Ahhh... yet another reason that I love my Silver Spoon cookbook. What other cookbook offers and ENTIRE SECTION dedicated to our little Kermit friends?
Its been quite a while since I had frog legs... the last time being at a French restaurant as an appetizer.. and I really wanted to recapture the lemony garlic flavor that they created, they were so wonderfully light and delicate.
In the end I opted for the Silver Spoons "Frogs in White Wine"... and modified it a tiny bit.
I was in luck, as I wandered into my local fish market as I do... they had them fresh! SCORE!
I will also confess I took some sick pleasure in making the legs dance around a bit in a little froggie chorus line before tossing them in the pan. I couldnt resist.
So on to the serious part!!!!!!!
I lightly floured and fried the legs in some shallow oil until just golden, careful, they dry out quickly. (I season my flour for dredging with garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper, sometimes cayenne)
frog massacre
For the pasta sauce
about 2T of butter and 2 T flour to make a roux, once that is ready start whisking in your milk til youve got a sauce a thinkness you like. For this sauce I added some sauteed mushrooms, fresh thyme, and a squirt of lemon juice at the end. Salt to taste.
I suppose you could do this with shrimp... but then you'd miss out on the fun of the chorus line now wouldnt you?
This is a bread I've been baking for years, and it is absolutely epic. Doesnt even need butter, but if you're feeling particularly decadent, go for it and dip a chunk of that bad boy in some seasoned olive oil or slather on that butter. You won't die, I promise... not right now anyways!
So here ya go.... the ULTRA SEKRIT RECIPE!
3 cups bread flour
1tsp salt
1 sachet yeast
2 T olive oil
9 oz warm water
a whole mess of Kalamata olives, pitted and halved
(for topping)
More friggin olives
2 T olive oil
Sea salt
Thyme or rosemary or whatever
Method
Sieve the flour into a mixing bowl and stir in salt followed by the yeast. Pour in the olive oil and water and mix it all together to form a dough.
Turn out the dough on a floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes.
Place the dough in an olive oil greased bowl and cover for about 1.5 hours until it has doubled in size. Knock back the dough by kneading it again for a minute or 2.
Knead half the olives (the ones you wont be using for topping) into the dough. Drop some in, fold it over, drop some more in, fold it over, rinse, repeat... you get the idea.
Divide the dough into quarters and then shape them into rounds. Place them onto a nonstick or greased cookie sheet and push little dimples into the tops with your fingers. Drizzle oil all over the tops then sprinkle with salt and herbs. Stick the remaining olives wherever you think they look nice, I usually stick'em in those dimples, they seem to stay put there.
Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until they are golden.
Transfer to a wire rack and let them cool.... This step doesnt usually work too well for me and I play hot potato while trying to tear a chunk off to munch down while its still burning hot!
They only last a couple of days so eat'em quick or give them to people you like. :)
Chicken Stock. I make this at least once a week, freezing it into 1 cup portions and using it as needed for soups, sauces, gravies, you name it.
It is true that it is magic... no.... seriously.
The MOST important part of the stock is without a doubt the wondrously healing bones and cartilage. If cooked properly, they release a healthy dose of chondroitin and glucosamine in the form of gelatin. Those with joint problems will recognize those two big fancy words right away, they treat joint pain.... ironic that the source for relief and prevention of such horrible things as arthritis is actually consuming, well, bones and joints!
Gelatin also is magic in and unto itself. It acts as an aid to digestion and has been used successfully in the treatment of many intestinal disorders.
And besides just the magic from the chicken, just look at all the vitmains and minerals those veggies are ready to offer up.
It is so easy, there really is no reason NOT to do this at home. ALL of this is lost when you use boxed, canned, and worst of all, bouillon. At that point it simply becomes a flavoring.
What you see in the picture up there is exactly what I put in the pot. Varying a bit with the parsley, sometimes I'll add cilantro instead for a different flavor, sometimes a sprig of thyme, sometimes nothing at all.
ALWAYS KEEP YOU CHICKEN CARCASS!!
So this is the list- Chicken carcass, cooked or uncooked, this can be just parts like legs and wings, sometimes I'll even go to the butcher and just ask for 4 chicken backs and / or a lb of chicken feet, which are very rich in cartilage.
2 carrots, broken in half
2 celery sticks, broken in half
1 half onion, skin on (dont worry, you're gonna strain everything)
3 cloves garlic, crushed to release the oils, skins removed
2 bay leaves
2 T whole peppercorns
Please note I do not salt my stock. I do that when I am using it for whatever dish I am using it as an ingredient for. :)
So throw all that shit into a big ol' pot, and fill with water until it just covers everything. Set on the stove at low.... THIS IS IMPORTANT! Boiling your stock with break down the gelatin into nothingness.... defeating the entire purpose. So keep it at a nice gentle simmer. And I mean.... hot enough that there is just a bubble coming up every now and then. Let it bubble away for 4-6 hours to properly break down the bones and good bits.
