Steamed Artichokes with Lemon Butter, Chicken Francaise with Sauteed Spinach and Arugula

I thought I'd go with a classic tonight.  Chicken Francaise.  The chicken preparation was one of the first techniques Abdoo ever taught me.

Steamed Artichokes with Lemon Butter

- 3 large artichokes
- corn stock (substitute veg, chicken, white wine or butter
- juice of one lemon
- franks hot sauce

Snip the tops of the leaves off the artichokes.  They are kind of sharp.  Cut off the stems, and tops of the artichokes.  Add them to a pressure cooker.  Add about an inch of liquid.  I used corn stock, the juice of 1 lemon, and a few squirts of franks hot sauce.  Season liquid with salt and pepper.  Toss in the lemon rind for additional flavor.  Seal pressure cooker and let it go for 17 minutes (approx).  You can do this in a pot if you don't have a pressure cooker but it would take about 45 minutes.

Mix 1 tablespoon of melted butter, a squirt of lemon juice and a touch of oil for a dipping sauce.

Strain and reserve cooking liquid for use in chicken francaise sauce

Sauteed Spinach and Arugula

- 2 bags pre-washed Spinach Arugula Blend

- 4 cloves garlic

- white wine

- olive oil

Chop the garlic.  Add a few table spoons of oil.  Add garlic and sautee.  Add a few splashes of white wine to create steam.  Add the Spinach and Arugula.  Cover.  When the greens decrease by half, remove lid, season and allow liquid to evaporate.  Feel free to add a touch of vinegar or citrus.  I squirted a wedge of lemon juice into the greens at the very end.

Chicken Francaise

- 3 chicken breasts
- 2 eggs
- reserved liquid from artichoke dish or
     - juice of one lemon
     - 1/2 cup chicken stock
     - 1/2 cup white wine
- flour
- garlic powder, salt, pepper
- 1 tablespoon butter
- handful of parsley

Pound out chicken breasts to 1/4 inch thick.  Season with garlic powder, salt and pepper.

Dredge the chicken in flour and shake off excess.  This is one of the few situations where I do not season the flour.  You get better results seasoning chicken directly and flour coats over it.  Preheat a pan and add a thin coat of olive oil.  Beat the eggs.  Dip chicken into the eggs and let excess drip off.  Gently sautee chicken for 2 minutes per side.  You should have a nice golden brown color. 

Remove chicken to rest, drain excess oil (leave just a little) and wipe out any crumbs.  Add flour to make a light roux.  It will thicken sauce.  Add your liquid whether it be artichoke liquid or wine, stock, butter and lemon juice.  Bring to boil.  Taste and season with salt and pepper.  Add the chicken and simmer in sauce for 3-5 minutes.  Chop the parsley, remove chicken, plate spinach/arugula and chicken.  Turn off heat, add the parsley and sauce your plate.

Enjoy!

Brined Pork Chops Stuffed with Apple and Brie cheese, Roasted Parsnip/Garlic Puree and Roasted Asparagus with Lemon

This should be a great first couple of recipes to post.  I was walking through the grocery store yesterday thinking about what I was going to make for dinner tonight.  Yesterday I called up Joey and told him to come over for dinner.  Walking by the butcher counter, I saw some bone in pork chops that were about an inch and a half thick.  I immediately knew that these were my protein for the evening.  With a little care, these could be the most delicious chops possible.  I decided I was going to brine them.  I left the store with just the pork chops and began working on my brine...good food takes time!

Brine for Pork Chops

1 cup Kosher Salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 bag apple cinnamon tea
2 quarts water

Fyi, you may use regular salt.  You actually need less.  About 1/2 cup.  I didn't have any. 
Combine all ingredients and stir.  Most people heat brines to make sure the ingredients all dissolve and let them cool or add ice to speed it up.  Never add meat to a warm brine.  I use cold water most often.  If you stir vigorously and/or add a touch more water, it will dissolve.  I am ok if there is a little salt at the bottom.

Feel free to add anything else you like.  Thyme, black pepper, honey, molasses apples.  It doesn't matter.  I thought I had apples at home, but I was out.  In went the tea bag.  Good to go. 

