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I hope you are having a lovely holiday season! Hubs and I are so enjoying being with all the kids. There is truly nothing better. Once the kids leave, you relish any time you spend with them! We had the best visit with my family on Long Island and now we are in Utah with Hubs’s family. I will pray for good snow but mild temps! I’m such a wimp. If you want a super impressive and delicious main dish for a night in or for a New Year’s dinner, I have you covered. I served this Mushroom Wellington at a dinner party last year, and I couldn’t believe how everyone went crazy for it – even the carnivores!Continue reading
Not all pumpkin recipes have to be sweet! This Roasted Pumpkin Fondue is an old recipe from Gourmet Magazine that I made back in the day but shelved it because it was too rich and heavy. My friend Katie Morford lightened it up and it’s even better than the original version! Think soft and gooey cheese on the inside with cubes of whatever bread you like + tender pumpkin. It’s comforting and delicious and could be a full meal with a simple salad on the side. After shooting this with an amazing dark multi-grain, seeded bread, I realized that a lighter color bread looks more appetizing. But this tasted phenomenal!Continue reading
If it wasn’t winter before this week, it sure is now. Not in Southern California, of course. But for the rest of the country. Although people in LA dress like it’s zero degrees when it’s 55. It’s totally funny. I cracked up when I saw this post on Pinterest last week:
So I figured that everyone would be in the mood for soup this week, no matter where you live! I had completely forgotten about this delicious French onion soup I taught two years ago, until my husband asked me to make it. My entire family, Mr. Picky included, are big soup fans and I love making it. In general, soups are easy, flexible, reheat well and a good way to consume homemade bone broth, which I am convinced is so healing, immune-boosting and good for digestion.
French onion soup is a classic, and I am not necessarily reinventing the wheel here, just sharing the way I like to make it. And isn’t that the beauty of cooking? Figuring out how to tweak recipes to your liking? I prefer an onion soup that is loaded with onions and with a rich and flavorful broth. I’ve tasted a few very lackluster onion soups and that is not this one!
The key to the broth is good stock and the proper alcohol. Yes, you can serve soup with alcohol to children since the alcohol is burned off in the simmering process. My kids have had plenty of alcohol in cooked foods and were not affected in the slightest. Brandy or vermouth plus some white wine are my favorites. I do not love this soup with red wine, personally. Another tip I can offer is using the slicing disc in your food processor to slice all the onions. It will take you all of 1 minute with no tears to do it this way. If you have no food processor, get out your best knife and get close (not too close) to a big open flame, like a gas burner on your stove, and slice away. The flame from the stove will burn the gases from the onions and you won’t cry. Promise!
As for the cheesy toast, I personally don’t add the traditional Gruyere toast on top to mine because I can’t eat too much dairy, but my family loves that part. My son adds toast only, I add chopped parsley, and my husband and daughters love toast + cheese. I think it makes more sense to toast the bread and melt the cheese separately in the oven than broil it in the soup bowls. The soup bowls get so incredibly hot and it’s not safe at all to serve such hot bowls to kids (or anyone.) It’s much simpler to add the melted cheese toast to the soup bowl. But you can broil it in the bowls, too. I would serve this with a meal of roasted fish and a green vegetable or just a large, hearty salad. This soup is all about comfort, warmth and total deliciousness. One bite is like a cozy blanket wrapping itself around you. What more could you need on a day like today?
4 cups high quality beef broth (or use mushroom stock or chicken stock)
6 ½-inch slices of baguette or French bread torn by hand
6 ounces Gruyere, shredded (or buy it pre-sliced)
a pinch of Parmesan cheese (optional)
Instructions
In a large, heavy-bottomed soup pot, melt butter over medium heat and add onions. COVER and cook 10 minutes.
UNCOVER, add thyme, bay leaves, salt, black pepper and cook onions until they are very soft and deep golden brown, stirring occasionally, about 45 minutes. I usually start at medium heat and then when I see the onions start to color, I drop to medium-low and then to low heat. This is the key step in this recipe. If the onions don’t get golden, the soup won’t have as much flavor. But you also don’t want to burn the onions because then the soup will taste bitter.
Stir in the wine and Cognac, scraping the bottom of the pot.
Stir in the stock and bring to a boil. Lower heat to a simmer, and cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes longer. Remove the bay leaves and thyme sprigs. Taste for seasoning. Keep in mind that if you are adding cheese, you will be adding extra saltiness.
In the meantime, preheat the oven to 400 degrees, arrange the baguette slices or bread pieces on a baking sheet in one layer and bake until lightly golden, about 10 minutes.
