Traditional French Recipe for Chicken Broth

by ali

Classic French Chicken Broth Recipe

I get sentimental when I cook. I think of friends, family, travels I’ve had and those trips I have yet to take. When I made this recipe, I dreamed of Paris. I have never been to Paris.

Still, dreamlike sequences, snapshots from movies, from photographs combined with stories from friends about the foggy mist making mysterious dark haired classic beauty that Paris transforms herself into at night…dazzling with the lights of her lean, long Eiffel. This is where I go when I cook.

This Classic French broth was inspired by a recipe from Saveur cookbook – because I consider them an authority on “getting flavors right” and from some personal taste tests I did over the course of a few broth experiments.  It consists of two parts – the first part is roasting some chicken in the oven to add depth of flavor. The liquid from that roasting gets added to the stock pot for part two – making the broth. Please try this recipe with the lights dimmed, music in the background, a candle lit and let the smell of roasted garlic lemon chicken draw you into your own dream.

This recipe makes about 2 quarts of finished broth

Ingredients

Part one

  • 1 lb chicken legs and chicken feet seasoned with 1/2 lemon juice squeezed over, salt and pepper and 2 cups water, Roast at 375 for one hour. Reserve the liquid in the pan and add to stock pot.  Eat the leg meat for dinner or save for another meal – discard the chicken feet.

Part two

  • 1 whole  4 lb chicken
  • 3 quarts water
  • 4 leeks trimmed, washed and chopped (they get a lot of dirt in the leaves as they grow)
  • 1 carrot peeled and chopped
  • 2 stalks of celery chopped
  • 1 large Shallot chopped finely
  • 1 white onion
  • Black Peppercorns
  • Salt
  • Bouquet Garni  – 3 sprigs parsley, 2 sprigs thyme, 1 bay leaf, 3-5 peppercorns, all wrapped tightly in a cheesecloth square and tied with a string.

Bouquet Garni for French Chicken Broth

Process

Complete step one and drain the liquids from pan into the stock pot. Heat liquid and add shallots. Stir for 5 minutes – allowing them to soften over medium heat. Add water and place whole chicken breasts up in the pan. Add all vegetables and place bouquet garni on top.

Cover and bring to a boil over high heat.

Reduce heat to low and allow to simmer partially covered for 2 hours. You can add more water if you wish. Season with salt as you go.

Remove chicken from pot (you may have to strain it from the broth as it might have fallen apart).

Broth and Chicken Strained from One Another

Simmer broth for one more hour. Skim off any foam that rises to the surface.

Pour stock through a strainer lined with cheesecloth – into a bowl. Discard vegetables or chicken carcass remaining. Transfer stock to a bowl and cover. Refrigerate until cold (overnight is fine).

When broth is cold, you can skim off fat that has formed on surface and discard OR choose to keep the fat in a separate container for cooking recipes (this chicken fat is called Confit by the French and  Schmaltz by German and Yiddish cooks. Confit is used by the French to preserve meats and often to cook duck and other tender meats flavorfully. It is used in Germany as a spread on breads and to make rich stews and sauces. Schmaltz is most commonly used in the US to make Matzo ball soup according to this recipe on Cookography.com which I am making soon.) I personally like leaving the fat because I feel like it provides more rich heartiness to the broth …but the classic FRENCH style calls for it to be skimmed from the broth to make it very clean. It’s becomes a more neutral palate when prepared this way.

The subtle lemon and shallot flavors mixed with the herbs and the richness of the roasted chicken jus added at the beginning make this broth one of my absolute favorites!  I hope you will enjoy it as much as we do!

Clean, Clear, Light and Fresh Chicken Broth

 

 

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Rating: 6.0/10 (2 votes cast)

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Polenta with Chicken Broth

by ali

Polenta with Chicken Broth and sage...still lumpy

“What people and lumpy polenta have in common.”

Imagine you were a cozy, dry particle of cornmeal, awakened from slumber with the brutal act of being thrown into a pot of unfamiliar boiling matter…you’d probably want to clump together with the other grains of cornmeal wouldn’t you?

Food often reminds me of people. I had this strange observation when I was whisking Polenta the other night – annoyed by how long it was taking me to break up the cornmeal bubbles I had poured too abruptly into the chicken stock. In the last couple years, I have been observing and experiencing this phenomenon but I hadn’t really thought about it as clearly as in that moment.

In a Le Creuset Stock Pot, bring 6 cups of chicken broth to a boil.

