special guest suggestion - Aunt Donna's Apple Cider Chicken

After cooking up a storm at the old homestead a few weeks back, I got an email from Aunt Donna -

So far all your recipes look soooo delicious.  Your thumbprint cookies were to die for, one pound of butter really?  Unfortunately they don't really fit in with my Weight Watchers.  I will take it upon myself to educate you to the wonders of healthier foods.

tasty looking dish, aunt donna... let's see if i can recreate it!

True, a lot of my recipes aren't the healthiest and I do use an awful lot of butter, but I like to eat well and keep my body happy and healthy, too.  So I took Aunt Donna's advice and whipped up her healthy suggestion.  It sounded good enough and I since I'm all about apples at the moment, I gave it a shot.

cider braised chicken with sweet potatoes and sage

ingredients

1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless thighs

2 c fat free reduced sodium chicken broth (ok I cheated. I used regular chicken broth because this sounded wrong to me!)

1 tbs olive oil

1/2 c apple cider (fresh from the green market, as always!)

8 medium shallots

2 tsp apple cider vinegar

1 clove minced garlic

6 fresh sage leaves

4 sprigs fresh thyme

1 1/2 lbs sweet potatoes, cubed

directions

1. Season both sides of chicken with s&p.  Heat oil and brown chicken on both sides; remove from pan and set aside.

2. Add thickly sliced shallots to pan and saute until soft.  Add garlic and cook for another minute.  Add chicken broth, cider, vinegar, sage and thyme to pan, scraping the sides to loosen any stuck-on bits.  Bring to a boil and allow sauce to reduce and slightly thicken.

3. Add chicken and sweet potatoes.  Reduce heat to low, cover and cook about 30 minutes.  One chicken thigh and about 3/4 cup veggies per serving is about 8 WW points served alongside some couscous.

Again, I cheated and definitely ate more than one piece of chicken, but I won't tell you how many servings I gobbled up!  My version was served up with some market fresh brussel sprouts sauteed simply in salt & pepper and toasted hazelnuts... and bacon fat; I just couldn't live without it.  But the meal really was wonderful, flavorful, seasonal and, most importantly, simple!  Just like Aunt Donna promised, "IT WAS DELICIOUS!"  Thank you for the recipe suggestion and please, keep them coming.

giving starbucks a run for their money

One of my favorite things about the cooling weather is the welcome return of hot, delicious beverages that warm you from the inside out.  I like to imagine watching the changing foliage in Prospect Park and sharing a thermos full of hot chocolate or warm apple cider with someone special.  Unfortunately, I usually dash into the nearest coffee shop to grab one in between jobs.  My favorite seasonal drink, just like it is every year, is the Caramel Apple Spice at Starbucks.  I also love the warm fresh apple cider from the green market, but there's just something about covering it up with whipped cream and caramel sauce that makes it even more delicious.  The only problem is, a medium is pretty pricy so I can only get them every once in awhile and even though I worked at Starbucks after college and know exactly how to make them myself, they never taste the same - they usually taste better.  It doesn't really matter where it comes from or who makes it, I just love the melding of creamy caramel and tart, spiced apple.

Well, one of my kids and I got to talking about our weekend baking projects and she told me that her plan was to make caramel apple spice cookies.  What?!  I've never heard of these and never imagined that my favorite Autumn warm-up bev could be baked into a cookie.  As she was describing the artificial apple cider powder and pre-made caramels that were among the ingredients I thought to myself, 'I bet I could make a better version, just like I do with the drink.'  And with that inspiration, I set about to concocting a variation of apple-y caramel-y goodness that would be fresh and from scratch because face it, everything's better when it's from scratch!

