Chicken twofer

My friends, I have an important announcement to make: I think I've finally found a slow cooker chicken recipe that I'll make more than once. After years of trying, and numerous mediocre chicken recipes, none of which have been deemed worthy of inclusion (or even a mention) here, I think I've got a keeper.

I got the idea for this out of an Australian Women's Weekly seasonal cookbook that I picked up in a secondhand bookstore a few weeks ago and have been carrying around with me obsessively ever since. Or, to be more accurate, I got the main ingredient combo from there, and then the rest of it just evolved.

Slow cooker chicken with leeks and bacon
Since I didn't actually follow a recipe, I've just documented the procedure that I used. Note that most slow cooker chicken recipes don't recommend cooking the chicken for more than about 4 hours, or else it starts to dry out. I cooked this for 4 hours on low, and the texture was excellent.

1. Turn on the slow cooker to start heating. (I usually turn mine on high to get going and then turn to low after about 30-45 minutes.) Put a medium-sized cast-iron skillet to heat on the stove over low-medium heat, and add 2 Tbsp olive oil to warm up. Add 1 anchovy to oil.
2. Chop up 4 pieces of good-quality bacon and add to skillet. Wash, remove the green top of, and slice 1 leek and add to bacon.
3. Cook mixture in skillet, stirring regularly, for about 5 minutes, until bacon begins to crisp and leek to soften and brown.
4. While mixture in skillet is cooking, sprinkle about 1/2 cup (2 oz/60 g) flour into a shallow bowl, and season with salt and cayenne pepper. Dredge 4-6 chicken thighs in seasoned flour, turning to coat with flour on all sides.
5. Dump contents of skillet in slow cooker, leaving some bacon fat behind. Stuff leek top along with 2 sprigs rosemary into a cheesecloth bag, popsock, or similar, and add to slow cooker also.
6. Put skillet back on burner and add chicken thighs to brown. Cook 3-5 minutes, until beginning to brown, then turn and repeat on the other side. (You may want to use a splatter screen here.)
7. When chicken is browned on both sides, remove from skillet and lay in the slow cooker. 
8. Return skillet to burner and sprinkle in about 2 Tbsp of the seasoned dredging flour. Stir into the fat in the pan until you have a basic roux. 
9. Pour about 1 cup white wine into the skillet. Heat the wine, stirring constantly with a whisk, and use it to deglaze the skillet.
10. Empty the skillet into the slow cooker and decide if you need any additional liquid. (Chicken should be at least halfway submerged in the liquid.) If so, pour hot water from the kettle into the skillet and scrape up any remaining bits. Pour into the slow cooker.
11. Give the contents of the slow cooker a good stir, cover, and leave alone for 3-4 hours.
12. Before serving, taste sauce and adjust seasonings. (I added a bit of salt and pepper, and a scoop of Greek yoghurt to balance out the flavors in the sauce.)
13. I served this with Italian baked potatoes with oil and a green vegetable.

And the twofer part? You can see that in the photo above. The next night, I warmed up the leftovers (one chicken thigh, chopped up, and a couple cups of chunky sauce) and served them mixed into gnocchi and sauteed kale for a speedy dinner that was just as good as the original. Next time I make this (and there will be a next time), I'll make sure there's enough to do this part again too.

Teapot people

In the 11 days since DP’s been home, we’ve had two sets of houseguests (the first was here for five days, and the second for three), plus Sunday lunch guests in the gap in between. All invited by my husband (who continues to claim that he’s shy and introverted), and all primarily, or originally, professional connections of his. And all, therefore, people to whom I privately refer as ‘teapot people’.

I don’t know if this is a distinction only I make. I’m not a serious tea drinker, but when I do make myself a cup of tea, I make it with a teabag straight in the mug. I do the same for any friends who happen to be hanging around who are in the mood for a cuppa. Breaking out the teapot is serious business, reserved for more formal circumstances: usually people that I don’t yet know very well or, if I do, with whom I still have the kind of relationship where I stand on ceremony, even if we’ve spent a lot of time together. Respected elders, that kind of thing. People in front of whom I sit up straight at the table, and try not to swear.

But I will still feed them Italian peasant food for dinner. Sometimes you just have to let the real you shine through.

Ratatouille minestrone

I think this is really more what my ancestors would call giambotta, but more people are familiar with minestrone, so let’s go with that. I was inspired to make this because it solved two conundrums: 1. what to do with a vat of leftover ratatouille from Sunday lunch; and 2. what to feed houseguests for a late, light dinner that could mostly be prepped ahead of time?

