We all need a little kick right about now

So. Here we are, most of the way through February. (Yes, really. That happened.) You are back in the crazed day-to-day with no warm and fuzzy holidays in sight, it's still cold and gross out for most of you, and spring break, for those few of you that can actually still do that, is way too far off. The early winter appeal of cooking great grand meals for cozy nights has faded entirely, and it's still too early for most fresh and interesting produce to inspire. You want dinner, and quickly, but still something interesting, and probably something frugal. Turns out, this exists - and it mostly uses things you're likely to have on hand, and if not can be substituted to a certain extent.

I'm a fan of this pork cutlet recipe - it's easy, it's fast (honestly, 30 minutes start to finish - and more like 15 if you take shortcuts) and it's got a little kick to keep it from being too boring, and you can easier adjust the amount of kick for your particular audience. I like to practically crust the cutlets in pepper when I sear them and not skimp on the red pepper in the sauce, but that's just what works for me.

Generally, the ingredient amounts - at least in my experience - are really just suggestions. I don't think I've measured anything any of the times I've made this, probably because it's a recipe for 4 and I've only made this for 1 so far - at least before tonight, when I cooked up a whole batch of 6 cutlets, which once again is not precisely what the recipe calls for. So yes, very adjustable!

Bonus: the recipe calls for wine, so if you're going to open a bottle anyway...

Spicy Italian Pork Cutlets
(adapted from Allrecipes)

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, divided
• 4 boneless pork chops, pounded to 1/4 inch thick [*I've never actually pounded - first time the cutlets were already pretty thin, the second time I just sliced them off a loin I had defrosted. Also worth noting that my cutlets tend to be small, so I allow two per serving.*]
• salt and pepper to taste
• 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced [*shortcut option: garlic paste works fine although maybe isn't as interesting a presentation at the end*]
• 1 large tomato, diced [*another shortcut - I tend to make this with canned diced. A bit more sodium but much faster and you get more flavorful juice in the recipe*]
• 1/3 cup chicken broth [*roughly*]
• 1/4 cup dry white wine [*again, roughly - whatever looks good to your eye. Also, I stand by the rule of not cooking with cheap junk wine - you're going to have to do something with the rest of the bottle, so use something you'll drink, or pull a Martha Stewart and freeze leftover cubes for...I don't really know what. I feel like frozen wine would just complicate a recipe, particularly one like this. But whatever floats your boat.*]
• 3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley [*I always forget this. It's still good.*]
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

DIRECTIONS:
1. Heat roughly 2 tablespoons olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat - just drizzle some in - you're not deep-frying, so adjust for the number of cutlets you're making. Season the pork chops with salt and pepper, and sear very quickly on both sides - it'll finish cooking later, so don't overdo it here. Probably a good idea to have a splatter screen handy, too. Remove from the pan, and set aside.
2. Heat the remaining olive oil in the skillet over medium-high heat, and saute the garlic about 30 seconds - probably less if you're using paste. Mix in the tomato, chicken broth, wine, parsley, and red pepper flakes. Cook and stir until thickened, about 2 minutes.
3. Return the pork chops to the skillet, and continue cooking 5 to 10 minutes, to an internal temperature of 145 degrees F (63 degrees C). Serve pork with the tomato and broth mixture from the skillet. [*it's worth noting that when I first printed this recipe the safety guidelines for pork hadn't been changed yet, so it said 160 degrees - but the exact same cooking time. Either way I found this to be too long - it was 4 minutes at most in my case. There's room for error since it's in liquid so won't get TOO tough, but keep any eye on it - it's going to be an individual judgement call, since getting a meat thermometer into a thin cutlet is easier said than done. It also is affected, obviously, by how long you sear it earlier in the recipe, so be quick about that.*]

The original recipe suggests putting this with buttered noodles - I put it over a pile of whole wheat couscous from Trader Joe's, which soaked up the extra broth nicely, and was probably healthier - plus, if you start it at the same time as you first begin this recipe, it's done at about the same time with minimal effort required. All it really needs is a decent-sized salad along side and you're set.

