Christian Bowers of Bola Pizza and the Austin Food Journal
This is more of a cold weather dish, but as it starts to cool off a bit (low 90’s), I start thinking about
Fall. I still had some Bolognese sauce in the freezer so I decided to do a Fall preview.
Roll out some fresh pasta, reheat the sauce, grate some cheese, turn up the A/C and put on a big sweater. It’s Fall!
Over the weekend, I was reading an article about how home cooks can improve their technique. The best was ‘turn down your heat’. Besides ‘High’, people forget that there is ‘Medium’ and ‘Low’ (and a few in between). The above dish taught me that lesson. You start by browning chicken in a pan. Each time I cooked this, as a experiment, I would use a lower heat than the previous time. It is skinless-boneless chicken, so the lower heat helped keep the moisture in, and the crust improved every time. I now cook this dish on ‘Medium’. After the browning, garlic, rosemary, plum tomatoes and olives go into the pan and the dish simmers while it makes it own sauce. I serve it with truffled mashed potatoes.
Lately, I have been reading books about people who cook (just finishing up ‘Alice Waters and Chez Panisse’), but am looking around for some new cookbooks. Anything from your shelves you would recommend? If so, drop me a line and let me know.
OK, I found something else to do with the guacamole. Hit some fish tacos with it. Tilapia, lightly breaded with flour, paprika, garlic and chili powder.
A friend turned me on to this book and I really like it: Cook Wise – The Secrets of Cooking Revealed. My book (pictured above) is an old version with a slightly different title than the current release (pictured right). I dig books that show the process of cooking. Most of cooking is voodoo. To be able to get a handle on those core skills, in the end, makes you a better cook. Why does dough rise? Why makes French Fries crispy? Shirley has the answers.
Pan-seared lamb with a white wine sauce of thyme and shallots.
I pre-roasted the tomatoes and put them in ramekins with garlic and thyme. Topped with puff pastry and baked. After baking, there was still too much liquid, so when I flipped the ramekin over, the shape didn’t hold. It was tasty, though.