Chicken Creole

A friend asked me to give them a recipe that did not take two months to make!

Chicken Creole

This is very easy to make.  I worked at the Brewer's Network Winter Brew Fest today.  I got home late and hungry.   So I thought I would make my Creole Chicken dish.


1 double Chicken Brest
1 Onion diced
1 bell pepper diced
1 onion diced
1 stick of celery diced
Some flour
Creole/Cajun seasoning
A can of  El Pato tomato chile sauce
One cup of chicken stock
Some olive oil

Pour some olive oil in a frying pan. Heat it.
Take some flour and mix with the creole/Cajun seasoning

Dip the chicken in the flour mixture
 Brown the chicken Brest on both sides
Remove and set aside
Put the Trinity (celery, onion and bell pepper) in the pan and

sauté till translucent
Pour in the tomato sauce and stock. Mix well.
Place the chicken in the frying pan and spoon the sauce over it,
Cook until done.


Serve with rice.

This recipe would work with shrimp!  If you want to try this, make the sauce then ad the shrimp and cook for a couple of minutes.

Poulet Buccaneer

Poulet Buccaneer.  Buccaneer chicken!   What a great name.  This is not my recipe.  I found it on the web a while back. Grilled chicken is one of my favorite foods.  Smokey and juicy!
This is Martinique street food!

The recipe calls for sugar cane for the smoking wood.  Sugar cane  is available at Mexican markets.



Poulet Buccaneer


Ingredients
Two 3 1/2 lb (1.75 kg)  chickens, butterflied (see Tip, below)
4 limes
2 onions, finely chopped
6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 bunch green onions, finely chopped
1/2 cup (125 ml) chopped parsley
2 tbsp (30 ml) chopped fresh thyme (with stalks)
1 tbsp (15 ml) coarse kosher or sea salt
2 tsp (10 ml) coarsely ground black pepper
1 tsp (5 ml) ground allspice
1 (or to taste) Scotch bonnet or other hot chili, finely chopped
1/4 cup (60 ml) demerara or brown sugar
2 tbsp (30 ml) olive oil
2 cups (500 ml) Sauce Chien*
1 stalk or 2–3 cups (500–750 ml)  fresh sugar cane
smoking chips, preferably cherry, apple, or another fruitwood
Preparation
1. Wash chickens and pat dry. Cut 2 of the limes in half and rub chickens on all sides with lime halves.
2. Juice remaining limes, and combine juice with onions, garlic, herbs, salt, pepper, allspice, chili, sugar, and olive oil. Mix well. Rub mixture on chickens, and marinate overnight in the refrigerator.
3. Prepare wood or sugar cane for the grill: If using cane, cut stalk into 6"–8" (15–20 cm) pieces, or convenient lengths to fit barbecue smoker box. Split each piece lengthwise in half. If using wood chips, cover with water and soak for about 30 minutes.
4. Place sugar cane or wood chips in smoker box or disposable aluminum pan. Preheat barbecue. Remove chicken from marinade (discard marinade) and place on lightly oiled grill over medium-high direct heat. Grill until browned on both sides (about 5 minutes per side). Then continue cooking over indirect heat until skin is crisp and juices run clear, about 1 hour. Serve with Sauce Chien. Serves 8.
Tip: Butterflying, or spatchcocking, a chicken allows it to lie flat on the grill, which speeds up the cooking. You can buy a butterflied chicken from your butcher, but it’s easy to do yourself: Using kitchen shears or a heavy knife, cut the chicken along each side of the backbone. Remove and discard the backbone. Open out the chicken, skin side up, and press firmly on the breastbone to flatten.

Sauce Californie

Sauce Californie

California Sauce

This is my prettiest fermented sauce.  It is more mild than my other sauces, bright red with a lot of flavor!

I named it Sauce Californie because of the local ingredients that I used. I only use bright red vegitables.  The fermentation process preserves the color and mellow the flavor.

Please look at my Sauce Martinique recipe for the basic procedure.

