I’ve been making potato salad recipes for years and years now. All along, I’ve really just been using the same recipe. I have these standard Hellmann’s potato salad recipe that you used to find on the back of the jar that I’ve been using all this time and it is always worked well. This last time, when I decided to make some potato salad as a side dish for dinner, I wanted to try something a little bit different. I went searching for recipes and came across this one from Alton Brown on the Food Network’s website. I don’t think I’ve ever tried a recipe of his that I haven’t liked, so I thought I would give it a try.
Cold-Fashioned Potato Salad
2 1/2 pounds red potatoes, large diced
3 tablespoons cider vinegar
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon mustard powder
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon
1/2 tablespoon very thinly sliced garlic
3 tablespoons finely chopped cornichons
1/2 cup small dice red onion
1/2 cup thinly sliced celery
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Place the potatoes into a large heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven. Cover the potatoes with cold water and place the pot over medium heat. Cover the pot and bring to a boil. Immediately reduce the heat and remove the lid. Gently simmer until the potatoes are fork tender, about 5 to 6 minutes. Drain the potatoes and place them in an ice bath to cool. Remove the skins from the potatoes. Slice the potatoes into rounds and place them into a zip top bag. Add the vinegar and toss to coat all of the potatoes. Place the bag into the refrigerator overnight.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the mayonnaise, mustard, parsley, tarragon, garlic, cornichons, onions, and celery. Once everything is evenly combined, add the potatoes and season with salt and pepper. Allow the salad to chill in the refrigerator for at least one hour before serving.
If you have never used cornichons before, they are those little tiny pickles that you can find in many of your local supermarkets. I did not have any red potatoes on hand, so I did use some russet potatoes instead and I think everything turned out just fine. Adding the vinegar ahead of time and allowing the potatoes to marinate overnight does seem to make a good difference in the taste. There were also a few things in this salad that I never added before, including the cornichons, garlic and mustard powder. You can really taste the mustard powder and it does come through quite nicely. I would certainly recommend this recipe and I’ll be using it again. The salad tasted even better the next day once it had time to sit and the flavors were allowed to meld.
That’s all I have for today. Check back again next time to see some of the recipes that I’ve tried out this week, including a pork chop with cherries, a crispy high roasted chicken and potatoes recipe and some others that I have been working on. Until next time, enjoy the rest of your day, and enjoy your meal!
As the weather starts to warm up and we move closer and closer to summertime, not only will more people be grilling and cooking out, but you also want to make meals that are quick and easy to cook and can all be done in one pot or pan. I’ve made chicken and rice before in different ways but I came across this recipe in the Cook’s Illustrated Cookbook and saw how easy it was and thought it would make a great weeknight meal. Dinner for anyone during the week can get a little hectic, so if you have a recipe like this in your arsenal that you can pull out any time you have some chicken, it can make things a lot easier. While this particular recipe uses a whole chicken, I actually substituted since I only had chicken thighs on hand and used them exclusively.
Chicken and Rice With Tomatoes, White Wine, and Parsley
1 (3 1/2 to 4-pound) whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces (4 breast pieces, 2 drumsticks, 2 thighs)
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped fine
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 cups long-grain white rice
2 cups water
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained with 1/2 cup of juice reserved
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
Pat the chicken dry with paper towels and season well with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat until just smoking. Place the chicken skin side down in the pot and cook until it is well browned, about 6 to 8 minutes, reducing the heat if the pan begins to scorch. Flip the chicken skin side up and continue to cook until lightly browned on the second side, about 3 minutes; transfer to a plate.
Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of fat from the pot, add the onion, and cook over medium heat, stirring often, until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook until it is fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the rice and cook, stirring frequently, until it is well coated and glistening, about 1 minute. Stir in the water, tomatoes with the reserved juice, white wine, and 1 teaspoon of salt, scraping up any browned bits. Nestle the chicken thighs and legs into the pot and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer gently for 15 minutes. Nestle the chicken breast pieces into the pot and stir the ingredients gently until the rice is thoroughly mixed; cover and simmer until both the rice and the chicken are tender, about 10 to 15 minutes longer. Stir in the parsley, cover, and allow the dish to sit for 5 minutes.
One of the things you want to be sure of is that you stir the rice as the dish goes along. When you cook a meal of this nature, some of the rice tends to get undercooked if you just leave it alone without mixing it up as you go along.The recipe actually puts the breasts in after the other chicken has started cooking so they do not dry out and get overcooked while the dark meat pieces cook.There are many different variations you can try on this – if you want to change it around every time you make it. You could certainly add different spices such as paprika, cilantro, saffron, cumin or even things such as bell peppers, peas, chili peppers, olives, anchovies or some lemon or lime juice. The combinations seem nearly endless depending on what exactly you want to go for. As I said before, you can use whatever pieces of chicken you happen to have on hand if you do not have a whole chicken. The meal only took about a half an hour to cook and clean up was a breeze since everything was done all in one pot.
