Cooking for One - wrapup

Confession time: In case you haven't noticed, I dropped the last course. It was essentially just fresh pears served with unshelled nuts which you roasted in the oven at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Pears aren't really in season right now (in fact, they didn't even have any at the store yesterday), and I also just wasn't in the mood to go on a mad hunt for unroasted, unshelled nuts. If I happen across either this fall, I'll make the effort to come back to it. Otherwise, sorry kids. Two menus in and I'm already skipping recipes. *sigh*

In any case, this was really a standout menu. Troy and I thoroughly enjoyed this meal, much more so than the previous one, and I'm planning on adding it to my regular repertoire of dinners. Even with a crabby toddler hanging on my legs, I still managed to get everything prepped and cooking in about 20 minutes. It worked out so that by the time we got her off to bed, I had just enough time to make the salad and then T & I sat down and ate everything in peace. Ahhhh.

I especially loved the chicken, and I can already see myself making it often this winter with a whole cut-up chicken. I love anything that makes it's own sauce, as well as gives me a chance to use my big dutch oven. Salad was great too. Very light. As I mentioned before, T said he'd eat that salad anytime. I will probably add tomatoes to it the next time I make it. Not traditional, I know, but I love tomatoes in my salads.

I think the etuvée was a bit of a dud, although I did like the idea of steaming vegetables on top of the rice to save time and space. I'm still 50-50 on whether I'd make this particular recipe again, but I'll probably file away the veg idea for future use, maybe with a quinoa pilaf.

Broccoli and Rice "Etuvée"

Ingredients:
1 tsp peanut or cottonseed oil
3 tbsp chopped onion
1/3 c. short brown rice (1 1/2 oz)
1 c. chicken or beef stock, preferably homemade unsalted and defatted
Salt to taste
Dash red pepper flakes
1 stalk broccoli (3-4 oz)
2 tbsp grated Swiss cheese

1. Heat the oil in a small sturdy saucepan. When it is hot, add the onion and cook over medium heat for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally until lightly browned

2. Add the rice, stir well, then add the stock, salt and red pepper flakes. Bring the mixture to a boil, cover, reduce the heat to very low and cook for 30 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, peel the broccoli stem to remove the fibrous skin. Cut the peeled stem in 1/2-inch pieces and the flowerets into 1-inch pieces

4. When the rice has cooked for 30 minutes (it will still be soupy), place the broccoli on top of the rice (don't stir it in). Cover and cook over low heat for 10 minutes. Add the grated cheese, stir and serve immediately.

It's not explained very well in the book, but basically the phrase "etuvée" refers to a method where you cook over low heat, using a small amount of liquid, and with a tightly covered pot. It's also referred to as à l'étouffée, which comes from étouffer or "to smother." All that to say, it's more or less a brown rice pilaf.

Cheats & Changes:
Other than doubling, none. I followed the recipe exactly. However, once doubled, I thought this made closer to 3 portions of rice. We ended up with about 3/4 c. left over.

The Verdict:
Meh. Even after simmering an extra 10 minutes, the rice was very very soupy. And as a result of having to let it cook longer, the broccoli ended up a bit gray and overcooked. It wasn't total mush, but it didn't have as much bite to it as I normally like.

I suspect that the rice-to-liquid ratio is off. For brown rice, I usually use 1 1/2 times as much liquid as rice, but this recipe called for 3x as much liquid. Just for kicks, I did just now weigh out 1/3 c. of my short-grain brown rice and it came out to over 2 1/2 oz., so really I'm just bamboozled by the whole thing. I'd probably make this again, but reduce the amount of broth by at least a third.

Flavor-wise, the dish was just fine. I think the addition of the grated cheese at the end was key - it added a lot of flavor and a little creaminess too. Otherwise, I'm not sure I'd bother to make this again since I usually just cook brown rice in my rice cooker.

T didn't seem to notice or mind the extra liquid and he declared that he enjoyed every item on his plate and would happily eat it again.

Mock Caesar Salad

Ingredients:
2 cups loosely packed escarole
1 slice stale bread (about 1 oz)
1 1/2 tsp canola or peanut oil

Dressing:
1/2 clove garlic, peeled
1 anchovy fillet in oil, coarsely chopped
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp olive or peanut oil
Dash salt
Dash freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp crumbled blue cheese, or a combo of blue with pieces of Cheddar, Camembert, etc.

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

2. Remove and discard any wilted or damaged areas from the alad leaves and break the greens into 2-inch pieces. Wash and dry them thoroughly in a salad spinner.

3. Brush both sides of the bread slice with the oil and place it on a small baking sheet. Place in the 400-degree oven for 10 min or until nicely browned on both sides. break or cut into 1-inch pieces.

4. Mash the garlic clove with the tines of a fork into a coarse puree. Combine it in a small bowl with the chopped anchovy, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper.

5. No more than 30 minutes before serving time, add the salad greens to the dressing in the bowl and toss well. Sprinkle with the croutons and cheese, serve immediately.

Again, I doubled this. It ended up being enough for 3 small side salads. I used some of the leftover soda bread from yesterday to make the croutons, which turned out delicious. I'm not normally a big fan of croutons since the store-bought kind are always rock hard, but these were perfect. Nice and toasty/crunchy on the outside, but still a bit of chew to them.

