A Couple of Random Cooking Notes

1.  I bought some dried shiitake mushrooms real cheaply at Beachy’s in Arthur a few weeks ago.  The other night we were going to cook some chicken…I didn’t really have a plan but I thought I’d use some of the dried mushrooms.  So I broke them up into small pieces and rehydrated them in some hot chicken stock.  They sat there on the stove for awhile and then I became less ambitious and didn’t feel like fussing with it so I just threw the stock and mushrooms over some chicken in a pan.  I’d put smoked paprika and salt and pepper on the bone in chicken pieces, put them skin side down in a hot oven (425), then poured the reconstituted mushrooms and the chicken broth they'd been in over them and cooked them for half an hour, turned them and another half an hour.  They turned out to be fabulous.  Most of the broth cooked away but it left the chicken super-moist and there were bits of mushroom throughout, some soft and some roasted to a little crunchiness.  And between the smoked paprika and the mushrooms it was umami heaven!

2. In the middle of the summer I like green beans just blanched and tossed with a vinaigrette.  As we move into fall I like them braised or roasted though.  I threw a mix of heirloom tomatoes in a pan with some garlic, cooked it down a bit, added beautiful green beans from Greg at the farmers’ market, a bit of chicken stock and let it all braise.  With a roast sweet potato and some of the chicken....it was a lovely fall dinner.

3.  I'm glad we have so many pumpkins this year (see Pumpkin Wars) as I'm loving the pumpkin seeds.  Just a bit of olive oil, salt, pepper and maybe some smoked paprika or curry powder....or just plain with salt and pepper.  I LOVE them....

4.  Tonight we're having cod...not sure how I'll cook it and some roasted cauliflower....what else?  Spinach, potatoes, sweet potatoes???  Hmmmmm.  Ideas anyone?