Recently in How To / Recipe Category

On Mother's Day, while at my Grandma Grace's place, my aunt Anne and I got in a discussion about recent cookbooks and what my favorite are. While not super recent, one of my favorite cookbooks of the last 10-15 years is Patricia Well's Bistro Cooking. I went through a period where I cooked a bunch of the recipes faithfully from the book, but now, 10 years later I mostly cook from memory of how the recipe should go.

This morning, I received an email from my aunt asking what herbs I used, so I pulled out Bistro Cooking and looked up the recipe, and much to my surprise, I have almost completely swapped out the herbs Patricia Wells calls for and have substituted ones that are easy to find here in SoCal, as well as omitted the egg and added lemon slices. Thus, the version of the recipe that I have been making for the last decade is following the spirit and technique of Ms. Wells, but not the same ingredients.

Here is my re-made interpretation of Patricia Well's Herbed Chicken (Poulet Roti Aux Herbes Pile ou Face):

Ms. Jen's Whole Herbed Roasted Chicken

One whole chicken (I like Rosie's or Mary's Air Chilled from Whole Foods, or the Kosher brand from Trader Joe's)
A handful of fresh mint
A handful of fresh basil
A handful of fresh tarragon
A handful of fresh parsley (if you want) or sorrel if you can find it (I grow it)
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
sea salt & pepper

1 whole lemon sliced
olive oil
salt

1) Chop all the herbs until minced. Put in bowl or heap on cutting board. Chop garlic, add to herbs. Add about 1tsp of salt & pepper to bowl/pile.

2) Take chicken out of wrapping and pull out the bag of innards, put aside, saute up later for the dog or cat. Dog/Cat will love you.
Pat chicken dry inside and out, put on a good roasting pan.

3) Carefully, with clean hands, work your fingers under the skin of the back & breast & thighs/drumsticks without breaking any skin, start stuffing (evenly) the garlic-herb mixture under the skin. Reserve at least a 1/4th of the mixture and rub it in the bird's cavity.

4) Stuff the main and neck cavities with the lemon slices.

5) Rub down the skin with some olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt.

6) Place the chicken breast side down on the roasting pan.

7) Roast at 400F for 15 mins, then turn down to 350F. Will take 1-1.5 hours depending on size of chicken, until the thigh meat registers on the meat thermometer at 170-180F or the juices run clear.
In the last 45 mins, I like to add root veggies (potatoes, carrots, etc) to the bottom of the pan so that they will roast in the chicken juices & fat.
During the last 20 minutes, flip the chicken over so that the breast skin turns brown.

8) Let rest about 10 minutes after exiting the oven before carving up. Serve with roast root veggies and a salad(s).

Have fun!

Fri 07.25.08 - Last weekend my Mom bought a pig at the Bishop Livestock Fair. This week the pig is off to Reno for butchering. Next week is Charcuterie Experiments!

I used to be the sort who read a recipe and followed it to the hilt. Now I don't.

Now I read recipes like a good story. In fact, I like to read a good cookbook, like it is a good novel and then riff off of it. I only use the recipes as a guide to how it could be done (with substitutions, of course) and for possible proportions.

Now that I am writing about food and cooking here at the Happy Tastebud, I have good intentions of writing down my recipes for dishes about once a week, except I don't.

What stops me? I don't measure. I don't know exactly how much I did of such and such other than the vaguest terms - a handful, a few shakes, you know as much as you want to eat of this... Well, my approach may work great for me, as an experienced cook with over 20 years in the kitchen under her belt, but not for recipes.

Today, I was going to take the two huge bunches of basil in my fridge and turn them into basil pesto to be divided into small batches and then frozen for later use. What a great way to preserve a summer bumper crop of basil, right?

Well, first off, I got distracted by my Mom arriving from North/Central California and taking a walk with the dogs. Then we found ourselves at Walt's for wine & artichokes. Then it was too late.

But even if I were to write down the recipes that I make for my "country style" basil pesto that I make about twice a month, I don't have exact proportions. But here is my approximate...

1) Take a bunch of basil (handful), wash it, and separate the leaves from the stems. Discard or compost stems. Save leaves.

2) Chop the basil leaves with a good chef's knife until minced. All of it. Will take a bit of time. Put in a bowl with room after minced.

3) Take a handful of fresh, non-roasted pine nuts (about 1/2 cup) and chop them with your knife until smallish or minced (your preference). Put in bowl with basil.

4) Take 1-4 cloves of garlic (depending on how much raw garlic you like), mince into small bits. Put in bowl with basil and pine nuts.

5) Take your salt grinder and grind in about 1/4 teaspoon of salt into the bowl. If no salt grinder, then put in 1/4 teaspoon of good salt into to the bowl with other ingredients.

6) Take a spoon and start to stir ingredients in bowl as you slowly pour in good virgin olive oil, only add enough to make a paste (not a green liquid).

7) If you so choose, add a 1/4 cup of Pecorino Romano grated cheese (Italian sheep's cheese) or good grated Parmesan.

Then use this fresh made hand chopped "country style" basil for pasta or dip or put in the freezer for later use.

When I use it for pasta (rice pasta), I reserve out about a 1/3 cup of the pasta boiling water (towards the very end before draining), to pour over the drained pasta and pesto paste to help make it a sauce.

