Tuesday night I decided to break out of the tyranny of New England recipes and make Grandmother's Squash Bake from Idaho. The remaining recipes in the vegetable section of the Northeast section are somewhat....weird. Weird, or unable to be cooked at this time of year, like sauteed dandelion flowers. Or not something you just eat for dinner, like creamed horseradish. So, I got an acorn squash and made half the recipe. One of the squash options is Hubbard squash. Hubbard squash was a remanant of my childhood. One of the high points of the year was the Great Barrington Fair in September, right after school started. It had horse racing, which tied up the traffic on Route 7 on both sides of the town, and carnival rides and games and agricultural exhibits. Of course, the carnival rides were the main attraction, but I also liked the argricultural exhibits, the cows, with their ribbons and portable milking machines, the sheep, with their wool clipped close so you could run your fingers through it, the odd looking chickens and the canned and baked goods.
Then, there were the vegetables. One of the exhibit buildings had a series of large display cases where groups like the Grange laid out diaramas of vegetables, huge sunbursts of corn and squash and tomatoes. I remember the pale green, bumpy Hubbard squashes and wondered what they tasted like. I still don't know. But Grandmother's Squash Bake is a good recipe made with acorn squash. A note. It says to press the squash flesh through a colander. I just kind of minced it with a fork and it turned out fine.
Grandmother's Squash Bake
1/2 cup butter
1 large Hubbard Squash, butternut squash or two large acorn squash
1/2 cup heavy cream, scalded
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. Melt three tablespoons of the butter. Cut the squash in half and remove the seeds. Cut squash in pieces if very large. Place in a roasting pan. Brush cut surfaces with the melted butter. Bake forty minutes, or until tender.
3. Scoop out the squash flesh and press through a colander. Beat pulp with the remaining ingredients and turn into a greased baking dish or casserole. Bake 20 minutes or until top is browned.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Escarole Soup
Escarole, I remember from my childhood, as being some sort of lettuce. So, no doubt, when I saw this recipe, I thought, What ho? Lettuce soup? No thanks. Think of it as more of a green, like turnip greens or spinach, or any other green leafy item one might put in soup. This recipe has two parts. First, you make the soup stock. This takes five pounds of marrow bones and a couple of hours of boiling.
I got the marrow bones at Whole Foods. I don't like going there because I always spend way more money there than I intend. I go in for three items and end up spending $75. because I decide I simply must have some of their $10 a pound St. Andre cheese. Five pounds of marrow bones ran approximately $18. They sat in the refrigerator for five days until I decided I had better do something with them before I had $18 worth of spoiled marrow bones.
The broth is pretty easy to make. You throw the bones and a can of tomato paste into your largest pot along with 8 cups of water and boil. The recipe makes no mention of this but a health conscious person will skim the not inconsiderable amount of fat off the broth before he/she makes the soup. Marrow is, after all, fat. Skimming the fat involves taking the bones out of the pot and putting the pot in the refrigerator over night. I left the cooling bones in a bowl on the counter, where my son the lawyer inspected them the next day and inquired, "Is there a reason for this?"
I made the soup in two shifts because I planned to finish it the next night, but when the next night rolled around I sank wearily into a chair and plumped for take out. My husband actually made the soup the next night after I got as far as chopping up the escarole and staggered into a chair, moaning with pain. It's very tasty, a good cold weather soup.
Escarole Soup
5 pounds soup bones with marrow
1 six ounce can tomato paste
8 cups water
3 1/2 teaspoons salt
3/4 pound ground chuck
1/4 teaspoon finely chopped garlic
1 egg lightly beaten
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1 pound chopped escarole
1 cup diced onions
1 cup diced celery
1 cup diced potatoes
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1. Place the soup bones, tomato paste, water and two and one half teaspoons of the salt in a four quart saucepan. Cover and simmer one hour.
2. Combine the chuck, garlic, egg, pepper, cheese and remaining salt. Shape into three-quarter inch balls. Add to hot soup and simmer ten minutes longer. Add the vegetables and simmer thirty minutes longer or until vegetables are tender. Remove bones and serve soup hot with chopped parsley sprinkled over the top.
