Chicken Fried Steak
I can't really recall the first time I had Chicken Fried Steak... Probably either at my grandmother's or at Auntie Sis' as a little kid. My mom made it once every blue moon or so (with six kids, even cheap steak was a rarity at our house!) and I definitely had it while in the Navy. (LOTS of Southern boys in the navy, ya know?!?) I remember vats of country gravy and sheet pans stacked high with greasy steak.
But the Chicken Fried Steak I will always remember was served at Lyon's restaurant in Daly City, CA. It was pretty good, for a chain restaurant, but what makes it memorable was Lyon's is where we always went to dinner with my parents. In her later years, my mom pretty much stopped cooking. She attributed it to the numerous hundreds of thousands of meals she had prepared over her life. Besides, Lyon's was close by, reasonably priced, they could get anything they wanted, menu or not, and they knew all the staff. It was like their own private club. And they loved showing off their favorite kids. (That would be me and Victor, of course!)
The vinyl booths, the long counters and the 70's decor only enhanced the dining experience. And the waitresses - either 50 year veteran's who cold work a dozen tables without breaking a sweat - or, later, 20 year old Filipina's who were extremely friendly, if somewhat absentminded - were the icing on the cake.
I guess this would be a good point to explain to some of you just what Chicken Fried Steak is... It seems that since moving east, up here above the Mason-Dixon Line, there's nary a soul who knows what it is! Quite simply, it's a piece of steak - beef steak - that is fried as one would fry chicken. In the olden days, one would take a cheap cut of beef, flour it, and pound it with a Coke bottle to tenderize it and incorporate the flour. Then fry in fat and smother in cream gravy.
I generally use cubed steaks... It is dredged in flour (and I then dip in egg and then dredge in flour, again) and then fried in fat. Oh yum. Of course, it's not complete without Counntry Gravy - cream gravy, sausage gravy... and mashed potatoes. Cardiac heaven on a plate. The best gravy is made from the fat drippings in the pan, of course. Otherwise, why bother?!? And a whole bunch of mashed potatoes!
There's as many variations on a theme as there are folks who cook it. It's the type of recipe that is usually made the same way Mom made it... And it is distinctly Southern (and Western) in nature... Where did it originate?!? Plenty of people claim the honor, but it's been around a long, long time.....
And I'll be making it for a long time, too.....
Tapioca Pudding, Chipotle BBQ Sauce, and Chipotle Spice Rub
Last week I was ordering some new spices from my favorite spice company Atlantic Spice Co. I know, I know... everyone's favorite online spice company is now Penzey's, but Atlantic Spice (and their sister company San Francisco Herb Co.) is still my store of choice.
I had seen a few recipes lately calling for cardamom and coriander. The prices in grocery stores for spices are ludicrous and there was just no way I was spending $11.99 for a thimble full of cardamom powder! Also, I wanted to refill my smoked paprika and wanted some chipotle powder. Atlantic Spice does have a minimum $25.00 shipping order, so when I calculated my total - $22.50 - I went back to see if there was something else I couldn't live without. I found a pound of pearl tapioca for $3.70/pound.
Homemade tapioca pudding has always been a favorite dessert - and one that I have seldom made. I had a recipe that had been sitting around forever, so when the packager arrived Tuesday, I was set to go! I'm actually not sure who the recipe is from - it's handwritten on a scrap of paper... but it's old...
A small summer storm came through the area, knocking out our power for 33 hours, so the pudding was put on hold until yesterday. And boy, was it worth the wait!
Rich, creamy, decadent! Better than anything one could buy.....
Tapioca Pudding
- 1 cup tapioca
- 4 c cream
- 2 c milk
- 4 egg yolks
- 1 c sugar
- pinch salt
- 1 tsp vanilla
Soak tapioca in water about 4 hours. Add cream, milk and salt. Heat and stir until boiling. Simmer, uncovered, about 45 minutes, stirring frequently. Add sugar gradually. Beat yolks. temper with some of hot tapioca. Mix into rest of mixture. Bring to boil, stirring constantly. Add vanilla.
Simple directions... One thing to note is this is for pearl tapioca - not "instant." And it does take about an hour to make. (I set the timer for 10 minute intervals to come in and stir...) And when it was done, I put it into a bowl and placed plastic wrap directly on the pudding to keep a skin from forming. The recipe could easily be halved - but that would mean only half as much pudding for the same amount of work!
