-sheila mooney
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Posts posted by -sheila mooney
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My partner and I are not big fans of chicken breast meat. We especially don't like boneless skinless chicken breasts, for the usual reasons (we find that they tend to be dry, bland, etc.)
However, for various reasons, we regularly eat chicken, and we only buy whole chickens. Usually, we cut the chicken up, reserving the thighs and legs for all our favourite chicken dishes, and freezing the backs and wings for stock-making. Then we have to figure out what to do with the breasts. We used to always use the breast meat for stir fries. Sometimes, I will pound them out and roll them up with things in them, but to be honest, I get tired of that kind of thing.
Recently, however, I think I've found the perfect way to use chicken breasts: I make a "chicken breast roast." When I cut up the chicken, I bone the breasts, but leave them unsplit with the skin on. I marinate them briefly in a mixture of lemon juice, honey, garlic, lots of salt, herbs, and olive oil. Then, I use butcher's twine to tie the breasts together very tightly, so they are entirely encased in skin. I "roast" the meat in the oven over very low heat, about 250 degrees (does the low heat mean it's not roasting). I take the chicken out of the oven before it reaches 150 degrees and let it come up after I take it out of the oven.* The result is a kind of cylinder of chicken breast, encased in skin, that is easly sliced (the two breasts get moulded together). Most importantly, the meat is surprisingly moist. I think this is the best method of cooking chicken breast meat I've ever come up with. Chicken breast is still not my favourite, but I now use the "roast" throughout the week, in sandwiches for easy workday lunches, etc.
Does anyone else use this method? I've searched and don't see any recipes using this particular method of wrapping unsplit boned breasts in their own skin. Or does anyone know of a better way to prepare breasts for those who don't particularly care for them?
*The reason I cook it at such a low temperature is that it seems to me that at higher temperatures the meat on the outside of the "roast" cooks faster and gets somewhat dry before the inside gets cooked. Similarly, the reason I prefer my method to cooking the breasts on the bone is that when I do this the meat near the bone doesn't cook as fast as the meat near the surface area.
have you ever tried roasting a whole bone-in, skin-on chicken breast? set it on a bed of sliced potatoes, carrots, onions, unpeeled garlic, herbs -- s&p and olive oil, maybe some lemon juice. then roast at 400 for about 30 min (depends on size). good stuff.
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i'm from out of town but i sure like the eggs-benedict-on-spinach at le cafeteria (prince arthur et st laurent) and the blueberry pancakes, chockablock with fruit.
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no. i believe it would have been disrespectful (she is the friend of a friend's mother). and useless: her behavior was gauche but harmless en somme. and i would never see her again.
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check this: i was in wepler's 2 years ago with a couple of ladies from my home town who had asked me to show them around (at that point i had lived in paris for upward of 20 years). one lady sent back the salmon to have it re-cooked. no problem, de gustibus and all. the other lady, in her mid-seventies, pulls out her makeup bag between le plat et le dessert and starts applying mascara, lipliner, blush... j'en passe. the young waiter expressed disgust to me (in french). i told him nicely and in french to pipe down. but jeez... i don't have a problem with people speaking english next to me. but -- behave!
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timbales de laitues made with butter lettuce -- from simca's cuisine. i think she suggested serving them with roast pork studded with prunes. lush!
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Re. mayos, I was just kidding... though I guess that they'd be pretty similar. In all fairness, I found Hellman's to be pretty bland. Kinda "grease it up" tool rather than anything adding taste.. but that may just be me... Whenever I wanted mayo, I just made it myself.
Funny you would say this, since it's exactly my problem. I grew up on Hellman's and French mayonnaise is too strongly flavoured. I don't want mustard in my salmon or egg salad. It just doesn't seem right. I have never made mayonnaise myself since it seems kind of intimidating but maybe I should give it a try.
You can actually find both Hellman's and Philadelphia cream cheese at the Galeries Lafayette Gourmet in Paris, but this is a pretty unusual and expensive resource. It's nice to hear about substitutes that are available throughout France.
now that i'm back in North America for a spell i can get Hellmann's all right -- but i *really* miss those little jars of Maille mayo in the refrigerated section. i virtually stopped whipping up mayonnaise from scratch when that stuff came on the market... not sugary like the non-refrigerated product, nice and mustardy... mmm
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Great advice you've got there NYC Mike. May I add some "contrarian" input? From a California expat.
What can you say about your lunch/dinner dates? Terrific, au courant and chef's driven.
Outstanding Montreal! Go!
But there might be another side of Montreal you might check out between the driven chefs.
