Winter Cooking

We've been cooking so many good things lately, but I've been terrible about sharing! This post is a giant collection of yummy things that have come out of our kitchen in 2014. Up above was our New Years Day dinner - Hoppin' John, corn bread, and Ina's broccoli rabe with garlic (a Northern's version of greens?!). I think it's bringing us luck so far.

Next was a fantastic dish Peter made - toad in the hole. He remembered an au pair making this when he was a kid, so it was fun to recreate. There were a mix of spicy and sweet sausages, which I highly recommend.

Remember when I told you I had a pineapple hanging around? Part of it went into this gingery stir fry with sugar snap peas, broccoli, shredded carrots, and left-over beef brisket (I don't have pictures of that, but Peter used these tips from Chow Hound to make it).

Over the years, I've figured out how to rework lots of things to avoid tomatoes, but ragout always stumped me. A few weeks ago, we had both left-over lamb stew that had lots of carrots, and also a mixture of sausages cooked with onions and peppers. I pulled out the meat from both dishes and chopped it up very finely (it basically fell apart since they'd both been cooked before), and then put all the vegetables into the food processor. I combined the meat and vegetables with some butter and let it simmer for a while, and then added a blob of goat cheese right at the end. Not AT ALL traditional, but it was seriously amazing. I'm not sure I'll ever have that weird combination of left-overs again in my life, but it's worth trying to recreate it. We had a kale and arugula salad with red pears to go with it.

And finally, Ina Garten's baked shrimp scampi. Shrimp is one of those weird foods that inexplicably scares me to cook (for years I didn't like it, so maybe that's why?). I was flipping through one of her cookbooks, though, and this caught my eye. Peter had been on a grading tear, so I peeled and de-veined the shrimp myself (not my favorite job), and even still, this dish was totally worth it. It would be a great choice if you're making a fun dinner at home for Valentine's Day this year - it's even pink!

What are you cooking this winter?

Roasted chicken with fall vegetables

This dinner was so good - roasted chicken done the Ina way (basically, lots of butter, stuffed with lemons and herbs). I used to do it the Dorie hurry-up-and-wait way, but eh. It's kind of fussy, and this is nearly as good.

The real star was the roasted vegetables underneath, though, if you can believe that. I cleared out the fridge pre-Thanksgiving, throwing onions, carrots, parsnips, sweet potato, white potato, and garlic all in a big pile, setting the chicken with all its glorious fat on top. Yowzers. Leftovers were served the next day over quinoa - the perfect slightly bitter grain for all those rich vegetables.

Chase Woodlands + Peters Reservation

A couple weekends ago, we went out to Chase Woodlands for a walk in the woods. It was such a great afternoon that we tacked on Peters Reservation, too, which is right across the street. The parking lot for both only fits about six cars, so it's very quiet and peaceful along the paths. Great mile to two mile loops with pretty views of the Charles on the Peters side.

That night, Peter put this together. I'd been wanting breaded pork tenderloin from The Fort so badly, and luckily, Peter's version was an amazing substitute. In case you're inspired to make your own:

• Pork schnitzel 
• German-style homefries
• Braised red cabbage

Happy almost weekend to all! 

End of Summer Feast Menu Options

Peter goes back to school just after Labor Day this year. That means its time for him to pick his end of summer feast menu! This will be the first big meal I cook in our new house (we've moving next Friday - eeks!). I'm really excited to have an excuse to make something fancy to celebrate the new school year.

Okay, my dear, here are a few menu choices for you:

Snacks:

• Roasted feta with fig/thyme compote
• Crudite with mimosa aioli

Mains:

• Lobster bisque + tarragon potato salad with cured salmon + haricots verts à la dijonnaise
• Whole roasted fish with rosemary potatoes + charred corn and avocado salad

Desserts: 

• Key lime pie
• Tiramisu

What would you pick?! Is anybody else making a celebration dinner at home soon?

Summer Dinner: Pork Chops and Grilled Chard

On Friday afternoon, my friend Sam came into town from D.C. and we got to meet up for an amazing cheese and meat filled celebratory lunch since she's moving to Africa next month to start an amazing fellowship! Afterwards we took a walk around the Copley farmer's market. She's just visiting, so I bought enough at the farmers market for both of us. It all looked so amazing! A huge bunch of swiss chard, beets, radishes, and pork chops (Sam, I ran back to buy those after we parted and barely made my train, ha!).

