Saturday, November 3, 2007

My Cooking: Fall Chicken


Ok, so I am posting my first in what I hope will be a long series of ever evolving entries designed around my own personal cooking. I hope to look back on this one day and realize that I actually have learned something from dish to dish and more importantly, applied what I have learned to future dishes. Further, the secondary point of this is to show people just how easy cooking is. I mentioned in my Ponti entry that I get annoyed when people say they can't cook. Don't get me wrong, I am sure there are plenty of people out there who should not cook. However, I think everyone has the ability to follow a recipe and to come out with something edible. This blog is meant to teach anyone who may want to learn as well.


So, it was a little chilly in our apartment tonight so I decided to go with deep, rich fall flavors. This is likely not something to be made in the late spring or summer. I personally look at this as comfort food (at least for me) -- something that when you eat it, you are transported to the place you want to be, the way you want to feel, etc.


So, my first dish was a Chicken dish as I am sure you gathered from the title. Since I am not a true chef, forgive what I will call this...Rosemary Fall Chicken with a chunky tomato and cucumber vinaigrette and baked vegetables. The center piece of this entire dish is the Rosemary. I look at rosemary and sage as just truly fall/wintry flavors, similar to cinnamon and nutmeg. These flavors can be enjoyed in the summer but they shout fall to me. I paired this dish with a Bogle vineyards Petite Syrah. Petite Syrahs are really full, almost thick wines. They are the type of wine you would want to have if you came in from the cold. They have deep berry flavors and should have a decent amount of tanins (but not overwhelming). They differ very much from a regular Syrah or Shiraz (same grape but a Shiraz comes from Australia).


So, the steps:
  1. Cut up one small to medium, seeded and skinned cucumber. Place in bowl.

  2. Cut up 1 beefsteak tomato (or whatever tomato you prefer. Place in the Cucumber bowl. These can be roughly 1/2 inch cubes. Of note: when I cook with tomatoes, I will scoop out the innards (the middle seeds, etc and then I will be left with the actual fleshy part of the tomato).

  3. You can add a pinch of kosher salt, a grind of pepper and a splash of extra virgin olive oil and red wine vinegar. Toss this mixture and let sit for around 15+ minutes. The salt will drain out some of the water from the cucumber and the tomato. The longer you let them sit, the more water will come out.

  4. Trim up your chicken breast for excess fat.

  5. But up as much asparagus as you would like and mushrooms (I used baby portabella mushrooms).

  6. Place the asparagus and the mushrooms in a sautée pan with some olive oil, salt and pepper.

  7. Now our flavor agents: Mince up two cloves of garlic, half a red onion and your rosemary. I separate these out so I can utilize each in different amounts with the three different things I am cooking (the chicken is 1, the asparagus and mushrooms are 2 and the cucumber/tomato vinaigrette is the 3rd.

  8. Add as much of each of the three flavoring agents to each portion of the dish. I find that when I cook, I like to focus on my flavoring agents. You can mix flavors but I feel if you use one agent as your "focus" it will create a dish that is bound by 1-2 ingredients. So, you can cook your veggies separate from your protein but still when they are added to the same plate, they flow.

  9. Now, this is the technique I have really been working on perfecting (and I am far from it right now), take another sautée pan and put it on as high of heat as you can for about 3-5 minutes. This will be to sear the outside of the chicken. Searing is what I am really trying to perfect. It is not just throwing a piece of meat or fish on a hot stove. There are different fats you can cook with (butter, oil (and many types of oils), bacon fat, etc) and they each have a different smoke point (the temperature at which they will begin to smoke because they are at their personal heat threshold). I am not good with the different fats and I am trying to learn.

  10. Now the pan is hot, throw in some butter to melt just a bit. Then add in the chicken breast. Let this sizzle for about 2 minutes and then flip. In the meantime, while your breast(s) are sizzling (hopefully just your chicken breasts) turn the oven on to 400.

  11. So, another 2 minutes for the other side of the chicken and then turn the heat off and let it sit. After about 3 minutes, the juices will settle somewhat and you can add this pan to the oven. This is the second thing I am trying to focus my culinary education on, how long does it take to cook something in the oven? All ovens are different despite the fact they all have temperature dials. Not to mention, all pieces of protein are a different thickness.

  12. I left my chicken in for about 12 minutes and it was cooked all the way through. It was still juicy in the middle and I will not lie, it did taste good. However, I think the next time I use this technique with a different focus flavor, I would leave the chicken in the oven for only 9-10 minutes.

  13. The searing was a success though, the outside was more of a firm, crisp texture which I wanted.

  14. Meanwhile, once you throw the chicken in, wait about 2 minutes and then add the asparagus/mushroom pan into the oven. You will be able to pull this out right about the same time as the chicken. If they don't look done, leave them a minute or so longer.

