Citrus Marinated Chicken with Mango Chutney, Black Beans and Rice

I've been sitting on the photos of this dish for over a month now, so they predate the arrival of the Fyrkat grill.  The most delicious way to cook the chicken would certainly be on the grill, although my broiler does a fine, fine job.  My version of the recipe originates back several years to a day when I had no idea what to cook for dinner (what else is new?).  I have a friend who, among other things, is genius at suggesting how to transform my random fridge and pantry ingredients into beautiful meal ideas.  On this day, I had a mango, some canned black beans and the ubiquitous boneless, skinless chicken breast.  Her suggestion of citrus marinated chicken with mango chutney, black beans and rice became one of mine and Kid Cayenne's favorite home cooked meals.

1 mango, diced
1 small red onion, diced
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
juice of 1 lemon
juice of 1 lime
red chili pepper flakes or crumbled dry red chili peppers (to taste)
kosher salt
freshly ground pepper
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast (although certainly you could use different cuts)
about 1/2 cup dry white wine

Combine mango, onion, garlic, lemon and lime juice and chili flakes in a nonreactive bowl.  Add chicken breast, slightly burying under the marinade ingredients.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes to marinate.  Turn chicken breasts over once half way through.

Preheat oven to broil or prepare hot grill.


Remove chicken from bowl and lightly scrape away any remaining bits of marinade ingredients (to prevent burning while cooking).  Salt and pepper the chicken.  Broil or grill chicken until cooked through. The time depends on your heat and the thickness of your chicken. For chicken breasts, 6-7 minutes on each side is probably adequate but please check for doneness .

Chicken should be nicely browned on each side, firm to the touch, but not hard and juices should run clear.

Meanwhile, cook your remaining marinade in a non-stick skillet over medium high heat.  Once the mango begins to break down and the onions are transparent, add white wine.  Continue to reduce while the chicken cooks, stirring occasionally.  They should finish about the same time. Chutney will be thick, sticky and jam-like.

Serve chicken with chutney, rice and a side of black beans (sauté a little diced onion in oil until translucent, add a can of rinsed and drained whole black beans, a splash of water or chicken broth and salt and pepper to taste.  Heat until steaming).

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Pasta with Artichokes and Tomatoes

Most of what I cook is very simple.  Probably, all of it is. I've always cared about and been interested in cooking, but about 5 years ago, I started trying to get better at it.  Deliberately better.  I started being more patient, taking more time, being more thoughtful about the process.  I stopped trying to make any recipe that sounded good in a cookbook (generally with ridiculous results) and started thinking about how to make simple, every day food as well as I possibly could.  This is one of the dishes that I make frequently and that Kid Cayenne and I enjoy a lot.  It is incredibly simple.

Serves 2-3 as a main dish, 4 as a side

1/2 pound hearty pasta like bowtie, penne or fusili (use a nice pasta like DeCecco for even happier results)
2 TB olive oil
2 shallots, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can artichoke hearts (preferably in water, not marinade), drained and cut in halves or quarters
1/2 c dry white wine (I use Sauvignon Blanc)
15-16 grape tomatoes, cut in half lengthwise
5-6 leaves of basil, chiffonaded (cut into strips)
about 1/4 c Parmesan Reggiano and a bit more for topping
salt and pepper to taste

Set your pasta water to boil while you mince your shallot and garlic and halve your artichoke hearts.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet on medium heat until it just begins to shimmer,  Add shallots and cook gently until they are transparent.  Add garlic and cook with the shallots for about a minute.

Meanwhile, add your pasta to the salted, boiling water and set your timer for however long the package says they should cook.  This is generally about 12 minutes and will be just about how long you need to finish cooking the artichokes and tomatoes.

Back to your skillet of shallot and garlic.  Add drained artichoke hearts and stir gently to combine.  Add a pinch of kosher salt.  Let them cook without poking at them too often.  You want the sugars in the shallots and garlic to release, getting a little sticky and turning golden.  Let the artichoke hearts get plenty of contact with the pan.  Turn them now and then, but if you aren't seeing the reaction you want, turn less.  Cut your tomatoes and basil while you're waiting.

