Lake Lure Cottage Kitchen

Sara Foster has two markets in the Research Triangle area of North Carolina.  The area includes Duke University, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and The Research Triangle Complex.  So much happens in this incubator of thought, science, software and medical research.  The people drawn to this part of North Carolina are highly educated, enviromentally aware and demanding about what they eat.  It was the perfect place for Sara Foster to open her food emporiums.  Sara worked for Martha Stewart in the early years of her career and long ago branched out into her own style.  She has written several cookbooks and is recognized for her approach to cooking which involves simple honest food prepared with local  and seasonal ingredients.  Her cookbooks inspire me.

Over the Easter holiday we traveled to the coastal area of North Carolina.  While skirting Chapel Hill I suggested to David that we stop at Foster’s Market for lunch.  OK this is something that you need to know about me.  I take any and every opportunity to experience an interesting meal.  Forget the fast food joints;  I want “an experience” of unique eats.  Why waste your time on mediocre meals?  So we got off of Interstate 40 and proceeded to Foster’s Market.  It is not far, but our GPS gets confused.  I hate my “Betty” sometimes.  I thing she is trying to land us in a dump or no man’s land.  Right before we arrived at  the restaurant on the left of Martin Luther King Blvd, Betty sent us to the right through a winding neighborhood and landed us back on the right street to turn back to the left for a few yards.  Evil Betty!  That’s why my next picture is crooked.  I was upset.

We had the soup and sandwich combination featuring pork and black bean soup with a ham and cheese panini.  I didn’t get a good picture of our food but this is what the market looks like on the inside.

In honor of the upcoming Cinco de Mayo holiday, I made Sara Foster’s Southwestern Shepherd’s Pie with Chicken and Chili Mashed Potatoes.  It is in her Foster’s Market Cookbook.   If you are short on time you can use a rotisserie chicken.  There is a little heat to it, but not much.  It is an interesting take on shepherd’s pie and we loved it.  It was both homey and satisfying.

SOUTHWESTERN SHEPHERD’S PIE WITH CHICKEN AND CHILI MASHED POTATOES

3 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 red onion, diced
2 ribs celery, diced
1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and diced
1 green bell pepper, cored, seeded, and diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
8 cups shredded cooked, chicken
3/4 cup dry white wine
3 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme or 1/2 heaping teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Kernels from 2 ears fresh corn (1 cup fresh or frozen corn)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Mashed potatoes made from 6 large Russet potatoes
2 teaspoons chili powder
Fresh parsley and fresh thyme, to garnish, optional

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Heat the olive oil and butter in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, until slightly brown, about 5 minutes.  Add the celery, red bell pepper, and green bell pepper and cook 3 minutes more, stirring occasionally.  Add the garlic and jalapeno and cook 3 minutes more, stirring occasionally.

Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly, until the flour starts to brown slightly, about 5 minutes.  Add the chicken and wine and stir until the wine begins to evaporate, about 1 minute.  Slowly add the chicken broth, and continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the mixture begins to thicken and coats the back of a spoon.  Reduce heat to low, bring the mixture to a low boil, and cook 5 to 10 minutes or until the mixture thickens and is creamy.

Remove from the heat and add the parsley, thyme, red pepper flakes, and corn.  Season with salt and pepper and transfer the mixture to a 9 by 13-inch baking dish.

To make the chili mashed potatoes,  Mix basic mashed potatoes with 1 teaspoon of the chili powder in a bowl until well combined.

Spoon the chili mashed potatoes on top of the chicken and bake 20 to 30 minutes or until the potato peaks are slightly brown and the chicken mixture is bubbling around the sides of the dish.  Remove from the oven, sprinkle with the remaining chili powder and the parsley and thyme, if desired.  Serve immediately.

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This is not the first time I have had this chicken, but it is the first time I have made it myself.  This used to be my husband’s speciality.  I received Julia Child’s The Way to Cook Cookbook for Christmas in 1989.  I consulted it often and made many great dishes from it.  By 1989 Julia Child had perfected her cooking style and meant this book to be a textbook on techniques and the last word on the way food should be prepared.

