Harry's at Home: Chicken Di Giorgio

UPDATE:  Harry's Deli closed until further notice--thoughts and prayers go out to them.

There's a little joint in the sunny OC city of Irvine a little ways from John Wayne Airport that's kind of dear to my heart.  Of course, I join legions of fans in this respect.  People love Harry's Deli, and people love Harry.  Harry loves us all back--we know this because that's his secret ingredient.

Lurve.

Harry's Deli is home to the Chicken Di Giorgio, a chicken sandwich with the greatest flavor profile known to existence, probably.  Behind every great sandwich is a great story-Harry named this sandwich after a former coworker he had a crush on.  I imagine Ms. Di Giorgio to be a lovely Italian woman comparable to Sophia Loren, but apparently she is nearly impossible to track down (even with the advent of Facebook.  Seriously now.)  But perhaps that's just as well, she remains the stuff of legend as the Chicken Di is the stuff of legend.  And besides, Harry is happily married to the sweetest woman ever: Mercy.  But Chicken Mercy just doesn't have the same ring to it.

As life would have it, I no longer live in close vicinity.  Harry's doesn't yet do overnight express nor do I have the disposable income to travel the 400 miles whenever I wish in order to get my fix, so here it is:

Chicken Di Giorgio, modified.  Disclaimer: Not the same.  Not nearly the same.  This is like a teaser trailer, while Harry's is the full-blown IMAX experience.  Biggest difference: Harry breads his chicken in panko crumbs, I do not.  

Ingredients (for one serving):

• Roma tomato - 1
• Basil (roughly 5 large leaves)
• Mozzarella - the good kind that comes in a ball, if possible--if not, big deli slices.  1 or 2 slices of mozzarella.
• Shallot-half, or the rough equivalent of red onion
• Chicken breast
• Flour
• Olive Oil
• Butter
• Balsamic Vinegar
• Salt and pepper
• Bread of choice, 2 slices.  Harry's uses ciabatta bun, I used sourdough.
• Mayo. I got mine from the store.  Harry hand whips his.  

Prep:

1. Rough dice the tomato, you want somewhat large chunks.  Set aside
2. Stack basil leaves, roll it up into a tight lengthwise cigar, and slice across (chiffonade).  Set aside.
3. Finely dice the shallot or red onion.  Set aside.
4. Clean your cutting board or get a new one-it's time to get nasty with the chicken breast. Butterfly the breast (you might have to YouTube this portion), or at least slice off a filet of the breast so that it's got a large surface area of somewhat even thickness.  Pound it thin with the back of the knife, meat mallet, or other heavy blunt object.  Maybe clean fists.
5. Season each side of the breast with salt and pepper.  Dust it in flour, shaking off the excess. Set aside.

Cook:

1. In a non-stick skillet or cast iron (yay!), drizzle some olive oil into the pan over medium heat.  And since I like to live dangerously and Paula Deen speaks truth, throw in bit of butter in there too.  This serves the dual purpose of browning the meat and raising the smoking point of the olive oil, keeping the cooking fats from scorching.  You definitely want the pan to be hot hot hot for this next part...
2. Lay down the law.  I mean, the meat.  Should sizzle the moment it hits the pan.  Leave it alone.
3. This is the right time to get that bread toasted.  Give it a light toast, just enough to give it holding power--it has to go back into the oven later on...
4. Cook the other side of the chicken.  The flour coating and the olive oil+butter should keep the breast nice and moist.
5. Once the chicken is just cooked through, set it aside under foil to keep warm and let it rest.
6. Wipe off that pan, add a drizzle of olive oil.
7. Add shallots and basil only.  Let it sweat a bit, until shallots are almost translucent.
8. Once translucent, turn up the heat, and throw in the tomatoes.  Saute quickly over the high heat.  Season with a little salt and pepper, and a dash of balsamic vinegar.  Turn off the heat when tomatoes begin to soften, but have not lost their shape.
9. Don't forget about your toast.

Assembly:

1. Bottom toast, spread with mayo.
2. Chicken next.
3. Top with the tomato-shallot-basil mixture.
4. Lay some slices of mozzarella on top of that, and broil until cheese has melted and is bubbly.
5. Top with the other toast, also spread with mayo.
6. Cut diagonally.

Festively Italian, classic Caprese components and flavors.  Probably not all that convenient to make just one, but this is a sandwich that can be scaled for more people. But as Harry's will attest, good food just can't be mass produced...

Double disclaimer: My sincerest thanks to the Deli for being so good to me during my college years!  I had a lot of fun working there.

