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Thursday, 20 January 2011

Your Friend, the Freezer

I made a ton of food in the last few weeks in large batches in my slow cooker. Now, I'm tired of eating it. One can only have so many straight meals of "chicken and rice" or "lentil soup" before it gets old.

I really don't want to eat them anymore. I want to cook and enjoy something different! There are ingredients calling my name! Rather than let the deliciousness spoil, I think I'll be freezing the leftovers. They're bound to come in handy one week I really don't feel like cooking.

How do you avoid letting food spoil in your house?

Thursday, 06 January 2011

How to Perfectly Roast a Chicken
One of the interesting quirks of the law is how the FDA labels food. For example, to call itself "Fruit Cocktail" there has to be a specific proportion of certain fruits, including cherries. Another example is chickens. Chickens are labeled by weight, not by use. A fryer may not be best for frying; it really just means it weighs between 3 and 5 pounds.

So, start with a fryer.

Rinse the cavity with warm (not hot) water; and pick out the gizzards, neck, etc. Trim any excess skin or fat, and pat the outside of the chicken dry.

Place him breast-side up, and drizzle with olive oil. Dust with herbs and spices. I'm partial to
- dried sage
- garlic powder
- dried parsley
- paprika
- tarragon
but rosemary, black pepper, thyme, and onion powder are also good.
Then stuff the cavity with aromatics and vegetables of your choosing. I like
one small lemon, quartered
daimana
mulling spice
carrots
1/2 small onion, halved again
1-3 peeled garlic cloves
but you can also try parsnips, oranges, or whole herbs like rosemary stalks or lavendar, if you like.

Preheat your oven to 375 F, and truss the chicken. This means, tie his legs together with twine, and tie a loop around the body to pin his wings to his body. This step is optional, but makes for better presentation and a more even cook. E.g., you won't burn the wing tips and drumsticks.

When the oven is hot, cook your chicken for a total of 1 to 1.5 hours, 30 minutes on each side. To flip the chicken, use a spatula in your "off" hand and tongs in your dominant hand, flipping him end-over-end, with the opening of the cavity "up" to avoid spilling, rather than rotating from side to side. This preserves the juices and keeps him moist.

Chicken is done when a light golden brown, and the skin is crispy. To check food safety, pierce the skin between drumstick and body, and if the juice runs clear he is done. If you have a food thermometer, the chicken should be 160 F or more internally.

If you want to add salt, you can do it now or after carving. As with any meat, allow it to cool before carving to preserve its delicious juiciness! Then, carve and enjoy!
Did you find this tutorial helpful? Have you ever had a roasting disaster? How do you season your chicken?

Wednesday, 29 December 2010

I think our new bottle opener might be too ambitous:

Monday, 27 December 2010

Nontraditional Calabaza con Pollo

There's a saying in Texas about non-Texans: "You weren't born here, but you got here as fast as you could!"

Well Mister and I were both born in Texas, but only one of us had the good fortune to have a Hispanic background. I, on the other hand, got there as fast as I could. I over-compensated for being the whitest kind of German by learning Spanish at a young age and living in the "darker" side of town. I have fond memories of Mexican food from my childhood, which quickly faded to make room for chicken tenders and macaroni.

*sigh* Luckily, the spark has been revived. Cooking comfort food for us almost always includes rice and beans. Today I got the craving for my Mister's squash and chicken stew (extra spicy!) to ward off the cold weather.

Ingredients
1 pound chicken thighs, boneless and skinless *
3 Mexican squash, or zucchini
1-2 jalapeno peppers
1 small white onion
1 tbl tomato paste
1 cup rice
2.5 cups water or chicken stock
1 tsp oregano
1 bay leaf
2 tsps salt
1 tbl cumin/comino
1 tsp cayenne pepper **
1/4 small head of red cabbage ***

* You can use any kind of chicken pieces you want, but I don't recommend the breasts. They are too dry for this dish. Mister prefers the bone-in chicken thighs, because they're cheaper and more flavorful, and he's provincial, but I get to pick, since I'm doing the cooking tonight!
** This is a holdover from his French heritage. We just love cayenne!
*** This is my German flair and you're more than welcome to omit it.

Brown your chicken thighs in some vegetable oil over medium heat. If it splatters, put the lid on!

Don't worry about cooking them all the way through, they go back in later. (You can, if you want to, but the chicken will get tough).

Remove the chicken to a platter, and allow it to rest. Add the sliced peppers and onion to what's left of the oil.

Cook until the onion just begins to be translucent. Add all spices except salt.

Calabaza just means "squash" in Spanish. You can use any kind, we really like the little green Mexican squashes, but zucchini works well also. I don't like the yellow squash, they are too watery and fall apart, plus the seeds give a weird texture. If you love 'em, though, don't let us stop you!

Add 1 tablespoon of tomato paste. Stir well.

Cut up your chicken now that it has rested, and add it back in.

Add rice, water and salt as well. Add your bay leaf. Let it come to a boil, then cover it and simmer on low. If you used white rice, this only takes 20 minutes. If you used brown, let it go 35-40.

Be sure to wash thoroughly with soap and water anything that touched chicken, including your cutting board, knife (and handle!) and your hands!

If you are going for cabbage, or adding any frozen vegetables like corn or carrots, do it with about 10 minutes' cook time remaining.

When it's done, the rice will be soft, and the stew will be thick with some residual water.

In keeping with non-tradition, I serve mine with avocado and cotijo cheese instead of corn tortillas.

How do you feel about fusion foods? Would you cook a non-traditional favorite?

Sunday, 19 December 2010

Hobbit Feast!!!