Place pork chops in some kind of container or plastic bag.  Add enough brine to cover the pork chops.  Different meets have different brining times.  Pork chops can handle 12-24 hours.

*  The purpose of a brine is to add moisture to the finished product.  The secondary function is to add flavor through fluid transfer.  All salt does not go into pork chop.  That would be a ton of salt!  There is no need to further salt meat before/during cooking.

Brined Pork Chops Stuffed with Apple and Brie cheese

The brine has salty, sweet, and spice components.  The addition of tart granny smith apples makes this a well rounded dish.  Juice from the apples, pork, and brie should combine to make a sauce inside pork and provide moisture (not that it needs it with brining).

- 4 Bone-in Pork Chops
- 2 Granny Smith Apples
- Brie Cheese (earthy if possible)

Cut a pocket in the pork chops.  Don't make the opening to wide. but make opening through most of the pork chop for filling.  Slice 2-3 thin slices of brie, and 3-4 thin wedges of pealed apple per pork chop.  Insert into pocket.  Season outside of pork chops with pepper(no salt).  You may rub with a light coating of oil.

Weather permitting, I will be grilling these chops on a charcoal grill.  You may also do it in a pan (sear, then finish in oven).  I stop cooking pork around 137 degrees.  Carry over cooking should rise temp to about 145 degrees with a ten minute rest.  Yes, your thermometer says 160, but that was for back in the day when pork wasn't regulated like it is today.  Also, we brined our pork, and salt kills bacteria.

* Tip - Touch Your Meat - if using a thermometer, when you reach desired temperature, use your index/middle finger to press the meat.  This "touch test" will be how you measure doneness as you get used to different temperatures.  You can always double check with thermometer if unsure. 

Roasted Parsnip/Garlic Puree

- 1 small head garlic
- 4 parsnips
- a few sprigs of parsley
- some lemon zest, juice
- corn stock (substitute veg or chicken)
- olive oil

Turn oven on to 400 degrees.  Peel your parsnips.  Cut them a few times to attempt even size pieces.  Add oil.  Roast in oven until fork tender.  Cut the top off of a head of garlic and season with a splash of oil and salt/pepper.  Wrap in foil and roast with parsnips.  Garlic takes about 30-45 minutes depending on your oven.  You will smell when its close.

I prefer to puree in a blender instead of a food processor.  Squeeze roasted garlic out of head while making sure no "paper" from garlic sticks to it.  Add to blender with parsnips, oil, stock. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper to taste.  We are looking for a smooth consistency.  Add liquid until you get it.

*   Disclaimer: I don't measure anything.  I will give estimates, if you want exact proportions for anything find some else's recipe.  You may or may not find something similar.  This only really applies to seasoning, so I say season to taste, adding small amounts per layer of ingredients, taste it, and see if you like it.  You will get used to doing this with experience.  Its not rocket science!

Roasted Asparagus with Lemon

- 1 pound of asparagus
- juice of a half a lemon

You can cut the bottoms off asparagus.  If you want you can snap them one by one to find a natural break point.  This is a pain.  The bottoms are woody, so discard one way or another or save for a stock.  Put some oil on them.  Season with salt/pepper.  Add chili flakes/garlic powder, whatever you want.  Make it yours!

I will grill these with the chops.  You can also roast them in the oven.  When they are done, toss the asparagus in the lemon juice.

Enjoy!

My Culinary Influences

I'd like to start my first post by sharing some details about some of the people who have influenced how I think about food and the way I cook.  (This list is in chronological order)

My parents - Terry and Diane MacLaughlin

My parents are the inspiration of the title of this site.  When I came home from school, I was always hungry and ready to eat as my parents were preparing dinner.  On a daily basis I would ask "When is dinner going to be ready?" and the response was always, "When its done.  Good food takes time!".

They believed that it was necessary for family to sit down and eat a home-cooked meal together on a daily basis.  Every Sunday, my grandparents, (and sometimes friends) would join us for dinner as well.  Dinner was about sitting down together, enjoying a meal, and catching up on school, activities, etc.

