Chicken Tetrazinni Redux: Rethinking Comfort Food

It's a Friday afternoon--work done for the day.  It's cold.  Snow fell sideways all night long, leaving a clouded feeling of fogginess in my mind.  Yesterday, I had made chicken stock, which I love to have available.   To do this, I simmered a whole chicken in water with salt, pepper, parsley, thyme, bay leaves, onions, garlic, celery and carrots until the chicken was just done.  Then I removed the chicken from the bones and returned the skin and bones to the pot, reserving the chicken.  I simmered this overnight leaving me with a luscious stock.  With that, and all the other fixings in my overly stocked pantry and freezer, I decided to go ahead and make Bridget's family this dish of comfort.

In my childhood, my mother would make turkey tetrazinni. A cream based sauce, enveloping linguine, with leftover turkey and pimentos.  Topped lovingly with Parmesan cheese and almonds.  I remember loving it.
For Bridget, I like to mix things up a bit, and always try to make the dishes I make for her family as healthy as possible.  I've used a recipe by Emeril Lagasse for a tuna tetrazinni before, and her family has loved it.  So decided to use that recipe as a base for today's feast.

This makes a large portion, enough for 10-12.  It is a nice use for leftover chicken, but goes well with an equivalent amount of albacore tuna packed in oil as well.  I hope you enjoy it.

Chicken Tetrazinni

1 ½ c. onions, ¼ inch dice

1 red bell pepper, ¼ inch dice

6 T. Butter (or combination butter and chicken fat from stock)

1 T. garlic, minced

10 oz. mushrooms, sliced

1 ½ t. creole seasoning (such as Tony Carchere’s)

1 ½ t. thyme leaves

¼ c. flour

½ c. brandy (or dry white wine)

2 c. chicken broth

1 c. cream

14 oz. linguine (I used whole grain)

2 ½ c. cooked chicken, shredded

10 oz. frozen spinach, thawed and pressed dry

1 T. fresh parsley leaves

Salt

Freshly ground pepper

1/3 c. parmesan (don’t necessarily need the good stuff here)

1 ½ c. fresh breadcrumbs

¼ c. parmesan

3 T. olive oil

½ c. slivered almonds

Directions

Bring a large pot of water to the boil while you proceed with making the sauce.
Saute the onions and red pepper in the butter (or use some of the chicken fat from the skimmed stock plus butter to equal 6 T.) until they are starting to soften.  Add the garlic and cook for one minute.  Add the mushrooms and saute until the mushrooms are softened.  Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for two minutes.  Add the brandy and the stock a little at a time, stirring continuously to make a smooth sauce.  Add the whipping cream and simmer for approximately 20 minutes until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.  

While the sauce is thickening, cook the pasta to al dente (do not cook all the way), drain it, and cool down with cold water.  Set aside.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  When the sauce is thickened, add the thyme, parsley, and Parmesan.  Season with salt and pepper.  Off heat, add the chicken and spinach.  Stir well.

Add the oil to a skillet.  Slowly toast the almonds in the olive oil until lightly golden brown.  Add the oil and almonds to breadcrumbs.  Stir in the remaining Parmesan cheese.

Add the pasta to the sauce and stir well to combine.  Pour pasta into a large baking dish that has been lightly oiled.  Top with breadcrumb mixture.  Bake, uncovered until browned and bubbly, about 25 minutes.

Enjoy!

Spinach Stuffed Tomatoes: A Lovely and Delicious Side Dish

Last night, I decided to finally cook the sirloin steak I had been dry aging for a dinner last weekend for a friend who never came to visit.  I didn't really feel like making all the side dishes I had planned for as they just seemed like too much work for a meal just for me.  So, I set out to see what I had in my refrigerator, freezer, and pantry.  I made this recipe up on the spot, and it was the absolute best part of the meal.  That week long dry aged steak au poive was good, don't get me wrong, but it was clearly overshadowed by this tomato. 

The tang of the ricotta salata along with the bitterness of the spinach made for a lovely, complexly flavored dish.  In fact, I liked it so much, I made it again for lunch today, so I could write down the recipe.

Ricotta Salata may not be readily accessible, but don't be daunted.  Next time you go to an Italian market, or a place that sells specialty cheeses, just keep this recipe in mind and buy a big block of this cheese.  It freezes very well and makes for a wonderful cheese on a simple salad.  It also tops pasta.  This cheese is somewhat like a good feta, or mizrithra.  It does not melt, and has a salty bite.

I hope you will enjoy this recipe as much as I  do.  Vegetarians, delight, meat eaters, alike.

Spinach Stuffed Tomatoes

(serves 4)

4 baseball sized tomatoes

1 T. olive oil

½ t. crushed red chile flakes

½ cup onion, chopped into ¼ inch pieces

2 garlic cloves, minced

4 slices sourdough bread (about 2 cups), cut into ¼-1/2 inch pieces

¼ c. half and half (or milk, or, go crazy and use cream)

1 cup frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed fairly dry

2 t. fresh thyme

¼ cup plus 2 T. ricotta salata (this is dried ricotta cheese, not the kind in a container), crumbled

Salt and pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cut off the top ¼ inch of the tomatoes, and reserve.  Run a knife (preferably a serrated knife along the inside wall of the tomato, being careful not to break through the bottom.  Use a tablespoon to scoop out the filling of the tomato.  Remove the seeds from the center of the tomato you’ve just removed.  Cut this, along with meat from the tops into ¼ inch pieces.  Use a spoon or your fingers to remove the seeds leftover in the inside of the tomatoes.  Salt the insides of the empty tomatoes with a sprinkling of Kosher salt and place upside down on a plate while you prepare the filling. 