Since this is a creative re-purposing of leftovers, I’m going to give you the sequence of events, rather than a recipe per se.

On Sunday, I chopped:

1 large red bell pepper/capsicum

1 large red onion

5 medium zucchini/courgettes

1 medium eggplant

1 dozen large cherry tomatoes

I tossed the chunks with olive oil, stuck them in the oven, and roasted them for about 45 minutes until they looked ready to eat. When they came out, I tossed them with lemon juice, salt, and black pepper and served them.

This turned out to be way more than enough vegetables for four adults and one child (along with peposo alla notturno, garlic mashed potatoes, and rolls), and at least 50% of it went into the fridge as leftovers. So, on Tuesday, I did the following:

-       chopped up and briefly sautéed 4 slices of Italian salami, 1 carrot, 1 celery stalk, and 2 cloves of garlic in olive oil with 2 anchovies

-       dumped this mixture into my slow cooker

-       deglazed the frying pan with about half a glass of red wine and added that to the slow cooker as well

-       added the leftover ratatouille

-       poured in about half of a bottle of tomato passata and the same amount of water

-       drained, rinsed, and added a can of chick peas

I stirred this all together, clapped the lid on the slow cooker, and left it to stew for about 3 hours on high while we were all out attending to various commitments. Then, just before serving, I seasoned with salt and a generous sprinkle of cayenne pepper, as well as a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.

I served it topped with grated pecorino romano cheese and accompanied by pesto cheese crostini – thin slices of bread brushed with oil, topped with pesto and grated parmigiano reggiano cheese, and grilled briefly in the oven.

I’m still eating the leftovers. They get better every day.

Early autumn

In the northern hemisphere, the change of seasons is always associated with the celestial event which correlates to its appearance – equinoxes for spring and autumn, solstices for winter and summer, sometime around the 20^th of the month, four times a year. In Australia, I’ve noticed, the first day of the month in which the celestial event occurs is generally designated as the official change of seasons. This meant, most recently, that March 1 was the First Day of Autumn.

I had been mentally dismissing this as some weird Australian quirk and figuring nonchalantly that I still had another 3 weeks of summer. Then, over the last week of February, we had more cloud than sun, with plenty of rain mixed in, and the temperature dropped about 10 degrees (or 20, in Fahrenheit). We woke up on Friday morning to cold winds, grey skies, and temperatures in the low teens (50sF).

Okay, I’m convinced – March 1 really is the First Day of Autumn in Canberra. Which means it’s time to break out the slow cooker again.

Braised short ribs

I didn’t use a recipe for this, so I’ll just describe what I did do. Braising stuff in the slow cooker allows for leeway on various things, as you’ll see. I started this at about 10:30 am, in preparation for serving dinner at 6:30ish pm.

1. Turn on the slow cooker to start heating. (I usually turn mine on high to get going and then turn to low after about 30-45 minutes.) Put a medium-sized cast-iron skillet to heat on the stove over low-medium heat, and add 2 Tbsp olive oil to warm up. Add 1 anchovy to oil.
2. Chop up 2 pieces of good-quality bacon and add to skillet. Peel, quarter and chop 1 red onion and add to bacon.
3. Cook mixture in skillet, stirring regularly, for about 5 minutes, until bacon begins to crisp and onion to brown.
4. Dump contents of skillet in slow cooker. Spread out and lay 5-6 beef short ribs on top.
5. Put skillet back on burner and fill halfway with about 2 cups red wine. Heat the wine and use it to deglaze the skillet.
6. Empty the skillet into the slow cooker and check the liquid level. If the short ribs are not at least partially submerged, add some more wine (or stock) until they are. Cover and leave to get cooking.
7. Decide that this concoction also needs some mushrooms and tomato paste, neither of which you have in stock. Go to the store.
8. After returning from the store, turn the stove on again and return the skillet to the burner over low-medium heat. While it warms up, clean and quarter about 1 dozen mushrooms. Add to the skillet to cook, along with 1 clove garlic that has been peeled and cracked. Cook mushrooms, stirring regularly, until they have released their liquid and shrunk to about half their original size. Add to the slow cooker.
9. While you have the slow cooker open, scoop out a ladleful of cooking liquid into a small bowl. Into this stir 2 heaping Tbsp of tomato paste. Add the mixture back into the slow cooker, stirring to disperse through the cooking liquid. Put the cover back on.
10. Leave alone until about halfway through your estimated cooking time, at which point turn the ribs over. Cover and leave be again.
11. The longer you leave these, the better they get. I took the lid off for the last hour of cooking time, to allow the cooking liquid to thicken up a little.
12. I served this with blue cheese polenta and braised kale and carrots. Made enough for 3 adults and 1 child, plus leftovers.

