A Tale of Two Chickens

This week I decided to take on a couple of recipes from Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc at Home Cookbook. The recipes from Ad Hoc are intended to be family-style "you can make this at home" recipes. I like this idea because some of the recipes from say his French Laundry Cookbook which might call for something like, an entire pig's head (not really an everyday ingredient) or require three days of prep are not too accessible for the casual cook and are certainly not intended for weeknight dinner type cooking (at least not at my house). Not to say I don't cook from it, or from his other cookbook Bouchon, because I have and everything I have made has been phenomenal, it's just not "everyday" cooking.

I had lots of tasty root vegetables waiting around so I decided to start with the recipe for Whole Roasted Chicken on a bed of Root Vegetables. Out of respect for the author, I'm not going to reprint the recipe here, but if you have the book (and if you don't I recommend it) you'll find the recipe on page 22.

The thing about Thomas Keller recipes is that they are precise, explaining exactly how each ingredient should be trimmed and cut. The thing about me is, I'm not that precise when it comes to chopping vegetables, I mean, I cut everything pretty close to the prescribed sizes, but I certainly am not as exact as he is.

I did make a couple of changes to the recipe. First, it calls for leeks, rutabagas and turnips in addition to carrots, onions and potatoes. Well I didn't have leeks and I just flat out don't like turnips (and I am a grown up so I don't have to eat them if I don't want to). It's been so long since I've had rutabagas I can't remember if I like them or not. If I get the opportunity to get them in my CSA box I will happily try them again, but I had no interest in a special trip to the store to pick up a item I may or may not like, so I left them out too. What I did have was parsnips and golden beets, and since I like both of those things, into the mix they went.

Otherwise I followed Keller's instructions. I pulled out my ginormous cast iron pan and deposited my olive oil dressed vegetables along with my trussed chicken which I had rubbed the inside of with fresh thyme and garlic. Then I but 4 TABLESPOONS or butter on top of the chicken (along with some salt and pepper) and popped it into the oven. The thing is, I must have been really sleepy when I was making this because after I trussed the chicken I stupidly put the chicken into the pan breast side down instead of breast side up.

So, while it cooked just fine, the yummy crispy skin was on the wrong side of the chicken (sad). However, the chicken itself was wonderful, moist and gently seasoned. While the vegetables were really good, I personally think that 4 tablespoons of butter was at least 2 tablespoons to much. A little too greasy and not quite crispy enough for my taste. So when I make this again I think I'll go with less butter and maybe a few less vegetables in the pan (I think they might brown better if they weren't as crowded).


So, one chicken down, one to go. Each year I cook dinner for two of my best friends, their family and of course the husband and myself as my birthday gift to them (their birthdays are on two consecutive days so I can get away with one dinner as two gifts). The recipe that seems to get the most attention from this cookbook is the one for Buttermilk Fried Chicken. Because I had heard so much about this recipe I asked if I could put it on the menu. I like to try out new things on this group because they are always (luckily) a forgiving group.

This recipe is really easy to find online (in fact it is on the Amazon sale page linked above) so I'll leave you to find it for yourself. You can also buy it as a kit (which frankly seems silly to me, but you know, to each his own).

Keller specifically calls for 2 1/2 to 3 pound chickens stating that you may need to go to a farmers market to find them. However, I did not have the time to search out tiny chickens, so, I went for the smallest chickens I could find at my local QFC which were 4 pounds each.

So, once again I followed the instructions. Brined the chicken overnight, combined all the ingredients for the coating then packed everything up to prepare at my friends house.

Once there I set up two pans with oil (one for light meat and one for dark) as well as a dredging station (the chicken goes through the flour coating, then into buttermilk, then into a second batch of coating, then onto a parchment lined baking sheet until each piece was coated) and a cooling rack. This took A LOT of room.

So into the oil went my first two batches of chicken (one with thighs and one with breasts). This is when I started having serious heat control issues. A lot of the coating came off and even though the chicken was cooked to temperature the skin wasn't even crispy. Sad fried chicken.