I decided that, rather than a stuffed cookie, I'd make a sandwich cookie because I thought it would be pretty tough to wrap homemade cookie dough around liquid caramel.  With delicious Red Jacket Orchards Apple Cider from the green market, I made an apple spiced cookie and put my second batch of caramel in between them (I always mess up on the first batch of caramel.)  Well, they came out wonderfully and I'm proud to say that they capture the flavor of a grande Caramel Apple Spice to the tee.  The perfect cookie to enjoy with a warm drink and a special someone - me and Isabelle already ate  more than we should have!  So we're bringing the rest to Victoria because sharing is caring.

caramel apple cider cookies
ingredients
1/2 c shortening
1 egg
1 c light brown sugar
1/3 c dark brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 c or cider
2 1/4 c flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
* caramel sauce
directions
1. Cream together shortening and sugar until light and fluffy.  On a medium speed, blend in vanilla and cider, then add egg.  In a separate bowl, sift together all the dry ingredients.
2. Add the dry mix to the wet ingredients in the mixer on a low speed, one cup at a time.  Let batter chill for at least one hour.
3. Spoon out tiny balls of dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 350 for about 10 minutes or until the edges start to brown.  Let cool completely before spooning the caramel in between two cookies, about a teaspoon each.
* To make the caramel sauce, use the recipe from the salted caramel brownies I made back in July, just don't add the salt!  Or do, it might be a tasty twist on the traditional.

Next time I might try to make the cookies smaller, almost button sized so that they are an even more petit treat.  Also, I wanted to put a tiny apple wedge on top of each cookie which could be added when they're almost done baking, but I didn't have any apples... guess I need to hit up the market this week.

jimmy fallon effing cares about me

A few years ago I was at one of my usual haunts on a Friday evening, chatting with the bartenders and the regular crowd like I did every week.  And just like every week, my happiness lasted beyond the designated hours and it was suddenly past midnight!  Has this ever happened to you?  Of course it has, but how about this - I headed towards the door to chat with my pal who's busy checking ids.  I didn't realize that he was midchat with some other dude when I accidentally interrupted their convo, leading said other dude to give me the meanest, evil eye kind of look EVER.  It was the kind of glare that says 'who do you think you are interrupting my extremely important intoxicated conversation, lady? Because I'm really important.'  I just wanted to be like soooory dude, it was an innocent mistake, but he wasn't having it and he left shortly after.  Well Jimmy Fallon, you missed a super fun night because me and my pals know how to party!  That's right, the guy with the glare was totally Jimmy Fallon and he was snobby to me... uncool.

In New York you tend to run into famous folks pretty regularly and you're supposed to pretend that they're just normal people walking down the street; you kind of have to ignore them.  But every once in awhile you actually get to interact with them and it can (usually) be pretty awesome.  This was not one of those times and Mr. Fallon, you owe me a beer as an apology for being standoffish to me that night.  For a long time I've felt that until that happens, I'm going to remain mad at Jimmy Fallon.

Now that I've filled y'all in on the history me and Jimmy share, you'll understand why I got such a kick out of a story Tina Fey told about him in her book, Bossypants.  The entire book is super hilarious and it totally made me bust out laughing on the bus a few times, leading to some weird looks from my fellow passengers.  Go read it, you won't regret it.  But anyways, one scene in particular involves Mr. Fallon and the lovely Ms. Amy Poehler (though I can't be certain that she's lovely since I've never had a bar encounter with her, I imagine she would be pretty awesome.)  The passage goes a little something like this (read this in Tina Fey's awesomely snarky voice) - 

"Amy was in the middle of some ... nonsense ... and she did something vulgar as a joke. I can't remember what it was exactly, except it was dirty and loud and 'unladylike.'

Jimmy Fallon, who was arguably the star of the show at the time, turned to her and in a faux-squeamish voice said, 'Stop that! It's not cute! I don't like it.'

Amy dropped what she was doing, went black in the eyes for a second and wheeled around on him. 'I don't f**king care if you like it.' Jimmy was visibly startled. Amy went right back to enjoying her ridiculous bit. (I should make it clear that Jimmy and Amy are very good friends and there was never any real beef between them. Insert penis joke here.)"

My saying this might be a few years late, but guess what Jimmy - I don't effing care what you think either!  He however, seems to care just a little about how I feel and what I think.  Fast forward to my current quest for calcium and the resulting ice cream binge.  I think Jimmy Fallon must have known that I was still holding a bit of a grudge against him after all this time and he wanted to make it up to me.  So I imagine that's why he helped a couple of dudes up in Vermont develop an amazing new ice cream flavor called Late Night Snack.  Sweet and salty just how I like it, this Ben and Jerry's flavor is made up of chocolate covered potato chip clusters and a salted caramel swirl all jam packed in rich vanilla bean ice cream.  Plus, it's Fair Trade.  And it's awesome and I love it and I could probably eat an entire pint in one sitting.  

