Kale in salads?

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This recipe and the one also mentioned in this post have convinced me that I need to try kale in a salad–I love the stuff in soups, and braised dishes.

StefanGourmet's avatarStefan's Gourmet Blog


I remember being surprised when I read about kale salad for the first time on Emmy Cooks, since kale is usually eaten cooked in the Netherlands with mashed potatoes and smoked pork sausage (boerenkool met worst). Fresh kale is also mostly available in winter, not the best season for eating salads. When I was travelling in the USA, I found kale to be used for salads everywhere and even made my own ‘Trail Mix’ version of Emmy’s kale salad a few times. Since it is unseasonally warm at the moment and therefore suitable weather for a salad and I saw a nice head of kale at the market, I decided to see if the Dutch variety of kale is also suitable for kalad. Turns out it isn’t really; even though I used to top, youngest, leaves they were quite a bit tougher than the kale we had in…

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Lime and Sage Roast Chicken

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This sounds like a fantastic flavor combination–must try this next time I do a whole chicken!

GreedyFrog's avatarThe Greedy Frog

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If I have been a bit quiet lately, it is mostly because I have been spending some time at my parents’ in France, and I have been rather too busy eating what other people had cooked, to be doing any cooking myself…

But I have brought back a few new cake and tart tins, a brand new cast iron pan (it is huge!) and some Valrhona chocolate. And I can’t wait to start experimenting with my new toys!

In the meantime, here is a nice, easy but delicious Sunday recipe.

Have a great day everyone!

You will need:

1 chicken (preferably free-range)
1 lime
1 tbsp olive oil
Salt
Pepper
About 2 tbsp dried sage

Method:

Weigh your chicken, and calculate the cooking time: it should take 20 min per 450 g, plus 10 to 20 min overall. Preheat your oven to 190C/ fan 180/ gas 5.

With strong kitchen…

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Musings on the evening meal–dinner or supper?

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Just some random thoughts that wandered through my brain while minding the grill on Saturday afternoon….

Orange tabby cat in the refrigerator

Frankie checks the fridge

I hear lots of people talking about dinner, but what has happened to supper?  Where I grew up, on the farm, the big meal was in the middle of the day, so you’d have energy to work the rest of the day.  Supper was a lighter meal, usually after dark, since you could no longer work outside without artificial light which didn’t happen in the hay field.  Well, when you have questions, look it up:

  • Supper:  Etymology: Middle English soper, super, supper, from Old French soper, super, souper, fromsoper, super, souper to eat the evening meal — more at SUP
    1 a : a meal taken at the close of the day; especially : the evening meal when dinner is taken at midday b : a social affairfeaturing a supper; specifically : an evening social (as a box social) especially for raising funds for charitable or other purposes c : a usually light evening meal
  • Dinner:  Etymology: Middle English diner, from Old French disner, diner, from disner, diner to dine — more at 1DINE
    1 : the principal meal of the day eaten about midday or in the evening; also: a formal feast or banquet in honor of some person or event

    Frankie sitting on top of the refrigerator

    Top of the food chain?

Well, I do cook dinner for friends, and I do go out to dinner.  I even occasionally even cook dinner for myself (and the cat).  Mostly, I just eat supper–it’s a comfortable meal to end my day lightly. But supper doesn’t mean a PBJ in front of the TV.  It’s likely simple–griddled fish or steak, a one-pot meal, an omelette dressed as a Spanish tortilla, or soup–easy but tasty.

A son goût! 

Orange tabby cat on the kitchen counter with the mixer, food processor, and knives

What’s cooking?

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1.  “supper.” Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged. Merriam-Webster, 2002. http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com (5 Oct. 2012).

2.  “dinner.” Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged. Merriam-Webster, 2002. http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com (5 Oct. 2012).

Spicy Peach Chicken Wings Two Ways!

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What’s the best way to say this? I. LOVE. TO. GRILL! Now that you know this little secret about me, let me share one of my favorite sauces that I like to make while cooking. First I want to acknowledge that a lot of people are intimidated when it comes to dealing with MEAT and FIRE. This type of cooking has been going on way before Man realized that wearing white after Labor Day was unacceptable. Besides eating sushi or raw fruits/veggies I can’t imagine a more natural way to enjoy food. Regardless of your belief of how and when we got here once Man found fire he also found his love for a Medium T-Bone steak. I’m just saying.

In this article I’m going to share with you TWO different ways to prepare chicken wings. One will be for you go-getters out there who love to put meat on fire, and the other will be for the less adventurous group who likes to play it safe.

