Pasta Salad. It was there with a lot of other food you would probably prefer not to eat but nevertheless find huge helpings of it on your plate. Don't get me wrong here, I love pasta, but I don't think salads are its finest hour usually lacking in flavor and squandering calories, and Julia's is more of the same.
My good friend and O'Dea parent, Laura Girardot, invited me to bring a dish, drink some wine and buy some raffle tickets at last night's annual event. Several hundred ladies and I all loaded up plates with obscene amounts of food in preparation for winning some of the hundreds of raffle prizes. Incredibly I won so many times that one participant commented later that I would be a fool if I didn't stop for a lottery ticket on the way home. Apparently I am.
My dish to share was Pasta Salad with Fresh Tomato and Basil. The master in this case was simply how to cook the pasta, with several recipes appearing on the next page with different ideas on how to use it.
She recommends using any pasta except the macaroni type because those with holes may fill up with an overwhelming amount of dressing. The cooking directions are the same as you find on any box of pasta: bring 8 quarts of water to boil, after it boils add 2T salt and 1T olive oil and the pasta. Boil it uncovered until it is perfectly done, determine this by tasting pieces frequently as it nears the recommended cooking time listed on the package. When it is ready drain it in a colander and then gently shake it to ensure that all the water has been removed. Then immediately add a tablespoon or two of olive oil to which you have added a little salt and pepper and maybe a clove or two of pureed garlic.
As soon as the pasta has cooled down you are ready to continue with any recipe you choose. The Fresh Tomato and Basil recipe calls for the pasta to be flavored with a few tablespoons of viniagrette, for which I chose the bottled Bernstein's Italian Dressing and Marinade. First I lined my salad bowl with Rainbow Swiss Chard and then dumped in the pasta, made a well in the center which I lined with fresh basil that I had shredded with my Ulu knife. An Ulu knife is an Alaskan native tool that looks very similar to a pastry blender, but with a curved blade instead of the thin metal rods. You use it by rocking back and forth on a slightly hollowed out cutting board.
Next I filled the hollow with Julia's Fresh Tomato Relish, for which I chose several varieties of heirloom tomatoes. They needed to be peeled, which is fairly easy, just drop them into boiling water for 10 seconds and when they come out core them and the skin comes right off. Next slice them in two the fat way and gently squeeze to remove the juice and seeds. I found this method worked fine for the juicier varieties, but the meatier ones needed help from my pinkie. When they were as dry as a tomato can get I diced them and gently mixed them with 1T diced shallots, 1T red wine vinegar, 1T olive oil and salt and pepper.
Finally I sprinkled about 6 oz. of feta cheese around the edge of the pasta and added a sign telling all the ladies about my blog and how much I would appreciate a comment from them. Here's hoping.
The Bottom Line
Cooked Pasta for Salads: Thumbs Up
Pasta Salad with Fresh Tomato and Basil: Thumbs Down
Fresh Tomato Relish: Thumbs Down
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
What Exactly is a Capon?
According to Julia it is a chicken 5 1/2 to 7 pounds. I generally refer to those as simply a large chicken. I have tried to make her recipe for roasting one before but was stymied by the fact that the chicken I had intended to roast turned out to be cut-up, meaning it could not be trussed, and hence, could not be roasted.
She begins by directing the cook to remove the wishbone, but I couldn't figure that part of it out, so I proceeded to the "first thrust". This involved inserting the huge trussing needle, in this case a carpet needle, through the carcass under the knee and out the other side. This is followed by turning the wings 'akimbo' (wasn't sure exactly what that meant) and spearing both of them plus the neck skin and ending up where you originally started at the first knee, then tie the two ends together. The next and final thrust begins at the ankle end of one leg, proceeds through the end of the breast bone and continues on through the other ankle, circles back through the tail and then is tied with the beginning end. In both cases the intent is to close cavity openings and secure the chicken's limbs to his body to prevent those parts from drying out during the roasting.
