Honey Ginger (Lemon) Chicken

"WHAT!?", you ask, "Another new blog post? Does this make three in the same week? After months without one?!"

"Yes, Dear follower. It is true."

Last night, after nearly choosing to order pizza, I regained control of the need to eat everything in the house before we go to San Diego next Tuesday impulse and made a delicious, and huge, fall dinner.

On the menu:
Homemade "harvest grain" bread (see crusty boule recipe on this blog)
Roased Local Carrots and Local Celeriac with Maple Syrup (below)
Garlic Mashed Local Red and White Potatoes
Spicy, Garlicky Local Collards (below)
Honey Ginger (lemon) Chicken Breasts with Preserved Lemons (below)

The Recipes: 

Honey Ginger (lemon) Chicken Breasts (adapted from this recipe from Simply Recipes)


Marinade

• 2 Tbsp honey
• 1 Tbsp sherry
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon peppercorns, ground

Chicken

• 2 chicken breasts
• 2 Tbsp Olive oil
• 1 lemon, thinly sliced
• Salt and pepper
• 1 Tbsp Sugar, to sprinkle

1 Preheat oven to 390°F. Warm the honey, stir in the sherry, ginger and pepper. Place marinade and chicken in a ziplock bag, coat chicken with marinade. Let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.

2 Heat olive oil in a large frying pan at medium high heat. Sear the chicken until golden.

3 Place lemon slices in a roasting pan. Lay the chicken pieces on top. Brush with the marinade. Season generously with salt and pepper. Place in the oven and bake until done, approximately 15 minutes. Remove from oven. Sprinkle sugar on top of chicken breasts and broil for 5 minutes, until sugar is carmalized. Remove and let rest for 10 minutes before serving. Pour drippings from pan over chicken breasts. Serve with some of the lemons and preserved lemons.

Roasted Carrots and Celeriac (Recipe adapted from Notes from a Maine Kitchen (2011) Kathy Gunst)

Carrots, Peeled and ends removed
Celeriac, Peeled and cut into rods
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper
maple syrup

Arrange carrots and celeriac rods on baking sheet. Drizzle oil over vegetables, season, and toss.
Roast at 400 for 15 minutes. Toss
Roast another 10 minutes. Drizzle maple syrup over vegetables. toss
Roast another 5-10 minutes.

Spicy and Garlicy Collards (Recipe completely made up)

Collards, washed and roughly chopped (remove tough stems through leaves)
2 tbs. bacon grease, butter, or olive oil
2 cloves garlic, grated
2 tbsp. red pepper flakes
1 tbsp. grated ginger
1/2 C. white wine
salt and pepper

Add fat (grease, butter, or oil) to large saute pan. Heat to medium high. Add collards and cook, stirring, 5 minutes. Add garlic, red pepper flakes, ginger, and wine. Cook for 5-10 minutes, until wine evaporates or reduces. Season. Remove from pan into serving bowl using tongs, slotted spoon, or fork (to leave any extra wine in the pan).

Baked Eggs Du Jour

I think I have a new favorite go-to recipe. For awhile it was breakfast sandwiches (that had to have avocado), at another time it was fajitas, now, I think it is Baked Eggs. There is so much that is beautiful about this simple recipe. 1. It only takes around 15 minutes. 2. You can use whatever vegetables are in the fridge (or in warmer seasons- garden).

I found the recipe first in Food and Wine magazine (link here) and I even had some amazing Hen of the Wood mushrooms but I made risotto (which was amazing) but I didn't make it. I kept thinking about it, though. Then, to top everything off, someone mentioned the recipe to me and how delicious it was. I didn't have mushrooms so I googled Baked Eggs and found many recipes. One that looked especially good included bacon, green onions, tomatoes, and cheddar cheese (recipe here). Basically, what I learned was that you can basically use anything you have.

My recipe:

1 handful sliced leeks
1/4 green bell pepper, chopped
Splash of Soy Sauce
1 clove garlic, minced
Small Handful Spinach, chopped
Few Basil Leaves, chopped
Small crumble of Cheddar Cheese
1 Egg
Sriracha

Heat oven to 350.
Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in saute pan. Add leeks and bell pepper. Cook for a couple of minutes. Stir in a splash of soy sauce. Add garlic and cook for a minute, season. Remove from the heat and stir in cheese, spinach and basil.
Pour veggies into a ramekin. Make a small well in the middle and crack and egg into it.
Bake for 5 minutes. Then Broil for 5 minutes.
Add some sriracha for spice. 

Serve with toasted baguette.

Sweet Potato and Corn Chowder

We arrived back home in Vermont last night from a weekend away in Geneva, NY. We watched the temperature drop to 41 degrees on the car thermometer and hoped that the bedroom window was closed. Unfortunately, it wasn't. Thus our house is a balmy 50ish. Since it is only the first week of October, and we are tough Vermonters, it is obviously far too early to turn the heat on. Instead a day of baking and cooking ensued. What better than homemade bread and a rich fall soup?

This week's recipe comes from the New England Soup Factory Cookbook, a book I do not own but borrow often. We had received sweet potatoes in our CSA last week so I flipped through the recipes with that in  mind. When I saw it I knew it was perfect for a day like today. Sweet Potato and Corn Chowder.

The Recipe:

Sweet Potato and Corn Chowder

7 Large Sweet Potatoes, peeled

4 Tbsp. butter

2 Cloves of Garlic, chopped

1 Spanish Onion, peeled and diced

2 ribs celery, diced

3 carrots, peeled and diced

8 C. Chicken Stock

5 dashed Worcestershire Sauce

1/4 C. Packed Brown Sugar

1 Tbsp. ground coriander

2 C. Heavy Cream

1 16-oz can whole kernel corn, drained

1 16-oz can creamed corn

salt and pepper

Directions:

                Boil some salted water. Dice 2 of the sweet potatoes and add to the boiling water. Boil 10 minutes. Drain, rinse in cold water and set aside.

                In a stockpot melt butter over m/h heat. Add garlic, onion, celery, carrots, and remaining 5 potatoes (chopped). Saute for 10 minutes. Add stock, bring to a boil, then lower the heat to medium and simmer for about 30 minutes (or until the potatoes are soft).

                Remove from heat and stir in worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, coriander, and cream. Puree using a hand blender (immersion blender). Add the reserved sweet potatoes and both corns. Return to the heat and simmer for 5 more minutes. Season.

I served this soup with homemade multigrain "harvest" bread (I used the crusty boule recipe from this blog but mixed in 2 cups of harvest grains, kalamata olives, garlic infused oil, and marinated mozzarella balls. 

The soup was a wonderful fall soup. It was very rich with just a hint of sweetness. I found that I needed to season additionally at the table and next time would season as I added ingredients instead of just at the end. I also added a few dashes of hot sauce because I thought the soup seemed a little too sweet while I was cooking it. We will definitely be having this soup again!