CRISPY OVEN-ROASTED CHICKEN THIGHS

Last January, I had the great pleasure of shooting Nathalie Fraise's wonderful new cookbook, The Whole Coconut (Ten Speed Press) which explores cooking with coconut in all its glory. Nathalie's book just hit the shelves and I couldn't be prouder to have been a part of its creation. You need this gem of a book in your kitchen!

Nathalie's technique for roasting chicken thighs was a revelation for me - the skin is perfectly crisp and the coconut oil adds a lovely hint of flavor. I now find myself making Nathalie's chicken thighs at least once a week - they're that good! Nathalie serves the chicken thighs with zucchini spaghetti, but don't fret that zucchini isn't in season this time of year... really the thighs are great with any tasty side.

INGREDIENTS - adapted from Nathalie Fraise's The Whole Coconut

• 6 chicken thighs
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Melt coconut oil in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Lay chicken thighs skin-side up on a baking sheet and brush chicken with the melted coconut oil. Season each thigh generously with salt and pepper. Roast chicken thighs in the hot oven for 40-45 minutes until the meat is cooked through and the skin in wonderfully crispy. Allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving.

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Shooting Nathalie's book was one of those perfect projects where everything goes beautifully, and deliciously! Nathalie's recipes are simple, flavorful, and naturally gluten-free (!) and she's a sweetheart to boot. Working with Ashley Lima and Kelly Snowden from Ten Speed and my buddy and amazing food stylist Lillian Kang was dreamy - such a wonderful collaboration.

Here are a few more shots from Nathalie's book to whet your appetite...

TURMERIC CHICKEN WINGS

Just in time for summer, my friend Dana gave me a copy of Sunset's: The Great Outdoors Cookbook and I have to tell you, I now have a serious jonzing to go camping, sleep under the stars, cook by the campfire... The book is packed with tasty recipes for campfire grilling, wood fire ovens, beach cookouts, and even a Caja China. So much inspiration! I'm buying a bunch of copies of this book to give to my grill-lovin' friends.

A camping trip isn't on our near horizon, but when I saw the recipe for Tamal Chicken Wings, I couldn't wait try it. The lemongrass, turmeric, garlic, cilantro rub called to me, and luckily the chicken was super easy to cook on our backyard grill (and I think this chicken would be great to feed a crowd). My whole family scarfed down the flavorful, juicy wings with smiles on their faces.

Have you cooked with turmeric before? It wasn't until we lived in Bali that I introduced this aromatic root into my kitchen. Turmeric, with its electric yellow hue, is a powerful anti-inflammatory as well as a delicious seasoning. Beware that turmeric stains like crazy: be careful of your cutting boards, food processor, anything that can quickly soak up the natural dye. Clean up turmeric immediately or you'll find a strong yellow tint is left in its wake.

INGREDIENTS lightly adapted from Sunset's The Great Outdoors Cookbook
printable recipe

• 1 stalk fresh lemongrass (available at many Asian grocers); or 3 strips lemon zest chopped
• 3/4 cup cilantro sprigs ( I strongly suggest using the stems as well as the leaves)
• 8 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 8 chicken wings

Make your rub at least a hour before cooking, if not the night before, so that the chicken has time to really soak up the flavors.

Trim lemongrass and slice into 1/4 inch rounds. Place lemongrass in a food processor along with the cilantro, garlic, salt, turmeric, a few generous grinds of black pepper and olive oil. Blitz until the ingredients are integrated and chopped into a coarse blend. Rub mixture onto the chicken wings. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour or overnight. (Remember to immediately clean turmeric from your cutting boards and food processor to avoid stains.)

When you're ready to cook, prep a medium heat grill (350-450 degrees). Using paper towels, rub the grates with cooking oil. Grill the chicken covered for 14-16 minutes flipping occasionally until the meat is no longer pink at the bone.

Eat right away!

serves 2-4 as a main, 8 as an appetizer

CHICKEN WITH 40 GARLIC CLOVES

It's gotten so cold and blustery these past two weeks - once the sun goes down, all I want to do is cozy up with my little family for a warm meal and go to bed nice and early. These long dark evenings suit my homebody tendencies.

This easy chicken dish, from Alice Waters' fantastic new cookbook Art of Simple Food II, is just the kind of comforting one-pot main that calls my name this time of year. The chicken is tender, moist and infused with a subtle herby garlic flavor - plus all those roasted garlic cloves are heavenly squeezed onto little toasts. And oh my is the sauce delish... you can't help but mop it up with a smile on your face.

