Mike, Gina & Zoe's Home Cookin' Episode 3: Chicken Piccata

The Italian Piccata Story

As a cat, it is my job to observe and report. I came to live with these strange and wonderful people a little over 4 months ago. They like to eat as much as myself and I feel that their recipes should be shared. The giant hairy one ("Litter Scooper") is more of an improviser in the kitchen and the short one (whom I call "Food Bestower") is more precise and experimental. 

Here I am compiling a blog post. My name is Zoe. 

INGREDIENTS

1. Chicken Broth

2. White Wine

Note: When cooking with wine make sure it is a wine that you like to drink. As it reduces the flavors will concentrate. The wine pictured is a Francis Coppola Pinot Grigio 2016.

3. Olive Oil

4. Butter

5. Capers

6. Eggs

7. Lemons

8. Chicken
9. Garlic Paste (not pictured)

You want to start by pounding your chicken thin. This helps tenderize it and makes an even surface for coating and cooking.

Wrap the chicken in cling film. Always wash your hands when touching raw chicken to avoid cross contamination.

Pound the chicken with your kitchen mallet until both pieces are a consistent size. 

Crack two eggs on a plate. Season with pepper and salt.

Only use a pinch of salt as a majority of salt will come from your capers.

Mix the eggs vigorously with a fork.

Oil a frying pan with olive oil and turn to high heat. Dredge both sides of the chicken in the egg mixture.

Cook the chicken until golden brown on both sides. You do not have to cook it all the way through at this point. Preheat oven to 320 degrees. Have a glass casserole dish on standby. 

Melt a pat of butter and baste the chicken with a spoon.

Finish cooking the chicken in the oven on the center rack. Keep an eye on it so that it doesn't dry out. They had it in for about 10 minutes. Nothing's worse than dried out chicken... except canned dried out chicken.

Two pats of butter were added back to the frying pan that the chicken was cooked in.

And a teaspoon of garlic paste.

Add a cup of chicken broth.

And a 1/2 cup of white wine.

3 teaspoons of capers ought to do it.

Make sure to roll your lemons to get the juices evenly distributed.

Slice in half. 

Squeeze juice into pan. I tried to remind them to save the juiced lemons for zesting, but my plaintive pleas were met with puzzled looks and I harrumphed out of the kitchen.

A tablespoon of flour was added as a thickening agent and had to be whisked vigorously. The large hairy one seemed skeptical and remarked that it didn't seem to be, "the right color".

In a startling flash, he pulled out a separate frying pan and sliced in 3 pats of his fancy expensive Italian butter. He dashed in some capers, added 3 marinated artichokes, took a swig straight from the wine bottle and haphazardly splashed some wine into the pan. 

He lauded his cooking skills quite vocally and danced ingloriously around the kitchen doing James Brown impressions.. Meanwhile a remarkable thing was happening. The other pan was concentrating flavors and the sauce was coming together. The smaller one had stuck to her plan and it was working.

The smaller one began assembling a simple salad. She uses a peeler to make those stripes on the cucumbers which adds a lovely aesthetic. The dressing was a mixture of lemon and olive oil.

In quick succession, the hairy one retrieved his enormous frying pan and began making his, "world famous spinach". He doesn't measure, preferring to throw dashes of this here and dashes of that there. 

In the end, as you can see, it all came together. They complimented each other on their different sauces and had quite a lovely meal together. I snuggled in between them and thought about how lovely and different... and yet the same they are. 

There was another cat here once... before I came. There are telltale signs all around. I can see the sadness in their eyes from time to time. I try to comfort them and make them laugh. They have such huge hearts and they tell me often how much they love me. They must have loved that other cat immensely as well. By the simple act of making meals together and carrying on, they show their tremendous capacity for love. 

I am a lucky cat indeed.

Until next time...

Mike, Gina & Zoe's Home Cookin' Episode 2: Ribs & Sides

One of the main drawbacks of living in a condo is that we can't grill unless we go to a park. Ribs are ubiquitous with summer grilling fun. This recipe works well in the oven and if you follow it you'll end up with the perfect combination of fall off the bone tenderness and crispy exterior. We prefer more of a savory rub to a sticky sweet sauce.

Regional Barbecue Styles

In the past, we've gotten ribs from a fellow who goes by the name of Choo-Choo. He only sells on Saturday in front of a gas station on Palmer and frequently sells out by about 11 am. He does a savory rub and has a massive smoker that looks like the dashboard of a 747. When you pull up he hands you a rib. You'll frequently see several people in front of his stand savoring the sample in complete silence. The ribs are a real treat, but a bit pricey.

The ribs at Detwiler's (a local grocery store) were on sale for $2.94 a pound and came out to $7.32 for a whole rack. We had all the spices on hand and the produce for the sides was priced very reasonably. Point is, this is a luxurious meal at a budget price. We've noticed in recent years that the price point has shifted noticeably higher at barbecue restaurants... and the portions have gotten smaller. Cut out the middle man and enjoy some nice summer Ribs & Sides at home. 

