Archive Page 10

Turkey Potpie with Cheddar Biscuit Crust

Published January 2, 2008 Recipe , Turkey 1 Comment
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If you’re anything like me, you still have leftover turkey from Thanksgiving in the freezer. And, if you’re not, you can just use leftover turkey from Christmas.

I originally saw this recipe before Thanksgiving and made a mental reminder that we could eat something besides Turkey quesadillas in the days after Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, we immediately went out of town and then I had to travel for business so the turkey got relegated to the freezer.

And there it sat until after Christmas. At that point, the freezer was getting a bit full (but isn’t it always?) and I felt the need to clean some items out of it. The turkey was the first item to get my attention.

This is a pretty easy recipe even though it involves several different parts. It even makes stock making easy. There’s no skimming. There’s no browning. There’s no aromatics in the stock. Just cover with water and simmer for about an hour. It’s also one of the most flavorful stocks I’ve ever tasted. Just don’t be like me and forget about the excess stock and leave it out overnight, rendering it only fit for disposal.

As I was making the potpie, Angela thought she was going to hate it (for reasons unknown to me). In the end, she liked it quite a bit. Even enough to take the leftovers for lunch today (that’s a surprise even to me).

If you have leftover turkey, this is the recipe to use it.

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Turkey Potpie with Cheddar Biscuit Crust
Adapted from Gourmet, November 2007

For Stock:
4 cups turkey bones and skin
water
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For Filling:
1 medium onion, diced
2 large peeled carrots, cut into 1/2″ pieces
2 celery stalks, cut into 1/2″ pieces
1 large peeled parsnip, cut into 1/2″ pieces
1 tsp chopped thyme
3 tbsp butter
1/2 lbs. mushrooms, cleaned and quartered
1/4 cup all purpose flour
4 cups cooked turkey meat
10 oz. frozen peas, defrosted

For Crust:
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
6 tbsp butter, cut into tbsps
1 1/4 cup buttermilk

  1. Place the turkey bones and skin in a large stock pot and cover with water. Bring to a simmer and simmer slowly until the stock is flavorful about 1 hour.
  2. Drain the stock through a strainer and reserve 3 1/2 cups for the potpie. Store the remainder for another use.
  3. In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. When the butter is melted, add the onion, carrots, celery, parsnip, and thyme. Cover and sweat the ingredients until they are almost soft, 12 to 15 minutes.
  4. Uncover the skillet and add the mushrooms. Sweat until the mushrooms are tender, 5 to 7 minutes.
  5. Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and stir until mixed well. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes.
  6. Deglaze the skillet with the reserved turkey stock (3 1/2 cups) and bring to a boil. Boil, stirring regularly, until the sauce is thickened, about 5 minutes.
  7. Stir in the turkey meat and peas. Taste for seasoning of salt and pepper.
  8. Preheat the oven to 400ºF.
  9. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pepper. Add the cheese and mix well.
  10. Using a pastry blender (or two knives), blend in the butter until the mixture is coarse.
  11. Add the buttermilk and stir until just mixed.
  12. Spread the biscuit topping over the turkey mixture evenly.
  13. Bake in the preheated oven until the topping is browned, 35 to 40 minutes.
  14. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Serves 8.

Zuni Café House-Cured Pork Tenderloin

Published December 30, 2007 Pork , Recipe 6 Comments
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I was trying to write a witty and informative story about this dish when I realized that we had actually eaten it over two weeks ago (that’s what we get for going away for the holidays). The main thing that I do remember is that it was good. Really really good.

I’ve begun wondering what pork really tastes like. I’ve suffered through enough bad pork chops to know that it can taste like chewing. And I think I’ve figured out how to make pork taste like something else. Many of the pork dishes I’ve cooked have been quite tasty but they don’t really make me think of pork. I have noticed that the pork flavor in home-cured meats like bacon and pancetta has a more pork flavor to it but I’ve never really achieved that in other pork dishes.

