Roast Chicken- ala Alice

I love roast chicken. The smell, the simplicity, the crispy skin. But how to make it so that it is consistently moist can be a problem. We’ve tried a number of versions and I’ve settled on a house roast chicken as a variation on Alice Water’s technique from The Art of Simple Food. I love this cookbook. I love how she talks you through a recipe and I love her technique.  My variations include, making a bed of sliced onions on the bottom of the cast-iron pan, filling in any open side areas with a mix of root vegetables to roast alongside the chicken- potato/carrot/turnip/rutabaga.  In terms of seasoning. I like to make little bundles of herbs from our herb bed- chives/rosemary/thyme/oregano/lemon thyme and put it both under the skin and in the cavity. I add pats of butter around the top of the chicken, salt and pepper both inside and out. Add garlic- minced or whole bulbs around, on and in the chicken and lastly cut open a lemon, squeeze it over it and place the rest of the lemon in the cavity. I’ll usually add a meat thermometer probe after I flip the chicken a second time to keep an eye on it. It’s been delicious every time. And although she suggests seasoning a day or two ahead of time, I’m not that organized. The chicken sits out on the counter while I gather and clean the pan off and prep the vegetables. Then I put it together and put it in the oven.

a 3 1/2-4 lb bird takes about an hour to cook -check after 50 minutes
The bird is ready when the legs and thighs are no longer pink and the breast is still juicy and tender- thighs are the last part done-

 

 

 

servings 4 servings

Ingredients

1 chicken 3 1/2 -4 lbs
salt
pepper
-a few sprigs thyme, sage, oregano or rosemary under the skin of breasts and thighs before roasting
-a few thick slices of garlic clove under the skin, or minced on top
-stuff the cavity with herbs and a squeezed lemon

-butter to add around the top of the chicken

Preparation

-Tuck wing tips up and under to avoid burning
-Season 1-2 days prior if possible
-Season inside and out with salt and pepper (1 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper)
-Cover loosely and refrigerate
-At least 1 hr before cooking, remove and place in a lightly oiled pan, breast side up
-preheat oven to 400 F
-Roast for 20 min, turn the bird over breast side down
-Roast another 20 minutes
-Turn the bird over again breast side up and roast till done, another 10-20 minutes, or longer if the bird is larger. Use a meat thermometer to gage and take it out of the oven when the temperature registers around 170. It will continue to cook.

Let rest 10-15 min before carving

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/member/views/ALICE-WATERS-ROAST-CHICKEN-52380011#ixzz2kFqqhB8V

Go Fish: Tilapia with Avocado-Lime Sauce

I’ve become an avocado monster. I eat them probably 5 days a week. Typically cut up in my salad. This sauce was a recent discovery, and really- it’s all about the sauce. This sauce would be tasty on a potato- sweet or otherwise I think. Tonight we grilled tilapia with a coating of Penzy’s Singapore mix. We mixed up the following sauce to ahve over the grilled fish and it was soooo good.

Scoop out one avocado and blend with 1/4 cup sour cream, 1 TBSP fresh lime (I just used a whole small one we had- it was only slightly bigger than a golf ball) with 3 TBSP milk. Add salt & pepper to taste. Spoon over fish!

Go Fish: Tilapia with mushrooms & grits:

Our second favorite fish dish has become Grilled Tilapia. In this recipe you also get a way to prepare mushrooms which is absolutely delicious. This restaraunt that we frequent often has a side dish of sauteed mushrooms in a pasty shell. After we got in the habit of keeping puff pastry in the freezer with our favorite Salmon dish, we started cutting out puff pastry shapes, baking them and dishing this mushroom sauce over them. We also like to serve it with roasted broccoli or sauteed spinach and these creamy grits. The original recipe is here.

 

• Mushroom Scallion Sauce: Melt  1 Tbsp butter in a large saute pan. Saute  2 C sliced baby portabella mushrooms and  ½ Cup sliced scallions for about 3 minutes. Stir in ¼ Cup white wine and ½ pint heavy cream. Season with 1 tsp garlic powder, ½ tsp cayenne, salt, and pepper to taste. Stir until sauce thickens slightly. Keep warm until ready to serve.

