Mark's Fertility Pancake!

Note the symbolism!

--The Daily Fitchett

Potatoes Au Gratin

One of my favorite foods when I was a teenager was potatoes Au Gratin, so I am thrilled to present my version of this recipe here. This version is similar to making lasagna in that the key is layering.


Ingredients:
4 russet potatoes, sliced thinly (1/8 inch slices)
1 whole yellow onion, sliced into thin rings
1 stick butter
6 Tablespoons flour (or Wondra)
4 Cups milk
3 Cups shredded Mild Cheddar cheese
2 slices well-done toast (for breadcrumbs)
Salt, pepper to taste

Cornish Game Hens

Cornish Game Hen, Rosemary, Lemon & Garlic. The Daily Fitchett.

The new big hit at our house is Cornish game hens, pictured below with rosemary garnish, potatoes au gratin, and mixed green salad with dried cranberries, chopped walnuts, and sliced pear. See the pinkness in the juice in the photo above? That's what I couldn't see when it was still in the baking pan. This one had to go back in the oven. In order to avoid this problem, make sure to check the internal temperature of the meat with a meat thermometer, and to use a large enough baking pan so as not to crowd the hens. If they are too close together, it will take significantly longer to cook. Another mistake that you can see in this photo was the raw rosemary garnish. Mark tossed the rosemary garnish back in the oven at the last minute to toast it for tenderness, better texture and flavor.  Once that was done, it was a phenomenal meal. Thanks to MoonAndBack on AllRecpies.com for posting the original recipe.

Essential Equipment:

• Large Baking Pan
• Large Rack that can fit inside the baking pan, and accommodate 4 Cornish game hens with space in between each (hens should not touch, nor be too crowded)
• Meat Thermometer

Ingredients:
4 Cornish game hens
1 lemon
8 sprigs rosemary
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 dozen cloves garlic, peeled
1/3 Cup white cooking wine
1 Cup low-sodiu chicken broth

Cornish Game Hens with Rosemary & Potatoes au Gratin.

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees F.
2. Rub hens with 1 Tablespoon of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Stuff a lemon wedge and sprig of rosemary into the cavity of each hen; Tie the legs together with string. Arrange on a rack placed inside a large, heavy roasting pan, and arrange garlic cloves around the hens. Roast for 25 minutes.
3. In a Pyrex cup, mix together wine, chicken broth, and 2 Tablespoons of olive oil; pour over hens. Continue roasting, and baste with pan juices and additional chicken broth/olive oil mixture every 15 minutes. It can be difficult to tell if the juices "run clear", so continue roasting hens and use a meat thermometer to make sure the internal temperature of the hens reaches 155 degrees Fahrenheit. Each instance of basting reduces the temperature in the oven and adds on to the total cooking time, but it is oh-so worth it.
4. Transfer hens to a platter, pouring any cavity juices into the roasting pan. Tent hens with aluminum foil to keep warm. Transfer pan juices, garlic cloves to a medium saucepan, add the rest of the chicken broth and olive oil, and boil on medium high until liquids reduce to a sauce consistency, about 6 minutes. Cut hens in half lengthwise, spoon sauce and garlic over the hens, and garnish with rosemary. 

Here's another great link that I found regarding the proper way to cook these hens: How To Roast Cornish Game Hen on www.HowToCookMeat.com.

Cornish game hens are small, light, not too overpowering in flavor, and yet extremely tasty.  This dish goes well with red wine and French bread.  Serves 6-8.

--The Daily Fitchett, 3/9/11.

Kung Pao Chicken

Prep cooking for Szechuan Ma Po Tofu and Kung Pao Chicken

Emboldened by last week's success with Chinese cooking, I decided to try cooking two dishes at once - Szechuan Ma Po Tofu (with some tweaks) and Kung Pao Chicken. I needed Mark's help to stir fry the Kung Pao veggies while everything else was going on in order to not burn anything! Okay, so I'm not exactly a chef yet...

Here is my version of this original Kung Pao Chicken recipe which was submitted by Arlena on AllRecipes.com.

Ingredients:

1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into chunks

1 whole yellow onion, coarsely chopped.
1 bell pepper, coarsely chopped
1 Cup slivered carrots
4 tablespoons white wine

Kung Pao Chicken, Szechuan Ma Po Tofu and Basmati

8 tablespoons soy sauce
6 tablespoons sesame oil, divided
4 tablespoons cornstarch, dissolved in 4 tablespoons water
2 ounces hot chili paste
2 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
4 teaspoons brown sugar
6 green onions, chopped
3 teaspoons crushed garlic
1 (8 ounce) can water chestnuts, rinsed and drained
8 ounces chopped peanuts

Directions:
To Make Marinade: Combine 2 Tablespoons wine, 2 Tablespoons soy sauce, 2 Tablespoons oil and 2 Tablespoons cornstarch/water mixture and mix together. Place chicken pieces in a glass dish or bowl and add marinade. Toss to coat. Cover dish and place in refrigerator for about 30 minutes.

To Make Sauce: In a small bowl combine 2 Tablespoons wine, 2 Tablespoons soy sauce, 2 Tablespoons oil, 2 Tablespoons cornstarch/water mixture, chili paste, vinegar and sugar. Mix together and add green onion, garlic, water chestnuts and peanuts. In a medium skillet, heat sauce slowly until aromatic.

