Arnaud's Remoulade Creole Jambalaya

If you now me, then you know of my love of all things New Orleans. The food, the people, the culture, the music, the ambiance, did I mention the food? I love Remoulade's situated right on Bourbon street in the heart of the French Quarter. Its somewhere that I frequent, when in NOLA, and if you are a fan of yelp, you can read me waxing poetically about my love of this restaurant.

When I was there in 2007, I fell in love with their Jambalaya. As luck would have it, I found the recipe on their website, and printed off a copy for my cookbook. I have made it many times over the past few years, and it has become a staple in my cooking.

If you are in the NOLA area, Remoulade's is a must stop. If you can't make it there, well, you can have a little taste of NOLA right in your home. I like to make it when watching Saints games...

2 pounds jump shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 pound seasoned sausage, such as andouille, diced
1/2 cup green onion
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 cup fresh parsley
1 cup chopped green pepper
1 1/2 cups canned tomatoes
1 bayleaf
1 teaspoon crushed thyme
1/8 teaspoon Cayenne pepper (I use 1/4 I like it a little hotter)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups broth
1 cup long grain rice

1 - prepare shrimp.

2 - in a dutch oven or a heavy pan with a tight-fitting lid, saute sausage in the oil for about 3 minutes

3- Add garlic, onion, and green pepper, cook til tender

4- Add parsley, tomatoes, seasonings, rice and water. stir in thoroughly then add shrimp

5- Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cover tightly

6- cook without stirring over low heat, or transfer to 350 degree oven for 25-30 mins until rice is fluffy (I prefer the oven method)

7 - remove bayleaf before serving.

The chief commentator couldn't get enough of this. I think he ate 3 bowls the first night (and I had made homemade corn bread to go with it!) He was delighted beyond all belief. I of course love it, and have considered it a staple in my kitchen for a while now.

I do double the cayenne in the recipe when it's just him and I. The 'normal' 1/8th teaspoon howeer is fine for the kids, and they love eating the recipe as well.

Sirloin Steak with Mustard and Fresh Ginger

This one comes from what I think was a Napa Valley Travel Magazine that I cut apart. Date and season unknown... The recipe is called Double-Thich Sirloin Stead with Mustard and Fresh Ginger, and it's credited to an Emily Didier

yields 6-8 servings
1 sirloin stead double thick (about 2 inches) weigning approximately 3 pounds with the tenderloing piece removed, if desired (ask your butcher for this cut)

Mustard Coating:
1/4 cup dijon mustard
1 teaspoon soy sauce
2 cloves garlic minced very fine
3-4 tablespoons fresh ginger, minced, but not too finely, peel off the skin, slice into thick, diagonal slices, then smash and chop)
2 tablespoons oil

1 trim the meat of any excess fat. reserve.
2 put mustard coating ingredients into a bowl and stir into a paste
3 two hours before roasting time, brush the steak entirely with 2/3 of the coating, then palce in roasting pan. Spread the final third as a thick layer atop the meat. Let stand at room temp 2 hours.
4 To roast and serve: Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Place meat in center of oven and roast approximately 20 minutes or until internal temperature of the meat reaches 125 to 130 degrees.
5 remove from oven, let sit 6 or 7 minute, then serve
6 slice on the diagonal into thin or thick slices as you prefer; 1/4 inch thick is suggested.

Variation: can be barbecued with great success.

Ok - first off the Chief Commentator, would LOVE LOVE LOVE to try this BBQ'd but we need to try it on a different cut of meat, not our favorite cut here. Also after using the fresh garlic and fresh ginger, I think as a marinade / sauce, it would have had a better consistency had the garlic been powdered as well as the ginger. Both seemed to make it a little akward and lumpy.

