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hey Siri, search for spring

3/20/2025

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While most people associate lemons with summer, citrus fruits are winter fruits. Citrus season runs November to April and with this in mind, preparing Dan Pelosi’s One-Pot Chicken and Rice with Caramelized Lemon seemed appropriate. For the recipe you’ll need bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, salt, black pepper, dried oregano, crushed red pepper, extra-virgin olive oil, lemons, Castelvetrano or Kalamata olives, garlic, shallot or onion, long-grain white rice, chicken broth and fresh parsley.
 
The recipe begins by seasoning the chicken with salt, pepper, oregano and a pinch of crushed red pepper. Using my LeCreuset braiser, I placed the pan over medium-high heat and cooked the chicken until it released freely from the pan; it was then set aside.
In the same pan, I cooked 1/4-inch-thick lemon slices until they were golden and softened; they too were removed from the pan. ​
Next, the olives, minced garlic, minced shallot, salt, pepper and dried oregano were added to the pan and cooked until fragrant. The heat was increased to high and the rice and broth were added. The mixture cooked until it boiled and then it was removed from the heat. The chicken was added to the pan and topped with the sliced lemons. The dish bakes covered in the oven for 30 minutes at which time the rice and chicken are cooked. To serve, the chicken is garnished with chopped parsley and a squeeze of lemon juice.
 
This was a flavorful chicken meal. The bold flavor of the oregano came through but tempered with the brininess of the Castelvetrano olives I used and the roasted lemon juices. The rice absorbed the broth and was tender to the bite. Overall, a delightful one-pot meal.
 
My daughter came across an article in The New York Times titled, “The Secret to Great Pancakes Has Been in Your Pantry All Along.” The writer, Genevieve Ko, featured a recipe for Honey Oat Pancakes. I happened to have the ingredients on hand which are buttermilk, quick cooking or instant oats, ground flax seed, honey, fine sea salt, flavorless oil, baking soda, all-purpose flour and butter.
 
While I didn’t have quick oats, Ms. Ko suggested pulsing old-fashioned oats into tiny bits. I also used my spice grinder to ground whole flax seed into a flax meal. The recipe works as a substitute for two large eggs. Since the topic of conversation has been the price of eggs, I wanted to try this recipe with flax seed. Did you know that if flax seed is ground into a meal and water added, it creates an egg substitute. There are various ratios giving on different websites. Food.com uses one tablespoon of ground flax seed with 3 tablespoons of water or 1 tablespoon whole flax seed with 4 tablespoons of water. The Minimalist Baker uses 1 tablespoon of flaxseed meal with 2-1/2 tablespoons of water. This egg substitution comes in handy not only as replacement for expensive eggs, but works for those individuals with an egg allergy and vegans.
 
Getting back to the recipe, the buttermilk, oats, flax, honey and salt are added to a bowl, mixed together and needs to hydrate for a minimum of 10 minutes or up to an hour. Finally, the baking soda and flour are incorporated into the wet ingredients. When ready to cook, preheat a cast-iron or nonstick skillet or griddle on medium-low heat.
 
Add a large pat of butter to your pan ensures a crispy, golden pancake. Use either an 1/8 or 1/4 measuring cup to portion out the pancakes, spacing them 2 to 3 inches apart. Make sure the pancakes bubble on top and are a rich brown color before flipping over.
 
Wow, what light tasting pancakes. I usually make buttermilk pancakes, as they taste lighter to me, but these oat pancakes are even lighter. The pancakes had a delicate interior and were quite tender. A great way to get some fiber into everyone’s diet. Having now made these pancakes twice, I prefer the pancakes made in a cast-iron skillet.
 
I hadn’t been to Perrotti’s Quality Meats in Cranford, NJ since my hip surgery. However, I recently found myself in the neighborhood and couldn’t resist stopping in to stock up on 100% natural beef and pork products. I picked up a New York Strip Steak, but wanted to zhuzh it up a bit. In the Wall Street Journal on March 8-9, 2025, chef Charlie Mitchell of Saga in Manhattan shared his home version of Sauce au Poivre in the “Slow Food Fast” column. For the recipe you’ll need 4 (5–6-ounce filet mignon steaks), salt pepper, extra-virgin olive oil, green peppercorns, shallots, brandy, beef or chicken stock and heavy cream.
 
