Braised Chicken with Fennel, Shallot & White Beans

Finally, a little rain in these dry parts! It's much needed, and as grateful as I am for a little downpour I'm even more so for the chance to whip up some fantastically comforting cold-weather dishes. You know, the kind that simmer away all day, filling your house with irresistible savory scents? One pot dishes like soups and stews have been few and far between lately since winter seems to have skipped right over us in "endless summer" Cali. It's difficult to get into a winter state of mind in Santa Barbara, even if it is February. I mean, who wants to break out the crockpot when it's 70 degrees outside?

So I'm making the most out of these next few rainy days and busting out the comfort food all-stars. Tonight I'm going old school and making a homemade mac & cheese with hot dogs. Yes, sometimes I like to get a little trashy in the kitchen. Don't judge. This is edible nostalgia at its best. 

But before that it was this homey chicken dish, slowly braised in white wine with silky shallot halves and velvety white beans in every bite. It's the kind of dish that will make you feel like that snowman in the Campbell's Soup commercial who comes in from the cold and sips on hot soup until he melts back into a little kid. I know you feel me.

serves 2
Ingredients
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 chicken quarters (leg and thigh)
salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 oz. cubed pancetta
4 shallots, peeled and halved
2 carrots, chopped
1 small bulb fennel, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
1 cup white wine
2 cups chicken broth
1 14 oz. can canellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 tbsp. parsley, chopped
1/4 tsp. finely grated lemon zest

Instructions
1. Heat the oven to 300°. Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Season the chicken all over with salt and pepper. Arrange the chicken skin side down in the pot and sear for about 5 minutes on each side until skin turns golden brown, then transfer to a plate.
2. Reduce heat to medium and cook the pancetta in the same pot until browned, about 5 minutes. Transfer pancetta to paper towels to drain.
3. Add the shallots, carrots and fennel to pot and cook in the pancetta grease, stirring occasionally, until vegetables begin to brown and soften, 5-6 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for an additional minute or so.
4. Add bay leaf and wine and bring to a simmer, scraping the bottom of the pot to loosen the brown bits. Continue cooking until the wine is reduced by half.
5. Add the broth and white beans and return the chicken and pancetta to the pot. Bring to a simmer, cover and transfer to the oven.
6. Braise the chicken for about 45 minutes or until the meat is tender. Transfer the chicken and vegetables to a serving platter, reserving sauce in the pot. Discard the bay leaf.
7. Bring the sauce to a boil over high heat until reduced to about 1 cup. Stir in the lemon zest and season with salt and pepper. Pour the sauce over the chicken and sprinkle with parsley.

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Dungeness Crab & Corn Chowder

First thing's first. Today my blog hit a little milestone: it reached 20,000 page views! In some ways that's a small number when you consider the fact that other sites exceed that many page views a day, but then I try to picture 20K of anything- people, dollars, jelly beans...and my mind is kind of blown. It's mucho, you guys.

So I just wanted to put a great big THANK YOU out into the world to anyone who has taken a moment out of their day to pop over into my world for a bit and take a look at what's cooking in my kitchen, which today happens to be a hearty, zesty, yummy (and spicy if you're all about the Cholula like I am) Crab & Corn Chowder.

It comes together in a flash with tons of seafood flavor thanks to the fresh, succulent, Dungeness crab I purchased at the seafood counter (precooked, so no messy shells to deal with). Feel free to dress this chowder up however you'd like, it would be heavenly served up in a sourdough bread bowl, but I'm partial to a sprinkle of crisp, green scallions and a healthy dousing of hot sauce. 

makes about 1 1/2 quarts
Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
4-6 baby red potatoes, diced
3 ribs celery, chopped
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 dried bay leaf
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon Old Bay or other seafood seasoning blend
3 tablespoons flour
2 cups chicken broth
3 cups whole milk
2 cups fresh or frozen corn kernels
8 ounces cooked lump dungeness crab
2 tablespoons scallions, thinly sliced
Hot sauce and lemon, to taste

Instructions
1. Heat a stock pot over medium heat and add oil and butter.
2. Add potatoes, celery, onion and bay leaf to the pot and season with salt, pepper and Old Bay. Sauté until onions and celery soften, about 5 minutes.
3. Add flour to pot and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Stir in broth and milk and bring soup to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until soup thickens slightly, about 5-10 minutes.
4. Add corn and crab meat and simmer soup for another 5 minutes.
5. Remove bay leaf before serving. Ladle soup into bowls and garnish with hot sauce, a squeeze of lemon and sliced scallions.

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Heart Bonbons with White Chocolate Raspberry Swirl Ice Cream

Since the start of the New Year I've been on a pretty mean health kick. My body needed a break from all the holiday sweets so I've been eating lean and green and sweating it out in the gym nearly every day. Not too shabby, right? But with Valentine's Day around the corner that's kind of gone out the window because I've had a bad case of chocolate brain the last couple of days. I'm not even all that crazy about chocolate, but yesterday I somehow found myself in the candy aisle at Target holding two giant bags of the stuff (Dove Hearts and Hershey Kisses, thank you), completely unable to resist the pretty pink and red foil wrapped beauties. Once I got home I experienced some serious buyer's remorse and sent the majority of them packing off to John's office and safe from my clutches...

Naturally I just had to make something heart shaped and pretty and chocolatey myself. It's been quite awhile since I've broken out my ice cream maker, I kind of missed it. So I thought:

ice cream+chocolate+hearts=  Heart Shaped Chocolate Bon Bons!

