HAPPY MAN; HAPPY VALLEY… HAPPY V-DAY: 2/14

            Like most guys, I don’t care much for Valentine’s Day.  Hallmark makes their post Christmas pre-Easter seasons lull by squeezing this card and chocolate extravaganza into our busy lives.  Luckily I was smart enough as a cunning fifteen year old to start a relationship a few days after Valentine’s day.  Flash forward eight years and now with the same lady the holiday is brushed off in anticipation for our anniversary on the 20^th.  Now I like making something special for my special someone, so tonight was Caite’s choice.  She said shes had a hankering for lasagna and I love me some Italian cooking (I love garlic) so Lasagna it is.  I usually go pretty basic with lasagna, just following the directions on the back of the no-boil noodles box.  But now that I’ve taken this role, I felt like I should step up my game and get a little creative. I also had to be as Weight Watcher friendly as possible so I don’t have to make ma sit in exile eating egg whites while the rest of us stuff our faces like the glutinous Americans we are. 

            To make the meal more caloric friendly I substituted skim Ricotta for whole, and part-skim mozzarella rather than whole.  Adding some veggies like fresh button shrooms and chopped spinach really gave this dish some distinction.  I went all out and even made a scratch sauce.  Lasagna is a simple diner that takes some time to put together but is one of the best dishes to make ahead of time, allowing you to make it as early as the night before, stick it in the fridge and pop it in the oven about an hour and a half before your ready to eat.  Accompany it with a salad and some fresh bread (if you don’t have dieters in your house) and you’ve got an awesome Italian dinna. 

            While shopping today I broke the cardinal sin in grocery shopping; don’t shop on an empty stomach.  Not that I picked out a poor diner menu or anything, it was my lunch selection.  Browsing the frozen food section I decided to grab a pack of Banquet chicken fingers rather than my usually combination pizza rolls fix.  I should know better that all frozen chicken stuff sucks, and these things were no exception.  I thought I’d ball out by deep-frying these boys and dressin them up with some BBQ sauce… I didn’t work.  I fried them in the suggested 350-degree oil for three and a half minutes just like the bag said and they turned into terd rods.  I even went to pet value to buy the mutt some classy, yuppie wet dog food because A. some women freaked me out about his diet at a pet show, and B.  Because I was hungry and thinking about feeding everyone, myself and the dog included, so that set me back $10 for a few fancy holistic cans of dog food.    

Tomato Sauce:

          1 TBS olive oil

            1 onion, minced

            Salt

            6 garlic cloves, minced

            1 (28 OZ) can whole tomatoes (San Marino) crushed by hand (No juices)

            1 (28 OZ) can diced tomatoes (Drained of juices)

            ¼ TSP dried oregano

            1/8 TSP red pepper flakes

            Pepper

            Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat until almost smoking.  Add onion and one tsp of salt and cook until softened, about five minutes.  Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Stir in the tomatoes, oregano, and red pepper flakes.  Simmer until the sauce is slightly thickened, about 15 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper to taste

Shrooms and Spinach:

            1 LB of white button shrooms

            10 OZ frozen chopped spinach, thawed, well drained and squeezed of water

            2 cloves garlic, minced

            2 TBS EVOO

            Salt

            Pepper

            Heat the EVOO in a large skillet over medium heat.  Once oil is hot, add the shrooms and cook until browned, about ten minutes.  Stir in minced garlic and cook until fragrant, about 15 seconds.  Off the heat, stir in the spinach, season with salt and pepper.

Meat:

            8 OZ ground beef (85%)

            8 OZ ground pork

            4-6 OZ ground veal

            1 onion, minced

            2 cloves garlic, minced

            2 TBS EVOO

            Heat the oil over medium heat.  Once hot add the onions, then the meat.  Cook about ten minutes or until there is no longer any pink visible.

Cheese Mixture:

            15 OZ Ricotta Cheese, part skim

            1 ¼ C Parmesan Cheese, grated

            ½ fresh basil, minced

            1 large egg, lightly beaten

            ½ tsp salt

            ½ tsp pepper

            5 C tomato sauce

            1 pack no-boil lasagna noodles

            1 LB Mozzarella, shredded, part-skim

            Mix Ricotta, 1 C Parmesan, basil, egg salt and pepper until well combined

The Assembly:

1.  Preheat oven 375.  Add the cooked meat into the pasta sauce.  Spread a small layer of meat sauce on the bottom of your 9X13 deep baking dish so the noodles don’t touch bottom. 

2.  Spoon enough ricotta (about a TBS or two) and spread on pasta noodles.  Do this step two more times so you have three noodles laying side by side, add some of the shroom and spinach mixture on top, followed by a layer of meat sauce, then top with a handful or two of mozzarella.