Next the skin is massaged with butter and then and put into a 450 degree oven, breast side up. After 10 minutes turn him onto his right side and salt. In another 10 minutes baste and then turn him onto his left side. Ten minutes later baste again and lower the temperature to 350 degrees. In another ten baste again and ten later toss into the bottom of the pan a chopped onion and carrot while you are basting. In ten more return the guy to his original position, salt, baste, and continue basting every ten minutes until his thighs are tender when pressed, legs move easily in their sockets, and his juices are yellow when he is picked up and drained. Then let him rest 20 minutes before carving to allow the juices to retreat back into the flesh. Of course, during his rest period you should throw a tablespoon or two of diced shallots into the roasting pan and saute with a half cup each of chicken broth and white wine, letting it reduce while scraping up the goodness left from the roasting. This sauce can be made perfect by adding a couple of tablespoons of butter and served along with the carved bird.
Julia then begins a detailed description of how to properly carve a capon. But by then I had had enough-it was time to eat. Unfortunately she would not allow me to perform my 'is it actually done' test, which is to stab him deep in the thigh with a fork and watch to be sure that all the juices that run out are clear. If I had done that I would have seen that not all the juices were clear and I would have put that guy back in the oven for ten minutes. But Julia would see this as a sacriligious waste of precious juice, and since I am doing a year of Julia, I relied on her testing methods, which are frankly less accurate.
The result was that I felt some of the meat was a bit short of done and I refused to eat it. The Main Eater charged on fearlessly with no ill effects whatsoever.
Beyond that, this was a huge amount of work and fussing for precious little benefit. I believe that a chicken can be washed, salt and peppered in the cavity, baked for an hour at 350 degrees, stabbed in the thigh to confirm doneness, and then eaten. All this trussing, basting, worrying and carving is time that can be better spent doing almost anything else.
The Bottom Line
To Roast a Large Chicken or Capon: Thumbs Down
She begins by directing the cook to remove the wishbone, but I couldn't figure that part of it out, so I proceeded to the "first thrust". This involved inserting the huge trussing needle, in this case a carpet needle, through the carcass under the knee and out the other side. This is followed by turning the wings 'akimbo' (wasn't sure exactly what that meant) and spearing both of them plus the neck skin and ending up where you originally started at the first knee, then tie the two ends together. The next and final thrust begins at the ankle end of one leg, proceeds through the end of the breast bone and continues on through the other ankle, circles back through the tail and then is tied with the beginning end. In both cases the intent is to close cavity openings and secure the chicken's limbs to his body to prevent those parts from drying out during the roasting.
Next the skin is massaged with butter and then and put into a 450 degree oven, breast side up. After 10 minutes turn him onto his right side and salt. In another 10 minutes baste and then turn him onto his left side. Ten minutes later baste again and lower the temperature to 350 degrees. In another ten baste again and ten later toss into the bottom of the pan a chopped onion and carrot while you are basting. In ten more return the guy to his original position, salt, baste, and continue basting every ten minutes until his thighs are tender when pressed, legs move easily in their sockets, and his juices are yellow when he is picked up and drained. Then let him rest 20 minutes before carving to allow the juices to retreat back into the flesh. Of course, during his rest period you should throw a tablespoon or two of diced shallots into the roasting pan and saute with a half cup each of chicken broth and white wine, letting it reduce while scraping up the goodness left from the roasting. This sauce can be made perfect by adding a couple of tablespoons of butter and served along with the carved bird.
Julia then begins a detailed description of how to properly carve a capon. But by then I had had enough-it was time to eat. Unfortunately she would not allow me to perform my 'is it actually done' test, which is to stab him deep in the thigh with a fork and watch to be sure that all the juices that run out are clear. If I had done that I would have seen that not all the juices were clear and I would have put that guy back in the oven for ten minutes. But Julia would see this as a sacriligious waste of precious juice, and since I am doing a year of Julia, I relied on her testing methods, which are frankly less accurate.
