White Wine Mussels

Have you ever put off making a dish that you love, because you think it will be a big pain, and then you finally do, and it was super easy? For me that dish: mussels.

We love mussels. We being hubby Jeff, daughter #2 Penny and me. In fact, Penny, 8, ordered mussels for her Groundhog Day birthday dinner last month. Come Valentine's Day I decided to finally cook mussels.

People, mussels are like the quickest, easiest thing ever. I'm no wondering how often I can get away with make them. I'm going to change it up, using other ingredients like beer, curry and coconut milk.

The moral of the story is, don't put off cooking your favorite dishes. Get in the kitchen, and make it happen!

XOXO,

Amy

PS: How many mussels do you need to feed your crew? From my online research, I found that three pounds — along with some crusty bread — will generally serve as the main course for four people. You can stretch that further if serving mussels as an appetizer. Two pounds was plenty for dinner for me, Jeff and Penny. 

White Wine Mussels

2 tablespoons butter

4 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 lemon, zested

1 shallot, finely chopped

2 cups white wine

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

2 pounds mussels, cleaned and debearded (You have to pull away beard-like hairs from where the shell is closed.)

Large handful of flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped

Melt butter in a large stock pot over medium heat. Add garlic and let sizzle until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add red pepper flakes, lemon zest and shallots, stirring for about 45 seconds.

Pour in the wine and season with black pepper. Bring broth to a boil, stir in mussels, and cover immediately. Shake pot and let boil for 1 minute.

Stir mussels, replace cover, and let boil for 2 more minutes. The shells will begin to open. Stir in parsley, cover pot and cook until all the shells are open, about 1 to 3 minutes. Do not overcook!

Serve with crusty bread, which is perfect for dipping in the yummy broth. BTW, don't try to eat any mussels that didn't open.

Chicken and Mushrooms in a White Wine Sauce

Last week, I wrote about this past New Year's Eve dinner theme: French. This post is part deux.

For NYE 2016 dinner we had French Onion Soup and Chicken and Mushrooms in a White Wine Sauce — the latter from The Little Paris Kitchen by Rachel Khoo.

I've cooked several of Khoo's dishes — Lemon and Lavender Chicken, Parisian Asparagus and Coq Au Vin on Skewers, to name a few. Each one has been accessible for us home cooks and delicious for all who enjoy simple French dishes. And the photography in this book is gorgeous. It's the prettiest cookbook I own. I'm such a fan that I've given it to several friends and family for holidays and weddings.

My uncle Frank, a recipient of LPK, says this is one of his favorites in the book. He sometimes makes the sauce to put on top of other dishes. Mais oui!

BTW, I didn't change up Khoo's recipe at all, except I forgot to slice the mushrooms (no big deal). Why mess with perfection?

XOXO,
Amy

PS: After writing this entire post, I got this feeling of déjà vu. Guess what? We rang in 2016 with a French theme and Little Paris Kitchen. Quelle surprise!

Sous chef Penny, 7, stirs the cream sauce.

Chicken and Mushrooms in a White Wine Sauce 
(a.k.a. Poulet aux champignons avec une sauce au vin blanc)
The Little Paris Kitchen by Rachel Khoo

For the sauce:
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups chicken stock (plus extra in case thinning is necessary)
1/2 cup dry white wine
4 tablespoons heavy cream
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste

For rest of the dish:
2 tablespoons butter
1 pound chicken (or turkey), cut into chunks
8 ounces button mushrooms, sliced
Handful of finely chopped tarragon or parsley

Start by making the sauce. Melt the butter in a large pan over medium heat. Add the flour and beat hard until you have a smooth paste (roux). Continue to beat until the roux begins to have a golden color. Remove from the heat and gradually add in the stock, whisking constantly.

Put the pan back over medium heat and simmer on low for 10 minutes, whisking frequently to keep sauce from burning the bottom of the pan. If sauce becomes too thick, whisk in a little more stock.

