In/Out

I love eating in. And if you’re here, you probably like eating in, too.

But, I really only like eating dinner in. I’m not one of those people that enjoys rolling out of bed and brewing a pot of coffee while poaching eggs and toasting bread. Nope. And I’m not into crafting composed salads and delicate sandwiches for lunch either. Uhuh. That, my friends, is why god created restaurants!

The weekends are our time to explore all the culinary goodness New York City has to offer. Recently I’ve lunched on a Hangtown Fry at Stone Park Cafe, the most succulent and tender ginger-slicked cuttlefish at Lucky Eight, cheese bureks at Djerdan, thin, pliable waffles with salty butter and lingonberry jelly at Nordic Delicacies, kimchi-filled dumplings at Mandoo Bar, avgolemono and halloumi, cucumber soup and sauerkraut salad and mahogany-lacquered squid tentacles.

Our weekend lunches are often the highlight of my week. We’ll plan entire outings around them. But this world of food at our feet can sometimes cause trouble.

It is exceedingly rare that we both wake up craving the same food. And so a gentle negotiation must take place. Sometimes feelings get hurt or toes get stepped on, but the belly always wins, because no matter who’s cuisine reigns supreme, lunch is always delicious.

And so, on Sunday, when I woke up with a serious culinary itch that needed scratching, it was nice to realize that very little cajoling would be necessary to get Isaac to accompany me to Miriam in Park Slope for crispy dough, shakshuka and labneh. It must have been this ridiculous, hilarious short film full of silly songs about hummus we watched the night before that put the idea in my head. Israeli food is so good.

The problem is, it seems that all of Brooklyn has come to this conclusion as well. The place was packed. You couldn’t have wedged another body or Bugaboo in there. I was gutted. My head was stuffy and I had acquired a wicked, hacking cough somewhere and all I could think about was their addictive, mysteriously green harissa. But it was obvious it wasn’t meant to be. So we walked out, sadly, and wandered down the block for seriously mediocre “Mexican” food.

But all was not lost. After a stop at Bierkraft for cheese and beer, we went home, where Isaac made chicken stock from the chicken carcass I had pot-roasted the night before while I convalesced on the couch. He had gone to the store and picked up jalapenos, cilantro and limes. He was planning to use them to flavor the strained stock to make a Mexican chicken soup.

But, that’s what I’d had for lunch. Granted, it was impressively mediocre, but still, I was craving something with intense flavors, so I suggested he use them to make a bastardized pistou. That way we could each flavor our bowl to an appropriate degree and the flavors would be fresh and punchy.

So he did, and it was wonderful; a spicy, tart, zingy cross between salsa verde and Miriam’s fiery harissa. It was just what the doctor ordered and completely erased our unfortunate lunch from my memory.

There’s a multitude of reasons I prefer eating dinner at home. No need to make reservations, no waiting for an overbooked table at an overcrowded bar, no need to listen to another person’s conversation, no waitrons rushing dessert, but most importantly there’s the chance to make unintended culinary discoveries.

Oh, and the wine is cheaper.

Head below the jump for the recipe for Isaac’s MexiMoroccan Chicken Soup and a bit about Pot-Roasted Chicken.

MexiMoroccan Chicken Soup

prep time: 20 minutes ~ cooking time: 30 minutes

For the Soup:

• Olive Oil
• 1 Onion, sliced
• 3 cloves Garlic, chopped
• 4 cups Homemade Chicken Stock
• 1 Bay Leaf
• leftover Chicken meat
• 2 handfuls Middle Eastern Shaghira pasta or Spanish Fideo pasta or Angel Hair pasta broken into 1 inch lengths
• a large head Spinach, washed and torn into bite-sized pieces

For the pistou:

• a small handful of Cilantro leaves, washed and picked
• 1-2 cloves Garlic, peeled
• Jalapenos, seeded, to taste (we would recommend 2-3)
• Limes
• Olive Oil
• Salt

Heat a small glug of olive oil in a pot over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic and cook until just becoming golden. Turn off the heat, wait until the oil stops sizzling and add the chicken stock. Add the bay leaf and chicken meat, turn the heat back on and bring to a simmer.

While the soup is simmering, place the cilantro, garlic and jalapenos into a small food processor (like the kind that comes with most immersion blenders), add the juice of one lime and some olive oil. Process to a sauce-like consistency and taste. Add more lime juice or olive oil or cilantro or garlic or jalapenos to suit your palate. Keep doing this until you achieve something you love. Season with salt.

Just before eating, add the noodles and spinach to the soup. Simmer until the noodles are tender. Turn off the heat and ladle into bowls. Serve with a lime wedge on the side and the MexiMoroccan pistou to flavor. Enjoy!

A Pot-Roasted Chicken

It’s been over a year since I last talked about this chicken, and that is a shame. I was reminded back in January of how foolproof, easy and delicious this recipe is by Izzy’s Mama. And she’s right, you can tinker with it until the cows come home, and it will always come out just right. And the skin! Oh the skin! So amazing. Burnished and crispy and ever so delicious.

So I’m going to give you the recipe for my latest version of the Perfect Pot-Roasted Chicken in the hopes that if you too have chicken issues, we can sort that out straight away.

prep time: 20 minutes ~ cooking time: 1 hour 35 minutes

• 1 medium Chicken, rinsed
• a dozen Pearl Onions, topped, tailed and peeled
• a dozen cloves of Garlic, peeled and crushed
• 1 Cauliflower, cut into florettes
• fresh Sage, Rosemary and Tarragon, washed
• 3 Lemons, halved
• Dry Vermouth
• Sherry Vinegar
• about 1 tbsp room temperature Butter with a clove or two of pressed Garlic worked into it
• Salt & Pepper
• Olive Oil
• a handful or two of fresh, frozen Pink-Eyed Cow Peas or any other sort of small, delicious bean, so long as they are fresh, not dried
• 2-3 cups frozen Corn (preferably some corn leftover from the summer, cut fresh off the cob)

Heat the oven to 400°F.

Toss the onions, garlic, 4 lemon halves and all the cauliflower into your largest oven-proof dutch oven. Add a few chopped sage leaves and the leaves off of a few sprigs of rosemary. Pour over a very large glug of dry vermouth and a wee dash of sherry vinegar.

Add a handful each of the tarragon, sage, rosemary and one of the lemon halves to the chicken’s cavity. Rub the garlic butter all over the chicken and under the skin if you can. Season very liberally with salt and pepper. Place the chicken into the dutch oven on top of the vegetables. Pour over a glug of olive oil. Put the lid on the dutch oven and transfer to the oven.

Roast, covered for 1 hour.

After an hour, carefully remove the dutch oven from the oven, and then carefully remove the lid from the dutch oven. Scatter the peas or beans around the chicken and stir into the liquid surrounding. Place the dutch oven back into the oven and allow to roast uncovered for 35 minutes or until a knife inserted into the deepest part of the chicken (near the thigh) send only clear juices to the surface (if your chicken is exceptionally large, it may need a few minutes longer).

Turn off the oven and carefully remove the dutch oven to a burner. Remove the chicken and place on a plate to rest. Turn the burner on, bring the remaining liquid to a simmer and add the corn. Cook just until the corn is heated through. Turn off the burner. Carve the chicken and serve over polenta with a spoonful or two of the vegetables. Enjoy!

Advertisement