Bill’s son Tyler turned 18 last month.  To celebrate I asked him what he wanted for dinner — Mexican!!!!

I invited his girlfriend & my parents over and cooked up a storm.  I got so darn excited about eating dinner that I forgot to take any pictures.  The Menu:

Jalepeno Roasted Chicken
Chili and Cheese Rice
Re-fried Black Beans
Marinated flank steak
Flour Tortillas
Fresh Salsa

If you are reading my blog, you’ve likely come to realize I’m currently obsessed with Mexican food.  I absolutely love the flavors.  My dad used to joke about ordering in a Mexican restaurant “hmm,  do I want the beans, tortilla and cheese or should I have the cheese, beans and tortilla?” For a long time, I thought that was true.  But it’s not, the flavors are so layered with nuance when the cooking is done with passion.  It’s easy to see how Rick Bayless spent 20 years perfecting his Mole.  Every time I cook these foods I learn something.

In July we took a cruise on Princess and had a fantastic time.  The best excursion was in Cozumel.  My wonderful amazing husband researched and found a private cooking class in a woman’s home Cocina con Alma.  Josephina teaches small groups to make traditional dishes.  Along the way she explained the ingredients, the history and methods.  It was a fantastic experience.  Check out her site. We made the pork roast!  I plan to write another post with more detail about the class, but the point I wanted to make here is that she opened my eyes to simplicity.  Her salsa is the recipe I wrote about in my chicken tortilla soup post (linked to above).  It’s a 6 minute recipe and when you make a batch it disappears.  I can buy “fresh” salsa that will sit in the fridge for weeks!  With her recipe I’m lucky to have enough to put on my eggs in the morning.

Her class gave me a good dose of confidence and I’ve been playing around since then.  My family seems to love it as I’m not seeing any leftovers.  So for Tyler’s dinner I made a pretty ambitious menu.  The recipes for the chicken and rice came from the food network (Mexican made easy)  I changed up the rice a little adding more garlic, using chicken stock instead of water and upping the amount of peppers for flavor.  I have to tell you that recipe ROCKS.  It has the trifecta – easy, tasty and cheap.  The roasted chicken recipe came from the same episode.  I’ve made it three times now.  At first I was worried about the Jalapenos making the dish too spicy but when they cook down they are amazing.  The chicken gets flavored all the way through.  It’s stunning.

Josephina teaches tortillas in her class.  We made delightful corn tortillas that were light and flavorful.  When I came home and tried to make them I could not reproduce the results.  Mine were “corny-ier”  and the texture wasn’t light.  I experimented with the recipe, mixing in some flour with the masa trying to reproduce what she did.  I couldn’t.  I am assuming it’s a difference in ingredients.  So I switched to flour tortillas.  They are not effortless, but they are not in the same class as what you can buy in the store.  Worth every second.  I found the recipe online (link above)  I use my mixer to combine the ingredients and they turn out fine.

So now, I’ll finally give some actual original recipes.  I don’t usually link to other people’s recipes but I think it’s part of the learning process.  Research and make it your own.

I’ve made the flank steak about five times since July.  The keys are marinating and quick cooking over high heat.  Flank steak should be sliced thin against the grain or ti will be hard to eat.  This is the current favorite at the house beating out steak.  For the marinade I used my Salsa Rojo which freezes well.  Marinate the steak for about 30 minutes to an hour then cook over high heat for about 3 minutes per side.  The grill works best, cast Iron is second best but beware, it smokes,  a lot!

Re-fried beans are easy enough to buy in a can.  And they aren’t horrible.  In fact they are pretty OK.  So you may think why bother.  Please please please just once try it from scratch.  When you soak dried beans and cook them you get a different texture, a better texture.

Re-fried Beans

1 lb black beans or pinto beans
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 onion in quarter plus 1/2 onion fine dice
2 bay leaves
6 Tbsp Lard (yes lard) divided
3 Tbsp salt
2 whole cloves garlic
2 minced cloves garlic

Soak beans overnight with the baking soda.  Rinse drain.  Cover with water in a dutch oven or stock pot, add 1/4 onion, 3 Tbsp lard, salt,  bay leaves and 2 whole cloves garlic.  Bring to a rapid boil.  Cover, reduce heat to medium low and simmer for 90 minutes or until they are tender.  Remove onion, bay leaves and garlic cloves.  DO NOT DRAIN THE BEANS.

