A Simple Chicken Sandwich

I love sandwiches.  They may (seriously) be my favorite food.  ANYTHING can go into a sandwich.  They are only limited by one's imagination - and the ingredients in one's home.

Tonight, it was chicken sandwiches on baguettes.  Grilled chicken breasts, sliced ham.  Mushrooms sauteed in butter and shredded quattro formaggio cheese.  Ranch dressing.  Fresh baguette.  Pure heaven.

I baked off some french fries and dinner was ready in 15 minutes.

I love sandwiches.....


Tiella

Tiella

We were watching Lidia on TV on Saturday, and she was making a Tiella.  It's a thin-crusted deep-dish pizza stuffed with any combination of seafood and/or vegetables and/or meats.  The most famous (and the ones her son-in-law's grandmother makes) come from Gaeta, but they can be found throughout Italy.

The dough is a combination of semolina and all-purpose flours, with a bit of salt, sugar, yeast, and olive oil.  Simple.

It's baked in a cast iron skillet and can be served in the pan or out.  I really should have started this earlier.  It takes 45 minutes to bake and another full hour to cool in the pan before serving.

And I'm hungry now...

So I didn't wait the hour.  It was out of the pan and on my plate in less than 15 minutes.  It just smelled too damn good to let sit any longer.

I can't even begin to describe this one!  WOW!  I can just imagine a bazillion and one different fillings!  The crust is light, yet hearty and the fiulling was superb!

Tim's Tiella

The crust was made using Lidia's recipe:

  • 1 pkg yeast
  • 1/4 cup warm water
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 cups semolina flour
  • 1 tsp coarse salt
  • 1 1/2 tsp sugar
  • 3/4 cup water
  • 5 tbsp olive oil

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water.

Add dry ingredients to food processor or heavy-duty mixer.  Mix or pulse to mix ingredients.  Mix water and 3 tbsp olive oil with yeast mixture and pour into feed tube of processor and mix about 30 seconds.  You should have a soft dough that cleans the side of the bowl.  Add more flour or water if necessary.

Knead briefly to form a smooth ball and place in lightly oiled bowl to rise and double.  Punch down, reform ball and let rise, again.

After second rise, pinch off 1/3 of the dough for the top crust.  Roll out to fit 12" cast iron skillet or baking dish. (I used a Le Cruset pan and it worked perfectly!)

Roll out top crust to fit top.

Add filling and press down slightly to compact.

Place top crust and fold and pinch seams together to seal.  Brush top with olive oil.

Bake in preheated 375° oven for about 45 minutes.  If you have a baking stone, preheat it in the oven and place the pan on top to bake.

The Filling:

Lidia's book has a couploe of great-sounding fillings, but on the show she pretty much said to do what you want.  I always have a lot of that in the house, so I did:

  • 1 bunch broccoli rabe, chopped
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 4 Italian sausage links, casings removed
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • salt and pepper
  • quattro formaggio cheese

I sauteed the onions with the crumbled sausage.  When they looked good, I added the garlic, then the broccoli rab and S&P.  I cooked it all down until it was quite dry and then cooled it completely.

Placed it in the pan, pressed it down, covered with cheese, added the top crust, and then baked for about 45 minutes.

The recipe calls for allowing it to cool for an hour in the pan before turning out.  I let it maybe cool for 15 minutes.

It was damn good!


Fresh From The Garden

I have been really pleased with the quality of the little amount of vegetables we planted.  The tomatoes were spectaular.  The peppers unbelievable...

Tonight, dinner was planned around two items - a pepper and a crookneck squash.  The pepper was ours, the squash from our neighbor.  I was originally planning the Closing Ceremony Dinner, but my tastebuds were calling for a salad, so salad, it was.

I grilled the pepper and squash, grilled a bit of beef, hard cooked a couple of eggs, and dinner was ready in minutes.

We're thinking that next year we're going to expand our repertoire of garden vegetables to include a few more items.  If we moved a couple of rose bushes to the side yard, we could expand the vegetables a bit.  There is just nothing better than REAL vegetables fresh from the garden.

None of this grown for looks and no flavor/shipped halfway around the world stuff.  Good, honest, local stuff.