The next night, after a long day of paper writing and house hunting (Oh, the panelling! The linolium! The cracked ceilings!!!), Peter whipped up that lovely drink - a dark and story sunset! Basically, it's a dark and stormy with some hot pink grenadine at the bottom. It was awesome.

For the pork chops, Peter just put a little salt, pepper, and smoked paprika on top before grilling them. I made a little pesto with beet and radish greens (blanch them for a minute first to get the sand out), pistachios and feta, and mixed that in with jasmine rice - surprisingly good.

But weirdly, the star of this dinner was the grilled swiss chard salad. I grilled kale last summer, and I guess it was fine, but I barely remember it, which tells you something. But grilled chard! Who knew. Keep the pieces very big, and don't worry about removing the rib in the center of the leaves. I put all the leaves in a bowl and tossed them with salt and a good amount of olive oil - the leaves should be pretty shiny. Put them in a grill basket and flip them once after a minute or two.

Summer Sunday Saturday Dinner: Pork Chops and Grilled Chard

• Dark and stormy sunsets
• Grilled swiss chard salad with sliced radishes and feta
• Rice with beet and radish greens pesto
• Grilled pork chops
• Cabot's coffee toffee heath sundae (it was Saturday night, after all!)

Summer Sunday Dinner: Grilled Swordfish with Ramp Pesto

Are we past ramp season by now? I fear we may be.

However, this dish would work just as well with garlic scapes, scallions, or a mixture of herbs. I just tossed a few roasted ramps into my food processor with some pistachios, Parmesan cheese, and olive oil, and jusjed away for a few seconds. Not too long - I like pesto to be a bit chunkier when I'm putting it on meat or fish. I had left-overs that I used as a pizza sauce and dolloped on top of paella.

Pesto season, I'm so happy you are back!

Summer Sunday Dinner

• Whiskey sour, where have you been all my life?!
• Grilled swordfish with ramp pesto
• Roasted duck fat potatoes
• Green salad with roasted beets and blue cheese
• Lemon ice cream 

I was on the fence about lemon ice cream - I couldn't wrap my mind around it. But I decided to make it since we had lots of lemons, thanks to making sour mix. It's delightfully creamy and tart, which is difficult to achieve. If you aren't my mother-in-law who hates lemons (hi, Pam!), I think you'll enjoy it.

Happy Friday to all! Tomorrow I was roped into proctoring an ACT test (Peter's been coaching me on my serious teacher face), and I am going to see Gatsby tomorrow afternoon with a few girlfriends. Have you seen it yet? I know it won't be great, but I'm excited for all the hair and fashion inspiration.

Hope everyone has a lovely weekend!

Made it to the good part

(Please take note of the water temp - Peter still went in!)

(The couple that wears Lilly bathing suites together, stays awesome together. And yes, I have a window in my shower...)

I feel like shouting out in my loudest blogging voice, "Summer is here! We made it to the good part!" Around this time each year, I can't shake the feeling that we are right on the cusp of everything fun. Dark and stormies, Tanglewood concerts, fireworks, open windows, too many burgers, a long list of great things to read, action movies inside icy theaters, a new batch of ice cream churning every Sunday. Perfection, all of it.

The car has been christened with its first dusting of sand. Yesterday we went to Crane for the first time this season. It was windy and hot and glorious. We walked out to the far right of the beach, all the way to the tip, and I tried to soak it all in. Days like yesterday are what I think about in January when I'm freezing and it's dark outside at 5:00 p.m.

After the beach we stopped at Russell Orchards, where I bought literally everything they had on offer - a leafy head of Romaine, long, green scallions, cute pink and purple radishes, and two cider donuts. For dinner, Peter grilled turkey burgers and whisked together a sage aioli to go on top, and I used some of the scallions in a sweet potato salad. Then there was lemon ice cream and catching up on Game of Thrones while a storm rolled in, making the curtains in the living room blow around wildy, and do you see what I mean?

Perfection, all of it.

Spring Sunday Dinner: Duck Confit at Home

Duck confit is such a treat, such a decidedly restaurant-ish treat, that I was nervous our attempt to recreate it at home would fall short.

