Rice & Sweet Onions sans h2o

 

That's some pretty fancy cooking to make rice without any water, what you gonna do, use that de-hydrated water?

We will use some water to blanch the rice but today is really all about the sweet onions that come out in the Spring. I used Vidalia from Georgia. Spend the money, it's worth it. The rice absorbs the sweet onion liquor instead of water. The result is a soft creamy sweet oniony rice dish that resembles risotto. This dish was made for an Aga

I used this as a side with wilted spinach, oranges and toasted almonds. You can spread it on toast and topped with roast turkey or chicken. Sauces have been thickened with this by adding it to stock, simmering and passing thru the fine blade of a food mill.

There is bit of slicing involved, sharpen your best French knife and let's get to it.

 

Let's gather up some tools and ingredients. Takes about 20 minutes to prep if you have average knife skills and 90 minutes cooking time.

•  2 each 4 qt pots. I used a heavy enamel one for the rice but any quality pot with a nice fitting lid will work
• 4 Vidalia onions sliced with the grain into juilliene strips. I take out the middle and slice the two pieces separately. This gives me a more uniform cut
• 2 Tablespoon butter
• 2 Tablespoon olive oil
• a bay leaf
• 1/2 cup of white rice
• sea salt

In a four quart pot filled with 3 qts of boiling water add salt, bay leaf and rice. Into the Roasting Oven no lid needed for 6 to 7 minutes.

Meanwhile melt the butter and olive oil on the knob. Add the sliced onion in 3 stages stirring each time to coat with butter and oil. Add a pinch of salt

Timer goes beep for the rice and strain. Add rice and bay leaf to onion mixture. Stir to coat, on goes the lid and into Simmer Oven for 60 minutes.

Timer goes beep and you remove from oven, stir being sure to scrap the sides down. On goes the lid and into the Baking Oven for 20 minutes.

Timer goes beep and we check the onion and rice mixture. It should be soft and sweet. If you use a stainless pan you even get a little carmelization. If not soft enough back into oven for additional 10 minutes.

From here you can add a touch of cream, fold in more butter or add some cooked greens like spinach or peas. This is the foundation for your creative touch.

It will reheat well and keep in the fridge for 6 days

Step 1: sweat the onions Step 2: add the blanched rice to the onions

Step 3: cook until done

Parsnips Gratin

 

Winter won't give up so neither will I. This is a nice cold weather root veggie creamy crusty dish that warms you up from the inside. A "gratin" is anything with a nicely browned top. You can use cheese, cream, eggs or even the natural sugars in whatever you are gratining to achieve the golden brown crust. Not really sure if gratining is a word. I'll check Words with Friends on my iPhone. That Scrabble ripoff accepts almost anything.

  

I did't do a very good job of hitting my 100/0 goal. I reduced the white wine on the Boil Plate. It only took a minute I swear. I also used the Boil Plate to bring the water to a boil to cook the parsnips. I like to start the vegetables in cold water so no preheating the water in the oven. Some times I gotta do what I gotta do.

Let's see how this went down in the Aga Kitchen

Gather up these tools as well as the usual cutting boards, knives and peelers you use everyday

• A 3 qt or bigger pot to cook the parsnips
• a 1 qt or bigger pan to simmer the cream
• a nice baking dish approx. 8"x 8"
• a steel bowl to toss the parsnips and cream together
• rubber spatula and fine mesh strainer

Gather up these ingredients

• 1 lb parsnips about 2 1/2 cups
• 1/2 small onion cut into juilliene strips
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup white wine
• a few sprigs of fresh herbs
• 2 cloves garlic smashed
• a little chopped parsley
• about an ounce of good hard cheese grated fine, I used pecorino romano
• salt & white pepper

In the 1 qt pan heat up the garlic and white wine until reduced by half. Add the cream, mustard and herbs, mix well and into the Simmer Oven.

