Reminiscences of Our Travels

Happy New Year, everyone! It's been a hectic holiday season, and I'm pretty happy that it's over now, and things can get back to normal. I used this weekend to do a massive new year's cleaning overhaul, but I still have lots of work to do. Of course, I tackled the kitchen first, and now it is SPARKLING clean, just waiting for this new year's dishes to be cooked! There's quite a bit of stuff in my pantry, fridge and freezer that I really want to use up before I go shopping again, so yet again, we're in for a few days of creativity before I bring in any new ingredients. There's so many things that I have planned for this year, and I can't wait to start in on all of them. At the top of that list is continuing my culinary education through The Professional Chef, and we'll be coming up to recipes very soon. I'm still in the introductory portion of the book though. I have also started a small collection of my own creations that I can hopefully turn into a cookbook in the near future.

Tonight, however, I want to share a great recipe that I made right before the new year. It's called Crispy Chicken with Rye Bread, Mustard, and Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage, and I found it in Cooking in the Moment: A Year of Seasonal Recipes, a great book that I haven't had the opportunity to explore just yet. This is the first recipe I've made from it, and I was happy with the outcome. It had been on my current menu, but the day I was supposed to make it, I just wasn't really feeling it. But the next night, I convinced myself to make it, since I had thought it sounded good when I added it to the menu. The first step involved making my own breadcrumbs with a loaf of rye bread. I put the chunks of rye bread, sans crust, into a mini-food processor, and pulsed until I had an even consistency. I spread them out on a baking sheet, allowing them to dry out for about 2 hours, before using them. I also mixed them with some kosher salt and black pepper, as well as more caraway seeds.

I did some other things around the house while my breadcrumbs were drying out, but when I came back to the kitchen, I brought all my other ingredients together. I mixed some kosher salt and pepper into a couple cups of flour, in preparation for the breading process. I also got out a couple of eggs and lightly beat them. I lined the flour and egg up with the breadcrumbs, and turned to the chicken. I cleaned each thigh of most of the fats, and then sprinkled them with salt and pepper.

Once all of the ingredients for the main part of my meal were gathered, I set them aside so that I could time everything appropriately. I turned to the Sweet and Sour Cabbage recipe, so I grabbed my red cabbage and a red onion, along with some turbinado sugar and some kosher salt. I sliced the cabbage in to small ribbons, cut the onion in half and thinly sliced it, and added it to a pan with some vegetable oil. After adding the salt and sugar, I also added some cider vinegar and red wine vinegar, and allowed it all to steam in a covered pot for about 20 minutes. When the cabbage was ready, it's dark purple hue had turned into a beautiful magenta!

I breaded each chicken thigh by dipping it in flour, then egg, and finally into the rye bread crumbs. Each piece of chicken was then added to a hot pan, with vegetable oil, and I left them to cook until the breading had become crispy and browned, before flipping.

While the chicken was cooking, and the cabbage was simmering, I added some Dijon mustard and chicken stock to a small pot, and brought it to a simmer with a pinch of kosher salt. This made the sauce for the chicken. Everything came together at the same time, and I plated the meal. On the bottom, some sweet and sour red cabbage, topped with a couple of crispy chicken thighs, and finally topped with some of the mustard sauce. As the title of this blog suggests, this meal was quite reminiscent of our recent trip to Germany and the Czech Republic. The cabbage, as well as the caraway flavor in the breadcrumbs really brought me back, and inspired me to start thinking about our next trip. I don't know when it will be, or to where, but I know it will be amazing!

Stay tuned for great things to come in 2012! I am working on some more giveaways, as well as some other special features! 

Part One : Chapter 4 : Food and Kitchen Safety

I'm hoping that this chapter was taught separately, in a classroom rather than a kitchen, and involving no food whatsoever. It's not the most appetizing of chapters, and for the readers' sakes, I'll gloss over some of the details layed out here. I learned about food-borne illnesses and food contamination, as well as pathogens, and danger zones. However, the most important rule I took away from this part of the chapter is that foods must be kept, heated and cooled at the correct temperatures in order to prevent unsavory things from occurring. Ingredients cooked in advance should be cooled slowly, but within a 4-hour period of time, and when reheating foods, they must be reheated in the shortest amount of time possible without compromising the doneness. What I didn't know before I read this chapter is that food CAN actually be reheated more than once, as long as they are handled properly during the process. Here I was thinking, once I heat something up, I can't use it again after that!

