The Bitten Word

Thanksgiving 2016: French Onion Turkey Breast with Onion Gravy

Cooking Light (November 2016)

"I want to eat this gravy on everything." 

During our Fakesgiving dinner, our friend Will uttered those words to Zach as he dug in to this French Onion Turkey Breast with its delectable onion gravy. 

"Seriously," Will said. "On meat, on toast, on oatmeal. On everything short of, like, a peanut-butter sandwich. No, actually that would also be delicious."

Will is 100 percent right. The onion gravy in this dish -- which isn't even mentioned in the recipe name! -- is one of the most addictively delicious things we've eaten in a long time.

They gravy is phenomenal. It's fabulous.

And p.s.? This may also be the best Thanksgiving turkey we've ever made.

Fried Chicken Cook-Off: Garden & Gun vs. Clay's Mom

Garden & Gun (October/November 2016) 

One of the first big projects we ever did on The Bitten Word -- all the way back in September 2008! -- was a fried-chicken cook-off that pitted famed chef Thomas Keller's extremely complicated fried chicken recipe against Clay's mom's recipe, which was decidedly simpler and more straightforward.

Now that we've decided to wind the blog down, we knew we wanted to do one more fried-chicken face-off before we say goodbye.

So this past Sunday, we had 9 of our friends come over for another good ol' fashioned chicken fry. (And to pose for chicken-leg portraits.)

This time around, we paired Clay's mom's chicken against the North Carolina "Dipped Chicken" recipe on the mouthwatering cover of the current issue of Garden & Gun.

Fire up your fryers, Bittens! This one's a barn-burner.

No-Cook Tomato Sauce

Food Network Magazine (July 2016) 

"Hot enough for ya?"

Honestly, gang, we usually hate small-talk about the weather. Yes, it's cold in the winter! Man, it sure is hot in the summer.

But: Man, it sure is hot this summer!

The eastern half of the U.S. spent most of last week trapped under a heat dome. Here in D.C. we had our hottest single day in four years, and several consecutive days where the humidity tipped the perceived temperature into triple digits.

We did the best we could to stay cool: We hit the movies, we went to the pool, we stayed in with the A/C cranked up high.

And we didn't dare turn on the stove.

Which is why we were eager to try out this No-Cook Tomato Sauce.

Jerk Spice-Rubbed Chicken Legs

Bon Appétit (June 2016)

 

There are moments in friendships when you reach a new plateau, when you discover something new about someone that strengthens your bond together. Something that really sparks and takes the friendship to a deeper, truer place.

Such was the case when we recently found out our friend Thomas had never seen "Arrested Development."

We were with a big group at Thomas' for July 4th. Everyone was just chatting, and then someone said something -- who knows what it was? Perhaps a Lucille bon mot, or a particularly choice Busterism. And then Thomas said the 10 most glorious words in the English language: "I've never seen that show. We should marathon it together!"

Yes, we should, Thomas. Praise Jesus, Allah, Bhudda and Gob -- YES.

So we had Thomas over this week for his inaugural "Arrested" viewing, along with some Jerk Chicken Legs.

Coconut-Marinated Short Rib Kebabs with Peanut-Chile Oil

Bon Appétit (June 2016)

Short ribs mean winter. 

We've said this many times before: If there's any meat we most associate with winter cooking, it's beef short ribs. A pot of short ribs braising in the oven is, for us, as much a sign of cold weather as the first snowfall or those horrible car ads in which a husband surprises his wife with a new car in the driveway with a huge bow on it. (First of all, how misogynistic can you get? Second, you made a huge household financial decision as a surprise? That's just poor marital communication. Also: a huge bow? Seriously??)

But we digress.

The point is: Short ribs = winter. 

So we were more than a little intrigued when we saw these short rib kebabs in the new Bon Appétit. They're part of a really great spread on kebabs and skewers, which also includes Barbecue Pork With Blistered Chile–Pumpkin Seed Salsa, Cumin-Chile Lamb Kebabs with Garlic Yogurt, and Soy-Basted Chicken Kebabs with Sesame-Citrus Sprinkle. 

Those all sound really tasty. But it was these short ribs that caught our eye.

Short ribs in summer? We're on it. 

Pork Tonkatsu

Food & Wine (May 2016) 

One of the best things about traveling is discovering new foods and then trying to recreate them in your kitchen back home. (Like when we came back from Argentina and started barreling our own Malbec. Just kidding.)

