Category Archives: Mains

13Jan / 2015

Chermoulah Chicken Tagine


So, after an incredible meal at Cafe Mogador in New York, my husband makes the humble request that I re-create the chicken chermoulah tagine I had ordered for dinner. For those of you unfamiliar with Moroccan food, Chermoulah is a blend of fresh herbs, chilis, and garlic that when cooked down creates the most delicious and aromatic sauce.

The Chermoulah

1 bunch of cilantro
1/2 bunch of flat leaf parsley
4 cloves of garlic
3 seranno or 2 jalepeno peppers (use less if you like things less spicy)
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp. ground corriander and/or cardamom
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp water

Roughly chop the herbs and peppers, and place all the ingredients into a food processor. Process until the ingredients come together like a paste, roughly the consistency of pesto.

You will need approximately 4-6 skinless, bone-in chicken thighs for this recipe. Make the Chermoulah sauce/marinade below, and marinate the chicken for at least 2 hours, or up to 24 hours ahead of time.

About one hour before you are ready to start cooking, take the chicken out of the fridge to allow it to come up to room temperature. Wipe off as much of the marinade as possible from each thigh, but make sure you wipe it into the bowl with the rest of the marinade – this will be the base of the cooking sauce.

Coat a somewhat deep sautee pan (that has a lid!) with olive oil and/or butter. Sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper on each thigh and cook over medium-high heat, slightly covered until the thighs are golden brown on the outside, and lift easily from the pan. Add the marinade to the pan with about 1 tbsp of water. Bring to a light boil, reduce the heat to low, cover and cook for approximately 20-25 minutes, until it is fork tender. Towards the end, tast the sauce to make sure there is enough seasoning, and add salt to taste. If necessary let the chicken and sauce cook uncovered for a few minutes to reduce the liquid and concentrate the flavor.

Serve over a bed of basmati rice, and garnish with a lemon wedge. Enjoy!

NOTE: Schug, a.k.a. Yemeni hot sauce

The recipe for Schug, a Yemeni hot sauce, is almost the same as that for the Chermoulah marinade. All you need to do is reduce the garlic to 1 clove (instead of 4), and add a 1/2 tsp of sugar or honey. Use this delicious sauce as a condiment for eggs, sandwiches, soups….really anything that needs a “kick!”

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04Jan / 2013

Starch-Free Schnitzel (a.k.a. Jewish-German Fried Chicken Fingers)


So my brother can’t eat starch. That makes cooking for him challenging, especially when my husband invites him to dinner without telling me (starch-free takes forethought, in case you were wondering). Luckily, I’ve been cooking for him for years, so I decided to just adapt our dinner plans a bit: instead of gluten-free chicken schnitzel, we are having starch-free chicken-schnitzel…

1 1/2 pounds chicken breast, trimmed and cut into 1/4 thick pieces

2 eggs, beaten

1 tsp salt (plus more for coating)

3/4 tsp black pepper (plus more for coating)

2 cups light frying oil

1 cup blanched almond flour

1/3 cup sesame seeds

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

At least one hour before you are ready to fry your schnitzel, combine chicken, eggs, salt and pepper in a bowl and allow to marinate in the fridge. (You can do this up to a day before).

When you are ready to start frying up your chicken, heat the oil over medium to medium-high heat until a pinch of almond flour sizzles when dropped in the oil.

In a large shallow bowl or plate, combine the almond flour, sesame seeds, red pepper, and salt and pepper to taste. Coat each piece of chicken on the almond flour mixture and drop in the oil. Flip when the underside is golden brown (approx 3 minutes). Remove when both sides are golden brown and place on a paper towel lined platter in the oven on the warm setting. Continue until you finish cooking all the schnitzel! Enjoy with a fresh green salad as a light accompaniment…

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29Nov / 2012

Ginger Soy Chicken Drumsticks


Ginger Soy Drumsticks

This is a great go-to for a busy weeknight, since you just throw it in the oven…PLUS it won’t break the bank with affordable chicken legs.

1.5-2 lbs skinless chicken legs/drumsticks

1/4 cup gluten-free soy sauce (I like San-J or LaChoy)

1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

juice from 1/2 lime

1/2 teaspoon ginger powder (or 1 teaspoon of fresh grated ginger)

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp salt (since soy sauce is salty)

1 large onion, sliced

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a glass baking dish, combine all the ingredients except the onion salt and black pepper. make sure the chicken is well coated in soy sauce and spices. Arrange the onions around the chicken and season with the salt and pepper. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes.

Remove from the oven, remove the foil and stir the onions and chicken. Increase heat to 400 degrees, and return the chicken to the oven for another 15 minutes, or until chicken is golden and fork tender.

 

 

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30Oct / 2012

A little gift from the sky…and Almond Meal Pancakes???


