Bear Cuisine

Chicken Tacos with Chipotle Sour Cream

 

This is a great recipe for using leftover chicken. And with turkey on the horizon, I think it would be equally good with that bird. These have the just right amount of spice, i.e., not too hot, and are a quick and easy dinner. Most will have the required spices in their pantries already. You may have to hunt down the chipotle peppers in adobo, but they should be fairly easy to find. (I've seen them in Whole Foods as well as 'regular' grocery stores.) And before I forget, this is courtesy of Ted Allen via Lynn Rosetto Kaspar.

CHICkEN TACOS WITH CHIPOTLE SOUR CREAM

(2 servings)

1. 1 TBS EVO
2. 1 medium red onion, chopped
3. 1/2 red bell pepper,cored, seeded and chopped
4. 2 teaspoons smoked sweet paprika
5. 2 teaspoons chili powder
6. 1 teaspoon dried oregano
7. 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
8. 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
9. 2 garlic cloves, minced
10. 1 medium tomato, chopped
11. 2 cups shredded cooked chicken
12. 6 (6-inch) flour tortillas
13. 2 teaspoons minced canned chipotle peppers in adobo
14. 1/2 cup sour cream
15. Shredded lettuce
16. 3 scallions (white and green parts), chopped
17. Crumbled queso fresh (fresh, white Mexican cheese)*

Cook the onion, bell pepper, paprika,chili powder, oregano, cumin and salt in the olive oil until the vegetables are soft. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant. Stir in the tomato and chicken . Continuing to stir, cook until the filling is heated through.

Warm the tortillas for a few seconds in a dry skillet over high heat. Stir the chipotle into the sour cream.

Put the filling into the tortillas, topping with chipotle sour cream, lettuce,scallions and the cheese.

* I didn't have any queso fresco so I used feta cheese instead. It's not "authentic," but it tasted just fine.

 

Pintade Aux Choux (Braised Guinea hen with Cabbage)

Most of us in America aren't familiar with guinea hens.

They have more flavour than chickens and are probably closer to a game bird. Our local provider of pasture poultry has been offering guinea fowl for the past few years and I havd been loving finding different ways to cook them.

This dish avoids the danger of over-cooking the bird when roasting it which renders the hen tough and close to tasteless.

A delicious country supper.

BRAISED GUINEA HEN WITH CABBAGE

(serves 6 to 8)

1. 2 guinea hens (about 3 pounds each)
2. salt and pepper
3. 1 small head green cabbage (about 3 pounds)
4. 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
5. 4 thick slices  lean bacon
6. 2 large carots, quartered and cut into sticks
7. 1 cup chicken broth
8. 1/2 cup medium-dry white wine
9. 1 onion, studded with 1 whole clove
10. 1 bouquet garni*
11. 12 to 16 small smoked cocktail sausages**
12. 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Wipe the hens inside and out with paper towels, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and truss them.

Cut the cabbage head through the stem end into 12 wedges and core each wedge.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Heat the vegetable oil in a large flameproof casserole over medium heat. Brown the hens very thoroughly on all sides. Remove them, let the pan cool slightly and lay 2 of the bacon slices on the bottom. Add half the cabbage wedges and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Put the hens on top, surround them with the carrots,and then cover them with the remaining cabbage. Pour in the broth and wine. Add the onion and bouquet garni, pushing them well down into the cabbage, and top with the remaining bacon slices.

Cover the casserole and braise it in the oven until the hens are tender, 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours. To test, wiggle the thigh joints; they should move freely. Ten minutes before the end of cooking, add the sausages to the pan pushing them well down into the cabbage so they heat through. Guinea hen with cabbage may be cooked up to 2 days head and kept in the refrigerator.

To finish, if necessary, reheat the hens and cabbage in a 350 degree F. oven, allowing up to an hour for everything to be piping hot, Transfer the hens to a carving board and cover with aluminum foil to keep warm. Discard the onion and bouquet garni from the pan. Using a draining spoon, pile the cabbage, carrots and sausages on a warmed large platter, cover, and keep warm Set aside the bacon slices. Put the casserole on the stove top and boil the cooking juices until concentrated to make a jus, 3 to 5 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Menwhile, cut each hen into 4 pieces. Cut each bacon slice into 2 or 3 pieces and arange them on the cabbage with the hens. Sprinkle with the parsley. Reheat the jus if necessary and strain it into a bowl to serve separately.

*To make a Bouquet Garnie, tie together a spring of fresh thyme, a dried bay leaf and several sprigs of fresh parsley. Leek greens and celery tops may also be included.

**I used some small breakfast sausages that we had in the freezer and cooked them with hens from the beginning of their time in the oven.

(from Anne Willan's The Country Cooking of France)

 

Peruvian Baked Chicken Thighs

This is Sara Moulton's take on a dish from a restaurant in Manhattan--Pio Pio. It is very simple to make and fantastically delicious. In my opinion it is the Green Sauce which makes this dish. After you have tasted it, I'll bet you can think of a lot of other dishes that could this sauce.
PERUVIAN BAKED CHICKEN THIGHS

(4 servings)

1. 3/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves
2. 1/2 cup soy sauce
3. 3 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
4. 1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
5. 1 tablespoon ground cumin
6. 1 1/2 teaspoons hot paprika
7. 3/4 teaspoon dried oregano
8. 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
9. 6 cloves garlic
10. 12 small bone-in chicken thighs with skin ( about 4 pounds)
11. Green Sauce

Combine the cilantro, soy sauce, vinegar, vegetable oil, cumin, paprika, oregano and the desired amount of cayenne in a blender; press in the garlic (about 2 tablespoons) and puree for the marinade. Combine the marinade and the chicken in a resealable plastic bag, and set aside at room temperature for 30 minutes, turning the bag once.

