Piri-Piri Chicken with Tarragon Aioli and Couscous Salad

This Marley Spoon recipe is delicious, especially in the summer with fresh peaches, zucchini, corn and tarragon.

• 3 oz Irsaeli couscous
• 1 ripe peach
• 1 zucchini
• 1 ear of corn
• 1/4 oz. tarragon, fresh
• 2 oz mayonnaise
• 1/4 oz piri-piri spice blend
• 12 oz boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 oz blue cheese crumbles
• olive oil, salt and pepper, and white wine vinegar or vinegar of your choice

At the same time, you will cook couscous, grill vegetables and fruit, and then grill chicken. It's easiest if you prepare everything to start.

Prepare: Halve the peach and discard the pit. Do not peel. Cut zucchini crosswise and then slice into 3/4-inch slices. Shuck the corn, remove any corn silk. 

Pick tarragon leaves from stems. Discard stems. Chop half the tarragon and leave the rest whole. 

Whisk together 2 oz. mayonnaise and 1 tsp water for mayo mixture. Slowly add in 1/4 oil while constantly whisking.  Use 1 T. mayo for chicken marinade. Use the rest for aoili.

Prepare aoili with chopped tarragon and salt and pepper. Set aside for serving.

Wash and dry the chicken on paper towels. Pat it dry and season with salt and pepper.Take 1 T of the mayo mixture, 1 tsp. vinegar and all the piri-piri spice to make the marinade. Place marinade and chicken in small bowl and marinate for at least 10 minutes.

Couscous: With 1 T. olive oil in a saucepan, cook the couscous until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Add 3/4 c. water and 1/2 tsp salt to the couscous and cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook until liquid is absorbed - about 10-12 minutes. Set on a plate to cool. 

Veggies and fruit: Brush grill or grill pan with oil. Brush peach halves, zucchini slices and whole corn with oil and salt and pepper, place on grill, cut side down. Cook turning occasionally until peaches are charred and softened 6-8 minutes. At the same time grill the zucchini and corn, turning corn occasionally, 8-10 minutes until tender and charred. Transfer to a cutting board. Cut peaches and zucchini into 1/2 inch chunks and cut kernels from the corn cob. 

Chicken: Place chicken on a grill and cook until lightly charred and cooked through 3-4 minutes. 

Couscous Veggie/Fruit Salad: Mix peach and veggies, blue cheese, whole tarragon leaves, 1 T olive oil, 2 tsp. vinegar and any resting juices from the chicken. Season with salt and pepper.

Slice grilled chicken. Serve with piri-piri chicken and tarragon aoili and the couscous salad.

Note: You can grill your veggies and fruit, and your chicken on any grill OR on a grill on a gas cooktop.

Roasted Garlic

 A few holidays ago, our neighbor Karen Alves gifted us with a jar of her homemade, signature-roasted garlic. It was delicious, and as we love garlic in everything, we went through the small jar very quickly. A batch of roasted garlic takes about 20 bulbs, or a whole bag from Costco. So far, I've been able to fill two to three small 4-ounce jars with roasted garlic. I might have to revise my recipe to only cloves because the whole bulb, roasted, leaves so much garlic puree behind.  

In any event, I cut the tip end of the bulb as close to the actual tip as possible and remove any dry excess papery skin. I place them tip up in a piece of foil (three to foil per foil), making sure I have enough foil to close them up. I drizzle olive oil over the bulb and sprinkle sea salt. I place some fresh thyme springs (you could use rosemary, too) under the bulbs. I wrap the foil into a tight pouch and I placed the pouches in a baking dish or on a baking sheet and roast for about 40 minutes at 400 degrees  

After they cool, I smash the bulbs and squeeze out the softened garlic.*

I used an immersion blender, making a roasted garlic paste with a bit more oil and sea salt.  I use about a tablespoon in lieu of some garlic and oil when cooking pretty much anything! Or use your food processor if you are roasting 4 lbs or so  

One bag from Costco about three or four 4-ounce Mason jars with lids. 

*I might have to revise my recipe to only cloves because the whole bulb, roasted, leaves so much garlic puree behind. Another idea is to cut the tips off about a third of the way and squeeze the smaller bits of raw garlic onto the rest of the bulb before roasting. I will also experiment with roasting for less time until the cloves are just soft, therefore keeping them somewhat whole. I hate wasting the garlic! I did take all the skin waste and simmered it in chicken stock making a broth. I drained the skins and pressed any soft garlic through. I plan to use it as a base for some soups. I'd like to figure out how to can and process this broth. 