Peel the parsnips and cut into uniform shapes. Into the 3 qt pan, cover by an inch with salted water and bring to a boil on the Boil Plate. Strain off boiling water and into the Baking Oven for approx 10 minutes. This will depend on how big you cut the parsnips. Use best judgment.

Strain cooked parsnips and into the steel bowl. Strain the cream mixture over the parsnips. Sprinkle in a little parsley. Toss everything together, taste to see if you need a little salt and white pepper. Put everything into baking dish*

Sprinkle cheese over top and into Roasting Oven with rack on top rungs. Bake about 25 minutes until golden brown. Leave it in a little longer than you think you should.

* you can also add some scallops or shrimp at this point for a lovely seafood gratin. I know, don't mix cheese and seafood according to some judge on Chopped but he is the same guy who won't eat raw onions. Sounds  a little to fussy to be a judge in a culinary event

pork & beans you can believe in

Fried Chicken Aga Style

Gotta admit this deep frying chicken was more of a struggle than I anticipated. Or was it? I did purchase two whole chickens so I had my doubts. In the restaurant world I have deep fried many things without a fryolater. Set an oven at the desired temperature, fill a pot with oil and into the oven.  When it was needed  pull the pot of oil from the oven and onto a burner with a medium flame to hold the oil at temperature while frying. My plan for the Aga was no time on the Boil or Simmer Plate. I would need to use the oven.

My first few attempts involved a non responsive digital thermometer, a heavy cast iron skillet and the Baking Oven. No bueno, the oil cooled too fast and never really came back up to temperature. Soggy chicken, may as well have steamed it.

I settled on the floor of the Roasting Oven, a stainless steel flat bottomed 3 liter deep pan and an old school deep fry thermometer. 

Now my goal here was not a fried chicken recipe but a technique for frying chicken. I used a simple dry wet dry coating and minimal seasoning. Flour, buttermilk, celery salt, cayenne, white pepper and sea salt. You can add your own family secrets.

Let's see how this went down in the Aga Kitchen

Gather up these tools and ingredients and please read the whole recipe first. It really helps with the planning and thinking ahead thing.  

• A flat bottomed stainless steel pan large enough for deep frying. The pan needs maximum surface contact with the floor of the oven. I used a 3.5 liter pan with 5 cups of vegetable oil in it 
• deep frying thermometer, you should be able to pick one up cheap at your local hardware store
• 5 cups vegetable oil, peanut oil is preferred    
• cut up young chicken, I used the thigh and drumstick bone in
• a meat thermometer to check internal temperature of the fried chicken
• a heavy fork to move the chicken, no tongs they will tear the crust
• a set up for your dredge, I went with the seasoned flour to buttermilk to seasoned flour. Do what you like here 

Put your pan with the oil and fry thermometer on the floor of the Roasting Oven to heat up the oil

Set up your dredge and cut up the chicken the way you like it. 

When oil is at 340 degrees (about 30 minutes in my Aga) dredge your first batch of chicken. If you pre dredge your chicken the crust will not adhere to the bird.  My pan only held two pieces of chicken at a time

When oil is at 350 to 360 carefully add your chicken. Start with the larger cuts. I removed the rack  so I have room for my hands above the oil.

The oil will drop in temperature immediately but will come back up. 340 degrees is the optimal temperature. I let the temperature go past 340 for the initial drop so it rebounds quicker.

The bone in thighs took about twenty minutes. The chicken will float when it's thoroughly cooked. I checked the temp on mine and hit 172 degrees, well above the recommended 165 for poultry.

Drain on paper towels on a rack in a warm place.

Let temperature fully rebound and repeat with remaining chicken.  

When you are finished let the oil cool then strain and save in an airtight container for another use. 

fried chicken crispy and juicy

This is a work in progress. I'll keep you posted as I revisit this technique. Right now I don't think I can get my wife to eat any more fried chicken.

Cook like you mean it, G