Videos and Recipes: New Orleans Chef Cooks for The Today Show

From Denny: New Orleans Chef John Besh, who is from New Orleans as well, cooks up a classic Chicken and Dumplings dish Louisiana style! His use of ricotta cheese in the dumplings must harken to the Italian and Sicilian immigrants that came to New Orleans more than a century ago, making quite an impression on the local cuisine. He's also employing classic French fresh herbs like chervil, thyme and sage. My mouth is watering already! :)

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Chanterelles, chicken and dumplings

From: "My New Orleans: The Cookbook" by Chef John Besh

Serves: 4

Often, when I roast a few chickens, I'll save those delectable chicken oysters (the little nuggets of the chicken back that look like oysters), or I'll use the meat from roasted chicken legs for this dish. For cooked chicken, don't brine the chicken first, reduce the amount of stock to one cup, and follow the process from step two.

INGREDIENTS

The chicken

• 1/4 cup sugar
• Salt
• 6 boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into pieces
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 shallots, minced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon minced peeled fresh ginger
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 cups basic chicken stock
• 1 cup fresh chanterelle mushrooms, halved lengthwise
• Leaves from 1 sprig fresh thyme
• Leaves from 1 sprig fresh sage, chopped
• 1/2 cup shelled sweet peas or shucked, peeled fresh fava beans
• 1 tomato, peeled, seeded, and diced
• 2 tablespoons butter
• Freshly ground black pepper

Dumplings

• Salt
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 3 egg yolks
• 1 pinch nutmeg
• 1/3 cup flour
• Leaves from 4 sprigs fresh chervil

DIRECTIONS

1. For the uncooked chicken, dissolve the sugar and 1/4 cup salt together in 1 quart cold water in a medium bowl. Add the pieces of chicken thighs and let them marinate in the brine, refrigerated, for 1 hour. Drain the chicken and pat dry with paper towels. Discard the brine.

2. Heat the olive oil in a wide heavy-bottomed pot over high heat. Add the chicken and sauté until it is no longer pink. Add the shallots, garlic, ginger, and pepper flakes, reduce the heat to moderate, and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the chicken stock and simmer until the liquid has reduced by nearly half, about 5 minutes.

3. Add the chanterelles, thyme, sage, peas, and tomatoes to the pot. Increase the heat to medium-high and cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes. Add the butter and season with salt and pepper. Cover and reduce the heat to low to keep the chicken and vegetables warm while making the dumplings.

4. For the dumplings, bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil, then reduce the heat to moderate to maintain a very gentle boil.

5. Combine the ricotta with the egg yolks, nutmeg, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a medium mixing bowl. Gradually stir in just enough flour to form a soft dough. Test the dumpling dough before adding more flour by dropping a small spoonful of the dough into the boiling water. Once the dumpling floats to the surface, let it poach for 45 seconds. If the dumpling breaks apart while cooking, you'll need to add a bit more flour to the dough and test again. Just don't overwork the dough, or it'll become tough.

6. Drop the remaining dough by teaspoonfuls into the boiling water and poach the dumplings for 45 seconds. As soon as they are done, use a slotted spoon to transfer the dumplings to the pot of chicken and vegetables.

7. Serve the chicken and dumplings in bowls and scatter the chervil on top.

Louisiana Culture: Art - Pelican Dance

Artwork by Robert Wise

From Denny: This is such a funny idea for a painting! Clearly, this artist finds the humor in Nature.

Funny Poem: The Pelican

A wonderful bird is the Pelican,
His bill can hold more than his belican.
He can take in his beak
Food enough for a week;
But I'm damned if I see how the helican.

~ Dixon Lanier Merritt

So Many Great Cartoons, So Little Time...

From Denny: Had a few great cartoons left over from my last posts this weekend here and on The Social Poets, enjoy!



My own L.S.U. won again this week, ranked at number 4 in the country for college football - GEAUX Tigers!



The Republicans are busy denying everyone health care this week...



What else is as good in life without the added fun of lampooning the nukes race?

This Weeks Editorial Cartoons 3 October 2009

From Denny:

Usually, I post these cartoons on Saturday at The Social Poets blog - so if you don't see them here just take a hike over there for some weekend grins... Every now and then - like this rainy day - I remember to share the love on all my other blogs, enjoy!

***

Cartoonists have been busy this week! So much in the news to lampoon - G20 meeting and protestors, swine flu fears, new "no texting while driving" law, Iran's empty promises about nuclear weapons, the current status of job seekers in America, trying to marry off Rush with the Truth but he won't have a shotgun wedding and President Obama juggling world affairs, two wars and vying for the 2016 Olympics to come to Chicago (they lost out to Brazil, congrats Brazil! South America has never hosted the Olympics.)

Swine Flu Fears - so powerful you no longer need a handgun in America...



Sad news of recent tragic deaths due to distraction from texting while driving prompted a new federal law to prohibit it:



The latest pastime trend to find meaning in life among jobseekers:



The latest desperation among job seekers to find any or full time employment. These days big companies like Exxon only employ people for up to 32 hours so they don't have to pay them any benefits. Even the U.S. Post Office does the same; only 4% of them are full time employees:



These two cartoons talk about how much the President has on his plate:






This one depicts how the Democrats and the President are beginning to look like they are attempting to take on too much in the field of multi-tasking and starting to look ridiculous.

