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“When you base your food choices on your own intuitive wisdom, that food will nourish and strengthen your body, mind and spirit to help you fulfill the purpose of your life.”
Leonard Perlmutter, American Meditation Institute
I’m happy to announce that I am partnering with Josh Camire, of warriorschoiceyoga.com to create a very unique seminar that unites food and yoga. This is the perfect way to jumpstart your weekend! We start with a 30 minute cooking demonstration and discussion about conscious cooking and intuitive eating. Then, move on to an hour long gentle yoga class and conclude with a gourmet three course dinner. What’s the connection between food and yoga, you may ask? Well, one of the benefits of yoga is learning to really listen to you body’s cues.
I discovered yoga in 2002 as part of a campaign to help me quit smoking for good. (Smoking is the scourge of the restaurant industry and a bad habit that I picked up and kept for far too long.) I found that yoga has many benefits—better sleep, more body awareness, a higher quality of breath among others. I’ve been an active practitioner since then. I believe that yoga has the power to change your life and your relationship with food. This is a fun, light hearted seminar that will leave you feeling nourished in both body and spirit. All levels of fitness are welcome and dietary restrictions are happily accommodated.
This is an amazing Curried Chicken Salad that totally nourished me when I arrived home from yoga class, hot, sweaty and ravenous. It is good whenever you have a craving for a dish with multiple layers of flavor—spiciness and a gentle heat from the curry paste, sweetness from the currants, richness from toasted coconut, creamy-ness from the mayonnaise and salty crunchy goodness from chopped roasted peanuts. It can be put together in just a few minutes if you have all of the ingredients on hand. It’s the perfect dish for your next BBQ or get together.
Bon Appetit! (I wanted to take a picture but Pete and I practically licked the bowl clean!!)
Curried Chicken Salad, Thai Style (inspired by a dish of the same name at the now defunct Cannery Restaurant in Yarmouth Maine)
1# leftover grilled or roasted chicken breast, diced
½ to ¾ cup of mayo depending on how mayonnaise-y you like your salad. (you could also substitute equal parts mayo and yogurt)
1 rounded teaspoon of Green Curry Paste (I highly recommend Mae Ploy brand, available at importfood.com and some supermarkets.)
1 Tbsp. Curry Powder
2 Tbsp. Unsweetened Coconut, toasted to a light golden brown.
2 Tbsp. Chopped, salted, roasted peanuts (Planter’s is perfect.)
2 Tbsp Zante Currants or Raisins
1 scallion, white and green parts finely chopped
Salt and Pepper to taste.
Whisk together the mayo, curry paste and curry powder. Fold in the remaining ingredients and enjoy! This is so flavorful it is great on it’s own, over greens or crackers. I’ve also served it on cucumber rounds, garnished with chopped chives or peanuts as a hors d’oeuvres.
There are many different types of mole sauce, but the one that I remember, the one that I was completely intoxicated with, is the Mole sauce that I had in Paris, while I was studying at the Cordon Bleu. A number of my classmates were from Mexico. They introduced me to a fabulous Mexican joint that was my first experience with authentic, high quality Mexican food—and I fell in love.
Mole sauce is a romantic sauce, loaded with exotic spices, chilies and touched with chocolate. It is like that tall, dark and handsome stranger that you can’t take your eyes off of. The flavors are rich, complex and totally mysterious. I’ve made Mole sauce many times over the years and come close to my memory from Paris, but never quite got it right. One time I over toasted the chilies which gave the mole a slightly acrid taste and aroma. Another time not all of the ingredients were available and I boldly made substitutions, and the sauce was a watery imitation of what I remembered. However, all that changed this weekend. I had a serious yen for Mexican food and I came across a mole recipe on epicurious.com from archives of the Gourmet magazine. It was a far simpler recipe than I remembered making previously and I had all of the ingredients on hand so I had to try again. (I am such a geek when it comes to cooking!) It was fabulous. It took less than an hour to put together and I loved it. This was the sauce that I remembered! I adapted the sauce a little. I altered the amount of chilies used because I didn’t want it to be too spicy and I reduced the amount of orange zest. Because I wanted to make a vegetarian version I used water instead of chicken stock and I didn’t braise the chicken in the sauce. Instead I grilled chicken (and tofu) separately and served the sauce on the side. We invited some friends over and had a feast fit for a king.
Enjoy!
Mole Sauce, adapted from Gourmet Magazine
3 tablespoons Olive Oil
3 cups chicken stock or water
2 cups orange juice (I used the Blood Orange Juice that I had in my fridge.)
