Mission: Cook! (26 page)

Lay a long piece of plastic wrap over the cutting board and tuck it underneath the sides of the board. The chicken breasts should be placed on the covered cutting board, skin side down, with enough space between them so they can lie flat after you butterfly them. To make the butterfly cut, carefully slice open the chicken breasts (without slicing them all the way through) and spread the flesh of the chicken. Season the breasts with salt and pepper. Then put another length of plastic wrap over the seasoned chicken breasts to keep the mess down when you pound them with the meat mallet. Pound the chicken to integrate the seasonings into the flesh and to make the breasts thin. Then remove the top layer of plastic.

Lay 1 slice prosciutto on each breast. Add 3 leaves spinach and 4 pieces sundried tomato on each breast. Fold in each end and roll tightly. Place on a sheet tray and freeze until firm. (The chicken should not be allowed to freeze completely hard, but freezing it slightly makes it easier to handle when breading.)

Whilst the chicken roulade is hardening in the freezer, prepare the tomato demi-glace. In a saucepan, sauté the garlic and then deglaze the pan with the wine. Add the beef stock and tomato puree. Boil over medium heat until reduced by half. Add the demi-glace (brown sauce) and let simmer until thickened (“medium thickness”).

When the chicken is firm, set up a breading station. Whisk together 3 eggs and 1 cup of the half-and-half for the egg wash. (Begin with this amount and whisk more together if needed.) Then set up a bowl each of flour, egg wash, and Italian bread crumbs. Evenly coat the rolled frozen chicken with flour (not too much or the bread crumbs won't stick). Dip the floured rolled chicken into the egg wash, then into the bread crumbs. In a deep-fryer, lightly fry golden brown. Finish in a 325-degree oven for 15 minutes until completely cooked firm. Let rest.

Reheat the tomato demi-glace, and to finish, remove from the heat and immediately whisk in the butter and fresh thyme.

PRESENTATION

Slice each chicken roll to expose the beautiful stuffed interior. Place mashed potatoes in center of each plate and lay the chicken roulade over the potatoes. Drizzle the tomato demi-glace on top and serve with your favorite vegetables.

Preheat
the oven to 350 degrees.

Heat
¹
/
₈
cup of the olive oil in a sauté pan. Season each rack of lamb with salt and pepper. Place the lamb into the hot pan and sear the meat all around. Remove and let sit.

In the same hot pan, sauté the zucchini, yellow squash, eggplant, and olives.
Remove from the heat and stir in the basil, tomato puree, and Boursin cheese. Let sit to rest and to become cool enough to handle.

Coat the potatoes with the remaining
¹
/
₈
cup olive oil and salt and pepper. Place on a baking sheet and roast until golden brown.

With a boning knife, create a long hole going straight through the lamb rack from one end to the other. Begin a small incision at one end as deep as you can make it reach into the center, and then make another cut from the other end that will meet up to create a long “tunnel” into which you will stuff the vegetable mixture ratatouille. (Each slice will have ratatouille “stuffing” in the meat.)

Take the ratatouille and stuff it into the lamb racks. Place the lamb in a roasting pan and roast in the oven until done to your liking, 8 to 10 minutes for medium-rare, or to an internal temperature of 125 degrees (this means that because of the 5 to 8 minutes of carryover cooking whilst the lamb rests, you pull it out at 120 degrees so it will end up at 125 degrees for medium-rare). Remember, only you know your oven—it may take longer. Doneness—the way you like it—is more important than time.

Remove the lamb to a utility platter and let rest.

PRESENTATION

Place the potatoes on serving platter. Slice the racks of lamb in between the bones. Each slice will have ratatouille in the center. Place around the potatoes.

K
NOWLEDGE IS POWER. SIMPLE STATEMENT, BUT IT SURE COVERS A LOT
of territory, especially in the world of cooking. In cooking, everything proceeds from the simple to the complex, and the road to really fine dining is paved with knowledge. Baby Einstein knew that two plus two equals four. Much, much later, after years of learning, Professor Einstein figured out that E = mc
²
. In that same vein, the path to cooking knowledge proceeds from the simple to the complex. Let's start with the simple end of this paradigm: plain. I am actually taking a quick step past the very beginning of the line, because for the moment I am going to skip over “raw.” Raw encompasses ingredients in their completely natural state: wheat as opposed to flour, for instance. “Plain” I would define as “unadorned.”

There is a pretty famous diner scene in the film
Five Easy Pieces,
wherein Jack Nicholson's character tries, initially without success, to order plain toast from a waitress. She, a stickler for the rules, refuses him, because there are no sides of plain toast written on the menu. Instead, he orders a chicken salad sandwich on toast; hold the lettuce, hold the tomato, hold the mayonnaise…and hold the chicken. “Hold the chicken?” she asks with great indignation. Suffice it to say that his rather rude suggestion of where exactly she should hold the chicken leads to a melee and a classic moment on the silver screen, but it underscores the point that the unadorned don't always come easy. Sometimes you just want it plain.

