Chicken with Garlic Pearls and Pineau de Charentes

I used Paula Wolfert's recipe for Chicken with Garlic Pearls and Sauternes-substituting the Pineau de Charentes for the Sauternes (see my previous post on Pineau de Charentes). Her extremely well written recipe is from her book "The Cooking of Southwest France". I used 4 leg quarters (I don't personally care for eating chicken breast) rather than the whole bird called for in the recipe. You'll need to make creme fraich ahead of time (mix 1 cup heavy cream with 2 Tablespoons of buttermilk-let the mixture sit at room temperature for 12 to 18 hours-cover and refrigerate for up to one week). It is an involved recipe, but not difficult and the results are spectacular. I think I might use this technique for this year's Thanksgiving turkey. I also added some wild mushrooms sauteed in butter and deglazed with sherry.

For the chicken:
1 chicken or 4 leg quarters
Quarter the chicken, salt and pepper the pieces, and marinate the pieces in the creme fraiche for at least 1 hour or overnight.

Roast the chicken in a preheated 375 degree oven, basting with additional creme fraiche for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Run the chicken under the broiler for extra crispy skin.


For the garlic pearls:
2 head of fresh garlic, separate the cloves
1 1/2 teaspoons of butter
1 1/2 teaspoons of sugar

Plunge the garlic cloves into boiling water and boil for 3 minutes.

Cool the garlic and peel, leaving the cloves whole.

Melt the butter in a saute pan over very low heat, add the garlic and sugar. place the saute pan in a 350 degree oven and roast until the garlic is soft and golden-not brown. Shake the pan but do not stir or the garlic may break up. Can be prepared ahead of time.

For the sauce:
2 Tablespoons of rendered poultry fat or oil
1 3/4 cup sliced onions
1 2/3 cup sliced carrots
1 leek, split and cleaned, sliced
2 pounds of veal bones
1 pounds chicken bones
1 bottle Pineau de Charentes- Sauternes or sweet white wine can be substituted
1 1/2 cup chicken stock
Herb bouquet of parsley, thyme, bay, and celery leaf-all tied together
1/3 cup heavy cream
Fresh lemon juice, optional
Brown the bones and vegetables in the rendered fat over low heat-a long slow caramelization process that should take up to 15 minutes.

Drain off the fat, and begin adding the wine. Add the wine one cup at a time, letting the wine evaporate until it becomes syrupy before adding the next cup of wine.

Add the stock and the herb bouquet, cook covered for 1 hour.

Strain the mixture into a sauce pan, skim off any fat. Bring the mixture to the boil and reduce for 10 minutes, continually skimming any foamy debris. I also added some additional onion slices to be left in the finished sauce-Paula uses additional carrot slices. The sauce can be prepared ahead of time up to this point.

Add the cream and reduce until the sauce coats the back of a spoon-taste for seasoning and add fresh lemon juice if the sauce is too sweet.

Add the garlic pearls.

Ladle the sauce over the roasted chicken, and top with the sauteed mushrooms-the mushrooms are optional.

Pineau de Charentes

The bottle says dessert wine, but it is usually served as an aperitif-chilled-served straight up. It is a a fortified wine made of grape juice and cognac fermented together, produced in the Charente region of France. It is usually made with Colombard, Sauvignon Blanc, or Semillon. It is slightly sweet with a definite flavor of cognac. I have read online where it is really out of fashion in France, so only try this at the risk of being labeled frumpy by the French. Since I am hopelessly out of fashion in almost all areas, I don't really care. It can be difficult to locate, but I find it a refreshing cocktail, and worth seraching out.

Stuffed Tomatoes

This hasn't been the best year for local tomatoes, too cold and wet. But even in an off year, there are some tasty morsels to be found out there. This recipe will stuff about 4 medium tomatoes.

