A Sweet New Carrot Peeler And Some Spicy Thai Soup

A couple weeks back, I bought a sweet new carrot peeler.  What makes this little number a little unique is the fact that its got these angry little teeth that give it the ability to finely juilianne things like carrots and zucchini and anything else you can find to julianne.  Take my word for it, this thing is flippin' awesome and I don't know why anyone didn't think of this sooner.  Or maybe they did and I just didn't know about it?  Either way, it's a huge time saver.  Just a couple of swipes down the length of the carrot and you've got yourself a set of perfect little matchsticks.  It's brilliant, really.

So last night I was craving a dish with a little Far East inspiration and something warm (what is with this weather lately?  Isn't May?  And mid-May at that!) so a soup came to mind.  I had wanted to make homemade wonton soup but the evening got away from me and I ended up with this easy Thai soup that I made even easier by taking a couple of shortcuts.  (Don't worry wonton soup fans, that is so on the list and I'll be making that soon) First, I bought a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken which saved mass amounts of time.  I also used boxed chicken broth, shaving additional minutes off my prep time.  What I was left with a delicious little soup that packed a little heat courtesy of some red curry paste (my latest new little obsession and secret ingredient).  As with pretty much all of my recipes, this dish is very versatile.  If you're interested in making it vegetarian and tofu if your style, have at it.  Want to used some thinly sliced steak instead?  Go for it.  I also used rice noodles for something a little different but in a pinch, you could use angel hair pasta or a nice whole wheat fettuccine would be fantastic.  Really, the possibilities are endless here.

Making The Best Of Water Issues: Lunch at Piattini!

If you haven't heard by now, and I am hoping that you have if you live in the Boston metro area, we are in a state of emergency with our water.  Apparently some pipe burst and yadda, yadda, we temporarily can't use it.  Well, we can, but we've got to boil it first.  And what a pain that is!  It certainly makes any kitchen endeavors a little more challenging, especially since if I want to wash my dishes afterwards, I have to boil the water first and sort of sterilize them clean.  No thank you.

So I've taken this lemon of a situation and decided to turn it into a sweet little day.  After all, I am still celebrating my 100th post and a certain degree of spoiling is in order.  To start, I treated myself to a mani-pedi.  As I sat up on this giant massaging chair getting my feet rubbed and my toes polished, I read the latest edition of Cook's Illustrated and got some fantastic ideas for future recipe creations.   After I was thoroughly relaxed, I hoped over to Williams-Sonoma to let the spoiling continue as I purchased some new kitchen gadgets.  I left the store with a new box grater (my old one was starting to show its age), a little whisk (for salad dressings, marinades and sauces), a pastry scraper (every time I make gnocchi I find myself wanting one of these) and a trio of peelers (one of which julieannes vegetables in minutes! It's the little things in life..).

Clearly after all that pampering and shopping, I got hungry and wanted to treat myself to a solo lunch.  So I went to one of my absolute favorites in the Back Bay, Piattini (www.piattini.com).  This place is just so perfect in so many ways.  The food is fantastic, it has that cute little European cafe feel, and they play what I call "old happy music".  Artists like Billie Holiday, Miles Davis, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Etta James, etc. all fall into my category of "old happy music".  It is impossible to be in a bad mood and listening to tunes like that.  I dare you to try.  It's also some of my favorite music to cook to (and eat to!).  Anyways, I digress..

So there I sat, with my Cook's Illustrated fanned out in front of me and the most AMAZING (yes, it deserves all caps) bread was plonked down in front of me.  Reaching for the olive oil, I happily hummed along to some Billie Holiday while enjoying crusty bread with the most delightfully chewy core.  This is the bread for which all breads should be judged by.  It was pure bliss.

After my bread came an order of one of my favorites, caprese salad.  Oh caprese salad, how I love you.  With your perfect little combination of garden fresh tomatoes, soft buttery mozzarella cheese, bail and balsamic, all served atop mixed greens.  My favorite part of this salad was the little dollops of fresh pesto sauce that were delicately clinging to the greens.  I couldn't stop from helping myself to another piece of bread just to dip in it the salad and soak up all the flavors.  I rounded out my perfect little meal with a ice-cold sparkling water and was so in my happy place.  

On my way out, I ran into the owner who wished me a good day.  Me, being caught up in the Italian goodness of my afternoon, found myself smiling back at her and exclaiming, "Grazie! A presto!"  (Thank you, see you soon!) Naturally, she didn't think a blonde haired, blue eyed Pollock like me would speak Italian.  She grabbed my arm and almost gave me a giant bear hug.  With the whole dining room (well, all of 20 tables or so) watching, she then said something to me in Italian that I wasn't sure of (my beginner's Italian language classes will only get me so far).  I just smiled, said "Si! Grazie!" and walked out.  I'm not quite sure what I agreed to but I hope it was more bread.

Top Ten Small Kitchen Must-Haves

It seems that the lights of my Small Boston Kitchen will be out for the second consecutive night as a head cold has temporarily robbed me of my sense of smell and has altered my taste buds, making cooking a little bit challenging. Not wanting to post a recipe and endorse something I can't fully test out in my own kitchen, I thought I'd take this opportunity to try share my top 10 list of favorite cooking tools that I wouldn't dream of not having in my kitchen.

