In the last posting here we made a chicken, brined it, roasted it, consumed it, fed it to ours rats or other various pets and then we got yelled at by the wife or husband for leaving carrot shavings in the sink overnight and cooking to much fatty food. There were also bones, anywhere from 2-3 whole pounds of bones depending on the size of the bird and what I didn't feed to my pet rats I saved to make one of the most basic components of cooking, stock. Good stock beats the pants off of anything that you can buy at the store. Not only does it lend a nice aroma to your house during the 4-5 hour process of making it, but it is the foundation of so many dishes from risotto to sauces to soups. Today I'm going to run you through a fairly basic stock with a little help from Michael Ruhlman's Ratio.
As you can see by the title of the book we are going to use a ratio here to make our stock, 3-2. Simply, it is 3 parts water to 2 parts bone. I had 2 pounds of chicken bones left, so I used 3 pounds of water (6 cups) to produce it. The rest of the ingredients were as follows:
Almost done, 1 more hour.
1/2 pound onion (I used 1/4 pd. leeks & 1/4 pd. onions)
1/4 pound celery
1/4 pound carrot
4 cloves of garlic
1 bay leaf
1 tsp. of black peppercorns (crushed of course, you can also roast them a bit first)
3 sprigs or so of thyme
small bundle of parsley
Once you have your chicken bones and COLD water in the pot bring you temperature up to just below a simmer (180 F) then drop the temp to low, skim the congealed junk (proteins and foam) off the top, and let that baby sit for 4 hours or so. During the last hour of cooking add the remaining ingredients listed above to finish the stock. Additions will cool the stock so, bring back to a simmer then reduce the heat to low again and give it another 45-60 minutes to steep.
Not just for hair or hippies.
Finally, remove the large pieces of bone and discard, run the stock through a fine mesh strainer or chinoise then repeat the process again through some cheese cloth. For some bizarre reason I can not find cheesecloth in Lincoln, NE so, I just use a bandanna that I stole from my wife, she wasn't happy but it works just fine and I can simply wash it. Throw the freshly strained stock in the fridge to cool and store. It will keep for 7 days in the fridge and a month or so in the freezer. Be careful not to keep around onions or other things that will impart odors on the stock because it will pick them up.
There ya have it, either store in a ziplock bag or nice sealable tupperware and you have yourself roughly 4 cups of chicken stock to use on whatever your heart desires. My wife used it immediately after I made it for some mad wive's breakfast risotto. Till next time.
Chicken, that versatile, oft genetically enhanced fowl, rotting away in cramped quarters before they are strapped down, electrocuted then beheaded. Mmmmm. Sorry for the visual, but it is the reality of our mass produced food system in this country. Cruelty and absurdness aside it is the protein that seems to find its way onto American dinner plates more often than not. I love it, not the process it took to get to my kitchen, but the fact that it is something of a tabula rasa of the protein world. It can be prepared an ungodly amount of ways, with pretty much any flavor combination that our little minds can dream up. Escoffier, I believe it was him, went as far as saying that the stock derived, be it chicken, veggie, etc. is the canvas from which a chef works upon to layer and build, yadda yadda yadda. So, without further ado I direct you to Michael Ruhlman's simple lemon-herb brine and a little tutorial on how I go about cooking my birds, with a little help from a few links and a video or two.
First the brine:
Lemon/Herb Brine Components
Not many things taste better than a chicken that has soaked in a brine for 8-12 hours, nor are many things that moist. It works great for roasting the bird, and it is even better for frying the bird due to the abbreviated cooking time involved. Speaking of abbreviated times, I got the urge to roast myself a bird last evening at about 5 o.m. and realized that I would have to speed this process up a bit. If you go over to Michael Ruhlman's blog, he has a great article on shortening the brining time by amping up the salt/water ratio to about a 10% salt ratio, which is normally about a 5% salt concentration. In short, you are using 100 grams of salt to 1000 grams (1 liter) of water. For those that don't use the metric system your measuring cup has liters on it, and you really really really need to invest in a scale. I use this low-end Salter model and it works just fine. In addition you can get some more info on basic brining concentrations, ratios, and tips from Cook's Illustrated here.
