Let’s be honest here, I am NOT a fantastic direction follower. It’s less about a refusal to bend my will to something/one else’s or anything silly like that, I’m just bad at reading all the way through instructions before I tackle a project. Given some of my mom’s comments on past posts, I’m beginning to suspect I come by this trait honestly.

Back when Diana, Yolanda and I all lived together in a big two story house (we dubbed ourselves the Delta (Diana) Gamma (Yolanda, Y in Greek is a G) Tao (no J in Greek, and Tao sounds Asian) sorority house), one of the regular meals on the rotation was the frozen orange chicken from Trader Joe’s. We’d throw some brown rice in the rice cooker, steam or roast a bunch of broccoli to go along with it, and have enough for dinner and leftovers for somebody’s lunch the next day. It’s not the absolute worst thing you can eat, but it’s not the best by a long shot – it’s still battered deep fried chunks of dark meat chicken.

Genius that I am, I forgot to DVR my own TV segment on Monday morning, but Diana caught it. We made plans to get together for dinner the next night, watch my segment, and – you guessed it – play Scrabble! It’s a safe bet that whenever Diana and I make plans, you can tack “and also Scrabble” onto the end of whatever the event is. This time, it was “Eat orange chicken, watch Jen on TV and also Scrabble” night. I decided to break with our Trader Joe’s tradition though, and make my own version.

Side note – when I told Dee I was going to make my own “TJ orange chicken” she thought TJ stood for Tijuana and not Trader Joe’s. The fact that she just said “OK!” speaks volumes about her faith in my culinary abilities, and also how she’s the perfect friend for “Here, eat this and tell me if it sucks” situations.

Waaay back when I was talking about what a bad direction follower I am, I was thinking about what happened next. I didn’t bother reading all the way through the recipe until after I got home from work that day, and realized that the sauce needed to be boiled and then cooled for 15-20 minutes, and then soak into the chicken for a couple of hours. Whoops! It was too late to change course, so I decided to just get things started at home, then shlep the parts over to Dee’s house to finish. We decided to let the chicken marinate for however long it took the rice to cook, then finish it anyway and hope for the best. Turns out we worried for nothing, it turned out great. The chicken is still dusted in flour and browned, but not full on battered and deep fried. It’s made with chicken breast instead of thigh, the sauce is thickened with corn starch, not something chemically that I can’t pronounce, and the citrus notes come from actual oranges not “orange flavoring.” All in all, a better version I’d say.

On a related note, I’ll be cooking with chicken breast a LOT in the coming days. I called the boy who was at my house doing laundry while I was at work, and asked him to take four chicken breasts out of the freezer to thaw. He apparently took that to mean “take the whole ten pound bag of chicken breasts” out of the freezer to thaw. Technically I could re-freeze them, but once they’ve been thawed once you just wind up with a giant stuck together block of frozen mess that doesn’t do anyone any good. So cook them I will!

Sorry, this post is even more tangent riddled than usual. It could have something to do with the fact that I’m being a bad blogger, and half paying attention to Grey’s Anatomy at the same time that I’m writing it. Owen just lied to you Christina, he LIED!!

Back to orange chicken. Once the meat has marinated for “several hours” wink wink nudge nudge, it gets tossed in a coating of flour seasoned with salt and pepper. The next step is to brown it in a little oil in a nice wide skillet, and don’t go getting all impatient trying to cram everything into one batch. Nothing will ever brown, and you’ll just be disappointed with the results. The time it takes to do it in two batches is worth it, trust me! Just let the chunks sit undisturbed until they’re nice and golden on the first side, then use tongs to give them a flip. They’re tiny, so I promise it really doesn’t take long.

Sauce:
1 1/2 cups water
2 tablespoons orange juice
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/3 cup rice vinegar
2 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon grated orange zest
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon minced fresh ginger root
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons chopped green onion
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons water

Chicken:
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil

Directions

Pour 1 1/2 cups water, orange juice, lemon juice, rice vinegar, and soy sauce into a saucepan and set over medium-high heat. Stir in the orange zest, brown sugar, ginger, garlic, chopped onion, and red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat, and cool 10 to 15 minutes.

Place the chicken pieces into a resealable plastic bag. When contents of saucepan have cooled, pour 1 cup of sauce into bag. Reserve the remaining sauce. Seal the bag, and refrigerate at least 2 hours.

In another resealable plastic bag, mix the flour, salt, and pepper. Add the marinated chicken pieces, seal the bag, and shake to coat.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Place chicken into the skillet, and brown on both sides. Drain on a plate lined with paper towels, and cover with aluminum foil.

Wipe out the skillet, and add the sauce. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Mix together the cornstarch and 2 tablespoons water; stir into the sauce. Reduce heat to medium low, add the chicken pieces, and simmer, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

The FMB a couple weeks ago had these cute little Ruby Crescent Fingerling Potatoes in it, from Weiser Family Farms. My go-to recipe source lately has been Smitten Kitchen, and she didn’t let me down! There was a great sounding recipe for mustard roasted potatoes, which just happened to include a note about turnips. My Baby Pinks from Coastal Organics had found a home!

