Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street Television

- Oh, man, the chicken is so succulent, but those potatoes.

I don't think there's anything closer to perfection than those potatoes right there.

- It smells so fresh.

It's nice and thick sauce, super hearty.

- Our eggs fried on top of cheesy breadcrumbs with wilted spinach, a take on the Zuni Caf recipe that is just fantastic.

- The skillet is a universal one-pot approach to dinner, so here are a few of our favorite ways to use the skillet to make an easy, quick dinner.

We start with a skillet-roasted Peruvian-style chicken, followed by an Italian summer vegetable stew, and finally, a recipe from Zuni Caf in San Francisco-- eggs fried in parmesan breadcrumbs with wilted spinach.

Please stay tuned.

- Peruvian pollo a la brasa is a whole marinated chicken that slowly roasts on a rotisserie until all of the meat is ultra tender.

If that didn't already sound super delicious, it gets served with fried potatoes as an accompaniment.

Sold.

Now, we're taking the same ideas in this recipe, but we're using chicken leg quarters, and we'll give them the same marinating treatment, and then we'll roast them on top of thinly sliced Yukon Gold potatoes that first get browned off on the stovetop.

Now, the marinade is the crucial key to the flavor of this dish, and we're going to make it in this 9 x 13-inch baking dish.

It starts with a little bit of oil... followed by some garlic that's been finely grated... some soy sauce... some red wine vinegar... some oregano.... some cumin... and finally, two other ingredients you'll want to be on the lookout for.

One of them is known as aj panca.

Now, aj panca is a paste made out of a Peruvian chili of the same name.

It's red, it's fruity, it has a little bit of a smoky undertone, and of course, it's a chili, so it carries a little bit of heat.

You could typically find this in pretty well-stocked supermarkets or in Latin American grocery stores.

But if you can't find it, perfectly fine, go ahead and substitute in equal parts sweet paprika and smoked paprika for the same type of flavor.

And we're also going to follow that up with some beer.

Now, beer is a very common marinating ingredient for pollo a la brasa, so if you could find a Peruvian lager out there, great, go for it.

But, honestly, any quaffable lager will totally do.

Of course, we're going to add in a little bit of salt and a little more of some black pepper.

Okay.

So we'll stir this up until it's evenly combined.

That's evenly combined.

So now we could go ahead and put our chicken into it.

So again, we're working with chicken leg quarters.

Once you add it into the dish, go ahead and give it a flip, so that way that marinade coats the entirety.

And repeat with the remaining chicken quarters.

Now that the chicken is neatly nestled into this marinade, we'll cover it, and then let it rest in the fridge for at least an hour.

If you could marinate this chicken for a full 24 hours, do that.

It's going to season the chicken thighs throughout.

But, if you're in a rush, an hour will do ya.

So my chicken's been marinating overnight, so we are ready to work with it, and it involves taking it out of the marinade altogether.

What we're going to do is transfer it over to a paper towel-lined plate and pat all of the chicken dry, especially the skin, because the drier the skin is, the crispier it'll get in the oven.

And then, taking more paper towels, really get in there and dry it out, sopping up as much of that moisture as possible, because moisture is the enemy of crispiness.

So now that that chicken is nice and dry, we can go ahead and season it with a little extra salt.

And remember, you do want to get both sides.

My little trick here is flipping the chicken onto another piece of dry chicken so nothing gets rewet.

Excellent.

So now I'm going to go ahead and discard all of my marinade, and wash my hands, and we can get to cooking.

To keep this recipe moving along, we're heating a little bit of oil in a large skillet set over medium-high heat.

We're going to wait until that shimmers, so that way we can start cooking our potatoes.

Now, we're going to be cooking our Yukon Gold potatoes, that have been sliced about half an inch thick, in a nice even layer in this pan, but we're not going to touch it.

We're purposely leaving it undisturbed, so that way it starts to brown around the edges.

That takes about two to three minutes.

So when you place it into the pan, place it into a nice, even layer.

(pan sizzling) Awesome.

Now, remember, we're only cooking these potatoes for, like, two to three minutes.

We're not trying to cook them all the way through.

That happens in the oven.

But we do want it to act as a bed for all of the chicken to roast on top of.

The best part is all of those chicken juices cook into the potatoes, and you get this super savory dish that is so satisfying.

Excellent.

So now, from here, I'm going to move this very hot skillet directly into an oven set to 450 degrees Fahrenheit with a rack set in the lowest position.

