Monthly Archives: July 2011

Spice Crusted Salmon with Watermelon Salsa

  July 27, 2011 - 12:30 pm | , , , ,
12 Comments

The folks at America’s Test Kitchen are having a blog challenge this summer. For each segment they provide a topic and then let the bloggers run with it. The current topic is salmon. I had a salmon recipe I wanted to share with you, and when I saw this challenge, I thought it was a perfect fit. I am a huge fan of America’s Test Kitchen. I have many of their books, and I frequently consult them for tips, techniques and best practices. If you are not familiar with them, I highly suggest you head over to their website (content is subscription based), buy a copy of one of their books, pick up a copy of Cooks Illustrated or Cooks Country, or turn on your PBS station and watch an episode of one of their great shows.

Even though I moved around a bit in my life, I always lived near the ocean. From Baltimore to the Gulf Coast to New England, great seafood has always been readily available. My parents joke that my first solid food was Baltimore Steamed Crab, and I have traveled halfway across this wide country to get my hands on a mile-high pile of fresh steamed Gulf shrimp. Okay, it wasn’t the purpose of my cross-country trip but it was one of the highlights! Now I live in New England where I’m surrounded by some of the freshest, tastiest seafood in the world.

Strangely, until I was an adult I only ate shellfish. Oh the regret I feel over all that other fantastic fish that drifted under my nose and on to someone else’s plate. Then I moved to the Boston area as an adult, where I was confronted with a tough problem. Fresh out of college and dirt-poor, I couldn’t afford the local shellfish. I was forced to teach myself to like finned fish. I started with the easy things. Cod covered in butter soaked cracker-crumbs and fried haddock were my gateway fish. Soon I could eat pretty much any white fish, but I was not having any luck with salmon. My attempts all failed because I didn’t know good salmon from bad and didn’t know how to cook it properly. I now realized that I was cooking and eating farm raised salmon, and probably not terribly fresh salmon either.

Then one summer, I was introduced to wild Alaskan salmon by a friend from the west coast. She spoke about salmon with cool sounding words like chinook, sockeye and coho. And, she explained, there was a definite season for it. This was the proverbial epiphany. Salmon had seasons, and not all salmon was created equal. Now I’m a believer. I drink the salmon Kool-aid, and preach the salmon gospel. Buy fresh Alaskan salmon while in season, and enjoy it while it lasts. It’s seasonal, it’s sustainable (yes, really, see Sustaining Alaska’s Fisheries to get the full story) and it’s pretty friggin’ spectacular. When its gone, you can still eat farm raised in the same way that you can eat tomatoes and strawberries in January. They’re available, you can buy them, but it’s just not the same.

Right now we’re smack-dab in the middle of salmon season, so if you’ve never had the pleasure of good wild salmon then there’s no time like the present. My spice crusted salmon recipe is a really good place to start. The spice rub I use for my salmon is very me. The mixture of brown mustard seeds, coriander, black pepper, cayenne and a hint of brown sugar all play to the flavor of the salmon. I like to start with whole seeds for the rub and grind them down to a coarse rub which adds crunch and overall texture to the fish. A heavy crust of the spice mix is the secret to the success of the dish. Don’t be bashful with the rub: get the salmon to hold as much of it as will stick.

The grilling is simple. Place the flesh side down on a blazing hot grill to sear it which turns the spice rub into a delicious crust. Finishing with the salmon skin to the grill completes the cooking and makes removing the skin in one piece a flash. Then all that’s left is to top the salmon with a mouthwatering watermelon salsa. The salsa not only compliments the spicy flavors of the spice crust and the sweetness of the salmon, but it also makes a real color statement. Enjoy!

Spice Crusted Salmon with Watermelon Salsa - Click here for printer friendly version
Serves 4

Rub:

1 tablespoon whole brown mustard seeds
1 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds
1/2 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon salt

1 pound fresh wild Alaskan salmon (Coho, Sockeye or Chinook – also called King)
1 teaspoon olive oil

Salsa:
1/4 cup sweet onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons cilantro, finely chopped
1 small yellow pepper, chopped (about 1 cup)
1/2 jalapeno, seeds removed and finely diced (optional)

2 cups watermelon, chopped medium
1/2 lime, juiced
1/2 teaspoon salt

Heat your grill on high (for a gas grill) or prepare your charcoal. You need a very hot grill to achieve the nicest crust on the fish.

