week of carbs!!

I think I ate WAYYYYY too many carbs this week.  But it was all delicious!  

Kevin came over last Thursday and I made this super easy dinner from The Best of Fine Cooking Weeknight Dinner cookbook that my friend from work had sent to me.  It's a one pot dish - quick and easy.  

Check it out: 

Garlicky Chicken Thighs in Red Pepper Sauce

• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (about 3 pounds), trimmed of excess fat and skin
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 6 cloves garlic, smashed
• 2 teaspoons fresh thyme
• 1 cup homemade or lower-salt chicken broth
• 3 jarred roasted red peppers, drained and cut into 1-inch strips (1&1/2 cups)
• 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
• Crusty baguette, for serving

Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 425 degrees.  Heat the oil in a large, oven-proof saute pan over medium-high heat until it's shimmering.  Sprinkle the chicken with 1&1/2 teaspoons salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.  add half of the thighs to the pan, skin side down.  Reduce the heat to medium and cook without touching until the skin browns and easily releases from the pan, about 3 minutes.  Turn and cook for 1 minute.  Transfer to a large plate.  Add the remaining chicken and cook it in the same manner.  Transfer the chicken to the plate.  Add the garlic and thyme to the pan and cook until the garlic is lightly browned, 2-3 minutes.  Add the chicken broth,red peppers, potato, and sherry vinegar to the pan and bring to a oil.  Remove from the heat, return the chicken to the pan (skin side up), and transfer to the oven.  

Braise the chicken, uncovered, until the potato pieces are tender and the chicken is completely cooked through, about 30 minutes.  Serve with the baguette for soaking up the broth.  

Yum!!  I asked Kevin if this was a go-to meal, and he was a little hesitant, but I loved it!  Super juicy chicken and EASY! 

On Saturday I took a pasta making class.  I LOVE cooking classes.  I have no idea why I don't take them more often.  Anyone care to join me?  I took this class at Cooking Fools in Wicker Park right at Damen/Milwaukee/North intersection.  It's a cute little storefront that specializes in catering and corporate cooking events.  There were about 33 people in the class, but the two chefs who taught the class did a demonstration first of what to do, then walked around the class giving feedback and help while we tried.  We made pappardelle noodles with vodka sauce and spinach-ricotta stuffed ravioli with pesto sauce.  Amazing!  It was definitely a time consuming process, but I think I would like to try this again at home.  Of course, then I need to buy a bunch of new kitchen gadgets including the pasta maker.

So to continue the carb load on Saturday, Chelsea came over and we made another dinner from the Weeknight Dinners cookbook.  Another pasta dish.  I liked this, but I think I liked Ina's pasta dish that I made a couple weeks ago.  It was also a spicy pasta dish, but with an olive oil sauce rather than butter.  

Linguine with Hot Chile, Caramelized Onion, and Gremolata

• Kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 large yellow onion, very thinly sliced
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 serrano or other fresh small, hot red or green chile, cored, seeded, and finely diced
• 4 ounces (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, cut into about 5 pieces
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 pound dried linguine
• 1/3 cup roughly chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 large clove garlic, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped lemon zest
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano; more for serving

Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil.  Meanwhile, heat the oil in a 10-inch skillet over medium heat.  Add the onion and red pepper flakes, season with a big pinch of salt, and cook, stirring frequently, until tender and nicely browned, about 15 minutes (reduce the heat to medium low if the onion is browning too fast).  Add the chile and continue to cook for 1 minute.  Turn off the heat, add the butter, and swirl the pan to melt the butter.  Add the lemon juice and another pinch of salt.  Keep warm. 

Cook the linguine in the boiling water until al dente, about 10 minutes. 

Meanwhile, make the gremolata.  Combine the parsley, garlic, and lemon zest on a cutting board and chop them together with a chef's knife until the parsley is finely chopped and mixed well with the lemon and garlic.  

Drain the linguine and return it to its cooking pot.  Over medium heat, add the onion mixture to the pasta and toss to combine.  Add the Pecorino, quickly toss again, and add salt to taste.  Transfer the pasta to a platter or shallow bowls.  Sprinkle liberally with the gremolata and more Pecorino and serve.  

Oh and thank you for Chelsea bringing up truffled popcorn because we perfected a home version on Saturday night.  Chelsea had tried Public House, a new restaurant/bar in Chicago and she said she had the most amazing popcorn there.  So we tried to recreate it.  I popped the popcorn, melted butter and poured the butter and truffle oil over the popcorn, then added pepper and parmesan.  Fantastic.  Great little snack that is kinda ritzy (for popcorn).