4 Tomatoes, scooped out, salted and left to drain upside down for 1/2 hour.

Stuffing

2 Tablespoons minced anchovy fillet

2 Tablespoons minced garlic

2 Tablespoons minced shallot

2 Tablespoons chopped capers

1/4 cup chopped sundried tomatoes

1/3 cup olive oil-plus extra for drizzling

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1/4 cup minced fresh Italian parsley

1/4 cup grated parmesan, plus more for topping

Salt and pepper

Combine all of the ingredients and stuff the tomatoes.

Place the tomatoes in a baking dish and drizzle with some extra olive oil, top with some extra grated cheese and bake in a 350 degree preheated oven for about 20-25 minutes.

Brasied Leeks with Tomato Vinaigrette

This made a lovely salad last week. I braised the leeks, and served them at room temperature over salad greens topped with fresh tomato vinaigrette. The leeks are nice on their own served hot as a side dish with or without the tomato vinaigrette.

For the leeks:
4 leeks, trimmed and cleaned, cut in half lengthwise
2 Tablespoons of olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 cup chicken stock

In a flame proof casserole brown the leeks in the olive oil, cut side down.

Turn the leeks over, season with the salt and pepper and pour the chicken stock over them.

Place the casserole in a preheated 350 degree oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes until the leeks are tender.

Let the leeks cool to room temperature and place on a bed of salad greens and top with Tomato Vinaigrette.

For the Vinaigrette:
1 large tomato peeled and chopped
2 tablespoons of white wine or champagne vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
2 Tablespoons fresh Basil chiffonade
Salt and pepper

Combine all of the ingredients and let sit 1/2 before using.

More Pickles

I've been blessed with lots of neighborhood gardeners leaving extra vegetables at my door. Pickling has always been a way of managing the abundance of harvest. Here I pickled a combination of cherry tomatoes, carrots, whole garlic cloves, red onion, cucumber, and jalapeno slices (I leave the seeds in for extra spiciness), it hasn't even cured totally yet and is already so spicy and good. I put out a small bowl to enjoy with cheeses, fruit, and cocktails.

about 4 cups of vegetables

1 1/2 cups red wine vinegar

1/4 cup water (optional, depending on the acidity of your vinegar)

1 cup sugar

Salt and pepper

Stir up the vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper. Taste for the balance you like it should be a combination of sweet-salty-sour. Remember your pickling solution should be pretty assertive because when you add the vegetables, it will become a little diluted.

Toss in the vegetables and let sit overnight in the refrigerator.

Henry Bain's Burger

This is an unusual steak sauce from Louisville's elite Pendennis Club. Henry Bain was the head waiter for years at the club beginning back in 1880, and he invented the recipe. I have used it for steaks, venison, and duck. Here I spooned it over a burger and served it with the Zuni Zuchinni pickles from my previous post.

1/2 cup chili sauce

1/2 cup ketchup

1/2 cup A-1 Steak sauce

1/2 cup worcestershire sauce

1 1/2 cups chutney-peach was probably the original, but any flavor will work-I used Major Grey

2 teaspoons of salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Combine all of the ingredients in a sauce pan and bring to a simmer. Cook for 5 minutes over low heat. This keeps for several weeks in the refrigerator.

Zuni Cafe Zuchinni Pickle

Here is a pickle recipe from the Zuni Cafe Cookbook by Judy Rogers (she's from St Louis by the way). Zuni Cafe is one of the legendary restaurants of San Francisco. Judy credits both Chef Mark Miller and "The Joy of Cooking" as the genesis of the recipe. It starts with a cold brine.

1 pound zuchinni (medium sized)

1 small yellow onion

2 tablespoons of salt

Thinly slice the zuchinni and onion on a mandoline

Toss the slices with the salt, add ice and water to cover and let sit for 1 hour

Drain and dry the slices with toweling

For the brine:

2 cups cider vinegar

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

1 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds

1 teaspoon ground tumeric

Combine the brine ingredients and stir until the spices and sugar are dissolved.