People group together, they lump up into carefully chosen clumps of familiar and stick together stubbornly. It’s nothing new, its been happening for centuries and I know i’m not the first one to notice it or write about it. Usually its written in the context of  people grouping up against “the other”, such as cultural groupings segregating within other cultures…coming together to hold onto who they are and survive while living among strangers.

I have yet to see the comparison written in food terms and that may be why it struck me so obviously…I relate to food, I relate food to the world, it helps me understand things in terms I can grasp and visualize. Maybe people think I’m obsessed with food. My behavior – cooking constantly, photographing and writing about it – could certainly suggest that. They might be surprised to know that it’s not really about the eating, although that absolutely has its distinct pleasures and benefits. My obsession is the making of food.  It’s about what I learn and observe in the practice of blending, mixing, stirring, basting, broiling, poaching, tasting, adding and subtracting. It’s where my mind freely, takes me and the thoughts I have about the world, realizations I have about people, things I discover or remember…and sometimes the things I decide to let slip away when I stand vulnerably barefoot in my kitchen kneading sourdough with sticky fingers while sage butter sizzles in a pan.

Throw in two Bay Leaves and SLOWLY add 1 cup of dry cornmeal / polenta. Whisking as you add.

 

Perhaps this concept of “people and polenta” struck me at that moment because of the drastic changes in my own life recently – a big move with Scott to a completely foreign place. The two of us, strange, sometimes corny particles plopped into a bubbling broth of country culture, knowing NO ONE in town, contemplating the perception others may have of us, recognizing how we currently stand out in dress, talk, in behaviour…we are a novelty.

For instance…I terrify our butcher. When he sees me coming up the aisle in the local market, he gets nervous. No one has ever asked him for pork belly. No one inquires after fresh clams. Real lard does not exist for purchase in this world. That’s fine, I can make my own. When I take pity on him and ask for ground beef or pork chops -which are gleaming fatly in the well stocked case, the relief on his face is epic. It’s not his fault and I think… there is hope yet. If he is curious and gets tired of not knowing the answers to my questions, he will eventually learn about these “strange” cuts of meat through my gentle, prodding inquiries. He will be a better butcher for it and people in our town will eventually eat sweetbreads, tripe and brains they bought at the local grocery store… and they will save money!

Turn Burner on low, cover and let simmer for 20-30 minutes stirring occasionally to prevent the polenta on the bottom of the pan from burning.

 

I get the feeling that people don’t really  move here, people grow up and move away. The familiar broth of the country steams on, it evaporates as it heats, uncovered and open to the vast sky and stars. The flavor concentrates as it boils and it becomes more dear, its original qualities more rich and distinct even as it diminishes in volume. We  newbies are a strange entity, jumping head first into this remote pot, excited to add our foreign flavors to this broth. We are not unwelcome, but we are a curious herbal unknown, people observe and speculate. Scott is known at the grocery store as “The Its It guy” because he happened to mention one night while buying the frozen treats that he runs the “Its It” Facebook fan page, creating quite a stir. He is now a minor celebrity amongst the check out ladies thanks to the best Ice cream treat invented and his basic technological know-how.

Standing over the pot of molten cornmeal, I consider the task of absorbtion that a particle of grain has to undertake to fully become an integral part of a deliciously edible whole dish.  It requires courage and evolution, it asks nothing less than abandonment of your original elemental makeup, transformation of form and a harmonious merger with the surrounding environment.  I have been trying to blend with my environment for years.

Not all blending experiments work. Some environments are too acidic, too sweet, too hot, too salty, too cold to allow you to mix successfully, no matter the purity of ingredients or wholesomeness of intentions in or outside of the pot.  The temperature, salinity and timing has to be exactly right for a blend to occur and for the outcome to be a buttery, comforting dish worth pulling from the wooden spoon with eager lips.

Remove Bay leaves. Stir in 2 tbs of butter and salt to flavor. If you wish to make it creamier, add 1/4 cup of either goat cheese or plain mascarpone cheese. You can also use parmesan cheese. Any cheese will work…

 

As I whisked with fury, arm tiring, I got to my point, “when we lump ourselves together, we create a barrier between our elemental potential and the outer particles that could make us good enough to become a whole dish with flavor worth consuming…now why would you want to do that, why would you prevent yourself from living to your full potential? It just doesn’t make sense!” then I realized I was talking to the polenta. Ok crazy lady, put down the spoon and walk away.

