Easy Roast Chicken with a Kick!

Alright folks, here is something I have tried a few times when roasting a chicken. The idea if from Mario Batali's book, Molto Italiano. He calls it the Devil's Chicken. It gives the chicken a great crispy crust, and a nice kick.

Meat: 1 whole chicken

Veg: Anything to make a small salad with. Mario suggests a cherry tomato, red onion, and parsley salad with a red wine vinaigrette (What I did the first time I made this - very good). This time I did a red and green bell pepper and cucumber salad because that is what I had

Herb/Spice: Dijon mustard, a whole lot of fresh cracked black pepper, salt, extra virgin olive oil

Garnish/Fixins: Some spicy extra virgin olive oil

What to do:

1. Preheat your oven to 400 Fahrenheit.

2. Rinse chicken and pat dry.

2. Rub or brush chicken with olive oil, and then sprinkle very liberally with salt and pepper - inside and out.

3. Put chicken on a roasting rack and cook for about 45 minutes - you want it to get nice and brown

4. In the meantime, mix together about two tablespoons of Dijon mustard, with about a quarter cup (yeah, that's right, a quarter CUP) of fresh cracked black pepper, and about a tablespoon of olive oil.

5. When chicken is brown, remove and brush all with the mustard/pepper mixture; then return to the oven until it is done - about 30 minutes, or until the deepest part of the thigh registers about 165 Fahrenheit with a meat thermometre.




6. Carve it up, serve with salad, and drizzle with olive oil!



Done. Easy and delicious. Try it.

Restaurant Review: The Tallest Poppy

The Tallest Poppy: 3.9/5

Last Saturday, I had the pleasure of having lunch at The Tallest Poppy here in Winnipeg. This restaurant, located at 631 Main Street serves up fresh, local, organic food on a menu that changes daily.

Inside, the restaurant is nothing special, but very comfortable - you would expect it to be filled with hipsters, but that was not the case at all. There are about eight tables, some minimalist decor (albeit with a very cool ceiling), the counter, and the menu board featuring the day's offerings. The restaurant has a great atmosphere and feel, with patrons coming from all walks of life from business persons to street people, to our group that was heading off to a tasting at the Winnipeg Wine Festival right after lunch. In addition to the restaurant's feel, the owner was very hands on with service and made sure we, as well as every other customer, was welcomed and had everything they wanted. Our server was also quite knowledgeable and friendly as we, jokingly, pummeled her with questions about everything from what the best thing on the menu was, to where all the ingredients came from.

Since it was around noon on a Saturday when we went, the menu was a mix of breakfast and lunch dishes. On the menu that day were a number of sandwiches (roast chicken and pork) served with ruffled potato chips, their classic style breakfast, a breakfast sandwich, an egg strata, and a several other things.

All of the Tallest Poppy's sandwiches are made with their fresh homemade challah, which I thought was exquisite! They serve this bread as their toast as well. I chose the roast chicken sandwich, which had pieces roast dark meat chicken, bacon, lettuce, and tomatoes, cheddar cheese, as well as some mayo. It was awesome. One of my dining-mates also had this sandwich, and claimed, with absolutely no reservations, that it was the best sandwich he'd ever had in Winnipeg. It's incredible how something so simple can be made so special by using fresh, high quality ingredients, and really good bread.

Overall I had a great experience at this neat little eatery, and will definitely be making a return visit. If you want something fresh and tasty, I suggest you check it out. Try going in and just asking them to "make something good" and you won't be disappointed!

Prices at the Tallest Poppy are extremely reasonably, with almost everything on that day's menu coming in at under $10 (The sandwiches were about $6). The Tallest Poppy also does family style fixed menu brunches, that include several courses of whatever the chef decides to whip up for that day. I haven't tried it yet, but I definitely will.

This is so good I don't know where I am...

or remember my name.

Today, for the first time, I made my favourite dish to eat in the world: Mole Poblano (pronounced "mole-ay") [In reality, this probably isn't very "Poblano"; it's more just a way to make a dark mole, which is characteristic of that from the Peubla region]. This is a labour intensive, time consuming Mexican dish that is more complex than probably anything you've ever tasted. The version I made was relatively simple (a slight variation on Mark Bittman's recipe in The Best Recipes in the World), but traditionally these recipes will have over 30 ingredients, involving as many as 10 different kinds of chiles.