Makes eight servings.
I got the marrow bones at Whole Foods. I don't like going there because I always spend way more money there than I intend. I go in for three items and end up spending $75. because I decide I simply must have some of their $10 a pound St. Andre cheese. Five pounds of marrow bones ran approximately $18. They sat in the refrigerator for five days until I decided I had better do something with them before I had $18 worth of spoiled marrow bones.
The broth is pretty easy to make. You throw the bones and a can of tomato paste into your largest pot along with 8 cups of water and boil. The recipe makes no mention of this but a health conscious person will skim the not inconsiderable amount of fat off the broth before he/she makes the soup. Marrow is, after all, fat. Skimming the fat involves taking the bones out of the pot and putting the pot in the refrigerator over night. I left the cooling bones in a bowl on the counter, where my son the lawyer inspected them the next day and inquired, "Is there a reason for this?"
I made the soup in two shifts because I planned to finish it the next night, but when the next night rolled around I sank wearily into a chair and plumped for take out. My husband actually made the soup the next night after I got as far as chopping up the escarole and staggered into a chair, moaning with pain. It's very tasty, a good cold weather soup.
Escarole Soup
5 pounds soup bones with marrow
1 six ounce can tomato paste
8 cups water
3 1/2 teaspoons salt
3/4 pound ground chuck
1/4 teaspoon finely chopped garlic
1 egg lightly beaten
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1 pound chopped escarole
1 cup diced onions
1 cup diced celery
1 cup diced potatoes
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1. Place the soup bones, tomato paste, water and two and one half teaspoons of the salt in a four quart saucepan. Cover and simmer one hour.
2. Combine the chuck, garlic, egg, pepper, cheese and remaining salt. Shape into three-quarter inch balls. Add to hot soup and simmer ten minutes longer. Add the vegetables and simmer thirty minutes longer or until vegetables are tender. Remove bones and serve soup hot with chopped parsley sprinkled over the top.
Makes eight servings.
Sour Cream Pie
This pie actually is, in the words of the cliche, as easy as pie. It has a graham cracker crust, which the recipe says make from scratch, and I say, hell, no, buy it at the store. Aside from the crust, it has four ingredients. Mix it, pour it, bake for five minutes, and chill it. Dessert done. This was the last dish we had at the dinner party back on October 2.
The energy level around here is at new lows. I alternate between walking without the cane, and hobbling on it like a grandma. One minute, I feel fine, and the next, I'm clinging to the walls in horrible pain. No one seems to have any idea what's going on here. I probably need to go to the pool more. I haven't been for two weeks, since last weekend we went to Boston to see my New York cousin's sister, and hang out. The last time I saw my doctor, he said I should go to the gym six to seven times a week. I nodded wearily, refraining from pointing out that I already was getting up at 5:30 and going to bed at 11:30 without having any opportunity to go to the gym.
My husband, who was very good about taking up the slack when I first got hurt, contracted a cold with a hacking cough that makes everyone around him recoil in horror. So things like cooking, cleaning and even picking up things off the floor have fallen by the wayside.
But the dinner party worked out fine, thanks to the maid service, and this dessert is definitely a keeper.
Sour Cream Pie
1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 cup plus one teaspoon sugar
1/4 pound cream cheese
1 cup sour cream
1 cup blueberries
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine the cracker crumbs, butter and one-quarter cup of the sugar. Line a nine-inch pie plate with the mixture and press down firmly. Bake eight to ten minutes, or until lightly browned.
3. Mix together the cream cheese, sour cream and one-quarter cup of the remaining sugar. Pour into pie shell. Top with blueberries and sprinkle with remaining sugar. Bake five minutes. Cool and chill. Makes six servings.
The energy level around here is at new lows. I alternate between walking without the cane, and hobbling on it like a grandma. One minute, I feel fine, and the next, I'm clinging to the walls in horrible pain. No one seems to have any idea what's going on here. I probably need to go to the pool more. I haven't been for two weeks, since last weekend we went to Boston to see my New York cousin's sister, and hang out. The last time I saw my doctor, he said I should go to the gym six to seven times a week. I nodded wearily, refraining from pointing out that I already was getting up at 5:30 and going to bed at 11:30 without having any opportunity to go to the gym.