Heat oil in a non-stick pan.  Add red chile flakes.  Saute onions in 1 T. olive oil until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and reserved tomato pieces.  Cook 1 minute.    Add sourdough bread and sauté for one minute longer.  Add ½ and ½ as well as the thyme.  Cook for 1 minute.  Add the spinach and cook for one additional minute.  Remove from heat and add ¼ cup ricotta salata.  Fill each of the tomato cavities to over flowing.  Press tightly.  Place the stuffed tomatoes in a lightly oiled pie tin.  Top with a sprinkling of the remaining ricotta salata.

Bake at 375 for 20 minutes until the skin of the tomato slightly splits and the top is slightly browned.

Have a Food Question? Just Ask!

My friend Amanda just emailed me a food question  about chiles and olive oil (not connected).  I just loved that she did this.  It happens often, actually.  I have been cooking for many years, and am an avid follower of good cooking shows (Julia Childs is my favorite!), and soak in cooking tips like a sponge. 

To that end, I have decided to suggest that you, as readers, ask me questions you have about food and cooking if you have any.  I will do my best to answer them, or to point you to a place where you can find an answer to any food questions you have.  And if I don't know the answer?  Well, I'll let you know that too.  I'm no expert, but am happy to offer any advise that I have.

Hatch Green Chile Stew: Community Dinner Fiesta

For the last 15 years, I have been holding what I call, "Community Dinner".  It started out in my apartment, every Sunday. I would cook for whomever would come.  Sometimes that would be 8 people, others, 30.  I loved doing this, but weekly was a bit much.  Nowadays, being a student keeps me from doing these as much as I'd like. But, with the addition of a small cast iron pan, people now pitch in to help pay for food, which is really nice.

Here's how they work. Perhaps you'd like to start doing this too.  I started with a core of my friends.  I send out an invitation stating what the meal will be, and the deal, which is....come, bring a beverage for yourself, and bring a few bucks to help with food costs. Be prepared to meet new people.  If you like the experience, bring someone new the next time you come. You can imagine that over the years, I've met many new people this way, and have made many friends.  Old, young, graduate students, carpenters, house cleaners, artists, musicians.  Folks of all shapes, sizes, walks of life. It is wonderful.

Boone is often my co chef for these affairs.  Nowadays, I invite people to come cook with me if they want. This week was no exception.  With the help of Peter, Scotland, and Jan, Boone and I were able to make a feast for 20 on Saturday night.

We made the stuffed poblanos that are listed on this blog, a jicama salad, homemade corn as well as flour tortillas, and this lovely green chile stew.  I also made a pound cake with lime zest and candied ginger, which was delicious, but a disaster in some ways (it didn't cook evenly so when I unmolded it, part fell off....) I did a lot of searching for a recipe for this stew and found some variation.  Together, Boone and I decided to use as the base, the recipe from the Santa Fe School of cooking.  We adapted this a bit, and the result was lovely.

Now, I have to admit that what makes this simple stew so amazing is an ingredient that is difficult to come by. It is Hatch Green Chiles.  These are some amazing chiles with a flavor that cannot be replicated by "green chiles" in a can, or California (Anaheim) chiles.  The flavor of these Hatch chiles is something ethereal. They are a bit smoky, but not overwhelmingly.  My sister graciously sent me 10 pounds of the chiles this summer, which I happily roasted and froze in small batches of 8 chiles each.

The most difficult part of this stew is the chiles themselves.  With this batch, I just roasted, cooled and then froze them, seeds, stems and skins in tact.  This left Boone with the daunting and time consuming task of peeling and then deseeding the chiles (it is vital to deseed these, as they are HOT! even though these were the medium heat chiles.)  When you do this, do your skin and eyes (or other precious parts) a favor, and wear gloves.  If I get another batch this summer, I will split them after roasting, then deseed them while they are still warm. I will keep the skins on for protection in the freezer.

The recipe we used from the Santa Fe cooking school called for pork shoulder.  We opted not to use the shoulder for health reasons and opted to use a pork loin. I  know!  You would think it would be tough when stewed, but trust me, with the double cooking method described below, you will have pork so tender it will fall apart with the touch of a fork.  This recipe makes enough stew to feed about 15-20 hungry people.  I recommend serving it with warmed corn tortillas.

If you make this stew, or any of the recipes on this blog, for that matter, please comment upon them for others and for me too!  Perhaps you will do something that will make these ideas even better.

Hatch Green Chile Stew
5 lbs. pork loin (whole loin)
salt
pepper
olive oil
4 cups white onion, 1/4-1/2 inch dice
1 T. vegetable oil (I like to use Canola oil for my neutral oil)
3 T. garlic, crushed
8 cups chicken broth (preferably homemade)
3 lbs. russett potatoes, cut in 1/2 inch cubes
1/4 cup flour mixed with 1/2 cup water or broth
salt to taste
3 cups Hatch green chiles, peeled, seeded and chopped in 1/2 inch pieces (or more to taste)
1 red, yellow or orange bell pepper, 1/4 inch dice
cilantro (optional)

Directions
Turn oven to 300 degrees.  Rub the loin with the oil and season well with salt and pepper.  Tie the roast at 1 inch intervals to tighten up the roast so it will cook evenly.

Heat a roasting pan on the stove top.  Place the roast in the pan and sear on all sides for about 3 minutes per side until browned.  Place the pan in the oven and roast until a thermometer reads 140 degrees.  This will take approximately an hour. 

While the roast cooks, prepare the chiles.  Saute the onions in the vegetable oil until golden, about 8 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute longer.  Add the chicken broth.  Let this simmer on low until the roast has cooked and rested.  When the roast has rested for at least 20 minutes, remove the string and cut it into 1 inch cubes.  Put the pork in the broth.  Add the flour slurry and stir well.  Let this cook on a low simmer for 3 or more hours, adding broth if it gets too low. 

20 minutes before serving, add the potatoes and the chiles.  When the potatoes are nearly done (al dente), add the colored peppers and taste for salt and add more chiles if it is not hot enough for you.  Add cilantro if you choose (we left it out and had it on the side).  Serve when the potatoes are just cooked through.

