Asparagus Penne with Lemon-Tarragon Goat Cheese

It's officially spring now. There are new buds on our trees every day & the wisteria in the front yard is blooming. The doggies are taking longer naps in the sunshine & we're sipping beer in the backyard most afternoons. It's almost warm enough for a dip in the springs. Actually, it is warm enough for a dip. We took the first one of the year yesterday & then tucked into a big bowl of this bright, lemon-y pasta. I love this time of year.

Asparagus Penne with Lemon-Tarragon Goat Cheese, for 2

adapted form Smitten Kitchen

1/2 lb. whole wheat penne pasta

1/4 c. soft goat cheese

1 tbsp. fresh tarragon, minced

1 tsp. lemon zest

2 large cloves garlic, minced

1 small bunch of asparagus, cut into 1" pieces

1 tbsp. olive oil

salt to taste

pepper to taste

Bring a pot of salted water to boil & cook the pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Add asparagus & cook until bright green, about 3 minutes, add the garlic & cook until fragrant, 1 minute more. Salt & pepper to taste.

Toss the goat cheese, lemon zest, tarragon, a pinch of salt & a pinch of pepper in a bowl. Mash all ingredients together with a fork.

Toss all ingredients (pasta, asparagus & cheese mixture) together until the pasta is well coated. Serve immediately.

Negroni Chicken with Braised Blood Oranges

How ironic. Carefully slicing away at blood oranges until somehow my finger finds its way under my knife. My brand knew sharp-as-hell Global knife. Blood oranges indeed. Luckily that slip was nothing some gauze, a few bandaids & a big glass of wine couldn't fix. Admittedly, this dish is a little complicated & a bit of work, but it is well worth the blood, sweat & tears. Pun intended.

Negroni Chicken with Braised Blood Oranges, for 2

adapted from Bon Appetite, February 2011

1 bone in, skin on split chikcen breast

1 blood orange

1/2 c, chicken stock

1 small yellow onion, sliced

2 sprigs fresh thyme, minced, (about 2 tsp.)

2 sprigs fresh rosemary, minced (about 2 tsp.)

4 tbsp butter

1 tbsp olive oil

1/4 c. sweet vermouth

1 tsp. ground clove

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. orange zest (from the blood orange)

In a medium baking dish combine the vermouth, clove, cinnamon, orange zest & 1 tsp. minced thyme, then add the chicken & let marinate for at least 1 hour or over night.

Preheat the oven to 450F, both the oranges & chicken will cook at this temperature. Meanwhile, melt 1 tbsp. butter over med-low heat & saute the onion along with 1 tsp. thyme & 1 tsp. rosemary until very brown, 30 minutes. While the onions are browning, arrange the orange slices in a shallow baking dish. Then dot each slice with a bit of butter (this should take 2 tsbp in all) & sprinkle with 1 tsp. rosemary. Cover with chicken stock, about 1/4 c., then cover with foil. Bake on the lower rack for 45 minutes.

While the oranges are baking, heat the oil in an oven proof skillet (cast iron preferably). Add the chicken skin side down & sear until browned, bout 4 minutes. Flip & cook for another 2 minutes. Add the marinating liquides. Bake on the upper rack for 15-20 minutes or until the breast reached 160F when an instanr read thermometer..

While the chicken is baking, add the remaining stock & butter to the onions & reduce until syrupy.

Serve the chicken drizzled with the onions & sauce with the braised oranges on the side.

Chili Seared Snapper with Jicama, Mango & Mint Salad

In my time away from home, two years to be exact, a crush of new restaurants have popped up. Classic French bistros, little cafés, Argentinean steak houses, oh-so-chic sushi spots, & food trucks galore. Needless to say, I've been plowing through these places as quickly as my wallet will allow. Lots of yummy stuff has stuck with me, bacon, avocado & re-fried bean tacos, beet home-fries, juicy pork buns, perfectly seared scallops, & an insane piece of snapper. Foie Gras Snapper seared in Lobster Oil to be exact. A rare appearance at a new-to-me, but well loved haunt, Buenos Aires Café this snapper, paired perfectly with a jicama & mango salad, has been taunting me all week. Foie Gras & lobster oil may be a bit decadent for a run of the mill weeknight dinner, but swap them out for a dash of truffle & chili oil & you've got yourself a tasty piece of snapper. Team it up with re-fried black beans* & a cool jicama & mango salad for a quick simple supper.

Chili Seared Snapper, for 2

1 1lb. red snapper fillet, skin on

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 tsp. truffle oil, divided

1 tsp. chili oil, divided

1/2 tsp. Old Bay seasoning, more to taste

1/2 tsp. All Purpose Greek Seasoning*

salt to taste

pepper to taste

Rub the fillet in half of the truffle & chili oils then rub it in Old Bay, Greek seasoning, salt and pepper. Heat the remaining oil along with the olive oil in a cast iron skillet. Sear the fillet for 3 - 4 minutes on each side or until white & flaky.

