Category: buns

skillet fried chicken cakes; putting leftovers to work

Published on by alisahuntsmanLeave a comment

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Tis the holiday season and days full of hunting and gathering.  Shopping for gifts, planning for parties, wrapping gifts, writing cards and so on.  Often, dinner is an after thought and most of us grab something from the market or a favorite take-out spot that we can dump on the table with little to no effort.  When the stress associated with getting everything done, the cookies, the gift wrapping and the decorating, who wants to make dinner?

 

Even so, a nice dinner on the table at the end of a busy day is just what I want and now that there are just two of us to cook for, I actually look forward to the task.  Generally, helpful hints for the homemaker (laughable isn’t it-me a homemaker?) call for cooking large batches of stuff and serving it all week long or they instruct you to divide it up and freeze it for days like this when cooking is not an option.  That is a sound plan and good advice, just not for me.  When I am faced with eating my way through two gallons of chili or a ginormous pan of baked pasta, I get tired of it quickly.  More often than I care to admit, good food ends up putrefying in the back of the fridge.

 

One way I have managed to get a menu together that covers the whole week is to pick a few ingredients, purchase them in bulk and prepare different dishes from them so that even though I am essentially eating the same thing, there is enough variety to keep me from getting bored.  Remember my recent series on One Bag of Kale?  A large, one pound bag of kale appeared in four separate meals and no boredom was detected!  This time around, I used a whole, roasted chicken, two of them actually, to fill my menu.  We feasted on soup, creamy chicken and vegetables over rice and a new favorite dish, Skillet Fried Chicken Cakes.

 

 

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As you may know, we recently relocated to Williamsburg, Virginia and if you are familiar with the geography of the area, you also know that we are a hop, skip and short trip across a couple of bridges from the Chesapeake Bay.  In culinary terms, that means we are smack dab in the middle of oyster and crab country.  Amazingly enough, I am not a huge fan of either one.  Mussels, absolutely!  Calimari, duh, I am Italian, calimari is a given here.  Lobster, now you’re talkin!!!  Crab, meh; I’ll stick with shrimp and lobster.  Oysters, eeewww-can’t even think about them.  However, I can shuck ’em all day long thanks to my first real job after graduating from the CIA.

 

My husband, on the other hand, has a thing for crab cakes, specifically Maryland Crab Cakes.  Since I do not eat them, I naturally assumed from the name that the cakes were made of blue crabs from the nearby Chesapeake Bay.  However, the difference between other crab cakes and Maryland crab cakes is huge.  In this part of the country, folks like their cakes to be made from fresh crab and little else.  They like them large and pan fried in patties that are so tender they barely stay together and are eaten with little more than a bit of remoulade sauce.   Not being a fan of remoulade sauce or it’s low brow cousin, supermarket tartar sauce in a jar, I never even consider ordering the crab cake special in a restaurant, much less making them at home!

 

Oddly enough, the dish does sound tasty to me, except for the crab part, and it had me wondering, if we can call tuna the chicken of the sea, could we let a chicken take a deep sea dive?  Would replacing the crab meat with freshly pulled chicken meat work in a crab cake recipe?  You bet it does and despite my enthusiasm for this compromise, I was skeptical that my husband would agree.  The long and short of it all, he devoured them and did not even miss the crab.  Success!

 

But how can this be a time saver?  Easy, next time you are going to roast a chicken, roast two or three if you can.  Pull one (or two) chicken(s) to pieces, separate out the meat, discard the skin and save the bones and carcass for soup.  Weigh out (yes, weigh it out-a scale is easy to find and surprisingly affordable!!!) a pound of pulled meat for a batch of cakes and set aside the remaining meat for soup, white chili or another of my favorites, chicken and black bean tacos.  You can freeze it until you need it or spend a day in the kitchen making everything-personally, I prefer to freeze components and then thaw and cook them as needed.  The recipe is quick to make and easily doubled if you want to plan ahead; just freeze the cakes and thaw and cook when you want to serve them.

 

Make these cakes as long as one day ahead, cook them when you plan to serve them and put them on the table with your favorite buns (kaiser rolls for me if I am buying them, homemade otherwise!) and fixings, a local brew and secretly wish for the chaos season to end and for  summer to arrive…

Skillet Fried Chicken Cakes

IMG_1806Recipe is adapted from one that appeared in Food and Wine and was written by Andrew Zimmern.  See the original recipe here.  And for the crab lovers out there, just prepare the recipe as written in the link, I am pretty sure Chef Zimmern knows what he is talking about here!

Makes 8 cakes, serves about 4

 

1 pound cooked, pulled chicken meat

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 large egg

1 tablespoon mustard, preferably whole grain

1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce

1-2 teaspoons Creole spice mix

1 teaspoon hot sauce

3/4 cup cracker crumbs, about 20 saltines

Oil for frying

Buns, sandwich fixins, pickles

 

Pull the chicken meat so that it is shaggy and rough, cubes will not bind!  In a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, mustard, worcestershire, spice mix and hot sauce.  Add the chicken meat and the cracker crumbs and gently mix to combine but take care not to mash it to a paste.  Divide the mixture evenly and form patties.

Pour enough oil into a large skillet so that the entire surface is covered by an 1/8th of an inch over medium heat.  Carefully add the cakes and fry on one side until browned.  Turn the patties and fry the other side until nicely browned and hot in the center.  Lift the cakes from the oil and set them on a tray lined with brown paper or paper towels, serve immediately.

 

For the OCD, make your own buns, I do when I can and freeze them, find my recipe here

 

 

Sloppy Joe’s on Homemade Buns

Published on by alisahuntsman1 Comment

Remember those buns from my last post?  This is probably my favorite way to serve them-split open and overflowing with tangy sloppy joe filling!  The buns can be frozen and so can the filling so make a full batch of both and split it-serve half and freeze half for a quick meal when you are short of time.

