Guest Post at La Cucina Prima Donna: Chicken Marsala

Chicken Marsala

My second dish this month is another guest post. This time, I have prepared a dish for Carolina of La Cucina Prima Donna. Carolina is an Italian opera singer residing in New York and was even featured in a New York Daily News article. Carolina wrires about Italian dishes, restaurant reviews, and finding Italian ingredients and stories of her trips to Italy. Please 'Like' her facebook page.

When I volunteered to write a guest post for Carolina, her only requirement was to profile an Italian dish. I reviewed the dishes she'd prepared already and noticed she had not profiled a staple that has made it onto countless Italian casual dining chains here in the United States. Regular readers will be familiar with my disdain for these types of restaurants, so I couldn't pass up the opportunity to improve upon it at home.

If you want the recipe, then head over to La Cucina Prima Donna now. Then come back for an altered method.

Here, I'll wait....

So after I prepared this dish, I was discussing it with a friend of mine, Chef Robert Dasalla of Little Chef Counter, because I wanted to consolidate the preparation to just a single pan. First, I wanted to make clean-up easier but more importantly, I was concerned the flavors wouldn't blend with each other properly if the mushrooms were sautéed in a separate pan, not to mention the loss of any fond. He recommends rendering the pancetta after removing the seared chicken in the same pan, then sautéing the shallots and mushrooms with the pancetta after it has rendered. Deglaze with the marsala then add in the stock and bring to a simmer. Add back the chicken, cover and reduce heat to low for 30 minutes. Remove the chicken from the pan and then stir in some butter and mascarpone and simmer to thicken the sauce. Spoon sauce over chicken and serve immediately.

On a personal note, this may or may not be my last dish I profile this month because I am in the process of moving to a different apartment (i.e. cheaper rent) so, in the meantime, I'll leave you with a preview of where I'll be preparing future stunts. Hopefully my kitchen will remain this clean...

Guest Post at Cravings of a Lunatic: Homemade Granola

Homemade Granola

For those reading this in the United States, I hope you had a great Labor Day weekend. Today, I'm guest posting at Cravings of a Lunatic. The author is the lovely Kim Bee. If you are unfamiliar with her, I STRONGLY suggest to regularly visit her blog. I follow many food blogs because I enjoy the author's dishes, have interacted with the person in the past and are friendly, and/or I can learn something from them. Kim meets all three of these qualifications but I follow her for one other reason that I cannot say of any other food blogger: I read Kim's blog to be entertained. She is hilarious. So when she made the request for some guest posters on her site during her absence, I just had to volunteer.

The Challenge

Successfully represnt myself on someone else's website while living up to the reasons why I follow other blogs.

The Source, Ingredients, & Method...

...can all be found at Cravings of a Lunatic, so head over there now!

Successful?

I hope so, but for once I cannot evaluate this on my own.

Also, please check out Kim Bee's other guests:

Movita Beaucoup
Hungry Couple
The Girl in the Little Red Kitchen
Strands of My Life
Mama's Blissful Bites
Cooking In Stilettos
Chocolate, Chocolate and more...

and a preview of her future guests:

From Cupcakes to Caviar
Cindy's Recipes and Writings
Crumb: A Food Blog

Grilled Chicken Thighs with Lemon Glaze

Grilled Chicken Thighs with Lemon Glaze

No, I haven't forgotten about you. I've been busy with some other matters lately so I haven't had time to prepare dishes that have been blog worthy, however this recipe is timely, especially if you're grilling chicken this Labor Day weekend. I prepared this for some friends a couple of weeks ago and had some positive feedback so I wanted to share it here.

The Challenge

Successfully grill chicken evenly.

The Source

The grilled chicken method was adapted from pages 439-440 and the lemon glaze was adapted from page 448 of America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook Third Edition: Cookware Rating Edition

Ingredients

2 quarts water
1/2 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
2 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, breasts or drumsticks (I used thighs)
freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (approximately 6 lemons)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tablespoon fresh thyme, minced

Method

1. Prepare your brine: Add the kosher salt and white sugar to the water and whisk to dissolve. Add the chicken pieces and refrigerate for 2 to 4 hours. Remove the chicken from the brine and discard the brine. Dry the chicken pieces with a paper towel and season with freshly ground black pepper.

2. Cook the chicken: Preheat your grill and oil it if necessary. If using a charcoal grill, prepare it for indirect cooking. If using a gas grill, turn the burners down to medium-low. Grill the chicken pieces, skin side down, covered, (on the cooler side with the vents open, if using charcoal) for 20 minutes, or until the skin is crisp and golden. If the skin isn't crisp after 15 minutes, increase the heat to medium and cook for an additional 10 minutes.

3. Prepare the glaze: Whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, garlic and thyme in a small bowl while the chicken cooks over low heat.

4. Finish the chicken: Remove the cover from the grill and increase the heat to medium-high, turn the chicken over and cook (turn and place the chicken over direct heat if using charcoal), uncovered, until the second side is browned and the thickest portion of the chicken has reached the proper temperature (160° Fahrenheit for breasts, 175° Fahrenheit for thighs and drumsticks) 5 to 15 minutes. During the last 5 minutes of cooking, baste the glaze on the chicken.

Successful?

The strategy here is to grill the chicken over low heat in order to render the fat that is naturally in the chicken pieces to avoid flare-ups that can easily burn the skin, leaving raw chicken under it. After this has occurred, the chicken is cooked through to finish.

On a side note, I had the opportunity to meet several other food bloggers that live here in the San Francisco Bay Area recently at Cosecha Cafe in Oakland. In attendance was Rose of Magpie's Recipes, Joanne of Fifteen Spatulas, Gina of SP Cookie Queen, Dianne Jacob, author of Will Write for Food and Grilled Pizzas & Piadinas, and Patty of Patty's Food. Thanks to Joanne, who doesn't live in the area, but was in town visiting and organized the lunch.

From left to Right: Me, Rose, Joanne, Gina, Dianne and Patty. Used with permission from Joanne Ozug.

I don't do restaurant reviews, but I ordered the pork belly tacos which were flavorful and well balanced in flavor.