Poulet au Vinaigret

I got this recipe watching Laura Calder on The Food Channel's French Food at Home. She called it "Chicken in Vinegar," but I felt it deserved a French name, so I call it Poulet au Vinaigret," which means ... "Chicken in Vinegar."

It's pretty simple, pretty easy, pretty quick, and pretty economical, using ingredients you probably already have in your pantry to go along with the chicken you just bought.

Ingredients

·         CHICKEN PIECES, 8 to 12

·         OLIVE OIL, 2 tablespoons

·         GARLIC, 2cloves, thinly sliced or minced

·         WINE VINEGAR, white, 1/2 cup or so

·         TOMATO PASTE, 1 tablespoon

·         TOMATOES, 2 large, chopped

·         BOUQUET GARNI, bay leaf, thyme, flat-leaf parsley

·         CHICKEN STOCK, 1/2 cup or so

·         BUTTER 2 tablespoons

·         SALT and PEPPER to taste

·         PARSLEY, chopped for garnish

Directions

1.       Brown the chicken in the olive oil, seasoning with salt and pepper.

2.       Remove the chicken and set aside.

3.       Sauté the garlic.

4.       Add the vinegar and bring to a boil.

5.       Add the tomato paste and chopped tomatoes, stir to combine.

6.       Return the chicken to the pan.

7.       Add in the bouquet garni.

8.       Add the chicken stock and simmer for 20 minutes.

9.       Remove the chicken and arrange on a platter.

10.   Add the butter to the sauce and cook, stirring over medium-low heat until the sauce is thickened.

11.   Drizzle sauce over the chicken, serve the rest on the side.

12.  Garnish with the chopped parsley.

Eggplant Marinara

To make Eggplant Marinara ala Craig’s style (which means quick and easy), all you really need is some eggplant and marinara sauce in a jar. Any other ingredients are left up to you.

The last time I made this dish, I had bought some fresh Japanese eggplant (the long and skinny kind) at a local farmer’s market. But if you can’t find those, look for some beautiful, shiny eggplants at your local supermarkets.

If you can, get the male fruit. It has fewer seeds and the skin is slightly less bitter. How can you tell if the eggplant is male or female? Look at the blossom end opposite the stem end. If the marking is elongated, it’s female. If it’s small and rounded, it’s male.

For the marinara sauce, I’d gotten some 24-ounce jars of Safeway Select Sundried Tomato and Olive pasta sauce. You can make your own if you like, or substitute any other brand or style. Get whatever’s on sale.

Ingredients

·         ROTINI PASTA, about ½ cup uncooked

·         OLIVE OIL, 2 tablespoons

·         SAUSAGE, 2 in casings, cut into ¾-inch rounds

·         ONIONS, 2 small, wedged into eighths

·         MUSHROOMS, 8 ounces, cut in half

·         GRAPE TOMATOES, about ¾ cup, halved lengthwise

·         BUTTER, 2 tablespoons

·         MARINARA or SPAGHETTI SAUCE, about 1½ cups

·         GARLIC, 2 cloves finely minced

·         EGGPLANT, Japanese, 4 medium, cut into 1-inch chunks

·         GARLIC SALT and PEPPER, freshly ground, to taste

Directions

1.       Boil a pot of water; add garlic salt to flavor, then cook the rotini pasta until just al dente. Set aside.

2.       Brown the sausage slightly in the olive oil, set aside.

3.       Sweat the onions in the sausage oil slightly, set aside.

4.       Sauté the mushrooms slightly, set aside.

5.       Melt the butter in the pan and add the tomatoes, sauté slightly, and set aside.

6.       Put the sausage, onions, mushrooms and tomatoes (plus the melted butter from the pan) in a large pot over medium-high heat.

7.       Stir to combine, and add the marinara sauce and garlic.

8.       Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for about 15 minutes covered.

