Right now I'm making broth from leftover roast chicken with vegetables. Recipe to follow. I have developed a ritual of using every last scrap of a leftover roast. Whether crock pot beef or venison roast or roast turkey or chicken, I use the pan drippings, every bone, and every vegetable.
I had 2 legs and 2 thighs leftover from the scrawny chicken roast from last Thursday night. Just a bit of meat, maybe 1/4#, so I just froze it. I also froze the potatoes. I'm saving the delectable roasted onions, red peppers, and artichoke hearts for an exquisite puree. I'll top some roasted meat or potatoes with it. The bones, roasted garlic, and every bit of chicken fat I could find were tossed in a pot with water to cover. I boiled it quickly and simmered about an hour. A touch of salt, and I have a nice thick broth.
You don't have to have raw chicken to make broth. Cooked meats make great broth, too. Steak scraps, roast bones, leftover vegetables, fish trimmings, a turkey carcass, all these are rich with hidden flavor only revealed in a boiling water bath.
If you are poor, like me, you learn to make flavor when and where you can. Rice and mashed potatoes both benefit from chicken broth added either in place of water or as a finishing touch. Anytime you want to bring out the flavor of a stir fry, just add a cup of chicken broth a few minutes before serving. Reduce to 1/4 and you'll find it brightens the final flavor of all other ingredients. Try chicken broth when you make a vegetable side dish. After blanching the frozen or fresh vegetable in boiling water, simmer in a warm pot of equal parts salted chicken broth and water.
I've developed a habit of saving meat trimmings and making broth on a back burner while I'm preparing another meal. Freezes well. Thaws quickly. And you can always boil your zipper bag of frozen broth in a pot of water to thaw it even more quickly, if you're in a hurry.
If you want an even richer flavor, make stock, which is a deeply concentrated broth made with vegetables and herbs, as well as bones. Try using a pot full of leftover bones, a carrot or two, some celery, half of an onion, and garlic. Add a sprig of thyme, or some dried thyme and black pepper in an improvised cheesecloth bag. Salt to taste. The key is to fill the pot with ingredients, boil quickly, and simmer for a long time. After about an hour, drain the broth and press the colander to extract as much extra liquid a possible. Put the broth back on the burner and simmer for an hour or so. You'll notice the broth deepening in complexity as it concentrates.
If you'll simmer a leftover turkey carcass for about an hour on very low heat, the first batch of broth will always be worthy of being called stock. So rich and mellow. Then, take the same carcass and simmer for another hour. This time, you'll have a thinner broth. Also delicious and very useful.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Friday, February 13, 2009
Arrabiata Sauce
A wonderful quick, weeknight dish. My interpretation of a fiery Italian classic. A spicy and tart departure from my usual sicilian style basic tomato sauce with garlic. Best with linguine, al dente.
1 lg. can whole tomatoes, liquid/juice reserved
2 tbsp. evoo, or butter/oil mix
salt, cr. bl. pepper, 1/4 tsp. crushed fennel seeds, dash crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 med. onion, diced
3 cl. garlic, pressed, minced
1/4 c. balsamic vinegar
Options:
1/2 # leftover sauteed chicken cutlets, chopped; 1 small can sliced olives; 1 small can marinated artichoke hearts
In hot oil, over med. heat, saute salted garlic and onion with fennel, bl. pepper, and red pepper for 4-5 minutes until translucent. Deglaze the pan with the vinegar. Quickly scrape the fond from the pan. Add the tomato juice and stir until reduced to 1/2. Add the tomatoes and have a potato masher ready. Mash the tomatoes in the skillet (it is handy to cut open the canned tomatoes first to avoid messy squirts in the pan). Salt to taste. Reduce heat 1 notch and simmer about 20 minutes. Add chicken or other optional ingredients, if using. Cook another 5 minutes. Serve over linguine with fresh grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or better yet Pecorino-Romano.
1 lg. can whole tomatoes, liquid/juice reserved
2 tbsp. evoo, or butter/oil mix
salt, cr. bl. pepper, 1/4 tsp. crushed fennel seeds, dash crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 med. onion, diced
3 cl. garlic, pressed, minced
1/4 c. balsamic vinegar
Options:
1/2 # leftover sauteed chicken cutlets, chopped; 1 small can sliced olives; 1 small can marinated artichoke hearts
In hot oil, over med. heat, saute salted garlic and onion with fennel, bl. pepper, and red pepper for 4-5 minutes until translucent. Deglaze the pan with the vinegar. Quickly scrape the fond from the pan. Add the tomato juice and stir until reduced to 1/2. Add the tomatoes and have a potato masher ready. Mash the tomatoes in the skillet (it is handy to cut open the canned tomatoes first to avoid messy squirts in the pan). Salt to taste. Reduce heat 1 notch and simmer about 20 minutes. Add chicken or other optional ingredients, if using. Cook another 5 minutes. Serve over linguine with fresh grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or better yet Pecorino-Romano.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Chicken Tortilla Soup
Tortilla soup is an interpretive dish. You make it the way you like it. I like it as an herbal, brothy concoction on cold winter days. A traditional way to use up stale or surplus tortillas.
