Ginger Braised Chicken

1/2 chicken
1/2 lemon sliced in thin rings
3-4 celery stalks
8 oz whole button mushrooms
1 Tbsp olive oil

1 cup sake or dry white wine

2 thumbs ginger, diced

8-10 garlic cloves, bruised and peeled

1 Tbsp butter

1 handful celery leaves, roughly chopped

juice of 1/2 lemon

1 tsp soy sauce

2 good glugs fish sauce

2 tsp cornstarch

Combine sake, ginger, garlic cloves, butter, celery leaves, lemon juice, soy sauce, and fish sauce in a glass bowl. Microwave on high for 2 minutes; whisk lightly.

Preheat oven to 300F. Put a cast-iron skillet over high heat. Add oil and when hot, place the chicken skin-side down. Cook 4-5 minutes or until well-browned.

Turn the chicken over and remove the skillet from heat. Place lemon slices on the chicken and arrange the mushrooms around it. Pour on the braising liquid, cover loosely with aluminum foil, and place in oven for 60 minutes. Uncover, add celery stalks, and bake for another 15 minutes.

Remove chicken, mushrooms, and celery to a serving platter. Whisk cornstarch into the braising liquid; there should be enough residual heat in the skillet to thicken - if not put over a low burner.

Serve with rice.

Cumin-Fried Lemon Chicken Livers with Honey Mushrooms and Broccoli

1 lb chicken livers
1/2 cup milk
1 egg, beaten
dash your favorite hot sauce
1 cup flour
1 Tbsp table salt

2 tsp cumin

1 tsp fresh-ground pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp hot paprika
zest and juice of one lemon

3 small broccoli crowns, chopped
4 oz mushrooms, sliced
knob butter
1 Tbsp butter

Heat oil in skillet or deep-fryer to 375F. Rinse and drain the livers, trim away any connective tissue. Whisk flour and dry spices, put in a Ziploc bag. Whisk together egg, milk, and hotsauce. Soak the livers in the milk-egg wash. Shake off excess liquid and put in small batches in the Ziploc, shake to coat thoroughly, then remove to a rack to rest for a couple of minutes. Fry in small batches for 5-7 minutes or until GB&D. Turn out onto a cooling rack. While still hot, drizzle lightly with lemon juice. Serve garnished with zest.

Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Saute the mushrooms gently until they start to express their liquid. Add honey and chopped broccoli, toss to coat, cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer 3-5 minutes until the broccoli is just tender.

Tandoorish Chicken

1/2 c Bulgarian yogurt (runny)
juice of half a lemon
1/4 c coconut cream
1 T honey
4 cloves garlic, diced
1 T prepared curry paste
1 t ground cumin
1 t hot paprika
1/2 t fresh grated nutmeg
1/8 t fresh grated cinnamon
1/2 t ground turmeric
pinch kosher salt

3-5 chicken leg quarters

Mix the ingredients together in a glass bowl. Leave it at room temperature for half an hour or so to let the flavors marry before tasting, then adjust seasoning as thou wilt.

Separate the chicken into legs and thighs. Skin them and trim off excess fat. What will you do with all that fat and skin, you ask? Oh my fucking god, I answer, make cracklins! These are seriously awesome. They're only about a zillion times better than popcorn as a munchie, and thirty gajillion times better than bacos for a salad or potato topping.

Stab the chicken thoroughly and make some shallow knife slits as well. Put it in a heavy-duty Ziploc, pour in the marinade, squeeze out as much of the air as you can, seal, and put in the fridge for at least 6 hours, but no longer than 24.

Real tandoori bakes in a clay oven at over 600F. If you happen to have a clay oven handy that'll get that hot, good for you. If not, you can use a covered charcoal grill with the grill rack at least 5 inches from the coals, or just broil at 475F for 20-30 minutes until the temperature in the center of the thighs reaches 170F.

Serve with Completely Inauthentic Indian Potatoes And Peas.

Guest Recipe: Sangria

I'm not much of a mixologist, but this sounds great. From TaMara at What's 4 Dinner Solutions.

Photo from Food Network

One of my favorite movies is Tortilla Soup. I mean it has Hector Elizondo and beautiful food. And Raquel Welch, camping it up. What’s not to love? You know the food is an important cast member when the food and menu designers are listed first in the credits. I was watching it the other weekend and there it was, on the table, a big pitcher of Sangria and my first thought was, I need to find a recipe for Sangria to share. So off I went, looking for a simple, tasty recipe. I haven’t made Sangria in a long time, but it might be time to whip up a pitcher. I’m going to a family reunion next month, might be the perfect time.

This Sangria recipe is pretty traditional. The next one is a blend of very different flavors. Both are easy to double for a big party.

Sangria

• 1 bottle of red wine
• 1 lemon cut into wedges
• 1 orange cut into wedges
• 1 lime cut into wedges
• 2 tbsp sugar
• Splash of orange juice or lemonade
• 2 shots of gin or triple sec (optional)
• 1 cup of raspberries or strawberries (may use thawed or frozen)
• 1 cup fresh pineapple chunks
• 4 Cups ginger ale

Pour wine into a large pitcher and squeeze the juice from the lemon, orange and lime into the wine. Toss in the fruit wedges (leaving out seeds if possible) and pineapple then add sugar, orange juice and gin. Chill overnight. Add ginger ale, berries and ice just before serving. If you need to serve right away, use chilled red wine and serve over lots of ice. Best Sangrias are chilled around 24 hours in the frig. – allowing the flavors to really macerate.

Onion soup avocado pasta

Yeah, yeah, another pasta dish. I got a bunch of shells and linguine on sale.

1 large onion

garlic to taste - I like a lot, about half a bulb

1 t turmeric

1 t toasted sesame oil

1 T olive oil

kosher salt

pepper

broth or stock or fond or bouillon

handful olives

half an avocado

a nice fat lemon wedge

parmesan cheese if desired

8 oz linguine

Slice the onion and smash and dice the garlic fine. Put the sesame and olive oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. When the oil starts to shimmer add the onion, garlic, turmeric, with a pinch of kosher salt and a few grinds of pepper. Let the onion cook down for a good forty minutes or an hour, tossing occasionally.

If you're the kind of person who keeps stock or fond in your freezer, well, good on you. Thaw half a cup or so. If not, dissolve a beef bouillon cube in however much water the instructions say, and reduce it down to half a cup or so. Then add it to the onions and let it simmer down further until it will coat a spoon.

Meanwhile cook half a pound of linguine. Chop the olives, whatever kind you prefer. I've got some mild black ones and some garlic-stuffed green ones. Scoop out half an avocado in one piece and slice it lengthwise.

Drain the pasta and toss together with the onions. Plate, sprinkle on the olives, arrange the avocado on top, squeeze lemon juice on to it and top with fresh grated parmesan cheese if desired.

The onions are piquant, the stock or fond gives you a darkness and together with the avocado you get a luscious mouth-feel, and the olives and lemon juice add a lovely bright note that rides on top of it all.

4 side dish or 2 entree servings.