INGREDIENTS FOR THE DRY RUB

2 tablespoons regular (sweet) paprika

2 tablespoons smoked paprika

2 tablespoons chili powder

2 tablespoons chipotle powder

2 tablespoons onion powder

2 tablespoons garlic powder

2 tablespoons dry mustard 

1 tablespoon oregano

1 tablespoon thyme

1 tablespoon coriander powder

1 tablespoon coconut sugar (you can use brown sugar)

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon cinnamon

sea salt & black pepper to taste

First we mixed up the dry rib rub for 2 racks of baby back ribs which were about 3.5 to 4 lbs each. The seasoning list is long and we had a lot on hand because most of our meals are cooked at home. You can feel free to omit a seasoning if you aren't thrilled with it, but for us, this was perfectly spiced.

Next up:

Place a cookie sheet on your counter and line it with a roll of either parchment or wax paper that is longer than the rack of ribs by about 2 inches each side. Rinse and pat dry. Make sure to wash your hands every time you make contact with the uncooked ribs.

You'll be placing the rack of ribs onto this set-up on its back-side because you'll need to remove the silver lining membrane on the back. Get a sharp knife with a thin point and move it under the membrane where you can pull it back to remove it. It will often not come off in one long sheet. You're lucky if that happens!

Take a serrated knife and remove excess fat. You need fat for flavor and tenderness, but you can trim some of it down.

Rub the spice & seasoning mixture onto the backside of the ribs. Take a few spoonfuls and ladle that gorgeous gritty mixture onto the ribs with one hand, and gently rub and pat it onto the ribs. When you've covered the surface of the backside, carefully turn it over and rub the mixture onto the front side. The dry rub mixture makes enough for 2 racks so use about half on this rack.

Next up: 

Set oven at 300 degrees.

Place a foil roaster tray on your counter.

Unroll a piece of aluminum foil that is longer that your rack.

Set your rack of ribs down on top of the foil.

Pour a couple glugs of apple cider vinegar and beef broth (boxed is fine) along each side of the rack.

Fold the aluminium foil up over the ribs. Every square inch of this rack should be covered by foil.

Place the ribs in their foil roasting tray in the oven for 3 hours.

Make sure the ribs are on a rack directly in the center between the top and bottom heating elements.

Low and slow is the key here. Leave them in the oven at 300 degrees for three hours. No fair peeking.

One minute down...

The three hours gives you a chance to work on a few sides. We decided on Cauliflower Potato Salad and Elotes Style Corn. 

For the Cauliflower Potato Salad, you will need...

1 head of cauliflower

2-3 hard boiled eggs

Scallions

Celery 

Dill

Mustard

Greek yogurt

Red wine vinegar

Start by pulling the cauliflower apart into florets.

In a soup pot, bring two inches of water to a boil.

Put the florets into a steel colander and place on soup pot just above the boiling two inches of water.

Place a plate on top slightly askew so as to allow steam to escape.

Everything will be hot so handle with thick oven mitts. 

Lower heat to a simmer (medium high heat) and allow cauliflower to steam for about 25 minutes. You want it fork tender, not mush.

Bring water in a small sauce pan to a rolling boil. Pan should be about half full.

Lower eggs in the boiling water using a soup ladle.

Once in, lower temp to a simmer and let sit for 12 minutes.

After 12 minutes are up, lower the eggs into a bowl of ice water with a slotted spoon. After they cool, take them out and peel them in the sink. We find it helpful to do this under running water.

Your 2-3 eggs should look like this when done.

Chop your celery.

Chop your scallions.

Chop your dill.

Place entire mixture, along with your chopped eggs and steamed cauliflower into a large mixing bowl and coarse grind some pepper on top.

In a separate bowl, mix in 1/2 cup of Greek yogurt, 2 teaspoons of Dijon mustard, and 1 1/2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar.

Mix everything together thoroughly and then seal and chill in the fridge for 45 minutes or longer.

For the Elotes Style Corn, you will need...

Three ears of corn

butter

chili powder

cilantro

mayonnaise 

queso blanco or feta

tin foil

Wrap your corn in tin foil with two pats of butter. We like our corn to have some bite. If you want your corn to be a bit more tender, boil it in salted water first. 

Place in a glass pan and cook at 475 degrees for 25 minutes. Make sure your pats of butter are on top.

When done, use a serrated knife to slice the niblets off the cob. Everything will be hot. Notice that I am using a corn cob holder to keep the cob steady.

Collect the niblets in a bowl and add 1 teaspoon of chili powder.

Add 1 tablespoon of cilantro.

Optional: Squeeze in a few drops of lime to add zing.

Add a tablespoon of mayonnaise and coarse grind some black pepper and mix well.

Crumble some feta or queso blanco on top and add a dash more chili powder.

When the three hours are up pull the ribs out and uncover. They will be wet and fall off the bone tender. Turn the oven temp up to 475 degrees. This is when you want to cook your corn by the way. 

Place the ribs (and corn) back in the oven at 475 degrees for 25 minutes. 

Make sure to leave the ribs uncovered for this stage so they can get some nice crispy, caramelized bits.

Done!. Let the ribs rest on the counter for about 10 to 15 minutes. This will give you enough time to assemble the Elotes Style Corn. Cut the ribs into individual pieces using the bone as a guide.

Finished! Nothing left to do but dig in.

On the second night, we tried some alternate sides. The green beans were sauteed in olive oil and we used garlic and onion powder and parsley. A white wine would have been a nice addition. The potatoes were parboiled, then sliced and finished in the oven until crispy and golden brown.