Easy & Elegant - Milk Poached Chicken With Rosemary Garlic Oil

I don't make Chicken too often but when I do, I reliably revert to a few can't miss recipes. When it's not decadent Roasted Chicken with Orange Tarragon Butter or Ina Garten's Chicken with Forty Cloves of Garlic, Mimi Thorisson's Milky Chicken is a fantastic choice, in fact, I can still remember the day I first read her beautiful blog. 

Milk Poached Chicken, Photo: NK 

I've probably made this recipe at least four times and it has never disappointed, but last night's dinner was especially flavorful. I was able to achieve a beautifully browned and crispy skin thanks to a quick infused oil I created. I basted the skin with it in the last fifteen minutes of cooking. I've included steps on how you do it below. For the Milk Poached Chicken Recipe and notes on our first time making it, click HERE. You won't be sorry. 

Rosemary and Garlic Infused Olive Oil

Bastes 1 Chicken

Ingredients:

3 Tablespoons Olive Oil  

2 Large Cloves of Garlic, lightly crushed

4 Sprigs Rosemary (or similar herb of your choice)

2 Tablespoons Butter (optional but recommended) 

Salt and Pepper 

Method:

Warm Olive Oil over medium heat. Add Garlic and Rosemary. Cook until Garlic begins to get some color then lower the flame all the way. Allow to cook another 5-7 minutes (make sure Garlic doesn't burn). Turn off the flame and stir in 2 Tablespoons Butter. Add a sprinkle of Salt and some Pepper. You can use the oil for all different applications but it is especially good poured over a Roast Chicken in the last 15 minutes of cooking to achieve an extra crispy and flavorful skin. Enjoy! 

Easy Elegance - Spaghettini al Limone

There are several Lemon-driven recipes here on Neurotic Kitchen (find them HERE, HERE and HERE) and the reason for that is simple: I love the stuff. Today's incredibly simple but elegant meal will delight your palate and is a worthy choice for dinner parties, date nights, or any time you want to treat yourself. 

As a bonus, its low-cost ingredients will keep you within your New Year's budget, but the austerity stops there; a sinful amount of Butter makes this not all that diet-friendly, but, incredibly, the finished dish manages to feel so light and refreshing that it is perfect for a first course to get your tastebuds ready for more. Once the Pasta is cooked, this dish comes together in just 5 minutes, so with your mis en place ready to go, you can make it with guests on hand and only be gone from the party very briefly.

Spaghettini al Limone, Photo: NK 

Spaghettini al Limone
Serves 6 as a light appetizer, 4 as a heartier appetizer
Very lightly adapted from Maria Batali

Ingredients:
6 Tablespoons Salted Butter 
Pound Spaghettini or other thin long pasta
2 Tablespoons Salt 
1/4 Cup Lemon Zest (from about 4 lemons)
2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
1/2 Cup Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese 
3 Tablespoons finely chopped Chives 
Extra Salt and Ground Pepper 

Method: 

Boil a large pot of water with 2 Tablespoons of Salt in it. 

Meanwhile, in a very large saute pan, add the Butter and Lemon Zest and heat over moderate heat, stirring. 

Once water is boiling, add the Pasta and cook until just al dente. Reserve 1/4 cup Pasta Water and drain the pasta. 

Add drained Pasta to the saute pan. Toss Lemon Juice onto it. Toss to coat with Lemon Zest and Butter Mixture and loosen with a tablespoon or two of pasta water, tossing continuously over medium heat for about a minute until thickened. 

Turn off flame and sprinkle on Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese. Taste for Salt and add more if needed. Season liberally with Black Pepper. Divide Pasta among plates and sprinkle with chopped Chives. Serve with extra Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese. 

Enjoy!! 

Summer & Spice - Grilled Buffalo Calamari

You don't have to eat poultry to enjoy Buffalo flavor. Turns out, Buffalo ANYTHING is pretty darn delicious - even humble Cauliflower becomes the life of the party when paired with America's favorite spicy sauce. 

In today's post, we give Calamari a really fun twist. Buffalo Calamari is a light seafood appetizer that is fun, super shareable and easy to execute in just ten minutes of active time. While I prefer to marinate the squid for about an hour in a bit in Oil, Lemon, Salt and Pepper, it's still good even if you don't have time for that. 

