Chef Daniel Angerer's Blog

ROAST CHICKEN – the blog

I have been cooking a lot of chicken breast lately and had terrific results. Since chicken does not have much fat itself it can be tricky to end up with a moist result. Believe it or not. it's one of the most consumed "lean proteins" in the US next to beef and that is the skin-off version. Admittedly, I love myself a roasted chicken breast with crispy skin but if want to keep it as lean as possible, skinless it is!
Regardless we all want it to be flavorful so I highly recommend marinading the chicken before it’s cooked.

chicken sans skin in a tasty broth

Chicken math
First I like to brine the chicken. In its most basic version a brine is water and salt. Brining literally has the chicken soak up the liquid it sits in. The chicken breast actually gains weight during the process. If you'd weigh a chicken breast before and after brining, it ends up with 10% more weight. That is good news since the chicken breast generally loses around 20% in weight during the cooking process. So the simple math is this:

10% weight gain during the brining process

20% weight loss during the cooking process

90% of the original weight of that chicken breast in the end product

An additional weight and flavor gain is achieved with a marinade, and since the average chicken breast has only 4% - 6% natural fat (no skin), I highly recommend adding some sort of fat in the cooking process. I prefer to use olive oil but not the extra virgin type, which is too expensive considering all its vitality gets destroyed in the high heat cooking process.  Instead, I default to cooking with heat stable oil such as grape seed, or more unusual ones, like coconut or avocado oil.

…brining the chicken…
4 chicken breasts or about 2 pounds
2 tablespoons kosher salt
2 cups water 

1)   Combine water and salt in a bowl and whisk for one minute or until salt has dissolved.
2)   Combine water/salt mixture and chicken breasts. Brine chicken in the refrigerator for 2 hours.

…and here is an unfussy marinade for chicken…

garlic, lemon, onion with spices marinade

…marinating the chicken…
(recipe for four portions/breasts) 
1 teaspoon Hungarian-style paprika
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 onion peeled and cut in half
2 cloves garlic, peeled and cut in half
1 lemon quartered lengthwise, and sliced thinly 
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon water

1) In a bowl combine all ingredients and mix with a table fork for one minute.

…roasting the chicken…
1) Take chicken out of brine and dry on kitchen paper towel.
2) In a shallow bowl combine chicken and marinade and turn chicken breast so all sides are coated with the marinade.
3) In a skillet, heat 1 tablespoon heat-stable vegetable oil such as grape seed oil on high heat setting and cook chicken breasts for 4 minutes on each side. The chicken should be roasted to a nice dark-brown color.
4) Put the chicken onto an ovenproof pan and cook for 10 minutes.  With a kitchen thermometer check the internal temperature at the thickest part of the breast. It should show 150 degrees Fahrenheit. If not, cook for 2 more minutes.
5) Keep the chicken hot on the side of the stove covered with aluminum foil or a lid for 10 more minutes.  The chicken breast still keeps cooking at this point but it won’t be overcooked or dried out.

Chef’s Tip: Just before serving, sprinkle the chicken breast with a dash of sea salt and fresh pepper. 

EVO SPRING VEGGIE SAUTEE – the blog

Spring season makes me crave vegetable. In my house a simple sauté of tender market vegetables can take center stage of a meal. Leafy baby vegetables such as broccoli rabe, escarole, and airy Spring kale and baby spinach offer great opportunity for a satisfying load of greens.  in addition, they're packed with vitamin C, which is a welcome addition after a long cold season.

Let's focus on baby bok choy. I like to cut mouth-sized wedges out of the pale bright-green, bulbous vegetable. The tightly packed leaves have a vital crunch and makes a perfect centerpiece of a yummy leafy green sauté.

Following are a few focal tips for preparing baby bok choy - this will ensure a success.

if your not in the mood for leafy greens ...Spring vegetables with more bite

Spot free vegetables
Clean the vegetable throughout. It's best done in a large bowl filled with a voluminous amount of water so the vegetables can soak and any soil particles can be rinsed off that way. This process may have to be repeated up to three times or until there is no more soil visible at the bottom of that bowl.

Dry greens
When my daughter helps me cook she loves to dry veggies in a vegetable spinner. And I have to agree pulling that string of the vegetable drier satisfies in some sort of a way.

Smart cook
The average frying skillet is about 11-inches in diameter. In case you don't have one, use your biggest stock pot. You need a lot of surface area so that your vegetables have a lot of sautéing contact with the bottom of the skillet since it is the hottest part. Some of my friends did a nice job in designing their kitchen stoves and have a woke cooking unit build into their kitchen stove set up. Woks are common in Chinese cooking as they are perfect for sautéing vegetables in a quick way.
First the vegetables are steamed. For that I start off heating the skillet on the highest heat setting for about 5 minutes, then I add the bok choy without any oil yet. No oil? The reason is to steam the bok choy for 5 minutes so it can soften a bit in its own steam. Turn the vegetables frequently in the skillet with kitchen tongs.
Now it's time to add "normal" vegetable oil such as olive oil, grape seed oil or coconut oil. They're all good contenders. I recommend not using extra virgin or first press type of oil at the sautéing point since there is a good chance this type of oil will get damaged in a high heat sautéing process and the flavor gets lost in that way.  It’s basically a waste of money too.  

