Chicken with Carrots, Mushroom & Figs

I was searching for what to cook last Sunday and stumbled across several interesting recipes on Martha Stewart's website. Since I could not decide which one to cook, I decided to combine those recipes together and made this Pan Seared, Roast & Braised Chicken with Carrots, Mushroom and Figs. It tasted so delicious and comforting ... yum yum!


Ingredients:
4 chicken thighs
4 drumsticks
coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
4 carrots, thinly sliced
1 pound assorted mushrooms (such as shiitake, cremini, and white), stemmed and quartered
1 1/2 cups chicken stock (or white wine)
1 cup quartered dried figs
1 tablespoon corn starch
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Season both sides of the chicken pieces with salt and pepper.
• Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a large ovenproof skillet or a Dutch oven over medium-high heat.
• Add chicken, skin side down; cook until golden brown, 4 to 5 minutes. Flip and cook for another 3 minutes on the other side. Transfer to oven and roast for about 10 minutes, transfer to a place and cover.
• Cook the onion in the same pan with a couple tablespoons of olive oil for 2-3 minutes and then add in the carrot slices and cook for 5 more minutes.
• Add mushroom, chicken stock and the chicken pieces back to the pan, cover, cook stirring occasionally for another 3 minutes.
• Dissolve corn starch in a small bowl with a couple tablespoons water and add into the pan.
• Add dried figs, chopped parsley and adjust seasoning if needed.

Hawaiian Shoyu Chicken

After hanging with Auntie Sandy and Mo-Fo at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, I got inspired to make a Hawaiian-inspired dish since they are from Kauai so the next day I made this Hawaiian Shoyu Chicken. It is a delicious meat dish to be eaten with rice for lunch and with salad for a light dinner.


Ingredients:
½ cup of low sodium shoyu (soy sauce)
½ cup of brown sugar or ½ cup of honey
½ cup of chicken broth or water
2 tablespoons of sake (I used dry white wine)
3-6 cloves of garlic, finely minced
2 tablespoons of fresh ginger, grated fine (skins on)
1 teaspoon of Chinese five spice powder
Hot sauce such as Sriracha to taste (I used Sambal Oelek)
5 pounds of chicken thighs
Green onions and sesame seeds for garnish

Directions:

• Whisk together soy sauce, brown sugar (or honey), chicken broth, sake, garlic, ginger, five spice powder and hot sauce in a large bowl.
• Add the thighs to the marinade and stick in the fridge for one hour.
• Heat up the oven to 350 degrees.
• Pour the chicken and the marinade onto a large baking pan, arrange so the meaty side is down. Cook for about 40 minutes, turning the chicken 3 or 4 times.
• Turn up the oven to 450 degrees our put chicken in a broiler for another 5-10 minutes to brown the chicken, skin side up. Sprinkle with green onions and sesame seeds and serve with white rice.

Chicken Adobo

How do you mend a broken heart? No, it’s not what you think… Porgy and I aren’t going to Splitville – well, not that I know of anyway. However, something similarly tragic and saddening happened a couple weeks ago... we found out that Arthur has a lymphoma cancer. After seeing a vet oncologist for consultation, we decided not to do any treatments on him because it’s not fair for him (and for us) to have him suffer through all the medications that he has to take and the chemotherapy sessions that he has to endured just to prolong his life for possibly another year. He still behaves normally (very food oriented and ever so grumpy in the morning) and not showing any other lymphoma symptoms except the enlarged glands so we don’t have to do the inevitable thing anytime soon. I think he’s actually enjoying the fact that we are totally spoiling him nowadays.

Since we’re stuck at home even more (because we feel guilty if we do not spend more time with him), we decided to do some more cooking - Porgy made America's Test Kitchen’s Chicago-style deep dish pizza while I made NYTimes’ Chicken Adobo after reading the their article on how each Filipinos make Chicken Adobo a bit differently from the other person.

I have never made Chicken Adobo with coconut milk before so I thought it is kind of interesting that the recipe calls for it and the marinade mixture smells fantastic. Although I love the taste, I thought the vinegar is a bit too overwhelming in both the chicken and the sauce so if I have to make some adjustment to the recipe, I would cut back on the vinegar and maybe added some palm sugar to help the chicken to caramelize even more.


