Chicken cacciatore

Start with some cutup chicken. (That's not chicken that makes jokes all the time, BTW.) You can cut it up yourself or buy it that way. Makes no nevermind. I usually stick with mostly dark meat pieces. They do better in the simmering time, and besides, most of the family prefers dark meat.

I like to lightly flour, salt, and pepper the pieces and then brown them gently in some olive oil down in a 4 or 6 quart Dutch oven. I don't use much olive oil, just enough to keep everything from scorching. I'd say about 3 tablespoons, at the most. Keep the heat at medium.

As you get the pieces browned, take them out and set aside.

Now, the sauce. This is much like the spaghetti sauce I make all the time. First, a carrot, peeled and chunked. Then, a stalk or two of celery, trimmed and chunked. I whiz these up in the food processor and set aside. I peel a couple, three cloves of garlic, depending on how much of that flavor I want. Sometimes, I use some finely diced green pepper if I have it.

I start by tossing the garlic and processed vegetables in the oil and chicken fat that's in the Dutch oven now. There's not more than maybe three tablespoons of fat at that point. I just stir that around until things are a little softer and blended up. Then, season with salt and pepper (to taste), some dried basil and oregano (probably a tablespoon or so of each, to taste), and stir around. I then put in a 6 oz can of tomato paste and stir all that around in the vegetables and oil. Finally, a can of diced tomatoes (optional, really - all water is fine), and about a liter of water to let everything simmer. I usually also add about 1/4 cup of sugar (at the most, depending on the tartness of the tomato products). Stir that to blend everything, then I put in my reserved chicken.

I bring it all to a boil, then turn down to fairly low to simmer. At that point, the chicken needs about 45 minutes, but can use as long as an hour and a quarter to get tender and good.

Tonight, the sauce seemed thin to me. So I removed the chicken and boiled the sauce down hard to where I wanted it.

Boil up some pasta (we use angelhair) and put the chicken and sauce over the top, and you're done.

Serve with a vege, bread, and fresh grated Parm or Romano.

Columbia Wine & Food Festival wine dinner @ Sycamore

What a nice evening! Tuesday, June 23, 2009 @ 7:00. Sycamore was slammed. I really felt for the staff. Because of the crowd, things got a little noisy, but that's just Sycamore, from my experience. There were a few moments early on when I got worried that service would suffer - seemed to take a while to get started with the meal (and of course, as the menu was fixed, there were no opening preliminaries). But after the first flight of wine came out, followed several minutes later by the scallop, and I found the food so good, I settled down. Once the crab salad appeared, service just suddenly snapped to, and the rest of the evening was great. DH objected to receiving the wines so far ahead of the accompanying dish (the bar was pouring and serving, trying to coordinate with food service), but that's probably because he couldn't resist sipping at the latest glass to arrive and ended up with very little wine left to drink with that course.

Portions were just perfect, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. No further ado: Here's what I had and what I thought about it.

Bacon-wrapped scallop
Jumbo dry-pack scallop wrapped in house-cured bacon served on country ham & barley pilaf with pea purée and pea shoots
Ballast Stone Riesling - Light, tart. Not my favorite of the evening, but good pairing.

This might have been the best dish in the lineup. Here's why: Bacon. The house-cured bacon was just outstanding in flavor. But here's the kicker: the taste of the perfectly-crisped bacon permeated the scallop, and the scallop was not - repeat - was NOT overdone. So you had this crispy, smoky crunch, and a smoky bite of tender seafood goodness, exactly complimenting each other. I mean, I know Chef knows what he's doing and all, but still - that's hard to do, and I admire it when I taste it. The barley pilaf was nicely seasoned, had a nice texture, and the pea puree set all the savory tastes off with its green sweetness. Very very nice.