Here is what you need:

12 Fresno Peppers. Remove the stems keeping the flowers on. Minced.
2 Red Bell Peppers seeded and stem remove.  Minced.
2 Tomatoes Minced.
1 Purple Onion. Minced.
1 Garlic Bulb peeled. Minced.
2 Table Spoons of Whey
Brine
IF YOU WANT MORE HEAT, ADD A COUPLE OF HABANERO PEPPERS!

Follow the procedures . Age. Bottle. Enjoy!

Now here is the bonus!  When you strain the mixture, save the skins and seeds!  Spread these on a cookie sheet and stick in an oven under lowest setting with the door a jar.  When they are dry, put them in a jar. The dried mixture is better than pepper flakes!  I use mine in my Creole Blend!

Sauce Martinique

SauceMartinique

Fermented Hot Mango Curry sauce.

The Caribbean Island of Martinique enjoys a unique creole cuisine that includes

 spices and flavors from India!  This Fermented Sauce is bright, healthful and mellows with age.  It is a great as a grilling sauce for Chicken, Fish, Pork or Lamb. This is my original recipe!

THE FIRST PART:
2 mangos. Peeled and seed removed.
12 habinero Peppers or Scotch Bonnets.  Stems removed.
2 yellow bell peppers. Stem and seed removed.
2 onions peeled
6 cloves of garlic
1 cup carrot juice

Finely mince every thing with a very sharp knife or use a foot processor.
HE SECOND PART:
The stuff you just minced.
About a quart of brine solution. About a Tbl of Salt to a Quart of water
1 tsp of curry salt
1 Tbl of brown sugar
1 Tbl  of Whey

Now pour everything BUT the brine in a large jar leaving the top 1/3 empty.
Pour the brine in the jar to about an inch over the mixture,
Secure the lid and shack well.
Remove the lid, and cover with cheese cloth.  Put in a warm dark place in your kitchen.

THE THIRD PART
Now every other day, put the lid back on and shake the jar a few times. Remove the lid and put the cheese cloth back on.  Return to the dark warm place.

Repeat

In a few days you will see bubbles coming from the bottom.  A few days latter you will see mixture floating to the top with liquid at the bottom. The mixture will expand because of the fermentation.

When the mixture no longer floats or the liquid is at the top of the jar you are done fermenting.

THE FOURTH PART.
Transfer the sauce into a clean jar.  Tightly put on the lid a put in the refrigerator for at least a month.  The longer the better,

THE FIFTH AND FINAL PART,
Push the sauce through a food mill or through a strainer catching the liquid in a bowl.  Add a tea spoon of apple vinegar and mix.  Bottle and enjoy!

Potage Saint Germaine

Potage Saint Germaine Fresh Pea Soup
Potage Saint Germaine
Fresh Pea Soup
Last year, Pam’s wonderful cousin invited us to dinner at the French Laundry.  We were enjoyed a memorable evening of great food, company and wine.  What I remember most from that evening was my wife’s reaction to one of the many Dishes  This dish was garnished with five or six peas.  Pam remarked on how could a simple pea taste so good?  The answer is simple.  Use FRESH peas and do little to them.
I would like to share a very simple fresh pea recipe that will delight your family and guest. Spring is here and so is Northern California’s pea crop, just waiting for your at your local Farmer’s Market.

Potage Saint Germaine
Fresh Pea Soup
¼ cup unsalted butter
1 small Head of Lettuce.  I use butter lettuce.  Separate the leaves
The whites of one Leak. Finely chopped
3 to ¾ cup of a very good Chicken Stock.  Vegetable Stock may be substituted
Few Sprigs of Parsley
Few Sprigs of Chervill
1 pound of FRESH Shelled Peas
Salt and Pepper
Heavy Cream for the Garnish
Now you will be surprised how simple the cooking procedure is.  I bet it will take you longer to shell the peas than it will to make the soup!
Melt the unsalted butter in a heavy saucepan.  Add the leaks and cook for five minutes.  Don’t forget to stir.  Now add the lettuce and cook for another minute or two.
Add the stock, herbs and peas.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes or until the peas or tender.
Puree the soup in a food processor or blender.  Do a little at a time!  Rinse your pan and returned the soup adding salt and pepper to taste.  Gently reheat without boiling!
Serve in individual soup bowls and swirl in some heavy cream.
Enjoy your First Taste of Spring”




Thank you