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Until I made this one. I’ve brined pork before and it made it tender and even added flavor with it, but I never was able to make the pork taste porkier. I don’t know what it is about this brine that makes the pork flavor so much more pronounced. My guess is that it’s the length of the brine combined with a weaker brine solution.

This is a fantastically easy recipe. The hardest part is remembering to brine the pork several days in advance. Cooking the pork couldn’t be easier: just sear and then roast in the oven.

It’s not a particularly sexy presentation and it doesn’t use particularly exotic ingredients. It’s just the application of simple ingredients to make a wonderful meal.

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Zuni Café House-Cured Pork Tenderloin
Adapted from The Zuni Cafe Cookbook

1 pork tenderloin, about 1 lbs.
2 bay leaves, crumbled
2 dried chiles
4 crushed juniper berries
2 1/2 cups water
3 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp kosher salt

  1. Place 1 cup of water and the bay leaves, dried chiles, and juniper berries in a sauce pan. Bring the water to a simmer over high heat. Stir and break up the ingredients with a wooden spoon. Remove from the heat and cover. Allow to infuse for 10 minutes.
  2. Add the remaining water, the sugar, and salt to the aromatic mixture. Stir until the salt and sugar are dissolved. Put the pork tenderloin in a large zip-top bag and pour the brine over it. Place in the refrigerator and allow to brine for 2 to 4 days.
  3. Remove the pork tenderloin from the refrigerator 1 hour before cooking. Remove from the brine and pat dry. Rub the pork tenderloin with olive oil.
  4. Preheat the oven to 425ºF.
  5. Place a heavy cast-iron skillet over high-heat. When hot, sear the tenderloin on all three sides. Turn the tenderloin to the fourth side and place the skillet in the oven.
  6. Cook the tenderloin in the oven until it reaches an internal temperature of 140ºF. Remove the tenderloin from the oven and then remove it from the cast-iron skillet. Wrap the tenderloin in aluminum foil and allow it to rest for 5 to 10 minutes.
  7. Slice the tenderloin into thick slices and serve.

Serves 2 to 3.

Pappa al Pomodoro (Tomato-Bread Soup)

Published December 26, 2007 Italian , Recipe , Soup 5 Comments
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We’ve been buying a lot of tomatoes at the farmer’s market recently because we’ve found a farm stand with good prices on heirloom tomatoes. And the tomatoes are really good.

So I keep looking for new things to do with them. The spaghetti al pomodoro was good. As was the tomato soup. But I’m always looking for something new to try.

Angela originally had this at the Zuni Cafe (I was too interested in my Caesar salad to try it). She had liked it so I thought I would try it again.

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We always have left over bread and we had the tomatoes so there wasn’t much else that was needed. Plus the recipe seemed easy.

And it was. It’s just barely cooked tomatoes with bread to thicken. It took me a bit longer than I expected simply because the prep work was a bit longer than I expected (particularly the blanching of the tomatoes). But it wasn’t a lot of work.

I liked the soup a lot (although I never did get around to eating the leftovers). Angela didn’t like the barely cooked flavoring of the tomatoes. The bread gives it a consistency similar to cream of wheat which I liked. It’d be good if you were having teeth problems. I plan to make it with roasted tomatoes in the future to see if Angela might like it better.

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Pappa al Pomodoro (Tomato-Bread Soup)
Adapted from The Zuni Cafe Cookbook

2 lbs. tomatoes
1/2 cup olive oil
1 cup diced yellow onions
salt
3 garlic cloves, diced
1 bunch fresh basil
sugar (optional)
1/4 lbs. day old Italian-style bread, without crusts
black pepper

