Cognac Herbed Chicken

Braised on the stove top and finished in a very hot oven. Served with a plan sauce of the rendered fat, shallots, garlic, celery and chicken stock, reduced down.

Wild Blueberry Muffins

A basic muffin recipe for using up a half bag of frozen wild blueberries, sprinkled with turbinado sugar before baking to add extra crunch.

Wild Rice Gratin

Based on the recipe from the Smitten Kitchen cookbook:  a wild rice and baby swiss gratin, with caramelized onions and kale. The original recipe is rather bland and dry, so I added extra stock and was generous with the salt and pepper.  I also added a fair amount of paprika. Thinking on it now, it could probably use a few minced cloves of garlic next time around as well.

An Odd Little Bruschetta

My take on a recent restaurant dish:  grilled and braised romaine with herbed ricotta over toasted French bread, with Fava beans and shrimp, in a basic pan sauce of butter, garlic, herbs, chicken stock and white wine.

Mustard Milanese with Arugula Salad

(Recipe from Smitten Kitchen cookbook.)

A fairly simple recipe - anyone who has made a schnitzel before can manage this one. I added an extra egg to the mustard/egg dip, and used the whole egg rather than just the white.  I also added heirloom cherry tomatoes to the salad and a pinch of grated Parmesan.