Add the zuchinni and onion slices.

Judy cooks the brine for 3 minutes and cools it befor she adds the vegetables, but I omitted that step.

The color intensifies as the pickles age.

Summer Vegetable Pasta and Health Department Visit

We had an interesting inspection from the health department last week. Our score 96 out of 100-not perfect but ok. One unusual aspect was that it occured at 5:00 PM just as we opened which can often be a stressful 10 or 15 minutes without an inspector watching and checking temperatures. Anyone who has studied psychology will recognize the phonema as "Fixed Interval Scallop"-faced with a set of tasks and a deadline activity builds to a crescendo. Of course we face that deadline every night at opening. And even more unusual, the inspectator stayed for dinner. I have never experienced one of my inspectors eating in the place they inspect. I feel pretty good about that.

This vegetable pasta has nothing to do with the Health Department, but I just wanted to brag about it a little. This is just basically alot of vegetables simmered with tomatoes, wine, and some herbs at the end.

1/4 pound fresh green beans, cut into 1" pieces

1/4 pound zuchinni

1/4 pound yellow squash

1/2 red pepper diced

1/4 pound carrot sliced

1 medium onion, sliced

1 cup sliced mushrooms

3 or 4 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 cup olive oil

2 pounds plum tomatoes, peeled and seeded

2 tablespoons of tomato paste

2 cups white wine

Salt and pepper

Fresh basil and oregano

I begin by stewing the vegetables in the oil over low heat for 15 minutes, until they begin to carmelize and take on some color.

Add the tomato paste and let it btown slightly.

Add the tomatoes and wine and let the sauce simmer for 15 to 20 minutes-just until the vegetables are tender, but not cooked to mush.

Taste for dalt and pepper, add some fresh herbs. Serve over noodles with some fresh herbs and parmesan cheese. Makes a big batch, so freeze some for winter.

Roasted Pork Loin with Marsala Wine Sauce

I made this dish for a wedding rehearsal dinner last weekend. It was really exceptional. First I bought the loin at Schubert's, a local packing plant in Millstadt. His products are locally grown on small farms, so finding a good pork product is three quarters of the battle, and grocery store pork usually doesn't measure up to a good local butcher.

For the pork:

1 whole boneless brined pork loin-Mine were about 6 pounds each, but you can buy smaller ones).

Salt and pepper to generously cover the roast

Place the roast fat side up on a roasting rack and season with the salt and pepper.

Many cooks are often intimidated by roasting large pieces of meat, but this is really one of the easiest. First, I brined the loins (I roasted two loins for 40 people-there was a second fish entree as well) over night in a solution of 1/2 cup salt, 1/2 cup sugar mixed with 1 gallon of water. Brining always ensures a juicy roast. I like to start roasting at a high temperature 450 degrees for ten minutes, then lower the oven temperature to 325 degrees and cook to an internal temperature of 155. Start temping the roast after 30 minutes it will probably take from 45 minutes to just over an hour depending on the size of your roast, a good thermometer is the best way to judge for doneness. Remove the pork from the oven and let the roast rest for at least 8 to 10 minutes before carving. The internal temperature will continue to rise, hopefully not too much above 160 degrees.

Slice and serve with Marsala Wine Sauce.

For the Marsala Wine sauce:

3 cups of really rich chicken stock

1/2 cup minced shallot

2 cups sliced mushrooms

2 cups sweet Marsala wine-it's important to find a good imported one I think

Salt and pepper

Corn starch slurry to thicken about 3 tablespoons of cornstarch dissolved in 1/2 cup cold water.

Bring the stock, shallot, mushrooms, and wine to the boil, simmer for about 10 minutes, season, and thicken the sauce with the slurry.

This is a really simple voluptuous sauce, but it will only be as good as the stock you make and the wine you purchase-no skimping.

