(imitation) chicken delights Thursday, July 30, 2009

the Penalty Box Restaurant in Windsor, Ontario (map) serves these amazing chicken wraps called Chicken Delight. They're a greek-style wrap, kinda like gyros, but with a creamy secret sauce that's similar to tzatziki, but creamier and delicious. Anyways, I occasionally make these wraps that are a pale (but delicious nonetheless) imitation of the real thing, and thought I'd share.

First, I create a spice mixture:

I don't measure the spices or anything, but I probably use a tablespoon each of the following:

• Basil
• Oregano
• Onion Powder
• Chili Powder
• Italiano Mix
  

Then probably a teaspoon or so of each of the following:

• Garlic Powder
• Salt (I used Kosher, but doesn't matter)
  
• Black Pepper
• Turmeric
• Cayenne Pepper
• Ancho Chili Powder
• Chipotle Chili Powder
• Cumin

Yeah, there's a lot of spices in there, and you can mix and match to create whatever flavours you'd like, depending on what you have in your cupboard (I have most herbs & spices you can name, so I like to experiment). The basics I wouldn't recommend cutting out, however, are salt, black pepper, garlic powder, basil, oregano, chili powder, cumin, and cayenne pepper. A combination of those spices is delicious every time.
Back to the topic at hand, I combine the spice mixture with a handful of flour (maybe 1/2 a cup) and the same amount thereabouts of bread crumbs in a large plastic bag:

Then, I take my two or three chicken breasts, slice them into bite-sized chunks, and throw them in the bag. Inflate, twist the bag shut, and shake (you know, the shake and bake method) to coat the chicken pieces with spices, flour, and bread crumbs:


Then, I put some olive oil on medium heat, and add the chicken pieces:

Shake the pan so the chicken doesn't stick, but not too hard, I like the chicken to get a nice crisp coating on the outside.
After the chicken has cooked for a few minutes, flip over to cook the top. You should have a nice golden brown coating on the cooked side of the chicken:

After a few more minutes, I like to toss the chicken well to make sure everything is nice and cooked, then transfer to a bowl with paper towl (to absorb excess oil):

These are basically chicken fingers at this point, so if you make too many for wraps, they're good as leftovers, dipped in ketchup and mustard (or you can make more wraps, the chicken keeps well by itself).
Now it's time to assemble the chicken delights.
I start by taking a pita (I use the Lebanese style pocket pitas, large size) and peeling it in half all the way around the egde, then I flip one half so that the two rounds are facing the same way. This allows for easy spreading of sauces, and seals any leaks in the pita. I started doing this after noticing that most shwarma places assemble their wraps this way, and it works well!
I prepare the pitas on aluminum foil, since I'll be grilling them on my sandwich grill in a few minutes.
Spread mayo over the surface of the wrap (I'm quite generous here, as I tend to add a lot of chicken), then slice some cheese and lay it lengthwise down the centre of the pita. Lay chicken pieces along the centre of the wrap, then top with diced tomato and lettuce:

Wrap tightly, and transfer to the sandwich press. If you don't have a sandwich grill, the wraps are quite good as-is, but the grill really helps melt the cheese in the wrap and crisp up the pita a bit, so if you have one, use it:


After a few mins (2-3, tops) of grilling, the wrap should be ready to eat (and delicious!):

If anyone tries this out, let me know how it turns out, and share any tips or suggestions!

leftover steak (sort of) frittata Wednesday, July 29, 2009

It was Sunday morning, and I had some leftover steak and a couple of eggs lying around, so I decided to make a frittata. Well, sort of a frittata, basically a steak, potato, red pepper, egg and cheese fried cake. Whatever it sounds like, it tasted delicious, and that's the important thing. I started with my usual garlic and fresh herb mixture (here I used sweet basil, chives, and rosemary):


Then I used the vegetable slicer to slice a couple of potatoes really thinly:


And sliced some red pepper by hand:


To soften the peppers up a bit, I pre-fried them with some of the herbs and garlic:


While the pepper was cooking, I mixed up the eggs with a little cream and the rest of the herbs and garlic:


I also sliced the leftover steak:



Then I mixed everything together and added it to the frying pan with a little bit of olive oil:



After a few minutes of cooking, having had some time to solidify a bit, I flipped the whole thing over (not easy to do, I recommend using a small frying pan for this reason!) to cook the top:


Add some shredded cheese:



Give it a minute or two to melt, et voila:


Not the prettiest looking meal, but a delicious breakfast using mostly leftovers and a few fresh vegetables.
Does anyone else do this kind of thing with leftovers for breakfast on weekends? Share your feedback and alternative ideas!

pizza dough method Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Hello, today I'm going to post my method for making pizza dough. I won't say recipe, because I don't know any precise measurements, so I'll be approximating, and for flour, it will vary every time, so it's best to just follow these guidelines and you'll get better at it with each try!

