Vinegar Hill House Chicken

Vinegar Hill House is an amazing restaurant in Vinegar Hill, just North of DUMBO. They have this incredible roast chicken. Usually I won't get chicken at a restaurant and go for something more exotic, but I'd heard good things, and I love anything with vinegar as an ingredient. It's rich and tangy and just perfectly chickeny. The chicken jus, vinegar, butter, and shallots makes an intoxicating sauce. 

My wonderful friend Kara who knows me so well bought me this cookbook which has the recipe inside. Thanks, Kara! If you make extra jus, freeze it and then it makes the whole process a little quicker. (It is a bit of a process - only do it if you have a free afternoon.) My pictures don't do  it justice.

Serves 4

Ingredient:

10 shallots, peeled, 2 sliced and 8 whole

1 large yellow onion, sliced

two 2-3 pound organic or Amish chickens (back bone removed, cut in half, leaving wing bones and leg in tact but removing and reserving all other bones)

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 cups dry white wine

1 1/2 quarts (6 cups) chicken stock, preferably homemade

1 bay leaf

8 sprigs fresh thyme, divided

Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper

10 tbsp (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter

4 tsp vegetable oil, divided

1/2 cup sherry vinegar

Lobster Corn Fritters

...or the Best Hors d'Oeuvres Ever. Yum! These are amazing. I made them for Jamie to start out a special dinner. They taste like summer. The lobster is rich, the corn is sweet, and the spicy mayo is the perfect accompaniment. They're definitely a treat and a little pricey, but tooootally worth it! Ina is just the best. (These are from her new cookbook, Foolproof, a wonderful Christmas present from my mother-in-law - thanks, Cindy!)

I halved the recipe because there were just two of us, but I will definitely be making it again another time in full force. This recipe makes 12-14 fritters and served 4-6.

Ingredients:
6-8 tablespoons unsalted butter
5 scallions, thinly sliced
1 1/4 cups fresh corn (I used frozen)
12 oz freshly cooked lobster meat, 1/4-inch diced
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp paprika
3/4 tbsp Old Bay
Kosher salt
2 extra-large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup half and half

Chili Lobster

As you may know, I love Fatty Crab, and their chili crab is one of the signature dishes. When Jamie sent me this recipe from the New York Times last week, I was happy to make it. Though it's totally a labor of love and you need to set aside about 4 hours for the whole process, it's really delicious and special. We had it for a little Father's Day dinner with my parents. You'd think the chili sauce might overpower the lobster, but the super lobstery broth prevents it. The whole dish is totally lobstery and the chili sauce has just the right amount of heat, and so much flavor. If you need to serve a lobster-lover something special, this is it.

Serves 4

Apple-Stuffed Pork Chops with Cider Garlic Glaze

I had some good friends over for dinner last night and one of them, Charlie, requested these pork chops. I made them for him once before for helping me carry a table from my sister's apartment to my then new apartment. They're super tasty and a really special weeknight meal. The sauteed apples are so tasty, I'd love to find another use for them. The sweet of the apple and the rich butter, the salt, and the kick of the chipotle powder is awesome. The cider glaze is also incredibly good - syrupy but with garlic. Yum! I served it with minted pea puree. (Jamie loves pea puree, so it's becoming a staple in our house.)

Serves 4
Ingredients:
4 bone in pork chops, the thicker the better
1 1/2 apples (I used 1 Granny Smith and half a Gala) peeled and thinly sliced
3 cups apple cider
4 tablespoons butter
1 clove garlic, smashed and peeled
1/2 tsp chipotle powder
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
salt and pepper

Valentine's Day Dinner!

Jamie sent me two bouquets of roses! One the day before Valentine's Day to psych me out, and then an even prettier one on actual Valentine's Day. Isn't he the best?? We have a Valentine's Day tradition of staying in and having some sort of special dinner, then going out to Long Island the weekend after and having a long, relaxing weekend, just the two of us. I wanted to make him something special and toyed with a few ideas and decided on salmon roe caviar and creme fraiche as an hors d'oeuvre, lobster pot pie and salad, and pink cupcakes. (It was going to be a pink heart shaped cake, but they heart shaped cakes fell apart, so I just used the cupcakes!) All of this was complemented by a bottle of our favorite bubbly, Graham Beck. (We were introduced to it by Luvo Ntezo, the amazing sommelier at One&Only Cape Town in South Africa - it's fab. Made in the Champagne style, so very yeasty and dry, not sweet. And about $15 per bottle. Love!!)

