Tag Archives: butter beurre

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!!

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Herbed ChickenIn this corner, weighing in at a plump 3 1/2 pounds the current heavy weight roasted chicken champion of the world: Madeline Kamman’s Herbed Butter under-the-skin.
A traditional French technique for chicken that can be used for roasting or Sous Vide cooking. This mighty dish has charmed royalty the world over and stands as the pinnacle of simple poultry preparation.

Mahogany ChickenAnd in this corner, weighing in at a firm 3.25 pounds, the Contender, Jessica Cogan’s made-by-mom-at home Mahogany Chicken. The pride of the borough, this friendly approach to adding flavor should not be underestimated; stylish, smart and sassy. Who will be the winner is anyone’s guess.  Kamman’s herbed champion has the breasts to put up a great fight.  But Cogan’s Mahogany contender has got the legs to run away with it all.   Marquis of Queensbury rules apply!

Round 1

Round 1 In the left corner prepped with just a rub of salt and pepper on the skin: The Mahogany Contender.  In the right corner with an herbed butter rubbed under the skin directly on the breast: The Herbed Champion.

The judges score this round evenly. An equal effort from both birds.

The Contender’s basting marinade is 1 part brown sugar, 1 part balsamic vinegar and 1 part dry vermouth applied after the first 45 minutes of cooking then every 15 mins after that until done.The Champion’s herbed butter is 1/4 cup butter, salt, pepper, garlic. rosemary, thyme and basil.

Round 2

Round 2In the left side of the oven The Contender holds its own against The Champion.  But don’t count out the slippery moves that Herbed Butter can bring to this fight.  The heat is up for both of them and so far neither is backing down from a basting.

Uh Oh! The Champ is showing signs of melting down while the challenger, showing great poise under all this heat, is just crackling away.  The crowd is silent watching these to birds go head to head in headless combat. Never before have we seen such fancy footless footwork.  Ding!  Saved by the bell.

Round 3

Round #The final round and The Contender is putting on a show.  Evenly browned after multiple bastings She’s showing no sign of legging off.  The Champ, a little unevenly used from the butter directly under the skin, is still in the fight. Her delicious herbs giving off the airs of a true champion, one who never quits.

 

The Fight is Over!!

End of FightAmazing!! Never before is the history of Winner, Winner Chicken Dinner have we seen anything like this before.  Who would have guessed it?  Folks, just who could have foreseen the outcome of today’s match up? Not you, not me, nobody could have predicted this!!  After 1 hour and 25 mins in a 350°F oven the judges score the final numbers equally at 170°F. I still can’t believe it. My hats off to both of these plucky fighters.  I guess we’ll just have to wait until after they cool down before we can get a taste of what happened here today.  My oh my! I’ve never seen anything like it before.  No sir- ee.

 

Judge’s Decision

In a 2 to 1 vote the new Roast Chicken Heavy Weight Champion of the World is . . . . an upset!!

Madeline Kamman’s age old classic recipe proved feisty but it’s moves were a bit outdated and predictable.  The Contender, Jessica Cogan’s Mahogany Chicken takes the title with it’s even browning and moist marinaded flavor.  Our hat’s off to both the fighters in this matchup.  What?  What’s that I hear?  A rematch??  That’s right folks you heard it here first.  These two birds aren’t done flapping their wings yet.  Until next time . . .

Eat Well and Smile Often,

tj

p.s. Run Chicken Run!!

Cooking For Ms. Right!!

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Chicken Poulet Supreme!I met her at my first barbeque. I don’t mean my actual first barbeque;  as in a baby with a brontosaurus bone, sipping from dad’s PBR first barbeque. I mean my first movie barbeque, where I worked on a real, live film set.  First barbeque, you see, is a term employed, by those-in-the-know, with both pride and derision.  As in, “This isn’t my first barbeque.” versus “Is this your first barbeque??”

Returning from a whirlwind auto tour of Europe with my best friend Dale, me a recent graduate of culinary school, I got a call from one of my former chef instructors.

“So, how was Europe?” Chef Patty Hart inquired. 

“Great, what’s up?” I wittily replied. 

“Got a job yet,”   “Not yet,” says me.

“Meet me at so & so at 5:30. I’ve got something for you.”

5:30 came and I found myself smack dab in the middle of what was to become my first barbeque: The film set for ‘So I Married An Axe Murderer.’  After a quick meeting with the producer we were off to the production office to meet with – Ms. Right.  Now when I say Ms. Right I mean it in all the best possible ways.  She is beautiful, smart, kind, witty, humble, and unavailable.  Sigh . . .

It was Ms. Right who hired me to cook for Mike Myers, of SNL and Wayne’s World fame, on the set of this new movie.  To answer the question forming on your tongue, Mike is brilliant, funny, considerate, and extremely talented.  It was a privilege to cook for him.

Back to Ms. Right, since she is of a rare breed in the motion picture industry, not a seeker of fame, I have chosen not to use her real name. So Ms. Right she will remain.  I will openly admit to having a crush on her from the first time we met; unfortunately our lives spin in different circles never allowing us more than the odd telephone call,  chance meeting-for-dinner, and  the too few and far between email exchanges.  FYI: She is happily partnered with a charming man and both currently reside in Jolly Old. That being said, Ms. Right and I have maintained a strong bond around food.  We loooooove to talk about it and have shared great fun and laughter over the few meals we have inhaled together. My favorite line of hers is, “This is going to cost me an extra 20 minutes on the treadmill tomorrow but I don’t care!”  Hence the Ms. Right scale of decadence was born.

