Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Chicken Piccata
One cooking area that I'm still trying to find the right substitute flour is breading, especially chicken breasts. A few of our regular recipes before the allergy diagnosis included this step, and pounded, breaded cutlets do make for moister chicken breasts. Some of my other attempts have just made the coating soggy, or didn't even stick to the chicken. But for this recipe, I found a good combination. It coated the breasts well, it browned, and kept the chicken moist. It's not a crispy outside, but much better than my other attempts. My husband declared it delicious and a keeper...so into the files it goes for rotation.
A random fact about me -- I'm mad for artichokes. I love artichokes, and anything cooked with artichokes. Some evenings I just get a taste to serve them and scrounge to find a recipe. So last week I found this original recipe from Robin Miller and adapted it for our allergy needs. With the artichokes, capers (dh loves) and the lemon, it's a tangy, tasty meal. I made regular brown rice cooked in chicken stock. Next time I make this meal, I will serve brown rice pasta, such as spaghetti.
Chicken Piccata with Lemon, Capers and Artichoke Hearts
4 (4-ounce) boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
Salt and ground black pepper
1/4 cup corn starch
1/4 cup sweet rice flour
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 (14-ounce) can artichoke hearts, quartered
1/4 cup drained capers
Place chicken in zip-top bags and pound with a meat mallet or rolling pin until 1/4-inch thick. Remove chicken from bag and season all over with salt and black pepper. In a shallow dish (or plastic bag), combine sweet rice flour, corn starch lemon zest, paprika, and garlic powder. Mix well. Add chicken and turn to coat. Remove chicken from flour mixture and shake off excess flour.
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and saute 2 minutes per side, until golden brown and cooked through. Add lemon juice, wine and chicken broth and bring to a simmer. Simmer 5 minutes, until chicken is cooked through and sauce thickens. Add artichoke hearts and capers and simmer 1 minute to heat through. (I had to keep on the stove a bit longer until dh came home, but that just made the sauce thicker. It didn't overcook the breasts.)
16:25 Posted in Food Allergies , Main Meal , Poultry , Wheat, Egg and Dairy Free | Permalink | Comments (1) | Email this | Tags: chicken, poultry, wine, artichokes, lemon, piccata
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Roast Chicken
When I placed the roast chicken on the table last night, dh declared "Wow, this looks like it should be in the pages of a food magazine, it looks that good!" With that kind of praise, I thought I would share the recipe. It's from the book Saving Dinner Basics: How to Cook Even If You Don't Know How by Leanne Ely. Last week I reviewed the book.
Roasting is an area I'm learning. Or rather "relearning." "Roast Chicken" conjures images hovering around the oven, basting juices and the results are dry overcooked meat. Leanne Ely turns those ideas on their head. She says:
I don't recommend basting. Ever. There is no earthly good reason to baste anything. Basting steals the heat, doesn't improve the flavor, and causes you to cook something longer than you should.
And after different trials, I would have to agree with her. I made this recipe last night, with only a few minor changes. First of all, I didn't make the gravy. I think dh would be in heaven if I would start making real gravy, but I'm an au jus type of gal. If wheat was allowed in our diet, I think I would be more willing to try, but I'm just not ready to embark on the allergy-free gravy test. I have a few other things to trial first.
Secondly, I didn't use a roasting chicken. I used what was organic and on sale, and that was a fryer, I believe.
Thirdly, I drizzled a bit of olive oil before putting it in the oven, and I added some white wine to the pan towards the end of the cooking process for a flavorful gravy without the fuss.
So, now I can make a hands-free delicious roast chicken. Skin comes out a little crispy, just the way dh likes it.
Fabulous Roasting Chicken
1 roasting chicken (5-6 pounds), rinsed and patted dry
1 celery stalk, cut into 2 inch pieces
1 onion, quartered
1 carrot, cut into 2 inch pieces
Salt and pepper (I used Lawry's Salt)
Garlic powder
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Rinse and pat dry chicken, putting aside the chicken neck.
