Beginner's Basics

Please watch for an upcoming addition to this blog: Beginner's Basics. I will write brief articles with very basic food and cooking information. I have learned this through trial and error, conversation and research. Thanks for reading!

Chicken Stir-Fry

...brought to you courtesy of late night house painting. This is a chicken version of a mushroom, pepper steak stir-fry recipe my sister gave to me. It's yummy and goes great with rice and plum wine!* Maybe next week I'll do something without chicken, hmm.

Hardware:
Chef's knife
Wooden cutting board
One wok or large skillet
Wooden spoon
Spatula
Small mixing bowl
Fork
1/2 Cup measurer
Tablespoon measurer
Teaspoon measurer

Ingredients:
2 skinless, boneless chicken breast
1 Tbs. canola oil**
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tsp. ginger root, minced
1 Tbs. kosher salt
1 Tbs. fresh ground black pepper
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1 green bell pepper, sliced
1/2 C. yellow onion, sliced
1 C. crimini, sliced
1/2 C. sherry cooking wine
3 Tbs. rice vinegar
1 Tbs. corn starch
6 stalks green onion, chopped
1 tomato, quartered

Instructions:
Using your chef's knife and cutting board, mince the garlic and ginger. Heat your wok or skillet over a medium-flame. Once the pan is hot add the canola oil. Heat the oil for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Add the garlic and ginger, saute with wooden spoon.

As the garlic and ginger saute, rub the chicken breast with salt and pepper. Place the chicken smooth side down in the skillet. As the chicken is grilling, slice your red pepper, green pepper and onion. After 5-7 minutes flip the chicken, use a spatula.

Let the chicken grill for 5-7 more minutes. While you wait, whisk together the sherry, vinegar and cornstarch. This should create a sauce, about the consistency of soup.

Remove the chicken from the skillet and let rest on cutting board. Add the peppers and onion to the pan. Let the vegetables grill for about 2 minutes. Add the mushrooms. Saute the vegetable mixture for about 5 minutes.

Gently pour in the sherry, vinegar and cornstarch mixture. Stir the vegetable, as the sauce thickens. Continue to cook for 2-3 minutes letting the sauce thicken. Turn off the heat.

Toss in the green onions and tomato and stir. Slice the chicken breasts across the grain about 1 inch thick slices. Stir into the stir-fry, serve on top of rice and enjoy!

*As a side note, I want to try this recipe with peanuts and water chestnuts. (Sorry Andrew, no bok choy.) This recipe was the creation of a late night, a hungry tummy and whatever food was available in the fridge.

**Measurements are approximate. Please feel free to make any changes you think are necessary. And let me know about them all.

Settebellos

Settebellos is an interesting place. There are only two locations in the world. Senior can be found in Las Vegas and junior is in Salt Lake. I've heard the restaurant lauded for their truly authentic Italian pizza. Pizza so Itlaian the closest thing you'll get to it is the real deal in Italy.

Everything is imported from Italy: every ingredient and even the head chef. Insane love of Napoli style pizza is what brought this place to Salt Lake City. As their menu and website will tell you, the founders of Settebello worked with a bunch of pizza-obsessed Italians to create a Vera Pizza Napoletana (an organization dedicated to preserving true Napoli pizza) certified pizza.

For an appetizer we started with foccacia, it was very good. It had a great texture and the right amount of rosemary flavor to balance with the extra virgin olive oil and peppper.

For our pizza we ordered a margherita with garlic and the house speciality: the settebello. Both were delicious. The crust cooked to a nice golden brown on top, the cheese melty and delicious. Even the tomato sauce was simple, sweet and delicious. The ingredients were all very fresh and very yummy.

Everything appeared very clean. But given the taste of burnt crust in my mouth they don't clean the oven. This really bothers me. Typically, I'm prepared to love any new place I try. I want to love Settebellos. I want to tell people they have the best pizza you can find in Salt Lake. But I can't. Please, please clean the oven so I can recommend Setebellos. I shouldn't get a mouthful of charcoal to complement my tomato, basil, mozarella and garlic bliss pizza. I'm pretty sure that much charcoal isn't tradition.

