Memorial Day

Lime, cilantro and jalapeño marinade

I got this recipe recently from the head chef at Haven, Stephen Herman at a fundraiser that was held there earlier in the week. He was cooking quail. I substituted chicken for the quail.

Start by juicing about 3-4 limes. Chop up one bunch of cilantro and one jalapeño. Add salt and pepper. Toss chicken wings or small drumsticks in the marinade. I grilled this chicken over a hot grill using direct heat for about 25 minutes.

Peach, bacon chutney with fresh thyme

At the same benefit I learned a new recipe from Chef Matt, of Valenza. 

Start with about 6-8 peaches and cut into a dice. While cutting the peaches, render 4 pieces of bacon in a large casserole dish or pan over high heat. 

After cutting the peaches, dice one onion. When the bacon is rendered remove it from the pan to a towel lined plate. In the same pot add in the diced onion and sweat them down on medium heat. They need to be really well cooked so the starches will turn to sugar. This will take about 10-15 minutes. 

After the onions have finished sweating, add in the peaches. Stir them in thoroughly and place the lid on the pot. Let the peaches simmer over low heat for about 20 minutes. They should release most of their juice. Add the bacon back in and stir. Take off the heat and stir in some freshly chopped thyme. 

This chutney is a terrific compliment to the grilled chicken and if you have quail it is even better!

Grilled bacon wrapped asparagus

This was another one of the recipes from the fundraiser that was held at Valenza Restaurant earlier in the week. 

This one doesn't need much explaining, simply wrap fresh asparagus in bacon and it's ready to go! I covered the grill with aluminum foil to cook the asparagus which really did a nice job. 

Chef Stephen Herman, Haven and Chef Matt Swickerath, Valenza

Smoked B B Q Chicken

Having had a wisdom tooth extracted last Friday, I decided nice and tender chicken would be about the best think to try and smoke this past weekend.


We made a simple rub (don't remember with what).

I used some hickory chunks for the smoke.





Golden brown before applying the sauce.

Arroz con pollo

Black beans...



Yellow rice...




Holy cow, I haven't blogged in a year!

Okay, that is about to change.

This arroz con pollo turned out to be incredible. I took this recipe from Taste Of Cuba.com.


2, tblspn Annatto oil, (see below) Red onion, red bell pepper, 3 cloves garlic, 1 tomato, 1 cup dry white wine, 1.5 cups beer, 1 tspn tomato paste




Chicken thighs...


Marinate the thighs in :

1 tspn oregano
1 tspn cumin
1/2 white pepper (I used black)
1 tspn red wine vinegar





On the Annatto oil, I used achiote chile powder which I think is actually the same pepper. Dry it looks red, but it acutally turns the dish yellow, which is what the recipe said would happen. I whisked about a tblspn into about 1/2 a cup of olive oil.

This dish is practically idiot proof.

bon apetit!

Ode to the Gypsy

Clara, "What'd she do back in Lonesome Dove?"
Gus, "She did what she could."

Greek Chicken Pie, Andalusian asparagus, and crostini with tapenade

One of my favorite guitar player is Biréli Lagrène.

He is a gypsy guitarist in the style of Django, who is pictured on the left. If you don't know who Django is, you should find out.

What's this got to do with food? Well, it's inspiration. A certain style of music evokes a certain style of cuisine and even though I have taken some regional liberties I did what I could.

The first dish is very simple to throw together and is very good if you are having company over. The classic Kalamata olive tapenade is a staple across the Mediterranean though it varies slightly from region to region. This is the French version.

Kalamata olives - 8 oz
1 clove garlic
1 anchovy fillet
1 tablespoon capers
1 teaspoon dijon
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
2 tblspn olive oil

Throw all of this into a food processor and whack it until it forms a paste. You're finished.

The store was out of baguette so instead I bought naan bread. Cut the naan bread up into bite sized pieces and bake at 400 for about 2 minutes. Transfer the tapanade into a bowl and arrange the baked naan bread around the bowl so people can spread it as they like. A little goes a long way.

