New Years EAT!!!
Well, it's been quite some time since I've written in this thing, but I want to change that for 2012. I sorta lost interest in it, mainly because I felt like nothing I had to say was very important... But starting in 2012, I want to use this as an outlet for my true passion.... Cooking!!! and eating of course...
2011 was quite the jet setting year for me! It started out in NYC on new years with some of my dearest friends, and as today is New Years Eve, I thought what better time to update about my year. To be honest, it's been so long since I've actually journaled anything so this is a little daunting for me, and I'll try to keep things brief. In March I flew myself to San Fransisco, CA for my last spring break ever.. It was amazing to say the least. The best thing I ate: Pho soup from this awesome little Vietnamese place near Upper Height St. Beef tendon, tripe, sprouts, and limey goodness with delicious rice noodles! Awesome. Flew to Philadelphia, PA for a conference in April and ate my first "hoagie" (just a hot sub) with beef, sauteed onions, and cheez whiz... The bread was excellent, the filling was... pretty good, but nothing that I couldn't have had back in MI... I must say, I do prefer Tubbies hot sandwiches. In June I flew to NYC for my summer internship with the Center for Community Change. I stayed in Greenpoint, BK for three months with Ms. Sophie and Ms. Becca, and had a blast. I ate sooooo many hot dogs with spicy mustard and sauerkrat, haha. The weirdest thing I ate: Sea Urchin Gonads (uni). The best thing I ate: hand pulled noodles from this little joint in Chinatown... So incredibly GOOD. I also had the best pizza ever from this place called Vinnie's. It's a chain in NYC, but I lived right down the street from one in GP and was a frequent patron. My order: "A slice with pepperoni and a fountain pop please!" For some reason how you refer to soft drinks is very important issue on the East Coast, and I was frequently singled out for my midwestern accent and vernacular. Loved the place though, really nice people too.
So anyway, onto my own culinary adventures. 2012 was definitely my year of the Chicken (or as le french say "l'annee du poulet). I roasted so many birds this year! In January I found a frozen Capon (castrated male chicken) on clearance from Dean and Deluca and roasted it with carrots, celery, and onions. That was actually a really nice dinner party, and where I was first introduced to the wonder that is bumpy cake. I don't consider myself much of a sweets person, but daaang that stuff is amazing. The capon was good, the meat was extremely moist and the skin was sooo amazing. Salty and crispy decadence. At first I was a bit alarmed about the amount of fatty tissue (when the rooster is castrated they put on a lot more body fat) however, it made the veggies on the bottom of the pan mouth wateringly delectable, roasting in all that greasy goodness. I roasted a number of whole chickens throughout the year (mostly due to the inexpense) and did a coq au vin a few times as well. My one complaint about the coq au vin is that prep for it is really time consuming... But well worth the work once you get to eat it :) I tried this recipe without bacon and it was Okay, but the pork fat really adds a great richness to the dish. You don't have to include the pearl onions, but I like to for aesthethic purposes. Also, if the idea of quartering a whole chicken is too intimidating, a pack of chicken thighs, breasts, and wings will work just fine.
HARDWARE:
Dutch oven
A pot for boiling water
Frying pan
Cutting board
Good sharp Butcher's knife
Paring knife
Slotted spoon
Ice water bath
Paper towels
FOOD:
Whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces (2 wings, 2 breasts, 2 thighs, 2 legs)
About 7-8 strips good thick, fatty bacon, chopped
Bottle of red wine (most call for pinot noir, but I think a cheap cab is good too)
1 can chicken stock
Whole yellow onion, chopped
Small bag of baby carrots
5 to 6 fresh Thyme sprigs
Pack of white mushrooms
20-30 pearl onions
Salt and Pepper
Preheat your stove to 325 F. Bring a pot of water to a boil on the stove. While you're doing this, cut the root end off of your pearl onions. Once the water is boiling, turn it down to a med-low heat and throw in the pearl onions for about 2 minutes. Scoop them out quickly and put them into your ice water bath. This will blanche them and make the skins easy to remove. Remove the brown outer layer and discard. Set the pearl onions aside. Wipe your mushrooms off with a damp paper towel and set aside. In your frying pan, fry your chopped up bacon at med-low heat to get all that good pork fat out of it. Take care not to burn the bacon, as this will affect the taste of the rendered fat and add a carbony charcoal flavor that you DO NO WANT. One you've done this, remove the little crispy bits and put them on a paper towel for a little salty snack ;) Okay, so now that you've got your pork fat rendered, toss your pearl onions and mushys in and fry for about 5 minutes. Turn off the heat. Take them out and put them in a bowl (I usually just use the bowl that I used for the ice water bath, but just remember to dump out the water first!! haha). Cover with paper towel and put them in the fridge.
