Read The Minimalist Cooks Dinner Online
Authors: Mark Bittman
The Minimalist Cooks Dinner (24 page)
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To make a quick gravy while the chicken is resting, pour out most of the fat, put the skillet over high heat, and add about a cup of water, wine, or stock. Cook, stirring and scraping, until just about ½ cup liquid is left. Season with salt and pepper and, if you’re feeling extravagant, a tablespoon or two of butter.
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Rub the chicken with olive oil and/or any herbs you like about halfway through the cooking—especially good is a bit of tarragon or a mixture of chopped rosemary and garlic.
Chicken
TIME:
40 to 60 minutes
MAKES:
4 servings
My friend Roy Ip grew up eating chicken poached in soy sauce, a traditional Chinese dish I always liked, so I got him to show me how to make it. The preparation is simple: You boil the soy and wine along with some water, ginger, and crushed sugar, adding star anise, ginger, and scallion for flavor. The chicken is boiled too—not simmered, really boiled—but only for 10 minutes; it finishes cooking in the liquid with the heat turned off.
3 cups mushroom-flavored soy sauce, or any dark soy sauce
3 cups (one bottle) mei kuei lu chiew wine, or any floral, off-dry white wine, like Gewürztraminer or Muscat
2 pieces star anise
14 ounces yellow rock sugar (1 box), or 1 cup white sugar
3 ounces ginger (about a 5-inch knob), cut into thick slices and bruised with the side of a knife
10 medium scallions, untrimmed
1 whole chicken (2½ to 3 pounds)
In a narrow pot with about a 6-quart capacity, combine the soy sauce, wine, 2 cups water, and star anise over high heat. While the sugar is still in its box (or wrapped in a towel), smack it several times with a hammer or rolling pin to break it up; it need not be too fine. Add the sugar and ginger to the liquid and bring it to a rolling boil.
Add 6 of the scallions, then gently and slowly lower the chicken into the liquid, breast side down. (In a narrow pot, the liquid will easily cover the chicken; if it is close, just dunk the chicken under the liquid as it cooks. If it is not close, add a mixture of equal parts of soy sauce and water to raise the level.) Bring the liquid back to a boil and boil steadily for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and turn the chicken over so the breast side is up. Let it sit in the hot liquid for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, trim and mince the remaining 4 scallions and preheat the oven to 500°F, if you like.
Carefully remove the chicken from the liquid and serve it, hot or at room temperature. Or place it in a skillet or roasting pan. Roast for 5 minutes, or until nicely browned; keep an eye on it, because it can burn easily. In either case, reheat the sauce and, when the chicken is ready, carve it. Serve the chicken with a few spoonfuls of sauce on it. Pour another cup or so of the sauce in a bowl and add the minced scallions; pass this at the table.
| WINE | Beer, Gewürztraminer, or Riesling |
| SERVE WITH | Easy Rice or Crisp Pan-Fried Noodle Cake; Steamed Broccoli (or Other Vegetable) |
THERE ARE UNUSUAL
but inexpensive ingredients that make this dish slightly better: mushroom-flavored soy sauce, which is dark and heavy; yellow rock sugar, a not-especially-sweet, lumpy sugar that must be broken up with a hammer before using; and mei kuei lu chiew, or “rose wine,” a floral wine that smells like rosewater and costs 2 bucks a bottle. But don’t knock yourself out looking for any of these. I give substitutes in the recipe.
THE TRADITIONAL METHOD
is to remove the bird from the liquid and serve it without further cooking, hot or at room temperature. I like to brown it, by removing the chicken from the liquid and placing it in a hot oven where, in just 5 minutes, it develops a dark brown, crispy crust; this browning can also be done a few hours later.
PERHAPS THE BEST
thing about this sauce is that it can be used time and again, as long as you freeze it between uses (or refrigerate it and bring it to a rolling boil every few days), and top up the liquids now and then.
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Poach other vegetables in the soy sauce mixture for added flavor, and to serve along with the chicken. Root vegetables, such as carrots, turnips, and parsnips, are best
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Cook cut-up chicken or Cornish hens in the same way; the cooking time will be somewhat less
with Lemon and Balsamic
Vinegar
TIME:
30 to 40 minutes
MAKES:
4 servings
All sourness is not the same, as this simple preparation of broiled Cornish hens with lemon and vinegar demonstrates. I wanted to develop a dish that would take advantage of the complex flavor of the entire lemon, rind and all, and offset it with another equally gentle sourness.
The result is a crisp-skinned Cornish hen (you could use chicken, of course), topped with nicely browned lemon slices (sweet and tender enough to eat) and drizzled with just enough balsamic vinegar to make you wonder where the extra flavor is coming from. A garnish of parsley or a hint of rosemary and garlic make nice additions.