I was able to whip this up on a weeknight, but it was a bit crazy, so I'd recommend saving it for a special weekend night home-date, or intimate dinner party.

Lobster Pot Pie
This was really decadent, but great and choc full of lobster. I used Ina's recipe, but used puff pastry instead, and didn't do the bottom layer. Also, I didn't use any Pernod because I didn't have any.

Prune-Stuffed Gnocchi with Foie Gras Sauce

This is another one from Barbara Lynch. She wrote it up as being kind of hard to do but worth it for special occasions. For my New Year's dinner, I wanted something special and had the luxury of time for making these. It is a lot of work, but if you have a free Saturday and have friends coming over, this is a very indulgent appetizer (or entree if you give everyone a few more gnocchis). The dough is extremely light and fluffy, the prune filling is tart, and sweet, and the earthy, rich foie gras sauce is amazingly decadent. The crunch of the almonds on top is also a nice contrast. Yum!

I had to make a few changes because it's really hard to find 8oz of foie gras, so I used a foie gras spread which worked fine. This has also inspired me to try stuffing other things into gnocchi. Any suggestions? Maybe a pureed bitter green?

Serves 6
Ingredients:
For the Gnocchi:
22 pitted prunes
1 cup Madeira (or Vin Santo, but Madeira's cheaper)
2-2 1/4 lb Idaho or Yukon Gold potatoes (I used 2 Idaho, 1 Yukon gold) unpeeled
1 1/2 - 2 cups all purpose flour, plus more as needed
2 large eggs
kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
1/8 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

For the Sauce:
8 oz foie gras spread
1 stick butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup finely chopped shallots (about 2 large)
15 sprigs thyme
15 black peppercorns
15 coriander seeds
2 cups Madeira

Roasted Butterflied Leg of Lamb

This year for New Year's we decided to have a few friends out to Southampton for the weekend for a low key celebration. To make it special, I wanted to make a really great dinner. I started with Prune-Stuffed Gnocchi with a Foie Gras-Madeira Glaze and then for the main, Michael Psilakis' Stuffed Lamb recipe and some green beans. For dessert, we did a make your own ice cream sundae - always a big hit. It was a delicious and special dinner and a really fun night. The lamb was savory and had great Mediterranean flavors. The spread you make to rub into the middle of the lamb is extremely tasty - I could have eaten it straight. If you have the time, definitely do it the night before and let it air dry in the fridge. It makes such a great, crispy sear. Also, the broth under the lamb as it roasts smells heavenly.

Serves 6-8
Ingredients:
For the stuffing:
1 1/2 cups large sundried tomatoes, roughly chopped
1/4 cup oil-cured black olives, pitted
1 tsp minced rosemary
leaves from 3 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 tsp dry Greek oregano
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
10 cloves of garlic, mashed into a paste
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp fresh ground pepper

Salmon Carpaccio and Tomato Tarte Tatin

Yes, it sounds like an odd mix, and kind of was, but both were super tasty (next time I'll use two different plates and just suck it up and wash two extra dishes). The nice thing about them is they both bring out fresh summery flavors but you can make them in the winter. The carpaccio recipe I found in the New York Times, and I'd seen tomato tarte tatin recipes and researched a few before landing on this New York Times recipe. The carpaccio was so fresh and the lemon zest and chives perfectly balanced out the richness of the fish. The tomato tarte was flavorful and rich and also looks so pretty with different colored tomatoes! I got these red and yellow grape tomatoes at the farmers market, but Trader Joe's also has great colorful grape and cherry tomato packs. Both dishes aren't terribly hard, but are impressive - good for a special at home date. Especially the individual tarte tatins.


Salmon Carpaccio (for 2)
Ingredients:
8 ounces salmon, preferably wild (if you can't find wild, I try to get the deepest orange color of the other options)
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for brushing