Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Melt the butter, then add the butter to the pan and swirl to combine. Add the chicken breasts and cook 4 minutes on each side.

Make four small slits into the first chicken breast. Stuff two of the garlic clove halves into each slit in the chicken breast. Repeat with the second breast. Top with the lemon slices and return to the skillet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and add the artichoke heart pieces to the pan (some of the oil they’re marinating in is ok too…) and cook for two more minutes.

Finish in a high-heat oven for 5-7 minutes until the lemons begin to wilt and the artichokes are heated through.

Dammit Jim, I’m not a doctor…
Time: 25 minutes
Serves: 2
Calories: 358 per serving

Corned beef is to St. Patrick’s Day what turkey is to Thanksgiving, or at least what a pillowcase full of candy is to Halloween. Few things speak more to traditional holiday cuisine than that quintessential brisket, boiled—well, simmered—with cabbage and potatoes, carrots and parsnips, and served with a handsome dollop of stone-ground mustard and a pint or four of beer.

Now, to begin with a clear conscience, I feel the need to address a certain elephant in the room: corned beef is not actually an Irish dish; it’s American. The corned-beef-and-cabbage I describe is the Yankee boiled dinner. That it has become symbolic of St. Paddy’s is testament to America’s freedom and prosperity. No, seriously. The nearest the Irish have to the corned beef dinner is bacon-and-cabbage, and while I abide the philosophy that everything’s better with bacon, this dish came about because the beef that the Irish farmers raised, slaughtered, and salted was priced at a luxury affordable only to the British gentry. When the Irish began arriving in America in the 1600s, beef was affordable, so they converted their recipe from a slab of salted pig to a slab of salted cow. And now you know.

In considering corned beef, there are two options: (a) buy a commercially-rendered prepackaged brisket pumped full of chemical preservatives and available for two weeks out of the year, or (b) make one from scratch in one’s own kitchen, to the praise and adulations of everyone around, at any time of year. I’ve never cared much for the bland, slightly tinny taste of the prepackaged stuff, and as a dyed-in-the-wool New Englander I am want to have a boiled dinner more than once a year, so I make my own. The hardest part is planning the meal out at least ten days in advance, which (cue dramatic music) is the exact reason I’m writing this now.

Corning beef begins with the brisket. Other cuts can be used, but brisket is traditional, so it’s what I prefer. In terms of bovine anatomy, the brisket primal covers the deep and superficial pectoral muscles, which for quadrupeds means supporting a significant portion of the carriage weight. This equates to a lot of connective tissue that must be cooked out slowly, but creates a rich and unctuous dish. Flat-cut brisket comes from the deep muscle and is far leaner than the point-cut, which needs to be trimmed of excess fat. Ideally, the cap should be no thicker than a half-inch.

Most recipes call for corning the beef in water-based brine. Normally I’m a big advocate for brining—I brine everything from pork ribs to turkeys—but in the case of corned beef, I prefer dry-curing. This method takes a little longer, but produces a more complex body of flavor. Trust me.

Left to its own devices, a piece of beef cooked for a long period of time turns a grayish color as the heat breaks down the myoglobulin proteins. Since most folks envision the pink of a nice medium-rare steak when they think of beef, they’re turned off by this dull color. To counter that, most commercial producers add sodium nitrate to their corning solutions, which helps the meat maintain an appetizing roseate. Excess nitrates in the diet have also been linked to increased cancer risks, so there’s that. Personally, I’m willing to accept the hoary color, so I leave out the saltpeter.

As to what I do use: whole mustard seed, black peppercorns, and coriander seed, along with a few allspice berries, some red chili flake, caraway seed, and a bay leaf. I toss this into my mortar with a bit of salt and tap it to a coarse grind. With this I coat my brisket, favoring the exposed surface but hitting up the fat cap, too. Both sides then get a generous coating of kosher salt. Fun fact: the term “corned” refers to the large grains (or corns) of salt used in the preservation. Since I’m brining the meat in its own liquid, kosher salt is by design perfect, since it sticks to the surface and draws out the moisture better than other varieties.

Once I’ve coated the meat—and taken pictures to which I will add filters and upload to Instagram as #FoodPorn—I place the brisket in a gallon-sized zip-top bag, squeeze out the excess air, seal and date, and drop in the lowest drawer of my refrigerator. Every few days, I’ll turn it over, but other than that I leave it to do its thing. Target curing time is 10-14 days, after which, through the power of osmosis, my seasoned brisket becomes corned beef. (Cooking recipes and such to follow in a few days.)

