The Bitten Word

Chicken with Tarragon and Quick-Roasted Garlic

Bon Appétit (May 2010)

We had a surprise this spring.

All of a sudden, herbs that we had planted last year in our window boxes were back in a big way. Rosemary had new growth, our sage and parsley plants were three times the size that they were last summer and there were several new sprigs on our thyme as well. 

After all this winter's snow, we assumed we'd be starting fresh this summer. But then again, no one has ever accused us of having green thumbs (though we are trying our hands at growing a small garden in our backyard this summer -- more on that when/if any of our plants come out of the ground!).

But of all these herbs, it was tarragon that's back in the biggest way. Our little plant from last summer is, as they say, all growed up. It's big, it's bushy, it's screaming for us to use some tarragon already.

We know two things to do with tarragon: make Bearnaise or flavor roast chicken. 

So we were eager to try a new tarragon chicken recipe from the latest Bon App, which essentially marries those two ideas.

The Leftovers | Interesting Stuff From April Food Magazines

Here are a few items that caught our attention this month. 

 

Unspoiled Lemons & Unspilt Milk

In the "Notes From Readers" section of the latest Cook's Illustrated, a reader writes in to ask about the best way to store lemons. Since we cook quite a lot, we try to always have lemons on hand and for years we've kept our lemons sitting on the counter top in a bowl. Sometimes they last, but after a while, they turn hard and become unusuable.

The folks at America's Test Kitchen, always on the case, did an experiment with storing lemons, both in and out of the fridge, and in a variety of containers (and even no container at all). The result? Lemons stay freshest when stored in a zipper-lock bag in the fridge. We'll never keep ours on the counter again.

There's a second quick tip in this issue that we loved. If a recipe calls for buttermilk, you likely have leftover milk when you're finished cooking. If so, you can easily freeze it in small paper cups. Once frozen, wrap the cups in plastic wrap and store them in a resealable plastic bag. Small quantities will be waiting for you when it's time for more buttermilk.
 

 

Praise the Lard

This Sunday, we're attending Cochon 555 for the second year. At the event, a group of top chefs from the Washington D.C. area will each prepare a heritage breed pig, concocting as many dishes as they can manage. The event is to celebrate heritage breeds and last year the chefs were amazingly creative and the food was outstanding. Needless to say, we each ate our weight in pork.

After this Sunday's event in DC, Cochon 555 is happening in Portland, Seattle and San Francisco, leading up to a cookoff among the regional winners at the Food & Wine Classic this June.  If you want to attend one of these upcoming events, tickets are available at Cochon555.com. 

Gourmet Whoopie Pies to Order

Last week Clay had the opportunity to sample some of B. Hall's gourmet whoopie pies when a colleague brought some into his office. Though the pies are made here in DC, they're available for shipment all over the country and come in many flavors. Clay loved the Vanilla Bean (pictured right, courtesy of B. Hall) and we're dying to try the Raspberry Red Velvet. If you want some for a gift (or yourself), you can order them online. 

Happy Spring! 

Talk Derby to Me: Celery Juleps, "Refrigerator Juleps" and Classic Mint Juleps

With the Kentucky Derby coming up this Saturday, you've no doubt already picked out your hat, laid out your seersucker, and made all the fixin's for your Hot Browns.  

What's that?  No? You haven't? 

Well, never fear. Even if you're out of the Derby loop, you can still easily enjoy one of the Derby festivities' great pleasures: the julep. A simple mixture of mint, simple syrup and bourbon over crushed iced, the julep is the kind of drink that's tailor-made for warmer weather. 

But does a julep have to be...minted? 

We thought so until last weekend, when we read Simple Fresh Southern, the latest cookbook from Matt and Ted Lee, which we had featured in our holiday gift guide last year. We've been wanting to read it since last winter, when it turned up in almost all our food magazines and we heard the Lee Brothers interviewed on "The Splendid Table." On that show, they shared their recipe for Pickled Grapes with Rosemary and Chiles. Zach's mom made these while we were in Tennessee for the holidays and we loved them. They're a fun spin on party food -- those who pop one in their mouths expecting an olive get a huge surprise. If you want to try them, the recipe is available on "The Splendid Table" website. 

Pickled Grapes are a good example of the kinds of dishes that fill the Lee Bros. cookbook: simple executions with unexpected twists. We're especially intrigued by their recipes for Rice Pudding Pops (rice pudding in popsicle form) and Lettuce Soup (we once had lettuce soup at Dan Barber's Blue Hill in New York City, and still talk about it to this day). We'll be making both of these dishes soon. 

Anyhow, back to juleps. In the book's chapter on cocktails, we were stopped cold by the idea of a Celery Julep. Derby, after all, is this weekend, and we'll be observing as we do every year, at a ex-pat Kentuckian's apartment filled with Kentuckians and friends of Kentuckians. There will, indeed, be the annual hat contest, plenty of folks dressed in seersucker, and, of course, mint juleps. 

So does a celery julep deserve a place at the Derby table?

Guacamole Chicken Salad

We've been on a bit of an avocado binge ever since our reader PJ sent us a box of huge avocados from a tree in the yard of her home in Florida. We've tried an Avocado Pie as well as an Avocado-Strawberry Salad. 

