Panfried Truffle-stuffed Chicken Breasts with Pickled Roasted Beets

Most of us don't have the money to drop at least a hundred bucks on a truffle (who would think that the fruiting body of an underground mushroom would be so expensive?), but have no fear! You too can taste this highly prized and delectable treat, because you can buy a jar of truffle butter, which is basically butter with bits of truffle mixed into it. A worthwhile purchase, if you ask me because truffles have a very distinctive, strong, earthy flavor and a little of that stuff goes a long way - and man oh man is it delicious. Here I've breaded chicken breasts with oatmeal, then stuffed them with black truffle butter and paired them with pickled red and golden beets and fresh spinach (or try watercress, if you can find it). This is one of my favorite ways to use truffle butter, for sure, although I also like to use truffle butter to top baked potatoes or yams with or spread on bread or fry eggs in. This recipe wasn't very work intensive either, so it could make for a wonderful weeknight meal. Yum!

Pan-fried Truffle-stuffed Chicken Breasts with Pickled Roasted Beets Adapted from Alice Waters' Chez Panisse Café Cookbook Ingredients: Panfried Truffle-stuffed Chicken Breasts • 5 tablespoons of truffle butter, softened • Salt and pepper • 6 large skinless, boneless chicken breast halves • ½ cup flour • 2 eggs, beaten • 3 cups oats (I used thick rolled oats) or brown rice cereal • Olive oil (for frying) Pickled Roasted Beets • 12 small beets, Chioagga, red or golden • ¼ cup red wine vinegar or Champagne vinegar • Salt and pepper • Extra-virgin olive oil Directions: 1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Trim the tops and the ends of the beets, then wash them. Roast them with a splash of water in a tightly covered baking pan for 45 minutes to an hour until they can be easily pierced with a knife. Allow the beets to cool slightly, then peel and cut them into quarters or round. Gently toss the beets with the vinegar and season with salt and pepper. Allow the beets to marinate in the vinegar, then dress them with olive oil. 2. Lay the chicken breasts flat on a clean work surface. With a sharp paring knife, cut a pocket about ½ inch wide and 2 inches deep in the thicker end of each breast. Divide the truffle butter into 6 equal pieces and insert each piece into the pocket of each breast. Season both sides of each breast with salt and pepper. 3. Dredge each breast into the flour, shaking off any excess, then dip them into the beaten eggs, and roll them in oats. Put the breasts on a baking sheet in one layer, and sprinkle both sides of the breasts with more oats and make sure they're evenly coated. Refrigerate, uncovered, for up to 4 hours before frying. 4. Heat olive oil in a cast-iron skillet (although I used a non stick fry pan) over medium heat. Fry the chicken breasts in the olive oil for 3-5 minutes or until nicely browned. Flip them over and cook for another 3-5 minutes. The internal temperature should read 165°F. Serve immediately.

Skate with Shiitake Mushrooms and Roasted Hazelnuts

Most people have never heard of skate, a cousin to the stingray, but its wing-like pectoral fins have a delicious, extremely delicate flesh that is slightly sweet and reminiscent of crab or lobster meat. It's one of my favorite types of seafood but isn't very common, so if you do find it at the fish market or your local grocery store, snatch it up and try it - I doubt you will regret it! Just be sure to have the cartilage, which is tough and inedible, removed before you prepare it. (Trust me, removing it yourself is a pain in the ass.)

Skate, being a mild fish, tastes best when it is prepared with somewhat rich or strong tasting ingredients, whereas a fish that is stronger tasting to begin with such as salmon ought to be prepared more simply - even with just extra-virgin olive oil, salt and pepper - in order to allow the natural flavor, which can stand on its own, to shine.

I've prepared skate the traditional way before - a la Grenobloise (in the style of Grenobole in the Dauphine region of France), with brown butter, capers, parsley, lemon juice, diced lemon, and tiny croutons.



But I prefer the version in the following recipe (slightly adapted from a recipe by the very talented Daniel Boulud), which marries the rich, earthy flavors of the shiitake mushrooms and crunchy roasted hazelnuts sautéed in butter with the tender, mild flesh of the skate. The richness of the dish was cut with the acidity of fresh lemon, which provided a wonderful tang. What an incredible combination of tastes and textures!