Follow Herb on Twitter (@HerbDurgin) or #FoodPorn on Instagram (@Katachthonios)

This recipe has a spicy and smoky almost barbeque like quality. The recipe is lightly modified from one originally created by Cooking Light magazine for scallops. And it’s tasty as hell. Enjoy!

Salmon in Adobo Citrus Glaze
–2 TBSP butter
–6-8 oz. salmon fillet (or two smaller fillets)
–paprika
–salt & pepper
–1 tangerine or clementine, cut in half
–1 chipotle chile in adobo sauce, minced
–4 green onions, sliced

TIP: Cook the fish skin-side up first and the skin will remove in one easy piece.

Melt 1 TBSP of the butter in large heavy skillet. Sprinkle the fillets with paprika, salt, and fresh cracked black pepper. Add the fish to the pan, skin-side up, and cook 3-4 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fillet before flipping the fillet(s) to begin to cook the other side.

Juice the fruit directly into the pan. Add the chile and bring to a boil. Add the remaining TBSP butter and the green onions. The sauce will thicken with the addition of the butter. Plate the salmon (if using one fillet, slice in half to create two servings) and spoon the remaining sauce in the pan over the salmon to serve.

Dammit Jim, I’m not a doctor…
Time: 15 minutes
Serves: 2
Calories: 300 per serving

Yeah yeah, I know, we just covered pork roasts not that long ago. This is me not caring. This is you grinning from ear to ear after your first bite. Trust.

Bacon-Wrapped Cherry Pork Roast
–2 lb. pork loin or pork roast
–salt & pepper
–4 garlic cloves, minced
–1/2 cup dried cherries, chopped
–1/4 cup fresh rosemary
–1 tsp red wine vinegar
–1 TBSP mayonnaise
–6 slices bacon (preferably center-cut)
–canola oil

Rest the pork for one hour at room temperature before cooking.

Mix the garlic, cherries, rosemary, vinegar, and mayonnaise in a small bowl.

Pat dry with paper towels and season the pork with generous sprinkles of salt and fresh cracked pepper, being careful not to over-salt. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Heat a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat and add enough canola oil to barely coat the bottom of the pan. Sear pork until browned on all sides.

Coat the top of the pork roast with the cherry/rosemary mix, spreading evenly. Lay the bacon across the roast, tucking the ends of the bacon slices underneath the roast. Roast for 45-55 minutes. Start taking peeks around 40 minutes. The bacon will brown but shouldn’t be burned. Let rest 10 minutes before carving and serving.

Dammit Jim, I’m not a doctor…
Time: 75 minutes
Serves: 4
Calories: 314 per serving

Enter me, the one gal who can make their dinner dreams come true. We needed a meal that was filling, extremely satisfying, and could power future music making. But after a season full of rich, sometimes large, and often heavy meals, it can be nice to dial it back in the dinner department. Lightening up a meal doesn’t mean having to give up on flavor. If the popularity of Meatless Monday is any indication, neither does ditching the meat.

Check out some of the music this meal helped feed!


A (not quite metric) ton of vegetables, seasoned and roasted, adds layers of flavor, texture, and fiber (yay colon!), especially when sandwiched between other Mediterranean flavors of orzo and an olive oil fried egg. Our dinner, loosely based on this recipe from Tasting Table, was precisely what we all needed.

Mediterranean Veggies + Olive Oil Fried Eggs
–½ tsp ground cardamom
–½ tsp ground coriander
–½ tsp fresh cracked black pepper
–1 tsp sea or kosher salt
–1 sweet potato, peeled and cubed
–8 baby carrots, quartered lengthwise
–½ bell pepper, seeded and cubed
–1 medium-large shallot, peeled and quartered
–10 stalks asparagus, cut into 1″ pieces
–1 apple, cored, cut in half, and cubed
–4 TBSP extra-virgin olive oil, divided
–1 cup orzo
–¾ cup vegetable stock
–4 eggs

Heat the oven to 425°. In a small bowl, stir together the cardamom, coriander, salt and pepper. Because the sweet potato takes more time, I gave it a head start and started them alone in a glass baking dish, sprinkled with a little seasoning. Cook them for 10 minutes (I used this time to chop/prep all my other veggies). Add all the other veggies to the dish and add the seasoning to the mix. Toss well to combine. Drizzle with a TBSP of the olive oil and toss once more to combine again. Roast for 20-30 minutes, stirring once, until the veggies are tender and the shallots begin to blacken.