I'm happy to report that this recipe truly is really easy, and while it's surely still a treat, it's not actually that extravagant. I bought a whole duck, and Peter broke it down into breasts and legs so we had not one, but two fabulous meals! Plus, a ramekin of left over duck fat that I've been slowly rationing out for amazing roasted potatoes. Twenty dollars very well spent.

Spring Sunday Dinner: Duck Confit at Home

• Melissa Clark's really easy duck confit
• Ginger rice with mushrooms, sugar snap peas, and asparagus
• Sugar snap pea and cucumber salad
• Coffee cardamon ice cream (using Jeni's ice cream base, of course - I just added in 1/4 cup of coarse ground coffee and 8 crushed cardamon pods, strained out before churning)

Herb Turkey Meatballs with Goat Cheese and Figs

Happy almost weekend, everyone!

I don't usually cook with ground turkey (I always sort of feel like, what's the point when there's beef?). But this post about herbed turkey meatballs inspired me to try it out. And look at my cute herbs up top - they are just begging to be used in meatballs, no?

Herbed Turkey Meatballs with Goat Cheese and Figs

You will need
1 small onion, roughly chopped
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
8 fresh sage leaves
8 large fresh basil leaves
leaves from 4 sprigs of thyme
1/4 cup italian parsley
1 large handful of arugula roughly chopped
1 pound ground turkey
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 egg
10 baby bella mushrooms, sliced
2 oz. goat cheese
4-6 dried figs, roughly chopped

Preheat the oven to 350. Combine onion, garlic, herbs, arugula, and olive oil in a food processor until finely chopped. In a bowl, lightly beat the egg, and add the turkey, herbed mixture, and salt and pepper. Use your hand as a claw to combine everything, but don't get too aggressive with it. Form into one inch balls (use an ice cream scooper, if you want), and place on a baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes.

While the meatballs are cooking, add the mushrooms to a skillet and cook on low heat (no need to add butter or oil - they will slowly release their liquid this way). Shake them around every 5 minutes or so. After about 15 minutes, add the sliced figs and cover until the meatballs are finished.

I served this on polenta, but you could do pasta, quinoa, grits - anything, really. Just put the grain at the bottom, then spoon the mushrooms and figs on top. Then add the meatballs, and add the crumbled goat cheese (feta or blue cheese would also be great, I'm sure). Add a few clips of fresh basil, and you are good to go :)

Cinco de Mayo Fish Tacos

Happy Cinco de Mayo, friends! I hope you're having a fun weekend so far. Our Derby party yesterday was a success! We even had some surprise littles in the house, which was such a fun treat. (I think I'm finally over my party hosting fear...)

Cinco de Mayo is admittedly a fake-ish holiday, but we all need an extra excuse for tacos, right? So just in case you're looking for a holiday themed dinner to make, I wanted to share these. Slightly strange ingredient list with the carrots, but it was inspired by this awesome salad.

Throw in a margarita  and you'll be in a full-on celebration mode!

Mahi Mahi Fish Tacos

You will need:
1 lbs Mahi Mahi (I buy pieces of frozen fish at Trader Joe's - perfect for fish tacos!)
3 carrots, sliced on the bias into bite sized pieces
6 scallions, cut into one inch pieces (white and green pieces)
1 lime
1 ripe avocado, cut into one inch pieces
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 large garlic clove
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon thyme
1/2 cup cilantro

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Using a mortar and pestle, combine the olive oil, vinegar, garlic, cumin, thyme, and some salt and pepper. Toss the carrots and scallions in the marinade on a baking sheet, along with half of a lime. Roast 10-15 minutes. Let cool, then squeeze the juice from the roasted lime on top. Gently combine the roasted carrots with the avocado pieces and 1/4 cup of chopped cilantro in a bowl, and set aside.

Heat a pan to medium high heat. Sprinkle the fish with salt and pepper, and cook a little bit of oil, 2-3 minutes per side (depending on the thickness of your fish - mine were thin!). When all the fish is cooked, put it in a bowl and squeeze the juice from the other half of the lime and add the remaining cilantro. Break the fish apart using two forks, until flaky and well-combined.

Serve with rice and warmed tortillas.

Winter Sunday Dinner: French-Style Pot-Roasted Pork Loin

I haven't done a Sunday dinner post in a while. We're still making all kinds of wonderful things - especially on Sundays! - but the light is so poor by the time we eat that I usually don't take pictures. Plus, winter food isn't always so photogenic.

