Seared Cumin Pork Chops w. Mango Salsa

I’ve been working at mastering seared pork chops…

Even though I had a clear idea of the general technique, my chops still seemed to lack something very important: juiciness. I decided it was time to roll up my sleeves and write a recipe for pork chops that won’t disappoint.

The key is to do everything you possibly can to avoid dryness: pork chops are a lean cut of meat so even when just slightly overcooked, they become tough and dry. That said, have no fear: this recipe employs numerous techniques that will protect you from this pork-pitfall.

First, use bone-in chops: the extra fat and connective tissue protects the meat from drying out (and of course, fat adds flavor!). Next, brining: this seasons and moistens the pork from the inside out. And finally, using a meat thermometer so you avoid cooking the pork any longer than is absolutely necessary (if your meat thermometer isn’t your best friend yet, it is now). Once you’ve moved the pan off the heat you baste with butter, cumin seeds and crushed garlic. Finish with a quick summery mango salsa for peak pork chops.

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Seared Cumin Pork Chops with Mango Salsa

• 2 bone-in pork chops, approx. 10-12 ounces each

• 8 small-medium garlic cloves, crushed

• 2 Tbsps grass fed butter

• 1 Tbsp cumin seeds

• 1 Tbsp neutral oil

• 3 cups room temperature water

• 1/2 cup kosher salt

• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar, or granulated brown sugar

• Freshly ground black pepper

• Kosher salt

• OPTIONAL: 1 ripe mango, 1/8 cup finely diced red onion, cilantro, pinch of kosher salt

First up is our brining process. This seasons and moistens the pork chops from the inside out.

Place your 2 pork chops on a cutting board or baking sheet. Prick pork chops on both sides with a fork, not sinking the fork in very deeply - if you’re being technical, about 1/8 inch deep.

In a gallon Ziploc or Stasher bag, add 3 cups of room temperature water, 1/2 cup kosher salt, and 1/2 cup packed brown sugar. Use a spoon to stir until the salt and sugar has mostly dissolved. Add the 2 pork chops, seal the bag and lay bag down again on the baking sheet or cutting board so that the pork chops sit in a single layer in the bag. Place in the fridge for 30 minutes, or up to 8 hours.

Before you are going to cook the chops, remove them from the brine. Discard brine and pat your chops dry. Bring them to room temperature. Get the butter, cumin seeds and crushed garlic cloves ready for when it’s time to baste. You don’t want to be scrambling to get these later.

If you are serving with quick mango salsa, make that now. Cut off the top of the mango and from this opening, peel off the skin. Remove the cheeks of the mango, cutting around the the hard inner core.

Once room temperature and RIGHT before cooking, season your pork chops all over with just a little kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. These have been seasoned during brining, so you only need a little.

Start to heat a cast iron pan over medium high heat (make sure your pan can comfortably accommodate both chops without crowding — this is important). After about a minute, add 1 Tbsp of neutral oil to the pan, tilting the pan so that the oil evenly coats the bottom. After another minute or so, when the oil is shimmering and you see a little smoke, add your pork chops. They should sizzle when they hit the pan. If they don’t, remove the pork and wait another minute before continuing,

Once the pork chops are in the pan, start a timer for 8 minutes total. Cook the first side of the pork chop for 1 minute, undisturbed. Then, flip and cook the second side undisturbed for 1 minute. Next, using tongs to hold the chop, cook the flat, meaty side of the chop with the fat cap on it (not the bone side) for a minute, gently rocking it so the whole side gets contact with the pan. Repeat the entire process, cooking each of those three sides for 1 minute before flipping. At about 4-5 minutes you should start to see the golden brown sear developing. At 8 minutes, insert your thermometer into the thickest part of the meat: if the thermometer reads 130-135, turn off the heat and move on to basting. If it doesn’t, continue searing and flipping for another minute or two until it reaches this temperature.

Once the meat has reached 130-135 and you’ve turned off the heat, immediately add your butter, cumin seeds and crushed garlic cloves to the pan. Tilting the pan away from you, use a large spoon to baste the pork with the foamy butter, cumin seeds and garlic. Baste on both sides, and then check the internal temperature again: leave the meat in the hot pan until it’s reached 140-145F. Once it has, remove the meat from the pan and set on a clean cutting board. Let rest a few minutes before cutting into thin slices and serving immediately. Drizzle with garlic and drippings from the pan, as well as the quick mango salsa. Enjoy!

Date Roasted Carrot Salad w. Burrata, Mint & Chili

I love the transformation of humble ingredients.

