![Lemon Chicken Paillard]()
by Yvonne Maffei | Jun 23, 2017 | Chicken, French, Poultry Dishes
Paillard is a French culinary term thinly sliced or pounded meat, which is easier to cook and has quicker cooking times as a result of that.
I love pillared and actually do it to beef as well, but this chicken dish has a special place in my heart because of all my favorite flavors in it: sea salt, olive oil, lemon, fresh herbs like oregano and thyme.
I start out with some beautiful boneless, skinless raw chicken like breast meat chicken tenders, which you can get from Billy Doe Meats (everything is Halal).
Then, I wrap it in plastic wrap and use something heavy like a mallet or even my cast iron pan to pound the meat thin.
Once that’s done, I prepare the pan. I use a cast iron pan, but you can use any skillet. My secret to the chicken never sticking is to salt the bottom of the pan then add the frying oil. I season the chicken, too, but am careful with the salt because there will be plenty of salt in the pan. 
I cook it for about 5 minutes on one side and never move it until it’s ready. You can tell by looking at the edges of the meat, which starts to pull away from the pan. Flip the meat over, then add the lemon slices and fresh herbs on top. Let it cook for another 3-5 minutes, depending on the size of the pieces, then move to a paper-towel lined plate to soak up any excess oil.
I like to add a few more cut fresh herbs on top for flavor, but what I also love about this dish is that you can lift the meat from the pan and still have the lemons and fresh herbs on top looking untouched, so the presentation is pretty- and all the flavor has been cooked into the meat so nicely. It’s just one of the easiest and quickest things you can do to put a great meal on the table- a side of rice, couscous or pasta would all be fantastic, although even a little rustic bread would be lovely, too. It doesn’t get much simpler or easier than that, particularly for the last Iftar of Ramadan.
[yumprint-recipe id=’111′] ![French Onion Soup with a Halal Substitute for Red Wine]()
by Yvonne Maffei | Feb 20, 2014 | French, Halal Substitutes, Soups
, I’ve also always loved the very classic French Onion Soup, or “Soupe a l’Oignon”, as the French say it. My mom made it at home a couple times but we mostly enjoyed it at some of the restaurants where I grew up eating out with my parents.
When I began to eat a Halal diet I experimented with a variety of quality grape juices that would be a suitable alternative for the red wine used in the traditional recipe. What I have found so far is that a high quality grape juice not-from-concentrate that has a dark color and sweet taste works best for this dish—and there’s no need to miss the wine. The grape flavor is present, but none of the alcohol is.
There are people who will inevitably ask about the alcohol burn-off rate during cooking. What I have found is that most scientists will agree that alcohol never completely burns off during the cooking process, which is why I choose not to start with alcohol at all, especially since I wouldn’t buy it to begin with and keep it in my house for any particular reason. Therefore, it’s also a great recipe for people who are struggling with addiction and desire to keep away from alcohol in all forms.
One other note: many chefs disregard the idea of substituting wine with juice because they say it’ll make a dish too sweet. Their answer is often to just leave out the wine and/or add chicken broth or water. I believe all these suggestions overlook the idea of the flavor profile we’re after here- in this case, it’s the grape- completely halal in it’s original state, so that’s what I’m after here. Of course if you’d rather not use the juice, that’s fine, too. In my opinion, it’s a lot more fun to cook and taste in the end by doing it with my recipe tweaks here.
Here are some of the basic ingredients I used in the dish: yellow onions (of course) because they cook more softly than white or red onions, concord grape juice (make sure it is gelatin-free), and whole wheat flour.
If you only have all-purpose flour, just use that. You’ll also need butter, olive oil, salt and pepper.
And French bread and gruyére cheese for the top of the soup- that makes ALL the difference, so please don’t skip that step!
The onions need to be slowly cooked for at least 20 minutes. Some classic recipes go even longer than this, but for the amount of onions I’ve included here, that just isn’t necessary.
You have to keep an eye on them carefully so they don’t burn. Once you add the flour, you can add a little of the juice to give it some moisture and allow the smooth blending and incorporation to take place. Essentially, you are making a roux to create thickness in the soup.
Next, you’ll add the concord grape juice. Another note about the juice. Apple juice will not be a good substitute for the grape juice here, and I don’t like it with white grape juice but that is closer than apple.
It looks quite deep in color, but the final result will not be so bright, so don’t worry. Besides, it’s only 1/2 cup of juice.