2 Cornish hens or 1 chicken
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 lemons
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar, or to taste
Chopped parsley for garnish
Preheat the broiler and adjust the rack so that it is about 4 inches from the heat source. Use a sharp, sturdy knife to split the hens through their backbones; it will cut through without too much effort. Flatten the hens in a broiling or roasting pan, skin side down, and liberally sprinkle the exposed surfaces with salt and pepper. Slice one of the lemons as thinly as you can and lay the slices on the birds.
Broil for about 10 minutes, or until the lemon is browned and the birds appear cooked on this side; rotate the pan in the oven if necessary. Turn the birds, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and return to the broiler. Cook for another 10 minutes, or until the skin of the birds is nicely browned. Meanwhile, slice the remaining lemon as you did the first.
Lay the lemon slices on the birds’ skin side and return to the broiler. Broil for another 5 minutes, by which time the lemons will be slightly browned and the meat cooked through; if it isn’t, broil for an additional couple of minutes. Drizzle with the balsamic vinegar, garnish with parsley and serve.
| WINE | Rosé from Provence or the Rhône, lightly chilled, or a light red like a Beaujolais |
| SERVE WITH | 60-Minute Bread or good store-bought bread; Easy Rice or Mashed Potatoes ; Sautéed Shiitake Mushrooms or Steamed Broccoli (or Other Vegetable) |
A MANDOLINE
is the tool of choice for slicing the lemons. (The inexpensive plastic mandolines made in Japan are among the most valuable kitchen gadgets.)
ADJUST THE DISTANCE
between the rack and the heat source so the birds brown slowly but steadily. In my oven, a 4-inch gap is perfect for Cornish hens, but I must move it down to the next level for chickens, which take a little longer. If you have an electric oven, chances are the heating element will cycle off when the oven becomes hot; you can counter this by leaving the over door a little bit ajar while you’re cooking, and moving the bird as far back in the oven as possible.
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In step 3, spread 1 teaspoon finely minced garlic combined with 1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary (or 1 teaspoon dried) on the birds’ skin after it browns but before covering with the lemon slices.
Duck with Sauerkraut
TIME:
2 hours, largely unattended
MAKES:
4 servings
Here’s a simple two-step procedure for duck, in which you first roast the bird, and then you braise it briefly. It keeps even the breast meat moist while making the legs ultra-tender. There are many options for the braising medium, but none provides more complementary flavor with less work than sauerkraut. The result is a moist bird with a sauce that doubles as a side vegetable. Although the cooking takes some time, you can practically ignore the duck as it roasts; if the oven temperature is moderate, it will brown more or less automatically and render its fat at the same time.
1 duck (about 4 pounds)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 cups sauerkraut, rinsed
2 teaspoons sweet paprika
½ cup dry white wine or water
2 bay leaves
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Prick the duck all over with a fork, then sprinkle it with salt and pepper and place it in a large, deep, ovenproof skillet or Dutch oven. Roast the duck, checking occasionally to make sure it is browning steadily, for about 1½ hours. (If the duck is barely browning, increase the heat by 50 degrees; if it seems to be browning too quickly, reduce the heat slightly.) At that point, the duck will be nicely browned and have rendered a great deal of fat; pour off all but a few tablespoons of the fat and transfer the pan to the top of the stove. Don’t worry if the duck does not appear to be fully cooked.
Scatter the sauerkraut around the duck, then sprinkle it with paprika, moisten it with the wine, and tuck the bay leaves in there. Turn the heat to low and cover. Simmer for about 15 minutes, then stir and put some of the sauerkraut on top of the duck.
Cook for another 15 minutes or so, until the duck is quite tender. Carve and serve.
| WINE | A dry Alsatian white, such as Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, or Riesling, or a Halbtrocken or Kabinett wine from Germany |
| SERVE WITH | Rye bread and any root vegetable dish you like, or Steamed Broccoli (or Other Vegetable) |
SIMPLIFY THE PROCESS
by roasting the bird in the same pan you plan to braise it in—a Dutch oven or a deep 12-inch skillet will handle the task perfectly.
THE BEST SAUERKRAUT
is sold in bulk, but you can buy perfectly good sauerkraut in jars or plastic bags in the supermarket. Just make sure that the only ingredients are cabbage and salt (inferior sauerkraut contains preservatives, and that sold in cans tastes tinny).
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Unfortunately, a single duck provides skimpy servings for four people. You can make up for this with side dishes, but there are other solutions as well:
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Braise a piece of slab bacon and/or smoked or fresh pork along with the duck, after adding the sauerkraut; you’ll have to increase the cooking time a bit.
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Peel and cut up some potatoes (or carrots, parsnips, or turnips) and cook them along with the duck and sauerkraut.
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Finally, you can simply cook more duck—start with two ducks, or add a couple of duck legs or, best of all, sear a duck breast—just brown it on both sides as you would a steak—and serve the slices separately.