52 Cookbooks Challenge #3: Little Paris Kitchen

Last weekend we found Nemo. Snowstorm Nemo made its way through New York City and up the east coast fulfilling the snowy wishes of those of us that haven’t seen much of the white stuff so far this winter. A final count of 12-24 inches of snow painted a winter wonderland for a Saturday morning and definitely sparked the need for a little kitchen warmth and hearth love. Lucky for me, Rachel Khoo, English native gone Parisian, had just released her cookbook in the U.S., The Little Paris Kitchen.

Rachel’s cooking show of the same name has been running on The Cooking Channel since the start of the New Year. I was never a French food person, honestly. Too much escargot and too many capers for my taste plus (gasp) I’m not a huge French pastry fan. But not even half-way through the first 30 minute episode I watched, I knew I was hooked. The recipes were simple and they used ingredients I had in my fridge. There was decadence to both the sweet and savory recipes and how could you go wrong with fresh, warm, crunchy bread? The recipes didn’t take a lot of special tools and were most likely faster to make than most of my current dinner repertoire. After that first episode, I was ready and willing to try French food at home.

I immediately jumped on the internet and looked for one of the recipes I’d just seen, but to my chagrin, the Cooking Channel website had not listed any of the recipes yet. After a few more episodes and more recipes I wanted to try still not appearing on the website, I knew that I just needed to bite the bullet and buy the new cookbook, Rachel Khoo’s The Little Paris Kitchen.

 

Poulet au Citron et Lavende

 (Lemon and Lavender Chicken)

Adaptation of the recipe from The Little Paris Kitchen

1 tablespoon dried lavender*
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2-4 pieces of bone-in, skin-on chicken (either 2 leg quarters or 4 thighs and/or legs)**
1/2 lemon, zest and juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons honey
Pinch of salt

* Be sure that your lavender is made to steep for tea and/or to cook with. Not all lavender is made for consumption. Lavender extract can be used if need be, but it’s not really the same and not as good.

** I choose dark meat for 2 reasons – more flavor and cheaper by the pound. If you wish, you can use breast meat or double the recipe and use a whole chicken split into 8-10 pieces.

Do not preheat oven yet.

In a mortar with a pestle, add lavender and dried thyme. Muddle to release and revive the dried herbs.

In a large zip close bag, add chicken pieces. Sprinkle over dried herbs. Add the balance of the ingredients and seal the bag. Mush around chicken in the bag to cover completely with ingredients. Place bag in dish (to avoid leaking everywhere) and let set for 30 minutes at room temperature or up to 4 hours in the refrigerator.

Preheat oven to 400°F for a minimum of 10 minutes.

Remove chicken pieces from bag and place in roasting dish with skin down, making sure to get as much of the marinade from the bag as possible. Discard bag.

Roast for 45 minutes or until juices run clear when poked at the thickest part of the meat. Turn chicken pieces to skin up about 20 minutes in to let crisp. Let set 5-10 minutes before cutting to let the juices reincorporate. Serve with crunchy bread to soak up the lovely, tangy, floral juices.

Serves 2-4

#52cookbooks

Week off the Challenge for a Craft Fair

I don't want to disappoint and I know it's early to be taking a "break" but I swear I have a good reason.

My friend, Cat and I will be sharing a table at the Astoria Craft Fair at the Beer Garden this Sunday, February 10 from 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.. We will be selling cookies, beautiful handmade toys and tea cozies and handmade earrings. 

For more information on the Astoria Market Craft Fair visit the event page at https://www.facebook.com/events/466477993414803/

To see Cat's beautiful homemade goodies, please visit her Etsy site at http://www.etsy.com/shop/catpenfold

Here is what my oven (and my friend's Sarah's oven) has spent the week doing - 

I Love M&M Cookies - chewy and crunchy at the same time.

Sweet Southern Tea Cookies - sweet and tart and perfect for a cuppa

Sugar Love Cookies - sugar rolled in sugar - um... yum!

Lavender Valentine Cookies - sweet with a touch of relaxing herbal perfume

Choco-Cherry Passion Cookies - rich and almost crumbly dark chocolate with cherry buttons

My week also included a new addition to my cookbook wall.  Talk about feeding an obsession - I know - but I couldn't help myself.

The Little Paris Kitchen by Rachel Khoo

I have seen the show on Food Channel and want to try one of everything on every show.   There is a snow storm heading to NYC and this will be my snowy Sunday retreat!  It's going to be Challenge Cookbook #3.  Details next week!

The Little Paris Kitchen by Rachel Khoo - my Nemo project

#52cookbooks
#nemo

London Fog in NYC

Starbucks had a drink a few years back they called a London Fog.  It was an Early Grey tea with extra bergamont, vanilla and lavender added made latte style.  It was sweet, floral, deep and warming all at the same time.  It reminded you of the chill of London on a a crisp fall morning.  Ah...perfection!

They have since gotten rid of it (as all good hot tea drinks get removed) and replaced it what what they call an Earl Grey Latte (simple as it sounds, Earl Grey with steamed milk...exciting, I know).  It's still tasty, but not the same thing.

I was heart broken and lost without my London Fog, but after 2 years, I have been able to successfully recreate it at home (for the most part).  This has become my afternoon work tea.  It's a little more special than my morning cuppa with its heafty perfume bergamont (achieved by using DOUBLE Bergamont Earl Grey) and soothing lavender, but unlike an herbal concoction, this cup of tea helps me with that afternoon lul by giving me the kick of caffinated black tea and a small sugar rush.

One more quick note - Not everyone is an Earl Grey fan - me included!  That said, the combination of milk and lavender help to mellow the bitterness that can come from Earl Grey and really round out the flavors.

Try it once and I'm sure you'll enjoy it as much as I do.

Mackey London Fog

(I love the name too much to give it up, and besides, Starbucks doesn't serve it anymore)

1 teabag Stash Double Bergamont Earl Grey
1 teaspoon Lavender (must be labeled for cooking/tea)
3-5  tablespoons milk (to taste)
sugar (to taste)
Tea Ball or Loose Teabag filter (Telia is a good one)

Open tea bag of Earl Grey and empty into tea ball or loose tea filter.  Add lavender.   Close tea ball or tie off filter.

Fill mug with boiling water.  Add milk and sugar.  For this step it's really to taste - the drink should have latte consistency, nice and milky, so if you added more water, you might need more milk.  The amount of sugar you use is also to your personal taste.  I would say start with what you normally add and plan on adding a little more.  You want the drink a touch sweeter than you are used to.

Since the tea bag contains lavender, you will need to steep it a bit longer than you usually would.  I'm sure I would get raked across the coals by tea aficionados, but I usually leave the tea bag in for most of the time it takes me to drink the cup.  I don't like how Earl Grey gets bitter (the lavender and milk helps to put that off here), so when I start to taste the bitter coming, I remove the tea bag.