CHICKEN & BROCCOLI FRITTERS

Amazing! She ate it! My 20 month old daughter, Charlotte, actually ate a chicken fritter I made, spiked with flax seed and broccoli!  This kid. I tell you. She eats nothing right now. She eats hot dogs. And potatoes. And sometimes, eggs. That's about it. And everything needs a ranch chaser. It's really frustrating. This is not my fault.

She used to eat everything. She ate what we ate, no matter what it was -- I never even fed her baby food. Then all of a sudden, it just stopped about 2-3 months ago and I have no idea why? I read recently on the baby blog that Anthony Bourdain is trying really hard to get his daughter to also eat normal food. Well, his daughter is about a month or so younger than mine, so I wish him luck. And the story made me feel a little better, because at least I know I'm in good company. 

Charlotte also eats salmon, but you shouldn't feed salmon to small children more than maybe once or twice a week. So every day it's a struggle. I make something for her, and she usually just throws it down to the dog. Grrrrr! I try new stuff, I try repeating stuff she's already had (some experts say they have to try something an average of 8 times before they'll eat it) but most days it just gets tossed. 

I roasted a chicken last night, and today was removing the meat from the bones so I could make stock. I decided I'd try some chicken fritters. Unbelievably, she ate it! For the record, they WERE delicious (but I make yummy things all the time, it doesn't mean little miss fussy eater will agree).

1 cup finely diced chicken meat

1/4 cup finely chopped cooked broccoli tops

1 egg

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

1 Tbsp Flax seed

3 Tbsp bread crumbs

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

2 Tbsp grated parmesan cheese

4 Tbsp milk or half & half

2 Tbsp Wondra

Mix all ingredients together. Should be thick and sticky, and easy to form patties. Coat patties with Panko breadcrumbs and fry in a generous amount (bottom of pan completely covered) of half olive, half canola oil. Fry until golden.   

Look at how crisp they are.

Intensely crisp outside, tender inside. So flavorful! And although it's fried, it is not at all greasy.

The ranch dressing ..... Ugh.  But she ate. That's all you care about after a while. 

My plate looked a little different than hers. 

The ranch aftermath. The gloss her head, face, hair and hands are covered with -- ranch. Ewww.

GOURMET IN PARIS - AND THE NEW COQ AU VIN

I actually laughed -- several times -- while reading the Editor's letter in the September edition of Gourmet. The theme of the issue is exploring Paris on a budget, so I found it laughable that she considers a 40-euro lunch a real bargain. Apparently her version of poor and my version are not the same.  

Aside from Ruth's distorted version of living on the cheap, the issue is very good. I'm not sure there are too many people out there who have been to Paris and don't miss it, at least culinarily. 

Today we will be making a recipe from this issue of Gourmet Magazine. 

I'm the kind of cook that just sees something that looks good, then I make my own version. I rarely follow recipes and when I do, I admit I improvise way more than I should. But I'm changing. I read something once on a favorite blog of mine, French Laundry at Home, where the author addresses those who feel certain types of food, like that found at the French Laundry, is fussy. And to the uneducated, it does seem fussy ... but she explains very convincingly how in reality, fussy implies that there are unnecessary processes that are  being carried out by someone lacking expertise. And that simply isn't the case. 

And she should know, having now made almost every recipe in the French Laundry cookbook! She simply puts it "If the chef/owner of 2 of the best restaurants in the land is recommending a certain way to do something to yield the best result, then damn skippy I'm gonna try it. I've gotten an incredible education from cooking my way through it. It's cracked open so many "Oh, NOW I get it" moments that have changed the way I make a sandwich, pull together a last-minute salad dressing, or cook a steak. And, it's actually made me smarter, faster, and more creative in the kitchen. Now, I can pull together a really great dinner for 6 in 20-30 minutes, and truly blow my friends away. "   

I've never looked at recipes the same since. You're never too old to change, and never too old to learn something new. So today marks the beginning of a new blog. I will still do posts of my own concoctions, but I think I'm going to do away with the restaurant review posts, because no one really cares anyway since there are people from all over reading this, not just Orange County, and instead replace them with recipes I pull from popular magazines and out of my giant collection of cookbooks. And I will make them as close to the way they are written as possible. We'll see how these translate from book to real life. 

