one skillet

Continuing with the “On the Edge” series…

~ Gary Bechard ~ Leave a comment

Sorry, The Well Fed Cyclist took the weekend off (Labor Day) to spend time with Cat, B and the lovely Jess doing an Octoberfest with Bratwurst, Weisswurst (and just about any other “wurst” you can think of as there was about 14 pounds of meat). I know this activity kind of flys in the face of this recipe series but sometimes you have to cut loose and roll with it.

Having spent the greater part of the last couple of weeks in the lab (well maybe not really a lab) or kitchen as the case may be, I found that creativity comes to those who dally while eating other things. In addition, I have also been contemplating what to do with the spaghetti squash that has taken up residence in part of my fridge while I figure out what to do with it.  There will also be a ceremonial “smoking” of a tri-tip steak as promised to Zach for his homecoming. (sorry you missed the Octoberfest)

Now let me tell you about the dallying part of my recent hiatus. I was eating at a local restaurant near where I work, thinking of the curry mixtures in a “Taste of Thai” box while eating a chickpeas and Acini de pepe (really tiny pasta) salad with paprika and other spices and began thinking that I needed to get the chickpeas and the curry together some way. Not knowing how to make curry and too damn stubborn to just go ahead and get a curry mixture or some curry powder and be done with it, I decided that I would try to make the stuff on my own. I looked at a curry powder can and took down the major components and figured that I could come up with something that was palatable and pretty easy to do. I began by putting together what I thought were the main ingredients and continued to add things in small quantities until it passed the “smell” test. (pretty scientific if you ask me) The result is the list of ingredients in the recipe. If you are wondering where the cilantro came from, it too is from the smell test. Parsley did not stand up to the strength of the curry aroma so it did not make the cut. I also had to come up with an alternative to coconut milk because I am deathly allergic to the stuff (I kind of stop breathing) Evaporated milk had the same consistency and I worked with the flavors, and my trusty coconut expert, my wife, to come up with something that became a pretty good substitute. I will be using a nice rice mixture so that there are a variety of flavours even from the rice.
You probably are wondering what I served as the main course for this side. I did salmon filets steamed in foil (you create a packet and it is wonderful but that will be a recipe for another entry) on the grill with onions, peppers, basil, garlic and cilantro. The vegetables for this meal were petite peas and sweet corn. You will notice that there are not a lot of carbohydrates in this meal and very, very low sugar but with huge amounts of good fats, oils and tons of protein. Also, you may notice that there is not a lot of salt because you would not want to mess up this fantastic array of flavors with too much.

Here is the curry recipe and stay tuned for the spaghetti squash recipe which will not be the normal “with marinara sauce” kind of recipe.

Curry Me Away
(Curried chickpeas with fresh cilantro)
(Serves 4)

Ingredients:
Curry –
1 tsp – roasted ground coriander
1 tsp – ground cumin
1 tsp – ground cayenne pepper
½ tsp – ground nutmeg
½ tsp – ground Coleman’s mustard
½ tsp – ground black pepper
¼ tsp – garlic powder

Coconut milk substitute (if you need it) –
Note: You will only need to use 3/4ths of a cup of this mixture
12 oz – evaporated skim milk
3/4 tsp – vanilla extract
½ tsp – almond extract
1 tsp – powdered sugar

The rest of the stuff –
30 oz – chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans) 2, 15 oz cans washed and drained well
2 cloves –garlic (minced)
2 slices –of a medium sweet onion (minced)
¼ cup – fresh cilantro leaves (fine chopped)
¼ cup – chicken stock
3 tbsp – canola oil

Construction Instruction –
Curry – In a small bowl combine all dry curry ingredients and with a fork mix until ingredients are evenly distributed through the mixture. Now it is time to make the coconut milk substitute. In a medium to large bowl combine the evaporated skim milk with the vanilla and almond extracts and the sugar and whisk together thoroughly making sure that the sugar has dissolved. After this is complete, slowly whisk in the curry ingredients until blended. Now set this aside for the time being. (The ingredients need time to get acquainted.)
NOTE: If you are doing this with coconut milk skip the coconut milk substitute part of the instructions

