Even if you don’t have a grill, you have science! Grilling and broiling are actually quite similar. Broiling is like the upside-down, charcoal-less version: high heat with the food close to the heat source.

A light, simple meal that anyone can make.

As a bonus, broiling is pretty much as easy as (or easier than) grilling. You don’t have to worry about cleaning up a grill or messing about with charcoal. All you need is a broiling pan. Honestly, you don’t even need that–I don’t have one. A wire cooling rack in sheet pan works the same way.

So now you can focus on getting the rest of the food ready. Make pasta-check. Cut tomatoes-check. Crumbled goat cheese-check. Basil, garlic, pepper-check. Mix them all together, place that chicken on top and you have a meal finished in half an hour or less.

This really came together in about half an hour. Nothing difficult to do.

See, in nearly no time at all you can toss together a great meal. Pretty much literally. Just don’t make me jealous by actually grilling yours :) . Click though to see the recipe after the link.

Broiled chicken with tomato and goat cheese pasta
1 lb fusilli
3 chicken breasts, pounded or flattened if necessary
5 small tomatoes, roughly chopped (I used vine-ripened, but Roma would work well)
2 cloves garlic, minced
small bunch of basil leaves (about 1 tbsp minced)
3 tbsps olive oil, plus more for marinating
1 lemon
8oz crumbled goat cheese
salt and pepper

Directions
1. If time permits, marinate the chicken in some olive oil and the juice of a half lemon for about an hour.
2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and prepare the pasta according to the instructions on the packet.
3. Meanwhile, place the chicken on a broiler pan and place about 6 inches away from your broiler. It should cook about 6-8 minutes a side. If they start to brown too much, move the chicken to a lower rack in the oven. (If you have a probe thermometer, it should read about 165F in the thickest part of the chicken breast.) When cooked, let sit for a minute, then slice into strips.
4. In a small skillet or pot, heat the 3 tablespoons of oil with the minced garlic and basil over medium heat for a 2-3 minutes.
5. When the pasta finishes cooking, drain, then return the pasta to the pot. Add the tomatoes, then drizzle the olive oil over it. Add a few good cracks of pepper to it and the juice of the other half of the lemon. Add about 2/3rds of the goat cheese and toss everything to combine. The goat cheese will melt into the oil to create a kind of sauce for the pasta.
6. Serve the pasta, then top with some sliced chicken. Sprinkle each serving with a bit of the remaining crumbled goat cheese.

A club I’m part of (Carolina Larrikins) hosts events on the first, third, and–if it exists–the fifth Wednesdays of the month. It was kind of a pot-luck thing for food, and a keg of good beer was provided (thanks, gang!). I made this tasty polenta gratin and helped some friends out with something a bit more important than food.

After I left work, I noticed that there was a series of text messages waiting. A couple friends were asking–no, urging–me to come to the party. My services were direly needed.

See, they wanted to get married. And they wanted me to marry them. Not everybody can just marry people. But ministers can; and I just happened to be an ordained ULC minister. So by the end of the night, not only had I officiated a wedding, but I can say that I catered it as well! Not bad for a moments notice :)

I was pleased with myself. I quickly wrote up a little speech to give, got my stuff together, finished prepping the food and got over there. The ceremony went off without an issue and the reception was wrapped up with the pre-existing party. The gratin was pretty much destroyed by the end of the night, so it was either good, or people were hungry. Probably a bit of both. Click through to see how you too can cater a wedding…

Yeah, I know calling that catering a wedding is a huge stretch, but I’ll take a win when I can get it.

