Last week I served this tasty pulled chicken sandwich along side my bowl of butternut squash soup. With the weather getting cooler and cooler these days, hot soup and warm sandwiches are ideal for weeknight meals and leftovers to take for lunch. So what makes this sandwich or any sandwich for that matter tasty and more than just the standard luncheon meat on bagged sliced bread like the kind I grew up on (think bologna or ham and cheese)? The answer’s very simple … the bread and the extras.

I’ve found that simply making your sandwich with fresh baked bread from a bakery can add a new dimension of flavor to your sandwiches if you’re used to making sandwiches at home with your regular packaged bread. My favorite bakery breads to use for sandwiches include wheatberry, rosemary Italian or foccaccia, sunflower or multi-seed boule (like the one I used for the photos here), or ciabatta. Also, I like to buy the bread whole rather than have it sliced at the bakery. I read the tip somewhere that slicing the bread as you need it allows it to keep longer than if you have it pre-sliced, and I’ve discovered that to be true.

The extras that I speak of, another key to good homemade sandwiches include breaking out of the jar of your simple mayo spread. Instead, add a little extra flavor by using pesto or avocado as a spread on your sandwiches or mixing in seasonings to your mayo. For this pulled chicken sandwich, I added one minced clove of garlic with fresh ground black pepper to my mayonnaise and those additions alone elevated the “deliciousness” of my sandwich. You can also try dried herbs, a splash of lemon juice, or a diced sun-dried tomato. Be creative, and enjoy!

Pulled-Chicken Sandwich with Garlic Mayo

1 loaf fresh baked bread of your choice
2 – 3 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
Pulled chicken from one roasted or rotisserie chicken
Green leaf lettuce
Vine-ripened tomato, sliced
Thin-sliced red onions (optional)
Garlic mayo (see recipe below)

Drizzle olive oil over one side of two slices of the fresh bread and lightly toast in the oven under the broiler, remove from oven and set aside. On the untoasted sides of the bread, spread a thin layer of garlic mayonnaise and top one slice with pulled chicken. Then sprinkle chicken with a little pepper. Add lettuce and a few tomato and red onion slices. Top with the other slice of toasted bread and cut sandwich on a diagonal. Serve with hot soup.

Garlic Mayonnaise

1/4 cup quality mayonnaise
1 clove garlic, finely minced (almost to a paste)
2 dashes of fresh ground black pepper

Mix the finely minced garlic and pepper well into the mayo and use on bread for sandwiches or as a dip for fresh vegetables or (eek!) … fries.

On my journey to becoming a real cook (see definition below) I rely on a variety of tools – questions to other cooks, classes, cooking shows, reading and journaling. Since I didn’t grow up at my mother’s side everyday learning the ins and outs of cooking (in this day and age very few people have had that fortune), these tools help me catch up.

Journaling is a wonderful tool that can be used for many purposes, and cooking is just one activity I apply it to. In addition to keeping my cooking journal, I have a dance and yoga journal, as well as a personal reflections journal.

Real Cook n.  
1. A cook with an old school style, yet modern flare.

2. Someone who prepares food from scratch using fresh, quality ingredients and rarely relies on boxed and canned processed foods. A real cook can quickly make a tasty meal due to the skill acquired from years of practice. The real cook knows timesaving shortcuts as well as how to fix mistakes, measure by sight, and make adjustments based on taste and experience. She or he knows ingredients and can taste something and tell you exactly what’s in it.

In my cooking journal I keep track of recipes that I’ve tried and write notes on what to do or not do the next time I make the dish. In other words, I write down what I learned from that particular cooking experience.

 For example, the last entry in my journal was for an herbed cornbread recipe. What did I learn and write down to remember next time? Add two additional tablespoons of sugar, remember to let the melted butter cool before adding it to the eggs, and bake a few minutes less than the recipe states. You can also keep these kind of notes on the paper the recipe is written on (which may be in a book), but I find keeping such notes in a journal more appealing.

In addition to recipe notes, I write down recipe ideas, thoughts about something I tasted that I want to remember, as well as any thoughts or things to remember that I come across while watching a cooking show, reading an article or blog post or attending a food or wine expo. 

Honestly, I don’t diligently write a journal entry for everything I make and not even always for every new recipe I try. Keeping a journal doesn’t have to be another chore on your already long list of things to do, but  it can provide you with a useful reference as you explore and build your repertoire of dishes.  And years from now once you feel that you’ve arrived, you can pass your cooking journal down to someone – a son or daughter, niece or nephew for instance – to help them on their journey to becoming a real cook. Just think of the wealth of information you would have if you had a cooking journal from your grandmother or great-aunt.

Another one of my latest entries in my journal is for Spicy Sausage and Rice. This is an easy recipe I wrote. Serve it with a side vegetable and you’ll have a quick weekday meal. Try it out to get you started with your first journal entry.