While the vegetables roast, cook the orzo in a saucepan on the stove-top. I like to make orzo similarly to how I would make rice. Bring 1 cup of water, the ¾ cup of stock, and 1 TBSP of olive oil to a boil. Add the orzo to the pot, stirring constantly. Bring back to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer, and cover the pot. Simmer for 15 minutes. Remove the lid, stir once gently, and simmer another 5 minutes until all the liquid absorbs into the pasta.

In a large, heavy bottomed skillet, heat the remaining olive oil over medium high heat. Crack each of the eggs into the pan. Cook each egg to desired doneness (I cooked ours over-medium), flipping as needed.

Stir the veggies into the orzo. Dish into four bowls. Top each bowl with a fried egg. Enjoy!

Dammit Jim, I’m not a doctor…
Time: 40 minutes
Serves: 4
Calories: 453 per serving

For our next Sunday Supper I decided on a southern-ish meal inspired by successful Empire State South meals but with a twist: I used as many locally sourced Colorado ingredients as I could muster. Beyond the obvious reasons of supporting the local economy, the woman behind Colorado’s Eat Local First campaign was one of my dinner guests. It was easy to combine Southern flavors with Colorado-raised pork, Tender Belly bacon, locally farmed chard, and a dessert plate featuring Chocolove and delicious Jumping Good Goat cheeses, to enjoy the Sunday Supper menu below:

• Pork Roast with Chipotle Bacon Marmalade
  
• Vinegar-poached Swiss Chard
• Empire State South’s Boiled Peanut Hummus + gluten-free rosemary focaccia
• Cheese Plate: Goat’s milk cheddar + chocolate; snowcap (soft goat cheese) + pecan crackers

Chipotle Bacon Marmalade
*The marmalade recipe was modified by an artist friend, Deanna, from a recipe she found on the Homesick Texan and then sent to me to try with her modifications. I’m so glad she did!
–1/2 lb. bacon, preferably center cut or thick, meaty slices, cut into 1/4″ pieces
–4 cloves of garlic minced
–1/4 cup white or yellow onion, chopped
–2 canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
–1/2 tsp ancho chile powder
–1 tsp grated dark chocolate or dark chocolate cocoa powder
–1/2 tsp cinnamon
–1/4 cup brown sugar
–1 cup brewed coffee
–1/4 cup + 2 TBSP apple cider vinegar
–1/4 tsp fresh cracked black pepper

In a large saucepan, cook the bacon on medium heat until the fat begins to render, but not to full crispness. Remove the bacon and leave the fat. Add the onion and garlic and cook for two minutes. Return the bacon to the pot along with the remaining ingredients. Simmer on low for one hour, stirring occasionally. Deanna reported her jam dried out and she needed to add some water. I didn’t have that problem, but I do recommend watching the pot to make sure it doesn’t dry up. After the hour, pulse in a food processor for 2-3 times. Be careful when you process it as you want it to stay chunky.

Pork Roast
–2 lb. pork loin or pork roast
–salt and pepper
–canola oil

Rest the pork for one hour at room temperature before cooking. Pat dry with paper towels and season the pork with generous sprinkles of salt and fresh cracked pepper, being careful not to over-salt.

The pork should be roasted while the marmalade cooks. Heat the oven to 450 degrees. Heat a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat and add enough oil to barely coat the bottom of the pan. Sear pork until browned on all sides. Roast in the cast iron skillet for 40-50 minutes. Remove from the oven and let rest 10 minutes before slicing.

Slice the pork and serve with the marmalade spooned over the top.

Vinegar Poached Swiss Chard
–1 lb Swiss chard, cut away from the ribs and roughly chopped into medium-sized pieces
–1/4 cup red wine vinegar
–1/4 cup water
–1 TBSP sugar

Heat the water and vinegar over medium-high heat. Sprinkle the chard with sugar and poach for 3-5 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove from the pan to serve.

Empire State South’s Boiled Peanut Hummus
I used green (raw) peanuts I picked up during my last Georgia trip instead of canned. The raw part is key! Using dry-roasted peanuts won’t work at all. No no no no. You MUST use raw/green peanuts (which do come dehydrated in the produce section of the grocery store). Boiled peanuts are a staple snack in peanut country. Directions on how to make the peanuts, the base of the recipe, are below:

1. If you use dehydrated green peanuts, be sure to soak them in water overnight before the same as you would with any other dried bean.
2. Place the peanuts (1/2 pound)  in a large pot and cover with 1/4 cup of salt.
3. Cover them with water (4-6 cups) and bring to a boil.
4. Simmer for 2-4 hours or until the peanuts inside the shell are soft. You may need to add more water if using dehydrated green peanuts as they will soak up more water than fresh raw peanuts.