9.       Add in the eggplant, cover, and increase the heat to medium for another 15 minutes, stirring often.

10.   Add in the pasta, stirring to combine all the ingredients well.

11.   Serve with garlic bread and steamed white rice.

Chicken with Winter Melon

Togan, or Japanese winter melon (sometimes referred to as "squash"), is excellent when cooked with poultry or meat in a teriyaki-flavored broth. You can find the recipe for teriyaki sauce in an earlier post on this website.

The resultant dish goes well with steamed white rice and sides of tsukemono or takuan (recipe also on this website). It’s a good, slurpy meal on a cold winter’s day.

Ingredients

·         JAPANESE WINTER MELON, 2 medium (10”), or 3 small

·         CHICKEN THIGHS, 4 boneless, skinless

·         ONIONS, 1 medium or 2 small

·         WHITE WINE, ¼ cup

·         TERIYAKI SAUCE (recipe elsewhere in this blog), ¾ cup

·         WATER, ¼ cup

·         GARLIC SALT, to taste

·         BLACK PEPPER, freshly ground, to taste

Directions

1.       Peel the melon with a vegetable peeler, cut in half lengthwise, then into ¾-inch half-moons. If the seeds are a bit on the tough side, remove the seeds with a spoon first.

2.       Cut the chicken thighs into 1-inch strips.

3.       French-cut the onions.

4.       In a large pot, sauté the chicken until the surface is lightly browned. Remove and reserve.

5.       Deglaze the pot with the white wine.

6.       Add in the onions and sauté until slightly tender.

7.       Replace the chicken in the pot.

8.       Add in the teriyaki sauce and water, and bring to a boil.

9.       Add in the winter melon.

10.   Add salt and pepper to taste.

11.   Stir all the ingredients, lower the heat to medium, cover and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring often, until the melon is tender but not limp and mushy.

12.   Serve alongside or over steamed rice.

Almond Float

One of the popular desserts found at family potlucks and gatherings in Hawaii, and in many chop suey houses, is almond float. And despite its name, you will NOT find almond nuts floating around in the dessert.

This is one of the easiest desserts (not to mention tastiest) that you can make and serve. It’s so easy, even a child can do it, although you may want to use a can opener for the kid.

The recipe calls for canned fruit cocktail but you can use fresh fruit if you so desire. The dessert can be prepared in advance and refrigerated until it’s time to eat. This recipe makes enough almond float dessert for 4 to 6 people.

Ingredients

·         UNFLAVORED GELATIN (Knox), 1 tablespoon

·         COLD WATER, 2/3 cup

·         SUGAR, 2 tablespoons

·         BOILING WATER, 2/3 cup

·         EVAPORATED MILK, 2/3 cup

·         ALMOND EXTRACT, 1½ teaspoons

·         FRUIT COCKTAIL, 1 can (15 ounced) with syrup

·         LITCHEE, 1 can (15 ounces) with syrup

Directions

1.       Pour the gelatin into the cold water and soften for a few minutes.

2.       Dissolve the sugar into the boiling water.

3.       Stir the evaporated milk into the sugar water.

4.       Add in the softened gelatin mixture and stir in the almond extract.

5.       Pour the gelatin into a baking pan and chill until firm.

6.       When the gelatin is set, this is your “almond float.” Cut the almond float into 1-inch cubes and served with the canned fruit and its syrup.

Maple-Dijon Salmon

Maple syrup and Dijon mustard go together well, and this baked salmon is a perfect medium to show off the combination of rustic sweet and winey sourness.

Plus, it’s so easy to make. The important thing is not to overcook the salmon and allow it to become dry in the oven.

