A Classic American Dish… Yes, I said “American” How you doin’? Many of you know that because of my job I think about food all day long, but recently I have been dreaming about food—really great Italian food. Some of the best Italian food I’ve eaten has been in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. When I go to Rao’s or Dan Tana’s in West Hollywood, I never need to read the menu because I’m going there for the Parmigiana—the Chicken or Veal Parmigiana. Neither of these two restaurants invented the dish, and as strange as it might seem, it isn’t even an Italian import. This classic Italian dish was actually created in the United States. New Italian immigrants to the US took the preparation method of Eggplant Parmigiana and adapted it for chicken and veal. The preparation method is the same—dip the chicken (or veal or eggplant) in an egg dip, dredge the breading on to the thin slices, pan fry and serve with tomato sauce and melted Mozzarella cheese. It’s crunchy, saucy, cheesy and yummy. The recipe comes together easily if you measure all ingredients and have them at your side so you can move from egg-dip to breadcrumbs to the frying pan as quickly as possible. You can make your own homemade tomato sauce or feel free to use your favorite jarred version—I use Rao’s to cut down on the work and time. While this hearty dish doesn’t require much else to make a meal, you can serve it with a tossed green salad, garlic bread, over a bed of spaghetti. Prep time: 20 minutes Cook time: 10 minutes Yield: 4 servings Ingredients For the chicken breast prep 1-pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts (uniform in size) Kosher salt, to taste Black pepper, to taste For the breading & dredging 1 cup Italian breadcrumbs (I use Progresso Seasoned Crumbs) 2 teaspoon garlic powder 1 teaspoon dried oregano 1 teaspoon dried parsley 2 tablespoons shredded Parmesan cheese 1 egg, beaten For pan frying the chicken cutlets 4 tablespoons unsalted butter 4 tablespoon olive oil 2 cups spaghetti sauce (I use Rao’s Marinara Sauce) 4 slices mozzarella cheese (2 oz) (or Provolone cheese works well or a combination of both) Cooked spaghetti, for serving (4 to 6 ounces per person) 2 tablespoons chopped or a sprig of Italian parsley (basil or American parsley), for garnish 2 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for garnish Directions
To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, be positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. And, in my very best Italian: Per te e per tutti coloro che ti sono cari, sii forte, sii positivo, stai bene, stai al sicuro e sii gentile. ------------------------------------------- Do you have a question or comment? Do you want to share a favorite recipe or pictures with our readers? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. Thanks for reading. #Chicken #Parmigiana #ChickenParm #Entrees #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2020
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The origins of crumb-topped coffee cakes appear to come from Central and Eastern Europe. The Germans and Austrians use a yeast-raised dough while Polish and Jewish bakers use baking powder and soda for leavening. Communities in the Mediterranean will use plain yogurt instead of sour cream to interact with the baking powder to leaven their coffee cakes. Despite the name, this coffee cake it is not made with coffee but is meant to be enjoyed with a cup of joe, tea or a tall glass of milk—morning, noon or night. You’ll love it anytime. To my taste the best parts of this cake are the crispy, crunchy, nutty, buttery crumb topping and the chocolate filling. The topping does double duty as the cinnamon streusel topping and the center filling with added chocolate. So carefully read the recipe to make sure you don’t add chocolate to the top or it will burn when baking. Baking times will vary according to pan size and your oven. Always use a cake tester to check the doneness of the bake. Prep time: 25 minutes Bake time: 30 to 35 minutes (for the square springform pan pictured) Cooling time: 20 minutes Yield: 8 to 10 serving Ingredients For the crumb streusel topping and filling 1 cup pecans, chopped 3/4 cup all-purpose flour 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar 1 tablespoon cinnamon 1/8 teaspoon table salt 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted 1 cup dark chocolate chips (to be used when layering the filling, not for the topping) For the butter cake 1-7/8 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon table salt 1 tablespoon baking powder 3/4 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 cup butter (room temperature) 1 cup granulated sugar 2 large eggs 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract 1 cup sour cream (room temperature) 1/2 cup semi-sweet mini chocolate chips (dusted in a little flour) Directions
