Texas Home Cooking
Page 21
Remove the chicken from the oven. Spoon out the onion and peanuts from its cavity, and add them to the roasting pan. Transfer the chicken to a serving platter, cover it with a foil tent, and let it sit for 10 to 15 minutes before carving it.
Pour the contents of the roasting pan and the wine or remaining stock into a blender or food processor, and purée. Strain the sauce, reheat it if needed, and serve it in a gravy boat along with the roast chicken.
Chicken Pot Pie
British colonists brought steak-and-kidney pies with them across the Atlantic, but little except the crust survived the climb over the Appalachian Mountains. We think Texans probably knew by instinct that chicken would be much better than kidneys inside the dough. Some versions have just a single top crust, but wrapping the filling with two flaky crusts doubles the pleasure.
Flaky Pie Crust* (see [>])
FILLING
½ cup half-and-half
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 fresh jalapeño, chopped
4 whole cloves
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
½ medium onion, chopped fine
2 celery ribs, chopped
⅓ medium red bell pepper, chopped fine
3 cups unsalted chicken stock
1½ cups diced carrots
1 cup pearl onions, peeled
1 small red potato, diced
½ cup corn kernels, fresh or frozen
½ cup peas, fresh or frozen
1½ pounds boneless chicken breast or thigh meat, or a combination, cut in bite-size chunks
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
½ teaspoon dry mustard
3 tablespoons minced parsley
Serves 6
Preheat the oven to 400° F.
In a small pan over low heat, warm the half-and-half with the garlic, jalapeño, and cloves until tiny bubbles just surface around the edges. Remove the pan from the heat, set it aside, and let the spices steep.
Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions, celery, and bell pepper, and sauté them until they are soft, 2 to 3 minutes. If the mixture seems dry, cover it for a minute or two while it cooks.
Pour the chicken stock into the saucepan, and bring it to a simmer. Stir in the carrots, pearl onions, and potato, and cook until the vegetables are just tender, about 10 minutes. Add the corn, and continue cooking for another 3 minutes, until the corn has just cooked through. Stir in the peas, and immediately take the pan from the heat. With a slotted spoon, remove the vegetables from the broth, and place them in a medium bowl.
Return the pan with the broth to the stovetop. Add the chicken to the broth, and poach it over low heat about 3 to 4 minutes, or until it is cooked through. With a slotted spoon, remove the chicken, and add it to the bowl of vegetables. Measure the remaining stock. Return it to the saucepan, and reduce it to 1½ cups.
In a small bowl, stir together the flour, salt, pepper, and dry mustard. Spoon in a few tablespoons of the hot stock, and mix well. Stir the flour mixture back into the stock in the saucepan, and bring the stock to a boil. Reduce the heat, and simmer the mixture for two to three minutes, until it is well thickened. Strain the spices from the reserved half-and-half, and discard them. Add the half-and-half to the sauce, and heat it through.
Mix the sauce with the vegetables and chicken. Sprinkle in the parsley, and stir well. Taste the filling, and adjust the seasonings as desired.
Place the bottom crust into a 9-inch pie pan, pour in the filling, and top it with the second crust. Prick a few steam vents in the top crust. Bake the pie at 400° F for 20 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 350° F, and bake for an additional 30 minutes. Check the pie about halfway through the cooking time, and cover the edges with foil if they appear to be browning too quickly. The crust should be lightly browned when the pie is done. Serve the pie hot.
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The now-huge East Texas broiler chicken industry developed right after World War II, filling the gap caused by the decline of cotton cultivation. The East Texas Poultry Festival in early October celebrates the broilers with a competition and auction that annually raises over thirty thousand dollars for charity.
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Fiesta Chicken Casserole
Many casseroles are bland combinations of prefab canned and processed foods—pretend dishes for people who want to fool themselves into thinking that they are cooking. We love the blend of flavors in a good casserole, though, and we sort through the schlock in search of them. This recipe is a definite winner, thanks to the creative labors of Cicily Cross of Tenaha, who made the original version the 1986 cook-off winner at the East Texas Poultry festival in Center.
CASSEROLE
1 recipe Not-Cream-of-Mushroom Soup ([>])
10 ounces fresh spinach
1 cup sour cream
½ cup chopped roasted green chiles, preferably New Mexican or poblano, fresh or frozen
¼ cup chopped onion
2 tablespoons chopped pimiento
1 garlic clove, minced
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon cumin seeds, toasted and ground
Dash of Tabasco or other hot pepper sauce
2
to
3 cups diced or shredded cooked chicken
1 cup (4 ounces) grated Monterey or jalapeño jack cheese
½ cup (2 ounces) grated sharp cheddar cheese
TOPPING
2 eggs, separated
1 cup all-purpose flour
¾ cup milk
¼ cup unsalted butter, softened
Paprika
Serves 6
Heat the oven to 375° F. Grease a deep baking dish.
