Super Grain and Veggie Burgers

Servings: 12 burgers
Preheat: 
Prep Time: 2 hours
Source: Grains for Every Season – Joshua McFadden

Yes, this recipe does have a long list of ingredients and several
steps … don’t start making these burgers 20 minutes before
you want to eat. The good news is that the recipe makes a dozen
burgers and they freeze beautifully, so an hour spent prepping
yields future meals for days. I wrap each burger individually-
uncooked-so that I can just pull out as many as I want to cook.
Thaw the frozen burgers before cooking, ideally, leave them in
the fridge overnight, but you can thaw them on the counter to
speed things up if need be. -Makes twelve-4-ounce (115 g) burgers

Ingredients: 

1/3 cup (70 g) uncooked barley or farro
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup (60 g) uncooked quinoa
1/3 cup (80 g) raw cashews
Extra-virgin olive oil
4 ounces (115 g) shiitake or cremini mushrooms, stemmed and finely chopped
1 cup (160 g) finely chopped carrots
1/3 cups (200 g) finely chopped onion
6 garlic cloves, finely chopped
One15.5-ounce (439 g) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained well
1/2 cup (50 g) uncooked rolled oats
2 ½ cups (125 g) panko breadcrumbs (whole-grain, if possible)
½ 1 cup (120 ml) soy sauce
1 tablespoon sriracha
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
1 ½ tablespoons potato starch

Directions: 

Put the barley, 1 cup (240 ml) water, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a small saucepan with a lid. Bring to a boil, then quickly reduce the heat to a simmer. Cover and cook until the barley is tender and the water has been absorbed, 45 to 60 minutes for hulled barley, about 30 minutes for pearled barley. If the barley is tender but there’s liquid left, just drain it off; if the water has been absorbed but the barley isn’t fully tender, add a few tablespoons more water and keep cooking until tender. Cool completely.

Meanwhile, combine the quinoa, 14 cup plus 2 tablespoons water (135 ml), and VI teaspoon salt in a separate mall saucepan with a lid. Bring to a boil, then quickly reduce the heat to a simmer. Cover and cook until the quinoa is tender and the water has been absorbed, 15 to 18 minutes. Cool completely.

Meanwhile, put the cashews in a small bowl, cover with warm water, and soak until they have softened a bit, at least 1 hour. (They won’t be mushy, they’ll just get less crunchy.)

Heat a glug of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms, season lightly with salt and pepper, and sauté until they have released their liquids, the liquid has been cooked off, and the
mushrooms are fully tender and browning a bit, about 5 minutes. Scrape into a large bowl and let cool.

Add a bit more oil to the pan, then add the carrots and sauté until they start to soften, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the onion and season lightly with salt and pepper. Continue cooking until the vegetables are quite soft and fragrant and starting to turn golden. Don’t let the onions actually brown or the burgers will be bitter. Add the garlic, cook another minute, and then transfer the vegetables to the bowl with the mushrooms and let everything cool completely.

Meanwhile, drain the cashews well and finely chop. Mash the chickpeas with a fork or potato masher until about half are mashed and the rest are slightly broken up. (Whole chickpeas will make the burgers too chunky and crumbly.)

When the sautéed vegetables are cool, add them to the chickpeas, cashews, quinoa, barley, oats, and panko. Toss with clean hands to integrate all of the ingredients.

in a small bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, hot sauce, vinegar, and potato starch. Add this to the other ingredients and work the mixture with your hands so everything is blended nicely Taste, either as is or by frying up a small lump, and adjust the seasoning with more salt, black pepper, hot sauce, soy sauce, and/or vinegar.

Shape the mixture into 12 patties (about % cup or 115 g each). Set the patties on a rack and leave at room temperature for 30 minutes or so to dry the surface. For burgers that you’re not going to eat right away, arrange them on a tray in a single layer, freeze until firm, then pile the frozen burgers into a zip-top freezer bag or other container and freeze completely. You can remove the number of burgers that you need, leaving the rest frozen for later. For freezing longer than month, wrap the burgers individually and then put in a freezer bag to prevent freezer burn.

To cook, heat a glug of olive oil in a heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat. Add the burgers, leaving enough room for a spatula to scoot in and flip them. Cook until nicely browned and heated through, about 5 minutes on each side.