Ingredients:
1 cup coconut milk
¼ cup soy sauce
1½ cup rice vinegar
12 garlic cloves, peeled
3 whole bird’s-eye chilies or other fiery chili
3 bay leaves
1½ teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
3 to 4 pounds chicken thighs

Directions:

• Combine all of the marinade ingredients in a large, nonreactive bowl or resealable plastic freezer bag. Add the chicken and turn to coat. Refrigerate overnight or for at least 2 hours.
• Place chicken and marinade in a large lidded pot or Dutch oven over high heat and bring to a boil. Immediately reduce heat to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is cooked through and tender, around 30 minutes.
• Heat broiler. Transfer chicken pieces to a large bowl, raise heat under the pot to medium-high, and reduce the sauce until it achieves almost the consistency of cream, about 10 minutes. Remove bay leaves and chilies.
• Place chicken pieces on a roasting pan and place under broiler for 5 to 7 minutes, until they begin to caramelize. Remove, turn chicken, baste with sauce and repeat, 3 to 5 minutes more. Return chicken to sauce and cook for a few minutes more, then place on a platter and drizzle heavily with sauce.

Thai-style Chicken with Basil, Celery and Red Cabbage

As I mentioned in my last post, I changed up my meal this week from Italian-style Pesto alla Trapanese to Thai-style Chicken with Basil, Celery and Red Cabbage. I got the idea for this dish from America's Test Kitchen and added some sliced celery and red cabbage because I had them in my fridge and I wanted to add more vegetables & fiber to the dish.

I really love the flavor of this dish (thanks to the combination of fish sauce, chili and basil) and the crunchiness of the cabbage. I guess I will have something to look forward to during lunch time tomorrow!


Ingredients:
2 cups fresh basil leaves , tightly packed
6 medium garlic cloves , peeled
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded
3 green Thai chiles, stemmed & seeded
4 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoon oyster sauce
2 teaspoon rice vinegar
2 tablespoon sugar
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 2-inch pieces
6 medium shallots, peeled and thinly sliced (about 3/4 cup)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
4 celery stalks, sliced
1 head red cabbage, cored and sliced

Directions:

• Process 1 cup basil leaves, garlic, and chiles in food processor until finely chopped, 6 to 10 one-second pulses, scraping down bowl with rubber spatula once during processing. Transfer 1 tablespoon basil mixture to small bowl and stir in 2 tablespoon fish sauce, oyster sauce, vinegar, and sugar; set aside. Transfer remaining basil mixture to 12-inch heavy-bottomed nonstick skillet. Do not wash food processor bowl.
• Pulse chicken and 1 tablespoon fish sauce in food processor until meat is chopped into - approximate 1/4-inch pieces, six to eight 1-second pulses. Transfer to a medium bowl and refrigerate 15 minutes.
• Stir shallots and oil into basil mixture in skillet. Heat over medium-low heat (mixture should start to sizzle after about 1 1/2 minutes; if it doesn’t, adjust heat accordingly), stirring constantly, until garlic and shallots are golden brown, 5 to 8 minutes. Add in the sliced celery and cook for 5 more minutes.
• Add chicken, increase heat to medium, and cook, stirring and breaking up chicken with the spatula, until only traces of pink remain, 4-6 minutes. Add reserved basil-fish sauce mixture and continue to cook, stirring constantly until chicken is no longer pink, about 2 more minutes.
  
• Add in the sliced red cabbage and red pepper flakes, stir to combine, cover the pan, and cook for 5 more minutes. Stir in remaining cup basil leaves and cook, stirring constantly, until basil is wilted, 30 to 60 seconds.
• If there are too much broth, thickened with 2 tablespoon corn starch dissolved in a small bowl with 1/4 cup of the broth.
  
• Serve immediately over white rice.
  

Fried Chicken

You know that you are getting older when you feel relieved and actually happy that you are not going out on New Years. Porgy and I decided to take it easy this evening, but I thought that we should do something special to celebrate. So I decided to make some fried chicken using Kobe seasoning mix (just like what my Mom used to), drink some Champagne and watch Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window. Happy New Year 2011!


