This recipe comes from Bon Appetit magazine, and while it’s a keeper, there are two things I’d change. First, I would just use boneless chicken breasts without the skins and dredge them in flour instead of having to cut the bones and cartilage out of bone-in meat. Too much work for me. Second, I cooked both breasts at once. I don’t see the benefit of doing one at a time. In this photograph, you can hardly see the two large chicken breasts, but they are there,  surrounded by roasted potatoes and topped with the refreshingly tangy panzanella. Enjoy!

1/4 small onion, thinly sliced (I used 1/2 of the onion)

3 Tbsp. distilled white vinegar, divided

Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper

6 Tbsp. olive oil, divided

1 cup torn country-style bread

2 skin-on, bone-in chicken breasts

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

1 lb. cherry tomatoes

Pinch of sugar

3/4 cup parsley leaves with tender stems

Combine onion and 2 Tbsp. vinegar in a small bowl. Season with salt and pepper; set aside.

Heat 2 Tbsp. olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Add bread; season with salt and pepper. Cook, tossing, until golden brown, 5-8 minutes. Transfer to a medium bowl. Wipe out skillet.

Using a thin, sharp knife, cut bones and cartilage from chicken breasts. Pound chicken between 2 sheets of plastic wrap to 1/4″ thick; season with salt and pepper.

Heat 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil in skillet over medium-high. Cook 1 chicken breast, skin side down, until golden brown and nearly cooked through, about 4 minutes. Turn and cook until cooked through, about 1 minute more; second side will not brown. Transfer to a platter. Repeat with remaining cutlet and 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil (no need to wipe out skillet).

Cut half of tomatoes in half. Heat 2 Tbsp. olive oil in same skillet over medium-high. Add whole tomatoes; season with salt and pepper. Cook, tossing occasionally, until lightly blistered and starting to burst, about 5 minutes. Toss in sugar and remaining 1 Tbsp. vinegar. Transfer to bowl with croutons. Add pickled onion with pickling liquid, halved tomatoes, parsley, and remaining 2 Tbsp. olive oil and toss. Serve chicken with panzanella spooned over.

Our friend Ziggy, as it turns out, has a sour cherry tree on his farm. He invited me to go pick some fruit and sure enough, among the peacocks and chickens, turkeys and quails,  bee boxes (for honey) and wild berries, stands a tree overflowing with small, bright red cherries. I stood on the ladder he provided, picking a basket of these gems thinking I’d try to make some kind of dessert with them, but my mind took me to a familiar and comfortable place. Fruit and meat. So here is a recipe I found from a 1997 Gourmet Magazine. A very successful recipe. The cherries lose most of their sour and develop a savory. This is what being patient in sauce reduction is all about! Enjoy!

1 large onion

2 pounds boneless pork tenderloin

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1/2 cup Tawny Port

1/4 cup fresh orange juice

1 1/2 Tsp. red wine vinegar, or to taste

2 cups fresh or frozen pitted tart cherries (about 1 1/4 pints fresh, picked over)

1/2 Tsp. caraway seeds

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Coarsely chop onion. Pat pork dry and season with salt and pepper. In an ovenproof large heavy skillet heat oil over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking and brown pork. Transfer pork to a plate and in oil remaining in skillet cook onion over moderate heat, stirring, until golden. Add Port, orange juice, and vinegar and simmer, stirring, 2 minutes. Add fresh or frozen cherries, caraway seeds, pork, and any juices that have accumulated on plate and bring to a boil.

Transfer skillet to middle of oven and roast pork 30 minutes, or until meat thermometer registers 155 degrees F. Transfer pork to cutting board and let stand, loosely covered with foil, 10 minutes.

While pork is standing, simmer sauce, stirring until slightly thickened and reduced to about 1 1/2 cups. Cut pork into 1/2 inch thick slices and spoon sauce over it.

Coming from Nigella Lawson’s “Forever Summer” cookbook, this recipe offers the two main ingredients that I, along with many other cooks, appreciate the most. Simplicity and depth of flavor. The way the sweetness of the slow roasted garlic cloves interact with the tanginess of the lemon, all against the backdrop of  white wine infused savory chicken will blow your mind. Put this dish on the table for your lunch or dinner guests and prepare for high praise!

Instead of cutting a chicken into 10 pieces, as the recipe calls for, I used four large chicken thighs which I cut in half, giving me eight very reasonably sized pieces of poultry. I also roasted about five cubed carrots and three cubed potatoes in another pan to serve along side of this dish. All was served with crusty French rolls and a 2000 Grand Cru Bordeaux. Enjoy!

1 chicken (approx. 3 1/2 to 4  lbs.), cut into 10 pieces

1 head garlic, separated into unpeeled cloves

2 unwaxed lemons, cut into chunky eighths

small handful fresh thyme

3 Tbsp. olive oil

10 Tbsp. white wine

black pepper

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Put the chicken pieces into a roasting pan and add the garlic cloves, lemon chunks and the thyme; just roughly pull the leaves off the stalks, leaving some intact for strewing over later. Add the oil and using your hands mix everything together, then spread the mixture out, making sure all the chicken pieces are skin-side up. Sprinkle over the white wine and grind on some pepper, then cover tightly with foil and put in the oven to cook, at flavor-intensifyingly low heat for 2 hours. (Put your veggies in to roast 15 minutes before this 2 hours is up)

Remove the foil from the roasting pan, and turn up the oven to 400 degrees. Cook the uncovered chicken (and roasted veggies) for another 30-45 minutes, by which time the skin on the meat will have turned golden brown and the lemons will have begun to scorch and caramelize at the edges.

Surround the chicken dish on an oval platter, circle it with the roasted veggies and top with fresh thyme.

