It’s Thursday. Do you know where your dinner is?
Busy days, tired nights. When life’s on the go, most of us encounter the inevitable question, “what’s for supper” when reservations, take-out, or cereal just won’t do.
Stocking and mining the larder can yield quick and delicious results. Some essential ingredients and a little ingenuity can make a quick meal so much more satisfying. Don’t forget to set a pretty table and light the candles! You’ll be glad you did…
Here are a couple of our last-minute supper wonders! Enjoy!
It’s brown alright, but it’s also savory and a nice mix of textures.
Skillet Chicken and Potatoes
Grab some chicken parts: thighs, breasts: with skin and on the bone, some aromatics and potatoes. Assemble, bake add a green salad and PRESTO!
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Equipment:
Cast Iron pan
Instant-Read thermometer
Ingredients:
Enough chicken to fill your pan without crowding (4 half breasts or 6 chicken thighs works in my pan)
2 medium yellow flesh potatoes
2 cloves garlic
1/2 red onion (shallot, white or yellow onion will be fine if that’s what you have.)
Fresh green herbs (Thyme, rosemary or tarragon.) Dry will do in a pinch, you’ll need a couple of teaspoons.
kosher salt
ground black pepper
olive oil, butter
Method:
Rinse and thoroughly dry the chicken parts. Sprinkle with a mix of salt, pepper and minced green herb. Press into the flesh and atop the skin.
Heat 4T neutral oil (canola or peanut) in the iron skillet until shimmering.
Skin side down, brown chicken until golden and crisp, but not cooked through.
Remove chicken from pan and cover loosely with foil.
Add 2T butter to pan. When melted, add more green herb, garlic and onion. Sauté a few minutes over medium heat until translucent.
Top onion and garlic with thinly sliced, peeled (or not) potato. distribute the potatoes so they have contact with the pan so as to brown and crisp a bit. Flip once. (about 10 minutes total)
When potatoes have crisped up a bit, top with chicken—skin side up.
Pour about a cup of white wine over the chicken and potatoes. (Any wine you would actually drink is fine, I usually use white vermouth because I have it and it’s open.)
Throw the pan in the oven and cook until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 160 degrees F.
While you toss the salad and pour the wine, allow the chicken to rest, covered with foil.
Arrange the chicken and potatoes on a platter, garnish with sprigs of green and enjoy!
Oktoberfest á la Minute
Smoked sausage with honey mustard glaze over braised sauerkraut, caraway egg noodles and fall salad.
A little applesauce on the side would be nice with this satisfying cold-weather supper.
Here’s another comfort classic that’s easy to make and delicious to eat. At our house, I make it with freezer and pantry ingredients finishing with a salad tossed with apple slices and toasted pecans and dressed with sherry vinaigrette.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Equipment:
Saucepan
Cast Iron Skillet
Ingredients:
Kielbasa or smoked sausage
Two cups sauerkraut (fresh from Morse’s is best!)
honey
Dijon mustard
butter
egg noodles
caraway seeds
butter
pecans
tart apple like Fuji or Honey Crisp
salad greens
Sherry Wine Vinaigrette
Method:
Preheat oven to 375 Degrees F.
Prep
Slice the sausage á la Hassleback so that there are thin cuts all along the length of the sausage. Don’t cut more than halfway down through the sausage. This method allows the meat to warm quickly and for the glaze to penetrate.
Make glaze in a small pan by adding 2T. mustard to 1/4 cup honey. SImmer in the pan to mix. Don’t boil.
Toast 1/4 cup pecans in small saucepan.
Core and slice the apple into 1/4 inch wedges.
Assemble and Cook:
Melt 2 T butter in a skillet, add sauerkraut and toss to warm and very gently brown. Salt and pepper to taste.
Place sausage on top and drizzle glaze over. (Paint the meat with glaze a few times during the cooking process.) Put in the oven and cook for about 25 minutes, or until the top of the sausage is golden and the sauerkraut is bubbly.
Meanwhile, make the egg noodles. When al dente, drain the noodles and top with butter and about a teaspoon of caraway seeds you have rubbed in your hands to lightly crush. Keep warm.
Combine the greens, pecans, apples, and a bit of sliced red onion. Toss with Vinaigrette.
Serve with beer or a nice Riesling.
“Fancy” Chicken Strudel
Looks like you cooked all day, but really only spent less than an hour.
I keep puff pastry and filo dough in the freezer to save time and add interest to basic pantry staples. This dish is really easy and very effective. It relies on basic grocery store rotisserie chicken, mushrooms, filo, and some green herbs. Here, I pair it with my favorite salad: greens with a tart blue cheese, dried cranberries, and vinaigrette. Out of the box, a portion of filo will thaw in an hour or two. Keep it wrapped until you’re ready to use, then unfold and cover with a damp kitchen towel to keep the sheets from drying out while you’re underway.
Equipment:
Square or oblong baking pan
saucepan
small melting pan
pastry brush
kitchen towel
Ingredients:
One-half package of frozen filo dough
1 rotisserie chicken
1 box mixed mushrooms (any assortment will do, even white button mushrooms taste fine when all “Duxelled Up”
shallot
fresh thyme (dried will do in a pinch)
butter
white wine (I usually use vermouth
whole nutmeg
light cream
Method:
Prep
Chop mushrooms fine, yielding about 4 cups
Chop shallot fine. Add a clove of garlic to the chop, if you want.
Chop 1 generous T. thyme (save a few sprigs for garnish.)
Remove meat from Rotisserie chicken and chop roughly.
Prepare
Mushrooms Duxelles
Melt 3 T butter in a saucepan. Saute shallot, garlic, and thyme until transparent and fragrant. Add mushrooms.
Cook gently until mushrooms have released their moisture. '
Add 1/2 cup white wine and cook till it no longer smells like alcohol.
Stir in 1/2 cup cream.
Season with fresh grated nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste.
Mix chicken pieces into mushrooms. Loosen with a bit more cream if desired. Keep warm.
Assemble
Melt 1 stick of butter. Butter the baking pan using the butter wrapper. Unwrap the filo and cover with a damp towel.
Place five sheets of filo in the bottom of the pan. Using a pastry brush, coat each sheet with melted butter before laying down the next. Use a sharp knife to trim the pastry to fit the pan.
Spoon in the chicken and mushroom mixture. Distribute evenly over the filo base
Top the filling with five more sheets of filo, (buttered as before.) Butter the top layer and score the surface gently with a sharp knife.
Bake
Place in preheated oven and bake until top is golden brown and the filling is bubbly. (About 35 minutes)
Remove from oven and allow to rest a few minutes to set up before cutting.
Serve
Serve with piquant salad and a glass of crisp white wine.