One recent email exchange brought up the topic of her discovering a local French bistro and she raved about the Cod with fresh lentils.  Positively made my mouth water and think of all things French.  She and her date enjoyed not only the expertly prepare meal, they wisely complimented it with a tasty French Sauvignon. They were happy.  Made me happy just reading about it!  It also put me in the mind to try a few items French and so my foray in to the world of crepes began.  Now the strawberry crepes I wrote about recently were certainly fabulous but honestly, they were just an excuse to prepare a plate of plain ole’ crepes to cook with later.  Then inspiration struck!  A welcome home meal for Ms. Right, the next time she flies through town.  Crepe Poulet Supreme!

Inspired is the right term ‘cuz those little buggers were amazing.  Crispy browned slices of chicken, sautéed mushrooms, caramelized onions and golden bell peppers simmered in a sauce of rich chicken stock and heavy cream.  After a few minutes on the stove, using a slotted spoon, I filled and rolled 2 crepes with the chicken and vegetable mixture and set them aside. Returning to the stove I reheated the sauce and whisked in 3 tablespoons of soft, sweet butter. It made it glisten, it made it shine and boy did it make me smile.  Sauce on the plate, crepes on the sauce, quick photo and then in to my belly they went.

For those of you notice the lack of a green vegetable I offer this:

1.  I garnished with lemon thyme making my mouth very happy.

2.  I stood next to the fresh little plant-lings in my garden while enjoying my fork-to-mouth     exercise.

3. YES, 1 and 2 DO count.)

Thanks for another inspired meal Ms. Right.

 

Eat well and Smile Often,

tj

p.s. This dish would be a 45 on the Ms. Right scale of decadence . . . just saying.

I’d Like Some Soul Please!!

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Dover Sole with Beurre BlancThe man behind the counter asked, “How can I help you?” Who knew the chain of events that simple question would set into motion. “I’d like some sole please?” Just then, in what was obviously a hunger induced hallucination, James Brown came dancing by. I would have shaken it right off but I swear the produce man next to me was side shuffling to the beat in my head. I looked around; nobody else seemed to notice The Godfather of Soul, so I paid for my purchase and made good my exit before Isaac Hayes popped into view. (I’m a Soul Man . . . )

I tell you my muse rarely fails me, this time she hit on a winner. As you may recall I purchased a half pound of lovely butter, this last weekend, from the kind folks at McClelland’s Dairy. What to do, what to do, what to do? A Beurre Blanc of course! And what better for this butter than a delicate bit of Dover Sole. My mouth all a water, I rushed to the kitchen and turned everything on! A busy meal for pots and pans but Wow, was it worth it.

I started with Jasmine rice cooked and topped with thin slices of bitter Mandarin oranges.

2 cups cold water      Bring salt and water to a boil in a small sauce pan with lid
pinch of salt

1 cup Jasmine rice      Add to boiling water, stir and return to boil, reduce heat to low

1 Mandarin Orange, bitter, sliced paper thin
Add 6 slices to top of rice water and cover, steam for about 12 minutes

Next on the stove was the Beurre Blanc. (You’re going to love this!)

3 T Shallot, finely diced
1/2 C White wine vinegar
1/2 C White wine

Combine all 3 ingredients in a small sauté pan over medium-high heat and reduce to about 5 tablespoons in quantity. When reduced, remove from heat and let pan cool a bit

3 oz McClelland’s Butter, soft, in pieces

Whisk in a 2 pieces at a time keeping sauce emulsified, reserving 1 oz to finish.
(if you see the butter separate your pan is too hot. Let the pan cool more before you finish)

Next I turned the oven to 350 F degrees and set out a plate with flour mixed with a bit of salt and pepper. A sauté pan on the stove on medium high heat with about 5 tablespoons of olive oil starting to shimmer was just right. I floured both sides of my Dover Sole filets and placed them meaty side down in the pan, moving them gently back and forth in the oil so they wouldn’t stick. About 2 minutes later, when the had just started to turn golden, I flipped them in the pan and placed the pan in the oven for about 7 minutes.

On the chopping block came onions and mushrooms; which I quickly diced and sliced and tossed into yet another sauté pan hot with a fair amount of olive oil. After they started to sizzle and brown I dropped in chopped mustard greens, salt and pepper, tossed and took off the heat.

My lovely McClelland’s butter was patiently, softly waiting and now its time had come. I placed the sauce back on the heat for a minute just until it started to steam, turned off the heat and dropped in the remaining ounce of soft butter and stirred. Careful, if the pan is too hot the butter will start to break, keep stirring in cold butter to keep it emulsified. I left a few solid pieces of butter sitting in the pan while I removed the sole from the oven. You can always add another piece of solid butter to pull the sauce back together again, if need be.

I set my plate with rice, greens and fish, whisked the Beurre Blanc to a sheen and drizzled it on top. I tell it was so good that I phoned my cooking buddy Suzanne with a full mouth and before she could say hello I blurted, “This is so good!”

She laughed, I ate, no more hallucinations. Later that night, I fell into a peaceful sleep humming to myself, “I’m a sole man. Did-it-good, oh so good. I’m a Sole man, do-do-do-doot!”

Eat Well and Smile Often,

tj

I will be performing at a live concert near you soon . . .