You’re definitely throwing down the gauntlet when you name something the “World’s Easiest Dinner.” the second my FIL received his Esquire and found it, they had to try it. Actually, they emailed everyone a scanned copy of the recipe, and tried it that night. We’re up next.

The instructions are very easy. Take one air-dried chicken between 3-4 lbs (recipe says between 3-3.5 lbs). Rinse and dry very thoroughly. Make sure it’s dry because that’s the key to roasting rather than steaming the bird. We patted it dry and then left it out a little longer just to make sure. Recipe calls for a cast iron skillet — we used a Le Creuset dish because that’s the closest we could come, and it seems to have worked out pretty well. Season with 1 tbsp kosher salt and some freshly ground pepper. (I would use an even better salt next time… maybe some of that great coarse sea salt I have in the cupboard as well as stuff some rosemary and garlic into the cavity for more flavor.) Place in the oven @ 450°F for about 45 minutes or until the juices at the thigh run clear. You can turn it into a full meal by chopping up some veggies like carrots or potatoes and sticking them in the pan about halfway through the cooking, but we skipped that step and sauteed spinach in the chicken fat and boiled some corn (I’m of the less-is-more school: 4 minutes dunked in boiling water).

It may not be the world’s easiest dinner — I definitely think one could argue the point (a steak on the grill next to a couple of potatoes?). That said though, this is definitely the World’s Easiest Roast Chicken, and it delivered on the tasty factor too. Crispy-esque skin, super juicy interior, even better than anticipated. Yum. Definitely recommended.

Quail are small, dainty, and give off a “fancy” feel. Maybe that’s because they can be sort of expensive — at 2 per person for a main. But they’re good as an appetizer (one or half per person) too if you’re having a dinner party and want to kick it off with some mini-poultry. And I love them (this is probably the only blog out there with multiple recipes for grilled quail).

This recipe turned out great — I think that getting the garlic, oil, sage and pepper right up in there in the cavity (and under the skin where possible) real helped the flavor penetrate. Loved it.

Grilled Quail with Garlic and Sage

Recipe scales easily – this recipe is for four quail. When you buy the quail, make sure the butcher takes care of the boning (usually already done when you get them). Slice up a couple of cloves of garlic. In a mortar bowl if you have one (and on a cutting board if you don’t), mash up the garlic with about a teaspoon of coarse sea salt and a teaspoon of peppercorns, and about a quarter teaspoon of dried sage. Mix with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. Slather the garlicy mixture onto the quail, including inside the body cavity to make sure the flavor gets everywhere possible. Marinate for at least an hour, longer if you want to. I think you’re actually supposed to tie up the quails’ legs somehow but I’m too lazy to do that and it doesn’t seem to hurt anything (maybe the legs splay out a bit and look funny). Grill breast-side down first, flipping half way through, about 6-8 minutes per side (alternate directions: flip every 3-4 minutes).

(also pictured: farro with parmagiano reggiano and olive oil; spinach and dried cranberry salad)

Here we go, continuing our quest to cook our way through Mark Bittman’s Kitchen Express with Winter recipe #89. The colors are really beautiful, and the combination of the beans, the meat and the toothsome pasta give it some heft as well. Not to mention the addition of the greens, which pretty much means nearly all the food groups are included. Multiple sources of protein and the potential to include whole grains? Healthy, tasty, and fast? (Don’t lecture me on whether the Italian sausage is healthy… substitute your sausage of choice, chicken or even fake sausage, as long as it’s flavorful).

Put some water on to boil with a pinch or two of salt. Cook the pasta. We’re trying to eat more interesting grains and less wheat, so we went with a farro penne, but you can use any pasta you want. I like the short shaped pasta for this dish because it’s easier to grab a forkful off all the stuff together but if you like long noodles, why not? Anyway, cook till done (my farro pasta about 10 minutes), drain and reserve some of the cooking liquid.

While the pasta is cooking, fry up some Italian sausage meat, breaking into small pieces and browning / cooking through. You can either get the meat loose or in sausages and just remove the casings. Bittman recommends “a couple of sweet Italian sausages” — I used approximately a pound of sausage meat. Drain a large can of diced tomatoes as well as a can of chickpeas, and add both to the pan. Add in a tablespoon of crushed fennel seeds and a pinch of red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper to taste. The fennel and red pepper help bring the “sauce” to life and give what it really a very simple combination some depth and complexity.

