Q I am a police chief in a small Midwestern town. My staff and I have an agreement that every time my picture gets in the paper, I keep peace in the office by bringing in food for the whole crew. So far, I've done chili, pizza, lasagna and my specialty -- saffron chicken with noodles. I want to keep them happy but am running out of ideas. Do you have another dish I could do that works in a Crock Pot or in the oven and reheats well?
A I like this approach -- every time you get the glory, the crew gets good eating -- a very smart concept.
What comes to mind is chicken thighs for their price, and how much more forgiving they are of possible overcooking than the far more expensive breasts. A chicken thigh rarely dries out.
But in truth, this recipe is all about the marinade. Lushly sour and tart with lots of fruit and a hearty snap of chiles, marinades like this go with so many foods -- from vegetables to tempeh and tofu, to poultry, pork, beef and especially lamb. You could cook pot roast in this marinade, stew a combination of cabbage, carrots and onions in it, or brush it over roasting potatoes.
Q I live in London, England. I've been reading some good bread-making books by Richard Bertinet but have been stumped by one of the ingredients in most of his recipes: "strong flour." What is "strong flour"?
A Flour is usually labeled by the amount of protein it contains; cake flour has the least; then all-purpose, or plain in England, and finally bread or strong flour with the most protein.
Strong flour is the British term for what we call bread flour in the United States. Bread flour is ground from what are called "hard" wheats, which are high in the protein gluten that is found in wheats. High gluten or protein allows a kneaded dough to be elastic and springy, and to rise with a strong structure that will bake into an evenly textured loaf. To know the protein content of your flour, check the label for the percentage of protein. Compare that to other types of flours. You want the highest protein count.
After much experimentation, my personal preferences for all baking are organic, unbleached flours with few, if any, additives. The milling industry adds substances to artificially age flour (it needs about 10 days after grinding to become usable), to whiten it, to lengthen its shelf life and to increase its nutrition content (often to replace nutrients removed by the milling process). I'd rather have my flour as close to the original wheat kernel with no fooling around.
Lynne Rossetto Kasper hosts "The Splendid Table" radio show from American Public Media, and is co-author of "The Splendid Table's How to Eat Supper." To reach her, see www.splendidtable.org.