3.  Continue this process until you have run out of cheese and meat sauce mixture.  I don’t use measuring devices on most occasions and I definitely don’t when cooking Italian.  Just make sure you portion enough so you have enough for all your layers, a good rule of thumb is just add enough to cover the previous layer.  Top with some parmesan cheese and some salt and pepper

4.  Cover tightly with aluminum foil.  Add to the middle of the preheated oven.  Bake 65 minutes covered.  Remove cover and bake another ten minutes.  Once the cheese is melted and a good lookin browned take it out and let cool for about ten minutes before cutting up and serving. 

            Everyone loved the new take on lasagna.  I didn’t taste or really notice much difference between the part skim ingredients versus the whole counterparts.  This jazzed up version is def going to be the new stand-by when it comes to lasagna night.  I haven’t made this dish that much lately because I was so board with not only the flavor but was also tired of making it.  This adds a ton of flavor and even more texture with the shrooms and spinach as well as making the scratch tomato sauce.  Although I thought it looked a little oily or runny when I took it out of the oven, it turned out perfect when I let it cool for ten minutes.  I used the new Shun to cut the pieces put and had no resistance or pull from the cheese on top.  Nothing is better than that knife.  Ma was whining about never having a good knife, in thirty years of marriage, never had a good knife.  Well, she can use mine while I’m still around, after that, she can get her own. 

            Todays best surprise came when ma came home from work.  I asked when Chris was coming home from his weekend visit to Becca (his main squeeze) at Penn State.  I forgot that before he left we requested some Penn State dinner grilled stickies and some Penn State Creamery Ice cream.  I am one to get excited over dessert, Its some of my favorite things to make and I always make dessert first because I cant stand the anticipation (and its better to let your desserts cool).  When ma told me that Becca was sending a Valentine’s day care package back home full of two packs of stickies and two tubs of ice cream, I suddenly had a rush of pure bliss knowing that tonight I was going to be fulfilling my sweet tooth with this awesome dessert.  Throw them in the pan with some butter and oil, fry up to a golden brown (only on the one side) and serve them up with some vanilla creamery blend and you have in my opinion, one of the best package desserts you can buy.  This stuff is slamin, if you know anyone in Happy Valley hit them up and have them bring you some home (they’ll even set you up with an insulated bag and some dry ice to make sure you ice cream makes it home safe, of course).

            The happiest person award on Valentine’s day goes to Haboo.  Not only was he allowed to bring in his nasty bone into the house today (it was a marrow bone that is not all clean on the inside and out thanks to his hard work) but he also got a Valentine cookie from Grandma Lewis.  He was so over joyed that when we gave him his treat he went to give a high five, and in his bliss he went back and sat on his ass, his two front arms in the air, looking like a cartoon dog begging.  Pops, Caite and I had a good laugh and he devoured half his treat in seconds.  

            Wednesday and Thursday will be off days; ma’s out to dinner on Wednesday, and pop has a CAN both days.  Maybe something light on Thursday, or something that pops cant stand, which in the past is the fattiest crap or a recipe/ingredient I want to screw around with.  I cant think of anything right now for tomorrow nights suppa so it looks like its going to be a sleepless night ahead of me unless I get some kind of idea in my head, whish me luck.  Smell ya later and happy bull-shit day to all!  

THE BIGS: 2/11-2/13

            After my new addition to the chef’s pantry on Friday I feel like I’ve joined the ranks of real chef or something.  Friday I purchased my second chefs knife but first, “big league” knife.   The Shun Classic eight inch Hollow-Ground was the choice I went with.  I never knew that cutting something could be so enjoyable.  It’s my most prized kitchen position.  The hollow-ground is a special indentation on the sides of the blade allowing for less stick and friction when slicing and dicing, and it looks much cooler too!   

            Before I made the purchase I did my share of due diligence.  Numerous trips to Williams-Sonoma pestering the hags that work there to get a feel of which knife fit my fancy.  One trip I was denied access to the locked cutlery cabinet at Williams-Sonoma and swore that if I bought the knife it would not be from that Yenta.  The final decision came down to the Shun versus a Global eight inch chef’s, but the handle was a little too light and the customer feedback was better for the Shun.  Unfortunately after printing my Bed Bath and Beyond coupon I discovered in the fine print that their liberal 20% coupon deals exclude Shun products, FML!  The only other choices where order online or succumb to Williams-Sonoma; the choice was easy because any web site offered shipping within the next three months, so I made the trip to the mall.  No questions this time, I marched up to the counter and said get me that one out of the cabinet and let me get out of here.  Just the box was badass enough to make you choose Shun over Global. 

            I came home and couldn’t wait to butcher something up.  I cut caprese tomatoes paper-thin, some celery for a snack into 1/8 in match sticks, this knife is amazing.  My ma is pretty petrified of it; she keeps thinking someone is going to get killed by it.  It’s a good weapon to have around the house, if I upgraded to the ten inch it would have been like having a samurai sword in the house. 

