Lemon chicken with cherry tomatoes, and cider vinegar chicken with bacon and cherry tomatoes

 

Right now we're in the mode where I never bring out a bowl quite big enough to pick all the cherry and pear tomatoes. For some reason I always think there won't be that many that will have ripened in the space of the day, and that surely we're near the end of the season. Not quite yet.

In the meantime, here are two takes on chicken that make good use of all those cheery cherry tomatoes.

Lemon chicken with burst cherry tomato sauce
Adapted from “Half Baked Harvest Super Simple” by Tieghan Gerard

Ingredients
1½ pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1½ lemons, divided
⅜ cup flour
3 tablespoons butter
3 cups cherry tomatoes
4 garlic cloves, smashed
2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
Crushed red pepper flakes
½ cup white wine
1 large handful fresh basil leaves, roughly torn

Method
Zest and juice one lemon. Rub 1 tablespoon of olive oil and lemon zest over the chicken. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Sprinkle chicken evenly with flour.

In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium high heat. When the oil is hot, add chicken and brown on both sides until golden. Remove chicken from pan and set aside.

Cut the remaining lemon half into slices. Add butter to the skillet. When melted, add lemon slices and cook until caramelized, about 30 seconds a side. Remove lemon slices and reserve.

Add tomatoes, garlic, thyme leaves and a pinch each of salt, pepper and crushed red pepper flakes. Cook until the tomatoes begin to burst about 5 minutes or so.

Reduce heat to medium low and add white wine and lemon juice to deglaze the pan. Return chicken to the pan. Cook until the chicken is cooked through and tomatoes have formed a sauce. Serve topped with lemon slices and basil leaves.

Rating: Tasty, very tasty. While technically breaded, the main way the flour seems to come into play is by helping the sauce thicken a bit. We used some lemon thyme leaves and lemon basil as part of the herb mixture, which probably also didn't hurt. Definitely would make this again. 

 

 

Cider chicken with bacon and tomatoes
Adapted from Meredith Deeds as published in the Star Tribune Taste section.
Note: It calls for apple cider vinegar, but while reaching for that in the cupboard I realized I was reaching past some really excellent maple vinegar and grabbed that instead. I suspect the optimal vinegar choice for this recipe is whatever the best vinegar is you have in the house. I tried it again a few weeks later with a good tarragon wine vinegar and liked that as well.

Ingredients
Four bone-in chicken thighs
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons olive oil
3 slices bacon, chopped
1 cup chopped red onion
3 cloves garlic, chopped
⅓ cup apple cider vinegar 
1 cup cherry tomatoes
2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon (or parsley, if you prefer)

Method
Pat the chicken dry and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Heat oil over medium high heat in a large, deep skillet.Add chicken and cook, undisturbed, until well browned. Flip over and brown the other side. (Make sure you get a really good browning at this stage because when you cover it and braise it later, you start to lose a bit of the golden color.) Remove chicken from pan and drain any excess fat. 

Add bacon to pan and cook over medium heat until it starts to render its fat. Reduce heat to medium low. Add onion and garlic and cook until softened. Stir in the vinegar. Return chicken to the pan and add tomatoes. Cover and cook until chicken is cooked through and tomatoes have burst, about 25 minutes. Serve topped with tarragon.

Rating: This is one of those recipes that was so good the first time I made it that I tried it again a few weeks later. Yep, still mighty tasty.

Marinated goat cheese with red pepper and herbs

 

Lately I’ve been having fun playing with platters, inspired by the new book that tells you how to build a cheese plate by the numbers. It’s sort of an architectural deconstruction.

I’ve got about 20 platters or trays that I’ve accumulated over the years, so I’ve plenty to play with. I’ve been experimenting with things to take to tonic-on-the-porch nights with friends, but did this simple one just for fun at home in lieu of supper one night.

Main takeaway from actually trying out the techniques: Rivers of cheese are fun. And no matter how big your platter is, if you want it to look as artistic as the photos, you have to exercise great restraint, to the point of impracticality. Obviously, eight crackers artfully tucked into a corner really aren’t going to cut it for a crowd. The premise is you have another platter or basket nearby to make up the shortfall. 

Red Table's Chuck Fred salami, Red Dragon and Deer Creek's the Robin cheese.

 

 

Marinated goat cheese with red pepper and herbs
Adapted from “That Cheese Plate Will Change Your Life” by Marissa Mullen. In addition to her book, you can get inspiration at her website (thatcheeseplate.com) or at her Instagram account.

