The days of your mother calling you into the dining room and placing a plate of steamy goodness right in front of you are over. You’re now what we call an “adult”, and hopefully you’re a somewhat independent one, too. You spend ample amounts of time being responsible: you go to work, pay taxes to your lovely government, and even try to take care of your health! Unfortunately, you may not have the time or knowledge to cook for yourself, so you end up hopping on your Seamless account and ordering away…
Since this is a new year, we hope that one of your resolutions is to learn to cook! We here at Gents Among Men decided to partner up with the new NYC-based personal chef startup, Eat In Chef, for a series of culinary tips and tricks designed to help you Master the Kitchen.
Throughout the month of January, we’ve been teaching you how to Master the Kitchen. By now, you should own some essential cookware and kitchen tools, have a well-stocked fridge and pantry, and know what produce is in-season. It’s time to put that knowledge into practice and prepare yourself a wholesome and satisfying home-cooked meal!
Today, we’ll be teaching you how to make two dishes: a kale, avocado, and grapefruit salad, and also cast-iron skillet roasted chicken thighs and vegetables. They can either be served on their own, or as an appetizer and entree, respectively. These dishes are both simple enough for a weeknight lunch or dinner, but elegant enough for when you’d like to treat yourself or someone special to a nice dinner in.
Kale, avocado, & grapefruit salad recipe
For the salad, you’ll need the following:
- 1 grapefruit
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 8 cups thinly-sliced kale, w/ the center ribs and stems removed
- 1 avocado, halved, pitted, and sliced into 1/2-inch wedges
- Kosher salt
- Freshly-ground black pepper
As you learned in last week’s post, kale and grapefruit are both in-season right now. This salad provides a nice dose of freshness in the middle of winter, a season that’s typically associated with heartier, richer foods.
To make this salad, start by peeling the grapefruit and removing any of the remaining white pith with a sharp chef’s knife, or if you have one, a paring knife. Cut the grapefruit into segments by slicing around the membranes. Put the segments aside, and make sure you don’t throw the membranes away! When you’re done slicing, place the membranes into a small mixing bowl and squeeze the juice out of them. You should have approximately 1/4 cup of juice, but if you need more, you can juice the grapefruit segments as necessary. Whisk the olive oil into the juice and season to taste with salt and pepper. Congrats, you now have salad dressing!
In a large mixing bowl, drizzle half of your dressing over the kale. Mix it all up and let the contents of the bowl stand for about 10 minutes. The kale will wilt slightly, and the acidity of the grapefruit will temper the bitterness of the raw kale. Toss the salad once again, and add your grapefruit segments and avocado slices to the bowl. Drizzle the remaining dressing over the salad and enjoy!
Cast-iron skillet roasted chicken thighs and vegetables recipe
Roasted chicken is always a crowd-pleaser, and this recipe can easily be adopted to accommodate whatever good roasting vegetables you’d like. In this particular recipe, we’ll teach you how to make this dish with potatoes, carrots, and brussels sprouts.
Ingredients:
- 6 skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs
- 16 fingerling or yellow new potatoes
- 2 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
- 16 brussels sprouts, cut in half
- 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- Kosher salt
- Freshly-ground black pepper
- Start by adjusting your oven rack to the center position, and preheating your oven to 450 degrees fahrenheit. Place your potatoes and carrots in a medium saucepan, cover with cold, salted water, bring to a boil, and simmer until tender, about 10 minutes. This process is called par-boiling, and ensures that these firm root vegetables will be fully cooked after roasting later. Drain the pot and transfer these veggies to a large bowl with the brussels sprouts. Season the the vegetables with salt and pepper, and add two tablespoons of your olive oil. Mix it all up and set the bowl aside for now.
- Next, add one tablespoon of olive oil to your cast-iron skillet on high heat. While oil and pan heat up, generously season both sides of your chicken thighs with salt and pepper. We suggest using chicken thighs because they’re higher in fat and more flavorful than chicken breasts. Also, for beginning home cooks, this additional fat provides some room for error when cooking. It’s easier to get a juicy piece of chicken because thighs don’t dry out as quickly as breasts do.
- When the pan starts smoking slightly, add the chicken to the pan skin side down and let them cook until the skin becomes golden-brown in color, approximately 6-8 minutes. Flip the chicken and cook until the other side is lightly-browned, approximately 2-3 minutes. Searing the chicken in this manner ensures a nice, crispy skin. If you’ve ever had roasted chicken with soggy, floppy skin, you’ll understand why this sear is so important. Once done with this step, transfer the chicken to a plate and set it aside.
- Add your remaining tablespoon of olive oil to the skillet, and once again let it heat until slightly smoking. Add your vegetable mixture to the skillet, then place your chicken thighs on top, skin side up. Transfer your skillet to the oven and roast until the thighs register 165 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, approximately 30-45 minutes. You should now have some juicy chicken thighs with crispy skin and some beautifully-roasted vegetables, ready to eat!
About Martin Mata
Martin Mata is the Community Manager for Eat In Chef, responsible for creating the brand’s social media content and building relationships with the personal chef and food-lover communities. He’s an avid home cook and expert on NYC’s dining scene. In 2012, he started an Instagram account called, @FoodBallin with his close friend, George Ferrer, and together they have over 7,000 people following their eating adventures.
About Eat In Chef
Eat In Chef is a NYC-based personal chef startup building lasting relationships and memories for its chefs and food-lovers alike. Whether for a casual dinner after a long day at work, date night, or wanting a nutritional makeover, Eat In Chef gives food-lovers full access to professional chefs from any electronic device, for any occasion. Their hand-selected chefs will receive your request, pick up fresh ingredients, and cook an unforgettable meal in your kitchen.
For more info about Eat In Chef, visit their website at EatInChef.com. They’re currently offering $10 off your first booking, so give them a try today!
*Content provided by Martin Mata for Gents Among Men