Showing posts with label Chicken Soup. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chicken Soup. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 14, 2016

Wine Braised Short Ribs!!! - Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father’s Day!!!

Wine Braised

SHORT RIBS!

Pictured with Wild Mushroom Ravioli’s
There is no other piece of meat that will bring tears to your eyes than a gorgeously braised Short Rib! There are a million ways to serve, but the only way to prepare it - perfection! Prepared with just as much flavor and emotion to hold it’s own against the legendary Boeuf Bourguignon.  A gorgeous piece of meat that melts off the bone and in your mouth.

Beautiful for a special occasion and to impress, showing just how much you appreciate that someone. An excellent choice for Father’s Day!

Braised dishes get better with age, so take the time to develop this into something Far Beyond what you started with. It will develop characters and deep layers of flavor that will leave you salivating days after you've finished your meal!
On the bone, over Roasted Vegetables, with Red Wine Sauce.
With time, and a few step by step instructions- know that you’ll be able to understand and complete the techniques involved here.  With patience and excitement knowing how amazing it’s going to taste!
There are no substitute for the wine to achieve this richness or exact magic. However know that you will be cooking the alcohol out.

Marinade - *You will be using this exact marinade as your braising liquid too.
  • 1  - 750-ml bottle Red Wine
  • ½ cup each: Celery, Carrot, Onion / shallots - small chop
  • 3 cloves Garlic Crushed
  • 10 Sprigs Parsley - whole
  • 6 Sprigs Thyme - whole
  • 3 Bay Leaves
  • 5 Cloves
*Place all in Large Dutch Oven with a lid. Set Aside.

UTENSILS:
  • Dutch Oven w/ Lid
  • Skillet
  • Tongs
  • Strainer

SHORT RIBS -
  • 1-2 BONE ON Short Ribs per serving. 6-8 Short Ribs per recipe.  (1 inch thick, 1 ¼ -½ pounds each.)
  • 4 strips of Bacon.
  • 1 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
  • Oil for searing
  • Salt & Pepper
  • 2 Tbsp unsalted Butter - for sauce
You can buy packaged, or have butcher cut - but they’ll come ready to start cooking. You really want to get the Bone On because it adds to the intense flavor while braising!
Don’t worry about trimming these up at all, use as it.  
*Place the ribs in the marinade, bone side up, and make sure meat is completely covered. Cover with the lid, and put in refrigerator for minimum 12 hours! Best if 24 - 36 hours!
PROCEDURE:
*Preheat Oven 350
*Coat Skillet with Oil, heat over Med- High
*Remove the meat and drain on paper towels, meat side down.
*Make sure all sides a dry before searing or it will spit at you once in pan!
*Salt & Pepper on every side before searing.
*When the oil starts to smoke barely, carefully place meat side down on skillet to brown, each side.
*Make sure it’s Brown on every side - you’re only searing not cooking all the way thru.
*Place on paper towels to absorb extra grease, meat side down.
This is going to look much darker than you might like, it’s perfect! The caramelized meat will add to the braising liquid… This is one of those dishes where every technique makes the entire dish that much better.
*Discard excess oil from Skillet. Place bacon in until cooked half through.
*Put the short ribs On TOP of braising liquid, bone side down - meat up.
*Lay the bacon on top, and drizzle the bacon grease over as well.
*Season well with Salt and Pepper. Cover and place in middle rack for 2-2 ½ hours.
*Take the Ribs, ever so carefully and gently, out of the pot with a slotted spoon, so they don’t fall apart, allowing the meat to rest while making your sauce (10-20 minutes.)  

Brilliant Sauce! All this work and you’re almost finished!
* Take the braising liquid and strain very well removing all the aromatics.
*Place in a sauce pan or pot and reduce by ½ or until it’s the thickness you desire. Remove from heat.
*Stir in 1 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar. Salt and Pepper to taste.
* Finish with swirling in 2 Tbsp Butter on top. Add extra parsley if desired.  

Finally You’re finished! Trust me it’s been worth the work and wait!
Plate with whatever you’re serving.  As below over Roasted Vegetables.  

