Chick fil-a

Wherein Mr Ullman chats about what seems to be missing

While I have been as amused as anyone else by the whole Chick fil-a thing there seems to be something that has been lost in the silliness of boycotts and creepy Republicans going for the cartoon. 

It is this: "Chick-fil-A made the choice to voluntarily withdraw the Jim Henson Kid's Meal puppets for potential safety concerns for our customers on Thursday, July 19."  http://www.chick-fil-a.com/FAQ#?category=1

There are a bunch of things wrong with this.  If Chick fil-a knows of a safety issue with the puppets then why are they not being proactive in getting the item recalled?    They are saying that these things are unsafe so why have they not reported the problem to Consumer Product Safety Commission? 

So why does this disturb me?  Three reasons really:

1. They have an incompetent corporate lawyer and are relying on bad advice.  This means that a number of children are going to be hurt and the litigation will last for years.  
2. They are not listening to their insurer. Their insurer is going to pay most of the bill and they will be concerned about this issue.   (There is a very good reason why insurance companies are willing to pay a first year Actuarial with one exam under his/her belt $48,000 a year. Like railroads, insurance companies are not willing to spend a dime when a penny will due.)
3. They are lying, there isn't a safety issue with these toys.   

None of this reflects well on the corporate culture of Chick fil-a.  In the first two cases, by not insisting that the Consumer Product Safety Commission look into the problem,  they are allowing children who already have the toys to be injured even though they know there is a safety hazard.   In the third case they are slandering another privately owned company.  

Frankly I think it is time for Chick fil-a to issue a statement about the toys.  If there is a safety issue then the Jim Henson Company will likely address it and work with them to protect the kids.  They will also make sure the problem doesn't happen again. If there isn't then Chick fil-a needs to offer apology.     

The joy that came from a not-yet-thawed chicken breast.

Wherein Mr Ullman discovers the usefulness of soaking very dry fennel in soy sauce for twenty minutes

I came home and discovered that the chicken I was planning to cook tonight wasn't thawed. It was kinda thawed but I would have to regig my plans for it and would likely be eating around 9 pm.   Time to re-plan.  

I had a half of a pork steak sitting in the fridge.   That was a start so I went from there.

Cooked up some lentils, chopped some sweet onion, shallots, garlic, fennel leaves ( my last organic box included some really dry fennel.  The flowers are very usable but the leaves leave much to be desired) and a small potato.  

I put the potato and fennel into a bowl to soak in soy sauce while the lentils were cooking.  The potatoes would cook slightly  in the acidity of the soy sauce  and I figured that it couldn't cause the dry fennel leaves any more harm.

Once the lentils were done I seared the pork , put everything into a bowl, added some cream of mushroom soup and capers and tossed.  I sprinkled a small amount of Sage Derby on top and baked for twenty minutes.

For a shot in the dark it worked very well.  I won't repeat it as such but it is worth playing with.

Dill sauce and other wonders.

Wherein Mr Ullman discovers Chocolate mint and becomes a better man.

Unlike my usual entry here I am going to give you measurements this time. This is because the entry has more to do with the sauce then the entrée. The sauce is a dill sauce and the entrée is salmon.

I have a tried and true dill sauce for fish. I have made so many times that I really don't need to measure things out any more. I know what a ¼ cup of baby dill feels like in the hand and can draw a tablespoon of capers by sight wins me bets and impress the hell out of women who have a sense of humor. The capers thing has actually won other people money in bets but that is another story.

Ok, the usual dill sauce is built like this:

1. 8 oz of plain yogurt (Something of a problem these days since the industry has seemed to embrace 6 oz or 32 oz packaging)
2. A quarter cup of green onions.
3. A quarter cup of fresh baby dill weed.
4. A tablespoon of capers.

Fairly straightforward and yummy. However, last night I didn't have a quarter cup of dill so it was time to do some adventuring.

In the organics box I got some fennel. The problem of a lack of dill weed was solved by adding fennel greens to to make up the difference. That wasn't all the notable. Fennel is sweeter then dill but they they do work well together.

What is notable is chocolate mint. The apartment building I live in has an herb garden that consists of a few easy plants and a number of volunteers. The chocolate mint is one of the volunteers and since I never have used it before I thought what the hell. I took five leaves, chopped them up and put them into the sauce. This turned out to be a great idea.

Chocolate mint tastes like chocolate in the same way that Watermelon Jolly Ranchers taste like watermelon – you can see the point of the name but that is about all. Chocolate mint added a fine bit of sweetness to the tartness of the dill. The salmon was wonderful.

A respectable Mac and Cheese

Wherein Mr Ullman finds a Mac and Cheese worth repeating and learns 

that Mr. Broman's muse favors Miller Lite

A very good supper tonight. I didn't get the grocery store on Saturday so tonight depended on what I had around the house. As things turned out what I had around the house worked out well. What I actually made was the old stand by Mac and Cheese. However, it was a Mac and Cheese with a great deal of thought.

First, the protein. Lentils. I like lentils for a number of reasons-- not the least of which is that they are very single friendly. They are a two for one food. If you need a half a cup you measure out a half a cup. You then add a cup of water, bring to boil, reduce to low, cover and forgot about them for twenty minutes. They very tasty too.

So that being started I went on to other things. My usual Mac and Cheese is boiling a store brought pasta, adding some cheese and baking. Not today.

