Going for the Green Goodness

After an intense heart-stopping weekend of eating fried stuff and meat, I decided that enough was enough, and that I would go on a strict veggie/grain diet for a week after. I felt so much better with my home cooked meals, and gave myself cheese and egg allowances to feed that Umami cravings.

One of the best meals that I whipped up for the week was a quinoa over broccoli pesto, topped with coddled eggs (my favorite way to eat eggs!). The broccoli pesto was a breeze to make, and I used the leftovers to stir into my pasta, spread on bread to toast, or just put spoonfuls of it into my mouth for a quick tasting high protein snack!

Here's the recipe. I used frozen broccoli because it was cheaper and easier, but you could definitely substitute for fresh. The trick to cooking the broccoli is to steam it quick and dirty, or until the broccoli is just tender. Let the veggie cool to room temperature before buzzing in the processor.

Here's the recipe.

Broccoli Pesto
makes 1 pint

12 oz Frozen Broccoli
1/2 cup Grated Parmesan/Pecorino
3 cloves Garlic
1/2 cup Basil Leaves, Packed
2/3 cup Roasted Slivered Almonds
1/2 cup Olive Oil

Juice of 1 lemon
Salt & black pepper to taste

1. Bring 2 tbs of water to a boil in a saucepan
2. Add the broccoli and cover the pan
3. Cook till broccoli is just tender, about 5 minutes, strain any remaining liquid out
4. Reserve 2/3 cups broccoli for Quinoa
5. When the remaining broccoli has cooled, add to food processor
6. Add all the other ingredients, and process till fine
7. Add additional olive oil if necessary to maintain desired consistency (I like mine more pasty, instead of liquid)

Quinoa on Broccoli Pesto with Egg
serves 2

1/2 cup Broccoli Pesto
1 cup Cooked Quinoa (1/2 cup uncooked Quinoa with 1 cup liquid)
2/3 cup Cooked Broccoli (reserved from recipe above)
2 ea Eggs
2 Tbs Olive Oil

Salt & pepper to taste

1. Bring eggs to room temperature in warm water
2. Boil water in a sauce pot and remove from heat. Add the eggs, and let stand for 2 mins
3. Toss the quinoa, cooked broccoli, and olive oil together
4. Season the quinoa salad with salt & Pepper
5. Spread the broccoli pesto on the bottom of the plate
6. Top with the quinoa salad
7. Crack the soft cooked eggs on top of the quinoa & serve immediately

Light Bites at Night

I first came across Panzanella when I was at Masa's. We up-scaled it by using tomato water gelee and micro basil, then served it as an amuse bouche. Although yummy, I don't think it carried off the "Rustic Bread Salad" feel quite as well. My kitchen has recently been stocked full with piles of bread - it seems that I've kind of developed a liking to it, especially when drenched in fat and oven baked till crunchy (OMG, am I eating crunchy food now too?). I hadn't thought about Panzanella in a long while, but with this surplus of bread, I thought it best to make the most of out it.

Traditionally, Panzanella was made with bread, tomatoes, olive oil, and flavored with basil and salt & pepper. Leftover ingredients were commonly thrown into the salad, making it somewhat of a peasant dish when there was not a lot of surplus. Same idea here, I thought I would stick to the bread, tomatoes & basil, but instead of using only bread as a base, I sliced some thick chiffonade (ribbons) of Basil to bulk the salad up, and it made for a really interesting lettuce stand in.

I also remember that when I staged at Jardinaire, we served a similar (more rustic) bread salad, with a farmer's cheese that was soft & chewy, marinated in olive oil and balsamic - integrating some great texture into the salad. I wanted to replicate that as well, and chose to use Burrata, a fresh Italian cheese similar to buffalo mozzarella, but with cream on the inside. You could also use Buffalo Mozzerella, but I liked the creamy insides that soaked into the crunchy bread, preventing it from becoming too dry.

Another twist on the salad included it being served warm, instead of cold (reserved for summer nights), and I did this my roasting the tomatoes in a pan, which also gave me the opportunity to infuse flavor into the salad by warming garlic slices. It's an absolute winner for lite bites at night!



Here's the recipe!

Panzanella

Serves 2

5 slices Good thick Bread, cut into 1/4" cubes
2 Tbs Olive Oil

Salt & pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 400F. Season bread well with salt & pepper and toss with olive oil. Bake in a single layer in the oven for about 10 minutes, or until golden brown

1 cup Cherry or Grape tomatoes, halved
5 ea Garlic Cloves, sliced thin
2 Tbs Olive Oil

While the bread is baking, heat the oil in a saute pan. Add the garlic cloves and gently cook until slices start to soften, but not brown. Increase heat to high and add tomato halves. Roaste tomatoes until skin starts to brown. Remove from heat


2 cup Loosely packed Basil Leaves from thick stalks, chopped into 1/8" ribbons
2 balls Burrata or Buffalo Mozzerella balls, halved, then sliced into rings

Toss the bread, warm tomatoes & garlic mixture, basil and cheese together. Serve immediately and with a sprinkling of freshly ground pepper.