If you are ready to receive your fire badge in scouting then you will take the road I love to travel by and go fire up that grill! Even with grilling you still have options on how you actually want to achieve AWESOMENESS. You can use “Propane, and Propane accessories”-Hank Hill or you can use Charcoal. I personally prefer using gas since you can control the heat and when you’re done, you’re done! With charcoal you will have to move up to the advance cooking class since this will require a lot more concentration and skill set to master this form of cooking. Charcoal will definitely give you that authentic home cooked flavor, however it will also give your wings 5th degree burns really quickly if you don’t pay attention!

Ok so enough about that. Let’s cook!

Propane: Cut your grill up to medium-high heat to get the grates nice and hot for the initial sear when you lay the wing down. After placing the wings on the grill for a couple of minutes, lower the heat and flip those bad boys over. At this point there should be a little color as well as grill marks on outside so that you can keep up with when to turn your wings. Keep rotating so that each sides gets crispy brown skin. Don’t wait to long to add the sauce, the last 10-15 minutes of cooking should give you enough time to let the flavors marinate all the way through.

Charcoal:  After you have your nice and red hot you will have to work a lot harder than your gas friend up there because now it’s all about the Indirect Heat method. Ten out of 10 times your grill is going to be extremely hot in the center where you have nonchalantly piled all the charcoal and set it on fire with half a can of lighter fluid. Once you have brought the level 3 fire down to burning red coals you will need to place the wings on the outer perimeter so that you can control how quickly your wings will cook. 

There is no way I’m going to say it will take approximately (fill in the blank) minutes and your wings will be perfect. I can’t sell myself out like that. But I can tell you that the food will let you know when it’s done. Chicken wings start of pale, soft and flabby-just like a newborn baby! Then in the toddler years they will make a lot of noise by hissing and spitting juices everywhere (terrible two’s phase). This is when you have to constantly watch them and move them around to make sure they don’t burn up. Once they become teenagers they have more color to them, stay to themselves and become firmer. They think that they are grown however on the inside they still haven’t developed yet. (I’m 15 and I know everything and my parents are lame phase) And then we come to the adult phase. Now it’s time to sauce em’ up. They have graduated college and ready for the real world. CONGRATULATIONS! You raised your wings right. They have earned the privilege to become a part of the meal.

Now for those of you who choose to bake/broil the wings instead of grilling not only do I give you a serious side eye but I will give you what you need to attempt to duplicate that outdoor flavor without actually going OUTDOORS!!

After seasoning your wings with the dry ingredients (salt, pepper, paprika and garlic powder) your oven should already be on and ready for action at 400 degrees. You are going to lay the wings out in the pan and leave them uncovered. The point is to get that skin crispy as if it had been lying out in the sun all Summer. That crunch is what you are looking for, we want savory crispy wings not soggy chicken pieces. So after 50 minutes (half a Lifetime movie) you want to check and see if those wings have plumped up
and start turning brown like this.

Alrighty then, your wings are ready to be sauced up! At this point you want to add all that finger licking goodness to the chicken so that they can be joined for eternity in flavor heaven. I actually would add the sauce probably around the 40 min mark just so that it gets in there all the way to the bone! Once you have the wings sauced and crispy now it’s time to crank up the heat and cut the broiler on. This will allow the wings to get more color and tighten up the skin just as if you had grilled them. Now is the time to pay attention to what’s going on in the oven instead of pouring that next glass of wine. Things can go from happy-go-lucky cooking time to OH GOD WHERE’S THE FIRE EXTINGUISHER?! Please check on your wings every 5 minutes until they are at the level that you prefer. The sugar in the peach preserves will heat up and become sticky, this will also cause the wings to “burn” more on the outside so unless you want wings that look like tar I suggest you watch them carefully.

This is what I have come up with after cooking in the oven and plating.

So below you will find the recipe for the Spicy Peach Sauce that I have talked about this whole time. The great part about this is the fact that almost any sauce can be substituted based on whatever flavor your palate is looking for at the time. I love complex sauces that make you think about what you are actually tasting. If you are going to eat something good, you might as well do it right!

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons table salt
  • 1  teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • ½ teaspoon garlic powder
  • ½ stick butter
  • 2 ounces of minced garlic
  • ½ cup peach preserves
  • ¼ cup hot sauce
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • Sesame seeds (optional)

Preparation & cooking

  • Prepare wing mixture in advance to let them marinate.  Mix salt, black pepper, paprika and garlic powder in a small bowl.
  • Add chicken wings and toss to coat.
  • Grill the wings.
  • Melt the butter in medium saucepan with the garlic.
  • Stir in the peach preserves, hot sauce, and soy sauce. Cook until syrupy and thick (stir so it doesn’t clump) about  5 minutes.
  • Transfer sauce to a large bowl.
  • Add the wings to the sauce and toss.

