Spring! We'll eat to that!

A week late, we are.

Meg got sick, she did.

Party postponed, it was.

Now cooking same fare, we are. 

OK, so we channeled Yoda…you get the picture.  Meg got sick and fearing contagion, we didn’t have the anticipated dinner party with our friends, but here we are doing the same meal… more for us.  We saw the chicken recipe in the newspaper and thought it perfect. Two weekends ago we were calling this our “Spring Anticipation” dinner.  This menu just seemed like spring with the lemon-herb sauce, fresh tarragon, and the new potatoes.  We debated another side dish (sautéed broccolini or roasted asparagus), but finally settled on the butter lettuce with a rich blue cheese dressing of our own design. (Score!)

So, despite the intermittent flying snow and 20 something nights this last week, the daffodils, crocus and trees are in bloom; so this meal seems fitting. Enjoy it with whatever version of Spring Mother Nature gave you this year.

We have split the leftovers and intend to meet Tuesday night for a leftover cook-off. While enjoying this meal the conversation wandered into “leftover land”, and the gauntlet was thrown. We will provide pictures and our biased (as always) commentary. Now, where to find an impartial judge . . . . . Meg says, “who cares?”.

Our biased and unsolicited opinions:

The chicken was really delicious. Neither of us had used fresh tarragon in our cooking previously, but we are now converts. The combination of the lemon with the fresh tarragon screamed “Spring”.  One note: drain the potatoes when they are tender, because they continue to cook in the water, affecting the texture of the mash. Taste for seasoning. We added additional salt.

We started with boneless, skinless chicken breasts, slicing them into cutlets. You could start with chicken tenders and reduce the prep time with equally pleasing results. It is your choice whether cost or time is more important.

To “springify” the mash, consider using 1 inch pieces of steamed asparagus with the potatoes. Meg and I disagree here regarding including the artichoke hearts with the asparagus.  We do agree that we would not mash the artichokes with the potatoes to retain more texture.

This was a really good choice for a Spring meal and we thoroughly enjoyed it!!

Note from Meg: Last Christmas, Sue introduced me to Van Gogh Double Espresso vodka and all I could think of while baking this cheesecake was how good they would be together. The orange zest in this cheesecake is pleasantly dominant and is really enhanced if you happen to have some Van Gogh Double Espresso vodka to serve along-side, (which we did). Because this cheesecake has very little sugar, dusting it with powdered sugar when you serve it doesn’t make it overly sweet and compliments the flavors.

Chicken Pailllards with New Potato Artichoke Mash & Lemon-Herb Reduction

Courtesy of Reno Gazette Journal, March 2012

Serves 4

Ingredients:

·         I pound new  potatoes, unpeeled and scrubbed

·         ½ C skim milk

·         2 Tbsp. butter, divided

·         1 clove garlic, minced

·         ¼ C flour

·         2 tsp. salt, divided

·         ½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper

·         1 tsp. paprika

·         1 ½ - 2 pounds thinl- sliced chicken cutlets

·         2 Tbsp. olive oil

·         1 C low sodium chicken broth

·         Zest of 1 lemon

·         2 Tbsp. lemon juice

·         3 Tbsp. fresh tarragon, minced and divided

·         1 can (15 oz.) artichoke hearts, drained 

Preheat oven to 200 degrees.

In a medium size saucepan over medium high heat, gently boil potatoes until just cooked through, about 10-15 minutes. Remove from heat, cover and set aside.

In a small saucepan over low heat, warm milk, 1 Tbsp. butter and garlic until butter melts. Remove from heat and keep warm.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Combine flour, 1 tsp. salt, pepper and paprika in a shallow bowl. Coat each chicken cutlet in flour mixture; add to pan. Sauté chicken in batches until each is golden brown and cooked through, about 3-4 minutes per  side. Remove chicken to oven to keep warm.

Drain any fat left in pan and warm to high heat. Add broth, stirring to scrape up any browned bits. Reduce heat to medium high, add lemon zest, lemon juice and 2 Tbsp. minced tarragon. Simmer 5-7 minutes, until liquid has reduced.

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Butter Lettuce with Our Blue Cheese Dressing

Ingredients:

·         I head of Butter lettuce

·         2 Tbsp. white wine vinegar

·         ¼ c crumbled blue cheese

·         ¼ c whipping cream

·         Salt and lots of freshly ground black pepper  

Combine all ingredients except lettuce in a measuring cup. Mash blue cheese slightly into the wet ingredients. Toss with torn lettuce when ready to serve.

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Ricotta Cheesecake

 Courtesy “The Italian Cooking Encyclopedia”, Hermes House

Serves: 8

Prep time: about 1 hour

Ingredients:

·         2 c low-fat ricotta cheese

·         ½ c heavy cream

·         2 eggs

·         1 egg yolk

·         1/3 c confectioners’ sugar

·         finely grated rind of 1 orange

·         finely  grated rind of 1 lemon

Pastry:

·         1 ½ c flour

·         3 T sugar

·         Pinch of salt

·         8 T chilled butter, diced

·         1 egg yolk

To make the pastry, sift the flour, sugar and salt onto a cold work surface.  Make a well in the center and put in the diced butter and egg yolk.  Gradually work the flour into the diced butter and egg yolk, using your finger tips.

Gather the dough together, reserve about ¼ for the lattice, and press the rest into a fluted 9” tart pan with a removable base.  Chill the pasty shell for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375’ and make the filling. Put all of the ricotta, cream, eggs, egg yolk, sugar, and the orange and lemon zest in a large bowl and beat until evenly mixed.

Prick the bottom of the pastry shell, then line with foil and fill with baking beans.  Bake blind for 15 minutes, and transfer to a wire rack, remove the foil and beans and allow the shell to cool in the pan.

Spoon the cheese and cream filling into the pastry case and level the surface.   Roll out the reserved dough and cut into strips.  Arrange the strips on top of the filling in a lattice pattern, sticking them in place with water.

WINE

Pinot Grigio, 2007, Robert Mondavi Private Selection, California, Raley’s Supermarket from Sue’s stock. It was under $10.00, but not sure of the actual price.