Bread Pudding moves in comfortably as a main or a side dish

I’ve confessed this before: I love bread. I could live by bread alone. Well, almost. Like most folks, I love bread pudding in the sweet form. But I’ve been experimenting with savory bread pudding, and I’m here to report that it’s fantastic. This is an updated casserole of sorts, though much, much easier. And this “pudding” welcomes all ingredients — in fact to shop for it goes against its humble nature.

I could have called this the “Kitchen Sink” Bread Pudding, because it cries out for using the odds and ends in the refrigerator or larder — vegetable, meat or cheese. I happened to have a couple of slices of prosciutto and a package of sliced peppered salami. I also had some shredded parmesan and mozzarella, but any combination of cheese would be great. In fact, if you make this bread pudding with a combination you think is sublime, let me know. I’m always looking for ideas for my kitchen table.

The basic ingredients are stale bread, 6 eggs, milk and an onion -- everything else is interchangeable

Savory Bread Pudding | 4 to 6 servings

This makes a hearty 4 or 5 servings as a main dish, or 6 as a side. If you don’t have stale bread on hand, tear up any bread and let it dry out overnight or in a very low oven.

8 handfuls of stale bread torn into bite-sized pieces or cubes
(about 10 cups — I used 1 baguette and a demi olive bread)
Butter
6 eggs
3 cups of milk (a little less if the bread is less stale)
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 red onion, chopped
1 large clove garlic, minced to a paste
10 slices peppered salami, chopped
4 slices prosciutto, chopped
4-inch sprig fresh rosemary, leaves chopped
2 tablespoons pesto
1 cup chopped or shredded fresh mozzarella
1/2 cup shredded parmesan

Butter a 9 x 13 inch casserole.

My "handful" is the equivalent of a very full cup of bread pieces

Put the stale bread pieces in an oversize bowl. Combine the eggs and milk and add a little salt and pepper. Pour this mixture over the bread, tossing well to coat the pieces. Let the bread stand for 20 minutes or until it is soft and most of the liquid has been absorbed.

A large bowl is best for tossing the ingredients together

The staler the bread, the more time is needed to soften the pieces

Turn over the soaking bread periodically to help the softening process and distribute the liquid -- I like to use my hands to do this

While the bread is soaking, preheat the oven to 350°F. Heat the olive oil over medium heat and wilt the onions for 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook another 30 seconds. Add the chopped salami, prosciutto, and rosemary and cook for 1 more minute.

This could be cooked chicken and broccoli, or sausage and asparagus -- I do like an onion in it, though

To the soaked bread, add the cooked onion and salami mixture, pesto, and 2/3 of the cheese. Combine well.

Mix this all together and add a little more salt and pepper

Scoop the mixture into the buttered casserole and distribute the remaining cheese over the top.

Spread the soaked bread out in an even layer

Bake in the preheated oven for 45 to 50 minutes. The top will be golden brown and slightly crispy.

It's hard to stop eating this celebration of bread

If it doesn’t all get eaten fresh from the oven, it’s awfully good heated in the microwave, and as long as you’re doing that why not put a poached egg on top? Mmmm.

Kelly McCune © 2010

©2012 Kitchenelly. All Rights Reserved.

The whole meal in one lovely little packet

I had lost track of this cooking method for some years until a couple of weeks ago. Melissa Clark wrote about cooking asparagus in parchment in the New York Times, and it was like running into an old friend. I had gone through a period of heavy experimentation with cooking en papillote — in a parchment pouch — but I’d filed it in the deep drawer, so to speak. Cooking this way can be so satisfying. It is limited only by your tastebuds, it’s easy to clean up, can be low fat, and it absolutely complements fresh ingredients by heightening rather than hiding their flavor.

Parchment paper used to be somewhat difficult to get your hands on, usually requiring a trip to the cookware store. That may be why I experimented heavily some years back (when I worked in a cookware store) and why it fell by the wayside (when I didn’t). Reynolds now makes parchment paper rolls, widely available in most grocery stores.

