20 Days Until My CSA!!!

I'm sure some or most of you know what a CSA is, but I'll tell you anyway! CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. Imagine your monthly magazine subscriptions were weekly, and... imagine that they were made of vegetables! Local, farm-raised, often organic (or close), friendly, happy vegetables. Mine starts first week in June and runs through mid-September. The trick with it is that you pay for your share of vegetables long before you get them. Paying early enables the farm to go out and get the seeds and supplies they need get going. You are investing in your summer's share of veggies early.

Once the CSA starts, you have a few options. You can pick your share up at the farm, you can pick it up at a drop-off site, or you can have your share delivered to your home. The choices tend to depend more on the CSA itself, but considering I had about half a dozen to choose from, you can find a CSA that works for you. You can also get fruit shares or egg shares or meat shares... but we started small with the mini-share of vegetables. If this little experiment works out, I'm hopeful that we'll go bigger next year.

Aside from the charm of knowing exactly where my veggies are coming from, and helping local farmers do what they enjoy (I hope!), what I really like about this CSA stuff is that we'll get to learn how to eat more seasonally. I know, I know, summer is its own season.... but I paid more attention last year, and actually noticed when fruits and veg started and vanished from my farmer's market.. and something about that fascinated me. Nah, I won't go canning or freezing for the winter or anything... but I think it will be more than fun to watch the steady change in my deliveries as the weeks pass, and I look forward to learning to cook some of the vegetables that I've never before handled.

If this sounds like fun to you, too, check out LocalHarvest.com to find a CSA near you!

And this past weekend, I finally planted all my plants - tons of peppers, a couple of tomato plants, tasty herbs - and I have more seedlings still making their way (tomatillos, dark opal purple basil, cilantro and giant parsley). I've since weathered the seedlings (they were still inside when I took the picture above) so they're outside with the big boys now.

I am, sadly, really really bad with plants. I love them, I do, but the remembering to water them before they shrivel up part... boy, do I stink. Last summer went a little better, and I'm more invested in the plants this go-round, and my darling husband loves to nag me about them ("Have you watered the plants? When was the last time you watered those? Are you trying to kill them???") (Ahhh, looooove), so I'm hopeful that in a few weeks, I'll have the beginnings of some peppers, tomatoes, and tomatillos, plus an array of tasty herbs.

(I won't get into it, but I'm also really excited about the seeds from Seed Savers - I've linked you to their About Us page, so go check them out.)

See the recipe...

Creamy Farfalle with Cremini, Asparagus and Walnuts

This is a dinner that I never ever ever would have considered making before I met my husband. Ever. I cannot stress this enough. Mushrooms? Slimy. Asparagus? Gross! I don't know how he did it, but he managed to get me to try both again, and turns out - they're both tasty! Especially in this! (What isn't yummy with mascarpone, really?)

I'll also say that the very first time I made this recipe, I left out the walnuts. Why? I don't like them. (Ha!) I tried it again, and because of the husband, I added the nuts... and... as you can probably guess.. I liked it... I still don't really like walnuts, but I do appreciate them in this meal.

I wasn't sure I'd be making any pasta this week, so I'm glad I managed to fit it in, so I can participate in my third Presto Pasta Night, hosted by the lovely Ruth, of Once Upon a Feast! (Thanks, Ruth!) The recipe makes a lot, so if you don't have a lot of mouths to feed, plan on leftovers. Most of the sauce soaks into the pasta, so it won't look as good reheated, but it will taste juuuuust fiiiiiiine. :)

Creamy Farfalle with Cremini, Asparagus and Walnuts
By Giada de Laurentiis
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_29662,00.html

Salt
1 pound farfalle pasta
3 tablespoons butter
1 pound cremini mushrooms, thickly sliced
1 pound thin asparagus, trimmed, cut crosswise into 1-inch pieces
1 cup mascarpone cheese
Pinch freshly grated nutmeg
3/4 cup walnuts, toasted
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the farfalle and cook until al dente, stirring occasionally, about 12 minutes. Drain, reserving 1 cup of pasta water.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and sauté until tender and most of the juices have evaporated, about 5 minutes. Add the asparagus and sauté until the asparagus is crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Add the farfalle. Stir in the mascarpone and nutmeg and toss until the cheese coats the pasta, adding the reserved cooking liquid 1/4 cup at a time to moisten. Stir in 1/2 cup of walnuts. Season the pasta, to taste, with salt and pepper. Mound the pasta in a large bowl. Sprinkle with the Parmesan and remaining 1/4 cup of walnuts. Serve.