A long post, a long time coming, on a comfort food for long cold stretches [Or: Cooking with wine.]

Readers...if there are any of you left...I apologize. There's been this thing, and then another things, and...enough excuses. No more! I am getting back on this horse.

While it's way past the time of year for hearty cold weather food, I understand some of you unfortunate souls have been having nor'easter out there. So, for this I offer my story of a gloomy Sunday in Seattle, back in...I think it was late February.

I was halfway through Sunday when I had this overwhelming urge to cook many hearty things. Midday Sunday is kind of  dangerous time for this mindset, unless you're of the organized and effecient type (I'm not). I CRAVED coq au vin, and I had this urge to make some kind of lentil soup. Since I couldn't decide which to focus on, at around 3pm I started preparations to make both. This involved, among other things, an insane amount of produce choppping.  I would probably not encourage anyone else to make both of these at once, at least without the following: a) a severe amount of kitchen/clock management discipline; b) at least two dutch ovens of your brand of choice (mine is a beloved 40-year old orange Copco - it's always exciting for me when orange cycles back through as the "it" color); and c) a big kitchen with a very big range. I have very little of (a), only one of (b), and and the only way I could be considered to have (c) is if a Manhattan studio walk-up is your comparison.  It's not remarkably small, but it ain't big and my range is entirely standard. Plus, it's electric, so I can't put move something off the heat to another burner unless said other burner hasn't been used within the past 20 minutes. But I digress.

So, to work I went. EPB earned his acronym with this one - aside from waiting through the excessively long time that I holed up in the kitchen chopping, simmering, browning, and occasionally swearing, before I finally announced that dinner was ready, he also acted as sous chef and chopped a few thousand vegetables/starches.

First: the coq au vin. (Technically I started the soup first so it could simmer, but that was much less complicated and I'm SURE none of you will make my mistake of making both of these at once, anyway.) I used a recipe that was adapted from a recipe - my mother has always used Julia's (that's Julia Child, people - keep up), but I was hoping for one a little less complicated. This one was fully two pages long, but I still feel that it wasn't as challenging as one would expect.

Coq Au Vin
Adapted from The Year in Food, who adapted it from the Amateur Gourmet

4-5 pound chicken, separated by wings, thighs, legs, breasts, rinsed, patted very dry, and generously salted and peppered. (Here’s a demo on carving a chicken.)
4 slices thick-cut bacon [*note from your blogger: your kitchen will smell amazing many times during this process. I strongly encourage a snack beforehand, and probably during.*]

1 bottle dry red wine [*note from your blogger: if you happen to, say, "lose" a small cup during this process...it'll still taste just fine. :) *]
1 cup chicken stock
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
2 carrots, diced
2 tablespoons brandy
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, minced
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced
1 bay leaf
-
For the garnish:
1 medium yellow onion, chopped   [*note from your blogger: My mother has always used frozen pearl onions here. I think they absorb the flavor better...and as I've mentioned before, I hatehatehate chopping onions. So, I used one bag of frozen pearl onions.*]
12 ounces cremini mushrooms, sliced [*note from your blogger: or just chopped...up to you.*]
2 tablespoons butter
fresh parsley
salt+pepper

1. Place the bacon in a cold Dutch oven or similar large, heavy-bottomed pot. Cook over medium heat, turning as needed, for about ten minutes. You want it to be somewhat browned but retain some of the fat. Don’t cook it to a crisp. Remove the bacon, chop roughly, and set aside.

2. Turn the heat up to medium-high. Give the pot a few minutes to heat more. Have your chicken ready to go. Make sure it’s nice and dry, as this is what you will need in order to get that lovely brown crust when you sear it.
3. Place half the chicken (one each wing, thigh, drumstick, breast) in the pot and leave it alone for about five minutes. To get that crust, you don’t want to jostle the meat at all. After about 5 minutes, flip each piece, and repeat. If it hasn’t developed a really nice brown sear, leave the meat in for a little longer.