            To my disappointment Friday night was Diner night and I wasn’t able to cook.  And what do you think Greggy gets at the Diner, some eggs maybe or a soup and sandwich, nope he and ma get a half a chicken; for people who complain about their food they don’t eat like Richard Simons when eating out. Needless to say I reminded pops that there was a lot of dark meat and grease in that bad boy. 

            Saturday night was what I’m hoping turns into a weekly tradition of a dinner party of sorts.  Last Sunday was the Superbowl, which we did a bunch of hours de vours and some beef and chicken skewers with a little Thai peanut flare.  This week the setting was Lizzy’s house down the street and a more intimate setting.  Catie, Crackie, Lizzy, Lizzy’s new squeeze Mikey as well as myself.  Liz and I spilt up the cooking duties (with Crack doing sous work) giving us a potluck style dinner, which I have never really done before.  I picked Chicken and Dumplings settling on this because it’s a good crowd pleaser.   The dish a lot like a chicken pot pie without the pie top and with soft spongy (or so they should have been) top.   

            Lizzy prepared some slamin buffalo chicken dip, which I haven’t had in years (since College Ave).  Also done by chef Lizzy was dense, savory zucchini bread along with a side of red peppers and butternut squash adding some zesssst to the evening.   For dessert our host and her assistant made some molten cakes, (which if numbers permitted I would have eaten five of) chocolate covered strawberries that Caite is still talking about and now craving again, along with a new culinary craze, chocolate bacon.  I’ve seen chocolate and bacon being combined on Top Chef once or twice but have never made or let alone seen the two combined.  It tasted much like it sounds; bacon that’s covered in chocolate.  It was pretty good once I got the courage to try it out; Caite seemed to like it, as did Mikey. 

Chicken and Stock

        

            1 Whole Chicken, 4-5 LBS

            4 Bay Leaves

            1 Head of garlic, halved horizontally

            10 fresh thyme springs

            Kosher Salt

            10 Black Peppercorns

            2 TBS unsalted Butter

            1 TBS EVOO

            ¾ C Diced Carrots

            ¾ C Diced Celery

            ½ Diced Onion

            4 Garlic Cloves

            2 Bay Leaves

            5 TBS All-purpose flour

            1 C Frozen peas

            1CFrozen pearl onions

            ¼ C Heavy Cream

            Fresh Ground Pepper

           

Dumplings

            2 C All Purpose flour

            1 TBS Baking powder

            1TSP Salt

            2 Large eggs

            1 C Buttermilk

            ¼ C Chopped chives

            Chopped flat leaf parsley

1.  Make the Chicken and the Stock:  Rinse the chicken under cold water and discard the giblets.  Place the chicken, bay leaves, thyme, garlic head, peppercorns, and large pinch of salt in a heavy pot and cover with water.  Bring to a boil over med-high heat, then reduce to a simmer, uncovered, for 1 ½ hours or until the chicken is tender, skimming the surface as scum rises. 

2.  Transfer the chicken to a platter to cool then shred, strain the stock through a fine mesh sieve, discard any of the solids.  Measure out six cups of stock reserving any additional for another use.

3.  In a Dutch oven heat the butter and oil together over medium heat until the butter melts.  Add the carrots, celery, garlic, diced onions, and bay leaves and cook stirring, until the veggies are tender about five minutes.  Add the flour and whisk until combines, then continue to cook for two minutes.  Slowly pour in the stock one-cup at a time, stirring well the whole time.  Add the peas and pearl onions.  Simmer the sauce until it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 15-20 minutes.  Stir in the heavy cream and shredded chicken into the sauce and bring to a simmer.   

4.  Make the dumplings:  Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl.  In a small bowl, combine eggs, chives and buttermilk; pour the egg mixture into the flor and fold gently, mixing just until the dough comes together.  The dough will be very soft.

           

5.  Using 2 spoons, carefully drop heaping tablespoons of buttermilk-chive dumplings batter onto the hot chicken mixture, the dumplings should not be touching or crowded.  Cover the pot and cook the dumplings 10-15 minutes, until they are firm, puffy, and cooked through, Season with fresh ground pepper and garnish with chopped parsley, serve in shallow bowls

            This wasn’t the first time making this dish, however the first time turned out better, which needless to say really pissed me off.  I make expectations high saying how good it was last time and this time when I’m “entertaining” the dumplings don’t rise the way I want.  A word of advice, when making the dumplings, when you mix the egg and flour mixture together make sure you add them immediately to the hot chicken mixture.  Don’t mix them at your house, then walk down the street, reheat the chicken mixture all the while letting the dumpling dough warm which is probably why they didn’t get nice and fluffy.  Well you live and you learn, and like I said to Crack, “you cook for your friends because they don’t judge you if your food tastes like shit (not saying that any of the food tasted like shit, but I’m a perfectionist and if everything that I make isn’t exactly up to my unreachable expectations Ill harp on those not perfect things, but hey I’m crazy and that’s ME).   