The result was that I felt some of the meat was a bit short of done and I refused to eat it. The Main Eater charged on fearlessly with no ill effects whatsoever.
Beyond that, this was a huge amount of work and fussing for precious little benefit. I believe that a chicken can be washed, salt and peppered in the cavity, baked for an hour at 350 degrees, stabbed in the thigh to confirm doneness, and then eaten. All this trussing, basting, worrying and carving is time that can be better spent doing almost anything else.
The Bottom Line
To Roast a Large Chicken or Capon: Thumbs Down
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Julia's First 'Second Wednesday'
My grandfather, Cecil Cyril Shore, immigrated to Seattle from California's San Joaquin valley with his wife and three daughters while my mother was still in high school. She and her two sisters all married local boys and each had three children of her own which made nine of us first cousins who grew up here. Of the nine of us, seven still live here and have produced fourteen additional Shores and more of the next generation are arriving all the time. Everyone who cares to attend is invited to dinner at my mom and dad's house on the second Wednesday of each month. I make my famous spaghetti, Mom makes her famous green salad with seafood and garlic bread (see 9/29/9 blog)and we all sit around, drink wine, eat too much and then commence to bragging and lying.
But now I'm cooking Julia for a year, so spaghetti and is out and legs are in. She has several 'masters' that involve cooking whole legs and even though The Main Eater can hold his own against all comers in the eating category he can't eat a whole leg. Well, except chicken, but not a lamb or pig, so I am recruiting Shores, who also count many legendary eaters among their ranks. Their first assignment came last Wednesday when they took on Roast Leg of Lamb, Potatoes Dauphinoise and Braised Endive.
I am trying very hard to be better organized for these events, so I made a list of each task, when it needed to begin and then joyfully crossed them off as they were accomplished. Nevertheless, as dinner hour approached and things were, as usual, not complete, I began to despair. That's when I met Ian Stone. He is a friend of my daughter Alyss, and since it was her birthday she had invited a few brave friends to mingle with the hoards of Shores that evening.
The problem I ran into was actually not of my making. I blame Julia. She said that a 7-8 pound leg of lamb should roast at 350 degrees 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours and then rest for 20 minutes before carving, meaning it should go into the oven at 5:00, which it did. Well it looked like a heap of meat to get done in that amount of time to me, but who am I to argue with her? It turns out that I should have because dinner had been promised for 7:00 PM and the main event wasn't ready to exit the oven until 8:00, which put dinner on the table at 8:30. Again.
I ran into a similar situation with the Potatoes Dauphinoise (French for scalloped potatoes). She gives specific instructions for using Yukon Gold potatoes, slicing them 1/8" thick, putting them into a casserole 1 1/2" - 2" deep and adding boiling milk to 3/4 of the way to the top of the dish (also salt, pepper, butter and pureed garlic) before baking them for 25 minutes at 425 degrees. They were done just when the lamb was done, which was about an hour after they were supposed to be done. And, sad to say, they might not have been worth the wait.
The Braised Endive is made with Belgian Endive, which appears on your grocer's shelves as dainty pale-green oblong heads, usually covered by a blanket. That is not to protect them from the cold but because exposure to light makes them develop a bitter flavor. In fact they are grown in the dark much the same as commercial mushrooms are grown. But despite the fact that they are a delicate type of lettuce, Julia braises them in water, salt, lemon juice and (of course) butter, for 1 1/2 - 2 hours. As she so often does, she starts the recipe by having the cook bring the dish to a boil on top of the stove. I was then directed to wait for the liquid to reduce by half, cover it with buttered wax paper and put it in the oven at 325 degrees for the remainder of the cooking time, or in this case, until the liquid was evaporated. They were delicious.