Ingredients:
1 chicken, cut into 8 pieces
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon white pepper
1 package of Kobe seasoning flour mix
canola/palm oil for frying

Directions:

• Wash and pat the chicken pieces dry.
• Season with salt, white pepper, paprika and a couple tablespoon of Kobe seasoning flour and marinade for an hour or so.
• Pour enough oil to come just 1/8-inch up the side of a heavy frying pan and heat over medium heat. I don't have any oil/candy thermometer but I think the preferred temperature is ~325F.
• Pour the rest of the seasoning flour on a plate and roll the chicken pieces in flour and shake off the excess.
• Fry the chicken pieces a few at a time so not to crowd the pan, place them skin side down.
• Cook until golden brown on each side, approximately 12 minutes per side.
• Drain the cooked chicken pieces on a rack over a sheet pan.

Chicken in Black Bean Sauce

One of my favorite lunch spots in San Francisco Financial District is the Henry's Hunan Restaurant on Sacramento Street. I go there at least once a month with MoFo and we usually always order the same food: Dumplings, Chicken with Black Bean Sauce and Chicken with Bean Curd. We used to be able to finish them all in one seating but sadly we can't do it anymore because we just can't eat that much anymore and we don't want to do a face plant onto our desks when we get back to the office. This dish is my attempt to make their Chicken with Black Bean Sauce and I think it's pretty darn good. I'm definitely looking forward to eat it for lunch for the next few days.


Ingredients:
1 lb chicken meat (thigh or breast meat), cut into 1-inch cubes
1 head of cabbage, cut into quarters and then roughly sliced
2 carrots, sliced into 1/4-inch coins
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 onion, cut into quarters and then roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 tablespoon finely grated ginger
2 tablespoons Shaoxing cooking wine
1 tablespoon sesame oil
3 tablespoons Chinese Black Bean and Garlic sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon white pepper
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup of roughly chopped basil leaves
1/2 cup of chopped green onion
1 teaspoon corn starch

Directions:

• Marinate the chicken meat in ginger, Shaoxing cooking wine and sesame oil for 30 minutes.
• Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in the pan until hot and then add the marinated chicken. Stir fry until it cooks through (about 5 minutes or so) and set aside.
• Add in the chopped onion and garlic into the hot pan and stir fry until fragrant.
• Add in the chopped cabbage, carrots, salt, white pepper and continue cooking on a medium heat for 5 minutes.
  
• Add in the Black Bean and Garlic sauce and sugar, stir the mixture, lower the heat, cover the pan and continue cooking for another 5-7 minutes until the carrots starting to soften up.
• In a small bowl, dissolve the corn starch with a little water.
  
• Return the chicken meat into the pan, add the corn starch mixture, chopped green onion and basil leaves.
• Adjust seasoning as needed, stir well and continue cooking for another minute or two until the sauce started to boil and thicken up.
• Serve over rice.
  

Chicken and Vegetable Cobbler

I love a good chicken pot pie but I have never made it before because I'm too lazy to make the dough. So when I saw Mark Bittman's article last week on NYTimes, I knew that I would make his Chicken and Vegetable Cobbler this weekend. I added garlic, shallots, ham and more carrots to his recipe in order to stretch the dish even more. It turned out really well and it's definitely easier than making it the traditional way.


Ingredients:
2 leeks, well washed and chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 shallot, finely chopped
salt and ground black pepper
2 cups of quartered crimini mushroom
1.5 cups of chicken stock
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
4 carrots, sliced into coins
2 boneless chicken thighs, diced
1 cup cubed ham
1 cup frozen peas
2 tablespoons corn starch
1 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into bits
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 egg

Directions:

• Heat oven to 400F.
  
• In a large skillet, stir fry the leek, garlic and shallot with oil over medium heat.
• Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes.
  
• Add mushrooms and cook until liquid has released and evaporated, about 8 to 10 minutes.
• Add stock and rosemary; bring to a boil, and let bubble for a minute or two.
  
• Add carrots, ham and chicken and reduce heat so the liquid simmers and cook for 8 to 10 minutes until carrots are almost tender and chicken is cooked through.
• Add peas and cook, stirring occasionally for another minute or so.
• Take out rosemary stem and discard.
• Whisk cornstarch with a few tablespoons of broth to make a slurry, add slurry to pot and stir until liquid thickens slightly.
  