On the recipe, there were some Wine pairing suggestions from Napa Valley Appellation's Wine Steawrd, Ronn Wiegand: (hmm maybe this was from Napa Valley App Mag?)
* Robert Sinskey Vineyards, 1991 RSV Claret, Stags Leap District, Napa Valley (Cabernet Sauvignon blend)
*Beringer, 1991 Merlot, Bancroft Ranch, Howell Mountain, Napa Valley
*Rosenblum Cellars, 1992 Petite Sirah, Napa Valley

I actually paired it with a "Pro-mis-Q-ous" red table wine I found in a discount bin, that (shhh I know, I know I shouldn't every by a bottle of wine based on this) the label interested me, and it was like $6. It wasn't the best bottle of wine, but for a dish that seemed to scream Mid-West Cuisine, it paired well.


I

Broiled Chicken wBreasts with Basil - Tarragon Pesto

First off, this is once again a Marie Claire Recipe. And of course the Chief Commentator loved it.. (go figure) This set is by Erica De Mane, again it's food in 15 minutes, and I have no idea the issue or the year, etc etc. the other recipes are all summery and featuring summer herbs, so lets just assume it's once again a "summer" issue.

Broiled Chicken Breasts with basil tarragon pesto

2 large chicken breasts, split and boned, skin on (buy this way in your meat market from the butcher)

1/2 cup blanched almonds

2 peeled garlic cloves

1/2 cup grated asiago or parmesan cheese

2 dozen basil leaves

10 springs tarragon, thich stems removed

1/4 cup olive oil plus 2 tablespoons

salt and black pepper

2 tablespoons tarragon vinegar

1 preheat broiler

2 grind garlic and nuts together in a food processor. Add asiago, herbs and 1/4 cup olive oil, grind to a rough paste, add salt and pepper

3 loosen skin on one side of each half breast and push a generous layer of pesto between skin and meat. Place breasts on broiler tray; sprinkle with vinegar, remaining oil, salt and pepper.

Broil 3 inches from flame, until skin is brown and crisp and meat just cooked trhough (about 10 minutes) These are good served hot or cold, whole or sliced at an agle and fanned out on a plate.

If you note in my photo my chicken is a little more than "brown" on the top, you can thank my broiler for that. Not me or the instructions. I would suggest baking it, and then just popping it in the broiler for the last minute or so, to brown.

The Chief Commentator knew all the stuffing ingredients without me telling him. He loved every component of the stuffing. Great consistency of stuffing, the breasts were really moist and delicious.

The stuffing recipe made HUGE portions, there was easily enough stuffing for 4 breasts.

Italian Cassarole

We made another nights meal for Chief Commentator's friend. It was another casserole from Grandma Mary, because well, what do mid-westerner's do well? They cook casserole. In fear of making it a little too bland for California palate, I did take a liberty to the recipe. I'll explain as I take you through it.

1lb cooked large shell macaroni

1/4 cup butter

1 1/2 pounds ground beef

2 medium onions

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/4 teaspoon garlic salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1 pound sharp cheese, grated

2 cans (8oz each) tomatoe sauce

2 cans (3 oz each) chopped mushrooms with liquid

3/4 cup burgundy wine

in a large skillet, brown meat. saute onions until tender. Drain off excess fat, add salt, garlic salt, and pepper. Toss cooked macaroni with 1/4 cup melted butter and place in two (2quart) cassaroles. Add 2/3 of chees to meat mixture and stir until cheese melts, add 1 can tomato sauce and mushrooms and pour the mixture over the macaroni. Top with second can of tomatoe sauce and sprinke with remaining cheese. Bake uncovered for 1 hour and 40 mins in 325 degree oven. When ready to serve pour on wine. Serves 8.

Again another recipe from "Fan" which I'm starting to think means a fan of the column, of the Saint Paul Pioneer Press Dispatch.

Ok so what I did differently. I drained all the mushrooms, cause homie doesn't do mushroom liquid. I also substituted pasta sauce for tomatoe sauce to add some flavor. and instead of garlic salt (too much sodium in this dish) I made it garlic powder.

oh and when baking. Don't bake it for an hour and 40 mins, it would have been glop. 45 mins is all it needs, it's all pre cooked anyway.

