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Cook
from the Heart, Not by the Book |
by:
ARA |
(ARA)
- You don’t have to go by the book to create
tasty, easy, sociable food. Easy-peasy meal
preparation is all about stripping cooking
down to its bare essentials (they don’t
call me the Naked Chef for nothing!), using
little techniques and conveniences to make
the most of your recipes. It’s so simple:
Skip the fuss and follow your heart.
Here are some tips to take the stress out
of cooking, whether you’re stirring up supper
for your mate or hoping to impress the new
in-laws:
Dinners-in-a-Bag
When Jools and I first moved to London we
were completely broke, our kitchen was the
size of a cupboard, and we were working
opposite shifts. I didn’t want Jools to
feed herself on frozen dinners, so I found
myself custom-making the fantastic “Jamie
Oliver Dinners in a Bag,” involving glorious
aluminum foil.
What I would do for Jools was make up a
combo at 4 p.m. as I was going off to work
and write with a marker pen “25 minutes
at 425 F”, for example, on the foil. Even
though Jools didn’t like cooking, she never
had a problem with cooking the bags. Now
that we have our Amana range, however, it’s
easier than ever -- I just program the “Favorites
Cycle,” which lets me preset the cook time
and temperature for the recipes I use most
often. Here’s just one version, but feel
free to vary the recipe with things like
grated parsnip, smoked bacon or red wine.
Chicken Breasts Baked in a Bag
(Serves two)
2 7-ounce skinless chicken breasts
1 handful of dried porcini
9 ounces of mixed mushrooms, torn up
1 large wineglass of white wine
3 large pats of butter
1 handful of fresh thyme
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced
Using wide aluminum foil, make your bag
by placing two pieces on top of each other
(about as big as two shoeboxes in length),
folding three sides in and leaving one side
open. Mix everything together in a bowl,
including the chicken. Place in your bag,
with all the wine, making sure you don’t
pierce the foil. Close up the final edge,
making sure it’s tightly sealed and secure
on the sides, and slide it onto a roasting
pan. Place the pan on a high heat for one
minute to get the heat going, then bake
in the middle of a 425-degree oven for 25
minutes.
When it’s time to take it out, the Amana
EasyRack oven rack, with its practical U-shape
design, lets you remove the pan without
touching the hot rack. Then you just place
the bag on a big plate, take it to the table,
break open the foil, and start hearing the
raves.
Bare-Bones Cooking Techniques
Here are some other bare-bones techniques
I’ve perfected using my Amana range:
* If you invited friends to come round but
they’re running late, pop up to four plates
of food in the separate warming oven. Your
glorious food not only stays warm, but also
keeps the kitchen smelling wonderful until
they walk in the door.
* If your side dish is ready but you still
have other things to cook, just slide the
pot onto the middle of the cooktop. The
“warming zone” there acts like a fifth burner,
keeping it warm and freeing up the other
burners so you can finish cooking.
* If your recipe’s left a mess in the oven,
don’t fret -- the hidden bake element and
smooth oven bottom make it simple to mop
up spills before they become baked-on disasters.
The oven can clean itself while you’re in
the middle of a dinner party -- just flip
on the self-clean mode, pour yourself another
glass of wine, and go back to your guests.
Visit www.amana.com for more practical appliance
solutions from Amana.
Courtesy of ARA Content
EDITOR’S NOTE: For more information contact
Maggie O'Brien, (612) 375-8510, mobrien@clynch.com.
Recipes are adapted with permission from
Happy Days with the Naked Chef, Hyperion.
Jamie Oliver 2002. Food Photographs, David
Loftus 2002.
About the author:
Courtesy of ARA Content
Circulated by Bandoni
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