Chicken Julia

This recipe goes back many years with us. In 1974 when we first moved to the California Central Coast, Julia Child had a T.V. show called "Julia Child's Kitchen." Larry and I started watching it and feel she was the first person to really get us started on the road to Mediterranean-style cooking.

One day Julia Child gave a quick demonstration of something that she liked but it had never made it to any of her cookbooks. It was something like this recipe. We didn't get all the directions but more or less got the main idea. It sounded so good!

That weekend, when Larry wasn't in grad school we tried making it. We did like it, though we weren't all that sure if it was like her version.

Over the many years since then, we've made it many times, and as we were more influenced by the Italian cooking- style, the recipe evolved with us.

This recipe is also a "safe bet" when you're unsure of your guests' personal taste preferences.

Now we'd like to share our recipe with you. Out of gratitude and respect we named our version, 'Chicken Julia."

Chicken "Julia" for Two

Ingredients.

2 Half Chicken Breasts
2 slices Low moisture Mozzarella Cheese
Dijon Style Mustard
1/2 cup All Purpose Flour in a bowl
1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 pound Fresh Tomatoes , peeled, de-seeded and coarsely chopped
2/3 cup Dry White Wine , a Sauvignon or Fume Blanc
2 Tablespoons Green Onions , chopped both green and white parts
2 Tablespoons Green Onions , green part thinly sliced for garnish
8 ounces Fresh Wild Mushrooms , Shitake, Oyster, sliced

Preparation

Place a chicken breast between to sheet of plastic wrap, or in a plastic bag, and with a mallet pound into a thin fillet about 1/4 inch thick. Pound the breast so that it will be roughly rectangular in shape when you are done.
You are going to roll up the breast, so look at the breast, and decide which end of the rectangle is the most narrow.
Place the 'rough side" of the chicken breast face up. Lightly salt and pepper the breast, then spread a thin layer of Dijon mustard on top. Next, place a slice of mozzarella cheese on top, toward the narrow end.
Starting at the narrow end, roll the chicken breast up into a log shape.
Salt and pepper the rolled breast, then gently roll the breast in the flour to lightly flour the breast. You can hold the roll closed with a toothpick if you like, but it usually isn't necessary.
Place the Olive oil in a frying pan and bring up to medium heat. When the oil is hot, place the chicken rolls into the pan and saute until golden. The rolls WILL leak - that's OK, the drippings will be part of the sauce. Remove the chicken rolls from the pan, and cover to keep warm.
If you have a lot of oil in the pan remove a little bit now, then place the chopped green onions and mushrooms into the pan. Saute until the mushrooms have lost all their liquid, and are slightly browned.
Over high heat add the white wine and de-glaze the pan. Reduce the wine while gently rocking the pan back and forth, until just a thick syrup remains.
Add the chopped tomatoes to the pan, and cook over medium heat until the tomatoes are broken down and reduced to a nice thick sauce.
To serve, place a good spoonful of sauce on a warm plate. Place a chicken roll on top of the sauce, then spoon a bit of the tomato sauce over the roll. Garnish with a bit of the reserved green onion and serve immediately.

Serving Suggestions
We like to serve this meal with brown rice on the side.

This dish pairs very well with a robust white Rhone-style wine such as a Roussanne or a Viognier. It also goes equally well with a robust Chardonnay

Susan McGourty is a resident and vineyard owner on the California Central Coast. A former restaurant owner and professional cook, she writes about food and cooking techniques and is the food and recipe editor for TheRomanticTable.Com. Her cooking and recipe blog is at http://theromantictable.com/cooking-with-sue.php

For more recipes, food and wine news and ideas, visit the TheRomanticTable.Com http://theromantictable.com - an online magazine about the wine and food of California's Central Coast, featuring wine reviews, California Central Coast recipes, food and wine news and culinary events from the California Central Coast.

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Top 10 Taco Recipes

Tacos - a celebrated authentic Mexican food served by street vendors and casual dining establishments alike - are easy to make at home. They can be made with a variety of meats and can be seasoned according to personal preference. The following are 10 top Mexican recipes that are sure to please.

10. Ground Beef Taco
It consists of browned ground beef seasoned with cumin, chili powder, paprika, garlic powder and salt. The beef is scooped into pre-made corn flour taco shells, such as those sold by Old El Paso. The seasoned beef is topped with diced onions, tomatoes and shredded Monterey Jack or Cheddar cheese.

Pan Fried Chicken

9. Chicken Taco
There are several Mexican recipes that can be used to make this taco. A common one involves sautéing shredded chicken with butter, onions and green chilli sauce. The hot mixture is laid on a soft flour tortilla laced with shredded cheese.

