In some ways, this is my Southern take on Chicken Piccata. It involves chicken breasts that get pounded flat, and a sweet-and-sour sauce that sort of echoes capers, and mostly doesn't. It's awfully tasty, though. The pounded chicken is useful as a tenderizing technique in a number of recipes, so even if the topping throws you off or you don't have a local source of pepper jelly, try the chicken in recipes like chicken Parmesan (add grated Parmesan to the panko breading, and continue per the recipe). This is really versatile and always tasty, so don't be constrained to just this sauce for topping!
Pounded Chicken
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 eggs
1 cup flour
2 cups panko breading
1 tbsp fresh parsley, roughly chopped
4 tbsp olive oil for oiling the frying pan
Start about five hours before you actually intend to cook the dish. Take each of the three chicken breasts and using a sharp knife, cut in half lengthwise, parallel to the cutting surface. This should result in six thin breast-shaped cutlets: the top and bottom of each breast that's been halved. Wipe the cutting surface, and place a sheet of waxed paper large enough to hold both a top and a bottom cutlet on it. Add one breast (this means two pieces, a top and a bottom) to the waxed paper, and cover both top and bottom cutlets with another sheet of waxed paper. Using a meat-tenderizing hammer, pound the crap out of both cutlets. Really take it to them. The goal is to get them as thin as possible. This should result in one chicken breast becoming two very much thinner cutlets.Once you've done this to each of the chicken breasts (producing 6 cutlets), salt and pepper each cutlet then sit them back in the fridge for a few hours for the chicken to soak in the seasoning.
After several hours of letting the chicken just sit in salt-and-pepper seasoning having elapsed, it's time to actually make the recipe. Get out your friendly electric frying pan, and turn on the heat to somewhere between 350 and 375 degrees and add the 4 tbsp olive oil to prevent things from sticking. Make up three bowls of prep: a bowl of flour, a bowl of egg that's whipped enough to break up the yolks and combine the eggs somewhat homogenously, and a bowl of panko-and-parsley that's mixed by hand. Take your chicken out of the fridge, and dip each cutlet into first the flour until completely coated, then the egg, then the panko. The flour will stick to the raw chicken, the egg will stick to the flour, and the panko will stick to the egg. This produces a coating that will pan-fry to a crispy and satisfying coating. Cook the chicken for 5-7 minutes on each side in the oil at 350 degrees (refreshing the oil as necessary; the oil shouldn't be at all heavy with this one, just enough to keep it from sticking to the pan), and sit it aside on a plate that's lined with paper towels to soak up extra oil.
Pepper Jelly Sauce
3 tbsp butter
1 tbsp flour
1 small sweet onion (SWEET is the key word. Go for your Videlia or your Ming onions here. An ordinary white onion will need to be halved to fit this requirement)
3/4 tbsp fresh ground pepper (1/2 tbsp ground pepper if you can't do it fresh)
1 chile pepper, minced, seeds removed
1/2 cup white cooking wine
1 1/2 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup red pepper jelly (go for a sweet and sour jelly. Nothing too hot, but you want a bit of a kick to it. Too hot will ruin the recipe, so err on the side of sweet here).
Mince your sweet onion. Add it and the butter to a non-stick saute pan, and saute the onion until it's translucent and melting (about 8 minutes). If you need to, add more butter or olive oil to this stage until there's enough to cover the bottom of your saute pan in a thin layer.
Add the flour to the butter-onion mixture, and whisk until the flour is combined with the butter. Hopefully this will make a moderately thick sauce. You don't want a roux, but you also don't want something so thin that it's just butter. Go for a happy medium (I realize that's not terribly helpful, but this may be one of those things that can only be described by someone who's already made the darn recipe. I hope that 'happy medium between roux and butter sauce' is enough of an explanation to give a good idea).
Once the butter sauce has thickened mildly, add the ground pepper, chile pepper, wine, stock, and pepper jelly. Keep the mixture on medium heat, and stir often. The goal is to get the pepper jelly to melt. This will take about ten minutes, in my experience. Do not add stuff during this time; you want the pepper jelly to be completely melted into the sauce before you start making decisions about what to add to balance what you're tasting.
Once the pepper jelly is completely melted into the sauce (be patient, it may take longer than you think. That's not a bad thing.), taste the sauce. Add salt, pepper, or sugar to taste. If sauce is too thick, add chicken stock. Simmer until sauce is appropriately thick.
