Wild Planet Organic Roasted Chicken Breast

I have to confess that I am not a fan of canned meat products. Fish is ok--tuna and sardines and anchovies and salmon and all that. But canned meat? It's usually full of salt and doesn't taste particularly good. So when Wild Planet contacted me about trying their new canned chicken product, I was skeptical. Then I remembered how much I enjoyed their canned white anchovies. (So hard to find! but worth the search; Amazon carries them now.) Sure, why not--I will try the chicken.

Wild Planet sent two cans (and anchovies! plus two other products I'll write about later). I didn't want to just slather the chicken in mayo and call it chicken salad. Instead, I cooked with it. And, I gotta tell you--warmed up, WP canned chicken breast is pretty darn good. We tried the sea salt-seasoned one first, and it was just salty enough. The texture was like albacore tuna, very meaty but a little dry. Warming it up brought out the chicken flavor and made the chicken moist as well.

It was one of those evenings when I wasn't sure what to make for dinner, and we didn't have much in the way of fresh food, apart from half a bell pepper and lots of fresh herbs from our garden. I thought perhaps I could challenge myself to use only the pre-Fancy Food Show samples we had received to try, which included some dry sausage. The original thought was to make something akin to fried rice, but ended up much closer to paella.

I do have a paella pan, but surprise surprise--it was much easier to get a socarrat (crusty bottom) with the non-stick pan! And the chicken + sausage + herbs combo was very tasty. Leftovers made a fab lunch as well.

Sorta Paella with Wild Planet Chicken

Olive oil
1/2 red or yellow bell pepper, diced
1 cup diced onion
Handful of mushrooms, chopped
Salt
1/4 cup diced dry sausage (I used Les Trois Petits Cochons Saucisson Sec aux Cepes)
1 large clove garlic, crushed
1 cup uncooked Jasmine rice
2 cups chicken broth, plus more
1 tomato, diced
Big pinch Spanish paprika
Chopped fresh herbs (can use thyme, sage, basil, tarragon, cilantro, parsley, chives)
Freshly ground black pepper
1 5-ounce can Wild Planet Organic Roasted Chicken Breast
Fresh chives, chopped
Basil, torn

Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a large, nonstick, skillet over medium-high heat and toss in the pepper, onion, and mushrooms. Add a big pinch of salt and stir vegetables to coat with oil. Stir in the sausage and turn the heat to medium. Cook, stirring frequently, for 6-8 minutes, until the vegetables are soft and the sausage has started to crisp up. Stir in the garlic.

Add the rice to the pan and stir to coat. Cook, stirring frequently, until the rice starts to smell toasty, about 6-8 minutes. The veg should be browning at this point, and the sausage should have rendered out much of its fat. Pour in the broth and turn up the heat to bring the liquid to a boil. Once boiling, lower the heat to a simmer and cover the pan. Cook until the rice is tender and the liquid is evaporated, 10-15 minutes. If the broth evaporates quickly and the rice is not yet cooked, add a bit more broth. Don't worry about stirring so much during this portion of the cooking--you actually want the rice to stick to the pan. Just don't let it burn.

Once the rice is nearly done, add the tomato, paprika, and a nice handful of fresh herbs, the more the merrier. Taste for seasoning and add the pepper and more salt, if needed. Turn up the heat a little to allow the rice to crisp up; stir occasionally,

Break up the chicken into chunks and gently mix into the paella. Heat only until warmed through.

Serve garnished with the chives and basil.

* Any products in this post that are mentioned by name may have been provided to Minxeats by the manufacturer. However, all opinions belong to Minxeats. Amazon links earn me $! Please buy!



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Blackened Carrots with Other Stuff

I've posted about blackened or charred carrots here before. And because I like them so much, I'll do it again.