Enjoy!!!!

Guest contributor coming soon….

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Chicken wings are one of my favorite nibbles–well, if I’m honest, I can make a meal of them instead of just nibbling, so I thought it would be good to get some information on cooking them from someone who really knows wings.

Carmen Rice Settles owns Full Street Wings, and she’s put together some marvelous sauces for her wings. While she’s doing them on large-scale way, she has agreed to share her expertise on a home-size scale with us.

I’m happy to have her as a guest contributor to this blog!  Welcome, Carmen!

Greens, with dill and feta cheese

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So many greens do well in cold weather–and can be simple to fix.

emmycooks's avatarEmmy Cooks

Welcome to Emmy Cooks!  You can see more of my favorite recent recipes by clicking the “My Favorite Recipes” category on the sidebar (here are July, August, and September).  If you like what you see here, you can sign up on the sidebar to receive a daily recipe by email, add the RSS feed to your blog reader, or follow Emmy Cooks on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest.

Some days, maybe most days, simpler is better.

I had a plan to make this week’s greens into a tart of some sort, or maybe spanakopita, or at least green tartines.  But those things take time, and some days I don’t have time.  I piled all my greens into a pan to wilt, then chopped and dressed them with olive oil, lemon juice, dill, and a sprinkle of feta cheese.  It was better than good enough.

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Chilli con carne redux update

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I’ve finished the “fast” version of the chilli con carne that I posted about in Chilli Con Carne Redux!  I’ll concede that it’s only sort of faster in terms of the active prep time–it still needs to cook long and slowly, but it is a success.  I don’t think that I can tell the difference (tasted side-by-side with the more laborious version from the freezer) and friends have given it the nod of approval.  So here are the changes and additions to the original chilli con carne that I posted.

  • After the bacon browned, 3 tablespoons of tomato paste was added while the onions were sautéed, and this was browned–again to enhance the umami, not to add tomato flavor.
  •  None of the meat (pork or beef) was browned before adding liquids.
  •  Added bay leaves to increase the earthiness (used five large for this 6 pounds of meat).
  •  Added Mexican oregano–about 2 rounded teaspoons. (You really do want Mexican oregano for this–much different flavor than Turkish or Greek (Mediterranean) oregano–after all it is an unrelated plant, but worth having in the kitchen if you like chili.)
  •  Sun-dried tomatoes (about 1/2 cup chopped) were added for more umami even though this was NOT made in a slow cooker, I was not aiming for tomato-flavored chili.
  • During the cooking time I tasted some in a bowl with a little fish sauce added (yep, I did get up the nerve to try this) and it tasted wonderful; so I added about 4 or 5 tablespoons of fish sauce.  (I suspect that if you don’t have fish sauce a couple of anchovy filets thrown in would have the same effect.)
  • The final thickening was one with a brown roux made with masa harina.  For the fat in this roux I reserved about 1/4 cup of the fat from the de-fatting step.  I heated this and made sure that all liquid was evaporate, then added about 6 tablespoons of masa harina and cooked it until it was a medium brown and toasty smelling.
  • Because of my work schedule, this was cooked in a lower oven (about 195° F) for about 10 hours.

After another run on this I’ll have to post a revised recipe for the “fast” and easier version, but if you feel so inclined you can work with these changes–after all chili con carne is one of those things that really doesn’t need a recipe to be followed strictly.

Dandelion greens

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I finished my teaching week this afternoon and found myself in need of an attitude adjustment.  It’s been a busy, hectic week but I still can’t figure out what I supposedly accomplished in all that business.  Still laundry to do and other household chores….

dandelion greens bunched in the Harris Teeter produce department

dandelion greens

In prowling through the grocery store (my local Harris Teeter) the other day I found absolutely lovely dandelion greens.  I haven’t had dandelion greens very often since I was a kid growing up on the farm.  Then they were a springtime treat–the young tender ones in a wilted salad with bacon dressing.  I thought that I’d try them in a one-dish meal based on a recipe from Jacques Pepin’s Shortcut Cook–quick, easy, and in the comfort-food category.  I decided that a good complement to the bitterness of the dandelion greens would be Siciliansausage which Harris Teeter makes in the meat department.  It’s a bit like Italian, but spicier and with much less fennel.

fresh store-made sausages

freshly made sausages

Remove sausage from casing, brown; add chopped onion and continue with the browning, then add a couple of garlic cloves, minced.  Add the chopped dandelion greens, stems about 10 minutes before the leafier parts (still wet from washing), cover and simmer. Depending on the spiciness of the sausage you might want some red pepper flakes. This particular sausage is strongly enough flavored that I did not add anything else.  When the greens are almost cooked, add some cooked pinto beans (in this case I’m resorting to canned ones). For a change from beans, add some diced potatoes to cook with the sausage and the greens.