Serve with queso fresco (Mexican fresh cheese), and sour cream.

Hot!

Pho Ga (Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup): Packing in the flavor

I had the most lovely weekend. I was blessed with a catering gig with my professor and his wife, Bob and Bernadine on Sunday.  I was to prepare a brunch for Sunday for 15 people.  As there is nothing I love more than to spend time with my dear friends Bob and Bernadine, I did the cooking on Saturday at their house. I prepared four different quiches--Quiche Lorraine, Spinach and Chevre with Leeks, Wild Mushroom and shallots  with Gruyere, and Spinach and Mushroom with Gruyere.  I also made sharp cheddar, thyme and chive scones, a salad with homemade ranch dressing, and a fruit salad with a side dressing of homemade yogurt, lemon zest, ginger and honey.  A full day indeed.  The brunch was well received and appreciated.

Lucky for me, Saturday evening led to even more cooking.  My friend Peter, who is also a foodie like me, invited me over to make a meal for Chinese New Year.  He taught me how to make this amazing dish. It was kind of like a Chinese tamale.  Sticky rice cooked much like a risotto with pork, then rolled in eucalyptus leaves and steamed.  In turn taught Peter how to make pasta, so we had this interesting combination of homemade pasta with a ragu and these lovely Chinese rice bundles.  While enjoying our feast, we talked about Pho.  Peter is passionate about Pho.

Now, if you've never had Pho, I strongly encourage you to try it.  Now the thing about Pho is that it is all about the broth, so finding a good Pho can be a challenge. You may need to go to several Vietnamese restaurants before finding one that rocks your boat.  But be careful, once you find it, you'll want it often.  Pho is a lovely, complex beef or chicken based soup.

Since our conversation, I've not been able to get Pho off my mind.  So, I decided to make some this week.  My efforts began with an earnest internet search.  I found hundreds of recipes.  I did some comparing and found many similarities.  Bones, meat, star anise, cloves, ginger, fish sauce, and onions all at the base of the broth.  It is all about the broth.

As the idea of cooking up ten pounds of beef bones for a serving for four seemed a bit overzealous for a weeknight meal for one, I decided to make a chicken pho to start my learning process.  The following recipe is a compilation of several I found on the web.  It is amazingly rich and complex in flavor.

This recipe makes 4 quarts of broth.  The toppings are enough for 4-6 servings, which will leave you broth for another time.  It freezes well.  You may also just have more toppings (and more chicken breasts) available and serve a crowd of 10-12.
Pho Broth

4 lbs. skinless chicken thighs

2 chicken breasts, bone in, skinless
1 whole onion, peeled and cut in half
3-inch chunk of ginger, unpeeled

2 T. whole coriander seeds
4 whole cloves
3 whole star anise
2 T rock sugar (found at Asian markets)

3 T.  fish sauce

small hand full of cilantro stems

Directions

Place ginger and onion on a baking sheet. The top of the onion should be about 4″ from the oven’s heating element. Set to broil on high for 15 minutes. Turn the onion and ginger occasionally, to get an even char. The skin should get dark and the onion/ginger should get soft. Slice ginger into 1/4 inch thick slices.

Fill a large stock pot with water and boil. While the water is boiling, use a cleaver or heavy knife to break the bones of the thighs in at least 3 places (just give them a real good whack--but watch your fingers.  They should be nowhere near that chicken--yes, this is gross, but the more marrow you expose, the more rich your broth will be).

When the water boils,  boil the thighs on high for 5 minutes. You’ll see lots of foam come up to the surface. Drain, rinse your chicken of the scum and wash your pot thoroughly. Refill with 4 quarts of clean, cold water.

Add chicken, chicken breast, onion, ginger, cloves, anise, coriander, sugar, fish sauce and cilantro in the pot and cover. Turn heat to high – let it come to boil, then immediately turn heat to low. Prop lid up so that steam can escape. After 15 minutes, remove the chicken breasts, shred with your fingers when cooled and reserve for serving (you’ll serve shredded chicken breast with the finished soup). With a large spoon, skim the surface of any impurities in the broth. Skimming every once in a while ensures a clear broth. Simmer a total of 6-8 hours (yes, that long.  You can do it over night if you wish). Taste and adjust seasoning with more fish sauce and or sugar.

Strain the broth through cheesecloth and discard the solids (if you have a dog, he or she will love you for the meat from those thighs, but all the flavor has been sapped, so don't be tempted to eat it yourself--or do, but it won't taste too good.)

At this point, you can serve your soup, or you can cool the stock and remove any fat that coagulates on the surface.

Pho Soup
1 lb dried rice noodles (about 1/4″ wide)
2 cups bean sprouts, washed
cilantro tops
1/2 cup shaved red onions
1/2 lime, cut into 4 wedges

1/2 cup basil, chiffonade (sliced into thin strips by rolling up and slicing)

1/4 cup mint, chiffonade
Sriracha hot sauce
sliced Thai chilies

 Directions

Prepare noodles as per the directions on package (do not overcook). Reheat stock, if cooled.  Ladle broth into the bowls, add shredded chicken breast and soft noodles in each bowl. Have the rest of the ingredients at the table for people to add to their bowl as they wish. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.

A- Traditional Spaghetti Carbonara: Lightening up dinner for a change

I love Spaghetti Carbonara.  I mean, love it.  Its richness, its texture.  It is actually my favorite thing to make with leftover pasta for breakfast.  The problem is is that I don't feel good about eating it.  I love good food.  At the same time, I struggle, because I want to eat healthy food, at least, most of the time.

Eating Spaghetti Carbonara seems wrong, somehow, to me.  So tonight, I decided to try to lighten it up, and to be honest, the product was successful, at least for me.  I have to be honest when I say that I usually don't like "light" recipes. I normally figure that if you are going to eat, you should eat.  But, sometimes I make exceptions.  I rarely eat beef, and will replace it with turkey without hesitation.  I use some low fat products such as mayonnaise, sour cream and milk, etc. And I rarely eat pasta that is not whole grain, except when I make it fresh.

