Fennel Slaw and Indian Slaw

America's Test Chicken consists of two separate chickens, each with her own take on this cooking thing. Check out Chicken One's related blog, A Travel for Taste where she shares travel stories and recipes collected whenever she ventures abroad. And give Chicken Two's new, also-related blog, Poop from the Coop a read. There you can find stories about her personal adventure re-experiencing the kitchen after many years away. Please join our Facebook group to share your own recipes, kitchen practices and know-how. We are also on Pinterest and Instagram.
The complete recipes appear at the end of this post.

From Chicken One: Fennel Slaw I chose a delicate slaw this time from one of my fave Indian cookbooks by Vikas Khanna, Indian Harvest. If you'd like to witness someone who is spiritually connected to food, search on this guy's name on YouTube. He's wonderfully inspiring to listen to as he talks about food. This dish is a light, summery fennel slaw with a tangy dressing and sweet, sweet honeydew melon balls. Just looking at these photos makes my mouth water!  With the hot weather bearing down on us, we thought we'd give you some light yet spicy options for a flavorful repast. A great advantage to cooking light is that the recipes are quick and easy, too. No cooking is required, of course, and only one fennel bulb, thinly shredded. You get all this from one bulb, about four servings: The dressing is very vinegary, and next time I will reduce the vinegar to half of what the recipe calls for. The taste is so tangy that it's hard to eat without the melon sweetness in the same bite to offset the edge. So I added more melon this time! The dressing is made with lightly toasted cumin seeds ground fine.  The wonderful aroma permeates the kitchen as it's toasted and ground, and you can't believe the difference in flavor. You could use ground cumin from a jar as well, but the flavor is much less intense. Enjoy the summer with this light, sweet salad. It makes a perfect lunch or a side to accompany a main course.

From Chicken Two: Bund Gobhi Nu Shaak (Indian Slaw) I was looking for a salad that I felt would balance out a wonderfully spicy Indian meal that included a vindaloo and a creamy corn curry. I wanted something with great flavor that would stand up to the other strong tastes but not overpower. This salad works! Because my time was short, I bought a coleslaw mix to use, which worked out great. The combination of hot (serranos) and sweet (coconut) along with the roasted peanuts was a tantalizing mixture for the taste buds! You will find the recipe below but here's a couple of hints: I recommend dry roasted peanuts and definitely unsalted. Grind into a bread crumb consistency and mix with all the other ingredients except the mustard seed. Don't fall asleep with your hand on the grind button or you will wind up with a paste! When roasting the mustard seed, be sure to put a lid on it before you hear the first pop or two. Otherwise you could get hot oil or a seed in the face. Ouch! The process should only take about 30 seconds. I left it in the fridge overnight and the flavors only got better! Enjoy!!

Fennel Slaw and Melon Balls

Ingredients

• 1/2 small honeydew melon, seeded
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1 teaspoon lightly roasted cumin seeds, ground
• salt to taste
• fresh ground black pepper to taste
• 1 medium fennel bulb, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons fresh dill leaves

Cooking Directions

1. Scoop out the honeydew with a melon baller, set aside.
2. Whisk together oil, vinegar, mustard, honey, cumin, salt and pepper to make the dressing.
3. Toss the fennel and honeydew in the dressing to coat.
4. Garnish with dill.
5. Serve chilled.

Indian Slaw (Bund Gobhi Nu Shaak)

Ingredients

• 1 pound cabbage (half a small head) or 14 ounces (1 bag) coleslaw mix
• 1-2 fresh green Serrano chiles, stems discarded
• 1/4 cup dry-roasted peanuts
• 1/4 cup dry, unsweetened, shredded coconut
• 1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro leaves and tender stems
• 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse kosher or sea salt
• juice from 1 medium-sized lime
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1 teaspoon black or yellow mustard seeds
• 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric

Cooking Directions

1. Remove the core from cabbage and shred very thin (or open coleslaw mix). Place in large bowl.
2. Slice the chiles lengthwise and then cut them into thin slices, crosswise, ending up with half-moons of chiles that still have the rib and seeds within. Do not discard the seeds. Add this to the cabbage.
3. Chop peanuts in a spice grinder, food processor or mini chopper to a consistency of coarse bread crumbs. Letting the machine run continuously may yield peanut butter.
4. Add peanuts, coconut, cilantro, salt, and lime juice to bowl cabbage.
5. Heat oil in small skillet over medium-high heat. Once the oil shimmers, add mustard seeds, cover the pan, and cook until the seeds have stopped popping, about 30 seconds. Remove the pan from the heat and sprinkle in the turmeric.
6. Pour over cabbage. Wipe skillet clean with some cabbage shreds.
7. Thoroughly mix the contents of the large bowl to ensure every shred is evenly coated.
8. Serve either at room temperature or chilled.