See the recipe...

Ice Cream Fight!!!

Since we had already-made frozen bolognese for dinner, and I planned it that way, I saved the gelato and ice cream I made over the weekend for tonight's post. Yay ice cream!

I'd gotten David Lebovitz's The Perfect Scoop early last week and I couldn't wait to stuff my ice cream attachment thingamabob into my too-small freezer. I made the bases Friday and Saturday night, and whirred them Saturday and Sunday mornings, respectively.

We had 5 (sigh, only 5) chocolate chip cookies left from Thursday (relax, I took half to work Friday), so I made two ice cream sandwiches with the gelato. Next time, I'll plan a little better and I'll skip sharing with the co-workers! (sorry!) :)

Gianduja translated to me, just based on ingredients, into chocolate hazelnut. (Which is my fav. flavor from the gelato bar at Whole Foods), so it was an easy first choice. Next time, I'll follow David's suggestion and I'll mix in some chocolate swirls. I might also work hazelnuts into the mix. Yanno, just get crazy.

I know what you must be thinking next - goat cheese? Really? And I can happily tell you, its good. It is! It's like a tangy cheesecake ice cream. It freezes a little more solidly, so thaw it a bit before you try to dig into it. I'm going to try to keep it around to this weekend, when I make my mom a blueberry pie... I think the pie and the goat cheese ice cream could be friends, don't you?


Gianduja Gelato
From: The Perfect Scoop: Ice Creams, Sorbets, Granitas, and Sweet Accompaniments
By David Lebovitz
http://www.amazon.com/Perfect-Scoop-Sorbets-Granitas-Accompaniments/dp/1580088082/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-3962652-3548104?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1179016241&sr=8-1

1 ½ cups (185 g) hazelnuts, toasted
1 cup (250 ml) whole milk
2 cups (500 ml) heavy cream
¾ (150 g) sugar
¼ teaspoon coarse salt
4 ounces (115 g) milk chocolate, finely chopped
5 large egg yolk
1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract

Rub the hazelnuts in a kitchen towel to remove as much of the papery skins as possible, then finely chop them in a food processor or blender.

Warm the milk with 1 cup (250ml) of the cream, sugar and salt in a saucepan. Once warm, remove from the heat and add the chopped hazelnuts. Cover and let steep at room temperature for 1 hour.

Put the milk chocolate pieces in a large bowl. Heat the remaining 1 cup (250ml) cream in a medium sauce pan until it just begins to boil. Pour it over the milk chocolate pieces and stir until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth. Set a mesh strainer over the top.

Pour the hazelnut infused milk through a strainer into a medium saucepan, squeezing the nuts firmly with your hands to extract as much of the flavorful liquid as possible. Discard the hazelnuts.

Rewarm the hazelnut-infused mixture. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Slowly pour the warm hazelnut mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.

Stir the mixture constantly over a medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula. Pour the custard through a strainer and stir it into the milk chocolate mixture. Add the vanilla and stir until cool over an ice bath.

Chill the mixture thoroughly in a refrigerator, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

And:

Goat Cheese Ice Cream
From: The Perfect Scoop: Ice Creams, Sorbets, Granitas, and Sweet Accompaniments
By David Lebovitz
http://www.amazon.com/Perfect-Scoop-Sorbets-Granitas-Accompaniments/dp/1580088082/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-3962652-3548104?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1179016241&sr=8-1

1 ½ cups (375 ml) whole milk
2/3 cup (130 g) sugar
8 ounces (230 g) fresh goat cheese
6 egg yolks

Warm the milk and sugar in a medium saucepan. While the milk is warming, crumble the goat cheese into a large bowl and set a mesh strainer on top.

In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Slowly pour the warm mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.

Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula. Pour the custard through the strainer and stir it into the goat cheese. Keep stirring until the cheese is melted, then stir until cool over an ice bath.

Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

See the recipe...

Wine Inspired Tastiness

I'll start by wishing everyone a lovely Mother's Day! My mom has to work today (she's an ER nurse), so we're Mothering her up with dinner next weekend. Dave's mom is in AZ, but we made sure to call and chat with her lots. :)

Now, on to the food!

My husband picked out this Barolo. He then asked me to make a "meat with meaty meat sauce" dinner to go with said wine. He nagged at me for weeks until I caved.



I'd remembered seeing a yummy looking steak recipe in Michel Richard's Happy in the Kitchen, so I sought it out, got Dave's approval and went forth to gather ingredients. We went to Whole Foods, because I figured they'd have the enoki mushrooms (I'd never heard of them before), and they did not disappoint.

This might have been the best dinner I've ever made. Best. Ever. Getting an enoki, some potatoes, and a piece of steak on the fork all at once was heavenly. Michel Richard is a genius.

I reduced the Syrah sauce Saturday night, not because I had to, but because I like to break up as many steps as I can get away with. We'd had a late lunch at WF Saturday, so we had wine and cheese for dinner... and because I wasn't cooking, I thought "why not make that reducing sauce?" If you taste it after the first reduction, and you don't like it, don't worry. I think its supposed to taste like junk at that point. It gets WAY BETTER, I promise.

The potatoes were easy-peasy, and the porcini gave me an excuse to use my snazzy blender. I think I had more mushrooms than I was supposed to (I got the 3 ounces, but they ended up being more than 3/4 cup), so the sauce was more like a paste. Because it was pasty, it left the potatoes looking a little weird, but still good to eat.

The batter-fried enoki were dreamy. Dreamy. DO NOT leave them out, because you'll miss them. In fact, I'd even recommend making extra. Dave asked that I make them "just because," as a snack. Ha!

I'll end with the wine. It was delicious. His nagging was well-founded. The wine had a great mouth-feel, was full-bodied, was just spicy enough without being too agressive. (I don't pretend to know what I'm talking about with wine, so thats the best you get!)

Don't do what we did and drink it all in less than an hour. :)

Filet Mignon with Simple Syrah Sauce
From: Happy in the Kitchen: The Craft of Cooking, the Art of Eating
By Michel Richard
http://www.amazon.com/Happy-Kitchen-Craft-Cooking-Eating/dp/1579652999/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-6030309-2846555?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1176927459&sr=8-1

Syrah Sauce
2 tablespoons (1 ounce) unsalted butter
1 cup finely chopped shallots
1 cup diced (1/4-inch) yellow onion (about 1 medium)
½ cup diced (1/4-inch) beets (about ½ medium)
2 garlic cloves, grated on a rasp or finely chopped
A sprig of thyme
½ cup diced (1/4 inch) Yukon Gold potato, (1 medium)
1 bottle (750 ml) Syrah
1 cup Reduced Chicken Stock (recipe follows)
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Potatoes
3 ½ cups diced (1/2-inch) Yukon Gold potatoes (1/2 to 3 pounds potatoes)
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
6 tablespoons (3 ounces) unsalted butter
4 unpeeled garlic cloves
Fleur de sel and freshly ground black pepper

Porcini Sauce
3 ounces porcini mushrooms (about 5), fresh or frozen
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
Fine sea salt
¾ cup Reduced Chicken Stock
1 ½ teaspoons unsalted butter

Four 8-ounce filets mignons
Fleur de sel
Freshly ground black pepper
1 to 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 to 2 tablespoons (1/2 to 1 ounce) unsalted butter
½ recipe Enoki Tempura (recipe follows)

To prepare the Syrah sauce: In a medium sauté pan, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter over medium heat. Add the shallots, onions, beets, garlic and thyme and sauté for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the potato and sauté for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Pour in the wine and chicken stock and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until reduced by half.

Meanwhile, prepare the potatoes. Fill a large bowl with water. Swish the potato cubes in the water to remove some of the excess starch and to keep them from discoloring. Drain and dry thoroughly with kitchen towels.

