In the Kitchen With Mattie

Archive for June, 2010

A local market has large bone in half chicken breasts for a dollar a pound. I am telling you these half breasts are LARGE. I bought four packs of four half breasts each and the total weight for them all came to over18 pounds. Thats 18 pounds of really beautiful breasts for all of 18 dollars, it also means lots and lots of nice bones to make stock when I get done de-boning them. De-boning takes a while to do but at the price for such a large size breast it is sure worth my time to me. I usually buy this size large boneless breasts at our local warehouse club place and consider myself lucky when they are about $2.18 a pound, that means I am paying over a dollar more per pound than I did for these that I have here now and I get no bones to make my stock.  With a little work I have the bonus of all those lovely bones for some great stock that gets used in a lot of my cooking. I like the larger sized breasts because they are nice to stuff and also to split and make all kinds of dishes from, I don’t care for the small boneless frozen breasts that you can also get at the big warehouse clubs. I’ll tell you how I am making the chicken stock here now, I am using these bones plus some bony wing tips and backs that were in the freezer, I have 2 of my 8 quart pressure cookers making it as I type and the smells coming from them is magnificent, it is making me very hungry for some soup on this stormy day.

                                                     Chicken Stock

Enough bones with some meat attached to almost fill the pressure cooker

5 sprigs of parsley

1 large onion washed and cut in half, I don’t peel it as long as all the dirt comes off

2 large stalks of celery, washed and broken in half

1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns

Place all of the above into a large oiled roasting pan and place in a 425 degree oven until they are nicely browned, stir once or twice during cooking. When they are a nice brown, remove the pan from the oven and set it on the stovetop. Add the contents of the roasting pan to the pressure cooker and then turn the heat on under the roasting pan, add 1 quart of water and stir and scrape the pan to get all the fond off of it, when the liquid comes to a low boil turn off the stove and carefully pour the contents into the pressure cooker. Close the top to the cooker and set it for 1 hour. When the timer goes off let the pressure release on its own. Pour the stock thru a fine strainer lined with cheesecloth, press on the bones to extract all the broth. Discard all the solids and let the temp come down on the stock and then refridgerate until it is cold. When it is cold and the fat has come to the top, remove the fat layer and put the stock into smaller containers and store in the freezer. I use 1-2 cups air tight containers to store my stock, the smaller size lets the stock defrost quickly when I need it. I use this for soups, gravies, to moisten bread for stuffing/dressing and all kinds of things, thats is why I don’t really season this stock as I make it, I want a pretty nuetral strong chicken taste for my basic stock, I can always add fresh herbs when I actually use it in a dish.

Our local market had some beautiful red peppers and seeing as hubby really likes the red ones and they were on sale at a great price I purchased a lot of them. Tonight I also had this small eye of round roast that I wanted to cook up. It was too small to be served as a roast, by the time it was cooked it probably would have shrunk to the size of a Mickey D’s quarter pounder. After thinking about it for a while I decided to cut the meat into serving size pieces and cook it with some stock in the pressure cooker. I trimed the roast of all possible fat, then sliced it into about half inch thick slices. I then pounded them until they were almost transparent, then seasoned them well. I cut up one onion, one large shallot and two of those nice red peppers.

You can see in the picture how thinly I pounded them, I used my favorite tool for the job, it has three sides to it but I only use the flat side for all my pounding.

Next I set the pressure cooker to the browning mode and proceeded to brown all the pieces of meat a few at a time, when they were all done I put them all back into the pressure cooker and added 1 1/2 cups of home made beef broth and a teaspoon of Maggi seasoning and a few more grinds of fresh black pepper. I closed up the cooker and set the timer for 8 minutes at LOW pressure, because the meat was so thinly pounded I didn’t think it would need high pressure. While the cooker was coming up to pressure I heated a large skillet on the stovetop, when it was hot I added two tablespoons of oil to it and let that heat. When the oil was hot I added the onions, shallots and the peppers and sauteed them until they were still a little crisp but tender. When the pressure cooker chimed I let the pressure release on its own then opened it and added the sauteed mixture to it. I set the cooker to the browning mode again and let everything cook together for 5 minutes to let some of the sauce reduce, then I added 2 tablespoons of Wondra flour mixed in 1/4 cup of water to it and let it cook for 3 more minutes. I served it over noodles with a side of broccoli. Hubby loved it, he went back for seconds and even has his lunch for tomorrow already packed. I must be sitting under a lucky star lately, he is loving everything I am making!!!