Place celery stalk, onion, and carrot into the chicken cavity; place chicken in a roasting pan and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste. (I used a Pampered Chef Stoneware casserole pan, which worked marvelously.) Depending on the size of the bird, it should take about 1 1/2 hours to roast. When the chicken is down, the leg will move easily in the socket. (I use a digital thermometer which also saves the oven heat and my worrying as to whether it is cooked.)
Gravy (optional)
chicken neck
1 carrot
1 celery stalk, cut into 2 inch pieces
1 onion, quartered
1 carrot, cut into 2 inch pieces
1 tablespoon flour
1/3 cup water
While the chicken is cooking, place chicken neck and vegetables in a 2 quart stockpot. Cover with water and cook on low for 30 to 45 minutes to make additional stock for the gravy. Set aside.
Remove the bird from the roaster and keep warm. Pour the cooking juices out of the roast and into a bowl to cool. You can speed this process by putting the juice in the fridge or freezer; the fat will glob up on the top and then you can skim this nasty stuff off and throw it away. Return the de-fatted pan drippings to the roasting pan.
In a small mixing bowl, mix the flour and water into a smooth paste.
Heat the cooking juices, then add the neck stock and the flour-water paste. Using a wire whisk, whisk over a fairly high heat until mixture starts to look like gravy. Add salt and pepper to taste. Pour into a gravy boat. (Come to think of it, I don't even own a gravy boat!)
10:40 Posted in Main Meal , Poultry , Wheat, Egg and Dairy Free | Permalink | Comments (7) | Email this | Tags: roast chicken, easy dinner, allergy free
Sunday, August 13, 2006
What Is Your Criteria for a Good Cookbook?
Recently one of my sisters was out shopping and called me from the store. She was trying to decide on one of two cookbooks by Rachel Ray and wanted my input. My advice probably only applies to me. I told her when I evaluate a cookbook to use for my daily cooking, I look in the index, find how many chicken recipes, then read them and see if I like the ingredients. If they sound reasonable, relatively simple and tasty, I will consider that cookbook. I'm always in the search of new ideas for chicken. And finding recipes that I can use is even narrower choices than most, since I need to stay away from wheat, eggs and dairy for my son's food allergies.
Another area in which I decide on a cookbook is different ideas with ground beef. That darn hamburger is hard to come up with lots of options that aren't tired and boring.
One final thing that will be a sure fire purchase is if any recipes that can be used for the liturgical year, as in feast days, saints days, name days, or regional food for religious festivals, especially European recipes. My groaning cookbook shelves are testament to that fact.
Question: What are your criteria for buying or checking out a cookbook? What new type of recipes are you always open to find?
And when you do find these recipes, do you try them out? What area are you most adventurous in cooking: breakfast, lunch, dinner, main meals, meats, desserts, appetizers? For me, I like to change up my main course at dinner. I know, it's boring and practical.
Speaking of chicken recipes...I found two that I can't wait to try from Dom and Melanie's new food blog In the Kitchen with Bella.
Both of the these recipes fit my requirements (I can substitute the butter with safe margarine) and and I can replace the flour (since it's used as thickener) with corn starch (1 1/2 teaspoons corn starch with 1 Tablespoon of flour, make sure mix with cold water first before adding to the hot mixture), or other thickeners, like potato starch, tapioca, arrowroot or even sassasfras root. These recipes are the style cooking I like to do, on the stove, with wine, different chicken parts (organic thighs are so much cheaper than breasts) and ANYTHING with artichokes!
Lemon Chicken and Artichokes
Chicken Leg Quarters Braised in White Wine
My mouth is already watering thinking about those artichokes!
04:20 Posted in Books , Poultry | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this | Tags: chicken, poultry, wine, artichokes, recipes, cookbook
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Feast of St. Dominic, August 8
El Greco: St Dominic in Prayer, 1586-90
This is a special feast day in my extended family. We celebrate one brother's birthday, one sister's wedding anniversary, and it was Great, Great Aunt Clair's birthday, a very special, saintly lady, may she rest in peace.
About St. Dominic, see Catholic Culture, Patron Saints Index, and a goldmine of links from the Dominicans (of course!).
