Mr. Lesley Cooks

A Magic Cure

Poor Lesley is sick again.  I think our recent trips to NY, DC, CT, and TX have lowered her resistance and she has caught a bug.  I have been fixing soup for her.   Yesterday it was a kind of chicken stew.

 

 Get Rid of That Bug Chicken Stew

3 carrots, chopped

4 celery stalks, chopped

2 onions, chopped

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

2 bay leaves

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 lb. mushrooms, sliced

2 quarts chicken broth

12 oz canned diced tomatoes

3 lbs each chicken breasts and thighs

24 oz. sour cream

Salt and pepper

1/4 cup chopped parsley

Tabasco sauce to taste.

Salt chicken part all over and then brown on all sides in a large pot with 2 tablespoons olive oil.  Do not crowd pot, but do this in several batches.  Set chicken aside and remove all but 3 tablespoons fat. Saute first seven ingredients together until the veggies are soft, then add mushrooms.  Season with salt and pepper.  Cook for a few minutes until mushrooms cook down. Add 2 quarts chicken broth, tomatoes and chicken and simmer for 45 minutes or until chicken is done.  Remove chicken to cool.  Cover and set pot aside.  Bone chicken and return to pot.  Remove bay leaves. Add sour cream.  Heat and adjust seasoning.  Add parsley and serve.  Don’t forget the hot sauce This is good as is or with steamed rice. 

 

Tom

But...But...But...

I have suffered from a dread disease for all my life.  At an early age I was diagnosed with lackabuttitis.  I have always been teased about it, even as a small child.  How I suffered!!  In silence, of course.  My earliest memories are of my playmates asking me, "What happened to your butt?  Where did it go?"  I tried to use this condition as an excuse for not going to school, but I just couldn't bring myself to forge a note saying, "Please excuse little Tommy from school today.  He has no butt."

Later on in life, when I was in the Air Force, where the real men go, my fellow airmen would ask me if I lost it in one of those poker games that sprang up every payday.  This ailment was a constant topic of conversation with my ex-wives, too.  The words weren't so bad, but when they just pointed and laughed, as they usually did, I was devastated.

Fortunately, something happened.  As I was walking to the shower yesterday morning, Lesley exclaimed, "Turn around!"  I wondered what I had done this time when she remarked that she thought that as things had sagged with age that it looked a little like maybe at the very end it sort of kind of resembled a butt if you used your imagination.

When I am trying on shorts in the future, the big question will not be, "Do these shorts make my butt look too big?"  It will be "Do these shorts make my butt look too long?"

As a sort of consolation prize, I am posting one of my mother's secret recipes.

Mother’s Turkey Hash

Turkey chunks
Gravy or chicken broth in a pinch
Flour if you use chicken broth (make a blonde roux)
Onions, Chopped
Celery, Diced
Carrots (less than other things)
Salt
Pepper
Other seasoning
Oregano
Garlic  (this was my idea)

Combine enough of each of the above (this is like one of my Grandmother’s recipes) in a skillet and cook until done.  You can’t overcook this, but don’t let it burn.

Tom

Even Better Than Before Chicken And Dumplings

Before I get to this recipe, I have to mention an amusing anecdote from Phil's childhood.  I am not sure how old he was, but it seems like it was before he was a teenager.  His mom, he and I were sitting around talking.  I am not sure what his mom had eaten, but it had given her a bad case of gas.  She blamed me, of course, but I told Phil who the real culprit was.  "Oh, no", he exclaimed, "moms don't let one."

A while ago I posted a new recipe for chicken and dumplings that turned out pretty well.  Since then, I have changed it and have come up with what I think is the best I ever had.  Here is the new improved recipe.

The Best Chicken and Dumplings

Roasted Chicken:

2 3-4 pound whole chickens plus 2 lbs chicken breasts with skin and bones
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
8 ounces unsalted butter, softened
2 lemons, halved and juiced; halves reserved
1/2-cup fresh chopped herbs, such as thyme, parsley and rosemary
2 onions, halved
8 garlic cloves, smashed
Fresh whole herbs, such as rosemary, thyme and parsley sprigs


Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Remove the neck and giblets from the cavity of the chickens and discard. Rinse the chickens under cold water, inside and out. Pat dry thoroughly with paper towels. Season the body and cavity of the chickens generously with salt and pepper.