            Sunday was adventure day in the Whitehouse; Ma, Pop, Caite and I went on a road trip to Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods on Rt. 1.  It was a strange shopping experience.  Maybe someday Ill be a rich enough and yuppie enough to shop at Whole Foods.  I spent $13 on four honeycrisp apples (they are mad good if you come across them) and a pack of Tazo tea, for THIRTEEN BUCKS.  The place was really cool though as far as supermarkets go.  All the different sections have their own theme kind of motif going on, great organization everywhere, and displays that make you want to buy buy buy.  The seafood guys were my favorite, being that they all look as if they just jumped ship.  Trader Joes was a little better but I was not all about the scene that all of their employees seemed to follow.  These kids all look like grunge scene throwbacks from Seattle in the early 90’s.  You think you would want grocery store employees to shower but I guess Trader Joes is lineate on personal hygiene issues.

            Sunday dinner is usually a dinner that I like to take time making.  But today was day two of ma’s new weight watcher plan, which means blander cooking.  Tonight was a version of my least favorite dinners to eat.  When I was little it was Fletchgee.  Buttered noodles and caned ham that’s baked, its supposedly Chezch food but it SUCKS and I refuse to eat it.  Another one is Summer Salad, which is just a bunch of roman lettuce leaves topped with tuna; what the hell kind of substance dinner is that.  All of these shity dinners might I add are my parents favorite, I know it makes no scene at all.  Steak and eggs was the menu tonight as well as frozen potatoes with peppers and onions.  I wasn’t allowed to make fresh potatoes (I’m dying to cut up potatoes with the new knife) and I wasn’t allowed to touch the eggs (I like my scrambled eggs a little on the wet side, not grossly wet but just not firm) because everyone but myself likes them burned, I know its nasty.  So I made the steaks.  I wanted to do a little red wine marinade but that would be an odd pairing with eggs, so just some brushed on veggie oil with a healthy helping of kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper.  Make sure you take the steaks your cooking out of the fridge about 15-20 minutes before cooking them; this allows them to get to room temperature letting the meat fibers cook properly making for a better more flavorful final product.  About five and a half or six minutes each side on a med-high grill will give you a perfect medium doness.  My definition of medium is no dark red; any dark read means some kind of rare (med-rare/rare).  Totally pink throughout (my personal favorite) is a straight medium, and if there is a touch of well anywhere except the edges, warrants a well tagging (med-well/well).  Everyone said medium was good, actually I didn’t ask because my ma tries to get a perfect medium every time.  I cooked these bad boys to a perfect medium throughout, mine was slamin, when you put pressure it should bleed out, giving you that mouth watering flavor (my mouth is watering just describing it, no sauce needed for this temp).   But everyone was a baby and ma threw them back on the high grill giving the thinner ones a nice shoe leather finish.  There is nothing worse than a burnt steak.  While working at Chili’s in West Virginia people used to order their steaks “burned” rather than well done just to make the point they wanted their meat tougher than leather, but they are stupid hicks that think that Chili’s has premium cuts.

            This upcoming week holds some promise to it, even through there is going to be some more light cooking in this house for a while.  I’m going to have to hit the library and Boarders to get some low fat/cal menu ideas other than the weight watchers web site.  So well see where we go from here, all I know is, is that Ill be cooking and writing and using my new killer knife.  Until then, Smell ya Later 

           

K.I.S.S. 2/10

         “K.I.S.S.”  Keep it simple stupid.  I did that and then some tonight with Mayo Chicken.  Mayo Chicken has been a dinner staple in the Whitehouse since I can remember.  Its origins are somewhat of a mystery to me but after thinking a lot about it today I think that it originates as a Sue dish (Sue being my aunt).  If my memory hasn’t failed me and this really is a Sue dish I don’t know how it has stayed in the cookbook for so long.  Actually according to my late uncle Pete no one in the Sladek family (my mom side) can cook.   On my parents wedding night uncle Pete even took my pops aside and told him with a straight poker face, “I hope you can cook kid, because these Sladek’s women can’t cook for shit!”  However right (or maybe wrong) Uncle Pete was, Sue got this dish right. 

            Although the dish might sound pretty nasty, it really isn’t.  I never thought of the name, “mayo chicken” as gross until a friend once commented, “Ew, mayo chicken, that sounds gross!”  Mayo is one of only seven total ingredients; you don’t really have the taste of mayo in the final product.  The mayo acts like a rain jacket for the chicken keeping it moist.   The other ingredients are a couple simple spices making this a low cal dinna which make Greggy (pops) very happy(might not be as happy if he knew I only use real mayo, where he is a “light mayo kind of guy”).  Mayo Chicken is classically accompanied with a pasta ronni dish of your choice (my fav is angel hair parmesan pasta, but had to settle for fettuccini alfredo tonight because Shoprite had a crap selection) and a stemmed veggie of choice (my fav is either string beans with some Mrs. Dash spice and butter, or broccoli with melted American cheese). 

