Awesome chicken in tomato sauce over polenta

Have you ever had polenta?  Have you ever seen that log of polenta at the store?  I enjoy polenta, it’s basically corn meal and liquid – and it’s a great alternative to mashed potatoes or rice.  You can put pretty much anything over it and it’s delicious.  I was introduced to polenta by my lovely wife, and we would buy the log that you slice up and heat on stove with liquid until it’s a mashed potato consistency.  Then I decided to try to make my own from scratch, and it’s really not a hard thing to do.  You have to buy Masa Harina (it’s corn meal – don’t get all freaked out by the fancy name).  Then you bring water / stock to a boil add the Masa Harina and stir for about 30 minutes until it’s the texture you want.  If it runs out of liquid before the texture is right, add more.  It’s relatively forgiving when making it and if you’re a decent  multi-tasker, then it shouldn’t be hard to cook other things and stir the polenta every minute.  If you don’t stir the polenta frequently enough – you’ll end up with clumpy polenta – and I’m not going to lie – that’s gonna suck.  But after you’ve made fresh polenta a couple of times – it’s really easy and cheap – masa harina isn’t expensive – especially when compared the cost of the polenta log at the store.

Polenta Anyone

The secrets of the universe can best be defined by this picture:

I love beans.  That’s both a blessing a curse.  Blessing for me, sometimes not so much of a blessing for those around me, .  But it costs like 1.29 – 1.79 per can, which is really about 1-2 cups of beans.  If you’re on a budget and you notice that you can buy a small bag of beans for like 79 – 99 cents, you might want to adventure off and cook your own beans.  So I went ahead and did that.  My mother had always made black beans from the dry bean and cooking those little suckers down until they softened up.  I tried a couple of times and was hovering over the beans to see if the were softened yet.  That is not what the bean experience is about.  If you want to cook a bag of beans, which amounts to probably 8-9 cups of beans – then like making your own chicken broth, pick a day where you’ll be in and around the house for a few hours (it’ll take between 2-4 hours).  Here’s what you do.  First wash the beans and pick out anything that doesn’t look quite right – including rocks.  I haven’t actually found rocks in my beans, but I’ve read in enough places to check for them – which means some unfortunate cracked tooth people are out there that learned that lesson the hard way.  After rinsing them, place them in a stock pot and add enough water so that you have 4 inches of water above the beans.  Bring to a boil, reduce to a fast simmer and stir very occasionally.  In about 2 hours you’ll want to start checking for softness.  If you taste it and wonder if it’s soft enough – it’s not soft enough.  You shouldn’t have to wonder if it’s soft enough.  When a bean is done, it’s soft to your bite and there is nothing crunch in it.  The length of time it takes to cook the bean will vary depending on the type of bean – but usually it’s between 2-4 hours.  That’s it.  Then keep the beans you want to use in the refrigerator, and freeze the rest.

What do you like to do with beans?

I’ve made beans many different ways.  There’s the soak overnight method (leave beans in a bowl of water for 24 hours before cooking).  There’s the bring to boil, turn heat off and let sit for 6-12 hours before cooking.  I’ve added seaweed to it, and onion to it while cooking.  The truth is that I’ve never noticed a difference.  The times that beans haven’t turned out well have been when I cooked them at a low simmer and not long enough – or when I cooked them almost at a boil and then parts are crunchy and it doesn’t really work itself out.

Sausage Chili using cooked dried beans and homemade chicken broth

If you do make beans and they are not quite as soft as you wanted, you can always put them in a blender with some spices (garlic, tomato, salt, pepper, hot peppers, and cheese) then blend them up and stick them in the microwave to heat them up.  Voila you have a dip and blending it up got rid of the consistency.

You can also cook them and then place them in Tupperware or a mason jar with the liquid they cooked in and let it sit overnight – that will help to soften them up more.

I made kidney and black beans the other day (I cooked them in separate stock pots because the kidney beans cook faster than the black beans) and made a tasty sausage by sauteing one and half cups onions and two large bell peppers.  Let those soften up, then I added a head of garlic that I had roughly chopped.  Cooked that up for a minute, then I added 2-3 cups of the mixed beans (kidney and black), as well as spices (salt, pepper, paprika, dried chipotle powder, chili powder, some smoked cumin), a cup of homemade broth and a can of whole tomatoes (crush the tomatoes in hand, or blend – but break them up), some sausage that I had left over from the night before, and some chicken that I had left over from the night before.  I didn’t put in any spicy pepper (except for the chipotle powder), just in case my daughter got a wild hair and wanted some (which is rare – but it happens).  Cooked that for about an hour at a medium simmer.  It was a delight to eat topped with some shredded cheddar cheese.