But I'm making an exception because this recipe for pork loin is truly exceptional, and very different from any I've made before. It's from America's Test Kitchen, so you know it's a good one.

Basically, you butterfly the roast and smear a butter-garlic mixture inside before tying it up again. The roast gets seared on three sides (just three!), and then finishes cooking in the oven at an extremely low temperature. I'm not usually one to go all nuts for pork loin, but this recipe is outstanding. So moist and porky, and I was just using a humble Trader Joe's roast!

Winter Sunday Dinner: Cozy French Roast

• French-style pot-roasted pork loin*
• Butter lettuce with roasted baby Brussels sprouts, blue cheese, and golden raisins
• Roasted potatoes
• Darkest chocolate ice cream, with crushed candy canes mixed in

*We did make a few substitutions. I forgot to buy an apple, so we used a mixture of green and purple grapes instead, probably about one cup. It was lovely - I think roasted grapes are an underused cooking gem - but I'm excited to try it the original way next time. Also, I threw a mess of parsley on top, because I always like green stuff on my plate. 

Summer Sunday Dinner: Pork Chops with Peach Salsa

Throughout the summer, I am sharing a peak at our Sunday dinners. That is when our most pretty, fun cooking takes place, and this is a record of all that good stuff. I hope you enjoy!


I've made this peach salsa twice in the last three days - that's a good sign, yes? The first time was on these pork chops (picked up at this new-to-me farmer's market, where they had a five-piece jazz band!). The peach halves were brushed with a bit of olive oil and grilled, then rough chopped and mixed with a little chopped garlic, some chili powder, smoked paprika, salt, pepper, a splash of red wine vinegar, and torn basil.

When I made it a second time to serve with fish tacos, I added some chopped radish to the mix. It was a great, peppery addition. I'm excited to try pairing it with chicken, pulled pork, grits - all kinds of stuff! August is sort of a strange time for tomato-phobes, but this salsa will see me through!

Summer Sunday Dinner: Pork Chops with Peach Salsa

• Arugula salad with beets and feta
• Pork chops with peach salsa
• French potato salad with beans
• Fresh mint and dark chocolate chip ice cream*

*Make Jeni's base, and add in about 20 torn mint leaves to steep for a few hours in the fridge. Churn as usual and add in the chips at the end.

Summer Sunday Dinner: Arctic Char and Gnocchi with Beet Green Pesto

When Peter was out of town last week, I made a summery version of this dish for myself. Instead of creamed greens, I made a pesto with blanched beet greens, goat cheese, lemon and a bit of olive oil. Instead of peas, I added some corn cut off the cob, and threw some chopped basil on top. It was so good, Peter and I had it again this week!

I know I don't usually subject you to photos of my salads (which we have almost every day), but this one looked so pretty to me! I think its the golden beets, brightening everything up.

Summer Sunday Dinner: Warm Weather Gnocchi 

• Field green salad with golden beets and goat cheese
• Arctic Char and gnocchi with beet green pesto
• Raspberry swirl ice cream (I skipped the corn this time, and I'll be honest - not my favorite from her book. Maybe the corn makes all the difference?)

Sweet June

(Photo courtesy of my sister)

This month has been glorious, filled with beach days, grilled burgers, oodles of homemade ice cream, dinners out with friends, delicious cheese, cheering for the Red Sox*, swaying to the Beach Boys, fried seafood, a favorite new book, an improved golf swing, welcoming cold press coffee back into our lives, and a very happy first two weeks of summer vacation. 

We are ending this delightful string of fun with a bang - Garrison Keillor and Arlo Guthrie at Tanglewood tomorrow night. Yay!

I hope you have an absolutely wonderful June finale weekend!

*I know some (Peter!) think this blasphemous, but I consider myself to be a duel citizen of Red Sox Nation and Yankee fan-dom. We can still be friends, right?

Summer Sunday Dinner: Smokin' Bones

Throughout the summer, I am sharing a peak at our Sunday dinners. That is when our most pretty, fun cooking takes place, and this is a record of all that good stuff. I hope you enjoy! 

Eeks! This was a good one, you guys.

I gave Peter a smoker for Christmas, and with the exception of one crazy winter afternoon spent lovingly tending ribs, it languished in our basement. Until Sunday!