My husband, who was very good about taking up the slack when I first got hurt, contracted a cold with a hacking cough that makes everyone around him recoil in horror. So things like cooking, cleaning and even picking up things off the floor have fallen by the wayside.
But the dinner party worked out fine, thanks to the maid service, and this dessert is definitely a keeper.
Sour Cream Pie
1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 cup plus one teaspoon sugar
1/4 pound cream cheese
1 cup sour cream
1 cup blueberries
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine the cracker crumbs, butter and one-quarter cup of the sugar. Line a nine-inch pie plate with the mixture and press down firmly. Bake eight to ten minutes, or until lightly browned.
3. Mix together the cream cheese, sour cream and one-quarter cup of the remaining sugar. Pour into pie shell. Top with blueberries and sprinkle with remaining sugar. Bake five minutes. Cool and chill. Makes six servings.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Tossed Salad with Honey Dressing
This is one of those surprisingly good recipes. I don't exactly expect some of these to be bad, but when the ingredients are what I would call peculiar, such as honey in salad dressing, I am surprised when I get a burst of flavor in my mouth. We made this for the dinner party, back on October 2, which just goes to show how backed up this blog is. Part of the blame can be laid at the feet of the baseball playoffs. I almost never watch TV. However, when the baseball playoffs start, I park myself in front of the television for at least an hour a night. I rarely have the time or patience to watch an entire game., but I often watch a couple of innings.
Because of its assortment of vegetables, this is a colorful, crunchy salad. The honey blends with the oil and vinegar and does one of those things that Tweeter feed chefs try to replicate.
Tossed Salad with Honey Dressing
Salad
1 medium-size head leaf lettuce or romaine lettuce, washed, drained and crisped
1/4 head red cabbage, finely shredded
1 cucumber, peeled and thinly sliced
1 bunch scallions, including some green part chopped
1/3 cup finely diced celery
1/3 cup finely diced carrot
1/2 clove garlic finely chopped
1 teaspoon oregano
1 tablespoon finely grated onion
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Honey dressing
1/2 cup oil
1/4 cup vinegar
1/4 cup honey
1. To prepare salad, break the lettuce into a salad bowl. Add the cabbage, cucumber, scallions, celery, and carrot. Toss.
2. Sprinkle with the garlic, oregano, grated onion, salt and pepper.
3. To prepare honey dressing, combine the oil, vinegar and honey. Mix well. Pour over salad and toss.
Serves 8.
Because of its assortment of vegetables, this is a colorful, crunchy salad. The honey blends with the oil and vinegar and does one of those things that Tweeter feed chefs try to replicate.
Tossed Salad with Honey Dressing
Salad
1 medium-size head leaf lettuce or romaine lettuce, washed, drained and crisped
1/4 head red cabbage, finely shredded
1 cucumber, peeled and thinly sliced
1 bunch scallions, including some green part chopped
1/3 cup finely diced celery
1/3 cup finely diced carrot
1/2 clove garlic finely chopped
1 teaspoon oregano
1 tablespoon finely grated onion
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Honey dressing
1/2 cup oil
1/4 cup vinegar
1/4 cup honey
1. To prepare salad, break the lettuce into a salad bowl. Add the cabbage, cucumber, scallions, celery, and carrot. Toss.
2. Sprinkle with the garlic, oregano, grated onion, salt and pepper.
3. To prepare honey dressing, combine the oil, vinegar and honey. Mix well. Pour over salad and toss.
Serves 8.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Crab-Stuffed Chicken
This is unbelievably good. When it was cooking, our mouths were all watering. Son the lawyer, who had a date with his fiancee and the Notre Dame-Boston College game, was sorry he couldn't stay and eat with us.
