A Sunday With Free Time

The Sunday before last, I was left with too much time on my hands. In the wake of septum surgery a little over a month ago, this has happened more often than ever before. On one hand, I still have occasional attacks of exhaustion, and, on the other, when my nose isn't hurting, I grow restless. As happens occasionally, my boyfriend (we'll call him G) was working until the early evening. So, I decided to hang around with his dog, Winnie, for the day. (Without oversight, Winnie is apt to, herself, become bored and heed her fascination for ripping the stuffing out of throw pillows.)

With that much time and actual energy on my hands, I decided to do what so often comes to mind; cooking.

G's roommate, E, is allergic to dairy products. However, he is not lactose intollerant. Instead, E is attempting to avoid surgery similar to what I had. After numerous sinus infections, he figured out that dairy makes his nose become stuffy, and create another sinus infection. Cooking where E is concerned, then, becomes an interesting problem for me because, in my heart of hearts, I LOVE dairy products. Butter, cheese, cream, and even the lovely, thick, cream-laden Greek yogurt, are all amongst my favorite things, and bacon, of course, but at least that isn't dairy, and that is a story for another day. Yes, I know that saturated fat is a favorite villain of nutritionists the world over, but I don't care. Just as some people like the color orange more than yellow, I will never stop loving butter. I just can't. Yet, I must admit that there are foods I enjoy making and eating which do not contain dairy. In fact, in really considering it, cooking without butter or cream is really a challenge. I mean, quite often, all one really has to do to finish something is add a little cream or butter to make something go from fairly delicious to utterly delightful!

In considering cooking options for a Sunday with the luxury of time, but without the ease of dairy products, I lit upon the idea of an Itallian supper. With the proper menu, I could make food fitting all of the freshness of the season that would still allow for red wine to be consumed, without harming the flavors that had been labored over during the cooking process. Thusly, I lit upon the following menu:

freshly-baked focaccia with sage

tuscan peppercorn-crusted chicken

fresh pasta with balsamic-braised mustard greens, red pepper and caramelized onions

For the first two recipies, I followed recipies from epicurious and, for the last, I just made it up as I went along.

First, for the focaccia, I decided to really go out on a limb and make it myself. No, it isn't that I don't bake. I bake fairly often (although more in the winter), but when I bake I DO NOT USE YEAST. Even though one of the few times my mother could be bothered to bake when I was growing up was to bake bread, I always found myself slightly frustrated and ultimately agog by yeast. Commercial yeast, I've heard, is far easier to deal with. Yet, even that seems strange. Though, there I was, with time on my hands. So, I thought, "why not?" Also, if it didn't work, the menu did not necessarily need another starch anyway. Sadly, the weather was incredibly humid. The air was so moisture-laden that at least another half cup of flour was needed. As a result, I was concerned that the bread would be dry or leaden. More so, I was afraid that it might not even rise properly. Hearteningly, the bread gratifyingly rose around the dimples and sage on its skin, and obligingly became golden and redolent in the overn. In the end, the focaccia wasn't bad, but was a bit yeasty, and I think that the recipie still needs tweaking and I need practice with yeast-based breads. So, I'll continue to practice and when I find a recipie I like, I'll post it.

The chicken recipie is wonderful because its massive flavors are perfect with a big, red, peppery wine, like a zinfandel. Also, during the summer, chicken is apt to stray either into the realm of the sauced or simply roasted. With the former, the flavors are apt to be more along the lines of barbeque sauce. As for the latter, though lovely, I still yearn for red wine. Because of these reasons and the sheer simplicity of the cooking method, this dish has become one of the recipies that has entered a frequent place in my cooking lexicon.

When I first read this recipie, all of the other recipies I had for roasting chicken in the oven advocated far lower cooking temperatures. However, all of the reviewers on epicurious where effusive in their praise. So, I decided to give it a shot. The result was a revelation. Crispy, but not burned, sweet, and perfectly cooked, the chicken was one of the most succulent I had ever cooked. Later, when I read Thomas Keller's Bouchon cookbook, I thought of this recipie when I read his roasted chicken recipie. According to Keller, chicken cooked at lower temperatures is far more apt to steam. The steaming then fails to produce the appropriate skin texture and makes the meat texture tougher.