Add the wine and continue simmering for 10 minutes. When time is up, remove from heat and whisk in the cream and lemon juice. Add salt and pepper to taste.

While the sauce is simmering, melt the butter in a large frying pan until sizzling, add the chicken and fry for a few minutes until golden. Add the mushrooms and cook for another 5 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

To serve, mix the sauce with the chicken and mushrooms and sprinkle with some fresh tarragon or parsley. (I much prefer tarragon.)

French Onion Soup

On New Year's Eve, I like a food theme. I think that's because after our traditional Thanksgiving (turkey and all the fixings) and Christmas (rib roast) dinners I need a little culinary whimsy — a little je ne sais quoi.

We've done Chinese with homemade crab rangoon. We've done fondue with homemade cheese fondue. We've had make-your-own pizzas. This year's NYE theme was French with French Onion Soup, Chicken and Mushrooms in a White Wine Sauce and for entertainment, An American in Paris on DVD. The soup tasted just as decadent — though not quite as salty (I always use low-sodium broth) as the kind ordered up in restaurants. Everything was magnifique!

Happy 2017, mes amis!

XOXO,
Amy

French Onion Soup
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cups sliced onions (about 4 medium-sized onions)
48 ounces beef broth
2 tablespoons dry sherry (optional
1 teaspoon dried thyme
Nutmeg — hefty pinch or two
Salt and pepper to taste
4 slices French bread (with extra for leftovers)
4 slices provolone cheese (with extra for leftovers)
2 slices Swiss cheese (with extra for leftovers)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (with extra for leftovers)

Melt butter with olive oil in large stock pot over medium heat. Add onions and continually stir until tender and translucent. Do NOT brown onions.

Add beef broth, sherry, nutmeg and thyme. Season with salt and pepper, and simmer for 30 minutes.

Heat oven broiler.

Place oven-safe bowls on a cookie sheet and ladle soup into each. Place one slice of bread on top of each bowl of soup. (Bread may be broken into pieces if preferred.) Now add the cheeses. Layer each slice of bread with a slice of provolone, half a slice of Swiss and 1 tablespoon Parmesan. Place cookie sheet with bowls into preheated oven and broil until cheese bubbles and browns slightly. Serve and enjoy!

French Chocolate Cake

Recall from last week's post Penny's birthday dinner -- Parmesan and Yogurt Crusted Chicken, Carolina Collard Greens, scalloped potatoes and this nearly flourless French Chocolate Cake.

I made this cake exactly per the recipe in pastry chef David Lebovitz's memoir, The Sweet Life in Paris. I selected it because it offers something for everyone in the George family -- high quality dark chocolate for maman and a cake that doesn't require icing, which les enfants don't like anyhow. Plus, it is so rich that a teeny piece is perfect -- and perfect for papa who doesn't have a huge sweet tooth.

I highly recommend the cake and the book, which explained a lot about Parisians that I already knew but plenty that I didn't. Sweet Life is also full of recipes that appear easy to do -- and eat. In fact, the chocolate cake was my second dish from the book. When I made the Chicken Tagine with Apricots and Almonds, I swear my house smelled just like Chez Omar, the popular Moroccan restaurant in Paris' Le Marais neighborhood.

XOXO,
Amy

French Chocolate Cake
From The Sweet Life in Paris by David Lebovitz

9 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
8 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/3 cup sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature, separated
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
Pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch loaf pan and line the bottom with a strip of parchment paper.

In a large bowl set over a pan of simmering water or likewise in a double boiler, heat the chocolate and butter together until just melted and smooth. A note about the chocolate, for this and for homemade brownies I use Scharffen Berger Baking Bar - 70% Bittersweet Chocolate. Worth the 10 bucks.

Remove chocolate and butter from the heat and stir in half the sugar, then the egg yolks, and flour. (I love this part from the book: "You don't need to measure the half-quantity of sugar exactly. Just pretend you're a French woman cooking in her home kitchen and don't worry about it.)