Have fun with my inexact recipe. It is fun to make, doesn't take more than 15 mins. and is good and fresh.

Forgive me, for I have sinned...

I forgot to take a photo of dinner's vegetable gratin for your visual pleasure. I ate a big dent in it, and then remembered the camera. Ooops.

This week's CSA box included summer squash, tomatoes. I still have last week's potatoes and zucchini from the supermarket. And then there is the bumper crop of herbs from my container garden.

Thus, I made a fun combo of a Provencal style zucchini dish and a potato gratin:

Thinly slice the following with their skins on, washed, of course:
4 potatoes
4 summer crooked neck squash
1 zucchini (more if you have it)

Put them in a baking dish to fit plus some.

Take 2 ripe garden tomatoes, washed, and grate on the grater over the other veggies
Take 2 cloves of garlic, mince, sprinkle on everyone
Take a combo of minced, fresh herbs (up to 2 teaspoons each) of Rosemary, Thyme, Basil.
Salt & Pepper
1/4 c. Olive Oil or more as needed to coat veggies

Toss everything together, put in 375F oven, back until cooked through & crispy brown (45min to 1 hour).

Eat.

It was tasty.

Hello Happy Tastebud.

Today is Monday. I worked all day and ate odd meals from the bits and pieces in my fridge. I drank one diet coke. And several glasses of water.

This afternoon, I made of pitcher of iced tea with 2 PG Tips tea bags, 1 Celestial Seasonings Lemon Zinger tea bag, and one CS Green Tea bag. After brewing the tea, I added 1/4 cup of honey and 1/2 a small lemon, then added it to the big pitcher with ice. Stir. Drink 3 big glasses of the Ms. Jen Special Tea with lots of ice.

Became very caffeinated. Now eating a few chocolate chips to make sure the caffeine high stays strong into the 10pm hour.

Photos by Ms. Jen with her Nokia N95 camera phone.

I am a big fan of the Thai Kitchen Spring Onion Rice Noodle Soup Bowl. Gluten-free, check. Dairy-free, check. Egg-free, check. Canola oil free, check. Takes only 3-4 minutes to make... Sign me up!

After I first found this little gem of Jenifer friendly food goodness at Trader Joe's a few years back, I would just make it by the package directions.  But ever since I have returned from Ireland, I have made it a meal by adding whatever complimentary veggies and meats that I have in the refrigerator and/or chicken broth if I have it on had.

Happy Spiced Up Thai Kitchen Rice Noodle Soup Bowl:

1 package of your fave flavor of Thai Kitchen Rice Noodle Soup Bowls (or any other instant noodle package, but I won't vouch for quality & gluten-free with other brands)

1/2 bowl (the plastic bowl that comes with the Rice Noodle Soup) of water

1 bowl (see directly above) of Chicken broth or veggie broth

All the packets of stuff that come in the Thai Noodle packaging.

Put all of the above in a pan on the stove that will fit plus room or find a big bowl and do it in the microwave. If stove, boil for 5 minutes. If microwave, nuke for 3 minutes.

As the soup is cooking, chop up whatever tasty vegetables and/or meat you have in the refrigerator that would be complimentary.

I like to use leafy green veggies: Bok Choy, escarole, spinach, kale, etc.

I also like to use pork (bacon or pancetta, pre-sauted/cooked), turkey or chicken leftovers, or cooked ground beef for extra protein.

Add the veggies and cooked meat to the soup, cook until boiling or the veggies are wilt-ish/ cooked to your taste.

Serve. Eat. Be happy.

Ms. Jen's steps for what to do with all those gorgeous late summer tomatoes that you were tempted into buying at the store or farmer's market OR a friend with a garden foisted off on to you... Make tomato cubes for later use when you need a burst of summer tomato-y goodness in a dish you are cooking.

Easy steps to fresh tomato paste cubes:

1) Obtain kick ass tasty tomatoes. Wash 'em. Dry em'.

2) Put a big pot of water to boil. Drop tomatoes in, watch, after minute or two the skins should be split. Use any number of kitchen implements to pull the tomatoes out of the pot and into a strainer without burning yourself. While wearing kitchen gloves, see part above about not burning yourself, peel off the skins of the tomatoes. Put in bowl or another pot.

3) When all of the tomatoes are nekkid and skinless, you have two choices:
Tomato Rustica: pop all of the skinless tomatoes in a big pot to fit, chop 'em up a bit with a wooden spoon or paddle, and simmer, stirring occasionally so they don't stick or burn on a low burner, until the tomatoes have reduced to thick paste. Simmering may take up to 3-4 hours.
OR
Tomato Sauce: wait for skinned tomatoes to cool. Slice in half. Scoop out the seeds, leave interior walls and other non-seed flesh. Chop up. Put in pot on a low burner, simmer until the tomatoes have reduced to a thick paste. Stir as needed. Simmering may take up to 3-4 hours.

4) Cool paste. Pour paste into a clean ice cube tray. Put in freezer. Freeze until frozen through.

5) Release frozen tomato cubes and store in a zipped freezer bag. Put back into freezer until you need some good fresh homemade tomato pastes for a sauce, stew, or soup when all the tomatoes in the store are winter dull. Pull out a cube or two and cook it up. Happily use until bag is empty.

6) Repeat Steps 1 through 5 next August or Sept.