• Tilapia: Heat grill to medium. Rinse and dry fillets and then rub with jerk seasoning. Grill tilapia for 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Remove from heat.

• Puff Pastry: Take frozen puff pastry out of freezer just prior to baking. Cut shapes out of pastry with cookie cutters or a glass. Bake on cookie sheet at 400 degrees for 10 minutes.

• Creamy Grits: Ingredients: Take: 1 cup heavy cream, 1 can (1 2/3 C) chicken broth, 1 cup water to a boil in medium saucepan. Add 4 TBSP butter, ¼ tsp salt and ¼ tsp pepper. Slowly wihisk in 1 cup quick grits and reduce heat. Cook 15-20 minutes over low heat, stirring frequently.

Plate entree by spooning grits on center of plate. Lay tilapia on top of grits. Layer Mushroom sauce over prepared puff pastry shapes. Best when served immediately

Go fish. For Salmon:

I’ve never been a big fish eater. It was adventurous for me to even order tuna salad for lunch for years. But in the last couple of years our horizon’s have broadened and we’ve started to collect fish recipes realizing how simple they really are to prepare. Last summer this Salmon became one of two fast favorites for a nice, but quick meal.

The Salmon (recipe from Giada de Laurentiis):

Ingredients
4 pieces of purchased puff pastry, each cut to be just larger than a piece of salmon
4 (4 to 6-ounce) pieces salmon
1/4 cup sliced almonds
1/4 cup pesto
2 tomatoes, sliced

Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
On a foil-lined baking sheet, place the 4 pieces of puff pastry. Also place the 4 pieces of salmon, being careful to make sure they are not touching. Sprinkle each piece of salmon with 1 tablespoon of the sliced almonds.

Bake for 10 minutes.

To serve, place each piece of puff pastry on a plate. Top each puff pastry with 1 tablespoon of pesto. Top the pesto with 2 slices of tomatoes each. Top the tomatoes with the salmon and serve.

Our Daily (Wheat) Bread

I’m calling it with this as the house wheat bread. I’ll admit- my first loaf with this recipe version was pure disaster. Worst. Loaf. Ever. Clearly not mixed and practically a pudding on the inside. But you know what they say- it’s always darkest before the dawn. And dawn means sun rise. And our golden rise was courtesy of Prairie  Gold.

I had been playing with this whole wheat bread recipe. And I have to say I haven’t loved it. Still very dense and not a great rise. Maybe that would improve over time though. This weekend we went to HochStetler’s Country Store and I picked up a bag of Prairie Gold 100% Whole Wheat. I modified the recipe noted above to the following and it. is. lovely. Try it!

Ingredients

• 4 ¼ cups Prairie Gold 100% whole-wheat flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup scalded skim milk
• 1 cup cool tap water
• ¼ cup warmed honey
• 2 tablespoons salted butter
• 2 ¼ teaspoons yeast ( I used 1 rapid rise packet and the whole wheat rapid setting for the pictured loaf)

Instructions

1. Follow your bread machine’s directions for making a whole-wheat or whole-wheat rapid loaf depending on your yeast. I think next time I’ll change out myskim milk for buttermilk.

Potatoes and….

There a couple of ways we routinely take our potatoes. Thanks to Corner View for asking!

The first is a variation on how I grew up eating them in the summer. We would take 3-4 potatoes and slice them on a mandolin. Laying them out down the middle of a bed of thick foil, slice one onion over them. We like to add about 3 tablespoons of butter broken up  and mixed in. Then add whatever herbs you have available. We routinely have parsley, chives and rosemary.We then crack some pepper and a few dashes of salt and a sprinkle of paprika. Then grill till tender.

 

The second was newly acquired into our summer routine but has become a fast favorite. With this recipe we’ve done it without par-cooking the sweet potatoes and it comes out just fine, maybe just taking a bit longer with the cooking. The recipe comes from here:

 http://www.tinyurbankitchen.com/2012/06/grilled-spicy-lime-sweet-potatoes.html

Grilled Sweet Potatoes with Lime & Cilantro
recipe from Bobby Flay, with tweaks in the method by me

Ingredients
3 sweet potatoes, unpeeled
Kosher salt
2 teaspoons finely grated lime zest
Pinch of cayenne pepper
1/4 cup canola oil
Freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro

Parcook or microwave sweet potatoes (remember to pierce potato skins with a fork if you plan on microwaving!) for about 5-6 minutes, or until mostly cooked but not yet mushy (it’s harder to grill when it becomes too floppy!)

