Ooh, it’s been quite a week as far as cooking goes. I have been tearing it up in the kitchen, chopping, dicing, mincing, sautéing, baking and cooking. If nothing else, I learned that I really need more counter space in the kitchen and a better work triangle. I heard someone mention that on a cooking show once, but I don’t even know what that is. It just sounds good and very Chef-like!
So, a fellow photog friend of mine, F, likes to post various meals on his instagram account. He travels quite a bit for work and usually finds out of the way, hole in the way spots in whatever city he finds himself. The insta.gram snaps of his meals are worthy of a coffee table book of their own. Occasionally, he hits up old tried and true places like Chipotle and of course, the ‘bucks for a java fix. I had joked with him that we needed to do a Starbucks version of Flat Stanley, where we take pictures of our Starbucks cups in various locations (perhaps even precarious positions). Of course, as the new year rolled around, we both figured for the sake of our waistlines and wallets, we needed to table that idea for a bit.
Still, that didn’t stop F from tagging me in his various posts when food was involved. I guess about a week ago, he posted a series of pictures where he took some 4 day old French bread. Chef Boyardee made bread pudding out of it. Then he tagged me in the picture of the finished result.
Now, who am I to back away from a challenge? I mean, not that he said specifically “Shall-awnge!” before slapping me in the face with an oven mitt, but I can read between the lines.
So, I saw that as an opportunity to see him and raise him. And what better way to do that? Double down on some cookies. Last week, I introduced you all to the mash-ups of Blueberry Rosemary Sugar Cookies and Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies with Maple Glaze. I’m pretty sure I changed some lives in the process.
Not to be outdone, F came back at me with some homemade cheddar potato cakes with sour cream for his toddlers. Then he threw down the gauntlet with this little gem, and I quote, “@curly_girlie78 POW!”
Oh, okay. . .it’s like that?! To which I replied, @F Alright, I’m coming for you, son *buttons up chef coat*
And yes, I do have a chef coat, complete with an pocket on my arm for my pens and meat thermometers! Thanks, Mom.
A while back, I happened to to be watching a very buxom chef making some kind of peanut butter silk pie in an intimately lit kitchen complete with red hooded pendulum lights. Who cooks like that? Nigella Lawson. I have never seen anyone be so intentionally sexy while cooking and have it NOT be a movie. From the whipping of the peanut butter and heavy cream with an immersion blender to her scraping the sides of the bowl with a silicon spatula, for some people, the whole thing rose more than the oven temperature, I’m sure.
That episode was immediately followed by another, more family friendly set-up. She introduced a chicken dish created by her mother called “Praised Chicken”. The directions were easy enough, and after she had prepped and prepared, she ladled it out to her family. Sure, they may have been paid actors, but they tucked into that dish with gusto. I’m sure the white wine and crusty french bread helped, too.
I want to see my kids eat with gusto! I like white wine and crusty french bread! So, I pulled the recipe off the ‘net and planned to make the dish at my next opportunity. Enter F and our food smack down.
Last Sunday, I threw open the pantry and the fridge and assembled my ingredients for this task. At first, I was going to go with the crusty baguette, I opted instead to make some homemade beer bread. Buttery, yeasty, and crusty. Loaf vs. baguette. You really can’t lose.
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| food prep for bread on top, for chicken below |
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| bubble, bubble. . .fire burn and cauldron bubble. |
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| et le dîner est servi! |
I did sub out the leeks for onions because. . .I forgot to get them from the store. Leek and onions are in the same family, so I don’t think it was such a stretch. That sauce you see on the chicken? That’s some champagne dijon mustard and a little bit of clipped dill. Both went over well as complements to the flavor profile. Mo and Co really liked the mustard; Mo was pretty much spooning it from the jar directly into her mouth. Even V got in on the act; the Hubs mashed up some of his beer bread into the broth from the chicken and fed it to her. While V hasn’t quite mastered baby sign language for “more” and “please”, we had an idea of what she was saying when she started banging her hands on the table and grunting towards the Hubs’ plate.