Toss the pasta with a couple of handfuls of greens and let the greens wilt. The recipe says arugula but really any tender green will do, and I used a mix of baby spinach, arugula and radicchio (one of those organic salad mixes). Add the pasta into the sausage mixture, and if you want it a little moister, this is where to use the reserved pasta water. I didn’t use any.

Eat up. It’s hearty. And next time, I would grate some fresh parmigiano on top. What’s not to love about cheese? Plus, adding the dairy food group to make this truly a well-rounded meal.

I don’t have enough ambition to cook my way through Mastering the Art of French Cooking or through The French Laundry Cookbook or definitely not through the Alinea cookbook. These women are the few and the brave. But the other day after prepping another quick and easy meal from Mark Bittman’s Kitchen Expresss, my husband announced, “Hey, we could cook our way through this book!.” And actually, we are, if in a random, disorganized manner. Now that we’ve set it as an actual goal, watch this space for more and more Bittman recipes.

The other day we whipped up a batch of Saffron Chickpea soup and just didn’t find it flavorful enough. That doesn’t mean it’s off our list permanently because I think with some tweaking it could be better. But with all the other recipes to tick our way through first it will be a long time before we loop back.

Instead today I made the White Bean Stew, which was super speedy and delivered on flavor. And I made just one adjustment, replacing the handful of ham with a handful of bacon. Because, you know, everything’s better with bacon. This recipe couldn’t be easier if you’re ok with using canned beans. And even if you’re not, because you could cook up some beans on the weekend and just save them to use in this dish or any other later in the week.

I really liked this soup — hearty and tasty, and healthy too, covering all the food groups, particularly if you serve it as recommended with some toasted garlic-y bread. Next time I might add some fresh herbs, especially basil, for some additional brightness. Or a squeeze of lemon. But overall verdict: would make again for sure.

Kitchen Express White Bean Stew

Mince a couple of cloves of garlic (I went overboard here and used like 4 or more, but adjust to your taste) and chop up enough bacon to be roughly a handful. The bacon should be a thick-cut type ideally. Warm a little oil in the pot, and saute the garlic and bacon long enough for them to become fragrant. The bacon doesn’t need to crisp up but it should cook a little and let some of its oils out.

Pour in a can of chopped tomatoes, including the liquid. Add a can of white beans (I like Great Northern in this but you could use cannellini or any other white bean) or equivalent of say 2 cups if you’re using home-cooked. Include the liquid from the can too. Add another cup of broth or more bean cooking liquid. Season with salt and pepper and let ‘er rip until she boils. Let the stew simmer away as long or as short a time as you like — a little longer helps the flavors meld together. Throw in a couple of handfuls of spinach or other green until they wilt, and serve.

On Sunday it was rainy and dreary and we just didn't feel like heading out for lunch. All the fresh ingredients in the house were destined for other meals this week. So I decided to put my "semi-homemade" hat on and see what I could whip up just from what was in the pantry.

The result was farro spaghetti tossed in brown-butter-sage-butter-fried white beans and butternut squash sauce. It was luscious, rich and hearty… with a touch of sweetness from the squash, and nuttiness from the brown butter. Actually, it tasted sort of like inside-out butternut squash ravioli. Yum. Quick yet satisfying and it was completely unnoticeable that it was nearly all from pre-prepared food.

And yes, we have a weird pantry. If you don't have this stuff on hand swap any other kind of pasta in and any other kind of white bean. If you don't have butternut squash sauce in a bottle, run out and get some (or make it from scratch, but that kind of defeats the purpose of the from-the-pantry meal).

• Handful of spaghetti (we used farro pasta)
• Oil (olive oil if you like – we used hazelnut oil for tiniest hint of nuttiness) – optional
• Dave's Gourmet Butternut Squash sauce
• Can of White Northern beans
• A couple tablespoons of butter
• Fresh sage leaves (ideally – you can use dried for flavor if necessary)

Put the water on to boil with a pinch of salt. When it boils, put the pasta into the pot. If desired, add a little hit of oil to the water to help keep the noodles from sticking together. While the pasta is boiling away, heat the butter over medium-high heat. As it's melting, throw in the fresh sage leaves to infuse their flavor into the butter. In the meantime, open the can of beans and rinse with fresh water. When the butter begins to turn a golden color and brown flecks begin to appear (and the smell of the sage combined with the nutty butter flavor begins to make your mouth water), add the beans to the pan and saute. After the beans are warmed through and (if desired) have a little brown crust on them for crunchiness, add the butternut squash sauce to heat. After 8-10 minutes (for farro pasta, your mileage may vary), strain the pasta and add the pasta to the pan with the sauce. Allow the pasta to cook in the sauce for a few minutes.

