Speed cooking the Disney way
Regina Murphy
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Today’s column focuses on how to use your kitchen prep time to the fullest advantage by considering a style from Jay Disney’s cookbook “Let There be Lite!” (The Overlook Press, Woodstock and New York. ISBN: 0-87951-576-7)
These recipes were born in our little health food store in Memphis, The Squash Blossom. Then they were tested and perfected while Jay was running his catering business, Traveling Lite, in Dallas.
As Jay writes: “What we eat affects what we feel, how we feel, and how we operate as a living organism.” All of his dishes are low fat, many are vegetarian, and every single one is delicious — except the dog biscuits.
What I particularly wanted to share, to help those whose time is precious, is Jay’s method of advanced preparation. The second chapter, in fact, is titled “How to Cook for the Week in Three Hours.”
By doing all your chopping, cooking double portions to use in different dishes, or marinating entrees in advance, putting in a couple of hours on the weekend could save you five or six during the week. The trick is to have an idea of what you want to cook.
Jay recommends planning each night’s menu so that you can be precise in your ingredients — which is excellent! I have evolved a system where I know what I’m going to be likely to use, and just prepare enough so that if I change my mind one night, I can flex to a different dish without having to start from scratch.
Prepare entrees that can stay two or three days in the refrigerator before cooking. This would include vegetarian casseroles and marinated meats. Jay calls this a “preserving marinade,” meaning one that contains lemon juice, lime juice, salt, tamari, vinegar or prepared mustard. These items contain enough acid to hinder or prevent bacterial growth, plus they break down the proteins so that the meat is more tender and the marinade has time to affect the flavor.
Jay says, “Any seafood should be eaten within 24 hours. Raw meats and chickens should be eaten in one to three days. As long as you schedule uncooked meats at the beginning of the week you should have no problem with spoilage.” Just be smart with your preparation techniques and keep everything airtight in the refrigerator.
Here’s an example using recipes from Let There Be Lite! Consider this menu for the work week:
Monday: Roast Beef with Vegetables
Tuesday: Green Chili Chicken
Wednesday: Hawaiian Pork Kabobs
Thursday: Hearty Navy Bean Soup
Friday: Black Bean Enchiladas
Looking over the recipes, compile a shopping list (I hope Jay will forgive me since I tweaked them just a little bit). You’ll need multiple quantities of chicken breasts, onions, carrots, celery, garlic and tomatillos.
On Sunday, you can get everything set up for the week. Wash the potatoes and carrots, peeling if you prefer. Chop the potatoes and all but two carrots into bite-size chunks and seal them in an airtight container full of water. If you double up on the potatoes, you can use half of Monday’s roasted ones to make mashed potatoes later in the week. Wash and pre-snap your beans. Put everything in the refrigerator.
Clean and chop all the onions at one time, except the red onion, which just needs to be quartered. If you’re worried about the smell permeating your refrigerator, seal the chopped onions in a zip-close bag, which you then seal in an airtight container along with a sprinkle of baking soda. Mince half a pod of garlic. Chop four stalks of celery: two for the beans and two for a chicken salad. Husk, wash and chop the tomatillos (Or you could just buy the ones in the can). Put it all in the refrigerator.
Clean your chicken breasts as needed, and use six for the Green Chili Chicken. The other two can go in a marinade of Zesty Italian dressing--cook them up Monday or Tuesday night to make chicken salad for lunch. Clean and cut up the pork and get it marinating for Wednesday. If you really wanted to, you could go ahead and whisk together the cheese filling for Friday’s enchiladas. Rub the roast with mustard and season with salt and pepper to taste (but use a lot of pepper). Wrap in plastic wrap, refrigerate and wash up ... you’re ready!
Then, on Monday that roast will get cooked along with the potatoes, carrots, green beans and some of the chopped onion and garlic. You’re going to cut off about a pound of the cooked roast to save for Thursday’s beans. On Tuesday, you’ll use more onion, garlic and some of the tomatillos. Cook your Italian breasts along with the green chili breasts, chop them up and grab some more chopped celery and onion to make a chicken salad.
Wednesday, skewer the Hawaiian pork kabobs and grill them, taking the opportunity of hot coals to roast peppers or grill some vegetables for a side dish. Thursday, the beef from Monday goes into the beans along with the last of the celery and carrots and more onion and garlic. Then, on Friday, your two green chili chicken breasts get shredded and stuffed into enchiladas, or even any leftover beef or pork. The last of the onion, garlic and tomatillos will be used, and no one will ever suspect that you haven’t spent an hour and a half each night getting a delicious meal together.
ROAST BEEF WITH VEGETABLES
3 lbs. tender beef roast
1/2 cup Dijon mustard
Salt and black pepper
2 Tbsp. Canola oil
1 Tbsp. butter
6 “B” size potatoes
6 carrots
1/2 lb. fresh green beans
1 med. onion, chopped
1 tsp. garlic, minced
1 cup broth or white wine
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the butter and swirl to melt. Add the beef and sear until dark brown on all sides, about eight minutes total.