I was on a bit of a roll... No power for 33 hours made me want to get into the kitchen, I guess (not that I ever seem to want to get OUT of the kitchen, mind you!) So it was time to also make Chipotle BBQ Sauce! (It's not unusual for me to have simultaneous pots bubbling on the stove!)
Chipotle BBQ Sauce
- 2 cups catsup - organic, of course! No high fructose corn syrup!!
- 1 cup red wine vinegar
- 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1 cup brown sugar, packed
- 4 tablespoons chipotle powder
- 2 tablespoons dry mustard
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
Mix all ingrdients in a saucepan and simmer about 15 minutes. It is kick-a-poo GREAT!
And I had to make a Chipotle Spice Rub because... well... I have all the ingredients!!
Chipotle Spice Rub
- 1 1/2 cups kosher salt
- 1/2 cup dried oregano
- 1/4 cup chipotle powder
- 1/4 cup smoked paprika
- 1/4 cup powdered garlic
Mix everything in a food processor until powdery. That's it!
Last night, I used the powder on pork chops and then grilled them. They were most excellent! I made white rice to which I added a few tablespoons of hot fresh salsa, and had fresh corn on the cob on the side... And with warm tapioca pudding for dessert, it was gastronomic heaven!
Now... to find those recipes calling for cardamom.....
Clemen's Market, Italian Sausage, and Polenta
This past Thursday found me getting a picture taken for my new driver license. I can't believe we've been here over 5 years already! The renewal process is a bit strange in Pennsylvania. One can renew a license at an "Auto Tag" store or online. I chose the online option, only to find out that I still had to go to the Photo Licensing Center to have my picture taken! So much for efficiency!
The center is in a strip mall in Frazer, about 15 miles from us down Rt 30 - Lancaster Avenue. I was in and out in about 10 minutes, and noticed a Clemen's Family Market in the center. I have heard of Clemen's, but had never been in one...
I'm not quite sure what the hype is all about, because i don't think I'll be making the trek back there again too soon! The store was nice enough, I guess, but walking in, it was dark. Really dark. With a brown open, exposed ceiling and low lights - and flowers abounding, it was decidedly cave-like walking in. Not unwelcoming, but not welcoming, either.
The first area I walked by was the in-store bakery. Some great looking products in cases, a plethora of donuts and bagels, lots of freshly baked breads and bagged rolls, and a stand-alone display of different sandwich rolls. Rolls with no price. I looked and looked, walked up and down, checked some more. No price. No posted price for me means an automatic no purchase. i walked over to the produce section.
It was colorful and the produce was nicely displayed. Pricey, too. I had done my major weekly shopping the day before, so really didn't need any more fresh stuff, anyway. I started walking the aisles.
One of my more favorite things to do is walk the aisles of a quiet grocery store. I love walking by products and 1) mocking them for their partially hydrogenated, overly processed, mass-consumerism, or 2) stopping and finding new and unique products hiding amongst the mass-produced junk. What i found strange about this store was how disjointed the aisles were. Walking down an aisle, out of the blue, would be shelves full of items totally unrelated to anything else in the aisle! In my way of thinking, items should at the very least compliment one another in an area. Finding vinegar with the cereal is not my idea of efficient cross-merchandizing!
I walked by the deli counter twice, and kept seeing the guy back there - with his plastic gloves on - scratching, fiddling with his hat... My third trip by, I saw a different guy pulling on fresh gloves. I ordered some sliced ham and sliced cheese. He changed his gloves when he finished.
I made it over t the meat department and did find a huge box of Italian Sausage on sale, or rather "discounted 50%" with my Clemen's card. I picked one up. I grabbed a couple more items - some red wine vinegar I keep forgetting to buy, a loaf of Italian Bread (the only one that didn't have high fructose corn syrup in it!) and made my way up to the cashier - a very helpful older gentleman who ran over to the customer service desk for me to get my discount card application.
He was actually the best thing in the store! He explained the card to me, told me about other places it is good, showed me the 'extra $5.00 off" discounts for spending $40.00. And he thanked me for bagging my own groceries.
As I said, it wasn't a bad experience, but it wasn't a great one, either. And since the store is definitely out of the way for me, I'd have to make an effort to go there - and it just didn't seem like it would be worth that effort.
