Getting fancy for dinner- Food and Wine

When the holidays neared in 2008, the last thing on my mind was presents. I am not a gifts person, giving or receiving. Though sometimes a little surprise here and there is great! I have this one, special, friend that always gets me a gift for big holidays. So I had to keep my eyes and ears open for creative items. And instead I found myself buying a framed picture by Michelle Gatmaitan, a photographer friend of mine, for Liz. A gift for Liz? And I wasn't even looking for a gift for her. (sorry!) When I saw it, it reminded me of her because the picture is vibrant of colors and fits her personality perfectly. After buying it I told her I bought her a gift- I am not good with keeping surprises. But I beg to keep surprises for me a secret! So she told me she was planning to give me something too- she's not good either! When did this turn into a gift exchanging friendship? Not that I am complaining, now. Actually she got me a fantastic present, 1 year’s subscription to Food and Wine (F&W) magazine. I have been subscribing to Cooking Light for almost 2 years and I am glad to have something else to browse on food.

In addition to getting my own she said she was also getting F&W. After the first installment, I organized a dinner at our place around the first issue. The idea of the dinner was to cook couple dishes each. This would allow us to try new dishes and see if we like F&W’s recipes. After that dinner I can happily say, we do! We loved everything we made.

From February edition I cooked Chicken Sofrito for the main dish and Crisp Escarole Salad with Garlicky Anchovy Dressing while Liz made the Basic, and really tasty, Risotto and Stewed Okra and tomatoes.

Escarole Salad with Garlicky Anchovy Dressing from February 2009 F&W

Two 3/4-inch-thick slices of sourdough bread, cut into 3/4-inch dice (3 cups)
1 large head of escarole, light green and white leaves only, cut crosswise into 1-inch strips
6 radishes, thinly sliced
4 celery ribs with leaves, thinly sliced
1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
1/2 seedless cucumber, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
8 oil-packed anchovy fillets, drained and coarsely chopped
6 large garlic cloves, minced
2 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Preheat the oven to 350°. On a baking sheet, toast the bread for 15 minutes, tossing once, until lightly golden; let cool. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, toss the escarole strips with the radishes, celery, tomatoes and cucumber. In a small saucepan, combine the olive oil, chopped anchovies and minced garlic and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the garlic is lightly golden, about 7 minutes. Add the lemon juice and season generously with pepper. Add the croutons to the salad and toss. Pour the dressing over the salad, season lightly with salt and toss again. Serve at once.

The only change I would make is to use lettuce, tomatoes and onions. Celery, radishes and cucumber certainly make this a fancy salad but it doesn’t make it exceptional. As a matter of fact, any salad vegetables can be used to prepare this salad. It’s the garlicky, anchovy dressing that makes this an exceptional first or side course.

Chicken Sofrito, adapted from February 2009 of F&W

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
4 whole chicken legs, separated into drumsticks and thighs
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon chili powder, plus more for dusting*
1 medium onion, cut into 1/2-inch dice
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeño, seeded and minced
2 large thyme sprigs
1 red bell pepper, cut into 1/2-inch-thick strips
Rounded 1/4 teaspoon anise seeds**
Pinch of cayenne pepper
1 cup chopped canned tomatoes
3 cups chicken stock or low-sodium broth, homemade is perfect
1 cup short-grain white rice***

Preheat the oven to 375°. In a large ovenproof skillet, heat the vegetable oil. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and dust lightly with chili powder. Add the chicken to the skillet and cook over moderate heat until well browned, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate.

*I am not sure what F&W cooks were intending for us to use so I used the Indian chili powder. Chili powder from India is dried chilies in the ground form and much stronger in taste and spice than the ones found at the local supermarket. I highly recommend it for this sofrito because of its kick.

Add the onion, garlic, jalapeño and thyme sprigs to the skillet and cook over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until the onion is softened, about 8 minutes. Add the bell pepper, fennel seeds, cayenne and the 1/2 teaspoon of chili powder and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the chopped tomatoes, raise the heat to high and cook until bubbling. Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Stir in the rice and 1/2 teaspoon of salt and bring to a simmer. Arrange the chicken pieces on the rice, skin side up. Bake in the upper third of the oven for about 25 minutes, until the chicken is just cooked through and the rice is tender and has absorbed the stock. Discard the thyme sprigs. Spoon the rice onto plates, add the chicken and serve.

**In my house, fennel is used more often than Anise so I used it to replace anise. Anise is one of those spices that rarely gets attention in anyone’s kitchen and therefore no one buys it. Or at least I don’t.

***I was out of the short grain rice and added long grain basmati rice instead. I believe it worked fine as a replacement.

My last change to the dish was to omit the lemon juice and almonds from the original recipe. And even with that this was fine. The fennel flavor stood out more than we wanted but the overall taste was great; I would definitely make it again, maybe without fennel.

And although I didn’t believe in gift giving and receiving, after a year’s worth of food magazine browsing of sorts, I might be a convert by the next holiday. Plus if I can’t find a gift for the special friend, there’s always a year’s subscription of F&W. Thanks again for this present.