Meanwhile, mix 1 tablespoon of salt, lime zest, and cayenne in a small bowl to make the salt mixture.

Cut the potatoes into nice, thick slices or wedges. Brush all sides with oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill for about 1 1/2 minutes on each side, or until golden brown. Season with the salt mixture and top with chopped cilantro.

Rollin’ on in to 40!

Today is my birthday. I am 40. And happy to be so. In our home, as it happened growing up, on your birthday- you get to pick your food. There are some old standby favorites that go back to my childhood- Cornish hens, my mom’s spaghetti and confetti angel food cakes. All of which Lovey has been kind enough to make for me when asked. Including the year we lived apart and he asked a co-worker to borrow an angel food cake pan. Talk about true love.

Then there are the years where I spy a recipe that I really want to try. This year was one of those. Holiday and birthday breakfasts have come to mean pancakes in our house. Or waffles- my favorite of those recipes to come. Often the pancakes are done in the shape of our initials. This morning Zuzu was concerned and confused why that wasn’t happening when she looked into the skillet. We assured her she wouldn’t miss it once she took a bite, but she remained leery- until- she took a bite.

This year’s birthday breakfast: Cinnamon Roll Pancakes! With Neuske’s Bacon! And my favorite way to have my coffee these days- with foamed milk and a couple of grates of Trader Joe’s Cinnamon–Sugar.  A couple of comments about the recipe. The batter came out very thin- which is tasty- but I could also see making it thicker for more of a roll or cake effect. The proportions given aren’t accurate- you don’t get 8 servings of 1/3 cup and with the thinness of the batter they spread out to way beyond 4 inches. We got 5 pancakes out of it. Next time I would double the proportions so everyone can have more than one. The more you play with the cinnamon filling the easier it becomes to make the cinnamon swirl. Regardless of these tips- they taste amazing, your house smells amazing and you wish you had tripled the recipe!

 

CINNAMON  ROLL PANCAKES:

CINNAMON FILLING:
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, just melted (not boiling)
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
1/2 tablespoon ground cinnamon

CREAM CHEESE GLAZE:
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
2-ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

PANCAKES:
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon canola or vegetable oil

Directions:

Prepare the cinnamon filling: In a medium bowl, stir together the butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. Scoop the filling into a quart-sized heavy zip baggie and set it aside (see *Tips below).

Prepare the glaze: In a small pan, heat the butter over low heat until melted. Turn off the heat and whisk in the cream cheese until it is almost smooth. Sift the powdered sugar into the pan, stir and add in vanilla extract. Set the pan aside while you make the pancakes.

Prepare the pancake batter: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk in the milk, egg and oil, just until the batter is moistened (a few small lumps are fine).

Cook the pancakes: Heat a large, nonstick skillet over medium-heat and spray with nonstick spray. Use an ice cream scoop (or 1/3 cup measuring cup) to add the batter to the pan. Use the bottom of the scoop or cup to spread the batter into a circle (about 4-inches in diameter). Reduce the heat to medium low. Snip the corner of your baggie of cinnamon filling and squeeze the filling into the open corner. When your pancake begins to form bubbles, add the filling. Starting at the center of the pancake, squeeze the filling on top of the pancake batter in a swirl (just as you see in a regular cinnamon roll). Cook the pancake 2 to 3 minutes, or until the bubbles begin popping on top of the pancake and it’s golden brown on the bottom. Slide a thin, wide metal spatula underneath the pancake and gently but quickly flip it over. Cook an additional 2 to 3 minutes, until the other side is golden as well. When you flip the pancake onto a plate, you will see that the cinnamon filling has created a crater-swirl of cinnamon. Wipe out the pan with a paper towel, and repeat with the remaining pancake batter and cinnamon filling. Re-warm the glaze briefly, if needed. Serve pancakes topped with a drizzle of glaze.

