Rincon Limeño: A Bit of Peru in East Boston

For one of my nurse practitioner clinical sites, I am in East Boston. Originally made up of five islands, East Boston was created when Bostonians filled in the spaces between the islands to form one large neighborhood. Eventually the island was connected to the mainland. The area has always been a mecca for immigrants, starting with Russian Jews and Italians, next came SE Asians and more recently, Central and South Americans. As a result, the neighborhood has exploded with Latin American flavor (and I couldn't be happier!) Rincon Limeño is one such restaurant. The owners have created a tiny refuge on Chelsea Street for those seeking tasty Peruvian cuisine.

When I think of Peruvian, gorgeous, juicy chicken comes to mind (no one makes better roasted chicken than they do). Pollo a la brasa is chicken cooked slowly over a charcoal grill or rotisserie, the meat is perfectly moist while the skin is kept nice and crisp.

I had the chance to sample Rincon Limeño's take on Peruvian cuisine recently. As a starter I enjoyed papas a la huancaina, roasted potatoes served atop lettuce in a thick, cheesy sauce. Black olives and a hard-boiled egg complete this dish. I know it sounds a bit odd served in this manner-but somehow, it really works! I like to think of it as Peru's very own, more delicious potato salad (is that sacrilegious to say?). Mine only thought is that I would love to try the potatoes served hot in the sauce. I think that some of the more subtle flavors of the huancaina sauce might become more pronounced if heated.



The chicken was happiness. I cannot think of a better way to put it! Juicy, tender, flavorful chicken is one of life's more simple pleasures. Rincon Limeño serves their's with french fries. I think I would perhaps enjoy it more with a side of yuca or potatoes and huanacaina and aji sauce. And of course, with a Pisco Sour!


We ordered alfajores, dulce de leche sandwiched between two butter cookies and dipped in powdered sugar for dessert. Mmm....guys, if you want to know how to impress your lady, surprise her a box of these, and you will have a very happy woman on your hands!

The best part of the meal was that the papas a la huancaina, 1/2 a roast chicken and side salad, and a box of about 12 alfajores were just 23 dollars, making this tiny Peruvian haven a very affordable dinner option!

After the meal, I popped into a nearby grocery store to check out the food options and picked up a bottle of aji amaraillo paste (yay!), choclo for toasting and a bottle of pisco! So expect a post detailing my adventures in cooking Peruvian cuisine in the nearish future :).

Easy Chicken Marsala

To Make Chicken Marsala:
4 chicken breasts (about 6 ounces each, but not a big deal if they are a different size)
10 oz sliced baby bella mushrooms (I bought mine pre-sliced at TJ's)
1 small diced onion
2 cloves minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon thyme
1/4 teaspoon parsley
1/2 cup Marsala
1/4 cup Sherry
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
1/4 cup whole milk
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup flour
Salt
Pepper


Preheat oven to 250.

Rinse chicken well and pat dry with paper towels. Cut off any visible fat. Flatten chicken with meat pounder, using wax paper over chicken if available.

Put flour on large plate. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Dip chicken in flour, shaking off excess.

Melt butter in large saute pan over medium high heat. Add chicken breasts and brown both sides. Remove from pan, set in oven dish and place in oven to keep warm.

Add olive oil to saute pan. Add onion, garlic, mushrooms, parsley and thyme. Saute until juice from mushrooms has evaporated, stirring to prevent vegetables from burning.

Add Marsala and sherry to saute pan. Let mixture come to a simmer and cook 10 minutes.

Add chicken stock and chicken pieces. Cook at low simmer for 15-20 minutes, then remove chicken pieces and place on a plate.

Add milk to mushroom mixture and let simmer 10-15 minutes until thickened. Add chicken pieces to warm them up before serving.

Plate chicken breasts on 4 plates and scoop mushroom and sauce over meat.