Sometimes, even when you abandon your unique particle properties and open yourself up to be blended, the environment still won’t let you become a part. Even if you, a simple polenta grain, are able to overcome the barriers and blend successfully, the dish can never be the same as it was before…it has become a new creation. Both sides have to lose something in order to win something worth gaining. Sometimes unlumping is just too scary.

If you cook, you know what I’m talking about. It’s the mayonnaise that doesn’t come together or whipped egg whites that won’t form peaks. It’s when your sauce breaks for no reason and sometimes you can fix it with oil or vinegar while other times, it curdles. Sometimes for no reason at all, a watched pot boils. There are times when polenta lumps just will NOT become unstuck no matter how hard you whisk or how much butter you add.  When that happens, you can do two things: cut your losses, forgive yourself,  throw out the lumpy batch and start over again in a new pan OR enjoy the lovely flavor of the polenta despite the lumpy imperfection. I am a new pan sort of girl.

Spoon polenta onto the plate with your accompanying meat or vegetable main dish OR top with sage brown butter and an over easy egg for a delicious, comforting breakfast dish.

 

I have a lot of hope for this new recipe for my life. I wake up every day inspired and eager to embrace the environment around me. With every new encounter, I’m gaining an understanding that the failures of recent history didn’t mean I was broken, incapable, unfriendly, uninteresting or an ingredient unworthy of incorporating into the “sauce” I sought to become part of…but maybe that I just hadn’t found the “dish” I was elementally meant to combine with.

Every day I keep experimenting with gently folding myself a little more into this new life. I tuck into the natural depth of my new surroundings and in spite of losing some part of my “self”, I find my essence growing stronger. I am thriving on the scents of these new surroundings… mossy earth, newborn sage and sweet waters of a living brook. These woody flavors drift, like honeybees through my kitchen window and ride the breeze to pollinate my soul so that new thoughts, ideas and words can bear fruit in the coming season.

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Rating: 10.0/10 (2 votes cast)

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Chicken and Spinach Enchilada Casserole with Poblano Cream Recipe

by ali

We were married in Punta Pescadero, Mexico in June of 2008. We had decided to have a smaller more intimate wedding with our family and closest friends. Part of our motivation was that my sisters live in Canada, Germany and my honorary sister lives in Norway, and we needed a way to get everyone to come. What better way than to make the setting irresistible?  The other part of it was that we wanted to trap everyone in  a quaint, relaxing environment free from distractions for a few days and make them get to know each other.

Sand Castle Building Contest the Day of Our Wedding in Mexico

Both of us come from a line of jobs in the wedding business – Scott was a videographer for many years and watched the faces of brides and grooms as they tied the knot night after night.  I was a florist, server, caterer, DJ, wedding planner and rental equipment saleswoman (in a long, weirdly connected line of event jobs and not in that order). We have both seen our share of meltdowns, bad behavior, drunken brawls, disasters and disconnected empathy at wedding parties and were determined that we would see none of it at our own but would instead create an environment that embodied the sense of adventure, joy and lightheartedness we felt about committing to each other for life.

To do that we had to take the “American wedding” out of the wedding and the players out of the country. Fortunately, they were all amenable to the plan and so we were off! We couldn’t have picked a more remote town – Punta Pescadero – 2 hours north of Cabo via narrow, spotty dirt road along the ocean, is a sleepy but enchanting fishing village discovered only by windsurfers, Marlin fisherman and Millionaires who have built custom homes and an airport on a narrow strip of beach front cliff top.  Our wedding “week” was perfect, as the customary mayor of the town and his family owned the shuttle company, the fishing boats, the taco stand and worked at the hotel bar. He organized everything and helped us rent two beautiful homes for the families (the amazing houses we rented are available on VRBO.com), arrange ATV rentals, brought daily meals, created an unbelievable night at the taco stand (complete with a cigarette smoking, break dancing DJ), startling wedding Fireworks, a VERY authentic, perfectly timed Mariachi band and a Tamale making class and family wide competitive sand castle building contest on the morning of our wedding. It was truly amazing and we can’t wait to go back on our 5th anniversary with friends and family new and old (who ask us about when we are going back all the time).

Mexican cuisine is close to our hearts for many reasons, and we are staunch Rick Bayless cookbook fans and cook Mexican cuisine quite often.  For me, taking a bite of a perfectly spicy tamale or a shrimp taco always takes me back to the night before our wedding at the taco stand where chickens, dogs, people and atv’s blurred together in the dusty sunset under a single mesquite tree drinking sweating coronas from the cooler and dancing until 2am on the dimly green lit basketball court of the local schoolyard.

