An ancient dish with a memory and a twist

When I was growing up, my mom often made large batches of one or two dishes that she put in the freezer and served up over the course of a couple of weeks in rotation. She used to make this chicken stew over rice with chunks of vegetables and we ate that so often that we sometimes complained about it - unfairly of course. Recently, bakerbiker made a similar sort of dish - Coq au Vin - that made me remember those times, sitting around the table with my family eating chicken stew. Coq au vin is a traditional french dish of rooster slowly braised in a red wine sauce with lardons and butter so that the tough meat becomes juicy and tender. Most coq au vin recipes have you use chicken and add in mushrooms, carrots, and onions to the stew, but ask you to remove the vegetables to finish the dish. bakerbiker made a variant of this dish with boneless, skinless chicken breasts. He kept in the veggies to give it some body and texture and served it over egg noodles (taking a page from his doppelganger, Alton Brown). We really liked the earthiness of the dish and the crunch of the veggies kept it from being too "stewlike." And every bite reminded me of my mom's chicken stew, which I remembered fondly and certainly wasn't complaining about, at least this time!

COQ AU VIN for 3-4

2 lb chicken (here, boneless skinless chicken thighs, but anything would probably work)

4 strips bacon (turkey or pork)

1-2 onions, chopped

3-4 carrots, chopped

2-3 celery stalks, chopped

8-12 oz white or crimini mushrooms, roughly chopped

1 c stock (chicken, veggie, etc) or water

1 750ml bottle of red wine (preferably lightly oaked if at all, french is "most traditional")

2 T tomato paste

2 cloves of garlic, peeled

1-2 bay leaves

1 t thyme leaves

Set aside a 6-8 qt dutch oven to build the dish in. In a large (12" or bigger) saute pan set to medium heat, cook the bacon until its fat has mostly rendered, then roughly chop and toss into dutch oven.

In the fat (or if you've used turkey bacon, add a bit of olive oil or butter), saute the veggies (not mushrooms yet) until starting to brown, then toss into the dutch oven.

Toss the chicken in a bit of flour, then (adding fat if necessary) brown it in the pan on both sides. You might need to do this in 2-3 batches - it'll brown more easily if not crowded. Toss into the dutch oven.

Finally, saute the mushrooms for about 5 minutes, until they give up their liquid. You know what to do with them.

Last, pour 1c of the wine into the pan and deglaze it over medium high heat (i.e., cook for a few minutes, scraping up the browned bits in the pan, until it's slightly thick). Pour into the dutch oven.

Then, add the stock, garlic cloves, bay leaves, thyme, tomato paste, and salt and pepper (start with 1-2 t of salt, and add to taste). Add the rest of the wine. In an oven set to 300 or on the stove, simmer the mixture on low for 90-120 minutes (or longer if you've really gone and shot a rooster!). I partially covered the pot, but it probably isn't necessary.

Serve over egg noodles and with a rich bread, like brioche, to sop up the stew. Yum.

A summer breeze in the middle of winter

Just the thought of fresh peaches brings me back to the summers of my youth, when my family made a yearly road trip from DC to Hilton Head, South Carolina. Driving along the southeast coast in the middle of July, you'd feel the hot, muggy air and wish you were anywhere but in your car. Back then, though, being in the car also had its perks. Namely, one could find all kinds of yummy treats, right there for sale on the side of the road. Fresh corn, boiled peanuts, and best of all, juicy, golden southern peaches. We used to pick them up by the bagfuls and eat them in the car, swatting away the fruit flies that gathered around right there with us. That's why, when we saw this recipe for brandied peaches last summer in the New York Times, we jumped for joy. New England peaches are no match for the peaches of the South. But that's why they're the perfect candidate for canning - they still have that wonderful peachy flavor but the temptation to eat them raw isn't as great. We canned these over the summer and saved them for times like this, when even the idea of summer makes us warmer. We recently tried them on french toast with blueberries and caramelized bananas. And boy were they tasty!

