Wordless Wednesday

(c) Joy the Baker

The "Grilled Spring Chicken with Blood Orange and Rosemary" Polka - Perfect for Weddings!

I knew it was only a matter a time before I'd set a video recipe to the Chicken Dance. This spring and summer, millions of inebriated people will be joyously flapping their elbows, and bobbing their heads, to this tune at weddings all over the county. I have no problem with them, they're drunk, what do you expect? It's the sober ones that go out there to "get their Mick Jagger on," I wonder about. They really should know better! That's right, I'm talking to you Tom and Katie (see photo below).
Anyway, this video is a recipe for the game hen (aka Spring Chicken) I posted a picture of a few weeks ago. It was so delicious and beautiful I promised to film it the next time I made it, and I did. The key ingredient here is the erotic, exotic blood orange. They're Spanish in origin I believe, and add a wonderful sweet/tart flavor that's just perfect with the spicy chili sauce and aromatic rosemary.
I know what you're thinking, "this jerk just used another ingredient I can't buy where I live!" "So much for that $1,000 donation I was just about to send him…now I'm sending it to Ralph Nader instead." Hey, I don’t blame you. I'm sure it's frustrating trying to find some of the stuff I use. Sometimes I even make up fake ingredients to mess with you. But, when it comes to the blood orange, there is a solution.

Some dude named Jeff, suggested in a comment on the Game Recognize Game Hen post, that blood orange juice could be simulated with regular orange and a splash of pomegranate juice. Brilliant! In fact, it may be even better. Give this a try, and enjoy!



Ingredients:
2 game hens
2 tbsp olive oil
1 blood orange
1 tbsp Asian garlic chili sauce (hot)
1 tsp minced fresh rosemary
6 sprigs rosemary leaves
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

View the complete recipe

Happy Mother's Day!

I'd like to wish all you Moms out there a very happy Mother's day tomorrow. A special "I love you" to my mother Pauline (you may remember her from such videos as Key Lime Pie –see below), my mother-in-law, Peggy (who hasn't been captured in a video yet, but it's only a matter of time), and my sister Valerie (who owes me a chicken Kiev video recipe).

The clip below was posted last Mother's Day, and it cracks me up every time I see it. It isn't really a food video, although it does have some potato chips in it. I think anyone who has ever had a mother, which is many of you, will find it quite humorous. Now, sit up straight, and enjoy!

My Mom Makes Her Famous Key Lime Pie

Click here to read the original post.

Beurre Blanc 101 - How to Make Modern French Cuisine's Most Important Sauce

As far as white tablecloth restaurants go, this simple wine and butter sauce is probably made more often than any other sauce recipe. The wine can be red, white, or blush (we used to call it rosé back when no one liked it), and the technique has basically remained unchanged since it burst onto the culinary landscape during the “Nouvelle” cuisine movement of the1970s.

Nouvelle cuisine is French for "new cuisine." This style was a reaction to the classic “Haute” cuisine ("high cooking"). It focused on lighter, and more delicate dishes, without the traditional, heavy, flour-based sauces. One of the darlings of this new style was a butter sauce called “beurre blanc,” a simple reduction of wine and vinegar, finished with whole butter.

This sauce is incredibly versatile, and very simple to make. Below this beurre blanc video recipe is another version that uses red wine, called "beurre rouge." It's a pretty old clip that I posted last year, so it's a little rough around the technical edges. Here's the link in case you want to read the original recipe, and get the ingredient list. Enjoy!
 
UPDATE: CLICK HERE TO WATCH VIDEO!


Seared Ribeye Steak with Beurre Rouge