As Alice suggests, you'll only need a simple arugula salad (sauteed spinach is also nice) and toasted bread on the side and you're done. Family meal accomplished.

For those of you who didn't see my last post, don't miss out on a sweet opportunity to buy a signed copy of Alice's Art of Simple Food II to benefit the Edible Schoolyard. Be sure to place your orders by December 15th.

INGREDIENTS from Alice Waters' Art of Simple Food II
printable recipe

• 4 chicken legs, or one whole chicken cut into pieces
• sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• olive oil
• 40 unpeeled cloves garlic (from 3-4 heads)
• 10 sprigs fresh thyme 
• 1 bay leaf
• for serving: toasted slices of crusty bread {Bay Area GF folks: Mariposa baguettes are quite nice here}; simple arugula salad or sauteed spinach

Note: If possible, generously season the chicken with salt and pepper the night before cooking.

Heat two tablespoons olive oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. First, deeply brown the skin side of the chicken - 10-12 minutes. Flip the pieces and brown the underside for another 4 minutes or so. (In order not to crowd the chicken pieces, I do the browning in a couple of batches.)

Preheat oven to 375.

While the chicken is browning, separate garlic cloves leaving their skins on but removing excess papery skins. Place 40 individual garlic cloves in the bottom of a lidded baking dish. Add thyme sprigs, a bay leaf and 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Toss to coat.

When the chicken is nicely browned, nestle it on top of the garlic and herbs. Cover the pan with foil, then the lid. Place pan on the middle rack of your hot oven. After 50 minutes, take off the lid and foil and let the chicken cook another 10 minutes to crisp the skin a bit.

Serve slices of toasted rustic bread with the chicken to dip into the delectable juices in the bottom of the pan.

Serves 4

Wishing you all warm, peaceful, healthy holidays!!!!

IRRESISTIBLE GREEN POZOLE

Do any of you cook with hominy?

Last year, when I saw a bag of Rancho Gordo hominy at my local butcher shop, I couldn't resist snatching it up. I had never cooked with hominy before and I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it - an impulse buy you could say.  Some weeks later I was thumbing through the Ruth Reichl's Gourmet Today cookbook and found her recipe for Pozole, a wonderful Mexican stew packed with chicken, hominy, tomatillos and topped with lime, avocado, radish and cilantro. Bingo! Now my hominy had a purpose.

Well I have to tell you, that pozole was good - irresistibly good - and I knew I wanted to share it with you guys. Finally, here I am.

As you have probably noticed, I tend to favor recipes that are simple and quick to make, not fussing too much with the natural deliciousness of good ingredients. As I am in the thick of recipe testing feedback for my book ( thank you wonderful testers!), one of my favorite compliments is that the recipes are surprisingly easy. This makes me happy. That said, this pozole recipe is kinda time consuming and makes for a ton of dishes, but it's so worth the effort. And when you're done, you have this amazing one-bowl meal that is deeply satisfying and delish!

As a little side note... I wanted to give a shout out to Kimberley Hasselbrink, the talented cook and photographer behind The Year in Food. I got to meet Kimberley in person last week when she graciously invited me for lunch. She cooked up a few really tasty items from her upcoming book to be published by Ten Speed next year. If those bites were any indication, her book will be as delicious as her blog. I cannot wait to cook from it!

If you are going to prepare your own hominy, and not use the canned stuff, allow yourself soaking and cooking time before you get set to make the pozole. I suggest soaking your hominy the night before you want to cook. Then cook the hominy a few hours before getting started on making the rest of your pozole.



INGREDIENTS very slightly adapted from Ruth Reichl's Gourmet Today
      {printable recipe}

• two 15 ounce cans cooked hominy, or 4 cups home-cooked hominy (8 ounces dry will yield approximately 4 cups)
• 1 large white onion, sliced thin lengthwise
• 6 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
• bay leaf
• salt
• 3 pounds skinless boneless chicken thighs (I'm sure you could also use breast meat, but I don't think the resulting broth would be as flavorful)
• 1/2 cup pepitas
• 1 pound tomatillos, husks removed and rinsed with warm water
• 1 -2 bunches fresh cilantro
• 1 teaspoon dried epazote or dried oregano
• 2 tablespoons canola oil

Delicious Garnishes:

• avocados, chopped and tossed with salt and lime juice
• radishes, chopped
• small white onion, chopped
• additional chopped cilantro
• lots of limes
• more epazote, or crushed oregano

As I mentioned above, if you are using dried hominy, it needs to be soaked and cooked before you can make the pozole. I followed the instructions on the package.

