The Art Of Culinary Discovery

The kitchen is my sacred space. I haven’t been to church in a month of Sundays, and if you ask me to reciteall Ten Commandments, in their correct order, off the top of my head, you’ll probably hear crickets after “Thou shall not kill”. I can however, tell you what the five mother sauces are, without blinking. I am seriously considering bringing profiteroles with me to the pearly gates on judgment day, just in case….  

There is definitely a peace that passes the understanding of many, when a cook is in their natural habitat. My kitchen serves as my temple, my mad scientist’s lab and my art studio. Depending on the day and what creativity it inspires, my kitchen may feel more like one, than the others. It’s always interesting to wake up and find out the verdict.

It is my joy to learn new recipes and try them out on anxious palates. Sharing the recipe and the experience is part of what makes the art of cooking so beautiful. The process of trial and error is more than worth it, once you’ve gotten it right. It is my passion to create recipes of my own. Sometimes I share my recipes. Other times, I come up with such a gem, that I keep it for my vault; the files from which I hope to write a cookbook some day. While I enjoy making these dishes for others, they become part of my signature, and I feel compelled to protect them. To understand the ways of artists is to love them.

My most recent creation came about in an attempt to try a different chicken dish. Peri Peri (or Piri Piri) Chicken is a recipe that stems from African and Portuguese roots. When I looked up the recipe, I did so with the intent to make it for a Sunday dinner with family. Reading the recipe alone shows off its robust and spicy flavors. Peri peri chicken is not for the faint of heart. The base of this dish is the bird’s eye (also referred to as African devil) chili. Keeping in mind that I wasn’t just cooking for myself, as I looked the recipe over, I began scaling back the amount of chilies and spices to make a milder version of the dish. I started reducing here and replacing there. Soon a new recipe was taking shape right beneath my fingertips. Intuitively, I felt my way through flavor combinations that strayed from the beaten path.

The delicious end result was a happy accident I call Pineapple Basil Chicken. Still semi spicy, it was mild enough to avoid any gastrointestinal disasters visited upon unsuspecting diners. So, how did I arrive at something so far from my original destination? One thing is key; I cook with no fear. I trust my palate. There are few steadfast rules when it comes to cooking. Unlike baking, which is more exact, cooking gives you a far broader canvas. Enjoy the sweeps of the brush. Go with it and for it. Detours make for wonderful exploratory adventures. Sometimes it’s more fun when you leave the map at home. Revel in the journey.

I will find my way back to Peri Peri Chicken on some other occasion, but that is a voyage for another day.

*The graphic that goes along with this post would not show here, so this post is also available on Let's Talk Dish's Facebook page.

Curry Chicken Salad

There is no end to how many ways chicken can be prepared. Yet it seems to be one of those familiar foods we fall back on when we don’t know what else to make, and can’t think of a creative way to make it. Look no further. Your creative drought is about to be over. Curry chicken salad is a Caribbean twist on a traditional chicken dish. If you appreciate the flair of island flavors, this will soon be a new favorite.

Level: Easy                             Prep: 20 mins

Serves: Approximately 10       Mix: 5-10 mins

Curry Chicken Salad

5 cooked chicken breasts, cubed

1 bunch of fresh scallions, chopped

½ bushel of cilantro, chopped

2 Granny Smith apples, medium diced

1 ½ cup raisins

1 cup chopped walnuts (almonds make a nice alternative)

½ tsp ground ginger

4 tbsp curry powder (mild)

1 cup mayonnaise/salad dressing

¼ cup mango chutney

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl until well blended. You can serve as is, or on a bed of fresh greens like spinach, endive or a mesclun salad. This salad also makes wonderful wraps and sandwiches. I’d recommend a rustic artisan bread that is hearty enough to contain and compliment the robust flavors and textures offered in this dish.

Have Your Cake And Eat It Too!

Who says you can’t have a cupcake before dinner? Better yet, why not have cupcakes for dinner? That’s right, I said it. WHAT? I’m an adult. I voluntarily eat my spinach. Don’t look at me in that tone of eye. You know you want to do it too. Go ahead. Nobody’s looking.

I’ve been in a culinary/writing slump since the holidays. My muse abandoned me and went skiing in the Swiss Alps or something like that. So, what to do? I turned to fellow foodies for inspiration. Through the foodie grapevine, I heard about meatloaf cupcakes, with mashed potato frosting. Perfect--just weird enough to grab my interest! I wanted to go with something different, but familiar enough that others would be inspired to try it. Sunday dinner is a good time to try something new. You have a few people around the dinner table to give you feedback.

Since meatloaf and mashed potatoes are the kinds of food that people tend to have a personal recipe for, just go with your favorite recipe for each, should you like to try this.Sunday rolled around and I was finally excited about cooking something again. I made my meatloaf mixture and filled a muffin tray with it (¼ cup to each mold).You can use muffin liners, but I didn’t, and they came out fine. I didn’t want to risk a soggy mess since I use lots of veggies in my meatloaf and it renders a good amount of natural juices.