 

Savory Carmelized Garlic, Spinach and Cheddar Tart

America's Test Chicken consists of two separate chickens, each with her own take on this cooking thing. Chicken One also has a related blog, A Travel for Taste where she shares travel stories and recipes collected whenever she ventures abroad. Not to be outdone, Chicken Two has a new, also-related blog, Poop from the Coop, which presents stories about her personal adventure re-experiencing the kitchen after many years away.

Please join our Facebook group to share your own recipes, kitchen practices and know-how. We are also on Pinterest and Instagram.

This time, we present a savory garlic and spinach tart that takes a bit of work, but the compliments you get will make it more than worthwhile!

The complete recipe appears at the end of this post.

From Chicken One: This stunning dish was Chicken Two's idea. She'd found the recipe in a bon appétit magazine and raved about it after having made it twice. Of course I had to try it myself. Because this dish appeared to be very much like quiche, I had to delve into the semantics of the whole situation. What I found was this: Both a quiche and a tart have a single, bottom crust are baked in a straight-sided, possibly fluted dish whose bottom may be removable A quiche is always savory always has an egg custard filling A tart can be savory or sweet can have egg custard filling or another kind, like this fruit tart on my related blog A pie can be sweet or savory, but in America it's usually sweet is in a deeper dish than quiches or tarts has the same kind of crust as quiches and tarts but also may have a top crust is baked in a sloped-sided dish That last point is valid, but if you only have a pie pan, use it for this recipe. It's what I did and it's equally good. Ok, I admit I used frozen pie shells from the supermarket, despite usually making them myself. But it was really fine in the end. I'll let Chicken Two give you the particulars about how the whole thing's made, but here are some tips I figured out along the way. First, you must bake the crust in advance. For that you need pie weights to keep the dough from becoming a giant bubble in the oven. You can use official pie weights, for sure, but I used rice. You can also use dry beans. Line the crust with foil or parchment first and don't try to cook the rice or beans for a meal afterward: There is a whole lotta garlic in this tart. By the time it's cooked a couple of times with various enhancing ingredients, it's mild and delicious and totally palatable. The downside is you have to peel three heads of it to start. Therefore, I recommend using this handy tool, a rubber garlic peeler that Chicken Two gave me. Check out her Poop from the Coop blog for a review of this useful kitchen gadget: When you cook the garlic you must reduce the liquid to a syrupy consistency. You can tell it's at the right stage when it doesn't immediately rush to cover the pan's bottom when you scrape it away with a wooden spoon: Cheddar is one of the main flavors in the tart. Therefore, spring for a mature, aged, white cheddar. I found mine at the Italian gourmet supermarket near here (read, mecca):   It will look as though there is too much spinach in the dish before you pour in the custard. But the liquid seeps down into the leaves and turns out to be just enough. Unless your dish is too shallow! I wonder if there will ever be a way to give blog readers a taste of a recipe. If so, rush to this one first - it's really fantastic! It's creamy and moist with several compatible flavors prominent in the dish. It's also very pretty. Check out the marbling caused by the spinach in the dish: You can serve it warm or chilled. It's a great brunch item that you can make in advance. If you use a disposable pie tin, it's very portable; you can take it to your next pot-luck.

From Chicken Two: This recipe was a true surprise, unlike what I expected when I started out. My daughter-in-law had a copy of bon appetit and, though it looked complicated, we decided to give it a shot. It was much easier than it looked!.. After peeling tons of garlic …three heads to be exact. Boil until tender (about 3 min.) Cook in heated oil until they turn brown, drain, then add vinegar and 1 cup water and bring to a      boil. Reduce heat and simmer until garlic is tender, 10–12 minutes.  Add maple syrup, rosemary and thyme, and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid is syrupy and coats garlic, about 5 minutes.  Scatter cheese over crust...   Whisk together crème fraîche, cream, and remaining eggs in a medium bowl; season with salt and pepper. Pour over spinach. Add garlic and its syrup. Bake for 35 minutes, until custard is set. Enjoy! SNAFU Alert: The second time I made this, I didn't have a 9-inch, deep-dish pie pan, so I tried a smaller, less deep pan. The custard spilled over into the oven and, without as much filling, the pie was almost solid garlic. Ok, it tasted great, but looked very odd and the custard is a big part of this recipe, so it was missed! The right pan is essential, in my humble opinion!

