Tuesday, December 25th, 2012

Poussins (Baby Chickens) with Prosciutto and Rosemary with White Beans for Two

RECIPE: Poussins with Prosciutto and Rosemary with White Beans

Hens with Prosciutto, Rosemary, and White Beans

This meal is a show-stopper. An elegant and expeditious way to serve a roasted bird for a small crowd at the holidays. Although, you could make as many of these as you needed to, to serve a crowd.

Buy a couple of poussin (which are essentially what we call Cornish game hens in the United States), and, using some strong kitchen shears, cut out their backbones. Now, you have a flat bird that you rub with olive oil, salt, pepper, fresh garlic and rosemary needles. As the crowning glory, wrap the birds in prosciutto di Parma. As the birds roast, the skin bronzes, the garlic and rosemary perfumes the meat, and the prosciutto crisps to a salty shell. They’re cooked in under 25 minutes. Continue reading …

print this post Posted by Kerry | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments
Categories: 30 Minutes, Cheap, Dinner for Two, Easy, Eat, Main Courses, Poultry, Recipes, Series
 
Monday, December 24th, 2012

Spicy, Smoky Bean Cakes with Limey Slaw for Two

RECIPE: Spicy, Smoky Bean Cakes with Limey Slaw
Spicy Bean Cakes

Spicy bean cakes, lime slaw, and charred avocado

I think it might have been a chemical reaction triggered by my thirtieth birthday a few weeks ago, but a little nagging voice in my head has been whispering to me: “eat healthy.”

I could stand to take the advice. Between rushed office lunches and the inevitable chocolate craving at four in the afternoon, dinner at home with Mr. English actually becomes the time where we both reset and try to behave like the responsible adults we’re pretending to be.

The cakes are awesome for this purpose. They’re kind of like crab cakes, but a Tex-Mex bean version that are low in fat and brimming with flavor. And the best part is, you can whip the whole thing together in five minutes in your food processor. Continue reading …

print this post Posted by Kerry | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments
Categories: 30 Minutes, Cheap, Dinner for Two, Eat, Main Courses, Meatless Mondays, Recipes, Series, Vegetarian, Vegetarian
 
Friday, December 21st, 2012

Hearty, Wholesome Chard, Pancetta, and Pecorino Quiche

RECIPE: Chard, Pancetta, and Pecorino Quiche
Chard Pancetta Pecorino Quiche

Quiche brimming with Swiss chard, sharp Pecorino, and crispy pancetta

Quiche reminds me of Christmastime because there’s no other time of year (except maybe Thanksgiving) when I would need to make a breakfast that serves more than two people. Being in a full house for the holidays, I find it a whole lot easier to throw together a quiche that serves everyone elegantly than to stand frying or poaching individual eggs in the morning.

I start with a store-bought piecrust because I’m not a pastry chef. You’re more than welcome to go homemade. After that, quiche is really a cinch. This one is stuffed with hearty winter greens and sharp flavors. I start by rendering some cubed pancetta, which is as close as I can find to the fabulous French almost-bacon, ventrèche. In that, I wilt down a grassy mountain of Swiss chard. Scatter that over the crust and top with a quickly-whisked mixture of eggs, milk, crème fraîche, and salty and sharp Pecorino Romano cheese—a filling made for cold winter mornings. The whole thing puffs and browns in the oven. Continue reading …

print this post Posted by Kerry | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment
Categories: 60 Minutes, Bread & Butter, Breakfast & Brunch, Cheap, Easy, Eat, Eggs, French in a Flash, Recipes, Series, Tarts, Quiches, Pizzas, Vegetarian
 
Wednesday, December 19th, 2012

Salt-Baked Fish Stuffed with Herbs and Lemon

RECIPE: Herb-Stuffed, Salt-Baked Bream
Salt-Baked Bream

Salt-Baked Bream

Mr. English and I just got back from a trip to France to visit our wedding caterer. The day of our tasting may have been the best day of my life. I’m not sure the actual wedding can beat sitting down to 11 different versions of every possible French menu item. We’ll see if love really does conquer all next fall.