The Dish – In a large skillet, place canola oil in bottom and bring up to medium heat. When oil is ready (you should see a slight sheen), add garlic and onions along with the chicken stock and sautee until onions soften and turn translucent. Next, add chickpeas and toss until they are all coated. Slowly (I do mean slowly) add ¾ths of a cup of the curry mixture and stir until all chickpeas are coated with curry, add cilantro, toss one more time, reduce the heat to 3 or 4 (low medium) and simmer for about 15 minutes occasionally stirring to keep the chickpeas moving.

Enjoy!

The Well Fed Cyclist

It’s a Saturday Evening post…

~ Gary Bechard ~ Leave a comment

Literally, it is a post that is happening on Saturday evening. Get it?  Bad joke I know but I am full of them because  the whole day today was devoted to cleaning the house while it rained 2 plus inches. However,  I am stoked!  Well not really about cleaning but I am excited to put out a new recipe.

I guess you could say that this is “chicken week” but that originally was not the intent since I was thinking about finishing out my fish recipes. We can always go back to those when I am off my chicken kick (I guess my Cooking Attention Deficit Disorder (CADD) kind of kicked in.). Chicken is one of the staple proteins at my house and they are normally done in one of a few ways, fried, faux fried, baked, broiled or grilled. This particular recipe is for shallow frying and should be reasonably healthy because it uses boneless/skinless chicken breasts and olive oil.

This recipe is the product of my cooking CADD because I was thinking of one thing and watching another and came to the conclusion that they could be done together with good result. You see, I was there in this restaurant having ordered chicken over greens while thinking of other ways I could use the Prosciutto I had leftover at home and it hit me (well not really) that if you could attach the Prosciutto to one side of the chicken it would provide salt and a savory flavors which I could compliment with other parts of the meal. The result is this recipe. Oh, I can attest to the quality of this recipe because bona fide Italians who were staying at my house loved this meal.

Fugetaboutit
Chicken over Greens
(makes 4 servings)

4 – Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
8 oz – Prosciutto (sliced very thin)
1/3 – Medium sweet onion (diced fine)
8 (or more) – Cloves garlic, (diced fine)
1 tbsp – Coarse ground black pepper (or to taste)
10 – Fresh basil leaves (fine shredded also called a chiffonade)
8 – Romaine lettuce leaves
Handful – Italian parsley (chopped fine; use dried if you must about 1 ½ tablespoons)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Balsamic vinegar (get the good stuff)

Ready – Preparing the chicken:
Pound the chicken breasts to about ¾ of an inch using the flat side of a meat tenderizing hammer. Next place thin slices of Prosciutto on the “smooth” side of the chicken breast enough to cover the entire top in about one layer. Then take the “prickly” side of the meat hammer and pound the Prosciutto on to the chicken. It should stick with no problem. Take and gently set these aside Prosciutto side up.

Set – Revving up the oil
In a large skillet, cover bottom of pan with olive oil (a little better than a third inch deep or enough that it would be up to half way up the edge of one of the pounded chicken breasts) and over low/med heat sauté onion and garlic until softened and onions become translucent. Add basil and parsley continue sautéing until basil and parsley have wilted.

Go – Cooking the chicken
Take prepared chicken breasts and place in the pan Prosciutto side down and lower heat (low – medium is good here). Now…drop your tongs and step away from the chicken! You will have to resist the urge to constantly flip the chicken breasts and will only flip them over once for this recipe. That is why the heat is kind of low. Cook these on the one side until you can see that they are almost fully cooked (about 5 to 7 minutes) you will see the top edges of the chicken breasts begin to turn lighter. After you see that they are almost done carefully flip them over to have them Prosciutto side up and complete the cooking (another 4 to 7 minutes). The chicken breasts will be done when they are firm when you press on them with the tongs. You will notice that small bits of garlic and onion will stick to the chicken and this is perfectly okay. Note: I can usually do 3 chicken breasts in my pan and set the ones that are done in the oven on warm until the others are ready to serve.

