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Showing posts with label Recipes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Recipes. Show all posts
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Roasted Chicken and Vegetable Soup
Don't throw away those remnants from that Herb Roasted Chicken just yet. This rendition will completely change the way you view the old classic, and I think you'll find yourself making it again and again.
When you get done eating your roasted chicken, pull all of the leftover chicken off of the bone and separate out the skins and excess bits leaving just the meat. Take all of those "undesirable" bits, and put them in your trusty crock pot. I leave out the gizzards and such, using only the cooked parts, but if you want to put them in, and thats your thing, don't let me stop you.
-Note- If you dont have the time or energy to spend three days creating a soup, feel free to use a store bought roasted chicken. Just pull all the meat off of the bird and stuff whats left in your crockpot, then continue along in the same manner.
After you stuff everything in your crock pot, fill it up with water to about 1/2 inch from the top, put the lid on it, put it on low heat, and forget about it for at least 24 hours. After it has sat for considerable time, line a colander with cheesecloth, and use it to filter all of the bones and leftover fatty bits out of your stock. You want to remove as much sediment as possible as this will affect the taste and texture of your stock. If its done right this stock should take on the color of dark tea, but will be mostly clear. Once filtered, clean out your crock pot (to remove excess sediment) and put your stock back in it. And now you're ready to create your soup.
Ingredients:
Fresh Chicken Stock (about 5-6 cups)
Meat from 1/2 to 1 whole roasted chicken (personal preference applies)
4 large cloves of garlic (minced)
1 tablespoon rosemary
1 tablespoon of the Herb Roasted Chicken seasoning
2 cubes of chicken bouillon
(or 3 packets of chicken flavored ramen seasoning, its essentially powdered bouillon)
2-3 cups of seasonal vegetables chopped into 1/2 sized pieces (I use red onion and zucchini)
1. Combine everything but the meat and the vegetables, and let sit on low heat for 2-8 hours.
(The longer it sits the better it tastes)
2. Add the vegetables about 2 hours before you intend to eat.
(3-4 hours for potatoes or other hard cookers)
3. Add the chicken about 45 mins before you intend to eat.
4. Serve with large spoons.
I like to serve this incredible treat over ramen noodles. You can spend anywhere from $15 for a large bag of fancy ramen noodles in a package written entirely in japanese, or you can buy the $0.50 packs from Wal-Mart by the case. Either way the noodles are the important part. And since all you have to do is pour the soup over the top and let them sit for 5 minuets or so (recommended because it comes out piping hot), it limits the amount of work you need to do.
I recommend enjoying this dish with friends on a cold night, or if you're feeling especially nice, its a great thing to bring to a friend who's feeling a bit under the weather. Either way its a tasty treat that leaves you feeling like everything is right in the world.
Bon Appetit!
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Poblano Cream Sauce
I bought these Poblano peppers, knowing that I like Chile Rellano
(sp) and knowing that these particular two Poblano peppers looked absolutely
stunning. Dark green and perfect skin. Still slightly dirty from the field
(clearly not waxed) and perfectly ripe. I knew from the moment that I layed
eyes on them that these babies were going to make something special. I just didn’t
know what. Then I found a recipe for a Poblano chile sauce online. Pretty simple
I thought, but needed some adjustment. So here is my rendition. This sauce is
slightly spicy, very savory, and complements the herb roasted chicken in my
previous post quite nicely.
Ingredients-
2 poblano
chiles
2 cloves
garlic (minced)
¼ red onion
(finely chopped)
3 Tbsp Extra
Virgin Olive Oil
¾ cup sour
cream
¼ cup milk
1 tsp chicken seasoning (recipe in “Herb
Roasted Chicken with Brussels Sprouts…”)
1 tsp Everglades Seasoning (see the
“Grocer” tag for more info)
1.
Wash the poblanos and cut the tops off. Then cut
them in half and remove the membrane and seeds, leaving only the skin and the
green meat of the pepper.
2.
Roast the peppers. There are several ways to do
this, under the broiler, on the grill, or in a hot skillet. The important part
is you want the skin to blister and start to turn black. The pepper should be
soft and pliable when you are done.
3.
Cut the pepper into thin strips and set it aside
to rest.
4.
In a skillet, heat up the olive oil on
medium-high heat. Do not let it smoke or the dish will taste burnt.
5.
Brown the onions until almost crispy. They should
still be somewhat pliable but fairly dark in color.
6.
Add the minced garlic and cook only until the
garlic begins to caramelize.
