Deviled Eggs a la Spotted Pig

There is no better way to use up old Easter eggs than making deviled eggs. They are also a great dinner party snack if you have more time than cash on your hands. The Spotted Pig makes a damn good deviled egg so I followed their recipe.

Place 12 eggs in single layer in a saucepan. Cover with cold water, bring water to a simmer, shut off the heat and let them stand for ten minutes. Peel under cool running water. And don’t get a paper cut from the shell. Ow!

Combine egg yolks, 3 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon mayo or yogurt, 1 tablespoon Dijon, 2 teaspoons white wine vinegar and one teaspoon malt vinegar in a food processor. Blend until smooth adding more oil if necessary. Season with salt.

Transfer mixture to a plastic Ziploc and cut a small hole in the corner. Fill the empty egg whites with the puree and try to make dramatic tails! Sprinkle with salt, red chili flakes, chives or something else with color.

Chicken with Green Olives and Preserved Lemons

A few months ago, Rupal took Denise and I to Kalustyan's in Murray Hill for the first time. She was shocked that we had never been there as it's definitely a 'kid in a candy store' type situation for anyone who likes to cook. We spent over an hour wandering around and debating pressing questions like "Should I buy fresh or dried fenugreek?" and "Do I splurge on fresh curry leaves?" (The answers are fresh and yes.)

I finally emerged onto Lexington Avenue with bags full of paneer, preserved lemons, dried Persian limes, spicy lime chutney, and a dozen varieties of rice and lentils. Then came the hard part. What do I make with all this? I decided to start with the preserved lemons as they seemed the most perishable. I tried Moroccan Chicken with Preserved Lemons and Green Olives. I accidentally drank the white wine the recipe calls for the night before so I just used broth. It's a simple recipe that lends a lot of flavor to chicken breasts.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Moroccan-Chicken-with-Preserved-Meyer-Lemons-and-Green-Olives-102732

Next on my list is a recipe with Persian limes. Stay tuned.

Brisket Breakfast Tacos

Ryan and I tend to eat dinner around 9:30pm at which point I’m so starving that my blood sugars have plummeted and I can barely speak. I arrive home from work at 6:30 but then I launch into Xavier's frantic dinner-bath-bed time routine. I emerge from his room at 7:30 (practically ready to go to bed myself) and finally unpack the dirty lunch dishes from my purse, hang up my coat, blah blah blah. Fascinating stuff I realize. Anyways, by the time I re-energize (read: have a glass of wine) and Ryan gets home from class, it’s after 8 and time to start chopping.

Enter the slow cooker. I bought one a few weeks ago with the idea that at least a few times a week I could come home to dinner already made. I’m fairly suspicious of anything beyond brisket and beef stew that needs to cook that long but I’m open to suggestions if any of you have them. My first experiment was the Southwestern Pulled Brisket from Smitten Kitchen.

http://smittenkitchen.com/2010/01/southwestern-pulled-brisket/

I served the brisket on blue tortillas with grated cheese, yogurt, cilantro and red onions. It was good. However, after marinating it over night, I reduced the sauce as Smitten Kitchen suggests and served it up as breakfast tacos with scrambled eggs. It was awesome. Unfortunately this means that if I want to make awesome brisket, I need to plan two days ahead. Is making dinner EVER easy??!!!

Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Red Grapes

It’s basically summer outdoors today but we all KNOW that we have a few more cold days ahead of us before we can whip out the flip-flops and the Forever 31 sun dresses for good. Before starting to fantasize about sweet summer corn and fresh tomato salads, make a few more cold weather comfort dishes. You’ll miss them by mid-July so indulge now.

I recently followed a recipe that was described to me as small bites of Thanksgiving. You’ll know what I mean when you roast brussel sprouts with red grapes. It’s a perfect savory sweet combination that uses the same herbs as a roast chicken. Voila…the perfect side dish.

Heat the oven to 375. On a large rimed baking sheet, toss 1 ½ pounds of trimmed, halved brussel sprouts and1 lb of seedless red grapes with two cloves of sliced garlic, chopped tarragon and thyme and olive oil. Roast about 40 minutes or until browned. And then pray summer gets here soon!

Roasted Honey Mustard Chicken with Tarragon

Roasting a chicken has always intimidated me. I know it sounds like such a simple undertaking but I had images of tying the wings and legs up in some complicated fashion, removing guts from its cavity and buying an overpriced roasting pan at Williams and Sonoma. Admittedly my motivation was low too since it’s cheaper to buy a rotisserie chicken in this city than a pint of beer.

Anyways, roasting a chicken might be the easiest and most rewarding meal you can cook. Yes. The local Peruvian restaurant chickens are good and cheap but they are also full of salt and have often been spinning in circles for days if not weeks.

If you buy a whole chicken, all you have to do is check to see if the cavity is empty or has a little packet of goodies in there. If it does, remove it and save if you are up for gravy. Fill the cavity with onions, lemons, garlic and herbs. Place the chicken in any sort of roasting pan that you have and then slide your fingers between the skin and the chicken. This is creepy. You then want to put some sort of paste between the skin and the meat. I chose a mixture of 3 tbsps honey, 2 tbsp mustard, chopped tarragon, lemon juice and salt. Rub the chicken with olive oil (also sort of creepy for some reason) and then roast at 350 for 2 hours.

Honestly, there is nothing more satisfying that a roast chicken. And if you aren’t Zuzana, you’ll think your whole house smells wonderful in a matter of minutes.

Breakfast Quinoa with Nuts and Berries

For the next few weeks, I can’t eat gluten or corn, which throws a big wrench in the cereal-eating contest I hold with myself every morning. I also can’t eat dairy, eggs or soy so therefore omelettes, toast, yogurt, pancakes and baked goods are also off the table. On weekdays, a giant café con leche and a bowl of cereal is what motivate me to lift my head off the pillow so this news was fairly devastating.

After sulking for a few hours and mourning the loss of Cheerios, I did a bit of research and acknowledged somewhat reluctantly that even healthy cereals are mass-produced, often high in sugar and lacking in nutrients. This week I substituted my cereal for a breakfast quinoa with nuts and berries.

Bring one cup of quinoa to a boil with one cup of almond milk and one cup water. Let it simmer for 15 minutes covered and then stand for another few minutes. Mix in toasted nuts, berries and add a bit of honey or maple syrup. Feel self-righteous for eating such a nutrient-packed breakfast. And then if you can, go right back to eating store bought cereal!

Seriously Legit Chili

I came home the other night to find Ryan in the kitchen surrounded by beef bones, ground spices and simmering beans. He looked dazed and mumbled something to me about only having 4.5 hours left before the chili was ready. It was after midnight.

Inspired by a serious eats blog, Ryan had set out to make the best chili ever. He ground his own spices, braised short ribs and cut up the beef, simmered heirloom beans, and crushed dried Mexican chiles from the local bodega. For an extra kick, he added chocolate, espresso and whiskey. The list of intricate steps goes on. This was seriously homemade chili from start to finish. I could taste the depth in the smoky richness of every bite of meat and each plump firm bean spoke of the hours that Ryan had spent in the kitchen. This was damn good chili!

http://www.seriouseats.com/2010/01/how-to-make-the-best-chili-ever-recipe-super-bowl.html