While we are discussing chicken, I’m not sure I really understand the very unusual relationship people have with chicken.  Perhaps one of you can explain it to me??  I have the impression that every evening, millions of people all over the country carefully don hazmat suits, unwrap packages of tasteless grocery store chicken as though an army of salmonella are preparing to leap out of the package and into the souls of their children, cook  the chicken until it has the consistency of a rubber band, and then congratulate themselves that they have consumed something resembling a healthy meal.  In my  mental caricature they then proceed to hose down every surface in their home with industrial strength disinfectants and antibiotics as though they just handled a biohazard that in a sane universe would only be contained in a biosafety level 4 lab…

Caricatures aside, I have never understood this mentality.  I can hardly imaging sitting down to eat a steaming plate of something I feared would kill me mere moments before.

On that happy note here are the details…

1) Start with a good chicken – grocery store chicken will taste like…..grocery store chicken.  Free-range, organic chicken from your local farmer’s market will taste 1000x better.  Use it.  You can thank me later.

2) Preheat the oven to 450 C.  Carefully dry the chicken inside and out, sprinkle the cavity and the skin liberally with salt and pepper.

3) (optional) Insert an onion, herbs, lemon, or any other tasty flavoring that you have into the cavity of the chicken.  Throw some veggies under the chicken if you would like (potatoes, onions, carrots, fennel,etc. are all good choices).

4) Roast the chicken until it is done.  Do not overcook the chicken.  Do not overcook the chicken.  Do not overcook the chicken.  There are various guidelines for how to determine when the chicken is done available around the net.  I am not going to recommend a specific temperature here.  I will say that I prefer to err on the side of juicy chicken rather than government approved chicken leather.  Don’t forget that the internal temperature of the chicken will continue to increase after it is removed from the oven, so let the chicken rest at least 10-15 minutes before carving.

Mmmmmm.  Crispy skin, juicy meat, minimal effort…delicious!!

P.S.  Sorry for the mediocre pictures this time around – the lighting was bad and I was too lazy to get out my tripod

Next time: Heirloom tomato salad

Cumin-crusted salmon with citrus butter and chive mashed potatoes…

Heirloom tomoato, basil, mozzarella salad….

Basil ice cream…

See you soon….

Before attempting fresh pasta on my own I did a survey of all the recipes I could easily find and they ranged from a ratio of 3/4 egg per cup of flour to recipes with a ratio of slightly more than 1 egg/cup flour with extra yolks added as an enrichment.  As a sensible compromise I chose to use 1 egg per cup of flour – this has the added benefit of being supremely easy to remember. 

Fresh Pasta

Ingredients

1 cup flour

1 egg, lightly beaten

large pinch salt

Procedure

1.  Mix the flour and salt in a bowl.  Make a well in the center of the bowl and add the eggs.

 2.  Working outwards from the center, slowly stir the flour into the eggs until it becomes difficult to incorporate more flour.

3.  Dump the contents of the bowl onto the counter and knead the dough until a smooth, elastic dough is formed (about 5 minutes).  

4.  Wrap the dough in plastic and rest for 30 minutes in the refrigerator.

5.  Cut the dough into pieces and use a pasta machine to roll it, typically the pasta sheet is rolled 1-2 times on each setting, decreasing the roller spacing one notch at a time until the desired thickness is reached.

6.  Cut the dough into the desired shape.

You can cut the dough by hand into large pappardelle as I have above, or any other shape you like.  At this point it helps to let the pasta lay on the counter to dry slightly before handling it, this will prevent clumping.  A light dusting of flour is also helpful.  If you want to be really fancy you can buy one of those spiffy pasta drying racks with all the arms (this would be really helpful if you don’t have lots of empty counter space).

Next up:  Christmas candies

In my recent lemon tart entry (part of my holiday menu) I said that  Sara over at Small Kitchen, Big Ideas was the expert on the topic.  Now she has posted verifiable evidence of her lemon tart obsession – check it out.

A Cheese plate is one of my favorite things to serve at at party or before dinner.  Why? A few reasons: 1) I can assemble it before everyone arrives and they can munch away and chat while I finish cooking, 2) the only work on my part is to buy things from the grocery store and arrange them, and 3) almost everyone loves cheese, not everyone loves things like chicken liver pate (until they try it).  I’m pretty sure that having everything (or at least almost everything) planned out and in place before your guests arrive makes them think that you are some kind of domestic deity (or that you are a hyperanal freak show of a host).  

I am lucky enough to have several specialty stores with tons of cheese to choose from at my disposal.  If you don’t have a cheesemonger around, try your grocery store, several smaller regional grocery chains I’ve been in have nice selections of high quality cheeses.  Target even has a few nice cheeses in its grocery section.  If all else fails check out some online retailers.

Here are a few of my rules for putting together a cheese plate

1) No more than three kinds of cheese (for a small group anyway).  Three varieties of cheese is enough to have an interesting mixture of cheeses; I find that more can be overwhelming.

2) Try to have some kind of theme or progression.  For example: pick three cheese from Spain such as Manchego (probably the most famous cheese from Spain), Cabrales (a blue cheese), and Garrotxa (a goat cheese).  A selection of different goat cheeses of varying texture could also be cool.  When in doubt, pick something soft, something hard (or semi-hard), and something blue.  The axiom is: something old, something new, something stinky, and something blue.

