Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 2 (13 page)

BOOK: Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 2
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THE CHEESECAKE FACTORY CHICKEN MADEIRA
MENU DESCRIPTION:
“Our most popular chicken dish! Sautéed chicken breast topped with fresh asparagus and melted mozzarella cheese, covered with fresh mushroom madeira sauce. Served with mashed potatoes.”
 
What makes this chicken dish The Cheesecake Factory’s “most popular” is the sweet and tangy madeira wine reduction sauce spooned over the top. Man, I could slurp that rich nectar straight from a glass (mushrooms might clog up a straw). It’s that good. And—get this—it’s easy. Even though the real stuff appears to include veal stock, we can concoct a great knockoff using canned beef broth. Get sliced mozzarella cheese from your deli section and be sure to pound the chicken breasts very thin using plastic wrap to cover each one before you whack on it. Also, in typical Cheesecake Factory style, their entree is huge, including two chicken fillets and a giant pile of mashed potatoes on the side. This recipe makes a total of four chicken fillets, which divides into two servings if you’re at the restaurant. At home though, this is probably the perfect amount for a gaggle of four.
1 tablespoon olive oil
4
skinless chicken breast fillets
8 asparagus spears
4 mozzarella cheese slices
MADEIRA SAUCE
2 tablespoons olive oil
2
cups sliced fresh
white mushrooms
3 cups madeira wine
2 cups beef broth
1 tablespoon butter
¼ teaspoon ground
black pepper
1. Heat up I tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cover each chicken breast with plastic wrap then use a mallet to flatten the chicken to about ¼-inch thick. Sprinkle each fillet with salt and pepper.
2. Saute the chicken fillets for 4 to 6 minutes per side, or until the chicken has browned just a bit. Remove chicken fillets from the pan and wrap them together in foil to keep the fillets warm while you make the sauce. Don’t clean the pan. You want all that cooked-on goodness to stay in the skillet to help make the sauce.
3. With the heat still on medium, add two tablespoons of oil to the skillet. Add the sliced mushrooms and saute for about two minutes. Add the madeira wine, beef broth, butter and pepper Bring sauce to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes or until sauce reduces to about one-quarter of its original volume. When the sauce is done it will have thickened and turned a dark brown color.
4. As the sauce is simmering, bring a medium saucepan filled about halfway with water to a boil. Add a little salt to the water. Toss the asparagus into the water and boil for 3 to 5 minutes, depending on the thickness of your asparagus spears. Drop the asparagus in a bowl of ice water to halt the cooking. The asparagus should be slightly tender when done, not mushy.
5. Set oven to broil. Prepare the dish by arranging the cooked chicken fillets on a baking pan. Cross two asparagus spears over each fillet, then cover each with a slice of mozzarella cheese. Broil the fillets for 3 to 4 minutes or until light brown spots begin to appear on the cheese.
6. To serve, arrange one or two chicken breasts on each plate, then spoon 3 or 4 tablespoons of madeira sauce over the chicken.
• MAKES 2 TO 4 SERVINGS.
THE CHEESECAKE
FACTORY BANG-BANG CHICKEN & SHRIMP
MENU DESCRIPTION:
“A spicy Thai dish with the flavors of curry, peanut, chile, and coconut. Soutéed with vegetables and served over rice.”
 
This dish ranks very high among the most frequent entree clone requests from this growing chain’s huge menu, and anyone who is a fan of Thai dishes falls in love with it. I dig recipes that include scratch sauces that can be used with other dishes. The curry and peanut sauces here are good like that. They can, for example, be used to sauce up grilled skewers of chicken or other meats, or as a flavorful drizzle onto lettuce wraps. But even though I’ve included the peanut sauce recipe from scratch here, you can take the quick route and save a little prep time by picking up a premade peanut sauce found near the other Asian foods at the market. Since the sauce is used sparingly in a drizzle over the top of this dish it won’t make a big difference which way you go. This recipe produces two Cheesecake Factory size servings—anyone who’s been there knows that means “off-the-hook big.” If your diners aren’t prepared to process the gargantuan gastronomy and you’re all out of doggie bags, you can easily split this recipe into four more sensible portions.
CURRY SAUCE
2
teaspoons chili oil
¼
cup minced onion
2
tablespoons minced garlic
2
teaspoons minced ginger
1
cup chicken broth
½
teaspoon ground cumin
½
teaspoon ground coriander
½ teaspoon paprika
¼ teaspoon salt
¼
teaspoon ground black
pepper
¼
teaspoon ground mace
¼
teaspoon turmeric
3 cups coconut milk
2 medium carrots, julienned
I small zucchini, julienned
½ cup frozen peas
PEANUT SAUCE
¼ cup creamy peanut butter
2
tablespoons water
4
teaspoons granulated sugar
1
tablespoon soy sauce
½ teaspoon chili oil
I teaspoon rice vinegar
I teaspoon lime juice
2 skinless chicken breast fillets
16 large raw shrimp, shelled
¼ cup cornstarch
½ cup vegetable oil
 