In a medium bowl, combine the soup, spinach, sour cream, chiles, onion, pimiento, garlic, salt, cumin, and Tabasco or other hot sauce. In another bowl, combine the chicken with the cheeses.
Spoon half of the spinach mixture into the prepared dish. Top it with half of the chicken mixture. Repeat with the remaining spinach and chicken.
In a medium bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Spoon the whites into a small bowl, using the original bowl to beat together the egg yolks, flour, milk, and butter. (It's not necessary to wash the whisk or beaters in between.) Beat the batter for 2 minutes, and then fold in the egg whites gently. Spoon the batter over the casserole, and sprinkle the top liberally with paprika. Bake for 40 to 45 into it comes out clean. Remove the minutes, or until the topping is a deep casserole from the oven, and let it sit golden brown and a toothpick inserted for 10 to 15 minutes before serving.
Pollo Kiev
Back when we were less concerned about the amount of butter we consumed, Chicken Kiev was one of our favorite dishes. This is our new version, with salsa in place of the saturated fat.
¾ cup Pico de Gallo ([>]) or other chunky fresh salsa
4 boneless and skinless chicken breast halves
Salt and fresh-ground black pepper to taste
1 cup saltine cracker crumbs
1½ teaspoons cumin seeds, toasted and ground
1 egg
1 tablespoon oil, preferably canola or peanut
Oil for deep frying, preferably canola or peanut or a combination of both
Serves 4
On a piece of waxed paper laid over a plate, spoon out the salsa into four portions, and shape the portions into rectangular mounds. Place the plate in the freezer until the salsa mounds are solid, a minimum of at least 1 hour. (You can do this step a day ahead if you like.)
Pound the chicken breasts to about a ¼-inch thickness. Lightly salt and pepper both sides of the chicken.
Remove the salsa mounds from the freezer, and place one in the center of each chicken breast. Working quickly, carefully roll the chicken up around the salsa, tucking the ends in well and completely enclosing the salsa. Place the rolled chicken breasts, seam side up, on a plate, cover them, and transfer them to the fr
eezer for about 1 hour.
Combine the cracker crumbs with the cumin. Shortly before cooking, lightly beat the egg with the tablespoon of oil. Roll the chicken in the cracker crumbs, then in the egg, and then again in the cracker crumbs.
In a heavy saucepan, heat to 325° F enough oil to cover the chicken by at least 1 inch. Fry the chicken rolls for 7 to 8 minutes, until they are a deep golden brown. Serve them immediately.
Margarita Chicken Breasts
Margarita flavors spice up these chicken breasts and may enliven you, too. This is a great dish for grilling outside on a summer evening, but it can be baked as well.
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
MARINADE
¼ cup tequila
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon lime zest
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon minced cilantro
1 tablespoon corn oil, preferably unrefined
1 small fresh jalapeño, minced
½ teaspoon dried tarragon
½ teaspoon salt
Fresh-ground black pepper to taste
Serves 4
Arrange the chicken in a single layer in a nonreactive dish. Mix the marinade ingredients together, and pour the mixture over the chicken. Cover the chicken, and refrigerate it 8 hours or overnight. Turn it at least once.
If you want to grill the chicken, fire up enough charcoal to form a single layer of coals beneath the breasts, and heat the coals until they are covered with gray ash. If you want to bake the chicken, preheat the oven to 450° F.
Drain the chicken, reserving the marinade in a small saucepan. If you are grilling the chicken, cook it, uncovered, over medium-hot coals until it is cooked through, basting it with some of the marinade. If you are baking, place the breasts in a small oven-proof dish, and cover it tightly. Bake the chicken 15 to 18 minutes, until it is cooked through, uncovering it for the last two to three minutes.
With either cooking method, let the chicken sit for 5 to 10 minutes after it cooks. In the meantime, bring the reserved marinade to a boil, and boil it for at least 4 minutes, reducing the liquid slightly. Taste it, and adjust the seasoning. Cut each chicken breast into thin slices, arrange them on a platter or individual plates, and top them with the sauce made from the marinade. Serve the breasts hot.
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Don't confuse fried turkey with turkey fries. Both are cooked in hot oil, but one's a bird and the other is its balls. The testicles are cooked like calf fries ([>]).
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Chile Pecan Fried Turkey
Over the past couple of decades, a passion for fried turkey swept out of Cajun Louisiana into southeastern Texas. We picked up the idea from some Houston friends. Fried turkey requires a heavy-duty outdoor gas cooker capable of putting out 35,000 BTUs of heat. Read the instructions carefully before jumping into this one.