FYI, Hazelnuts are rich in protein, dietary fiber, iron, calcium and vitamin E. Like all nuts, they contain a lot of fat but over 80% of the total fat in hazelnuts is monounsaturated (healthy fat).

Skate with Shiitake Mushrooms and Roasted Hazelnuts Adapted from Daniel Boulud's Food and Wine recipe Ingredients: • ½ cup hazelnuts • 3 medium shallots, minced • 2 garlic cloves, halved • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened • ½ pound shiitake mushrooms • leaves from 2 thyme sprigs • Salt and freshly ground pepper • 1½ - 2 pounds skate wing fillets, cleaned and cut into 4 equal portions (about 6 ounces each portion) • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil • ½ lemon, peeled, sectioned and diced • 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice Directions: 1. Preheat the oven to 170°F. Spread the hazelnuts in a pie plate or baking pan and toast for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. (You can also roast the hazelnuts at a higher temperature, if your oven's settings don't go as low as 170°F, but you do risk destroying the healthy fats. I roasted mine at 300°F - the lowest temperature setting on my oven - for about 10 minutes.) Let cool for about 10 minutes, then place them on a kitchen towel and rub them together to remove the skins. Some of the bits of skin may remain. Coarsely chop them and set aside. 2. Wipe the mushrooms with a damp paper towel, then dry them with another paper towel (washing them will cause them to become soggy). Remove the stems from the mushrooms, then cut the caps into 1-inch pieces. 3. In a medium skillet, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter over moderately low heat and sauté the shallots and garlic until softened, 4 minutes. Add the mushrooms and thyme, and season with salt and pepper. Continue to sauté the mixture, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms are tender, about 5 minutes. Discard the garlic and thyme. Reserve a third of the mixture. Purée the remaining mushroom mixture. 4. Cut each skate wing in half crosswise and season with salt and pepper. Spread 4 of the skate pieces with a quarter of the mushroom puree. Cover with the remaining skate wing, pressing the packets together. 5. In a large skillet, heat the oil until shimmering. Add the skate packets and cook over high heat until browned and crisp on the bottom, about 4 minutes. Flip the packets, lower the heat to moderate and add the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter, the reserved mushroom mixture, the hazelnuts, diced lemon and lemon juice. Cook until the skate is just white throughout, 4 minutes. Transfer the skate to plates, and top with the mushrooms, nuts and lemon and serve.

Tomato Basil Soup

I've made this soup more than half a dozen times but I never get sick of it, and neither does my man♥. The sweetness of the honey pairs so well with the sourness of the balsamic vinegar, and let's not forget the numerous spices - cumin, fennel seed, and paprika - that make this soup much more than your average tomato basil soup. Very important is the fresh basil (so much better than dried basil), but if you can't find fresh basil, I highly recommend the dried basil made by Morton & Bassett. It's a San Francisco-based company that makes very high quality herbs that are all-natural, non-irradiated and contain no preservatives or additives.

For a tasty non-vegetarian version, add meatballs (pictured below), although I love the vegetarian version just as much! For the version with meatballs, simply season about 3 pounds of ground beef with 2 teaspoons of salt and 1 teaspoon of pepper, then form 1½-inch meatballs, and sauté them in butter or extra-virgin olive oil over medium heat until browned. Add the meatballs along with honey and balsamic vinegar.



Also, without the chicken stock, this makes a wonderful pasta sauce, especially with grated parmesan cheese.



Btw, cooked tomatoes contain more lycopene (the antioxidant that gives tomatoes its red hue and has twice as much antioxidant power than vitamin E) than raw tomatoes. There is also evidence that cooking tomatoes in extra-virgin olive oil seems to increase the body's ability to absorb lycopene.

Tomato Basil Soup Adapted from Gourmet Nutrition Ingredients: • 5 cloves garlic, minced or pressed through a garlic press • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil • 1 tablespoon salt • 1½ teaspoon black pepper • 8-9 medium tomatoes, diced • ½ cup fresh basil • 1 yellow onion • 2 teaspoons ground cumin • 2 teaspoons ground fennel seed • 2 teaspoons paprika • 4 cups vegetable broth or chicken stock • 4 tablespoons honey • 4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar Directions: 1. Preheat a large pot on medium-high heat. Add oil and onions, and sauté until lightly browned, stirring frequently. Add garlic, cumin, fennel, paprika, 4 tablespoons of broth, and sauté for 1 minute more, stirring constantly. Add the tomatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. 2. Now add the remaining broth, balsamic vinegar, honey, and simmer for 30 minutes, continue stirring occasionally. Add the salt, pepper, and basil and remove from heat.