Chief Commentator liked it alot. the 8 person serving, served 3 kids, him and I with maybe left overs for lunch tomorrow... the kids ate double portions, so it's a really good kid friendly dish. Everything mixed well together. It's your typical 70's hotdish if you are from the midwest, it will take you back to being a kid, and eatting thatkind of thing for dinner. Pair it with a salad to lighten it up a bit. We ate it with some good old fashioned PBR...

Spareribs

Oddly enough my Grandma Mary only has 1 spare rib recipe. She was more the meat eater then the other one, yet the other one has a bunch. Instead of attempting the mass quantites of Grandma Mel, I opted for the 1 recipe of Grandma Mary.

Pretty glad I did.

This one comes from Fan in Saint Paul, circa the Saint Paul Press Dispatch Newspaper, and again I'm guessing well over 30 years ago. there is an ad on the back of the clipping for Mink Coats, and they are $2495 new, or $1295 bucks pre owned.

I'm not sure many people can remember a day, when departments stores advertised that they even sold Mink Coats.

Spareribs

2.5 pounds spareribs, cut into serving pieces (ok, I left mine whole on the rack)

3 tablespoons worcestershire sauce

3 tablespoons dark brown sugar

2 table spoons frozen orange juice concentrate

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

3/4 teaspoon salt

Place ribs on rack in baking pan. bake at 400 for 45 minutes. Pour off pan drippings. Combine remaining ingredients and mix well. Brush sauce over ribs. Reduce oven heat to 350 degrees and bake 3o minutes longer or until tender, turning occasionally and brushing with remaining sauce. Serves 4.

well... I kinda cheated with this one. I double the sauce recipe and split it in 2. I marinated the ribs in half before backing, and then the last 30 mins, I pulled them out and threw them on the grill, and cooked them, while basting with the left over sauce.

Chieft Commentators comments: Citrus, good texture, loved the orange. loved. loved. loved it. it was simple and easier then most Bobby Flay recipes and also tastier (Sorry, Bobby, he likes my recipe better.. wanna challenge?)

oh and the photo doesn't do the ribs justice, but I paired it with several diferent vodka drinks that we were 'taste testing' after the final prep and sampling of the recipe, and as much as I'd love to include those drink recipies, they aren't from back when I made the cookbooks.

Upper Peninsula "Cornish" Pasties

I remember a long time ago, flipping through the pages of the cookbook of my Grandma Mary. I remember reading the titles out loud to my mom, and at some point she made a semi sarcastic comment to me about how my Grandma most likely didn't make ALL the recipies in the cookbook because she wasn't much of a cook, especially for things that took a long time. I was a little insulted at the time thinking OF COURSE she made every recipe... otherwise why would they be in her cookbook?

heh.

well years later, I know different. After filling 2 cookbooks myself with unmade recipes, and of course age, I've learned better. I'd still love to believe (for my childhood self) that she of course made every recipe that made it into the cookbook... but in the instance of the Pasties. I'd like to call b.s. on this theory. There is no way. NO, NO, NO way, (especially without the convenience of a kitchen aid) that my Grandma made these. And with that being said. I'm a little sad she didn't because I think she would have enjoyed them.

I have liked Pastie for a long time. Back in Highschool I dated a guy whose mom made them, based on a recipe she got from her Mother In Law. I'm guessing her crust was premade pie crust, since she wasn't exactly betty crocker... but again maybe I'm wrong. I don't remember her's tasting like this.

First a note about Suet: if you don't know what suet is, it's beef fat. Its the full slab of fat that is cut away from the underside of the beef. it's big. it's ugly, and if I can figure out ever how to post more then one photo per blog, I would show you, since I took a photo of all 6 pounds of the stuff that I had, before I had to grind it. I stuck it all in the kitchen aid food processor and it was done in less time then I thought, although the grease factor was less then pleasing when cleaning up. If you can get the suet ground from the butcher, by all means do. Also, call your butchers when you start this project. It's not as easy to find as I would have thought. Oliver's does carry it, and will stock extra if you call ahead. they may even be nice enough to grind it for you.

and with that I give you "Upper Peninsula "Cornish" Pasties.