7.
Add the slices of poblano pepper and roughly
half of the sour cream. Allow the mixture to simmer for about 2-3 minuets on
medium-low heat. The mixture should begin to take on a golden-brown/greenish
hue.
8.
Put the mixture in a blender as well as the
remaining sour cream. Blend on high until mixture becomes smooth.
In order to use the sauce as an attractive plate
dressing/drizzle, add small amounts of milk while blending to thin out the
sauce as needed. Remember, you can always add more milk, but you can’t take it
back out again.
Herb Roasted Chicken with Brussels Sprouts, Shallots, and Lots of Garlic
Back when I
was 15 and just learning to cook, my girlfriends stepfather showed me a
roasting pan I had never seen before. The pan and lid were made from terra
cotta and the bottom half was glazed on the inside to prevent staining. This
pan made the most amazing roasted chicken I had ever eaten, and I’ve been
searching for one for 10 years now. Fast forward to 2 days ago… my fiancée
calls me from World Market in Fort Myers, FL and tells me she found one.
Completely matching my description, and it even said made in Portugal on the
bottom (where this style of roaster was invented and to my knowledge the only
place that still makes them this way).
Naturally,
I decided, lets make that chicken I haven’t had in 10 years. So here it is, my
version of delicious herb roasted chicken in a terra cotta roaster.
Ingredients:
1 whole
roasting chicken- Any size will do. (substitute Cornish game hens)
Chicken
Seasoning:
1 tsp sea salt
1
tsp Caraway seed
1
tsp Dried rosemary
1
tsp onion powder
1
tsp black pepper
1/2lb
washed Brussels sprouts
2 shallots-
Roughly chopped
2 cloves
elephant garlic- sliced into 1/8in thick slices
1.
If you are lucky enough to have one of the pans
I mentioned above, soak it in water for about 15 to 20 minuets while you do the
prep work on the vegetables.
2.
Combine all of the chicken seasoning ingredients
in a food processor or coffee grinder and combine thoroughly. Set the seasoning
aside.
3.
Remove the chicken from the package and be sure
to remove the gizzards and chitlins from inside (heart,liver,etc). It seems
like common sense but if you are in a rush its easy to forget.
4.
Place the chicken in the pan, and stuff with the
Brussels sprouts. They wont all fit inside, so put the remainder between the
feet.
5.
Season the chicken thoroughly (about half of the
seasoning) and set the rest aside for later.
6.
Using your fingers, slide the slices of garlic
between the skin and the meat of the breasts and drumsticks. Place the leftover
garlic slices on the outside of the chicken.
7.
VERY IMPORTANT- DO NOT PREHEAT THE OVEN. Putting
a cold wet clay roaster in a hot oven will cause it to explode, ruining not
only your food, but your investment in the roaster. Although they are fairly
inexpensive, terra cotta roasters are very hard to come by and should be
treated like gold.
8.
Place the roaster on the middle rack and set the
oven to 250*F
9.
While the oven warms up, set a deep baking sheet
or shallow pan beneath the roaster. Fill it about halfway with water. This will
keep the humidity up in the oven, and keep your roaster from absorbing any
juices from the chicken.
10. Cook
the chicken for about 45 minuets at 250*F, then increase the temp to 375*F.
Cook the chicken for another hour.
11. Being
very careful not to splash any juices, take the chicken out of the oven and let
stand for at least 15minuets before serving.
12. VERY
IMPORTANT!- No peaking. Don’t open the pan even once during the cooking
process, or while its standing. The moisture is trapped inside the cooker and keeps
the chicken from drying out.
So some of you
are saying, “but Chris, I don’t have a terra cotta roasting pan, and I don’t know
where to get one”. That’s ok, because up until 2 days ago I didn’t either. Use a
normal roasting pan with a lid and a rack inside. Put a small amount of water
on the inside of the pan under the rack, and be sure to put the bird on the
rack itself. Then, put the lid on, and seal it tight with some tinfoil. It sounds
like a cheap way out, but it does the trick. Also be sure to put the pan full
of water underneath the roasting pan regardless of what kind of pan you use. It’s
an old baking trick that works wonders for anything you put in the oven.
Bon
Appetit! And check out my next post for the side dishes that went with this
meal. The poblano sauce will blow your mind!
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Recipes
In
this section, I will be giving you a sneak peek at just some of the recipe’s that will be found in the new book I'm writing, "Life Is Too Short To Eat
Crappy Food-The Book".
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