Lake Lure Cottage Kitchen

This wonderful chicken casserole has been in my wheel house for a long time.  I first blogged about it here.  This version came from Sam Sifton at the New York Times.  I love the addition of lots of tomatoes. But the basics of the dish are still here: chicken,curry, dried fruit, almonds, and bacon.  It is perfect for a crowd.

The port of Charleston saw many products from the Orient in the 18th and 19th century.  Curry powder was one of them and this dish became popular with hostesses all over the south.  FDR was very fond of Country Captain and had it served to him often in Warm Springs, Georgia.  It is best served over rice.

We are back in beautiful Lake Lure enjoying our home and especially my kitchen, although David was the one responsible for this delicious meal.  So glad that he loves to cook as much as I do.

COUNTRY CAPTAIN

1/4 cup flour
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp dried thyme
2 Tbls butter
3 pounds chicken pieces (We used thighs and legs)
4 slices bacon
1 medium onion, diced
1 medium green pepper, seeded and diced
2 tsps celery, diced
1 Tbls minced garlic
2 Tbls curry powder
3 Tbls dried cranberries or currants
1 28-ounce can chopped tomatoes and their juices
3 Tbls slivered almonds, toasted
Cooked white rice

Heat the oven to 325 degrees.  Combine the flour, 2 teaspoons kosher salt, 1 teaspoon pepper and the thyme in a bowl.  In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium-high heat until it foams.  Dredge the chicken in the flour mixture, shaking off excess, and fry, in batches if needed, until browned on all sides, about 8 minutes.  Transfer the chicken to a plate and drain off all but 1 tablespoon of the fat in the skillet.

Return the skillet to medium heat, add the bacon and fry until crispy.  Transfer to a plate.  Once cool, crumble and set aside.

Add the onion, pepper, celery, garlic, curry powder and 1 tablespoon of the cranberries or currants to the skillet and sauté over medium-high heat until soft and fragrant, about 7 minutes.  Stir in the tomatoes and their juices, bring to a boil and simmer over medium-low heat for 10 minutes.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Spread 1 cup of the tomato sauce in the bottom of an ovenproof casserole large enough to hold the chicken snugly in one layer.  Arrange the chicken on top.  Pour the remaining sauce over and around the chicken.  Cover tightly with foil and bake for 35 minutes.  Remove the foil and cook for 15 minutes more.

Top with the crumbled bacon, remaining cranberries or currants and slivered almonds.  Serve with cooked rice and any condiments you wish.

Printable Recipe

I’m embracing the Florida warmth, in spite of a string of several cool days.  We always gravitate toward seafood when we are here.  We have had fish soup, sautéed shrimp and salmon on the grill.  David found a recipe for these salmon cakes using canned salmon and Simply Potatoes Shredded Potatoes.  It is any easy recipe and made a delicious lunch one day.

We had two gloriously warm days this week while our Daughter-In-Law’s Mother, Darla, was visiting.  She shot this picture of a sea gull on the beach.  We soaked up several hours of beach time.

We are enjoying our side yard which is very large.  I’m looking forward to relaxing on the chaise with a good book.  Our rental property is perfect for us.  It is nice to be able to stroll into town for a meal at one of the fabulous restaurants, ride bicycles on our quiet streets or walk to the beach for some time in the sun.

The recipe makes quite a few salmon cakes (12) so you can enjoy them for several days or halve the recipe.  We will be going to the New Smyrna Beach farmers’ market this weekend so will be looking forward to local produce and fruit.  Strawberries will be coming out of Plant City soon, if the frost didn’t interfere.

SHREDDED POTATO SALMON CAKES (All Recipes)

• 2 cups Simply Potatoes Shredded Potatoes
• 2 eggs
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1/2 pound cooked flaked salmon or a large can of salmon
• 3 green onions, chopped

• 2 tablespoons capers, drained
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 3/4 cup chopped canned banana peppers
• 3/4 cup sliced fresh mushrooms (I left this out)
• 3/4 cup dry bread crumbs
• 1 cup oil for frying, or as needed

Directions

1. Place the potatoes in a large bowl. Beat the eggs with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning, and mix with the potatoes. Mix in salmon, green onions, capers, red bell pepper, banana peppers, mushrooms and bread crumbs. Form into about 12 patties about 3/4 inch thick.
2. Heat 1/4 inch of oil in a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Fry the patties for about 3 minutes per side, or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels quickly before serving. Try to fry all the patties at one time, otherwise the mixture becomes stiff.

Printable Recipe

Melissa Clark, staff food writer for The New York Times has a new cookbook out called Dinner; Changing the Game.  I do not own the book yet, but it is one that I will probably purchase.  The premise is to make dinner interesting with a spin on traditional dishes. It also tries to make those meals doable in a reasonable amount of time.   Many of the recipes can serve as an entire meal.  Sheet pan meals have become very popular; all of the components cooked on one pan.  I made one on the blog last year.  But the chapter that had me interested was one called The Grind.  All of the recipes used ground meat.  These Marmalade Meatballs were delicious.