Carrots are so simple and a thought I had recently was that I don’t make them enough. Though I occasionally think of baby carrots as a counterpart for hummus, for the most part, right size, whole carrots fall out of my consciousness when it comes time to grocery shopping. I find that, like eggplant or other certain vegetables, the deliciousness of a carrot is all about knowing how to treat it: not well seasoned or well cooked, a carrot would gladly be easily forgotten. So, yes, you are going to be sure to bathe these in a mixture of butter and sweet date (or fig) jam and cook until caramelized and completely melt in your mouth tender. To go the no-food-waste mile, be sure to use some of the carrot stem as a garnish.

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Date Roasted Carrot Salad with Burrata, Mint & Chili

Serves 2

• 7 thin carrots, or cut in half if they are wide, total 8 oz

• 1.5 Tbsps unsalted butter 

• 1 Tbsp date jam (or use fig jam)

• Small bunch of fresh thyme

• Toasted sunflower seeds

• 1 ball of burrata 

• 1/2 small hot red chili, finely sliced

• Fig balsamic

• Fresh mint for garnish

• OPTIONAL; carrot stems very finely minced

• Kosher salt

• Freshly ground black pepper

• Neutral oil

Preheat your oven to 400F. First rinse & scrub your carrots. Trim the carrot stems down so that just a short stem remain. Keep a few of the stems without any of the leaves.

Dry your clean carrots and in a high-heat, oven safe pan (like stainless steel or cast iron), heat a little neutral oil over high heat until hot and just barely smoking. Add the carrots, making sure they can sit in a single layer. You’ll probably need a 8-10 inch pan. Add two pinches of kosher salt and a few cranks of freshly ground black pepper and toss the carrots a bit in the pan. Sear, turning occasionally, 5-7 minutes, until golden brown on all sides.

In the meantime, mix 1.5 Tbsps of melted unsalted butter with 1 Tbsp of date (or fig) jam. Add a pinch of kosher salt and stir well.

When the carrots have a slightly golden hue all over, remove the whole pan from the heat. Set on a cool burner and wait a few minutes to allow the pan to cool slightly.

Using tongs, lift carrots and place your bunch of thyme down in the pan. Place carrots back on top of the thyme, brush evenly with the butter and date (or fig) glaze and then put the pan in the oven 12-15 minutes or until carrots are fork tender all the way through.

While the carrots are in the oven, very, very finely chop a bit of thin, clean carrot stems.

Slice a hot red chili into very thin rounds. When the carrots are ready, carefully remove the pan from the oven. Pull off the bundle of thyme and move carrots to a cutting board.

Cut them on the bias into smaller segments and place into 2 bowls, layering the carrot. Cut burrata open and place a half of burrata in each bowl next to the carrots.

Top with rounds of hot chili, a few small leaves of fresh mint, toasted sunflower seeds a sprinkle of the very finely cut carrot stem.

Cut burrata open, and drizzle with fig balsamic.

Crispy Skin Bass w. Mandarin Brown Butter & Arugula Salad w. Lemon Castelvetrano Olives & Pickled Grapes

As if you needed more reason to make this than mandarin brown butter…

Brown butter is magical. Full stop. It’s nutty, slightly sweet and oh-so rich. I enjoyed finding different ways to counter that richness in this dish. First by adding citrus to the brown butter, and second by serving with a tart, peppery arugula salad. And I have no doubt you saw ‘pickled grapes’, and went… really? But trust me on this. Slightly tangy and sweet, mixed with creamy castelvetrano olives and brine, a bit of lemon peel. My hope with this dish is to leave you feeling as inspired as I was creating it.

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Crispy Skin Bass with Mandarin Brown Butter & Arugula Salad w. Lemon Castelvetrano Olives & Pickled Grapes

SERVES 2

MANDARIN BROWN BUTTER

• 3/4 stick of grass fed butter (6 Tbsps)

• 4 small mandarins, juiced and strained of solids (4 Tbsps)

SALAD

• 2 fistfuls fresh arugula

• 1/2 cup whole pitted Castelvetrano olives in brine, 3.5 oz (or pits removed)

• 1 tsp extra fine strips of lemon peel

• 20 red seedless grapes, 6.5 oz

• 1 tsp granulated sugar and 1 tsp kosher salt

• 1/2 cup white wine vinegar

• 1/2 tsp whole black peppercorns

• Extra virgin olive oil

FISH

• 2 x 8.5 oz striped bass filets with skin, tail ends which tend to be more even thickness all over

• Kosher salt

• Black pepper

• 1.5 Tbsps neutral oil

First, let’s prepare our pickled grapes, lemon castelvetrano olives and mandarin brown butter.

