Fig Orange Mustard Roast Chicken and Winter Vegetables

fig-orange-mustard ROAST CHICKEN // winter herbed vegetables

To her frustration, most years I have no idea what to tell my mother to get me for Christmas.  I'm not an easy person to shop for, nor am I good at faking excitement when gifted things I'm not actually excited about.  But this year I told my mom exactly what I wanted - Mimi Thorisson's A Kitchen in France.  

I don't own any cookbooks, and considering the free access to Mimi's incredible blog, asking for A Kitchen in France was more or less because I wanted the beautiful object, and I also wanted to support Ms. Thorisson (she doesn't need it).  As I expected, the photography is beautiful and many of the recipes pretty inaccessible to Americans without some visits to speciality food shops and butchers.  But, she had a few roasted whole chickens that inspired me to roast one myself.  No, this isn't a recipe from my first-ever cookbook, but does combine flavors that I rightly or wrongly associate with France - herbs, mustards, and jams.  

I mean, combining fig jam, mustard, and orange zest to rub on some meat before roasting is going to be good.  Try it to roast just chicken breasts, turkey, or pork (or even a whole salami for a delicious appetizer), and you'll be pleased.  If you want a crispier, richer skin, rub the chicken with softened butter first, then add the layer of jam-mustard.  If fig jam is hard to come by (check the cheese section of your grocery store before giving up), apricot jam would probably make a fine substitute (but sweeter).  As for the vegetables, any hearty winter variety will work.  I used a mix of fingerling, baby red, and purple potatoes, brussels sprouts, turnips, and carrots, but parsnips, squash, and cauliflower would be just as good as side dish.

Holiday Brussels Sprout Salad

shaved BRUSSELS SPROUT HOLIDAY salad 
pomegranate // walnut // farmer's cheese // maple-mustard vinaigrette

Two weeks ago , Garrett and I celebrated our nine-year anniversary in the same fashion as the last six years, by going to Le Bouchon, my favorite French Bistro.  I absolutely love the atmosphere of the place, as it generally feels more French than most joints in France.  Meaning you're rubbing up against strangers and may at any moment cause the waiters to drop their trays on the parties packed between tables waiting for their own.  Generally we order the same staples every time: onion soup and cassoulet along with whatever rotating appetizers and salads look good.  We opted for the automne salad this time, and it was good enough to try and replicate at home.

The menu described it as "shaved brussels sprouts, fromage blanc, pomegranate, lemon-honey vinaigrette," but there were definitely some mystery ingredients in this hearty starter.  Positively identifying both mint and walnuts, I also had a hunch the dressing included mustard...but I guess I'll never know.  What I do know is that my homemade version is not exact, but still delicious.  For one, I was out of honey and found maple syrup not only a tasty, but festive substitution for the holidays.  Second, I had never encountered the type of "fromage blanc" nestled underneath the salad in any grocery, so went with the most mild and creamy cheese I could find, Lifeway Old Fashioned Probiotic Farmer Cheese.  I am now completely obsessed with this farmer's cheese and love how it pairs so nicely with sweet honeys and jams (I spread it on my English Muffins with fig-orange jam every morning).  It adds such a nice balance to this salad, as the mild richness counters the sweetness of the dressing and tang of the pomegranate.

In both its looks and taste, this salad would be wonderful for a holiday meal.  Since I recommend dressing the salad ahead of time and letting the flavors mingle for hours, it would be easy to prepare and serve to guests.  Dressed (and it should be well-dressed), it is even delicious and crisp after an overnight in the fridge.  

Brussels Sprout Salad with Lemon and Mint Dressing

BRUSSELS SPROUT 
SALAD W/ LEMON-MINT DRESSING 

Happy new year, everybody.  I know a lot of you have probably made resolutions to clean up your diet in 2014, just like me, so here's a recipe that satisfies any bizarre parameters you might have concocted.  Be it paleo, gluten-free, or vegan, its a great way to start achieving your health goals.  There's a little cooking involved, but it is optional if you've decided to go raw.  Good luck to you.

In the last few years I've become increasingly into resolutions, probably as a result of being in a profession where everything has to be measured and goals are constantly modified so that they are essentially unobtainable.  So, in addition to shedding the pounds I've put on since August due to my physical activity haitus, in 2014 I also pledge to:

1. Travel more, and travel different.  To continue to travel globally, and on a low-budget, but also to say yes to travel I should be doing - vising friends around the country.  This also might be the year of a solo trip, something I know I should do.
2. Become fluent - or maybe just highly conversational - in a language.  I've already become addicted to the app Duolingo, which has helped me brush up on all the French I ever learned in 24 hours.  You should try it.  Then, to do something with my life that makes the language useful.
3. To speak and act on my professional principles.  Education needs a revolutionary change, and I'm lucky to work at a school that can potentially make that happen.  Given the opportunity, I shouldn't silence myself.

And, despite a desire to always be taking up new hobbies at the expense of the old, I'd like to keep up the blog in 2014.  Happy first anniversary to the blog!

Roasted Winter Vegetables

While incessant guilt sort of comes with the territory where I'm from, few things make me feel guiltier than having to throw away food gone bad.  I'm usually very careful about buying exactly what we need for a week, wishing I had a fridge more along the lines of what you'd see in an episode of House Hunters International.  

This week I mismanaged my resources.  Forgetting that finals week at work comes with a pouring of gratitude from the administration in the form of breakfast burrito bars, and matched by the union with deep-dish pizza, I didn't consume wisely.  (I swear I only had a half slice of pizza...and I was serving it all day to my very deserving colleagues.)  Oh, I also had my monthly serving of red meat at a lovely retirement party for our department secretary (who I will miss dearly) at a swanky steakhouse.  Burritos, deep-dish, steakhouse.  Should I go for a beef and hotdog tonight to cap off this Chicago culinary journey?

Basically,  I needed to make something that was hearty enough to last a few rounds of leftovers, was particularly healthy, and required a bunch of produce.  Curried, roasted winter vegetables.  That will do.

Greek Lemon Soup and Brussel Sprouts

I had some left over dill and farro from yesterday's meal, and some eggs I needed to use, so I made one of my favorite greek dishes: avgolomeno.  I used the guidelines from this "Egg and Lemon Soup," but used farro instead of brown rice.   It went well with the roasted brussel sprouts with balsamic glaze.

There's even an upper body workout for tonight.