Though it's not the apology beer I was holding out for, the ice cream is a pretty good start, so Jimmy, you're kind of forgiven.  I won't forget your sassy eyed look that night but I guess we can kind of be friends since you created this ice cream especially for me.  I only wish it was a little more obvious to the rest of the frozen dairy loving world that this dessert was made specifically with me in mind.  Ok man, you're officially off my uncool list... but it'll take a change in the ice cream name if you want to make it onto the cool list.

it's like buttah

Over the past month and a half that I've been laid up, I've been super spoiled.  I've eaten out, ordered in, splurged on snacks, taken cabs, slept in and watched a lot of cable tv.  I don't have cable at home and don't think I'll ever get it because I'd probably just end up wasting days on end watching rerun marathons of America's Next Top Model on Bravo and VH1.  Yeah, I'm that snobby gal that thinks most television programming is garbage... until I get sucked in.  Other than silly competitive reality shows though, the only other cable I find myself watching incessantly these days is the endless supply of food and cooking shows.  There are way more awesome shows related to food than I ever remember there being when I last had cable!  I have a feeling I'm going to go through some sort of withdrawal when I get back to my tin foil covered antennae at home.  

But I don't have to leave it all behind, no no no.  All of these tv personality chefs are brilliant marketing wizards, too.  Most of them choose to slap their names on cookware and bakeware or fancy-ish food items at the grocery store.  But one Southern belle has gone a different route, signing off on some kitchen inspired beauty products.  Yup, I'm talking about butter queen Paula Deen and her butter flavored lip balm!  She may not be my favorite of all the channel chefs but boy is this lady genius.  Who wouldn't want their lips buttery soft, especially with the chilly months ahead?  It's not for sale at her online store yet but I'm hoping to get my hands on some because I really want to try it out... anyone want to roadtrip down to Savannah with me and ask her about it?

revuesday - Avra

If a quick and casual falafal lunch is what you're in the mood for, stick to the street vendors.  If a fancypants afternoon of beautiful, fresh Greek food is more your thing, then Avra will be right up your alley.  I joined my aunt for a lovely little nosh at this midtown restaurant last week.  Though it was much fancier than I'm used to (I've never dined among so many well-dressed suits in my life making me feel quite underdressed in my single Ked sneaker and J. Crew hand-me-downs,) I definitely saw the appeal in the experience.  Because that's exactly what it was - a dining experience.  While we stuck with a few simple shared plates, other tables were enjoying literal feasts in the middle of the afternoon.   The beautiful selection of whole, fresh fish could be perused prior to being sent off to the grill to be returned to your table charred to perfection.  For those who like it raw, shellfish was brought out shucked for indulgence.  The sides looked fresh and generous, suited for sharing like most menu items.

tzatziki, hummus, melitzanosalata & skordalia

Though tempted by those tastes of the Mediterranean, we stuck to a lighter Aegean fare with fresh, tender calamari, a sampling of traditional spreads on pitas, and the most beautiful Greek salad with fresh feta and heirloom tomatoes, a perfectly satisfying midday meal that really worked out my mouth with all the fresh flavors... but make sure you come prepared with gum because holy garlicky goodness!  Mmm and the olives and radishes provided the perfect balance of spice and salt to round out the beautiful spread.  I almost always forget how much I love radishes until they're put in front of me and then the love affair begins all over again!

Avra is a ginormous and unlikely splurge for a part-time gal like myself, but it was a welcome indulgence with a generous dining companion.  I'd love to say that I'd certainly be back there to indulge in the to-die-for salad and specialties of the sea, but I think I'd be fibbing to my loyal audience; maybe one of these days for a very very very special occasion but not any time soon.  It's how the other half dines and I liked it... but not enough to trade in my $2.50 falafal pita!