            Tonights dinner had a special guest sitting in for Chris who has been working like a slave’s dog.  Cole, (Caites little bro) joined us for this culinary classic.  A couple months ago Cole ate over with just my mom and me.  I had just started a few weeks earlier this culinary adventure I’m on and decided to give Osso Bucco a shot.  I headed to a, “real” butcher shop to get good veal shanks.  What I got as $45 worth of frozen shanks from a butcher that worked out of what looked like a shed.  The dinner turned out, ok (they needed more braising time because of being previously frozen) and Cole might have eaten five bites.  This time around he was a clean plate member honoree.         

            I headed to the store after getting my hairs cut, no list in hand because I could make this dinner in my sleep.  It was the first real dish/dinner (other than grilled cheese and pork roll and such) that I could execute start to finish on my own.  So at the store I realized that a five pack of Purdue chicken weighing about 3.2 LBS costs $5.90, but three small pieces of the same brand at 1.2 LBS costs $6.15.  How could this be, I took both packages and examined them to find that the smaller package said “fit and easy.”  Later on when cooking (didn’t start till 7:15 because of how quick and simple the dish is) I had a conversation with Caite and my ma about the strange pricing.  As fate would have it two minutes later a commercial came on advertizing Purdue, “fit and easy” chickens, which are raised cage free and fed a vegetable diet.  I guess all the other cheep chicken (like the pack I bought) is all steroidid up; so I decided that this chicken needed a flashy name to go along with it’s counterpart, I decided on “Cancer Chicken.”  It must costs a lot of money to eat chickens that aren’t kept in cages.  Don’t you think it would be cheaper to not have the expensive of having all the cages and space; rather than having chickens free range?  I don’t know, it must cost a lot of money to not get cancer. 

Mayo Chicken

           

            4-5 Pieces of boneless chicken breasts (I prefer the cheap cancer causing ones)

            2 TBS Mayo

            ¼ TSP Salt, for each piece

            ¼ TSP Pepper, for each piece

            ¼ TSP Paprika, for each piece

            ¼ TSP Garlic powder, for each piece

            ¼ TSP Bottle Parmesan Cheese. for each piece

           

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Pound out each piece of chicken to allow it to cook more evenly. 

2.  Coat each piece with a light coating of mayo by using a pastry brush, place in a shallow baking dish/Pyrex.  Season each piece with spices in the following order; salt, fresh cracked pepper, garlic powder, light layer of paprika, parmesan, then the remaining and maybe a little more paprika.  Cook chicken in preheated oven for 30-40 minutes depending on the thickness of the chicken.

3.  Start the noodles with about ten minutes left for the chicken cooking time, about eight minutes left in cooking time, start the broccoli.  Serve the chicken with barbeque sauce on the side for dipping.  I started doing this when this dish was first established, I think its way its been around for so long, it completes the flavor profile.  Also can be served with sliced cucumbers tossed in balsamic dressing then seasoned with kosher salt (the only salt you should use in cooking) and fresh cracked pepper.

            There you have it, nice and easy Japanesey.  There were no comments like “wow this is good”, or “definitely make this again”, being that its probably like the 500^th time eating this meal.  Caite, who is regularly a big fan of Mayo Chicken finished early because she allegedly did not like the texture of the chicken she had, apparently there was a “vain”; she got the cancer piece. 

            While writing this, pops went on a rant about keeping meals cheap, the budget down, blah blah blah.  So hopefully this wont turn into a budget cooking blog or anything, I like rich flavors, which require a decent amount of ingredients.  Most however are produce items that aren’t that expensive and I find ways to curb the prices in other ways.  The few pictures tonight must be some of the first published from a version I-phone, which Caite picked up today after work, she just put it down to go to bed, it was in her hands for the last four straight hours.  The phone takes good pics and its a good alternative to when Chris is using his behemoth or I’m feeling lazy.  Its nice to be messing around with a camera again though after taking the last few years off. 

            Tomorrow is most likely an off day being that we usually do pizza or somethin like that for Friday dinna, but that doesn’t mean tomorrow comes without excitement.  Chris got me some UGG slippers for Christmas that were too big and for the last month and a half I’ve been meaning to take them back.  Seeing that I was not too urgent to return them (they have been in his trunk for the last month) I decided I didn’t really have much use for them.  So I returned them today and tomorrow I’m planning on buyin a new chefs knife.  I’m thinking either a Shun classic or a Global, both good Jap brands with good user reviews.  As of right now I’m leaning toward the Shun due to its heavier handle, a little higher review rating and great customer service (you ship them your knife and they will restore/polish/professionally re-sharpen your knives for LIFE!)  So stay tuned, the few that are reading this, hopefully ill get a post going this weekend.  Smell ya later.