Serve right away, with your favorite burger fixings.

Crispy Baked Fish With Tartar Sauce

Servings: 4
Preheat: 400
Prep Time: 30
Source: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1022325-crispy-baked-fish-with-tartar-sauce

Charming fish shacks and salty sea air aren’t a weeknight possibility for most of us, but thankfully, this recipe is. It features a clever technique from recipe developer Molly Kreuger: Creamy tartar sauce is spread on the fish to add flavor, keep the fillets moist during cooking and help the bread crumbs adhere to the fish. (Feel free to use your favorite tartar sauce in place of the one below.) The fish is baked until nearly cooked through, then broiled to toast the breadcrumb topping. The end result is crispy, creamy, tangy and moist, all of which is achieved without having to deal with a big pot of oil. Eat with more tartar sauce and a squeeze of lemon.

Ingredients: 

You can make the half the tartar sauce and it will be plenty. If you are using dried tarragon, make tartar sauce ahead of time.

1 cup mayonnaise
5 tablespoons capers, drained and coarsely chopped
¼ cup finely chopped pickles (such as cornichons or half sour)
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh tarragon or 1/2 teaspoon dried
1 teaspoon Worcestershire or soy sauce
1 small garlic clove
1 large lemon
Kosher salt and black pepper
½ cup panko bread crumbs
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for greasing

4 (6-ounce) thick white fish fillets, such as halibut or cod (skin on or off)

Directions: 

Heat the oven to 400 degrees and set a rack in the upper part. In a medium bowl, stir together the mayonnaise, capers, pickles, herbs and Worcestershire sauce. Using a Microplane, finely grate the garlic into the bowl, then grate in the zest of the lemon. (Hold onto the lemon; you’ll use the juice later.) Stir to combine and season the tartar sauce to taste with salt and lots of pepper.

In a small bowl, stir together the panko and olive oil; season with salt and pepper.

Pat the fish dry on all sides and season lightly all over with salt and pepper. Transfer to a lightly greased or foil-lined sheet pan. Coat the top with a thin layer of the tartar sauce (a scant tablespoon per fillet). Sprinkle the panko evenly on top (about 2 tablespoons per fillet), pressing gently to adhere.

Bake the fish on the top rack until almost cooked through, 10 to 15 minutes for fillets between ½- and ¾-inch-thick (though you should check earlier, if using a thinner fish). An instant-read thermometer should read somewhere between 125 and 130 degrees when inserted into the thickest part of the fish.

Meanwhile, add 1 tablespoon juice from the lemon to the tartar sauce and cut the remaining lemon into 4 wedges for serving.

When the fish is nearly cooked through, switch the oven to broil. Broil the fish on the top rack until the bread crumbs are golden and the fish flakes easily and registers 140 degrees in the thickest part, 2 to 3 minutes. Eat with a spoonful of tartar sauce, more black pepper and a squeeze of lemon. (Any extra tartar sauce will keep for up to a week in the fridge.)

Cauliflower Curry

Servings: 4
Preheat: 
Prep Time: 1 hour
Source: https://www.indianhealthyrecipes.com/cauliflower-curry-recipe/#wprm-recipe-container-38380

Super easy and delicious curry. See “Source” URL for more detail. Serve with rice or roti. Can add green peas, potatoes, mushrooms, or spinach (1.5 cups).

Ingredients: 

250 g cauliflower florets (2 heaped cups)
Cilantro for a garnish
2 Tbsp oil
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 sprig curry leaves
1 1/4 cup red onions chopped finely (2 medium)
1 Green chili slit or chopped
1 tbsp half ginger/half garlic chopped, or 1 tsp paste
3/4 -1 cup tomatoes. Diced canned work fine
3/4 to 1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 to 3/4 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp garam masala or curry powder
1/2 tsp coriander powder
3/4 -1 cup water or coconut milk (I used 1 1/4 cup)

Directions: 

