Braised Escarole with Garlic and Oil

The other day I was faced with a head of escarole, a leftover ingredient from a pot of soup that I never made, that I had no idea what to do with. Roasted chicken sandwiches were already on the menu for dinner, so I figured I could easily turn the escarole into a side of some sort. My wife told me that her grandmother likes to saute escarole with a bit of oil and garlic (knowing her grandmother, I'm sure it is actually WAY MORE than a bit) and that it comes out bitter, but that's the way grandma likes it. I was into the oil and garlic, but not so much the bitter. After looking through a few recipes online, I decided that I would go with a quick braise, which hopefully would result in nice soft (but not mushy) greens, without me having to worry about burning garlic over a longer cooking time. Since I was having chicken, I chose chicken broth as a braising liquid. I decided to add some onions for a little sweetness to balance the bitterness of the escarole, and a little crushed red pepper for a touch of heat. It all came together quite nicely. In a moment of inspiration, I did what my dad would probably do, and ended up putting the escarole on the sandwich, which was really nice.

I liked it so much that I bought two more heads the next day and made it to accompany the turkey burgers I was having. I can imagine this would be great stirred into some pasta with a little grated cheese, or with some sausage on a roll, or maybe with some cannellini beans...

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Start by cutting, washing well, and drying the escarole. Heat the oil over medium for a few minutes, then saute the onion, garlic, and red pepper for a few minutes.


Add the escarole and braising liquid, stir to combine, cover and cook for 15 minutes. Give it a stir and it is ready to go.


Makes a great side or sandwich topping.

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Braised Escarole with Oil and Garlic
About 30 minutes - Serves 2 to 4 as a side

• 1 large head escarole, washed, dried, and cut into 2 inch pieces
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
  
• 1/2 of a medium red onion, thinly sliced
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 cup chicken broth (or vegetable broth, dry white wine, etc.)
• salt to taste

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat for 5 minutes, until it shimmers but is not smoking
2. Add the onions, garlic, and red pepper and saute for 3 minutes
3. Add the escarole and chicken broth, stirring to combine ingredients
4. Cover the pot and cook for 15 minutes
5. Remove the cover, stir, salt to taste and serve

Use a non-meat based braising liquid for an all-veggie version of this recipe.

If you would like the escarole to be a bit drier, uncover after 10 minutes and cook for the last 5 minutes uncovered to boil off some of the remaining liquid.

Oven Roasted Breakfast Potatoes

I generally make my menu for the week and go food shopping on Saturday morning. Sometimes it's hard to figure out what I want to eat all week long, and I'm not always crazy about the idea of buying veggies and things on Saturday for a dish I'm not going to prepare until Friday, so I've been making "breakfast for dinner" for the past couple of Fridays. Nothing too fancy, a six-egg mushroom and cheese omelet, some sourdough or whole wheat toast, and some potatoes. I really like being able to come home at the end of the week and make a simple yet satisfying meal, and the thing that's really been making this meal has been the potatoes. Now I've extolled the virtues of potatoes with breakfast before, but I've refined my technique and seasoning a bit after trying many different recipes and cooking methods, and I think I've come up with something pretty good (and really easy).

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Start by preheating the oven to 400 degrees and cutting up some Russet potatoes into 3/4 inch cubes. I like to leave the skin on, but peeling the potatoes would be fine.

Season the potatoes with salt, black pepper, paprika, onion powder, and garlic powder. Mix in a little vegetable oil and spread the potatoes out on a baking sheet that has been generously coated with cooking spray.

Roast the potatoes on the center rack of the oven for 20 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven, flip the potatoes, and roast for another 20 minutes until the potatoes are nice and brown and crispy.

Serve immediately with your breakfast item of choice and a little ketchup.