In a large skillet over medium high heat add lard and cook onions until soft.  Add garlic and then add about 3 cups of beans.  Use a slotted spoon so you don’t get too much liquid.  Heat the beans through.  Move to a food processor and process till smooth adding cooking liquid as needed to get the consistency you like.  Return to pan.  Add 1 cup whole beans.  Serve with cheese, sour cream, fresh onions.  I’d tell you what to do with leftovers but I’ve never seen them!

Cheers!

I think Mexican food is better with beer.  I always love IPA.  In this case I like the Stone IPA because it’s crisp and balances the rich foods.

I have a confession to make.  I am a soup-a-holic.  I could eat soup every single day.  And the best thing about soup is that you can make it out of pretty much anything you have on hand.  I had some left-over enchilada sauce I had made, some fresh salsa and chicken thighs.  Then I threw in celery, carrots, tortilla chips and cheese.  Voi la! Delicious Mexican inspired Chicken Tortilla soup. The fresh salsa makes this recipe and is super easy to make.

The salsa recipe I learned on a recent trip to Mexico.  It’s super simple and enhances everything from tacos to eggs.

Authentic Mexican Salsa
4 Roma tomatoes*
1 Jalepeno
1/4 white onion diced
2 cloves garlic
1 bunch cilantro
juice of a lemon or lime
salt and pepper to taste

Boil the tomatoes and jalapeno until soft (about 10 minutes).  This trick helps the salsa keep longer in the refrigerator.  Set aside to cool.

Place onion and garlic in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade.  Pulse until finely chopped.  Add tomatoes, lemon juice, jalapeno and cilantro.  Process until smooth.  Taste for salt and add according to your preference.

NEVER tell anyone how easy this is because they are all going to want your secret.  I make a batch and it’s gone in 24 hours.  A container of “fresh salsa” from the supermarket will languish for a week or longer, sometimes until it’s t thrown away.

**  I suggest Roma tomatoes because in Florida they are the most flavorful available.  Any red tomato with flavor will work fine.

I posted my recipe for salsa rojo (enchilada sauce) previously along with the recipe for Turkey Chilaquiles.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

4 bone-in chicken thighs skin removed
1/2 white onion diced
1 clove garlic minced
2 large carrots peeled and cut into large pieces (spoon sized)
1 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup enchilada sauce
salt and pepper for taste
tortilla chips, fresh salsa, cheese and lemon or lime wedges for garnish

Place chicken thighs in water and bring to a slow boil.  Cook for 30 minutes until done, remove to cool.  Taste the broth, If it isn’t rich enough you can add some chicken broth (which I did).    Add onion, garlic carrots, celery and enchilada sauce to the pot.  Allow to simmer while chicken cools, about 45 minutes.  Remove chicken from the bone, add to the pot and heat through.  Taste for salt and adjust seasoning (soups should be salted at the end of cooking to avoid over-salting as the liquid reduces.

Crush tortilla chips in the bottom of the bowl, add soup and top with cheese, fresh salsa and a squeeze fresh lemon.

Simple, not too hot and perfect for a summer afternoon!

Hope you enjoy this!

I’m back!!!!!!!!!!

I’ve been on hiatus for a few weeks as I took a cooking class and my work world changed a lot requiring more of my attention, but this dish was so tasty and I was so impressed with myself I had to post.

First let me come clean, I’m NOT a fan of boneless skinless chicken breast.  To me, it’s tasteless.   However it seemed like a good choice for the idea that was percolating in my head after receiving samples of Pretzel Crisps. You could do this with pork or even veal just as easily.

Pretzels make me think of Germany which makes me think of mustard and schnitzel.  Most people have heard of Wiener Schnitzel which traditionally meant pounded breaded fried veal scallops until the hot dog chain took its name!  Pork and veal are the most common “schnitzel meats” but in the states we love chicken.  Since Pretzel Crisps have re-thought the idea of the pretzel, I decided to rethink schnitzel.

This dinner was VERY popular at my house with everyone cleaning their plate (though to be honest I did have to argue with teen age son to get him to eat the spinach)

Pretzel Crisp Chicken Schnitzel with White Wine Mushroom Sauce

Ingredients:

3 Chicken Breasts (boneless skinless)
flour for dredging
1/3 cup whole grain mustard
2 cups Pretzel Crisps (ground into crumbs using food processor)
4T vegetable oil

Directions:

Pound chicken breasts to 1/4 inch thickness.  Dredge in flour, rub mustard on both sides and coat with Pretzel Crisp crumbs. Add oil to pan and cook over medium heat.  Drain all but 2 Tablespoons of fat from the pan.

