No. 637Recipe Card Posted on Leave a comment

Chicken Salad with Indian Spices

Chicken Salad with Indian Spices | Bijouxs Little Jewels

Being an L.A. native, this cookbook was on my to-get list, a collection of some of L.A.’s recipes from top restaurants. This delightfully spiced salad from Nancy Silverton, is a new take on the chicken salad, No. 637 Chicken Salad with Indian Spices-new in the Collection Membership.

THE COLLECTION MEMBERSHIP

Now with over 637 recipes with full access, the Collection Membership is great value for the home cook. Less than $3 a month for a one year subscription. It’s like having a vast cookbook right on your phone or tablet. You can easily access recipes anytime, especially while shopping. I created this Collection as a useful tool for home cooks, like me.

Chicken Salad with Indian Spices | Bijouxs Little Jewels

CHICKEN SALAD

This salad was on the menu at Osteria Mozza a while back when the cookbook was published, 2019. Nancy Silverton is a favorite chef of mine, and dating my self, I even took at bread baking class with her when La Brea Bakery was hot. So glad I did it, as well as dining at Osteria Mozza. I love this salad and I think this salad was a popular salad, so give it a try.

No. 629Recipe Card Posted on Leave a comment

French Bistro Salad

French Bistro Salad | Bijouxs Little Jewels

Ah, the French bistros of France offer the most lovely salads. Always served with fresh local ingredients. The basic Bistro Salad is my favorite with delicate lettuce and a Dijon vinaigrette, vegetables and often chicken is an option. French Bistro Salad is recipe No. 629 in the Recipe Membership Collection.

FRENCH BISTRO SALAD

The dressing recipe originally came from my cooking teachers way back in my Pasadena young-girl days. I learned so much from those teachers and classes.

Here’s how I make it. Place a small clove of chopped garlic into wooden bow, add a pinch of coarse sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and use the back of a wooden salad spoon to mash garlic and salt. Add about 1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard, 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar stir and then whisk in about 4 tablespoons of good olive oil. Top with the greens and take it to the table to be tossed and served toward the end of the meal, so French.

French Bistro Salad | Bijouxs Little Jewels

MAPLE SALAD BOWL

I have been making versions of this salad since I got my large Maple Salad bowl from a trip to Boston what seems like a hundred years ago. The bowl is cracked from many tumbles off top shelves to the floor, character I guess. I did find a solid maple bowl here, on my wish list, but I will always cherish this salad bowl.

 

 

No. 613Recipe Card Posted on Leave a comment

Chicken Tagine with Green Olives & Preserved Lemon

Chicken Tagine with Green Olives & Preserved Lemon | Bijouxs Little Jewels

ON THE MENU tonight, Chicken Tagine with Green Olives & Preserved Lemon, a favorite No. 613 in the Membership Collection.

Tagines are exotic and comforting at the same time: the pungent spices, a juxtaposition of the salty and sweet, combined with meats and vegetables gently simmered tender in a delicate broth create a different take on a comforting stew. This simple chicken tagine is a Bijouxs I would like to share.

ABOUT TAGINES

More info: Tagine is the name of the stew, and also the name of the beautiful glazed clay vessel in which tagines are prepared. No worry, you do not need a tagine (the vessel) to make a tagine (the stew) – a heavy Dutch oven with a lid will do. The things I love about tagines (the stews), besides the incredible layers of flavors, are that they are easy to prepare and utilize less-expensive cuts of meats, pure Bijouxs.

Chicken Tagine with Green Olives & Preserved Lemon | Bijouxs Little Jewels

SIMPLE RECIPE

The basic technique for most tagines is rather simple, place the meat in the tagine (or dutch oven) add the vegetables, spices, and water, then cover and simmer, that’s it. Most tagines do not require an initial browning of the meat and utilize dried spices, olives, etc. many available in your pantry.

Chicken Tagine with Green Olives & Preserved Lemon | Bijouxs Little Jewels

Chicken Tagine with Green Olives & Preserved Lemon | Bijouxs Little Jewels

COOKING IN A TAGINE

In my beautiful azure blue tagine I purchased long ago from Global Table in NYC, it is import to heat the tagine slowly on the stove, a flame tamer really helps. I recently found a pretty tagine at Willams Sonoma. The key is that the ingredients do not dry out due to the conical shape of the lid which keeps the liquids flowing back onto the ingredients. Important for getting really tender chicken in this recipe.

Enjoy this recipe!

No. 603Recipe Card Posted on Leave a comment

Chicken Braised in Coconut Milk & Herbs

Chicken Braised in Coconut Milk & Herbs | Bijouxs Little Jewels

Coconut milk creates a savory creamy sauce for Chicken Braised in Coconut Milk & Herbs, the newest Little Jewel from the Collection Membership.

COCONUT MILK

This simple braising method creates tender chicken with a light coconut sauce infused with garlic and herbs. Braising is a cooking method that is not that widely used, but should be revisited in our cooking collection.

Braising is a cooking method that combines both wet and dry heat. Food is first seared at a high temperature, then simmered in a covered pot with a liquid. This method is great for tougher cuts of meat, making them tender. Perfect for these boneless chicken thighs.

FRESH HERBS

The fresh thyme is important to this recipe, adding a woody hint along with the garlic infusing flavor into the rich coconut milk braising liquid.

WEEKNIGHT COOKING

This brown+braise recipe makes an easy a weeknight dinner, the oven cooking portion requires no attention.
Chicken Braised in Coconut Milk & Herbs, another Little Jewel in the Collection Membership.

 

 

No. 596Recipe Card Posted on Leave a comment

Chin Chin’s Classic Chicken Salad

Chin Chin’s Classic Chicken Salad | Bijouxs Little Jewels

THE classic Chinese chicken salad from the Chin Chin restaurant-always a Little Jewel.

CHIN CHIN RESTAURANT

Very hard to believe that Chin Chin began as a counter and to-go eatery in Sunset Plaza years ago about 1983.  In those days as a young girl  I was driving over the hill from the valley to Sunset Plaza to get regular facials at famed spa Ole Henrickson and always stopped in for lunch. Sitting at the tiny counter (wish there were photos) I would order of course the Chicken Salad along with an orders of Chicken Fried Rice and Dumplings to take home for dinner.  All my family members were crazy about the food.

CHINESE CHICKEN SALAD

Along with sitting at the counter to eat, the-then tiny eatery had shelves with some products, most important were the jar of preserved red ginger, which is key to the salad.  I make the dressing ahead, enough for a few of salads. Fresh ginger and green onion are also elements in the dressing so the dressing must be used with a few days. Shredded poached chicken, iceberg lettuce and fried wonton strips and deep fried rice stix are added for crunch. All the ingredients are tossed in a large bowl with the dressing.

Chin Chin’s Classic Chicken Salad | Bijouxs Little Jewels

Alas, I no longer live near any of the Chin Chin locations and it took a but of searching, but I was happy to find a reasonable duplicate of the salad recipe online. I have been enjoying the salad at home. Here served with some chopsticks I kept from a to-go order a LA friend picked up for me not long ago.

Enjoy Chin Chin’s Little Jewel Salad.