This Week in My Kitchen:
It’s been a busy week in my kitchen; prepping for the cooking classes on Wednesday and Thursday, and a family dinner today.
I don’t know if many of you realize that most of the recipes I use in the cooking classes, I haven’t made before. You may, sometimes, feel that you can’t do what I do, but if I’m making a recipe for the first time and it turns out, I’m sure it’ll turn out for you as well, as long as you following the directions.
If I’m not happy with how one of our recipes turns out, I tweak it for the next night’s class and then like to let you know the changes I’ve made.
That’s what happened this week. I wasn’t impressed with the roasted chicken on Wednesday night, so I made some changes for my Thursday night class; I placed a stem of fresh rosemary (that’s a whole stem, folded in half) and a bunch of fresh basil in the cavity of the chicken, then I made a paste of butter, brown sugar, salt & pepper and garlic and “mushed” this under the skin of the chicken breast (you need to lift the skin at the tip of the breast, closest to the cavity, and “strip” the connective membrane that attaches the skin to the breast. Do this gently so you don’t tear the skin. Go up the breast bone, gently lifting the skin and hooking your pointer finger through the tissue and pulling; continue doing this over the entire breast, then lift the skin and place globs of the butter mixture over the breast. Place the skin back down and push the butter over the entire breast).
This is a great way to get a lot of flavor into your chicken. You can add any flavorings or seasonings that you desire and that will compliment your dinner. I’m roasting more chickens today for dinner and my butter paste is; butter, salt & pepper, fresh chopped rosemary, onion powder, chopped garlic and fresh grated ginger. I can’t wait to see what this tastes like.
I also baked the chicken longer at a lower temperature. The chicken went in the oven at 3:00 at 350; then the temperature went down to 300 at 4:30.
After my cooking classes I spend most the rest of the week “using up or re-purposing”, whatever’s left over from the classes. Some goes home with the kids, some Fred eats, but there’s always something left over.
Today, we’re using up the cranberry sauce (not a favorite of my family) and some of the pear tart filling and pie crust from our Pastry Class 2 weeks ago. The cranberry sauce went into the Chocolate Chip Banana Bread (you should have the recipe in your October folder). I always double this recipe, so it’s easy. I had some softening bananas and did a combination of 3-1 or ½ & ½ banana and cranberry sauce (3 parts banana to 1 part cranberry sauce). This is a great way to use up extra or leftover fruit. Six loaves later, the cranberry sauce is almost gone.
I needed to use up the left over pear filling, so I added a few more pears, sliced, a little more flour to compensate for all the juice, then I needed to make a decision about what to do with it. I had some left over pie crust, but not enough for a crust. I had too much filling for a tart and didn’t want to have any more left over filling. My decision was this;
I softened 8oz. of cream cheese in the microwave, placed it in my mixer with 1 C. sugar and 3 eggs. I then, mixed the cream cheese mixture with the pear filling. I’m hoping that, with the eggs, it will become custardy. I broke up the pie crust into the mixer, added a cup of flour and about ¾ C. sugar and some fresh grated nutmeg, I then proceeded to mix it till the crust went back to small balls of dough. I placed the casserole of pear filling in the oven at 350 and will bake it till it’s nearly done, then I’ll sprinkle the crumb mixture over the top and put it back in the oven till the crumbs are golden brown. I’ll let you know how it turns out. If it’s good, this would be a great way to use up leftover fruit; not enough for an entire pie, but more than you want to throw away.
I avail myself of “Bountiful Baskets”; a co-op that offers fresh fruits and vegetables. They seem to be, nearly, country wide, so look them up and determine if there’s one in your area; it’s well worth the inquiry.
You never know what you’ll receive in your baskets, so it’s always a surprise. This past week, I received eggplant, collard greens, Brussels sprouts, mushrooms and Asian persimmons. That’s in addition to the more common ingredients. Sometimes you need to get a little creative in your cooking. Especially if you’re using ingredients that you’re not familiar with or not sure you’ll like. Think about adding them to something you do like. If you’re not sure what the flavor of something is, ask someone.
Today, I diced the mushrooms with some onions and celery and sautéed them in a pan till they got some color on them. I peeled and chopped the eggplant and some zucchini that came in the basket, added a little chopped fresh rosemary and basil, that also came with my order and added a can of stewed tomatoes and some chicken stock. Put the lid on and steam for 1 hour, remove the lid and cook till nearly all the liquid is absorbed. This is a great way to use some of those vegetables you’re not sure about. Because the tomatoes, onions and herbs are rather strong flavored, they’ll diminish the taste of the eggplant. Zucchini and tomatoes are great together and sautéing mushrooms brings out the “woodsy” flavor. You can serve this fresh with grated Parmesan cheese over the top, or refrigerate it and use it at some other time, just reheat. This can also be frozen, thaw in the fridge and reheat to serve. This makes a great Antipasti, spread some on really good, dense French or Italian bread, just add some Parmesan cheese to the veggies, heat through to melt the cheese, and spread – YUM!
When using mushrooms, don’t soak them; they absorb whatever liquid they’re in. Just wipe them off with a soft cloth and place them in the refrigerator. You can rinse them off just before using, if you like, but remember not to soak. Pop of the stem (you can save them with your other “scraps” for vegetable broth), slice or dice the mushrooms and use them in whichever way you like.
When you’re pretty well finished with your chicken, place the carcass in a pot with any leftover juices from the pan, or the gravy you’ve made from the juices, cover with water, add some garlic and chopped onion, a handful of chopped celery, any herbs you choose and cook for 1-2 hours. You want to reduce the broth by half and the chicken to fall off the bone. Drain your stock into a container and de-bone the chicken. You can separate the broth from the fat using a “fat separator,” they look like a measuring cup with a spout that comes from the bottom of the cup. The fat will float to the top and the broth will be at the bottom. Pour off the broth till the fat reaches the spout, and discard the fat. If you don’t have a separator, chill your broth, the fat will solidify on top, scoop it off and discard it. Now, you can have some “crazy good” soup.
Just some notes and tips:
When baking breads, after removing them from the oven, allow them to cool for 5-10 minutes in the pan, then dump them out (this is really important, they’ll sweat as they cool and get damp on the bottom of the loaf if you don’t), place them on their sides to finish cooling. If you cool your loaves this way, the weight of the bread won’t press down and cause your loaf to be heavy in the middle. When your loaves are completely cool, you can prepare them for the freezer by wrapping them tightly in plastic wrap then a layer of foil, mark and freeze; or you can slice them, place the sliced bread in a zip-lock bag and share with your family.
I'm so proud of all of you for trying everything that I serve at the cooking classes, even if they're not your favorite thing.
I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and I'm excited to hear what you've tried for your holiday dinners. Be sure to let me know.
Christie
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