David latched onto this recipe, I think, because it requires you to spatchcock a chicken.  He took great delight in bandying the word about and flattening chickens by removing the backbone and throwing them on the grill.  What is it with you men?  We women prefer to butterfly our chickens; same process and easier on the ears.  Use scissors or a very sharp knife to cut out the backbone of the chicken.  Then turn skin side up and press very hard on the breast to break the breast bone.  Tuck the wing bones behind the chicken, make slits in the skin near the tips of the breast and insert each leg in the opening created.

CHICKEN IN BONDAGE.  It’s not pretty but it cooks faster this way.

I’m not sure what prompted me to return to this succulent chicken dish.  Maybe it was because I had a beautiful organic chicken that was calling for special treatment, calling to be slathered in mustard and feathered with breadcrumbs.  Whatever the reason, I’m glad I returned to this classic preparation.

The chicken is first broiled and basted.  Some of the juices are mixed with the Dijon mustard along with tarragon and shallots.

The chicken is then coated with the mustard mixture and breadcrumbs are pressed into it.  I used crumbs from a rosemary olive oil bread.  The chicken is returned to the oven, now set at 400 degrees F.  and baked until the crumbs are browned and the chicken is cooked through.

Savoring this bird was worth every effort of the preparation.

DEVILED CHICKEN WITH MUSTARD AND BREADCRUMB COATING

To butterfly a chicken:
First remove the backbone by cutting down close to it on each side with a heavy knife or sturdy shears.  Spread the chicken skin side up on your work surface and bang the breast with your fist to break the collarbones and some of the ribs; this flattens the chicken.Fold the wings akimbo by tucking the wing ends behind the shoulders.  Then maka a slit in the skin at either side of the breast tip.  Push the knee of the drumstick firmly up under the armpit to loosen the joint; then pull it down and insert the tip of the drumstick through the skin slit.  The leg will be held in place.

For 4 servings:
A 3 to 4 pound chicken, butterflied as described above
2 tbs melted butter mixed with 1 tsp olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
A pinch of thyme, tarragon, or mixed herbs, optional

The mustard and herb coating:
Cooking juices from the chicken
3 Tbs Dijon mustard
2 Tbs finely minced shallots
1/4 tsp tarragon
2 drops of hot pepper sauce
1 cup crumbs from fresh homemade type white bread

Preheat the broiler.  Brush the chicken all over with some of the butter and oil.  Arrange it skin side down in the baking dish, and set it so the surface of the flesh is about 5 inches from the hot broiler element.  After 5 minutes, brush the flesh, which should just be starting to brown, with the butter and oil.  Baste again in 5 minutes – use the juices in the pan when the butter mixture is gone.  Broil another 5 minutes, then sprinkle lightly with salt, pepper, and optional herbs.  Turn the chicken skin side up.  Broil and baste for 10 minutes more.

Drain the fat and juices out of the broiling pan into a small bowl; skim off and discard all but 1 to 2 tablespoons of fat from the top of the juices.  Blend the prepared mustard in another bowl with the minced shallot, herbs, and hot pepper sauce.  Beat up the remaining juices; blend half of them into the mustard.  Spread the mustard over the top (skin side) of the chicken, then pat on a coating of crumbs.  Baste with the remaining juices.

Ahead of time note:  May be prepared somewhat ahead to this point; set aside at room temperature.

Final cooking and serving:  Roast in the upper third level of a 400 degree oven for 10 to 20 minutes or until crumbs are browned and the chicken is cooked through.

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This past week there has been no time to cook.  Instead I have been spending time with my Grandchildren and trying to give their parents some much needed time to catch up on work and relaxation.  A new baby in the house is time consuming, but worth every minute of it.