8. Double Layer Tacos
An improved version of the ground beef taco. The only difference is that a soft flour tortilla is covered in hot re-fried beans and shredded cheese and then wrapped around the Old El Paso pre-made taco shell.

7. Spicy Chicken Taco
A variation of the common chicken taco; it is fortified with extra spiciness via the addition of Jalapeño or Serrano chilli peppers.

6. Turkey Taco
It might be a stretch to call this authentic Mexican food, but no one will complain once they taste it. The ground turkey is seasoned with cumin, paprika, garlic powder and dried oregano.

5. Carne Asada Taco
This delicious preparation is a bit more time consuming and requires marinating skirt steak in lime juice, black pepper and garlic salt before the cooking takes place. The zesty steak is pan fried, sliced and placed in flour tortillas. The taco is topped with onions and tomatoes and then finished off with lime juice and cilantro.

4. Fish Taco
White fish, such as Cod or Halibut, is mixed with spices, lemon juice and a little oil before being cooked in a pan. The sauce can be made from sour cream and cilantro. The cooked fish mixture is bedded in cabbage and tomatoes within corn tortillas. The sauce and lime juice is spread on top.

3. Beef Steak Soft Taco
Made with chuck or shoulder steak, this taco is all about the beef. An overnight marinade in Italian dressing, cilantro and chilli pepper gives it its kick.

2. Grilled Salmon Taco
A fresh and original taco dish making use of black beans, Mexican corn, carrots and red onions. The salmon is rubbed with olive oil and spices and then promptly grilled. Can be garnished with lime and cilantro.

1. Grilled Shrimp Taco
Mexican recipes along the coast of Baja abound, but the best involve a rich garlic butter preparation and plenty of shredded cabbage and lime, the result is one of the tastiest taco recipes from Mexico.

Top 10 Taco Recipes

The article is written on the topic of the top 10 taco recipes, which includes a range of Mexican food ingredients such as taco shells, Mexican seasonings and your choice of meats and salads.

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Kozhikode Koyi Biriyani (Calicut Chicken Biryani)

Image : http://www.flickr.com

To celebrate this occasion, I found no better way other than posting this great Biryani from the Southern State of Kerala. Kozhikode Biryani, also known as Calicut Biryani, Thalasseri Biryani or Malabar Biryani is very popular in Kerala. This preparation differs from others in cooking, were Ghee (Clarified Butter) Is used in the cooking of rice to give this distinct aroma of Ghee. Nutmeg, mace, cloves, cinnamon and cashew nuts are used liberally in this preparation and are locally grown in Kerala.

Things You'll Need
Basmati Rice1 - 1 kg
Chicken Thigh2 - 1 kg
Onion - 500 gm
Tomato - 250 gm
Ginger - 3 inch root
Garlic - 2 bulbs3
Ghee (Clarified Butter) - 10 tsp
Coriander leaves - 1 bunch
Mint leaves - 1/4 bunch
Green Chilli - 5 nos (adjust to sensitivity)
Lime Juice of 2 Lemons
Cinnamon - 1 inch piece
Cardamom - 5 nos
Cloves - 5 nos
Cashew nuts - 25 nos
Raisins - 25 nos
Salt - to taste
Rose water - 3 tsp
Saffron - few strands
Water - 1700 ml

Garam Masala for Chicken:
Cinnamon - 2 inch piece
Cardamom - 5 nos
Cloves - 5 nos
Nutmeg - 1/4 piece
Mace - 1 whole
Fennel seeds - 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Black Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp

Garnish:
Eggs - 2 nos
Coriander Leaves - few strands

Golden Touch Mise en Place - [15 mins]

Clean and cut Chicken into bite size pieces.
Finely slice the Onions.
Chop Tomatoes.
Chop and crush green Chillies.
Wash and chop the Coriander and Mint leaves; store separately.
Make a very fine paste of Garlic and Ginger.
Dry roast for 4 mins and grind to a fine paste the Garam Masala.
Soak Saffron strands in 2 tbsp Milk.
Hard boil Eggs.

Golden Touch Preparation: [1 hour 25 mins]

Stage One: Frying the Onion
Heat 5 tbsp Ghee in a non-stick pan. Fry Onions till they are golden and crispy. Strain and remove the crispy Onions from the hot Ghee. Layer on a tissue paper to absorb the excess Ghee. These crispy Onions are known as Bista in Kozhikode (Calicut).

Stage Two: Chicken

Heat a non-stick pan and add Tomatoes. Saute for about 5 mins.
Add Ginger-Garlic paste, crushed green Chillies, and saut for 3 mins till the raw taste leaves and you can smell the fine aroma.
Add Chicken, Salt and 200ml Water, cover and bring to boil. Lower the flame and allow to cook on low flame for 20 mins. Stir occasionally.
Now add of the Bista, Garam Masala, Lemon Juice and of the chopped Coriander and Mint leaves, cover and leave for 2 mins.

