March 2013: A Moroccan Buffet

In approaching this month's menu, I kept coming back to sultry nights, tangy lemons, sweet mint, and the bright patterns of Morocco. Having never encountered the flavors of Morocco I was intrigued by the color and ingredient combinations, making it too tempting to resist.

Besides, who could say no to warm homemade pita bread fresh off the grill?

Moroccan cuisine is extremely refined, thanks to Morocco's interactions and exchanges with other cultures and nations over the centuries. Moroccan cuisine has been subject to Berber, Moorish, and Arab influences. The cooks in the royal kitchens of Fes, Meknes, Marrakesh, Rabat and Tetouan refined it over the centuries and created the basis for what is known as Moroccan cuisine today.

Morocco produces a large range of Mediterranean fruits and vegetables and even some tropical ones. Common meats include beef, mutton and lamb, chicken, camel, rabbit and seafood, which serve as a base for the cuisine. Characteristic flavorings include preserved lemon, cold-pressed, unrefined olive oil and dried fruits. It is also known for being far more heavily spiced than Middle Eastern cuisine.

We knew it was going to be a night of full flavored food.

The Hostess

The Writer

The Theme

A Moroccan Buffet

The Menu

Sides: Pita Bread | Eggplant Smothered with Charmoula | Moroccan Pasta SaladMoroccan Tomato Salad | Moroccan Potato Salad| Sweet Pepper Salad

Main Dish: Chicken with Preserved Lemon and Green Olives (serve with Pistachio Sauce)

Dessert: Pomegranate Meringue Rose Tart

February 2013: Fat Tuesday Feast

February kicks off Lent for many, but before it begins those in the south know how to through a fabulous Fat Tuesday Feast. Our was held a little late due to scheduling conflicts and illness, but it was fabulous all the same!

The Hostess

The Theme

Fat Tuesday Feast

The Menu

Appetizer: Artichoke Dip

Sides: Crab Maison | New Orleans-Style French Bread | Miss Daisy's Red Rice

Main Dish: Chicken and Andouille Étouffée

Dessert: King Cake

Background

Some call it Fat Tuesday, others Carnavale, but no city quite captures the essence of Mardi Gras like New Orleans. This month’s menu is spicy, rich and full of Nawlins flavor, so set a festive table, gather your friends and laissez les bon temps rouler!

Color. Texture. Spicy. Sweet. We never need an excuse to celebrate, but we took special advantage of this month’s opportunity.

Sausage and Chicken Gumbo Recipe

Sausage and Chicken Gumbo Recipe

Recipe


4 green onions, sliced, white and green parts 
Chopped fresh parsley 
1 Tbsp Gumbo File
1 14 ounce can stewed tomatoes with juice 
5 beef bouillon cubes 
1/4 bunch flat leaf parsley, stems and leaves 
3 stalks celery chopped 
8 cloves garlic minced 
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce 
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped 
1 large onion, chopped  
1/2 cup all-purpose flour 
1/4 cup vegetable oil 
2 lb smoked sausage, cut into 1/4 inch slices
Salt and pepper 
4 large boneless chicken breast halves 
4 cup hot water 

Directions

Prepare roux in a cast iron dutch oven. 

While the roux is cooking in the oven, season the chicken with salt and pepper. Pan fry the chicken until browned on both sides and remove. Add the sausage and cook until browned, then remove.

Once the roux is complete, remove the pot from the oven. 

Add the onion, garlic, green pepper and celery and cook for 10 minutes. 

Add Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper, to taste and the 1/4 bunch parsley. Cook, while stirring frequently, for 10 minutes. 

Add 4 cups hot water and bouillon cubes, whisking constantly. 

Add the chicken and sausage. 

Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 45 minutes. Add tomatoes and Gumbo file. 

Cover and simmer for 1 hour.

Serve over rice. 

Behind The Scenes: The Roux

I wasn't too concerned when I picked the gumbo. I knew (from watching all of those 30-minute meals with Rachel Ray) that if I prepped as much as I could the night before I would be that much ahead in the morning. The day before, I prepped all of the vegetables. I was a chopping fiend. My 4 year old sous chef even helped.

When evening fell all of the veggies were chopped and tucked away in labeled containers in the fridge, dread settled in as I climbed into bed. ROUX! HOW AM I GOING TO MAKE ROUX??

