Thursday, September 30, 2010

More chicken...

Well, it's not the next day but it will have to do.
It was a bowtie noodle. Farfally if you like. I use the chicken I hand pulled from the rotisserie and set it aside. I'm not big on portion. It's one ingredient for a whole dish. Dice one small onion and about 3 cloves of garlic and sautee in unsalted butter.
OK, butter. Don't buy salted butter. If it's already salted, you lose a little control over your sodium. Add some rough chopped sundried tomatoes in and some asparagus or broccoli. Add the chicken and then chicken broth(or stock) and let it reduce. Toss in a ladle full of pasta water and toss with the pasta. Finnish it with grated parmesan salt and pepper to taste.

Ingredients:

Pulled chicken
onion
garlic
sun dried tomatoes
green veggy of choice
chicken broth
pasta water
S&P

Don't get hung up on a cup of this and a cup of that. You know what you will eat. You know the portion your family will eat. Adjust the volume of your ingredients to suit your meal. This pasta lands on the table in our home in many different variations. Yet the flavors are much different every time. Anybody up for gnocchi? Look it up. I'll share it with you next time.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

How to start...Chicken, I think! Well, introductions, then chicken!

Well, this is a first. I've told my wife for years that I would never shop online, talk online, sell online, Twitter, Facebook, blah blah blah......
Least of all, blogging. Yuck! well, hello everybody! I'd like to welcome myself to the "Ether".
I consider myself a bit of a foodie. Cheffed for a few years. Worked restaurant jobs for many  years. Received great food education throughout all of those years. Have learned to be open to trying many things at least once.
Now, I'm not the kind of guy who thinks that one food style is better than another. I like snickers bars just as much as seared foie gras with wilted leeks. I like a basic cheeseburger as much as I like marinated octopus with olive tapenade. Coke or Caymus. Mmmmmm.....
I've cooked the family meals ever since we got married, rarely using recipes. There is something mysterious about throwing a handful of this or that in a skillet, not knowing, discovering, falling in love with the new, over and over again. I love food.

I tend to jump around a lot, so tighten the bolts on your underwear and hold on!

I love to shop for groceries. To look for new items, scoot through the farmers market. For me, I think the most versatile thing a home cook can buy is a rotisserie chicken.

Finally the chicken.

Why buy a raw or frozen fryer when you can buy a precooked rotisserie for, basically, the same price? Most are of good quality and will always save you a step. Arriving home hot, all you need are sides and a meal is ready within a half hour or so. Pull the remaining meat from the bones and reserve for another meal. Always save the carcass and other tasty bits to make your own stock. Soup!

In our house a rotisserie chicken will provide a protein base for 2 to three meals. In coming blogs, I'll share recipes(of a sort) and food experiences with you that I hope you will enjoy.

I must go make dinner. Pulled chicken with bowtie pasta, roasted garlic, and butter sauce.
Recipe tomorrow.
Happy cooking!  Dave