Stage Three: Rice

Heat the left-over Ghee, fry the Rice for about 3 mins.
Boil 1500 ml Water in a large deep bottomed pan.
Add Salt, Cinnamon, Cardamom, Cloves and Rose Water to the boiling Water, stir in well, add the Rice and cook till the entire Water is absorbed in the Rice.

Stage Four: Layering & Garnish

In a about tsp Ghee and fry Cashew-nuts and Raisins for about 2 mins.
In a large deep-bottomed, non-stick pan, spread of the Chicken, topped by Rice, spread evenly of the fried Onion, Mint and Coriander Leaves, Raisins, Cashew-nuts and a few drops of Saffron Milk.
Repeat the above step.
Cover. Seal with Flour dough all-around to make it an air-tight container.
On very low flame cook for about 5 mins on fire.

Golden Touch Service:
Garnish with Coriander leaves and quartered boiled Eggs.
Serve hot with Dates Chutney and roasted Pappad (Poppadom)

NOTES:
1. Replace Basmati Rice with small grain Rice if available locally, this is used in traditional recipe. The Hindi word Basmati means fragrant, referring to the nutty flavour and aroma of this long grained Rice.
2. I prefer Chicken thigh as it has very high quality flesh when compared to the rest of the Chicken, plus it does not become rubbery like Chicken breast.
3. Bulb of Garlic usually contains between ten and twenty individual cloves of Garlic. When buying Garlic look for the smallest ones, that are firm with lot of dry papery covering. Avoid sprouting ones and ones that leave a dent when pressed with your thumb finger.

A very warm welcome to all!

Please feel free to visit me on http://www.chackoskitchen.blogspot.com for the detailed photographs.
Do please leave me your valuable comments.

Warm Regards
Abraham

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Easy Steps to Save Money at the Grocery Store

One of the key words in making this system work is "planning".  For some people, I realize that is a scary word, but it should not be.  Even the most unorganized person can develop this simple method and put it to use to save money grocery shopping.

Most people "plan" things every day.  Some people's plans are not as clear as others, but it is still a plan.  However you organize your daily and weekly activities will decide how you will incorporate this plan into your schedule.  For example, when my children were growing up, Sunday evening was the best time for me to plan my upcoming week, take an inventory, and then write my menu.  That's basically what this is all about.  It is not complicated, and it's not rocket science.  But it will require that you remain consistent.

Pan Fried Chicken

The first step to improvising this plan will require "taking an inventory".  You have to have a starting point and you have to understand and know what you already have on hand.  To begin, you should know you need to have what I call the basics:  simple spices, ketchup, mustard, eggs, milk, ect.  After using this method several weeks, you will establish your family's basic inventory.  The next step is developing a weekly menu.

Depending on your family's size and age, this menu will of course be different for everyone.  But the basic "system" remains the same.  Plan your menu, utilization of foods and being consistent.

In this article, I am going to illustrate one of the many menus I used when my children were in pre school and elementary school.  Busy lifestyles need simple solutions!  My basic inventory consisted of:

chicken (my family preferred breasts), but I would suggest whole chickens, ground beef, thin sliced pork chops and cube steak.  Each week I would post the menu on the refrigerator as a reminder and it also kept me focused on my goal. 

For example: 
Monday-spaghetti   
Tuesday-Tacos    
Wednesday-Oven Baked Chicken   
Thursday-Pan Fried Pork Chops   
Friday-pizza    
Saturday-Chicken in Cream Sauce  
Sunday-Country Fried Steak. 

In looking at the above menu, you will see we are using the same meats, but not every day.  Included in my weekly menu, I would always show what was being served with the main meal.  Spaghetti, salad, and french bread.      
 
Tacos and Spanish rice           
Oven Baked Chicken, green beans and rice   
Pan Fried Pork Chops with corn and peas    
Friday-pizza

Each week  using the same meats, I would change it up so we did not cringe each time spaghetti was listed, and have hamburgers and frys or manwhich- (both of these items use hamburger buns).  The secret is establishing a "base" or inventory which you can easily shop for each week.  This will eliminate the need to rush to the grocery store without a plan and it will reduce your dollars spent on food.  If you sit down and write out a menu each week, shop and buy only the items you need for your menu, and be consistent, you will save dollars.

Easy Steps to Save Money at the Grocery Store

I am a 52 year old female and live in the Southeast Alabama area. I have not written or published professionally. Please visit my blog and I will be happy to help you put this simple plan to work. I have also created "30 Minutes or Less Busy Mom's Recipes" http://mrsgs-magnificent-mannicotti.blogspot.com/

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