• Transfer everything to an ovenproof dish and set aside.
• Put flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a food processor.
  
• Add butter and process until mixture resembles small peas, no more than 30 seconds.
• Add in buttermilk and egg and mix quickly until it just comes together; it should be sticky.
• Drop spoonfuls of batter on top of vegetables and chicken and smooth with a knife, covering as much surface area as possible but leaving a few gaps for steam to escape.
  
• Bake for 35 to 45 minutes until golden on top and bubbly underneath.
• Scoop into bowls and serve immediately.

Chicken in Caramel Sauce

Lately, I have been craving for something on the sweet side for my daily meal, so I decided to make Chicken in Caramel Sauce - a pretty simple Vietnamese dish. One thing to watch out for is the sweetness level, so you don't get bored by the third meal. So for my version of Chicken in Caramel Sauce, I added some vegetables (carrots for crunchy texture and tomatoes and green bell pepper for a bit of acidity) and chili pepper powder for some heat.


Ingredients:
1 lb chicken breast or thigh meat, cut into 1-inch cubes
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons minced garlic
4 tablespoons minced shallot
6 tablespoons minced ginger
6 tablespoons water
1 carrots, cut into half coins
2 tomatoes, cut into bite sized chunks
1 green bell pepper, cut into 1-inch strips
10 stalks green onions, cut into 1-inch sections

Caramel Sauce:
2 tablespoons fish sauce
4 tablespoons palm sugar
1 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon red chili pepper

Direction:

• Mix the sauce ingredients well in a bowl. Set aside.
• In a medium size sauce pan, boil the carrots for 2 minutes. Add in the tomatoes and green bell pepper and cook for another minute, drain and set aside.
• Stir fry the chicken meat cubes in a frying pan with half of the vegetable oil for 4 minutes or so until it changes color. Set aside.
• Add the rest of the vegetable oil into the frying pan and stir fry the garlic, shallot and ginger over medium heat for 4 minutes or so until fragrant and softened.
• Add in the caramel sauce, stir and continue cooking until the liquid boils and starts to thicken.
• Add in the water, stir until smooth and return to boil.
• Return the chicken pieces into the pan, cook for approximately 15 minutes until the liquid thickens and becomes glossy. Stir occasionally.
• Add the vegetables and the green onion in the pan and cook for another 5 minutes.
• Serve over rice. Enjoy!

Chicken with Forty Cloves of Garlic

Ever since I received Ina Garten's Barefoot in Paris cookbook from Mo-Fo for my birthday, I've been checking out the recipes before I went to bed every night in the past week so I decided to make Chicken with Forty Cloves of Garlic today. It looks relatively easy and deliciously rich - a perfect dish to make on Sunday afternoon to be eaten for the rest of the week. I served the chicken with Moroccan Couscous, another wonderful recipe from her book. Here is the recipe with a tiny bit of tweaking since the alcohol selection in my kitchen is not as vast as hers. If you don't want to add any alcohol to the dish, you can use low sodium chicken stock instead.


Ingredients:
3 whole heads garlic, about 40 cloves
5 pieces of whole legs, cut into drumsticks and thighs
2 pieces of half breasts, each cut into two
salt & pepper
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons Sherry (or Cognac), divided
1.5 cups extra dry Vermouth (or dry white wine)
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons heavy cream
2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Directions:

• Dry the chicken with paper towel and season liberally with salt and pepper on both sides. Marinade for at least a couple of hours in the refrigerator.
• Separate the cloves of garlic and drop them into a pot of boiling water for 60 seconds. Drain the garlic and peel. Set aside.
• Heat the butter and oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat and saute the chicken in batches, skin side down first, until nicely browned for about 4 to 5 minutes on each side. Make sure to use tongs or spatula so not to pierce the skin with a fork. When a batch is done, transfer the chicken pieces to a plate and continue to saute all the chicken in batches.
• After the last batch is done and transferred to the plate, add all of the garlic to the pot. Lower the heat to a medium low and saute for 10 minutes, turning often, until evenly browned. Add 2 tablespoons of the Sherry and the Vermouth, return to a boil and scrape the brown bits from the bottom of the pan.
  
