Tante Marie Cooking Class

A little over a year ago, I took my first class at Tante Marie with Jodi Liano. I took The Basics (Series III) course with her, every Tuesday for 6 weeks. The focus of the class was on timing, but I also learned a lot of techniques, which had intimidated me in the past. By the time the 6 week course was finished, I was hooked on cooking classes. I waited for the next round of classes to come out, and as soon as they did, I forwarded them onto anyone I thought would be interested and started planning which classes I would take.

Last weekend I took Tante Marie's Quick and Easy Mediterranean Cooking with Jodi and got so many great recipes using lots of whole grains, which had intimidated me in the past. We made a fantastic harissa, which I can't wait to make at home (I'll share once I get a chance to make it myself). My favorite dish was the Tomato and Pesto Farrotto. Farro, often confused with wheatberry or spelt is actually emmer, which comes from the wheat family. It has a nutty taste and a similar texture to arborio, but without the gummy-ness. SO GOOD, better than risotto, in my opinion! I loved the farro so much that I made it for dinner this week and added lots of fresh veges. As an added bonus, Carl LOVED it! This will definitely be added to the rotation.

Side note: The farro pictured below is the brand I used, and you can find it in Whole Foods near the packaged brown rice.

(Fresh Vege) Tomato and Pesto Farrotto
Serves: 4-6
Cooking time: 60 min. (if you make it with the veges)

2 cups of farro
3 TBS extra virgin olive oil, divided
3 cups reduced-sodium vegetable or chicken broth (or water)
2 medium cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
1/8 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 lb ripe cherry tomatoes, halved
5 TBS prepared pesto (see recipe below)
3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and Pepper

Optional ingredients
1/2 cup zucchini, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 cup red or yellow pepper, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 cup onion, diced
1/2 cup peas (fresh or frozen)
1 cup of broccoli tops, cut into 1 inch pieces

Rinse the farro in a fine sieve. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add farro and cook at a low boil for 15 minutes. Drain and transfer to a bowl. Stir in 1 tbs of olive oil and 1/2 tsp salt. Set aside. (the farro can be prepared and refrigerated up to 24 hours in advance).

Heat broth in a saucepan on medium-low heat. Pour remaining 2 tbs of olive oil in a 10 to 12 inch skillet and heat on medium heat. Add garlic and any "optional ingredients" except peas. Stir in crushed pepper and cook until onions are soft. Salt and pepper to taste. Fold in tomatoes and peas. Stir in farro, mixing well to coat the grains, and add a ladle of broth.

Cook the farro, stirring often to prevent sticking, and adding a ladle of broth every time the liquid is absorbed. Cook until farro is tender but still has a little bite int he center, about 20 minutes total (judge by texture and less by time). Stir in pesto and grated cheese. Taste. Add salt, pepper, more pesto, more cheese, as needed. Serve immediately.

Side note: To refresh leftovers, saute more vegetables until soft. Add leftovers, with a little stock and stir until stock is absorbed and leftovers are cooked through.

Pesto

1 handful of basil leaves
2-3 garlic cloves
3 tbs toasted pine nuts
approx 1/4 cup good olive oil
2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 - 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese

In a mini food processor, chop the garlic with the salt. Add the basil leaves, 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese and pine nuts, then puree. Drizzle olive oil into the mixture, until smooth. Periodically push the puree down the sides of the bowl and continue to puree. Taste. Add any additional ingredients to taste.

Sunday Dinner

Last night, Carl and I had our friends J & A and their little one, S, over for Sunday dinner. During our many dinners together, we have often talked about family dinners as kids, and how in all of our homes, Sunday lunch or dinner was a requirement. In Carl and J's house, their mom's always did a Sunday roast, and in honor of that tradition, I made roasted chicken and gravy for dinner.

For some simple side dishes, I roasted potatoes (some under the chicken) and asparagus, steamed some broccoli, and sliced up some fresh bread. A simple dinner, but one that brought back memories of childhood and sitting around the table having dinner as a family.

Roasted Chicken
Serves: approx. 6
active cooking time: 15 min.
inactive cooking time: 1.5 hours

1 4-5 lb roasting chicken (air chilled for better flavor)
salt and pepper
olive oil or butter, softened
herbs (parsley, oregano, thyme, rosemary) - choose as many or as few as you like
1 lemon, cut in half
1 head of garlic, chopped in half width-wise
5-6 cloves of garlic peeled
4-5 potatoes (Yukon gold, russets, etc..) sliced in wedges or 8-10 (red potatoes, fingerling, etc..)
2-3 carrots, peeled and cut into quarters
1-2 parsnips, peeled and cut into quarters
1-2 yellow onion, cut into thick slices

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a large baking (preferably metal/cast iron) dish, toss together potatoes, onions, carrots, parsnips, and peeled garlic cloves with a little olive oil, salt and pepper. Spread evenly on bottom of baking dish. If the dish is too crowded, take out some of the potatoes and parsnips, and roast separately.* Set aside.

Remove giblets from chicken, and save them for making gravy. Salt and pepper cavity of the chicken. Stuff chicken with half of the lemon, half of the garlic head , herbs of choice, the other half head of garlic, and end with the other half of the lemon. Then tie together the chicken legs, which should close the cavity. Tuck wings in, or tie them to chicken. Rub the outside of chicken with butter or olive oil, I prefer butter, and salt and pepper liberally. Place chicken breast side up on top of the veges.

Put the chicken into the oven for about 1.5 hours or until the thermometer reads 160 degrees at the breast. Remove the chicken from the oven, and place on a cutting board, preferably with a moat to catch any juices that will inevitably run off, to rest with foil tee pee on top for 10 minutes. The internal temperature will continue to increase to the recommended internal temperature of 165 degrees. Check vegetables to be sure they are done. If not, put them back in the oven until finished. Now carve the chicken and plate.

Once the vegetables are done, remove them from the pan, and see recipe for gravy below for turning the drippings into gravy.


*If roasting some veges separately, 45 minutes before the chicken is done, put the extra veges in the oven with the chicken.




Chicken Gravy
Makes: 2-3 cups


giblets
thyme
bay leaf
3-4 cups of chicken broth
1/4 cup of dry white wine
1 packet of chicken gravy mix (simply organic, knorr, etc..)
salt and pepper
2 tbs. olive oil


In a sauce pan, brown giblets in olive oil. Once browned on all sides, add chicken broth, thyme, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, then simmer while chicken is roasting. Once chicken and vegetables have finished roasting, remove vegetables from pan. Hopefully there will be some juices left over in the pan. Put pan over heat and add wine to the pan. Cook slowly, scraping the bits from the pan. Once all of the bits have been removed, add the remaining liquid to the chicken broth. Strain the broth, remove any large bits and the giblets. You should have about 3 cups of liquid. Return broth to sauce pan, then slowly whisk in gravy mix. Let simmer for 2-3 minutes. Then taste.

Salty? Add more chicken broth or water. Remember, that the salty-ness will be diluted once put on the chicken, so if it's a little salty, that's OK.
Not salty enough? Add or salt and pepper
Too much wine flavor? Add chicken broth
Too thick? Add chicken broth

ENJOY!