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I’ve been taking it easy this week, as we’re on vacation. In fact, the last time I posted, we were on our way up the east coast and are now in Truro, Massachusetts. I made some pretty good stuffed shells the other day, but finished when it was dark and the lighting in the house we’re in is sparsely lit. I looked at my wife and said I needed to come up with some blog content and she replied, "what about fish?" Duh! We’ll be eating/making a lot of fish, but here’s a non-fish meal I’ve been meaning to get up on the blog for quite some time, a one pot wonder of Spanish chicken and rice. This is always comforting and satisfying. Since it is a one-pot meal, it's also an ease to make for cleaning purposes, especially when you don’t have a dishwasher in your beach house! Spanish Chicken & Rice 8 chicken thighs Onion 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 tbsp paprika 2 tsp cumin Pinch of red pepper flakes (what I had on hand) or 1 tsp chili powder Heavy pinch of saffron 1 tsp dried oregano or Italian herbs 1 cup rice White wine ¼ cup tomato sauce 1.75 cups chicken stock 1 roasted red pepper, thinly sliced (or 6.5 oz jar) ~5 oz Spanish or Castelvetrano olives, drained and halved Frozen peas Cilantro, rough chopped Place some oil in a dutch oven over medium-high heat and season the chicken with kosher salt and black pepper and brown on each side, adjusting the heat as necessary. Invert the pot lid and transfer the cooked chicken to the lid and cook the remaining thighs, adding them to the lid once they're done cooking. Once all of the thighs have been cooked, add in the onion and saute until beginning to soften. Add in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about a minute. Stir in the seasonings and cook for about a minute until toasted and fragrant. Add in the rice and toast, stirring frequently, for a minute or so. Add in a splash of wine (~⅓ cup) and continue to cook, stirring frequently, until most of the wine has been absorbed. Then, add in the tomato sauce and chicken stock, along with a pinch of salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, stir one last time, then place the chicken skin-side up on top, and pour in any accumulated juices from the inverted lid. Cover and simmer over low heat for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, crack the lid. If there is still a good amount of liquid, increase the heat to medium-low and continue to cook for another 5 minutes with the lid cracked. Once only a little liquid remains, remove the chicken to the inverted pot top (or other dish) and stir in the pepper, olives, peas and cilantro, and cook until warmed through and the peas have defrosted (a couple of minutes). To serve, spoon some rice on a plate and top with a chicken thigh or two. ______________________________ Copyright 2023, Brendan McCann, All Rights Reserved.

parsley, sage and rosemary sprigs Heat a quarter cup of olive oil in a large stainless steel skillet or braiser

This braise is a perfect Sunday meal.