• Return the chicken to the pot with the juices and sprinkle with the thyme leaves. Cover and simmer over the lowest heat for about 30 minutes, until all the chicken is done. Remove the chicken pieces to a platter and cover with aluminum foil to keep warm.
• In a small bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup of the sauce and the flour and then whisk it back into the sauce in the pot. Raise the heat to a medium, add the remaining tablespoon of Sherry and the cream, and boil for 3 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.
• Pour the sauce and garlic over the chicken, sprinkle with some chopped parsley and serve hot over the couscous.

Thai Coconut Chicken Soup

The San Francisco weather has been so strange lately. One day, it's above 80F and sunny... and then it'd be cold, windy and in the 50's next day. It's totally affecting my appetite and what I'm craving for. This Thai Coconut Chicken Soup is a versatile dish that can be eaten during warm or cold weather. The light coconut milk broth with hints of lemon grass and galangal would cool you down and the spiced chillies would warm you up. I love sitting on my couch and slurping this delicious soup while watching campy TV shows or movies.

Note: You might be able to find Galangal in Asian groceries. It's a relative to Ginger root but tastes different and more fragrant. If you can't find it, according to some websites, you can substitute it with ginger and some lime juice.


Ingredients:
1 lb boneless and skinless chicken breast or thighs, cut in strips
1 lb red potatoes, cut into quarter
1 can of straw mushrooms
3 cups of coconut milk
1.5 cups of water
2 stalks of lemon grass (cut into 3-inch lengths and pounded)
6 kaffir lime leaves (lightly bruised to release the flavor)
6 slices galangal
5 dried red chillies, seeded and soaked with water
5 tablespoons fish sauce
juice of half lime
2 tablespoons of chopped cilantro
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

• Stir fry the onion with a couple tablespoons of olive oil in a large heavy bottomed pot for a couple of minutes.
• Add the lemon grass, galangal, dried chillies, kaffir lime leaves and stir fry for a few more minutes until fragrant.
• Add coconut milk and water into the pot and bring it to boil.
• Add the potatoes and bring to boil again.
  
• Add straw mushrooms and chicken and boil it on medium heat for a few minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.
  
• Add lime juice and fish sauce to taste.
  
• Add chopped cilantro before serving.

Chicken with Dry Red Pepper

A quick and simple chicken stir fry dish using the ingredients that I've already had in my fridge.


Ingredients:
1 lb chicken thigh meat
1 eggplant, cut into medium-sized cubes
1 cup of shredded carrots
10 dry red pepper (seeded and rinse)
1 teaspoon ginger, minced
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
3 green onion, cut into 2" length
3.5 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon dark soy sauce
1.5 tablespoon sugar
1.5 tablespoon rice wine
1/2 salt
1 teaspoon vinegar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1.5 teaspoon cornstarch, dissolved in 3 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 cup chopped cashew

Directions:

• Cut the chicken meat into 1" cubes and marinate with 1 tablespoon each of soy sauce, cornstarch and oil for at least 30 minutes.
• Heat 1/2 cup of oil in a wok, stir fry the chicken meat for a couple of minutes or so over high heat and then set aside.
• Saute dry pepper in the wok over medium heat with 2 tablespoon of oil until fragrant.
• Add in ginger, garlic and green onion; continue to stir fry for another minute.
• Add the chicken meat back to the wok, along with eggplants and shredded carrots; cook for another 5 minutes or so and then add the rest of the seasoning sauce.
• Stir until thicken and heated thoroughly.
• Remove, add some chopped cashew and serve hot over rice.

Mark Bittman's Chicken Adobo

I came across another recipe that peaked my interest from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything. Usually I make Chicken Adobo with soy sauce and rice vinegar only but he suggested adding coconut milk to add richness to the dish and then broiling or grilling the chicken afterwards. Below is the recipe with my changes.


