Citrus Marinated Chicken Thighs

Ingredients

• 1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced
• 1/2 bunch cilantro, leaves and tender stems only
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 teaspoon finely grated lime zest
• 1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest
• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
• 1/4 cup fresh orange juice
• 1/4 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 2 pounds skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs

Preparation

• Set aside 1/4 cup sliced scallions. Pulse cilantro, garlic, citrus zests, citrus juices, soy sauce, oil, salt, and remaining scallions in a food processor or blender until a coarse purée forms. Set aside 1/4 cup marinade; place remaining marinade in a large resealable plastic bag. Add chicken, seal bag, and turn to coat. Chill at least 20 minutes.
• Preheat broiler. Remove chicken from marinade and place, skin side down, on a foil-lined broilerproof baking sheet; discard marinade. Broil chicken until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Turn; continue to broil until cooked through and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of thigh registers 165°, 12–15 minutes longer. Serve chicken with reserved marinade and scallions.

Read More http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/quick-recipes/2013/08/citrus-marinated-chicken-thighs#ixzz2ZXvRX7S7

Carrot Soup with Ginger and Lemon

My note: This is the best carrot soup I have ever had! The only change I made was I threw in a few very small potatoes to make the recipe stretch (I didn't quite have enough carrots). Oh, and I added more than 2 T fresh lemon juice and I loved the deep citrus flavor.

Carrot Soup with Ginger and Lemon
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
1 tablespoon finely chopped peeled fresh ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 1/4 pounds medium carrots, peeled, chopped (about 3 cups)
2 tomatoes, seeded, chopped (about 1 1/3 cups)
1 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
3 cups (or more) chicken stock or canned low-salt broth

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

4 tablespoons sour cream
1 small carrot, peeled, grated

Melt butter in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion; sauté 4 minutes. Add ginger and garlic; sauté 2 minutes. Add chopped carrots, tomatoes and lemon peel; sauté 1 minute. Add 3 cups stock and bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover partially and simmer until carrots are very tender, about 20 minutes. Cool slightly.
Puree soup in batches in blender. Return soup to pot. Mix in lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.)
Bring soup to simmer, thinning with more stock, if desired. Ladle into bowls. Top each with sour cream and grated carrot.



Bon Appétit
June 1997


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Green Pea Soup with Ham

Note from author: I've eaten split pea and ham soup for as long as I can remember. On chilly days when my dad was being stingy with the heat, it especially hit the spot. But this concept is just as good in the springtime, when sugary fresh peas show up at the greenmarket. Although I must admit that I rarely feel like shelling peas at home after a long day in the kitchen, and I love frozen peas, which are consistently fine, so that's what I call for here. The finished dish is bright green and sweet, with little chunks of ham, carrots, and cool white blobs of crème fraîche floating on its surface.

Yield: Serves 4

For the broth
2 pounds meaty smoked ham hocks
1/2 medium Spanish onion, halved
3 small celery stalks, very roughly chopped
1/2 medium carrot, peeled, very roughly chopped
1 head garlic, halved horizontally, not peeled
1 fresh bay leaf, or 1/2 dried
6 black peppercorns

For the soup
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 small Spanish onion, finely chopped
1 small carrot, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 teaspoons Maldon or another flaky sea salt
1/2 cup dry white wine, such as Sauvignon Blanc
Five-fingered pinch of mint leaves, plus some torn leaves for finishing
Two 10-ounce packages Birds Eye frozen baby peas
Extra virgin olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper
3 or 4 tablespoons crème fraîche

Make the broth: 

Combine the hocks, vegetables, bay leaf, peppercorns, and 8 cups of water in a medium stockpot and bring to a boil over high heat. Turn the heat to low, put the lid on, and cook at a nice steady simmer until the meat on the hocks is so tender it's almost falling off the bone, 4 to 5 hours.

Carefully remove the hocks and put them in a big bowl. Strain the cooking liquid through a sieve into the bowl, and discard the vegetables and aromatics. Let the hocks cool in the liquid.