I started taking interest in food while watching my parents prepare meals.  My dad would give me tastes of my favorite foods and ask if there was anything missing to the dish.  The older I got, the more I observed what they were doing but never actively participated except for some small tasks.

While I was in high school, Emeril was becoming very big on Food Network.  My parents watched Emeril Live on a daily basis.  I found myself watching with them a few nights a week.  Emeril's energy and catch phrases got me hooked immediately.  A few years later, I met Matt Abdoo, who was also a major Emeril fan.  This was where I really took an interest...

Matt Abdoo

Matt is my cooking hero.  He taught me every basic and many of the advanced skills I know.  He taught me about classic recipes, and then encouraged me to make recipes my own by altering them.  I started cooking with Matt when he was a senior in college and I was a junior (2001-2002). 

Matt had already been working in a kitchen for a few years as a chef.  This particular year was special for me because it was my first year living off campus so I was frequently cooking for myself.  One day Matt was over while I was making dinner, and he gave me a few tips.  For the remainder of the year I found myself cooking with and learning from one of the most talented people I know. 

I continued to cook my senior year and after graduation.  I was pretty decent.  I developed some creativity.  I watched Food Network all the time.  I started adapting recipes, trying new things and creating a few dishes on my own.

In 2004, everything changed.  I went to visit Matt in his home town.  He was still working at Cafe Canoli, which was a small Italian restaurant.  Holy shit.  He created an off-menu, 5 course tasting with wine pairings.  What an experience.  This was how I wanted to cook.  I still have no idea what the hell he did in some cases.

I want to brag about Matt for a minute.  Details I have left out are that he ended up graduating #1 in his class at the Culinary Institute of America.  He went on to become an executive chef in Boston.  From there he made a jump to NYC where he works at Del Posto, under another major Food Network influence of mine...Mario Batali.  I need to eat there someday soon.

Thanks for everything Abdoo!

Joe Jachlewski

Joe is one of my oldest friends in the world.  We went to elementary, middle and high school together.  After college, he moved to Rochester, NY.  Soon after, I got a teaching job in Rochester, and moved into an apartment with him and a few other people.  That year, we cooked A LOT.  We both had jobs, had money and weren't afraid to rack up grocery bills! 

Two years later, I bought a house and Joe moved in.  We each picked 2 days a week to cook for each other and go all out.  While one cooked, the other helped out a bit and we drank.  There is no way I'd rather spend my time. 

For the next 3 years, we bounced new recipe ideas off each other, played off each others cooking strengths and really refined some of the things we do.  He bought his own house in 2009, and we still get together for dinner nights, and tons of random weekend cooking events.  When Joe and I throw a party where food is involved, think big.  You will be hearing a lot about Joe on this blog.

Steve Case

Steve and I work together.  I consider him to be the culinary "ying to my yang".  Before I started discussing food with Steve, if I was going to cook for someone I trended towards big and bold flavors or elaborate sauces.  He tends to make everything appear so simple.  I mean simple in the best way possible.  He uses a few basic, fresh ingredients and makes pefectly combines them into some of the best dishes I have ever tasted. 

He taught me the concept of quality ingredients.  Buy the freshest produce, use fresh herbs.  The better ingredients you put into something, the better it will turn out.  This includes making things from scratch whenever you can, and using whatever is fresh and in season.  I learn so much from Steve, mostly through conversation.  He knows what he's doing, and executes techniques as good as anyone I've ever met.    Although we have eaten several meals at each others houses, we have actually only made 2 meals together cooperatively, but they were friggin good.

Jen MacLaughlin

My wife and I cook together regularly.  We are at a stage where we plan our meals together and create some new ones when we can.  She started out helping me, prepping some food etc.  I was pretty happy to teach some of the skills I have learned from others with her.  It gives us another hobby that we can have in common.  It is pretty cool watching someone else learn and develop their cooking skills and start to try new things.  Teaching helps me develop as she does. 

We go to the supermarket often.  Every day I post a meal on this site, we shopped that day.  I rarely go to the store with a recipe in mind.  We walk past the meat counter, the seafood counter, and then through produce.  Whatever looks freshest, is most likely what we are buying.  If there is something we want to make, and it doesn't look good that day, it can wait because...

Good food takes time!