Ingredients
5-6 turkey sausages
6-8 sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
1 cup coarse ground polenta
4 cups water
1 red onion, diced
4 cloves garlic
1 tsp rosemary
1 tsp thyme
Salt and pepper
3 ounces Gruyere
1 tbsp olive oil

Directions
1. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add about a tablespoon of olive oil then add the sausages. Cook, adjusting the heat as needed and turning the sausages so that they brown evenly, until they are fully cooked, about 10 minutes. Remove the sausages from the skillet and allow to cool. Cut them once along each axis (so, cut in along the length to make to long halves, then cut those in half).
2. In the same skillet, reduce the heat to medium (if you haven’t already) and add the onions, garlic, rosemary, and thyme. There should be enough oil/grease left, but add up to a tablespoon of oil if needed. Cook the onion until it starts to soften, about 8 minutes. Remove from heat.
3. Bring a pot of water with the 4 cups of water to a simmer with the chopped sun-dried tomato in it. Once it reaches a simmer slowly pour in the cup of polenta while whisking. It’s important to do this gradually so that the polenta doesn’t clump up. Allow it to come back to a simmer and turn the heat to low. It should be at a bare simmer. It will take a while for this to cook (about 30 mins) but you don’t need to watch it the whole time. Just give it a stir once every 5-10 minutes. After about 30 minutes, add the reserved onion and spice/herb mixture. Cook for about 10 minutes more. It should have thickened to a porridge-like consistancy.
4. Line a sheet-pan with plastic wrap and pour the polenta mixture into it. Allow it to cool (in your fridge, if possible) for at least 30-45 minutes or longer. Spread it out so that it evenly covers the bottom of the pan.
5. After it’s cool, break it into rough chunks–anywhere from 1×1 inches to 3×3 inches. It doesn’t have to be even or nice. Rough and dirty is good. As you break off chunks, toss them into a 9×13 baking dish. Tuck in about half the sausage, then cover with shredded cheese. Put the rest of the sausage over the cheese.
6. Bake at 350F for 30 minutes. To get a nice browned look on the top, turn on the broiler for another 5-10 minutes. Watch it carefully though, some broilers heat faster than others, don’t burn it!
7 (optional) Take it to a wedding that you have been asked to officiate and have a great time!

Yeah, lots of nuts, but also some good dark chocolate.

One trip to the bulk purchase section of the grocery store later and I had all my ingredients. I skipped everything I didn’t like and went for the things I wanted: nuts and chocolate. Cashews, almonds, peanuts, sunflower seeds, and Ghirardelli 60% dark chocolate chips. Obviously, this is heavily modifiable based on your taste. Feel free to use any combination of things that you enjoy. Any chopped, dried fruits would work well. You could even do crazy spices or add things like wasabi peas. I stuck with the tried and true.

Assembling the bars themselves couldn’t be easier. Just mix everything in a large bowl. Work it around so that everything is evenly distributed and plop it out into a baking pan. Press down gently to even it out and bake it for about half an hour and the end result is one giant granola bar. This is good if you are a giant. Not so great for us… but that’s why we have knives. Just cut the one big square into lots of little squares/rectangles and what was once fit for giants is now manageable by us!

If one of these is healthful, eating lots at a time should just make me super healthy! Wait what? It doesn't work that way?

Click on through for the recipe and a few tips.

My recipe comes modified from King Arthur Flour. I looked around on the nets a bit too and thought that this one would probably be the best way to get the result I wanted: filling and slightly dense, but still on the chewy side. As you can see, I also added some protein powder to mine. You can leave that out if you want, but I tend to be pretty active, so I figured a little extra protein wouldn’t hurt. And by “pretty active” I mean I just ran 20 miles. Just for fun. As I said, an odd kind of lazy. Now let me eat my granola bar. I think I’ve earned it :)

Chewy Granola Bars
Ingredients
1 2/3 cups quick rolled oats
1 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup oat flour (or 1/3 cup quick oats, processed till finely ground in a blender)
1 cup cashews (raw, unsalted)
1 cup almonds (raw, unsalted)
1 cup dark chocolate chips
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup peanuts
1/2 cup peanut butter (natural)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 cup honey or maple syrup
3 tablespoon water
4 scoops chocolate protein powder (about 100g total protein) (optional)

