The weather early this week was a tease of, hopefully, of what’s to come, warmer temperatures. However, today’s wind makes it feel cooler.
Speaking of chill, my husband had a craving for an Asian inspired salad that a former co-worker made. Despite being called “Chicken Salad,” the chicken is merely incorporated as a shredded component to the dish. Quite simply, iceberg lettuce has its core removed and sliced in to 1/2-inch slices then crosswise into three sections. The dressing is made by whisking together a neutral oil, rice wine or apple cider vinegar, sugar, sesame oil, salt and pepper.
For the chicken portion of this recipe, I seasoned both sides of boneless, skinless chicken breasts with salt and pepper. In a large skillet, I added a bit of olive oil and butter to gently sauté the chicken. Some water was added to the pan then covered to allow the chicken to cook through. Once done, I removed it to a plate to let it cool before shredding with a fork.
Using a large bowl, I added the lettuce and chicken and tossed with the dressing to combine. The salad was garnished with chopped peanuts, LaChoy rice noodles and white (or black) sesame seeds. This light, and refreshing salad made for a delightful lazy meal last weekend.
Meatballs lately come in a variety of variations. Whether made with ground beef, chicken or turkey, recipe developers have come up with an array of recipes. Recently I found on The New York Times/NYT Cooking app a recipe for Coq au Vin Blanc Meatballs from Julia Moskin that she adapted from a recipe by Tieghan Gerard. Tieghan has the website “Half Baked Harvest” and I have prepared some of her recipes such as Sheet Pan Sticky Ginger Soy Chicken and Creamy Balsamic Mushroom Chicken Marsala. The comments from other cooks about this recipe were varied, especially concerning its fat content (bacon, butter and heavy cream), but as an occasional indulgence, I gave this recipe a try.
For the recipe you’ll need ground chicken (I substituted ground turkey), an egg, panko breadcrumbs, fine pink Himalayan salt (Kosher salt worked fine), freshly ground black pepper, bacon, shiitake or cremini mushrooms, butter, shallots, fresh thyme leaves, crushed red pepper, fresh garlic, dry white wine, heavy cream (milk is an alternative) and Dijon mustard.
The bacon is chopped and fried until crispy. The ground meat is mixed with an egg, bread crumbs, salt and pepper. The meatballs are fried in the rendered bacon fat until browned.
In the same pan, sliced mushrooms are cooked until softened. Chopped shallots and butter are added to the pan with the mixture seasoned with salt, black pepper and crushed red pepper. Once the mushrooms and shallots have turned golden brown and softened, chopped garlic is added to the pan and cooked until fragrant. The wine and some water are added and the fond scrapped off the bottom. Cream and mustard are whisked in followed by the return of bacon, meatballs and mushroom mixture.
I served the meatballs atop of egg noodles and served with additional sauce and garnished with thyme leaves. This was a wonderful meal with about 10-15 minutes of prep and approximately 50 minutes of cooking. The meatballs can be prepped ahead and kept refrigerated until ready to cook. Chopping the bacon and shallots, slicing the mushrooms and having the balance of the ingredients pre-measured will help make meal prep smoother. While you’re preparing the meatballs, you can have a pot of water simmering for egg noodles to serve as a base for the dish. Overall, my husband and I were quite pleased with this dish. The meatballs were moist with plenty of sauce, which had a lovely flavor. A delicious meal for an hours’ worth of work.
I went a bit retro the other evening and prepared Steak Diane with a recipe I found on “Food and Wine” magazine’s website. This classic recipe is from Emeril Lagasse. For the recipe you’ll need extra-virgin olive oil, beef tenderloin medallions, kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, minced shallot, minced garlic clove, button mushrooms sliced, cognac or brandy, Dijon mustard, heavy cream, veal demi-glace, Worcestershire sauce, finely chopped scallions, finely chopped flat leaf parsley and hot sauce (i.e. Tabasco).
The first recipe I considered, called for either beef tenderloins or strip steak, I opted for the steak, but with Mr. Lagasse’s preparation. I didn’t attempt to find veal demi-glacé, but chose fresh bone broth that my local supermarket carried which provided the gel consistency this recipe needed.
I seasoned the steaks with salt and let them sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. In a large skillet I sautéed the steaks in a butter and oil combination until browned on both sides. They were transferred to a plate and covered with foil. The shallot and garlic are cooked until the garlic was fragrant, followed by the mushrooms that were cooked until softened. I turned off the burner and off heat I added brandy to the pan and ignited with a long lighter. I had a large cover for the pan close by, should something go wrong. I did, however, let the flames burn for about 30 seconds, then immediately popped the lid over the pan to stop the flames. Once the flames had burned out, Dijon mustard and cream were added and cooked over moderate heat for a minute. The stock, Worcestershire sauce and parsley were added to the pan along with salt and pepper. I omitted the scallions and hot sauce. I returned the steak to the pan and its accumulated juices and flipped over to coat both sides of the steak with the sauce. I let it gently simmer until the internal temperature of the steak reached 135°.