Ingredients

·         SALMON FILET, 1, skin removed

·         MAPLE SYRUP, 4 tablespoons

·         DIJON MUSTARD, 4 tablespoons

·         GREEN ONIONS, ¼ cup, chopped thinly

·         ROSEMARY, ½ teaspoon

·         THYME, ½ teaspoon

·         SALT and PEPPER to taste

Directions

1.       Preheat oven to 375.

2.       Cut salmon into approximately 3x3-inch pieces.

3.       Place salmon on a baking sheet lined with foil or parchment paper. Season both sides with salt and pepper.

4.       In a bowl, mix together the Dijon mustard, maple syrup, green onions, and herbs to make a glaze.

5.       Season to taste.

6.       Spoon half of the sauce over salmon and place in oven.

7.       Bake for 10 minutes or until filets are just cooked through and flake easily.

8.       Use the remaining sauce to spoon over the cooked salmon.

Poulet au Paprika

Poulet au Paprika (Paprika Chicken) is a very easy dish to make. I got my original recipe from the famous cookbook, The Joy of Cooking.

I’ve messed around with the recipe a little over the years, most recently adding in the fennel ingredient after watching Laura Calder’s “French Food at Home” on the Cooking Channel. In fact, I’ve also appropriated the dish’s fancy French name. Hey! Gotta at least sound good, right?

If you can’t find fennel, leave it out. I did okay without it for years. Laura Calder uses crème fraiche, but I can’t find that anywhere, so I use sour cream instead. Which is not so bad … it reminds me of stroganoff.

Ingredients

·         CHICKEN, 6 to 8 pieces, skin-on, bone-in

·         OLIVE OIL, 1 tablespoon

·         BUTTER, 2 tablespoons

·         ONION, 1 large, sliced

·         GARLIC, 1 clove, minced

·         RED PEPPER, 1, sliced

·         FENNEL (Optional), ½ bulb, sliced

·         PAPRIKA, 1 tablespoon

·         SOUR CREAM, ¼ to ½ cup

·         WHITE WINE, ½ cup

·         TOMATO, 1 large, seeded and cut into chunks

·         BAY LEAF, 1

·         SALT AND PEPPER to taste 

Directions

1.       Brown the chicken pieces, skin-side first, in olive oil and butter. Remove and set aside.

2.       Sauté the onion, red pepper and fennel until tender.

3.       Add the white wine to the pan; combine with the vegetables.

4.       Combine the paprika and sour cream, add into the pan and stir in.

5.       Return the chicken to the pan, add the bay leaf.

6.       Add salt and pepper to taste.

7.       Simmer covered on low heat for 20 minutes or until chicken is done.

8.       Take the pan off the heat and add the tomatoes. Stir, cover and let stand for 3 minutes.

9.       Serve with rice.

Diana’s Savory Flank Steak

This is a relatively easy dish to make, and will satisfy even the most particular person. It’s not called “savory” for no reason.

Flank steak used to be a very inexpensive cut of beef, but since more people have been utilizing it (guess they learned how to cook it and how delicious it is), the price has risen over the years.

Ingredients (Steak + Marinade)

·         FLANK STEAK, 1

·         RED WINE, Gallo burgundy, 1 cup

·         SOY SAUCE, 2 teaspoons

·         WORCESTERSHIRE SAUCE, 1 teaspoon

·         SEASONED SALT, 2 teaspoons

·         GARLIC POWDER, ¼ teaspoon

Ingredients (Sauce)

·         MUSHROOMS, ½ pound sliced

·         CORNSTARCH, 2 teaspoons

·         WATER, ½ cup

·         WINE VINEGAR, 1 tablespoon

·         BUTTER (or margarine), 3 tablespoons

Directions

1.       Combine all the steak marinade ingredients for the steak into a marinade.

2.       Marinate the steak, covered, overnight.

3.       Bring to room temperature and broil for 4 minutes or until medium rare.

4.       Let stand for at least 10 minutes, reserving the pan juices.

5.       Sauté the mushrooms.

6.       Combine the cornstarch, water, and wine vinegar into a slurry.

7.       Bring the pan juices to a boil and reduce by half.

8.       Add in the mushrooms and the wine slurry.

9.       Thicken the sauce with the butter.

10.   Slice the steak into thin strips on an angle, against the grain, arrange on a serving plate and dress with the sauce.