Oven Baked Parmesan Panko Crusted Chicken

MOMMY DEAREST

Mothers are all slightly insane. 

– J.D. Salinger 

I remember when another mother of small children – this was quite a number of years ago when my babies were small – made the statement to a roomful of like souls “I’ll bet we all give our children the white meat pieces of chicken because there are no bones.” As if the offering of the white meat to our darling and fragile children was a prodigious sacrifice of the motherly kind. As if white meat was better than dark, more flavorful and succulent, and thus the most desired, that self-denial a sign of motherly worthiness simply out of concern for our offspring. And all of the other mothers smiled angelically and nodded their haloed heads in unison. I chuckled and, smiling serenely, shook my head. “No,” I admitted boldly, no sign of shame on my face, no waver of apology in my words, “I give my children the white meat because I prefer the dark myself.”

For shame! Well, I could have knocked each and every mother over with a feather. Yet, did I spy the hint of bluster and subterfuge on more than one face in that room? Did I dare voice what others were thinking? Did the tarnish on a halo or two dull the otherwise brilliant surface and blinding glare? Naw, I often believed that I was the bad mother, the worst of them all, kind of like a female Harvey Keitel, a curmudgeonly wastrel in mom’s clothing. And nothing reflected that more than my saving the dark meat for myself.

There’s a lot more to being a woman than being a mother, 

but there’s a hell of a lot more to being a mother than most people suspect. 

– Roseanne Barr 

Was I a bad mother? Selfish and self-indulgent? Happily, my sons have always preferred white meat, so no damage was done; they did gobble it up and asked for more. Bring home a roasted bird, sizzling, golden, fragrant, from the market a Sunday morning and, plates held high, each clamors for a slice of white meat, leaving two moist, tasty thighs for mother. When purchasing poultry from my trusty Chicken Man at the market, spiffy in his formal black and red chef’s coat, his chicest of eyewear perched atop his handsome nose, I point to the Noir, the juiciest, most flavorful of what he sells, and order deux cuisses, 2 thigh/leg sections, and trois filets, breast meat for 3, thank you very much. And happy are we all.

But which came first, the chicken or the egg? The preference for white meat or the forcing upon thereof? I shrug my shoulders and say it doesn’t matter at all, for the tiny ones all grown up desire nothing more than a slice of the breast meat. Nothing Freudian in sight. One, my own little Jack Sprat, has a horror of bones and fat, so the white suits him perfectly. The other wants no trouble and is just happy that the meal is home cooked and something warm and scrumptious is on the table, nary a thing between fork and mouth. The third has simply always desired the white, a Breast Man if you will, and who am I to complain?

A mother’s job is a difficult one. It is a life of sacrifice, worry and guilt-ridden woe. We battle the growing pains and adolescent rebellion of the children, their accusations and their disdain. We experience the high of the fleeting expressions of their love, their successes big and small. We call them to the table at mealtime and place a dish before them hoping and praying that they will smile and, amid the groans of pleasure and hurrahs of delight, simply begin to fork it into their mouths hungrily. And so I make sure that there is white meat aplenty, enough to go around. No catlike choking on tiny bones to mar a beautiful meal.

The poultry, which may perhaps be considered to have formed the staple of the entertainment – for there was a turkey at the top, a pair of ducks at the bottom, and two fowls in the middle – disappeared as rapidly as if every bird had had the use of its wings, and had flown in desperation down a human throat. 

– Charles Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit 

This is a scrumptious dish, one I have been making for a few years and have adapted over time. Chicken pieces of your choice marinated in a heady blend of buttermilk, mustard, lemon juice, herbs and spices then rolled in panko, loads of Parmesan cheese – my sons’ favorite – and a panoply of flavorings. And baked. No frying to muss my lovely new stovetop, no frying to weigh heavily on tummy or backside. Just heavenly flavor and crunch, moist, tender bird no matter the hue and a wallop of flavor. Yes, I recently wrote of my dark days, the murky shadows that live inside of me. But a day spent cooking for my family takes my mind off the worries and sadness, brightens the winter dreariness outside and makes us all happy. This dish is truly a winner.

OVEN BAKED PARMESAN PANKO CRUSTED CHICKEN

Serves 6

Chicken pieces for 6 (3 breast filets and 3 leg/thigh pieces, or as desired), skin removed, chicken trimmed and cleaned

Marinade:
1 ½ cup (375 ml) buttermilk
3 Tbs prepared Dijon mustard
2 Tbs freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 garlic cloves, pressed
1 tsp smoked paprika
½ tsp ground chipotle chili powder or cayenne pepper
Salt and black pepper

Breading/Crust:
1 ½ cups (80 g) panko crumbs
¾ cup (60 g) freshly and finely grated Parmesan or Grana Padano cheese
6 Tbs (60 g) flour
1 Tbs minced fresh thyme or 1 tsp dried thyme
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
½ tsp dried mint, optional
1 tsp smoked paprika
½ tsp ground chipotle chili powder or cayenne pepper
½ tsp or more McCormick garlic & onion medley or similar
Salt and black pepper

Prepare the marinade and marinate the chicken:

Whisk all of the marinade ingredients together in a bowl or baking dish just large enough to hold all of the chicken pieces comfortably in one layer. Push the chicken pieces into the marinade, cover the bowl or dish with plastic and refrigerate from a few hours to overnight.

Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C) and lightly grease (with vegetable or olive oil) or spray a baking dish or baking tray large enough to hold all of the chicken pieces in one layer – you can also place them on a rack sitting on/in a baking tray. I also tossed a pound or so of grenaille fingerling potatoes on olive oil, salt and pepper and added them to the baking tray.