I took about a quarter of a red onion and sliced it somewhat thin but didn't dice it. Since red onions are layered I broke it apart into circles. I also took some fennel stocks and leafs and chopped them up. Fennel stocks are what celery should have been. The leaf, when fresh, is simply great.

I also cut off about a ¼ of an inch by two inches from my celery root and chopped it up somewhat finely. I put some oil into my stock pot, fired up the burner to medium high and placed the onion, fennel, and celery root into it. I discovered I had about a third of a potato that was on danger money so I chopped it up and added it. I added a dash of parpeka, allspice and and a generous slash cinnamon. I stirred occasionally.

I cooked the above until the onions were translucent (whatever that means). I then added about a pint and a half of water, the noodles, some more allspice just for the hell of it, and let the noodles cook.

Once the noodles were done I drained the stock pot and started a second burner toward medium. I grated some cheese. I returned the noodles and everything else to the stock pot, added the lentils and some of the cheese and tossed. I added the rest of the cheese to the top, sprinkled on some more cinnamon, covered and let it cook for about 10 more minutes

The result? An incredibly tasty supper that is, unlike all of its Mac and Cheese and stir-fry brothers, something going on my repeat list.

A simple cold sauce.

Wherein Mr Ullman offers a sauce rather then a meal

This is a sauce I occasionally make. It does not heat up well so I serve it cold as a dip when I use it on fish or crab or as something I brush on after cooking in the case of pork or beef. It is also tasty on potatoes.

This is what you need:

About a quarter of a red onion

Fennel, four or five stems and a bit of the bulb (fresh).

A table spoon of horseradish sauce

A splash of apple cider vinegar

A one cup container

Chop the fennel and red onion together finely.

Fill the contain half the way up with a good oil, I used toasted sesame this time but olive or peanut oils also work fine.

Add the splash of vinegar and the horseradish and stir.

Add the fennel and oils and stir again.

While I haven't tried it I think a tomatillo would be worth adding.

Tonight I used it on a beef loin sirloin. I baked it for about a half hour at 400. I took it out of the stove and let it rest while I made up the salad. Brushed on the sauce and take everything to the dinner table.

Lentils ( and chicken)

Wherein Mr. Ullman uses up some chicken parts and notes the lentil

I love lentils.  They are a tasty bean, cook in twenty minutes and don't keep you from polite company.  So let's go there. 

I had a couple of boneless chicken thighs and part of a breast around the house that needed to be used before to much longer. I put the chicken into the oven and baked it at 350 for about twenty minutes on a side. While that was cooking I checked my lauder to make sure I had everything else I wanted to use and discovered I did have most of it. I would have to wing a bit but that is the fun of cooking.

First things first-- the parsnip. I had read a recipe a few days ago about deep frying parsnip. I took a parsnip, thinly slicked it and fried it in my number 8 cast iron skillet. I fried them in olive oil until the edges got brown and then reduced the heat to low. I added a fair amount of diced leeks and carrot greens to the parsnips and let everything slow cook while I prepared some some lentils.

When the the chicken was done I added some clam juice into the stuff in the skillet and proceed to pull apart the chicken (ouch, ouch and ouch-- I'll let it cool a bit next time). As I pulled the chicken I added it to the skillet and upped the heat to medium low. Once the chicken was pulled I added about half a can of pretty good condensed cream of mushroom soup, about a fifth of a cup of brine from a jar of pickled artichoke hearts and a couple of spoonfuls of horseradish sauce. Added the lentils (which were about three quarters of the way done), some all spice and a couple of shakes of oregano and stirred . I covered good old number 8 with its lid and let the concoction reduce for about twenty minutes.

The recipe is a keeper but needs a slight bit of work in the Daniel Ullman test kitchen. There was a good sweet taste that needs to be pulled out. What jumps out to me is that corn season is starting. I might add some sweet corn kernels or, more likely, dice up some post eaten cobs and put them into the mix while it is reducing. Maybe some almonds?

Chicken thighs!

Wherein Mr. Ullman poaches some chicken thighs

For reasons known only to Albertsons HQ the grocery store was having a damn fine sale on chicken thighs. This is cool by me, I like chicken thighs better then chicken breasts so I purchased 2 and a half pounds which set me back a $1.99 since I have an Albertson's Preferred Savings Card (they don't require you to fill out a form so it is the only one I own). So, what to do with them?

That was an easy question to answer. I had made a mayo a couple of days back. I used a peanut oil base , cukes and toasted corn kernels, It didn't work well as a sandwich spread but it might work well here.

So that is where I started although I did dilute the mayo with some of the marinade from a jar of baby carrots . I also chopped up some celery root, English parsley, carrot greens, a couple of roasted garlic cloves from the night before, a bit of a leek and a baby carrot  I put all of this into a Ball jar, add some soy sauce and a small bit of something marked only as Hot Sauce and got out my single handed toastmaster mixer. Added some cinnamon and pepper under the assumption that it couldn't hurt.

I then heated the oven to 350, got out my trusty Pyrex and placed about five thighs into it (two for tonight, the rest for a chicken salad I want to attempt).I  sprinkled some  uncook (but shelled thank god) sunflower seeds on top of the chicken. I poured three quarters the above concoction on top of the chicken and baked for twenty minutes, basting when the mood struck. Flipped the chicken and added the rest of the concoction, basted, and cooked for twenty more minutes. Served with rice and, because of the state of the lauder, a simple salad.

Very tasty. In fact it was tasty enough that the two meant for the chicken salad didn't make it. They were eaten that night.