Archives for January 2008

Which came first?

January 29, 2008 by greg 6 Comments

When my good friends over at the Gardenbuddies.com Food Forum suggested that we have a Revol chicken cookoff, I was excited. We had all recently purchased these really wonderful Revol roasters shaped like a chicken and people have put them to very good use. I knew right away that I would try to use it to make a dish I have never done before. Soufflé !! Yes, I was a soufflé virgin and it was about time I tried it. I thought instead of making a roasted chicken I would be creative and incorporate eggs and a soufflé was perfect. I was not sure how well it would rise in this odd-shaped dish but it was worth a shot.

For dinner we started with an appetizer salad. This was really quite simple to make. I just wrapped melon balls with slices of ham and laid them atop a bed of fresh spring greens dressed lightly with a balsamic vinaigrette. To accompany the salad I served an Alsatian riesling that was also full of melon flavors.

Sam decided to join us for a bit of salad and wine.

Let’s get back to the soufflé, shall we? As I said, I have never made one before so I was a little worried about how it would turn out. I started with a basic cheese souffle recipe that I got from Lynne Rossetto Kasper’s Splendid Table radio show. This is from a recent guest of hers, Sally Schneider. I modified it a little bit. In hindsight I should have used a couple more eggs to get a little more height, but these proportions certainly worked out well.

16 oz boneless skinless chicken breast

6 egg whites

2 egg yolks

3 tbsp flour

1 cup skim milk (I’m trying to make it as light as possible)

4 oz gruyere cheese grated

2.5 oz parmigiano reggiano cheese grated

salt, pepper and just a tidge of nutmeg

I started by poaching the chicken breasts in salted water flavored with bay leaf and thyme until they were cooked through but still juicy and tender. These were cooled and chopped up finely. The flour was first mixed with a bit of cold milk to make a paste then dissolved in the rest of the milk. This was heated to boiling and whisked or about a minute. The flame was turned off and the egg yolks were whisked in one at a time. A little bit of salt, pepper and nutmeg were added. The base was allowed to cool to room temperature. While that was cooling I beat the egg whites until they were stiff being careful not to overbeat them. The Revol roaster was buttered and some parmigaino was added to provide texture on the sides for the soufflé to climb up. The egg whites, base, chicken and cheeses were combined and folded very gently until they were just mixed together. There were still some white streaks from the eggs, but that is ok. I turned the mixture out into the roaster and placed it in a 375 F oven. This was baked for about 40 minutes until the soufflé was risen and nicely browned on the top.

To accompany the soufflé I roasted some sweet potato spears that I lightly coated with olive oil, salt, pepper and some smoked paprika. I also roasted green beans with lots of fresh chopped garlic and lemon juice.

The soufflé was a hit. Even this last little bit got eaten before we stood up from the table. I think the perfect accompaniment to a cheese soufflé is a nice dry Rhone white wine. So I served a Chateauneuf du Pape blanc. Unfortunately the wine was a little bit off and over oxidized. Otherwise the meal would have been perfect.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: chicken cheese soufflé, ham wrapped melon balls

Steelhead Trout – a first for me

January 27, 2008 by greg 12 Comments

Dinner this evening came together so beautifully. I knew I wanted to do something with soba noodles tonight but I wasn’t quite sure what. I had on my mind a cold sesame soba dish with some shrimp. But while I was at the market it occurred to me that salmon might be nice tonight. I went over to the fish counter to survey the offerings. I saw what I thought was beautiful wild salmon. Imagine my surprise when the meat counter staff person told me it was steelhead trout. Trout? I thought trout was more of a white fish. I have never seen trout look like salmon before. Take a look at this gorgeous piece of fish. You can see what I mean. I have never had it before. It smelled fresh and looked fantastic so I bought it. No shrimp tonight! It’s going to be soy, mirin, ginger, and garlic steelhead trout!

I also intended to make some soup to go along with the main course for dinner. I still had a chicken carcass in the fridge that I roasted recently. So I made a simple chicken stock by simmering the carcass with celery and onions for about two hours.

This is what I ended up with after a couple hours simmering. I strained the broth off and used that as the base of my soup.

Keeping with my Asian inspiration I picked up a fresh daikon radish at the market today. I absolutely love cooked diakon. It is so tasty yet mild. After I strained the chicken stock I placed it back in the pot and added a bunch of large chunks of diakon, lots of chopped garlic, a good amount of grated fresh ginger, soy sauce, a splash of mirin and a tad bit of nuoc mon Vietnamese fish sauce. I let this simmer for about an hour more until the daikon was nice and tender. The soup was perfect garnished with some fresh green onions.

Ok, let me get back to the main dish. Yes, the fish! I bought a 1 pound filet and cut it into 4 oz servings. This was marinated with finely chopped garlic, fresh grated ginger, soy sauce, mirin, sesame oil and black pepper. I let this marinate in the fridge for about 40 minutes. The soba noodles were the inspiration for everything tonight so I should tell you how I prepared them. I cooked about 4 oz of soba noodles (2 servings) in boiling water for about 8 minutes until they were tender. These were drained and set aside in the colander for a while while I got the fish cooking. I used a hot grill pan to sear the fish on one side for about minuted then I turned it over skin side down. The pan was placed in a hot 400F oven while I finished up the noodles. I think the fish stayed in the oven for about 8-10 minutes.

