Chicken with Zuni Goodness

Bethany got me the Zuni Cookbook for Christmas. Yesterday we made their roast chicken. It is quite similar to our usual chicken recipe, with a bit of fussing about with flipping the chicken, and a nice bread salad as a side. Also, they like to salt/herb the chicken ahead of time. It turned out quite well. My only modifications were to add a thermometer for the last step to double check things and to use a few more herbs. The book is quite good. Not just a collection of recipes, it has a lot of cooking tips and wisdom.

From Emily I got the Bouchon and French Laundry books. They are also quite good. The Bouchon book has a lot of insight into Keller's cooking techniques and Bistro cooking. I've made the Pots de Crème and look forward to trying my hand at some other bistro fare.

French Onion Soup

A couple of Sunday's ago I got up and made French Onion soup. It was based mainly on a Michael Mina recipe that I found in Food and Wine. We liked it a lot, although Emily thought I was a little heavy handed with the onions. I'll reproduce my version below for posterity.

French Onion Soup

5 onions, sliced 1/4" thick
4 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
2 sprigs rosemary
2 cups beef stock
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup dry red wine (I used a malbec)

Heat the butter in a dutch oven. Add the onions and bay leaves, cover and cook on high heat for 15 minutes. Lower the heat to medium and cook until they are deeply brown. Stir occasionally. Add water as necessary to keep the onions from drying out. It should take an hour and a half.

Sprinkle on the flour and cook for a couple of minutes. Add the wine and reduce until it is almost gone. Add the stock and rosemary, simmer gently until reduced by a quarter.

Discard the whole herbs and season to taste. If some leaves broke off the rosemary, don't worry about it.

At this stage you can refrigerate or freeze the soup. When you're ready, reheat it.

Put it in small bowls. Add toasted baguette slices, sprinkle with cheese, and broil until the cheese is melted.

Mini Chickens

Last Sunday I decided to make braised lamb shanks with orzo. I ended up using Bobby Flay recipe. It turned out quite well, but next time I'd de-fat the sauce before reducing it. The leftover sauce had a lot of gelatin in it. In the fridge it set up like jello. The leftovers are in the fridge, waiting to be turned into shepherd's pie.



While I was at the butcher's, I picked up a couple of cornish game hens. I figured that they'd make cute little individual chickens. I used my usual roast chicken recipe - I carefully stuffed an herb/oil/garlic mixture under the skin and salted and oiled the outside. I cooked it breast down for 10 minutes, then turned it over and covered it with bacon to keep it moist. I would have roasted potatoes with it, but after having the cheesy mashed potatoes, I don't think Emily will let me make potatoes any other way.

The chicken was quite good, although I'd cut back on the marjoram a bit and serve it without the bacon. The hens were a bit more work to prepare than a turkey, and perhaps more to eat (I need some steak knives), but it was fun and tasty.

Woot

A lot has happened since the last post, between announcing my engagement, work, and finishing stuff on the house, I left out my blog.

On October 6th I proposed to Emily. She knew it was coming, but the ring was finished ahead of time, so I still managed to surprise her. The ring arriving early was unexpected. I had to move quickly to keep it a surprise, so the proposal wasn't as elaborate as I would have liked.

As you can see from my cooking calendar, we had chocolate gelato and champagne with Dan and Carmen, and Emily and I just had a caesar salad for dinner - neither of us were very hungry.

Last Friday we passed our final inspection on the house. One less thing for me to worry about. We still have painting to do, but the city is happy with the important stuff and all of our permits are closed out.

No food pictures for the last few weeks. I didn't make a lot of new dishes. Last weekend I tried to make fish stock, but the fishmonger didn't have the right bones for me. I did make about a gallon of chicken stock, however. Last monday, we had a classic french preparation of mussels. (Steamed with wine, butter, and cream.)

Last night I made "Midwestern Fajitas" – or perhaps I should call them Fajitas al Cacciatore (Hunter's Fajitas) – my usual fajita recipe made with venison flank steak. They didn't have the skirt steak that I usually use, so I figured that the venison flank would have a bit more flavor and be healthier than the beef. The steak was rather thin - like a butterflied beef flank steak - so I only cooked it for about 30-45 seconds per side. It turned out quite well. I'd definitely make it again.

Cowboy Steak

Saturday night I made a cowboy steak, which essentially is a two inch slice of a standing rib roast. We had green beens and garlic/rosemary mashed potatoes on the side.

Dry age the steak for a day by wrapping it in a towel and putting it on a plate near the top front of the fridge. I set mine on a couple of chopsticks to keep it off of the plate.

Heat up your broiler, and rub the steak with oil, salt, and minced rosemary. Broil it in a cool cast iron skillet for 5 minutes per side. Remove the steak to a plate, to rest, and season it with some pepper. In the skillet, on medium-high heat sauté some green beens and minced shallots in the pan. Remove the green beans with a slotted spoon, and toss with a dash of rice wine vinegar and salt.

Deglaze the pan with some red wine and an equal amount of broth. (I used chicken, I didn't have been handy.) Reduce the liquid by about half, turn the heat down, and stir in some cold butter (about the same amount as the wine).

Since we were splitting the steak and I have no steak knives, I sliced it into 1/2" thick slices, cut out the fatty bits, and plated it with the beans and mashed potatoes, and drizzled some of the sauce on top. I also sprinkled on a bit of grated parmesan.

The steak was good but the mashed potatoes were the star of the show.

Garlic Rosemary Mashed Potatoes
These would go well with Peach/Bourbon pork chops, Roast Chicken, Beef or Lamb steaks, or grilled, herby portobello mushrooms.