Season your chicken pieces with salt and pepper. I like to use Morton Kosher salt because it has a really nice texture, but regular deiodized table salt is fine too. Don't go crazy on the salt though! The pork fat is alredy pretty salty, so just a little dash should do ya. Turn the frying pan back on med-low heat. You want the fat to be hot before you put the chicken in so it sears the skin and gives it a nice crispy texture. Brown your chicken pieces in the fat for about 3-4 minutes. Remove from the pan and place in the bottom of your dutch oven. Dutch ovens are really great because they're really versatile and can handle pretty high heat. Toss in your whole bag of carrots, thyme, chopped onion and pour the can of chicken stock over it. Now, take your bottle of wine and uncork it (if you feel like saving a little glass for yourself, pour one! Be merry.) Pour the wine over the chicken and veggies. The wine should cover the other goodies. I like to think of it as a delicious sunken treasure, haha. Put your dutch oven on the stove at med-high heat and bring to a boil. Once it is boiling, turn down the heat and simmer if for about 15 minutes. While you've got your pot on the stove top, preheat your oven to 350F. After you've simmered, turn off the stove and put your dutch oven's lid on. Place the covered dutch oven in the oven for about 45 minutes. This is a good time for you to prepare any side dishes you might desire, I like to make steamed green beans and mashed potatoes. When your time is up, take out your D.O. and place it on the stove (it's going to be really hot!! Be very careful.) Let it cool for 5 minutes or so. Now, here you can do one of two things. I suggest using a slotted spoon to remove the chicken and veggies from the pot because it's safer, however if you're feeling adventurous you can just dump the whole pot into a collander covered big bowl to strain out all the liquid. Then you can just plate the chicken and veggies and return the liquid to the pot. Either way, you goal is to have the liquid on its own so you can make the sauce. So once you've done that, return the pot to stove top. Grab your mushroom and pearl onions from the fridge and throw them in the pot. Bring to a rapid boil, uncovered. You want to keep stirring it so the sauce, as it begins to thicken, doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot. It should start thickening and looking really rich. You want to the consistency of a gravy, and it should look like a deep purplely brown color. It is sooooo amazing good. Once you've got the sauce ready, ladle some of it over your chicken and veggies. ENJOY!!!!!
2011 was quite the jet setting year for me! It started out in NYC on new years with some of my dearest friends, and as today is New Years Eve, I thought what better time to update about my year. To be honest, it's been so long since I've actually journaled anything so this is a little daunting for me, and I'll try to keep things brief. In March I flew myself to San Fransisco, CA for my last spring break ever.. It was amazing to say the least. The best thing I ate: Pho soup from this awesome little Vietnamese place near Upper Height St. Beef tendon, tripe, sprouts, and limey goodness with delicious rice noodles! Awesome. Flew to Philadelphia, PA for a conference in April and ate my first "hoagie" (just a hot sub) with beef, sauteed onions, and cheez whiz... The bread was excellent, the filling was... pretty good, but nothing that I couldn't have had back in MI... I must say, I do prefer Tubbies hot sandwiches. In June I flew to NYC for my summer internship with the Center for Community Change. I stayed in Greenpoint, BK for three months with Ms. Sophie and Ms. Becca, and had a blast. I ate sooooo many hot dogs with spicy mustard and sauerkrat, haha. The weirdest thing I ate: Sea Urchin Gonads (uni). The best thing I ate: hand pulled noodles from this little joint in Chinatown... So incredibly GOOD. I also had the best pizza ever from this place called Vinnie's. It's a chain in NYC, but I lived right down the street from one in GP and was a frequent patron. My order: "A slice with pepperoni and a fountain pop please!" For some reason how you refer to soft drinks is very important issue on the East Coast, and I was frequently singled out for my midwestern accent and vernacular. Loved the place though, really nice people too.
