Good Gravy!

Elevate simple to sensational with a couple of ingredients you normally don't indulge in - cream and cognac.  Most cooks use butter on a regular basis but cream is reserved for desserts and holidays. Cognac or brandy; most don't keep on hand but worth the investment for foodies, if not something you drink along with a cigar.

A chicken breast, simply seasoned with salt and pepper, then browned in a mix of butter and olive oil, then finished restaurant style in a 350 degree oven is a fine, preparation for any family meal.  My husband and I enjoy this frequently but it's the holidays and I'm really looking for ways to dress up the basics.  So I served it with this lovely sauce and my husband's said, "Hmm, really good."

Here's the scoop!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix 1/2 tsp pepper and 2 tsp Kosher salt and season two skin on chicken breasts with ribs (I prefer skin on without ribs, which you or your butcher will have to do).
Brown breasts in 2 tbls butter and 2 tbls olive oil over medium high heat in a heavy skillet.  4-5 minutes per side. Bake for 35-40 minutes.

Remove from the oven to a plate and tent.  Pour off all but 1 tbls fat.  Saute in the pan until juices released (4-5 mins):

1 tbls minced shallot
8 oz.sliced porcini mushrooms

Add:

1/2 cup chicken essence or stock
deglaze the pan and bring to a simmer

Add 1/4 cup cream and and heat to simmer. Add 1/4 cup brandy or cognac and heat to simmer stirring frequently and sauce is reduced and slightly thickened.  Correct seasoning.  If you use essence, there is little seasoning to do.

Spoon over chicken and serve immediately.

Coquilles Saint Jacques

This is an elegant, classic first course served in scallop dishes or as a main dish served in individual gratin dishes.  I first encountered Coquilles Saint Jacques at a lovely old inn in my father's home town.  I was about 12 and, once again, introduced to sophisticated dishes not served at home.  It was love at first bite.  It's meant to prepared with scallops and I used bay size. They fit the presentation better than the larger variety.  I happen to keep seafood stock in my freezer but clam juice is an acceptable substitute, better yet, poach the scallops in water, onion, halved whole lemon and pepper corns and bay leaf, then reserve the stock.  Add brandy for the holiday season and rock on.

* see bonus seafood stock at the bottom

4 tbls unsalted butter
1/2 cup minced shallot
2 cloves minced garlic
8 oz sliced mushrooms (your choice)
1/4 cup sliced green onions
1/3  cup all purpose flour
1 tbls curry powder
1 tsp white pepper
1 1/4 cup seafood stock
1/2 cup cream
1/4 cup brandy
salt to taste
1 1/2 cups Panko bread crumbs
1/4 cup fresh chopped flat leaf Italian parsley
1/2 cup grated Gruyere cheese
1/4 cup good olive oil
2 lbs bay scallops

Melt the butter in a large fry pan and add the shallots when the butter foams.  Cook stirring frequently for 2-3 mins then add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds before adding the mushrooms.  Continue to toss the mushrooms, shallots and garlic until the mushrooms release their liquid and are soft.  Add the  green onions, curry, white pepper and combine.  Add flour and combine; cook for 1 minute.  Add the seafood stock slowly and stir until smooth.  Add the cream and bring to simmer.  Add the brandy and salt to taste.  Bring just to the boil and reduce heat.  In the mean time, butter 6 ramekins.  Mix the bread crumbs, chopped parsley and gruyere with the olive oil. Divide the scallops and sauce evenly amongst the ramekins and top with bread crumb mixture.  Arrange on a rimmed baking sheet and place under a preheated broiler for 4-5 mins. Serve immediately.

Seafood Stock

1 lb fish frames and shrimps shells (heads, if you are brave)
1 onion peeled and quartered
1 lemon split in half
10 whole pepper corns'
1 bouquet garni
Cover with 6 cups water cold water.  Make sure ingredients are covered

Bring to a boil and reduce to simmer.  Reduce to 1 quart.  Strain through cheese cloth and cool.  Freeze  up to 6 months.

