The Kitchen Is Smaller Now

Oct. 4, 2015 update:

The "Kitchen Craig" blog has slimmed down, with a change in the posting schedule and frequency as well.

All non-recipe articles have been removed, leaving 94 recipes on-site. Posting will be sporadic from now on, and only when I have a new recipe to share.

Mozzarella Chicken with Brussels Sprouts and Mushrooms

Here’s a dish I threw together for dinner one night; we just happened to have the right ingredients. I have to say it was a big hit.

Ingredients

• BACON, 4 slices, cut into lardons
• ONION, ½ sweet, chopped
• OLIVE OIL, 1 tablespoon
• BUTTER, 2 tablespoons
• MARINARA SAUCE, about 1 cup
• BRUSSELS SPROUTS, about 1 cup
• MUSHROOMS, white, 8 ounces, cut in half.
• JAPANESE PANKO BREADING, about ½ cup
• CANOLA OIL, 1 cup
• CHICKEN, 4 thighs boned, skin on
• GARLIC SALT, to taste
• MOZZARELLA CHEESE, 1 cup, shredded

Directions

1. First, make the sauce in a sauce pan. Fry the bacon in the olive oil and butter until almost crisp, then add the onions.
2. Add the marinara sauce (I used jarred sauce available at the supermarket, drop the heat to medium low, and allow to bubble.
3. Boil or steam the Brussels sprouts, and when about ¾ done, add to the sauce, along with the mushrooms, for about an hour.
4. Prep the chicken while the sauce is simmering. Cut the chicken thighs into 3-4 pieces each.
5. Heat the Canola oil in a deep-sided pan. (Now is a good time to transfer the sauce to a wide casserole dish.)
6. Season the chicken pieces with garlic salt, then cover with panko breading. Deep fry them in small batches. Remove when they turn a golden grown, and drain on a paper towel.
7. When all the chicken is cooked, arrange on top of the sauce in the casserole dish.
8. Sprinkle on the mozzarella cheese and broil uncovered for about 10 minutes, until the cheese is melted.
9. Serve with pasta or rice.

Balsamic Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Maple Bacon

Here’s a side dish that sounds good in concept (can’t you just smell the balsamic vinegar and maple bacon already?). But it didn’t quite turn out the way I had envisioned. Sure, it tasted good, but when roasted in the oven, the Brussels sprouts turned out a little dry and kind of chewy.

I like my Brussels sprouts tender and juicy, cooked with a lot of butter. Maybe next time I’ll substitute butter for the olive oil.

Ingredients

1. BRUSSELS SPROUTS, 1½ lb.
2. THICK CUT MAPLE BACON, 6 Slices Chopped
3. ONION, 3 oz. diced
4. GARLIC, 2 large cloves minced
5. BALSAMIC VINEGAR, 2 tablespoons
6. OLIVE OIL, 2 tablespoons
7. SALT AND PEPPER, to taste

Directions

• Preheat oven to 375°
• Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
• Trim the ends off the Brussels sprouts and remove any yellowing leaves.
• Cut Brussels sprouts in half.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine Brussels sprouts, bacon, onion, garlic, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper.  Toss until all sprouts are coated and ingredients are well mixed.
• Pour the mixture onto the baking sheet and spread in a single layer. 
• Bake for 30 minutes, tossing every 10 minutes.

Braised Lemon Chicken Thighs with Garlic

This recipe is pretty good. The lemon rind became very soft, almost melting into the sauce. The flavor is quite lemony and because the chicken braises in its own liquid combined with lemon juice, it becomes quite tender.

I substituted half the Greek olives with Spanish olives (you know, the ones with the pimentos in the center) cut in half. In the picture above, I gave the dish an Asian flavor with kari (red ginger) and nori (crispy seaweed) steamed rice, and rakkyo (pickled scallions).

INGREDIENTS

• CHICKEN THIGHS, 8 bone-in, skin-on
• SALT and PEPPER to taste
• EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL, 3 tablespoons
• GARLIC CLOVES, 12
• YELLOW ONIONS, 2 large, thinly sliced (about 4 cups)
• LEMON, 1 thinly sliced, seeds discarded
• FRESH OREGANO, 2 tablespoons
• GREEK OLIVES, 1 cup mixed
• LEMON JUICE, 1 lemon

DIRECTIONS

1. Bring the chicken to room temperature. Preheat the oven to 350°.
2. Season the chicken on both sides with salt and pepper.
3. Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat.
4. When the oil is hot, lay the chicken thighs in a single layer skin-side down, and sear until golden brown.
5. Add the garlic cloves to the pan and flip the thighs over. Cook until the garlic is fragrant and slightly browned.
6. Remove the chicken and garlic from the pan and set aside.
7. With the pan is still hot, add the onions, lemon slices and oregano. Season with salt and pepper.
8. Cook, stirring often, until the onions have wilted and the brown bits on the bottom of the pan have loosened.
9. Nestle the thighs skin-side up in the onion mixture and add the garlic and the olives. Pour the lemon juice over the chicken and transfer the pan to the oven.
10. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes.
11. Scatter fresh oregano leaves over the top and serve.
12. 
    
13. In the picture above, I gave the dish an Asian flavor with kari (red ginger) steamed rice, and rakkyo (pickled scallions).

Peppadew-Cucumber Relish

One of our local supermarkets has an olive bar that has Peppadew sweet peppers from South Africa as one of its available condiments. They’re roundish orange-red sweet piquanté peppers that come from Limpopo province.

They’re great as a condiment with any meal, but one day, I saw a picture of a sweet-pepper/cucumber relish on a food website. So when I saw Japanese cucumbers from the Big Island’s Ho Farms in the produce section, I grabbed a couple, along with some red onions.

