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Just for me and my wife and kid...

 

We've been married for 5 years, I've been cooking almost every night for 5 FU(KING years. I burned out and outta ideas.

 

I'm an above average cook, so I could probably handle most anything you guys throw at me. My kitchen is, well, lets just say, my kitchen cost almost as much as the rest of the house, so, I can handle most anything you throw my way.

 

I'm planning on doing this on thursday or friday, so if there's any prep that needs to marinade/age, whatever, it needs to be for less than two days.

 

The wife will not eat most fish (excepting things like pan fried trout (trout almodine), grilled sword fish or salmon (which she will not eat smkoed) or shellfish (this includes shrimp.)

 

Any ideas would be GREATLY appreciated.

 

My last successful foray was beef wellington, so that is out this time, she hated the pate'... :wacko:

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Coq au Vin- Pretty simple, very tasty.

 

 

*This dish is traditionally made with an old rooster, since these are impossible to find a capon is a good substitute. Capons are extremely large birds and may also be difficult to find, so regular chicken may be substituted. If you wish to make a smaller amount, this recipe halves very easily.

 

Ingredients

1 (6 to 8) pound capon, cut into 8 to 10 pieces (You can use regular chicken if you can't find a capon, but I highly recommend searching one out.)

Kosher salt

Olive oil

All-purpose flour for dusting

1/2 pound slab bacon, cut into lardons

3 ribs celery, cut into 1/2-inch dice

1 onion, cut into 1/2-inch dice

2 cloves garlic, smashed

1 pound cremini or white button mushrooms, quartered

1/2 cup brandy

1/4 cup tomato paste

3 cups hearty red wine

1/2 pound small cipollini onions, (If you can't find cipollini onions, pearl onions are a good substitute)

4 to 6 cups chicken stock

1 bundle thyme

3 bay leaves

3/4 pound fingerling potatoes, cut in 1-inch slices

Chives, finely chopped, for garnish

Coat a large Dutch oven or rondeau with olive oil and bring to a medium high heat. Pat the capon dry and season generously with salt, to taste. Working in batches if necessary, coat the capon gently with flour and put IMMEDIATELY in the hot oil. Only flour the capon that you are working with in that batch- NO PREMATURE FLOURING! Premature flouring will result in doughy, gritty, mealy capon rather than crispy. Brown on all sides, then remove from the pan to paper towels. Remove any excess oil from the pan.

 

 

Add the bacon lardons to the pan with a tiny splash of new olive oil. Cook the bacon until it is brown and crispy. Add the diced celery onion, season with salt, to taste, and cook over medium heat until the veggies are starting to soften, are very aromatic and have no color, about 7 to 8 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the mushrooms and cook until the mushrooms give off their juices, about 4 to 5 minutes. Stir in the brandy and cook until it has reduced down (you can ignite it if you want - it's fun!). Add the tomato paste and stir to combine. The mixture will become very thick--that is good! Stir in the wine and bring the mixture to a boil and cook for 4 to 5 minutes.

 

 

Meanwhile, bring a pot of well-salted water to a boil over medium heat. Toss in the cipollini onions, skin and all! Cook the onions for 3 to 4 minutes and then strain. When the onions are cool enough to handle, discard the skin and reserve.

 

 

Return the legs and thighs of the capon to the pan, reserving the breasts. Stir in enough chicken stock until the chicken is 3/4 covered. Add the thyme and bay leaves. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Taste for seasoning and adjust, if needed. Add the cipollini onions and the potatoes. Partially cover the pan and simmer for 20 minutes.

 

 

After the capon has simmered for 20 minutes, turn the legs and thighs over and add the breasts. Check the level of liquid and add more chicken stock, if needed. Partially cover the pan and simmer for another 15 minutes.

 

 

Remove the capon from the pan and skim the sauce, if necessary. If the sauce is on the thin side reduce it down until it becomes a sauce-like consistency. Add the reserved onions and cook for another 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer the capon to a serving platter, garnish with chopped chives and serve with lots of the sauce.

 

 

Chicken, bacon, and mushrooms oh my!

 

ETA: This serves 6 easily, so half the recipe if needed which can help if going with a whole chicken instead of capon

Edited by Hugh B Tool
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Check out my blog, there are a fair number of fun things in there.

 

At Least I'm Enjoying the Ride! - Recipes

 

Or, if you want to tackle something that will take a whole day (or several if you make a couple of parts the day or two before) then try the Grilled Portobello Mushroom Masquerading as a Filet Mignon otherwise abbreviated as GPMMFM in the blog. You can work back through the links in this article to get to all the different parts you need to make it.

 

GPMMFM

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Cochinita Pibil- Yucatan-style pulled pork

 

It's a dish I love, but works better for a crowd than it does as a stand-alone entree at the restaurant.

 

I'm assuming you have a decent Latino community in ATL, and can find a Mexican grocery for the needed ingredients.

 

For the Pork:

Pork Shoulder (also known as butt). For the three of you, a half is more than enough, but leftovers do not suck. Make sure it's not too lean a cut.

Achiote Condimento- It's a brick red spice mixture that comes in a small yellow box. The primary ingredient is annatto seeds but it also has oregano, garlic, salt, and a few other ingredients. Despite the red color, it is not spicy

Equal parts orange and lime juice. Traditionally, you used sour orange and you can buy it bottled. But the bottled stuff tastes like ass, so you're better off just faking it by mixing in lime juice.

A bit more salt.

 

dissolve the cake of achiote condimento in the citrus juice so that it is still quite thick but something you can smear all over the pork. Allow to rest for several hours (or overnight)

 

Wrap pork in banana leaves and slowly roast for several hours. Wrap in two layers but it's not like it needs to be completely covered. The leaves will tear. Also, wash them well before using. If you have an egg, this would be a fine time to use it. But you're going to want to do so in a pan rather than directly on the coals and have the fire no hotter than 250. Build the fire around the edges so there's no direct heat under the pan. Like any slow roasted pork, the longer the better.