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 9″ x 13″ dish with parchment paper.
2. In a mixing bowl, beat the peanut butter with the protein powder until it looks crumbly. If using a stand mixer, switch to the paddle and add all the dry ingredients (rolled oats, granulated sugar, oat flour, cashews, almonds, chips, sunflower seeds, and peanuts).
3. Add the corn syrup, butter, vanilla, honey or maple syrup, and water in a mixing bowl. Add that to the mixing bowl, and mix until well combined. It will be crumbly, but should stick if you grab a handful and press it together. If it doesn’t clump, add up to 1/4 more honey or peanut butter.
4. Spread the mixture evenly in the pan and pat it down.
5. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until it’s golden brown around the edge (don’t let it get too dark or it will become too crumbly).
6. Remove from oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes.
7. Gently remove the granola from the pan. Use a sharp, serrated knife to cut the granola into bars. Wide bars won’t crumble as easily, but I took the risk and cut them into 1 by 4.5 inch bars. The best way to do it is to cut it length ways first (down the center to make two 4.5 x 13 inch sections) then cut into bars the size you want.
8. Wrap the bars individually and place in an airtight container. If it’s humid (and it’s humid in North Carolina) you can store them in the fridge or freezer. They’ll keep for ages in the fridge or freezer, or at least until you eat them.

Notes: Be careful cutting them. Use a good serrated knife or very sharp blade. They do want to crumble on you. I only had one fall apart on me, but I could see how the others could have easily fallen apart.

I'm still working on improving this. Next time, no sunflower seeds and I'll add either more peanut butter or some peanut flour.

Bratwurst, knockwust, bockwurst... Use a mixute or whatever you want.

Knackwurst is commonly “knockwurst” for some reason here in America, but a simple spelling change doesn’t make it any less tasty. I’ll just keep using the knockwurst because that’s what I see more of in stores here. Anyway, knockwurst is similar to bratwurst but is (usually) a mixture of veal and pork with some garlic and light seasonings mixed in. I say “usually” because different recipes call for different amounts of veal/pork or even sometimes other meats and spices–it depends on how creative the butcher wants to get with their own take on it.

The thing is, no matter what type of sausage you end up getting, you will have a terrific meal to go with some good winter beers. I love some stouts and porters as the weather gets colder. But hey, you don’t even need beer to enjoy this! I’ve been taking leftover to lunch at work (where beer is frowned upon during the work hours… bummer) and it reheats nicely and make everyone envious.

Sausages, mushrooms, and onions all cooked together. What's not to like?

So yeah, get your grub on and make this. It’s not terribly complicated and you’ll dig it. Click through the break to see the recipe and more pictures.

Ingredients
24 ounces fresh knockwurst or other -wurst (about 6 sausages)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter (or 1 tbsp butter + 1 tbsp canola oil)
12 ounces egg noodles
2 onions, roughly chopped, bite sized pieces
16 ounces cremini mushrooms, stemmed and quartered (any mushrooms will do, but cremini are tasty and not usually much more expensive than white mushrooms)
1 cup dry white wine
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1.5 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 cup heavy cream

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375F.
2. Cook egg noodles for half the time indicated on the package in a large pot of salted water. They will cook more later. Drain, return to (now empty) pot and set aside.
3. Heat a large frying pan (or cast iron skillet) over medium heat. Add the butter (or butter+oil) and when melted, add the sausages. Brown the sausages on all sides, this should take about 10 minutes. Adjust the heat as needed. Remove the sausages to a plate.
4. Add the onion, season with salt and pepper and cook on medium to med-high for about 5 minutes, until it starts to soften. You shouldn’t need to add any more oil during this step as there should still be enough in the pan.
5. Add the mushrooms, increase heat to medium-high if you haven’t already, and cook for 5-10 minutes, until mushroom start to brown and bits of onion are translucent or browning. (Tip, if you don’t stir too often, you can get some good browned bits on the bottom of the pan.)
6. Add the wine, cook for a few minutes until the alcohol smell dissipates. Then sprinkle on the flour and stir well until it dissolves. Add the chicken broth and mustard. Bring the mixture to a simmer if it isn’t already. Let simmer for a minute to help thicken. (*protip* Dissolve the flour in a 2 tablespoons of some heated chicken brother first to prevent clumping.)
7. Pour the onion-mushroom mixture over the noodles in the pot. Stir a couple times then remove the pot from the heat. Pour in the cream and mix well. Taste, add pepper and salt if needed.
8. Transfer everything to a 13×9 dish and tuck the browned sausage into the top of the noodles. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and continue cooking for 10 more minutes, or until the top starts to brown a bit (you know, to look fancier).

