Chicken Stroganoff With Tarragon and Mustard

"It just costs too much to eat well". You hear this almost everyday. I know that this is not true. It takes time to eat well, but not near as much money as most folks believe. One of the cheapest and tastiest meats available is the bone in skin on chicken thigh. My local grocery will put them on sell for less than a dollar a pound. That my friends will feed a family of four for less than $1.50. Take that dollar menus! Add some sides and for less than $5.00 everyone in the family eats well. To get the price you must buy the chicken with the skin and bone in tact and butcher it yourself. If your not sure how to do this here is a link to a YouTube video that Chef Paul Prudhomme produced: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrGYaVN_T_0

The chicken stroganoff with tarragon and mustard uses boneless, skinless chicken thighs. The recipe, courtesy of Iron Chef Cat Cora,  is quick and easy to do for a family supper or can be made ahead of time for a causal company dinner. Just reheat and your good to go.

Chicken Stroganoff with Tarragon and Mustard
Serves 6

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 ponds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more if needed
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, more if needed
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup shallots
• 1/4 cup Marsala
• 3/4 cup Chicken Stock
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon minced fresh tarragon, plus 6 to 8 sprigs for garnish
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• Buttered parsley noodles, plan noodles or rice

Instructions:

Cut the chicken into 1" chunks. Sprinkle with the salt and pepper.  Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat until it is shimmering but not smoking. Add the shallots and cook, stirring, until they're a light golden color, about 3 minutes. Turn the heat to medium-high, add the chicken pieces and cook, stirring, until golden on the outside and almost cooked through, about 5 minutes. Transfer the chicken and the shallots to a plate.

Deglaze the pan by turning the heat to high, pouring in the Marsala, and scraping up all the browned bits from the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Boil until the liquid is reduced by half, about 1 minute. Add the chicken stock, stir, and boil until the liquid begins to look syrupy, about 2 minutes. Reduce the heat and pour any juices that have accumulated on the plate underneath the chicken back into the pan. Add the mustard and the minced tarragon and simmer for 3 minutes. Turn off the heat and whisk in the sour cream, stirring until smooth. Turn the heat to low, taste and add more salt and pepper if necessary.

Add the chicken and shallots to the pan and gently heat over low heat until the stroganoff is warmed through; do not let it boil. Serve over noodles, or rice and garnish each serving with a tarragon sprig.

I made this using Cat Cora's "twist it" suggestion using fresh thyme instead of the tarragon. This is comfort food at it's best - just remember to stock up on chicken thighs when your butcher puts them on sell and you too can eat cheaply and well.

Life is good - enjoy!

Traveling With Yelp

For several years Mike and I have tried to avoid fast food restaurants when traveling around the country.  This is easier said than done. Our best technique was to get off the interstate in a town, at meal time, drive around, spot a restaurant with a lot of cars, go in and enjoy! This worked pretty well as long as the timing was good. Many times we couldn't find anything and would head to the nearest fast food place -  our heads hung in defeat. This is NOT going to happen again thanks to the miracle of new technologies that allow our smart phones to be connected to satellites and an app called Yelp.

A couple of weeks ago we made a weekend trip to Memphis, TN. The mid-way point, lunch time, is Nashville.  We knew we wanted Bar-B-Que but we were crunched for time and didn't want to stray too far from the interstate. Yelp came to our rescue. (If your not familiar with Yelp it is an internet site that lets everyday folks post reviews about local businesses. It is also reachable with an app on your smart phone.) One of the cool parts of the smart phone application is that it has a button called a monocle. You press it and it shows you everything that is in your current location. Restaurants, gas stations, hospitals etc. I'm driving and Mike is searching for lunch.  Just west of Nashville right off the interstate is The Loveless Motel and Cafe. We hit the mother lode for lunch.

The Loveless Motel and Cafe was first stated in 1951. In the beginning it served fried chicken and biscuits in the cafe and had rooms for rent for travelers motoring on Highway 100. Today the Loveless can seat 75 folks for breakfast and supper and the hotel rooms have been converted to shops. The famous biscuits and handmade preserves (which are served with every meal)  are still the biggest draw to the restaurant.

We are quickly shown our table and the miracles begin to happen. Our waitress treated us as if we were old friends - kind, talkative and informative. She was all things southern just the kind of person I love. She immediately brought us the famous biscuits and three small pots of homemade preserves -   blackberry, strawberry and peach. She said "Here you go sweethearts - it's just to take the edge off." I kept tearing off small bites of biscuits trying to decide which preserve I liked the best. The verdict - all!

Mike ordered a half slab of their watermelon ribs. He was a bit leery of ribs with watermelon, but the waitress assured him that she had never had any complaints. The ribs were smoked perfectly, with meat falling from the bones, and the watermelon and bar-b-que sauce was a lovely mixture of sweet and savory. These are not to be missed.

