Enjoy Fall While It's Here- 10/29/09

It's fall, so I imagine that it's the time to enjoy the outdoors before the "big freeze" arrives. I also imagine that's why the Hall prepared a homestyle meal- chicken and onions over rice (oops, forgot to put it "over" the rice), country pork chop, sweet potato casserole, collard greens, and peach cobler. I took very few pictures today. I wasn't in a good mood nor was anybody else. I hope I don't get yelled at for the few pictures I took. Taking pictures of the same thing, or people doing the same thing, gets very repetitive. I do try to think of different ways to snap the same picture, but it's not as easy as it sounds. I did succeed in being creative with how I snapped the dish and desert. Can you see it? No, it's not the artificial leaves!

To be honest, I think the whole kitchen staff wonders why I'm there in the first place!

(One of My Own) Fast Food My Way!

Economical food doesn’t necessarily mean “poor quality” in any way. A lot can be done with easy to prepare foods- in this case, frozen vegetables. Though they’re not fresh, that doesn’t mean presentation is out of the question. It’s my own personal philosophy to use what little one has to its fullest extent. I think it’s an idea that holds well under today’s economic crunch weighing down on so many Americans. Waste not, want not! That’s an easier way to say it.
An idea came to me pretty much out of the blue during a class lecture. I wondered how well frozen vegetables would turn out if I put them on top of rice while it was cooking. I prepared the rice as normal- 5 minutes in boiling water. I figured that if the vegetables lost any nutrients while they were boiling with the rice, the rice would absorb them while absorbing the water. If such is not the case, I welcome any corrections. Anyhow, they turned out well and retained a small amount of crispiness, at least as much as frozen veggies have.
As far as the chicken goes, I didn’t follow a particular recipe. I used various simple techniques I acquired from previous recipes. I marinated thin boneless, skinless chicken breasts in white cooking wine over night. I put each piece in flour and lightly browned each side in a pan. I added the same liquid they were marinating in along with a ½ cup of water. I cooked them covered until the liquid was pretty much evaporated. I sprinkled ground pepper, a little bit of sea salt (the cooking wine adds a decent amount of saltiness in my opinion) and paprika. As my man, Jacques Pepin would say, “This is fast food- my way!”
P.S. I did pay attention during the rest of the class period!

Chimay is, without a doubt, my favorite beer. It’s brewed by Trappist monks at Scourmont Abbey in Belgium. I first tasted Chimay during a visit to Orlando, FL where a good friend of mine- an expert in beers, though not certified- treated me to a bottle. That bottle had a cork in it. That’s something you don’t see too often! I haven’t been able to find many stores that carry Chimay. But, I found one today! This guy cost $4 per 11oz bottle! Well worth it, though. It’s supposed to be poured in a goblet type glass. I don’t have any proper glasses for Chimay; so, a pint glass was the next best thing. The reason the pint glass looks like it should be holding a little more brew than it is, is because I started the beer before I snapped the photo. I couldn’t resist! Cheers!

Neverending Pastime- 10/22/09

Julie Child once commented that Costco "had the best hot dogs!" If it wasn't for that comment from such a master chef, I probably wouldn't post these pictures. The theme at Derby that night was baseball. Since the baseball season is coming to a close (and the Oakland A's did poorly this season! Maybe next year Oakland!), I guess the theme fits. And if such an expert chef like the late Julie Child enjoyed the American frank, then why not. It's American after all!
The Hall- Derby shall be referred to as "The Hall" from now on- served, hot dogs, corn dogs, nachos, pretzels, malt ice cream and frozen lemonade, and Cracker Jacks. Ballpark items! When I gathered all these items together, I could just "smell" the cardiac arrest waiting to happen! Seriously, they smelled fantastic. And the prices were certainly way lower than those outrageous ball park prices!

