Coq au Vin Blanc

When you think of Coq au Vin, you typically think of it being cooked in red wine. Here we’ve substituted a dry white wine for the red, which produced a brighter flavored dish.

This recipe is based on one from Williams Sonoma and the original called for chicken legs, but we’ve substituted boneless, skinless chicken thighs. The original also used baby carrots, which I had no luck finding. I used the smallest carrots available, but click here to see Williams Sonoma’s photo of the dish, which you’ll see is very pretty with the baby carrots and chicken legs. If at all possible, seek out smaller carrots than I found. We also substituted pearl onions (because we had them) for the shallots and used a bit less bacon than the original recipe. The pearl onions added a few more minutes, so if time is an issue, I would recommend the shallots.

This is a great way to take a winter favorite and lighten and brighten it for spring. We’ve served it with a scoop of mashed potatoes, but noodles would be nice too. I hope you’ll enjoy this spring time version of coq au vin as much as we did.

Coq au Vin Blanc
Adapted slightly from Williams Sonoma – serves 4 – 6
Printable Recipe

1 bottle (750 ml) dry white wine
5 fresh flat-leaf parsley sprigs, plus 2 Tbs. finely chopped parsley
3 fresh thyme sprigs
1 bay leaf
4 oz. thick-cut bacon slices, chopped
3 1/2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1 lb. small white button mushrooms
1 dozen (or so) pearl onions
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup dry sherry
1 3/4 cups low salt, low fat chicken broth
3/4 lb. small baby carrots, peeled
Juice of 1/2 lemon

Preheat an oven to 350°F.

In a large saucepan over high heat, boil the wine until reduced by half, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, make a bouquet garni: Using a piece of kitchen twine, tie together the parsley sprigs, thyme sprigs and bay leaf. Set aside.

In a large ovenproof sauté pan or Dutch oven over medium heat, cook the bacon, stirring occasionally, until browned, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel–lined plate to drain. Discard all but 2 Tbs. of the fat from the pan. Season the chicken generously with salt and pepper. Set the pot over medium-high heat. Working in batches, sear the chicken, turning once, until browned on both sides, 8 to 10 minutes per batch. Transfer to a plate.

Discard all but 2 Tbs. of the fat from the pan. Return the pan to medium-high heat, add the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until they begin to brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer the mushrooms to a bowl and set aside. Set aside the sauté pan to brown the pearl onions.

Parboil the pearl onions in boiling water for 3 seconds. Drain and when cool enough to handle, peel. Using the same sauté pan that you used to brown the mushrooms, brown the pearl onions until they are slightly brown and have taken on a bit of color. When done to your liking, set aside with the mushrooms.

Reduce the heat to medium and add the butter. When the butter has melted, add the garlic and flour and cook for 1 minute. Add the sherry and deglaze the pan, stirring to scrape up any browned bits on the pan bottom. Whisk in the reduced wine and the broth, increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a simmer. Add the bacon, chicken, mushroom mixture, carrots and bouquet garni. Cover, transfer to the oven and braise until the chicken is tender, about 1 1/2 hours (less if you’re using boneless chicken).

Transfer the chicken to a plate. Using a large spoon, skim the fat from the surface of the liquid. If you don’t have enough sauce, add some more white wine to the pan. Set the pan over medium-high heat and simmer until the sauce is thickened, 12 to 15 minutes. Discard the bouquet garni. Add the lemon juice and season to taste with salt and pepper. Return the chicken to the pan. Garnish with chopped parsley and serve immediately. Serves 4 to 6 and accompany with mashed potatoes.

For better viewing, click photos to enlarge

This will be shared with Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge Farms and Miz Helen's Country Kitchen Full Plate Thursday.

Have a nice weekend and thanks for visiting

My Carolina Kitchen

Chicken Breasts with Pancetta Cream and Peas

We were so impressed with this recipe that we thought it qualified as a special Sunday dinner. The sauce tastes as rich and creamy as a Béchamel, but actually it’s just a white wine and chicken broth based sauce made from the fond left in the pan from browning the chicken and thickened with a small amount of mascarpone and a bit of flour. Baby English peas are scattered across the top for color and additional flavor.

Both the chicken and sauce come together in under 45 minutes and would be a welcome addition to your list of dinner party recipes or would come in handy when you have a house guests. I served it with tomatoes Provençal, link to recipe here.

It’s one of Cooking Light’s most popular recipes ever. Feel free to substitute bacon for the pancetta and for the mascarpone I used cream cheese because I had it on hand. Don’t pass this one by.

Chicken Breasts with Pancetta Cream and Peas
Adapted from Cooking Light’s The Weeknight Chicken Book – serves 4
Printable Recipe

1 tablespoon olive oil
4 small garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 ½ ounces pancetta or bacon, chopped
4 6-ounce skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
½ cup dry white wine
1 cup unsalted chicken stock
2 tablespoons mascarpone or cream cheese – I used low fat cream cheese
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons water
1 cup frozen green peas, thawed (unthawed worked fine)

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add garlic; cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove garlic from pan using a slotted spoon, and then set aside. Increase heat to medium-high. Add pancetta and sauté 4 minutes or until crisp. Remove pancetta from pan using a slotted spoon and reserve.

Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper and sauté 4 minutes on each side. Remove chicken from pan. Add wine; bring to a boil, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Cook until the liquid almost evaporates (about 3 minutes). Return chicken to pan. Add stock; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium, cover, and cook for 6 – 8 minutes or until chicken is done. Remove chicken from pan and cover to keep warm.

Add mascarpone or cream cheese to pan and stir with a whisk until smooth. Combine water and flour, stirring with a whisk. Add flour mixture to pan. Bring to a boil and cook 2 minutes or until sauce is thickened and creamy. Stir in reserved pancetta, garlic, and peas. Cook 1 minute. Spoon sauce over chicken.

