sweet potato supper

Sweet potato, I'm a fan.  You're just so tasty.  My Grandmother likes a good sweet potato, and I was recently at a steak restaurant that served my little steak with a side of baked sweet potato.  So, I've just been loving these fluffy, knobbly little spuds lately.  And word on the street is that they're really good for you (perhaps sans that delicious butter and cinnamon sugar).  Tonight, I was making supper out of my sweet potato.  It was a total invention, but turned out so yummy.

 Mmm.  Fluffy, creamy sweet potato piled high with slightly-bitter balsamic roasted radicchio, nutty gruyere, salty proscuitto and  fresh parsley.  What a tasty combination.  I'm always watching the Food Network, and they speak about creating food that combines as many flavors as possible (sweet, salty, acidic etc) and this hits on all of them.

First, you need to bake your potato.  Give it a good prod with a fork (there are urban legends that potatoes baked without doing this explode.  Let's face it, who really wants to put that to the test?).  

Put your sweet spud on a foil-lined baking sheet and bake at 400ºF/204ºC for about an hour.

 In the meantime, you can prep your radicchio. Some of you may have never heard of this little guy.  It's Italian chicory, with a pungent flavor that adds an earthiness to whatever you put it in.  Give it a rinse and chop into bite-sized pieces (removing the extra bitter white core).

Look at my purty fleur de sel!  I found it at a local specialty store.  It's the exact same stuff I bought for my mom when I was in Geneva.  And yes, fancy salt gets me excited, y'all!

Toss on a baking sheet with salt and pepper, evoo and a hearty dash of balsamic vinegar.  The sweetness of the balsamic counteracts the bitterness of the radicchio beautifully.  Roast at 400/204 for 15 minutes, until nearly tender and slightly crispy at the edges.  I actually roasted the radicchio after my potato was done baking, because I spent the potato baking time skyping with delightful Jo in Cambridge.

Here's how it will look when it's done.  I know it looks burnt, but it's not!  It's a deep purple already and the balsamic vinegar caramelizes a bit on it.  Yum yum.  If you find that it's still too bitter for your taste, just add a bit more balsamic vinegar.

 Now, for a salty kick, chop up some pancetta.  Since we're going with an Italian veggie, this bacon is a great choice.  It's unsmoked (but quite salty), and you can get it at the butcher nice and thick and just cube it up.  (You can, of course, just use regular bacon.)

    

Saute on medium-high until crispy.    

And then drain on a paper towel.  Feel free to nibble on a couple pieces.  It's a Monday, y'all.  You've earned it!

 Chop up some fresh parsley.

Open that brilliant orange potato and smush it a bit (technical term) so it has room for all the goodies.

Pile it high with roasted radicchio, some large grates of nutty gruyere cheese, crispy pancetta and fragrant parsley.  It doesn't need butter or oil at all...just a final drizzle of balsamic vinegar around your plate to dip each bite in will do ya.

Now that's an elegant baked potato.  Balanced, powerful flavors, vibrant colors and pretty healthy, too.  What a way to begin the week.

(Sadly, there was none left for the precious pup once I was done.)

Bon appetit!

Lilrevchef

roasted red pepper pasta

Get ready for some roasted red pepper and pine nut pasta perfection, y'all!  That's some delicious alliteration.  I used The Pioneer Woman's recipe, which I really loved.  I've made roasted red pepper pasta sauce before with olive oil, but this sauce was much more flavorful and decadent with a bit of cream (yum), pine nuts, sauteed onions and garlic.  

Here's what you'll need:

3/4 lb penne pasta (I like penne best for this because the sauce really clings to it.)
2 red bell peppers (have to be red, folks)
2 cloves of garlic
1 small onion
extra virgin olive oil
3 T pine nuts
1/2 c heavy cream (decadent, I know!)
parmesan & basil (to garnish)

It makes about 4 servings.  If you're Texan, well, let's call it 3.

 Take a small onion...

 

...and peel and finely dice it.  You'll also want to finely mince 2 cloves of garlic.

Heat about 2T evoo in a deep pan on medium-low... 

Saute onion and garlic slowly with a little s&p for about 10 minutes, until soft.

Get your bell peppers rinsed and ready to be broiled in the oven.  You may want to give 'em a pep talk.  Broil (with - it may go without saying - your oven on "broil"), turning frequently, for about 10 minutes until charred on all sides.

They should look burned.  Burned = flavor (except later on in this recipe...you'll see.)  Let them cool for a few minutes.

Put the roasted peppers in a large ziplock bag and seal it.  You're essentially giving them their own little sauna so you can peel them easily later.  This is a good time to cook your pasta in boiling, salted water until al dente (about 8 minutes).

Then, toast your pine nuts in a dry skillet on medium heat.  I urge you not to change your Facebook status whilst doing this, otherwise they'll look like mine did. In this case, burnt does not translate to flavor.  Burnt = burnt.

Let's try that again...they'll only take a few minutes to toast, so turn them often and just get a light brown on them (like this picture).

Peel those gorgeous red peppers, deseed them and roughly chop.

