Category: Produce

Chicken,Fennel,Sun Dried Tomato Pot Pie with Buttermilk Biscuit Crust

Today is Day 2 of how I used my vegetable box.I decided to focus on fennel .I was stumped because I have only had fennel in salads. A Internet search pulled up the same types of recipes. I could have roasted it with and served it up with fish or chicken. Nah. I decided to use in a Chicken Pot Pie. Why Not? I had a really good chicken pot pie in the company cafeteria and wanted to do it my way. Rather than a short crust I decided to make a Buttermilk Biscuit crust( need to use that leftover buttermilk from the Daring Bakers Challenge). I figured Certain Someone may like this .Plus there would be leftovers as he and I towards the end of the week will be in opposite directions. While I’m sunning( working ) it up in sunny Florida he’ll need some good leftovers to pull out.I decided to use Martha Stewart’s Biscuit recipe for the buttermilk biscuit.The filling is my inspiration.It wasn’t to thick , all the better to sop up the sauce with your biscuit crust!
Coco’s Chicken,Fennel,Sun dried Tomato Pot Pie with Buttermilk Biscuit Crust
Filling
1 bulb of fennel sliced thin(remove tops).
3/4 cup of frozen peas
3 boneless chicken breasts cooked and cut into cubes( I cooked mine in ground sage, salt ,pepper, bay leaf and parsley.Save any liquid).
1 cup plain yogurt
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
9 sun dried tomatoes snipped into pieces
2 tablespoons of flour
2 tablespoons of butter
Preheat oven to 375 .Mix chicken , sliced fennel,peas, and sun dried tomatoes in dish you are baking in.In a pan melt 2 tablespoons of butter. Add flour. Mix like a roux until incorporated.Gradually add chicken broth while whisking. You should have a slightly thickened sauce. Add the yogurt and thoroughly mix.Pour over chicken and vegetables.Make Martha Stewart’s Buttermilk Biscuit ( note I reduced this by half). Roll out a round of dough to top dish.You can add cut outs with the leftover. Brush the tops with Buttermilk and bake for approx 25 minutes or until golden and bubbly.

 

Dont forget about Tamale Open!

Dandelion Greens with Bacon and Fig Balsamic

I received my first vegetable box this morning. I have wanted to start this for a while but the membership fee and costs seemed prohibitive to me. It made sense in the long run, but I didn’t want to deal with wait lists, pick up, etc. My belly dance instructor at the new gym I go to referred me to a place called Timber Creek Organics. I love them because there are no memberships fees, you can adjust your order, and even skip a week. All of it is tailor made for you! I decided to go the cheapest route of a basic vegetable box based on seasonal produce. No fruit these two weeks. I received a gorgeous bulb of fennel,onions, radishes, garlic,tomatoes,red leaf lettuce, cauliflower, and two bunches of dandelion leaves.

The first time I ever had Dandelion leaves was in a salad in the early nineties at the Royalton in NYC with my old roommate from college. I came home on the train with a full blown seasonal allergy attack. When I told my mother what I ate, etc she mocked me for a year because I ate overpriced weeds which I had no business eating with my allergies. She was harsh as only a mother can be.Anyway I haven’t had them since. I think my body could handle a salad, but I wanted something hot. Plus Certain Someone wouldn’t want a salad. I found this informative page and decide to cook them up with some bacon. A spoonful of bacon makes the medicine go down. Is it the most healthiest way? No. But it tastes good and he’ll eat it. I was craving pork chop too. Another food I haven’t had in a long time. Guess I’m fished out! I breaded the chops in a mixture of Parmesan Reggiano cheese. I learned this trick from Marie at Proud Italian Cook. Certain Someone loves it. I use it for chicken and pork.

Dandelion Greens with Bacon and Fig Balsamic

4 strips of bacon cut into cubes

1/2 onion

1 clove of chopped garlic

2 bunches of Dandelion greens washed and cut into pieces

a splash or 2 of Fig Balsamic Vinegar

1 tablespoon of natural sugar

salt and pepper to taste

Brown bacon. Drain fat. Add onion and garlic.Saute until translucent Add dandelion leaves and balsamic, and sugar. Cook until wilted.Salt and pepper to taste.