Serve the pasta as a whole meal-in-a-bowl. Slurp as necessary but careful not to splash orange sauce all over your clothes. Enjoy!

Tonight: Grilled quail, one of my favorite discoveries of this year. Super easy and seemingly always good. And people always seem impressed because quail is one of those “fancy” food items you don’t usually think about doing at home. But it’s fun. What’s not to like about eating the miniature bird? The meat is tender and moist, and full of flavor. The skin too, especially with the tasty marinade below.

Recipe from Bones. Quail purchased today from the meat shop at Cafe Rouge on Fourth St in Berkeley. Quail were pre-butterflied (split open) but it’s easy enough to do at home.

Portion sizing approximately two quail per person. Marinate for an hour or so with olive oil, sliced garlic, and shredded sage. When you’re ready to cook, squeeze on some lemon juice. Place on the grill, skin side (breast side) down first. Flip every 4 minutes till about 16 minutes total, a little less or more depending on how you think it’s doing (today ours were on somewhat less). Meanwhile, melt a couple of tablespoons of butter in a pan on the stove and place more sage leaves in…leave it on 4-5 minutes, or, if you prefer brown butter as I do, leave it on until the butter takes on a pale brown color and a nutty smell. Remove the quail from the grill and place in a pan — pour the melted butter on top, cover loosely with foil and allow to rest about 5 minutes.

(side dish: pumpkin gnocchi from The Pasta Shop, with spinach and brown butter sage sauce)

(dessert: berries — strawberries, blueberries, raspberries — with balsamic vinegar and sugar over Haagen-daz Five Vanilla ice cream)

Last year we read about goat and where to buy it in the Bay Area (I’m not sure if this is the main article, but it’s one of them), and early this year, when we finally got around to it, we stopped by Cafe Rouge and picked up some goat and made it (I think I have some video which I still haven’t edited together). That was fun and turned out well, but wasn’t exciting enough to move us to keep going back for more.

Yesterday we spotted goat at the Berkeley Farmers’ Market and picked up a piece of goat leg (we also got some wild boar tenderloin, but that’s for later this week). This time we braised it up based on a recipe for lamb leg in Bones. It was really, really good. Not gamey, not super tender, but substantial and satisfying. Definitely a go-to comfort meal for us in the future… when we can get our hands on some fresh goat again.

Brown the goat in the Dutch Oven on all sides. Deglaze the oven with a dry white wine and throw in sliced onions, chopped carrots and a couple of cloves of garlic. Cook until the onions are slightly soft. Place the goat back in pot and add a couple of bay leaves. The goat leg should be approximately 2/3 covered in liquid — use veal stock, beef stock, or water to make up volume if required. Cover with a damp piece of parchment and place the lid on. Put the whole thing into an oven that has been preheated to 350° and leave it for something like 2 1/2 hours. After 2 1/2 hours, remove from the oven, baste with the juices, and place back in the oven uncovered at 300°. Check every 30 minutes and baste again, up to another 2 1/2 hours. It will be a lovely brown color when done and the meat will fall away from the bone.

(sides: lightly steamed broccoli drizzled with olive oil and red pepper flakes; yogurt “cheese” from St. Benoit)

Picked up some pork shoulder at the Berkeley Farmer’s Market yesterday — and braised it up today with some Guinness, bay leaves, thyme, carrots, onions and celery. First, get a nice sear on the pork shoulder on all sides. Then, put the Guinness, the herbs and the vegetables in a Dutch oven or other heavy pot, and bring to a simmer. Turn the temperature down and simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Remove the pork shoulder and reduce the remaining liquid until you like the consistency of the sauce.

Or – if as for us – the power goes out in the middle of cooking, make sure you have an alternate game plan. Like putting the pot on the grill until the power comes back on. Not that we are speaking from experience or anything.

(side: broccolini sauteed in olive oil with garlic and shallots)

Simple dinner tonight brought to us by Fatted Calf — chanterelle-and-sausage stuffed quail. Since they were pre-seasoned / stuffed, they were super easy. First step, get them out of the fridge and bring them to room temperature. Oven pre-heated to 425 degrees, per instructions of the nice guy @ the farmers’ market. I buttered a sheet to make sure they wouldn’t stick, and then placed them breast side down and let them go for about 8-9 minutes. I flipped them over and then let them go the balance of the time to a total of roughly 25 minutes (so maybe 15 minutes more). They were perfectly done, still moist, and the stuffing was fully cooked and extremely flavorful.

(sides: corn on the cob and green beans)