Jicama, Mango & Mint Salad, for 2

1 small jicama, peeled & sliced thinly

1 mango, cubed

2 - 4 tbsp. fresh mint, chopped

2 - 4 tbsp. cilantro, chopped

1 lime, juiced

1 - 2 tbsp. olive oil

salt to taste

Half the jicama & peel it. I find it easiest to set the halves face down & run a sharp knife down the sides until all the skin is gone. You loose a little more jicama flesh this way, but it's much faster than trying to peel it with a vegetable peeler. Once peeled, slice the jicama thinly. Set aside in a bowl. Peel & cube the mango. Toss in the bowl with jicama. Throw in the remaining ingredients & toss. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

*For quick but tasty re-fried black beans toss in a chopped poblano pepper & a minced clove of garlic with a can of re-fried black beans. A dash of cumin doesn't hurt either.

Lazy Man's Eggs Benedict

Sunday morning breakfasts are something of a ritual around my house. Nothing fancy, but we always sit down for breakfast. Usually migas or a quick scramble land on the table, but this morning I went for broke. For some reason I decided it was a good day to attempt Hollandaise sauce. I'd never made it before -- probably because of my serious phobia of the stuff as a child -- & the sunny, tangy sauce sounded perfect for an uncharacteristically gray California morning. Who says it never rains in Southern California? Drenching a crisp piece of toast & a runny poached egg, our lazy man's eggs benedict almost made me forget the bleak April weather.

Lazy Man's Eggs Benedict, for two
2 large eggs, poached
2 pieces of toast
1/2 c. Sunny Hollandaise Sauce (see below)
a few dashes of tabasco

Toast the bread. To poach an egg, bring a small sauce pan of water to boil. Crack an egg into a small bowl or coffee cup. Once boiling, bring the water down to a hard simmer & slid the egg into the water. Cook for 2 minutes for a runny egg & 2.5 - 3 minutes for a harder egg. Remove from the water with a slotted spoon. Nestle on top of the toast & drizzle with Hollandaise sauce & a few shakes of tabasco.

Sunny Hollandaise Sauce, makes 1/2 c.
1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
1 pinch salt
1 pinch cayenne
2 egg yolks
1/2 stick butter, melted

Bring a small sauce pan of water to a hard simmer. Meanwhile, whisk the eggs yolks & lemon juice until creamy. Place the bowl with the yolk/lemon mixture over the simmering water (making sure the water doesn't touch the bottom of the bowl) & continue to whisk constantly to avoid scrambling the eggs. Slowly incorporate in the melted butter & keep whisking. Once slightly thickened (about 1 minute) remove the bowl from heat & add the salt & cayenne pepper. Keep warm until you're ready to serve.*

*If a layer of skin forms on the sauce, give it a quick beating with a fork before serving.

One year ago: Spring BBQ Chicken, Ratatouille & Aus-Mex Migas Tacos

Ultimate Lemon Butter Bars

Anything to get me away from the internet. Anything. I need something to kill time. Something productive. This is how I wound up in the kitchen for an hour & a half last night. I emerged smattered with powdered sugar, with lemon curd stuck to my jeans; the victor, lemon bars in hand! No better way to spend an hour & a half, trust me.

Ultimate Lemon Butter Bars, about 1 1/2 dzn. bars
adapted from Rose Levy Beranbaum
Shortbread Base
10 tbsp. unsalted butter, cold
2 tbsp. powdered sugar
2 tbsp. granulated sugar
1 1/4 c. bleached all-purpose flour
Lemon Curd Topping
4 large egg yolks
3/4 c. sugar
2 - 2 1/2 large lemons, juiced
4 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
pinch of salt
2 tsp. lemon zest
2 tbsp. powdered sugar for dusting

Cut the butter into 1-inch cubes, wrap it, & refrigerate. In a food processor with the metal blade, process the sugars for 1 minute or so, until the sugar is very fine. Add the butter & pulse until the sugar disappears. Add the flour & pulse until there are a lot of little moist crumbly pieces and no dry flour particles remain. Then, dump the mixture into a plastic bag & press it together. Remove the dough from the plastic bag & knead it lightly, until it holds together.

Place 1 oven rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat oven to 325°F. Pat the dough into an 8" x 8" foil lined pan. Use a fork to prick the dough all over. Bake for about 35 - 40 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned & the top is a pale golden (do not brown).

While the shortbread bakes, prepare the lemon curd. Have a strainer, suspended over a bowl, ready near the range. In a heavy noncorrodible saucepan, beat the egg yolks and sugar with a wooden spoon until well blended. Stir in the lemon juice, butter, & salt. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, for about 6 - 8 minutes, until thickened & resembling hollandaise sauce, which thickly coats a wooden spoon but is still liquid enough to pour. (A candy thermometer will read 196°F.) The mixture will change from translucent to opaque and begin to take on a yellow color on the back of a wooden spoon. It must not be allowed to boil or it will curdle. (It will steam above 140°F. Whenever steaming occurs, remove the pan briefly from the heat, stirring constantly to prevent boiling.) When the curd has thickened, pour it at once into the strainer. Press it with the back of a spoon until only the coarse residue remains. Discard the residue. Stir in the lemon zest.