Now to say that this is a "healthy" meal would be deceiving.  I'm sure it's not. But compared to it's counterpart, I feel fulfilled and don't feel badly about my dinner.  Traditional Carbonara is based on Pancetta (Italian Bacon), eggs, sometimes cream, and lots of cheese.  Carbonara is easy no matter what recipe you use.  The trick is not to curdle the eggs.  The way you do this is to mix it with cream (or in this case buttermilk) and to turn off the heat before adding it to the pasta.  I make sure to use fresh eggs for this (I like using free range organic eggs. I may be a student, but this is one of my few extravagant ingredients I will spend money on.  Well, this, and good Parmeggiano Reggiano--ok, there are others....)

This recipe as well as many others only take as much time as it takes to make pasta, so it is perfect for a busy day. Please try it and let me know what you think.

Shameem's Non-Traditional Spaghetti Carbonara
(serves one and I'm sure can be easily multiplied)

2 oz. whole grain spaghetti (I like Barilla whole grain, it doesn't taste too wheaty)
1 T. salt
2 quarts water

1/2 leek, cut in half, rinsed carefully in lots of water, and thinly sliced
4 Crimini mushrooms
1/2 t. olive oil
pinch salt
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 cup white wine
2 oz. Canadian bacon, roughly chopped

1 oz. Parmeggiano Reggiano, grated
1/2 oz. Pecorino Romano, grated
1 T. buttermilk
1 egg
1/4 t. black pepper, freshly ground, coarse
1 T. parsley

Directions
Bring the water to a boil in a large pot.  Once it is at a boil, add the salt.  Add your pasta.  Cook until just al dente (so that it still has a bit of a bite.)

While the water is coming to a boil, saute the leeks in olive oil with a pinch of salt for 3 minutes on medium heat.  Add the mushrooms and cook for 3 minutes more.  Add garlic and bacon and cook for one minute.  Add the wine and cook for one minute until the wine evaporates.

Mix the egg, buttermilk, pinch of salt, pepper and cheeses in a small bowl.

When the pasta is done, take the vegetables off of the heat.  Add the pasta using tongs.  Don't worry about a little extra water going into the pan.  Mix the pasta and the vegetables.  Add the eggs and cheese and mix well.  Top with parsley and extra pepper and serve immediately.

I hope you enjoy it!

Chicken, Caramelized Onion, and Arugula Sandwich: Beautiful to look at and eat

You may recall from reading my recipe for focaccia that I made that recipe just so I could try to replicate the amazing sandwich I had at Olympic Provisions in Portland, Oregon.  Remember, the place that literally made me cry?  There I had a sandwich that melted in my mouth.  It was fabulous.  Full of complex flavors.  It was a roasted pork loin sandwich made on homemade focaccia with homemade mayonnaise, escarole,and carmelized onions.  I made my version of this sandwich on Friday after my miserable excuse for a refrigerator (Amana, but I'll devote a whole blog to that disaster) exploded.  Well, the refrigerator didn't explode, but the glass shelf did, while in my hands.  Yes, you read that right.  I had removed the glass to clean it, and while walking to the sink, it literally exploded into tens of thousands of pieces while in my hands.  No, I didn't hit it on anything.  It scared the life out of me, and took two hours of my life away in cleaning time.

Anyways, I needed something to pick me up after that nightmare, so of course, I decided to cook. Unfortunately, I had no pork loin (not even in my freezer!), so I used chicken breast instead.  And as I did not have escarole, so I used arugula.  Now, don't be fooled.  This is no perfect recipe.  It is good, don't get me wrong. But the escarole had a textural integrity that the arugula did not, and the chicken breast was tasty, but was no roasted pork loin.  Worth trying?  Absolutely!  It comes in four parts. I know, a lot of work for a sandwich, but it not only is lovely, but tasty too.  Next time I'll give it a more accurate try and let you know how it turns out.

Focaccia
Rosemary Focaccia
2 1/2 cups (11.25 oz.) bread flour (I like King Arthur unbleached bread flour)
1 t. (.25 oz.) salt  (not kosher here, but rather fine grained salt)
1 t. instant yeast
3 T. (1.5 oz.) olive oil
1 cup (8 oz.) water, at room temperature
1/4 cup olive oil

Directions
Using the stand mixer, stir together the flour, salt, and yeast using the paddle attachment.  Add 3T. olive oil and water and stir until combined.  Change over to the dough hook.  Knead on medium low speed for 7 minutes or until you form a smooth, sticky dough that clears the sides of the bowl but sticks to the bottom.

Sprinkle a 6 inch square of flour on your counter.  Place your dough on the square.  Stretch it out to this size.  Lift each side and fold over in thirds, like an envelope.  Walk away for 5 minutes to let the gluten in the dough relax.  

Stretch the dough to be twice its size and fold over as before, in thirds.  Mist with spray oil, sprinkle with flour, cover with plastic wrap and let rest 30 minutes.  After 30 minutes, repeat.

Let the dough ferment for one hour on your counter.  It should swell.  If your counters are stone, and it is winter, and if your house is cold like mine, this may take up to 3 or more hours depending on the temperature.  You will see pockets of bubbles on the surface of the dough when it is ready for the next step.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Drizzle with 2 T. olive oil. Lift the dough and place it on the parchment paper.  Put 2 T. olive oil on top of the rectangular dough.  Use your fingers to stretch it out until it is about 1/2 inch thickness.  Heavily dimple the surface with your fingers.  Sprinkle on the remaining 2 T. olive oil, 1 t. crushed dried rosemary, and 1/2 t. coarse sea salt.  Cover with plastic, or place in a plastic bag and let rest in the refrigerator (or on your cold porch) for at least 8 hours to retard the dough (this makes for a much more complexly flavored dough).  

