Now that I teased you with some délicieux French wines, I have a quick and flavorful French dish today! Of the many Julia Child recipes I've pored over throughout my love affair with French food, Poulet Basquaise keeps bubbling up to the surface. The dish - which, in English, is called Basque Chicken - naturally comes from the Basque region of France. I found this particular iteration of the dish on a French website called Marmiton, which means 'scullion' in French, which means 'a servant assigned the most menial kitchen tasks'. And yes, I newly learned the word 'scullion' when making this recipe.

Ingredients
- 1 chicken, cut up (I used breasts and legs, but reserved the wings for stock later)
- about 8 Roma tomatoes, peeled and chopped
- 2 red bell peppers and 1 green bell pepper
- 3 yellow onions, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, finely diced
- 1 glass of white wine
- 1 bouquet garni of fresh thyme and sage
- 3 dried bay leaves

The trickiest word that stood out was "peeled". Peeling tomatoes isn't difficult, but requires a little bit of setup. My mom taught me this well-known trick years ago and it is a simple but very useful one to add to your arsenal of kitchen techniques.

First, cut a small X at the base of the tomato (opposite from where it attached to the stem). Then, boil a pot of water. You'll basically dunk the tomatoes into the boiling water for at most one minute. For big tomatoes, you can do one by one. I just plopped the whole mess of Romas into the pot this time. After juuuust that quick trip into the jacuzzi, immediately transfer the tomatoes to cold water. For me, I drained them and then re-filled the pot with icy cold water from the tap. In the past, I've set up a cold water bowl and will just spoon the tomatoes directly into it. Whatever suits you - the point it so go from hot hot to cold cold. Once the tomatoes have cooled slightly, the skin of the tomatoes will very easily peel off. Once peeled, I quartered each tomato lengthwise and cut the quarters in half.

The second bit of prep I did was making the bouquet garni. This is basically a fancy term for Fresh Herbs Tied Together. The recipe called for fresh thyme, fresh sage, and fresh bay, but I only found the first two of the three. I tied the sage and thyme together with some twine.

Tomatoes and herbs prepped, I cut up my peppers, garlic, and onions and started cooking.

The original recipe requires two pans - one to cook the vegetables and one to brown the chicken. In the interest of (A) flavor (B) doing fewer dishes, I browned the chicken in a cast iron casserole, about 4 minutes a side, and reserved the pieces on the side.

It looks more like 'tanning' than 'browning', but go with it.

Once all the chicken was done, I added the chopped onions into the same pan and a good dash of salt. The salt helps the onions release juice faster which picks up all the fond (the outrageously flavorful brown bits left over from browning the chicken - why would you use two separate pans?!). After a minute or two of just onions, I added in the garlic and the peppers.

I let this cook, stirring periodically, for five minutes. Then, I added the chopped tomatoes, a little bit more salt and black pepper.

I covered the pot and simmered for 20 minutes, stirring once halfway.

After 20 minutes, the vegetables released so much of their juice and flavor - it all smelled perfect even at this stage. Instead of just grabbing a spoon and digging in, I added the browned chicken back into the mix. I used tongs to really nestle all of the pieces deep down and cover them with the sauce. The bouquet garni and the bay leaves dove in, and I also poured the end of a bottle of viognier into the pot, a little bit more than a cup.

I covered the pot again and this time simmered for 35 minutes. I served it up in bowls over some whole wheat couscous.

Is it weird to characterize this as "summer stew"? It was warm and filling but still tasted fresh and light. The sauce of the vegetable juices plus wine really lent to that lightness. This would have admittedly been delicious brothy vegetable soup on it's own without any of the chicken. Nonetheless, I loved using the whole bird in the mix, from light meat to dark meat and all the accessories. I ended up pulling the skin off of my pieces before eating (not crispy = not edible in my book) but the skin and the bones both added incredible depth to the overall flavor of the dish.

Like most French dishes I attempt, they look fancy, but are quite easily broken down into technique-heavy and flavor-focused smaller steps. Plus, they always say to cook with the wine you'll drink with it - this dish worked perfectly with viognier. Bon appetit!

