Recipe: Hummus

It's the first day of Summer and a scorcher here in the city. High 90°s with heat indexes of 100°+!
Luckily I bought pita chips on sale at Costco a few days before and always have cans of chickpeas, garlic, a bottle of extra virgin olive oil, and salt in the pantry. Tahini (sesame paste) and lemon juice in the refrigerator allows me to whip up some hummus for those days when it's just too hot to cook something and you feel like you are in the deserts of Egypt. I find it is cheaper to make this rather than buying it at the supermarket and it is REALLY easy to make. Plus, you don't have all those extra additives and preservatives in it.

Now what is hummus you may ask? It's a Middle Eastern appetizer dip made with said ingredients and according to Wikipedia:

Hummus is high in iron and vitamin C and also has significant amounts of folate and vitamin B6. The chickpeas make it a good source of protein and dietary fiber; the tahini consists mostly of sesame seeds, which are an excellent source of the amino acid methionine, complementing the proteins in the chickpeas. Depending on the recipe, hummus carries varying amounts of monounsaturated fat. Hummus is useful in vegetarian and vegan diets; like other combinations of grains and pulses, it serves as a complete protein when eaten with bread.

Hummus with pita chip

Ingredients

• 1 16 oz can of chickpeas (also known as garbanzo beans)
• 1/4 cup of the liquid from the can of chickpeas
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice (I find bottled is fine here)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons tahini
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

  Directions

1. Drain the chickpeas and set aside 1/4 cup of the liquid.
2. Combine the chickpeas, lemon juice, tahini, crushed garlic, salt, and olive oil into a food processor and process until mixed and creamy. 
3. Add the chickpea liquid and blend for 3-5 minutes or until thoroughly mixed and smooth. 

You can serve this immediately at room temperature or chilled.

Note: When served chilled, the hummus will be a thicker consistency.

I make mine in a food processor but I suppose you can do it in a blender if you don't own one. You may have to stop occasionally and use a spoon to push the unblended ingredients down.

Recipe: Asparagus and Zucchini Salad

Asparagus is on sale at one of my local supermarkets (Pathmark) for $2.49 per pound as well as green and yellow squash at $1.49 per pound.

I once made this raw salad with these ingredients that Giada calls a "Crudi" and decided to buy these vegetables to make this again. Besides, vegetables are good for you and the crunchy, fresh flavors of this salad are perfect for a hot Summer's day (tomorrow the first day of Summer is coming in here with a blast of 97° heat!).
I look for slender pencil like spears of asparagus for this salad as they are more tender. You can also blanch and cool them before cutting if you are not fond of raw asparagus and if the asparagus you buy happen to be thicker. I cut the thin pencil asparagus into 1/2" pieces but if you use thicker asparagus, cut them 1/4" or thinner.
When you see the the term trimmed, it means that you trim off the hard woody bottom of the asparagus. When you bend the asparagus, it will snap at the point where the asparagus starts to get tough and woody. Trim off the bottom tough ends. With the zucchini, it's the end tips.

I used yellow squash for more color and omitted the cheese to reduce the fat in the dish.

Recipe courtesy of Giada De Laurentis



Ingredients

• 2 zucchini, trimmed
• 1 bunch asparagus, trimmed
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 ounce shaved Pecorino Romano, for garnish

Directions

1. Using a vegetable peeler, shave the zucchini into long thin strips. 
2. Thinly slice the asparagus on a diagonal. 
3. Toss the slices together and place the salad in a serving bowl.
4. In a small bowl, combine the olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine and drizzle over the vegetables. Toss to coat. 
5. Garnish with the Pecorino shavings. 
6. Serve.

Recipe: Chicken Croquettes

When I cook chicken, I like to try to get more than one meal out of it. I'll usually make "White Cut Chicken" which requires poaching the whole chicken and you get a stock which you can use for other dishes. Roommate was tired of that dish so I had to figure out a new one.