For the pickled grapes, rinse 20 grapes and then cut in half across and place into a clean jar with a tight fitting lid. Add 1 tsp granulated sugar, 1 tsp kosher salt, 1/2 cup white wine vinegar and 1/2 tsp whole black peppercorns. Set aside.

Next, roughly chop 1/2 cup castelvetrano olives, removing pits first if need be. Place in a bowl. From a lemon, using a sharp knife or a vegetable peeler, remove a few pieces of lemon peel. If it has any white pith on the back, be sure to remove that, as it will taste bitter. Cut the lemon peel into fine, thin strips and mix in with the olives. Add 1 tsp of the olive brine and 1 tsp of good olive oil, mix and set aside.

Next, let’s make our brown butter. In a medium sized pan, add 3/4 stick of butter cut into a few small pieces (TIP: using a stainless pan or a pan with a light colored bottom will help you to identify when the brown butter is ready). Place over med heat. Allow the butter to completely melt as you start whisking, to keep the butter moving as it cooks so that it will brown more evenly. It will take a few minutes but don’t walk away or stop whisking. You will first see the butter get foamy before the milk solids suddenly turn caramel brown and it smells incredibly nutty. Straight away remove the pan from the heat and pour the butter into a heat proof container. You can make brown butter 2-3 days in advance and store it in the fridge. It will solidify so just warm to melt before using.

Next squeeze your mandarins through a fine mesh sieve, to remove seeds and solids. Mix together 6 Tbsps of the brown butter with 4 Tbsps mandarin juice. Add a small pinch of kosher salt. This will be the sauce for our fish.

Take your 2 pieces of fish and pat them very dry. Salt and pepper both sides.

In another stainless steel or cast iron pan, add 1.5 Tbsps neutral oil. In order to get crispy skin on the fish we need to make sure the pan is hot enough: when the oil is shimmering, add fish to the pan skin side down. It should sizzle. If it doesn’t, take it out and let it get sufficiently hot. Allow the skin to completely get crispy, about 8 minutes. It should release from the bottom of the pan with just a little help. At this point you should also see that the fish on top is cooking through all around the edges, except for in the center. Remove from the heat and tilting the pan away from you, flip and cook the fish the rest of the way through in the hot oil, a minute or two. If your fish is a thicker cut and still needs more time, put it back over a low heat until cooked through.

Cut fish into two smaller pieces. Drizzle with mandarin brown butter. Serve next to your fresh arugula topped with the pickled grapes and lemon casteltrevano olives. Drizzle arugula salad with a touch of extra virgin olive oil and a little sprinkle of kosher salt.

A Fancy Roast Chicken

It felt like time to make roast chicken exciting again.

First, allow me to make the argument for a whole bird in case you’re still not convinced. Once seasoned, you put it in the oven and forget about it … for an entire hour and half. Talk about leisurely. Out of the oven comes multiple meals (and a veg, too, if you have the forethought), PLUS bones you can use for broth. It’s a no brainer. Raw chicken fears? I’ll address those below.

This recipe was born of one simple goal: roast chicken, deliciousness dialed way up. Start by building flavor from the inside out, stuffing your chicken with herbs, garlic and citrus. I added coriander seeds to the mix, which are tart and flowery, then coated the whole thing in a vibrant, savory spice blend of smoked paprika, kashmiri chili and garlic powder. Yeah, all you need to do when this chicken is ready is try not to drown an entire bowl of rice in the insanely delicious rendered juices.

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A Fancy Roast Chicken

• 4 lb whole Bell & Evans chicken

• 1 whole lemon

• 1 small head of garlic

• 1 bay leaf

• 1 tsp whole black peppercorns

• 1 tsp whole coriander seeds

• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika

• 1 tsp garlic powder

• 1 tsp kashmiri chili

• Olive oil

• OPTIONAL: sturdy root vegetable of choice, like potato, sweet potato, parsnip, carrots, etc

• OPTIONAL: medium grain sushi rice for serving

Preheat your oven to 350F. Get out a cast iron large enough to accommodate the entire chicken (10-12 inches). You could also use a large dutch oven or baking dish with high sides. Before you intend to roast your chicken, take it out and let it start to come to room temperature.

Place the chicken in a large bowl so you easily avoid any fear of getting raw chicken on your surfaces. Take off the packaging and remove any giblets stored inside. Pat the chicken dry all over. Set aside.

Next, remove stickers from the lemon, rinse and cut in half across. Cut your head of garlic across to expose the cloves. In a small bowl, combine 1 bay leaf, 1 tsp whole black peppercorns and 1 tsp whole coriander seeds. Set aside.