While the grill heats prepare the rub, fish, and salsa. In a spice grinder or mortar combine all ingredients for the rub: mustard seeds, sugar, coriander, black pepper, salt, and cayenne.

Grind to a medium-fine consistency leaving some partially ground pieces of mustard seed.

Clean the salmon to remove any remaining scales or pin bones. Cut the fish into four equal-sized pieces and coat with the spice rub, patting it into the fish on all sides except the skin side. Drizzle the top of the fish with the olive oil and set aside.

In a separate bowl combine the onion, cilantro, yellow pepper, watermelon, jalapeno (if using), lime juice and salt. Toss to mix and set aside. When the grill is very hot (500 degrees) clean and oil the grates and place the fish cut-side down on the grill. Cook for three minutes. Using a metal spatula turn the fish skin-side down to the grill. Cook for one minute and turn the grill off. Depending on the thickness of your fish leave the fish on the grill until it is almost done. You can take Sockeye off the grill at this point, while Coho and Chinook will take another three to four minutes. When removing the fish, slide the spatula between the skin and the bottom of the fish. The fish will slide easily away from the skin leaving the skin on the grill.

Let the salmon set for another few minutes to rest, then serve with the salsa mounded on top of the fish.

Pasta with Ricotta, Spinach and Herbs

  July 25, 2011 - 5:44 pm | , , , , , , , , ,
Leave a comment

There are days I’m able to trick myself into believing I am good gardener. Truth is I have a black thumb. We’ve had a pretty nice summer so far; until this past week it wasn’t too hot; and it hasn’t been too wet, too cold or too dry. Yet my garden looks like most others did at the beginning of June. My nasturtiums are still the size of smurfs (three apples tall). My tomatoes still look like they could be in pots at the garden store, and either a groundhog or a some sort of bug is eating my basil. So this post was supposed to be about the wonderful pasta I made with herbs from my garden. Instead it’s about the wonderful pasta I made with fresh herbs from my grocery store.

I wish I could take full credit for this recipe but it’s from Cooking Light. I haven’t changed much–its just too good a recipe to fool around with. The first time I made this pasta I didn’t change a thing, and it was wonderful, but my hubby and I topped it with a hefty amount of extra cheese and then scarfed down what was supposed to be a portion for four people (oops!). So, I’ve increased the portion size from the diet-size portions that Cooking Light is very bad at convincing me that I’m supposed to be happy with to normal human-sized portions. I’ve also increased the amount of Romano cheese in it. Pretty understandable changes I think.

One other thing bothered my hubby and I the first time we made it. The spinach did not fully wilt. It was as if someone had poured this absolutely delicious pasta over a spinach salad. If that’s something that sounds pretty fantastic to you, then don’t follow the step that tells you to microwave the spinach.

I’ve made this recipe so many times since I found it in Cooking Light a few months ago. It’s one of those pasta recipes that makes you forget you ever wanted meat in a dish. My hubby really likes it too, although he’d like it more without the spinach. Too bad buster, eat your spinach! It’s also a great way of using up extra herbs. Although I think it’s best with the parsley/chive/dill combo, I’ve also tried it with basil instead of dill and with a bit of fresh thyme thrown in. All of it’s pretty yummy. Enjoy!

Fettuccine with Ricotta, Spinach and Herbs – Click here for a printer friendly version
Serves 4
This recipe is based on a recipe from Cooking Light.

1 6-7 ounce bag baby spinach
1/2 cup parsley, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup chives, finely chopped
1/4 cup dill, finely chopped or 1/2 cup basil, roughly torn
1 ounce Pecorino Romano Cheese, grated
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 lb fettuccine
1 clove garlic
2/3 cup whole-milk ricotta

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to boil. Rinse spinach well even if it’s prewashed and run through salad spinner or dry with towels. If you like your spinach thoroughly wilted, place spinach in a large microwave-safe serving bowl and microwave on high for 30 seconds.

Chop herbs and add to spinach along with olive oil, cheese, salt and pepper. Toss to combine and set aside.

When water comes to a boil, add fettuccine and clove of garlic. Boil according to the directions on the pasta. Drain the pasta reserving two cups of the cooking liquid, then pour the pasta over the spinach mixture.

In a blender or small food processor add the ricotta, cooked clove of garlic and 1 cup of the pasta cooking liquid. With the lid of the blender or food processor vented and covered with a dish towel, pulse until smooth and combined.

