New York Monday
November 29, 2009 | Filed Under New York Monday | 6 Comments
In the morning, this food cart, called Little Persian Cafe, serves breakfast like tea, coffee, doughnuts, bagels, etc… At lunchtime, they serve halal food, such as rice and lamb (my favorite), rice and chicken, gyros, fish sandwiches, chicken sandwiches and more. Lunch costs about four, five or six bucks. That’s relatively cheap, by New York City standards. There’s usually a long line of people waiting to order their lunch.
Have a great week, everyone!
Paz
Archives: (Christine’s) Sunday Night Whole Roasted Chicken
November 25, 2009 | Filed Under From the Archives, Poultry, Roasted Chicken | 12 Comments
**I haven’t been cooking or food blogging lately. So, I’ve decided to go through my archives and repost some of my earlier posts, from the days when I started learning to cook and bake (I’m still learning). It certainly brings back good memories.
It’s Thanksgiving in the U.S. and part of the customary meal as everyone one knows is a turkey. I’m not so crazy about turkey. I’ll eat it, but I’m not crazy about it. The only part of the turkey I seriously like is the wings. I love turkey wings but that’s it. I’m also not crazy about turkey leftovers after the Thanksgiving meal is over. It’s like turkey overload to me.
If I were to prepare this year’s Thanksgiving meal, I’d include a roasted chicken in my menu — Christine’s Sunday Night Whole Roasted Chicken. I’ve made the chicken several times but have never been able to take a photo. One of these days… 
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I’m thankful for all of you who stop by here.
Paz
* * * * *
First posted March 10, 2008
I swear! There was a succulent chicken (a cornish hen) with deliciously cooked onions and portabella mushrooms swimming in the seasoned roasted chicken juices in the pan above. Really. Oh, my goodness! It was too delicious for words.
Christine of Christine Cooks made roasted chicken and one look at her chicken had my mouth watering. I finally had a chance to make it. So, where is the chicken in the photo, you ask? Well, after preparing this easy roasted chicken dish, we were starved. I didn’t have time to pick up the camera — I didn’t want to pick up the camera. "Food first, photograph later," my stomach commanded. When I finally did get the camera, there was nothing to photograph.
Oh, and Christine, my dogs have asked me to relay their thanks. You suggested frying the gibblets and feeding it to the kitties. Since I have dogs instead of cats, I fed it to my dogs. Oh, they were so happy.
Perhaps next time I’ll be able to take a photo of my roasted chicken. In the meantime, look here to see what Christine’s tasty roasted chicken looked like. Mmm Mmm good!
Paz
Sunday Night Whole Roasted Chicken
Christine’s original recipe
Ingredients:
1 whole fryer chicken, 3-4 pounds
1 large Meyer lemon
1 heaping tablespoon Italian herb seasoning
1 tablespoon smoked paprika, I used sweet but if you like it spicy, go for it
1/2 pound crimini mushrooms, sliced
1 large sweet onion, sliced
1 head of garlic, separated into cloves, peeled and left whole
Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
Olive oil
Preparation:
Remove the giblets from the cavity of the chicken. (Reserve the giblets for another use or cook them with the chicken. Or fry ‘em up, chop ‘em and give ‘em to your kitties.)
Wash the chicken thoroughly with cold water then pat dry both inside and out.
Rub olive oil over the entire chicken then rub the Italian herbs and the paprika all over the outside.
Slice the lemon in half and squeeze over the chicken. Put the lemons halves inside the cavity.
Sprinkle the chicken body with kosher salt and black pepper.
Truss the chicken by cutting a slit in each side of the vent, then bring a leg across and push the end through the opposite slit. Repeat with the other leg.
Scatter the garlic cloves and the mushrooms around the chicken. Drizzle a little more olive oil over the top of the vegetables, cover with a tight fitting lid and place in a 375-degree oven for 45 minutes.
Remove the chicken from the pan and allow to rest for 10 minutes.
To serve, slice the chicken and place on warmed plates. Be generous with the garlic and onions, as well as the delicious pan juices. A medley of roasted winter vegetables makes a well rounded meal.
Christine’s Notes:
No potatoes, polenta or pasta accompanied our meal but if I were to serve this to company, oven roasted potatoes, creamy polenta or pappardelle pasta would be a nice touch.
New York Monday
November 22, 2009 | Filed Under New York Monday | 6 Comments
This is the corner of 79th Street and Fifth Avenue. The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a block away. The couple standing at the crosswalk, waiting for the light to change, look like tourists to me. I won’t be surprised if they’re going to the museum.
Have a great week, everyone!
Paz
Archives: Heavenly Delight - Tiramisù Forever
November 16, 2009 | Filed Under From the Archives, The Food of Love by Anthony Capella, Tiramisù | 10 Comments
I haven’t been cooking or food blogging lately. So, I’ve decided to go through my archives and repost some of my earlier posts, from the days when I started learning to cook and bake (I’m still learning). It certainly brings back good memories.
