Patti Labelle's Lite Cuisine Page 10
Diet Exchanges: 4 very lean meats, 2 vegetables, 1 fat, or 1 carbohydrate choice
Too many folks for me to count crowding in the dining room after I kicked them out of the kitchen.
Sensational Skewers
Before my sisters got sick, every summer we’d throw a barbecue in Chubby’s backyard and invite everybody we knew. Ask anyone who ever came to one: Those barbecues were all-the-way live. I don’t know which was longer, the guest list or the grocery list, but both were gigantic. We told people to come early (to eat) and stay late (to party). When it came to the menu, moderation was not a concept the Holte sisters were into. The night before the barbecue, none of us slept. We stayed up all night long getting everything ready—marinating this, chopping that, spicing and slicing and dicing enough food to feed the whole neighborhood and half of Philly. Between the four of us, we made so many dishes we had to set up five or six picnic tables just to hold them all. If I close my eyes, I can still see the spread: the chicken and the chops, the collards and the coleslaw, the corn and the casseroles and the cobblers. It wasn’t just a barbecue; it was a banquet.
The whole neighborhood, half of Philly, and yours truly at one of those magical, memory-making barbecues. That’s my son, Zuri, in the foreground. Wasn’t he an adorable little kid?
Every now and then, I’ll run into someone who came to those barbecues, and they always tell me the same thing: Every one of them was an affair to remember. Every one of them was barbecue bliss. And not just because of the food, although if I do say so myself, it was smokin’. Literally and figuratively. While the food was slamming, people still remember those barbecues all these years later because of the feeling in the space, the joy in the place. My older sister, Vivian, used to say that the best barbecues happened on nights when the moon was full. She said that’s when the stars sprinkled magic dust. Looking back on those barbecues, I know one thing for certain and two things for sure: There was magic at them. But it came from Vivian, not the stars. Once folks finished eating (their first plate at least), the party was on. We’d crank up the stereo and dance and sing and tell tall tales until the wee hours of the morning. Vivian loved herself some blues. And when she played them, nobody was allowed to sit down. Nobody. She’d throw on some B.B. King or Bobby “Blue” Bland and go around the yard until she’d gotten everybody out of their chair and out on the floor—or I should say out on the grass. It was a blast. The stuff memories are made of.
At your next barbecue, I want you to do me a favor. Two favors, actually. First, add these wonderful skewers to your menu. When cooked over medium-high coals, they take on that nothing-like-it-in-the-world-cooked-over-charcoal flavor and that heavenly grilled aroma. Then, when the cookout is in full swing, throw on some B.B. King. Let him play “Lucille”—loud—just like Vivian used to. I can’t make any promises but, if the moon is full and the food is right, you just might channel her spirit into your backyard. You’ll know it worked if you feel the magic dust.
Makes 6 servings
2 ears corn, each cut into 8 equal pieces
⅔ cup fat-free Italian vinaigrette dressing (not creamy)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
1½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 large sweet onion (such as Vidalia), halved and cut into wedges
1 large green bell pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 pint cherry tomatoes
In a large microwave-safe dish, microwave the corn on high for 3 minutes. Set aside.
In a large bowl, combine the vinaigrette, basil, cilantro, poultry seasoning, salt, and pepper. Add the corn, chicken pieces, onion, green pepper, and cherry tomatoes. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour, or up to 4 hours, stirring occasionally.
Preheat the grill to medium or turn on the broiler. Remove the chicken from the marinade and drain; discard the marinade.
Put the chicken, onion, bell pepper, corn, and tomatoes on skewers, alternating the ingredients in that order.
Grill or broil 4 inches from the heat until the chicken is no longer pink in the center, 5 to 8 minutes.
Patti’s Pointers: To ensure even grilling, cut all of your ingredients into the same size pieces and turn the skewers once during grilling. I use metal skewers, preferably the two-pronged kind, because your meat and vegetables won’t move around when you’re turning them and they don’t burn or splinter, as wooden ones can. (See the skewers on the cover.) If you are using wooden skewers, however, as my friends in the islands would say, “no problem.” Just be sure to soak them in cold water for half an hour before putting your skewer together; this usually keeps them from charring during grilling. And if you’re up for a little extra work, work that—I promise—will take your skewers to a whole new level, try this little trick: soak wooden skewers in fresh lemon juice for 30 minutes. Don’t ask me why, but the lemon juice gives the skewers a fly-you-to-the-moon flavor that will have folks talking about them until next year’s barbecue.
In addition to metal skewers, you’ll need a good sturdy knife such as a cleaver to cut the corn into pieces or “wheels.” Set the cob on a cutting board and cut the cob crosswise into eight “wheels.” For each cut, hold the cob with one hand and with the other hand push the knife down through the kernels and just into the hard inner cob. Then take your one hand off the cob and place it open on the top side of the knife and push down through the cob with all of your weight. Or, if you have an accurate strike, raise the cleaver one to two feet above the corn cob and quickly and accurately bring it down onto and through the cob for each cut.