Prepare the plates
Take about 3 romaine lettuce leaves and place them flat on each plate and drizzle lightly with balsamic vinegar. When each chicken breast is done place them Prosciutto side up on the lettuce.

-Meal served with either angel hair pasta dressed with just olive oil and Italian seasoning or a cold pasta salad with roasted red pepper and olives (a recipe for another time) and green beans done with onion and Portobello mushrooms.

Enjoy!

Il cavolo nero idea vita!!!!! (Translation…The Tuscan cabbage idea lives!)

~ Gary Bechard ~ Leave a comment

I told everyone yesterday that I had some ideas rolling around in the old noggin on how to use the Tuscan cabbage and well, it just happened. I found at least one way to incorporate the cabbage/kale into a recipe.  I really thought it was going to take me a lot longer to come up with something but sometimes, when the wind is right and the planets are aligned, it happens, so I went with it.  Cruising through the memory banks while building a small table for the basement fridge, I went through a bunch of recipes in my head where I incorporated cabbage. At first I thought of using the leaves for stuffing, like my shrimp stuffed Bok Choy recipe (I may still figure out something to stuff them with but I digress) and remembered a stir fry recipe where I used shredded brussel sprouts in addition to the vegetables to add kind of a smoky flavor.  Having tasted the Tuscan cabbage and knowing it had a similar but not as bitter flavor profile as brussel sprouts, I thought that it might go well with sweet Italian sausage.  Originally, I thought of just doing the vegetables and cabbage with the sausage and serving the mixture over rice or pasta but not wanting to dirty more than one pan, I decided to make this a “One Skillet Wonder” (the name of another recipe which will be posted at a future date).  The one skillet idea led to the addition of the potatoes. I hope you try this and let me know how it turns out.

The Well Fed Cyclist

Gary Bechard

Sweet Tuscan Stir fry

One skillet sweet sausage with Tuscan Kale

(makes 3-4 servings)

5 – Sweet Italian sausages (cut into slices)

1/3 – Sweet or Red onion, sliced (then quarter the slices)

1/2 – Red bell pepper, rough diced

1/2 – Green bell pepper, rough diced

1 – Small zucchini, rough diced

1 – Small yellow squash, rough diced

12 oz – Baby red, yellow or white potatoes quartered (I used a baby potato bag that had yellow, white, red and purple)

1 cup – Cremini Mushrooms, sliced

1 can – Black olives (pitted, 6 ounces dry weight)

5-7 leaves – Tuscan cabbage/kale, washed and rough shredded

1/4 cup – Fresh parsley, chopped fine

6-7 leaves – Basil, chopped

1 tsp – Oregano, dried or fresh (fresh use the leaves of 3 to 4 sprigs)

4-5 cloves – Garlic, fine diced

Extra Virgin Olive Oil – A few good turns around the pan will do

1/4 cup – Vegetable Stock

Coarse Ground black pepper to taste

Extra Virgin Olive Oil – About 1/4 cup more or less

Note: I always dice my vegetables before I start so that I can add them at the appropriate time while cooking.

Construction Instruction:

First, in a large skillet (one that has a cover), do a few good turns on the bottom of pan with olive oil and over low/med heat sauté onion and garlic until they begin to soften. Next, add sausage and stir (hence the name “stir fry”) until the sausage is done. (about 7 to 10 minutes since they are sliced) While still over low- medium heat, add peppers, zucchini, squash and olives and sauté until the vegetables begin to soften. To the pan, add the vegetable stock. Let the mixture warm and then add the potatoes. Fold mixture together until everything is evenly distributed and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Next, add the basil and oregano plus pepper to taste. Lower the heat and cover the skillet. (This will steam cook the potatoes). Stir the mixture occasionally until the potatoes are fork tender. When the potatoes are done, add the shredded Tuscan cabbage, re-cover the skillet and allow the cabbage to soften slightly. (about 5 to 7 minutes)

Since this meal is a “one skillet wonder” serve with nice, rustic, crusty bread.

Enjoy!