Cook's notes: If you don't serve this with something red such as the tomato Provencal and want to add a bit of color, you can add some red bell pepper, cut up in small pieces and sauteed until crispy to the sauce. We did that with the left-overs and it was delicious as well as pretty.

For better viewing, click photos to enlarge.

I’ll be sharing this with Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge Farms and Miz Helen’s Country Kitchen’s Full Plate Thursday.

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Onto an another note - Life is full of surprises. One minute you're on top of your game & the next minute you're flat on your face. That's exactly what happened to me. The other day I was flying high and feeling great and before I knew what happened, I tripped on a step and found myself flat on my face on the concrete - literally flat on my face. Needless to say that has definitely taken the wind out of my sails.

Add to that - we depart in a matter of days for a 2 month adventure in Provence and the South of France. Consequently those two things have altered my plans somewhat for the blog. I thought I would have time to prepare some preplanned posts for you and have them come on automatically while we were gone, but that plan flew out of the window with my fall. I'm black & blue (add to that a black eye and bruises on my face), am very sore and quite frankly just not up to the task. But I do know I lucky I am and how much worse it could have been. We are still excited about the trip and I do have a new post scheduled for next week to tell you about our trip and where we're going. 

For those of you who follow My Carolina Kitchen on Facebook, you can catch me there while we're gone. I plan to post some pictures from time to time while we're away. Click here to follow on our trip on Facebook. 

So I'll leave you with an à bientôt (see you soon) and lots of promises for many fun-filled posts about Provence & the South of France when we return near the end of June. Next week I'll explain where we're going and some of the things we plan to see. 

In the meantime, take care everyone and I hope you have a lovely spring.

Sam & Meakin

Spanish Chicken, Rice, Shrimp & Chorizo turned into a mock Paella

This dish began as a simple Spanish chicken and rice dish and by adding some saffron, Spanish chorizo and shrimp I was able to turn it into a party friendly version of mock Spanish paella. It’s a flavorful one dish meal that comes together in less than an hour. To round out the meal, serve with a crusty baguette, a lightly dressed green salad and pour a good Spanish red wine from the Rioja region.

If you research paella on the internet, you’ll find many versions. I found this one from Tio Peppe’s restaurant in Greenwich Village very attractive and a doable presentation for a home cook. If you look at their paella picture here, you’ll see that the Chef garnished his paella with well placed slices of roasted red peppers, then sprinkled green peas atop the red peppers and a few slices of Spanish chorizo were strewn about to give the dish a big pop of color and flavor. I noticed that he chose to serve the paella in a dark bowl, which I also found appealing from a color standpoint. So there’s no stopping what you can do with a simple base of chicken and rice simmered together in a tomato and wine sauce.

Spanish Chicken, Rice, Shrimp & Chorizo turned into a mock Paella
Adapted from Real Simple – serves 4
Printable Recipe

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed of excess fat & cut into 2 ½” inch pieces
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 medium yellow onion, sliced
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 cup dry white wine
1 28-ounce can whole tomatoes, crushed & torn into pieces, including liquid
¼ teaspoon dried saffron, crumbled (optional)
1 cup long-grain white rice
¾ pound peeled & deveined wild caught shrimp (optional)
1 cup frozen green peas
¼ cup pimento-stuffed Spanish olives, cut in half
4 to 5 ounces Spanish chorizo, roughly diced (optional)
¼ cup flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped + extra sprigs for garnish

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and cook until golden brown, 2 minutes per side.

Add the onion and bell pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the wine, tomatoes and their liquid, saffron, rice, salt, and freshly ground black pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes, or until 5 minutes before the rice is done. Stir in shrimp and continue to cook for 5 more minutes until rice & shrimp are done.

Stir the peas, olives, & chopped chorizo into the rice and chicken and cook, covered, until heated through, about 2 minutes. Spoon the chicken and rice into a platter or onto individual plates and sprinkle with the parsley. If desired, garnish with a sprig of parsley.

For better viewing, click photos to enlarge.

This will be shared with Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge Farm and Miz Helen’s Country Kitchen Full Plate Thursday.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Meyer Lemon Chicken

Crusty chicken studded with slices of bright yellow Meyer lemons and browned potatoes makes a very pretty dish and is certainly company worthy.

Meyer lemons are a cross between regular lemons and mandarin oranges. They have a sweeter, more floral taste and their skins are thinner, making them harder to transport and handle. They grow well in warm climates where it doesn’t freeze, such as southern California and south Florida.

Meyer lemons sometimes can be difficult to find, but the have have become increasingly popular so you might be surprised where you can and can't find them. It’s funny how I can almost always count on our supermarket in the mountains to have a bag of Meyer lemons. And here we are 750 miles south in southwest Florida where Meyer lemons grow locally and one day I saw them and the next day they were gone. That’s what happened to me when I decided to buy the lemons for this dish. Publix doesn’t carry them, however a nearby farm stand had lots of locally grown Meyer lemons (try saying Fort Myers Meyer lemons quickly 3 times in a row) the other day when we were there to pick up a box of local strawberries. The very next day when we went to buy the lemons, poof, they were all gone. So you never know. But don’t fear if you can’t find Meyer lemons though. Just add a pinch of sugar to regular lemon juice and you’ll replicate the flavors of a Meyer lemon.

This is the kind of dish I save for weekends when I’m not in a hurry to get dinner on the table. It’s not a quick dish to prepare and requires some active prep time. However, the flavors are well worth the extra minutes it takes.

Meyer Lemon Chicken
Adapted from Cooking Light – serves 6 – 1 breast or 1 thigh per person
Printable Recipe

2 skin-on, bone-in chicken breasts, cut in halves crosswise
2 skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 pound small red potatoes, quartered
1 Meyer lemon, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices, then remove seeds
1/4 cup finely chopped shallots
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 cup low salt or unsalted chicken stock, divided
1 teaspoon cornstarch
2 ounces pitted olives, we used a combination of green and kalamata
2 tablespoons fresh Meyer lemon juice
Pinch of sugar, not necessary unless you are using a regular lemon
2 tablespoons butter
Fresh parsley leaves

Preheat oven to 400°.

Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to a large ovenproof skillet, swirl the oil around, then turn the heat to medium-high. Sprinkle chicken with salt and freshly ground black pepper on both sides.  Add chicken to pan, skin side down; cook 6 minutes or until skin is golden brown and crisp. Turn chicken over. Place pan in oven. Bake at 400° for 12 minutes or until a thermometer inserted in thickest portion of chicken registers 165°.

Remove chicken from pan; keep warm. Discard pan drippings (do not wipe pan clean). Add 1 tablespoon oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add potatoes to pan; sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cook potatoes on each side until done all the way through and browned. Remove potatoes from pan. Add lemon slices to pan; cook 1 minute on each side or until browned. Remove lemons from pan. Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add shallots and garlic; sauté 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add wine and chopped fresh thyme; cook 1 minute or until liquid almost evaporates, scraping pan to loosen browned bits.

Return potatoes and lemon slices to pan. Add 2/3 cup chicken stock, 1/4 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of freshly ground black pepper & cook until potatoes are completely tender. Combine remaining 1/3 cup stock with cornstarch and stir with a whisk to combine. Add cornstarch mixture and olives to pan; bring to a boil. Cook 1 minute, stirring occasionally. Add a pinch of sugar to the lemon juice if you used a regular lemon, and then add the lemon juice and butter, stirring until butter melts. Return chicken to pan, turning to coat. Sprinkle with parsley and serve right away with the pan sauce.

Cook’s notes: Meyer lemons aren’t as tart as a regular lemon. If you use a regular lemon, add a nice pinch of sugar to the lemon juice to help replicate the milder Meyer lemon juice. Use small potatoes, or if all you can find is large potatoes, cut them into pieces the size of a quartered small potato. No matter what their size, be sure to cook the potatoes until they are cooked all the way through when you are browning them in the first phase because they will cook only a little bit more at the end of the recipe. Our chicken breasts were huge. If yours are very small, you might want to use three breasts. If your chicken thighs are very small, I would suggest using 4 – 6. Our thighs were fairly small compared to the breasts and one thigh made a rather small serving.

For better viewing, click photos to enlarge.

This will be shared with Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge Farm and Miz Helen’s Country Kitchen Full Plate Thursday.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Sweet-and-Sour Chicken

Wait until the aromas of this chicken suddenly fill your house while it's browning. If anyone’s home, you’ll have to beat ‘em away with a wooden spoon because this dish smells soooo good. These spice rubbed chickens thighs are braised alongside carrots and onions in a sweet-and-sour honey-lemon sauce and I swear you’ll think you’re on a holiday in some exotic country.

While this may smell like it’s been braising all day, it’s ready to serve in an hour, including about 30 minutes active time. That to me is an easy, week-day meal with little fuss and great results. I usually shy away from much sugar in savory dishes, but there’s only two tablespoons of honey for four to six people, so that’s not really that much sugar considering.

Rice makes a nice accompaniment, but if you think you won’t miss it or are watching carbs, the chicken and vegetables are great on their own.

Here, why don’t you have a bite?

Sweet-and-Sour Chicken
Slightly adapted from Gourmet Weekly, serves 4 to 6
Printable Recipe

8 small chicken thighs with bones, skin removed (optional), about 2 ½ to 2 ¾ pounds total
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 ½ teaspoons Hungarian paprika
¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 ½ tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, peeled & halved, then cut lengthwise into ¼-inch-wide strips
1 pound carrots, peeled & cut on the diagonal into 1” pieces
2 tablespoons minced garlic
½ cup water
¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tablespoons mild honey
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh cilantro

Pat chicken dry and season with salt and pepper on both sides. Stir together the paprika and cinnamon and rub onto chicken.

Heat oil in a 12” heavy non-stick skillet over moderately high heat until it shimmers, then brown chicken in 2 batches, taking care not to crowd the pan. Turn once. It should take about 10 minutes per batch. Transfer browned chicken to a plate.

Discard all but 3 tablespoons fat from skillet, then add onion and carrots. (If you removed the skin as we did, you may have to add some oil to equal 3 tablespoons.) Sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until onions begin to brown, about 8 to 10 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring about 1 minute, taking care that the garlic doesn’t burn.

Return chicken to what would be skin side up to skillet and nest it into vegetables. Stir together water, lemon juice, and honey until blended, then add to skillet. (Tip - spray measuring spoon with cooking spray such as Pam first before measuring the honey to keep the honey from sticking to the spoon.)  Skim any fat from the sauce, then taste for seasonings. Sprinkle with herbs right before serving.

For better viewing, click photos to enlarge.

This will be shared with Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge Farm and Miz Helen’s Country Kitchen Full Plate Thursday.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Chicken Cutlets with Raspberries, Lemon Rice & Green Beans Gremolata + Valentines Day Dessert Ideas

Chicken cutlets with raspberry make a perfect entrée for an intimate evening, such as Valentines’ Day. I’ve paired it with lemon rice and Ina’s green beans gremolata for an easy-to-put-together dinner. If you also have in mind a fancy dessert but want to be able to prepare it in advance, I have three suggestions for you, starting with a decadent chocolate raspberry tart if you want to continue the raspberry theme, recipe here.  

Still on the thoughts of chocolate, the classic French chocolate mousse is always a winner, recipe here.

And of course you can never go wrong with Crème Brûlée, recipe here.

