It’s spring! Supposedly…
It’s kind of hard to believe here in Vermont. There’s still snow and ice on the ground. Hats, gloves, and winter coats are still necessary for outdoor activities. (Which, for me, consist almost exclusively of darting from my apartment to my car and driving to places that are shamefully close to where I live.) I somehow managed to catch a cold or a fever or the plague, or maybe all three, and then reset back to Sickness: Day 1 after celebrating feeling the best I had in days with some wine on Saturday. So it might be spring, but I’m still craving warm, cozy meals, hot tea, and endless amounts of soup.
In all honesty I probably shouldn’t complain too much about this Vermont winter since I’ve barely been around for the last month of it. In mid-February I took off to Tulum with my best friend, and spent a week wearing sundresses, eating tacos, and drinking juices on the beach. It was glorious. And just a couple weeks ago, Eva flew into Burlington, we packed a rental car full of dishes and camera gear and props, and drove out of snowy, icy grossness and into beautiful North Carolina weather for our Asheville workshop on Cold Mountain. It was an amazing weekend filled with food, wine, campfire stories, and an absolutely wonderful group of fellow food and photo nerds. I can’t wait to tell you more and share all my photos from the weekend very soon. In the meantime, check out Eva, Molly, Shelly, and Grace‘s posts!
Eva and I stuck around Asheville for several days to relax and explore, and spent much of that time enjoying “business” lunches and cocktails and dinners as we excitedly planned our upcoming workshops. And I am SO psyched for our next one because, in addition to covering styling, plating, and photography, we’ll also be focusing on cheesemaking! It all takes place over Memorial Day weekend in a cozy, turn-of-the-century saltbox home overlooking Long Pond in Plymouth, MA. There will be lots of great food, learning, and good times to be had. Also, cheese in pretty much everything. And we’ll be joined by Jennifer Farley of Savory Simple! Head on over to the First We Eat event page to learn more and register.
And in case you missed it, Eva and I started a podcast! Subscribe on iTunes, follow along on Facebook, and listen to our first episode all about the crazy history of nutmeg!
And now, back to warming, it-still-feels-like-winter meals. I think this actually might be the first meat recipe I’ve ever posted. I abandoned my vegetarian ways after moving to Vermont, but much of what I make here and for myself in general still tends to be plant-based. I guess old habits die hard. I know vegetables; they are my friends. Meat, however, is still rather foreign to me. In its raw state it’s cold and touching it kind of gives me the hand creeps, and I think about things like salmonella and trichinosis. Most of the time, I leave meat to the professionals and happily eat roasted veggies directly off the roasting pan at home. But every now and then a recipe catches my eye and motivates me to overcome the meat creeps and give it a try myself. This chicken recipe is a recent example of that, and it’s an absolute winner.
Both the chicken and celery root pureé recipes come from David Lebovitz’s My Paris Kitchen, which is my new favorite cookbook. I bought it on a whim last year with several other cookbooks I’d been eyeing, opened it just to take a quick peek when it arrived, and wound up reading it cover to cover the same day. I want to live in that book and make every single thing.
The chicken is coated in dijon mustard and paprika, seared in olive oil and bacon fat, simmered in white wine, then tossed with more mustard, whole grain mustard seeds, and crème fraiche. It’s one of those great one-pot recipes, so a braiser or Dutch oven (like this gorgeous little dark red Staub cocotte from the Food52 shop) works splendidly for searing and cooking the chicken. It smells absurdly delicious while it’s cooking, and tastes just as amazing. (I fed leftovers to my downstairs neighbors after getting an “omg what are you making” text.) The end result is all sorts of tangy and flavorful, and it’s especially great alongside the celery root pureé with a tasty kale salad that perfectly complements and lightens up the rest of the dish. So make it while it’s still a little chilly. Or make it to attract hungry boys with the olfactory equivalent of a siren song. Or make it just because it’s so. darn. good.
Chicken with Mustard
(from My Paris Kitchen)
serves: 4 to 6
1/2 cup plus 3 tbsp Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
3/4 tsp kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
4 chicken thighs + 4 legs
1 cup diced thick-cut bacon
1 small onion, peeled and finely diced
1 tsp fresh thyme (or 1/2 tsp dried)
1 cup white wine
1 tbsp whole mustard seeds or grainy mustard
3 tbsp crème fraîche
chopped parsley or chives, for garnish
In a large bowl mix the 1/2 cup of Dijon mustard together with the smoked paprika, salt, and a few generous grinds of fresh black pepper. Toss the chicken in the mustard mixture, rubbing some underneath the skin as well.
Heat a large skillet or a Dutch oven over medium-high heat and the bacon. Cook until the bacon is cooked through and beginning to brown. Remove from the pan and drain on a paper towel. Discard all but approximately 1 tbsp of bacon fat from the pan. Add the onion and cook until soft and translucent, around 5 minutes. Add the thyme and cook for a few more minutes, then transfer the cooked onion to a bowl.
Return the pan to the heat and add a little bit of olive oil, if necessary. Place the chicken pieces in the pan in a single layer. (Cook them in two batches if they don’t all fit.) Cook over medium-high heat until nicely browned on one side, then flip and brown them on the other.
Transfer the chicken to the bowl with the onions. Add the wine to the pan and scrape up all the browned bits at the bottom. Return the chicken, onions, and bacon to the pan. Cover and cook over low to medium heat, turning the chicken a few times, until the chicken is cooked through—around 15 minutes.
Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the remaining Dijon mustard, mustard seeds, and crème fraîche. If the sauce seems rather thick, add a little warm water to thin it out. Garnish with parsley or chives and serve.
Celery Root Pureé
(from My Paris Kitchen)
serves: 4 to 6
2 cups whole milk
2 cups chicken or vegetable stock (or water/more milk)
1 bay leaf
1 tsp kosher salt
1 1/2 lbs celery root
1 10 oz. potato
1 clove of garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
3 tbsp salted butter, room temp
freshly ground pepper
Warm milk, stock, bay leaf, and salt in a large saucepan over low heat.
Peel the celery root and cut into 3/4-inch cubes. Do the same with the potato. Add the celery root, potato, and garlic to the pan of warm milk. Bring just to a boil, the reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook until the celery root is tender—approximately 30–40 minutes.
Ladle the celery root and potato into the bowl of a food processor and puree until very smooth. Stir in the butter and add a bit of the cooking liquid* if it’s too thick. Season with freshly ground pepper and more salt, to taste.
*Save the cooking liquid and use it for something else, like a soup base!
Kale, Apple, & Candied Hazelnut Salad
(barely adapted from Food52)
3 tbsp water
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup peeled hazelnuts (I prefer this method)
1/2 tsp coarse salt
2 cups curly kale, torn into small pieces
3 cups mustard greens, torn into small pieces
2 scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp rice vinegar
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
1 tart apple
1/4 cup shaved parmesan or pecorino romano cheese
Place parchment paper or a silpat mat on a baking sheet. Combine water and sugar in a pan over medium-high heat. Bring to a simmer and cook for about 4 minutes, swirling occasionally, until the mixture begins to turns an even golden color. Add the hazelnuts and salt, stir to coat, and then scrape out onto the baking sheet. Using two forks, work quickly to separate the hazelnuts as much as possible before the sugar hardens. Let cool, then break apart. Reserve 1/3 cup for the salad, and save the rest for other purposes.
Combine kale, mustard greens, scallions, olive oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Mix well to evenly distribute the dressing. Core and slice the apple and add it to the greens. Top with hazelnuts and cheese.