This recipe is one I created. It was inspired by a Rick Bayless recipe and mixed with my craving for some poblano action that evening. It turned out better than I imagined it would, spicy, creamy and not too hot. Texture of corn tortilla and spinach laden poblano cream stretched with melted cheese and tender chicken bits on my tongue. Its more of a casserole than actual enchiladas, but you could make it either way you please and the flavors are still terrific. I encourage you to give it a try!

The final perfect plate

Ingredients

  • 20 corn tortillas (handmade) use 3 cups masa and 2 cups water to make tortilla mix. You can substitute fresh bought corn tortillas if you wish.
  • 2 jalepeno peppers, seeded and diced
  • 3 poblano peppers roasted, de-skinned, seeded and diced
  • 4 yellow tomatoes or green tomatillos
  • 2 white onions chopped
  • 4 garlic cloves
  • 1 lb spinach rinsed
  • 1/2 lb rainbow chard or collard greens
  • 3 carrots peeled and chopped
  • 10 oz goat cheese
  • 12 oz chicken – meat cooked and diced (we used leftover meat from boiling a chicken to make stock)
  • cilantro 1 cup chopped
  • 2 cups chicken broth
  • 1 cup monterey jack or other melting cheese
  • 1 1/2 tsp lard
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 1/2 cup whipping cream
  • 2 tsp tomato paste

You will need a tortilla press and a griddle or a cast iron pan to make tortillas.

Poblano Cream Sauce

Instructions

For ease of organization, I have divided the steps out into stages.

First – roast your poblano peppers. You can do this a few ways – either sitting directly on a burner on your stove top, under a high broiler in your oven, or in your woodstove (like we do).  Check out this link to learn more about how to roast and peel peppers.

Poblano Cream Sauce

Once they are roasted, cooled and peeled – drop them into your food processor. We have a cuisinart that works VERY well and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Easy to use, wash, etc.

Add the sour cream, 1/2 cup of whipping cream, 2 cloves of garlic and blend on high with poblanos. When thoroughly mixed – taste it and add a bit of salt as needed. It should taste so good that you should want to keep eating this off the spoon.Empty from food processor into a bowl with a spatula. Rinse food processor for use in next step.

Preheat your oven to 350

Enchilada Sauce

Throw tomatoes or tomatillos, sliced and seeded jalepenos, 1/2 cup red wine vinegar, salt, pepper into the food processor and blend on high until mixed. Empty into a bowl and set aside.

Filling

In a skillet, warm lard with onions until onions are slightly carmelized (about 15 min). Add carrots and chicken broth and cook until tender. Add 2 tsp of tomato paste and mix to incorporate. Simmer 5 mins. Add Spinach and mix until wilted and blended into broth. Add pre-cooked shredded chicken and mix together. Simmer on low while you make tortillas.

Tortillas

If you have never had a handmade, homemade tortilla – shame on you. Now is your chance to redeem yourself and try one of the most tasty and simple treats you can make for PENNIES! All you really need is a tortilla press, or a cutting board and a flat bottom pan you can use to press a ball of dough into a circle. One GREAT trick I learned from watching the women make tortillas in Mexico for our wedding – cut a gallon sized zip lock bag at the seams, place one side on each side of the press and place the dough between the two pieces of plastic before pressing it – it is MUCH easier to remove the flat sticky tortilla from the press and place it on your griddle if you use this trick.

In a bowl, mix together 3 cups of masa flour and 2 cups of water. It should be like thick cookie dough. season with a little salt. Roll into small balls (about the size of a medium cookie dough ball).

Heat your griddle or cast iron pan on the stove until barely smoking. Turn to Medium High Heat and adjust as needed throughout cooking of tortillas (if they are burning, turn the heat down, etc).

Press your tortillas one at a time in your press and place them in stages on the griddle – let it sit on the first side for at least one minute.

 

On the griddle - they firm up and are easy to flip

It should grow stiff enough that you can easily flip it over without it falling apart. Each tortilla will cook for 3-5 minutes – until dried and firm. You will want to taste test a couple for doneness to get the hang of how long they should cook. I rotate my tortillas from the front to the back of the griddle as they cook to keep track of which have been cooked longest.

Store them in a bowl with a plate over it to trap in steam and help keep them moist until they are all done cooking.

Assembling the Enchiladas

In a 13 x 9 Casserole dish, spread a thin layer of your enchilada sauce. Cover with a layer of flat tortillas. Spread your moist chicken and vegetable filling and dot with goat cheese.