Puree in a food processor or blender with 2T of the toasted pine nuts (you'll use the rest of the pine nuts as a garnish).

It will get velvety but still have some texture to it.  Such a gorgeous color!  Add this puree to the onions and garlic, season with s&p and cook together for a few minutes.

Then add 1/2 c heavy cream...

 ...and some chopped basil and cook together for a few minutes.  Add the cooked pasta to the sauce and toss together.  Adjust s&p as needed.  Top with more basil, whole pine nuts and parmesan shavings.

The result: creamy, hearty roasted red pepper pasta that will make you want to do a little happy dance.  It's possible I did one.  Okay, highly probable. :)

Bon appetit!
lilrevchef

my momma's chicken

Lemon and chicken get along famously.  They're great together in all sorts of ways, but I have never tasted a lemon chicken that is delectable and fragrant as my mother's.  Oh. My. Goodness.  It's fantastic (and so easy!).  And it makes you feel like a Julia Child-esque rockstar when you pull that golden perfect bird out of the oven.  My mom uses Ina Garten's recipe.  I'll walk ya through it, folks.  

Lemon Chicken with Croutons
Ingredients:

• 1 (4 to 5-pound) roasting chicken
• 1 large yellow onion
• Olive oil
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 2 lemons
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 6 cups (3/4-inch) bread cubes (I used leftover french bread)

Serves 4-6.

• 
  
• (Go ahead and preheat the oven to 425 degrees F/218 degrees C.)

Slice the onion into large rings.  Layer them on the bottom of a large roasting pan with about 1T olive oil.

Quarter those vibrant lemons.

Take the giblets (no giblets for me, please) out of your chicken and wash and dry it (with paper towels - don't get icky raw chicken on your kitchen towels) and place on top of the onions in the roasting pan and brush with 2 T of melted butter.  Stuff the lemon halves inside the chicken.

Season generously with salt..

...and freshly cracked pepper and then tie the legs together with kitchen twine and tuck the wing tips under the bird.  (This helps him roast evenly without burning.)  Roast in the oven for about an hour and a half, until the juices of the chicken run clear.  

When the chicken in almost done, heat 2 T of olive oil in a large skillet and add the bread cubes and a bit of salt and pepper.  

Cook, turning frequently, until golden and crispy, about ten minutes.

Does that take your breath away, or what?  Perfection.

Take that glorious chicken out of the oven, cover with foil and let rest for 15 minutes.  Then, cut the chicken up and layer with the onions and cooking juices on top the croutons.  It will have an amazing, delicate lemon flavor and the croutons will soak up the chicken juices.  You'll never think chicken's boring again!

Bon appetit!

lilrevchef

here's to the little guys

              

Oh broccoli, how I love you.  When I was little (more little than I am now that is) I used to call broccoli "little trees." Well, here we have the amazing union of "little trees" and "little ears", which in Italian is orecchiette.  Go ahead, impress your friends at a party with your knowledge of Italian.  "My what orecchiette you have!"  For some reason I can't fathom, recipes involving broccoli and pasta almost always call for using orecchiette pasta.  Whatever the reason, it's tasty.  Here, I'm going a wee bit traditional: just pasta, parmesan, broccoli, garlic and red pepper flakes. 

You'll need 2 smallish heads of broccoli or 1 large one.  Cut the florets into bite-sized pieces (and I also do the same with about 1'' of the stalk).  

Toss on a baking sheet with 2 cloves of roughly chopped (so it doesn't burn) garlic and about 1/4 c of evoo (you need a bit more than you think because you don't want those precious little trees to dry out roasting -- like every tree in Texas is right now).  Also add about 1 T of salt, 1 tsp of pepper and maybe 1/2 tsp of crushed red pepper flakes (see pic).  You can add more of this if you like a little extra heat.

Roast at 400ºF/204ºC for about 20 minutes, until tender and a bit caramelized, giving it a little mix halfway through.  While your little trees are all happy in the oven, get workin' on those little ears.  Add about 12 ounces of pasta (3/4 of the package) into salted boiling water, stirring to prevent sticking and cook until very al dentre (firm to the bite), about 10 minutes.  Before you drain it, be sure and reserve about a cup of the starchy cooking water. You'll be amazed what it'll do in making an easy sauce.

Now comes the fun part!  Toss your pasta, roasted broccoli and garlic together with about 1/3 c parmesan cheese (it's okay, you can grate it this time).  When adding the cooking water, add about 1/2 c first and then more if it needs it to form a light sauce.  And for a bit of decadence...

 ...throw in 2 T of butter.  Taste and season with more s&p and pepper flakes as needed.  I definitely needed a bit more salt & red pepper flakes (but I like a little kick).  Because my pasta was so al dente, I was able to keep it cooking with the broccoli, cheese and butter for about 5 minutes, which just intensified the flavor.

 That's it!  You can have it as a nice simple supper with some extra parm shaved on top or...

 ...you can have it with quick pan-seared tilapia like I did.  Either way, it's fantastic.

Bon appetit!
lilrevchef