I need some help! (Oh, and a couple of lemon hints too)

The recipe I just posted calls for the grated zest of a few lemons, and the flavor boost that lemon boost gives is really important. However, I sometimes delay making anything using grated lemon rind (or orange rind for that matter) because of this:




You don't see the problem? Well, look a little more closely. There seems to be a lot more lemon zest on the grater than in the bowl! I have tried graters of many kinds and currently have at least five  different shapes and sizes in my kitchen. And, with every one of them, I still end up with the same problem. Often, I end up just taking my sharpest knife, meticulously peeling a thin layer and then cutting it in itsy bitsy pieces. The problem with this approach is that my itsy bitsy pieces are never as small as the grated bits, so someone is likely to end up biting into more lemon zest than they may have really wanted.

So now I ask for your help. If you have found a solution to this problem, please, please share it with me. Not necessarily a specific product but perhaps a way to get these little shreds off the grater without losing skin from my fingers or cutting off pieces of spatula in the attempt to dislodge at least a little more of the peeling. Leave a note here and I will be deeply grateful. Thanks!

Now, for the hints promised:

Not enough lemon juice for the recipe

So the recipe calls for 1/3 cup lemon juice, "about the juice of two lemons" but you end up with only a quarter of a cup of juice from your little lemons. You have two options:
Fill the measuring cup to the level called for with water
OR
Use some bottled lemon juice (ReaLemon or a similar type)

I like to keep the bottled lemon juice in the refrigerator for the convenience of having it when a recipe calls for just a little lemon juice and I don't have any of the fresh ones on hand. It also works well in a recipe like this.

Getting all the juice from the lemons

This hint is published in a lot of places but, in case you haven't seen it, here it is again:
Put the lemon(s) in the microwave for a few seconds (I put the four for today's recipe in for 22 seconds) on high. Remove and juice; you will be amazed at how much easier it is to get all the juice out.

If you don't trust yourself with the microwave version (what if I put them in too long and they start to cook?), then take each lemon and roll on the countertop, pressing hard as you go. This will soften the lemon substantially, also allowing for easier juicing.

Chicken Patties/Loaf

Several weeks ago, I had cooked several pounds of chicken quarters in my largest slow cooker, with poultry seasoning, some "aromatics" (chopped onion, garlic, and celery) and salt. The result was a huge quantity of rich and flavorful broth and a whole lot of chicken that was falling off the bone tender.

...A little too tender, at least for giving the "right" texture for the casseroles I had envisioned. I did make some chicken, rice and vegetables, and the flavor was superb. Still, it just seemed a little too, well, soft. Not quite hospital food but definitely not as good as I really wanted it to be. (Actually, the consistency was very similar to canned chicken, something that you could substitute if that is something you keep on hand.)

Now that I had a couple of pounds more of this "over-cooked" chicken to use up, I froze the meat in one pound portions while I gave the matter more thought. I ended up adapting a chicken croquette recipe I made decades ago and ended up with a lovely loaf and some deliciously light and crispy patties--enough from just one pound of the meat for two or three meals for a family of four or five. 

This is old-fashioned food, but, with a food processor, the preparation was quite easy. You will note that there seems to be an inordinate amount of egg compared to the amount of chicken. This is necessary because the pre-cooked meat will not hold together as well as a meatloaf made with raw ground meat.

With all these other ingredients, this could easily be adapted for using up that leftover chicken that isn't quite enough on its own for another meal. I have included the amounts for a half recipe at the end of this post, in case you find yourself in that situation.

The patties were good for serving right away and the loaf could go back into the freezer after baking for another day--as a main dish or sliced and served on crusty rolls.

 Chicken Loaf and Patties

1 lb boneless, cooked chicken
1/2 to 1 c onion, diced
1/3 c diced bell pepper
1/2 c diced celery (optional)
2 c finely shredded carrots
2 c dry bread crumbs
1 to 2 t mixed herbs (I used rosemary, sage, and thyme)
1/2 c yogurt
6 eggs
salt and pepper to taste (NOTE: If the chicken you are using was seasoned while cooking, omit salt completely)

1.  Shred the chicken in a processor or pull it into fine shreds with a fork and/or knife. If the chicken is as overcooked as mine was, you will want to pulse gently and be sure you don't let it process too long!

2.  Prepare the vegetables and bread crumbs. The carrots and crumbs can be processed in the food processor as well, but chop the onion, celery, and pepper to provide more texture.

3.  Combine all ingredients in a large bowl, mixing until well blended. 

4.  Cooking:

Chicken Loaf
Put about half the mixture into a very well-oiled loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 45 minutes, until the top is golden and the edges begin to turn a toasty brown.

OPTIONAL:  You may wish to lay a few strips of bacon across the bottom of the pan in place of oiling it, before adding the chicken mixture OR you could lay a couple of strips of bacon across the top of the loaf.

Patties
Heat a small amount of canola or other vegetable oil in a cast iron or other heavy skillet over medium high heat, until the fat is just shimmering.  Using a large spoon or spatula, scoop out about one third cup of the meat mixture and, using your fingers, press it together and place in the hot fat. Press down lightly with a spatula. Repeat with the remaining patties but don't crowd the pan. (You may need to cook these in a couple of batches.) Cook for about 4 to 5 minutes, until the bottom is very well browned. Turn, press lightly on each patty, and continue cooking until the second side is also browned. Be sure you have flattened the patties a little so that the middle will be completely cooked by the time the outside is golden and crusty.

