A Meat-and-Potatoes Kind of Night: Chicken Vesuvio

Another intriguing recipe I found in Cooks' Illustrated "Cooking for Two" collection from 2010 was a dish called "Chicken Vesuvio".  The picture, on which I sometimes rely heavily, showed what looked like seared chicken breasts, peas and roasted potatoes.  Now, you may look at some of the other recipes I have written about and think "why would she pick this one?"  I think it boiled down to simple curiosity.  I've never been much of a "meat and potatoes" kind of person.  While I do love roasted chicken and potatoes, I certainly do not turn it to it often.  I do find that kind of meal composition to be really heavy and sometimes too much for when Marshall and I usually sit down to dinner:  around 7:30 or 8pm, sometimes even close to 9.  I cannot imagine eating a large helping of chicken and potatoes with a mere 2 hours before going to bed.  Anyway, I was curious about this dish, especially since it had an Italian-sounding name.  Turns out this dish originated in Chicago and was simply bone-in chicken with roasted potatoes, covered in a garlicky sauce with peas.  It sounds more English than Italian, if you ask me.

While it might sound like I'm completely bashing this meal, I really was surprised at how it tasted in the end.  Yes, this was a very hearty meal and something I would only think to cook on weekends or in the dead of winter.  You're left feeling very full afterward.  However, the meal itself was very tasty.  I ended up not really pairing this with anything, since I thought the peas in the dish were enough to cover the "vegetable" portion of our dinner.  I really enjoyed the thick gravy on the chicken and potatoes.  The peas did not lend much of their flavor to the dish; I'm thinking that originally it was just to keep the dish from looking too bland.  The flavor, though, wasn't bland at all.  This dish definitely reminded me of meals I had while visiting the mid-west, which definitely brings light to where it originated.  I can easily see this dish being plated up at family dinners in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan.  Marshall and I both enjoyed this dish, but agreed it was very filling and something that would be revisited sparingly in the future.

Mixing the New with the Familiar: Steak Pizzaiola and "Dirty" Broccoli

In the late Summer, I picked up a copy of America Test Kitchen and Cooks' Illustrated's "Cooking for Two" anthology for 2010.  Marshall and I get by with following recipes originally written for larger servings and deal with leftovers.  Unfortunately, most of the pasta recipes say they serve 4, when they actually could easily serve 8, and we're left with overflow amounts of leftovers, more than what our nightly dinners or daily lunches could tackle.  This collection of recipes seemed right up our alley.  I already loved working with Cooks' Illustrated's recipes and having them already scaled down for us is great.  All of the recipes looked like they could easily be used for us, even with enough leftovers to cover an extra night.  There were also many recipes that we walked away with and that I will write about in this blog.

The first is a dish I had never heard of:  Steak Pizzaiola.  This rather comfort-like dish, according to the article, evolved from a throw-together dish created by Italian pizza-makers to make their lunch:  taking a cheap piece of steak and simmering it in leftover pizza sauce.  Customers took notice and wanted to eat it, as well, so cooks upgraded the cut of steak and used marinara sauce with roasted peppers and mushrooms.  What the editors and cooks at Cooks' Illustrated set out to do was to create a sauce with the impression that it had been simmered for a day, but could be prepared after a long day at work.  I managed to easily make this after coming home from dinner and both Marshall and I were surprised at how tasty this dish was.  The steak was cooked perfectly and the sauce on top was delicious.  It reminded me a little of my mom's pasta sauce, which is almost like a chunky stew rather than a thin sauce.  The entire meal was warming and perfect for a cool summer evening.  I would imagine this would be even better for a winter meal with the thick sauce and the seared steak.  It can also be easily "jazzed" up for having company over!

