That's What Bob's Cooking: September 2015

Friday, September 25, 2015

Chicken Chasseur (or Hunter’s Chicken)

Julia Child

Being a child of the 70/80's, I can say that TV molded most of my younger life. Not in a way that the VCR generation, with their Disney movies, but in a way that we can quote a Looney Tunes cartoon ("which way did he go, George.") or understand that violence on the TV was just that. We didn't go out and push each other off a cliff like Roadrunner and Coyote. That being said, with Sesame Street, we had the TV turned to our local PBS station quite often. Which brings me to the subject of this post, growing up, I (unfortunately) didn't care for Julia Child. I found her shows boring and uninteresting (please, before you come to a judgement, finish reading!), but I was 9 in 1980, so I was heavily influenced by my parents viewing decisions. A few years later, I did take to watching Yen Can Cook. And found a few techniques I still use, daily.

Fast forward 35 years into the future, and I am truly sorry for all of the history I missed, right in front of my eyes. Julia, I have learned to love and respect you more now than ever! You were truly so far a head of your time.

The first thing that brought Julia into my life was watching Merrill Streep in "Julie and Julia". I was so enraptured. I have seen that movie at least 6 or 7 times. In addition to the movie, I have read every biography I could get my hands on about her life, even if it's just a different perspective of the same story, I find it so very interesting. Even to the point of buying a copy of Mastering The Art Of French Cooking, granted I have yet to make anything out of it, but I feel it makes me closer to Julia. Of course, tonight's recipe is featured in Vol. 2.

So, the second part of this post is that last week , I decided to make a French chicken dish for dinner. I've tried Coq Au Vin, and a few others, so I wanted something different. That's when I came across this delicious dish, even rated "good" by my husband! (and you all know that that's close to 5 stars in his book, the only thing higher is, "can you make this again") It's a classic dish, with lemon, wine, mushrooms and all the other cast of characters. Check it out, it's really not that intimidating.

Chicken Chasseur, or Hunter’s Chicken, is a simple French country meal. A hunter would have brought back his game and maybe a few mushrooms he’d found along the way, and his wife would have thrown the lot in a pot with some wine and simmered until tender. It’s ready in less than an hour and cooks all in one pot! I served it with mashed red potatoes, and Frenched green beans.

Chicken Chasseur

Ingredients

* 2 T Butter

* 1 Tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil

* 2 lbs Boneless Chicken Breasts

* 1/4 Cup minced Shallot

* 3 Garlic Cloves (minced)

* 10 oz Baby Bella Mushrooms (sliced thin)

* 2 Tomatoes (seeded, and diced small)

* 1/4 Cup Heavy Cream

* 1/2 Cup Dry White Wine

* 1/2 Cup Low Sodium Chicken Stock

* 2 T Lemon Juice

* 1 Tablespoon Flour

* 2 T Basil (chiffonade)

Directions

* In a large skillet over medium heat, melt your butter and oil. Pat your chicken breasts dry with a paper towel and season both sides with salt and pepper, liberally. When the butter starts to foam, add in your chicken and sear on both sides (about 3-4 minutes per side) until a golden brown crust forms.

* Remove the chicken from the pan and place on a plate. Add in your shallots and garlic to the pan and saute for 2 minutes. Add in your mushrooms and tomatoes and saute about 8 minutes over a medium heat, stirring frequently.

* Return the chicken to the pan and add in your cream, wine, stock, and lemon juice immediately. Bring the liquids to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook until the chicken has cooked through. Remove the chicken again from the pan and place on a serving platter, and stir in your flour, cooking the liquid another 3 minutes to thicken. Taste and season with salt and pepper.

* Pour the sauce over the chicken and sprinkle the fresh basil on top. Serve hot.

Dried chicken seasoned with salt and pepper

Chicken sautéed and resting

The dripping of the chicken, waiting for mushrooms

Tomatoes and shallots

Saluting shallots, mushrooms and tomatoes

Chicken, back in the pool!

Simmering.....

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Crab Bisque

Years ago my family used to frequent a restaurant in Portland (Pa's Kettle) that their signature soup was chicken bisque. It was amazing. You could just fill up on it alone. For years I've read about bisques, and have wanted to make one, be it chicken, tomato, or crab.....so tonight I made crab bisque. It turned out amazing.

Crab Bisque

INGREDIENTS

* 1 cup onion, minced

* 1 cup carrot, minced

* 22 ounces seafood stock

* 4 tablespoons flour

* 6 tablespoons butter

* 1 cup heavy cream

* 1⁄2 cup cooking sherry (or vermouth)

* 1 tablespoon lemon juice

* 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

* 1⁄2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

* 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

* fresh chives, minced

* salt

* 1⁄2 lb. lump crabmeat

* hot chili oil, to taste

DIRECTIONS

* Saute onion and carrot in 2 tablespoons butter until soft. Set aside.

* In 4 quart saucepan, melt 4 tablespoons butter and add flour, whisking constantly over medium heat until roux becomes light brown (about 5 minutes). DO NOT BURN!