After the mashed potatoes were made, I put some into a pastry bag with a decorative tip.I piped rosettes onto each cupcake and plated them. My sister walked by as I was piping the potatoes and asked, “When are you gonna bake something sugar free so I can have some?” I proudly told her, “These are sugar free”. I mean I am concerned with her health after all. She suddenly looked suspicious. I can’t imagine why. Well as long as I had her attention, I decided to tell everyone what we’d be having for dinner. “I made meatloaf cupcakes with mashed potato frosting!”  *Crickets….*

You could hear a pigeon break wind in Brooklyn.

My family looked at me like I’ve been forgetting to wash the fruit before I eat it. Did I mention that my family isn’t chock full of adventurous eaters? They thought the cupcakes looked great until they realized what they were. Sheeesh. Think outside the box, people. As you can see, I’m the free thinker in the family.

Because I anticipated this reaction, I’d also made a standard meatloaf that looked familiar and safe to everyone. They descended on that like jackals on road kill. It’s always good to know that your cooking isn’t the issue. I am not deterred. Just because my family is boring doesn’t mean that yours won’t love this. I boxed up a few of the cupcakes and gave them to my official taste tester, my good friend Evelyn. She loved them. She is brutally honest, so I can trust a review from her. I think this idea is especially great for kids. It’s a fun presentation and also a good way to get them involved in the cooking process.

Somewhere inside of me, my inner child was kicking and screaming, “You’re not the boss of me!” when I decided to make meatloaf cupcakes. What is your inner voice saying to you?

Holiday Cocktails

Every girl should be skilled in the art of the cocktail. Good food feeds the soul, but a good cocktail embodies spirits. Holiday celebrations are always a good time to channel your inner bar tender. Let’s get pouring, shall we?

The Bellini is traditionally a summer drink made with white peach puree and Prosecco; a sparkling Italian wine. It is the Italian answer to the Mimosa. In summer months, this drink is best made with fresh white peaches, while they are still in season. For this time of year, frozen peach puree is your best bet. (If you can’t find white peach puree, a yellow peach puree will do) The crisp bubbles and bright peach flavor are indicative of summer. Adding pomegranate to this classic will make it a welcome addition to all of your winter festivities; perfect for brunches and desserts.

Pomegranate Bellini

2 bottles of chilled Prosecco

1 package (2.2 lbs) frozen white peach puree, thawed

2 cups chilled pomegranate juice

Chill a large glass pitcher and several champagne flutes in the freezer 1 hour prior to making this cocktail. It is best served cold.

Combine all ingredients in the pitcher and serve in chilled glasses. Make sure to hold your glass at an angle when pouring to prevent overflow.

No one loves a good accessory or a good drink more than I do. When I can get my accessories in the form of a drink, *Le sigh*

Raspberry Beret

2 pounds ripe raspberries (fresh or frozen)

Zest of 2 oranges

1 qt. good quality vodka

Triple sec

Orange zest curls for garnish

Combine raspberries, orange zest and vodka in a large jar with a tight fitting lid. Refrigerate for one week. The raspberries will break down, infusing the vodka with flavor and a blushing red color.

When ready to serve, shake the jar to evenly mix the flavors. Coat the rim of several martini glasses with sugar. Fill glasses 1/4 of the way with triple sec. Fill the rest of

the way with the raspberry vodka and give a light stir. Hang an orange zest curl from the edge of each glass and serve.

I realize that not everyone indulges in alcoholic bliss during the holidays. Whether you’re the designated driver, or you just don’t want that infamous drunk relative passing out under your Christmas tree, I’ve got you covered. Here’s a non-alcoholic cocktail that still manages to pack a punch.

Cranberry Ginger Fizz

1 can frozen cranberry juice concentrate, partially thawed

1 chilled bottle of ginger beer

1 chilled bottle of ginger ale

2 limes juiced 

Lime wedges (and fresh cranberries, optional) for garnish

Follow the instructions for mixing the cranberry juice, but substitute the ginger beer and ginger ale in equal amounts, for the water. Add the lime juice and stir. Serve over ice with lime wedges for garnish.

Stock Options

Craving seafood? The next time you make shrimp, don’t throw away those shells. Whenever I cook shrimp, after peeling and cleaning them, I reserve the shells to make shrimp stock.

Depending on how much shrimp you’ve cleaned, the amount of shells of course, will vary. Rinse the shells well and place then in a large stock pot. Fill the pot with enough cold water to cover the shells by an inch. Bring the water to a rapid boil then reduce the flame to low heat and let simmer covered for one hour. The shells turn pink as they cook, giving you a beautiful blush colored stock. When the stock is done, allow it to cool completely. Strain stock through a sieve, into a plastic container. It can be refrigerated for up to a month, or can be frozen for future use.