Tiramisù was the very first dessert that I made on my own. I learned how to make it from one of my favorite books, The Food of Love by Anthony Capella. After my success, I felt encouraged to continue trying other recipes. For the new readers who don’t know, that’s how The Cooking Adventures of Chef Paz began.
* * * * *
First Posted August 19, 2005
I try the tiramisù recipe in the back of The Food of Love first and am so tickled with delight when it comes out exactly, if not better than the one that I order from my neighborhood Italian café. I can’t believe my taste buds – to think that I made it myself! I’m on cloud nine.
Tiramisù
Beat 5 egg yolks with about 2/3 cup sugar until the later has dissolved and the mixture is light and fluffy. (It should leave a trail when it drops from the whisk.) Add about 8 ounces mascarpone and beat until smooth. Whisk the egg whites in a separate glass bowl until peaks form. Fold into the mascarpone mixture.
Pour about 8 ounces of very strong ristretto and 3 tablespoons of brandy/marsala into a wide dish. Soak about 40 lady fingers in this mixture, but don’t let them fall apart. Pack about half of them into the base of a serving dish. Then add a layer of the mascarpone mixture, then a layer of lady fingers, then more mascarpone. Refrigerate for at least two hours. Dust with grated chocolate before serving.
I’m not familiar with some of the ingredients like the mascarpone cheese, Marsala, and ristretto. I get the answers from friends who cook and the food dictionary. From the book, I learn about ristretto, which is described in the beginning of the story as “made with the same amount of ground coffee as an ordinary espresso but half the amount of water.”
Great! Now that I have my answers, I’m ready to go food shopping. Surprisingly, everything is easy to find. The mascarpone, which I’d never heard of before, has always been on the shelf near the ricotta and cream cheese section in the supermarket. It’s in abundance. I know where to look for it in the future.
I find the lady fingers in a neighborhood food store, called Milano, that sells Italian food products and I buy the Marsala from the neighborhood wine store.
I’m ready to make my tiramisù!
Everything goes accordingly until I get to the instructions – “Whisk the egg whites in a separate glass bowl until peaks form. Fold into the mascarpone mixture.”
I have no idea what that means. “Whaddya’ mean ‘fold’?” I lament aloud in consternation.
After a while, I shrug my shoulders and mix the ingredients. I later find out that folding is a gentler way of mixing the ingredients so that the air formed in the egg white peaks aren’t destroyed (something like that)… Ahhh! So, now, I fold when told to fold.
I use regular coffee instead of the ristretto because that’s what I have in the kitchen. Also, I use Marsala instead of brandy.
It is the best-tasting tiramisù I’ve had – made by my own hands (my own hands!). Who would’ve imagined it!?
Paz
New York Monday
November 15, 2009 | Filed Under New York Monday | 8 Comments
The trees are still dressed with leaves here and they are still changing colors. Have a great week, everyone!
Paz
Drop In & Decorate
November 13, 2009 | Filed Under Announcements, Cookies, Donation, Drop in & Decorate | 6 Comments
Hi Folks:
I’ve mentioned Drop In & Decorate®, the cookies-for-donation event founded by Lydia of The Perfect Pantry, many times before and it’s time for me to mention it again.
It’s so exciting for me to know that this fun and worthwhile event continues to spread across the 50 states and Canada and it’s about to start again for the holiday season.
Here is what Lydia writes about Drop In & Decorate®:
We’re based in Rhode Island. This will be the 8th year of cookies-for-donation in my kitchen. We are year-round, not just at the holidays. But holidays are a great time to get people together.
I’m not a baker - in fact, I’m baking-challenged! So, really, anyone can do this.
There’s a free guide with everything you need to know to host your own party, download on our web side (www.dropinanddecorate.org)
Before the end of this year, the 10,000th cookie will be decorated and donated. Where???
December 4 is National Cookie Day.
Cookies make people smile, and bring a bit of happiness to people in difficult circumstances.
If you’re interested in this cookie donation and would like to participate, here’s how:
The idea behind Drop In & Decorate® is simple: bake some cookies; gather a group of family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, your worship group or book group to decorate the cookies together; donate the cookies to a nonprofit agency serving basic human needs in your own community.
It’s a simple idea in a complicated world, and something anyone can do.
If you’d like to host your own Drop In & Decorate® event, Pillsbury and Wilton would like to help.
Pillsbury has donated 50 VIP coupons, worth $3.00 each, off any Pillsbury product — including sugar cookie mix, icing and flour — to be distributed, first come, first served, while supply lasts, to anyone who plans to host a Drop In & Decorate event (max. 5 coupons per person). And we’ll include a Comfort Grip cookie cutter, donated by Wilton, while our supply lasts.
Write to lydia AT ninecooks DOT com for more info on how to get your free coupons and cookie cutters.
So, how about joining in on the fun of making others feel good?
Paz