Mushroom Wine Sauce

Ingredients:
8 0z sliced mushrooms
3T flour
1 Cup dry white wine
2 T whole grain mustard
1 Cup chicken stock

Directions:
Saute mushrooms in same pan as chicken.  Add flour and cook for 2 minutes.  De-Glaze pan with white wine.  Stir in mustard and chicken stock.  Reduce to desired consistency add salt and pepper to taste (but be careful with the salt because the Pretzel Crisps are salty)

Hope you enjoy this as much as we did!  The best part of this dinner was it only took about a half hour to make and it was so flavorful

Cheers!

This photo landed me my first number 1 slot on FoodBuzz — thanks to my loving husband.  The first attempt at this recipe was the most photogenic.  But I needed to make it a few times and tweak the recipe before I was ready to post it.  My family are troopers (or they just like this dish that much, to be honest it’s amazingly good cold weather food)

A couple notes.  I’ve taken to using turkey stock instead of chicken stock in almost all of my dishes.  Its flavor is bolder and richer than chicken this flavor is obviously imparted into whatever dish you make.  One of my attempts at Paprika Chicken relied exclusively on chicken stock (home made of course) it was, in comparison, like a ghost of a dish I knew I could create a whisper of the wonderful flavors I’d tasted in the past.

I also experimented with bone in chicken thighs and boneless chicken thighs.  (If you are starting to think about using boneless skinless breast meat stop it right now.  This dish is already low on fat and you’ll make it terrible.  Go back two spaces and start again.)  Typically I always prefer to cook meat on the bone for flavor and moisture, but in this case it’s simply too hard to eat it when you are done.  Someone (probably me) is going to end up shooting a chicken thigh right out of their bowl onto the floor.  Plus the smaller boneless pieces pick up more flour and therefore more flavor.

My last little tidbit don’t overfill the pan before you put it in the oven or you will have one heck of a mess to clean up.  After the first time I started  lining the rack with foil.  This is not 5 star pretty food, this is hearty home cooking and it’s gonna spill!

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

Biscuit Topping

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp white pepper
4 Tbsp cold butter cut into cubes
1/2 Cup sour cream
1/2 Cup Turkey Stock

Place dry ingredients into bowl of food processor and pulse to combine.  Add butter and pulse to form crumb texture.  Whisk together sour cream and stock, drizzle over the top, pulse food processor until dough comes together.  Set aside.

Smokey Paprika Chicken

2 pounds skinless boneless chicken thighs cut into two inch pieces
flour for dredging
salt and pepper to taste
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 large white onion finely diced (I used the food processor)
1 large red bell pepper finely diced
3 Tbs flour
2 minced garlic cloves
2 Tbsp Smoked Hungarian Paprika
1 tsp caraway seeds
1/2 cup sour cream blended with 1/2 cup turkey stock*** See Note
1 cup Turkey Stock
more ground pepper.

Working in batches over medium high heat,brown the chicken pieces on both sides, set aside in a shallow dish tented with foil.  Add the onions and peppers cook until softened (about 5 – 7 minutes)  Add flour and cook for another 3 – 4 minutes.  Add paprika, garlic and caraway seeds, stir to combine and cook 2 – 3 minutes.  Return chicken to the pan, add mixture of sour cream and stock, then add stock.  Stir and bring to a boil.  Taste for seasoning and adjust as necessary.

Spoon biscuit dough on top of pan I used a 2 oz scoop to keep them even.  Place on the middle rack in the oven and bake for 20 minutes.  Turn off the oven, turn the broiler on and cook for 2 more minutes to brown the biscuits.

Serve with extra sour cream!

The biscuits are incredibly tender which I think is what makes this dish so good.  I love Chicken Paprikash but by putting these biscuits on top it became a favorite in my book.  And the biscuit topping could be added to any stew!

*** NOTE: you must must must blend the sour cream with the broth until smooth.  otherwise it’s very likely to curdle when it hits the pan, blending prevents this.

We had this with several wines, some white and some red.  My favorite was the beaujolais nouveau.  It was light and fruity which complimented the smokey flavor.

I really hope you make this, it was FANTASTIC.

Until next time, cheers!