Over Ravioli


#ShortRibs #Braising #BeefBourguignon #Father’sDay #CookingWithWine #FrenchClassics #AmericanCuisine #InternationalCuisine #CuisinArt #SpecialOccasionFood  #RomanticEats #ChefCaylena

Monday, May 16, 2016

A Robust & Divine Chicken Stock

A Robust & Divine

Chicken Stock

A Simple and Cheap version anyone can do, and You’ll never buy pre-made again.
Chicken Stock is the first thing everyone should spend the time to make at home… after all there is a reason there’s a saying, “it’s Chicken Soup for the Soul,” not to mention a massive collection of books. It is as Soulful and Heartwarming as anything you will ever make and it has a ripple effect to everything it touches.
I didn’t grow up with a lot of money or food in our house. We made due where we could and ate whatever we could find. It was almost always bad and undefinable, it was certainly expired and hardly ever nutritious. However some of my fondest memories were all my brothers and sister sitting together, eating at the table on special days, where we’d have a proper meal. We were together, we laughed, talked, and devoured the food. As I’ve gotten older, I understand how wonderful and important those moments are, as well as how powerful and special a beautiful meal can mean.
This Chicken Stock is more robust, and, the most divine, I’ve ever had. It’s taken me a couple of years to get it just perfect, now, you can even savor it alone. Chicken Stock can be universally used and in substitution for both Beef - if you want more subtle, or Vegetable - if desiring more intensity (and aren’t a vegetarian of course).
I highly recommend making this when you have an extra minute- you really just let it cook itself so you can perfect it between commercial breaks or laundry loads - throw it in the freezer for up to 6 months, and you're always prepared. It will save you when everyone suddenly comes down with the flu, and you need Soup pronto - such as my Chicken Tortilla Soup - or Chicken Dumpling (which I’ll add soon). 

More so you just elevated every dish you intend to make using Stock in the future! It’s that extra factor that ‘they’ won't be able to pinpoint, but know there is something special and beautiful about your cooking.



Chicken Stock
Easy / 2-3hrs /Serving 6-7 Qts
*Note - if you make in NYC 6 qts should cost you $16-$18 from Scratch!
That’s $24 if you buy pre-made  in the store!
*The rest of the world! $$$ NICE SAVE!!! And Organic without crazy Additives!

Ingredients:

All veg are cut large and quick - you’re not eating them later.
  • 3lbs chicken - rinsed, innards discarded
  • 6 Celery stalks (1 medium-bunch) -(including leaves & Rib)   
  • 3 Large Carrots (No need to shave just clean)
  • 1 White onion  (if you have left over green onions, shallots… you can use just not Red onions)
  • 1 Large or 2 Small Leeks (CLEANED very well!-it’s easier after cut)
  • 2 cloves garlic - crushed
  • 1 handful Parsley still whole -rinsed well
  • 4 Bayleaf
  • 1 Tbsp Fennel seeds
  • 1 Tbsp Thyme -or handful fresh
  • 5 cloves (whole, if powder - 1 tsp)
  • 1 tsp whole peppercorns
**NO SALT**

EASY 10 STEP by STEP with Pictures:

  1. RINSE CHICKEN WELL. Inside and out.
2) Put whole Bird in pot minus insides. Don’t worry about clipping wings off - though you can if you want to fry those up.
3)Put everything in the pot, fill to top with cold water & room for the boil.
4)Bring boil - without lid on.
5) Drop to a simmer 2 hours. Skim scum off as go. Don’t worry if Chicken is bobbing on top, just roll her over every so often.
Add water as needed, including at end.
6)Once Chicken is cooked thru, pull out. (Check on this at 1 hour if you’re planning to eat the chicken -ie soup or enchilada, so that you can cool it and shred now, otherwise leave it in.)
If you’re using your meat, you can put in freezer for 15 minutes to cool enough to take skin off and shred meat, with out melting everything in the freezer.
7) If you have time - you can let this stock go for another hour to really get the flavor of the vegetables. Or pull it when you’re ready.
8)Pull out the vegetables and discard. (easier this way than dumping.)
9)Strain the broth thru fine sieve
10)Degrease… You have two options. I do both, you can do either or…
a)if you want to use broth right away use a paper towel to pat top and pull grease off. Don’t worry about the juice, it’ll fall off, mostly the fat will stick to towel if you keep the towel on the surface.
b) if your not using right away let it cool off, chill it, and the fat will have solidified and floated. Easier to remove.
Now you’re finished! You have a gorgeous stock!
Freeze it in portions that make sense for your household. I keep them in quarts and one in the fridge but I cook everyday. I keep the ends of my parsley, carrots, onions, & celery from everything else I make, I freeze it and then -- Stock or Braised dish always ready to go, and those cents all add up!
This stock is incredibly easy to make and you can make substitutions - though I’ve made Gallons and Gallons of stock in different restaurants, and many different ways at home… this one is richer, and simply divine!