Place a colander over a large bowl. In one large or two medium skillets that will hold the potatoes in a single layer, heat ¼ cup of the oil and 4 tablespoons of the butter over medium-high heat. Add the potatoes and garlic, adjusting the heat as necessary to brown but not burn the potatoes. Once the potatoes are lightly browned on the bottom, continue to cook, turning the potatoes occasionally, to brown them on all sides, about 10 to 12 minutes; be careful not to move the potatoes too often, or they may break up.

Drain the potatoes in the colander. Remove the garlic and discard. (The potatoes can hold at room temperature for a few hours.)

When the Syrah sauce has reduced by half, strain it through a fine-mesh strainer into a small pot. Add the sugar and season to taste with the salt and pepper. Place the pot over the heat and to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the liquid has reduced to ½ cup. Keep in warm place.

Meanwhile, position a rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 300°F.

To prepare the porcini sauce: If the porcini are frozen, let them thaw, then trim as necessary. Cut the mushrooms in half. You should have about ¾ cup. In a medium sauté pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the porcini and garlic, season with salt, and sauté for about 4 minutes, or until the porcini are browned. Drain off all of the fat and transfer the porcini to a small saucepan. Add the chicken stock, bring to a boil, and boil for a minute.

Transfer the sauce to a blender, add the butter, and puree until smooth. Return to the saucepan and keep in a warm place.

Season the filets mignons generously on all sides with fleur de sel and pepper. In a large skillet, heat one tablespoon each of the oil and butter over medium-high heat. Add the meat and brown on all sides, 3 to 4 minutes.

Transfer the filets to a baking dish or place in the oven, and cook for 10 to 12 minutes for medium-rare. The pan dripping can be added to the Syrah sauce.

While the filets are in the oven, warm the porcini sauce and Syrah sauce, then stir the remaining 1 tablespoon butter into the Syrah sauce.

To re-crisp the potatoes: In a large skillet, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil and 2 tablespoons butter over medium-high heat. Add the potatoes (set the colander aside), and cook, stirring occasionally for 3 to 4 minutes, or until hot and crisp. Wipe out the colander and drain the potatoes. Place in a large bowl and season with fleur de sel and pepper. Add the porcini sauce and toss well. Keep in a warm spot.

Check the beef: If you would like the crust very crispy, meat can be quickly sautéed in 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter in a skillet.

To serve, divide the porcini potatoes among 4 serving plates. Top each with a filets, and arrange the enoki tempura on the top. Spoon about 2 tablespoons of the Syrah sauce around each.

Makes 4 servings.


Reduced Chicken Stock
From: Happy in the Kitchen: The Craft of Cooking, the Art of Eating
By Michel Richard
http://www.amazon.com/Happy-Kitchen-Craft-Cooking-Eating/dp/1579652999/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-6030309-2846555?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1176927459&sr=8-1

8 cups chicken stock

Place the stock in a saucepan and bring to a simmer, skimming off any foam that rises to the top. Reduce the heat slightly and simmer the stock until it has reduced by half. Let the stock cool, preferably in an ice bath, then refrigerate in a covered container for up to 2 days, or freeze for longer storage.

Makes 4 cups.


Enoki Tempura
From: Happy in the Kitchen: The Craft of Cooking, the Art of Eating
By Michel Richard
http://www.amazon.com/Happy-Kitchen-Craft-Cooking-Eating/dp/1579652999/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-6030309-2846555?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1176927459&sr=8-1

Canola or peanut oil for deep-frying
½ cup all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ cup cornstarch
¾ cup sparkling water
4 ounces enoki mushrooms
Fleur de del

Preheat the oven to 250F. Place a cooling rack on a backing sheet and place in the oven. Heat the oil to 350F in a deep fryer or large, heavy pot.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cornstarch, and sparkling water. Cut off the root end of the mushrooms. Wish your hands, carefully separate the enoki into smaller sections or slivers; it is fine to have varying sizes.

Drop the enoki, in batches, into the better; life out and let any excess batter drip off, then carefully place in the hot oil; do not overcrowd the oil. Fry until the edges are lightly golden, then transfer to paper towels to drain. Sprinkle with fleur de sel. The tempura is really best eaten immediately, but the first batches can be held on the rack in the oven until all the mushrooms are fried; prop the oven door slightly open with a wooden spoon to let any steam escape.