If you wouldn't hurt me I would drink you.
Due to my inability to understand copyright issues I'm not going to repost the recipe for the brine here, but you can see the components above here and gather what you might need (Just go to Ruhlman's blog) That pretty fresh green leaf is sage, but you could substitute thyme, rosemary, tarragon, marjoram, or whatever your heart desires. Sage is just my favorite with chicken. What you do is add all of those above ingredients into a pot with 500g (1/2 liter) and bring it to a boil, once boiling remove from heat and cover for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes you will pour the mixture over 500g of ice (Your scale comes in handy here) to cool the mix quickly to a usable temperature. Once all of the ice is melted you can stick your chicken in a seal-able bag and let rest at room temperature for 2-3 hours. When you hit the 2-3 hour mark, pull your chicken out, discard your remnants and pat the chicken dry and let the chicken sit for another hour at room temperature to let the salt and juices redistribute themselves evenly through the bird. Next, trussing...
There are many ways to truss a bird and you may already know how, but after some searching on variations I came across Brian Polcyn's method, which instantly became my favorite for its simplicity, yet ability to really tighten everything up nicely. He even has a nice video, left, to walk you right through it. So you've watched the video and you understand the trussing concept, let's hold off on tying her/him up and figure out how we can dress this bird up for success while it cooks.
Sorry for the ugly photo.
My roasting pan became the victim of one to many bizarre broiling attempts so I had to use a makeshift one yesterday, but it worked fine. You can either use a metal rack or a natural base to raise the bird from the pan. The reason we do this is to allow proper air circulation, which helps us in even cooking. For the natural base I use a rough large chop mirepoix (celery, carrots, onions) to add some aromatics to the party. While we are chopping up our base we should also make a small rough chop mirepoix to use to stuff the bird with as well. In addition to the veggies you can give it a nice shower of Kosher Salt and cracked black pepper (about a tablespoon of each). I added a bit more because my wife can't stand the skin and I love mine over-salted. Last night I also had some compound butter with roasted garlic in it that I rubbed between the skin and the meat. It is pretty simple to do such, just run your hand between the skin and the meat, carefully separating it and watching not to tear. One of the pitfalls of doing this is the butter will create steam, which is something you do not want when roasting the bird. Since I don't advocate putting any liquid in the bottom of the pan the effects seem to be negligible, and I haven't had much problem losing moisture in the finished product.
Ooo blurry bird you will get a new camera soon.
To cook, crank your oven up to 450 degrees F and when ready, stick her/him in. Now, I'm sure that you've seen recipes that say cook the bird at 375 degrees F, but this is just too low. You want heat here and the slow cooking will dry you out. Make sure you have your trusty thermometer on hand and take the time to check your temps in the thickest part of the the thigh, taking care not to hit any bones with the probe. When you have reached 175 degrees F pull the bird and let it sit for 15 minutes to redistribute the juices evenly throughout as well as carry over the cooking. Carve, enjoy, unbuckle your belt then sit on the couch with your hands in your pants, you deserve a rest.
Ok, I woke this morning and all I could think about were sultry balls of mushed up chickpeas, deep fried, and stuffed into a warm pita with a cucumber dill yogurt sauce. I wasn't thinking about the dreary day outside, the impending 12 hour shift and the ridiculous weekend I am about to have with Earth Day Omaha , I was thinking about those warm falafel balls, crunchy with that mushy inside. So here is a quick recipe for some easy falafel, yet they have a good kick of flavor to them. See, even my little rat Nom-Nom loves these falafel.
Nom Nom, Falafel!
What you need:
1 cup dry chickpeas (You can use the canned junk, but your texture will be much better if you use dried beans that you've soaked the night before.)
1 small onion
5 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup fresh cilantro (chopped) - (I go a little lighter on the cilantro to fit personal taste.)
