Category Archives: Recipes (Savory)

Soulful Chicken and Dumplings

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Dig into a big bowl of heavenly chicken and dumplings with chanterelles.

Chicken and dumplings is like a big ol’ hug.

Like some hugs, this dish can be awkward and unsatisfying. You know the type of hugs I mean — the ones where you’re not quite sure if you should be giving or getting, and the resulting mash-up of bodies just leaves both parties scratching their heads in “What was that?” Yeah, I’ve had some chicken and dumplings like that — with dry chicken and leaden dumplings, where you take a bite and wonder, “What the heck is this? And why am I eating it?”

Then there are hugs that wrap you in a cocoon of warmth and security, that feel so right you never want to let go. New Orleans Chef John Besh’s “Chanterelles, Chicken, and Dumplings” is that kind of perfect hug.

It’s from his new cookbook, “My New Orleans: The Cookbook” (Andrews McMeel).

It’s a modern, slightly spiffed up version of this classic down-home dish that will comfort you even if you need no comforting at all.

Skinless, boneless chicken thighs are brined for an hour to ensure they’re extra juicy, so plan accordingly when making the dish.

Lovely chanterelles add a magical touch to this dish.

The chicken pieces cook on the stove-top in a broth infused with aromatic ginger, garlic, shallots, thyme and sage. A big pinch of crushed red pepper flakes adds a touch of heat that really helps warm your bones on a chilly evening. Golden chanterelle mushrooms and peas (I used frozen at this time of year) add color and depth. A knob of butter adds richness (Hey, it’s a Southern dish, after all).
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Cooking with Chef Guillaume at Marche in Menlo Park

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Look familiar?

No, that’s not him above.

But Chef Guillaume Bienaime does bear more than a passing resemblance to the Alfredo Linguine character from the movie, “Ratatouille,” especially with the glasses drawn on. You have to love a chef with the playfulness to keep a Pez dispenser like this on a shelf in his bustling professional kitchen.

Below is the real Bienaime, executive chef of Marche restaurant in Menlo Park. And believe me, he doesn’t need a cute talking rat named Remi or anyone else to help him do his job. This 27-year-old chef is a talent, and a giving one at that. Last Sunday, on what was supposed to be his day off when the restaurant is normally closed, he decided instead to teach his first cooking class.

Chef Guillaume Bienaime of Marché at the Menlo Park farmers market.

Marche opened its doors that morning to 16 eager students — most of them regular diners at the restaurant — as well as yours truly and the chef’s Mom to partake in what was the first of four seasonal cooking classes planned annually. And believe me, you will not leave hungry from this $105 class.

We met up with the chef at the nearby Menlo Park farmers market to help gather peppers, corn, peaches, squash, and tomatoes for the dishes we would cook back at the restaurant.

Marche gets all its tomatoes from Baia Nicchia Farm in Sunol, which sells at the Sunday farmers market. Owner Fred Hempel, a geneticist, owns 9 1/2 acres where he grows 30 types of tomatoes, half of them varieties he has created, himself. Indeed, Chef Bienaime is working with Hempel to create a signature “Marche” tomato, resulting from cross-breeding a couple varieties together. It will take two years of tinkering before the tomato will be ready to be grown for the restaurant.

Fred Hempel, geneticist turned tomato grower.

Baia Nicchia Farm's tomatoes.

We carried the provisions back to the restaurant, where we divided up into teams of two or three. The chef explained the dishes we could be cooking that day: Roast Pork Loin a` la Provencal, Summer Squash a` la Grecque, Confit Tomatoes, Summer Corn “Polenta,” Piperade Basquaise, Gratin of Swiss Chard, and Plum & Peach Shortcake.

Chef Bienaime, though, had a special plan for my buddy, Carissa, and I. He was going to have us make Escargots Sommiroise, a traditional dish from Saint-Guilhem Desert in the Langueduoc region, which is snail country. Neither Carissa nor I had ever cooked with snails before, so we were eager to give it a go.

Cooking in Marché's kitchen on a Sunday morning.

Plating the just-baked shortcakes.

We all donned aprons and set to work in the restaurant’s gleaming stainless steel kitchen, grabbing knives, chinoises, copper pots, and food processors. And no, we didn’t escape doing dishes. But we didn’t mind, what with the restaurant’s nifty machine at our disposal. You rinsed off the dishes, piled them into a rack, and slid it all into the machine, where everything would emerge spotless in just three minutes. Why can’t we have one of these at home, we all thought!

At Marche, the garlic is almost always grated into dishes, using a Micrcoplane, rather than chopped or sliced with a knife. Bienaime says he likes how the garlic disappears into a dish this way. Skin on bell peppers is always peeled off, too, even if they are not roasted. The chef does this, he says, because he finds that the peppers are more easily digested this way.

Center cut pork pork loin being smeared with a mixture of grainy mustard, anchovies, garlic, rosemary and thyme.

The pork just after it came out of the oven.

Sliced for serving.

All through the kitchen, students worked at shucking corn; peeling tomatoes; blanching herbs; sauteing chanterelles; and slicing open large pork loins to fill with a spread of grainy mustard, anchovy, garlic, rosemary and thyme.