Lamb Kebabs with Mediterranean Couscous Salad

I have a confession: we didn't fire up the grill a single time this weekend. I know! It's our duty as American citizens to grill over Memorial Day, right? We're one of three apartments in our building with outdoor space. The owners who live on the penthouse level have a rooftop terrace. Then, there's us and our next door neighbor. The patio is one solid rectangle of pavers divided by an absolutely exquisite lime green plastic sheet. Last fall, the building dug up the old patio, added better drainage (this is good and overdue - we've had one major flood and a handful of rainy day leaks), and relaid pavers. When the work crew put the green plastic wall back up, they split the belongings.... incorrectly. We have their table and our chairs, some of their planters, and the bottom half of the grill only. Some of the items are properly sorted out now, but our little Weber is exceptionally rusty. Since Memorial Day weekend is also for Pure Relaxation, the end result was no rust scrubbing, no grilling, but lots of tasty indoor food.

I probably could have made this story a lot shorter by also noting that it rained in NYC this weekend the nights that we cooked which, inherently, puts a damper on grilling, pun intended.

While I can't share any grilled recipes from this weekend, I can share a recipe I made on our grill pan in the last couple of weeks. We'd tried a lamb dish that looked beautiful but left us shrugging indifferently flavor-wise, so I was fixated on a redemption recipe.

Enter Ina. Any time I've made one of her recipes, it's perfect. Flawless, even.

"I woke up like dis", said the lamb after marinating overnight (almost a full 24 hours) in Greek yogurt, lemon zest, lemon juice, and finely diced cilantro. Ina's recipe calls for rosemary but I had cilantro and, you know, waste not want not.

While I soaked the wooden skewers in water (so they don't burn during cooking!), I got to chopping. The red bell pepper and red onion ended up in wedge-ish pieces to join the lamb.

OCD much?

Since I couldn't get our grill pan as hot as a regular old outside grill, I did each skewer for about 2 minutes a side and then finished all of them in the oven.

Just imagine that grilled smell of sweet pepper and sharp onion, both with dark charred sections. The aroma should be bottled. Plus, these two vegetables stood up to the cooking well and had a great texture to counter the soft, melty lamb.

Speaking of veggies, remember the mini cucumbers, radishes, and tomatoes from the picture above? I cooked 1/3 cup of whole wheat couscous and tossed in those sliced veggies with a splash of red wine vinegar.

And then, feasting.

This final shot of lamb comes with the Beyoncé-inspired caption, "I look so good tonight." The yogurt marinade left the lamb exceptionally tender and tangy with a ton of flavor from the lemon and cilantro. The couscous salad was a crunchy and refreshing counterbalance to the richness of the meat. I can say with confidence that this is now a go-to lamb recipe and I'll definitely be making it again once we de-rust the real grill!

Two On Tuesday: Chicken & Grapes Recipes

Right before the new year, I binged on Smitten Kitchen and found her recipe for Harvest Chicken. The flavors are simultaneously traditional and unique. The prep is exceptionally simple. The leftovers are.... well, there are rarely any leftovers, to be honest.

I like making this in my cast iron Dutch oven, but you can certainly use a skillet if you choose. Season the chicken and brown it in batches on both sides in some hot oil. Once all the chicken is browned, add it all back into the pan. The original recipes then calls for a cup of olives and a cup of grapes, but in this iteration I doubled that. I also threw in the rosemary sprigs whole and diced up the shallots. Bake at 450° for about 20 minutes or until juices run clear and a thermometer registers around 165°.

Once done, scoop out all of the solids onto a platter. Add a splash of white wine and chicken stock, bring to a boil, and reduce by half, scraping the bottom of the pan to incorporate all of the drippings from the chicken - a quick and delicious gravy to pour over the plated chicken.

It is incredible. Rosemary on chicken is such a perfect combination, but then you add the sweet grapes and salty olives and it just takes it to another level of delicious. I served this iteration with some roasted asparagus and couscous.

What to do with a bag of red grapes in the fridge? Ina Garten's Roasted Sausages and Grapes recipe answers that question in beautiful ways. Typically I make this with pork sausages but went with chicken ones - two sweet, two spicy - this time around. My friend April does an even quicker version with sliced pre-cooked sausages. Whatever approach you take, it's another great blend of spicy meat and sweet roasted grapes, with a bright burst of balsamic vinegar to boot.

