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Thursday, March 19, 2020

basic braised bird

This recipe began for me when our daughter decided to call it omm omm chicken, as she could just eat all of the pulled pieces quickly; "omm omm omm omm omm" ... so it is named in our house.  The rest of the world would call it braised chicken.

Things you will need:

  • A 3 to 5" deep roasting pan.  If it has a lid great, if not make due with foil as a lid.  Some steam escaping is no big deal.
  • Oven at 250
Ingredients:
  • Bone in, skin on chicken thighs or quarters (things and legs), enough to fill the roasting pan
  • Salt: I use kosher coarse salt, use whatever you prefer or have on hand
  • Pepper: coarse ground or fresh ground
  • Granulated or dried garlic
  • 1/2 to 1 cup water
Process:
  • Add a base layer of salt to the pan.  How much?  you should be able to see the roasting pan through the layer of mostly salt.
  • Add a layer of pepper and garlic over the salt.
  • Place the chicken onto the base layer.
  • Pour in enough water to just see it around the base of all the chicken.
  • Add a layer of salt, pepper and garlic on top of the chicken
  • Cover and place in the oven
  • Check between 2 and 3 hours, using tongs or a fork, will the chicken easily separate from the bone?  If so, you are done.  If not, cover and cook for a bit longer, checking every 30 minutes.
  • Let cool a bit, and pull the chicken.  Save the skin and those bones for stock!
You can use breast meat; however, it can dry out a bit with this cooking method, FYI.  If using turkey, your cooking time will be a bit longer.

Cheers!

rice balls

I do not claim by any stretch to be an expert in rice. I am sure this recipe is just simply wrong to many people. Also, I do not have a rice maker so I have no idea how this would work in one of those contraptions. With that out of the way, let's get to it and see if we like it!

Thing you will need:

  • Pot with lid (enough capacity for 8 cups)
  • A stirry thing, spatula or the like
Ingredients:
  • 3 cups sushi grade rice
  • 3 cups stock (chicken, beef, veggie, etc)
  • 1 cup coconut cream (try to find cream not milk as the cream has a much higher fat content)
  • 2 cups water
  • 2 tbsp salt
  • 1 tbsp oil (olive, avocado, etc)
Process:
  • Heat the pot on medium high heat
  • Add the oil and let it heat
  • Add the rice and stir to coat the rice in the oil
  • Add the salt and liquid ingredients (mind the steam on your first pour!)
  • Turn heat to high and bring to a boil
  • Reduce to near low ... like 2 out of 10 ... cover and set a 20 minute timer
  • At 20 minutes look to see how much moisture is left:
    •  if a lot, cover and keep simmering checking every 5 minutes or so until mostly dry
    •  if mostly dry, remove from heat and let cool to near room temp
  • Once cool enough to handle, take a small amount into your palm and roll them into balls
Other ideas: in stead of forming balls, you can toss the rice with all sorts of things then form into pans to serve from or just serve as is from the bowl.  Fresh fruits, cooked meats, various sauces and herbs can all be considered to adorn the rice.

Cheers!




beef, mushroom, barley and farro stew

A frequent request in our house, this version has a few extra flavor layers.  Enjoy!

Things you will need: 

  • Cutting board or two and sharp knife
  • Mixing bowl
  • Large stock pot and lid
  • Oven on 250
Ingredients:
  • 1 bone in sirloin steak around 1 lb (you can use a variety of beef cuts)
  • 1 lb, pre charcoal smoked beef (I had tri tip), cubed
  • 2 large portobello caps, stems removed and cubed
  • 1 large yellow onion, chopped
  • 2 large cloves of garlic, chopped
  • 1/3 cup red wine
  • 1 tbsp dried oregano (use fresh if you have some)
  • 1 tbsp salt and pepper
  • 1 tbsp oil (olive or avocado or animal fat)
  • 1/2 cup pearled barley
  • 1/2 cup farro
  • 8 cups smoked beef stock
Process:
  • Turn oven onto 250
  • Trim the uncooked sirloin into cubes, removing and overly tough connective tissues.  Keep the bone as well.
  • Toss the cubes and bone with the salt and pepper in a mixing bowl
  • Heat the pot on the stovetop on medium heat for a few minutes, than add the oil to let it heat.
  • Add the beef cubes and bone to the pot, stirring on occasion until you have some color on the meat and the bottom of the pot, about 5-7 minutes.
  • Remove the beef and bone from the pot (use the same mixing bowl you prepped in)
  • Add the onion and stir.  If you need a bit of fluid add the wine now, otherwise let onions reduce for a bit in the beef drippings.
  • After 5 or so minutes add the garlic (and wine if you did not add it earlier) and stir
  • The wine should nearly be gone before adding the oregano, beef, mushrooms, barley and farro.  Once all of these are in, gently stir again then add the stock and stir.
  • Cover and place in the oven.
  • At 2 hours check to see where things are.  If the farro and barley are plump and tender you are done!
Cheers!