I started posting on Facebook as the night hours ticked by.

My mother, the southern cook, was out of state and only offered, "I should have taught you honey."

Thanks for the support mom!

Meghan posted that she used Alton Brown's oven technique.

I quickly searched the web for more information on this proven technique (well, Meghan said it was proven). I located a video of the technique, it look easy enough and I am visual learner.

I ran to the store first thing in the morning and purchased a cast iron pot. Luckily I found a scale in the kitchen and was able to weigh out the flour. This was the simplest and easiest way to make roux. Who knew? Well, Meghan did...and I am so grateful she did.

When I spoke to my mother a few days later I was so proud to tell her it worked, and teach her something new about cooking roux!


The ingredients: 

This is part of the magic...measure your ingredients by weight rather than by volume. If you are scratching your head and wondering what that means, put away your measuring cups and pull out your food scale.

3/4 oz oil

3/4 oz flour


The Recipe:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and place the oven rack in the center position.

2. In a cast iron dutch oven, whisk the flour and oil together until they form a thick paste. It will resemble the paste your used in kindergarden, the kind they told you not to eat but you did anyway and then wondered why you did because it tasted nasty. Yep, that stuff. 

 
3. Place in the oven and cook for 30 minutes.

It will not appear much different within the first 30 minutes
rest assured you are on the right track. 

4. Whisk and return to oven for 30 more minutes.

5. Whisk again and return to oven for 30 more minutes. The roux should begin to darken at this point.

Notice the roux has begun to darken,
it will also have a nutty scent to it. 

7. Roux is done when it is medium brown to red brick in color.

8. Remove from oven and use immediately. Smile to yourself because to just made roux and didn't burn it!

Enjoy!

June Supper Club: Louisiana Comfort Food

The Hostess

The Theme

Louisiana Comfort Food 

The Menu

Appetizer: Crab Cakes

Main Dish: Gumbo - chicken and sausage
Side Dishes: Cheesy Grits, Red Beans and Rice, and Cornbread – southern style
Dessert: Cajun Cake

Drink: Sweet Tea, Hurricanes, and Abita beer

Background

Growing up, my mom, who was raised in Louisiana, filled our Massachusetts home with the flavors of the south. I remember visiting my maternal grandmother in Alexandria, Louisiana and driving to back-woods hole-in-the-wall-locals-only restaurants to devour baskets of hot fried catfish and savory hush puppies.

My father's sister and brother-in-law ran a restaurant, The Plantation Manor, in Alexandria. Even after my uncle retired and moved to California, he still cooked up a mean gumbo and 30 years later, we have finally convinced him to dust off his hush puppy recipe.

When I finished my undergraduate degree and was considering where I would pursue my graduate studies, one of my top choices was the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. I spent two exciting years in Knoxville,  and was blessed to eat more than one meal with my classmates' families.  Though Knoxville's traditional dishes are a little different than Louisiana's,  I enjoyed them all the same and today reflect fondly on my memories of sharing comfort food with family.

It made sense, then, that when my turn to host Supper Club came up, I broke cornbread with my Six Kitchen family and created new memories of enjoying  southern comfort food.

Deciding on the menu was only half the fun. With the busy summer months upon us, only three kitchens were able to cook. Heading to my parents' beach house for the weekend, I helped my fellow cooks escape the heat and dish up heaping plates red beans and rice, gumbo, cheesy grits, and cornbread, washing it down with hurricanes, sweet tea, and Abita and topped off with Cajun cake.

While we missed the other kitchens, we all agreed, good southern soul food with good friends is a great way to spend a June evening.

Paella - paˈeʎa

Paella 

(Valencian: [paˈeʎa], Spanish: [paˈeʎa]) 

Though I had heard of this dish, I honestly could not recall ever having it. Just my luck, when it came to pick dishes from Mandy's menu I didn't have much of a choice...two of the dishes involved phyllo which I am an old pro at working with (the pain in the rear that it can be) from many years of helping my mother and grandmother make Baklava. What is the challenge in that? Yes, you read that correctly, the Rookie makes a mean Baklava. And I am not talking about the layered version either. This mama bakes the fancy rolled kind (because until the age of 15 or so, I didn't realize it even came in another shape!) But for those craving that recipe....you'll have to wait. Tonight we cook Paella!

