I Am Not a Muse(d).

Often, I find myself in a cooking rut where I am basically making the same five dishes over and over again. The imagination suffers, the desire to try new recipes disappears and I have to search for a muse.  The muse came in two forms this time, one by the efforts of my own lily white hands and the other by the efforts of two men's sheer genius.


Lemongrass and Mint

 

Herbs, herbs, herbs!  I have revived my indoor herb garden.  I love seeing the beautiful, leafy green fronds in my ceramic pots and inhaling their sweet, spicy, fresh aromas.  I have planted sweet basil (lots and lots), Thai basil, German thyme, lemongrass, mint.  I am still hunting for some rosemary, cilantro (which I am excellent at killing), lime thyme or lemon thyme. I think this pot is too small  to get the large stalks of lemongrass found in the Asian markets, but that's okay. I am using these for their citronella qualities (I usually buy my lemongrass already minced because I just can't be bothered with that ;)).  I also planted 4 seedlings of lemongrass in the ground so maybe, just maybe, something magical will happen there.

Dearly Beloved and I also made a much more concerted effort to actually plant a garden this year.  We have tomatoes (grape, brandywine, Amish red, San Marzano, romas and goliaths), cucumbers (killer frost attacked the week after we set those in the ground, so we may have none), leeks, garlic chives, pumpkins (11 vines!!!), sugarbaby watermelons, strawberries, cantoloupes, corn, peas and mammoth sunflowers.

Since I was already elbow deep in the muck and mire, I also planted flowers to pretty up our yard: poppies, peonies, wildflowers.  But I digress - on to the other muse!

I have been eyeing 2 cookbooks for quite a while.  In this day and age, when it is usually easier to find a recipe you want to try somewhere on the internet, cookbooks are not so much a necessity as they are a luxury.  These two books are truly that.  My Vietnam is a retelling of Luke Nguyen's original cookbook Songs of Sapa, but with more recipes and tales.  As I try to recreate my mother's recipes, his recipes are a great starting point for me.  My mother's banana bread pudding is a beautiful, striata of crustless, day-old french bread, sliced fingerling bananas and an amzing thick custard.  It is quite intimidating, but perfect for an end of workday snack.  Luke Nguyen offers a simpler, but equally delicious version made with bananas, flour and sweetened condensed milk baked in a springform pan.  Much more approachable for me.  I also love the stories he tells about revisiting Vietnam.  I hope to have my own stories soon!



Momofuku is the brainchild that stems from David Chang's search for eating and making perfect ramen.  He traveled to Japan to learn secrets of the trade, came back and opened an eatery naming it after the man who invented ramen.  Now I loves me a good bowl of ramen!  I am  not talking about the 20-cent-package-dried-stuff-with-tinfoil-bag-of-sodium-seasoning.  I am talking about a rich, steaming broth flavored with everything that simmers for hours and hours on end (much like my own country's pho broth), noodles and a smorgasboard of add-ins such as mushrooms, scallions, chicken, pork or beef, a perfectly poached egg.  That being said, the recipes in this book are not limited to just ramen.  David Chang is genius - his creative variations on classic Asian dishes are so packed with amazing flavors.  I have already made the steak ssam and roasted pork belly with steamed buns. Both were a hit - so much so that Dearly Beloved requested them again. He HATES repeat meals!

My goal is to cook every recipe in these two books.  Of course, I will post about my attempts, however humorous, here.  Oh, I almost forgot (so much to catch up on!) - I took a food photography class.  I don't know if it improved my photography skills at all, but I learned quite a bit on how to make food look appetizing (apparently, I have to take the photos in my livingroom, not diningroom).  Hopefully, this means I can stop stealing other people's culinary successes!

Spaghetti Carbonara

Traditional carbonara is served with the egg, either lightly poached or completely raw, perched in the middle of the plate of spaghetti.  The idea is to break the yolk and let its gooey, ooey goodness run down over the pasta (a la the picture to the left).  I love runny yolk eggs - poached in my ramen, over spinach salads, a fried egg over rice with nuoc mam and a delicious grilled pork chop, so the traditional concept is one that I would wholeheartedly embrace.  This recipe mixes the egg yolks in with the cream, which is in itself, embraced by the Romans. 

Being the bacon, egg, pasta lovers that we are (and, for me, peas), what is not to love about Carbonara?  This is one of my go to dishes for a quick and easy, after work meal.  The flavors are ridiculous and it is as comforting as one of Mom Susie's quilts.