This recipe comes from the June edition of Food and Wine magazine which credits it as coming from Bill or Beak in London. I chose it for our lunch today, knowing ahead of time it was quite a bit of work for a sandwich, but, after tasting this juicy composition, I think it’s well worth the effort. The sandwich is packed with flavor. There is sweetness in the brioche, the romaine lettuce, the chicken and the sauce, and then there are the salty little caper explosions. Now…there were a few things I didn’t do, because I wanted to tone the sandwich down. I did not make the croutons and I didn’t add the anchovies. I sprinkled the capers on the sauce once I drizzled it over the chicken. I did, however, serve it with a glass of 2012, Clos Des Lunes, Grand Vin Blanc Bordeaux. Enjoy!

1/2 cup plus 3 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice, plus 2 lemons, halved crosswise

2 Tbsp. finely chopped rosemary

1 garlic clove, minced, plus 1 head of garlic, halved crosswise

8 skinless, boneless chicken thighs (2 1/2 lbs.)

1 slice of white sandwich bread, cut into 1/4 inch dice

1/2 cup crème fraiche

1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

5 oil-packed anchovy fillets, minced

Salt and pepper

8 romaine lettuce leaves

4 brioche buns, split and toasted

2 Tbsp. large capers, rinsed

In a large bowl, stir 2 tablespoons of the olive oil with the lemon juice, rosemary and minced garlic. Add the chicken thighs, turn to coat and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Wrap the head of garlic in foil, then set on a foil-lined baking sheet and bake for 40 minutes. Arrange the lemon halves cut side down on the baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes more. In a small bowl, toss the bread cubes with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and spread on the baking sheet; bake until toasted, about 8 minutes. Let the garlic and lemon halves and croutons cool for 5 minutes.

To make the dressing, squeeze the garlic cloves from their skins into a small bowl and mash until smooth. Squeeze the flesh from the roasted lemons into the bowl and add any juices from the baking sheet. Add the remaining 1/2 cup of olive oil, the crème fraiche, cheese and anchovies and stir until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

Light a grill or heat a grill pan over moderately high heat. Season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper and grill, turning once, until cooked through, 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a plate and let rest for 10 minutes.

To serve, arrange 2 romaine leaves on the bottom half of each toasted bun. Top each with 2 chicken thighs. Spoon the dressing generously over the chicken and then sprinkle the croutons and capers on top. Close the sandwiches and serve immediately with more dressing on the side.

Note: The dressing can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.

Once again, I’ve turned to The Silver Spoon cookbook for a recipe. The weather here in PA has teased us towards believing spring is right around the corner, but there is still snow in our forecast. So…it’s time for soup. And, I wasn’t looking for a vegan dish, this thick soup just happens to have vegan characteristics. I couldn’t find cavolo nero (Tuscan cabbage) so I used a mixture of kale and savoy cabbage. I also doubled the recipe so that we’ll have soup for a few days which meant I could not finish the recipe off the way it’s written; meaning I didn’t put bread in the bottom of a dutch oven and put it in the oven. I didn’t have a dutch oven large enough! Instead, I put a piece of thick rustic bread in the bottom of each individual bowl, drizzled olive oil over it, and then I ladled the soup over the bread.  This worked just fine. Enjoy!

Serves 4

4 Tbsp. olive oil, plus extra for drizzling

1 carrot, 1 onion, 1 celery, chopped

3 fresh or canned tomatoes, peeled (save the juice from can and use as water)

1 fresh thyme sprig

2 potatoes, coarsely diced

7 1/2 cups shredded cavolo nero

1 cup fresh white beans, or 1/2 cup dried white beans, soaked in cold water overnight and drained

4 slices country-style bread

salt and pepper

Heat the oil in a large pot, add the carrot, onion, and celery, and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes, until softened. Add the tomatoes, thyme, and potatoes and cook for a few minutes, then add the cavolo nero and beans. Pour in 8 3/4 cups water and season with salt. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, cover and simmer for about 2 hours. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place the bread on the bottom of a large dutch oven and ladle in the soup. Cook in the oven for about 10 minutes. Sprinkle with pepper and drizzle with oil.

Wine served: 1999 Castello Banfi, Excelsus Montalcino

This recipe is courtesy of Moses W. La Fountaine of the Paradox Lodge in Lake Placid, NY. We, here in Pennsylvania, are experiencing the beginnings of yet another snow and sleet storm so I thought I’d put a little heat into our world, and lunch, with some Andouille sausage. This recipe fit our needs, and since I didn’t want to buy lobster I just doubled up on the shrimp (I used one pound of the 16-20 count). It must be said that this makes enough to feed six people even if the recipe says it’s four servings. This dish displays a nice balance of spicy and savory and it’s extremely easy to create. Enjoy!

1 pound baby shells pasta

3 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 pound mushrooms, thickly sliced

1 whole onion, sliced

1 Tbsp. minced fresh garlic

1 Tbsp. herbes de Provence

Sea salt

8 ounces cooked lobster meat

8 medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 lb. Andouille sausage, cut into pieces

1 Tbsp. white wine

4 medium fresh tomatoes, quartered

1 cup chopped fresh basil leaves

1/2 cup heavy cream

Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling water, until al dente.

While the pasta is cooking heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the mushrooms, onion, garlic, herbes de Provence, salt to taste and cook until softened, about 3 or 4 minutes. Add the lobster, shrimp, and sausage, reduce the heat to low, and cook until the shrimp turn pink, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add the white wine and tomatoes and cook over medium-high heat for 3 minutes. Add the basil and cream and cook on high for 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the pasta, taste and adjust seasoning. Serve in large pasta bowls.