Enchilada Filling dabbed with goat cheese

Spread poblano cream over the top and sprinkle on a layer of cheese. Repeat until you have used all ingredients. You may need to do another small pan. Place on a sheet tray and cook for 30 minutes until bubbly, melty and golden on top.

Allow to cool for 10-15 minutes, it will be easier to “slice” into pieces and plate. Enjoy with people you love!

Let me know if you have any suggestions, additions or your own version of this recipe, I love to try new things.

Assembled enchiladas ready for the oven

 

 

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Rating: 10.0/10 (1 vote cast)

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Tortellini in Broth – Simple and Elegant Recipe

by ali

"Come to butthead..." - Butthead from Beavis and Butthead

One of the favorites dishes in our household is also one of the most simple recipes we make. We start with a trip to “Italian Disneyland” otherwise known as Roma Italian Market, in Pasadena, which you can read about in detail on my other blog alilovesla.com

Roz is the Cheese Wiz of Roma Italian Market

You stand in line and blissfully taste the cheeses and meats that Roz slices for you that day, gather your pink parcels in laden arms on the way to the register and finally stop in front of a small well lit freezer full of pastas, sauces and truffly amaretto desserts – plucking from the misting shelf a clear gallon bag filled with plump cheese filled pasta that is tied up with a twisty. On your way out the door you may grab a fresh fig or a handful of pastel Jordan almonds, or if you’re like me, you’ll be sipping coke from the glass bottle and looking forward to the fresh Italian sandwich wrapped in oil smeared paper that burns its way into your soul and sears itself forever into your salami scented memory.

But its the Tortellinis that you bought that are the focus of this missive.

“Everything you see I owe to spaghetti.”
― Sophia Loren

slippery Tortellini love

They are truly lovely and they cook up so tenderly in broth of any kind, kissing your tongue on the way down the hatch with their silk smooth slipperyness. They don’t get all weird and dough chewy like other frozen pastas I’ve had and for some reason, even though they are simply packaged in a not special bag, they hold up really well in the freezer.

Easy to make, delightful to eat and craved in all seasons, this recipe will become a staple for your family.

Ingredients

  • 1 bag (16 oz) tortellini from Roma Italian Market (or from another good local purveyor of fine Italian foods)
  • 2 quarts chicken broth recipe here
  • 1 red pepper – roasted, peeled and diced
  • 2 tbsp capers
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 shallot
  • 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
  • 1 tsp fresh chopped thyme
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • Parmesan cheese and Italian parsley to garnish

Instructions

You really can’t screw this one up.

Roast your red pepper, either on a burner or in the oven under a broiler – until the skin is black and peely. You can also do it in your woodstove if you have one like we did here

Slice pepper and shallot and throw with olive oil into a dutch oven (you can invest in a Le Creuset one give 5 out of 5 stars by 47 Amazon.com users, or get any basic one with 4.5 star rating from the same source at Amazon).

Add capers and allow to roast for 5 minutes. Then add broth, thyme, red pepper flakes. Stir and bring to a boil. Then reduce heat and allow to simmer for 20 minutes.

Add tortellini and cook for 8 minutes or so until they are al dente and floating on top of water. Pull one out and test it for tenderness, you don’t want them to be too mushy or too firm.

Ladle into soup bowls, garnish with fresh cheese and parsley and serve with a side of delicious homemade french or sourdough bread.

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Rating: 10.0/10 (1 vote cast)

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Tips: How to Roast and Peel Peppers

by ali

We use roasted peppers frequently in our cooking. If we are BBQing we do it on the grill, occasionally I do it on a burner turned on high or in the oven under the broiler.

Recently we did it in our woodstove.

Roasting Poblanos in the woodstove

Ingredients

Tongs, Heat Source, Peppers, bowl, Water

Instructions

Step 1: Stick peppers in, under or on top of heat source.

Step 2: Roast them until the skin is black and peely all over the pepper.

Step 3: Remove with Tongs and place in bowl of cold water – or under running water in the kitchen sink.

Step 4: Holding pepper between both hands, use your thumbs to peel back the skin from all over the pepper. Open pepper and rinse to remove seeds and pull off stem.

Peeling in water

Step 5: pat dry with a paper towel, slice and use!

You can store them in oil in a glass jar or in a baggie in the fridge.