Another lesson that I've touched upon in the past is the proper way to thaw something from your freezer. My method of choice is in refrigeration...it's a slow process, but someone's gotta do it! That just means transferring your frozen item to the refrigerator and allowing it to thaw over the next 24-48 hours. If you are in a hurry, you can certainly thaw it under running water, but it's best if the water is under 70 degrees, allowing the item to thaw without shocking it with heat. It's possible to cooking something while it's still frozen, but be sure that it is a small piece - otherwise, it will be overcooked on the outside, and still frozen on the inside. No one wants to cut into a frozen chicken breast!

The final part of this chapter touches on the subject of kitchen safety, including health and hygiene. As we all know, we should wash our hands after working with raw meats, use separate cutting boards for meats, and other ingredients, and keep a generally clean working environment in the kitchen. However, did you know that the chef's jacket is double-breasted, creating a double layer of cloth as protection against steam burns, splashes and spills? That also means that the coat can be rebuttoned on the other side, in order to hide massive spills that could occur. The chef hats are meant to contain hair, but also absorb sweat, something no diner wants dripping into their entree!

My biggest takeaway from this chapter is the way I will organize my refrigerator from now on. The chapter talks about storing things appropriately, meat going on lower shelves to avoid drippage onto innocent vegetables, and keeping things that must be the coldest in the back of the fridge, while leafy greens and herbs can stay towards the front, where they'll be kept cool, but not freezing. I will definitely be taking these ideas to heart as I unpack the next load of groceries that I bring home. A cool veggie is a crisp veggie!

MonaVie: Get Your Daily Dose!

When I sat down with Dawn McGee, an independent distributor of MonaVie products, it was with an open mind that I listened to her story. Twenty-five years ago, she took a ski trip with friends, and came back with significant knee injuries that created the need for surgery, on multiple occasions. After the most recent procedure, doctors recommended a daily dose of glucosamine to help her joints, but they came in a large pill format, and it was inconvenient. She just never got around to it.

One day, she walked into her salon for a manicure, and saw a lovely bottle sitting on the counter. Thinking she was going to have a nice glass of wine with her spa treatment, she settled in for a relaxing afternoon, but what she learned was that this bottle held something other than wine. Instead, she was inspired by the tastes in the juice that came pouring into her glass, full of berries (including Acai), fruits, and best of all, glucosamine along with many of the vitamins and minerals we never get enough of on a daily basis. Now she drinks MonaVie every day, for better-feeling joints and muscles, but she's not just a drinker, she's also a distributor.

MonaVie operates by word-of-mouth advertising and independent distribution around the globe! Dawn realized that not only could she pay for her own supply of MonaVie products by sharing them with others, but she liked working for herself, and was doing really well. She seems thrilled to share her experiences as a marketer for the brand, but also her personal feelings as well. She truly stands behind the product that she recommends, and that goes a long way in this market where everyone needs a review or a referral to trust a product.

These products are sold in many denominations...you can buy one bottle, or go so far as to have a monthly shipment automatically sent to your door. In order to drink the recommended daily amount, you would need to order a case per person per month. But, however you find yourself supplementing your diet with this nectar, I don't think you'll be disappointed. Dawn explained to me that the fruits we eat today don't hold as many nutrients as they did in, say, the 1950's. For instance, we would have to eat a ridiculous amount of peaches in order to be getting the nutrients equivalent to one peach eaten in 1950. Our soils have been so depleted in the last 60-or-so years that no one is getting what they need from our produce anymore. The ingredients in MonaVie are sourced from all over the world, and because the fruits grow in the wild, which means that Mother Nature takes care of re-energizing the soil, making sure that the essential vitamins and minerals do not become depleted.

The Health Juices come in five flavors: Essential, Active, Pulse, (M) Mun, and Kosher. The Pulse blend focuses on nutrients needed to make for a healthy heart, and contains enough plant sterols that the FDA says it may reduce cholesterol. The (M) Mun blend strengthens the body's immune system, while the Active blend (Dawn's drink of choice) focuses on joint health and can also protect against free radicals. The Essential blend is just that...the essential juice for your health in general, and if you're kosher, you can get those same benefits from the final, Kosher blend.

MonaVie also offers a range of weight control products, energy drinks, and they even have a gel packet that offers a quick jolt of Acai for a burst of energy and vitamins. Dawn gave me a few of those to try since my allergies have been acting up, and it was quite a refreshing shot. It's fresh, tasty, and it feels like you are putting something good in to your body when you have it.

You can contact Dawn about purchasing some MonaVie at your convenience, via her website, MVAcai. She'll also be doing a tasting this Thursday and Friday at Smuggler's Notch Ski Resort, in Vermont. If you are going to be in the area, stop in and say hi to Dawn, try some of her products and give it a shot for yourself. Tell her that all of us here at Mise En Place say hello!