For dessert we had gelato. I ordered the lemon with raspberry and it was delicious. The right amount of tart with sour just the way I love it. The strawberry was delicious and the pistaccio was...well, pistaccio.

Our service was excellent. Our waiter was very friendly and very attentive. We didn't even have to wait to be seated. Settebello really is the kind of place you can go with your best friends and be as loud and obnoxious as you are at home and feel right at home.

You can find Settebellos at 260 South 200 West in Salt Lake or online at http://www.settebello.net/. Expect to pay about $11 for a pizza. All in all I'll give Settebello's a 9 out of 10 just clean your oven, please!

Balsamic Chicken

The beauty of balsamic chicken is in it's simplicity and complexity. Simple because it takes 20 minutes to make with relatively little effort. Complex in it's flavor with a blend of olive oil, balsamic vinegar and shallots. This is a recipe of my own invention so please let me know what you think!

Hardware:
A skillet
A wooden spoon
A spatula
A chef's knife
A wooden cutting board
A plate
A small sheet of aluminum foil

Ingredients:
1 lb. thawed, skinless chicken breast
1 shallot offset
1/2 Cup balsamic vinegar
kosher salt
fresh ground black pepper
1 Tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

Instructions:
Begin by warming the skillet over a medium flame until it is nice hot. While the skillet is heating up, season the chicken breast with kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste. Add one tablespoon olive oil to the hot skillet. Let the oil heat for about 30 seconds, just long enough for it to begin to smoke.

Place the seasoned chicken breasts smooth side down on the hot skillet. Let the chicken grill for 5-7 minutes. While the chicken is grilling, peel and slice the shallot using your chef's knife. If you don't have a shallot you can substitute a mixture of sliced garlic and onion.

Flip the chicken over and continue grilling for 5-7 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Put the cooked chicken on your plate. Tent the plate with aluminum foil to keep the chicken warm.

Add the sliced shallots to the skillet. Using your wooden spoon scrape up all the brown little bits you can. Let the shallots saute over medium heat for 2-3 minutes until tender.

Carefully pour in the 1/2 cup or so of balsamic vinegar. The pan will sizzle a lot so be careful. After pouring in the vinegar use you wooden spoon and continue to stir the mixture scraping up the last of those browned bits of flavor. Let the sauce reduce for 5 minutes until a nice sauce consistency.

As the sauce is reducing slice your chicken and arrange on a plate. Pour the finished balsamic sauce over the chicken slices and garnish with the caramelized shallots and a sprig of flat-leaf parsley.

Enjoy!

Millie's Burgers

Right off 2100 South and straight to my heart. Ahh...deep fried heaven and fry sauce. Millie's Burgers is the quintessential burger shop. Cheap. Quick. Delicious. Millie's has been in Sugar House since the 50's and not much has changed.

The joint is a small shack positively reeking of deep fried joys, burgers and summer. They have picnic tables outside and small booths inside. The atmosphere is simple, small-town and fun.

The service is exactly what I expect from this kind of diner. The girls behind the counter are friendly and 16. So be prepared to hear a lot of "umm, like, yeah and stuff" with a big smile and small giggles. You order at the counter and they bring the food to your table.

For your perfect summer pig out you can get a cheese burger, fries and a shake for about $8. (Yeah, they are that cheap.) The burgers are delicious made with real beef and cheese and grilled nicely. The fries are pretty good, not the best, but they still beat the McDonald's down the street. The shakes are over-the-top, thick and yummy!

Now for that great Utah tradition...fry sauce. If you aren't a native to fry sauce ways, let me explain: fry sauce is a dipping sauce made from ketchup and mayonnaise. At Millie's (as with most local restaurants) it is served with your fries instead of ketchup.

The key to great fry sauce is the right ratio of ketchup to mayonnaise, buttermilk and pepper. Millie's comes close: this isn't the greatest fry sauce, but some of the best I have found in the Valley.

