Cooking Creatively! Asparagus Dipper

Asparagus
Cutter

It's asparagus season!  I love this time of year.  I grew up on a farm in eastern Washington.  The field around our house had asparagus in it before I was born.  But asparagus loves to grow and scatter its seed, so I was always sent out to pick the "volunteer" asparagus that grew along the edge of the field, as well as along the ditch bank.  A special cutter is used, and it can only be done by hand.  So far, there's no machine that can cut asparagus properly.  Take the cutter and place it at the edge of the soil and cut down at an angle.  That's how it's done!  One at a time.

In truth, however, I didn't come to love asparagus until adulthood, where I was forced to eat it by a friend who swore I'd like it because she didn't boil it to death.  She was right!  And a new addiction was born.  She roasted it in the oven, tossed with olive oil and herbs.

But my favorite way to have it is steamed for about 3 minutes, and then dipped into this delectable sauce.  The sauce is super simple: mayonnaise mixed with soy sauce!  Sounds strange at first, but just try it and you'll be addicted too!

The best mayo, however, is that made from scratch.  It takes about 3 minutes.  All you need is a blender, an egg, and some canola oil.  Okay, a few other things too.  I've been making this for so many years now that I can't remember where I got the recipe initially.

1 egg at room temperature
dash cayenne
1/2 t powdered mustard
1/2 t salt
1/4 C canola oil
***
1/2 C canola oil
***
3 T lemon juice
1/2 C canola oil

Put the first 5 ingredients in your blender and blend together.  Then, slowly, and I mean VERY slowly, drizzle in the next 1/2 C canola oil.  It will start to get very thick at this point.  You may have to stop and mix it up with a spatula.  Then add the lemon juice and final 1/2 C oil.  Blend again to make it all nice and thick, like mayonaisse consistency.

Voila!  Homemade mayo, sans chemicals!  It's so delicious, too.  It keeps for about a month in the fridge.

Let me know how you like this dip!  Oh, just add as much soy sauce as you want to get the flavor you want.  It really doesn't take very much.  I'd guess we use about 1 T soy sauce to 1/4 C mayo.

I can't wait to hear how you like it!

Manya Vee
ManyaVeeSelects.com

Cooking Creatively! Part One - multiple meals with a roasted chicken

We're in our third year of a recession, and being in the arts hasn't made that any easier.  We have been having a great time, however, making really delicious food within a shrinking grocery budget!  As they say, "necessity is the mother of invention."  And I'd like to add that creativity is like a muscle; the more you use it, the stronger it becomes!  Our creativity has expanded into cooking because we enjoy good food a lot, but couldn't afford some of our favorite things anymore.  So we found ways to make some of those things ourselves!  And the more we expanded our creativity with cooking, the more creative and delicious our food became!  I'd like to share some of my tips with you.

One of our mainstays is finding affordable protein sources.  One of the best deals around are when whole chickens go on sale for 77 cents a pound.  And we're in luck!  It had been at least 6 weeks since such a sale nearby, and a few weeks ago, at our neighborhood's QFC, it was on!  We usually get two of them: one to use soon and one for the freezer.  A whole chicken can become a lot of meals if used to its fullest potential!

Here's a list of potential meals with just one chicken:
1. Roasted chicken, baked potatoes, salad
2. Roasted chicken breast sandwiches for lunch
3. Chicken flautas
4. 5-spice soup with chicken, shitakes, and napa cabbage (which ends up being about 6 meals)
5. Manya's Chicken Rice Soup (which also ends up being about 6 meals)

It all begins with a very fun meal of roasted chicken, baked potatoes, and a salad.  A while ago, I discovered a delicious trick for getting great flavor into the chicken meat when roasting it.

1. Choose your spice combination.  I usually start by thinking of a country whose flavors I want to invoke.  For example, if Mexican, I'll use cumin, coriander, garlic and chili powder.  If French, it becomes herbes de Provence mixed with honey and dijon.  If Chinese, maybe five spice powder.  This time, I used marjoram, thyme, oregano, basil, dijon mustard, and honey.

2. Mix the spices together using olive oil.

3. After washing the chicken and removing the innards (and setting them aside for later use in a broth), dry the chicken with paper towels.

4. Run your finger between the skin and the meat on the breast side, and then again on the thighs and legs.

5. Into this opening, rub your spice mix.

6. Rub the remaining amount on top of the chicken.

Basting a chicken

Put the chicken breast side down in a roasting pan.  Set the oven to 450 degrees (it should be preheated).  Roast the chicken for 15 minutes.  Then turn the oven down to 375 degrees.  Roast another 20 minutes.  At this point, take it out of the oven and baste it.  Do this by taking a brush, pick up the juices in the bottom of the pan, and rub the juice-filled brush over the chicken's skin.

Put it back in the oven for another 20 minutes.  Baste it again, and now turn it over so it is breast side UP.  Roast it for another 20 minutes, keeping an eye on it near the end to make sure it doesn't get overdone or underdone.

After the initial blast of 450 degree heat, put your bakers in the oven along with the chicken so they can roast for an hour.  They should then be done right at the same time.

Let the chicken rest for 10 minutes or so.  Some say to let it rest longer, but we can never wait any longer because it smells so darn good.  Then carve off your favorite parts, put your favorite things on your spud, and enjoy it all while it's good and hot. I love butter, cheddar, chives from our garden, and sour cream on mine.

While the chicken and potatoes were in the oven, you should've had time to put together a nice salad with your favorite things.  In a later post, I'll talk about salad dressings you can make from scratch for pennies, compared to store-bought versions.  And they're very fast too.  I can do it in 2 minutes!  And no chemicals to worry about.

Coming later: what to do with your leftover chicken meat, as well as the bones and those innards you removed when washing the chicken!  Yes indeed, SAVE THE BONES!  Keep them in the freezer to be put to good use later.

Be sure to let me know if you try this, and how you enjoyed the results!

Manya Vee
manyaveeselects.com