Toss all of the breading/crust ingredients in a wide bowl or pan. Remove the marinated chicken from the refrigerator. Lift out one piece of chicken at a time and allow the excess marinade to run off; roll and press the chicken in the breading, coating all sides, and place on the lightly oiled baking tray. Continue with all of the chicken.

Bake the chicken (and potatoes) in the preheated oven for about 45 minutes to 1 hour or until the chicken is cooked through. Once the chicken is cooked, if you like the breading more browned, just turn on the grill setting of your oven and, watching very carefully, allow to brown just for a few minutes.

Serve immediately with potatoes and a green vegetable or salad if you can get them to eat it.

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JP’S MOROCCAN PRESERVED LEMON & OLIVE CHICKEN TAGINE

TAGINE DE POULET AUX CITRONS CONFITS ET OLIVES

Life is either a great adventure or nothing. 

– Helen Keller 

Some children are just born for adventure, have it in their blood, jump into new undertakings with both feet, laughing out loud. Clem was this child, courageous and curious. Happily dipping into a ditch, river or lake with both hands, a net or a fishing rod, buckets of snails or tadpoles or frogs found their way back home. Ever fearless, he tromped through woods, fields, beaches looking for animals, treasures, mushrooms, waltzed through museums and monuments, up dizzying tower staircases, boarded airplanes all alone which would take him flying off to far-away lands when he was all but a tiny four-year-old surrounded by strangers. And at ten, he and his father giddily prepared their backpacks for their newest adventure, a trekking holiday through the Moroccan desert.

I was knee-deep in researching my genealogy and vacationed in New York every chance I could get, spending my days at the archives and evenings meeting relatives newly discovered and quizzing them about family. The particular summer in question found me boarding a plane to the States, Simon’s small 8-year-old fist firmly in my hand and JP and Clem heading south to Morocco. While I was skimming birth records, naturalization certificates and keeping a small boy calm with an endless supply of superhero figurines and slices of pizza, JP was showing Clem the Old Country, the place he fell in love with all those many years ago.

 Photo courtesy of JP

They spent a glorious week in hiking boots, kicking up sand, days under the burning sun, nights tucked up in sleeping bags under the inky star-lit sky. Huge communal tents were set up for lunches and dinners, two gentlemen preparing tagines and couscous, salads and fruits, fresh breads to see them through the days. Clem was in his element, buoyant and excited, rolling down hills, sliding down mountains on the seat of his pants, running instead of walking, always twenty five paces ahead of his father. Nothing tired him out, nothing slowed him down. Food was gulped down, tents were put up, our little boy could have extended his adventure for an added week and he would not have flinched. While the only other child in the group – the same age as ours – whined and complained, cursed and caused trouble, Clem enjoyed himself thoroughly. Clem lived every single moment to the fullest in great pleasure and delight.

 Photo courtesy of JP

But two days or three were spent alone with his father in Marrakech. Clem and JP stayed in tiny hostels, a place to stash their luggage and lay their heads at night. Days were spent exploring the city, the markets, the sites, sounds, odors and flavors of Morocco. JP was back in his old stomping grounds, a place he knows so well, a culture he loves. And nothing thrilled him more than sharing this with his son, imparting the joy, the pleasure and the knowledge of this magical city, this fascinating country. And the food! For their very first meal in Morocco together, Clem ordered a Chicken Tagine with preserved lemons and olives. A big, bold order for such a young man, a meal bursting with flavors, salty, tangy, exciting! But Clem had always been a great eater, a bold eater and he was afraid of nothing. Driven by his passion for eating and his adventurous spirit, his curiosity and the excitement of being in a strange new country all alone, man to man, with his dad, he ordered this new dish. And fell in love with it. And for those several days, both before and after the hike, every mealtime found him ordering the same dish, Tagine de Poulet aux Citrons Confits et Olives – Chicken Tagine with Preserved Lemons and Olives.

We should come home from adventures, and perils, and discoveries 

every day with new experience and character. 

– Henry David Thoreau 

And once back home in the bosom of his family, our occasional jaunt to a Moroccan restaurant would find him perpetuating his far-away experience, titillating both taste buds and memories with the same dish, Tagine de Poulet aux Citrons Confits et Olives – Chicken Tagine with Preserved Lemons and Olives. And JP and I would smile at each other, understanding that that particular dish was not only infused with the bright flavors of olives, saffron and lemon, but with happy memories and that special father-son connection they shared in the sand.

And now, whenever JP decides to make this dish, we make sure Clem is there at the table with us and we smile… he may have forgotten that long ago trip to Morocco, that time spent exploring and dining out with his father, but we see that same ten year old, excited, talkative, adventurous, again and again, every time we serve this dish to him. Like magic.

JP makes this dish regularly with either chicken or fish. He cooks, as he says, au pif, by instinct, and any Tagine – any dish he makes – is adjusted as he goes along so the amount of liquid added, the cooking time, the amount of herbs or spices is all dependent upon taste and the immediate. The homey one-pot dishes he cooks usually are best prepared in advance, allowing the dish the time to sit, the sauce to thicken, the flavors to blend and meld and infuse the meat. Play around…. taste as you go. I have attempted to pin him down to specific amounts and cooking times, but do not be afraid to adjust as needed, to increase amounts to serve more people, to feel your way along the process. The basic directions are more than simple, and can be applied to almost any stew or tagine.

Find the inner child in you, kick up the adventure and enjoy.

TAGINE DE POULET AUX CITRONS CONFITS
Serves 4

Prepare the Tagine ahead of time to allow the chicken, once cooked, to sit for at least 20 minutes before reheating and serving.