ChefSecret: This cake can also be baked in a couple of well-buttered loaf pans. Eat one today and freeze the other to enjoy later. I’ve made this recipe in fluted pans with removeable bottoms. I have tried Bundt pans with debatable results—you really must make sure you both butter and flour the Bundt pan to prevent the cake from sticking in the crevasses. If you decide to use a Bundt pan, use one with a very simple design. To keep the mini chocolate chips from sinking to the bottom of the cake, dust them lightly with a little flour. This works for most inclusions in baked goods like blueberries and cranberries—a quick dusting or dredge in flour will keep everything suspended in the cake batter. #Dessert #CoffeeCake #Pecan #SourCreamCoffeeCake #Baking #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 How you doin’? On the day before the 4th of July it’s important to remember a little bit about American history. Did you know that on July 1st, 1898, Theodore Roosevelt took San Juan Hill and helped to end the Spanish American War? The Teddy Roosevelt-led “Rough Riders,” a collection of Western cowboys and Eastern blue bloods officially known as the First U.S. Voluntary Cavalry, led the charge. The U.S. Army Fifth Corps fought its way to Santiago’s outer defenses, and on July 1st, U.S. General William Shafter ordered an attack on the village of El Caney and San Juan Hill. Shafter hoped to capture El Caney before besieging the fortified heights of San Juan Hill, but the 500 Spanish defenders of the village put up a fierce fight and held off 10 times their numbers for most of the day. Although El Caney was not secure, some 8,000 Americans pressed forward toward San Juan Hill. Hundreds fell under Spanish gunfire before reaching the base of the heights, where the force split up into two flanks to take San Juan Hill and Kettle Hill. The Rough Riders were the troops in the right flank attacking Kettle Hill. When the order was given by Lieutenant John Miley that “the heights must be taken at all costs,” the Rough Riders, who had been forced to leave their horses behind because of transportation difficulties, led the charge up the hills on foot. The Rough Riders and the black soldiers of the 9th and 10th Cavalry regiments were the first up Kettle Hill, and San Juan Hill was taken. From the crest, the Americans found themselves overlooking Santiago, and the next day they began a siege of the city. Please think about a little American history and our brave soldiers—past and present—when you get ready to fire-up your July 4th barbecue. How you doin’? It’s the end of another week and if you are feeling all muddled up then it’s time for a cocktail—How ‘bout a Mojito? Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba (República de Cuba), our troublesome neighbor to the southeast, is a country comprising the island of Cuba as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. This is the northern Caribbean where the Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean meet. Havana is the largest city and capital of Cuba. The Havana Mojito cocktail is a Cuban highball traditionally, made with five ingredients—white rum, sugar, lime juice, soda water and mint—all ingredients are indigenous to Cuba—mixed over muddled mint. A Mojito is a wonderful blend sweetness, citrus, and herbaceous mint flavors intended to complement the rum and has made the Mojito a popular and refreshing summer cocktail. Ingredients 6 mint leaves + a sprig of mint 2 teaspoons sugar 1-ounce fresh lime juice 1-1/2 ounces white rum soda water lime wedge or lime wheel garnish Cuban cigars are optional… smoke ‘em if you got ‘em! Directions
How does this stack up to what you and your friends are drinking tonight? Let me know, we want to hear your comments. #Mojito #Havana #Cuba #Cocktails #HappyHour #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #Rum #Muddle How you doin’? Get ready, this is a pop quiz. How long does it take to sous-vide a chicken breast? A few weeks ago, I shared the secrets of cooking sous vide-style. This is an open book test—refer to Cooking Lesson #8. Or, I’ll help you out here: Chicken Breasts or Thighs: 2.5 hours @ 137⁰F. The main reason for sous vide cooking chicken breasts is the perfect texture you get every time. Plus, you always have some ready-to-eat or ready-to-heat-and-eat chicken in the fridge. This is one of these recipes, though you can make it with raw chicken breasts—it just take a little longer. This sous vide-cooked chicken