On Saturday night, Peter covered a rack of ribs with a dry rub recipe from this book (a must-buy if you have a smoker!). On Sunday around noon, he fired up the smoker and waited for it to come up to 225 degrees. Then those ribs hit the grill! We live in an apartment, and I was worried about filling up the neighborhood (and our landlords apartment above us) with a strong, smoky scent for hours on end. But after the initial lighting of the charcoal, it was pretty contained. 


The best thing about this meal is that I really don't love ribs. But I love these ribs. Lightly smokey, lightly spicy, and amazingly tender.

Sunday Summer Dinner: Smoked Ribs

• Dry-rubbed smoked ribs
• Kale, broccoli and carrot slaw (like this one)
• Cheesy feta pasta bake with radish greens and ramp pesto
• Roasted sour cherry and dark chocolate ice cream (more on this to come!!!)

Summer Sunday Dinner: Pasta Primavera

Throughout the summer, I am sharing a peak at our Sunday dinners. That is when our most pretty, fun cooking takes place, and this is a record of all that good stuff. I hope you enjoy!


My mom and I went to a Farmer's Market in the Berkshires over the weekend. In the parking lot, we tried to talk ourselves down: "It will probably be mostly plants..." and "There might some early lettuce - we'll just have to see." 


Instead, it was an embarrassment of farm-fresh riches. We went a little nuts! Sugar snap peas, broccoli, cucumber, ramps, radishes, lettuce, goat cheese and two kinds of mushrooms all came home with us. To make use of that amazing bounty, we had pasta primavera for dinner on Sunday night. 


Sunday Summer Dinner: Farmer's Market Pasta Primavera

• Baby lettuce salad with sliced radishes and cucumber
• Pasta Primavera (I basically use the method in this recipe to make the vegetables and sauce)
• Coffee ice cream 

Summer Sunday Dinner: Steak with Ramp Pesto and Crispy Shallots

Throughout the summer, I am sharing a peak at our Sunday dinners. That is when our most pretty, fun cooking takes place, and this is a record of all that good stuff. I hope you enjoy!

I am making a serious effort to be better about buying organic produce and meat. My thrifty nature fights against it, but lately I've been making great strides. It's not that much more, and for taste and health purposes, I can usually be convinced that it's worth it. 

This beauty is an organic, grass-fed blade steak - have you had it before? The butcher told me it is the same part of the animal that flank steak comes from, but cut across the grain instead of with. It was fantastic! 

At the store, I saw a curly bundle of ramps for the first time this spring, and had to scoop them up. This pesto had olive oil, yogurt, a big squeeze of lemon juice, lemon zest, and a healthy dose of salt and pepper. I boiled up some new potatoes and tossed them in the pesto, too. The big finale with crispy shallots on top of the steaks. Why are those little guys so good? Onion ring good, if you ask me. 

Summer Sunday Dinner - Lightened-up Steak House Fare 

• Blade steak with a dollop of ramp pesto and crispy shallots 
• New potatoes tossed in ramp pesto 
• Darkest Chocolate Ice Cream in the World (!)

Summer Sunday Dinner: Mahi Mahi with Basil, Nectarines and Corn

This is the start a new series on the blog! Throughout the summer, I'll be sharing a peak at our Sunday dinners. That is when our most pretty, fun cooking takes place, and I want to have a record of all that good stuff. It will usually (probably) be a menu list without real recipes, or just links to recipes I used. I hope you enjoy it!

The main dish here was inspired by a Dorie recipe that used scallops instead of fish. Mahi Mahi fillets were on sale at my grocery store and looked beautiful, so I decided they would work just as well. Any thick fish, like tuna steaks or swordfish, would be great.

Peter sprinkled the fillets generously with salt, pepper and olive oil, and I did the same to halved and pitted nectarines. Then he worked his usual magic with the grill.

While the fish and nectarines were grilling, I cooked a little rice, steamed the corn and cut it off the cob, made a healthy batch of the garlic lime dressing linked below (probably 1.5x the original), and cut my basil leaves into cute little threads. Then everything got stacked together! Make sure you eat bites of corn, fish and nectarine all together - it's a heavenly combination.

Happy start of summer eating to you!!