Mole Poblano is the dark, rich sauce made primarily from a variety of fresh and dried chiles, tomatoes, onions, garlic, stock, and unsweetened chocolate or cocoa. It comes together as a rich, dark,velvety sauce that is a match made in heavan for chicken; or even better: turkey (So tonight I did both chicken and turkey with my mole).

You may ask: if this is your favourite thing to eat in the world, then why is this the first time you've ever made it? I might answer: I've never been able to get the variety of dried chiles necessary. The actual types of dried chiles you get isn't all that important, because pretty much every family in certain Mexican regions have their own recipe. What is important is that you get a variety. I had my mom pick up some for me in Florida recently. I four types of Mexican dried chiles: Whole dried chipotles (aka smoked jalepenos), ground ancho chiles, ground red New Mexico chiles, and ground green New Mexico chiles. I also got some whole dried Thai bird's eye chiles, but those are for another entry!

If you can get a few types of dried Meixcan chiles, you can make Mole Poblano. This is also probably a spot to mention that there are countless varieties of mole which you can make (just google it!), but Poblano, or from the region of Peubla, is my favourite.

I served my turkey/chicken Mole Poblano with some slow cooked beans, and "Arroz Mexicano" (aka Mexican rice").

Here's what I did.

Mole Poblano

Meat: Turkey and chicken legs, chicken broth/stock

Veg: Whole canned plum tomatoes, jalapenos, onions

Spice: Cinnamon, dried chipotle pepper, dried ground ancho pepper, dried ground red and green New Mexico chiles, bay leaves, thyme, cliantro, unsweetened chocolate, salt and pepper

Garnish/Fixins: Cilantro, fresh tomatoes, hot sauce, corn tortillas



1. Put the fresh and dried (chipotle) jalapenos in the bottom of a hot, dry stock pot, and char them a bit, but not too much, then remove and put aside.



2. Reduce the heat under the stockpot, add some extra virgin olive oil, and then the onions (chopped), garlic (minced), and about a quarter cup of chopped cilantro - cook until onions are soft.



3. In the meantime, stem and seed the fresh jalapenos, and cut into pieces.

4. When the onions are soft, add about a cup and a half of chopped tomates (canned will be better if the fresh ones aren't that good), about 2 cups of chicken stock, the cinnamon, thyme, bay leaves, the fresh and dried jalapenos, all the rest of the chiles. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for a while.. maybe half an hour.



5. Once its had time for the flavours to blend, add about 1 ounce (one full sqare of baker's chocolate) of unsweetened chocolate, and stir while it blends in. Continue to simmer.



6. At some point after its simmered a bit longer, either use a stick blender to puree the sauce, or allow to cool slightly, transfer to a blender, and puree. Continue to simmer the sauce.




7. At this point preheat your oven to 400, and then put some olive oil on a baking sheet, and the pieces of poultry, as well as some salt and pepper. Throw it in the oven and cook for about 10-15 minutes, and then turn the broiler on to brown the skin. Once its pretty nice and crip, transfer the meat to the simmering sauce. Allow to cook for about 20 minutes..



8. At this point, the chicken/turkey skin will be a bit soft, so I removed it from the sauce, and put it back under the broiler until it gets all nice and almost "grilled" looking. All the while continuing to simmer the sauce.



9. Now I added more chicken stock throughout the sauce cooking, especially to help cook the poultry. But in the end, you want it to be thick, so while the poultry is browning under the broiler, reduce the sauce on high heat until it coats the back of a spoon - or even thicker if you want. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.



10. Take the poultry out of the oven, put on a serving platter or something big enough to carry it, and top with a generous portion of the mole, and the garnish with chopped cilantro and sesame seeds.



11. Get your fixins together: Wrap corn tortillas in foil and heat in oven/toaster oven for about 10 minutes (Corn tortiallas NEED to be hot, or they will crack); Slice a couple tomatoes (I salt and peppered them, gave them a squeeze of lime, and topped with some cilantro as well), more chopped cilantro, hot sauce, and the left over mole sauce.

12. Assemble tacos with pieces of the poultry that you've torn off the bone (shredding it a bit is the best) - I like to top it with extra mole, hot sauce, cilantro, and tomatoes. Sometimes I like just the meat and sauce on the corn tortilla alone.



Beans

What you need: A bag of dried red kidney beans (what I used) or black beans, some cumin, several cloves of garlic, a couple lime wedges, water, and some time!)

