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ffwd: chicken basquaise
Autumn is here! Fall weather with its crisp mornings and evenings with warm afternoons has always been my favorite. Food cravings change this time of year too. I’m actually tiring of tomatoes and corn and ready for squash and apples. I always think of peppers as a transitional vegetable. While their Mediterranean-ness plant them mentally in summer, they are most plentiful in late summer and early fall. Fortunately for peppers, they complement tomatoes and winter squash equally well.
This week’s recipe for French Fridays with Dorie is about as peppery as you can get. Chicken Basquaise is a satisfying stew from the Basque region of France. Peppers, in the form of a silky piperade, star in this dish.
I would say that piperade is to peppers what stewed tomatoes are to tomatoes. First, sweet onions are sautéed until soft. Then a huge pile of peppers are added to the pan to soften as well. I used a combination of dark green, light green, red, and purple peppers. Finally, some diced plum tomatoes, garlic, and herbs are added to round things out. Everything cooks together for the flavors to meld.
For convenience, I made the piperade the day before I made the final dish. When it was dinner time, I browned the chicken thighs, deglazed the pan with white wine, then added the piperade. The stew simmered while I made rice and a salad.
I’m wondering if the piperade would freeze well. With the sauce already prepared, this was a quick meal to prepare. The piperade doesn’t take that long to make, but doing it all in one shot would be impossible on a weeknight.
Chicken basquaise was a hit. It offered wonderful comfort food for the changing weather. The aroma of the peppers was reminiscent of Italian sausage and peppers, and my husband mentioned that, based on the smell, he was expecting bites of sausage in the dish. There’s an idea for next time.
I’ve also set aside some of the piperade to try as Eggs and Piperade for a breakfast this weekend. Can’t wait to try it!
We don’t post the recipes, but consider getting your own copy of the book, Dorie Greenspan’s book Around My French Table.
To see the other Doristas’ chicken basquaise, follow their links posted here.
Melissa Clark, My New Cookbook Hero
I go through phases where I’m mildly obsessed with a different cookbook author. Rick Bayless and Mark Bittman have held a top place in my affections for the longest stretches at a time. This week, a new author sits comfortable in that seat: Melissa Clark. If you don’t know about Melissa, that needs to change right now. She writes a regular column for the New York Times, but, as a Bostonian, I’m not a daily reader and often forget to check it out on-line on Wednesdays. No worries. Melissa has published two wonderful cookbooks, complete with delightful headnotes or full-blown essays to accompany each recipe.
I made a two winner dinners from her books this week. The first was one of my newest favorites. Melissa’s Mother’s Roasted Chicken on Mustard Croutons, from In the Kitchen with A Good Appetite. This recipe reminds me of Dorie Greenspan’s Roast Chicken for Les Parasseux (Lazy People), but it’s even quicker and easier. Chicken pieces, in my case, thighs and drumsticks, are roasted on top of slices of country bread coated with Dijon mustard. Everything is seasoned with salt and pepper, decorated with thyme springs, bay leaves, and garlic cloves and drizzled with extra virgin olive oil. It only takes 40 minutes in the oven. The best part is the bread cushion that each piece of chicken gets served on. It’s rich with chicken fat and juices mixed with a generous dose of mustard. We love, love, love it!
Each piece of chicken gets its own cushion
On the side, I made Roasted Bagna Cauda Broccoli from Food 52 that was amazing! The blasted broccoli is tossed in a warm Caesar-like sauce. It called for a sprinkling of almonds on top, but I used toasted pinenuts instead.
The other dinner was a slight variation of Braised Pork with Cinnamon, Tomatoes, and Olives from Melissa’s newest book, Cook This Now. This book is organized seasonally, month by month. I jumped a little bit ahead to the March chapter. The recipe called for pork shoulder, but I used boneless country-style ribs, which are from the shoulder end of the loin. As I do with many stews, I used half the meat (one instead of two pounds) and added more vegetables. I would usually double the veggies but this recipe didn’t really have any other than tomatoes and leeks. I threw in an extra leek, and then added two cans of drained and quartered artichoke hearts for the last bit of cooking along with the olives. All the ingredients melded together like old friends. Melissa suggested serving the braise over polenta, but that’s not a favorite at our house. Instead, I served it over barley with carrots and scallions, another recipe from the April chapter of the same book.
Melissa Clark remains my cookbook hero of the month, and the foreseeable future! Both of her books offer many more tempting recipes to try, so stay tuned for my next choice. If you have a favorite from either of these books, please suggest! Or, if you have your own cookbook hero, share! I’m always open to jumping on a different bandwagon.
A Plateful of Happiness 