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Prosciutto-Stuffed Gorgonzola Chicken

Once upon a time a girl met a boy. For their second date, she impulsively offered to cook him dinner, then realized what a big, romantic gesture that might appear, and began to do what she did best, which is freak out and over think the whole night. She then proceeded to spend an hour googling "platonic dinner ideas" on her computer. Mature? Perhaps not, but she did gain a simple and succulent chicken recipe, prepared the meal in under an hour and remained mostly normal throughout the evening. A modern day love story, if you will.

To make the girl's chicken:

2 chicken breasts
8 strips of thinly-sliced prosciutto
1/2 teaspoon chopped rosemary
4 cloves minced garlic
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup dry white wine
2 tablespoons crumbled Gorgonzola

Rinse chicken and pat dry with a paper towel. Cut off fat/gristle. Pound thin between 2 sheets of wax paper and set in ovenproof glass baking dish.

Dice 2 strips prosciutto. Place 1/2 of prosciutto and 1 tablespoon Gorgonzola on each chicken breast and fold over mixture. Wrap 2 strips of prosciutto around each chicken breast and hold folded with toothpicks.

Sprinkle chicken with rosemary and garlic. Pour white wine over chicken and drizzle olive oil on top of chicken breasts.

Cover with plastic wrap and marinate in refrigerator for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place uncovered baking dish in middle of oven and cook chicken about 20 to 25 minutes or until cooked through.

Spinach & Feta Stuffed Chicken over Spinach-Dill Rice, with Cucumber-Yogurt Sauce

I have been a little uninspired lately with my cooking, so I wanted to try something new. Greek is a cuisine that I have little experience cooking but intrigues me. Greek foodies: ANY comments or suggestions are greatly appreciated! : )

This recipe looks complicated, but each step takes about ten minutes to complete. The chicken can be marinated & stuffed the night before serving or earlier that day. The cucumber-yogurt sauce can be prepared up to 2 days before serving. This serves about 3-4 people.

For Chicken Marinade:

2 lbs chicken drumsticks (about 6)
1/2 lemon, juiced
12 Kalamata olives, pitted and chopped
1/4 cup EVOO (8 tablespoons)
1/4 cup dry white wine
3 cloves chopped garlic
Freshly ground black pepper

1 cup chicken stock (reserved for cooking)

Rinse chicken with water and pat dry with a paper towel. In a shallow baking dish, drizzle olive oil, lemon juice and white wine over chicken.

Sprinkle garlic and olives over chicken and cover with freshly ground black pepper. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.



For Spinach & Feta Stuffing:

1 cup chopped spinach (I used frozen chopped spinach for this recipe)
1 tablespoon minced dill
2 green onions
6 oz crumbled feta cheese

Remove chicken from marinade.

Heat up marinate in saute pan until simmering. Simmer until liquid is reduced (less than 1/4 cup liquid).

Add green onions and saute 1 minute.

Add spinach and cook 1 minute.

Mix in dill and feta cheese.




Remove from heat.

Carefully push cooled stuffing into each chicken drumstick.



To Cook Chicken:

Heat oven to 350.

Pour 1 cup chicken broth into saute pan and bring to boil on high heat. Pour into 9 x 13 glass baking dish.

Place each chicken drumstick stuffing-side up in baking dish.

Bake approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour (until juices run clear).

While chicken is roasting, prepare Spinach-Dill rice.

For Spinach-Dill Rice:

1 tablespoon EVOO 1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon chopped spinach
1 tablespoon minced dill
1 1/2-2 cups chicken stock
1 cup of rice

Heat up 1 tablespoon olive oil in medium-sized sauce pot. Add onion and garlic and saute 5 minutes until onion is translucent.

Add chicken broth and bring to a boil.

Add rice and stir 1 minute.

Stir in dill, reduce heat to low and cook about 20 minutes, until liquid has evaporated, stirring very occasionally.

Stir in spinach and fluff to serve.

For Cucumber-Yogurt Sauce:

1 /2 cups Greek yogurt
1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded and finely diced
1 minced garlic clove
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons EVOO

Stir ingredients together, cover and refrigerate a minimum of 3 hours before serving.



