The Silent "I"

Granny's Chicken & Dumplings Recipe: DailyBuzz Moms 9x9

 

Granny's Chicken and Dumplings

Growing up in Ohio, Sunday dinner meant one thing to me: Granny's Chicken & Dumplings, a warm and hearty stew made of the simplest ingredients of flour, chicken, salt and pepper. A staple in the Midwest and South, chicken and dumplings is about as comforting  as a comfort food can get. It seems to be something born of hard times, when only the bare necessities were on-hand to make a meal for a crowd.

As a child, I watched my grandmother roll out dumpling and make quick work of cutting out dumplings into little bite-sized squares. Her knife skills would put even the Top Chef Masters to shame. I often helped knead the dough, standing on a chair to put my whole body into the process of shaping and rolling the dough into a ball, then using a rolling pin to flatten it out.  Granny coached me through it, making sure my dumplings were not too lumpy or too thick.  Making dumplings was better than play-doh for keeping little hands busy. 

Granny didn't use a recipe, so for the longest time I had only a vague idea of how to make chicken and dumplings.  My mother showed me how to make it, using the "eyeball it and throw things in until it tastes right" method.  My brother Mike is a chef, and he coached me through turning it into a real recipe a few years ago. The recipe that follows is an approximation of what you need to make Chicken & Dumplings, just like Granny used to make. The original recipe only uses salt and pepper for seasoning. I've added some chicken stock base and herbs for extra flavor.

 

 Ingredients

For Stock:

12 c water

3 bone-in chicken breasts

2 sprigs fresh thyme (optional)

2-3 leaves of fresh sage (optional)

1 packet Knorr Homestyle Condensed Chicken Stock (optional)

Salt & Pepper to taste

For Dumplings:

6 c + 1 c Gold Medal Self-Rising Flour

1 c water

1 t dried sage (optional)

1 t dried thyme (optional)

1 T salt

1 T black pepper

 

Holiday Entertaining with Fresh & Easy

This weekend, I was thrilled to host a house party for some of my blogger and work friends sponsored by Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Markets.  The folks from Fresh & Easy brought in some of their best holiday fare for us to try out, including Brie & Cranberry Pastry Puffs, Mini Beef en Croutes, and Bacon Wrapped Shrimp appetizers. The appetizers are in the prepared foods section of the store, and are uncooked when you buy them. Just pop them in the oven for about 10 minutes, and you have tantalizing, decadent appetizers that seem like you've been slaving all day to prepare. I mean, seriously, how could you go wrong with brie cheese wrapped in butter pastry? Or anything at all involving bacon?

A few months ago, I went to an event in San Francisco to launch new Fresh & Easy stores in Northern California.  I had never heard of Fresh & Easy before that, and was delighted to learn that they offer fresh, wholesome foods at reasonable prices. Fresh & Easy is owned by the British supermarket chain Tesco.  They are in the middle of opening stores in California, Nevada, and Arizona. In addition to their own branded products, they also offer some of the top name-brand items and fresh bread from Il Fornaio bakery. 

Love, Loss and Peanut Butter Pie

On Friday, bloggers from around the world gathered at our virtual kitchen table to pay tribute to food blogger Jennifer Perillo's husband, Mikey, who passed away suddenly a week ago.  I didn't get to make a pie on Friday or Saturday, due to a myriad of work and life commitments that kept me out of the kitchen.  I made two pies on Sunday, around the time that Mikey passed.  The pie pictured above was made with love and a few tears.

This news sent me reeling back to a few months ago, when my own husband, Frank, faced open heart surgery.  He is nearly fully recovered now, all the better for having been to hell and back to repair a genetic heart defect.  Right before his surgery, we talked about what I would need to do if he didn't make it through.  We went over his last wishes, where all the important paperwork was located, even though we didn't want to think about the possibilities.

The night before his surgery, Frank laid out his will and Advanced Medical Directive on the dining table. I wanted to stab the pile of papers with a kitchen knife every time I passed the table. It was the last thing I wanted to think about, but the possibility of death loomed around us like a bone-chilling fog.  I could only hope for the best, but be as prepared as I could for the worst.

I now realize what a luxury it was to be braced for the idea that Frank might not make it. Jennifer didn't have the opportunity to steel herself against the possibility that Mikey might not be there for Sunday dinner, or to enjoy his favorite pie with them one more time. Both Frank and Mikey are a reminder of how fragile our hearts are, and though they can mend, sometimes they break beyond repair.