The chicken cutlets with raspberries recipe comes together very quickly by using thin cutlets, available in the poultry section of your market, saving you the time of pounding regular chicken breasts. Frozen raspberries work perfectly fine (no one will guess they are frozen, promise) for the sauce of red raspberries, but it’s nice to add a few fresh ones to garnish the finished dish. I always think rice is a nice addition to a dinner that contains a sauce. Lemon rice is an excellent dish when you need a delicate, fresh flavor with an important main course. And of course Ina’s green beans gremolata are so versatile and pair well with almost any chicken dish.

Chicken Cutlets with Raspberries
Slightly adapted from The Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook by Sheila Lukins and Julie Rosso, serves 6
Printable Recipe

12 thin skinless, boneless chicken cutlets or 6 whole chicken breasts (12 halves), skinless, boneless, and pounded thin (1/4 inch)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons raspberry vinegar
½ cup dry white wine
1 ½ cups fresh or frozen raspberries, thawed if frozen
1 knob of cold, unsalted butter
Finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley for garnish
A few fresh raspberries for each serving as a garnish

Sprinkle both sides of chicken pieces with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Melt the butter in a large sauté pan over medium heat and sauté the chicken, a few pieces at a time, in the butter just until browned on each side. Remove to a warm serving platter.

Pour the vinegar and wine into the pan to deglaze it. Stir in the raspberries and cook over high heat, stirring constantly, until reduced by half. Remove from the heat and a knob of cold, unsalted butter and stir to incorporate into the sauce. Pour the sauce over the chicken breasts and serve immediately. Garnish with chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley and a few fresh raspberries for each serving. Serve with lemon rice.

My Mother’s Rice – method works every time
From My Carolina Kitchen by Sam Hoffer
Printable Recipe

My mother had a very easy but unusual way to cook rice and I’ll share her method with you. It always turned out perfectly, no lumps or sticky clumps, and no fancy cookers. She cooked the rice in lots of boiling salted water, the same way you cook pasta. Twenty minutes for white rice, 35 minutes for brown. After draining it well, she put the rice back in the pan, stirred in a pat of butter, and left it covered on the stove for up to twenty minutes before serving. Her preferred brand of rice was Uncle Ben’s converted rice and I’ve never used anything else, so I’m not sure how it would work with other brands. But I will add that this recipe has never let me down. Recently Cooking Light magazine recommended the same method.

Lemon rice: 
Inspired by The Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook by Sheila Lukins and Julie Rosso, serves 4 to 6

Proportionally for every cup of uncooked rice from recipe above, stir in 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest to cooked rice after is has been drained. Let the rice and lemon zest mixture stand together, covered, for 5 minutes in the pan. Add some finely chopped fresh herb of your choice (flat-leaf parsley or dill) along with a pat of butter, check for seasonings and serve immediately.

Green Beans Gremolata
Slightly Adapted from Foolproof, by Ina Garten, serves 4 to 6
Printable Recipe

1 pound French green beans, trimmed
Kosher salt
2 teaspoons minced garlic (2 cloves)
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
3 tablespoons minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts (I used a mixture of toasted almonds, walnuts, and pistachios)
2½ tablespoons good extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the green beans and blanch them for 2 to 3 minutes, until tender but still crisp. Drain the beans in a colander and immediately put them into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking and preserve their bright green color.

For the gremolata, toss the garlic, lemon zest, parsley, Parmesan, and nuts in a small bowl and set aside.

When ready to serve, heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Drain the beans and pat them dry. Add the beans to the pan and sauté, turning frequently, for 2 minutes, until coated with olive oil and heated through. Off the heat, add the gremolata and toss well. Sprinkle with 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and serve hot.

For better viewing, click photos to enlarge.

This will be shared with Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge Farm, Miz Helen’s Country Kitchen Full Plate Thursday , & Food on Friday at Carole's Chatter.

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone.  

Chicken Marengo

Chicken Marengo is one of my all time favorite French recipes, dating from when I first learned to cook as a new bride. This recipe is from my first cookbook, With a Jug of Wine by Morrison Wood. Morrison Wood wrote a newspaper column called “For Men Only!” which appeared weekly in the Chicago Daily Tribune and other newspapers. Not only do his recipes endear me to the book, but his stories that introduce the recipes are delightful entertaining and you feel he’s right there in the kitchen with you.

With a Jug of Wine was first published in 1949 and the recipes, some with a French flair. Among the recipes are Boeuf Bourguignon, Boeuf de Daube, Cassoulet, File of Sole Normande, Lobster Thermidor, Cocquille le Sainte Jacques, Partridges a la Chausser, and Shrimp De Jonghe from a famous Chicago restaurant by the same name (a Hoffer family favorite going way back) weren’t widely available to the home cook. Morrison Wood was far ahead of his time. Remember, Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking wasn’t published until 1961. I find Morrison Wood’s recipes to be every bit as reliable as Julia Child and Ina Garten.

I’m not the only one who loves Morrison Wood. My friend Barbara of Movable Feasts recently touted With a Jug of Wine and featured Morrison Wood’s chili, link here, which I also agree is some very fine chili. Long out of print, copies of the cookbook can be found from time to time at Amazon and from other internet sources.

The wonderful history of Chicken Marengo alone is enough reason to serve it at a dinner party. A great conversation starter at the table is to tell your guests about its colorful history. Napoleon’s chef was a man named Durand. According to legend, when Napoleon defeated the Austrians on the battlefield near the village of Marengo in northwest Italy in June of 1800, Durand created the dish Chicken Marengo. The supply trains hadn’t been able to keep up with the troops, so there wasn’t anything with which to make dinner for the temperamental Napoleon. Durand decided to send some of his men into the countryside to find provisions for a celebration dinner. On a nearby farm they found chicken, mushrooms, tomatoes, onions, olive oil and garlic.

