Gonna Want Seconds: Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole

I had a hard week.  And a long, tiring weekend.  So all I really wanted was some warm, creamy comfort food.  Nothing says comfort like chicken and rice, and this recipe takes ordinary chicken and rice and kicks it in the pants.  Where has this recipe been my whole life?  And do NOT leave off the Chicken In a Biskit crackers.  It's so trashy, but oh so awesome.

Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole
Adapted from Gonna Want Seconds blog

6 to 8 small cremini mushrooms, sliced

1 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 bunch broccoli, cut into florets, stems discarded
1 can cream of chicken soup

1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 (8-ounce) container sour cream
½ cup whole milk
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
½ teaspoon poultry seasoning
½ teaspoons sea salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 cups shredded rotisserie chicken
4 cups cooked long-grain white rice
8 ounces finely shredded Cheddar cheese
2 cups crumbled Chicken In a Biskit crackers
1 teaspoon dried thyme
⅓ cup unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 11x15-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.

Sauté mushrooms in 1 tablespoon butter until softened.  Season with salt and pepper and set aside.  Blanch broccoli florets in boiling water for 5 minutes, then strain into an ice bath.  Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, mix two soups, sour cream, milk, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, poultry seasoning, salt, and pepper until evenly combined. Add the chicken, reserved mushrooms and broccoli, and rice and fold until evenly coated and ingredients are mixed. Pour into prepared pan.

Sprinkle the top of the casserole evenly with shredded cheese. In a small bowl, mix together cracker crumbs, thyme, and melted butter. Sprinkle evenly over cheese layer. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until casserole is heated through and cracker crumbs are golden brown.

Makes 8 servings

Girl in the Kitchen: Seared Scallops with Goat Cheese-Yukon Purée, Asparagus, and Sorrel Vinaigrette

For as complicated as this recipe actually is, now that I'm looking at it written out, I was mainly looking for a way to use up the extra sorrel leaves I had leftover from making a different dish.  And the ham hocks I had.  That's really it.  I loved the mashed potatoes, and they will definitely get made again.  Also like the asparagus sautéed with the ham.  And I always love scallops.  Each component was a thing of beauty.  Not sure it all works together as a whole, though.  Every element is competing with the rest.  Live and learn, I guess, but at least I managed to work some scallops into the rotation.  And that's never a bad thing.

Seared Scallops with Goat Cheese-Yukon Purée, Asparagus, and Sorrel Vinaigrette
From Girl in the Kitchen by Stephanie Izard

2 smoked ham hocks (about 2 pounds)

Goat Cheese-Yukon Purée
1 pound Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into large cubes
1 cup heavy cream
2 ounces plain, soft goat cheese
Coarse salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Asparagus
8 ounces white asparagus, peeled
8 ounces green asparagus
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Coarse salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Sorrel Vinaigrette
8 to 10 sorrel leaves, washed
¼ cup white balsamic vinegar
1 large egg yolk
2 teaspoons honey
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon yellow aji chile paste
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons olive oil

Scallops
12 sea scallops, side muscles removed
Coarse salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter

¼ cup sliced almonds, toasted

Put the ham hocks in a large stockpot and cover with 2 quarts cool water.  Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat.  Cover the pot and simmer the hocks until the meat is tender and can be peeled off the bone with a fork or by hand, about 2 hours.

To make the purée:  Remove the hocks from the water and set them aside to cool.  Add the potatoes to the pot and bring the water back to a boil.  Cook the potatoes until fork-tender, 15 to 20 minutes.

Combine the cream and goat cheese in a small saucepan over low heat, letting the cheese melt into the cream, stirring occasionally.

Drain the potatoes and put them through a ricer into a clean bowl.  Pour the cream and cheese mixture over the potatoes and stir to combine them into a thin puree.  Pass the puree through a medium-mesh sieve (optional), season with salt and pepper, cover, and keep warm until ready to serve.

Pull the meat from the ham hocks and set it aside in a small bowl.  Discard the skin and bones.

To make the asparagus:  Slice the white and green asparagus into ⅓-inch pieces (reserving two or three green asparagus spears for garnish).  Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat.  Add the ham and the sliced asparagus and sauté until the asparagus is just tender, 5 to 7 minutes.  Toss with another 1 tablespoon olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Cover and keep warm.

To make the vinaigrette:  Combine the sorrel, vinegar, egg yolk, honey, mustard, and chile paste in a blender and pulse several times to combine.  Whisk the vegetable oil and olive oil together in a measuring cup with a spout.  With the blender running, pour the oils through the opening in the lid in a slow steady stream and process until a smooth vinaigrette forms.