Combine:
Serve the breaded chicken and the pepper jelly sauce separately, so that your diners can add as much or as little sauce as they desire, to suit the level of spiciness that matches their taste. If you use good pepper jelly, it's not uncommon that the sauce here be gone long before the chicken disappears.
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Monday, January 12, 2009
Potato-Bell Pepper Frittata
'Frittata' is one of those words that's just a ton of fun to say. Frittata fri-tta-ta frittata. Anyway. From a busy cook's point of view, they're also easy to prepare and relatively fast. This makes the trusty frittata my go-to for situations where I'm cooking for people who aren't me, but I really don't have time for a huge fuss.
There are probably a million variations on this recipe, but this particular incarnation takes its cues from the fact that potatoes are maybe my single favorite food in the world. I love them in all their conventional guises, and quite a few rather unconventional ones. For example, I go nuts for calzones and pizzas with potatoes on them, which is actually where the inspiration for putting them in a frittata came from. I had my first potato calzone from a delivery place called DP Dough, which probably saved my life on a few occasions in college where I studied right through several mealtimes in a row and needed to find a place that delivered at three in the morning. And lo! there it was. Wonderful potato calzones to the rescue. With that kind of introduction to potatoes in strange places, I proceeded over the years to add them to everything from tortelini to tacos, often with delightful results. This is one such recipe.
Potato-Bell Pepper Frittata
1 lb russet potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1/2 inch cubes
2 red or orange bell peppers, julienned
2 cups onion, diced
1 tbsp dill
1 tbsp thyme
3 whole eggs
5 egg whites
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
(Optional) 1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese to top
(Optional) Salsa to garnish
In a medium skillet, add a dash of olive oil and the potatoes. Saute for 10 minutes over medium heat then add the onions and the bell peppers. Continue to saute until the onions are translucent and the peppers have intensified slightly in color.
In a large bowl, beat both whole eggs and egg whites together until fluffy. Add the dill, thyme, salt and pepper and beat again. Pour the egg mixture into the skillet with the potatoes and onions. Cook 5-7 minutes over medium-high heat. The goal is to cook the eggs through, so that the inversion step will be possible. If the frittata is not at least lightly cooked through (no runny whites on top), the next step will be nothing but a mess.
To flip the frittata, turn it out onto a plate, then slide it back into the skillet for another 5 minutes or so to finish it. This is the point that you would add the cheese in a layer on top to melt, if that's your thing. Serve with salsa for dipping. Frittatas actually are pretty good cold or reheated, so they'll keep for a few days in the fridge if needed.
Servings: 4-6
There are probably a million variations on this recipe, but this particular incarnation takes its cues from the fact that potatoes are maybe my single favorite food in the world. I love them in all their conventional guises, and quite a few rather unconventional ones. For example, I go nuts for calzones and pizzas with potatoes on them, which is actually where the inspiration for putting them in a frittata came from. I had my first potato calzone from a delivery place called DP Dough, which probably saved my life on a few occasions in college where I studied right through several mealtimes in a row and needed to find a place that delivered at three in the morning. And lo! there it was. Wonderful potato calzones to the rescue. With that kind of introduction to potatoes in strange places, I proceeded over the years to add them to everything from tortelini to tacos, often with delightful results. This is one such recipe.
Potato-Bell Pepper Frittata
1 lb russet potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1/2 inch cubes
2 red or orange bell peppers, julienned
2 cups onion, diced
1 tbsp dill
1 tbsp thyme
3 whole eggs
5 egg whites
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
(Optional) 1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese to top
(Optional) Salsa to garnish
In a medium skillet, add a dash of olive oil and the potatoes. Saute for 10 minutes over medium heat then add the onions and the bell peppers. Continue to saute until the onions are translucent and the peppers have intensified slightly in color.
In a large bowl, beat both whole eggs and egg whites together until fluffy. Add the dill, thyme, salt and pepper and beat again. Pour the egg mixture into the skillet with the potatoes and onions. Cook 5-7 minutes over medium-high heat. The goal is to cook the eggs through, so that the inversion step will be possible. If the frittata is not at least lightly cooked through (no runny whites on top), the next step will be nothing but a mess.
