Restaurant Widow

10 Things You Should Know About Cooking::Part 3, A Few Basics

When I was first learning to cook, more than anything I wanted to learn basics.  I've never used a ton of rigid recipes, and although I love to cook from cookbooks, I have always been interested in learning foundations upon which to build.  For example, it's great to read a recipe about, say, sausage and bean risotto, but it's infinitely more valuable to learn the basics of how to make risotto, because once you have the technique down, you have infinite possibilities.  

I know there are people who can't work without recipes, and that's fine, but it's also really valuable to learn basic techniques, along with flavor profiles.  For example, we all know that tomatoes, basil, and mozzarella go well together, so we can translate this flavor profile into salads, pizzas, pastas, soups, and cocktails!  Likewise, if we know how to make a basic risotto, we'll start thinking of yummy ways to make it great - tiny little clams with lemon, herbs, parmesan, sweet corn, beet, what have you.  See how learning a few basics can open things up?

Here are a few of my favorite basics.

• Learn to make stock.  It will change your life, I promise.  If you eat pork, I'd recommend starting off with the pig foot and chicken stock I wrote about last year.  Just seeing all the gelatinous deliciousness will empower you to continue making stock forever.  In the summer time, I chuck all of my veggie trimmings into a pot for making veggie stock (which only takes about an hour to make). I save Parmesan rinds for turning into a rich vegetarian stock, and make duck, beef, chicken, and turkey stock whenever I'm not feeling lazy.  You can find beef bones at lots of butcher stores and at some of the beef purveyors at the farmer's markets.  At North Market Poultry & Game, you can occasionally buy raw duck carcasses, which make amazing stock.  If you ask nice, they might even throw in a few livers for the kitties.
• Fondant.  This is a method of cooking veggies with a small amount of fat and a flavorful liquid - it works particularly well for hard vegetables, potatoes, and root veggies.  You basically brown the veggies and then cover them with stock (or wine, or water, or a mixture).  Begin tasting the veggies when the liquid has almost cooked out of the pan.  Add more liquid as needed. When the veggies are cooked to your taste, season them with salt and pepper and add a little more butter if desired.  I used this technique here to make yummy rutabaga.  If you are are using carrots, this is a great way to glaze them.  Just add a little sugar along with the stock.  A little white wine also goes very nice. 
• Braising.  Braising is important because, well, braised things tend to be delicious as a general rule, and it's a great way to streatch your dollars because cheaper cuts are the best choices for brasing.  As a general rule, begin with a tough cut of meat which has a lot of connective tissue. Shoulders are generally good for braising - pork shoulder, lamb shoulder, goat shoulder - also good for braising are shanks (cross sections of legs). Veal shanks are amazingly expensive, but beef shanks are really great for braising and still contain lots of yummy marrow!  The basics of braising couldn't be easier. Once you've chosen your meat, sprinkle it liberally with salt. You can either sear it or not - searing carmelizes the proteins in the meat, making the resulting braise richer in flavor and more attractive than its un-seared counterpart.  Sear meat in a heavy pan set over medium-high heat (preheat the pan!) with a little oil.  Place the meat in the pan and don't move it for at least a minute and a half! Begin to wiggle the meat with tongs; when it releases, roll the meat over and repeat until the whole piece of meat is completely seared.  Throw in some wine, broth, or water - or a combination and maybe some onions and carrots and things (what things? celery, garlic, peppercorns). Throw it in the oven at 325 degrees and cook until falling apart - start checking after an hour and a half.  Smaller pieces of meat, such as chicken thighs, cook faster, of course.  After the searing part, you can throw the whole mess into a slow cooker and pretty much leave it for the rest of the day. 