Ingredients:
1 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup rice vinegar
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups coconut milk
1 whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces (I used 5 thighs and 5 drumsticks)

Directions:

• Combine the soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, bay leaves, pepper, 1 cup water and half the coconut milk in a large pan big enough to hold the chicken in one layer and bring to a boil over high heat.
• Add the chicken, reduce the heat to medium low and cook, covered, turning once or twice, until the chicken is almost done, about 25 minutes.
• At this point, you can refrigerate the chicken in the liquid for up to a day before preceeding; skim the fat before reheating.
• Remove the chicken pieces from the liquid and dry them gently with paper towels, and then broil the chicken until hot, brown and crisp, turning as necessary.
• In the mean time, boil the sauce along with the remaining coconut milk over high heat until it is reduced to about 1 cup
• Serve the chicken with the sauce.
  

Coq Au Vin

Although the San Francisco weather had been very nice in the past few weeks, I was craving for a hearty comfort food over the weekend so I decided to make Coq Au Vin (Rooster in Wine) that I served with Polenta slices top with Parmesan cheese. I used several whole chicken legs from Whole Foods because I was not sure where to get rooster meat and how the texture would turn out. Here is my version of the recipe based on several recipes that I found online.


Ingredients:
10 bacon slices, diced
5 whole chicken legs (thighs and drumsticks), separated
6 garlic cloves, smashed
4 medium sized carrots, diced to bite size
30 pearl onions (I used half a bag of frozen pearl onions)
1 package of button mushrooms (I used quarter crimini mushrooms)
1 bay leaf
several sprigs for thyme
1/2 bottle of red wine (I used a Bordeaux)
2 cups of water or chicken broth
1 tablespoon of corn starch
2 tablespoons of butter
a small bunch of parsley
chili powder
paprika
salt and pepper
sugar

Directions:

• Season the chicken pieces with salt, pepper, chili powder and paprika.
• Fry the bacon until crisp in a large dutch oven over a low medium heat (10 minutes or so), set the bacon bits aside.
• In the same dutch oven used to cook the bacon, brown the chicken pieces over a medium high heat — skin side down first for 3-4 minutes per side and set aside.
  
• Using 2 tablespoons of oil from the bacon and chicken fat, stir fry garlic and carrot until fragrant. Add in the mushrooms and the frozen pearl onions and cook for another 5 minutes or so.
• Add the chicken pieces back into the pan along with thyme sprigs, bay leaf, wine and water/chicken stock. Add enough water until all the chickens pieces and the vegetables are submerged.
  
• Cook until boil, lower the heat to a low medium heat, cover and cook for another 30 minutes.
• In a small bowl, dissolve the corn starch with a quarter cup of the hot broth and pour back into the pan and mix well.
  
• Adjust seasoning by adding sugar, salt and pepper.
• Cook until it boils again and then stir in the butter and chopped parsley carefully.
• Serve with roasted sliced Polenta top with Parmesan cheese (or roasted baby potatoes) and sprinkled with the bacon bits.
  

Chicken with Black Bean Sauce

I usually make this simple (and cheap) chicken stir fry dish in a large quantity so I can have them for lunch during the week. Instead of making my own black bean sauce (which I don't know how to), I used Lee Kum Kee's Black Bean Garlic Sauce and added a teaspoon of chili flakes for some heat. You can substitute the chicken with mushroom or any other meats.


Ingredients:
2 chicken breast, cubed
1 onion, chopped
1 head of cabbage, chopped or shredded
1 package of firm tofu, pressed & cubed
1 green onion, chopped
2 teaspoons of Black Bean Garlic Sauce

Directions:

• In a large pot (or wok) over a medium high heat, stir fry the cubed chicken breast and onion for 5-10 minutes until chicken is cooked and onion is somewhat translucent
• Add in the shredded cabbage and the black bean garlic sauce and cook for another 10 minutes
• Add in the cubed tofu and chopped green onion, stir carefully until well mixed
• Cook for another 5 minutes, adjust seasoning accordingly
• Serve with a bowl of steam rice

Chicken and Tofu in Spicy Green Curry Sauce

Tonight, I made another Indonesian inspired dish of Chicken and Tofu in Spicy Green Curry Sauce. It's somewhat similar to the Opor Ayam dish that I made few months ago but it has a little more kick and a bit more sour because I marinated the chicken in lime juice and salt first.