1 chicken cut in pieces or 2 breast filets + 2 leg/thigh sections
½ preserved lemon (citron confit)
½ ladleful (a dozen or so) large purple olives
2 small onions, peeled, trimmed and finely chopped
1 clove garlic, peeled, trimmed and minced
Small potatoes, as many as desired for four people, peeled and cut into large cubes
1 small bouillon cube (stock cube)
½ tsp saffron powder, turmeric *
Salt and pepper

* One can also purchase yellow “saffron” powder in tiny sachets of individual portions; in France it is sold for making couscous, in Italy for making Risotto Milanese. Use one sachet or tiny packet for this Tagine.

Heat equal parts margarine and olive oil, not more than a tablespoon of each, in a large heavy-bottom pot or Dutch oven. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring, until tender and golden. Add the chicken pieces and toss/turn to coat with the oil; cook until golden on all sides. Add the potatoes and toss to coat.

Add the saffron powder or turmeric and the salt and pepper, toss the chicken and potatoes until everything is uniformly yellow; add the stock cube, the olives, the half preserved lemon cut in two pieces and 1 bowl of water (about a cup to a cup and a half), cover the pot and allow to simmer for at least 20 minutes or until the chicken and potatoes are cooked through and tender. Toss the chicken and potatoes occasionally during the cooking and add a little bit of water if and when necessary, if the level of water gets too low.

Once cooked, turn off the pot and, leaving it covered, allow to sit and cool a bit, at least 20 minutes – this is a dish that can easily be prepared ahead of time. Before serving, place the Tagine back on a low heat and slowly bring to a simmer; allow to simmer for 10 to 20 minutes to allow the sauce to thicken while the chicken and potatoes heat through. If the sauce is too thick or has evaporated, add more water before simmering; if the sauce is too watery, simply allow it to cook down on a very low simmer until desired consistency.

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GREEK-STYLE PRESERVED LEMON CHICKEN WITH OLIVES

EVERYTHING IS CHANGED

The emotional wounds from Friday’s massacre in Newtown are still raw, the passions still vivid and red hot. Everything is changed and we will never be the same. Those of us who are parents may have been especially touched and now we hug our children just a little tighter before they leave for school in the morning, pull them a little closer each night as they return, exhausted from their active day. We study their every movement, listen to their slow, steady breathing, revel in their laughter and stare into the depths of their eyes, astonished at the life we have created. My sons are adults now, 22 and 24, yet they still are and always will be my babies and I still worry about them, am still astonished by their presence and still attempt to protect and coddle them, no matter how they protest.

The holidays have brought our older son home more often; he arrived on our doorstep almost every night of Hanukkah as the sun set to light the candles, exchange gifts and eat dinner as a family. I sit and watch my two sons, young men, eat pizza or cheese fondue with a man’s appetite and wonder how it is they grew up, tall, handsome, funny, smart. When did this happen? Our life as a family has often been a bumpy road, our sons’ teen years dotted with adolescent woes; we’ve struggled through tragedy and arguments, clothes stuffed in plastic garbage bags and tossed out onto the doorstep, and whatever else parenting brings into our lives. Yet when we actually think about it, when we pause and stare hard at our two sons, we really are thankful. We feel lucky that they have turned out so damn well.

In the wake of Friday’s horrendous tragedy, I do feel lucky – and, I will admit, relieved – each time they walk through the front door. Younger son goes out at night and I still lie awake or in a fitful sleep, waiting to hear the click of the front door, the sound of his step on the floor, the barking of the dog. Then and only then can I finally fall into peaceful slumber.

Many years ago, I was in a horrific car accident. If it wasn’t for the very quick reaction time of the driver of the car that plowed into me I would not have survived. Our sons were about 6 and 8 years old at the time. At the end of this harrowing, terrifying day spent on the side of the road and at the hospital for a battery of x-rays, my husband came and picked me up. Driving home side by side, each one of us lost in our own thoughts, the silence heavy between us, he finally turned to me and cried “Do you realize that you almost left me alone?! Left me to raise our two boys without you?!” We, he and I, have each lost a parent and I have lost a sibling, a dear brother and I know that no matter how much time passes, the wound remains deep and bleeding, the loss heavy, a gaping black hole of sadness. I simply cannot imagine losing a child. So, yes, the loss of those twenty children, mere babies, has cut many of us to the core. And we turn around and face our own children and feel very, very lucky.

And my older son came over to cook. For as much as husband and I both love to cook and as often as we do, our sons never really caught the cooking bug.* Maybe it is, as some would argue, because they never had to cook; the food was always on the table for them to enjoy. Or maybe, yes I will admit, that I scared the begeebees out of them whenever they tried. As my husband will freely tell you, I am not one to share the kitchen with. He sends me packing, refusing to even pull out ingredients and start chopping before I am well away and out of the kitchen. Ah, so I am a perfectionist; what do you want? I will also admit that I might have bit my poor son’s head off a few times this very night in question and I will search high and low for something to blame it on but I won’t bore you with that. Anyway, he came over to cook and not just any dish. No. For weeks he had been berating me, upbraiding me, ranting and complaining because he had offered me a Greek cookbook last Hanukkah, one entire year ago, and I had yet to make one single recipe from it. So he selected a recipe, a Greek-style Preserved Lemon Chicken with Olives, and offered to come over and help.

And so we did. Cook. Greek-Style Preserved Lemon Chicken with Olives packs a true flavor punch: tender chicken infused with the bright, sparkling flavor of lemon, lightly-caramelized onions offering a savory succulence and a handful of olives giving the dish a salty edge. And nothing could be easier! Brown the chicken, toss in the rest of the ingredients, allow to simmer and Bingo! A stunning dish. Simple enough to make with your children, no matter their age. And now one my own son can prepare in his own apartment for his friends.

And before he dropped by, I decided to make Spiral Feta-filled Rolls from the same book as a surprise. I will share this recipe with you on my next post.

So hug your children, spend as much extra time with them as a family and be happy. Maybe I'll cook with my son a little more often now.

