Knife Skills: Brunoise (Fine Dice)

Brunoise (Pronunciation: BROON-wahz) is a culinary knife cut in which the food item is first julienned (cut into thin match sticks),and then turned a quarter turn and diced again, producing cubes of a side length of about 3 mm or less on each side. A brunoise should be consistent in size and shape, as this helps to create a pleasing presentation. A perfect brunoise is considered to be one of the overall most difficult knife techniques. That being said I took my shot at it on last night salad.

Cucumber-Pear Salad

~ Ingredients:

• 1 medium carrot brunoised
• 1 medium cucumber brunoised
• 1 medium pear brunoised
• 1 green onion finely sliced
• rice vinegar
• olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

~ Directions: 

Toss everything together in a serving bowl and lightly sprinkle with vinegar and oil. Salt and pepper to taste.

For a great tutorial on how to dice check out this video of Adia Mollenkamp I found on Chow .

 

~ Great with:  Chicken  ~ Prep Time: 10 minutes  ~ Servings: 4

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No after thought here.

Are your side dishes  more of an after thought? You’ve spent all your time and effort  on a beautiful masterpiece, only to pair it with a frozen or canned veggie. Maybe you step it up a bit with an opened bag salad.  MMMM… Really?  Honor your hard work with a side dish that offers the easy convenience of the canned or frozen quick veggie but worthy of a spot on your families table.

Creamed Corn w/ Green Onion

~ Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 3 chopped green onion (whites and greens separated)
• 1/2 cup milk (or Heavy Cream)
• 3 dried bay leaves
• 1 1/2 cups corn kernels
• Salt and Pepper (to taste)

 

~ Directions: 

In small sauce pan melt butter and sauté white parts of green onion. Add milk and bay leaves. Simmer 5 minutes. Remove and discard bay leaves. In small food processor puree 1/2 cup corn and add to milk and onions. Add remaining corn and let simmer until heated thru. Garnish with remaining green onion. Salt and pepper to taste.

~ Great with:  Chicken ~ Prep Time:15 minutes  ~ Servings: 4

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Rethink the Chicken Drumstick

When you think chicken drumstick does a sticky bar-b-qued sauce slathered, shirt staining, finger licking mess come to mind.  Paired up with a picnic potato salad and a fruit platter. Sounds tasty doesn’t it? No doubt this is a great meal, but here is a recipe that takes the chicken drumstick from the picnic table to the dinner table. 

Oven Roasted Chicken Drums over Pasta with Roasted Sweet Onions and Diced Fresh Tomatoes. 

~ Ingredients:

• 8 skin on chicken drumsticks
• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 1 tbsp ground black pepper
• 1 tbsp garlic powder
• 1 tbsp onion powder
• 2 tsp coarse salt
• 2 tsp dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil and 2 tbsp (for serving)
• 1  thick sliced large sweet onion
• 3 pats of unsalted butter
• 1 med diced ripe tomato (for serving)
• 1/4 cup grated parrano cheese (for serving)
• 1 box uncooked spaghetti

~ Directions: 

Preheat oven to 500° oven. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with foil. In a large bowl combined lime juice, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, thyme, cayenne pepper and 1/4 cup of olive oil. Toss and coat sliced sweet onions in sauce and place on baking sheet. Toss chicken drumsticks in remaining sauce and place on baking sheet. Pour any remaining sauce in the bowl over chicken and onions. Bake for 30 minutes. Turn  chicken , toss onions and rotate sheet half way thru baking. While chicken bakes cook pasta as directed, drain and toss with remaining olive oil. Bake chicken to an internal temprature of 160°. Plate pasta on a large platter and top with baked chicken. Tent with foil to allow chicken to rest. Place  pats of butter on baking sheet. Place sheet back into the oven just until butter is melted . Then whisk into drippings to finish the sauce.  Just before serving garnish with fresh diced tomatoes and grated parrano cheese (may substitute with parmigiano reggiano if unable to find parrano cheese).  Drizzle chicken and pasta with finished sauce. 

~ Great with:  Garlic Bread ~ Prep Time: 40 minutes  ~ Servings: 4

 

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Peas-n-Carrots, Mmm Mmm!

Summer is finally here in Oregon! The long awaited hot weather lends itself to outdoor grilling and low heat cooking methods. Who wants to heat up the kitchen when the hot weather is doing the job just fine. Lighter fare is always on the menu.  Save the heavy comfort food for a cold winter day.  Salads, soups and samies are what you crave. Here is a super easy, filling, yet refreshing pea soup that will provide the perfect end to a hot summer day.

Peas – n – Carrots Soup

~ Ingredients:

• 1 small sweet onion minced
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 10 oz frozen sweet peas & carrot blend
• salt & pepper (to taste)
• pinch of nutmeg
• sour cream (for serving)
• fresh cut chives or green onion (to taste and for serving)

~ Directions: 

In small sauce pan over medium heat melt butter. Careful not to burn or brown butter. Once melted sauté onions until soft. Add chicken stock and frozen veggies and bring up to a low boil. Let cook for 10 minutes. Add salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste.  Remove from heat and transfer mixture a cup at a time to  blender (or use an emulsion blender). Use great care as mixture is very hot. Pulse blender after each addition. Add half of chives or green onion and reserve the remaining for garnish. Blend until smooth. Serve garnished with a dollop of sour cream and sprinkle with  reserved chives or green onion.

~ Great with:  Grilled Cheese ~ Prep Time: 15 minutes  ~ Servings: 6