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This dinner started with chicken that I had to cook because it had been hanging out in the fridge for a couple days.  I had some spinach I wanted to use and I had bought Fava Beans which I’ve never cooked before.  I poked around looking for an exciting Chicken recipe (and yes! There is such a thing!)  I found several lemon chicken recipes that looked super sweet, I am not a fan of sweet dinners.  I eventually found a couple that relied on garlic – and I added my spin with the spinach and oregano.  The spinach added nutrition, fiber and color to what was otherwise a very beige plate of food.  I’ve never eaten a fava bean so I made them as a side dish to an already full meal, that way we could try them without any pressure.

Dinner took a while to make but it turned out spectacular.  Our teenage son, who often refuses to eat, went back for seconds.  He thought he was going to get by with pushing the the spinach around his plate rather than eating it — but it wasn’t hard to convince him to.   He absolutely loved the fava beans, in fact we all did it was the first thing we tried and we finished our portions before going on to the rest of the meal.

When you read the recipe for the chicken,  you are going to think that it’s too much garlic.  The garlic really mellows out during cooking and becomes very sweet.  Early on when learning to cook someone told me to always add garlic late so that you don’t over cook it.  I think that they were a fan of the sharp spicy garlic flavor (and I am too – in moderation) but when gently coaxed, garlic becomes mild and adds a sweet buttery flavor.

I like to be transported when I eat — I’m not sure where this meal took us, I don’t think it was traditional anything, but it was still a comfortable, satisfying journey.

Lemony Garlic Chicken  (click here for printable link)

8 chicken thighs bone in, skin on

1 cup flour seasoned with salt and pepper

Olive oil to cover pan (about 1/8 inch)

2 onions sliced thin

1/2 cup minced garlic

zest and juice of one large or two small lemons

2 Cups Chicken Broth

1 sprig fresh oregano (or 1tsp dried)

1 Bag baby spinach

1lb angel hair pasta

Parmesan for garnish

Preheat Oven to 350 Degrees

Dredge chicken in flour and set aside.  Chop Onions and prepare garlic while chicken is resting.  I used the food processor for both.  Slicing disc for the onions and the blade attachment for the garlic, I streamed about 2T olive oil in with the processor running so it formed a paste.

Heat a pan with olive oil until almost smoking, add the chicken and thoroughly brown.  (maybe 3 – 4 minutes per side).  Season the chicken again while cooking, when browned remove from the pan and set aside.

Add onions to the pan and cook until transparent — if you get some color that’s OK, but you may need to lower the heat, the goal is to soften them and get that yummy onion flavor throughout the oil, not to caramelize.  After about three minutes add the garlic and stir.  Let this cook for about one minute and add the lemon juice.  Be sure to scrape up any brown bits from the pan.  Add the chicken stock and oregano sprig nestle chicken in the pan.  When it’s reached a simmer put a tight lid on the pan and move it to the oven for 20 minutes.

After removing the chicken from the oven, stir the spinach into the pan and replace the lid.  The heat will cook the spinach. *Note, this makes a pretty thin sauce.  I liked it and felt the texture complimented the light flavors and light pasta really well.  If you prefer thicker sauce you could remove the chicken, onions and spinach from the pan and reduce the sauce to the desired consistency.

Serve atop angel hair pasta and garnish with Parmesan cheese.

Fava Beans  (Click Here for Printable Recipe)

1 lb fava beans

2 slices bacon diced small (or pancetta if you have it)

1/2 onion diced fine

1 clove minced garlic

Remove fava beans from their outside shell and blanch in salted water for about 3 minutes, immerse in ice water and using a small knife or your fingernail remove the outer skin.  (according to other recipes I read you can skip this step and the skins will come off in the pan, but that sounded gross to me so I removed them prior to sauteing.

Heat a 10 inch skillet over medium heat.  Render the bacon fat and add the onion and garlic.  Cook until soft.  Add the fava beans, season with salt and pepper and saute for about 15 minutes.

As you can see from the photo — we paired this with a nice sauvignon blanc.

I’m off to wine again!  Cheers!

]]> http://www.whineaux.com/2009/10/05/garlic-lemon-chicken-with-fresh-spinach-and-fava-beans/feed/ 6 http://www.whineaux.com/2009/07/02/a-30-minute-meal-spring-pesto-fettucine-with-chicken/ http://www.whineaux.com/2009/07/02/a-30-minute-meal-spring-pesto-fettucine-with-chicken/#comments Thu, 02 Jul 2009 18:38:48 +0000 dawn http://www.whineaux.com/?p=126

This time of year my herb garden goes crazy thanks to lots of rain and lots of sun.  My Basil plants become a small forest if I don’t stay on top of them.  It seems like a terrible waste to  grow the herbs but not use them.  So — I decided to make pesto.

