S & I Smash the Mold

On March 5th the Upper West Side Supper Club 2011 competition entered a new phase.  S & I created an event of truly unprecedented quality and proportions.  With the help of a Sterno fireplace and a buxom waitress they created a pop-up haute restaurant.  The appetizers, which consisted of baked brie in pastry, shrimp wrapped in pancetta, and asparagus (wrapped in prosciutto, naturally!) were delicious.  The main course and contest entry was a beef and barley stew that scored particularly well in the prep cookery department (one diner wrote in a "5+").  Overall S & I took a decisive lead with 29.1 points.  (Apologies for the lack of pictures--I think they are in Italy right now.  I will post when they get back.)

Standings:

UWSSC Standings
R & E: 26.3
A & N: 27.0
S & I: 29.1

Lamb Stew at the Second Upper West Side Supper Club Event

Sad that I'm only blogging it more than a week on, but I can still remember the delicious sweetness of this hearty lamb stew accented with rosemary, thyme, parsnips, and pearl onions.  Our entry in the winter stew category was N's adaptation of a Julia Child (JC? WWJCD?) recipe.  Uncharacteristically bereft of bacon, JC develops the flavor in the lamb by browning it, coating it in flour, and braising it in its own juices for a while before adding the other ingredients.  N improved upon the original by cutting the number of potatoes drastically, boosting the liquid with some extra stock part way through braising, and increasing the amount of herbs.  The result not only avoided the dryness of the original, it was absolutely delectable in my opinion.  We were so excited about it my mother in law made her own version today (thank goodness she's not in the SC--it wouldn't be a fair fight).  Our fellow diners, however, only awarded us a 27.  I'm hoping that was on account of my salad: bitter greens tossed in a mustard vinaigrette with gorgonzola croutons.

UWSSC Standings
R & E: 26.3
A & N: 27.0

Upper West Side Supper Club Inaugural Dinner

The Upper West Side Supper club is a group of friends who love to get together to enjoy good food, improve our cooking skills, and engage in some friendly competition.  Last night we kicked off the 2011 season with a delicious entry in the Winter Stew category by E & R.  They set the bar high in the flavor and originality departments with a chicken tagine.  A scrumptious salad of arugula, beets, goat cheese, and walnuts started things off.  Their total score: 26.3.  Stay tuned as the other contestants make their Winter Stew entries.

Another Weeknight Invention

Here's a recent invention that turned out to be worth making again.

1 package (8 oz.) of quinoa linguine
Four mild Italian chicken sausages, sliced in thin rounds
1 large bunch of Swiss chard
1/2 cup of white cooking wine
10 cloves of garlic, minced
1/3 cup of pine nuts
2 Tbsp of capers (drained)
4 Tbsp olive oil

Cut the chard in thin strips and wash very thoroughly.  Heat about a Tbsp of oil in deep skillet or pan and gently sauté about 2/3 of the garlic plus all of the pine nuts until the garlic starts to stick.  Pour in about half the wine, scrape off the garlic, and add the chard.  Turn up the heat and stir periodically until the chard wilts.  Turn down to low and simmer under a cover until the chard stems are tender.

In the meantime, heat the water for the pasta and add 2 Tbsp of oil to another skillet.  When it gets hot, add the rest of the garlic and the sausage.  Sauté until the sausage is nicely browned, being careful not to burn the garlic.  When the sausage is done, pour in the rest of the wine and scrape off any sticky garlic.  Turn off the heat and let the sausage sit while the chard finishes.

Cook the pasta and when it is done the chard most likely will be too.  Toss the chard, sausage and linguine together, adding the last Tbsp of oil and the capers in the process.

Chicken Roulade with Fennel & Pine Nuts

I've posted here before about a tasty chicken roulade that I've made a couple of times.  As it includes both prosciutto and cheese, though, it was not appropriate for dinner at a Jewish friend's house.  This presented the perfect opportunity to challenge myself to come up with a new version of the chicken breast roulade.  As I had some pine nuts left over from making pesto last weekend I tried to think about a filling that I could include them in.  I ultimately struck on the idea of combining roasted fennel with the pine nuts and some capers to make the delicious incarnation below that I served over Israeli couscous tossed with sautéed crimini mushrooms and onions.

• 6 - 8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 3 large fennel roots
• 1/2 cup of pine nuts
• 3 Tbsp capers
• Olive oil
• Balsamic vinegar
• Salt & pepper

Cut the fennel into pieces and place in a baking pan.  Toss in 1 - 2 Tbsp of olive oil about about 1 Tbsp of balsamic vinegar.  Cover with foil and bake in the oven for about thirty minutes at 400 degrees.  Remove the foil and bake for another 5 - 10 minutes to get some carmelization on the fennel.  Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.  Turn the oven down to 350 degrees for baking the chicken.

When the fennel is cool, combine it with the pine nuts and capers in a food processor and process it into a paste.  Add salt a pepper to taste (it should be a little on the salty side as the chicken gets no other salt).  Beat the chicken breasts with a mallet to flatten them out (covering them with saran wrap or foil first helps to prevent flying bits of chicken).  With each chicken breast spread a 1/4 inch of the fennel and then gently roll it into the roulade shape.  If the roulade tends to fall open you can secure it with a grilling skewer or tie a piece of string around it.  Bake in the oven at 350 for 30 - 40 minutes (be sure not to let the chicken dry out).

Classic Brunch

Today we took a shot at that fantastic Manhattan tradition, brunch.  Last night we made a pesto and cooked a couple of chicken breasts in a broth of garlic, onions, and lemon juice based on the chicken marinade of the same ingredients.  This morning I bias-sliced them and drowned them in the pesto for an hour or two.  In the meantime we made a Hollandaise sauce and poached a few eggs.  When those were done we set them aside while we sliced some cantaloupe and made sandwiches using the pesto chicken, sliced tomatoes, and arugula on foccaccia.  The selection was rounded out by platter of lox, tomatoes, avocados and scallions.  Add a couple of mimosas and we were on our way.

Cashews are the new Mushroom

Last night I had a somewhat random assortment of ingredients available: a couple of chicken breasts, a couple of peppers, couple of carrots, some celery, onions, and garlic.  I asked Nina if she felt like stir fry (we eat a lot of stir fries).  Nope.  How about pasta?  (We'd already had past this week.)  No thanks.  So I mused for a bit and while I was musing happened to find a bag with about a cup of cashews in it in the freezer.  That's when the recipe below hit me, and it turned out so well I will definitely make it again.

1 cup cashews
1 clove garlic, minced
2 large onions, cut in ribbons
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 chicken breasts
1/2 cup white cooking wine
1/2 cup vegetable stock
2 bay leaves
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/8 - 1/4 cup flour

Heat the butter and oil over medium heat and sauté the cashews until they start to brown.  Add the garlic, onions and celery and continue to sauté until the celery is bright green and the onions are becoming translucent.  Add the cooking wine and then the stock.  Reduce heat to low and then place the chicken breasts in the middle of the pan.  There should be enough liquid in the pan to mostly--but not quite--cover the chicken breasts.  Cover an simmer until the chicken is done.  Remove the chicken and reduce the sauce by 1/3 to 1/2, adding salt and pepper to taste in the process.  Add flour and stir until the sauce just starts to thicken.  Serve the sauce over the chicken breasts accompanied by a favorite starch and/or vegetable.  The result is a rich, slightly sweet flavor that is somewhere between French onion soup and a mushroom sauce, but with the nutty deliciousness of the cashews.