Next is the beef broth or water if you don’t have that. Lamb broth is too strong for this soup and chicken is too light and changes the flavor, in my opinion, which is why I prefer the alternatives. Beef broth is nice and rich and adds just the right depth of flavor in combination with the other ingredients.
You’ll let that cook for about 15-20 minutes. In the last few minutes, cut your bread fairly thick (1 inch is good) and put the bread under the broiler or in a toaster oven with a couple tablespoons of grated gruyére cheese on top. I don’t like my cheese cooked so much to the point of almost burning it, but if you like it that way, just keep an eye on the toasted bread and cheese and bake/broil it a little longer than I did.
Ladle the soup into bowls and place two pieces of bread into each bowl. Guests can ladle the soup over the bread or eat separately, but most people like to submerge the bread deep into the soup and break up the bread with a spoon, eating it all together.
Oh, yum, yum, yum. I may just have to make this again really soon before spring is here again and I have no excuse to warm up to a nice bowl of piping hot onion soup like this.
Enjoy- Bismillah and Bon Appetit!
For more information about halal substitutes in cooking, see my chart here.
wordpress-523174-1665548.cloudwaysapps.com/substitutes-for-alcohol-in-cookingFor more information about halal cheese, see my post here.
To get a copy of the My Halal Kitchen cookbook where you’ll find this recipe and a list of halal food resources, click on the banner below or go to Book Depository where you can also get the book shipped for free globally.
[yumprint-recipe id=’8′]
![Salmon Baked in Papillote with Dill & Thyme]()
by Yvonne Maffei | Feb 24, 2013 | American, Cooking Techniques & Kitchen Tips, Fish & Seafood, French, Recipes, Scandinavian
Salmon is one of the easiest types of fish to make on a regular basis. It’s thick texture stays together nicely when cooking, so whether you’re frying, grilling or baking it, it tends to stay together really well. This is great news for novice cooks or those who are a little intimidated to cook fish at all. And winter is a great time to have salmon because it’s super high in Vitamin D.
If you watch enough of the news or programs like the Dr. Oz Show, you’ve probably already seen recent reports that so many people are low in the ever important Vitamin D that protects our bodies and our immune systems from all types of diseases. (more…)
![Super Quick Cherry Galette]()
by Yvonne Maffei | Oct 29, 2011 | American, Dessert, French, Recipes, Summer
Let’s face it- we’re all busy. We want to eat healthy and watch the ingredients in our food products for safety and for their halal factor, but it isn’t always possible to do absolutely everything from scratch, nor is it practical for most people. I’ll be the first one to say that it used to be a huge stress on my mind to want so much to make pleasing baked goods for family gatherings or visits to friends’ homes, but no time to do it. It helps to know that there are more and more wonderful vendors of great, high-quality products that meet halal standards which help us put together a nice, somewhat homemade gift or simply a treat for yourself at home.
I love this super quick cherry galette recipe because I’m tied to the memory of buying the cherries on a wonderful weekend getaway to Door County, Wisconsin. Fresh cherry season was over, but it seemed as though the entire county got busy dried and preserving these bursting red, tart cherries. I checked around to a lot of the local shops to see which one had the least amount of extra ingredients and make sure that fruit pectin was used before buying a jar of preserved cherries. My thoughts were that someday down the line this Fall, I would love to warm up the house with a cherry pie or galette, even if I had to purchase a good quality pie crust, even though I normally make my own.
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![French Beans with Garlic, Cumin and Toasted Sesame]()
by Yvonne Maffei | Oct 14, 2011 | Asian, French, Gluten-Free, Recipes, Side Dishes, Summer, Vegetarian
French green beans are one of my favorite side dishes. They’re light, go well with most foods and make me feel content that I’m getting a healthy vegetable on my plate. I usually make them Italian style with garlic, tomatoes and olive oil, but this time I opted to satisfy my craving for something Asian.
I had some lovely fresh garlic, sesame seeds that were already toasted, ground cumin, and plenty of good toasted sesame oil. Other than the beans, this is all you really need to make the dish. I think a bit of fresh ginger would be nice, too.
It’s a super-quick side dish to any meal and perfect for late weeknights when you’re in the mood to smell wonderful scents coming from you kitchen. It’s good relaxation cooking.
