The Houndstooth Gourmet

Whew! That’s a long name for a simple dish.

I promised myself that this week, I would work my way through all the produce I bought from the farmers market (am I the only one who is guilty of throwing away produce because it spoils before I get around to using it ??). J&W Valley View Farm (Westmoreland County, VA) had such gorgeous greens that I went a bit crazy buying at the Alexandria West End farmers market last Sunday! With a bunch of spinach, I made a salad topped with grilled chicken and spring onions, Gorgonzola cheese, strawberries and pecans. I grilled up 4 chicken breasts and saved two of them for the dish I made last night.

I used the remaining Gorgonzola and chicken breasts, sauteed J&W rainbow chard and made a simple white wine sauce which I tossed with fettuccine. Oh, and to gild the lily, I sprinkled some Pecorino cheese on top!

It was all soooo Robin Miller.

Still in my refrigerator is parsley, cilantro and bok choy. Any ideas HG readers??

Thanks!

Fettucine With Rainbow Chard And Grilled Chicken In A Gorgonzola And White Wine Sauce

 

Ingredients

• 1 box fettuccine, cooked according to package directions
• 2 chicken breasts, grilled and sliced thin
• 1/2 cup crumbled Gorgonzola cheese (reserve a few crumbles to top dishes)
• 1 bunch Swiss chard
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 3/4 cup dry white wine
• 3/4 cup chicken stock
• 1 Tablespoon flour
• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Place a pan over medium heat. Add olive oil and 1 tablespoon of butter. Add onions and garlic. Sautee for 3-4 minutes. Add chard and saute for 5 minutes, or until it wilts. Remove pan contents to a bowl.

Increase heat to high and add wine. Allow wine to reduce by half. Add chicken stock. With the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter and flour, make a beurre manie*. Stir beurre manie into the liquid and bring to a boil. Add gorgonzola, chicken and vegetables. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

In a large bowl, toss fettucine and chicken with Gorgonzola sauce. Sprinkle with reserved Gorgonzola crumbles and grated Parmesan or Pecorino prior to serving.

This recipe has been submitted to Presto Pasta Night. PPN is a fun weekly blog event sponsored by Ruth at Once Upon A Feast.

*A beurre manie is a dough, or paste made my mixing equal parts soft butter and flour. It can be used to thicken soups and sauces.

Tags: presto pasta night, cheese, pasta, chicken by Ramona
9 Comments »

I was excited and a bit nervous when it came to using my $16 box of morel mushrooms, and $6 bunch of ramps on Sunday. At $21 for just the vegetables, I wanted to make those ingredients shine in a dish for dinner. I consulted a few of my cookbooks and riffed on a braised chicken dish from Molly Steven’s “All About Braising”, and while my chicken dish was cooking, I made a batch of ramp crepes to use with the leftover braise.

I found that my small container of 8 or so morels was more than adequate to add an earthy flavor to the braised chicken, while the ramps were mild and somewhat sweet in both the braise and the crepes. I think both dishes would work for entertaining guests, and the chicken filled crepes would make for a terrific brunch item-especially since everything can be made ahead of time.

For the ramp crepe recipe, head over to DC Foodies to check it out!

Braised Chicken Thighs with Morels and Ramps in a White Wine Cream Sauce

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

• 8 chicken thighs with bone and skin
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter
• 8-10 morel mushrooms
• bunch ramps, about a dozen, trimmed at each end and rough chopped
• 1 1/3 cup dry white wine
• 1 cup low sodium chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon dried marjoram
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 cup half and half or light cream
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Flour for dredging

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Heat a large dutch oven over high heat.

Generously salt and pepper chicken thighs on both sides. Dredge chicken in flour and shake off excess.

Add olive oil and 2 tablespoons of butter to heated dutch oven. When the oil begins to shimmer, add chicken to the pan. Do not overcrowd the pan. Allow chicken to brown for 4-5 minutes on each side. Transfer chicken to a platter.