This is when I started to get despondent (and thankful for a kind group of friends (and my cocktail)). Time for a few adjustments. We turned off the kitchen fan, readjusted the temperature controls and waited for the oil to come back up to temperature. In went the drumsticks, a second batch or breasts and once they were done, the legs.

Success (mostly). As we gathered around the table I encouraged everyone to try the drumsticks first (as they were the most golden brown and delicious) then the breasts, then the legs (I didn't even serve those first two batches, bleaagh). I was supposed to have fried up some fresh thyme and rosemary to sprinkle over the top, but at this point I was just happy to be getting something edible on the table so we decided to just dig in.

You can see from the picture that I also served a tower of biscuits. What not pictured is some very delicious macaroni and cheese (which my 5-year old picky-eater Goddaughter actually approved of) and a salad made with greens, the white-wine poached pears that I canned in November, blue cheese and glazed nuts.

The chicken was really good. The brine kept it really, really moist (and added a great flavor) and the coating was lightly seasoned, crispy and delicious. In the cookbook Thomas Keller says that once you try this chicken you'll want to add it to your weekly routine. Well, while it was very good, it was a lot of work. It might make an every six months routine at our house.


To end the meal I served cake balls (similar to these). One of my diners was almost two-year old Rowan. He was cracking me up while he was eating them so I snapped a few pictures (yeah, they're a little blurry but it was a little dark and little kids move fast).

Here's the approach.

Next a few nibbles off the bottom.

Then the whole thing went in.

He looked like a chipmunk hoarding nuts.


Too cute.

Curried Chicken Salad

Last week I came home exhausted almost every night. Between my full cooking schedule and the triathlon training, I am felling a little worn out. With the tiredness, I ended up ordering in a bit more than I like so I decided to be proactive and do some extra cooking on Sunday.

Here's the ingredients:

4 chicken breasts (the meat from a rotisserie chicken would work well here too)
1/2 of a red bell pepper (I used the rest in the shrimp tacos)
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds, toasted
1 cup of celery, diced
a bunch of grapes, halved
2 spring onions, diced
2 Tablespoon curry powder
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream

I started by baking the chicken breasts. I used frozen chicken breasts from Costco that I cooked right from their frozen state (following the instructions on the bag).

While the chicken cooked I prepped the rest of my ingredients and stirred them all together. Once the chicken was cooled I diced it and added it to the mix. Then, into the fridge it went.

On Monday I served this with lettuce leaves, crackers and some cherry tomatoes with olive oil, sea salt and black pepper.

On Tuesday I ate a little for lunch, then the husband ate some for dinner while I was out. Finally the husband finished it off on Wednesday while I was at tri-training (a sure sign that he liked it).

All-in-all, five servings of a really tasty salad, all for less than 30 minutes of active cooking time in the kitchen. I love that I was able to eat and provide a tasty home-made meals with minimal weekday effort. It was like having my own personal chef!

Asian-Grilled Chicken with Stir-Fried Vegetables

It has been a very busy week for me and I'll admit, I've been a bit of a lazy chef this week. Today was my at-home paperwork day (and triathlon training rest day) so I had more energy for cooking tonight.

After a quick perusal of the crisper drawer I was rewarded with shitake mushrooms, a whole bunch of green veggies (including a zucchini that had seen better days that went in the bin rather then the meal) and in the meat drawer some chicken. I decided to put a quick marinade on the chicken and stir-fry some veggies.

Here's the ingredients for the chicken:

1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1/4 oyster sauce
1 Tablespoon honey
a healthy squeeze of sriracha
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 chicken breasts

I combined all the marinade ingredients in a ziploc bag. Then I trimmed my chicken and cut each breast in half horizontally so that they were thinner and would cook faster. I set this aside which I worked on the veggies.