But back to the lamb. In addition to roasting the leg Julia also recommends making a sauce by stewing the bones for a few hours with garlic, onion, rosemary, celery, parsley, chicken broth and French vermouth. When the lamb came out of the oven I invited Ian to taste the sauce and make some suggestions. It turns out that his family owned the Captain Whidby restaurant on Whidby Island for 3 generations and that he cooked his first Thanksgiving dinner when he was just twelve years old! In other words he knows his way around a sauce. So he suggests salt, pepper, and vermouth and dumping the whole mess into the roasting pan to absorb the remaining goodness from the roast and accompanying vegetables and then straining it all through a sieve and just like that a wonderful sauce was born. He then proceeded to carve the roast, pronounce the potates done, and the next thing I knew people were eating. Thank you Ian.
The Bottom Line:
Roast Leg of Lamb & Sauce-Thumbs Up
Potatoes Dauphinoise-Thumbs Down
Braised Endive-Thumbs Up
But now I'm cooking Julia for a year, so spaghetti and is out and legs are in. She has several 'masters' that involve cooking whole legs and even though The Main Eater can hold his own against all comers in the eating category he can't eat a whole leg. Well, except chicken, but not a lamb or pig, so I am recruiting Shores, who also count many legendary eaters among their ranks. Their first assignment came last Wednesday when they took on Roast Leg of Lamb, Potatoes Dauphinoise and Braised Endive.
I am trying very hard to be better organized for these events, so I made a list of each task, when it needed to begin and then joyfully crossed them off as they were accomplished. Nevertheless, as dinner hour approached and things were, as usual, not complete, I began to despair. That's when I met Ian Stone. He is a friend of my daughter Alyss, and since it was her birthday she had invited a few brave friends to mingle with the hoards of Shores that evening.
The problem I ran into was actually not of my making. I blame Julia. She said that a 7-8 pound leg of lamb should roast at 350 degrees 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours and then rest for 20 minutes before carving, meaning it should go into the oven at 5:00, which it did. Well it looked like a heap of meat to get done in that amount of time to me, but who am I to argue with her? It turns out that I should have because dinner had been promised for 7:00 PM and the main event wasn't ready to exit the oven until 8:00, which put dinner on the table at 8:30. Again.
I ran into a similar situation with the Potatoes Dauphinoise (French for scalloped potatoes). She gives specific instructions for using Yukon Gold potatoes, slicing them 1/8" thick, putting them into a casserole 1 1/2" - 2" deep and adding boiling milk to 3/4 of the way to the top of the dish (also salt, pepper, butter and pureed garlic) before baking them for 25 minutes at 425 degrees. They were done just when the lamb was done, which was about an hour after they were supposed to be done. And, sad to say, they might not have been worth the wait.
The Braised Endive is made with Belgian Endive, which appears on your grocer's shelves as dainty pale-green oblong heads, usually covered by a blanket. That is not to protect them from the cold but because exposure to light makes them develop a bitter flavor. In fact they are grown in the dark much the same as commercial mushrooms are grown. But despite the fact that they are a delicate type of lettuce, Julia braises them in water, salt, lemon juice and (of course) butter, for 1 1/2 - 2 hours. As she so often does, she starts the recipe by having the cook bring the dish to a boil on top of the stove. I was then directed to wait for the liquid to reduce by half, cover it with buttered wax paper and put it in the oven at 325 degrees for the remainder of the cooking time, or in this case, until the liquid was evaporated. They were delicious.
But back to the lamb. In addition to roasting the leg Julia also recommends making a sauce by stewing the bones for a few hours with garlic, onion, rosemary, celery, parsley, chicken broth and French vermouth. When the lamb came out of the oven I invited Ian to taste the sauce and make some suggestions. It turns out that his family owned the Captain Whidby restaurant on Whidby Island for 3 generations and that he cooked his first Thanksgiving dinner when he was just twelve years old! In other words he knows his way around a sauce. So he suggests salt, pepper, and vermouth and dumping the whole mess into the roasting pan to absorb the remaining goodness from the roast and accompanying vegetables and then straining it all through a sieve and just like that a wonderful sauce was born. He then proceeded to carve the roast, pronounce the potates done, and the next thing I knew people were eating. Thank you Ian.
