Esalen Cookbook (12 page)

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Authors: Charlie Cascio

BOOK: Esalen Cookbook
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Boil chicken breasts, quartered onions, Mexican oregano or marjoram, and salt in 3 quarts of water for about 20 minutes or until chicken is done. Remove chicken and let cool, reserving the stock. Shred the chicken when cooled. Lightly oil a 9- x 9-inch baking dish with vegetable oil.
 
Dip the tortillas into the Ranchero Sauce and lay on a flat surface. Fill with about 1/12 of the Jack cheese, 1/12 of the shredded chicken, and a bit of the minced onion. Roll up in a cylinder shape and place in the baking dish. When all 12 tortillas have been rolled, pour some of the remaining sauce over the enchiladas and sprinkle the queso fresco or goat cheese over the top. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle cilantro over the top before serving.
CHICKEN IN A BASKET
 
This elegant dish, served in a basket of puff pastry, is sure to impress family and friends. The chicken is also wonderful served over rice or pasta. Marion Cascio brought this dish to our kitchen. It was one that she prepared many times in her family restaurant.
 
Serves 6 to 8
STOCK
 
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
½ medium yellow onion, chopped into 1-inch dice
8 cups water
1 whole chicken
3 tablespoons dry sage
2 bay leaves
1½ tablespoons sea salt
2 medium carrots, split in half lengthwise
2 stalks celery, cut in 2-inch pieces
 
Place the oil and onion in a 6-to 8-quart saucepan over medium-high heat and saute onion until it’s translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the water, chicken, herbs, salt, and remaining vegetables. Raise the heat to high and bring the stock to a boil, and then reduce heat to a simmer and cover. Cook until the leg of the chicken comes out easily from the rest of the chicken and the stock has a rich smell.
 
Remove chicken from pot with a pair of tongs or a large slotted spoon and put it on a plate to cool. Strain the stock and discard the other ingredients. Let stock cool; skim off the fat and reserve it for the cream sauce.
 
MAKING A PUFF PASTRY BASKET
 
You will need 1 box puff pastry (1 pound). Cut a sheet of puff pastry into 4 equal squares. Put the dough in front of you in a diamond shape. Place the corner closest to you against the corner farthest away from you, forming a triangle. Leave a ½-inch border along the edge and cut the triangle on two sides. Don’t connect the two sides. Open the pastry so it has its diamond shape, and moisten the edges with water. Pick up one of the cut corners and flip it to the other side. Take the opposite corner and flip it over to the other side. Repeat this process for each puff pastry basket.
 
 
Place pastry on a baking sheet that has been covered with parchment paper and bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown. Take out of oven and let cool for 5 minutes, and then press the center down with a spoon to form a basket. Place the basket on a plate and ladle the cream chicken into the basket until it’s full.
 
CREAM SAUCE
 
½ cup chicken fat skimmed from top of stock
½ cup unsalted butter, melted
1½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
6 cups chicken stock, cooled
1 cup half-and-half or heavy cream
 
Start by making a roux: Pour the chicken fat and butter into a large saucepan and put over medium heat for a few minutes; then add the flour to the hot fat, stirring constantly using a wire whisk. Continue to stir so the roux doesn’t burn; if it starts to smoke, remove it from the heat for a minute. Whisk the roux for about 5 minutes, and then stir in the stock and cream. Raise the heat and bring the sauce to a boil, and then turn off heat and set sauce aside.
FILLING
 
1 pound asparagus
½ pound snow peas
½ pound button mushrooms
Cooked chicken from stock
Juice of 1½ lemons
Sea salt to taste
¼ teaspoon black pepper
Chopped fresh parsley for garnish
 
Trim the bottoms of the asparagus, and then cut asparagus into 1/2-inch pieces. Place in a steamer and steam for about 8 minutes or until the asparagus is tender but slightly crunchy. Peel the strings off the peas, and then cut peas in half. Wipe the mushrooms clean and cut into quarters.
 