Heat oil in pan. add mustard and cumin. Whey they begin to sizzle, add the curry leaves and fry for 30 seconds.
Add onions and green chilli. Saute until pink or golden
Stir in ginger garlic and saute until a nice aroma comes out for about 30-60 sec
Add tomatoes and salt. Saute until the tomatoes turn soft
Add turmeric, red chilli powder, garam masala, and coriander powder. Saute for 30-60 seconds until the masala smells aromatic.
Add cauliflower florets and saute for 1-2 minutes
Pour 1/2 to 1 cup water or coconut milk and give a good mix. I used 1 cup water at this step. Young cauliflower releases lots of moistures, so be careful not to add a lot of water at one time.
Cover and cook until the cauliflower is tender but not too soft
If needed, add more water or coconut milk to bring the curry to a desired consistency. I added half cup coconut milk at this stage and cook 2-3 minutes more.
Taste the curry and add more salt if needed. Garnish cauliflower curry with coriander leaves.

Focaccia Onion Board

Servings: 8
Preheat: 425
Prep Time: Total Time : 3 hours, Active Time: 45 minutes (dough can refrigerate overnight
Source: SMITTEN KITCHEN

Serve this with anything you like on a bagel, a cream cheese board, or just a schmear of salted butter. Note on an update: Based on feedback from comments, I’m suggesting you line your pan with parchment paper for easier removal.

Ingredients: 

3 cups (390 grams) all-purpose flour
Kosher salt
1 teaspoon (3 grams) instant yeast
1 1/2 cups (355 grams) lukewarm water
Olive oil
2 large yellow onions, halved and thinly sliced
1 1/2 teaspoons poppy seeds

Directions: 

Make the dough: In a large bowl, combine the flour, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, and instant yeast. Add the water and use a spoon, rubber spatula or a dough whisk [I have this one], mix until the water is absorbed and a shaggy, sticky dough is formed. Cover with a towel or plastic wrap and let rise until doubled at room temperature for 1 3/4 to 2 hours. Alternatively, you can let it rise in the fridge overnight for 8 to 10 hours.
Meanwhile, prepare your onions: Heat a large sauté pan over medium heat. Once hot, add 2 tablespoons olive oil. Once the oil is heated, add the onions and 1 teaspoon kosher salt. Cook onions, stirring every minute or two, until a medium brown, almost caramel colored, about 25 minutes. [See Note at end.] Scrape onions onto a plate to cool while you finish the bread.

Finish the focaccia: When the dough is doubled, line a 9×13 cake pan with parchment paper and drizzle 2 tablespoons olive oil over it. Do not deflate your dough, just scrape it onto the oiled parchment. Drizzle the top of the dough with another tablespoon of olive oil and use your fingers to dimple the dough, flattening it out. It’s okay if it doesn’t reach the edges. Let the dimpled dough rest at room temperature for 15 minutes and heat your oven to 425°F. After 15 minutes, dimple the dough only where needed a little further into the corners. Let rest for a final 15 minutes before scattering the top with onions, poppy seeds, and a few pinches of salt.

Bake the focaccia: For 25 minutes, until deeply golden brown at the edges and across the top. While it bakes, you can prepare any toppings you’d like to serve it with, such as cream cheese or butter, lox, thinly sliced tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, or capers.

To serve: Loosen the focaccia if it’s stuck in any place and slide it into a cutting board. Cut into 12 squares, using a sharp knife to get through the onions on top without pulling them off, and replacing any that scatter. Eat right away.
Do ahead: Focaccia keeps at room temperature for 1 to 2 days. Reheat on a baking sheet at 350°F for 10 to 12 minutes.

Note: These are not caramelized onions; we do not need 60 to 90 minutes over low heat with constant stirring. That is not how any ancestor of mine cooked onions. I’m intentionally using a higher heat for more quickly developed flavor. If they’re not picking up color by 20 minutes, bump up the heat slightly. If they’re coloring too fast to make it to 20 to 25 minutes, reduce the heat. We want to stopping shy of a dark bronzed color, as the onions will finish in the oven and we don’t want them to burn.

Mayo-Roasted Thanksgiving Turkey With Gravy

Servings: 10 to 14 servings
Preheat: 350
Prep Time: 2 hours
Source: New York Times

Some recipes for mayo-roasted turkey promise extra-juicy results with minimal effort. This one does no such thing. The mayonnaise won’t help the turkey stay juicy: Only salting and resting (a light curing process known colloquially as dry-brining) and carefully monitoring its internal temperature as it roasts will. The mayonnaise will, however, produce a turkey with glistening, burnished, golden-brown skin evenly flavored with herbs, no basting required. The mayo’s viscosity helps it stay in place as it roasts, while the extra protein from egg aids in browning. This recipe will make a little more mayonnaise than you’ll need. Use the excess for leftovers sandwiches, or toss it with roughly chopped vegetables (carrots, broccoli, brussels sprouts, zucchini or squash) before roasting at high heat for 10 to 15 minutes.