JULIAS MY HOME GIRL, 2/9

           Yesterday Caite woke up and went to sleep watching Julie and Julia, which got me in the mood for somethinn French.   Rich and bold flavors like I like, all building on each other for a tower of flavor in the finished goods.  I caught the movie on the same part when multiple characters are cooking beef Bourguignon and commenting how amazing or, “YUMM” it is.  The part was really annoying and even made some dinner conversation last night.  So I thought I would put Julia’s bourguignon to the test.  I’ve made a couple versions of bourguignon, which is basically just a classic French beef stew, with nice deep flavors that develop while cooking this beast for a total of about four and a half hours.  But I wondered if there was a real difference between my own version, Tyler Florence’s take and the classic according to Julia the giant.  Would this version make everyone instantly say without hesitation, “YUMM?”  Theres a lot that goes into cooking this boy, but it all pays off when you sit down to scraf. 

            Wakening up this A.M. I had short ribs on the mind, but they are usually either small at ShopRite which is no good considering you want big slabs at least 4X4 when it comes to shot ribs.  So I went with something along the same lines in a way, as far as cooking methods go.  Braising (low and slow) is my favorite cooking technique and creates many of my favorite meals.  I’m not the only one that loves the tender meat with rich sauce, grandma and aunt Sue love braising, the choice cooking method whenever they come over for Sunday dinna. 

            When cooking I usually stray away somehow from the recipe I’m following. Whether it’s changing some spices up, using different cuts of meat or a mix in veggies.  Tonight however, I’m paying full homage to the recipe and not messin with a thing, everything done in the exact order the exact way in the exact form, did I mention I was doing the recipe EXACTLY as it was printed.  I figured that this way I could truly see if this recipe was worth uttering the words, “YUMM” (which if you know me, and if your reading this you must; words like “YUMM” are not in my vocabulary).

            Because the bill was a little high today and I’m trying my best to come in under budget (to avoid eating spaghetti Os for the last week of the month) so I bowed an used Swanson beef stock rather than fresh (beef bones can be a little more than chicken bones and I don’t use beef stock as much as chicken).  So heres the recipe and done Julia’s way not my own.

Boeuf Bourguignon

            6 OZ chunk of bacon

            2 TBS EVOO

            3.5 LBs lean stewing meat cut into 2 inch cubes (Rump pot roast is the 1^st choice followed by chuck pot roast or either top/bottom round)

            1 Sliced carrot

            1 Sliced onion

            1 TBS Salt

            ¼ TBS Pepper

            2 TBS Flour

            3 C full-bodied, young red wine such as Beaujolais, Cotes du Rhone, or a Chianti)

            2 to 3 C of Beef Broth/Stock

            1 TBS Tomato Paste

            2 Cloves smashed garlic

            ½ tsp fresh chopped thyme

            Bay leaf

            Blanched bacon rind

            18-24 small white onions (a pack of pearl onions)

            1 LB Quartered fresh white button shroms

1.  Remove the rind, (which is any white fat) and cut the bacon into lardoons (sticks that are ¼ inch thick and 1 ½ inches long).  Simmer the rind and bacon for 10 min in water, drain and dry.  Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

2.  Sauté the bacon in the oil over med. heat for two to three minutes to a light brown in casserole dish.  Remove to a paper towel with a slotted spoon.  Set the casserole dish off the heat for a min, then back on the heat until the fat is almost smoking before adding the beef.

3.  Dry the beef well, sauté a few pieces at a time getting a nice golden char on all sides, once done add it to the bacon on the side.

4.  In the same fat add the sliced onions and carrots, pour any fat out once the veggies are nice and browned. 

5.  Return the beef and bacon to the casserole and toss with salt and pepper.  Sprinkle on one TBS of flour and toss, then another TBS and toss again.  Set the dish in the middle position of the oven uncovered for four minutes.  Take out and stir it up then return to the 450-degree oven for another four minutes, this lets the flour adhere to the beef and giving it a nice crustiness.  Remove the dish and turn the oven down to 325.

6.  Stir in the wine and enough stock to barley cover the beef.  Add tomato paste, garlic, herbs and bacon rind.  Bring to a simmer on the stovetop, then cover and return to the 325 oven in the lower third position for 2 ½ to three hours.  When the meat is easily pierced by a fork its ready.

7.  While the beef is cooking you can prepare the onions and shrooms and set aside until needed.   

8.  When the meat is tender, pour the contents of the casserole dish into a sieve (fine mesh strainer) set over a sauce pan.  Whip out the pan with a paper towel to get rid of the bottom fat.  Return all the beef and veggies back to the casserole dish and add the cooked onions and shrooms over the meat.