Classic en papillote cooking is done in a very hot oven (400°F) for a very short time (10 minutes). The well folded edges keep in the air, which works like a pressure cooker inside the packet. Here I’ve used low heat (200°F) for a long period (1 hour), which I think is lovely and keeps things tender and juicy. I plan on getting back into experimentation, though, so I’ll be writing more about it. I want to try sweet things, and I also remember making packets that were individual servings, which guests got to break open at the table. I’ll definitely be returning with more on this subject!

I started out with a whole chicken breast — a rather large one — that needed to be split into two half breasts and then further cut down. I will continue to carp about overly large chicken breasts until producers do something about it. The flavor and texture just aren’t quite as good, even if it is organic or free-range. Anyway, I wanted to combine my chicken with what I had on hand, and that leaned toward Asian flavors since I had fresh ginger, shitake mushrooms and asparagus. I made rice to go with it, but nearly the entire meal is contained in the packet.

Many, many combinations will work

Chicken Breasts Cooked in Parchment | 4 servings

2 large or 4 small chicken breasts halves, boneless and skinless
3 large shitake mushrooms
2 or 3 green onions
12 asparagus spears
3 carrots
1 slice prosciutto
1 large garlic clove
1/2-inch piece of fresh ginger
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
2 teaspoons sesame oil
Salt
8 sprigs fresh cilantro, plus some for garnish

Preheat the oven to 200°F. Beginning on the thick end of the half breast and holding the knife blade parallel to the board, cut the breast into two equal pieces.

Give your knife a good sharp edge before splitting the breasts this way

Slice the shitake mushrooms. Trim and chop the white part of the green onions and several inches of the green. Trim the bottom of the asparagus spears and with a vegetable peeler, peel the bottom third of each spear. Trim, peel and slice the carrots lengthwise into sticks. Chop the prosciutto. Peel and smash the garlic. Peel and thinly slice the ginger into matchstick pieces.

Have everything all ready before putting it all together on the paper

Tear off a piece of parchment twice as long as a baking sheet. Lay the chicken in a single layer down the length of the parchment. On top of the chicken place the asparagus, carrots, mushrooms, prosciutto, garlic, and ginger.

This will be a long, narrow packet, so leave plenty of room on the sides to bring the paper up together to fold

Drizzle the olive oil, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and sesame over the top. Toss with your hands to coat.

Olive oil may seem wrong with Asian flavors but I like its depth

You don't really have to measure...

Coat the vegetables and chicken well and then pile the vegetables back on top

Sprinkle with salt. Distribute the chopped green onions evenly and place the cilantro sprigs on top.

This dish is fun to make

The cilantro won't be pretty when it's cooked but it adds wonderful flavor

Bring the long sides of the paper together and crease and fold over on each other. Then crease and fold again and staple.

The goal is for a tight seal

Melissa Clark is to thank for the stapler idea

Crease and fold up the ends of the paper several times. Staple the ends.

The package is now ready for, if not the US mail, then the oven

Place the packet on a baking sheet and cook for 1 hour in the preheated oven.

The paper has barely colored in such a low oven

Just before serving, tear open the paper and remove the cilantro. Serve over rice with the accumulated juices.

Spoon the juices right over the top

Even better than those care packages you used to get at camp.

Kelly McCune © 2010

©2012 Kitchenelly. All Rights Reserved.

Mood lighting and a selection of small houses set amidst a snow drift -- Dad's specialty

I might have called this “Christmas Pwnd (daugher #2 correction, pronounced ‘pohnd’)” if I had the guts, but I don’t. Okay, some of you know what “pwnd” means, but I quite possibly do not. Any online definitions just use other words I don’t fully understand, like “schooled” or “punk’d,” which in a strange way gives me the nervous giggles. But I feel this (white!) Christmas was “pwnd” because everything we made was successful — we owned Christmas dinner. We didn’t overcook the roast, made perfect Yorkshire pudding, concocted some amazing Brussels sprouts that were eaten by haters of same, and pulled a dessert out of the hat due to a freak snowstorm.

