Cooking for friends

I had some friends in from out of town for the weekend. One of them is a vegetarian. So I made a favorite from my days as a vegetarian: Wild Rice and Cranberry Soup. I also made a new dish: Fennel and Arugula Salad with Pine Nuts. I burned the pine nuts and still got compliments on them.

Going Away Food

I made I'm-going-away food. It was the food that I wanted to remember when I was gone. It was the food I wanted to make and tuck into, escape with, stay present with. It was awesome.

Arroz Con Pollo (from smittenkitchen)

Serves 8

Chicken

3 large garlic cloves

2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar

2 teaspoons dried oregano, crumbled

4 chicken breast halves with bone, halved crosswise

4 chicken drumsticks

4 chicken thighs

Rice

3 oz. Spanish chorizo (cured sausage), skin discarded and sausage cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 medium onions, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

3 large garlic cloves, chopped

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons dried oregano

1 1/2 teaspoons paprika, preferably the hot stuff, plus more to taste

2 Turkish bay leaves or 1 California

1 lb. tomatoes, seeded and chopped

1 12-oz. bottle beer (not dark)

1 1/2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth

2 cups long-grain white rice (14 oz.)

1/4 cup drained rinsed bottled pimiento or roasted red pepper strips

Marinate chicken: Mince and mash garlic to a paste with 2 teaspoons salt, then transfer to a large bowl. Stir in vinegar and oregano.

Remove skin and excess fat from chicken, then toss chicken with marinade until coated and marinate, covered and chilled, at least 1 hour.

Cook chicken and rice: - Cook chorizo in olive oil in a 6- to 7-quart heavy pot (12 inches wide) over medium-high heat, stirring, until some fat is rendered, 2 to 3 minutes. Add onions, bell pepper, and garlic and cook, stirring until softened, about 5 minutes.

Add cumin, oregano, paprika, 1 1/4 teaspoons salt, and bay leaves and cook, stirring, 1 minute.

Add chicken with marinade to chorizo mixture and cook, uncovered, over medium heat, stirring frequently, 10 minutes.

Stir in tomatoes, beer, broth, and rice and bring to a boil, making sure rice is submerged. [Deb note: I actually had a really hard time keeping the rice underneath the chicken so that it would cook evenly. I'd suggest that you use tongs to temporarily remove the chicken from the pot, mix the rice in with the other ingredients in the pot, and then replace the chicken, pressing it into the broth a bit before going onto the next step. I will definitely do this next time.]

Reduce heat to medium-low, then cover mixture directly with a round of parchment or wax paper and cover pot with a tight fitting lid. Cook, stirring once or twice, until rice is tender, 20 to 30 minutes.

Remove from heat and let stand, covered, 5 minutes. Discard parchment paper and bay leaves, then scatter pimiento strips over rice.

Note: Chicken can be marinated up to 2 hours.

SF Beer Week

San Francisco Beer Week is starting next weekend. My current list of items I want to do is:

-Alembic Sunday Supper

-Cask and Quesos Night at Thirstybear

-Thunderpussy Barleywine Opening at Magnolia

-Bavarian Beer Breakfast at Gordon Biersch  (I'm taking off work that day. Aren't you proud of me?)

-Beer and Chocolate Dinner at Cathedral Hill Hotel

-Toronado Barleywine Festival

What are you doing?

Bookclub

I am a geek, I admit it. I am part of a bookclub. We recently read a book based in Mexico. We also typically bring or cook thematic food for the book if it's possible. So I made Albondigas Soup and Mexican Chopped Salad with Honey-Lime Dressing. Both were above and beyond my expectations. 

Cooking from the New York Times Magazine

I was wondering out loud yesterday how many people's Monday night dinner is the recipe that runs in the Sunday New York Times magazine. I was inspired to make this recipe from the Times for yesterday's dinner. It was one of the few things I've made in my life that I was more effusive about than my dining companion(s). I was absolutely astounded with it.