* I will be fair. Clem, the older son, makes the absolute best damn Tiramisu on the planet. He also makes a mean Lemon Tart as well.

GREEK-STYLE PRESERVED LEMON CHICKEN WITH OLIVES
Adapted from Vefa’s Kitchen by Vefa Alexiadou – published in French by Phaidon

Serves 4 people

1 preserved lemon
1 fresh lemon
About 6 Tbs (40 g) flour seasoned with salt and pepper
1 chicken cut in pieces or 2 leg/thigh sections and 2 breasts
A few tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, trimmed, peeled and chopped
1 garlic clove, peeled and chopped
½ cup pitted green olives, soaked in cold water for about an hour
Finely grated zest of one lemon, optional
½ cup (125 ml) water
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 Tbs freshly squeezed lemon juice 

Cut the preserved lemon in half and then each half in 2 or 4 wedges. Place the seasoned flour in a plate or soup bowl. Pat the chicken pieces clean and dry.

Place a few tablespoons olive oil in a large, heavy pot with a lid and heat over medium to medium-high heat. When the oil is hot and a few drops of water spritzed onto the oil sizzle, dredge the chicken pieces in the seasoned flour and brown in the oil; you may have to do this in two or three batches as you do not want to crowd the chicken in the pot. Turn the pieces to brown well on each side; this could take 6 – 8 minutes per piece. Add more oil to the pot if needed.

As the chicken pieces are browned carefully lift them out of the pot and place on a plate.

When all of the chicken pieces are well browned and out of the pot, add the chopped onion and garlic to the pot and cook, stirring often, until tender and transparent, scraping up the dark bits from the bottom of the pot. Add the chicken pieces back to the pot and continue to cook for a few minutes, stirring, until the onion bits are beginning to brown around the edges. Add the wedges of preserved lemon, the zest if using and the water; drain the olives and add to the pot. Salt and pepper and bring just to the boil, reduce the heat, cover the pot and allow to simmer for 30 to 45 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Add a little more water during the cooking if needed.

When the chicken is cooked, remove the pot from the heat and add the lemon juice.

Serve immediately over mashed potatoes, couscous, mixed grains or pilaf.

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HOMEY CHUNKY BEST CHICKEN SALAD & MINI CHOCOLATE BUNDT CAKES

AMERICANA

Chicken salad has a certain glamour about it. 

Like the little black dress, 

it is chic and adaptable anywhere. 

- Laurie Colwin, Home Cooking, 1988

Chicken Salad. Simple, homey, banal old chicken salad. White bread, or toast if you are feeling audacious, a smear of mayo, a slice of tomato, one single lettuce leaf and a scoop of chicken salad. Nothing more American than chicken salad for lunch. Or tuna salad, come to think of it, but tuna is particular in its bold, distinctive, fishy flavor, often hard to please. There are only so many ways that tuna salad can be prepared, only so many ingredients that marry well with the assertive fishiness. But something about chicken is universal; its very blandness is the perfect backdrop, a tabula rasa for anything. As Laurie Colwin stated, it is so adaptable.

One can say that chicken salad’s very essence is American. Start with the chicken itself, poached or roasted, simple and tender, a blank page; chop it, mince it, shred it, precise, clean and elegant, or rough, frayed, ever so scraggy and casual. A spoonful or three of mayonnaise, of course, cool, velvety, rich and then, really, it can take on any personality at all. Slivers of sun-dried tomatoes, the sharp tang of mustard or vinegar, the salty pull of olives, the smoky masculinity of bacon or ham, the bite of your favorite pickle. Give it the hot, spicy kick of Tabasco or the gentle sweetness of grapes or pears, the crunch of apples or walnuts. Or bring in your own cultural touch, your very own personal taste: toss in curry, garam masala, chickpeas and coriander for an Indian twist; chunks of feta, cubes of ripe tomatoes, onions and dark, glistening, slippery, tangy olives for something reminiscent of the Greek Isles; Chinese, Italian, Russian, Irish, pull up something from your favorite cuisine or your own family roots, chicken salad is the Melting Pot of food.

My father baked. Choux, delicate and ethereal, filled with thick, creamy pudding; larger-than-life sheet cakes, perfectly marbled chocolate and vanilla; mile-high pies then topped with mounds of sweet, snowy whipped topping. My father loved to spend time in the kitchen, concentrating on stirring, pouring, simmering, his eyes absolutely twinkling with delight. Weekends would find him whipping up a batch of pancake batter, always for dinner, never for breakfast; by the time we kids straggled out of bed and stumbled into the kitchen, dad would already be out in the yard mowing the scrappy patches of hard, tough Florida lawn clinging mightily to the Florida sand, digging up his poor little plot of a garden or have his head deep under the hood of a car. I often wax nostalgic about the hours I would spend, mesmerized, watching my father whip up a baked good or blend handfuls of dried fruits to create an ambrosial, sweet, shimmering compote. I inherited many qualities from him, and the passion for baking must be one of them.

But he did so much more than bake. He loved being in the kitchen. Weekends he would toss steaks or burgers on the grill when he wasn’t flipping pancakes on the griddle. And his hoagies! How we loved his hoagies! He would bake loaves of frozen, buttery garlic bread, split each one open, spread on the mayonnaise, and with the precision, exactitude and fastidiousness of the engineer that he was, he would layer and mound paper thin slices of cold cuts, salamis and cheeses, top with a row of tomato slices, lettuce leaves and, his secret ingredient, his final touch, a drizzle of Italian salad dressing. Ah, hoagie night.

And he made all of the salads. He was the king of salads. Tuna and chicken salads, chopped liver, whatever you please. His chicken salad was thick and creamy, dotted with bits of carrots and celery for color and crunch, maybe an onion finely minced, salted and peppered and it needed nothing more than that to be turned into a perfect sandwich. We were plain, simple folk with a taste for something that simply said American comfort food, a meal that simply said home.