The Bottom Line:
Roast Leg of Lamb & Sauce-Thumbs Up
Potatoes Dauphinoise-Thumbs Down
Braised Endive-Thumbs Up
Friday, October 16, 2009
The Babe's Birthday
Alyss turned 23 this week and she did not want a Twinky Cake to celebrate, in fact she did not want a cake at all, but she has a mother so she will have a cake. Julia is a bit skimpy on her cakes, only listing two master recipes, the Spongecake and Genoise. The Spongecake was listed first in her book so that's where I started.
Right off the bat I was a little perplexed by the size of the cake. She recommends slicing it in two, which I could not understand. Why cut it in two when you can just make it in two cake pans? Unfortunately I did not find her list of equipment until 8 pages and two cakes later, when I discovered that she uses 2" cake pans. They are on my list to pick up this weekend, but meanwhile the spongecakes were baked in the standard 1.25" pans that we all have.
She starts you out creaming the sugar,egg yolks and vanilla. Then you continue by beating the egg whites with some cream of tartar, salt and sugar until they form stiff peaks. The interesting part is that at this point you begin taking turns folding the egg whites into the egg yolk mixture and then sifting in a little flour. And I am serious about the 'little' part. The entire cake only takes 9 tablespoons of flour! When it is all folded together, add a few tablespoons of tepid melted butter and pour it into your greased and floured pans.
Unfortunately after baking they were only about 3/4" high, which isn't high enough to be a cake you are proud of, so I made a second round of cakes. It seemed like it was becoming a big job.
But that was before I began the frosting. Julia doesn't even have a 'master' for frosting, but she does include some recipes, so I chose the French Butter-Cream appearing on p. 468 in The Way to Cook. I knew I was into BIG COOKING when step one directed me to make a sugar syrup by cooking it to the soft ball stage. I always rely on the thermometer for this because I never have the self assurance to confidently proclaim 'soft ball stage' before it has progressed on to 'hard ball stage', which is also 'start over' stage. When your syrup is ready pour it in a steady stream into a previously beaten mixture of 2 eggs and 6 egg yolks. While you are pouring you need to also be mixing furiously with your wire whip to keep the eggs from cooking and the syrup from hardening. Yikes! Pretty soon I had a big glob of hardened syrup hanging onto the end of my whip so I quickly poured it all into my stand mixer and mixed away until it was, incredibly, perfect. Now you have to beat this mixture over barely simmering hot water to heat the eggs enough to cook them and save your guests from salmonella. She didn't suggest a double boiler and I wasn't smart enough to realize I needed one until I had tried unsuccessfully to get it hot enough with various other contrivances. Finally it was hot, and then you have to turn around and beat it over ice cubes to get it cold enough to add an entire pound of butter without melting it.
This was lots of work. Everyone who looked at the cake gained a pound and those of us who ate some gained more. It tasted good, and the entire thing got eaten, but I thought it was a bit dense, which I blamed on the fact that I baked them in two pans, creating more surface area which allowed for more drying out.
The Bottom Line
Spongecake-Thumbs Down
Right off the bat I was a little perplexed by the size of the cake. She recommends slicing it in two, which I could not understand. Why cut it in two when you can just make it in two cake pans? Unfortunately I did not find her list of equipment until 8 pages and two cakes later, when I discovered that she uses 2" cake pans. They are on my list to pick up this weekend, but meanwhile the spongecakes were baked in the standard 1.25" pans that we all have.
She starts you out creaming the sugar,egg yolks and vanilla. Then you continue by beating the egg whites with some cream of tartar, salt and sugar until they form stiff peaks. The interesting part is that at this point you begin taking turns folding the egg whites into the egg yolk mixture and then sifting in a little flour. And I am serious about the 'little' part. The entire cake only takes 9 tablespoons of flour! When it is all folded together, add a few tablespoons of tepid melted butter and pour it into your greased and floured pans.