To flip the frittata, turn it out onto a plate, then slide it back into the skillet for another 5 minutes or so to finish it. This is the point that you would add the cheese in a layer on top to melt, if that's your thing. Serve with salsa for dipping. Frittatas actually are pretty good cold or reheated, so they'll keep for a few days in the fridge if needed.
Servings: 4-6
Black Forest Drink
This was created in a fit of experimentation back in my early college days, and likely bears no resemblance to whatever actual bartenders might call a 'black forest'. I certainly like it, though.
Black Forest
1 12 oz Coca-Cola
3 tbsp of the juice found in a jar of maraschino cherries (actual grenadine works just fine here too, but cherry juice has the advantage of automatically coming with a garnish for the drink)
3 oz Kahlua
2 oz vodka
2-3 Maraschino cherries from jar as garnish
In a large glass, layer vodka, cherry juice, kahlua and Coke, in that order. Stir briefly, drop in a few cherries, and serve.
Servings: 1
Black Forest
1 12 oz Coca-Cola
3 tbsp of the juice found in a jar of maraschino cherries (actual grenadine works just fine here too, but cherry juice has the advantage of automatically coming with a garnish for the drink)
3 oz Kahlua
2 oz vodka
2-3 Maraschino cherries from jar as garnish
In a large glass, layer vodka, cherry juice, kahlua and Coke, in that order. Stir briefly, drop in a few cherries, and serve.
Servings: 1
Bacon and Egg Pastries
One of the most popular trends I noticed while browsing cookbooks for ideas over the holidays was the use of muffin tins to craft individual servings. This isn't a new idea per se, but I saw it far more commonly than in the past. This was one of my favorites of the individual-serving recipes. It's surprisingly easy to make, and the final product gets a touch of cuteness from the idea of miniature tarts.
If you're into gilding the lily, you can use pie crust stamps to add leaves or whatnot as decoration, which will make these really look like something that might have come from a professional bakery. Just use the stamps to make shapes out of the dough left over from shaping the pastry crusts, and bake these extras for the last 10 or so minutes of the pastries' baking time. The decorations then get added to the tops of the finished pastries as soon as they come out of the oven. If you're really, really into going overboard, the bacon in this recipe can be switched for crabmeat (only use fresh, the fake stuff would be gross) for that uber-sophisticated touch.
Bacon and Egg Pastries
1 recipe Simple Pie Crust
6 slices bacon, cooked
6 large eggs
3 tsp dijon or whole grain mustard
3 tsp fresh basil, chopped
(Optional) 1 cup Cheddar Cheese, grated
Salt
Pepper
Begin by preheating the oven to 350F.
Using an upended bowl as a guide, cut out six circles of pie dough about five inches in diameter each. Spray a muffin tin thoroughly with non-stick spray, and line the cups with dough. Remember, the pie dough will shrink as it bakes, so be sure not to get it too thin, and to leave enough around the edges so the pastries won't end up short.
Spoon 1/2 tsp of mustard into each pastry, and crumble one slice of bacon into each. Break an egg into a separate cup and add the yolk to one of the pastries. Spoon in enough of the white to fill the pastry 2/3 full, and repeat until all the pastries have been filled. Sprinkle 1/2 tsp of basil on top of each pastry, and season all of them with salt and pepper. Brush edges of each crust with left-over egg white. Finish by sprinkling cheddar on top if desired.
Bake at 350F for 20-25 minutes. Allow pastries to rest for 2-3 minutes after removal from oven before carefully removing them from the muffin tin to serve.
Servings: 6
If you're into gilding the lily, you can use pie crust stamps to add leaves or whatnot as decoration, which will make these really look like something that might have come from a professional bakery. Just use the stamps to make shapes out of the dough left over from shaping the pastry crusts, and bake these extras for the last 10 or so minutes of the pastries' baking time. The decorations then get added to the tops of the finished pastries as soon as they come out of the oven. If you're really, really into going overboard, the bacon in this recipe can be switched for crabmeat (only use fresh, the fake stuff would be gross) for that uber-sophisticated touch.
Bacon and Egg Pastries
1 recipe Simple Pie Crust
6 slices bacon, cooked
6 large eggs
3 tsp dijon or whole grain mustard
3 tsp fresh basil, chopped
(Optional) 1 cup Cheddar Cheese, grated
Salt
Pepper
Begin by preheating the oven to 350F.