5 teaspoons olive oil

4 shallots, diced

1 large onion, cut into thin strips

1-2 cups of diced pancetta or bacon (we are big bacon eaters - we used a LOT of peppered bacon)

1 clove garlic, chopped (2 for us)

1 (16 ounce) package fettuccini or spaghetti pasta

3 egg yolks

1/2 cup heavy cream

3/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

1-2 cups of frozen peas (optional)

salt and pepper to taste

- Heat olive oil in a large heavy saucepan over medium heat. Saute shallots until softened. Stir in onion and bacon, and cook until bacon is evenly browned. Stir in garlic when bacon is about half done. Remove from heat.

- Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente. Drain pasta, then return it to the pot.

- In a medium bowl, whisk together egg yolks, cream, and shredded Parmesan. Pour the bacon mixture over the pasta, then stir in the cream mixture. Season with salt and pepper.

Peach Chicken Salad with Mint Vinaigrette

Back in the day, when my friends and I were more ambitious about improving our cultural wellbeing...or when we just wanted to find any excuse to drink heavily, we would hold wine nights.  We selected a wine of choice, learned all we could about the wine, brought a bottle of said choice and a dish that would pair well with it. Some friends came back from a trip to the concord region (Pennsylvania) and brought a collection of US wines from the area.  That day, I made a raspberry chipotle glazed, roasted pork loin to pair with a true concord wine (mmmmmm, grape juice kicked up a notch) and Spencer brought an amazing peach chicken salad with a mint vinaigrette to pair with a concord riesling.  Below is the salad recipe, courtesy of the amazing Spencer:

PEACH CHICKEN SALAD
3 medium fresh peaches, peeled and cubed
2 cups cubed cooked chicken breast
1 medium cucumber, seeded and chopped
3 tablespoons finely chopped red onion

MINT VINAIGRETTE:
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup minced fresh mint
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
4 lettuce leaves

In a large bowl, combine the peaches, chicken, cucumber and onion; set aside. In a blender, combine the vinegar, lemon juice, sugar, mint, salt and pepper; cover and process until smooth. Drizzle over chicken mixture; toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate until chilled. Use a slotted spoon to serve on lettuce-lined plates.
 
Note from me:  I don't like the taste of raw onions, even red ones.  This is a trick my mama taught me - soak the onions in the vinaigrette for about 15 to 20 minutes before pouring over the salad to get rid of the raw onion kick.  The flavor will be much milder.

Customer's Choice (a/k/a I love the parenthesis)

I have this cookbook that I treasure - The Betty Crocker Cookbook (abridged version).  It is red and old, the spine is broken and the pictures would not meet any of the appetite invoking pictures you see on cooking websites these days.  This cookbook belonged to my mom.

Back in the day, my parents owned a little eatery (not quite diner, not quite deli...a dineli, if you will) in a busy business park just north of the SR 201 (back in the day, we called it the 21st South Freeway).  Easily seen from the freeway, it is now a Subway, but you can tell from the title of this post the named it went by when we owned it.  We inherited the name, but my people's knack for naming businesses is going to be fodder for another post in the future.  I spent my entire junior high and sophomore career here.  I worked for my parents for the bargain price of $50 per week (obviously very blissfully unaware of child labor laws) and saved up to pay cash for my first car - a very chic, used, white Audi 1000.

We offered breakfast, sandwiches, a salad bar (where I discovered my dislike for the intensely tinny taste and aroma of canned beets and kept me from enjoying the deliciousness of a fresh, roasted beet for decades because I thought beets naturally came from a can), 2 different types of soup and a variety of entrees and specials each day.   She didn't need recipes for the familiar Asian dishes we served, except (I cringe to type this) the egg foo yung (a "Chinese" I'm sure no true Chinese person has ever heard of).  The curled up post-it notes mark pages in the cookbook of the recipes my mom used for the restaurant - foods that she was not familiar with cooking but she was a natural and made them all tasty - except the sweet and sour meatballs.

This cookbook was printed in 1978 and aimed for the economic young housewife (we were not gender neutral back then) - many of the recipe titles start with the word "economic".  I had thawed some ground beef without a purpose, so I pulled out this cookbook and thumbed through it.  Aha!  Economy Beef Stroganoff.  Now My Beloved loves beef stroganoff but as I skimmed through the recipe, I knew there would be quite a bit of changes.   We will call my version Upgraded Beef Stroganoff.  Definitely a success, MB had 2 plates full.