That’s all I have for today. Check back again later on in the week as I’ll have some of the recipes of things I have cooked recently or things I am planning for later on in the week. I already made some chicken sandwiches, Alton Brown’s potato salad recipe and some braised pork chops with cherries, among other things. Until next time, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!
The 21 Best Recipes to Cook for Father’s Day: BA Daily: Bon Appétit.
Looking for something great to make for Dad for Father’s Day dinner this year? Bon Appetit has put together 21 recipes of some great entrees and side dishes to make for dinner that any Dad is sure to love. There’s plenty of beef, fish, chicken, lamb and more to choose from as a main course, so check them out and see if you find something to make.
I am always on the lookout for new side dishes to try, particularly in the summertime. I want to try to make as many things I can without having to use the stove very much or even at all if I can avoid it when it is really hot. I came across this recipe on the Food Network website and saw that it would be good to go along with just about anything from burgers and hot dogs to pork or fish. I actually made it yesterday as a side dish for some Italian sausage and peppers.
Black Bean Salad
1 small garlic clove
Pinch salt, plus 2 teaspoons
1 1/2 lines, juiced (about 3 tablespoons)
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup fresh corn kernels (from about 2 ears)
1 orange or red bell pepper, diced
1/2 small red onion, finely chopped (about 1/4 cup)
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1 small avocado, halved, seeded and diced
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro, leaves and stems
To make the dressing, smash the garlic clove, sprinkle it with a pinch of the salt, and, with the flat side of a large knife, mash and smear the mixture to create a coarse paste. Whisk the garlic paste, lime juice, salt and chili powder together in a small bowl. Gradually whisk in the olive oil, starting with a few drops and then adding the rest in a steady stream.
For the salad, cook the corn, bell pepper and onions in the olive oil until beginning to brown over medium-high heat in a large skillet, about 5 minutes. Toss in the black beans and cook until warmed through, about 2 minutes. Add the dressing and toss to coat evenly. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper to taste. Remove the skillet from the heat and gently fold in the tomatoes, avocado, and cilantro. Serve warm or at room temperature.
I did change the recipe around just slightly and added a little bit more corn. I did not have any cherry tomatoes on hand but I did have other tomatoes so I just seeded and sliced one up and used that.I also had some black beans on hand that were not in a can but had been originally dried. They had already been soaked so I didn’t have to do that process however, I did add a little bit of water to the skillet once I added the beans and covered the skillet for about 10 minutes to soften up the beans more. I think it tasted just fine using the dried beans, but it will add a little more time to the recipe. I love the flavor of the lime and the garlic in the dressing and what it adds to the flavor of the vegetables and I think this would be a great side dish to use throughout the summer. As I said, I served this with the baked Italian sausage, peppers and onions recipe that I had posted on here recently.
That’s all I have for today. Check back again in over the next few days to see what other recipes I use. I do have some things in mind that I hope to get to over the next few days and when I do my shopping this weekend I’ll see what I get and picked up to make for the coming week. Keep checking back and see what comes along. Until next time, enjoy the rest of your day, and enjoy your meal!
Making a one-pot meal for dinner has some great advantages to it. Not only does it make cleanup after the meal simple and easy, but cooking everything together in one pot or pan gives all the food the chance to meld flavors. As soon as I saw this recipe in bon appétit Magazine, I knew I was not only going to give the recipe a try, but that I was going to add vegetables to it so we could have the complete meal together.
Roast Provençal Chicken with Roasted Vegetables
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/4 cup herbes de Provence
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 3 1/2 to 4 pound chicken, cut into 8 pieces
4 carrots, peeled and chopped
4 parsnips, peeled and chopped
2 onions, peeled and cut into quarters
2 sweet potatoes, chopped
2 Yukon gold potatoes, chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Preheat the oven to 475°. Mix the garlic, herbes de Provence, oil, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Rub the mixture all over the pieces of chicken, covering the skin on both sides. Place the chicken on a wire rack.
Add the carrots, parsnips, onions, sweet potatoes, and potatoes to the roasting pan. Mix the olive oil with the vegetables, tossing to evenly coat everything. Season with salt and pepper. Place the chicken on top of the vegetables and roast the chicken in the oven until the skin begins to brown, about 25 to 30 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350° and roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the largest piece of chicken registers 165°, about 30 to 40 minutes longer. Remove the chicken from the oven to a separate platter and cover to rest for 10 minutes. Put the roasting pan back in the oven to allow the vegetables to roast longer and caramelize for another 10 minutes. Remove the vegetables and place on a separate serving platter.