What started out as a quick and simple meal to help me regain control of my herb garden was deemed one of our favorite meals.  I made a fresh basil pesto cream sauce, sauteed chicken in bacon fat, and added some crisp bacon to the plate.  As we’d been out running errands all day I used store bought fresh pasta instead of making my own, but next time I will be making my pasta because this sauce is too good to diminish with store bought pasta.  (that said, the fresh pasta was perfectly fine if you are not a nutcase like me)

At the end of making this, I realized that it was truly a 30 minute meal — with little or no planning.  I can make Rachel Ray meals in 30 minutes, but usually that’s only if I gather and prep the ingredients before I start cooking (and the timer).  In this case I remember looking at the clock and it was 7:03 as I started the pesto in the food processor and 7:27 when I was putting dinner on the plate.  Before that I had only started the pasta water and the pine nuts.

Fettuccine with Pesto Cream:

1 Cup Fresh Basil Leaves
2 Cloves Fresh Garlic grated (If you are using pre-peeled cloves you may want 3)
1/2 Cup pine nuts toasted in olive oil
Pinch Kosher Salt
Fresh Ground Black Pepper
1 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
3/4 cup olive oil
1 Cup Heavy Cream
1 package fresh fettuccine from the store or 1 pound homemade pasta.

Toast pine nuts in olive oil over medium heat on stove top.  Let them brown but not burn.  A word of caution, they very quickly transition from toasted to burned so this is not the time to multitask.  It takes about 4 -6 minutes total and you’ll want to toss them so they cook evenly.  Start them in a cold pan with cold olive oil; this way the oil is also infused with the pine nut flavor.  After toasting remove them from the pan and put them on a plate to cool.

Put Basil leaves in food processor, use a micro plane or garlic press to mince the garlic.  [This is one time I don't like to trust the food processor -- this is essentially a raw sauce so you don't want to get a large chunk of garlic.]  Add the Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper and pulse the food processor a few times to mix everything up, add the pine nuts and pulse food processor to mix.  Scrape the sides of the bowl, and replace lid, turn food processor on and stream in olive oil until the sauce starts to come together. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper as needed.  (Note, the cream and the pasta will mute the flavor some so a tiny bit extra salt is a good idea)

In a shallow saute pan heat the cream over medium low heat and reduce by a third.  Let it cool a bit  while you make the chicken.

Sauteed Chicken:

4 strips thick cut smoked bacon or pancetta
4 bone-in skin on Chicken Thighs
Salt and pepper to taste
Splash white wine.

In a large saute pan render bacon until crispy over medium high heat, remove from the pan and drain over paper towels. Reserve fat in pan.

Pat chicken dry and season on both sides.  Put chicken in the hot pan skin side down and cook until deeply browned, about 8 minutes per side, Temperature near the bone should register 155 – 160 degrees. Remove from pan and drain.

Meanwhile cook Fettuccine according to package directions drain and return to stock pot.

Combine the pesto paste with warm cream (if you do this while the cream is hot you’ll turn the basil black — it’s fine to eat but not as pretty).  Toss with pasta in the stock pot.

We had a tempranillo with this.  The wine was a lighter representation of the wine, dry with berry cherry and vanilla flavors.  Not a lot of earth but nice acidity that cut the richness of the pasta cream sauce.

I made this almost a week ago and am just now able to sit down and write about it.  I only get around to making Chicken and Dumplings 2 – 3 times a year and I don’t know why, it’s easy and it tastes so good that writing about it is making me want to cook it again!

My mom wasn’t a huge fan of cooking, in fact we suspect she sabotaged many a dish to cement a reputation as a bad cook and therefore ensure she would escape kitchen duty.  That said, her chicken and dumplings were yummy!  I’ve changed the recipe, adding some of my own favorite ingredients, but it’s still just simple fantastic comfort food.