High Spirits for the Holidays; Cooking with the "Hard Stuff"

The holidays are the time to bring out the "hard stuff" - alcohol, not red or white wine but the distilled libations that give your recipe a real kick.  I'll never forget popping one of my aunt's bourbon balls as a kid by mistake.  Nobody told me not to and I had to run to the bathroom to spit it out.  I wasn't ready for the "hard stuff".   I was about 8 when my mother worked on Brandied Fruit from Thanksgiving to Christmas.  As the fruit fermented, our kitchen smelled more like a bar than home.  I couldn't understand anyone ruining perfectly good fruit with something that smelled that peculiar.  On Christmas Eve, it was finally ready and served with ice cream and pound cake.  I took a timid sample and, promptly but discretely, spit it into my napkin.  I was always exposed to more sophisticated foods from an early age and, apparently, my parents where not adverse to food prepared with alcohol.  I was never admonished not to taste or try any food, for that matter, I was always encouraged just to sample a bit and have an opinion.

Now, I'm putting bourbon in the pecan pie, rum in the cake and sherry in the creamed turkey and  pulling out the brandy to dress up the sauces.  I usually reserve brandy for coq au vin but I feel like making a silky sauce tonight that is excellent with beef or chicken.  It's the season to make everything extra and over indulge.

Spirits add that touch of elegance that make any holiday dish special so if you are making oysters Rockefeller, buy Pernod; a dessert soufflé,
buy Grand Marnier and be sure to spike the eggnog.  I've recently heard a remarkable recipe for goose marinated in gin!! I'm hoping to make Syllabub this year.  Stay tuned.  My spirits are HIGH for the holidays!

Creamed Turkey with Sherry

This recipe was the post-Thanksgiving dish served when I was growing up so, I decided to give it a whirl tonight as I'm mulling the left-over turkey.  I  thought it was as good as the big roast turkey and the sandwiches that followed the next day.  The trick here, as I've tried to emphasize repeatedly, for any good sauce, is to have homemade stock or "essence" in the freezer.  I always strain and reserve the juices from a cooked chicken and vegetables.  I let the fat rise and chill in a refrigerator, then scrape off the fat and reserve the gelatinous essence in the freezer.  The essence is already seasoned and is far superior to any store bought flavor booster or bouillon.  It's a great kitchen habit and the mark of a superior cook well worth the effort.  Invest in a "fat separator" to assist you and it will set you apart when it come to soups and sauces.  My mother and grandmother added sherry to this sauce to make it "gourmet".  I never think of the left-over turkey as repetitious but an opportunity to keep the holiday going.

2 tbls unsalted butter
1 cups diced onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp fresh minced thyme or 1/2 tsp dried
1 pint sliced mushrooms of choice
2 tbls flour
1 cups chicken stock or essence
1/2 cup half 'n half
2 cups cooked turkey, diced or shredded
2 tbls sherry
salt & pepper to taste

Melt the butter over medium heat in a 10 inch fry pan and saute' the onion for 4-5 minutes, then add the garlic and thyme.  Cook another minute stirring frequently.  Add the mushrooms and cook until their liquid is released and they are soft.  Add flour and combine with vegetables until smooth.  Add stock and stir to make a smooth sauce.Add the half n' half and bring to a simmer.  Add the turkey and sherry.  Heat to simmer, adjust seasoning and serve over cooked brown rice.

Holiday Rum Cake

I don't have to do much cooking for Thanksgiving. It's a "bring a dish" gathering with our family but when my son and daughter-in-law arrive late tonight, I like to have something for them.  I prepare 'do ahead' grazing recipes for feeding impulses and the extra pounds that come with those impulses.  I'm cooking a turkey breast for sandwiches and making a big pot of Pasta Fagoli soup (see Jan 2012 post) as a light but comforting 'welcome home" meal.  I settled on Rum Cake for dessert.  A patient of my husband used to give his office a rum cake every year that was divine.  I love anything with rum in it. It's the sort of cake that can sit under the cake stand dome and beckon you any time with it's moist rummy flavor.

Now for the awful truth.  It's the recipe that is made with yellow cake mix and Jello pudding mix.  I thought about a scratch version but knew it would never quite match the classic posted so many times on the internet.  If it ain't broke don't fix it.  I had some caramel sauce in my refrigerator and added half a cup on rum to make the glaze (see Caramel Confidence, Oct. 19, 2014).

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour a 10 inch bundt pan and set aside.

4 eggs beaten
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup dark rum

Mix these ingredients with and electric mixer until well blended.
Add:

1 box 18.5oz box of yellow cake mix
1 oz box Jello vanilla pudding mix

Pour into prepared bundt pan and bake for 45 minutes.  Remove from oven and poke hole with a skewer over the surface.  Pour 1/2 cup of caramel  rum glaze over the warm cake.  Turn out onto cooling rack with parchment or something to catch the excess glaze.  Poke holes over the top and pour the remaining 1/2 cup over the top. Garnish with toasted pecans or walnuts.

