Sandra Lee Sucks: Coq Au Coconut with Celery Root Puree

My virtual protest of the culinary train wreck that is Sandra Lee comes to you in a variation of the classic French dish, Coq Au Vin.

For this edition of  "I Loathe Sandra Lee", I've decided to show Sandra how to create a proper braised chicken dish.   Sandra created one of the most unfortunate recipes I've seen, unwisely called "Chicken Scaloppini".  She inexplicably suggests that you braise thin, boneless chicken breasts for 4 hours.  To accent her dry overcooked chicken, she suggests braising pre-cooked frozen vegetables and potatoes for four hours, just so you can appreciate how vegetables can turn gray and lose all of their flavor and texture.   Now that's good eating.

I wish I could say I spent a ton of time thinking about how to improve this debacle.   But I didn't need to, because unlike Sandra Lee,  I realized that the  French pretty much mastered the technique for braising chicken long before Sandra even knew how to spell "preservative."

I followed the traditional Coq Au Vin technique for braising chicken, but since I try to live my life beyond the "30% creative benchmark" that Sandra inspires the world to live by,  I chose flavor combinations I thought would add an earthy element to the chicken and the braising sauce. 

After searing the chicken, I added cremini mushrooms, ground curry, garlic and water to deglaze the browned chicken goodness left in the bottom of a heavy pot.   I submerged the chicken in the liquid, brought to a heavy simmer, than placed it in a 350 oven for just a little over an hour (not four!).   

After the chicken is ready, the key becomes turning the amazingly rich, mushroom curry broth into a sauce.   I reduced the sauce for another twenty minutes until concentrated and thicker.   I then finished the dish with coconut milk, adding a creamy spike of flavor.    A bit of lemon juice cuts through the richness and balances the sauce. 

As a starchy compliment to the dish, I boiled and pureed celery root.   I love the fresh, celery flavor the puree adds to the earthy flavors of the mushroom, curry and chicken.   A simple garnish of diced radish and celery leaves adds a burst of fresh flavor and texture.

Chest bumps, Sandy!

Full recipe follows.......

FOODIENYC.COM
COQ AU COCONUT WITH CELERY ROOT PUREE
SERVES 4 (this makes great leftovers)

8-10 pieces of free range, hormone preservative free chicken legs and thighs
2 ribs celery
celery leaves collected from the stalks
1/2 lb cremini mushrooms
3 cloves garlic
ground curry
1 can coconut milk
grapeseed or vegetable oil (you could render bacon to replace oil if you'd like)
flour
lemon
1 radish
1 large knob of celery root

Notes:  I use water as the liquid for the stock in order to focus on the mushroom and curry flavors.  You could use chicken stock and/or wine if you'd like.  As mentioned above, you can render bacon or pancetta instead of searing in oil.  Again, I wanted to keep the flavor mushroom and curry focused.

FOR THE CHICKEN

Season the chicken with salt and pepper and place them in hot oil in a large dutch oven casserole.  Do not overcrowd the pan.   Turn the chicken when you get a golden color on the skin.  Lift the chicken out and  continue to sear the rest of the chicken.  Pour out all of the fat, leaving about a tablespoon in the pot.  Turn heat to medium.

Add the mushrooms, celery, a tablespoon of flour, a dash of salt and about two teaspoons of ground curry.  After about a two minutes, add the garlic. After another minute, add the chicken back to the pot and cover with water.   Turn up the heat to high and when just coming to a hard simmer, place in the oven.  Make sure the chicken is not boiling while in the oven.   A very soft, bubbling simmer is ideal.

After an hour, remove chicken from oven.   Carefully remove chicken and mushrooms from the pot with a slotted spoon.  Cover and set aside. 

Place sauce on high heat, boiling until reduced to half (about 15-20 minutes).   As the liquid reduces, it becomes thicker.   At this point, add about quarter of a can of coconut milk.   Check for seasoning, adding salt and lemon juice to brighten flavors. 

FOR CELERY ROOT PUREE

You can make this while the chicken is braising, or even hours in advance.

