Cooking amid Construction

As shown above, cooking is still happening in the work zone. I am about to serve a steaming casserole of finocchio con latte al forno or fennel baked in milk. This recipe is from the April issue of Saveur Magazine. It is basically fennel bulbs poached in milk & butter, then baked with cheese on top. Delicious. I have been admiring the beautiful fennel bulbs and their bright green feathery tops at the farmers market and this is a delicious way to fix it.

Our usable kitchen is spread out in spots not under construction. Below is the wash-up area in the laundry room. The microwave and hot plate and some storage is in the dining room. The coffee maker and toaster is in the front hall; and I still have the oven, two small counters & two cabinets in the kitchen proper.

Making Veggies Tasty - I

This is the beginning of an infinite-part post on how to jazz up veggie side dishes...

Here's a idea of Dan's, via Barbara, as an alternative to lemon and butter or cheese on broccoli.

Creamy Dill Sauce/Dip
- Equal parts Mayo & yogurt
- Dill Weed (Andrew loves the name of this herb!)
- Splash or more of lime juice
- Sea salt to taste
- Pepper optional
Stir until creamy and combined.
Toss on drained broccoli before serving.  A little bit goes a long way.  Yum!!!
It would also work with many other veggies or as a dip.

Frrriiieeeed Chicken!!!

I decided to stop making desserts until Easter because we've been devouring them faster than I can make them.  I'm not off desserts, but I'm not buying any or making any...eating an already purchased piece of chocolate with a marshmallow and a date is another matter, and perfectly acceptable!

My dessert desert led me to try making friend chicken - got to get the fat in some way or another, right?

I used Bittman's instructions on pg. 663 and used my own spices and the batter component of "Spicy Batter-Fried Chicken on pg. 666 (hmmmm....it was devilishly tasty!)

Instead of using a chicken I cut up and dried chicken breasts into large hunks.  This meant slightly shorter frying time.  I eye balled it - waiting for a browned batter and then cut my first piece open to double check.  Perfection!!!

I was AMAZED with the ease and success of the recipe.  KFC will not be seeing us anytime soon!  This is the first thing I've deep fat fried (only 1/2 inch of oil needed -  I used corn), and also the first breaded food I've made where the breading stayed on and stayed crispy. The secret was having a candy thermometer in at all times.  Bittman recommends covering the pan to prevent splashing, but I only covered half so I could leave my thermometer in and ensure a constant state of 350 degrees.

It was a fun and empowering to make such an iconic food! The only downside is a house (and a neighborhood) that smells like oil.  Keep your windows open if you're going to try this one.

The kitchen Make-Over

The kitchen is definitely in the deconstruction mode. Don has a great plan for making the kitchen quite usable as the work continues. We have pulled out cabinets, torn up floors, taken off drywall; but still I have a stove, range top, sink, etc. Cooking continues!!! Yesterday morning we had buckwheat huckleberry muffins for breakfast and cornbread for dinner, but during the day the oven & stove were sitting on the opposite counter completely disconnected.

The old kitchen was never liked, but definitely well-loved. It is filled with wonderful food & family vibes, but not one bit of it's ugly exterior will be missed. (Well perhaps when the new kitchen is complete, I'll think of something.)

Here are a few shot of the old and well-loved kitchen. Lots of yummy food and many fun times happened in this kitchen.

Above is the old breakfast nook area. Much of the kitchen will be in this space when our kitchen make-over is complete.

Take a good look at this photo above and check out what it looks like today, after demolition!

Tomorrow I will try the kale chips, they are good & green for St Paddy's Day!

Baked Kale Chips - Yey oder Ney?

I made Kale chips today after reading a glowing description of them on Natalie's Killer Cuisine.
I can't say I'm dying to make some more, but they were ok.  Andrew did not find them ok.  I beleive his exact response to, "What don't you like about them?" was, "I don't know where to start.  Everything..." 

Three additional notes of caution:
- During the baking process they let off quite a perfume.  I thought Isla had pooped her diaper - for real.
- They leave a mouthful of chivers.
- They are lighter than air and will easily spill and crumble making a huge mess.

Kale just going into the oven...

Here's the recipe, which I modified slightly (decreased the salt to a 1/4 of the original recipe)
I used a salad spinner, which was very easy, but if you don't have one, pat the kale dry.