But until then, I decided to recreate my favorite dish of the list: salt-baked sea bream. I’ve made it in cooking school, but I’d forgotten how mind-blowing and inimitable salt-baked fish really is, in addition to being criminally and deceptively simple. Here, a whole bream gets stuffed with herbs (the caterer used thyme, fennel, and tarragon; I use thyme and lemon) and then baked in a hard shell of packed salt. The salt adds only a little salinity to the fish itself, but as the salt shell hardens in the oven it seals in the steam and juices from the fish and the flavor from the herbs and citrus. Continue reading …

print this post Posted by Kerry | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments
Categories: 30 Minutes, Cheap, Easy, Eat, Fish, French in a Flash, Main Courses, Recipes, Series
 
Tuesday, December 11th, 2012

Holiday Fennel-Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Sweet Red Onions for Two

RECIPE: Fennel-Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Sweet Red Onions
Fennel Roasted Pork

Fennel seed- and thyme-crusted pork tenderloin with sweet roasted fennel and onions

Sometimes, like this year, I have holidays à deux.  And this column is, of course, about eating terrific, but realistic, dinners for two.  So if this year you find yourself celebrating as a twosome, here is one option I propose: a fabulous, easy, lean roast loin of pork crusted in fennel seeds and fresh thyme with fabulous, soft caramelized fennel and red onions roasted alongside.  Instead of gravy, I top it with a light drizzle of simple olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

The whole dinner takes an hour, so slightly long than our usual Dinners for Two, but, it is a holiday meal after all.  But only about ten minutes of that hour require any effort on your part.  The vegetables roast in the oven with some olive oil for half an hour until they start to soften, and then the pork, coated in fennel and thyme, is simply place in the pan alongside for another 25 minutes.  The vegetables come out collapsingly sweet and soft, and the pork comes out juicy—and the seeds and herb around the outside makes up for the fact that we didn’t spend time searing the pork beforehand.  My little vinaigrette replaces a gravy, but it’s far more punchy and appropriate here.  I serve it with a little mache and pistachio salad.  So impressive for absolutely no effort.

From my weekly column Dinner for Two on Serious Eats.  Check it out every Friday!

Fennel-Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Sweet Red Onions
serves 2 to 3

Fennel Roasted PorkINGREDIENTS

  • 3 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons olive oil, divided
  • 2 fennel bulbs, cut into sixths
  • 2 red onions, cut into sixths
  • Salt and pepper
  • 2 tablespoons fennel seeds
  • 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
  • 1 1-pound pork tenderloin
  • 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

PROCEDURE

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.  Place a large rectangular metal or enameled baking dish in the oven to heat along with the oven while you prep the ingredients. When the oven is hot, take the baking dish out, and add 1 tablespoon of olive oil, the fennel, onion, and salt and pepper.  Toss to combine, and return to the oven, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, prep the pork.  Drizzle with 2 teaspoons of olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and crust in fennel seeds and thyme leaves.  Pull the baking dish out of the oven, and move the vegetables to the sides of the dish.  Place the pork in the center and roast all together for 25 minutes, until the internal temperature of the pork is 145 degrees F.  Allow to rest for 10 minutes. While the pork is resting, whisk together 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar.  Slice the pork into thick rounds, and plate along with the roasted fennel and onion.  Drizzle the olive oil and vinegar over the top, and serve right away with roasted or mashed potatoes or good, crusty bread.print this recipe
print this post Posted by Kerry | Comments Off on Holiday Fennel-Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Sweet Red Onions for Two
Categories: 60 Minutes, Cheap, Dinner for Two, Easy, Eat, Main Courses, Meat, Recipes, Series
 
Friday, December 7th, 2012

Holiday Quatre Épices Glazed Carrots

RECIPE: Quatre Épices Glazed Carrots
Quatre Épices Glazed Carrots

Buttery spiced carrots full of ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and cracked black pepper

One thing (of the many things) I love about French cuisine is the little mixtures of herbs and spices that, together, have become vastly important and common as one ingredient.  Herbes de Provence.  Fines herbes.  Quatre épices.  Blends that are ubiquitous in France, and synonymous with certain ingredients or preparations.

And the great thing is, quatre épices, a simple blend of ground ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and black pepper, is like a savory version of holiday spice.  Put it in anything, and it instantly assumes a kind of medieval banquet air that reminds you of gingerbread or mulled wine—but savory.

For this side, I do a simple glazed carrot.  It’s very traditional in France to cook your carrots this way: with butter and water in a pan, letting the steam evaporate as it softens the carrots, and then letting the butter envelope them.  I simply switch up plain sliced carrots for the charming mini Chantenary variety, and add a pinch of quatre épices to spice things up.  They play so well with the natural sweetness of the carrots—it’s perfect.

Excerpted from my weekly column French in a Flash on Serious Eats.  Bon app!

