Normally I steer clear of chicken breasts as they all too often come out dry and boring. I’m a dark meat girl. Give me a hunky juicy thigh and I am in heaven. But I was pleasantly surprised by the tender juiciness of the chicken breasts my aunt made the other night.

As her sous chef I was instructed to do the stuffing. We made a paste with garlic and kosher salt and had a pile of fresh fragrant cilantro. I sliced the breasts almost through and liberally stuffed them with the garlic paste and freshly chopped cilantro (you could also substitute Italian parsley or basil if you aren’t a cilantro fan). Then we pan fried them in a bit of olive oil. To finish them off we squeezed fresh lemon juice on top and sprinkled on some lemon zest.

Easy. Delicious. And, yes, they were juicy! Dark meat girl was sold.

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The sun poked its orange face out for about 15 minutes the other day as if to remind us here in Seattle that it is, indeed, Spring. The pollinating trees, unfortunately, have already been doing a fine job of reminding many of us, as can be seen in our runny noses and red glazed-over eyes. But that brief little sunny moment (quickly followed by rain – ah, life in Seattle) inspired me to make a dish that brings color to a cloudy day.

Ratatouille.

Ratatouille is a French Provençal dish comprised mainly of tomatoes, but also includes eggplant, zucchini, bell peppers, garlic, onions and herbs. It’s not a quick-fix meal, as it needs to stew for at least two hours, but it is well worth the wait.

This is a gorgeous veggie-packed dish that’s excellent as a main course or as a side, and gets even better the next day! We sliced the vegetables thinly on a mandoline, but you can rough chop them for a more rustic version. I prefer to use Japanese eggplant, in lieu of the larger variety, as I find it less acidic. I also find that caramelizing the onions adds a wonderfully sweet flavor to the dish.

See the recipe here:

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What kind of food lover am I?! I completely missed Chinese New Year this year!  Next year I swear I’ll do better (and it’s on Valentine’s Day, so I know I won’t miss it). I had these wonderfully grandiose plans to create an exotic multi-course meal, each dish symbolic and auspicious and all that good stuff. But alas, we’d just returned from the Sundance Film Festival with nasty colds and, unable to taste nary a thing, we wanted nothing but chicken soup for days.

So in order to pay homage to any deities that I may have scorned during the celebrations I thought I would whip up some semblance of a respectful noodle dish. Let me preface by saying I know nothing-nada-niente about Chinese cooking. I am, as the expression goes, whiter than white on rice. I will unabashedly admit that for a layman I am somewhat brilliant when it comes to Japanese fare, but Chinese – nope, not at all. So if you’re Chinese please keep that in mind and forgive my feeble attempts at your lovely cuisine. Let’s call it Fusion Chinese or something to save face.

Jaden from Steamy Kitchen (one of my most fave blogs) inspired me to make noodles, a symbol of long life, with her Garlic Scallion Noodles dish. I grabbed what I had on hand in my fridge and threw together this tasty dish.  I sauteed a bunch of crushed garlic and ginger, then tossed in the vegetable noodles. I added a bit of oyster and hoisin sauce and a splash of toasted sesame oil. In a separate skillet I sauteed the snow peas, then the prawns. I made a little nest of the noodles, lined it with the snow peas and laid the prawns on top. I garnished the dish with a bit of black sesame seeds and we were ready to eat!

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The mild flavor of shark is a good foil for robust seasonings. Here we have used garlic, lemon and cracked pepper in copious amounts as we love all three. Quick cooking methods such as grilling or broiling are recommended to avoid overcooking which turns shark to shoe leather in no time.

It’s never a bad idea to keep a close eye on any shark, in or out of the oven!

Shark with Lemon, Pepper, and Garlic

Ingredients:
1 lb shark steak or fillet, serves 2-3
2-3 large garlic cloves, put through a press or chopped fine
1 /2  t cracked pepper, or to your taste
I T olive oil or lemon infused olive oil
Juice of half a lemon, fresh squeezed

Preparation:
Preheat broiler to HIGH setting
Prepare both sides of fish as follows:
Brush with oil or flavored oil
Add the garlic and pepper, spreading evenly and pressing in to adhere
Sprinkle with lemon juice

Place on broiler pan and set at least 6″ from the heat source to avoid burning. The garlic will burn quite easily if the heat is too high. Brush with more oil and/or lower heat to LOW broil setting if the color is getting too dark.
Cooking time will vary based on the temperature and thickness of the fish.

Serve with fresh lemon wedges and enjoy.

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Gremolata is a traditional accompaniment to Osso Buco, an Italian dish of braised veal shank. It is simply made of chopped parsley, lemon peel and garlic, which makes it divine on all kinds of meats, poultry, and seafood. Personally, I could put it on top of a good toasted bread and be just fine.

I made a batch of gremolata the other night to go on top of our delicious red wine stewed oxtail. It adds the perfect blend of herb-citrus-lemon flavors to a hearty meat dish.

Gremolata

1 lemon
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

Using a vegetable peeler, remove the lemon peel in long strips, then mince the peel. Transfer to small bowl and mix in parsley and garlic.

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Photo: FranUolla

This recipe for quinoa is one of the best I’ve ever made.  It’s easy and rich – substantial enough to stand up to a steak dinner but still delicate enough to be served with fish.  Give this a try.

Ingredients:

1. Quinoa
2. Chicken Broth: homemade is best though I do use Swanson’s when I don’t have any of my own.
3. Shallots
4. Garlic
5. Dukka (see link to recipe below)
6. Salt & Pepper
7. Mushrooms: I used shitake, but any will do.  A blend is also nice.
8. Butter
9. Herbs/Garnish: green onion, chives, parsley

Technique:

1. Melt a tablespoon or so of butter and saute 4 tablespoons of minced shallots.  Add 1/2-1 teaspoon of garlic, to taste, and saute until soft.  Add quinoa and saute until toasted.  Add sliced mushroom.
2. The key to this recipe is the change I made to the proportions.  Ordinarily, the ratio of liquid to quinoa is 2:1.  Here, I used 4 or 5:1.  I added the liquid to the mixture and boiled it down in an open pot – essentially reducing the broth while providing enough liquid to completely cook the quinoa.  Quinoa is cooked when the grain has become fluffy looking with a neat little curl of the husk still visible.  I find quinoa one of the most beautiful of grains and love its soft and slightly chewy texture.
3. When the quinoa is cooked, add 1-2 tablespoons of Dukka (though any blend of coriander seeds, cumin, and such will do) and minced green onion (or chives) and parsley.
4. Serve hot and creamy.

Enjoy.

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