Aga Kitchen

I know, I know, boiled chicken! I must be a brave cook to take on such a challenging topic. Get a pot, drop in a dirty bird (that's what my grandmother called chickens) and boil until done. Pretty easy.

Maybe we can introduce a little more flavor. Maybe we can involve the Aga while others are content to have the simmering kettle in plain sight. Maybe with proper technique we can transform the mundane into the sublime. Holy cow! That is some lofty prose. Hope I can back them up.

Let's see how it all went down in the AgaKitchen.

"that's a lot of pulled chicken there son, you gotta permit for that?"

Here's a shopping list.

• 1 whole quality chicken, resist the urge to buy one cut upfor you
• 1/4 of a turnip,  you should always have a turnip in the fridge anyways, peeled and cubed
• 4 celery stalks
• 1 leek split and cleaned
• 3carrot
• 1 onion
• Simon & Garfunkel herb collection, parsley, sage, rosemary & thyme. See if they come bundled as a poultry blend in the produce section,\
• 4 peppercorns & 2 bay leaf
• sea salt

Now lets cut up the chicken. First thing, rinse it off and pat it dry.

 Using a serrated knife and a sawing motion split the breast. Next cut out the back bone by sawing one side then the other. My wife said the picture wasn't very appetizing so sorry no pics of the back bone

 Split the leg  from the breast following the natural seam. Flip the leg over and look for a line of fat where the drumstick meets the thigh. Seperate the leg at the fat line.

Split the breast into two pieces of roughly equal size. And there you have it, a chicken cut into eight even pieces. This will help all them cook at equal times.

Let's Boil that Chicken

• Start with a large pot, I used an 8 qt stainless stock pot with a lid
• Add the chicken
•  Cover the chicken with enough cold water so it's 3 inches over the chicken 
• Bring it to a boil, bang the side of the pot occasionally and stir the contents a little. This will allow the impurities to rise up and float on the surface. As they collect on the surface we skim them away. It's Ok if you take a little water away with the scum. It hasn't simmered long enough to hold any flavor.
• After you have skimmed the stock add the veggies, herbs and spices. Don't forget the salt. I used about 1/2 a teaspoon.
• Let this simmer for 30 minutes. When you simmer some bubbles should be breaking the surface on a constant basis. Not rolling bubbles on the entire surface. Aga Tip: Put the stock pot with it's lid on in the Simmer Oven for 45 minutes.
• Remove chicken and strain the rich chicken broth
• Remove the chicken meat  once it's cool enough to handle. Discard any bones and skin.

Now What

 Here is where the fun starts. With the broth you can make soups & stews, the meat can be used for salads, Chinese food, burrito, chicken pot pie (that's what I did) chili etc...

I'll post the pot pie recipe in a few, it was way good.

Cook like you mean it, G

There are not really too many finites in cooking. I think that's one of the things that keeps me interested. Hard to believe, but I like being wrong. It means I learned something. I think a therapist would call it "growth". Here is a finite I can sink my teeth into. Write it down and commit to memory. Never cook a special meal that is so laden with fat and calories that you and your mate are too stuffed to "get busy". Makes the dinner date not so special anymore. "We ate and drank so much the only reason we unbuttoned our pants was to keep them from splitting apart" sounds more like something to forget.

Back to the shrimp. Love it when the fresh Maine shrimp come into season. I picked up some at my not so local (50 minutes away) fancy food store. Cucumbers and shellfish always taste good together. The textures play well off each other and respond similarly to seasoning. Both ingredients are delicate and can be overpowered by assertive type of seasonings like raw onion or garlic.

Let's see how this went down in the Agakitchen.

Cook the shrimp

• 3/4 lb of fresh Maine shrimp. Drop into simmering salted water for 90 seconds. Overcooking makes the shrimp mushy. No wine or lemon, the acid has a tendency to denature these small crustaceans. Drain and layout on a flat plate to cool. No need to rinse them under cold water. On a plate and in the fridge. Takes about 30 minutes to cool.

Make the dressing   mix everything together in bowl big enough to add the shrimp and a cucumber

• 3 Tablespoons of mayo. Homemade is really much better and crazy easy. I'll give you a recipe at the end of the post.
• 3 teaspoons of Heinz Chili Sauce. This not some Asian offshoot of Americas best loved condiment. It's ketchup for big boys, a little less sweet with a little more kick. Beats ketchup anyday.
• 1 teaspoon dry sherry
• 1 teaspoon of prepared horseradish. Be sure to squeeze the liquid out of it first.
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika, picks up the smoky notes in the sherry

Put it all together

• peel and quarter your cucumber, remove seeds with your knife tip, dice into medium size uniform pieces. About the same size as the shrimp. Salt the cukes
• toss cukes and shrimp in bowl with dressing, add a little chopped dill or parsley if you have some
• place some fancy greens (I use the herb blend in the winter) tossed with a little oil and vinegar on the plate
• mound the shrimp salad in the center
• D-U-N spells done, rhymes with fun!

As promised, mayonnaise

• 1 egg and 1 egg yolk
• 1T mustard
• 1T cider vinegar
• squeeze from 1/4 of a lemon
• 1 cup olive oil, not EVOO
• salt to taste
• pepper, white if you have it, again to taste
• 1 Tablespoon of hot hot water

Mix everything but the oil and water in a food processor. With the motor running slowly add the oil. After the oil add the hot water. Taste, season and taste again.