Ingredients

2 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into bite-size pieces
all-purpose flour
salt and pepper to taste (to taste what? Things like this are not help to The Rookie)
 Olive oil
1 pound chorizo sausage, chopped (I used 2 10 oz. packages with is a bit more than 16 oz or 1 lb, depending on your geographic location this could be a challenge to find. )
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves crushed garlic
2 cups chopped tomatoes (when buying a tomato I do not know how many cups it will equate when chopped...so I bought three and hoped for the best)
2 cups white rice
2 (6.5 ounce) cans minced clams (drained)
2 cups frozen green peas
1 pinch saffron (if you have never used saffron before, ask a Foodie or Gourmet if they have some you can use...this stuff is not cheap. I am not sure I am willing to spend $18 on a "pinch" of anything)
5 cups boiling chicken broth

 Many of the recipes call for shrimp. As this month's host is allergic, I added more sausage and chicken vice a trip to the emergency room.

 Let's get cooking!

Recipe

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
Place the chicken pieces in a large ziplock bag with some flour, salt, and pepper. Close bag (VERY IMPORTANT!). Shake to coat chicken (or give to your four year to do).

In a large skillet, fry the chicken in olive oil until brown and crispy. Set aside.

 Brown the sausage in a skillet and set aside. 
 Place about 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet and fry onion and garlic until onions are tender. 

To the same skillet, add chopped tomatoes and saute for 3 to 4 minutes. 

 

Add rice to the skillet and mix well.
Put rice mixture, chicken, and sausage in casserole dish.
Add can of clams, peas, saffron, and chicken broth. 

 

Cover casserole dish.
Bake until all the liquid is absorbed and rice is tender. You may need to add more broth if rice is not done.
 

I am not sure if this tasted as desired or not, however I left for Supper Club with two 9x13 dishes and came back with less than enough for the next day's lunch. I think it was a hit (even the kids liked it which is always a plus!).

 
 

Buffalo Chicken Pizza Recipe

Buffalo Chicken Pizza Recipe

Many years ago I visited my friends in Pittsburgh for a long weekend. It was in the fall, and so, the guys had to watch football (well, the guys and some of the gals also). DeLeah brought this outstanding buffalo chicken dip that I could not get enough of. I remember the dip clear as day, I don't have any idea who was playing ball that day (a college in the Midwest, maybe?). I have been making it every holiday since. This pizza reminded me of that dip.

Ingredients

6 fresh or frozen chicken tenders (the Rookie used frozen)
1 pizza dough, store bought or from your favorite pizzeria ( or have the Foodie made a batch for you)
Cornmeal or flour, to handle dough
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce, eyeball it
Some hot sauce (I didn't measure, it depends on your perchance for spice. Frank's Wing Hot Sauce is my go-to sauce when making DeLeah's buffalo chicken dip. However the store did not have it, we are trying a different brand tonight.)
1 can of diced fire roasted tomatoes (You could roast them yourself. I didn't.)
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese, a few generous handfuls
1/2 cup blue cheese crumbles
3 scallions, thinly sliced

 

Ready? Let's get cooking!

 Directions

Preparing the chicken:
Place chicken tenders in a large ziploc bag, and hot sauce, and smoosh chicken and hot sauce until the chicken is coated in hot sauce. (My 4 year old loved this step.)
Place in fridge to marinate for 3-4 hours.
         Note: If you are using frozen tenders, toss them into the bag while frozen. While the marinate in the fridge they will defrost. Once defrosted, you will be ready to cook them.

Once marinating is complete, remove the chicken from the bag and toss the icky sauce and chicken juice (keep the chicken). Grill the chicken tenders until cooked. Remove the chicken from grill and thinly slice it.

Preparing the sauce:
In a medium skillet over medium heat, melt butter and stir in Worcestershire, hot sauce, and tomato sauce.
Add chicken to sauce and coat.

Topping the pizza:  Cover the pizza dough with the saucy Buffalo chicken, cheeses, and scallions.

Cook: Bake 18 minutes or until crisp. (The out of comfort zone element of this month's supper club was cooking the pizza on the BBQ - more on that on the behind-the-scenes-post)


Eat: Enjoy!

 The kids LOVED making their own mini pizzas tonight.

