This recipe from the Barefoot Contessa, Ina Garten, goes great with the previously posted recipe for roasted chicken. Use the bacon from the chicken for this salad recipe.

Baby Leaf Salad with Bacon

4 Servings

8 ounces good bacon
1 extra large egg yolk, at room temperature
2 tsps. Dijon mustard
2 large garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (3 lemons)
2 tsps. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups good olive oil
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan, plus 1/4 pound chunk very good parmesan
Greens for 4, washed and spun dry

Cook the bacon - or use the bacon from the previous posting for roasted chicken. Crumble into large pieces.

For the dressing, place the egg yolk, mustard, garlic, lemon juice, salt, and pepper into a food processor and process until smooth. Add the olive oil and parmesan and pulse until emulsified.

Toss the greens with the dressing, plate, and top with the bacon and parmesan shavings.

I know, how many roasted chicken recipes can there be? The sauce really makes this great. I saw this on the Barefoot Contessa, Ina Garten, on Saturday during the rain and made it last night after a great day of golf. The bacon on the chicken is used in the salad that I'll post next. Just the salad and chicken were enough for dinner.

Lemon and Garlic Roast Chicken

3 to 4 servings

1 (5 to 6 lb.) roasting chicken
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 large bunch fresh thyme
4 lemons
3 heads garlic, cut in 1/2 crosswise
2 Tbls. butter, melted
1/2 lb. sliced bacon
1 cup white wine
1/2 cup chicken stock

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Clean the chicken, pat dry and place in a roasting pan. Salt and pepper the inside of the chicken. Stuff the cavity with the thyme, reserving enough thyme to garnish the chicken dish, 1 lemon, halved, and 2 halves of the garlic. Brush the outside of the chicken with the butter and sprinkle again with salt and pepper. Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the chicken. Cut 2 of the lemons in quarters and scatter the quarters and remaining garlic around the chicken. Lay the bacon slices over the chicken to cover.

Roast the chicken for 1 hour. Remove the bacon slices from the top of the chicken and set aside. Continue roasting the chicken for an additional 1/2 hour, or until the juices run clear when you cut between a leg and thigh. Remove to a platter and cover with aluminum foil while you prepare the gravy.

Remove all but 2 Tbls. of the fat from the bottom of the pan. Add the wine and chicken stock and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 4 minutes, or until reduced by half.

Slice the chicken on a platter. Garnish the chick platter with the bacon slices, roasted garlic, reserved thyme and 1 lemon, sliced. Serve with the gravy.

This is how the magazine cut out describes this: "The Mediterranean fish soup bourride is something like a bouillabaisse but has a consistency more like stew." It calls for putting an aioli on toasted bread as an accompaniment but I haven't tried that yet. We have seafood allergies in our family so I haven't tried it with clams either - I'm sure they are great and I bet mussels would be as well.

This takes a bit of planning and chopping so try it when you're up for creating a new, tasty dish.

Monkfish and Clam Bourride

6 small red potatoes (3/4 lb.)
2 large leeks (white parts only), cut crosswise into 1/4 inch slices
1 lb. piece monkfish filet, cut into 2 inch chunks
3 Tbls. extra virgin olive oil
Slow-braised tomatoes (previous posting)
1 large fennel bulb, stalks discarded and bulb halved lengthwise, cored and thinly sliced lengthwise
1 cup thinly sliced shallots (4 medium)
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
24 small hard shelled clams, scrubbed well
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup water
1 tsp. dried hot red pepper flakes
1 tsp. finely grated fresh lemon zest
8 fresh basil leaves, chopped
2 Tbls. chopped fresh parsley

Quarter potatoes, then cover by 1 inch with salted cold water and simmer until tender, 7 to 10 minutes. Drain and cool.

Wash leeks in a bowl of cold water - drain and pat dry.

Pat monkfish dry and season with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a deep 12 inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then sear monkfish lightly on all sides until golden, about 2 minutes total (fish will not be cooked through).

Heat 2 Tbls. oil from slow braised tomatoes in skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then saute leeks, fennel, and shallots, stirring, until softened and edges begin to brown, 4 to 6 minutes. Add sliced garlic and saute, stirring, until fragrant, about 2 minutes.

Add clams, wine, water, red pepper flakes, zest, and tomato halves and cook, covered until clams are fully open, 6 to 10 minutes, checking every minute after 6 minutes and removing clams as they fully open. (Discard any clams that have not opened after 10 minutes.) Using tongs, transfer clams to a large bowl or soup tureen.

Add monkfish and potatoes to skillet and simmer, covered, until fish is just cooked through, 4 to 6 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in basil and parsley. Season with salt and pour over clams.

This is a great way to bring out the tomato flavor in the winter tomatoes. It's also used in the next recipe I'll post for a fish stew. The leftover oil is also great left over in pasta or in a dressing - it will keep for 1 month in an air tight container.

Slow Braised Tomatoes

Makes about 3 cups

1 medium white onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, smashed
3/4 cup plus 2 Tbls. extra virgin olive oil
9 fresh basil leaves
1/8 tsp. dried hot red pepper flakes
12 plum tomatoes (2 lb.) halved lengthwise
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. kosher salt

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Cook onion and garlic in 2 Tbls. oil in a heavy skillet over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in basil and red pepper flakes.

Toss tomatoes with sugar and salt in a bowl. Arrange tomatoes, cut sides down, in a roasting or baking pan (13 by 9 inch). Spoon onion mixture over tomatoes and add enough of remaining 3/4 cup olive oil to reach halfway up tomatoes. Braise in middle of the oven, stirring gently halfway through cooking, until tomatoes are very tender but not falling apart, 2 1/2 to 3 hours.

Dad sent me this recipe on a handwritten note on his doctor's stationary - I assume it came from someone in their practice. We had this the other night and it was terrific. I had left over filling and a couple of nights later I added some more spinach and tomatoes to it, put it in a baking dish, sprinkled it with grated cheese, baked it and it was just as good without the peppers. I used Jarlsberg cheese but it calls for any kind that you like. I also used brown rice which gave it a little more texture. I also tried it with both red and yellow peppers - the red ones held up better but it might have just been the peppers that were available to me at the time. I also used the already diced can tomatoes and they worked quite well.

Stuffed Peppers

2 large red bell peppers, cut in half and deseeded
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. pepper
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp. cumin
2 Tbls. olive oil
1/2 lb. sausage
1 cup spinach
1 cup cooked rice
1 onion diced
4 tomatoes, peeled, seeded and diced
1 cup cheese

Bring to a boil enough water to cover the peppers. Boil them for 3 minutes. Lay peppers in a baking dish cut side up.

Saute the onions in the olive oil until soft. Set aside in a bowl. Brown the sausage in the same saute pan - add to the onions in the bowl. Saute the spinach with the garlic and salt and pepper. Add it and the rice to the bowl. Add 1/3 cup of the cheese to the mixture. Mix well.

Saute the tomatoes with the cumin.

Fill the peppers first with the sausage mixture and then top with the tomatoes. Add the remaining cheese on top.

Bake covered at 325 degrees for 25 minutes. Uncover and bake for an additional 10 minutes.