Per Serving: 200 calories, 24 g protein, 17 g carbohydrate, 4.5 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 55 mg cholesterol, 3 g dietary fiber, 125 mg sodium
Diet Exchanges: 3 very lean meats, 1 starch, 1 vegetable, or 1 carbohydrate choice
Oven (Tastes Like Southern) Fried Chicken
I created this recipe in honor of my late sister-friend the legendary singer-songwriter Laura Nyro. The day I met Laura I knew we were going to be lifelong friends. Laura was the real deal. Talented (I used to tell her she could sing like a sister). Kind as she could be. A brilliant artist (everybody from Frank Sinatra to Aretha Franklin has recorded her songs). Had loads of money but none of the I’m-all-that-and-a-bag-of-chips attitude that often goes with it. Just a real cool woman. Every time I was going through a crisis, every time I was facing a crucial crossroads in my life, Laura was there for me. Back in the seventies, for example, when creative differences between Sarah, Nona, and me started to tear Labelle apart, it was Laura who told me the time had come for me to leave.
“Just walk away, Pat,” she said. “In the long run it will be better for everyone.”
When I told Laura I couldn’t, not because I didn’t want to but because I was scared—scared of hurting Sarah and Nona, scared of letting down my fans, scared that I couldn’t make it on my own—she gave me some of the best advice I’ve ever heard.
“Pat,” she said, “many a false step is made by standing still.”
I didn’t know what she meant at the time. But decades later, when my marriage was coming apart and I stayed in it long after I should have left, Laura’s words came back to me. And I finally understood.
Laura was a fan of my fried chicken and potato salad the way I was a fan of her music. For years, she tried everything to get me to give her those two recipes. Everything from begging (“Please, Pat, I won’t tell another soul”) to bribing (“I’ll take you to the seafood market and you can buy the place out”).
When Laura fell in love and got married, I gave her my potato salad recipe as a wedding gift. But I never gave her the one for fried chicken. I can only hope she would have loved this recipe as much as the original. And as much as I loved her.
Makes 4 servings
1 teaspoon s
alt
1 cup warm water
Four 4-ounce boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 egg
½ cup fat-free buttermilk
1½ cups plain dry bread crumbs
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon seasoning salt, such as Lawry’s
⅛ teaspoon ground red pepper
In a large bowl, dissolve the salt in the water. Add the chicken and enough cold water to cover the chicken. Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, or up to 6 hours.
Preheat the oven to 450°F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and coat the foil with fat-free cooking spray. Drain the chicken and pat dry.
In a large bowl, whisk together the egg and buttermilk.
In a large resealable plastic bag, mix together the bread crumbs, poultry seasoning, black pepper, salt, seasoning salt, and red pepper.
Dip the chicken, one breast at a time, in the buttermilk mixture, then place in the bag with the bread-crumb mixture. Shake well to coat, then transfer to a rack. Repeat with remaining chicken breasts.
Put the baking sheet in the oven until smoking hot, about 2 minutes.
Coat both sides of the chicken with fat-free cooking spray and place on the hot baking sheet. Bake until an instant-read thermometer registers 160°F in a breast and the juices run clear, about 30 to 35 minutes.
Turn on the broiler and broil 4 inches from the heat to brown the top, about 5 minutes.
Patti’s Pointers: While I know it’s tempting to skip the chicken-soaking part, don’t! Soaking the chicken seals in the moisture and prevents the chicken from drying out during cooking. The result: that juicy-on-the-inside, crunchy-on-the-outside taste that the great Southern cooks in my family were famous for. Try it, and don’t be surprised if the Colonel calls you for your recipe!
Per Serving: 310 calories, 34 g protein, 31 g carbohydrate, 5 g fat, 1.5 g saturated fat, 115 mg cholesterol, 1 g dietary fiber, 850 mg sodium
Diet Exchanges: 3 very lean meats, 2 starches, or 2 carbohydrate choices
Easy-as-Pie Honey Mustard Chicken Thighs
Hanging out in a fabulous hotel kitchen with its first lady, Miss Ming, after a show.
I like to prepare this dish when I’m out on the road because it’s super easy to make. Brush and bake; that’s all there is to it! While I always try to book a hotel suite with a kitchen, sometimes that’s just not possible. Sometimes, not often but sometimes, if I’m kitchenless and my electric frying pans won’t do, I’ll talk somebody into letting me use the hotel’s. I’ve been in some that are just too fabulous. A cook’s dream. Huge. High-tech. Home to all kinds of culinary wonders. Everything from state-of-the-art appliances to simply spectacular spices. The last time I cooked in a hotel kitchen, I made these chicken thighs because I didn’t want to be in the way and I could get in and out in half an hour. But if you cook them at home they’ll be just as good.
Makes 4 servings
¼ cup honey
¼ cup country-style Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon chili sauce
1 teaspoon mustard seed
½ teaspoon mustard powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 1¼ pounds), trimmed of fat
In a medium bowl, mix together the honey, mustard, chili sauce, mustard seed, mustard powder, salt, black pepper, and garlic powder. Add the chicken, turning to coat. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour, or up to 6 hours.