1 1/2 pounds beef for stew, cut in 1/8′ slices (ME: 1 lb ground beef)
2 tablespoons butter
1 1/4 cups beef bouillon (ME: is that the same as beef broth?  I used beef broth) 
2 tablespoons catsup (ME: though I know My Beloved would not have minded this ingredient, he puts ketchup on his tacos, but I am not of the same tongue-set.  Omitted)
1 small clove garlic (ME: accidentally forgotten - a frequent side effect of changing recipes)
1 teaspoon salt (ME: 1/2 tsp sea salt)
8 ounces sliced mushrooms (ME: lots and lots ofSa mushrooms)
1 medium onion chopped (ME: cut onion in half, sliced in thin wedges)
3 tablespoons flour (ME: 1/4 cup)
1 cup dairy sour cream (ME: 1.5 cups)
4 cups hot cooked noodles (ME: is that a whole bag?  I used a whole bag)
1 tablespoon butter (ME: already had 2 T, don't need a third)
1 teaspoon poppy seed  (ME: what the hell for???? Omitted)
(ME: 1/4 c. red wine - this is approximate.  I just did one turn around the pot of wine)
(ME: 1 t. Worcesteshire sauce)

Because I made such changes, the instructions below are the steps for my version.
- saute onions in 2 T butter until caramelized, add mushrooms and cook.  Remove and set aside.
- in the same pot, saute garlic until fragrant and add ground beef. cook until done
- add wine, 3/4 c. beef stock, worcesterhire sauce, salt. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly.  Reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 10 minutes.
- mix 1/2 c. beef stock with flour, add to beef mixture and return to boil for a minute or two (cooking off the flour taste)
- add sour cream - at this point you want to reduce the heat to LOW.  You want the sour cream to heat slowly, not boil

Serve over the buttered noodles and enjoy with some tivo'd episodes of The Daily Show!

My New Go To Chicken Dish!

A coworker brought in some leftovers last week - poached chicken with a soy/ginger/scallion sauce over it.  It was heavenly!  The chicken was so tender and flavorful.  I had a couple of slices for lunch with a very generic salad (lettuce, tomato, cucumber, avocado, soy/ginger dressing).  Of course, I had to beg for the recipe and she rattled it off to me.  The recipe below is my version of it - partly because, as stated, I don't follow directions and partly because I couldn't remember the whole conversation.

Dear readers, this is a great "go-to" dish.  Easy, but doesn't taste easy!  You can make it days ahead, the flavors just get better and better.  You can also serve it cold or warm (I like it cold for a light spring or summer dish).  I will post pictures the next time I make it.

3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
grated fresh ginger (about 4 tablespoons)
4 scallions (green and whites), chopped (I actually used the entire bunch, but I love scallions)
2 T. sugar
2 t. sesame oil
1/4 c. soy sauce (or to taste)
2 T. sherry (I used mirin)
1-2 T of canola oil (or another mild flavored oil for sauteeing)

My coworker told me to poach the chicken in water.  However, I like to use my "master stock poached chicken" method (borrowed from Kylie Kwong).  I place the chicken in a pot large enough to hold all the breasts in a single layer.  I add enough water to cover by about 2 inches.  I add 1/2 a peeled onion, 1 large chunk (2-3 inches) of ginger that I have lightly bruised and a couple of cloves of peeled garlic (also bruised).  Bring all of this to a boil, then quickly turn the heat down to a low simmer.  Do not let the water return to a boil or you will get a tough bird.  Cover and let it simmer in the stock for about 20 minutes.  Then turn the heat off and let the chicken keep poaching for another 15-20 minutes.

In the meantime, heat the canola oil in a pan over medium heat.  Saute the ginger and scallions until they are fragrant.  Add the soy sauce, sherry (mirin), sugar, sesame oil and stir until the sugar dissolves.  Keep it on the heat, stirring, until the sauce comes to a boil.  Then turn off the heat.

Remove the chicken breast from the stock and let dry.  Slice them on the bias and arrange in a serving dish (make sure the dish has sides to hold the sauce).  Poor the sauce over the chicken, making sure to cover all he pieces.  The longer you can let it sit to absorb the sauce and flavor, the better.  I like to refrigerate it overnight because it is so delicious!  I serve with rice and a salad.

Bangers and Mash (I know! Right?)

There is something to be said about food from the United Kingdom....it's bland.  With the exception of that fine, layered dessert, English Trifle, I just find most of it bland.  So when I heard of the dish Bangers and Mash, I thought "that sounds delicious" - with a name like that and ingredients like sausages and mashed potatoes, what's not to love?  Then I heard that it was a traditional English dish and thoughts of deliciousness died right there in my head.  Just to confirm, I made a traditional Bangers and Mash recipe last night for dinner and my beloved confirmed.  Bland.

