September 23 – September 29

Monday:                  Sweet Corn Pasta Carbonara

Tuesday:                  “Hamilton” with Beez and Boys

Wednesday:          Chicken au Poivre with Greens

Thursday:                Charred Cabbage with Sausages and Apples

Friday:                      Skillet Shrimp and Sweet Corn Pilaf

Saturday:                Pizza with Roasted Tomatoes and Summer Squash

Sunday:                   Roast Chicken with Mushroom Sauce, Rice, Salad

Maize Days

We actually call it corn in our house, except on those days when we’re acknowledging the various native tribes who owned our little plot of Western Pennsylvania before we came here and wiped them out with smallpox.  Although,  when we bought the property, it was owned by an upwardly mobile couple whose grandparents may well have escaped from Eastern Europe or come over during the Irish potato famine.  And, anyway, the prettiest and one of the most uniquely named roads in America – our Squaw Run – has been renamed as ‘Hemlock Hollow,’ sounding like some location in a Washington Irving story, in order to appease some local who claims to be a descendant of native Americans and not simply a supporter of Senator Warren.  I might add that as a young boy I always wanted to be an Indian, not a cowboy – Indians were fantastic trackers, could sneak up on anyone in complete silence, were impervious to pain and could kill buffaloes with a bow and arrow.

Wait . . . how did we get here?  Ah yes, the fresh corn or maize is finished for the year in Western Pennsylvania.  Our local farmers put out signs reading:  “Last Week for Fresh Corn”.  This is a difficult annual transition at Casa Stuarti where we crave fresh corn.  We like it raw in a salad, or boiled with just a touch of salt, and, most recently with pasta or with shrimp and rice.

But, since most of you live in places where fresh corn is also in hibernation until next summer, there is no point in sharing our Sweet Corn Carbonara or Shrimp with sweet Corn and Rice, until next year – please remind me then.

So, in what, I’ll admit, may be a disappointing pivot, I’m going to share a previously shared recipe enhanced by a mushroom sauce that, trust me, you will want to put on every piece of beef or chicken you cook.  We are now into a rainy, slightly chilly autumn in Western Pennsylvania – time to cook indoors – roasting and braising.

The recipe for roasting chicken, below, is our standard – it never fails to produce a crisp-skinned, delicious bird which is perfect without sauce or gravy. But, inspired by a wonderful dinner cooked for a dear friend at The Palm in the upper West Side of Manhattan (this friend patronized the place so often that caricatures of him and his boys were on the wall. The restaurant stocked his wine and would cook any dish he requested which, on this occasion was Chicken with Morel Mushrooms, washed down with a wonderful, dry Riesling which probably cost more than my plane ticket to New York.

Now I can’t find Morels, much less afford them any more than that wonderful Riesling.  But the sauce below is made with Shiitake mushrooms and a nice dry white wine will work, in lieu of the Riesling.*

*Don’t think of the cheap, cloyingly sweet Riesling you may have had in college or high school or, if you went to Catholic Grade School, like me, even younger – ask your local wine seller for a great Riesling (take your checkbook with you) and you’ll see what made that night in New York so special, in addition to wonderful friends. 

Perfect Roast Chicken with Mushroom Sauce

(adapted from the NYT – an ancient clipping with no date)

Timing:                                  50 minutes – 1 hour, 10 minutes

Ingredients:                                        Serves 4 or 5

1 whole chicken – 3-4 lbs

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Prep:

Put a cast iron skillet on a low rack and heat oven to 500 F. Give the skillet 8 minutes or more after the oven reaches 500 degrees.

Meanwhile, pat the chicken dry and remove any excess fat. Now rub oil over chicken and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper.

Cook:

Using an insulated kitchen mitt (that skillet will be hot), remove skillet from oven and put chicken in skillet, breast side up.  Return to oven.

Roast for 15-20 minutes, then reduce temperature to 350 F.

Roast for another 30 to 40 minutes (until thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh registers 155 F – 165F – if the temperature is even higher, don’t worry, the chicken will be fine).

Remove from oven, tilt pan or, using tongs, tilt chicken to let juices flow from the chicken’s cavity into the pan. Transfer chicken to a cutting board and let rest covered lightly with foil for 5 – 10 minutes.

Note:  While chicken is in the oven, cook down the mushrooms (recipe below), finish with some of the cooking juice from the chicken, while chicken is resting.

Mushroom Sauce

(adapted from Roast Chicken with Morels and Cream, WSJ, April 25-26, 2024)

Timing:                                                    34 minutes

Ingredients:

¼ lb. or a bit more of Shiitake mushrooms (you can substitute crimini or even white mushrooms). Our grocey carries sliced shiitake in 5 0z. packages and that’s about perfect.

2 large shallots, chopped

1 cup heavy cream

½ cup dry sherry or dry marsala

¾ cup rich chicken stock (we used College Inn stock, since we had used up the wonderful chicken stock that Hilda gave us) – you can use beef stock if you’re cooking beef, but honestly, I like the chicken stock better even for that.  The Chicken stock flavor works better with the mushrooms.

2 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon chopped chives

2 teaspoons dried thyme

1 tablespoon olive oil

Salt and pepper

Prep:

Slice shiitakes (about ¼ “ thick)

Chop shallots

Measure out other ingredients

Cook:

In a heavy skillet, heated to medium, melt the butter, then add the shallots and cook about 3 minutes – until translucent.

Add the mushrooms, season with salt and pepper and cook about 4 minutes.  They should give up most of their water.

Now, increase the heat a bit and add the wine and cook until reduced by half – 3-5 minutes.

Add the chicken stock (add a scant ¾ cup, if you’ll be using some of the juices from the cooked chicken later) and cook until reduced by half – 4 minutes.

Now lower the heat and pour in the cream. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook 10 minutes or a bit longer, until the sauce thickens. Season to taste – you can turn off the heat and reheat with a bit of the chicken cooking juices before serving.

Serve:

Carve the chicken into 8 pieces (halve the breasts, 2 drumsticks, 2 thighs, two wings).

On warmed plates, spoon some of the gravy and plate the chicken, garnish with chives. Serve with more mushroom sauce on the side and some crusty bread to sop up the sauce.