To make the scallops:  Pat the scallops dry and season both sides with salt and pepper.  Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan over high heat.  Add the scallops to the hot pan.  (Avoid overcrowding the scallops in the pan.  If they are too close together, they will steam inside of sear.  Sear them in batches if the pan is not big enough to hold them all at once.)  Let the scallops brown for 1 minute, then reduce the heat to medium.  Continue to cook until a brown crust forms.  Add the butter to the pan.  Turn the scallops over to brown the other sides.  While browning, spoon the melted butter over the tops of the scallops to baste them.  Remove them from the pan once you've basted them well and all edges are nice and browned.

To serve, put a spoonful of potato purée on each of four plates.  Top with a few spoonfuls of the sautéed ham and asparagus.  Divide the scallops between the plates and drizzle with the vinaigrette.  Slice the reserved raw green asparagus very thinly on a bias.  Toss with the toasted almonds and sprinkle on top of each dish.

Makes 4 servings

Kindred: Milk Bread

Have you seen this bread on the internet?  I mean, seriously, have you seen this bread?  I figured I should stop spending so much time drooling on myself and actually try to make the darn thing, and I am so glad I did.  This bread is everything bread should be: tender, doughy, and perfect smothered in melting butter.  The recipe makes enough bread for an army, as you can tell from the pictures where it is literally crawling out of the jumbo muffin pan, but I also don't see that as a bad thing.  Try to eat just one, I dare you.

Milk Bread
From Kindred restaurant, as seen at Food52

5⅓ cups bread flour, divided, plus more for surface (Kindred uses King Arthur)
1 cup heavy cream
⅓ cup mild honey (such as wildflower or alfalfa)
3 tablespoons nonfat dry milk powder
2 tablespoons active dry yeast (from about 3 envelopes)
2 tablespoons kosher salt
3 large eggs, divided
4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces, at room temperature
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
Flaky sea salt (optional)

Cook ⅓ cup flour and 1 cup water in a small saucepan over medium heat, whisking constantly, until a thick paste forms (almost like a roux but looser), about 5 minutes. Add cream and honey and cook, whisking to blend, until honey dissolves.

Transfer mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook and add milk powder, yeast, kosher salt, 2 eggs, and 5 remaining cups flour. Knead on medium speed until dough is smooth, about 5 minutes. Add butter, a piece at a time, fully incorporating into dough before adding the next piece, until dough is smooth, shiny, and elastic, about 4 minutes.

Coat a large bowl with nonstick spray and transfer dough to bowl, turning to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

If making rolls, lightly coat a 6-cup jumbo muffin pan with nonstick spray. Turn out dough onto a floured surface and divide into 6 pieces. Divide each piece into 4 smaller pieces (you should have 24 total). They don’t need to be exact; just eyeball it. Place 4 pieces of dough side-by-side in each muffin cup. If making loaves, lightly coat two 9- by 5-inch loaf pans with nonstick spray. Turn out dough onto a floured surface and divide into 12 pieces. Nestle pieces side-by-side to create 2 rows down length of each pan. If making split-top buns, lightly coat two 9- by 13-inch baking dishes with nonstick spray. Divide dough into 12 pieces and shape each into a 4-inch long log. Place 6 logs in a row down length of each dish.

Let shaped dough rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in size (dough should be just puffing over top of pan), about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375° F. Beat remaining egg with 1 teaspoon water in a small bowl to blend. Brush top of dough with egg wash and sprinkle with sea salt, if desired. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until bread is deep golden brown, starting to pull away from the sides of the pan, and is baked through, 25 to 35 minutes for rolls, 50 to 60 minutes for loaf, or 30 to 40 minutes for buns. If making buns, slice each bun down the middle deep enough to create a split-top. Let milk bread cool slightly in pan on a wire rack before turning out; let cool completely.

Makes 6 rolls, two 9- by 5-inch loaves, or 12 split-top buns

Taylor Ham Breakfast Sandwich

When I lived in New Jersey, I discovered an amazing breakfast sandwich that may still hold the record as most delicious.  I'm not sure why they're hoarding this particular breakfast food, but the world needs to know.  And they need to start exporting Taylor ham around the country.  Luckily, my little corner of the world is blessed with provisions.  And no, I don't want to think about what actually is in Taylor ham.  Let me keep my delicious ignorance.

Taylor Ham Breakfast Sandwich

1 Kaiser roll, sliced in half
Unsalted butter
Slices of Taylor pork roll (Taylor ham)
1 large egg
Slices of Cheddar cheese
Salt and pepper

Spread butter on cut sides of roll and toast until golden brown.  Set aside.

Cut a slice halfway through each piece of Taylor ham to prevent curling when cooked.  Fry in a skillet in some butter until starting to get brown marks.  Place ham slices on one half of roll.

Fry an egg in butter, breaking the yolk so that it will mostly cook through.  Lay a slice or two of Cheddar cheese on the egg when it's nearly done.  Season with salt and pepper.  Lay the egg over the Taylor ham and put the other half of the roll on top.  Try to eat without making indecent noises.