(An) an American can eat anything on the face of this earth 

as long as he has two pieces of bread. 

– Bill Cosby 

Now I am all grown up and have so many worlds, cultures and cuisines at my fingertips. That bowl of cooked, chopped chicken takes on many forms, so many different personalities depending upon the season, the weather and my mood. Often, I will fill my shopping cart or market basket with an array of condiments, flavors and textures that will bring a new chicken salad to life, to be packed for a picnic, served up for lunch or eaten at a buffet. But as we delve deeper and deeper into apartment renovations, as my time is sucked into a black hole…. No, no. As my time is taken up by painting and polishing parquet and making design decisions, I have less and less time to devote to cooking. Shopping is done on the run, cooking is now a thrown together affair, a “let’s dig through the cupboard and fridge” kind of smorgasbord event as we collapse in front of the television for the evening. Yet as I dashed to the market yesterday to pick up cheeses and baguette and fruit, whatever to make a quick, impromptu meal or two, chicken salad crossed my mind. I haven’t thought of chicken salad in years. I bought tomatoes, an avocado and a tiny bouquet of pearl onions and ran home. And I was on my way.

Tonight’s version of chicken salad is made up of what I had on had: mayonnaise, mustard and red wine vinegar for a creamy dressing with a slight bite and a slight tang. Slivered spring or pearl salad onions, chunks of avocado as well as a couple of minced hardboiled eggs and a cupful of cooked white beans for both added nutritional value and consistency. From there, toss in a handful of fresh coriander, chunks of feta, slivers of sundried tomatoes or sliced pickles. Or a handful of olives. I make mine rather plain and serve the extras on the side so each diner can create his own perfect flavor combination. And dad’s spirit hung over us, glided in and out of the kitchen and livingroom as we dined on the perfect American buffet, comfort food to soother body and soul after a long day of renovations. Serve with fresh bread, tossed salad, a cheese platter, a bowl of fruit and a bottle of light, fruity white wine. Yes, please.

I have decided to add to my menu chocolate cake. I have taken Abby Dodge’s fabulous Emergency Blender Chocolate Cupcakes from The Weekend Baker (a cookbook that I highly recommend to beginner and experienced bakers alike) and turned them into tiny Bundt cakes to serve simply (what else?) dusted with powdered sugar. Feel free to serve them with a scoop of your favourite ice cream, whipped cream or my Chocolate Whipped Cream or Coffee Whipped Cream.

This Chicken Salad and individual Chocolate Bund Cakes is for this month’s Monthly Mingle (a blogging even created by Meeta), hosted by my friend and fellow American expat Jenn of Jenn Cuisine. Her Monthly Mingle theme is Americana. And what is more American than Chicken Salad? And chocolate cake!

NOTA BENE: A home baker can never have enough easy, quick, one-bowl cake recipes. Why use a boxed mix when you can have a homemade, from-scratch cake with barely more time, energy or trouble? Here are a few of my own personal favorites:

Chocolate Espresso Layer Cake





 

Special Chocolate Cake

Eggless "Lickety Split" Chocolate Cake

Best Chocolate Chip Banana Bread





CHICKEN SALAD

This is the basic version, then add to it what you will. This serves about 4 people, American, French or whoever happens to be in your home and hungry, as part of a luncheon or light dinner spread.


2 large chicken breasts
2 – 4 cups chicken or vegetable broth or stock, enough to cover the breasts
3.5 oz (100 g) smoked lardons cubes (I use Matchstick) or bacon
2 – 4 large eggs
5 or more Tbs mayonnaise, homemade or excellent quality jarred
1 – 2 Tbs mustard, to taste
1 – 2 tsps red wine vinegar, to taste
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 can cooked white beans, rinsed
1 ripe avocado, peeled and cubed
Spring or pearl salad onions, trimmed of the green and the white part thinly sliced
1 small or medium-sized carrot, trimmed and cleaned (peeled or scraped)
1 – 2 cups cherry tomatoes, rinsed and halved, optional

Pat the chicken breasts with paper towelling and trim off any excess pockets of fat. Place the breasts in a pot of simmering chicken or vegetable stock or broth (homemade, canned or from a stock cube is fine) and allow to simmer until cooked through (the center went sliced open should no longer be pink). This takes about 10 minutes, more or less depending upon the thickness of the breasts. Remove from the stock and allow to cool.

Hardboil 2 to 4 eggs, allow to cool, peel and rinse. Fry the lardons or bacon in a dry skillet until crispy. If use bacon, crumble or cut into matchsticks. Allow to cool.

When cooled, chop or mince. When the chicken has cooled, chop, cube, mince, shred or slice the cooked chicken and place in a medium or large mixing bowl. Grate the carrot into the bowl – I use the largest holes of the grater. Add the lardons or bacon, the thinly sliced onion and the minced hardboiled eggs. Whisk the 5 tablespoons of the mayonnaise with 1 tablespoon of the mustard and taste. Add more mayonnaise or mustard to taste. Whisk in 1 teaspoon of the red wine vinegar. Fold into the chicken salad. Salt and pepper.

Gently fold the rinsed and drained white beans and the avocado chunks. Add the cherry tomatoes and anything else you choose to add (pickle slices, slivers of sundried tomatoes, pitted olives, fresh herbs, seedless grapes, pear or apple chunks, coarsely chopped pecans or walnuts, etc.) and fold together.

Now taste to adjust seasonings: add more mustard, half a tablespoon at a time, or more vinegar, 1 teaspoon at a time, salt and pepper until desired taste is attained.