Pour the ricotta sauce over the pasta. Toss everything together and let sit for a minute or two so the sauce can thicken. Add additional cooking liquid as needed to reach desired consistency. Serve with additional grated cheese for topping.

Blueberry Crisp with Ground Toasted Almonds

  July 23, 2011 - 2:23 am | , , , , , ,
2 Comments

The farmer’s markets are all overflowing with everything summer has to offer. My twenty minutes at the Dedham Farmers Market today sent me home laden with four almond croissants, eight ears of corn, a cucumber, a pound of tomatoes, a pound of purple beans (apparently they turn green when cooked like some sort of cool Crayola product!), and a pint of the sweetest blueberries ever – no joke!

I spent my ride home peacefully thinking of the blueberry crisp I was going to make. I say peacefully, because Little Guy was happily munching away happily on half an almond croissant in the back seat (not exactly the nutritious and delicious lunch I had planned). The crisp I imagined brimmed with blueberry flavor hidden under crunchy almonds, oatmeal and brown sugar.

After sitting in traffic and then eventually waiting out a toddler’s sugar high I finally got Little Guy down for a nap. It was time to get to the crisp. Making it was really no big deal. I tossed the berries with a little flour, sugar and lemon juice and then for the topping I started with the basic oatmeal and brown sugar topping but I added a hefty amount of toasted ground almonds. The result was something easy and healthy enough for a weeknight, but special enough for the sweetest blueberries ever. Toasting the almonds brought a savory note to the crisp that made it something new and different. It’s excellent by itself, but I suggest a big scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. Enjoy.

Blueberry Crisp with Ground Toasted Almonds – Click here for a printer-friendly version
Serves 4-6
This can be halved for use with a single pint of blueberries, but be sure to use a smaller baking dish so it doesn’t dry out. Use more or less sugar depending on the sweetness of your blueberries. This recipe is loosely based on a Martha Stewart recipe that can be found here.

Filling:
4 cups fresh blueberries
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoon flour
4 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 teaspoon salt

Crisp Topping:
1/2 cup blanched slivered almonds
1/3 packed cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup rolled oats
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces

Preheat oven to 375. Spray a small baking dish with cooking spray and add blueberries (I used an 8×8 for a full recipe and a small oval baker for a 1/2 recipe). Sprinkle with the 2 tablespoons flour, 1/3 cup granulated sugar, 1/4 teaspoon salt, lemon juice and almond extract over the blueberries and toss to mix.

Toast the almonds lightly and then let cool slightly. I always use the toaster oven on the toast setting when toasting small amounts of nuts. However, I have to watch them very very closely or they will easily get too dark. If your toaster oven is like mine, it cooks very unevenly, so I stir them several times in one toast cycle. If you don’t have a toaster oven you can use a 350 ºF oven for 10 minutes. Once toasted, remove and let cool for five minutes.

While the almonds are cooling combine 1/4 cup flour, oats, brown sugar, 1/4 teaspoon salt and baking powder. Using a fork or pastry cutter, mix in the butter until the mixture resembles wet sand (well, wet sand with pieces of oatmeal in it).

Once the almonds have cooled, use a small food processor to grind the almonds to a coarse flour with pieces about the size of couscous.

Add the almonds to the crisp topping, combine and spread evenly over the blueberry mixture.

Place the crisp in the oven and bake until the top is brown and the crisp is bubbling, about 25 minutes. Cool slightly but serve warm with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Falafel Sandwiches

  July 17, 2011 - 9:00 am | , , , , ,
3 Comments

Before I tell you about the fun I’ve had with falafel lately, I wanted to bring your attention to an article that really brings home the importance of Meatless Monday.  A new study suggests that cutting meat out of your diet for even less than one day a week has a greater impact on reducing greenhouses gasses than eating local 100 percent of the time. I highly suggest you read the full article here, and of course eat meatless on Mondays (or any day that works for you!)

So, now, on to falafel. I love the stuff. What’s not to love about chickpeas, garlic, herbs and lots of oil. Throw it in a soft warm pita with tahini, tomatoes, lettuce and a hearty amount of hot sauce and you get a meatless meal that will make you forget the cows! What can I say, the Mediterraneans really know how to do meatless right.

