Chicken & Veggie Gratin

Watching all those ridiculously skinny actresses last night on the Oscars made me really hungry!  So here's what I think Angelina could use...

I was craving caramelized onions ( I know, I'm a little weird), and that always makes me think of a yummy tian or gratin.  Lately I like the idea of working with whatever I've got.  Fortunately, my kitchen is usually pretty accommodating to an improv dinner (and not just cereal).  So into the pantry and fridge we go.....onions, baby bliss potatoes, mushrooms, thyme, chicken, gruyere (you KNOW I always have cheese on hand....or in mouth), and panko.

Start with a little olive oil and butter in a large skillet, and slowly cook the onions on medium-low heat. 

In a separate skillet, cook a couple chicken breasts, simply seasoned with salt and pepper.  I used this fantastic French herb salt that I picked up at the farmers' market from All Star Organics. I also added a little to the onions....



Caramelizing onions takes time, so if you're starving or in a rush, plan on making something else.  Once the onions are golden, add the sliced mushrooms.

 While chicken and onions cook, thinly slice some baby bliss potatoes, and lay them in the bottom of a lightly oiled baking dish.  Cover the bottom completely.  If you have a mandoline, use it.  If you are using a knife, be sure to keep the cuts uniform, so they will all cook the same.

Drizzle potatoes with olive oil and some thyme leaves.  Then start layering: onion mixture, chicken, cheese and panko.  Bake covered for 30 minutes, remove cover and cook an additional 5-10 minutes.

Caramelized Onion and Chicken Gratin

Serves 4

1 tablespoon olive oil, plus extra for pan

1 table spoon unsalted butter

2 yellow onions, thinly sliced

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts

salt & pepper

8 ounces crimini mushrooms, sliced

5 Baby Bliss potatoes, sliced 1/4" thick

2 teaspoons thyme leaves, divided

1 cup shredded Gruyere cheese

1/2 cup panko

• Preheat oven to 350. Lightly oil a baking dish and set aside.
• Heat oil and butter in a large skillet over medium heat.  When hot, add sliced onions and reduce heat to medium-low.  Let onions cook, stirring only occasionally, for 10 minutes, then add a pinch of salt and conmtinue to cook 2-3 more minutes before adding the mushrooms.
• Add mushrooms and continue cooking another 10-15 minutes.
• In a spearate skillet, cook chicken breasts seasoned with salt and pepper.  When cooked, remove from heat and when cool enough to handle, shred.
• Place sliced potatoes, slightly overlapping, in the  bottom of prepared baking dish.  Drizzle with olive oil and 1 teaspoon of the thyme leaves.
• Top with onion and mushroom mixture, then shredded chickenm then cheese, and top with panko and remaining teaspoon of thyme leaves.
• Cover and bake for 30 minutes.  remove cover and bake an addtional 5 minutes.
• Remove from oven and let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Spicy Chicken Burgers

Every time I see that "Jumbaco" commercial from Jack in the Box, I get a little crazed.  If you're not familiar, it starts with a fake commercial for a new product, the Jumbaco: a Jumbo Jack burger nestled between two tacos.  Gross on so many levels.  Then a woman tells Jack that "research shows that normal people..." and I'm waiting for her to say, "...normal people don't want to gorge themselves like that!"  Instead she points out that people like the Jumbo Meal Deal better: a Jumbo Jack burger, two tacos, large fries and a large drink.  And all of this for just $4.29. 

It's no wonder 2/3 of Americans are overweight and that diabetes is at a record high.  So I decided to work on a meal that would be healthier, yet delicious, and cost about the same as the fast food meal deals.  And along came my Spicy Chicken Burgers.  I used organic chicken thighs, tons of spices, a homemade yogurt sauce, pita bread, and whipped up a batch of sweet potato fries on the side.  And it clocked in at $2.71 per person, for a family of 5 (I didn't buy a full 1 1/2 lbs of chicken, which would've served 6). Take THAT, Jack!

Start with some chopped ginger, cilantro and scallions.  People always ask me if they can use the green parts of scallions....YES.  Use all of the scallion, just cut off the ends.

Cut the boneless, skinless thighs into small chunks.  If you're not a fan of chicken thighs, I'm with you, but they are perfect for this dish, since they are more moist than chicken breasts, and they are so economical.  I promise you'll be a fan.

Place the ginger, cilantro, scallions in a bowl and add as many of the spices I suggest.  If you don't have some of them, don't sweat it; use what you've got, because that's probably what you like.  I added paprika, cumin, coriander, madras curry powder, garam masala and cayenne.

Add the chicken and let it sit for about 30 minutes.

Put all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until well combined.  Form into patties and refrigerate for 15-20 minutes.

I used coconut oil to saute the burgers because it lends a nice little background of flavor, but you can use olive oil if you don't have coconut oil (but think about getting it; it's yummy and a good, healthy fat).  Cook about 3-5 minutes per side until cooked through.

You can also bust 'em out in minis and have a slider night.

Next I toasted some cumin seeds in coconut oil until they started to brown (and you can smell it when it's ready....a fine line between perfect and burnt; if you burn them, throw it out and start over.  When I pulled it off the heat, I added a pinch of cayenne and a pinch of coriander.

When it's cooled down, turn it into about 1/2 cup of Greek yogurt, and toss in some diced cucumbers and a pinch of sea salt.