What to do:

1. If you have time, soak the beans overnight - this will greatly reduce the cooking time.

2. Then put beans in a sauce pan, cover liberally with water, and bring to a boil


3. When it comes to a boil, add a tablepsoon of cumin, and a few smashed garlic cloves

4. Reduce to a simmer, and cook until beans are tender (at least an hour --> I cooked mine for 3.5 hours to get them to a glorious texture - they weren't pre-soaked) - You will likely have to add more liquid to keep the beans covered (either water or broth)



5. I chose to take a potato masher to mine about 2 hours in to release all the starch and break the beans up.


6. When they are nice and broken down and in a big mass; they are done.

When they are ready, add another tablespoon of cumin, a couple minced garlic cloves, salt and pepper, and a couple squeezes of lime. Combine and serve!

Arroz Mexicano

What you need: long grain rice, an onion, some garlic cloves, a couple tomatoes, chicken broth, and a bit of oil.

What to do:

1. Heat the oil in a saucepan, and add rice. Stir until the rice is golden brown.

2. In the meantime, puree the tomatoes, onion, and garlic into a paste in a blender/food processor.

3. When the rice if brown, add the puree to the pan and cook for a few more minutes.

4. Add the broth (about twice the amount of rice you have; i.e. one cup of rice and two cups of liquid), bring to a boil, cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer until rice is tender - about 20-30 minutes)



5. Toss the rice with a fork - or "fluff" it, I guess is what its called, and serve!


That is it! A great Mexican Sunday dinner here in Winnipeg. Andrew and I just gorged on that. I wanted to make this in honour of my favourite restaurant in Sault Ste. Marie closing - Los Mexicanos. Mole is pretty much the only thing I ever ordered there. It was amazing there, although tonight's turned out to as good, if not better! I am very happy. Now I can make this again and again (until I run out of chiles, at least).



Best. Meal. Ever.

Mobile Blogging

I'm just seeing how this mobile blogging works.

I'm currently chilling at the Hogtown Bar and Grill in Terminal 1 of Pearson International Airport in Toronto. Just had a burger and a few overpriced beers - but it always tastes extra good at the airport! This should make my flight to Winnipeg much more enjoyable. It already made the lay over bearable!

Sent on the TELUS Mobility network with BlackBerry

Restaurant Review: Bali (Sault Ste. Marie)

Bali : 3.5/5

Last night I had the pleasure of having dinner at what is one of the best restaurants in the Sault since my favourite place of all time, Los Mexicanos, closed a couple months ago. Bali is a rare place in the Sault offering something more than generic Italian food.

Bali provides a variety of Indonesian, Chinese, and maybe a hint of Malaysian dishes in its new dining room at 523 Queen Street. The new location is quite a bit larger, and is decorated with Indonesian art. The decor really gives you the sense that this is a family run restaurant, and that the food is the main event. It really is family run, because the staff while I was there was the two young children doing service (except for alcohol, which is served by the parents), and the two parents in the back cooking and occaisionally coming out to see if everything was ok.

I had the pleasure of tasting 5 different dishes off the menu, and a few bottles of Tsing Tao beer.

Chicken Satay Appetizer
Tasty offering of six chicken skewers served with a tasty penut sauce, and a thick, sweet soy sauce. The chicken was moist, the sauce tasty, and it was served on a stick: very good starter.

Beef Rendang
I got this dish extra spicy. It could have been hotter, but it was still delicious. Thin strips of beef and pieces of carrot cooked in a flavourful cocanut sauce with a whole bunch of South-East Asian spices. Best dish of the night.

Lemongrass Chicken
Pieces of chicken cooked in a frgrant lemongrass sauce. It was very good, but my only issue was that the sauce could have been thicker, as it did not stick that well to the chicken or rice. However, I ate the sauce kind of like a soup at the end, and it was great.

Pork with Asam
This was the lone dry dish we got while we were there. I believe it is pork cooked with tamarind paste until the paste is reduced. The dish takes on an interesting smokey flavour as well. It was also very good

Tofu Dish (I can't remember what it was!)
This dish was tofu in a sauce that I think had oyster sauce in it, as well as peas and fava beans maybe? I don't know. I didn't really like this dish that much. It tasted great, but it soft tofu and I am not a big fan of that texture

There you have it. I would say that anyone in Sault Ste. Marie looking to go for dinner, or get take-out should definitely try out Bali. Even if you go with some of their more Chinese offerings, it still WAY WAY better than any other Chinese restaurant in town.