I ordered a bar-b-que sandwich and fries. It was just what I was hoping for. Although after the biscuits and a rib or two of Mikes the french fries went to waste.










While in Memphis my old girlfriends took  me to Huey's. This is the go to place for great burgers and beer.  In 1970 there was only one location now there are four. If you ever visit Memphis the original Huey's is located in mid-town on Madison Avenue.

This is my burger and extra large onion rings. The rings are cut from large red onions, breaded and deep fried. Yummy!  Notice the yellow pic in the center of the burger. One of the traditions at Huey's is to place the pic in a straw and blow/shoot it into their soft ceiling. There are literally thousands of multi colored tooth pics over your head.



On our way home Yelp was again instrumental in our search for all things breakfast. It led us to The Log Cabin Restaurant. (Sorry no link, no website, just good food.) It's right off Interstate I-40 east of Memphis in Buffalo, TN.

Log Cabin Restaurant

Once again the hospitality of the folks in the south really should put the rest of us to shame. I asked where the ladies room was, the waitress rested her hand on my shoulder and said "Why honey, it's right behind the pie case." Pie case need I say more?  Anyway, breakfast was served quickly, piping hot with excellent service.

The home fries were especially good. Usually they are served pan fried but these were deep fried. Crunchy crisp on the outside and tender on the inside. The eggs were basted in real butter and the biscuits here once again handmade.






Thanks to Yelp we found two wonderful places to eat while on a weekend trip.
We're headed to North and South Carolina in a couple of weeks. I can't wait to see what new places await us.

Life is good - enjoy!

Baked Cheese Grits Topped with Flank Steak

Sometimes I get truly obsessed with food. This springs infatuation is with cheese grits, polenta, sauteed baby spinach leaves and poached eggs. I do believe I could eat them all at the same time in the same big bowl. There have been a lot of pictures and recipes for these items in the culinary magazines and on The Food Network. Now I know who to blame for my compulsions.

I had purchased a couple of flank steaks from our local Sam's Club. I was going to make this Peruvian dish made with a spice called aji amarillo. There are no Peruvian grocery stores in Columbus, IN, but I was told that the spice could be obtained in Latin Markets. This is not true. No matter how many times I said [ah-HEE] [ah-mah-REE-oh] the Latinos just shook their heads. No telling what they said about me when I left. So having the steaks and no spice I had to improvise. Thinking about my newest craving for cheesy grits I figured out what I needed to do.

Baked Cheese Grits Topped with Marinated Flank Steak

Baked Cheese Grits
I found this recipe on The Food Network courtesy of Emeril Lagasse
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Serves 6

Ingredients:

Here's the finished grits

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons butter
4 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup quick grits (not instant)
1 egg
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup grated Gruyere
1/3 cup grated Parmesan 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 2-quart casserole with 2 tablespoons of butter.

Combine remaining 1/4 cup butter, water, and salt in a heavy medium saucepan over medium heat. When mixture comes to a simmer, add the grits, stirring until thoroughly combined. Continue to cook the grits at a simmer, stirring frequently, until thickened, about 15 minutes.

Adding the cheeses

Meanwhile whisk together egg, cream and pepper. Stir into cooked grits along with cheese. Pour mixture into prepared casserole. Bake until set, about 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and let stand about 5 minutes before serving.


Marinated Flank Steak

This recipe came from allrecipes.com
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Ready In: 6 hours and 25 minutes
Serves 6

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 1/2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 pounds flank steak

Directions

In a medium bowl, mix the oil, soy sauce, vinegar, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, garlic, and ground black pepper. Place meat in a shallow glass dish. Pour marinade over the steak, turning meat to coat thoroughly. Cover, and refrigerate for 6 hours.

Preheat grill for medium-high heat.

Oil the grill grate. Place steaks on the grill, and discard the marinade. Grill meat for 5 minutes per side, or to desired doneness.

Cut steak on the diagonal

Plate the grits and add slices of flank steak cutting it on the diagonal to ensure its tenderness.

Notes:  When I added the egg to the grits and baked it I thought maybe it would set and come out more like a polenta. But it didn't. The grits were creamy and tasted delightful when infused with the Gruyere - a different take on cheese grits normally made with a cheddar. Leftover steak was used for fajitas and leftover grits got topped with a poached egg.

I want to send out a high five to my mother-in-law Betty who taught me this Spring, on a recent visit, that berries are delightful on a bed of baby greens - now if I could learn to make her fantastic pimento cheese!

Life is good - enjoy!