Also, cracking this much pepper can be a bit of pain. My solution is to use my one-handed pepper grinder. Words cannot begin to describe how much I love this device. Prior to acquiring it, I was ever frustrated by the necessity of using two hands when using my pepper grinder. For salads, this state of affairs rarely bothered me. Yet, when I was cooking, I would be frustrated that I would have to put my spoon down, wash my hands, grab the grinder, hope my hands were dry enough and then go back to my dish. This doesn't sound like much, but the freedom given by the departure of an irritating gnat is freedom none the less. Thusly, my solution is to grab one of those 1/2 cup ramekins, my pepper grinder and plop myself in front of the television. One's significant other, helpful family member or friend can also come in handy for this. In the end, I've not only created the ingredient I require, but added to my hand strength as well!

PEPPERCORN-CRUSTED CHICKEN

Ingredients:

1- 3-4 lb. chicken (or, one can use pieces)
2 tbls. olive oil
1/2 c cracked peppercorns
2 generous tablespoons of large-grained sea salt or kosher salt

Directions:
1. Either cut your chicken into quarters or pieces. Rub the chicken with the olive oil. You certainly can use a brush, but I far more enjoy rubbing the olive oil into the nooks and crannies of the pieces (I just wash my hands a lot).
2. Generously sprinkle half of the of the cracked pepper over the first side of the chicken. As an alternative, you can also pour the peppercorns into a pie pan or plate and roll the chicken in it. Then, sprinkle 1 tbls. of the salt over the chicken.
3. Flip the chicken over and repeat step three for that side.
4. Let the chicken marinate for around an hour (or more).
5. Preheat your oven to 500 degrees F.
6. Roast the chicken for an hour, turning every 15 minutes.

FRESH PASTA WITH BALSAMIC-GLAZED MUSTARD GREENS, ONION & RED PEPPERS

Ingredients:

2 tsp. large-grained salt
2 medium yellow onions, sliced
4 cloves garlic, sliced
2 tbls. olive oil
1 red bell pepper, cut into strips
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 bunch mustard greens
1 tbls. balsamic vinegar
2 lbs. fresh fettucine

parmesean cheese & black pepper, to taste

1. Set your pasta water to boil and add one 1 tsp of salt to it.
2. Wash and dry the mustard greens thoroughly.
3. Slice the onions lengthwise. (the idea is to have strips of slightly caramelized onion whose shape mimics the the lengthwise nature of the pasta shape).
4. Set your pan to heat on medium high heat.
5. Slice the garlic lengthwise ONLY; either a paring knife, chef's knife, mandolin or japanese v-slicer can be used for this. (do not mince or make spears)
6. Core, deseed and slice the bell pepper into strips.
7. Add one tbls. of the olive oil to the hot pan. Then, add the onions.
8. Allow the onions to cook, stirring every five minutes. When the onion begins to become slightly brown, add 1 tsp of salt. Stir salt in and allow onions to cook for five more minutes.
9. Switch the heat on the pan to it's second highest setting, if you have gas, or its highest setting, if you have electric. Add the pepper strips to the pan and cook until the pepper strips become slightly limp. Then, take the onion & pepper out of the pan and set aside.
10. Then, add one tbls. olive oil to the pan with the pepper flakes. Allow the pepper flakes to sizzle in the oil for around three minutes or until fragrant. After that, add the garlic; cook for one minute, and add the mustard greens.
11. Stir the mustard constantly, from the bottom up, util their bulk begins to reduce. Then, add the onion-pepper mixture back into the pan and stir the contents of the pan a few times, until they become tangled together. Once they are tangled together, add the balsamic vinegar, and stir the contents a few times to coat the contents. Then, turn the heat to low.
12. Add the pasta to the boiling water. The fresh pasta should cook within just a few minutes! As soon as it ceases to be clump, stir the pasta and drain it.
13. Add the pasta back into the pan on low. Integrate the contents of the pan with the pasta, turn the heat off and serve with the pepper and cheese on the side, to taste! (by keeping the heat on, the pasta will have a few slightly seared spots that will have a marshmallow-like texture--quite lovely)