A Craving For Fish

When Certain Someone is away, as he is now,I tend to eat things that I don’t when he’s home.For a man who spent some major time in Sweden , he doesn’t care for fish. He does like shellfish however.Anyway I haven’t been eating as much fish as I would like while shacking up with him.That could explain the enormous weight gain. Today I craved fish. The weather was spectacular,and as I drove home,with the roof open, from a meeting in the suburb,I decided to get some fish from store I like. This supermarket caters to Mexican, Asian, and Arab communities . I love their meats, produce, and seafood.If I wasn’t concerned about time and traffic on the highway, I would have stayed a long time. I picked a whole Red Snapper. I love Red Snapper and remembered the many ways I had it in Costa Rica a few summers back.
My Aussie friend Gabi had given me some Donna Hay cookbooks, and I decided to use them to find a way to cook up fish. Donna uses a lot of Asian influences in the The Instant Cook. I had purchased some Key Limes, Habeneros, and cilantro as well. So with that in mind I chose her Crispy Fried Fish with Soy and Ginger. She calls dredging the snapper in rice flour(which I had on hand) and frying it up. Then topped off with a soy and ginger sauce. I decided to forgo the fried route , took her ingredients, added leeks for scallions, a diced Habenero, and roasted the snapper.

Sorry for the bad picture, but Certain Someone took his camera which I use for the blog. He needs to photograph some future real estate he’s trying to acquire in Sweden. I don’t complain because I can’t wait to spend my summer vacations there.So I make due with my old HP digital demom camera.
The sauce caramelized and leeks were crispy. It was good balanced with rice.However next time I will cook the sauce on the side and then add to roasted fish and leeks. But the flavor came through the fish well.
Coco’s Red Snapper (influenced by Donna Hays Crispy Fried Fish with Soy and Ginger)
1/2 oz grated ginger
2/3 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 whole Red Snapper( gutted and scaled)
vegetable oil
1 whole leek cleaned and sliced
1 Habenero pepper diced
fresh cilantro sprigs
Put cleaned fish in a slightly oiled baking dish . Place sliced leeks over or inside the fish. Mix all the remaining ingredients together and pour over the fish. Bake on higher temp ( around 400 degrees ) for 20-30 minutes depending on the size of the fish. Serve with rice and fresh cilantro sprigs.

Blackberry Almond Tarts

It’s been a crazy week and this is the first thing I have cooked for myself this week!

I love my Black Berries. OK just joking. Yes I have two. Don’t ask. The actual fruit tempted me in Costco. I have wanted to make a dessert incorporating certain pantry items I have, slivered almonds and Atora shredded Suet a friend brought back form the UK. I was determined to try this suet after researching my Plum pudding recipes for Christmas. A lot of cooks have moved away from this old fashioned product but like lard it makes for really good baking. Doesn’t make it right but it just is. So everything in moderation I say. I have made a lovely Almond tart before by Lindsey Shere of Chez Panisse I read about in Alice Waters and Chez Panisse by Thomas Macnamee. Alice provides some great recipes in her stream of consciousness way. Not exact, but very good , and easy to follow for the home cook. I decided to use an Atoras crust recipe sweetened with Confectioners sugar and Lindsey’s filling studded with additional blackberries and sprinkled with sugar to aid the berries cooking. I also used my homemade plum brandy for flavoring and a vanilla bean. I did not blind bake the crust as well. So I have veered away from the original quite a bit. The final result was a fantastic semi sweet flaky crust with a caramelized almond filling studded with tangy sweet blackberries.

Coco’s Black Berry Almond Tart

Crust
¾ – 1 cup self rising flour
½ cup Atora Suet
2-3 Tablespoons of cold water
3 tablespoons of Confectioners Sugar
Lemon Zest
Butter
Filling
¾ cup heavy cream
¾ cup sliced almonds
¾ cup of sugar

Blackberries
Vanilla bean
Liquor of your choice for flavoring (I used homemade Plum Brandy)

Preheat oven to 350.
Combine all your crust ingredients in stand mixer bowl. Lightly whisk and add water gradually while blending on Medium speed. Stop when just combined. Dough will be sticky. Butter your tart tins or pans. Shape the dough into each form and chill for approx 20 min.
Bring heavy cream, sugar, and seeded vanilla bean with pod to a boil in heavy sauce pan. Remove from heat and add almonds and liquor. Let sit for a bit. Remove vanilla bean pods.

Fill shells with almond cream mixture. Stud tarts with berries. Sprinkle granulated sugar on top. Bake for approx 30 minutes. The tarts should start to bubble up and caramelize. Remove from oven and let cool. Serve warm or room temp alone or with ice cream.
* Note: Place your tins/pans on foil or a baking sheet and mixture will bubble over .

Good News!

First of all I just want to let you guys know who read this that I appreciate your support especially this past month. I am happy to announce all has turned out well for me and I have been offered a new position in the company that involves International work in Canada and the Caribbean! Same job, just new territories with exciting travel. I can’t tell you how excited I am about this. Technically it’s a lateral move but I feel it’s a promotion and it’s a direction I have always sought to go in. So I can take a deep breath now and get on with it.

To celebrate with a little snack before my Certain Someone comes home with celebratory take out, I made these little tasty snacks. Dates wrapped in bacon. No recipe needed. Just wrap your dates in bacon and secure. Bake on a high temp on a broiler pan to allow the fat to drain. Enjoy.