Seems like American Baby Boomers are waxing nostalgic and I've noticed a lot of interest in Chicken Croquettes, a fried ball of cooked, chopped chicken, bound with a thick bechemel and served with chicken gravy. Sounds like a great way to use left over cooked chicken!

Here's a recipe that I came up with from several I found on the internet making a delicious stock from poaching the chicken that you can use to make the gravy to go with the croquettes.

Ingredients:

• One 3-4 pound whole chicken
• 3 stalks celery roughly chopped
• 2 carrots roughly chopped
• 1 medium onion quartered
• 2 dried bay leaves
• salt

Directions:

1. Put the chicken, celery, carrots, onion, bay leaves and into a large pot and add water just to cover the chicken.
2. Bring to a boil, salt to taste (I used about 2 tablespoons), then lower heat simmering for 1 hour.
3. Remove chicken from pot and allow to cool so that you can remove the meat from the bones.
4. Put all the pulled meat into a food processor and pulse until the meat is finely chopped.
5. Put into a large bowl, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate while you prepare the bechemel.

Ingredients:

• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup flour
• 3 stalked celery diced
• 1 small onion diced
• 4 cloves garlic minced
• salt and pepper
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup Panko bread crumbs (or plain bread crumbs)

Directions:

1. In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium heat and then add the celery, onion, and salt and pepper to taste. Saute for 2 minutes and then add the garlic. Saute for 1 minute more.
2. Add the flour and continue to stir for 4 minutes. This roux mixture will start to get thick.
3. Add the milk and use a whisk to mix everything together. Allow to simmer for about 8 minutes.
4. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Assembling the croquettes:

1. Take the chopped chicken out of the refrigerator and stir in the cooled bechemel with a strong large spoon. You might find it easier to use your hands to do this.
2. Using a small ice cream scoop or your hands, form small balls of the chicken mixture and then roll in bread crumbs.
3. Set on a Silpat or waxed paper lined baking sheet. You should get about 35 balls out of the mixture.
4. Put baking sheet of croquettes back into the refrigerator for an hour to set up. 

 

Cooking the croquettes:

1. Take the croquettes out of the refrigerator and fry them in a deep fryer for about 1 minute or golden brown. I did this in small batches of 4-5 in my Fry Daddy.
2. Drain fried croquettes on a wire rack over a baking sheet. This will keep them more crisp than draining them on a paper towel.

Gravy

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 4 tablespoons flour
• 2 cups chicken stock (from poaching the chicken)
• Worcestershire sauce
• salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Melt butter in a small pan and then whisk in the flour. Cook this for 2 minutes then add the chicken stock and continue to whisk until thickened.
2. Add Worcestershire, salt and pepper to taste.
3. Serve over the croquettes.

Revive Wilted Celery

How many of us have bought celery on sale and stashed it in the refrigerator only to reach for it later and find it wilted and sad looking?
I figured how to revive celery by thinking of it as cut flowers, it's thirsty and needed water!
Trim off a bit of the root end of the celery stalks and immerse them into a tall glass of cold water. In an hour or so, the stalk will be crisp and standing tall again ready for use!

Pre Summer sales

Summer is just about here and that means grilling, BBQ, hotdogs, and hamburgers.
Looking over the supermarket circulars I noticed (at least here in NYC) that already ketchup, mustard, BBQ sauce, and other traditional Summer foods and condiments are on sale and selling for... $1.
It might be a major manufacturer's brand like Kraft (use a coupon and get it for even less or free!) or the store's brand but none the less, condiments will keep for a while so stock up for the Summer months while they're on sale! I bought Dijon mustard which comes in handy for making vinaigrette and how often do you see Dijon selling for $1?
Just make sure that you look at the expiration dates and chose the ones that expire later than sooner.

If you see meats on sale (chicken seems to go on sale more often than beef or pork) stock up on them when they are less than a $1 per pound. Here in NYC, Pathmark ran a sale for chicken at 40% off and just recently quarters were 88¢ per pound! While looking over the meats, an elderly shopper came up to me and said that she's never seen such a good price in months and said that she buys two packs, freezing one for another time. Great tip!