Smoky Sloppy Joe’s
adapted from Taste of Home
serves 4-6

2 pounds ground meat, turkey, beef or soy-or any combination of them
1 small onion, diced small
1/3 cup small diced celery
1 large clove of garlic, minced
1 small can roasted, diced green chilis
1 (14.5 oz) can crushed tomatoes
1/4 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon steak sauce
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
fresh buns, homemade from my recipe, or purchased

Over medium heat, cook the beef or turkey until no longer pink.  Add the onion and celery and saute until soft.  Add the garlic and continue cooking for another minute.  Place the contents of the pan into a mesh strainer and drain off the excess fat.

Return the meat to the pan, add the remaining ingredients and simmer the mixture for 30-40 minutes.  The mixture will thicken, if it becomes dry, you can add small amounts of broth or water, but be sure to simmer it long enough to allow the flavor to develop.

For those of you using soy crumbles instead of meat, you will need enough to replace two pounds of meat.  Saute the onions and celery in olive oil until translucent.  Add the garlic and saute for another minute.  Add the crumbles and the remaining ingredients and follow the directions as written for the meat version.

Fluffy Sandwich Buns

Published on by alisahuntsmanLeave a comment

This recipe is a favorite of mine and I pull it out whenever I need fluffy buns that will stand up to the test.  What could that test possibly be?  Hamburgers, for one.  There is nothing worse than having a hamburger bun fall apart, disintegrate into pieces as you eat it; condiments and components falling onto the plate…Fear not, these buns will hold their own and remain intact until the last bite.

Mixing the dough is a quick process, and can be done by machine or hand-you choose.  You can make them with just plain flour or add some whole wheat as I have in this batch.  To shape them, it is best if they are all about the size of a lemon, roughly 3-4 ounces each.  Gently place your open palm on top and close your fingers around them so that your fingertips rest on the work surface.  Slowly roll the dough in a circular motion until the ball of dough tightens and forms an evenly round ball.

Place the prepared buns onto a baking tray that is liberally sprinkled with cornmeal.  Allow them to rise until doubled in size.

Doubled in size and ready to bake.
nice buns
by Michael McLaughlin
makes about 14 buns

1 1/2 cup buttermilk(or regular milk)

1 cup slightly warm water
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon salt
1 package active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
about 5-6 cups unbleached all purpose flour or up to 2 cups whole wheat flour and 3-4 cups all purpose flour
In a mixing bowl, mix the buttermilk, water, butter, sugar, salt and yeast.  Allow it to stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.  Stir in the whole wheat flour and 2 cups of the all purpose flour and mix to form a somewhat sticky dough.  You can turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead this by hand or use a stand mixer, either way, continue to add flour as needed to form a soft dough.  Continue mixing until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes.  Shape the dough into a ball and place it in an oiled bowl, coating it completely with oil, cover it and allow it to rise until double, about 1 1/2 hours.
To make buns, divide the dough into 3-4 ounce pieces or for those without scales, cut it in half, then in half again and continue this until you have about 14 even pieces.  Shape them by rolling into tight buns by placing the dough in your hands and moving in a circular motion on the table/counter top until the bun is smooth and no visible seams show.  Place the buns on pans that have been generously sprinkled with cornmeal.  Allow to rise until double and bake in a 400 degree preheated oven until golden all over.

just loafing around

Published on by alisahuntsman1 Comment

it has been a little tough for me since the passing of mr. kemore.  yeah, tough to decide what to make first!!!  do i use the top oven or the bottom?  convection or conventional heat…decisions, decisions.  what’s a girl to do???  bake damn near everything she can think of that’s what!!!

those are some nice buns you’ve got there…
nothing quite like the smell of fresh bread baking…
now, getting back to those buns…lookin’ good
perfectly soft and wonderful
and multi-grain too, oooohhh…
nice buns
by Michael McLaughlin
makes 16 buns, 2 loaves or 1 loaf and 8 buns
1 1/2 cup buttermilk(or regular milk)
1 cup slightly warm water
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon salt
1 package active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
about 5 cups unbleached all purpose flour
in a mixing bowl, mix the buttermilk, water, butter, sugar, salt and yeast.  allow it to stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.  stir in about 4 cups of the flour and mix to form a somewhat sticky dough.  you can turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead this by hand or use a stand mixer, either way, continue to add flour as needed to form a soft dough.  continue mixing until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes.  shape the dough into a ball and place it in an oiled bowl, coating it completely with oil, cover it and allow it to rise until double, about 1 1/2 hours.
punch the dough down and turn it out onto a cutting board.  cut it in half and form two loaves by flattening the pieces into rectangles.  roll up the dough, starting on the short side and form a thick log.  place the dough logs into 2 greased 9x5x3 inch pans, cover and allow to rise until it comes just above the top of the pan.  bake in a preheated 375 oven until golden on top and bottom, about 45 minutes.  remove from pan and cool on rack completely before slicing.
to make buns, divide the dough into 4 ounce pieces or for those without scales, cut it in half, then in half again and continue this until you have 16 even pieces.  shape them by rolling into tight buns by placing the dough in your hands and moving in a circular motion on the table/counter top until the bun is smooth and no visible seams show.  place 8 buns on a pan that has been generously sprinkled with cornmeal.  allow to rise until double and bake in a 400 degree preheated oven until golden all over.
to make a multi grain version, replace 2 cups of the flour with a combination of whole wheat, rolled oats and multi-grain hot cereal such as hodgson mills.  to improve the texture of the multi grain bread, you can also use a bread flour in place of the all purpose flour.
and if you need me, i will be in the kitchen with my new friend…