I hope that everyone who makes this pie, or some variation of it, does so to honor the lives of Mikey and Jennifer and the beautiful family they built together. Life is is all too fleeting and its sweetness should be savored every day, like the very last bite of peanut butter pie.

For the recipe, see Jennifer's blog post, For Mikey.

Restaurant Review: Piperade in San Francisco

I have been dying to try Chef Gerald Hirigoyen's Piperade Restaurant in San Franciso since hearing him speak at the Cooking for Solutions event in Monterey. I tried the Garlic Soup with bacon, egg and shrimp as the first course. The soup was tangy, but not overpowering with garlic flavor.  I would never have thought of putting shrimp, bacon, eggs and bread together in a soup.  It was like a sophisticated omelet soup. 

For the main course, I had a perfectly grilled halibut steak topped with crispy garlic and a spicy pepper on top.  The dish was flavorful, and the fish was buttery and delicious.  Frank had a tender duck that melted in your mouth.

I didn't know much about Basque cuisine going into the restaurant, but our friendly, cheerful Basque waitress was more than happy to explain things to us and make recommendations.  She recommended the Gateaux Basque for desert, a dense cake with a layer of cream and a compote of sherry-infused cherries.  I had a custardy mousse made of almonds, pistachios, and cream with sweet, crispy almonds on top that the waitress explained was a result of the Arab influence and history in Spain.  Wherever they came from, both were the perfect note to end the perfect meal.

I can't wait to go back to Piperade to find out what else Chef Hirigoyen has up his sleeve.  I bought a copy of his book, Pintxos: Small Plates in the Basque Tradition at the Monterey event, and now that I have some reference to what it's supposed to taste like, I might have to try a few things.

I saw one older child in the restaurant of about 11 or 12, but I would not recommend this for kids. I don't think that kids would be unwelcome, I just don't think that you or the kids would be comfortable.  Our son was not with us, so I don't know if they have a child-friendly menu, but the flavors are probably a little too powerful for small fry. This is a great place for a date night or a special celebration with friends.

Posted via email from glennia's posterous

May in California: Strawberry Fields Forever

It's May (well for a few more days at least) and in California, that means strawberries.  When we drove to Monterey a few weeks ago, we could see strawberry fields stretching across the terrain, red, ripe berries glistening in the sun.  There are dozens of fresh fruit stands along Highway 1, all beckoning with promises of ripe, fresh berries, jams, preserves, pies, and all sorts of strawberry concoctions.  I love this time of year.

Our local farmers' market had a special on strawberries a couple of weeks ago, $10 for a half flat, which is 6 of those little plastic baskets full. I was reluctant to take so many, since they tend to get fuzzy before we can eat them all.  The woman at the farmer's market stand told me the secret to keeping them fresh longer:  take a paper towel and place it on the bottom of an airtight plastic container.  Put the unwashed strawberries in the container, and place another paper towel on top.  Seal with a lid, and store in the refrigerator.  She said they would keep up to a week without turning bad. The key, she said, was not washing them until you are ready to eat them.

I tried it, and it worked like a charm.  We had fresh strawberries all week, and by the end of the week, only 2 had gotten a little fuzzy, but the rest were fine. 

When I was a kid, my mom would clean strawberries and put sugar on them, then put them in the refrigerator to marinate.  We used them for ice cream topping, shortcake, or just ate them by the bowlful.  The strawberries grown around here are so naturally sweet that I can't imagine putting sugar on them.  For a great treat, just add a little creme fraiche to the top. Perfection!

One of our family favorite desserts growing up was Strawberry Pie.  You can use a pre-packaged gel to make a pie, but it's just as easy to make it yourself.

Strawberry Pie

1 pie crust, pre-baked to golden brown
1.5 quarts fresh strawberries
1 c sugar
3 T cornstarch
3/4 water or ginger ale (for a little extra zip)

Clean strawberries by removing tops & cutting in half, then rinsing & drying.  Use about half of the berries to fill up the pie shell. 

Mash the remaining half with a potato masher & mix with sugar.  In a medium saucepan, heat over medium heat until it comes to a slow boil.  Stir frequently.

Mix together cornstarch and water or ginger ale in a separate bowl.  Add to the heated strawberries a little at a time until thickened but still pourable, stirring constantly. 

Pour mixture over the berries in the pie shell and refrigerate several hours.