Preheat the broiler to high and position the oven rack 6 inches from the heat. Either top each piece of toast with a handful of grated gruyere and broil until melted. Divide the soup between 6 bowls and top each soup bowl with a piece of cheese toast. OR place 6 oven-proof soup bowls or crocks on a rimmed baking sheet and fill each with soup. Top with the toasted bread and then the cheese. Broil a few minutes until cheese has melted.
Notes
This soup tastes even better the next day! If you want to double this, caramelize the onions in 2 pots. Otherwise it's too many onions at one time.
I just returned home from a beautiful vacation on Long Island with my family. It’s always my favorite week of the year and I enjoy the time even more when the weather is perfection like it was last week (barring the crazy 30-minute quasi-tornado on Tuesday morning.) I try to visit my parents in August rather than earlier in the summer because my father’s vegetable gardens are much more abundant now. I think one of the best, most rewarding things in life is to be able to grow your own food. On so many levels it’s good for you and good for the earth.
It can be very confusing to know what’s in season these days since we can buy virtually anything at any time. But if you’ve ever gardened, you know that certain vegetables are planted during certain times of the year. When I was growing up, I knew strawberries were only around for a short time so I would eat as many as humanly possible to take advantage of nature’s little springtime gift. Same with tomatoes. In fact, my mother loves telling me the story of when I was little and I ate so many unripe green tomatoes out of my father’s garden that I made myself sick. I guess you can have too much of a good thing.
Here’s a newsflash for some people: bell peppers are a summer vegetable. Sure you can buy them all year, but they’ll be imported and likely not organic. Another newsflash is that bell peppers are usually on the Environmental Working Group’s “Dirty Dozen” list of most highly contaminated produce, so I always buy organic or not at all. Yikes. Now I look back and thank my lucky stars my father grew lots of peppers without pesticides.
Sweet bell peppers have a soft spot in my heart because they were one of Mr. Picky’s first “approved” vegetables. I can even remember the day he tried a stick of raw red bell pepper and said, “Hey, this is good! It’s juicy!” Munch, crunch. Then I went overboard trying to put sweet bell peppers in everything because I thought they were my ticket to broadening his limited palate. Well my strategy didn’t exactly work. But I’m glad I went pepper-crazy because I found this recipe for Parmesan peppers and it has become a favorite.
Parmesan peppers is one of the easiest and tastiest side dishes. It gets multiple flavor boosts from garlic, thyme, lemon and Parmesan cheese, although I often use Pecorino, a sheep’s milk cheese. It’s true that my son prefers his bell peppers raw (“juicy and crunchy”), I prefer the sweeter flavor and silky texture from roasted peppers. One sliver of these peppers wrapped around a bite of fish or roasted chicken is just delicious. And if you can find two (or even three) colors of peppers, this is a really beautiful side dish. And I repeat, easy!
So the big question is, does Mr. Picky eat this? And the answer is, almost. What does that mean? Like most kids, he’s slow to come around to vegetables and he likes to try things on his own terms. It’s annoying for sure, but it is pretty normal. So the first couple of times I made this, he was like “no way I’m eating that.” He did have the obligatory taste, but nothing more after that. More recently, he has eaten an entire piece and declared, “it’s pretty good, but I’m fine with one piece, thanks.” The last time he had one piece and said, “it’s good and I’m pretty sure I’ll eat more next time.” Welcome to my world!
While there are no guarantees in life, these peppers have always been a hit with everyone else who has tried them, including my two daughters. What I do know for sure is that summer and local peppers won’t be around forever, so do enjoy them while you can.
4 bell peppers (a mix of yellow, red and orange is nice)
1 clove thinly sliced garlic
8 thyme sprigs
1 Tablespoon unrefined, cold pressed, extra virgin olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup grated Parmesan or Pecorino
juice of ½ lemon, if desired
Instructions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Stem, core and quarter bell peppers; place on prepared baking sheet.
Toss with garlic, thyme and olive oil; season with salt and pepper.
Arrange skin side down in a single layer and roast until softened, about 30 minutes.
Remove from oven and preheat the broiler.
Sprinkle the peppers with Parmesan and place under the broiler until the cheese is melted and peppers are slightly charred. This will only take a minute or two.
Remove from oven and drizzle with lemon juice, if you like. You can leave the thyme sprigs, but they are not to be eaten.
Notes
Feel free to leave out the cheese if you need. These are also great with a few capers sprinkled on when they come out of the oven.
You see that beautiful piece of fish down there? That is my idea of a perfect dinner — simple, healthy, light, delicious, seasonal, easy-to-make. If my family didn’t thrive on an ever-changing dinner menu, I would love to eat this twice a week with a fresh salad and a glass of rosé. Perfect.