Serve immediately at room temperature or keep covered with plastic wrap and chilled in the refrigerator until ready to serve and eat.

ABBY’S ONE-BOWL CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES
Or mini Bundts

Abby uses a blender to prepare this batter – whizzing all of the dry ingredients together and then adding the wet ingredients and whizzing to combine. I do it the old fashioned way, with a whisk. I only change I made was adding ground cinnamon. All dry ingredients should be lightly spooned into the measuring cup and leveled with a knife blade.

Nota Bene: What I particularly love about chocolate cakes like this is that one can add a hint of any favorite flavoring one desires: add a tablespoon of Grand Marnier, Cointreau or Amaretto; add 2 teaspoons of dry, powdered espresso powder or replace some of the hot water with strong prepared coffee; add the grated zest of an orange or a lemon or a splash of orange or another fruit juice, measuring the liquid as part of the ¾ cup hot water. Add a pinch of another spice that pairs well with chocolate, such as a gingerbread, pumpkin or apple pie spice. Just for a few suggestions.

1 cup (130 g) flour
½ cup (45 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp ground cinnamon, optional
¾ cup (175 ml) hot water
½ cup (120 ml) vegetable oil
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C) – I set my very unpredictable and overly hot oven to 185°C. Line 12 regular-size muffin cups with paper liners or butter and flour 12 individual mini Bundt cups (the easiest way to butter mini Bundt cups is with softened or just-melted butter and a soft pastry brush. Dust with flour and turn over the sink and shake/tap out all excess flour)

Combine the flour, cocoa powder (I sift the cocoa powder into the bowl), sugar, baking soda, salt and ground cinnamon into a large mixing bowl. Whisk in the water, then the oil, egg and vanilla until smooth and blended.

Pour into the prepared muffin or mini Bundt cups – I scrape the liquid batter into a large measuring cup with a lip/spout which makes the job of pouring into muffin tins easier and cleaner. Divide the batter evenly among the cups.

Bake until a tester inserted in the center of one of the cupcakes or Bundlets comes out clean; the top of one cake should spring back when lightly pressed and the edges of the Bundlets should be starting to pull away from the tin. Remive the pan from the oven onto a cooling rack and allow to cool for about 10 minutes before carefully popping out the cupcakes or mini Bundts. Allow to cool completely before serving.

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Oven Fried Chicken

I absolutely love fried chicken.  Now I’m not talking any fast food place fried chicken.  I mean good ole fashioned homemade, buttermilk marinated and breaded fried chicken. 
But sadly due to time and the fact that fried chicken instantly seems to attach itself to my already ample booty I try to stay away from it.  Luckily for us I have found a pretty decent oven fried chicken recipe that is quick and easy. 
Everyone loves “fried” chicken nights here now and these are as simple to make as store bought shake and bake chicken.

Oven Fried Chicken

Ingredients

• Enough chicken legs to feed your family
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon sage
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon or less cayenne pepper
• 1/2 cup butter

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
2. Mix flour, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, paprika, sage, cayenne and pepper together in a bag. Add chicken parts in a bag and shake until well coated.
3. Melt butter/margarine in a 9x13 inch baking dish in the preheated oven. Place chicken in the baking dish skin side down and bake for 20 minutes. Turn pieces and bake another 20 minutes until tender and juices run clear.

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Sweet and Sticky Oven Baked Chicken Thighs

I was searching the internet the other day looking for something new to try with chicken thighs.  Seems that more and more of my weeknight meals revolve around them and the family is getting a little tired of my normal baked thigh recipes.  Luckily this recipe caught my eye and it is definitely a keeper!!! 
Kristen from Dine and Dish makes these using chicken wings but thighs are what I had.

Sweet and Sticky Oven Baked Chicken Thighs (from Dine and Dish)
Ingredients:
1 cup honey
1/4 cup molasses
1/3 cup ketchup
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon Spanish paprika
1 Tablespoon seasoned salt
1/8 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper 
1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt 
1/4 teaspoon minced garlic
2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 Tablespoon mustard
1 ½ cups brown sugar
8 chicken thighs
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together all ingredients except the chicken thighs
2. Line metal baking sheet with aluminum foil and place a rack to elevate the chicken.
3. Pour the barbecue sauce over chicken thighs in a large re-sealable plastic bag. Seal tightly and shake until sauce is well distributed.
4. Arrange chicken thighs on the rack over the aluminum foil lined baking sheet.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour or until crisp and cooked through.

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Mexican Chicken Bake

I am totally stuck in a rut for dinner ideas.  Or at least I was until I remembered this recipe I had bookmarked a week or so ago.  So glad I remembered!  This was probably one of the best meals I have made in a long time.
I took the original recipe from here…Dandy Dishes
Of course I had to change some stuff around and make it all mine right?


Mexican Chicken Bake Serves 4
Ingredients:
3 chicken breasts (follow the simple recipe below for Salsa Chicken)
1 can pinto beans (drained and rinsed)
1 ½ tablespoons cumin
1 ½ tablespoons chili powder, or more if you really like it spicy
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon cilantro, chopped
Juice of 1 lime
¼ cup sour cream
½ cup shredded cheddar cheese

Optional garnishes:
Shredded lettuce
Diced cherry tomatoes
Sliced avocado
Cilantro leaves
Sour cream
Diections:
Preheat your oven to 375º. In a large bowl place the shredded chicken, spices, lime juice, sour cream, cilantro and salt and pepper to taste then mix well. Transfer to a lightly oiled baking dish and top with cheese. Pop into the preheated oven for 15 minutes then garnish the top with shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, avocado slices and serve with a nice dollop of sour cream and your favorite hot sauce.
Salsa Chicken
Ingredients:
I jar of good quality salsa (or just you favorite!)
chicken (4 breast or 8 thighs-boneless skinless)
Directions:
Throw chicken and salsa into a crockpot on low and cook for 4-8 hrs depending on whether or not you had the foresight to thaw your chicken (yes, I throw frozen chicken in here).
Once the chicken is done.  You need to remove it from the crockpot and the sauce and shred it.  This chicken can now be used in tacos, nachos, or anything else that requires some nicely seasoned chicken!
***We ended up using this dish in tacos, as nachos and just like the picture is!  They loved them!!!
***You could also use a rotisserie chicken and shred that in place of the salsa chicken!