Crust:

2 cups finely ground suet

3/4 cup lard

4 cups flour

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

water

With fingertips, work suet into dry ingredients until well-blended. Add lard and blend again, as for pie crust. Cut in enough water so dough is right for rolling. Divide dough into six equal parts.

Ok, so if you have never made pie crust from scratch, this step is a little daunting. You need to make sure that you make the dough moist and crumbly, but not too moist, because it won't roll. Also, cheat and use your kitchen aid with the dough hook.

Filling

2 1/2 pounds flank steak, cut into small cubes

6 medium potatoes, sliced or cubed

2 medium onions, chopped

1 small rutabaga, sliced or cubed

salt and pepper to taste

butter

Combine ingredients, mixing well. Divide into 6 equal parts. Roll out each portion of dough to the size of a dinner plate. On half of each circle, place one portion of filling. Dot with butter the size of a walnut. Cover filling by folding over the other half of the dough and seal edges by crimping. Prick top of pastie with fork to make air holes. Place pasties on an ungreased baking pan and bake at 350 degrees for an hour. Makes 6 servings.

The article came out of the Saint Paul Press Dispatch prolly 30 or so years ago, and it was from Gerry Loverich from South Saint Paul.

Ok.. so besides the major pain in the butt of dealing with the suet, and then having to roll out the dough, neither of which were my favorite, the flavor of the crust and the flakieness are worth the bit of labor. If I was making the crust by hand I'd say the difficulty was Hard, so that is what I'm sticking with.

The chief commentator's review: If you have only had pot pie, you never lived. He loved the rutabega in it, and would have lessened the quantity of potatoe and upped the quantity of the rutabega. It had the perfect texture and it was so good.

It also reheated really well. We put the back in the over at 350 for about 30 mins today, and served them to the commentator's kids and all loved them.

I have about 10 cups of suet frozen (ground) so I will be making this again. Also, I bought the big container of lard (as I forsee more of my grandma's recipes calling for the 'real deal') so I'm well stocked in the staples.

We ate it the first time with a bottle of Marrietta Bin 51 Red Wine Blend.

Curry Chicken with Cucumber Yogurt Sauce

Curry Chicken with Cucumber Yogurt Sauce
Curry powder
Coriander
Cumin

Chicken thighs / breasts / what ever your favorite body parts are.

Cucumber-Yogurt Sauce
Half cucumber, peeled
½ cup plain yogurt
10 large leaves of fresh mint chopped fine.
Put curry, coriander, cumin into a shallow dish. Dip each chicken piece in the powder, turning to coat both sides. Heat a medium size skillet over med-high heat, spray with cooking spray. Add chicken and cook 5 mins. Turn and cook 4 mins more. Continue to turn, and cook until done.

Slice cucumber in half, use a spoon (I like a grapefruit spoon with the little ridges) to scoop out the seeds and liquid. Then I chunk it up, and add the yogurt and mint. And stuffed it all in the food processor.

To serve, scoop a little sauce over each piece of chicken.

Chief commentator says: Refreshing and lively, crisp minty flavor. Good happy summer dish. Great! I’m not usually a curry fan, but this doesn’t have the typical dirty curry taste.

We served it with a 2007 Simi Viognier.

It was really friggin easy to make.. and Chief Commentator says it’s a new favorite.

Wild Rice Baron

The chief commentator had a co-worker seriously injured in a car accident 12 days ago, today he returned home from the hospital, after having countless surgeries, and is on a long road to healing.

Being from the Midwest, I come from a group of people that when things happen, you cook and you cook and you cook. You send over hot dishes for the family, so they don’t have to concern themselves with making food. Today, when chief came home, I informed him that he would be delivering a Wild Rice Baron hotdish, along with a carrot pineapple cake tomorrow morning.

Note: the recipe and comments about making it are here now, we are cooking our own wild rice baron (I made 2) tomorrow night for dinner, so tasting notes will follow.