Fish in parchment is easier than it looks and one of the most healthful ways to cook fish. I have taught and posted two other fish in parchment recipes which you may have tried, one with cilantro and ginger and the second with summer herbs. Both are delicious and perfect when you want something light in the summer.
The basic idea when you’re cooking in parchment, is to use ingredients that all cook pretty quickly and at the same rate. Make sure that parchment is tightly sealed and you’ll create a little steam oven in that packet. I always make sure the fish is well-seasoned with salt and pepper and that I add a smidge of fat, either butter or olive oil for flavor, and then there are lots of possibilities.
Once I see those first local tomatoes at the farmers market, I start going a little tomato-crazy. I especially love cherry tomatoes because they are always so sweet. In this recipe, you can’t beat the combination with the sautéed garlic, salty capers and olives and zingy white wine. I would eat this with a simple rice pilaf or quinoa salad or a raw zucchini salad. My family would probably love a little pasta with pesto to go with it.
I have taught this recipe in my cooking classes many, many times and sometimes I added some raw baby spinach leaves under the fish. The spinach wilts beautifully and tastes delicious with all the other ingredients. Shaved zucchini slices would also be perfect, but you could also add vegetables to the packet like blanched (not raw) green beans or slivers of roasted peppers.
Of course, if there are ingredients in the recipe you don’t care for, feel free to omit. After I finish going over a recipe in my class, I take a few minutes to talk about substitutions. Questions about how to change the recipe are the most common questions that come up — how do I make this gluten-free? My husband won’t eat anything with onion. I hate olives. Etc, etc. I give you permission to take out the olives if you want.
1 Tablespoon unrefined, cold pressed, extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
⅛ teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
2 Tablespoons capers, drained
a handful of mixed fresh herbs (I like to use mostly parsley with a little basil and mint mixed in), if you have them or sprigs of fresh thyme
½ teaspoon sea salt + extra for seasoning fish
a few grinds of freshly ground black pepper to taste + extra for seasoning fish
4 filets of wild halibut or sole
4 teaspoons unsalted butter or unrefined, cold-pressed extra-virgin olive oil
8 teaspoons dry white wine
4 12-inch squares of unbleached parchment
Instructions
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a medium saucepan, heat 1 Tablespoon olive oil. Add sliced garlic, red pepper flakes and cook until the garlic is fragrant and almost golden brown, about 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in tomatoes, capers and fresh herbs, salt and pepper.
Arrange each piece of fish in the center of the parchment paper and sprinkle with a pinch of sea salt and pepper.
Top each filet with a fourth of the tomato mixture, 1 teaspoon of butter or oil, and 2 teaspoons wine.
Bring 2 opposite sides of the parchment together and fold. Continue to fold all the way down until you reach the fish. Twist both ends of the parchment so that it looks like a hard candy wrapper. Repeat for each piece of fish. Place each packet on a baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes based on the thickness of the fish.
Transfer each packet to a plate and use caution when opening – the steam will be very hot!
Notes
Sometimes I like to add a handful of baby spinach leaves to the parchment before topping with the fish.
I just finished teaching this recipe in my March classes and it was a huge hit! I don’t even like chicken and I seemed to always be looking for a bite at the end of class. I had so many requests to post this recipe that I had to oblige, even though the images aren’t totally the best. I think this would be perfectly appropriate to prepare for Passover, with one minor adjustment. And it’s a great recipe to adapt as cherry tomatoes and beefsteak tomatoes become available.
The recipe is basically a braise, but the chicken is cooked uncovered for most of the time, which is why I call it Baked Chicken, versus Braised Chicken. But the formula is still very much the same — browning the meat first to create flavor and color, sauteing onions, deglazing, putting meat back in and baking in the oven until cooked through. Once you understand the steps, you can start making up your own recipe or adapting recipes like this one with other ingredients or flavors.
I personally like using bone-in, skin-on pieces of chicken since I think they taste better and stay a little moister, especially breast pieces. Unfortunately, cooking with bone-in, skin-on pieces takes longer than boneless, skinless and may not be a great option for those of you needing a really fast recipe for after work. Fortunately, this recipe can be adapted for cutlets and even a slow cooker, so look for those options in the instructions.
This dish produces very tender, flavorful chicken, as well as the accompanying onions and sauce. In the ingredient list it offers the option of draining the juice from the jar of tomatoes or keeping it. Here’s my thought process on that one: if you will be serving the chicken with noodles or pasta, polenta, mashed potatoes or something that would welcome a lot of sauce, then you should keep the juice. Otherwise, drain the juice and just use the tomato pieces. I also love this dish during cherry tomato season, when I will use 1 1/2 pounds of halved sweet cherry tomatoes in place of the jarred, and basil leaves instead of the thyme. Large vine-ripened tomatoes that have been blanched and chopped are also great. Both of these options create a much lighter, fresher dish. But every variation is very delicious.
