The Fumbling Foodie

Milles-Feuilles Asparagus

I am learning great things from Chef Bernard Chirent. A couple of days ago, he gave another cooking class at Plate It Up! and once again I learned to make some magnificent dishes that are easy to prepare.

Milles-Feuilles is French, meaning "thousand leaves" - referring to the many many layers of dough and butter in puff pastry. The puff pastry used here was simply purchased from the local supermarket. Believe me, it doesn't get much simpler than this and the presentation and flavor are impressive.

Milles-Feuilles Asparagus

1 sheet of puff pastry
1 bunch asparagus
1 stick butter
2 tablespoons cream
1 cup white wine
curry

Cut the puff pastry into 1-1/2inch x 3-inch rectangles and bake it according to the directions on the package - or about 425F until puffed and golden.

Saute the asparagus for 2-3 minutes in hot olive oil.

In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, reduce the wine until there is only 1-2 tablespoons left. Add the cream. Then add the butter a bit at a time, whisking furiously. Add just enough curry so that you can barely taste it - Don't add so much that the curry overpowers the other flavors.

Pull each puff pastry apart. Place the lower half on a plate. Pile a few asparagus spear on it, pour a little of the sauce over the asparagus, then place the top half of the puff pastry back on. Serve.

I learned to prepare several other dishes as well, including the most scrumptious Lemon Curd, but those will have to wait for another time.

Chicken Veneziana

One of the biggest challenges for a home cook is to turn a chicken breast into something tasty. By itself, a chicken breast is pretty bland. I am continually on a quest to find recipes that make a lowly chicken breast into something I look forward to eating.

Irina, the young lady who gave me Patsy's Cookbook says that this is one of her favorite recipes from it.

Of course, as you look at the photo you may wonder, "Where's the chicken?". My wife loves sauteed onions, so I doubled up on the onions and the pan sauce. The whole family gave this a two-thumps-up.

Chicken Veneziana

8 oz button mushrooms, sliced
4 chicken breast halves
1/2 cup flour
1 yellow onion
1 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons chopped itialian parsley
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
3/4 teaspoon cornstarch
1/2 cup olive oil

Pound the chicken breasts flat (about 1/2 inch thick). Blanch the mushrooms for 2 minutes and set them aside. Heat the olive oil in a sauté pan over medium-high heat and saute the chicken until lightly browned on both sides. Don't try to cook the chicken all the way through, just brown it. Then remove it from the pan and set it aside.

Add the onions to the pan and saute until just browned. Return the chicken to the pan. Add the mushrooms. vinegar, chicken broth, and butter. Bring the liquid to a boil and then reduce the heat to low. Cover and simmer for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally until the chicken has cooked through. Stir in the parsley and basil and let cook for another minute or so. Remove the chicken from the pan.

Combine the cornstarch with 1/4 cup water, mix well, and whisk into the pan sauce. Let the sauce thinken just a bit then pour it over the chicken.

Salt and pepper the chicken then dredge them in the flour. Heat

I'm Liking This

I really like this new kitchen. Tonight as I was preparing dinner, both my wife and son were in the kitchen and we weren't in each other's way. The kitchen in the old house was strictly a one-person-kitchen.

Me and the new stove are getting along famously. I had all four burners going at once tonight. And now that I have a stove that can doo better than just ON or OFF, I was able to prefect the Chicken Legs with Raspberry Vinaigrette recipe that I learned from Chef Bernard Chirant a few weeks ago.

Man, I love this recipe. What could be more plebeian than a chicken drumstick? Yet with the addition of two simple ingredients - raspberry vinegar and veal stock (I used demi-glace) the lowly chick drumstick is turned into something that will elicit a WOW in response to your guest's first bite. In fact, I think part of the attraction of this recipe is that it allows you to eat very well and cheaply at the same time: I checked Safeway today and you can get big packages of drumsticks for $1.16/pound.

I made this a couple of weeks ago, but here is the refined recipe:

Chick Drumsticks with Raspberry Vinaigrette

Whack off the foot end of each drumstick. You could leave them on, but if you want to impress with this bistro-style dish then whack 'em off. It's easier than you think: all it takes is a quick chop with a chef's knife. Put about two tablespoons of butter and two tablespoons of olive oil into the sauté pan over medium-high heat. Put the drumsticks into the pan. Turn them every few minutes. Your objective is to get them nicely browned all over. When they are nicely browned then put them on a plate and tent with foil.

Pour off most of the oil/fat. Deglaze the pan with about 6oz of raspberry vinegar (I get it at Safeway). Let the vinegar reduce or 1-2 minutes. Add a cup of veal stock or demi glace. Put the drumsticks back in the pan and turn the heat to medium low. Cover the pan.

Let them babies cook for at least 30 minutes, turning several times so that they are evenly coated with the sauce. When the meat starts to fall off the bone you know they are done.

Remove from the pan and serve, pouring a little of the sauce over each one.

Patsy's

The doorbell rang the other day, and it was none other than Irina, the young lady from Pulte Homes who was our main point of contact for the last several months. (BTW, I have to say that the Pulte people are terrific. We got a lot of personal attention from them through the whole construction process. If I ever buy another new home, Pulte will be at the top of my list.)

Anyway, there stood Irina with a housewarming gift: a copy of Patsy's Cookbook published by Patsy's Restaurant in New York. This is not just a cookbook filled with great recipes for making wonderful Italian dishes from a few simple ingredients. It is chocked full of stories. Frank Sinatra frequently ate at Patsy's the book is sprinkled with stories about him. The same is true for Sammy Davis Jr,Bennett Cerf, Dinah Shore, and many others.

Some cookbooks that full of great stories are also filled with mediocre recipes. Not this one. I prepared Fillet of Sole Arreganata and Sauteed Mushrooms with Cognac and Cabernet Sauvignon, both from Patsy's Cookbook.

Both were simple, inexpensive, and tasted great. Neither my photography nor my presentation do these dishes justice.

First Meal from the New Kitchen

OK, I can't find the camera. It's in one of these boxes around here somewhere. So no pictures, I'm sorry.

For the first meal in the new kitchen, I needed to play it safe. Me and the new range have barely been introduced. How responsive would it be when I turned the temperature up or down? What setting on the dial will 'medium-high' translate to? How accurate would the oven temperature be?

Everything turned out fine. The burners get hotter, and they are more responsive. Settings below about 4 still actually put out some heat. That caused me some trouble while making the Hollandaise sauce: I had the burner WAY to high the first time and I ended up with scrambled egg yolks. The second attempt was better but I still need to turn the temperature down some more.

First Course

An Asparagus Tower with Holladaise sauce, just like the one in this post..

Second Course

A Roast Chicken. My roasting pan has been packed away for months and so have been unable to prepare this nice roast chicken recipe again since I made it the first time way back in July. This is definitely the tastiest roast chicken recipe I have ever made.

THe chicken was accompanied by a rice pilaf recipe of my own concoction involving orzo, rice, oyster mushrooms, and thyme. A lot of rice pilafs I've eaten were kinda bland. This one is pretty good. I'll post separately about it when I can find my camera.

Welcome Home

Our Last Weekend in the Rathole

This is our last weekend in this little two-bedroom apartment. The last meal I'll fix in this crummy kitchen. (And unlike the last meal I prepared in my previous house I am NOT sentimental about it.)

Closing on the new house is Wednesday. I CAN'T WAIT.

In the meantime, the current issue of Fine Cooking had a great cod recipe that was simple and it turned out great. This is one I would serve again.