Lately it seems, I can't help but notice the excessive number of kitchen tools out there on the market. There is now a tool for every basic function in the kitchen and it can get overwhelming and distracting for a food nerd like me. Often times I find myself in a kitchen store talking myself out of buying a tool that is specially designed for one small purpose like scrubbing mushrooms or slicing corn off the cob. Tempting as it is, why clutter my kitchen and waste my money?

On the flip side of that, there are tools that I just can't live without and I think that they contribute to what I am able to create in my kitchen and need a little recognition. Just to preface this list, I am not compensated (unfortunately) in any way by any of these sellers and the below list is entirely my own opinion of what I find to be most useful to me in my culinary endeavors.

10. Magnetic Spice Jars

Theses are perfect for all those small kitchens out there, keeping your most used herbs and spices right at your fingertips and displaying them in a modern artistic way. You can stick these to the side of your refrigerator or any other metal surface for that matter. I also like to create my own rubs and spice mixes to put in these to keep them handy. The only drawback to these is that they don't have any labels to them so if you don't feel comfortable relying on your nose to tell you what's what, you'll have to create your own labels and tape them to the sides of jars.

What the heck is a tagine?

Today was the perfect day to hide out from the bitter cold in my small Boston kitchen and pull out my brand new tagine. Right about now you might be finding yourself asking, "what the heck is a tagine"? I'll be honest, I found myself asking a similar thought as I opened up this odd shaped dish on Christmas morning. I had seen them before and knew it was of Moroccan origin but that was about it. Needless to say, I couldn't wait to read up on and play around with this new toy.

A tagine, pictured to the right, is a traditional Moroccan pan of sorts that was traditionally made from clay. It has a shallow, but heavy bottom pan and then it has a removable cone shaped lid. It is used to cook meats and vegetables slowly and over low heat. The cone shaped top is meant to allow steam to rise, trap it and then let this beautifully flavored condensation slide back down into the meat, accentuating the flavors. Pulling from Greek inspirations, I created an oregano and a chili marinade for the chicken and then placed it on top of a bed of fresh sliced lemons, whole garlic cloves, some leftover champagne from New Years Eve, and a bay leaf. I then placed the lid on top, set my burner to a low setting, and let it go. This by far was the hardest part for me. As patience is not my virtue (especially in the kitchen) I had to distract myself so that I wouldn't open the lid (opening the lid causes the ever-important steam to escape, defeating the purpose of using this method of cooking). However, when I finally decided that it was time to take a peek, (a good three hours later!) what I was left with was this deliciously moist chicken with such an intense flavor and a sweet lemony-champagne broth. Starting with some baby spinach leaves, I placed the chicken on top and drizzled some of the lemon-champagne broth over. This slightly wilted the spinach and created a mass of earthy goodness. Paired with a simple, but absolutely addictive Israeli couscous salad with cranberries and pistachios, this meal ensured many, many future creations by way of the tagine.

Below is my recipe. Although it was fun cooking with the tagine, if you don't have one on hand, you could get great results from slowly baking the chicken. Just be sure to brown the outside of the chicken first, then bake it slowly in a tightly covered dish.

For the chicken marinade:

~ 2 tbs dried oregano

~ Chili powder to taste (depending on how hot you like it or you can omit this altogether)

~ 1/2 tsp cumin

~ drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

~ Couple pinches of salt and black pepper

~ A couple splashes of white wine or champagne

For the broth:

- Enough lemon slices to cover the pan (reserve at least one slice for the couscous)

~ 1 c. white wine or champagne

- 4 whole garlic cloves, peeled

- 1 whole dried bay leaf

*For this dish, I used four small, thinly sliced chicken breasts. Adjust the recipe according to the size and amount of chicken.

Mix all of the ingredients for the rub together in a medium-sized bowl. The marinade should be a little watery, but still have a thick consistency to it. Add the chicken to the marinade and coat it completely, set aside and let it sit for at least 30 minutes. After the chicken has marinated for some time, pat it dry. Heat some olive oil in the pan and quickly brown the chicken. Do not heat it through. Pull the chicken from the heat and set aside. Meanwhile, lay the lemon slices on the bottom of the pan. Pour in the wine or champagne. Add the garlic cloves and lay the chicken on top of the bed of lemons. Pour the remaining marinade on top of the chicken and top with the bay leaf. Cover the chicken and let it slowly bake for 3-4 hours, depending on the size and quantity of chicken. Serve on top of fresh spinach and drizzle lemon broth over the dish.

Cranberry Pistachio Couscous Salad

- 1 1/3 c. Israeli couscous (can be found in most grocery stores. Regular couscous, orzo pasta or wild rice would also work well)

- 1 3/4 c. chicken stock

~ 1/4 c. toasted pistachios

~ 1/4 c. dried cranberries

- large handful of roughly chopped scallions

- 1 lemon slice

- salt and pepper to taste

~ 1 tbs. extra virgin olive oil

In a small saucepan, bring chicken stock and lemon slice to a boil. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, heat the couscous in olive oil until it starts to turn light brown. Discard of the lemon and add the boiling stock to the couscous. Cover tightly and reduce heat to low. Let the couscous cook for 10-12 minutes until it is fluffy. Add the cranberries, pistachios, and green onions. Gently stir to combine. Season to taste. Serve alongside the chicken and spinach.