Other adaptations I discussed in class:
subbing fennel for half the onion
omitting the olives and adding chopped mushrooms with the onions
adding a healthy pinch of crushed red pepper flakes with the garlic
in the summer, subbing sliced sweet bell pepper for some of the onion
searing cauliflower steaks and using those in place of the chicken for a vegetarian/vegan option
I always use breasts when I teach because most of my students prefer white meat, and therefore it’s just easier for me to buy all breasts. You can certainly use any part of the chicken you want. In fact, it’s more economical to buy a whole chicken and have the butcher cut it into pieces for you. But I highly recommend not buying 1 breast per person. It’s too much meat to eat in one sitting, unless you are an Olympian or a body builder! I have never actually seen anyone at my house or at a dinner party eat an entire breast. I have seen people cut them in half and push one piece off to the side and just each one half. What I love to do is prepare the breasts, allowing for 1/2 per person, and removing the bones after the chicken is cooked and has rested a bit. Then I slice the meat on an angle. It’s much more manageable to eat it this way, as well as more elegant and attractive to serve. See this post on the gloves I use to get down and dirty when I carve chicken!
Let me know if you have specific questions about timing or with what sides to serve this. Hope your holiday planning is going well!
3 ½ pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken pieces, sprinkled with 2 teaspoons kosher salt when you get home from the market unless you are using kosher chicken which you should not salt (read this post on how and why to season your chicken in advance)
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Flour for dredging (all-purpose, spelt, GF flour, etc.) -- use matzoh cake meal for Passover
1 ½ medium onions, cut through the root into sixths or eighths (or sliced thinly, but I like wedges better in this recipe)
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 18-ounce jar diced tomatoes with the juice (or drain juice for less sauce) (I like Jovial in glass jars. Read this post why.)
¼ cup dry white wine
¼ cup chicken stock, vegetable stock or more white wine
6 fresh thyme sprigs or large basil leaves in the summer/fall
½ cup pitted olives, such as kalamata or Bella di Cerignola
2 Tablespoons capers, drained
chopped parsley for garnish, if desired
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Pat the chicken dry and season with black pepper. Dredge in flour, shaking off any excess.
In a 12-inch ovenproof skillet or Dutch oven, heat 1 Tablespoon of the olive oil over medium heat. Add the chicken pieces in one layer and brown on both sides. Transfer to a plate and reserve.
If the pan looks dry, add a little oil. If it looks like there’s more than 2 Tablespoons oil, drain a bit off. Add the onions, cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until softened and lightly browned. Add the garlic and sea salt and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
Add the tomatoes, white wine, stock and cook, scraping any brown bits on bottom of the pan.
Arrange the thyme, olives and capers over the onion mixture. Place the browned chicken pieces side by side on top. Bring the mixture to a simmer. Cover and place in the oven.
After 15 minutes, baste the chicken with the juices in the pot. Continue cooking, uncovered, for an additional 30-40 minutes (depending on thickness), basting every 10 minutes if you have time. Sprinkle with parsley and serve. (You can also cook covered on the stove over low heat for 30 minutes.)
Notes
For a boneless, skinless version, check out my recipe for Lemon –Thyme Chicken Cutlets and follow the same directions.
For a slow cooker version, use skinless chicken and 3 Tablespoons each of stock and wine instead of 4. Follow same directions, but after deglazing, pour everything into the slow cooker and cook for 4-5 hours on HIGH or 6-8 on LOW.
The moment we arrived in Lake Garda on Wednesday for the last leg of our trip, I looked at my husband and said, “Good luck getting me on that plane back home.” The vistas are breathtaking, the air is clean, and the food is to die for. Total heaven here. Check out my Instagram and Facebook page for some pictures.
One food combination that I will never tire of is tomatoes and basil. And if you add some high quality mozzarella, I am even happier. I do so many combinations of tomatoes and basil in the summer, whether it be in soups, salads, pasta, eggs, grains, on toast, and on and on. Needless to say, I have been indulging like crazy in Italy, where I will argue you find the best tomatoes!