Whip egg whites with the salt, using an electric hand mixer or whisk. Keep whipping until the whites form soft peaks. Gradually whip in the remaining sugar until the whites are smooth and hold their shape when the whisk or beaters are lifted.

Use a rubber spatula to fold one-third of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture to lighten it. Next fold in the remaining egg whites just until the mixture is smooth and no visible white streaks remain.

Pour batter into pan, scraping sides of the bowl so you bake up all that goodness. Smooth the top of the batter with rubber spatula. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Do not overbake.

Let cake cook in pan before cutting and serving.

The cake can be stored for up to three days. Some French women believe it is better after it sits for a day or two. The cake can also be wrapped in plastic and frozen for up to one month.

Coq Au Vin Style Oven Roasted Chicken Legs and Vegetables

On New Year's Eve Chez George, we like our final meal of the year to be festive and have a theme. We've done make-your-own pizzas, cheese fondue and Chinese food including homemade crab rangoon.

To ring in 2016, we had a French theme.

Our starter: Brie Cranberry Pizza.

Our main event was this spin on traditional coq au vin (a.k.a. chicken in  wine sauce). I have tried beaucoup recipes for coq au vin and boeuf bourguignon (beef burgundy), for that matter, and have never gotten them right. But I can never get these dishes to cook down into a stew; they always turn out too soupy. That's why I was intrigued by the recipe for brochettes au coq au vin (coq au vin on skewers) found in Rachel Khoo's cookbook, The Little Paris Kitchen. (BTW, this cookbook was among my picks in our 2015 Holiday Gift Guide.)

Coq au vin in shish kebab form. Genius!

Still, on a rainy NYE I didn't want the hubby to have to tend the grill, so I decided to adapt Khoo's recipe for the oven -- making what I call Coq Au Vin Style Oven Roasted Chicken Legs and Vegetables. Magnifique! Thumbs up -- not that they put down their forks -- from my husband, daughters and our neighbor who dropped by to eat with us.

XOXO,
Amy

Coq Au Vin Style Oven Roasted Chicken Legs and Vegetables
Inspired by The Little Paris Kitchen by Rachel  Khoo

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons butter
1 bunch of thyme
3 bay leaves
2 cups red wine
4 chicken leg quarters, bone in and skin on
Salt and pepper, to taste.

4 ounces of pancetta (cubes of smoked bacon)

1 1/2 pounds small new potatoes or petite white potatoes, peel on and cut in half
1 pound carrots, peeled and cut roughly into 2-inch pieces
6 ounces of button onions, peeled and cut in half
4 ounces of button mushrooms
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

First, make the marinade several hours or the night before you plan to serve this dish. Fry the garlic and onion in the butter until golden. Add four sprigs of thyme and bay leaves and cook for another minute and then add the wine. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 10 minutes. Leave marinade to cool.

Season chicken legs with salt and pepper and place in large plastic container. Top chicken with pancetta and marinade and then cover and refrigerate for at least four hours and preferably longer or even overnight.

When you are ready to cook, remove chicken -- with some of the pancetta remaining on top -- from container and place in roasting pan. Roast in 425-degree oven for 20 minutes and then reduce heat to 375 degrees and cook or another 20-30 minutes or until juices run clear when chicken is cut at thickest part.

Meanwhile, place all of the vegetables -- except the mushrooms -- on a lightly sprayed baking pan. Sprinkle salt, pepper and olive oil over vegetables and top generously with sprigs of thyme. Place in oven with chicken and remove when done -- should be done around same time as the chicken.

About 20 minutes before serving dinner, place the marinade in a pot on the stove and bring to a boil, then add the mushrooms and simmer until the food in the oven is done.

When plating, spoon mushrooms and wine sauce over the chicken.

Sausage and Mint Stuffed Tomatoes

I brought this recipe back from France 20 years ago. Gosh, that makes me feel very grown-up. Not old, just grown-up.

