Chicken in Porter Beer, Mount Vernon Style
6/27/20066 chicken breast halves, boneless and skinless
4 cups porter beer
1/2 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons garlic, chopped
6 shallots, chopped
4 teaspoons herbal rub
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 cups all-purpose flour
4 eggs, lightly beaten
4 cups plain dry bread crumbs
4 tablespoons butter
9 ounces lump crab meat
2 cups Berniase sauce (or use Knorr SHollandaise Sauce Mix)
Pound chicken breasts to even thickness. In large shallow dish, place chicken. Add beer, olive oil, garlic, shallots, and herbal rub; cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Remove chicken from marinade; pat dry with paper towels. Discard marinade. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper.
Place flour in large shallow dish or on dinner plate; dredge chicken in flour and shake off excess flour. Dip each chicken breast in egg, then coat both sides of each chicken breast with bread crumbs.
In large skillet over medium heat, melt butter. Add chicken and cook, turning once, 4 to 5 minutes per side, until golden brown and cooked throughout. Remove chicken from skillet and reserve.
To serve, top each chicken breast with 1 1/2 ounces lump crab meat and with Bernaise sauce.
Yield: 6 servings
Source: Chef Walter Staib of City Tavern
6 cups water
2 cups regular pearl barley
1 teaspoon salt
1 medium shallot, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1/8 teaspoon curry powder
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
In a large saucepan, combine the water, barley, and 1 teaspoon salt and bring to a boil over high heat. Cook 25 minutes until al dente. Drain barley in a colander and reserve. In the same saucepan, saute shallot and garlic in butter over medium heat for 2 minutes, until golden. Stir in the reserved barley, parsley, and curry powder. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Transfer to a serving dish and serve hot.
Yield: 4 servings
Source: City Tavern Cookbook
8 kielbasa (about 2 pounds), any garlic-style sausage, or duck
sausage (but not Italian sausage)
2 large yellow onions, thinly sliced
2 medium shallots, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 cups dark ale
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 cup beef broth
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. With a small paring knife, make shallow diagonal cuts in the sausage. Place the sausage in a shallow baking pan and bake 5 minutes, until brown. Remove from oven and reserve. In a large skillet, cook onions, shallots, and garlic in butter over high heat for 3 minutes, until golden. Add the precooked kielbasa.
Add the ale to deglaze the pan, loosening any browned bits on the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Cook over medium heat for 10 minutes until ale is reduced so it just coats the bottom of the pan. Transfer the sausage to a serving platter and keep warm.
Increase heat to high and stir the broth and mustard into the onion mixture. Cook 5 to 8 minutes until mixture is reduced by half. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Spoon onion mixture over sausage and serve, with sauerkraut if desired. Serve on buns if desired.
Yield: 4 to 8 servings
Source: Adapted from City Tavern Cookbook
For the chocolate cake:
2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 pound unsalted butter, soft but still cool
4 large eggs, room temperature
5 cups cake flour, sifted
1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch- processed cocoa powder, sifted
2 tablespoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup whole milk
For the chocolate mousse:
4 ounces semisweet chocolate
4 large pasteurized eggs, separated
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
For the chocolate ganache:
1 pint heavy cream
24 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
4 tablespoons soft butter
Cook's note: At City Tavern, the Chocolate Mousse Cake was served as mousse between two layers. This recipe from the cookbook says to slice the layers in half horizontally so there are four layers of cake and three layers of mousse. Either way works.
To prepare the chocolate cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray two 9 or 10-inch round or springform cake pans with vegetable cooking spray and line bottoms with parchment paper circles. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream sugar and butter on medium high to light and fluffy, scraping the side of bowl often.
Add eggs slowly, scraping bowl often. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Add to the butter-sugar mixture alternating with the milk. Divide the batter between two prepared pans (don't overfill; bake any excess batter as cupcakes or a small cake). Bake 30 to 35 minutes until firm to the touch, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool cakes in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes. Remove cakes from pans and completely cool.
To prepare the chocolate mousse: Place water in bottom pan of a double boiler so that the top of the water is 1/2 inch below the upper pan. Place the chocolate squares in the upper pan. Then place the double boiler over the low heat. Stir the chocolate constantly until it is melted. The water in the bottom of the double boiler should not come to boiling while the chocolate is melting. Remove melted chocolate from heat. Add pasteurized egg yolks and beat well. Set aside to cool.
In a chilled bowl of an electric mixer with chilled beaters, beat the 1/2 cup of heavy cream on low to medium until soft peaks form. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled. In a separate clean and dry bowl of an electric mixer, whip the egg whites until they begin to foam, slowly add the 1/2 cup sugar, and whip to medium stiff peaks. Gently fold the chilled whipped cream into the chocolate mixture until the cream is just combined into the mixture. Do not overfold. Gently fold the reserved whites into the chocolate until just combined. Cover the mixture with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before using.
To make the ganache: In a heavy 1-quart saucepan, bring 2 cups heavy cream and soft butter just to a boil, stirring frequently. Remove saucepan from heat. In a large bowl, place chocolate chips. Pour hot cream over chocolate and let set 1 minute. Whisk to thoroughly combine ingredients and allow to cool. When mixture is room temperature, cover with plastic and refrigerate until 1 hour before ready to use.
To assemble the cake: When the cake has cooled completely, using a serrated knife, carefully cut each cake in half horizontally to make a total of 4 layers, 2 per cake. To assemble, place first cake layer on large serving plate. Alternate cake layers and mousse filling, spreading mousse evenly onto each cake layer. Frost the outside of the cake with Chocolate Ganache. Refrigerate cake until ready to serve.
Yield: 10 to 12 servings
Source: City Tavern Cookbook