Then we're just going to roast this off for about 40 to 45 minutes, or until the chicken reads 175 degrees Fahrenheit at the thickest point.

While the chicken roasts, we're going to go ahead and make a sauce that we love to serve with this dish.

It's called aj verde.

It's a very, very popular Peruvian condiment that, in my opinion, goes on anything.

But it does involve one ingredient that you need to be on the lookout for, which is known as aj amarillo.

Now, aj amarillo is a paste that's made from, again, a chili of the same name, and it does have a lot of bright, fruity qualities.

You could definitely find it in Latin American grocery stores, but honestly, if you can't find it, just omit it.

This sauce will taste bright, grassy, fresh, all the things that we need to be the perfect complement to the super savory chicken and potatoes.

Now, to make it, we need a blender, and to that, we'll be throwing in some cilantro... as well as some mint leaves for a little bit of cooling.

We'll follow that up with some jalapeos that have just been roughly chopped.

So that means all of the ribs and the seeds are also involved in this mixture.

If you're sensitive to heat, go ahead and cut them out.

We're not going to tell you not to.

We'll also throw in some queso fresco.

Now, this is a very clean-tasting farmer's cheese that adds a nice heft to the sauce.

And we'll also throw in some mayonnaise.

And, finally, that aj amarillo.

So we're going to take one lime and juice it right into the blender.

Okay.

So now we're going to blend this down until it is nice and smooth, and that takes about two to three minutes.

(blender whirring) (blender stops) Now, as always, when you're blending anything, you want to scrape the sides down just to make sure you don't lose out on any of that flavor.

All right.

(blender whirring) (blender stops) I love this sauce.

It tastes so good on, honestly, anything.

But if you want to keep it in the fridge, just put it into a lidded container, and it keeps for about three days.

But, honestly, it's best served immediately.

So it's been 45 minutes, and as you can see, all of my chicken is, like, the best golden brown possible.

And all of the potatoes underneath have cooked in the juices, so you know that this dish is super savory.

I can't wait to dig in.

So I'm going to transfer just a little bit to my plate.

And you want to use a fish spatula for this process, so that way you can really scrape underneath all the potatoes and get that beautiful flavor, all that caramelized potato action, onto your plate.

Want to get a couple of the potatoes on here.

A little finishing touch of some fresh cilantro would be great.

And, of course, that aj verde that we made definitely needs to make its way on there.

Right here on the side.

Now, I really like this stuff, so I'm going to add in just a little bit more, just for me.

Look at that.

Mm.

The chicken is so succulent, and you can really taste the aj panca, the cumin, the oregano-- it really goes throughout the meat, so you definitely want to marinate it for a full day.

That aj verde is such a beautiful, bright contrast to all this super savory flavor we developed in the oven.

But those potatoes.

I don't think there's anything closer to perfection than those potatoes right there.

There's nothing better than balance, and this dish has it.

And there you have it, a delicious Peruvian-style skillet-roasted chicken with aj verde.

- Today, we're going to be making an Italian summer vegetable stew.

It's often likened to a Provenal ratatouille, but the ciambotta or cianfotta is often containing potatoes and having a little bit more heft.

One of the ways that we make this stew quickly and easily is in our skillet.

The wider surface area will allow the vegetables to cook quicker, resulting in brighter flavors and better textures.

So I've got my skillet over medium heat.

Going to heat my oil until it's just shimmering.

Got my oil shimmering in my pan.

I'm going to add my onions... my celery... and a little bit of garlic.

I'm going to give these a quick stir, and they only need about three or four minutes to cook.

While those cook up, I'm going to prep my other vegetables.

So I have a medium-sized zucchini.

Lop off the top.

Split it down the middle... And I only want these to be in roughly half-inch cubes.

They're ready.

Now time to prep my eggplant.

I'm just going to lop off the top.

Then I'm going to split this down the middle.

But instead of one cut, I'm going to make two, so it comes out roughly the same size.

Got all of our vegetables cut up here.

I'm just going to put them right in my skillet.

All right, and I'm going to add my tomatoes and my potatoes, as well.

Add a little red chili flake.

About a teaspoon of salt... ...and about half a teaspoon of pepper.

All right, I'm going to give this a quick stir.

So don't worry if the skillet looks a little dry.

Once we cover and get cooking, the vegetables will release some liquid, and get nice and saucy.