Arugula Salad with Raw Sweet Corn and Cherry Tomatoes

For health reasons, I went on a raw vegan diet recently. I know it doesn't sound too enjoyable, but on the contrary, I've actually discovered lots of delicious raw foods and I am also rediscovering how much I love salads! Plus, my digestion has improved greatly and I'm feeling more energetic lately, among a lot of different signs that my health is improving. I even found out a few days ago that red meat passes so slowly through your digestive system that often it ends up rotting in your intestines before it's fully digested (though much of this can be prevented by adding more fiber via fresh fruits and vegetables in your diet). That's not to mention a fact well known by now that regular consumption of red meat significantly increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and even cancer. I also found out that fresh fruits and vegetables have natural enzymes in them that aid your body in digesting them efficiently, whereas cooked fruits and vegetables have had much of their nutrition cooked out of them. Suffice it to say, now that I've learned all this, I will probably be eating much less red meat after the raw vegan diet is over, despite the fact that I love red meat and used to eat it all the time (at least once a day). And although meat does contain protein, which is important to a balanced diet, nuts are a healthier source of protein since they don't contain the high levels of unhealthy saturated fats found in red meat and instead contain high levels of healthy fats, such as monounsaturated fat, polyunsaturated fat, and omega-3 fatty acids.

There are actually certain foods I prefer raw and other foods I prefer cooked, but corn is definitely one of those foods I prefer raw. Corn is so flavorful in its raw state that I prefer to eat it raw than eat corn on the cob the traditional way. Cherry tomatoes are also incredibly flavorful in its raw state and lose much of its flavor once cooked. Remember not to refrigerate the cherry tomatoes since it will lose its flavor quickly and the flesh will turn mealy and unappetizing; just store them in a cool place. The original recipe called for Sweet 100 tomatoes, a type of cherry tomatoes, but any type of cherry tomatoes will do. The combination of sweet raw corn and sweet cherry tomatoes is bliss!

Arugula Salad with Raw Sweet Corn and Cherry Tomatoes From The Zuni Cafe Cookbook Ingredients: • 4-5 ounces Sweet 100 or other small, ripe cherry tomatoes (or about 1 cup or 25 tomatoes) • 2 very young, small ears white corn (or about ½ cup kernels) • 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil • 1 tablespoon Champagne vinegar or white wine vinegar • 1 small shallot, finely diced • 4 ounces arugula, carefully washed and dried • Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste Directions: 1. Stem, wash, and dry the tomatoes and cut them in half. (The serrated bread knife is especially good for cutting tomatoes, so if you eat tomatoes frequently, it's a worthwhile investment.) 2. Shuck the ears from the corn and remove all the silk. Trim the tip from each cob but don't remove the stalk as it makes a convenient handle. Holding the cob at an angle, use a sharp knife (such as a chef's knife) to slice off the kernels, placing the blade flat against the ear and sliding it smoothly down the length of the ear. You'll want to remove the kernels at their bases without removing any of the actual cob itself. Rotate the ear after each slice, until all the kernels have been removed. Crumble the kernels between your fingers so as to separate any clusters. 2. Combine the oil, vinegar, shallot, and salt and pepper to taste. Place the arugula in a salad bowl and toss with enough vinaigrette to coat the leaves well. Scatter the cherry tomatoes and corn kernels over the arugula, add the remaining vinaigrette, and lightly mix. Taste, and correct the oil, vinegar or salt. The vinaigrette shouldn't be too acidic so as to overpower the sweetness of the corn and cherry tomatoes. Serve immediately.

Sea Bass With Potatoes, Leeks, and Thyme

Another winner from the Zuni Cafe Cookbook! You can use black bass, turbot, or any type of sea bass, though I used striped sea bass from the Union Square Greenmarket. Since the fillet needs to be 1-1½ inches thick in order to cook properly, avoid the tail pieces. The chunky stew of leeks and potatoes pairs extremely well with the mild, sweet flavor and firm, flaky texture of the sea bass I used - I would definitely make this dish again!