I used a large circle cutter to make my own "bun", but I was just being cute.  You can cut a pita in half and load up the burger (or sliders), along with the yogurt sauce.  If you'd like, add shredded lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumbers, too.

And viola!  The tastiest burger I've had in the longest time.  Super spicy and hearty.  The yogurt sauce is the perfect compliment to the spice of the burger, if you make it with all the spices I used.  Make a simple little salad on the side or  baked sweet potato fries....or maybe both!

Spicy Chicken Burgers

Serves 6

1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs

4 scallions, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons chopped ginger

2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

1 tablespoon paprika

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon coriander

1 teaspoon Madras curry powder

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 teaspoon garam masala

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 1/2 teaspoon coconut oil

• Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces and place in a medium bowl.
• Add scallions, ginger, cilantro to the bowl, along with the paprika, cumin, coriander, curry powder, salt, garam masala, and cayenne.  Let it sit for 15-30 minutes.
• Form into 6 patties and let sit in fridge for about 15 minutes
• Heat coconut oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.
• Add burgers and cook 3-5 minutes per side.
• Remove from heat and put into pita halves and drizzle yogurt sauce.

Yogurt Sauce 

1 tablespoon coconut oil

1 tablespoon cumin seeds

1 teaspoon ground coriander

Pinch cayenne

Pinch sea salt

1/2 cup Greek yogurt

1/4 cup diced cucumber

• Heat coconut oil in a small skillet over medium high heat.
• Add cumin seeds and cook, tossing gently until lightly browned, about 2-3 minutes.
• Remove from heat and stir in coriander, cayenne and salt.
• Let cool and fold into Greek yogurt and cucumber.

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did....I ate two people's portions!  I certainly love when I make something that tastes this good....but I also hate it, cuz I eat waaaaay too much of it.  Treadmill tomorrow.

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It's Time...

I saw Food, Inc. about three years ago,and immediately stopped eating chicken, beef and pork (well except for that occasional torrid fling I have with prosciutto (come on, it's prosciutto!)  It wasn't too difficult for me to give up beef because I just never really cared one way or the other about it.  It was a little bit harder to say "goodbye" to sausage, bacon and chicken.  The knowledge of how most commercially "grown" chickens,cows and pigs are treated and, even more so, slaughtered was really disturbing to me, so I changed the way I ate. After about six months of no animal protein except for organic eggs and dairy, I felt really tired and decided that my body needed more animal protein.  I added organic chicken back into my diet and found my energy again.  I believe that all of us are designed to eat a certain way; for me, it was eating mostly vegetarian meals, with some chicken and seafood.  Interestingly enough, I read about a theory that I refer to as "genetic eating," that basically maintains we are programed to eat a certain way based on our ancestry.  It was fascinating to me to realize that on my dad's side of the family, they were Irish fishermen.  On my mom's side, they were farmers in France who also raised chickens.  So it made perfect sense to me that those were the foods that my body was telling me to eat.

Recently, however, I've had cravings for a burger.  What the???  I believe that if you're really in tune with your body, you will know what it's telling you it needs.  I find myself craving an orange every once in a while....my body needs vitamin C.  I crave a huge glass of ice water; my body's dehydrated.  So I had to listen to this beef craving, and realized that I was probably iron deficient.  Most women are.  So I sought the advice of my culinary guru, Tom, and decided on a skirt steak recipe I saw in Real Simple.  I was looking for a little guidance on how to cook red meat again, and he gave me the confidence to give it a try. I'm a bit of a recipe nerd and like to cook a recipe the first time just as it was written.  But then I bust it out and do it "Suzanne Style."  So last night I cooked the recipe from the mag (big hit, even with Fancy-Pants-Tom), but today, with my leftover piece of steak, I mixed it up a bit, simplified it, and boosted the flavor.... so here's my Mushroom-Shallot Skirt Steak:

Start out with about a pound of skirt steak, trimmed nicely from your butcher, and grass-fed if you can swing it.  Simply season it with salt and pepper and throw it into a wicked hot pan (preferably cast iron over high heat) coated with olive oil.  If it's really wicked hot (give it a little flick of water and if it sizzles, you're good), you can cook it in about 3-4 minute per side. Pull it off the heat and degalze the pan with a couple tablespoons of red wine.  Pour that sauce over the steak, tent it with foil, and keep warm.
Wipe out the skillet and add a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil over high heat,  Add 2 rosemary sprigs, 1/2 pound crimini mushrooms, and 1/4 pound shiitakes.  Let it sit - everyone looooves to stir, but stirring too much won't allow the mushrooms to brown.  After about 3-4 minutes, pour off any liquid and continue to cook for a few minutes until mushrooms are browned, but not quite done.  Then add 4 shallots, thinly sliced, and saute for a couple minutes until softened.  Add 2 cloves garlic,also thinly sliced, a couple cups of baby spinach, a cup of arugula ,a healthy pinch of salt and pepper, and cook 1-2 minutes more, stirring frequently, until greens are wilted.  Remove skillet from heat and add 1 tablespoon unsalted butter and 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar.  Stir until butter is melted.

Place mushroom mixture on plate and top with skirt steak (maybe a little bit on top, too). 

Sooooo pretty,  And wicked, wicked delicious!!  I have to say that moments after eating this - with a fab twice-baked potato that was so yummy I ate it all before I got a chance to photograph it (oops!) - I felt better.  And here is my testament....