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Spatchcocked Chicken “Nilda’s Way”

Spatchcocked Chicken

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When my mother in law , Nilda, was still healthy and living with us, she made roast chicken over potatoes and onions at least once a month. She did not spatchcock (what a funny word to say and write) the chicken, but rather left it whole to cook on top of the potatoes. I on the other hand, feel that to spatchcock the bird will give a superior result, both for the chicken and the potatoes. It will allow the potatoes to soak up all the juices and flavor from the chicken during the cooking process and at the same time it allows the chicken to cook very evenly, cooking all the way through but leaving both the legs and breast’s very juicy. Since the coarse salt will not all run down the side of the chicken as when you roast it whole, it will give the skin a unique texture, rather like a chinese style pepper & salt preparation. I used the same spice mix for the chicken and the potatoes / vegetables – kosher salt, sriracha, melted butter, granulated garlic. Mix the seasoning and butter with the potatoes and vegetables. Rub the chicken on both sides with a generous amount of butter and seasoning. Place the potato / vegetable mix on a rack which sit’s on a baking sheet, filled with half water and half red wine. Cook in the center of the oven at 390 F for approximately two hours. My chicken was VERY big, so it took two hours to reach a internal temperature of 16o F. After removing the chicken from the oven and letting it rest for another 15 minutes, the carry-over heat will take the temperature to a safe 165. This will leave the chicken safe to eat and the meat, including the breast, very moist and tender.
Finally, strain the jus from the sheet pan and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Serving suggestion : See pictures 🙂
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Marc Osten on culinary-compass : Spatchcooking
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Am I Obsolete ?

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I love food.

I love food for the sake of food.
Does that make me obsolete? Out of touch? Old fashioned?
Removed? Aged? Antiquated? Archaic,? Bygone? A fossil?
Moth-eaten? Out-of-date? Outmoded? Primeval? A relic?
Or just plain stupid ?

Why do I ask this question ?
Well, most of my post’s are getting very positive, kind,
approving comments, which makes me happy , appreciated and
assured that traditional, simple, real food still has a stronghold
in the culinary universe. Most of my followers are food professionals
of a certain age, the “riper” age usually, and a wide variety of
older, younger, middle aged, more or less experienced home
cooks, culinary students and food enthusiasts of all sort’s.
Great ! Who would complain? I certainly don’t !
But I really wonder why I don’t attract more so called FOODIES.
Isn’t the whole point of calling oneself a foodie the point to indicate
a strong love of all types of food, in any way, shape and form ?
Yet it seems to me that some (most?) foodies are more interested in
creations that look like architectural creations, less like FOOD that is
nourishing, tastes great and is beautiful to look at. When I look at the
Internet lately and see some of the dishes out there, I ask myself if
there really is a huge part of the population which think’s that a 30 course
tasting menu made of lot’s of unidentifiable stuff that takes 4 hours
or more to consume and cost as much as a used car is the new way to eat daily ?

While I am the first person to enjoy some of these foods and I can
appreciate the time, craft, effort and artistry that has gone into that kind of food,
by extremely passionate, highly professional chef geniuses who are truly amazing and
are bestowed with rare culinary gifts, insight and energy, I will never assume
that this is the way people will eat regularly in the future, breakfast, lunch and
dinner. I rather think meals like that should be appreciated
for what they are supposed to represent : Special rare, highly anticipated occasions
which are extraordinary for their cost, beauty, and rarity.

Besides, a lot of these so called modern interpretations of food
are nothing but weird, ridiculous crap, produced by people who call themselves
chefs and innovators who don’t have the slightest idea about good FOOD,
I am highly amazed of the large amount of guest’s in some of these “temples of modern cuisine”
who are gullible enough to fall for some of the idiotic concoctions presented as innovations.

Again, I want to highly stress that I am a strong believer and admirer of innovation, artistry,
extraordinary new way’s to prepare and present old and proven dishes and explore
new way’s to prepare and improve long forgotten and under-appreciated ingredients
and find new food items and combinations nobody thought of before or which were
just ahead of their time .
But, Food is food. Crap is crap. Period.

So, I beseech all food lovers out there, old and young, experienced or not,
professional or not, to please don’t let the cuisine of our culinary tradition disappear.

Let’s continue to cook and eat them with the respect, love and passion they deserve.
Please continue to explore new stuff, experiment, develop, evolve and improve our
beloved culinary heritage.

I look at myself in the mirror and see an old man, but I
don’t think that should be a reason to dispose of me.