Add all the remaining ingredients along with a cup of the potato-water. Place in hot oven and cook for at least 25 minutes, up to 40 minutes depending on how done you want it in the center. Transfer the roast to a cutting board, tent it with aluminum foil, and let it rest for 10 to 15 minutes. Slice crosswise, and serve with a mix of the roasted vegetables.
GREEN CHILI CHICKEN
6 boneless chicken breasts
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 green onions, chopped
2 small cans diced green chilis
1/2 cup cilantro or parsley
4 tomatillos
1 1/2 Tbsp. lemon juice
2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. each salt, cayenne pepper
Trim off the skin and fat from your chicken, wash and pat dry. Score the flesh with small, long cuts to hold in the chili paste. Place all the remaining ingredients in a food processor and blend until you have a smooth paste, adding drops of lemon juice as needed.
Rub the paste into the chicken flesh, place in an airtight container, or seal in a zip-close bag, squeezing out excess air. Refrigerate up to 48 hours. Grill or broil until done, setting two breasts aside for the enchiladas on Friday.
Serve this delicious green chili chicken with a pico de gallo and hot tortillas, with couscous and cucumber-yogurt sauce, or with a fruit salad.
HAWAIIAN PORK KABOBS
1 lb. pork, cut into 2-inch cubes
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. tamari
1 Tbsp. fresh rosemary, lightly chopped
1 large can pineapple chunks with juice
1 med. red onion, quartered
Combine everything but the pork into a zip-close bag and shake it up. Toss in the pork and seal, squeezing out all of the air. Place in the refrigerator and turn occasionally until ready to skewer.
If using bamboo skewers, soak them in water first to prevent burning. Skewer the pork chunks, alternating with pieces of pineapple and red onion. Grill over medium-high heat (or broil) until the pork is cooked all the way through. Serve with mashed roasted potatoes from Monday’s leftovers or grilled eggplant. The possibilities are endless!
HEARTY NAVY BEAN SOUP
2 tsp. olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, diced
2 carrots, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
3 1/2 cups stock (any flavor)
1/2 cup vermouth or white wine
1 bay leaf
1 tsp. thyme
1/4 tsp. each tarragon, basil
2 Tbsp. chopped parsley
3 cups canned navy beans
1 lb. of roast beef, cooked, chopped
In a large soup pot or dutch oven, saute the onion in olive oil over medium heat until it is translucent and soft. Add the celery, carrots and garlic and saute for another minute or two. Add the stock, wine, herbs, half the beans and the beef. Bring to a simmer.
Puree the other half of the beans until smooth, then add them to the pot and stir. Continue to simmer, stirring often, for 20 minutes. Taste and adjust your seasonings as desired, then serve with some garlic toast and a salad.
Here is where my Sunday plan gets a little off. If I’m going to roast one pepper, I’m going to roast a whole batch, so the mess gets made all at one time. Bell peppers can be sealed under a layer of olive oil and kept in the refrigerator for about a week. Hot peppers take care of themselves as long as they are airtight.
In this recipe, all you need is one roasted ancho, peeled, seeded and chopped, but you could substitute about anything you like, including a tablespoon or two of canned green chilis. If you don’t have every single spice, don’t worry about it. The most important flavors are the chili and cumin.
BLACK BEAN AND CHICKEN ENCHILADAS
1 ancho chili, roasted and chopped
1 tsp. oil
1/4 cup onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tomato, chopped, seeded and drained (just the flesh)
1 Tbsp. soy sauce or tamari
1/2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
3 cups cooked black beans, drained
1 Tbsp. each coriander and cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
1/4 tsp. curry powder
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
2 green chili chicken breasts, chopped
Cheese filling:
1/2 cup sour cream (nonfat is okay)
1 cup cottage cheese or ricotta
1 tsp. cumin
3 medium tomatillos, husked
12 corn tortillas
1 cup picante sauce or salsa
Saute the onion in the oil over medium-high heat for one minute. Add the garlic and continue for another minute. Add the ancho chili and tomato, stir and cook until the tomato begins to soften.
Next add the tamari or soy sauce, lemon juice, Worcestershire, black beans and the spices. Bring to a simmer and cook on low for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. You want to cook out most of the liquid. When the beans begin to clear the bottom of the pan and feel heavy, remove from heat and cool a little.
Assemble the cheese filling by whisking together the cheeses and spices, then adding in finely chopped tomatillos. If you don’t like tomatillos, try green chilis or a small can of pico de gallo, drained.
You are ready to build your enchiladas: Warm the tortillas in a steamer or microwave. Spread one down the center with the cheese mixture, followed by the bean mixture, then sprinkle in the chopped chicken. Roll it up and place seam-side down in an oblong casserole dish, repeating until the tortillas are used up. Dab any leftover filling on top of the enchiladas, and then sprinkle the picante or salsa (your choice) all over. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes until hot and steamy. Serve with a big salad, sweet potato chips or Mexican rice.
Wow! Then, when you have leftovers of the enchiladas and rice, you can reassemble them as burritos, spicing it up with some sharp cheddar cheese, or you could build a plate of nachos by dropping spoonfuls onto tortilla chips and tossing on some fresh tomatoes, lettuce, queso fresco and jalapenos.
Holy cow! All that food out of three hours on a Sunday? You betcha, it just takes a little planning, concentration and will power. Let’s get cooking!