To infuse smashed potatoes with savory chicken drippings, we butterfly a chicken and roast it on top of a bed of potatoes.
Ingredients
Grilling a salad might sound counterintuitive, but it adds a whole new flavor experience.
Freshwater fish with butter, pine nuts, tangerine peel and capers.
This recipe is full of fresh flavors and takes no time to make.
Caponata is the great room-temperature mix of eggplant and other vegetables that is sometimes called an Italian ratatouille. But it differs greatly from its French cousin in one chief way; it is a member of an ancient classification of dishes called agro dolce -- those made with sweet-and-sour flavoring. Though most Americans are familiar only with the caponata marketed by Progresso in small cans, there are many versions of the caponata in Italy. Most are from Sicily ... and my favorites of all are from Pantelleria, the great caper-growing island off the west coast of Sicily. So it's no surprise that this recipe has a healthy dose of capers in it! It's a wonderful appetizer, served with crusty bread and, perhaps, other antipasto items.
This butter fried chicken recipe is in my head more often than not. That's saying something. It's one of our monthly meals at the Zimmern house, and it's yet another brilliant way to do chicken for a crowd that includes kids. Paired with a bright citrus punch and salty capers, this fried chicken entrée makes everyone happy. My son starts screaming "butter chicken" and runs up and down the hallways when he comes home from school and learns what's for dinner. I first ate this dish 30 years ago, served for a family meal one night at a restaurant in Florence where I was a stagiaire. I hadn't seen butter during my first few weeks in Italy and almost fainted when I tasted this.
In the Mexican state of Veracruz, a local recipe calls for simmering fish in a rich sauce of garlic, tomatoes, capers, green olives, and chiles. This version uses grouper, but any firm white-fleshed fish will do.
This glorious cream cheese, caper, caraway seed, and paprika combination, spread over sour black bread or over slices of any dark or brown bread, is rhapsodically unbeatable.
An improvised recipe for our Stump the Cook contest that is eaten at room temperature. For appetizers and snacks, pile the onions on garlic toast or cucumber slices. For main dishes, try it over grilled salmon, sword fish, or lamb, or over cous cous, quinoa, or rice.