Deconstructed Caesar

          One of the modern gastronomic trends that I like is food deconstruction: decomposing a dish, rearranging its elements and coming up with something new which may look simpler that the original dish but in fact be much more sophisticated in terms of cooking methods and techniques. I strongly believe that in such a way any dish can get a second life; sometimes I get carried away by my culinary fantasy as I start thinking of how I can deconstruct this or that classic dish. (By the way, if you feel like organizing a blogger’s community that will have fun in the kitchen by deconstructing traditional dishes, please, let me know – I’m totally in!)

Classic Caesar salad became one of the objects of my experiments. It was rather simple to work with it. Just think of it: you normally mix all the ingredients to make a salad; thus, for a deconstructed version of it you need to put all the elements on the plate separately. So, what do you see on the plate? A toast with grilled chicken and parmesan crisp, an egg with anchovy filling, tomato fondue and fresh lettuce sprinkled with olive oil. What will you feel once you start eating the dish and all the flavours will come together? I guess you will realize that it is something more that just a chicken sandwich with the salad leaves and, probably, the concoction of the elements will remind you of the original dish. That is basically the whole idea of a funny trend of deconstructing food!

Asian Burger with Brown Rice Tiger Bread

          Sara and Erica of Baking JDs were our March 2012 Daring Baker hostesses! Sara & Erica challenged us to make Dutch Crunch bread, a delicious sandwich bread with a unique, crunchy topping. Sara and Erica also challenged us to create a one of a kind sandwich with our bread!

         As soon as I learnt about the challenge for this month, I made up my mind to cook an Asian burger – I guess, the rice flour that is used for the crunch topping, gave me an impetus to go in this direction. Can you imagine my surprise when I found out that Dutch Crunch bread (also called Tiger bread after the tiger-like shell) was initially made with sesame oil?! It seemed that my idea of using Asian flavours was more than appropriate!

       I loved the recipe of the brown rice bread the girls provided us with: I figured out that it would be a perfect base for my dish. However, I decided to make bread rolls instead of a loaf and they turned to be much better than plain burger buns, with a sweetness of honey, earthiness of a brown rice and a scent of sesame oil.

       Instead of beef I used prawns, chicken and fish to make meat cakes for the burger: I simply adapted the recipe of Chao Tom that I had in my cooking book. Chao Tom is basically a Vietnamese dish – an entrée made with prawns grinded to a paste, wrapped around the sugar cane sticks and grilled. Of course, I didn’t use any sticks and changed the shape of the dish in general but it was still packed with flavours: the use of different types if meat and Asian condiments made it a lip smacking treat!

      An Asian cole slow was served as a side to the dish: Chinese cabbage, apple, capsicum and carrot with soy and honey dressing and toasted sesame seeds – can you think of a better accompany to the chaw tom cakes and brown rice tiger bread?

     Thanks to Sara and Erica for an opportunity to have fun in the kitchen and to come up with a new, fusion, delicious dish!

Pollo Ripieno Bollito

        In December, when I wrote about my successful attempt of making stuffed quails, I claimed that the next time I will try to debone a bigger bird. Since it was around the Christmas time, there were lots of special holiday recipes in all the newspapers and magazines – including those of stuffed chicken. One of it – by Davide Cananzi, Executive Chef of Hotel Hindustan International in Kolkata – got my attention because there was an amazing story behind it: Davide shared the warm memories of his childhood in Tuscany where they used to make a traditional Christmas treat – Pollo ripieno bollito (stuffed chicken poached in aromatic stock). I saved the article from the newspaper but since it was a very hectic time before the New Year, I didn’t find an opportunity to make the dish.

Caesar Salad

         A few years back when my cooking skills could be given 10 points (out of possible 100) the centerpiece of my culinary repertoire was Caesar Salad. Indeed, it’s difficult to screw up such a dish: just throw everything in a bowl, pour a dressing over and toss. Needless to say, I used plain mayonnaise with the addition of grated parmesan for it. Later on, however, as my palate developed, I started to opt for more elaborate dressings and pretty soon I realized that for me this salad is actually all about that special dressing, with an anchovy zing. I know what you’re gonna say now: “But there were no anchovies in the original recipe of Chef Cardini!’ True. But I for one strongly associate Caesar with that “fish kick” so even when I buy a ready made dressing, I choose the one with anchovies in it and even if I make a low-fat, yoghurt-based dressing at home, I put some finely chopped anchovies in it as well.