Altogether, dinner was a success. This one is definitely going into the rotation and I think I may have silenced F for a while, or at least until he comes back from wherever it is he’s been. I’m looking forward to what he’s going to throw down next. With the Super Bowl just around the corner, I know insta.gram is going to blow up with pics of party food. Oh the possibilities!
Happy Friday, y’all!
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My Mother’s Praised Chicken by Nigella Lawson: recipe found here
Ingredients
- 1 large chicken (preferably organic)
- 2 teaspoon(s) garlic infused olive oil
- 100 ml white wine
- 3 leeks (cleaned, trimmed & cut into 7cm logs)
- 3 carrot(s) (peeled & cut into batons)
- 2 stick(s) celery (sliced)
- 2 litre(s) water (cold)
- 1 bouquet garni (or 1 teaspoon dried herbs)
- 1 bunch parsley
- 2 teaspoon(s) sea salt
- 2 teaspoon(s) pepper (or 2 teaspoons red peppercorns)
- 1 pinch of english mustard
- 1 pinch of dill (chopped)
Method
- Get out a large, flame-safe cooking pot (with a lid) in which the chicken can fit snugly: mine is about 28cm wide x 10cm deep.
- On a washable board, un-truss the chicken, put it breast-side down and press down until you hear the breastbone crack. (As you may imagine, I like this.) Then press down again, so that the chicken is flattened slightly. Now cut off the ankle joints below the drumstick (but keep them); I find kitchen scissors up to the task.
- Put the oil in the pan to heat, then brown the chicken for a few minutes breast-side down, and turn up the heat and turn over the chicken, tossing in the feet as you do so. Still over a vigorous heat add the wine or vermouth to the pan and let it bubble down a little before adding the leeks, carrots and celery.
- Pour in enough cold water to cover the chicken, though the very top of it may poke out, then pop in the bouquet garni or your herbs of choice, and the parsley stalks (if I have a bunch, I cut the stalks off to use here, but leave them tied in the rubber band) or parsley sprigs
- The chicken should be almost completely submerged by now and if not, do add some more cold water. You want it just about covered.
- Bring to a bubble, clamp on the lid, turn the heat to very low and leave to cook for 1½–2 hours. I tend to give it 1½ hours, or 1 hour 40 minutes, then leave it to stand with the heat off, but the lid still on, for the remaining 20–30 minutes.
- Serve the chicken and accompanying vegetables with brown basmati rice, adding a ladleful or two of liquid over each shallow bowl, as you go, and putting fresh dill and mustard on the table for the eaters to add as they wish.
Servings:6-8
3 cups flour (sifted)
3 teaspoons baking powder (omit if using Self-Rising Flour)
1 teaspoon salt (omit if using Self-Rising Flour)
1/4 cup sugar
1 (12 ounce) can beer
1/2 cup melted butter (1/4 cup will do just fine)Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Mix dry ingredients and beer.
3. Pour into a greased loaf pan.
4. Pour melted butter over mixture.
5. Bake 1 hour, remove from pan and cool for at least 15 minutes.
6. UPDATED NOTES: This recipe makes a very hearty bread with a crunchy, buttery crust. If you prefer a softer crust (like a traditional bread) mix the butter into the batter instead of pouring it over the top.
7.Sifting flour for bread recipes is a must-do. Most people just scoop the 1 cup measure in the flour canister and level it off. That compacts the flour and will turn your bread into a “hard biscuit” as some have described. That’s because they aren’t sifting their flour! If you do not have a sifter, use a spoon to spoon the flour into the 1 cup measure. Try it once the “correct” way and you will see an amazing difference in the end product.
8. I have had many email from you kind folks about using non-alcoholic beverages instead of beer. That is fine to do but I highly recommend adding a packet of Dry Active Yeast or 2 teaspoons of Bread (Machine) Yeast so that you get a proper rise.
9. The final result should be a thick, hearty and very tasteful bread, NOT A BRICK! ;).
10. Thank you all for the incredibly nice comments and those of you who left a bad review – learn to sift sift SIFT! You will be amazed at the results.