Serve with whipped cream or dessert topping of your liking.

Sustainable Foods Information Fair

After the wonderful, thought-provoking cooking demonstrations at the Cooking for Solutions event,  I wandered into the Monterey Bay Aquarium.  As part of the weekend's events, there was a Sustainable Foods Information Fair inside the Aquarium and out on the deck overlooking Monterey Bay.  Aquarium-goers were treated to a variety of booths, talks, and cooking demonstrations by some outstanding chefs, including Rick Moonen, Jesse Ziff Cool, and Sam Choy, all of whom are leaders in the local and sustainable foods movement.

I wandered out to the deck, where there were a number of tents set up by Whole Foods Market, and a Viking cooking station and grill for the demos.  Chef Rick Moonen of RM Seafood at the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas was getting ready to start his demo, and joked around with the crowd. Chef Moonen is a featured chef on Top Chef Masters, where established, world-renowned chefs compete for the title of "Top Chef Master." 

Moonen recently released a new cookbook called Fish Without a Doubt: The Cook's Essential Companion, the product of four years of work applying his culinary expertise to making preparing seafood at home less daunting for the average cook.  He was passionate about seafood, sustainability, and the debt that people owe to the oceans. I bought a copy of the book, since my husband recently converted to a semi-vegetarian to lower his cholesterol levels.  I've never been particularly good at cooking fish, but I aim to try it out.  The recipes look fantastic, and hopefully I will get over my fear of fish with this book.

Chef Moonen, like the three chefs I saw in the morning, was an engaging, charming speaker with a passion for his craft. He prepared a grilled salmon with a homemade barbecue sauce that we all got to try, that was just delicious. His secret weapon? Clam juice, which he claims could "cover up a multitude of sins" in the kitchen.

Celebrity Chefs Cook for Solutions in Monterey

This past weekend, I attended a great event at the Monterey Bay Aquarium called "Cooking for Solutions".  It's an annual event in its ninth year, featuring celebrity chefs doing cooking demonstrations and speaking on sustainable food efforts.  The events lasted all weekend, but I signed up for the cooking demonstrations on Saturday morning with chefs Anthony Fusco, Kevin Gillespie, and Gerald Hirigoyen. Each Chef presented a seafood-based recipe, answered questions, and spoke about their commitments to local and sustainable food sources in their respective restaurants.

Chef Anthony Fusco, formerly of Harbour Restaurant in New York City, was up first, and showed us how to make Scallops Crudo, an appetizer similar to ceviche using passion fruit vinaigrette instead of citrus to marinate the scallops.  Chef Fusco explained the various unusual ingredients in the dish and what they meant to the balance of flavors, such as adding cocoa nibs for an earthiness and shiro dashi for smokiness. 

Both he and Kevin Gillespie waxed poetic about the olive oils and vinegars from Katz & Company, a Napa Valley artisinal oil and vinegar company that supplies great restaurants throughout the country.  He emphasized that it is important to know where your food comes from, and who is making it.

I hadn't heard of Anthony Fusco before this event, and unfortunately, his restaurant, Harbour, closed in December. He is working on opening a new place in New York called Carmela's, scheduled to open at the end of the year.  Chef Fusco was very engaging, and spoke lovingly of growing up in an Italian family in Brooklyn where Sunday dinner lasted all day.  His father, a "Wall Street man", was sitting behind me in the audience, beaming with pride at his son.  He said their favorite dish was a simple pasta with garlic, anchovies, olive oil and red pepper flakes.

Aside from his love of seafood, Fusco seemed to hold a particular reverence for bacon.  "Popcorn cooked in bacon fat will change your life," he said, drawing a laugh from the crowd (and for me, the desire to go home and try it).  He invited everyone to come to Carmela's when it opens, and assured us that "there will be pork on the menu."

Okonomiyaki: The Name Says It All

Okonomiyaki in Osaka from Glennia Campbell on Vimeo.

On our last full day in Japan, Frank insisted that we go to an okonomiyaki restaurant.  If kaiseki is Japanese haute cuising, okonomiyaki is the equivalent of a Denny's Grand Slam.  It's crude, filling, and fairly inexpensive.  It is an omelette-pancake-vegetable-leftover concoction that is cooked on a grill embedded in your table. It's a specialty of the Kansai region, so we could not pass up the opportunity to give it a try. Frank had fond memories of okonomiyaki from his time as a student at Tokyo University and wanted to share this rich cultural experience with his family. If the Watanabe family ever visits us in the US, we will need to return the favor by taking them to The French Laundry, followed by Cracker Barrel.

