The Philosophy of Food, Issue #005: Two-For Tuesday

The main fare today will be last night's dinner.  I didn't post last night because, well, I was busy watching Stargate SG-1 on Hulu.  I know the blog isn't on a set schedule or anything, but I still feel bad for delaying, so I'm going to toss in a little something extra or picayune as they call it in Louisiana.

Dish One: Chicken-Andouille Dish with White Wine

The Ingredients

-1 chicken breast, cut into bite-size pieces.

-1 brat-sized andouille sausage, chopped into tiny pieces.

-1 Idaho potato, cubed.

-1/4 to 1/2 yellow onion, chopped.

-2 cloves garlic, chopped.

-Tony Chacherie's spicy creole seasoning.

-Oliver Winery Gewurtztraminer (white wine).

-extra virgin olive oil.

The Process

Here's how it looks once all the ingredients are added to the pan.  Hopefully this gives some insight into exactly how much white wine I used.

The frying pan I use did not come with a lid.  Thankfully, the lid to my stew pot fits on it snugly.

Once it looks like this, it's done.  Actually, this might be a little drier than I usually finish at.  Oh!  If you don't feel that it's cooked enough at this point, just add more wine and cover it again.

Grease a frying pan with the extra virgin olive oil.  I use an olive oil mister for this.  Toss in the chicken, andouille, onions, potato, garlic, and seasoning.  Add a few dashes of white wine.  Maybe 1/4 to 1/3 cup (I don't measure).  Cover and cook until the liquid mostly cooks off, checking and moving around the food every couple minutes so it all cooks evenly.

The Results

A theme I'm noticing in my cooking: it doesn't present well visually, but boy is it tasty!

I'm not going to lie.  I prefer this sort of dish with beer rather than wine (a brown ale or a Munich-style lager work fabulously.  White wine does produce a taste that others might very well prefer.  I feel that it leaves less behind in the dish than beer, giving the dish a taste that I characterize as 'cleaner.'  The creole seasoning and the andouille spiciness also comes out a little bit more.  The particular type of white I used, Gewurtztraminer, did leave a little something of itself in the onions: a little sweetness that I think complimented the andouille very well.  Sauvignon Blanc doesn't have this effect, which may or may not be preferable in your own kitchen.

One last thing before we move on to our picayune.  Is there a culinary term for this sort of meat-and-potato dish?

Dish Two: Apple Smoked Cheddar Omelet

The Ingredients

-2 slices of bacon.

-2 eggs.

-Shredded Apple Smoked Cheddar.

The Process

Fry up the bacon in a frying pan.  Cook it to whatever crispiness you prefer and pour off most of the excess grease.  Add the eggs, which you should have scrambled/mixed up/whatever, then add the cheese.  Wait until the bottom layer of the egg is fairly solid then fold it over into a half-moon shape.  Continue to cook until done.  I'm honestly not sure on timing. . . I just sort of know when it's done.  If  raw egg is running out onto the pan, you should probably keep cooking.  If melted cheese is running out onto the pan, you might be done.  Serve on a plate with your bacon.

The Results

Taken a moment before the bacon committed suicide. . . took a leap off my plate :(

Hm.  Not the most exciting dish I've made, but it wasn't bad either.  I might add some chopped onions and creole seasoning to the mix, or crumble the bacon and add it straight into the omelet.  To be honest, this was my first attempt at an omelet in a long time, so I'm just glad it came out at all.