Boil a chicken and it will fall apart

Recently I was asked if I was a good cook. (Of course I am! That is, if one were to rate me on the scale of home cooks that remain passionate about learning the chemistry and dynamic nature of food products, not the perfection in visual appeal or the correct culinary term to define it.) Naturally, I responded in my usual quip fashion to this question~which sometimes in delivery loses the intended sincerity, but I knew this person rather well so they no doubt expected such from me.  Thus, I uttered "I boil a whole chicken down for the meat and chicken stock what does that tell you?!" My hope in delivering this particular remark was that the individual would grasp the point that I relish the process of cooking. To take the time, step by to step to arrive at an ending that may or may not be what I expected~ it's the journey, not the outcome that defines the moment. My endeavors in the kitchen are always therapeutic.  Therefore, the time from start to finish is relished with great satisfaction. And in case you were wondering, I do boil a chicken most every week, drawing stock and tender meat for use in a wide variety of dishes to serve myself or a party of people. The recipe I link with this post is simplistic and nets the sumptuous meat falling off the bone factor I strive for in the endeavor. Change it up however you will in terms of vegetables and spices, but trust in the process: boil a chicken it will fall apart!

Saucy in Seven

I give Claire Robinson with 5 Ingredient Fix on Food Network a great deal of credit for accentuating many many simplistic options to deliver great flavor to the table in 5 or less ingredients. There are some days that an uncomplicated entry and exit to a meal is desired. Other days call for a long lengthy ingredient list and a multitude of steps to achieve the end result. Much like life, one must balance both scenarios in approaching daily existence. There are occasions where time should just stand still and tick forward ever so slowly. For instance, while a roast cooks slowly in the oven one spends the time sitting ocean side chatting it up with an old friend and reading a great book. By the same token, it's nice to have a few recipes in reserve that provide the opportunity to spend less time in the kitchen and more time sitting around a table reflecting on the day's events with a loved one. Notoriously I allow the moment in front of me to determine what the order of the day is to be. I have a fabulous text Ayurveda: A Life of Balance: The Complete Guide to Ayurvedic Nutrition & Body Types with Recipes that has a plethora of information both food and otherwise, but I've found the section on sauces and dressings to be exemplary. I have prepared a recipe for Cilantro and Coconut Sauce from this cookbook many times over (served with/fish, chicken or shrimp). Roasted pine nuts, cilantro, avocado oil, coconut milk, minced fresh coconut, sea salt and a couple tablespoons of hot water. Seven simple ingredients minced or pureed deliver a huge culinary experience via the aromatic quality that cilantro brings to the kitchen and the creamy goodness that coconut milk delivers to any dish. And when time is really cut short and won't allow preparation: I keep in reserve a jarred product from Stone House 27 that is deliciously lovely with a hint of lime and ginger. (and a web site filled with a healthy assortment of recipes).

Triangle of Delicious (romance, travel, art)

There was no better way to spend a post film festival experience in Beaufort than to trek to Orlando to read, write, grocery shop and make dinner. That's right...drive five hours not to see Harry Potter or Mickey, but to hang with a romance novelist (Karen Hawkins) and a mutual friend known to many as @travelblggr on Twitter. Last time our schedules permitted time face-to-face in the same space was over a year and a half ago at a wine festival...though would be true there have been many moments shared in our electronic realms through social media. As different in our every day demeanor as we are in our professions and our individual aspirations so too are our approaches to bringing food to a table. Simplistic and colorful was my approach, rich in flavor was @travelblggr's purpose and succulent creamy goodness (with a kick one would never forget they'd been kissed) was naturally the romance novelist's contribution.

Insalta Caprese http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/caprese-salad-recipe/index.html

Mushroom Risotto http://innthekitchen.com/wp/2010/10/11/champagne-risotto-with-wild-mushrooms/

Rotisserie Chicken (thank you Publix Baldwin Park)

Chocolate Fondue http://cookeatshare.com/recipes/chocolate-fondue-recipes-332132

Hannah is my Betty Crocker (Thai Coconut Chicken)