Which brings me to dinner tonight! I cooked up a bit of the Italian Sausage - and it was very good!
I was feeling a tad lazy today! We had taken the puppy to the dog park, and got home just before the latest torrential downpour hit! (We actually received 2" of rain in less than an hour!) It was cool in the house, so, looking into the well-stocked 'fridge and finding most of an onion and most of a bell pepper all nicely wrapped, a pound of mushrooms - and my package of sausage - a bit of a sausage fry was in order! And... with a bag of polenta in the cupboard, a sausage fry over creamy polenta was definitely the ticket!
I sliced up 8 chunks of sausage, and sliced the onion and pepper into strips. Threw them into a skillet with a handful of sliced mushrooms, a splash of olive oil and some fresh garlic. When everything was nicely browned, I added a can of diced tomatoes and a bunch of fresh basil from the garden and let it simmer.
Meanwhile, I made the polenta. 2 cups of milk, a pinch of salt, and 1/2 cup of polenta. i cooked it, stirring now and again, and then added a tbsp of butter and a handful of shredded cheese.
Into the bowl it went, with the sausage and peppers on top. A healthy grating of Locatelli on top, and it was a yummy dinner!
Phoebe's Baked Beans
One could possibly surmise by the dearth of writings here lately, that I have given up on cooking and eating! Well… nothing could be farther from the truth! It’s just that we have been off to the west coast for friends-and-family gatherings, and trying to catch up on all the backlogged work from taking off for another 10 days. Stop eating and cooking!? Be serious!
We were out to Portland and Seattle, where we were wined and dined by family and friends, alike! Starting at my baby sister’s house, we had the most wonderful Chipotle baked beans one could imagine! They were so good, in fact, I made them the day we got back! It’s a really simple recipe using canned baked beans as the base. Purists can definitely start out with their own dried beans, but… these are GREAT as is!
Phoebe's Baked Beans
The original recipe comes from Cooking Light magazine. Phoebe made these at their housewarming "Open House" and nary a bite was left!
- 1/2 cup minced shallots
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1/2 cup tomato puree (I use tomato paste - I never have puree in the house!)
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/4 cup cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons molasses
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 chipotle chiles, canned in adobo sauce, seeded and chopped
- 2 (28-ounce) cans baked beans
Preheat oven to 300°.
Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add shallots; sauté 4 minutes or until golden. Add cumin and garlic; sauté for 1 minute. Add tomato puree and oil, and cook for 2 minutes or until thick, stirring constantly. Add remaining ingredients (except beans.). Reduce heat; simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Combine beans and shallot mixture in a 2-quart baking dish. Bake at 300° for 1 hour or until thick and bubbly. (I cooked mine for about 2 hours. Phoebe cooked hers the day before and reheated. They taste better reheated or cooked longer, in my not so humble opinion!)
We met our friend Steph in Portland for lunch at Connor’s BBQ where the ribs were fall-off-the-bone fabulous! (Although, I must admit that it was the company that was the star that day!) Connor’s is the epitome of no-frills dining! Everything is served on or in disposables. One has to ask for utensils (plastic), napkins, whatever, but the service is friendly and the food is great! Dining is on picnic tables al fresco. We did a rack of ribs (served with sliced white Wonder Bread!) sides of macaroni and cheese, corn on the cob, and fresh lemonade. The bill for three was under $20.00.
We were then off to Seattle where we met two more friends BJ & Print, for an overnight visit! We headed out to the Seattle Zoo for an outdoor Indigo Girls Concert, and our girls packed a most fantabulous picnic dinner! Cheeses and salami, salads galore, chilled beverages, breads and crackers – and desserts! Again, the food was sublime, but the company stole the show! It’s amazing just how much better food tastes when you’re sharing it with good friends! The following morning they greeted us with a platter of various melons, homemade pancakes – with warm maple syrup - and a quality coffee that only Seattle can produce!
Back home, I’ve been on a bit of a chipotle kick! I can’t find chipotles in adobo at any of our local stores, so I brought back several cans – and have been using them a lot! I made a pretty good chipotle sauce the other night for a London broil, and then used it for a marinade with beef ribs and chicken thighs. Oh yum!
