meyer lemons

Well, Yogi has announced that she wants to host Christmas dinner, some time, and wants to learn how to cook a Turkey. Fortunately, cooking a turkey, chicken, goose, duck, pheasant, pigeon ... you get the idea, is all the same. Meanwhile, I cornered the last batch of Meyer lemons available so it's time to have a dinner party! Tonight's menu:

a chevre fondue, with baguette, to start followed by salad frisee a l'ail - both to be served with a Sauvignon Blanc. Then we move to a roast lemon chicken with herbs and roasted root vegetables, served with gravy (yes, a little out of place but we are practicing for Christmas), and a nice Pinot Noir. And for dessert? tart au citron.

Now, tonight Yogi and I will be cooking this together at her house for a guest so Yogi's shopping list is (and she promises to go local first):

4 shallots
2 heads of garlic
1 'log' of goat cheese - plain (like 3oz) - local of course
1/2 c of Gruyere (a chunk around 75-100g)
1 long baguette (for chevre and salad)
3 generous handfuls of salad frisee mix
2 thick slabs of bacon (so we could make 1cm chunk cubes with)
1 whole chicken
1 onion
4 carrots
2 stocks celery
either one large russet potatoe or two yukon gold the size of your fist and one turnip (let's be adventurous)
fresh herbs (rosemary and thyme)
lemons
4 c chicken stock

In the pantry you have: dijon mustard, red wine vinegar, olive oil, bay leaves, whole pepper corns, nutmeg, stick of butter, flour, salt

BUT FIRST A BEVERAGE

I love Meyer lemons - it reminds me of growing up in CA. So, while we make dinner tonight we will be drinking Vij's Ginger Lemon drink which I just made a batch of. It consists of:

1/2 c fresh lemon juice (3-4 normal lemons or 8-10 meyer lemons)
1/4c fresh ginger juice (about 4oz)
5 tbsp sugar
6 bottles sparkling water (like Pellegrino)

this is a labour of love but the concentrate will keep in the fridge for 3-4 days or 1 month in the freezer:

. squeeze juice from lemons (discard solids) into a bowl
. peel the ginger and using a hand grater with small holes, grate ginger onto a cheese cloth. then ball and twist up the cheese cloth and squeeze the ginger solids so that the juice is captured in the bowl. Alternatively you can buy fresh ginger juice but nothing is better than fresh squeezed. Literally!
. add sugar to lemon/ginger juice and stir until dissolved (approx. 3 mins)
. divide among six glasses and add sparkling water

THE CHICKEN

ok, against everything you have been told, you should pull the bird out a couple of hours before you want to cook so that it comes up to room temp. Rinse with cold water. Pat dry. Sprinkle the cavity of the bird lightly with salt and put aside on the counter. You actually stuff the bird just before roasting but as we are just using lemon and herbs you can do that now. So, here goes:

1. stuff body cavity lightly - do NOT pack - and fasten the opening with skewers (if required) lace legs shut or as my mother might say "tuck leg tips into slits on either side of ass". Got to love Ellamae. After the legs are secured "tuck ass up under leg tips". Classic! Insert stuffing into wishbone (e.g. neck) cavity. Fasten neck skin to back with skewer (if required). Then lift wing tips up and over back for natural brace. If the wings stick out too much you can truss them closer to the body. Essentially when all this is done you will be staring at a bird that is seriously into bondage.
2. want a really golden bird? rub oil over the entire bird you can even sprinkle with paprika to doubly make sure it will be golden. I've even seen people stud butter underneath the skin. It's up to you.
3. I like to heat the oven/bbq to 425F then I turn it down to 350F once the bird is in the oven.
4. how long to cook? it's done when it's done but here are some gauges:

4-5lb Chicken 1 1/2 - 2 hours
6-8lb Turkey 3 1/2 - 4 hours

basically cook it until the internal temperature is 165-170 because we let it sit for 20 mins and it comes up another ten degrees.

Tonight we are going to stuff the carcass with lemon wedges and rosemary.

GRAVY

For each 1 cup of gravy you need 2 tbsp fat, 2 tbsp of flour and 1 cup liquid (e.g. chicken stock, if you boiled potatoes for mashed potatoes you can use potatoe water too). The hard part is eyeballing how much fat you have. As a cheat my mom would also put a few drops of "Kitchen Bouquet" in to make it really brown. Oooohhh, if she were alive to see me revealing her secrets. Ouch. So, for you Yogi, we will make gravy a science:

1. remove chicken to a carving platter
2. pour off fat and measure the amount needed and put it back in the roasting pan
3. add level tablespoons of flour to the fat and stir together to make the roux (smooth paste) and 'cook' the flour until bubbly
4. stir in a little cold liquid first, slowly, stirring and scraping and watch the sauce thicken
5. bring up to temp (boiling) then serve

ROAST VEGETABLES

This is going to be dead easy - chop up potatoes, turnips, carrots, garlic, shallots. Toss in olive oil, add some fresh herbs, s&p and set aside. They'll take 45-60 mins to cook at 350F so we will add them towards the end of cooking the chicken.