  1. Blanch half the tomatoes in boiling water for 30 seconds. Rinse them under cool water and peel and core them. Cut them into 1/2″ chunks. Core the remaining tomatoes and cut them into 1/2″ chunks. Make sure to capture all juices.
  2. Sweat the onions over medium-low heat in a large sauce pan with 1/4 cup olive oil and a pinch of salt until softened, about 5 to 10 minutes. Add the garlic and sweat for 2 to 3 minutes more, or until the garlic is softened.
  3. Add the tomatoes and juices to the sauce pan.
  4. Remove the leaves from the basil stems. Add the basil stems to the sauce. Cook over medium heat until the tomatoes just start to break up.
  5. Taste for seasoning and add salt or sugar if necessary.
  6. Remove the basil steams and add the torn basil leaves. Tear the bread into pieces and add to the soup. Stir to combine.
  7. Bring to a simmer then remove from the heat. Cover and let sit for 15 minutes.
  8. Serve the soup with black pepper and a drizzle of olive oil.

Serves 2 to 4.

Normandy Apple Tart

Published December 24, 2007 Dessert , French , Fruit 2 Comments
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This was actually made over a week ago. I had queued up a couple recipes as we last Friday we headed to the airport to fly to visit Angela’s parent’s for Christmas. We made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare. Our flight took off on time and it looked like our trip would be uneventful.

And then we arrived over Milwaukee. And entered a holding pattern. We circled for about an hour until we were told we were running out of fuel and had to divert to Madison. Flaps were out, landing gear was down, and we were approaching the run way. I could just see the landing lights through the fog and then the pilot gunned the engines and pulled up. Turned out we had to abort the landing as air traffic control wasn’t sure whether or not there was another plane on the runway. We were able to turn around and land successfully.

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And then we had to wait to get our luggage. And then take a bus to Milwaukee where we found out we could get a flight out the next day. The airline was nice enough to give us a hotel to stay in (of course, they gave us the wrong name of the hotel first and once we got the correct name gave us incorrect information as to how to contact them).

The next day was as fogging as the last. And pretty quickly our flight was canceled. We rebooked for the next day and went to another hotel.

So, after two days, the fog cleared and we showed up at the airport again, a bit hopeful, a bit apprehensive. At first, our flight was going to be delayed. And then it was on time again. When we saw the plane at the gate, Angela did a happy dance. And when, sitting at the end of the runway, the pilot revved the engine and we started accelerating, I had one of the biggest smiles on my face ever (not quite as big as my wedding day).

And I’ve never been happier to be in Florida.

Of course, this has nothing to do with the apple tart. I like apple tart’s quite a bit and am always looking for new ones to try. For some reason, I tend to like them better than apple pie. It may not be very American of me but it’s true (call homeland security!).

This apple tart is mostly apple sauce in a tart shell covered with sliced apples. It’s very simple. It doesn’t even use cinnamon. It’s apples at their simplest.

When I made it, the green apples we had were extremely tart. So tart that I felt the need to sprinkle sugar on top of the tart even though the original recipe didn’t call for it. And it was still tart. So be aware.

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Normandy Apple Tart
Adapted from Baking: From My Home to Yours

1 9-inch partially-baked sweet tart shell

For the applesauce:
2 lbs. red apples
1/4 cup water
1 tbsp light brown sugar
1-4 tbsp sugar (optional)

For the topping:
2 medium green apples
egg wash of 1 egg beaten with 1/2 tsp water
2 tbsp sugar

  1. Cut the apples into chunks and place in a large saucepan. Mix in the water and brown sugar. Cover and heat over medium-low heat. Cook at just below a simmer until the apples are soft, about 15 to 20 minutes.
  2. Remove the pan from the heat and run the apples through a food mill fitted with a disc with the largest holes. Taste the sauce and add sugar if necessary. Allow to cool to room temperature. The sauce may be refrigerated for several days.
  3. Preheat the oven to 400ºF.
  4. Fill the tart shell almost to the rim with the apple sauce.
  5. Peel and core the green apples. Slice them thinly. Arrange the apple slices in a spiral pattern on top of the apple sauce. Rub the cut apples with the egg wash and sprinkle with the sugar.
  6. Bake the tart for 45 to 50 minutes.
  7. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Serves 8.