½ cup Lone Star Dry Rub ([>])
½ cup unsalted chicken or turkey stock
2 tablespoons garlic-flavored oil
2 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 12-pound turkey
Peanut oil for deep frying, about 5 gallons
Chile Pecan Sauce for Turkey ([>])
Serves 8 to 10
The night before you plan to fry the turkey, place 2 tablespoons of the dry rub in a small bowl, and mix it with the stock, oil, butter, and vinegar. If your bird has one of those little pop-up attachments that tells you when the turkey is done, remove it to avoid melting it or otherwise making it go haywire. Inject the liquid into the bird at 2-inch intervals, making several injections going in different directions at each hole. Go deep into the meat with the needle. Inject the breast most fully. Rub a little of the mixture over and under the skin, too. Massage the remaining dry rub into the turkey's cavity and under the skin. Transfer the bird to a plastic trash bag, and refrigerate it overnight.
Take the turkey out of the refrigerator 1 hour before you plan to begin frying it. Remove it from the bag, and let it air-dry. While the turkey recovers from its chill, assemble everything needed for frying.
Position a heavy-duty butane burner on a sturdy surface that won't be hurt by any drips of oil. Set a heavy stockpot capable of holding at least 8 to 10 gallons on the burner. Have on hand a metal basket large enough for the bird to rest in, a deep-fry thermometer, a kebob skewer, pot holders, something to wipe up any grease spills, and a couple of sturdy long-handled utensils, either forks or spoons. On a baking sheet, arrange at least three thicknesses of brown paper bags for draining the turkey after it's cooked. Think through the process of how you're going to get the bird into and out of the hot oil. If possible, have a second person available to assist with those tasks.
Transfer the turkey to the frying basket. Pour the oil into the stockpot. The oil absolutely must be fresh. Use enough to submerge the bird by at least 6 inches, remembering that it will displace some of the oil, and avoiding overfilling the pot. Heat the oil to 325° F.
Lower the turkey into the oil. The oil temperature will drop a good bit. Adjust the heat as needed to maintain an oil temperature of 275° F to 280° F.
Keep an eye on the turkey throughout the cooking time, 6 to 7 minutes per pound. Wipe up any grease splatters as they occur. If a portion of the turkey isn't staying submerged, use your long-handled spoons or forks to readjust its position or push it back under the oil's surface.
When the turkey is ready, it will have turned a deep, dark brown. Stick a skewer into the breast to check its doneness. The juices should run clear.
Carefully remove the basket with the turkey from the oil. Dislodge the bird from the basket, and drain it on the paper bags, placing it breast down for about 5 minutes and then turning it over to drain and rest another 15 minutes.
Transfer the bird to a platter, carve it, and serve it with the Chile Pecan Sauce.
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The kind of outdoor gas cooker used for fried turkey is also great for fish and seafood fries, crawfish boils, and blackening food in the style of Paul Prudhomme. Look for the cookers at stores that handle grills, smokers, and other outdoor equipment, or call mail-order suppliers such as Pitt's and Spitt's (see "Mail-Order Sources," [>]).
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Chile Pecan Sauce for Turkey
This sauce was inspired by a more complex one that Dean fearing developed for the Mansion on Turtle Creek in Dallas. We use it on fried, baked, and smoked turkeys.
1 tablespoon oil, preferably canola or corn
2 tablespoons minced onion
2 fresh jalapeños, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon chili powder, preferably homemade ([>]) or Gebhardt's
1 teaspoon cumin seeds, toasted and ground
2 cups unsalted stock, preferably turkey or chicken
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
½ cup chopped pecans, toasted
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
Salt to taste
Makes about 2 cups
Warm the oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, jalapeños, and garlic, and sauté them until they are softened. Stir in the chili powder and cumin, and cook 2 more minutes, until the spices are fragrant. Pour in the stock and the Worcestershire sauce, and simmer the mixture until it has reduced by one-third, about 30 minutes. (The sauce can be made ahead to this point early in the day. Reheat it before proceeding.) Stir in the pecans and the butter and salt to taste. Serve the sauce warm.
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The late Bob Wills, "the King of Western Swing," came from Turkey, Texas. The town honors its favorite son each April on Bob Wills Day, which features lots of music and a barbecue lunch at the Bob Wills Center. If that's not enough for you, visit the Bob Wills Monument, the Bob Wills Museum, or the Bob Wills Cafeteria.
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Baker Hotel Turkey and Rarebit Sandwich
Yet another glass tower replaced the Baker Hotel in downtown Dallas many years ago, but we still treasure a ve
rsion of the lunchroom's most popular sandwich.
RAREBIT SAUCE
¾ cup half-and-half or beer
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 egg yolk, lightly beaten
1½ cups (6 ounces) grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
½ teaspoon dry mustard
½ teaspoon paprika
½ teaspoon salt
4 slices sourdough white bread
4 slices tomato
10
to
12 ounces sliced smoked turkey breast
4 slices slab bacon, cooked crisp
Makes 2 sandwiches
In the top of a double boiler, warm the half-and-half or beer with the butter. Add a tablespoon of the hot liquid to the egg yolk in a small bowl, and mix. Stir the egg into the liquid. Add the cheese, stirring until it has melted evenly. Mix in the Worcestershire sauce, mustard, paprika, and salt. When the sauce is hot through and bubbly, remove it from the heat.