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Oven Roasted Breakfast Potatoes
about 50 minutes - serves 4

• 3 medium russet potatoes, washed well and dried
  
• 3 teaspoons vegetable oil (I use canola)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Cut potatoes into 3/4 inch cubes
3. In large bowl, mix potatoes with salt, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, and oil until well coated
4. Generously coat a non-stick sheet pan (1/2 sheet size) with cooking spray
5. Spread the potatoes evenly on the sheet pan and place the pan on the center rack of the oven
6. Roast for 20 minutes, flip the potatoes over, roast another 20 minutes until the potatoes are brown and crispy (roasting time may be extended 5 to 10 minutes for darker, crisper potatoes), serve immediately
   

Barbecued Chicken and Cole Slaw

I've eaten a lot of barbecued chicken in my life. I should define terms here - I'm talking about chicken that is grilled over direct heat (be it a propane gas grill or charcoal) and slathered with a tomato-based, sweet and tangy red sauce. I know that barbecue is defined differently by region of the country, but that's what I consider barbecued chicken. Growing up it was a summer staple, eaten at least once a week, with the only change being whatever sauce happened to be en vogue at the moment with my mother and the rest of us. I won't say I don't like barbecued chicken, but I've never been thrilled by barbecued chicken (which didn't stop me from eating 4 or 5 pieces every time I sat down at the dinner table all through my youth).

The problem for me turns out to be one of technique really. As I've found out, there are many ways that barbecued chicken can go wrong, but two main mistakes. First, most people put all their chicken on the grill at the same time and take it off at the same time. If you're cooking both dark and white meat, this almost always results in over-cooked breast meat, and if the white meat was boneless to begin with, as it so often is nowadays, forget about anything resembling juice in the meat. People are so afraid of under cooking chicken that they leave it on the grill way too long. For the chicken's sake people, get an instant read meat thermometer and take the guess work out of it (according to Mark Bittman and the USDA, you can safely remove the chicken from the grill when the internal temp is 165 degrees). Second, most people put the sauce on way too soon resulting in blackened chicken as the sugar in the sauce turns to carbon way before the chicken is done cooking. Unfortunately, continuously bathing the chicken in more sauce does little to combat this error. Dry inside and burned outside, doesn't sound too appealing does it?

Fortunately there is a better way, and I was shown the light once again a few years ago by my friend John. This recipe takes a little more effort than just throwing the chicken on the grill and opening a bottle of sauce, but the effort is well worth it. A spice rub imparts flavor to the chicken without the risk of premature burning, the cooking time is specific by chicken piece, and the sauce goes on right at the end where it caramelizes just every so slightly over low heat. You'll never have to worry about dry, burned chicken again. Cool, creamy, tangy cole slaw provides a perfect counterpoint to the warm, slightly spicy chicken, and if you're so inclined, it makes one heck of a barbecue sandwich condiment. You can make any cole slaw recipe you like, but I like this one from Emeril - Kicked Up Cole Slaw.

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If you're going to make the cole slaw (and I strongly suggest that you do), start with that so it has time to sit in the fridge for a while which allows the flavors to meld. You can even make this a day ahead, just give it a good stir before serving. To make the dressing, whisk together the mayonnaise, mustard, brown sugar, cider vinegar, buttermilk, celery seeds, salt, pepper, and cayenne in a bowl.

Shred the cabbage and carrot, dice the green pepper, and grate the onion. Toss the cabbage mixture with the dressing until everything is evenly coated, then cover and place in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Before you make the chicken, you need to make the barbecue sauce, and before you make the barbecue sauce, you need to make the rub, but that's easy. Just combine the following in a mixing bowl and work well to break up any lumps: brown sugar, paprika, black pepper, kosher salt, garlic powder, onion powder, celery seeds, and cayenne pepper. To make the barbecue sauce, combine the following ingredients in a small saucepan: ketchup, cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, molasses, mustard, hot sauce, barbecue rub, liquid smoke, and black pepper (I'm not sure if this is Kansas City or Georgia style sauce).

Bring the sauce to a boil slowly over medium heat then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, until the sauce is slightly thickened. Pour the sauce into an empty jar (You do have an empty jar sitting around right?) and store it in the fridge until you need it (since this recipe uses only about a cup of sauce, you'll have leftover sauce that keeps for a few months).