I love risotto, creamy and done not mushy. What I don’t love is standing over a hot stove for almost 40 minutes constantly stirring and adding half ladels of broth into it. Hubby on the other hand is not fond of it and for me to just stand there and do it for myself in addition to all the other items for dinner for just myself has always seemed tiring to me. Enter my electric pressure cooker!  If you have been reading this blog since I started it then by now you know I love the pressure cooker, having gotten my first back the year we got married (1970) they have always had a place in my kitchen. I will admit that this dish was a true experiement for me tonight, I wasn’t sure it would work out at all but figured what would it cost to try, some rice, broth and a few minutes of my time. It actually came out amazingly great and it will definitely be my new way of cooking the dish, I will be able to have it in a few minutes whenever the mood hit me and that is great.

                                                 Matties PC Risotto

1  cup aborio or cannaroli rice

1  small onion diced into small pieces

2  tablespoons olive oil

2-3  porcini mushrooms, reconstituted, drained and chopped

1  cup dry white wine

2  1/2 cups unsalted chicken broth

2   tablespoons butter

1/2  cup parmigiano reggiano, plus more for the table

In an electric pressure cooker add the oil and set the cooker to the browning function, when it is hot add the onion, the rice and the chopped mushrooms, stir and cook until the rice is translucent and well coated with the oil, about 5 minutes.  Add the wine and continue cooking until it is almost  all absorbed by the rice. Add the chicken broth and close the pressure cooker, set it to low pressure and the timer to 8 minutes. When the timer dings let the pressure release naturally for 5 minutes and then do a quick release of the remaining pressure. Open the cover and add the butter, stir it into the rice and then add the 1/2 cup of the parmigiano, stir well and place into bowls. Pass a separate bowl of parmigiano at the table for any who want more on theirs.

 

     Hubby and middle son, Matt, like my lasagna so we decided I would make some. Actually I think all my boys like my lasagna!  They sure could eat a panfull of it when they were all still living here at home. It takes me the better part of a day to make a pan of it when I make the pasta for it by hand, I used one of those no-boil types on this lasagna and am not real happy with the outcome of it, the taste of the dish on the whole is fine but the pasta component is a little too thick and heavy for my taste. When I make the pasta fresh by hand I roll it out extremely thin and the dish seems lighter. Oh well, there is always another lasagna waiting to be made! There are two different sauce components to my lasagna and I make them the day before I assemble the dish. The first is a bechamel, in essense a heavy white sauce, I add some of this to the meat layer when I assemble the dish and then top the dish with it and parmesan, use the best parmesan you can afford and grate it fresh. If you are going to go to all the work to make my lasagna then make it the best you can and that means use the best ingredients you can, after all as they say, you’re worth it. The second sauce is a bolognese, pretty much a long simmered meat sauce, again use a good quality meat so you don’t end up with a greasy sauce.  For the rest of the cheese components I use whole milk riccota and whole milk mozzarella.

                                                    Bechamel Sauce

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, don’t use margerine

4  tablespoons all purpose flour

3  cups half & half or light cream, warmed over low heat

few grinds fresh pepper

In a heavy medium saucepan melt the butter, when melted whisk in the flour, cook over low heat until it starts to color a very little, about 4 minutes, whisk it constantly. Little by little start adding the warmed cream whisking it constantly, when all added let the sauce come to a gentle simmer, whisk it often to make sure it doesn’t scorch. Continue cooking it for 5 minutes, taste for seasoning and to make sure the raw flour taste is cooked out.  Remove from the heat and place some plastic wrap over the surface to make sure it doesn’t form a skin. When it cools cover it well and place in refridgerator.

                                                   Matties Bolognese

2 pounds lean ground beef

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 scraped carrots

2 stalks celery, washed

3 cloves garlic smashed

1 cup white wine

 1 cup light or heavy cream

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1 tablespoon fresh chopped oregano

2   28 ounce cans ground tomatoes, I use the Pastene brand

1  small can tomato paste

1 teaspoon sugar

Grind the carrots, garlic, oregano and celery in a Ninja or food processor until they are almost a paste. Heat a large heavy bottomed sauce pan over medium heat, when it is hot add the oil and heat it. When the oil is hot add the vegetable paste and cook and stir it until it gets browned in the pan, stir often so it doesn’t burn on the bottom, you want it just browned. When it is well browned start adding the meat and cooking it, when all the meat is browned and no pink remains add the wine and let it simmer until it is almost gone. Add the cream and do the same, cook and stir it until the meat mixture absorbs it, add the salt and crushed pepper and mix well. Add the tomato paste and cook with the meat mixture until it colors a little. When the meat and tomato paste mixture darkens a little add the ground tomatoes and one can of water, and the sugar and mix well, continue to all ow the sauce to simmer for another hour, stir often. Turn off let cool then refridgerate overnight so the flavors blend.