BRANDIED PEACHES

3 pounds ripe peaches

3 cups sugar

About 1/2 cup brandy

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Using the tip of a paring knife, make a shallow “X” in the bottom of each peach. Add the peaches, one at a time, to the boiling water and cook for 1 minute. Remove the peach from the water and plunge into a bowl of ice water. Repeat with the remaining peaches. Peel off the skins, then pit the fruit and quarter the flesh.

2. In another large pot, combine 3 cups water and the sugar and bring to a boil. Add the peaches and simmer until just soft.

3. Have the jars, bands and new lids scalded and ready. (To scald, dip the jars and rims in boiling water. You don’t need to sterilize the jars, as you will be processing them for more than 10 minutes.) Simmer the lids in hot water to soften the rubberized flange. Gently pack the peaches into the jars.

4. Boil the leftover syrup until it thickens slightly, then spoon it over the fruit, filling the jars ¾ full. Use a butter knife to release any air bubbles caught in the jars. Pour in enough brandy to fill the jars, leaving ¼ inch of headroom. Wipe the rims, cover with the lids and screw on the bands fingertip-tight. Place the jars on a rack in a big pot and cover with 2 to 3 inches of water. Cover the pot and bring to a boil over high heat, then lower the heat to medium and gently boil for 20 minutes. Remove the cover and then, after about 5 minutes, remove the jars. Allow them to cool, untouched, for 4 to 6 hours. Check the seals and store in a cool, dark place for up to a year. Refrigerate after opening.

Makes 2 pints.

Recipe courtesy of The New York Times

Top of the morning to you!

I've been meaning to write about my new favorite cocktail for a while now. Tried first at #9 Park now nearly three weeks earlier, the Morning Glory Fizz is one of those drinks that just doesn't sound like it should work... plus, it has an egg white, which freaks out nearly everyone I've mentioned it to. But it does. I should know - I've had several. Including one made with the white of an egg laid maybe an hour before it became a cocktail - if you have access to a chicken like we did when we first gave this drink a try, I heartily recommend egg-based cocktails as a way to get through all those amazing fresh eggs!

THE MORNING GLORY FIZZ
2 oz scotch - I've used both Lowland and Islay whiskeys to good effect
1/2 oz lemon juice
1/4 oz lime juice
1/4 oz absinthe
3/4 t turbinado sugar or syrup
1 egg white
splash carbonated water/soda

Dry shake the egg white with sugar and juices, then add the remaining ingredients (not the soda water) and hard shake again with ice. Strain and top with a splash of soda.

I hear this is an excellent morning cocktail; I'll leave it to you all to decide...

Why I want to spend more time in my bathroom

For the past few months, we've been working with our friends at ChromaLab to spruce up some of the nooks and crannies in our small condo. First, they helped us refinish and refresh some small furniture pieces, which you can see on their blog here.

While I was stoked to get those projects done, I had something even bigger in mind as well. For years, I've been dissatisfied with our back hallway and bathroom. We spent so much time working on the main parts of the apartment (bedroom, kitchen, dining room, and living room) that those smaller spaces were left completely neglected. I had some ideas about what I wanted to do, but couldn't quite make any final decisions. When I found out that, in addition to furniture, our Chroma friends also do custom wall treatments, with our compatible style and color taste, it was like a match made in heaven. The first project we tackled was the hallway. I had been thinking about a deep purple for the hallway, to complement the yellow kitchen and green bedroom. I'd recently gotten into wallpaper and had a floral pattern that I liked in mind. So when Tony mentioned that he could paint a pattern directly onto the wall, I totally dug it.


Next we started in on the bathroom. When we first conceived of that project, I imagined painting the bathroom another color entirely. We discussed a few options, including a turquoise and a purple similar to the one in the hallway, with a raindrop motif that Tony uses in a lot of his artwork. But for those of you who have seen our place, every room is painted a different color. I was worried that it would look overdone, but I still wanted that combination of graphic and modern, but whimsical at the same time. I was especially inspired by this photo of Cynthia Rowley's bathroom below, which was recently featured in Elle Decor.


So Tony went back to the drawing board and brought us a few more neutral samples to look at. In the end, we decided to stick with a neutral white backdrop for the bathroom, but to add a little interest, Tony suggested a burlap, waffle-like texture underneath the paint. And to give it that whimsy and use the colors I oh so love, we went with a black and dark gray raindrop motif, intermixed with various other colors.


