Pecan "Crusted" Haddock Nuggets

These might better be called pecan "mushted" haddock. Tasty but not as intended. So, to save you all from trying this method:

1. Preheat oven to 400°
2. Optionally, toss quartered mushrooms in a bit of salad dressing and start them to roasting while the oven preheats and you prepare the fish.
3. Cut still frozen haddock loins into chunks.
4. Dip the haddock into salad dressing that has had oil added to it.
5. Roll the dipped haddock pieces in pecans, cornmeal, salt and pepper that have been whirred in the food processor.
6. Put them in the pan next to the mushrooms and roast 16 minutes.
7. While the fish is cooking, make a green salad lightly dressed with the same dressing.
8. Arrange it all nicely on a plate and sigh because the fish, though done and tasty, is not the least bit crusty.
9. Go back to the drawing board.

This tasted fine but was just too mushy. I gathered information from the web before trying this like a good doobee but it just didn't work as intended.

I read an exposé once that said many cookbooks are published without anyone ever really testing the recipes. I believe it. Many's the time I've tried something that did not work at all. Sometimes, of course, it's a lack of skill on my end but oftentimes it's that the temperatures and times given just do not work. So, if you try something and it fails miserably, sometimes it is the recipe because you, not the recipe's author, may be the first one to actually try it! Don't despair.

And if you like mushy pecan coating on haddock, this is the recipe for you!

Chasing Fluffy Gnocchi

Each batch of gnocchi comes out looking a bit better and they really don't take very long to make, even making cheese from scratch. And with each batch of cheese I make, even that becomes easier.

Oh, drat. We just ate them. They disintegrated a bit in the water and then they felt grainy like an overcooked scrambled egg. Blech.

Today's variation on the hunt for the fluffiest gnocchi tries to use absolutely as little flour as possible, partly because I am going to share these with a friend who is a carb phobe and partly because I'm guessing that the less flour in them the fluffier they will be.

I use the grooved back of a ceramic tile for getting the grooves on the gnocchi. My father bought the tiles many years ago as pizza stones in the oven. Anything with grooves will do.

So, from start to finish, here 'tis.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 gallon skim milk (not ultra-pasteurized)
• 1/2 cup white wine vinegar
• 1 egg (and a 2nd egg if needed)
• 1 oz. finely grated parmesan
• salt, white pepper & freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/2 cup flour (most of this will be discarded at end)
  

Procedures:

1. Pour the milk into a large microwaveable container
2. Microwave the milk on high for about 15 minutes until it is very hot but not boiling over
3. Pour the vinegar into the milk and let sit 30 minutes
4. Reheat in the microwave on high for another 5 minutes
5. Let sit another 30 minutes or until cool enough to handle -- at this point the milk should have separated into curds and whey
6. Pour the mixture into a colander lined with muslin or a few layers of cheese cloth and let drain.
7. Wring the cheese in the cloth until it is quite dry.
8. Whir the homemade cheese, parmesan, egg and seasonings in the food processor. If the mixture remains in crumbs, add a second egg. The mixture should be stiff enough to leave the sides of the blender and form a lump.
9. Sift the flour into a small bowl for rolling the gnocchi.
10. Spoon up enough dough to make a 3/4 inch ball and drop it into the flour.
11. Roll the dough in the palms of your hand to make a ball, shaking off the excess flour.
12. Place the ball of dough on your grooved instrument (tile, fork, etc.) and flatten the ball a bit.
13. The gnoccho should now be shaped somewhat like a raw cookie that has been flatted with a fork, flat side up. Pick up one edge of it and roll it on itself.
14. Place each gnoccho on a lined cookie sheet and freeze.
15. When the gnocchi are completely frozen, move them to a plastic bag.

To cook the gnocchi, boil them in plenty of water just until they float. Then place them in the sauce of your choice and let them finish cooking a little in the sauce.

This batch made 28 medium large gnocchi. If you use low fat or whole milk you will have more cheese and therefore more gnocchi.

I will let you know when we eat this if we've finally accomplished the ethereally light gnocchi I've read about but never really experienced, truth be told ...

In a word, NO.

Trust but Verify. Unless it's Chicken.

In the case of chicken, don't trust anything but your eyes. Don't trust recipes. Don't trust a thermometer. Trust your eyes after you have massacred the chicken with a knife. Undercooked chicken is as dangerous as a pit viper!

I'm on a quest to find a relatively foolproof way to roast a broiler/fryer; one that's not much harder than picking up a precooked chicken at the grocery store. So, with whole chickens on sale this week, I decided to try a method that seemed likely.



The recipe said, wash & season the chicken, put it on a rack in a cold oven set for 400°, and let it cook for 1 hour. I had rubbed the outside of the chicken with olive oil and sprinked it with salt and lemon-pepper. To assure a moist result, at 30 and 50 minutes I opened the door and quickly misted water in the oven with a spray bottle.

After one hour I removed the chicken and stuck in my quick-read thermometer to make sure the chicken had reached the recommended internal temperature of 165°. It had. I'm showing the thermometer in the breast but I also checked a thigh. Clear juice came out of the hole the thermometer made.



But when I picked up the chicken, pink juice poured out. When I cut into it, even the breasts were slightly pink inside. Back to the drawing board.

Luckily, we were only feeding two tonight. I nuked the breast meat for 90 seconds to make sure it was done but not tough. It stayed moist and was quite good.

The rest of the chicken went into a pot of water with parsley and green onions to boil for a soup base. It's bubbling away right now.

So, what do you suggest I try next? Shall I raise the temperature or extend the time?