St. Dominic was born in Spain, but fought Albigensianism, a Christian heresy in western Europe. Father John Hardon has an excellent explanation of Albigensianism. (Image: Pedro Berruguete, St Dominic and the Albigenses, c. 1495).Dominic founded the Order of Preachers. The reason why so many people were being sucked into this heresy was plain ignorance. So his mission was preach the Gospel, the Truth. From the Encyclopedia of Catholic Saints (August), there are some interesting notes on his life:
It was while he was still a student that he was given the first opportunity to show that charity and loving kindness which were to be the hallmarks of his life. The harvests had been poor, the reserve supplies of food were quickly running out, famine was already devastating the countryside and would soon reach Palencia. As always it was the little people, the poor and the humble, who were the first to be affected. The professors at the university took no notice; so long as they were paid they could always buy something on the black market. The students were as carefree as usual; if the worst came to the worst, they could always go somewhere else in search of learning and food. But Dominic at once sold all his possessions, including all the books that he had annotated with his own hand. For a scholar, and particularly for a scholar in those days, this was a great sacrifice, but Dominic explained it simply: "I do not wish to study dead parchments when men are dying of hunger." He used the money to buy food for the poor, but the words that he spoke--clear, simple and full of the spirit of the Gospel--aroused his fellow-citizens to their duty, and works of charity began to multiply all over the city. For Dominic was a scholar whose search for truth had drawn him closer to his fellow-men and not, as so often happens, away from them.
So beautiful! What a reminder on what our studies and reading should bring us. And these actions at the age of 16!
I couldn't find many quotes from this saint...but the ones I did find all point back to penitence and fasting. Another prod that in this day mortification is still very much needed.
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A man who governs his passions is master of the world. We must either command them or be enslaved to them. It is better to be a hammer than an anvil.
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Fight the good fight, my daughters, against our ancient foe, fight him insistently with fasting, because no one will win the crown of victory without engaging in the contest in the proper way.
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Possess poverty. (Dying words)
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For this saint's feastday, I don't think anything elaborate would be appropriate. We won't be fasting, but simplicity will be the aim. I'm going to trace back to Dominic's Spanish roots and use a recipe (once again) from my favorite Spanish cookbook My Kitchen in Spain by Janet Mendel for the main dish. My tomatoes are ripening and this recipe is perfect for using some of those luscious fruits, Chicken Sautéed with Fresh Tomato. Accompanying this I will have brown rice, a simple green salad and fresh fruit salad for dessert.
Chicken Sautéed with Fresh Tomato
Pollo con Tomate
3 Tbsp. olive oil
2 pounds chicken legs and/or thighs
4 1/2 pounds fresh tomatoes (about 8 large tomatoes)
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 tsp. salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Pinch dried thyme
1/2 tsp. pimentón (I'm omitting)
2 bay leaves
2 Tbsp. brandy
Choppped fresh flat leaf parsley
Heat the oil on medium high heat in a deep skillet, then add and brown the chicken pieces, about 10-15 minutes. Remove when browned all over, and drain extra fat except 2 tablespoons.
Either microwave or boiling water method, blanch and peel the tomatoes. Seed the tomatoes and chop coarsely, making 5 1/2 to 6 cups.
Heat remaining oil in skillet on high, add all remaining ingredients except parsley. Cook for 5 minutes, then add the chicken back to the pot. Lower heat to medium and simmer uncovered, about 45 to 75 minutes. Remove the chicken when done, but continue cooking the tomato sauce over medium heat until very thick and beginning to brown, about 30 minutes longer. Add chicken back to the pot to reheat. Remove bay leaves, serve garnished with fresh parsley.
Another sidenote on St. Dominic. He's the patron of scientists, astronomers and astronomy. I wish I realized this before I went to the grocery store. Seems a star fruit would be in order for our fruit salad. ;-) But we'll eat out on the porch and perhaps do a little star-gazing tonight, as the night is clear.
15:00 Posted in Cultural , Family , Family , Food Allergies , Liturgical Year , Main Meal , Poultry , Summer Meals , Vegetables and Salads , Wheat, Egg and Dairy Free | Permalink | Comments (1) | Email this | Tags: chicken, summer, tomatoes, St. Dominic, Saint Dominic, Albigensianism
Monday, July 24, 2006
Food for St. James the Great, Apostle
Update: I added a photo of our St. James Torte -- I used both the stencils for the decoration. The torte was dense and tasty...definitely a recipe to repeat. The chicken was delicious, nice and juicy.
