Growing up, I ate Everything.  Everything, that is, except for beets.  I HATE beets.  Don’t touch the stuff.  Until tonight.  Brother Jared threw it down: grilled chicken breasts and thighs marinated in dijon mustard and Herbes de Provence; cous cous w/ onion, fennel and pine nuts; and last but certainly not least…roasted beet napoleon.  Seconds, please!

Why didn’t I think of cooking some dark meat?  I always go for the breasts!  But I looove dark meat.  In a large ziplock, add:

• breasts and thighs (JP did 4 of each)
• juice of 2 lemons
• ¼ cup of e.v.o.o.
• 1 T dijon mustard
• 1 T Herbes de Provence (from Provence – thanks, Mom!)

JP let them suckers marinade for 4 hours, but 30-60 minutes should be fine.  I cooked ‘em at 350 degrees until the marinade caramelized on the outside, and the juice ran clear.  Tip from JP: don’t cut into the meat on the grill (it will spill all over), just press the juices out with your tongs.  Once the juice is clear, pull ‘em off the grill and tent in foil to finish cooking.

For the cous cous, he used a whole wheat variety.  Start by sautéing onions in e.v.o.o. for about 5 minutes before adding fennel.  Once the fennel ‘s soft, add 2 cups of chicken stock and 1 cup of water; bring to a boil and add the cous cous.  Stir thoroughly, cover, and remove from heat (don’t cook like pasta).  Let stand 10-15 minutes, or until liquid is absorbed (may stand up to 30 minutes).

Lastly, for the roasted beet napoleon…

• fresh red and golden beets (two of each)
• herb goat cheese
• greens
• Dijon vinaigrette

He scaled-down a Wolfgang Puck recipe and took out all the hard steps, but left the tasty bits.  Start by roasting the beets for two hours in a quarter inch of water in the oven at 400 degrees (this is the difference between beets I can’t be within 20 feet of, and beets I can’t eat enough of).  Once cooled, peel and slice.  Then spread a layer of goat cheese between each beet slice – we did three beet slices with two goat cheese layers (like a Big Mac).  Serve on a bed of greens with some Dijon vinaigrette and presto.  Good eatin’!

Just after roasting…

Just before eating…

For dessert – fruit salad.  Chop up whatever’s seasonal, put it in a bowl, eat.

Wines of the evening:

• 2008 Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc – Old standby; about $14 most places. Great white wine with notes of cucumber on the nose (says Lea – I believe her and you should, too) and a refreshing way to warm-up the palate.
• 2008 Pascual Toso Malbec – $8.99 at Costco!  Go buy this wine.  A totally legit Mendoza Malbec for less than 10 bucks…’nough said.
• 2006 Cannonball Cab – $11.99 if you can believe it.  Absolutely delicious cab that can go toe-to-toe with its overpriced brethren.  I’m flabbergasted.  Seriously…yum.

Music: artist – Eddie Palmieri, album – Que Suene La Orquesta (on repeat)