3 hours before baking (or 6 if your kitchen is cold), redimple your dough and add more oil if desired.  Proof at room temperature for 3 hours or until about 1 inch thick.  Preheat your oven to 500 degrees with the oven in the middle position.  When the oven gets to temperature, put your focaccia in, lowering the temperature to 450 degrees.  Bake for 10 minutes.  Turn the pan 180 degrees and continue to bake until browned, about 5 minutes.

Immediately transfer the dough to a cooling rack.  Allow to cool for 20 minutes before slicing or serving.

Mayonnaise
1 egg
2 t. lemon juice
1/2 t. salt
1 t. white wine vinegar
1 t. Dijon mustard
2 cups canola oil


Directions
For this recipe, you'll need either a food processor, blender, or bowl and whisk.  It is almost foolproof with a food processor, but I've had some difficulty with my mayonnaise breaking when using a blender. I made this last week with the food processor after failing with the blender. It was super easy!  Place your egg and lemon juice in the processor.  Process for 5 seconds.  Add the salt, vinegar and mustard.  Process 5 more seconds.  Next, fill a 2 cup glass measuring cup.  If you have a small hole in the bottom of your plunger mechanism of the food processor, start the processor and begin to pour in the oil into the plunger. It will stream in the oil at the perfect speed.  Do this until all of the oil has been emulsified.  To do this with  the blender or in a bowl, follow the first set of instructions up to when you add the oil.  Then, very slowly, in a very thin stream, whisk or blend in the oil until emulsified. Homemade mayonnaise is amazing.  There is no replacement, particularly in something simple like this sandwich.


Chicken

1 t. canola oil
2 t. Cajun seasoning (mix of thyme, onion and garlic powder, salt, pepper, and paprika)


Directions
Turn your broiler on to low if you can.  Else on to high.  Place your chicken breast, one at a time, between 2 pieces of plastic wrap.  Gently pound the breast to equal thickness.  It does not need to be very thin, just the thickness of the thinnest part of the breast.  Place the breasts onto a cookie sheet, spread with oil and seasonings.  Broil on low (or 8 inches from a high broiler) for about 7 minutes until lightly browned.  Flip and repeat.  Cook until the chicken feels firm to the touch.  Note:  the amount of time it will take to cook yor chicken breasts will be completely dependent on the amount of heat that is coming from your broiler.  Just keep and eye on them, checking every few minutes.  Do not overcook them.  As soon as they are firm to the touch, they are done.


Sandwich
2 medium onions, sliced to about 1/4 inch thick
1 t. olive oil
pinch of salt
Arugula
Mayonnaise
Focaccia


Directions
Slice your focaccia to be about the size of your chicken breasts. You'll need two pieces per sandwich if you made your focaccia 1 inch thick as was suggested.  If it is more thick, you can slice one piece in half through the middle to make two pieces.


Caramelize your onions in the olive oil with the salt on medium low heat until deeply golden brown.


When your chicken is cooked through, let it rest out of the oven for at least five minutes.  While the chicken is resting to redistribute the juices, lightly toast your focaccia on both sides in the broiler.


Spread mayonnaise on each slice of focaccia.  Top with caramelized onions, chicken breast, and arugula.  Sprinkle salt and pepper on the arugula and enjoy!

New York Deli Rye: An authentic treat from New York City

Over the holiday, while at the charcuterie for lunch with my sisters, my sister Naseem was extolling the virtues of a Rubin sandwich in New York City.  It dawned on me that I have never had corned beef.  I'm serious. I've never had corned beef, let alone New York City corned beef.  Since this discussion, I've been perseverating on the perfect Rubin.

I figured I would have to start with the bread.  In Chicago, I can get St. Rosen's deli rye, but I was wondering if I could make a loaf that was even more authentic.  My search took me back to my favorite cookbook, The Bread Baker's Apprentice.  What follows is the recipe from this amazing chef with my own adaptations.  What I changed was the pre-ferment process as well as the amount of yeast.  All else is the same.  To make this dough, you need a sourdough starter.  If you don't have one, I'm sure you can find one if you ask your foodie friends.  I have some and am always happy to share.  Mine is several years old, and was a naturally started sourdough with rye.

Now, I've made this rye a few times.  It may seem daunting to make bread, but I find it to be calming.  There is absolutely nothing like making your own bread.  The feel of the dough, the smell of the yeast, the smell that fills the house as you bake the bread...it is worth every bit of effort.

You may be tempted to make this rye bread without the caraway seeds.  You could do that.  You could also leave out the onions, but I believe these are the things that make this bread extra special.  I can't wait to make the corned beef.  Once I get that down, I'll write about the whole Ruben process.

This rye is amazing.  I've not yet attempted to make the corned beef, but making a Rubin with this bread, even with deli meat blew my mind.  The flavor of this bread is very complex.  The onions add something subtle that I cannot explain.  And the sour from the starter and from the rye is sublime.  I feel fortunate to have had that conversation with Naseem this December.  Without it, I would have never had attempted this recipe.  I am sure glad I did.

New York Deli Rye
1 cup (7 oz.) sourdough starter
1 cup (4.5 oz.) rye flour
1/2 cup (4 oz.) water, lukewarm
12 oz. onions, diced
2 T. vegetable oil

3 1/2 cups (16 oz.) unbleached high-gluten, bread flour
1 cup (4.5 oz.) rye flour
2 T. (1 oz.) brown sugar
2 1/4 t. (.56oz.) salt
3 t. (.33 oz.) instant yeast
2 t. (.22 oz.) caraway seeds
2 T. (1 oz.) vegetable oil
1 c. (8 oz) buttermilk, lukewarm
1/4 to 1/2 cups (2-4 ounces) water, at room temperature
Semolina or cornmeal for dusting
1 egg white, whisked until frothy, for egg wash

Directions
The day before you want to make the bread, saute the onions in the 2 T. vegetable oil (I use canola) until the onions are softened.  Cool the onions.  Mix together the sourdough starter, 1 cup rye flour, and room temperature onions.  Cover with plastic wrap and let it ferment at room temperature until it bubbles and foams.  In my house during the winter, this took 8 hours.  It may take as little as 3-4 hours.  Refrigerate for at least 8 hours.

