Buckets of Chicken, and Drunken Chicken

Let's talk about buckets of chicken. First of all, sometimes The Chef and I do get lazy and decide to just drive through someplace and get some chicken. A bucket of chicken goes a long way for us- fried chicken and all the fixins the first night, leftovers for lunch and maybe even a last couple pieces to cut up and toss in a salad or sandwich. Have you ever tried making chicken salad sandwiches with cut up FRIED chicken? OMG- you must. Now back on track......so we arrive at the unnamed chicken drive through and order our chicken. We get to the window and the employee tells us they are out of legs, would it be ok if they subbed additional thighs in their place? Of course! Thighs are, for me, the best part of the chicken, right? We get home........no chicken thighs. Those dirty rats shorted us on chicken!!! Ugh!!!

Speaking of buckets, have you ever heard of a guitarist who wears a chicken bucket on his head and conceals his identity? That would be Buckethead. He is a metal guitarist who has played with Guns and Roses and several others, and tours on his own with a unique show and playing style, most notably a white mask over his face and that chicken bucket on his head. I have no idea what this guy looks like underneath all that. Anyway, Buckethead has been on The Chef's bucket list for a very long time and since we got to see John5 a few weeks ago, hearing Buckethead was coming to town, The Chef just had to go. The show was unlike any he had ever seen before, both in volume and the performance. Buckethead plays with an accompanying soundtrack instead of a live band and uses an arsenal of effects to create some pretty unusual music. Definitly something a guitarist like The Chef would enjoy. 

The Chef often spends his time away from the restaurant playing at different jam sessions around town, and is working with his own band, perfecting their set and working on some new material. He is a very talented musician in his own right, and I can say that without being biased. He has well over 30 years of playing under his belt and it's just part of his DNA. Classic rock is his genre, and he will even sing on occasion if he has to. Of course, when it's my night to cook, that's when you'll definitely find him plugged in and shredding. I get a concert every night.

And with that, we are back to talking about chicken. With my new job and very long, but temporary, commute I get home a lot later than I did before and some days I just don't feel like standing in the kitchen cooking. Times like these are when I turn to simple braises to make a homey and delicious meal. Chicken is my favorite for braising and it doesn't take as much work as you think. A quick brown in hot oil in a big Dutch oven, some aromatics, and a braising liquid, popped in the oven for an hour or so and dinner is served, without the need for any special appliances or equipment. Braising is a very simple technique- you're simply roasting your meat in a liquid, to add flavor, and to bring on a tenderness that's nearly effortless. You can use almost any liquid to braise- stock or broth, wine, beer or vegetable juice all make delicious braises. Be sure to add aromatics like garlic, onion and herbs to really bring out the flavors. Fresh herbs are often too delicate for a braise, with a couple exceptions- thyme and rosemary work well, most others I prefer using the dried version.

The recipe calls for two cups of wine- basically it's a whole bottle with a swig for the cook *wink wink*, because honestly, we have to check the wine, right? I used a fairly inexpensive Riesling, a 2015 Rheinhessen, the kind in the cute cat bottle. It's not too sweet and it doesn't have that oaky taste I hate in Chardonnays. Riesling and Pinot Grigio are my preferred whites for cooking.

Quick note on the chicken- we bought chicken leg quarters- skin on and bone in. I cut the legs and thighs apart myself and removed the section of backbone that was attached. Not all leg quarters have that backbone attached. For a braised recipe like this you do not want to use boneless skinless chicken, and especially not breasts. You won't get enough flavor. The bones especially add a deeper chicken flavor to the sauce. Trust me on this. Learn to love chicken on the bone.

Monica's Drunken Chicken

4 chicken leg quarters

1 small onion, halved then sliced crosswise

10 cloves garlic, cut in half

2 carrots, sliced

2 teaspoons dried marjoram

salt and pepper

olive oil

2 cups Riesling

Use a sharp knife to cut the thigh and leg apart. If the thighs have the backbone attached, cut that off and discard (or save for stock). Season well with salt and pepper. Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Heat a couple tablespoons of olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium high heat. Add the chicken, a few pieces at a time, to the pot and brown on all sides. Remove and set aside, repeat with all the chicken.

When chicken pieces are browned, remove and add the onion, garlic and carrot to the pot. Stir to coat with the oil and allow to cook for several minutes until just softened. Add the wine, scraping up the browned bits in the pan, and return the chicken to the pot, nestling down into the wine as much as possible. Place cover on the pot and place in oven. Cook for 1 and 1/2 hours.

