Moroccan Baked Chicken

So at long last we get to use those preserved lemons! This is a great dish to put a spring in the step of tired, jaded palates. There are lots of great spices and the tart lemon cuts through the richness.

It’s based on a recipe from Paula Wolfert’s fantastic cookbook, The Food of Morocco. If you’re one of those people who read cookbooks like novels, as I do, you’ll love this cookbook. Besides the recipes there are lots of side stories and enough challenging recipes to thrill even hard-core cooks.

We’re going to pack the tops of the chicken pieces with a spicy butter paste and then top it with a spice blend. I used chicken thighs here but this treatment would be great for breasts as well.

Moroccan Baked Chicken, Four-Five Servings

1 package chicken thighs
Five garlic cloves
1/2 t. coarse salt
1/2 t. saffron dissolved in 2 T. water
2 T. melted butter
1 T. coarsely chopped cilantro
1-1/2 T. sweet paprika
1 t. cumin
1/4 t. fresh black pepper
1 t. fresh ginger
Cayenne
1 small onion, sliced
1 box quick-cooking couscous
4 preserved lemon halves

Combine the garlic, salt, saffron water, butter and cilantro in a food processor or grind in a mortar. Pack it under the skin of the chicken pieces. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour.

Preheat the oven to 375. Cover the bottom of a baking dish with the sliced onions and arrange the chicken pieces on top of the onions. Add 1-1/2 c. water to the dish.

Combine the remaining spices and sprinkle the mixture over the chicken pieces.
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Roast about 45 minutes or until the juices run clear from the thickest part of the meat

Prepare the couscous according to package directions. Skim the fat from the pan juices and quickly reduce by half in a saucepan. Spoon the juices over the couscous. Roughly chop the preserved lemons and toss them with the couscous. Serve alongside the chicken with flatbread.

Apple Oat Bran Muffins

It’s always a good idea to try and get more fiber into your diet. Here I’ve used oat bran and a few leftover apples for a light bran muffin that everyone loved.  It’s a hybrid between the recipe on the Quaker oat bran box and my standard muffin recipe. Soaking the oat bran first keeps it from drying out the muffins as they bake.

Apple Oat Bran Muffins, Makes about a dozen

1-1/2 c. oat bran

1/2 c. milk

2 T. olive oil

1 egg + 1 egg white

1/2 c. brown sugar

2 t. vanilla

1/3 c. unsweetened applesauce

2 T. milled flax seeds

3/4 c. unbleached all-purpose flour

3/4 c. whole wheat flour

2 t. cinnamon

2 t. baking powder

2 large apples, peeled and chopped

Warm the milk and add the oat bran. Let stand for 15 minutes. Preheat the oven to 400.

Beat the eggs and add the brown sugar.

Add the oil and vanilla.

Stir in the oat bran mixture and applesauce.

Add the dry ingredients and the chopped apples, stir.

Divide between greased muffin cups and sprinkle the tops with a little cinnamon sugar if you like.

Bake for about 15 minutes.

Serve warm with butter. Leftovers may be wrapped and frozen.

Birthday Ice Cream Cake

by Heather Harris-Brady

My wonderful son asked for an ice cream cake for his birthday, chocolate chip cookie dough, to be exact. Because every year I’m thankful that I can celebrate his birthday without the three days of labor it required the first time, I am happy to go the extra mile for the dessert.

I am not a big fan of ice cream cakes myself, so I had to find a way to get past the things about them that bug me and come up with a tribute to teenage dessert excess. Behold.

Ice Cream Cake, Serves 8

One 8″ square chocolate cake layer

One recipe hot fudge sauce

One half-gallon ice cream

Line a 9 x 5 loaf pan with aluminum foil, leaving some long tails down along the sides.  Take the ice cream out to soften. Cut the cake layer into strips about 1/2″ wide. Completely line the mold with them. You should have about 1/4 of the cake left when you’re finished. If you’re making this for an over-21 crowd it would be nice to spike things up here and sprinkle the cake mold with kahlua or some such jazz.