Grilled Sweet Potato and Red Onion Salad

3 to 4 long skinny sweet potatoes (about 1 1/2 pounds)

1 medium sized red onion thinly sliced

For the dressing:

1/4 cup rice wine vinegar

2 Tablespoons of sugar

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons of minced fresh tarragon

Microwave or blanch the sweet potatoes for about 5 minutes, they should be soft but slightly undercooked. When they are cool enough to handle, peel and slice them into 1/2 inch slices.

Get your grill pan or grill very hot and finish cooking the potatoes, a well oiled grill helps prevent sticking.

Remove the grilled potato slices to a serving platter lined with greens and grill the onion slices.

Arrange the onion slices over the potato slices and drizzle with the dressing.

For the dressing:

Dissolve the sugar, salt and pepper in the rice wine vinegar, whisk in the oilve oil and fresh tarragon.

Haricots Verts A La Provencale

In anticipation of Julia Child's birthday next month-she would be 97 on August15-I got out my copy of Mastering the Art. An early morning trip to a farm stand yeilded some tomatoes and green beans, so this recipe on page 447 sort of seemed a natural, although I used the fat American green beans, Julia probably would have used the skinny French ones. Although the French beans are sort of stylish, these plump Mid-Western beauties were tender, juicy and just delicious.

Julia's recipes are meticulously written. I am more impatient, so I will summarize how I made this dish, also I needed a smaller amount than the original recipe. But by all means dig out your own copy of Mastering the Art if you have one.

1 cup sliced onions

1/4 cup olive oil

Slowly stew the onions in the oil until they are tender, about 10 minutes-do not brown.

2 to 3 tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and juiced-reserve the juice

1 bouquet garnie in cheesecloth-garlic, cloves, bay, parsley, and thyme

salt and pepper

Add the bouquet garnie and tomatoes to the onions and simmer gently, add some reserved juice if the tomatoes get too dry.

1 1/2 pounds green beans, trimmed and blanched

After the tomatoes haver simmered for 30 minutes, add the green beans and cook until tender, adding more juice as needed or water.

Remove bouquet garnie and top with fresh herbs before serving. I used fresh basil, but Julia also recommends savory, parsley, or tarragon.

Kitchen Conservatory on Twitter

Kitchen Conservatory, a marvelous cooking emporium where I teach the occaisional class, is twittering their instructor's favorite tools. Here is a little vignette of mine. My Michael Grave's Memphis tea kettle is in the foreground. I use it practically every morning-despite it being a collecter's item-making my tea or my coffee (I always make my coffee in a French Press). The little red bird on the spout whistles when the water is ready.

Second is my Wolf range which I also use every morning to heat the kettle. After cooking in restaurants for so many years, it is difficult for me to use household equipment, so my home kitchen is equipped with this Wolf professional range, It suits my needs very well.

In the background is one of my Le Creuset pans, some of which I have had since I lived in Chicago 25 years ago.

Grilled Flank Steak Aloha

Grilled Flank steak with some Hawaiian influences-grilled pineapple slices and coconut Jasmine rice with edamame and vegetables.

1/4 cup Mirin

1/4 cup dry sherry

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1/4 cup minced fresh ginger

Freshly ground black pepper

2 Tablespoons of sesame oil

1/2 pineapple peeled and sliced

1 flank steak about 1 1/2 pounds

In a large flat container, combine the wines, soy, garlic, ginger, pepper, and sesame oil

Marinate the flank steak at least 2 hours, or overnight

Grill over medium hot coals 4 to 5 minutes per side for medium rare

Let the steak rest for at least 5 minutes before slicing

Brush pineapple slices with marinade and grill for 2 minutes on each side

Serve with coconut Jasmine rice and Asian dipping sauce

Asian Dipping Sauce

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup rice wine vinegar

2 Tablespoons of sesame oil

2 Scallions, thinly sliced

1 Teaspoon grated fresh ginger

1 Teaspoon of Chili-garlic paste

Combine all ingredients, and serve with flank steak. Also good with egg rolls, pot stickers and any kind of won ton.

