Chicken thighs with pancetta, white beans, and rosemary

Another quick recipe from Cook's Country. This one came together easily, but the chicken was a bit bland, despite the strong flavour of the sauce surrounding it. symbol suggested, next time, marinating it for 5-10 minutes before cooking; the de-boned chicken thighs have a lot of surface area and should pick up flavour quickly even without cutting them into smaller pieces.

We've made some changes from the original recipe. Boneless skinless chicken thighs are used instead of bone-in, skin-on; the amount of pancetta is increased; and the chicken is broken up and mixed with the beans rather than served on top of them.

Ingredients

• 2½ lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs
• 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
• 5 oz pancetta, chopped fine
• 5 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
• ~2 tsp rosemary
• 2 (15-oz) tins of cannellini (white kidney beans)
• 1 C chicken broth

Procedure

1. If you're going to marinate the chicken, do so now. We just seasoned it with salt and pepper and found that inadequate.
2. Adjust oven rack to upper middle position and preheat to 450°F.
3. Heat oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Add chicken and cook until browned on both sides, ~5-7 minutes per side.
4. Remove chicken and transfer to rimmed baking sheet. Roast until chicken registers 175°F internally, ~12 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, put the pancetta, garlic, and rosemary in the pot and cook until garlic is golden brown, ~3-5 minutes.
6. Add beans, broth, and ¼tsp pepper. Bring to a simmer and cook until slightly thickened, ~10 minutes.
7. Break up roasted chicken thighs (if desired, and if not already cut apart; I found that breaking each thigh into 2-3 pieces with a spatula was sufficient) and return to the pot, including any juices that have accumulated on the baking sheet. Mix and serve.

Cuban Sandwiches with a Twist

Based on the Pork Cutlet Cuban Sandwich recipe card from the most recent issue of Cook's Country, but we subbed out the ham for bacon.

Cuban Sandwiches with a Twist
Slightly adapted from Cook's Country December/January 2015/2016
4-8 slices bacon
4 pork chops, trimmed/de-boned
pepper, to taste
3/4 c. orange juice
1/2 c. chopped dill pickle
I forget how much yellow mustard
4 kaiser rolls
8 slices swiss cheese
1 c. chopped cilantro

1. Fry bacon.
2. Remove bacon from pan and fry pork chops, seasoning to taste.
3. Remove pork chops from pan and add orange juice. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly until syrupy.
4. Remove from heat and stir in pickle and mustard.
5. Lightly toast kaiser rolls.
6. Add 1-2 slices of bacon to the bottom of each roll. Add a slice of cheese to the top and bottom of each roll. Continue to toast until cheese is melt-y.
7. Top each roll bottom with a pork chop. Spread 1/4 of the sauce over each chop. Sprinkle with cilantro and cap with the cheesy roll top.

Stove-Top Steel-Cut Oatmeal

My mom used to make porridge with apples and raisins in the mornings before school when I was little. I still make it every once in a while, but I'm usually in too much of a hurry to bother with the stove. It works pretty well with quick oats and water from the kettle, but stove-top is always better.

I've always used either quick oats or (old-fashioned) rolled oats for my baking and porridge needs. I've heard good things about steel-cut, but I've always been a bit intimidated by them. Besides, with the grains being more intact, I wasn't sure if steel-cut oats would make a nice creamy porridge like I like. I was worried it'd be hard little oat nuggets suspended in a watery "broth". So, when I saw this Cook's Country recipe that specifically called for steel-cut oats (and promised creamy, delicious results) I had to give it a try!

Steel-Cut Oatmeal
Cook's Country December/January 2015/2016
1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1 c. steel-cut oats
4 c. water
1/2 c. raisins
1/8 tsp. coarse sea salt
3 Tbsp. brown sugar
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

1. Melt the butter over medium heat.
2. Add oats and toast, stirring constantly for ~2 minutes.
3. Stir in water and bring to a boil over high heat.
4. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the raisins while the oats simmer to allow them to plump up in the hot water.
5. Remove from heat and stir in remaining ingredients.

This makes way more porridge than I need to feed just me and the toddlebot in the morning, so I think next time I'll halve the recipe. I'd also add some chopped apple and a bit more cinnamon for added fruity goodness (and also a bit of nostalgia).

Apple-Cinnamon Oatmeal
1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1/2 c. steel-cut oats
1 apple, peeled and chopped
2 c. water
1/4 c. raisins
1/8 tsp. coarse sea salt
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

As above, but toast the apple pieces with the oats before adding the water.

Steel-cut oatmeal is definitely a different experience from rolled oatmeal. The grains do stay more distinct and a little firmer. But the porridge still gets nice and creamy, not the watery broth that I'd feared. It's sort of like a sweet, oat-based risotto. Different, but still quite tasty. I'm excited to try more variations in the future.