Unfortunately after baking they were only about 3/4" high, which isn't high enough to be a cake you are proud of, so I made a second round of cakes. It seemed like it was becoming a big job.
But that was before I began the frosting. Julia doesn't even have a 'master' for frosting, but she does include some recipes, so I chose the French Butter-Cream appearing on p. 468 in The Way to Cook. I knew I was into BIG COOKING when step one directed me to make a sugar syrup by cooking it to the soft ball stage. I always rely on the thermometer for this because I never have the self assurance to confidently proclaim 'soft ball stage' before it has progressed on to 'hard ball stage', which is also 'start over' stage. When your syrup is ready pour it in a steady stream into a previously beaten mixture of 2 eggs and 6 egg yolks. While you are pouring you need to also be mixing furiously with your wire whip to keep the eggs from cooking and the syrup from hardening. Yikes! Pretty soon I had a big glob of hardened syrup hanging onto the end of my whip so I quickly poured it all into my stand mixer and mixed away until it was, incredibly, perfect. Now you have to beat this mixture over barely simmering hot water to heat the eggs enough to cook them and save your guests from salmonella. She didn't suggest a double boiler and I wasn't smart enough to realize I needed one until I had tried unsuccessfully to get it hot enough with various other contrivances. Finally it was hot, and then you have to turn around and beat it over ice cubes to get it cold enough to add an entire pound of butter without melting it.
This was lots of work. Everyone who looked at the cake gained a pound and those of us who ate some gained more. It tasted good, and the entire thing got eaten, but I thought it was a bit dense, which I blamed on the fact that I baked them in two pans, creating more surface area which allowed for more drying out.
The Bottom Line
Spongecake-Thumbs Down
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
First Tuesday with Anna & Steve
We have a business meeting with our good friends and business partners, Anna & Steve Magillicutty (names changed to protect the innocent) on the first Tuesday of each month. The meeting is technically supposed to be at their house but they, conveniently, have no kitchen, so here we are. Since we're here and I'm doing a year of Julia, this month might as well be fabulous. Oh, one more caveat: Anna is a committed Weight Watcher, so everything must be low fat, low calorie and high fiber.
Last night's dinner was:
Appetizer: Cantaloupe wrapped in fat-trimmed Parma ham paired with Prosecco
Soup: Low-fat, homemade Chicken Vegetable Soup paired with Pinot Grigio
Entree: Scallops simmered in white wine; brown and wild rice and carrot and celery sticks with cherry tomatoes, mozzarella and basil
Dessert: Red pears and Honey Crisp apples
If you haven't already tried Parma ham go directly to the deli. It is delicious. But so is cantaloupe and I am not sure either of them are improved by putting them together-not to mention that the trimming, peeling and wrapping become exceedingly tedious.
The soup was great. The broth was salvaged from the Chicken Simmered in White Wine from the night before and the vegetables and chicken added in accordance with Julia's Chicken Vegetable Soup recipe. I regularly make very good soup, but I may tend to over do the vegetables and her light delicate recipe is delicous.
The scallop recipe called for them to be simmered in white wine and shallots for 2 minutes, steeped in the broth for 10 minutes, then removed and the broth reduced until thickened and poured over them before serving. However, by then I was tired of waiting and one never knows how long this reduction thing is going to take so I just served them 'au naturel'. Unfortunately scallops alone have a very light flavor and without the additional boost from the sauce they were essentially tasteless.
The rest of the meal: the carrots, celery, tomatoes, pears, apples and rice (available in the bulk foods section of Central Market in Shoreline) were all served as they were born, which was perfect.