Tips:

*Quick and easy tip: Use a boxed pancake mix as the base for this recipe.
*Tips for the cinnamon filling: Before swirling, open up the baggie again and give it a good stir to re-incorporate any butter that may have separated from the sugar. You want the mixture to thicken a bit- it’s best when it’s similar to the squeezing texture of a tube of toothpaste, which will happen if you leave it at room temperature for several minutes. Don’t try to use the filling for the pancake swirl unless it has thickened as it will be too runny to make a solid swirl.

*Keep the heat low or your pancakes might cook up too quickly. Don’t flip them until you see those bubbles starting to pop on top. Flip them with a wide spatula so you can grasp the whole thing without batter and filling dripping all over the place!

*I wrote a very detailed post on how to get the cinnamon filling *just right* on my Gingerbread- Cinnamon Roll Pancakes Post. Check it out before you attempt these!

*If you’re trying to justify your intake of decadent cinnamon rolls, you can make this a tad bit healthier by using half whole-wheat flour and low fat cream cheese, or enjoy the pancakes without glaze.

Source: RecipeGirl.com

Our Daily Bread

It started last fall. Our friend Renee and her family started coming over more regularly and we would combine our leftovers to have a “new to us” meal. And then one time she brought fresh bread. It was a honey wheat and she noted that she had made it earlier that day. She said they had been making their own bread for a while now…in their bread-maker. I have a bread-maker. And I keep it where I keep the unused-but-not-easy-to-part-with collection of my thing…s up in the attic. Many moons ago I was on a kick of making bread and packing it with farmer’s market jams for a holiday present. I even packed up my car with baskets of this one winter to bring it back for the relatives gifts. And then I stopped. And I moved. And the machine never was unpacked again. So when she noted how easy it was the smell fantasy began. Along with a strong visual memory from my childhood of my mother pulling a pan of cinnamon rolls out of the oven. I remember that they were labor intensive and a rare treat. So up I went to gather the machine and its pieces. Off Lovey went to google the maker’s recipes. And slowly we restocked our pantry so that putting together the basic loaf was as easy as setting up a coffee maker. Especially since the timer function created the ability to rise to the smell of freshly baked bread steaming up out of the chaos of the little ones clamoring for their home-day. I even went so far in my melt-up love of the machine to bring it to work this December for our office holiday party. I thought if the smell of it makes a very tired me smile, then certainly it would lend a homey atmosphere to the festivities. Unfortunately I forgot a piece of the machine and didn’t realize it till the party was only an hour away. So that time I kneaded by hand, and still got a small loaf for my efforts.

This little realization also afforded me the ability to check off two items from 2011’s resolutions. I made a pan of cinnamon rolls using the machine for the dough, and I was inspired to order a sourdough starter. Although we’ve yet to use it.Thus began the ritual of baking bread in our house. We’ve been averaging 2-3 loafs a week. The only downside to this is our house bread had been a lovely german loaf from the local bakery, and we don’t really have a need to have both on a weekly basis. I’m sure we’ll find a balance there soon.

When we joined Renee’s familyat the beach over Thanksgiving she commented that baking away from home yielded little success. Her theory was that the regular build-up of yeast in the air supported the ongoing loaves. I didn’t quite understand this until Lovely called me at work a couple of weeks ago to ask what I had done differently this time. I thought about it and responded absolutely nothing other than playing it a little fast and loose with the ingredients. His vote was for the science of my ways- less salt, more yeast yielded a larger loaf. Whether it was that or the family reunion between the current loaf’s yeast and the yeast of yester-loaves I don’t actually know. All I do know is that if it keeps rising up at this rate I’m going to start calling the bread Dino.

We’ve tried a few different varieties, a french, a honey wheat, a half-wheat. The winner far and above for it’s lovely texture and light airy warmness is our Country White (recipe taken from the manual):

1. Add liquid ingredients to pan first.

2. Add dry ingredients, except yeast next.

3. Push some of the dry up into each corner and place a 1/4 of the butter in each corner

4. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and put yeast there.

5. Program for basic and medium Bread color and set timer.

For a 1.5 lb loaf:

8 oz water (80 deg)

2 3/4 cup Bread Flour

2 Tbsp dry milk

2 Tbsp Sugar

1.5 Tsp salt

2 Tbsp Butter

2 Tsp Active Dry Yeast or 1.5 Tsp Bread Machine/Fast Rise Yeast

 

 

 

 

Apple Galette

From the recipe box of Renee:

 Galette Dough

note: keep your pastry scraper handy.