There are dozens of stories about the creation of the actual dish. Some say it was garnished with crayfish and fried eggs; others insist it included olives, anchovies, and Italian Prosciutto, which would make it Chicken a la Provençale. Several years ago I did a post on Chicken Marengo and combined Chicken Marengo with Chicken a la Provençale, link here. Today I’ve gone back to Morrison Wood’s original Chicken Marengo.  I took the liberty to use boneless, skinless chicken breasts, but it’s equally delicious with a cut up whole chicken, as the original recipe called for. I urge you to give it a try. It’s simple to make and is always a hit. I like to serve it with my mother’s rice, recipe here, and green beans with toasted almonds. It's interesting that several years ago Cooking Light magazine had an article on how to perfectly cook rice and it was exactly the same method as my moms.

Chicken Marengo
Le Poulet Marengo
Slightly adapted from “With a Jug of Wine” by Morrison Wood, serves 4
Printable Recipe

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts or a whole cut up chicken
Flour for dredging
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup olive oil
4 small white onions, peeled & chopped
1 small clove of garlic, minced
1 ½ cups sliced fresh mushrooms
2 tablespoons minced parsley
4 tomatoes, peeled and sliced (canned, crushed first, are fine, including their juices)
1 cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon brandy
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon flour
Chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley for garnish

Remove any excess skin from the chicken, then salt and pepper them and dust lightly with flour. In a large non-stick skillet, heat the olive oil, and sauté the chicken until golden brown, turning frequently so all of the pieces are done evenly. Remove chicken from skillet and keep warm.

In the same skillet, put chopped onions, garlic, mushrooms, parsley, and more olive oil if necessary. Cook this mixture until the mushrooms are tender, then add the tomatoes and their juices, dry white wine, brandy, tomato paste and 1 tablespoons flour. Mix and blend the ingredients well and allow to simmer over a medium flame for about 10 minutes. Now put the chicken in the sauce, cover the pan, and simmer until the chicken is completely tender, about 15 to 20 minutes for boneless, skinless breasts and 30 minutes or so for a whole cut up chicken. Serve with the sauce and garnish with chopped parsley. Fluffy rice, seasoned with finely chopped flat-leaf parsley and a pat of butter, makes a nice accompaniment.

For better viewing, click photos to enlarge.

This will be shared with Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge Farm, Food on Friday at Carole's Chatter and Miz Helen’s Country Kitchen Full Plate Thursday.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Chicken Braised in Wine and Rosemary

Chicken that tastes just like it has been braised for hours but cooks in only 45 minutes? I don’t know. I have to try it for myself - and it did and it does. Hard to believe, but there’s a tiny little secret and here’s what it is. Cut a ½ inch deep slit in the chicken, which to my surprise actually worked. That small cut expedites the cooking time, making the dish taste likes it’s braised for hours.

As you can see in the photos, I left the skin on the chicken, which was quite by accident. It seems the trend in writing recipes today is to make the instructions as short as possible (so as not to intimidate the reader I assume), so “skinned” was listed after the word “chicken” in the ingredients list, not in the instructions, so I missed it. It won’t ruin the recipe, but I recommend skinning the chicken and removing any excess fat. Otherwise you might need to let the dish rest in the refrigerator overnight and then remove the fat the rises to the top before reheating.

Asparagus (My Carolina Kitchen’s basic recipe here) with a lemon butter drizzle and creamy mashed potatoes both make an excellent accompaniment. Feel free to use part drumsticks for half of the chicken thighs as the original recipe called for. We thought our additions of the kalamata olives and more fresh rosemary brought a bit more flavor & depth to the dish.

Chicken Braised in Wine and Rosemary
Adapted from Cooking Light – serves 4
Printable Recipe

8 bone-in chicken thighs (about 1 ¼ pounds), skinned
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
¼ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup chopped shallots
1 tablespoon peeled & chopped garlic
½ - 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
1 cup dry red wine (I used a Pinot Noir)
1 cup chicken stock or broth (I use low fat, low sodium version)
1 teaspoon sugar
1 (14.5 ounce) can whole tomatoes, crushed and undrained
1 bay leaf
1/3 cup Kalamata olives, pitted and halved
Chopped Italian flat leaf parsley
Rosemary sprigs, for garnish

Make 1 cut, 1/2-inch-deep, in each chicken piece and sprinkle chicken evenly with salt and pepper. Heat a large Dutch oven over high heat. Add oil to pan and swirl to coat. Place flour in a shallow dish. Dredge chicken in flour. Add chicken to pan and cook 5 minutes on each side. Remove chicken from pan. You may need to cook the chicken in batches so you don’t crowd the pan.

Add shallots, garlic, and rosemary to pan. Cook 2 minutes or until tender, stirring frequently. Take care not to let the shallots or garlic burn. Add wine to pan and bring to a boil. Cook 1 minute, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Add chicken stock, sugar, tomatoes, bay leaf and olives. Bring mixture to a boil and return chicken to pan. Reduce heat to medium and cook, partially covered, 15 minutes or until chicken is done, turning chicken once. Test for doneness & taste for salt and pepper. Discard bay leaf, then transfer chicken to a platter and ladle sauce over. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and rosemary sprigs and serve right away.

For better viewing, click photos to enlarge.

This will be shared with Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge Farm and Miz Helen’s Country Kitchen Full Plate Thursday.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Barefoot Contessa’s Parmesan Chicken topped with Salad Recipe

Parmesan chicken topped with a salad is one of our favorite Ina Garten recipes. Often it’s the recipe I go to when I want a dinner that’s not complicated but guaranteed to be delicious every time.

Recently I received my copy of Ina’s latest cookbook Make It Ahead and already I can tell I’m going to love this book. It’s full of Ina’s normal solid, no nonsense advice and no-fail tasty recipes that we’ve come to expect from her plus they all can be made ahead.

This recipe for Parmesan chicken topped with a green salad could have easily been in her new Make It Ahead book. If you let the chicken rest on a rack in the refrigerator for about half an hour it helps to dry the coating so it won’t steam when sautéing. The vinaigrette for the salad can be made a couple of days ahead and left to chill in the refrigerator. Salad ingredients can be cleaned and assembled in advance, so the only thing left to do at the last minute is to brown the chicken (which does require a bit of attention) and toss the salad.