Well, I guess, someone has to make up the work load that President Bush and Cheney sloughed off because they went to bed early and vacationed for a month at a time on a whim. The government started grinding to a halt so I guess the Dems have to speed things up just to make up lost ground:



Then there's everyone's favorite: Iran. They always seem to have a surprise-in-a-box or so they believe themselves to be that clever.



Loved the Kooky Jar one as it sums up the world belief system about the ruthless crass leaders of Iran. You have 7th century hearts and minds in charge of nuclear energy. Are you kidding? That's like asking a three-year-old to play with matches near a gas jet.



The one of the Secretary of State says it all about how Iran continues to screw over world leaders with deception after deception after lie after lie.



The G20 meeting of world leaders and their protestors, opinion of big banks:





While the world of truth-tellers keep trying to marry off the liars in a shotgun wedding...

Recipe: Atlantas Pricci Restaurants White Chocolate Panna Cotta

From Denny: How many of you like panna cotta? We enjoy this light but tasty dessert at our house often - and it's so easy to make! We love variety and today's recipe is just the ticket.

You can go whole hog and try your hand at making this dessert trio or you could just make the panna cotta with a crushed favorite cookie for a crust to save time.

"This dessert trio from Pricci, White Chocolate Panna Cotta With Pistachio Biscotti and Blood Orange Gelee, is part of a romantic meal they created for Valentine's Day. It can be made a day or two before serving."

Hands on time: 45 minutes
Total time: 3 hours
Serves: 2

Ingredients:

FOR PISTACHIO BISCOTTI:

Makes: about 20 cookies
Hands on: 20 minutes
Total time: 3 hours (includes baking and cooling time)

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup granulated sugar plus more for tops of cookies
Pinch salt
1/2 cup finely ground unsalted pistachios
1 cup all-purpose flour

FOR WHITE CHOCOLATE PANNA COTTA:

Makes: 3 1/2-cup servings
Hands on: 15 minutes
Total time: 3 hours (includes chilling time)

1/2 packet gelatin
2 tablespoons cold water
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 ounces white chocolate, chopped
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

FOR BLOOD ORANGE GELEE:

Makes: 6 2-tablespoon servings
Hands on: 10 minutes
Total time: 3 hours (includes chilling time)

1/2 packet gelatin
2 tablespoons cold water
1/2 cup blood orange juice (from 2-3 blood oranges)
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon limoncello

Instructions:

FOR PISTACHIO BISCOTTI: (Take care handling these shortbread cookies; they crumble easily.)

In a stand mixer or food processor combine the butter, sugar and salt until creamy. Add the pistachios and flour and mix until just combined. Divide the dough into 2 pieces; shape each into a ball and then flatten into a disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for 1 hour.

Roll a disk of dough between 2 sheets of wax paper to 1/4-inch thickness (do not roll too thin, or the cookies will break). Use a biscuit cutter or round cookie cutter to cut into shapes slightly larger than the molds you will use for the panna cotta. Cut into desired shape and arrange on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Chill for at least 10 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Sprinkle the cookies generously with sugar and bake until light golden brown, about 10 minutes. Cool completely before removing from the parchment. Store in an airtight container.

FOR WHITE CHOCOLATE PANNA COTTA:

Combine gelatin and water and set aside. In a medium saucepan combine cream, milk and sugar. Heat until steaming but do not boil. Add the white chocolate and stir until smooth. Remove from the heat. Stir in gelatin and vanilla. Strain the mixture, then pour it into ramekins or molds. Chill, covered, until set, about 3 hours.

FOR BLOOD ORANGE GELEE:

Combine gelatin and water and set aside. In a small saucepan, bring the orange juice, lemon juice and sugar to a simmer. Turn off the heat; stir in the gelatin and limoncello. Strain into a small pan or dish. Chill until completely set, then cut into 3/4-inch cubes.

TO ASSEMBLE:

Assemble immediately before serving: Place a Pistachio Biscotti on each of 2 dessert plates. Run a small sharp knife around the inside wall of two of the panna cotta molds and unmold a White Chocolate Panna Cotta onto each of the cookies. Arrange a few cubes of Blood Orange Gelee around each plate.

Note: You will have extra of each dessert. Each element can be made up to 2 days in advance.
Total time includes baking, cooling and chilling time for the three components of the recipe.

Nutrition:
Pistachio Biscotti, per cookie: 90 calories (percent of calories from fat, 60), 1 gram protein, 8 grams carbohydrates, 1 gram fiber, 6 grams fat (3 grams saturated), 12 milligrams cholesterol, 8 milligrams sodium.

White Chocolate Panna Cotta, per serving: 416 calories (percent of calories from fat, 75), 3 grams protein, 24 grams carbohydrates, 1 gram fiber, 36 grams fat (22 grams saturated), 110 milligrams cholesterol, 57 milligrams sodium.

Blood Orange Gelee, per serving: 38 calories (percent of calories from fat, 1), trace protein, 9 grams carbohydrates, trace fiber, trace fat (no saturated fat), no cholesterol, 7 milligrams sodium.


gelee, biscotti, Valentines Day, pistachio, panna cotta, white chocolate, recipes, Baking and Confections, dessert recipes, Atlanta, Pricci restaurant