Ingredients: 

For the Turkey

1 (10- to 14-pound) whole turkey, backbone removed, neck, giblets and backbone reserved for the gravy (see Tips)
½ cup kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal) or 6 tablespoons coarse salt (such as Morton’s)
2 celery ribs, diced
1large onion, diced
1 large carrot, diced

For the Herb Mayo (see Tips)
1½ cups mayonnaise (such as Hellmann’s or Best Foods)
1 cup loosely packed fresh parsley leaves, stems reserved
½ cup loosely packed fresh sage leaves, stems reserved
2 tablespoons fresh thyme or oregano leaves, stems reserved
2 scallions, roughly chopped
1 lemon, zested
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the Gravy

2 teaspoons neutral oil, such as vegetable, light olive oil or canola
2 celery ribs, roughly chopped
1 large onion, diced
1 large carrot, roughly chopped
Reserved backbone and any neck or giblets from the turkey, roughly chopped
1½ quarts homemade or store-bought low-sodium chicken or turkey stock
Reserved herb stems from the Herb Mayo
2 bay leaves
¼ cup all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon soy sauce

Directions: 

Step 1
Dry-brine the turkey: Pat the turkey dry with paper towels. Carefully loosen the skin from the breast of the turkey — going in through the neck may be easier here — until you can slide your hand between the skin and the meat. Season each turkey breast with 1 teaspoon salt, spreading it as evenly as possible with your hands. Sprinkle the remaining salt evenly over every surface of the turkey. Place the turkey skin-side up on a rimmed sheet pan, and refrigerate, uncovered, for 12 to 24 hours.

Step 2
While the turkey dry-brines, make the herb mayo: In a tall container just wide enough to fit the head of a hand blender (or using a regular blender or food processor), combine the mayonnaise with the parsley, sage, thyme or oregano, scallions, lemon zest and 1 tablespoon water. Season generously with salt and pepper. Use the hand blender to blend until it all forms a relatively smooth, pale-green sauce. Transfer to a sealed container until ready to use. You should have about 1¾ cups of herb mayo. (You can make the mayo in advance up to a week and keep it in the fridge.)

Step 3
Roast the turkey: Take the turkey out of the refrigerator to let it rest as the oven heats. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat the oven to 425 degrees for a 10- to 12-pound bird or 400 degrees for a 12- to 14-pound bird. Line a sheet pan with aluminum foil. Scatter the diced celery, onion and carrot over it. Place a cooling rack directly on top of the vegetables, then place the turkey on top, skin-side down.

Step 4
With your hands, slather ½ cup of the herb-mayo mixture over the exposed side of the turkey, making sure to lightly coat every surface. Flip the turkey skin-side up. Spread the legs out to the sides (they should remain skin-side up) and tuck the wing tips behind the breast. With your hands, spread a couple of tablespoons of the herb mayo between the skin and meat of the breast. Generously slather the rest of the turkey with the herb mayo, getting it into every crack and crevice. (Reserve any remaining herb mayo for your day-after-Thanksgiving sandwiches.)

Step 5
Transfer the turkey to the oven and roast until the breast meat registers 150 degrees at its coolest point (typically the deepest point of the breast next to the breastbone) and the thigh and leg meat register at least 165 degrees at their coolest point (typically the center of the joint between the drumstick and thigh or thigh and hip), 80 to 90 minutes, rotating halfway through. (You may want to start checking the turkey’s internal temperature after about 1 hour.) If any of the skin starts to darken too much during roasting, tent darker areas loosely with aluminum foil. Remove from oven, transfer to a cutting board, and let it rest.

Step 6
While the turkey cooks, make the gravy: Heat the oil in a large saucepan over high until lightly smoking. Add the celery, onion, carrot and turkey parts, and cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, about 15 minutes. Add the stock, herb stems and bay leaves. Bring to a simmer and cook gently until reduced by about half, or until the turkey is done.

