Tulsa World: The Rock hurdles hard knocks

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The Rock hurdles hard knocks

Oven-fried chicken from the Rock Cafe.

By NATALIE MIKLES World Scene Writer
Published: 11/25/2009 2:21 AM
Last Modified: 1/15/2010 11:38 AM

Related Story: The comeback café

When Dawn Welch and the Rock Cafe came back, they came back big.

Just a few months after the reopening of the Rock, Welch debuted her cookbook "Dollars to Donuts," complete with an endorsement from Food Network star Paula Deen, who calls Welch "a kitchen goddess."

Just like the Rock and its eclectic menu and customers, "Dollars to Donuts" is packed with a mix of home-cooking comfort food and "new comforts" like shrimp pad Thai and jerk chicken with pineapple salsa. It's also filled with tips and kitchen wisdom straight from the Rock Cafe.

Welch knows Rock Cafe fans will love the insider secrets to favorite recipes like bread pudding, Indian tacos and chicken-fried steak with bacon and mushroom gravy, but this is a book just as accessible to those who've never heard of the Rock.

Every recipe has a dollar amount, both the total cost to make the dish and the cost per serving.

Welch teaches readers not to waste a thing, to "cook big," turning a leftover meatball mixture into meatloaf or a roast chicken into cheesy chicken enchiladas. One baked turkey becomes three meals — turkey pot pie with cheddar streusel, turkey tortilla soup, and turkey and sausage strata.

When it comes to some of those recipes the Rock is known for, Welch promises she didn't leave anything out, but she's also not promising that they will taste like they do at the Rock.

"I'm cooking on a 70-year-old grill here," she said. "You just can't reproduce that at home." (The grill — a 1930s 4-foot Wolf — survived the fire that gutted the restaurant in May 2008.)

Welch doesn't mind giving away her restaurant recipes. She actually encourages her regular customers to cook more at home.

"I have always told people — and I get into so much trouble for this — 'Maybe you should cook at home sometime.' "

Dawn Welch cares so much for her customers that she won’t serve sweets to diabetic patrons and discourages those on heart-healthy diets from eating anything fried. This chicken, however, is on her safe list.

Oven “Fried” Chicken

1 2/3 cups plain, full-fat yogurt
2 tablespoons yellow mustard
1 teaspoon hot sauce
2 teaspoons Tex-Mex Rub
1 teaspoon celery salt
1½ teaspoons salt
3 pounds bone-in chicken breasts or thighs, skin removed (if the breasts are very large, cut them in half crosswise)
1 teaspoon canola oil
2½ cups dried bread crumbs, cracker crumbs or panko
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, or canola oil

1. Marinate the chicken: Whisk together the yogurt, mustard, hot sauce, 1 teaspoon of the Tex-Mex Rub, celery salt and ¾ teaspoon of the salt in a large bowl. Add the chicken, and turn to coat with the marinade, then place the chicken in one or two resealable gallon-size plastic bags and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.

2. Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil, and grease with 1 teaspoon of oil. Whisk together the bread crumbs, the remaining 1 teaspoon Tex-Mex Rub and the remaining ¾ teaspoon salt in a medium bowl.

3. Working one piece at a time, remove the chicken from the marinade and roll it around in the bread crumbs until evenly coated and then place it on the baking sheet. Drizzle the melted butter or 2 tablespoons of oil over the chicken, and bake until it is lightly browned and its temperature is 170 degrees, about 40 to 45 minutes. If you want a little extra color, place the chicken under the broiler for a few minutes until it’s more deeply browned. Remove from oven and serve.

Tex-Mex rub

3 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons sweet paprika

1. Combine and store in an airtight container.

When Dawn Welch tells customers what’s in her peach cobbler, they never believe her. “Isn’t there cinnamon in there?” No. “There’s got to be some brown sugar.” No again. It’s so simple, you won’t believe it either.

When fresh peaches are in season, use them. In the winter, use frozen or canned.

Peach Crisp

1 cup all-purpose flour
1¼ cups sugar
Pinch of salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 cans (16 ounces each) sliced peaches in light syrup

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Whisk the flour, sugar and salt in a medium bowl. Drizzle in the melted butter, using a fork to toss the streusel together until there aren’t any bits larger than the size of a small pea.

2. Strain the peaches, saving 3 tablespoons of the juice. Place the peaches and reserved juice in a 9-inch pie dish. Evenly sprinkle the sugar mixture over the peaches, and bake until the topping is golden brown and the peaches are juicy and bubbling, about 30 to 40 minutes. Cool slightly before serving warm or at room temperature with vanilla ice cream, if desired.

By NATALIE MIKLES World Scene Writer

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	Report Comment okie ridgerunner, Small Country Town State Line (11/25/2009 11:28:35 PM) Thank You. Now i am hungry and this little okie is going to fix some oven "fried" chicken. sounds um um good.
	Report Comment FUTURE WORLD, Tulsa (11/25/2009 11:34:39 PM) I like the words of it and I can almost taste it. But nothing is going to spoil my turkey day tomorrow. But I'll give it a try when I'm done with left overs in a day or two.

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