Sure, where you live it’s probably hot and sunny. But here in San Francisco, it’s cold and foggy. Since it’s August, I can’t quite bring myself to cook a full-on stew, despite the doom and gloom outside my window, but I can split the difference with this chicken tagine. I previously shared a Moroccan lamb tagine recipe, and this one is about as easy and delicious as that one, but with completely different flavors. Of course, I don’t actually have a working tagine so I just cook it in a Le Creuset, but calling it a tagine makes it sound better, don’t you think? It also clues you in to the North African seasonings involved.

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I grew up with Sunset magazine, and it’s still one of the best food and travel magazines out there. I’ve tried several recipes over the years, and this one was a knockout. It was easy, delicious, well-spiced, and interesting. This one’s going in the permanent files!

I highly recommend you give it a try. I couldn’t find the recipe at Sunset.com, but I found it reproduced here. Enjoy!

My friend Brian taught me this recipe. Well, actually, funny story. It’s more truthful to say that my friend Brian was making this recipe, and luckily I came for dinner early because he was about to royally screw it up. Although this recipe is really easy, you do have to separate the eggs and whip the whites, then yolks, to soft peak. He didn’t really get what that was all about so he was just planning to dump them all in there a little stirred up. Crisis averted, dusty hand mixer pulled from back of cabinet, teamwork prevailed!

This soup has a very interesting, almost mousse-like texture. It is really rich tasting, lemony, and frothy. A definite hit that’s one of my go-to recipes. The chicken flavor reeeeeally does it for me but you could go vegetarian with a mushroom or vegetable broth.

Avgolemono
this amount will serve 6-8, depending on what else you’re going to serve with it.

Ingredients:

• 8 cups chicken broth (best quality you can find, or homemade ideally*)
• 1 cup orzo  or rice
• 4 eggs, separated
• juice of 3 lemons
• salt to taste
• chopped mint or cilantro for garnish

Method:

• Heat the broth until it boils, then add the orzo or rice and simmer until tender, about 20 min.
• Meanwhile, whip the egg whites until they hold medium peaks.
• While beating continuously add the yolks and then the lemon juice.
• Temper the egg mixture by adding 2 cups of the hot chicken broth in a slow, constant stream while continuing to beat so that you do not curdle the eggs.
• Add the tempered egg mixture back into the remaining broth and combine. Taste and add salt if needed.
• Garnish with mint or cilantro.
• You can make it ahead, but heat it up slowly over low heat so the eggs don’t cook too much.

* Here is a link to a recipe for homemade chicken stock. But don’t get me wrong. I never make chicken stock because I am LAZY. Occasionally I buy fancy stock from a fancy store but also I am CHEAP so that’s not my norm. For those of you who make stock, GOOD JOB. You are better than me and I bow to you. For those of you who are lazy and cheap, here is my secret to success: I like Pacific organic chicken stock (from Whole Foods, NOT reduced sodium, iww) with a couple of those semi-weird liquid concentrated chicken stock packet thingies (also from Whole Foods, or Trader Joes).

I have been really busy so I haven’t been cooking that much lately, but I did make this last week and then ate the leftovers for several days after that. This is a really simple, foolproof recipe that is elegant and delicious. My aunt Sherrie, the “queen of chicken” (since she basically only makes chicken) got this recipe from someone and was kind enough to share it with the whole family! I served it with a wild rice blend but you could also serve it with mashed potatoes or buttered noodles. It’s also easy because it’s like chicken+salad all in one dish so you only need a starch to go with it- I think you could even get away with just throwing down a loaf of crusty bread to sop up the sauce- and then you are totally going the super simple route.

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This recipe has an interesting and meaningful provenance. When I used to teach cooking to high school students in New York, we had a competition in which the students had to create and execute their own original recipes. I was a judge for the competition, and when I tasted thie dish, I remember being blown away by their creativity and ability to invent something so original and delicious. Needless to say they won the competition, and I won a copy of the recipe!

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Let’s say you’re hanging out in the 310, the 213, or even the 90210. Last night, you ate at Cobras and Matadors, then had a pretty hardcore night of drinking at the Golden Gopher or perhaps SkyBar (you fancypants you!) You wake up late the next day and need a serious hangover brunch. One choice. Has to be Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles in Hollywood.

The syrup they serve is magical- it’s like honey on a biscuit, but syrup on a waffle. Go figure! Also it’s the only place I think I have EVER been that actually has Bartles and Jaymes Wine Coolers on the menu. Yes! It’s absolutely an LA institution.

Note: There are other branches, but the Hollywood one is the “touristy” (white?) one. The food is the same at all of them, but the crazy, cramped, funky vibe is more present at Roscoe’s in Hollywood as well, since it’s the original. But if you happen to be in Watts, by all means, hit up another branch.

We had some friends visiting from Scotland, and they wanted advice on where to go as they embarked on a SoCal roadtrip. Thinking about LA I was reminded about how dearly I love Versailles Cuban Restaurant. There’s some complicated history about why it’s called Versailles that involves the name of a sauce or something but I can’t remember, because admittedly that’s an odd name for a Cuban spot… but they have fantastic food that is really inexpensive. It’s so much better than that other Versailles. You know, the one in France with the palace and the gilding and whatnot. Because gilding does not hold a candle to pork and plantains and it never will.

But I digress… anyway, I think the lechon asado (roast pork) is ridiculously good, even though most people rave about the famous Versailles garlic chicken. You can’t go wrong! Don’t expect a fancy atmosphere, just a big ol’ plate of comida deliciosa.

So next time you’re in LA- don’t miss your chance to hit Versailles, for some Cuban food that actually makes me wish the historical migration patterns had funneled a few more Havanans up to SF so I wouldn’t have to go all the way to NY, LA, or Miami for Cuban food this tasty!

Find more info at their website. There are like 4 or 5 of them now, so wherever you are in the big sprawl, there should be one nearby!

I was thinking about one of my favorite old white-trash recipes, which involves coating chicken pieces in mayonnaise and cornflakes and baking them in the oven. I decided there must be a more sophisticated way to make a dish like this, so I swapped out the cornflakes for pecans and made a tangy yogurt-based coating to stand in for the mayo. I also sauteed the chicken in olive oil instead of baking it, although I would suspect that you could just as easily throw it in the oven.

Not only did it taste a heckuva lot better than the original, it seemed a slightly more balanced nutritionally, and yeah, a lot less white trashy. I served it over a bed of kale wilted with a little garlic and cayenne in homage to its down-home roots.

Pecan-Crusted Chicken

Ingredients:

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, 6 to 8 oz. each
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, divided
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 1/2 cups plain yogurt
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 2 cups pecans, finely chopped
• 1 cup bread crumbs
• olive oil for sautéing

Method:

• Use a mallet to pound chicken breasts into a uniform 1/2 inch thickness. Cut each breast into 2 or 3 pieces for manageability.
• Combine lemon juice, yogurt, mustard, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a bowl and set aside. Put chicken pieces in mixture and let sit for about 10 minutes.
• Combine pecans, crumbs, and 1 teaspoon salt in a bowl and set aside.
• Heat about 1 tablespoon olive oil in a sauté pan over medium high heat. Wipe excess yogurt off chicken and dredge in pecan mixture. When oil is hot, add chicken pieces to pan and cook about 3-4 minutes on each side until golden brown on the outside and cooked through. You may need to do it in batches, in which case you should wipe the pan out between batches and add a bit more oil.
• Serve immediately.