Partially-Baked Sweet Tart Shell
Adapted from Baking: From My Home to Yours

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/4 tsp salt
9 tbsp cold butter, cut into 1 tbsp chunks
1 egg yolk

  1. Place the flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix briefly, until the ingredients are well combined.
  2. With the mixer at low speed, add the butter 1 tbsp at a time. When the butter is fully added, increase the speed to medium, until the butter and flour mixture forms pea sized granules.
  3. Reduce the speed to low and add the egg yolk. Increase the speed to medium and mix until the dough is slightly sticky.
  4. Remove the dough from the mixer bowl and press it into a fluted 9-inch tart pan.
  5. Put the tart pan in the freezer and freeze for at least 30 minutes.
  6. Preheat the oven to 375ºF.
  7. Press a greased sheet of aluminum foil onto the tart dough. Bake for 25 minutes.
  8. Remove from the oven and remove the aluminum foil. Press down any places the dough has puffed. Allow to cool before using.

Homemade Fresh Bacon

Published December 20, 2007 Charcuterie , Pork , Recipe 7 Comments
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I think I’ve made my love of bacon well known. And after making pancetta, what else could I do but make homemade bacon? I don’t need to bring home the bacon ’cause I made it myself. And, yes, my jokes are that corny in real life.

I actually bought the pork belly on a whim the last time we were at an Asian grocery store. I didn’t initially have any plans for it but Angela pushed for me to make bacon. How can you resist a woman who requests bacon? And, yes, that does make my wife the best ever.

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This bacon is a bit different than what you usually procure in a grocery store. The main difference being that it isn’t smoked. I would smoke the bacon but a second floor apartment doesn’t make that easy.

This is actually a lot easier to make than the pancetta. It doesn’t have the flavoring ingredients that the pancetta does. It also isn’t dried like the pancetta but is instead roasted.

The flavor of the bacon is quite good. The bacon and pork flavors are much more pronounced. It’s almost too much (but isn’t). You’d need to be careful using it in a dish where bacon is only one of many ingredients or the bacon may overwhelm all the others (but maybe that isn’t a bad thing).

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Homemade Fresh Bacon
Adapted from Charcuterie

3 to 5 lbs. pork belly, skin on
45 grams kosher salt
43 grams dextrose
7 grams pink salt

  1. Trim the pork belly to a rectangular shape. Mix the kosher salt, dextrose, and pink salt together on a wide low sided tray. Dredge the pork belly through the salt mixture until it is covered on all sides.
  2. Place the pork belly in a large zip top bag and place in the refrigerator. Let it refrigerate for 7 days, turning it over every other day.
  3. After 7 days, the pork belly should be firm. Remove the pork belly from the zip top bag and rinse it under running water. Dry it with paper towels.
  4. Cook the pork belly in a preheated 200ºF oven on rack over a backing tray until it’s internal temperature reaches 150ºF, about two hours.
  5. Remove the pork belly from the oven. Using a sharp knife, cut off the skin from the pork belly. Allow the pork belly to cool completely.
  6. Cut the pork belly into slices of bacon. It can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks or freezer for up to 3 months. To eat, cook like normal bacon (fry or bake).

Makes 2 to 4 lbs. of fresh bacon.

Green Tree Cookies

Published December 18, 2007 Cookies , Dessert 7 Comments
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My mom always made a lot of cookies (and fudge) around Christmas time. While I liked the Russian tea cakes and chocolate chip cookies, the green tree cookies were always my favorite.

I’m not entirely sure why I liked them so much. They aren’t overly sweet. They don’t have a particularly strong flavor. It may just be that I could eat a lot of them without getting overwhelmed by them.

Whenever I have these cookies, I always think back to high school when I had lunch with a friend of mine. At the time, I wanted her to be a bit more than a friend and so, I, of course, shared some of the cookies with her. The cookies didn’t help with that situation but it wasn’t the cookies fault.