I think it must have been the sherry. When I was 22 I went to Europe for six months. I learned various things, including not to shoot one's mouth off in a letter to one's olders and betters, because one will never hear the end of it. One of the best things I learned in Madrid in a whole series of little bars around the Plaza Mayor was to drink sherry. My mother used to put sherry in soup and other things. I remember one Christmas Eve when the adults had Lobster Thermadore. We could smell the sherry in the sauce. The sherry gave a wonderful rich smell to the sauce.
The title of the recipe is somewhat misleading. I'm always complaining about the names of these recipes. Since it involves chicken quarters, the chicken is not stuffed. It's actually chicken lying in a bed of crab stuffing. Those of you who think stuffing is complicated and messy, think no more. Just make the stuffing, bake the chicken for 35 minutes, then fill the pan with stuffing and put the chicken on top.
This seems to be a recipe from the days when Nature's Bounty really was nature's bounty. Crabs filled the Chesapeake Bay. If you wanted to try a new recipe, you threw out the crab pot at the end of the dock, and hoisted it a couple of hours later, full of struggling crabs. Crab was cheap. Well, I don't know if it's a result of the BP oil spill or what, but crab is not cheap. It's mindblowing to realize that one has dropped $20 on the stuffing for dinner. Makes me feel like Daddy Warbucks.
This calls for two chickens to feed four people. The cookbook says "two and a half to three pound chickens." That was before chickens started pumping iron and taking steroids to look like Mark McGuire. The smallest chicken available was five pounds, a young chicken. So two of today's chickens are plenty to feed six people.
This has to bake for 70 minutes, so plan accordingly.
Crab Stuffed Chicken
Chicken
1/4 cup plus two tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons Hungarian sweet paprika
2 two-and-one-half-pound to three-pound chickens, split
1/2 pound of mushrooms, sliced
1/4 cup dry sherry1/8 ta
1/4 cup catchup
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
Stuffing
3 slices stale white bread cut into very small pieces (A small box of Stovetop Stuffing did nicely, since I would have had to have bought white bread and let it sit around for weeks in order for it to get stale.)
5 tablespoons heavy cream
12 ounces crab meat, picked over to remove bits of shell and cartilage
1/4 cup melted butter
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon salt (Don't use so much. It doesn't need it.)
1 teaspoon prepared mustard
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/4 teaspoon marjoram
1/4 teaspoon sage
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. To prepare chicken, mix two tablespoons of the butter with the salt, pepper and paprika. Rub the chicken pieces with the mixture and place, skin side up, wings tuckedunder, in a single layer in a baking dish. Bake 35 minutes.
3. Heat remaining butter and saute the mushrooms in it. Add the sherry, catchup and parsley. Soon one tablespoon butter mixture over each chicken half and bake 10 minutes longer.
4. Meanwhile, to prepare stuffing, combine the ingredients in a bowl.
5. Turn chicken pieces over and stuff with crab stuffing. Spoon remaining butter mushroom mixture over all and bake thirty minutes lonver, or until chicken is tender.
I think it must have been the sherry. When I was 22 I went to Europe for six months. I learned various things, including not to shoot one's mouth off in a letter to one's olders and betters, because one will never hear the end of it. One of the best things I learned in Madrid in a whole series of little bars around the Plaza Mayor was to drink sherry. My mother used to put sherry in soup and other things. I remember one Christmas Eve when the adults had Lobster Thermadore. We could smell the sherry in the sauce. The sherry gave a wonderful rich smell to the sauce.
The title of the recipe is somewhat misleading. I'm always complaining about the names of these recipes. Since it involves chicken quarters, the chicken is not stuffed. It's actually chicken lying in a bed of crab stuffing. Those of you who think stuffing is complicated and messy, think no more. Just make the stuffing, bake the chicken for 35 minutes, then fill the pan with stuffing and put the chicken on top.
This seems to be a recipe from the days when Nature's Bounty really was nature's bounty. Crabs filled the Chesapeake Bay. If you wanted to try a new recipe, you threw out the crab pot at the end of the dock, and hoisted it a couple of hours later, full of struggling crabs. Crab was cheap. Well, I don't know if it's a result of the BP oil spill or what, but crab is not cheap. It's mindblowing to realize that one has dropped $20 on the stuffing for dinner. Makes me feel like Daddy Warbucks.
