Jeff, the A.D.D. Chef

If there was ever an award to give out for the most pleasantly aromatic dish then Chicken Marsala would certainly deserve an award. While the Marsala wine lends a wonderful aroma and color to the chicken breast¹ it also adds a delicate flavor. I’m so impressed with the way it transforms the ordinary into the extraordinary that I’ve been adding it to many other dishes. However I’m still not convinced that Pancakes Marsala is going to be a hit anytime soon.

INGREDIENTS

• 6 thinly sliced (or pounded) chicken breasts
• 1 teaspoon of garlic salt
• 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• Olive oil (a few tablespoons)
• 2 tablespoons of butter
• 1 cup of fresh sliced mushrooms
• 1/2 cup of Marsala wine

DIRECTIONS

1. Mix the flour, pepper and garlic salt.
2. Dredge each of the chicken breasts and place them on a platter. (Don’t stack the chicken breasts…you don’t want to accidentally remove the flour coating.)
3. Heat up a skillet with about 3 tablespoons of olive oil and the 2 tablespoons of butter. Keep in mind that you will probably need to add a bit more olive oil as you go along since it will get absorbed by the chicken.
   
4. Lightly brown only one side of the chicken breasts and then, when that is done, flip them over and start to lightly brown the other side.
5. Add the mushrooms and keep browning the chicken breasts.
6. When both sides have been browned, pour the wine over the chicken, cover the skillet and simmer for about 10-12 minutes.

NOTE

1. Since the chicken breast is very thin, it doesn’t take long to lightly brown. It’s a judgment call as to how long it takes to brown each side. If the skillet is fairly hot and the chicken breast is about 1/4 inch in thickness then it may not take more than two minutes to lightly brown each side. If you are concerned about undercooked chicken, keep in mind that you will be adding wine and cooking the chicken - at a simmer - for an additional ten minutes. (However, see Note 2 below.)

2. One way I judge when the simmering is done is by standing very close to the skillet, removing the cover and then breathing deeply. If I no longer smell the alcohol from the wine then I know it has simmered long enough.

3. I like to serve this dish with pasta and a nice Italian bread.²

VARIATIONS

1. Substitute veal cutlets for the chicken.
2. Add fresh spinach.

1. Or veal, if you decide to use that instead. [↩]
2. What’s a “nice Italian bread”? It is a bread that has a crust with a bit of a crunch but the bread is soft inside. The crust should not be mushy and squeezable. [↩]

I guarantee that watching a video or two at What’s Cooking Grandma? will make you feel all warm inside. You’ll get to see grandma make jalapeño cornbread, scones and apple crumb. She’ll even reveal some of her cooking secrets but you better be ready to jot them down or there will be no jalapeño cornbread for you.

Not every meal has to have fourteen ingredients and require the skills of a culinary-institute trained chef. In fact, sometimes the most satisfying meals have two ingredients - chicken broth and a box of pastina - and two skills: turning on the stove and pouring. If you can do those things then you’ve mastered pastina in soup.

What’s particularly great about this meal is that it is fast to make…REAL FAST to make. There’s no time to hyperfocus on anything else. (I tried to do that once and I boiled away half the chicken broth.) In fact, you have to watch over the cooking process the whole time. This is a great five minute mental health break when you are in the midst of a major project. And when the cooking is done, you can ladle some of it into a coffee mug, grab a spoon and head back to the digital salt mine (a/k/a, the computer).

INGREDIENTS

• Approximately 16 ounces of chicken broth
• One box of pastina or any other teensy weensy pasta

DIRECTIONS

1. Get a two-quart saucepan.
2. Pour in about 16 ounces of chicken broth (that’s half of the container shown above).
3. Turn the heat on high and wait till the broth boils.
4. Stir in a large quantity of pastina. How much is large? If you like the consistency of oatmeal (my preference), at least two-thirds of the broth should “disappear” so that there is not much liquid left. That consistency will require about 1/3 of a box (that’s a 12 oz box shown above).
5. Turn the heat down and simmer, stirring periodically to keep everything cooking evenly.
6. If you have the quantities just right you’ll end up with a sort of pastina oatmeal which will have the delicious taste of the chicken broth and enough of the pasta to satisfy your carb cravings.

VARIATIONS

1. You can decrease the amount of pastina so that it is more soup-like than oatmeal like.
2. Add a handful (or two) of frozen peas while the soup is boiling and before you add the pastina. Give it at least two minutes before you add the pastina.
3. Shred some leftover pieces of chicken (perhaps from the braised chicken) and add it to the boiling broth.
4. Sprinkle grated cheese on your soup to add a nice tang.