Now… I made this on the fly and didn’t write anything down, so I’ll never be able to reproduce it, exactly (the curse of being a cook who uses what’s in the house at the time and NEVER writes down measurements!) but a close approximation is:
Chipotle Sauce
- 3 chipotles in adobo, chopped
- 1 chopped onion
- 1 chopped bell pepper
- 2 cans diced tomatoes in juice
- ½ cup sugar
- ½ cup molasses
- ½ cup vinegar
- 1 can chopped green chiles
- Salt and pepper
I cooked the onions and peppers, added the tomatoes and remaining ingredients, simmered for about an hour, hit it with an immersion blender, and simmered another 30 minutes, or so… Spicy and yummy!
Today I am contemplating making some homemade chicken sausage… Maybe…
Tortuga Rum Cake
Okay, so just because I don't drink doesn't mean I never consume alcohol - and the following cake recipe DEFINITELY has some alcohol in it!
Ladies and gentlemen, if you've never had the pleasure, let me introduce you to Tortuga Rum Cake!
Oh my goodness! What a delightful treat! We brought back a bottle of Tortuga Rum from the Cayman Islands, and I, as I mentioned, don't drink. Yet I have this bottle of rum... Hmmmmmm... I decided I had to try and make one of the famous Tortuga Rum Cakes the island is famous for. Am I ever glad I did! The actual recipe is a family secret, but as with almost any secret, a few keywords into Google, and a reasonable facsimile appeared!
I scanned several different sites, but the recipe was the same in all of them - word-for-word - except for the one that started out with a box of yellow cake mix... I don't think so..... But I digress...
As I said the recipes were virtually all the same (I must be drunk... I'm repeating myself!) and all calling for Whaler's Vanille Rum -- Hawaiian-style rum. HA! I mock them! I have the real McCoy! Off to the kitchen I head, recipe in hand!
The cake itself was fairly basic and easy to make. It's the rum syrup poured over the top while the cake is still hot that sets it apart from all others! far apart.....
The cake fell a bit in the oven - I have no idea if it's actually supposed to, or not - but the perfect indentation in the cake made for the perfect reservoir when pouring on the rum syrup. It just seeped right in amd made for a really yummy center!
I must admit I was also worried about taking it out of the pan. Bundt pans and I don't always see eye-to-eye. But only the tiniest crumb broke off, and it was a snap to place it back - and the gooey syrup glued it right in place!
The cake is rich, moist, butter-and-rum heaven on a plate!
This one, I shall make again!
Ingredients:
***Basic Cake Mix:***
2 cups cake flour
1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter -- cut in bits
3 tablespoons vegetable oil***For The Cake:***
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts
1 (3.5oz) pkg vanilla pudding mix -- Instant Type
1/2 cup milk
4 eggs
1/2 cup Whaler's Vanille Rum -- Hawaiian-style rum (I used real Tortuga - neener-neener!)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract***Rum Soaking Glaze:***
1/2 cup butter -- not margarine
1/4 cup water
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup Whaler's Vanille Rum -- Hawaiian-style rum (ibid)Directions:
Tortuga Rum isn't available to the public for sale. || Except in the Cayman Island's that is... || It is only made for use in the production of the cakes in the Caribbean Islands. A substitution of Whaler's Vanille Rum is a close runner-up.For the Basic Scratch Mix: Use an electric mixer on low speed to combine the ingredients in a large mixing bowl until the mix is the consistency of fine gravel, and all of the particles are almost equal in size. (Basic Cake Mix may be stored in a container in the refrigerator for 3 months. This makes about 5 cups of mix and may be multiplied for other recipes as needed)
For the Cake: Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray a large (12 cup size) bundt pan with non-stick cooking spray. Sprinkle the chopped nuts into the bottom.
Place Basic Cake Mix, pudding mix, milk, eggs, rum, oil and vanilla in a large bowl and combine on medium speed with an electric mixer for about 2 or 3 minutes. Scrape down the bowl halfway through. Batter should be very smooth. Pour into prepared bundt pan and level out top.
Bake until fully golden and tester comes out clean and cake springs back -- about 55 minutes. Remove from oven and place on cooling rack while making soaking glaze.
Rum Soaking Glaze: In a small saucepan combine butter, water and sugar. Bring to a boil carefully as mixture boils over very easily. Reduce to a simmer and cook until sugar is dissolved and syrup is combine well and a little thicker. Remove from heat and add the rum and mix to combine.