Shrimp stock can be used as a base for soups (bisques, chowders and gumbos especially), sauces and gravies that accompany any seafood dish. It can also be used for rice dishes like paella and risotto. The possibilities are endless. The same can be done with fish, using the head, spines and fins, if you are in the habit of buying whole fish. A lean fish like bass or cod are recommended, rather than oily fish like salmon or mackerel.

These are ideal if you want robust homemade flavor added to your dishes, but have limited time. Other stocks like chicken and beef need hours for all the flavors to come together. The likelihood that you will be fabricating entire sides of beef or multiple chicken carcasses at home, are slim to none. Unless you just enjoy the extra work and long hours, buying chicken or beef stock is a better bet.  

I find that the shrimp shells are potent enough in their flavor. However, if you’d like to layer the flavors in your stock, you can add the following:

• 3 lbs. shrimp shells or fish bones
• 2-3 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, smashed
• 1 shallot, roughly chopped
• 1 inch piece of ginger, cut into thin rounds
• 1 cup dry white wine

Bouquet Garni (garnished bouquet):

• 1 Tbsp black pepper corns
• 1 sprig fresh thyme, or 1 tsp dried
• 2 bay leaves

Cut a length of cheese cloth long enough to double it and place the herbs and peppercorns inside. Gather the cloth up into a pouch, and tie it, using cooking twine, leaving a lengthy piece of string. This will make it easy to remove from the pot when the stock is done.

Heat the oil in the stock pot over a medium flame. You only want enough oil to coat the pan. Sweat the ginger, garlic and shallots until they are fragrant and translucent. (do not brown). Add the shrimp shells (or fish bones) and toss until they are coated and begin to perfume the pot. Pour in the wine, and reduce by half. Add the bouquet garni, tying the long piece of string to the handle of your pot for easy removal later. Pour enough water into the pot to cover the shells by one inch. Increase to high heat and bring to a boil. Once the stock is boiling, reduce to a simmer and cook covered for an hour. Let cool, then remove the bouquet and strain into containers.

*Tips: if you’re freezing your stock, using an ice tray can be helpful. Fill your ice tray with stock and freeze overnight. When you remove the cubes, place them in a sealable freezer bag. When you want to cook something that requires stock, you can use as little or as many cubes as you need, rather than waiting for a large container to defrost.

If you’ve ever wondered what the difference is between stock and broth;

Stock is made from the bones (or seafood shells) of an animal.

Broth is made from the meat of an animal.

Vanilla Memoirs

Nothing compares to the scent of freshly washed clothes floating on the breeze and dancing the tango with sweet red Georgia clay. You are in the back yard, hanging soon-to-be-crisp white linens, pastel curtains and your family’s Sunday best. The occasional butterfly flits about, its flight pattern erratic, while your children play in the distance. You snap up one piece of damp fabric after the next, securing them to a network of lines, with wooden clothes pins. You are lost in the rhythm of this task, until a familiar scent tugs at your nostrils, jarring you from reverie to a state of alert. The sweetness of the red clay dirt splayed around for miles, is made yet sweeter by something masked but familiar. Now, you’re paying attention. You are remembering exactly how many rug rats you left unattended while you hang the laundry – and the ring leader is in your kitchen.

My father was head rug rat in charge, out of seven children. As the oldest, naturally, the other children took his lead. At the time, he may have been about five years old and only had a couple of cohorts in his younger siblings. He and his oldest sister were thick as thieves and did everything together. This day, they decided to make mud pies. They had an impressive list of real ingredients. The base of any good mud pie of course, is quality dirt. Rural Georgia, like many places in the south, is chock full of red clay dirt that has a sweet aroma. There was plenty to go around, so pies were the obvious choice to little tykes that watched their mother in the kitchen, making everything from scratch. They raided my grandmother’s pantry like bandits. The little scamps made off with sugar, milk, (maybe an egg or two) and PURE vanilla extract. Keep in mind; this was the deep south in the 1940’s. My grandparents were financially challenged before the depression made it fashionable. No one could afford to throw away food.

Bless their little hearts, big brother and little sis set their mud filled pie pans out in the sun to bake. I’m not sure why they didn’t try to use the oven, but I can only be grateful that they didn’t. Imagine my grandmother’s shock and dismay when she found her children filthy, her food wasted, and her very expensive vanilla extract nearly depleted. Of all the things they thought to mimic, using measuring spoons wasn’t one of them. The facts on how she handled this discovery have been muddled over the years, but I’m guessing the little ones didn’t do much sitting the rest of that day.