9.  Skim any fat off the top of the sauce.  Bring the sauce to a simmer for a minute or two, skimming off any additional fat, there should be about 21/2 cups of sauce thick enough to coat a spoon lightly.  If too thin, boil it down rapidly, if too thick add some more stock.  TASTE and season, then pour over meat and veggies in casserole dish.

10.  Cover the dish and simmer for two to three minutes giving it a couple of stirs.  Serve over some buttered and lightly sautéed noodles (I like the medium yolk free Manischewitz noodle style pasta).    

The Shrooms:

            2 TBS Butter

            1 TBS EVOO

            ½ LB Fresh washed white button shrooms

            2 TBS Minced shallots

1.  Place skillet over high heat with butter and oil, once hot and bubbling add the shroms.  Toss and shake for four to five minutes until they have begun to lightly brown.

2.  Toss the shallots with the shrooms and sauté over med heat for two minutes, if made ahead just reheat when needed, then season.

The Onions

            18-24 peeled white preal onions

            1 ½ TBS Butter

            1 ½ TBS Oil

            ½ C Brown beef stock

            Herb Bouquet: 4 parsley springs, bay leaf, and a couple thyme springs tied together with butchers twine.

1.  To remove the onionskins dump them in a pot of boiling water for three minutes then strain, then add to a bowl of ice water.  Cut off the root end then slide off the outer layer by squeezing toward the cut root end.

2.  When the butter and oil are bubbling in a skillet, add the onions and sauté over med heat for about ten minutes giving then a gentle shake so they don’t fall out of their skin, don’t expect to brown them uniformly.

3.  Pour in the stock and add the herb bouquet.  Cover and simmer slowly for 40 to 50 minutes until the onions are tender but retain their shape and the liquid has evaporated.  Remove the bouquet, then set aside or add them right away.

            This dish is a long and time consuming process, but one that is really rewarding throughout and in the end.  Appreciate the process, enjoy getting the perfect brown caramelized crust on all the beef pieces, and really toss everything good when coating the dish in flour.    I like to think about the generations of Frenchmen who have perfected this dish over centuries, their trials and tribulations, what they went through and what they saw.  Food tells a lot about people.  What the care about, what they love, where they’re from, and all around WHO they are.  I had to run to the store after about half the cooking time had gone by.  When I came home I took a deep cleansing breath before coming inside so I could get a really good 1^st whiff when I came in… It was an amazing breath of delicious air.  While I was out my dog Ross (haboo and its many versions to his friends) decided to take a bite of the forbidin fruit, the loaf of French bread hanging off the counter.  Temtation got the best of him and when I came home I found only a few crumbs and a few ripped pices of the bag on the floor.  Nedeless to say he was put in the doghouse and Chris had to pick up a fresh loaf on his way home.  

            Julia knows her stuff, I’m going to have to start using the birthday present “Joys of French Cooking 1 & 2” more often.  Everyone was a member of the clean plate club; two fold.  There was little conversation tonight because everyone was way to busy eating.  I guess this recipe is the new beef stew stand by and will be revisited, maybe with a twist or two added to it.  The next recipe in the book is basically the same recipe but Belgian style where you braise in beer rather than the traditional French wine, throw in a little brown sugar and you’ve got a mask for the bitterness of the beer and some vinegar added to give some character at the end.  

            Everything went according to plan today/night, I even had time to take a few pics with Chris’s pro camera.  Pops had no comments just a clean plate after dinner but later in the night I was told to make mayo chicken tomorrow night, something nice and bland to father’s liking.  So its already set tomorrow is THE myth, THE legend… THE MAYO CHICKEN.  It’s a strange one whose origins are unknown, but its an old Whitehouse standby.  Until then, Smell ya later.

NICE AND HOT…NICE AND SPICY! 2/8

          Well not that hot and not that spicy for the likes of the folks.  Ma and pa don’t like their dinnas to be any higher than a four on the “this shit is hot” scale.  Tonight’s menu is an homage to that crazy ass hole Emril and his love for the BAM in life, meaning the, “this shit is hot” scale should be tippin tonight.  Its got a little bit of everything this jambalaya; complete with some chicken thighs to piss off my pops, shrimp and sausage, well as close as I could get.   I matched the jambalaya with something out of left field, some Cajun shrooms to keep with the dinner theme. As my goal is to make everyone in the house fat, I’m using a new tool that I picked up like three weeks ago… a new spring from pan, and makin a New Yuork cheesecake. 