Sea Bass With Potatoes, Leeks, and Thyme From The Zuni Cafe Cookbook Ingredients: • 4 pieces sea bass fillet, about 6 ounces each and 1-1½ inches thick • sea salt, to taste • About ¾ pound peeled yellow-fleshed potatoes, preferably yellow Finnish, Bintje, or German Butterballs, cut into irregular bite-sized chunks (I used fingerling potatoes) • 1-1½ cups diced or thinkly sliced leeks (including a little bit of the green part) • A few sprigs of fresh thyme • About 1¼ cups chicken stock • A splash or two of dry white vermouth • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, sliced and chilled • A trickle of Champagne vinegar or white wine vinegar, if needed Directions: 1. Season the fish lightly and evenly with salt. Cover loosely and refrigerate. For best flavor, do this a few hours in advance. 2. Preheat the broiler. Position the rack so that it's about 6 inches from the heating element. Place the potatoes in the saucepan, add cold water to cover, and turn the heat to medium. Season liberally with salt, stir, and taste - the water should be as seasoned as you'd like the potatoes to be. Cook the potatoes at a gentle simmer until tender and soft on the edges, about 5 minutes. 3. Drain the potatoes well and place them, still steaming, in a 12 or 14-inch ovenproof skillet. Add the leeks, thyme, about 1 cup of the chicken stock, and a splash of vermouth. Set the heat at medium and swirl as the broth starts to simmer. Add about 4 tablespoons of butter, and swirl until it melts. Taste for salt. 4. Reduce the heat to low and add the fish. Swirl and tilt the pan to baste the surface of the fish with the buttery broth. The liquid level should rise as the bass releases its juices into the broth, but if it doesn't, add more chicken stock. Make sure no bits of leek are stuck to the sides of the pan or on top of the fish, and place the pan under the broiler. Cook until the surface of the fish and potatoes is lightly gratinéed (browned), about 5-6 minutes. The liquid should be bubbling vigorously at this point. 5. Reduce the oven temperature to 500°F and cook until the fish is medium-rare, another 1-5 minutes. Transfer the pan to the stovetop and using a spatula and tongs, lift the fish, and place on a platter side by side (don't stack the fish on top of one another). The fish will finish cooking as it rests. 6. Swirl the pan gently over medium heat so that the sauce thickens as it simmers. Taste, and add the remaining butter and adjust the salt. Drain any liquid on the platter of fish into the simmering sauce in the pan. Allow the sauce to reduce until it is somewhat thick. Taste, and add a splah of vermouth or a few drops of vinegar, if it tastes flat. Transfer the fish to plates, and spoon and potato-leek sauce over the fish. Serve immediately.

Roast Pheasant and Pheasant Sausage Braised with Grapes

I love doing unconventional things with conventional ingredients, and while grapes are usually eaten in their fresh state, they are delicious baked into tarts or in this case, fried (yes, fried) and reduced into a sauce that compliment the spicy sausages in this dish perfectly. The idea came from the Zuni Cafe Cookbook, where there is a recipe for quail and sausage braised with grapes, a modern take on the traditional Umbrian dish called Salsiccia all’Uva. I couldn't find any quail at the Union Square Greenmarket today, so I chose another game bird instead - pheasant. And although the original recipe called for cooking the quail on a stovetop, I roasted the pheasant since whole pheasant is much larger than quail and cooking it on a stovetop would have been impossible. I also used spicy pheasant sausage, though Rodgers did suggest fennel sausage (which is usually pork). In fact, so much was changed from the original recipe, I can't really say that my recipe was adapted from hers; 'inspired by' is probably a more appropriate term in this case.

Choosing the right type of grapes is important to this dish. It is traditionally made with wine grapes (not seedless) and is supposed to result in something a bit crunchy due to the seeds, but at the Zuni Cafe, they use mostly seedless grapes, such as Black Emerald or Red Flame grapes. I chose small red and black seedless grapes at the farmer's market (I don't know what varieties they were), but whatever variety or varieties of grapes you choose, you want to make sure they aren't too sweet because it will result in sauce so sweet that it's cloying. Small grapes cook down the quickest and produce the best flavor and texture.

Another important note about this dish is that it's best eaten immediately because the grape sauce loses its flavor and the pheasant and pheasant sausages may dry out.