Bring a pot of salted water to boil.   Peel the celery root and slice into uniform, 1 inch pieces.   Boil for about 20 minutes, until very soft.   Strain.   Immediately add the celery root to a food processor.   Add salt, pepper, and a handful of celery leaves from the stalks of celery.   Pour in about two tablespoons of coconut milk to moisten, as well as a squeeze of lemon.   Puree until very smooth.   Check for seasoning.   Add a touch more coconut milk if you need to make the puree a bit silkier in texture.

FINISH THE DISH

Place celery root puree in a large bowl.   Stack the chicken on top and pour the sauce around the side.   Add pieces of mushroom around the perimeter.  Garnish with chopped celery leaves and radish for freshness and color.   

Comments

[ann]

Good to have you back on the Dandy Sandy loath train. It makes my heart feel gladdened and embiggended.

[chisai]

It's so great to have you back to Sandy bashing. No one alive does it better than you do.

[chloe]

I am totally with you on the loath "semi-homeade" thing. I actually think it should be called semi-homeassembled.

okay, okay, did you ever notice how they have those Food Network get-togethers on the air with the other people...ie Bobby Flay, Paula whatshername, the cute Italian Giada, Alton Brown, etc. and semi-homeade is never invited. Because they all COOK together. They don't want her to bring like a can of Campbell's and be like, yeah I'm going to use this on the grill on your seasonal corn! Very creative!

[click]

you've got me cracking up--everything i thought and wanted to put into words but couldn't bring myself to sit down and do. you hit it on the head. much love.

[katie]

hahaha! Glad to see I'm not the only one who grabs the remote when Sandra comes on. The Lifetime channel is preferable (and not that much different)!

I've never made anything w/ celery root before so now you've got me inspired.

Once had a celery root panna cotta at a tasting dinner on my BD. YUM!

thanks for the chuckle.

[The Bitter One]

So glad to see I'm not the only one who despises her. I watch her show, but only to see the abortionesque dishes that she creates. Not to mention her horrid cocktails and tablescapes. Those tablescapes have to be the biggest waste of time and money I've ever seen. Her Kwanzaa Cake has earned her a special place in HELL.

I guess you can say I've become semi-obsessed over semi-homemade.

[Ken]

To be fair, the 4 hours referred to is not in an over at 400f, but in a slow cooker on the low setting.

But I still think I'd like your recipe much, much better.

It's odd, I don't watch much TV but much of the time I am watching TV it's Food Network. I'm familiar with all of the cooks/chefs mentioned by other posters, above. But I only heard about Sandra Lee today. Is her show still on?

[poly]

I am all for her shows. It is good to make dinner in little time and show it off as well as she does. She claimes it is to help the working women, and that she does, She also helps the stay at home women and men, there is a group that is seldom mentioned, the elderly. She show us what to buy that is new for many, the beauty and simple ideas to make it beautifull and meaningfull.
She makes my day. Keep up the good Work.
I am here.

[Delilah]

You all have way too much time on your hands. Maybe you should take a lesson from Sandra and spend some of your extra time with charities etc. like she does. Have you read her bio. Way more impressive than you will ever be I'm sure. Get a life.

[The Bitter One]

You get a life, Delilah....No Fandras allowed. Beat it before I pelt you with FRESH vegetables.

[studboy]

I think you are missing the point. None of the Food Network personalities are supposed to be world-renowned chefs. They are personalities, ie. entertainers. Do you watch crime dramas and ridicule the star because he didn't follow actual police protocol when apprehending a suspect? It is just a t.v. show. Sandra Lee is hot as hell, and I love to watch her on screen. Maybe her recipes aren't considered fine dining, but it is a show, it is entertainment, it isn't a course at a culinary school.

[LoveSandra]

You are so off base! It's pointlessly rude to dis Sandra Lee and the Food Network. Sandra brings great ideas to the everyday cook that need dinner on the table fast. And the other chefs such as Emeril, Bobby, and Giada are all professionally trained and make tremendous amounts of money being sucessful entertainers and restaurant owners. I'm sure that many people that watch the Food Network have learned cooking tips and techniques and have become better in their own right. Sounds to me that you are a snobbish gourmand who is jealous of their stardom!

