Lake Lure Cottage Kitchen

I always have a small can of frozen orange juice concentrate in my freezer. It comes in handy to add to marinades and sauces. We are leaving for Florida this weekend and I am trying to empty as much as I can from the refrigerator and freezer. I think it added a nice mahogany sheen to the cornish hens I fixed for dinner. Never admit that you burned something. There is always a way to put a positive spin on anything that you cook. Mahogany sheen works for me. And they tasted really good.

I will return to appetizer recipes next week after we get settled. I will miss Lake Lure this winter especially because the house is now almost done, but there is much to do in Florida. Stay tuned.

ORANGE GLAZED CORNISH HENS

2 Cornish Game Hens
1/2 cup frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
2 Tbls olive oil
Lemon slices
Rosemary sprigs
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Wash and dry cornish hens. Stuff with lemon slices and rosemary sprigs and salt and pepper. Tuck wings to the back and tie legs together. Place hens in a baking dish just large enough to hold them. Rub them with olive oil and pour the orange juice concentrate over them. Bake for about an hour basting occasionally.

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The above picture appeared in our newspaper back in 1975. It is so funny to look at this again. I was so skinny and David had lots of hair! That is the kitchen in the first house that we bought. It was this sunny kitchen that sold me on the beautiful old house. Our friends Jim and Janice were the first people that we met in Greensboro. They lived next door to us in our first apartment and Janice and I took cooking classes together. They later moved away from Greensboro, raised a family and we lost touch. Recently we have reconnected and Jim and Janice just moved to Black Mountain, just over the ridge from us. We decided that it would be fun to get together and cook again. Janice and I recreated the menu from 1975. The recipes all came from our cooking instructor Irena ( Kirshman ) Chalmer’s cookbooks published by Potpourri Press.

Here we all are, a little older but still having lots of fun, the girls taking their positions behind the counter and the guys pouring wine and setting the table. Since Jim was pouring in the old picture he is doing the honors again.

The first course for our dinner party is Coquilles Saint-Jacques Nantaise or Scallops with shallots, butter and breadcrumbs. I have to warn you, this is rich with lots of butter even though I cut back some, but it was delicious. Click on the name for the recipe.

The entree was Tournedos Henry IV with Artichoke Bottoms and Sauce Bearnaise. There is more butter in this, but the bearnaise sauce is worth it. It took the two of us to make the bearnaise. The filets are flattened, cooked in clarified butter and then flamed in brandy. They are topped with the artichoke bottom holding the bearnaise sauce. This dish was sublime.

It occured to me the other day that I have not included many pasta recipes on my blog. Pasta is always what I choose when I need something quickly or don’t want to deal with multiple dishes. Sometimes it is as simple as spaghetti with meat sauce, but most of the time I like more complicated dishes. This Giada De Laurentiis recipe is one of my favorites. It is full of flavor from the hot sausage and sun-dried tomatoes and it uses frozen artichokes which makes it easy. It also has a generous addition of fresh basil and with the coming colder weather I am trying to use as much of it as possible before the herb garden goes into it’s winter mode.

We will be returning to Florida in a few weeks. It has been a wonderful Summer on Lake Lure and we have much to do to close up the house. Next week we are hosting a Meet the Candidates get together from 5:00 to 7:00. If any of you have an interesting appetizer that you think I should include please email me at pennyklett@gmail.com. If you have posted it on your blog you can just supply me with the link. I love being a part of the blogging community.

Giada’s recipe is very adaptable. You can make it with whole wheat pasta and substitute any sausage that you prefer.

PENNE WITH SAUSAGE, ARTICHOKES, AND SUN-DRIED TOMATOES

3/4 cup drained oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, sliced, 2 Tablespoons of oil, reserved
1 pound Italian hot sausages, casings removed
2 (8 ounce) packages frozen artichoke hearts, thawed
2 large garlic cloves, chopped
1 3/4 cups reduced sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup dry white wine
Salt
12 ounces Penne
1/2 cup freshly shredded parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil
1/4 cup chopped frsh flat-leaf parsley
8 ounces fresh mozzarella, drained and cubed (optional)
Freshly ground black pepper

Heat the oil reserved from the tomatoes in a large, heavy frying pan over a medium-high flame. Add the sausage and cook until brown, breaking up the meat into bite-size pieces with a fork, about 8 minutes. Transfer the sausage to a bowl. Add the artichokes and garlic to the same skillet, and saute over medium heat until the garlic is tender, about 2 minutes. Add the broth, wine, and sun-dried tomatoes. Boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the sauce reduces slightly, about 8 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the penne and cook, stirring often to prevent the pasta from sticking together, until tender but still firm to the bite, about 10 minutes. Drain the pasta. Add the pasta, sausage, 1/2 cup of the Parmesan cheese, the basil, and parsley to the artickoke mixture. Toss until the sauce is almost absorbed by the pasta. Stir in the mozzarella, if using. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and serve, passing additional Parmesan cheese alongside.