Just like there is a difference between say Arbor Day and Christmas, there are national food days and there are NATIONAL FOOD DAYS. Today, is of the latter magnitude. Cassoulet is something I never even knew of 4 years ago, but it has made a profound impact on my culinary life. I discovered it in the first month of my food blog as I completed my first Culinary Ridealong with the Tour de France. Every year they went through “cassoulet country” in Southwestern France, I was sure to make one. I even went a little rogue once and made a “summer cassoulet”. I then circled back the next year with a more traditional preparation, employing duck confit. I did not make one this last year because the race route just missed  traveling through the Languedoc region of France. Sacré Bleu! It brought me great joy this weekend when I learned that today is none other than National Cassoulet Day! But then I got to panicking, what can I do that hasn’t already been done? However, in research for today’s version, I found that the first rule about Cassoulet Club is that there are no rules - and the dish is open to wide interpretation. This was completely freeing and I set out to make a quick weeknight version, which you’ll find below. You can make this in as fast as one hour! However…me being me, I didn’t use canned beans, I made my own. This is a dish with rich origins down in Gascony after all. Weeknight Cassoulet If preparing your own beans, do so over the weekend (like I did) so this can still be a weeknight meal. Allow them to cool and place in airtight containers in the fridge. 8 chicken thighs 7 oz container of D'Artagnan Rendered Duck Fat Large onion 8 oz andouille sausage 3 large garlic cloves, minced 1 tbsp of dried Herbs de Provence Ground allspice 2 tbsp tomato paste ¼ cup dry white wine 2 cans of cannellini beans (or Mangia’s Cannellini Beans) Chicken stock ½ day old baguette Season the chicken with Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper. Melt 2 tbsp of duck fat in a large dutch oven, set over medium-high heat, then place the chicken in skin-side down. Cook for 6-8 minutes, until well browned, then flip the chicken and brown on the underside. Continue to cook the chicken, rotating the pot or moving the chicken around for even cooking. The browning process should take about 20 minutes in total. Remove the chicken, leaving the drippings in the pot, and place the chicken into a large casserole dish and reserve. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. While the chicken cooks, chop the onion, split the sausage lengthwise and slice into ½” thick pieces, mince the garlic, and prepare the remaining ingredients. Once the chicken has been removed from the pot, lower the heat to medium and add another 2 tablespoons of duck fat, along with the onion and sausage. Season with some salt and black pepper. Cook until the onions have browned, about 5 minutes or so. Add in the garlic, 2 tsp of the dried herbs, and a dash of allspice. Stir and cook until fragrant, a couple of minutes. Add in the tomato paste and allow it to warm briefly, then stir it in to incorporate. Add in the wine, along with a little salt and pepper, and bring to a simmer. Stir in the beans (including liquid in the cans). If there is not enough liquid in the pot, add in some stock so the mixture is slightly soupy and return to a simmer, cooking until the sauce thickens. Meanwhile, halve the baguette and chop into rough 1” pieces. Place the pieces into a food processor and pulse until the bread crumbs are about ¼” thick. Place the casserole dish on a large rimmed baking sheet. Once the bean and sausage mixture is ready, pour it all over the chicken in the casserole dish, spreading it out evenly. Add the remaining duck fat to the emptied pot and toss in the breadcrumbs with the remaining 1 tsp of herbs de provence. Stir the breadcrumbs, nearly constantly, allowing them to soak up the rendered fat and herbs, about 2 minutes. Sprinkle the breadcrumbs over top of the casserole and place it in the oven on the middle rack. Bake for 20 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through, until the dish contents are warm and bubbling around the edge and the crumbs have toasted. ______________________________ Copyright 2024, Brendan McCann, All Rights Reserved.

While the recipe comes together faster than one might think, there still is a braising aspect and you really don’t want to braise delicate duck breasts.

Braised Borlotti Beans with Salsa Verde Borlotti con Salsa Verde, Stagioni, Oliva Cavalli You know I love a braise.

I decided to take it easy too, making this classic French braise: coq au vin!