A more food oriented, worked in reality that probaly more Montrealers enjoy and can afford as part of their regular life. A side of the Unique Culture of MOntreal. A bit of Paris.
Missing from above are the great Bistros of Montreal. AND.... a great specialty of Montreal...BYOW - BRING YOUR OWN WINE. Imagine whipping out a bottle of your sweetie's favourite Champagne (for starters) followed by that oh so irrestible french red wine that has special significance to HER. We're talking LOVE here, right? And you can bring in two bottels to Canda for free, so that's no problem and you don't have to deal with ornery QC wine monopoly.
Quality BYOW restos will OPEN even DECANT your wine and serve it in decent stem ware - for FREE. That's right - no corkage!!! Go figure! It's true!
There are others here that can recommend BYOW bistros and restos to you. LAst fall I went to La Colombe corner of Duluth and St Hubert. It's been there for probably 15 years, well worked in, very simple but oh so sophisticated in an understated professional way that's hard to find this side of the Atlantic. Classy! To reserve drop in the day before and request the table at the windowed apex of the room! There are many other bistros even more "romantic". Just ask here.
Try some funkiness:
-Drop into Bily Kun on Mont Royal and St Denis for a Cheval Blanc "La Blanche" sur lie QC beer. Most refreshing on a hot summer night but works in winter too. Also try the weired orange flavoured Czech drink which name escapes me at the moment. The decor is "interesting". "If it's 5 pm, we are at Bily Kun" - words from my latest California visitors.
-Also Cobalt bar on St Paul in Old Montreal a bit west of the touristy section. Live Jazz a few times a week. Even at lunch I think. Open to 3 am. They are cobalt-montreal.com
- For Poutine & a Burger and Beer drop into La Paryse on Ontario close to St Denis. "Best in town".
- Or even funkier, visit The Mad Hatter on Drummond (?) between Maisonneuve and St Catherine for strickly late night Poutine (only) Beer & Pool working mans crawl. Shudder. But not dangereous. Hmm.
But above all - don't leave Montreal without going to L'Express on St Denis. Paris by the St Lawrence. Open to 2 pm. Perfect for any time between lunch and that late or early night restrorative after much drink and love making. Sit at the bar and have the bar man treat you. Your wine glass restored to that just so level after every sip you take. The couple next to you eating and smoking and talking and loving as only French people can.
And oh, since I am on a roll here. Please buy your cheese at Marche Des Saveurs at Jean Talon Market. The young staff will package your morsels of fine QC raw cheese like they were Jewels.
Also less expensive than Que Lait Cru.
Enjoy your stay in Montreal!!!
l'express is ok -- but i wouldn't call it a must. well, maybe for atmosphere -- but if you neither recognize nor care about local celebrities, it's not such a trip. i ate there 2 weeks ago with a couple of montrealers who recognized several tv personalities. .. i, in the meantime, was wondering where in hell they had found the foamy-textured "goat cheese" they had put on my entree salad. paris, indeed! however: good wine -- a chinon for 40 bucks. and fun waiters; the guy at the bar is a riot. but for food AND a groovy atmosphere what i have liked recently is le continental -- the crowd and the wine list and the freshness of the food made me go "whoa!" -- voila, an outsider's 2 cents' worth.
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I really love this burger and apparently so do a lot of other people. It was just bestowed number 4 on the country's top 20 burgers list by GQ.
Who says Philadelphia isn't a food town? Here's the link to the article:
Rouge burger (we also liked the fries and the happy, friendly bar crowd) one night + Amada tapas/wine/"bad education"/flamenco dancers the next = the highlights of a stay in Philly just before Christmas at the Sofitel (great room, great price).
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The Gazette named the top 10 caterers in Montreal roughly a year ago. Does anyone remember this list???
A friend of mine is getting married soon and is looking to me to point her in the right direction as far as a caterer, but there's so little info out there about who's good, who's hot, etc!!
Any help would be appreciated! Is Area still doing events? I know De Vienne is one of the best, but the wedding is for 400 plus people, I don't think they would do it. And forget Denise.
Any feedback on Agnus Dei? Avocado??
Thanks all,
Fireweed.
Just this week i've partaken of 2 breakfasts and 3 lunches provided by Avocado. Very informal, served at our agency for working sessions with clients. Very fresh ingredients, nice clean flavors. Our clients had very nice things to say about the pastries in particular. Of course a working lunch for 15 isn't a wedding reception...
