Citrus Rosemary Cornish Hens

Posted on by December 20, 2018

Inspired by Jeff Phillips here.

What You’ll Need
  • 4-6 Cornish hens 18-20 oz. each
  • Citrus rosemary marinade (recipe below)
  • Jeff’s Texas-style rub
Instructions
  1. Make the marinade by adding 3 cups of olive oil to a medium sized mixing bowl. Zest about ? cup each of the oranges, lemons and limes. Squeeze the oranges, lemons and limes to get about 1 full cup of juice. Add the zest, juice, chopped rosemary, minced garlic, salt and pepper to the olive oil and stir well to combine.
  2. Halve the cornish hens by removing the backbone and the keel bone along the breast.. Add the half chickens to a lidded container and pour the marinade over the chicken to cover. Place the chicken in the fridge for 12 hours.
  3. Do not rinse when finished. Sprinkle a thin layer of Jeff’s Texas style rub onto the skin side of the chicken halves.
  4. Set up your smoker for cooking at about 275°F if possible using orange wood, or any citrus/fruit wood or even pecan, oak or hickory if that is all you have.
  5. Place the chicken on the smoker grates skin side up. Cook the cornish hens for about 1 hour and 15 minutes at 275 °F or until they reach 165 °F in the thickest part as measured by a meat thermometer.

Simple Etouffee ToTry

Posted on by December 17, 2018

From the Deep South Dish to serve over blackened catfish and her Cajun rice pilaf.

Prepare the etouffee first by melting the 1/2 stick of unsalted butter in a large skillet over medium heat and stir in the flour; cook and stir for about 4 minutes or until caramel colored.

Add the onion, bell pepper and celery; cook another 3-4 minutes or until tender, add the garlic and cook another minute. Slowly stir in the stock or broth until fully incorporated. I had a carton of Kitchen Bouquet vegetable stock in the fridge I needed to use up so that’s what I used here. Isn’t it beautiful and rich?

Add the pepper and Cajun/Creole seasoning. Bring mixture to a boil; reduce heat to a medium low simmer, cover and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the crawfish tails, cook and stir until crawfish is heated through. Since I’m using this as a sauce, I’m only using about 1/4 pound of crawfish, which makes it a little more economical. When we have a crawfish boil or pick some up already boiled, I always peel and set aside some to freeze.

Stir in the parsley and green onion, reserving a bit for garnish. Hold over very low simmer.

  • 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) of unsalted butter
  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup of diced onion
  • 1/2 cup of diced green bell pepper
  • 1/4 cup of diced celery
  • 2 teaspoons minced garlic
  • 2 cups seafood or chicken stock/broth
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon Creole or Cajun seasoning
  • 1/4 pound crawfish tails
  • 1/2 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
  • 1/8 cup sliced green onion

Instructions

  • Prepare the etouffee first by melting 1/2 stick of butter in a large skillet over medium heat and stir in the flour; cook and stir for about 4 minutes or until caramel colored.
  • Add the onion, bell pepper and celery; cook another 3-4 minutes or until tender,
  • add the garlic and cook another minute.
  • Slowly stir in the stock or broth until fully incorporated.
  • Add the pepper and Cajun seasoning. Bring mixture to a boil; reduce heat to a medium low simmer, cover and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  • Add the crawfish tails, cook and stir until crawfish is heated through; stir in the parsley and green onion, reserving a bit for garnish. Hold over a very low simmer and prepare the blackened fish.

Rosemary Lemon Chicken

Posted on by December 11, 2018

12/8-10/2018 – This was inspired by Ina Garten’s recipe for Tuscan Lemon Chicken in our copy of her Back to Basics book.  The recipe is online here. Used thighs rather than a whole bird and they turned out very good as they were moist with a good grilled taste and some crunchy skin. They would have been better done over charcoal. The lemon was noticeable but not the rosemary despite having added ground rosemary to Ina’s seasoning. This with warmed up pasta with tomatoes and basil was a great meal. Continue reading →

Pasta with Fresh Tomato and Basil Sauce ToTry

Posted on by June 7, 2024

This recipe came to The Times in 2003 from the chef Scott Conant, who was then cooking at his restaurant L’Impero in Manhattan. It is simple, classic Italian fare that makes the most of summer’s tomatoes.
https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/8663-spaghetti-with-fresh-tomato-and-basil-sauce

INGREDIENTS

3 pounds fresh plum tomatoes, blanched, peeled, seeded and quartered
3 ounces olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes
1 pound dry spaghetti
2 ounces extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
6 leaves fresh basil, shredded
2 tablespoons freshly grated
Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

PREPARATION

Step 1 – Blanch the tomatoes and remove the skins. Cut in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Cut the tomatoes crosswise. Set aside in a bowl.

Step 2 – Heat 3 ounces olive oil in a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat until it smokes slightly. Add tomatoes, salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper. Since the tomatoes will reduce and the salt will be concentrated, it is better to season initially with a lighter hand.