Wild Rice Baron
2 cups raw wild rice
4 cups water
2 teaspoons salt (optional)
2lbs ground beef
1lb mushrooms
½ cup celery chopped
½ cup btter
¼ cup soy sauce
2 cups sour cream
2 teaspoons salt (also optional)
¼ teaspoon pepper
½ cup slivered almonds

Gently cook wild rice, water and salt for 45 minutes. Drain if necessary. Brown ground beef and set aside. Rinse mushrooms trip tips of stems and slice. Saute Mushrooms, celery, and onion in butter for 5-10 minutes. Combine soy sauce, sour cream, salt and pepper. Add cooked wild rice, browned hamburger, mushrooms onions, celery mixture. Toss lightly. Place rice mix into a slightly buttered 3qt casserole dish, sprinkle with almonds.

This can be made in advance (like I did) and then refrigerated, and baked later.
When time to bake. Bake in 350 degree oven for about 1 hour uncovered.

Comments about prep: It was harder then I thought to make, mostly because there are so many steps, and you have to do each of them in different pans, which makes for a lot of dishes. If you want a short cut in the time, I would suggest getting precut mushrooms, that was the most time consuming part of the entire recipe.

So far, it looks and smells great, and packed beautifully into the casserole dish.

Not our favorite thing ever. It was a little bland. I don't like the almonds on top. It's a good hardy dish though, and if you like wild rice, it's a good dish. I would add more spice to it next time, and get rid of the almonds.

Lamb Roast with Polenta and Vegetables with red wine reduction

I am not 100% certain the where about of how this recipe came to be, except to say that it’s written in my handwriting, and stuck in my notebook. I have made it several times in the past, occasionally I use Lamb Shank and cook it in a pan rather than a roast because it’s quicker. That being said…

What I am 100% certain about, is when you finish making this recipe, the meat is fall apart tender, and mouth wateringly delicious.

Lamb Roast with Polenta and Vegetables with red wine reduction

Lamb:
3-4 lb Lamb Roast, Tied
2 Meyer lemons, sliced
3-4 fresh sprigs of each
Rosemary
Thyme
Sage
Sea Salt & fresh cracked pepper to taste
Hint of olive oil

Place lamb in Dutch Oven rub olive oil over skin and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Lay sliced lemons around and on top of lamb & sprinkle sprigs of herbs over top. Cover and place in Preheated oven at 325 degrees for 20 minutes per pound.

Vegetables with red wine reduction:
1 large red bell pepper - diced
3 cloves garlic - minced
2 shallots - minced
2 carrots - diced
4 stalks celery –diced
1 sprig rosemary
3 sprig Thyme
Handful of sage
28 oz of diced tomatoes (I used canned)
2 cups wine (red)
2 Tablespoons dry chicken bouillon
Tablespoon of Olive oil
2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Cracked black pepper (to taste)
¼ cup Reserve of juice from lamb pan

Heat Oil in pan and add Shallots and Garlic, sweat until clear.
Add in all other veggies (except tomatoes) and turn a few times to coat. Slowly add tomatoes and wine. Bring to boil. Sprinkle in bouillon & Stirl to mix well.

Chop fresh herbs and blend into sauce, turn to simmer. Stirring occasionally, leave to simmer with lid on until Lamb is ready from oven. After removing lamb from oven, stir in ¼ cup juices from pan and the 2 Tablespoons vinegar. Bring back to boil for 2-3 minutes stirring continuously.

Polenta:
1 cup dry polenta
2 cups H2o
1 Tab chicken bouillon
2 cups milk
2 Tab butter
¼ cup grated parmesan

In pot, mix polenta, bouillon, butter and water, bring to a boil, while whisking constantly, add milk and continue to whisk until cooked.

Let the lamb rest for a few minutes while you finish up the sauce (with the juices from the pan) and make the polenta.

Spoon some of the reduction sauce onto the plate, top with the lamb and a little lemon slice. Place the polenta on the side, so the juices of the sauce also run into the polenta.

Serve with lots of crusty French bread for sopping up the amazing sauce.