Barbie's Tuna Salad

I truly hate giving up this recipe. There are a couple of recipes that a girl likes to keep in the secret archives to pull out at the right moment and this just happens to be one of them.  Back in July of '09 I published my favorite secret Bar-B-Que Beans recipe and today I'm giving up the tuna recipe.  Both simple and quite frankly delicious.

I found this little gem on allrecipes.com. (Allrecipes is my goto place when I have an ingredient leftover that I don't know what to do with. Just plug in the ingredient and like magic you have a way to use it.) This tuna salad recipe has been reviewed by 738 people and has received a rating of 4.75 out of 5 stars.  It even has curry powder in it and they still love it.

The name "Barbie's Tuna Salad" has always seemed quite weird to me. Where the recipe originally came from is still a mystery to me. When I make it I like to picture a lady from the 1960's, wearing a bikini, caring a tray of tea sandwiches, around a swimming pool saying "Canape anyone?"

I like to go top drawer with the tuna.  No Starkist here - I prefer the top shelf Albacore tuna from Costco :-).





Barbie's Tuna Salad

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Serving 4

Ingredients:

Not too top shelf - Aldi Mayo and generic relish

1 (7ounce) can white tuna, drained and flaked
6 Tablespoons mayonnaise or salad dressing
1 Tablespoon Parmesan cheese
3 Tablespoon sweet pickle relish
1/8 Teaspoon dried minced onion flakes
1/4 Teaspoon curry powder
1 Tablespoon dried parsley
1 Teaspoon dried dill weed
1 pinch garlic powder

Directions:

In a medium bowl, stir together the tuna, mayonnaise, Parmesan cheese, and onion flakes. Season with curry powder, parsley, dill and garlic powder. Mix well and serve with crackers or on a sandwich.

I love to put this out for guests with crackers and it's great on crusty toasted bread with lettuce and tomato.

Polish Pottery my friend Robin gave for my birthday

When my kids decide to marry it will be on the buffet table along with my bar-b-que beans and my favorite Filipino Cracker Nuts whether they like it or not!!!

Life is good - enjoy!

Tagliatelle with Prosciutto and Orange

After yesterdays post on homemade pasta I have to share the sauce recipe that was behind my madness. It comes from the May 2011 issue of Bon Appetit Magazine. (I know I keep using Bon Appetit recipes but they are so tempting.) This pasta sauce is made with prosciutto and oranges. I told several folks that I was going to make this and the look on their faces was well...yuk!  I have to say that these two ingredients combine really well together creating a delightfully different flavored and silky sauce.

Tagliatelle with Prosciutto and Orange

Serves 4

Recipe by David Downie

Ingredient

Kosher salt

• 12 oz. egg tagliatelle or fettuccine (preferably fresh)
• 2 Tbsp. (1/4 stick) unsalted butter
• 2 oz. thinly sliced prosciutto, torn into 1" pieces
• Zest and juice of 1 orange
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan

Preparation

• Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Season with salt; add pasta and cook, stirring occasionally, until 1 minute before al dente, about 2 minutes for fresh pasta, longer for dried. Drain, reserving 1/4 cup pasta water.
• Meanwhile, melt butter in a large heavy nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add prosciutto; sauté until browned, about 3 minutes.
• Add reserved pasta water, orange juice, half of zest, and cream; bring to a boil. Add pasta; cook, stirring, until sauce coats pasta and pasta is al dente, about 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in cheese and divide among warm bowls.
  
  
  You definitely can't eat this everyday but for a special occasion the taste and mouth feel is worth all the calories. I have interchanged whipping cream and half-n-half without much sacrifice in taste and flavor and that should help reduce a lot of the fat and calories.  Hey you only live once!
  
  
  Life is short - enjoy!

Homemade Pasta

This past week has been a real adventure for me and a lot of fun - I learned to make pasta. The May issue of Bonappetit Magazine had this luscious looking sauce recipe that was placed on a pile of homemade pasta. I had always wanted to make pasta but not having the stereotypical heavy set Italian grandmother to teach me I avoided even trying. So I did what I usually do in such a situation - I made a list!

1. Find a machine to make the pasta.  This was easier said than done, but after some research and user reviews I settled on the Italian Imperia model purchased at Williams-Sonoma.

Check out how beautiful this little machine is - sleek, bright and modern. I have to admit that one of the reasons I picked it was because it was red.

2. Find a pasta recipe.  Luckily the Williams-Sonoma website has a video of Jessica, their culinary expert, who gives you the recipe and shows you how to make the pasta using the Imperia machine.

The addition of #3 & #4 didn't happen until my first batch of pasta failed and stuck together. After consulting with my friend Chef Jeff Maiani at Bistro 310 I had to add more to my list. He said the pasta was probably too wet!