After about 4-5 minutes of cooking, you should start seeing the artichokes start breaking down and the onion and shallots caramelizing and sticking a bit to the bottom of the pan.  Add white wine and stir a bit to loosen everything up.  Let it cook down and absorb.  Add tomatoes and lightly stir in.  The tomatoes will release a little juice into the dish.  You want them to cook for a couple of minutes to get warm but not long enough to completely break down.  Lower your heat a bit if there is too much cooking happening.

Your pasta should be just about finished.  Add a 2-3TB of the boiling pasta water to the pan of artichokes and tomatoes and stir to release all the flavor from the pan.  Stir in grated Parmesan.  Drain the pasta and add it to directly to your skillet of vegetables.  Mix together and then season with salt and pepper.  Add most (but not all) of your basil  (leave a little to garnish at the end).  Add more Parmesan and basil once the pasta is plated.

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Italian Tuna Salad with Cannellini and Arugula

This is one of my favorite simple, perfect lunches.  It stars Italian tuna packed in olive oil.  The easiest to find is Cento Tonno.  Whole Foods has it (sometimes) and so does Rouse's.  Don't use tuna in regular oil.  You will be sad and disappointed.*

1 can Italian tuna in olive oil
1 can cannellini beans (rinsed and drained)
1/4 cup red onion, diced
1 roma tomato or a handful of grape tomatoes, chopped
arugula
salt and pepper to taste
crackers, if you wish

Empty the tuna, oil and all, into a bowl.  You can drain it and use your own olive oil as a dressing instead, but I find that the oil it is packed in is of decent enough quality that I don't have to.  Sometimes, I will drizzle a little of my good olive oil over the finished product if I really want it.  Break the tuna up a little with a fork, leaving it pretty chunky.

Add drained and rinsed cannellini beans.

Add chopped tomato and onion.  Mix lightly.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Spoon over arugula in your serving dish or mix arugula in to the whole salad if you prefer.  Add extra olive oil if you want it.  Eat with nice crackers or crostinis if you have them.

Sorry for the blurry...

This serves hmm... about 3 people, I'd say.

* If you absolutely can't find tuna in olive oil, buy tuna packed in water, drain it and then add your own good olive oil.  Let it sit in the olive oil marinade for about an hour before you make your salad.

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Pan Seared Lamb Chops with Broccolini and Shitake Mushrooms

For lunch today, I tried making lamb chops for the first time. I don't know why I haven't thought of doing that before. It's another of those things that is so quick and easy to cook, that it's perfect for lunches at home. For sides, I sautéed broccolini and shitake mushrooms (separately). Here is how it went down.

I figured the easiest way do do lamb chops would be a quick pan sear. I rubbed them lightly with olive oil, seasoned with sea salt and freshly ground pepper, them let rest for a moment while I heated the pan.

I trimmed the broccolini and crushed and chopped a glove of garlic. I also prepped the baby shitake mushrooms (not shown) by removing the stems, which may not have been necessary, as young as they were, but I did so anyway.

I used a small cast iron skillet for the chops, heating it well before adding just a tiny bit of olive oil. The lamb chops went into the pan and stayed on the first side for about 4 minutes before I flipped them to the other side and cooked for another 2 minutes. I realized, as I flipped them, that either my heat was too high or I had left them too long because rather than just a good sear, they had actually begun to look fried. Maybe it was the extra bit of olive oil...

As the chops were cooking, I sautéed the broccolini with red pepper flakes in olive oil in a separate pan at medium high heat for a few minutes, adding the garlic almost at the very end. A sprinkling of kosher salt and fresh pepper finished it off.

As soon as the lamb chops were done, I removed them from the skillet and let them rest for a moment while I added a dab of butter and the mushrooms to the same pan, letting them soak up some of the pan flavor that the lamb chops had left, then returned the chops to the pan for one final sweep though the mushroomy butter reduction that was forming.

The verdict?

I overcooked the lamb chops. Not to the point of inedibility, but just enough that they were completely cooked through, with not a bit of pink in the inside. I know now what to do better next time. Less time on the first side, cook less than I think I should if I want medium rare, then let it rest to finish, and really... they let off enough of their own fat that other than that first rubbing with oil, I don't think any extra is necessary.