Servers 4 as an appetizer, 8 as a garnish on a salad.

See the recipe...

Parmesan and Polenta Chicken

Chicken dinner number three did not disappoint. The combination of the spinach, basil, corn, and dressing... it was like healthy freshness in your mouth. I'm a big fan of slicing the chicken breasts in half horizontally, cuts the cooking time in half and it makes it easier to control my portions.

The polenta gave the chicken a really nice crunch. As I was prepping, I realized I was out of lemons, so I substituted limes.

I don't really know what else to say, other than, go out and make this dinner. Its perfect for springtime, and you can feel good about eating it. Brooke loved the recipe too, and she totally beat me to it. If two brand-new food bloggers accidentally make it in the same week and both love it, its got to mean something. :)

Parmesan and Polenta Chicken
Donna Hay Magazine, Issue 31

2 cobs corn, husks and silks removed
olive oil for brushing
2 chicken breasts (7 oz each)
flour for dusting
2 eggs, lightly whisked
½ cup polenta
1/3 cup finely grated parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 ½ oz baby spinach leaves
½ basil leaves
grated parmesan cheese, extra to serve
dressing
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons honey
sea salt and cracked black pepper

To make the dressing, place the mustard, lemon juice, garlic, oil, honey, salt and pepper in a bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Brush the corn with oil, place in a baking dish and roast for 25 minutes or until golden. Slice the kernels from the corn and set aside.

Slice the chicken in half horizontally, dust with the flour, dip into the egg and press into the combined polenta and parmesan to coat. Heat the oil in a non-stick frying pan over medium heat and cook the chicken for 2-3 minutes each side or until golden and cooked through. Arrange the chicken, corn spinach and basil on plates and spoon over the dressing and grated parmesan to serve.

Serves 4.

See the recipe...

Olivia’s Old-Fashioned Chocolate Chip Cookies

Cool 15 minutes before eating? What? Like that happened.

I blame Peabody for this. (And she's posted more from the book since then.) I'm hooked on this cookbook. Cookies seemed like the easiest starting point, with the end goal being a yeast baby bread. Wish me luck.

But back to the cookies. Lovely. I don't know how big the cookies would be if I'd really only made 16 from the dough... we probably ended up with around 30. It was hard to wait an hour for the dough to chill in the fridge, but worth it. I also only baked the second and third batch 12 minutes each. The first set seemed too crunchy, almost dry. (gasp!) 12 minutes seemed to do the trick.

I wish we had some ice cream lounging around, so I could make sammiches with the extra cookies. (Not that they'll last all that long anyhow.)

Olivia’s Old-Fashioned Chocolate Chip Cookies
From Leslie Mackie’s Macrina Bakery and Café Cookbook

“This recipe, Macrina’s version on the traditional Toll House classic, makes the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever tasted. The recipe is actually named after two special Olivias: my daughter and the grandmother of our pastry chef, Karra Wise.”

Makes 16 cookies.

2 ¼ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup vegetable shortening, at room temperature
¾ cup granulated sugar
¾ cup light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Add chocolate chips and mix well with a spoon. Set aside.

Combine butter, shortening, granulated sugar and light brown sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer. Using the paddle attachment, mix on medium speed for about 5 minutes, until the mixture is smooth and pale in color. Add 1 egg and mix until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then add the remaining egg and vanilla extract. Continue mixing until incorporated, about 1 minute. Remove the bowl from the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl again.

Using a rubber spatula, fold half of the dry ingredients into the dough. After the first batch is fully incorporated, fold in the rest of the dry ingredients and continue folding until all of the flour has been absorbed. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and cover it with plastic wrap. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour. At this point the dough can be formed into cookies or stored in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.

Scoop dough out of the bowl (I like to use a medium ice cream scoop) and roll the dough into 2-inch balls. Place 8 balls on each baking sheet, leaving 3 inches between each ball. Flatten the balls with the palm of your hand to about 1 inch thick. Place 1 sheet of cookies in the refrigerator while baking the other sheet.