In addition to the quality of the food, it is very reasonably priced, with most dishes under $10. The two kids provide suprisingly efficient service, and everyone there is very friendly.

Check it out, because it would be a shame to see another great ethnic restaurant go down in a city with so few to start with.

Doing my (very small/likely irrelevant) part to encourage people to go to Mexico

Mexico is going through a rough couple of weeks with this swine influenza. As soon as this 24-hour news network induced panic subsides, I assume that their tourism industry will continue to struggle.

I don't, however, know how people could resist going to a place that has such amazing food! I remember being in Playa del Carmen several years ago. It was 6 a.m, and the locals were all huddled around small food carts scattered around the centre of town. The smells were wonderful, and the taste even better. I love REAL Mexican food - as opposed to Tex-Mex, which usually puts people off Mexican food. That is a real shame.

So I've decided to take this opportunity of being home with my family (and having access to a new grill!) to make casual Mexican dinner for them. Last week I made fish tacos, which were incredible. That time, I used cornmeal dredged and fried pieces of Red Snapper. They were so good, that I decided to give them a go again, but this time, I used grilled wild cod. Here's what I did:

Meat: Wild Cod (But any firm white salt-water fish will do - Halibut, Snapper, Grouper, etc.)

Veg: Tomatoes, cabbage, onion

Herb/Spice: Cilantro, garlic, limes, salt, and pepper, fresh jalapenos

Garnishes/Fixins: Flour or Corn tortillas (the smaller the better), Pretty much everything above except the fish is a garnish (or will be made into a garnish)



What do to:

1. Make a "Pico de Gallo" aka Fresh tomato salsa: Chop and seed the tomatoes, and throw them in a bowl

2. Finely dice the onion, and jalapeno, and chop the cilantro - add to the tomatoes

3. Squeeze the juice of a couple of limes into the salsa

4. Salt and pepper to taste (Pretty much everything here is added to taste) - Set aside for at least 15 minutes to let flavours combine

5. Shred the cabbage

Photo: (Shredded cabbage, guacamole, cilantro, limes, jalapenos, and Pico de Gallo)


6. Mince a few cloves of garlic, and mix with the juice of a lime or two, and some salt and pepper - use this to marinate the fish (Not for more than 10 minutes, or the lime juice will "cook" the fish)

Photo: Marinade without the fish


7. Remove fish from the marinade, put on a hot grill and cook until fish flakes easily with a fork.



8. Time to put together your fish tacos! - freshen up the tortillas if necessary, and then add some a couple small pieces of fish, some cabbage, a spoonful of Pico de Gallo, and any more cilantro, jalapenos, or lime if you so desire. Wrap it or roll and the get up in them fish tacos!!




These are a classic, and delicious in my mind. I served them with some homemade guacamole (avocado, tomato, garlic, lime, salt and pepper mixed up) and chips (you can also eat any of your left over fresh salsa!), and some nice cerveza (I bought Sol and Negra Modelo - I LOVE Dos Equis, but the Beer Store was out).



Try it! Also, you can make a nice lime/garlic mayo to go on them if you want too. And if you don't have a grill, the cornmeal fried way is pretty traditional. If you don't like frying, just sear of the fish in a pan with bit of oil.

ALSO! If you like Mexican food, stay tuned for my first attempt at making my FAVOURITE Mexican dish: Mole Poblano. I just got a variety of dried chiles, which I've never been able to get before. This should come within a week or so!

Celebrity Chef Sighting

So I was sitting in the Winnipeg Airport yesterday waiting for my flight to Sault Ste. Marie (via Toronto), when I look up, and who do I see but David Adjey of Restaurant Makeover fame getting off a flight from Toronto. Sadly, he walked out of the secure area before I could ask him a question, or to get a picture....or challenge him to a cooking duel!

For those of you who don't know, before being on Food Network's Restaurant Makeover, Adjey worked in some of the top restaurants in the world, was named California's Best New Chef by Frommer's, and also appeared on Iron Chef America, where he tied Iron Chef Michael Symon (Oddly enough, he is the second Canadian chef to tie an Iron Chef on that show!).

I believe he was in Winnipeg for "Centrex", a hospitality industry tradeshow at the Convention Centre.