Recipes

Scones

Strawberry Cream Scones    

(from Joy the Baker and King Arthur Flour)

Makes about 20 to 24 small scones.

These simple scones have only a few ingredient. Measure  carefully. 

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 1/3 to 1 1/2 cups heavy cream plus more for brushing the top

3/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh strawberries

1/3 cup chopped white chocolate (optional)

turbinado sugar for topping

Place a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 425 degrees F.  Line a baking sheet with a Silpat or parchment paper and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar.  Set aside.

In a liquid measuring cup mix together vanilla extract and 1 1/3 cups cream. Drizzle the cream mixture into the dry ingredients tossing and stirring as you pour it in.  Add the strawberry and white chocolate chunks (if using).  Toss together.  Add 2 more tablespoons of cream if necessary to create a moist, cohesive, but not sticky dough.

Dump the dough onto a lightly floured work surface.  Gently gather and knead the dough into a dish and press the disk out into a 3/4″-thickness.

Use a small biscuit cutter to cut small 1 1/4-inch circles from the dough disk.  Brush each circle with heavy cream and sprinkle generously with turbinado sugar.

Place 1-inch apart on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 12 to 14 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through.

Remove from the oven and serve warm. 

Regarding Gravy

For some, gravy is one of the reasons to roast a chicken.  Our family of seven divides almost evenly on the gravy line.  Three won’t touch it, four of us require a spoon with any meal including gravy.

Making good gravy is a technique not a recipe.  Best gravies result from the drippings from a bird or meat to provide depth of flavor.

We try to get our birds from Vacchiano Farm.  Anthony and his extended family humanely raise chickens and turkeys at their Port Washington Farm and sell them frozen on Sundays at the Summit Farmers Market.

Start with a fresh, thawed bird. If you’re planning ahead, the chicken (cleaned and dried, inside and out) can be placed uncovered in the fridge for a day or so before you roast it, allowing  the skin to tighten, increasing its crispness.

At least two 1/2  hours before you want to serve:

Preheat oven to 450-475.  Position rack in center of the oven.

Salt the inside and outside of the chicken. Place several peeled cloves of garlic, half of a lemon in the cavity.  Stick in a handful of whatever herbs you have on hand in the cavity opening.  Thyme is our favorite.

Spread a roughly chopped onion or two, a chopped carrot if you are feeling energetic, and several peeled cloves of garlic in the bottom of a heavy duty roasting pan.  I am partial to my All Clad (but did have employee discount to offset the price tag).   Best Roasting Pan Reviews.  The pan needs to be sturdy for even roasting and gravy…

Fold back the wings, truss only if you are a traditionalist, I never do…and place your chicken on top of and surrounded  by the scattered vegetables.  Rub some soft butter on the chicken.  Place pan in oven.  Walk away.  In 15 minutes check that the vegetables are not burning (should be  browned but not black).  Add a little  water if needed.  Cook a bit more (5-15 min) until your kitchen has a glorious roasting chicken smell and the skin is golden.

Turn oven down to 325 and roast until legs are jiggly. Truthfully, we like our chicken well done and cook the chicken for another 90 minutes at least.  Personal taste and/or a meat thermometer dictate.

While the chicken is roasting, commission a helper (read child) to peel 5# of potatoes. Cube the peeled potatoes and cover completely with cold water.  If you have lots of peeled garlic cloves, add at least a handful to the water.  Salt water assertively (slightly salty taste) and bring to a boil.  Then simmer until tender. Drain well, place covered pot on burner over low heat for a few minutes to cook off the extra moisture. Mash with whatever  you have on hand (room temp cream cheese, buttermilk, creme freshe, or simply butter and milk).  Keep warm.

Remove the tops from a few bunches of carrots, peel leaving the tip of the green end. Cover with cold water and boil till tender. Season with sea salt and a little butter.

Prepare other vegetables as available:  green beans and corn are classic.

Remove the chicken from oven and let sit for a few minutes to allow the juices to run into the pan.  Carefully move the chicken to a platter, leaving the juices in the roasting pan, tent with foil and a tea towel to keep warm.

Now: the roux gravy.  A roux is a mixture of equal parts of oil, butter, or fat renderings and flour. The roux mixture is cooked at least three to five minutes to remove the raw flavor of the flour, then the liquid is added which thickens into the gravy. The roux method is least likely to produce lumpy gravy.

To make a roux gravy, the basic formula is 2 tablespoons fat, 2 tablespoons flour, and 1 cup of liquid to equal 1 cup of gravy.

