Southwest Chicken on Caesar Salad

I said chicken tonight and Fern asked "On a Caesar Salad?"

"It is now!" and I scurried off to the store to pick up romaine.

Caesar Salad is called dated. It's also called delicious! There's nothing quite like a fresh Caesar dressing on a hot summer day.

Caesar Salad Dressing - for 2

1 egg yolk

1/3 to 1/2 cup oil ( a little extra virgin then filled up with neutral taste oil)

1 tsp salt

fresh ground black pepper

1 clove garlic

1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 anchovy filet (usually don't have. I might try fish sauce next time, it's the umami flavor we're after)

1/4 cup grated parmesan

1 cup croutons

1 head romaine

First make mayonnaise.  Add 1 tsp oil to egg yolk. Tilt bowl and whip egg yolk with whisk, picking up a little oil at a time until all oil is emulsified. Using more than a teaspoon at a time will result in broken sauce, oil will separate. Continue 1 tsp at a time till all oil is emulsified.  If you break it, start with a fresh yolk and add broken sauce 1 tsp at a time, then remaining oil.

Make croutons from the best bread available, I use Alpine, it has a wonderful nutty flavor. I took two slices of bread and put them in the toaster long enough to dry but not brown. Cut them into cubes and toss them in hot oil with salt and black pepper till they have a nice brown on them. Keep adding oil to keep the pan from drying. Put aside to cool.

Crush garlic clove and chop finely.  Add garlic, salt, pepper, Worcestershire, anchovy and lemon juice to the mayo, whisk and taste.  Adjust salt, lemon juice and pepper till it tastes good. Lemon juice reduces saltiness and salt reduces acid in lemon juice.

Cut the papery tops off the romaine and remove the outer leaves.  Cut the remainder into bite size pieces, rinse and spin dry in a salad spinner. I find giving it a spin then shaking it then another spin removes all the water. Put in biggest bowl, add dressing and toss till all is coated.  Add croutons and parmesan and toss. 

Southwest Spice Rub

2 tbsp  chili powder
2 tbsp paprika
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tbsp  brown sugar
2 tsp Mexican oregano
1 tsp granulated garlic
2 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp black pepper
2 tsp mustard powder
1 tsp cayenne (optional, but it really helps)

Salt the chicken first then coat with spice rub, I spray a little oil on it too if I think of it. Lay on medium heat BBQ grill for a couple of minutes, rotate for a couple, turn over for two minutes, rotate for two minutes then put on grill off the flame, turn heat down and close cover.  Cook chicken for 25-30 minutes total cooking time.

The chicken can be rested then sliced and served on top of the salad or on a side plate. I find we prefer one plate in spring but by fall we want the chicken on a side plate. Either way it's a wonderful summer meal. Filling but not heavy. I think it took me about an hour to put together, time well spent. Don't cut hot meat, all the moisture escapes as steam and the meat becomes dry and tasteless.

I forgot to photograph my plate so I had to borrow a photo from an earlier salad however both plates were identical.

Leg of Lamb

As I mentioned the other day, lamb was down in price to the same as beef so I snapped up a lovely boneless roast. I had no idea how to cook lamb so I got advice from Fern and this is what I did:

Season with plenty of salt, mixed pepper and paprika all around. Lay roast on a rack in a pan and put a few bay leaves on top.  Lay a couple of sprigs of fresh thyme and fresh rosemary on top of the roast and bay leaves. Put a meat thermometer into the center of the meat.  Put in center of 325ºF oven for about 90 minutes for a 4lb roast. I took the roast out when internal temperature reached 150ºF.

Mashed potatoes with salt and milk, easy enough for a anyone to make.  Carrots were fresh but the peas frozen and I cooked them together in the microwave with a little water and extra virgin olive oil. I even went into the garden and got fresh mint which I chopped up finely and mixed with rice vinegar and a little sugar, instant mint sauce.

Scary as it was to attempt this for the first time, it really was pretty easy.  The taste was phenomenal so I definitely will have lamb again. Let's see now, spring lamb is in season in .... spring! That should be easy enough to remember.

Pork Chops

It was too late in the day to start boning chicken so I had pork in mind before I left for the store. Once there I spotted a nice boneless leg of lamb for only $14.50/kg.  That is half the usual price, I guess spring lamb is in season in spring, who knew? So I picked it up for next evening and found a package of pork chops for tonight's dinner.

