Red Wine Sauce

So I am back on the cooking from every cookbook in alphabetical order thing. Today we have American Cooks: The General Federation of Women's Clubs Cook Book, edited by Ann Seranne, published by G.P. Putnam's Sons, New York, copyright 1967, sixth impression.

I feel like this book was loved... just not so much by me.

This was one hundred and one percent a swing and a miss. 

I want to apologize to Mrs. Franklin Ussery, Jr. of Alice, Texas. I did not do your recipe justice. Revert my awful, awful wine substitution if you are curious but please for the love of the Flying Spaghetti Monster do NOT repeat what I did.

My shame incarnate.

Resources:

Original 1/3 cup butter 1/4 cup grated onion 1/3 cup presifted flour 1 1/2 cup dry red wine 1/2 cup catsup 1/2 cup beef broth 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon pepper Dash of garlic salt 1 tablespoon brown sugar 1 tablespoon prepared mustard Dash of ground cloves

So Very Wrong 3 tablespoons butter ???* dried minced onion 2 2/3 tablespoons all purpose flour 3/4 cup Chianti red wine vinegar 1/4 cup ketchup 1/4 cup beef broth 1/4 teaspoon salt Dash teaspoon pepper Dash of garlic salt 1/2 tablespoon brown sugar 1/2 tablespoon mustard

Method:
Melt butter in a saucepan. Sauté onions until golden. Sprinkle with flour. Gradually stir in wine. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until thickened and smooth.

Stir in remaining ingredients. Simmer for 5 minutes.

Commentary:
This strictly speaking is an alphabetical cheat. In between deciding to start this up again (ie pulling out the next cookbook and pouring over it) and this post, I was gifted a collection of cookbooks. Thank you to the fine folks who make that happen by the way. So I should be cooking from 30 Minute Kosher, but America Cooks has plagued me. 

Why you ask? Well, it is a very complete cookbook with lots of reference materials, basic methods, cross references, variations, and so much more. But something about this one just did not speak to me. It is a huge book and I generally skipped the pork/beef to keep the wifey happy... and found nothing I wanted to make for dinner. 

Aside: this is a common problem. I find many older cook books to have a craptastic poultry section unless you are cooking a whole bird. 

So I went to the sauces and just made something for which I "had" the ingredients.

And let us just be honest here. The fuck up has nothing to do with Mrs. Franklin Ussery, Jr or the rest of the kind, wonderful women of The General Federation of Women's Clubs. Oh no. I own this mistake. Take a look at the chapter listing: 

1. Appetizers
2. Hearty Sandwiches
3. Quick Breads
4. Yeast Breads
5. Soups
6. Egg and Egg Dishes
7. Cheese and Cheese Dishes
8. Fish, Shellfish and Other Foods Prepared Like Fish
9. Poultry and Game Birds
10. Meat
11. Vegetables
12. Sauces for Fish, Poultry, Meat and Vegetables
13. Stuffings and Garnishes for Fish, Poultry, Meat and Vegetables
14. Dumplings and Other Starch Substitutions
15. Rice and Rice Dishes
16. Pasta Dishes and Sauces for Pasta
17. Salad and Salad Dressings
18. Pies and Pastries
19. Cakes
20. Frostings and Fillings
21. Cookies
22. Desserts
23. Dessert Sauces
24. Candy
25. Preserves
26. Beverages

There are four or five rarebit recipes. Hell, there is a frostings chapter. FROSTING!!! So this falls into the same category as Santa's Whiskers: I should probably revisit this cookbook someday. But seriously why did I make this unholy abomination you ask?

Can I interest you in a side of jellied vinegar and hatred with your nuggets?

Because I have been on a sauce kick. I eat chicken nuggets a lot. They are quick, easy, and (assuming you buy the right ones) reasonably healthy. But there is only so much barbecue or honey mustard one can eat. So I like to mix up my dipping sauces. Lately it has been brown sauce and I thought this might be my "next" thing. I was wrong. So very foolish and wrong.

This smelled delicious. It was such a promising start.

Now that I have gone on at length about nothing important, let us actually talk cooking. I substituted red wine vinegar and dried minced onions (the kind you find in the spice aisle) for red wine and grated onions. Also I did not have any ground clove, so gone. I do not think the dried minced onions was a bad substitution. * - I adjusted the quantity according to the side of the minced onions bottle. I forgot to write it down hence the unknown quantity in the recipe. Anyway they cooked quite nicely. This smelled wonderful... until I added the vinegar. 

Once I added the vinegar this stung the nose. I love vinegar but I have my limits. This tastes like vinegar with a faint hint of beef and onions. 

And the real kicker? Practically speaking, it is garbage for dipping. Way too thick. 