In a stockpot, bring 8 cups of water to a boil.  Add 1/2 sliced onion, 3 cloves garlic, bay, and a teaspoon of salt to the pot. Cover the pot, and simmer for 10 minutes.

Next, add the whole chicken thighs to the pot. Skim off any foam that forms. Simmer very gently, uncovered, for 20 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through. Use kitchen tongs to remove the chicken and set it on a platter to cool. Strain the broth and set it aside for later. When the chicken is cool enough to handle, shred it with your fingers and set aside.

Grind pepitas in a spice grinder or coffee grinder. ( I think it's brilliant that this recipe uses these ground pepitas for a thickener for the stew.) Set aside.

In a large saucepan, heat 3 cups water with remaining 1/2 onion and tomatillos over high heat. Bring to a boil, then simmer covered for 10 minutes, until veggies are tender. Discard the cooking liquid and place the cooked tomatillos and onions into a standing blender along with 1/4 cup cilantro, 3 more cloves garlic, epazote, and 1.5 teaspoons salt. Blend thoroughly.

Heat canola oil in a large stock pot or dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the pureed veg to the hot pan - be careful as it will be splattery. Cook the sauce uncovered, stirring regularly until it thickens - about 10 minutes. Add the ground pepitas and 1 cup of the broth reserved from cooking the chicken, stir and cook another 5 minutes.

Finally add the shredded chicken, cooked hominy, and 3 cups of reserved broth to the pot. Simmer partially covered for 20 minutes. Stir in 1/2 cup chopped cilantro. Season with additional salt to taste - though keep in mind that adding freshly squeeze lime to soup will add a nice punch.

Scoop warm pozole into low bowls and serve with all the wonderful garnishes. Damn, that's good.

serves 6

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I don't know about you, but I'm THRILLED spring is here. We've been buying ranunculus at Monterey Market lately. I'm so happy to see that organic flowers are finally starting to be more readily available. It's about time!

OTTOLENGHI SAFFRON CHICKEN SALAD {+ A BOOK UPDATE}

Whenever I buy a new cookbook, I bookmark the recipes that tempt me. Do you do that too? Well, when I brought home Ottolenghi's new book Jerusalem last fall, this chicken salad was the first thing I needed to make. It took me a while to get to it, but here I am, and it was worth the wait. The chicken salad is infused with a not-too-sweet orange syrup - its flavor reminiscent of kumquats, which I love. All the herbs and crisp fennel makes the dish super refreshing. And the sliced chili gives the whole thing a nice kick. I can see making this salad for a lunch with friends - I think they would ooh and aah at the wonderful flavors. Ottolenghi mentions the option of substituting arugula for the fennel; being that I'm a huge fan of both fennel and arugula, I think I'll toss both veg into the salad bowl next time.

INGREDIENTS closely adapted from Jerusalem by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamini
{printable recipe}

• 1 orange
• 2 1/2 tablespoons honey
• 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon saffron
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 pounds skinless boneless chicken breasts
• sea salt
• ground black pepper
• 2 fennel bulbs, sliced thin
• 1 cup cilantro leaves
• 1 cup torn basil leaves
• 1 spicy chili - Ottolenghi calls for a red chili, I used a serrano
• juice of 1 lemon

Preheat oven to 400.

Slice the ends off one orange. Leaving the peel on, slice orange into 12 wedges. Place wedges in a small saucepan with honey, white wine vinegar, saffron, and just enough water to submerge the orange slices. Add more water as needed during cooking. Simmer for 1 hour. In a blender, or food processor, puree cooked orange and its liquid - this syrup will be your sauce.

Heat a large oven-proof skillet (I use my beloved cast iron) over medium-high heat. Add one tablespoon olive oil to the hot pan. Sear both sides of the chicken breasts for a couple of minutes. Season generously with sea salt and ground black pepper. Transfer pan to the hot oven to finish cooking the chicken - about 15 minutes.

Place 1/2 of the orange puree in a large salad bowl. ( Save the other half of the puree for another salad dressing - or add a bit more to this salad if you so desire.) When chicken is cool enough to handle, tear it into large pieces. Toss the chicken with orange puree. Add to the bowl: 3 more tablespoons olive oil, thinly sliced fennel, cilantro leaves, torn basil leaves, and sliced chili. Toss everything with your hands. Taste for seasoning and add additional salt, pepper and lemon juice as desired.

Serve and enjoy!