Crab salad
Crab and avocado salad with local baby greens served with grapefruit and sesame vinaigrette
Ernst & Company Sauvignon Blanc - Slight sweetness that bounced off the sweetness in the vinaigrette and tartness of the grapefruit. Smooth feel that complemented the smoothness of the crab and avocado.

This one ran a close second to the opener, at the risk of sounding somewhat obvious. The quality of crab in the middle of Missouri is always an open question. This was good, and had been handled gently, so nice chunks of crabmeat were still evident. Avocado does something really smooth and nice with seafood, and it added its smooth note here, too. Greens were a romaine-type lettuce below and what could have been alfalfa sprouts (or similar sized sprouts) on top. The vinaigrette had a sweet note that was a counterpoint to the grapefruit supremes. Again, the balance of flavors was the notable feature.

Wild boar ravioli
House-made pasta stuffed with overnight-braised wild boar and Parmigiano-Reggiano, served in red wine broth with asparagus and morels
Chateau de Segries Cotes du Rhone - Nice body to hold up to the boar and hearty flavors in the broth. Spicy notes also played off the robustness of the dish.

There's always a danger in long braising, even of game or tougher cuts, and that's mushiness. Some of the boar was just about there ... saved only by a judicious hand in the chopping. Can't say enough good things about the pasta; tooth and warmth and flavor were all remarkable. The broth was so good, I was sorry that the bread had already been removed from the table! (I think it was Uprise Bakery batard - sure looked and tasted like what I'd just bought over the weekend.) I had a little scrap of bread left, and it was divine soaked in the broth. A few nice-sized dried morels, and some perfectly tender-crisp asparagus spears finished this dish off. Again, Chef Odette knows how to play flavors off each other in a dish, and this was a winner in that regard.

Cheese plate
Selection of fresh and aged Goatsbeard Farm goat cheeses
Ventisquero Carmenere - All fruits and spices, and went well with the saltiness of the cheeses and the sweet-tart compote.

The cheeses were a fresh chevre, Prairie Bloom, and Walloon. The Prairie Bloom had the white rind of a Brie or Camembert, with the smooth features of both those cheeses, but saltier. I liked the flavor of the Walloon quite a bit; it had the character of a Gruyere, firm, nutty, a little crumbly in the chew. The fresh chevre lacked the "doggy" taste that I dislike in goat cheese, and had a creamy texture that reminded me both of ricotta and cream cheese. I'm not much of a cheese eater, but these were all pleasing to me. The cheeses came with a rhubarb-strawberry compote on the side, just a small spoonful, and that was a nice compliment to all three cheeses.

Cherry turnover
Local tart cherries in flaky pastry crust served warm with house-made vanilla bean ice cream
Quady Elysium - Elysium = Heaven? Sweet and cherries and dark and yummy. Heavenly.

Did I mention that Chef knows how to balance flavors? The cherries were nice and tart - no oversugaring here (hallelujah!). The perfect foil to a creamy, but not over-the-top sweet, ice cream. Plus, the portion was reasonable. A nice square, about four inches on the side, folded into a nice triangle (I'll let you figure out how long that hypotenuse was). Just enough. The accompanying wine with its cherry-berry notes was absolutely spot-on. I couldn't resist, and poured a little on top of my ice cream. Wow! That'd be a dessert of note just by itself. Nice finish.

Final comment: I can't wait to eat again at Sycamore. Remind me to tell you about our experience there in May, when we had to wait 45 minutes for a reserved table. And it's a GOOD story that will make you want to only ever eat there forever.

Pork Medallions with Pasta

This is yet another way to fix pork tenderloin, a cut that is really easy to work with and nearly failure proof.

I sliced a single tenderloin (they usually come in twos) across the grain into approx 1-inch slices. I turned them cut side up and salted and peppered, then sprinkled very lightly with flour.