Scoop rice over 3-4 dinner plates. Place 1 or 2 chicken drumsticks over rice. Carefully scoop cucumber-yogurt sauce over chicken and rice.


Happy Eating,

Caitlin

Ferran Adria's Rotisserie Chicken

I love how Ferran Adria plays with his ingredients, whether it be using liquid nitrogen to create a melt-in-your mouth flavored foam (more like, it evaporates and teasingly leaves the flavor of a vegetable or fruit like lemon on your tongue) or using potato chips in place of sauteed potatoes in his tortilla espanyola. In this recipe, he uses a store bought rotisserie chicken and turns it into something complex and wonderful.

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup pitted prunes
1/2 cup dried apricots
1/4 cup pitted dried sour cherries
2 tablespoons pine nuts
1 strip orange zest (it should be roughly the diameter of the orange), bitter white stuff removed
1 strip lemon zest (it should be roughly the diameter of the orange), bitter white stuff removed
1/2 cup tawny port
1 small cinnamon stick
2/3 cup chicken stock
1 store-bought rotisserie chicken, about 3 1/2 pounds, chopped into 8 pieces, any juices reserved

Preheat the oven to 425.

Heat the olive oil in large saute pan over medium heat. Add fruit, zest and pine nuts to saute pan Stir while cooking until fruit are browned in spots and pine nuts turn golden, about 3-5 minutes. Add cinnamon stick and port and cook about 5 minutes, or until syrupy. Add chicken stock and reserved chicken juices. Turn heat to high and cook 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

Place chicken pieces in baking dish that holds them snugly. Pour sauce over chicken, scraping saute pan to get any stuck fruit bits. Turn chicken in sauce until it is coated. Bake chicken 10-15 minutes until chicken is hot and sauce is further reduced. Serve immediately.

This recipe reminds me of Moroccan chicken tagine, only tagine may require hours of cooking and prep time, and this recipe can be prepared in less than 1 hour. Even better, your guests will never know the difference between this easy meal and the more intense tagine.

Coconut-Mango Chicken with Raspberry Sauce

Ingredients:
2 mangoes, peeled, pitted, and cut into 1-inch chunks (or 2 cups frozen mango chunks, defrosted)
1 cup coconut nectar
4 tablespoons fresh lime juice
4 chicken breasts
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons balsamic or red wine vinaigrette
2 cups fresh red raspberries (reserve 1/4 cup for garnish)
1/4 cup raspberry jam
Salt & White Pepper

Rinse chicken breasts and remove excess fat. Pat dry and set in bowl; pour 2 tablespoons lime juice over chicken. Salt and pepper chicken lightly. Cover and refrigerate until cooking.

In medium saucepan, bring vinaigrette, raspberries (minus reserved 1/4 cup) and raspberry jam to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer about 5 minutes, or until mixture thickens. Remove a few spoonfuls of mixture and set in bowl. Strain remaining mixture into bowl, pressing with a spoon to remove solids.

Cut up mango into small chunks, reserving about 1/2 cup for garnish. Mix mango with coconut nectar and remaining lime juice and puree in food processor or blender. Bring blended mixture and reserved mango chunks to a boil in medium saucepan.

Melt butter in large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add chicken breasts and turn heat to medium. Flip after about 3 minutes or when starting to brown, and cook the other side for an additional 3 minutes. Pour coconut-mango sauce over chicken, bring to simmer and cook until chicken juices run clean when cut. Remove from heat. Plate and pour raspberry sauce over chicken. Garnish with fresh raspberries.

Pollastre (Catalan Chicken Sandwich)

I had this about ten million times when in Barcelona. There is a sandwich stand in Plaza Sant Jaume (in Barri Gotic) called "Conesa." The first sign that this might be a good place to eat was the line twenty people-deep at any given time of day. I was lucky enough to be staying with a friend about 2 blocks away. My favorite sandwich was the "pollastre," I am going to try to reproduce it here.

Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts
1 onion
1 tablespoon alioli
2 large pieces lettuce
1 tablespoon butter
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Pa amb tomaquet

Rinse chicken breasts in cool running water and pat dry with paper towel. Using a meat mallet, pound breasts until thin between two pieces of wax paper. Salt and pepper chicken. Cover and refrigerate for later.

Wash onion and cut into long, thin strips. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in large saute over medium heat and add onions, stir so that onions are coated with butter. Turn heat down to medium-low and stir occasionally, until onions are lightly golden (about 20-25 minutes).

Heat up about 1 tablespoon olive oil in clean sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add chicken to pan and turn down to medium. Cook about 4 minutes on each side or until juices run clear (you can also cut into chicken, pink=undercooked, white=good to go). Remove chicken and cut into thin strips.

Wash lettuce and cut into thin strips. Place caramelized onions, lettuce strips and chicken on tomato bread. Drizzle alioli over chicken and top with another piece of bread. Grill on panini press for 5 minutes.

Chicken Breasts with Passion Fruit Sauce

Ingredients:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1 1/2 pounds)
Juice of 1 lime
Salt
White Pepper
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon canola oil
1/4 cup (2 ounces, a little more than 1 shot) of brandy or rum
1/4 cup thawed Goya passion fruit (maricuya) pulp
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
2 teaspoons cane sugar
1/4 cup light whipping cream (or evaporated skim milk)

Wash chicken breasts under cool running water. Pat dry with paper towels. Place between 2 sheets of wax paper and pound breasts thin. Place in large bowl, season with salt and pepper and pour lime juice over breasts. Turn once to ensure even coverage. Cover with saran wrap and refrigerate 1 hour.

Melt butter and oil in large saute pan over medium heat until butter melts. Add chicken breasts and pan fry for 3 minutes, then flip and cook additional 3 minutes. Remove from pan and set on a plate covered with paper towels.

Drain fat from pan. Add rum or brandy and deglaze saute pan, scraping bits off of pan bottom. Add passion fruit pulp, orange juice, sugar and cook over medium high heat so that liquids are lightly boiling. When liquid is reduced to about 1/2 cup, add cream and stir into juice mixture. Add chicken breasts and adjust heat so that liquid is just simmering. Cook an additional 3 minutes on each side, test for done-ness (cut breast, inside should not be pink and juices will run clear). Taste sauce and add sugar if too tart. Transfer breasts to plate and drizzle sauce on top.

Serve with Coconut Rice with Mango Chunks

Parmesan Chicken

This is one of my go-to recipes. It always turns out and I usually have the ingredients in my fridge. I got it (I think) from Barefoot Contessa on the Food Network. It is nicely paired with a side of baby greens with citronette dressing or a caprese salad.

4 chicken breasts
1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
2 large eggs
3/4 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (or a Parmesan-Romano blend)
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
Wax paper
Meat mallet

Preheat oven to 275. Place pie dish in oven on middle rack

Rinse chicken breasts under cold running water and cut off any visible fat. Dry them with a paper towel and place one breast between two sheets of wax paper onto top of a large cutting board. Pound meat on one side, then flip over and pound until it is about 1/4 inch thin (more or less). Repeat with additional breasts.

Combine flour with pepper and salt in large ziploc bag or on large plate.

In a medium-large bowl, break eggs and beat them. The bowl should be big enough to fit the breasts.

Mix bread crumbs and cheese on large dinner plate.

Using large saute pan, melt 1/2 tablespoon butter and 1/2 tablespoon oil over medium heat, if begins to sizzle/brown, turn heat down to medium low.

Coat chicken breasts evenly with flour. Dredge in egg mixture. Then place on bread crumb cheese mixture and flip, making sure the whole breast has been covered.

Place in saute pan and turn heat down to medium low. Two chicken breasts should be cooked at a time for about 3 minutes on each side. After sauteing, place in pie dish in oven. Repeat with remaining breasts, using the rest of the oil and butter. Leave breasts in oven for about 10 minutes, until table is set and you are ready to eat. They will come out incredibly moist with a crispy cheese breading.