Wayback Wednesday

This concoction - slow roasted rhubarb and peaches - was one of my favorite things to eat during my first stint in Canberra, and was strongly associated with my memories of Australia after I left - mainly because this is the only place I've ever found rhubarb and peaches in season at the same time. (Although I suppose you could use frozen.) The other day, I made my first batch in nearly 3 years. Just as good as ever.

Disruptive innovation

Have you heard this term? I’ve come across it repeatedly in the past six months, but before that I’d never heard it. According to Wikipedia, it is used “to describe innovations that improve a product or service in ways that the market does not expect” – particularly in business or technology. Naturally I’m planning to appropriate it for cooking.

I mentioned a while back that I’ve started volunteering in the school canteen one morning a week, because I want to do my bit for the school community, and focusing on something involving food is the obvious first choice. Through working in the canteen, I’ve already learned the finer points of rolling sushi, making vegemite sandwiches (trickier than it sounds), and, most recently, a whole new approach to making bolognese sauce.

Spaghetti bolognese is one of the standard items on the canteen menu, and a few weeks ago, the manager-mother of the day was cooking a big batch of sauce while the rest of us worked through the list of daily canteen chores. She mentioned in passing that she doesn’t brown the mince for bolognese sauce anymore, thanks to a tip from her sister-in-law; according to her, skipping this saves a step and completely changes the texture of the sauce – for the better.

The other day, when I had literally five minutes to get something into the slow cooker for dinner, I remembered this piece of information, and decided to test it out for myself. I turned on the slow cooker, emptied in a jar of passata, and tossed in about a pound of mince I had sitting in the fridge. I clapped on the lid and went about my business. A couple of hours later, I was able to check and stir it for the first time, and used a potato masher to break up the mince lump. By dinnertime, the sauce had been cooking for about 2.5 hours on high, and the house smelled wonderful.

The texture and taste of the finished sauce were noticeably different, as promised: the texture was much smoother than usual, and the taste very rich and meaty. Whatever flavor might have been lost by not browning was more than made up for by how robust the finished sauce came out. I would never have come up with this idea on my own, but I’m happy to adopt it.

Disruptive bolognese sauce

I’m sure this would be good with sautéed onions, grated carrot, minced garlic, and all the other accoutrements that help to build a really good sauce, but this was how I made it, and it was delicious out of all proportion to the work involved.

1 23 oz/700 g jar tomato passata

1 lb/450 g good-quality beef mince (I used the grass-fed, hormone-free, gold-plated mince I got at the farmers’ market, which I’m sure contributed to the excellent flavor of the sauce)

1 heaping Tbsp/30 g pesto

salt & pepper

Turn slow cooker to high. Add passata and beef. Cook for 2-3 hours on high (maybe 3-5 on low?), stirring once or twice to make sure that the beef mince is broken up and incorporated into the sauce. Just before serving, stir in pesto, and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Makes enough to feed at least 4 people spaghetti bolognese. Leftovers freeze very well, using the method shown above.

Roving turkey

Among the souvenirs that I brought back from our Thanksgiving trip to Dallas was the turkey carcass. Do you think this is insane? DP certainly did, and threatened more than once to hurl it out in the window into the Oklahoma countryside if he caught the merest whiff of anything off. Our hostess, C., and I, however, thought it was a perfectly sensible idea. On Friday evening we stripped the carcass, double-wrapped it in a (clean) garbage bag, and stuck it in the freezer. On Saturday morning, moments before our departure, we retrieved it, stiff as a board, and encased it in another double garbage bag full of ice. We were untroubled by sun or warmth of any kind on our trip home (howling wind, grey skies, and drizzle were the order of the day), and nine hours later we arrived in northwestern Missouri with our friend Tom still frozen solid. As I write this, he is bubbling gently in my slow cooker with a few carrots and leek tops, brewing up a batch of turkey stock and making the house smell delicious. So--insane or not? The way I see it, I didn't host, which means I don't have the fun of a fridge full of leftovers. This almost makes up for it.