Let’s get back to the noodles. Once I got the fish in the oven I was ready to fry the noodles. I had a wok heated and ready. I coated the noodles with a bit of toasted sesame oil. I had ready some chopped garlic and finely julienned green bell pepper. I added a tsp or so of canola oil to the hot wok and threw everything in together. This was stirred up together and then spread out in the pan to get a little bit crisp. After a few minutes I would stir it up and then spread it out in the pan again. This helped to brown and crisp the noodles. The noodles were placed on the plate and the fish was laid on top. The dish was garnished with fresh sliced scallions.

I must say this turned out better than I expected. The crunchy sesame soba noodles and the juicy mild fish seasoned with ginger were perfect together. I must do this again. To compliment the meal I had a nice California sauvignon blanc.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: chicken broth, daikon, fish, soba, steelhead trout

Eggplant and Chicken Extraordinaire

January 23, 2008 by greg 2 Comments

Lately I have been eating a lot of Asian inspired dishes. But on Monday I was in a mediterranean mood. I had these two eggplants and didn’t quite know what to do with them. I was thinking about the baked eggplant slices with tomato I have made before, but I wanted something a bit more substantial. I wanted a one-dish meal. I ended up with this chicken and eggplant dish. It was quite simple to make and it still is low fat and low in calories. This HUGE dish of food split into six very generous portions packs less than 200 calories per serving.

I cut up two eggplants into 1 inch cubs which resulted in about 6 cups of eggplant. I also cubed up 16 oz of boneless skinless chicken breast. This was tossed together with 1 large onion, chopped, about a half cup of chopped garlic-stuffed green olives, 1 whole head of chopped garlic, 2 cans of diced tomatoes, a couple tablespoons of dried oregano, salt and pepper. This was all placed in my large wide porcelain pan and drizzled with just a scant tablespoon of olive oil on the top. Now, normally I would have soaked the dish with olive oil but I’m trying to be light. This was baked in a 400F oven until all the vegetables and chicken were cooked through, the juices were bubbling up, and the top was beginning to caramelize. This took about an hour. You can see I served it with some of my mixed beans and grains. The garlic, olives and oregano really make this dish sing.

Filed Under: chicken Tagged With: eggplant, low fat

Tarte aux Poires en Cage

January 21, 2008 by greg 9 Comments

The moment that Julia from A Slice of Cherry Pie announced that this month’s In The Bag challenge involved pears, I knew I had to make this pear tart in a cage. I was inspired by my good friends on the recipe forum over at gardenbuddies.com to make this. I bought the lattice cutter a couple months ago and have been dying to find an excuse to use it. Thanks, Julia, for this challenge! I’m glad I got the chance and I’m so happy with how this turned out.

The ingredients that were required for this challenge were pears, lemon and nuts. Perfect matching ingredients if you ask me. I started by peeling bosq pears and removing the seeds and core with a melon baller. The pear halves were poached in a syrup of water, sugar, honey and lemon juice until the pears were just tender, about 15 minutes. These were set aside until ready to use.

Puff pastry is the ingredient that really elevates this dessert to a higher level. Pastry sheets are cut into the shape of the pear. Half of the pastry is latticed using a lattice roller that makes for perfect slits in the pastry. The pear half pocket where the seeds and core were removed was filled with frangipane (almond paste). The pear was placed cut side down on the pastry and the lattice placed on top. The edges were brushed with beaten egg and pressed together. The whole thing was brushed with beaten egg and placed in a 350 °F oven until the pastry puffed and turned a golden brown color, about 20 minutes. Once out of the oven the pears were brushed with a glaze made from fresh squeezed lemon juice and honey to give it that shine and a wonderful flavor. As you can see in the first picture, the final dessert was garnished with toasted blanched almonds and lemon zest. Truly a dessert with an impressive presentation. I just have to make this for some guests now!

I served my tarte aux poires en cage with an almond ice milk. I would normally make a nice rich ice cream, but remember, I’m trying to cut the fat and calories these days. So, I made an almond ice milk that is sugar free and low in fat. This is simply made from 1/2 cup of blanched almonds that had been powdered in the food processor, 4 cups of fat free skim milk, 1/2 cup of splenda sugar substitute and a couple tables spoons of frangelico liquor. The texture was a bit more loose than a creamy ice cream but it tasted really almondy.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: in the bag, pear, tart, tarte aux poires en cage

Maki sushi

January 21, 2008 by greg 6 Comments

I do love sushi and maki sushi rolls. I haven’t made it in a long time. Tonight we feasted on Japanese cuisine. In my efforts to eat healthy I even used brown rice instead of the traditional white rice. I like the Thai brown rice I find in my local Asian market. It still has some stickiness that is important in Asian cuisine. Of course it’s not the same as a traditional Japanese sushi rice but it was a palatable alternative to white rice. I seasoned it with rice vinegar and a little bit of sugar.

The ingredients for my maki rolls were imitation crab meat, cucumber, carrots, and a wasabi seasoned canned tuna. I’d love to use fresh fish but we just can’t get anything here that I would eat raw.

Here is the nori with the rice and fillings all laid out.

All rolled up and ready for cutting.

I love wasabi and use a lot in my soy dipping sauce. I also prepared a soup this evening.

The soup was a very simple one. I made a simple broth with water, clam dashi powder, fish dashi powder and a splash of soy sauce. I simmered button mushrooms in the broth until they were good and tender. I then added a good amount of finely sliced leaf lettuces. I love cooked lettuce, especially in soup. It has a silky texture and a nice sweet flavor.

Stay tuned. I’ll post dessert tomorrow. It is definitely worth waiting for!

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: soup, sushi