Fear of phylo and other kitchen encounters
I am extremely competent in the kitchen, however some patience may be required while I am getting used to this blog idea! During the past forty years, I have refined my love of cooking to the point that friends call me with problems they experience in cooking, baking, preserving, candy making--you name it.
Because my childrens' health was very important to me, I began to make bread, as well as make our own peanut butter, and jams, jellies, and cereals{remember granola?}. During that time I also baked bread for a little health food store in the area, and for the people my husband worked with. At holiday time I produced sweet breads and seasonal and Italian goodies,
There are so many pretty cookbooks on the market at this time, and I appreciate the fact that a picture can "speak a thousand words", unfortunately without the actual background in technique , a picture is of no real value. We all need to know why ingredients do what they do, and that is where I come in. I can fill in the gaps that come about after you have read a recipe, followed the instructions {frequently minimal}, and come up with something less than acceptable.
posted by lorraine spaziani @ 12:04 PM
3 Comments:
"Fear of Phylo" is the title for a cooking class dedicated to ridding ourselves of that "FEAR". Yes, phylo is delicate, and yes it dries out quickly, and yes it tears. Who cares? One of the things to keep in mind is that when serving a dish that is relatively unusual, NOBODY at the table knows what it should {or could} look like. When I first started using phylo
{sometimes spelled phyllo} I was taken aback by the difficulties that were apparent, but I was determined to produce the dessert I had chosen. I found out that with enough butter brushed between layers, it hardly mattered if the pastry had torn. In the end my guests were thrilled with the unexpected surprise of a yummy,unusual dessert and my confidence grew.
Yesterday I purchased a nice little roasting chicken, one of those chickens grown "organically" which means that they have been fed what chickens are supposed to eat, and not chicken feed that contains anilmal parts! Oops, there I go!
One of the nice things about a "whole" chicken is that there are so many ways to use every last bit of the bird. So today we will have roast chicken with celery, potatoes, carrots, onions and garlic. Yes, all in the same pan. Easy enough to do if you address how long the chiken will take to cook, and the "ball
park" cooking times of the various vegetables to be added. In this case, the carrots would go into the roasting pan right along with the chicken. Peel them, or just scrub them and cut them into chuks about two to three inches long. Place them around the chicken in the pan, shake a LITTLE salt over them
Then set a timer so that about one hour before the chicken is due to come out of the oven, you toss in: potatos {skins on or off} that have been cut in chunks {just as you did the carrots}, chopped celery, and onions {a couple of medium sized}, as well as garlic cloves that have been peeled but not chopped.
Season the chicken well, usually a good grating of black pepper, salt and maybe some thyme or rosemary if you are lucky enough to have fresh herbs available. The package the chicken came in will have instructions for cooking times and some even have pop-up timers. Use the chart of cooking times to figure out when the rest of the vegetables need to go in. I cover the pan for about the first half of the cooking time, and then uncover it so the skin can get crisp.Now, here is where a little secret can come in handy. Once, I was preparing this chicken dish and FORGOT to get the rest of the vegetables in the pan on time---I had about thirty minutes before the chicken and carrots woukd be done--so I tossed the other vegetables with a little olive oil, covered them tightly and NUKED them on HIGH for about ten to fifteen minutes. I then put them in with the chicken, and continued the cooking. Delicious!
Now I need to head to the kitchen to start cooking, and then I will return with ideas that you may or may not have tried--when faced with left over chicken. {or turkey for that matter}
Okay! We just had a delicious chicken dinner that became a bit exotic--due to the fact that I hardly ever make exactly the same thing twice. I consulted my pantry and refrigerator for ideas, and today I chose to add a can {about 14 oz.} of diced tomatoes and their juice to the pan, about fifteen minutes before the chicken and other vegetables were done,
and at the last minute I added a good hand full of capers that I had rinsed under cold water. WOW!! The result was delicious. My husband said his usual " You should make tkis again!". The wonderful thing
about a meal like this {actually there are MANY} is that the resulting "leftovers" already have character.
We will enjoy one more meal, just as it is--- and then I will cut the remining meat off the bones and toss the carcass into a soup pot with some more chopped celery, carrots, and onion, and let the pot simmer while I go about my day. Return to the soup pot every now and then to make sure that all is well {need more liquid? Add a can or two of chicken stock}, give it a stir, and taste for seasoning. Garlic POWDER {not garlic salt}, chopped parsley, a dash of red pepper flakes, and other herbs that you and your family enjoy are all good additions. It is better to add herbs and seasonings judiciously, because you can always add MORE, but you can't REMOVE what you have already added. You will soon come to develop "favorite" combinations that will become your "signature" blends.
When the stock has cooled remove the bones and toss them out. The stock now needs to be chilled so that the fat will rise to the top, where it can easily be removed. I am sure that a lot of people don't like to do this step, but the amount of fat in the stock will
surprise you. At this point you can return the stock {including vegetables} to the refrigerator, or put it in the freezer for future use. When you decide to make soup heat the stock and add cubed leftover chicken that you have set aside {or frozen}, and heat gently until it is hot. I sometimes add frozen green peas at this point, or a box of frozen chopped spinach and cook until every thing is hot
Also, The starchy stuff that we all seem to like in soup really should be cooked separately and added as the soup is being scooped into the bowls. So, when you are cooking rice make a large batch and freeze small containers of rice for just this purpose! Another good grain to use is cous-cous. It take five minutes to prepare, and is delicious in soups.
Don't know what cous-cous is? That will have to wait!
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