Grilling Calamari outdoors on a grill pan will prevent the tubes from slipping through the cracks. Alternately, you can boil Calamari on the stove just a few minutes until it is fully opaque and firm but not rubbery. Toss it in the sauce and you have a winning starter that guests will love. Enjoy and let's get to it. 

Grilled Buffalo Calamari, Photo: NK

Grilled Buffalo Calamari
Serves 3-4 as a light Appetizer

Ingredients: 
1.25 Pounds Cleaned Calamari, Tubes and Tentacles
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil 
1 teaspoon Lemon Juice
Salt 
Pepper
2.5 Tablespoons Frank's Red Hot Original Cayenne Pepper Sauce
2 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter, Melted
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce 
Scallions and Cilantro or Celery/Celery Leaves for garnish

Method: 
About an hour before you'd like to grill, add the cleaned Calamari to a large Ziploc Bag with the Olive Oil, Lemon Juice, and a few light shakes of Salt and Pepper. Allow to sit in the fridge for an hour. 

Preheat your grill until very hot with a thin Grill Pan suited for seafood on top of it. Grill Calamari about 3-4 minutes per side until golden in parts and opaque, but not rubbery. Remove Calamari to a cutting board to cool a bit. Once cooled, slice into 1/2 inch rings and leave small tentacles intact. Place in a mixing bowl. 

In a small saucepan, mix the Hot Sauce, 2 Tablespoons of Unsalted Butter and 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce. When the butter melts, mix into the Calamari and toss. Serve warm with your desired garnishes and enjoy!

Test Kitchen Tuesday - Ina Garten's Bay Scallop Gratin

The first snowflakes of the season fell today and now BAM, we're in a deep freeze.  Sure, the winter's gonna be long, but there is reason to rejoice; warm, cozy dishes and comforting foods are in our future. Bathing suits, on the other hand, are many months away so we may, just may, use a little butter. Could you tell that was an understatement?

Heavenly Bay Scallops Gratin, Photo: NK 

Tonight's seemingly luxurious yet incredibly easy appetizer, Bay Scallops Gratin, comes to us from fellow butter hedonist and goddess of simplified domesticity, Ina Garten. It is just the thing if you're looking for an elegant seafood starter for your next party, or even just for a special night in. Here in the New York area, Long Island Bay Scallops are in season and as sweet as ever. Add some breadcrumbs (panko, in this case), parsley, lemon and of course, a lot of garlic, and something wonderful will emerge from your oven. 

As always, here are some pointers below.

Tips: 

If you don't have small, oval gratins in which to cook these individual portions, use any other oven-safe, earthenware bowl of a similar size. 

I've posted Ina's recipe exactly as it appears on her site, The Barefoot Contessa. In making this dish myself, I did make one or two slight changes, you guessed it, to increase ease and convenience (two of my favorite words). 

First, I subbed the Pernod out for Sambuca, which I purchased in a mini-airplane bottle size (since the recipe only calls for a few tablespoons of it). The result was still delicious.

Preparing the Gratins, Photo: NK

Secondly, I omitted the chopped Prosciutto. I'd just spent a pretty penny on those bay scallops, and didn't feel like dipping into my pockets again. Also, I reasoned that this recipe would be rich and lovely with the butter and breadcrumbs alone. I don't doubt Ina, though. I'll try it with prosciutto one of these days. Note: You may have to add a bit of salt at the end if you don't use naturally salty prosciutto. I found it salty enough as is, however.

Finally, in step one of the recipe where you are called to blend the breadcrumbs with the softened butter using a mixer, I simply stirred everything together slowly, by hand. Using Butter that's fully softened and cut into small pieces will make achieving this easier. And you can skip having to clean your electric mixer! I'm lazy, what can I say?

OK! Let's cook. Thank you, Contessa, for yet another winner. 

Bon appétit!   

Bay Scallops Gratin
Recipe by Ina Garten, from her Back To Basics cookbook Serves 6

Ingredients:

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature 
6 large garlic cloves, minced 
2 medium shallot, minced 
2 ounce thinly sliced prosciutto di Parma, minced 
4 tablespoons minced fresh parsley, plus extra for garnish 
2 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice 
2 tablespoon Pernod 
2 teaspoon kosher salt 
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 
6 tablespoons good olive oil 
1/2 cup panko (Japanese dried bread flakes) 
6 tablespoons dry white wine 
2 pound fresh bay scallops 
Lemon, for garnish 

Method: 

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Place 3 (6-inch round) gratin dishes on a sheet pan. 