I say “we” because the two daughters really jumped in this year, as well as nieces and a sister-in-law. Daughter #2 took all the pictures with her point-and-shoot. I didn’t haul my bigger camera to Oklahoma (where we spent the holidays) so she stepped up. Daughter #1 made the delicious and appetizing appetizer, a Thomas Keller/Ratatouille (the rat)-inspired construction, and the dessert, an adaptation of an adaptation of an adaptation.

This is so easy and I dare you to stop eating it when it's warm

The snow started midday on Christmas Eve, after first rain then sleet. That’s never a good mix and sure enough, family members trying to get to Tulsa that day were stuck in Norman, Oklahoma at a Motel 6 under a foot of snow. Those same relatives were bringing dessert, so we knew we had to pull something together and we wouldn’t be able to get to the store. A little internet action produced the recipe, and improvisation on the fruit produced a lovely combination.

So here’s the whole menu for the evening of December 24:

White Bean Purée, Roasted Squash & Tomatoes with Chive Oil and Crostini
Prime Rib Roast with Rosemary Port Wine Sauce & Horseradish Cream
Caramelized Cipollini
Yorkshire Pudding
Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Brussels Sprouts with Bacon & Maple
Blueberry, Raspberry & Cranberry Cobbler

A Few Words About Rib Roast, Yorkshire Pudding, Port Wine Sauce & Horseradish Cream

We were expecting 13 people, so I started with a 4-rib, 10 pound beef roast, which I got at Whole Foods. The beef came from Idaho — strange, since Oklahoma has some wonderful beef, but it’s amazingly hard to find locally sourced beef in Tulsa. For lots of leftovers, get a 5-rib roast, but this one served us all with some left. The roast was already tied. Bring the roast to room temperature before cooking, which means out of the fridge for a couple of hours, covered lightly.

Have on hand a very good quality meat thermometer. We had the old plug-and-leave-in type, which will not do. My mother also had an unreliable analog quick-reading thermometer, and with $100 worth of meat to roast, we decided to get a new digital thermometer. My brother was sent on this errand, and he brought home the thermometer of the gods: an instant read, plug-and-leave-in digital one that sits outside the oven. Well worth the $20 for future meat cooking.

Preheat the oven to 450°F to sear the roast. Put several rosemary sprigs in the bottom of a roasting pan. Place the roast in the pan, ribs down. Pat dry with paper towels and rub several tablespoons of softened butter on the exposed ends of the roast. Sprinkle with pepper but not salt. Leave uncovered.

Cook the roast for 15 minutes at 450°F, reduce the heat to 325°F and continue cooking until the meat thermometer registers 120°F for rare. Baste the roast a couple of times while it cooks. Our roast took about 2 hours to reach this temperature. Remove from the oven and cover with a loose foil tent and “rest” the meat for 15 to 20 minutes. This allows the juices to retreat back to the center of the meat, leaving it juicy instead of dry. The roast will continue to cook while it rests, so it’s important not to go much past 120°F when you take it out of the oven if you want rare meat. Keep in mind that the roast will cook an additional 5 to 7 degrees when you decide which zone to aim for on this chart:

120°F to 125°F: Rare
130°F to 135°F: Medium-rare
140°F to 145°F: Medium
150°F: Much above this and a rib roast may not be your best option!

This meat has been well-rested

To carve the meat, turn it on its side on a cutting board that will collect the juices. Cutting close along the rib bones, sever the meat from the ribs. They can be set aside and used later. Turn the meat back upright and slice across the grain. Use a newly sharpened knife for this.