When the ice cream has softened, scoop it into the cake-lined mold. Smooth it down as  you go and push it into all the corners so your cake will be nice and solid.

Cover the top with the remaining cake strips. Press the top down lightly with your palms and then put it in a deep freeze for a few hours to set firm.

Grasp the foil hanging down on either side of the pan and lift out the cake. I like to turn it upside down on the platter but if that scares you just peel the foil off and set it on the serving dish.

With the hot fudge sauce at room temperature put a thin crumb coat all over the cake.

Put it back in the fridge to firm up and then do a second coat, adding any sprinkles or other tricks at this point. Stick it back in the fridge until serving time. The hot fudge will set up nicely, but will stay easy to slice through.

The cake all around the outside gives you an equal bite of cake, ice cream and fudge in each forkful. It also neatly contains the ice cream so it’s easier to slice and serve like a regular cake. It’s also a nice little cost-saver. An 8″ cookie dough cake at our local shop is $19.99, this one tallies up at around $6.50.

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Hot Fudge Sauce

by Heather Harris-Brady

This is my favorite hot fudge recipe. I’m showing here on ice cream but I actually made it to frost an ice cream cake (spoiler alert) which will be the next post – because it’s a birthday week here at the little house! And not just any birthday, it’s a golden birthday.

This is a nice, rich hot fudge that puddles nicely along a scoop. It’s more runny warm and thickens as it cools.

Hot Fudge Sauce, Makes about 3 cups

6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 can evaporated milk (you could use low-fat, but c’mon, it’s hot fudge)

1 egg

1/2 c. sugar

1/3 c. dark cocoa powder

2 t. vanilla

1 T. butter

You can use a double-boiler but I don’t have one at the moment so I’m doing it directly on medium heat. Let the chips start to melt and whisk in the evaporated milk.

It will look like a lumpy disaster but that’s okay. In a separate bowl beat together the egg and sugar.

Then stir the cocoa powder into the egg mixture and pretend that I remembered to take a picture of it. Whisk the egg mixture into the hot milk. Continue whisking constantly for five minutes over the heat. If you’re using a double boiler you don’t have to whisk all the time. It will bubble up and get all dark and lovely.

Remove it from the heat and whisk in the vanilla and butter.

It’s ready to serve at whatever temperature you prefer.

Cover and refrigerate any leftovers. It will keep for up to a week in the refrigerator.

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Pita Chips

 

If you’ve got olive oil and a bag of stale pita bread – you’ve got pita chips. Seriously, the bread can practically be stiff as a board and still make great chips. These are not as greasy as the storebought variety, but you can make them that way if you want by just dousing them with more olive oil. These are great with hummus, obvs, but they are also good with all kinds of dips and spreads.

Pita Chips, Eight Servings

1 bag of stale pita bread

½ c. olive oil

Spices to taste: I like garlic powder, Old Bay Seasoning and Cajun seasoning together; but just plain sea salt is good too.

Preheat the oven to 300, use convection if you have it. Cut each round of bread into eighths and pull them apart into their two halves. Put them in a bowl. Mix the olive oil and seasonings together. Drizzle the bread with the olive oil, turning until all the pieces are coated.

Spread them out in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes, until dry and lightly browned.

Serve warm or cool and store in ziplock bags. Makes about 80 chips.

Wild Leek (Ramp) Pizza

by Heather Harris-Brady

Today would have been my grandmother’s 101st birthday. Long-time readers may remember that I’ve mentioned her before – she was one of the most amazing people I’ve ever known. She was a cultured city girl who had grown up in a well-to-do family, so I’m sure it wasn’t easy when she became a farm wife at 33 and moved out into the country. As a girl she had piano and china painting lessons, she could speak French and while she liked to eat out she would often say that she could have a full meal on the table in the time it took a restaurant to get your salad. She wasn’t kidding about that, she could.

So where am I going with this? One of the things we would do in the spring was to gather tiny dandelion greens before they had budded. We’d steam them lightly and eat them with butter, pepper and a spritz of vinegar. Foraging is a great way to spend a spring afternoon.