Foodies who cook always bring their favorites forward. I had heard about a staff member (Hannah) at one of the local newspapers that loved to cook and bring her latest creations to the office for her co-workers to enjoy and critique. Then I got to judge chili sitting beside her a couple years ago and realized what the joy of cooking really meant. I follow her creative pieces in the local newspaper as well as her posts on her personal FaceBook page to capture her most recent kitchen episode. Cooking Channel this gal's definitely for you! So while many are focusing on the traditional Super Bowl fare I'm spending time with Hannah's recipe for Thai Coconut Chicken (straight from Betty Crocker). The simplicity of this dish is outweighed only by the color the ingredients bring to a serving bowl. The recipe calls for rice to complement the finished dish and while I consume quite a bit of rice in my diet I'm always in a quandary over what type of rice to buy and prepare. A bit of searching on the world wide web and I found a comprehensive A to W guide to rice via The Nibble. Literally a cornucopia of rice.

Recipe: http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/thai-style-coconut-chicken/1273016a-f6f7-42f7-acf5-70e80584324e

Librarians and Green Chile Chicken Stew

Name a group of people that seem to have all the answers and if they don't know the answer they always know where to go to get the answer. Librarians. Total info junkies and always interestingly unique individuals. (i.e., Amanda Brewer one of our county librarians who aspires to be a country music singer). Somehow in every locale I've lived in there's been a librarian or two engaged in my life. This stew recipe is straight from the reference desk of the Interim Head Librarian, Instructional Support Services at our local technical college (TCL) and was submitted during 2005 for the school's Favorite Happy Holidays recipes (a staff enrichment exercise generated by the PR office that year). This is definitely a go-to-dish for pot luck or day after new year's eve dining. Needless to say librarians always deliver!

1 chicken cooked & de-boned (use chicken broth for stew, add water to make 2 qts liquid)
3-4 large potatoes cut into 8ths
1 roll frozen creamed corn (or 1 can creamed corn)
3 cans chopped green chiles
Salt & Pepper to taste
Flour for thickening
Butter

Boil whole chicken, de-bone and chop meat. Add remaining ingredients to broth and bring to boil. Make a roux using 1/4c flour stirred into 2 tbsp melted butter, then add boiling liquid. Cook until potatoes are tender. Garnish with cheese and greens of choice.

Roux (pronounced /ˈruː/) is a cooked mixture of wheat flour and fat, traditionally clarified butter. It is the thickening agent of three of the mother sauces of classical French cooking: sauce béchamel, sauce velouté and sauce espagnole. Butter, vegetable oils, or lard are commonly used fats. It is used as a thickener for gravy, other sauces, soups and stews. It is typically made from equal parts of flour and fat by weight.

Dumplings

My mother made the best chicken and dumplings ever, primarily because she made them and knew they were my favorite (along with white coconut layered cake). This recipe hails from my Grandmother Adams' The Lilly Wallace New American Cookbook. My grandmother and mother passed away some time ago and lovingly I retain this cook book in my small collection of such texts (there are pages falling out and there are a multitude of inserted recipes stashed inside the cover). 1944,editor in chief Lily Haxworth Wallace, Home Economics Lecturer and Writer, Instructor, Household Arts Department, The Ballard School, New York City~assisted by fifty-four leading authorities on Domestic Science and the art of modern cooking. Is there really an inappropriate time for easy comfort food? Not ever and most especially when memories of mom are the course for the day.

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons baking powder
3 tablespoons shortening
3/4 cup milk

Sift flour, salt and baking powder. Rub in shortening with knife or finger tips. Add milk to make a soft dough. Drop dough a tablespoon at a time, on chicken or meat stews the last 15-20 minutes of cooking. Kettle must be covered closely and cover must not be removed during cooking.

Totally Nigella Sunday

Nigella Express: 130 Recipes for good food, fast.
Smoked Trout Pate, Chicken Schnitzel with Bacon & White Wine, No Churn Pomegranate Ice Cream

"Easy" would be the best way to describe the preparation of each dish. A limited number of ingredients added to the efficiency in approaching each recipe and I only found it necessary to digress from the recipes in a couple of instances. The first was to add additional cream cheese to the pate, the second a complete substitution as I lacked powdered sugar in my cupboard (which did indeed change the nature of the no churn, but still tasted good). I will agree with Nigella in the enjoyment of the carbonara essence of bacon wine and chicken of the schnitzel. Opened the refrigerator door later in the evening and stood there while I sentimentally placed a large dollop of pate on a wafer and consumed it, a tribute to this author's trademark sign off on her popular Food Network show.