What's For Dinner? Chicken, Asparagus, Coleslaw....Really?

Chicken, cole slaw, asparagus...ingredients for dinner

Food shopping near a Food Holiday is a tricky venture; not only are you getting what you need for the festivities, you have to remember about the "regular" days as well.

I do my best...don't we all?!
But there's bound to be a bit of menu strangeness when juggling like that.

Tonight's menu is a pretty good example.  I've been concentrating on apples a lot lately; Jack's sister gave us a bunch from her wonderful apple tree, so I was knee deep in pies, breads, apple sauce cakes and so on.   This morning when I looked up at the clock it was 11 a.m.; when Jack came down to the kitchen and asked "What's for dinner?"  I noticed the time....4:35 p.m.

Hmmmmm. "Chicken," I replied, then looked in the fridge.  Fortunately I'd remembered to defrost the chicken.  "It won't take long."  Jack smiled, grabbed a glass of water then left me to the task at hand.

I'd been in the process of chopping apples when Jack asked that fateful question.  So I decided to use them in the meal.   A second cruise of the refrigerator secured the ingredients for the meal; the aforementioned chicken, a bag of pre-shredded cabbage and carrots (a/k/a a "cole slaw kit"), some asparagus, an onion, some orange juice....didn't sound like things I could combine into one dish.  So I opted for separates.

I rinsed the chicken then patted it dry.  Lucky for me it was a pack of skinless, boneless thighs...lots less work! Thank heavens for sales!   After that, I sprinkled a little low salt, pepper, dried onions and garlic powder on both sides of the chicken and placed it in a bowl.  Then I poured some orange juice over it and covered the bowl.  This sat for about fifteen minutes while I prepared the rest of the meal.

The asparagus was a no-brainer.  Hot water, steamer, seven minutes....done!
Jack likes his asparagus with a side of mayo, so I didn't have to make a fancy sauce or anything. Yay!

Waldorf Coleslaw - slaw with walnuts

Cole slaw?  Been there, done that.   But I wanted something a little more interesting, so I found some walnuts, chopped 'em up and added them, along with the chopped apples and raisins...kind of a Waldorf Cole Slaw.
It's always better to make your slaw ahead time and let the flavors mingle and mature.  Best scenario is the day before service, but 45 minutes will do in a pinch.  So that's what I did.

Chicken in the pan

Then it was time to take on the chicken. I drained the meat and let it sit on a wire rack then put some heat under a cast iron skillet, chopped then added onion and garlic.  After the onions started going transparent, I added the chicken and browned it for five minutes on each side.  After browning, I poured the orange juice over the chicken, covered and cooked it for an additional 3 minutes per side then removed the chicken to a plate while making a pan reduction.

Reductions really make the flavor happen!   It takes a little time, but is well worth the effort!

Once the juice is reduced, add the chicken to the pan and coat each piece with the reduction.  I drained the asparagus, put it in with the chicken, mixed everything around a little  then put the skillet with everything in it in the oven (at 350 degrees) for about 10 minutes more.  Then it was time for plating and service.

Orange chicken w/cranberry sauce, asparagus and slaw

And you know what?  It was pretty good!  The flavors seemed to compliment each other, even the slaw. Jack thought I'd been planning the meal all day.  And in a sense he was right....after all I did defrost the chicken!

So feel free to try this idea, feel free to share your recipes and ideas too! I look forward to hearing from you!
Enjoy!

Confidence Building and the Six Egg "Julia"

Trying to make an exceptional omelet is difficult enough.  Trying to make a true French Chef-type omelet is a fairly daunting task....trying to make it a la Julia Child is, well, humbling and exhilarating at the same time.

It all seems easy enough; whisk some eggs, throw 'em in the pan, let it rip.  Sure.  Ever had to dance with a skillet on a hot burner? That's kind of how it goes when  working with this dish. 