Step 7
After removing the turkey from the oven, strain the stock mixture through a fine-mesh strainer into a large bowl. Tilt and strain any collected liquids from the turkey-roasting tray into the same bowl. Discard the vegetables at the bottom of the tray. Skim off and discard most of the excess fat from the liquid.

Step 8
Heat the flour and butter in a medium saucepan over medium, stirring constantly with a whisk until the mixture is golden brown. Ladle the stock mixture into the saucepan, about a ½ cup at a time, whisking until smooth after each addition. Once all the stock is added, bring the gravy to a simmer until your desired consistency, stir in the soy sauce and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Step 9
Carve and serve the turkey with the gravy.

Turkey Barley Soup

Servings: 6
Preheat: 
Prep Time: 1 hour
Source: New York Times

This mellow, velvety soup filled with barley and vegetables is a perfect place for your leftover Thanksgiving turkey. Adapted from Cristiana N. de Carvalho of Massachusetts, it’s savory, herby and very warming on a cold winter evening. If you want to make your own stock from the turkey bones, the soup will be even richer. But store-bought stock works just as well and makes this straightforward recipe quick to put together. Brown rice makes an excellent barley substitute, though you may have to add a few minutes to the cooking time. —Melissa Clark

Ingredients: 

3 tablespoons unsalted butter or extra-virgin olive oil
2 medium carrots, peeled and sliced into ½-inch coins
2 celery stalks, thinly sliced
1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
3 garlic cloves, minced or finely grated
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh sage leaves
2 teaspoons fine salt, plus more as needed
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more as needed
¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
4 thyme sprigs
4 parsley sprigs, plus 1 cup coarsely chopped parsley leaves and tender stems, plus more for garnish
1 bay leaf
2 quarts turkey or chicken stock, preferably homemade
¾ cup pearled barley
2 to 3 cups shredded or chopped leftover turkey
1 lemon, halved

Directions: 

Step 1
In a large soup pot over medium-high, melt butter, or heat the oil until shimmering. Add carrot, celery and onion, and cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned at the edges, 7 to 10 minutes. Stir in garlic and sage, and sauté for a minute, until fragrant. Stir in salt, pepper, nutmeg and cayenne.

Step 2
Tie the thyme and parsley sprigs and the bay leaf together with a piece of kitchen twine to make a bouquet garni and add to the pot (or just throw the herbs directly into the pot; you’ll just have to fish them out later).

Step 3
Add stock and barley and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook until barley is almost done, about 30 minutes. Add turkey and cook until barley is tender, about 10 to 15 minutes longer.

Step 4
Remove from heat and remove the bouquet garni or herbs. Squeeze the juice from half a lemon into the soup, and stir in chopped parsley. Taste and add more salt, pepper and lemon juice, if you like. Cut the remaining lemon half into wedges. Garnish soup with more parsley, and serve with lemon wedges.

Thanksgiving Stuffing

Servings: 6 to 8
Preheat: 350
Prep Time: 1 hour 20 min.
Source: New York Times

This deeply savory, buttery sage stuffing builds layers of flavor with each step. First, whole sage leaves fry in melted butter for a pretty garnish that offers pleasurable crispy bits. The butter ends up browned, nutty and infused with the herb’s woodsy aroma, and helps chopped sage, fennel seeds, poultry seasoning and cayenne bloom for a fragrant blend that tastes like sausage. Milk in place of watery boxed stock means there’s a base of richness that only dairy can provide. The combination of white bread and cornbread results in a classic but amped-up Thanksgiving stuffing with textural integrity and a hint of sweetness to boot.

Ingredients: 

8 ounces crusty white bread, such as country loaf or sourdough, cut into ½-inch dice (about 6 cups)
8 ounces store-bought or homemade cornbread, cut into ½-inch dice (about 3 cups)
½ cup unsalted butter
10 fresh sage leaves, plus ⅓ cup coarsely chopped sage (¾ ounce)
1 tablespoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon salt-free poultry seasoning
¼ teaspoon ground cayenne
1 large yellow onion, finely diced
Salt and black pepper
2 celery stalks, finely diced
2 cups whole milk, plus more as needed

Directions: 

Step 1
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spread all the bread cubes on a large sheet pan and bake until brittle, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool completely on the pan. (The cooled bread can be stored in an airtight container for up to 5 days.) Raise the oven temperature to 375 degrees.

