How to Truss a Chicken

To be perfectly honest, I don’t always truss a chicken when I roast it. I do however; truss a chicken before placing it on a spit. Often, if just roasting the chicken in the oven I will simply tie the legs together at the cavity opening. On the other hand, to place the bird on a spit, in a Rotisserie oven, un-Trussed is crazy because the bird will be flopping around all over your oven.

To truss the chicken, cut yourself about 2 feet of kitchen twine. Place the chicken, with the cavity end facing you on a flat surface. The roundish, knobby part of the leg bones will be upward and facing in your direction. The floppy, tail skin will be on your flat cutting surface.

Take the twine and place it underneath the floppy tail skin, half the twine on one side, half on the other. Bring the twine up the outside of each leg, then into the central cavity area, crossing the strings over as you go.

Take the strings and pull them straight back in the direction of the wings. In doing this the string will pass over the leg, thigh area, and then over the wings. Wind the string over the neck, pulling tightly, and tie.

Salmon Spread (for Mothers Day)

This is so easy to make and a great way to use those few extra pieces of smoked salmon from a dinner party. I plan leave a batch of this in the refrigerator on the night before mothers day, in hopes that someone will offer to toast me a bagel in the morning.
My family can make toast. (I think)

8 oz cream cheese
½-3/4 cup crème fraiche
4-5 slices of smoked salmon, minced
¼ of a red onion, minced
Large pinch of table salt and freshly ground pepper


Place the cream cheese, crème fraiche, salmon, onion, and salt and pepper into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Turn speed to medium and mix until combined. Serve on a toasted bagel, or even better an everything flagel, which is a bagel without all of the dough inside.

Tortilla Soup

Inspired by Mexican and other Latin flavors, this soup is a wonderfully warm, spicy and fragrant. Almost an instant cure for mid winter blues, but great in the summer as well.

2 pounds chicken breasts (season toss in 2-3 tablespoons olive oil, and season heavily with salt and pepper.- roast at 450 for about 30minutes or until cooked through. Let cool then chop into large dice)- alternately, dice up a small rotisserie chicken

2 Serrano chilies roasted (roast over a flame until skin is charred or toast in a skillet with a little oil until skin is blistered)- then dice, discard core and seeds

6 flour tortias, quickly fried (see below)

For soup base-
2-3 Tablespoons olive oil
2 medium size yellow onions, peeled and diced (medium dice)
3 cloves garlic peeled and minced
2 quarts chicken stock
1 can diced tomato (28oz)
2 Serrano chilies (see above)
1 Tablespoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon ground pepper

Place the oil in a 5 quart Dutch oven. Turn heat to medium, add in onions and cook on medium – medium low heat for about 10 minutes stirring often. Add in garlic and cook 1 minute more. Add in the chicken stock, tomatoes, 2 diced serano chilies, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to simmer. Simmer for 25-30 minutes. Once the soup base cools slightly puree in blender then transfer to a new pot or serving dish.

To serve/garnish
6-8 Flour tortias, cut to thin strips and shallow fried in vegetable oil for only a moment or two per side) * this garnish is a must! This may be prepared a few hours in advance.
Large handful of chicken
Lime wedges

Optional-
1 ½ cups jack/ cheddar or Mexican cheeses grated or crumbled
2-3 avocados peeled and diced or spoonfuls of Guacamole
Sour creamRoasted peppers, diced

Huevos Rancheros

A Latin American dish (Mexican) involving fried tortillas, and fried eggs. This is a great late breakfast or even a light supper dish, as it is very filling. The recipe here serves one person, obviously, you will just increase quantities depending on how many people you are serving. Like eggs benni- much of this is about assembly. Canned beans rather than refried beans are used to lighten things up a bit.

2 eggs
1 large handful of fried flour tortillas
1/3 cup homemade or good quality store bought salsa
1/3 cup black beans from a can (drained)
½ of an avocado, diced
1 heaping tablespoon crème fraiche, minced with 1 teaspoon half and half
Freshly minced parsley or cilantro to garnish
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste


Break the eggs into a small non-stick pan; cook covered, on medium low to medium for about 2-3 minute or until cooked to your liking. Meanwhile place the tortillas onto a plate, spoon on salsa. Slide cook eggs on top of the tortillas and garnish with black beans, and avocado. Drizzle crème fraiche over the top and season with salt, pepper, and a sprinkling of fresh herbs


Please note: feel free to use Mexican crema, or sour cream in place of crème fraiche.

Tortillas

It is so simple to fry tortillas, that a recipe is almost unnecessary.
You will need-
1 package of flour Tortillas (or as many as you wish to fry)- cut into 1/8-1/2” strips
- Cut the very long ones in half
Vegetable oil
Course salt

I fill a 12” skillet half full with cooking oil then place it over medium – high heat. Once oil is hot (you will know it is hot because you will have tested 1 strip of Tortilla in the oil and it will start to cook and turn light golden in color). Add the tortilla strip in batches and cook them quickly. You are not looking for a deep golden color here but rather a “lightly toasted” look. Remove from heat and drain tortillas on paper towels. Season with salt and serve.



Instead of frying

Whole tortillas may also be warmed over a gas flame

Whole flour tortillas can be wrapped in tin foil and warmed in a 350 oven for about 10-15 minutes

Cinco de Mayo

May 5th is the day Cinco de Mayo is celebrated. I can’t tell you much about the history of this holiday, only that it has something to do with the French occupation of Mexico. I can tell you that it is a festive day here in the United States. A day where people have fun and eat great food. That’s enough for me. I must at this point, confess, I had hopes of getting an easy mole recipe for you by now but I have been quite lazy lately. Must be spring fever.

Pastry Cream (French)

Pastry cream is not at all difficult to make. This version is enough to fill a tart (about 2 ½ cups). It is quite handy to have around. This version sets up (firms up) quickly so have your tart shell pre baked and ready to fill. If you prefer to make this ahead, as I sometimes do, the cream can be kept in the refrigerator for a couple of days if covered with plastic wrap.

1 ½ cups milk
6 egg yolks
½ cup sugar
Pinch of regular table salt
¼ cup cornstarch
2 tablespoons butter cut into small chunks
2 tablespoons rum

First scald the milk and set it aside. (Bring it to just below a boil)

In a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, add the egg yolks and sugar. Whisk on medium-medium high speed for 2-3 minutes or until the color is lighter and the mixture falls over itself like a “ribbon” when drizzled from the whisk. Add in a pinch of salt.

Reduce speed to low and add in the cornstarch, then, slowly add in the milk. Once mixture is combined transfer it to a saucepan.

Whisk mixture non-stop, over medium or high heat until mixture thickens. Lower heat immediately once the mixture “breaks” or looks curdled. Continue to whisk. This mixture will begin to look smoother. Remove from heat and add in butter and rum.

For a tart, pour warm cream into pre-baked tart shell. Garnish with fresh fruit of your choice


To lighten/loosen it up-I often will whisk into to it ½-1cup of cream, measured then whipped.

Apricot Glace for fruit tarts- if making a tart with fresh fruit, you will most likely want to have it look all “shinny” like it’s from a bakery. This is easy enough to accomplish by boiling about ¾-1 cup apricot jam with 3 tablespoons sugar and 3 tablespoons water. Once mixture boils, strain it then brush it over the tart in question.