Heat chicken on high in a large skillet until meat is white, then reduce heat. Meanwhile, heat sesame oil and soy sauce in a wok on high. Stir in bell pepper, onion, and carrots and stir fry until slightly limp. Add green onions and bean sprouts and continue stirring for 2 minutes. Add in the chicken with marinade and sauce, and simmer for 5 minutes.

Goes well with Riesling or beer.

吃个饱 !

...uhhh, hopefully that says "Bon appetit!" in Mandarin. If not, let me know.

--The Daily Fitchett, 2/28/11.

Szechuan Ma Po Tofu

Continuing on with my (almost) daily cooking, I discovered this great tasting, easy-to-make dish based on a recipe originally posted by Linjo on AllRecipes.com.

Ingredients:
1/2 lb ground turkey
2 T cooking sherry
1 tsp cornstarch or Wondra

1/8 C black beans, mashed
1/2 T chili paste with garlic
1 tsp cayenne pepper
4 T soy sauce
3 tsp crushed garlic
1 tsp minced fresh ginger

1 package tofu (14 oz), drained and cubed
Dash sesame oil
1 C frozen green peas
1/2 C chicken broth
1 T cornstarch or Wondra
1 sprig green onions, chopped

Directions:

1. In a large mixing bowl, mix ground turkey, sherry and Wondra. Set aside.
2. In a separate bowl, combine mashed black beans, chili paste, cayenne pepper, soy sauce, garlic, and ginger.
3. In a Pyrex cup, combine chicken broth and Wondra.
4. In a large skillet on medium high heat, brown the ground turkey mixture.  Meanwhile, in another large skillet on medium heat, simmer the tofu in 2 Tablespoons of soy sauce and a dash of sesame oil.  
5. When the tofu has absorbed most of the soy sauce, pour the tofu in with the turkey, and add in the black bean mixture, peas, and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 8 minutes. 

--The Daily Fitchett

"Mom's" Lasagna

Usually Mark and I clash in the kitchen (he claims I'm "too slow"), but this time we teamed up.  The result is: Lasagna!

This dish is easy to make, and tastes great - full of flavor, well balanced, good texture, and substantial - not too meaty, not too cheesy, not too watery, and not too dry. The key ingredients indicated by a (!) give our version of this dish its taste and texture, and the real secret is don't be stingy with the organic parsley. * Time saver option: Replace the starred items with a jar of spaghetti sauce that contains basically the same thing.

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground turkey (!)
2 tsp. crushed garlic (!)
1 can tomato sauce (15 oz) *
1 can tomato paste (6 oz) *
1 tsp. dried oregano *
fresh ground pepper to taste
12 lasagna noodles, cooked and drained
2 cups ricotta cheese
1/2 cup cottage cheese
4 cups shredded part skim mozzarella cheese
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
organic parsley (!)

(!) Key ingredients

Directions:

1. In large saucepan, cook turkey over medium high heat until meat is no longer pink.  Stir in spaghetti sauce, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.
2. In a large mixing bowl, mix ricotta cheese, crushed garlic, and minced organic parsley.
3. Ladle one third of the meat sauce mixture into a large Corning ware baking dish.  Then layer as follows:  Noodles,  ricotta cheese mixture, shredded mozzarella, meat sauce, grated parmesan. Repeat layers twice. Towards the top layers, substitute cottage cheese for the ricotta cheese mixture.
4. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for approximately 45-50 minutes or until bubbly and lightly browned on top.

Serves 6-8. The wine pictured here is a 2008 Trader Joe's "Grand Reserve" Meritage from Napa Valley.

Buon appetito!

--The Daily Fitchett

Fennel Salmon

Mark Fitchett's fennel salmon with parmesan asparagus

I came home and Mark had fried up his own version of a lightly breaded fennel salmon with roasted Parmesan asparagus and new potatoes. Yum!

Ingredients:
1/4 C. Cornstarch or Wondra
3 T. Olive Oil
1 lb. Salmon filets
1 bunch asparagus
8 new potatoes
1/4 C. chopped onion
1/4 bunch spinach leaves
1/2 C. grated parmesan

Serves 2. The wine pictured here is 2009 California Red Wine Menage a Trois (a blend of Zinfandel, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon) - not necessarily a "correct" pairing for a salmon dish, but we like it anyway.

--The Daily Fitchett

Chicken Vindaloo

Chicken Vindaloo with link to recipe on Epicurean web site

It was highly ambitious - you might say naive or even stupid - of me as a relatively new cook to even attempt to make this dish with it's dozen or so freshly ground spices.  Note: If you're going to cook Indian and Pakistani recipes, make sure you've got an electric spice grinder. I foolishly pushed on with this recipe with only a Japanese-style mortar and pestle, and it took over 4 hours.

In any case, it turned out great, and Mark was really surprised! He considered it an early Valentine's day dinner. Now I know when most people think of Valentine's day dinners, they don't necessarily think of Indian food, but I think Mark was impressed by the well-balanced variety of full flavors in this dish, not to mention the effort that went into it.

See for yourself...Here's the link for this particular Chicken Vindaloo recipe on Epicurean. This dish goes perfectly with sliced tomatoes, cucumbers, yogurt and Fu-Ki, a Japanese plum wine.

--The Daily Fitchett