Even a fantastic falafel needs a few accoutrements. People will get very animated when you ask them what belongs on a falafel sandwich telling you how it’s not authentic unless it includes toppings like pickles, tabouli, harrissa, hummus, cabbage, olives, cucumbers, onions, peppers, tomatoes, lettuce and tahini. I think less is more. I think the more you add, the less you taste the falafel, so I want only a few toppings. I believe any successful sandwich contains four elements; a bread, a protein, a sauce, and a crunch (we could argue this but I’ll win – even pb&j is better with crunchy peanut butter – oh yes it is!). My falafel sandwich uses fresh pita from my local Mediterranean store, a yummy tahini sauce with a hint of garlic in it, lots of warm falafel and a handful of fresh lettuce and sliced tomatoes. If you want to add a little heat, I think a splash of hot sauce is great (even if Crystal Hot Sauce isn’t local to Tel Aviv!). Enjoy!

Falafel – Click here for a printer friendly version

Joan Nathan is a genius when it comes to kosher cooking and the regional cooking of Israel. I knew I wanted an Israeli style fritter, so I chose her recipe and then made a few changes. You can see her original recipe here: Joan Nathan’s Falafel.

Makes about 20 falafel (enough for 4-5 sandwiches)

1 cup dried chickpeas
1 small onion, roughly chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup parsley, finely chopped
1/4 cup cilantro, finely chopped
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon cayenne

1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Oil for frying

You can soak the chickpeas overnight or for twelve hours in cold water like everyone tells you to do, but I never remember to do this the night before and end up following these quicker, easier instructions. Rinse chickpeas in cold water and carefully pick through for stones or debris. Cover chickpeas with cold water in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer for 10 minutes covered. After ten minutes, turn off the heat and let chickpeas sit in the hot water for one hour. Drain and use in any recipe that calls for canned or reconstituted chickpeas.

In the bowl of a large food processor, combine onion, chickpeas, garlic, parsley, cilantro, cumin, salt, pepper, and cayenne using the pulse setting.

Process about 15 pulses, or until uniformly combined, and the texture is small pieces (kind of like the texture of the minced garlic they sell in jars). Be careful not to over process, you don’t want a chickpea paste!

Refrigerate until cold (three hours or more). Add 1/4 cup of flour and 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder and stir until just combined. Scoop out about two tablespoons at a time of falafel and roll into balls.

Heat 1 1/2 inches of oil in a dutch oven or deep pot and heat until a small drop of falafel bubbles immediately. Add enough of the falafel balls to fill the pot with about two inches of space between them.

Fry until the bottom side is dark golden brown and turn over. Once both sides are dark brown, remove to a wire rack over a sheet pan. I keep the rack and pan in the oven set to warm to keep everything hot until I’m ready to put together my sandwiches.

Tahini Sauce

Tahini, or sesame seed paste is the perfect complement to falafel, but plain tahini can be a little cloying. This sauce brightens the flavor with the addition of lemon juice and garlic. This sauce only takes a minute to make, but needs to be used right after making or it will separate. The recipe for the tahini sauce is based on this recipe.

1/2 cup tahini (sesame seed paste)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1 lemon, juiced

1/4 cup water

In a blender or small food processor combine the tahini, the garlic, the salt and the lemon juice. With the machine running, slowly add the water and continue to mix for another five seconds. Use immediately.

Building the Sandwich

Of course you can pile on any toppings you want, but I stick with a select few. To build my falafel sandwich I start with a large pita and slather on a few tablespoons of tahini sauce. I then add a handful of mixed greens and several slices of tomato.

On top of all of that I place four or five falafel and several glugs of hot sauce. Then all that’s left is wrapping it up and chowing down!

The blueberries are coming, the blueberries are coming…

Oh, and before you go, I need your help. The first of the blueberries have hit the farmer’s market and I’m just a little more than excited about it. Can you help me figure out what to make with the season’s first berries, I’m just overwhelmed by the choices (but at 5.00 a pint they are not exactly a budget meal)? I’ll post whatever ends up winning.

Molasses Barbecued Chicken

  July 15, 2011 - 1:12 am | , , , , ,
Leave a comment

As mentioned last week, I barbecued chicken on the Fourth of July this year. I’ve been dreaming of a barbecued pork tenderloin that I made when I was a lot younger, but I wanted to make it with chicken. So, I took the barbecue sauce from that recipe and used it for the best barbecued chicken I’ve ever made.