The Yorkshire pudding cooks while the meat is resting, but make the batter early in the day and leave it in the refrigerator. It also benefits from resting, as do we all. Yorkshire pudding can be made in the roasting pan, but I find it awkward to remove the roast, pour off some of the fat, and start the pudding. I use a large Pyrex baking dish, and you can also use popover pans for individual servings.

3 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1 cup flour
1/3 cup roasting pan drippings

Whisk the eggs with the salt, beat in the milk and then the flour. Set the batter aside in the refrigerator until needed. After the roast comes out of the oven, raise the temperature to 450°F. Using a baster, pull about 1/3 cup of drippings from the roasting pan and pour into a 9 by 13-inch baking dish. Heat the dish in the oven for 5 minutes, remove, and pour in the batter. Cook for 20 minutes, or until the pudding is very puffy and golden. Serve immediately.

There's never enough -- consider making two

For the Port Wine Sauce, start early in the day as well. Sauté one large shallot with a tablespoon or so of butter in a heavy saucepan until wilted, about 5 minutes. Add 2 cups of good-quality port and the chopped leaves of a sprig of fresh rosemary. Burble over medium-low heat until reduced somewhat, about 30 minutes. Add 2 cups of chicken stock and burble another 30 or 45 minutes. Mix 2 tablespoons of softened butter with 2 tablespoons flour on a plate. Drop in pinches of the butter/flour paste, whisking after each addition until the sauce is very slightly thickened — you may not need all of the paste. Season with pepper and serve.

Adds to the amazing aromas in the kitchen

Finally, to make a simple Horseradish Cream, add 2 tablespoons of cream-style horseradish or more, to taste, to 1 1/2 cups of sour cream. Mix in a pinch of sugar, thin slightly with half & half and season with salt and pepper. Refrigerate until needed. Chives make a nice addition to this, too.

By seven o'clock it was looking like this outside, right out the front door

A Few More Words About Cipollini, Garlic Mashed Potatoes & Brussels Sprouts

Cipollini show up sometime in the fall, and they are my favorite onion. They require some prep, but the flavor is worth it. Drop whole cipollini in boiling water and blanch for a minute or so. Remove and cool slightly. Leaving the root and stem-end intact, pull off the top papery layer. In a heavy saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons butter. Add the onions, sprinkle with salt, and cook them gently, turning every so often, until deeply coloring, about an hour. Season with pepper and parsley and serve.

So sublime

Sprinkle with a little parsley and serve alongside the beef

That something so simple as mashed potatoes can be so controversial — what potato to use, how to mash it, how to make it garlicky. Here’s what I have concluded: use a plain old russet potato. They break down enough to mash up beautifully. Boil them halved in salted water. Simmer whole cloves of garlic in butter until tender, about 20 minutes, mash with a fork, add half and half, heat to bubbling, and use this to mash into the potatoes. When the potatoes are done, drain off the water, put the pot back on the heat, and toss the potatoes to cook off the excess water. Keep on low while you’re mashing them. Use an old-fashioned potato masher, and a lot of elbow grease. Whipping them makes them gummy, and a ricer is too much work. Add more half and half, if needed, or butter, if wanted, or chicken stock (thank you sister-in-law!) and mash and beat like heck until they are really silky (again, thank you sis-in-law). Season liberally with salt and pepper along the way. If you are holding them over very low heat or reheating them in the oven, they can be a bit “wetter” to start.

Not photogenic but a classic with the beef

Trim and cook the Brussels sprouts until just tender when pierced with a skewer. Cool and halve. Chop a couple of strips of good-quality bacon and cook in a large skillet until brown but not crisp. Add the Brussels sprouts, herbs de Provence, salt and pepper and sauté until browning. Add a teaspoon or so of maple syrup and toss another minute.

I have to thank my Brussels sprouts *doubting* niece for making these

So after the wine and coffee and a game of Balderdash, we were off to be snug in our beds. While we slept, it snowed even more. And only a few times in my life has Christmas Day looked like this:

I was dreaming of it...