Recipe:

Stew:

1 whole cut up chicken, skin removed
well washed greens of one leek (dark greens)
2 carrots peeled and cut in half
2 Celery ribs halved
2 cloves garlic
2 sprigs thyme
4 -5 sprigs fresh Italian parsley
Kosher Salt (Start at 1T as the chicken cooks, taste and add more)
Fresh Ground Black Pepper
3T flour
2T butter
1 Cup Frozen Peas (or mixed vegetables if you prefer)

Dumplings:

2 Cups Flour
3tsp baking powder
1/2tsp white pepper
1tsp kosher salt
3/4 Cup milk (preferably whole)
1/4 cup light vegetable oil (not olive)

Directions:

Put first nine ingredients into a cold stock pot and cover with cool water.  Gently bring up to a simmer and cook for 2 – 3 hours until chicken is falling off the bone. Remove chicken and place on a plate to cool.  Remove and discard vegetables and strain the broth through cheesecloth.  Allow to rest so you can skim the fat off.

Meanwhile prepare the dumplings by combining dry ingredients in a medium bowl, stir and add the milk and oil.  Use a fork and stir until combined, but don’t over work the dough. Set aside to rest for 5 – 10 minutes.

Rinse the pot (just make sure that there is not any stock remnants as in spices pepper or anything that will cloud your soup stock) place on stove over medium high heat.  Melt the butter and add the flour to create a roux.  Cook roux for 2 – 4 minutes keeping it light in color, but making sure the dough has cooked.  Whisk in broth and bring to a low boil.

Using two spoons, drop dumpling dough into the pot.  Cover and simmer for 10 – 12 minutes.

While the soup is simmering remove chicken from the bone.  Add to the pot when the dumplings are cooked along with peas.  Cook until heated through — 4 – 5 minutes.  If desired finish with a generous glug of cream but the soup is wonderful without it.

This dish lends itself to an ice cold glass of milk just as easily as a glass of wine.  We had it with a Heitz Cellars Sauvignon Blanc we purchased on our last trip to Napa.  The visit to the winery was our favorite as the tasting room was small and intimate and we were able to speak to the winemaker, not to mention their dogs were there too.  This was an excellent pairing.  It’s a drier wine not as fruity as many Sauvignon Blancs with a nice balanced acidity that compliments rather than clashes with food.  The crispness of the Sauvignon Blanc complimented the rich chicken broth and brought out all of its flavors.

This may seem like a dish exclusive to winter, but because you are cooking low it never heats up your kitchen.  You could cook the broth in a crock pot if you want as well — but you’ll need another pot to finish the soup so I just use the same pot.

Polidor in Paris

:Sigh:

I am writing tonight with a stunning lack of inspiration.  Had I not committed to cooking my way through the Paris  Bistro cookbook I wouldn’t even write this entry.  But I did commit — and if my first post was about a ruined dinner then I can certainly write about an uninspiring meal.

This recipe is from the first bistro in the book,  Polidor, which is in the Latin Quarter.  (Their site is in French — see the Frommers Review)  The Bistro has a charming history that includes Erenest Hemmingway, James Joyce and bathrooms that are a historic monument.  You can see why I felt the recipes held great promise.  I chose to make Soupe de Potiron (Pumpkin Soup) and Pintade aux lardons et au Chou (Guinea Hens with Bacon and Cabbage).  The recipes appear on p. 21  I should note that there are other recipes from this bistro that may be better than the ones I chose.

The soup was  attractive, but bland.  Both my husband and I pushed it aside not wanting to fill up on lackluster soup before dinner.

The main course: the book suggests that you can substitute chicken for Guinea Hen and given that my local Publix caters to tourists this was a necessity.  Dannenberg also translates “chou” as kale.  After looking it up in a French dictionary (I really need to start using my Rosetta Stone, but I digress…) I saw that it could mean  ”Brussels sprout, cabbage, cauliflower, coleslaw, darling, kale or sprout.”  While I’m not planning to put “my darling” in a pot anytime soon, using Brussels sprouts or cauliflower would have made a tremendous difference and most likely a better dish.  The recipe is extremely heavy on onion and calls for two cloves.  These two flavors overpowered everything else in the dish, which I found surprising.  The bitterness of Brussels sprouts (had they cooked with the chicken) probably would have balanced the sweet flavor of the cloves.  But the recipe directed me to cook the kale separately and then plate in a shallow bowl.  In a nutshell I was highly unimpressed.  As a result we are having chicken and dumplings tonight — a family favorite that I don’t think anyone could mess up!

I should mention that the highlight of the meal was the wine, we enjoyed a Sobon Estate Viognier 2007.  It was crisp and had just the right amount of fruit and acid.  I thought it was well balanced.

You’ve read my notes, if you want to try the recipes — you are on your own! LOL, but here they are.