So anyway, onto my own culinary adventures. 2012 was definitely my year of the Chicken (or as le french say "l'annee du poulet). I roasted so many birds this year! In January I found a frozen Capon (castrated male chicken) on clearance from Dean and Deluca and roasted it with carrots, celery, and onions. That was actually a really nice dinner party, and where I was first introduced to the wonder that is bumpy cake. I don't consider myself much of a sweets person, but daaang that stuff is amazing. The capon was good, the meat was extremely moist and the skin was sooo amazing. Salty and crispy decadence. At first I was a bit alarmed about the amount of fatty tissue (when the rooster is castrated they put on a lot more body fat) however, it made the veggies on the bottom of the pan mouth wateringly delectable, roasting in all that greasy goodness. I roasted a number of whole chickens throughout the year (mostly due to the inexpense) and did a coq au vin a few times as well. My one complaint about the coq au vin is that prep for it is really time consuming... But well worth the work once you get to eat it :) I tried this recipe without bacon and it was Okay, but the pork fat really adds a great richness to the dish. You don't have to include the pearl onions, but I like to for aesthethic purposes. Also, if the idea of quartering a whole chicken is too intimidating, a pack of chicken thighs, breasts, and wings will work just fine.
HARDWARE:
Dutch oven
A pot for boiling water
Frying pan
Cutting board
Good sharp Butcher's knife
Paring knife
Slotted spoon
Ice water bath
Paper towels
FOOD:
Whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces (2 wings, 2 breasts, 2 thighs, 2 legs)
About 7-8 strips good thick, fatty bacon, chopped
Bottle of red wine (most call for pinot noir, but I think a cheap cab is good too)
1 can chicken stock
Whole yellow onion, chopped
Small bag of baby carrots
5 to 6 fresh Thyme sprigs
Pack of white mushrooms
20-30 pearl onions
Salt and Pepper
Preheat your stove to 325 F. Bring a pot of water to a boil on the stove. While you're doing this, cut the root end off of your pearl onions. Once the water is boiling, turn it down to a med-low heat and throw in the pearl onions for about 2 minutes. Scoop them out quickly and put them into your ice water bath. This will blanche them and make the skins easy to remove. Remove the brown outer layer and discard. Set the pearl onions aside. Wipe your mushrooms off with a damp paper towel and set aside. In your frying pan, fry your chopped up bacon at med-low heat to get all that good pork fat out of it. Take care not to burn the bacon, as this will affect the taste of the rendered fat and add a carbony charcoal flavor that you DO NO WANT. One you've done this, remove the little crispy bits and put them on a paper towel for a little salty snack ;) Okay, so now that you've got your pork fat rendered, toss your pearl onions and mushys in and fry for about 5 minutes. Turn off the heat. Take them out and put them in a bowl (I usually just use the bowl that I used for the ice water bath, but just remember to dump out the water first!! haha). Cover with paper towel and put them in the fridge.
Season your chicken pieces with salt and pepper. I like to use Morton Kosher salt because it has a really nice texture, but regular deiodized table salt is fine too. Don't go crazy on the salt though! The pork fat is alredy pretty salty, so just a little dash should do ya. Turn the frying pan back on med-low heat. You want the fat to be hot before you put the chicken in so it sears the skin and gives it a nice crispy texture. Brown your chicken pieces in the fat for about 3-4 minutes. Remove from the pan and place in the bottom of your dutch oven. Dutch ovens are really great because they're really versatile and can handle pretty high heat. Toss in your whole bag of carrots, thyme, chopped onion and pour the can of chicken stock over it. Now, take your bottle of wine and uncork it (if you feel like saving a little glass for yourself, pour one! Be merry.) Pour the wine over the chicken and veggies. The wine should cover the other goodies. I like to think of it as a delicious sunken treasure, haha. Put your dutch oven on the stove at med-high heat and bring to a boil. Once it is boiling, turn down the heat and simmer if for about 15 minutes. While you've got your pot on the stove top, preheat your oven to 350F. After you've simmered, turn off the stove and put your dutch oven's lid on. Place the covered dutch oven in the oven for about 45 minutes. This is a good time for you to prepare any side dishes you might desire, I like to make steamed green beans and mashed potatoes. When your time is up, take out your D.O. and place it on the stove (it's going to be really hot!! Be very careful.) Let it cool for 5 minutes or so. Now, here you can do one of two things. I suggest using a slotted spoon to remove the chicken and veggies from the pot because it's safer, however if you're feeling adventurous you can just dump the whole pot into a collander covered big bowl to strain out all the liquid. Then you can just plate the chicken and veggies and return the liquid to the pot. Either way, you goal is to have the liquid on its own so you can make the sauce. So once you've done that, return the pot to stove top. Grab your mushroom and pearl onions from the fridge and throw them in the pot. Bring to a rapid boil, uncovered. You want to keep stirring it so the sauce, as it begins to thicken, doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot. It should start thickening and looking really rich. You want to the consistency of a gravy, and it should look like a deep purplely brown color. It is sooooo amazing good. Once you've got the sauce ready, ladle some of it over your chicken and veggies. ENJOY!!!!!