Piri-Piri Spice Blend

Tonight we had a delicious meal from Marley Spoon. It was a simple grill of peaches, fresh corn kernels and zucchini mixed with vinegar, oil, tarragon, and blue cheese crumbles. It was served with grilled chicken and a simple aioli sauce of mayonnaise, olive oil, chopped tarragon, and a bit of water. The grilled chicken was coated with Piri-Piri spice blend before grilling.

I looked up Piri-Piri (Portuguese and South African) and made up about a cup using the following spices. (I used a spice blender to mix the oregano and parsley flakes in.) The recipe for two breasts calls for 1/4 ounce of Piri-Piri.

2 T. each of sugar, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, ground coriander

1 T. each salt, dried oregano, and dried parsley.

2 tsp. each of ground ginger and cardamom

1 tsp. each of smoked paprika and cayenne pepper

Place in an airtight jar.

Note! You can use more cayenne if you'd like. If you use very red paprika and cayenne, your blend will be nice and colorful!

Fresh from the Garden Tomato Soup

This recipe is so versatile. Spice it up or leave it a bit less-spicy and herby. Use less amounts of salt, or onion. Experiment for your own taste, but this soup is loved by everyone.
You can use any kind of tomatoes in fresh tomato soup, garden, or otherwise. In fact, this recipe I adapted from NathashasKitchen.com asked for canned crushed tomatoes. I used about 40 medium to small Roma tomatoes from my garden. Ripe grape tomatoes work great, too, and I've found that I like to use any combinations of grape or cherry tomatoes, including the multicolored heirloom type. I use four to six cups per recipe.

The whimsy of tomato soup is the fresh flavor and the garnish. This weekend I topped the soup with sourdough croutons, freshly chopped chives, chive stalks, and a sprig of basil. I felt a bit rushed to get it on the table, but I would have added a sprig of thyme, some chives, parsley or basil, and dolloped it with some Crème fraîche (or sour cream) and sprinkled it with freshly grated parmesan and bits of cooked bacon.  

Note to self: line up ALL the garnishes in advance. There's nothing worse than scurrying around getting garnishes when you are ready to serve.

Add 4 T butter, 2 T roasted garlic (or 2-4 cloves of garlic, minced, and 1-1/2 to 2 cups of finely diced onion to a pot such as a 4-qt enameled cast iron Dutch oven. Cook the onions and garlic until they are golden and soft. Add 4-6 cups or 40 small to medium quartered Roma tomatoes or whole grape or cherry tomatoes and 2 cups of chicken or vegetable stock, bone broth, or a substitute. (Add some white wine to this mix, if desired.) Cook until tomatoes are soft and simmering for about 1/2 hour. 

Add 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil, reserving some top sprigs for garnish. Add 1 T sugar, a bunch of grinds of fresh pepper, and a combination of sea salts (herbed or seasoned.) Add tomato soup seasonings (dill, oregano, thyme, etc.) and a 1/4 tsp. celery salt or seed, and 1 tsp. of unsalted herbs de Provence. Taste test for flavor and seasonings. Adjust the salt as necessary and use less if any of the other mixtures contain salt.

Simmer for another 15 min. and then let cool. Use an immersion blender to blend in the pot, leaving it somewhat chunky with large bits or small, or blending until totally creamy if you desire.
Return to heat and add 1/2 cup heavy cream if you would like a creamier, lighter soup. Add some grated cheese of any kind if you prefer. Heat to melt all, but don't boil.

Garnish and serve. Also can be served cool. 

Revisions, additions, notations, etc.:
I roasted some halved larger grape tomatoes in the oven before tossing them in the pan. 

I also used about a cup of chopped fresh herbs from the garden: parsley, chives, rosemary, basil, and thyme. I dried this combination and chopped fine and saved it in a Mason jar (totally dried!). It makes an easy and fast delicious combination of herbs.

I also sauteed about four garlic cloves with the onion (instead of the roasted garlic) and added I added about 1 cup chopped tricolored peppers. You can also use some red pepper flakes for some heat.

Peony Jelly

This spring of 2022 we came home from Florida in May to peonies ready to burst. We have about 10 blooming plants out along our fence lining the front yard from Wildflower Lane. White, deep pink, magenta and light pink are abundant. One plant had at least 50 peonies, most the size of saucers. 

I took them in every day for a huge bouquet on the dining room table and added more bouquets as the days progressed. I try to only cut blossoms that have no unbloomed buds. 

Gerry decided to make peony tea while I was away celebrating my 70th with childhood girlfriends. I came home to about a gallon of the tea.