Clif Family Wine

From the makers of the Clif Bar -- Clif Family Wine: THE CLIMBER!

Because the jump from nutrition+energy bars to wine is the next logical step.

But all joking aside, I get it.  Power up by day...mellow out by night.  Or whenever.  I heard drunk climbing can be fun (and also extremely dangerous, this is NOT an endorsement of such activity!)

No rocks around here, but a 'bon voyage/suck it you're a wage slave now' gift from the very best (or worst? If they insist on keeping your glass full?) of drinking buddies.

Cheers!  Ignore the random apple in the background.

Let me point out the truly wonderful design features of the wine-in-a-bag:

1. The bag is made out of insulated material.  Keeps that wine nice and cold when you pull it from the fridge.  Especially for Chardonnay like this variety happens to be, that's a win.
2. It's got handles.  AND COMES WITH A CARABINER...climbers know.  Clip it anywhere.  On your harness even (see note about drinking and climbing).
3. FINALLY...the epic spout/stopper.  It's your own mini Igloo beverage jug.  Doesn't leak, push to pour, no drips.  

But wine in a bag?  Must be terrible. Best white wine I've had in a long, long time.  Seriously.  So good I won't even waste it by cooking with it.

And from now on, all wine should come in such a bag.  This stuff is gold.

Thanks pH!

Going back in time...

Oh, yes.

(although...I'd say skip the macarons.)

Wicked Spoon

The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas

3708 Las Vegas Blvd S

Las Vegas, NV 89109

Merry Christmas!

I'm never quite sure what a traditional Christmas dinner consists of, perhaps a ham or maybe a crisp roast goose?  In any event, this year my family kept it intimate and quiet with a nice three-course meal.

I was originally going to make my purchases at our local Whole Foods market, but the line of cars snaking out of the parking lot and into the next intersection made me change my mind.  So my thanks to Trader Joe's for making this entire meal possible!

Going Clockwise:

Top left, butternut squash soup with butter-crisped sage.  2002 Francisco Cabernet Sauvignon, Trader Joe's Sparkling Chardonnay (non-alcoholic)

Top right, goat cheese potatoes au gratin

Bottom right, rack of lamb with garlic and rosemary rub, arugula salad with light balsamic vinaigrette.

Bottom left, Trader Joe's Chocolate and Pumpkin Mousse Cake (not from scratch)

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas with warm and loving company!

Bad Day - Banana Bread

Today started promisingly enough.  The sky was a perfect, cloudless blue.  I woke up the minute the alarm rang...except at the very exact same moment, so did my cell phone.

Who in the world would call me so early in the morning?  I picked up.

It's my bank.  Alerting me to a $300+ fraudulent credit card charge.

Okay, okay.  That was settled easily enough, and I really was thankful that my bank caught that mishap in time.  Time to get to that job.

Work was fine, up until the moment I clumsily dropped and summarily smashed a glass bottle of soda on the concrete floor.  But that got swept up too, and no one and nothing got hurt.

I thought to myself, Gee, today just really isn't my day.  I'll just go ahead and bake some comfort banana bread...that should set things right.

Believe it or not, this is the most productive way I can think of to soothe myself--any sleepless night, burning nervous energy, I've been known to stay up past midnight whipping up a loaf of banana bread.

A word about this bread: it's pretty simple, but simple doesn't mean easy.  Baking is a hard, hard science and days when you're emotionally compromised and cut corners...well, I found out the hard way today when even my bread didn't turn out as I hoped:

A sad brown loaf.

I'm pretty sure I know what happened, though.  Although I set the temperature and time correctly, I could tell by the lack of 'rise' that there was a fault in the molecular level--i.e., I probably added too much baking soda without really realizing it.  Please, please, please--use a teaspoon.  Don't just assume a 'dash' from the baking soda box is going to be all good--this results in a crusty, slightly bitter exterior.  And it's no good.

On a good day, on the best and most glorious day, the bread could and has looked like this:

Happy, golden loaf.

I'm only human, and I'm here to share my trials and triumphs.