I’ve mentioned before that my DIL Kristen is a marvelous cook.  She contributes to this blog on occasion and I always come away from their home with new ideas.  On a busy night while I was visiting them, she made this quick and easy chicken dish.  It can be ready in 15 minutes.  She served it with a pancetta risotto that took a little longer to make, but you could also serve it with quick cooking couscous or rice.  The cream sauce has a hit of mustard and makes the sauteed chicken cutlets an impressive company dish.

CHICKEN WITH MUSTARD CREAM SAUCE

6 to 8 chicken cutlets
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup white wine
2/3 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup whipping cream
4 tablespoons honey Dijon mustard

Melt butter in large saute pan.  Brown chicken cutlets on both sides until cooked through.  Remove chicken to plate.  Add wine to pan to deglaze.  Stir to release brown bits from pan.  Cook long enough to reduce the wine slightly.  Add the chicken broth, cream and mustard.  Boil until sauce thickens, about 2 minutes.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Serve sauce over chicken.  Garnish with parsley or fresh or dried tarragon.  Serves 4.

I am back at the cottage this week and will experiment with my mile high quiche.  I am off to visit my egg lady.

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While still in Florida, we had a family get together at my nephew Paul’s home.  My Brother grilled shrimp, pork tenderloins and these moist and delicious chicken legs.  Bill is a grilling genius and is pretty particular about the way things should be done.  He cooks only on a charcoal grill and doesn’t think much of gas grills.  He has been making these chicken legs for years.  He said they were my Dad’s favorite.  I can believe it.  He has a secret ingredient and I am now sharing it with the world. . . . . . or at least the small part of the world that comprises those who follow my blog.  Drum roll please.

It is Wish Bone’s Western salad dressing.  I have never looked for this dressing before, so I don’t know if it is in my grocery store or not.  Is it in yours?  I will look the next time I am shopping.  Whatever is in it gave the chicken the most wonderful flavor.  There was not a single chicken leg left on the plate at the end of the meal.  Granted there were kids galore coming and going in their bathing suits, but what better pick-up-and-go kind of food could you find.

As far as a recipe, I can’t be precise.  Season the chicken legs with salt, pepper, garlic powder and any other seasoning that you like.  Bill said to cook the chicken legs for about 45 minutes on a charcoal grill turning occasionally,  Brush on the salad dressing and cook turn and baste for another 15 minutes or so.

This was the rest of the spread.  Everything was delicious.  Barb made her famous potatoes which I blogged about here.  Thank you Paul and Michelle for a great meal and even better company.

Pancetta makes everything better.  Many people say that about bacon, but my preference is pancetta.  Pancetta is salt cured pork belly and is not smoked like bacon.  What I love about it is that when diced and fried crisp, it is like eating toffee bits.  It is so crispy and the flavor is intense.  This recipe only calls for 2 ounces, but it is enough.

The asparagus in the markets right now is beautiful; bright green and firm.  I added it to the pasta three minutes before it was done to save on pots.  This is one of those dishes that comes together easily and is perfect for a busy day.

My Brother Bill and SIL Barb are coming from Michigan for a visit starting this weekend and then next weekend we will be heading back to welcome Spring in the North Carolina mountains.  Lake Lure beckons this time of year.

Enjoy!

PASTA WITH ASPARAGUS, PANCETTA AND WALNUTS

8 ounces Penne pasta
1 pound of asparagus, trimmed and cut into pieces
1 clove of minced garlic
1/4 cup toasted walnut pieces
2 ounces of diced pancetta
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Have the deli cut a 2 to 3 ounce slice of pancetta.  Dice the pancetta and saute in a skillet until the fat is rendered and the pancetta is golden brown and crisp.

Cook the pasta according to package directions and 3 minutes before it is done, add the asparagus.  Drain, reserving some of the pasta water.  Put pasta mixture in a bowl and add the garlic. 

Combine the lemon juice, olive oil, and salt and pepper.  Whisk together.  Drizzle over the pasta mixture; toss well to coat and add a little pasta water if it is too dry.  Sprinkle with the pancetta, walnuts and Parmesan.  Mix together and serve.  4 servings.

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