Oven - 400 F

- 1 bunch Kale
- 2 T Olive Oil
- 1 tsp Apple Cider or Balsamic Vinegar (I used the apple cider variety)
- 1/4-1/2 tsp salt (the original recipe called for sea or kosher salt, but any would be fine.)

Rip kale leaves off of stalks in large pieces (I saw recipes that baked the whole leaf - oven temps and times may need adjustment), wash and spin dry leaves.  Rinse & wipe out salad spinner bowl.  In bowl, combine remaining ingredients and toss kale in mix until each leaf is completely covered (easiest by hand).  Spread leaves on parchment lined baking sheets (I prefer jelly roll pans) and bake for 15-17 minutes, until crispy.

I made two batches and tried out a variation I'd read about for my second batch...
- 1 bunch Kale
- 2 T Olive Oil
- 1 tsp lime or lemon juice
- 1/4-1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp mexican chili poweder
- Dash of Cayenne

Another variation to try...
- 1 bunch Kale
- 2 T Olive Oil
- 1 tsp green olive brine
- 1/4 tsp salt
- Paprika

I liked the flavor of the first batch best, except that it was SO SO SO salty (I used a recipe that called for 2 tsp salt!)  The 2nd batch was the one that received Andrew's glowing review.
Now that I've inspired you, go make your own and let me know what you think!

Creamy Mint Brownies

My AMAZING  King Arthur's Flour Cookbook has a recipe for Faux-Reos that I have been dying to make but too lazy to make...Oreos have soy in them, so I've been looking forward to an alternative, mostly so I can just eat the filling.
These brownies are an alternative route to that goal.

I made Heiress Brownies (courtesy Namo!) and then topped them with the filling from the Fauz-Reos recipes, which I made minty, and then drizzled melted chocolate on them.  (Trader Joe's Organic Semi-sweet Chocolate - The Bomb.com!!!!)

I might make the topping green next time for fun.

Here's the recipe:

From the Kitchen of Namo:
Heiress Brownies (Sooooooo Rich!)*
Pre-Heat Oven to 375 F
- 4 Squares  of Unsweetened Baking Chocolate
- 2 Sticks (1 C) unsalted butter (shortening works too)
- 4 Eggs
- 2 C Sugar
- 1 C Flour
- 1 C Chocolate Chips

Melt chocolate and butter over low heat.  In a bowl mix eggs and sugar and then add chocolate butter mix and stir.  Once mixed, add flour and chocolate chips.
Pour in tinfoil lined, greased 9x13" baking dish and bake for 25-30 minutes or until done.

Topping:
- 1/2 Envelope (1 tsp and 1/4 heaping tsp) unflavored gelatin
- 2 T (1 oz) cold water
- 1/2 C (3 1/2 oz) shortening
- 1 tsp peppermint extract
- 2 1/2 C (10 oz) confectioner's sugar
(You could replace the peppermint with any extract - vanilla, raspberry, coffee, etc.!)

Combine gelatin and cold water in a small dish, then place the dish in a larger dish of hot water until the gelatin dissolves and is transparent.  Once dissolved, remove from dish and allow to cool to room temperature, but not until set.

Meanwhile...cream shortening and extract and add confectioner's sugar gradually and then beat in gelatin.  The result is almost fondant like.  You could use less sugar for a fluffier result.  Once mixed place between two sheets of wax paper and roll out.  Place rolled out topping on cooled brownies and drizzle melted chocolate over topping.

* (When I am making Heiress Brownies without all the extras mentioned above, I add 3/4 tsp vanilla and 1 C toasted walnuts.  Not part of the original recipe, but a tasty addition!)

Chocolate Pasta

A special (and very thoughtful) houseguest gave us a bag of Chocolate Pasta last year. Thank you again, Wm. I discovered the beautiful bag of chocolately pastas yesterday as I cleaned out cupboards for the amazing Kitchen make-over!

Tonight we had the pasta with the mole sauce (recipe on the bag). It was yummy. I don't know how authentic this is, but its tasty enough to make again and serve with tortillas or rice. I modified it just a bit. Make it as spicy as you like by adjusting the amount of chili powder used. I used only 1/4 tsp and it was very mild. We were still recovering from the chipotle!!*&$%*!! ranch beans I made yesterday.