In another small bowl, combine 4 Tbsps of olive oil with the remaining spices: 1/2 tsp smoked paprika, 1 tsp garlic powder and 1 tsp Kashmiri chili. Mix well.

If you plan to roast any root vegetables along with your chicken, clean and cut those now and place in the bottom of the cast iron or baking dish. Keep in mind that the veg will cook underneath the chicken for an hour and a half, so stick with bigger, thicker pieces that will do well with a long cook time (as opposed to small and thin).

Using one hand to hold your chicken, use the other to liberally salt both inside and out (yes, sprinkle salt along the inner cavity of the bird). Next stuff the bird with your 2 lemon halves, garlic halves, bayleaf, peppercorns and coriander seeds.

Once stuffed, place the bird into your cast iron or baking dish, on top of any veggies: using a silicone pastry brush, brush the entire chicken with the mixture of oil and spices. Do this here as opposed to in the bowl your chicken was in previously to allow excess oil and spices to just drip into the bottom of the pan and not go to waste.

Make sure to brush underneath any folds of fat near the front and back end of the bird, as well as underneath the wings, legs, etc. Once you’ve used up all of your spice mixture, place chicken right side up, tuck legs and wings close to the bird and stick in the oven for roughly 1.5 hours or until it reaches 165F internal temperature. I do not make chicken without my handy meat thermometer - you’ll never have to worry about either falling ill or overcooking chicken again. A perfectly timed chicken is insanely juicy.

When the chicken is done, let it rest before serving. I like to eat the thighs and drumsticks fresh from the oven, and found they were especially good over a bit of plump sushi rice with lots of the rendered juices drizzled over top. Throw the roasted veg on the plate and you’ve got a meal. Reserve the wings and breasts, and all the other bits you can pull off, which I like to use for a quick chicken salad. And don’t forget when you’re done with the chicken to place the whole carcass in an airtight bag and stick in the freezer. When you’ve made this twice, you’ll be all set for homemade broth.

Kale Brussels Sprout Salad w. Pecorino & Toasted Nuts

Kale ain’t boring when you coat it with homemade lemon oil and pecorino cheese.

Don’t forget a sprinkling of warm, crunchy toasted pistachios and walnuts. I’ve never written a “Copycat” recipe before, but this salad stuck with me long after I ate it in the backyard of Aurora Bk, paired with a beautiful glass of Italian red wine and surrounded by twinkling lights. We tend to think of salad as a meal suited for summer, but this combination is so comforting and perfectly suited for when you need a dose of greens during chilly winter months.

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Kale Brussels Sprout Salad with Pecorino and Toasted Nuts

Serves 2

Lemon oil 

• ½ cup extra virgin olive oil

• ½ large lemon, scrubbed clean and peel removed in strips without any bitter white pith

Salad

• 5 med Lacinato or Tuscan kale leaves, cleaned and cut into fine strips

• 5 med Brussels sprouts, rinsed and shaved on a mandolin or finely cut using a sharp knife

• ¾ cup mix of roasted salted pistachios and raw walnuts

• ⅔ cup finely grated Pecorino

Dressing

• 2.5 Tbsps lemon oil

• 1 tsp fresh squeezed lemon juice

• Pinch salt

To make your lemon oil, add olive oil and lemon peel to a small saucepan (make sure the lemon peel has no bitter white pith on it as it can make the oil taste bitter as well). Warm over a low-medium heat for about 20 minutes, watching and turning the heat down if necessary to avoid any bubbles from forming in the oil. Then remove from the heat and let steep 10 minutes, or until oil has reached room temperature. Strain through a fine mesh strainer and discard lemon peel. If you make extra oil than you need, store in a dark jar in a cool place.

Next, clean and finely cut your kale, removing the thick middle stem. Roll the leaves together and chiffonade, or cut into fine strips. Similarly, rinse your brussel sprouts and using a mandolin, shave into thin strips or cut using a sharp knife. Add to a bowl and toss with lemon oil, lemon juice and a pinch of salt. Massage the greens and then place in the refrigerator for up to 30 minutes.

Over a medium heat, toast pistachios and walnuts in a dry pan, making sure not to burn, just 3 to 5 minutes, until fragrant. In the meantime, finely grate ⅔ cup pecorino cheese.

Remove greens from the fridge and add toasted nuts and most of the grated cheese. Toss gently with your fingers to mix, and serve with a little extra cheese on top. Serve immediately.

Watermelon Raspberry Juice w. Ginger, Lime, Mint & Cucumber

Nothing says summer like watermelon.

