Maple chipotle chicken with a kale and radicchio salad

Ingredients:

Boneless & skinless chicken breasts, Kale, Radicchio, Grape or Heirloom tomatoes, Panchetta, Blue Cheese, Balsamic Vinegar, Maple Syrup, Brown Sugar, Coriander, Cumin, Chipotle Chilli Pepper, Smoked Paprika, Salt, Pepper,  Dijon Mustard, Olive Oil

Preparation:

To start with, in a bowl mix coriander, cumin, chipotle, paprika, salt, pepper and brown sugar.  For measurements, I use 1 teaspoon as a starting point and add until it tastes correct.  Now add some maple syrup (the real kind, not aunt Jemima!) and olive oil until you reach a syrup like consistence that will nicely coat and stick to the chicken.   Add the chicken breasts into a ziplock bag, pour the wet rub over top and mix it around until all pieces are coated.  Set the bag aside and let it sit for an hour.

Next, in a blender add roughly 1/2 cup of balsamic (again, do yourself a favour and use some good balsamic from Modena.  It’s worth the extra price), some maple syrup, and a tablespoon of dijon mustard.  Blend until the ingredients are mixed, add salt and pepper to taste and then blend slowly again while adding in olive oil until the consistence is right.

At this point, cook the chicken in your preferred method until the breasts reach an internal temperature of around 140 degrees.  At the same time, roast the crap out of the panchetta until it’s nicely rendered.   Let the chicken rest for 10 minutes.

While the chicken is resting, add the kale, radicchio and tomatoes into a bowl.  Crumble the blue cheese and chunks of the panchetta and dress the salad.

That’s it!  Add the chicken and enjoy.

Mixed Seafood and Chicken Paella

Ingredients:

Saffron, 4 chicken thighs (with bone), 10 large shrimp, 6 scallops, salt, pepper, extra-virgin olive oil, smoked paprika, cherry tomatoes, onion, 2 cups chicken broth, 2 cups water, 2 cups short-grain rice, red pepper sliced, muscles or clams

Preparation:

To start, put the saffron and about 1⁄4 cup hot water in a small bowl and let sit for 15 minutes.

While the saffron is resting, pat the chicken dry and season it with salt and pepper.  In a large frying pan or paella pan (currently I’m using a 12.5 frying pan), heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the chicken, shrimp, and scallops and cook, turning occasionally until browned, about 5 minutes for the seafood. Transfer the shrimp and scallops to a plate, leaving the chicken in the pan. Add the smoked paprika (roughly 1 teaspoon), onions, tomatoes, and peppers to the pan and cook, stirring often, until onions soften, about 5 minutes. Add the saffron mixture, chicken broth, season with salt, and bring to a boil over high heat.

Sprinkle in rice (preferably Bomba, but Arborio will work fine as well), distribute evenly with a spoon. Cook, without stirring, until rice has absorbed most of the liquid, about 12 to 15 minutes.  If you’re like me and your pan is too big for your burner, rotate the pan on the burner every 2 minutes or so to ensure the cooking is even. Reduce heat to low, add the shrimp, scallops, and muscles (hinge side down).  Continue to cook without stirring; until muscles have opened and rice has absorbed the liquid and is al dente (it should be 5–10 minutes more).

Finally, turn heat to high for 2 minutes to create the socarrat. Remove pan from heat, cover it with aluminum foil, and let sit for 5 minutes.

Argentinean style beef in a chimichurri sauce, garlic mashed potatoes, and portobellos sautéed in butter, white wine, and thyme.

Ingredients:

Beef: Whatever your preferred cut is, for today I went with New York strip sirloin

Chimichurri: Fresh Italian parsley, fresh cilantro, garlic, chili pepper flakes, kosher salt, olive oil, red wine vinegar

Potatoes: Potatoes of your choice, garlic, butter, parmigiano reggiano, olive oil, kosher salt, pepper

Mushrooms: Portobello mushrooms, onion, thyme, white wine, butter, olive oil, salt, pepper

Preparation:

 First, to make the chimichurri, finely chop up about a cup of parsley, a 1/2 cup of cilantro, 2-3 cloves of garlic, and combine into a food processor or blender.   Add in chili pepper flakes, kosher salt, red wine vinegar (about 1/3 cup), and olive oil,  and puree until you reach desired consistency.

