Pasta. Chicken milanese + an escarole salad. I have a new, colossal Food Network crush on Secrets of a Restaurant Chef and the first time I saw the show, I completely forgot every food personal crush that had come before.
“Ina Garten who?” “Michael Chiarello? I never heard of him.” Because seriously, Anne Burell trumps all that came before. She’s got the kind of real cooking and fresh ideas you’d hope for from a television show, but too rarely get. And if I saw chicken milanese on a restaurant menu, I wouldn’t order it. What made the dish, though, was the pairing: a fresh escarole salad, tossed with ground hazelnuts and romano cheese and pickled red onions, a dreamy plate-filler for people like me, who deeply dislike when breaded, fried foods are served with rich, warm sides. One year ago: Leek and Swiss Chart TartTwo years ago: Sweet and Spicy Candied Pecans Chicken Milanese and Escarole Salad with Pickled Red Onions Adapted from Anne Burrell If you make nothing else, just make the salad.
Serves 4 * Tiny kitchen tip! Artichoke-olive crostini. My husband and I have different packing personalities.
First, I need a clean apartment, you know, before I wreck sections of it at a time. Then I need to go through every single thing we own before any of it gets packed and determine whether it should stay or does it need to go. I cannot stand the thought of moving, well, useless baggage to a new and supposedly clean slate of an apartment. Then each box has to have a separate topic; if desk stuff gets in with book stuff, I get itchy and start pacing the floor. How does Alex pack? My method doesn’t just apply to boxes. I briefly mentioned these crostini over two years ago, in what I swear up and down is the worst photo on this entire site. One year ago: Spring PanzanellaTwo years ago: Artichoke, Cranberry Bean and Arugula Salad Artichoke-Olive Crostini Adapted from Mario Batali In addition for making great crostini, we tossed some of the leftover paste with pasta for dinner that next night and it was delicious. 1. 2. Artichokes braised in lemon and olive oil.
Given that I can say, without pausing or so much as batting an eyelash, that artichokes are my favorite food on earth, it’s kind of a bummer that they’re so woefully underrepresented here.
Sure, there are Artichoke Ravioli, a quick Potato and Artichoke Tortilla, a a scooped heart filled with fresh cranberry beans, a gratin and some crostini in which they play a supporting role, but when you love them as much as I do, this is not enough. Nothing ever is. Artichoke season can’t come soon enough for people like me, even if the best we usually get are cross-country, battered and overpriced visitors.
It is never enough to deter me, and neither were these downright busted looking ones I saw at the store yesterday for a reduced price. I pounced on them, as even with shoddy leaves, their hearts are in the right place, that is, center and endlessly delicious. The wait nearly killed me, but I’m pleased to say that it paid off. Makes 8 first course or side dish servings.