5-6 largish red potatoes
1/3 cup heavy cream
4 tbsp butter
1 handful grated parmesan
1/2 handful grated pecorino romano
1 tbsp minced, fresh rosemary

Cut the potatoes into chunks, with the skin on and boil until they are cooked through.

Meanwhile, roast the garlic cloves, skin on, in a dry cast iron skillet for about 10 minutes on high heat. The skin of the garlic should have black spots all over. Let the garlic cool.

Put the rest of the ingredients in a small pan, bring to a gentle simmer, and stir until the cheese and butter melts in. Squeeze the garlic out of the skin, smash it with the side of a knife, and add it to the pan.

Drain the potatoes, put then in a pot, pour in the cream mixture and mash together. I like to leave some chunks of potatoes for texture, so I don't mash too thoroughly. If you need more liquid, you can add some whole milk, cream, or butter.

Season to taste with salt and pepper. (Or pecorino and pepper.)

Update

Sunday I did a tagine of lamb. I used a Bobby Flay recipe off of Food Network, probably not the best choice since it's not his area of expertise, but their kitchens tune most of their recipes. It turned out ok, but wasn't my best work. (The harissa doesn't look right either, but I don't know moroccan food.) I think it needed a bit more spice and probably could stand to cook a while longer.

I also made a ersatz papalote salsa that I found on the internet - it also was so-so. It seems to be lacking some depth, and was a bit different from the real thing. For now I think I'll stick with Rick Bayless' recipes techniques, as I've barely begun to explore his books.

We had my fajitas in a wok again last night and had Dan and Carmen over to share them with us. They were good, I used the salsa to season the rice to good effect, and also served it with the rest of the food. I also made guacamole with heirloom tomatoes, unfortunately I'd forgotten to pick up a jalapeño, but it was still good. For dessert, we made sopapillas, which I highly recommend because they are so easy to throw together. Just heat up some oil in a pan on medium high heat, fry a flour tortilla for a minute per side, dust with cinnamon and sugar, let it cool, and drizzle with honey. I usually cut them into quarters.

In other news, we've now passed plumbing and electrical inspections - we only have the final inspection left. Emily is making progress painting the house - the office is almost ready, we'll do our bedroom next.

Indian Redux

On friday we had pizza with Dan and Carmen, so I had to come up with something else to cook. Emily has been hinting that she wanted stuffed Naan so I decided to make one of those Southern Indian dipping sauces for it.

Tonight, I made the meat stuffed Naan, some paneer (fresh cheese) stuffed Naan, mango chutney, raita, rice, and Murgh Korma (a chicken curry). I hadn't made the cheese or the chicken dish before. Emily has declared the Korma to be her new favorite Indian dish, but that still may be second to the stuffed Naan. :)

Rasam (lentil soup)


This a nice lentil/tomato soup that can be served it's own with some cilantro and a dollop of sour cream or used as a dipping sauce for Naan.

1/4 cup tanish lentils (tuar dal)
1/4 cup red lentils (masoor dal)
4-5 medium tomatoes, chopped
1/2 tsp tamarind extract
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp hing (aka asafoetida - I left it out)
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp fennel seeds (optional)
1/2 tsp fennugreek seeds
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 bunch cilantro (for garnish)

I usually use chunks of chicken, with bone in, and skin removed, cut into chunks. (Thighs and legs hacked in half, to get some of the marrow flavor into the sauce.)

Cook the lentils in water. Roast and grind the cumin and mustard seeds. Grind the fennugreek and fennel. Add the tomatoes and spices. Simmer for a while.

If you can get it, add 1/2 tsp of hing and a handful of curry leaves.

Adjust the seasoning with salt, tamarind extract, and garam masala.

To serve as a soup, garnish with cilantro, yogurt or sour cream, and maybe a squeeze of lime juice. For a dipping sauce, optionally puree the rasam.

Paneer Cheese

1 quart milk
2 tbsp lemon juice

Simmer the milk for about 5 minutes. Add the lemon juice a little at time, while stirring, until the curds separate from the whey. Pour into a clean tea towel in a collander. Season to taste. Tie up the towel and hang it to drain for 10 min or so. Press it under a weight for an hour or so and then unwrap and refrigerate.


Murgh Korma

Adapted from Quick and Easy Indian Cooking by Madhur Jaffrey.

1.5 pounds chicken pieces (with or without bones)
1/4 cup yogurt
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 bay leaf
2 in cinnamon stick
3 cardamom pods
3 cloves
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 small tomatoes
1 in piece of ginger
5-6 cloves garlic
1 tbsp heavy cream
1 pinch saffron (optional)
garam masala

Mix the yogurt with the dry spices (corriander, ground cumin, and chili powder). Lightly whip the yogurt until it's smooth and use it to marinade the chicken. (From a half hour to 3 hours.)

Heat the cream in a microwave and add the saffron. (Be careful not to overheat or it will boil over.)

Mince the garlic and ginger and add a tablespoon of water.

Put the oil on high heat. Add the whole spices (cardamom, cloves, cumin, cinnamon, bay leaf) and fry for 15 seconds or so. Add the onions and cook until they brown a bit. Add the garlic/ginger paste and fry for 30 sec or so. Add the tomatoes and fry. Add the chicken, its marinade, and 1 cup of water. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 15-20 minutes, turning the chicken occasionally.

Uncover, add the cream mixture, and cook on high for 8 minutes or so, while stirring, until the sauce thickens. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and garam masala.