(One of My Own) Sausage and Potato Ragout! An ode to French Chef Jacques Pepin

When I was a kid, I arose out of bed every Saturday morning around 7am for one reason and one reason only- to watch cartoons! If anything had gotten in my way of the cartoons, not only was my weekend shot, but so was my entire week. Without cartoons, what else was there to talk about on the school yard. Once I hit my early twenties (that's the first time I ever said "my early twenties!" I feel old...) I, of course, had long given up cartoons. I went to cooking shows instead. How I made such a transition, I don't know. As far as cooking, I never strayed much further than recipes for pouring cereal. I used to watch cooking programs with my dad. The PBS station in the Bay area had some great programs. Each one was suited to cultural tastes in food. Martin Yan (Yan Can Cook) cooked Asian, Nick Stellino (Cucina Amore) cooked Italian, and Jacques Pepin cooked French. Julia Child is self explanatory. Pepin stands out the most in my mind. For a French chef, he's really down to earth. I supposed that was impressive enough. Plus, his dishes lean towards the economical!
This dish, though reasonably economical, probably wasn't the healthiest. The Italian sausages were from the HyVee deli. They were $.80 per sausage. I bought 5 for $4.50 which is the average price for sausages, but these were longer than packaged sausages. The recipe called for jalapenos but instead of adding chopped jalapenos, the sausages I bought were made with them. As much as I love spicy food, I never did care for the taste of jalapenos. Only when their flavor is hidden will I eat them.
A friend stopped by as I began prepping so I had trouble focusing on what I was doing. That didn't hinder the ultimate result. My friend can verify that completely! I added 1/2 cup of water to a sauce pan. As I waited for it to boil, I sliced 3 sausages and placed them in the water. I had them on high for 10 minutes. After that, I reduced the heat to a simmer and added 1.5 tbs of flour. Stirring it was a no-brainer! I added sea salt, ground pepper, thyme, and a bay leaf. I also added a little more water- almost 1/2 cup. In the mean time, I sliced three red potatoes and an onion. After 30 minutes, the water and flour had turned into a thick sauce. The sausage fat had certainly contributed to the taste of the sauce as well as to the unhealthy aspect of the dish. But it was so good nevertheless! I took the sausages out, leaving the sauce. Since "ragout" refers to a main dish stew, I preferred to have the sausages and potatoes with onions separate. Otherwise, they were supposed to be mixed together. There was enough sauce to soak the potatoes and onions in. I did that for between 10-15 minutes on simmer. When all was said and done, I sprinkled the potatoes with parsley. Their crispiness was exactly how I wanted it. I would have preferred them a little more browned but Pepin warned in his recipe to "be careful not to cook them into a puree." So I heeded his warning! I had never thought of pairing potatoes with sausages. It was well worth the try. I think this is the best meal I've cooked yet. The recipe can be found in Pepin's book Cuisine Economique. Happy cooking!

Regional Italian meets Kansas Tastes- 10/15/09

This particular evening had me running between dining line and dining room. The line had Italian dishes. The dining room had dietitions who had set up a display on healthy eating and counting calories.

Again, the lightening for the Italian dishes was much too dark just like it was at Giovanni's Cafe. I don't get it. Do people think Italians are children of darkness or something? Why do Americans think Italian ambiance is dimly lit? Italians want to see what they're eating too! Needless to say, it made picture taking difficult.

Pasta puttanesca looks better when it's wrapped around a fork!

The penne carbonara and panzenella bread salad. Does "bread" sound more appealing that "croutons"? Discuss....

"Leave the gun. Take the cannoli!"

Roasted Vegetable Chipotle Cilantro Rice Burrito- 10/13/09

It's simple, basic, with Pace Picante style salse- but it has a fancy name!