When I saw Deb’s recipe for ramp pizza on Smitten Kitchen the other day it was destiny calling my name. Why destiny must always speak in food I can’t say. Just once it would be nice if it could speak in a winning Powerball ticket or a love letter from a literary agent – you know, just to mix things up a little.

Ramps, also called spring onions or wild leeks, are native to the eastern half of the US. They are perennials, and when I gather them I make sure to just take a few at a time from denser clumps. Deb got hers from the farm market, I collected mine a few steps from the porch. Ours have a very delicate, mild garlic/onion taste.

When you dig them out they look a lot like green onions, just with a fuller set of leaves.

When you’ve washed them and cut the root off they look like this:

Wild Leek (Ramp) Pizza, Makes one large pizza (8 slices)

1 recipe pizza dough
1 bunch of wild leeks (ramps), cleaned
1 8 oz. container portobello mushrooms, sliced
1/2 c. spinach leaves
1 package chicken sausage, sliced
6 oz. grated parmesan cheese
Olive oil for drizzling

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees and lightly grease a cookie sheet with olive oil.

Add 1 T. of olive oil to a saucepan and heat on medium-hot. Saute the mushrooms until they begin to brown. Chop up the leeks and add them to the pan. I use the stems and about halfway up the leaves. Add the spinach and sausage. Heat through so the spinach wilts.

Press the dough out onto the cookie sheet and cover with half of the cheese. Pile the sauteed vegetable mixture on top.

Bake for about 20 minutes or until the crust is lightly brown. Put the rest of the cheese on top with some cracked pepper and drizzle with olive oil.

This was one of the best pizzas I’ve had in a long time. You could use regular leeks if those are more readily available, but if you have ramps in your neck of the woods you should try them.

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Flour Tortillas

by Heather Harris-Brady

This was the first recipe I learned from my mother-in-law. It my husband’s great-grandmother’s recipe. She was from Aguascalientes. You’ll notice that I roll them out with a cut-down broom-handle – also a family tradition.

This recipe makes about 30 tortillas, if you roll them thinner and make smaller rounds you could eke out a few more. But I’m making these for fajitas so they are larger and thicker. You can add some whole wheat flour or masa in, as a replacement for 2 c. of the unbleached flour.

The dough is soft and not at all sticky. It is very easy to handle and roll out.

Flour Tortillas, Makes about 30

4-1/4 c. unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 c. olive oil

1 t. baking powder

1-1/2 c. warm water

Combine the flour and baking powder in a bowl.

Work the oil with your fingers until you have a bowl of soft crumbs.

Add the water, putting in 1 c. at first and then adding more as you need it. Depending on your flour you may not need it all. Keep the dough soft but not sticky.

Turn the dough out and knead it for 8-10 turns. You can go a little longer if you want the tortillas to be chewier.

Lightly grease a flat griddle and heat it up to medium-hot. I’m using a large electric skillet here because I can cook two at a time. Break off balls of dough slightly smaller than a golf ball and roll them out thinly.

Lay them in the skillet. When the top begins to bubble, flip them over.

Cook for another 15-20 seconds and give them one final flip. So one side gets cooked twice. Sometimes they will puff up and sometimes not.

Stack them up so they can steam as you’re working. When you’re finished store them in an airtight bag. They freeze very well if you aren’t planning on using them all right away. They stay fresh three-four days at room temperature.

You can also make some tiny ones for appetizers!

 
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Mexican Tortilla Egg Scramble (Migas)

by Heather Harris-Brady

So, Cinco de Mayo is this Sunday. What’s a girl to do if she’s worked all week and the cupboard’s bare? In a word, brunch. If you’ve got eggs, cheese and a package of corn tortillas you’re good to go. While I don’t pretend to be an authentic Mexican cook my amazing mother-in-law is Mexican and I learned this recipe from her. It’s one of my son’s favorite things in the world. He likes them plain, with sharp cheddar cheese. But you could get fancy and throw in some green chilis with Monterey Jack or fresh Mexican queso, with chorizo on the side.