Kelly McCune © 2010

©2012 Kitchenelly. All Rights Reserved.

Beautiful little fruits, so adaptable

I’ve come a long way since my first acquaintance with the fig, which took place when I was about eight and was the gooey center of a Fig Newton. I was half a country away from Oklahoma and a decade older before I ate a fresh fig, and was surprised how little it had to do with those Nabisco® cookies (I did think they were exotic). The beauty of the fig is how adaptable it is. It makes an excellent jam, is tasty dried, can be used in cakes, cookies (!), and other sweets. Figs and honey have been paired for centuries. But it works with savory flavors — another classic combo is with Stilton — and holds up to being cooked.

So I found these figs, and that became my starting point.

Figs, honey and Stilton...rosemary joins in as do wine and capers

I also had two whole boneless chicken breasts from Harmony Farms. Now Harmony Farms is an interesting place. I hadn’t been there before even though it’s right up the highway from me in La Crescenta, California. I knew they sold hard-to-find meats, like ostrich and kangaroo and alligator, but I hadn’t thought of going there until recently, when I heard that they sell Wagyu beef from Australia, “kobe-style” and grass-fed. I discovered that all their meat is “natural” and some “organic,” containing no hormones, antibiotics or pesticides. They hand pick their suppliers based on this and on flavor.

It’s a surprising place when you walk in. There is no butcher counter, just a few large freezers and check-out counter. Most of the meat is flash frozen by the supplier, which the manager told me was a surefire way to get the meat to the customer at its best (and explains the freezers). There is a little butchery going on in the back, but not that much. Three customers came in while I was there and all three got containers that were brought out to them from the back. Were they getting the good stuff (my paranoia)?  Finally I asked customer #3 what she was buying and she kindly replied that it was food for her dog and cats. Oh! Turns out Harmony Farms also does a BIG business in organic raw meat for pets. I hope these folks buy their own meat there, but none did while I was there. Hmmm.

I’ve now tasted the chicken they carry and the pork (from Iowa), a Wagyu steak (just a simple pan-fry and it was delicious), and I have some ground New Zealand lamb and Harris Ranch short ribs still in the freezer. I’m hoping they are as good as the chicken, pork and beef. I’ll be going back to Harmony Farms, but not for my dogs (please don’t tell them).

Chicken Breasts with Fresh Figs and Stilton | 4 servings

This takes a total of about 40 minutes to prepare but tastes like you worked for hours.

4 boneless half chicken breasts, 3 to 4 ounces each half
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 onion, sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon capers and their juice
1/4 cup dry white wine
8 fresh figs, halved lengthwise
6-inch sprig fresh rosemary, leaves chopped, or pinch of dried rosemary
1 ounce (2 tablespoons) crumbled Stilton
2 tablespoons honey

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Rinse and pat dry the chicken breasts and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

I prefer smaller breasts (nothing personal!) -- they have more flavor

Heat the olive oil in an ovenproof skillet. Beginning skin side down, brown the breasts over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes per side.

Some of the fat from the skin will render in the pan and keep the flesh side from sticking

A nice golden brown start means that when they finish in the oven they'll get deep brown without overcooking

Prep these while you brown the chicken

Remove the chicken breasts to a plate. Add the onions to the pan and cook until browning, about 3 minutes. As the onion “melts,” its sugars will help free up the browned bits from the pan, which add flavor.

Nothing beats a cast iron skillet for going from stovetop to oven

Add the garlic and stir until aromatic, about another 1 minute. Turn off the heat.

Just cook the garlic lightly -- too long at too high heat makes it bitter

Return the chicken breasts to the pan and arrange them, skin-side up, scooping some of the onions onto the top. Pour any accumulated juices from the plate into the pan. Spoon the capers and their juice over the chicken and pour in the white wine.

Arrange the fig halves over the chicken. Sprinkle with rosemary and crumbled Stilton. Drizzle the honey over the top.