[Yomen]

http://www.funkytube.net/vid.php?v=Sandara_Sucks_video

[KOD]

Chisai,You are wrong about Sandra Lee never being at one of those Food Network get-togethers she was at a Holiday Special Show.

[KOD]

Chisai,You are wrong about Sandra Lee never being at one of those Food Network get-togethers she was at a Holiday Special Show.

[Stephen Cherry]

I just wanted to bring the conversation back to the original subject, ie Sandra SUCKS!!! Her show is full artificial orange colored cheese and red dye number 21423432 SHI$!!! I just watched the episode where she's at the Nascar racetrack,... which makes perfect sense to me, but I digress... KOD: she sure was on the holiday episode with the other chefs,... Have you noticed them doing one together since? I'll take a bet they don;t do one ever again! I felt so sorry for the actual trained chefs there to put up with her antics. Her ideas are great, quick food for the working Mom (or in rarer cases Dad), but quick meals CAN avoid fake cheese, canned vegetables & meat, and Ranch Dressing. I feel like I'm watching the Pilsbury Bake-off when I watch her food prep. I like that she loves decorating, those are where she shines, she oughta get someone else to do the food. Oh, and the episode I watched today,... First, calling it a carpetbEggAr steak is absolutely incorrect, its called a CarpetBAGGER steak, and involves absolutely different prep than hers and is an immensely delicious mix of great beef and oysters she shoved mushrooms (probably canned) and some other crap (with mayo i think) into portions that looked like filet minion size after dying them in what musta been dollar store red wine. I'm sorry an occassion to cook is an occassion to cook well. Im done!

[kmm]

Whether you like her or not...like anything is a personal choice; an opinion. We're (you're) all entitled. I challenge you to read about her life and where she's come from and how hard she had worked to get where she is. Oh, and the fact - yes, fact, (easily checked) that she is a culinary graduate - "real chef". I find it sad and odd that someone would spend the time and effort in their life to bash someone. Just don't watch if you don't like her - I can't imagine what kind of hateful person goes to these lengths!! Here's another challenge - instead of lashing out, pick someone you like, and spend the time to praise them! Or just improve yourself.

[pjracz]

I don't and do agree with her methodology in the the kitchen. With so many people having busy schedules her simplistic recipes seemed to be rather quick to prepare where as the "pro's" some of their recipes take alot of prep, time that one might not favor after work ect. Plus the "pro's" have years of experience, their trained at culinary schools, and in their restaurants and programs they have soux chefs, prep and line cooks ect. But Sandra should make a few shows that instead of Semi Homemade be a 100% Homemade say a holiday dinner, when you have a day off dinner, whatever. I love her decorations and I just contradicted myself lol, THAT would take alot of time to fix the table setting, kitchen, ect., maybe that is why is is doing semi homemade dishes? The settings are very nice, but one would need a warehouse to store all the different styles of plates, glasses, silerware, vases, curtains, theme for the kitchen, her outfits to match, ect. I do like her demeanor better then that bobblehead Rachael Ray, she's corny and don't get me started on Paula Deen, her party show, I have to go out and have a beer (or 10) after watching that show...man!!!!

[Bourdainiac]

I think people should learn the basics of home cooking first, THEN learn to make shortcuts. Scamdy hasn't even done that - she just throws shit together and tries to pass it off as cuisine. I try to understand her and her defenders, but I simply cannot do so! She's a hack, pure and simple. She admitted she is more into design than cooking, but she accepted the gig on the Food Network, which shows you how greedy and mercenary she is - her meal assemblages are just a means to an end! In my earlier days, I thought she was not so bad, but if you sit and watch her show and LISTEN to her, you can see what a louse this woman is - more than half of the info she gives you on her food is either lies, misinformation, or totally contradictory. She's a great businesswoman, I'll give her that, but she has no true, real passion for food like most of the cooking show hosts on FN and elsewhere do! Snark on Bourdain and Ramsey and Zimmern for ragging on her, but these guys love cooking and eating, they are outspoken in their passion for all things culinary; I respect that. Giada, Nigella, Ina, hell, even Paula - they love food and the process that goes into making it. For Scamdy, it's just cha-CHING!!! She's so shady, I just wish more people would see it!