On our recent trip to Japan, one of the meals we didn't tell you about was tonkatsu, Japanese breaded pork cutlets. We had these a couple times in Tokyo, most memorably at a restaurant that's famous for its tonkatsu, Maisen.  

The tonkatsu at Maisen was really tasty: Crispy-fried golden-brown strips of sweet, juicy pork, served with hot mustard and a lip-smacking Japanese barbecue sauce.

When we got home and saw this Andrew Zimmern recipe for tonkatsu in the May issue of Food & Wine, we knew we wanted to try it for ourselves.

Spiced and Grilled Steaks with Citrus Chutney

Bon Appétit (April 2016)

It had been too long since we'd seen our friends Drew and Ralph. The two of us work 9-to-5 jobs, but Drew and Ralph run a successful group of Thai restaurants and a very popular art gallery here in D.C. So we have somewhat opposite schedules, and if we don't make solid plans to see each other, well, you know how these things go.

So one night last week, we found a night that worked and invited them over to catch up.

It was the perfect opportunity to try this Spiced and Grilled Steak with Citrus Chutney.

Indian Fish and Potato Tikkis (Fish Cakes) with Chile and Lime

Saveur (April 2016)

We often imagine other lives we're living.

There's the us that lives in New York City, like Clay once did, where we live in a tiny apartment that has no real kitchen to speak of. We rarely cook, but there's so much good (and affordable!) food around. We're rarely at home, always at work or with friends.When we do cook, it's an event, with lots of friends crammed into our apartment, just to remind ourselves that we can. 

The West Coast us worships the sun. In this alt-life, we're living in Los Angeles, and live to be outside, going to the beach every chance we get. We actually have a really big apartment in this version (our L.A. selves are rich!), with a citrus tree in the yard, and a huge, airy, light-filled kitchen. West Coast us is calm, rested, absolutely zen. We are cooking, but it's mostly salads. Very light, very healthy, totally amazing salads. (But then obviously we cheat by going to SQIRL and In-and-Out on the regular). 

There are other versions, too. Like another West Coast us who lives in San Francisco and is super outdoorsy and spends every weekend in Napa or Tahoe or Big Sur.

There's an us who lives year-round on Cape Cod (or maybe Maine), in a little rambling house with crooked walls and low ceilings. In summer, we pluck blueberries from the bushes in our back yard and pack slices of our home-grown tomatoes to take to the beach. We freeze through the winters, huddled around a little Franklin stove and dreaming of summer. This version of us cooks a lot of seafood -- hearty fish chowders and stocks.

And maybe even a lot of fish cakes.

Because it turns out, we love a fish cake. And that was not always the case. 

Cast-Iron Hacks: Classic Roast Chicken with Lemon-Thyme Pan Sauce

Today's post is less about a recipe (goodness knows we've written enough about roast chicken), and more about a simple trick to have you rethinking roast chicken.

America's Test Kitchen has a new book out -- Cook It In Cast Iron -- and we're smitten. It's a simple little book, but for those of you who are cast-iron aficionados, or those wanting to use their cast iron more, it's a must read. The book covers a wide range of dishes -- everything from fried eggs to pies -- that you can easily make in cast iron. 

We decided to feature this recipe because it uses cast iron to hack a common chicken problem: The chicken breast cooks more quickly, and therefore dries out before the thighs are done. This is why so many roast chicken recipes have you flip the bird at different intervals. 

This recipe solves that problem by using cast iron's ability to retain heat. You simply get the pan really hot in the oven, then place the chicken breast side-up, allowing the thighs to cook at a slightly higher temperature. The best part: it works like a charm, producing a flavorful roast chicken in under an hour. 

Time to break out the cast iron!

Flank Steak in Adobo

Cook's Country (February/March 2016)

Bittens, we have eaten so. much. chicken. this winter.

Chicken breasts. Chicken thighs. Whole roasted chicken. Grilled chicken. Chicken stir-fry. Chicken paillard. Chicken chili. It's a wonder we're not clucking by now. 

Spring is starting in full force here in D.C., and with it, we're craving something -- well, anything -- other than chicken.

It had been some time since we've made some beef. So we decided to branch out and try something new, setting our sights on this Flank Steak in Adobo.