Chicken Thighs with mustard on Polenta

What you need

• chicken thighs
• dijon mustard
• green onions
• garlic
• lime juice
• corn meal (polenta)
• kernel corn
• buttermilk
• salt and pepper

De-bone the chicken thighs, rub with salt and pepper and place skin side down in a cast iron skillet and heat it up
Mix finely chopped green onion, finely chopped garlic, dijon and lime juice together
Spoon a little of the mixture onto the frying chicken thighs
Put a lid on the skillet so that the meat steams
Heat a little water and the juice from the kernel corn can in a pot and add the polenta
Add buttermilk, salt and pepper to the polenta until you get a good consistency
Add enough of the kernel corn to make it interesting
When the chicken skin is crisp, turn over the thighs
Spoon some of the mustard mixture on the skin and put in the oven to finish
Spoon some creamy polenta onto a plate and place chicken thighs in the centre

The kernel corn adds some sweetness to the polenta (and a bit of crunch) that contrasts with the sharpness of the mustard

Gnocchi

Ah gnocchi, the simplest little pasta going.  I remember back when I would buy vacuum sealed packages of it.  My life changed watching Michael Smith make it on one of his Food Network shows.  Even before he was finished making the gnocchi, I was in the kitchen baking a potato.  I didn't believe it could be that easy.  Then I saw her face, now I'm a believer.

Potato Gnocchi
What you need

• potato
• flour
• egg
• salt

Start boiling a big pot of water
Take a baked potato and mash it up (I've also nuked a potato.  I like to leave the skin on 'cause it's good for you)
Add an egg and some salt.  Keep mashing
Start adding flour until you get the consistency of non-sticky dough
Bust up into manageable pieces
Roll on a floured surface into a snake
Chop up the snake into bite sized pieces
Drop one at a time into the boiling water
When they rise they're done

Toss in some sauce and eat them.

Now I went as far as getting a gnocchi board

So when you have little bite sized pieces you roll them on the board before you plop them in the water to get little groves on each gnoccho to help grab onto sauce.

            comme ca

Now potato gnocchi is like carb on carb so I soon moved into ricotta gnocchi but I wouldn't just stop there.  Instead of potato one could puree some onion or celery use parsnips, turnip or celariac.  I just had an idea for some roasted garlic gnocchi that I have to try.

As for the sauce... whatever you want - a pesto, tomato, brown butter sage, cheese, mushroom pick one.

Pork-u-Pear

Ever get tired of pork with some kind of apple treatment?  I chose pears just to try and make life that much more exciting.

What you need

• pork
• pear
• sage
• salt and pepper

Pork, pork, pork.  Pork chop, Sliced pork loin, Sliced pork shoulder.  Pick one or two.
Rub with salt and pepper
Put in an oven proof dish
Put some finely sliced sage on top (or use dried)
Slice some pear and put on top of the pork
Bake for 1/2 hour at 350 (longer if they're thicker)
With the remaining pear bits (or chop up another pear - go ahead be brave)
Put it in a bowl with some water, lemon juice and sugar and nuke for a few minutes
Mash it up and you have some pear sauce to accompany your pork

When I first made this I covered the pork/pear with molasses.  You can to if you want.
I've also smeared some dijon on the pork before putting the pears on it.  You could do that too if you want.

Duck Rillettes

This all began when I went to Chinatown to pick up a duck.  Now normally I do a whole duck butterflied in a large baking dish so the flesh confits itself - but that will be another post.  This time I wanted to make Rillettes de Canard.

So, whole duck.  I harvested the breasts to make some duck proscuitto.  Since this bird came from Chinatown, it had feet, head, the whole shebang.  I harvested all the big bones for stock.  What I was left with was legs (bone in), wings (yes with bones), skin, miscellanous scraps of meat.

Toss all the meat into a pressure cooker
Add salt and pepper and cooked that sucker at pressure for a couple of hours
Let it cool down, don't be too eager
Scrape the meat from the bones (keep the bones for stock)
Take the skin and crisp it up in a frying pan
Used a mesh strainer to get duck fat out of the meat (keep the confit)
Shred the meat in a bowl
Chop up the crispy skin and add that to the meat
Add cognac, chopped parsley, salt, pepper and orange zest
Spoon the mixture into ramekins and push it down with a fork to create a level surface
Spoon the duck fat onto the ramekins until there is about a 1/4 inch of fat over the meat
Put in the fridge and don't touch for two days

Now, you make some toast points.  Slice up some cornichon (baby dills).  Fork on some Rillettes to the toast.  Put a pickle on top.  OMG.

What you need

• A duck
• cognac
• chopped parsley
• orange zest
• salt and pepper
• toast points and cornichon for the eating

Chicken Thighs with Mushroom Sauce

What you need

• chicken thighs
• mushrooms - crimini, button, shitake, oyster - whatever floats your boat
• onion
• garlic
• butter
• flour
• buttermilk
• dried sage
• chinese five spice
• salt and pepper

Debone the thighs yourself - you can do it.  Season with chinese five spice, salt and pepper.

Put skin side down in a skillet and turn up the heat to high.  Put a lid on the skillet.  You want the skin crisp and the flesh to be steamed

While the chicken is frying I started to saute the onion and garlic in butter in a separate frying pay.  Once the onion is good and soft, throw in the mushrooms.

When the chicken has crispy skin, turn skin side up and finish in the oven.  Now I poured the excess chicken fat into the onion/mushroom pan.  Oh yes, you know I did.

I added some flour to the onion/mushroom/chicken fat pan to make a bit of roux.  I also tossed in some dried sage - that seemed to be right.

Then added the buttermilk.

I placed the chicken on some rice I whipped up and gooped on the mushroom sauce.

There done.  Not pretty but oh so good.  Another Jacques Pepin rip off.