Okay, now you're ready to start the chicken (and of course with chicken make sure you follow all safe handling rules). Rub some spice mixture into each side of each chicken piece (about 1/2 tsp of rub per piece, give or take depending on size). Here I chose to do thighs with the skin removed and boneless, skinless breasts which I had brined. The recipe calls for 1 chicken cut into 8 pieces (legs, thighs, breasts, and wings). Let the chicken sit for 30 minutes. Preheat the grill about 15 minutes before you're ready to cook on medium heat (or start your charcoal long enough ahead to provide a medium-hot fire).

Because I was cooking so many pieces, I decided to do the chicken in batches, first the dark meat, then the white meat. The recipe is written for cooking everything at once, but is easily adapted, just follow the cooking times. Place the dark meat skin side down, cover the grill and allow it to cook for 8 minutes. Do not move the chicken. After 8 minutes, flip the pieces over and cook them for 8 more minutes.

Flip the pieces so they are skin side down again and brush them generously with sauce. Flip them back over and brush the other side with sauce. Move the chicken to a cool part of the grill (I turn off the back burner), cover and let the chicken rest for 2 more minutes.

Take the chicken off the grill (total dark meat cooking time is 18 minutes). The white meat follows the same procedure, but the cooking time is reduced. For bone-in breasts, you would do 6 minutes, flip, 8 minutes, flip, sauce, flip, sauce, 2 minutes, done (total cooking time is 16 minutes). Boneless breasts will cook much quicker (especially if you brine them, which I strongly recommend), something along the lines of about 12 minutes total.

Once the chicken is done, you can eat is as is with whatever sides you like, or you can make barbecue sandwiches! Just slice up some chicken (in this case I just sliced all the white meat) and put some on a nice soft roll (I made some of these).

Top the chicken with a bit of extra sauce and a healthy dollop of cole slaw. I first had cole slaw on a barbecued pulled pork sandwich at Corky's in Memphis and I must say it was nothing short of a revelatory experience for this New England boy.

Mmm...a nice barbecued chicken sandwich with a side of cold whole wheat orzo salad and cold green beans with goat cheese - a perfect summer barbecue menu.

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Barbecued Chicken

• 1 chicken, cut into 8 pieces
  
• 2 tablespoons Basic Barbecue Rub (recipe follows)
• 1 cup Basis Barbecue Sauce (recipe follows)

1. Rinse the chicken pieces and pat dry with paper towels
2. Place the chicken pieces on a large platter, sprinkle rub on both sides (approximately 1/4 tsp per side), and pat the rub into the chicken
3. Cover the chicken and let it sit for 30 minutes
4. Prepare a medium-hot fire (coals 2 layers deep or gas grill set to medium)
5. Place the legs and thighs directly over the fire skin-side down and cook for 2 minutes
6. Add the breast pieces skin-side down and cook the breasts, legs, and thighs for 6 minutes
7. Turn all the pieces over and add the wings
8. Cook all the pieces for 8 more minutes (turning the wings after 4)
9. Flip all pieces over to original side and baste liberally with sauce
10. Flip all pieces back over and baste the other side with sauce (the pieces should be skin-side up at this point)
11. Move the pieces to a cooler area of the grill, put the lid down, and allow the chicken to sit for 2 minutes
12. Take it off the grill and serve with some extra sauce

• Note: Removing the skin from the chicken will help to prevent flare-ups, but if you do keep the skin, you can minimize flare ups by covering your grill or with a spray bottle filled with water
  

Basic Barbecue Rub

• 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup paprika
• 3 tablespoons black pepper
• 3 tablespoons kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 2 teaspoons onion powder
• 2 teaspoons celery seeds
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (1/2 teaspoon if you don't want it too spicy)

1. Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl
2. Mix with your hands, working to break up any lumps
3. Store in an airtight container away from heat or light