Recipe: Honey Walnut Shrimp

This is a rich dish that is most often served at Chinese restaurants as part of a banquet. The sauce ingredients of mayonnaise and condensed milk would suggest that it is originally from Hong Kong (which was under British rule). Crispy candied walnuts paired with lightly battered shrimp in a sweet creamy sauce is quite decadent so I only make this when shrimp is on sale. Luckily frozen shrimp is on sale at one of my local supermarkets for the Holy Week ($3.99/ lb for 26-30 count). Making this dish at home is quite easy and cheaper than ordering it out.

Ingredients

For the candied walnuts:

• 1 cup walnut halves
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup sugar

For the shrimp:

• 1 egg white
• 1 pound shrimp (shelled and de-veined) if using frozen, thaw.
  
• 1 cup cornstarch
• oil for frying

For the sauce:

• 3 tbsp mayonnaise
• 1/2 tbsp sweetened condensed milk
• 1/2 tbsp honey
• 1 tsp lemon juice

Directions

1. Bring a small saucepan of water to the boil and blanch the walnuts for 3 minutes to remove bitterness. Drain.
2. Bring the 1/2 cup of water and 1/2 cup of sugar to the boil and then add the blanched walnuts. Boil for 2 minutes then drain. Allow the walnuts to cool and dry on a cookie sheet.
   
3. Beat the egg white in a medium bowl and toss with the shrimp. Set aside to marinate as you make the sauce.
4. Mix all the sauce ingredients together well in a large bowl and set aside.
5. In a large saucepan, heat 2 cups of oil.
6. Fry the candied walnuts for about 5 minutes or until brown and shiny. Be careful not to burn them. Remove and place back on the cookie sheet to drain and cool.
7. Toss the marinated shrimp with the cornstarch in a large bowl until well coated.
8. Fry the shrimp in small batches until cooked and golden.
9. Remove and drain on paper towels.
10. Toss the fried shrimp and candied walnuts together with the sauce and serve immediately.
    

Recipe: Chicken Francese

This Italian American dish also known as "Chicken Francaise" or "Chicken Français", is quite popular at wedding dinners and catered events here in NY. It's easy to make at home as it only requires ingredients that you should already have in your pantry. White wine which is traditionally used, can be substituted with more chicken stock if you don't happen to have wine in the house. I serve this with steamed broccoli and white rice as the sauce is so flavorful.

Pathmark supermarket has a family pack of boneless skinless chicken breasts selling for $1.79 per pound this week and whole broccoli for 99¢ each. What a way to wow the family for less than eating out!

There are many recipes out there for this dish which is simply chicken breast pounded thinly, coated in egg batter and fried. Sauce made of lemon juice, chicken stock, butter, and wine.
This particular recipe is from Gourmet's adaption from an Italian restaurant.
Instructional video from HowCast.




Ingredients

• 4 large skinless boneless chicken breast halves
  
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 stick unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 whole lemon, thinly sliced (garnish)

Directions

1. Place chicken breasts between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and gently pound chicken with the flat side of a meat mallet or with a rolling pin until about 1/4 inch thick.
2. Heat oil in a large heavy skillet over moderate heat until hot but not smoking.
3. While oil is heating, stir together flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a shallow bowl or pie plate.
   
4. Lightly beat eggs in another shallow bowl or pie plate.
5. Dredge 2 pieces of chicken, 1 piece at a time, in flour mixture, shaking off excess. Then dip floured chicken into beaten eggs to coat, letting excess drip off, then fry, turning over once, until golden brown and just cooked through, about 4 minutes total. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towels and keep warm, loosely covered with foil. Fry remaining chicken in same manner.
6. Pour off and discard oil, then wipe skillet clean and heat butter over low heat until foam subsides. Add wine, broth, and lemon juice and boil, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until sauce is reduced to about 1/2 cup, about 6 minutes. Stir in parsley and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Spoon sauce over chicken and top with lemon slices.