Updated! Herbed Ricotta-Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Sauce Aurore

When I first started this here blog, I cooked up a fancy dinner for my lady friend Crystal that subsequently stood out in my mind as one of the best things I’d ever made. It was the first time that I had a vision for dinner that didn’t come straight from the pages of a cookbook or a glossy magazine. I mixed tons of fresh herbs into some ricotta, stuffed it inside of some chicken, and topped the chicken with a light, tomato cream sauce that pulled it all together, and this recipe became my go to suggestion whenever anyone asked me for something easy but impressive to serve for dinner. But the original pictures I took for the post? Not so impressive. I always intended to make this again, with more appealing photographs, because I would hate to think this recipe would be shunned because of its seeming unattractiveness. Well finally, last week, I did it.

Easy White Bean and Tomato Sauce

A few nights ago I found myself rooting through my pantry, trying to think of something easy to make for dinner that would not involve a trip to the grocery store. I wanted something hearty but not unhealthy, something vegetarian, and something that would make for excellent leftovers. I came up with this, and couldn’t have been more pleased. This simple white bean sauce makes an excellent topping for just about anything you can imagine. I ate it first on top of a mashed potato, with a little Parmesan and bread crumbs. I ate some of the leftovers with pasta, and some over simple grilled chicken. These would be terrific with polenta, or in an omelet or frittata, or mixed with some extra broth to make soup. Talk about versatile. This is most assuredly a new kitchen staple.

Ravioli worth bleeding for, from Russo & Sons

I apologize to those of you who are not located in the Boston area right now. I’m about to make you extremely jealous. Last weekend I finally trekked out to Watertown, getting lost in the maddening labyrinth of Boston streets, irritating the crap out of the boyfriend, whom I dragged unwillingly with me, and I discovered at the end the best grocery store in Boston: Russo & Sons. My housemate had been telling me about this place for over a year, and I am kicking myself for not taking her advice and getting out there sooner.

Russo’s is a glorious wonderland of produce, artisanal cheese, fresh baked bread, charcuterie, more produce, and even more glorious produce. I found things I’ve never been able to find anywhere else, including Queso Fresco (and you have no idea how upset I’ve been that I haven’t been able to find Queso Fresco). The only problem? Holy crap, that place was PACKED. It was nearly impossible to maneuver my cart around the store, and sadly, I’ve been told it’s like this even on weekday afternoons. I wasn’t able to explore all the wonderful things Russo’s had to offer, but I did buy half a pound of those beautiful porcini mushroom ravioli you see above. And I must say they were the best ravioli I’ve ever had.

Quintessential Summer Dinner: BBQ Chicken, Potato Salad, Corn, and Biscuits

I told you I ate a lot of great food in San Diego. The best part of my trip was being able to enjoy awesome meals with my family and friends. There is something perfect, something I miss everyday living here in Boston, about sitting at a table with people I love, sharing food and conversation. I grew up in a house where family dinners were important: I remember waiting every night for dinner until everyone was home from work and school and practice and whatnot before we sat down to eat, and now that I’m an adult (ahem, ha ha) I realize how great, and perhaps uncommon, it is that my parents brought us up like that. So, thanks ma and pa. You guys are rad.

The last night I was in San Diego, my aunt and uncle and their two kids came for dinner, and we cooked up this way-too-classic summer dinner: barbecue grilled chicken, corn on the cob, German potato salad, and buttery biscuits. The only thing missing, perhaps, was apple pie. But we had vanilla ice cream with strawberries instead, which is pretty perfectly summery itself. And this dinner was truly a group effort. I made the barbecue sauce and biscuits, Mom made the potato salad, my brother’s grilled the chicken and corn, and Dad entertained us all, the goofball.

Chicken Mole Poblano

Who would think that a seemingly innocent sauce could leave behind such destruction and havoc? That little measuring cup of mole you see above caused the biggest mess I think my kitchen has ever seen, and left me in its wake, exhausted and covered head to foot in sauce. I gave almost three hours of my evening over to making chicken mole (and cleaning up after it), but in the end, it was totally worth it. No, it didn’t turn out exactly as I expected, but then, I didn’t even really know what to expect, having had mole only once in my life before.

It took me awhile to figure out why none of the recipes I found for mole poblano contained poblano chiles. They generally all use chipotles, anchos, pasillas, anaheims. No poblanos. Then I discovered that poblano is also the name of someone who lives in Puebla, Mexico, the region where mole was pretty much invented. Aha. Well, I’m not sure my mole is in any way Puebla-style. I used the chilis I could find: guajillos, cascabels, chipotles, and a mild, light green pepper which, frankly, I can’t identify and was only labeled “chili” at the supermarket. You gotta love grocery shopping in New England.

