Tag: food

Chicken Pot Nummie

ImageNight 2 of Culinary Boot Camp at Asphalt Green in Battery Park City.  We’ll be using our knife and roasting skills from last week and adding some new techniques: making sauce, sectioning a chicken, making stock, blanching veggies and drinking wine (oh, wait, we have that skill perfected already). Tonight’s class we’ll be making Chicken Pot Pies from scratch, or as my son call is Chicken Pot Nummie. Kids love it, adults love it, cats love it – what can I say, it’s the perfect dish.

This is the recipe from which we’ll be working. Any questions, please ask! I’ll be adding our class pictures to this post tomorrow.

Recipe Yield: 4 servings

Ingredient

Amount
Whole Chicken 1
Olive oil 3 tablespoons
Kosher or sea salt To taste
Black pepper To taste
Homemade Chicken Stock 5 cups
Unsalted Butter 12 tablespoons (1 ½ sticks)
Yellow Onions, chopped 2 medium
All purpose flour ¾ cups
Heavy Cream ¼ cup
Carrots 2 large
Fresh or Frozen Peas 2 cups
Fresh Parsley 3 stalks
Fresh Thyme 3 stalks
Pastry Dough 1 recipe

EQUIPMENT NEEDED FOR RECIPE:

4 aluminum containers per person (small/round) Chef knife Boning knife
Large boiling pot Roasting pan or baking sheet Aluminum foil
Saucepan x 2

Recipe Instructions:   

  1. Break down chicken (set legs aside for frying/left over carcass should be used for stock). Drizzle olive oil and season chicken breasts and roast with skin and bone in a 350 degree oven on a baking sheet for 30 minutes or until cooked through.
  2. Heat up chicken stock in a saucepan.
  3. While chicken is cooking, prep vegetables. Dice carrots, dice onions. Blanche carrots, set aside.
  4. When chicken breast is finished, remove skin and bone; dice
  5. In a heavy bottomed sauce pan, melt the butter and sweat the onions. Add the flour and make a roux. Slowly add chicken stock, mixing until thickened.  Season and add cream. Add chicken cubes, vegetables and herbs. Mix well.
  6. Increase oven temperature to 375 F.
  7. Divide the filling into 4 oven proof containers.  Divide the dough into quarters and roll each into an 8 inch circle. Mix egg with a little water and put egg wash on outsides of each circle. Place the dough over the filling/containers, pressing the egg side down onto the outside of the containers. Brush dough with egg wash, sprinkle with s/p and make 3 slits in top of each. Place on baking sheet and bake for 1 hour or until top is golden brown and filling is bubbling hot.

Note: You can make your own pastry dough, or purchase one from the store. If you like a fluffier crust, purchase puff pastry dough instead. You will still use the egg wash to stick the dough to the top of the ramekins.

xo

lb

Dice for your Dinner

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My students dicing their veggies….

My Culinary Boot Camp students rock. We came, we chopped, we kicked butt – last night’s focus was knife skills, so the menu included Maple Roasted Root Vegetables, Red Snapper in Papillote, and a super simple Salmon Poached in the fume from the snapper. Oh, yes, and wine. Delicious wine (yes, we waited until AFTER they were done yielding their Wusthof’s).

Next week, we’re taking our chopping skills to the next level for a delicious Chicken and Veggie Pot Pie from scratch.
My challenge is to find a fabulous apron and clogs to don while we choppy chicken…any suggestions?

Many thanks to Asphalt Green Battery Park City!

 

Ice Cream Colored Kitchy Kitchen

In a world of Vikings and Wolfs, I think it’s time to bring in a more gentle species with a feminine flair. Enter Big Chill. I have always loved the hominess of 50’s-era kitchens and retro design of older appliances, but using one today would probably bring a private chef to tears. Big Chill has taken the modern commercial grade quality of Viking and merged it with the design aesthetic of Donna Reed – FABULOUS.

Big Chill Pink Fridge – Ice Maker is on the inside!
Big Chill in Action
Big Chill Beach Blue Range
Big Chill Yellow Dishwasher

Big Chill has a number of appliances to choose from – refrigerators, ranges, dishwashers and toaster ovens in any color of the rainbow. I prefer the pastel, ice cream flavor colors. Big Chill also offers different sizes: large appliances for the dream kitchen in the ‘burbs and smaller sets for the cutest of studio apartments. With refrigerators starting at $2995 and ranges starting at $4295, these are definitely not your grandmother’s appliances, but trust me, her bundt cake will turn out even better when baked in a baby blue oven!

xo

lb

4 Fabulous Flowers for Fashionable Food

When I’m cooking for clients, I’m challenged to garnish my food in a tasteful yet easy way. I found that flowers are just the touch. Finding edible flowers can be a challenge, but certain smaller gourmet stores carry them on a regular basis. When I cannot find the edible varieties, I use pretty non-edible flowers, stressing to diners to NOT include the flora on their forks.

The following are my top 4 favorites:

1. Violets

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I not only use these pretty pedals as garnish, but also as a salad component. They are slightly sweet, and delicate and are tasty when using soft greens like butter lettuce and a mild and sweet honey vinaigrette.

2. Herb Flowers

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Chives, thyme, garlic, rosemary and other herbs have flowers. They are not always the most ornate, but they do impart extra flavor and color. You can use them in any dish that normally calls for their greens. Be sure to taste them first, as they can be slightly off.

3. Snapdragons

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Not your typical eating-flower, as they are bland and can be bitter, however, they are beautiful. Most people probably won’t try eating them, but they really can gussy-up a plate.

4. Squash Flowers

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These are delicious and many times cooked and eaten as a specialty all on their own. Many chefs deep fry them, but I prefer to leave them pretty much as they are (maybe a quick sauté with butter and herbs). Be sure to remove the prickly green stems before you cook them! I learned this the hard way when I competed on Food Network’s Chopped….

xo

lb

Asphalt Green NYC and Me

I love chit-chatting.  I just found out that I can chatter my brains out starting September 9th. I am proud and excited to be one of a few lucky cooking instructors participating in the launch of a new culinary program at NYC’s famous Asphalt Green. I’ll be teaching their Culinary Boot Camp Series in September. Too bad I won’t be demo-ing my favorite knives….

Asphalt Green opened their new gorgeous campus in Battery Park City with a new culinary center. They have an amazing 25 yard lap pool, warm water exercise pool, full workout equipment and weights, wood floor gym, 156 seat theater, culinary center (woo hoo!) and 6 multipurpose classrooms. Members enjoy babysitting (this is amazing), youth, teen and adult oriented programs and access to all fitness centers, programs and classes (some have an additional fee). There’s no excuse not to exercise, except I don’t believe they have a barn and jumping ring….

AsphaltGreenPool
Their gorgeous new lap pool.

My class, Culinary Boot Camp, starts September 9th at 7pm. We’ll be working on basic cooking techniques and making delicious dishes that participants will cook themselves (everything is hands on). There is still some space left, so sign up. Only 14 per class.

The Battery Park City Asphalt Green's brand-new culinary kitchen
The Battery Park City Asphalt Green’s brand-new culinary kitchen

I took these pictures, please forgive my amateurish photography 🙂

Asphalt Green’s Mission:  “Asphalt Green is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to assisting individuals of all ages and backgrounds achieve health through a lifetime of sports and fitness. One of New York City’s most valuable resources, Asphalt Green is acknowledged for its unparalleled programs and expertise.”

xo

lb

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