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Butter the radish, pour the wine

Farmers' Market purchases

Madison’s Westside Community Market opened yesterday and it was an absolute success. I got there at 9:00 and Diana from DreamFarms was already out of eggs but she did have a tasty wedge of feta. At the information booth Vivien was dispensing hellos and news about the apple trees along with the delicious complimentary coffee that the market offers. Everywhere I looked farmers and shoppers were chatting and renewing friendships.

lunch

JenEhr Farm offered a bountiful spread of greens including a blend of mustard greens, bundles of a type of mustard green I’d not seen before, bunches of sorrel, and a lovely, light green leaf with a mild bok choy flavor. I bought some of each, including several bunches of French breakfast radishes.

french breakfast radish with butter and salt

A crusty, deeply flavorful whole wheat batard from Madison Sourdough Company brought it all together on a plate for a seasonal and local lunch. The sausage from Sunnyhill Acres, the feta from Dreamfarm, the radishes and greens from JenEhr a dab of butter here and there, some sea salt, and a glass of crisp white from France…well it was almost local but it was simple, full of flavor and probably one of the most satisfying meals ever. Like a big sigh…spring is here…it seems as though it’s safe to come out of my hole.

perfection

April 19, 2009 | Filed Under Local, Westside Community Market, bread, farmers market, food, quick and easy, soup, salad, sandwich | 9 Comments 

Chicken n Biscuits

chicken and a biscuit

This beautiful meal is absolute bowl-licking deliciousness. Chicken and veggies enrobed in a winey, chickeny veloute with light, buttery biscuits proudly perched on top. After a good day at work, coming home and putting this together for the guys was a real pleasure. It would be easy to think of biscuits as off limits for dinner, but that’s not the way I think my good peeps…nope, a perfect biscuit is just as much at home on the dinner table as it is on the breakfast plate. Of course I used the cylinder technique to make the biscuits and I urge you to do so too. Surely I can’t be the first person to think of the cylinder technique but I will tell you that my sweet genius husband is very proud of me for it…that and my other totally original invention, the vacuum sleeve.

Chicken n Biscuits
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1 medium onion diced
6 tablespoons butter
2 chicken breasts, diced
2 potatoes, diced
2 carrots, diced
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup white wine
2 cups chicken stock
3 tablespoons flour
pinch of dried rosemary

Preheat the oven to 425°. Sauté the onions and chicken over medium heat. Set aside. Put the potatoes and carrots in a pan and cover shallowly with water…toss in some salt and cook until tender. If you use purple potatoes cook them separately from the carrots because the colors will mix. Drain and set aside. Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a pan and mix in the flour. Cook over a medium low heat and then add the wine and chicken stock, whisking to form a sauce. Cook gently for a few minutes, taste for salt and then adjust. Add the rosemary, the potatoes, carrots, chicken/onions, and the frozen peas.

Vanessa’s Better Biscuits

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons of butter, very cold, diced
¾ cup of milk (more or less)
Put the flour, salt, and baking powder into the workbowl of your food processor fitted with the blade. Pulse this to mix it and then add the diced butter. Pulse until it is coarsely combined. Add the milk through the opening in the top as you pulse it to mix it together. Add it very slowly and only add enough to bring the dough together. It’ll be different every time you make them.
Turn the dough out onto the counter (here comes the cylinder technique) and roll it into a cylinder with a circumference that is the size of the biscuit you want to make. Cut the cylinder into equally sized pieces…again depending on the size of biscuit you want.

Butter a baking dish and pour the chicken mixture into it. Place the biscuits on top. Into the oven it goes for about 10 to 12 minutes or until the biscuits are golden brown.

Eat it up and feel good about yourself…a meal like this, you deserve it.

November 12, 2008 | Filed Under Local, baking, beef, fish, poultry, pork, food, quick and easy, recipe | 12 Comments 

Sizzling hot pork chop sandwich

pork chop sandwich

Our culture puts enormous emphasis on perfection. I wonder if that intimidates people when it’s time to head into the kitchen and make dinner? Is there an underlying motivation to cook meals similar to what the latest hot chef is creating or are you content to cook within your range of time, skills, and ingredients on hand?

I absolutely delight in simple meals like this pork chop sandwich. I’m sure you’re thinking a) that is not healthy, and b) it couldn’t have been easy. Sure, if you were to eat this sandwich all the time it wouldn’t be healthy for you, but in moderation and within the larger context of all the meals you eat in one week this sandwich isn’t a big deal. It is easy and quick because it’s only a bit of bashing and frying and then it’s served up on a decent bun with crisp and flavorful toppings like a leaf of black romaine lettuce and succulent slices of heirloom tomato. It’s porky tang plays up so well against the tender bun and the crisp, fresh toppings. Give it a try…it’s not as hard as you might think.

How To Fry A Pork Chop
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First look at the chop. Does it have a bone in it? If so cut the bone out by running a sharp chef’s knife between the flesh and the bone*. Now you have a boneless chop. Is it thicker than 1/2 an inch? If so take your knife and slice it in two, making 2 thin chops out of 1 thick chop. Save the bone for stock making.

Place a piece of plastic wrap over the top of the meat and bash it with a meat mallet until it is even thinner and spreads out to cover more surface area. Don’t overdo the bashing…you just want it to be big enough to fit under a bun.

Soak the pork chop in a bowl of milk while you prepare the flour and the oil.

In another bowl put a cup of flour, salt, cayenne, and some ground black pepper…it really doesn’t matter how much of each you use…just make sure to use enough flour, not too much salt and just a tiny bit of cayenne. Stir it to combine.

Place a deep, heavy pot on the stove and turn the flame to medium. Add canola oil so that you have about 1 1/2 inches of oil. Heat the oil to 350º.

While the oil is heating remove the pork chop from the milk and drag it through the flour making sure that all sides are covered with a layer of flour. Set aside to complete the other pork chops.

Once the oil heats up to 350º grasp the edge of a pork chop with metal tongs and gently place it into the hot oil. Once the bottom side is browned use the tongs to gently turn it over and brown the other side. Then remove it from the oil and allow it rest on a rack or even a plate.

Serve the chop up on a tasty tender bun and top it with the best stuff you can find. Simple and satisfying.

*Save the bones for stock making.

October 1, 2008 | Filed Under Local, food, geek fast food, pork, quick and easy, recipe, soup, salad, sandwich | 9 Comments 

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