3) Make it really good cheese.  Please don’t serve your guests slices from a block of Kraft swiss cheese.  Not only will they hate you, they will talk about you behind your back once they leave (if they were raised right; if they weren’t they might tell you to your face)

4) Have some tasty accompaniments.  Good french bread is a must.  Don’t use any bread that is too highly flavored, it will compete with the cheese.  Olives, cured meats, nuts, and fresh fruit are all good choices.  If you are really good, whip up (or buy) some membrillo, a sweet paste made from quince.  

5) Make it pretty.  No one wants to eat ugly food.  Arrange the cheese on a slate cheese board or a pretty wood cutting board.  An attractive plate or tray would work too.  Make sure that all of the cheese are easy to access so your guests can cut off pieces without struggling.  Also make sure that there are enough utensils to cut the cheeses.

6) Throw away the wrapper your cheese came in.  As convenient as they lovely sheet of plastic wrap is for your grocer, your cheese doesn’t love it.  Rewrap your cheese in parchment paper and throw it in your crisper for storage.

7) Feel free to break all of these rules.  You’ll notice that in the photo I have brie, ricotta salata, and emmenthaler.  It may be a slightly odd combination, but I pulled it out of my fridge in about 5 minutes before some people came over.  Note the domestic deity/hyperanal freak comment above.

Next up on Chez Travie: Christmas candy (I think)

1) Allow the meat to warm up before you start roasting; 1-2 hours on the counter before roasting should be sufficient.

2) After roasting, allow the meat to rest 20-30 minutes before carving.  This will allow the meat to finish cooking (the thermal mass of the meat will cause the internal temperature to rise 5-10 degrees after it is removed from the oven) and allow the juices to redistribute.

Standing Rib Roast

Ingredients

beef standing rib roast (prime rib) 

salt

pepper

Procedure

1.  Remove the meat from the refrigerator 1-2 hours before roasting.

2.  Preheat oven to 450 F.  Place the meat in a roasting pan, fat side up.  Sprinkle salt and pepper copiously over the roast.

3.  Roast the meat in a 450 degree oven for 20 minutes.  Lower the temperature to 350 and roast to an internal temperature of about 115-117 degrees for medium rare (the temperature will continnue to rise after the roast is removed from the oven).

Yep, that is it.  No basting, no stuffing, no worries.  Nothing but beefy goodness.  Just carve the roast into nice slices and serve to your guests.

Gratin Dauphinois

adapted from Les Halles Cookbook by Anthony Bourdain

Ingredients

Yukon gold potatoes, sliced 

2 c heavy cream

5 garlic cloves, crushed

1 sprig rosemary

1 sprig thyme

salt and pepper

nutmeg, preferably freshly ground

1 T butter

4 oz. grated Gruyere (or other good Swiss cheese)

Procedure

1.  Add sliced potatoes, cream, 4 garlic cloves, and herbs into a pot.  Season to taste with salt, pepper, and nutmeg.  Bring to a boil and simmer 10 minutes.

2.  Meanwhile, butter a baking dish large enough to hold the potatoes and cream, cut the remaining garlic clove and rub it inside the dish.

3.  Transfer the potato/cream mixture to the prepared baking dish.  Sprinkle the top with the grated cheese.  Bake in a 350 C oven for about 40 minutes, until the cheese is browned.

Yum!  During the time in the oven, the cream and starch from the potatoes (along with evaporation I assume) thicken the mixture into a mass of creamy goodness.  The flavors of the herbs and nutmeg really come through to highlight the potatoes and cheese.  I’ve never tried it, but I suspect that you could separate the boiling and baking steps by a few hours if necessary.  If you are making my whole holiday menu, you can work on this while the roast is in the oven, and then bake this while the roast is finishing.  I have made this for several groups of people and haven’t had to take leftovers home yet.  Enjoy!

Next up: Standing rib roast

Meyer lemons are larger, juicier, and a bit sweeter than regular lemons.  They may be difficult to find in some locales; I got mine from the citrus guy at the local farmer’s market.  If you don’t have them, just use regular lemons from the supermarket, the tart will still turn out great.

Meyer Lemon Tart

adapted from Sunday Suppers at Lucques by Susanne Goin

This recipe can be made 1 day ahead and stored in the refrigerator.

Ingredients

1 tart shell – use your favorite pastry dough or dessert crust recipe

4 large eggs

3 large egg yolks

1 cup plus 1 T sugar

1 cup Meyer lemon juice (you can use regular lemon juice as well)

10 T cold butter, cut into pieces

1 pinch salt

Procedure

1. Completely bake the tart shell.  Set aside to cool.

2.  Whisk eggs, yolks, sugar, and lemon juice in a saucepan.  Cook over medium heat until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spatula.

3.  Remove from heat.  Add pinch of salt.  Mix in butter, a bit at a time, until completely mixed in.

4.  Strain the lemon mixture into a bowl and then transfer to the cooled tart shell.  Chill until ready to serve.

So the tart looked really smooth and beautiful until I dropped a container of yogurt into it as it was setting…it still doesn’t look bad.

notice the impact crater, just beyond the missing piece...

The real recipe from ‘Sunday Suppers at Lucques’ includes a thin chocolate layer in the bottom of the tart shell.  I wasn’t sure how I would feel about the chocolate-lemon combination so I skipped that this time around.  The tart is a great mixture of tart and sweet, a refreshing finish to the (almost excessive) richness that comes before in my holiday menu.

Next up: Potato Gratin (Gratin Dauphinoise)