Chicken with wine

 

Catching up on some recent meals to post.

An easy recipe for a classic way to prepare chicken. One of the many adaptations of coq au vin. I won’t post the recipe as there are so many variations. Basically a braised chicken with wine.

 

wine biscuits

Have you used wine for cooking ? of course ! I probably use more wine for cooking than I drink since I’m a craft beer drinker and brewer. (I do ferment a fruit and honey mixture (mead, melomel) but that’s another story or blog.)

This recipe utilizes a Burgundy wine , something strong, of course the alcohol will bake off leaving you with a pleasant biscuit with a wine flavor finish.

The texture is a cross between a cookie and a biscuit, the raw dough is on the oily side , bake time about 30 minutes and a labor if you are not familiar working with dough, not mixing but forming the cookies. A brush of egg yolks makes them special gloss finish presentation.

The amounts  here are halved from the original  family hand written index card that  my uncle wrote as he made them. If you double it, prepare to set a block on time aside in the kitchen forming the cookies and shifting baking sheets to upper and lower racks of the oven. Some recipes , in order to get you attention mention that the end product is addicting. While I usually don’t resort to promoting my postings with false promises, these are biscuits that won’t go stale here. As I placed a bag aside for a person, and brought a bag  to a poker game, the bag that sat aside slowly emptied. I think it’s the texture more chew that a biscuit but not super sugary sweet that you would expect from a cookie. Oven at 350 degrees.

Lets get started ! the dough is super easy to make :

Mix the dry ingredients together :

4 cup flour

1 cup sugar

1 Tablespoon Baking powder

Pinch of Salt

measure out separately :

1 cup Red Wine (Burgundy) (I used mead here)

1 cup Oil ( Mazola is specified,I used typical vegetable oil).

The mix is simple and can be done with just a spoon.

Alternate pouring the oil and wine into the dry ingredients in small amounts while stirring with a sturdy spoon. The dough comes together and is rather greasy, you can tweak the dough with more or less dry  or wet ingredients if necessary.

Now comes the fun part !  “Take a small amount of dough and roll between hands and make a little larger than a pencil in dia. (diameter) and a little shorter , around 6 or 7 inches long. Tie together  and bake for about 15 minutes on a low rack then 15 more minutes up higher in oven for browning.” Beat 3 eggs yolks  and brush on cookies before baking.

Her’s how mine came together.  Mistake ! Don’t add flour for ease of handling and rolling, the oily dough will break apart. Also a smooth counter top didn’t provide traction for rolling, the wooden cutting board was the answer. To me this was easier than rolling between hands..  I made a long rope and then subdivided it into smaller lengths The recipe calls for a knotted design.

Paint with egg yolks , bake at 350 15 minutes  low rack, 15 minutes upper rack. The cookies don’t actually brown till the last minutes on the top rack.

How ever fast you can form the cookies and if you have 2 baking sheets, you can shift the baking sheets in the oven, placing the next batch on the lower rack as the first tray goes to the upper level. The original recipe yields 8 doz, Halved, I didn’t get a count maybe 40 or 50 or so ?

Cool your cookies on a rack, they even seem to get a better texture after a day or two when they dry slightly.

Excellent for a party, get together or game night, pack with lunches. Maybe enjoyed with a glass of Burgundy ?

did a quick search this recipe mentions RI !

http://olives-n-okra.com/wine-biscuits/

Lamb shack with lentils and vegetables

Sauté seasoned, peeled, cut turnip and diced  leeks .

Add a cup of lentils

Brown a lamb shank (or two if there are other diners who prefer lamb) not shown.

Set the lamb shack aside after browning and deglaze pan with red wine (or mead).

Bring to a boil and  scrap the pan of browned bits.

Measure the reduction and add water to measure about 2 and 1/2 cups.

Pour into pan and add the lamb shank.

Taste and season the broth to your preference.

Salt, pepper , turmeric, hot pepper flakes etc.

