Tried and Tested Recipe - Three Cup Chicken

I have always loved East Asian cuisine particularly Thai and Chinese. Their blend of flavors and combinations have always intrigued me and delighted my taste buds. I have been wanting to give a try to making both of these types of cuisine, but I have always felt intimidated by the ingredients required. Thank goodness for Cooking Channel's Ching-He Huang and her show Easy Chinese. She takes you through the process of making excellent Chinese food at home in a very comfortable manner and her recipes are great.

I found the recipe for Three Cup Chicken in Cooking Channel's website after watching the show and thought I should get out of my comfort zone and try it. This recipe was easy to follow and the results were absolutely delicious. I modified it slightly because I did not have a few ingredients and I also thought that sliced almonds would make a great addition to give it a little crunch. Here is what you will need for my modified version.

Three Cup Chicken

1 TBSP peanut oil
Garlic - 5 cloves finely chopped
Ginger - 1 inch piece, thinly sliced
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1/4 Cup Soy Sauce
1/4 Cup White Cooking Wine
1/4 Cup Toasted Sesame Oil
1 TBSP Brown Sugar
1/4 Sliced Almonds

Follow the link above to the recipe on Cooking Channel's website and follow the cooking instructions. Add the sliced almonds at the very end tossing them into the chicken to integrate them evenly through the chicken pieces. 

This is a great recipe to get into making Chinese food at home. Serve with either white or Jasmine rice and vegetables. Enjoy :)

Momofuku Milk Bar Cookbook & Crack Pie

As many people in New York will come to tell you, it is nearly impossible to try every restaurant in this city (and in regards to some places it is probably best to stay away). However, if there is one conglomerate of restaurants that should be tried by everyone setting foot on this fair city it is definitely the Momofuku restaurants.

I have only made it to one of their locales, the renowned Milk Bar, where some of the most wonderful and creative desserts are made. I had the good fortune of trying their delectable Crack Pie (which once consumed will create a life long addiction to its ever gooey goodness). I was so thrilled when I found the Milk Bar Cookbook on a recent trip to my local public library, so I had to check it out. I was not expecting it to have the recipe for Crack Pie but there it was, and I took it as a challenge that must be accepted. I am sorry that I cannot post the recipe because as you know that would be a copy right infringement, and we definitely do not want to go there. What I can comment on is one of the ingredients that the recipe calls for, corn powder. This is the product of ground, freeze dried corn. I had an very hard time finding the freeze dried corn at Whole Foods, which is one of the places the book mentions as having it available. I substituted it with Whole Foods' Toasted Corn Snacks, (which you can find in the same place as their packaged nuts and dried grains) and it worked just as well.

I recommend that if you have the money to buy this book you do so without hesitating, because quite truthfully it is packed with some of the most wonderful recipes. If you are a serious cook it will also test your ability and creativity. Here is my not so pretty but very delicious attempt at making Crack Pie. It was delicious and I can't wait to make it again.

Tried and Tested Recipe - Guy Fieri's Cauliflower Croquettes

I have been having a bad few weeks with technology including the loss of internet service at home for almost a week, due to the fact that we were hooked to nearly ancient lines. This has really sucked because I have not been able to share some great stuff with you lovely people. Anywhoo, we finally got a competent person to come and fix that problem and here I am again. Today I just wanted to share a great recipe find from Food Network.

I must confess that I am not a big fan of Guy Fieri, but when it comes to recipes he has a few good ones, including the one for these awesome cauliflower croquettes. I have been trying to find delicious ways of getting my daughter to eat vegetables other than broccoli or spinach (I am very lucky that she eats both of these without a problem, and actually likes them). These little croquettes are a great way to introduce the kiddos to this wonderful vegetable and the best part is that adults will enjoy them too. Follow this link to the recipe. If you want to fancy it up you can try other hard cheeses in lieu of the Parmesan that the recipe calls for. I have been contemplating using Manchego.

 

If you get around to making these I really hope you enjoy them.

Spiced Pork Roast

This is a dish inspired by the book Back to the Table: The Reunion of Food and Family by Art Smith and the recipe for Spiced Pork Loin with Vidalia Onion Sauce. I thought this recipe sounded great except I did not have white wine, and I also did not like to think about using whole cinnamon, allspice and cloves (I like them better ground so they can easily incorporate and flavor the food). I decided that instead of following the recipe I would adapt it and use ingredients I already had. Instead of using vidalia onions I used shallots and I rubbed my pork roast with the Moroccan spice blend I made in one of my previous posts instead of using the whole spices. Here is what you will need and how to make this delicious dish.

Spiced Pork Roast

1 Pork Roast (Large to Medium about 3-5 pounds)
2 TBSP Moroccan Spice Blend
2 TBSP Olive Oil
3-4 Shallots (Thinly sliced)
1 Cup Vegetable Broth
Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

Place 1 TBSP of olive oil in a dutch oven and put your pork roast in, coating it with the oil. Sprinkle the pork with the Moroccan spice blend making sure to rub it all over the pork. Allow the pork to sit in this blend for about 10 minutes.

Place the dutch oven on your stove and turn on your burner to medium high heat to get the oil nice and hot. Brown the roast on all sides. Remove the roast once all sides have been nicely browned and set aside on a dish.

Add the remaining TBSP of olive oil into the dutch oven and allow to heat up. Add your shallots and saute them until they are soft, translucent and fragrant. Add in the vegetable stock and stir. Bring the liquid to a boil and return the pork to the dutch oven. Add salt and pepper to taste. Place the lid on the dutch oven and place in the oven. Bake for about 1 and a half hours or until a thermometer inserted at the center  of the roast reads 155 degrees Fahrenheit.