• Pan Sauce.  I know that sauces seem really intimidating, but pan sauce is very simple.  Again, it's something very basic which can be done a la minute to impress your friends or significant other.  You just have to know a few tricks.  First of all, you have to begin with a pan in which something delicious has been roasted.  Let's take a simple chicken.  Roast your chicken, remove it to a cutting board to rest, and make your pan sauce.  First of all, there should be lots of browned bits in the pan.  If there is a lot of excess fat, which is certainly possible when roasting a chicken, you should pour most of the fat off before you begin (but don't waste it!!  Throw it over some potatoes at least).  Place the pan over high heat and add a flavorful liquid - I like to use wine here, along with a pinch of chicken stock or even water - use a wooden spoon to scrap up any of the brown bits (in France, these browned bits are called the fond, which is probably why a previous method is called fondant).  This is called deglazing and it's great for a few reasons - it makes a great base to a sauce, of course, but it also helps with the cleanup, because you are removing anything stuck on the pan by adding the liquid.  Reduce the liquid by about 3/4ths and turn the heat to low.  Add butter.  Add chunks of butter, one by one, whisking each one in (this doesn't take as long as it sounds).  This is called "mounting" the sauce; you are bolstering your sauce by adding the fat, which will make the sauce glossy and lovely, will smooth out the flavors and give it amazing mouth feel.  As a general rule, I try to add just enough butter to make the sause come together.  So if I added a cup of wine to the pan and reduced it to 1/4th of a cup, I'd probably begin with 2 tbsp butter.  All of that to say, maybe add about half as much butter as you have liquid remaining in the pan.  After you have whisked in your butter, add a pinch of lemon juice (1/2 tsp or so).  Taste and add salt if needed (I rarely have to do this, because I put a lot of salt on my chicken before I roast it).  Why would you add lemon juice? Well, that's another item on the list we're going to cover in a post on another day.  Voila!  Just a few easy steps and you have learned amazing pan sauce!
• Steaming.  I love steaming veggies, especially in the summertime when everything is at its peak deliciousness.  The flavor tastes purer somehow, and it seems as though maybe fewer nutrients are lost.  Of course, I always save my steaming water as a base for veggie stock.  As a general rule, I begin green vegetables at 5 minutes and then begin testing their doneness with a sharp knife.  A few green vegetables, like string beans, take a little longer.  I also like to give potatoes a brief steam before roasting them - usually about 12 minutes for 3/4" cubes.  
• Almost everything can be prepared with olive oil, salt and pepper. Meat, veggies, lettuce, potatoes - you name it. Start it out with olive oil, salt and pepper, and see what happens.  For example, when veggies are at their peak, I love to steam anything and put it in a bowl with a little extra virgin olive oil, crunchy sea salt, and pepper.  That's really all they need. 
• Restaurant style stove-to-oven cooking.  In a restaurant, almost every piece of meat and fish begins life on the stove top to brown the outside and is then thrown into a hot oven to finish.  It takes a little while to get the hang of this, and I hesitate to give exact guidelines because they vary so wildly, but I'll start off with salmon, which is good because it's a forgiving fish and is a good learning tool.  Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  Heat an oven-proof saute pan over medium high heat and add enough neutral oil (canola, grapeseed) to lightly cover the bottom of the pan.  Begin with a 6 ounce piece of skin-on salmon; dry it very well with paper towels and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Place the salmon in the pan, skin side down (because the skin is good for you, and it's delicious if it's crispy). Do NOT move the fish! Just let it sit there for at least 3 minutes.  Turn the salmon over carefully, first testing it with a thin spatula or tongs to see if it will lift easily (remember searing? same concept - the fish will release when it's ready).  After turning, cook the salmon for another minute and then put it into the oven.  It usually takes about 8 minutes from this point, but again, there are lots of variables, like the thickness of the filet.  Your salmon is perfectly cooked when you can begin to see the fat turn white and ooze from between the layers of flesh.  Remove the salmon from the oven and serve with some veggies!  I say perfectlly cooked, but this may be too done for some and overdone for others, so you can hopefully see why I said you have to get a feel for this.  This method of cooking is great for any sort of lean meat or fish.  For even more deliciousness, remove the meat from the oven and throw a good knob of butter over it while it's still sizzling. Melt the butter and add a pinch of lemon juice (see anything recurring from our pan sauce bullit point?) 

  Of related interest:

Braising Tutorial with Short Ribs, Crock Pot Pork shoulder with sauerkraut, pork country ribs.

