playing with my new toy: basic bread recipe

So this Christmas I was very lucky and honored to have spent time with Drew and his family. His parents were generous enough to give us a kitchenaid stand mixer as our Christmas present. I all but jumped for joy, reliving that feeling you get as a child when you open the big Christmas present. This thing is massive, a 5.5 qt professional mixer in red, even a few days later I can't help but stare at it on the counter.

I premiered the mixer by making whipped potatoes for Christmas dinner which went over well, everyone loved them. Basically hot boiled potatoes, butter, sour cream, milk and garlic whipped up with the paddle attachment.

Yesterday, since I had more time I decided to make a first attempt at baking a loaf of bread. For this I used a basic bread dough recipe of 4 cups of bread flour, 1.5 cups water, 1 tsp dry active yeast and two tsp salt. To this I added 2 tsp of olive oil and a few cloves of garlic to give the bread some added flavor. I added all these ingredients at once to the mixer, making sure the yeast dissolved into the water. Using the hook attachment I mixed all the ingredients together for a good 15 minutes until the dough formed into a smooth ball.

I let the dough rise for about an hour until it doubled in size. I then took the dough and kneaded a bit to take out some gas and redistribute the yeast. I rolled the dough into a boule and placed it into an enameled dutch oven that was brushed with olive oil. I got the idea to use the dutch oven from reading Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everday Cooking by Michael Ruhlman. In it he explains that baking in a dutch oven with the lid on allows for steam to circulate and makes for a perfect bread crust. I let the dough proof in the dutch oven for another hour and a half before baking.

Before placing in the oven cut a few slits on the top of the bread, brushed with olive oil and sprinkled with salt. I also decided to place a few cloves of garlic into the slits I cut out so they can roast into the bread. I placed the lid on the dutch oven and placed in a preheated 450 degree oven and baked covered for a half hour, then removed the lid and baked for another 15 minutes or so. Once out of the oven the crust on the bread was perfect. The bread fell right out of the dutch oven and was ready to serve.

The bread was delicious and I was very excited about how easy it was to make. We ate the bread as is, just warm out of the oven without any butter, there is something quite enjoyable about basic warm bread. This will definitely be my go to recipe for breadmaking, give it a try!

Recipe after the jump...

blue plate special: pork chops and applesauce

The other day I picked up some beautiful pork chops from a local butcher.  What instantly came to mind was a simple pan seared pork chop with applesauce on the side.  To me this is a classic diner dish, one of those blue plate specials that made it into the permanent "special dinners" section of many greek-owned family diners you see in Chicago.  I made a twist on this classic by creating a savory sweet apple chutney to go with a ginger-garlic pork chop.  As an additional side I made roasted carrots.

I began by washing a few carrots and cutting into thin slices.  I arranged the carrot slices in a small baking dish, drizzled with olive oil and added salt and pepper.  I placed the carrots in a 375 degree oven for about 20 minutes.

I chose to keep the pork chop simple by searing it and finishing it in the oven.  I brushed the pork chops with olive oil and sprinkled with salt and pepper.  I placed the pork chops in a very hot cast iron skillet, flipping after a couple of minutes and placed in a 375 degree oven for about 5 more minutes until the pork was cooked through and slightly pink in the middle.  Once out of the oven, I added a pad of butter to the pan, grated ginger, garlic, and serrano chile and spooned the combination over the pork chops, making sure to cover it in all the flavors.  I set the pork chop to the side.

In the same pan that I used to cook the pork chop on medium heat, I added thinly sliced onion and a couple of cups of granny smith apples, cut into chunks.  I used the left over garlic, ginger, chile and porky bits in the pan to flavor the apples.  After sauteeing for a couple of minutes I deglazed the pan with a shot of whisky to pick up all the flavors and have everything come together.  I added to the apples cinnamon, cardomom and brown sugar to sweeten them up a bit.  I didn't cook the apples too long because I wanted them to maintain some texture.