CHEVRE FONDUE

This is enough to serve 6 people as an appetizer:

1/4 c dry white wine
1 tbsp finely minced shallots
1 clove garlic, mashed or pressed
6 oz mild goat cheese
1 1/2 oz Gruyere, grated
1 tsp dijon mustard
2 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
1 tbsp butter
s&p

. in a heavy saucepan heat the wine, shallots and garlic. simmer until reduced in half.
. add the cheeses and simmer stirring often until the cheeses have melted.
. fold in the mustard, thyme and butter
. season with s&p and serve with warm bread for dipping
. for a dinner party you can make this in advance, put in ramekins and refrigerate. Then when guests arrive pop it into the microwave to quickly reheat before putting out.

SALADE FRISEE A L'AIL

This serves 3-4 for salad

1 tbsp dijon mustard
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
2-3 tbsp oil
generous handful of frisee mixture per person
2 oz slab of bacon cut into cubes (like 1-2cm)
2 large slices of artisan bread
2 garlic cloves, finely minced

. make the vinaigrette at the bottom of your large salad bowl (mustard, vinegar, oil)
. put the salad greens on top but do NOT toss yet
. render the bacon starting in a cold skillet, warming over medium heat. stir frequently. when some fat has started to coat the bottom of the skillet add the bread cubes. stir the bread cubes until brown (approx. 5 mins).
. at the last minute, add the garlic for a quick toss
. pout the bacon, croutons, and garlic over greens. Give a gentle toss to the salad and plate.

WHAT ARE WE DOING TONIGHT

. well, I'm going to arrive at 4'ish with our beverages and our lemon tarts
. first we are going to wash the chicken and stuff it and set it aside
. then we are going to prep the veggies and set aside
. we are going to make the vinaigrette in the bowl and put the lettuce on top and set aside. meanwhile we will prep the bacon, garlic and croutons and set aside
. we will turn the oven on for the chicken
. by now our guest will have arrived so we will open the sauvignon blanc (which we will use in the fondue) and make the fondue asking our guest to cut the baguette (people love to help)
. about 2 hours before we want to eat we will pop the chicken into the oven
. still nibbling on fondue and drinking
. about an hour before we want to eat we will pop the veg in the oven
. if people are getting too drunk we can eat the salad now
. about 30 mins before we want to eat we will pull the chicken out and make gravy
. then pull the veg out and pour the pinot into our well loved glasses
. I'll show you how to carve a bird. plate and go.
. finally dessert!

... but you're not done Yogi.

CHICKEN STOCK

hah! Told you - time to make homemade chicken stock.

. throw that chicken carcass in a pot and pour cold water over top until it is covered by 1-2 inches of water. put it over high heat.
. meanwhile 'rough cut' 1 large onion, 2 carrots, 2 stalks celery, maybe a leek
. prepare your bouquet garni: sprigs of thyme, rosemary, bay leaf, a dozen peppercorns and salt
. after ten minutes, foam will appear on the top of the water in the stock pot, use a ladle to skim this off as it appears (it makes the stock bitter and cloudy).
. once the chicken water has come to a boil add your veg and bouquet garni and turn the temp down to simmer and simmer over low for a couple of hours.
. turn off heat. allow to cool to room temp.
. strain the liquid until a bowl and then put into containers and freeze.
. Voila! Chicken stock. Now, really, how hard was that?

OK, I'm heading over now. Good luck!

winter - soup, salad and sauvignon blanc

Yogi wants a soup. Right then. Better get on that.

Normally I make soups in the late fall and freeze them so I can have great soup all winter. But, Yogi is cold and she wants something hardy. So this morning I trundled out to the back yard, got the pitch fork, broke through the first layer of frost and dug up some potatoes. Got to love nature's refrigerator. Keep in mind it is also citrus season in California so ladies this evening's menu will be:

a hardy leek and potatoe soup with a thick crusty bread, radicchio and blood orange salad, a lovely sauvignon blanc, and for dessert fresh citrus over raspberry sorbet with a splash of Grand Marnier.

When I went to the store today they had loads of Fraser Valley mushrooms in so the other option is wild mushroom soup.

Today's shopping list is:

• 3 large leeks or one sweet onion if you want mushroom soup
  
• 1 head of garlic
• enough potatoes that amount to the size of your fist 3 times or enough mushrooms to fill an entire cookie sheet (portabello, brown cremini, oyster and shitake were all at the store so I had to buy some!) - atleast half the mushrooms have to be cremini
  
• 5 cups chicken stock*
• fresh thyme
• green onions
• 1 head radicchio slightly larger than your fist - radicchio has a slightly peppery, almost bitter taste - it is a bit like arugula if you need to substitute
• 2 blood oranges and 1 grapefruit
  
• small amount (1/2 c) of feta cheese or ricotta or fontina - essentially white, salty cheese
• small amount (1/4 c) of hazelnuts or pine nuts or almonds
• small container of raspberry sorbet
  
• one loaf of crusty bread - I bought Terra Walnut Bread but I was eyeing those breads at Seb's the other day too
• one bottle sauvignon blanc, sancerre, pouilly-fume or any dry, non-oaked white wine

* I would love it if you guys made your own chicken stock but I know: baby steps. Because you are buying it try to get the best available (organic, home made, not a lot of crap, go for tetra pack over tinned).