Anyhow, back in Fall 1995 I was living in Paris and interning at the Associated Press. The woman I boarded with made these sausage and mint stuffed tomatoes. She'd also pick up lamb or a whole fish from the outdoor market and do nothing in the way of prep, literally just throwing them in the oven. But when dinner was ready, it was incroyable. Until I met Francoise, I'd never seen anyone cook so simply and so wonderfully at the same time.

I still haven't made a whole fish, though it is on my culinary bucket list. But I have made these tomatoes beaucoup. Merci, Francoise.

XOXO,
Amy

Sausage and Mint Stuffed Tomatoes

4 red tomatoes, beefsteak are ideal
3/4 pound to 1 1/2 pounds Italian sausage
1/3 to 3/4 cup bread crumbs
1 egg
Handful of mint, roughly chopped
Salt, pepper to taste

First, remember that all quantities are approximate. All depends on how large your tomatoes are, how much you like mint, how bready or meaty you like your sausage stuffing and how many people you are feeding. While big beefsteak tomatoes are best, heirlooms won't work due to their odd shapes, which make it hard to form a big hole inside the tomato to fill with the sausage stuffing.

The last time I made this dish, which was for this blog, I had smallish vine ripened tomatoes (see photo), which weren't ideal, but I made do. I used 3/4 pound of sausage and 1/3 cup breadcrumbs. While the meat and bread crumb ratios will change depending on the size of your tomatoes, you can pretty much always get away with using just one egg.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Hollow out your tomatoes so there is a hole for the sausage stuffing. Place tomatoes in baking dish.

Combine sausage, bread crumbs, egg and mint. Add salt and pepper to your liking.

Stuff tomatoes. Bake for 40 minutes to 1 hour. The top of the sausage should be brown and crispy and the inside should be barely pinkish.

French Yogurt Cake

I've read about yogurt cake in beaucoup French books and memoirs. In Pamela Druckerman's Bringing Up Bébé: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting, par exemple. And more recently in Elizabeth Bard's Lunch in Paris: A Love Story with Recipes. Both books make me a teensy bit wistful that I didn't pick up and move to the City of Light while in my 20s.

Anyhow, yogurt cake is a popular treat in France. It's often the first cake that les enfants learn to make and I can see why. No electric mixer needed. Most ingredients are always on hand. It's quick to put together, which means you don't have to wait long -- just a little over an hour really --- until you devour your slice. Of course, Mom or Dad should handle the lemon zesting.

French kids use the same 8 ounce yogurt cup to measure the sugar and flour. I couldn't find 8 ounce yogurt cups, so I bought a 24 ounce container, so Lucy, Penny and I could make this cake multiple times.

I adore this cake. It's quick. Simple. Sweet, but not too sweet. No icing required. Tastes even better the next day.

XOXO,
Amy

French Yogurt Cake
From Lunch in Paris: A Love Story with Recipes by Elizabeth Bard

1 cup plain, whole milk yogurt
1 cup sugar
A large pinch of sea salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
Zest of one lemon
One 16-ounce can apricots, drained and quartered (Note: My store had 8-ounce cans only, so I got two of those.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Lightly butter a 10-inch round cake pan and line with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, combine the yogurt, sugar, salt and vanilla, stirring or whisking until smooth. Add oil in a steady stream, while whisking to combine. Add eggs one by one, whisking to combine after each one.

In smaller bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and baking soda. Add flour mixture little by little to the yogurt mixture, whisking along the way to combine. Stir in lemon zest. Pour cake mixture into prepared cake  pan. Top with chopped apricots.

Bake on center rack for 45 minutes, until golden brown and slightly risen; a toothpick inserted in the center should  come out clean.

Lift cake by parchment paper and place on wire rack to cool.

This cake is even better the second day -- provided it sticks around that long. It gets more moist as it sits.

Elizabeth Bard points out in her book that this cake is a "blank canvas" that you can  make  your own based on the fruits you like or have in your fridge at the time. Try fresh raspberries or pears sprinkled with brown sugar, she suggests.