This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. 

Happy Holidays!

From our home to yours, we wish you the happiest of holidays for you and your loved ones! (Hope your dinners were as delicious as ours!!!)

Good Eatings!!!

Part One: Chapter Three: The Basics of Nutrition and Food Science

In this chapter, I learned about the basics of nutrition, and how they can be applied to the culinary arts. It is imperative that industry experts impart their knowledge on customers and consumers alike. The knowledge of fats, carbs, proteins, vitamins and minerals can play an integral part in the building of a menu that can offer health benefits to its diners. Portion control is another big factor. 

In the next section of the chapter, I learned about the basics of food science. The effects of heat on starches and sugars, different forms of heated cooking, and even emulsifiers hold a place in this category. All cooking is really science, as the effect of one thing on another causes the outcome of the finalized dish. In baking, this science is even more important, since the exact amounts of diffferent ingredients interact to make either the perfect moist cake, or the dry crumbly one that goes right into the trash! 

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It's been a busy week, full of getting ready for the holidays, and wacky changes in weather that are causing my allergies to act up! Apologies for not writing more this week, but we'll get back on track soon! Congratulations again, to elle.dub, for winning the Share the Health! Popchip giveaway! Happy holidays to all my readers, enjoy the weekend and if you find a particularly fabulous dish, comment and let us know about it!

And the winner is....

Well, the Share the Health! Popchips giveaway has come to a close, and I've drawn a winner! Drum roll, please...

elle.dub, please step forward!!! You are the proud winner of a case of Popchips, in your choice of flavors!

Please email me at meredith53@gmail.com to claim your prize! Include your name and address, and your holiday shipment of Popchips will be on it's way shortly!

Thanks to all who entered. I hope to bring you another giveaway in the very near future! Stay tuned!!!

Healthy and Fresh

I finally got my act together and planned a menu for the upcoming week. It was a necessary evil, as I just found out we'll be having my in-laws in house for Christmas Eve, as well as Christmas Day, so I had to have a plan! While I was at it, I planned out the rest of the week as well. Be sure to click over to the Current Menu tab to check it out. With all the holiday plans and get-togethers, it's been hard to find time to eat a meal at home. I'm looking forward to a whole week's worth of them!

I really wanted something healthy, and full of fresh ingredients for tonight's dinner, but I had some chicken breasts in the fridge that I needed to use, so I built my meal around that. I opened Tender by Nigel Slater, knowing I'd find exactly what I was looking for, and in fact, I did.

This simple recipe of warm chicken, served over a bed of swiss chard, green beans and tomatoes is as fresh as fresh can be! I didn't open a single jar, or bottle, aside from the olive oil...everything came from the produce department! My first order of business was to get a few pots of water boiling on the stove, and then I set to prepping my ingredients. I purchased rainbow chard, because it's just so pretty, and I separated the leaves from the stems, chopping both in anticipation of cooking. I also trimmed the green beans while the water was beginning to boil.

I finely minced a small shallot, and mixed that with some lemon juice, chopped mint, a pinch of salt and olive oil in a container with a top. I shook it all together until it was emulsified, and set it aside to dress the salad.

As the water in my two pots began to boil, I heated my grill pan and seasoned my chicken breasts. A little salt, a little pepper, and a little chopped rosemary goes a long way! I cooked the chicken quickly, until both sides were golden with wonderful-looking grill marks, but I left it a bit undercooked. Instead, I placed the meat on a plate, and covered it with a bowl to keep the heat in, allowing it to continue cooking as it rested. 

While the chicken rested, I cooked the green beans in one pot, and the chard stems in the other, for about 3 minutes. With 30 seconds left, I added the chard leaves to the pot while I drained the green beans. The beans and the chard (stems and leaves) got tossed in a bowl with the tomatoes, and the dressing I made earlier. At this point, I sliced the chicken breasts into about 4 slices each, and placed them atop the salads, with a bit more dressing. It made for a beautiful plate of healthy, fresh food. Sometimes, it's wonderful to sit down to a summery meal on a cold winter's day, and while I used more wintery vegetables, the resulting dish was bright, light and made me wish for spring!

Now that dinner is done, I can tuck into Chapter 3 of The Professional Chef, and write about that a bit later tonight. 

I also want to remind everyone that there's still time to win a case of Popchips! I've only got one entry so far, and you can't win if you don't enter! Be sure to scroll down to the prior post, entitled Share the Health! and comment in order have a chance at winning! The contest ends on Wednesday night, so be sure to comment ASAP!!