Do you already keep a journal of some sort? How do you keep your recipe notes? Better yet, do you have a collection of old family recipes with hand written notes? Leave a comment below and let me know about it!

Spicy Sausage and Rice
Serves 4

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 small onion, diced
3 – 4 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and finely diced
1/2 teaspoon Cajun seasoning
2 tablespoons tomato sauce (from 8 oz. can)
2 cups water
4 spicy sausage links (12 oz. package of fully-cooked spicy sausage: turkey, chicken, beef or pork. I prefer chicken or turkey. Use Italian, Andouille or some other spicy sausage)
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup rice

Heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onions, garlic and jalapeño pepper and sauté for 2 – 3 minutes. Add Cajun seasoning and sauté for 1 minute more stirring occasionally. Stir in tomato sauce and sauté for another minute stirring constantly. Add water, sausage and salt and bring to a boil. Once boiling, stir in rice. Once water comes back up to a boil, place heat on low, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and sit aside, covered for 5 minutes. Fluff rice and sausage with a fork and serve.

Yes, the title of this post sounds extremely basic. It seems obvious that if you know how to read, then you should know how to read a recipe, right? Hmmm. Reading a recipe is basic; however, there are also some tips to remember when cooking with a recipe that can help ensure success as you try out a new dish. These are some tips that I’ve learned from a few sources (a, b) and have been using for a while. I find them helpful, so I thought I’d share them with you.

Before I get started with how to read a recipe, I’d like to touch on the benefits of even using a recipe in the first place, especially if you’re a new cook. I remember attending a party several months ago and overhearing two young women talk about how they like to cook but don’t like using recipes. Based on their conversation, I gathered that they were new cooks, so I found it interesting that they both said they didn’t like cooking from recipes.

Experimentation and creativity are good, but I just don’t see how one can turn out many great dishes as a new cook not using recipes. I mean, how do you know the right amount of a particular ingredient to add in order to have a balanced taste rather than an overpowering taste? How do you know what herbs or spices go best with a particular meat or vegetable? And how do you know how high or low to keep the temperature in order to achieve your desired effect? 

These are things you learn from trying out a variety of recipes and noticing the trends of how certain ingredients and techniques are used in a way that works. Once you’ve learned the fundamentals of cooking, then you’ll have more success with your original creations. At least that’s what I’ve been told, and that’s what my experience shows.

I’m sure a new cook can come up with some tasty dishes without using a recipe, but I would image that her number of successes don’t outweigh her number of duds or mediocre dishes. But anyway, I digress. For those of you who like testing out new dishes with a little guidance and want to do away with kitchen frustration, read on.

Read the recipe carefully - Thoroughly read the recipe all the way through before you do anything.

Pay attention to details - Take notice of the order of the ingredients (usually listed in the order used). Note specific measurements and ingredient details such as “rinsed and drained,” “minced” or “roughly chopped,” or “at room temperature”. Also pay close attention to direction details.

Gather everything in place – Mise en place - Mise en place is French for “put in place”, which means to have all of your ingredients and utensils prepped and ready to use in front of you before you actually begin cooking. This will prevent frustrations like letting the oil overheat or the butter burn while you look for the garlic press or the knife to dice your onions. 

Read the recipe carefully again - After you’ve read the recipe once and gathered everything you’ll need, read the recipe once more before you actually begin cooking just to be sure that no key ingredient is missing and to increase the chances that you won’t overlook a step.

Compare and Adjust - You can do this before testing a recipe for the first time or before the second time you try a recipe. I like to compare several recipes for the same dish in order to see the different approaches people take. Then, I choose the recipe that I like best or make adjustments based on two or more recipes.

Earlier this week as I brainstormed for this post, I tried out a recipe by Giada De Laurentiis for Tuscan White Bean Soup with Ciabatta Bread. It was delicious, creamy but not too heavy, and a perfect soup for cooler weather. You can try the “How to Read a Recipe” tips using this quick recipe. I highly recommend it.

Tuscan White Bean Soup – Recipe by Giada De Laurentiis

Note: If you want a vegetarian version of this recipe, just substitute the chicken broth with vegetable broth. Also, the recipe doesn’t call for salt, but I recommend salting to taste. Also, immersion blenders work like a charm.

Click here to get the recipe.

As I wrote last week, I spent my Labor Day weekend mingling with farmers, organic foodies and food justice activists at Slow Food Nation ’08 in San Francisco. In addition to sampling artisan breads, loose-leaf teas and fair trade chocolate and sightseeing in the Bay area, my friends and I rented a PT Cruiser and headed up highway 101 across the Golden Gate Bridge to California wine country – Sonoma and Napa Valley.