 

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Rating: 10.0/10 (1 vote cast)

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How To Make A Souffle: Gorgonzola Souffle Recipe

by ali

Souffle rising in the oven

A Souffle is an important dish to add to your culinary repetoire whether you are a beginner or a skilled cook. The wonderful thing about souffle’s is that they can be easily modified to be savory or sweet, for a whole range of different ingredients and flavors and the basic technique stays the same.  No, the recipe doesn’t include chicken broth, but I made it as a side to a main dish that did, and I thought it was such an important dish for a cook to know, that I included it on this chicken broth site.

This Gorgonzola souffle is a richly flavored, slightly pungent version influenced by the cheese flavor itself. It goes very well with prime rib or a pork roast. Some more subtle souffle’s, like this recipe for a Parmesan Spinach one I like to make, can fit easily into a menu of any kind as they are not as strongly flavored.

Learn the dish, master it and memorize it and I guarantee it will come in handy!

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus softened butter for the ramekins
  • 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
  • 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup milk
  • Pinch of salt
  • Pinch of cayenne pepper
  • dash of freshly grated nutmeg
  • 2 ounces gorgonzola cheese
  • 5 large eggs, separated

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375.

Separate egg yolks from whites and keep both in separate bowls. If you’ve never done this before – watch this quick video on how to do it!

Shred or crumble your preferred cheese. This recipe uses gorgonzola which is more crumbly and sticky. I also like making this Parmesan spinach souffle recipe.

In a saucepan over medium heat, melt your butter and incorporate flour, whisking until a thick paste forms. Add milk and whisk until a smooth, creamy mixture forms, continue to whisk over heat until it bubbles- about 5 minutes. Add cayenne, nutmeg and salt and whisk in. Add cheeses and mix until they melts into the cream. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature.

In a stand mixer, or with a hand mixer – whip your whites until fluffy, stiff peaks form.

Whip it good

Add your egg yolks to the cooled cream mixture and blend them in until it is a solid golden color.

Blend Yolks into Warm Bechamel Cream Mixture

Gently fold your whipped whites into this mixture and stir. You don’t want to knock all that nicely whipped air out of it, so just blend it together.

fold whipped whites gently into creamy yolk mixture

Butter 8 small ramekins or a souffle casserole dish.

With a spatula, pour batter into dishes until about 2/3 full. You want to leave room for the souffle to rise without spilling over the edges.

Place your dish or ramekins on a flat sheet pan and place in the oven. For a large souffle – you are going to bake for about 35-45 minutes until puffy and golden brown on top. For small ramekins, bake for 20-25 minutes until puffy and golden brown.

Tip: If you pierce the souffle with a knife or fork – it will fall and will not puff back up, so don’t do that until you are ready to serve it and have already impressed your guests with your amazing skills.

 

 

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Valentines Day Gift Ideas: A Recipe for Finding Love in the Kitchen

by ali

Generally, the idea of “Valentine’s Day” makes me gag like a Scandinavian spoonful of lukewarm lutefisk as I consider it a “manufactured” holiday designed to make women feel lonely, men feel abused, and to help restaurants, candy stores, florists, jewelery marts, card makers, makeup manufacturers and diet plans experience the cash infusion they so need after the post-Holiday glow has worn off. But I realize that not everyone sees it this way.

Let me call you meat heart

Every Year at this time, as I take stock of “the body situation” before receiving more delightful Valentines Day chocolates, it always seems there is more of me to love…and that’s really quite ok with me for a couple reasons.

1.) I feel truly cared for by a generous, creative, brilliant husband who creates food “filled with love” that he cooks and serves me on a bi-nightly basis. 2.) He likes my curves and I don’t mind them as long as I can still fit into my favorite jeans and tie my own shoe laces. NO, my favorite jeans are not the stretchy “pajama jeans” you may have seen of late on insomniac TV but I do wish I had been the one who thought of that idea first

If you are clever enough in this season to find yourself dating or falling in love with someone who knows their way around the kitchen, or maybe they have a modest interest in LEARNING, or they are just smart enough to have a decently stocked bar sans plastic red cups… you are a momofuku. It’s not a bad word, look it up mom.

If you are a food lover finding yourself in this situation, take the opportunity to explore any sort of culinary bent or talents you see emerging and help selflessly develop them so that you may eventually selfishly reap the benefits of their future skills and knowledge. Then invest in a treadmill or eliptical machine to work off calories while watching your nightly favorite food porn a la Bourdain, Zimmern or Iron Chef America.