Yum, what a delicious dinner. The flavors were wonderful together and perfectly balanced. The steak was cooked to a nice medium rare and sliced about 1/4- to 1/2-inch-thick slices. My husband thought the meat could have been tender, but I did use a strip steak and not beef tenderloin. As it was, the steak was about $20/per pound and beef tenderloin would have cost me close to $30/lb. He survived.
Chicken Salad with Asian Inspired Dressing
Total Time: 1 hour
Servings: 2-4
Ingredients
1 head iceberg lettuce
2 cooked split chicken breasts or 2 cooked boneless, skinless chicken breasts
¼ cup crushed peanuts
1 can LaChoy rice noodles
2 tablespoons white or black sesame seeds
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoon rice wine or apple cider vinegar
¼ cup oil
1 tablespoon sesame oil
Salt and pepper
Preparation
Shred chicken and set aside. Remove core from lettuce. Slice in ½-inch slices then crosswise into three sections; place in a large bowl. Toss with peanuts, sesame seeds and chicken.
Whisk oils, vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper. Pour over salad and toss again.
Coq au Vin Blanc Meatballs
“The Star of Half Baked Harvest Inspires Loyalty-and Controversy”
By Julia Moskin, The New York Times
October 30, 2023
Recipe by Tieghan Gerard
Adapted by Julia Moskin
Total Time: 1 hour
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 50 Minutes
Servings: 4 (15-20 meatballs)
Ingredients
1 pound ground chicken
1 large egg, beaten
⅓cup panko bread crumbs
Fine pink Himalayan salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for your hands
2 slices thick-cut bacon, chopped
8 ounces shiitake (tough stems removed) or cremini mushrooms, sliced (about 3 packed cups)
2 tablespoons salted butter
2 shallots, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, plus more for serving
1 pinch crushed red pepper
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped or grated
1½ cups dry white wine, such as pinot grigio or sauvignon blanc
¾ cup heavy cream (or milk of your choice)
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
Preparation
- In a medium bowl, combine the chicken, egg, bread crumbs and a pinch each of salt and pepper. Coat your hands with a bit of olive oil, then roll the meat mixture into 1-inch balls, placing them on a plate. You will have 15 to 20 meatballs.
- Place the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the bacon is crispy and the fat has rendered, about 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to a plate, reserving the fat in the skillet.
- Add the meatballs to the same skillet over medium heat. Cook, turning every couple of minutes, until browned and crisp, 5 to 8 minutes. Transfer the meatballs to the plate with the bacon.
- Add the 1 tablespoon olive oil to the same skillet over medium heat. When the oil shimmers, add the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly softened, about 3 minutes. Add the butter, shallots, thyme and a pinch each of salt, black pepper and crushed red pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms are golden brown and the shallots have softened, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and stir until fragrant, 1 minute more. Transfer the mushroom mixture to the plate with the bacon and meatballs.
- Pour the wine and ½ cup of water into the skillet. Cook, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom, until reduced slightly, about 10 minutes. Whisk in the cream and mustard. Return the bacon, meatballs and mushroom mixture to the skillet and simmer over medium, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is slightly thickened and the meatballs are cooked through, 8 to 10 minutes, adding a few tablespoons of water if needed to keep the liquid saucy.
- Transfer the meatballs to plates and spoon the sauce over them. Garnish with additional thyme.
By Emeril Lagasse
“Food and Wine,” December 29, 2025
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Active Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
Servings: 2 to 4
Ingredients
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
4 (3-ounce) beef tenderloin medallions, pounded 3/4-inch thick
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 small shallot, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4-pound button mushrooms, sliced 1/4-inch thick
1/4 cup Cognac or other brandy
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup veal demi-glace*
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon finely chopped scallions
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Hot sauce, such as Tabasco
Directions
1. Gather the ingredients.
2. In a large skillet, melt butter with olive oil. Season meat with salt and pepper to taste and cook over high heat until lightly browned on the bottom, about 1 minute. Turn medallions and cook for 45 seconds longer, then transfer to a plate and tent with foil.
3. Add shallot and garlic to skillet and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until fragrant, about 20 seconds. Add mushrooms, season with salt and pepper to taste, and cook until softened, about 2 minutes.
4. Remove pan from heat, add Cognac, and carefully ignite it with a long match.
5. When flames die down, add mustard and cream and stir over moderate heat for 1 minute.
6. Whisk in the veal demiglace, Worcestershire sauce, scallions, and parsley; season with salt, pepper and hot sauce to taste.
7. Add meat and any accumulated juices to saucepan and turn to coat. Simmer until heated through, about 1 minute. Transfer meat to plates, spoon sauce on top, and serve.
*If you opt to use a store-bought broth (regular or low-sodium), add 1 teaspoon of powdered gelatin to the broth and let it sit. This will add body to the broth that homemade beef stock or store-bought bone broth has. I used beef bone broth that I found in the refrigerator section of the meat department at my local supermarket. When I opened the container, the broth had a gel like consistency.