Country Captain (from The New York Times magazine)

1⁄4 cup flour

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon dried thyme

2 tablespoons butter

3 pounds (about 8) chicken thighs

4 slices bacon

1 medium yellow onion, diced

1 medium green pepper, seeded and diced

2 ribs celery, diced

1 tablespoon minced garlic

2 tablespoons curry powder

3 tablespoons currants

1 28-ounce can chopped tomatoes and their juices

3 tablespoons slivered almonds, toasted

Cooked white rice.

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degr

ees.

2. Combine the flour, 2 teaspoons kosher salt, 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper and the thyme in a bowl. In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium-high heat until it foams. Dredge the chicken in the flour mixture, shaking off excess, and fry, in batches if needed, until browned on all sides, about 8 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a plate and drain off all but 1 tablespoon of the fat in the skillet.

3. Return the skillet to medium heat, add the bacon and fry until crispy. Transfer to a plate. Once cool, crumble and set aside.

4. Add the onion, pepper, celery, garlic, curry powder and 1 tablespoon of the currants to the skillet and sauté over medium-high heat until soft and fragrant, about 7 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes and their juices, bring to a boil and simmer over medium-low heat for 10 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

5. Spread 1 cup of the tomato sauce in the bottom of an ovenproof casserole large enough to hold the chicken snugly in one layer. Arrange the chicken on top. Pour the remaining sauce over and around the chicken. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 35 minutes. Remove the foil and cook for 15 minutes more.

6. Top with the crumbled bacon, remaining currants and slivered almonds. Serve with cooked rice and any condiments you wish. Serves 4.

Choosing dinner for a first date

First dates put us surprisingly out of our element for being so much about getting to know someone else. We clean our houses, change our sheets, shave, put perfume in all the right places, and we go out to dinner. Or maybe we cook. We think all these things in our heads about what the person will be like when he/she does this or the other thing. How will she react when I put my hand in hers? How will he feel about my tipping habits?

I'm going out to dinner for my first date tomorrow. I decided cooking would be a little stressful on top of all the butterflies I'm already feeling. But how to choose a place to eat? I've ruled out a couple options - nothing far from the house lest we get, ahem, distracted. Nothing that involves eating with our hands. Nothing too noisy to hear each other. And that pretty much leaves...almost every restaurant within walking distance of my house. So there shall be some fine-tuning. There shall be some discussion. There will be good food wherever we go.

I had a series of dinners about a year ago with my boyfriend where, entirely by accident, I ended up picking his food for him. It wasn't about taking away his choice. It was about the fact that I was taking him to great places where I knew the great dishes to have. I would recommend a few things, and then a few more things, and all of a sudden, "Oh nevermind. I'll just order and you'll love it." He always loved it, if I may say so. Let's hope this new date enjoys the food, or at least the company. :-)

Here's to first dates. May you have wine to loosen up the conversation and the garments and food to keep you nourished through the night.

The new cafe at work.

Today I had:

**Cauliflower Salad with Nicoise Olives and Crispy Croutons
cauliflower, red onions, red wine vinegar, nicoise olives, olive oil, parsley, bread crumb 

**Lemon, Leek, Parsnip and Pistachio Risotto
arborio, lemon, garlic, onions, vegetable stock, herbs, spices, olive oil, parsnips, leeks

**Spanish Chick Pea Soup
spanish smoked paprika, piquillo peppers, garbanzo beans, garlic, onion, coriander seed, vegetable stock, herbs, spices, tomato

And a side of brussel sprouts and broccoli for a little more ruffage.

All for the low, low price of free.

One of the teams responsible for opening a cafe in Mountain View that just knocked everyone's socks off has come up here. I have been eating like even more of a king than I usually do.

Oh, and they have a heat lamp for the cookies. Why, you ask? So they'll always be warm when you put them on your plate to eat them. It's the little things.

Photo Credit: Scott Giambiastiani, Google Executive Chef