Finish with a tiny drizzle of good fruity extra-virgin olive oil and it’s good to go, add some of my homemade oat bread, and ripe and fragrant Bartlett pears.

It’s certainly easy, reasonably quick–it takes about 15 to 20 minutes for the greens to cook, but it sure does contribute to attitude adjustment!  (Sorry, no pictures–it’s not photogenic.)  It’s good for single-serving cooking since I can buy the sausages individually, and if I’m using mustard, kale, I can buy those loose in the amount needed I don’t have leftovers.  If there is more than I’m going to use at once, I’ll take out some of the sausage and greens to be used later, perhaps as an omelette filling.

A son goût! 

The passing of the autumnal equinox…

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I’m now well-established in the routine of the fall semester teaching. The autumnal equinox has come and now the nights are starting to lengthen, which means it’s time to prepare the herbs growing on the deck for the winter.

pots of sage and oregano on stairs

sage & oregano

Most made it through the summer, though looking a bit ratty now, and even having some strange things growing in the pots as well.  Some will likely remain usable most of the winter in this climate (chives, sage, maybe oregano, and the “walking” onions), or at least come back in the spring:  sorrel, chives, lemon grass, and, if I’m lucky the summer (French) thyme, and French tarragon.  Others will die back if I don’t bring them indoors when it gets cold: ginger, turmeric, and sweet bay (Laurus nobilis).

French thyme and French tarragon in small pots

French thyme & French tarragon

Many of my herbs suffered this summer, and some, even though perennials, are aged enough that they need to be replaced and others repotted.  While that’s going on I’m going to try to make the herbs a bit more manageable–so that I can take a bit better care of them than I managed to do this summer with a bit less effort. During some of the long hot weeks it seemed like I just could not keep up with the watering, especially on those that were growing in smaller pots.

I’ve decided to get some professional advice on my container herb garden.  I’ve a good friend and neighbor for whom I did some garden tending while she was out of town, and in payment, I’m taking advantage of her professional services to advise me on revamping my front-deck herb garden for next summer.  I’d like to keep my French tarragon, since I like it better than Spanish tarragon or Mexican marigold (Tagetes lucida), though that’s good to have too.

large lemon grass

lemon grass

I have to say that one new addition this summer seemed to thrive regardless of heat and my watering or lack of it: lemon grass!  It almost became a bit overwhelming–it started on the steps with the sage, and had to be moved because it was so large.  It was a rather lovely contrast to the turmeric and the culinary ginger plants–overall a very tropical feel to my deck this summer.

I don’t want to give up any herbs that I had growing so conveniently right around my front door–I just want to make it a bit more manageable!  I suspect that I’ll find more that I want to add, but I’ll try to restrain myself and keep it within reason though I may want to trade some of the hostas or other ornamental plants for more edible plants.

hostas and caladium

not herbs!

Chilli con carne redux….

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I love my chilli con carne–but it’s very a very time-consuming kitchen project so after considering umami in the slow cooker I though I’d try a few shortcuts, with some umami boosts.

I usually buy a big chuck roast and cut it up myself, but I found that my local Harris Teeter had stew mean which was chuck roast already cut up, so I bought a big package of that.  Some time saved there.  I did have to cut the pork, but I bought  spare ribs so that all I had to do was cut them into chunks–another bit of time saved.

One thing that takes a lot of time is browning that much meat, so I thought I try bypassing that step since I still plan to cook it in the conventional oven very slooooowly, letting evaporation and concentration happen so there should get a little browning as the liquid reduces.

I toasted all the spices (cumin and coriander) and the chilli peppers that went into the pot and added a little tomato paste that had been browned.  I know that fish sauce (nam pla) and soy sauce are supposed to boost umami, but I just couldn’t put either of them into the pot.  If this doesn’t work, I guess I’ll try that next time.

The pot of chilli con carne is ready to go into the oven as soon as the oat bread comes out.  So some hours from how, I’ll know if this worked or not….