As I read through the recipe, it occurred to me that the sauce would be pretty dang good on chicken, as well as the veggies. I picked up a couple of quarters on my way home, and got to work. Luckily, there was plenty of the mustard mixture leftover after coating the potatoes so I didn’t need to make any additional for the chicken – I salt & peppered it well and left the skin on, then covered in the nubbly sauce. The potatoes and turnips I stuck straight in the oven, but the chicken I started skin side down in a screaming hot cast iron pan. I feel like I use that phrase often enough that it deserves it’s own acronym. A S.H.C.I.P! Say it just like Sean Connery would – shkip to my loo, my darling. You just watch – it’ll be my E.V.O.O, and one day Martha Stuart will mispronounce it in front of me just to be mean.

I cooked the chicken up top until the skin was nicely browned and crisp, then flipped it over and added it to the potato/turnip party down in the oven. I was right about the sauce translating beautifully to poultry, it was really really good. Salt & pepper on the bird before the sauce is a must though, it would’ve been way too bland without it. It would have been even better if I hadn’t been outside grabbing the mail when the timer went off, causing the little mustard seeds to burn before I realized what had happened. Oh well – not much you can do there besides shrug your shoulders, and eat it anyway!

Makes 10 servings

Nonstick vegetable oil spray

1/2 cup whole grain Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons (1/4 stick or 1/2 ounce) butter, melted

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon finely grated lemon peel

1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt

3 pounds 1- to 1 1/2-inch-diameter mixed unpeeled red-skinned and white-skinned potatoes, cut into 3/4-inch-wide wedges

Position 1 rack in top third of oven and 1 rack in bottom third of oven and preheat to 425°F. Spray 2 large rimmed baking sheets with nonstick spray. Whisk mustard, olive oil, butter, lemon juice, garlic, oregano, lemon peel, and salt in large bowl to blend. Add potatoes; sprinkle generously with freshly ground black pepper and toss to coat. Divide potatoes between prepared baking sheets, leaving any excess mustard mixture behind in bowl. (or use it on chicken!) Spread potatoes in single layer. Roast potatoes 20 minutes. Reverse baking sheets and roast until potatoes are crusty outside and tender inside, turning occasionally, about 25 minutes longer.

Transfer potatoes to serving bowl.

Do ahead: Can be made 2 hours ahead. Let stand on baking sheets at room temperature. Rewarm potatoes in 425°F oven 10 minutes.

As promised, here’s the menu for this morning’s NBC “Spring dinner party” segment! All the beautiful fruit and veggies came from Specialty Produce, and by clicking that link you can sign up for their fantastic Farmer’s Market Bag program. The cheese was from Venissimo, and if you love cheese, trust me – you’ll LOVE that place.

Appetizers
Pickled carrots, sugar snap peas, and grapes
Selection of cheese and crackers from Venissimo Cheese

Main course
Roasted salmon with lemon and dill
Chilled asparagus and julienned snow peas with meyer lemon viniagrette
Cous cous with orange supremes, toasted almonds and chives

Dessert
Balsamic strawberry shortcake

Cocktail
Candied kumquat mojito

Complete list of fresh produce used:

baby carrots
sugar snap peas
red grapes
asparagus
snow peas
cara cara oranges
meyer lemons
strawberries
kumquats
mint
chives
dill

I’ve been doing a lot of pickling lately, with carrots and sugar snap peas being the current front runners for my favorite veggies. The grapes tend to throw people off at first, but they’re amazing! A little sweet, a little tart, with a hint of cinnamon and black pepper adding to the complexity.

 

Adapted from Gourmet Magazine via Smitten Kitchen

1 pound carrots, cut into 3 1/2- by 1/3-inch sticks

1 1/4 cups water

1 cup cider or plain vinegar (the former makes a sweeter, milder brine)

1/4 cup sugar

2 garlic cloves, lightly crushed

1 1/2 tablespoons dill seeds (I use fresh dill instead, tucked into the jar after the brine has cooled)

1 1/2 tablespoons salt

Place carrots in a heatproof bowl. Bring remaining ingredients to a boil in saucepan, then reduce heat and simmer 2 minutes. Pour pickling liquid over carrots and cool, uncovered. Chill carrots, covered, at least 1 day for flavors to develop.

Pickled Sugar Snap Peas
Adapted from The Joy of Pickling via Smitten Kitchen

1 1/4 cups white distilled vinegar

1 1/4 cups cold water

1 tablespoon kosher or pickling salt

1 tablespoon sugar

1 pound sugar snap peas, stems trimmed and strings removed

4 garlic cloves, sliced

1 or 2 small dried chile peppers, slit lengthwise or a couple pinches dried red pepper flakes

In a nonreactive saucepan, heat the vinegar with the salt and sugar until they are dissolved. Remove from the heat, and add the cold water. (This gives you a leg up on getting the liquid to cooling the liquid.)