To make the topping, place the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (you can also use a hand mixer). With the mixer on low speed, add the garlic, shallot, prosciutto, parsley, lemon juice, Pernod, salt, and pepper and mix until combined. With the mixer still on low, add the olive oil slowly as though making mayonnaise, until combined. Fold the panko in with a rubber spatula and set aside. 

Preheat the broiler, if it’s separate from your oven. 

Place 1 tablespoon of the wine in the bottom of each gratin dish. With a small sharp knife, remove the white muscle and membrane from the side of each scallop and discard. Pat the scallops dry with paper towels and distribute them among the 3 dishes. Spoon the garlic butter evenly over the top of the scallops. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the topping is golden and sizzling and the scallops are barely done. If you want the top crustier, place the dishes under the broiler for 2 minutes, until browned. Finish with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and a sprinkling of chopped parsley and serve immediately with crusty French bread.

Ingredient Spotlight: Acorn Squash (+ Brown Sugar & Walnuts)

The Beautiful Acorn Squash, Photo: NK

There are a ton of things that rock about fall - like fuzzy flannel shirts, leaf-peeping, and pumpkin flavored everything.  

Of course, cooking with autumn produce ranks high in our house and I can tell that you too love preparing the foods of the season. Our Foolproof Fall Dinner for Six  post is getting tons of traffic! It is a great menu, if we do say so ourselves. 

For more Autumn produce inspiration check out our super healthy recipe for Apple Rutabaga Mash. But today, we're all about the Acorn. Acorn Squash to be exact. If you are looking for the world's  easiest side dish for your next meal, please, look no further. Today's recipe is merely a guideline, as there are endless possibilities for baking acorn squash. Just let your favorite spices be your guide. 

Our version includes the usual brown sugar and butter, but adds a hint of cinnamon and some smokey paprika (my favorite spice of all time), before finishing it all off with a sprinkling of crunchy toasted walnuts. The textural combo of the tender squash and walnuts is just great. Also - I find it especially cool that this dish is self-contained. Slice off a bit of the squash's bottom and you've made yourself a sturdy little bowl filled with fall goodness. Just get out a spoon and start scooping out the sweet, nutty middles. 

This recipe is so easy - just bake the squash, flavor it like so
(or use your own favorite spices), and bake again! Photo: NK 

Before we jump to our recipe, let's first learn a bit about our main ingredient:

"(Acorn Squash) flesh is sweeter than summer squash, with a nut-like flavor. It is shaped like a ribbed acorn, hence its nickname. The growing period is longer than summer squash, giving it plenty of time to soak up the sweetness of the sun. 

Along with the standard green variety, you may also run across orange and white acorn squash varieties. Although available in many areas year-round, prime season for acorn squash is early fall through winter." ~About.com 

OK! Now let's cook what we've learned. 

Baked Acorn Squash + Brown Sugar & Walnuts, Photo: NK

Baked Acorn Squash With Brown Sugar & Toasted Walnuts

Loosely Adapted from Martha Stewart

Serves 2

Ingredients:

1 medium-sized Acorn Squash (about 1.5 pounds)

1/3 cup Toasted Walnuts, roughly chopped

1 heaping Tablespoon Dark Brown Sugar

1 Tablespoon Salted Butter, divided + more for greasing baking sheet

1/4 teaspoon Hot Smoked Spanish Paprika (or regular Paprika)

1/4 teaspoon Cinnamon

Salt 

Pepper

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 425 and grease a baking sheet with butter.

2. Lightly toast your walnuts in the toaster oven if you've not done so already. They should turn slightly golden.

3. Cut acorn squash in half and carefully scoop out all the seeds. Slice off a small part of each of the squash bottoms so they will sit level on the baking sheet later.

4. Bake, cut side down, until golden, about 20-25 minutes.

5. Turn the squash over and pierce the insides all over with a fork. Rub a half tablespoon of butter on the flesh of each half and place any remainder in the middle. Sprinkle the dark brown sugar evenly over each half, follow with paprika, cinnamon, and then a pinch of salt and pepper.

6. Return squash to the oven to bake for another 25 or more minutes with the cut side up. When they are done, the flesh of the squash should be easily pierced with the tip of a dull knife. Sprinkle walnut pieces over each squash and serve warm! These are best eaten with a spoon. Enjoy!