Chicken Mole

2 Tbs olive oil

1/2 large onion, coarsely chopped

1 large garlic clove, minced

1/4 to 1 tsp chili powder

2 Tbs unsweetened cocoa

2 Tbs flour

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp powdered cumin

1 tsp salt

1 Tbs sugar

1/4 tsp dried oregano

1 can ready-cut tomatoes, undrained

1.5 cups chicken broth

1.5 to 2 cups cooked chicken, shredded or cut in cubes

Heat oil over med-high heat. Saute onions & garlic till translucent. In a small bowl mix all dry ingredients & spices. Add this mixture to the onion pan, stirring well. It will make a thick paste and smell delicious!! Add chicken broth about a third at a time, stirring well with each addition to blend. Stir in tomatoes, bring to a boil and turn down to simmer. Simmer covered for 90 minutes. Add chicken and heat through.

I started with 3 chicken thighs and simmered them for a couple hours in 4 cups of water with a bit of chopped onion, parsley & celery, thus making my own chicken broth and cooked chicken.

Now I'm curious to learn about more authentic chocolate mole recipes.

Speaking of the kitchen make-over; we got our building permit today!!!! We moved everything out of the breakfast nook, took off some dry-wall and began tearing up the two layers of laminate flooring and underlayment. I will never miss that old floor. I also began emptying out cupboards and packing things away. I still have full cooking abilities, so haven't gone into withdrawal. I'm hoping to avoid withdrawal by switching into full-on camping mode.

Roasted Red Pepper Pasta Pizazz!

Pizazz = Spicy! Yum!

I e-mailed this to everyone a while ago, but thought I should include it here.

- 3 red bell peppers

- 1/2 white onion

- 2 tbs olive oil

- 10-15 basil leaves

- 1/2 a jar of marinara sauce

- sweet Italian pork sausage removed from casings (I got the 5 pack from trader joes - you have to squeeze them out of their casing. It is easy but gross)

- cayenne peper to taste (1/2 tsp. -  we like it HOT!)

- fennel seeds to taste (2 tsp.)

- italian seasoning to taste (1/2 tsp.)

(seasoning amount depends on how much meat you use.)

Preheat oven to 425.  Line pan with foil.  Place quartered peppers on foil, skin side down and quarter onion 1/2 on foil.  Sprinkle with olive oil.  Roasted in center of oven for 25 minutes.  Remove from oven and create package with foil.  Allow veggies to rest in foil package for 30 minutes, unwrap and peel skins off peppers. 

Using emersion blender, blender or food processer, blend peppers, onion and basil leaves until it becomes sauce like (if needed add a little olive oil or water to thin it out).  Combine with 1/2 a jar of your favorite marinara (I use the organic vons brand) and warm on stove.

Meanwhile cook sausage and spices.  While heating, break up pieces (like when you make tacos but a little bigger).  Once cooked, drain off fat and stir meat into sauce.

Serve over your favorite noodles.

Tasty Frittata Supper

If you are like me, you always have some eggs on hand and you almost always have some Italian turkey sausage in the freezer. Eggs and sausage are great for last-minute dinners because eggs cook so quickly and turkey sausage can thaw out really quickly even if you take it out of the freezer at the last minute. I run it under warm water to thaw—if you have a microwave, that makes things even easier. What to do with that sausage once it is thawed? I actually have two last-minute strategies: pasta sauce and frittatas. Today I’ll discuss frittatas!

The frittata is my recently-discovered wonder dinner. The entire dinner, including getting a salad together, takes perhaps 20 minutes. It is very flexible and allows you to use up veggies that are about to go bad. The leftovers are also delicious for lunch or breakfast the next day. My method comes from Mark Bittman, with some adjustments.

You will need:

2 Tbs. olive oil

chopped hard veggies, in any combination, such as onions, bell peppers, zucchini, etc.

2 links sausage, removed from casing (if desired)

chopped “soft” veggies, such as tomatoes and mushrooms (total combined veggies should be at least a cup but you can vary widely and it has no effect

greens, such as spinach, if desired

fresh herbs, if desired

6 eggs (or more if you want to make a big ole frittata. But six works well in my 10-inch skillet)

parmesan cheese, if desired

1) Chop the hard veggies—cut them pretty fine.