The orange marmalade glaze was sweet and sour and added a nice punch to the meatballs.  Once the meatballs are formed it only takes 15 minutes to have them on the table.  So if you mix and form the meatballs ahead of time, dinner is quicker than calling for take-out.   I don’t know why I have never broiled my meatballs before. Before munching on your food, you can play games like 안전놀이터.

You can serve these slightly sweet meatballs over mashed potatoes, polenta or coconut rice.  There is a recipe in the book for the coconut rice that sounds very good. Melissa Clark has done a great job of making weeknight dinners inventive and exciting.

MARMALADE MEATBALLS

1 lb. ground chuck
1/2 cup panko crumbs
4 oil Packed anchovy fillets (optional)
2 scallions, chopped
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp Kosher salt
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp allspice
1/2 cup orange marmalade
1 tbls cider vinegar
1 tbls soy sauce
1/4 tsp red chili flakes
Fresh chives, for garnish

Set an oven rack at least 4″ from the heat source and heat the broiler.

In a large bowl combine the beef, panko, anchovies, scallions, egg, salt, garlic, ginger, pepper, and allspice and mix gently but thoroughly.

Form the mixture into 1 1/4″ balls.  At this point you can cover and refrigerate them overnight before cooking.

Arrange meatballs an inch apart on a rimmed baking sheet.  Broil until meatballs are golden all over and cooked through; 5 to 7 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, combine the marmalade, vinegar, soy sauce and red chili flakes and bring to a simmer.

When meatballs are cooked through, brush them with the marmalade glaze and return them to the broiler.  Broil until glaze is bubbling, 1 to 2 minutes.  Serve with the chives scattered on top if desired.

Printable Recipe

I am part of a cookbook club sponsored by Food52 on Facebook.  Each month we cook from a different cookbook and post our results on the Facebook page.  This month’s book is David Leibovitz’s My Paris Kitchen.  David is an American in Paris and his cooking style reflects his unique take on his adopted city. Here he combines the American’s love of barbecue with a French twist of making a caramel sauce.  But forget the usual cream.  David uses beer and bourbon.

The only thing difficult or scary about this recipe is when you add the beer to the caramelized sugar.  The mixture seizes up with solid chunks of sugar.  Do not worry about this as they dissolve in the oven as you cook the ribs.  A slow braise in the oven turns the ribs into succulent browned beauties.  I used country style ribs but I think David used baby back ribs.

Sorry about the blurry photo, but I really liked this booth at an antique mall that I visited recently; especially the Lake Rules sign.

But this is the sign that I bought recently.  My entrance porch is much too shady for real flowers so I found these faux lavender bunches that look almost real.  If only I could harness the scent.

Here is the recipe for the Caramel Pork Ribs.  They are worth the effort.

CARAMEL PORK RIBS (David Lebovitz My Paris Kitchen)

I hope everyone had a bountiful 4th of July celebration.  We had our usual large family get together at the lake with lots of food and wine and fireworks.  Before getting to this wonderful chicken recipe I would like to share some of the highlights of our fun.

Of course there was lots of food.  Here is a typical meal prepared by many hands including our son and daughter-in-law.

Our annual wine tasting is always a hit.  The wine is supplied by one of the other Davids in our family.  This year he chose Malbecs for the red wine blind tasting.  Known for their plump dark fruit and smoky flavor, Malbecs offer a good alternative to the more expensive Cabernet Sauvignons.  The 4 top place winners were 2013 Burgess Cellars (Napa Valley), 2013 Rewen Estate (Argentina), 2013 Eighty-Four (Napa Valley) and 2014 La Bete Noire (France).

On another rainy afternoon, our blind white wine tasting involved Albariño wines.  Most Albariño wines come from the Atlantic Coast of Spain.  Eric Asimov describes them as consistently pleasant, refreshing and resolutely dry with a citrus flavor.  Our top four were a 2016 Senorio de Sobral (Spain), 2015 Pazo Senorans (Spain), 2016 Eighty-Four (Napa Valley) and a 2015 Valminor (Spain).  The Valminor is a great value at $10.77 a bottle.

Of course the kids had their own juice and soda tasting.  There was no consistent winner but one total loser.  That would be guava juice.

But most of the fun was in the water. We love this special holiday.

But back to this wonderful creamy pesto chicken recipe.  My basil is thriving and Kristen brought me some from her garden.  I used the huge bunch she brought me to make pesto.  This was what we had for dinner last night after everyone had gone home.  We needed something light and this recipe from the blog Diethood was perfect.  You can find the recipe here.