            As I said, I cooked this salad for the first time pretty long ago. And since for me, with my poor kitchen experience, it was easier to make French toasts rather than to toast bread in the oven (I felt that I have more control over the process in the open pan rather than in the closed oven) I topped the salad with egg-and-milk soaked slices of bread, soft inside and crunchy on the outside. My husband loved it so much that even when I tried one day to serve the Caesar Salad with the authentic croutons, he asked for his French toast instead! So it became some sort of a signature mark of my home-made Caesar Salad!

Master Stock Poached Chicken Breast

          If you compare European and Asian culinary traditions, you will see that they differ a lot in the use of ingredients and in cooking techniques. Even preparing a piece of lean meat by one of the simplest methods – poaching – will yield to different results if accomplished by chefs with dissimilar backgrounds: one will most probably use court-bouillon as a poaching liquid while the other one will go for something that is called Master stock.

            Master stock originated in Chinese cuisine and, no wonder, it has all the typical Asian flavours: soy sauce, rice wine, sugar, ginger, citrus peel and a number of spices – cinnamon, star anise and black peppercorns being the main ones. No wonder, in winter I prefer this aromatic broth with a very strong, sometimes even pungent taste, to a more subtle European style consommé. There is something very comforting in such a stew; and what I love most about it is the fantastic aroma from the mélange of spices that fills the whole house when the stock is simmering on the stove.

Recently I read that theoretically master stock should not be transformed into a soup: it is strained and kept refrigerated for future use as a poaching liquid. They say, some stocks in China are hundreds of years old and are highly praised as they have been accumulating the flavours and developing their rich and complex taste for such a long period of time. For me, however, the temptation is way too big: I can’t imagine leaving such an aromatic substance out of the plate! Believe me, it makes a perfect treat: light and fragrant, with a sweet note of cinnamon, a spicy touch of ginger and tangy undertone of a citrus peel. What else do you need on a winter day?

Pistachio Stuffed Chicken Breast with Roasted Red Capsicum Sauce

        Last year, as I was once looking through the Masterchef website – as usual, in search of something new and interesting to try in my kitchen – I eventually got what I wanted: a recipe of a chicken roulade with pistachio butter filling. Since I love all sorts of chicken roulades (as I have already mentioned in my blog) I couldn’t but pay attention to it. The combination of flavours: the subtle chicken meat, the nutty pistachio and the tangy capsicum – seemed to be quirky but quite promising at the same time. To say true, I hesitated for a while whether I should cook it since the recipe called for rolling up a breast in a cling film and gently poaching it (the technique I’ve never tried before) but as I realized that the dish comes from “Junior MasterChef” series and it was a kid who cooked it, I felt that there can be no excuses for avoiding this kitchen challenge. Seriously, if an 11 year old boy nailed it, what can be the problem? Actually there’s only one pressure point in the dish: rolling up the breast tightly. But it’s a skill that you learn fast, believe me. And I never regret that I gave that recipe a try: I’ve cooked this chicken roulade quite often since then and whether it was served as hors d’oeuvre dish or a main course, it has always been a success!

Chicken Meatballs in Tomato Coconut Sauce

        

           It was actually supposed to be chicken korma but I didn’t have a special paste. I know that for the one who lives in India it would be a lame excuse to say that I couldn’t find it; I should better be honest from the beginning: I didn’t even bother to try. The thing is, one day as I was wondering what I should do with the chicken mince that I had in the fridge (and I definitely wanted to try something new) I remembered that I saw a recipe on one website. As I noticed the korma paste in the list of ingredients, I got a bit confused but then decided to try to make a dish without it. And it actually turned out to be so delicious and jampacked with flavours that from then on I kept cooking it without any korma paste whatsoever.  I have a strong suspicion that if I get the paste and try to make the dish according to the original recipe my husband would no more be happy to have it for his dinner as in general he’s not a big fan of the Indian cuisine, to put it mildly. And I for one, most probably, would also prefer a simpler, not so spicy sauce. There’s no denying that my dish cannot by any means be called “chicken korma” any more, so it’s just “chicken meatballs in tomato coconut sauce” – a comforting stew with a touch of the Asian flavours.

Asparagus and Chicken Mousse with Orange Butter

          Strange as it may sound, but I’ve never served this typically “entrée” type of a dish as an appetizer – I had it a few times only for breakfast. It might seem too pretentious but I don’t find anything wrong with starting a day with something fancy, delicious and a bit elaborate. And I can really sacrifice half an hour of extra sleep in the morning for getting a sensational dish on my plate.