2) heat about one Tbs (or one glug) olive oil in a 10-inch skillet (is that the size of the normal skillet? I think so—you know what I mean—the basic skillet) over med-high heat. Add veggies.

3) Sautee veggies for 5 minutes until softened. Adjust heat so they don’t burn. While this is going on, cut up the soft veggies.

4) After five minutes, add the sausage, if you are going for the meat version. Just squeeze it out of casing and break up in the pan. Don’t add salt until after the sausage is cooked, btw. That stuff can be salty. When the sausage is mostly cooked and crumbly, add the soft veggies.

5) Turn the heat down to low (or I would say medium-low: just one smidge up from low) and cook soft veggies for five minutes. While that is going on, whisk the eggs up in a separate bowl and prep the herbs and greens. Basil is delish, as is baby spinach.

6) When soft veggies are cooked, taste and adjust the salt and pepper, then ADD THE SECOND TBS (or glug) OF OLIVE OIL and toss in the herbs and greens and sauté until just wilted. Then distribute everything evenly in the pan and carefully pour the eggs over the top. You can use your sautéing implement to sort of ease the flow so everything stays in place in the pan. It will be anticlimactic and hardly sizzle at all, but that is normal. Grate cheese over top if desired.

7) Leave that pan on low, totally undisturbed, for about 10 minutes. Go make a salad.

8) Check your pan periodically after about six minutes. The eggs should be setting up nicely. After about ten minutes, they will be all set up except a thin film of runny eggs on top. At this point, turn on the broiler to low (or set the rack a bit away from the burner) and put the whole pan under for ONE MINUTE AT A TIME. (Check compulsively. Broilers are fickle. When the top is just set, pull it out, run a knife around the edge, slice and serve with salad. It comes right out of the pan. YUM. Eat the leftovers for breakfast.

Mom Joins the Blog

Thanks for the invitation to join the Chicken & Rice Blog. It will be great to share the fun things I do in the kitchen. And since we are about to dive into a complete kitchen remodel, my kitchen and food preparation methods will be creative!

Whats in the kitchen right now: Pintos soaking, ham hock thawing, buckwheat toasted for tomorrows breakfast (will it be pancakes or hot cereal?), homemade mayo.... Oh and lots of eggs, thanks to the ladies. Maybe popovers are in our future!

My current favorite for green salad is roasted golden beets - Yummmy beet taste with none of the mess. However when even the dark red beets are cooked by roasting, there is a lot less bleeding on the salad.

Favorite Salads at Seventh Ave.

Here in South Slope, we basically eat one of two salads probably five nights per week. In case you want to capture some of that fun, I am going to share both with you. First, the salad that started it all:

Italian Salad

(I just named it that: but I always think of it as Italian. The original came from my friend J., who DOES NOT like bell peppers, so my version would be an abomination to her.)

Please note amounts are approximate; I mean, its a salad, you know? Just make it up!

half a head Romaine or green leaf lettuce

1/3 of a green, yellow, or orange bell pepper

cherry tomatoes

half a ripe avocado

red onion

1/2 lemon

olive oil

nice flakey salt

Okay, so now I am going to introduce you to the Lola Method for Salad Perfection. Please vary in whatever way makes salads more perfect for you.

1. CUT UP the lettuce. This, I discovered, just makes salads better. No idea why. I like to stack all the leaves on top of each other, then slice off the ends. Slice longways 3 or so times. Then slice at a 90 degree angle shortways across the leaves. You should have delicious-looking lettuce squares.

2. Rinse. I am a crazy lady, apparently, because I do not understand the appeal of salad spinners. I toss those lettuce leaves into a colander, give 'em a rinse, shake em dry. Let them sit by the edge of the sink while you get the rest of your salad ready and they will be dry enough.

3. Chop up the veggies. I slice the red onion very thin, cut the cherry tomatoes in half, and cut the bell pepper into thin strips, which I then halve. You totes know how to do avocados.

4. Now the magic: toss those lettuce leaves into a nice big bowl. Add 2/3 to 3/4 of each of the other veggies to the salad. Save a bit of each out for later. Squeeze one half a lemon over all. Glug on some olive oil, and don't be shy about it! Then, then....you know this is so important it gets its own number...