We first encountered the concept of charring carrots over direct flame at Bobby Flay's NY restaurant, Gato. There he serves the black beauties with Middle Eastern flavors like harissa + mint + yogurt. Almost any flavor profile can work with charred carrots - they are simply sweet with a nice caramelization. (No, they don't taste burnt.) While I've done the harissa thing myself, I thought I'd take the flavors up further into the Mediterranean by adding a pesto. We had a bunch of arugula hanging around, so that became the sauce's base. We were also on a weird self-imposed no-dairy, no-wheat, no-sugar diet for the month of August. While yogurt seems completely natural for this dish (at least to us and Bobby Flay), it was a no-no for us. A nice creamy alternative that was allowable is an aioli made with white beans. And garlic, of course (because it's not aioli without garlic). But not just any garlic - black garlic. Black garlic is fermented, which creates the black color and brings out the bulb's inherent sweetness. It's less pungent than fresh or cured garlic (most supermarket garlic and onions have been cured or dried for longterm storage) but is extremely flavorful. The only drawback is that black garlic's soft texture makes it a bit hard to peel and chop. But we're using a food pro here, so no worries.

There are a lot of steps to this recipe, but none are difficult. The aioli and pesto can be made in minutes in the same food processor (rinse it out between sauces). Prepare them while the granola is in the oven. While everything is chilling, make the carrots.

There will be lots of leftover granola, which can be used as a topping for any savory vegetable preparation, or sprinkled on plain yogurt for breakfast. Toss leftover pesto with pasta on another night, and use the aioli as a sandwich spread or dip. It's all good.

The finished dish is vegetarian; it's completely vegan if you leave the Parm out of the pesto and skip the granola. And it tastes amazing.

Blackened Carrots
If you don't have a gas oven, you can blacken your carrots on a grill.

1 bunch slender young carrots with tops, scrubbed but not peeled
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400°F. Cut off the tops of the carrots and discard (or save some for the pesto!). Place the carrots directly on your stove's gas burner, as if you were roasting bell peppers. Cook until charred on all sides, turning frequently. As each carrot becomes charred enough, place it on a foil-lined baking sheet. Once all the carrots are on the foil, drizzle them with some olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Roast in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until tender.

White Bean Black Garlic Aioli

1 (15 ounce) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1⁄4 teaspoon salt
3-4 cloves black garlic
1⁄4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper

Place the beans, lemon juice, and salt, and black garlic in a food processor with the olive oil. Whiz to a puree. If it seems too thick, add more oil. Season with the pepper, adding additional salt and lemon juice to allow for personal tastes. Store in the fridge and eat within a week.

Arugula Pesto

Pesto isn't rocket science. If you don't have 2 cups of arugula, use whatever you have and add smaller quantities of everything else. If you have lots of mixed soft herbs like parsley, cilantro, mint, use them too. As long as it has cheese, nuts, garlic, and olive oil, it will taste good. Oh - allergic to nuts? Leave them out!

2 cups arugula leaves
½ cup grated Parmesan Cheese
¼ cup toasted nuts (I used cashews)
1 clove garlic, peeled
Extra virgin olive oil
Lemon juice
Kosher salt

Put arugula, cheese, nuts, and garlic in the bowl of a food processor. Drizzle in the EVOO and process to a paste of whatever consistency you prefer. Like thinner pesto? add more oil. Like it thick, add less. Season to taste with lemon juice and salt. Store in a tightly covered container in the fridge and eat within a week.

Savory Granola (adapted from Bon Appetit)

1 cup old-fashioned oats
½ cup walnuts
½ cup raw pumpkin seeds
¼ cup raw black and white sesame seeds
3 tablespoons hemp seeds
2 teaspoons fennel seeds
1 teaspoon caraway or dill seeds
1/2 teaspoon nigella/charnushka seeds
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 large egg white, beaten to blend
¼ cup olive oil
1 tablespoon agave syrup

Preheat oven to 350°.  In a large bowl, combine oats, walnuts, seeds, salt, and cayenne pepper with egg white, oil, and agave syrup until everything is coated. Transfer mixture to a rimmed baking sheet and bake, stirring once, until golden, 25–30 minutes. Let cool. Store in a zip top plastic bag.