4. Take the first batch of chicken from the pot, and repeat step 3 with second half.
5. If you have a lot of excess fat in the pot, spoon the extra out, being careful not to remove any brown bits.
6. Reduce heat to medium, and add a tablespoon of butter. Add the onion and carrot, and saute, stirring some, for about five minutes.
7. Add the tomato paste and stir. Carefully add the cognac/brandy, deglazing the pot with it. Scrape all that yummy stuff from the bottom, and saute for another few minutes to reduce the liquid.
8. Raise the heat a little again, and add the bottle of wine, garlic, thyme, parsley and bay leaf, and bring to a boil.  Simmer until liquid has reduced by half, about 15-20 minutes.
9. Add the bacon and the chicken stock and stir. Reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid for your second batch of onions.
10. Return the chicken to the pot. Amateur Gourmet suggested a certain order, but I didn’t find that necessary. [*note from your blogger: neither did I.*]
11. Cover the pot, reduce the heat to very low on your stove, and simmer, undisturbed, for 45-60 minutes. You want the meat to be incredibly tender, but not quite falling off the bone. (Mine started to fall off the bone, no big deal.)
12. While your chicken is braising, prepare the garnish. Heat one tablespoon butter in a medium pan over a medium flame. Add the onions and saute for about 5 minutes.
13. Add the reserved braising liquid, season to taste with salt and pepper, and saute until most of the liquid has been reduced, about 10 minutes or so. Remove onions from heat and set aside.
14. Add another tablespoon of butter to the pan. Add the mushrooms and saute until the liquid has cooked off, another 10 minutes, roughly. Turn off heat, return onions to the pan, mix together and set aside.

15. Check on the chicken. If it’s ready, turn off heat and skim any fat if necessary. Add the mushrooms and onions to the braise, stir.
16. Ladle this luscious stuff into bowls, garnish with more parsley, and enjoy!
PS: The flavors will improve overnight. [*note from your blogger: and over the next few days. Honestly, it keeps getting better. Especially if, say, you (ahem) accidentally cooked the chicken too long and dried it out...it re-moistens!*]

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Still here? Okay then. Sometimes, you just want a hearty soup that also isn't bad for you. When the recipe makes enough for nearly a week's worth of lunches on a relatively low budget, well, that's just a win all around, unless you don't like vegetables or lentils. In which case, stop reading now.

Still here? Okay. This recipe is also pretty absurdly easy. At least compared to the coq au vin. And it's so satisfying. I looked at the recipe - one this, one that - and thought it didn't seem like enough soup for the effort, so I doubled it. Wellll....let's just say that my pot (NOT the dutch oven, since that was going to be required for the coq au vin) was very nearly overtopped. Turns out this makes more than it seems. The recipe actually said it would make something like 4 servings...I ended up with 10. Ten! However: turns out this both doubles well and freezes well...so it was fine. Full disclosure, though - when you freeze it it comes out looking less colorful and somewhat unappetizing. But it's still delicious!


Hearty Lentil Soup (adapted from AllRecipes)

Ingredients

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1 leek, sliced
1 carrot, diced
1 parsnip, scrubbed and diced
1 potato, peeled and diced
1 stalk celery, sliced
1 cup dry lentils, rinsed
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
3 cups vegetable stock
2 bay leaves
1 dash soy sauce
2 teaspoons vegetarian Worcestershire sauce [*note from your blogger: not only do I not have vegetarian Worcestershire (huh?), I also completely forgot the Worcestershire of any variety. I think I last minute compensated with extra soy sauce...not sure. Point is, feel free to experiment - this is a very forgiving soup.*]
1/2 cup red wine
1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped [*note from your blogger: I'm one of those people who hates cilantro...so I skipped it. Didn't seem to me like the soup was missing anything, so your call.*]

Directions
Heat the oil in a large saucepan and mix in the onions, carrot, parsnip, celery, potato, and leek. Stir over a medium heat.
Place lentils, tomatoes, stock, bay leaves, a splash of the soy and Worcestershire sauces and wine in the saucepan. Stir and bring the mixture to a boil. Cover and simmer for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the lentils are cooked.
Remove the bay leaves from the soup. Stir in the cilantro and serve.