The onion rings were not up to my beer-battered deep-fried golden brown expectations. They are edible, but you will have better luck with the deep-fried, shoestring fries.

Millie's has an extensive menu of shakes, glaciers, burgers, hot dogs, sodas and almost everything deep-fried, but I suggest you try the basics before branching out.

Millie's is across the street from Sugar House Coffee on the corner of 2100 South and McClelland Street (1050 East.) Share the love, Millie's is best enjoyed with friends and family.

Chicken Divan

Chicken Divan is a simple chicken casserole dish. Because casserole is a Utah tradition it seems only appropriate to begin my recipe throw down with a nod to the culture I live in. Prepare to be amazed, this casserole is yummy, filling, cheap and easy to make. Let's begin...

Ingredients:
1 bag (16 oz) frozen broccoli florets
1 lb. chicken breast, thawed
Kosher Salt
1 Tbs. fresh ground black pepper, plus some for the chicken
1 Cup Mayonnaise (use real mayonnaise and skip the low-fat)
1 can Cream of Mushroom soup (use reduced sodium)
1 can Cream of Broccoli soup (use reduced sodium)
1 Tbs. lemon juice
1 Tbs. garlic powder
2 Cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 bag (16 oz) croutons
non-stick cooking spray

Hardware:
350 degree oven
2-quart sauce pan
Strainer
Skillet
Metal spatula
Rubber spatula
Medium sized mixing bowl
One cup
Tablespoon
Wooden cutting board
Chef's knife
9" x 13" casserole dish

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Place the frozen broccoli in a 2-quart sauce pan and cover it with hot water. This allows the broccoli to thaw as you prepare the other casserole layers.

Rub the chicken with kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste. Both sides should be evenly spiced. On your stove top warm the skillet over medium heat. Place the chicken with the smooth side down on the heated skillet. This makes it brown more evenly and is easier for turning. Let the chicken cook on one side for 5-7 minutes.


While the chicken is sizzling, use your rubber spatula to mix together the mayonnaise, cream of mushroom, cream of broccoli, cheese, lemon juice, garlic powder and pepper in a medium sized mixing bowl. Continue folding and stirring until the mixture is well-blended.


Using the metal spatula flip the chicken. Continue to let the chicken grill for another 5-7 minutes. As with any protein the less you touch it the more tender it will be in the end. So let it grill away in peace.


Now spray your 9" x 13" casserole dish with a non-stick cooking spray. Next add the bag of croutons to the mayonnaise mixture. I like a little bit more crunch to my casserole so I add the croutons just before I put the casserole together. (For softer croutons add them to the mayonnaise mixture sooner.)

Remove the cooked chicken from the skillet and place on a wooden cutting board. Using your chef's knife carefully slice the chicken into 1-inch cubes. Evenly spread the chicken across the bottom of your greased casserole dish.

Next strain the thawed broccoli. Evenly spread the broccoli over the chicken.

Now take your mayonnaise mixture and spread it on top of the broccoli and chicken. Use the remaining cup of sharp cheddar and sprinkle it evenly across the top of the Divan.

Let the casserole bake in your 350 degree oven for 30-35 minutes (at high altitude) until the cheese is bubbly and the edges are beginning to brown. Carefully remove the hot dish from the oven, serve alone or with your favorite sides and dig in. Yumminess is only a casserole away!

Recipes

It's been brought to my attention that recipes would not be remiss on this blog ( thanks, sis). And I did promise to post recipes. I want to let you know recipes are coming soon. I'm just working out the kinks in my recipe writing abilities.

Sugar House Coffee

You knew it was coming...the coffee talk. That special time in a person's life when they get to hear all about the ins and outs of coffee beans. Okay maybe that isn't what you were expecting, but how can I resist the chance to discuss one of my favorite beverages?