Technical stuff: makes 6 servings
Difficulty: Moderate, there are more steps here than most of my recipies, but well worth it
Served with: it's a complete meal but you could easily just serve the polenta
Reheat Well?: Yup. yup. yup.
Comments: Cheif Commentators words: could easily eat it at least twice a month, if not once a week. The polenta was GREAT and reheated well with left over sauce. Spice of the sauce really highlighted the polenta. Comfort food for a cold day, without being overly heavy.

yup. it's a keeper.

Pork with Asian Greens and Citrus Dressing

This one came out of Redbook in May 1998. The title is Meals under 500 calories.
They suggested serving with Couscous, I served it standing alone, because I didn’t think it needed side dish.

Prep time: 10 minutes, Cooking time 30 minutes (according to them)

Pork with Asian Greens and Citrus

1 cup orange juice
½ cup chicken broth
1 large shallot, minced
¼ teaspoon curry powder
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon lemon juice
½ teaspoon salt
1 pork tenderloin (1 ¼ lbs) cut into 16 slices
1 package (4 cups) Asian mixed greens or baby spinach leaves stems trimmed

1. Bring orange juice, chicken broth, shallot and curry powder to a boil in small saucepan over high heat; boil 20 minutes, or until reduced to ½ cup and slightly syrupy. Remove from heat. Stir in oil, lemon juice and salt.

2. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Spray with cooking spray. Cook pork 3-4 minutes per side, until browned and cooked through. Serve pork over greens topped with dressing. Makes 4 servings.

Per serving (given by them) 275 cals (35% from fat) 11g fat.

Let me just say, this was stellar, although I have to say I did 2 things slightly differently. 1) I bought the tenderloin already cut as chops (it was easier) and 2) with the spinach leaves I also chopped up some cabbage to make a salad bed of greens.

Technical stuff:
Makes 4 servings (original portions) as a main dish.

Difficulty: Easy!!!!!!

Time: Less than 30 minutes – total.

Served with: Blind Pig ale, but would have gone better with Sapporo.

Reheat Well?: Didn't try it. All gone!

Served with: would have been great with more salad fixings, grape tomatoes, and possibly cucumber.

Comments: Perfect sweetness/tartness balance. Not gooey and the greens stood up to the warm dressing nicely. The pre cut chops are the way to go. Chief commentator loved it. He would like to eat this on a regular basis.

Things I'd do differently next time: I would add a few more veggies into the salad part and maybe double the dressing and make it more a full on salad meal. I didn’t love the curry powder in there, might alter the ratio or add maybe a little ginger?

Baked Fish in Parchment Paper

This was a cutting I took out of I think the Napa Register. There is a credit at the top of the article that says NYT Regional Newspapers.

Baked Fish in Parchment

4 (6oz) fish filets cut ½ to ¾ inch thick
½ cup sundried tomatos
¼ cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
4 teaspoons minced garlic
Salt and pepper to taste.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut four, 12 inch circles from kitchen parchment; fold each circle in half.

Unfold circles and place fish pieces next to folds. Top fish with tomato bits, lemon juice, thyme, garlic, salt and pepper, diving equally. Refold paper over fish so that cut edges meet. Fold and roll cut edges up all the way around to seal packets securely. Place on baking sheet; bake 10-12 minutes until packets are browned and puffed.

Transfer packets to serving plats, cut open to serve. Makes 4 servings.

Note: aluminum foil maybe used in place of kitchen parchment. Cut four, 12 inch squares of foil, proceed as with as with parchment circles, but cook for 12 minutes.

There is a note that the recipe comes from Sonoma Dried Tomato Cookbook. (Timber Crest Farms)

First off – this is an AMAZING way to cook fish. OMG – I have never done it like that before, but it is incredible, easy simple to clean up, and a dream. LOVE the method.

As for this exact recipe.. 1) I used red snapper because it was on special, I should have used Basa because neither myself or the Chief commentator love snapper. Also, neither of us are huge fans of sun dried tomatoes, if they happen to be on a dish, we don’t pull them off but neither of us have ever ordered a dish BECAUSE they were there.

Thinking of reworking this method with maybe a pesto or a white wine shallot angle and giving it another try. This method could also take on a fabulous comfort food aspect with some cheese and breadcrumbs. If you love sun dried tomatoes, by all means give it a try, but I would HIGHLY recommend using the cooking method.