They’re still my favorite Christmas cookie. And as it was getting closer and closer to Christmas, I realized that I had to make them fast or I’d miss out this year. So I decided to whip up a batch.

It’s a pretty easy recipe. It just required me to dig out our cookie press (last used for these cookies last Christmas). And, as usual, I had trouble getting the cookies to stick to the baking sheet after pressing them. They’d much prefer to stick to the cookie press, much to my chagrin. It didn’t help that I made the mistake of greasing the cookie sheet at first (I corrected that pretty quickly).

I’m not sure the provenance of this recipe. I got my copy from my mom who has claimed that it’s a variation on a different recipe (apparently the almond extract and shape are her derivation). I did have a friend who claimed that her mom made the exact same cookie so I’m not entirely sure. I don’t know where the original recipe is from. It may have been the Betty Crocker Cooky Book.

Still, they’re quite good.

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Green Tree Cookies

1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 1/4 tsp almond extract
10 drops green food coloring
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/4 cup all purpose flour
extra sugar for dusting

  1. Preheat the oven to 400ºF.
  2. In an electric mixture, cream together the butter and sugar at a medium-low speed.
  3. Add the egg and mix until combined. Add the almond extract and food coloring.
  4. Add the flour and salt and mix until well combined.
  5. Place the cookie dough in a cookie press fitted with a Christmas tree die. Press cookies onto an ungreased baking sheet about 1/2″ a part.
  6. Bake until the cookies are set but not browned, about 6 to 9 minutes.
  7. Sprinkle sugar over the cookies immediately after removal from the oven.

Makes about 6 dozen cookies (depending on your cookie press).

Molasses Spice Cookies

Published December 14, 2007 Cookies , Dessert , Recipe 3 Comments
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Maybe I should start with a confession: I didn’t make these. Angela did. But I helped!

I like cookies a lot. They’re probably my favorite dessert to make. I think it’s the portability of the cookie that really appeals to me. There’s no need to get out a plate or fork. You can just pick it up and eat it wherever.

And I end up eating a lot of cookies. I’ve become known for it at work. I like them to take with my lunch and I’ve been known to (frequently) eat them for breakfast. It can’t be much worse than a donut can it?

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We didn’t follow this recipe in all regards. It called for adding black pepper and that didn’t appeal to us (well, Angela really since she made the cookies). Supposedly it adds a spicy surprise but I wasn’t sure that pepper was a flavor I’d like in my cookies. So we omitted it and the cookies are still quite good.

Strangely, I think the cookies are better the next day than they are freshly baked (heresy I know). They firm up a bit which improves their texture. If I were to make them again, I think I would add some grated nutmeg. There’s definitely a missing flavor (which could simply be the lack of black pepper) that I think nutmeg would correct. Either way, these are still some pretty good cookies and seem appropriately Christmasy for me.

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Molasses Spice Cookies
Adapted from Baking: From My Home to Yours

2 1/3 cup all purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground allspice
12 tbsp butter, softened
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1 egg
about 1/2 cup sugar

  1. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and spices.
  2. In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until it becomes smooth and creamy.
  3. Add the brown sugar and molasses and beat to blend, about 2 minutes.
  4. Add the egg and beat for 1 minute more.
  5. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients. Mix only until it is homogeneous. Turn off the mixer and verify that all the flour is mixed in by folding the mixture together several times with a spatula.
  6. Remove the cookie dough from the mixer bowl and divide it in half. Wrap each half in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour or more.
  7. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
  8. Remove the dough from the refrigerator. Divide one half into 12 different balls about 2 tbsp in size. Place each ball on a cookie sheet. Dip the bottom of a cup into sugar and press one of the balls flat, until it is 1/4″ thick. Repeat with the remaining balls and then the remaining half of the dough.
  9. Bake each cookie sheet for 12 to 14 minutes. Allow the cookies to cool and then remove them from the cookie sheet. Repeat with any remaining cookie sheets
  10. Store in a air tight container.