1# onions, sliced
1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted to a light golden brown
4 teaspoons cumin seeds
4 teaspoons coriander seeds
3 ounces dried pasilla chiles, stemmed, seeded, torn into 1-inch pieces, rinsed
1 ancho chili stemmed, seeded, torn into 1-inch pieces, and rinsed
1/4 cup raisins, I used golden)
(1) 3 x 1/2-inch strip orange peel (orange part only)
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 3.1-ounce disk Mexican chocolate, chopped
Heat the oil over medium high heat in a large, heavy bottomed saucepan. Add the onions, and caramelize the onions slowly for 20-30 minutes, until they are a deep brown color. If they start to stick to the bottom of the pan, simply deglaze with a little bit of water. Once the onions have browned, add the spices and almonds to the saucepan. Add the stock or water and juice. Bring to a simmer and toss in the chilies, oregano, orange peel and raisins. Continue to simmer for about 30 minutes or so, until the chilies are soft. Turn off the heat and add the Mexican chocolate to the sauce. Allow the chocolate to melt, then puree the mole sauce in batches. Season to taste with salt and pepper. If the sauce seems too thick, thin with a little bit of water.
Serve as part of a meal with chicken, tofu, warm flour or corn tortillas, Queso Fresco and Crema.
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Chicken Mole
There are many different types of mole sauce, but the one that I remember, the one that I was completely intoxicated with, is the Mole sauce that I had in Paris, while I was studying at the Cordon Bleu. A number of my classmates were from Mexico. They introduced me to a fabulous Mexican joint that was my first experience with authentic, high quality Mexican food—and I fell in love.Mole sauce is a romantic sauce, loaded with exotic spices, chilies and touched with chocolate. It is like that tall, dark and handsome stranger that you can’t take your eyes off of. The flavors are rich, complex and totally mysterious.I’ve made Mole sauce many times over the years and come close to my memory from Paris, but never quite got it right.One time I over toasted the chilies which gave the mole a slightly acrid taste and aroma. Another time not all of the ingredients were available and I boldly made substitutions, and the sauce was a watery imitation of what I remembered.However, all that changed this weekend.I had a serious yen for Mexican food and I came across a mole recipe on epicurious.com from archives of the Gourmet magazine.It was a far simpler recipe than I remembered making previously and I had all of the ingredients on hand so I had to try again.(I am such a geek when it comes to cooking!)It was fabulous.It took less than an hour to put together and I loved it.This was the sauce that I remembered!I adapted the sauce a little.I altered the amount of chilies used because I didn’t want it to be too spicy and I reduced the amount of orange zest.Because I wanted to make a vegetarian version I used water instead of chicken stock and I didn’t braise the chicken in the sauce.Instead I grilled chicken (and tofu) separately and served the sauce on the side.We invited some friends over and had a feast fit for a king.
Enjoy!
Mole Sauce, adapted from Gourmet Magazine
3 tablespoons Olive Oil
3 cups chicken stock or water
2 cups orange juice (I used the Blood Orange Juice that I had in my fridge.)
1# onions, sliced
1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted to a light golden brown
4 teaspoons cumin seeds
4 teaspoons coriander seeds
3 ounces dried pasilla chiles, stemmed, seeded, torn into 1-inch pieces, rinsed
1 ancho chili stemmed, seeded, torn into 1-inch pieces, and rinsed
1/4 cup raisins,I used golden)
(1) 3 x 1/2-inch strip orange peel (orange part only)
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 3.1-ounce disk Mexican chocolate, chopped
Heat the oil over medium high heat in a large, heavy bottomed saucepan.Add the onions, and caramelize the onions slowly for 20-30 minutes, until they are a deep brown color.If they start to stick to the bottom of the pan, simply deglaze with a little bit of water.Once the onions have browned, add the spices and almonds to the saucepan.Add the stock or water and juice.Bring to a simmer and toss in the chilies, oregano, orange peel and raisins.Continue to simmer for about 30 minutes or so, until the chilies are soft. Turn off the heat and add the Mexican chocolate to the sauce.Allow the chocolate to melt, then puree the mole sauce in batches.Season to taste with salt and pepper.If the sauce seems too thick, thin with a little bit of water.
Serve as part of a meal with chicken, tofu, warm flour or corn tortillas, Queso Fresco and Crema.
I love this recipe for ‘Chicken in Pistachio, Sumac and Sesame Crumbs’ from the cookbook ‘Turquoise, a Chef’s travels in Turkey‘ by Greg and Lucy Malouf. It’s easy, exotic sounding and tastes great. The sesame seeds and pistachios add a delightful crunch, the lemon zest and sumac add a bright lemon-y note that is tempered by the richness of the parmesan cheese. Leftovers keep well and this chicken is great the second day in a pita sandwich with a little yogurt dressing, sprouts and shredded carrots. Chicken is the workhorse of the carnivore world. It’s easy to eat, a good source of protein, and inoffensive. At its best it is tender, juicy and moist. At it’s worst, dry, tough and tasteless. Boneless, skinless chicken breasts can get more than a little boring if you eat them frequently—and I am constantly looking for new ways to dress them up. The breading on this chicken ensures that it stays nice and moist. The recipe has a couple of steps you need to take to ensure success. The first is to pound the chicken breast to an even thickness so that it cooks evenly, use fresh bread crumbs and don’t chop the pistachios too finely.
