The accidentally successful cook

Every now and then something experimental works out much, much better than expected. This is one of those dishes.

Note #1: On the boiling of chicken

I like to start with a whole chicken, boil it down and pick it apart. This gives me meat and broth to use and freeze, plus it’s hella cheaper than buying bits and boxes. I’m sure there’s a gourmet way to do this, but I put half a chopped onion, three or four chopped celery stalks (leaves and all) and two or three chopped carrots in some butter in the bottom of a stockpot, cook until the onion’s translucent, then add a rinsed chicken, kosher salt, a stalk of rosemary, enough water to cover and bring it to a boil. Cover and simmer until everything falls apart.

Note #2: On my peasant tastes

On a chicken, I like dark meat – the cheaper, fattier kind. Given my druthers, I’d make dumplings, soup, casseroles, all of it with dark meat.  Given that I cook for a group, I use the white meat, too.

Note #3: On homestyle Tex-Mex

Don’t leave out the cumin. That’s the flavor that makes it taste like, well, homestyle TexMex.

So here we go.

1. Combine a cup of  brown rice and 2.25 cups water in a pan with a tight lid. Bring to a boil, stir once, turn down heat and cover tightly. Simmer for 45 minutes. DON”T OPEN THE DAMN PAN. Until it’s done, of course. Stop checking.
2. In another pretty big saucepan, saute a diced shallot in a teaspoon of olive oil. Add a can of organic black beans (with liquid), a can of organic diced tomatoes (with liquid), half a teaspoon garlic powder, one teaspoon cumin, half a teaspoon cayenne, salt and pepper to taste. Boil this up for a minute, then add about two and a half cups of the cooked chicken. Heat through. It should be the consistency of a hearty soup.
3. In a deep 8×11 casserole, spread the cooked rice and top with the chicken mixture. Poke a spatula down to the bottom in a few places to make sure the liquid soaks in.  Put it in a 350° oven, uncovered, for twenty minutes or so, then top with shredded cheddar jack, black olives and chopped chives. Broil until cheese is browned.
4. Serve with sour cream on top.

If anyone has a name suggestion, I’d be glad to hear it.

An observation on healthy eating

I was reminded this weekend that my stepfather, in order to facilitate the orderly functioning of his digestive system, regularly consumes a cereal product called Fiber One, which appears to have already passed through the digestive tract of some small animal. Speaking only for myself, I would rather just shove a handful of this abomination up my ass and crap it out… the results would be the same, and I wouldn’t have to taste it.

Even the pseudo-candy version looks like a poo. Ick.

Ahhhhhh.

A lovely day.

1. We had lunch at Las Canarias on the river.
2. Michael Clayton is one of the best movies I’ve seen in ages.
3. From fine dining to lifelong tradition: bean and cheese tacos from Las Palapas.

And thank you for all the e-mails, cards and birthday wishes. Polly, you’ll get yours tomorrow.

Menu: 8/12/07 – 8/17/07

Thought I’d start writing it down here, not just on a piece of paper stuck to the fridge. That way I’ll have a record of what we’ve had recently, plus a backup if the fridge list disappears.

Sunday – mushroom lasagna, green salad, caprese

Monday – crock pot beef bourguignonne, green salad, whole wheat cheese rolls

Tuesday – whole wheat pasta primavera in vodka blue cheese sauce, green salad, fruit salad

Wednesday – leftovers

Thursday – pork chop and brown rice bake, asparagus almondine, green salad

Friday – chicken and dumplings

Sunday prep for week: fruit salad, batch of lentils, batch of brown rice

Today, we brandy the cherries.

Brandied cherries are truly one of the most perfect foods I can imagine, combining concentrated alcohol, vast amounts of sugar, and luscious red fruit. Mmmmm. They also make a great Christmas gift, since it looks like you worked very hard to make them – really, they’re much easier than most preserves. You don’t have to process them in boiling water. In Texas in August, boiling gallons of water for hours at a time is not pleasant.

I found this gorgeous picture – full-size, it’s now my desktop background. I could drown in that color.

The tiramisu of the birthday of the brother-in-law

Once again, my familial duty as the dessert maker is fulfilled.

The picture’s a little dark, but this is the fanciest tiramisu I’ve ever made. I saw one like it in a book and thought it looked more birthday-ish than the usual loaf.

Bought about a dozen extra ladyfingers; fortunately, Nora loves them with a purple passion and has already left a trail of mashed ladyfinger bits on the rug.

Today, we make the tiramisu.

Mmmmm. But first, the grocery store – and just for fun, I think I’ll go to the snobby extra-special grocery store. Or maybe, just maybe, drive across town to the only Italian market around these parts, just to hear them talk…