Okay, well maybe ripe tomatoes do, and cold gazpacho, and 8PM sunsets. But I digress. This watermelon juice from scratch tastes like a glass of summer and this labor day weekend, you’ll find me making a big batch and having it sans-alcohol first thing in the morning, and tinged with tequila come evening.

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Watermelon Raspberry Juice with Ginger, Lime & Cucumber

Renders roughly 32 oz. juice

• ¼ of a whole watermelon

• 1 large cucumber, peeled, seeds removed and cubed

• 1 knob fresh ginger, roughly 2 inches

• 10 raspberries, fresh or frozen

• 2-3 limes

• Handful fresh mint

To make this juice, simply run all ingredients though a professional juicer, if you have one. If not, use a blender or food processor and you can manually strain out pulp, which is only slightly laborious, but totally worth it.

Remove watermelon flesh from rind and dice into pieces that will fit into the body of your blender or food processor. Blend and then, over a large bowl, strain through a very fine mesh strainer, using a rubber spatula or just the back of a large spoon to press the pulp against the strainer, rendering all of the delicious watermelon juice. Do this a few times — you should be left with just a very small amount of pulp. Toss pulp.

Peel a large cucumber and cut in half long ways, scooping out seeds. Loosely cube remaining cucumber and add to the body of your blender. Remove skin from large knob of ginger and cut into a few pieces. Add a handul of clean, fresh mint and fresh or frozen raspberries.

Blend, and then repeat above process, straining through your fine mesh strainer into the bowl with your watermelon juice, making sure to completely drain the pulp of all liquid before tossing.

Add juice of 2-3 limes, depending on your preference and amount of juice your limes render.

Adjust to taste, adding more ginger, mint or lime as you see fit.

Enjoy solo over lots of ice with muddled mint and raspberry, or with the addition of tequila, or your spirit of choice. Cheers!

Warm Black Sesame Cardamom Pudding w. Toasted Coconut

Can you believe this is my first published dessert recipe? Admittedly, I’m usually more of a savory gal, but when I was approached to collaborate with Three Trees and Learn From A Chef on a delicious recipe and fun, virtual cooking class, I could not turn down the opportunity. Their Black Sesame Nut & Seed milk is lightly (& naturally) sweetened with dates, has no fillers, gums or additives and gave me the perfect base for this delicious pudding. Infusing the milk with whole cardamom, one of my favorite spices, makes it feel really fresh, aromatic and nourishing. Also, did I mention this pudding is 100% plant based? In this recipe, we harness the magic of cornstarch to achieve a thick, creamy pudding and top it all off with a freshly toasted coconut topping. And as always, you can feel free to add anything else that makes your heart sing! I want you to make this recipe yours…

And in case you missed the live class, you can rewatch and learn the recipe with me here!

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Warm Black Sesame Cardamom Pudding with Toasted Coconut

1 Serving 

• 5 oz black sesame milk

• 2 oz full fat coconut milk

• 1.5 tbsp cornstarch, loosened with 2 tbsp water

• 1 dash vanilla extract

• 6 cardamom pods

• 1-2 tsp maple syrup, to taste

• 1 tsp coconut oil

• 1 cup coconut flakes

• Black sesame seeds

Measure out Three Trees Black Sesame Milk and full fat coconut milk in a measuring cup, mix to incorporate and set aside.

In a mortar and pestle, or on your cutting board, gently smash 6 cardamom pods to expose the seeds. Place a small saucepan over medium heat. Once pan eminates heat, add cardamom pods and gently toast, swirling around in the pan, about a minute until fragrant.

Pour in mixture of sesame and coconut milk. Mix to combine, and then let warm just until bubbles start to form around the edges of the pan. Then remove from heat, cover and let sit anywhere from 10-30 minutes, depending how much cardamom flavor you prefer.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, create a slurry: combine cornstarch with cold or room temperature water and whisk, scraping the bottom and sides, until you form a uniform, creamy liquid. Set aside.

Measure out 1/2 cup of coconut flakes for your topping. This renders more than 1 serving, so you can keep what remains to use in granola, on top of yogurt, or just as a slightly sweet snack. Get out a small to medium sauce pan, cast iron is great, but you can work with whatever you have at home.

Strain your infused milk through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl to remove cardamom and loose seeds. Rinse your saucepan and dry of any excess water. Add the strained milk back to the pan and bring the temperature back up over medium heat. When the milk starts to get warm, add a dash of vanilla extract and maple syrup to taste and mix, gently scraping the bottom of the pan to make sure it’s fully incorporated. Taste and make sure it’s as sweet as you want it!