Our scenic drive through the vineyard-lined roads of Sonoma and the various towns and wineries along Napa Valley’s Route 29 was beautiful. After stopping for lunch at The Plaza Bistro for some wine country cuisine in downtown Sonoma, we made stops at Beringer Vineyards for an hour-long tasting and tour, and then headed down to the Robert Mondavi Winery.

While Beringer and Mondavi certainly aren’t off the beaten path, I wanted to make these familiar estates my first experience with Sonoma/Napa vineyard hopping. I must definitely go back for a longer stay to visit more of the area’s many wineries and to enjoy Northern California’s lush country side (see photos). A sequel to my trip is in store in order to experience more of the wonderful flavors of wine country cooking that the area is know for, food often flavored with California wine. My first visit to Sonoma and Napa Valley inspired me to add another wine-infused dish to my culinary repertoire and share some of what I’ve learned about cooking with wine.

Cooking with wine adds another dimension of flavor to dishes just as spices and herbs do. Often used in sauces and marinades, wines can also be used in a variety of other ways including stews and desserts. In this week’s recipe, I use it as a braising liquid.

Two questions often asked about cooking with wine, include:
1) Does the alcohol cook out? 2) What type of wine should I use?

Does the Alcohol Cook Out?
According to various sources, some of the alcohol, but not all of it, evaporates when cooking with wine. How much depends on when the wine is added and how long it is cooked. So basically, it varies by recipe. Most of the alcohol is likely to cook out for braises and the long simmering of sauces, but not so much for wine that’s added at the end of the cooking process and only simmered for a few minutes.

What Type of Wine Should I Use?
The main rule of thumb to remember is to only cook with a wine that you would drink. In other words, no “cooking wine” found near the vinegars in the grocery store. “Cooking wines” are often salty and have other additives. It’s not necessary to cook with an expensive wine, but it should be one that you think tastes good.
 
You’ll often find that many recipes call for dry white wine. But what is a dry white wine? Typically, those recipes are talking about a wine that’s not sweet. So a Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc would do. I’ve heard that some people will often use dry white Vermouth whenever a recipe calls for dry white wine, but I’ve never tried it.

So if you want a new recipe that incorporates wine, try out my Wine-Braised Chicken with Cherry Tomatoes and Herbed Rice. If you’re totally opposed to cooking with wine, feel free to substitute the wine with chicken broth. Please leave a comment to let me know how it turns out for you. Enjoy!

Wine-Braised Chicken with Cherry Tomatoes

1 whole chicken cut up (2 breasts, 2 thighs, 2 drumsticks with skin – Note: You can use any combination of chicken pieces that you prefer)
1 tbs of extra-virgin olive oil
1 tbs of butter
1/2 medium sized onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 cup of dry white wine
1/2 cup of chicken broth
1 tsp of dried thyme
1/8 tsp of ground cumin
12 – 16 cherry tomatoes
Salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
1 tsp of chopped flat-leaf parsley for garnish

Rinse chicken and pat dry. Salt and pepper chicken liberally on both sides. Heat the olive oil and butter (hot, but not smoking) in a deep frying pan or dutch oven. Brown chicken well on both sides (should take about 10 – 12 minutes).

Remove chicken from the pan and set aside. Drain all but 2 tablespoons of the oil from the pan. Sautée the diced onion and minced garlic in the oil for about one minute. Deglaze the pan by adding the wine and chicken broth and bring to a boil for about one minute. Use a wooden spoon or whisk to scrape the bits (from browning the chicken) from the bottom of the pan.
Stir in the dried thyme and add the pieces of chicken back into pan.

Add the cherry tomatoes and about 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 tsp of pepper to the liquid and over the chicken. Cover, reduce heat to low/medium low and simmer for 20 – 25 minutes. Garnish with chopped parsley. Serve with herbed brown rice and a vegetable side dish.

Herbed Brown Rice

1 cup of long-grain brown rice
1 1/2 cup of water
1 tbs of extra-virgin olive oil
3/4 tsp of cumin seeds
1 tbs of chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 tsp of some other herb such as dill (or just stick with the parsley)
1 tsp of salt, plus more to taste
10 whole black peppercorns

Rinse rice 1 – 2 times in water and drain. Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a small to medium sized sauce pan. Add the cumin seeds. When they begin to sizzle, add the 10 peppercorns and heat for 1/2 minute. Add the water and bring to a boil. Add the rice and stir once. Bring water back to a boil, stir once more and cover. Lower heat and simmer rice for 40 – 50 minutes (check for doneness at 40 minutes).

Remove from heat and let sit for 5 minutes. Add fresh chopped herbs and salt to taste and gently stir and fluff into rice. Serve with braised chicken spooning a few tablespoons of the braising liquid over the rice.

Note: If you use white rice, decrease cooking time as directed on package.