I assume in the pantry you have: butter (atleast 4 tbsp), olive oil, salt, pepper, flour, dijon mustard, balsamic vinegar, honey, Grand Marnier.

So, today's local items were:

• Chez Stucco-low: potatoes, thyme, chicken stock (and next year garlic)
• BC: radicchio, mushrooms, crusty bread, feta cheese, garlic
  
• WA: onions, leeks
• CA: blood oranges, green onions
• sadly the grapefruit came from Florida. Ugh.

So, here's what we are going to do - about an hour or so before you want to eat dinner make the soup, then make the salad, chop the fruit up for dessert and we are good to go. The soup recipes serve four people as an entree.

THE SOUP

Alright then, assemble the following for Potatoe Leek:

3 tbsp butter
3 large leeks, trimmed and sliced thin (only the white and pale green parts)
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 large potatoes (or whatever you got), chopped coarsely (you're going to puree them later so size doesn't matter) - I leave the skins on but it is a personal preference thing
5 cups chicken stock
4-5 sprigs fresh thyme*
one green onion, chopped for garnish

* UPDATE: yes, Yogi, for this recipe put the entire 'stick' of thyme in (do not chop this up) and pull them out before you mash everything up.

. melt the butter over medium heat in your soup pot until bubbly
. add the leeks and garlic and sautee for atleast 5 - 7 minutes
. add the potatoes and give it a stir so that the leeks are kinda coating the potatoes
. add the stock and bring to a boil, then add thyme, salt and pepper
. reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until the potatoes are soft and almost falling apart
. remove from heat and puree soup (either with one of those funky braun hand mixers, in batches in your food processor or the old fashion way with a masher and a lot of upper body strength)
. put the lid on it and let it rest while you make the salad

If you want to make this soup even more hardy when you puree you could add: 2 heads of roasted garlic or sprinkle a couple slices of cooked thick bacon.

Alright then, assemble the following for Wild Mushroom:

1 lb mushrooms - cremini, portobella, morel, chanterelles, shitake, oyster. If you use shitake the stems have to be removed (they are far too tough)
2 tbsp olive oil
4 tbsp butter
1 medium sweet onion, chopped small
3 tbsp flour
2 cloves garlic, minced
2-4 c chicken stock
2 tsp fresh thyme leaves*

* UPDATE: Yogi, for this recipe DO chop up the leaves only (do not put the whole sprig/stick in)

. preheat oven to 425F
. toss mushrooms in olive oil and spread on cookie sheet. roast in the oven for ten minutes or browned.
. once the mushrooms are cooled put the cremini mushrooms in the food processor and mince. slice up the rest of the mushrooms into small bite size pieces.
. melt the butter over medium heat in your soup pot until bubbly
. add the onion and sautee for atleast 10 minutes or until golden brown
. stir in the flour and 'cook' for a few minutes until it browns a bit
. add the garlic and stir
. add the minced cremini mushrooms, season with salt and pepper and cook until the mushrooms have exuded all their moisture and become a part of the sticky concoction.
. add the stock, scraping the bottom of all the browned bits and bring to a boil.
. then add the other mushrooms, thyme and more salt and pepper if needed. turn the heat off.
. put the lid on it and let it rest while you make the salad

THE SALAD

OK, just to review, the five components of salad at Chez Stucco-low are: nuts, cheese, fruit/veg, onion, and greens. So tonight's mix is:

greens = radicchio, shredded or chopped
cheese = feta, crumbled
nuts = almonds, roasted*
fruit = blood orange, peeled, white bits removed and chopped coarsely
onion = green onion (you've got it from the potatoe soup) or shallot

* to roast nuts either put them dry on a cookie sheet in the oven at 350F for ten minutes or until brown. Or, the lazy way (my way), is to put a non-stick fry pan over medium heat and brown them.

My vinaigrette's are always 1 part acid, 3 parts oil with something interesting (dijon mustard, honey, whatever). Tonight's vinaigrette will be:

acid = balsamic vinegar
oil = olive oil
interesting = 1 tsp dijon mustard, 1 tsp honey

Put it all in a bowl, toss, set aside.

THE SAUVIGNON BLANC

Yeah! Time for dinner. If you haven't already, open that bottle of wine! Pour yourself a glass and do the final tasks:

. put the soup on low heat to warm back up again
. pull sorbet out of the freezer to soften
. chop up the other blood orange and the grapefruit - no white bits! - and set aside
. slice some thick slices of bread
. set the table, plate your food
. grab that old bottle of Grand Marnier or some other orange liqueur

Right then. Hot soup in bowls? check. Bread slices on table? check. Tossed salad on table with side plates? check. Wine in glass? check. Then it's time to light the candles and have dinner.

When you are ready for dessert scoop the sorbet into a bowl, put the chopped citrus on top and drizzle a bit of Grand Marnier.

Bon Appétit!