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Happy Anniversary to Us

We've been blogging here at Minxeats for 11 years, but Mr Minx and I have been married for 16. Happy Anniversary to us!

(Cake by Patisserie Poupon)



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Gluten-free Cookie Dough Bites

Who here hasn't eaten raw cookie dough? Show of hands, please!

Ok - two of you. I hope the reason is because you are sadly gluten-intolerant and not that you had one of those meanie mommies that didn't allow sweets in the house. Or worse - didn't like/didn't know how to bake cookies. I mean, come on - pre-made cookie dough can be purchased in any supermarket. Of course you two might also be afraid of developing salmonella from eating raw eggs. Never fear, oh people who don't eat cookie dough for whatever reason (except those who just don't like it, which I fail to comprehend) - I have discovered a cookie dough that can be safely eaten by celiacs and bacteria-phobes alike.

Cookie Dough Bites. That is, a substance that looks and tastes remarkably like cookie dough, except it has no flour, eggs, butter, sugar, or baking soda in it. So it's gluten-free and, if you use vegan chocolate chips, completely free of animal matter of any kind.

I spotted the recipe on Instagram. The "cookie dough" was part of a recipe for a "healthy" version of a DQ cookie dough Blizzard. I have no interest in fake ice cream or copycat recipes from fast food outlets, but the "dough" part intrigued me. Mostly because I had all of the ingredients in my kitchen: almond meal, coconut oil, vanilla, maple syrup, and chocolate chips. I was a bit skeptical that they would taste like the real thing, but the claims are true - they do! It's definitely the salt + vanilla that really sells it, so don't skimp on either. As for the texture - well, it's not exactly a perfect clone, and the "dough" is pretty soft at room temperature. I think they are best eaten straight from the freezer, maybe even while still standing in front of said freezer with the door open.

Since the chocolate chip version worked so well, I thought I'd try an oatmeal cookie dough version of my own. I took the basic recipe and added some old fashioned oats and took out the chips. You could add raisins if you want, but I have a pretty intense dislike for them. Instead, I used Runamok Maple Elderberry-infused syrup in place of the plain maple syrup. The elderberry syrup tastes somewhat figgy, definitely like dried fruit, and it worked well in this application.

The oatmeal "cookie dough" was as successful as the chocolate chip original! Is Snickerdoodle next?

Cookie Dough Bites (adapted from Neurotic Mommy)

For chocolate chip bites:
1 cup almond meal
1/8 cup coconut oil, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 tablespoons maple syrup
Healthy pinch of salt
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

For oatmeal cookie bites:
1/2 cup old fashioned oatmeal
3/4 cup almond meal
1/8 cup coconut oil, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 tablespoons maple syrup (preferably Runamok Elderberry-infused Maple syrup)
Pinch of salt
2 tablespoons crushed walnut pieces (optional)

For the chocolate chip bites: place all the ingredients except chocolate chips in a bowl. Stir until the almond meal has been thoroughly dampened by the wet ingredients - it should look like cookie dough. If it's too dry, dribble in a bit more melted coconut oil. If it seems wet, add a little more almond meal. Stir in the chips.

Take tablespoon-sized globs of the dough and form balls. Place them on a cookie sheet and put in the freezer until firm - that shouldn't take very long at all. Remove the balls from the cookie sheet and put them in a zip top bag. Store them in the freezer. Eat frozen.

For the oatmeal cookie bites: pulse most the oatmeal in a food processor until broken down but not quite a powder. Stir all the oats with the remaining ingredients except walnuts until the almond meal has been thoroughly dampened by the wet ingredients - it should look like cookie dough. If it's too dry, dribble in a bit more melted coconut oil. If it seems wet, add a little more almond meal. Stir in the walnuts.

Take tablespoon-sized globs of the dough and form balls. Place them on a cookie sheet and put in the freezer until firm - that shouldn't take very long at all. Remove the balls from the cookie sheet and put them in a zip top bag. Store them in the freezer. Eat frozen.

Posted on Minxeats.com.