If your slurry has separated, give it a good whisk before adding. When your milk has just started to reach a gentle boil, a few bubbles coming to the top here and there, while whisking, slowly pour in the cornstarch. Your milk must be sufficiently hot for the cornstarch to activate. Once added, you should immediately see your milk turn into a pudding like texture. Remove from the heat as you continue to whisk. Add to a medium sized bowl and set aside to cool. 

While that cools, we quickly prep our coconut topping. In your pan, heat 1⁄2-1 teaspoon coconut oil, or neutral oil over medium heat. Once the pan is warm, add coconut flakes, mixing constantly to ensure they don’t burn. When most of the flakes have turned a golden color, remove from the heat and put into a small bowl. For a delicate sweetness, add a pinch or two of sugar while warm, and toss to coat the coconut flakes evenly.

Give your cooled pudding a mix before plating, to ensure a smooth texture. Top with warm toasted coconut, and any of your other favorite toppings, like seasonal fruit!

Seared Mushrooms w. Creamy Polenta & Miso Garlic Butter

This dish puts umami front and center.

Umami is the king of all flavor profiles. It’s deep and savory and rich. This appetizer, perfect for the holiday season around the corner, uses three umami ingredients in one dish: mushrooms, Parmigiano-Reggiano and miso. Oh, and did I mention butter and garlic? Finish this flavor bomb of a dish with something bright, like fig balsamic or herb oil. Serve alongside simple proteins and/or plants. Eat the whole cozy bowl yourself, or divvy it up with those whom you can safely gather with.

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Seared Mushrooms with Creamy Polenta and Miso Garlic Butter

For Polenta (serves 2 with leftovers)

• ½ cup white polenta (southern white grits)

• ¼ tsp coarse salt

• 1 cup milk

• 1 cup water

• ½ cup freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano

• Freshly ground black pepper

• Finish with salt to taste (plan to under salt this a little because the mushrooms and miso butter have lots of flavor)

For Mushrooms (serves 2)

• 1 portobello, 2 shiitake and 40g beech mushrooms per serving, or 1/2 cup

• Neutral oil, enough to coat the bottom of your pan

• Coarse salt

• Garlic powder

• 20g butter, or 1.5 Tbsps, melted

• 4 smashed garlic cloves

• ½ Tbsp miso

First, make your creamy polenta: to a pot, add the milk, water and salt. Bring to a boil, then add polenta and lower the heat, cooking until liquid is absorbed, stirring frequently. When polenta is creamy, about 15 minutes, add black pepper, grated parmigiano reggiano and salt to taste. Make sure to under salt the polenta a bit because the miso butter is salty and the mushrooms should also be well seasoned. Remove from the heat off and set to the side, covered.

Clean and dry your mushrooms well. In a frying pan, heat enough neutral oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Drizzle just a little oil on the mushrooms, so your seasoning sticks, and sprinkle with coarse salt and garlic powder on both sides. When the neutral oil is shimmering and pan is hot, sear all the mushrooms on both sides, in batches if necessary to avoid overcrowding. Set mushrooms aside. Safely remove the hot oil and liquid from the pan. Wipe clean and place back over a low heat.

At this point, give your polenta a stir and put back over a low heat, covered, to warm for serving.

In your clean pan, add melted butter, miso and garlic. Over a low-medium heat, whisk to combine butter with the miso. Once incorporated, add the mushrooms to the pan, spooning the miso butter over them.

After a minute or so turn the heat off on both the mushrooms and polenta. Add polenta to a shallow bowl. Using a slotted spoon, remove mushrooms from the pan and place on top. Spoon miso butter over the mushrooms. Serve immediately with a fork and knife. Finish with something bright, like a drizzle of herb oil or fruity balsamic vinegar (I love fig balsamic, personally).

Harissa Tamari Roasted Chicken w. Crispy Potatoes & Cumin Yogurt

Food is emotional.

The success of a dish is as much about the way it tastes as the way it makes you feel. Like snuggling up under a warm blanket at the end of an extremity-numbing winter day, this Harissa Tamari roasted chicken is cozy and comforting. Umami tamari and savory harissa hug the edges of moist chicken, served with crispy shallot potatoes and finished with a tangy cumin kefir yogurt. This dish is perfectly timed for what can be a difficult time of the year: days are shorter and darker, and with the holiday season behind us, we begin the count down to the arrival of Spring here in the North East. It’s the time of the year when most of us cling to the hopes of a snow day, so we can stay under the covers just a little bit longer. Whether you’re someone who revels in the frosty temperatures of late January, or someone who despises it, this dish is guaranteed to warm you on even the coldest days.

