An Itinerant Seller of Pigeons

4 skinless & boneless chicken thigh fillets
spring onions, sliced into 3cm/1.5 inches batons
skewers

For the Yakitori Sauce
75ml Japanese Soy Sauce
60ml Sake
15ml Mirin
1 tablespoon caster sugar

To make the Yakitori Sauce:
In a small saucepan add the Soy, Sake, Mirin and caster sugar - stir and slowly bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes until the sauce thickens.

Prepare the Chicken:
Trim the chicken of any excess and then cut into bite sized cubes. I tend to cut each thigh fillet into thirds and then slice that into thirds again. Naturally, this does depend on the size of the thigh fillet.

To make the skewers:
If you use bamboo skewers make sure you have soaked them first to stop them from burning.

Thread alternately with chicken and spring onion baton - don’t put too much on each skewer, 4 pieces of chicken and 3 spring onion batons should be enough for each skewer.

If you are doing this as finger food, then just use one piece each of chicken and spring onion.

To Cook:
You can do this on a grill or in a frypan - choice is yours.

Brush the yakitori sauce over the prepared skewers before placing them (sauce side down) on the heated grill/frypan. Brush the topside of each skewer before turning. Continue brushing and turning until the chicken is cooked and nicely browned. The sugar in the sauce will result in that lovely caramelised effect.

Shamelessly stolen from: http://cookalmostanything.blogspot.com (It’s a good recipe. I think the sugar needs to be doubled in the sauce though.)

15ml shallots

5ml garlic

4oz vermouth

400ml cream

15ml butter

4 21/25 prawns raw peeled devained tail on

4 20/30 scallops, abductor muscle removed

4oz baby shrimp meat

10ml terragon

Saute garlic, shallots and butter until sweated (no color). Deglaze w/ vermouth. Reduce by half. Add cream, reduce by half. Mounter au beurre. Chill, store.

Saute prawns/scallops until 75% cooked. Add baby shrimp and 3.5 oz sauce. Finish w/ terragon when cooked. Serve over puff pastry.

A

1oz Wild mushrooms

10ml minced Garlic

2 minced shallots

B

3 breasts cooked chicken 1/2″ dice

2oz white wine

C

500ml cream

100ml glace de viande

D

1tsp fresh tarragon

Saute A. Add B, reduce au sec. Add C, reduce by half. Add D. Cool, wrap in filo.

A

1 apple, brunoise

1 pear, skinned, brunoise

1 peach, skinned, brunoise

1 tsp butter

2ml nutmeg

3oz goldschlager

B

2ml nutmeg

20g walnuts (powdered)

C

10ml mint

10ml honey

10ml butter

Saute A, add goldschlager after fruit is cooked. Flambe, reduce by half. Remove from heat, chill. Mix B together. Blend C. Wrap A in filo pastry, 4 layers total, spreading B and a generous portion of C between each layer. Finish final layer with a light glaze of C. Freeze or bake immediately.

These got me a really good mark on my final for Culinary arts…

Now, I’ve never been able to make these nearly as good as dad can, but that’s to be expected.

Dad’s “Best in the known universe” chocolate chip cookies

3/4 cup golden crisco
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 tbsp milk
3 tsp vanilla
2+ cups flour (mix until not sticky)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 cups real chocolate chips, the big ones

Cream crisco + brown sugar. Add in eggs, vanilla, milk. Blend. Combine flour, salt, baking soda, until smooth and not sticky. Add chocolate chips.

Makes no more than 24 cookies.

Bake @ 375 for 13 minutes.