Chicken in pistachio, sumac and sesame crumbs
4 small boneless, skinless chicken breasts, about 6 oz each, pounded to an even thickness
2 eggs
Salt and Pepper
All purpose flour
Olive Oil
Lemon Wedges to serve (optional)
Pistachio Crumbs
2 slices of sandwich bread, crust removed, torn into pieces
1 Tbsp. ground sumac (if sumac is unavailable, substitute the zest of ½ a lemon in addition to .)
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
¼ c. unsalted, shelled pistachios, coarsely chopped
¼ cup of sesame seeds
2/3 cup finely grated parmesan
To make the crumbs, put the bread into a food processor with the sumac, zest and pistachios and pulse briefly. Add the sesame seeds and parmesan and pulse briefly to combine.
Preheat the oven to 350F.
When ready to cook the chicken, lightly beat the eggs with a little water in a shallow bowl to make an egg wash. Set up a production line of seasoned flour, egg wash and crumb mix. First dip the chicken pieces into the flour, then the egg wash and finally the crumb mix, patting them carefully all over
Heat the oil in a saute pan and saute the chicken pieces until golden brown all over. Transfer to a cookie tray and cook for 8-10 minutes in the center of the oven. Remove the chicken from the oven and allow to rest for a few minutes before serving with wedges of lemon.
I love roasting a chicken on Sunday night to have on hand for the rest of the week. Roast Chicken is a wonderful thing, you can make a stock with the carcass and any number of dished with the meat. One of my favorite easy dinners is a Roasted chicken salad. It has chopped chicken tossed with salad greens and then I add all the things that make salad fun to eat. I like toasted pine nuts, zante currants (the little dried raisins) and I generally toss in whatever vegetables are lying around the house—usually tomatoes, avocado, sometimes chopped celery, shredded carrots and halved grapes make the cut. I toss the salad mixture with a simple French vinaigrette and serve it with toasted baguette slices and a selection of cheeses to round out the meal.
Chicken Piccata is one of those old fashioned homey Italian dishes that is ready for a comeback. It’s basically a sautéed chicken cutlet with a pan sauce, so you can have dinner on the table from start to finish in 40 minutes. A Piccata is typically made with chicken or veal cutlets, although you could make a similar sauce for halibut or other firm fleshed white fish. It is a bright and lively lemon-y sauce that is garnished with capers and shallots. If you take an extra step and garnish the final dish with some chopped parsley you can present a restaurant style dish in the comfort of your own home. I like serving this dish with pasta—plain fettuccine is nice, but I am partial to cheese tortellini. For a vegetable, try sautéed swiss chard or spinach with garlic and a little butter. Pop open a Sauvignon Blanc or Chardonnay, sit back and enjoy!
Chicken Piccata
Adapted from The America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook
½ cup all purpose flour
2# of boneless, skinless chicken breast, sliced crosswise into thin cutlets.
2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
1 shallot, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 cup chicken broth
½ large lemon, sliced into ¼ inch thick slices
1 tsp. lemon zest
2 Tbsp. capers, rinsed *This is important to remove extra salt.
3 Tbsp. butter, cut into 3 pieces and chilled
2 Tbsp. minced fresh parsley (optional)
Pat the cutlets dry with paper towels, then season with salt and pepper. Dredge through the flour to coat and shake off the excess.
Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add ½ of the cutlets—make sure not to crowd the pan—you want a little bit of space in between the chicken cutlets so that they can brown properly. Cook the chicken cutlets until they are golden brown on both sides. Transfer to a plate and repeat the sautéing process with the remaining cutlets.
Add the shallot and garlic to the oil left in the skillet and cook over medium heat until they are softened, about 2 minutes. Stir in the broth and lemon slices, scraping up any browned bits and simmer until reduced and slightly syrupy, 8 minutes.
Stir in the lemon zest, capers and any accumulated chicken juice. Remove the lemon slices from the pan sauce. Turn the heat to low and whisk in the butter, one piece at a time. Off of the heat, stir in the parsley and season to taste with salt and pepper.
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Chicken Piccata is one of those old fashioned homey Italian dishes that is ready for a comeback. It’s basically a sautéed chicken cutlet with a pan sauce, so you can have dinner on the table from start to finish in 40 minutes. A Piccata is typically made with chicken or veal cutlets, although you could make a similar sauce for halibut or other firm fleshed white fish. It is a bright and lively lemon-y sauce that is garnished with capers and shallots. If you take an extra step and garnish the final dish with some chopped parsley you can present a restaurant style dish in the comfort of your own home. I like serving this dish with pasta—plain fettuccine is nice, but I am partial to cheese tortellini. For a vegetable, try sautéed swiss chard or spinach with garlic and a little butter. Pop open a Sauvignon Blanc or Chardonnay, sit back and enjoy!
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