While cake is still cooling, pour hot syrup into and on top of cake. There is a lot of syrup and if cake doesn't soak it up right away just wait a couple minutes and add the rest. It will take time to soak it up.
Cool cake completely in bundt pan before turning out onto serving platter. This cake is delicate, so once it is turned out, it cannot be moved around easily. Can be eaten when fully cool, but better the next day.
Apple Pear Clafouti
It was about 7pm last night when I had that familiar pang for dessert. Rarely does a night go by that we don't have something... Dessert is a major food-group in our house!
Usually, I have my "emergency ice cream" in the freezer, but nothing was on sale yesterday when I did my shopping, and I'll be damned if I'll pay $5.69 for the less-than-a-half-gallon containers! That, and it irritates the hell out of me that the dairy manufacturers quietly made their half-gallon ice cream containers 1 3/4 qt containers - and still raised the price! if it ain't buy one, get one free, I don't buy. But I digress.....
I had my latest issue of Bon Appetit, and saw a recipe for a Cherry-Almond Clafouti. Into the kitchen I went. For those who may not know, a Clafouti is a rustic French dessert somewhere between a pancake and a custard. It's been a while since I made one, and this one seemed to be just what the dessert doctor ordered! Here's the Bon Appetit Recipe - mine will follow!
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.
I had some ground hazelnut meal in the freezer, so this I substituted for the almonds - why dirty the processor, right?!? And I didn't have any cherries, but I had an apple and a pear. And I didn't have any whole milk, but I had skim milk and heavy cream. Oh, and I didn't have any all-purpose flour, but I had King Arthur White Whole Wheat and what the heck, not having the 'called-for' ingredients has never stopped me before!
The milk is simmering, the pie plate buttered and sugared, I open the egg carton and - only 2 eggs! I could run next door and borrow one - we borrow back-and-forth with our neighbors all the time - or I could make a quick run down to Wawa. I chose Wawa. (I'm listening to a great book on CD in the truck "The Kite Runner" and I'm always willing to take a short drive to hear a bit more...) Anyway.....
Back home with eggs in hand, I make my substitutions. Oh, and since I had used hazelnuts, I didn't want to add the almond extract, so I used vanilla...
Mixed it all, into the oven, and about 40 minutes later, it came out of the oven! We did let it cool a bit, and then dived into a heavenly light custardy filling briming with sweet pears and tart apples.
While cherries may be the traditional fruit, absolutely anything will work! I think my next one will be fresh peaches - and I have that peach extract from Fante's.....
Hmmmmmmm.........
Grilled Fish
It's Spring, it's warm outside, it's time for eating a bit lighter! With temps hitting the high 70's yesterday, it was obviously another "grill dinner." I love grilled foods - and one can grill just about anything! The grill is still looking good from the major cleaning I gave it the other day, too! (Who knows, if I play my cards right and actually CLEAN it on a regular basis... well... no promises...)
ANYWAY..... Into the freezer I went to see what delectable delights awaited me. I was greeted with the usual array of chicken, beef, pork - and a great-looking piece of red snapper. Dinner solved.
I did a 'counter-thaw.' You know, the kind everyone warns against. (I am such a rebel!) and then squeezed a lemon on top and sprinkled with a bit of dill. Onto the hot grill, skin side down. It cooked fairly quick for a fairly thick piece of fish. During the last few seconds, I flipped it over to get a bit of grill marking on the flesh.
It was really quick and easy! I grilled up some red potateoes in the grill basket (added olive oil, garlic, S&P) and had steamed broccoli on the side. Added a piece of grilled garlic bread, and voila! Dinner!
Simplicity of flavors, here. Nothing over-powering, nothing complicated. No 450 ingredients/exotic herbs and spices only available by special order from Madagascar..... Simple additions to let the natural flavors of the food come through.
That's not to say that I don't or won't do those 450 ingredient dishes - I definitely do! But ofttimes the best cooking is simple cooking. And simple cooking doesn't have to equate boring cooking.
Tonight is chicken breast of some sort. (Thawing properly in the fridge, 'cuz I thought about it yesterday!) Hmmm... maybe Mexican.....
'Tis the Season to Eat Eggs...
