eG Foodblog Tag Team: slkinsey and Marlene - A tale of two kitchens..

[msfurious1]

Both meals are making my mouth water. I'm telling myself that it's bedtime not dinnertime.

Wonderful pictures.

[Abra]

Beautiful, Marlene, and brave! What a lovely result. YOu are so right to be proud of yourself.

Textbook perfect Sam, except, did I get this right? You made Kathleen eat it REHEATED? You didn't wait for her? If my husband ever made a meal like that (and he won't) and then went ahead and ate without me, I'd put him on bread and water, I swear.

[Genny]

Both meals were just gorgous!

Sam that chicken was stunning and unique. And look at all those veggies!! Who needs veggie night when you have so many veggies on a chicken night?

Again, I would have loved to taste both of them!

Sam, what were the spices you used with your veggies and chicken? Just S/P? Also the veggies look wet, was there some chx stock there or were they just moist from the cooking?

I can aspire to your level of cookery! (why don't we have a smilie with the 'licking its lips" expression???

[bergerka]

Beautiful, Marlene, and brave!  What a lovely result.  YOu are so right to be proud of yourself.

Textbook perfect Sam, except, did I get this right?  You made Kathleen eat it REHEATED?  You didn't wait for her?  If my husband ever made a meal like that (and he won't) and then went ahead and ate without me, I'd put him on bread and water, I swear.

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Hold on, hold on! :shock: I had a late aria singthrough tonight! I told Sam to go ahead, as I knew I wouldn't be home till after 10!!!!! Believe me, he was willing to wait - it was MY choice.

and you should have SEEN that plate. Man. Beautiful. Work of art. :wub:

K

[bleudauvergne]

This is a gorgeous blog, and I'm so inspired by both of your cooking! It's got me in the mood! Thank you both so much!

[Marlene]

Morning everyone. Coffee again this morning, on this beautiful day. Ryan had frosted flakes and I'm not sure what Don is planning to eat.

I've a rare day mid week to share with my husband so this morning we'll go across the city to the hospital for a while, and then hopefully stop at William Sonoma on the way home. Maybe we'll get to check out the new Whole Foods store today as well.

Tonight's challenge is "something creative with leftovers". We'll be using our left over steak to create a stir fry and I may or may not have time to make chicken soup from the leftover chicken carcass and meat from last night.

Dinner will be late tonight as we won't eat until I return from my piano lesson, but I'm sure Sam can fill in the gaps nicely.

[snowangel]

I've a rare day mid week to share with my husband so this morning we'll go across the city to the hospital for a while, and then hopefully stop at William Sonoma on the way home.    Maybe we'll get to check out the new Whole Foods store today as well.

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Is it time for that new blender?

[Marlene]

I've a rare day mid week to share with my husband so this morning we'll go across the city to the hospital for a while, and then hopefully stop at William Sonoma on the way home.      Maybe we'll get to check out the new Whole Foods store today as well.

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Is it time for that new blender?

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Perhaps, if the Kitchen Gods are kind today.

[Priscilla]

Both chicken preparations were incredibly delicious looking.

Marlene, yours looked especially just-right on the spit. And off, too -- seemed perfectly done. A little champagne makes everything just that much better, too, I find.

Sam's two-ways puts one in mind of his signature Thanksgiving turkey treatment.

[Smithy]

Here I am cooking the breast meat (skin side down about 70% of the time) and also browning the skin on the cooked leg meat rolls.

Here is one view of the finished dish.

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Those look wonderful, absolutely wonderful....so gorgeous, in fact, that I kept some of the photos in my response. My apologies to those with a dial-up connection. I'm one of them myself.

Sam, were the legs wrapped in foil so tightly that no water got in from the bath? How much drying off and patting did you have to do before browning the legs afterward?

Edited June 1, 2005 by Smithy (log)

[slkinsey]

Sam, what were the spices you used with your veggies and chicken?  Just S/P?  Also the veggies look wet, was there some chx stock there or were they just moist from the cooking?

No spices. Just salt and white pepper. I am, in general, not a fan of heavily spiced chicken skin. I like the salty chicken flavor to come out uninhibited.

The vegetables were blanched to not-quite-tender in salted water and then shocked in an ice bath. Then they were reheated just prior to service in a very intense reduction of chicken broth. Once warm, I placed the vegetables on the plate, plated the chicken and mushrooms, then mounted the chicken glace with butter to thicken it and give it some gloss, gave it a touch of fresh lemon juice for acidity, threw in some minced parsley and drizzled the sauce over the vegetables.

Sam, were the legs wrapped in foil so tightly that no water got in from the bath?  How much drying off and patting did you have to do before browning the legs afterward?