I assume that the reason Jacques refers to this as "mock" caesar salad is because of the lack of raw eggs. I think nowadays, most people exclude that part anyway (or use a pasteurized or coddled egg instead), although the dressing definitely was more of a vinaigrette without an emulsifying agent in there.

I also thought it interesting how he refers to blue cheese as the standard choice. I think most caesar salads I've had in restaurants use parmesan. I'm not sure if that's because parmesan is a more innocuous choice or not. I'll have to do a little research on "traditional" caesar recipes.

Cheats & Changes:
I think I used a little bit less olive oil than called for in the dressing recipe. I'm not entirely sure, since I sorta eyeballed it. I probably could have done a better job mashing up the garlic, and next time I'll probably just use my (gasp!) garlic press.

Oh, and I'm super lazy when it comes to salad, so I almost always use pre-packaged mixed spring greens. I'm partial to the Earthbound Farms organic stuff. What else...oh, I used my toaster oven to make the croutons so I wouldn't have to heat up the whole house with the oven. I gotta scrimp where I can now that we're in the thick of the Texas summer. Bleh.

The Verdict:
Again, T & I both really liked this. I thought the anchovy was going to be a problem for Troy, but surprisingly, he really liked it. He later told me that he had sardines and anchovies confused, thus last night's disappointment. The anchovies added a nice saltiness and just a hint of brine. I think if I hadn't mentioned it, he never would have known they were in there. T declared this a vast improvement over last night's salad.

This was very quick to make. I tossed everything together while the chicken and rice were cooking and it all timed out perfectly. T told me he was still thinking about the salad this afternoon, so I will definitely be making it again.

Spicy Ginger and Lemon Chicken

Ingredients:
1 tsp olive oil
1 chicken leg (8-10 oz.) with skin, back bones, and tips of drumsticks removed (about 6 oz, trimmed weight)
Dash salt
1/8 tsp chili powder
1/8 tsp cumin
Dash dried thyme
Dash cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp all-purpose flour
1 strip lemon peel, removed with a vegetable peeler
1 strip orange peel, removed with a vegetable peeler
1 tsp chopped fresh ginger (washed, but not peeled)
1 small clove garlic, peeled
1/4 c. sweet apple cider
1/4 c. water

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan until it is hot by not smoking. Add the chicken leg and brown it over medium heat, turning occasionally, for 10-12 minutes.

2. Add the rest of the ingredients, bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook gently for 15 minutes. Serve with the natural cooking juices.

I doubled this and all the other recipes so that there would be enough for both Troy and I. More on other changes below.

Cheats & Changes:
Again, I used my microplane to zest the orange and lemon rather than peel big hunks off. I also used a tablespoon of garlic ginger paste (I keep a jar handy in my fridge at all times; you can find it at most Indian grocery stores) in lieu of the fresh chopped ginger. I suppose I could have left out the garlic cloves, but in my book you can never have too much garlic.

Also, I'd like to mention that the directions on the chicken are a bit vague. In the accompanying photo, there's a chicken leg quarter, not just the leg, and it has the skin on it. I decided to split the difference and I used a quarter, but took the skin off. T actually prefers white meat, so when I saw they had split fryers at the store, I opted to buy that so we'd have the best of both worlds. I cut the chicken into two pieces, removed the skin and backbone, as instructed, and I left the wing on the breast, but removed the wingtip. Frankly, we're both rather big eaters, so there's no way that one measly chicken leg would have cut it. But because I used a bone-in chicken breast, it took a little bit longer to cook, I'd say closer to 20 or 25 minutes.

The verdict:
Love, love LOVED it! The flavor was really well balanced - hints of ginger, citrus, spice, and a little bit of sweetness from the juice, but not overtly apple-y. This dish was super easy to prep and make and will probably go into my regular repertoire. T loved the flavor as well and devoured his portion. I was concerned that the breast might dry out, but it stayed super tender and juicy.

And have I mentioned the sauce? This dish made its own sauce (the aforementioned "natural juice") which was simply heavenly. There was a ton of it, which I spooned very generously over everything on my plate: the chicken, the rice and even the broccoli. I think it made everything better.

Portion size was perfect for the one meal, but in the future I'll likely make a lot more since we like leftovers. Oh, and even though it's dark meat, with the skin removed and very little cooking oil needed to sear it off, this is a pretty diet-friendly meal too. Extra bonus!

Oh and here's a picture of Troy's chicken breast, in case you're curious. I removed the skin from the breast, but left it on the wing.

Menu Two: Cooking for One

Call me crazy, but I think I'm going to attempt another menu tonight. Just don't get used to seeing a new one every day because I'm one of those people that somehow manages to use every pot, pan and dish when I cook, so it is hell to keep my kitchen clean.

Anyways, Troy is working late tonight, and my original dinner plan fell through, so I've decided to skip ahead a couple menus in the book and do this one, although I'm going to double it so that T can eat it when he gets home.

Tonight's menu:
Mock Caesar Salad
Spicy Ginger and Lemon Chicken
Broccoli and Rice "Etuvée"
Pears and Roasted Nuts