Tonight is our annual 'Easter Egg Coloring' gala. Okay, 'gala' may be too strong of a word, but the Saturday before Easter, Victor's family comes over and we all color eggs, eat pizza, and generally make a mess and have fun. In theory, it's for the little kids. In reality, the adults enjoy it even more.
There's 40 hard cooked eggs in the 'fridge, and a couple dozen more uncooked. Easter Pies are made, so what to do with all those extra eggs? A breakfast frittata, of course!
We usually just have our cereal in the mornings, so a hot, cooked, Saturday breakfast is always a treat.
I crumbled up some Italian sausage and cooked it with some asparagus and a small onion. Mixed up the eggs with a bit of S&P and garlic powder. Into the pan, topped with cheese, and into a hot oven. Minutes later we were sitting down to a great breakfast - with toast and jelly on the side.
Now... what to do with 40 hard cooked eggs.....
Spring Cleaning
I cleaned the grill today. It's not as if it really needed it, or anything. I mean, we only bought it 4 years ago... I always clean the grills, but I haven't ventured inside since I put it together. It was pretty skanky in there. Out came the shop vac, which captured most of the crud. I soaked the grills and the briquettes, cleaned the burners... Put it all back together and it's almost like brand-new! I then got industrious and washed the truck. It had probably been a year since that was cleaned, too. Something about a beautiful Spring day that had me yearning to be outdoors, instead of in front of the computer where I can usually be found...
Before starting my cleaning chores, though, I started marinating tonight's dinner. Another salad, of course. This time, with grilled chicken and grilled vegetables.
I cut up 2 chicken breasts, and put them in a ziplock with chopped lemongrass, basil, cilantro, rice wine, soy sauce, garlic, green onion, a splash of grapeseed oil, chili paste (sambal oelek) and black pepper. Into the 'fridge it went. I turned it a couple of times - whenever I went to get a seltzer water. (No coca-cola for this kid!)
With a clean grill awaitin' me, I chopped up some celery, carrots, broccoli, red pepper, mushrooms, cilantro, and basil and did a quick marinade of rice wine, soy sauce, grapeseed oil, and garlic.
What a difference cooking with a cleaned out grill! If I had half a brain, I'd clean that thing a bit more often! (Don't anyone hold their breath...)
Everything cooked up great. The sun was shining... The smoke and smells were wafting through the neighborhood... A picture-perfect 78 degree day. Everything came off the grill, and back inside to put it all together...
Mixed greens, the aforementioned veggies, a sprinkling of raspberries and blackberries - because I had them - the chicken, and a simple dressing of olive oil, rice wine vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, S&P.
It just doesn't get any better than this.....
Let the Salads Begin!
It's that time of year... My body has been screaming for salads for a few weeks, now. The weather starts turning warm, and I start craving fresh produce. LOTS of fresh produce. It's in my genetic code.
When the weather cools (or gets downright freezing!) soups, stews, and casseroles are what I want. Hearty 'stick-to-the-rib' sort of stuff, but when there's sunshine outside?!? Salad. Big, full-of-flavor-and-texture salad.
I made my weekly trek to the produce market yesterday and found lots of fun food. Little min-eggplants that had my name on them. Broccoli rabe, red and green peppers at an incredible (compared to the grocery store) price, asparagus, mushrooms, avocados, tomatoes, several lettuces, lemongrass, basil, raspberries, blackberries, plums.....
When creating a dinner salad, my only rule is that there are no rules! I really do like to mix flavors and textures, sweet with savory. I love the contrast with a sweet, juicy berry and a tangy vinegar. Or the softness of an avocado with the crunch of a carrot. And grilled veggies?!? I'm in gastronomic heaven!
We received a grill basket a few years ago from friends as a Christmas gift, and I've been putting it to use ever since. I chop up any melange of vegetables, coat with a bit of olive oil and 'whatever' - depends on what flavor theme I'm heading for - and onto the barbie...
Since we're also carnivores, flank steak, London broil, chicken breasts, pork tenderloins - all of them are fair game for the grill - and the salad. Sometimes they go on the grill with little more than salt and pepper. More often, it's a marinade of some sort that sets the theme of the salad.
Last night was a London broil with balsamic, olive oil, garlic, and herbs. I repeated the same basic marinade with the veggies. Onto the grill they went.