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So it’s been a while

I know, I know…I’ve been a very, very bad blogger but honestly I was totally immersed in a 3 month long project that I loved dearly and took up the majority of the very limited free time that I have.  But the project has been completed and the torch has been passed so “I’M BAAAAAAAAACKKKKK!”
I’ve missed my twitter friends, my Facebook friends and most importantly I’ve missed my blog.  So I am back nice and fresh with a recipe that is perfect for this up coming weekend (there is some sort of game or something going on right?) or really any time you get a craving for some chicken wings that will knock your socks off!!!

They are fast and easy but take a little bit of pre planning for the marinating time but other than that they are perfect for a busy weeknight meal…Thanks @aggieskitchen for a great recipe!
Ranch Chicken Wings (from Aggie’s Kitchen, with slight seasoning changes)
Ingredients:
2 lbs chicken wings
1 cup olive oil
1 1/2 tsp dry lemon pepper seasoning salt
2 cloves of minced garlic
1/2 tsp dry dill seasoning (Or look for a seasoning called “It’s A Dilly” which has it all)
Dry Ranch Dressing Packet
Fresh Ground Pepper
Combine oil, lemon pepper seasoning, garlic and dill seasoning in bowl. Pour over chicken wings and let marinate for 4-6 hours.
Place wings in an oven pan covered w/foil and sprinkle liberally with Dry Ranch Dressing packet and fresh ground pepper….cook 425 degree for about 35-40 minutes. You may want to broil them for a few minutes to brown them right up…But watch them closely! Serve with Ranch dressing and cut celery.

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QUICHES, KUGELS, and COUSCOUS by Joan Nathan

PART II: La Culture Quiche (It’s all French to Me)


A multi-cultural marriage is nothing if it isn’t a life of concession and compromise. I showed up on my wedding day wrapped in a cloak of family heritage, carrying a bagful of traditions and joined my lot to a man with a different set of unmatched luggage. Religious beliefs (spiced, for one of us, by a very large pinch of skepticism), holidays and festivals, national pride, habits and ideas of the way things should work have been put to the test, talked over, played with, balanced out. Some points have been conceded, rituals pared back, concessions made, certain traditions eliminated and others adopted and all in the name of a happy marriage and what simply works best in the country and culture where we set up house and unpack the suitcases.

And nowhere is this more obvious than in our culinary traditions. We may travel the world, move from one country to another, experiment with this dish or that, but one thing we all carry with us, the one aspect of our culture that generations of immigrants have kept close to their hearts, loathe to leave behind, is our cuisine and the rituals that surround it. And as our grandmothers and great-grandmothers before us adapted their Old World recipes to New World ingredients, new cooking methods and a new life, we try and prepare our childhood and family favorites, the traditional dishes of our ancestors, the celebratory and festive meals as we know them yet are often inspired by a new culture or simply by necessity to adapt, change, transform. Over time we merge recipes, toss in a new spice or herb, lighten an otherwise heavy dish or blend cultural influences and in the process we end up creating an entirely new and very personal culinary repertoire.


Joan Nathan’s newest cookbook, Quiches, Kugels, and Couscous (My Search for Jewish Cooking in France) is all about this culinary phenomenon. Just flip through the book and you will see a seemingly incomprehensible mish-mash of French, Yiddish, North African words and recipes. But look closer and you will see a fascinating blend of communities, origins, styles and flavors and once you read her culinary history of the Jews in France you’ll understand completely. “Even though some of the oldest Jewish recipes have been subsumed into French regional cuisine, you can often recognize ancient cooking in the dishes the Jews are serving today,” Ms. Nathan explains. She goes on to show that “between intermarriage, travel, expulsion, changing food ways, and different waves of immigration, it is often difficult to trace with precision the path of Jewish cooking in France.” Their history is a complex one and reflected in their delicious and diverse yet wholly traditional dishes.


My own cooking is a perfect example of this cultural fusion: Latkes are served every Hanukkah but now have that special touch of caramelized shallots. Passover finds us enjoying Matzoh Brei like my mom made but now it is served with a luscious slice of smoked salmon and a dollop of crème fraîche. An Alsatian fish choucroute now makes a fabulously festive holiday meal paired with a dense, golden Challah. And that Challah, the sweet brioche-like bread traditionally baked, braided and eaten every Shabbat eve, pairs so well with a good, nutty French comté or salty Roquefort and a tad stale makes a dynamite Pain Perdu, French toast. And now, thanks to Joan Nathan’s fabulous Quiches, Kugels, and Couscous, on we go. My recipe index for holidays as well as every day has just gotten thicker, my discovery of a whole panoply of new flavors and dishes adds zest to my cooking. Her intriguing look at the evolution of French Jewish cooking illustrates this merging of cultural influences, the blending of religious and secular components, the marriage of Jewish and French all leading to the creation of a tantalizing, original yet still thoroughly traditional cuisine unique to the Jews of France. The history Ms. Nathan recounts as well as the fantastic, mouth-watering array of recipes is fascinating not only to the Jewish cooks among us but will appeal to everyone. Why? Across the world and over time most cuisines have traveled, evolved and been transformed into the foods and dishes we recognize today. Each culture holds their traditions dear and close to the heart but revels in the gustatory changes that time and movement allows for.