(both pictures are courtesy of Liz)

Homemade Mayonnaise- the best thing since sliced bread

I’d never even thought about making mayonnaise, it was intimidating just thinking about the process. Raw eggs? Whisking oil in a cold bowl with raw eggs until my hands fell off? Emulsification? No thank you.

Because I didn’t grow up with a jar of the white, processed stuff in my parents’ house, it wasn't essential for my own home. Growing up, every once in a while we used packets to slather it on a sandwich here and there but that was when we were feeling devilish. Potato salad laden with mayonnaise- what do you mean? Better yet, the husband doesn’t like it, at all. I can assure you, you won’t ever find him in a corner of our kitchen in the middle of the night with a jar of mayonnaise, licking his spoon.

Just knowing that it’ll sit in the fridge door for months, maybe even years before I throw the jar away makes me cringe. Even our brown bag sandwiches are made with yellow or spicy mustard, sometimes even cilantro chutney (that he loves) with a smoked turkey but definitely no mayo. So you get it, no mayo for us.

But the other day I was wondering what to do with farm fresh eggs (besides make breakfast), bleu cheese, bacon and iceberg lettuce. And in a fleeting second, I thought homemade mayonnaise, iceberg salad with bleu cheese dressing and chicken salad! And that began my pursuit to make the best homemade mayonnaise. After some research, I created my own recipe.

Homemade Mayonnaise

Juice from a whole lemon
1/2 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper
2 large eggs, or 3 medium (farm fresh are the best for this)
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil

In a food processor or blender, combine everything except for the oil. Blend until everything is combined. Then with the motor running, slowly stream in oil. This is an important step to watch closely. I learned in culinary school if the oil is added too quickly the emulsification breaks and the mayonnaise never forms into its creamy texture. The slow streaming method prevents separation of oil from acid, lemon juice. If desired, add few drops of oil at a time while the food processor is on.

Halfway into adding my oil the mixture looked like it was falling apart with acid and the oils separating. And I thought what’s the worst that could happen? A complete disaster. If so, that would be my short lived attempt at homemade mayonnaise. Thankfully I kept the motor running and continued to add oil and eventually it all came together. On the other hand, if after adding 1 cup of oil the mayonnaise has reached its creamy and smooth consistency, don’t add anymore oil.

What is Emulsification? To make into or form an emulsion. Emulsion- 1. Physical Chemistry. any colloidal suspension of a liquid in another liquid. Says dictionary.com. I define it as mixing or combining two unmixable liquids to form one. Vinaigrette is a prime example of emulsion.

I’ve made hollandaise and mayonnaise in culinary class with a cold bowl and a whisk but after making it in my food processor with success I am never making it by hand, only to watch my hands fall off.

That same night, I made bleu cheese dressing for the iceberg salad I was craving. In the last few weeks my body’s requested more salads than I’ve ever eaten in my entire life.

Bleu Cheese Dressing

1/2 cup well-shaken buttermilk
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 small garlic clove, minced
Pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup bleu cheese, use the good kind from the specialty cheese section

In a food processor, blend everything together, except the bleu cheese, until it’s smooth. Add blue cheese and pulse until cheese is incorporated but dressing is still slightly chunky.

After making the dressing, chop bacon in small dice. In a small pan (non stick is good for easy clean up) on medium heat, add bacon and brown for 3- 4 minutes. Remove bacon from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside. Cut the iceberg lettuce in wedges on a cutting board, serve on a plate, drizzle bleu cheese dressing and sprinkle bacon on top.


For our brown bag lunch I prepared a Chicken Salad sandwich with Bacon. (I had more time than I knew what to do with on this particular day.)

Chicken Salad

1 cup cooked chicken, shredded or cubed
1/4 cup cranberries, orange flavored ones are my favorite
1/4 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped
3 tablespoons of homemade mayonnaise, or more if you’re feeling devilish
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Combine all the ingredients together and let it sit for 10 minutes for the flavors to meld. Celery can be added for crunch but I am happy with the crunch of walnuts in this salad.


Chicken Salad Sandwich

1/2 cup Chicken Salad
2 slices bacon
2 slices of good wheat bread
4 large pieces of lettuce, iceberg is fine because mayo’s the star in this
Pinch of salt and freshly ground pepper

In a toaster oven or in a large pan, heat the bacon on medium high heat until it renders fat and becomes crispy. Spread mayonnaise on one side of each slice. (Bread can be toasted if serving immediately). After the bacon cools, break it in half for even coverage on the sandwich. Spread half of chicken salad evenly on both slices of bread. Next lay the halved bacon on the chicken salad, finish with lettuce. Close the sandwich and enjoy.

And the husband didn’t complain one bit of the white creamy spread on his bread or in the chicken salad. He actually raved about how good the salad tasted and the fresh taste of mayo in the sandwich. I’ve got couple tablespoons patiently waiting for the next use, but I think one of these nights when he can’t sleep he’ll go straight to the condiment drawer in the fridge with a big spoon.

So good it’s the best thing with sliced bread.