You Can't Cry Over Rotten Chicken

I've been awaiting tonight's dinner (Zereshk Polo va Morgh- Barberry Rice with Chicken) for days now! I love the sweet and sour taste of the barberries and the saffron sprinkled rice. And I especially love it with onion braised chicken.
Which is why I was SO disappointed when I opened my package of chicken thighs this afternoon and almost keeled over. The chicken smelled worse than the chemistry lab in high school. I can STILL smell the horrid scent of rotten eggs. BLECH.

So now what do we do for dinner? Spaghetti? Nope. Pizza? Had it last night. Chinese? Nah. Go to bed hungry? Bite your tongue!! With this thought, I went online and found a recommendation from my buddy Krista. She had posted a recipe for a Steak and Egg Panini.

Yup, you heard me right. Steak and egg panini. Thin slices of medium rare rib eye steak topped with buttery soft scrambled eggs and covered in mozzarella. Oh my gravy!! We immediately set out to buy, cook and slice up the steak. We made soft scrambled eggs and then panini'd the whole thing.

The original recipe is from the Williams-Sonoma Kitchen and serves 6. I adjusted it for the Madanipour-Schumacher Kitchen and now it serves 2.

Ingredients:
1 small rib-eye steak, about 8 oz.
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
3 eggs
a splash of milk, cream or half and half
1 Tbs. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 Tbs. unsalted butter, melted
4 slices sourdough bread
2 slices mozzarella cheese

Directions:
1. Preheat an electric panini press

2. Season the steak with salt and pepper.

3. Place the steaks on the panini press. Close the lid and cook for 3 to 5 minutes for medium-rare.

4. Transfer the steak to a cutting board, cover loosely with aluminum foil and let rest.

5. In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, parsley, salt and pepper.

6. In a nonstick fry pan over medium heat, warm 1 Tbs. of the melted butter. Add the egg mixture and, using a silicone spatula, stir frequently until soft curds form, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the scrambled eggs from the heat.

7. Cut the steaks into strips.

8. Brush one side of each bread slice with the remaining 1 Tbs. melted butter. Lay 2 slices, buttered side down, on panini grill, and arrange 1/2 the steak slices on each one. Top each with 1/2 the scrambled eggs and 1 cheese slice. Top with another bread slice, buttered side up. 9. Place sandwiches on the panini press and close the lid. Cook until the sandwiches are nicely grill-marked and the cheese has melted.

Do You Fondue Do?

A couple of nights ago I saw a commercial on TV for the Melting Pot, a fondue restaurant chain that will be opening at a new location in the next few months. Well, this got my appetite rolling for an easy and cheesey fondue. I didn't really want to go out and buy pounds of pricey Gruyere and Emmental cheese. So I asked around and my friend Ren suggested a beer and cheddar fondue. It's basically extra extra sharp cheddar and beer! You get a lovely, melty pot of goodness! We served it with crusty french bread, steamed potatoes, cauliflower, broccoli and cooked steak.

Thanks Ren!


Ren's Cheddar Fondue

Ingredients:
1/2 to 3/4 a bottle of beer, lager or ale (I used Stella)
1 pound extra extra-sharp cheddar, shredded and tossed with 2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 or 2 dashes of Worcestershire sauce
1 or 2 dashes of hot sauce

Directions:
1. Bring beer to a simmer in fondue pan (thanks Gelareh & Ali!!).
2. Gradually stir in the cheddar/flour mixture in batches and stirring CONSTANTLY.
3. Stir in the mustard and Worcestershire and hot sauce.
4. Dip and eat!!

Farm Fresh Dinner

One of my favorite things about summer is the abundance of fresh produce that is available. On Tuesdays and Fridays there is a wonderful farmer's market held in Copley Square. Local farms from all over Massachusetts get together and sell everything from fresh cut flowers and herbs to freshly baked bread and just picked strawberries.

I stopped at this farmer's market today on my lunch break. The smell of just picked strawberries was intoxicating. I could smell it as far away as Berkley Street! But alas, I did not get any strawberries. Instead I picked up some baby beets, buttercrisp lettuce, arugula, an organic tomato (wahoo!), goat cheese and some fragrant basil.

For dinner, I decided to make a composed salad of roasted baby beets, buttercrisp lettuce, caramelized onions and goat cheese.

We also had veal schnitzel and creamy, dreamy polenta.

The polenta is a variation on a Mario Batali recipe.

Creamy Dreamy Polenta
2 1/2 cups of water

1 cup of quick cooking polenta (stone ground cornmeal)

1/4 cup of basil, cut into thin strips

1/4 to 1/2 cup of mascarpone

Pinch of salt and pepper

1. Bring water to boil in a med. saucepan over Med. heat

2. Add polenta and stir continously (DO NOT STIR VIGOROUSLY OR YOU WILL GET SPLATTERED!) for 10 min. or till thickened.

3. Turn off heat

4. Stir in mascarpone, salt, pepper and basil.

I have to say (and I think Erich would agree) this was one of the most wonderful meals I have created.