                                                        Lasagna

 15-18  fresh or dried lasagna noodles

2 pounds whole milk mozzarella cheese, sliced or grated

2 15 ounce containers whole milk ricotta cheese

1 egg

1 teaspoon mixed italian herbs

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1  1/2   cups freshly grated parmesan cheese

1 recipe bolognese

1 recipe bechamel

Cook lasagna noodles until al dente, rinse in cold water and lay out on towels to dry, put in a single layer, don’t stack them.

Mix the ricotta with the egg, salt, pepper, italian herbs and a handful of the parmesan.

In a 15 by 10 inch deep roasting pan put a layer of your favorite tomato sauce, lay down a row of noodles over it. Cover the pasta with a layer of mozzarella and a little sauce, lay another row of pasta down. Sprinkle with a light layer of mozzarella, cover with a thick layer of the bolognese, dot some of the thickend bechamel over the meat mixture, cover with another layer of pasta. Cover the pasta with a sprinkle of mozzarella and then all of the ricotta mixture, top with another layer of pasta. Put the rest of the mozarella over the pasta and a little bit of the bolognese, sprinkle with the bechamel. Cover with another layer of pasta and spread the rest of the bechamel over the top, sprinkle with the rest of the parmesan and then cover the dish with foil. Place on a flat cookie sheet and bake in a 350 degree oven for an hour, remove and let it sit for 1/2 hour then cut and serve. We usually let it sit until the next day and then eat it, it is easier to cut, and the flavors blend better. To reheat it cut into serving size pieces, place in shallow bowls or oval casseroles, cover with some tomato sauce and mozzarella and microwave at 50 percent power for 10 minutes covered.

This dish is a lot of work but it is worth it, it also freezes in portion size pieces for those nights when you don’t feel like cooking. If you give it a try I hope you enjoy it.

                                               BBQ Tonight

Yesterday my new grill pan arrived and I wanted to try it out so planned a little BBQ for today. Of course when I woke up today it was overcast and thundering, I thought I would have to come up with something different for dinner but thankfully it cleared up after a few showers and the BBQ was on again.  It was just supposed to be hubby and I for dinner but Matt said he would stop by if I made some food for him too so I did.

This is really more about the new grill pan than one of my regular blogs. The pan is the square one in the pictures. It is cast iron and heavy, it has holes in the bottom for the smoke and flames to come thru. I love it already, it really contains the foods inside and helps stop the usual burning you might get over an open flame on your grill. The round one in the picture serves the same purpose but it is lightweight and made of a lighter metal, the handle on it is handy but I much prefer the heavier square one, the sides on the round one are lower too, which translates into being able to put less food in it, or risk tossing the food out of it when you toss or shake it.

The potatoes tonight were a very simple preparation consisting of small red potatoes cut in half, whole mushrooms, red peppers, shallots, onions, crushed garlic, salt, pepper and smoked paparika. These were tossed in a bowl with 2 tablespoons of oil, the square grill pan was put over the flames to heat up for about 5 minutes before the potato mixture was tossed in, the pan was then moved over to the cooler side of the grill while I got the rest of the items for the grill ready. The sausages were mixed with some red peppers and onions with crushed garlic, the sausages were put in the pan by themselves first for a few minutes just to brown them a little then the onion/pepper mixture was tossed in. We also had a few burgers and hot dogs to go along with the rest.

So far I am very happy with the new grill pan, it came already pre-seasoned but upon unwrapping it I scrubbed it with plain water and a stiff brush, then I placed it over a medium flame on my kitchen stove to thoroughly dry it, brushed it with a little shortening and let it continue to heat for a while. I brushed on a thin layer of oil right before I put it on the grill tonight to let it heat up before I added the potato mixture. After the cooking was done I turned the grill upside down over the flame and the residue all burned off it, although nothing had in fact stuck to it, when I flipped it back right side up I simply brushed off the interior and it looks like it just came out of the package, I wiped it down with a few paper towels and then gave it a very light brush of oil……..it’s ready for my next experiment with it…….maybe some shrimp! I bought this on QVC, the shopping channel, it is item # K29555- Technique Pre-Seasoned Cast Iron BBQ Fry Pan. If you enjoy grilling and grilling gadgets you might want to get one for yourself, it’s very handy for things that get lost between the grill grates.