Place an oven rack on the top shelf of the oven and preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Drain the chicken, discarding the marinade, and pat the chicken dry. Arrange the chicken on a rack in a shallow roasting pan. Roast for 20 to 30 minutes, or until crisy and cooked through. Let rest for 10 minutes before serving. (Reserve 4 baked thighs for Chicken and Tomatillo Salsa Nachos) Top each portion with some of the Green Sauce.

 

GREEN SAUCE: Combine 3 large scallions, trimmed and halved, 1/4 cup sliced serrano chile with seeds and ribs, 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, 2 ounces crumbled goat cheese (1/2 cup), 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, and 1/2 cup half-and-half in a blender and puree until smooth.

The Christmas Duck

We had a delightful Christmas Day, watching Julie and Julia as I cooked a duck. As it happened, I used a method proposed by Julia in her The Way to Cook. It may sound complicated, but it is reallly quite easy and does yield a tender, juicy bird with crispy skin. If you have tried roasting a whole duck, you know the problems with tender breast meat, tough leg-thing joints and too much grease from all the fat under the skin. This method offers a solution to all these potential difficulties.

STEAM-ROASTED DUCK

(4 servings)

• a five-pound duckling
• 1 lemon
• Salt
• Sage or thye, pitional
• 1/2 cup each: chpped onion, carrot and celery
• 11/2 cups red wine, white wine or water

 

Equipment suggested: A covered roaster or casserole with rack, just large enough to hold the duck comfortably and a shallow roasting pan with a rack for the final cooking.

Preparing the duck for roasting. Pull all loose fat out of the cavity of the duck, remove the wishbone for easier carving of the breast, and, for even easier carving, cut through the ball joints of the wings and thighs. Chop off the wings at the elbows, save them, as well as the neck and giblets, for duck stock. Wipe the duck dry, and rub all over the outside and inside the cavity with cut lemon. Salt the inside of the cavity lightly and add, if you wish, a sprinkling of thyme or sage.

Preliminary steaming-30 minutes. Place the duck breast up on the rack in the casserole, add 1 inch of water and bring to the boil on top of the stove. Cover the caserole tightly, reduce heat, and let it steam for 30 minutes.

Braising--30 minutes at 325 degrees F. Remove the steamed duck from the casserole, pour out the liquid (which you can degrease and use for your duck stock), drain the duck. Place a double thickness of foil over the rack, and return the duck, breast down. Strew the vegeables around, and pour in the wine or water. Bring to the simmer top of the stove, cover the casserole and braise in the preheated oven for 30 minutes.

Final roasting--30 to 40 minutes at 375 degrees F. Remove the duck to the rack in the shallow roasting pan. roast uncovered to brown and crisp the skin--the duck is done when the legs feel reasonably tender.

Sauce. Meanwhile skim the fat off the cooking liquid in the covered casserole, and simmer the liquid, mashing in the vegetables. then boil it down until it is almost syrupy. Strain, pressing the juices out of the vegetables--you will have just enough liquid to moisten each serving.

Turkey Tetrazzini

TURKEY TETRAZZINI

This is a much better recipe than one I had been using. It comes courtesy of Lynne Rossetto Kasper who found it in Diane Morgan's The Thanksgiving Table: Recipes and Ideas to Create Your Own Holiday Traditions. A great recipe, especially for those of us who like the leftovers more than we like the turkey.

Turkey Tetrazzini

(Serves 8)

1. 2-1/2 teaspoons salt
2. 12 ounces of spaghetti
3. 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
4. 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
5. 3-1/2 cups turkey Stock or chicken stock
6. 3/4 cup heavy cream
7. 2 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary
8. 1 tablespoon fresh thyme
9. 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
10. Freshly ground pepper
11. 3 1/2 cups 1/2-inch dice of roast turkey
12. 10 ounces frozen green peas
13. 1/2 cup dried bread crumbs
14. 1/2 cup (2 ounces) grated Parmesan cheese

Fill an 8 to 10-quart stockpot three-fourths full of water, cover and bring to a boil. Add 2 teaspoons of salt and the spaghetti. Cook until al dente, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain, rinse under cold water and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Butter a 9 by 13-inch baking pan. In a 10-inch saute pan or skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the flour and cook, stirring, until faintly colored, about 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in the stock until the sauce is smooth and thickened, 3 to 5 minutes. Whisk in the cream; then add the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, the rosemary, thyme, nutmeg and pepper to taste. Stir in the turkey and peas and heat through. Tase and adjust the seasonings; then remove from the heat.

Put the pasta in the prepared dish and spoon the turkey mixture over it. In a small bowl, combine the bread crumbs and Parmesan. Sprinkle evenly over the sauce. Bake, uncovered, until heated through and bubbly, about 20 minutes. Turn on the boriler and quickly brown the top of the casserole. Serve immediately.

This recipe has all sorts of possibilities. You could substitute left-over roast chicken or ham for the turkey. I added some sauteed mushrooms to the mix. This is one of those recipes that you can play with.