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Well we are waiting to here back on this apartment.. Kitchen looks fine, as does the area.. Love having a balcony.. apartment hopefully
very luxe neighborhood (and property) indeed! you'll be loving that rue Cler market. There are great permanent shops too, along that street and the Poujauran bakery not far from it -- i've seen pix of the food you cook in other threads: bring your camera along to record your paris exploits! bon sejour...
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Hello,
My friend and I are booked to go to Paris May 19-29. Planning to rent a car in Dijon and wine tour in Burgundy, Rhone, Chablis regions. If there are any special spots to eat and stay on the open road, please suggest.
thanks,
jkl
you might want to visit La Chablisienne wine coop when you're there -- great welcome and great value wines.
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Somehow, Iovines has gotten hold of decent beans: green string beans at $1.29, cranberry beans at $0.99, and yellow wax and flat green beans at $1.49. Not many price changes this week, though red and green peppers now both up to $1.49, and Temple oranges have gone to 3/$1 from 4/$1. Featured this week, mango at a buck apiece.
i was at Iovines this morning as well and saw the cranberry beans and had absolutely no idea what they were, tasted like, etc. do you eat them whole or shell them? raw/cooked? thanks in advance for the help.
shell them and simmer for 35-45 min -- they turn out creamier than dried beans, so very good! toss them with a dressing of olive oil, garlic and rosemary with a good dose of sea salt and cracked black pepper. wish i could find some up here in the (literally) frozen north -- i'll be cooking out of my cupboards this weekend...
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The marketing campaign could be so simple: “Take Us Home For Dinner”.
Historical trivia relevant to this discussion:
Time was, you could do just that.
Up through (I think) the 1950s, suburban housewives in Reading Railroad territory could place orders with Reading Terminal Market merchants by phone. The orders would be filled and placed on outbound Reading commuter trains for pickup at the station nearest home in time for dinner preparation.
(See? There really is nothing new under the sun. The only difference between this and acmemarkets.com or genuardis.com is that it's done online now, not on the phone.)
in the late 50s / very early 60s i would sit at the corner of our street waiting for my father to come home from the city -- he took the 4:42 (!!) train from town. he would often walk home from the Glenside station to our house; on fridays we looked to see if he had that parcel wrapped in newsprint -- fish for dinner from the Reading Terminal Market! that little ritual taught a small girl to love shad and pooh-pooh the bones....
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Over in General Food Topics, some of you have no doubt by now seen my post ruminating on the true nature of Green Bean Casserole. Since I've eaten with many friends and acquaintances, I figured that my near-total unfamiliarity with the dish must be due to some cultural factor.
Then I recalled another back-of-the-package recipe that I've seen too many times to count everywhere but on an actual plate:
Mock Apple Pie ("No Apples Needed!")
If you're old enough, you've probably seen this recipe on the back of a box of Ritz crackers, one of the main ingredients. It hasn't been part of the packaging for some time now, but I vaguely recall its making a brief reappearance not too long ago.
I can't say I'm so curious about this dish as to actually want to make it. If I want apple pie, the kind that has apples in it is plentiful enough that I don't think I have to worry about making a substitute.
In fact, while I've done my share of famous-product-label cooking, most of the time, I usually end up either substituting regular ingredients for the prepared products or trying the dish only once, which is enough. As an example, here's my California Onion Dip recipe:
1 pint sour cream
2 tablespoons dehydrated minced onion
1 tablespoon instant beef boullion or concentrated beef stock base
Mix all ingredients well and chill for at least one hour to allow flavors to blend. I'll bet you can't tell the difference from the Lipton Onion Soup Mix recipe.
Have any of you ever actually tried to make some of the better-known package-label recipes? If so, have you ever made them more than once? Or have you adapted them to substitute less processed ingredients? Are there recipes you've run across frequently and wonder whether anyone has actually tried them? Have you tried any of these yourself? Have you regretted doing so afterwards, or been pleasantly surprised?
The possibilities, as they say, are endless.
from off the barley box: a soup that is ever so comforting with green beans (i cheat and use fresh) and finely diced beef stew meat. i cut it off the box ages ago, at my mother's house, i think. i preserve it piously among my recipe clippings and when i come across it (say once every couple of years) i feel obliged to make it. and very good it is! like running into an old friend...
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years ago i used to make a recipe called foie gras de volaille -- "chicken liver foie gras." livers cooked til barely firm with sauteed shallot, then pureed in the cuisinart, cooled and enriched with ungodly amounts of butter. seasoned with i can't remember what and flavoured with port. chilled in a terrine, then served with thin slices of sourdough (poilane) toast. have to unearth that recipe... damn good stuff.
