In The Kitchen

Although I haven’t been haven’t been taking photos of our meals, I have been cooking. It seems by the time I get dinner on the table it’s getting dark and the photos aren’t what I’d like them to be. I do however want to share a few of the recipes that I recently tried.

 

From Food 52 I made two dishes- Shrimp Burgers with Aioli and Moroccan Spiced Chicken.   ***The above photo is courtesy of Alexandra Stafford who in addition to writing for Food 52 has the very popular blog Alexandra’s Kitchen***.  The beauty of this chicken dish is that it is cooked in one pan. The prep is minimal and you don’t even have to sear the chicken. After sautéing the onions and garlic with spices and harissa you add dates, chicken and broth and pop it into the oven. Topped with chopped pistachios the finished product has a nice punch of spice with a little bit of sweetness from the dates and the orange zest.

The Shrimp Burgers required just a little more effort than making a classic hamburger. I made them in a skillet rather than on the grill and my only piece of advice would be that you add enough aioli to the chopped shrimp. I may have skimped a little and when trying to flip them over they sort of fell apart. I scooped them on to toasted brioche buns smeared with aioli, added lettuce and tomato and we devoured them.

Bon Appetit’s April issue also featured a very tasty One Skillet Chicken dish. As soon as I read the recipe and saw that it involved cooking the orzo using the same method as making risotto, I knew that I’d give it a go.

Many years ago I attempted cooking pasta using this technique and if I remember correctly, it was not what I would call a roaring success. This time I decided to be patient and not overreact if the orzo wasn’t softening up quickly enough. Just as I thought, it did take longer than the 15 minutes stated in the recipe. It was definitely worth the effort (lots of stirring) and the wait. The finished product was a very flavorful combination of creamy orzo, fennel, lemon and leeks.

Congrats to Laura S. who is the winner of the Tasting Rome cookbook! Have fun cooking up a storm until you can make it to Rome.