Whisking Away: Slapsgiving in CA

The past two years we pulled off the ultimate coup d'etat by convincing both my family and Chris' family come to our place for Thanksgiving. Rather than trying to split our time flying half way across the country or all the way across the country, they both showed up at our doorstep and I could cook my happy little non-traditional meal. Sleep in my own bed. Avoid suburbia.

But this year, we're headed to California to see the reason Chris' best man was absent from our wedding last month.

I think we've found a superior alternative to Butterball.

Instead of getting the extremely-recently-married-Thanksgiving-travel-pass, we're off to the OC to meet our nephew and teach him how to pronounce Aunt [distinctly different from the picnic-ravaging insect in my opinion]. And there will surely be serious lobbying for Thanksgiving ATL 2010.

So in the spirit of spending the holiday with your new and interesting collection of friends and family, may you discover the true meaning of Slapsgiving.

Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic: Sauced

Fat is in. I guess we have Julia Child's renewed fame of this past summer to thank for that. Though I decidedly WILL NOT THANK that hack Julie who attempted to share the silver screen with Our Lady of Brown Butter.

I will thank Kate for peeling all 40 cloves of garlic for this recipe. And for her contribution of real honest-to-god home made chicken stock.

The fact that Mark Bittman blessed the pre-peeled stuff over four years ago, made me assume it would be easy to find in my pantry [aka the Publix next door]. But alas, none of the freshly peeled stuff. And we decided to forgo attempting one of the many professed garlic-peeling tricks: blanching, soaking in cold water, rolling in the jar opener [Chris' favorite].

Three heads of garlic later though, we had our 40 cloves and were ready to try this classic recipe. Hey, if it's in the Joy of Cooking, it's a classic to me.

I'm not quite sure why I though we had to try making this recipe. Can't say I've ever had it before. Expectations were nonexistent. I'm thinking it probably had something to do with last winter's OBSESSION with roasted garlic. The cold weather that is resettling around these parts reminded me to crave some toasty garlic goodness. And this did not disappoint.

In fact, I would say we were pretty much BLOWN. AWAY. Oh the Sauce. Delicious rich buttery sauce that forms in the pan. Dip in your chicken, your bread, your fingers. It really went to our heads. Or maybe it was Julia's "a little in the pot, a little in the cook" philosophy.

Chicken with Forty Cloves of Garlic

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen, who adapted it from NYTimes 10/31/07
Yield: 6 servings

Chicken: 4 Thighs pieces, 2 big breast pieces [be sure to use at least a few thigh pieces for their higher fat content]
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
About 40 large garlic cloves [careful not to smash them to bits]
handful of fresh Thyme [use less if its dried]
1/2 cup dry white wine
2/3 cup homemade chicken stock [original calls for 1/2 c., but we increased due to the homemadiness]

1. Season chicken liberally with salt and pepper. Place a deep skillet or Dutch oven over high heat, and add oil and butter. Or in our case, use one of each to speed things along.

2. When fats are hot, add chicken pieces skin side down and cook until skin turns an even, golden brown, about 5 minutes. Work in batches, if necessary, and carefully regulate heat to avoid scorching skin. Turn pieces and brown them on other side for an additional 5 minutes.

3. Take chicken pieces out of the pot(s) on a plate and cover with foil. Add the garlic cloves to the skillet. Saute, shaking or stirring pan frequently, until garlic is lightly browned on all sides, very approximately 6 minutes.

4. Add wine and stock to deglaze the pan. Layer chicken back in pan on top of the garlic and stock, then sprinkle with thyme.

5. Cover and continue cooking until juices run clear when a thigh is pricked, 10 to 15 minutes more.
Serve chicken with garlic, delicious sauce and bread to soak up both.

Rainy Day Vegetable Soup

So many choices. Applesauce with cider, homemade birthday cake with sour cream chocolate frosting, butternut squash soup with leeks (a flop- not the way to start), then finally smashing successes. A simple vegetable soup that simmered into a thick, luscious tomato-y gravy that gently bathed a basic mix of carrot, onion, celery, red pepper, tomato, and cannellini beans. Not bad for a made up recipe based on emptying my fridge pre-Thanksgiving travel.

That's what I chose to start with, to introduce myself with. The kitchen is my favorite place-warm in winter, the action spot during family time, where I am most creative. From all the things I've made in the last weeks, it couldn't be any other way than a made up recipe pulled from what I wanted a soup to be on a rainy Sunday.

The other success? Sweet and salty cupcakes, with the idea ripped off from the superb sounding bakery in NYC Baked, and the execution infinitely easier with a mismash of recipes from trusted sources. TBP- to be posted.

So here goes the first of many.

Rainy Day Vegetable Soup

Serves 4

Olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, small dice

3 carrots, medium dice

3 stalks celery, medium dice

1 red bell pepper

3 cloves garlic

large pinch italian seasoning

salt & pepper

1 28oz can whole tomatoes

1 15oz can cannellini beans

1-1 1/2 cups chicken stock

Warm a few tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat, in a medium sized saucepan. Once up to temperature, add onions, carrots, celery, and red pepper. They should sizzle gently, not browning, to soften for about 10 minutes while stirring occasionally. Add a pinch of salt to start the seasoning process.

Add garlic and herbs, stir, and heat until fragrant about 30-45 seconds. Add the juice from the can of tomatoes, then crush tomatoes by hand and add to pot. Drain and rinse the beans, add as well. Add chicken stock. Add more salt and pepper, then let simmer on low heat for about 30 minutes. Taste the soup and adjust seasonings as needed. After about 30 minutes, check the liquid level- it is proper soup consistency? I added about a 1/2 cup of water, and let simmer for a few more minutes.

As with most soups, this is better the next day. I can imagine a minestrone version with some greens like chard or kale. I ate mine with some friends and warm whole grain baguette.

In the beginning

There was pizza. Every day -- for two weeks.

 

Il Pizzaiolo, Florence

  You'd be excited to eat pizza everyday too.

But after two weeks, OMG I needed some variety people. Traveling through northern Italy for an amazing honeymoon with my new husband Chris, I was actually homesick for my second love: Atlanta. And my kitchen.

So, with a browser delightfully empty of bookmarked wedding blogs and a sister living less than a block away, it's time to get down to business: living, cooking and blogging.

Though if you're ever curious, feel free to peep into that year of my life dominated by invitations, rings, and omg the placecards are IVORY?! I wrote the wedding blog with a dear friend who also married this fall. In fact, it is possible I may even write a few more posts over there to spare you from the gory details of our party to end all parties.

But not to worry, plenty of happenings, recipes and such to be had over here! Stay tuned.

Why we whisk away

Yeah, we're two sisters into all that local, organic happy crap. Guilty of farmers market trips, obsessive meal documentation, and worshipping Polan. Your run of the mill foodies.

But on the other hand, we avoid recipes with more than six steps or those that use duck fat (or equally indulgent items) as a policy. And why don't recipes take into account the standard packaging sizes? 14 ounces of chocolate chips? One cup plus one tablespoon? WTF!

Not to mention all that fancy gear often required by other cooks. Did you know that a wood rasp is actually better than a food grade microplaner? A mortar and pestle can process food just as good as an official Food Processor? (Though it can't hurt to lust after a pressure cooker, am I right?)

Expect homemade, healthy, simple, goodish for the community recipes here on Whisk Away. And low-carb and low-sugar dishes to accommodate a certain eater's lack of pancreatic function. And occasionally crazy experiments.

Believe it or not, cream can be whipped by hand (and it's low-carb!).

Kate & Nic

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