Using an upended bowl as a guide, cut out six circles of pie dough about five inches in diameter each. Spray a muffin tin thoroughly with non-stick spray, and line the cups with dough. Remember, the pie dough will shrink as it bakes, so be sure not to get it too thin, and to leave enough around the edges so the pastries won't end up short.
Spoon 1/2 tsp of mustard into each pastry, and crumble one slice of bacon into each. Break an egg into a separate cup and add the yolk to one of the pastries. Spoon in enough of the white to fill the pastry 2/3 full, and repeat until all the pastries have been filled. Sprinkle 1/2 tsp of basil on top of each pastry, and season all of them with salt and pepper. Brush edges of each crust with left-over egg white. Finish by sprinkling cheddar on top if desired.
Bake at 350F for 20-25 minutes. Allow pastries to rest for 2-3 minutes after removal from oven before carefully removing them from the muffin tin to serve.
Servings: 6
Huevos Rancheros
My take on a Tex-Mex tradition. This version is designed for brunch, specifically, thus the sausage-and-eggs combo, which I'm pretty sure isn't in the normal version. I don't really care if I'm mucking about with the usual way of doing things, though; this one tasted great, and that's what I cared about!
Huevos Rancheros
4 large corn tortillas (or alternately, 1 large bag tortilla chips)
8 eggs
1/3 cup cream
2 tbsp chopped dill
1 lb loose turkey sausage
1 1/2 cups pepperjack cheese, grated
2 tomatoes, cubed
1 can black beans
(Optional) Jalepeno pepper slices
1 recipe of Salsamole
Sour cream
Olive oil
Butter
Salt
Pepper
Crack the eggs into a bowl and whisk in the cream and the dill until reasonably homogenous. Add salt and pepper to taste. Scramble the cream-and-egg mixture over medium heat until the eggs are light and fluffy. Remove from heat and store someplace warm for a moment.
Warm the beans in a simmering pot. While the beans heat up, add a dash of olive oil to a saucepan and cook the sausage over medium-high heat. Salt and pepper the sausage appropriately. Drain the beans.
Assemble the huevos rancheros immediately prior to serving. In a large saucepan, melt a pat of butter over medium-high until faintly browned, then toss in a tortilla on top and shift the pan from side to side a few times to encourage the butter to brown as much of the tortilla bottom as possible. Once the tortilla has had a moment to toast, add about 1/4 of the eggs, sausage, tomatoes, and beans on top. Cook for 3-4 minutes just until the whole thing is warmed through, then slide the huevos out of the saucepan and onto an oven-proof plate with one smooth motion. If you do this correctly, the toppings should barely even be disturbed. Top the whole thing off with a generous handful of cheese, a drizzle of salsamole, and a few of the jalepeno slices if you like those. Place under a broiler in an open oven, and broil until cheese is melted and slightly toasted. Serve immediately, with sour cream and extra salsamole on the side.
Servings: 4-6
Huevos Rancheros
4 large corn tortillas (or alternately, 1 large bag tortilla chips)
8 eggs
1/3 cup cream
2 tbsp chopped dill
1 lb loose turkey sausage
1 1/2 cups pepperjack cheese, grated
2 tomatoes, cubed
1 can black beans
(Optional) Jalepeno pepper slices
1 recipe of Salsamole
Sour cream
Olive oil
Butter
Salt
Pepper
Crack the eggs into a bowl and whisk in the cream and the dill until reasonably homogenous. Add salt and pepper to taste. Scramble the cream-and-egg mixture over medium heat until the eggs are light and fluffy. Remove from heat and store someplace warm for a moment.
Warm the beans in a simmering pot. While the beans heat up, add a dash of olive oil to a saucepan and cook the sausage over medium-high heat. Salt and pepper the sausage appropriately. Drain the beans.
Assemble the huevos rancheros immediately prior to serving. In a large saucepan, melt a pat of butter over medium-high until faintly browned, then toss in a tortilla on top and shift the pan from side to side a few times to encourage the butter to brown as much of the tortilla bottom as possible. Once the tortilla has had a moment to toast, add about 1/4 of the eggs, sausage, tomatoes, and beans on top. Cook for 3-4 minutes just until the whole thing is warmed through, then slide the huevos out of the saucepan and onto an oven-proof plate with one smooth motion. If you do this correctly, the toppings should barely even be disturbed. Top the whole thing off with a generous handful of cheese, a drizzle of salsamole, and a few of the jalepeno slices if you like those. Place under a broiler in an open oven, and broil until cheese is melted and slightly toasted. Serve immediately, with sour cream and extra salsamole on the side.
