Crispy Chicken with Potatoes and Arugula

I was looking for a dinner idea and my friend, Susan, came up with a great idea - arugula salad over steak. I wasn't in the mood for steak but the arugula salad sounded great so I cooked up some chicken. You could serve it that way but to make it an even more substantial meal, I added some mashed potatoes but you could do any of your favorite roast vegetables.

I really liked the combination of the lemony and slightly bitter arugula with the crispy chicken. The next night I added the arugula salad to some leftover salmon I had and it was great! I plan to start cooking with more arugula!!

Ingredients:

dry rub:
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. dried thyme

Chicken breasts, skin on and bone in - 1 breast per person

Yukon gold potatoes
milk
butter
salt and pepper

1/2 cup arugula
1 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. olive oil
salt and pepper


Directions:
1. Combine dry rub ingredients in a small paper bowl, spread all over chicken. Make sure to get under the skin of the chicken as well by gently using your index finger to pry the skin away from the meat, making sure to not poke holes in the skin and not completely detach the skin from the meat. Leave chicken on counter top for 20 minutes to allow to come to room temperature.

2. Peel potatoes and cut into chunks, place into a pot of cold water. Add a little salt and allow potatoes to cook over medium high heat until fork tender. Using your food mill, puree potatoes in batches into a bowl. Add milk and butter to potatoes and use a masher to keep pureeing the potatoes. Taste for seasoning and add more butter, salt, and pepper. Set aside in a warm place.

To Cook Chicken:

1. Preheat oven to 375. Heat 1 tbs olive oil in a large non stick pan over medium high heat. Once oil is hot (you'll see it rippling) place the chicken breast skin side down. Cook for 3 minutes then look at chicken, if skin looks crisp/browned, turn chicken - otherwise continue cooking chicken skin side down until skin is crispy, checking each minute.

2. Once skin is crispy, flip chicken and cook on other side for 3 minutes. Place chicken breasts on a a foil lined pan and place in oven. Cook until internal temperature of the chicken hits 154. Remove chicken and cover loosely with foil and allow to rest for 5 minutes.

3. While chicken rests heat up mashed potatoes. Also finish arugula garnish - whisk lemon, olive oil, salt and pepper in a bowl. Add arugula and toss. Allow to sit for a few minutes so lemon juice wilts the arugula slightly.

To serve - place some mashed potatoes in the middle of the plate, cover with chicken breast, then top with arugula mix. Enjoy!

Restaurant Review - Shibuya, MGM Grand, Las Vegas - Part 1

I know, I split this review into 2 posts. I feel like the movie studios that take a good book that could be 1 movie and split into 2 for more money. I just want my readers to know that I've been to this restaurant a bunch of times and I have too many good dishes to talk about! This post is about the warm and cold plates and their sushi menu. The next one will be about their teppan dinnners. Ok, back to the real post now!

That's right my friends, the restaurant's name is Shibuya. As you can imagine, you constantly yell "SHI-BOO-YA" throughout the meal whenever one of your friends gets burned. This restaurant features sushi (very high quality sushi), amazing teppan style food, and cooked dishes as well. If you want the full experience of this restaurant sit at one of the teppan tables in the back, they're the flat cooking tables like at beni hana - to be reviewed in another post :).  While you're at the teppan table also ask for the sushi menu. That way, you can get a taste of both.

I've been lucky enough to eat at this restaurant at least 8 times during my travels to Vegas and I have to say, it consistently holds up. The food and service are really excellent. If you're going to blow some money in Vegas, which you pretty much have to if you want to have any fun, you may as well spend it at a delicious dinner instead of at the roulette table.

Since pretty much everything here is good, I say order a lot of different food and share it so everyone gets a taste of everything. Below are some of the dishes I've had during my visits there:

I unfortunately only have pictures of one of the dishes. This will not continue once I've caught up on a lot of the good restaurants I've been to in the past. Below is a picture of the cold plates - you can see the edge of the tuna sashimi next to the hamachi jalapeno.

Cold Plates -
Tuna Sashimi with wild baby arugula, parmesan slices, black truffle, soy vinaigrette, and rice cracker
This dish is truly my favorite at this restaurant. It's so delicious I can't order raw tuna anywhere else since I always compare it to this dish and the other versions fall short. I've never had tuna with black truffle and cheese before but the combination is really unique and memorable.The smooth texture of the thinly sliced tuna is enhanced next to the light but crunchy rice cracker dots. Definitely order on of these for the table to start!

Hamachi Jalapeno with yellowtail sashimi, jalapeno, cilantro, yuzu kosho soy 
The yellowtail sashimi was just beautiful. The yuzu added a nice acidity to the dish while the jalapeno supplied a little heat making each bite taste really bright in my mouth. Really excellent and well-balanced dish, definitely worth ordering!


Warm Plates -
Wagyu Short Rib with Foie Gras, white asparagus, spicy sweet soy
I love short ribs, you will start to learn that as these reviews go on haha. Foie Gras is a little heavy for me, it's something to definitely try at least one, but I don't crave it. Pairing the creaminess of the Foie with the tenderness of the wagyu short rib was honestly a little too much. I wanted to love this dish but it was such a rich bite that I only wanted to have one.

I do want to try more Wagyu Short Rib though! In case you have no idea what Wagyu means, it's a japanese beef that is breed to have a high percentage of marbling of fat throughout the meat. Realy Wagyu comes from Japan which makes it very pricey. In recent years places have been using American Wagyu which is cheaper and lower quality but still charging high prices - so watch out for yourself! Though I have never experienced it at Shibuya.

Sushi -
Shibuya Roll, soft shell crab, jalepeno, topped with spicy albacore, ponzu, scallions
I like this sushi roll just because it was unique. They have your typical sushi and sashimi but their specialty rolls are what you need to get. This roll was really spicy but had a clean finish. I can not handle very much spice so if you order the flaming hot wings at a bar, this roll is for you! Tasting the real soft shell crab was amazing. Imitation crab just does not hold up!

Kabuto Roll, australian lobster tail tempura, soy paper, cucumber, kaiware
So to be honest, I ordered this roll just because it had lobster in it. I had no idea what kaiware was so I had to ask - I found out kaiware are sprouted daikon radish seeds. They basically add a little texture and color to the dish. I liked this roll but I wouldn't have to order it again.

Trying Something New - Restaurant Reviews

Hello Readers (and by readers I mean the 2 people who view this site since my posts are so inconsistent),

I've decided to try something new. I want to start critiquing restaurants based on my visits there. My hope is to talk about the food and service, the decor and atmosphere, and the overall experience at the different restaurants I eat at. In my life I've been very fortunate to have the opportunity to dine at some amazing restaurants run by chefs like Bobby Flay, Tom Colicchio, and Joel Robuchon. Eating meals at places like these has taught me what good food can be, what good service can be, and I've definitely learned when meals are not as good as they could be.

My intention is not to be rude or mean, but to have a sense of humor, try to improve the dining experience of others, and share some amazing meals and cooking tips to help fellow home cooks like myself who aspire to cook like a master.

Don't get me wrong, I still plan to post recipes I create but I would love to one day go to restaurants and help them by updating and modifying them to make them better.

I hope you enjoy my reviews :)

Whitney