Immediately, I skipped on over to the olive bar and scooped up about a cup of the Peppadews, along with a nice amount of the juice that had accumulated.

When I got home, I diced up the Peppadews, cucumbers and red onions, slipped them into a jar, and saturated the mixture with the Peppadew syrup.

After a couple of days of occasional shaking and turning, I spooned out some of the relish and munched on it like a salad. It was soooo good!

You should try doing this. It is so easy, so delicious, and so refreshing. I recommend it.

Ingredients

• PEPPADEW SWEET PEPPERS, ¼ cup, with as much juice as you can swipe
• ENGLISH OR JAPANESE CUCUMBER, 2 medium
• RED ONION, ½ medium

Directions

1. Chop the ingredients into ½-inch or ¾-inch pieces.
2. Mix with the juices.
3. Store in refrigerator in a jar, shaking often.

Zuppa Toscana

This recipe came from a Facebook friend, who got it from Budget Bytes (www.budgetbytes.com). It sounded like a winner to me – easy to make, subtle in flavor, and very inexpensive. Budget Bytes estimated that eight servings will cost $1.04 each.

In Hawaii that probably works out to $1.50 to $2.00 a serving, due to the higher cost of ingredients, but who’s counting?

As usual, I had to do a substitution: I couldn’t find any Kale in the market, so I used baby spinach; I added about a teaspoon of garlic salt. Everything else was the same.

Ingredients

• ITALIAN SAUSAGE, ½ pound
• OLIVE OIL, few drops (I used a teaspoon of butter)
• ONION, 1 medium, diced
• GARLIC, 2 cloves, minced
• GREAT NORTHERN BEANS, 1 15-ounce can, drained and rinsed
• SMOKED PAPRIKA, ½ teaspoon
• CHICKEN BROTH, 3 cups
• WATER, 1 cup
• HALF-AND-HALF, 2 cups (1 pint)
• RED POTATOES, 3 medium
• KALE (I used baby spinach), 1 bunch, about a half-pound
• RED PEPPER FLAKES (Optional, I left it out), pinch
• BLACK PEPPER, freshly cracked, to taste
• GARLIC SALT (My option), 1 teaspoon

Directions

1. Remove the sausage from its casing and sauté over medium heat in a large pot, breaking it into small pieces while cooking. Use a few drops of olive oil if needed to prevent sticking.
2. Add in the onions and garlic and sauté until the onions are softened.
3. Add in the beans, paprika, chicken broth, water and half-and-half. Cover and bring to simmer over medium heat.
4. Peel (optional) and cut each potato in lengthwise quarters, then slice across to make thin slices.
5. Add the potatoes, kale and garlic salt to the pot, stirring to help the kale wilt.
6. Simmer over medium heat for about 15 minutes until the potatoes are tender.
7. Season with the red pepper flakes and cracked black pepper.
8. Serve with buttered rolls or bread.

Red Wine Braised Short Ribs

Okay, I’ll admit it, I found this recipe on the Bon Appétit magazine’s website. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, if they didn’t mean for anyone to copy it, they wouldn’t have put it on the Internet in the first place. Right?

Be that as it may, I did make a few adjustments to the ingredients: I didn’t have fresh herbs, so I used dried. I didn’t have a head of garlic, so I used crushed garlic from a jar. I didn’t have flat-leaf parsley, so I left it out.

Still, the short ribs were nothing short of phenomenal. The presentation is a little cumbersome, however, because all the spent veggies have to be strained out and the gravy has to be skimmed of its floating fat.

They recommended serving the ribs with mashed potatoes. Luckily, I had the stuff for that.

Ingredients

• BONE-IN BEEF SHORT RIBS, 5 pounds, cut into 2-inch pieces
• KOSHER SALT AND GRESHLY GROUND BLACK PEPPER
• VEGETABLE OIL (I used Canola Oil), 3 tablespoons
• ONIONS, 3 medium, chopped
• CARROTS, 3 medium, peeled and chopped
• CELERY, 2 stalks, chopped
• ALL-PURPOSE FLOUR, 1 tablespoon
• TOMATO PASTE, 1 tablespoon
• DRY RED WINE (I used Cabernet Sauvignon), 1 750-milliliter bottle
• FLAT LEAF PARSLEY, 10 sprigs
• THYME, 8 sprigs
• OREGANO, 4 sprigs
• ROSEMARY, 2 sprigs
• BAY LEAVES, 2 fresh or dried
• GARLIC, 1 head, halved crosswise
• BEEF STOCK, 4 cups

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Season the short ribs with salt and pepper.
3. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat, then, working in batches, brown the short ribs on all sides.
4. Remove the short ribs, discarding all but 2 tablespoons of drippings, retain the fond (those little bits of meat stuck to the bottom of the pot).
5. Add the onions, carrots and celery to the pot and cook over medium-high heat, stirring, until the onions brown.
6. Add the flour and tomato paste, stirring constantly, and cook until well-combined.
7. Stir in the wine and the short ribs with any accumulated juices.
8. Bring to a boil, lower to medium and simmer, reducing the wine by half. This will take about 20-25 minutes or so.
9. Add the herbs, garlic and stock to the Dutch oven, bring back to a boil and cover.
10. Transfer the pot to the preheated oven and cook about 2 to 2½ hours, until the meat is tender.
11. Take the ribs out, strain the sauce into a bowl and toss the spent veggies.
12. Spoon the floating fat and discard, season to taste with salt and pepper if needed.
13. Serve the sauce alongside the ribs, and don’t forget the mashed potatoes.