Great Fall/Winter food.

Continuing my current chipotle fascination.

This was actually my first time cooking with farro. I’ve been meaning to make it for a while, but my list of things to make seems to grow, not shrink. At this rate, it’ll take the rest of my life to work through it all. Somehow, I’m OK with that. Still, I checked this one off of my list and I’ll probably be going back to it. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect but it’s actually a lot like barley.

As I’m still on my chipotle kick, I worked some into this dish as well. Unlike the shrimp tacos the chipotle is content to take a minor role and just add a hint of heat and smokiness to the dish. I kept things simple and basically used it as a salad dressing mixed with a bit of oil.

A pretty healful combination for a satisfying winter meal.

Click through the jump to see the recipe.

Butternut squash and chicken with farro and wilted spinach in a chipotle-adobo dressing
Makes 4 large portions.

Ingredients
1 medium butternut squash (about 2 lbs)
3 chicken breasts, cut into bite sized chunks
1 large bag spinach leaves
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 teaspoons chipotle in adobo (chipotle minced)
olive oil
salt, pepper

Directions

For the squash:
1. Preheat the oven to 400F.
2. Peel the butternut squash, scoop out and discard the seeds, then cut into chunks (bite sized, but not too small).
3. Toss the chunks along with a teaspoon of salt and half teaspoon of pepper in a tablespoon or two of olive oil. Transfer to a rimmed baking sheet.
4. Roast for 30-45 minutes, or until lightly browning and tender. Give the pan a shake or use a spatula to loosen any pieces that might be getting stuck after 10-15 minutes.

The rest
1. Chipotle dressing: Combine a tablespoon (3 of the 4 teaspoons) of crushed chipotle in adobo with about a half teaspoon of olive oil. Add more oil as needed, but use just enough olive oil to loosen the chipotle mixture.
2. Prepare the farro according to the directions in the packet. I used chicken broth as the cooking liquid.
3. While that is cooking, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Once hot, add a tablespoon of olive oil and then add the chicken pieces. Cook for 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is cooked through and has browned slightly (*protip* don’t stir too often). About a minute or so into the cooking time, or once the chicken loses its raw color, add a teaspoon of the remaining chipotle in adobo and stir to combine.
4. Heat a large pot over medium high heat. Once hot, add a tablespoon of olive oil then add the minced garlic. Stir to distribute the garlic in the bottom of the pan, then add all the spinach. Cook through, until all the spinach has wilted and reduced in size.
5. Combine equal parts chicken and butternut squash in a large bowl and toss gently with half the chipotle dressing. You may have butternut squash left over. It’s up to you to add it in or leave it out. (I left it out because I love roasted butternut squash on its own–I just ate it plain.)

To serve
Place a thin layer of spinach on the bottom of the plate, then add some farro on top. To that, add the chicken and butternut squash. Sprinkle some slivered almonds on top and, if desired, drizzle with any extra chipotle mixture for extra heat.

But this time I was in a Mexican mood. I wanted some tasty shrimp tacos. And tasty shrimp tacos is what I got :) I mean, really, take a look.

Best tacos I've made.

I know, right? Right? Oh, well, I guess I know but you’ll just have to take my word for it. Or you could make this too… You should. There is so much great flavor in this. A little smokiness, a bit of heat, and even a little sweetness (not to mention the scallions, onion, and tomato) all work together to make this some of the tastiest tacos that will ever come out of your kitchen.

I mean, look at that, I bet you wish you could have eaten it.

So go get the ingredients and get cooking. Click though for the recipe and more details. If you like this one, maybe I’ll share some more chipotle recipes soon.