This dinner tasted very much like the classic pork chop and applesauce dinner but with a few changes to keep it interesting and to spice it up a bit.  This is a relatively quick and easy dinner to make and various vegetables can be substituted for the carrots, but I would not replace the applesauce.

Recipe after the jump...

Homeade Chicken Broth and Curried Squash Soup

For dinner tonight I made a spicy curried squash soup. For the base of of my soup I made a crock pot chicken broth using last night's chicken carcass.  The idea behind using the crock pot is that I can cook the broth at a very low heat overnight, or about 8 hours.  This allows for tons of flavor to be extracted from the chicken.

I placed the chicken carcass in the crock pot along with a few chicken wings that I roasted in the oven, carrots, celery, onion and bay leaf.  I added salt and pepper and cooked on low overnight.

In the morning I woke up to the great aroma of chicken and vegetables.  The broth was flavorful and the chicken had imparted all of its flavor.  I strained the broth which I used to make my curried squash soup.

To begin I first cut a butternut squash in half and scooped out the seeds.  I cut the squash into large chunks, drizzled with a bit of oil, seasoned with salt and pepper and placed in a 375 degree oven for an hour, until the squash fell apart easily with a fork.

Using a spoon, I pulled the meat of the of the squash away from the skin and added to a blender.  To this I added two guajillo chiles which I seeded and added to the blender along with a couple cups of chicken broth.

I blended this mixture until the squash was smooth and the guajillo was fully blended.  I set this aside  momentarily to focus on the spices for the soup.  In a saucepan I sauteed onion, garlic, ginger and serrano chile then added 1 teaspoon each of tumeric, garam masala, ground cumin, ground coriander, cinnamon and brown sugar.  I sauteed for another minute or so and added to the blender.

After blending one last time I added a splash of heavy cream.  I served the soup in a bowl with a few pieces of last night's chicken and some cilantro.  The soup was rich and had a good amount of heat to it.  With the temperature getting so cold, this was the perfect way to warm up.

Check out the recipe tab for this and other recipes.

lemon roasted chicken with broccolini and pasta

Nothing beats a good roasted chicken, it is one of my favorite things to make and to enjoy.  The great thing is that it is really very simple to make and will always taste delicious.  I can't have roasted chicken without lemon, it is my favorite flavor to go with the meat so I made sure to incorpate as much of that flavor as possible.  To go with the chicken I roasted some broccolini and placed on a bed of linguine that is finished with some bacon and asiago cheese.  I made a simple salad with a lemon vinaigrette to finish off dinner.

To prepare the chicken I first made sure it was completely dry.  This is to make sure that there is no moisture left on the skin so the skin can crisp up properly.  I stood the chicken up with the cavity facing up and seasoned the inside of the bird with a few pinches of salt and pepper.  I stuffed the inside of the chicken with a lemon sliced in half, 2 quarters of a small onion, 2 sprigs of rosemary and 3 cloves of garlic.  To prepare the outside of the chicken I combined the zest of one lemon with 2 tablespoons of olive oil.  I spread the lemon olive oil mixutre all over the the outside of the chicken and sprinkled a few pinches of salt and pepper on the skin.

I placed the chicken in a baking dish over a bed of sliced onions.  I started the oven at 425 degrees, then proceeded to lower the temperature to 375 once the chicken was in. The chicken roasted for about an hour or until the leg easily pulls away from the thigh and the juices run clear.  I took the chicken and placed it on a dish to rest.  I placed the pan juices along with the juice of one lemon in a saucepan and simmered for about 15 minutes to make a quick pan sauce.

I have to admit I had no idea what broccolini was when I saw it at the store other than it seems like more tender broccoli.  I found that this vegetable is basically a mix between broccoli and gai lan or Chinese broccoli.  The taste is somewhat similar to regular broccoli except the stems are more delicate and the tops a bit crunchier.