My daughter loves turkey and cheese sandwiches and of course chips to go with it.  Don’t dare to put a tomato, or lettuce, or anything besides turkey and cheese on that sandwich – for fear that she will either throw it at me, or just look at you like you have mortally wounded her and give me the, “Dad don’t you even know me” look.  So yesterday, because of the fact that she had a hamburger and fries the night before and she was requesting a turkey and cheese sandwich, I decided to try to trick her.  I thought that I could be smart and camouflage something good for her in the sandwich that she wouldn’t even notice.

So I took 1 little slice of tomato and 1 little slice of avocado and some salt and blended it up.  Then I mixed it with some mayonnaise and tasted it – it was good – surprisingly good.  So I applied the smallest amount of this on one of the slices of bread, and used mayonnaise on the other.  Then I forced the cheese onto the veggie spread side, so she couldn’t see it and would have a hard time to pull the cheese off of it.  Then I finished the sandwich and cut it into small little sandwich rectangles like she likes it.  You couldn’t see what I had done and I was so proud.  We sit down to eat lunch and five minutes in I see that she’s only eating her potato chips – hmm.  So I start making noises to show how delicious my sandwich is.  It worked, she picked up one of the sandwich pieces and it’s going up to her mouth, her mouths open, and her nostrils flared followed by the infamous words, “yuck – i dont like”.  I basically lie (on occasion I’ll lie for good reasons.., and sometimes not) and tell her it’s just a turkey cheese sandwich.  I continue eating and don’t pay attention to her (she seems to do better without someone staring her down while she eats), and eventually I look up at her plate to realize that she has painstakingly eaten everything except for the bread with the veggie spread on it.  So I guess the lesson here is, she’s starting to get too smart for me to trick her – which probably means that she’s smart enough to be tricking me – which means she’s really smart or …

Please share your stories about those little picky eaters.

Scoop the fat off the top – and you have an amazing broth

If you make a lot of soups, or you enjoy using broth to cook with – you most likely are using some chicken bouillon or store bought chicken broth.  I had stopped using chicken broth awhile ago because of the fact that 99% of them contain MSG (it’s so funny that MSG is still used in foods, considering that over 20 years ago it was a big issue that MSG was carcinogenic, and guess what – it still is.  Of course it’s not really surprising, since almost every gum out there contains phenylalanine and if you want to learn a little more about that, here you go: http://www.familymatters.tv/level_4/health/aspartame.htm).

In any event blah blah blah, back to broth.  So I was using chicken bouillon up until two months ago, thinking that it was so much better than broth because it didn’t have MSG – although it does always have a distinctive sort-of chicken like salty taste.  Then I was reading an article in “Better Homes and Gardens” about the MSG controversy and besides talking about how bad it was, they mentioned that savvy business owners are now using many different names for MSG.  So even though the label says, “No MSG” – the food you’re buying could still be using MSG – just in a slightly different form – but with all the same sweet-ass benefits (cancer, allergies, stomach issues… here’s more info on that: http://www.truthinlabeling.org/hiddensources.html ).

Alright so back to what I was going to write about.  So, having a little two and half year old at home – and wanting to keep her as healthy as I can – I needed a new solution.  I started reading about making broths and how the difference between a tasty soul-satisfying soup really boils down to the broth.  In soup kitchens and restaurants across the world – from the lower class citizens to the higher class citizens – there are old men and ladies stirring pots of broths all day long.  And the end result of their hard work – is a delicious amazing base to soups and foods that require broth and request flavors.  So I decided to start making my own chicken broth.  First time, no lie – it was a pain in the ass and it didn’t live up to everything I read.  I followed a recipe online – bought a roaster (no broth injected – trying to avoid the MSG), chopped it up, dumped it in a pain – filled it with water, brought it to a boil, reduced to a simmer and let it simmer for 8-10 hours.  What I ended up with was a one-tone broth.