In a small bowl, mash together the butter, lemon juice, and chopped herbs. Rub the herbed butter all over the chickens and the extra chicken breasts, as well as under the skin. Put the lemon halves, onion, garlic, and whole herbs inside the chicken cavities, for added flavor. Tie the legs together with kitchen twine. Place the chickens, breast side up, in a roasting pan fitted with a rack.  Put the chicken breasts in another pan and cook for 40 minutes.  Let the whole chickens roast for a total of 1-1/2 hours until the meat is no longer pink. When cool enough to handle, shred the meat, discarding the skin and set aside. Reserve the bones for chicken stock.

Chicken Stock:

4 tablespoons olive oil
6 carrots, cut in large chunks
6 celery stalks, cut in large chunks
3 onions, halved
2 garlic heads, halved
Reserved chicken bones
5 quarts cold water
10 sprigs fresh parsley
10 sprigs fresh thyme
5 bay leaves

To prepare the stock, coat a large stockpot with olive oil and place over medium heat. Add the vegetables and saute for 3 minutes. Add the reserved chicken bones, water, and herbs; simmer for 1-1/2 hours. Strain the stock to remove the solids and set aside.

Supreme Sauce:

4 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoon oil
1-1/2 cup diced carrot
1-1/2 cup diced celery
 8 cloves garlic, minced
1 large onion, chopped
4 bay leaves
3/4 cup flour
5 quarts chicken stock
1 cup heavy cream
Fresh or dried thyme to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, for garnish
Chopped flat-leaf parsley, for garnish

1 lb box frozen noodle dumplings, defrosted

1 lb package frozen peas, defrosted (Optional)

To prepare Supreme Sauce: In a large (8 quart) Dutch oven, melt butter and heat oil over medium heat. Add carrots, celery, garlic, and bay leaves. Saute until the vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes. Stir in the flour to make a roux. Continue to stir and cook for 2 minutes to coat the flour and remove the starchy taste. Slowly pour in the chicken stock, 1 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition.

Let sauce simmer until it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 15 minutes. Add noodle dumplings, bring to a boil and cook 6 minutes.

Stir in heavy cream.  Fold the reserved shredded chicken into the sauce with the peas, if using, and bring up to a simmer. Cook for 2 more minutes.  Cover and remove from heat.  Let stand for 30 minutes.  Remove the bay leaves and season with freshly cracked black pepper and thyme and garnish with chopped parsley before serving.   This is better if it spends the night in the refrigerator and is warmed up the next day. 


Tom

A New Chicken And Dumplings Recipe

I fixed chicken and dumplings from a new recipe for dinner Thursday night.  My friend Paul comes over every Thursday night that we can get together.  We eat and discuss our wives, in only the nicest terms, of course.  That's all I'm saying about that.

I thought this was a great recipe, but I think that the dumplings were maybe a little bland and could have stood having some bacon bits and herbs added to them.  Paul was too busy eating to comment.  Lesley said she thought everything was good, but she wants the noodle type dumplings instead.

Anyway, here is the recipe that I found on the food network website and only modified a little bit.  It seems like if you were in a hurry you could use a store bought rotisserie chicken and some canned low sodium chicken broth. 

Another Chicken and Dumplings Recipe

Roasted Chicken:

    * 1 (3-pound) whole chicken
    * Salt and freshly ground black pepper
    * 4 ounces unsalted butter, softened
    * 1 lemon, halved and juiced; halves reserved
    * 1/4-cup fresh chopped herbs, such as thyme, parsley and rosemary
    * 1 onion, halved
    * 4 garlic cloves, smashed
    * Fresh whole herbs, such as rosemary, thyme and parsley sprigs

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Remove the neck and giblets from the cavity of the chicken and discard. Rinse the chicken under cold water, inside and out. Pat dry thoroughly with paper towels. Season the body and cavity of the chicken generously with salt and pepper.