Yes, please do.
here you go... from madame jean martin of paris
it was tucked into my copy of julia, which has followed me everywhere..
(i usually made half of this - and i misremembered about the shallots, sorry!)
1 kg chicken livers (no hearts or gizzards)
400 gr unsalted full-fat french style butter
1/2 liter white wine
4 soup spoons of port
a pinch of quatre epices (sub allspice), salt, pepper
optional: 1 truffle (i never used it)
In a pot bring wine to boil, throw livers in. very imp: watch the cooking they must be pink inside - not bloody but really pink. 3 minutes timed ("montre en main"). scoop out the livers with a strainer, drain and cool. process them, adding softened butter bit by bit . mix in port, season with spice, salt and pepper. you can then pass the mixture thru a fine sieve, but neither mme martin, who gave me the recipe, nor i did that. transfer mixture into an earthenware terrine and cover with a sheet of foil and lid (or just cover well with foil). refrigerate -- give it a good 4 to 6 hours. serve with thin slices of toasted poilane or any good sourdough bread.
bon appetit!
-sheila
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That sound lovely, except I don't believe I have a souffle dish! Yes, yes I know. Have I mentioned prep time? Friday I'll be at the hospital most of the day for tests. I can do so me prep Saturday morning, then it's downtown for the Firm's christmas party. We'll stay overnight and arrive back home around noon at which time my son will arrive. So I've got Sat morning and Sunday afternoon to make stuff in advance. I'll get the mustard paste onto the bird Sat morning so it can sit overnight. I'm going to make the cranberries on Sat as well. I just don't know if I'll have enough time to make this dish so it sets properly.
I haven't heard any stunning potato thoughts yet!
how about scalloped potatoes with (dried) porcini mushrooms? i think there's a recipe on epicurious.... i made them and they are very very good -- just don't overdo the dried porcini. good luck!
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Very different.
Texture: chopped liver is, well, chopped cooked liver. Pate the liver is pureed raw then cooked with the other ingredients.
Ingredients: Chopped liver has hard boiled eggs and fried onions in it. Pate doesn't usually. Well maybe fat or schmaltz, but garlic, wine, brandy, cream etc,
Taste: different.
years ago i used to make a recipe called foie gras de volaille -- "chicken liver foie gras." livers cooked til barely firm with sauteed shallot, then pureed in the cuisinart, cooled and enriched with ungodly amounts of butter. seasoned with i can't remember what and flavoured with port. chilled in a terrine, then served with thin slices of sourdough (poilane) toast. have to unearth that recipe... damn good stuff.
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It's not that I have something particularly brilliant to say on the subject, but it is undoubtably true that Quebec cheese are in a league of their own in North America. As mentioned on other forums, they need a forum of their own.
I love the cheese here in Quebec, and want to learn more.
Perhaps someone could lead me in the direction of a interesting blue cheese, as I'm having a craving.
at the farmer's market in quebec city i bought a bunch of cheeses recently, including a ciel de charlevoix (?) which i enjoyed. not roquefort by any stretch in terms of texture or tang, more like a fourme d'ambert. but great at room temp with pears; very good stuff.
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No, don't recall having tried that one.... but I think I know where their stand is at JTM....
La Moutonnière is located in Sainte-Helene-de-Chester in Bois-Franc
Look, I am no QC Cheese expert.... I just know what I like... Hopefully if we start up a thread we can learn a bunch from the real experts.
BTW:
IF you don't have it - get this amazing book... The "Bible of QC Cheese"...
"Répertoire des Fromages du Quebec"
By Richard Bizier and Roch Nadeau.
Available at Libraire Gourmand at JTM
/gth
quebec cheeses... got 2 words for you: kenogami. and grand manitou. ok 3 words, so sue me. what lovely things you have here. enough to make one forget new jersey peaches...
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so after mulling it over for the last 3 years, i finally took the plunge and ordered a sacher torte from the hotel sacher. it arrived in 3 days and everything was looking rosy. with great anticipation i opened it up and sliced it and to my surprise it was not so good. it was on the dry side, but what can you expect from something coming from austria. however the glaze, well what can i say about the glaze. it just was awful. in fact the only way i could even choke the cake down was to neatly cut away the glaze and promptly throw it in the garbage. i was disappointed to say the least. i also purchased an imperial torte from the hotel imperial through dean and deluca. this is an almond paste cake layered with chocolate. it was much tastier than the sacher. but i am stunned that both taste like they have been made with the lowest quality chocolate possible. oh well, sometimes immitation is really the sincerest form of flattery.
