Food Shouldn't Be This Dangerous

Last night, making dinner almost killed me. Well, not quite, but it was moderately disastrous. So I decided to make this Chicken Goulash with Biscuit Dumplings from this month's Food & Wine. I had all the ingredients and everything, but I completely messed up the timing of the recipe. This led to me trying to chop onions in a hurry. Life lesson: DO NOT chop onions in a hurry. I somehow managed to chop through the side of my thumb so deeply that it went halfway through my fingernail, leading to me having to sit down on the floor to avoid passing out from the sight of all the blood. This was a very Becky thing to do; I'm known for my capacity to hurt myself at any time. Nevertheless, it was still upsetting, and my thumb hurts like a mother.

After I recovered from that trauma and got the dish into the oven, I realized that I had forgotten to place it on a baking sheet. How did I realize this? When I heard the sizzle of bubbling-over sauce hit the bottom of my oven and started to smell my kitchen filling up with smoke. Oops. In addition to a sliced-open thumb I now felt like I was about to burn the house down. What a mess.

Fortunately, the dish was pretty good. This would have been much easier to make if I had had an oven-safe skillet, avoiding the need to transfer the chicken to a casserole dish before putting it into the oven. I wasn't crazy about the recipe calling for chicken thighs; they were a little fatty. What I liked best about this meal were the biscuit dumplings. Mine were slightly under-cooked, though, so make sure you don't take this out of the oven prematurely. Also, put it on a cookie sheet in case it bubbles over. And don't slice your onions in a hurry.


Chicken Goulash with Biscuit Dumplings
serves 4

• 2 lbs skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into 2-inch pieces
• salt and pepper
• 1-1/2 c. all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 5 Tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cubed, divided
  
• 2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 2-1/2 c. chicken stock or broth, divided
• 1 c. sour cream, divided
• 1 large white onion, finely chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, finely diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 Tbsp. hot paprika
• 3/4 tsp. caraway seeds
• 1 tsp. thyme leaves

Preheat the oven to 425. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and dust lightly with flour. In a large, deep skillet, melt 1 Tbsp. of the butter in the olive oil. Add the chicken and cook over high heat, turning once, until browned, about 7 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the chicken to a plate.

Meanwhile, in a food processor, pulse the flour, baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper. Pulse in the remaining 4 Tbsp. of butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Whisk 1/2 cup of the stock with 1/2 cup of the sour cream and drizzle over the dry ingredients. Pulse until a dough forms.

Add the onion, bell pepper, and garlic to the skillet and cook over high heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 3 minutes. Return the chicken to the skillet. Stir in the paprika and caraway and cook for 30 seconds. Add the remaining 2 cups of chicken stock and 1/2 cup of sour cream and stir until smooth. Add the thyme leaves and bring to a boil.

Scoop twelve 3-Tbsp-size mounds of biscuit dough over the chicken. Transfer the skillet to the oven and bake for 20 minutes, until the sauce is bubbling and the biscuits are cooked. Turn on the broiler and broil for 2 minutes, until the biscuits are golden. Serve the goulash in bowls, spooning the biscuits on top.

Itsy Bitsy Pieces

Sorry for the hiatus, faithful readers. Two weekends ago I had a bit of an incident, in which I managed to chip my two front teeth pretty badly. While I wait for the verdict as to whether they can be saved, I've been forbidden from using my front teeth for any purpose whatsoever. This has made eating somewhat tricky. For the first week I subsisted almost entirely on oatmeal, soup and pudding until I realized that I could eat solid food as long as it was made up of small pieces that I could place into the back of my mouth and chew with my molars, bypassing the front teeth entirely.

Last night I made a goat cheese, lentil and potato salad that fit the bill pretty well. Everything in it is in little pieces - no incisors necessary. Also, it's fast, pretty healthy and tastes good. If anyone has suggestions for other meals that are front-teeth-free, please, pass them along. It'll be at least another week and a half until I have recovered full mastication ability.


Goat Cheese, Lentil and Potato Salad
serves 2 as a main course

• 1-1/4 c. French green lentils, rinsed and drained
• 3 Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice
• 3 scallions, thinly sliced
• 2 medium tomatoes, seeded and finely diced
• 1/2 c. finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 1 large garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 c. extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4 c. fresh lemon juice
• salt and pepper
• 8 oz. fresh goat cheese, crumbled

In a large saucepan, cover the lentils with cold water and bring to a simmer. Cook over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until the lentils are tender, about 18 minutes. Drain the lentils well and transfer to a large bowl. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, cover the potatoes with cold water and bring to a boil. Cook over moderately high heat until the potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes. Drain very well and add to the lentils. Add the scallions, tomatoes, parsley, garlic, olive oil and lemon juice, season with salt and pepper and toss. Spoon the lentil salad onto plates and top with the goat cheese.

I borrowed this recipe from the October 2007 Food and Wine. They recommend a Semillon as a wine pairing, since its lemony/zesty flavors partner naturally with the earthy lentils and tangy dressing and goat cheese.

