chicken en papillote {ffwd}
I was seriously challenged by this week’s recipe for French Fridays with Dorie: Curried Chicken, Peppers, and Peas en Papillote. It’s not that I didn’t think I’d like it. It’s that, first of all, I have a kitchen overflowing with fresh produce from my farm share. This week we picked up 10 POUNDS of tomatoes, yes, that’s 10 pounds, and I’d just finished up last week’s 6 pounds. That’s in addition to 3 pounds of potatoes, another 10 cucumbers, another 7 items plus a slew of pick-your-own. Clearly, it’s the peak of the summer harvest season. And I won’t even mention the vegetables from last week that I haven’t quite used up… The second thing is that Howard isn’t wild about the flavor of curry. So, it was hard to get my head around making a dinner of chicken steamed in foil packets with peas (not in season fresh, and how can I buy frozen vegetables with all the fresh ones in the house?).
What to do? Well, I channeled my inner Cher and decided not to follow directions. I had a red onion and a red pepper on hand, so all set there. I liked the idea of the green peas, so I sliced up some cooked green beans into pea-sized slices for color. What else would go with those? I decided to add a handful of halved cherry tomatoes and some Kalamata olives. Given the landscape of these ingredients, I substituted crumbed herbes de Provence instead of curry powder. Et voila! I think I’ll call it chicken provençal en papillote.
I have 8 bell peppers that I plan to stuff tomorrow, so I made a double batch of this rice pilaf using pistachios and adding some diced red and purple peppers, using some of it as tonight’s side. The rice was quite moist, so it will make a good stuffing in addition to an excellent side.
We’ve made a few other recipes from AMFT en papillote. I always forget what a great technique this is. The only thing is that I think one big packet would be fine. I didn’t plan on presenting each diner with their own packet and ended up combining both packets into one bowl for serving. Even though I halved the recipe, we still had plenty of leftovers, so for us, the serving size in the recipe was on the large size.
If you make up the packet(s) in advance, as I did, dinner is a snap. Just remove the packets from the fridge and let them bake while you make the accompaniments. And now that I’ve successfully modified it, I hope to remember to use this method again and again.
To see what the other Doristas did with their chicken, check their links here. The original recipe can be found in in Dorie Greenspan’s book Around My French Table.
mushrooms with cabbage and nuts {ffwd}
This week’s recipe for French Fridays with Dorie is actually for chanterelles with napa and nuts. Until last September, I’d never eaten chanterelle mushrooms. When I went to Seattle for IFBC last year, I visited with an old friend the day before the conference started. For dinner, her husband treated us to risotto made with chanterelles that he had foraged himself! I also sampled chanterelles during a couple of restaurant meals I had in Seattle that week.
Chanterelles foraged by Rich
That was mid-September, so in the last week of August, I suspect the season is not quite upon us yet, which is why I had trouble finding them. I had some sourcing challenges with the mushrooms. I went to 4 different stores, and the best I could come up with was a package of “gourmet medley mushrooms”, which consisted of sliced shiitake, oyster, and cremini mushrooms.
Also, I had half of a pedestrian green cabbage in the crisper drawer waiting to be used up, so I used it instead of buying a giant head of Napa cabbage. The recipe only uses a third of a cup, and this avoided also having to figure out how to use up the rest of that cabbage too.
(BTW, if you are looking for ideas for your Napa cabbage, check out this page. This summer, I’m leading the charge on the weekly CSA newsletter for my local community farm, and, together with another volunteer, we collect recipe links for each week’s featured vegetable. Pop up one level to see all the vegetables. It’s been a fun summer project. We’re in week 12 of 20.)
Regardless of which species I used, this was a delicious way to prepare mushrooms. It starts with sautéing shallots (and I added half of a garlic clove because I was making something else at the same time that used the other half, and who doesn’t love garlic with mushrooms). Then the mushrooms are added. Some beef bouillon spiked with soy sauce provides the cooking liquid and some deeper flavors. Finally, finely shredded cabbage is stirred in. Once the cabbage wilts, the mushrooms are tossed with fresh chopped parsley and toasted hazelnuts. Voila! (It looks like I was so excited about the mushrooms that I forgot to take a picture of the finished dish…)
The recipe was meant as an appetizer, but I served it as a side along with the caramelized carrots I made for the Cottage Cooking Club and Gerard’s mustard tart made with tomatoes. The mushrooms were a hit at my house, and I will definitely make them again, whether I ever find chanterelles or not.
Gerard’s Mustard Tart with Tomatoes
We don’t post the recipes, but you can find it in Dorie Greenspan’s book Around My French Table. To see what other Doristas thought of this recipe, check out their posts here.
For my U.S. and Canadian friends, I hope you have an excellent long weekend! See you next week.
A Plateful of Happiness 