Jamaican Jerk Chicken with Collards and Yams

I went to The New World Home Cooking Company restaurant this weekend in upstate New York, and enjoyed a profound jerk chicken that just about knocked my socks off. Of course I decided right away that I had better add it to my personal repertoire. To increase the comfort factor, I combined this delicious centerpiece with some southern-style sides. Boy did this come out nicely!

For the rub, combine a couple cloves of garlic, a scotch bonnet pepper, the juice of 1 lime, chili powder, allspice, nutmeg, thyme, cinnamon, ground ginger, salt and pepper in a food processor and pulse until its well combined and all pieces are the size of a fine chop. After applying this mixture to your chicken (I prefer skinless for this), let it marinade for an hour to allow those flavors to penetrate the meat a bit. Fire up your grill and drop them on there, about 7-10 minutes per side depending on the thickness.

For the collards, combine 1+1/2 cup water, 1/4 cup cider vinegar, 1 tablespoon bacon fat, 1 chopped jalapeno, 1 chopped onion, 1 clove crushed garlic, a large pinch of salt, and 1 lb chopped collard greens in a pot and simmer for 45 minutes.

The yams are simple too: peel and slice, then toss with olive oil, salt and pepper. Bake at 425 covered tightly with tin foil (to keep the steam in) for 30 minutes. Remove foil and cook that side for 20 minutes, then flip the yam slices and cook the other side for 20 minutes. Done! I broiled them for the last few minutes to caramelize the sugars a bit.
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Baked Eggs, Smoked Salmon, and Mozzarella

The ultimate homey breakfast, baked eggs are the perfect thing for a Sunday morning meal. They're healthier for you than fried eggs, but the best part is the way the baking dish keeps the eggs warm long after its left the oven. Its just so nice.

Here we've dropped 3 organic eggs into a porcelain baking dish (buttered to prevent sticking,) added some bits of smoked salmon, fresh herbs, salt and pepper, then topped it off with a few slices of mozzarella cheese.

Cooking at 375 degrees it will take about 17-20 mins for custard-like yolks.

A side of citrus rounds out the earthiness and sea flavors with a touch of acidity. We chose grapefruit slices tossed with fresh mint.
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Lamb Ragoût with Pappardelle

This is one of my favorite dishes. I admit I have many favorite dishes, but that's besides the point. The slight gaminess of the lamb coupled with the pancetta and red wine in the sauce really expands the flavor of an otherwise simple pasta sauce.

I usually like to make fresh pappardelle with this, but we will just focus on the sauce today.

1. In a tall sided pan or pot, add 2 tablespoon olive oil, 3 cloves garlic, 1 large onion, 1 medium carrot, and 1 celery stalk, and 1/2 cup pancetta (or bacon) - all finely chopped. Cook for 10 mins on medium heat until onion is translucent. This is known as a Mirepoix (although we used oil instead of butter).

2. Add 1 pound of ground lamb, a sprig of fresh rosemary, and some chopped oregano and thyme. Cook until meat is browned, another 10 mins.

3. Turn down heat to low and add 1 tablespoon tomato paste, 1 teaspoon hot pepper paste, 2 16 oz cans stewed tomatoes, 2 8 oz cans tomato sauce, and 1 cup of red wine (I used a Syrah). Add a couple of bay leaves, 1 tablespoon salt and 1 tablespoon fresh ground pepper. Stir and cook uncovered for 1/2 hour.

4. Add 1 teaspoon of sugar (optional). Stir and taste, then adjust seasonings to your liking. Break up some of the tomatoes with a spoon if necessary. Cook another 1/2 hour adding more red wine if the sauce starts to stick to the pan.

5. Add pappardelle to boiling water and 1 tablespoon olive oil 10 mins before sauce is finished and serve tossed together. Throw some fresh parsley and shaved Parmesan on top to garnish.

Enjoy!
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Bird Bird Bird

Here is the key to good bbq chicken: on the grill, position the meat away from the fire, skin side down, for the first 10 mins.

If you position your bird directly over the flame, the fat in the skin will drip right down and fuel the blaze - and suddenly you've got a raging, uncontrollable, even dangerous fire. Chicken cooked in this way is charred on the outside and under-cooked on the inside - the worst possible result!

Our way, the indirect heat will render off any fat from the skin in a safe spot, away from the flame.

Once the pieces have firmed up a bit, reposition them directly over hot coals for about 7-10 mins/side and you're golden. For extra flavor, you can whip up some home-made bbq sauce by mixing ketchup, Worcestershire, salt, pepper, lime juice, garlic, red pepper flakes, a splash of Guinness stout, and Tabasco sauce. Ah, the simple pleasures in life!
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Grilled Shrimp and Citrus

Shrimp, like any seafood, is great when combined with some form of citrus acid to cut it's fishiness. We used lime to marinate a pile of grilled shrimp tonight, and served it with a garlic herb couscous and an arugula salad.

We started off the evening by cleaning and peeling the shrimp, carefully reserving the shells, which we added to some vegetable stock to impart their rich flavor. After simmering for 10 mins, we strained out the shells and used our stock in place of water for the couscous.

Our shrimp marinade consisted of lime juice, olive oil, rice vinegar, garlic, salt, pepper and chives. We grilled  hem for 3 1/2 minutes per side on skewers (soak your skewers if you're using wood or bamboo or they may catch on fire like ours did!)

For the salad we added supremed oranges, shaved asiago, and arugula, tossed with a light vinaigrette of red wine vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper, lime juice, orange juice, and chives. A bottle of Rioja completed the arrangement nicely. Magnifique!
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Cloud 9 in a Cup

If you've ever tasted good coffee, you've probably proceeded to notice that there is an appalling scarcity of it. Call me a coffee snob, but to me well made cappuccinos are one of the most amazing things in life and I will go to lengths to acquire one. Maybe its just that my neighborhood has only recently progressed in its transformation from an industrial area to an artist enclave, so I'll give it time. For now it winds up being easier to employ the old adage 'if you want something done right, do it yourself'.

There are many, many factors that go into brewing a spectacular home-made cup of joe, but none so fundamental as this one: Buy whole beans and get yourself a grinder. 'Burr' type grinders are best.

Grinding your beans just before you brew makes for the boldest, fullest possible flavor. Coffee's distinct aroma and taste is mostly attributable to the oils contained within the bean, so if you get pre-ground coffee and let it sit around, the oils will interact with the air and get stale, resulting in off-flavor coffee. If this happens your cappuccino will most definitely loose its chutzpah, and when you're as passionate about coffee as I am, chutzpah is key.
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Yummy Time

Voila - a broiled pork loin marinated in dijon with rice pilaf and garlic parmesan mashed potatoes.

This is my first blog post ever. Everyone's always been telling me to fire up a cooking blog to document my work so I finally decided to give it a try. In case you don't know, a toque blanche is the french name for the white hats that chefs wear. Toqueblanche and latoqueblanche were taken, so here we are.

I'm not posting a recipe of this dish I made last week, just a quick photo for the sake of posterity. Pork loin, I miss you already. Don't worry, I make this a lot so I'll post it again with instructions somewhere down the line.

So, come back soon if you like to cook and shoot me an email or add comments if you like what you see.
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