After about 15 minutes I removed the chicken from the marinade (reserving it for later), dried them well with paper towels then tossed them on my hot grill. When it was done I set it aside to rest covered with foil while I cooked the veggies.

Here's the ingredients for the veggies:

On the left are the veggies to top the chicken on the right are the veggies for under the chicken (that will make more sense later).

8 or so shitake mushrooms, stemmed and sliced
4 green onion, chopped
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/4 cup dry sherry

1 shallot, sliced
1 green bell pepper, sliced
12 sprigs asparagus, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 bunch spinach

In a small saucepan I warmed the sesame oil and then added the mushrooms and green onions to saute.

When they were just about cooked through I added the sherry and then put it back on the heat and let it cook until the pan was almost dry.

While this was cooking I added just a little more sesame oil to a large saute pan then tossed in the shallots, green onions and asparagus. When the veggies were cooked almost through I added the reserved marinade (making sure that it boiled for at least a minute since it had raw chicken in it) and then the spinach.

Now I was ready to plate. I made a little bed of rice, then topped that with the stir-fried asparagus combo, then topped that with grilled chicken, then topped that with the shitake mushrooms.

How was it? Well I think I would give this dish a solid "B". It could have used more garlic, especially in the mushrooms, a little soy sauce wouldn't have hurt anything (but their was none in the pantry) and I could have been a little more heavy handed with the sriracha. For the most part the husband enjoyed it too, but I did get a "was there spinach in this" when we were done. I can't get anything past him.

The day before I got sick...

... I made this for dinner. Chicken and Black Bean Tacos (chicken marinated in spicy vinegar, cumin and chili powder plus black beans with cumin and red onion),

with Corn and Tomato Salsa (frozen corn, green bell pepper, tomato, red onion, lime juice),

and avocado relish (avocado, red onion, garlic, lime juice)

Delish.

Chicken and Garbanzos over Lemony Chard and Tomatoes

A lot of the time I walk into the kitchen with no idea what I plan to make for dinner. This was one of those time. I basically just started pulling things out of the fridge (looking especially for things that were about to go wrong) trying to find items that would go nicely together.

I settled on a dish that took advantage of the one chicken breast and the half can of garbanzo beans that I had left over from earlier in the week. I also got some chard in my CSA box this week that I was ready to use and I had some cherry tomatoes that were starting to get wrinkly. For good measure I also decided to add a few sprigs of asparagus.

For the Lemony Chard and Tomatoes

1 bunch rainbow chard, stems separated, leaves and stems chopped
8 cherry tomatoes, quartered
1/2 red onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 lemon, juiced
1 tsp red pepper flakes


For the Chicken and Garbanzos

4 slice center-cut bacon, diced
2 small shallots, sliced
1 chicken breast, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 clove garlic, minced
8 or so marinated artichokes
1/2 can garbanzo beans
2 Tbls fresh parsley, minced


For the Sauteed Asparagus


12 sprigs Asparagus
olive oil
kosher salt and black pepper

Now, I wanted all of this to finish up cooking at the same time, so that meant a bunch of pans and a bit of attention to timing.

In the chicken pan I sauteed the diced bacon, then removed it from the pan. Next I added the chicken and shallots to the pan and started them cooking. Meanwhile in the chard pan, I heated some olive oil then added my chard stems, tomatoes and red onion. Then, I heated olive oil in a third pan and tossed in the asparagus which I seasoned with salt and pepper.

Just as the chicken was finish cooking through I added the garlic, then I turned the pan down and added the artichokes and garbanzo beans to heat through. In the chard pan, I added a clove a garlic and the red pepper flakes let that saute for a few seconds and then added my chard leaves and the lemon juice. I let this saute until the greens were cooked through. While doing all this, I was tossing my asparagus occasionally so that it cooked evenly.


I added the cooked bacon and parsley to the chicken then checked everything for seasoning and plated it up. I started with a bed of Lemony Chard and Tomatoes, topped this with the Chicken and Garbanzos, then finished up with a few sprigs of asparagus and a sprinkle of parsley. I also made a bit of toast (buttered and seasoned with sea salt and black pepper) to accompany the meal.