But I’m getting ahead of myself, because everything actually starts with the rub. When coming up with a chicken rub I wanted to add to the flavor of the chicken, not overpower it, so I used paprika instead of chili powder. I love mustard powder with chicken, so I loaded up on the mustard powder and used black pepper instead of hot red pepper for just a little heat. Of course, if you really like heat, you could also throw in a little dried chipotle or cayenne; but we’re in New England up here, and I don’t want to make smoke come out of anyone’s ears.

This chicken would be delectable  if you used only the rub and threw it on the grill.  But my oh my, the molasses in the barbecue sauce gives the chicken the suck-on-your-fingers quality that will get everyone talking and will make you look like a grilling god! You can make this sauce ahead of time and keep it in the fridge until you’re ready to start grilling. To avoid burning the sugary sauce, I don’t add it until right before I take the chicken off the grill. I use a gas grill, so I’ve also added a small smoker box with mesquite chips to give the chicken the Texas flavor I can’t live without. Feel free to leave out the wood chips – smoke isn’t everyone’s cup of tea.

Chicken Rub – Click here for a printer-friendly version

This recipe makes enough rub for 6-7 pounds of bone-in chicken pieces. I used a five pound chicken cut into pieces plus 1 1/2 pounds of chicken wings (know your crowd). If you are only feeding a few people, you can make this up and store what you don’t use.

2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon fresh ground pepper
1 tablespoon yellow mustard powder
1 tablespoon sweet paprika
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon ground chipotle pepper or cayenne(optional)

For the rub, mix all ingredients and generously rub on meat or store in an air-tight container until ready to use. This should keep for several weeks if tightly stored.

Barbecue Sauce – Click here for a printer-friendly version

This sauce is a double recipe adapted from an Eating Well recipe for Southern Style Pork Tenderloin. One of the changes I’ve made is the addition of brown mustard seeds to give the sauce a full, rich mustard flavor without too much vinegar.

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, finely diced
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded with membranes removed and finely diced
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup molasses (not blackstrap)
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup whole grain mustard
1 tablespoon brown mustard seeds
1 tablespoon soy sauce

Heat oil in a medium sauce pan over medium high heat. When the oil starts to shimmer add the onion,  jalapeno pepper and garlic. Saute until onion is translucent and soft, about five minutes. If the onion starts to brown, reduce heat.

Add the molasses, vinegar, mustard, mustard seeds and soy sauce and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium low and continue to simmer, stirring occasionally,  until the sauce becomes thick like syrup, about 25 minutes.

Remove from heat to cool. You can use this immediately or store refrigerated for several days.

Molasses Barbecued Chicken – Click here for a printer-friendly version
Serves 6 hungry adults

This recipe is developed for use on a gas grill. If you are using a charcoal grill, then good for you. I’m proud of you. That takes real commitment and talent. Here is a link on instructions for prepping your grill with charcoal. Good luck!

6 – 7 pounds bone-in chicken (I used one whole chicken cut into 10 pieces plus 1-1/2 pounds of chicken wings)
1 recipe Chicken Rub (see recipe above)
1 recipe Molasses Barbecue (see recipe above)
1 cup mesquite chips (optional)

Thoroughly coat chicken in rub and allow chicken to marinate for a full 24 hours, turning the pieces in the rub a few times. As always, keep the chicken tightly covered in the coldest part of your refrigerator and make sure not to let any of the rub or chicken juices touch anything else.

If you are going to use wood chips, soak the chips in water for 1/2 hour before grilling. Separate the barbecue sauce into two equal portions; one is to brush on the chicken in the last few minutes of cooking, and the other is to brush on the chicken right before serving. Heat grill on high until very hot, and place the wood chips in your grills smoker box. This takes about 10 minutes on my grill’s highest setting. Indirect heat is best for this chicken recipe, so when the grill is not, turn off the middle burner(s) leaving the outside burners on medium-high. Using a brush or rag, oil the grill.

Place the chicken above the burners that are turned off. If you are cooking small chicken wings, wait until after the first 10 minutes of cooking to add these to the grill. Cook chicken for 12 minutes and then turn it over. Cook chicken pieces for an additional 10 minutes and then take the internal temperature. When the internal temperature reads 160 at the thickest part of the piece of chicken (but not next to a bone), brush the chicken with half the barbecue sauce. Continue to cook the chicken until the breast meat reads 165 degrees. The thigh and drumsticks are even better if you let them stay on until they reach 180, but if you are going to do this, don’t brush with barbecue sauce until they come off the grill.

Remove chicken to a serving platter and brush the pieces with the remaining barbecue sauce. Enjoy!