 

In the meantime, pickle some red onions in red wine vinegar and salt. My rule of thumb for pickling brine is the rule of four and it works for nearly everything. Four times as much vinegar as salt, four times as much water as vinegar. Keep in mind that the onions will release liquid as they pickle, so the brine can be just barely or almost covering and, soon, they'll be plenty of liquid. Squeeze a bit of OJ into the onions.

 

If you like spicy food, a traditional garnish is habanero. What I like to do is dice them and add them to half the pickled onion so those who don't want it spicy can avoid it. Either than or just pour off some of the onion brine over a dish of diced habanero.

 

That's pretty much it. When the pork is done, shred it and mix in the fat so you get the moisture without having to navigate big chunks of fat. Serve with warm tortillas and beans with the pickled onion and habanero on top.

Edited by detlef
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Steak au Poivre

 

I use this one: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-b...cipe/index.html

 

My wife actually bought me a mortar and pestle to grind the peppercorns. I love this recipe. I make it with some garlic mashed potatoes, using the cognac sauce as gravy. (If you're cooking for only three people, I would halve the cream and cognac -- still makes plenty of sauce.) In my cast-iron skillet, medium-rare takes about 20-25 minutes for a 1 1/2-inch steak on medium-high, not 8-minutes like in the recipe.

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Thank you guys. Big help!! I'll just start from the top.

 

How big of a Coq do I need to satisfy the wife?

 

Bier, I replied. Thank you.

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a few from the past

 

3 3 1/2 lb chickens (parted into 8's-> can buy em that way if you don't want to be the butcher)

 

6- 8 slices of bacon (small dice)

24 pearl onions

1 1/2 lb button mushrooms (sliced)

1 qt red wine

1 pt chicken stock

sachet of: thyme, bay leaf, 4 crushed garlic cloves

 

2 oz of butter (softened)

2 oz of flour

 

 

preheat over to 300. crisp the bacon in pot or pan. remove from pot or pan (but save). sear chicken. remove. boil pearl onions for 2-3 min. peel. saute oinions and mushrooms until brown. remove and save. pour off fat from pan. add wine and stock- bring to boil. add sachet. return chicken to pot/pan. bring back to a boil. cook covered in oven until done (30-40 min). again... lol... remove chicken (can hold it in low temp oven). on stove, bring liquid to boil. add mushrooms, onions, bacon. reduce liquid to 1 qt. mix the butter and flour in a bowl (called a beurre manie- uncooked roux). add just enough to thicken using a wisk.

 

serve over chicken.

 

 

edit: makes 12 servings...adjust accordingly.

 

 

..... and from 09

 

for a few months now we have been dividing the cooking duties....each plan and cook for the week. it's rough (flexible) but has been working. i usually cook anyway, but at leat she has some things ready to go. so wife finds a recipe and i alter it.... turned out very good.

 

4-6 chicken thighs

about 4 oz sliced crimini

about 2-3 shallots (sliced)

3-4 slices of pancetta

4 oz chicken broth

4 oz white wine ( i used a cali chard and it was fine)

italian seasonings - a fw shakes

2 oz balsamic

 

 

 

dice pancetta (1/4 inch). render and crisp in pan or skillet. set aside. season chicken with s&p. sear (brown both sides). set aside. saute mushrooms and shallots. i acutally covered them for 4-5 minutes then sauted for 4 min. add broth and wine. bring to boil. add chicken back to pan. cover and cook for about 30 min (just want it simmering). when chicken is done, put it aside covered. in the pan, add the balsamic and herbs. reduce to thicken. s&p to taste. serve-> pour over chicken then hit it with the pancetta. we did it with pilaf tonight, but i think a roasted red potato with herbs would have have been great with it.....

 

12-20 red potatoes

1/2 stick of butter (melted)

herbs of you choice or lawry's or old bay

 

 

quarter potatoes. place in pot with salted cold water. bring to a boil. cook until they are about 70% done (you want them to hold their form). strain and cool just enough to handle. toss in large bowl with butter and herbs. lay out on sheet tray (cookie tray) roast at 425 until golden and crispy.

 

i have also used these when doing fondue.

 

had it with one of my favorite blends: CMS (hedge) 64% sauv blanc, 33% chard, 3 % marsanne

 

also...free for the next few hours if you want call.

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Le burgeurs en la grille'

 

 

 

Very simple

 

Get 1/2 lb of chop meat

Formulate into circular patty like pieces by compressing with your hands

Light grill

Place forumlated chopped meat patties on grill

cook

eat

Edited by whomper
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  • 1 month later...

I'm a little late getting back to this, but thank you for the responses.

 

Coq Au Vin turned out great. The baby wasn't too keen on the Coq, but loved the Sauce over some linguine that I made with it. The wife enjoyed the Coq....

 

Yucatan Pork was very good. Took me a while to find the Achiote, but one of my Mexicans had some in his car, so crisis was averted. Banana leaves, well, didn't happen. Cooked the sucker for 12 hours on the smoker at about 210 to 215. I forgot about the Pickling until about 6 hours in, but that is what happens when you fire up the smoker at 6 AM and start drinking, so the pickling wasn't super pickly... Until the next day. The wife enjoyed it, the baby shredded the torts and threw them at the dog, she ate some of the pork and threw some at the dog, she tasted the pickling, got a weird look on her face, said "Daddy, yuck" and threw it at the dog, pushed the rest off of her plate and refused to eat anything else.

 

Next up, Steak Au Poivre. And then the other thingy Bier Posted. Bier, I am going to give you a call one day, I promise.

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