The Concept: Supper Club

When you Goggle "supper club" you learn the term refers to restaurants that offer a social atmosphere.

Wikipedia shares that

A supper club, in general, refers to a dining establishment that also functions as a social club. The term may describe different establishments depending on the region, but in general, supper clubs tend to present themselves as having a high-class image, even if the price is affordable to all.

Only part of that above description applies to what I thought I was getting myself into when Tara invited me participate, the social club part. I wanted to take a little bit of time to share with you the concept, and maybe you will be inspired to start one of your own.

Recipe for Supper Club, Six Kitchens-style

Frequency: Monthly
Participation: 6 families
Location: Rotates between the 6 families participating
Menu: Established by host family with the goal to pushes us out of our cooking comfort zone

Can I be honest? Anything that involves cooking is pretty much outside my comfort zone. However, for the more advanced culinary participants the comfort zone is a little more narrow. This involves trying not ingredients, spice profiles, and some other than I don't recall (and have not watched enough Food Network shows to pretend to understand. Spice profile? I take it that isn't the shape of the bottle the spices are packaged in ).

1. Once the host family develops the menu for the evening, the items are divided among the participating families.

This is how I ended up making Mango Pudding for our inaugural supper club. The menu was listed, everyone picked. And I got to choose between the Baked Salt Chicken, Shrimp, and Mango Pudding. Recall, cooking in general is outside my comfort zone? Though the recipe description for Baked Salt Chicken included the word "simple," the thought of cooking a WHOLE chicken and simple did not compute in this cook's mind. Mango Pudding, now that looked simple and something I  and my four year old sous chef could pull off.

2. Each participating family prepares and brings their contribution to the meal on the scheduled night.

It's a potluck meal with a predetermined menu.

3. Everyone enjoys the food and the camaraderie.

Inaugural Meeting of Six Kitchens

The Hostess

The Theme

The Menu

Stir-Fried Shrimp with Garlic and Chile Sauce

Long Life Noodles

Stir-Fried Bok Choy and Lettuce with Mushrooms

Chinese Potstickers

Spicy Sweet-and-Sour Chicken

Salt-Baked Chicken

Double Mango Pudding

For someone whose idea of "homemade" Chinese food includes opening a package of Trader Joe's frozen orange chicken, this menu intimidated the hell out of me. With ingredients I'd never heard of, flavors I didn't know how to fix if something went wrong, and oils that heated at different temperatures, I made sure I had Golden Dragon's number on my phone in case I needed to call in a pitch hitter.

And I wasn't the only one.

Dolly confessed she'd bought a package of pre-made pot stickers and Sarah said she'd had the same idea as I did with her Long Life noodles. We poured glasses of wine and Prosecco, set the dishes on the counter, and filled our plates with recipes inspired by Cooking Light and our New Year's Resolutions to eat healthier.

Tara's shrimp dish was, from all reports, delicious. I wasn't able to indulge. Allergies will do that.

The Long Life noodles, made with beef instead of pork, were a favorite. Not only did the adults like them, but the kids all polished off plates full of pasta.

I'm not a huge fan of mushrooms, so I wasn't too fond of the Stir-Fried Bok Choy and Lettuce with Mushroom. Those who are, raved about it and I thought the sauce was delicious.

Dolly didn't have a thing to worry about with her pot stickers. Lighter than what I'm used to, they were filled with savory meat and accompanied by a delicious sauce.

My Spicy Sweet and Sour Chicken wasn't only delicious, but it turned out to be so easy I'll be making it on a regular basis. No. Seriously. I will.

The Salt Baked Chicken wasn't, interestingly enough, salty. It was, however, moist and flavorful, each bite reminding me of the right way chicken should taste.

We were all intrigued by the Double Mango Pudding. The consistency was similar to a solid smoothie. It was light, fruity, refreshing and, honestly, the perfect end to a somewhat heavy meal.

As our plates emptied, the conversation flowing from children to camping to cooking, I realized the side benefit to our little supper club.

While we've all had pot luck dinners before, the supper club forced us out of our comfort zone and away from our "go to" dishes. We were a cooking team - each of us a little intimidated by the menu (with the exception, perhaps, of Tara). We prepared a meal for each other, laughed at the stories surrounding its preparation, and ate dishes made not only with love, but fear and laughter.

Laughter being one of the best ingredients a cook can use.