Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!

I love potluck dinners. As I've mentioned before, potlucks are the 20-something's equivalent to a dinner party. You can find out a lot about someone from what they bring to a potluck. Are they laid back (a chips person), sweet and thoughtful (dessert), smart and skillful (complex appetizer) or just plain lazy (timbits)?

Or, are they like Mike? Mike also loves potluck dinners. Let's just say, he gets a little carried away -- in a good way -- when it comes to potlucks. For one potluck, Mike cooked 17 pounds of pork, bought 50 buns and brought pulled pork sandwiches. For a Christmas potluck, Mike cooked an entire turkey, along with stuffing, roasted vegetables and gravy. Surprisingly, there weren't any leftovers from that party. On Friday we were invited to another potluck and Mike made chicken. Not just one chicken though. Two roasted chickens with stuffing, roasted vegetables, gravy, dinner rolls and a pumpkin pie. Luckily for us, there were plenty of leftovers to take home.

The chickens were marinated with basil, sage, rosemary, oregano, thyme, chipotle, paprika, margarine and oil. The stuffing was made with frozen bread crusts (leftover from when I made the "afternoon tea" sandwiches at my dinner party), chopped celery, apple, lemon juice and the same spices used on the chicken. Roast chicken is probably my favourite go-to meal because it's cheap --$8 a chicken or $5 if they're on sale -- easy, and makes about a week's worth of chicken.

The vegetables from the bottom of the pan are always delicious after they've been cooked in the chicken juice. Mike used potatoes, carrots, celery, onions and drizzled them with a little olive oil before putting the chickens on top.

The dinner rolls were a recipe from Mike's Mom. I hope she doesn't mind if I share the secret :) He used a standard pizza dough recipe (flour, water, oil, yeast) and rolled three balls for each roll:

Then he formed the three balls together and put them in a muffin tin:

And baked them for about 20 minutes:

They look neat and they taste great too.

For dessert, he made a quick and easy pumpkin pie with a ready-made pie crust, canned pumpkin, evaporated milk and spices (full recipe to come):

The potluck was a lot of fun and everyone enjoyed Mike's abundance of contributions. Only one of the chickens was eaten at the dinner, so we brought the other one home for leftovers. On Saturday, we made hot chicken sandwiches for dinner.

Is there anything better than chicken and bread soaked in gravy? I think not. I am a gravy fiend, so I love when food is literally swimming in gravy. Even after a potluck and hot chicken sandwiches, there was still a ton of chicken left. I plan on making chicken salad sandwiches for lunch, chicken curry and chicken stock with the leftover bones and carcass.

When I said chicken made a cheap and versatile meal, I wasn't kidding around.

Daring Cook's Challenge: Grape Leaves

Onto yet another challenge. This is my first post as part of the Daring Cook's club. The Daring Kitchen is a site where food bloggers are challenged each month with a different dish. It's basically a way for foodies to learn how to cook better and more interesting dishes. There is also a Daring Baker's club for dessert enthusiasts.


This month's challenge was hosted by Lori of Lipsmacking Goodness. She challenged the group to make "Stuffed Grape Leaves." The stuffed leaves are eaten in many cultures --like Greek and Middle Eastern-- with many varieties of fillings. For the challenge, there was a meat and vegetarian option for the filling, so I tried both.

Here is her recipe:

Grape Leaves Stuffed with Ground Meat and Rice (more info here)
Yield: 6 to 8 servings
Ingredients for hashu/filling:
1 pound (455 gm) ground (minced) beef
1/3 cup (80 ml) (2 1/3 oz) (65 gm) short grain rice
1 teaspoon (5 ml) (6 gm) all spice
2 tablespoons (30 ml) vegetable oil
1 teaspoon (5 ml) (6 gm) cinnamon
1 teaspoon (5 ml) (3 gm) kosher (coarse) salt **if using regular table salt only use ½ tsp.**
¼ teaspoon (1¼ ml) (1½ gm) white pepper
1 onion, chopped **optional**
1 cup (5½ oz) (150 gm) pine nuts **optional**

I was worried that I wouldn't be able to find grape leaves, but I found jars of them at my local grocery store. First, soak the rice for about 30 minutes. The rice and meat don't have to be cooked beforehand because they will cook inside of the leaves. 

While you're soaking the rice, soak the leaves in boiling water for 20 minutes. Only do this step if you are using leaves that have been soaked in brine. Then, drain the hot water and change the water a few times using cold water. This process rids the leaves of the brine and salt from pickling. 

For the meat filling, use the recipe above. For the vegetable filling, substitute the meat with tomatoes and add a little more rice. 

Place the leaf on a clean surface with the veins facing up. 

Add about 2 tbsp of filling. Start rolling the leaf from the bottom and fold in the edges, like a small cigar. 

Add 2 tbsp of olive oil to a pot. Carefully put the stuffed grape leaves in the pot and let them cook in the oil for 5-8 minutes until the leaves start to sweat. Add a little bit of water (to just above the leaves) and lemon juice. Put a pot lid or plate on top of the leaves to make sure they don't unravel. 

For a dipping sauce, I made a simple tzatziki sauce using plain yogurt, dill, cucumber, basil and lemon juice. I really enjoyed this recipe, but I found the leaves from the jar were a little salty. I don't know where I would find fresh grape leaves in my area, so maybe next time I will use cabbage as a substitute. I really enjoyed my first Daring Cook's challenge and I look forward to many more. For more info on the Daring Kitchen, check out the site.

Challenge #4: Gnocchi Step-by-Step (oh, baby)

I am still in shock that I made to Challenge #4 and the top 100 in Project Food Blog 2010! This contest has been inspiring, and has reinforced my passion for food writing. Thank you FoodBuzz, judges, bloggers, family and friends for believing in me. I might be a food blogger newbie, but I can still compete with the big kids!