10 Things You Need to Know About Cooking::Part 2, Cookware

Ah, the cookware.  There are a million different opinions, and this one is just mine.  While I do think it is worthwhile to shell out a little extra cash for great cookware, I realize that isn't an option for everyone (fortunately, I have a generous MIL and used to work at Williams Sonoma), so whenever possible I've included lower-priced options if you need some time to save up.

The most important thing which covers pretty much all types of cooking is even heat retention.  Although you can get away with thinner or cheaper pots for some things, having a pot which conducts heat evenly and well is a necessity in any kitchen.  

Multiple-layered cookware is one of the best ways to achieve even heat conduction, which is why All Clad is one of the number one choice of picky home cooks.  The aluminum (or more expensive copper) core helps conduct heat, while the stainless layers make the cookware non-reactive and easy cleaning.  All Clad Stainless is my cookware of choice because it can go in the dishwasher (the M2 and LTD series really don't do well in the dishwasher, making them an automatic ix-nay in my book) and in the moderate price range (all things considered).  

The better the heat conduction, the easier food will release from the pan.  Once you learn how to cook with great cookware, you will become familiar with how long to preheat your pans so that they will stick even less.  

If you can afford one piece of All Clad, I would recommend one of two 4 quart models: the sauce pan with loop and long handle ($220), or the 4 quart saute pan with lid ($200).  Of course, you can tell from these eye-popping prices that you might do just as well to save up for one of the sets - for example, a 10 piece set with 2 saute pans and 4 covered pots can be had for $850 (this is similar to the set I have).  One way to maximize your value is to look for value-added promotional sets which are frequently sold at kitchen stores.  This might include utensils (although I am personal not at all fond for their utensils, despite my love of the pots), aprons, hot pads, cookbooks or even extra pieces.  As with most high end kitchen products, the prices of All Clad are pretty much fixed, so you are going to pay about the same no matter where you shop.  This is why you should buy locally.

What if I can't afford All Clad? I would recommend a more affordable set of clad-base pans, such as this set at Costco ($200) for 2 saute pans and 5 covered pots, along with steamer insert.  While All clad features pans completely constructed of all the layers of aluminum and stainless, these pans have multiple-layer bases only; the sides are stainless.  If you have a gas stove, these will probably be fine for you because it seems as though gas heat radiates a little further up the sides of the pan; however, electric stoves, which concentrate the heat right at the bottom of the pans, aren't really great with these cheaper pans. (I'm a little prejudice against electric, so take it with a grain of salt.

What if I still can't afford that cookware? I would recommend adjusting your cooking style a little bit.  You might want to use more nonstick pans for stove top cooking.  For soup-making and long braises, use the oven, which will apply heat to the entire pot, creating a more even heating environment within the pot itself.  

What about Cast Iron and enameled cast iron?

Great question!  I love cast iron - both enameled and plain seasoned.  Cast iron by itself, by producers such as Lodge, can be a great alternative to expensive All Clad products, because iron retains heat very well, resists sticking, and lasts forever.  However, it doesn't go in the dishwasher and requires a little bit of loving care, especially if you live in a humid environment (such as Central Ohio in the summertime), where your cast iron will rust lightly just by sitting on the shelves.  Cast iron skillets are great for all kinds of uses.  My only complaint is they are heavy and can't be tossed around like a light skillet can (but we'll get to tossing in a bit).

Of course, the creme de la creme of modern cast iron cookware is Le Creuset.  The nice thing about Le Creuset is that the enamel coating makes it dishwasher safe and rust free.  It is also great for easy cleaning.  On my wish list for Le Creuset is a stovetop grill with panini press.

What about other types of cookware should I think about?

As much as I love my All Clad, I really think there is a place in the kitchen for nonstick cookware.  First of all, if you're feeling lazy or don't want to deal with a lot of cleanup, or you're cooking something fragile such as eggs or pancakes or fish, you need to have nonstick.  This is where my opinion differs from others.  While some suggest shelling out extra for top of the line nonstick, I heartily disagree here.  I buy cheap nonstick.  Why? So that I don't feel bad replacing it every 2 years or so.  It might not be sustainable, but the nonstick coasting never lasts, and I really don't want my heart broken over a $200 saute pan, when I am perfectly happy with my $20 12" saute pan from Macy's Martha Stewart Collection (speaking of which, they are currently on sale for $14!!)?  But what about nonstick pans being toxic? Yes, it's possible, but only at extremely high temperatures. If you are cooking with nonstick at over 500 degrees, you are probably getting some good carcinogens mixed into your meal as well.

