Friday, June 17, 2011

June 17, 2011

The first full week of summer break. Camp, relaxing, time with friends...does it get any better than this? Well, hopefully it will warm up a bit so we can hit the pool, but other than that, it was a great week!

On the recipe front, not quite as great. We tried a few different recipes, and all the recipe clippings were destined for the recycle bin except one: angel food cake! I love angel food cake, and have had this recipe in my binder for years. Not only did I try the traditional version, but, you know me...I had to make the alternate chocolate vanilla marbled version as well! Both were very good, but I am a traditionalist at heart, and LOVED the original version. I made some raspberry sauce to serve with it, so at the last minute, on Thursday, the tally went from 0 keepers to 3! The raspberry sauce was delicious, came together quickly, and would go great over all different desserts including ice cream and brownies. Tonight I might try it over a serving of Frozen Chocolate Mousse. When I made the angel food cakes, I ended up with 24 egg yolks left over, so I have been trying to think of how to use them. Growing up my mom used to make frozen chocolate mousse, and it is so good, and it only calls for egg yolks, so I made a double batch of that today. However, that didn't use up all the yolks. In the queue for tomorrow I am thinking about a sugar cookie recipe that calls for an extra yolk, a lemon poppy seed cake (though I might do them as muffins) that calls for 8 yolks, or maybe a homemade ice cream that begins with a rich custard (needs yolks). So, the yolks won't go to waste, but my waistline might be in trouble!

Since there weren't any good dinner recipes that passed the test this week, I've included here a slow cooker chicken dinner we love. It is named for the family that had it the very first time I made it, so of course, we always talk about them when we eat this meal. (You know they are close friends when you are willing to try out a new recipe on them!).

New Recipes
Traditional Angel Food Cake
Vanilla Chocolate Marbled Angel Food Cake
Raspberry Sauce

Tried and True Recipe

Fedders Chicken

Angel Food Cake




Ingredients
* 12 large egg whites
* 1 1/2 tsp cream or tartar
* 1/4 tsp salt
* 1 1/3 cups superfine sugar
* 1 tsp vanilla
* 1 cup cake flour

Directions
1. Heat oven to 350 F
2. Bring the egg whites to room temperature in your mixing bowl. When brought up to temperature, add the cream of tartar and salt.
3. Beat the egg mixture until frothy. Gradually beat in the sugar one tablespoon at a time over about 7 minutes. The whites should be stiff with glossy peaks. Add in the vanilla extract.
4. Fold in the flour, being careful to not deflate the egg whites too much. Ensure the flour is fully incorporated. Spoon the batter into an un-greased tube pan.
5. Bake at 350 F for 35 to 40 minutes. The cake should be very high and cracked and golden on top. Remove from the oven and invert to cool completely.
6. To remove, run a knife around the edge and gently let the cake fall out of the pan.

Notes
A tube pan is not a bundt pan. Also, a wine bottle works perfectly for inverting the cake to cool.

Vanilla Chocolate Marbled Angel Food Cake




Ingredients
* 12 large egg whites
* 1 1/2 tsp cream or tartar
* 1/4 tsp salt
* 1 1/3 cups superfine sugar
* 1 tsp vanilla
* 3/4 cup cake flour, divided
* 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

Directions
1. Heat oven to 350 F
2. Bring the egg whites to room temperature in your mixing bowl. When brought up to temperature, add the cream of tartar and salt.
3. Beat the egg mixture until frothy. Gradually beat in the sugar one tablespoon at a time over about 7 minutes. The whites should be stiff with glossy peaks. Add in the vanilla extract.
4. Put half the egg whites mixture into a separate bowl. In one bowl, fold in 1/2 cup of flour, being careful to not deflate the egg whites too much. Ensure the flour is fully incorporated.
5. In the other half, add the remaining 1/4 cup of flour. Sift the cocoa powder directly onto the mixture. Fold the flour and cocoa into the egg whites, again trying not to deflate the egg whites too much. Ensure the flour and cocoa are fully incorporated.
6. Spoon alternating batters into an un-greased tube pan. Swirl the batters together with a knife to create the marbled effect.
7. Bake at 350 F for 35 to 40 minutes. The cake should be very high and cracked and golden on top. Remove from the oven and invert to cool completely.
8. To remove, run a knife around the edge and gently let the cake fall out of the pan.

Notes
A tube pan is not a bundt pan. Also, a wine bottle works perfectly for inverting the cake to cool.

Raspberry Sauce




Ingredients

* 2 pints raspberries
* 1/4 cup sugar
* 1 half of a lemon

Directions

Combine raspberries, sugar and the juice of the half lemon in a saucepan. Cook until raspberries are broken down, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and strain through a chinois (fine mesh strainer) to eliminate seeds. Serve warm or cold.

Notes:
I run my sauce through a funnel and store it in a condiment squeeze bottle. This makes it easy to use.

Fedders Chicken




Ingredients

* 8 slices bacon, finely chopped
* 6 chicken breast halves ( 10-12 oz. each or 12 thighs at 6-8 oz. each)
* salt and pepper
* 1 1/4 lbs mushrooms, quartered (we use button, but use whatever you like)
* 1 red onions, chopped
* 4 tbsp minced garlic
* 1 1/2 cups dry white wine
* 2 tablespoons tomato paste
* 14 1/2 ounces diced tomatoes, drained
* 2 cups low sodium chicken broth (divided)
* 1 tsp dried thyme
* 3 bay leaves
* 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
* 1/4 cup flour
* 1/4 cup fresh parsley, minced (optional)

Directions

1. Cook bacon over medium heat until crisp, about 8 minutes. Add bacon to the slow cooker. Reserve the bacon fat separately. You should have at least 2 T. If not, use vegetable oil for the missing fat.
2. Dry chicken with paper towels. Season with salt and pepper. Add 2 t. bacon fat to the skillet. Heat over medium-high heat until just smoking. Brown half of the chicken on both sides, about 10 minutes total, turning after the first 5 minutes. Put in the slow cooker. Return the skillet to medium high heat and repeat with 2 more teaspoons of fat and the rest of the chicken. Discard any fat left in the skillet.
3. Add the remaining 2 t. fat to the now empty skillet. Heat over medium heat until shimmering. Add mushrooms, red onion and 1/4 teaspoons salt. Cook until mushroom are brown, 10-15 minutes. Stir in the garlic. Cook for 15 seconds. Stir in wine and tomato paste, scraping up any browned bits. Simmer until the wine has reduced by half, about 5 minutes. Put in slow cooker.
4. Add tomatoes, 1.5 cups broth, thyme, bay leaves and red pepper flakes to slow cooker. Cover and cook on low until chicken is tender, about 4 hours.
5. Transfer chicken to large serving dish. Tent loosely with foil.
6. Discard bay leaves. Set the slow cooker to high. Whisk flour with remaining 1/2 cup broth until smooth. Stir into slow cooker. Cover and continue to cook until sauce is thickened and no longer tastes of flour, 15 to 30 minutes longer.
7. If desired, stir in parsley. Season with salt and pepper. Spoon vegetables and some of the sauce over the chicken. Serve, passing the remaining sauce separately.

Notes:
Frozen bacon is very easy to chop. Keep some bacon in your freezer for recipes.
We serve this over egg noodles.
Very rarely does a recipe call for a whole can of tomato paste. I dollop it in tablespoonfuls onto wax paper and freeze for future recipes.