Salt your chicken and soak your potatoes while you cuddle up (under those aforementioned blankets). This dish is incredibly versatile: play with plating and you can make it work for the most casual or most impressive dinner party. For the former, serve everything on parchment paper: cut the meat off the bones and place on top of the roasted potatoes. Put out with tongs, extra yogurt sauce, good olive oil, fresh arugula, lemon wedges and flaky salt, and your guests can make themselves a plate. For the latter, allow the stunning red harissa to make a statement on white serveware: drizzle with yogurt and serve similarly with a simple side salad. P.S. it’s also totally cool if you plan to eat this all by yourself! The luscious crispy potatoes in this recipe have been amended from my original writing, and are now credited to this original recipe from Christine Gallary, but with a slight change and the addition of shallots.

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Harissa Tamari Roasted Chicken with Crispy Potatoes and Cumin Yogurt

Serves 2

• 2 chicken legs, bone-in (you can also use either bone-in thigh or drumstick)

• 3/4 lb red potatoes

• 2 Tbsps New York Shuk Preserved Lemon Harissa (available for purchase in NY here and online here)

• 1 Tbsp Tamari

• 2 lemons

• 2 large shallots

• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds

• 1/4 tsp smoked paprika

• 1/4 tsp cumin powder

• 1/4 goat milk Kefir (I use Redwood Hill Farm available here, and you can always sub plain greek yogurt)

• Extra virgin olive oil

• Neutral oil, like avocado, canola, sunflower, safflower, etc

• Kosher salt

• Maldon salt, if available

• Cast iron or stainless steel oven-friendly pan, 8-10 inches

• Cast iron or stainless steel pan, 10-12 inches

Preheat your oven to 375F.

In a mixing bowl combine1/2 tbsp salt, 2 Tbsps New York Shuk Preserved Lemon Harissa, 1 Tbsp tamari, 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, juice of 1/2 lemon, and just shy of 1/4 tsp both smoked paprika and cumin. Mix well. Then add chicken to the bowl and rub sauce into the meat, making sure to get it under the skin. Leave chicken in the marinade up to 1 hour but at least 15 minutes, either in your fridge if your kitchen is hot, or out in a cool place like near the window.

Clean and cut potatoes in half, cut across if the potato is more oblong, vs cutting from top to bottom. This is to keep pieces as evenly sized as possible. Place potatoes in a bowl with cold water while your chicken marinates. Red potatoes are a less starchy variety to begin with, but soaking will remove some of what starch there is, so they stay more firm.

In the meantime, cut 2 shallots across into rounds, making sure not to cut them too thin. You can save the ends and skin to use in stock! Set aside.

When you’re ready to cook, we’ll start by searing the chicken skin: heat 1-2 Tbsps neutral oil in your stainless steel pan over medium high heat (enough to cover the bottom of the pan). Please note that you must use an oven-safe stainless steel pan or other high-temp, oven safe pan like cast iron because we will finish cooking the chicken in the oven.

When oil is shimmering, let excess marinade drip off chicken and place skin side down in the pan. It should sizzle upon contact. If it doesn’t, remove chicken and wait another minute or so. If the oil spits back at you, lower the heat a bit. Cook until the skin is golden and releases easily from the bottom of the pan - 5 minutes but not much longer so as to avoid burning spices and marinade. Move chicken out of the hot pan and carefully pour out the hot oil. Let the pan cool a minute before rinsing clean and drying. To the clean pan add a splash of neutral oil, just enough to cover the bottom, and place chicken back in, skin side up this time.

Place the pan in the preheated oven to finish cooking.  Depending on the size of the chicken leg (or thigh/drumstick), it will cook for roughly another 15-25 minutes total in the oven. You know the chicken is cooked when it reaches 165F internal temperature. You can check internal temperature for doneness after 15 minutes, as well as baste the chicken. Set a timer to remind yourself to do this.

While your chicken is getting started in the oven, make the crispy potatoes, credited to this original recipe from Christine Gallary but with the addition of shallots.

Remove potatoes from the water, dry and cut into similar sized quarters (or leave as halves for smaller potatoes). In another stainless or cast iron wide pan (10-12 inches to accommodate all of the potatoes), heat 2 Tbsps neutral oil over medium heat until shimmering. Place potatoes cut side down to the pan in a single layer and sprinkle with a bit of kosher salt. Cover the pan and cook 15 minutes, or until potatoes are tender and golden brown on the bottom. In her recipe, Christine talks about why a tight-fitting lid is so important here: to allow steam inside the pan to soften the potatoes.

When the timer goes off to check your chicken, wearing an oven mitt or using a well folded, dry kitchen towel to grab the pan, spoon any rendered fat or juices from the bottom over the chicken. Check internal temperature to assess doneness (165F is cooked).