Or, follow the ESS recipe and buy cans. I personally have no idea where to find canned boiled peanuts but I suppose the Internets are large and vast and good for that sort of thing.

Wintertime=crazytime at my work, which means at this time of year I like meals that are as easy and satisfying as possible. Also, I think it can be hard to eat healthy (or maybe easier to eat like crap?) when it’s cold outside. This soup is a one-pot meal, with hearty and healthful sweet potato, butternut squash, and spinach. Easy, simple, healthy, tasty. You know the added benefit of all those antioxidants? Cold and flu fighting super powers!

Coconut Vegetable Curry Stew
–medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1″ cubes
–sweet potato, peeled and chopped
–tsp olive oil
–small yellow onion, chopped
–2 cloves garlic, minced
–1 oz. ginger, minced
–TBSP curry powder
–1 cup vegetable  broth
–15 oz. can coconut milk
–salt and pepper
–baby spinach leaves

Heat the oven to 375 degrees. In a glass dish, bake the squash and potato pieces until soft (about 40 minutes). I bake mine dry but you can toss them in 1 tsp of olive oil if you prefer.
Heat olive oil in a large stock pot over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, ginger, and curry powder and sauté to translucency (1-2 minutes), stirring often to avoid overbrowning. Add the squash and potato mixture, the vegetable broth, and the coconut milk to the pot. Simmer over medium-low heat for 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve into bowls. Add a few baby spinach leaves to the top of each bowl (the heat will wilt the spinach slightly without overdoing it). Slurp up!
Dammit Jim, I’m not a doctor…
Time: 70 minutes
Serves:  4
Calories: 420 per serving

When I came across a recipe for chicken corn cakes in Janice Cole’s cookbook+memoir, Chicken and Egg, I jotted down the recipe for a craving day. While her cakes aren’t the Zippy of my dreams, the recipe makes a great base to make a variety of chicken cakes. The recipe below is modified from Ms. Cole’s but stands alone as it’s very own patty of chicken goodness. So on this day, the last one of 2012, I think back in fond remembrance of all the Zippy Cakes of years past and look forward to all the new cakes to come. Cheers!

Chicken Cakes
–1/2 cup mayo
–2 cloves garlic, minced
–1 egg
–2 TBSP lemon juice
–1 tsp sriracha
–pinch of salt
–pinch of fresh cracked pepper
–1 TBSP paprika
–1 small shallot, minced
–1/2 bell pepper, finely diced
–1 1/2 cups cooked chicken, shredded
–1/4 cup fresh sage, diced
–10 saltine crackers, coarsely crushed
–canola oil

Whisk together the mayo, egg, lemon juice, sriracha, salt and pepper, and paprika in a large bowl until smooth. Stir in the chicken, pepper, shallot, and sage. Gently stir in crackers.

Place 6-8 mounds onto a baking sheet and form into patties of equal thickness. Cole’s recipe says to cover and refrigerate for 1 ½ – 2 hours or until firm. I didn’t have that kind of time so I stuck mine, uncovered, in the freezer for 40 minutes until they firmed up.

Heat 1/4″ canola oil in a large  nonstick skillet over medium heat. Cook the chicken cakes in batches until browned, carefully turning once and adding new oil as needed.
Dammit Jim, I’m not a doctor…
Time: 70 minutes
Serves: 6-8 cakes
Calories: 250 per cake

The meal was planned in terms of texture: The crunch of raw Brussels sprouts, of baked bread cubes, of panko, of cookies. So when our newlywed guests arrived and none of my non-existent tickets were firing correctly, it was truly crunch time. Still, this is how we cooks learn—we make mistakes! There was plenty of wine and plenty to eat in shifts until all parts of the meal were ready to eat. Good friends don’t care about the best laid plans. They only care that you are feeding them! This week’s menu:

• Oatmeal Ginger Cookies
• Tomato Gratin
• Brussels Sprouts Salad
• Panko-crusted Chicken