We were so happy with the idea and our previous experiences with Tony and Alicia, that, after a couple of color and design consultations, we went away on vacation knowing that we were leaving our bathroom in capable hands. Here's a snap of how it turned out.


Next up for the bathroom: re-doing the floors.

Escaping the New England Winter

One of the only things that makes New England winters semi-bearable for me is planning tropical vacations to escape them, even for a little bit. This year, we decided to spend a week in January in St. Lucia, a small island in the West Indies, just south of Martinique and north of the Grenadines and Trinidad & Tobago. St. Lucia is a very small island - 15 miles wide and 27 miles long - created out of volcanic rock. It has an interesting history, having been established by the Arawak Indians, but colonized and battled over by the French and British for hundreds of years. It only recently gained its independence from the British in the late 1970s. The country's official language is English, but most citizens also speak a French patois.



One of the reasons we chose St. Lucia is that it is one of the less-traveled-to islands in the Caribbean, and is therefore less-developed in the tourist sense. Even then, there are lots of big resorts like the Hilton, Sandals, etc. located in certain areas. We chose to stay away from all that and rented a two-bedroom apartment in Marigot Bay at Villa Pomme D'Amour.

There is both lots to do and nothing to do in St. Lucia depending on what you're looking for. With the help of our hosts, Josee and Pierre, we mapped out day trips to the beach, with plenty of good snorkelling, as well as short hikes in the rainforest. One of the things St. Lucia is best known for is its live volcano, located in Soufriere. It's a collapsed volcano, like Yellowstone, which means you can walk right into the caldera. Since it's live, but not active (yet!), you can safely take a tour through the volcano and see the sulphur bubbling up in the crater.



The other well-known feature of the island are its two Pitons - two sharp peaks formed by volcanic rock - that tower over the Caribbean. You can hire a guide to lead you on the five-hour hike to the top and back, if you so choose. Tempting, but we sat that one out this time, and kept our focus on relaxing on the pristine beaches and exploring different towns around the island.



Another wonderful highlight for me was our visit to the local market in Castries, where we found freshly caught tuna and lots of local fruits and vegetables, including the biggest avocados I have ever seen. For local food, rotis and meats with creole sauces were super tasty. There is lots of fresh seafood on the island and it's worth trying the many different kinds of sauces. But if you're vegetarian, be warned - not tons of variety if you are going out to eat. Cooking at home was another story - there are plenty of great options and the markets to choose from and we concocted a bunch of great dishes at home.

If you go: 1. Rent a car! The roads are windy and you have to drive on the left side, but it's worth it so you can see the island at your own pace. 2. Save time to explore as many beaches and coves and bring snorkel gear wherever you go - we saw lots of great sea life, including turtles, clownfish, squid, and many different corals. 3. Be sure to check out the towns of Soufriere and Castries - they are really different from one another, but appealing in their own ways. In Soufriere, you see mountains, beaches, and volcanoes all at once. In Castries, the capital of St. Lucia, you can get a flavor for local city life and like I said, the market is a must. Hope to see you there someday!

The Mole Derby

In the mood for a fun, wintry pre-New Year's eve cocktail, tonight we started experimenting with a bottle of Bitterman's mole bitters that I bought this afternoon. For those of you who don't know, mole bitters are bitters that have a distinct, but subtle chocolate spice taste to them. Riffing on a cocktail devised by Tom of Craigie on Main, which featured aged dark rum and double the Cynar, the drink below has just the right amount of sweetness and heat from the bourbon, balanced by the bitterness of the Cynar and the bittersweet rhubarb/orange notes of the Aperol. The mole bitters drift in with a hint of floral chocolate in the finish. Yum!

The Mole Derby

1 1/2 oz. Kentucky bourbon
1/4 oz. Cynar
1/2 oz. Aperol
3/4 oz. Punt e Mes
1-2 dashes mole bitters

Stir over ice. Lemon oil rubbed on the rim of the glass.

Spotted in Manhattan

A pile of bikes!