Step 2
Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Dip a wadded-up paper towel into the melted butter and grease a 1½- to 2-quart shallow baking dish or pan with it. Unwad the paper towel and line a plate with it. Add the whole sage leaves to the butter and cook, stirring occasionally, until the speckled milk solids at the bottom of the pan start to brown and the sage leaves become crisp, 2 to 4 minutes. Using tongs, transfer the sage to the paper towel-lined plate.

Step 3
Add the chopped sage, fennel seeds, poultry seasoning and cayenne to the browned butter and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, 30 to 60 seconds. Add the onion and season generously with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion begins to soften, about 5 minutes. Stir in the celery and continue cooking for 2 minutes. Stir in the milk and heat until steaming. Taste and add salt and pepper; the milk should be assertively seasoned.

Step 4
Transfer the toasted bread cubes to a large bowl. Pour the hot milk mixture over the bread and gently toss with two spoons until the bread is thoroughly soaked; add more milk if needed. Spread the stuffing in the buttered baking dish and cover with foil. Bake until warmed through, 10 to 15 minutes. Uncover and bake until the top is crispy and a little darker in color, about 10 minutes. Scatter with the fried sage leaves and serve.

Sheet-Pan Chicken With Apple, Fennel and Onion

Servings: 4 to 6 Servings
Preheat: 425
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Source: New York Times

Chicken thighs are roasted with classic fall ingredients for a quick, flavorful sheet-pan supper. The toasted fennel seeds subtly amplify the anise flavor of the roasted fennel and play nicely with the apples and onions. Look for an apple on the tart side as it will naturally sweeten as it cooks in the oven. If you want to use bone-in chicken breasts you can, just make sure to cut the cooking time by a few minutes so they don’t dry out. Serve with a bright, bitter green salad flecked with blue cheese and toasted walnuts.

Ingredients: 

2 teaspoons fennel seeds
2½ to 3 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, patted dry
3 tablespoons olive oil
Kosher salt and black pepper
1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced (about 1½ cups)
1 medium fennel bulb, tough outer leaves removed, cored and thinly sliced (about 1 cup)
1 tart apple, such as Mutsu (Crispin) or Granny Smith, halved, cored and cut into 8 wedges
4 sprigs rosemary
Flaky salt, for serving

Directions: 

Step 1
Heat oven to 425 degrees. In a small skillet, toast the fennel seeds over medium-low heat, stirring frequently until fragrant, about 2 to 3 minutes. Pound into a coarse powder with a mortar and pestle or, alternatively, roughly chop. In a large bowl, toss together the chicken with 1 tablespoon olive oil and the fennel seeds and season well with salt and pepper.

Step 2
Place the onion, fennel and apple slices on the sheet pan. Toss with the remaining olive oil and season well with salt. Spread in an even layer. Add the chicken skin side up on top of the vegetables and lay the rosemary (distributing evenly) on top of the chicken. Roast for 40 to 45 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and the onions, fennel and apples are softened and have begun to caramelize at the edge of the pan.

Step 3
Turn the oven to broil and move the oven rack to sit right below it. Remove and discard the rosemary sprigs and broil the chicken for 1 to 2 minutes until the skin of the chicken is crispy and golden. Season with flaky salt.

Chicken with Tomatillo Sauce

Servings: 4
Preheat: 400
Prep Time: 1 hour
Source: https://glebekitchen.com/chicken-with-tomatillo-sauce/

Chicken with tomatillo sauce delivers big Mexican flavours and is easy enough to make any night of the week.

Ingredients: 

Chicken recipe
6 bone-in skin-on chicken thighs
1 1/2 lbs tomatillos
2-3 jalapeños – seeded and minced (optional)
1 large onion – finely diced
3 cloves garlic – crushed
2 tsp creole seasoning – plus more to season the chicken
up to 3/4 cup chicken stock
olive oil
salt – to taste
cilantro – to garnish

Creole Seasoning
5 tablespoons paprika
3 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons onion powder
2 tablespoons garlic powder
2 tablespoons dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon white pepper
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper (optional)

Directions: 

Pre-heat your oven to 400F.