Pan-Seared Ham Steak with Brown Sugar, Pineapple, and Raspberries

This was a tasty breakfast, served with grits to soak up all those salty-sweet juices. Served, as always while watching all the Sunday political shows. Sadly missing was Beaulah, my beautiful 14 year old Standard Poodle-she is no longer with us. I miss her so, she would always be underfoot whenever I cooked at home, demanding a taste of whatever I was making-she had a very developed palate.

1 pound slice of bone-in ham steak

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup dry sherry

1/2 pineapple, cut into chunks

1 pint of raspberries

In a heavy skillet, brown the ham steak

Add the brown sugar and let melt

Add the sherry and pineapple chunks

Add the raspberries just before serving

Serve with grits

Bacon, Lettuce, tomato, and Fried Egg Sandwich

This was Independence day breakfast. I have started purchasing eggs from a new woman. She grow several breeds, among them the Araucana (they produce the blueish green eggs), Banties (they are quite small), and several others that produce brown eggs. I promise I'll visit her hen houses and give you better information in the future. They live a great chicken life and have the run of 2 1/2 acres during the day and return to their houses at evening. She refuses to butcher her chickens and so she sells off her roosters-only retaining breeding stock. She has no idea what to do with her retired hens.

I'll be going to a barbecue later this afternoon, but that is several hours away so I thought a little breakfast was in order. Farm Fresh Eggs is one of the most eloquent phrases I can think of , but just in case you have never tasted anything but mass produced factory farm eggs, real eggs are deeply flavored, richly colored beauties.

Also I grew the lettuce in a pot on my deck, while I enjoy having it there to clip as I need it, it is too pathetic and ugly to photograph. My mom, dad, and one uncle are terrific gardeners-I guess I didn't get the green thumb.

Miso Glazed Strip Steaks

Here is a really tasty grilled dinner with some Japanese influences. First up is a spinach salad simply dressed with lemon juice and sesame, next the steaks are marinated in a miso paste flavored with garlic, ginger, and sesame, and last we have grilled corn with wasabi, ginger, and cilantro butter.

Spinach salad

1 pound fresh spinach

Juice of 2 lemons

Splenda or sugar to taste

2 tablespoons of soy sauce

2 tablespoons of sesame oil

Freshly ground pepper

Sesame seeds for garnish

Mix the lemon juice with the sweetner, soy, sesame oil, and pepper

Toss the spinach with the dressing and allow to sit for about 1/2 hour, the spinach should be slightly wilted

Garnish with toasted sesame seeds

ButterGrilled Corn With Wasabi, Ginger, and Cilantro

I usually soak my corn with the husks still intact for at least 1/2 hour before placing them on the grill

1/4 pound butter

1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro

Wasabi powder to taste-I used 1/2 teaspoon

Cream the butter and add the rest of the ingredients

Form the butter into a cylinder, and wrap with plastic or parchment paper and place in the refrigerator to chill

Slice the butter and let it melt across the grilled corn

Miso Glaze (enought for 4 steaks)

3 Tablespoons of miso

3 Tablespoons of Mirin

1 Tablespoon of sherry

1 Tablespoon minced garlic

1 Tablespoon minced ginger

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon sesame oil

Freshly ground pepper

Combine all of the ingredients

Reserve 1/2 of the mixture

Brush the steaks with the miso paste and let sit for 1/2 hour

Grill of medium hot coals until your desired degree of doneness

When the steaks are cooked to you liking, remove them from the heat and brush with the reserved paste

Let the steaks rest for 5 minutes before serving

Post Dispatch says Gallagher's Fried Chicken is Best in the St Louis Metro-East Area

If my posts have been far and few between lately it is because I have been on some fried chicken odyssey. In May the St Louis Post Dispatch began a contest for readers to vote for their favorite fried chicken. The Post then visited the top 5 restaurants and reviewed the chicken with large color photos and a continuing dialogue that also included their web site. To make a long story less tedious, Gallagher's was named best. Upsetting Hodak's (a restaurant specialising in fried chicken since time immemorial) reign. Since then we have been seating record breaking crowds, who knew St Louisans loved fried chicken so much?