Now that I got my vegetables cooking in my pan, I'll stir it up, I'm going to cover it, reduce my heat to medium-low, and cook them for about 30 to 35 minutes.

It's been about 35 minutes.

Checking in on my stew.

Everything's kind of wilted down, the moisture has come out of these vegetables.

I'm going to give it a quick stir, make sure nothing's stuck to the bottom, but check it out, you've got some nice vegetable sauce here with a lot of flavor from our vegetables actually cooking in their own juices.

So I think it's time to serve.

So I'm going to let this cool for just a second and cut up some basil.

This dish can be served alongside a main meat or a loaf of crusty bread.

It can be a main on its own or a really hearty side.

Now that my basil is all ribboned up, I'm going to sprinkle it into my stew and stir it in.

It smells so fresh.

We're looking good there.

Basil is wilting just a little bit.

Serve some up.

It's a nice and thick sauce with our vegetables.

Super hearty.

Okay, got some warm, crusty bread.

All righty, let's give it a taste.

That is really good.

It's nice and fresh, but it's not mushy.

Your vegetables still have a little bit of texture and a little bit of structural integrity.

You could finish this off with a little bit of olive oil or even some parmesan, but on its own, it's pretty solid.

Quick and easy, all in one skillet, it's our Italian summer vegetable stew.

- So everyone's wrong about how to make caramel sauce.

And when I say caramel, this is what I mean: it's pourable, it's not too dark, it's dark, but not too dark.

You want it dark enough so it's not too sweet.

It has a little bit of bittersweet to it.

So you have to get the sugar melted to just the right point, and that's where people go wrong.

Most recipes say two things: they say start with sugar and water, and they say use a saucepan.

We're going to do neither of those things.

We're going to start with just sugar, no water.

So the other thing we're not doing is we're not using a saucepan.

Now, a saucepan tends to be narrow, you look down into it, it's hard to see changes, it's hard to see color, especially when it starts to bubble up.

A skillet has a much wider surface area.

It's going to be a thinner layer of sugar or caramel, so you can really see what's going on.

The other thing is, you can just take this off the heat, like this, to slow down cooking and put it back.

It's a great way of controlling the cooking speed.

So now we're going to melt the sugar in the skillet.

It'll start to melt around the outside first.

We'll start to stir, and we'll get it to just the right point for maximum flavor.

All right, so when it starts to melt, you want to start using a heat-proof spatula.

So now the sugar is really dissolved.

And this is the hard part, this is the hard part.

It's like, "do you feel lucky," right?

You want to get it a nice, rich caramel color, mahogany color, but you don't want to overdo it, because if it's not cooked enough, it's just going to be sweet.

You want it to be a little bittersweet, right?

You want bitter with the sweet.

Okay, now we're going to take this off the heat.

We're going to add the cream, and this is going to bubble up.

(pan sizzles) And this also, you can tell, it's going to get thick, and... sort of like candy, right?

So now, I put it back on the heat, sort of a medium to medium-high, and this is now going to go from sort of a candy; it's going to melt back into a nice sauce.

So, at this point, I'm just using medium heat just to finish melting that mixture.

Now, you can also tell, if this were in a saucepan, it would be about this thick, and all you'd see is the bubbles on top, and you wouldn't really be able to see the color of the caramel underneath.

And that's really one of the problems with making caramel sauces and melting sugar.

There's a lot of froth, a lot of bubbles, but you can't see underneath it.

In a skillet, obviously, it's a very thin layer, so as I drag the spatula through it, I can see exactly what's going on, so I know I'm not overcooking it.

It's got a nice, rich mahogany color, it's not burned, it's not too dark.

Turn off the heat.

And now we have two last ingredients to add: we have two tablespoons of butter, and we have a teaspoon of vanilla.

So we'll just let the butter finish melting.

Smells-- the vanilla, you know, it starts to really smell like caramel, and that sort of bittersweet flavor of the melted sugar, caramelized sugar.

There we are.

So let's just pour it out into the bowl.

So that's it, that's our caramel from a skillet.

No water with the sugar, just sugar.

We can watch it cook, so we get it cooked to exactly the right amount, we add the cream, stir that in.

Again, you watch the color as you cook, add a little bit of butter and vanilla.

So it's very simple to do, it's ten minutes in a skillet, and you have total control over the cooking method the entire time.

- The late Judy Rodgers, as chef of the Zuni Caf in San Francisco, put that restaurant on the map as one of the leading restaurants in America.

