Some Kitchen Notes
Plus, À Noter and Two Recipes to Put in Your Weeknight Rotation
Hello!
Shall we hop to it? We shall!
À Noter
Watched
The Menu. I loved it. It’s hilarious and dark. I also woke up to news of Noma closing, which made perfect sense given the subject matter of this film. I don’t want to give anything away, but I thought it was a brilliant satire of the restaurant industry and a smart, biting commentary on class.
Obsessing About
An obscure dessert called Apple Charlotte. I watched Howard’s End for the umpteenth time this past weekend and (the character)Tibby is enthusiastic about an incoming dessert called Apple Charlotte and insisted that it must be eaten straight away. Needless to say, it took me down a rabbit hole. What was this dessert and who was Charlotte!? You can read all about it here. I don’t really bake, but I'm now on the hunt for a pudding mold. Has anyone ever made this before? And, does anyone have a mold they recommend? Oy vey!
Reading
Happy Hour. If at some point, you were a young, aimless and cashless person new to New York City, but still having the time of your life, read this book. It brought back many memories for me and will for you too.
In Other News
My kitchen runs like a well-oiled machine. If there is a roast chicken on a Sunday there is stock on Monday and soups and stews to follow. Broth doesn’t have much time to make its way into the freezer either. I’m either sipping on it for lunch or using spoonfuls of it to bring pasta together or to deglaze a pan.
Speaking of said chicken, I once again returned to Lucinda Scala Quinns’s Spatchcoked Chicken with Lemon and Herbs this week. She brilliantly roasts a spatchcoked bird over buttered bread, which toasts in the oven along with the rendered schmaltz. It’s criminally good! I used only four pieces of bread as there are only two of us and I’m temporarily being virtuous. I also flipped the bread while the chicken was resting and put it back in the turned off oven to toast some more. I served a salad of radicchio fennel, supremed grapefruit and avocado on the side. Perfection.
Given the nature of my job, you might envision that each night Chad is greeted with a brilliant new recipe for dinner. While some evenings this is true, more frequently, I look forward to upcycling what is in my fridge to make sure nothing goes to waste and eat as healthy (for the most part) as possible. And yet, I still find inspiration.
Paid subscribers, you will have a new recipe that happens to be vegan (!) in your inboxes this week as a result of my pillaging.
LA Times cooking columnist Ben Mims recently also wrote about the way he eats at home too and his philosophy is similar. I made a version of his Steak And Asparagus 'Sauté-Fry' With Dijon-Sesame Dressing and it was fantastic. I seasoned my steak with a lot of freshly ground pepper and when it was drizzled with sauce, it gave it almost Au Poivre-vibes. Don’t eat steak? Use, shrimp, tofu or chicken. I swapped out asparagus for baby bok choy and some celery and leeks that were on the verge. I highly recommend it with any vegetables of your choosing.
Both of these recipes are wonderful and great for weeknights. Add them to the rotation! I hope you make and enjoy them.
Have a great rest of your week.
Thanks, as always, for being here.
With love,
Colu
Forever one of my favorite chickens! Buttery, schmaltzy heaven 🥰
Hi Colu! I was so inspired by your roast chicken dinner, I am making it tonight. Did you use a particular recipe or dressing for the radicchio, grapefruit salad?
Thank you!