Technical stuff:
Makes 4 servings (original portions) as a main dish.

Difficulty: Easy

Time : Less than 60 minutes

Served with: Nothing, would have gone great with a light ale perhaps Skinny Dip or Tangerine Wheat.

Reheat Well?: Didn't try it.

Served with: Asparagus. Would have gone well with Rice, or perhaps mashed Sweet potatoes.

Comments: great method, but not fan of ingredients in the sauce.

Things I'd do differently next time: different fish, different sauce.

Chicken with Tarragon

Wow, I have such a feeling of accomplishment to say that the very first recipe I made I knocked out of the park!

I made the Chicken Tarragon recipe from my Grandma Mary’s cookbook. It was a recipe card that was shoved in the back of the book in a plastic sandwich baggie. (So I have no idea if she actually ever made this or not..)

The card originally came from a deck of recipe cards called the 60– Minute Gourmet. Pierre Franey, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Franey famed French Chef who had the TV show 60-Minute Gourmet and also wrote the rather famous 60-Minute Gourmet column in the New York Times.

Below I give you the exact recipe as it’s written, I will note that I used a Rocky Chicken, and those damn things are so big (just a tad over 5 pounds) that I doubled everything, although the cooking time didn’t change much.

Chicken with Tarragon

1 2 - 2 ½ lb Chicken, split in half as for broiling.
Salt and Pepper
2 Tbsp Butter
2 Tbsp finely chopped shallots
2 Tsp finely chopped fresh tarragon or 1 tsp dried tarragon
½ cup dry white wine
¼ cup water

1. If the backbone is still attached to one of the chicken halves, hack it away.
This will hasten the cooking. Reserve the backbone. Also, it’s best to sever the joint that connects the thighbones with the legs. Do not cut through but leave the thighs and legs otherwise attached.

*If you don’t know anything about cutting up a chicken, I suggest checking this site out.
http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/how-to-cut-up-chicken1.htm

2. Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper.

3. Heat the butter in a heavy skillet large enough to hold the whole chicken. Add the chicken, skin side down. Surround it with the gizzard, liver, heart, neck and backbone (and if you are lucky like we were, Rocky tossed 3 extra hearts into our chicken! and yes really I used them!)

4. Cook about 10 minutes until golden brown on the skin side. Turn and cook about 5 minutes longer. Remove the chicken and set aside.

5. To the skillet add the shallots and cook briefly. Add the tarragon and wine. Stir to dissolve the brown particles that cling to the bottom of the skillet. Stir in the water.

6. Return the chicken to the skillet, skin side up and cover. Cook about 15 minutes. Uncover and continue cooking, basting often, about 5 minutes longer or until the chicken is thoroughly tender and nicely glazed.

Technical stuff:

Makes 4 servings (original portions) as a main dish.

Difficulty: Easy

Time : Less than 60 minutes

Served with: 2008 Simi Pinot Gris, which was a great choice. Also used in recipe.

Overall ranking: New Favorite!

Reheat Well?: Didn't try it. But appears it will.

Served with: White rice cooked in chicken stock, and a side salad.

Comments: Tender, juicy, moist, loved how the outside carmelized in the sauce. The skin was cooked perfectly. Nothing was wasted (see use of gizzard, hearts, neck etc) It is essentially the perfect "bonepicker" meal and my Chief Commentator thought the inners a tasty treat.

Things I'd do differently next time: I would definately use a smaller chicken, although it came out amazing, trying to get that thing stuffed into the pan was a bit of work.

Looking forward in Thyme: Fish!

The Technical stuff part deux

Because Blogger doesn't let me put that many tags in one post!

General Tag words: (these I'm starting out with, we may add more later)

Type of dish: Entree; Appetizer; Salad; Side dish; Dessert; Beverage

Main Ingredients: Chicken; Beef; Lamb; Fish; Pasta; Veggies; Cheese;

Special Equiptment: Crockpot; Deep fryer;