Drizzle the honey over the top of the chicken and figs

You can also "eyeball" the 2 tablespoons of honey straight from your darlin' honey bear

Place the pan in the oven and cook the chicken for 20 to 25 minutes, basting a couple of times while it cooks.

Try not to firehose the chicken with the baster so the rosemary and capers stay on top

If you use a quick-read thermometer, cook the chicken until it reaches 165°F. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

A dish like this is best when allowed to rest a few minutes -- not served too piping hot

Serve the chicken with the pan juices, figs and capers spooned over the top, maybe even with a crusty chunk of bread.

We left the pan in the middle of the table and freely dipped the bread in the pan juice, but then, do we have manners? Naw...

Kelly McCune © 2009

©2012 Kitchenelly. All Rights Reserved.

Summer's on, get out the grill

I can grill year-round here in Southern California, but I must still be on my Okie schedule because the urge to smell that grill smoke comes over me around mid-May. That’s when I get serious and do some grill clean-up and rehab. And yes, I am the grill operator in the household, in part because I’ve written some cookbooks on it but it was also where I staked a claim early on. My observation is that members of a couple tend to plant a flag in some republic of household food production, and men often race to the barbecue. I beat The Husband to that one.

Lamb is so good grilled, so it’s my first pick of the season. There are some mighty good gas grills out there, but for the traditionalists who want charcoal flavor, here are some grill lighting tips. Look for mesquite or hardwood charcoal (not a fan of the “shot-through-with-mesquite” stuff). They burn hotter and cleaner.

Grilled Lamb Skewers

Some of the best lamb comes from New Zealand, where it is raised on real grass and is hormone-free. I buy mine at Whole Foods, which gets their lamb from Atkins Ranch in New Zealand. I called their local representative to make sure the lamb really comes from New Zealand, and in fact, it does.

Start with good quality lamb

1 1/2 pounds top round boneless lamb
1 large pinch chopped fresh rosemary (about a 4″ stem)
1 large pinch chopped fresh mint (about a 4″ stem)
2 large garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil for the marinade
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar for the marinade
Black pepper
4 carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
10 ounces red pearl onions, or about 16 onions
Olive oil for the carrots and onions
Salt
10 skewers

Cut the lamb into 1 1/2-inch chunks. Put the chunks in a ziplock bag with the chopped rosemary, mint, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, and several generous grinds of black pepper. Set aside to marinate, preferably overnight or at least while you light the grill.

Nice pieces, not necessarily perfect cubes

Press the air out of the bag and distribute the marinade evenly

While the lamb is marinating, there are several jobs that will take about the time needed to light and have a ready grill (30 to 40 minutes). First, soak the skewers in water if you are using bamboo.

Second, parboil the carrots and onions. Heat an inch or so of water in a saucepan, drop in the cut-up carrots, and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain. Drop in the pearl onions and simmer 3 minutes. Drain and cool slightly. When the onions are cool enough to handle, trim off the root end and gently pull off the top papery layer. Rub the carrots and onions with a little olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Set aside.

This makes the job of peeling them, well, possible rather than crazy-making

Trim the root first and the top paper layers slide right off

Third, prep the chard and onions for the couscous (see recipe below) and get it started.  Prep and marinate the cucumbers (see recipe below). Do all this before grilling the meat so that it is all ready at the same time.

When you’re ready to grill, make up 8 to 10 skewers, depending on how far you can go with the meat and vegetables and how big your skewers are. Alternate meat and vegetables.

Grill the skewers for a total of 10 to 12 minutes, turning with long-handled tongs to grill all sides.

The coals are still bright red under the layer of ash -- that's a perfect temp

I like to have the grill cover on but the vents open and maybe even the cover not quite tight. That makes a hot grill and cooks fast. Let the skewers rest under a tent of foil for 5 minutes or so before serving (you can recycle the foil to save any leftovers).