Mama Gene’s Chicken Loaf

  July 8, 2011 - 8:12 am |
Leave a comment

I’m on an adventure back home to Houston this week, so today I have a guest post by a very talented cook. He’s the guy who taught me to make Pasquale Manale’s Barbecued Shrimp, Egg Rolls, and Alabama Style Smother-Fried Steak. Not only is he a fantastic cook, he is the author of a book which is sure to entertain. The Sipsey Swamp Stories is about an unconventional childhood set in 1950′s rural Alabama. It’s witty tone and childhood tales make for a great summer read. Of course the author of both the book and today’s post is my dad.

I grew up having chicken loaf every summer. I can’t say it is the most child-friendly recipe when served cold straight from the pan. However, it’s a family hit if you serve it with a bowl of hot rice. The kids can pile a mound of rice on their slice of chicken loaf and watch it magically melt into very good chicken and rice. As an adult I appreciate this recipe not only for it’s place in my gastronomic past, but also as a beautifully simple summer meal. You start this in the morning and it’s in the fridge by lunch. Then your afternoon is free to play with your kids. I’ll be back next week. Enjoy!

By Wendell Wiggins

My mother, Gene Wiggins, didn’t pick up much German culture from her immigrant father. In fact, he never learned much more English than was needed to practice his trade, so she got no long fatherly lectures or even many bits of family history. Otto Marle was a classically trained baker, born and reared near Berlin. In his few moments of reminiscence, he might mention his treasured memory of attending the Berlin Opera and seeing the Kaiser.

Mother did, however, pick up some food preferences from him as she spent her older childhood assisting him in his bakery, first in Tuscaloosa and then in Fayette, Alabama. This bit of my mother’s German heritage was revealed through her cooking. She liked cold spiced meats, pumpernickel, pastries, and one very special oddity – at least odd for rural Alabama — cold chicken loaf.

Here is her cold chicken loaf recipe. It makes a great lunch or picnic dish, served with sweet pickles, tomato slices, deviled eggs, cheese, good bread, mustard, crunchy celery, carrots and cucumbers. Add your own picnic favorites.

Mama Gene’s Chicken Loaf – Click here for a printer friendly version

White pepper is specified in Mother’s recipe because, as she was always reminding us, “Black pepper tastes good, but it makes the chicken look dirty!”

serves 4

3 pounds chicken pieces
water to cover chicken in a cooking pot
1 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 teaspoon ground white pepper
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon salt
1 cup chopped pimento or fire roasted sweet red peppers
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, finely chopped
2 tablespoons, 1/2 ounce, or 2 envelopes unflavored gelatin
1/4 cup cold water

Cut the chicken into chunks that will fit in your covered stove-top cooking pot. Add the celery, bay leaves, onion, white pepper, and salt and cover with water. Bring the pot to a boil and simmer until the chicken can easily be pushed off the bones with a fork. Resist the urge to cook this till it falls off the bone because it makes the texture mealy.

When cool enough to pick up the chicken, separate the meat from the bones and skin. Be diligent when removing the skin, fat and gristle from the chicken. The right texture is key to the success of the loaf. Strain the broth and reserve it. Toss the boned meat with the parsley and chopped peppers and pack it into a gelatin mold. If you have a fancy mold, use it. If not, any heat resistant glass or ceramic pan big enough to hold the chicken will do. My mother always used an old Pyrex rectangular refrigerator storage dish.

Mix the powdered gelatin with 1/4 cup cold water and stir until all the lumps dissolve. Add 2 cups of the strained broth and heat it until the gelatin is completely dissolved to make a clear liquid.

Pour the gelatin/broth mixture into the mold pan. Be sure you have enough liquid to cover the chicken. Make a bit more gelatin/broth mixture if necessary. Let it cool and place it in the refrigerator.

When the chicken loaf has gelled solidly, remove it from the mold. To serve, cut 1/2” slices neatly from the loaf and arrange on a plate with your other picnic specialties. The light colored chicken, the red peppers and the green parsley bits makes for a very attractive display.

I like to add some black pepper to my loaf at the table. Another addition that really complements the meat/veggie taste is a bit of lemon juice. Place a few slices of lemon on your serving plate for decoration and for those who know how to use it.