As my husband and I were sharing a steak, I made half a recipe and it worked out perfectly. The green peppercorns were purchased at Spice and Tea Exchange. While you can mail order the peppercorns, they do have stores in New Jersey,  Ridgewood and Haddonfield, and have 98 stores across the country. Penzeys is another source for peppercorns  as well as a wide variety of spices, herbs and soup bases. You may also want to check out Burlap and Barrel and their peppercorn offering. Something I’ve recently seen in a recipe was Jimmy Nardella Sweet Pepper Flakes and they have it.
 
I considered grilling my steak outside, but went with searing in a hot cast-iron skillet using a cast-iron grill press to keep the meat flat. Once I had the steak cooked to a medium-rare (use an instant read thermometer), I removed it from the pan and covered it with foil. I wiped the pan and added oil, peppercorns and shallots and cooked the shallots for several minutes until softened. Next, the stock was added and reduced followed by the addition of heavy cream and simmered until the flavors meld  together.
 
What an elevated steak dinner! The meat was tender and juicy with the complexity of the sauce  enhancing but not overwhelming the flavor of the steak. Overall, a high-quality meal made at home. The accompanying crab cake was purchased at my local Uncle Guiseppe's. The crab cake was delicious, nice pieces of lump crab meat and just enough bread crumbs to hold the crab cake together. “I found Spring, she’ll arrive this morning,” said Siri.

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One-Pot Chicken and Rice with Caramelized Lemon
By Dan Pelosi
The New York Times/NYT Cooking
 
Time: 55 Minutes
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 45 minutes
Servings: 4
 
Ingredients
4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (about 1-1/2 pounds)
Salt and black pepper
2 teaspoons dried oregano
Crushed red pepper
2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive
2 lemons
1 cup pitted Castelvetrano or Kalamata olives, smashed and roughly chopped
6 garlic cloves, mined
1 medium shallot or 1/2 medium onion,
2 cups long-grain white rice, rinsed
4 cups (32 ounces) chicken broth
1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh parsley, for serving
 
Preparation
  1. Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Use paper towels to pat the chicken thighs until dry on all sides. Season the chicken with 1 teaspoon each salt, pepper and dried oregano and a pinch of crushed red pepper. 
  2. Place a large Dutch oven or other heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat and add oil. Let oil heat up for a few minutes. Add thighs to the pot, skin side down, and let cook undisturbed until they self-release from the bottom of the pot, about 5 minutes. Remove from the pot and set aside.
  3. Cut 1 lemon into ¼-inch-thick slices. Add to the pot and cook until caramelized and softened, about 2 minutes. Remove from the pot and set aside. 
  4. Add the olives, garlic, shallot and 1 teaspoon each salt, pepper and dried oregano to the pot. Cook over medium-low heat, scraping browned bits from the bottom of the pan, until garlic is fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes. Turn the heat up to high, add the rice and broth to the pot, stir to combine and cover until it comes to a boil, about 5 minutes.
  5. Remove the pot from heat, add the browned chicken thighs on top of the rice, skin side up, then cover the chicken thighs with the lemon slices. Place the pot, covered, into the oven and bake until the rice and chicken are fully cooked, 25 to 30 minutes. Serve topped with fresh parsley and a squeeze of lemon juice.
one-pot_chicken_and_rice_with_caramelized_lemon.pdf
File Size: 61 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File


Honey Oat Pancakes
“The Secret to Great Pancakes Has Been in Your Pantry All Along,”
By Genevieve Ko, The New York Times, March 6, 2025
 
 
Time: 35 minutes
Prep: 5 minutes
Cook: 30 minutes
Yield: 10-12 pancakes
 
Ingredients
1-3/4 cup/395 grams buttermilk
2/3 cup/75 grams quick-cooking or plain instant oats (see Tip)
2 tablespoons ground flax (see Tip)
2 tablespoons honey, plus more for serving if desired
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
2 tablespoons canola or other flavorless oil
1 teaspoon baking soda
2/3 cup/95 grams all-purpose flour
Salted butter, for cooking and serving
 
