Recently, my daughter and I visited Pittsburgh, and we really enjoyed a meal at an Argentinian restaurant, Balvanera. Interestingly, there was one dish on the menu that seemed more Mediterranean than Argentinian: roasted carrots on a bed of labneh. We enjoyed it so much, I made it my mission to find a recipe similar to it and prepare it as part of our Thanksgiving dinner. It was a success!

 

 

If you’re not familiar with labneh, it’s a soft cheese made by straining yogurt to remove the whey. It’s not always easy to find, but supermarkets like Whole Foods do carry it. You can also make your own by straining Greek yogurt through cheese cloth in a fridge overnight.

We used the already-peeled bagged organic carrots for this dish, but if you can’t find them, simply peel and slice your carrots to about a 2-inch diagonal length.

1 lb. organic carrots, peeled and sliced into 2-inch diagonal pieces
2 tablespoons garlic, minced
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons Za’atar spice blend
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons roughly chopped pistachios
2–3 tablespoons maple syrup
Fleur de Sel or other finishing salt

Preheat the oven to 425.

Line a baking sheet with parchment or non-stick foil and place the carrots on the sheet.

In a bowl, combine the olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, Za’atar, parsley, salt, pepper, and cumin. Mix well, and then pour it all over the carrots.

Toss the carrots and the other ingredients using your hands to get the seasoning all over every part of the carrots, until they’re evenly coated. (The carrots, not your hands!)

 

 

Roast the carrots for about 30 minutes. Look for them to start caramelizing around the edges. You don’t want them mushy…you still want some bite to them.

Spread the labneh onto a plate or platter, and then top with the roasted carrots. Sprinkle the pistachios on top, and drizzle with the maple syrup. A finishing touch of Fleur de Sel makes it perfect!

 

 

 

I recently saw what I thought was a pretty clever idea of taking a cabbage and slicing it into thick, steak-like pieces, laying them flat in a pan, and then placing marinated chicken on top of them to roast in the oven. The juices from the chicken would flavor the cabbage as it all cooked. I decided I’d try my own version of that recipe.

 

 

You can use any part of a chicken you like, even a whole spatchcocked chicken which would lay flat in a larger pan if you’re serving a group of people. But cooking for myself, I choose leg quarters (which are the thigh and drumstick together) or simply chicken thighs. They’re full of flavor, and have the fat content you need to drip down into the veggies below to flavor them as well. Something like chicken breast would simply be too dry.

I wanted to use what I had in my fridge, so instead of cabbage, I had Brussels sprouts–baby cabbages, in essence. I cut them in half and layer them flame-side down in a roasting pan covered with non-stick aluminum foil. I wanted more veggies, though, so I sliced up a half-onion I had in the fridge, and I also added a package of frozen organic sweet potatoes I had in my freezer. Now the bottom of my pan was full.

 

 

I buy humanely-raised pastured chicken, which means the birds are usually smaller than what you’d find in a supermarket (no steroid monsters here!), so one package contained 5 small chicken thighs. Once thawed, I placed them skin-side down in a glass container. Then it was time to make the marinade.

I chose a marinade that would give a beautiful caramelized color to the dish, using some of my favorite marinade ingredients.

 

3 oz (6 tablespoons) maple syrup
2 oz (1/4 cup) extra virgin olive oil
2 oz (1/4 cup) balsamic vinegar
1 oz (2 tablespoons) soy sauce
1 oz (2 tablespoons) Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
3/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
1 teaspoon powdered rosemary
1 teaspoon granulated garlic
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

 

I combine all the marinade ingredients in a bowl and whisk well to mix.

 

I brush the tray of veggies with some of the marinade just to give them a head start on flavor.

 

I use about a 1/2 cup of the marinade on the chicken thighs, tossing them around in the marinade to make sure they’re well coated. Then I pour the rest of the marinade in a saucepan that I will cook on the stove top.

 

I like to place the thighs skin-side down and then poke some holes into the meat with a fork to really let the marinade soak in. I let them marinate at room temperature for about an hour. Any longer than that, and they need to go into the fridge.

Once I’m ready to cook, I pre-heat the oven to 325. I place the marinated thighs skin-side up over the veggies in the tray. I discard any leftover marinade in the bowl with the chicken.

While the thighs and veggies are cooking, I take the reserved marinade and heat it over medium heat in a saucepan until it reduces by half to make a nice glaze that I will brush onto the chicken when it’s done cooking.

 

It’s important to remember that once any of the marinade touches raw chicken, to avoid salmonella, you have to cook it before you can taste it!

 

 

The holidays on on our minds already. Time to start bringing out the recipes…

What’s a Thanksgiving dinner without Parker House rolls?

Parker House rolls are one of my all-time favorite treats. They’re so light and delicious because milk and melted butter are used to make the dough. I’d make and eat them every weekend if it wasn’t for the fact that I’d gain a ton of weight in the process! So…I save them for special occasions.