Exactly. I wrapped them rightly in several turns of heavy duty foil, then twisted the ends to pack everything tightly together. Completely watertight -- in fact, a fair amount of liquid came out when they were opened (this went into the sauce).

Prior to browning these pieces, they rested for a while and then I patted them dry. Ordinarily, I brown the skin under the broiler when I do chicken legs like this. But it seemed like a waste to do with just two pieces.

[JosephB]

Sam, were the legs wrapped in foil so tightly that no water got in from the bath?  How much drying off and patting did you have to do before browning the legs afterward?

Exactly. I wrapped them rightly in several turns of heavy duty foil, then twisted the ends to pack everything tightly together. Completely watertight -- in fact, a fair amount of liquid came out when they were opened (this went into the sauce).

Prior to browning these pieces, they rested for a while and then I patted them dry. Ordinarily, I brown the skin under the broiler when I do chicken legs like this. But it seemed like a waste to do with just two pieces.

I often make involtini, but never with the skin. I use the thighs. I stuff, roll, toothpick, brown, and then finally braise. Your technique seems to be essentially the reverse, but with the skin on, and with the filling held together by the tight wrapping. Did you get any significant overlap of the skin when you rolled the legs, or did shrinkage take care of that? I would be concerned that some flabby skin would be tucked under the outer part of the skin which gets crispy.

[slkinsey]

I often make involtini, but never with the skin.  I use the thighs.  I stuff, roll, toothpick, brown, and then finally braise.  Your technique seems to be essentially the reverse, but with the skin on, and with the filling held together by the tight wrapping.    Did you get any significant overlap of the skin when you rolled the legs, or did shrinkage take care of that?  I would be concerned that some flabby skin would be tucked under the outer part of the skin which gets crispy.

I think this is easier to do with the whole leg than just the thigh. You have more to work with that way.

My usual method of making them, and I usually make enough to fill a small Pyrex baking dish) is to roll them up with the skin on in foil as described above, pack them into a baking dish and bake them in the oven some unspeficied length of time until done (it's hard to overcook leg meat in this context). Then I cut a hole in the foil, drain the liquid into a small saucepan (this becomes the sauce), unroll and place the chicken onto a baking dish and broil them until browned on the outside. I've never had any problems with flabby skin, because the skin seems to shrink a bit anyway during the first stage and render out most of its fat.

I've actually never made it your way. For some reason, I tend to stay away from using toothpicks to hold things together.

[Marlene]

After a nice visit at the hospital, Don and I headed towards WS. We were hungry though so we stopped at Canyon Creek, a quasi chain steakhouse, across from the mall. It was such a beautiful day, we sat on the patio sipping a couple of beers (Rickards for Don, Heniken for me) while we waited for our orders to arrive. Don had the prime rib sandwich, real juicy prime rib, stacked high on an onion baquette and I had a bacon cheddar cheeseburger, med. Both dishes came with enough crispy shoestring potatoes to feed the entire patio. Both meals were excellent, although I didn't have my camera with me to take pictures.

Then it was off to WS for a little shopping. It was a good WS day, what can I say?

Two cookbooks (maggie, add two more for me!), my blender , a Cuisnart mini prep, Screwpull wine opener, WS towels, two measuring spoon sets, a set of biscut cutters, a Wusthof Classic Santoku knife, 2 Wusthof Classic steak knives and some coffee.

The Waring Pro 60th and 70th Anniversary Blenders are only available in the US. Figures. As far as the mini prep goes, I couldn't justify using a big food processor enough to get one of those, but I can see myself using this little one fairly often.

I am a happy girl. Cocktails on the deck in a little while, then off to piano lessons. Dinner when I return.

[slkinsey]

Cool stuff.

I've found those small food processors to be the best thing for making mayonnaise or any other emulsified cold sauce -- much better than a blender. For a food processor, I have one of the KitchenAids with a mini-bowl inside so I could have a large bowl and a small bowl processor all in one. I probably use the small one more frequently.

[Marlene]

Hmmm, mayonnaise. Great idea!

The knife is really for Don I think. He was eyeing it longingly so I gently encouraged him to get it. It didn't take much.

So Sam, what's for dinner tonight?

[SobaAddict70]

Just an update on the mystery ingredient basket vote.

Here are the choices thus far...