Braised Chipollini Onions

Braised Chipollinis

Chipollini Onions are a sweet surprise.  Next to the Vidalia, they are almost equal in flavor but not size.  Their small, flat shape lends them to stews and braises and they make a excellent side to any red meat.  I served them with grilled lamb chops last weekend for a hearty fall meal.  They have an earthy quality but delicate flavor that allows them to stand alone on any plate.

They are a bit of a pain to peel but a minute in a pot of boiling water and a sharp knife makes swift work of the onion skin, root and stem.  They are well worth the effort.

Peeling a blanched chipollini

12 Chipollini Onions, blanched, trimmed and peeled.
2 tbls unsalted butter
1/4 cup beef or chicken stock
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
salt & pepper

Melt the butter in a small sauté pan and add the onions.  Cook over medium heat until the begin to brown.  Reduce the head and add the stock and balsamic and cook until the liquid is reduce and the onions are glazed and brown.  Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately.

The Dreaded Tuna Noodle Casserole - Redeemed

I knew it when I came in from play at the neighbor's house.  Daddy's car was missing and the kitchen was dark and quiet.  There was no sign of dinner except for the little red light on the oven.  Then my mother appeared in her slip with rollers in her hair.  That was it, they where going out and I would be left at home with a baby-sitter.  Daddy had gone to pick up some dried up spinster or widow Mother had spied at church.  My Mother  took the dreaded tuna noodle casserole from the oven and said I could eat on the rug in front of the den TV and watch Flintstones and Jetsons if I didn't spill anything and added I could stay up until 10.  Then she vanished to her bedroom to finish dressing, painting her eyelids in peacock blue eyeshadow, dowsing herself in Bal de Versaille perfume and donning high heals and rhinestone earrings.  I never had one of the many teenage baby-sitters in our neighborhood who brought the Elvis or Buddy Holly records, played with your Barbie and giggled on the phone with a boy.  Oh no! Just the retired missionary or elderly Sunday school helper who couldn't even play Pick up Sticks or draw with crayons.  So I sat sulking in front of the TV, picking at the dreaded tuna noodle casserole so many woman found miraculous  in the Campbell Soups advertisements in Ladies Home Journal.  Boiled spaghetti, a can of tuna, a can of cream of mushrooms soup topped with cheese.  Need I say more?  I ignored the babysitter as much as possible and watched TV until she nodded off.  Then snuck to my parents bedroom to try and refashion myself after mother's hair and make up and spill a lot of perfume all over me.  The baby-sitter and I rarely spoke.  I brushed my teeth and went to bed quietly just to avoid them.

Eventually, the golden arches showed up in my town and drive thru replaced the DTNC (dreaded tuna noodle casserole).  Daddy called McDonalds the tomain tavern and told me I'd have pimples if I continued to eat French fries and milk shakes.  So what?  I loved the action as much as the food and my mother sure wasn't opposed to it.  The teenagers and college students where there and it was as close an encounter as I could get with their heavenly world for the time being.

So why should I try and redeem that loathsome DTNC? Just call me sentimental or I like a challenge.
Sunday night is typically a one pot meal at my house and this fits the bill.  You'll have to open a can of tuna but not a can of soup.  I have to admit I had leftover broth from a scallop dish that really helped flavor this but clam juice is a decent substitute.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

8 oz Farfalle, cooked according to package directions and drained
12 oz can chunk lite water packed tuna
4 tbls butter + more for casserole or ramekins
1 cup milk
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 cup clam juice (fresh fish stock if you have it)
2 sliced green onions
1 cup frozen green peas
8 oz sliced mushrooms
1 tsp fish sauce
2 tbls dry sherry
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 cup Panko bread crumbs mixed with 2 tbls melted butter

Melt the butter and sauté the mushrooms until soft and they release moisture.  Add the sliced green onion and cook 2 more minutes.  Add the flour and combine.  Add the milk and clam juice slowly to make a thick sauce. Season with salt and pepper and add the sherry and frozen peas.  Butter ramekins or casserole and  spread the Farfalle evenly on the bottom.  Pour the tuna mixture over the pasta and top with Parmesan.  Bake for 30 minutes and top with the buttered Panko. Bake 5-10 more minutes until golden.