Makes about 24 cookies.

Sate Ayam (Chicken Satay)

Published December 12, 2007 Asian , Chicken , Recipe 8 Comments
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I didn’t intend to buy Cradle of Flavor but our public library was having a small book sale and there it was. I had seen it referenced but didn’t really know anything about it. But, for a dollar, how could I go wrong?

Saying I didn’t know anything about it is a bit of understatement. I didn’t (and really don’t) know anything about the food of Malaysia, Singapore, or Indonesia. I knew that it would share some similarities with other Asian cuisines but that was about it. I’d never even eaten it in a restaurant. But, hey, it was a dollar.

Whenever I look at Asian cuisine, I immediately get intimidated because I’m not familiar with so many of the ingredients. I know what ginger is but what exactly is lemongrass? (It’s a grass with a vague lemon flavor) Not to mention galangal? (It’s similar to ginger). I should mention that I hadn’t thought of looking at Wikipedia until now to get an idea of what they look like.

I decided to start with a dish that I had at least heard a passing reference to: chicken satay. Again, this is a dish I’ve never eaten (nor are any of the dishes in this cookbook). It seemed pretty straightforward: make a marinade, put the chicken in the marinade, skewer the chicken, and broil the chicken. The only part that was complicated was tracking down the appropriate ingredients.

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Lucky for us, there are any of a number of Asian grocery stores (either Chinese, Vietnamese, or Cambodian) around us. I was able to find both lemongrass and galangal there in the produce department. I used the galangal because I could find it. I did have to travel to Wild Oats Whole Foods for the coriander seeds as I had forgotten to get them elsewhere and they have bulk spices (and it only cost me $0.08).

The rest of the recipe is beyond easy. Outside of finding the ingredients, the only slightly difficult part is deboning the chicken and, if you were smart (e.g. not me), you’d buy boneless chicken thighs and be done with it.

The flavor is quite a bit different than what I’m used to. In many ways, it’s the complete opposite of food being made up of simple quality ingredients. The flavor is very complex from a rather long list of seasonings. But, in many ways, it was the fact that it was so different from what I normally eat that it was good. I liked it but Angela did not. Take that as you will.

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Sate Ayam (Chicken Satay)
Adapted from Cradle of Flavor

For the Marinade:
1 1/2 tsp coriander seeds
1 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
1 stalk fresh lemongrass
2 shallots
2 cloves of garlic
1 piece of fresh galangal, 1/2 inch long, peeled and thinly sliced (optional)
1 piece of fresh ginger, 1 inch long, peeled and thinly sliced
1 1/2 tsp ground tumeric
2 tbsp palm sugar or dark brown sugar
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp kosher salt

For the Satay:
1 1/2 lbs. bone-in chicken thighs
1 stalk fresh lemongrass
2 tbsp vegetable oil

  1. Put the coriander seeds and fennel seeds in a small food processor. Pulse until the seeds are ground into a powder, about 2 minutes.
  2. Cut the bottom and top off the lemongrass, leaving a piece about 5 inches long. Remove the tough outer layers of lemongrass. The lemongrass should be pale white-and-lilac in color. Cut the lemongrass thinly.
  3. Add the remaining marinade ingredients to the food processor. Pulse until the marinade forms a paste. Put the marinade in a bowl large enough to fit the chicken.
  4. Remove the skin from the chicken and debone. Cut the chicken into thin, bite-sized pieces. Add the chicken to the marinade and mix until the marinade coats the chicken. Allow to marinate at room temperature for 1 to 2 hours.
  5. Preheat the broiler for at least 10 minutes. Cut the top and bottom off the remaining lemongrass stalk. Bruise the thick end of the stalk with the back of a knife until the end becomes brush-like. Place the brush end of the lemongrass in a small bowl containing the oil.
  6. Place the chicken on the middle of the skewers, about 2 to 4 pieces per skewer. Place the skewers on a foil lined baking tray.
  7. Using the lemongrass brush, baste the chicken skewers with oil. Broil the chicken skewers for 5 to 7 minutes 3 inches from the broiling element. Turn over the skewers, baste with oil, and broil for another 5 to 7 minutes.
  8. Allow to cool for 1 minute and then serve immediately.