 

There really is a Parker House. It’s a hotel in Boston where the rolls originated in the 1870’s. Legend has it that a disgruntled hotel baker threw a batch of unfinished rolls in the oven, and when they came out, they had a folded pocketbook shape that made them light on the inside, and crisp and buttery on the outside. A legend was born.

There are hundreds of Parker House Roll recipes out there, but this is the one I swear by. It’s a great excuse to get out my old Kitchenaid standing mixer.

 

1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus softened butter for brushing

1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1/4 cup lukewarm water (100 to 110 degrees)
1/4 cup sugar 1 cup whole milk, warmed
2 large eggs, at room temperature
4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
2 1/2 teaspoons Kosher salt (I use Diamond Crystal)

 

Brush a large bowl with butter.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle, combine the yeast with the water and a pinch of sugar. Let it stand until it gets foamy, about 10 minutes. This gets the yeast happy.

 

 

Add the milk, melted butter, eggs and remaining sugar and mix until it’s all combined.

Now switch to the dough hook and add the flour and salt. Knead at low speed until a smooth ball forms, about 2 minutes.

Scrape the dough onto a lightly floured board and knead it gently into a ball. Then place the ball in the buttered bowl, covering it with plastic wrap, and placing the bowl in a warm place. Let the dough double in volume. It’ll take about 1 1/2 hours.

 

 

Pre-heat the oven to 350.

Grease a 9-by-13 baking dish with more butter.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board again, punching out the air bubbles, and forming it into a ball again. Cut the ball in half, then each half into 8 pieces.

 

 

You can either leave the pieces in their wedge shape, placing them in the baking dish top side up. Or you can roll the wedges into balls, placing them into the baking dish, spacing them out evenly.

 

 

Cover the baking dish with plastic wrap and let the dough rise again for about 30 minutes. By then, your oven will be nice and warm.

 

 

Bake the rolls for 20 to 25minutes, until they’re a beautiful golden color.

 

 

Serve them warm or at room temperature. If you bake the rolls earlier in the day, you can cover them in plastic wrap, and the re-heat gently before serving.

Cauliflower seems to be the “it” veggie these days. You’ll find it riced to take the place of rice or mashed potatoes, in a crust for pizza, and now, the dish du jour is a cauliflower steak. All you need to do is to slice the cauliflower into thick, steak-like pieces, and then bake them. The thicker cut gives the cauliflower a more meaty texture. Of course, with a meat sauce, I’m using cauliflower as a pasta substitute in this dish.

 

The marinade I use for the cauliflower is pretty simple, with my favorite Italian flavors. I use fresh herbs when I can, but you can use dry as well.

 

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cups chopped scallions
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
chopped fresh parsley and oregano to taste
salt and pepper

Combine these ingredients in a bowl.

Slice the head of cauliflower across the whole head into 1 1/2-inch steak-like pieces. Place them on a baking pan covered with non-stick aluminum foil. Brush the cauliflower on both sides with the marinade. Use it all up!

Place the baking pan in a pre-heated 400-degree oven and bake it for about an hour, until the cauliflower is golden brown on the edges. Flip the cauliflower steaks over after the first 30 minutes.

 

 

This meat sauce I use is one that I make all the time with simple ingredients…

 

1 lb. grass-fed ground beef
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 28-oz. can of whole San Marzano tomatoes
dried oregano, basil and parsley
granulated garlic
extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper

 

Heat the olive oil in a pan and add the onions. Sauté them until they’re translucent, then add the ground beef. Cook the beef until it has browned completely. Add the can of tomatoes, chopping the whole tomatoes up with a spatula (or squeezing them with your hands), breaking up the big pieces into smaller chunks. (I like my sauce a little chunky.) Add the oregano, basil, parsley, garlic, salt and pepper to taste.

 

Let the sauce cook down until it has thickened.

 

When the cauliflower steaks are ready, place them on a plate and pour the awesome meat sauce on them. Garnish with some freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano.

There seems to be no end to the bourbon craze, and until it does end, I’m constantly looking for new bargains. For example, for a long time, my go-to bourbon was Eagle Rare 10 Year Old, which I could get for about $32 a bottle. It’s now up to $80 a bottle in some places. Don’t get me wrong…I’m not complaining. It probably deserves that price, being a 10 year old. But I’m not going to buy it for mixed drinks anymore. A good choice to replace Eagle Rare is Buffalo Trace. Interestingly, both are made by the Buffalo Trace distillery. But I can’t always find Buffalo Trace when I want it, so I needed to find something else. What I found was 1792 Small Batch.

 

 

1792 Small Batch bourbon is my latest bang-for-the-buck bargain bourbon find. At $28.99 for a 750 ml bottle, you just can’t beat it for mixing or dropping a big cube in it for sipping.

Barton 1792 Distillery makes the 1792 line of bourbons. They were established in 1879, and continue today as the oldest fully operational distillery in Bardstown, Kentucky.

I originally thought the name 1792 came from the year the distillery first created it, but in actuality, 1792 was the year Kentucky, widely recognized as the birthplace of bourbon, became a state.