Note: Unlike most recipes involving goat cheese, you do not want to soften this before slicing or you won’t get clean cuts. Her version involved fresh dill and basil with plain goat cheese, which sounds great. I was just in a rosemary mood and fell for the flavored goat cheese.

Ingredients
8 ounces maple bourbon goat cheese, sliced ⅜-inch thick
½ cup olive oil
3 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary, plus a sprig for garnish
Zest of 1 lemon
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Method
Place goat cheese slices on a platter that has curved or tall sides – something that will contain the marinade.

Mix olive oil, chopped rosemary, lemon zest and crushed red pepper flakes. Pour over goat cheese slices. Cover and let marinate in the refrigerator for up to 3 hours. Uncover, sprinkle with coarse salt (pink salt or another finishing salt is pretty) and freshly ground pepper. Serve with crackers.

Rating: Lovely on crackers. Just put out a serving spatula that people can use to lift a cheese slice with; otherwise it’s not finger food with all that oil. Keep some sliced French bread nearby to dip into any  remaining oil, which is super tasty.While you could put some of these slices on a combo platter, the amount of oil involved makes it a better candidate for a small platter all its own.

Cherry tomato cheese dip

 

 

This recipe is tomato confit meets fondue, more or less. I ran across this recipe online and realized that it was very similar to the New York Times tomato confit recipe I've blogged about here, only with cubes of fontina cheese tossed in and baked for an additional 5 minutes after the tomatoes are roasted.

The result is indeed very tasty, but like fondue, a trifle messy. It would make a good appetizer dish for a family to gather around to share in a situation where no one fusses too much about cheese strings. Perhaps not so much for your average cocktail party.

The premise is 2 cups of cubed Fontina tossed in with a tomato confit made using about 2 pints of cherry tomatoes, the peeled cloves of a head of garlic, 2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary leaves, a good drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkling of coarse sea salt and crushed red pepper flakes. Bake the tomato mixture for 25 minutes at 425 and then add the cheese chunks for an additional 5 minutes.

As it was, we had leftovers. My first thought: Put the leftovers on a Boboli for a quick pizza another night. (Tasty) My second thought, yet to be explored: Put the leftovers between two pieces of good sandwich bread and heat them up in the panini press.

 

 

Grilled onion panini with miso butter

 

In another installment of cheaters always prosper, I gamed this recipe by having a packet of grilled onions in the refrigerator waiting to be used. I always like to maximize any grilling session to get the most out of the coals, so any corners on the grill are a great place to tuck a foil packet of onions, peppers or potatoes to grill along with everything else. Grilled onions make a pretty good stand-in for caramelized onions; they pick up some of that same rich color plus some smokiness from the grill. It's not a one-for-one substitution that I'd use in just any recipe, but they work great on sandwiches like this.

Sometimes in between I forget to think about grilled cheese as a lunch option. I haven't had the Velvetta version in decades. Can one go back, or am I spoiled for life?

 Caramelized onion grilled cheese sandwiches with miso butter
Adapted from “Umami Bomb” by Raquel Pelzel

Ingredients
1 cup caramelized or grilled onions*
3 tablespoons butter at room temperature, divided
1 tablespoon grainy Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon white miso paste
4 slices bread
1 cup grated Gruyere cheese

Method
Mix 1 tablespoon butter, mustard and miso paste. Set aside.

Spread remaining butter on outer surface of 4 bread slices. Spread miso butter on inner surfaces. Divide cheese and caramelized onions between two slices and top with remaining bread slices.

Toast in panini press or toast on both sides over low heat in a skillet until bread is golden brown and cheese is melted.

*To caramelize, thinly slice 1 large onion and saute over low heat in 1 tablespoon salted butter until caramelized. This always takes way longer than any recipe claims. Splash with malt vinegar. Or do yourself a favor and try my favorite slow cooker method from Lora Brody.

To grill onions, Cut a 15-inch length of tin foil. Put sliced onions in the middle in a not too deep layer. Drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt (and fresh herb leaves like thyme if desired). Fold foil in half lengthwise, then keep folding down in half again until the top is sealed. Fold in the ends to seal packet. Place on grill slightly off the hottest area for about 30 minutes.

Rating: Yummy. And with pre-caramelized onions, it's a fast fix. We used the sesame-topped Sicilian loaf from Turtle Bread, which worked well here.