2023 Tour de France - Stage 1: Bilbao. The 2023 Tour de France kicked off, a few hours ago, in Bilbao, Spain. Yes, you’re going to get a little taste of Spain even before next month’s culinary ridealong of the Vuelta! I was pretty excited to finally get to cook some items from the autonomous Basque Country. It is similar to French Basque cuisine, but these first three stage-specific dishes will definitely let you know that you are in Spain, as opposed to France. My niece-in-law (…is that a thing?) spent last semester abroad in Bilbao and gave me the low down on some of their cuisine a couple of weeks ago. She said one of the most-delicious items she had was beans. About an hour east of Bilbao is Tolosa, a town they will be cycling through tomorrow, which is home to one of the most famous and sought-after bean varietals and, coincidentally, best bean dishes of Spain: Alubias de Tolosa. This is right up my alley since it embraces slow-cooking of both pork and beans. I ordered some morcilla and said beans from La Tienda, a Spanish specialty shop which is located only a couple hours away from my house in Williamsburg, VA. Everything in this dish was extremely delicious and was like a big warm hug. Alubias de Tolosa 1 lb dried Tolosa beans (or kidney/black beans) 1 lb pork ribs, portioned ½ lb pork belly 1 leek, trimmed and cleaned, white and light green part only Carrot 2 onions 1 cup white wine 1 qt chicken stock ⅓ cup olive oil 2 garlic cloves, peeled ½ lb morcilla ½ lb chorizo ½ head of napa cabbage, sliced ¼” Pickled chili peppers Place the beans in a bowl and cover with plenty of water. Let sit overnight. The next day, place the ribs and pork belly into a large pot and set over medium-high heat. Prepare the leek, rough chop the carrot and 1 onion and add those vegetables to the pot. Pour in the wine and chicken stock, along with a pinch of salt, and bring to a boil. Once boiling, turn the heat to low, cover and cook for 3 hours. After 45 minutes, in a separate dutch oven, combine the drained beans, diced remaining onion, olive oil and garlic, along with 6 cups of water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Boil for 5 minutes, removing any foam from the top, then lower the heat to maintain a steady, but slow simmer. Cook for about 2 hours, stirring occasionally. Once the pork has been cooking for 2.5 hours, Place a medium-sized pot of salted water on another burner and bring to a boil. In the last 15 minutes of the pork cooking time, add in the whole sausages to the pork pot and place the sliced cabbage in the medium pot of boiling water. Cook both for 15 minutes. Once the sausages and cabbage have cooked, using tongs, remove the sausages to a cutting board, along with the pork belly and ribs, reserving the liquid in the pot. Drain the cabbage, season lightly with salt and pepper, and reserve. Heat up a skillet over medium-high heat, slice up the sausage and chop the pork belly and rib meat. Place in the skillet, lightly seasoning the pork belly and ribs with a little salt, and cook until browned, about 5 minutes total. Meanwhile, place about 6 ladlefuls of the pork stock into the bean pot, along with a couple heavy pinches of flaky sea salt, and continue to cook until the beans are soft and plump and the cooking liquid is nice and thick. Taste for any seasoning needs at the very end. To serve, dish out the beans into a large serving bowl. Place the meat around the platter, along with small mounds of the cabbage, filling the gaps with pickled chili peppers. ______________________________ Copyright 2023, Brendan McCann, All Rights Reserved.

2023 Vuelta España - Stage 11: Lerma to La Laguna Negra, Vinuesa. Another day in Castilla y León as the riders move east across the northern portion of the large central region of Spain. But as we near Murcia, and out of the arid high plains, you will find a bevy of lamb just waiting to be…eaten. Today’s dish features lamb and is a stew as dark as the end-stage La Laguna Negra. But, don’t be deceived, this soup isn’t black, it’s a very deep red from the peppers used to create a flavorful and spicy broth. This is pretty spicy for kids, and even some adults. It’s strange because I liked it and found it to be spiced, but not outrageous (and don’t usually enjoy spicy food). Yet, my wife found it very spicy, perhaps because the spice was a back of the tongue (warm and hot) spice (which I like) as opposed to assaulting front-of-tongue spice (which I guess is her preference). Regardless, the girls thought I was making chili…and this is very much an authentic chili, and if you like your chili spicy, come get some of this for the upcoming football season! Caldereta de Cordero Stew ~3 lbs lamb stew meat, cut into ~1” chunks 4 cloves garlic, chopped coarsely Red and Green pepper, diced 2 carrots, halved and chopped Onion, diced 8 oz tomato sauce 1 cup dry white wine Thyme and Rosemary sprigs ½ tsp cumin 2 bay leaves Serrano, left whole, but sliced through the flesh in several spots 2 or 3 yukon gold potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1” pieces Majado 1 slice of sandwich bread, diced Handful of almonds Dried Nora chili, seeded and torn to pieces Dried Ancho chili, seeded and torn to pieces Add some oil to a dutch oven, set over medium-high heat. Season the meat with kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper. Brown the meat, then add in the vegetables (except for the potatoes) and tomato sauce. Continue to cook for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, over medium heat. Meanwhile, prepare the majado in a small skillet by adding the bread and almonds with a good drizzle of olive oil. Once fragrant, about a minute, add in the chili pieces and continue to cook, stirring constantly for another minute. Transfer to a blender, adding in 2 cups of hot water and blend until smooth. Reserve. Once the veggies and meat have cooked in the tomato sauce for 15 minutes, add in the wine and remaining stew ingredients, as well as the majado, and bring to a boil. Season with salt and pepper, reduce the heat to medium-low, and cover. Cook the stew at a low simmer for 2 hours, stirring occasionally. After 2 hours, add in the potatoes, along with a pinch of salt and adding water, if necessary. Cook for another 20-30 minutes, until the potatoes have softened. Remove the serrano pepper, bay leaves and herb sprigs. Taste for any seasoning needs and serve. ______________________________ Copyright 2023, Brendan McCann, All Rights Reserved.