Oatmeal Cherry Cookies
Modified from: Oatmeal Cookies “The Best” from Colorado Cache. Recipe intended for high altitude.
–3 eggs, well beaten
–1 cup dried cherries
–1 tsp vanilla extract
–1 cup butter
–1 cup brown sugar
–1 cup white sugar
–2 1/2 cups flour
–1 tsp salt
–1 tsp ground cinnamon
–2 tsp baking soda
–2 cups oatmeal
–3/4 cup chopped pecans

1. Combine the eggs, cherries, and vanilla, and cover with plastic wrap. Let stand one hour.

2. Cream together the butter and sugars. Add the flour, salt, cinnamon, and baking soda to the sugar mixture. Mix well. Blend in the egg mixture, oatmeal, and nuts. Dough may be stiff. I added a tiny bit of canola oil to ours to make it easier to roll into cookies.

3. Drop by heaping teaspoons onto a cookie sheet or roll dough into small balls and flatten slightly on the sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned.

Tomato Gratin
Modified  from Sarah Leah Chase’s scalloped tomato recipe as published on Food52 
–2 TBSP olive oil
–1 cup diced bread (I used 12 grain but day-old bread that’s a little crustier is what was recommended)
–1 1/2 lbs tomatoes, cut into 1/2″ dice (I used a mixture of yellow plum, heirloom, and hothouse)
–garlic, minced
–pinch of salt
–fresh cracked black pepper
–1/4 cup diced basil leaves
–fresh grated Parmesan

On the stovetop, heat the oil in a pan and add the bread cubes. Stir to coat with oil and lightly toast (don’t worry about an even browning, just don’t burn the cubes!). Add the remaining ingredients, except the cheese, and stir to combine. Cook for 5-7 minutes, stirring regularly, and then transfer to an oven-safe dish. Top with the cheese and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until the gratin is firmed, bubbly, and toasted on top.
Brussels Sprouts Salad
*Inspired by a salad had once upon a time in 2010 (?) at Fuel Cafe, a Denver restaurant whose menu changes monthly and never serves the same dish twice!
–2 TBSP olive oil
–2 TBSP lemon juice
–1 tsp truffle oil
–1 cup Brussels sprouts, thinly sliced using a mandoline or a steady hand.
–1/8 cup sliced almonds, lightly toasted
–Parmesan cheese, grated into ribbons
–zest of 1 lemon
–pinch each salt & pepper

Whisk to combine the oils and juice into a dressing. Toss the sprouts in the dressing and dish into a bowl. Sprinkle the almonds and cheese over the salad. Zest the lemon over the top and finish with a pinch of salt and a pinch of fresh cracked pepper.

Panko-crusted Chicken
–3 TBSP olive oil
–4 chicken breast halves, pounded to an even thickness
–1 cup panko
–paprika
–garlic powder
–1 egg, lightly beaten

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the olive oil to warm.

Set up two bowls. The egg goes in one, the panko in another. Shake shake shake some paprika and garlic powder into the panko bowl. Dredge the chicken in the egg and then in the panko to coat and bread the chicken. Add the chicken to the skillet and sauté each side for 5 minutes until both sides are browned. Turn heat down to low and cover the pan, cooking another 10-12 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink inside.

Backwards, but still good.

Hash is a dish best served warm and is a great way to use up leftovers or stray veggies left in the crisper drawer. This Pulled Pork Hash was served as a brunch dish, complete with poached egg on top, but you could serve it for lunch or dinner as well, complete with a poached egg on top.

Pulled Pork Hash
–1 TBSP olive oil
–1 leek, white and light green parts sliced in thin rounds
–1 cob fresh or 1 cup frozen corn (thawed)
–1 zucchini, cut into 1/2″ pieces
–1 cup grape or cherry tomatoes (that’s the yellow you see below), sliced in half
–2 roma tomatoes, cut in 1/2″ pieces
–1 cup already cooked shredded pork
–2 eggs

Heat a medium-sized skillet over medium heat. When the pan is hot add the oil and swirl to coat. Add the leek and sauté for two minutes or so before adding the corn and zucchini. Cook a few minutes until veggies begin to soften and become tender. Add the tomato and stir to combine. Heat until some tomato water appears the pan (this will serve to moisten the pork). Add the pork and stir to combine. Let the mixture steep for a few minutes until all pieces are warmed through.

While the veggies cook, poach the eggs. Dish up the hash, tomato water included, and top each bowl with a poached egg. Enjoy!
Dammit Jim, I’m not a doctor…
Time: 2o minutes
Serves: 2
Calories: 475 per serving