Beat eggs well

Once you've committed yourself to the deed, go at it full steam ahead....stick to it 'til the bitter end.  You'll be amazed with what can be accomplished with a little patience and a lot of elbow grease. 

First make sure your eggs are beaten well.  For this particular omelet, we don't want to capture a lot of air.  That would be essential for the "puffy" omelet, but for this one we just want to beat the eggs into a liquid state.

Surf's up!  See the curl forming?

After that, it's all in the pan action.  Get it hot, get the beaten eggs into it....wait a few moments, then start shaking the pan vigorously across the flame.  As the eggs solidify, you'll notice a "curl" developing along the far end of the pan. Kinda looks like you'd expect a surfer riding on the thing. That's good! Keep it up!

You'll notice the egg acting more like a crepe, moving as a unit around the rest of the pan. This is when I start adding ingredients...cheese first, then tomatoes and this time some pepperoni that had been heated earlier in a pan to cut down on the greasiness.  In fact I used a dab of the pepperoni grease to lubricate the omelet pan.

Omelet fold close-up

Once your omelet "innards" are added give the pan another shake, this time when you shove forward, lift the far side of the pan slightly toward you.  This will help develop the fold.  Sometimes you'll need to coax this folding with a spatula, sometimes you don't.

In some circles, using a spatula to help with the fold is considered a no-no, but I'll not go there.  It's breakfast, fer cryin' out loud!  I need more than one cup of coffee and a dry piece of toast before venturing that perfection!

Anyway, after the fold is completed I sometimes top the omelet with a little cheese before serving. The cheese's  tanginess especially nice with all that pepperoni!

Some people say you can't make anything less than a six egg omelet...that anything less will not turn out.  I disagree.  I've made "Julia" omelets with as many as 12 and as few as 2 eggs and they all turned out fine. They require the same steps and the same amount of attention to detail.

This dish is appropriate for not only breakfast but lunch and dinner too.  Once mastered, the omelet will become one of your "go to" dishes for quick, tasty, even a little impressive fare for family and company.
Enjoy!  And as always, you're invited to share ideas, recipes and thoughts anytime!

Coleslaw de tante

Is there any more sure-fire way to stimulate a conversation these days than to bring up politics?
You could be at a gathering of total strangers, and within three minutes of the topic's instigation you will be surrounded by every possible person....expounding every possible point of view. The only trick after that might be to extricate oneself before becoming embroiled in a heated, perhaps even physical tet-a-tet.

Republicans, Democrats, Independents, Greens, this party, that party....perhaps this is not the sort of discussion to be held so close to kitchen utensils....especially sharp knives.

We grew up in a somewhat "politically conscious" family; if by politically conscious you mean Republican.
We children were expected to tow the party line...from waving the flags at rallies as little kids to voting "the  ticket" when we came of age.  It was assumed.  And ours was not the only family like that. The neighborhood was crawling with them!

The Vietnam war...er, I mean conflict....er, I mean war....anyway, It tore through our town like a hellfire, drawing the Generation Gap battle lines straight through the family nucleus.  It destroyed parent-child trust, eradicated innocence and annihilated Ward and June Cleaver's brats status as role models to us kids.
The blinders were off.
 .
No family was spared, although some had it far worse than others.

Ours was an interesting scenario.  Naturally we had the heated discussions between Dad and his sons about long hair, the war and the draft....but there seemed to be a line in our clan that nobody would cross-a DMZ, who's location, depth and length were known to all parties involved.

That isn't to say things didn't come close....real close.  Def Con Five close.

While the "boys" were cutting their teeth on such things, we girls were expected to learn the ways of women....read "Stepford University."  Keeping house, raising children, walking, talking, acting, thinking, breathing and being "ladylike..."  this was supposed to be our fate; and we were expected to desire it as surely as a thirsty traveler craves water.

For some reason, even though Vietnam was knocking on our own front door via the evening news playing in the background during our dinner hour, we women were supposed to continue as we always had....stoically
clearing the table while the daily draft numbers were called.  And when the numbers came too close to home it was time to pull out the rosary, assume the position and let God do something about it.