Ingredients

For the shrimp
Note about the shrimp: Get small sized shrimp. That means look for a count of 31/35 or less. That number means that there are about 31 to 35 shrimp per pound. If you get shrimp that are too large, they won’t fit well into the tacos, so smaller shrimp, which means a higher number, is your friend.
1 chipotle in adobo, minced
2 teaspoons adobo sauce
4 teaspoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
about 1 1/2 pounds small shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon granulated sugar

For the tacos
12-15 taco shells (I used flour tacos, but you can use corn)
1 bunch of scallions, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
2-3 roma tomatoes, chopped
guac or avocados
jalepenos, if you want some more heat :)

Directions
Directions for shrimp
1. In a bowl mix together the chipotle, adobo, brown sugar, and lime juice.
2. In another bowl, mix together the shrimp, salt, pepper, and sugar.
3. Heat a large skillet over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon oil, then add about half the shrimp (from step 2). Make sure that they are in a single layer. Cook until you can see the color start to turn pinkish and they develop brown spots on the underside (about 1 minute). Flip each shrimp over (you can remove the pan from heat for this if it takes time). Cook about 30-60 seconds longer, until that side browns slightly to match the top half. Transfer everything to a plate or bowl and repeat with the remaining shrimp (don’t forget to add another tablespoon of oil to the skillet).
4. Once the second batch has been flipped over and cooks slightly, you can re-add the previously cooked shrimp to the skillet. Mix in the chipotle mixture (from step 1), cover and cook for 1-2 minutes.

For the tacos
Once the shrimp is made, you can pretty much figure out that the shrimp and the rest of the ingredients get tossed into the taco shells and then are chomped down on.
A tip for the taco shells though, if you have a gas burner you can lightly char them over it. Be quick and vigilant because you don’t want to burn them.
I don’t have a gas burner, so I actually pulled out a propane torch and tossed each taco onto my cast iron skillet and charred them with that. Yeah, I really did that.

One more photo...

I hope you picked up some puff pasty while you were out, because that’s basically the only other thing we need. Have I mentioned that this was simple? It is.

I’ve made this will all kinda of fruits: blueberries, raspberries, plums, peaches, nectarines, and strawberries–no, not all at ones. Try to keep to to under 4 kinds of fruit. The less “juicy” ones tend to work a bit better because the crust doesn’t get as soggy. So if you want it have blueberries in there, I’d go light on them.

That's my piece in the background!

Who wouldn’t want a slice of this? I mean, really? It’s got some great fruit on there and that awesome flaky, buttery crust. All done with only a minimal amount of effort too. The crust is already made. Cut up some fruits, you don’t even need to peel them. And it goes right on a sheet pan with some foil or parchment paper. If you do it right, you don’t even have much to clean.

It looks good because it tastes good.

So thaw out that puff pastry and click through to get the details…

Easy summer tart
ingredients
1 sheet puff pastry
2-4 cups sliced fruit or berries (This time I had plums, peaches, and nectarines)
sugar

Directions
1. Roll out the puff pasty. Don’t be afraid to fold it over and generally manhandle it if you have to. Yes, I know, usually you want to avoid working puff pastry too much because it won’t puff as well (or it’ll get chewy), but that’s OK here. We don’t want this to puff up everywhere, we just wanted an easy way to get pie crust. So yeah, roll it out to at least a 12 inch circle. Or whatever shape you end up with (mine was most definitely not a circle).
2. Toss fruit into the center and spread it in mostly an even layer. Don’t mound it up and be sure to leave at least 2-4 inches of dough free on the sides.
3. Fold that loose dough over onto the edges of the fruit.
4. Brush the dough with water and sprinkle with sugar. (If you really want it to look nice, brush with a beaten egg then sprinkle on some sugar… but I was keeping things easy on purpose.)
5. Bake for one hour at 450F on a parchment lined sheet pan. If the crust starts turning too brown, toss a sheet of foil over the thing. If it doesn’t appear done or the fruit is too firm after one hour, continue baking for up to 30 minutes more.

Crunchy, tasty tostones.