I've been looking forward to July 25, feast of St. James. See today's entry in Family in Feast and Feria for more information on this feast day.
For food, I'm going to use some Spanish recipes. In spirit I want to be in the Cathedral at Santiago de Compostela. For ideas of famous foods from that region, see Gastronomy of Santiago. The empanadas sound wonderful, but I don't have time to attempt wheat, egg and dairy free empanadas, but it might be something I try in the future.
So for the main meal I'm going to adapt a Tapas recipe. I love all of Penelope Casas' books, and her Tapas: The Little Dishes of Spain is what I'm using for inspiration. But I confess, I'm planning my meal by what I have in the house. Our garden is slowly ripening and I also have chicken. I'm going to make
Chicken in Beer (Pollo en Cerveza)
"This chicken has a subtle lemony flavor, and although I have chosen to use the wing portion for easy handling, you might also use small drumsticks or any other part of the chicken (skin on), cut in small pieces."
Serves 6 as appetizer, but for main meal probably 2 or 3
Start preparation several hours in advance
12 chicken wings (or thighs or drumsticks with skin)
12 ounce bottle beer (minus 1 Tablespoon for sauce)
salt
Freshly ground pepper
1 tsp. thyme
1 bay leaf
Sauce:
1/4 tsp. thyme
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. beer
Salt
Freshly ground pepper
Chop the wings into three parts, discarding the tip portion. As I'm making this the main meal, I'm using whole thighs. In shallow bowl or zipper top bag, mix together the marinade: beer (except reserve 1 Tbsp.), pepper, salt, thyme and bay leaf. Arange the chicken in marinade and soak for several hours, turning occasionally.
When ready to cook, combine Sauce ingredients in a small bowl. Remove chicken from marinade and pat dry with a paper towel. At this point you can either grill or broil the chicken. If broiling, arrange on a broiler pan, brush on the sauce and add salt and pepper to taste. Broil or grill for about 5 minutes (longer if other kinds of parts), flip and baste and salt and pepper. Continue cooking until golden but still juicy. Use a meat thermometer to make sure they are cooked thoroughly.
For dessert, I'm going to attempt to make the famous Tarta de Santiago. This will not be allergy free, but I'm up for the challenge, and to give a nice treat on this wonderful feast day for my dh. There are oodles of recipes on the internet for this cake. There are two different version -- one has a crust and filling, the other is more like a flat cake.
Some examples: Food Network,
Reading Room (nice picture), Travel and Living and Spain Recipes (another good picture).
The recipe I'm using is from my favorite Spanish cookbook, My Kitchen in Spain by Janet Mendel . I've mentioned in another post, Memories of Little Grandma. I happen to have a bag of ground almond meal (thanks to Trader Joe's), so the tart shoudn't be too time-consuming. Almonds don't grow in this area of Spain, so it is a puzzlement that this cake is made with them. Mendel speculates that it originally might have been made from chestnuts.
The torte is usually decorated with a pattern of the Cross of St. James or the cockle shell, both symbols of St. James. I prepared some patterns of the Cross of St. James and the cockle shell of St. James. Print and cut out the images. Place the image in the middle of the torte and sprinkle confectioner's sugar over the rest of the cake. Remove the pattern carefully and you'll have the cross or shell in the middle of the cake. 
If you don't have time to make this torte from scratch, any cake will do. Purchase a pound cake even, and put the design on the cake. If you need to resize the pattern, use image program, such as Paint Shop Pro. After opening the image in the program, go to print and choose the size you want it to be on the page. It's that easy -- and I just discovered that after all these years of frustration!
Almond Torte from Santiago de la Compostela
Torta de Almendras de Santiago
Ingredients:
1 pound ground almonds
2/3 cup butter
2 3/4 cup granulated sugar
7 eggs
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 Tbsp. grated lemon zest
3 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
Confectioner's sugar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Greas a 10-inch springform pan.