2 1/2 cups flour

2 tsp sugar

3/4 tsp salt

2 sticks butter cubed

9-12 tbs ice water

Pulse butter into dry ingredients until it resembles a coarse meal. Add water a bit at a time and pulse until dough holds together when squeezed. Turn onto lightly floured surface and divide into 8 portions. With the heel of your hand, smear each portion once or twice in a forward motion to help distribute the fat. Gather dough together and flatten into a 6″ disk. Chill at least one hour. Can be chilled one day. Let sit 20 minutes before rolling out.

Applesauce

1lb apples peeled cored cubed and tossed with:

1/3 c sugar and some lemon juice

1/2 c water

1/2 c sugar

1/2 tsp lemon zest

1/8 tsp cinnamon (oftentimes I throw in some ginger in whatever form)

2 tbs calvados (so far I have never used this. I use sherry or madeira)

I throw it all in a slow cooker and let it do its thing on low. On the stove, throw everything into a sauce pan except the alcohol, bring to a boil and simmer covered for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove lid and simmer until most of the liquid is evaporated. Add the alcohol and simmer one minute, stirring occasionally. Once the apples are done, mash into a coarse sauce. Can be made three days ahead

Assembly and Cooking of the Galette

2 cups sliced apples

3tbs butter

1/2 tbs sugar

1-5 tbs water

pastry brush

cream to whip for topping

Roll out dough into 16″ round about 1/8″ thick. Transfer to baking sheet, chill covered 30 minutes. Unfold any edges for it to lay flat. *I didn’t do this part last time and everything came out ok. Spread applesauce over pastry, leaving a 2″ border, top with sliced apple, mounding slightly. Fold edges of dough over filling partially covering apples. Dot apples with butter and brush pastry edge lightly with water and sprinkle with sugar. Bake 40-45 minutes at 425 degrees. Top with whipped cream and

Viola- you have a galette!

Popovers Thyme!

Thanksgiving 2012 on Edisto Island with The Gahans

These make me so very happy. So much so that even though our kitchen is full to bursting with equipment, Lovey purchased popover pans for me. A hot, easy roll in minutes. Everyone scrambles to butter and pop them in their mouths while still fresh from the oven. Even the children. What could be better? This has become our go-to holiday dinner bread. Also with a nice Sunday roasted meal.The batter is easy enough and stores so well (and frankly I think it adds to the “pop” when it is pre-chilled), that we go through spurts where we keep extra in the fridge just in case we want some. We make them with and without the thyme. Typically with though for a couple of reasons. Many, many years ago, way back in ancient 2002 or 2003, in the land known as St. Louis Celina McGinnis shared her bounty of wild thyme that her mother had brought back from France. We still use it sparingly to this day and think of The Family McGinnis when we do. Thyme is also one of the herbs in my kitchen door herb bed that lives fairly recklessly and well today. Some years it is full and winding. Others, it seems like is on it’s last season. We purchased our original plant from a Charleston farmers market on a trip in our first Southern years, along about 2004. Unfortunately as our area was heading in to drought it didn’t live more than a couple of years. Since then I’ve replaced it and as noted it hangs on. It’s cousin, about a foot over though; the lemon thyme, oh it is fairly certain the bed was put there solely for its frolicking.

Be warned, you will be obligated to eat the 12 popovers in a single setting. They are not nearly the art they are coming from the oven, even hours later.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/23/dining/231mrex.html?_r=1&ref=dining

The Minimalist: The Beefless Yorkshire Pudding (December 23, 2009)

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon fresh thyme (or 1/2 teaspoon dried), optional.

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Drizzle a teaspoon or so of melted butter in each cup of a 12-cup muffin pan or a popover tin and put it in oven while you make batter.

2. Beat together the eggs, milk, 1 tablespoon butter, sugar and salt. Beat in the flour a little bit at a time and add thyme if using; mixture should be smooth.

3. Carefully remove muffin tin from oven and fill each cup about halfway. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees and continue baking for 15 minutes more, or until popovers are puffed and browned. Do not check popovers until they have baked for a total of 30 minutes.

Remove from pan immediately and serve hot.

Yield: 12 popovers.