A roasting pan: I love my roasting pan, and am very thankful that I purchased it on the super cheap in my Williams Sonoma days, because I would never have paid $250 for it then, but it's totally worth it.  I love the roasting pan because it's BIG. You can cook anything in this baby, whether it's a giant saute or a 20 pound roast.  And, flying in the face of my nonstick rationale, my roasting pan is nonstick, which makes it very nice for cleaning, because roasting can sometimes be a messy endeavor, especially since most roasting pans don't fit in the sink.  This giant roaster is also great if you don't have a large stock pot, because it can usually hold a lot and goes from stovetop to oven if you're making chili or something.

What about a pressure cooker? I've been toying with the idea of getting a pressure cooker, mainly because I am impatient and forgetful, which really gets in the way if, say, you're going to make beans for dinner from dried.  However. When I was about 6 or 7, a pressure cooker full of grapes exploded on my mom in our kitchen. It was ugly. The injuries were scary and the amount of grapes on the ceiling in our kitchen was amazing.  This sort of scarred me for life when it comes to cooking with pressure and I'm still a little gun-shy at the prospect.  However, people assure me that today's pressure cookers are totally safe. Maybe one day.  We'll see.

I love my steamer insert, and highly recommend them to anyone.  Steaming is my favorite method of cooking veggies - even if they're going to get a saute later - and it's great for things like dumplings and things you might put in the microwave if you don't have one.  Of course, as we get closer to fresh veggie season, I will be using my steamer more and more.  I even give potatoes a quick steam if they're about to be roasted.

Another great - and certainly affordable - place to buy cookware is in restaurant supply stores.  Inexpensive saute pans can be nice for quick cooking, but keep in mind they are for exactly that - quick cooking.  They are thin, and get hot very quick, meaning they burn easily.  Pans like these are great for things like eggs and fish (if they're nonstick) and are always good if you like to toss your veggies in the pan.  These pans are meant for tossing and you can be successful at it if you give it a chance.  I believe Julia Child recommended spreading a layer of dried beans in your saute pan and then going outside and learning to toss.  Once you can do it a hundred times spilling nary a bean, you're ready to do veggies.

More Tips about Cookware - One nice thing about cookware is that occasionally certain pieces are discontinued, meaning you can get a great price on pieces which work just as well but might be in a discontinued color or shape.  When I worked at Williams Sonoma, I scored a tomato-shaped 3 quart dish for $18, a piece which originally was over $150.

More FoodSaver Freezer Tips

I haven't done any freezer/FoodSaver tips in awhile, so I thought it was high time.  First of all, if you've been buying those expensive pre-made brand name bags, you might be interested in trying out some of these bags I found online - just call me your guinea pig.  I bought these bags from an online store called The Sweet Attack - they did not pay me or give me any free product to pimp them - yet, haha - , I just thought I'd pass the tip along), and the shipping was very fast.  The savings are about 15 - 17 cents per bag, which really adds up when you're buying them by the 50s or 100s.  Just thought I'd give them a shout out, since I really love using the pint bags, and the cost for those especially can add up.  The bags work just as well as the brand names; they do feel a little softer after boiling than the brand names, but they are still safe for boiling.  I haven't tried to reuse any of them, because that just isn't how I roll.  Maybe someone else has and they'll be able to offer some advice.

Okay, so first of all, here's a few tips for saving stock; I had been freezing the stock in blocks, and then removing the blocks and putting them in bags.  This worked fine, but if you don't want to spring for the silicone baking pans I used (they are multi purpose, so if you're doing a lot of baking, it really isn't that big of an investment) or you just want to skip a step, here's what I did when freezing my turkey stock.