Not to be daunted, I am determined there is a way to bring this dish up a notch (or seven) and make it full of flavor.  As a side note, the term "bangers" is attributed to the fact that sausages, particularly the kind made during World War II under rationing, can explode under high heat if not cooked carefully. Modern sausages do not have this attribute.  And I say they are the worse for it.

Bangers:
- 1 lb. (or more) sausages Traditionally, cumberland sausages are used.  I don't know what those are, but I don't have high hopes for their flavor.  I used Colossimo's New York Style sausage.  What makes them New York style, you ask?  I have no clue.  They looked like every other Colossimo sausage.
- Lots of shallots lots and lots and lots

The recipe I tried called for boiling the sausages.  That was not a typo, my friends.  It said "boil".  I say "grill".  But brown the sausages in a little bit of butter and olive oil first.  This is not really for the sausage's sake, but for the shallots.  Flavor, flavor, flavor!  While the sausages are grilling, saute the shallots in the pan drippings from the sausages on LOW HEAT.  This is very important, you want a nice, slow, delicious caramelizing of the shallots.  This gives them a wonderful, sweet, nutty, brown flavor.  If the heat is too high, the shallots will crisp up and burn, imparting bitterness.  Not to mention how bitter I will be for such poor treatment of the royal shallot.  If you want to turn this into a gravy, add 2 T. of flour, cook gently to cook off the flour taste (5 minutes), then add chicken stock and reduce to thicken.

- 5-6 potatoes I say go with Yukon golds - nothing beats their texture for creaminess
- butter
- heavy cream
- creme fraiche, sour cream or crema mexicana
- salt
- pepper

Quarter the potatoes and put in a pot of cold water.  Set to boil for 20 minutes or until fork tender.  You will notice I didn't put in portions for the other ingredients.  This is really to taste.  I love my mashed potatoes - I love them creamy and rich and just full of flavor.  I also love "flavored" mashed potatoes - so divine.  For my preferences, I used about 1 stick (8 T) of butter, 2-3 tablespoons of the creme fraiche and just kept adding the heavy cream as I mashed until it was as creamy as I wanted.  Then, and here is my big finish on these mashed potatoes, throw in about 1/2 of the slowly sauteed, uber rich shallots...and mix it all together.  If you do make the shallots into gravy, then you can skip this part...or not.  Season with salt and pepper.

Can you just taste this?  Creamy, shallot mashed potatoes, topped with 2 perfectly grilled bangers, topped with a rich, shallot gravy.  I don't even think I need to post a picture.

Jack Shrimp (ish)

When I lived in the OC, I'd take PCH home...it is an amazingly pretty drive along the coast. In Newport Beach, a little eatery called Jack Shrimp sits across from PCH, facing the ocean. More often than not, I'd stop on the way home to sit on the patio with a good book and big bowl of their Jack Shrimp, washing it all down with a belgian pale. I'm sure their other dishes are delicious as well, but I can't guarantee it. In all the times I've been there, I've only ordered the Jack Shrimp. Below is my attempt at recreating the dish. I think I came pretty close! There is not shoreline here, but our shady back patio and a bottle of blue moon makes up for it.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 c butter
5-6 cloves of garlic, crushed
2-3 shallots, thinly sliced
1 t celery seeds
1/2 t fennel seeds
2 t rosemary
LOTS of ground pepper
1 6oz can tomato paste
1 c white wine (I used a Marlborough sauvignon blanc)
2 quarts chicken stock
2 lbs EXTRA LARGE prawns (Tiger Prawns if you can find them), deveined but not peeled
French bread

- Heat olive oil and butter in an enamel dutch oven, add the garlic and shallots and saute until they start caramelizing and you can smell the yummy aroma
- Add celery seeds, fennel seeds, rosemary and pepper. Saute for a minute or 2 to release their flavors
- Add the tomato paste and saute until everything is well blended (for lack of a better description). I gauge everything with the smell test - all of these ingredients should smell delicious...that's how you know you've sauteed enough.
- Deglaze the pot with wine, let it cook until the desired amt of alcohol has burned off (the desired amount is up to you).
- Add the chicken stock - bring everything to a full boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Allow it to simmer for 1/2 hour to an hour (longer = more intense flavor).
- When you are ready to serve, add the prawns. HINT: once you've added the shrimp, do not allow the stock to return to a full boil - that will result in tough shrimp.

As soon as the prawns are cooked, serve in bowls with lots of crusty French bread. You do not need utensils for this. Use the bread to mop up the sauce and peel and eat the shrimp. Trust me, you will not want to waste one single delicious drop of this. It's even better the next day, when all the flavors have melded.