Now, onto Challenge #4: "Sure, you can take a pretty picture. But your task here is to go above and beyond and use photography to create a step-by-step, instructional photo tutorial. It could be anything from how to bone a chicken to how to make your favorite recipe, but your photos need to guide the reader through the steps."

For this challenge I decided to make pasta from scratch. I was inspired by Delia Smith and her amazing books, “How to Cook” volumes 1 and 2, which were a gift from my Mom. The books have great photo tutorials and cover cooking basics like eggs, pastry, meat and potatoes. She keeps it simple and basic, which is a blessing in disguise for any new cook. I decided to try her “Gnocchi with Sage, Butter and Parmesan.” 

(A peek inside volume 1)

Why did I choose this recipe? I will let Delia tell you herself: “Once again it’s the Italians who are so clever at inventing such simple things out of what seems to be fairly ordinary ingredients but then become something quite outstanding” (How to Cook, Volume 1, pg. 190). Potatoes, flour, eggs and butter; it can’t be anymore simple than that, right?

Whenever I think of making pasta, I think of those amazing Italian “nonnas” who vigorously knead and roll pasta for hours in their kitchens in Italy. I try to imagine what it would be like to have an Italian grandmother: “Laurrra,” she’d say, rolling her r’s, “I will teach you how to make pasta, but first, do I not feed you enough?” I think back to my trip to Italy and how I ate everything on my plate because the food was so delicious; a big no-no in Italian culture. Apparently, if you eat everything on your plate it means there wasn’t enough food. I just couldn’t help myself. The antipasta, pasta, meat, seafood, gelato, and pizza were just too delicious.

I remember our last lunch in Rome. Mike and I just wanted a light, refreshing lunch before heading off. We found this quiet café in a winding, narrow street near the Coliseum and ordered some bruschetta to start. For the entree, I ordered a seafood salad and Mike ordered a small plate of pasta. Beside us, were two businessmen on their lunch break. They also started with the bruschetta, then pasta, then a fish course (a whole fish), a bottle of wine, and finally, some espresso. After that, they reluctantly shuffled back to work. I sat there -- slightly embarrassed with my little salad-- totally in awe of the way Italians truly savour their food.

With making pasta, my imaginary Italian grandmother would first probably tell me to take off my rings: “Laura, this is serious business. Rings come off.” Pasta making, at least in this experience, was messy. My hands were covered in flour and egg mush, my shirt was covered in flour spots and I had to stop myself from obsessively licking my fingers and washing my hands during cooking, like I usually do. I learned that the process is also long. By the time the pasta was rolled, cut and cooked, I had consumed a few essential snacks in between.

Delia Smith's Gnocchi with Sage, Butter and Parmesan (recipe also available online)

Ingredients: 

2 medium sized potatoes

3 1/2 oz plain flour, sifted, plus more for rolling

1 large egg, lightly beaten

Salt and pepper

For the sauce:

8 fresh sage leaves

2 oz butter

1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed

3-4 tbsp parmesan cheese (for serving)

Place the potatoes, with skins on, in a pot of salted, boiling water. Simmer for 20-25 minutes until the potatoes are tender:

Drain the potatoes and pare off the skins using a knife or potato peeler: 

Place the potatoes in a bowl and whisk on a slow speed using an electric hand mixer. Break up the potatoes and whisk until light and fluffy: 

Let the potatoes cool down. Then add the sifted flour and half of the beaten egg: 

Bring the mixture together using a fork. Then, knead the mixture with your hands until it becomes a soft dough:

Transfer the dough to a floured surface:

Divide the dough into quarters:

Roll each quarter into long, sausage shapes approximately a 1/2 inch in diameter:

Cut the sausage shapes, on a diagonal, into 1 inch pieces:

Place the pieces on a floured plate. Cover and refrigerate the gnocchi for at least 30 minutes:

Press a fork down onto the gnocchi to form a ridge and lightly form them into crescent shapes:

Bring a large shallow pan of water to a simmer (3.5 litres of water or less depending on the pan):

Drop the gnocchi into the simmering water and cook for three minutes. The gnocchi should rise to the top of the water when they are ready:

Scoop the gnocchi out with a slotted spoon onto a warmed serving plate: 

For the sauce, melt the butter and garlic in a pan until the garlic starts to brown. Add the sage leaves and cook for 30 seconds:

After all of this, you will have perfect gnocchi:

I'm just kidding. That picture is Delia's rendition. THIS picture is mine:

The pasta wasn’t that hard to make. The only difficulty came in making the sauce. I love Delia, but pure butter, melted, then poured onto pasta is insane. Of course, I can eat butter in numerous desserts and pastries, but the sauce made the dish an oily, greasy plate of butter with a side of pasta. After the first batch, I literally lay on the floor in overdramatic discomfort, yelling, “I ate too much butter!”

The next night, with the second batch of gnocchi, I cooked the garlic and sage in a little bit of margarine, then drizzled a bit of olive oil and parmesan cheese on top of the pasta. The pasta wasn’t drenched in sauce and I found I could actually enjoy the dish without worrying how my arteries would react. Nonna would probably say, “Nonsense, butter makes you tough. You’re a growing girl.” 

In case you were wondering, I WAS that child who constantly made up imaginary people and friends. I also never had an Italian grandmother (obviously), but I will always have a place in my heart for Italy.

If you liked this post, then please vote. I have some cool ideas for the next few rounds, so let's get this "food fight" started! Check out my profile and vote here (your Italian Nonna will thank you).