This calls for two chickens to feed four people. The cookbook says "two and a half to three pound chickens." That was before chickens started pumping iron and taking steroids to look like Mark McGuire. The smallest chicken available was five pounds, a young chicken. So two of today's chickens are plenty to feed six people.
This has to bake for 70 minutes, so plan accordingly.
Crab Stuffed Chicken
Chicken
1/4 cup plus two tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons Hungarian sweet paprika
2 two-and-one-half-pound to three-pound chickens, split
1/2 pound of mushrooms, sliced
1/4 cup dry sherry1/8 ta
1/4 cup catchup
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
Stuffing
3 slices stale white bread cut into very small pieces (A small box of Stovetop Stuffing did nicely, since I would have had to have bought white bread and let it sit around for weeks in order for it to get stale.)
5 tablespoons heavy cream
12 ounces crab meat, picked over to remove bits of shell and cartilage
1/4 cup melted butter
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon salt (Don't use so much. It doesn't need it.)
1 teaspoon prepared mustard
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/4 teaspoon marjoram
1/4 teaspoon sage
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. To prepare chicken, mix two tablespoons of the butter with the salt, pepper and paprika. Rub the chicken pieces with the mixture and place, skin side up, wings tuckedunder, in a single layer in a baking dish. Bake 35 minutes.
3. Heat remaining butter and saute the mushrooms in it. Add the sherry, catchup and parsley. Soon one tablespoon butter mixture over each chicken half and bake 10 minutes longer.
4. Meanwhile, to prepare stuffing, combine the ingredients in a bowl.
5. Turn chicken pieces over and stuff with crab stuffing. Spoon remaining butter mushroom mixture over all and bake thirty minutes lonver, or until chicken is tender.
Curried Flan Appetizer
On Saturday, we had an all cookbook dinner party. It was excellent. And, surprisingly, it contained a minimum amount of shellfish. It's almost getting to the point where all there is left to cook is shellfish, but not quite. The party was for my old friend Mindi, who used to teach at my school. I probably had lunch with her every day for four years. Then she left to work part-time, and, except for ESL meetings I never see her. So, finally, we got coordinated, her with her babysitter, and me with a dinner. Two very old friends from college, David and Marilyn, came too. We talked about time travel and trends in forensic science and Harry Potter. It was great.
Curried Flan is not what at least I would think of as flan. To me, flan is a caramel dessert. This is sort of curried egg salad pate. Spread on pumpernickel it's delicious, can be made in advance and altogether is something you should try, unless, of course, you hate egg salad.
I made this Friday evening after dinner, to appease my husband's need for organization and having things ready ahead of time. I advise putting the onion, celery, broth gelatin mixture in a metal bowl and cooling it in a bowl of ice. Otherwise, it takes forever to cool, and just jells along the edges.
Curried Flan Appetizer
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 rib celery, finely chopped
1 1/2 tablespoon butter
2 to 3 teaspoons curry powder, or to taste
5 teaspoons unflavored gelatin (I think this is two packets.)
2 1/4 cups chicken broth
1 cup mayonnaise
4 hardcooked eggs, chopped
1/4 cup chopped salted almonds (optional)
2 tablespoons chopped parsley (optional)
Pumpernickel or crackers
1. Saute the onion and celery in the butter until tender. Sprinkle with the curry powder and cook, stirring, one minute.
2. Soak the gelatin in one-quarter cup of the broth. Heat the remaining broth to boiling, add softened gelatin and stir into the curry mixture. Bring to a boil, stirring.
3. Cool and chill the mixture until it begins to thicken. Blend in the mayonnaise, eggs, almonds and parsley if desired. Pour mixture into a cold wet mold and chill until firm. Unmold and serve as spread with pumpernickel or crackers.
Makes one dozen servings.
Curried Flan is not what at least I would think of as flan. To me, flan is a caramel dessert. This is sort of curried egg salad pate. Spread on pumpernickel it's delicious, can be made in advance and altogether is something you should try, unless, of course, you hate egg salad.