I really enjoyed this dish, although the roast pheasant came out a bit dry but probably because I wasn't diligent enough in basting it frequently. It's actually not a difficult recipe to follow at all, however, so I'll have to try this recipe again but with quail next time and see what results. I've only had quail a handful of times in my life but what a treat it was when I got to have it!

Roast Pheasant and Pheasant Sausage Braised in Grapes Inspired by The Zuni Cafe Cookbook Ingredients: • 2 whole pheasants, about 2½-2¾ pounds each • About 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil • sea salt, to taste • a few pinches of fennel seeds, barely crushed • 4 fresh pheasant sausages (3-4 ounces each) • About 2 pounds (or 5-6 cups) small, red or black seedless grapes • 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar or lemon juice Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Rinse and dry the pheasant thoroughly. Rub it all over with salt and crushed fennel seeds. Also pour olive oil all over. 2. Place the pheasant in a shallow roasting pan, just large enough to hold it comfortably, and roast it in the oven for 30 minutes. Remove the pheasant from the oven and baste the pheasant with its own juices. Cover it loosely with foil, and continue roasting for l½ hour, turning it every 15 minutes and basting it with the pan juices. 3. Cover a non-stick pan with olive oil and place a few pinches of crushed fennel seeds, then add the grapes. Stir regularly, until the skins split and release the grape juices. Cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, for about 20-30 minutes. If the grapes are too sweet, add a pinch of salt and/or a little vinegar. Place the sausages in a large skillet and turn heat to medium. Cook sausages for about 15 minutes, about 3-4 minutes on each of the 4 sides. When they are brown all over, reduce the heat and pour off most of the excess fat. Then add the grapes. Turn down the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally, for another 10 minutes or so, or until the sauce has been reduced to a rich jam. 4. When the pheasant is done cooking, remove it from the oven and allow to rest for about 15 minutes so that the juices have time to settle. Use poultry shears to cut the pheasant into serving pieces. Stir the pheasant in with the sausage and grapes. Serve immediately, as the pheasant and pheasant sausage will become dry if reheated.

Roasted Garlic-Rosemary Rabbit

Rabbit is one of those meats that when people have for the first time, they say "hey it tastes just like chicken". Although it does taste similar to chicken and is cooked in the same way, it actually has a milder flavor and is more tender. The rabbit is best roasted and eaten almost immediately, since it's a particularly lean meat and therefore dries out easily. It has the highest percentage of protein and lowest percentage of fat compared to chicken, veal, turkey, lamb, beef, and pork at 20.8% protein and 4.5% fat. It's a very healthy and delicious meat, though difficult to find - I chanced upon mine at the Union Square Greenmarket last Friday when John Fazio Farms was there selling rabbits and ducks, but as far as I know, they're only there in the summertime. By the way, as with chicken, you'll want to choose a smaller size rabbit since the younger the rabbit was when it was killed, the more tender and succulent the meat will be.

Since this was my first time cooking rabbit, I was a little nervous, but I'm glad I gave it a shot because I was pleased with the results! The Zuni Cafe Cookbook has a recipe for rabbit sausage which I may just have to try making (that is, if I can actually find lamb casings.)

Roasted Garlic-Rosemary Rabbit Ingredients: • 2½-2¾ pound whole rabbit • 10 small garlic cloves, peeled and pressed through a garlic press • 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil • salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste • 2 sprigs fresh rosemary, or 1-1½ teaspoon dried rosemary • ¼ cup white wine • 3 tablespoons lemon juice Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 325°F. Rinse and dry the rabbit thoroughly. Rub it all over - both the inside and the outside - with the garlic, rosemary, salt, pepper, and olive oil. 2. Place the rabbit in a shallow roasting pan, just large enough to hold it comfortably, and roast it in the oven for 30 minutes. Remove the rabbit from the oven and pour the wine and lemon juice over it, if you desired. Also, baste the rabbit with its own juices (it helps if you have a baster). Cover it loosely with foil, and continue roasting for l hour, turning it every 15 minutes and basting it with the pan juices. 3. After an hour, increase the oven temperature to 450°F and uncover rabbit. Roast for another 15 minutes, or until deep golden brown. Baste often with the pan juices to keep meat succulent, turning once or twice for even coloring. 4. Use poultry shears to cut rabbit into serving pieces. Arrange on the platter with sprigs of rosemary, and drizzle the rabbit with its pan juices, if desired.