The older I get, the more I notice just how poor and flavorless the stuff we buy in the supermarket is.  And how much I miss those flavors of my youth.  Since the food industry isn't about to start growing real food any time soon, it's time for me to start doing it, myself.

Already, I very rarely will buy something out of season.  I just don't believe in eating fresh strawberries in January.  It's wrong.  I want my acorn squash in the fall and my watermelon in July.   I like cooking seasonally.  I like eating seasonally.

And I'm really looking forward to growing more of my own...

Okay...  Since I'm gonna grow my own food, I might as well make my own ice cream, too!  Hell - since a "half-gallon" is now 1.5 quarts - and the price has gone up for less product - it just makes sense.  Hell - no one's ever accused ME of being pigheaded or stubborn!  Uh-uh.  Not me.  Nope...

I used 2 cups cream (NOT ultra-pasturized, either!) and a cup of whole milk, 3/4 cup of sugar, and 2 tbsp vanilla.

It is soooooooo good!


Miss Scarlet, in the Kitchen, with the Frying Pan

Miss Scarlet Snapper, that is...  Scarlet Snapper - close relative to Red and the rest of the snapper family - is found on the other side of the ocean around Indonesia and Thailand.

Tonight's dinner was sauteed snapper in a bit of olive oil, garlic, and lemon verbena while in the oven went potatoes, corn, and peppers fresh from the garden.  Dayum, it was yummy!

Victor deglazed the pan with some white wine, cooked it down, and then added a bit of butter to make a great sauce to top the fish.  The result was a rich, buttery firm-fleshed fish that had my stomach smiling.

The fresh-from-the-garden peppers were most excellent!  They just have soooooo much flavor!  It's like the tomatoes we've been growing.  You really know you're eating a tomato - it's not some almost-red orb that has been grown to withstand transworld shipping at the expense of any sort of flavor.

In the freezer right now is a big ol' browinie I baked in a springform pan, topped with homemade vanilla ice cream.  (Love that ice cream maker!!!)

I've sort of fallen off my Olympics kick, and tomorrow night is the closing ceremony.....  Should I do China or London in honor of 2012?!?  I wish Paris had won the 2012 Olympics - the food definitely would have been easier!  Oh well... decisions, decisions.....


Summer Salads

There's nothing better than a salad for dinner.....


Chicken Saltimbocca

Back in the '60's in San Francisco, there was an Italian restaurant on Green Street where I first tasted Veal Saltimbocca.  I would go there often with my now ex-sister-in-law and/or her family.  My brother was in the Navy at the time and Chris and I were almost inseperable friends back then.

I'll be damned if I can remember the name of the place after all these years, but I do remember just how wonderful that dish was.

So tonight's chicken saltimbocca wasn't quite those succulent rolls of veal, sage, and prosciutto from years past, but I have ta tell ya - it was pretty darned good!

This was a Thursday night dinner.  It wasn't company coming, it wasn't all fancy-schmancy, it was just dinner with a bit of an Olympic twist.

I pounded the breasts and layed out fresh sage leaves and prosciutto.  I took a small piece of Italian truffle cheese and rolled it into a piece of prosciutto, and then rolled the chicken around it.  I browned them in a bit of olive oil, and then into a hot oven for about 10 minutes.  I deglazed the pan with marsalla, and then whisked in a couple of pats of butter.

In the meantime, I made a simple white and wild rice pilaf, and there was a nice big bowl of fresh from the garden tomato salad in the 'fridge.

Plated everything, drizzled the pan sauce over the chicken, and dinner was served!


An American in Paris

Okay... to keep the Olympic theme going, we went to France for dessert tonight.  I picked up the cherries at work today on a whim, and they ended up being the perfect end to the day!  I actually make clafoutis fairly regularly, but this is the first time I ever made one with cherries!  It was way-good!

The original recipe came from Bon Appetit magazine...

Cherry-Almond Clafouti

  • 1/2 cup whole almonds (about 2 ounces)
  • 1 1/4 cup whole milk
  • 1 tbsp plus 1/2 cup sugar
  • 8 oz dark sweet cherries, pitted, halved (about 2 cups)
  • 3 large eggs, room temperature
  • 1/2 tsp almond extract
  • pinch of salt
  • 1/4 cup all purpose flour
  • Powdered sugar

Blend almonds in processor until ground but not pasty. Transfer to small saucepan, add milk and bring to simmer. Remove from heat; let steep 30 minutes. Pour through fine strainer, pressing on solids to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard solids in strainer.