is spiced up with Southwestern spices and smothered with chopped tomatoes, green chiles, queso sauce, all topped with Cheddar (or Monterey Jack) cheese. Prep time: 10 minutes Bake time: 20 minutes (if using sous-vide cooked chicken breasts) Bake time: 50 minutes (if using raw chicken breasts) Yield: 2 servings Ingredients 2 sous vide-cooked chicken breasts, skinless and boneless (or raw breasts) 1 teaspoon chili powder 1/2 teaspoon cumin 1/8 teaspoon salt 1 can (10-ounces) Ro•tel diced tomatoes and mild green chiles 1 cup Chile Con Queso sauce, medium (On-the Border Queso jarred sauce) 1 cup Cheddar, shredded, or Monterey Jack cheese, or Cheddar & Monterey Jack mix 1/2 Roma tomato, chopped, for garnish 1 tablespoon fresh cilantro chopped, for garnish Directions
ChefSecret:
(Not a Short Cake) How you doin’? Living in California, I have access to fresh strawberries within hours of when they are picked. I bought a flat of fresh-from-the field strawberries this weekend and they were so sweet and delicious. But a full flat was way too many for two to eat over a weekend so I had to find a way to use them before they spoiled. I thought strawberry shortcake. Here was my dilemma—I really dislike those spongy little circles with the shelf-life of plutonium that you buy in the supermarket. I also don’t really care for split sweetened biscuits that go stale once they cool down. Split, day-old muffins don’t do it for me either. I started to think, how can I improve on something so great as just eating fresh strawberries? Voilà! That’s French for “Eureka.” How about a Strawberry-Custard Cake topped with whipped cream and a fresh berry? And, here it is… the perfect fresh summer dessert. Sometimes when you are cooking or baking tragedies occur… even to professionals. Read the After-The-End-Story at the end of this post—it was a comedy of errors. Prep time: 35 minutes Bake time: 23 to 30 minutes Additional time: 2 hours for macerating the strawberries Yield: 8 servings: Ingredients For the berry filling 2 pounds fresh strawberries, sliced / reserve 8 beautiful, ripe strawberries for topping. 1/2 cup granulated sugar For the cake 1 cup all-purpose flour 2 tablespoons cornstarch 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder 5 eggs, separated 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1-1/4 cups granulated sugar For the whipped cream 1 cup heavy cream 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar Directions To make the strawberry filling
As found in my cookbook--Choclatique-150 Simply Elegant Desserts A classic pastry cream is used in bakeries and restaurants to fill cakes, pies, tarts, and pastries. Over the years, I have come to judge great pastry chefs on the quality of their pastry cream and have never found this criterion to let me down. What I like about this pastry cream is that when “as is,” you can eat it like a pudding. I am always disappointed when I order dessert in a restaurant only to discover that the pastry chef uses using some kind of plastic, gloppy packaged custard mix. What’s so hard about doing it my way? Prep time: 10 minutes Cook time: 10 minutes Cool time: 20 minutes Yield: 2-1/2 cups Ingredients 2 large egg yolks 1 large egg 1/3 cup plus 1/4 cup granulated sugar, divided 1/4 cup cornstarch 2 cups whole milk 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract Directions
ChefSecret: To flavor the pastry cream, whisk 1/2 cup chocolate syrup into the pastry cream with the butter. You can also whisk in 1/2 cup of caramel sauce to make caramel pastry cream. After-The-End-Story: You know, sometimes stuff happens and that was the case with this recipe. For some reason, the cake wouldn’t easily come out of the baking dish. And, you guessed it—it broke apart and crumbled. I did manage to get at least one good piece for the picture—and I ate that soon after the photo was taken. My very formal and strait-laced pastry chef in Paris once told me there would be days like this. So, in these cases, you can always make trifles. In my case I made parfaits—a couple of spoonfuls of custard, a broken lump of cake or two, strawberries, and repeat ‘till you reach the top of the glass leaving room for whipped cream. Since this cake can be a bit temperamental and if you have a fear of failure, replace the whole cake recipe with a boxed version of yellow cake mix… replace the called-out oil with melted butter. ChefSecret: Try making different fruit fillings using other berries and ripe stone fruit. Just follow the same direction above. #Dessert #Strawberry #CustardCake #StrawberryShortcake #Baking #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 |
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