New Recipes #8-9
I've fallen behind, but the tabs are still open, so let me first say that for Valentine's Day I made...#8 Pan-Seared Pork Belly. It's one of Jason's favorite things in restaurants and I'd noticed that they carry it at The Meat House, so I picked up a package. I combed the internet and ended up combining this recipe and this one, taking the spicing from the latter, but searing the belly after it was braised, rather than before. I seared it just a little too long, but otherwise it was delicious and perfect. Cooking over three days, even if it's just a little each day, feels like a lot, but I would do it again for a special occasion.
I am reminded to post about that, because tonight I cooked something else I'd never made before: sunchokes, also known as Jerusalem artichokes. I noticed them at the market and thought it was time for something new, so I bought a couple of pounds of them and made...#9 Lemon Chicken with Jerusalem Artichokes following this recipe fairly closely, but doubling the batch to make enough for the four of us. Contrary to the instructions, I poured off the fat after browning the chicken and did not add any more olive oil and the resulting dish was rich enough that I would not have wanted more fat in it. The sauce was a little thin for my taste, so I added some arrowroot at the end and would add more the next time. I also threw in about 4 oz. of baby spinach to give it some green content. At the "adjust the seasoning" point I added quite a bit of cracked black pepper and more kosher salt and then added more salt at the table. Without that, it would have been somewhat insipid. The spinach worked very well with the lemon flavor, which also really brought out the taste of the sunchokes. We agreed that it was a solid win, if not spectacular.
Next time I make it, I would use half the sunchokes (1 lb. unpeeled vs. the 2 I used this time). They are kind of a pain to peel, but not prohibitively so. I would add more salt from the start, double the saffron, use twice as much spinach and a good bit more arrowroot. But I think that would be worth doing, if I ever noticed sunchokes on sale again.
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I am reminded to post about that, because tonight I cooked something else I'd never made before: sunchokes, also known as Jerusalem artichokes. I noticed them at the market and thought it was time for something new, so I bought a couple of pounds of them and made...#9 Lemon Chicken with Jerusalem Artichokes following this recipe fairly closely, but doubling the batch to make enough for the four of us. Contrary to the instructions, I poured off the fat after browning the chicken and did not add any more olive oil and the resulting dish was rich enough that I would not have wanted more fat in it. The sauce was a little thin for my taste, so I added some arrowroot at the end and would add more the next time. I also threw in about 4 oz. of baby spinach to give it some green content. At the "adjust the seasoning" point I added quite a bit of cracked black pepper and more kosher salt and then added more salt at the table. Without that, it would have been somewhat insipid. The spinach worked very well with the lemon flavor, which also really brought out the taste of the sunchokes. We agreed that it was a solid win, if not spectacular.
Next time I make it, I would use half the sunchokes (1 lb. unpeeled vs. the 2 I used this time). They are kind of a pain to peel, but not prohibitively so. I would add more salt from the start, double the saffron, use twice as much spinach and a good bit more arrowroot. But I think that would be worth doing, if I ever noticed sunchokes on sale again.
This entry was originally posted at http://lillibet.dreamwidth.org/582150.html. Please comment there using OpenID.