Green Chard with Couscous

Chard is so delicious but not always on everyone’s radar. It’s big and fibrous looking, and the leaves look like you could upholster a small armchair with them. But it is one of the health-giving greens, sharing the characteristic bitter but earthy flavor. In the nutrition awards it would take away all the prizes. I’m always looking for ways to get my greens, and this is a good one. You can use the red variety in this recipe as well.

1/2 pound green Swiss chard (about 5 leaves), washed and drained
1/4 red onion, chopped
Olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup Israeli couscous
1 cup chicken stock
1/4 lemon

Trim the rib from the leaves of the chard and chop them. Chop the leaves separately.

The ribs take a little longer to cook than the leaves

This is a nice texture for the couscous

Pour a little olive oil in a skillet and over medium heat saute the chard ribs and chopped onions for 10 minutes, until starting to color a little. Sprinkle them with salt and pepper while they cook. Add the couscous and stir to coat the grains, about 2 minutes. Add the chard leaves and the chicken stock. Cover and simmer over low heat for 10 to 12 minutes, until the couscous is tender but not mushy. Squeeze lemon over the couscous, and fluff and separate the grains before serving.

Mix the chard leaves and couscous and then add stock

Cucumbers & Feta Marinated with Vinegar

2 cucumbers, partially peeled
Small pinch of sugar
Small pinch of salt
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 ounces crumbled feta
3 mint leaves, thinly sliced in ribbons

Thinly slice the cucumbers. Sprinkle with sugar, salt and rice vinegar. When ready to serve crumble feta and mint over the top.

©2012 Kitchenelly. All Rights Reserved.

Lemony, herby, chickeny goodness

Note the word “little” in the name of this recipe — there is a good reason for that modifier. I have a beef with the chicken that’s being sold today! It’s big and stringy and reminds me of an elderly cousin of mine, who needed lots of support garments and mysterious underpinnings. Take the approach that less is more when shopping for chicken, and beware the ‘big girl’ out there.

Some Info on Buying:

Shopping for chicken is certainly perplexing. Birds are labeled free-range, grain-fed, veggie-fed, organic, natural, all natural, air-chilled, and well, just regular – the ones in a package that don’t have any subtitles. At Whole Foods there is a “Rocky” and a “Rosie” and even a “Rocky Jr.” but I don’t think that’s a gender distinction.

Let’s do some very basic Foghorn Leghorn work here:

Free-range: A term used by producers stating that the bird has access to the outdoors (er, even a 1’ by 1’ concrete pad) for part of the day. The best free-range birds get much more space than that (like the Rocky/Rosie group from Petaluma Poultry). This is not a term of certification, or one used in the National Organic Program of the USDA. The gov’s Organic guideline does say that the “ground” they walk on and the space they occupy outside of the enclosed structure must accommodate the animal’s health and natural behavior.  Hmmm.

This was a 3 3/4 pounder, free-range, "natural"

Organic: “Organic” designation is a bit vague, with guidelines but a sliding scale of adherence. Many producers are self-regulating, and have an outside auditor to monitor their practices. But the general guideline according to the USDA website is that “animals raised on an organic operation must be fed organic feed and given access to the outdoors. They are given no antibiotics or growth hormones.”

Grain-fed: They were fed grain. End of story. All chickens are fed some grain, except my daughter’s friend Holly’s chickens, which grazed around their lawn eating, among other things, snails (uh huh, escargot-fed). So organic grain-fed would be preferable to plain-old grain-fed.

Natural: Not a term with much meaning. Some producers use it because it almost sounds like organic, but it doesn’t require certification. The USDA has proposed “naturally raised” as a term to mean not fed antibiotics, hormones, or plumped up on broth but I don’t believe it’s in place as yet. One disturbing label is “Raised without additional hormones.” Additional to…what? The ones they got earlier?