A very popular dish on their menu was eggs fried sunny side up over torn bits of crusty bread that became golden and crisp on the bottom underneath the soft runny yolks.

It's a fantastic opening concept for which there are a million variations.

Now, for our adaptation for eggs fried in cheesy breadcrumbs with wilted spinach, we use panko for convenience.

We also give the breadcrumbs a little Spanish flair with the addition of smoked paprika, sherry vinegar, and a little bit of grated cheese.

You can use manchego to stay with the Spanish theme if you have it, or parmesan, which my kitchen is never without.

This recipe comes together extremely quickly.

There's no knife prep.

It's almost as quick as eggs with standard toast, except the experience of eating this is nothing ordinary.

We're starting with a cold, nonstick skillet.

We're going to use it as our bowl, kind of.

We'll add the panko breadcrumbs to that.

Then a little bit of ground pepper.

We're not adding salt because we're adding a salty cheese.

Like I said, you can add either parmesan or manchego.

We are using manchego today, because that's what we have, and you can see the rind on the back of the manchego has that little cross hatch pattern in it.

That's a really nice cheese.

We'll toss that in.

And then we're adding our seasonings.

Smoky Spanish paprika... A little dried thyme... Fresh herbs are fine, too, if you have that; like I said, lots of variations.

And a couple of teaspoons of sherry vinegar.

Just going to sprinkle that over.

We'll get this mixed together first, and then we'll add a little bit of oil.

That will allow these breadcrumbs to get really crisp and toasty when the skillet's turned on.

This is a really nice extra-virgin olive oil.

We'll just drizzle that over.

It's about three tablespoons or so.

You want the breadcrumbs to get fully saturated with the oil so that they get extra crisp in the skillet.

And, believe me, they are not greasy at all.

Just shake that out so they get a nice, even layer in the pan, and then we'll turn it on.

You want a medium-high heat, but watch it, you want them to get a nice golden crust, and not too dark, not too light.

Like I said, this is adaptable with a million different variations.

We like panko for the convenience and also for its coarser texture.

You can also use any kind of leftover bread-- leftover or not leftover, just tear it up into tiny little bits.

You can have these little irregular, crunchy pieces of bread in there.

That's fantastic, as well.

If you like sourdough, by all means, use sourdough, or even a whole grain bread is really nice.

Okay, I can hear this sizzling, so I'm going to start stirring here.

So you stir it up a little bit, redistribute it into an even layer, and then let it sit again.

That's how they're going to get toasted.

See how they're starting to get sort of clumpy?

That's what you want; that is creating a crust.

Okay, we're about ready for the next thing, which is the eggs.

Okay, so I'm going to redistribute this.

Then we're going to separate, make four different little openings for the eggs to go into, put a little bit of oil into each of those, just a little drizzle.

And then crack the eggs.

(pan sizzling) Those eggs get cooking right away on the bottom.

You can hear it sizzling.

A little salt on top of the eggs, because of course, eggs need good salt.

If you want a little more pepper at this point, you can, but there's already pepper in the breadcrumbs.

And then-- this is another one of our adaptations-- very loosely pile spinach over the eggs.

This does two things: this sort of insulates the eggs, helping them to cook.

Of course, we're going to put a lid on, as well.

This is all stovetop, so in about five to seven minutes, those eggs should be cooked to the point that the yolks are still a little bit runny, and the spinach will cook down and wilt, making a soft blanket over those eggs.

Now, while this is cooking, you might need to rotate the pan every few minutes just to make sure you're getting evenly toasted on the bottom.

Not all burners are the same, so, you know, just give your pan a little bit of a turn every now and then to make sure you got even browning on the bottom.

All right, there we go.

Oh, look at that soft spinach on top.

(chuckling): I can hear the breadcrumbs still sizzling.

Okay, now, you can certainly separate this like this and serve it spinach side up.

But I will be honest, my favorite way to serve this is... Ah, yes, nice runny yolks.

Just flip it over just a little bit and you've got this golden crunchy bread on the bottom.

And the egg gets toasty, as well, the yolk is runny in the middle, then your spinach actually forms a bed on the bottom, but, you know, it really doesn't matter.

You could just toss this on the plate any way and it's going to be fantastic.

So we'll finish with a little bit of extra-virgin olive oil, and, if you like, a little bit more grated cheese, and that's it.

Our eggs fried on top of cheesy breadcrumbs with wilted spinach, a take on the Zuni Caf recipe that is just fantastic.

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