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'Tis the season when magazines are chock full of time consuming holiday menus: "on Day Minus Seven, soak the currants in the Armagnac" and such. This gives me the willies, and I get in the mood to make dinner faster than ever.
At my house, every day dinner preparation takes about 50 minutes. This month, I have selected recipes that are quite faster than that.
In dinner preparation, as in everything else, speed results from good planning. Be sure to have your ingredients on hand. Have an idea of the sequence of events: start the rice first for instance.
Also, remember the part that cleanup represents in your schedule. Everyone thinks that stir fry is fast. Sure it is, if you don't count the half hour of chopping beforehand and the half hour of wiping the kitchen walls around the range afterward.
In many American homes today, the kitchen occupies a central position from which you can help with homework, check your e-mail while the onions are browning etc... So, no matter how fast tonight's dinner recipe is, you don't have to waste any time.
I have selected a chicken in a simple sour cream and paprika sauce, an oriental shrimp, and two elegant desserts that take minutes to prepare.
SUPRÊME DE VOLAILLE À LA HONGROISE (serves 3-4)
1 1/2 lb Boneless CHICKEN BREASTS, cubed
2 tablespoons OIL
1/2 teaspoon SALT
1/4 teaspoon BLACK PEPPER
1 bunch SCALLIONS/GREEN ONIONS, sliced
1/2 lb MUSHROOMS, washed and sliced
1 tablespoon FLOUR
1 tablespoon PAPRIKA
1/2 teaspoon THYME LEAVES
1 cup CANNED CHICKEN BROTH
1 tablespoon TOMATO PASTE, more if you wish
1/4 cup SOUR CREAM
1 lb CAPELLINI or SPAGHETTI
Bring your pasta water to a boil with salt while you prepare the chicken.
Heat the oil in a non stick frying pan. Sear the chicken pieces a bit on medium high heat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. After a couple of minutes, add the mushroom and the green onion. Toss well. After a couple of more minutes, add the flour, the paprika and the thyme, and toss well until absorbed and a little bit browned. Add the broth and stir until bubbly. Reduce fire to simmer the sauce.
Throw your pasta in the water.
Add the sour cream and the tomato paste to the sauce and help combine until smooth. Taste the sauce and adjust the salt. Add a dash of cayenne if you wish.
Serve the chicken on a bed of lightly buttered noodles.
DRAGON SHRIMP (serves 4)
2 tablespoons SHERRY
3 tablespoons SOY SAUCE (pref. not Kikkoman)
2 tablespoons SUGAR
1 tablespoon RED WINE VINEGAR
28 to 40 SHRIMP
3 tablespoon OIL
1 tablespoon GRATED FRESH GINGER
1 bunch SCALLIONS/GREEN ONIONS, sliced thinly
Prepare some rice . Get everything else ready, for the cooking itself will be very quick. Mix the sherry, soy, sugar and vinegar in a little cup.
When there is only 5 minutes left on your rice timer, heat the oil in a non stick frying pan. Fry your ginger and scallion for about 30 seconds on medium high heat. Add the shrimp and stir fry until three quarter done. Add your cup of sauce and stir fry a bit longer, until barely done and a bit caramelized.
POTS DE CRÈME AU CHOCOLAT (makes 5 or 6)
You need teeny tiny little espresso cups called demi-tasse.
Very quick, but needs some time to set. Make it in the morning before going to work.
4 ounces SEMI SWEET CHOCOLATE CHIPS (=2/3 cup Nestlé Chips)
1 cup HEAVY CREAM
2 EGGS On medium heat, stir the cream and the chocolate in a saucepan.
Whisk eggs very well in a bowl.
When chocolate cream gets close to boiling, stir or whisk nonstop. Reduce fire when boiling and stir or whisk for 3 minutes. Right away, whisk the hot chocolate cream into the eggs in a thin stream. Pour into something from which you will pour comfortably: a 2-cup measuring cup or a gravy boat. Scrape every drop with a rubber spatula. Pour neatly into the demi-tasses. Chill.
BANANES FLAMBÉES (4 servings)
4 BANANAS
2 tablespoons BUTTER
1/4 cup BROWN SUGAR
1 finely grated ORANGE ZEST
1/4 cup ORANGE JUICE
1/4 cup GRAND MARNIER (optional) Have everything on hand, but don't start preparing until dessert time.
In a non stick frying pan, on medium high heat, combine the butter, the brown sugar and the orange zest. Gently place the peeled bananas in the bubbly sauce. After about two minutes, flip the bananas delicately. Add the juice. When the sauce has thickened again, pour in the optional liqueur and set afire with a wooden skewer. Of course, if you skip the liqueur, you don't need to set the sauce aflame. Serve right away, without burning yourself with the sauce. Vanilla ice cream complements this dessert most suitably.
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