Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Roasted Chicken with Dijon Sauce


As soon as I saw this I had to make it, since I love mustard and happened to have all of the ingredients on hand. I used boneless skinless chicken thighs instead of bone-in skin-on, since that's what I had in the freezer; if you do this cover the pan in the oven and roast for the lesser amount of time.

Roasted Chicken with Dijon Sauce
3 pounds chicken, with skin and bones
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 small shallots, thinly sliced
3/4 cup dry white wine
3/4 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup heavy cream (I had milk and just boiled a little longer)
2 tablespoons smooth Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon finely chopped chives or the green parts of scallions (didn't have, didn't use)

Preheat oven to 450°F with a rack in middle. Pat chicken dry and season with salt and pepper. Heat oil in an ovenproof 12-inch heavy skillet medium-high heat until it shimmers. Brown chicken, skin side down first and turning once, about 5 minutes per batch. Don’t move the chicken until the skin is bronzed and releases itself.

Return all chicken, skin side up, to skillet and roast in oven until just cooked through, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer chicken to a platter, then add shallots, wine, and broth to pan juices in skillet and boil, scraping up any brown bits, until reduced by half, 2 to 3 minutes. Add cream and boil until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. To thicken the sauce further, turn the heat to high and boil it until it reduces to a consistency you prefer. Whisk in mustard, chives, and salt and pepper to taste. Serve chicken with sauce.

Monday, February 14, 2011

Cinnamon Buns


These are amazing. I want to make the sticky buns next! (Sorry, no description today - back to work!)

Cinnamon Buns
6 1/2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
5 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 large egg, slightly beaten
1 tsp lemon zest or extract
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp instant yeast
1 1/8 - 1 1/4 cups whole milk or buttermilk
1/2 cup cinnamon sugar (6 1/2 tbsp cinnamon + 1 1/2 tbsp sugar)

Cream together the sugar, salt and butter. Whip in the egg and lemon zest until smooth. Than add the flour, yeast and milk. Stir until the dough forms into a ball, then knead until the dough is supple and tacky but not sticky. You may have to add a little water. Lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to coat with oil. Cover and let sit at room temperature until doubled.

Roll the dough into a rectangle about 2/3 inch thick and about 14'' by 12'' (for larger buns) or 18" by 9" (for smaller buns). Sprinkle over with cinnamon sugar and roll the dough up into a log. cut the roll of dough into 8 to 12 even pieces (for larger buns) or 12 to 16 pieces (for smaller buns).

Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and place the buns so that they are close but not touching, about 1/2 inch apart. Proof at room temperature for 75 to 90 minutes, or until the pieces have grown into each other and nearly doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 350°F with oven rack in the middle. Bake buns for 20-30 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool about 10 minutes, then streak with fondant glaze while they are warm but not hot.

White Fondant Glaze
The recipe calls for 4 cups of confectioner's sugar; I think I used 1/2 cup. Make as much as you think you will need.

Confectioner's sugar
Milk
Vanilla or lemon extract (optional - I used vanilla but I think I would prefer plain)

Sift powdered sugar then whisk in enough milk to make a thick paste. Add flavouring if desired, then drizzle over buns.

Bonus Pic: Ciabatta, the recipe for which (as well as the above) can be found in The Bread Baker's Apprentice

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Farmer's Benedict


This dish is based on a delicious twist on eggs Benedict that I had at the Elgin Street Diner a few weeks ago. The original dish swapped out the English muffins for a bed of pan-fried potatoes, cherry tomatoes, baby spinach and ham, topped with poached eggs and Hollandaise. My version is a little different, as I tossed in mushrooms instead of the ham and, being put off by the effort and stick of butter that goes into Hollandaise sauce, topped it with a slice of stinky cheese. I would really recommend the Hollandaise version as well, if you can be bothered to make it.

Farmer's Benedict
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
1/2 to 1 pound fingerling potatoes, quartered
1 cup mushrooms, sliced (Or ham or bacon lardons)
A few handfuls of baby spinach
Eggs

Boil potatoes until they are just tender but not entirely cooked. Meanwhile, saute mushrooms over medium-high heat until the liquid they release has evaporated. Add the potatoes to the pan, season with salt and pepper and saute until crisp on the outside. Add the tomatoes and spinach and cook until the spinach is wilted.

Top with a poached egg and Hollandaise or a melty cheese.