Hope the end of your Thanksgiving (or regular) weekend has been full of good things. Until tomorrow!

Mixed nuts

On Sunday morning, I had a momentary panic that the seven menu items I had already decided on and begun preparing would not after all be enough food to adequately stuff the 40 or so Vintage Home Society members expected at SP’s that evening. This was brought on by observing the double batch of Cheddar-Pecan Shortbread I had just finished packing, rattling around loosely in the bottom of a medium-sized plastic storage box, looking thoroughly insufficient. Don’t caterers always have everything in enormous quantities? What was I doing showing up with one of the menu items packed in a lunchbox-sized container that wasn’t even full? Could I make my amateur status any more apparent?

I frantically took stock of my supplies, equipment, and recipe collection to see what I could rustle up that would supplement the paltry shortbread rations in the “nibbles” section of the menu, and maintain its autumn theme, all without throwing me completely off schedule (or kilter).

Once again the slow cooker saved the day. Aided and abetted by a bunch of nuts.

Oh, and by the way--there was more than enough food. Probably would have been even without the nuts. But over-catering is a security blanket, especially for a novice.

Sweet and spicy roasted mixed nuts
Adapted from Nigella Bites
Toasting nuts in the slow cooker is much easier than in the oven—no real need to worry about burning, which can happen very quickly in the oven or on the stovetop.

2 lbs/1 kg assorted unsalted nuts (I used almonds and hazelnuts because that’s what I had in the pantry)
4 tsp/20 ml maple syrup
2 Tbsp/30 g browned butter
2 4 in/8 cm sprigs of fresh rosemary
½ to 1 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp/10 g kosher salt

Preheat the slow cooker to its highest setting. When hot, add the nuts and allow to cook with the lid somewhat ajar (to let any moisture escape) until they begin to smell toasted. Stir regularly while this is happening; it could take anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours, depending on the age and quality of your slow cooker—not to mention your nuts.

When nuts begin to smell toasted, lower the heat. In a small bowl, stir together the maple syrup, butter, and cayenne, and mix to your satisfaction. Chop the rosemary very finely and add.

Pour mixture over nuts in slow cooker and stir to coat each thoroughly. Sprinkle salt over and stir again. Shut slow cooker off and leave roasted nuts in, uncovered, to cool.

Makes about 2 lbs/1 kg of nuts. Supremely nibblable.

No stirring

Polenta with sauteed Italian sausage and baby spinach

I’m not afraid to admit it: I’ve never made polenta before. I’m not afraid to admit the reason either: I was totally put off by the 30-40 minutes of continuous stirring that every recipe indicated was absolutely critical to a lump-free finished product. I like polenta, but not enough to contemplate the possibility of requiring physical therapy as the end result of a cooking project. (Should I mention the old hockey injury? Is that overkill…?)

Blackberry-apple butter

I mentioned this concoction in a couple of posts in the (northern) autumn, but I’ve been making it so much over the past few months that I thought it deserved its own entry. The original idea wasn’t mine; I came across it on someone else’s blog, but have never been able to find it since. So, if you’re out there, mom/food blogger who posted about this sometime last September, thanks for sharing your concept and rhapsodizing about the beautiful magenta color of the finished product. I don’t know if my recipe bears much resemblance to yours, but if it does, all credit goes to you, wherever you are.

Interfamilial bonding

I don’t think posting on Sunday afternoon is the best way to optimize blog traffic, but it’s either this or slide into another week and whatever fresh mayhem is in store….

Summer vacation has officially begun chez RL. I wish I could say I hadn’t been posting because I’ve been too busy relaxing, but it wouldn’t be true. I have been having lots of fun, because we kicked off summer vacation with a weeklong visit from my sister S. and her family: BIL D. (previously mentioned as the BIL who can cook), and offspring Miss I., Miss R., and Mr. C. We took them to some our favorite local spots, and discovered some new places. And, of course, consumed a lot of food along the way.

Energy efficient

One of the most practical tips I’ve heard for frugal cooking is “fill your oven.” If you’re setting the oven to a particular temperature to cook one thing, slide in a couple of other things that will cook at the same heat. It doesn’t require any extra fuel, so it saves some money that way; plus it might get you ahead on another meal—also potentially a money- and time-saver.

This, like many other frugal practices, requires a bit of forethought and lateral thinking. I often remember it when I’m firing up the oven to bake a cake or a loaf of bread or something else that only uses one rack. Of course, by then it’s usually too late, and I don’t have the ingredients, the time, or a good reason to cook something else.