Reduce heat to medium and add 1 tablespoon butter to the dutch oven. Add morels and ramps. Sautee for 4-5 minutes. Add garlic and continue to sautee for an additional minute. Transfer vegetables to the chicken platter.

Increase heat to high and deglaze with white wine. Reduce to a strong simmer and allow wine to reduce by a third. Add chicke stock, thyme and marjoram. Return chicken and vegetables to  braising vessel.

Place dutch oven in lower third of the oven. Braise for 90 minutes.

Remove chicken from the dutch oven, skim fat as needed with a large spoon, and add cream. Serve chicken with sauce over top.

I suggest serving this dish over egg noodles or parsley potatoes.

This recipe is submitted for Weekend Herb Blogging, a weekly blog event started by Kalyn of Kalyn’s Kitchen, and is being hosted this week by Susan from The Well-Seasoned Cook.

Tags: DC Foodies entry, herbs, weekend herb blogging, Recipe, mushrooms, pasta, chicken by Ramona
11 Comments »

 What I  love about food challenges is how they make you think outside of the box. This week’s Cookthink Root Source Challenge #6 is Peanut Butter, and I love peanut butter, especially when it is used in cuisines from far away lands. What comes to mind immediately is Thai Penang with coconut peanut curry, and Sopa de Mani-Bolivian Peanut Soup. Of course, a  good old fashione PB&J hits the spot, with it’s sweet and savory filling sticking to the roof of my mouth.

Back to the peanut butter challenge. I scanned through my cookbooks for inspiration. I wanted something unusual, a dish that I had never heard of, and I came upon a cookbook which I have not used in years (and now I wonder why?, why?)-Tonya Holland’s New Soul Cooking. If you have been watching The Food Network for several years, you might remember Holland’s show “Melting Pot”.

Melting Pot showcased Holland’s multi-ethnic approach to cuisine and her true cooking chops with her Grand  Diploma from La Verenne Lacole de Cuisine in Burgundy, France. Her classical French training enriched dishes with Mediterranean, Caribbean, Asian, American Southwestern and Southern influences. It was a terrific show and Holland’s lighthearted and friendly style made you feel like  you were cooking with her.

I actually got to meet her when she was doing a book signing at a festival in Richmond, VA several years ago. I bought her book and with geekitude asked her to sign it. It reads:

“Ramona, Happy New Soul Cooking, Cook with Soul!”

So here’s my Tanya Holland inspired soulful dish adapted from her recipe “Groundnut, Chicken and Cabbage Stew”, as well as lots of googled recipes for West African Groundnut Stew. Groundnut is a traditional name for peanut and relates to how the peanut grows; on a vine that buries its pods into the ground.

Peanut flavor is prominently featured in this dish, with its creaminess being offset by the slight acidity of tomatoes. Carrots and green cabbage give the stew body and an excellent source of vitamins.

Making this stew was very easy. It took one pan, and one enamel pot, which is like a record for me. No kitchen fairies were needed to clean up after this recipe!

Enjoy.

 West African Groundnut and Chicken Stew

Ingredients

• 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
• 4 lbs. chicken thighs-about 8
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 large onion, diced
• 5 carrots, cut on the bias into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 head green cabbage, about 2 lbs., cut into 1 inch wide and 3 inch long pieces
• 2 cups tomatoes, chopped
• 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons of grated fresh ginger
• 4 cups chicken stock, heated
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 2 pinches dried red pepper flakes
• 1 1/3 cup smooth peanut butter
• 1 (6) ounce can tomato paste
• 1/2 cup roasted peanuts for garnish (optional)
• 1 bunch cilantro for garnish (optional)
• Kosher salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Heat oil in a skillet. While oil is heating, generously salt and pepper the chicken on both sides. Place chicken in skillet and fry until brown on each side. This will take 5-6 minutes per side. Set chicken aside and allow to drain on paper towels.

Pour excess oil out of skillet and add the butter. Add the onions to the skillet and cook until the are soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.