3.  Semolina. I couldn't locate this at my local Kroger, so I purchased a boatload from amazon.com. You can make a firmer pasta by just using semolina, but this time I used it to sprinkle on the pasta as it was drying to keep it from sticking.

4. And last but not least is the drying rack. Now that I have had a bit of success I don't really think the rack is necessary, but I like the way it looks and for $12.95 at amazon.com why not?

PASTA

Ingredients

• 2-1/4 cups flour
• 3 eggs

Instructions

1.  Place flour on countertop and make a well in the middle of it.  Add three eggs to the well.

Using a fork mix eggs briefly and begin incorporating the flour into the eggs. Try not to breach the flour wall. Mix until you can begin kneading with your hands.  Mix in as much of the flour as you can. Using a blade knife scrape up leftover flour, and stuck on bits, and place it in a sifter.  Sift flour over dough until the dough won't absorb anymore.  Both times I had flour left over.

Pasta after kneading

Using your blade cut the pasta into four equal sections and place in a bowl covered with a wet towel. Let the dough rest for 20 minutes.

Now the fun begins. Take out one section of the pasta and roll it into a small rectangle.  Using the widest setting on the machine run pasta through flattening it into a larger 
rectangle. Fold the pasta into thirds (ends to the middle) and run the pasta through again beginning with the open edges. Williams-Sanoma says two to three times the Italian box the machine came in says nine times. I went with the Italians!

This particular machine has six setting one a bit smaller than the next. At this point you begin flattening the pasta 
into a larger rectangle (no more folding into thirds) by running it through each of the smaller rollers rolling only once per level. Since I was making Tagliatelle I only went down to the fifth setting. I now dusted each sheet with the simolina and let them hang to dry on the drying rack for 15 minutes.


Now you begin cutting the pasta. Roll each slightly dry sheet through the cutter shape that you desire. (This particular machine only had two different cutting blades although you can purchase different ones.) Dust the pasta with the semolina and hang to dry until you are ready to cook it.


So there you have it.  My first batch was a complete failure the second wasn't half bad. I have attempted many difficult things in the kitchen and for some reason I thought this might top the list.  It did not. It was really fun and the end result was really worth it.  Give it a try!


Life is good - enjoy!

Pistachio and Dried-Cherry Biscotti

The May 2011 issue of BonAppetit Magazine is loaded with all thing Italian. From sauces, known as gravies, to biscotti, to taramisu to my favorite -  fresh pasta. After reading through all the recipes I have decided that I am indeed Italian. (Although there is not a drop of Italian blood in me.) I want to inhale, taste and share every recipe in the magazine. Call me Mama Mia!

I decided to start with the simple biscotti. Having never made a biscotti I thought they might be a bit difficult. The only problem I had was lifting the partially cooked "logs" to the cooling racks before the slicing began. Be careful, be very very careful.

Picture taken from Bonappetit website

I copied this picture from the BonAppetit website. I wanted you to see the beautiful green pistachios next to the bright red cherries.  My picture (down below) shows brown pistachios because I used roasted instead of raw nuts.

Pistachio and Dried-Cherry Biscotti

Makes about 4 dozen

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
• 2 large eggs
• 3 Tbsp. vegetable oil
• 1 Tbsp. orange zest
• 2 tsp. lemon zest
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp. almond extract
• 1 cup dried cherries
• 1 cup unsalted, shelled pistachios

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 350°. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Combine first 6 ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle. Blend on low speed for 30 seconds. Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, whisk together eggs and next 5 ingredients. Add egg mixture to flour mixture; beat on low speed until combined, about 1 1/2 minutes. Fold in cherries and pistachios.
• Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface; divide in half. Using floured hands, shape each dough half into a 16"-long log. Brush off excess flour; transfer logs to prepared sheet, spaced 5" apart. Flatten each log into a 2"-wide strip. Bake, rotating sheet halfway through, until browned and set, about 30 minutes. Transfer to a rack; let cool for 15 minutes. Reduce oven to 250° and arrange 1 rack in top third of oven and 1 rack in bottom third.
• Line a second baking sheet with parchment paper. Transfer biscotti to a work surface. Using a serrated knife, cut each strip diagonally into 2/3"-thick slices. Arrange slices, cut side down, on baking sheets.
• Bake biscotti, rotating baking sheets halfway through, until crisp, about 40 minutes. Transfer baking sheets to racks; let cool. DO AHEAD Can be made 3 days ahead. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.
  
  

This particular recipe comes from Karen Demasco, located in Locanda Verde, New Your City. She says that the "[b]iscotti are the perfect ending to a great meal, especially with an expresso. A scoop of ice cream makes them even more special." I have to agree. Now who can I give all these biscotti to.

Life is good - enjoy!