First up:  NEW COQ AU VIN, courtesy Gourmet, Sept/08

 

I spot this recipe in the new issue of Gourmet. The "New Coq Au Vin."  What makes it new? I wonder. Oh ... I see; It takes less than an hour from start to finish! Excellent. Let's do it! I'll go get a chicken from the freezer. 

First up, peel and chop the celery, 3 stalks. It didn't exactly say to peel it, but I like to take a few of the strings off. No big deal. I also peeled and cut in half 8 cloves of garlic. 

 

The recipe actually called for thighs only, but I didn't see that until after I had thawed my chicken, and besides, I wouldn't have had the time to run to the store to get a big package of chicken thighs anyway, especially when I had a perfectly good whole chicken ready to go. So. I cut the chicken into pieces that were all relatively the same size. Now we have a variety. No harm, right? It's still mostly in line with the original recipe. Hey, I'm trying. 

Brown the chicken in batches, skin side down (do not turn), and transfer to a plate. 

Saute the celery and garlic until it starts to soften. 

Add 1 cup of  wine, reduce by half. Then add 1 cup of water.

Put the chicken back into the pan. Now, in the recipe it suggests a stovetop method - to cover lightly and cook for about 30 minutes. I just put mine in the oven, at 350, for around 55 minutes. At my house, the oven is safer because I have a child who likes to turn knobs on the stove, and often will turn  your burners off and you don't realize it! 

The suggest side - Olive Oil Mashed Potatoes. Easy enough. 

I decide to put in a dash of truffle oil with the potatoes. Not exactly called for in the recipe, but so what -- they're just mashed potatoes. 

Ever use a ricer? I've actually never had a ricer until just recently ... but I love it! And it makes mashed potatoes perfectly! You don't even need to peel them, you just cook the potatoes, then cut in half, and plop them in and squeeze. It all comes out like fluffy clouds, skins left behind. Now just add your warm milk/cream and whatever else. Like velvet - guaranteed, and no more chewy over-worked taters. 

 

Potatoes done - check. 

Chicken done - check. 

Throw together a quick spinach salad - check.  

Tender chicken, rich sauce, small bites of sweet garlic. Celery doesn't always make people jump for joy, but it offers such a wonderful and unique flavor, so don't leave it out! Along with the fluffy potatoes (with just a slight hint of truffle) this was a delicious dinner. And although I didn't make mine on the stovetop as the original recipe called for, I really think putting it the oven was a good decision because it came out fantastic.

COOK YOUR CHICKEN UPSIDE DOWN

It's not as pretty - but it makes for much tastier white meat.

Does the chicken in this pot look odd at all? It's because it's upside down. Breast side down instead of the way we're used to seeing it - breast side up. My mom always did this with the holiday turkeys, so why not do it with chicken. 

1 Whole chicken - drop it into an oven safe dish that you have a lid for. Add a generous amount of salt and pepper. You could stop there and add only a bit of olive oil, but I also like to add a good sprinkling of onion powder & garlic powder, a little paprika, and a little dried oregano. Drizzle a good amount of olive oil over it, then rub it all in real good.  

I cook it uncovered at 375 for about 30 minutes, then turn it down to 325, cover it and slow cook it for another 2 hours.  It really renders the juices, and creates a very rich, dark carmel-like sauce. Add desired vegetables, a little water (1 cup)  and white wine (1 cup) in the last 45 min.  When done, the liquid will be reduced down to a thick goo and you'll have a yummy sauce for drizzling over the chicken.

OK, so here is what happens. The breast meat is sitting at the bottom of the pot, drenched in all the juices and fat and it just drinks it up. Like I said, not as pretty - but so much tastier. 

Taken right out of the pot - juicy and moist. If you cut this piece of breast meat in half, you'll see the gorgeous caramel colored juice in-between each and every fiber. Go ahead, click on the picture to supersize it... you know you want to.

CHICKEN SALAD - WITH APPLES RASINS & WALNUTS

I was making lunch today and thought I'd do a post of this apple-chicken salad I like to make. It's easy to make, and so healthy- and I always feel great all day after eating it~ I have lots of energy, and it keeps me full all afternoon.

Basically, I make it for one (for me, for lunch). I toss a few chicken tenders in a pan, brown them, then let them cool. I chop one crunchy apple (Red Delicious or Fuji). To my apples I toss in some raisins, a few walnuts, a few cubes of cheese and 1 TBSP of mayonnaise. You can also add celery if you need more bulk. Add the chicken. Serve immediately.