Serves 2.

Zuni Café Roast Chicken

Published December 11, 2007 Chicken , Recipe 5 Comments
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At the farmer’s market on Sunday, I noticed a new farm stand. It’s a little bit odd as this is the time of year that the farmer’s market shrinks a bit because a number of crops just aren’t growing anymore. What really intrigued me was that the farm, Ana’s Farm, was selling whole chickens.

For some farmer’s markets, this may be routine but our farmer’s market tends to be a bit smaller and concentrate on produce and, until recently, rather conventional produce. So, for me, this is cause for a bit of excitement. We like chicken and, so far, I’ve been pretty satisfied by the All-Natural Free-Range chickens that we’ve bought at Trader Joe’s. But I didn’t want to give up a chance to try a local chicken (despite the fact that it was pretty expensive).

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I didn’t ask what breed of chicken it was but I believe the vendor said that it wasn’t a Cornish chicken. It was pretty scrawny, about two and a half pounds, because, apparently, chickens stop eating for about a month when the weather changes.

I hadn’t come to farmer’s market with the intention of buying a chicken so I had to come up with something to cook with the chicken. And what better way to determine the quality of a chicken than by roasting it?

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But really, if you ask ten cooks how to roast a chicken, you’ll get at least eleven answers. Ever since we had eaten at the Zuni Café, I had wanted to try their recipe for roast chicken again (I had tried it previously off an internet recipe and wasn’t impressed but that was probably my fault). In the end, this ended up as a bit of a recreation of our meal at Zuni: I made french fries to go along with it.

Cooking the chicken was actually pretty easy. We did set off the smoke detector because the chicken let off too much smoke. And I did have to cook the fries a bit earlier as my oil started smoking and I didn’t have a better way to cool it off. The only frantic period was immediately at the end when I needed three or four different things to be done all at the same time (which is pretty usual with cooking dinner, for me at least).

And the results? That may have been the best roast chicken I’ve ever had. I’m not sure how much of it was technique and how much was the chicken itself, but I know two things: how I’m going to roast chickens from now on and where I’m going to buy them. I usually like dark meat but, on this chicken, the white meat was a combination of being moist and flavorful. The dark meat was a little more disappointing: it was a bit tough, particularly in the drumstick, but still tasty. I’m getting hungry just looking at the pictures again.

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Zuni Café Roast Chicken
Adapted from The Zuni Cafe Cookbook

a 2 1/2 to 3 1/4 lbs. chicken
salt and pepper
4 sprigs of thyme
1/4 cup of water

  1. At least 24 hours in advance, prepare the chicken. Cut out any fat surrounding the entrance to the cavity. Dry the chicken skin with paper towels. Starting from the cavity entrance, create a pocket between the skin and the breast meat and place a sprig of thyme on each side. Do the same for the thighs. Generously sprinkle salt all over the chicken, with more salt on thicker areas. Grind pepper on to the chicken. Cover and refrigerate.
  2. Remove the chicken from the refrigerator an hour before cooking and dry its skin with paper towels again. Preheat the oven to 475°F. Place the roasting tray in the oven to preheat for 15 minutes before cooking. Remove the roasting tray from the oven and place the chicken in it, breast side up.
  3. Place the chicken in the oven and cook for 30 minutes. If the chicken does not being to sizzle and brown, increase the temperature. If the skin starts smoking, reduce the temperature.
  4. Turn the chicken to be breast side down and cook for 10 to 20 minutes depending on chicken size (ours only needed 10 minutes).
  5. Turn the chicken to be breast side up and cook for 5 more minutes.
  6. Remove the chicken from the oven and then from the roasting pan. Place the chicken on a warmed plate and let rest for 5 minutes.
  7. Add the water to the roasting pan to deglaze it. Bring the sauce to a boil and cook for about 2 minutes.
  8. Cut the chicken into pieces and drizzle with juices in the roasting pan. Serve.