Serving suggestions:

Both patties and loaves go well with cole slaw or tossed garden salad and mashed potatoes--a classic "meat and potatoes" meal. While there is no gravy for the potatoes, sprinkle them with a bit of good grated cheese or top with a little light sour cream and chives--or any other toppings you might put on a baked potato. As noted above, they also make great sandwiches. Condiments that you like on other ground meat dishes will go well here too--ketchup, barbecue sauce, lettuce and tomato, even salsa, cheese, etc.

Half recipe amounts

1/2 lb boneless, cooked chicken
1/4 to 1/2 c onion, diced (one small)
2 to 3 T diced bell pepper
2 to 3 T diced celery (optional)

1 c finely shredded carrots
1 c dry bread crumbs
1/2 to 1 t mixed herbs (I used rosemary, sage, and thyme)

1/4 c yogurt
3 eggs

Update on the Cookie Fails

Never let it be said that I waste perfectly good food. After making a pan of each of the Valentine cookies noted on the last post, I put the rest of the dough in the refrigerator to regroup. After thinking about it a bit, I let both doughs warm just enough to be malleable. The "hearts" were still wrapped in waxed paper, so I gently rolled them on the counter, in the wrapper, to try to get them as circular as possible. Then I patted the chocolate dough into a flat rectangle the length of the other cookie roll. That was then wrapped around the roll, pinched and prodded to make a pretty even, and sealed, covering and then the entire thing was returned to the refrigerator to chill completely.

Sliced and baked like any refrigerator cookie (350 degrees, about 8 to 10 minutes), they came out looking like this:

Arranged on a plate as above, they were okay--and the flavor was excellent, though the chocolate was not very strong. If I were to deliberately make a cookie like this again, I'd a) omit the baking soda in the white layer completely, b) add more cocoa--maybe double?--or melt some chocolate chips to stir into the dough or c) increase the ratio of chocolate dough to white dough.

To be honest, I probably won't make these again--they were okay but not all that special looking to me--but I wanted to demonstrate that even things that seem to be failures can be salvaged, sometimes in "creative" ways.

What are some of the things you have done to "fix" a baking or cooking mistake? I'd love to hear more ideas.

Some Major Valentine Cookie Fails!

Last year, I posted a couple of Valentine's Day cookies that have become family favorites, at http://frugalfastfun.blogspot.com/2011/02/cherry-heart-refrigerator-cookies.html and http://frugalfastfun.blogspot.com/2011/02/candy-kiss-cookies.html. The time had come to make these again, so I stirred up the doughs and invited the kids over to help.

After washing their hands thoroughly, two of the grandkids carefully sorted a package of Christmas M &Ms into a bowl of green and a bowl of red pieces, discussing the proportion of green to red and contemplating what kinds of green M & M goodies we might make for St Patrick's Day. Then it was time to unwrap the Hershey's Kisses--"this is taking a lot of self-control" remarked the seven-year old as they finished the tasks without even one snack.

In the end, it was good that we were doing this for family fun and not preparing to impress someone not attuned to our cooking and baking! As you can see below, the visual results were hardly stunning. ...and if you can see any heart shapes on this pan, you are probably a cardiac surgeon or nurse! The flavors, however, were still wonderful, and the cookies disappeared so quickly I had hardly anything left to photograph. No, that cookie up in the left corner doesn't have a bite out of it; the rest of it was the only part we could get chiseled off the baking sheet at this point!

So here are the problems that led to the less than attractive results, and some ideas on what to do differently next time.

The candy kiss cookies:

At the last minute, I realized that I had only "cherry cordial" Hershey's Kisses. We adults contemplated these briefly (contemplating here means tasting a few, just to be sure of what we might be using!) and decided the flavor combination should be wonderful, so why not use them.

The reason why not is that the lovely cordial filling melted almost immediately in the oven, leaking out of the chocolate candy, then out of the cookie coating, leaving puddles and flattened cookies in their wake. Kind of like little molten volcanoes as we took them out of the oven, but so soft and sticky they fell apart when I tried to get them off the pan while hot. As soon as they cooled, they were stuck tight. A little experimentation and we were able to get them mostly on to a plate where the gooey mess congealed into a larger mass. Pretty ugly but so tempting that I couldn't get a photo before they were gone.

Bottom line:  Eat the cordials alone and go buy some real Hershey's Kisses if you're going to make these cookies. 

The refrigerator cookies:

Just too much in a hurry here. Instead of putting maraschino cherries in the dough, I simply rolled it into a log and then tried to make it heart shaped by pressing a wood spoon handle along the top. That may have worked a little for the "crease" at the top of the heart, but my half-hearted (pun not intended but there it is--sorry) attempt to make a point was too hurried and too forgetful of the fact that these cookies do raise quite a bit in the oven.

Bottom line:  While the idea of just topping each cookie with a red M&M instead of doing the cherry thing worked well, I probably should either just make them round and forget the heart shape idea OR omit the small amount of baking soda in the recipe and then take a little more time in developing the heart shape before chilling the dough.


Bottom, bottom line: Not every recipe turns out perfectly, but that doesn't mean the results need to be thrown away. If you don't achieve a picture-perfect product, savor the flavor anyway. And if the flavor is the problem, there may still be some ways to salvage your efforts. I found a 1997 cookbook at my library, Anne Willan's Cook It Right, that is fascinating for the inclusion in every section of ways to recover if things don't turn out just right. It's worth checking out just for some of these hints, and I'll try to include more of my make lemonade out of lemons thoughts in future posts. Believe me, I've had lots of experience in learning to make do with less than perfect!