Today, an eight ounce bottle of vanilla extract, purchased at retail price can easily cost you fifteen dollars. If you love baking, it is a necessary expense. Pure vanilla extract, much like salt, is a flavor enhancer. It’s the kind of ingredient that you may not know is there, until it’s missing. Imitation vanilla flavor is subpar by comparison, and not worth sacrificing the quality of your food.

Vanilla beans are even more expensive, but extremely potent. They are economical because of their multitude of uses. Once the seeds have been scraped from the inside of a vanilla bean pod, the pod can be saved and put into a tightly sealed canister of sugar in order to infuse it. The pod continues to release flavor. Good deals can be found online for purchasing vanilla beans in bulk. Otherwise, you may want to go to a spice shop or gourmet market, where they are typically sold in pairs.

One of the most invaluable skills I’ve acquired in cooking is how to make my own vanilla extract. The initial cost is always worth it because extracts have no expiration date. Homemade vanilla extract improves with age because the entire bean is used.  There are numerous variations on formula and ratio, but through trial and error, I’ve found one that works for me. Vodka, rum or brandy can be used, but I prefer vodka for its neutral flavor. Essentially, you want vodka that falls between the 35% and 40% alcohol range. This is called B grade vodka and is perfect for extracts as it won’t overpower the vanilla. Eight vanilla beans to every one cup of vodka makes a wonderfully aromatic extract. The vanilla flavor can never be too strong; the more concentrated the better. It is used in small quantities.

You will need a glass bottle or jar with a tight fitting lid, and a funnel. Dark glass is recommended to protect the extract from light, but is not a must. Start by splitting the vanilla beans lengthwise leaving the stems in tact. Tuck the beans into the bottle. Fit the funnel into your container and pour the vodka through the funnel. Seal tightly and\store in a cool place. Easy, right? The hardest part is waiting eight weeks until the extract has reached minimum potency. Ever so often, shake the bottle to distribute the seeds evenly. Over time you will see the extract darken. The darker the extract becomes, the fuller the flavor will be.

Homemade vanilla extract makes great gifts for friends and family if they like to cook.

Decorative bottles/jars with a bow or label give it that homey Mayberry feel. Won’t they just be so impressed with you?

Banana Muffins Gone Nuts

There’s a snap in the air that comes with the sepia toning of leaves. My mind travels to the warmth of a cozy kitchen, and the comforting scent of autumnal goodies. It’s the time of year when your kitchen is perfumed with spices like cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and clove. When this kind of chill settles in the air, I feel compelled to have something sweet baking. It’s the culinary equivalent of incense. The infusion of buttery spiced carbs is just a no brainer. This go ‘round I decided on banana muffins. Quick, simple, and because bananas are so perishable, it’s a good way to make use of your fruit if they ripen too quickly. You can also make one large loaf or mini loaves with this recipe, to share with friends. What is better than good food and good company?

Banana Muffins

8 oz (2 sticks) softened butter

2 cups sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 bananas mashed or pureed

2 ½ cups all purpose flour

2 tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1 cup sour cream

*1 cup of any of the following, depending on the variation you’re making:

Chopped nuts of your choice / chocolate chips / butterscotch chips

Prep:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line two 12 cup muffin tins with muffin liners, and spray pan lightly, so the edges won’t stick when the muffins are done.

Sift the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon together in a bowl and set aside.

In an electric mixer, on high speed, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Beat in eggs, one at a time, and vanilla extract, until blended. Add banana puree gradually, until it us fully incorporated. (The mixture may appear to separate, but will come together as you add the dry ingredients)

Mix:

Switch your mixer to medium speed. Alternately add the flour mixture and sour cream in thirds. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the sides and bottom of your bowl as you go along, to ensure that everything is evenly incorporated. Mix until well blended, but do not over beat. Over beating will result in a dry and tough product.. The batter should have a rich, silky texture. Fold in nuts or chips with spatula distributing them evenly throughout the batter.

Bake:

For muffins: spoon batter into cups, filling them half way. Yields 2 ½ dozen muffins

Place muffin tins in the center of the oven rack. Bake for 25 minutes, or until inserted pick comes out clean..

For loaves: pan sizes may vary, but the rule of thumb is to fill loaf pans no more than 2/3 full. The size of the loaf will also determine the baking time. Start at 25 minutes as a guide line, and adjust time accordingly. Insert a tooth pick in the center of the loaf to test doneness. When the pick comes out clean, remove from oven and let cool.

*Variation: can be served with cream cheese icing

8 oz softened cream cheese

¼ cup softened butter

4 cups 10x sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

In a mixer, on high speed, beat butter and cream cheese until smooth. Blend in vanilla.

On medium speed, beat in 10x sugar until blended, stopping occasionally to scrape down the bowl.. Mix on high speed until mixture is smooth. If you prefer a thinner icing, add 1 tbsp of milk while mixing. Frost cooled muffins with icing and serve.