Adding flavor
Garlic & pepper flakes it is. A great way to add flavor to the tender leaves is finely chopped garlic and a pinch of pepper flakes. It should be added at the last minute of the cooking process so as not to burn the garlic and pepper flakes, which makes it unsightly and bitter.

Dress for success
Adding flavor is simple and fun. I had great success with chopped black olives, capers, diced shallots, a little apple cider vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, a sprinkle of sea salt and black pepper.
If you like the brightness of lemon, add a wedge of lemon and squeeze it over the greens just before eating them.

lots'a leafy greens

Here is the list of ingredients. Recipe makes about 1/2 a cup -plenty for a skillet of roasted leafy greens.
1 tablespoon black olives, pitted and chopped
1 tablespoon capers, chopped
2 tablespoons shallots, chopped
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
Sea salt, to taste
Black pepper from the mill, to taste
1 lemon, juiced

Mix all ingredients with a whisk in a bowl together and toss under your veggie sauté just before serving.

 

 

 

ONE BAKED POTATO TWO BAKED POTATO - the blog

I have been a little fascinated with the versatility and compactness of baked potatoes. Bake a spud and stuff it with bacon and cheese for some late cold weather season indulgence.  Or roast the first morel mushrooms of the season, and add some garlic, soon to be available as spring vegetables take their course. In summer, I envision baked potato stuffed with fresh roasted, shucked corn, and blanched, chopped, buttered string beans drizzled with my favorite BBQ sauce. Another winner - a roughly chopped romaine salad stuffed in a cooled baked potato shell, topped with croutons and dressed with a creamy Caesar dressing tastes awesome. If you're bored of plain old Russet potatoes, switch them out for utterly satisfying and vitamin C packed sweet potatoes. Frankly, stuffed baked potatoes seem limitless to me, and are a “chameleon” for various recipes throughout the whole year.

BP stuffed with bacon

Here is a basic baked potato recipe -- the big difference lies in wrapping the potatoes in aluminum foil for a moist skinned finish.  Or, bake your potatoes on a layer of salt for a wrinkly, crackled potato skin.

Baked Potato
(recipes for four entree-sized portions)
4 large Russet potatoes each weighing 10 oz

1) Rinse potatoes with water. No need to peel the potatoes.
A) For soft-skinned baked potatoes roll each potato in aluminum foil and place them on a baking sheet pan.

B) For wrinkled, dried out potato skin sprinkle salt generously on the bottom of a baking dish and line up potatoes.
2) Set the oven to 500F and bake potatoes for 1 hour 20 minutes or until they are soft in the center when pierced with a small pointy knife.
3) Cool potatoes for 20 minutes on the kitchen counter. Unwrap potatoes, if applicable, and then make a straight, lengthwise cut across the top of the potatoes - this is best performed with the point of a small knife. Scoop out the soft potato content leaving the shell intact. Reserve the potato inside in a bowl for further processing.

For starters on your baked potato adventure, here are a few simple stuffing variations:  
(Instructions for 4 potatoes)

The indulger
2 tablespoons cooked, chopped bacon, 4 oz grated, aged cheddar, 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh chive, and salt and fresh pepper from the mill to taste. Toss all ingredients with the scraped out potato content in a bowl, and stuff into the hollowed potato shells, reheat in the 350 F preheated oven for 20 minutes.

Philly Sausage
Roast one sliced onion and one green pepper in vegetable oil and add 1 thinly sliced pork sausage. Season mixture with salt, black pepper from the mill, and cumin to taste. Chop parsley and add 2 tablespoons to the scraped out potato content. Mix ingredients and stuff back into potatoes, sprinkle generously with grated Swiss and/or cheddar cheese. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes at 350 F.

Baked potato salad
Here I suggest the potato salad route; toss the potato insides with 3 tablespoons EVOO, 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar, 1 teaspoon Dijon-style mustard,1 teaspoon salt, 10 grindings of fresh black pepper from the mill, 2 tablespoons finely minced shallots and 2 tablespoons chopped scallion greens.

love the crispy skin - BP dressed with goat cheese

Sweet as pie
Mix scraped out sweet potato baked potato content with a pinch of cinnamon, nutmeg, sea salt and black pepper from the mill, to taste. For each potato, add a tablespoon of applesauce.  Stuff sweet potato skins with that mixture and top off with a marshmallow crown. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until marshmallow peaks have browned.

Variations: add 2 tablespoons toasted pecans and 2 tablespoons dried cranberries to the mixture for extra indulgence and great texture.

Breakfast in a potato skin
Roast 8 bacon slices on a baking tray until crispy. Mix scraped out potato with 2 eggs, salt and fresh black pepper from the mill. Stuff mixture back into the potato skin. Top each potato carefully with a cracked egg, leaving the yolks intact. Top with 2 bacon slices each. Bake potatoes in the oven at 350 for 20 minutes or until eggs are cooked. Sprinkle with fresh chopped chives just before serving.