1. As always - write on the bag with a Sharpie first: the date, the item, and sometimes I'll also write the amount.  For instance, I froze 10 kilos of chocolate buttons earlier this year, so I measured them into 12 ounce portions so that when I went to use them, I wouldn't have to re-measure.  This time, I used a measuring cup to portion out the stock into 1 cup, 2 cup, and 4 cup measurements.  Now I can grab a 4 cup for risotto-making, 1 cup for soup just for me, etc.
2. Roll down the top of the bag (this will keep the top of the bag dry, ensuring a better seal).
3. Using a 1 cup measuring cup, pour desired amount of stock (or other liquid) into the bag.  Roll the top up.
4. Carefully place bag upright in a loaf pan or another narrow, high-sided pan or pot.  If the container is too big for the bag to stand upright, place a canned good next to the bag as a prop until you have enough bags in the container to hold each other up:
5. Place the container of bags into the freezer and freeze for a few hours, or until they are frozen.
6. Vacuum seal each bag of frozen stock and store in freezer for up to 6 months!

See that?  Easy as pie!  Or stock, or whatever.  Now, how about making some stock?

Of related interest on Restaurant Widow:
In which I purchase the FoodSaver & giant freezer.
In which we freeze veggies.
In which we make & freeze veggie stocks.

FoodSaver & Freezer Tips, Part One::Veggies

So, I'm impressed that I have such vast, sweeping influence that lots of you have e-mailed to tell me I inspired you to buy your own vacuum sealer!  (click here for the original post. And I just outed myself for re-using pictures, SORRY!!)  Why aren't more companies sending me free things!? (just kidding, sort of).  A lot of you have e-mailed to ask me what I'm doing with mine, etc.  Just for the record, I purchased this model at Costco for $140, which seems like a great all-around model.  There are some cheaper, and some more expensive.  I would definitely recommend something with a "pulse" mode.

First of all, I'll tell you this: lots and lots of restaurants use vacuum sealers for practically everything.  Of course, they have a giant, powerful one which wouldn't fit on even the biggest kitchen counter top and will seal anything, no matter how liquidy.  And costs thousands of dollars (like, say, $6000).  For the rest of us, we have our own smaller version which can be a little tricky but, I still think, is worth it, especially if you are concerned about where your local food is going to come from in the wintertime.  It's so much easier than canning, and I think the results are much better, at least for vegetables.  I don't think anyone things canned sweet peas are a good idea, even if Saveur did have them as one of their 100 things this year, a travesty for which I will never forgive them. I think I've figured out the vegetable portion, although I have to admit I haven't yet tested how long to boil my veggies in the bag when I take them out of the freezer.  Maybe that's something fun for next week.  To thaw or not to thaw?  That will be the question.

I am not a professional food putter-asider, just for the record.  If you think any of my suggestions are faulty, or would just like some validation or other questions answered, I highly recommend the Pick Your Own website, which I've been relying on for years.  They have a treasure-trove of information, which will guide you all the way from the farm to the kitchen, with recipes for canning, jelly-making, and everything else you can imagine.  Bookmark them.

Here are my general guidelines for processing vegetables:

1. If applicable, trim your vegetables - take the ends of green beans, cut florets from broccoli, etc.  If you are doing corn, simply shuck the corn and remove as much silk as possible, but don't cut the kernels from the cobs (it's much easier after a little soak).  Save all of your trimmings!!
2. Clean your sink really, really well - maybe even apply a weak bleach solution and then wash with hot soapy water.  Rinse really well and put a stopper in the sink.   
3. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
4. Here, you can either steam, using a steamer insert (without the veggies touching the water) or blanch (completely immersing the veg into the water).  I did both, but found that blanching the sweet corn was much easier than steaming because I could fit 15 ears into a stovetop canner, but only 4 in the steamer insert.  However, anything smaller went into the steamer for ease of shocking (see #7)
5. While the veggies are steaming, place about 2-3 pounds of ice in the sink and add cold water.
6. Blanch for 3 minutes, steam for 4.  This was my general guideline: you might want to consult a traditional food preservation book for this, but I like things to be as minimally cooked as possible when they go in the freezer so that I have more control when they come out. 
7. When your timer goes off, remove the vegetables from the water and plunge into the ice water.  This is where a steamer basket comes in handy - if yours has a handle (I use this one, which came with my ALL-Clad set; if you have a multi cooker, this is the perfect time to get it out), you can remove the whole thing and plunge it, veg and all, into the sink.  Otherwise, you'll have to strain - which you don't want to do!!  This process is called shocking, and it stops the cooking process.  I do this a lot when cooking veggies, and it's a process you'll see in almost every restaurant kitchen.  You can cook the veggies halfway ahead of time by steaming for a few minutes, then shock them to stock the cooking, and then you can finish them however you'd like for service.  A great trick for party planning.
8. Do not strain your blanching/steaming water!
9. Why?  Because, after we save everything, we're going to make vegetable stock.  Notice how green it is?  It's full of vitamins!
10. If you're doing sweet corn, this is the time to cut the kernels from the cob.  Cut them off with a sharp knife - if you've only tried this with raw corn, you'll be amazed at how neatly the blanched kernels will fall, all in rows, onto your cutting board.  Do not throw those cobs away!!
11. Write on your bags with a Sharpie (yet another indispensable kitchen tool - restaurant kitchen or home) - the date, the item, and what else might be in the bag.
12. Here, you can go one of two ways: Freeze all together or freeze individually.  If you are going to be boiling-in-the-bag to use the entire frozen amount as a side dish, you probably want to freeze everything in one lump, skip step #12 and go to #13.  If you want to freeze pounds of green beans in one bag and shake out a few at a time and re-seal, then you should probably freeze the green beans separately, then go to step #12.
13. Strain the veggies and arrange them on a parchment-lined (or silpator other silicone-lined) sheet tray in one single layer and place in the freezer.  Freeze until hard and then proceed with step #14.
14. If you are going to be boiling these bags to serve as side dishes, drain the veggies well and place desired amount into a bag (1/2 cup - 3/4 cup per person, or thereabouts).  At this point, you can sprinkle in salt and pepper and even throw a pat of butter in there, as I did with the sweet corn, above).
15. If the veggies are individually frozen, place them all in a larger bag.
16. Seal.  For the freshly blanched veggies, you might want to use a pulse setting if you have it, so that you can stop the vacuuming as soon as liquid begins to rise from the bulk of the veggies.  You might even want to use the pulse setting with the frozen veggies, just to be sure they don't break.  If you have a super neato sealer which automatically accounts for liquid, well, then you can do whatever you'd like.
17. Freeze!
18. If you are short on time, throw your corn cobs into a bag, your trimmings into another bag (or, I suppose, the same one), and freeze those, too.  You can freeze the leftover water in a plastic container or something, too, and then get to it at a later date (although in truth, the next step doesn't take work, only time).

The nice thing about making these little packets is they don't take up a lot of space in the freezer, as boxes would.  And, because they make compact and relatively hard packets, they won't freeze over the wire shelving in the freezer, never to be pried loose.

Okay, that's your first tutorial.  I hope it helped.  Later today, I'm going to talk about what to do with all of that leftover water, trimmings, and corn cobs.  I'm sorry to break it up into two segments, but I wanted them to be easily searchable.  Happy freezing!

Please feel free to leave your tips!

How to Roast Peppers - A Pictorial Tutorial

Sure, you can buy them in a jar, but roasting peppers is fun and easy - there's fire involved!  Roasting peppers serves several purposes, namely it brings out the rich sweetness which comes naturally in a pepper, but is hard to create from sauteing.  It makes the pepper smoky, it also entails peeling the pepper, ensuring it has a more pleasant mouth feel, and it removes any bitterness.  Besides, did I mention there was fire?  There are many things you can do with a roasted pepper - slice it and toss it into any pasta, as I did a few days ago, you can make bruschetta with it, put it in a salad, or puree it and mix it with mayo to make a tasty sandwich spread.  Don't limit yourself to regular bell peppers, chiles, such as the poblano I roasted here (pictured above), are also greant, and smashing when mixed with corn for a side dish.  I have roasted this pepper right on my gas stovetop, but it can also be done in the coals of a grill (put it directly on the coals, keeping a close eye on it).  If you are limited to electric, you can put it under the broiler.