Servings: 4-6
Salsamole
Salsamole is a recipe that's a little like salsa and a little like guacamole, thus the name. To it's credit, when I served it over huevos rancheros at a brunch this December, a person who normally dislikes cilantro loved it, even though it contains lots, and a person who hates guacamole but likes salsa loved it too, despite the high avacado content. So I consider this a pretty good little recipe for crowd pleasing, even in crowds that might have reservations about traditional Tex-Mex ingredients.
You need not wait for an excuse to go all out with huevos, though. This sauce goes great on chips for watching football or whatnot.
Salsamole
Adapted from Bon Appetit
8 oz tomatillos, husked and rinsed
3 tbsp cilantro
1 avacado, peeled and pitted
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 tbsp lime juice
2 tsp ancho chile powder
3 large garlic cloves, chopped
1 tsp cumin
Salt
Pepper
Boil the tomatillos for 20 minutes or until soft. In a blender, add all ingredients except salt and pepper and pulse until the mixture is roughly pureed. Taste, and adjust seasonings accordingly. Serve while still hot, or refrigerate until needed (if making in advance) and rewarm in microwave or toaster just before serving.
Servings: 6-8
You need not wait for an excuse to go all out with huevos, though. This sauce goes great on chips for watching football or whatnot.
Salsamole
Adapted from Bon Appetit
8 oz tomatillos, husked and rinsed
3 tbsp cilantro
1 avacado, peeled and pitted
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 tbsp lime juice
2 tsp ancho chile powder
3 large garlic cloves, chopped
1 tsp cumin
Salt
Pepper
Boil the tomatillos for 20 minutes or until soft. In a blender, add all ingredients except salt and pepper and pulse until the mixture is roughly pureed. Taste, and adjust seasonings accordingly. Serve while still hot, or refrigerate until needed (if making in advance) and rewarm in microwave or toaster just before serving.
Servings: 6-8
Rocks
This is the time of year wherein I try to catch up on all the recipes I didn't get posted over Christmas. So first up is a recipe for what is essentially a sweet party mix, like Chex mix but better because everything is better with chocolate.
I think I got this recipe from my mother, who in turn got it from a Sunday School lesson if I remember correctly.
Rocks
2 cups chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups dry roasted peanuts
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 12.3 oz box Crispix cereal
Confectioners sugar
Melt the chocolate in a large bowl in the microwave on high for one minute. Stir well and heat for an additional 30 seconds if necessary, or until all the chocolate is melted. Stir until smooth. Add the peanut butter and stir until completely incorporated.
Add the peanuts and cereal to the chocolate mix and stir until the pieces are thoroughly coated (I find a wooden spoon works well here).
Put the confectioners sugar in a Ziploc bag. Add a third of the chocolate-coated cereal mix, close the bag tightly and shake until the mix is completely coated in sugar. Repeat for the other thirds of the mix. Give it a few minutes to cool and solidify before serving, and store in an airtight container. Keeps for up to a week.
Servings: lots. I have no idea how many servings this makes, really. At least 15, though.
I think I got this recipe from my mother, who in turn got it from a Sunday School lesson if I remember correctly.
Rocks
2 cups chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups dry roasted peanuts
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 12.3 oz box Crispix cereal
Confectioners sugar
Melt the chocolate in a large bowl in the microwave on high for one minute. Stir well and heat for an additional 30 seconds if necessary, or until all the chocolate is melted. Stir until smooth. Add the peanut butter and stir until completely incorporated.
Add the peanuts and cereal to the chocolate mix and stir until the pieces are thoroughly coated (I find a wooden spoon works well here).
Put the confectioners sugar in a Ziploc bag. Add a third of the chocolate-coated cereal mix, close the bag tightly and shake until the mix is completely coated in sugar. Repeat for the other thirds of the mix. Give it a few minutes to cool and solidify before serving, and store in an airtight container. Keeps for up to a week.
Servings: lots. I have no idea how many servings this makes, really. At least 15, though.
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