Gluten free

This seems to be the food trend for 2010 among people I know: well, if three people constitutes a trend, that is. But it has given me pause during this Boston stay, since I've been going for a lot of catch-up visits at other people's houses, and my go-to hostess gifts have mostly been cheesy nibbles or bread. At such a time, stymied by being unable to bake almost anything, isn't it heartening to remember that chocolate by itself is gluten-free, as well as (almost) universally beloved?

Coconut clusters
After requesting coconut-toasting tips on Twitter, all of which turned out to be variations of "Don't turn your back on it," I decided to give my slow cooker yet another challenge--which it handled brilliantly. This recipe was entirely based on what I had on hand, as you will see when you read further, and I will definitely be tweaking it when I make it again (which I will also definitely be doing). But it came out pretty fabulous for a first effort.

1 cup unsweetened coconut
1 bar (113 g/~4 oz) dark chocolate*

Lightly grease the inside of your slow cooker, and then turn to high. Dump in coconut and spread out across the bottom. Put lid on askew (this is to keep condensation from forming). Check and stir coconut every 10 minutes or so, until it is toasted a light brown (mine took about 30 minutes).** Remove and set aside.

Immediately drop chocolate into slow cooker. Replace lid askew, and allow to melt (since the slow cooker is already hot, this should be quick--say, 10-15 minutes). Meanwhile, line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

When chocolate is melted, turn off slow cooker and remove lid. Dump in coconut and stir to coat completely with chocolate. Remove clusters with a teaspoon and place on parchment-lined tray. Leave in a cool place to set and harden.

Makes about 24 1-inch clusters.

* I didn't feel this was quite enough chocolate, so will probably increase next time.
** The coconut gets drier (of course) and thus crispier as it toasts, so I'm going to experiment with getting a balance of toasted and still-chewy coconut. I think this will be easier to do using the slow cooker method, since I had to move everything around to make sure it toasted evenly: if I don't, I'll get some texture variation.

Prep procrastination

Speaking of philosophical conundrums: if you have a choice in cooking, when would you prefer to do most of the work? At the beginning, or the end, of preparation?

For myself, I generally prefer making things that require most of the work at the beginning, so that when the cooking part is done, the food is essentially ready to be served. Especially when I’m trying to get a meal on the table, I find that having too much to do in the last 10-15 minutes really stresses me out.

I apparently forgot this preference this morning when I decided to make applesauce. I had a pile of apples that had seen better days, but weren’t done for yet, and I figured this was the best way to use them up. But I was also rushing around, trying to get various things done so that I could sit down at the computer and get to work. So, instead of peeling and coring them as I normally would, I convinced myself that I had read somewhere that leaving the peel on enhanced the color of the final product, and that I could remove anything I didn’t want in the mix later by putting it through a food mill.

(Please note: I was making the applesauce in a slow cooker. It was in there for hours. It came out brown. Also: my food mill is in Boston.)

When I came back to finish it off late in the afternoon, I cursed myself for my earlier decision. Then I dirtied three different perforated kitchen tools (a sieve, a frying basket, and a plastic colander) and a whole lot of utensils trying to find something that would allow me to strain through the apple mush but trap the peel, seeds, stems, and other unappetizing bits. That took a while.

On the plus side, the strained mush was much smoother than my usual lumpy applesauce, so I dumped it back in the slow cooker and cooked it down some more. I don’t know if it qualifies as apple butter, but it’s very thick. And pretty tasty.

I still have another 10 apples to use up, so I’m going to make another batch tomorrow. Which presents a further dilemma: now that I’ve cracked a method for straining out the bits, should I use the no-prep method again, or go for the traditional peel and core?

I guess I'll just have to figure out when I have the least amount of time.

Slow cooker applesauce/butter
10 apples, washed and cut into eighths
2-4 Tbsp spiced sugar*
Pinch salt
¼ cup water or other liquid
1 Tbsp lemon juice

Put the first four ingredients in the slow cooker and cook for 4-6 hours on low, until apples have softened completely.

Force apple mush through a food mill or strainer to get rid of all the stuff you don’t want in the finished product. If desired, return strained puree to the slow cooker and cook on low for another hour or so until thickened further. Stir in the lemon juice; taste, and adjust seasonings if desired.

Makes about 2 cups.

* I used sugar seasoned with cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cardamom. I added more cinnamon and ginger at the end.