An Added Bonus to the Culinary Gift: For all the ladies who may be reading this and are in a relatively new relationship – getting a guy a gift related to food will be much less threatening to him than anything implying a too intimate too soon “love” situation…and will be much less awkward for you if he doesn’t reciprocate. Even in this day and age – the way to a mans’ heart is still through his stomach. Start there and gradually work your way into his more vital organs like some sort of buttery, irresistible cholesterol with breasts. Make like a fantastic, prime, thick cut, rare ribeye steak – classic, simple and satisfying – and you will “meat” your match. (Insert groans here). But really, it works.

"You had me at tallow"

As a lady who ended up with an amazing guy, I have softened my skeptical view on Valentines day over the years and now generally view any opportunity to express my appreciation to him worth exploiting. I have found that either tools, books or kitchen supplies are the best gifts for my man, as they are actually used and appreciated (whereas even the nicest cashmere sweaters usually end up hanging on my side of the closet in short time).

Eventually, as time goes on and your lives intertwine, you will find yourselves even more on the same page regarding food, and that will translate to smoothing out other areas of your lives as well. This year at Christmas, I laughed out loud as I opened my gifts and realized he had bought me all the items I had considered for him: a potato ricer, a gnocchi board and the culinarily inspired song collection by One Ring Zero published in the book “The Recipe Project” . In return, I had purchased him the sausage making attachment for our Kitchen Aid Mixer, and the “Complete Book of Butchering, Smoking, Curing and Sausage Making” as well as the new Ferran Adria Biography “Ferran: The inside story of El Bulli and the man who reinvented food”.  Our love and our passion is tied to the food we make that we feed and nourish each other with. It’s a spicy, exciting, always evolving sort of love life to have.

Finding "the one" is offal nice

Seriously, all puns aside, you might ask “How does one start this process?” and to that end I have written down the perfect Recipe for falling in love in the Kitchen.

Step One: Peruse a selection of non-traditional, Kitchen Oriented Valentines day gifts starting here with  this selection available at a discounted rate on Amazon.com .  Skip the heart shaped girly stuff and move directly to knife sharpeners, a great knife, a boos block cutting board, grilling or pizza making accessories or some alder planks for salmon. Get a gift that makes him feel like a man – he doesn’t want to bake heart shaped cookies.

Step Two: Buy the gift (order it today!), make your first meal together (give him room to be creative don’t dominate) and sit down at the dining table with one lit candle and eat it together. Talk about what you like and what you would both want to improve. Plan the next meal.

Step Three: During dessert, be like a sweet and savory custard. Not too sugary, not too salty – he needs to want more. Keep your ankles crossed and be a lady but kiss with abandon. Repeat.

Don’t fuss over the details too much and in short time, love will bloom like a righteous souffle given the proper amounts of fluff, heat and space.

 

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Rating: 10.0/10 (2 votes cast)

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Orange Custard

by ali

For those who appreciate the sweet and the savory sides of dessert, this orange custard is a terrific light solution to ending a lovely meal.

Orange Custard garnished with Star Anise

Ingredients

  • 1 ½ cups sugar
  • ¼ cup water
  • 3 cups milk
  • Grated zest of 2 oranges
  • 5 large eggs
  • Pinch kosher salt
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Combine ¾ cup of the sugar and the water in a small, heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil, brush down the sides of the pan with water, and boil for 6 to 7 minutes, or until caramelized. The sugar will be fragrant and a deep amber color when it is caramelized. Working quickly, divide the hot caramel among 10 ramekins, swirling each ramekin so that the caramel coats the bottom and half way up the sides.

Preheat the oven to 325˚F Combine the milk and orange zest in a small saucepan and heat to a simmer. Whisk together the eggs, salt, and remaining ¾ cup of sugar in a medium bowl. Continue whisking while adding the hot milk in a thin stream. Strain through a fine mesh sieve. Stir in the vanilla and skim off any foam from the surface. Divide the mixture among the ramekins and place them into a roasting pan. Add enough hot water to the roasting pan to come half way up the sides of the ramekins and bake for 38 to 42 minutes, or until just set. Remove from the water bath and let cool to room temperature. Refrigerate for 3 to 4 hours, or until firm.

To unmold, run the tip of a paring knife around the inside of each ramekin and invert onto a dessert plate.

Serves 10. Good any time of year, but especially in the winter when citrus is in season. You can tell that the flans are done when they jiggle like gelatin. Flans may be baked a day or two in advance and kept covered with plastic wrap in the refrigerator. Unmold just before serving.

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Rating: 10.0/10 (1 vote cast)

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Fond Brun De Boef – French Beef Stock Recipe

by ali

I love Saveur Magazine. You should Buy it here because it will enrich your reading and culinary life and you will learn a LOT of in depth food history in addition to recipes and fun facts that make you salivate as you read.

