Extra Schmaltz!

I've never been the Caucasus, but if I go, I intend to eat non-stop. So far all the recipes I've had from that region are a fantastic melding of East and West that highlight some of my favorite ingredients. Alex once made this dish, and I remember it taking him all day because he didn't use the food processor. I have one here, so I've been having fun with it. This recipe makes a mild-but-rich-and-flavorful chicken dip that's traditionally served as a mezze, but I served it as a side dish with Zingy Lentil and Bulghur Soup with Mint . These two recipes go well together because you need chicken broth for both. The chicken dish can be made ahead of time (which I recommend) and would be a great potluck offering. The walnuts make it very rich, so a little goes a long way. First, make a broth using chicken breasts. You can use other parts but these shred nicely. You can season it how you like, but this is how I do it (PS the onion skin makes the broth yellow). This is bes...

I haven't been keeping very good records of what I've been cooking in France, but this is probably the tastiest dish I actually remembered to photograph. I made this a few weeks back when I was in Lyon; after 3 days of seeing the city and ahem..living the night life, we were all pretty tired and broke, and it was a grey rainy easter monday where we had been hoping for sunshine. We decided to hit the local croix rousse market, and I made good use of the fresh veggies there. It's pretty simple so this will be short. Basically, fresh veggies + olive oil=spring time yum. Carrots Green onions, both white oniony bits and green crispy bits Asparagus Some kind of mushroom - I think what I used was chantarelle but nobody was really sure. Ceps would be good. Chicken Pasta - for something like this (olive oil based sauce with chunks) I like a noodle Cheese- parmesan is always best, here I think I used some leftover handfuls of emmental I chopped everything pretty coarse like, except t...

Kibbeh is a combination of ground lamb and bulghur*, and is eaten throughout the Levant. It can be prepared in countless ways, from raw to deep fried. Here's my version of a baked style, made into a hotdish with potatoes and tomatoes. I have changed and refined this recipe, and it's very similar to Alex's kufta hotdish, the main difference being that this one contains bulgur. Both versions are delicious! Here's what you'll need: 1 lb. ground lamb 3/4 c. bulghur 1 small onion 1/3 c. chopped parsley + extra for garnish 1 medium russet potato, peeled and sliced very thin (1/8") 1-2 tomatoes, sliced thin 3 cloves garlic, crushed 2 Tbsp. salt 2 tsp. black pepper 1/2 tsp. allspice 1/2 tsp. ground cumin 1/2 tsp. cayenne 1 pinch cinnamon pine nuts for garnish (optional) Preheat your oven to 350. Grease a large, flat-bottomed baking dish or cast iron pan. Place the sliced potatoes in the bottom of the pan and place the pan in the oven while preparing the other ingredi...

On this snowy and blustery April night (who'da thunk?) I decided it was meat and potatoes time. America's Test Kitchen came through again with a great recipe and technique for meatloaf. Theirs dealt with the problem of when you only have ground beef and not meatloaf mix (which is beef, pork, and veal). I actually had some meatloaf mix, but I used their recipe for its excellent technique and combination of flavors. The result was tender and velvety, with a deliciously zingy glaze. I served it with rosemary potatoes, broccoli, and a nice cold beer. Seriously, if you found meatloaf like this at a restaurant, you'd drive across town at 5 o'clock in a blizzard to get it again. Their approach to meatloaf differs in a few ways from what I'm used to. Gone are the days of a dense brick swimming in a half inch of grease. I mean, that's tasty and all (especially if you want to keep your coat good and shiny), but it leaves plenty of room for improvement. The ATK approach, ...

Last night we were watching TV, bouncing from channel to channel, when we decided to watch America's Test Kitchen . The topic was "Not your Average Stir-fry" and we started drooling, it looked so damn good. They made a Thai-inspired beef stir-fry and some Chinese-style pork and cabbage potstickers. I like the show because it focuses on ingredients that nearly anyone can find, ordinary kitchen equipment, and has a thorough and scientific approach. Also, it's way less shrill than Alton Brown's Good Eats. Today we were out and about with some friends and decided to go crazy and make the meal. It came out so well and I basically followed the recipes exactly. You have to register wit the ATK website to see the recipes, but they don't send you annoying stuff, so I recommend doing so. I won't re-post the recipes, but here are some photos to entice you to check them out. As usual, I was so eager to eat that my photos are lame, but you'll get the idea. Their st...

I'm fairly certain that roast chicken is the food I've had the most kitchen meltdowns over. It's so simple, so basic, and so beautiful to have that whole, browned and glistening bird on the table--and yet, I can never seem to get one to the table without shedding tears of frustration and throwing a spatula across the kitchen. I always wind up with a combination of raw and over-cooked parts, usually long past dinner time. The skin will look perfect when the bird is hardly done, or the whole thing will seem perfectly cooked (even using the thermometer!) until I carve it and rivulets of chicken blood go coursing across the board. I've known for years that the way to avoid that problem is to cut up the damn bird, but I couldn't help striving for the iconic whole roast bird. In the end, though, if I wanted some roast chicken without turning into a mental patient, I had to give up and find a new way. Here's the approach I arrived at, which turns out amazing chicken ev...