Indian-Spiced Chicken with Chickpeas and Spinach

Dishes like this make me like chicken again.  Not that I am a chicken hater or anything.  I used to like roast chicken and to prefer dark meat but in recent years I tend to find dark meat too fatty or too boring or messy or just don't want to deal with it.   I often grill or roast chicken breasts and I use chicken sometimes IN things.  But this dish made me remember something I had not had in a long time -- super ridiculously tender fall-off-the bone dark meat that you only get from braising and long cooking.  The spice combination just makes this dish awesome.  And I love spinach and chickpeas in pretty much everything.  Here's the recipe.

Indian-Spiced Chicken with Chickpeas and Spinach
(from Bon Appetit January 2013)
Serves 6 

Ingredients:

1 Tbs. vegetable oil
6 bone-in chicken legs (thigh and drumstick), skin removed (I used 5 and I accidentally left on the skin. Next time I would remove it, as it just got soggy and we pulled it off anyway.  but it did not detract from my love of the dish)
1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
2 large onions, thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 1Tbsp. grated peeled ginger
2 tsp. ground coriander
2 tsp. ground cumin
2 tsp. ground tumeric
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 15-oz. can chicpeas, rinsed
2 cups (or more) low-sodium chicken broth
5 oz. baby spinach (about 8 cups lightly packed)
1/4 cup Greek yogurt
1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves to garnish

Basmati rice or flatbread for serving.

Instructions:

Place a rack in lower third of oven and preheat oven to 325 degrees F.  

Heat oil in large heavy pot over medium high heat.  Season chicken with salt and working in batches, cook chicken, reducing heat asneeded to prevent over-browning, until gorlden brown on all sides (8-10 minutes).  Transfer to a plate.

Add butter and oinions to drippings in pot, season with salt.  Cook, string often until onions are soft and golden brown, about 10-15 minutes. 

Stir in garlic, ginger, coriander, cumin, tumeric, and cayenne.  Cook, stirring constantly, until spices are fragrant, about 1 minute.

Stir in chickpeas and 2 cups broth, then return chicken and any accumulated juices to pot.  Add more broth if needed to cover chicken about three-fourths of the way up.  Bring to a simmer.  Cover pot and transfer to oven.  Braise chicken until fork-tender (45-60 minutes). 

(NOTE: The chicken can be prepared up to this point 3 days ahead.  Let cool slightly, then chill, uncovered, until cold.  Cover and keep chilled. Rewarm before continuing.)

Using tongs and a slotted spoon, transfer chicken to a platter and cover with foil to keep warm.  Add spinach to pot, cover, and remove from heat.  Let stand until spinach is wilted, 5-7 minutes.

Stir yogurt into cooking liquid.  Season with salt.  Return chicken to pot.  Warm over low heat (do not boil or yogurt may curdle).

Transfer chicken to a large deep latter. Pour spnach and chickpea sacue over.  Sprinkle with cilantro.  Serve with Basmati rice or warm flatbread.  Enjoy!

Love is in the air... spinach, gruyère and ham quiche

We celebrated our postponed Valentine's Day yesterday by... well, basically eating a lot and sitting around.  It was wonderful.  After starting the day with some Homemade Granola, we enjoyed this wonderful quiche for lunch.  It was my first quiche ever and I am very proud of the results! I guess it is hard to go wrong with homemade pie crust, eggs and cream involved.  For dinner, we had a braised chicken and chickpea stew that was also awesome.

We enjoyed it with a mimosa and a simple arugala, pear and dried cranberry salad.

It was creamy and dreamy and a very lovely way to spend our "Valentine's Day."

By the way, check out the absolutely beautiful earring holder Brandon made me this year -- it is a piece of mesh screen that he stretched onto an old window frame.  I absolutely love it.  It is awesome.  He is a wonderful husband.

The animals were also in a loving mood yesterday... they hung out with us by the fire after lunch...

What a pair...

Sasha gets a Lupa kiss!

Betsi also was her cute self and enjoyed the fire.

 
Anyway, back to the quiche.  This recipe was sooo good.  We are eating it again for lunch today.  It seems like a very adaptable recipe that you could put any number of fillings in with wonderful results.  The crust and custard are easy enough.  Here's how you make it.

For the crust, I halved a simple butter crust recipe.  I incorporated the butter by hand, rather than in a food processor, to get a flaky dough.