The Bottom Line
Cantaloupe Wrapped in Parma Ham-Thumbs Down
Chicken Vegetable Soup-Thumbs Up
Scallops Simmered in White Wine-Thumbs Down
Last night's dinner was:
Appetizer: Cantaloupe wrapped in fat-trimmed Parma ham paired with Prosecco
Soup: Low-fat, homemade Chicken Vegetable Soup paired with Pinot Grigio
Entree: Scallops simmered in white wine; brown and wild rice and carrot and celery sticks with cherry tomatoes, mozzarella and basil
Dessert: Red pears and Honey Crisp apples
If you haven't already tried Parma ham go directly to the deli. It is delicious. But so is cantaloupe and I am not sure either of them are improved by putting them together-not to mention that the trimming, peeling and wrapping become exceedingly tedious.
The soup was great. The broth was salvaged from the Chicken Simmered in White Wine from the night before and the vegetables and chicken added in accordance with Julia's Chicken Vegetable Soup recipe. I regularly make very good soup, but I may tend to over do the vegetables and her light delicate recipe is delicous.
The scallop recipe called for them to be simmered in white wine and shallots for 2 minutes, steeped in the broth for 10 minutes, then removed and the broth reduced until thickened and poured over them before serving. However, by then I was tired of waiting and one never knows how long this reduction thing is going to take so I just served them 'au naturel'. Unfortunately scallops alone have a very light flavor and without the additional boost from the sauce they were essentially tasteless.
The rest of the meal: the carrots, celery, tomatoes, pears, apples and rice (available in the bulk foods section of Central Market in Shoreline) were all served as they were born, which was perfect.
The Bottom Line
Cantaloupe Wrapped in Parma Ham-Thumbs Down
Chicken Vegetable Soup-Thumbs Up
Scallops Simmered in White Wine-Thumbs Down
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
I fixed you 3 Julias so sit down and eat
No matter how hard I try to plan ahead I still seem to find myself behind the 8-ball. About 3 weeks ago I bought an organic chicken at the Sunday market, the kind that had a great life until somebody whacked his head off, and threw it into the freezer. Yesterday I planned to make Julia's roasted chicken and took him out to thaw. While he was getting ready I read Julia's instructions which included trussing, which is sewing up the neck and hind end of the bird to keep stuffing in and keep the limbs close to the rest of the bird so that they don't dry out before the rest of the bird is done.
So, off to the store. Of course all the store has is the equipment to truss a turkey which isn't going to work at all because it doesn't include a needle, just these metal hooks to hold the skin together, but I buy them anyway. I hate that store.
When I get back I dump the thawed chicken out of the bag into the sink and much to my surprise a bunch of chicken pieces fall out-and there isn't going to be any need for trussing because there isn't going to be any roasted chicken. I consider despair but instead decide to consult the cookbook again to see what options might be available for chicken pieces. Unbelievably there is a master recipe called Chicken Simmered in White Wine for which I not only have all the equipment I also have most of the ingredients. Let's cook.
It is in the easy as pie category and requires leeks, carrots and celery to be washed, trimmed, peeled and julienned and then put into a pot along with the chicken pieces, 1.5 cups of dry white wine, salt, pepper, tarragon, bay leaf and then chicken broth added to cover it all. Simmer 25 minutes and eat. When we got to that point the Main Eater commented that when the Queen of England comes to dinner I should fix something else because I make a lot of stuff that takes a whole lot better. It is possible that it would have been better if I had actually used chicken broth, but all I had was beef broth so that may have effected the flavor some, even though I maintain that the flavor is very similar. Also I simmered it about 45 minutes instead of the 25 and that may have contributed to the breasts being a bit dry. I usually eat the dark meat which is rarely dry no matter what you do to it.
In addition to the chicken we also had steamed rice, or as Julia calls it, "Plain Boiled Rice" and blanched broccolli. Her recipe for rice is very similar to the one on the rice box: 2 parts water to 1 part rice, salt to taste and add a little olive oil or butter if you want. But them all together in a pan with a tight fitting lid, bring to a boil for 2 minutes, turn the heat down to low for 18 minutes, taste to be sure it a almost done, and then remove from the heat and let it stand for another 5 minutes. Use a fork to fluff it and transfer it into the serving dish because a fork will not break the rice grains. Delicious. One important thing with rice is to measure the water and rice accurately using the same measuring cup for both of them.