I <3 Lentils

It's no secret that I love lentils. I dedicated one of my Weekend Herb Blogging entries to the lovely lentil, which is quickly becoming my favorite go-to ingredient on rainy days when I don't want to go to the grocery store. After contemplating making a dal and realizing I didn't have the right ingredients, I settled on this delightful recipe from an old Food & Wine: Curried Lentils with Tomatoes and Yogurt Cucumbers. The name doesn't really do justice to how great this dish is. The "yogurt cucumbers" are in a sauce similar to a raita, and they are so cool and soothing on the palate after the heat of the jalapeno in the lentils. All in all, the flavor profile of the spices in the dish is very nice.

This recipe is very healthy, especially if you use turkey bacon instead of real bacon, as I did. (Make the meal vegetarian by omitting the bacon altogether.) In fact, it's pretty much fine for phase one of the South Beach diet, which I'm trying to follow at the moment. The recipe makes a ton of lentils, so it's plenty to feed a family or to feed a single person (like me!) for several meals.


Curried Lentils with Tomatoes and Yogurt Cucumbers

• 2 oz. lean bacon (or turkey bacon), cut crosswise into 1/3-inch strips
• 1 medium onion, minced
• 3 Tbsp. minced fresh ginger
• 1 Tbsp. curry powder
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 lb. lentils (your favorite variety), rinsed and picked over
• 2 c. water
• 2 c. low-sodium chicken broth
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded, and thinly sliced crosswise
• 1/4 tsp. ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp. ground coriander
• 1/2 c. buttermilk
• 1/4 c. reduced-fat sour cream
• 1/2 tsp. finely grated lemon zest
• 1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 1 pint grape tomatoes, halved

In a large saucepan, cook the bacon over moderate heat, stirring often, until crisp, about 5 minutes. Drain the bacon on paper towels and set aside. If you used real bacon, reserve 2 tablespoons of the bacon fat in the saucepan and discard the rest. If you used turkey bacon or no bacon at all, add 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil to the saucepan.

Add the onion to the pan and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 8 minutes. Add the ginger, curry powder, jalapeno and cinnamon and cook until fragrant, about 4 minutes. Stir in the lentils, water and stock and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer until the lentils are tender and most of the liquid has been absorbed, about 35 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, sprinkle the cucumber slices with a large pinch of salt and let stand for 15 minutes. Drain and pat dry. In a small skillet, toast the cumin and coriander over moderate heat until fragrant, about 1 minute; transfer to a medium bowl and whisk in the buttermilk, sour cream and lemon zest. Stir in the cucumber slices and season with salt and pepper.

Transfer the lentils to a large bowl. With a rubber spatula, gently stir in the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. Spoon the cucumber salad over the lentils. Sprinkle the bacon and tomatoes over the cucumbers and serve warm or at room temperature.

Test Kitchen Magic

I love trying out recipes from food magazines, especially when I have work to do (hello, procrastination!). Last night the lucky recipe was a graham cracker pound cake from the December issue of Food & Wine. Now, I was in the mood for something a little more special than just a pound cake, so I decided to kick it up a notch with some caramelized pears to spoon on top and soak the pound cake with their gooey caramelly goodness. Result: magic. Even Steve gave this dessert an A, and he's no grade inflater (unlike Harvard...) Oh yeah, and it's easy. Make this and thank me when you're rubbing your tummy and staring blankly into space in a sugar-and-butter-induced food coma.


Graham Cracker Pound Cake with Caramelized Red Anjou Pears

Pound Cake:

• 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
• 1 1/2 cups cake flour (I cheated and used all-purpose so don't worry too much about this)
• 1/2 cup ground graham cracker crumbs
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3 Tbsp whole milk
• 2 Tbsp heavy cream
• 3 large eggs
• 1 Tbsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325. Spray an 8-by-4-inch glass loaf pan with vegetable oil spray. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, cream the butter with both kinds of sugar. In a medium bowl, whisk the cake flour with the graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt. In a small bowl, whisk together the milk, cream, eggs, and vanilla. Beating a medium speed, add the dry and liquid ingredients to the butter/sugar mixture in 3 alternating batches. Scrape the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake in the lower third of the oven for about 55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached (mine took 65 minutes). Let cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then turn the pound cake out onto a rack to cool completely. Slice and serve with caramelized pears (see below).

Caramelized Red Anjou Pears:

• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 Tbsp brandy, port wine, or other liqueur (I used Sandeman ruby port)
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 2-4 red Anjou pears, peeled, halved, cored, and sliced

In a saute pan on medium heat, melt butter, then stir in the sugar. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until it begins to turn golden brown. Add the brandy/port/liqueur and the lemon juice. Let it simmer to incorporate. Add pears and cook slowly to tenderize and caramelize. How long you let them cook depends on how patient you are; I let mine go for about 15 minutes before I devoured them. Serve on top of graham cracker pound cake.