Heat the liquid remaining in the dutch oven and reduce it to about 3/4 to 1/2. Use this liquid as a sauce for the roast (or you can always use some demiglace).

Slice your roast and serve with your favorite sides.

Enjoy.

Ravioli with Carrot & Ricotta Filling

Sorry for my absence this week. It seems that as we get deeper into summer things start getting more and more hectic, which is the opposite of my general expectations, but what the heck. Since I have been cooking a bit of stuff that is on my usual repertoire, I decided that I should try to be a little more creative and make something that I could share will those of you who read through my humble blog. This week I made Jumbo Raviolis stuffed with a wonderful mix of Ricotta cheese and carrots. I made my pasta using a recipe from the Food Network website. After that it was a matter of making the filling and hand rolling the pasta into thin sheets to make the ravioli. Here is the recipe for the filling:


Carrot & Ricotta Ravioli Filling

2 TBSP Olive Oil

2 Shallots (small preferable - finely diced)
4-5 Garlic cloves (Minced)
2 Carrots (Finely grated)

1 Cup Ricotta Cheese (Whole or low fat - whichever you prefer)
 Salt and pepper to taste


In a pan heat the olive oil on medium high heat. Add the shallots and garlic and saute until the shallots are semi translucent and soft and the garlic is starting to brown.

Add in your carrots and saute for about 5-10 minutes, until the carrots are a deeper shade of orange.

Allow the mixture to cool slightly about 10-20 minutes.

In a separate bowl combine the carrot mixture with the ricotta. Make sure to mix well so that all ingredients are evenly distributed. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Now you are ready to make your ravioli. If you do not have a ravioli maker (which I don't at the time), you can roll out your dough out into sheets about 1/8 inch in thickness (or slightly less - thinner pasta cooks quicker). The pictures below show you my process for making my ravioli.

 Place about 1 teaspoon of filling on one side of your pasta sheet.

make sure to leave about 1 inch between them and about 1/2 inch for the edges

 Fold pasta over and press between the mounds of filling.

 Cut Raviolis

 Roll edges of ravioli pillows to seal them in.

 Finished ravioli 

I topped mine off with some bolognese sauce, but you can do it any way you want (Alfredo, butter and garlic, etc...)

Enjoy

The Great Sesame in Everything Meal

This meal did not start with the intent to use sesame as a part of everything but little by little it turned into exactly that. I had these great pork chops that were about an inch in thickness with that wonderful strip of fat on the one side and I was trying to figure out a way to make them not only taste good but look good as well. The other thing to think about was what sides to have with the pork chops. I did not want anything too complicated so I settled on mashed potatoes and baby bok choi.


Sesame Seed Crusted Teriyaki Pork Chops

4 Boneless Pork Chops
3 TBSP Teriyaki Sauce
1 TBSP Sesame Oil
Sesame Seeds
1 to 2 Cups Vegetable Stock
Salt & Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 380 degrees Fahrenheit

Put the Teriyaki sauce and sesame oil in a medium to large deep baking dish. Place the pork chops in the baking dish and coat them in the Teriyaki mixture and allow them to sit in the mixture for 15 to 20 minutes.

Sprinkle the sesame seeds over the top and bottom of the pork chops. Add in 1 Cup of the vegetable stock and salt and pepper.

Cover with aluminum foil, place in the oven and cook for about 30 minutes. During this time check in about 15 to 20 minutes into the cooking time to make sure that there is still plenty of liquid in the baking dish. If it has started to dry out add a bit more of the stock (you should have at least 1/2" of liquid at the bottom of your dish). Once the cooking time has lapsed check with a food thermometer to make sure that the internal temperature of the meat is at least 145 degrees Fahrenheit. If you are curious about food safety and proper temperatures for any food here is a link that will be very useful to you).

Uncover the pork chops, baste them with the liquid in the pan and set your oven to broil. Allow meat to broil for 5 minutes or until you see the top start to to turn a golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to rest.


While your meat is cooking you can make the mashed potatoes and bok choi. I think the mashed potatoes are very self explanatory so I will not go into the method (we all do them our own way any way). For the bok choi it was very simple. Just separate and clean your bok choi leaves. place about one tablespoon of sesame oil in a frying pan. Heat it up place the bok choi in the pan toss a few times and that is it. This is a very tender vegetable and it does not require a long time for cooking, so don't over do it. 2 - 3 minutes in the pan should be more than enough.

The only thing I did extra for the mashed potatoes was a Teriyaki sesame gravy. I made it using the left over liquid from the pork chops. I placed it in a sauce pan and added corn starch a little bit at a time until the liquid reached the right consistency (it should evenly coat the back of a spoon and not be too runny).

Well that is all. I hope you enjoy it.

Dun Well Doughnuts - I Drool

Thanks to the lovely people from With Love From Brooklyn and their great facebook posts, I have found a new favorite place to indulge my sweet tooth. Dun Well Doughnuts is very aptly named because my oh my can they make a good doughnut. And by good I mean really good in every sense. The flavor selection is fantastic, the sizes epic, the taste tremendous, and they are completely vegan (for those of you who might care). If you like your coffee with cow milk you will not be able to get it here, but there are plenty of other milk options on hand to make it worth your while. Trust me, you will not be disappointed and the people who own the store and those work there could not be more pleasant if they tried.This place is yet another gem on the Brooklyn crest and very worth while checking out.

 Of course my daughter had to have the chocolate glazed.

 Glazed and peanut butter & jelly doughnuts

Peanut butter & jelly doughnut - An inside view