4 cups cooked white rice
GARNISH
1½ cups flaked coconut
½
teaspoon dried parsley,
crumbled
2 tablespoons chopped peanuts
2 green onions, julienned
1. Make the curry sauce by heating the chili oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. When the oil is hot add the onion, garlic, and ginger Saute for about 30 seconds then add the chicken broth. Add the spices (cumin, coriander, paprika, salt, black pepper, mace, and turmeric) and stir well. Simmer for 5 minutes then add the coconut milk. Bring mixture back up to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until sauce begins to thicken. Add the julienned carrots and zucchini, and the frozen peas. Simmer mixture for 10 minutes or until carrots become tender
2. Make peanut sauce by combining peanut butter, water, sugar, soy sauce, rice vinegar, lime juice, and chili oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Heat just until mixture begins to bubble, then cover the pan and remove it from the heat.
3. Toast the flaked coconut by preheating your oven to 300 degrees. Spread coconut on a baking sheet and toast it in the oven. Stir the coconut around every 10 minutes so that it browns evenly, but watch it closely in the last 5 minutes so it doesn’t get too dark. After 25 to 30 minutes the coconut should be light brown. Take it out of the oven and let it cool,
4. Cut the chicken breasts into bite-size pieces. Coat the chicken and shrimp with cornstarch. Heat the vegetable oil in a wok or large skillet over medium heat. Add the coated chicken to the pan and saute it for a couple minutes, turning as it cooks. Add the shrimp to the pan. Cook the shrimp and chicken for a couple minutes, until it’s done, then remove everything to a rack or towel to drain.
5. Build the two plates (or you can divide the meal into four portions) by filling a soup bowl with 1 or 2 cups of white rice. Press down on the rice. Invert the bowl onto the center of a plate, tap it a bit, and then lift off the bowl leaving a formed pile of rice in the center of each plate. Arrange an equal portion of chicken and shrimp around the rice. Spoon the curry sauce and vegetables over the chicken and shrimp, being careful not to get any sauce on top of the rice.
6. Drizzle peanut sauce over the dish concentrating most of it on the rice. Sprinkle ½ teaspoon of crumbled, dried parsley over the center of the rice. Add a tablespoon of chopped peanuts on the parsley, and then place a pile of julienned green onions on top. Sprinkle ½ cup to % cup of toasted coconut over the chicken and shrimp and serve it up.
• MAKES 2 TO 4 SERVINGS.
THE
CHEESECAKE FACTORY ORIGINAL CHEESECAKE
MENU DESCRIPTION:
“Our famous Original cheesecake recipe! Creamy and light, baked in a graham cracker crust. Our most popular cheesecake!”
 
Oscar and Evelyn Overton’s wholesale cheesecake company was successful quickly after it first started selling creamy cheesecakes like this clone to restaurant chains in the early 1970s. When some restaurants balked at the prices the company was charging for high-end desserts, Oscar and Evelyn’s son David decided it was time to open his own restaurant, offering a wide variety of quality meal choices in huge portions, and, of course, the famous cheesecakes for dessert. Today the chain has over 87 stores across the country, and consistently ranks number one on the list of highest grossing single stores for a U.S. restaurant chain.
Baking your cheesecakes in a water bath is part of the secret to producing beautiful cheesecakes at home with a texture similar to those sold in the restaurant. The water surrounds your cheesecake to keep it moist as it cooks, and the moisture helps prevent ugly cracking. You’ll also start the oven very hot for just a short time, then crank it down to finish. I also suggest lining your cheesecake pan with parchment paper to help get the thing out of the pan when it’s done without a hassle.
CRUST
1½ cups graham cracker crumbs
¼
teaspoon ground cinnamon
⅓ cup melted margarine
 
4 8-ounce pkgs. cream cheese
1
¼ cups granulated sugar
½ cup sour cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
5 eggs
TOPPING
½ cup sour cream
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
OPTIONAL GARNISH
canned whipped cream
1. Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Place a large pan or oven-safe skillet (that the cheesecake pan will fit inside) filled with about ½-inch of water into the oven while it preheats. This will be your water bath.

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