I read it, cover to cover on a monthly basis. Like the other food magazines I receive and read, I cut out many recipes to save and try. It always pains me a little to cut pages out of Saveur because their issues are so artfully put together. Its the only one I keep on my bookshelf with my cookbooks. Weird I know. I love so many things about the way they present their product: their articles, the context they provide, the depth of their research and above all, their unbending commitment to quality writing, their beautiful photos (one actually made me cry one time)… and the joyous lack of botox ads within their pages. This is why I also own their cookbook collection of Italian, American and French classics. Its about aesthetics for sure, but I am a 100% bonafide Savuer soldier.

ANYWAY… In the pages of their French cookbook is a recipe for Fond Brun De Boef – Beef stock.

silky, rich, French beef broth

I thought it was high time I tried it out since I’m doing all this broth research. This recipe makes a beautifully elegant, rich and savory stock that forms the perfect basis for many dishes. I highly recommend using it. We recently made a triple batch and created my mom’s amazing Albondigas soup for a fundraiser. I have also used it to make French onion, and it was fantastic.

This recipe makes 2 quarts and takes 6 hours to make

Ingredients

  • 6lbs of beef bones (shin, oxtail, neck, etc.)
  • 2 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 2 tsp tomato paste
  • 2 carrots scrubbed and coursely chopped
  • 4 stalks celery coursely chopped
  • 2 medium yellow onions, halved
  • 2 leeks trimmed, washed and coursely chopped
  • 2 cloves
  • 8 cloves garlic peeled and lightly crushed
  • 1 cup red wine
  • Bouquet garni (french bundle of herbs including 3 sprigs parsley, 2 sprigs thyme, 1 bay leave, 3-5 peppercorns all wrapped up in a 6″ square of cheesecloth and tied with string.

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375. Brush bones with oil, season generously with salt and pepper and put in a large roasting pan (this is the pan I own), This is the one I really want…since we’re talking aesthetics.

Roast bones until just browned about 30 minutes. Smear tomato paste over bones and roast 2o minutes more. Toss carrots, celebery, onions, leeks cloves and garlic with remaining oil and add to pan with bones. Roast for 20 minutes more.

Roasted bones before immersion in water

Transfer all to a large stockpot (here’s the one I have, here’s the one I want.) Deglaze roasting pan on stovetop over medium heat with red wine, scraping up browned bits from bottom of pan. Pour juices into stockpot. Add bouquet garni and cover with 5 quarts of water. Bring to a boil over high heat then reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered until stock is reduced by two thirds, about 4 hours. Occasionally skim off any foam that rises to the surface. Strain stock and discard solids using a colander lined with cheese cloth.

straining broth through cheesecloth lined colander

Transfer stock to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or overnight. Remove and discard fat that has formed on surface. Stock may be stored for up to 3 days in fridge or in freezer for up to 6 months.

We like to use these zip lock bags to store in the freezer because they are easy to label, use and freeze an exact quart of broth easily.

Recipes I suggest using it for:

Date & Radish Soup

French Onion Soup

Beefy Stew with Mashed Potatoes

more to come…

 

 

 

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Rating: 10.0/10 (1 vote cast)

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Sauteed Brussel Sprouts with Bacon & Broth Recipe

by ali

Not Your Grandmas Brussel Sprouts

This is a recipe we got from Scotts Dad Jack – an amazingly great cook who I am forever grateful to because he taught my sexy husband how to cook GREAT food and to be an adventurous eater.

Its a tasty, rich and perfect side dish and we eat it all the time. We love brussel sprouts now that we have learned how to cook them in an amazing way…with bacon. By the way, if you want to be in heaven – try Nueske’s smoked Bacon from Wisconsin – it is freaking amazing. Click this link to find out  where to get some

Ingredients:

  • 1.5 lbs brussel sprouts rinsed and cut in half
  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • 12 oz slab bacon or pancetta cut into small cubes or slices
  • 1 tsp olive oil

Instructions

Heat a cast iron or enameled skillet to medium  and throw bacon in with a dash of olive oil. Cook bacon over medium heat until crispy and grease is browned and slightly crusty.

Add brussel sprouts and chicken broth and cook over medium heat about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they are tender but NOT mushy.

Serve as a side dish. Makes a great side for Thanksgiving or Christmas Dinner!

 

 

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Rating: 10.0/10 (1 vote cast)

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