Transfer onions to a dutch oven. Set the skillet on another burner and pour in the chicken stock. Heat chicken stock and scrape up any brown bits in the pan. This is where the flavor is.

Heat dutch oven over medium high heat and add carrots, cabbage, garlic, ginger and tomatoes. Add heated chicken stock, thyme, red pepper flakes, peanut butter, and tomato paste.

Add chicken to the dutch oven and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook, covered for 2 hours, stirring occasional for even cooking. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.

Serve over long grain rice and garnish with cilantro and chopped peanuts.

Tags: nuts, Recipe, chicken by Ramona
6 Comments »

Sicilian Chicken is one of those dishes which reminds me of the Italian restaurants from where I grew up in Philadelphia. In these ever-present establishments, simple Italian-American meals are served with a salad and a  side of plain old spaghetti, topped with spaghetti sauce and grated cheese which I won’t say is cheap but let’s just say it comes in a green can. And I love it. “Oh, that dish doesn’t come with a side of spaghetti?”. “Let me order one that does”.

Coincidentally, my favorite neighborhood Italian place in Philadelphia shares the name of my Houndstooth Gourmet cohort husband, Frank. Frank’s Spaghetti House is low on ambience, but big on value. Plastic booths and laminated tables yield to paper napkins and mismatched cutlery. Salads, which always begin the meal, are iceberg lettuce, cucumbers and flavorless tomatoes, sprinkled with shaved carrots. Bread, always gratis, is reminiscent of a Pillsbury loaf right out of the oven. The side of spaghetti, as I mentioned, is a heaping bowl of pasta, topped with sauce on top of which you can sprinkle grated powdered cheese from a glass shaker. Sprinkling it over your pasta  goes something like this-shake, shake, shake…..turn the shaker over to knock it on the table a few times (curse under your breath) to unclog the holes….shake, shake, shake.

It’s the Italian version of a meat and two and I pine for it.

Then there’s the hot cherry peppers which are so ubiquitous in Philly. Huge bowls of these little pain inducers are omnipresent  at corner hoagie and cheesesteak joints. Not just a garnish, but whole seeded peppers are a staple to put along side your sandwich on the paper it came wrapped in. Growing up, it was a badge of honor just to eat one.

Here’s a recipe for Sicilian Chicken, inspired by a beloved South Philadelphia restaurant called Villa di Roma. Villa di Roma serves up Italian-American fare in a no nonsense, no frills atmophere. The dishes are hearty and huge and you might just be called “hon” by your waitress(not servers-waitress….or waiter in ‘yo Philly).

Sicilian Chicken

serves 4

Ingredients

For the chicken

• 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 4 boneless, skiness chicken breasts, cut into cubes
• 2 cups porcini mushrooms, halved
• 10-12 hot cherry peppers, seeded and cut in half
• 2 tablespoons capers
• 1 cup Spanish olives
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 Tablespoon paprika
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
• Kosher salt and pepper

For the spaghetti

• 1 box of spaghetti, cooked according to package directions
• 1 jar of your favorite pasta sauce
• freshly grated parmesan or pecorino (sorry, I just can’t recommend the green can)

Directions

Liberally season chicken with kosher salt and pepper

Heat a skillet over high heat and add olive oil. When oil is very hot (starts to shimmer and smoke just a bit) add chicken. Brown chicken on both sides and remove to a bowl and sprinkle paprika over chicken. To the pan, add onions, mushrooms and a pinch of salt. Scrape up browned bits (fond) from chicken. Add capers, olives and peppers. Sautee for 3-5 minutes to heat through.

Bring heat to high and add white wine. Allow wine to reduce for 2-3 minutes. Add butter to sauce and return chicken to pan. Continue cooking for about 5 minutes to finish chicken.

While the chicken is cooking, heat your favorite pasta sauce and serve it over cooked spaghetti as a side to the chicken. Pass the grated cheese at the table to sprinkle over the spaghetti and the chicken.

* Presto Pasta Night is a really fun weekly event sponsored by Ruth at Once Upon a Feast.