Carmelized Garlic, Spinach and Cheddar Tart Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 tart/pie crust
• 5 large eggs
• 3 heads of garlic, cloves peeled
• kosher salt, to taste
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
• freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 6 ounces (about 2 cups) sharp white cheddar, grated
• 2 cups baby spinach
• 3/4 cup crème fraîche
• 3/4 cup heavy cream 

Directions:

1. Place a rack in lower third of oven; preheat to 350°. 
2. Line dough with parchment paper or foil, leaving some overhang. Fill with pie weights or dried beans or rice. Bake until crust is dry around edge, 25–30 minutes. 
3. Beat 1 egg in a small bowl. Remove parchment and weights and brush entire crust with egg. Bake until crust is dry and set, 10–15 minutes. Let cool. 
4. Meanwhile, cook garlic in a medium saucepan of boiling salted water until beginning to soften, about 3 minutes; drain. 
5. Wipe saucepan dry and heat oil in pan over medium-high heat. Add garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until cloves start to turn golden brown, about 2 minutes. Add vinegar and 1 cup water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until garlic is tender, 10–12 minutes. Add maple syrup, rosemary, and thyme, and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid is syrupy and coats garlic, about 5 minutes. 
6. Scatter cheese over crust; top with spinach. 
7. Whisk together crème fraîche, cream, and remaining eggs in a medium bowl; season with salt and pepper. Pour over spinach. Add garlic and its syrup. 
8. Bake until custard is set and golden brown in spots, 35–40 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack. 
9. Serve warm or cold.

Panna Cotta & Boeuf en Croute

America's Test Chicken consists of two separate chickens, each with her own take on this cooking thing. Check out Chicken One's related blog, A Travel for Taste where she shares travel stories and authentic local recipes collected whenever she ventures abroad. And give Chicken Two's new, also-related blog, Poop from the Coop a read. There you can find stories about her personal adventure re-experiencing the kitchen after many years away. Please join our Facebook group to share your own recipes, kitchen practices and know-how. We are also on Pinterest and Instagram.

This time the Chickens cooked an entire meal. The star of the meal was the boeuf en croute, which Chicken Two handled expertly. The star of the dessert was panna cotta, which Chicken One turned out with ease. The whole reason for the meal was to try something that we'd always wanted to attempt but somehow intimidated us. You might say we overcame our chicken-heartedness!

Complete recipes appear at the end of this post. 

From Chicken One: Panna Cotta with Raspberry Sauce I chose panna cotta, the light, creamy dessert from Italy. I'm not sure why this one always intimidated me, but it did. Note: it no longer does! I got the recipe from my Culinaria Italia cookbook, whose photos alone make me want to go immediately to Tuscany. Squelching my desire to travel, I forged ahead with the recipe. It turns out it's really quite simple.  Hydrate some unflavored gelatin in some water.   Whisk the gelatin into hot cream.  The recipe calls for light cream. All I could find in the local market was regular cream, which I used to great success. I've since tried heavy whipping cream, and it yields totally different flavor. I much prefer the regular cream.     Ya gotta strain it in case your whisking abilities are lacking The only SCAFU of the day: spilt milk. But I didn't cry; I just poured it into ramekins and put them in the fridge to chill while Chicken Two did her meat thing.    I did manage to whip up a raspberry sauce for the panna cotta. I put some fresh raspberries and sugar into a saucepan and mashed them over heat until there was only juice and seeds. I strained out the seeds and returned the liquid to the stove to reduce, adding a little cornstarch and water to thicken at the end. I turned out the set panna cotta on a plate, drizzled the chilled raspberry sauce around it and garnished with fresh berries and mint leaves.  A fitting, relatively light end to a wonderfully rich main course.

From Chicken Two:   Boeuf En Croute I've always loved the idea of boeuf en croute but was terrified to attempt it. Frankly, every recipe I found made it sound so complicated, I wasn't sure I could pull it off ( at least not if it was going to take all day…short on endurance…very short on patience!) Finally, bolstered and encouraged by Chicken One, I decided to brave it. Next came picking a recipe! You won't believe the variations! I finally chose one from the Cooking Channel that I thought I could live with, and made a couple of changes/additions. We were so pleased (and I think a little surprised!) with the results. Hope you will be too! The recipe is below the pictures. Beef tenderloin sprinkled with  salt and pepper Mushroom duxelles Horseradish sauce on top, mushroom duxelles beneath the roast   After rolling out the dough, gently place over the roast   and make sure the sides are pinched tightly Brush with egg wash    Bake, then remove from oven and let sit for about 10 minutes And serve! Isn't it pretty???