Pumpkin Soup (excerpted from Paris Bistro Cooking p.21)

3 Cups water
1 Medium diced onion
1T Sugar
2 tsp salt
1 16oz can pumpkin puree (unflavored)
1 Cup milk
Salt and Pepper to taste
Sour cream or creme fraiche as garnish

In a medium saucepan bring water and onion to boil, cover and simmer 15 minutes.

Whisk in pumpkin, bring to a boil, reduce to simmer and cook 5 minutes stirring constantly.

Puree the mixture in batches using a food processor or blender [hold the top of the blender and cover with a towel, hot foods expand when you puree had I not learned this tip my kitchen and I would have been doused in boiling pumpkin soup)

Return mixture to a saucepan, add the milk and heat, then season to taste and serve with sour cream or creme fraiche.

*I asked friends for suggestions pump up the soup, the most interesting was red curry paste.  I have some leftovers and I plan to try this, I think making it spicy is an interesting concept but completely different from the chef's original intent.

Chicken with Bacon and Cabbage (excerpted from Paris Bistro Cooking p.21)

1 2lb Guinea Hen or Chicken
2 medium carrots sliced
2 medium onions sliced (I would cut this to one)
2 cloves garlic crushed
1 boquet garni (1 sprig parsley, greens of one leek, one bay leaf tied in cheesecloth)
2 whole cloves (I would cut this to one)
salt and pepper
3 - 4C dry white wine
5 ounces slab bacon
2T flour
3C chicken stock
2lbs Kale

Combine the poultry, carrots, onion, garlic, boquet garni and cloves in a bowl and refrigerate for 3 hours.

Blanch bacon in boiling water for 5 minutes, remove pat dry then saute until golden brown in a 6 quart saute pan.  Remove with slotted spoon and reserve.

Remove chicken from marinade (reserve the marinade) and pat dry, brown deeply (8 minutes per side) Remove the chicken and set aside.  Drain off all but 1T of fat.  Add the flour and cook for 1 - 2 minutes.

Add marinade [Note:  at this point the recipe lacked clarity -- I assumed the onions and carrot were part of the "marinade" but perhaps they were supposed to be removed which would explain why the onion flavor was so overpowering.  The photo in the cookbook clearly shows carrots and that's how I made my decision] cook for several minutes scraping the pan bottom.  Add chicken stock [another lack of clarity -- in the book she says add chicken stock or water but the ingredient list doesn't suggest this choice.  I used broth but perhaps water would have been better]

Return the chicken to the pot; liquid should almost cover; bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer.  Cook for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile bring a large pot of “heavily” salted water to boil.  Cook kale for 15 minutes.  Drain and cut into 1/4 inch strips.  Press out excess water and add bacon.

Dish into 4 bowls and serve.

Paris Bistro Cooking – Mission #1 – Coq au Vin

As I prepared dinner and plated it; I realized why I haven’t seen a lot of pictures of coq au vin in cookbooks; the entire dish turns the same shade of purple.  For what it’s worth, I promise it tasted much much better than it photographed.  As I mentioned in my last post, this particular recipe calls for marinating the chicken in wine with onion, carrots, garlic and bouquet garni (1 sprig thyme, 1 sprig parsley, 1 bay leaf and 1 celery rib) for 24 hours.  Then it simmers for almost 3 hours and in this case it rested in the refrigerator for an extra day.  The long marinating and slow cooking delivered very rich flavor.

I followed the recipe almost to the letter with a couple exceptions; I removed the chicken skin (I don’t care for skin unless it’s crispy) and dredged the chicken in flour before browning to help thicken the sauce and add a little flavor; I added mushrooms because I love them; and I replaced salt pork for pancetta – salt pork in the grocery store is much fattier than what is available in Europe.   Even though it requires a little planning (which is not my strength) I would absolutely use this recipe again.    The best part for me was the step that required the igniting of the cognac — BIG FUN.

Fire Fire Fire

Without further adieu, here’s the recipe adapted from Linda Dannenberg’s Paris Bistro Cooking:

1 4 – 5 pound chicken cut into 8 parts (skin removed)
8 Cups Dry Red Wine (I used Cabernet Sauvignon)
2 large red onions quartered
3 medium carrots, peeled and quartered
2 cloves garlic smashed but not minced
1 bouquet garni
1 cup seasoned flour for dredging chicken pieces
2 T olive oil
1 large piece pancetta (equal to one full slice of thick cut bacon)
1/2 Cup cognac
1 lb white button mushrooms cleaned
Salt and pepper to taste
2T cornstarch dissolved into 2T cold water

Place chicken, wine, vegetables, garlic and bouquet garni in a large bowl, cover and refrigerate for 24 hours

Remove chicken from the marinade (reserve marinade) pat dry and dredge through flour.  Brown in olive oil using a dutch oven on medium high heat.  Remove the vegetables from the marinade add them to the dutch oven (still reserving marinade) and add the salt pork.  Cover and warm through for 10 minutes.  Add the cognac and carefully light (seriously big “whoosh” be careful and watch your hair, I almost set mine on fire, but that’s another story for another time)

Once the flames subside, add the mushrooms, marinade, salt and pepper and simmer for 2 hours.