Esparrago de andalucia
Andalusian asparagus

I like asparagus a lot and finding different ways to prepare it is a challenge, so when I ran across this recipe I had to give it a try.

1 lb asparagus
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic
12 almonds
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon cumin
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 thick slice day old bread

Trim the asparagus. Heat the oil and sautee the bread, garlic, and almonds for 2-3 minutes. I used naan bread instead of regular bread only because it was all that i had.

Transfer all the ingredients into a food processor or whopper chopper, whatever is available. Add the paprika, cumin, vinegar, salt, and pepper and 1 tblspn of water. Process until a coarse meal is formed.

Sautee the asparagus in the same pan adding a little more oil if needed. Cook for about 5 minutes. Add the bread mixture in with about 6 oz of water. Simmer for about 3-4 minutes. It doesn't look very good but it has an interesting flavor.

Greek Chicken Pie

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 cups chicken stock
2 oz butter
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup milk
8 sheets filo pastry
7 oz Feta cheese
1 tblspn chopped dill
1/2 tspn grated nutmeg
1 egg lightly beaten
1 onion diced

heat the oven to 350

Cut up the chicken into bite sized pieces and poach in the chicken stock for 5-8 minutes. Remove the chicken and reserve the stock. I strained mine through a strainer.

Melt the butter in a sauce pan and sautee the onion for about 5 minutes. Add the flour to make a roux.

Add in the chicken stock and then the milk. Keep stirring it until it thickens slightly. Remove from the heat.

Pulse the poached chicken a few times in the whopper chopper.

Stir the chicken, feta, dill and nutmeg into the stock and milk. Lastly stir in the egg.

Here are some tips if you haven't used filo dough before. It will be frozen when you buy it. Let it thaw out before you are ready to use it. After it is thawed and you are about ready to use it, cut open the packaging and unroll it. After it is unrolled and exposed to air always place a towel over it unless you are working with it. It will dry out in a heartbeat.

You need a shallow casserole dish for this. Place one sheet of the filo dough on the bottom of the dish. Brush that sheet with melted butter. Continue this for 4 sheets.

Pour the chicken mixture over the filo dough. Level it all out and layer the filo dough over the top in the same manner as before.

Bake for 45 minutes. In the interim drink wine and listen to gypsy music.

This probably has no semblance to anything that Django and Grapelli ever ate but I like to imagine that they did and it isn't hard to imagine when you are listening to swinging gypsy guitar. The point is that these dishes are far removed from anything I would normally cook. Sometimes it takes a little inspiration to get motivated in the kitchen and changing up the music is as good an inspiration as any, or rather its all I need.

Winter and the kitchen are conducive to each other, at least they are for me.

Bon apetit!

Wine:
Ridge Santa Cruz '04 $37

Music:
Django
Bireli Lagrene
Rosenberg Trio
John Jorgenson Quintet

Smoking with Doug

" We turned the lights down low and had a party on the patio." - ZZ Top

A couple of weekends ago I went over to my friend Doug's house where his friend Tommy was smoking chicken, pork, and salmon among other things.

Above you can see two beer can chickens cheek to cheek.




Below the two chickens was about an eight pound Boston Butt and a huge piece of salmon.

I found out that this particular Weber smoker is known as the "bullet" and Tommy was particularly adept at smoking on it.

The coals are in the very bottom that you can access by way of a door on the side.

He had some "chunks" of hickory that were soaked prior to going on the coals. He prefers them to chips.

Just above the coals sits a "drip pan", that was about half filled with beer before we put on the meat. (You can see it on the left)

On top of that was the first grate. He loaded the butt and the fish on this level.

The two chickens were placed on the top grate.

He had a digital thermometer hanging inside the body of the smoker. He kept it at 250 or below the entire time.


After 2 hours we pulled the salmon off. It was the best salmon I can remember eating in a very long time.

After about 4 hours we pulled off the chickens.

About 2 hrs after that the butt came off, which I forgot to sample.

Chicken Saltimbocca

Heat a couple of teaspoons of olive oil in a large pan. Sautee the pieces until golden brown and then remove.