When the vinegar mixture is cool, pack the sugar snaps, garlic and chile peppers or flakes into a 1-quart jar or bowl, and pour the brine over it. Cover with a non-reactive cap, plastic wrap.

Pickled Grapes with Cinnamon and Black Pepper
from Smitten Kitchen

1 pound red or black grapes, preferably seedless

1 cup white wine vinegar

1 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons brown mustard seeds (hm, mine might have been yellow? I was unconcerned.)

1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns

1 (2 1/2-inch) cinnamon stick, cut in half (if using two jars, otherwise leave whole)

1/4 teaspoon salt

Rinse and dry the grapes, and pull them carefully from their stems. Using a small sharp knife, trim away the “belly button” at the stem end of the grape exposing a bit of the flesh inside. Divide the grapes among 2 pint-sized clean, dry canning jars.

In a medium saucepan, combine the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil over medium heat and then you have two choices. The original recipe has you pour the bring mixture over the grapes and let them cool together. I personally prefer a cold brine on certain foods, not wanting to wilt the fresh fruit, so I cool the brine completely before pouring it over. The former will yield a more tender pickle, and it will pick up the brine’s flavor faster. The latter will take a bit longer to souse, but the grapes will stay more firm. Both will be delicious.

Once cool, chill the grape and brine mixture in their jars in the refrigerator for at least eight hours or overnight. Serve cold, perhaps at a cheese course.

Salmon with Lemon Dill Sauce

For salmon:
fresh salmon, quantity dependent on your needs
one lemon, thinly sliced
fresh dill
olive oil
salt & pepper

For sauce:
3 TB mayonnaise
2 TB dijon mustard
juice of 1/2 lemon
2 ts fresh chopped dill

Drizzle salmon with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, then layer with fresh dill sprigs and lemon slices. Cook the salmon using your preferred method - pan seared, oven roasted, grilled, even closed in a foil packet and popped in the toaster oven works great.

Whisk all sauce ingredients together in a bowl. Feel free to serve the salmon with the lemon and dill intact, as it makes for a pretty presentation – just pass the sauce in a bowl for people to drizzle on top.

Cous cous with Oranges, Almonds and Chives

one box plain cous cous
orange supremes, any variety (I used Var
1/4 C sliced toasted almonds
snipped fresh chives to taste, about 2 TB
salt and pepper
Prepare cous cous according to package instructions, let cool.

Slice peel and pith off orange, then cut segments free from membrane using a small sharp knife.

Use kitchen shears or a knife to snip or chop fresh chives.

Toss all ingredients in a large bowl, season with salt and pepper to taste.

Chilled Asaragus and Snow Peas with Meyer Lemon Viniagrette

1 lb aparagus
1/2 lb snow peas
1 meyer lemon (a regular one will work fine, meyers are just sweeter)
3 TB extra virgin olive oil
1 TB honey
1 ts fresh chopped mint
salt and pepper

Wash asparagus, cut on the diagonal into 1-2″ segments
Wash snow peas, julienne into thin strips

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil, and blanch asparagus for 2 minutes.
Remove and place in a bowl of ice water.
Return water to a boil, then blanch snow peas for 1 minute, and add to asparagus in the ice water bath.
When veggies have cooled, drain well in a colandar.

In the bowl you’re using to serve, whisk lemon juice, olive oil, honey, mint, salt and pepper. This can be done a few hours ahead, just wait to toss with the veggies until right before serving.

Balsamic Strawberry Shortcake

A whole mess of fresh, in season strawberries. Don’t even think about making this in February.

1-2 TB balsamic vinegar

A handful of sugar (how much will depend on your berries – the sweeter they are, the less sugar you need)

For the biscuits:

3 tablespoons melted butter

2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the surface

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sugar (I added about 3 extra tablespoons for the dessert version)

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

Wash and dry the berries, then halve or quarter depending on their size, and toss with sugar and vinegar to coat. Let macerate while the biscuits are baking and cooling.

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Melt butter in a small pot or microwave dish, and set aside. Sift two cups flour, the baking powder, salt and sugar into a large bowl. Fold in 1 1/4 cups cream. If the dough is not soft or easily handled, fold in the remaining 1/4 cup cream, little by little. (I ended up using two additional tablespoons, or half the unused cream.)

Turn dough onto a floured surface, mound it into a ball and, using your hands, press it to a thickness of about 3/4 inch. Cut into rounds, 2 1/2 inches in diameter. Gather dough scraps and continue to make rounds. Dip the top of each round in melted butter and arrange on the baking sheet. Sprinkle tops of biscuits with sugar. Bake until golden, 12 to 15 minutes. Serve immediately, or flash freeze for future use. [Biscuits can be baked straight from the freezer, and additional few minutes baking time will be needed, usually around 3 to 5.]

Let biscuits cool completely, cut in half, and layer with macerated berries and fresh whipped cream.