If you didn’t want to cut the chicken up beforehand, you could certainly leave it all and then rub the herb mixture inside and outside the chicken before you roast it. If you like your vegetables a little crisper, when you place them back in the oven after removing the chicken you could turn the heat up on the oven to 450° and let them roast at a higher temperature for a little bit longer. I particularly like the way the spices came out on the chicken itself. They tasted great with the vegetables and you could use any vegetables that you like here, although vegetables work best for this type of roasting because they can sustain in the oven a little bit longer than the other vegetables like broccoli or cauliflower or the like.
That’s all there is for today. Check back again next time to see what other recipes I use for the week. I still have a couple of other things planned for the coming days so hopefully I can get to them. I know I’ll be making something with Italian sausage, some type of chicken sandwich and I also have a couple of pork recipes that I want to try out soon so keep checking back to see what I decide to make. Until next time, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!
Our Favorite Grilling Recipes: Bon Appétit.
Because you can never have enough great grilling recipes, here are 22 ideas from Bon Appetit for grilling beef, pork, seafood, chicken, burgers, vegetables and more. There’s a little bit of everything so you can easily find something that suits your tastes and wants. Check it out!
While you can get soft-shell crab until about the month of September, the best time of year is to get it between June and July. The local fish market that I go to just recently started having it in and since I was there yesterday I decided to get some. Ideally, if you can get the crabs live that is the best way for you to get them. Most fish places will then clean it for you, which usually involves them trimming off the eyes and mouth and cleaning out the gills. Soft-shell crab should be eaten within 24 hours of purchasing that way you can be sure that it is good and fresh. Most recipes you will come across involved sautéing or frying the crab in some way. I decided to use this recipe that I’ve found from Tyler Florence that makes a soft-shell crab BLT with a special lemon-pepper mayonnaise.
Soft-Shell Crab BLT with Lemon-Pepper Mayonnaise
Lemon-Pepper Mayonnaise
2 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 lemon, juiced
1 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons cracked black pepper
1 handful fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
Crabs
2 cups buttermilk
1 tablespoon crab boil seasoning
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 medium soft-shell crabs, cleaned and rinsed
Vegetable oil, for frying
2 cups all-purpose flour
Sandwich
4 soft bread rolls, such as brioche or croissants, split and lightly toasted
4 red leaf lettuce leaves
1 fine-ripe tomato, sliced
8 slices hickory-smoked bacon, cooked
1 avocado, halved, pitted, peeled, and sliced
To make the mayonnaise, in a food processor, combine the egg yolks, salt, dry mustard, and lemon juice; process together to form a stable base. With the motor running on the food processor, add a few drops of the oil through the feed tube, until the mixture begins to thicken. Begin adding the remaining oil in a thin, steady stream. Scrape down the sides of the food processor and pour the mayonnaise into a small bowl. Mix in the black pepper and the parsley, cover, and refrigerate. The mayonnaise may be kept for up to 3 days.
To prepare the soft-shell crabs, pour the buttermilk in a shallow bowl large enough to hold all the crabs. Season the buttermilk with crab boil seasoning, salt, and pepper. Lay the crabs in the buttermilk mixture and marinate, covered, in the refrigerator for 1 hour. Soaking the crabs in the buttermilk will help them plump up when cooked. Remove the crabs from the milk bath and let the excess drip off.
Pour 2 inches of vegetable oil in a heavy frying pan or large pot and heat to 350°. Put the flour in a pie dish or plate and season with a fair amount of salt and pepper. Dredge the crabs in seasoned flour to coat, shaking off the excess. Lay the crabs in the hot oil in a single layer without crowding; you may have to fry them in batches. Be careful since the crabs have a tendency to pop and spatter (if you have a splatter screen, now is a good time to break it out and use it). Cook the crabs for about 3 minutes on each side, turning once, until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.
To build the sandwich, spread the lemon-pepper mayonnaise on both halves of the toasted bread. Add the lettuce, tomato, bacon, and avocado. Lay a fried soft-shell crab on top and close up the sandwich.
I love the way this sandwich came out. The crab tasted great with the bacon and avocado and the lemon-pepper mayonnaise added just the right flavor to the sandwich. I did season the flour a little bit with some Old Bay seasoning to add some extra flavor. One word of warning when making the mayonnaise – when you’re going to use raw egg yolks, I would recommend that you use eggs that have already been pasteurized to avoid any risk of salmonella. You could also make the lemon-pepper mayonnaise by using store-bought mayonnaise and simply mixing and the lemon juice, dry mustard, pepper and parsley yourself and avoid the problem altogether. Mayonnaise itself isn’t that hard to make if you have food processor or a really strong wrist for whisking, so you should give it a try sometime if not this time. I also added a little bit of sliced red onion to the sandwich. I served the sandwiches with some homemade coleslaw and it was a perfect meal for a hot night.
That’s all there is for today. Check back again during the week to see what other recipes we decide to use. I did go shopping yesterday and I do have some plans this week to make some chicken, some pork chops and I did get some ground beef and some sausage, though I have not yet decided what to do with them. So check back and see what comes along. Until the next time, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!
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