Use whatever mushrooms you have available. I used these shitakes on the left. Slice the mushrooms while the chicken is browning.

You are supposed to use chicken breasts for this, but I used chicken tenders instead, which are cut from the breast.

Pound the breasts out with a mallet until they are about a quarter of an inch thick.

Salt and pepper.

Lay a slice of good proscuitto across each of the breasts. Add a sage leaf on top of the ham.

Fold the pieces in half and pin the sides
together with a toothpick. Dredge each piece in flour.

Drink wine.















Heat a couple of teaspoons of olive oil in a large pan. Sautee the pieces until golden brown and then remove.

Use whatever mushrooms you have available. I used the shitakes below. Slice the mushrooms while the chicken is browning.

Drink wine.

I made an appetizer beforehand with some mozzarella, tomato, shaved parmagiano, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. (I forgot the basil.)

Add the mushrooms to the same pan along with a chopped shallot and sautee for a few minutes.

Add one cup of Marsala wine to the mushrooms. I used Malbec, because I have never found any Marsala wine.

Drink whatever wine you have.
















Add the chicken pieces back to the pan simmer until reduced to about half. Stir in a couple of tablespoons of butter after the liquid reduces.

I almost forgot...the first thing you do is fry some sage leaves in a little oil and set aside for later, don't eat them all before the chicken is finished.

Garnish the chicken with the sage leafs and shaved parm.

Cast Iron chicken

"Gol-azo! Gol-azo! Gol-azo!" Fernando Fiore- Univision Announcer

Congratulations Argentina! with a 3-0 win over Mexico in the semi finals of the Copa America. Argentina now advances to the championship against Brazil.

I had some left over "drum sticks" from the weekend soirée that needed attending to.

Since it is a rare occasion that I fry anything, I decided to bake the chicken.

I started out with a couple of carrots, a stalk of celery and an onion.

I diced all of the vegetables up fairly coarsely.






I salted and peppered the chicken and sprinkled on some dried thyme.






I browned the chicken a little in a bit of olive oil.








After the chicken browned for about 5 minutes, I removed it to a plate and tossed the onions in the same pan, which by the way is my cast iron skillet. Only because it is oven proof.

After the onion had sauteed for about 5 minutes, I tossed in the carrot and celery and one minced clove of garlic.



I then added the chicken back into the pan and poured in about a cup and a half of chicken stock.
And for good measure, I threw in a bay leaf.
Then it was slammed into a 350 degree oven for 40 minutes.
After cooling off for a bit I served it over some white rice.
Much like Argentina tonight, it was a winner...

Empanadas...getting better

"Daddy don't live in that New York city no more. He don't celebrate Sunday on a Saturday night no more..."-Steely Dan

I have failed on numerous occasions to successfully make a decent empanada or something at least approximating the ones they have in Buenos Aires.



This time I got a little closer.
The reason? The dough...I think.

3 cups flour
1 stick of butter (8 tblspns)
2 egg yolks
2 tblspns white wine vinegar
cold water
teaspoon course salt

Combine the butter and flour in a bowl with your fingers. Add the egg yolks and vinegar. Begin adding water a bit at the time until you have a reasonably firm dough. Refrigerate until ready to use.

I used chicken for the filling simply because that is what I had already on hand.
I diced one onion and sauteed it in olive oil.
I cut the chicken tenders (whatever they are) into fairly small chunks and browned them along with the onion.
To this I added about a teaspoon of dried oregano and salt and pepper.
I ground up some walnuts in the coffee grinder and added them as well.

After the chicken was thoroughly cooked, I pulsed it all in the food processor a few times.

Back to the dough. I rolled the dough out to about an eighth of an inch.

I used a can opener to cut the bottom out of a coffee can and used that as my cutter. The diameter was 4 inches.




On the left you can see an empanada with the filling ready to be closed up.

I brushed an egg wash around the edge before I doubled the dough circle together.




I used the tines of a fork to seal the edges together.

I also found that they actually worked a little better by using the rolling pin to roll out the rounds a bit more just before placing the filling on the dough.

Now if I could only figure out how they get those rooster head shaped edges in Buenos Aires.

