Grilled (or Broiled) Chicken

Recipe: Grilled (or Broiled) Chicken
Page: 144
Date Cooked: November 12, 2011

This is now my third chicken recipe from this cookbook. Considering, the last two recipes (Perfect Roast Chicken with Mashed Potatoes and Spinach and Brick Chicken with Rosé Wine, Peas, and Bacon) turned out really well, I was excited about this one.

Ingredients: Organic chicken, salt, pepper, olive oil, unsalted butter, and parsley

I soaked the chicken in a large bowl of warm water for a few minutes. Apparently you do this to relax the skin of the chicken and according to JW "free-range chickens have tougher, more resilient skin than supermarket chickens." After this step, I patted the chicken dry and proceeded to butterfly the chicken. I have butterflied a chicken once before during this project; so this time, I felt like I really had a handle on the process.

Left: Soaking chicken in warm water
Right: Butterflied chicken

Since, I don't have a grill I proceeded with the broil option. Accordingly, I heated the broiler and rubbed the chicken with olive oil, salt, and pepper. I placed the chicken skin side up in a roasting pan and broiled it till the skin was golden brown. Then, I flipped the chicken over and cooked it for a bit. After this short time, I flipped the chicken over again and cooked until the thickest part of the chicken read 165 degrees on the thermometer.

Process of broiling chicken

With the chicken done and out of the way, I melted butter in a small saucepan and added in the chopped parsley along with some salt and pepper.

Parsley-butter mixture

Finally, I quartered the chicken, placed it on a platter, and drizzled the parsley-butter over the chicken. And then it was time to eat.

Grilled (or Broiled) Chicken

Easiest chicken recipe ever. Also, Jonathan Waxman's cooking times for this recipe were right on the money! Moreover, it tasted delicious. I really don't know if I have much to say other than it was simple, satisfying, and tasty.

Enjoy!

Braised Carrots with Saffron

Recipe: Braised Carrots with Saffron

Page: 244

Date Cooked: November 12, 2011

If you ask me, carrots are somewhat of a boring side dish. I like them, but often use them in soups or stews. Accordingly, I didn't have any sort of expectations for this recipe. However, it appears that you only need three items to make carrots exceptionally tasty: 

1. Saffron
2. Sherry vinegar
3. Butter

Ingredients: Carrots, sea salt, olive oil, saffron, sherry vinegar, unsalted butter, and black pepper

I put whole carrots (after I trimmed and peeled them) into a saucepan with some water and salt. I covered the saucepan, brought the items to a boil, and cooked the carrots till al dente. Once cooked, I patted the carrots dry.

Left: Carrots in salt water
Right: Carrots patted dry

I then heated some olive oil in the skillet, added the carrots, and cooked them for a few minutes. I added the saffron and sherry vinegar to the carrots and cooked for a few more minutes. Finally, I added the butter, covered the skillet, and took the pan off the heat for a couple of minutes.

1. Carrots in olive oil 2. Carrots in saffron and sherry 3. Carrots with butter

Finally, I seasoned the carrots with salt and pepper and they were read to serve.

Braised Carrots with Saffron

These were the most delicious carrots I have ever eaten in my entire life. No joke. It was amazing good. The saffron, sherry vinegar, and butter each added their own flavor to the carrots and also worked together harmoniously.  The recipe calls for a mixture of orange and yellow carrots. Unfortunately, I couldn't find an assortment. But I don't think this diminished the dish at all. Furthermore, it was a super fast side dish to whip up. And took little to no effort. Overall, I can't imagine carrots cooked in any better way. 

Filet Mignon with Pepper-Potato Gratin

Recipe: Filet Mignon with Pepper-Potato Gratin
Page: 172
Date Cooked: November 10, 2011

The ingredient list for this recipe was quite interesting. I needed a variety of peppercorns, oranges, three different bell peppers, and even a poblano chile. Accordingly, it is safe to say that this wasn't going to be a particularly simple tasting steak and potato kind of dish.