Bring a pot of water to boil and cook the tomatillos for 10 minutes. Drain and chop.

Heat a skillet large enough to hold the chicken in a single layer over medium heat. Coat the chicken thighs with olive oil and season liberally with creole seasoning. Film the skillet with olive oil. Place the chicken, skin side down and cook until golden brown. Remove the chicken from the skillet and remove all but 2 Tbsp of fat.

Saute the onions and jalapeños until soft, around 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook another minute. Mix in the tomatillos and 2 tsp creole seasoning and cook for 2-3 minutes. Now add 1/4 cup chicken stock and nestle the chicken in the sauce. It’s critical to keep the skin above the liquid or it will get soggy.

Roast the chicken until you get an internal temperature of 175F, about 20-25 minutes. Keep an eye on the dish. If the sauce gets too dry (like it looks like it might burn) add another 1/4 cup chicken stock.

When the chicken is done remove the skillet from the oven. CAREFUL!! POT HANDLE WILL BE VERY HOT!!

Remove the chicken and set aside. If the sauce is too runny place the skillet over medium heat and reduce until you get a saucy but not runny consistency. If it’s too dry, add a bit more chicken stock. Adjust for salt. Garnish with a bit of cilantro. Serve the chicken over the sauce.

Apricot pistachio squares

Servings: 16 or 25 bars, depends on how you cut them
Preheat: 350
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Source: Smitten Kitchen

Post navigation
Previous post: cold noodles with miso, lime and gingerNext post: raspberry swirl cheesecake
RECIPES
apricot pistachio squares
AUGUST 7, 2014 JUMP TO COMMENTS
Let me just get the obvious out of the way because I know what you’re thinking: what am I doing here? Shouldn’t I be packing for our move, which is less than 24 hours from now? These are all valid questions, but you see, there is history here, a long history of kitchen-related procrastination. Two days before our last move, I sheeted pasta and peeled favas. I spent the last week of my pregnancy stocking the freezer with foods to bribe charm labor and delivery nurses with. When I was done with that, I made a cake for people coming to visit the new baby. When my induction was trudging along pitifully slowly, I pulled out my laptop and wrote up a new recipe I’d made in the days before. Thus, it should be no surprise that on Tuesday, with a totally straight face, I made the argument by turning the last splash of heavy cream, handful of chocolate chips and a half-pint of vanilla ice cream leftover from this into hot fudge sauce, I was “packing.” But yesterday, I didn’t even have an excuse; I just needed a break from having exasperating conversations a store that lost the mattress we ordered and could maybe get us a replacement sometime in September, arrgh.

pistachios and apricots
apricots everywhere this summer

Ahem. I’ve been in a bit of a fervor this summer over the apricots from Red Jacket Orchards. I shared a photo of them the other day and someone asked me what I was going to make with them and I was confused. Make? With apricots? Why on earth would you make something with apricots, when you could eat them as-is, even four in a row as my son did before my dropped jaw yesterday. But then the next wave of procrastination hit and why, yes, making something with apricots was a brilliant idea!

whirling the pistachios

making the cookie base

In another era of my life, this would have been a tart. I would have made a tart shell and pressed it into a fluted, removable bottom tart pan, trimmed the overhand, pricked it all over with a fork, filled it with pie weighs and par-baked it before filling it elegantly. This all feels way too fussy for my current lifestyle — and by “lifestyle” I mean “barely managed chaos” — and so I made bar cookies instead. Bar cookies are your friend. The crust can be whizzed up in a food processor and pressed into the bottom. You parbake it with no docking and no pie weights, and while it’s in the oven, you use the bowl of your food processor that you didn’t even wash (because la dee da, it doesn’t matter) to grind the pistachio frangipane filling.

pistachio paste filling
ready for the oven
baked

Frangipane is usually made with almonds; frangipane is delicious with almonds. But what I really want to eat with apricots is nubby green pistachios, and so I made a pistachio paste instead. As the sole purpose of this baked good was to allow me to avoid handling the real things in my life that need to be handled, and I was very distracted while baking it, my expectations were very low for the results. I figured it would be a disaster and one day, preferably in my new kitchen, I’d make it again properly. But the kitchen faeries were with me — it’s like they wanted me to willfully ignore my to-do list! And who am I to argue with faeries?! — and these are actually wonderful, buttery and rich but not too sweet. For a bar cookie, they are downright elegant. As a way to evade a big looming deadlines, astoundingly effective. Now, who wants to come over and help us pack?

