Showing posts with label Garlic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Garlic. Show all posts

Friday, September 20, 2013

Garlicky Collard Greens


I come originally from what I considered the home of collard greens, by which I mean the southern US.  But I didn’t start to really like them until we lived in Brazil and I discovered another country that cooks collards even more than we do!  Couve, as it is called there, is a constant accompaniment to the traditional daily staples of beans and rice.   I mean, seriously!  Every day!  After almost six years there, collards became a regular side dish on our family menu as well.  The other night I made a small bowl just for my daughter and me, to serve alongside a potato galette.  I thought I’d share it here because I cut the collard greens as I learned to in Brazil.   My grandmother was most intrigued when I showed her many years ago and I thought it might be a new way for you too.

Ingredients
Big bunch of collard greens (10-12 big leaves)
2-3 cloves garlic
Olive oil
1 stock cube or flakey sea salt to taste
Black pepper
Cayenne

Method
Using a sharp pointy knife, cut along each side of the stems of the greens and remove them.


Lay the leaves one on top of the other and roll them up as tightly as you can manage.





Start at one end of the roll and cut it into very thin strips.




Toss the strips gently to separate them.



Rinse the strips in some running water and set aside.



Mince your garlic.  In a large pan, gently fry the garlic in a drizzle of olive oil, being careful not to let it brown.  Add in the stock cube and let it dissolve.



Add in the damp collard greens.  Sprinkle with salt (if using instead of the stock cube) and the two peppers.  Pop the lid on the pot and cook for about five to seven minutes.   Your collards are done!



Like any green, they cook down to a fraction of their original size so plan on doubling or tripling – or more – if you have lots of folks to feed.



Enjoy!  Do you eat a lot of collard greens too?  I'd love to hear where you are from, if you do!


Saturday, July 27, 2013

Mushrooms Provençal for #RandomRecipeChallenge


This month for the Random Recipe Challenge we are celebrating a big anniversary: number 30. Not 30 years, but still, 30 months is a great accomplishment in the world of blogging.  I wish I could say that I’ve been participating that long but I can say that I have enjoyed every challenge I have accepted.  Rather than choosing a theme, for this anniversary month dashing Dom from +belleau kitchen has set 30 as the target.  Count forward on the bookcase to your 30th cookbook.  Either open to the 30th page (which I did first but there wasn’t a recipe at all) or open randomly (which I did second) and make the first recipe you see.

http://www.belleaukitchen.com/p/random-recipes.html


My 30th book was Richard Olney’s Simple French Food, a classic in food writing circles.  I adore Richard Olney and I adore this book but I have to admit, when I opened it to Mushrooms Provençal, I was a bit disappointed.  Sautéed mushrooms didn’t sound very exciting.  But, after making them as a side dish, we all decided that they were fabulous and worthy of being the star of the meal.  So instead of grilling a steak which they would accompany, I folded a few in a simple omelet and served extra on the side.  The perfect evening meal.  And I will never underestimate Mr. Olney again.

Ingredients
4-5 tablespoons olive oil
1 lb 10 oz or 750g Swiss brown or other mushrooms
Sea salt
3 large cloves garlic
1 handful parsley
1 handful crumbled half-dried bread (I chopped mine up with a large knife.)
Black pepper
1/2 lemon
Glass of wine – optional but highly recommended – for the cook

Method
Rinse your mushrooms briefly to get rid of any dirt that might be clinging to them and drain them well in a colander.  Cut the tough stem ends off.  Small mushrooms can be left whole but larger ones should be cut in halves or quarters.


Puree the garlic in a mortar with a pestle and chop your parsley finely.



Heat your oil in a large frying pan and add the mushrooms and a good sprinkling of sea salt.  Sauté over a medium high heat, stirring or tossing every few minutes, until the mushrooms take on a golden color.


Choose a bigger pan.  This was hard to stir and toss until the mushrooms had reduced in size.





Add in the garlic and parsley.  Stir well.



Give the whole pan a good couple of grinds of fresh black pepper and add in the breadcrumbs.


Taste for salt and add a little more if necessary.

Squeeze your lemon half over the mushrooms.  Stir or toss again.


Enjoy!

Or add them into an omelet.

Beat a couple of eggs with a dash of milk.  Have a sip of wine.


Add a knob of butter to a non-stick skillet.  Once it has melted, pour in the egg/milk mixture and add some Mushrooms Provençal.


Cook until the eggs are almost set.  Add a few slices of cheddar or other cheese, if desired.  Have a sip of wine.


Fold over.  Neatness doesn't count.  Have another sip of your wine.


Slide the omelet onto a plate, sprinkle with some black pepper and add more mushrooms.  Enjoy!


Friday, July 5, 2013

Roasted Broccoli with Quinoa and Bulgur Wheat

Last year I went to Paris to visit a friend and I bought a box of mixed quinoa and bulgur wheat.  Don’t you love the little line in French that says, The Rice of the Incas?


Lest you think the only souvenirs I buy are edible, I also came home with some little tart pans I found at the Marche´ aux Puces or flea market.  Only three Euros for all nine!


Yeah, yeah, I know.  Still food related.  What can I say?  The roasted broccoli with quinoa and bulgur is not the most beautiful dish, but it sure is tasty.  I haven’t been able to find the mix again but this is just as delicious with only quinoa or only bulgur.  Or mix your own.