In a pan that used to be nonstick ... it's wearing out ... I put some olive oil, just enough to shimmer the surface, and heated it just a bit. Then, I cooked some sliced garlic - about three cloves - until the pieces were translucent. At that point, I pulled the garlic out and turned up the heat to start searing the medallions. This never takes very long, and you're not looking to cook the meat through anyway, just to put some nice color on it. It took two batches to do this, and I put the finished meat on a plate to rest while I browned the rest. Then, I put just a bit more oil in the pan (maybe a tablespoon), put the garlic back in, and then added about a tablespoon of champagne wine vinegar, a scant teaspoon of sugar, about a quarter cup of water, and about 2 tablespoons of whole grain mustard into the pan. When that was all combined, I put the browned meat into the sauce, cut the heat back to low, put a lid on, and let it simmer until the meat was cooked all the way through. That probably took 6 or 7 minutes.

Meanwhile, I boiled water for pasta, angelhair of course. That only takes about three minutes to cook. When the angelhair was done, I put it on a platter, drizzled a little olive oil over, then placed each pork medallion on top of the pasta, poured the rest of the pan sauce over everything, and then sprinkled some fresh-cut chives over the top.

Served with some fresh asparagus, steamed, and some leftover veggie casserole.

The Casserole - Spinach & Artichoke

I wasn't too crazy about the casserole (see here), but it wasn't awful either. It's pretty much what every spinach-artichoke dip has in it, but maybe tastes a little lighter (I get tired of eating those very heavy, greasy dips, even though I like them).

So here is what I fixed to go with the steak & potatoes.

Spinach Artichoke Casserole

1 10-oz package frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed
1.25 cups frozen artichoke hearts, thawed
1 – 1.5 cups sourdough croutons
1.5 cups plain non fat yogurt
2 eggs
3/4 cup milk
1.5 cups shredded cheese (I used marble cheddar shreds)
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
Pepper to taste

Beat the eggs, add the yogurt and milk. Stir everything else in to combine well.

Bake in oiled casserole dish at 350 degrees until bubbly and browned, about 25 minutes.

And of course, you can vary the amounts of cheese, onion, artichokes as you see fit. Be cautious about changing the amounts of milk, egg, yogurt, and croutons, though, because the custardy part may not cook up right if the proportions are off.

Flatiron steak & potatoes

I really have come to love flatiron steak. They say it's a new type of cut. (See Wikipedia.)

Sometimes I use a wet marinade for it, and sometimes dry. Tonight, I just used some Mrs Dash-style seasoning, a little salt, and then a little olive oil. I let it stand for about a half hour, sometimes longer.

Then, I heat up the broiler on Hi. When it's nice and hot, I slide that steak under for about 7 min on the first side, flip, and then about 5 or 6 on the "B" side (you youngsters won't even know what a B side is!).

I put the hot steak on a cutting board for at least 10 minutes, and put some foil over it loosely to keep the heat in. After it's stood for that long, I slice it thinly against the grain for serving. I like to put a spoon next to the meat (I serve buffet-style off the cutting board) so people can put the meat juices over the top of their serving.

The potatoes I like to do are roasted small potatoes. They used to call them "new" potatoes, but really I guess they don't have to be new, just small. I just slice in half, put in a pan with olive oil, cut side down, and then put in a preheated 375 oven (I often use convection for this) until they're nice and brown. Takes roughly 15-18 minutes. Tonight I also chopped up some fresh garlic and sprinkled that over the top. A little salt when they come out, and that's it.

Tonight I also made a casserole with spinach and artichoke hearts, but I really winged it. So I'll only post that one if it turns out nice.

Beef with Pineapple - my fave

This is one of my favorites from way back.

I adapted the recipe from here:
http://www.razzledazzlerecipes.com/chinese-recipes/cantonese-beef-pineapple.htm

I used a flank steak, which usually come out at around a pound to a pound and a half of meat. For stir-fries I like to slice the steak lengthwise in half, then thinly slice each of the long strips, ACROSS THE GRAIN (this is important). Slicing across the grain keeps the meat tender. Nothing like it for stir-fries (ignore everything you've ever heard about top round being good - flank steak is the gold standard).