If the chicken is finished, remove from the hot pan and set aside to rest, and place the pan with rendered juices to the side to use for serving later on. If your chicken needs more time, continue cooking another 5-10 minutes, making sure to then rest and set aside pan with juices.

After 15 minutes, potatoes should be golden on the first side. Open the pan lid away from you to avoid any steam droplets interacting with the hot oil and popping back at you. Flip the potatoes to the other uncooked, cut side and sprinkle with a bit more kosher salt. Continue to cook the potatoes on this second side over medium heat uncovered. After about 5 minutes, when potatoes are becoming golden on this side, add shallots to the pan. Cook potatoes and shallots together, stirring frequently until the shallots are also nice and golden. If your shallots look like they’re darkening too quickly, turn the heat down.

Whip up cumin yogurt with about 1/4 cup cold goat milk kefir. In a hot dry pan toast 1/2 tsp cumin seeds - about 1 min or until fragrant. Immediately mix into yogurt. Before serving add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. You can also prepare your yogurt sauce before you start cooking and leave in the fridge until the rest of the dish is ready.

Before serving reheat the rendered schmaltz from the chicken over low heat on your stove top if it’s cooled, scraping all the browned bits off the bottom of the pan. Spoon over chicken and potatoes. Drizzle with yogurt. Finish with a pinch of Maldon salt and serve.

Crispy Chicken Thighs w. Black Peppercorn Mayo

Crispy chicken, savory garlic and the heat of peppercorn mayo.

Growing up, my dad would make us a simple snack that delighted me to no end: sliced deli meat streaked with a thin layer of creamy mayonnaise, rolled up and consumed in two quick bites. As an adult, I have continued to revisit this snack during late evening, post-gym fridge raids, adding a little dijon mustard to the mix. Lazy eating at it’s finest. At some point, though, my taste for fine dining kicked in and I decided it was time to elevate the ingredients and morph this delicious tidbit from my past into a full blown meal. I traded plain old deli meat for crispy roasted chicken and flecked the mayonnaise with whole black peppercorns, coarsely ground. When serving I still like to follow in the footsteps of tradition, using the back of a spoon to spread a dollop of peppercorn mayonnaise into a thin flourish on the plate, followed by the chicken and rendered, garlicky juices. Serve next to Warm Israeli Couscous Salad and roasted vegetables adorned with Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Sauce.

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Crispy Chicken Thighs w. Black Peppercorn Mayo

Serves 2

• 4 chicken thighs

• 8-9 cloves garlic

• Sea salt

• Freshly ground black pepper

• Whole black peppercorns

• Mayonnaise

• 1 lemon

• Neutral oil, like canola or safflower

• Cast iron or stainless steel pan

Preheat oven to 400.

Coat chicken thighs evenly all over with sea salt and plenty of freshly ground black pepper. Let sit anywhere from 15 minutes at room temperature to 3 hours, refrigerated. Bring chicken to room temp before cooking.

Smash 7-8 large garlic cloves with the flat side of a sturdy knife, like a chefs knife, remove skin and place smashed garlic to the side.

Heat neutral oil in a large, high temperature, oven-safe pan (like a cast iron or stainless All-Clad) over med high heat.  When oil is shimmering and hot, add chicken to the pan skin side down. It should sizzle. If it doesn’t, take the chicken out and let it get sufficiently hot. Allow skin to brown about 5-8 minutes, adding a little more freshly ground black pepper about halfway through.

When skin is generously browned and separates easily from the bottom of the pan, turn the heat off. Using tongs, gently flip thighs skin side up. Add smashed garlic cloves to the pan and transfer to the oven. Cook another 15-20 mins or until your chicken is cooked through but still moist and juicy (the proper internal temperature of cooked chicken is 165). When your chicken is done, carefully remove your pan from the oven and move the chicken out of the pan to rest. Be sure to place a dry, well folded kitchen towel or oven mitt over the handle once you remove it from the oven as a “flag”, as the handle will be very hot & you don’t want to accidentally grab it.

When the chicken comes out, tilting the pan away from you, use a big spoon to baste the chicken with the rendered fat and garlic.

While the chicken rests, add a few tablespoons of mayonnaise to a ramekin or small bowl. Again, using the flat side of a sturdy knife, or a mortar and pestle, crush 10-12 whole black peppercorns. Add to mayo along with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. Mix well. You can also make mayonnaise up to a day in advance.

When ready to serve, warm your remaining cooking fat with crispy garlic and spoon over chicken. Serve with peppercorn mayo on the side.