*There is, of course, a small risk of fire with roasting peppers, so have an extinguisher nearby.  Typically, the pepper is too moist to catch on fire, but it's best to be prepared.  Do not wear loose sleeves when doing this.  Didn't you see the Sopranos episode where Tony's goomara tries to cook eggs in her robe?  You are standing over an open flame, have some sense!

Step One - Place the pepper directly on the burner of a gas stove and char the entire pepper, one side at a time.  The time will of course vary depending on the type of stove you have - I find it usually takes about 4 minutes per side.  It's enough time that I can have the peppers charring away while I am busy chopping onions or whatever next to the stove. Turn the pepper carefully with tongs, being careful not to burn yourself or otherwise catch anything on fire:

Place the peppers in a double-bagged paper bag, or in a plastic bag.  Set this aside while you get on with making dinner.  You want the pepper to steam in there for at least 5 minutes, but you don't have to time it.  I just get to them when I have a free minute:

Rub the peppers in the paper bag to get the skin started coming off, and remove from the bag onto a cutting board.  Be careful!!  This pepper will be very hot!  You might notice it has deflated quite a bit since putting it in the bag.  Using a paper towel, wipe away the remaining charred skin, getting as many black bits off as possible; it's not necessary to get every bit off, I actually like a little remaining, although Husband will tell you char isn't a flavor:

Cut the flesh away from the seed core, discarding any seeds.  Slice, chop, puree or do whatever you like with the pepper.  Yum:

Chicken Under a Brick

After needling Husband about it in the two years since we moved into our house, we have finally purchased a grill.  A big, grown-up grill.  Okay, not too grown up.  Until we have the money/space/etc. needed for the outdoor kitchen of our dreams, this one will have to do.  Mother Nature, of course, chose to reward us by raining practically every night since this purchase was made, but we have managed to squeeze in a few dinners.  And I even practiced my chicken-butchering skills.

I consider myself something of a chicken-roasting savant.  I don't care what anyone else says, I roast a mean chicken.  I decided to try my hand at whole chicken grilling.  Husband seemed a little concerned, because the chicken does end up a little more blackened than it would in the oven, but fear not folks - it is delicious.  The first step in grilling a whole chicken is your chicken: I am partial to smaller, fryer sized chickens, and the butcher at Weiland's leaves them whole for me.  Now, I don't know about anyone else, and I don't want to knock any of the wonderful poultry farmers who are at the markets each Saturday, but I can't really afford a $5 a pound chicken.  Well, let's just say the guilt is too great if I mess it up.  I'll be running around the kitchen screeching "but that is a $23 chicken!  I don't care if it was left in the oven during the cleaning cycle!  We are going to eat it!"  I much prefer Weiland's local, Amish, free-range, antibiotic-free chickens for $1.59 a pound.  If you're wondering how they can make it so cheap, then you have never met an Amish farmer.  The typical fryer is about 3 pounds; of course, there are only two of us, and between us and our growing selection of begging cats, we can eat about the whole chicken.  You might need to buy 2 chickens.

Step two is procuring some manner of heavy object with which to weight your chicken.  I bought some 13" stepping stones for the garden at Lowe's recently and found they did the job perfectly, as they are heavy and cover the entire chicken.  You could also use a few bricks, or a pan with a heavy can placed inside (by which I mean the industrial-sized #10 can of baked beans or the like).  Wrap the brick in a double layer of heavy duty aluminum foil and place next to your grill.

Step three is spatchcocking your chicken.  Spatchcocking is process whereby you remove the keel bone (think of it as a collar bone and sternum) from the bird; you cut the breast in half and "unfold" the bird so that he is flat. (Click here for pictures on how to do this - the tutorial uses poultry sheers, but I just use a big knife.) Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper, or make some sort of rub.  I used 1 Tbsp of salt mixed with a pinch each of black pepper, cayenne, sweet paprika and cumin powder.