Serves 6 

A little book update...

As many of you know, I have been busy writing and shooting my own cookbook. The project is a huge one, and I'm loving the challenge. It feels strange to be doing all of this cooking, and to not be able to share it with you guys until the book is done. I'm bursting! So, I thought I'd share a few photos of my little home studio with the walls plastered with book images, and other tid bits from the book work.

This book has changed life at our house. Our dining room is no longer for dining, as it has become a (very messy) prop zone.  My recipe notes are bursting from their files and are covered with food stains. The daily piles of dirty dishes have been epic. Mostly, we are eating like royalty, but once in a while the redundancy of perfecting a recipe gets to be a bit much  - there are only so many muffins, quinoa salads, galettes, gimlets, etc a person can ingest in a day. The perfectionist in me is on high alert - I am testing and retesting, writing and rewriting recipes to make sure that not only are they delicious, but that they really truly work in all of your kitchens as well as they do in my own.

(No, that little note from my Lilah doesn't have anything to do with my book other than the fact that I keep it on my desk for a little inspiration. It always makes me smile)

The book is starting to feel (and look) REAL and I couldn't be more excited!

BALINESE GARDEN STEW

When we left Bali last week, my paradisical travel bubble burst: ceiling fans and lush sweet frangipani flowers have been replaced by fake orchids and round-the-clock air conditioning; locals devoted to poetic offerings to their ancestors are now overweight twenty somethings obsessed with beer, lots of beer; and the charming wood carving studios are now adult superstores.

I won't mention the name of the city we are currently stuck in in Northern Australia - but suffice it to say, I won't be coming back here. Did I mention that is is beyond expensive here too. Ugh.

In wanting to savor the taste, smell, and vibe of Bali, I offer Mini's superb recipe to you.....

Mini is a fabulous cook. Everything she makes is full of flavor and belly-warming goodness. Recently, I got to spend the afternoon in her kitchen and learned a number of her delectable dishes. This stew was my favorite. I ate it for lunch for five days straight! It was that good.

 At Sarinbuana, a small eco-resort tucked in the mountains of Bali, you order your meals at the beginning of the day so that just the right ingredients can be plucked fresh from the organic garden. This is not your run of the mill organic kitchen garden, but a permaculture food forest in the mountain jungles of Bali. Wow!

Okay, in most of our lives we don't have access to magical rain forest ingredients, but I do think that if you use whatever veggies you grow yourself or pick up ultra fresh at the market, you will be rewarded with a really tasty, and ridiculously quick meal. So many veggie combinations would work for this soup. Play around with the recipe and use what is in season.

Cap Cay ( pronounced "chap chai") is a traditional Indonesian dish and I think is going to become a staple meal in our household. Mini and I made this stew in a single serving size (for my dinner in fact) and I thought a solo lunch or supper recipe would be a nice thing to have on-hand.  You can easily double, triple, quadruple this recipe to suit your needs.

Mini's notes and condiments for the day's meals...

MOROCCAN CHICKEN WITH GREEN OLIVES AND PRESERVED LEMON

Brian at Riverdog Farm had a request for me: "More chicken and duck recipes please." I think this may be the first request I've had and of course I had to oblige. So here is my second poultry recipe in just a few weeks. At our house, we do eat a lot of chicken, and occasionally duck, quail, or guinea hen. Usually Paul does his Fire Alarm Chicken a la Judy Rogers or he tosses a smaller bird on the grill. But I am always looking for ways to mix things up, so here we go....

I am drawn to Moroccan food, but never cook it myself.  A few months ago, my neighbor Rich loaned me two gorgeous Moroccan cookbooks. I drooled over the photos and found lots of tempting recipes. The Preserved Meyer Lemon recipe that I shared back in May came from Modern Moroccan by Ghillie Basan; we have been enjoying our stash of delicious preserved lemons ever since - cavalierly tossing a few into a roast chicken, or making that scrumptious A16 recipe for Halibut.

I have been remiss in returning Rich's cookbooks because I want to make so many of the recipes. Next Friday we leave for our year of travel and I really can't justify keeping the books any longer. Here's one recipe I had to try before we say goodbye to our kitchen for a year.

We served this succulent chicken over a buttery quinoa pilaf that soaked up the chicken's yummy, lemony sauce.