I made these over the course of two days: the white chocolate raspberry swirl ice cream and the raspberry sauce were prepared the night before to ensure proper freezing, and I melted the chocolate and assembled the bonbons the following morning. It got a little messy, I'm not going to lie. But what do you expect when dealing with dipping things in melted chocolate? I'm not kidding when I say that this recipe is a true labor of love...the steps definitely require some patience, but that's what makes it all the more fitting as a special Valentine's Day treat for your loved ones.

makes about 18 bon bons
Ingredients
for the raspberry sauce:
1 1/2 cup fresh raspberries
2 tbsp. sugar
2 tbsp. water

for the white chocolate raspberry swirl  ice cream:
1 1/2 cups whole milk
3 egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar
pinch of salt
1/8 tsp. vanilla extract
4 oz. white chocolate
1/4 cup raspberry sauce

for the chocolate shell:
12 ounces dark chocolate chips
1 tbsp. unsalted butter
2 tbsp. heavy cream

Special Equipment: heart shaped candy molds (or silicone ice cube trays, which is what I used)

Instructions
1. To make the raspberry coulis, bring raspberries, sugar and water to a boil in a small saucepan. Reduce heat to low and simmer until sugar has dissolved, about 5-10 minutes. Remove from heat, allow to cool and transfer to a blender or food processor. Puree until smooth, then pass through a mesh strainer pressing with a wooden spoon to extract as much liquid as possible Discard seeds and set sauce aside for later use.

2. To make the ice cream heat the milk in a medium saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until small bubbles begin to appear around the edges of the pan. Meanwhile whisk the egg yolks, sugar and salt together in a separate bowl until mixture turns thick and pale yellow. Gradually pour the hot milk into the egg yolks, continuing to whisk, then place the entire mixture back into the saucepan. Simmer over medium low heat, stirring constantly until custard thickens and temperature reaches about 170 degrees.

3. Place white chocolate chips in a heatproof bowl and pour the hot custard through a mesh strainer over the white chocolate chips. Let stand for a few minutes, then stir until the white chocolate has completely melted. Add vanilla extract and place over an ice bath to chill the custard to room temperature. Cover and place in the refrigerator to chill, then freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

4. When the ice cream has frozen transfer it to an airtight container, layering the scoops with spoonfuls of the raspberry sauce and swirling it throughout the ice cream. Fill candy molds or ice cream trays with ice cream, cover and place in the freezer for at least 1 hour.

5. To assemble the bonbons, melt the chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, stirring until smooth. Remove bowl from pan, stir in butter and heavy cream and let sit for about 20 minutes, until chocolate is cool but still melted. Line a baking sheet with wax paper and place in the freezer.

 6. Working quickly, remove one heart shaped mound of ice cream from the mold, (leaving the others in the freezer) and dip it into the melted chocolate, using a spoon or your fingers to quickly coat the ice cream in the chocolate. Transfer to the baking sheet in the freezer. Repeat this process until all the bonbons have been dipped in chocolate, then freeze for at least 30 minutes or until chocolate is firm. If the chocolate begins to harden simply reheat and allow to cool slightly once more before continuing. Serve with remaining raspberry sauce.

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Root Vegetable Gratin

I have a little crush on gratins. I love all the pretty layers. I love the savory scent of them baking in the oven. I love saying gratin in a fancy French accent. And I looooove stuffing my face with them, obvsies. But I think what I love most about any sort of gratin is that it turns a side dish from an afterthought into something quite special. 

Sure, anyone could just steam up some green beans willy nilly or chuck some potatoes into the oven to serve alongside their main course, but taking the effort to whip up a gratin always shows that extra bit of attention in the finished product, instantly taking your meal from meh to marvelous...

Just look at the gorgeous ombre layers in this Root Vegetable Gratin- it's like sunset. On a plate. Who wouldn't be impressed by that? You know what else I love about this gratin in particular? It's one of the few that I've come across that isn't a total gut bomb. The cooking liquid is mainly low-fat, low-calorie chicken or vegetable broth with a mere smidge of heavy cream added for good measure, instead of being entirely cream based as many gluttonous gratins so often are. Sigh. A judicious amount of cheese is included as well; just  a couple of tablespoons of Parmesan sprinkled on top is all you need to get that cheesy fix.

And quite possibly the best part of all- root vegetables like the sweet potato, butternut squash and rutabagas used here possess the magical quality of being SO good for you (hello fiber, antioxidants and minerals, get in my belly!) yet tasting rich and indulgent, like something you probably shouldn't be consuming in large quantities without a major repentance session on the treadmill. And that's totally crushworthy in my book.

adapted from Food & Wine
Ingredients
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled
1 butternut squash neck (2 1/4 pounds) from a large butternut squash, peeled
1 medium rutabaga (2 pounds), peeled and halved lengthwise
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 tbsp. freshly grated parmesan
*Special Equipment: Mandoline

Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Slice the potatoes and squash lengthwise 1/8 inch thick with a mandoline. Slice the rutabaga crosswise 1/8 inch thick.
2. Spray an 8x12 baking dish with cooking spray. Begin to layer the strips of vegetables as follows, making sure to season each layer: first spread half of the potatoes on the bottom layer, overlapping them slightly. Proceed with half of the rutabaga, then the squash, also overlapping. Repeat until al of the vegetables have been used. Pour the broth over and around the vegetables.
3. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 1 hour, until the vegetables are almost tender when pierced.
4. Remove the foil and pour the cream over the gratin. Bake for about 30 minutes longer, until the liquid has reduced and thickened.
5. Preheat the broiler. Sprinkle parmesan over the gratin and broil 3 inches from the heat for 2 minutes, or until cheese begins to melt. Let the gratin stand for 10 minutes, then serve.

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