            To say true, I love asparagus as a side for a savoury breakfast. But since I wanted to transform it into a main ingredient for my first meal of the day, I turned to “Larousse gastronomique”. One of the recipes that I found was perfect for my intentions – a light mousse with an orange butter. Love citrus fruits! So sweet and juicy, they give a boost of flavour to any dish and make the whole plate look vibrant – especially in the first rays of an early morning sun! I guess that was the main reason why I enjoyed having this mousse for breakfast. So….probably I will serve this dish as a starter at a dinner party one day, but right now it’s only on my “breakfast” menu – with a big “star” mark indicating a favourite.

Chicken Cacciatore

When it comes to cooking, one cannot underestimate the importance of mise en place. Often enough it even determines the level of complexity of a dish you are going to cook – chicken cacciatore is a good example of this point of view. Indeed, if you prepare everything properly beforehand, all you have to do is just to throw certain ingredients into a pan at a right moment and watch them transforming into a beautiful stew. And if you are not so organized, you will find yourself rushing to the refrigerator/ kitchen shelves in search of a necessary thing and it will be a really stressful experience.

Usually, as I chop all my vegetables and arrange them in separate bowls, I’m anticipating the moment when I can start the actual cooking. It reminds me of culinary shows where at the beginning of the programme all the ingredients, thoroughly cleaned, neatly sliced and meticulously arranged on the table, are ready to be used by a celebrity chef who tries to convince the audience that cooking is not a rocket science and it’s ultimately easy to prepare a quick and delicious meal – and you have a strong suspicion that he wouldn’t have such a relaxed and joyous look in front of the camera if he had to make all the mise en place himself. I for one don’t mind doing all the “hard work” myself – I find the process of preparation very calming and I can almost meditate while practicing julienne or brunoise cut of my vegetables. And I believe that it pays off: as you feel more involved in the ritual of making a dish, it’s much more pleasant to dig your spoon into the final result!

Black Chicken with Red Grape Sauce

         If you study the general dining statistics at our home, you will find out that we have Asian dishes two or three times a week – not only because sometimes I feel like deviating from traditional continental flavours but because I really enjoy Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese and Thai cuisines. And, strange as it may sound, I feel quite comfortable working with Asian ingredients. Sometimes I don’t even need a recipe for making, let’s say, a stir fry – I simply take a range of bottles with sauces and condiments out of the fridge and start to mix them to develop a flavour. And it’s not so difficult for me to get the right balance of the dish relying only on my instincts, not on cookbooks. Yet, I have a couple of tested recipes that I stick to. One of them is chicken in soy and honey marinade served with red grape sauce. To say true, it’s a bit more complicated than an average Asian dish. But it’s worth all the efforts (all those not-so-massive efforts to make the sauce). So, whenever I discover that the grapes in the fridge are a bit overripe, it comes the time of black chicken. One more point to “the Asian dishes” section for our home dining statistics!

Asparagus and Olives Stuffed Chicken Breast

         

         When I feel like cooking something simple yet impressive, I choose stuffed chicken breasts. One may argue that it’s not that easy to roll breasts perfectly: not too loose so that the filling can’t “find its way outside” during the cooking process and not too tight so that it doesn’t “spring out” of the breast at the stage of rolling. Believe me, it’s just a matter of practice to get this fancy type of a dish right. Once you learn it you’ll be able to make versatile options of it as the amount of possible fillings is limited only by your imagination, a range of cooking methods – only by your kitchen skills and the diversity of sauces – only by your personal preferences.

            Let me tell you, the first stuffed chicken breast I cooked in my life was this one – with olives, asparagus and cheese. Since then I’ve tried all sorts of fillings: mushrooms (a classic combination – you can never go wrong with it), pistachio butter (a lovely cold entrée with red pepper sauce) and even pear and couscous (unexpectedly nice balance of flavours), to name a few. In general, it’s not a difficult dish to master and the final result is always worth the efforts!

Brazilian Chicken Pie

       

        

        There was this episode in TopChef that threw the contestants into an elimination challenge where they had to cater for a diplomatic event. Each of the chefs had to represent a traditional cuisine of a certain country (which was determined by the draw) and one of the participants got confused when he had got Brazil. At that point I questioned myself what do I know about Brazilian cuisine? Frankly speaking, absolutely nothing. During my not so long-term culinary journey I came across only one recipe of a dish that claimed to be Brazilian. Although, I somehow doubt it that it’s a truly authentic dish often cooked in the houses somewhere in Rio de Janeiro or San Paolo, nothing to say of the rural areas of the country. I guess when I eventually meet someone from Brazil, my first question will be about this pie (ok, it will be the second question, right after the one about the national obsession with several-hundred-episode TV series).