Saturday, February 27, 2010

40 Clove chicken

Ingredients
40 cloves (3 to 4 heads) garlic, separated from the head and
unpeeled
1 Tablespoon (15 ml) olive oil
2 to 3 pounds (1 - 1.5 Kg) chicken pieces, skin and all visible fat
removed
1 cup (250 ml) white wine or chicken stock (plus additional if
necessary)
1/2 teaspoon (2 ml) dried thyme
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
2 Tablespoons (30 ml) all-purpose flour
Method of Preparation
Place the cloves of garlic in a saucepan with enough water to
cover. Bring to a boil and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes.
Drain and set aside. Heat the olive oil in a large pot over high
heat. Brown the chicken pieces on all sides. Add the wine or
chicken stock, thyme, salt, pepper, and reserved garlic. Bring
to a boil and simmer covered for 40 to 45 minutes. Remove the
chicken and garlic to a serving platter. Measure the liquid
remaining in the pan, and add more if necessary to make 1 cup
(250 ml). Return the liquid to the pot and bring to a boil. Mix
a little of the liquid with the flour to form a slurry, and add
to the liquid. Cook 3 to 5 minutes, stirring constantly, until
the sauce has thickened. Spoon over the chicken pieces and serve
immediately.
Makes 4-6 servings"

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Pasta with Red Bell Peppers

Preparation time: 5 min Servings: 4
Cooking time: 10 min

Ingredients:
2 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup bottled roasted red bell peppers, drained and chopped
6 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp salt (optional)
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
3/4 lb linguine pasta
Cooking Directions:
Cook pasta in boiling salted water 8-10 minutes or until pasta is al dente. While pasta is cooking, heat oil and garlic in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring 2 minutes until heated throughout. Remove from heat and add bell peppers. Drain pasta and transfer to serving bowl. Add peppers and garlic mixture. Sprinkle with Parmesan. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Toss before serving.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Garlic Soup

Recipe for Garlic Soup

This flavorful garlic and onion soup recipe serves eight people. The garlic and onion flavors are enhanced with bouquet garni, butter, chicken broth and more and the resulting soup is wonderful on a chilly fall or winter evening. If you do not have any bouquet garni, you can make your own by tying a bay leaf, some sprigs of thyme and fresh parsley together.

What you will need:
Ingredients
2 cups chopped garlic cloves
2 lbs chopped onions
1 1/2 quarts chicken broth
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups stale French bread, in 1/2 inch chunks
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup Half & Half
1 bouquet garni
Preparation
How to make it:
Saute the garlic with the onions in a four quart pot, in the oil and butter. Keep stirring the mixture as it cooks, until the onions are brown. This should take about half an hour. Add the bouquet garnish and chicken broth and bring the garlic soup to a boil.

Add the bread and let the soup simmer for ten minutes, and then take the bouquet garni out. Puree the soup in batches in the blender or with a hand-held stick blender. Strain it through a strainer, then warm it back up on the stove and add some more chicken broth if it needs to be thinned down. Stir in the Half & Half and add salt and black pepper to taste.

If you enjoy the flavors of garlic and onion you will love French onion soup. Not only is this classic dish perfectly balanced and delicious but it looks elegant and makes a wonderful appetizer. An onion soup recipe is a great way to start dinner and you can also serve it as a warming and satisfying lunch.

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Champagne cocktails something different

o one likes to meddle with an expensive vintage, but with the price of champagne at an all-time low, now’s the time -- and season -- to experiment. Forget the revolting Kir Royale (unless you know how to make your own crème de cassis) and reserve Bellinis and mimosas for brunch. A champagne cocktail made correctly is strictly a nighttime affair. I had my first, quickly followed by my second and third, many years ago at the George Hotel in Edinburgh, a place that had seen better days but still made its drinks like it was living them. The recipe was disarmingly simple: A sugar cube at the bottom of a champagne flute is peppered with Angostura bitters (three or four drops) and topped with cold, dry champagne. The better versions require a half ounce of cognac, which adds a pleasing hint of caramel. British cocktail whiz Douglas Ankrah goes American by subbing in bourbon for cognac, with orange slices marinated in Licor 43. And at Clover Club in Brooklyn, Julie Reiner has introduced the Bill Boothby cocktail, a champagne version of the Manhattan that uses rye, sweet vermouth, orange and Angostura bitters, and Gruet, a sparkling wine from New Mexico that sells for around $14 a bottle. It needs a vigorous stir before it’s topped with the bubbles, but it’s a very grown-up drink, not to say a forgotten classic: Boothby created it in 1910 at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco. With a plate of Clover Club’s shrimp rolls, a recession stand-in for lobster, it’s hard to think of anything better to jazz up a long winter’s night.

Bubble Yum: Three champagne cocktail recipes:

The Bill Boothby Cocktail
2 ounces bourbon
1 ounce sweet vermouth
1 to 2 dashes Angostura bitters
1 ounce brut champagne or
sparkling wine
maraschino cherry for garnish
Place the bourbon, sweet vermouth, and bitters in a mixing glass. Fill two-thirds with ice, stir vigorously, and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Pour champagne on top to fill.

French 75
1 ounce gin
1/2 ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 ounce simple syrup
4 or 5 ounces brut champagne
lemon peel
Mix gin, lemon juice, and simple syrup in a glass half filled with ice. Shake for at least 30 seconds, strain into a champagne flute, and top with champagne. Garnish with a twist of lemon peel.

Champagne Cocktail a la Douglas Ankrah
(Serves two)
1 small orange, peeled and segmented
1/2 ounce Licor 43
4 drops orange bitters
2 sugar cubes
1 ounce bourbon
champagne to top
Marinate orange segments in Licor 43 for an hour. Place two drops of bitters on each sugar cube, putting one in each glass, and divide bourbon between the two. Fill the glasses with champagne before adding an orange slice to each.

Garlic Herb Loaf


INGREDIENTS
1 French stick loaf
For the herb butter
75g (3oz) butter, at room temperature
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs (parsley and chives, with a little tarragon and thyme if available), or 1½ teaspoons dried mixed herbs
METHOD
Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 6, 400 (200C). First, mix the
butter, garlic and herbs together.
Using a sharp knife, make diagonal incisions along the loaf, as if you were slicing it - but not slicing right through. The loaf should stay joined at the base.
Now spread each slice with butter on both sides (it's easiest to do this with your hands) and spread any remaining herb butter along the top and sides of the loaf.
Wrap the loaf in foil and bake it in the oven for about 10-15 minutes, and serve hot.
Or, if you have the space, you could heat it through by placing it on the barbecue, turning it over several times.
Extracted from Delia's Complete Cookery Course by Delia Smith, published by BBC Books