I baked the empanadas on 375 for about thirty minutes. They came out reasonably flaky and pretty tasty too.

Overall it was a decent effort.

Cooking spirits: Carr, Cabernet, amazing $20 wine.

Cooking music: Steely Dan

Chicken & Peanut Panang Curry

The picture doesn't due this dish justice. In an attempt to utilize even more of the chicken from the weekend bbq, I decided to try it in this Thai dish.







I started by browning an onion in the "wok", for about five minutes. Then I added to that a teaspoon of green curry paste and 3 tablespoons of Padang Peanut Sauce that was store bought.

I let that sautee for another minute or so and added in one can of coconut milk and about 2 handfuls of the shredded beer can chicken from the weekend. Diced chicken cutlets would work as well. Bring the whole thing to a boil.

Add a can of coconut cream, the juice of one lime, a couple of dashes of fish sauce, 2 tblspns of brown sugar.

I diced about half of a pineapple core and added that to the soup. Just before serving I added in a few torn basil leaves.


I sliced a cucumber and spooned on a little asian chile sauce for a side.









The OverLord


Cooking Music: Jamie Cullum "Twenty Something"

Wine: Raven'swood Cabernet 8$

Beer Can Chicken Salad

I pulled all of the meat off the bone from my beer can chicken I made over the weekend and pulsed it a few times in the food processor.

The bowl on the left shows the result.





6 tablespoons mayo
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
1 lemon juiced
1 stalk celery, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups shredded chicken
salt and pepper


Whisk the mayo, dijon, lemon juice, and olive oil together in a bowl. When that is mixed well fold in about 2 cups of shredded chicken and the celery. Salt and pepper to taste.

Beer Can Chicken

"He's a cat cuttin' cool, convertible car. Top taken down on the way to the bar. Music blarin' people starin', he likes it like that...." Robert Moore "Wildcat"

Not really a food reference, but this song is stuck in my head so cut me some slack.

When the weekend rolls around I like to grill on the deck. It's mostly just an excuse to drink beer but it does have it's benefits.

I was thumbing thru a new book I bought, Steven Raichlen's bbq bible that I recently purchased. I wanted to do something different, so this beer can chicken seemed pretty interesting.

The recipe calls for a 6-7 pound bird, so I picked one up last night. I was suppose to let it marinade in brine for 12 hours but I did not realize that until this afternoon so the brine bath didn't happen.
This was the bird as it started out today. I had never heard of beer can chicken until last night, but oddly enough when I took the chicken out of its packaging there was a recipe for...you guessed it! beer can chicken.

So I salted and peppered the chicken while I got the grill fired up.

There was also a rub Steven's recipe called for made from paprika, brown sugar, cayenne and something else that I didn't have.

I melted some butter and brushed the bird with it and then added the rub.

I set the big grill up for indirect grilling, hey I don't make up these terms.

I bought a tall boy Budweiser and poured half of it onto the hickory chips.

I then added Worcestershire and red wine vinegar to the half can of beer. At this point you lower the bird down onto the beer and the can is inserted into the cavity, which becomes a sort of stand for the chicken. (see top pic)





Grill is hot...















I put the bird on a grease pan and put it directly in the middle of the grill. I cooked with the lid down to lock in as much smoke as I could.

I also had a slab of baby back ribs that I wanted to do in an Asian vein.

I rubbed the ribs with 5 spice that I was able to find at an Asian market not far away from the house.




Here's the five spice I found at the Asian market today.













Here are the ribs, the bird and some sausage...

The ribs were basted with a teryaki glaze after they had cooked for about 2 hours.










The ribs came out very succulent and actually pretty tasty.

I think the pan blocked too much heat from the chicken. After about 3 hours I wasn't satisfied the chicken was thoroughly cooked, so I put it in the oven for about 45 minutes.

The small piece that I sampled was very, very, tender and had a nice smokey flavor.

It will be divided up tomorrow for use in various dishes next week. I will update you on what we make with it as I do it.

We're smokin'...















The Overlord looks on...






Cooking Music: random

Cooking spirits: cold Corona w/ limes