Once the shortbread is baked, remove it from the oven, lower the temperature to 300°F., pour the lemon curd on top of the shortbread, and return it to the oven for 10 - 12 minutes. Cool the lemon curd–topped shortbread completely in the pan on a wire rack. Refrigerate the pan for 30 minutes to set the lemon curd completely before cutting into bars. Place the powdered sugar in a strainer & tap the strainer with a spoon to sprinkle a thick, even coating, entirely covering the lemon.

To remove from the pan, use the foil to lift out the lemon curd–covered shortbread onto a cutting surface. Use a long, sharp knife to cut the shortbread into around 1" x 2" bars. Wipe the knife after each cut.

One year ago today: Spiked Sweet Potato Soup

Lime Icebox Pie

Coloring inside the lines was never for me. Perched at the sun bleached yellow formica table in my great-grandmother's kitchen I would scribble wildly, weaving in & out of well marked boundaries. Disney princesses, kittens & crossword puzzles wound up a dizzying array of Crayola's color cannon. Wild Strawberry & Macaroni & Cheese (Predictors of my future food obsession? Possibly? Okay, that's a stretch.) wound up in frayed nubs the quickest. While I busily set about deconstructing stacks of newsprint, my great-grandmother, or Mama as we called her, would hold court in front of the stove. Most often her time would result in one of three treats: chicken 'n' dumplings, homemade (warm!) chocolate pudding or lemon icebox pie. I can't claim that I have a favorite of the three, that just would be fair, but I will say that that pie pops up in my kitchen today more often than I can count. I have the recipe forever etched in my mind along with an emergency stash of Eagle Brand condensed milk.

When searching for a key lime pie recipe earlier this summer, I fell back on Mama's classic lemon icebox pie. Why not try it with lime? My suspicions proved true; it worked. With an extra egg yolk in tow this pie is rich, creamy & almost custard like with a bright citrus kick.

Head on over to Poor Girl Gourmet for the rest of my guest post & the full recipe. Here's the link!

Simple Supper: Grapefruit Avocado Salad

In keeping with yesterday's post, I thought I would share another favorite cool, light & crisp summer meal. In fact, I think I'll carry this out through the week. Why not? Tis the season, no? I find it tough to cook or really even think too much about food in the dog days of summer. Well, maybe that's not entirely true - I can always spend time day dreaming about food ... but, day dreaming aside, when it's truly hot out it can be tough to muster up energy for much more than a cold popsicle. In such circumstances, I turn to the endlessly flexible, oft demoted to the sidelines, salad. Try it with citrus fruit for a light, sharp twist. Grapefruit pairs surprisingly well with typical salad fodder, that is most herbs (thyme, basil, mint), olives, spinach, arugula, avocado & the like. Not to mention, it's pretty, & that doesn't hurt one bit.

Grapefruit Avocado Salad, entree for 2, side for 4
1 large grapefruit
2 large haas avocados
2 c. arugula
1 cucumber
1 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 tbsp. champagne vinegar
salt to taste
pepper to taste

Slice the peel from the grapefruit using a sharp paring knife. Begin by cutting the top & bottom off so you have a flat surface. Then, work you knife down the side removing the peel & pithe (the bitter white stuff) making sure the knife meets up with the last sliced section. Once the peel is off, segment the grapefruit & toss in a salad bowl. Save the "guts" to squeeze over the salad.

Half, seed & slice the avocado. Cut the cucumber in large chunks. Add to the bowl with the grapefruit. Toss with arugula. Squeeze the remaining juice from the grapefruit "guts" over the salad. Dress with champagne vinegar, olive oil, salt & pepper.


Kitchen to table time: 20 minutes

Simple Supper: Citrus,Berry & Radish Salad with Cilantro-Lime Vinaigrette

Once my dad described radishes as tasting "just like earth." That description has always stuck with me -- they really do taste like earth! Tossed with strawberries & citrus the earthy-spicy flavor mellows leaving a nice mild bite. Earlier this week Ray & I munched on this salad with our mole chicken. It's perfect for two but could easily be filled out for a bigger crowd - just add a bit more of everything & you're set. A bright, fresh, colorful side or supper in under 10 minutes -- can't beat that!

Citrus, Berry & Radish Salad with Cilantro-Lime Vinaigrette

2 - 4 ripe strawberries, sliced

4 radishes, sliced

1 clementine, segmented

2 c. washed lettuce (I used butter & Romaine)

Toss all ingredients together.

For vinaigrette:

2 tbsp. olive oil

1 lime, juiced

1 tsp. fresh cilantro, minced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tsp. dijon mustard

Combine all ingredients in a small jar or tupperware. Cover & shake vigorously to combine.