So without reading recipes I started to jazz it up a little bit.  Next attempt I added a couple roughly chopped carrots and celery stalks.  It was better.  Then I read about adding a tablespoon of vinegar (I use apple cider vinegar) in order to draw out the marrow from the chicken.  I know it’s gross to think about, but the real bang for your buck with home made broth is the healthiness of it.  By slowly simmering the chicken and adding the vinegar – you’re drawing out a whole lot of good nutritious elements that you don’t get in store bought broth.  So in any event I made my second broth and it was better, but still missing a few flavorful notes.

The next time I made broth, I added the carrot, celery, vinegar, a whole clove of garlic washed with the top nub chopped off and the cloves halved, and a whole onion washed and with the top nub chopped off and the onion roughly chopped.  Why with the peel you say, because it has a whole lot of flavor and nutrition.  Besides, we’re straining it at the end – so it’s not like you’re going to be eating the peel.  And how did this last batch of broth turn out – freaking amazing.  I didn’t tell the family that I had it and I made a chicken soup with it – by far the best soup I had made so far.

After you’ve simmered the broth, take it off the heat and let it cool for an hour.  Then use a colander and strain out all the liquid.  Put the liquid into a tall storage device (I use big mason jars), and let it sit in the refrigerator over night.  In the morning all of the fat will have risen to the top and you can either remove it with a spoon (it’ll be hard – so it’s easy to get out) and throw it out.  Or use it in place of butter or oil next time you cook.  When you make it, you’ll have about 24 cups of broth – so you can freeze it or keep it in the refrigerator. If you keep it in the refrigerator, it will last four days.  On the fourth day, put it in a pan and bring it to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes – then you’ll have another 4 days.

When you have the time, home-made broths are really great and really elevate whatever you’re making.  It being healthy is just an added benefit, and also getting about 24 cups out of one 5-6 pound chicken roaster (about 5-7 bucks) – is great on your budget.

I love how easy it is to make fresh salsa, and for some reasons salsa’s intimidated me for a long time and I avoided making them even though I loved them.  So one day I decided to just give it a go, and this is what I came up with and love and haven’t really changed too much – with the exception of the amount of heat I add to it.  In a bowl add 3 cups chopped tomatoes, 1 cup minced onion (red or white), 1 bunch of cilantro chopped, 3-5 tbs salt (you’ll want to do this to taste – but the salt draws the flavor out of the tomatoes, so it’s important), 2 tsp of ground pepper, 1/2 lime juiced, pepper minced (serrano, or jalapeno, or habanero – depending on the type of heat you like.  Also with or without seeds and veins – depending on how much you like to block out what tomorrow’s going to feel like), 2 tbs. white vinegar.  Stir it up and let it sit in the refrigerator for an hour or so, so all the flavors can mix together.

Another sauce I love, and I’m sure there’s a name for it, but I just created it and will find out what it is later.  Put the following in a blender.  Bunch of cilantro roughly chopped, 1/2 cup onion, 4-5 cloves garlic peeled, 1/2 lime juice, 1 tsp vinegar, pinch salt and pepper, couple of tomatillos (you can parboil them to soften them up if you want, I’ve done it both ways and like it both ways – fresh and softened), 1/2 cup olive oil.  Start blending and add additional olive oil until the sauce will drip freely off of a spoon.  You want a sauce, not sludge.  I love this for dipping any meats in.  I made a pork loin last week with a mustard and thyme rub – it was great.  The next day I dipped it in this cilantro sauce – and it was amazing.

I love salsa and would love to hear your own recipes.

One night while craving mashed potatoes and too lazy to go to the store to pick up Russets, I decided to try the bag of salt potatoes that I had (which I bought for 2 bucks – same price as 1 Russet potato).  So I rinsed and boiled the salt potatoes for about 15-20 minutes – until tender to fork stab.  I drained the potatoes, and put them back in the pan.  Then I put a whole stick of butter on top and let the butter soften up some.  Added some salt and pepper and mashed them (skin and all – eat the skin – that’s where all the nutrition is).  They were the silkiest softest most welcoming mashed potatoes my belly ever had the privilege of meeting.   There was no need for milk, they were absolutely creamy all by themselves and with the help of the butter.  FYI – I probably had about 12-13 salt potatoes to one stick of butter.