The ‘K’ is not silent

Cooking for a Crowd

August 16, 2006 – 1:36 am

I cooked for our weekly Tuesday night get-together here at the compound…

The first recipe was recommended by Kristi Meador:

Chicken Saltimbocca

6 (3-ounce) chicken cutlets, pounded to evenly flatten
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 paper-thin slices prosciutto
1 (10-ounce) box frozen chopped spinach, thawed
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
1 (14-ounce) can low-salt chicken broth
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Place the chicken cutlets flat on the work surface. Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper. Lay 1 slice of prosciutto atop each chicken cutlet.

Squeeze the frozen spinach to remove the excess water. Season the spinach with salt and pepper. In a small bowl, toss the spinach with 1 tablespoon of oil to coat.

Arrange an even, thin layer of spinach atop the prosciutto slices. Sprinkle the Parmesan evenly over each. Beginning at the short tapered end, roll up each chicken cutlet as for a jellyroll. Secure with a toothpick.

Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in a heavy large skillet over high heat. Add the chicken and cook just until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side. Add the chicken broth and lemon juice, and scrape the browned bits off the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Bring the liquid to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium. Cover and simmer until the chicken is just cooked through, about 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a platter. Simmer the cooking liquid over high heat until it is reduced to about 2/3 cup, about 5 minutes. Season the cooking liquid with salt and pepper, to taste. Remove toothpicks from the chicken. Drizzle the reduced cooking liquid over the chicken and serve immediately.
I doubled it, and it was enough for the crowd (8ish?) It was tough to find a coverable skillet to cook the doubled recipe… Sir Robert gave me a cookie sheet to cover the big skillet, and I used a stock pot cover for the smaller skillet.

The second recipe was from an episode of Boy Meets Grill that I saw at work:

Gratin Dauphinois

3 cups heavy cream

6 russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/8-inch thick slices (on mandoline or with a knife)

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1 clove garlic, peeled and halved

1 cup grated Gruyere

2 tablespoons chopped chives, optional

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Bring 2 cups of the heavy cream to a simmer in a medium saucepan. Add the potatoes, salt and pepper and cook for 3 minutes.

Rub the cut side of the garlic clove on the bottom and sides of an 8-inch casserole or baking dish. Add the potatoes and cream and top with the remaining cream and Gruyere cheese. Sprinkle chives over top, if using. Bake on a baking sheet until potatoes are tender and cheese is golden brown and bubbly, about 30 minutes. Remove from oven and let rest 10 minutes before serving.
I used extra sharp cheddar instead of Gruyere, mostly because I couldn’t find Gruyere. The potatoes didn’t all soften up… I probably could have cooked them in the cream longer… Also, I used an aluminum baking pan, maybe it needed ceramic/glass?

To top off the meal, I made

Caesar Salad

(from a recipe sent to me by my uncle Jim.)
Recipe Summary

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 9 minutes

Yield: 6 servings

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 teaspoon minced garlic

1 cup bread, cut in 1/2-inch cubes

3 hearts romaine lettuce

1/2 cup Caesar Dressing, recipe follows

1/2 cup shaved Parmesan

In a large skillet heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and bread cubes, tossing well to coat with oil.

Toast in the skillet for 7 minutes until golden.

Tear the romaine hearts into bite size pieces. Toss with the Caesar Dressing making sure to coat all the leaves generously. Garnish with shaved Parmesan and the garlic croutons.

Caesar Dressing:

3 anchovy fillets, finely chopped

1 tablespoon finely chopped capers

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 egg yolk* [Dwight: I don't know what this star goes with... maybe there used to be a note saying "use something else if you are scared of salmonella]

1 teaspoon minced garlic

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/4 cup heavy cream

Kosher salt

In a medium bowl mix the anchovy fillets, capers, mustard, egg yolk, and garlic. While whisking vigorously add the vegetable oil in a slow, steady stream. Whisk in the red wine vinegar and lemon juice. Stir in the heavy cream and season, to taste, with the salt.

Will keep for several days stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container.

Yield: 1 cup

Preparation Time: 10 minutes
I used olive oil instead of vegetable oil in the dressing. I also used all of the dressing instead of half… I like lots of dressing. I probably didn’t mince the anchovies or garlic enough… they kinda jumped out at you every once in a while. I didn’t double this recipe and it was a little more than we needed… I also used 4 anchovie filets because I didn’t feel like throwing out more than half of the tin…

Sorry about the formatting WordPress is “intelligently” removing page-breaks… Much to my chagrin.

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