Preheat the oven to 375°F.
Coat a shallow roasting pan with fat-free cooking spray. Arrange the chicken in a single layer in the pan. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
Turn the chicken over and brush with any remaining honey-mustard mixture. Bake, uncovered, until the chicken is no longer pink in the center and the juices run clear, 20 to 25 minutes more.
Per Serving: 220 calories, 24 g protein, 19 g carbohydrate, 6 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 0 g dietary fiber, 95 mg cholesterol, 620 mg sodium
Diet Exchanges: 3 very lean meats, 1 starch, 1 fat, or 1 carbohydrate choice
Superb Seven-Spice Chicken Breasts
Here’s a great quick-baked dish for busy nights.
Makes 6 servings
1½ teaspoons Chinese five-spice powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon curry powder
½ teaspoon ground red pepper
½ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon chili powder
¼ teaspoon ground turmeric
One 14.5-ounce can Mexican-style stewed tomatoes with jalapeno peppers and
spices, undrained
Six 4-ounce boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Preheat the oven to 325°F. Coat a 13 x 9-inch glass baking dish with fat-free cooking spray.
In a small bowl, mix together the five-spice powder, paprika, curry powder, ground red pepper, garlic powder, chili powder, and ground turmeric.
Rub both sides of the chicken breasts with the spice mixture.
Put the chicken in the prepared pan and pour the tomatoes evenly over the top. Bake for 30 minutes.
Turn the chicken over and bake until the chicken registers 160°F on an instant-read thermometer and the juices run clear, about 30 minutes more.
Option: This dish tastes great served over curried rice.
Per Serving: 200 calories, 34 g protein, 8 g carbohydrate, 2 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 80 mg cholesterol, 1 g dietary fiber, 280 mg sodium
Diet Exchanges: 4 very lean meats, 1 vegetable, or 0 carbohydrate choices
Curried Chicken and Rice
Makes 4 servings
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
1½ cups fat-free, reduced-sodium chicken broth
One 14.5-ounce can reduced-sodium stewed tomatoes, undrained
2 teaspoons curry powder
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
¼ teaspoon ground red pepper
¼ teaspoon turmeric
½ teaspoon salt
1¼ cups uncooked long-grain rice
In a large saucepan, combine the chicken, broth, tomatoes, curry powder, cinnamon, allspice, ground red pepper, turmeric, and salt. Bring to a boil over high heat.
Stir in the rice, mixing well. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer until the chicken is no longer pink in the center, about 20 minutes.
Patti’s Pointers: When you’re shopping for curry powders, remember that they vary widely in their level of spiciness—some are weak and some are wow! If you want a good, solid curry powder with a medium heat level, use Madras-style, available in small tins at the supermarket.
Per Serving: 400 calories, 27 g protein, 61 g carbohydrate, 5 g fat, 1.5 g saturated fat, 50 mg cholesterol, 3 g dietary fiber, 570 mg sodium
Diet Exchanges: 3 very lean meats, 3 starches, 2 vegetables, or 3 carbohydrate choices
We Be Jammin’ Jamaican Jerk Chicken
Spicy-hot chili pepper lovers like me know that “jerk chicken” is synonymous with “hot chicken.” And I don’t mean one-drop-of-Tabasco-sauce hot, either. I mean fire-breathing, five-alarm, clear-out-your-sinuses-and-make-your-nostrils-flair hot. None of that wimpy stuff for genuine, bona fide, real chili heads like me. This dish is my version of Jamaica’s time-honored technique of “jerking” meat. To be sure that the recipe will live up to its name, when you’re preparing it, do what I do: Put on some Bob Marley and get your groove on.
Makes 4 servings
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons jerk seasoning, such as McCormick’s
1 tablespoon peanut oil or other vegetable oil
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
¼ cup
chopped scallions or onions
2 teaspoons chopped fresh ginger
½ teaspoon poultry seasoning
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon ground red pepper (or more to taste)
Four 4-ounce boneless, skinless chicken breasts
In a shallow baking dish, combine the lime juice, soy sauce, jerk seasoning, oil, mustard, thyme, scallions or onions, ginger, poultry seasoning, ground black pepper, and ground red pepper. Add the chicken, turning to coat completely. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, or up to 2 days.
Coat a grill rack with fat-free cooking spray and preheat the grill to medium. Grill the chicken, turning once, until it registers 160°F on an instant-read thermometer and the juices run clear, 5 to 8 minutes per side.
Option: This dish is excellent over dirty rice or with red beans and rice.
Patti’s Pointers: If you don’t want to fire up the grill, you can broil the chicken instead. Coat a broiler rack with fat-free cooking spray and preheat the broiler. Broil the chicken on the rack in a broiling pan 4 to 6 inches from the heat and cook as directed.
Per Serving: 140 calories, 21 g protein, 3 g carbohydrate, 5 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 50 mg cholesterol, 0 g dietary fiber, 710 mg sodium