black Asian vinegar (subbed balsamic vinegar)
1/4 c. bottled chili garlic sauce (sambal oelek)
3 T. honey
4 green onions, thinly sliced
2 T. fresh ginger, minced
2 T. white sesame seeds, plus more for garnish
1 beef tri-tip (1.5 to 3 lbs.) cut into 2" cubes
cooked rice or rice noodles

Directions:

1. In a large bowl or zip-top plastic freezer bag, combine oil, soy sauce, vinegar, chili sauce, honey, green onions, ginger, and sesame seeds.  Add the beef and stir (or shake) to coat.  Transfer to fridge for 8-10 hours.

2. Prepare a charcoal grill (or heat gas grill to high).  Remove beef from marinade and pour marinade into a pan.

3. Heat marinade over medium-high heat to bring to boil, then lower heat to keep at a simmer (not sure how long we let it simmer, though).

4. Grill beef to desired doneness, serve with rice or rice noodles and sauce and enjoy!

Pinot Noir Braised Chicken Thighs

Made this back in mid-November (2019) Very tasty!  Next time will serve with egg noodles, but the long grain rice was also good.  Makes A LOT. 9/10.

Link to original recipe: https://www.cookingsavorybites.com/2012/10/16/braised-chicken-thighs-featuring-pinot-noir-pancetta-and-mushrooms/

Ingredients:

1/3 c. all-purpose flour
2 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. ground black pepper
8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
1 T. olive oil
1/4 c. pancetta cubes (1/2" wide cubes, if possible)
3/4 c. finely chopped carrot
1/2 c. finely chopped celery
3/4 c. finely chopped Spanish onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 c. Pinot Noir
8 oz. whole cremini mushrooms
3 T. tomato paste
bouquet garni: tie together 3 stalks Italian parsley,  1 stalk fresh rosemary, and 3 stalks fresh thyme
3/4 c. chicken stock
1/4 c. finely chopped Italian parsley

Directions:

1. In a large, zip-top plastic bag, combine flour, 1 tsp. of the sea salt, and 1/2 tsp. of the pepper.  Add chicken thighs and shake well to coat.  Set aside.

2. In a Dutch oven over low heat, add olive oil and pancetta.  Cook pancetta until starting to crisp, then transfer to a paper-towel lined plate/bowl, set aside.  Leave drippings in the pan.

3. Increase heat to med-high and add the coated chicken thighs.  Cook thighs until browned on both sides (around 4-5 min per side).  Transfer thighs to a plate.

4. Heat oven to 325°F.  Reduce heat for pot to medium and add the carrot, celery, onion, garlic, the remaining 1 tsp. of sea salt, and the remaining 1/2 tsp. pepper.  Cook, stirring frequently, for around 4 min.

5. Stir in the wine, scraping the bottom to loosen browned bits, and cook for additional 4 min.  Add the mushrooms and tomato paste and cook, stirring frequently, for 3 min.

6. Submerge the bouquet garni into the mixture, then stir in the chicken stock.  Add the chicken back to the pot, then cover the pot and transfer to oven.

7. Bake for 1.5 hrs, then uncover and continue baking for additional 30 min.  Discard the bouquet garni and top with the chopped parsley and pancetta.  Serve up with desired side and enjoy!