Baghali Polo va Morgh aka Lima Bean Rice with Chicken

Baghali Polo is my all time favorite Persian rice dish. It's not all that hard to make and is as comforting as chicken soup.
This dish is traditionally made by cooking the rice and chicken separately (it's how I usually make it as well). One night, I was feeling rather rebellious and decided to change things up a bit. The following is the outcome of my rebelliousness.

Serves 2

Ingredients:
1 cup of rice (long grain NOT converted or instant)
3 cups of water
1/2 box baby lima beans
1/2 cup dried or 1 cup chopped fresh dill
1 med. onion, sliced into half moons
2 T. olive oil
2 bone-in skin off chicken breasts
salt/pepper to taste

Directions:
1. In large skillet saute onion in olive oil till soft.

2. Add chicken and cook till golden brown on 1 side. Remove chicken to a plate and cover with foil.

3. Add water, rice, lima beans, dill, salt and pepper to onion in skillet and stir well.

4. Bring to simmer and put chicken on top of rice mixture.

5. Lower heat to med. low and cover.

6. Let simmer for 45min. or till rice and chicken are cooked.

7. Serve with plain yogurt and Enjoy!!

Persian Raisin Cookies

Raisin cookies (Noon Keeshmeeshy) are traditionally made for the Persian New Year (first day of spring), although they can be enjoyed any time. They are incredibly easy to make and even easier to eat :)

Please note that this is NOT my recipe. It came from New Food of Life by Najmieh Batmanglij .

Makes about 90 cookies

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 8-10 minutes

Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter softened to room temp (VERY IMPORTANT)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 3/4 cups sugar

4 eggs

2 cups raisins (you could also use dried cranberries)
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Put wax or parchment paper on a cookie sheet.

3. Mix softened butter, vanilla, and sugar in a large mixing bowl.

4. Add eggs one at a time.

5 Fold in flour till a soft dough forms.

6. Drop teaspoonfuls of batter on the wax paper, leaving about 2-3 inches between each cookie.
7. Place 3 or 4 raisins onto each cookie (you can also add the raisins to the batter and mix well).
8. Place the cookie sheet in the center of the oven and bake about 10 to 15 minutes, or until slightly golden. (My oven is super hot so it takes about 8-10 min.)
9. Remove the cookies from the oven and allow them to cool.

Enjoy!!

Sumac Chicken with Roasted Bread Salad

I got this recipe from the chow.com website and made some minor adjustments. It was pretty easy to put together because I had all the ingredients in my pantry and fridge.

My Recipe (adjusted from the chow.com recipe)

1 lb. chicken thighs (bone in and skin on)
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons sumac

Olive oil
1 large red onion, sliced thinly into half moons
3 minced/chopped garlic cloves
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
4 or 5 slices of THICK country bread, preferably day old

1/2 of a hothouse cucumber, cut into chunks

1 large tomato, cut into chunks
1/2 cup of chopped kalmara olives (pitted!!)
Juice of 1 lemon
1/3 cup of crumbled feta.

Instructions:

1. In a small bowl mix 2 T. olive oil, sumac, pinch of salt and pepper.
2. Rub sumac paste onto chicken and let sit in fridge for 2-3 hours.

3. Preheat oven to 350

4. Saute onion with a bit of olive oil in a large oven proof skillet. Add salt and let saute till soft. Add garlic and chopped parsely and let cook for 1-2 min. Pour mixture into a large bowl, add bread and toss to mix.

5. Butter or oil a large casserole dish and lay bread in bottom (try to make it into a single layer if possible). Lay chicken on top and roast for 1 hour (or more OR less depending on the size of your thighs).

6. When chicken is cooked, remove to a plate and cover with foil.

7. Toss toasted bread and juices into a bowl and let cool for a few minutes. Add the tomato, olives, cucumber, lemon juice and salt/pepper.

8. Pour bread salad onto a platter and top with chicken and feta crumbles. ENJOY!!

Rodizio Steakhouse

Meat. Grilled and juicy, carved and served table side. What's not to love? A few weeks ago my husband and I as well as two friends visited Rodizio Steakhouse in North Providence to fill our tummies with delicious meat and lots and lots of sides. Rodizio Steakhouse is a Brazilian churrasqueira with an Italian influence. They offered everything from salami, proscuitto, snail salad, chunks of nutty parmesan cheese and marinated mushrooms, artichokes and garlic to tasty brazilian favorites.



My appetizer/side dishes (round 1!)



The available sauces/dippers. They offered ketchup, something that tased like tartar sauce, aioli, cilantro and vinegar (delish!!), and barbeque sauce. An eclectic combo to say the least!

Yummy! Grilled sirloin served hot and juicy! We tried at least 10 different kinds of beef, poultry and even grilled and skewered garlic bread!

The best part of our meal! Roasted and skewered pineapple. The pineapple was covered in cinnamon sugar and then roasted till it was crispy crunchy like top of a creme brulee. It was to DIE FOR!!