I placed the broccolini in a baking dish with thinly sliced garlic.  I drizzed with olive oil and sprinkled with salt and pepper before placing in the same 375 degree oven for about 15 minutes or until the stems were al dente.

To prepare the pasta I boiled a couple of handfuls of dry linguine in a pot of boiling water.  In the meantime I sauteed some bacon bits I fried up earlier with diced onion in a large pan.  I stopped boiling the pasta a couple of minutes early because I wanted to finish cooking in the pan with the bacon.  I added the pasta to the pan along with a couple of ladles of pasta water.  While heating the pasta on medium I added about a handful of shredded asiago cheese and a couple of teaspoons of ground nutmeg.  I tossed the pasta with the roasted broccolini and I continued to cook through until the pasta was al dente.

I served the chicken alonside the linguine with the broccolini sitting on top.  Alongside I added a simple salad with lemon juice seasoned with salt and pepper.  The chicken was roasted perfectly.  The skin was crispy and the breast was moist and tender.  I spooned a bit of the pan sauce over the chicken to add additional lemon flavor at the end.  The broccolini went well with the bacon and nutmeg in the pasta as well as the lemony chicken.  For me nothing quite compares to a roasted chicken, it is a fail proof dinner that you can simply pair with a salad or with any other side for a simple and satisfying meal.  As an added bonus once cleaned of all the meat, the chicken carcass can be boiled with carrots, onion and celery to make a tasty chicken broth.

This is the first dish on my blog for which I have written a full recipe.  Please try these dishes and let me know how it goes!
Full recipe after the jump...

thanksgiving part 2: the leftovers

Hello everyone, sorry for the late post.  I'd like to share what I did with all my turkey leftovers, I made pot pie!

There is nothing like Thanksgiving leftovers and I had more than enough turkey left over to make a pot pie. I actually made two over the course of the weekend. As we were pretty sick of turkey by this point, I really tried to get as many strong and different flavors into the second pie as possible.

To begin, I roasted (again) the left over turkey wings and a leg to get a nice color on them. I then placed the roasted wings/leg into a pot with chicken broth, onion, garlic, and a Serrano chile. I let this boil away for about an hour, trying to impart as much of the turkey into the broth.

While this boiled I took a few cups of chopped up turkey meat, mixed in a bit of turkey fat and roasted in the oven on high in order to get the meat crispy and caramelized. I combined these crispy bits with the rest of the meat, almost as if it were bacon. I used a bag of frozen peas and carrots and tossed together with the turkey meat.

I removed the wings and leg from the broth in order to begin making gravy from the broth. I melted butter in a pan and added a bit of flour to create a roux and cooked for a minute or so. I then added the roux to the broth and simmered until thickened. I added cumin to the gravy which went well with the heat from the serrano chile. I poured the gravy over the turkey/veggie mixture and set aside.

To create the crust for my pot pie I eyeballed about 3 parts flour to 2 parts fat. While pie dough is better served by using specific measurements, I sort of approached it by feel, having had plenty of practice making pot pie just two days earlier. I let the dough rest in the fridge for about an hour, and then proceeded to roll it out.

I pressed the bottom crust into the casserole dish, making sure to go up the sides. I then spooned in my filling and covered with the top crust, making sure to form a seal with the bottom portion. I created an egg wash by beating one egg with a splash of cold water. I brushed the egg wash on the top crust, this helps to get a crispy golden brown crust on top. I baked in the oven at 425 at first for 15 minutes, and then reduced to 350 for an hour.

The pie came out of the oven with a golden brown crust and piping hot filling. I cut large pieces out of the casserole and served.  The crust was flaky and went perfectly with the rich filling.

 The pie was delicious; it contained tons of flavor: the crispy turkey bits with their concentrated flavor added texture and the spice of the gravy kept the dish interested. I must admit, we were pretty sick of turkey by this point, but this version had us wanting to come back for seconds.