When I heard that a local dinner theatre would be showing the Lord of the Rings trilogy, I nearly jumped out of my office chair! Watching the three was always a holiday tradition at home, plus this had delicious food. I clicked for tickets, and nearly fell out of my chair: $135 a person. WHA?!? Outlandish.

So I consulted my man, and he consoled me (as usual) with the promise of delicious food and cozy movie-watching in the comfort of home. "We'll have our own hobbit feast" he said. So we did!

Here's the menu: sauteed mushrooms and sage; braised brussels sprouts in butter; chicken sausage with cherries and pecans (store bought, sorry folks!); roasted potatoes; crackers and edam; heirloom tomato salad; onion bread and goat's brie; ginger chocolate; strawberries, blackberries, and cream; and rabbit stew.

Want the recipes? You got it!

Heirloom Tomato salad
Ingredients
Heirloom tomatoes
1 tbl Apple cider vinegar or Red wine vinegar
ground black pepper

Heirloom tomatoes taste way better than the hothouse kind. They have a bold, acidic flavor that needs little to no adornment. I bought two the same diameter, and layered them. This salad is about visual appeal. Add a little vinegar and pepper when it's assembled, but don't salt them or they weep.

Multigrain Pepper & Sesame Crackers and Edam

This paired especially well with the Samachlaus beer, which was peppery and sweet almost like a liquer. The cheese is not overpowering, but has its own butter-and-pepper flavor; the crackers compliment both perfectly!

Mushrooms and Sage
Ingredients:
2 portabello mushrooms, sliced
5 button mushrooms, sliced if you desire
3 shiitake mushrooms, sliced if you desire
1 tbl olive oil
2 fresh sage leaves, or 1 tsp dried
1 splash dry red wine

The real trick with mushrooms is not to get them wet. They're mostly water anyway, but if you salt them or immerse them, they become rubbery. Cook them on high heat, so they cook fast. Deglaze with wine. Salt, if you must at all, when they're slightly cool.

Brussels Sprouts
Ingredients:
6 fresh Brussels sprouts
1-2 tbl unsalted butter
1 pinch turmeric
salt and pepper to taste

Like with mushrooms, there's a trick to Brussels sprouts. Don't overcook them and they won't get bitter. Sautee in melted butter over medium heat, just until the butter starts to brown, or the outsides of the sprouts soften. They should still have some "bite" to them, not be all mushy. As usual, salt when they're done.

Chicken Sausage

Be cautious with this stuff, it's still raw chicken. Keep it cool until ready to heat. Put them in a saucepan, and just cover with water or broth. If you're inclined, you can add a crushed clove of garlic to the water. We prefer to keep it simple, though. Bring the water to just under a boil; cook for 7-10 minutes.

Be sure to skim any scum off the top, and if you want some color alternate between boiling for 5 minutes and sauteeing/browning for two, then boil again, and brown again. Mmm.

Onion Bread
Ingredients:
4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 packet yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup oil, vegetable or olive
1 beaten egg
1 cup hot milk
1 large white onion, caramelized

To caramelize onions, cook on medium-low heat, stirring vigilantly, until they are a light golden brown. Many a time I have walked away "for just a minute" to find my onions had burned. Don't make my mistake! They're good brown, they're awful blackened.
Let the yeast dissolve in water just warm enough to put on the wrist (about 100 degrees Farenheit). Add the oil, and one cup of flour. Let rise until doubled, then add the cooled onions and knead in the rest of the flour. Add more if your climate is moist. The dough should be springy, not thick, and slightly sticky. Let rise again.
You can form small loaves, rolls, or one large loaf pan's worth. I prefer rustic rounds -- no worrying about sticking to the sides of a baking pan, and they always come out pretty! Bake at 400 for 35-40 minutes.

Serve with butter, or cheese. We had goat's brie :-9

Roasted yellow potatoes
Ingredients:
5 yellow potatoes (waxy)*
1/2 tsp paprika
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp coriander seed
1 tsp dried mustard seed
olive oil

Dice the potatoes roughly, they don't have to be pretty just mostly uniform (so they cook evenly). Toss with oil, and sprinkle the seasoning on. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees (hotter if you dare!) and pop 'em in when she's good and roaring. These suckers take anywhere from 35-50 minutes, depending on how they're cut. You'll know they're done when they blister slightly.
*Yes I know russets would roast better, but we were going for Hobbit-authentic. Plus I prefer them!

Stewed Coney:*
We used this recipe.
I won't repost, it's long. But it's fantastic!!

* Coney is the provencial name for rabbit. Yes it's a game meat, and no there's no substitute for it. You can get this from local breeders (for around $10/lb) or specialty markets ($15/lb and up) or, if you are lucky enough to have a hispanic grocery nearby - and we do! - their produce section likely carries it (around $5/lb).

Berries and Cream
Ingredients:
1 pint strawberries
1 pint blackberries
1/2 cup heavy cream
seeds of one vanilla bean
1 tbl granulated sugar

A very English dessert! So simple: whip the cream on high (or by hand, if you want to earn it!) until soft peaks form. Add the sugar, and vanilla bean, and whip until stiff. Rinse and dry your berries gently. Dallop and enjoy!
My. Mister also surprised me with chocolate! The ginger complements the mead fabulously! Good choice, Mister!

We had this meal with what was left of the wine (Little Black Dress pinot noir); with mead (Chaucer's); and with a delicious winter Ale (Samichlaus special edition).

What do you think of our hobbit feast?? Has a movie or book ever inspired your recipes?

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About Us

Hey y'all! We are a couple that really likes food, wine, beer, and cooking together. We'll try to submit recipes and our cooking and dining experiences on here fairly often so that we can share them with you.