WHAT ABOUT YOU?

Do you have a two-ingredient recipe that you would like to share with others? Go to my contact page and send me some details of your recipe and it may get featured on an upcoming post on this blog. You can also email me at info at jefftheaddchef dot com.

My Last Home-Grown Cucumber for 2007

Growing vegetables - such as cucumber, broccoli, tomatoes, zucchini - is the perfect A.D.D. activity. Here in the Northeast U.S. where we experience (most of the time) four seasons, growing vegetables is a part-time pursuit that runs for approximately six months. By the time the boredom of weeding, watering and pruning sets in, the growing season is over. So there is no guilty feeling for neglecting your garden. In fact, you get to release a little tension by pulling everything out and turning over the soil. You then take a rest from it for six months. In April of the following year you start anew.

Some Broccoli Florets

Vegetable growing has a relatively fast payoff: that’s perfect for A.D.D.ers. Within about two months of planting (sometimes sooner) some of your vegetables are ready for picking and eating. By about the third month you get to my favorite part of growing vegetables: giving away the surplus to your neighbors. It’s like Christmas without the snow and ice!

Habaneros - the orange one is ready…and hot!

Eggplant

Finally, there is the calming effect of working in a vegetable garden. Compared to a regular job, there is no tight schedule to keep, no train to miss, no deadline hanging over your head. All you need to do is keep at it consistently and for only six months. You get to see the fruits (vegetables?) of your labor and you get to taste it too. You get to be outdoors.¹ You get some sunshine. You get your hands dirty as you pull weeds out of the soil. And you get the satisfaction of finding out what a cucumber (or tomato or eggplant) is REALLY like.²

[The following was added on Sept. 21, 2007]

With the image above I hope to be able to convey the high moisture content of the homegrown cucumber. That glisten on the slice of the cucumber is caused by the moisture that is in the cucumber.

1. For me, it’s a mental health break from sitting in front of the computer. [↩]
2. For example, REAL cucumbers are NOT waxy on the outside. They have a mild aroma and taste. And they are so moist that you may find yourself plucking them from your garden and just munching on them…instead of potato chips. FYI: “Supermarket cucumbers are often waxed to seal in moisture.” See: Cucumbers. This year was the first year that I grew Bok Choy. I was amazed at the amount of water that was in each stalk. I would break it off from the plant and in the palm of my hand were drops of water…which came from the plant itself! I’ve been purchasing Bok Choy in the supermarket for years. I NEVER saw that happen. [↩]

This is a simple meal that tastes great every single time. You can vary the ingredients - making it spicy, if you like - and it still comes out great. And you can hyperfocus on other activities for thirty minutes at a time and this meal still comes out great.

INGREDIENTS

• Approximately 3-4 lbs of chicken parts such as breasts and drumsticks. Rinse them off in cold water
• 3 tablespoons of oil (vegetable oil is fine)
• 5 tablespoons of soy sauce (I use low sodium Kikkomann Soy Sauce)
• 2 tablespoons of brown sugar
• 2/3 cup of water
• 2 tablespoons of chopped garlic
• 1 1/2 tablespoons of cornstarch dissolved in water
• Optional: 1 tablespoon of hot chili sauce (I like to use Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce…warning…use sparingly)

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat up the oil in your wok. Add the sugar and stir until it turns into an almost syrupy consistency.
2. Stir in the soy sauce.
3. Using a pair of tongs, grab a piece of chicken, roll it around in the sauce and place it on one side of the wok. Do this with the remaining pieces so that they have a light brown color.
4. Add the water and garlic. If you like, you can add that tablespoon of hot chili sauce.
5. Bring it to a boil and then turn it down to a simmer. Cover and forget.
6. Total cooking time is approximately 1 hour. At least once during the cooking process, move the pieces around in the wok so that they all get a chance to be immersed in the sauce.

NOTES

After about 45 minutes the meat will start to pull away from the drumsticks. That’s good! Keep it cooking…give it the full hour.

Take out the chicken parts and turn the heat back up so that the remaining sauce starts to boil. Let it boil at least 3 minutes. Then add the cornstarch/water mixture, stir till the sauce thickens and pour it over the chicken parts.

You might want to serve this with white rice so that you can pour that sauce all over the rice.