Mr. Big Mouth, No Teeth

These pictures were cracking me up today. You never know what you are going to get when you ask your kids to smile for the camera. In my experience, it is very rarely a smile.

 

I say, "Smile!".  The six year old hears, "Stuff a huge strawberry in your mouth, slightly cross your eyes and turn towards the camera."

 

I say, "Smile!".  The six year old hears, "Wrap your entire mouth around a 64 ounce G2 bottle and try not to gag."

 

I say, "Smile!".  The six year old hears...  Well, actually, this time, I guess he heard smile.  But man, his teeth are a train wreck.  Five baby teeth missing (four by "natural" means, one thanks to a concrete floor at Cheeseburger in Paradise), check.  Three big teeth coming in at awe inspiring angles, check.  Cross bite, check.  Strawberries caught in teeth, check.  Scratch near eye acquired after mercilessly teasing baby brother, check.  I see an orthodontist in our future.

Homemade Chicken Stock : Tutorial

We go through a lot of chicken stock at our house.  It seems that most dishes I make call for a couple of cups.  I used to use the pasty chicken flavored soup base, and I'll still do that in a pinch, but for the past year or so, I've tried to keep our downstairs freezer packed with homemade stock and baguettes.  We eat a lot of bread also, but I digress.  That is a post for another time.

This is a weekend project for me and I do it whenever we are running low.  This recipe, from The Barefoot Contessa makes roughly 16 to 20 cups of stock. I usually follow the recipe, except I often omit the turnips, just because they seem to be hard to find in my neck of the woods.

To begin, you will need one very large pot, or two smaller ones.  These are the two 10 quart stockpots that I use.

I use three 5 pound roasting chickens for the stock.

You will also need a healthy compliment of vegetables and herbs.  I use 3 large onions, 6 carrots, 4 stalks of celery, a bunch of parsley, thyme and dill and a head of garlic.  This will all go into the pot(s).

The onions need to be quartered, with their skin on, and divided between the two pots.

Leave the skin on the carrots, halve them and divide them between the two pots.

Leaving the leaves on the celery, cut into the thirds and divide between the two pots.

Cut the head of garlic cloves in half and drop one into each pot. Split the dill, parsley and thyme in half and drop into each pot. 

Now for the tricky part.  You need to cut one of those chickens in half.  Take a big knife and cut it right down the center.

Lay one and a half chickens on top of the vegetables and herbs in each of the pots

and add 3 1/2 quarts of water to each pot.

Finally, add 1 tablespoon of Kosher salt and 1 teaspoon of whole black peppercorns to each pot.  Turn on the heat and let it simmer for four hours.

After the allotted time, stain the liquid through a colander or sieve to separate the solids from the stock.

Put all the stock back in one pot and all the chicken back in the second and place in the refrigerator over night.

When you wake up, all the fat should have congealed on the top of the nice rich broth.

Skim the fat off the top

and then divide the stock into 1 cup portions and store in quart sized freezer bags.

If you get most of the air out of the bags, they will lay nice and flat and freeze nicely.  Label the bags with the contents and date.

The second stockpot should be full of nicely cooled chicken.

Remove the meat from the bones,

measure into 8 oz portions

and place in quart size freezer bags.

Label the bags with the contents and date.  This meat is good for pasta, sandwiches, chicken pot pie or anything else you can come up with.  Enjoy!

Caesar Salad

I love Caesar salad.  So much.  We make it a lot.  Because it is so delicious.  And it goes perfectly with Italian.  Which we eat.  A lot.  This is the recipe that I've tweaked over the past few years and which I usually make.  Unless I forget an ingredient.  Or add an ingredient.  Hey, it can happen.  Especially at our house. 

Now, I'm issuing a disclaimer up front.  This recipes uses a raw egg.  Actually, it is coddled.  I love that word, probably because it sounds like cuddle, but, basically, it's raw.  If the idea of a raw egg  freaks you out, this isn't the recipe for you.  To coddle the egg, you want to boil some water and immerse one egg in it for 60 to 90 seconds.  Pull it out (not with your bare hands) and run it under cold water.

In addition to the coddled egg, you will need olive oil, salt and pepper, croutons, Worcestershire, ground mustard and Kosher salt.  If you are feeling ambitious, you can make your own croutons, but for the sake of convenience, I usually just use some right out of the bag.

You will also need about a cup of grated Parmesan, a head of romaine lettuce

a lemon, a clove of garlic, the above coddled egg

and anchovies.

Beautiful smelly anchovies.  Sometimes when I make this salad, people are grossed out by the thought of the coddled egg and anchovies, but I promise you, it is great.

Now that you have gathered all your ingredients, you need a big wooden bowl.  Dump a little over a tablespoon of Kosher salt into the bowl and then smash a large garlic clove.

Now, take the smashed garlic and rub the salt all over the bowl

until the inside surface of the bowl is coated with garlicky salt.

Now, pull the garlic cloves back out and mince them.

Next, take four anchovies

and mince them.  There will be little bones in there, but don't worry about them.  They are tiny.  Just chop them up.

Put the garlic and anchovies into your bowl and use a wooden spoon to smash it into a paste.

Next, take the coddled egg and peel it, dropping it into the bowl. 

Add the juice from half a lemon

and a tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce.

Season with lots of freshly ground black pepper

and then add a teaspoon of ground mustard.

Now, sometimes, but not always, I add a little bit of Jalapeno seasoning to the mix.  I once took a cooking class at a tapas bar in Mexico (I know, it sounds awful, but it was a lot of fun) and the chef made a great Caesar to which he added just a little heat.  This accomplishes that, when I'm in the mood for something spicy.

If you have a little one in the kitchen helping, tell him to start whisking.  You want to break up any chunks of egg white you might have in the dressing.

For the last step, add a cup of grated Parmesan and about a 1/3 a cup of olive oil. 

and again instruct your little helper to whisk. 

Now, take your head of romaine and cut it up.

Put the lettuce in the bowl and toss until evenly coated with the dressing.

Top with croutons and grind a little extra Parmesan.

Serve and enjoy!

Caesar Salad
serves: 4  (Recipe also on Tasty Kitchen)

• 1 large egg
  
• 1 tablespoon Kosher salt
  
• 1 clove garlic, smashed
• 4 anchovies, minced
• 1/2 lemon
• 1 tablespoon Worchestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon ground mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon Jalapeno seasoning, optional
• 1 cup Parmesan, grated
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1 head romaine, cut into bite size pieces.
• 1/2 cup Caesar croutons
  

Coddle the egg by bringing a small saucepan of water to a boil and immersing the egg for 60 to 90 seconds.  Remove the egg from the water and run under cold water.

Place one tablespoon of Kosher salt into a large wooden bowl.  Use the smashed garlic to rub the salt all over the bowl until the inside surface of the bowl is coated with garlicky salt.  Remove the garlic clove from the bowl and mince before adding back in.  Add the minced anchovies and use a wooden spoon to smash it into a paste.  Peel and add the coddled egg to the bowl with the juice of half a lemon, the Worchestershire sauce, ground mustard and optional Jalapeno seasoning, if you want a little twist on a traditional Caesar.

Whisk the dressing, breaking up any pieces of egg white.  Add a cup of grated Parmesan and a 1/3 a cup of olive oil and whisk until combined.

Put the lettuce in the bowl and toss until evenly coated with the dressing.  Top with croutons a little extra Parmesan.