apricot pistachio squares

One year ago: Kale Salad with Pecorino and Walnuts
Two years ago: Leek, Chard and Corn Flatbread
Three years ago: Peach Butter
Four years ago: Everyday Chocolate Cake
Five years ago: Lighter, Airy Pound Cake
Six years ago: Key Lime Meltaways
Seven years ago: Mixed Bean Salad

Apricot Pistachio Squares

This recipe is lightly spun from this pear-almond tart from Dorie Greenspan, with a simpler crust and streamlined steps. This is the kind of bar recipe that should theoretically be flexible to use with other ingredients. You can estimate roughly need twice the weight in pistachios if you’re buying them in their shells.

Ingredients: 

Crust
1 cup (125 grams) all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
1/2 cup (4 ounces or 115 grams) unsalted butter, cold is fine

Filling
3/4 cup (a scant 4 ounces or 110 grams) shelled unsalted pistachios
1 tablespoon (10 grams) all purpose flour
Few pinches of sea salt
6 tablespoons (75 grams) sugar
5 tablespoons (70 grams) unsalted butter, cold is fine
1 large egg
1/4 teaspoon almond extract, 2 teaspoons brandy or another flavoring of your choice (totally optional)
1 pound firm-ripe apricots

Directions: 

Heat your oven to 350 degrees F. Cut two 12-inch lengths of parchment paper and trim each to fit the 8-inch width of an 8×8-inch square baking pan. Press it into the bottom and sides of your pan in one direction, then use the second sheet to line the rest of the pan, perpendicular to the first sheet. (If you have an 8-inch square springform, you can skip this and just butter it well.)

Make the crust: Combine the flour, salt and sugar in the bowl of a food processor. Cut the butter into chunks, and add it to the bowl, then run the machine until the mixture forms large clumps — that’s right, just keep running it; it might take 30 seconds to 1 minute for it to come together, but it will. Transfer the dough clumps to your prepared baking pan and press it evenly across the bottom and 1/4-inch up the sides. Bake for 15 minutes, until very pale golden. For the sake of speed, transfer to a cooling rack in your freezer for 10 to 15 minutes while you prepare the filing.

(Don’t have a food processor? You might have an easier time using softened butter and preparing this cookie-style: cream it with the sugar with a hand mixer, then spoon in the salt and flour, beating until just combined. It might help to chill this mixture a bit before pressing it into the pan, or it might feel too greasy to easily spread.)

Make the filling: In your food processor bowl (which I never bother cleaning between these steps), grind your pistachios, sugar, flour and salt together until the nuts are powdery. Cut the butter into chunks and add it to the machine. Run the machine until no buttery bits are visible. Add any flavorings and egg, blending until just combined.

Spread filling over mostly cooled (warmth is okay but it’s hoped that the freezer will have firmed the base enough that you can spread something over it) crust. Cut apricots in half (or, you might find that you can tear them open at the seams with your fingers) and remove pits. From here, you have a few decoration options: you can place the apricot halves in facedown or up all over the pistachio base. You can do as I did, which is cut them into strips, then slide each cut half onto a butter knife or offset spatula, tilt it so that it fans a little, and slide it onto your pistachio filling decoratively. (With this method, I ended up not using all of my apricots.) You could also arrange the strips like petals of flower around the pan, for maximum pretties.]]

Bake the bars for 60 minutes, or until they are golden and a toothpick inserted into the pistachio portion comes out batter-free. This might take up to 10 minutes longer depending on the juiciness of your apricots and the amount you were able to nestle in. Let cool completely in pan; you can hasten this along in the fridge.

To finish, you can make a shiny glaze for your tart by warming the jam in a small saucepan until it thins, and brushing this mixture over the top of the cooled tart. Or, you can keep it rustic with just a dusting of powdered sugar, as I did. (This step is not necessary- JO and ES skip it)

Cut bars into squares — chilled bars will give you the cleanest cuts. Keep leftover bars chilled.