This chicken recipe is similar to a family favorite I’ve made for years – my father’s unfried chicken here. The only major difference is that this chicken is pounded flat plus there’s Parmesan cheese in the bread crumb coating. My father always added several generous shakes of hot sauce such as Tabasco to his egg mixture for extra flavor and I like to do the same. I've used our house vinaigrette because it's very similar to Ina's lemon vinaigrette minus the shallots. Spring mix is my favorite combination of greens, but as you’ll notice in the photos, some of the darker lettuces don’t photograph well. Next time for appearance sake if I were photographing the salad, I would use all light green lettuces.

The charm of this dish is the cold crispy salad greens atop hot “fried” chicken. If you are a fried chicken lover, I know you’ll really like this sophisticated version sautéed in good butter and quality olive oil. Here, why don’t you have a bite?

Parmesan Chicken with Salad
Adapted from Barefoot Contessa Family Style by Ina Garten – serves 6
Printable Recipe

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed of excess fat
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
2 large eggs
A few good dashes of hot sauce, such as Tabasco
1 ¼ cups seasoned dry bread Italian style bread crumbs
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra for serving
Unsalted butter
Good olive oil
Meslun salad greens for 6
About 6 small handfuls of grape tomato halves for color, optional
My Carolina Kitchen’s French vinaigrette (recipe below)

Sprinkle two sheets of wax paper or plastic wrap with a few drops of water to keep them from tearing. Pound the chicken breasts between wax paper or plastic wrap until they are ¼ inch thick. You can use either a meat mallet or a rolling pin.

Combine the flour, salt and pepper on a sheet of wax paper. In a bowl, beat the eggs with 1 tablespoon of water and a few good dashes of hot sauce. On another sheet of wax paper, combine the bread crumbs and ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese. Coat the chicken breast on both sides with the flour mixture, shaking off the excess, dip both sides into the egg mixture, then dredge both sides in the bread-crumb cheese mixture, pressing lightly. Place breaded chicken on a rack on a sheet pan and refrigerate for about 30 minutes to help dry the coating so it won’t steam when sautéing.

While the chicken is chilling, chill a bowl for the salad, make the vinaigrette and store in the refrigerator. If you like, the vinaigrette can be made several days in advance and kept in the refrigerator.

Remove the chicken from the refrigerator. Heat 2 tablespoon of butters and 2 tablespoon of olive oil in a large sauté pan and cook 2 or 3 chicken breasts, taking care not to crowd the pan, on medium-low heat for about 2-3 minutes on each side, or until cooked through, taking care not to let the cheese burn. Add more butter and oil and cook the rest of the chicken breasts. You may wish to do the chicken in batches. The chicken breasts can be kept warm for about 15 minutes on a sheet pan in a 200-degree oven or your warming drawer.

At the last minute toss the salad greens in the chilled bowl with vinaigrette and optional grape tomato halves. Place a chicken breast on each plate, sprinkle with a little sea salt, mound salad greens on top of the hot chicken, add a few more grains of sea salt to the salad and serve right away. Pass extra grated parmesan at the table if desired.

My Carolina Kitchen’s French Vinaigrette
Serves 6

3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons), or limes or red wine vinegar also work well
9 tablespoons good olive oil
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
Couple of dashes of hot sauce, such as Tabasco
Maldon sea salt, or other good sea salt, and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Place all of the ingredients into a jar with a tight fitting lid and shake well.  Can be made in advance and stored in the refrigerator and also saves well for several days. Easily doubled or tripled.

Cook’s note: The mustard is used to emulsify the vinaigrette and to keep it from separating. The hot sauce brings added flavor and is highly recommended.

For better viewing, click on photos to enlarge.

Thank each of you for the kind comments last week and your support of My Carolina Kitchen for the past six years. The winner of last week’s giveaway,
Little Paris Cookbook, is Kaye Barley. Congratulations Kaye. Please email me your address and I’ll get the book right off to you right away.

This will be shared with Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge Farm, Miz Helen’s Country Kitchen Full Plate Thursday, eekend Bites at Simple Recipes, & Food on Friday at Carole's Chatter.    

Have a great weekend everyone.

Baby Greens with Fresh Cherries, Gorgonzola Cheese, & Chicken with Raspberry Vinaigrette to celebrate Fresh Cherries

It’s cherry time and I have a new recipe to add to my repertoire of cherry dishes – a main course salad of baby greens with fresh cherries, crumbled creamy gorgonzola cheese and grilled chicken, dressed with a raspberry walnut vinaigrette. Of course you could always exclude the chicken and make this a side salad to Ina’s roasted lemon chicken with homemade croutons, link to post & recipe here, which is what we are serving tonight for dinner guests.

The inspiration for this salad came from Better Homes and Garden’s Skinny One Dishes. They suggested bottled raspberry vinaigrette, which you know isn’t going to happen in this kitchen. I always make my own vinaigrettes and why not - it’s so easy to make your own and they come together in a matter of minutes. I’ve had luck finding raspberry vinegar at Italian markets and Amazon has a nice selection on line, link here.

The most daunting task with cherries is pitting them and I have a solution there too. A cherry pitter is one of my favorite kitchen gadgets and it also does a great job of pitting olives too. For years I had an old handheld pitter and after a while, my hand would start to hurt. Enter a gift from my brother-in-law – a brand new pitter that pits four cherries at a time with a swift one hand motion. It’s available at Sur la Table and happens to be on sale, link here. If you pit olives or cherries often, you owe it to yourself to have a pitter and I’m not a gadget person.

One quick tip about pitting and slicing cherries, especially light colored ones such as Rainier – don’t do it too far in advance or the edges of the cherries turn dark. I learned this from experience and I won’t make that mistake again.