Basic Barbecue Sauce

• 2 cups ketchup
• 1/4 cup cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons molasses
• 2 tablespoons prepared mustard
• 1 tablespoon hot sauce
• 1 tablespoon Basic Barbecue Rub
• 2 teaspoons liquid smoke
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1. Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan
2. Bring slowly to a boil over medium heat
3. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, until sauce is slightly thickened
4. Transfer to a clean glass jar and store in the refrigerator where it will keep for a few months
   

Simmered Brussels Sprouts

Cruciferous vegetables (family Brassicaceae), more commonly referred as the mustard family of vegetables, or the cabbage family, are somewhat polarizing. People seem to either love broccolis, cabbages, cauliflower, and leafy greens such as kale, or completely hate them, finding them bitter and inedible. Interestingly, cruciferous vegetables contain varying amounts of a chemical called phenylthiocarbamide (PTC) that can taste anywhere from bland to extremely bitter and vile depending on the genetics of the person eating. I learned about this when my wife (who is also a biology teacher) had a student teacher who brought in some PTC tasting paper during a genetics lesson (see, sometimes you can actually learn something in school). Basically, if you can't stand the bitter taste of these veggies, it might not be your fault, it's in your genes (unless you're just one of those general anti-eat your vegetables people, of course, that attitude is probably in your genes as well - oh determinism!).

The epitome of cruciferous hate seems to be the much maligned Brussels sprout, which is most often portrayed as the evil little veggie that you must eat if you want your dessert. My mother never made them that much, opting for other green vegetables, mainly broccoli and green beans and I developed such a bad opinion of Brussels sprouts that I don't think I actually tried one until sometime in my twenties. When I did I was pleasantly surprised that I liked them, but still failed to incorporate them into my diet. A few weeks back I wanted a side to go with roasted chicken and for some reason Brussels sprouts popped into my head. As I usually do when I choose to prepare an ingredient that I'm not especially familiar with, I turn to my preferred kitchen reference, Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything. There was the usual excellent reference info, but only one sprout recipe called "Simmered Brussels Sprouts" which admittedly does not sound very exciting, but is really a very good vegetable side, and an excellent accompaniment to any roasted meat, or something like macaroni and cheese. For those of us that are not appalled at the presence of PTC in our food, cruciferous vegetables like Brussels sprouts, aside from being delicious, have a bevy of health benefits.

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Start by bringing a pot of water to a boil. Drop in the sprouts and boil gently until they just begin to soften up, about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, peel and crush the garlic, mince the parsley, juice the lemon, and measure out the bread crumbs.

Drain the sprouts. You want to finish this dish just before serving, so if you're not ready to eat, hold the sprouts in some cool water, then drain again before finishing the dish. When you're ready, heat some olive oil in a skillet with the garlic.

Add the sprouts along with the bread crumbs , toss to combine, and warm everything through for about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the parsley and lemon juice, season to taste with salt and fresh ground black pepper, and serve immediately.

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Simmered Brussels Sprouts (very slightly adapted from How to Cook Everything)
About 20 minutes - Makes 4 servings

• 1 to 1 1/2 pounds Brussels sprouts
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 cloves of garlic, smashed
• 1 1/2 tablespoons plain bread crumbs
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1. Bring a large pot of water to boil and salt it
2. Add the sprouts and cook until just tender, about 10 minutes
3. Drain and place them in cool water if you're going to hold them for more than 5 minutes before finishing (you can store them in the fridge like this up to 2 days)
4. Heat the oil and garlic in a large skillet over medium heat
   
5. When the oil starts to shimmer and you can smell it (about 3 to 4 minutes), add the sprouts and bread crumbs, toss to mix, and cook, stirring frequently, for about 3 minutes
6. Add the parsley and lemon juice, toss to coat, season with salt and pepper to taste and serve immediately

Smashed Breakfast Potatoes

Like many other teachers, I'm on February break from school this week, so when I woke up this morning to a blanket of snow the first thing I thought of was breakfast instead of possible school cancellations. I came downstairs and put on the TV to see what the weather situation was going to be for the rest of the day, but I never made it to the local news, no big deal there (as Bob Dylan says, "You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows", or in this case, the snow). I got stuck on channel 185, which is Create on my cable system, and an episode of Lidia's Italy. I caught it in the middle, but just in time to see Lidia throw some onions and bacon into a large saute pan with some oil which eventually turned out to be a potato side dish for the feature recipe of the show, Italian goulash. The goulash looked amazing, but at 7:00 this morning it was the potatoes that stuck with me. Instead of leaving the potatoes in chunks, Lidia smashed them up and then cooked them over high enough heat to get good caramelization on the bottom of the potatoes. Then she stirred them up and repeated the process. The resulting potatoes were nicely brown all over, but somewhat smashed like extremely lumpy mashed potatoes.

