Hey, who are ya? H.R. Puffandstuff?



Sorry, Sorry...I meant to post a while back, but I have just been busy with my new exercise/life schedule.  I started doing yoga on non-lifting days and it seems to eat up a lot of time.  However, I like it quite a bit.  It's pretty intense.  I'm usually pretty drained by the end.  So, on to the food.  Last saturday at work, we made some prototypes with our new puff pastry recipe.  things turned out pretty well. (from left)  We made a cherry turnover, blue cheese and walnut crisp, I forgot how to spell this (sounds like pom-ee-ay), and apple basket thingy. as you can see they all have pretty technical names:)  they were pretty delicious.  we thought that the cinnamon was a little strong in the apple thing, but otherwise they were really good.  hopefully we can get a more permanent thing going with them.  The two dishes pictured here are the elk stew from last week and "chicken Madeline", a dish I came up with for our friends. the chicken dish is really tasty, recipe below.
ps. don't you think that the apple thing looks like a "luchador" mask?
Dish Recommends:
Cuisinart Chef's classic 12 in. skillet w/ helper handle.  www.cutleryandmore.com.  I use this thing a ton.  It's got perfect weight and really nice and even heating.  Mine has been going strong for about five years now.
Chicken Madeline: serves 4
1 pound boned and skinned chicken breasts
2 crowns broccoli, cut down into bite sized pieces
salt and peps
chicken broth/stock
couple splashes heavy cream
1 shallot diced small
1 clove garlic, thinly sliced
cut the breast meat in half lengthwise (like a butterfly cut, but go all the way through) and then into thirds (so you end up with naked chicken strip looking things).
season with salt and peps and then saute in olive oil until browned on both sides (but, not necessarily all the way done). remove from pan and set aside.  in the same pan, add a little more oil and then add your shallot and garlic, and let them just start to brown.  Add your broccoli and saute until starting to get really green.  add a couple of splashes of stock and then keep cooking until tender/crisp.  return the chicken to the pan, add a bit more stock and then the heavy cream. let reduce until thickened (about 4-5 min).  If you are having trouble thickening the sauce, you can always remove the chicken and broccoli with a slotted spoon and just have the liquid in the pan.  Sometimes I throw in some grated parm.  this dish is great with roasted tates, but would be equally good with pasta or rice.  have some friends over and enjoy.  food tastes better with friends. make them bring dessert.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

steve, I was in Denver last weekend for the Mountain Regional Barista Competition. Our judge's appreciation dinner was at this place: http://www.dbardesserts.com/
it was awesome! -tamara

Anonymous said...

On a related note: Indigo/Cultiva is now doing tastings and cuppings four times a week. Sunday and Monday at 10 am we are holding espresso tastings @Indigo. Tuesday and Thursday at 10am we are cupping at Cultiva. All are welcome to attend! go to cafeindigo.wordpress.com to get more info.