Lake Lure Cottage Kitchen

If you are looking for a flavorful picnic chicken, this is the one for you.  Because of the long marination in spices, garlic and ginger, it is delicious even at room temperature. I would happily put this chicken in a container and carry it to a picnic spot overlooking a mountain view or a babbling stream.  In my perfect picnic spot I would serve it with the following.

Israeli Couscous and Arugula Salad.  It is bright.  It is piquant and it is light.  You can find the recipe here.

One of my new favorite salads is this Zoodle vegie salad.  It is perfect for a picnic.   Here is the recipe.

All picnics require bread.  This wonderful cheese and chive bread from Dorie Greenspan is perfect.  It is one of my favorites.

My Chocolate Pecan Shortbread Bars are fast and easy.  You can make them even better with good quality chocolate.  I even make and freeze these to have on hand for impromptu get togethers.  Recipe here.

Add some fruit, cheese and wine for a perfect picnic.

The fiery jalapeno and ginger spiked marinade assures that this chicken will have lots of flavor when it is served cold or at room temperature.  Although the recipe calls for roasting in the oven, it would also be great on the grill.  Try it for your next picnic or cookout.

TANDOORI-STYLE CHICKEN

• ½ cup plain yogurt
• ¼ cup fresh cilantro leaves
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
• ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 small onion, peeled and cut into chunks
• 1 jalapeño, stemmed, and seeded if desired
• 1 inch-long piece gingerroot, peeled and sliced into coins
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled
• 4 pounds skinless chicken drumsticks and thighs, rinsed and patted dry
• Vegetable oil, for brushing
• Lime wedges, for garnish

1. For marinade, combine all ingredients except for chicken, oil and lime wedges in a food processor and purée until smooth.
2. With a sharp knife, make several incisions on each chicken piece to help marinade penetrate meat. Transfer chicken to a large glass or ceramic baking dish and pour in marinade, turning chicken pieces to coat. Cover dish with plastic wrap and transfer to refrigerator for at least 4 hours or overnight.
3. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Remove chicken pieces from marinade. Transfer chicken to a roasting pan and drizzle with vegetable oil. Roast, basting occasionally, until juices run clear and meat is just cooked through, about 25 minutes. Let cool completely, then wrap and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature for at least 1 hour before serving. Serve with lime wedges.

Printable Recipe

What a terrific idea.  From the good folks at Bon Appetit Magazine comes this easy way to cook your whole dinner on one sheet pan.  The timing for this recipe to appear couldn’t be better.  Most of my remaining kitchen supplies are in boxes sealed and ready to accompany us back to North Carolina.  It was so convenient to turn the oven on and cook the whole dinner in one pan.

Saltimbocca is Italian for “jumps in the mouth”.  Usually it is made with veal that is pounded thin, wrapped in prosciutto with a sage leaf underneath, sauteed in butter and then simmered in dry white wine.  This unconventional treatment starts with potatoes and onions seasoned with lots of sage and olive oil and cooked in a hot oven.  The boneless pork chops topped with the prosciutto are then added to the pan to continue cooking until they are done.  I also added asparagus.

This was a flavorful dinner with very little effort.  We are headed back to North Carolina with a small u-haul trailer.  I am proud that I can include that word “small”.  We will miss our Florida home but are looking forward to the different travel opportunities we now have.

SHEET PAN PORK SALTIMBOCCA

• 2 1-inch-thick slices boneless pork loin (6–8 ounces each)
• 1 1/2 cups dry white wine
• 2 onions, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
• 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 pound small (2-inch-diameter) Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch-thick rounds
• 1/8 cup chopped fresh sage leaves
• 4 thin slices prosciutto
•  Asparagus spears drizzled with olive oil, optional
  • Preheat oven to 450°.  Pierce pork slices all over with the tip of a paring knife. Place in a dish just large enough to hold pork in a single layer. Pour wine over and let marinate at room temperature while preparing other ingredients.
  • Place onions in a medium bowl, drizzle with 1 Tbsp. oil, and season with salt and pepper. Toss gently to coat without breaking up slices. Transfer onions to prepared baking sheet, spreading out in an even layer. Combine remaining 2 Tbsp. oil, potatoes, and sage in same bowl; season with salt and pepper and toss to coat. Place potatoes on sheet, tucking in among onions.
  • Roast onion-potato mixture until potatoes are beginning to brown around the edges, about 20 minutes. Remove pork from wine and pat dry. Season with salt and pepper and top each pork slice with 2 prosciutto slices. Place pork on baking sheet atop potatoes and onions. Add asparagus spears if desired. Roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted horizontally into center of pork registers 135°, about 15 minutes.   (After 10 minutes, I turned pork chops over to brown more evenly.  I lifted the prosciutto , turned the chops and placed the prosciutto back on the chops.)  Remove pan from oven and let rest, covered with foil for about 10 minutes.  Serve.

Printable Recipe

I made these delicious little mashed potato cakes before we left for Florida.  I packed what was leftover in our cooler and we have finished them while we are here preparing the house for the sale closing.  They are such an easy do ahead side dish.  The potato cakes are flavored with ham and chives with eggs, milk and butter for binding them together.

This was the condition of my kitchen two days ago.  All of the cabinets were emptied and the contents spread about on the counters.  I managed to find a small section of the island cleared enough to cut up carrots for roasting for that nights dinner.  By the end of the next day, most of the kitchenware was sold along with the rest of the house contents.