Same with our food. Old can mean ripe, proven, always reliable, satisfying,
reassuring and a great addition to new and exciting way’s and thing’s.

In conclusion, I believe there is a time for everything:

A ) A time for expensive, highly elevated food, presented in the most outrageously beautiful amazing fashion 🙂
B) A time for excellent, beautiful, nourishing, economic, simple food, presented nice, clean and appetizing 🙂

C) There should NEVER be a time for pretentious crap 😦

Bon Appetit !
Good Is Good. Crap Is Crap !
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50.000 Hits In Just Four Months Of ChefsOpinion. Thank You All !

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Dear Friends,

Thank you all for your continuous interest and support of ChefsOpinion.
It makes me happy and proud that I can share my dishes and my culinary views with so many fine folk’s. Even if we are not always of the same opinion about a specific dish, style, recipe, or method, you and I share a never ending love and passion for all things culinary and appreciate an open dialog about it.
I would highly appreciate any suggestions and / or requests to shape ChefsOpinion even more to your liking. If not, I will just continue to do what I love to do and hope that we, as a community of culinary enthusiasts, will grow even larger and that we can enjoy many more dishes, opinions and ideas to come 🙂
Friend’s, if you can find it in your hard and if you think my blog deserves it, please be so kind and help me spread the word amongst your friends, colleagues and family. Thank you.

With best regards,
Hans.
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Life is Good !

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” Breakfast Of Champions ” # 7 Hearty Sandwiches

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School was cancelled today,
Although the message did not reach me, so I got up at 3.00am anyway.
I got to the school at 5.00am. Around 6.00am I was wondering why nobody
showed up, so I called my boss. I was back home at 6.30am, HUNGRY !
So there I was, hungry and ready for a good breakfast and a movie 🙂

Hot peppermint tea, , yoghurt, vanilla ice cream;
Grilled rye bread, spicy guacamole, tomato, brie with black pepper;
Grilled rye bread, spicy guacamole, tomato, aged asiago, chili flakes;
Grilled rye bread, spicy guacamole, tomato, genoa salame, chives;

Life is Good !
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” Nutella & Banana Ice Cream “

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Here is the world’s easiest and arguably best ice cream :
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Ingredients :

Nutella, 2 cups
Yoghurt, 1 cup
Milk, 2 cups
Sugar, 1/4 cup
Vanilla extract, 1/4 tspn
Lime juice, 1 tspn
Banana, 1 ea, finely diced

Method :

Whisk all ingredients except banana until smooth.
Transfer to ice cream maker, add banana.
Churn until starting to get firm.
Transfer to airtight container, cover, freeze overnight.

I know this might seem simplistic and unsophisticated to some foodies
and professional chef”s, but believe me, this stuff is so rich and tasty,
it put’s many a sophisticated ice cream to shame 🙂

Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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” Grilled Pork Chops & Grilled Veggies “

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I just love my little stove top grill. No-fuss grilling for one person.
It does not give me the deep grillmarks a larger, hotter grill would give me,
but the texture and taste are all their own 🙂
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Marinade all items with the pictured spices according to your own preferences 🙂

Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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” Bok Choy, Gnocchi & Spicy Italian Sausage “

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Today’s fusion confusion dinner 🙂
Whatever you want to call it, this is a wonderful concoction, worthy of an original name.
How about ” Boknocchi ” or ” Gnocchibok “? Gnocchoy ? 🙂
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Ingredient’s :

Bok Choy
Gnochi
Spicy italian sausage
Scallion
Oregano
Red bell pepper
Onion
Garlic paste
Olive oil
White wine
Cayenne pepper
Salt

Method :

Sautee sausage in oil until starting to brown, add onion and garlic,
sautee until translucent, add peppers and bok choy, saute one minute,
add gnocchi, wine and seasoning and – Voila !

This recipe lends itself for you to be creative !

Asian style : Substitute gnocchi with rice or egg noodles and
add asian seasoning such as soy, sesame oil, ginger, etc.

Indian style : Substitute gnocchi with diced potatoes and
add indian seasoning such as garam masala, lots of fresh coriander etc.
Use your imagination !

Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !

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” Why would anyone EVER EVER EVER use those crappy pre packaged corn taco shells ???? Yeesh !!! “

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Dear Friend’s
In response to my post : ” Tacos Al Camaron ” ,
the following esteemed comment was posted by a young lady who obviously knows and loves her food and with whom I basically wholeheartedly agree :

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” Why would anyone EVER EVER EVER use those crappy pre packaged corn taco shells???? Yeesh! “

Dear Friend’s
In response to my post : ” Tacos Al Camaron ” ,
the following esteemed comment was posted by a young lady who obviously knows and loves her food and with whom I basically wholeheartedly agree :
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” Why would anyone EVER EVER EVER use those crappy pre-packaged corn taco shells???? Yeesh! “

Whilst I agree with the reader that freshly made tacos are (usually) a tremendous improvement over ready-made products, my reply below should help to clarify a bit about how and why I enjoy food the way I do and most of all, how and why I choose the content I put on my Blog :

Dear disgusted reader of ChefsOpinion. First, let me assure you that I agree with you inasmuch that ” freshly made anything” is usually better than crappy ” store bought anything “.

Although I am in no way an expert on Mexican food, I’d like to tell you that I lived for a year in Mexico while I was married for the first time, back in the seventies.
Then In the early 2000’s, I went back to Mexico, where I was in charge of the food operation’s (at the same time) of three high-class boutique hotels, as well as one five-star Westin hotel and one four-star Sheraton hotel, all in the Yukatan, Mexico.
I am a huge fan of Mexican food and have certainly had my share of the good, the bad and the ugly.
I have had the finest tacos in the best restaurants and in the grimmest joints and at any place in between.
I have taught hundreds of cooks and thousands of culinary students about tacos, tortillas, flautas, burritos, you name it, I’ve done it.
However, when it comes to ChefsOpinion, I try to have a good time with like-minded folks who “GET IT”.
Good food is what we enjoy to eat; What is practical at the moment, what makes economic sense and what’s the best you can do whilst your time is extremely limited.
What I try to do on my blog is to share and discuss food and food-related issues with a broad range of folk’s, from culinary students to hobby cooks to perfectionists.
Also with old warrior’s like myself, who have seen it all and done it all, who are maybe just a bit more tolerant to situations where we must substitute with a lesser ingredient for some reason, or when we are just too damn exhausted to move another finger.
If I had a choice I would eat and drink only the best, freshest, most refined, most exquisite food and drinks available.
While I was privileged to live in that ideal world for most of my professional life, there were and there are situations when a sudden lust for a specific food or drink can sometimes require a quick fix just to take care of that overwhelming craving.
I have been immersed in this wonderful world of food service for 45 years. I have been in charge of meals for kings and queens, heads of states, the famous and not so famous. I am certainly aware of quality and perfection for which we should strife whenever possible. However, at this point in my life, I have just started a new job which keeps me away from my home for 11 hours. I live alone with my dear dog Bella, so before I take off for work at 5.00 am, there are already two solid hours of me getting ready for work, taking care of Bella for an hour, walking her, playing with her, trying to keep her from chasing the neighbors cat’s, etc.
When I come home at 5.00pm, my first priority is to take Bella for a long walk.
Then on to take care of the blog, usually for about three hours. Then cooking dinner, taking pic’s of the food for the next post, enjoying dinner, cleaning the kitchen, walking Bella for another hour. By the time I finally get to rest it is usually 12.30 am.

So then, please, forgive me for using pre-made tacos (They were actually very good, all things considered). The folks who will use the pre-made stuff will enjoy a quick and easy to follow food inspiration. The folks who are a bit more dedicated to only the best will no doubt spent the extra time and effort to produce awesome fresh tacos.
Hopefully, in the end, “Life is Good” for everybody. 🙂

So then :
Why would anyone EVER EVER EVER use those crappy pre-packaged corn taco shells???? Yeesh!

Because sometimes………

P.S.
Have you noted the store bought! mayo in the picture ? Yeesh! 🙂
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” Butterflied Breaded Pork Chop “

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Sometimes a very simple dish does very satisfying things to you.

Last night that’s exactly what happened to me when I had this dish of simple comfort food :
Instant happyness and warmt in the belly that said : Life is Good !
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Butterflied Breaded Pork Chop with Lettuce and crispy bacon in Dijon vinaigrette.
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” Watermelon & Mango Smoothie “

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Plenty of watermelon & mango smoothie,
Bella and I enjoying a breezy afternoon in the garden.
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Life is Good ! 🙂
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1 qt coarsely chopped watermelon
1 qt coarsely chopped mango
1 cup yoghurt
2 cup whole l milk
10 ea mint leaves
1 ea large lime, juiced
I qt ice cubes

Blend everything until thick and smooth.

Cheers ! Enjoy !
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