EXTREME Cooking: Middle-of-Nowhere-Edition

Well... all good things must come to an end. Our 3+ year boondoggle, which included near-worldwide travel and living abroad, has finally truly come to an end. I am working again, albeit as a student, which has brought Vanessa and I to Dahlgren, Virginia. Look it up on Google Maps if you like. Go ahead and check out the satellite view, too, while you're at it so you can hopefully see just the kind of desolation we're dealing with out here.

Dahlgren is in the middle of nowhere. It was in the middle of nowhere the last time we were here in 2004, as well, so you can imagine how excited we were to come back. On the upside, we're less than an hour out of Washington DC (we'll be checking that out this weekend).

Meanwhile, we're staying in a Navy hotel of sorts. The room itself is actually pretty nice... it's a suite with a few rooms and plenty of room for the both of us and all of our stuff we brought with us. The rub is, our stay here will be nine weeks total (with a break for Christmas and New Year's). You might be asking yourself, "How the hell are you, unabashed foodies, going to survive out there with only a few Mom and Pop joints to eat at?"

Never fear. We have an enormous kitchen...
And loads of prep space....
So we decided that we were going to make this work. After all, I DID bring all of my spices with me. We have a fridge. I look at it as a challenge. The next few weeks (until late February) will chronicle our attempts at cooking in what is easily the most austere of kitchens. No oven. No blender. No water bath or immersion circulators. No food processors.

A two burner stove. One pot and a few skillets. Let's see what we can do.

Pan-Seared Ras-el-Hanout Rubbed Chicken Breasts with Spinach and a Balsamic Vinaigrette

CHICKEN
2 chicken breasts
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
3/4 tsp ras-el-hanout

VINAIGRETTE
3 parts olive oil
1 part balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

SALAD
3 large handfuls spinach, rinsed and patted dry
grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (if you're lucky enough to have a grater!)

For the chicken, combine all of the ingredients in a Ziploc bag and leave to marinade in the fridge for at least one hour. About 30 minutes before you want to cook, pull the chicken out and leave at room temperature.

Get a skillet going over high heat. When hot, place the chicken in the pan and cook for 5-7 minutes, until nice and golden brown. Flip over and cook for another 5 minutes. Turn the heat down and cover the skillet and allow the chicken to cook for another 3-5 minutes until just cooked through.

Get the chicken out of the pan and let rest while you make the dressing (by combining all of the ingredients in a bowl and stirring them up) and divide the spinach between two plates.

Cut the chicken across the grain on the bias and check for doneness. If not done, put back into the still hot pan for just a few seconds until done.

Put the chicken on the spinach and top with Parmesan and dressing to taste.