My girls enjoyed this cake. They ate it several mornings for breakfast -- with a banana on the side, so no judgment. But they didn't love the apricots and asked that next time I try peaches instead, so that's what I did the second time around. I used canned peaches (in juices, not syrup), drained and chopped. I sprinkled some cinnamon over the peaches as I would when making a peach cobbler.

Verdict: The girls preferred the cake with peaches; I liked the apricot version better.

Bottom  line: This is a great go-to dessert for any day of the week. I plan to make it beaucoup times.

Chocolate Madeleines

A few years ago I splurged on a $30 baking pan at Sur La Table. Not just any baking pan: my Madeleine pan. Worth it. Every francophile and anyone who has read Marcel Proust needs a Madeleine pan, non?

I love that just as Marcel remembered a childhood in which his maman baked these mini pound cakes, so shall Lucy and Penny. My daughters adore Madeleines. They have proclaimed my Madeleines to be better than the packaged variety sold at Starbucks! Mais oui.

And while the girls appreciate the classic French treat, they have been begging me to try making chocolate Madeleines, so I did. Pour mes filles.

XOXO,
Amy

PS: Lucy helped.

Chocolate Madeleines
Adapted from Joyofbaking.com
Yields 18 Madeleines

3 eggs, at room temperature
2/3 cup granulated white sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted -- plus additional non-melted butter for greasing Madeleine pan
1 ounce unsweetened baking chocolate, melted
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt

Put eggs and sugar in bowl of your blender and blend at medium high for five minutes. You want to blend until the mixture has tripled in volume  and a thick ribbon forms when you lift the beater. Again, about five minutes.

Meanwhile, place butter and chocolate in top of double boiler and melt over a medium boil.

Then, mix the remaining dry ingredients -- flour, baking powder and salt -- in a small bowl.

When the egg and sugar mixture is ready, fold in a bit of the flour mixture. Then fold in the rest of the flour mixture, bit by bit. Key word is "fold." Do not overstir or stir too vigorously as that will result in some flat Madeleines.

Your chocolate  and butter should be melted by now. Let it cool for a few minutes. Then fold some of the batter into the chocolate and butter. And  then fold the entire chocolate-butter mixture, which now contains some batter, into the mixing bowl with remaining batter. Combine gently. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Toward the end of that 30 minutes, preheat oven to 375 degrees. Then take a stick of butter and grease the Madeleine pan. There are a lot of grooves in these seashell-shaped cakes, so make sure to do a good job here or your Madeleines will stick and not look as pretty.

Remove batter from fridge and place a generous tablespoon of batter into the center of each mold in the Madeleine pan. This is how you get the classic "humped" appearance in your Madeleines.

Bake for 10-11 minutes or until edges are slightly browned and the center of the cakes spring back when lightly touched. Transfer Madeleines -- smooth side down -- to a plate and allow to cool.

When serving, sift confectioners sugar over the grooved side of the Madeleines.

Note that Madeleines are best eaten the same day. You can store leftover Madeleines (provided there are any) in an airtight container  and eat them the next day. If you want to store for longer, wrap well and freeze for up to one month.

Amy's Roasted Chicken

About seven years ago, I taught myself to roast a chicken. I've been roasting birds ever since. I consider it my signature dish. It's one way I know my French heritage is legit.

If someone asked me my favorite meal, it would be this: roasted chicken, green salad, roasted or scalloped potatoes, baguette, red wine.

The roasted chicken is super yummy and super easy. And sometimes I make it for Easter dinner.

XOXO,
Amy

Amy's Roasted Chicken

Whole chicken
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon garlic powder

Preheat oven to 425. Remove bird from refrigerator and let sit for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, melt the butter in the microwave and mix together the dry ingredients. Brush the melted butter all over the bird. Press the salt and herb mixture into the bird, covering the entire bird. Place in a roasting pan breast side up. Cook for 15 minutes at 425. Reduce temp to 375 and cook for 50-60 minutes.

Carve. Or, in my case, have hubby carve. (He does a much better job.) Enjoy. Save carcass to make chicken stock and chicken soup.