I'm not a practitioner of the principles of the Slow Food movement, but I do like to take time and allow complexity and depth of flavor to develop in my food. In my opinion, and with little exception, a soup that hasn't had at least 2 hours to simmer isn't worth eating. Tortilla soup should be an all day or next day dish. The nice thing about soup is you can leave it alone for long periods of time and it is the better for it.
According to Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen, there are 4 basic types of roux: from light brown roux to dark brown roux. I prefer a light brown roux in this recipe. That means that the roux is just about ready when the lumps of flour melt into the butter.
Next is the technique for making corn tortilla strips. I like Rick Bayless' method for making baked tortilla chips as found in Mexico: One Plate At A Time. This is to coat tortillas with oil and bake them in a hot oven. Pour a thin stream of oil over a cookie sheet full of wedge-shaped or strip-shaped tortilla chips. Toss them gently to coat all sides. Bake in a preheated oven at 400-425, depending on your oven, for 5-8 minutes until just crispy. They will finish crisping for about 2 minutes after you take them out. Make sure they are evenly spaced on the cookie sheet. It is okay if you layer them about 2 deep, as long as none of them is completely covered. You will later use these in the bottom of each bowl of soup.
10 corn tortillas, sliced in long, thin strips, baked crisp
1 c. leftover chicken, shredded or diced
or 1/2 lb. chicken breast meat, sauteed in butter, shredded
2+ q. chicken or turkey stock
1 qt. water
2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
3 tbsp. flour
3 tbsp. butter, evoo, lard, bacon grease, etc.
2 lg. carrots, diced
1 med. onion, sliced
5 cl. garlic, pressed, minced
1/4 c. cilantro or parsley, minced
1 stalk celery, diced
1 poblano chile, deseeded, reconstituted in warm water, chopped
spice mixture: bl. pepper to taste, 2 tbsp. cumin seeds, dash of
curry powder, 5 allspice berries, pinch cinnamon, 1 tbsp.
paprika; combine and crush in a mortar with pestle
2 tbsp. total minced fresh basil and dried oregano
Warm the chicken broth and water in a pan to the side of your Dutch oven. In the Dutch oven, melt the butter over med.-lo to med. heat. Add the flour and stir vigorously until flour is dissolved. Continue to cook about 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Add the spice mixture and stir about 30 seconds. This is called "blooming" the spices, an Indian technique. Add the diced vegetables and about 1 tbsp. salt and cook until just tender, stirring often, about 3-4 minutes. Add chicken, stir. Add the apple cider vinegar to deglaze the pan and reconstitute the roux, which will now be clinging with the spices to the vegetables. Scrape vigourously to break loose the flavorful fond that hardens on the bottomof the pan. Pour in the broth and water mixture. Bring to the boil quickly, turning up the heat to med.- hi if necessary. Stir frequently until the soup boils. Lower heat to med.-lo or even lower and simmer for a minimum of 3 hours and up to 8 hours, uncovered.
To serve, place several tortilla strips in each serving bowl and ladle hot soup over them. Garnish with lime wedges, fresh onion, white farmer's cheese, and fresh cilantro.
I'm not a practitioner of the principles of the Slow Food movement, but I do like to take time and allow complexity and depth of flavor to develop in my food. In my opinion, and with little exception, a soup that hasn't had at least 2 hours to simmer isn't worth eating. Tortilla soup should be an all day or next day dish. The nice thing about soup is you can leave it alone for long periods of time and it is the better for it.
As I previously mentioned, I had 1/2# leftover sauteed chicken breast strips that I needed to put to use. I had a hankerin' for tortilla soup, so I pulled out a 2 quart bag of turkey stock. Which reminds me, I need to write on broth and stock making. Never let leftover chicken scraps go to waste!
I always start my soups with a roux. A roux is a butter and flour thickener that adds a layer to a soup's flavor. Making roux is presumeably a French technique probably as old a flour itself. Use equal portions of butter and flour. Melt the butter over med.-lo to med. heat. Keep it on med.-lo until you get some practice. Add the flour and stir. You can whisk if you like.According to Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen, there are 4 basic types of roux: from light brown roux to dark brown roux. I prefer a light brown roux in this recipe. That means that the roux is just about ready when the lumps of flour melt into the butter.
Next is the technique for making corn tortilla strips. I like Rick Bayless' method for making baked tortilla chips as found in Mexico: One Plate At A Time. This is to coat tortillas with oil and bake them in a hot oven. Pour a thin stream of oil over a cookie sheet full of wedge-shaped or strip-shaped tortilla chips. Toss them gently to coat all sides. Bake in a preheated oven at 400-425, depending on your oven, for 5-8 minutes until just crispy. They will finish crisping for about 2 minutes after you take them out. Make sure they are evenly spaced on the cookie sheet. It is okay if you layer them about 2 deep, as long as none of them is completely covered. You will later use these in the bottom of each bowl of soup.
