Category: Dairy Free

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Chocolate Chicken

This past year, my assistants and I experimented with a variety of recipes.  During chocolate and romance weekend, we developed a recipe using chocolate.  We researched various recipes using the new world ingredient – chocolate – and this is what we came up- with.  It was a delightful dish with a unique flavor, similar to mole.

Ingredients
1 whole chicken, cut up        
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon anise seed
1 cup almonds or hazelnuts, chopped
1.5 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 tomatoes, chopped (optional)
2 medium onions, chopped
1/2 teaspoon fresh black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ancho powder (to taste)
sesame seeds

Preparation
Brown chicken in a medium skillet in hot oil. Remove to a large (13x9x2) cake pan or baking dish. Pour oil from skillet and add the stock. Simmer 5 minutes. Mix cocoa with vegetable oil to form a paste. Add cloves, cinnamon, anise seed, and blend. Stir spice mixture into simmering stock and simmer 5 minutes more, stirring occasionally.

Pour mixture over the chicken parts. Cover and bake in preheated 350-degree oven until chicken is tender (around 1 to 1 1/2 hours).

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Traditional Food Preservation Techniques With A Modern Twist – Part I

Part I: Smoking and Salting Meats

Smoked Pork Shoulder


A well-stocked pantry or larder has always been essential to any kitchen.  It doesn’t matter that the kitchen is in a castle, a manor house, or ship.  A good cook knew how to make food items last over journeys aboard ships or long winters.  Below I have offered a variety of techniques to keep your food longer.  Many of these techniques can be used to create fantastic dishes and wonderful gifts to your loved ones.

Smoking Meats
Smoking meats were another way of preserving them.  Unlike the salting process, smoking adds a tastier element to the meat. As a note, I feel safer eating smoked versus salted meats.  Smoking meats require a lot less time than the salting process, so the rewards come quicker. Basically it comes to hours versus days. Although salting has been around for centuries, I grew up with smoked meats and still enjoy them today.

The process is quite easy; obtain wood chips (found in the same location as the charcoal briquettes) and soak them overnight in water.  Once done, place the soaked wood chips in the bottom of the pot or tray.

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Haggis

Many of my ancestors hailed from Scotland.  As a member of the Lindsay clan, I have had the opportunities to try

Traditional Haggis

many traditional Scottish recipes including haggis.  Most people assume haggis is a Scottish dish; however haggis-like dishes have been traced back to the Romans and are mentioned in “Homer’s Odyssey.”  Other variations have been found in Scandinavian culture and among other regions.  But, it is the Scots who made haggis famous.  Haggis usually consists of cheap cuts of meat, suet, sheep liver, intestines, and oatmeal.  In the United States, similar dishes have evolved including Scrapple, hashes, and meatloaf.

One of the largest challenges making traditional haggis is locating the sheep’s stomach, a key ingredient in preparing haggis.  I have found that sheep’s stomachs are very easy to come by via butchers who cater to the Amish customers or who provide other old world ingredients.  A sheep’s stomach is quite large.  If you feel as though a lot of people may not enjoy this dish, I would recommend cutting the stomach in half and reducing the recipe to limit any wasted food. 

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Beef Barley Soup

One of my favorite grains is barley.  Fairly versatile, I can use it for breakfast, lunch or dinner.  Eating sparingly and not overdoing it, barley can provide a tasty addition to any meal.  In the case of the recipe below, the Beef Barley Soup is an old world recipe.  If you do not care for the taste of turnips and parsnips, feel free to substitute other vegetables.  I’ve heard green beans and peas make a wonderful addition.  The dish is perfect for the cold weather of winter.

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Middle Eastern Pasta

Growing up and attending modern schools, I heard the story about how Marco Polo brought pasta to Europe from the Far East.  In fact, pasta was already established in southern Europe by the time Marco Polo began his journey along the Silk Road.

What I later learned was that products similar to pasta existed during the 1st century AD (the Etrusco Roman era). Made from durum wheat and water, “lagane” was very similar to modern lasagna. However, instead of being boiled, it was cooked in an oven along with chickpeas and spices.

 

Conquered cultures have often adopted languages, foods, sciences, and arts from invading cultures. The Arab invasions of the 8th century were no exception and impacted much of the culinary cuisines along the Mediterranean Sea and this includes what we now know as pasta.

Modern pasta is usually served with a sauce that is tomato-, vegetable-, seafood-, meat- or cream-based.  But that was not so in the early versions of pasta.  The Arab version of pasta contained cinnamon, clove, dried fruit like figs and raisins and it tasted both semi-sweet and semi-spicy.  As time went on, invaded cultures began changing this recipe to fit their own ideals and tastes.  The exotic spices were removed as people began adding their own items to the dish – vegetables, calamari (squid), fish, pork, and chicken.  Sauces were developed when cooking the aforementioned items in olive oil or butter, with wine and, once reduced (cooked-down), they were added to the pasta.

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