Polenta and Vegetables with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

While my chocolate creme brulee may have been a triumph, since then I’ve experienced nothing but culinary catastrophes. “But that food doesn’t look catastrophic,” you may be thinking. That just goes to show that my new camera has more talent in the kitchen than I do. That, my friends, was a burned vegetable, bitter sauce disaster. In fact, the original sauce is NOT the sauce pictured above. The original sauce had to be thrown away because it was horrible and could not be salvaged with all the spices in my gigantic spice rack. I ended up using basic tomato sauce, because I needed something to cover up the taste of burnt asparagus.

I hate it when meals I’ve been anticipating turn out to be completely not rad.

Saffron cream sauce, refrigerator pasta, and my new pizza peel

Now that the semester is finally over, I’m looking forward to some cooking and some baking and, yes, some blog posting. To kick off the good times, I have a few things to share that I actually did get around to cooking over the past few weeks. I know you’re thrilled.

That up there? That some extra special pasta with a saffron cream sauce. I had a similar dish in two different restaurants, and both times I swooned into my plate and vowed to attempt such a feat in my own kitchen. And for such an incredible dish, it’s actually pretty easy to pull off. Other exciting news? Pizza has returned! I finally got myself a nice, wood pizza peel. Any future disasters with sticky dough and topping-flinging have been averted, and I must say, the first pizza I made using this excellent tool was pretty sweet. The pizza peel is my hero. Pizza experimentation will resume in full force.

And last night? Last night was clean out the refrigerator night, and I managed to put together a delicious dinner in about 15 minutes, and achieve some winter-time comfort to boot.

Chicken in Creamy Chive Sauce and Some More Pork

Oy. Once again, time has gotten away from me and I find myself sharing something I cooked a week and a half ago. It was so delicious, though, that I can’t just relegate it to the files of the never posted. And look, Ma, a balanced dinner! I made this for Mr. X and was all worried that it wasn’t going to be that good: I got the recipe from Eating Well, and have found it to be a little hit or miss (my Mediterranean Pasta Bake was kind of bland, even after I added seasoning to the original recipe). This recipe, for Sauteed Chicken Breasts with Creamy Chive Sauce, was a winner.

Tofu, Noodles, and Peanut Sauce

So, this whole schooling thing is proving way more time consuming than I expected. Updating twice a week? Ok, not so far. It’s actually not that the school work is time consuming. It’s that it is so draining the last thing I want to do when I come home is sit down and write about what I just barely managed to dredge up the energy to cook. Because I have been cooking, and some good stuff, too. Like the above: Tofu, udon noodles, fresh vegetables, and peanut sauce, one of my favorite things in the world.

I may have mentioned before that I have a bit of a thing for peanut butter. Like, I eat it almost everyday. This addiction extends to peanuts, peanut sauce, peanut butter cookies, pretty much anything involving the delicious flavor of that lovely legume, Arachis hypogaea. I’ve experimented with a few different peanut sauce recipes and so far the best I’ve found is from Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food. It’s pretty thick, and very strongly peanut-y, but with a nice kick to it. I usually pair it with red peppers and udon noodles, and I find it’s just as delicious cold as it is hot. This sauce has definitely become a kitchen staple.

Pepper-crusted Lamb Chops with a Red Wine Sauce

It is a sad state of affairs to discover a new love only to realize, in the same moment, that you will more often than not suffer deprivation, that this new object of your affection is just too far outside the grasp of your wallet to be enjoyed on more than a very occasional basis. Such was my lamb chop experience the other night.

It’s not that I’d never had lamb chops before. In fact, I tend to order them whenever I see them on a menu. I’ve always been attracted to their diminutive appearance on the plate, like little meat lollipops. But to be perfectly honest, I don’t think I’ve ever had lamb chops as good as those I made for myself the other night. I don’t like to pat my own back, but damn Gina. How is it that in most restaurants they tend to be a little dried out, a little under seasoned, a little not nearly as good as those you see in that picture above? I really don’t know.  Of course, now that I have experienced how tender and amazing and delicious lamb chops can truly be, I have also experienced paying more for them than I thought I’d ever spend on a piece of meat at the supermarket. And I know that these will be an indulgence I seldom get to enjoy.