In a small bowl, mash together the butter, lemon juice, and chopped herbs. Rub the herbed butter all over the chicken, as well as under the skin. Put the lemon halves, onion, garlic, and whole herbs inside the chicken cavity, for added flavor. Tie the legs together with kitchen twine. Place the chicken, breast side up, in a roasting pan fitted with a rack. Roast for 1-1/2 hours until the meat is no longer pink. When cool enough to handle, shred the meat, discarding the skin and set aside. Reserve the bones for chicken stock.
Chicken Stock:

    * 2 tablespoons olive oil
    * 2 carrots, cut in large chunks
    * 2 celery stalks, cut in large chunks
    * 1 onion, halved
    * 1 garlic head, halved
    * Reserved chicken bones
    * 2-1/2 quarts cold water
    * 4 sprigs fresh parsley
    * 4 sprigs fresh thyme
    * 2 bay leaves

To prepare the stock, coat a large stockpot with olive oil and place over medium heat. Add the vegetables and saute for 3 minutes. Add the reserved chicken bones, water, and herbs; simmer for 1-1/2 hours. Strain the stock to remove the solids and set aside.
Dumplings:

    * 2 cups flour
    * 1 tablespoon baking powder
    * 1 teaspoon salt
    * 2 eggs
    * 3/4 to 1 cup buttermilk

To prepare the dumplings: sift dry ingredients together in a large bowl. In a small bowl, lightly beat the eggs and milk together; pour the liquid in the dry ingredients and gently fold. Mix just until the dough comes together, the batter should be thick and cake-like.
Supreme Sauce:

    * 2 tablespoons butter
    * 1 tablespoon oil
    * 1/2 cup diced carrot
    * 1/2 cup diced celery
    * 3 cloves garlic, minced
    * 2 bay leaves
    * 1/3 cup flour
    * 6 cups chicken stock
    * 1/4 cup heavy cream
    * Freshly ground black pepper, for garnish
    * Chopped flat-leaf parsley, for garnish

To prepare Supreme Sauce: In a Dutch oven, melt butter and heat oil over medium heat. Add carrot, celery, garlic, and bay leaves. Saute until the vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes. Stir in the flour to make a roux. Continue to stir and cook for 2 minutes to coat the flour and remove the starchy taste. Slowly pour in the chicken stock, 1 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition.

Let sauce simmer until it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 15 minutes. Stir in heavy cream.

Fold the reserved shredded chicken into the sauce and bring up to a simmer. Using 2 spoons, carefully drop heaping tablespoonfuls of the dumpling batter into the hot mixture. The dumplings should cover the top of the sauce, but should not be touching or crowded. Cover and let the dumplings poach for about 15 minutes until they are firm and puffy. Remove the bay leaves and season with freshly cracked black pepper and garnish with chopped parsley before serving. 


Tom

A Treat From Lesley

This was the second year in a row that I worked for another CPA doing tax returns.  Now don't tell anyone this little secret:  tax return preparation is not the most exciting thing in the world.  Don't get me wrong, I enjoy doing it, I plan on doing it again, I work with some really nice folks, and it gives me some walking around money.  It just comes up a tad short in the adventure department. 

To liven things up, I would cook on the weekends and bring in enough for folks to have lunch for a couple of days.  One time it was lasagna, then baked ziti, jambalaya, etc.  The most requested recipe by far for these lunches was Lesley's chicken roll-ups.  It's really good, easy to make, and not very expensive.  I am only putting this recipe here because Lesley said it was ok, so I am not doing any cooking hijacking here.

Lesley’s Chicken Roll-Ups

2 cans Pillsbury Crescent Rolls
2 cans Cream of Mushroom Soup
Grated Cheddar Cheese to your liking
1-2 lbs each chicken thighs and breasts, boiled, boned and cubed OR
Baked according to Dad’s Chicken Salad recipe, then boned and cubed

Pre-heat oven according to the directions for the rolls.

In a large bowl mix together soup, cheese and chicken.  Add just enough milk
to make the mixture creamy.

Take one crescent roll triangle, lay it on a plate sprayed with Pam and kind
of spread out the edges.  Put a tablespoonful of the chicken mixture in the
middle, and roll it up.  Place the roll-ups in 2 glass baking dishes (9x13). Spoon the remaining mixture around the rolls in the baking dish.