Spread the almonds in a baking pan and toast them in the oven, stirring often. Remove from oven when light colored, about 3 to 5 minutes. Give time to cool.
In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and beat, one at a time. Gradually stir in the flour, the almond meal and lemon zest.
Pour mixture into the greased pan and bake about 45 minutes, or until a cake tester in the center comes out clean and the center when lightly pressed bounces back.
Cool for 10 minutes, then remove from pan and cool on a wire rack. Poke the surface of the torte with a skewer and drizzle with lemon juice over the top. Add the pattern of the cross and dust the surface with confectioner's sugar.
Catholic Culture has a few more suggestions for recipes for St. James. I am going to go French a bit and serve some green beans, inspired by this recipe. The cookbooks Cooking with the Saints by Ernst Schuegraf and A Continual Feast by Evelyn Vitz also have some unique recipes for the feast of St. James.
15:30 Posted in Books , Desserts , Family , Family , Liturgical Year , Poultry , Summer Meals | Permalink | Comments (2) | Email this | Tags: Santiago de Compostela, Torta de Santiago, Cake of St. James, Tapas
Thursday, July 13, 2006
All in the Marinade...but Keeping it Simple
Rachel Ray has some great ideas, and her cooking is wonderful for busy moms. I have her 30 Minute Meals 2 and there's one recipe that I use all the time. But I confess, I'm not faithful to the intent of the recipe. I use her No-Mystery Marinade for our summertime grilling. The Basic Marinade can be used for filet mignon, strip steaks, chicken breasts (and thighs), pork chops and portobello mushroom caps...but mostly, I use it on chicken thighs. I prefer to use all natural or organic meats, and thighs cost a little less than breasts most of the time.
In 30 minutes or less, I can have a meal of chicken breasts or thighs on the grill. Take a large (gallon) size Ziploc bag and fill it with the ingredients of the marinade. By now all I do is drizzle in the red wine vinegar, add some glugs of olive oil, add salt, pepper, thyme, parsley, minced garlic, some red pepper flakes, swirl around a bit and add the meat. In 15 minutes the meat is ready to be grilled.
This recipe has been a lifesaver for us. I've made it for guests and during trips away from home. I can't always trust ready-made marinades, or homemade mixtures. Soy sauce is a common ingredient, and it contains wheat starch. This is a quick meal I can make when I need some alternative safe foods for my son.
On the subject of marinade, do you ever plan on grilling and realize you didn't allow time to marinade? Some recipes call for overnight marinating. I just recently read a Q&A in the August Issue of Cuisine At Home that boosted my spirits! Is the writer secretly trying to help out busy moms who want to cook good meals?
Too Much of a Good thing
Is it possible to keep meat in a marinade for too long?
Yes, contrary to popular belief, a marinade's primary purpose is to add flavor to meat, not tenderize. It's true that acids in marinades (wine, vinegar, citrus juice, yogurt, etc.) cause meat proteins to break down. But the acids penetrate only about 1/4" deep, no matter how long the meat is soaked. And at a certain point, the proteins will break down so far that they lose a great deal of texture, causing the meat to become dry and mealy.
So how long should something be marinated? In general, an hour is plenty for beef, pork and lamb; 30 minutes for chicken. Because fish and seafood are more delicate, it's best to marinate them just 15-30 minutes. Any longer and the acid in the marinade will "cook" the fish, turning it rubbery.
What a relief! So, even in the afternoon if I come home with groceries and decide the fate of a cut of meat is going on the grill, I still have time to marinade AND cook. Woohoo!
17:35 Posted in Books , Poultry , Summer Meals , Wheat, Egg and Dairy Free | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Winging It for the Ascension
From the The Easter Book by Francis X. Weiser, S.J., (Copyright, 1954, by Harcourt, Brace and Company, Inc. ) I found that
[i]t was a widespread custom in many parts of Europe during the Middle Ages to eat a bird on Ascension Day, because Christ "flew" to Heaven. Pigeons, pheasants, partridges, and even crows, graced the dinner tables. In Western Germany bakers and innkeepers gave their customers pieces of pastry made in the shapes of various birds. In England the feast was celebrated with games, dancing, and horse races. In central Europe, Ascension Day is a traditional day of mountain climbing and picnics on hill tops and high places.