Summer Sunday Dinner - Late May Mahi Mahi

• Green salad with garlic lime dressing
• Grilled Mahi Mahi with corn, grilled nectarines, chopped basil; dressed with garlic lime dressing
• Salty caramel ice cream

Pasta with Shrimp, Scallops and Fennel

For some reason, cooking seafood is scary to me. There seems to be a large margin of error. Under-cooked and it's poison; over-cooked and it's rubbery. Since I started following the four-minutes-per-inch rule for fish, I've gotten pretty good at grilling fillets. But little seafood, like shrimp and clams and scallops? Still scary.

After a somewhat decadent weekend of dining out, a simple seafood supper was calling out to me, though. Peter and I walked over to Whole Foods (a very rare event, though it's just around the corner). Their seafood counter is so fancy and nice! It wasn't that expensive, either. We decided to get a 1/3 pound each of fresh shrimp, cute little scallops and some already prepared clams.

At home, Peter peeled and de-veined the shrimp. He put the shells in a pot of water and let them simmer until the water was half gone (about an hour). After the pasta water was boiling, he started to saute garlic, long strips of fennel and the chopped clams. After a couple minutes, he added a big splash of wine, the shrimp stock, a pile of chopped parsley, tarragon and mint, the shrimp and scallops, and a big squeeze of lemon.

The pasta was drained (that's corn pasta, by the way, and it's delicious!) and tossed into the pan with all the seafood for a final, boozey swim. A few more herbs went on top, along with a healthy sprinkle of salt. Oh my, it was good! And since Peter was doing the cooking, it wasn't scary in the least :)

What foods (inexplicable) scare you to cook? My friend Sarah over at Yahoo! Shine hosts a cute supper club, and the challenge for March was to cook a dish that scared you. Great idea, right? I think it's so interesting to learn what one person is afraid to tackle, and what others will whip up effortlessly!

Roasted Chicken with Honey, Peas and Shallots

We went to the Berkshires over the weekend. Whenever I see my mom, she always passes along the magazines she gets that I don't subscribe to myself. Country Living, Family Circle, Better Homes and Gardens -- the Mom Magazines. I love them!

In the latest BHG, there is a series of recipes that all feature honey, including a glorious roasted chicken recipe. You roast a chicken (I use Dorie's hurry up and wait method, which involved roasting the bird on it's sides for 25 minutes each, and then finishing breast side up for the last ten minutes, but you can just do it the standard way, too!). When the bird is ten minutes away from being done, you take it out and slather it with honey, and put it back in the oven. It comes out all dark and glazed and glorious.

Then, using the pan drippings, you make a sauce with shallots, peas, more honey and lots of fresh tarragon. Peter declared this dish to be restaurant-worthy. We all know he's biased, but still! High praise.

Roasted Chicken with Honey, Peas and Shallots
Inspired by Better Homes and Gardens


You will need:
4 lb chicken
1 tablespoon butter
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons honey, divided
1 cup dry white wine, or chicken broth
1/4 cup chopped shallots
1 cup frozen peas
1/4 lemon, cut into thin slices
1/4 cup chopped tarragon
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

Heat the oven to 450 F. Pat the chicken dry, then rub with butter and generously sprinkle with salt and pepper. If you want a juicy, super amazing chicken, truss it up, put it into a cast iron skillet on it's side, and roast for 25 minutes. Flip it to the other side and roast for another 25 minutes. Take the bird out and brush on 1 tablespoon of honey, covering the top and sides well. Roast another ten minutes, then place on a cutting board under a foil tent to rest. (We actually do this elaborate resting set-up involving a bowl and a jelly roll pan. The chicken goes breast-side down, butt in the air so that the juices trickle back down to the white meat - try it!).

While the chicken is resting, put the cast iron with all the chicken drippings on the stove over medium heat. Add the wine or broth, shallots, lemon slices, peas and the last tablespoon of honey. You'll cook this for 7-10 minutes total, until the liquid reduces by half. Scrape up the good stuff from the bottom of the pan. I know these peas look very "done," but Molly Orangette says that peas are legumes and need to cook for a while to get super delicious. I follow Molly's advice!

When the sauce has been cooking about 5 minutes, call your husband in and have him carve that chicken! Pull out the lemon slices and stir in the Dijon and most of the tarragon.

Serve over mashed potatoes. Place chicken on top of the potatoes, and then spoon the sauce on top of everything. Sprinkle the little bit of tarragon you saved on top, and enjoy!