Remove chicken pieces from the pot, cover and keep warm. Remove the vegetables with slotted spoon. Bring the juices to boil over high heat and cook until reduced. You can add a couple tablespoons of butter if you like. Serve the chicken and vegetables with roasted potatoes, drizzled with the sauce. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.

So easy and delicious, it was almost like I did nothing and boom- dinner was on the table. We served the chicken with roasted potatoes for sopping up all that delicious jus in the pot.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 55: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Crusty Dutch Oven Bread

A lot of my friends thought I nuts for splashing out almost $300 for a Le Creuset Dutch Oven. I knew from the start this would be a lifelong investment piece and not a one-use item. I have already gotten more than my money's worth of use out of it just in all the roasting I have done. But the beauty of a piece like this is not just the beautiful seafoam green colored enamel on the outside, it's the versatility you have on the inside!

Now that summer is in the rearview mirror I like to get back to baking, and I have promised The Chef that I will bake more homemade bread, so after digging through loads of cookbooks from my collection (I should write a post just about THAT one of these days) and browsing bread recipes online I have discovered that bread bakers all over are using those Dutch ovens to bake amazing crusty artisan loaves of beautiful bread. I can do this! 

I have lots of options when it comes to utensils for bread baking. Stoneware pans, metal and glass loaf pans, metal and glass bowls, the pizza stone for foccacia and flatbreads, even a cast iron skillet. I guess it's just natural that I should look at the Dutch oven as well. I love the look of round loaves of bread. I've shared bread recipes before that were round loaves. They remind me of old European bakeries, with the neat slashes on the top and dusting of flour that you often see. Instead of a picture-perfect loaf pan-shaped loaf you get a free-form loaf that's one of a kind with those beautiful imperfections and super crunchy crust. 

Today we are going to make a simple white crusty bread. It's a soft no-knead dough made with regular flour, so you don't have to hunt down fancy flours, grains or anything you probably don't already have on hand, except maybe yeast. I have made this using whole wheat flour before and found it just didn't rise well and seemed heavy like a quick bread- not what I wanted at all.  We use a lot of yeast at our house so we always keep some around, and store it in the fridge so it stays fresher. This dough has no sugar or honey either, so it's a slow-riser, which is perfectly fine- mix up your dough in the morning and let it sit and proof for at least 8 hours before you bake it. You don't have to punch it down or do anything to it so you can make it before you go to work, and bake when you get home. No more excuses for not making fresh, homemade bread!

Let's get started on this super easy bread. You will need-

• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons salt- kosher or sea salt is best
• 1 teaspoon yeast
• 1 1/2 cups warm water- about 105-115 degrees

In a great big bowl, stir together the flour, salt and yeast. I like to use a whisk instead of sifting- really gets things mixed together and keeps it light and fluffy not packed down.

Make a well in the middle and add all of the water. Mix it with a wooden spoon until a soft dough forms, but don't go crazy mixing it. You will have a dense, tough bread if you over-mix the dough.

Cover your bowl tightly with plastic wrap and leave it sit at room temperature for at least 8 hours, and as long as 24. The dough will rise in the bowl and look bubbly and weird like a science project. I like that brand of plastic wrap that is kinda sticky and seals itself to the bowl rim but if I am out of that I'll even put a plastic grocery bag over the top of my bowl- works great! 

When it's time to bake the bread, turn the oven to 450 degrees. Once the oven is at temp, place the Dutch oven in the oven. Don't worry, your Dutch oven can take it- they are meant for this kind of thing. Let the Dutch oven heat in the oven for thirty minutes.

Turn the dough out onto a well-floured board or table or even the counter top. Flour your hands and form the dough into a ball. I place the inverted bowl over the dough to cover it and let it rest while my Dutch oven preheats.

It doesn't look too impressive when it first goes in the super hot pot.

When the Dutch oven is ready, carefully place the dough in the pot- be careful! It is extremely hot! My Dutch oven is enamel-coated so I don't have to worry about sticking but if you're using some other type of pan or bowl you can place the dough on parchment paper to prevent sticking. Replace the cover and return to the oven. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove cover and continue baking 10-15 minutes until the loaf is nicely browned and sounds hollow when you tap on it.

After the first 30 minutes. This reminds me of the par-baked
bread you can buy at the grocery store.

Carefully remove from the hot pot and allow to cool on a rack a little bit before slicing. This helps the bread stabilize itself, the steam eases and the bread won't collapse.

Super crispy, super crunchy and perfectly browned!!