10 corn tortillas, sliced in long, thin strips, baked crisp
1 c. leftover chicken, shredded or diced
or 1/2 lb. chicken breast meat, sauteed in butter, shredded
2+ q. chicken or turkey stock
1 qt. water
2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
3 tbsp. flour
3 tbsp. butter, evoo, lard, bacon grease, etc.
2 lg. carrots, diced
1 med. onion, sliced
5 cl. garlic, pressed, minced
1/4 c. cilantro or parsley, minced
1 stalk celery, diced
1 poblano chile, deseeded, reconstituted in warm water, chopped
spice mixture: bl. pepper to taste, 2 tbsp. cumin seeds, dash of
curry powder, 5 allspice berries, pinch cinnamon, 1 tbsp.
paprika; combine and crush in a mortar with pestle
2 tbsp. total minced fresh basil and dried oregano
Warm the chicken broth and water in a pan to the side of your Dutch oven. In the Dutch oven, melt the butter over med.-lo to med. heat. Add the flour and stir vigorously until flour is dissolved. Continue to cook about 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Add the spice mixture and stir about 30 seconds. This is called "blooming" the spices, an Indian technique. Add the diced vegetables and about 1 tbsp. salt and cook until just tender, stirring often, about 3-4 minutes. Add chicken, stir. Add the apple cider vinegar to deglaze the pan and reconstitute the roux, which will now be clinging with the spices to the vegetables. Scrape vigourously to break loose the flavorful fond that hardens on the bottomof the pan. Pour in the broth and water mixture. Bring to the boil quickly, turning up the heat to med.- hi if necessary. Stir frequently until the soup boils. Lower heat to med.-lo or even lower and simmer for a minimum of 3 hours and up to 8 hours, uncovered.
To serve, place several tortilla strips in each serving bowl and ladle hot soup over them. Garnish with lime wedges, fresh onion, white farmer's cheese, and fresh cilantro.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
A Word About Chicken
One of the most common ways to purchase chicken is the chicken cutlet. The convenience of this cut, whether boneless breasts, breast tenderloins, breast strips, or boneless thigh meat often leads to the waste of an expensive piece of meat. Chicken can be used to add tremendous flavor and variety to a multitude (plethura! infinity! gazillion! way too many!) of dishes.
Rachel bought a 1# package of breast strips from the discounted meat section (a great way to stock up and save a bundle on meat at the same time). They were pre-cut strips that would work in any stir fry or pasta dish.
I found them ghastly, being the food snob that I am. I'd much rather butcher my own bird, or at least buy a whole chicken and cut it up myself. If I had my way, we'd all be raising our own "yard birds" from heritage breeds. But I don't have it my way, and Tyson is about the best that we can do on my paycheck. So I made lemonade from those lemons. Pasta arrabiata, to be exact. However, as is my custom, I felt the need to reserve 1/2# of the breast strips for another dish later.
The recipe will follow shortly, but I wanted to get across Leftover Principle no. 1: When preparing a dish or tinkering with a recipe: if you know you can get the same flavor using smaller quantities of certain ingredients, then make do with less.
I promise you, no one missed the extra 1/2# of chicken in the linguine arrabiata. And the sauce was simplified, thus allowing the tartness of my version of the vinegar-based sauce to shine through. Always a good idea when cooking Italian food.
Later on this week, I used the 1/2# of chicken to make about a gallon (or more) of chicken tortilla soup. It imparted a wonderful flavor when paired with the sofrito base, light brown roux, and turkey broth.
In essence, I was able to extend a $3.00 package of chicken breast strips to make 2 meals. True, I had to use other items to make those meals. However, the price of the meat, which often manages to eat up the grocery budget, was minimal. Thus saving us money.
Rachel bought a 1# package of breast strips from the discounted meat section (a great way to stock up and save a bundle on meat at the same time). They were pre-cut strips that would work in any stir fry or pasta dish.
I found them ghastly, being the food snob that I am. I'd much rather butcher my own bird, or at least buy a whole chicken and cut it up myself. If I had my way, we'd all be raising our own "yard birds" from heritage breeds. But I don't have it my way, and Tyson is about the best that we can do on my paycheck. So I made lemonade from those lemons. Pasta arrabiata, to be exact. However, as is my custom, I felt the need to reserve 1/2# of the breast strips for another dish later.
The recipe will follow shortly, but I wanted to get across Leftover Principle no. 1: When preparing a dish or tinkering with a recipe: if you know you can get the same flavor using smaller quantities of certain ingredients, then make do with less.
I promise you, no one missed the extra 1/2# of chicken in the linguine arrabiata. And the sauce was simplified, thus allowing the tartness of my version of the vinegar-based sauce to shine through. Always a good idea when cooking Italian food.
Later on this week, I used the 1/2# of chicken to make about a gallon (or more) of chicken tortilla soup. It imparted a wonderful flavor when paired with the sofrito base, light brown roux, and turkey broth.
In essence, I was able to extend a $3.00 package of chicken breast strips to make 2 meals. True, I had to use other items to make those meals. However, the price of the meat, which often manages to eat up the grocery budget, was minimal. Thus saving us money.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