Pate Brisee
(for 1 9 inch tart)

6 oz all purpose flour
small pinch salt
1 stick very cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1-3 oz. ice water 

Whisk flour and salt.  Add cold butter.  Using fingers or two butter knives, cut butter into dough so dough resembles coarse meal and chunks of butter are no larger than pea-size.

Add ice water slowly and mix until moist crumbs form.

Turn dough onto surface and form into a disc, about 5 to 6 inches in diameter.

Refrigerate at least 1 hour.

To pre-bake tart crust, set oven to 400 degrees F.   Place chilled dough on floured work surface (use a marble surface if possible) and roll out into a 1/8 inch thick round, 2 inches larger than pan.

Very gently, fold dough into quarters, place in tart pan, and gently unfold (or partly roll onto rolling pin and unroll into pan).

Lifting edges, ease dough into pan, flattening along bottom of pan, and pressing dough up sides.

Use rolling pin and roll over top of pan to cut off excess dough.  Press around sides so they stand about 1/8 of an inch above metal pan.

Use dull edge of knife to decorate edges of dough.  Poke bottom of crust all over with a fork.

Line shell with foil or parchment paper and fill with pie weights or dried beans.

Bake 10 minutes.  Remove foil and beans and bake for 3-4 minutes more.   Reduce oven temperature to 350 and chill crust on rack while you prepare quiche filling.

Quiche Filling Ingredients

1 Tbs. butter
1 small shallot, diced + 1 leek (white part only),  thinly sliced.
Most of 1/2 lb. bag of baby spinach
1 cup (4 oz) grated Gruyère cheese
1/2 cup or so of ham, thinly sliced (optional)
4 eggs
approximately 1 cup half-and-half
pinch nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste

Heat butter in large skillet over medium heat.  Add shallots and leeks and saute until tender, about 4-5 minutes.

Add spinach and cook until wilted.

Transfer spinach to a colander and press excess liquid from spinach.  Put bre-baked pie crust on a baking sheet.  Arrange spinach mixture in even layer in bre-baked pie crust.

Top with grated Gruyère and sliced ham.

In 2 cup measuring cup, lightly beat 4 large eggs.  Add half and half so mixture measures about 1 1/2 cups.  Add pinch nutmeg and salt and pepper.  Stir to combine.  Pour custard mixture over filling, being careful not to overfill.

Bake quiche on baking sheet at 350 degrees F for 55-60 minutes, until filling is completely set in center and top is golden.  Cool on a rack for 15 minutes before serving. 

Slice and enjoy!

  
Oh and I must share just a couple more sleepy Lupa pictures before I go... she is the cutest thing alive...

-- Anya

Homemade Granola

I have been in the habit of making my own granola lately -- I like it because you can customize it, it is really affordable compared to buying your own, and perhaps best of all, you can't read the calories on it!... it is actually calorie-free I think... :-)  also it's fun to make.  This is a good recipe from Bon Appetit a couple months back... I made a few changes (see notes)

3 cups rolled oats
1.5 cups assorted chopped nuts (Anya: I used 1 cup)
1.5 cups shaved coconut (Anya: I used 1 cup... you could also use grated coconut but the slivers are nice -- you can get them in the bulk section at some supermarkets)
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
1 large egg white, lightly beaten
1/4 cup canola oil or coconut oil (I used coconut oil)
1/4 cup agave syrup, maple syrup or honey (I used honey)
2 Tbs brown sugar
(Anya: I added 1 tsp vanilla extract)
Assorted dried fruit such as raisins, golden raisins, cranberries, or cherries.

Combine oats, nuts, coconut, cinnamon, and salt.  Add beaten egg white and stir well.  In small pan, put oil, honey (or other sweetener), brown sugar, and stir over low heat until combined.  Remove from heat and stir in vanilla, if using.  Pour over dry ingredients, mix well with wooden spoon.  Spread granola evenly on parchment lined baking sheet.  Bake at 325, stirring every 10 minutes, for 35-45 minutes, until golden.  Remove from heat and place tray on a cooling rack.  The granola will crunch up and form clumps as it cools.  Spinkle with dried berries.  Serve with milk or over greek yogurt.  Store in airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

Enjoy!