5. Salt! Sprinkle on a goodly pinch or so. Did you know that the root of the word "salad" is "salt?" True fact! Don't leave out the salt or its not really a salad! I use redic fancy salt called Maldon flake salt and it is yummy on salad but I imagine any kosher type salt would do. Then get on in there with your hands and mix up the salad. Go ahead and use your hands. Taste and add salt if needed.

6. Other magic trick: you know how after you toss a salad all the goodies fall to the bottom and it just looks like you are serving a big bowl of lettuce? I have the fix: grab the portion of the veggies you saved out in step 4. Sprinkle them across the top of your dressed salad. Lovely!

7. Enjoy!

Labels

One last detail....
Please label your recipe posts so we can categorize them...(e.g. salads, cookies, bread, beef, etc.)
It is easy to do - just enter your label name in the "labels:" box at the bottom of the post.  If you click "show all" next to the label box it will name previously used labels, so we don't have duplicate labels "salad" and salads"

I added a sidebar that will let us click on a label and pull up all the posts related to that label - for example if you click "Salad" all the salad recipes will show up.

PS - My hope is that this blog will be fun and non-obligatory... Since we all have many of the same cookbooks, we can also just refer to favorite recipes by name or page # and add tips or reviews.

PPS - If anyone makes chicken and rice, please take a picture so we can use our own photo for the title page!

PPPS -  If anyone wants to change the background or anything, please feel free!

Bloody Mary Salad

I came up with this little number while trying to figure out what to do with limp celery and tomatoes that had only about 24 hours left in them...
To my delight, it captured the essence of the cocktail in a yummy way...

I like an olive garnish in my Bloody Mary, so I included one here too!

Salad:
- Tomatoes - sliced and de-juiced
- Celery - chopped
- Diced Green Olives - chopped
- Shallots - chopped
(Spinach or wild greens would work too for a lighter salad. Cucumbers and and hot pepper vodka would be a nice tribute to The Del's Bloody Mary.)

Dressing:
(Emulsify the following)
- 1/2oz Vodka
- 1/2 oz Olive Oil
- 1/2 oz Lemon Juice
- 1/2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
- Dashes of Tabasco to taste (I like lots!)
- Dash of Celery Salt
- Cracked Pepper
- A dash of sea salt (- watch the salt level!)

Toss and Refrigerate for 30 minutes or more (If using the greens toss right before serving).
This would also make a fun bruschetta for a cocktail party, or could be served in cocktail glasses with a garnish for fun!

* Cutting the tomatoes ahead of time, removing seeds, and salting them and letting them sit will draw out some juice that can then be used in the dressing, as desired

I just threw this together, so the measurements aren't exact, like any good drink!  I'd like to make the dressing a little thicker, but maybe de-juicing would help.

Fun!

Thanks for setting this up, Ali! I feel a little sheepish contributing when I am actually waiting for some takeout to arrive... But I do love to cook! Can't wait to see what turns up!

Posting...

Ok, each of you should have received an e-mail inviting you to become an author of the blog.
To post you will need to sign in - hopefully the e-mail will give you all the details, but their shouldn't be a password, since it is tied to your e-mail address.
Then select "new post" and a screen will enter that allows you to type or cut and paste.  It will look like a simplified word document in a small box.  When you are done typing your post, just hit publish post and it should appear.  If you don;t want to publish yet, just click "Save Now" and your post will be saved for later.  You can retrieve it by going to the "posting" tap on the top left, and then select "Edit Posts" and then select your saved post.

If you want to add pictures to any post, that can be done by selecting the little picture icon (next to "Link") and uploading from your computer.
We also have two pages of pictures - La Galerie de Cuisine and Galerie de Chefs de Cuisine...to add photos to these, go to the "Posting" Tab, select "Edit Pages" and select the page  and upload photos following the same process for uploading them in a post.
The Galleries are just for fun and a way to show any previous delicacies you want to share.  Right now no one will probably look at this blog but us, but if you want me to take your photos off, just let me know.
Love you!

Welcome to Rice & Chicken

Hi Mom & April & Didi...
I thought this would be a fun way for us to share recipes and cooking tips!
Right now it is public, but unsearchable, so book mark this page.
I'm going to try to figure out how to allow you each to post, and then I'll post instructions...right here!!!

Love you lots!!!
Ali