I put the sliced strips of beef into a big bowl and sprinkled with about a tablespoon of bottled teriyaki sauce. That's because I'm running out of soy sauce (I know, I know), so I knew the sugar and other seasonings in the teriyaki would work just as well, maybe better. Then I sprinkled about a half tablespoon of cornstarch over all that, and mixed well. You let that stand while everything else gets sliced.

I like to add to the pineapple, because while that tastes really good, you want some contrast of flavor. So I decided to slice up a half of a Vidalia onion and about a quarter of this huge green pepper I had. I don't chop the veggies up - I really just slice them into strips about three inches long or so, about a half an inch wide. Set all that aside, and then you tackle the pineapple. Now, canned pineapple is just fine to use, but for this, I really really like the taste of fresh. So I took a half a pineapple and turned it into chunks that were about a half an inch thick. And set that aside too.

Then, you mix up the thickener. I used about a tablespoon of cornstarch, a tablespoon of dry sherry, a teaspoon of white sugar (could use brown too), a half teaspoon of salt, and a splash of teriyaki sauce. I also added a scant 1/4 cup of water. Mix until smooth and set aside.

After that, I just followed the normal stir fry routine. You put a little oil in the pan and stir fry the veggies first. These should stay pretty crisp - you don't want them all limp, so it only takes maybe five minutes or so. I added a little salt while I was stir-frying. I put the veggies on a platter to wait, then quickly ran the pineapple into the pan, no longer than a minute or so, and put it back into its bowl. Then, you stir-fry the meat with about a teaspoon or two of oil, and this usually takes two batches to make the meat brown up a little. You can never get your pan as hot as the Chinese restaurant, so your meat will never look as pretty, but you do want to get it fairly cooked through, although you still have a little more cooking time to put on it at this stage.

After the first batch, I put it next to the veggies on the platter while the second batch cooked. After that batch is done, I put all the veggies, plus the set-aside meat into the pan and stirred to combine. At that point, I put in the thickening mixture and stirred it around so it would do its thing. Finally, I tossed in the pineapple, stirred it again, and then sprinkled some dark sesame oil over the top before plating on the platter.

That's it! As with all Chinese food, the prep work takes like 20-25 minutes (depending on your knife skills), and the coming-together part takes like 8. And then it's eaten in 5.

I served this with white rice, and put some stir-fried green beans with oyster sauce and garlic on the side.

Pork, Polenta, Other

I floured some pork cutlets (thank you, Webers Meat Market) and fried them up in vegetable oil. Put them in a warm oven while you make a little gravy with about 2 tablespoons of the fat from frying and flour/seasoning. I used some chicken broth made with storebought chicken soup base. About a couple cups.

The polenta is just Bob's Red Mill from Gerbes. I make it pretty much like the package instructions say, only I always end up adding more liquid. Usually water, but broth is good too. KEEP STIRRING! My one piece of advice.

Then, I took some chopped garlic. Sauteed it in olive oil .. about 2 tablespoons. Threw it in some hot olive oil, tossed in some frozen artichoke hearts. Tossed that around until the mixture looked warm. Then tossed in some halved grape tomatoes, and some sliced up asparagus that I steamed and shocked over the weekend and had in the fridge. Tossed around for a while until it looked nice. Turned the heat off and let it stand.

When the polenta was done, I grated some parmesan (I always like say PARMESIAN -- par MEEE zhee ann) cheese on top. Then put the veggie mix on top.

Then, it's just put the gravy over the cutlets. And put the polenta/vege on the side.

yum yum yum

Food - a hobby

Most of what I cook is pretty easy stuff. I get complicated sometimes, but that just complicates your life. And who needs that?

Hoping I can post some receipts (as they say) you may like to try someday. Maybe something a little different from the ordinary.

Number One

It's begun.