It was a strange, emotionally charged time to be growing up....for all of us.  Parents and kids alike.  We were all learning from one another-whether or not anybody wanted to admit it.   Parents were learning what it was like to put their children's lives on the line...and the kids?  We were learning how to either "man up" or duck.

"Manning Up" meant either enlisting or going to prison, ducking meant going to Canada or getting some form of deferment.  The deferment usually involved some sort of school.  

But even on the tip of that Damocles's Sword known as the mid-and late '60s, there was that place of retreat our family seemed to find within itself - wounds, battle scars and all.  It had to do with traditions. 

Our family holidays became our DMZ.  The Thanksgivings, Christmases, 4th of July's, birthdays, weddings, christenings and funerals where everybody left their war-weary weapons at the door, sat down at the table and shared.  Once in a while somebody'd get a wild hair up their posterior...hey, shit happens.  But for the most part, our family always seemed to know how to get together. And they still do.

I know, we've all heard the horror stories of Thanksgiving food fights, shouting matches as a result of too much booze and too much baggage...dangerous combination, that.

Fortunately my personal memories of these times hold real beauty, warmth and love....even when the events of the 60s had us sometimes at each others' throats.  We seemed to know how to pull back from the brink, fix up the house and sit down to dinner.

Coleslaw with apples and raisins

One of the staples at these holiday meals was Coleslaw.  No holiday was complete without it.

To this day when I make this salad, my mind is drawn back to those days when everything was so intense....
 .....back also to the first times Mom let me try to shred the cabbage and carrots...without shredding too much of my fingers.    Watching the news today made me crave Coleslaw....a little corner of peace and tastiness in a world gone mad.

COLESLAW WITH APPLES AND RAISINS
Depending on how much you want to make, adjust your measurements.
I like to make a nice mid-sized bowl to have on hand in the fridge for a few days. The flavor enhances with time, kind of like Kim Chee.

1 large head of cabbage           6 carrots              
   (or 1 small head of green cabbage
   and 1 small head of red cabbage)
3 to 5 green onions chopped4 small red delicious (or other variety) apples - chopped     
1 to 3 teaspoons garlic powder (optional)
1 to 1 1/2  cups of raisins - chopped   
4 Tablespoons (more or less) sugar or sugar substitute
1 to 1 1/2 cup mayonnaise  
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar  
4 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
dash of salt or low salt (optional)  dash of pepper (optional)

Start with a large bowl....

Rinse all fruits and veggies in COLD water.  Shred first cabbage(s), then follow up with carrots.  Chop green onions fine.  Add to the cabbage and carrots.  Mix thoroughly so that the flavors begin to pull.  Add chopped raisins and apples, mix again.  Set aside.

Add mayonnaise, vinegars and sugar together-stir with a wire whisk.  If you like it thicker add more mayo.
add spices, whisk again. Pour over the cabbage, carrots and so on.  Mix all of this together like you're tossing a salad.  I use two spoons.

Put this conglomeration into a covered bowl and refrigerate for an hour or two before serving.  Some people like it with paprika on top...I like mine a la natural.

OPTIONS:    
Waldorf Coleslaw - add chopped walnuts
 Hawaiian Coleslaw - add dried pineapple
 (fresh pineapple does WEIRD THINGS to certain foods...dried is the only option here)
Beer House Slaw - don't add sugar/sweetener, loose the raisins and apples,
 consider yellow onions instead of green, regular vinegar or balsamic instead of apple cider
 Broccoli Slaw - use grated broccoli instead of cabbage
 Kitchen Sink Slaw - close your eyes and start adding stuff.  Marshmallows might be a bit over the top, but what ever floats your boat.
Naked Slaw - nothing....absolutely nothing but the shredded cabbage, carrots and green onions.
 Clothing optional

 Enjoy!   Let me know what you think and if you have any recipes you want to share!