You start by effectively butter-coating the grapes. I threw in some more rosemary because why not? It's delicious. Then, in a break with Ina's recipe, I add a few glugs of balsamic vinegar. I like it cooking into all of the flavors while it's in the oven. Nestle your sausages into the grapes and bake in a hot oven - Ina says 500, but I think my oven was closer to 450. I turned the sausages over after about 10 minutes of a total cook time of 20 minutes. Quel surprise - more asparagus. I'm telling you, I go HEAVY on the 'spara every spring. This is a great weeknight dinner that tastes fancy but is very simply executed.

Orange Soy Salmon with Fresh Tapenade Couscous & Asparagus

I noted at the end of the Chicken Scarapiello recipe that it got me hooked on the hot cherry, or peppadew, peppers. I'm obsessed with them. I pay the extra few cents to add them to my lunch salads and have snacked on them plain while cooking dinner. They sell them at the olive bar at Fairway near our apartment where I was inspired by the other tapenade ingredients.

I zapped olives, a few cornichons (not pictured), peppadew peppers, and marinated artichoke hearts in my baby food processor. Typically I would add some olive oil, but the oil on the artichoke hearts sufficed. I tossed most of the tapenade with a ½ cup of cooked whole wheat couscous.

For the salmon, I marinated it in fresh orange juice (1 orange), 2 tablespoons of low sodium soy sauce, and 2 tablespoons of maple syrup. I baked the fish and oil-drizzled asparagus until done at about 350°. I plated the salmon on top of the tapenade couscous and used the extra on top of the fish itself.

You can also peep my absolutely perfect stemless wineglasses. It's a set of four and this one has #vino etched on the side. The others read #merloment, #wino, and #wineoclock. They make me happy.

All in all, this meal was simple to put together and extremely satisfying while not leaving me feeling too full. I love the flavors in both the marinade and the tapenade and would definitely try this again with mild white fishes or with chicken.

Caramelized Onion & Mushrooms Steak with Arugula Pesto Couscous

What better way to start this food blogging adventure than with two of my all-time favorite foods: pesto and steak?

Pesto is my fave. So is steak. Steak is my love language, in fact. Both foods appear on my theoretical Last Meal list. Feeling happy? I want a steak. Feeling blue? I want a steak. Cold weather go-to food? I want steak. Summertime grilling choice? I want steak. Sensing the theme?

If you have a food processor, large or small, fresh pesto is possible. Traditional pesto is some blend of basil, garlic, Parmesan cheese, and pine nuts, but I love mixing it up. Today's iteration swaps arugula for basil and I absolutely adore the peppery bite that the arugula brings to it. The rest of it entails some pine nuts (or pignoli if you want to pretend you're Italian), chunks of Parmesan, large peeled cloves of garlic, salt and pepper and some lemon zest.

Caramelizing onions is just an exercise in patience. I am not a patient person. But somehow it's a perfect way to unwind after a long day. You pour a glass of wine, you catch up with your sweetie about your day, you push onions around a pan over low heat until they become deep golden brown and you want to bottle their aroma and wear it on your pulse points in coming days.

Some people add sugar to caramelize onions faster. I do not do this. The natural sugars that this low and slow cooking releases is so perfect on its own, I just let it all work naturally. Don't forget - if you begin to feel impatient, just refill your glass of wine and carry on. I promise, the pan does the work and it's worth the wait.

Now the steak! For home cooking, I love a flank steak (sometimes labeled London broil). I kept it simple with salt, fresh cracked black pepper, and some crushed red pepper flakes.

Throw some oil into your pan nice and get it nice and hot - I used a cast iron skillet, but any oven-safe pan will work. When the oil starts to ripple like little baby waves, it's ready. I like to sear each side for about 3 minutes to lock in the flavors and then pop into a 400° oven until it's cooked to my liking. I go for rare to medium-rare, or 125°-135°. How do I know the temperature? A meat thermometer, one of the best kitchen investments I've ever made.

Make sure you let the meat rest for a few minutes. It lets the juicy deliciousness inside settle down and you want it that way.

For the couscous, you boil 1.5 cups of water, add 1 cup of couscous, stir and remove from heat. Cover for about 5 minutes and then fluff it with a fork. Or, if you've made deliciously garlicky pesto, you can stir in the pesto.

To the plate! Voilà:

I loved the combination of all of these flavors. The earthy mushrooms with the soft and sweet onions. The sharpness of the garlic and cheese and peppery arugula. The juicy bites of steak. This to me encompasses a pretty top notch meal.