Ingredients
About 12 oz or 340g broccoli florets
1 cup or 180g quinoa and bulgur
32 oz or 1 liter vegetable stock or water with stock cubes to make same
Juice 1/2 a lemon
Sea salt flakes (I like Maldon.)
Black pepper
Olive oil
2 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons butter

Method
Preheat oven to 400°F or 200°C.

Rinse your broccoli in a bowl and drain.


Sprinkle on the sea salt and black pepper and drizzle with olive oil.  Squeeze on the lemon juice and toss the broccoli florets to coat.


Put it in a single layer in a baking pan and roast broccoli for about 10-12 minutes.



When the broccoli is roasted, let it cool and chop into smaller pieces.  It should still be quite crunchy.

Meanwhile, finely slice your garlic and set it aside.


Cook the bulgur and quinoa mix according to package instructions (about 15-20 minutes or until almost all the stock has been absorbed.)


Add the sliced garlic to the bulgur/quinoa pot.  Stir.


Add the chopped broccoli to the pot, turn off the flame and cover the pot with a lid.


Leave covered for 15-20 minutes and then pop in two tablespoons butter.  Replace the lid to melt the butter.


Stir and fluff with a fork before serving.


Enjoy!


Thursday, May 9, 2013

Crisp Brick-fried Chicken with Rosemary, Thyme and Garlic


Here’s a recipe I’ve been meaning to share for the longest time, (read from back when my photo taking skills were really pathetic - Sorry!) but other more pressing dishes got in the way.  Which is rather ironic since this recipe calls for a great deal of pressing, so to speak, down on the chicken, so there is hardly a more pressing recipe.  Yeah, okay.  You are probably not laughing like I am laughing but that’s all right.  As our friend Jamie Oliver says, “You’ll be laughing” when you eat this.  Because it is delicious!  It is also perfect for warmer months when you are craving roasted chicken but can't bear to turn the oven on.

Ingredients
1 chicken
Olive oil
3-4 long springs of fresh rosemary
1 small bunch of thyme
Sea salt
Black pepper
8-10 whole garlic cloves
1/4 cup or 60ml dry white wine

Method
Spatchcock or butterfly the chicken by removing the backbone.  That is to say, put your bird breast down on a cutting board and then, using a knife or poultry shears, cut up either side of the backbone and remove it.  (Throw it in the freezer bag of bones and castoff vegetable bits you are saving to, one day, turn into stock.  Okay, start one now.  Go ahead, we'll wait and you won't regret it.)


Turn the chicken over and press firmly down on the breast to flatten it out as much as possible.  Use two hands and put your weight into it.  I did.  But I couldn’t take a photo and press at the same time.


Pull your rosemary and thyme leaves off the thick stems (fine stems can be chopped up along with the leaves) and chop them up.


Next sprinkle the bird liberally with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Press the chopped leaves all around on the chicken.

The inside

The skin side

If you have the time, let the chicken hang around with the seasonings for as long as you can before you have to cook it.  If it’s longer than an hour, go ahead and refrigerate it but it’s best, but not essential, if you can get it back to room temperature before cooking.

Start the cooking process by heating a little olive oil in in a non-stick pan.  Put the chicken in, skin side UP.


Weigh it down with a heavy iron skillet or another skillet with weight added by inserting cans or bricks to the skillet.  As you can see, I used an extra skillet and a kettle filled with water.  (Years back I watched the Frugal Gourmet, Jeff Smith, make a similar dish and he used bricks covered in foil laid directly on the chicken.  Hence the name but whatever you’ve got works, as long as it’s heavy and helps flatten the bird out.)

Clean pan on top of the chicken. Full kettle in the clean pan.

Cook the chicken until it browns, about 15 minutes over a medium heat.

Remove the weight and turn your chicken over, breast side down. Put the weight/s back on.   Sprinkle the garlic cloves around the bird and cook until the skin is crispy and brown.

The inside again


I set my timer for 12 minutes on this side but the bird wasn’t quite cooked when it rang.  The garlic was looking on the verge of burning though, so I scooped it out with a slotted spoon.  I turned the stove OFF and left the weights on for another 12 minutes and then it was perfect.   If you use a lower flame, you might be able to avoid this step.  A medium low flame for 24 minutes might just be perfect.  (Twelve minutes each side.)

Regardless of the heat level, your time will vary depending on how cold your chicken was when you started this process. A room temperature chicken will naturally take a shorter time to cook than one straight from the refrigerator.

You will know your chicken is done when an instant read thermometer stuck in the thigh reads 170°F or 77°C or when the juices run clear when the thigh is poked with a sharp knife.

Remove the chicken to a carving board and skim the excess oil off from the pot.

It looks completely black but that's just my poor lighting.  It was a delicious amount of charred.


Turn the heat up high and add 1/4 cup or 60ml dry white wine. Cook until it thickens slightly. Mash your garlic with a fork and add it back into the sauce.

See the little blue bowl back there?  That's how much oil I skimmed off. 


Warm through and serve alongside the chicken.  If you are not serving immediately, put the chicken back in the pan  and cover it with the lid or a bit of foil to keep warm.


Enjoy!





















And for those of you eyeing the quinoa salad, I can highly recommend it.  The original recipe post is here and that will tell you how long I've been waiting to share this chicken with you!

I’m on a touring holiday right now with my mom so if I don’t answer comments right away, please know that I am still delighted when you leave them and will respond as soon as I have internet access again.