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This is the treat that awaited me on my return from New York. The weather has turned cool in the NC Mountains and I was suprised when I got off the plane in Asheville at the difference just a few days can make. We live about a half an hour from Ashville. My plane got in at 6:00 P.M. so I was curious as to what dinner plans David had made. He figured that since he had to pick me up, he needed to fix something that required very little attention. It took him a while to find my crock pot, but I think he came up with an excellent solution to the problem and coming home to the smell of dinner cooking is a comforting feeling. Add to that a flickering fire and good music and it felt good to be home again.

CROCK POT CHICKEN CACCIATORE (adapted from Cooks.com)

2 Chicken Breasts and 4 chicken thighs skinned
1 large onion, thinly sliced
2 large red or green bell peppers, sliced
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 tsp. each basil and oregano
1 6 oz. can tomato paste
Fresh mushrooms, sliced
2 bay leaves
1 8 oz. stewed tomatoes with chiles
Salt and pepper to taste
2 cups burgundy wine
Parmesan cheese, for sprinkling before serving

Place onions and peppers on bottom of crock pot. Add chicken. Stir together remaining ingredients and pour over chicken. Cook on low 7 – 9 hours or high 3-4 hours. Serve with pasta or rice, with a salad on the side.

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If you want to try a different burger for the Labor Day weekend, this just may be one you will like. My husband has sworn off a lot of beef dishes and especially hamburgers for health reasons. Unfortunately one of my favorite foods in the world is a perfect hamburger on a toasted bun with just mustard and onions. I miss my hamburgers and when he is away I light up the grill and cook three burgers from a pound of ground beef and eat them for three consecutive nights to get my fix. Because of this, I am always looking for recipes that we both can enjoy when he is home.

Translated from German, frickadellen means “large meatballs, lightly flattened”. The recipe comes from Anna Pump of the Loaves and Fishes Market in the Hamptons and is featured in her latest cookbook Summer on a Plate. The burger is made from boneless chicken thighs and is seasoned with lemon juice Spanish paprika , cumin and cayenne pepper. After it is grilled it is topped with sauteed onions, capers, more lemon juice and minced parsley. You can serve it on a toasted bun the way I like it or as a dinner entree with a side of rice or couscous.

The actual grinding of the boneless chicken thighs takes a little time, but it can be done ahead of time. The cubed meat is placed in a food processor with a metal blade and pulsed until it is chopped. When mixed with the additions and formed into patties, it can rest in the refrigerator until you are ready to grill.

The topping is quick to assemble while the burgers are resting or on the grill. Just saute onions until soft, add drained capers and lemon juice and then garnish with parsley after adding to the finished patties.

Our family will be here for the Labor Day weekend. We have been working all summer to finish the cottage in anticipation of this special occasion, so I may not be posting for a while. Have a wonderful end of summer celebration and I will be back soon with new recipes and pictures of the “almost complete” cottage.

CHICKEN FRICKADELLEN WITH CAPER AND LEMON TOPPING

2 pounds boneless chicken thighs, skinned, trimmed of fat, and cut into large chunks
1 cup minced onion
1 cup soft fresh bread crumbs
2 large eggs
2 Tbls fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp smoked Spanish paprika
1 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Topping:

3 Tbls olive oil
1 cup finely chopped onion
1/3 cup capers, drained
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup minced fresh curly parsley

Place the chicken in a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Pulse a few times until coarsely chopped. ( I did this in batches ) Transfer into a large bowl. Add the onion, bread crumbs, eggs, lemon juice, salt, paprika, cumin, and cayenne and, using your hands, knead until well combined. Shape into 8 patties.

To grill, brush the grill lightly with oil. Cook the patties over medium high heat for 12 minutes, turning them once.

To make the topping, in the olive oil saute the onion in a skillet over low heat for about 8 minutes until onions are light brown and glossy. Add the capers and cook 3 minutes, stirring a few times. Add the lemon juice, turn the heat to high and cook 30 seconds. Spoon the topping over the patties and sprinkle with parsley.

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