When the hocks are cool enough to handle, pull off the meat in bite-sized chunks. Discard the bones and any hard bits and some of the fat, but don't throw away the skin—I add the skin to the soup in thin slices, along with the chunks of ham. You don't have to, but I like the way it goes sticky in the soup. You can keep the stock and meat (moistened with a splash of stock) in separate airtight containers in the fridge for up to two days. Gently warm the meat and skin before proceeding with the recipe. This recipe requires only 4 cups of stock—you may freeze the leftover stock for up to a month for your next batch of soup.

Make the soup:

Put the butter in a large pot that has a lid and set it over medium heat. Once the butter starts to froth, add the onion, carrot, and salt and stir. Cover the pot and cook, stirring every now and again, until the onions are soft and creamy (but not colored) and the carrots are tender but firm, about 15 minutes.

Add the wine and bring it to a boil (turn the heat up if you need to). Let the wine boil until it's all but gone, about 5 minutes. Add the mint and 4 cups of the ham broth and bring the liquid to a boil, then add the peas. (At this point, the carrots will have bobbed to the top. I like to pick out most of the carrot chunks before pureeing the soup, then add them back after. That way, you can nibble on them in the soup, getting that bit of texture.) Cook at a simmer until the peas are warmed through and tender, about 5 minutes.

Blend the pot's contents, in batches, until smooth. Return all the bright-green pea puree to the large pot, add the ham pieces and carrots, and cook at a very gentle simmer for about 5 minutes, just to let the flavors mingle and heat the ham. Have a taste, and season with salt. How much you need to add will depend on how salty the ham hocks are.

Add a generous drizzle of olive oil, several twists of black pepper, and the torn mint leaves. Then add the crème fraîche in little blobs here and there, so everyone will get a bit. Serve the soup in the pot, with small bowls along-side.

IT ISN'T EASY BEING GREEN
I love to let the ingredients in this soup mingle in the pot for a few hours so the flavors marry. Doing this, however, sacrifices the soup's lovely bright green color for a pondy, murky one. I don't mind the color change, but some people might. If you'd like to make the soup the night before and want it to stay bright, set up a big bowl of ice water and set another big bowl inside. Once the soup is done, pour it into the bowl and stir until it's cold. 

Source Information
Reprinted with permission from A Girl and Her Pig by April Bloomfield, © 2012 Ecco an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers

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Gluten Free Sugar Cookies

Playing at Cyucous

Angel Sugar Cookies, Gluten-Free

(http://artofglutenfreebaking.com)   -adapted from The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes From an Accidental Country Girl, Ree Drummond -makes about 4 dozen 3 inch cookies Special Equipment Needed -a stand mixer is nice, but not necessary Note: This recipe uses my gluten-free flour mix: Jeanne's Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour Mix (mix together and store in fridge): 1 1/4 C (170 g) brown rice flour 1 1/4 C (205 g) white rice flour 1 C (120 g) tapioca flour 1 C (165 g) sweet rice flour (also known as Mochiko) 2 scant tsp. xanthan gum (you can also use the gluten-free flour mixture (not baking mix) of your choice--just be sure it contains xanthan gum. Or, you can add 1/4 tsp. xanthan gum per cup of gluten-free flour. If you use bean flour, it will add a bean taste to the cookies) Ingredients 4 C plus 2 TBL (580g) Jeanne's Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour Mix 1 tsp salt 1 tsp baking soda 1 tsp cream of tartar 2 sticks (1 C;  225g) unsalted butter, softened 1 C (235 ml) neutral oil--I use rice bran oil, but you can also use an oil like canola 1 C (190g) granulated sugar, plus more for the tops of the cookies 1 C (120g) powdered sugar, sifted 2 large or extra large eggs 1 tsp vanilla extract In a large bowl, mix together flour, salt, baking soda, and cream of tartar. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat together butter, oil, and the 2 sugars.  The mixture will be quite runny.  Beat for about 2 minutes.  Add the vanilla extract.  Beat to combine.  Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition.  Beat for a minute more to combine all.  Or you can mix it all by hand with a spoon. Add the flour mixture and beat until just combined.  Cover your bowl and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.  The dough is quite soft and you need to firm it up enough to work with. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Put some granulated sugar in a shallow bowl.  Cover the bottom of a drinking glass with butter and then dip it into granulated sugar.  The sugar should now coat the entire bottom of your glass. With your hands, grab blobs of dough that are a bit smaller than a golf ball and form them into balls--place each on an ungreased baking sheet.  Place the unused dough back into the refrigerator--it is very soft and only gets softer at room temperature.  Now press down on each ball with your sugar and butter covered glass--this will flatten each cookie and place a topping of sugar on each.  Dip your glass bottom into the granulated sugar before flattening each cookie.  There should be about 2 inches between each cookie on the sheet because they will spread as they bake. Bake at 350 degrees for 9-12 minutes.  You want the edges to be just barely brown--but not too brown.  Cool on sheets for about 1 minute or two and then remove to racks to cool completely. These cookies are truly lighter than air and are fragile.  They are the perfect treat for anytime you want a little something sweet.  I also like them with my cup of tea in the afternoon.  They are quite addicting--it is hard to stop eating them once you start! Enjoy!