Ingredients: Black peppercorns, pink peppercorns, green peppercorns, orange, kosher salt, filet mignon, russet potatoes, red bell pepper, green bell pepper, yellow bell pepper, poblano chile, garlic, milk, black pepper, unsalted butter, heavy cream, cinnamon, and olive oil

I spread the peppercorns on a baking sheet and toasted them in the oven for a few minutes. I want to make a note here that the recipe also calls for white peppercorns, which I didn't have, but compensated for by using a bit additional of the other three (black, pink, and green) peppercorns. The toasted peppercorns were incredibly fragrant. I loved how it smelt throughout my kitchen. And amazingly there was no sneezing. Once they toasted, I coarsely ground the peppercorns using a coffee grinder. Finally, I grated the orange zest and mixed it in with the peppercorns along with some salt to dry on a plate. I also juiced the orange and placed it on a side.

Left: Toasting the peppercorns
Right: Steak spice rub - peppercorns + orange zest + salt

With the spice rub drying, I moved on to the gratin. I peeled the potatoes and placed them in cold water. I then put the bell peppers and poblano chile under the broiler until blackened and blistered all over. I then put the peppers in a bowl, covered it with plastic wrap, and let it steam for a few minutes. Finally, I peeled the peppers and chile using my hands, stemmed, seeded, and cut the peppers in half. This is a technique JW likes to use a lot and by this time I felt like a pro.

1. Peppers + poblano chile
2. Blackened and blistered peppers + poblano chile
3. Peppers + poblano chile steaming
4. Peppers + poblano chiles - peeled, stemmed, seeded, and halved

I buttered and garliced (rubbed a garlic clove inside the dish) a baking dish. I also put the milk and a garlic clove into a small saucepan and let it simmer for a few minutes. I removed the garlic and kept the milk warm. I also drained the potatoes and used my food processor to slice them wafer-thin.

Left: Garlic infused milk
Right: Sliced potatoes

Then it was on to layering the gratin. I put about a third of the potatoes in the dish, seasoned with salt and pepper, added a layer of the poblano chiles, dotted with butter, and poured in a third of the garlic-infused milk. I then added another third of the potatoes, seasoned with salt and pepper, added a layer of the bell peppers, dotted with butter, and poured in a third of the garlic-infused milk. Finally, I added the last of the potatoes, seasoned with salt and pepper, dotted with butter, and poured in the remaining garlic-infused milk.

Making the Pepper-Potato Gratin

I placed the gratin in the oven until the milk had been absorbed by the potatoes. In the meantime, I heated the cream with the cinnamon stick until it was hot. I kept the cream warm and discarded the cinnamon stick. I poured the cream over the gratin and placed it back in the oven.

Left: Cinnamon-infused heavy cream
Right: Poured heavy cream over gratin

The gratin baked until the potatoes were tender and golden brown on top.

Pepper-Potato Gratin

Now to the steaks...You have the option to either grill the steaks or panfry them. Since I don't have a grill, I had to panfry. I heated olive oil in a cast iron skillet and placed it over high heat for a few minutes. In the meantime, I brushed the steaks with olive oil and dipped them in the peppercorn-zest mixture to fully coat. I added the steak to the skillet and reduced the heat to medium-high and cooked for 5 minutes per side (achieving a perfectly rare steak). I removed the steak from the skillet and allowed it to rest.

While the steak rested, I melted some butter in a sauce pan and added the reserved orange juice. The mixture cooked until reduced and thickened.

A few notes here: Since you are trying to achieve that grilled steak taste, the pan gets incredibly hot and there is A LOT of smoke. You have to keep your range hood on. I even had to open the windows, it got pretty bad. Also, JW's cooking times for getting that perfect rare steak was exactly right! I am not really a pro when it come to cooking steak and am always iffy about the timing - but not anymore!

Panfrying the filet mignon
1. Peppercorn-zest crusted filet mignon
2. Pan frying one side
3. Flipped to the other side

Finally, it was time to plate. I put the steak on a plate and topped it with the orange-butter sauce. I also placed the pepper-potato gratin alongside the steak.

Filet Mignon with Pepper-Potato Gratin

This dish was super yummy and incredibly hearty. And the flavors worked wonderfully. You would think the orange-butter sauce would make the filet mignon sweet - but it didn't. It gave it a really beautiful fresh tasting flavor and it balanced the peppercorn so well. And the gratin was really creamy and I loved the use of the peppers and poblano chile. It gave the dish a nice spicy note, which also played off the orange flavor nicely.

I think this recipe is a perfect example of taking something like meat and potatoes and adding a few other ingredients to really transform a dish. Next time I want to treat myself to filet mignon - this may be the route I take.

Enjoy!