Tags: Recipe, pasta, chicken by Ramona
3 Comments »

Basic stock making is essential for the professional chef as well as the home cook. Yet, many of us, including me, are intimidated by the long and seemingly elusive process. However, if you have made chicken soup-you have made stock. Stock-any stock-is bones, meat, vegetables, herbs and spices-and no salt.They are the foundation (the fond) of good cooking. Stocks can be used in their simple form in soups, and also used to flavor other dishes and sauces. Whether reduced to a glace, or used to make sauces (the French term sauce comes from the Latin salsus-to salt), stock is an essestial element, which is why it is so important to have on hand. Once you’ve made it you will appreciate the difference between the canned or boxed stuff, and the real thing. Now, I still buy premade stock when I run out of homemade-I just make sure it is good quality.

 I’ve been making chicken stock for a while now, and while I’m the first one to improvise in the kitchen, I thought it would be a good idea for me to make a batch of chicken stock according to a more classic method. Although I feel my previous efforts, which involved placing all ingredients into a pot and simmering for hours, yielded good results, I made some observations with the following method. First, the scum/protiens/impurities which float to the top once a boil is reached were much more intense when the chicken cooked first without any other ingredients. Once the initial scum was removed, the stock remained without scum and had minimal foam throughout the remainder of the cooking. Second, while I did refrigerate the strained stock overnight to allow the fat to congeal, the fat was remarkably minimal. Third, I placed the strained stock into an ice bath to minimize the possibility that bacteria would grow as the chicken slowly cooled. Bacteria grows between 40 and 45 degrees Farenheit. My stock reduced in temperater from the mid 90 degrees to 60 degrees in about 20minutes (stirring occasionally)before I refrigerated it. Fourth, placing the herbs and spices either tied together or tied in a bouquet garni and placing them in after I skimmed the scum allowed all of the flavors to stay with the stock and not get taken in the process of removing impurities.

Overall the end result was deep in color with minimal cloudiness. A consume-it is not-but perhaps there is a method to the more meticulous madness of allowing the bones to be placed in cold water and allowed to heat gently (thus the rising of slowly coaguated proteins to the top) . Additionally, simmering the stock gently over a few hours keeps the proteins/scum from churning back down into the stock, and makes it easier to skim.

Basic White Chicken Stock

yields 6-8 quarts, depending on the size of your pot

Ingredients

• 2 1/2-3 lbs. chicken wings
• 2 lbs. chicken necks
• 3 carrots, peeled and chopped into 2 inch pieces
• 2 onions, first layer of skin removed and halved
• 1 leek, whites only, thoroughly washed and cut into 2 inch slices
• 3 celery stalks, cut into 2 inch pieces
• 2 Tablespoons dried thyme, or one bunch fresh thyme
• 1 Tablespoon peppercorns
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 bunch fresh parsley, washed and tied with kitchen string

Directions

Fashion a bouquet garni for the thyme, peppercorns and bay leaves. To do this, cut a sqaure piece of cheesecloth and place ingredients in the middle. Bring the sides together and tie the top with kitchen string to make a sac.

Place chicken and bones into stock pot and fill with cool water to cover by 2 inches.

Slowly bring water to a slow boil.

Allow scum to form on the surface and skim thoroughly

Add vegetables, parsley (tied), and bouquet garni

Bring stock to a simmer and place lid on as to allow steam to escape

Simmer for 3-4 hours.

Skim scum as needed

Gently and slowly strain stock. If your solids are in a basket*, remove basket and strain liquid through a fine mesh strainer, cheesecloth lined collander, or chinois.

Place strained stock into an ice bath and cool.

Store covered in the refrigerator for at least 5-6 hours, or overnight preferably.

Skim solidified fat that has risen to the surface

Store stock in individual containers or plastic bags and freeze.

*see pictorial-I use my large pasta pot with insert to make stock.

Tags: stock, Recipe, chicken, Uncategorized by Ramona
3 Comments »