Breaded Chicken with a Savory Cauliflower Sauté

What you see here: 4 chicken thighs, bone in, skin on; one egg, beaten with lemon juice, salt, and pepper; breadcrumbs with oregano.


Dip thigh in egg, then in breadcrumbs. Place in roasting pan, roast at 350 for about an hour, or until internal temp is 165 (it will go up to 170 as it rests, don’t worry about food death).


Chop up some cauliflower, season with olive oil and salt, roast with chicken for about 30 minutes.


For the sauté, you’ll need red onion, garlic, anchovies (however you can get them), red pepper flakes, and parsley. Not shown: more lemon juice.


When the chicken has reached 165, pull it from the oven and let rest, covered. Then, put all ingredients except parsley and lemon in a cold pan with some oil, and set the burner to medium. Stir as the pan heats up, being careful not to burn the garlic.


The cauliflower is done when it caramelizes slightly.


Toss it in the pan with the aromatics, and add some lemon juice.


Top the cauliflower with parsley before serving.

Asian Roast Beef with Quick Kimchee

Well, I didn’t have 5 years or so to bury some cabbage in the back yard, so we’re going to do this the easy way (oh, and thanks to dear old mum for the idea). First, get some Napa Cabbage, Bok Choy, and scallions.


Slice thin, place in colander, and toss with a couple of tablespoons of kosher salt. Let sit for several hours, allowing the cabbage to wilt. It might help to place the colander in a bowl, because it will give off a lot of liquid.


While we’re letting that sit, we put together the marinade.


The garlic and ginger should be run through a microplane. You don’t need too much brown sugar, and be careful with that Korean garlic and chili paste. Mix in bowl, and then add a beef sirloin roast. Marinate for 6 hours or overnight, turning every couple of hours (inquiring minds, rejoice! This roast weighs 3 pounds!)


Place roast in pan on a rack. Roast 30 minutes at 500 degrees, flipping every 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 250, and roast an hour a pound, turning every hour. Remove to your carving board, and let rest for 15-20 minutes.


Meanwhile, dump the marinade liquid into a pot, and bring to a simmer. Add chicken stock and a bit of cornstarch slurry, and season to taste. I added some fish sauce and cumin.


Time to finish up the kimchee. The dressing contains:


I usually end up with a teaspoon each of the chili garlic paste and the sriracha, but add more if you like the taste of burning. Toss with cabbage, and chopped mint or basil.


Since you let it rest, the meat’s juices have retreated back into the roast, which is why you don’t get the bloodpool when you slice it.


Serve with the sauce lightly drizzled over top.

Pork Shoulder with Sautéed Kale

First thing we have to do is marinade the pork. We'll need garlic, cumin, smoked Serrano (my new favorite spice), oregano, and lime juice.


If you'll notice, the skin is still on this one. That's a good thing, but you'll need to makes some slits in the skin to help it render and give its flavor to the roast (also, isn't that roast so cute? Only 2.5 pounds, with the bone still in!).


Combine marinade, coat the shoulder, and keep in the fridge overnight, turning every few hours.


Bring to room temperature, place in a dutch oven, and put more lime juice, water, and some white vinegar around the shoulder (only a quarter inch or so). Roast at 250 degrees, for about an hour a pound, or until it gets to around 160 degrees. Remember it will keep cooking when you take it out of the oven, so you can pull it at 155.


Now, we're going to want to make a tomatillo sauce for the pork, so you'll need onion, garlic, a chipotle pepper, and tomatillos.


Peel the paper off the tomatillos, and give them a rough chop. Peeling them under some running water helps get the paper off.


Sautee the aromatics, and throw it all in a food processor. Season to taste; add some chicken stock to loosen it up, if needs be.


Hey, looks like the shoulder is done. Let it rest while you work on the kale.


Ooookaaaay. Time for the kale. Onion, garlic, paprika, kale, BACON!


Chop and fry up the bacon.


In the bacon fat, sauté the onion and garlic with the paprika. Meanwhile, blanch and shock the kale (i.e. put in salted boiling water for one minute, then drain and run cold water over it).


Add blanched kale and bacon. Toss to combine, and season to taste.


Pull, slice, or chop the roast however you see fit. Serve over tomatillo sauce, and with the kale.

Delicata squash with spinach salad (and some lamb on the side).

But first, a drink: The Hearst. You need gin, sweet (red) vermouth, regular bitters, and orange bitters.


2 parts gin, 1 part vermouth, a few dashes each of the bitters. Ice in a shaker, stir gently, let it get cold, serve it neat in a frozen rocks glass.


Now, onwards. Some ingredients:


In a bowl, make the vinaigrette. Lemon juice and zest, mixed fresh herbs, red wine vinegar, salt/pepper, minced garlic (careful with that one: it's raw, so it's pretty strong). Whisk together, and slowly add olive oil until it comes together.


Slice and core the squash, and on a baking sheet, arrange with diced onions. Drizzle some oil, season with salt/pepper. Bake for 20 minutes at 425, flipping halfway.


Meanwhile, season lamb arm chops with oil, salt/pepper, and cumin.


Get the broiler cranking, and sear the lamb for a few minutes on a side, depending on the thickness of the chops (these were about 8oz each, so it only took 3 on one side, 2 on the other).

Toss the spinach with the dressing, arrange squash on top, sprinkle the feta and chopped olives over top.