Baby Greens with Fresh Cherries, Gorgonzola Cheese, & Chicken with Raspberry Vinaigrette
My Carolina Kitchen, Sam Hoffer – serves 4
Printable Recipe

4 cups baby greens
¾ cup fresh pitted and halved dark sweet fresh cherries
1 pound grilled or roasted chicken breasts, cut in half-strips, optional if you wish to make this a side salad
Maldon sea salt or other good quality sea salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
¼ cup crumbled gorgonzola or blue cheese, or more to taste
Raspberry vinaigrette, recipe below

Combine baby greens, cherries, and chicken in a large salad bowl and toss well. Drizzle with the raspberry vinaigrette, then season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Taste the salad and correct seasonings if necessary. Serve on individual plates or in shallow bowls, garnish with the crumbled cheese, and serve right away.

Cook’s note: If you are working with light colored cherries such as Rainier, pit and slice them at the last minute, otherwise they may darken around the edges.

Raspberry Vinaigrette
My Carolina Kitchen, Sam Hoffer – serves 4
Printable Recipe

4 tablespoons raspberry vinegar
4 tablespoons walnut oil or extra-virgin olive oil
Pinch of sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 teaspoons crème fraîche or good quality sour cream

Combine ingredients in a small jar with a tight fitting lid and shake well. Use right away or make ahead and store in the refrigerator for several days.

From the archives, here are three more of my favorite cherry recipes, just in time for cherry season.

Spicy fresh cherry salsa with peaches, served with sliced pork tenderloin, link to post and recipe here.

Boozy cherries with lavender, an easy version of Cherries Jubilee, served over toast or vanilla ice cream, link to post and recipe here.

And another salad, this time with Rainier cherries, creamy goat cheese and crunchy pistachios over greens, link to post and recipe here.

This will be shared with Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge Farm, Miz Helen’s Country Kitchen Full Plate Thursday, and Foodie Friday at Simple Recipes.  

Have a great weekend everyone.

An Updated Version of Jezebel Sauce – also known as Dixie Relish

Are you familiar with Jezebel sauce, also known as Dixie relish? Apparently it’s an old Southern staple, but somehow in my Deep South upbringing, Jezebel sauce escaped my life completely. Recently an inviting picture of Jezebel sauce served over nicely charred pan-roasted chicken appeared in Garden & Gun magazine (read more about the magazine at the end of the post). It caught my eye and I instantly became intrigued with the sauce named Jezebel and wanted to know its origin.

According to Garden & Gun magazine, one of the great authorities on life in the South, “Jezebel sauce is a base of apple jelly and pineapple preserves tricked out with horseradish and yellow mustard and traditionally served with a baked ham or spooned over cream cheese and served with crackers.” Maybe if you grew up with it you might love it as you do other old family favorites such as Thanksgiving’s green bean mushroom soup casserole. But from the description above the overly sweet sauce just doesn’t sound very appealing to me.

Flash forward to today. Tandy Williams, Chef at City House in Nashville, Tennessee, has totally reworked this old South classic and has brought  Jezebel sauce into the twenty-first century. He caramelized red onions on the grill, then mixed them with grainy mustard and horseradish for a nice tang. Then he added marmalade and sorghum (another Southern staple) to give the sauce a nice depth of flavor and squeezed some fresh lemon juice to give it a nice tart edge. Now that’s more to my liking.

Chef Tandy serves Jezebel sauce over chicken thighs, pan-roasted to perfection in a black cast iron skillet in a hot oven, which is what I’ve done today along with green beans as a side dish. I readily admit that at first I was a bit skeptical about whether I or not I would like Jezebel sauce, but by the same token I was anxious to give the updated version a try. We both thought the slightly tangy, slightly sweet sauce was outstanding and it will definitely be a “have-again” at our house. I also think that Jezebel sauce would be fantastic served with any cut of grilled or roasted chicken or pork chops. It’s so good that it just might become a staple in my refrigerator.

Memorial Day weekend is coming up. If you’re planning on cooking out, I suggest that you make a jar of Jezebel sauce and give it a try yourself over chicken or chops. I’m planning on serving it on grilled hot dogs this weekend. I predict Jezebel sauce, or Dixie relish if you prefer, will surprise you how good it is as much as it did me.    

Red Onion Jezebel Sauce 
Adapted from Garden & Gun & Tandy Wilson, Chef at City House in Nashville, Tennessee– serves 4
Printable recipe

2 medium red onions
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons grainy mustard – I used a grainy Creole mustard
2 tablespoons fresh horseradish, grated – I used prepared, drained well
2 tablespoons lemon marmalade – I used orange
1 tablespoon sorghum – I used honey
1 lemon (zest lemon first if making the pan-roasted chicken thighs)

Cut the top and exposed root off of the onions, then peel and quarter from top to bottom. Brush onion quarters with the oil and season with salt and pepper.  Prepare a charcoal grill, or heat a gas grill, or alternately roast onions on a baking pan in a preheated 400 degree F oven, cut side down until browned on the bottom. Let the onions cool, then chop into small pieces.

Mix together the mustard, horseradish, marmalade, sorghum, and juice form the lemon. Fold in the onion & season with salt and pepper. Place the sauce in a jar with a tight fitting lid and refrigerate overnight. Sauce can be refrigerated for up to two weeks in the refrigerator. Before using the sauce, remove from the refrigerator to take the chill off.

If desired, serve the sauce with pan-roasted chicken thighs (recipe below) or other roasted or grilled meats of your choice.

Pan-Roasted Chicken Thighs
Adapted from Garden & Gun & Tandy Wilson, Chef at City House in Nashville, Tennessee– serves 4
Printable recipe

4 chicken thighs, bone-in and skin on
Zest of one lemon
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Olive oil (or vegetable or canola oil)

The day before serving the dish, zest lemon and season chicken thighs with salt, pepper, and zest. Cover and refrigerate at least four hours or overnight.

