Brandon Eats

Arroz con Pollo

I felt just terrible that Valerie and Ross had to go over to Simply Recipes to get a recipe for arroz con pollo.  I'd never posted one myself because what I make is so similar to paella--almost exactly the same, as a matter of fact, sans seafood. Plus a little tomato paste.

It's a great dish to have in your weeknight arsenal, however, and I'm not exactly sure why I thought everyone could read my mind and figure that out on their own, somehow, by reading that paella post.  I guess I just have a lot of faith in my readers.

For those of you without telekinetic powers (and I know there are a few of you), below you'll find one of those great pantry and freezer dishes that will save dinnertime right when it's on the brink of utter disaster.

Just to review: this is a cheater, non-fussy kind of recipe that uses (gasp!) sodium-laced BOUILLON, instead of real chicken stock.  You know, the little cubes?  I, in fact, use real, mostly homemade (if you consider stock purchased from Mekong Restaurant homemade) chicken stock for everything else.

I've made arroz con pollo both ways, and I always, always succumb to the lure of the trashy cube.  It's also the saltiest method and the one most brimming with glutamates (the tomato paste is no slouch in that department either), and that probably explains my preference, given my addiction to umami. It's still a cheat, however, so if you want to take the high road, make sure you use strong, strong stock.  This little dish needs to pop with flavor. As they say.

 

Arroz con Pollo (Chicken and Rice)*

2 TB. olive oil
1 red pepper, sliced
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 double-sized cubes (like Knorr) chicken bouillon
4 cups hot water
2 very large pinches saffron (lightly toasted in a small pan ahead of time)
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 c. Bomba rice or Aborio rice
1 lb. real SPANISH chorizo, sliced into 1/2” rounds (NO SUBSTITUTIONS)
6-8 pieces of chicken, patted dry

Sauté the garlic, red pepper, and onion over medium heat in large, wide cast-iron skillet until soft and fragrant. Add the chicken and sauté until golden brown. Dissolve bouillon in hot water; stir in tomato paste; add to pan. Sprinkle with saffron and stir. Add rice and chorizo; bring to a boil and reduce heat, simmering with the pan covered.

Cook slowly until all of the liquid is gone (20 to 30 minutes: keep a close eye on it), and the rice is cooked. Serve immediately and thank the pantry gods you didn't have to go to the store.

*Not a dish for those on a diet.  Your secret, however, is safe with me.

Umami Loves You

I've gotten a lot (for me) of mail about my article in Style last week about the fifth taste, umami.  For those of you who'd like to do more reading about it, below you'll find some links:

Nature

New York Times

Wall Street Journal

NPR

La Petite France

*****UPDATED LINKS*****

I re-visit La Petite France in today's Style Weekly after a twenty year break, and obsess, as many longtime readers of my blog would say, about eggs in Belle.  But aren't you glad I gave you something to do with all of those  candy-colored, hard boiled eggs you still have around? I'll add that link as soon as it becomes available. 

And read all about Veronica's incomparable macarons from the Style and Substance section of Belle (hot tips sent to [email protected] always welcome).  Take it from one who's tried them: they really are all that.

March Madness

I'm on a diet and so should you. Be. On one. You know. For advice, check out RVANews.

State of the Plate 2008

I'm crying tears of relief that the big Style Weekly restaurant issue is finally on newsstands (right now!) and no one's going to ask me who I think should be restaurant of the year. Again. With examples. At last, I can stop eating out for a while and get back to cooking again.

It was a hard, hard decision, my faithful readers, and annoyingly, I didn't get to make it all by my lonesome.  But then I'd have to write it all, and that really would be a nightmare, don't you think? 

I agree. 

Fortunately, the actual heavy lifting was done by my indefatigable editor, Deveron Timberlake, along with serious groundwork by critics Joe Cates and Don Baker.  Below you'll find links to my contributions but I do recommend stopping by one of those red boxes and picking up an actual paper copy.  It looks so much better in print.

Whose Umami?

Bad Tastes

The Best Dishes with Joe Cates

DIY Yogurt

Husbands are a little like yogurt.  They can be sweet (if they want to be) and smooth (if they shave).  For some, a husband--like yogurt--is an acquired taste, and for others, we love it immediately despite (or maybe because of) its bracing astringency and its bold, unfamiliar snap of flavor.

When you make your own yogurt, it has to be coddled a bit, and kept at a constant temperature in order to obtain the right consistency.  I tried making it on the stove and in the oven, and I finally realized that the only way to get what I wanted was to buy my own, specially designed yogurt maker.  My desire for my own homemade yogurt was shaped, in a sense, by the yogurt itself, and I found that in order to have it whenever I wanted it, I had to make a few, minor accommodations. Some days, it really doesn't seem worth all the trouble, but on others, when I stir in runny strawberry preserves from the summer before or fresh, chopped up grapefruit and honey, I wonder how I was ever satisfied with anything else.

Homemade Yogurt

• 4 cups of lowfat (2%) milk
• 1/2 cup of plain yogurt or yogurt starter
• 3-4 tablespoons powdered milk

Preheat your yogurt maker.

Stir together the milk and powdered milk together until the powdered milk is dissolved (the powdered milk will help firm up the yogurt). Slowly heat the milk mixture in a saucepan until tiny bubbles just begin to appear on the edge where the milk meets the pan.  The temperature will be about between 180-200º F.  You're sterilizing the milk so that any stray bacteria in the milk that might cause off-flavors or inhibit the growth of the yogurt cultures is killed off.

Remove the pan from the heat and place in a ice water bath, stirring occasionally.  Watch the temperature carefully.  You want it to be between 108-112º F, no more, no less.  Remove the pan from the water bath and add about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of the warm milk to the yogurt or yogurt starter.  Mix well, and stir it all back into the pan of milk.

Carefully pour into the preheated yogurt maker and leave it alone for 4-5 hours or even overnight.  Makes one fabulously creamy quart of plain yogurt that can be eaten as is, mixed with fruit, or sugar, or honey, maybe nuts, maybe grains, or best of all, strained overnight* and made into frozen yogurt with that little used, but much loved ice cream maker the next day.

*substitute whole milk for lowfat