Pour all the pan juices into a Fat Separator.  Fat will rise to the top. For two cups of gravy, skim off a quarter cup of the fat and put back in roasting pan (if you don’t have enough fat, add butter).  Over  medium high heat whisk in a quarter cup of white flour (Wondra Flour is great for gravy) and stir constantly for 3-5 minutes, until you can smell the flour roasting.

Then slowly add in the warm stock from the gravy separator. Additional  liquid used can be a strong broth, milk or heavy cream depending on how rich and decadent you want the finished product. (I always add a glug or two of heavy cream).  Don’t forget to include the browned pan vegetable bits, these add color and flavor

Continue adding liquid until your gravy is the consistency you want. If it needs thinning, just add a little more broth. Unless your meat was highly seasoned, you will generally need to add seasoning before finishing. As a general rule, one-half teaspoon of salt will be needed for each cup of liquid, but taste first. Keep in mind that the gravy will thicken upon standing.  Continue to add liquid and flavorings as needed.

Serve with the Roast Chicken, Mashed Potatoes and vegetables.

Shepard’s Pie

In our house, I usually make two chickens at a time and at least 4-6 cups of gravy as well as lots of mashed potatoes and vegetables.  After dinner, we strip the chickens (keep skin, bones etc for Chicken Stock Recipe). In a casserole pan combine bite size chicken pieces, vegetables (carrots, green beans, corn, zucchini…) with gravy.  Top mixture with mashed potatoes.  Sprinkle a little paprika on top for color.  Shepard’s Pie can be refrigerated for several days or frozen for a few months.  Bake at 375 until potatoes are golden brown and the chicken mixture is bubbly.

Chicken Noodle Soup

Heat a glug of olive oil in a stock pot.  Add 2-3 thinly sliced, peeled onions. Cook until golden.  Stir in 4-5  carrots (peeled, cut into small chunks), 2-3 stalks celery (thinly sliced on a diagonal).  Add in 2 quarts of homemade chicken stock, a bay leaf and bring to a boil. Taste broth, add S&P as needed. Drop in 4-6 ounces dry pappardelle noodles (we use Trader Joe’s (Traderjoes.com), broken in to about 2 inch pieces. Serve when noodles are cooked, 10 minutes or so.

Winter Chicken  (adapted from Mark Bittman, NYT The Minimalist)

In a large pot, melt a tablespoon of butter and same of olive oil.  When butter foams, add a 3-4# organic whole chicken, brown on all sides  (10 min or so a side). Sprinkle with salt & pepper each time you turn.

When nicely browned, remove chicken from the pot.  Cook several thinly sliced onions until golden. Add an assortment of winter vegetables as you desire.  For me, that’s a cup or two of brussels sprouts, 2-3 carrots, parsnips, celery, mushrooms, peas, several cubed potatoes (sweet or russet), and a small handful of peeled garlic cloves.  Stir the vegetables in with the onions, a few sprigs of favorite spices (thyme, tarragon), a bay leaf, and begin to soften.  After a few moments, add at least 2 cups of chicken stock and a cup or so of cream.  Bring to a boil, place chicken back in pot. Cover and cook at  bare simmer for about an hour, until the chicken is very tender.

Remove chicken and vegetables from the pot.  Reduce broth slightly.  When chicken has cooled a bit, cut into 8-10 parts.  Serve chicken and vegetables in the broth.  Garnish with parsley.

Serve with crusty bread, rice or noodles.  Salad on the side.

Pasta with Peas, Gruyere and Ham

4 oz Ham

2 oz grated Gruyere

8 – 12 oz Peas

I onion

Garlic

Chicken stock

1 lb Pasta

Finely chop the ham.  (We freeze 4 oz chunks from the remainders of our large hams. I chop the frozen chunks of ham in the Cuisinart).  Place in a heavy fry pan with a bit of olive oil on low/medium heat, and brown ham bits till crispy.  Stir often.  Takes about 15-20 minutes.

Plates 2

Meanwhile, melt a  tablespoon or so of butter and an equal amount of olive oil in a large sauté pan. Add chopped onion and garlic,  when translucent, add 2-4 cups chicken stock (depends how much sauce you prefer), bring to a boil and add frozen, rinsed petite peas (at least 8 oz, I usually add the whole bag).  Turn off the heat and set aside until pasta is ready.

Cook pasta in well salted water.  When al dente, retain a tea cup of the cooking water, drain pasta and immediately add pasta to the stock, peas, onion mixture.  Stir in ham and over a low heat for a minute, stir in the grated gruyere along with some of the retained cooking water.  Freshly ground pepper (if young children not consuming).