Preheat oven to 375F. Butter 10 inch diameter glass pie plate, sprinkle with 1 tbsp sugar. Scatter cherries evenly over bottom of dish.

Using electric mixer, beat eggs, almond extract, salt, and remaining 1/2 cup sugar in medium bowl until well blended. Add strained almond milk and beat to blend. Sift flour into egg mixture and beat until smooth. Pour mixture over cherries. Bake until set and knife inserted into center comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Cool completely.


Home Cookin'

My original plan for dinner tonight was back to Italy and a chicken saltimbocca.  When I got home and opened the 'fridge, I realized I should use up the hot dogs I bought last week.  So...  Instead of travelling to Europe tonight for the Olympics, we stayed home.  I always have canned baked beans in the shelf, and corn muffins would be the operfect accompaniment.  Dinner was decided.

I grilled the dogs while making the muffins.  I added a tablespoon of Happy Hal's Jalapenos to the batter just to spice 'em up a bit.  They came out perfect!  Dogs and beans went into the oven for about 30 minutes, and all was yummy.

Tomorrow, we'll probably be back in Europe somewhere...


From Russia, With Love

It wasn't until I was nearly through making this that I realized that I probably should have gone to a country other than Russia...  Oh well...  the recipe is more Joe's of Westlake than it is Russian, anyway...  But I digress...

This is a pretty classic dish from the 1950's.  It's one my mom made fairly regularly, because it could be stretched to feed their six kids and whatever strays had ended up at the table that evening.

Beef Stroganoff

  • 1 lb beef, cut into strips
  • 2 tbsp oil
  • 4 tbsp butter
  • 1/4 cup shallots, finely chopped
  • 1 pound mushrooms, thickly sliced
  • 1 cup beef broth
  • 2 tbsp brandy
  • 3/4 cup crème fraîche or whipping cream
  • 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
  • 1 tsp dill

egg noodles
paprika

Brown beef and set aside.  Melt 2 tablespoons butter in same skillet over medium-high heat.

Add shallots and sauté about 2 minutes. Add mushrooms and sauté about 5-6 minutes until mushrooms are browned. Add beef broth, then brandy. Simmer about 10 minutes. Stir in crème fraîche and Dijon mustard. Add meat and any accumulated juices and heat through. Stir in chopped dill. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, cook noodles.  Drain.  Add remaining 2 tablespoons butter and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper. Divide noodles among plates. Top with beef and sauce. Sprinkle with paprika.

It was good, it was hearty, it was filling!  I think tomorrow I shall have to think of a friendlier and less-aggressive country to visit.  There's over 200 at the Olympics.  I should be able to find one...


The Rain In Spain

Makes Stew that's not plain.  Or something like that...

Tonight's salute to the Olympics was Spanish Beef Ttew.  I know it was Spanish because that's what the recipe said.  Had the recipe title not had the word "Spanish" in it, though, i would have been hard-pressed to find the Spanish connection.  Actually, I ate it and had a hard time finding the Spanish connection.  Maybe it was the 1/4 cup of olives the recipe called for.

I mean - it was really good... Nice, rich gravy, tender chunks of beef... but... not Spanish.

Because the recipe didn't call for potatoes, or noodles, or anything, I boild a couple of potatoes in their skings, and then coarsely mashed them into a skillet with some butter and fried them up.

They went into the bowl, and the stew went on top of that.

It was actually really good.  It just wasn't quite Spanish.....


Ikan Kelapa from Singapore

It's Olympics, Day Three...  On to Singapore!

Singapore is one of the mosty memorable places I've ever had the pleasure to visit.  It's almost frightening to think that it's been 36 years since I was there as a 20 year old sailor.  And I still have fantastic memories.  I had some of the best food from sidewalk carts.

The old city that I enjoyed so much doesn't even exist anymore - urban renewal - but I'll never forget the omelette I had from a guy with a wok on a cart.  The eggs were perfectly cooked with spices I had never had and with vegetables I couldn't pronounce.  Damn it was good.