But there was one recipe we were saving for last, because it sounded so great: this Guacamole Chicken Salad. It was one of the recipes PJ had included in the package she sent, and it seemed like the perfect way to finish out our stash of avocados. 

We love fresh-made guacamole, and we love chicken salad. So why not love them together?

Shaved Raw Asparagus with Parmesan Dressing

Food & Wine (April 2010)

This is the time of year when we get giddy at the farmers market.

Spring lettuces are piling up. Ramps make their brief appearance. And big bouquets of flowers return. 

For the past few weeks, it's asparagus that has most called to us while at the market. Last weekend, when we saw the big, beautiful bunches of purple asparagus piled high on the market tables, we knew we had to buy some.

We typically keep things simple when it comes to preparing our asparagus. Depending on how we're feeling, we typically either roast it or steam it briefly in the microwave. We almost never eat it raw, and if we do, it's typically as a toss-in to a salad. 

Well, friends, it turns out that raw asparagus is where it's at. We think you'll need no more than this salad to convince you. 

Steamed Fish with Ginger

Food Network Magazine (April 2010)

 

This Steamed Fish with Ginger sounded so nice and light and fresh, we knew we wanted to give it a try as soon as we saw it.

Unfortunately for us, this turned out to be a case of too many substitutions. For starters, we couldn't find either white fish -- striped bass or halibut -- the recipe recommends. In fact, the closest substitute we could find at the grocery store was mahi mahi.  We like mahi mahi just fine, but we have a feeling that halibut, with its rich, fatty texture, would have stood up to this dish much better than the mahi mahi, which fell kind of flat.

But there was one other, much bigger substitution that may have doomed this dish for us, something that (stupidly) didn't dawn on us until we actually got started cooking the recipe.

"Oh, yeah," we realized. "We don't have a steamer."

Avocado-Strawberry Salad with Orange Vinaigrette

Gourmet (August 2009)

 

Our avocado adventures roll on!  As we said with the Avocado Pie we made last week, we wanted a recipe that would really highlight the fresh Florida avocados we got from our reader PJ (and that Avocado Pie, as fun and tasty as it was, nearly obliterated the avocado flavors with lime, sugar and cream).

This Avocado-Strawberry Salad with Orange Vinaigrette, on the other hand, promised to let the avocados stand out. Originally printed in last August's Gourmet, this salad was among the handful of recipes PJ sent along with the avocados, some of her favorite ways to use the fruit.

Avocado Pie

Food Network Magazine (April 2010)

We have the best readers!

A few months ago, Todd and Keith, from Hawaii, offered to send us some Pacifikool Hawaiian Ginger Syrup, after we wrote about it back in February. We were super excited to try the Pacifikool and hugely thankful to Todd and Keith for sending it to us.

Then, just two weeks ago, PJ, a reader from Florida, offered to send us Florida avocados. Honestly, before her offer, we couldn't have told you that avocados grow in Florida.  PJ has a tree in her backyard, and is experiencing a bumper crop this year, so she shipped some to her nephew in Seattle and offered us some as well. 

We were so excited when the box showed up in the mail! We ripped it open to find that the avocados are huge.  Like for real -- they're massive.

And look how pretty they were when they arrived!

 

Seriously, they're the size of dinosaur eggs.

A typical Haas avocado might be the size of an orange, but the ones we got from PJ are more along the lines of a grapefruit -- or even a small melon.

PJ shared several of her favorite recipes with us -- two of which we'll be sharing here in the next few days.

But first, we took the opportunity to make Avocado Pie, from Food Network Magazine's On the Road column. We thought it would be a fun way to show off our newfound fruits.

Spicy Pork Loin with Watermelon-Rind Chutney

A Bitten Word Recipe

Remember when we made pickled watermelon rind last summer? It was a really fun experience, and we loved the idea of using the rind in a future recipe.

But the jars of pickled rind sat on our shelf for the next several months. We didn't forget about them, we just never came across a recipe we really wanted to try.

Then, the March issue of Martha Stewart Living arrived, with a great feature on preserving the tastes of the summer produce season. It's full of delicious ways to "put up" fruits and vegetables to use in dishes later on. A Tangerine and Lemon Marmalade, for example, becomes the base for Ricotta-Filled Crepes.

But it was Martha's recipe for Glazed Spareribs with Watermelon Rind Chutney (which isn't online for some reason) that really inspired us to pull one of our jars of pickled watermelon off the shelf and get creative.

We liked Martha's idea, but we weren't in the mood for spareribs. And we decided to do our own version of a Watermelon-Rind Chutney.

And we were absolutely thrilled with the results!

"Cold-Grilled" Ribeye Steaks with Gremolata

From The Splendid Table

Everyone has his or her own opinion about the best way to cook a steak. (Not us, though -- we're happy to test-drive them all!)

We heard some terrific advice for grilling a steak on a recent podcast of The Splendid Table with Lynne Rossetto Kasper. (We're always getting great ideas from The Splendid Table, including one of our all-time favorite recipes, Ultimate Cheater BBQ Pork.)

During the call-in portion of the show, a listener asked Lynne for advice on the best way to grill some nice ribeye steaks. Lynne's answer involved cooking with fruit-wood charcoal (which we didn't try) and a gremolata (which we did try -- more on that  in a moment).

But she also threw in one piece of advice that was so head-slappingly simple, we couldn't believe we'd never thought of it before: keep the steaks cold.