There is a path to be traveled by every cook from the plainest recipes to the more complex. At one end is a freshly picked tomato with a little salt; farther on is a marinara sauce, a coulis, or a soup. Simple, a plain boiled potato; more complex, vichyssoise. Simple, a nice plain hamburger; more complex, beef Wellington. The coin of the realm on this journey is knowledge.

Consider the egg. The humble chicken's egg should prove a terrific case study for demonstrating how knowledge applied to a single ingredient can make all of the difference. There is a kitchen legend that says that the immaculately white chef's toque and its many pleats represents nothing less than how many ways a chef can prepare an egg. The more knowledge you acquire, the more you will be amazed how much promise this little white sphere holds. Let's pass on eating it raw out of the shell, unless you're really into it or are a die-hard
Rocky
fan, and let's go straight to unadorned.

Even if you claim to know nothing about cooking, chances are that you know how to boil water. That is a very powerful piece of knowledge. In a very fundamental way, it marries the concept of heat to your ingredient of choice, and you can, at last, start cooking. Boil the egg.

If you boil the egg for 3 minutes, you will be able to enjoy a nice soft-boiled egg, which is lovely with a little salt and pepper. You may already have the knowledge and equipment necessary to cook up a nice slice of the aforementioned toast. You pair the toast with your newly cooked egg, and now you've created a dish. You can see how things can steamroll if you are not careful.

Suppose you let your egg boil a little longer. In 10 minutes you will have a hard-boiled egg on your hands. Careful peeling it…it's hot! Nice on its own, but you realize you can chop this into just about any kind of a salad. Paired with mayonnaise, it's egg salad. Hold it…mayonnaise.

Once you know how, mayonnaise is easy, an emulsification of vinegar, oil, and eggs. Now you can take your hard-boiled egg, mix it with this new element, mayonnaise, and create an egg salad sandwich or deviled eggs. Leave that baby to cure in brine for a while, you have a pickled egg.

Try poaching an egg
out
of its shell in your gently boiling water. Pair this up with another emulsified dressing that requires another bit of expertise to go along with your eggs, hollandaise sauce. Nip the poached eggs on top of an English muffin, throw on a little ham and parsley, and suddenly you and your storehouse of knowledge have mastered eggs Benedict. Swap the muffin and ham for tortillas and beans, and you're in for huevos rancheros.

With only the tiniest adventuresome leap, you can fry two of your eggs with bacon and potatoes, and you've made another variation on breakfast. Scramble them, add a little cheese and veggies, fold carefully, and you have an omelet. Leave it unfolded, and you've likely made a frittata. Mix them up as if you are going to scramble them, dip in some bread instead, and make French toast. Combine some eggs with cream and scramble, slip them into a pie crust, and you will have made quiche Lorraine. Mix them up with a little flour and a fork, and if you know what you are up to, you can whip up a big bowl of fresh pasta.

Once you are feeling confident, it is not going to kill you to try your hand at the skill and timing required for creating a savory soufflé. All it takes is a little know-how and a little practice.

We foolishly neglected the promise of those raw eggs until one fine day we learned that they can be used to make a Caesar salad, spaghetti alla carbonara, or steak tartare.

When it's time for dessert, you can really start strutting your stuff. Cookies, cakes, pies, custards, ice creams, pastries, are all within your reach, all of them with your little round friend. You just have to take the time to learn how. As you become more accomplished, you may feel from time to time that you have
left “plain” far behind in your rearview mirror; please always try to remember that the simpler the preparation, the more the skill, refinement, taste, and judgment of the cook may shine through. You may proudly and rewardingly live your life in search of the perfectly risen soufflé, the perfectly folded omelet, or the perfectly poached egg. (Go out, buy a few dozen eggs, and increase your knowledge.)

Bring
a quart of water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Snap and discard the tough ends from the asparagus. Slice the asparagus diagonally into 1-inch-long pieces. Add the asparagus and salt to taste to the boiling water and cook until almost tender, about 1½ minutes. Drain and set aside. Preheat the broiler. Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet with an ovenproof handle. Add the shallots and sauté over medium heat until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the asparagus and cook for 30 seconds. Lightly beat the eggs, cheese, basil, and salt and pepper to taste in a medium bowl. Add the egg mixture to the pan and stir gently with a fork to incorporate the vegetables. Cook over medium-low heat. Continue cooking until the frittata is set, except for the top, about 8 minutes.

Place the pan directly under the broiler and cook just until the top is golden brown and set, 1 to 2 minutes. Make sure the frittata rises, but do not burn it. Being sure to use an oven mitt when grasping the very hot handle of the pan, invert the frittata onto a large platter. Garnish with whole basil leaves, cut into wedges, and serve.