What's left is always right

Palo Alto weather has been kind of whacky of late, cold, rainy, and then a glorious day with sunshine and warmth, much like the one we had when the city's power went out (God is fair). I suppose it's "normal" for February, but I'm longing for spring already, even though I still have one more snowboarding trip to get in before the season completely changes.

The sun came out for a little bit yesterday, but just when I thought we'd get another nice day of sunshine, it started raining and got cold, making me long for something to warm me up from the inside. I also love making use of what's left in the fridge, and found two half bunches of celery, one from weeks (literally) ago when I used it for Mirepoix and another from Chinese New Year, when stir fried some fresh celery slices.

I'm not quite sure what came over me or where I'd even conjured up the idea, but braising the celery into a warm veggie stew just sounded like such a great idea. Plus, it gave me the option of folding laundry for an hour or two without having to tend to the stovetop.

To start, I used a combination of butter and olive oil, and sauteed some shallots (pantry staple) until they were nice and translucent. Then, not wanting to waste the tops and leaves of the celery stalks, and I chopped them up and threw them in the pan to bring the flavor out. Alcohol is a necessity whenever a stew is in the making, and it was a toss up between sake and vermouth, and since it was a "western" style stew, I opted for the vermouth instead. The vermouth glazed down into a really nice finish, and I added some chicken stock for a really nice broth, and poured it over the portioned celery stalks in my famous red Le Creuset pot.

Two hours later when I came back, the celery had really cooked down so that it was tender, and while raw celery is kind of neutral in taste, cooking it up really brings out it's unique flavor. Plus, it had time to slowly absorb the complexity of the broth, making it extra mouthwatering. I olive-oiled a couple slices of bread and toasted them in the oven for that crouton-ey crunch, and it was absolutely the perfect pairing to dip the bread into all that delicious soup.

It was so delicious I didn't even stop to take pictures!

I thought about it afterwards, and the idea of serving it up like a french onion soup came up - with a crouton on the top of the soup, and smothered in Gruyere cheese that's bubbling under the broiler. It sounds absolutely fantastic in my mind, and I think it will be back on the dinner menu very very soon; Preferably before spring is here.

Braised Celery Soup

1 head Celery, stalks sliced into 2-3 batons, tops and leaves roughly chopped
1 ea Shallot, sliced
1 cup Vermouth
2 cup Chicken Broth
1 oz Butter
2 tbs Olive Oil

Salt & Pepper to Taste

1. Preheat the oven to 320F
2. Heat the butter and olive oil in a saute pan
3. Add the shallots and saute until translucent and lightly browned
4. Add the celery tops and leaves and saute further until fragrant
5. Add the vermouth and cook down until a glaze
6. Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil
7. Season the broth with salt and pepper to taste
8. Layer the celery in an oven proof pot, and pour the broth over, adding a little more water if necessary to cover all the celery
9. Cover the pot and braise for about 1.5 - 2 hrs, depending on how tender you like your celery

Serve with crunchy bread (Well oiled, and baked at 400F for about 10 minutes, until browned)

For a "frenched" style soup, slice the celery stalks on the bias before braising. Top with the crunchy bread and smother with grated Gruyere cheese. Broil uncovered until cheese browns and is bubbling.

Fat Tuesday February

I've exhausted my cooking quota for February!

So Far:

Choir Dinner for 80
Vodka Marinara Pasta
Parsley Pesto Roasted Chicken
Death by Chocolate Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Dinner with an Out-Of-Town Guest
Spring Pea Soup
Grilled Prime Rib with Gremolata
Roasted Chinese Chive Aioli Potato
Deconstructed Peanut Butter & Brandy Banana Pie

Chinese New Year Dinner
Preserved Duck and Winter Melon Double Boiled Soup
Chicken & Pork Dumplings
Tea Eggs
Yu Sang
Stir Fried Celery with Black Fungus
Drunken Chicken
Broiled Miso Black Cod
Braised Ginger Beef
Fried Noodles
Sago with Cantaloup and Pomelo

Dinner for Friends
Warm layered Foie Gras Terrine with Barely Cooked Eggs, Demi Glace, Creme Fraiche, and Chives
Braised Lamb Shank with Butternut Squash
Gorgonzola Souffle with Caramelized Pear

Plus, I might be picnicking with all the defrosted food from the Palo Alto Blackout!

Potstickers for Pasta?

With Chinese New Year round the corner, I've started the time consuming effort of making Jiao Zi (Chinese Dumplings) way in advance. I'm also taking a break from pasta recipes (although, dumplings are sort of like a pasta right? Aren't raviolis the same thing, just a different shape?) so a post on dumplings seem to be in quite good order.