Bring to a boil, cover, simmer, or place in a oven , 325 degrees for about 45 minutes.

The finished meal , most of the water will be absorbed by the lentils.

A hearty, stew like meal. Barley was my second choice other than lentils.

Hearty tomato sauce with chili beans

From December 8th
Utilizing what’s in the kitchen.

pork neck pieces*
flour
salt
pepper

oil, bacon fat etc.
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very fine dice the following so they incorporate into the sauce.
A food processor for this.
onion
celery
carrot
garlic
(green peppers would be a good addition)
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1 tomato paste, small can
tomato sauce, 14 1/2 oz can
whole peeled tomato, 14 1/2 oz can, break up with hand
stock, (turkey, or other) as necessary
Italian seasonings lightly
hot pepper flakes, to taste
wine, strong red, to taste
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red beans, in this recipe I used dry red beans.
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Flour the pork neck pieces with seasoned flour and brown on all sides.
Remove the neck pieces and add finely chopped onion, celery, carrot, and garlic,
Sautee till wilted and soft. Add the rest of the ingredients less the beans, and return the neck bones to the sauce.
Simmer over very low heat and watch for scorching ,if necessary use a heat deflector, till most of the meat falls from the neck bones.
A very thick and hearty sauce at this point,  it rises and slowly,and  large bubbles are emitted from the sauce, watch out for hot splashes, cover.

(or thin with stock to avoid the lava like eruptions.)

Fish the neck bones from the sauce and reserve for a chef’s meal. (with bread). There will still be some tasty meat left on the bones.

Adjust the sauce viscosity and taste as necessary. Best cooled and refrigerated at this point.

Mason jars or containers from take out are good for this.

This sauce can be used as a base at this point for other recipes, pasta, rice, pizza  etc.

The pork from the bones adds much flavor.

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Soak overnight (dry) red beans in water and boil the next day.
Alternatively use canned beans

Mix the beans with the sauce, season  and thin as necessary.

garnish with cheese and onion

 

pork neck pieces* found these at the store, inexpensive and loaded with flavor.
Didn’t have an idea at the time of purchase what to do with them.
Decided they would add a nice flavor to a tomato base sauce.

waffles

In the mood for some waffles, just enough for a single serving (or two).

1/2 cup flour
dash of yeast
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs separated with a splash of vanilla
1/2 cup milk

beat egg yolks till light….

combine flour with yeast and salt.

add the yolks and milk to the flour
mix to combine.

beat reg whites till stiff and fold into batter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

bake in a waffle iron. A well greased iron, thanks for aerosol oil in a can.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not exactly a full iron

top with fruit.

some pan fried fruit with butter, add a splash of wine.

Cook till apples are are soft enough, also included is dried mango and dried cranberries, diced dates.

Garnish with a dollop of whipped sweet /sour cream, or dust with powdered sugar.

Chicken and mushrooms

An easy meal, just add a side of veggies and mashed potatoes.
Most chicken breast you buy today are very thick. Actually it would be better with chicken thighs, but breast is all I have available.
Instead of pounding the breast thin and making a racket , fillet them with a sharp knife.

Heat a skillet with a bit of oil, but first dredge the chicken in a seasoned flour, usually salt and pepper added to the flour.

At a medium high heat, brown the fillets,

while the chicken browns, add some chicken stock to a sauce pan over low heat.

as the breast fillets are browned , add them to the sauce pan.

now that all the chicken has been browned, dice a slice of onion (yes, just one slice at this time) and a clove of garlic, as you would guess, sauté them in the frypan with the chicken drippings till fragrant.

deglaze the pan with wine of choice after you sample it.

toss in some button mushrooms.

stir them a bit in the fry pan then add to the sauce pan, a bit of sage is all I’m using for herbs added to the sauce pan also.

over low heat, simmer no more than 10 minutes, let stand a while.

Plate up with some sides.