Here’s what you’ll need to get there:
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![Chicken Bouillabaisse]()
by Yvonne Maffei | Aug 22, 2009 | French, Poultry Dishes, Recipes, Stews & Curries
Those of you who know me well enough know that my favorite cooking mentor is Julia Child–and it’s not because of the book or movie, Julie & Julia (though I really enjoyed both).
Around this time last year I completely absorbed myself in The French Chef videos, those early years where Julia Child enlightened the American housewife about how to cook French food. I was enamored with her from the first moment–and it was literally the first time I’d ever really watched her instructional videos. She was serious about food but could also laugh at herself. She knew how to teach, how to encourage someone to attempt difficult and multi-step dishes, even those with funny French names.
For an entire month I watched every single video where Julia taught me how to make gateaus, wrap roasts properly with twine or perfectly blanch fresh green beans. Her scientific approach to cooking didn’t sound so scientific and those black and white videos of the food she prepared really made me want to jump right into the kitchen to satisfy my rumbling tummy. This show soon became my obsession as I couldn’t sleep until I saw every.single.episode.ever.
Fast forward to the present and my own copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. 1 (which I bought just before hearing about the Julie/Julia Project) is my most prized possession in my library of cookbooks. I don’t even want to cook around it for fear of splattering it with the orange sauce from the Duck a’la Orange dish or all that heavy cream used in Gratine Dauphinoise. I may cook well, but I’m not so neat…
Mastering the Art of French Cooking isn’t the only good cookbook Julia ever wrote, although it is a culinary masterpiece, no doubt. My own bad timing in ‘finding’ Julia is that now because of the movie probably all her cookbooks will be expensive and unaffordable. This Spring I was lucky, however, to snatch away one book people probably just overlooked at a recent booksale: Julia Child & Company. It contains many recipes for whole menus of appetizers to salads to whole roasted meats. She explains how to buy certain cuts of meat and then how to prepare them for a crowd. From this book, I chose our first iftar (meal to break the fast) to be the Chicken Bouillabaisse.
I’ve made some changes to the original recipe. For example, it calls for enough ingredients to serve 6 people, but I halved it to serve 3. Some ingredients I didn’t have on hand so I chose my own substitutes. I also substituted white grape juice for the vermouth (alcohol). It also calls for serving this dish with Rouille, a type of sauce. For the sake of saving time I didn’t make this addition and the result was still absolutely delicious.
So, the recipe below is my own version, although you could find the original on pages 41-42 of Julia Child and Company by Julia Child. Published by Alfred A. Knopf. 1979. New York.
Chicken Bouillabaisse
Directions
2 Tb. olive oil
1 chicken fryer, about 3.5 pounds, cut up into 8-16 pieces
1 cup white onion, thinly sliced
2-4 garlic cloves, peeled and left whole
2 bay leaves, crushed
4 large tomatoes, quartered
1 tsp. ground fennel
1 tsp. french tarragon 1/2 tsp. thyme
large pinch saffron threads, optional
2 two-inch strips dried orange peel, optional
salt, to taste
ground black pepper, to taste
1 Tb. tomato paste
2 Tb. water
1 cup white grape juice or apple juice (must be 100% juice of a high quality)
Directions
- Clean and pat dry all of the chicken pieces. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven.
Add chicken and sauté over medium heat, approximately 10 minutes. Turn pieces several times during this process so as not to allow the chicken to brown too much.
While the chicken is cooking, prep the onions. Once the chicken appears stiffened, remove it from pan. Add the onions to the heated oil and saute for about 5 minutes.
During this time, prep the tomatoes and garlic.
Add the tomatoes and garilic to the onions. Saute for about 1 minute.
Add fennel, tarragon, thyme and any other herbs or seasonings you want to add.
Salt and pepper the chicken on both sides and add back to the pan, covering with all of the vegetables. Add tomato paste and water and blend well. On medium heat, uncovered, cook the chicken on each side for 5 minutes.
*At this point you could allow the dish to cool, then cover and refrigerate if you would like to finish it off later on in the day or the following day. Just bring to a simmer again, covered, before proceeding.*
An hour before you’d like to serve the dish, add the grape juice. Mix well, then cover and allow to simmer for one hour.
Mixture should be a good consistency- not too thick, but thin enough to serve in a soup bowl. Top with chopped fresh parsely and serve with a rustic Italian, French or pita bread for dipping. Or, serve with a side of white rice or couscous.
Bismillah and Buon Appetito!