So I served chicken for our Ascension Sunday feast. Yes, Sunday. Our diocese is one of the many in the United States where the Ascension feast is observed on Sunday.
For our Ascension Meal, I used a new cookbook I have from the library. I believe I will have to purchase one for my own shelves, as this book is fabulous! Whole Foods Allergy Cookbook: Two Hundred Gourmet and Homestyle Recipes for the Food Allergic Family by Cybele Pascal. All recipes are free of the Top 8 allergens: Tree Nuts, peanuts, shellfish, fish, dairy, wheat, soy, and eggs. And, as the title says, this is a whole foods diet. We strive to eat organic and whole foods whenever possible, so this cookbook falls in line with our family diet.
Our dinner was Greek-style Chicken with Lemon and Oregano, with brown rice, broccoli and Basic Biscuits.
Greek-Style Chicken with Lemon and Oregano
A very simple dish, for any season, serve hot or cold. Very moist, with wonderful gravy to pour over chicken and brown rice. 2 Thumbs up by Hubby. My only change to the recipe was a bit more salt, seasoning the pieces before adding the sauce. So tasty for being so easy to bake!
3-lb. chicken, quartered
1/2 cup olive oil
juice of 2 lemons
3 large garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
lemon slices
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients except chicken and lemon slices. If desired, salt all sides of the chicken. In roasting pan or baking dish place chicken skin side down. Pour sauce mixture over the chicken. Cook chicken for 30 minutes, basting with juices one time. Turn over chicken and cook 30 to 40 minutes more, basting a few times. Check with thermometer to see if chicken is fully cooked. To crisp the skin, place under broiler for 2 minutes. Garnish with lemon slices.
One of the areas I'm trying to expand is bread type foods that ds can eat. Whole Foods Allergy Cookbook has a recipe for Basic Biscuits, suggesting use for sweet or savory occasions, even for Sloppy Joes. I used soy milk instead of rice or oat milk, and Spectrum Shortening, and only a pinch of sugar (granulated, I confess!). The biscuits were pretty good. The next batch I won't roll as thin and will sift the flour more. These pass the second day test...without heating or butter these still were palatable and not too dry.
It's a little more difficult getting used to different flours for baked goods having been raised on wheat products. The texture, color, taste, smell are all so different. Oat flour has a faint sweet cinnamon flavor and odor. This recipe was not dry and crumbly.
Using these flours makes me feel like I'm going back in time. People didn't always use wheat flour, but a variety of flours. The finely ground white flour was only for special occasions. Barley and oats and rye and buckwheat, and many others were used. So I'm getting in touch with my "traditional side." What's that saying, "Nothing new under the sun"? I can label this allergy cooking or historical baking.
Basic Biscuits
1/2 cup barley flour
1 1/2 cups oat flour
4 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. maple sugar or beet sugar (optional)
1/4 tsp. salt
5 Tbsp. chilled vegetable shortening or coconut oil
3 tsp. Ener-G Egg Replacer mixed with 1/4 cup rice or oat milk
1/2 cup rice or oat milk
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. (Sift) and combine dry ingredients and cut in shortening until texture is like coarse meal. Stir in egg replacer, then add rice/oat milk (or soy milk) small amounts at a time and work into dough.
Flour hands, rolling pin and board or counter before emptying dough out. Mold into a ball with as little handling as possible. If too dry, sprinkle a few drops of milk and work in gently. Roll out until 3/4 inch think and cut with biscuit cutters (2 1/2 inch suggested size). On a lightly greased and floured cookie sheet (or on a Silpat mat) transfer the biscuits and bake about 15 minutes or until golden brown on top.
Makes 8-10 biscuits.
As these didn't turn out well visually, I'm not providing pictures this time. There are variations, such as Herb Biscuits, Currant Biscuits and Orange Biscuits, also hints for use of leftover dough to create a popover...but I'll let you check the book yourself out for these tidbits. You won't be sorry!