Bake as directed for the rolls.

In case you need the recipe mentioned above:

Dad's Chicken Salad Recipe

Tom

I Sort of Learn to Swim

When my mother was a teenager, she was a lifeguard at the YWCA.  Since she enjoyed swimming so much, she just knew that I would want to learn how, so she signed me up for lessons at the local YMCA.  Things were different back in the 1950s.  I went for my first  lesson.  It was with a bunch of other boys.  The first thing the instructor did was to tell us to take off all our clothes, because in those days, you learned how to swim naked. 

Well, that was my only swimming lesson.  I would go hang out in the park, the same place I went when I was supposed to be at church, and just said that I went to the Y.

Years later, I taught myself how to swim....in a bathing suit.

Forty Cloves of Garlic Chicken

2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 3 pound chicken, cut up
40 garlic cloves, unpeeled
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Melt butter and oil in large Dutch oven.  Add chicken and brown.  Tilt pan and spoon off all but 2 tablespoons fat.  Add garlic and stir to coat.  Sprinkle with lemon juice, thyme, salt, pepper and 1/4 cup water.  Cover tightly and bake for 1-1/2 hours at 350 degrees.

This is the cookbook recipe.  It is important not to peel the garlic, since the peeling keeps it together while it cooks; otherwise, you have garlic mush.  I modify this recipe by using 3 pounds of chicken breasts and another 3 pounds of thighs.   Then I double all the other ingredients, but I use the same amount of oil and butter for browning.  Since this is a lot of chicken, I brown it in batches, and take all the chicken out before spooning off all but about 3 or 4 tablespoons of fat.  I stir the garlic to coat it with fat and leave it in the bottom of the pot, and after every layer of chicken I put in, I sprinkle with some of the lemon juice and herb mixture.  I pour the water in last, around the sides so it won’t wash off the seasonings.  When I bake this, I use a large 4 quart Corning Ware dish, and seal it with foil before I put the top on.  I usually cook it for around 2 hours at 350 degrees in the middle of the oven.  I serve the garlic with the chicken, squeeze it on French bread and eat it with the chicken.  It’s a good idea for everyone in the same house to eat this.

Tom

A Really Special Day

Besides this being Fathers Day, and let's all hear it for good old Dad, this is an important anniversary.  On June 21, 1961, I joined the Air Force and became President Kennedy's personal response to the Berlin Wall.  Below is a picture of me guarding our country against communist aggression.  All America could sleep well that night.

Why don't you fix Dad this not-too-hard BBQ chicken for all he's done for you.

Oven Barbecued Chicken

Put in a saucepan:
2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1-1/2 cups canned tomato juice
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp dry mustard
1 bay leaf
4-1/2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
3/4 cup cider vinegar
1 tsp sugar
3 TBSP butter
4 cloves garlic, minced or crushed
Simmer, uncovered, 10 minutes.  Refrigerate for at least six hours.

6 lbs cut up chicken
3 medium onions, sliced thin

When ready to cook, start heating oven to 425.  Arrange 6 lbs cut up chicken, skin side down, in single layer in a shallow open pan.  Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper.  Arrange 3 medium onions, thinly sliced, over chicken, and pour on barbecue sauce.  Bake uncovered, basting often.  After 1/2 to 3/4 hour, turn chicken and cook for 45 minutes more, continuing to baste often.  I generally use breasts and thighs and double the recipe to feed an army and have leftovers.

Tom

Phil Vs. Spiderman

Sometime after Batman my son, Phil, decided that Spiderman was really the coolest Super Hero ever.  He had almost every Spiderman gadget and accessory, at least that's the way I remember it.  At the height of his admiration for Spidey, Phil figured out that he also could swing from a web, so he somehow attached a genuine Spiderman web strand to his ceiling and launched himself from a chair.  And he did fly....right into the marble top of his dresser.  The dresser won.  We took Phil to the ER, where they sewed up his forehead.

Since Phil likes chicken, here is my world famous chicken salad recipe.