I wrote this guy quite a while ago – forgot to publish it though

So when my alarm went off this morning at 5am, I was not exactly in the mindset of jumping out of bed, whipping up my favorite almond meal pancakes and conquering a day full of flying. Luckily, I didn’t have to….

To my great surprise and relief, a fellow flight attendant had taken off my shoulders the early-wake-up portion of the 3 day trip I have on my schedule today, i.e. I’m not flying to Denver and back this morning. This discovery = ecstatically happy Adria who can now wake up with husband and indeed make almond flour pancakes. In my overwhelming joy, I have decided that you too should make almond flour pancakes, with chocolate OF COURSE…

A few ingredients make the most tender delicious pancakes you’ve ever had!

1 cup almond meal

2 eggs

1/4 buttermilk or plain kefir

2 tbsp agave nectar

pinch of salt

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp baking soda

butter

bittersweet chocolate chips

Mix together in a bowl all of the above ingredients, except the butter and chocolate chips. The consistency will be thicker than regular pancakes – don’t worry! Heat a flat non-stick pan or skillet at just under medium heat and melt in a heaping tablespoon of butter – You enough butter that the pancakes will kind of ‘float ‘ on a thin sea of butter…mmm…. When you can feel the heat of the pan several inches away, use a 1/4 cup measure to drop-pour your pancake mix.

See how they ‘float’ on the butter?! OH SO YUM!

These take a while, so be patient – wait until there are a few bubbles and the pancake will lift easily from the pan before attempting to flip, about 3 minutes. Just before you flip each pancake, carefully place the chocolate chips into the batter. flip very gently and cook on the opposite side for about 1-2 minutes. Remove from the pan, add more butter and do the same with your next batch. Enjoy!!

These are a little overcooked – OOPS! They should be more golden and less black!

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01Mar / 2012

Chipotle Chicken BBQ Soft Tacos


Chipotle Chicken BBQ Soft Tacos

So this one is for Katie G, who is one of the cutest, most enthusiastic ladies I know…She loved these when I made them on a casual girls’ night in a few months back. These are so easy and so delicious, spicy, smoky and slightly sweet with a fresh crunch and flavor from cilantro and arugula.

1 pound boneless chicken, sliced for stir-frying

1 red, yellow or orange bell pepper, sliced into strips

1/2 large onion or 1 medium onion, sliced

1-2 teaspoons chipotle chilli pepper, depending how spicy you like

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/3 cup spicy barbeque sauce, whichever is your favorite – I like “Rufus Teague”

2 cups arugula (or any salad greens)

1/2 lime

grapeseed oil (any light oil)

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

6-8 corn tortillas

Season the chicken with the chipotle chili pepper, salt and black pepper. Heat a large skillet over medium high heat and coat the bottom with a light oil like grapeseed. Add the chicken and saute until just cooked. Remove from pan and set aside. Add the peppers and onion to the saute pan and more oil if needed. Cook the veggies until crisp tender. Add the chicken back to the pan, reduce the heat to low and add the barbeque sauce. Stir until heated through and turn off the heat.

Meanwhile, toss the arugula with the 1/2 lime juice, about 1 tbsp oil and salt and pepper to taste. Spoon chicken into a warm corn tortilla, garnish with cilantro and top with the arugula mixture. Serve and enjoy!

This is a great quick lunch/dinner idea – you can also leave the corn tortilla out of it and serve it as a salad over the arugula – up to you!

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25Jan / 2012

Pan Seared London Broil


I have been on a London Broil kick recently – I made for my dad when he came over for dinner recently, and he just loved it. The simple comforting flavors remind me of childhood, and the best part about this recipe: you can eat the leftovers hot or cold.

2lb London Broil

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon red pepper

1 teaspoon parsley flakes

pinch of brown sugar

1/2 cup red wine – NOT for marinade; reserve for later

Place the above ingredients in a gallon sized plastic bag and be sure to rub the spices into the meat very thoroughly. Refrigerate for several hours before you cook the meat to allow flavors to meld. If you don’t have time to marinate the meat, prepare the marinade in a bowl along with the meat and use a fork to stab the meat on each side to allow the marinade to penetrate before cooking.

Remove the meat from the refrigerator 30 minutes before you plan to cook it to allow the meat to reach room temperature. Set the oven to 375 degrees. Heat a sautee pan with light oil over medium high heat until quite hot. Place london broil in the the pan and allow to cook 5-7 minutes, or until well-browned and it lifts from the pan. Flip and sear the other side for about 2 minutes before placing the pan in the oven for another 5-10 minutes. The time you leave the meat in the oven will depend on level of desired doneness.

Remove the meat from the oven and from the pan onto a cutting board to rest. Return pan to stove top and de-glaze with 1/2 cup of red wine. Remove from heat when the alcohol has burned off and the wine reduced by a third. Slice the meat against the grain very thin and serve with a spoonful of the wine sauce to keep it moist.

I served this with oven-roasted sweet potato fries and a fresh arugula salad, for side dish ideas.

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