  15. Finally, added a pan to a medium high heat stove top and then added butter (my fat of choice tonight) and let that sizzle for a moment then added my chopped onion and left over garlic. This sautées til translucent which will be roughly 2-3 minutes. Then, add the entire vinaigrette bowl and some more rosemary and sizzle away.
When you are done cooking, plate however you'd like. Personally, looking at the pictures now, I should have added a stem of rosemary to the plate somewhere (probably on top of the chicken) since this was a my focus flavor. But do what you think looks nice. Personally, I take the time to plate because it is the only slightly artistic thing I am interested in. I know it will all end up in the same place, but there is a moment when you are about to eat, you look at what you are about to eat (especially if you made it) and you grab a sip of wine and give yourself a pat on the back (even if it is not bad, it was fun, hopefully) and then you dig in (or start to write a blog while you eat). Personally, I love to cook with music in the background. I find it therapeutic and it helps me to clear my mind. Tonight I was listening to Damien Rice and Joshua Radin. Sometimes I like Norah Jones or Frank Sinatra. Most of the time it is Dave. But the point is, find what you like...even if it is just the Jerry Spring show on in the background and COOK. You will be amazed at how quickly you learn and how much of a difference you will see in your cooking if you pay attention to what you are doing and really enjoy the process. If I ever cook for someone now, they will always tell me, "you didn't have to do that.....You shouldn't have....I hope it was not to much trouble." What they truly do not get is that the cooking process is not a burden to me. I get consumed with it once I realize I am going to cook for someone. I start to think about different things that I would like to cook and making lists of things I need to get. I truly, honestly love the process from beginning to finish. There is not one point while I cook during which I am annoyed or wish I was doing something else. Some people do yoga, some people play the harp, some people paint...I work out or cook. I hope you try it sometime soon. :)



Finally, just because I am finding all these cool new things on this blogger thing, I wanted to add one last picture of a shrimp dish I made a few months ago. Yes, I know I do take pictures of my food. I know it is gay, so be it. As you should be able to tell on this dish, the focus flavor was basil.


Ponti Seafood Cafe -- Seattle, WA

On Monday, October 29th, I arrive din Seattle, WA for the firs time. I got in around 8 PM and I was excited because I had always heard such great things about Seattle. I had already found Ponti on opentable and I chose it because they have a "happy hour" menu served after 9. So, I had made a reservation for 9:15, just in case my flight from Oregon was late. Amazingly, I got in on time and I drove into downtown Seattle to check into my hotel. I was just staying at a Hampton Inn but it was cool to get to go through downtown and I was staying just a few blocks from the Space Needle. So, I headed over to Ponti with actually low expectations. I had saved my more "extravagant" restaurant for the next night since I would be able to get there earlier in the evening. I was already 2 hours behind central time so I was essentially eating dinner at 11:15.

Ponti was located right on a river that flowed between Lake Union and Salmon Bay. Unfortunately it was not light out but it was still a nice view from my corner table next to several large windows. Oddly enough, my server was once again named Sarah (but this time with an H). She informed me that the salmon was the house specialty because it was caught just about an hour away and brought in daily by the fishermen (whose docks were right outside the restaurant). I told her I would peruse the menu and ordered a glass of their house Cabernet to start with. I was brought some bread and olive oil/balsamic vinegar.

The bread was obviously standard at most restaurants but it made me realize just how good simple items can be. People always talk about how they cannot cook. I hate this. They have just never tried or they have failed in the past with dishes they were not ready to prepare. I think everyone can cook. Maybe some people have to follow a recipe but if they just taught themselves a few key techniques (these can be found on Food Network, not just through cooking classes) then they wold be able to succeed. The bread with the dipping oil and vinegar is a perfect example. It would take about 2 minutes to make this in your own kitchen (and most of that 2 minutes would be taken up by the cutting of the bread). It just reminded me of how good different kitchen items are great when they are mixed together to make a hybrid menu item but also fantastic all alone as well.

Ok, so back to the restaurant...I ended up going wtih the an appetizer of 3 Kushi Oysters on the half shell and the Grilled King Salmon for my main dish. The manager added a nice touch when he brought me a small crape cake on micro greens and a very generous sample of the Alsache Riesling. The crab cake was very smooth in texture and was fantastic. Obviously they felt the wine paired well with it and I have to agree with them. The creaminess of the crab cake paired very nicely with the dry, floral, earthy Riesling. Further, I did not have to pay for it, fantastic start to my meal.

The oysters came quickly after that. Kushi are a type of oyster that are smaller but they were very buttery and less briny then larger oysters I have had in the past. Something I had never seen before was they served the raw oysters with a Mango Habenero Granite and fresh lemon. This may sound gross but it was amazing how the granite melted in your mouth and then there was an explosion of the fruit and the heat mixed with the buttery oyster. I really like this concept and I hope more restaurants try something different like this other then the typcial mignonette sauce (red wine vinegar, shallot and some herbs or garlic). Further, the heat of the granite did not overwhelm the oysters. I do not know if this was due to the type of oyster I was eating or simply the granite itself.

On to the main dish, my grilled salmon. First, it was a huge filet of salmon. HUGE. It was served a yellow and white chantrelle risotto and Sauteed (ever so lightly) cherry tomatoes and zucchini with extra virgin olive oil (just the right amount to coat the veggies) and fresh basil. The fish was amazing. I was immediately smacked in the nose with a truly smoky/woodsy aroma. Mixing the smoky salmon with the creamy risotto was just amazing. I felt like my mouth developed ADD and I could not figure out what to focus on. Then I tried mixing the salmon with the veggies. I really enjoyed the this because the chef did not over cook the veggies. So, the veggies brought this simple freshness to the already fantastically fresh (and large) fish.

Overall, this was a fantastic surprise to me. I truly was expecting your standard fish joint with good fish simply because it was so fresh and readily available in the northwest. However, I was treated to a great experience. I think more restaurants should take a page from Ponti. They were more focused on exposing me to their menu with their free offerings rather then simply letting me choose my dishes and then paying the tab. That is what brings people back. Word travels when people get a free crab cake and everyone obviously would swoon over the paired sample of wine.

I would love to go to Ponti again when the sun is setting and I could have an added aesthetic benefit from the surroudings. All in all, two thumbs up.