The next day, remove the starter at least one hour before making the dough.  To make the dough, stir together the flours, brown sugar, salt, yeast, and caraway seeds in a large bowl, or in the bowl of a stand mixer.  Add  the starter you made the day before, the oil, and buttermilk.  Mix on low speed with the paddle attachment until it forms a ball adding only as much water as is needed to bring everything together into a soft, not sticky mass.  Let this sit for 5 minutes to relax and start the process of forming gluten.

Put the dough hook onto your mixer (or knead by hand on the counter using bread flour when the dough sticks).  Knead on medium-low speed (#2 or #3) for 6 minutes (any longer and the dough may become gummy).  Add in bread flour as needed to make a fir, slightly tacky dough. Pinch off a small piece of dough.  Stretch it out as if you were going to blow a bubble with it.  You should be able to hold it up to the light and see through it.  If it tears immediately, you need to work it more to develop more gluten.  Lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to coat it with the oil.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.

Ferment at room temperature for 1 1/2 -2 hours (or, however long it takes) until the dough doubles in size.

Remove the dough at divide into 3 equal pieces.  Press each piece into a rectangle about 5 inches wide by 8 inches long.  Fold the top half of the dough 1/3 of the way over.  Press this seam closed.  Now fold over the bottom in 1/3, forming a rectangle about 3 x 5.  Press this seam.  Place these loaves into lightly oiled bread pans (9 x 5).

Proof loaves until they have grown almost double in size.  This may take as little as 90 minutes.  For me, it took 6 hours (yes, my house is cold).  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees with the rack in the middle of the oven.  Brush the loaf tops with egg wash. Place the loaf pans on a cookie sheet (to protect the bottoms) and bake them for 20 minutes.  Rotate the pans 180 degrees (for even baking) and bake another 15-40 minutes until the internal temperature registers 185-195 degrees. The loaves should be golden brown all over and should sound hollow if you thump the bottoms.  Transfer to a cooling rack and cool for at least one hour before slicing.

Enjoy!

Focaccia: An unctuous treat

Over the holiday, my sisters and I headed to Portland for a special day of thrift store shopping.  Renee recommended a restaurant for us to go to for lunch.  Located in a warehouse district in Portland, we walked into a place that literally made me cry.  It was my dream.  A s mall, clean kitchen, a walk in sausage refrigerator, a wall of wines, and an amazingly simple menu.  The charcuterie had few tables, and a bar where you could sit and watch the food be prepared.  The name, "Olympic Provisions."  I loved every moment.  And then, my order came.  Roasted pork loin on focaccia with mayonnaise, caramelized onions, and escarole.  Every bite was unctuous and delicious.  I could feel the love on my tongue. 


Since that time, I have longed for this sandwich.  I can still recall the sensation of homemade mayonnaise dripping down my chin.  So this week, I decided to begin recreating that sandwich.  I began with the focaccia.

Now, if you are interested in learning to bake bread in a serious way, I have to recommend a cookbook.  This is my favorite cookbook of all times.  It is called, The Breadbaker's Apprentice.  This book is phenomenal! The stories in it, the explanations...they are incredibly clear and well written. If I had real guts, I would sell all I have and move to France and study bread baking, and it would be due to this book.  Baking happens in weight, at least, in this cookbook it does. I've come to really enjoy measuring by weight rather than volume.  One tool I would not want to live without is my scale.

The recipe I am writing up here comes from this cookbook.  It is not mine in any way.  I have made a few adaptations--one being that I halved the recipe.  Another is that I used olive oil, rosemary and coarse sea salt rather than the recommended herb oil.  I also explained the process in my own way.   I can't wait for this weekend to make the rest of this sandwich.  I'll write about how it turns out.

Rosemary Focaccia
2 1/2 cups (11.25 oz.) bread flour (I like King Arthur unbleached bread flour)
1 t. (.25 oz.) salt  (not kosher here, but rather fine grained salt)
1 t. instant yeast
3 T. (1.5 oz.) olive oil
1 cup (8 oz.) water, at room temperature
1/4 cup olive oil


Directions
Using the stand mixer, stir together the flour, salt, and yeast using the paddle attachment.  Add 3T. olive oil and water and stir until combined.  Change over to the dough hook.  Knead on medium low speed for 7 minutes or until you form a smooth, sticky dough that clears the sides of the bowl but sticks to the bottom.


Sprinkle a 6 inch square of flour on your counter.  Place your dough on the square.  Stretch it out to this size.  Lift each side and fold over in thirds, like an envelope.  Walk away for 5 minutes to let the gluten in the dough relax. 


Stretch the dough to be twice its size and fold over as before, in thirds.  Mist with spray oil, sprinkle with flour, cover with plastic wrap and let rest 30 minutes.  After 30 minutes, repeat.


Let the dough ferment for one hour on your counter.  It should swell.  If your counters are stone, and it is winter, and if your house is cold like mine, this may take up to 3 or more hours depending on the temperature.  You will see pockets of bubbles on the surface of the dough when it is ready for the next step.


Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Drizzle with 2 T. olive oil. Lift the dough and place it on the parchment paper.  Put 2 T. olive oil on top of the rectangular dough.  Use your fingers to stretch it out until it is about 1/2 inch thickness.  Heavily dimple the surface with your fingers.  Sprinkle on the remaining 2 T. olive oil, 1 t. crushed dried rosemary, and 1/2 t. coarse sea salt.  Cover with plastic, or place in a plastic bag and let rest in the refrigerator (or on your cold porch) for at least 8 hours to retard the dough (this makes for a much more complexly flavored dough). 