INGREDIENTS
from Modern Moroccan by Ghillie Basan - a truly inspiring cookbook that sadly seems to be out of print

• 3 pound chicken
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• small bunch of fresh oregano, finely chopped (Basan's recipe calls for cilantro instead)
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt
• 3-4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large onion, grated
• pinch of saffron threads
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger (we used fresh grated ginger instead)
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 1/2 cup cracked green olives
• 2 preserved lemons, rinsed and cut into strips

Rub the cavity of the chicken with garlic, cilantro, lemon juice, and salt.

Mix olive oil, grated onion, saffron, ginger, and pepper on the chicken's skin. Place chicken in a tagine or large flameproof casserole ( I used my trusty Le Creuset dutch oven). Pour the marinating juices over the top, cover, and let the bird marinate for 30 minutes.

TARRAGON CHICKEN SALAD

It's summer time, though you wouldn't know it with this wintry weather we are having here in Berkeley. Regardless of the temperature outside, during the summer season I cannot seem to eat enough salad. Around noon, I peer into the fridge and start to imagine a meal based on what we've got on-hand. Fresh cherries marinated in balsamic with toasted hazelnuts and goat cheese has been a new discovery. Or arugula, hard-boiled egg, and thinly sliced fennel is a standby. And almost any salad with avocado makes me happy.

We often have leftover roast chicken, a prime candidate for salad-making, and this tarragon chicken is one of our favorites. There are a few unexpected ingredients - fennel, shallots, and pine nuts - but otherwise the salad is a classic that always seems to be a crowd pleaser, working as a simple lunch or a great picnic.

Serve salad on a bed of butter lettuce or eat on a sandwich. We devoured ours on homemade gougeres. I'll have that recipe for you next week.


INGREDIENTS

• 1 pound leftover roasted chicken, or chicken breast (with skin and bone removed)
• 1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
• 1/3 cup mayonnaise (please try homemade... it will make you smile)
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1/3 cup finely chopped fennel bulb
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 1/2 tablespoons minced shallot (you could also use red onion)
• 1/3 cup crisp green apple, julienned
• 3 tablespoons fresh tarragon leaves, chopped
• salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
• butter lettuce
• fresh bread or gougere

If you are going to make your own mayo, do so now and set aside.

Lightly toast pine nuts on the stove top. Of course you can roast nuts in the oven, but my mother-in-law converted me to using the stove top. You can keep an eye on the nuts, giving them a shake every few minutes to insure even toasting. When done, set aside.

If you don't have any leftover chicken and are going to cook chicken for this salad, here's what you do. Preheat oven to 350. Take chicken from the fridge. Generously salt meat. Heat an oven-proof skillet on the stove top at medium to medium high heat. Add a couple of tablespoons of butter to the hot pan. Place chicken in the bubbling butter. You don't want the chicken to get really browned, so check that the heat isn't too high. Very lightly sear each side of the chicken. Place the skillet in the oven to finish cooking.  It should come out nice and tender.

While the chicken is cooking, prep the other ingredients. Peel apple and cut into julienne. Mince shallot. Finely chop fennel. Chop tarragon.

Chicken Corn Chowder with Popovers

Otis stayed home from school yesterday and was in need of some mama-style comfort food. I found these faded handwritten recipes stashed away in my recipe box and knew they would be good medicine. My mom used to make this soup for our family and it has always been an old-school favorite of mine: the creaminess of the pureed corn plus the added cream delightfully warms the belly.


CHICKEN CORN CHOWDER

Ingredients

• 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 3 cups corn
  
• 1 large yellow onion
• 6 ribs celery
• 2 large carrots
• 3 medium potatoes
• 1 1/2 quarts chicken broth
• 1 cup cream
• fresh italian parsley

In a stock pot, melt butter over low heat. Add whole chicken breasts and cook covered for 10 minutes, flipping once after 5 minutes. Cut chicken into cubes and set aside.

Dice onions, celery and carrots. Place in the stock pot with the butter used to cook the chicken. Saute over medium heat for 8-10 minutes. (Check out the cute baby celery Otis picked from our garden!)


Put 2 cups of corn in the blender with 1/2 cup of chicken stock. Puree until smooth.


Dice potatoes . I leave the skins on because it is much healthier that way and I don't mind the heartiness they add to the soup.

Add potatoes, chicken, stock, pureed and whole corn to the pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook partially covered for 15 minutes until potatoes are tender.

Add cream and garnish with chopped parsley. Grind fresh pepper over the top and add salt to taste.

Eat with popovers. Yum!!!

Serves 8



POPOVERS

I have always loved popovers. What is not to like? Have one to sop up your soup and another slathered with jam and butter for dessert!

