Also Sweet

He ordered the Flavour Shaker™ for me, too.

I had been to Jamie Oliver's website looking for the Flavour Shaker™ since it looks so handy in the series but, mysteriously, it doesn't appear to be available there. My Beloved found it on Amazon, however, when he ordered the book.

The little white ceramic ball is surprisingly heavy - no wonder it's good a crushing herbs and spices! I used it yesterday to bash up the rosemary and thyme I spread over my chicken before roasting and I expect it will be wunderbar for making small amounts of vinaigrette, as well as for so many of the recipes in Jamie Oliver's books.

Fun stuff for a foodie's kitchen.

Sweet! From The Sweet

Ever since I learned about Jamie Oliver from a fellow food blogger, My Beloved and I have watched his show and enjoyed it very much. We like how simple yet flavorful his dishes sound and how casual he is about making them.

We chuckle whenever he flips a leftover carrot top over his shoulder into the garden, or refuses to be prayerful about chopping ingredients. While he is clearly a master chef, we like that he doesn't try to sound like one and makes dishes that even I can duplicate with great results.

So, I was tickled pink when My Beloved surprised me by ordering the companion book to the TV series as a surprise present. Sweet! Now, we can delete all those saved shows on the VCR - I used to watch them two or three times and take notes before attempting the dishes. Now, I have the recipes all neatly bound in a lovely book that will shortly be covered with spatters.

Sweet! That man is so sweet!

Pasta for the Pathetic

I learned this little trick from Jamie Oliver - to make meatballs for pasta out of Italian sausage links - and it has saved my bacon several times, most recently now that I have a nasty cold, don't feel much like cooking, and who wants to eat when you can't taste anything, anyway?

My Beloved, that's who. So, I got out a can of tomato sauce, two Italian sausage links, onions, garlic, green onions, mushrooms, shallot, red wine, yadda and made a very quick sauce for cappellini.

You make the meatballs by pulling out of the sausage casings little bite-sized dollops of filling and browning them thoroughly in olive oil before adding the chopped onions, minced garlic, quartered mushrooms to the pan along with whatever herbs you like (I used oregano, rosemary and thyme). Saute those together until you can smell the herbs over the rest, then add the tomato sauce and a cup or so of red wine and simmer until the sauce is as thick as you prefer.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta, drain it and add it to the sauce, tossing it around while still a little wet, so it will absorb all the lovely flavor of the sauce. I dressed the finished dish with slivered green onions for color and a nice grating of fresh Parmesan cheese.

If I hadn't had a head cold and had my wits about me, I'd have added some fresh chopped tomato at the end, just to heat it through and give the dish a freshness but I don't do my best work when my sinuses feel as if they are stuffed with cotton. Pathetic. But, My Beloved didn't think so!

Jamie's Violent Video Chicken

Browsing for ideas on the Interwebs, I came across a fun little video on the NY Times Dining and Wine website of Jamie Oliver bashing the hell out of a chicken breast with the bottom of a frying pan.

Being an Oliver fan and intrigued by his violent attitude toward the seemingly blameless breast, I watched it twice and decided the recipe looked easy enough to try, bashing and all.

Cora ran for cover at the first WHUMP of the frying pan so My Beloved comforted her while I whaled away on the chicken. I can't find a link for the recipe any longer, but here's what Jamie did:

Bashed Chicken Parmesan (My title, not his)

Sprinkle a chicken breast with fresh, chopped rosemary, thyme and s&p to taste. Sprinkle with lemon zest to taste. Cover the breast with a generous handful of freshly grated Parmesan cheese, then lay a thin slice of prosciutto or Parma ham over it. Wrap the dressed breast between two sheets of plastic wrap and pound it with the bottom of a frying pan (I suppose you could use a meat mallet, but where's the fun in that?) until it is about 1/2 inch thick. This procedure sticks the cheese and herbs to the meat as well as flattening the breast so it cooks evenly.

Saute in olive oil for just a few minutes per side to keep it moist, drizzle with balsamic vinegar or fresh lemon juice and serve. A good-sized breast will feed two people.

This would be a good meal to make when you've had a frustrating day at work and a snarly commute. Bashing the chicken could save your sanity and the resulting delicious flavors will restore your sense of well-being.

Jamie's Chicken Caesar

In case you missed the Jamie at Home show where he made this dish, I wanted to bring it to your attention. It is one of the three or four most delicious things we ate this summer.

It's the best Chicken Caesar salad you are likely to find.

Start by tearing up bread into bite-size chunks (Jamie used ciabatta - we've used leftover sourdough baguette), enough to cover the bottom of a roasting pan. Lay a single layer of whole chicken legs with thighs attached, skin side up, over the bread pieces. Lay strips of bacon across the legs and slide the whole thing into a 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes to 1 hour. When the thickest part of the thighs are pierced, the juice should run clear.

While the chicken and bread are roasting, prepare a Caesar dressing and wash the light green Romaine lettuce leaves. I deleted the show by mistake before I could write down his dressing so I made one from (my sometimes very faulty) memory. I crushed one big clove of garlic and mashed up one small anchovy with the back of a spoon (you can use a small sardine in lieu of the anchovy if you truly hate anchovies) mixing them in a small bowl until the garlic and anchovy are one rather divinely smelly paste. I added the juice of one half a large lemon and about a tablespoon of mayo, mixing all together. This makes about the right amount for two plates of the salad.

When the chicken comes out and is still hot, separate the meat from the bones. Dress the plate by adding a layer of the (now crunchy and deliciously chicken-y) bread, then a layer of chicken meat, then the salad on top, tossed with the dressing before mounding. Sometimes the bacon gets too well done to enjoy but if it's still good, you can crumble it over the salad or simply lay the strips on top. Grate a little good aged Parmesan cheese over the whole lovely pile and you've got a meal fit for the proverbial king - or emperor!

Jamie's Fans

We are Jamie Oliver fans - even My Beloved will watch his show on the food channel with evident pleasure and we have set the VCR to record "Jamie at Home" so we won't miss a single show. We like his insouciant attitude toward cooking while he produces dishes that make our mouths water and wish for smellivision.

On a recent program about peas and broad beans, he made a spaghetti sauce using the contents of Italian sausages squeezed out of their casings for the meatballs and sprinkled the top of the finished dish with fresh, raw green peas, a brilliant (Jamie's favorite word) idea to give lively flavor and crunch to the dish.

When I made it a few days later, I added some homegrown Swiss chard to the sauce, which was a nice addition, but I didn't have any fresh peas on hand. I did have a small handful of snappingly fresh tiny green beans from my garden, so I cut them up and sprinkled them on top. They added color, crunch and a wonderful fresh greenness to the dish, confirming our admiration for Mr. Oliver's ideas.