Because this specific batch was to substitute the crunchy crispiness of French fries, I squashed the plantains a bit thinner than what is common for tostones. I was going for a version that highlighted a bit more crunchiness, and I got it. Do what feels right for your taste though. I’d recommend squishing and frying a couple at different thicknesses to get a feel for how crispy they get.

I’m not sure why it didn’t dawn on me at the time, but I didn’t even think about cutting them into French fry shapes. I was just hooked on making tostones and really needed to see that through. They were great and I don’t regret not doing plantain-french-fries except maybe for the novelty factor.

I still think I may try to cut some into French fry lengths at some point to see how that works out. Click through for the recipe and to see how I made these.

Tostones
I normally go with one plantain per person to make sure everybody has enough. Not everyone eats that much though. As with any fried food, they are best the day they are made.
Ingredients
3 unripe plantains (firm and green)
2-3 cups of vegetable or canola oil

Directions
1. Cut off the ends of the plantains and cut the plantains into approximately one inch segments. Score the skin on each side and peel off the skin. The skin is like a tougher version of a banana peel.
2. Heat about two or three cups of oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. (FYI, cast iron rocks.) Once nice and hot (a pinch of flour in it will sizzle and dissipate quickly), add the rounds of plantains. The oil should come up about half way up the plantains. Fry until lightly golden brown, flip, then fry the other side until it gets light golden brown too. Remove them from the oil and allow to cool slightly. (You can reduce the heat on the oil for now, you’ll need to bring it back to the same temperature again later.)
3. Smash them with the base of a plate or bowl. Just put each round on a cutting board and press down on them until they get flat. (You can do this in your hands too, but I find that a piece of parchment paper on either side and using a plate/bowl is great.)
4. Optional seasoning: Soak each flattened round in salt water for about a minute. The water should be salty like sea water. Pat them dry, then continue with the next step.
5. Re-add the tostones back to the hot oil and fry again for about five minutes, until crisp (flip them once). Once fried, drain them on a couple layers of paper towels. If you skipped step 4, sprinkle lightly with salt.

Cuban sliders, black beans, and tostones.

So with all that on my mind, I assembled my army of ingredients. Pork chops, lemon juice, OJ, a pineapple, some small buns, and a handful of herbs and spices. I had all the tools I needed. I just had to assemble it correctly. Fortunately, the end result was just as amazing as I could have hoped.

Cuban sliders, black beans, and tostones.

It probably also helped that I served it with tostones and some black beans. I’ll talk about those tostones next time. For now, lets focus on making these delicious sandwiches. Click through for the recipe and a few tips.

Ingredients
1 onion (red) sliced
3 cloves of garlic
4 boneless pork chops (excess fat trimmed off, each chop cut into two equal pieces and pounded down a bit)
2 cups OJ
3 limes, juiced
2 limes, juiced (need lime juice at separate times, hence listed twice)
1/4 cup white vinegar
2 tablespoons ground cumin
2 tablespoons dried oregano
fresh black pepper
kosher salt
1/4 cup white wine
pineapple slices (Fresh is best, obviously. Cut on the thinner side, if possible, they are going to be used as garnish in the slider.)
olive oil
8 dinner rolls (I used small potato rolls)

Directions
1. Prepare the marinade/brine: In a small skillet, heat a half up of water with about a quarter cup of salt until it dissolves. Remove from heat and mix with the following in a gallon zip lock bag: a half cup of ice water, one cup of OJ, the juice of 3 limes, the vinegar, 1 tbsp cumin, and 1 tbsp oregano. Add the pork to the brine and soak for about an hour.
2. In a large skillet, heat a splash of oil over medium-high heat and add the onion and garlic to it. Saute it until the onion softens. Remove the onion from the skillet and set it aside.
3. Drain the pork (discard the brine), pat dry and sprinkle both sides with cumin, oregano, and black pepper.
4. Wipe out the skillet if you need to, heat over med-high heat and add a splash of oil. When hot, add the pork chops and sear over high heat. When one side is golden brown, flip it and sear the other side. It’ll only take a minute or two per side.
5. Re-add the onions and pour in the remaining OJ, lime juice, and white wine (don’t use any of the juice from the brine). Bring to a simmer and cook for about 10 minutes more. Set the pork aside (tent with foil). Continue to simmer the juice and onion mixture until it thickens and cooks down. It should be a fairly thick sauce chock full of cooked onions at the end.