I started learning to make them when I was in living in England - a northern Chinese girl taught me. She did not know how to cook, but knew how to make dumplings since it was tradition in her family! The hardest part of it is making the skin, and pinching the ends together to form an ingot looking pouch. Getting the dough right is much like making pasta. You learn it right once, and you know it forever. It's very simply, a combination of flour, water, salt, and a bit of oil. I know some versions add egg, but I tend to stay away from it.


My little creations - ingot pouch dumpling for good luck on CNY!

To get it nice and thin, I usually suck it up and use a rolling pin, however, I'm sure you can use a pasta roller which will work just as well. These days, unless there's a very good reason to make the skin by hand, I'm picking it up from the Chinese Market for $1.39 - I would say the opportunity cost is worth it.

The fillings vary, but traditionally, the ingredients are: Pork, Dried Shrimp, Chives, Dried Mushrooms, Napa Cabbage & Ginger, seasoned with sesame oil, salt, and white pepper. The trick to getting the filling to just the right tasty-ness is to fry up a small ball of the filling, taste it then adjust for seasonings before stuffing the dumplings!. It seems so simple, but many people skip this step, and then wonder why their dumplings were not salty enough, or too sweet, etc etc.

This year, I'm having dinner with some folks that don't eat pork, so I had to make a chicken dumpling in addition to the regular ones, and I thought I'd share this one with you. Plus, I have a feeling most of my readers are lazy cooks like me, and don't really relish chopping everything into tiny bits that have to be of equal size, and the chicken dumplings have significantly less ingredients.

You also don't have to pleat the dumplings for this - simply sealing the skin with some warm water will do, but try to make sure that all the air pockets are expelled! To cook, boil, or do it pot stick style - brown the dumplings in a non-stick pan, then add 1/2 cup water, cover, and steam until fillling is cooked through. Now look, if you're absolutely "gian" to learn how to pleat, go here.

Here's the recipe for Chicken Jiao Zi

Makes about 20 dumplings

1 ea Chicken Breast, large (about 1/2 lb)
2 stalks Green Chives, Minced
4 stalks Yellow Chives, Minced
1 Tbs Minced Ginger
2 ea Dried Chinese Mushrooms, reconstituted, and minced
2 Tsp Sesame Oil
1 tsp Cornstarch
20 ea Dumpling Skins (for Potstickers or Gyoza)

Salt & White Pepper to Taste

1. Combine all the ingredients together, except for the dumpling skins
2. Season with salt and pepper
3. Fry up a small ball of the filling and adjust seasoning accordingly
4. Press a teaspoon full of filling into the center of a dumpling skin
5. Using your finger, wet the edges of the dumpling skin, and fold over the meat to seal
6. Store in the fridge, or freeze to keep for about 1 month
7. To cook, boil until dumplings float, or pan-fry in a little oil, add 1/2 cup water, cover, to steam

Funghi Faux Food

I've been going veg about 3-4 times a week these days - seeing as I don't eat lunch either, a veg dinner usually comes in the form of pasta, since it's substantially heavier, and oh well, I am on a mission to complete 101 ways with it!

One of my favorite kitchen staples are dried exotic mushrooms, because they go a really long way. The re-hydrated liquid that they soak in also has tons of flavor, and can add to a pasta sauce, soup, or risotto very well.

The trick to cooking dried mushrooms is this - first, use very hot water so it doesn't take forever and a day to rehydrate. Next, once the mushrooms are hydrated, give it a really good squeeze to get rid of excess liquid.

(I know, sounds ironic right? First they are dried, then you add liquid, and now you want to remove the liquid... Make up your mind already!)

Then, before using the mushroom liquid, strain it to remove any fine grit and dirt that tend to be prevalent in dried mushrooms.

I usually end up stir frying (which is why they have to be fairly dry) the mushrooms because when your brown them, it caramelizes and brings out this really delicious flavor. To stir fry them, just heat a little oil, and throw in some garlic, then add the mushrooms, and resist stirring so parts of the mushroom bits can get nicely browned.

So anyway, back to this pasta dish - it rips off the flavor from browning mushrooms, and then adds green goodness with the spinach and peas. It's pretty tasty - check it out. If you want to go on the lighter side of things, skip the heavy cream, and reduce a cup of white wine instead!