I wasn't fond of the tea taste - there was no sugar and Gerry steeped it for 7 days days after gently boiling with fresh lemon slices. So, I brewed and steeped more tea from more blossoms and ended up with about a gallon from Gerry's tea and my tea to make peony jelly. Make sure you rinse your petals in a bucket to remove all the dust, pollen, stamen, and bugs. Then boil with fresh water to and brew at least 24 hours. We had plenty of magenta petals and the tea was a beautiful color after brewing and steeping.  We actually had more blossoms and I will use all of them next year!

I also want to try dandelion and lilac jelly.  I hear that violet jelly is lovely, but we don't have violets. 

Let me just say here that peony jelly is delicious - a lovely flavor of strawberries and peaches. With this recipe it is a soft, spoonable jelly in 1/2 pint jars. In larger jars it is more runny. We plan to serve it plain, or over ice cream. The runner jelly I will serve over cream cheese (on crackers) or as a glaze for fruit or meats.

The recipe I used was a YouTube recipe. I'll use another next time and see if the jelly is a bit more solid. There are many recipes online. Some call for boiling the juice and pectin and citrus first and adding sugar after the first boil. Basically, this is what I did. 

Place the petals in a lightweight towel and squeeze out all the juice. In batches of 8 cups of peony tea, add 8 cups sugar and 2 T lemon or lime juice. Bring it to a full boil and 8 T pectin (classic dry.) Boil 10 minutes. Skim any foam or gunk off the top.

Fill a glass pitcher with a spout lip and fill clean, hot Mason jars. Seal, tighten and boil in a water bath for 10 minutes.  

Chicken Piccata Meatballs by Marley Spoon

We have often found foodservice recipes that we would love to make again. Some of the services (Green Chef, for example) make life a bit easier by providing the sauces ready-made in pouches. This deters us from trying to make up our own sauce and reinvent the recipe. It works well with ingredients that might be difficult to find, or expensive to purchase

Marley Spoon doesn't do that, particularly, but instead includes the ingredients which are easy to find. This recipe is one of them and also one that I will repeat often. It's easy, attainable, and delicious! I plan to double this with friends.

Cooking all at the same time, you will need about 15 minutes for cauliflower mash, keeping warm;

6 minutes for broiled green beans in oven;

and about 10 minutes to combine meatball ingredients and cook. Figure out your best process for this by first boiling water, turn on broiler; place 2 T olive oil in a skillet.

If preferred, cook the cauliflower mash first, keeping warm. Cook chicken and then sauce, keeping warm; and then broil green beans. Plate and serve.

Ingredients:

Cauliflower Mash: 1/2 head of cauliflower broken into florets, simmered in boiling water until tender (about 15 minutes) and 3 oz of mascarpone cheese, at room temperature plus some salt and pepper

Broiled green beans:  T olive oil; salt and pepper; 1/2 pound green beans, whole but trimmed

Meatballs: 10 ounces of ground chicken; 1/2 shallot, finely (chopped in two equal amounts and 1/2 saved for sauce); 1 large egg; 3/4 oz grated parmesan (can be finely grated or roughly grated); salt and pepper.

Sauce: 1/2 shallot, finely (chopped in two equal amounts and 1/2 saved from meatballs); 1 lemon, zested and juiced (leave a small bit unjuiced for garnish);  1 packet of chicken broth concentrate with 1/2 cup water or 1/2+ cup broth; 1 oz. capers, whole and 2 T butter

Make cauliflower mash:

Mash the softened, cooked and DRAINED cauliflower with salt and pepper and the mascarpone cheese. Leave in warm pan and cover. 

Make meatballs:

Place the grated parmesan, ground chicken, half of the shallot, 1 large egg, 1/2 tsp. salt and a few grinds of pepper into a bowl and stir to combine. In skillet and 2 T olive oil, and using a small ice cream scoop, drop 8-10 scoops into the skillet. Cook on medium a few minutes each side, preferably getting a crispy side on top and bottom. It does not have to be fully cooked. Take out of the skillet and place on separate plate. Scrape any bits on the bottom of the pan.

Broil green beans:

Mix the beans with about 1 T. olive oil and generous pinches of salt and pepper and place on grilling pan or cookie sheet (use foil or parchment for easier cleanup. Broil until lightly charred about 5 min., watching carefully!

Cook sauce:

Add remaining 1/2 of the shallot to the meatball skillet for 2-3 minutes. Add 1/2 cup broth, lemon zest, juice and capers. Bring sauce to a simmer and cook meatballs, basting with sauce about 3-5 min. Add 2 T. butter.

Serve chicken and sauce over the cauliflower mash with beans on the side, and garnish of lemon if desired.