I made this Friday evening after dinner, to appease my husband's need for organization and having things ready ahead of time. I advise putting the onion, celery, broth gelatin mixture in a metal bowl and cooling it in a bowl of ice. Otherwise, it takes forever to cool, and just jells along the edges.
Curried Flan Appetizer
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 rib celery, finely chopped
1 1/2 tablespoon butter
2 to 3 teaspoons curry powder, or to taste
5 teaspoons unflavored gelatin (I think this is two packets.)
2 1/4 cups chicken broth
1 cup mayonnaise
4 hardcooked eggs, chopped
1/4 cup chopped salted almonds (optional)
2 tablespoons chopped parsley (optional)
Pumpernickel or crackers
1. Saute the onion and celery in the butter until tender. Sprinkle with the curry powder and cook, stirring, one minute.
2. Soak the gelatin in one-quarter cup of the broth. Heat the remaining broth to boiling, add softened gelatin and stir into the curry mixture. Bring to a boil, stirring.
3. Cool and chill the mixture until it begins to thicken. Blend in the mayonnaise, eggs, almonds and parsley if desired. Pour mixture into a cold wet mold and chill until firm. Unmold and serve as spread with pumpernickel or crackers.
Makes one dozen servings.
Friday, October 1, 2010
Cold Chicken Breasts
On Tuesday, I bethought myself of all the leftover chicken breasts from the clambake. Out of consideration for my husband, who get home around 7:30 when he's early and more like 8:00 or 8:30 the rest of the time, I decided I could start cooking again. I wrote him a note asking him to boil the chicken breasts and save the water, because I hadn't exactly read the recipe for this dish, but I suspected it had jellied chicken broth on it.
I got home from physical therapy and found son-the-lawyer who had been asking me to help him figure out how to clean his room. I recalled a co-worker who once suggested I clean off my desk with a flamethrower. In son's case, an earth mover would be more to the purpose. Therapy always leaves me wrung out and unable to walk, so I staggered upstairs, collapsed in his desk chair and spent an hour saying, "What about this? What about that?" At the end of the hour, his rug had reappeared and his desktop had nothing but the box containing a leather briefcase he received for graduation. Two enormous bags of assorted trash had been hauled out to the alley. It was nothing short of a miracle.
Revived by having two bedrooms that looked like persons lived in them, rather than the more unruly faction of the Russian Army, I went back downstairs to attack this recipe. Once I looked at it, I was relieved to learn that the chicken breasts were coated with mayonnaise mixed with gelatin, not jellied chicken broth, and that the recipe could actually be completed and eaten for that night's dinner, not the following night's.
This is a dish that could well be served at a summer dinner party. The cook is supposed to decorate the chicken with all manner of bits, artfully placed to look like flowers, etc. I sliced rounds of a leak and plunked them in a row on top of the coated chicken breast and let that be the end of it. One of these days, I'm going to have to buckle down and apply myself to food decoration. Yeah.
Starting with chilled chicken breasts, I was able to finish this in less than an hour, stick it in the refrigerator to chill some more, and eat it in about an hour and a half. You make the mayonnaise in the blender, add gelatin, and spread it on the chicken. Decorate with sliced olives, leaks, truffles, etc, and voila. It's probably the last of the hot weather dishes for this year.
Cold Chicken Breasts
3 whole chicken breasts, halved
1 carrot, diced
1 rib celery, diced
salt
10 peppercorns
1 bay leaf
3 sprigs parsley
1 onion, chopped
1/2 teaspoon thyme
freshly ground pepper
2 egg yolks
1 tablespoon tarragon vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
cayenne pepper
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
1/4 cup heavy cream
ripe olives or truffles
pimentos
Green leek leaves
4 tomatoes, peeled and sliced
one red onion, sliced and separated into rings
1/3 cup French dressing
watercress
1. Day before, place the chicken breasts in a large skillet with the carrot, celery, one teaspoon salt, the peppercorns, bay leaf, parsley onion and thyme. Add water to three-quarters cover the breasts.
2. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer very gently ten to fifteen minutes, or until chicken is tender. Chill overnight, still in the broth.