I’ve heard migas stands for either “crumbs” or “old clothes”, since they look like a heap of laundry when you’re done. If you’ve never had them you’re missing out. From start to finish you can have them on the table in 10 minutes. Delicioso!

Migas (Tortilla Egg Scramble)

Per person:

1 egg, 1 egg white

1 T. milk

Four corn tortillas, cut in strips

1 T. butter

2 T. shredded cheese

Melt the butter in a skillet on medium high. Add the tortilla strips and swish them around until they soften. If you’re using green chilis or onions I would add them at this point.

Beat the eggs and milk together in a bowl.

Pour it over the tortilla strips and continue stirring as the eggs softly scramble. Add the shredded cheese.

Serve hot with sausage or chorizo, and salsa, on the side.

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Candied Grapefruit Peel, for Salads

by Heather Harris-Brady

Since it’s getting to be salad time I thought I would post these little nibbles. You could also put them out with drinks, as part of a cheese course or as a dessert garnish. But they also make an interesting addition to salads, with goat cheese and chopped nuts. Plus, you’re making use of something you’d usually just compost!

Candied Grapefruit Peel, Makes about 2 cups

Peel (in long strips) from two medium grapefruit

1/2 c. water

1/2 t. vinegar

1 c. granulated sugar

Superfine sugar for final rolling

Take your strips of peel and remove as much of the white pith as you can. Then cut it into 1/8″ or 1/4″ wide strips.

Put it in a saucepan and cover it with water. Boil for five minutes.

Drain and repeat. This removes the bitterness from the peel.

Drain once more. Bring the 1/2 c. water, vinegar and 1 c. sugar to a boil. Add the peel and cook until the syrup reaches the soft ball stage (about 235 degrees on a candy thermometer).

While the syrup is cooking prepare a work surface (marble is ideal but a countertop will work). Cover it with parchment or foil and spread it heavily with superfine sugar. When the peel reaches 235 spoon it out onto the superfine sugar.

Working quickly, spread it out so the pieces are in one layer. Roll them in the sugar until they are completely coated. When they are cool, store in an airtight tin. You can roll them in more sugar before using them if they aren’t as white and crystally as you would like.

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Breakfast Cookies

by Heather Harris-Brady
True confession time, I usually don’t eat breakfast – and I bet you don’t either. Typically I just nibble on something standing up while I pack the lunches for the day as we all head out the door. But if I could get something healthy, highly portable and yummy – heck yeah!

A girl can’t live on muffins alone so I decided to try my hand at breakfast cookies after perusing the options at the grocery. I figured I could do better than $2/cookie, with better ingredients to boot. I started with my low-fat chocolate chip cookie and added lots of healthy grains. But I kept the chips because we all need a little somethin’ amirite?

These would be great for camping breakfasts. My kids walked by when they came out of the oven and scarfed them down.

Breakfast Cookies, Makes 36 3″ cookies

1/2 c. unsalted butter, softened
1/2 c. agave nectar
3/4 c. packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla
1 t. cinnamon
1 t. salt
1/2 c. quinoa flakes
1/3 c. milled flax seeds
1-1/4 c. rolled oats
2 c. all-bran, or similar bran cereal – slightly crushed
1/2 c. wheat germ
1 c. spelt flour
1-1/2 c. unbleached all purpose flour
1 t. baking soda
1 c. mini chips
1/2 c. chopped dried fruit of your choice
1/3 c. unsweetened applesauce
1/2 c. nonfat plain yogurt

Cream the butter and the brown sugar. Beat in the eggs and the agave nectar.

Add the vanilla, cinnamon and salt. Add the next 10 ingredients and mix well.

Then stir in the applesauce and yogurt.

Preheat the oven to 375. Drop tablespoons of dough onto lightly greased cookie sheets and flatten slightly. Bake for about 15 minutes, until lightly browned.

Cool completely and store in ziplock bags.

These freeze well, so just grab a few before you leave the house. They’ll be ready to eat at your desk with that first cup of coffee or tea.

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