Pretty sure if I pulled this out of the fridge, nothing would have moved days later.

In hopes of saving some face I slathered it all over some chicken thighs, let set in the fridge for an hour or two, and baked. This was not horrible, but just kind of bland ironically. Not much came though.

How the fuck do you have an 1/8 teaspoons?!?

Also as might be obvious, I halved the original. Not because I meant to, but I only had that much ingredients. Sigh. Let us face it, I was bound and determined to get this cookbook off my list and that was all that mattered.

Conclusion:
I want to apologize to anyone who took the time to read this entire rant. 

There are too many recipes and cookbooks I want to try. I will almost certainly never revisit this and give it a fair chance. Sorry again Mrs. Franklin Ussery, Jr. of Alice Texas!

Caribbean Jerk Sauce (Buffalo Wild Wings Copycat)

The uncoated piece is my control. Because science and shit... or I was impatient. Which ever came first.

I am back. Now the wifey and I have a baby of our very own. It has been nearly four months and we have not stewed, roasted, baked or boiled the child! I am told you cannot do that until they are a year old.

To fricassee or ragout?

Aside: we are about two months off before I start blogging baby food stuff. You have been warned.

Anyway, today I stayed home sick with an upset stomach. It has been so bad, I actually went to the doctor. So naturally I had to try something new and spicy. Spicy food calms the stomach right?

Resources:
1 tablespoon canola oil
2 tablespoons minced onion
1 cup water
3/4 cup ketchup
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar (I used sherry as I was out of cider vinegar)
2 tablespoons white vinegar
2 tablespoons cayenne sauce (I used Frank’s)
2 teaspoons black pepper
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon corn starch
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/8 teaspoon ground clove
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon allspice
1/8 teaspoon sage

Method:
Mix all ingredients in a food processor. Move to a bot and simmer twenty-thirty minutes until thickened.

Commentary:
Do not let the long list of ingredients fool you. This is as simple as they come. Mix, simmer, and serve.

Also as noted, I substituted cooking sherry for cider vinegar because that is what I had.

So I used the small food processor. Bad idea. Very slimy, messy, bad idea.

I am supposed to keep the food INSIDE the food processor?
It did not say that anywhere in the instructions.

I lightly breaded some chicken (flour, salt, and pepper, fry in canola until cooked through) and then submerged the chicken in the sauce.

Also perfect for any tar and feathering you need to do!

Conclusion:
A little sweat, a little ketchup-y but really tasty and spicy! I am racking my brain for more things to put this on because it was GOOD. It might go on tonight's pizza in fact.

That said it is not an excellent copycat recipe. It tasted similar, but not the same.

Apple Butter Barbecued Chicken

 

The wifey and I went to the pumpkin patch yesterday. It was a good time. We took a hay ride out to a field with a lot of pumpkins lying around and a corn maze. It was nice, family friendly, wholesome, yadda, yadda, yadda. Then they take you back and there is a farmer's market. That is when shit got real.

True statement.

Despite really wanting to come home with mountains of meat, cheese, peanut brittle, and fudge, I came home with a large jar of apple butter and some cider. So I immediately Googled "apple butter chicken" and found this. Aside: I have no idea why that was the first thing I thought of but it was. While I intend to revisit apple butter chicken in the near future, this was a nice start.

So much apple butter... with such strange pricing.

Resources:

4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (~1.5 lbs)

1/3 cup apple butter

2 tablespoons salsa

2 tablespoons ketchup

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1/2 teaspoon salt, optional

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

2 drops Worcestershire sauce

2 drops Liquid Smoke, optional

Method:

Place chicken in a foil lined backing dish.

Combine remaining ingredients; pour over chicken. 

Bake, uncovered, at 375° for 25 minutes or until cooked through.

Commentary:

As usual,  breast halves where roided-out chicken breast halves sliced along the thickness. I try to list weight so we are all on the same page.

I only made half the recipe because I felt like it. Half of 1/3 of a cup is 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons by the way. Look, I just saved you a Google search. You are welcome.

Speaking of halving, two drops is kind of hard to pull off (especially since my liquid smoke is an open neck bottle). So I poured a bit into the smallest spoon I could readily find and dripped from the spoon.

This is about as simple as cooking gets (disregarding pre-made stuff). Mix ingredients in bowl, dump on chicken, bake, and eat (although if I have to tell you that last part, this blog might be too advanced for you).

Mix.

Dump and bake.

Conclusion:

This is good stuff, but nothing to write home about. It was not as sweet as I wanted (the salsa and ketchup really knocked down the sweetness of the apple butter), but it was enjoyable and super easy. Would make again.