On to Cooking:

The objective when roasting chicken is to get crispy skin and tender, moist meat. With a big bird, the breast meat dries out before the dark meat is fully cooked. So again, small chickens are best. No need to tie up the chicken, either, since you want lots of toasty, roasty skin. There are many opinions on how to perfectly roast a chicken, from high-heat to low heat, from brining to drying. You can generously salt and pepper the chicken all over a day ahead and keep it in the fridge loosely covered, but if you’ve missed that step just plow ahead. Just make sure the skin and underside (since this one is butterflied) are very dry before cooking.

Butterflied Little Chicken with Roots

3 to 4 pound chicken
8 to 10 sprigs fresh sage, rosemary, thyme, marjoram, or tarragon, or a combination
Good quality or kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper
1 3/4 pound small red potatoes, scrubbed and dried (include in this a variety of little potatoes, Jerusalem artichokes – or sunchokes – or small beets)
1 large sweet variety onion, sliced into thick wedges
6 garlic cloves, peeled and slightly crushed
Olive oil
Chopped rosemary
2 lemons, sliced
Dash of white balsamic vinegar (or any white wine vinegar)

Preheat the oven to 450°.

Use a heavy knife to cut through the backbone and press firmly to break open the breastbone

Rinse the chicken and thoroughly pat dry, inside and out. Trim off any lumps of fat and fatty skin. Firmly set the chicken, upright on its “neck” on a cutting board and slice down along the backbone. Open the chicken up, gently cracking the breastbone against the board. The chicken should lie flat.  Trim off the tail. Twist and fold the wing tips up under the breast. From the tail end, slide your fingers up under the skin of one breast, gently separating the skin from the flesh, making a narrow pocket.

Take care not to tear the skin by using your fingers to separate it from the flesh

Make a similar pocket under the skin of the thigh.  Repeat on the other side. Into the pockets stuff several herb sprigs, adjusting them to get them flat. To secure the legs, make a small slit through the skin and flesh between breast and thigh and work the leg into into.

Make the small cut crosswise to keep from tearing through the slit

Repeat on the other side. Sprinkle the skin and underside of the chicken liberally with salt and pepper and set aside.

Put the potatoes and root vegetables, sliced onions, and garlic cloves in a good-sized roasting pan. Drizzle with olive oil and toss to coat.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper and a little chopped rosemary.

The little knobby sunchokes (also called Jerusalem artichokes) have a sweet, artichokey flavor

Make space in the center of the pan and arrange the lemon slices in a layer. Place the chicken on top of the lemon and tuck the remaining herb sprigs around it.

Cook the chicken for 10 minutes at 450° and reduce the heat to 375° for another 30 to 40 minutes, or until the skin is deeply brown. Baste the chicken and the vegetables a few times as it cooks. Ten minutes before the chicken is done sprinkle a few teaspoons of vinegar over the top and finish cooking.

Oh yeah

“Frenched” Green Beans

I first encountered the little tool used to make these sliced beans in 1980, when I was working for a cookware store on California Street in San Francisco. The idea, I think, is to make an haricot vert out of a Blue Laker. My grandmother’s way of cooking the venerable bean was to cook the heck out of ‘em along with a big slab of bacon. Suh-blime. But this was a brave new world, and I wanted my Frenchified bean, lightly steamed, al dente. I bought one and it’s still one of my favorite tools. Here’s why:  thinly sliced beans cook quickly, so flavor and crispness are retained. Also, the beans are cool looking!

1 pound grean beans, trimmed and “Frenched”

For the Compound Butter:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
Wedge of lemon
Sprig of fresh thyme
Salt and Pepper

Steam the beans until tender but still crunchy, about 10 minutes.

Very easy to do, makes a big impact, flavor-wise

While the beans are cooking, place the butter on a plate, squeeze the lemon over it, pluck the leaves from the thyme sprig and mash them into the butter. Season with a little salt and pepper. Put a dollop on the hot beans before serving. Any extra compound butter can be stored in waxed paper in the refrigerator.

Family or friends will want to do this little task for you

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