The meal took on a definite Mediterranean feel. While I love bacon, in this dish it kind of vanished among all the other flavors, so I probably would leave this out and save the calories next time. I loved the flavors of this dish. The chard had a bit of warmth from the chile flakes and a great tang from the lemon which contrasted nicely with the creaminess or the garbanzo beans. The husband said it was really good, but that it would have been "better without the leafy green stuff". Fair enough, but I like the leafy green stuff and it's good for us, so that's what he is going to get. It pays to be the chef.

Fettucine with Eggplant and Grilled Chicken

Last night I was in the mood for Italian. I had plenty of time since it's the weekend so I thought a fresh pasta dish was in order.

Here's the ingredients:

for the fresh egg pasta:
10 ounce flour
3 eggs

for the chicken:
2 Tbls lemon juice
2 Tbls Marsala wine
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp dried oregano

to complete the dish:
1/2 pound fresh egg fettuccine
1 eggplant, chopped into 3/4 inch pieces
1 Tbls kosher salt
2 shallots, sliced
2 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup pesto















Technically this dish started over the summer when I had the foresight to take my abundance of fresh basil and make pesto. I put the pesto into ice cube trays and once frozen I popped then out and stuck them in a freezer bag. Now anytime I'm in the mood for a little taste of summer I just pull out a cube (or two or three), let it thaw and use it just like fresh. Now, if you didn't have the foresight to make pesto over the summer, you could always use store bought.

Tonight I started by making my pasta dough. I use the recipe and method for Fresh Egg Pasta found in Italian Classics from Cook's Illustrated. I combined flour and eggs in the food processor until they came together. The dough was pretty sticky so I added flour a bit at a time until it was the right consistency (it's hard to explain just what the right consistency is but the book (and their Web site) has some nice illustrations and explanations). I turned the dough out and kneaded it for just a couple of minutes then wrapped it in plastic to let it rest.

After the dough I started the chicken in a quick marinade (it's amazing what even a 20-minute marinade does to chicken). I combined all the marinade ingredients in a ziploc bag and then tossed in the chicken.

Next I had to deal with the eggplant. I usually like to use Japanese eggplant since they are less seedy and have a better texture. But the box just had a regular old eggplant so that's what I used. I cut the eggplant into 3/4-inch cubes, put them in a colander, sprinkled them with about 1 tablespoon kosher salt, tossed the eggplant to coat it with the salt and then let it sit for 1/2 hour. This draws excess moisture out of the eggplant. Once the 1/2 hour was up I dumped the eggplant onto a kitchen towel and dried it thoroughly, patting off as much of the excess salt as possible.

I used my fancy-schmancy Kitchen-Aid pasta roller to cut my fettuccine, prepped the rest of my ingredients and I was finally ready to cook (because obviously up until now I haven't been cooking at all).

I started a big pot of water boiling, heated up my grill pan and my big-ass saute pan. I started the chicken in the grill pan and in the saute pan I warmed some olive oil then added my garlic, red-pepper flakes and shallots. After about a minute I added my eggplant and started my pasta. When the pasta was ready I added it directly to the saute pan along with about 1/2 cup of the pasta water and the pesto. I tossed all this together (adding a bit more pasta water because the sauce seemed dry) and put it onto my plates. I sliced up my chicken and placed it on top of the pasta then added of dusting of the Parmigiano Reggiano we smuggled from Italy.

















How was it? Well, the picky husband said it was good, except for the eggplant, and I think I concur. While I like the flavor of eggplant this just didn't have a great texture. If I made this again I would definitely use japanese eggplant. I think the next time the box preview indicates that it will contain eggplant I may just have them trade it for something else.

P.S. This was a ton of food. Neither of us finished our plate (but the leftovers did make a nice lunch today).