Bear Cuisine

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.

Breakfast Souffle Spoonbread

Every now and again, I peruse cookbooks that have been on my shelves for some time, but have been neglected in recent years. One such book is Huntley Dent's The Feast of Santa Fe, an older, but still very fine volume on the cooking of the southwest. In it, I found this recipe for spoonbread which made an excellent breakfast the next day.

Breakfast Souffle Spoonbread

 

BREAKFAST SOUFFLE SPOONBREAD

1. 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
2. 2 tablespoons butter
3. 1/2 teaspoon salt
4. 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
5. Pepper to taste
6. 1 cup boiling water
7. 3 large eggs
8. 1/2 cup milk

 

For the garnish: 1 sliced avocado, 1 cup fresh salsa and a few tablespoons of chopped green coriander

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. and generously butter a 1-quart casserole, preferably deep rather than shallow.

Blend the first six ingredients in a food processor, taking about 5 seconds and stopping at least once to scrape down the bowl with a rubber spatula. Add the eggs and milk and blend for a few seconds more to incorporate them thoroughly. Pour the batter into the buttered casserole. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the whole "bread," including the center, just sets, but do not allow to dry out. Serve hot directly from the pan, make sure to scrape some of the outer crust, which always sticks to the sides of the casserole, onto each portion.

Serve plain with butter as a side dish in place of a starchy vegetable at dinner or garnish with avocado, salsa and cilantro as a breakfast, brunch or lunch entree.

 

 

The Fire This Time

Every year , the first weekend in March, The Fiery Foods Show comes to Albuquerque. When I lived back east, I would dream of attending this show. Now, it's just around the corner from where I live and it has become one of the harbingers of spring in the southwest. This year I found a new favorite among the vendors.

Terri Maize of Hacienda Maize has created three of the best pepper jellies that I have ever tasted. They are absolutely fabulous ( you can imagine French and Saunders here). If you want to spice up your cooking with a lot of flavor and a very well-balanced bit of heat, this jelly is for you.

 

My favorite was the Mira Sol Chile Jammin' Jelly. You could taste the cilantro and the lime as well as the pepper. Check out the website for some spurs to your cooking imagination.

Terri Maize and her brother who helps to keep the business afloat

Do take a look at their website for inspiration and to order these truly flavorful and original creations.

 

Another not-so-new favorite was at the show again this year. Cindy Reed Wilkins' Cin Chili has been a staple in my pantry for years. (Click here for her original recipe.) This year she offered some wonderful new products. All of her sauces are good, but I was especially partial to her Perky Peppers Chipotle Hot Sauce and Kay liked her Cin-namon Apple Barbecue Sauce.  The Habanero Passion Pickles are a great addition to her product line, crisp and just spicy enough. That's one of the great things about all of Cindy's products. The heat is not overwhelming; it just offers just enough kick to be interesting.

Cindy Reed Wilkins and her brother Donald

Dave DeWitt's latest book, Precious Cargo was on sale at the show. This is his latest effort in the culinary history genre and it won the IACP (International Association of Culinary Professionals) Award for the best book in 2014 on culinary history. Congratulations Dave!

 

Tasting New Mexico

In 2012 New Mexico celebrated its Centennial--in 1912 the territory became a state. To mark the occasion the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs asked the indefatigable team of Cheryl Alters Jamison and Bill Jamison to produce a cookbook of New  Mexican food.

Bill and Cheryl Alters Jamison

The result of their labors is Tasting New Mexico. For those of you who like New Mexican food this will be a great addition to your library. For those of you who are touristing here, this could be a wonderful momento of your visit.

One of the things I particularly like about this book is that it traces the history of the state through its foods, both the traditional foods we associate with New Mexican cuisine and the adaptations that immigrants have made using local ingredients. Here is the story behind Green Chile Tempura developed by Shohko and Hiro Fukada, restaurateurs in Santa Fe.

"Shohko and Hiro Fukada arrived in the United States from Japn during the era of the 'flower children.' Like many others of their generation, they roamed the country for months by Volkswagen minibus. When they arrived in northern New Mexico, they knew they had found their future home. Before leaving Japan, Shohko and Hiro had studied with George Ohsawa, founder of the macrobiotic diet and philosophy. Their knowledge of the subject led them to open a natural foods store in Santa Fe and eventually to found Shohko Cafe, still going strong today with the help of their daughters. The couple's fascination with chiles rellenos inspired them to create green chile tempura, now also found on many other menus around the state."

GREEN CHILE TEMPURA

Dipping Sauce

1. 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons soy sauce
2. 3 tablespoons mirin
3. 1 1/2 teaspoons rice vinegar
4. 1 teaspoons grated fresh ginger

Tempura

1. 6 fresh whole mild to medium New Mexican green chiles
2. vegetable oil for deep-frying
3. 1 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
4. 1 large egg yolk
5. 1 1/2 cups ice water
6. 1 1/2 cups cake flour (divided use)

For the Sauce

Stir together the soy sauce, mirin and rice vinegar in a small bowl. If you wish stir in the ginger.

For the tempura

Roast the chiles over a stove burner, turning them with tongs as needed to blacken and blister them on all sides Place the chiles into a plastic bag to steam until cool enough to handle. Peel the chiles, wearing rubber gloves if your skin is sensitive. Strip away the blackened peel, using paper towels to get off as much as possible. Slice each chile in half vertically and discard the stem and seeds. Cut each chile half crosswise into 2 pieces.

Pour about 3 inches of vegetable oil into a deep skillet, then add the sesame oil. Heat the oil to 375 degrees. Place a baking rack over several thicknesses of paper towels near the stovetop.

While the oil heats, mix the batter. First whisk together the egg yok and ice water until quite frothy. Whisk in 1 1/4 cups of cake flour, just until lightly blended. Don't overwork the batter. A few streaks of lumps of flour are fine. The batter will be thin.

Dump the remaining 1/4 cup flour into a shallow bowl.

When the oil reaches 375 degress, immediately dunk the chile pieces, a few at a time, into the dish of flour, then dip in the batter and slip into the oil. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, turning as needed, until just golden. Drain on the baking rack. Repeat with the remaining chile pieces and batter, adding as many to the oil as you can without crowding and dropping the oil temperature. Serve immediately with the sauce.

Tex Mex Corn Bread

This recipe has been in my files for years. I think it came from an old cookbook by a couple of transplated Texans that I first discovered when I lived in Washington, D.C. --It's a Long Way to Guacamole. It's a great side for BBQ or makes a wonderful appetizer at a party.

Jalapeno Corn Bread

(serves 10-12)

1. 1 1/2 cups yellow cornmeal
2. 3 teaspoons baking powder
3. 1/2 teaspoon salt
4. 1 cup grated Longhorn cheese
5. 1 cup grated onions
6. 5 large jalapenos, finely chopped
7. 3 eggs, lightly beaten
8. 1/2 cup Mazola oil
9. 1 cup sour cream
10. one 8 1/2 ounces can cream style corn or 3 ears fresh corn, cut and scraped from the cob

Mix together cornmeal, baking powder and salt. Stir in cheese, onions and jalapenos. Add eggs, oil, sour cream and corn; mix well. Grease a 9x13-inch pan and pour in the batter. Bake at 400 degrees F for 20 to 30 minutes or until a straw comes out clean.