Banana Bread - 1 Medium Loaf -Adapted from an online recipe

• 1 Cup of Sugar
• 1/2 Cup of Softened Butter
• 2 Eggs
• Vanilla
• 2 Cups of All-Purpose Flour
• Pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda
• 3 extremely ripe, nearly black bananas, mashed
• Milled/ground Oat Bran, about a cup, or less

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Generously butter/grease a loaf pan--I used the wax butter wrappers from the sticks of butter I softened.
3. In a large mixing bowl, cream sugar and butter together.  
4. Add one egg at a time and mix.  
5. Add the vanilla and mix.
6. Sift flour, salt, and baking soda; add to the creamed butter/sugar/egg mixture and mix.
7. Add mashed bananas, mix.
8. Add ground oat bran to taste, depending on how much fiber you want.
9. Bake for about an hour, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the loaf comes out with a few crumbs (but not wet).
10. Let cool slightly, and serve warm.

I hope that your banana bread will turn out beautifully moist and golden, as in a 'Good Day Banana Bread'.  Good luck!

Puccini & Pinetti- SF

A nice, relaxing dinner inside a cozy Italian bistro was the perfect foil to the nippy San Francisco air.  Our first course, the antipasto, was a charcuterie plate featuring all sorts of cured meats and delightful pickles.  Served with the bread, the platter was almost a meal in itself, even shared between three people.

Our mains (primo) included a rigatoni bolognaise, linguini con le vongole (clams), and a saffron risotto dish with seared diver scallops.  I believe that the menu changes periodically and features whatever is fresh, so the dishes featured in this post may not be in circulation at this very moment.

The pastas were cooked perfectly al dente--even the risotto maintained that little bite and exhibited the classic semi-loose texture.  My own order was the diver scallop and risotto dish, and I thought the scallops were very nicely done, not at all overcooked.  I just wish there were about 3 more scallops!  Although the plates were rather small, I realize that the portion sizes were most likely dialed down so that the diner might feel more comfortable electing the full, four-course Italian dinner--which in the case, a meat course and a dessert course would follow.  But as I mentioned before, the antipasto course very nearly filled us up so two courses was just perfect.

Puccini & Pinetti
129 Ellis Street
San Francisco, CA 94102

(415) 392-5500

Clams in Mariniere Style

Although typically made with mussels (as in the dish 'Moules Mariniere), I found clams to be a good substitution.  I did not follow a specific recipe, but rather added my own touch with chopped tomatoes and finishing parsley.  The classic elements of the Mariniere style usually include, butter, olive oil, garlic, shallots and white wine.  The steaming mixture creates this wonderful broth that practically begs for a loaf of baguette  in which to soak up the sauce.

 

 

Above, left.  Nothing ruins this dish more than gritty sand inside the shell.  After extensive research, I used the simple, albeit time consuming, cleaning method:

•  Scrub each clam individually to loosen the grit; rinse. If there are broken clams, discard them.  
• Set the clams to soak in a large bowl of cold water to allow it to purge for at least half an hour.  
• Lift each clam out individually into another container, and then dispose the sandy water.
• Before returning to the original container, scrub and rinse again.
• Return to the large bowl, fill that with cold water, and repeat the process.  This took me about 4 rinse cycles, but it depends on how sandy your clams were to begin with and how many pounds of clams you're cleaning.  I had 5 pounds of clams.  
• When it looks like the water is almost clear of grit, lift out the clams and drain.

Above, right.  This is where I deviated a little from a classic Mariniere recipe.  I typically don't cook with actual measured amounts, but I can do my best to approximate.

• In a large stockpot, melt a knob of butter and add a drizzle of olive oil on medium low heat.
• Add chopped/minced aromatics: in this case, 1 shallot and 4 cloves of garlic.
• Once the aromatics are fragrant, add chopped tomatoes to taste.  I added about 2 cups of tomatoes since the amount of clams I had were in a large amount.  Cook the tomatoes until it releases some juices.
• On medium high heat, add half to three-quarters of a bottle of white wine.  I used 'Gato Negro' Chardonnay--any white that doesn't have overwhelming fruit tones should be good.
• Reduce the alcohol until it's half the amount it started with--this process cooks out the alcohol and also thickens the sauce.
• Place clams into the mixture and cover with lid for no more than 8 minutes or until the clams have just opened.  The moment the clams open, add the parsley and stir gently.

Below, left.  During the cook time, prepare the parsley garnish to finish the dish.  The parsley was added last so it would not wilt into the sauce.

Below, right.  Service!  Garnish with more parsley!  I realize I should have chopped the parsley a little more finely and reduced the amount :X  Serve with warmed baguette and slices of lemon to squeeze over the clams.  Enjoy dipping the crusty bread into the broth!

Note:  It is of great importance to use a good quality bread that has the capacity to hold up against a broth.  Baguettes and focaccias seem to work well.  If the bread is too soft (as in a sliced WonderBread or dinner roll), it simply would not hold up to the sauce.