Now and then in the close quarters, someone would call out “Behind you, behind you — hot, hot, hot!” as a simmering pot was ferried from the stove to a counter. There’s major heat generated in a professional kitchen when all the burners and ovens are turned up. So much so, that we all breathed a sigh of relief whenever we had to make a trip to the chilly walk-in to grab an ingredient.

It wasn’t long before the aromas of roasting pork, toasted nuts, and sauteed garlic were making us very, very hungry.

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Remembering Julia Child

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Juicy, sweet, and jammy.

With long-awaited arrival of “Julie & Julia” in theaters this month, foodies can’t help but remember the one and only Julia Child, who inspired legions to cook with confidence and daring-do in their own kitchens.

I haven’t had the pleasure yet of seeing the movie, though I was fortunate to get a quick peek at a preview clip at this year’s James Beard Awards Gala in New York. Of course, it only left me hungry for more. As a long-time food writer, I had the pleasure of interviewing Julia a number of times. She was always gracious and charming. It was a true pleasure to interact with her in any shape or form. That familiar lilting, bird-like voice never ceased to make me smile every time I heard it.

I still have a couple of menus, souvenirs from lunches and dinners hosted in her honor. There’s the one from her 90th birthday party at the Fifth Floor in San Francisco, when illustrious chefs Laurent Gras and Ron Siegel cooked dishes such as “Corn Vichyssoise with Caviar” and “Duck A La Julia Child” to commemorate the grand occasion.

Remembering a lunch from years ago that honored Julia.

There’s another menu from a lunch in 2000 to debut her cookbook with Jacques Pepin, “Julia and Jacques Cooking At Home” (Alfred A. Knopf). The three-course lunch was made up of dishes from the book, including “Avocado and Grapefruit Salad with Belgian Endive, Frisee, Toasted Hazelnuts, and Champagne Vinaigrette.”

I started leafing through that book, only to realize I had forgotten that both Julia and Jacques had signed the inside page. Her signature was clear and straightforward, much like the woman, herself.

The book, signed by Jacques and Julia.

I turned on my oven, and set about making her “Provencal Tomatoes,” the traditional French accompaniment of roasted tomatoes stuffed with herbs and bread crumbs — a true classic just like Julia was.

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A Sunny Shade of Pasta

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A dazzling pasta that's as simple as it gets.

Whenever someone asks me what my favorite cookbooks are, they’re invariably taken aback when I answer.

Among my most adored cookbooks are the ones by Jean-Georges Vongerichten.

Yes, the chic four-star, classically trained Alsatian chef with a fondness for cooking in Prada loafers, who boasts a mega empire of restaurants around the world, including the swank Jean Georges in New York.

Yes, him.

I know you’re thinking precious dishes that take four pages to explain, days to complete, special equipment, and untold trips to many markets for esoteric ingredients.

But his recipes aren’t that at all.

Indeed, I’ve probably cooked more than a dozen recipes from his “Jean-Georges Cooking at Home with a Four-Star Chef” (Broadway) and his “Simple to Spectacular” (Broadway) books, and been won over by all of them. Surprisingly, from a chef of this caliber, the recipes are not overly complex. In fact, many of them are downright simple and thoroughly straightforward. Often, there also are inspiring flavor taste combinations, too, from this man who was nicknamed “the palate” at a young age for his uncanny ability to discern flavors.

His “Pasta with Saffron Oil” is emblematic of all of that. The recipe from “Simple to Spectacular” is indeed simple and spectacular.

It’s literally just pasta tossed with olive oil that’s been infused with saffron. But how beautifully they go together. The saffron turns the noodles a sunny shade of warm, orange-tinged gold, and lends a distinctive earthy, exotic flair.

I first served this pasta as a side dish, adding slices of piquillo peppers to give it a little more heft.

Pricey, imported tuna in olive oil.

The next time I made it, I not only added the piquillo peppers, but also some Spanish Italian tuna packed in oil to make the dish substantial enough for a main course.

I had picked up a jar of Consorcio Bonito del Norte, considered the “Caviar of Tuna,” at Corti Brothers Market in Sacramento while visiting my in-laws. According to Corti Brothers, this brand was founded in 1950 and is considered the premier tuna in a tin.

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A Solution For All That Zucchini

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Pan-fried zucchini and yellow squash with cumin and turmeric.

If you’re growing it in your backyard, chances are you’ve got your arms full of the tender, green summer squash that tends to multiply more than a Tweeted celebrity rumor run amok.

In fact, just the other week, a friend gifted me a zucchini that was as big as my head.

OK, maybe I exaggerate. But only a little, because it surely was as big as my forearm.

What to do with this Everest of squash?

You can only make so much zucchini bread, right? And sauteing it and roasting it as a side dish gets pretty ho-hum after awhile.

Cookbook author Monica Bhide comes to the rescue. In her newest book, “Modern Spice” (Simon & Schuster), the New Delhi-born food writer spotlights Indian dishes that are easily accessible for the home cook.

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