3 hours before baking (or 6 if your kitchen is cold), redimple your dough and add more oil if desired.  Proof at room temperature for 3 hours or until about 1 inch thick.  Preheat your oven to 500 degrees with the oven in the middle position.  When the oven gets to temperature, put your focaccia in, lowering the temperature to 450 degrees.  Bake for 10 minutes.  Turn the pan 180 degrees and continue to bake until browned, about 5 minutes.


Immediately transfer the dough to a cooling rack.  Allow to cool for 20 minutes before slicing or serving.


Enjoy!

Blizzard Ravioli

What could be better.  I know, I know, I should have been editing that chapter or paring down my paper for the AERA conference, but it was such a lousy day out.  So, I did it.  I made ravioli.  I shouldn't say I though, because lucky  for me, I was not alone. Now, making ravioli is one of those all day tasks with many steps, but it is worth every minute of that effort to break into one of those pillows of heavenliness.  I've taken pictures of the process for many of the steps, so bear with me. 

If you've never made pasta, you should try it.  It is a very forgiving process. It also makes your heart feel good.  At least, it does mine.  I've got perfect tools for this, but you don't need tools as everything can, and often is done completely by hand.  If you don't have a stand mixer, you'll need to make pasta using the "Well Method."  The cookbook, The Essentials of Classical Italian Cooking is a wonderful resource for how exactly to make pasta.  There are also numberous websites that will walk you through the process.  Don't be daunted.  Jump in!  Make a day of it!  Kids love making pasta (adults do too).  And there is nothing like the taste of it.  I encourage you to try. I think you will be glad you did.

For today, I made two different types of sauces for the spinach and cheese filled ravioli.  I made a classical Italian all day meat sauce, and a marinara for my vegetarian friends.  I used chicken for the meatballs, as I happen to like them that way, and I also used turkey hot Italian sausages, but they're not even in the running with the pork sausage I get at Caputos in Chicago.  Oh well, can't complain when I live 2 hours away from my favorite grocery store.  Well, I guess I could, but it wouldn't do any good.  I learned to make the meat based sauce from my former father-in-law whose father had just immigrated from Southern Italy.  I don't know how authentic it is as unfortunately for  me, I've never made my trip of a lifetime to Italy.  But I can tell you that whomever eats it, loves it.  Everyone.  Every time. 

This recipe makes a huge pot of ravioli and meat sauce. If you do not want a huge pot of sauce, or if you don't have a huge pot, you can easily cut everything in half. I use my largest enameled cast iron dutch oven for this.  This recipe makes enough dough and filling for 80 2 1/2 inch square ravioli and can be easily modifed to meet your needs.  I like to plan to have 6 ravioli per person and these freeze perfectly well.

Italian Meat Sauce
1 lb. good Italian Sausage
1 1/2 lb. ground meat (I used hand ground chicken breast, but you can use any combination you like.  Sirloin and ground pork work well.)
3 slices of bread with a good crumb, torn into pieces
1/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup milk
2 small onoins, finely chopped (about 1 1/4 cups)
5 cloves garlic, ground finely
1/2 cup parsley
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
2 t. good dried Greek oregano (I like the kind you can buy still on the stalk)
1 pinch red pepper flakes
1 t. fennel, ground coursely (optional)
1 t. salt (or more to taste)
ground pepper
2 eggs
2 cups onions, chopped finely
4 cloves garlic, chopped finely
2 cups green pepper, chopped finely
12 oz. mushrooms, sliced into 1/4 inch slices
1 4 oz. can tomato paste
2 28 oz. cans tomato sauce (not the jarred stuff with spices, just your basic, good tomato sauce found in the tomato section of the grocery)
1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
28 oz. water
2 bay leaves
salt to taste

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350.  Make the meatballs first.   To do this, mix the bread up with the 2 milks.  Let it sit while you prepare the vegetables.  Add the chopped onion, garlic, parsley, cheese, spices and eggs to the soaked bread.  Carefully mix in your meat.  Make golfball sized meatballs and place them on an oiled cookie sheet.  Bake for about 30 minutes until they are fully cooked.  Set them aside.

While the meatballs are baking, (I bake them, by the way, because they are much less of a mess and I don't miss anything by doing this) Place 1 t. extra virgin olive oil in a dutch oven.  Brown the sausages on all sides and then remove them to a platter.  Saute the onions and peppers in the same pan, using them to clean off the "fond" from the bottom of the pan (fond is the term given to the sticky bits at the bottom of a pan leftover after sauteing or frying).  After about 4 minutes on medium, the vegetables should be somewhat limp.  Add the tomato paste and cook until it changes color and gets slightly darker.  This will take 4-5 minutes.  Add the mushrooms and garlic and cook another minute.  Add the canned tomato products, stir, then add the meats and their juices to the pan.  Add the water and the bay leaves and stir.  Let this cook on low, at a simmer for as many hours as you have patience for, but at least 4.  It is better at 6.  You may need to add water if it starts to get too thick for your liking.  Taste for salt at the end. I find the meats season the sauce well and usually do not add additional salt.

Marinara
3 T. good quality extra virgin olive oil
pinch red pepper flakes
1 1/2 cups finely chopped onions
4 cloves garlic, finely pasted
2 28 oz. cans good quality whole peeled tomatoes, crushed by hand or with an immersion blender
1 bay leaf
1 t. dried oregano
2 t. fresh thyme (or, instead of the herbs, use 1/4 cup torn basil)
salt to taste

Directions
Heat a dutch oven or heavy bottomed deep pot.  Add the oil. When it starts to shimmy, add the chiles.  Immediately add the onions and saute until deep golden brown.  Add the garlic and stir continuously for 1 minute.  Add the crushed tomatoes, bay leaves, and oregano (if using).  Let simmer for 30 minutes.  Add one cup of water and let simmer another 30 minutes. Finish with thyme (or basil) and salt to taste.  Today we added 1/2 teaspoon sugar to cut the acidity down. There was no hint of sweetness, but it did it's job.