Naan (going for the gluten-free version)

Naan: Indian Oven-Baked Flat Bread
Recipe courtesy Aarti Sequeira

Prep Time:15 minInactive Prep Time:3 hr 0 minCook Time:15 min
Level:
Easy
Serves:
6 loaves

If there's anything that will make you fall in love with Indian food, it's naan. This flatbread from the North of India is juxtaposition at its most beautiful: pillowy and elastic, with dark charred bubbles and a crispy bottom. It's usually made in a tandoor oven, a clay oven that can reach up to 900 degrees F! That's hard to replicate at home, but this stovetop version comes pretty darned close.

Ingredients
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
2 teaspoons sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling, see Cook's Note*
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
3 tablespoons plain yogurt
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon kalonji (nigella seeds), optional, see Cook's Note**
1 teaspoon fennel seeds, optional, see Cook's Note**
Melted butter for slathering on the finished naans
Coarse sea salt for sprinkling
Directions
In a large glass, dissolve the dry yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar with 3/4 cup warm water (about 100 degrees F). Let it sit on your counter until it's frothy, about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, sift the flour, salt, remaining 1 teaspoon of sugar and baking powder into a large, deep bowl.

Once the yeast is frothy, add the yogurt and the olive oil into the glass, and stir to combine. Pour the yogurt mixture into the dry ingredients and add the kalonji and fennel seeds, if using, and gently mix the ingredients together with a fork. When the dough is about to come together, use your hands to mix. It will feel like there isn't enough flour at first, but keep going until it transforms into a soft, slightly sticky and pliable dough. As soon as it comes together, stop kneading. Cover the dough with plastic wrap or a damp tea towel and let it sit in a warm, draft-free place for 2 to 4 hours.

When you're ready to roll, make sure you have two bowls on your counter: one with extra flour in it, and one with water. The dough will be extremely soft and sticky-this is good! Separate the dough into 6 equal portions and lightly roll each one in the bowl of extra flour to keep them from sticking to each other.

Shape the naan. Using a rolling pin, roll each piece of dough into a teardrop shape, narrower at the top than at the bottom. It should be 8 to 9-inches long, 4-inches wide at its widest point and about 1/4-inch thick. Once you've formed the general shape, you can also pick it up by one end and wiggle it; the dough's own weight will stretch it out a little. Repeat this method with the rest of the dough. (If you're making the gluten-free version, you'll have better luck pressing the dough out with your fingertips, than rolling.)

Warm a large cast-iron skillet over high heat until it's nearly smoking. Make sure you have a lid large enough to fit the skillet and have a bowl of melted butter at the ready.

Dampen your hands in the bowl of water and pick up one of your naans, flip-flopping it from one hand to the other to lightly dampen it. Gently lay it in the skillet and set your timer for 1 minute. The dough should start to bubble.

After about 1 minute, flip the naan. It should be blistered and somewhat blackened, don't worry - that's typical of traditional naan! Cover the skillet with the lid and cook 30 seconds to 1 minute more.

Remove the naan from the skillet, brush with a bit of butter and sprinkle with a little coarse sea salt. Place the naan in a tea towel-lined dish. Repeat with the rest of the naans and serve.

Cook's Notes:

* If you would like to make this gluten-free, you can substitute in 2 1/4 cups of a gluten-free all-purpose flour mix for the regular flour, plus 1 1/4 teaspoons of xanthum gum.

**The kalonji and fennel seeds are not traditional, but I love the burst of onion and mild licorice flavor they add. You can find them pretty cheaply at your local Indian market.

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