Aaaaach! Meine kleine nusstorte! It's from Demel's you should get these things!!!!!
Really am sorry to hear it ... it's those kinds of disappointments that are the worst of all. Right up there with the truth about Santa Claus.
Theabroma
right. some things are better imagined than experienced -- and somehow i'm not surprised that sachertorte from the Hotel Sacher is among them....
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Decanting usually provides much better aeration.
Although, I have had some wines with a decided burnt rubber taste wherein that burnt rubber taste actually did go well with the wine.
i recently attended a blind tasting of 95 chateauneuf du pape - 7 examples plus a "mystery wine" (which turned out to be cigare volant, btw).
anyway, one wine i intensely disliked for that overpowering "wheelies" scent. half of the 15 member group felt the same way; many others chose it as their favourite wine of the evening. it was domaine beaurenard, cuvee boisrenard...
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where I made ALL of the bleedin' phyllo from scratch, and since I couldn't find shelled pistachios at that time, I shelled the suckers by hand (blisters for weeks)
Theabroma
whoa! RESPECT.
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Seriously!!!
Club Chasse et Pêche is not Toqué and I really don't think they want to be a kinda of Toqué! This restaurant is funky and people there want the restaurant to be like this. You need to know that when you go to CC&P, if you look to have the same ambiance as Toqué or La Chronique you are completely wrong. Sometimes it can be really busy and really crowded (it's crowded all the time anyway, because it's good and fun) and it will be way more noisy and crazy than all other restaurants (in MTL) that serve this quality of food. Seriously, CC&P is the only restaurant like this in town and it was about time for us because Montreal was really too serious and boring not long time ago. Montreal need more restaurant like this and I hope people enjoy CC&P because for me it's seriously rocks! Hubert is the best restaurant owner in Montreal and Claude is one of the best 5 chef. The team there is fantastic and you need to understand that you are in Montreal and not in NYC. When there is a group coming on a week night, you accept them right away! The market here is not NYC and the restaurants need all the business they can get to survive.
I just hope people will stop complaining about CC&P because I am really crazy about ''gastronomie'' and I am going every where in the world to try all the best restaurants and trust me, many bigger cities need restaurants like this one, we are just very lucky.
You know all these best restaurants like Per Se, Troisgros, Bras, Fat Duck, El Bulli etc... is something different and most of these are 4-5 times more expensive and are not friendly and easy to go for a fun dinner on a week night last minute call.
Long live CC&P!
how do you say "proces d'intention" in english?
seriously, indeed.
perhaps you missed the part about the lovely food, etc.
however: i maintain that guest flow and "conviviality management" are essential in a fine restaurant. the management's very kind gestures (cf my post) and apologies as we left showed that they, too, noticed something had been amiss. my post was intended rather as a heads-up for small parties of 2 or 3 to request a table in the room where the bar is not. which is what i plan to do when i dine at cc&p next month...
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Seriously!!!
Club Chasse et Pêche is not Toqué and I really don't think they want to be a kinda of Toqué! This restaurant is funky and people there want the restaurant to be like this. You need to know that when you go to CC&P, if you look to have the same ambiance as Toqué or La Chronique you are completely wrong. Sometimes it can be really busy and really crowded (it's crowded all the time anyway, because it's good and fun) and it will be way more noisy and crazy than all other restaurants (in MTL) that serve this quality of food. Seriously, CC&P is the only restaurant like this in town and it was about time for us because Montreal was really too serious and boring not long time ago. Montreal need more restaurant like this and I hope people enjoy CC&P because for me it's seriously rocks! Hubert is the best restaurant owner in Montreal and Claude is one of the best 5 chef. The team there is fantastic and you need to understand that you are in Montreal and not in NYC. When there is a group coming on a week night, you accept them right away! The market here is not NYC and the restaurants need all the business they can get to survive.
I just hope people will stop complaining about CC&P because I am really crazy about ''gastronomie'' and I am going every where in the world to try all the best restaurants and trust me, many bigger cities need restaurants like this one, we are just very lucky.
You know all these best restaurants like Per Se, Troisgros, Bras, Fat Duck, El Bulli etc... is something different and most of these are 4-5 times more expensive and are not friendly and easy to go for a fun dinner on a week night last minute call.
Long live CC&P!
Risotto--Cook-Off 21
in Cooking
Posted
speaking of the nytimes: they had a recipe a while back for risotto with duck confit. here in montreal i can get great confit, i have homemade broth and canaroli rice. the result? hubba hubba ding ding! and it's easy enough for a friday after work come on over dinner.