I had a curry dish that was so spicy, it seared the back of my eyeballs!  The old guy who cooked it broke into a huge grin when he saw me devour it without missing a beat.  His English was difficult for me to understand, but his food spoke in terms I understood very well!

As an adventurous (and Navy-poor) kid, I ate most of my meals from sidewalk carts and small hole-in-the-wall places.  I was totally fearless - and never did get sick!

Some fun memories came back to me in looking for something Singaporean to cook tonight.  I remember lots of coconut, and thought this fish dish might fill the bill.

It was good, but it wasn't really, really good.  I think part of it was just the texture of the topping.  It was gritty where my tongue was wanting creamy.  If I were eating it in Singapore, I probably  would have loved every morsel.  But...  I wasn't in Singapore tonight.

The cauliflower, on the other hand, was freakin' awesome!  That recipe follows...

Ikan Kelapa - Spiced Coconut Fish

  • Fish fillets
  • 1/2 cup Desiccated coconut
  • 3/4 cup Hot water
  • 1 clove Garlic
  • 12 mm Fresh ginger
  • 1/4 tsp Ground kencur (aromatic ginger)
  • 1 tsp Ground cumin
  • 1 tsp Ground coriander
  • 1 tsp Garam masala
  • 1 tsp Salt
  • 1 1/2 tbsp Lemon juice
  • 1 tbsp Chopped fresh coriander leaves

Banana leaves
Aluminum foil

Method :
Wash, clean and scale fillets and cut into approximately 10 cm lengths.
Blend together, at high speed, the coconut, hot water, garlic, ginger, kencur, cumin, coriander, garam masala and salt until coconut is very finely ground.
Mix in lemon juice and coriander leaves.
Put equivalent of 1 fillet of fish on each piece of banana leaf placed on square of foil.
Spoon 2-3 teaspoons of coconut mixture on fish.
Wrap leaf over, make a parcel of foil, steam for 15 minutes.
Serve hot.

I was fresh out of Banana leaves, so I used parchment paper.  It worked quite well.

The cauliflower I made was out of this world!  And SPICY!!!  This was really reminiscent of the foods I ate when I was there.  I actually used less chili paste than the recipe called for and it was still firey hot.

Singapore Vegetable Sauté

  • 1/4 cup oil
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 cup shallot, chopped
  • 1 tbsp ginger, chopped
  • 1/4 cup chili paste
  • 1 tbsp turmeric
  • 1 tsp chili powder

Saute together and then add:

  • 1 cup water
  • 3 tbsp sugar
  • 1/4 cup coconut milk
Simmer about 8 minutes.
Sauté any combination of vegetables such as eggplant, carrots, bell peppers, blanched broccoli and or cauliflower and add to sauce.

It was kickapoo awesome! I saved the excess sauce and plan on using it as a BBQ sauce/marinade.

12 more Olympian recipes to go.....

Oh... And Victor made a Good 'ol USA Lemon Poundcake for dessert. It's Gold Medal Good!!


Italy - and the Garden

Day Two of the Olympics took us to Itally.  No real plan in mind, but I knew chicken and polenta were going to play a role.  And Victor had made sauce a few days ago, so that was taken care of.

We have a bazillion tomatoes ripening as I type, so tomato definitely had to play a role, as well.

So.....

I grilled th chicken.  Onto the plate went a bit of sauce, polenta, the chicken breast on top of that.  Two thick slices of tomato went on top of the chicken, and they were topped by a thick slice of fresh mozzarella.

Under the broiler for just a minute to melt the mozzarella a bit - and one of the plates cracked from the heat!

I looked, said a couple of words that would have made my mother wash my mouth out with soap (yes, my mother really did wash my mouth out with soap - more than once...)

But I digress...

Fortunately, the platte cracked, it didn't explode or shatter, so there were no teeny-tiny shards of glass to worry about.  I removed the chicken breast with the tomato and cheese (leaving the polenta and sauce for after-dinner cleanup) and replated slightly differently.

The presentation wasn't quite as dramatic, but it sure did taste good.

The tomatoes this year may just be the best we have grown, yet!