Sometimes I have a problem coming up with side dishes.  I have an even harder time coming up with side dishes which aren't starches.  With steak, I automatically think potatoes, but with both Marshall and I keeping our starches to a minimum, both of us are sometimes at a loss for a satisfying vegetable side.  Salads are good, but sometimes a main dish calls for a warm or cooked vegetable side, with which I really don't have much familiarity.  Last year, I picked up a special edition of Fine Cooking called "Eat Smart with Ellie Krieger".  Marshall and I were introduced to Ellie Krieger on Food Network and we both really enjoyed her show which focused on healthy and balanced eating.  Her recipes were approachable, easy and really healthy, but were actually delicious.  She also recognizes that certain ingredients cannot be substituted, like cheese, but teaches how best to use them in moderation while keeping the essential flavor.

One dish that has become a household favorite is "Dirty" Broccoli.  I have said before that I absolutely love broccoli.  I can easily eat broccoli all day every day, but Marshall, which he enjoys broccoli, simply cannot hang with that.  This dish, though, is fantastic.  Long spears of broccoli, quickly steamed in the microwave (which I've learned recently actually helps retain the most nutrients compared to other cooking methods) and sprinkled with homemade seasoned breadcrumbs.  The breadcrumbs are so tasty, we could easily eat just that and be completely satisfied!  With the broccoli, there is just enough flavor to enhance the broccoli without completely drowning out the flavor.  This was a fantastic side dish to the Steak Pizzaiola!

Comfort Meal "Cole-Style": Pesto with Green Beans and Grilled Lamb Chops

Growing up, my mom had a lot of "go to" comfort meals:  Chicken with Mushrooms and Olives, Veal or Chicken Picatta, Chicken Cacciatore with "mushy" Polenta, Spaghetti and Meatballs and Italian Sausage, Tuna Noodle Casserole...  I could go on.  I loved them all and when I make them at home with Marshall, I'm transported to my mom's kitchen, sitting at the heavy kitchen table feeling warm and happy.  One of my absolute favorites was homemade Pesto with Pasta and Grilled or Broiled Lamb Chops.  This was a popular dish during the spring, when lamb is freshest, using pesto my mom made and froze the previous fall.  While we didn't eat this all the time (lamb can be expensive), it was wholeheartedly welcomed.  When I got older, my mom started adding green beans to the pesto.  This is something my mom's grandma used to do when preparing pesto for the family.  The sweet crisp green beans, boiled for just a couple of minutes with the pasta, blends beautifully with the garlicky pesto and the creamy Romano cheese.  Of course, during the summer, when the pesto is made from freshly picked basil this is a fantastic meal to eat outside.  When I think of summer, I get aromas of the charcoal BBQ, lamb and basil.  

When I moved into my first apartment my sophomore year of college, I inherited my grandmother's electric skillet.  It's this huge round fry pan that plugs into the wall.  The reservoir just under the cook surface is filled with something and an electric coil.  The great thing about this electric skillet is that the heat is always constant and even.  My grandma used this for making Chicken with Mushrooms and Olives, and...pan-fried lamb chops.  Whenever I would visit my mom during breaks or weekends, I sometimes would be sent back to school with frozen plastic containers of homemade pesto.  I remember specifically one night feeling extravagant and bought myself a few lamb chops from the Italian market in downtown and cooked myself pesto with pan-fried lamb chops.  I sat in front of the TV and devoured everything I made, sucking loudly on the lamb chop bones, which thoroughly bothered my vegetarian roommate, and slurping up my pasta.  I was at home again.

My sister even used to make this same dish when she and her, then, boyfriend (now husbands) were living together in college.

Luckily, I introduced lamb early to Marshall and he loved it.  I can always make lamb without much issue in our house and pairing with pesto has become a favorite in our home, too.  I took advantage of some pesto I had whipped up with some extra basil I had from another meal.  I bought green beans and lamb chops.   The green beans get trimmed and thrown in the pasta pot when there are only a few minutes left cooking time.  The lamb chops are prepared just as simply; seasoned with just some salt and pepper and drizzled with olive oil and thrown on a hot grill, cooked medium-rare.  This is a meal known for not having any leftovers.  The pesto is devoured and the lamb chops are stripped clean to the bone.

This is true comfort food.  This is a meal which reminds me who I am and where I come from; it's family.