Heat your grill to moderately hot.  Drizzle your chicken with a little olive oil and place him, skin side down, on the hot grill for about 5 minutes, or until the skin is starting to blacken.  You may have flare-ups, so keep a spray bottle of water handy.  Turn over and place your brick on top of him, grilling for about 10 minutes.  Flip again, placing the weight back on, and grill for another 10 minutes, but start checking for doneness after 8 minutes.  You can do this using an internal thermometer or by inserting a knife into the breast - if the juices run clear, he's done.  Do not over cook!  Remove the chicken from the grill to a plate, cover with aluminum foil and allow to sit for 10 minutes.  During this time, I placed a pan of bread salad in the grill, on top of the brick (in an oven-safe dish, or course).

To serve - if you're serving with bread salad - drizzle the bread salad with a little good extra virgin olive oil, add the accumulated chicken juices from the resting plate, and place the chicken on top of the bread salad.  Enjoy with a nice green salad and some nice red wine.  Or white wine.  We chose Qupé Syrah, one of our favorites.  This meal tastes best eaten outside, something I can now happily do.

Local Sources for this Dinner:

Chicken from Weiland's Gourmet Market

Tomatoes are hydroponically grown from Wishwell farms, every Saturday morning at the North Market and and Worthington Farmer's Market

Last year on this day I was Cleaning Closets!

Roasted Potatoes

These are the perfect side dish with lovely small potatoes.  Sadly, these Red Thumb potatoes are already gone from the market, and now we have to wait for 11 whole months for more.  Of course, good potatoes are available nearly year-round, and this treatment works for fingerlings, Yukon Golds, or small red potatoes.  This method is also valuable for beets, turnips, carrots, etc.  To be true, the potatoes in this picture are slightly over-roasted, but good nonetheless.

Roasted Potatoes

1/2 pound small potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 1/2" chunks with skins left on

good olive oil

kosher salt

fresh pepper

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees (up to 450, you can put these in the oven with your roasted chicken, should you so desire).  Boil the potatoes for about 12-15 minutes, or until they are just tender - less so than you would want for mashed potatoes, you want them to stand up to tossing.  Drain well and place the potatoes in a large bowl.  Drizzled good olive oil over them, just to coat, and then sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper.  Arrange in one layer on a cookie sheet and roast for 35-45 minutes, depending on the size of the potatoes and the degree of crispness you would like.  Serve with anything.

Roasted Garlic and Garlic Confit

Roasted Garlic has numerous uses.  Once upon a time I dated an Italian boy who was constantly lauding the merits of roasted garlic, which I was far too naive to understand.  "You mean you just spread it on bread?  And then eat it, just like that?" I demanded, incredulous.  Well, time has passed and I have been known to eat entire heads of garlic in one sitting, for which I am forced to apologize to Coworkers and to Husband; when we were first married, Husband actually spent a night on the sofa to get away from my offensive pores. 

Sacrifices have to be made for good taste, however, and I will take minor shunning if it means good garlic eating.  Both of the following methods yield soft, sweet garlic which can be used for spreading on bread, adding to pasta, etc. 

To roast garlic:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cut an entire head of garlic in half, widthwise and place in a 10-inch sheet of foil.  Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.  Fold up the sides of the foil and place in the oven for 45 minutes.  Carefully open the packet and test with a knife - the garlic is done when it is very easily pierced with a knife.

To make garlic confit*:  Place 20 peeled garlic cloves (cut the hard "stem" end off) in a small sauce pan and cover with 3/4 cup vegetable, canola, or olive/canola oil blend.  Heat on very low heat (the garlic should not turn brown) for 40 minutes to an hour, until a knife can easily pierce the cloves.  Store, refrigerated, for up to a month.  Basi Italia uses this method, spiked with red pepper flakes and herbs, as an alternative to butter to serve alongside their rolls. 

*Confit is a method of preservation whereby something (usually meat, as in duck confit) is cooked slowly in fat - usually, again as in duck confit, in its own fat.  It is then submerged and stored in the fat, where it will last for months.  This method of preservation was essential before refrigeration was available, and is now used in higher-end cuisine (at least in the States).