A. Seafood fish/dish. (1 vote)

B. Asparagus, crab and lamb. (1 vote)

C. Asparagus, salmon, strawberries. (1 vote)

D. As option C but with the addition of rhubarb. (1 vote)

E. Ice cream and Nutella. (1 vote)

F. Fish and/or vegetarian. (1 vote)

G. All vegetarian. (7 votes)

H. Chocolate, chicken, rice, beans. (1 vote)

I. Apricots, peaches, pistachios, ras el hanout and rhubarb. (3 votes)

J. Tofu, cheese, wine, chocolate and chile peppers. (2 votes)

K. Rhubarb, hibiscus and other "red" foods (cherries for example). (1 vote)

L. Squab, quinoa, zucchini, leeks, rhubarb, radishes, mascarpone. (1 vote)

These are new options since the initial set of posts:

M. Vegetarian and featuring homemade pasta. (1 vote)

N. Ground beef and something with apples for dessert. Eggs may be substituted in place of ground beef. Alternately, ground meat (not necessarily beef) can be substituted for the ground beef, but if so, 1/2 lb. must be used. (4 votes)

O. As option N but also -- Fruit may feature in the meal. Entree should be something light and vegetarian. (1 vote)

P. Meatloaf. May be made with chicken, turkey or other meat. (2 votes)

Q. As option P, but with ham and bacon. (1 vote)

R. Chocolate in all courses. (1 vote)

S. As option G but with tofu. (1 vote)

T. As option G but with champagne. (1 vote)

U. Pheasant, ramps, tamarind. Duck may be substituted. (1 vote) [this was Smithy's original suggestion]

V. 1/2 lb. seafood item, rack of lamb or duck, pea shoots or spring peas, orzo or polenta, rhubarb or cherries, chocolate. (1 vote)

W. Duck OR squab; leeks OR ramps; quinoa OR rice; apples OR cherries; chocolate. (1 vote)

There's still time to vote on or make suggestions for Sunday's "challenge". Deadline on voting is tomorrow evening at 6 pm EST. To vote, either post a reply to this thread or send me a PM. If you make a suggestion, the vote tally counts you as one of the votes.

Soba

edit: some of you may see this post updated every so often, fyi.

Edited June 2, 2005 by SobaAddict70 (log)

[Marlene]

Soba, I believe someone suggested lamb, and someone else suggested duck.

Edited to add, sorry, I see you got the lamb, but I don't see the duck, but then again, I could be blind.

[Marlene]

I've a question on the blender for those who have one. The lid doesn't seem "snug" and I wouldn't call the attachment of the jar to the base overly secure either. Is this normal?

[Smithy]

Soba, I believe someone suggested lamb, and someone else suggested duck.

Edited to add, sorry, I see you got the lamb, but I don't see the duck, but then again, I could be blind.

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Oh, thank you, Marlene. I've been sniveling quietly, wondering why my duck suggestion has been ignored.

I suggest an either/or type of list:

Duck OR squab; leeks OR ramps; quinoa OR rice; apples OR cherries; chocolate (hi, K!)

Sound too wishy-washy, or does that give y'all room to move?

By the way, nice haul from Williams-Sonoma!

[ruthcooks]

Most of the mystery basket suggestions do not have enough items for the traditional basket, except for L and the list above which Smithy just offered. Six seems the right number to me. My own list, which I've been noodling over, is:

1/2 pound any seafood item

rack of lamb or duck

pea shoots and/or spring peas

polenta or orzo

rhubarb and/or cherries

chocolate

How about we leave the final selection to one of our gurus?

[SobaAddict70]

Soba, I believe someone suggested lamb, and someone else suggested duck.

Edited to add, sorry, I see you got the lamb, but I don't see the duck, but then again, I could be blind.

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Oh, thank you, Marlene. I've been sniveling quietly, wondering why my duck suggestion has been ignored.

I suggest an either/or type of list:

Duck OR squab; leeks OR ramps; quinoa OR rice; apples OR cherries; chocolate (hi, K!)

Sound too wishy-washy, or does that give y'all room to move?

By the way, nice haul from Williams-Sonoma!

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Done. See above.

[jsolomon]

P.  Meatloaf.  May be made with chicken, turkey or other meat.  (2 votes)

Q.  Ham and bacon.  (1 vote)

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Q was meant to be #3 in P...

[slkinsey]

So Sam, what's for dinner tonight?

It's a secret. Let's see who can figure it out. Here are my ingredients:

Leftover short rib meat, leftover bean sprouts, leftover mushrooms, leftover asparagus, shredded carrots I had around, scallions, red bell pepper, rice, various spicy pickled vegetables, red pepper paste, eggs and two large thick bowls made of stone.

Begins with a "B" . . .

Ends with a "P" . . .

[Mooshmouse]

Ooooh, oooh, I'll play.

Bibimbap! Mmmmmmmm....

Note: fabulous blog so far you two!