Osaka is rife with okonomiyaki joints, and at first, Hisashi-san wanted to take us to a nice place near the Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan.  We spend so much time ogling the fish there, we ran out of time, so we opted to try something closer to Osaka Stadium before the soccer game. Hisashi's wife, Masae, graciously opted to go save seats instead of going with us to dinner, so we dropped her off and found a place near Osaka University.  I'm not sure if she was actually avoiding the inevitable heartburn to follow, or being entirely altruistic.  I think it was the latter.

"Okonomiyaki" is based on two Japanese words, "okonomi" meaning "what you want" or "what you like" and "yaki" meaning "grilled".  So, basically, it's whatever you want on a grill.  Traditionally, it's made from eggs, cabbage, flour, grated yam and water, with meat or seafood added in (whatever you want). It's formed into an omelette shape and grilled at your table, with a dose of brown tonkatsu sauce, some Japanese mayo, and fish flakes added on top.  I'm not sure exactly what the fish flakes add other than entertainment value. You can see in the video that when heated, they start to come alive, dancing on top of the concoction.  Alex added the "IT'S ALIVE!" sound effects to heighten the experience.

Frank ordered the house specialty, which was less pancake and more glob of noodles with curry sauce and bits of vegetables.  I went the traditional route, ordering the standard egg-flour-cabbage-meat combo, but I could not discern any particular meat in the dish.  Alex ordered some edamame (soy beans) and grilled beef chunks, which were quite tasty.

I can't say that this is something I would want to eat every day without a good cardiologist on call, but it was a fun experience.  It tasted better than I expected, and the flavors actually worked well together.  Who knew cabbage, eggs, fish fishflakes and tonkatsu sauce would be a winning combination?  It seemed like it was dreamed up by some poor grad student who ran out of yen before the end of the semester.

In short, if you're ever in Kansai, be sure to try the okonomiyaki.  Ask for extra fish flakes and watch the magic.

Gourmet Macaroni & Cheese Recipe

Taking a page from the CityMama playbook, I'm posting a recipe today.  We went to some friends' home for Thanksgiving, and this is what I made, a recipe I adapted from The Barefoot Contessa (she puts tomatoes on top, but I passed on that) and a basic recipe I learned 20 years ago.

Gourmet Macaroni & Cheese

Kosher salt
Vegetable oil
1 pound rotini pasta (you can use elbow macaroni or others)
1 quart milk
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, divided into 6 + 2
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
10 ounces Gruyere cheese, grated (1 1/2 cups)
4 ounces Emmethaler cheese, grated (1 cup)
8 ounces extra-sharp Cheddar, grated (2 cups)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Dash of seasoned salt
1 1/2 cups bread crumbs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan Cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Drizzle oil into a large pot of boiling salted water. Add the pasta and cook according to the directions on the package, 6 to 8 minute and drain.

While the pasta cooks, Make a white roux.  First, heat the milk in a small saucepan, but be sure it doesn't boil.  Melt 6 tablespoons of butter in a large (4-quart or so) pot and add the flour. Cook over low heat for 2 minutes, continuously stirring with a whisk. While whisking, add the hot milk and cook for a minute or two more, until thickened and smooth. Off the heat, add the Gruyere, Emmenthaler, and cheddar, seasoned salt, pepper, and nutmeg. It will be lumpy.  Add the cooked macaroni and stir. Pour into a 3-quart baking dish.

Melt the remaining butter, combine it with the fresh bread crumbs and the parmesan, and sprinkle on the top. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbly and the crumbs on top are browned.

**You can use other cheeses if you prefer, but we like the nutty flavor of Emmethaler Swiss and pungency of Gruyere.  Plain old cheddar does just fine.

I learned how to make Mac & Cheese from my friend Julia's mom about 20 years ago.  I was a failure at Home Economics in high school.  During college, Julia and I went to her parents' home in New Jersey and Julia's mom unlocked the secrets of the basic white sauce/roux to me (don't cook it too high or too long and stir, stir, stir).  I am forever in her debt.

Maybe someday I'll share with you my Granny's recipe for Chicken & Dumplings.  That's the thing I miss most about being away from my family on Thanksgiving.  Maybe I'll make that this weekend.

Happy Thanksgiving!