Ingredients

• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup sifted all purpose flour (gluten-free folks, try Pamela's bread mix)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt ( no need to add if you use Pamela's)
  
• 1 teaspoon safflower oil

Preheat oven to 450.

In blender mix eggs and milk until blended. Then add salt and flour and blend for 90 seconds. Add oil and blend for another 30 seconds.


Grease muffin or popover tin. Fill half way with batter. Bake at 450 for 15 minutes. Reduce to 350 and cook another 20-30 minutes. Don't open the oven door until the last 5 minutes of cooking. Popovers should be a rich golden brown and crunchy on the outside when done. Let sit for a minute or so before removing.

Serve immediately.

Makes 6 popovers (I usually have to make 2 batches for my gang)

A note to my gluten free compatriots, this is the first time I have used gluten free flour to make this recipe. The insides were a little gooey compared to what I recall from my wheat-eating days. Nonetheless, they were eggy and delicious.

Classic Chicken Soup with Rice

It's Halloween and we are all getting sniffly noses and scratchy throats. Paul kindly made yummy chicken soup for me and the kids to fortify us for a night of serious trick-or-treating.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds chicken breast (bone-in)
• 1 cup yellow onion
• 1 cup celery
• 1 cup carrot
• 1 cup brown rice
• 10 cups chicken broth (see homemade broth recipe below)
• salt

Combine rice with 3 cups of water, and a pinch of salt in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to low. Cook for about 45 minutes until rice is tender, but not mushy.

Poach chicken in a separate pot. Take whole chicken pieces, with bone still attached for flavor, and cover with water. Bring to a simmer and cook about 40 minutes until meat is done. Take chicken off the bone, shred, and set aside.

In the meantime, dice veggies. Put 10 cups of broth in a large stock pot, add veggies, and bring everything to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for about 15 minutes when veggies become tender.

Add cooked rice and shredded chicken to the stockpot; season with salt and fresh ground pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

I feel better already.

Homemade Chicken Broth

Homemade stock is so much tastier, healthier, and cheaper than the store-bought alternative. After we eat a Smoke Alarm Chicken for dinner, P takes the carcass and makes this delicious broth. Sometimes we make a soup right away - otherwise we put the broth in the freezer for later use.

Ingredients

• entire chicken carcass
• 2 stalks celery
• 1 carrot, cut into a few chunks
• 1 small yellow onion, quartered
• 2 bay leaves
• small handful black peppercorns
• several sprigs parsley, thyme, rosemary and oregano

Place chicken bones in a large stock pot. Cover with water (about 14 cups). Add celery stalks, carrot, onion, bay leaves, peppercorn and herbs (tied into a bundle with cooking twine).

Bring pot to a boil . Cover, reduce heat to low, and cook overnight.

The next morning, thoroughly strain broth. Salt to taste.

Carpinteria Chicken Salad

There are a million ways to do a leftover chicken salad. I like to have all the elements in separate bowls so everyone can customize to his/her taste. Even kids like this one, because they can pick and choose.

Here are the ingredients...

Leftover grilled or roasted chicken, shredded
Arugula
Fennel, julienned
Fennel tops
Radishes thinly sliced
Chevre
Toasted walnuts
Simple vinaigrette

This salad was a big hit.

Smoke-Alarm Chicken

This recipe comes from Judy Rodgers and The Zuni Cafe Cookbook. I gave it this odd title because every time I make it, one of our smoke alarms goes off (it's the high heat that does it).

Take a whole chicken and salt it up the day before you are going to cook. This is all the prep you do on the bird--no butter or herbs here.

On the big day, preheat your oven to 475. Before placing chicken in the oven, preheat a cast iron pan on medium-high heat. Put your chicken in the hot pan, breast up, place in hot oven and set the timer for about 30 minutes. ( The timing depends on the bird's size. If you've got a super-bird that weighs in at 7 lbs, you may need to add five minutes to each section; if you've got a 3 1/2 lb. Hoffman, you should subtract 5 minutes.)

When your timer dings, quickly take out the bird and flip it.

Set the timer again, for 20 minutes. When that's up, flip the bird back, and set it for another 10.
When that timer dings, you are done. You never change the temperature, and you do not need to baste or stuff or anything.

Here's the option the photo explored: When you pull out the chicken, pick up the bird and pour out much of the drippings. Throw a few handfuls of greens--mustard greens, broccoli raab, arugula--into the pan to wilt. Serve with your bird.

Let the bird rest for about 10 minutes, then carve it up and eat.

Crispy deliciousness.