Remove the chicken and vegetables from the pot, place in a casserole dish covered in foil to keep warm.

Degrease the broth, bring to a boil and whisk in the cornstarch.  Reduce until desired thickness (think gravy) add the chicken and vegetables and warm through.

We had this with red potatoes.  Linda recommended garlic croutons which would have been nice too.

Because it was my first foray into the French Bistro mission, we made an entire evening of it.  We started with a first course of Truffle mousse pate, Camembert cheese that I brought back from France and we opened a 2004 Turnbull Black Label we’d been holding onto for a while.  The combination made for a spectacualr meal.

If you’ve been with me from the beginning (oh so long ago — February); then you’ve already read my first post about how I spent the entire day looking forward to a meal only to disappoint myself with a kitchen disaster.  While I’m happy to say this adventure turned out much better; it did not turn out according to plan.  I’m learning that I have to be able to go with the flow and the dinners I’m most proud of are those I created without a recipe.  The meals I put together because I knew the flavors would work together. This is one of those dinners.   I was originally planning chicken with sauteed artichokes in a garlic white wine reduction.  The only problem was — I was out of artichokes.

As you can see, I was in a quandary.  I looked around the kitchen and saw these beautiful grape tomatoes and a zucchini from my friend’s garden.  That’s when I knew I had hit gold.  This was going to be much better than my plan because of the fresh spring vegetables and flavors.  I called it Toulouse le Chick to be funny, if you have a better name please let me know because I haven’t had enough coffee to be really creative yet.

Ingredients:
4 brined skinless bone in chicken thighs
1/2 seasoned* flour for dredging
3 tsp bacon fat (you can substitute olive oil if you are mad at your taste buds)
3 strips cooked bacon crumbled
3 cloves minced garlic
1 T herbs de Provence
1 C white wine
1 C Chicken Broth
1 zucchini cut into medium slice pieces
8 – 10 grape tomatoes cut in half
1 T butter
Handful of diced fresh parsley
salt and pepper to taste

The day before prepare a brine.  I use an 8 cup container and put about 4T of powdered garlic, 3T salt, 4 whole pepper corns and 1 – 2 bay leaves.  Allow the chicken to soak in this mixture at least 4 hours I typically put frozen chicken in the brine a day ahead of time and it safely thaws while absorbing flavor.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Over medium high heat in a large saute pan heat the bacon fat.  Pat the chicken pieces dry and dredge through the flour.  Brown each side (3 – 4 minutes per side).  Add the crumbled bacon and garlic and herbs de Provence.  De-glaze the pan with white wine and add chicken stock.  Transfer to oven and cook un-covered for 30 – 40 minutes until internal temperature of chicken reaches 160 degrees (carryover heat will bring it up to 165)

Remove the pan from the oven**! and transfer to stove-top on medium high.  Remove chicken from pan set aside and cover with foil.  Bring sauce to a boil.  Add zucchini and tomatoes cook until firm tender but not overcooked.  Swirl butter around pan, and add chicken back ensuring it’s warmed through.  Add parsley and serve over couscous (prepare according to package directions.  If you boil the liquid and put the couscous in it right before you take the chicken out of the oven everything will come together nicely)

*seasoned flour is just all purpose flour with salt and pepper to taste

**! Don’t be like the whineaux and have scars on the inside of both of your palms because you forgot the pan had been in the oven and the handle was screaming hot.  As soon as you set the pan down put a towel or potholder around the handle.  Trust me, you don’t want that kind of hurt!

We had a J.Lohr Chardonnay with this and it was fantastic (it’s what I used in the sauce too)

I also had the leftover for breakfast over rice and it’s even better the next day.  If you don’t have couscous — rice is a great alternative.  If you haven’t tried couscous — please do, it’s great for saucy meals like this.

Until next time, wine, don’t whine!