I can't. Mmm...coffee. Undoubtedly, one of the best smells to wake up to coffee is the undisputed king of mornings. Coffee starts it's life as a seed the little seed grows into a tree. The beans are harvested, roasted, ground and brewed. Finally, you have a cup of coffee.

I don't know about you, but that sounds like too much work for my 6 a.m. wake up call. That is why coffee shops are successful. My favorite coffee shop is Sugar House Coffee at the corner of 2100 South and McClelland Street (about 1050 East).

Sugar House coffee has had a difficult year. They were evicted from their previous location and with the move across the street they have lost the majority of their clientèle. But they haven't lost their charm.

This coffee shop embodies the soul of the Sugar House neighborhood. It is eclectic, sweet, independent, friendly and liberal. The baristas offer not only some of the greatest coffee in the world with a super cool latte art to compliment your muffin, but coffee bar therapy. It is immediately apparent that these guys care about their profession--coffee and their customer--you.

Although, Sugar House has a menu including food, I stick to the lattes. I definitely recommend their mazurka bars, muffins and fruit. Everything on the menu is bought locally and vegan friendly. Coffee is about $1.50 a cup. A latte will run you at about $3. If you don't find your service tip worthy it must be a sign of an apocalyptic ending just moments away.

Red Rock Brewery

Last weekend I found myself in dangerous need of onion rings. So where do you go when you need a deep-fried fix and are ban from all bars? Brew pubs! This was my second visit to the Red Rock Brewery and there are three things you need to understand about enjoying restaurant dining before you go.

1-Atmosphere: This seems obvious, but never underestimate the vibe of a place being what makes it so special. As Aristotle taught ethos is the big sale, and it's true of restaurants too.

2-Food: It might be the main product of a restaurant, but it's generally not the main show.

3-People: This is a fifty/fifty. The restaurant is responsible for the staff. You are responsible for your crew. Bring good people and if you find a good place they will do the rest.

Red Rock excels at one. The atmosphere of the joint is their best selling point. The place is fun and excitin' gosh darn it! Seriously, it's a cool hang out that's friendly to guys and girls. If you arrive before 10 p.m., it's family-friendly while still serving alcohol to the adults (a Utah gem). Plus, by 11 p.m. they are still open and have a good bar crowd, so it's fun for the big kids who still want to play. (Closing time is 1 a.m.)

Food is not the greatest strength at Red Rock. I imagine their beer selection is awesome. Unfortunately, I am not old enough to legally drink so this information is based on the observation of copious amounts of alcohol being downed by all the tables near us. Anything deep fried will appease your craving for yummy greasiness, but otherwise the food is a miss.

I found their barbecue pork sandwich sadly disappointing. The pork wasn't pull apart soft and I feel that is a necessary pre-requisite to great barbecue. The pocket bread was dry, stale and a mismatched flavor for the delicious smoky sauce. Pita and barbecue are a match made in the land of culinary mistakes! Their horseradish potatoes are what you would expect from any restaurant and their salads fail to amaze.

Seriously, stick to the fish and chips. Their onion rings are beer battered deliciousness, cooked to a crispy golden perfection served with a heaping serving of ketchup. If it's deep fried, it's yummy!

And how about those people? I have to say I went with two of my favorite people so I guaranteed myself a good time. The service is good, not great, but you will be impressed by the ability of one host and two servers to manage a full dining room. Our server was helpful and efficient. I would like a more friendly and outgoing server, but with everyone's usual rush that might be asking too much.

As a final note, Red Rock has a bizarre practice of automatically charging you for the tip. I don't know why they do this. I can understand the need to pay servers and hosts enough so they can survive, but an automatic tip! Doesn't that defeat the purpose of a tip in the first place? Anyway, it comes on your receipt so expect to pay the common sense decent tip of 15% regardless of what type of service you actually receive.

Red Rock is in Downtown at about 300 South and 300 West near a number of other restaurants and bars. (I hear they have a second location, but I don't know where) Expect to pay between $15 and $30 for dinner and remember you're paying for a comfortable and fun atmosphere too.