To serve, place some buttered noodles on a dish and cover with the braised beef and gravy. __________

After I get through all of my summertime Culinary Ridealong series, I tend to take a break from French, Italian (and now Spanish) cooking for a while. It can be a bit much, essentially 90 days of non-stop country-specific cuisine. But, I inevitably find myself coming back to the big three. How could I not? They’re classic and delicious and embrace that which I truly love: slow-cooking. The kind of recipes where you draw out the maximum flavor of your ingredients to somehow become greater than the sum of its parts. November is slow-cooking month and since winter decided to bombard us right after Halloween, I made Potée, a French pot roast of sorts featuring pork, which originates from the Savoie region. I paired this up with a lovely white burgundy wine. If you want to go lighter than this pork-centric meal, you can try it’s lighter and more subtle cousin: Poule au Pot. Potée You will need a large stock for this dish. I used my 9 qt. dutch oven. 1.5 lbs boneless pork shoulder, cut into rough half-pound chunks Smoked ham hock (or 3 smoked turkey necks) 1.5 lbs kielbasa 4 onions 2 bay leaves 3 garlic cloves, peeled Kosher salt Peppercorns 4 whole cloves 4 leeks, white and light green part only, keeping root-end intact, but trimming wiry roots 6 small potatoes, scrubbed 6 carrots, peeled and cut into thirds 4 medium-sized turnips, scrubbed 2 smoked sausages, like andouille or garlic sausage Small head of cabbage, cored and quartered Place all of the pork into your largest stock pot (or dutch oven), along with the bay leaves, garlic, 2 tbsp of kosher salt, a few peppercorns and cover with water. Bring to a boil over high heat and reduce to slowly simmer for about 2 hours. While the pot heats up, slice the pointy end off of your onions and insert the clove into the opening. Place 1 onion in the pot and reserve the others. After 2 hours of simmering, add the remaining ingredients into the pot, but for the cabbage, along with more boiling water to fill the pot. Bring back to a boil over medium heat and lower to medium-low and continue cooking for about 40 minutes. Add the cabbage and cook for another 10-15 minutes, until the cabbage has just softened. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Carefully remove the pork shoulder and carrots from the pot, along with the remaining sausages. Increase the heat and bring to a full boil to reduce the liquid for another 10 minutes. Adjust for any seasoning needs. While the stock is reducing, slice the sausages into rough 2-inch pieces and place around the edge of a roasting pan. Break apart the pork shoulder and hock meat into bite-sized chunks and place the meat in the middle of the pan. Store in the oven to keep warm while the stock reduces. When ready to serve, remove the pan from the oven, and place the vegetables into the roasting pan. Using a ladle, pour the reduced stock over the meat and vegetables. Serve, adding freshly cracked black pepper to each dish. ______________________________ Copyright 2021, Brendan McCann, All Rights Reserved.

However, if you feel so inclined, the traditional method is to layer the meat and beans, after all of the braising