* Slowly add seafood stock, whisking constantly to ensure mixture stays smooth.

* Add onions and carrots, cover, and simmer for 1/2 hour.

* Add cream, sherry, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, cayenne pepper, salt, and lobster or crab and simmer an additional 5 to 10 minutes.

* Garnish with fresh minced chives, hot chili oil & crab.

Monday, September 7, 2015

Zesty Lime Shrimp and Avocado Salad

This week, after the wedding we catered this weekend, Craig and I decided to "clean out" the pantry and freezer. First up a bag of shrimp...... So I decided to make a shrimp salad. I found this recipe and adjusted it a bit, and it was delicious.

Zesty Lime Shrimp and Avocado Salad

Ingredients:

1/4 cup chopped red onion (3-4 slices)

2 limes, juice

1 tsp olive oil

kosher salt, black pepper to taste

1 lb jumbo cooked, peeled shrimp, chopped* (16/20)

1/2 red pepper, diced

1 medium hass avocado, diced (about 5 oz)

1 jalapeno, seeds removed, diced fine

1 tbsp chopped cilantro

Directions:

In a small bowl combine red onion, lime juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Let them marinate at least 5 minutes to mellow the flavor of the onion.

In a large bowl combine chopped shrimp, avocado, red pepper, jalapeño. Combine all the ingredients together, add cilantro and gently toss. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.

My Complete Profile

I was born and raised on the East side of Portland Oregon, by two native and second generation, Oregonians, my Mom and Dad (Jack and Joan). Oregon, and the Northwest are deep in my blood. That being said, I have always had an interest in cooking. I would love to add a warm loving story here about how my Mom nurtured my love of cooking by setting me up on or near the counter top to help with whatever she was cooking. Well, that's not exactly the case.

Being a child of the 70's and 80's, I had a great exposure to classic foods like Spam, Tang, Rice-a-Roni and Hamburger Helper. While many of these premade, sodium roller coaster, treats where regulars on our table, my Mom would have to hold the title as "casserole queen". Casseroles are her favorite and her specialty. Whereas, my Dad was more of a spur of the moment kind of cook. His creations included many of the items from our makeshift pantry. Sometimes, i think he was thinking, "the more ingredients, the better it'll be!". I think my first attempt at cooking would have to have been making cookies, either peanut butter (with the criss-cross fork tine print on top), or chocolate chip cookies. Over the years I have made so many of both of these recipes, I have surely lost count.

During middle school, my Mom encouraged me to take Home Economics, thinking that all kids, boy or girl, should know how to cook out in this world. This sparked a growing interest in cooking. So when I entered my junior year of High School, at David Douglas, I enrolled in the culinary arts program, we called it Food Services I. This was a class that had been offered many years before, where the students ran a restaurant, The Kilt, during the lunch periods. Unfortunately, since the class had not been offered in several years, so we didn’t have enough students to open the restaurant, that year. Within the first few weeks of this class, my instructor asked if I'd like to be involved in an outside "club" (kind of like a version of Eagle Scouts) that was mentored by local business owners. It sounded interesting so I joined (not to mention it got me out of the first 2 periods of the day).

At our first meeting I was approached by Sylvia Poesdel, the owner of the Portland landmark restaurant, Sylvia's Italian Restaurant & Dinner Theatre. She asked me if I would be interested in an afterschool job, coming to work for her to learn the cooking/chef trade on the job. I jumped at the chance and started in October of 1985. During my senior year I rejoined the culinary arts program (Food Services II) and this year we were able to reopened the restaurant, which the rest of the students voted me to manage. I just absolutely loved it! I worked at Sylvia's until after I graduated, in 1989. I learned a lot about the restaurant industry, and I would have to say it would be one of just a few life altering jobs I have had throughout my career.

After high school, while I was working at Sylvia's, I applied to culinary arts school. The Two things kept me from continuing my career in culinary arts, were financial and having worked out in the field, I saw so many negative attributes to being a chef, I decided that since I love to cook, I wanted it to be a hobby, and not a drag to go work each day.

When I left Sylvia's, I worked at a hotel, then Safeway. From there I joined Fred Meyer in the Service Deli, and was quickly promoted to a manager. During the next 8 years, I worked throughout the Portland and Southern Oregon areas. In 1998, I earned a promotion to the regional specialist position (District Manager) in Seattle. During this career move, I learned so much about the Food Service industry. I was charged to develop a new service salad case program, as well as work on a new catering program. I had the opportunity to work with manufacturers to develop these new programs.

In 2000, I met the love of my life, Craig. I also, moved from the food service program to the grocery department as an assistant manager. In the capacity I learned to develop my management skills as well as managing inventory. By being the best in my category, I earned the position of manager, where I moved from store to store cleaning up and reorganizing as I went. I also was entrusted with training future Food managers for the region. At which point I was pursued by another company to run a store for them, and enter back into the restaurant industry. During these 3 years, I learned the Restaurant Supplier side of the business. While I enjoyed the time I spent in this opportunity, I yearned to go back to the Grocery industry, and spend more time with my first love, cooking, and writing about my adventures….in the kitchen!