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Chicken Fried Chicken

• 1 cup all-purpose flour


• ½ cup yellow corn meal


• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt


• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper


• ½ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper


• 1 cup milk


• 1 egg
• 2 skinned and boned chicken breast halves


• Vegetable oil

One at a time, put chicken breasts on a cutting sheet and cover with a heavy duty plastic bag. Pound with a rolling pin or mallet until the breasts are about a half inch thick. Combine flour, corn meal, baking powder, salt, and both peppers in a pie plate. Whisk together milk and eggs in a second pie plate. Dredge breasts in first batch of flour, shake of excess, dip in egg/milk mixture, dredge again in flour. Shake off excess. Allow to rest 10 minutes.

Put enough oil into a 10 or 12 inch cast iron skillet to a depth of ½-inch. heat to 350°. Add chicken breasts. Cook 10 minutes. Turn and cook another 7 minutes. Do not allow to burn.

Remove chicken to a wire rack over a sheet pan and allow to drain.

Remove all but about a tablespoon of oil from pan. Return to stove over medium heat. Add about 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour. Whisk to make a roux and allow to color slightly. Add 1 cup chicken stock and bring to a simmer. Allow to thicken slightly. Add ½ cup of whole milk. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Return to a simmer and cook until it reaches a sauce consistency.

Plate chicken and pour sauce over.

Braised Veal Short Ribs with Chive Gnocchi

Braise

• 1 six ounce container beef demi-glace
• 1 tablespoon peanut oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, peeled and roughly chopped
• 2 medium carrots, washed, scrubbed, and roughly chopped (don’t bother peeling)
• 1 celery rib, roughly chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled and cut in half
• 1 tablespoon peanut oil
• 8 veal short ribs
• instant flour
• fine sea salt
• 1 box Pomi chopped tomatoes, drained of their juice
• 1 tablespoon dried herbes de Provence
• 1 dried bay leaf
• 1 bottle dry red wine (I used an inexpensive but tasty Chinon; never cook with anything you wouldn’t drink)

Put demi-glace in a medium slow cooker set to high. Heat first tablespoon of oil in a large nonstick skillet. Add onion, carrot, celery, and garlic. Cook until they are soft and beginning to brown. Transfer veggies to slow cooker.

Add another tablespoon of oil to the same skillet and return to heat. Thoroughly dry short ribs with paper towels. Dust with instant flour. Sprinkle with salt. Sear on all sides. Transfer to slow cooker.

Add drained tomato pulp to slow cooker. Sprinkle with herbs. Add bay leaf.

Deglaze skillet with red wine and then add enough of the wine to slow cooker to barely cover all the other ingredients. Cook 2 hours on high. Reduce heat to low and cook another 2 hours.

Remove short ribs from slow cooker, transferring to a glass baking dish. Cover with foil and put in refrigerator.

Strain braising liquid through a fine sieve. Reserve liquid. Discard veggie pulp. Transfer braising liquid into a large fat separator. Put in refrigerator.

Service

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium carrot, peeled, and diced fine
• 1 large shallot, peeled and diced fine
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced thin
• 5 white mushrooms, rinsed and diced fine
• ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 teaspoons dried herbes de Provence
• 4 sundried tomatoes in olive oil, drained and chopped fine
• 6 ounces veal demi-glace
• 2 cups braising liquid separated from fat
• 1 tablespoon black truffle tapenade
• 2 tablespoons basil chiffinoade
• 1 tablespoon cognac
• 2 tablespoons good quality balsamic vinegar (at least 10 years old)
• 1 tablespoon butter
• chives

About 40 minutes before service, combine butter and oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. After butter stops foaming, add carrots. Cook 3 minutes. Add shallot. Cook 1 minute. Add garlic. Cook 30 seconds. Add mushrooms. Season with salt, pepper, and herbs. Cook 2 or 3 minutes until mushrooms begin to soften and slightly brown. Add tomatoes. Cook 1 miniute. Add demi-glace and braising liquid. Raise heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a low simmer and allow liquid to reduce to a glaze consistency. Add truffles, basil, cognac and balsamic vinegar. Return to simmer then reduce heat to lowest setting. Just before serving, add last tablespoon of butter and mix well.

About 30 minutes before service, transfer the baking dish holding the short ribs to a preheated 250° oven. When ready to plate, put some gnocchi in a large pasta bowl. Add 4 short ribs per bowl. Spoon sauce over. Sprinkle finely chopped chives over all and serve immediately.

Chive Gnocchi

• 2 russet potatoes (approx. 1-½ pounds), rinsed, scrubbed, wrapped in foil, and baked at 400° for 60-70 minutes until done
• 1 large egg
• 2 tablespoons half-and-half
• pinch ground nutmeg
• 1-½ teaspoons fine sea salt
• ¾ teaspoon ground white pepper
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh chives
• ½ tablespoon dried chives
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon onion powder
• 1-½ cups semolina flour

Peel potatoes while still hot. Transfer to a large bowl. Mash well with a potato masher. Cool for 15 minutes. Add egg, half-and-half, nutmeg, salt, pepper, chives, garlic and onion powder, and mix well. Add 1 cup flour and mix well with hands. You want a soft, slightly sticky dough ball to form. You may need to use up to the full 1-½ cups semolina flour, but add the last ½ cup about a tablespoon at a time until dough ball forms. Divide dough into 4 pieces. On a floured work surface, roll each dough piece out until it forms a rope shape about ¾ inch thick. Reserve about half the dough ropes for another use tomorrow night, storing them in a plastic container in the refrigerator. Let tonight’s ropes rest 15 minutes. Cut into ¾ long pieces. Roll each piece over the tines of a dinner fork to make the characteristic grooves.