The final salad consisted of spring mix lettuce, green peppers, avocado, tomato, cute little grilled eggplant, broccoli, asparagus, raspberries and blackberries - and the london broil. The dressing was something Victor whipped up (he is king of salad dressings!) It was balsamic and olive oil based. We never -ever- buy premade salad dressings. I don't care how "natural" the ingredients are on the label. They're just too easy to make. Plus, it leaves room in the 'fridge for all those other fun things we like!
With that lemongrass in the 'fridge and some fresh Murray's chicken, I think I'm going to go "Thai" tonight.....
The Chicken That Keeps On Giving...
Oh, the weather outside is frightful... heck, it's COLD outside! Cold means casserole. Casserole means using up what's in the house. In the house is half a roasted chicken! Dinner solved.
This really was an easy one tonight. I pulled off all the chicken from the carcass and set it aside. The carcass went into a pot with the leftover gravy, chicken broth, and some water. I let it simmer for a while whilst I got my hair cut. I'm king of multi-tasking!
Hair cut, showered, and ready to head back into the kitchen... ! strained the broth, added the chicken, some frozen mixed vegetables and heated. Cooked a package of Organic Sprouted Wheat Papparrdelle Pasta, drained and added to the pot.
Into the casserole dish, topped with buttered bread crumbs, and into a 375 degree oven. I could have put it into a lower temp oven, but it was cold outside. 30 minutes later it was dinner!
Rumor has it we're supposed to start getting warmer weather. I sure hope so. In the meantime, though, casseroles are the best way to get through those bone-chilling days!
(I must admit, though, my waistline is looking forward to a few months of salads!)
Open The Windows!
Do not try this on a cold day - or any day you have to open every window in the house! The final product was soooooo good, but it looked like the house was afire for a while!
What could make the house smoke so much? Well, it certainly wasn't a dirty oven. I cleaned the oven last night - which meant I had to put something in it, today!
Shopping day, yesterday, found me with a couple of my favorite chickens. Murray's. From birth in the scenic Amish countryside, Murray's All Natural Chickens are raised without use of any antibiotics, growth stimulants, pesticides, and hormones. Our chickens are raised over eight weeks in a natural environment that allows our chickens to roam freely in wide open spaces. Murray's Antibiotic Free Chickens are grown in the Blue Mountains in the tranquil Amish countryside of Pennsylvania. Murray's birds eat well, (strictly veggie diet, no antibiotics, no hormones, no growth drugs) and have considerably more space to stretch their wings. In fact their homes are more like avian spas: food and water flow freely and the chickens lounge around as they please. As we say at the farm "the happier the Murray's Chickens are, the better they taste."
Okay, enough of the advert. They ARE great tasting chickens, though!
At their website, I saw a link for recipes, which led me to tonight's Great American Smoke-Out!
The recipe I found is for Salt Baked Chickens with Spring Vegetable and Mushroom Ragout. Now, I wasn't in the mood for 1) cooking 4 chickens, and 2) having vegetable ragout tonight, but the chicken recipe itself intrigued me. I've done some salt-rubbed dishes in the past, but none with chicken. And I just happened to have the fleur de sel!
Salt Baked Chickens
- 1/2 cup fleur de sel, to coat
- 1/4 cup coarse ground black pepper, to coat
- 4 free range chickens (4 to 6 pounds each)
- 1 cup canola oil
Preheat oven to 550 degrees. Mix together the salt and pepper. Rub chicken with oil inside and out, then liberally coat with salt mix. Place chicken, breast-side up, in the oven and cook for about 25 minutes, or until golden brown. The chicken may have to be rotated for even coloring. When chicken is fully browned turn the oven down to 300 degrees. Cover with foil to prevent burning. Chicken will take another 35 to 45 minutes. Chicken is done when one can move the wing back and forth with great ease. Another test is piercing between the thigh and breast and the juices should run clear. Allow chicken to rest for 10 minutes before serving.
The finished product was moist, tender, and perfectly cooked! One of the best roasted chickens I've had in quite a while! Since I eschewed the Vegetable Ragout, I had to have other side dishes, right?!? I mean, chicken is good, but a MEAL requires more! 2 potatoes, boiled and mashed with their skins still on, with butter and sour cream. A simple pan gravy, and steamed broccoli finished it off.
And the great thing about it is - there's leftovers!!!