Bake cookies, 1 sheet at a time, on center rack of oven for 15 to 18 minutes each. To help the cookies bake evenly, rotate the baking sheet every 4 minutes or so. The finished cookies will be golden brown around the edges, and still light in the center. Let cool on the baking sheet for 15 minutes. The cooled cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

See the recipe...

Chicken & Asparagus with Melted Gruyere

If my stomach were bigger, I would have had seconds. (I think I just had big firsts.) As it was, I made sure to eat up every last sauced piece of rice. I might have even licked the plate. (but I didn't, I promise.)

There wasn't much to tonight's dinner. Nothing fancy, but altogether perfect. Dave randomly picked out a wonderful Iron Horse Chardonnay, and upon reading its tasting notes, it was the most perfect wine we could have had in and with our meal.

I will confess, I tasted the sauce before I added everything back into the pan, and I wasn't impressed with it. Something magical happened when I put the asparagus and chicken back in, because dinner was awesome. (I cannot stress this enough.)

Even better, because its from Eating Well Magazine, its even healthy! Rock on!


Chicken & Asparagus with Melted Gruyere
Eating Well Magazine, June 2007
http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/chicken_asparagus_gruyere.html

8 ounces asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
2/3 C reduced-sodium chicken broth
2 Tsp.s plus ¼ C all-purpose flour, divided
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (1-1 ¼ pounds), trimmed
¼ Tsp. salt
½ Tsp. freshly ground pepper
1 Tbsp. canola oil
1 shallot, thinly sliced
½ C white wine
1/3 C reduced-fat sour cream
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh tarragon
2 Tsp.s lemon juice
2/3 C shredded Gruyère cheese

Place a steamer basket in a large saucepan, add 1 inch of water and bring to a boil. Add asparagus; cover and steam for 3 minutes. Uncover, remove from the heat and set aside.

Whisk broth and 2 teaspoons flour in a small bowl until smooth. Set aside.

Place the remaining 1/4 cup flour in a shallow dish. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper and dredge both sides in the flour, shaking off any excess.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook until golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes per side, adjusting heat as needed to prevent scorching. Transfer to a plate and cover to keep warm.

Add shallot, wine and the reserved broth mixture to the pan; cook over medium heat, stirring, until thickened, about 2 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low; stir in sour cream, tarragon, lemon juice and the reserved asparagus until combined. Return the chicken to the pan and turn to coat with the sauce. Sprinkle cheese on top of each piece of chicken, cover and continue cooking until the cheese is melted, about 2 minutes.

See the recipe...

Sticky Chile Chicken

Last week, for research purposes, I went out and got Donna Hay Magazine Issue #31.

Tonight was the first dinner from the magazine (tune in Friday night for the second) and I have to say, YUM! Her recipes are straight forward, aren't ingredient heavy, and there are tons of photos. Love it! I will certainly look for it again at Borders.

I probably didn't let the sauce simmer long enough at the end, because it wasn't as sticky as it looked in the magazine photo. I will say that it was super spicy - but not in an evil way. The recipe called for "small red chiles," so I picked up some small red Thai chiles from Wegmans. I also used a serrano chile I had leftover from the weekend. Spicy that makes your nose run, but not so spicy you cry. Make sense?

I did cheat a little. I made the brown rice last night. After work and the gym, I really don't want to wait while my rice cooks for 45 minutes. I made enough for two dinners, so we'll have the rest tomorrow.

Enjoy!



Sticky Chile Chicken
Donna Hay Magazine, Issue 31

4 chicken breasts (7 oz each)
¼ cup hoisin sauce
¼ cup soy sauce
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 small red chiles, chopped
2 teaspoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/3 cup water
steamed rice and Asian greens to serve

Place the chicken, hoisin sauce, soy, garlic, chili and sugar in a bowl and toss to coat. Set aside to marinate for 10 minutes.

Heat a large non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the oil and chicken, reserving the marinade, and cook for 5-6 minutes each side or until cooked through. Remove from the frying pan and keep warm. Add the marinade and water to the frying pan and cook, over medium heat, for 2-3 minutes or until the sauce is thick and syrupy. Slice the chicken, spoon over the sauce and serve with steamed rice and Asian greens.

Serves 4.

See the recipe...