Panna Cotta with Raspberry Sauce

Ingredients

For panna cotta

• 1 packet (1 ounce) unflavored gelatin

• 2 tablespoons water

• 4 cups light cream

• 1/3 cup sugar

• 2 pints fresh raspberries

For raspberry sauce:

• 2 pints fresh raspberries

• 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon water

• 1/2 cup sugar

• 2 teaspoons cornstarch

• 1 bunch fresh mint

Cooking Directions

1. Panna Cotta: Mix gelatin with about 2 tbsp water in small bowl – set aside til gelatin absorbs water. Bring cream and sugar to a boil; reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in moistened gelatin until smooth. Strain and pour equal portions into ramekins. Chill in refrigerator for at least 2 hours until set. Turn out onto serving plate. Drizzle raspberry sauce around panna cotta. Garnish with fresh raspberries and mint leaves.
2.  Raspberry sauce: Reserve 1/2 pint fresh raspberries for garnish. Combine rest of raspberries, 1/2 cup water and sugar in saucepan and bring to a boil. Stir constantly and mash berries until mixture is liquid with seeds. Remove from heat and strain out the seeds. Return liquid to low boil. Combine cornstarch with 1 tablespoon water and whisk into raspberry liquid. Boil, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens, about 10 minutes. Set aside to cool. Other suggestions: serve with a small dollop of whipped cream on the side. Garnish with dark chocolate.

Boeuf en Croute
Ingredients

• 1 1/3 pounds beef tenderloin roast

• about 1 tablespoon each kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

• 3 tablespoons butter

• about 1 tablespoon olive oil for drizzling

• 2 shallots, minced

• 1 pound mushrooms, very finely chopped

• 1 sprig fresh thyme, leaves picked

• 1 bay leaf

• 1/2 cup Madeira (or Marsala, which is what we used)

• 2 tablespoons crème fraîche

• 1 handful chopped fresh parsley leaves

• 2 one-pound packages puff pastry (thaw if frozen)

• 1 egg

• 1 teaspoon water

• about 1/4 - 1/2 cup prepared horseradish sauce

Cooking Directions

1. Season the beef with salt and pepper. Melt a tablespoon of butter with a drizzle of the olive oil in a saute pan until hot, then sear the beef on all sides. Remove from the pan to a board and let cool completely, then wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate.
2. In the same pan as the beef, prepare the mushroom duxelles: Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter and fry the shallots until translucent. Add the mushrooms, thyme, and bay leaf and cook until very tender. Pour in the Madeira, and bring to a boil. Cook until all the liquid has evaporated. Add the  crème fraîche and cook down to a very thick paste. Season the mixture with salt and pepper. Stir through the chopped parsley. (OK, I confess - I didn't really chop up the mushrooms. I used my trusty Cuisinart food processor and did the job right! And fast. Short on patience, remember?) We searched the grocery store for Madeira, but because it's fortified, it is only sold (at least here) in a liquor store. However, we found Marsala and used it instead. The result was wonderful, so don't panic if you can't find the Madeira!
3. Roll out one block of pastry to a rectangle large enough to fit the meat with a roomy border. Place on a baking sheet. Remove the fillet from the refrigerator and unwrap. Spoon the mushroom mixture into the center of the pastry and set the meat on top. Here's where I spread a very generous layer of horseradish sauce on top of the meat. I must say, it really gave the roast a punch! Roll out the second sheet to fit over the whole fillet generously. In a small bowl, beat together the egg and 1 teaspoon water. Brush the margins of the bottom pastry with egg wash, then drape the second sheet over, pressing to seal well. Trim the edge to a 1-inch border. Crimp the edges with your fingers. Refrigerate until ready to bake.
4. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
5. Brush the whole surface of the pastry with egg wash and make two slits in the top with a knife to allow steam to escape. Bake 15 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 400 degrees F, and continue to bake 20 minutes, depending on how well you like your meat done. Remove from the oven and let stand about 10 minutes before serving in slices.
6. Let us know how yours turns out!