 

 

I wasn’t much of a gin drinker until my trips to New Zealand and Scotland, where I discovered a whole new world of gin.

Before my travels, I was looking for a London dry gin to use in my Vesper martini recipe, and had heard about Ford’s gin. It didn’t take much convincing for me to try it when I saw that the price was $28.99 for a full liter!

 

 

Ford’s London Dry Gin was created by Simon Ford, a man who was looking for one gin that would work in all of the gin cocktails out there, making it the bartenders’ choice for any gin cocktail. With the help of bartenders, distillers, and avid drinkers, he came up with this London dry gin, featuring nine botanicals. It’s delicious, not overpowering like many gins can be, so it really does work well with any recipe you might use gin for.

In addition to taste, he thought about the bartenders themselves. The bottle is tall and ergonomically shaped, making it very easy to handle. Back when I was considering going to market with my homemade honey liqueur, the shape and size of the bottle was an incredibly important decision. Shorter, wider bottles might be put in the front row of a bar, but they’re more difficult to pour, and small hands can’t hold them properly. A taller bottle is easy to spot, and easier to handle. Ask any bartender, and they will tell you that they will go for the bottle that’s easiest to use if they have to make drinks all night long. 

The bottle also has measurement markings on the side, which allows you to measure out enough for large batches of martinis, say, if you’re having a party.

But the best part of all is the value. And it’s great in a Vesper or a simple gin and tonic.

 

 

Perhaps the best-known Scottish gin is Hendrick’s, found at just about any bar in the states. But another good choice is The Botanist, as is a harder-to-find Caorrun and Lind and Lime. They aren’t inexpensive, but they are good.

Much of my gin knowledge first came from my recent trip to New Zealand about a year-and-a-half ago. I had some interesting conversations with Nick, the owner of Kismet Cocktail & Whisky Bar in Nelson, NZ, a very well stocked bar with a very enthusiastic and knowledgeable staff. Finding a place like that in your own town is not as easy as it sounds, as many bars stock the same booze from the same suppliers and don ‘t really make an effort to stand out in the crowd. If you find a place like that, consider yourself lucky!

 

And that’s a great starting point. If you’re curious about different spirits, go to a well-stocked bar where they won’t mind giving you a taste before you go to a store to invest in a whole bottle. A little “scientific research” is a good thing!

Not everyone agrees as to the origins of vodka sauce, some claiming it was invented in Italy in the mid-1970s, and others claiming it was created in an Italian restaurant in New York City. But one thing most people can agree on is that it’s absolutely delicious!

Pasta alla vodka is a favorite of my daughter’s, as are gnocchi (little Italian potato dumplings), so we gave it a shot the other day for dinner, and the results were fantastic.

 

This is not a low-calorie dish by any stretch of the imagination, but we chose to lower the calories at least a little bit by going with half-and-half instead of heavy cream, which is the standard. We didn’t miss it.

I found it interesting that many of the recipes online don’t warn you about being careful with the vodka. It is, after all, 40% alcohol, so when you add it to the pan later in the recipe, take the pan off the heat, away from any open flame, and then ignite it carefully, letting the alcohol burn off before continuing. Don’t walk away from the stove! Serious fire hazard!

We also added some chicken to this dish. I cut up a couple of chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces, and sautéed them in a bit of olive oil with salt and pepper until they had a nice sear on them. I then removed them from the pan and set them aside. I brought them back to the pan when I heated the gnocchi for a few minutes, then added the sauce. (See below.)

1 lb. pasta (or gnocchi)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cup vodka (use whatever brand you like)
14 oz. ground tomatoes
1 cup half-and-half
1 pinch red pepper flakes
salt and pepper
1 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano

 

In a large skillet over medium heat, I added the olive oil and butter, and then the onion, and sautéed them for a few minutes, until the onions were translucent. Then I added the garlic and cooked a few minutes more.

I removed the pan away from the heat and away from flame, and carefully added the vodka, igniting the alcohol and letting it burn off before returning the pan to the heat. I cooked and stirred for a few minutes.

I added the tomatoes and cooked for a few more minutes. It’s at this point that you can determine just how thick you want your sauce to be. Because we’re using half-and-half later instead of heavy cream, I let the sauce cook down a little bit to thicken it up.

 

I added the red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper to taste, stirring it in.

I reduced the heat to low and added the half-and-half, stirring and simmering for a few minutes, being careful not to let it overheat or it could curdle.

 

I drained the cooked gnocchi and placed it in the pan I sautéed the chicken pieces in, adding a drop of olive oil. Over medium heat, I just kept tossing the gnocchi in the pan until they got a little bit of color on them. (This is where I added the already seared chicken pieces back to the pan.) Then I added the sauce and Parmigiano Reggiano, mixing well.

If you’re using pasta, place it directly in the pan with the sauce, combining well. If the sauce is a little too thick, add some pasta water. Then add all of the Parmigiano Reggiano, and mix well until the cheese has blended into the sauce. Serve!