Firecracker Coleslaw

  July 5, 2011 - 3:02 am | , , , ,
4 Comments

coleslaw

It’s been a great 4th of July weekend. We’ve done it all. From the beach to the ice cream shop to the bbq for dinner.  Little Guy’s sleeping after another full day of playing with fire trucks, his kiddie pool and sandbox and in his newly redesigned play room.  The only thing on my 4th of July checklist we didn’t do was go see fireworks. We were going to take Little Guy, but when he complained that the vacuum was too loud we decided that maybe we should wait another year. So, I’m watching the Boston Pops on television as I write this.

Today is Monday and it’s supposed to be Meatless Monday. We had chicken, and it was wonderful. I had planned on having a simple pasta with marinara for dinner tomorrow to make up for it, but it looks like we’re having leftovers now. I don’t feel bad about it though because we are celebrating the birth of this country and summer and each other and it’s been pretty fantastic.  I am going to share the most dee-lish-ous barbecued chicken recipe with you soon, but for tonight I still have a meatless recipe for you.

A few years ago I was at some sort of food tasting for barbecue ideas, and one of the stands was sampling firecracker coleslaw. I don’t remember the vendor who featured the sample, but the coleslaw was one of the best I’d had. It was colorful and full of crunchy veggies with a sweet and sour flavor and a kick of heat. I’ve been playing around with recipes since then to try to replicate the flavor. What I now make and call firecracker coleslaw is far better than that sample I had years ago, and it’s the perfect side to serve on hot summer days. The lack of mayo keeps this salad light, and with only two tablespoons of olive oil it’s not to bad on the waistline either. I really hope you like this as much as I do.

I’ve tried a few things over the years to give the coleslaw the bright colors that make it look like fireworks. The sample I had years ago used purple cabbage but I didn’t like how the color bled all over the other veggies. Instead I use regular cabbage with carrots, red bell pepper and red onion. For burst of fire in your mouth I use the vinegar from jalapenos in the dressing. My crowd is a big fan of bite, but not of heat so I only use the pickle juice from the jalapenos, but if you have a higher tolerance for heat, I recommend chopping up a few of the pickled jalapenos and adding those into the salad as well. Something I love in other coleslaw recipes is the celery seed, so I have those in this slaw too, but I’ve also added brown mustard seeds to give another kick of flavor and great texture to the salad. Now that I’m watching the fireworks, I also realize that the seeds help with the fireworks illusion. They looks like the little sparkles in the fireworks. Yea me!

Summer’s only just now getting hot here in New England, and there is still loads of opportunities to impress your friends and frenemies with this burst of healthy flavor this summer. Enjoy!

Firecracker Coleslaw

serves 6-8 as a side

1 bag pre-cut classic coleslaw
2 large carrots, cut in matchsticks or grated
1 red bell pepper, cut in matchsticks
1/2 small red onion, sliced very thin

Dressing:
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/3 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons jalapeno pickling  juice
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon brown mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon celery seeds
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil

Chop all of the vegetables and toss in a large bowl.

In another bowl whisk all of the dressing ingredients together.

Pour the dressing over the vegetables and toss so that everything is evenly coated. Cover and refrigerate for at least three hours.

You can make this coleslaw as soon as three hours before serving or up to twenty-four hours in advance. Before serving drain off excess liquid and reserve a quarter cup of it to pour over the finished salad. Discard the rest of the liquid.

1929 Chocolate Cookies

  July 2, 2011 - 1:46 am | , , , , ,
1 Comment

Recently I brought home a package of old-fashioned dutch cocoa cookies from my local grocery store. They are inexpensive, cello-wrapped cookies the size of your palm with a pleasant chewy texture and mild chocolate flavor. These cookies are well-made chocolate cookies, but old-fashioned? What is an old-fashioned chocolate cookie? I have this romantic image of my grandmother running into the old general store with a penny to buy this moon-sized chocolate cookie out of a glass jar on the counter. It made me want to see what a chocolate cookie from the good-old days was really like.

