French Fridays with Dorie: Cinnamon-Crunch Chicken
French Fridays with Dorie started off September with a bang. I loved the first two recipes. I’ll admit up front that I wasn’t all that excited about this one: Cinnamon-Crunch Chicken, but I’ve learned to trust Dorie to be surprising, so I didn’t sit out this week and gave it a try.
It turned out that this recipe couldn’t have been simpler for a weeknight meal. First, you crush some cookies, LU Cinnamon Sugar Spice, which I love to snack on. You stir the cookies into crème fraiche, and set the sauce aside.
Then, you sauté strips of chicken in olive oil until they are cooked through and nicely browned. The recipe called for chicken breasts, but we’re more of a dark-meat household, so I used boneless thighs instead. Finally, you add the sauce to the pan, heat it to a boil, and let it bubble for a minute or so. Voila! That’s it!
I served the chicken over Dorie’s cardamom rice pilaf with a light green salad. Preparing the entire meal took less than half an hour from start to finish.
What was the verdict? It was mixed. I started with low expectations, but it was more interesting than I thought it would be. I liked the contrast of the tangy crème fraiche with the sweet cookies. While I’ve used crème fraiche in room temperature dishes before, I’ve never heated it up. As promised, it didn’t curdle, and the end result was a thick and creamy sauce. A little big of magic.
On the other hand, Howard said “I don’t think I like cinnamon in my dinner”. He ate it for dinner and took leftovers for lunch, but wasn’t a big fan. It was definitely worth a try, but probably won’t make it again.
On the up side, the recipe only used two cookies, so I get to munch on the rest of the box.
We don’t share the recipes, but you can find in Dorie Greenspan’s book Around My French Table. And, even though this wasn’t a favorite, I will still enjoy checking out what my fellow FFwD bloggers thought about the week’s recipe. They are a creative bunch. You can find their links at French Fridays with Dorie.
This weekend, I’m excited to be trying out Dorie’s new iPad “Baking with Dorie” app. I haven’t tried cooking with a computer tool at hand before. It’s actually Howard’s iPad, but if he likes what I choose to make, he’ll share. I’m not sure which recipe I’ll try first, but I’m thinking maybe the Peanut Butter Torte.
Other weekend plans include enjoying the “A Taste of Greece” festival at St. Nicholas, the local Greek Orthodox church, tonight. I look forward to the homemade food, and especially the desserts, every year. On Saturday, Howard and I will share a special dinner out to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary, which was yesterday. 19 happy years (the first one didn’t count) and many more to come!
What’s that Nip in the Air?
Wilson Farm Gets Ready for Fall
Fall doesn’t officially start for another week or so. How does the weather just know? I know, I know. Its nature, and there’s a cycle to the seasons. But as soon as Labor Day weekend is over, there is a noticeable nip in the air that says “summer’s coming to an end”.
The arrival of apples at the farm stands and farmers market says it too. We picked up a bag of Red Gravenstein apples. These are tart and sweet, good for cooking and eating. It’s one of the old-fashioned apples that you don’t see much anymore. Gravensteins are a particular variety that my father remembers from his own childhood, not from some bucolic farm experience, but something his produce seller father (my grandfather) used to bring home in late summer. My dad’s memories of these apples are strong, and he has (mostly unsuccessfully) sought them out. I’ve been slightly more successful. This year, I saw an ad in the local Maine paper, we so stopped by Sweetser’s Apple Barrel and bought a bag.
Closer to home, as of last week, the caramel apples at Wilson Farm are in. These are my fall indulgence. Who can resist a juicy, crisp apple enrobed in caramel and then rolled in chopped peanuts? I know I can’t. I limit myself to one a week, and I savor it by cutting it into quarters and eating it over several days. So, so good!
As the end of summer rapidly approaches, we are making the most of the corn and tomatoes, and the grill. We are a “charcoal” house, so once the weather gets cold, outdoor cooking ends until spring. It’s just too hard to keep the fire going when you’re fighting with the weather. We talk about getting a gas grill to use in the winter, but never seem to justify it. There is still another month or so to grill outside, but the days are numbered.
Howard grilled a top round steak from Chestnut Farm. It was a little chewy, not the most tender cut of meat, but tasty. It was a big steak, too big for one meal. With the leftovers, I made this Latin-flavored salad that we always enjoy.
Latin-Flavored Steak Salad
Serves 4
Adapted from The Thrill of the Grill by Chris Schlesinger and John Willoughby
1 – 2 cups (or more) diced leftover steak, ½-inch cubes
½ cup diced red onion
5 – 6 scallions, sliced thin
1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced
10 – 12 radishes, halved, then sliced thin
1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed well
¼ cup chopped cilantro
¼ cup olive oil
¼ cup lime juice
2 – 3 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp cumin
1 Tbsp chili powder
½ Tbsp Tabasco
Place steak, onions, scallions, peppers, radishes, black beans, and cilantro in a large bowl.
In a jar, make the dressing by combining olive oil, lime juice, garlic, cumin, chili powder, and Tabasco. Shake it until combined well.
Pour the dressing over the ingredients in the bowl and toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
A Plateful of Happiness 