-- Anya

Rigatoni All'amatriciana ("Rosie's Favorite Noodles")

This was my sister's favorite pasta when we were growing up and is known in my house as "Rosie's Favorite Noodles."  We ate this dish at least once a week, and my mom would often rewarm leftovers for us for breakfast, in a cast-iron pan with a bit of oil until the noodles were extra soft and would  get a slight brown crispness from the pan.  I still rewarm noodles this way and it is an incredible way to reheat most pastas -- turning them into something different and guiltier but extremely satisfying -- sorta like good Chinese food.  Yum.  Amatriciana is a classic Italian sauce and when my husband and I went to Italy for our honeymoon, it appeared on most menus.  It is often served with Bucatini but I prefer it the way I had it growing up, with Rigatoni.  The fat noodles are the perfect vehicle for the tomatoes, pancetta and onions.  I can make this one in my sleep.  Here's what you need:

Ingredients:

2 Tbs. butter
3 Tbs. olive oil (or 1 Tbs. grapeseed oil and 2 Tbs. olive oil, reserved)
1 large yellow onion, chopped
1/4 inch thick slice of Pancetta, diced (omit to make a vegetarian version)
1 28-oz. can of Italian whole peeled tomatoes, cut up with their juices
1 generous pinch (or more) red hot pepper flakes
1 lb. Rigatoni pasta

Parmesan, for serving.

 Instructions:

1.  Heat the butter and olive oil over medium heat.  Add onions and saute until golden.

Note: At my father's advice, I have lately been using 1 Tbs. Grapeseed oil -- which has a high smoke point and does not turn to trans fats when cooked -- rather than the olive oil for cooking the onions.  I then add olive oil later in the process of cooking the sauce.

2.  Add Pancetta and cook for 1-2 minutes.

3.  Add chopped tomatoes (Tip: I use kitchen scissors to cut them up in a bowl) with their juices).

And red hot pepper flakes (I add about 1 Tsp. but you can add less or more to your liking)

And simmer over very low heat for at least 25 minutes.  I often leave the sauce 40 minutes or so.  The tomatoes will break up and the fat will separate from the juices.

4.  Meanwhile, cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water.  Reserve some pasta water before draining the pasta.  Toss pasta, sauce, and a few tablespoons pasta water.

 5.  Serve with grated Parmesan cheese.  Enjoy!

Quinoa Porridge

Yummm! I have a new love.  This porridge.  I went to Philadelphia this weekend to visit my sister and we went out to brunch on Sunday morning before I left.  After days of heavy eating, I felt like something light and ordered the quinoa porridge, figuring it would be warm and satisfying and oatmeal-esque.  It was, and it was delicious.  I came home and browsed recipes last night (don't all people look at quinoa porridge recipes at night??) and made it for breakfast this morning.  It is my new favorite thing.   It is easy -- done in 20 minutes -- and  I made extra which can easily be rewarmed for breakfast before work this week. 

Quinoa (pronounced KEEN-wah) is grain-like but is actually a seed and has a wonderful texture and, unlike oatmeal, it keeps you from getting hungry because it is high in protein.  It is also high in amino acids,  magnesium and iron and is a source of calcium.  How cool is quinoa?!  Basically, it is really good stuff. 

You can vary this recipe easily.  The liquid to solid ratio for quinoa is 2:1 and you can use milk, water, or a combination.  Or to make vegan/lactose free, use a milk substitute such as soy milk, almond milk, etc.  I used 1/2 water and 1/2 milk, topping off the milk with a bit of heavy cream.  You can use any combination of dried fruits, spices, nuts, or fresh fruits.  Like oatmeal, the fun is in the toppings!

Quinoa Porridge
(4 large servings)

4 cups liquid (milk, water, or 1/2 and 1/2)
2 cups quinoa 
2 Tbs. maple syrup
1 Tbs. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. salt
1/3 cup dried fruit (such as raisins,  golden raisins, apricots, currants, dates)

Optional Toppings:

toasted sliced almonds (or pecans)
fresh fruit (such as blueberries, bananas, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries)
warm jam or berry compote
seeds (try pumpkin or sunflower seeds)

Directions:

In a saucepan, warm milk and/or water over medium heat until simmering.  Add quinoa and bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer for about 10 minutes.  Add remaining ingredients, stir, and let simmer another 5 to 10 minutes, until most of the liquid is absorbed or texture is to your liking.  Serve with toppings of your choice.  Enjoy!