She recommends blanching broccoli because steaming it deminishes the color. Cut the flowerettes into smallish pieces that are similar in size and peel the stems if you are not cutting them off. Be sure there is enough water in the pan to cover the brocolli, salt it, and then bring to a rolling boil. Now add the broccoli and boil for 4 minutes and then drain immediately.
I will probably use all these recipes again. The chicken is easy, fast, relatively inexpensive and low calorie which puts it into the trifecta + category. In addition the broth can then be used to make a soup the next day. While there was nothing particularly different about the rice directions they were exact, easy to follow and resulted in a great product. Blanching the broccoli was faster than my normal steaming and may well have brought out a more vibrant color.
The Bottom Line
Chicken Simmered in White Wine-Thumbs Up
Plain Boiled Rice-Thumbs Up
Blanched Broccoli-Thumbs Up
So, off to the store. Of course all the store has is the equipment to truss a turkey which isn't going to work at all because it doesn't include a needle, just these metal hooks to hold the skin together, but I buy them anyway. I hate that store.
When I get back I dump the thawed chicken out of the bag into the sink and much to my surprise a bunch of chicken pieces fall out-and there isn't going to be any need for trussing because there isn't going to be any roasted chicken. I consider despair but instead decide to consult the cookbook again to see what options might be available for chicken pieces. Unbelievably there is a master recipe called Chicken Simmered in White Wine for which I not only have all the equipment I also have most of the ingredients. Let's cook.
It is in the easy as pie category and requires leeks, carrots and celery to be washed, trimmed, peeled and julienned and then put into a pot along with the chicken pieces, 1.5 cups of dry white wine, salt, pepper, tarragon, bay leaf and then chicken broth added to cover it all. Simmer 25 minutes and eat. When we got to that point the Main Eater commented that when the Queen of England comes to dinner I should fix something else because I make a lot of stuff that takes a whole lot better. It is possible that it would have been better if I had actually used chicken broth, but all I had was beef broth so that may have effected the flavor some, even though I maintain that the flavor is very similar. Also I simmered it about 45 minutes instead of the 25 and that may have contributed to the breasts being a bit dry. I usually eat the dark meat which is rarely dry no matter what you do to it.
In addition to the chicken we also had steamed rice, or as Julia calls it, "Plain Boiled Rice" and blanched broccolli. Her recipe for rice is very similar to the one on the rice box: 2 parts water to 1 part rice, salt to taste and add a little olive oil or butter if you want. But them all together in a pan with a tight fitting lid, bring to a boil for 2 minutes, turn the heat down to low for 18 minutes, taste to be sure it a almost done, and then remove from the heat and let it stand for another 5 minutes. Use a fork to fluff it and transfer it into the serving dish because a fork will not break the rice grains. Delicious. One important thing with rice is to measure the water and rice accurately using the same measuring cup for both of them.
She recommends blanching broccoli because steaming it deminishes the color. Cut the flowerettes into smallish pieces that are similar in size and peel the stems if you are not cutting them off. Be sure there is enough water in the pan to cover the brocolli, salt it, and then bring to a rolling boil. Now add the broccoli and boil for 4 minutes and then drain immediately.
I will probably use all these recipes again. The chicken is easy, fast, relatively inexpensive and low calorie which puts it into the trifecta + category. In addition the broth can then be used to make a soup the next day. While there was nothing particularly different about the rice directions they were exact, easy to follow and resulted in a great product. Blanching the broccoli was faster than my normal steaming and may well have brought out a more vibrant color.
The Bottom Line
Chicken Simmered in White Wine-Thumbs Up
Plain Boiled Rice-Thumbs Up
Blanched Broccoli-Thumbs Up
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