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Win Cake


I had another dinner to go to so I decided to re-try the whole "baking a cake" thing. It couldn't have come at a better time, because I really wanted to try this recipe but I was a little anxious because I hate pears - good thing my friends don't mind acting as guinea pigs for my baking experiments! This one turned out great, so great that I was still wishing I hadn't left the uneaten half at their place a week later. Definitely a keeper.

This is one recipe where I have to admit that you will want a KitchenAid or electric beaters, as my weakling human arms couldn't get the eggs beaten quite well enough, not to mention that they were killing me after a few minutes.

Torta di Pere [Bittersweet Chocolate and Pear Cake]
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 eggs, at room-temperature
4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter
3/4 cup sugar
3 pears, peeled, in a small dice
3/4 cup bittersweet chocolate chunks

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter a 9-inch springform pan and dust with breadcrumbs; set aside. [I just buttered it]

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together, set aside. Using a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the eggs on high speed until pale and very thick.

While the eggs are whipping, brown the butter. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan and cook it until the butter browns and smells nutty (about 6 to 8 minutes). It helps to frequently scrape the solids off the bottom of the pan in the last couple minutes to ensure even browning. Remove from the heat but keep in a warm spot.

Add the sugar to the eggs and whip a few minutes more. Just as the egg-sugar mixture is starting to loose volume, turn the mixture down to stir, and add the flour mixture and brown butter. Add one third of the flour mixture, then half of the butter, a third of the flour, the remaining butter, and the rest of flour. Whisk until just barely combined — no more than a minute from when the flour is first added — and then use a spatula to gently fold the batter until the ingredients are combined. It is very important not to over-whisk or fold the batter or it will lose volume.

Pour into prepared pan. Sprinkle the pear and chocolate chunks over the top, and bake until the cake is golden brown and springs back to the touch, about 40 to 50 minutes, or a tester comes out clean.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Comfort Food


I wasn't sure about this after the first time I had it, but as I ate up my leftovers I became sadder and sadder knowing that it was almost gone. It's warm, gooey, and best of all healthy and cheap. The site I got this from suggested serving it with pitas (it is a Middle Eastern dish), but I ladled it on top of some toast.

Shakshuka (Eggs Poached in Spicy Tomato Sauce)

2 tbsp olive oil
3 jalapeños, stemmed, seeded, and finely chopped (I used 2)
1 small yellow onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, crushed then sliced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tbsp paprika
1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes
Salt, to taste
6 eggs (If you are going to have leftovers, use only as many eggs as you are going to eat right now. Then you can refridgerate the sauce by itself and either poach or fry an egg separately to put on top when you eat the leftover sauce.)
1/2 cup halloumi or feta cheese, crumbled
1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley (I left this out)

Heat oil in a saute pan or wide pot over medium-high heat. Add chiles and onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and golden brown, about 6 minutes. Add garlic, cumin, and paprika, and cook, stirring frequently, until garlic is soft, about 2 more minutes.

Add tomatoes and their liquid to pan, and crush with a spoon or potato masher. Reduce heat to medium, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened slightly, about 15 minutes. Season sauce with salt.

Crack eggs over sauce so that eggs are evenly distributed across sauce’s surface. Cover pan and cook until yolks are just set, about 5 minutes. Using a spoon, baste the whites of the eggs with tomato mixture, being careful not to disturb the yolk. Sprinkle with cheese and parsley.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Butter Chicken

This is a warm comforting dish on a cold evening.

Butter Chicken
Ingredients:

2 tbsp Canola Oil
2 lb  boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tbsp ginger, finely chopped
2 tbsp butter
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp cumin
¼ tsp cayenne pepper (give or take)
1 cup tomato sauce
1 cup 2% Evaporated Milk
¼ cup sour cream
salt and pepper to taste

Preperation:

1. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook chicken until lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Remove chicken and set aside.

2. Heat remaining oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Sauté onion, garlic and ginger until soft and fragrant.
Stir in butter, lemon juice and spices. Cook, stirring for 1 minute.
Add tomato sauce, cooking for 2 minutes, stirring frequently.
Stir in milk and yogurt. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring often.

3. Add reserved chicken to sauce and bring sauce to a boil.
Reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes until sauce has thickened and chicken is cooked through.

Serve over steamed rice.