Ensure the beef is at room temperature, pat dry, and season with salt and pepper.  Add on some chimichurri and let rest so the flavours work in nicely.   Preheat your grill (this can be a stove top cast iron skillet or grill, BBQ,etc) and ensure it’s hot as you want to make sure you get a nice sear on the beef.  Total cooking time should be between 6 – 8 minutes for rare to medium rare.  To obtain the diamond pattern grill marks, rotate and flip the beef 45 degrees four times in total during cooking.  Also, don’t forget to let the beef rest for 10 minutes after cooking!

Next up, the potatoes.  Wash and cut the potatoes into quarters or 1 inch cubes.  Add them to a pot of water and bring it to a boil, then lower to a simmer until the potatoes are soft, about 15 minutes.  While the potatoes are cooking, chop up two or three cloves of  garlic and add it to some olive oil, then roast until golden brown.  Once the potatoes are soft, add in the salt, pepper, parmigiano, olive oil, butter, and garlic.  Mash either by hand (my personal preference) or using an electric beater if you prefer and transfer to a serving bowl.

Finally, heat a saute pan over medium heat until hot, add olive oil a bit of butter, and the onions.  Season with salt and pepper and  saute until the onions are translucent.  Next, add the portobellos, white wine, some butter and thyme and cook, stirring constantly, until the mushrooms are tender.

That’s it, plate your dishes up with some extra chimichurri sauce and enjoy!

Ingredients:

Rosemary (fresh), parsley, garlic, marjoram, olive oil, salt (sea salt preferred), pepper (fresh ground), lamb shank, potatoes, and dry white wine

Preparation:

Prior to cooking, let the lamb rest until room temperature, pat it dry with paper towel and set it aside.  Finely chop up the rosemary, parsley, garlic, and add the marjoram into a small container.  Rub the lamb shank with olive oil and season with the sea salt and cracked pepper as well as rub in the herb and garlic mixture, ensure a liberal coating.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees and add in a cup of dry white wine, coating the lamb.  Once the oven is warm, place the lamb fat down on a few branches of rosemary in a roasting pan or dutch oven and roast for 40 – 45 minutes.

While the lamb is roasting, parboil 4 large potatoes cut into 1-inch cubes (parboil for 3-4 minutes).  Drain the potatoes and then season with the left over herbs, salt, cracked pepper, and some olive oil.

After 40-45 minutes is up, turn the temperature down to 375 degrees, turn over the lamb shank.  Continue to cook for another 30-35 minutes, basting with white wine every 15 minutes.  Upon final 15 minutes add the potatoes to the pan.

Cook the lamb until an internal temperature of 115 degrees (for rare to medium rare) and then set on a cutting board to rest for 15 minutes.  In the 15 minutes while resting, continue to let the potatoes cook in the roasting pan until a golden brown.

Final step, serve and enjoy!

The village of Manrola

Getting Around:

Travel between the five towns of the Cinque Terre can be done with three methods, the easiest being train. Run by Trenitalia, the five towns are serviced by a frequently running train schedule that shuttle visitors and locals between the towns daily.

More famously though, the Cinque Terre are known for the extensive walking trail system that link the towns together. Starting off as an easy 15 minute walk between Riomaggoire and Manarola, the trail gets increasing strenuous as you carry on, the hardest section being the walk between Vernazza and Monterosso. With that said, the trail is still very rewarding as it offers up breathe taking views down the Ligurian coast line.

Finally, if neither of these options are your pace, the ferry running between the towns also provides a scenic, all be it, more expensive option of travel within the region.

The village of Riomaggoire.

Things to Do:

Walk the trail: As mentioned previously, the top draw for the region is the hiking trail that runs between the 5 towns.  Weaving between cliff side vineyards and orchards, the trail offers breathe-taking views up and down the Ligurian coast line.

Note: all trails along the coast are closed until spring 2013 as reconstruction after the mudslides continue.

Swimming: From rocky beaches nestled against the large cliff faces, to long stretches of sandy beaches, each town offers it’s own unique swimming experience.  My personal recommendation is to work up a sweat by walking to trail section between Vernazza and Monterosso and then cool off at the beautiful sandy public and private beaches of Monterosso.