Dad’s Chicken Salad

2-3 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
1-2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme or  /4 to1/2 teaspoon dried rubbed thyme (This mixes better than dried thyme leaves)
1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon dried mustard
1 medium onion
4-6 hard boiled eggs (optional)
3 stalks celery
Vegetable oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Mayonnaise
Miracle Whip salad dressing

Place chicken parts on a lightly oiled cookie sheet and brush with oil on both sides.  Bake at 400 for 35-40 minutes, or until chicken is done and very lightly browned.  Watch the thighs; they get done first and will dry out if cooked too long.  Remove chicken from oven and let cool.  Mince onion and celery in food processor and put in large mixing bowl.  Add chicken, cut up or torn into small pieces along with the rest of the ingredients, using equal parts of mayonnaise and salad dressing until you reach the desired consistency.  Mix well.  It should be a little more liquid than you might finally want, since the chicken will absorb some of the liquid.  After checking to see if it tastes ok, cover the finished salad and refrigerate for at least an hour.  Makes about 8-10 good-sized sandwiches.  Feel free to adjust the ingredients or use other seasonings.

Tom, aka Dad

My Formerly Secret Thanksgiving/Christmas Dinner Recipe

I started trying to cook turkey in the late 1960s.  Sometimes it would be raw inside, sometimes burnt.  Then I found cooking bags and discovered that things go better when you follow the directions.  Someone had given us this old Fannie Farmer cookbook where I found the basis for the way to make gravy.  The taters are courtesy of Mom.

Tom’s Bodacious Roast Turkey, Smashed Taters & Gravy

Turkey:        Use a Swift Butterball turkey weighing 20 or more lbs.
Remove all giblets from the turkey, leaving the neck.  Cook the turkey along with the neck in a large roasting bag according to the directions on the box.  I cook it for a little longer than the box says, until the leg joints move easily.  Remove the turkey from the bag, strain all the liquid into a container and discard the neck.  You should have about 2 quarts of TJ (turkey juice).

Gravy:
Pour the top 3 cups of the turkey juice into a large pot.  Try to get as much of the fat as possible.  Stir in 2-1/4 cups flour, heat and stir with a wire whisk.  Add enough chicken broth to the remaining liquid to make 12 cups.  Gradually add the remaining 12 cups of liquid to the fat and flour mixture, stirring constantly with a wire whisk.  Heat until boiling, season with salt and pepper to taste, cover and set aside. 

Smashed Taters:
Peel 5 lbs. of potatoes and slice into medium pieces.  Cook in boiling salted water until done.  Drain the potatoes, put them in a large mixing bowl along with 1 stick of butter and enough canned condensed milk or heavy cream to yield the desired consistency.  Smash them up with a mixer.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Make sure you burp loudly at the table to show how much you enjoy eating this.

Tom

Annie and the Lizard

I was always a perfect child growing up and never gave anyone any problems at all. 

Who knows where it came from, but I ended up one day with a rubber lizard, several inches long.  This was before plastic.  After scaring a few folks, I decided to try it on Annie, a lady who helped my grandma with her boarding house.  I put it on the floor in a hallway and then showed it to her.  She looked at it for a moment, then went out to the back porch, came back with a hoe, and brought it down on my poor lizard.  Annie didn’t quite go all the way through with the hoe, so the lizard’s head was not completely separated from the body, it just kind of dangled there. 

This has nothing at all to do with the recipe below.  I just liked the story…and the recipe.

Herbed Roast Chicken

3-4 lb. whole chicken

Put in the chicken:

1 carrot, sliced

1 teaspoon thyme

1/3 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon butter

Tie or skewer the legs and wings to the body.  Put the chicken in a shallow roasting pan.  Lay over the breast:

3 slices bacon

Dot with:

2 tablespoons butter

Dust with salt, paprika, and thyme

Roast at 450 for 15 minutes, reduce heat to 350 and cook for 1-3/4 to 2 hours.  Baste every 15 minutes using a mix of 1/2 cup beef bouillon and 1/4 cup water.  Remove chicken from pan and add juice from 1 lemon.  Scrape the pan and heat, then serve as a sauce. 

This was the first recipe I found (in 1968) that I ate so much of that I was sick of it for years afterwards.  Now a favorite again.

Tom