I made this soup at home before I left. The recipe is from Angelini Osteria, one of my favorite Italian restaurants in LA, and was printed in the LA Times recently. I didn’t waste any time making it! Trust me when I tell you that you must use great, flavorful tomatoes here. Otherwise, the soup will probably taste like nothing. I’ve tasted other Italian tomato soups in the past and they’ve all tasted like tomato sauce. Not this one! It’s so light and fresh with just a little essence of basil. It is summer in a bowl! Also, did you know that tomatoes are very rich in lycopene, a powerful antioxidant and anti-cancer compound. But the lycopene becomes more available when the tomatoes are cooked. Bonus!
I couldn’t help but drizzle some good olive oil on the soup and tear a smidge of burrata into it, too. If you want to keep this dairy-free or vegan, just forget the burrata and add a piece of grilled bread rubbed with some garlic. You really can’t go wrong.
Sadly, this vacation is coming to an end soon. But I am excited to get back in the kitchen in a few days and cook again. I’ve been so inspired by all the places we have visited. I am also looking forward to seeing many of you next week in class. Lots of stories to share and yummy food to make!
In a medium, heavy bottomed pot, heat 2 Tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, basil and thyme. Cook, stirring frequently until the vegetables are tender; 10-12 minutes.
Stir in the tomatoes, along with ¾ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Simmer for 20 minutes to break down the tomatoes and meld the flavors.
Remove from the heat and puree the soup in a blender or food processor, then strain through a strainer. Taste for seasoning. I added a bit more salt.
Serve the soup hot or warm, with desired garnishes and a drizzle of olive oil.
After Barcelona, we went to Aix-en-Provence, which is the center and heart of Provence, France. I adore the South of France! We had a guide for the day since I don’t know the area well and I had no time before we left to do proper research. I absolutely love hearing about the history of European towns because it puts everything in context. This wall was here for this reason. These two towns were perched on opposite hills facing each other for that reason. Plus the only way to keep my son interested is if you talk drama – wars, fighting, weapons, who won, who got killed, etc.
More than that, I love seeing how other people live. Do they drive or walk? What do they eat for lunch and when? How much vacation do they get every year? What’s the coffee shop for locals? I am very, very nosy! I was so excited to find and experience the local farmer’s market in Aix and see what is sold here and how it is different from my market in Manhattan Beach. It thought I was so lucky to be here on market day, until our guide told me the market is open every day until 1:00. People in Provence prefer to shop daily for their food so it’s really fresh. Heaven. It was such beautiful market, where they sold everything from tomatoes, herbs, melons and lettuce, to eggs and the freshest fish, to the most delicious olives ever and lavender sachets with lavender from the fields in Provence. I could get used to that.
While I was in Provence, I remembered the recipe for this Roasted Summer Vegetable Tian that I taught when I was in France 2 years ago and in my cooking classes in LA last summer. It’s a very simple, easy, seasonal vegetable side dish and of course, it’s quite delicious. Who wouldn’t love a casserole with gently cooked onions on the bottom and then a mélange of tomatoes, zucchini and potatoes on top, where the tomato juice kind of infuses everything and mixes with a bit of fresh thyme and some Parmesan cheese? Yum! I love it because it goes with anything, whether you are making a piece of grilled fish or some roasted chicken or you want a light vegetarian meal with either a frittata or a simple green salad. Don’t forget a cold glass of rosé, too!
It does take some time to cook, so it’s not a last-minute deal. But you also don’t have to time it perfectly with your meal, since I think it actually tastes just as good warm and even room temp. You know how I love a good do-ahead!
The one thing I miss when I’m on vacation is cooking at home, especially when I see such beautiful ingredients around me. For now, I’m picking up inspiration everywhere I go. Next stop – Italy!
2 Tablespoons unrefined, cold pressed extra-virgin olive oil + more for drizzling
1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, about ¾ pound, sliced ¼-inch thick
2 small tomatoes, about ¾ pound, sliced ¼-inch thick
1 medium zucchini, about ½ pound, sliced ¼-inch thick
1 Tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
2 Tablespoons freshly grated Pecorino or Parmesan cheese
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Warm oil in a skillet over medium heat and add onions and a pinch of salt and pepper. Sauté until tender and lightly golden, about 6 to 8 minutes. Add garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 2 minutes.
Transfer onion and garlic on the bottom of an 11 x 9 gratin dish or a 10-inch round baking dish. Overlap potatoes, tomatoes and squash over the onion mixture. Season with salt (I use about ½ teaspoon) and pepper. Sprinkle with thyme and Pecorino/Parmesan and drizzle with olive oil.
Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake another 30 minutes until golden and potatoes are tender. You can serve this hot, warm or at room temperature.
Notes
Try to find potatoes, zucchini and tomatoes with approximately the same diameter so the casserole looks balanced.
You can also add shredded gruyere or buttered bread crumbs to the top for an extra special finish.