Monterosso

Eating: What trip to the coast would be complete without a delicious fish dinner to end the day?  My personal recommendation is Enoteca Dau Cila, located at the harbour of Riomaggoire.   Reservations are recommended as it’s an extremely popular choice with both locals and tourists a like.

The most famous of the Tuscan cities, Florence is one of the most beautiful renaissance cities in the world.  With a wide selection of breathe taking churches such as the Duomo, art galleries, shopping, wineries, and winding back streets, Florence offers something for everyone.

A relatively compact historic city situated within the hills of Tuscany, Siena seems to be everyone’s favourite Italian town that they never mention.  Lost in the shadows of more famous Italian cities such as Rome, Florence, and Venice, Siena quietly offers up world class cuisine, art, museums, medieval cityscape, one of Italy’s most beautiful duomos, and the palio, a horse race held in the campo twice a year.

Recently having the chance to finally set out and explore Italy I had the pleasure of spending three days here with the thought of using it as a base camp for visiting other famous Tuscan towns, but as luck would have it, I’d end up spending all my time exploring the city.

The cities historic centre, incased within the old city walls, make it extremely easy to wander without worries of losing ones barings.    With three days to see the city I’d highly suggest checking out the following, but leave plenty of time to just wander, as some of the most breathetaking views will be found off the beaten path.

Duomo: One of Italy’s most famous and impressive cathedrals, the Duomo of Siena begun construction in 12th century.   Featuring a gothic facade and arcitechture, the inside features a ornate marble mosiac floors depicting scenes from the old testament.

Panorama: The Duomo museum and panorama offer up breathe taking views of Siena and the Tuscan country side.  At a cost of 10 euro for entrance into the Duomo, Baptistery, crypts, and panorama it’s worth the cost.  It’s worth noting that the climb to the top of the panorama features winding, narrow spiral staircases, which are not for the claustrophobic.

Campo: The main public meeting area in Siena is one of Europe’s greatest medieval squares, which also serves as host to the Palio twice a year.

Pinacoteca Nazionale: Siena’s art gallery, housing some of Italy’s greatest paintings from the 13th and 14th centuries.

Palazzo Pubblico: The town hall and bell tower which reside in the campo.  If you’re feeling energetic, climb the 505 steps to the top of  the bell tower, Italy’s second highest.

As my first post I bring you rigatoni with sausage and sun-dried tomatoes.

A favourite dish of mine, and one that I can personally classify as comfort food, it only seemed fitting as the dish to start this new segment off with.  Below you’ll find a list of ingredient as well as some photos to show the cooking process.

As with all good Italian cooking there is no such thing as exact measurements or amounts, it’s all to taste and personal preference.

Ingredients:

pork sausages, sun-dried tomato, cherry tomatoes, onion, carrot, celery, basil, parsley, salt, pepper, garlic, sugar, olive oil, and rigatoni.

Preparation:

Dice the onion, celery, and carrot and add to a preheated sauce pan with the olive oil, season with salt and pepper,  and sauté until translucent.  Add in the sausage (either removed from the casing or cut into small pieces) and sun-dried tomato and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, until the sausage is nicely browned.

Add in two packages of cherry tomatoes (halved) and tomato puree, season to taste with salt and some sugar is necessary, and let it simmer until the cherry tomatoes fully break down.   Add the cooked pasta along with fresh basil to the sauce and mix until the pasta is thoroughly coated.

Finally, add parmigiano, optional chili flakes for some heat,  and serve.   Enjoy!

While the weather sadly didn’t agree for most of my visit it did allow me a single beautiful day to get out and wander the downtown core and parks in search of some photo opportunities.  Below you’ll see some of my favourite shots taken on this trip.  Locations include Grant & Millennium Park, Magnificent Mile, Adler Planetarium, and the printers row district.

Below are a few of my favourites from my first photo walk of the year as I set out to try and capture some of the first images of spring, hope you enjoy.

	Arboretum Arboretum Arboretum Arboretum Arboretum IMGP0108 Flowers Spring time Spring time Spring time  « prev      1   2      next »   (17 Photos)