I paired the chops with mashed potatoes, broccoli and carrots.  (I cleverly ate my carrots before taking the photo. Double duh!)  I put potatoes on to cook and readied the steamer with the carrots. I prepped the broccoli so it can be added quickly at the right time. I also grabbed some chives from the deck along with a chive bloom to garnish each plate.

I salted the chops and then in a small sieve combined 2 tsp flour, 1/2 tsp mustard powder, 1/2 tsp paprika and ground mixed peppercorns. I mixed it up a bit and tapped the sieve over the meat to evenly coat both sides. I sprinkled a little brown sugar over the chops then put them in plenty of hot oil a bit over medium heat. The edges of the chops weren't coated so I could watch the meat whiten as it cooked up from the pan.  When it reached the center I turned the chops over and again watched the progress. When it reaches the center, the meat still needs another minute or two to cook the center of the chop. Plate the chops and let them rest.

When the broccoli and carrots were almost done I drained them and put them in the pot on the burner with xv olive oil and a little salt. The oil needs to cook a minute or two to smooth the flavor. I plated the potatoes, then the carrots and broccoli then finally scissored some chives over the potatoes and left a chive flower to garnish the center.

Usually I put Fern's ketchup on pork but I forgot. Fortunately the meat was juicy enough that I didn't miss it.  It feels weird eating a flower but it tastes good and we both really enjoyed this meal.

Southwest Snapper

I felt like something lighter than chicken and a nice piece of snapper caught my eye. Vegetables are still at winter prices so I used frozen peas and fresh carrots.  Ordinary mashed potatoes with salt, butter and milk fill out the plate.  I pulled out the bones running from center head end half way to tail.  The tail is the narrow, thin end of the filet.

I seasoned the fish with salt then sprinkled it with 

Southwest Spice Rub

2 tbsp chili powder
2 tbsp paprika
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp oregano
1 tsp granulated garlic
4 tsp kosher salt (1 tbsp + 1 tsp)
2 tsp black pepper
2 tsp dried mustard
1 tsp cayenne

To prevent scorching of the spice rub I put some flour in a small sieve and lightly floured both sides of the filet.  I laid the pieces in plenty of hot oil. It takes only 2 or 3 minutes per side to cook the fish so stay on top of it.  While the fish was cooking I mixed up a little tartar sauce from a tablespoon of mayonnaise and 2 teaspoons of sweet green relish. I plated the tartar sauce directly on the fish, which turned out to be a bad idea.

The vegetables were done in the microwave with a little water, salt and extra virgin olive oil so they had more flavor.  I think I got enough salt on the meat this time and the potatoes were perfect. The only mistake on the plate was the tartar sauce.  It didn't enhance the spice rub.  It didn't taste bad, it tasted incongruous. The mayonnaise coats the inside of the mouth preventing the subtle flavors of the spice rub from getting through to the palette. A few drops of lemon juice on the fish would have been far better.

Spaghetti - suburban style

Spaghetti means home.  Almost anyone can make a decent tomato sauce so it is the one dish we all remember from childhood and it gives us comfort. Usually a canned tomato sauce is used so differentiation has to be in the other ingredients and their preparation. Here are the ingredients from Fern's childhood.

Spaghetti Sauce

1 680ml/24oz can Hunt's Tomato Sauce

1 284ml/10oz can Aylmer Tomato Soup (Aylmer or nothing, no other brand will do)

1 onion diced

2 carrots diced

1 stick celery diced

3 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped

2 bay leaves

6-8 mushrooms

454gm/1lb lean ground beef

454gm/1lb mild Italian sausage

Caramelize the onion then sweat the carrots, celery, garlic and bay leaf.  Remove all from the pan, add more oil and the sliced mushrooms. Get a good sear on the mushrooms then remove them from the pan.    Add the ground beef and brown it completely, then remove it from the pan.  Finally, add the meat from the sausages and thoroughly cook it.  Now add everything back into the pan. Add the cans of tomato sauce and Aylmer tomato soup (this recipe relies upon the distinct flavor of Aylmer tomato soup, substitutes will not work) Heat to bubbling and simmer at least two hours stirring every 20 minutes so it doesn't burn to the bottom.

We are using Barilla pasta because it tastes better than Catelli, which I consider second best. Cheaper pasta are sticky and don't have good flavor so I consider them not a good bargain. The sauce is topped with fresh grated Italian parmesan.  I used to buy grated Canadian parmesan until I tasted fresh grated Grand Padana. 

