The Last Supper

No, this isn't going to be a theological discussion about Jesus's last meal with his disciples. This post is about my last assignment in the Rouxbe Professional Cook Certification Course which I completed earlier this month. We were asked to prepare three recipes which we would present as a complete meal. The first requirement was a lean protein which had to be cooked using dry heat, such as sauteeing, searing or roasting. The second dish had to be a legume, grain, pasta or starch containing vegetables. The third dish was to be a green, yellow or red vegetable that would bring color and flavor to the meal. With each dish we had to explain why we chose these foods and techniques and to utilize,show and identify unique knife cuts that we had used in our preparation.

After much thought and a lot of dithering, I settled on a Roasted Lemon and Cilantro Chicken, Mexican Red Rice and Calabacitas. These were all chosen to showcase the traditional ingredients and flavors of Mexican and New Mexican cuisine.  Here are the recipes that produced my last supper for this course.

Roasted Lemon and Cilantro Chicken

 

ROASTED LEMON AND CILANTRO CHICKEN

Cilantro Paste

• 1 garlic head
• 2 shallots
• 1 serrano pepper
• 1 lemon
• 1 cup  cilantro
• 1/4 cup EVOO
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Roughly chop the shallots, serrano, and one clove of the garlic. Place in the bowl of your food processor

Cut the rest of the head of garlic in half and reserve to stuff in the chicken later.

Zest and juice 1/2 of the lemon and add to the food processor.Make sure to keep the lemon as it will be used to stuff the chicken later. Next, roughly chop the cilantro. Add the cilantro, ground coriander, salt, pepper, honey and olive to the food processor. Puree for a minute or two until you achieve a fine paste. Scrape down the sides if needed.

Note: This makes enough paste for two chickens. If you are only making one chicken, put half of the paste aside. It makes a delicious base for a salad dressing. You just need to add a touch more honey and oil.

Preparing the Chicken

• 1 whole roasting chicken (6 pounds)
• 1/2 TBS olive oil
• 1 tsp koser salt
• 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Spray your roasting pan and V-rack with non-stick spray and set aside.

Gently slide your fingers between the meat and the skin. Try not to tear the skin; you are just trying to loosen the skin enough to slide the paste in underneath.

Generously season the inside of the chicken with salt and pepper. Stuff the cavity of the chicken with remaining lemon and garlic.

Pour some of the paste in between the skin and the meat, using your fingers to distribute underneath. Brush the chicken with the olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Place the chicken onto the V-rack and place into the oven to roast.

 

Roasting the Chicken

• 3 cups chicken stock

After about 30 minutes, add the chicken stock to the pan and baste the chicken.

At the one hour mark, baste the chicken again and check to see how dark the skin is getting. The paste makes the chicken brown more quickly, so if it gets too dark, simply cover it with foil before placing back into the oven.

Depending on the size of the chicken, it will take 1 1/2 to 2 hours to cook. When checking the chicken, try not to puncture the meat more than you need to; otherwise the juices will escape. To check the chicken, look to see if there is any pink color left between the leg and the breast. If so, the chicken is not quite ready. Once the chicken is cooked through, remove it from the roasting pan. Loosely cover with foil and let rest for at least 20 minutes.

 

Finishing the Chicken

• 1 cup chicken stock

To make the sauce, first pour off the juices and fat from the roasting pan. Skim off the fat using a ladle or fat separator. Reserve the juices.

Over medium-high heat,add some stock or white wine to the roasting pan to deglaze. Strain the deglazed liquid and the reserved juices from the resting chicken into a saucepan. Bring the sauce to a quick boil, season with salt and pepper if necessary. Pour into a gravy boat to serve with the chicken.

(recipe from Rouxbe.com)

 

Calabacitas

CALABACITAS WITH CORN AND TOMATOES

(serves 8)

 

• 2 tablespoons butter
  
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
  
• 1 cup finely chopped onion
  
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
  
• 2 1/2 cups diced yellow summer squash
  
• 2 1/2 cups diced zucchini squash
  
• 3 /4 cup (i bunch) finely chopped green onions
  
• 1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels
  
• 1/2 cup mild roasted, peeled and chopped green chile
  
• 1/2 cup hot roasted, peeled and chopped green chile
  
• 1 cup diced Roma tomatoes
  
• 1/2 cup (Packed) coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
  
• Salt to taste
  

 

1. Heat the butter and olive oil in a large skillet and saute the onion until softened, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and saute 2 minutes.

 

2. Add the diced squash and saute for about 5 minutes, until softened. Add the green onion, corn and green chile and saute for 3 minutes. Stir in the diced tomato and cilantro and heat through. Seas with salt to taste and serve.

 

Variations:

• For a different flavor, add any of these optional ingredients, during the last five minutes of simmering:
  
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
  
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
  
• grated Jack or cheddar cheese 

(recipe from Susan Curtis' The Santa Fe School of Cooking Cookbook)

 

MEXICAN RED RICE

 

• 1/2 white onion
• 1 garlic clove
• 2 large tomatoes
• 1 1/2 cups stock (approximate)
• 1 TBS vegetable oil
• 1 cup converted rice
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup julienned Poblano pepper
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

To start the rice, first roughly chop the onion and garlic. Core and cut the tomatoes into large chunks.

 

Place everything into the blender with about 1/2 cup of stock.

 

Puree everything until smooth and then pour into a measuring cup. Top up with stock to get 3 cups of liquid.

 

To cook the rice, heat a pot over medium-low heat. Once hot, add the oil, followed by the rice. Toast the rice until translucent and it just start to brown, which should take about 5 minutes or so.

 

Once the rice has nicely browned, add the tomato and stock mixture, followed by the salt. Increase the heat and bring it to a boil. Once boiling, give it one final stir. turn the heat down to low, cover and let cook until most of the liquid has been absorbed, about 20 minutes.

 

Once the rice is finished gently fluff it with a fork and sprinkle the poblano strips over the top. Recover and set aside for about 5 minutes. To finish, fold in the poblano strips , taste for seasoning and serve.

(recipe from Rouxbe.com)

 

Roasted Lemon and Cilantro Chicken served with Mexican Red Rice and Calabacitas. Garnished with chopped cilantro and poblano pepper strips.

 

We were also graded on our presentation of the finished dishes.

 

The course was challenging ,very intense and I learned something in every lesson. Learning new information and  techniques was great, but what was even better was that this course also helped to systematize the knowledge I already had. I was impressed with the quality of the instructional materials and the feedback was helpful and encouraging. I have new respect for the capabilities of on-line instruction and I can't recommend Rouxbe highly enough.