(One of My Own) Brandy Chicken with Peppers and Brown Rice

If anyone reading this blog is thinking, "Boy- Mike sure likes chicken" well, you're right! That doesn't account for why all the dishes I've prepared and bragged about for all the social networking world to hear are chicken dishes. The reason for that is because I just happen to have quite a bit of boneless, skinless chicken breasts in the freezer. I found this dish on allrecipes.com. I just typed in "boneless, skinless chicken breasts" and amongst the variety of dishes, this one sounded good. Why? - Because it called for brandy and I like brandy (the beverage that is...not some girl I may or may not know). Making this gave me an excuse to buy a bottle....as though I needed an excuse! I basically coated the chicken with flour and bread crumbs. Before sticking it in a 450' pre-heated oven, I browned each side on the stove top. The recipe called for the chicken to be cooked at 400' for 1 hour. But I was hungry after a long day in Manhattan. I cooked it at 450' for 30 minutes in a casserole dish. I poured in 1/2 cup of milk and two tablespoons of brandy. I kept an eye on it waiting for the edges of the milk to bubble and brown. The rice was basically easy-cook brown rice. My neighbor at the other end of the block gave me the banana peppers and bell peppers from his wife's garden. I stir-fried them in olive oil during the 10 minutes the rice was cooking. As everything went smoothly, or seemed to be going so, I forgot to add salt and pepper to the chicken. I don't think I added enough brandy either. I couldn't taste any hint of it. Still, the chicken was really moist. The rice and peppers were excellent! I’ve had my fill of chicken. Tonight, meatloaf night...with ground turkey!

Catfish Po' Boy- 10/05/09

Not much to say about this. A breaded piece of catfish with tomato, lettuce, and mayo. Another Louisiana plate. The catfish did taste pretty good. It wasn't as bland as, say, a frozen fish fillet. Another lunch item at Derby. Why I put sunflowers in the background, I don't know! Why they wanted it photographed, that's more of a mystery!

(One of My Own) White Wine Chicken with Asian Style Asparagus

Another mad dash back home from work. I was off work at 6:30 and made a "quick stop" at the grocery store (Dillion's this time. I wasn't up for being the "high roller" at HyVee this particular evening). I wanted more ideas for asparagus as I seem to have been in some kind of asparagus frenzy. I was more motivated by the remark my room mate made after he caught me preparing asparagus with prosciutto and baby swiss for the umpteenth time. "Do you have that EVERY night?" He snidely asked. I'm certain there was a hint of jealousy in that question as I tend to make more exotic dishes when compared to his stuff. So, I looked up a quick recipe online before I went into work that day. The recipe was merely labeled "asparagus with cashews." That sounds lame to me- not to mention boring! So, Asian style asparagus it is! It's stir fried, so why not!

I used one teaspoon of sesame oil and one teaspoon of olive oil. The 1/2 cup of cashews was a bit much. The recipe also called for a "bunch" of asparagus. I don't know how many stalks constitute "a bunch" so I grabbed a hand full, cut the ends off, and cut them all in half.

The chicken was basically a boneless, skinless chicken breast cooked in 1/2 a cup of chicken broth and 1/2 a cup of white cooking wine for 35 minutes on the stove top. It was just ever so slightly tough, but certainly very moist. The asparagus was cooked a little too long. I was supposed to cook it for 10-15 minutes but as I didn't time the chicken and asparagus correctly, I left it on warm while waiting for the chicken to finish. Bad idea! Though it retained a fair amount of it's green color, it was tough and too stringy. Still, it tasted alright over all- not too salty. I only had one kind of beer to pair it with. Birra Moretti!

Giovanni's Cafe- 10/09/09

The settings for Derby's Giovanni's Cafe night were much too dark! Still, I managed to pull off what was assigned to me. It was more generic than anything, save for the Amaretto cheesecake and cranberry orange scones. They served "gourmet s'mores" as well. When it comes to the word "gourmet" I think it's a loosely used term. Jelly Belly's are "gourmet" jelly beans. Grey Poupon is "gourmet" mustard. What makes them gourmet?- Higher standards above other products? Is it their unusual-ness? Is it the fact they cost much more? Can a generic brand of mustard be "gourmet?"
Anyhow, they also served banana foster with cinnamon fudge sauce- prepared in front of the clientele (aka- dorm students!). This included sauteed bananas and hot fudge. Their flavored coffee gave the word "cafe" more accuracy.

I didn't think I would get any decent photos as the lights had been turned too low. I was wrong. I got a few.