Ok so the first thing I do is cook the sausage I'll be using as a topping later, in order to give it time to cool while the dough is rising:


I peel the skins from the sausage and fry them with some olive oil, usually adding some basil, oregano, salt and pepper to the sausage while cooking. I used fresh herbs, since I happen to be growing some on my balcony, but dried will do just fine. After the sausage finishes cooking I transfer it to a large bowl lined with a paper towl to absorb grease and move it to the fridge.

At this point, put a small pot of water on the stove and started an egg hard-boiling (you'll see why soon).

While the sausage is cooking, take a small bowl and add 1 package of yeast (I have a big jar of yeast, so about I added about 2 teaspoons), along with a teaspoon or so of sugar:


Add some lukewarm water to the bowl, and put aside:


After the egg is done hard-boiling, run it under cool water to stop it cooking and cool it enough to peel, and peel the egg:


If you have fresh herbs, now is the time to gather them together. I cut some fresh Basil, Italian Oregano (cross of Greek Oregano and Sweet Marjoram), Rosemary, and Chives:


...And chopped them finely with a sharp knife:


By now the yeast should have woken up and will be all foamy:



Now it's time to assemble the dough. The pizza dough I make is very basic, and this method was taught to me by a friend who learned it while living in Northern Italy, so it could certainly be called authentically Italian. The basic ingredients are:

• Flour
• Yeast
• Sugar
• Salt
• Water
• Hard-boiled egg

Yes, a hard-boiled egg. I believe this adds the fat portion of the dough that is often taken by vegetable oils in American pizza dough recipes. Here it seems to make the crust fluffy yet crispy when prepared properly.
The exact amounts of each ingredient vary every time I make the dough, so unfortunately I can't give you exact numbers, but start a bowl with approximately 2 cups of regular all-purpose flour, a teaspoon of salt, smash the hard-boiled egg into it, add about half of the chopped fresh herb mixture, and press a couple of cloves of garlic into it as well:


After this, add the yeast/water/sugar mixture and mix to form a dough. Knead the dough, adding flour or water slowly as necessary to keep the dough from getting sticky. When it's ready, you should be able to knead the dough without it turning sticky in your hands within a few kneads. It should look something like this when it's done:


Oil a bowl and place the dough ball in it. Covering it and putting it in the oven at 120°F is a good idea, but really just allowing it to rise in a warm place anywhere will work. Allow it to sit for about half an hour, or more. This dough is pretty forgiving:


After letting it rise, break off a small chunk, form a ball about 2 inches in diameter, and knead briefly. Roll out on a floured surface, adding flour to the top to keep it from sticking to the rolling pin:


Roll it out until it's about 1-2mm thick. The thinner the crust, the crispier it will get and the faster it will bake. I roll my pizzas to about 10" in diameter, as this ensures once the crust is formed it will fit on my pizza stone.
Cut a sheet of parchment paper and sprinkle lightly with corn flour. This step helps to ensure that the pizza will not stick to the parchment paper:


Now it's time to form the crust, which isn't necessary but helps to stop cheese from leaking off of your pizza onto the pizza stone or tray:


Add the pizza sauce and spread out (I cheated this time and used Primo Pizza Sauce, but you can use any tomato based sauce; making your own sauce from fresh tomatoes is delicious when you have the time!):


Add cheese, any kind will do. I like using at least a little bit of cheddar, especially near the crust, as it gets crispy and delicious baked onto the crust:


Now add your toppings! Here I used the previously cooked sausage and Bridgford pepperoni (not to shamelessly advertise them or anything, but their pepperoni cooks up deliciously on pizza, gets nice and crispy and has a nice flavour). Any toppings are good here, including one of my favourite somewhat unusual one, celery. It gets all crispy, and absorbs the flavours from the pizza, it really is delicious (try it!). I also use the rest of my fresh-herb mix and sprinkle it over the top of the pizza at this point.


Pre-heat the oven to basically as hot as it will go. You want to cook pizza in a super-hot oven. I set mine to 500°F or 550°F. I also use a pizza stone, which helps to get the crust crispy immensely. I cannot recommend spending the money on one enough, if you plan on making pizza. Having a nicely hot preheated pizza stone is the key to crispy thin crust pizza. If you don't have a pizza stone, use your thickest baking tray and let it heat up with the oven.
Anyways, after the oven is nice and hot, place your pizza, parchment paper and all, on your pizza stone or tray. Bake for about 7-10 mins, keeping an eye on it of course, until it looks something like this:


You can remove the parchment paper during baking (the corn flour you sprinkled on the parchment paper makes this very easy to do), or just leave it. I usually just leave it until the pizza is done, as it will catch any drips from the pizza, making cleanup easier. Let the pizza cool a few mins, then slice and serve!
So there you have it, my pizza method. Try it out, and please comment if you have, or have any questions!