Quatre Épices Glazed Carrots
serves 4 to 6

Quatre Épices Glazed CarrotsINGREDIENTS

  • 1 pound baby Chantenay carrots
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1/8 teaspoon each ground ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and black pepper
  • 1/8 teaspoon granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup water
  • Sea salt

PROCEDURE

Place all ingredients in a medium-sized nonstick skillet over medium-low heat.  Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the carrots are tender, the water evaporated, and the spiced glaze thick: about 15 minutes.  Serve right away.print this recipe
print this post Posted by Kerry | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Holiday Quatre Épices Glazed Carrots
Categories: 15 Minutes, Cheap, Easy, Eat, French in a Flash, Recipes, Series, Sides, Vegetables, Vegetarian
 
Monday, December 3rd, 2012

Filet and Quick-Pickled Onion Tacos for Two

RECIPE: Filet and Pickled Onion Tacos
Filet and Pickled Onion Tacos

The perfect punching-above-its-weight weeknight dinner for two.  Warm corn tortillas.  Filet mignon, rubbed in spices, seared, and sliced rare.  Quick home-pickled red onion.  Cilantro.  Lime.  Queso fresco.  A little bit of cooking.  A little bit of assembly.  A lot of joy.

Mr. English and I are half mad about the steak tacos at a Mexican place here in London called Wahaca.  They’re not much to write home about—just grilled steak, pickled onions, cilantro, a bit of salsa.  But in their warm, small, snug simplicity, they are perfect.  When it came to rustling together a weeknight dinner for two, I knew I had to knock off the perfect Wahaca original.

Start with the onion.  This is such a cool trick.  Thinly slice the onion and then put it in a bowl with a pinch of salt and some vinegar.  Stir it all up and let it sit while you prepare the rest of the taco ingredients, and in 15 minutes, voilà, you have a quick-pickled onion.  A bit mellow, a bit snappy, definitely the perfect counterpoint to the rich beef.

For the steak, I go off and use filet mignon.  It is pricier than other cuts of meat, but it is so tender, and because you’re only cooking for two, and slicing the steak, a little goes a long way.  I can’t apologize for it—it makes these tacos such a treat.  I crust it on the outside with what I call taco spices: cumin and chili powder.  But you can get creative or use whatever you have on hand: chipotle powder, blends, whatever.  Then I give it a quick sear and slice.

All that’s left to do is warm some tortillas (good corn ones!), tear up some cilantro, and crumble some queso fresco (feta would be a good substitute if you need one).  You can also pick up some fresh pico di gallo at the supermarket if you want to add another layer to these tacos.  Then, just pile them high!  Spiced, rare sliced filet mignon.  The pickled onions, which you’ve drained, and are so full of attitude.  The fresh cilantro.  The salty, crumbly cheese.  I could eat a dozen.  In fact, be warned.  Mr. English did say, I could eat another batch.

Filet and Pickled Onion Tacos 2

From my weekly column Dinner for Two on Serious Eats.  Check it out every Friday!

Filet and Pickled Onion Tacos
serves 2

Filet and Pickled Onion TacosINGREDIENTS

  • 1/3 pound beef filet, cut in two steaks
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • Salt
  • 1 red onion
  • 1/4 cup wine vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 10 small (4 1/2 inches) corn tortillas
  • 1 cup diced queso fresco
  • 1 small bunch of cilantro
  • 1 lime, cut in small wedges

PROCEDURE

Season the filet steaks with cumin, chili powders, and salt.  Set aside.  Use a mandoline to very thinly slice the red onion.  Place the red onion, vinegar, and a good pinch of salt in a bowl, and stir to combine.  Let sit for 15 minutes to quick pickle while you finish the tacos. Preheat a small nonstick skillet with a tablespoon of olive oil.  Sear the steaks 2 minutes on each side for rare meat.  Set aside to rest.  Meanwhile, heat the tortillas.  Dampen a paper towel with water, and wring any excess moisture from it.  Wrap it around the stack of tortillas and microwave for 30 to 60 seconds, until the tortillas are warm and pliable. Thinly slice the steak.  Make the tacos by piling on steak, pickled onions (discard the vinegar), queso fresco, cilantro, and a squirt of lime.  Dig in.print this recipe
print this post Posted by Kerry | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Filet and Quick-Pickled Onion Tacos for Two
Categories: 30 Minutes, Dinner for Two, Easy, Eat, Main Courses, Meat, Recipes, Series