I love old cookbooks. The older the better. My mom recently grabbed a few for me at a library book sale, and I’ve spent more than a few hours looking through the pages. Two of these books are pretty old; one from 1877 and one from 1929. Both books are made for the housewife, not the baker at the general store, but they gave me insight into what was popular back when they were published. Two things were particularly striking in my search for an  old-fashioned chocolate cookie. The 1877 book, Buckeye Cookery and Practical Housekeeping (Buckeye Publishing Company; Marysville, OH) contains very few cookie recipes and none of them contain any cocoa or chocolate. The cookies in this book include sugar cookies, spice cookies (ginger and nutmeg), molasses cookies, lemon and cocoa-nut (how both cookbooks spell coconut). All the cookies are rolled out thin except for the cocoa-nut jumbles which are dropped by teaspoon.  Fifty years later in 1929, one year before the invention of the chocolate chip cookie, the International Cookbook (Merchandisers, Inc; Boston, MA) has more variety. It has a whole chapter of cookies in a wide variety of flavors and styles. Brownies are here, as are all sorts of fruit and nut cookies. There are also three chocolate cookie recipes that use bar chocolate instead of cocoa. So, while my little two book exploration is no substitute for thorough research, I do wonder about the existence of my Old-Fashioned Dutch Cocoa cookie. I guess a lot depends on your definition of old-fashioned.

While I’m no pastry chef, I wanted to make a true old-fashioned chocolate cookie. Lacking a cocoa powder cookie to go from, I choose the one with the most promise; the chocolate fudge cookie from the 1929 International Cookbook. This cookie had a decent amount of chocolate in it, and no nuts. The original recipe says to serve them “plain or iced with chocolate frosting,” but provides no information on the type of chocolate frosting to use. After a few batches of overly sweet chocolate frosting, I perfected the cookie with a kiss of semi-sweet browned butter chocolate frosting that adds an extra kick of chocolate which really sends this cookie to the top of my list of favorite cookies. While they are certainly not moon-sized, they would look ever so nice in a glass cookie jar but they won’t stay there for very long! Enjoy.

Can’t you just see these two for a penny in the general store?

1929 Chocolate Cookies

These cookies are highly-addictive and the perfect fix for all your chocolate cravings.

1 1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 1/2 ounces bittersweet chocolate

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees with a rack in the middle of the oven. Place chocolate in a small microwave safe bowl and cover bowl. Microwave on high for thirty seconds and let chocolate sit for two minutes. Stir chocolate.

Melting the chocolate slowly and not burning it is probably the hardest thing in making these cookies.

If chocolate is not completely melted continue to microwave for additional 10 seconds at a time until just barely melted. It is very important to not over cook this chocolate. Stop while there are still some small pieces of non-melted chocolate. Burned chocolate is not something you want in your cookies! Set aside.

In a bowl, combine flour, salt and baking powder. In another large bowl cream the butter and sugars together with a mixer until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla and continue to beat until thoroughly combined. Add half of the flour, stirring until just mixed.

Add flour and milk just like you would in the standard mixing procedure for cake. Always start and end with the flour!

Add milk and remaining flour mixing and scraping down the sides after each addition. Add chocolate to cookie dough and mix until chocolate is completely mixed into the dough.

Drop cookie dough on to a lined baking pan by teaspoon.

Less is more with these cookies.

Resist the urge to make big cookies, the small rounded teaspoon will make the perfect dainty cookie for the chocolate kiss in the center. Bake for 10 minutes.

If you are good with your spacing you can fit two dozen per half-sheet pan.

Remove from oven and let cool slightly before moving to a rack to cool completely. Dollop each cookie with a teaspoon of browned butter semi-sweet chocolate frosting.

The perfect two bite cookie.

Browned Butter Semi-Sweet Chocolate Frosting
1 ounce bittersweet chocolate
4 tablespoons unsweetened butter
2 tablespoon cocoa powder
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla
4 tsp half & half

In a microwave safe bowl, cover chocolate and microwave on high for 30 seconds. Heat butter in a small pan over medium heat until butter has turned golden brown. Right before the butter turns brown it will start to foam. Swirl the pan over the heat so you can see the color.

Your butter will start to foam right before browning. Watch it like a hawk.

Be VERY careful not to burn the butter. When it starts to turn a light tan color immediately remove from heat and swirl butter to start cooling process. Cool butter for five minutes.

Scrape melted butter into the bowl of a mixer. Pour butter over chocolate and stir until chocolate has melted. Mix chocolate butter mixture and cocoa powder till smooth, add powdered sugar, vanilla and half & half. Beat until very smooth.

Parchment triangles make for each frosting. Just cut a small hole in the tip and your in business.

To make kisses, use a pastry bag with a plain wide tip (probably a number 6???) or use a parchment triangle. To see how to fold a parchment for use see this link (the site, Zoe Bakes,  is one of the best blogs out there!). If you are using a parchment triangle cut a small piece of the end of the bag off with a pair of scissors.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...