Gordon Ramsay: Shepherd's Pie

I remember back when I was in high school going to a restaurant near me called Tippin's.  Yes, it was mostly a pie restaurant, but what I remembered the most was the luscious shepherd's pie that I would get.  I seriously never tried anything else.  Well, I happened to come across some frozen Tippin's pies at my local Tom Thumb grocery store, and it made me nostalgic, so I figured I would try to make my own shepherd's pie.  I seriously love this.  It's like a giant food hug.

Note: No Branston Pickle here.  Still delicious.  I used lamb stock instead of chicken stock since I had it.  Seemed like a good idea.  The original recipe calls for extra-large egg yolks.  I'm not buying a dozen eggs to get two yolks.  The large egg yolks seemed to work just fine.

Shepherd's Pie
Adapted from Cooking for Friends by Gordon Ramsay

1 pound lean ground lamb
2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, minced
1 large carrot, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 cup red wine
1½ cups chicken stock
1½ tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
Leaves from a handful of fresh thyme sprigs
Leaves from a sprig fresh rosemary, chopped
2½ tablespoons minced Branston Pickle (optional)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Topping:

1¼ pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
3½ tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons hot whole milk
3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan
2 large egg yolks

Put a wide, cast-iron or other heavy-based pan over medium to high heat.  Season the ground lamb with salt and pepper and fry in a thin layer of oil until evenly browned, about 10 minutes. (Fry the meat in two batches if necessary.)  Transfer the lamb to a bowl using a slotted spoon.

Add a little more olive oil to the pan and stir in the onion, carrot, and garlic.  Fry, stirring frequently, until the vegetables are golden brown, 4 to 5 minutes.  Add the flour and tomato paste and stir for a couple of minutes longer.  Pour in the red wine and scrape the bottom of the pan to dislodge the browned sediment.  Let the wine boil until it has almost all evaporated and the pan is quite dry.

Pour in the chicken stock and bring to a simmer.  Return the lamb to the pan and add the Worcestershire sauce and herbs.  Turn the heat to the lowest setting and partially cover the pan.  Simmer, stirring every once in a while, until the lamb is tender and the sauce has thickened, 30 to 40 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook the potatoes in boiling salted water until tender when pierced with a small knife, 15 to 20 minutes.  Drain well, then return to the hot pan over low heat to dry out briefly.  Press the potatoes through a potato ricer into a large bowl.  Mix in the butter, hot milk, and 2 tablespoons of the Parmesan.  Season well to taste, then beat in the egg yolks and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350°F.  Fold the minced Branston Pickle through the lamb mixture, then pour into an 8-cup baking dish.  Spoon the mashed potato generously on top of the lamb filling, starting from the outside and working your way into the middle.  Fluff up the mashed potato with a fork to make rough peaks.  Sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan and grind a little black pepper over the top.  Bake until the top is golden brown and filing is bubbling up around the sides, 20 to 25 minutes.  Serve with extra Branston Pickle, if you wish.

Makes 4 servings

Food52: Salmon in Sorrel Sauce

I have had this recipe in my file for years.  Yes, years.  I'm a recipe packrat, I suppose.  But whenever I see something that sounds awesomely delicious, I squirrel it away into my binders and leave myself a mental note to be on the lookout for whatever random hard-to-find ingredient is required.  Then, a year or more later, when I finally find the rare ingredient, I have to remember what the heck I was planning to cook with it.  This, my friends, was worth the wait.

Salmon in Sorrel Sauce
From Food52

1 pound beautiful, wild, center cut salmon
3 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 cups fresh sorrel leaves, chopped rough
¼ cup chervil leaves
½ cup chives, with flowers if possible
½ cup heavy cream
Salt and pepper

Adjust an oven rack to be at the very top of the oven.  Preheat the broiler.

Prepare all ingredients and stage.  This dish comes together quickly and you don't want to be scrambling.  Hold back the chive flowers, if you have them.

Slice the salmon into thin medallions.  A flexible salmon slicing knife is my choice, but any long thin knife will work well. It must be very sharp.  Slice on a slight angle cutting away the skin as you go. Aim for 16 pieces.  Place the salmon on a sheet pan lined with parchment and very lightly oiled. Brush the tops very lightly with oil.  Sprinkle salt and pepper over the fish.

When the oven is ready, start the sauce.  In a large, wide skillet, melt the butter until it starts to toast. It should be golden brown.  At this point, put the salmon under the broiler.

Add the sorrel, chervil and chives to the butter and coat quickly.  Allow them to wilt a little, and then pour in the cream.  Bring to a boil and reduce just until the sauce coats the back of a spoon.  Taste and adjust for salt and pepper, remembering you have seasoned the fish.

The salmon should now be ready (2 to 3 minutes).  Watch it carefully the entire time it's in the oven -- it could take you as little as 30 seconds, depending on your oven.

Dry the warm plates. Place four medallions per person on each plate and decorate with the sauce, being very generous. Sprinkle chive flower petals and serve with crusty bread.

Makes 4 servings