Once again, I have chosen 3 recipes from this wonderful book and, once again, we were absolutely delighted with each of them. The first is a North African-inspired Chicken dish tangy with cured black olives and preserved lemons with an unusual touch of honey and simmered in a very French white wine, cultural fusion at its best. My husband selected the second recipe: a French cake or quick bread filled with fresh goat cheese and comté, redolent of mint and studded with either chopped dried apricots (Ms. Nathan’s version) or dried cranberries (my version). And finally, a dessert. I knew that I couldn’t go for very long without delving into her fabulous selection of sweet treats and I stumbled upon one that is doubly perfect: Gâteau de Hannouka, a Polish Hanukkah Apple Cake. As we are right in the middle of Hanukkah celebrations, I wanted to make something special for this festive occasion, but I also knew that any cake with apples is a favorite of my husband’s. A slice of my Jewish heritage served up with something ooh-la-la so French.


Now, on my previous post I offered you all three recipes for Joan Nathan’s Chicken with Apples and Cinnamon, the French Potato Salad with Shallots and Parsley and the Parisian Pletzl. But I can’t give all of her recipes away, now can I? I have decided to share with you one of the recipes yet my opinion of all three.


QUICK GOAT CHEESE BREAD with Mint and Apricots

A savory bread definitely meant to be eaten fresh from the oven, this Goat Cheese Bread – or cake, as the French would call it – is chock full of not only crumbled fresh goat cheese but nutty Comté, Gruyère or Cheddar cheese as well, whichever you prefer. While the recipe calls for chopped dried apricots, I preferred to use a cup of dried cranberries, which added a marvelous tangy sweetness to offset and compliment the nuttiness of the cheese. A handful of fresh or dried mint adds something fresh and colorful to this beautiful bread. A wonderful treat to serve simply alongside a salad or a bowl of soup for a complete meal. As easy and quick to put together as the name indicates, this bread has found its way onto my “bake-me-often” list of recipes.


HONEY-COATED BAKED CHICKEN with Preserved Lemon

Although Ms. Nathan offers us a more straight-forward traditional Moroccan Chicken with Olives and Preserved Lemons, I decided to make her Honey-Coated Baked Chicken with Preserved Lemons which is more of a fusion dish, combining “a Moroccan flavor to classic French roasted chicken.” I loved the addition of sweet honey – I am crazy about sweet & sour meat dishes – and found that baking the chicken simmering in honey and wine produced fragrant, extremely tender meat. As my own baking dish is smaller than the recommended 9 x 13-inch casserole, I used less chicken and therefore cut back the preserved lemons from 4 to 3. We still found that the flavor of these citrons confits was too strong and next time I make this dish – which I definitely will – I will use only two preserved lemons. And after I had made the Chicken with Apples and Honey I learned my lesson and poured only enough of the liquid over the chicken to come about 2/3 the way up, allowing the surface of the pieces to stay above the liquid in order to brown. A gorgeous, flavorful dish to serve simply with couscous.


GÂTEAU de HANNOUKA (Polish Hanukkah Apple Cake)

A whole lot of apples for not a lot of batter makes for one delicious cake. This recipe calls for vegetable oil which 1) makes it perfect for Hanukkah as foods cooked in or with oil are traditional, 2) makes this cake parve, allowed with either meat or dairy meals following the laws of Kashrut and 3) makes for one super moist yet extremely light cake. I made this apple-filled, cinnamon-infused cake in my dad’s old, original Bundt cake pan as Ms. Nathan does but the amount of apples in the batter makes it a tad difficult to hold together attractively (as if Jews ever cared about food being attractive as long as it is fabulously delicious!). The next time I will find a 9 x 13-inch baking pan so I can simply slice and lift out huge squares of it to serve along with a cup of coffee. JP gave this fruity cake a two thumbs up and called it really, really good. And it is. Overflowing with chunks of sweet and tart apples tossed in cinnamon, the cake is moist, tender and absolutely delicious. I can just picture my Bubbe, my grandma, asking for seconds. And thirds. Well, so did my French husband.


1 cup vegetable oil, plus more for greasing the pan
5 apples (3 Fuji and 2 Granny Smith or Reines-des-Reinettes, or any combination of sweet and tart apples which, when baked, become meltingly tender yet hold their shape), peeled, cored and cut into ½-inch (1 cm) cubes, about 6 cups of chunks
Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon *
1/3 cup walnut halves, roughly chopped **
1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
2 Tbs chopped almonds (I used 2 Tbs ground almonds)
1 ¼ cups + 2 Tbs sugar, divided
4 large eggs
¼ tsp almond extract

* I had no lemons so I eliminated this. I tossed about a teaspoon of vanilla extract with the cinnamon and apples instead.
** As JP cannot eat walnuts, I did not add them and found the nutless version perfect!

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Grease either a Bundt pan or a 9 x 13-inch baking pan.

Toss the cubed apples with the zest and juice of the lemon*, the walnuts** and the cinnamon together in a large bowl.

Pulse (in a food processor) or mix (with an electric hand mixer) together the flour, baking powder, salt, chopped or ground almonds and 1 ¼ cups of the sugar together. With the processor or mixer running, gradually pour in the eggs, oil and almond extract, processing or mixing just until well blended.

Spoon 1/3 of the batter over the bottom of the prepared pan. Scatter the apples on top then cover the apples with the remaining batter, smoothing. Sprinkle the remaining 2 tablespoons (you’ll need less if using a Bundt pan) evenly over the top of the cake.

Bake for 45 to 60 minutes or until golden and cooked through. The cake will take the shorter amount of time if using the shallower baking pan than in the Bundt pan.


Allow to completely cool on a cooling rack before loosening the cake and turning it out of the pan.

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