Wild Mushroom & Spinach Capellini

Serves 2

2 oz Dried Wild Mushroom Mix
12 oz Bloomsdale Spinach, or other thick stemmed spinach. Don't use Baby Spinach or Chinese Spinach
1 cup Fresh or Frozen Peas
6 ea Garlic Cloves, sliced
4 Tbs Olive Oil
0.5 cup Heavy Cream
1 cup Grated Hard Cheese, like Parmesan
2 Tbs Parsley, Minced
2 servings Capellini or other noodle pasta, cooked according to instructions
Salt & pepper to taste

1 Soak the dried mushrooms in 1 cup of very hot water for about 15 minutes
2 Hang squeeze water from soaked mushrooms and reserve mushroom liquid
3 Heat 2 tbs olive oil in saute pan, then throw in garlic and cook for about 30 seconds until garlic is lightly browned
4 Add the mushrooms to the pan and quickly saute until edges turn light brown
5 Add the spinach and the remaining olive oil, and saute until spinach starts to wilt
6 Add the reserved mushroom liquid and the heavy cream, and reduce until sauce starts to coat the back of a spoon
7 Add the peas and and cover pan until peas are just cooked, about 1 minute
8 Season pasta sauce accordingly, then toss noodles, cheese, and parsley well
9 Serve immediately

Baht for Your Buck?

I kick started 2010 with an awesome weekend in Bangkok - it was kind of a "getting away from getting away" from my trip to Singapore, and just about enough time to spend in a hot, crowded, traffic infested city (wait, sounds like Singapore). I had not seen my friends Kim and Jane in 2 years, so it wonderful to be able to spend some quality time with them.



Also, while I visit Phuket almost every year, this was my first time to Bangkok - meaning that there was plenty to eat and explore from Thailand outside beach food!

I arrived in the evening on a Saturday - and the first stop for us was dinner at a local Thai cafe, with re-invented local cuisine. The owner of the restuarant started off by making her own ice cream, and then branched out into serving food. We had deep fried meatballs, crispy chicken wings, green curry served with a flaky pancake, much like Singaporean Roti Prata, and my favorite dish, the softshell crab yellow curry, served over fettucine pasta.



The next morning, I requested that we vist the local market. As I've mentioned in several other posts, the markets are often most representative of the local cuisine, and are always a stop on any trip!

Bangkok cuisine, like many other southeast asian coutries, is highly dependant on prepared street food. So, when we visited the market, it was no surprise that half of it was lined with hawkers selling either ready to eat food, or prepared food that you could take home with you and jazz into a dish with some fresh produce or protein.




For example, a housekeeper or a mom might come and purchase several different curry sauces and add chicken or fish to make a substantial curry, or buy fried, flavored fish flakes to serve on rice.





The market is also a place where you can get a quick snack - we munched on pork satays and sticky rice, which is what all the school kids eat after class! There was much we wanted to try, but sadly, our stomachs were too small!




Steamed curried fish paste, the equivalent of Otak-Otak


My favorite Thai dessert, coconut jam steamed in pumpkin

Thailand is country that is truly blessed with milk and honey. The land is abundant, and the climate is perfect for agriculture. Varieties of fruit are grown in abundance, many of which cannot be found in the west; Langsat, a golden brown fruit with white fleshy segments on the inside,



Durian, the king of all fruits, (and banned on the subway in Singapore)




My favorite durian candy when I was growing up

and Tamarind, a tangy pod fruit that is usually eaten as a candy, or is a staple ingredient that gives asian food that sour taste.



Similiarly, the waters around the area are teaming with all sorts of critters that you can eat - from giant river prawns the size of lobsters, to fresh crab, mussels, oysters, and scallops!




Dog's tongue fish







Who would want to eat anything but local in a country of this abundance?

We spent the rest of the afternoon in the refuge of air conditioning at the Jim Thompson house. Jim Thompson was an American Soldier who fell in love with Thailand and made it his home in the '50s, revitalizing the Thai silk and textile industry. There is some scandal to his story, as he was a former officer of the Office of Strategic Services, and sort of pre-cursor to the CIA, and in the late '60s he disappered in Cameron Highlands, Malaysia, where no remains were every found. The story continues to be a mystery - was he killed, kidnapped, or did he really die of natural causes?

That aside, the Jim Thompson brand is a standard of quality in the textile industry, and I offloaded my shopping urges by picking up some good silk and linens. (*sigh of contentment)

The Jim Thompson brand recently expanded into food service as well, and we had lunch at the Jim Thompson House. My two favorite was the little handheld salads, a mix of nutes, crunch veggies in a leaf, and topped with plum sauce, and the fried catfish flakes with green papaya relish.







The food was very good, but it was kind of like eating hokkien mee at the hyatt.

The best food that I had in Bangkok though, was definitely the meals I had at Kim's place. There's something about home cooked food that really warms the soul, and cannot be found or replicated in any commercial kitchen.

Breakfast on both days was noodles - teochew beef ball with rice noodles, and fried noodles with all the good stuff!





And finally, dinner the night before I left - Crabs, northern duck, fried pork, salad, and soup!











It was the perfect way to end my glut fest - simple & homemade, just the way I like it after a weekend of indulgence.

Bangkok, I'll be back!