18:53 Posted in Books , Breads and Biscuits , Food Allergies , Liturgical Year , Poultry , Wheat, Egg and Dairy Free | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
Monday, May 08, 2006
Memories of "Little Grandma"
One of my sisters and I called my mother's mother "Little Grandma." We're not sure why we adopted the name; my parents aren't sure, either. We just decided one day that we would call Dad's mother "Big Grandma" and Mom's mother "Little Grandma."
"Little Grandma" was a different type of grandmother. They broke the mold after she was born. We have many wonderful memories of her unique take on life.
She came from New Orleans, with a French, English and Spanish heritage. The Spanish roots are probably very small, but she LOVED talking about her Spanish blood. If there was any type of costume party, she'd be sure to bring out her Spanish mantilla and comb to dress up. She loved to dance, and she was passionate...all, she was sure, due to her Spanish blood.
She left this world last November, age 89. Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord. May she rest in peace. Amen.
She wasn't the best of cooks, but because she loved Spain, I think about her often, especially when I used my favorite cookbook. My Kitchen in Spain by Janet Mendel is a fabulous peek in the Spanish cuisine. The recipes are wonderful, with a Mediterranean touch. I love it especially for the fabulous chicken recipes. So far I have 5 recipes that I use on a regular rotation. We eat chicken frequently, and I'm always on the lookout for varieties of moist, tasty poultry recipes. And as most of the recipes do not call for dairy, wheat or egg products. I don't have to adapt, but get to taste the authentic Spanish flavors of the dish.
Tonight it's a simple Roast Chicken (Pollo Asado)
Salt and fresh ground black pepper
1 whole roasting chicken (5 to 6 lbs)
1-2 Tbsp. brandy
Fresh Rosemary sprigs
Fresh Thyme sprigs
2 Bay leaves
1 Tbsp. lard, softened or 1 Tbsp. olive oil
2 garlic cloves, crushed
Vegetables, such as potatoes, carrots and turnips (optional)
1/2 cup white wine
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Rinse chicken, remove insides. Sprinkle salt and pepper inside the cavity, then rub with the brandy. Insert rosemary and thyme and bay leaves, tie up the legs to keep chicken's shape.
Combine olive oil (or lard) and garlic. Spread over the chicken and place chicken breast-side up in a roasting pan. Salt and pepper outside of chicken (optional). Add vegetables in pan if desired.
Roast for 30 minutes at 400 degrees, then turn down temperature to 350 degrees F. Baste with drippings occasionally and continue to cook until thigh registers 175 degrees with the thermometer, about 2 hours.
Transfer chicken to platter, remove string. Pour off all fat and add wine. Over medium heat on the stove, deglaze the pan by stirring, bring to a boil and pour juices over chicken. Serve warm.
I didn't have fresh herbs, so I used dried. I also omitted the rosemary. I love many herb flavors, but this is not one I like as much. I had an organic free range fryer, but that worked fine. Less juices to baste, but still moist and tasty.
This past year I bought a Digital Thermometer and Roasting Pan from Pampered Chef. I can't believe I have cooked all these years without them! They are now necessary and oft-used tools.
To accompany the chicken, I'm make Green Beans and Spanish Short Grain Rice. I use Lundberg Short Grain Rice and adapted a recipe off the bag.
Spanish Short Grain Rice
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
water or chicken broth
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1-1/2 cups brown rice
dash cayenne pepper or Tabasco sauce (optional)
1/2 tsp. salt
Drain tomatoes, reserving liquid. Add water or broth to liquid to equal 3 cups; set aside. In a 4-quart saucepan, heat olive oil, then add bell pepper, onion, garlic and celery. Sauté briefly, add rice and cayenne pepper and stir. Add the liquid and salt (optional) and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes. Add tomatoes and cover, cooking for a additional 20 minutes. Remove from heat and stand in covered pot for 10 more minutes. Fluff with fork. Yield: 5 cups, 6-7 servings.
We miss you, Little Grandma.
First photo taken in 1973, above photo Halloween 2005, 2 weeks before she died.
19:35 Posted in Books , Family , Family , Main Meal , Poultry , Wheat, Egg and Dairy Free | Permalink | Comments (2) | Email this