Remove the skin from the cooked chicken and discard. Debone the meat and break into bite-size pieces. Add the vegetables and chicken to the cream sauce. Add the lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Turn up the heat and stir constantly as the sauce comes to a boil. Remove sauce from heat and garnish with parsley. Ladle into puff pastry baskets.
 
Chickeii in a Basket
 
 
Jaelitza’s Sesame Chicken
 
JAELITZA’S SESAME CHICKEN
 
Back in the late ‘70s, I was a staff cook at Esalen at the same time that jaelitza was. Jaelitza had traveled the world in her youth, lived in Africa, and settled in California where she became a schoolteacher. She decided to change her life
—
she left her job and found her way to Esalen in the late ’70s. She was on the Esalen cooking staff for many years.
Jaelitza was the Zen Buddhist mother superior of the Esalen kitchen. She did her job with skill, grace, and unnerving calm in the eye of the storm of chaos that was, at times, the Esalen kitchen. She exemplified to the work scholars love and caring for the tasks they performed. She pointed them to the moment-to-moment awareness of washing potatoes, chopping broccoli, or marinating chicken. And she had a Slavic heart that filled the kitchen with her overpowering loving presence.
 
Serves 4
¼ cup vegetable oil
¼ cup tamari soy sauce
2 tablespoons white wine
2 tablespoons honey
1 clove garlic
¼ teaspoon grated fresh ginger
1 teaspoon red chili flakes
3 tablespoons sesame seeds
1 whole chicken, cut in 8 pieces
1 medium yellow onion, cut in ½-rinch dice
 
Mix the oil, soy sauce, wine, and honey in a small bowl until well blended. Mince the garlic and add it to the marinade along with the ginger, chili flakes, and sesame seeds.
 
Place a ladleful of the marinade in a baking dish. Don’t use a large baking dish; the chicken should fit in snugly. Lay the chicken pieces in the dish skin-side up, and then ladle the rest of the marinade over the chicken. Marinate at least ½ hour before cooking. It helps to prick the chicken pieces with a meat fork so that the marinade can be absorbed into the meat.
 
Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees F for about 1 hour total, covering it only for the first 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, remove cover, baste, and bake 20 minutes more. Then baste again and sprinkle with chopped onion. Return to oven for final 20 minutes of baking. The chicken will develop its own juice that will blend nicely with the marinade. The meat will turn a beautiful barbecued brown. It is done when the interior temperature of the meat reaches 165 degrees F on a meat thermometer.
SOUTHERN BAKED CHICKEN
 
This is a healthy way to have crisp, crunchy fried chicken without the extra fat from the frying, and the crisp crust clings to the chicken without flaking off like some of the greasier fried chicken recipes. And there is no messy hot fat splattering everywhere!
 
Serves 4
1 cup almonds, finely ground
1 cup cashews, finely ground
3 cups Rice Crispies, finely ground
1 cup finely grated Parmesan or Asiago
cheese
2 tablespoons Cajun Spice Blend (see page 117)
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons dried thyme
1 tablespoon dried basil
¼ teaspoon ground fennel seed
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon ground sage
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon granulated garlic
1 chicken, cut into 8 pieces
 
The simplest way to grind the small quantity of nuts and Rice Crispies is in an electric seed grinder or coffee grinder. The cheese can be grated on the fine grate of a hand cheese grater.
 
Blend the nuts, Rice Crispies, cheese, and all the spices together until they are well mixed. Cover all sides of the chicken pieces with the breading mix, and then place them on a baking sheet. Bake in a preheated oven at 400 degrees F for 45 minutes. The best way I know to test the chicken for doneness is to place a thermometer into the meat. Chicken is done when it reaches 165 degrees F interior temperature.
 
The breading mix makes 5 cups and will keep for several weeks if sealed and refrigerated.
TORINO HAZELNUT POLENTA
 
The Piedmont region of northern Italy is famous for its hazelnuts. In the forests and orchards around Torino grow a variety of hazelnuts that have an exceptionally rich flavor. The nut has a reddish hue rather than a classical hazel color, and is more oblong than the classical round shape of most hazelnuts. These nuts have a fragrant taste that gives this regional dish its name.
 

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