Serves 2.

Dungeness Crab Bisque

Published December 10, 2007 Recipe , Seafood , Soup Leave a Comment
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For my birthday, we got two live Dungeness crabs. Trying not to be wasteful, I put the crab shells in the freezer with the plan on doing something with them. It took me about two months, but I finally found the time and inclination to actually use them. So, I decided on crab bisque.

I did, however, have a little bit of a problem finding a recipe for it. Most recipes seem to think you’ve got some live or at least uncooked crabs that you’re planning to make into soup. To me, this is more than a bit wasteful. Why use rather expensive uncooked crabs when you can instead use left-overs (plus that’s what I had). A lot of the recipes (including Julia Child’s) were really for lobster bisque with brief instructions on how to modify it for crab or shrimp. Which really isn’t that big of a deal but it’s easier for me if I’m making the intended recipe (particularly for something I’ve never made before).

In defense of the internet, a quick Google search did lead me to an appropriate recipe. And the recipe worked out pretty well. I did need to cook the stock for a bit longer than the recipe specified; it was pretty weak when I tasted it after the proscribed cooking time. I may have also added too much cayenne pepper (or at least that’s what she-who-must-be-obeyed said).

Now, I had never had crab bisque before so it’s hard to compare it’s quality. It tasted pretty good to me but it would probably work better as a first course than as a whole meal (of course we opted for it as a meal as I’m too lazy to make more than one labor intensive thing at a time). The consistency was also a little different as I opted not to strain it so there were chunks of rice and shallots and whatnot in it. It still was pretty tasty.

And, in my defense, the soup looked like that in real life. How do you go about making pictures of crab bisque look appetizing?

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Dungeness Crab Bisque
Adapted from Simply Recipes (in turn adapted from Williams-Sonoma Mastering Soups and Stews)

2 tbsp butter
1/3 cup diced shallots
1/2 cup dry vermouth
4 cups crab stock
1/4 cup white rice
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 cup cooked crab meat, cleaned
1 1/4 cup heavy cream
salt
cayenne pepper

  1. In a large soup pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the shallots and cook until they are softened, about 5 minutes.
  2. Add the vermouth, crab stock, white rice, and tomato paste and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 25 minutes or until the rice is fully cooked. Remove from the heat.
  3. Add the crab meat to the soup. Working in batches, purée the soup to the desired consistency. Return the soup to the pot.
  4. Add the heavy cream and bring to a simmer. Cook until the soup has thickened slightly. Season with salt and cayenne pepper to taste.
  5. Serve in a bowls.

Serves 2 to 4.

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Crab Stock
Adapted from Simply Recipes (in turn adapted from Williams-Sonoma Mastering Soups and Stews).

4-6 cups crab shells, broken into small pieces
1/2 cup dry vermouth
1 large onion, peeled and sliced
1 carrot, cut into large chunks
1 celery stalk, cut into large chunks
a bouquet garni made up of several parsley sprigs, 2 thyme sprigs, 12-15 peppercorns and 1 bay leaf
salt

  1. In a stock pot, place the crab shells and add water until it comes 1 inch above the top of the shells.
  2. Place the stock pot over medium-high heat and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat and maintain a slow simmer for 1 hour. Skim the surface of the stock to remove scum.
  3. After the stock stops to produce scum, add the vermouth, onion, carrot, celery, and boquet garni. Continue to simmer for 1 hour more.
  4. Drain the stock through a cheese-cloth lined strainer. Taste the stock for strength. If it’s not strong enough, boil the stock until it reaches the desired strength.
  5. Season the stock with salt to taste.

Makes 2-3 quarts of stock.

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