Homemade Artisanal Pizza

Red Pizza Hello, Chickadees! America's Test Chicken (ATC) is proud to present the inaugural ATC post. The Chicken was busy in the kitchen making pizzas. True to form, the Chicken tried more than one way and presents here not only the successes, but also the SCAFUs (Situations Chicken All Fowled Up). First, the red pizza, so-named because it has tomato sauce on it. You can find the dough recipe below. But now, a few chicken scratchings about the recipe and process: Using parchment paper keeps the elastic dough from pulling back so far during roll-out. Plus you can pick the finished pizza up by the paper edges for transport to the oven and maneuvering on the hot pizza stone. The Chicken sauteed many of the toppings before assembling the pizza. This assures the ingredients are well cooked and, importantly, reduces the moisture on the finished pizza. The pizza stays crisp and doesn't get gummy in the middle. Here, check it out yourself: Music for this video: "We're Gonna Rob the Supermart Tonight" by SWCampbell. Used by permission. The glory of this recipe is that you can use whatever ingredients you have on hand for toppings, perfect for cleaning out odds and ends in the refrigerator. And you determine the amounts and combinations of toppings. The Chicken used: jarred red sauce pan-fried pepperoni slices sauteed onions sauteed red bell peppers jarred sundried tomatoes minced garlic sauteed mushrooms chopped Kalamata olives pre-packaged shredded cheese The Chicken pre-heats the oven with the pizza stone inside to 450 degree Fahrenheit. After three minutes of baking, rotate the pizza, slide it off the parchment onto the stone and bake three more minutes. The parchment will look like it might burn, but it won’t. It does get very brittle.  A pizza peel or similar tool would be a great help. Let the finished pizza rest a couple of minutes before cutting with a pizza cutter or large chef’s knife. Language note: The Chicken has determined that "artisanal" is Italian for "misshapen". Yeast Dough Crust Recipe Ingredients: 1 packet of active dry or instant yeast (¼ oz or 7 g) 1½ cups (355 ml) water 3½ cups (497 g) flour Dash of salt 5 tablespoons (75 ml) oil Oil to coat bowl and baking sheet Instructions: Mix yeast in water and let sit for 15 minutes. For instant yeast, it is not necessary to wait 15 minutes. Mound flour on board or countertop and make a large well in the center with your fingers. Pour the yeast mixture, salt and oil into the well. Mix the flour into the liquids gently with your fingers until all the flour is incorporated and the yeast and oil are evenly distributed throughout the dough. Form a ball with the dough, place in an oiled bowl, turning once to coat the ball with oil. Cover the dough with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap and set the bowl in a warm place. Wait until the dough has risen and doubled in size then punch it down.

White Pizza For variety, Test Chicken #2 (the younger, prettier one) chose a white pizza. The fun was in choosing from all the yummy toppings. As with the red pizza, you can use any combination of toppings. Heck, just clean out the fridge, it's all good! We chose : goat cheese chopped capers onions pre-sauteed mushrooms pre-sauteed fresh baby spinach and arugula minced garlic chopped kalamatas shredded cheese, optional As for the wax paper – I honestly thought I had some parchment paper, but when I couldn’t find it (hint: organize) I used wax paper instead. SCAFU alert! You’ll soon see why that wasn’t such a good idea. Wish we'd had the foresight to video the alarm going off and my husband waving a towel at it to dispel the smoke. It was pretty funny, but you'll have to use your imagination! Disclaimer: no pizzas were injured in the filming of this video! Music for this video: "She Shines" by SWCampbell. Used by permission. A couple of notes about the wax paper: If the smoke pouring out of the oven didn't discourage you from using it and send you scurrying to the grocery store to buy parchment paper, keep some of these "lessons learned the hard way" in mind. First, if you use wax paper there's a likely chance it will stick - and I do mean stick - to the pizza and you'll spend a lot of frustrating time trying to scrape it off.   Second, it even worked its way into some of the folds of the pizza dough (when it was rolled out, I think) and that made it very difficult to remove! Actually, you really don't need paper (wax or parchment) at all. But if you choose that route, be prepared for it to be a lot messier and prying it off the stone will probably rip it into pieces. (well, that could save time cutting it into portions - but not recommended!) Second, you don't really need a pizza stone either. However, it does make it crispier and the oven temp will be more stable. Having said all this negative stuff about using wax paper, I feel obligated to say that the smoke did not affect the taste of the pizza in any way. It was delicious! SCAFU (Situation Chicken All Fowled Up): During one pizza attempt, the Chicken inadvertently almost made crackers because the rising dough was in a place that was way too warm. The outside of the dough ball was crispy! Fortunately the crispy areas were thin and small, so the Chicken was able to incorporate them into the dough without much problem.