To assemble the sliders, cut the buns in half. Add a piece of pork to the base, then a helping of the onion paste mixture, then a slice of pineapple.

Let's see... nuts, potatoes, mixed greens, French vinaigrette. Yeah, I'll have that.

The salad itself is deceptively simple for something that packs this much flavor. The tender gesiers are basically umami delivery mechanisms that punch up all the flavors. The wonderful savoriness is cut by the earthy mixed greens and the light acidity of the vinaigrette. A handful of fresh nuts goes a long way, rounding out the textures in the salad.

Oh, I guess I haven’t mentioned what a gesier is yet (and that’s not entirely accidental). People enjoy this dish until I spoil it by telling them what they are eating. Don’t worry though, it’s just duck. Well, it’s not just duck, it’s the duck’s gizzard. I know, I know, that might sound a bit odd, but this is actually pretty good. I guess the best way to describe it would be to imagine if the dark meat of a duck (or chicken) was more, uh, just more. It’s very flavorful, so you don’t need much. The amount in the salad is great because it’s not overpowering and well balanced by the other flavors.

Don’t be nervous though, if this isn’t your thing I won’t surprise you with a plate of it if you come over for dinner. But if you want to try it, I think you’ll be quite pleased. (Give me a heads-up and I’ll try to get a hold of some more!)

My mouth is watering as I type this. This looks so good. Savory, slightly bitter from the salad, a touch of acid from the vinegar offseting everything... I really need to get some more of these.

In case you do find a good source and want to make it, here are two ways I suggest serving it. The first (image directly above) is an extremely basic salad that puts the gesier front and center. The second method (see the image at top of page) has more ingredients, including potatoes and nuts, which complement the rest of the flavors.

Simple Gesier Salad
Ingredients
about 2 gesiers per person
mixed baby greens or salad de mâche
basic french vinaigrette (See this post for the recipe)

Directions
Salad de mâche was used here.
1. Heat a skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Cut the gesiers into wedges or slices. Add some oil to the skillet and toss in the gesiers. Cook for several minutes until slightly browned.
2. Make the vinaigrette in a large bowl. Add the salad and mix to coat with a thin layer of dressing.
3. Serve on the plate with the gesiers on top of the salad.

If you have any crusty French bread, serve that along side it. You know this looks good. It is. I’d much rather eat a gesier salad than something like this, wouldn’t you?

Here, my mom is cutting the gesier into wedges. Thanks for dinner!

Sear them briefly in a hot skillet before serving.

Gesier salad with potatoes and nuts
Ingredients
about 2 gesiers per person
mixed baby greens or salad de mâche
basic french vinaigrette (See this post for the recipe)
oven roasted potatoes
Crushed walnuts

Directions
We had some left over roasted potatoes that we used for this dish. If you don’t have any, or want to quickly make some simply cut some potatoes into even, bite sized cubes and toss lightly with olive oil and a touch of salt and pepper. Bake them at 375F for 30-45 minutes, until they become golden brown.

1. Heat a skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Cut the gesiers into wedges or slices. Add some oil to the skillet and toss in the gesiers. Cook for several minutes until slightly browned.
2. Make the vinaigrette in a large bowl. Add the salad, most of the nuts, and the potatoes. Mix to coat everything with a thin layer of dressing.
3. But a bed of dressing on a plate, add some of the cooked gesiers and a few more nuts.

This isn't something you'd find in every home. Enjoy it.

As a bonus for reading all the way down to the bottom, here is the can of gesiers from Verdier. He makes pâtés and other ‘canned’ meats that we can easily transport back on the plane. My grandfather actually used to live near him and we always eat some of his products when I go visit my family in France. He runs a small operation that consistently produces quality foods.

This guy makes terrific pâté's too. I really hesitate to eat the ones I have because I can't easily get more.