Check this video at about 1:20 to see how the boil should look.
Once the stock is ready, I place a large mesh strainer over a large metal bowl, and just dump all that brothy goodness straight in. I usually let it sit for about 10 minutes to let any remaining liquid to drip into the stock bowl. From there I allow it to sit and cool, sometimes putting it into a sink full of ice, but thats only if I am rushing, and usually, I am not :) Once cooled, divide into individual containers and voila!
Living in Florida opens up some great adventerous seafood eating opportunities, and we just happen to live very close to an awesome little fish market that specializes in local catches. Every visit there are different offerings from the waters of Florida. From the big prize fish like tuna and swordfish, to less known local river fish and fresh specialties like alligator and frog.
I've seen turtle at this particular market before, but only frozen, and I am hesitant to buy frozen seafood with the sea at my doorstep. However today they had fresh soft shell turtle, and I didn't hesitate to grab some!
Now before anyone freaks out and says, ZOMG cute turtle! Or ONOES they are protected! First, they're not. And trust me, these guys aren't any cuter than an alligator -and living right beside them, they have to hold their own- and are definitely not sweet little gentle slow pokey creatures, they can actually be quite aggressive. Combine that with their great abundance in just about every single pond and river you can find (which is a lot), they are perfectly legal to hunt in Florida, during their season of course.
Turtle isn't as wild and exotic as you might think. The flavor is quite nondescript, and quickly picks up the flavors of what it is being cooked with. Which is probably why the most popular recipe for turtle soup is very robust with ingredients like cayenne, tomato, lemon and Worcestershire Sauce.
Ingredients
For the Stock:
1 lb turtle (soft shell, or snapping turtle), bone in
4 cups water
1 onion, quartered
2 Tablespoons whole peppercorns
For the Soup
Meat separated from the stock, bones removed and cut into small pieces
Stock
1 quarter onion
2 Tablespoons tomato puree
1 half lemon
1 Tablespoon Cayenne
2 Tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro
2 Tablespoons fresh chopped parsley
2 Tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
1 Tablespoon Flour
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
Ground pepper and salt to taste
In a pot bring water to a boil and add cleaned turtle meat, 3/4 onion and peppercorns.
Let simmer slowly until the meat begins falling off the bones, approx 2 hours.
Strain Stock and return it to the pot. Remove turtle meat from the bones and cut into small pieces, then return the meat to the stock, keeping on a low simmer.
Dice remaining quarter onion and sautee in olive oil in a pan until translucent. Add flour and stir until thickened into a roux. Add a ladle of the turtle stock and stir until thickened. Stir in tomato paste. Pour contents of pan into the stock pot and stir until well blended. Add parsley, cilantro, cayenne, juice from the lemon, Worcestershire Sauce, pepper and salt to taste.
Serve and enjoy what was once a delicacy to Presidents and across Victorian England. Now its simply a local pleasure.
This recipe comes from the 14th century English book, "Fourme of Curye". The original recipe is as follows.
Mounchelet
Take veel other motoun and smyte hit to gobettes, seeth hit in gode broth, cast therto erbes yhewe, gode wyne & a quantite of oynouns y mynced, poudour fort & safroun, & alye it with ayroun & verjous, but lat it not seeth after.
But because I don't hate you all, here is a modern interpretation! :D
Heavily modified from the book Pleyn Delit, to suit my quantity and quality needs and personal flavor.
Ingredients:
1 lb veal, cut into
1 inch pieces
1 C almond flour
1 onion, diced
1 T fresh parsley, minced
1 tsp fresh thyme1 tsp rosemary
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp fresh cilantro
2 cups good veal stock
1 C white wine
Pinch of saffron strands
1 T raw butter
salt to taste
1 egg
juice from 1 lemon
Method
Dredge veal in almond flour and set aside. Melt butter in a heavy pot, once it begins to bubble (but not burn) place the veal in one piece at a time, allowing it to brown on all sides. Add wine and scrape up all the browned bits from the bottom of the pot and stir, adding the onions and all of the herbs and seasonings. Add the stock, stirring everything together, and allow to simmer for about an hour, stirring now and then.
In a small bowl, break and egg into a small bowl and whisk in the lemon juice. Just before serving, remove the stew from the heat and add the egg mixture, stirring quickly. this should thicken the stew a but and add a lucious golden color ( if the saffron hadn't already). Take care not to add it back into a too hot pot, or else the egg will begin to clump into unattractive eggdrop soup looking thingies.
We served this with a delish stinky blue cheese and this totally kickass fig cake that contained ONLY figs, almonds, cinnamon and anise. Also making it not only period but also paleo.
Win win all the way around! :D I'd definitely recommend making this if you want to experiment in historical foods.