All of our art work, furniture, linens and smalls have found new homes.  We are fortunate that the new owners purchased a lot of the furniture so we still have a bed in which to sleep, a table on which to eat, and a comfy chair to recline in while watching TV.  I saved a few pots and pans, a French press coffee maker and miscellaneous tools to make simple meals possible.  The estate sale is over and we have five more days until the closing.  I shed a few tears when I left the house in the hands of my estate sale manager, knowing that when we returned at the end of that first day the house would have lost much of its charm.  But I have gotten used to the empty rooms and parting with all of this stuff is really liberating.

The recipe for the potato cakes came from Eatwell 101.  They are healthier than pan fried potato cakes.  I used ham instead of pancetta. Check out the website for some lovely pictures and the recipe.  My potato cakes took longer to brown than the 10 minutes that is suggested in the recipe.  But the flavor is great and you could get creative with the ingredients.

Next up is a sheet pan dinner.  When you are reduced to making do with just a few pans, you need to get creative.

David has been in the kitchen.  I bought the Spiralizer, but he has been the one to use it most often.  Shrimp dishes are his specialty.  We love shrimp scampi but sometimes all of that butter and pasta is way too much.  This rendition of shrimp with sauteed vegetables, including zoodles, is just the ticket.  It is flavorful and very satisfying.

There is a whole lot going on right now in our lives.  Our house in Florida sold.  We are there right now clearing out our belongings in anticipation of an estate sale at the end of the week. It is hard to let go of cherished household items, but I am doing very well.  The kitchen has been the hardest part.  I have absolutely no room in my Lake Lure Kitchen for more stuff!  So I have been strongly resisting keeping much.  I have made an exception for my beloved paella pan and a few platters, but that is it.  I wish all of you could be there, because I know I would find good homes for my extra kitchen accoutrements.

With all that is going on right now, I wish I were home in Lake Lure on our sleeping porch with a good book and no responsibilities.

We managed to get the herb planters going before we left for Florida.  It is so nice to have our herbs high above the ground so that our hungry deer do not bother them.  We have a great neighbor watering everything while we are gone.

Two varieties of parsley and sage decorate this planter.

We enjoyed this Shrimp Florentine dish so much.  The fresh spinach and zucchini noodles made this both delicious and healthy.  I need to let David plan meals more often.  He tends to cook healthier meals than I do.  I would be happy with just macaroni and cheese.

SHRIMP FLORENTINE WITH ZOODLES

1 Tablespoon butter
1 Tablespoon olive oil
2 Zucchini, cut into noodle-shaped strands
1/2 large yellow onion, minced
1/2 red bell pepper, julienned
1 Tablespoon chopped garlic
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon Italian herbs

2 Tablespoons butter
1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
1 6-ounce bag baby spinach
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 cup white wine
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Heat 1 tablespoon butter and olive oil together in a large skillet over medium heat; cook and stir zucchini noodles (zoodles), onion, red bell pepper, chopped garlic, Italian herbs and 1/2 teaspoon salt until zoodles are tender and onion is translucent, about 5 minutes.  Transfer zoodle mixture to a bowl.

Heat 2 tablespoons butter in the same skillet; cook and stir shrimp and minced garlic until shrimp are just pink, 3 to 4 minutes.  Remove shrimp to a bowl and deglaze the pan with the white wine and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes to reduce the liquid by half.  Add spinach, lemon juice, red pepper flakes, 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper; cook and stir until spinach begins to wilt, 3 to 3 minutes.  Add zoodle mixture and the shrimp and cook and stir until heated through, 2 to 3 minutes.  Serve.

Printable Recipe

At a recent get together with the Anderson family (The funeral of General Earl E. Anderson), extended family members from Binghamton, New York brought one of their local specialties; Spiedies. My first understanding was “Speedies”.  What?  Fast chicken and pork?  But I quickly got into the program.  I remembered that the Italian word for skewered meat was spiedini.  How this specialty of Italy made its way to Binghamton is still a mystery to me. I did find out that every August Binghamton holds a Spiedie Rally and Balloon Fest.  There are cooking contests held to see who can make the best spiedie sandwich.  Spiedies are actually skewered marinated meat (beef, chicken, lamb or pork), grilled and served with soft Italian bread which is used to pull the meat off of the skewer.  So forgive the above picture with grilled bread.  To make it authentic that bread should be soft and strong enough to pull the meat off of the skewers.  Add hot sauce or the cooked marinade to make it complete.  Everyone in Binghamton understands the concept.

The recipe I used came from The New York Times.  You can find it here.  With grilling season upon us, you will be happy to have such a flavorful meat entree.  I used pork and chicken.  Do not marinate the chicken for more than 12 hours as it breaks down after that time.  The pork can be marinated for up to 36 hours.

Last week I visited an old friend from college.  She has just built the most charming house on several acres near Black Mountain, just a stones’s throw away from Lake Lure.  I feel so fortunate to have her close by.  We were both newly married attending the University of Florida when we met.  We had an instant rapport.  I am happy to say that Barb and I still have that special connection.  We have been having fun together shopping, lunching and laughing.  I love what she has accomplished with this house.  The farm sink, the color of the cabinets, the sliding barn door and the antique elements all combine to make such a welcoming space.

I could be very happy cooking in this kitchen.

Happy May Day a few days late.  My lilac bush in front of the guest cottage has bloomed on schedule.  Growing up in Michigan it was a tradition to make paper May baskets, fill them with lilacs and deliver them to friends and neighbors on May 1st.  The smell of lilacs brings back all of those memories.