            While writing last nights post I kind of got a hankering for jambalaya, why I have no idea, why would anyone get a hankering for such a heavy meal at two in the morning is beyond me but whatev.  I started my day running to the farmers market to grab some sausages that they display proudly in their deli case.  The recipe calls for Andouille sausage, which is a spicy, heavily smoked sausage, made from pork chitterlings and tripe, with its origins from France making it the perfect fit for Creole fare, which after all is spicy French influenced shit.  I get to the market and of course theres no Andouille, only five types of Kielbasa and some other crap.  Not even Mexican chorizo, (which they said could be a sub) which I found surprising because the farmers market is run by Mexicans (go figure).  I ask the guy behind the counter if the Kreol Kielbasa is like Creole or spicy and he looked at me like I had five heads, so I took half of a regular kielbasas and a whole (for some ass hole reason) kreol kielbasa, and spend $8.20 on a pound and a half.  Long and behold when I get the rest of the crap at Shoprite they have Andouille on sale for $2.99, FML.

            On with the meal and prep after getting that annoying situation off my chest (lets just say I solved it in my own way).  Jambalaya is an easy one, it takes about an hour to an hour and a half from start to finish, that’s why I added a few hours to my cooking day by making a cheese cake.  So to start I did all my mes en plas (prep work) cutting onions, celery, bell pepper, shrooms, as well as preparing the meats; cutting the chicken into bit size pieces, taking the tails off my already pealed and deveined shrimp (because I was feelin lazy) and piecing up the sausages.  Once the shrimp and chicken were set I seasoned them with the Emeril “Essence” Creole seasoning which is a basic spice rub to add the heat to the dish, giving it a nice spice from start to finish, nothing too crazy but def a little kick in the mouth. 

            Heat the oil in a large heavy bottomed pot until its nice and hot, throw in the peppers, onions and celery.  After about five minutes once the veggies are translucent add the garlic, bay leaves, Worcestershire, and hot sauce (I used Steve’s and Ed’s Louisiana Hot Sauce, on sale for $.99).  Let that stew for a minute and then add the rice, I used about two cups (upping the stock amount to about four cups) because I used more meats and veggies increasing the serving size to about six because I never make enough… SIKE!  Add the chicken broth slowly, I’ll use Swanson when I don’t have fresh stock around (which I always try to) but today I still had some left from yesterdays batch.  Fresh stock adds so much more depth to the overall flavor to the dish and ends up being cheaper if your going to use four or more cups of stock.   Once all the stock is evaporated and the rice is nice and tender (about 15 minutes) your ready to add the meats, make sure your stirring often at a medium heat.  Grab the spiced chicken and shrimp along with the sliced Kielbasa and throw it all in the pot.  I gave it another 15 to 20 minutes, partially covered to let the chicken cook through, after 15 grab a big piece of chicken, let it cool for a sec and rip it open to check for its doneness.  When you rip it, play around with it first, feel its consistency, how squishy it is.  I read in one of James Beard’s books that a good chef should never use a thermometer or cut open a piece of meat, you should be able to tell by touch.  Always touch you meat (that’s what she said) and soon you’ll be able to tell a medium steak from a medium well one and raw chicken from done chicken, its cool to mess around with your food.   Season the jambalaya with salt and pepper, TASTE and season again. 

            A few minutes after throwing the rice in the pot I started with my mushrooms.   Searching Google for “Creole sides” I found a mushroom dish which was prefect because I had some extra baby bells in the fridge (one and a half pounds).  Cut the shrooms into quarters or halves if they’re small, add them to a hot large saucepan with ¾ cup of butter (a stick and a half!).  Get them drenched in the butter over med high heat for a minute then add a ¼ cup of fresh ground black pepper, 5 oz (half a reg size bottle) of Worcestershire, a good big pinch of salt and about 10 drips of hot sauce.  Let that stew, covered for about 20 minutes over med heat, make sure the shrooms aren’t sticking and the sauces isn’t burning at the bottom of the pan.  Always use a wooden spoon to scrape the bottom of the pan to avoid that nasty smelling burning crap at the bottom of your pan.   Hit them with some more salt if needed and your plating these bad boys right as your pulling out a piece of chicken to test its doness.

            “Wow that’s good,” said Caite, ma and pop (Chris was working late tonight).  Followed by, “wow my mouth is on fire,” bunch of bed wetter’s about anything spicy, Caite said to make the cheesecake tonight because she wasn’t a fan of Jambalaya but her plate along with everyone else’s was pretty clean.  Definitely will use the right sausage next time even though the kielbasa was ok. 

            The piece da resistance was the cheesecake.  Cheesecake Factory can piss off, charging $7.50 a slice for a small piece of cake, bite me!  Throw a little CoolWhip on top and your making some serous moves.  Everyone thought that I used low fat cream cheese, which is a good thing because you use two and a half pounds of it.  What they don’t know wont hurt them. 

            All in all the meal was a good one.  Its not the first time making jambalaya but it was the first for cheesecake, but both were good.  All around goodness is the best, there were few complaints and whines about the food tonight which was refreshing.  Even pops said how awesome the cheesecake was (that’s probably because he thought it was fat free hahaha).  Tomorrow is another day but ill put off menu planning till then, right now I’m grabbing another piece of cheesecake because writing about it is making my mouth water.  Until next time, smell ya later.