Anyone have suggestions for how I could have done this better?  I'd love to try it again soon.

The broccolini and mushrooms were delicious and needed no tweaking.

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Mmm, Taco Truck

Two pork tacos with cilantro and onion, lime and green salsa: $3.00.
One Sindral Mundet (a Mexican apple soda that I am in love with)  $1.50.
Happy lunchtime tacobliss:  Total: $4.50

Mmmm, delicious.  Tacqueria D.F. is a great little taco truck that parks in front of the Laundromat Zone at  8807 South Claiborne Avenue in New Orleans.  You hit is just as you are leaving the city and heading towards Harahan.  It's cheap and delicious.  There are 4 or 5 meats to choose from.  I think I have had the beef, grilled pork, carnitas, beef tongue, maybe one other, on different visits, and all were good and well worth the $1.50 per taco.  I hear that the tortas are great.  You should stop by.

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Lentilles du Puy with Vegetables

I first read about lentilles du Puy at David Lebovitz's blog, several years ago. He called them the 'caviar of lentils' and explained that these French green lentils are specifically grown in volcanic soil without fertilization, giving them a flavorful, mineral-rich quality that is lacking in regular lentils. Sounded good to me except that I couldn't find them in any local stores and couldn't see for myself what the fuss was about. Over time, I heard others extoll the virtues of Puy lentils, but without a source, they stayed off my radar. It seemed silly to order lentils on the internet. Sure, they sound nice, but a lentil is a lentil, yes? Except... no.

Recently, a British friend asked me if I needed anything from her corner of the world and out of the blue, lentilles du Puy popped into my head. I asked if they were available near her and sure enough, they were common and available in two forms: dry and precooked. She mailed me some of both and now, now I really get it.  They are wonderful and completely unlike the mushy, lackluster lentil of my mother's soups.  Peppery, substantial, they hold their shape and hold their own.  These are lentils with a purpose in life.  These are the kind of lentils you can really base a meal around.

Last night, I was looking for something warm, nourishing and wintery to cook that didn't have to braise or simmer for a long time.  Puy lentils with sautéed vegetables was the perfect thing.  Using the tiny white turnips I got Tuesday at the Hollygrove Market and Farm, a few carrots, a yellow squash and a bit of red cabbage, I improvised a meal.

The lentil package instructions directed me to rinse and drain the lentils (I used one cup), put them in a saucepan covered by twice their volume of water, bring to a boil and then simmer for 15-20 minutes until al dente.  Then, drain and serve.  It also suggested replacing the water with vegetable stock, wine or a half and half solution for extra flavor.  I chose to go that route, using a half carton of vegetable stock and some left over sauvignon blanc.  I set those to simmer and then began work on the vegetables.

Using a large skillet, I first sautéed two chopped shallots and a clove of minced garlic in olive oil until soft and fragrant.  Next, I added the quartered baby turnips, figuring that they would take the most time to cook.  When they were beginning to soften and caramelize, I added the carrots and let them do the same.  When both were nearly done, I added yellow squash to the pan and let them all get golden.  I also salted the vegetables lightly at this point.

I debated adding the cabbage to the same mix, but decided, at the last minute, to cook it separately so that I could add a bit of red wine vinegar and let it braise quickly before bringing all of the vegetables together in the end.  I removed the cooked vegetables from the pan and let just the cabbage,  a bit of salt and a sprinkle of red wine vinegar meld together.

It only took about 30 seconds for the vinegar to absorb and the cabbage to begin to soften at which point I added the rest of the vegetables back to the pan.  I don't know if this was a necessary step, really.

The vegetables and lentils finished at about the same time.  I drained the lentils, returning them to the hot pan, and drizzled them with a bit of nice olive oil.  Then I plated the lentils and vegetables together, sprinkled with sea salt and a splash of balsamic vinegar and that was that.  I probably would have done just as well to dump the lentils into the pan with the vegetables and let them pick up some of the oil and flavor from the pan.

And there it is!  A simple, delicious and quick meal for a chilly night.

Now... if anyone can tell me where to get Puy lentils in New Orleans, I would be very thankful.

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