Preparation
  1. Mix the buttermilk, oats, flax, honey and salt in a large bowl. Let sit for at least 10 minutes and up to an hour. The longer the mixture sits, the creamier and more tender the pancakes. This is a good time to make coffee, eggs, bacon or to get ready for the day.
  2. Heat a large cast-iron or nonstick skillet or griddle over medium-low until hot.
  3. While the skillet heats, stir the oil into the wet ingredients until fully incorporated, then stir in the baking soda until dissolved. Add the flour and stir very gently until no traces of it remain.
  4. Swipe a large pat of butter over the hot pan to coat it generously. (Sizzling the batter in lots of butter gives the pancakes a rich flavor.) Scoop in generous ¼ cups of batter, spacing them 2 to 3 inches apart. Cook until the bottoms are deeply browned and the tops bubble, 2 to 3 minutes, then carefully flip the rounds and cook until browned outside and cooked through inside, about 2 minutes. Repeat with the remaining batter, buttering the pan between each batch.
  5. Serve hot, with honey and more butter if you’d like.
 
Tips:
Quick-cooking oats are slightly flatter and cut smaller than old-fashioned oats, and instant oats are even smaller and thinner. If you have only old-fashioned (rolled) oats, pulse them into tiny bits to replicate the lighter texture that quick-cooking oats deliver.
 
Ground flax, also known as flax meal, binds this batter together and accentuates the nutty taste of oats. You can substitute 2 large eggs for the flax, beating them well and adding to the soaked oats along with the oil in Step 3. The pancakes will taste more like classic buttermilk ones.
​
honey_oat_pancakes.pdf
File Size: 65 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File


Filet Mignon with Sauce au Poivre and Confit Potatoes
The Wall Street Journal, March 8-9, 2025
Slow Food Fast column by Kitty Greenwald
Recipe by Chef Charlie Mitchell, Saga in New York City
 
Total Time: 35 minutes
Serves: 4
 
Ingredients
4 (5- to 6-ounce) filet mignon steaks
2 pounds baby potatoes
6½ cups extra-virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, smashed
4 sprigs thyme
Flaky salt and freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup green peppercorns
2 shallots, minced
⅓ cup brandy
½ cup beef or chicken stock
1 cup heavy cream
 
Directions
  1. Let steaks rest at room temperature for at least 20 minutes before cooking.
  2. Meanwhile, set a large pot over medium heat. Add potatoes, enough oil to cover (4-6 cups), garlic, thyme and a good pinch of salt. Simmer gently, making sure oil never boils, until largest potato is tender, 15-20 minutes. Turn off heat. Keep potatoes in oil until ready to serve.
  3. Season steaks generously with salt and pepper. Place a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Once hot, add 2-3 tablespoons oil. After 30 seconds, lay in steaks. (If necessary, work in batches to avoid crowding.) Sear until a golden crust forms, 2-5 minutes. Flip and sear reverse, 2-5 minutes. Continue cooking, flipping frequently, until steaks reach desired doneness, about 6 minutes more for medium-rare. Transfer steaks to a cutting board and let rest at least 5 minutes.
  4. Wipe out pan and set over medium heat. Add 2 tablespoons oil, peppercorns and shallots, and sweat until shallots are translucent, 2-4 minutes. Carefully add brandy (it may flame), and cook off alcohol, 1-2 minutes. Add stock and simmer until reduced by half, 3-5 minutes. Add cream and simmer until flavors meld, about 2 minutes.
  5. Use a slotted spoon to remove potatoes from oil. (Save oil for another use.) Spoon sauce over steaks and serve with warm potatoes.
filet_mignon_with_sauce_au_poivre_and_confit_potatoes.pdf
File Size: 88 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

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    ​meet donna

    A former teacher, shop-a-holic, empty-nester redefining quick, family approved dinners.

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