Originally we only served fried chicken on Sundays, and it was the only thing we served on Sunday, family style. Since the article was published we have added it to the regular menu as so many people were arriving for fried chicken every night of the week. Many became irate that we didn't offer fried chicken all the time eventhough the article clearly stated it was only available on Sundays. Fried chicken done properly is not an easy task.

Our chicken is fresh-never frozen-brined for at least 12 hours, then hand breaded, and fried in small batches. The traditional sides are corn custard, mashed potatoes, gravy, long simmered green beans with ham, biscuits, and a home style dessert made by Mrs Gallagher. Seriously, I've had one long-time cook quit over it all-he wanted to cook somthing "fancier". We reworked all the recipes to expand the numbers being served, as well as purchasing new equipment. It was almost like starting over as all the recipes had to be tested and re-tested. All new equipment has its own learning curve to it until everyone is used to working with it.

The first week the article came out we served 310 dinners, there was a 2 hour wait for tables, and another 45 minutes before I could get food to the table. Keep in mind previous to the article, we usually served betwee 150 and 200. One disgruntled guest declared that the Post must have been drunk when they named us best. Last week I am happy to report we served 380 guests with minimal waits for tables and 8 minutes for me to get chicken to the tables. Since we do not share the chicken recipe, here is a picture of one of our lovely servers taking a tray of the platters of food to the table.

Moorish Zucchini Salad

Just in time for the local zucchini crop, I give you this Spanish-moorish salad.

1/4 cup olive oil

2 garlic cloves, peeled

2 pounds small zucchini, thinly sliced

1/2 cup pine nuts

1/4 cup raisins

Several threads of Saffron

1/4 cup minced Italian parsley

1/4 cup minced mint

Juice of 1 lemon

salt and pepper to your liking

Brown the garlic in the oil, to flavor it-discard the garlic, after the oil is flavored

Briefly saute the zucchini until al dente

Remove the zucchini to a mixing bowl

Add the pine nutes to the saute pan and toast them

Add the pine nuts, raisins, Saffron, lemon juice, parsley, and mint to the zucchini, mix and let marinate for 2 to 3 hours in the refrigerator

Serve on a bed of salad greens or on grilled bread slices

Tragedy

One of our most favorite clients, Traci, perished in a horrible auto accident last week. She was a delightful woman with a lot of spunk. I always enjoyed bantering with her. Here she is enjoying appetizers and drinks with her husband. He is gravely injured still in the hospital. She also leaves behind a daughter in high school. So sad.

Another Kitchen Conservatory Class

I taught another class at the Kitchen Conservatory last night. I always meet such nice folks at these classes. Many of them know me from the restaurant, but often there are new faces who usually make it to the restaurant after they take a class. Last night's menu was Pine Nut encrusted salmon with orange-basil butter, Spring peas with Boston lettuce and fresh mint, Potatoes Dauphinois with roasted peppers and Fontina, and Strawberry-Rhubarb Clafouti.

Here is the recipe for the peas, if you like peas, you will really enjoy this preparation.

2 Tablespoons unsalted butter

4 cups shell peas

1/4 cup sliced scallion

1 carrot, thinly sliced

1/4 cup chicken stock

1 teaspoon of sugar

1 small head of tender lettuce, such as Boston, sliced into chifffonade

Salt and pepper

Chopped fresh mint

In a sauce pan, melt the butter and saute the carrots until they begin to soften, add the sugar and caramelize slightly.

Add the chicken stock and lemon and bring to the boil.

Add the peas and cook until tender, add the lettuce chiffonade and continue to cook until the lettuce wilts.

Remove from heat and top with the fresh mint