A nice hearty breakfast is a wonderful thing on a cold, snowy morning and in my opinion, breakfast is elevated to another level by the presence of some form of potatoes, be they home fries, hash browns or whatever. The fact that potatoes take just a bit longer to prepare, so you can't really make them unless you have some extra time in the morning allows them to retain their special quality. Lidia was all the inspiration I needed this morning, as my mind was now set on potatoes and a slightly more "special" breakfast than usual. I went into the kitchen and heated a bit of oil in a saute pan, chopped half an onion and threw it in the oil with a few drops of liquid smoke. My wife doesn't eat pork, so I often use a few drops of liquid smoke (very few drops because the stuff is potent), some butter, and some salt as a substitute for bacon in most recipes that call for it. It's not the same, but it works pretty well. Anyway, when the onion had softened a bit, I added one russet potato that was peeled, chopped, and sliced into pieces about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. I let this sit untouched for about 4 minutes, then stirred it up a bit. I also added a little bit more oil (about 1 teaspoon) and a pinch of salt.

After about 8 minutes, the potatoes had softened a bit and I smashed them up with a fork. I added another teaspoon of oil, another pinch of salt and continued to cook them for about 8 more minutes (repeating the stirring, oiling, and salting, after 4 more minutes).

When the potatoes were done, I moved them to another burner on low to keep them warm, and got going with the rest of breakfast. My wife requested an omelet (which she pretty much always does when she knows I have time to make breakfast) and I went with my standard Friday morning egg sandwich. I had baked some bagels yesterday morning, which made for an excellent sandwich, if I do say so myself. The potatoes didn't look quite like what Lidia had produced, but they were an excellent compliment to the breakfast. If you like your potatoes and onions at the absolute limits of caramelization, just sort of burned (like I do), then this is a recipe for you. If you like a bit more flavor, some garlic powder, paprika, chili powder, or really any spice that you like will definitely work here.

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Smashed Breakfast Potatoes
About 25 minutes - Serves 2

• 1/2 of a medium onion, chopped
• Olive oil
• 1 large russet potato, peeled, chopped into quarters, and sliced into 1/4 inch pieces
• Salt

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a medium skillet (preferably nonstick) over medium heat
2. Add the onion and cook until just softened, about 4 minutes
3. Add the potato and 1 teaspoon of olive oil, a pinch of salt, stir and then let the potatoes sit untouched for 4 minutes
4. Stir the potatoes, if they look a little dry, add another teaspoon of oil, another pinch of salt, and let them sit untouched for 4 minutes.
5. Smash the potatoes with a fork.
6. Continue to cook for about 8 more minutes (make sure you let the potatoes cook in undisturbed 4 minute intervals to get nice caramelization on the bottom) adding additional oil if the potatoes look too dry or the onions seem like they are going to burn.
7. Add salt to taste, keep warm over low heat until ready to serve

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Last night I made Braised Greens Tacos for dinner and they were awesome. Totally different than any taco I'd ever had, almost certainly healthier. Braised collard greens and onions on a corn tortilla, topped with crumbled goat cheese, and a fresh salsa made from pureed cherry tomatoes and jalapenos - brightly flavored and delicious. I couldn't find chipotles in adobo, so I used a fresh jalapeno pepper that I halved, seeded and tossed in the pan with the tomatoes. I added a little ketchup, cider vinegar, salt, cumin, garlic powder to simulate adobo sauce. I served it all with some lightly buttered quinoa. Give them a try.