If you're like me, you just fell in love with this bread and you'll be playing with flavors and planning to make it again. It works great with things like dried herbs, chopped sun dried tomato bits, garlic, crumbled cooked bacon, even Parmesan cheese. Leftover bread stays fresh for a day or two. Unlike grocery store bread there are no preservatives so it does get moldy around the third or fourth day, if it lasts that long! It also makes excellent croutons the next day- just toss with olive oil or melted butter and toast in a hot skillet until golden brown all over and crispy. I think next time I'll grab some Italian meats, cheeses and tapenade and make my round bread into a muffaletta for football day. Stop back by and share how you enjoyed your round artisan bread! I'd love to hear about it!

The Gerwegian girl's braciole

I was so surprised the other day- at the grocery store they had the BIG pieces of round steak. The big ones- like I remember as a child, my mom slicing up and making pepper steak or stroganoff, or pounding the everloving life out of and smothering with cream-of-something soup and baking for a couple hours. Not the fanciest cut by any means, but certainly one of my favorite if for nothing but the memories. Anyway, there it was in the meat department beckoning to me to cook something really good.

If it was the right time of year, pepper steak would have been my first choice but in general I avoid certain kinds of grocery store produce in the winter, like tomatoes and peppers. It's just not the same as fresh from the garden or farmers market. Mushrooms, however, are available year round and pretty consistent PLUS they had a nice basket of fresh shiitakes begging to be taken home. Inspired by the recent picture a friend had shared with me, I decided a stuffed steak was in order.

What I ended up with is my own version of Braciole- without the Italian flavor profile. Mushrooms are a natural with steak and so easy to chop up and create a stuffing with. The shiitkes are a real treat to work with- once you pinch off and throw away the inedible stem they cut up into perfect firm little cubes of delicious. I chose cremini as my other mushroom (although I bought some of every kind they had in the store that day!), a little onion, garlic, some stale bread (do YOU keep your bread butts in the freezer for things like this?) and roll it up in some pounded out steak. Here is how I did it-

Mushroom Braciole

about 2 lb round steak (or similar- flat iron, flank steak, etc)

1 small onion

4 cloves garlic

4 slices stale bread

1 tsp chopped thyme

8 oz mushrooms- I used shiitake and cremini

salt and pepper

2 cups beef stock

1 tablespoon cornstarch

olive oil

2 tb butter

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. 

Cut or tear the bread into small pieces and spread out to let it dry as much as possible, set aside for now.

Cut the meat into 6 equal portions. Pound using a meat mallet until flattened and even in thickness. Pounding out to the right shape is a little tricky but try to get the pieces as rectangular as possible. I was so busy pounding away The Chef finally asked me if I was ever going to be done or was I building a garage.......sigh...... Season with salt and pepper and set aside.

Finely chop the onion and garlic and place in bowl. Clean the mushrooms, trim off the stem ends (remove tough shiitake stems) and chop into small dice and add to bowl. 

In a medium skillet heat 2 tablespoons olive oil and butter. Add the onions, garlic, mushrooms, thyme and season with salt and pepper. Cook for several minutes until onions are softened and mushrooms begin to brown. Meanwhile, crumble the bread as much as possible in a medium bowl. Pour the mushroom onion mixture over and mix well. It might be a little dry, not like stuffing you'd serve at the holidays- that's ok, it doesn't need to be super moist.

Grab a piece of steak and place a scoop of the stuffing on it. Pat it and spread it out over the meat surface evenly, leaving a little edge uncovered. 

Roll up and secure with picks, or tie with string if you're especially handy like that. I use picks because, well..... I'm not. Continue with all pieces of steak until done. 

You might have some leftover stuffing. I did because I could only get 5 portions from my steak, and Louie enjoyed it thoroughly.

Heat a tablespoon of oil in that skillet you cooked the mushrooms in and brown the rolls on the outside; place in dutch oven or covered roaster/braiser. 

Mix the cornstarch into the beef broth while browning the meat and when done, deglaze the skillet with the broth. Whisk over medium high heat until slightly thickened and bubbly. Ladle sauce over the braciole in the pot; cover and bake for one hour and 15 minutes.

When done, remove from oven and let rest a few minutes so the stuffing will firm up just a bit. Remove picks from rolls and slice. Serve with pasta, rice or potatoes and the sauce. I have been making this dish for years and years and it's one of my favorites. Not very "gourmet" but certainly delicious and an old family favorite. Oh, I almost forgot- the Gerwegian??  German and Norwegian of course!