3. Next day, remove skin and bones from breasts, but keep meat in whole pieces. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Place the egg yolks, vinegar, lemon juice, mustard and salt and cayenne to taste in an electric blender with one quarter cup of olive oil. Blend at high speed, gradually adding remaining olive oil and the vegetable oil in a continuous stream.
5. Soak the gelatin in one-quarter cup water and dissolve while stirring over gentle heat. Add gelatin to mayonnaise in blender and continue blending while adding enough cream to give a spreading consistency.
6. With a spatula or spoon, coat chicken pieces with mayonnaise and decorate immediately with olives or truffles, pimentos and leek greens. Chill.
7. Combine the tomatoes and onion rings. Pour the dressing over and chill.
8. To serve, place tomato mixture on a platter and top with chicken breasts. Garnish with watercress.
Makes 6 servings.
I got home from physical therapy and found son-the-lawyer who had been asking me to help him figure out how to clean his room. I recalled a co-worker who once suggested I clean off my desk with a flamethrower. In son's case, an earth mover would be more to the purpose. Therapy always leaves me wrung out and unable to walk, so I staggered upstairs, collapsed in his desk chair and spent an hour saying, "What about this? What about that?" At the end of the hour, his rug had reappeared and his desktop had nothing but the box containing a leather briefcase he received for graduation. Two enormous bags of assorted trash had been hauled out to the alley. It was nothing short of a miracle.
Revived by having two bedrooms that looked like persons lived in them, rather than the more unruly faction of the Russian Army, I went back downstairs to attack this recipe. Once I looked at it, I was relieved to learn that the chicken breasts were coated with mayonnaise mixed with gelatin, not jellied chicken broth, and that the recipe could actually be completed and eaten for that night's dinner, not the following night's.
This is a dish that could well be served at a summer dinner party. The cook is supposed to decorate the chicken with all manner of bits, artfully placed to look like flowers, etc. I sliced rounds of a leak and plunked them in a row on top of the coated chicken breast and let that be the end of it. One of these days, I'm going to have to buckle down and apply myself to food decoration. Yeah.
Starting with chilled chicken breasts, I was able to finish this in less than an hour, stick it in the refrigerator to chill some more, and eat it in about an hour and a half. You make the mayonnaise in the blender, add gelatin, and spread it on the chicken. Decorate with sliced olives, leaks, truffles, etc, and voila. It's probably the last of the hot weather dishes for this year.
Cold Chicken Breasts
3 whole chicken breasts, halved
1 carrot, diced
1 rib celery, diced
salt
10 peppercorns
1 bay leaf
3 sprigs parsley
1 onion, chopped
1/2 teaspoon thyme
freshly ground pepper
2 egg yolks
1 tablespoon tarragon vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
cayenne pepper
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
1/4 cup heavy cream
ripe olives or truffles
pimentos
Green leek leaves
4 tomatoes, peeled and sliced
one red onion, sliced and separated into rings
1/3 cup French dressing
watercress
1. Day before, place the chicken breasts in a large skillet with the carrot, celery, one teaspoon salt, the peppercorns, bay leaf, parsley onion and thyme. Add water to three-quarters cover the breasts.
2. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer very gently ten to fifteen minutes, or until chicken is tender. Chill overnight, still in the broth.
3. Next day, remove skin and bones from breasts, but keep meat in whole pieces. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Place the egg yolks, vinegar, lemon juice, mustard and salt and cayenne to taste in an electric blender with one quarter cup of olive oil. Blend at high speed, gradually adding remaining olive oil and the vegetable oil in a continuous stream.
5. Soak the gelatin in one-quarter cup water and dissolve while stirring over gentle heat. Add gelatin to mayonnaise in blender and continue blending while adding enough cream to give a spreading consistency.
6. With a spatula or spoon, coat chicken pieces with mayonnaise and decorate immediately with olives or truffles, pimentos and leek greens. Chill.
7. Combine the tomatoes and onion rings. Pour the dressing over and chill.
8. To serve, place tomato mixture on a platter and top with chicken breasts. Garnish with watercress.
Makes 6 servings.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)