Pasta
6 eggs
1/'4 cup water
1 t. salt
all purpose flour

Directions
If you have a large stand mixer, you may be able to do this full recipe in one batch. I have the Kitchen Aid Professional 600 and this was maximizing its capabilities.  Pasta can kill a mixer. I killed my mother's 1970's kitchen aid with just 4 eggs worth.  With all its protiens, it will work your machine, so if it seems to be struggling, cut your dough in half and make it two different times.  Add the eggs to the bowl of your mixer.  Mix with the paddle. Add the water and salt and mix for another minute.  Add the flour, one cup at a time, until your dough forms a stiff ball.  No, I can't tell you how much flour.  It depends on all sorts of factors, egg size, humidity, goddess will...Remove the paddle and put on the dough hook.  Knead at power level 2 for 5 minutes.  The dough will not be smooth like a bread dough at this point.  The real kneading happens with the pasta rollers.

Wrap your dough ball in plastic and let it rest for 1 hour.

Ravioli Filling
1 1/2 lbs. (24 oz.) good quality ricotta cheese
1 1/2 cups parmesan cheese (please do yourself a favor and use the good stuff here)
8 oz. frozen spinach, thawed, chopped and thoroughly squeezed out
1/'4 cup Italian flat leaf parsley, chopped finely
2 egg yolks
1/4 t. freshly ground nutmeg (please, throw out your pre-ground nutmeg!)
1/4 t. freshly ground pepper (same with the pepper)
salt to taste

Directions
Mix everything together in a bowl.

Directions for making the Ravioli
If you have rollers for your stand mixer, as I fortunately do, use them here.  If you have a hand crank machine, you'll want a friend to help you crank as you feed the dough into the rollers.  Start the machine on the widest setting (this means the rollers are as far apart as they go).  For me, this is #1.  Make a pile of flour on your countertop for dipping your dough to keep it from sticking to the rollers.  Cut your dough into about 2 inch pieces (you should do this one at a time, not all at once so that the remaining dough does not dry out).  Flatten the piece of dough and push it into a bed of flour that you have on your countertop. (This is going to get messy, but that's half the fun.)  Feed your dough into the rollers with one hand while the machine is running.  Don't worry.....  Don't worry.  Catch it with your other hand as it exits the rollers.

This is my friend Boone, catching the dough as it exits the rollers.  If you look closely in the window, you can see the snow coming down. 

Fold the pressed pasta sheet into thirds, like an envelope.  Rotate it so that the edge goes into the machine first.  Run it through again on #1 (or, the widest setting).  Do this until the dough is smooth.  If it gets sticky, dip it in the flour. If it tears, don't panic, just press it together, dip it in flour,  and start again.  It's forgiving, remember?

For me, and for this batch of dough, I did this 7 times for each piece.  Then, adjust your rollers to the next thinner setting (#2).  Flour the flattened but somewhat thick dough.  Run it through the machine once.  Do not fold.  Repeat this process for #3, 4, and finally 5.  I like my raviolis to not be too thick, so I go to #5.  Some recipes go even thinner, but I find that the filling part gets wrinkly when I do this.

Now, as you roll your dough more and more thinly, it will get longer and longer.  You'll need to just trust me.  Catch it as it exits the machine.

When you've run it through on #5, place it on a well floured flat surface.  Now, here's the best part.  You'll need your filling, a teaspoon, a pastry brush, a bowl of water, and a pastry or pizza cutter.  Place large marble sized mounds of filling (about 3/4 t.) 3/4 inches from the edge of the pasta sheet that is facing you, running lenghwise, with 1/2 inches in between mounds.  Next, brush a line of water (you don't need much) above and below the cheese mounds, almost touching them.  Then brush a bit of water in a line between each ravioli.  Next, carefully fold the dough over the mounds, matching edges to edges.  Now, here's the tricky part.  Don't fear it, just roll with it.  You'll get the hang of it, I promise.  Starting near the center of the sets of mounds, take your fingers and press down at the seam, then cup your hand around the mound, pressing out the air as you press the dough firmly down to make the sheets adhere to each other.

 Then move out from the center doing the same.  Try not to get any wrinkles, but honestly, they are inevitable, particularly at first.  Don't get discouraged if this happens.  They will still taste great.  Next use your pizza cutter to trim the bottom and to cut them apart from one another. 

Place on a cookie sheet that has been thoroughly covered with semolina or regular flour (semolina is duram wheat and is coarser than regular flour so it works well to keep the pasta from sticking to your pan, which is a disaster, trust me.  I've had that happen. And I cried.  But, I lived to make ravioli again and again.) Place the ravioli on the cookie sheet. Continue with the rest of the ravioli making in the same manner (it's nice to have friends so that the rolling and filling can happen at the same time.  Me, I had 2 friends.  Boone and Julian, who is 12, and is killer in the kitchen.)

Now you have some options. You can stick those cookie sheets on a freezing cold porch to freeze them (which works well in a blizzard), or just into the freezer if yours is not packed like mine.  You can then put them into bags and you can have amazing ravioli anytime.  Or, you can cook them.  To cook them, boil a large pot of water.  When it comes ot the boil, add a lot of salt so that it tastes like sea water.  Go ahead, taste it.  This will bring the water off the full rolling boil, which is good.  Carefully add your ravioli (depending on the pot, I wouldn't do more than 30 at a time).  Reduce your heat if the water starts to boil rapidly.  Gently boil the ravioli,  (don't freak out if a few break--sometimes they do.) stirring every minute or so, until they are tender, about 5 minutes (taste one, or a corner, to see if they are done to al dente.)

Serve with the lovely sauce of your choosing and a sprinkling of parmeggiano reggiano.

Buon Appetito!