1//2 cup fresh parsley (chopped)
1 teaspoon baking powder
6 tablespoons flour
2 teaspoons cumin (I use fresh seeds ground)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon coriander (ground)
pinch of cayenne pepper
Splash of lemon juice
What you do:
In a food processor or by hand finely chop the onion, garlic, parsley, and cilantro. Add chickpeas.
Transfer to a large bowl and mix in spices and splash of lemon juice.
Once everything is incorporated add flour and baking powder and mix well.
Cover with saran wrap tightly and put in the fridge for 2 hours to set (You can get away with 1 hour, but what you're looking for here is a nice set to the mix so your balls stick together well.)
After you have stood glaring in contempt at the fridge for two hours or whatever you do when you wait, form the falafel balls. It is key to keep a good, small size, about the size of a golf ball to ensure you heat the product all of the way through.
We are done!
Heat your oil to 350 degrees and fry them off in small batches, until golden brown.
Removing to a plate with a paper towel to drain.
For the Cucumber/Dill Yogurt Sauce
6 ounces of PLAIN yogurt (I use soy yogurts, so there is a subtle taste difference.)
1/2 cup cucumber (peeled, seeded, & finely diced.)
1 or 2 teaspoon of fresh dill weed (You can substitute the dry stuff, but, meh, go buy the fresh stuff. This doesn't keep for more than a day really.)
salt and pepper to taste
Mix this jazz together for a simple sauce.
So, there ya have it. 2 hour quick falafel that will kick the pants off your palette. That, or bug the eyes out of your pet rat.
So, I thought I'd share a recipe that we made at school the other day. It is kind of hard right at the moment to really share what we are doing as the only lab class I have is Foundations, and honestly I don't think I need to tell you have to cook eggs or make a salad, nor is any of the stuff we are working on particularly, well, delicious. But I had to share this poached salmon with a bourbon-maple reduction that blew the brain clear from my skull, where it ended up somewhere amongst the fluorescent lights and the ceiling, dripping on my now frightened classmates. Something about the flavor pairing with the shallots and the bourbon-maple just works. I've never poached salmon before and we did two dishes last week, the other, a Salmon Confit that was edible, but this piece turned out with a much better texture. I am not sure if the texture derived from a full immersion in oil is something that my tongue wants to know. I might share that later, but for now make this and put it on a salad. Your salad will get off the plate, slap you a high-five, and leap towards its demise.
Poached Salmon with Bourbon and Maple
Ingredients:
1 lemon
2 tablespoons bourbon or brandy
3 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons whole grain mustard
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 medium shallot, sliced thin (about 3 tablespoons)
3/4 cup water
4 center-cut skinless salmon fillets, 6 to 8 ounces each
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon chopped chives
Method:
1.Cut lemon into eight to ten 1/4-inch-thick slices. Arrange lemon slices in single layer across bottom of a skillet, 12 inch works well. Whisk bourbon, maple syrup, mustard, vinegar, and shallot together in small bowl. Add bourbon mixture and water to skillet.
2.Place salmon fillets, skinned-side down, on top of lemon slices (to prevent salmon from coming into direct contact with bottom of pan). Set pan over high heat and bring liquid to simmer. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook 11 to 16 minutes (You're looking for 125 degrees inside this soon to be happy dead fish) Remove pan from heat and transfer salmon and lemon slices to paper towel-lined plate and tent loosely with foil.
3.Return pan to high heat and simmer cooking liquid until slightly thickened and reduced to 2 tablespoons, 4 to 5 minutes. Remove pan from heat; whisk in butter and chives. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
4.Season salmon lightly with salt and pepper. Using spatula, carefully tilt salmon fillets to remove lemon slices. Place salmon on serving platter or individual plates; spoon sauce over top and devour.
I just realized how absurd our instructions are for this class (I tried to condense, but left
a few because it is 1 in the morning and I just got done with a 14 hour day, yes, I'm lazy
now). It is kind of like when you go to McDonalds and it the coffee cup says "Contents