Meanwhile, bring a large pasta pot of well salted water to a boil. When a rolling boil is achieved, add gnocchi pieces. In about 5 minutes, they should be floating at the top. Check one for doneness and then use a slotted spoon or spider to dish into pasta bowls. Add short ribs, spoon sauce over, top with chives, and serve.

Pan-Seared Scallops over Truffled Shrimp Risotto

• 2 cups fish stock
• 1 cup water
• ½ cup white wine
• 1-½ tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 shallot, minced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 white mushrooms, minced
• 1 cup arborio rice
• ½ cup white wine
• 1 tablespoon cognac
• 6 medium peeled and deveined shrimp, diced
• 1 tablespoon black truffle tapenade
• 2 tablespoon finely chopped chives
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped Italian parsley
• truffle oil to taste

Combine fish stock, water, and first portion of wine in a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a low simmer. In a large saute pan, heat olive oil and butter over medium-high heat. Add shallot and garlic. Cook 1 minute, stirring frequently. Add mushrooms. Cook 1 minute, stirring frequently. Season with salt and white pepper. Add rice. Cook 1 minute, stirring frequently. Add second portion of white wine. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer. When the wine is almost completely incorporated, add cognac. Start timing from here. Begin adding stock, water, and wine mixture about ¾ cup at a time. Cook until liquid is almost completely incorporated, stirring often, then add another ¾ cup. At about the 16 minute mark, add shrimp and tapenade. Stir well and continue adding liquid as before. At the 18 minute mark, start checking for doneness. I like it a just ever so slightly al dente, which should take around 20 to 22 minutes.

Meanwhile. At about the 15 minute mark, put a griddle or skillet over high heat (I use about 8.5 out of 10).

• 1 tablespoon peanut oil
• 10 jumbo scallops, preferably ”dry," with the little “side” muscle removed, rinsed, and thoroughly dried in paper towels
• 1 tablespoon instant flour
• ¼ teaspoon ground white pepper
• ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt

Spread flour on a large cutting board or sheet pan, mixing in salt and pepper. Lightly dredge scallops in seasoned flour, being sure to shake off as much excess as possible. You want a very, very thin layer of flour or it’ll be gloppy.

Add oil to pan at about the 16 minute mark. At 17 or 18 minute mark, add scallopps to pan. make sure that you’ve got at least an inch of clearance around each scallop. If the pan is crowded, they’ll stew instead of searing. Timing is critical. Pay very close attention. You want a rich golden sear on both sides, which should take about 60 to 90 seconds per side. Remember that scallop sushi is just fine, so err on the side of under cooking the scallops. Over cooked scallops are not much fun to eat. The scallops will be done when they are just firm to the touch. Make an OK symbol with your left hand. Tap the muscle between your thumb and forefinger. That’s about what the scallops should feel like.

Just before serving, add chives, parsley, and truddle oil to risotto. (If you’re not on a diet, add a tablespoon of unsalted butter too.) Mix well. Dish up in large pasta bowls and nestle ½ of the scallops on each plate.

Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin (Champagne) 2002

Crisp, tart apple, yeast, toast, vanilla, and almonds. Bright acidity and tons of bubbles make it a refreshing drink. Yummy. Grade: B++

Bouke (Long Island) 2007*

A crisp, unoaked white blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Sauvignon Blanc, and Gewurtztramminer. On the attack, you get some grassiness and spice, but on the finish you get soft, round stone fruits. I like it. Good summer drink with light seafood or as an apertif. Grade: B/B+

Chateau Lynch-Bages (Pauillac) 1986

Two days before my 22nd wedding anniversary, I made rack of lamb with mushroom risotto and carrots and served this brilliant wine from our anniversary vintage. The Lynch-Bages is amazingly youthful. A very deep ruby with only a tiny bit of red brick at the rim. The intense bouquet suggests currants, dark berries, cloves, and menthol. The flavor associations on the palate are especially youthful. Not very much in the way of lether or cedar, but rather currant, berry, black cherry, and so on. A brilliant wine with a long future ahead of it. Grade: A

PETA Urges Ben & Jerry’s To Use Human Milk

Yuck.

Louis Jadot Puligny-Montrachet (2004)

The initial impression is dominated by new French oak. Lots of toast and vanilla. But there is a core of lovely fruit--apples, pears, and citrus--and firm acidity that redeems this wine as a food friendly white. I served it with a lobster bisque, supplemented with a the meat from a couple of Australian lobster tails, foir which it made an excellent match. Grade: B++