Step 3 – Chop the tomatoes with a potato masher until they are in fine chunks and all their liquid is released. Be sure they are chopped and crushed fine, for a semi-chunky sauce. [And alternate in the comments was to small chop after seeding.]Simmer for 25 minutes over medium heat.

Step 4 – While the sauce simmers, heat the water for the pasta. Cook the spaghetti in salted water about half of the way cooked. Drain, reserving some of the water.

Step 5 – Taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Add the pasta to the sauce and cook over medium-high heat until all the liquid is absorbed and the pasta is al dente. If the sauce is over-reduced, use the pasta cooking liquid to adjust it.

Step 6 – At the last moment, remove the pan from the heat; add the extra virgin olive oil, butter, basil, and cheese. Mix thoroughly until the pasta is an orangy color. Taste again and adjust the salt if necessary. Remove to a platter. Serve.

Dirty Rice ToTry

Posted on by December 2, 2018

Dirty Rice Recipe • Rouses Supermarkets
https://www.rouses.com/cooking/recipes/dirty-rice

INGREDIENTS
1/2 pound chicken giblets
1/2 pound chicken livers
1/2 pound pork sausage, removed from casings and crumbled
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup diced onions
1 cup diced celery
1 cup diced bell pepper
2 tablespoon diced garlic
1 cup chicken stock
2 bay leaves
6 cups cooked rice, chilled
Salt and black pepper to taste
1/2 cup sliced green onions
1/2 cup chopped parsley

DIRECTIONS

1. In a small saucepan, poach chicken giblets in lightly salted water until tender,
approximately 45 minutes. Once cooked, remove them from water and cool.
Using a sharp paring knife, chop the giblets into tiny pieces, removing all tough
membrane. Set aside and reserve poaching liquid.

2. In a large, heavy-bottomed sauté pan, heat butter over medium-high heat. Sauté
chicken livers and pork sausage until the meat is browned, approximately 6
minutes. Remove chicken livers from sauté pan and place on a chopping board
to cool.

3. Into the same sauté pan, add onions, celery, bell pepper and garlic. Sauté until
vegetables are wilted, approximately 3 to 5 minutes. Once vegetables are done,
coarsely chop chicken livers and return them, along with giblets, to the sauté
pan. Add chicken stock and bay leaves, bring to a low boil and cook until volume
of liquid is reduced to approximately 1/4 cup.

4. Add cooked white rice, blending well into the meat mixture. Remove from the
heat and remove the bay leaves. Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with green
onions and parsley.

Dirty Rice by Chef Paul

Posted on by December 2, 2018

12/1/2018 – This cook was inspired by the recipe on page 224 of our copy of Chef Paul Prudhomme’s book Louisiana Kitchen. Our note in the book is dated 6/5/2004 and reads  “Used cajun sausage (12″) with one liver, 4 hearts & broth. Very Good. No ground pork & only one gizzard.”

We followed the recipe fairly closely other than using turkey broth rather than chicken. We also made a double batch as we had twice the meat needed for a single. It turned out:

  • tasty but a bit too spicy from the cayenne;
  • mushy as it did not have the flakey rice texture. Adding the diced or ground mushy livers after the veggies were cooked surely contributed to the mushy texture.
  • The meat to rice ratio seemed too high.
  • next time do not use long grain rice; less cayenne; cook the livers with the pork or just after the pork so they are firm bits.

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons chicken fat (or olive or vegetable oil)
1/2 lb ground pork
2 bay leaves
1/2 cup onion (finely chopped)
1/2 cup celery (finely chopped)
1/2 cup bell pepper (finely chopped)
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 cups chicken turkey stock
1/3 lb ground chicken livers chopped fine
3/4 cups rice (uncooked)

SEASONING MIX

2 teaspoons ground red pepper (cayenne) [this much made it VERY spicy]
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 1/4 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

DIRECTIONS

  1. Combine seasoning mix in a small bowl and set aside.
  2. Melt chicken fat in a large skillet over medium high heat and sauté pork and bay leaves until meat is browned, about 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add chicken livers and cook for 2 minutes. [the 12/1/18 cook turned out mushy and an odd flavor that was likely due to the livers being boiled with the rice. So, this addition was moved to this earlier step in the process.]
  3. Reduce heat to medium and add seasoning mix, onions, celery, peppers, and garlic and cook until onion starts to become translucent about 5-7 minutes. Stir constantly to prevent too much sticking.
  4. Add stock and loosen all of the browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Add chicken livers and cook for 2 minutes.
  5. Add rice and stir. Reduce heat to low, cover pan and simmer for 10 20 minutes. Turn off heat and let rice sit, covered, for another 5-10 minutes until liquid is absorbed.
  6. Remove bay leaves and serve.

 

Sauerkraut

Posted on by November 29, 2018

11/29/2018 – Made this a little different from the formula we have been using. It has a little more salt and juniper berries. The cabbage came from Rouses. The table below came from the spreadsheet in DropBox.

grams
Cabbage 1842.0
0.2% caraway seed = 3.7
0.5% yellow mustard = 9.2
0.7% juniper berries = 1.3 ~3.0
1.4% canning salt = 25.8 1.6%=29 gm