All that fussing with sweating and searing everything paid off with much deeper richer flavor in the sauce.  It's the care taken with preparation that makes the difference in the finished product.

Rib Steak with Mushrooms and Baked Potato

I really felt like red meat tonight.  Since I didn't hit a deer on the way to the store, I bought a nice rib steak for me and a piece of tenderloin for Fern.  Mushrooms were on special so I bought a bag of crimini for the extra flavor.  I decided to bake the potatoes so I microwaved them most of the way then wrapped them in foil with butter, xv olive oil, salt, black pepper and fresh baby chives. I put the potatoes in the BBQ but off the heat to finish cooking. I served the potato with a dollop of homemade yogurt.

The carrots and frozen peas were done in the microwave with butter, xv olive oil, salt and pepper.  The mushrooms I just fried in a bit of oil and a slab of butter. The steaks were seasoned with salt and pepper and BBQ'd on high for 8 minutes in my 2x2x2x2 sequence to get crossed grill marks on each side. 

Fern said the mushrooms were perfect so next time I'll know to scorch them then soak them in warm butter for half hour. We both felt it was an outstanding meal. At $9 each for the meat it should be! Cooking the olive oil with the potato and vegetables was a smart move, they all improved in flavor tremendously. My yogurt has a definite lemony taste which was wonderful on the potato. 

Crispy Chicken with Caesar Salad

I had chicken breasts in the fridge so I only had to decide how to cook them.  Fern asked if we could have chicken and Caesar salad which sounded good to me so that's what I made.  Caesar salad is made using an aioli aka mayonnaise. Mayonnaise is made with an egg yolk, leaving egg whites for something else. Tempura is made with egg whites but I am going to cook on the BBQ, not the deep fryer. I can still coat the chicken with something though.

Put 1 cup or more croutons in a hot pan with plenty of oil.  Add more oil as it is absorbed and keep tossing them so they brown evenly. Add salt and pepper generously. When they have a nice brown and some crunch put them aside to cool. The better the quality of bread the better the flavor.

Next separate the yolk and white into separate bowls.  Whisk the whites up so they are completely broken apart.  I put the center of alpine bread in the blender which turns it into panko like bread crumbs. In a plastic bag or on a plate put half a cup of bread crumbs,  1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper and a teaspoon paprika (and anything else that might taste good).  In a plastic bag put 2 tablespoons flour.  One at a time shake the breasts in the flour then dip them in the egg and finally coat them with bread crumbs.  I sprayed the coated breasts with a little oil to brown them better, not sure it helped. I also sprinkled a little extra salt on each one.

I was cooking on the BBQ but should I go for grill marks on breaded chicken?  Let's see what happens.   I put the breasts over the flame for 2 minutes, rotate them and wait 2 minutes. Turn them over and wait 2 minutes then rotate them and wait 2 minutes and finally put them in the center off the flame to roast for the remainder of 25 total minutes cooking time.  The result, a hint of grill marks which could just be ordinary browning.  So don't bother trying to get grill marks, too much trouble, too little reward. Next time I'll put them over the heat for 2 minutes, turn them over for 2 minutes then put them in the center to roast.  That way the egg will seal in the moisture.  I plated the chicken with a dollop of mayonnaise, from a jar this time, just to lubricate the chicken on the way down.  

In a measuring cup I put less than 1/4 cup xv olive oil and fill that up to less than 1/2 cup with rice bran oil or whatever neutral flavor oil. I find pure xv olive oil too strong on it's own.  1/2 tsp at a time, add oil to yolk and whisk it into emulsion. If too much oil is added at once, the aioli will break so go slow.

When all the oil is emulsified add 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp pepper, 2-3 crushed garlic cloves, a few drops Worcestershire Sauce, an optional anchovy fillet and the juice of half a lemon or 1 tbsp of  lemon juice. Grate 1/2 cup parmesan cheese. Taste and adjust lemon, salt and pepper to get a good balance. Add lettuce and toss.  Add croutons and parmesan then toss.  Serve on a large plate with the chicken on the side.  It just doesn't work to put a hot entree on top of a cold salad.

The salad was wonderful and welcome, first one this year. The chicken was crunchy and moist so I definitely will do that breading again. Next time I'll try to  spiff up the mayo with more flavor. Otherwise it was the perfect spring dinner.