When ready to cook, remove the chicken (and the Jezebel sauce) from the refrigerator to take the chill off. Place a 12-inch cast-iron skilled in the oven and preheat to 425 degrees F. When the pan is hot, remove it from the oven and add two tablespoons of oil and then the chicken, skin side down. Roast for 15 to 17 minutes, or longer if needed depending on your oven (ours took over 20 minutes) until the chicken skin is crispy and the meat is just cooked through.

To serve, place a quarter cup of Jezebel sauce on the plate, add a piece of chicken, then top with another spoonful of sauce. Green beans go nicely with this dish.

With regard to Garden & Gun magazine, if you love the South or enjoy knowing more about it and have never read Garden & Gun magazine you are in for a real treat. I find that the magazine goes much more in depth about life in the south and its food and culture than other publications, samples of covers above. The word gun in the title refers to the sport of hunting and Southern gentlemen, much like the English, have always loved grand old hunting lodges and have a soft spot in their heart for their hounds. My fathers two sweet old bird dogs accompanied me in my baby stroller everywhere I went and stood guard until it was time to go home.

When I first heard of the magazine I wondered about the name and here’s what Rebecca Darwin, President and CEO of Garden & Gun has to say.

What’s in a Name?
“I am often asked about the title of the magazine, particularly from folks who have not read the magazine yet. The simplest explanation that I can offer is that it is a metaphor for the South—its land, the people, their lifestyle, and their heritage.” Rebecca Wesson Darwin, President and CEO, Garden & Gun

This will be shared with Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge Farm, Miz Helen’s Country Kitchen Full Plate Thursday, Try a New Recipe Tuesday at Home to 4 Kiddos, and Foodie Friday at Simple Recipes.  

Have a great weekend everyone and if you are in the states, 

Happy Memorial Day.

Jeweler’s Chicken or Poulet Bijoutiere

This chicken is called Jeweler’s chicken, not just because it’s so rich, but because of the beautiful ruby-garnet color of the pomegranate seeds. I made a similar chicken dish recently – Pomegranate Glazed Chicken, seen here.

I found this recipe came in a marvelous French cookbook Chez Bonne Femme by Wini Moranville. Wini also shares some of recipes on her website The Bonne Femme Cookbook, link here.

If you’ve ever wondered if French bonne femmes modern cook with pomegranate juice (I did), Winni assures you they do. Pomegranate juice is called jus de grenade in French and should not be confused with grenadine, a cocktail syrup. She also cautions you not to substitute grenadine for the pomegranate juice.

I made a few petite but minor changes to the original recipe. For our taste, bone-in, fat on chicken thighs contains too much excess fatty skin. I removed as much of the fatty skin as I possibly could, plus I totally removed the bottom piece of skin from the chicken, leaving only the top piece. I also deglazed the pan with the wine before adding the chicken back into the pan after the initial browning step. Our chicken thighs were large and in that case, I felt one was plenty for a serving as opposed to two. But if you have a hearty eater or your thighs are on the small size, by all means serve the recommended two.

If you can’t find fresh pomegranate seeds, you can always remove them the easy way using Chris from The Café Sucre Farine’s method shown here. Hot cooked rice and a green vegetable, such as green beans, go well with this dish.

Jeweler’s Chicken or Poulet Bijoutiere
Adapted from The Bonne Femme Cookbook by Wini Moranville – serves 4

8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
5 garlic cloves, crushed
4 large shallots, peeled & quartered
¼ cup semi-sweet white wine, such an off dry German Riesling
¾ cup pomegranate juice
¼ cup low-sodium, low-fat chicken broth
2 sprigs of fresh thyme
3 tablespoons red currant jelly
Fresh pomegranate arils (seeds) for garnish

Remove as much excess fat from the chicken thighs as possible, leaving the skin on one side only. (I also removed the bottom piece of skin.) Season on both sides with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Rub the inside of a large, deep skillet or good size brazier with one of the garlic cloves, then discard the clove. Heat the oil in the pan over medium-high heat until it shimmers; add chicken and cook, stirring occasionally, until brown on all sides, about 10 to 15 minutes. The chicken will cook further in the recipe. Reduce the heat to medium if the chicken browns too quickly. Do not crowd the pan or the chicken will steam, so you may want to brown it in batches. When the chicken is browned, transfer to a platter and set aside. Drain off all but a sheet of the fat from the pan.

Reduce the heat to medium and add the remaining garlic and the shallots. Cook, stirring, until the garlic and shallots are soft and beginning to brown lightly, 1 to 2 minutes. Take care not the let the garlic burn.

Add the wine to the pan and stir with a wooden spoon or whisk to loosen any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Bring to a boil and boil briefly until reduced by half. Add the chicken thighs back to the pan along with pomegranate juice, chicken broth, and thyme. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes, turning the chicken now and then so both sides of the chicken become colored by the juice.

Discard the fresh thyme springs and stir in the red currant jelly. Continue to cook at an active simmer until the internal temperature of the chicken registers 180 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer, about 15 to 17 minutes, shifting the chicken and stirring the sauce occasionally. If the sauce becomes overly thick before the chicken is done, stir in a tablespoon or so of water into the sauce. The sauce should be the consistency of a spoonable glaze.

Arrange two thighs on each of four dinner plates and spoon the sauce over the chicken. Garnish each portion with a sprinkling of pomegranate seeds and serve with hot cooked rice and a green vegetable, such as green beans.

New - Printable recipe

This will be shared with Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge Farm, Miz Helen’s Country Kitchen Full Plate Thursday, Foodie Friday at Simple Recipes, and Comforts of Home Tasty Tuesday.

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If you are looking for a great alternative to corn beef for St. Patrick's Day, give my Beef Carbonnade stewed in Guinness a try.    

Link here to Beef Carbonnade post and recipe.  

Have a great weekend everyone & Happy St. Patrick's Day .