Ingredients:
4 whole chicken legs, cut in pieces
juice of 1/2 lime
1 package of yellow fried tofu, cut in half diagonally
4 hard boiled eggs
1/2 can of coconut milk
5 kaffir lime leaves
6 candle nuts, roughly chopped
1 lemon grass stalk, chopped (white part only)
5 garlic
6 shallots
1 tablespoon grated galangal
1 tablespoon grated tumeric
1 tablespoon grated ginger
1 tablespoon whole pepper, crushed
2 serrano pepper, seeded
4 thai bird eye chilies, 2 seeded (or more if you want)
1 tablespoon palm sugar
1 tablespoon raw sugar
1/2 teaspoon dried shrimp paste
2 tablespoon fish sauce
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

• Heat the oven to 350F
• Marinate the chicken with the lime juice and salt for 15 minutes, wash thoroughly afterwards
• Sprinkle the chicken pieces with salt and pepper and bake in the oven for 15 minutes
  
• Grind the candle nuts, lemon grass, garlic, shallots, galangal, tumeric, ginger, pepper, serrano pepper, 2 of the thai chili, sugar, shrimp paste in a food processor until smooth, add some canola or olive oil if need to
• Heat up 3 tablespoon of oil in a large pot over medium heat and stir fry the spice paste and the kaffir lime leaves until fragrant
• Add in the fish sauce, half-cooked chicken and the tofu pieces and mix well
• Add the coconut milk and enough water until they're almost covered
• Cook over medium heat until it boils
• Lower the heat to a simmer, add in the hard boiled eggs and the other two thai chilies and cook for another 15-20 minutes until the chicken pieces are soft and the sauce thicken up
• Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper
• Serve over steam rice with some fried shallots
  

Chicken, Shrimp and Tofu in Soy Sauce

I was craving a Chinese Indonesian dish called Nasi Bakmoy - Rice with chicken, shrimp and tofu in soy sauce. However, since I was in a hurry and feeling a bit lazy, I decided to cut corners and this is my simplified version.


Ingredients:
2 chicken breast meat
2 chicken thigh meat
4 cup of water
1/4 lb of shrimp (de-shelled, de-veined and cut in half)
2 packages of medium firm tofu, cut into cubes
4 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoon soy sauce
3 tablespoon sweet soy sauce
1 teaspoon of white pepper
2 stalks green onion, chopped
salt

Directions:

• Boil the chicken until cooked, cut into cubes and save some of the chicken broth
• Stir fry the minced garlic until fragrant, add in the chicken, shrimp and tofu cubes
• Add in the rest of the ingredients except the green onion and mix well carefully
  
• Add in 2 cups of the chicken broth and cook all on medium heat until the liquid reduce by half
• Add the chopped green onion in the last minute of cooking
• Serve over rice and sprinkle fried shallots on top
  

Hainanese Chicken Rice

Last night, I made Hainanese Chicken Rice which is considered the national dish of Singapore using the recipe from Mark Bittman's book How to Cook Everything. It's a 'simple' dish of poached chicken and white rice cooked in chicken broth.


Ingredients:
1 whole chicken, 3 to 4 pounds, trimmed of excess fat and cut into 4 pieces
salt
3 tablespoons of grated garlic
1 big knob of ginger, grated finely
1/4 cup peanut oil or neutral foil (I used canola oil)
2 cups white (jasmine) rice
2 tablespoons dark sesame oil
Ginger-Scallion sauce (recipe to follow)
Chopped fresh scallion or cilantro leaves for garnish

Directions:

• Put about 4 inches of water in a large pot over high heat
• Run the inside and outside of chicken with salt and half of the garlic and ginger
• When the water boils, put the chicken in the pot; it should just submerged (if necessary, add water)
• Return to boil, cover and reduce the heat to medium, and cook for 15 minutes
• Turn off the heat and let the bird remain in the water for 1 hour, covered
• The meat should be opaque all the way to the bones; if not, return to pot to a boil and cover again for another 5 - 10 minutes
• Remove the chicken from the pot and set aside

• Put the oil in a skillet over medium heat
• When hot, add the remaining garlic and ginger, stirrin occasionally, until the garlic begins to brown and becomes fragrant, about 2 - 3 minutes
• Add the rice and stir, then add 4 cups of the stock; bring to a boil again
• Adjust the heat to a simmer so that the mixture bubbles gently but steadily, cover
• Cook until the rice has absorbed all the liquid (~20 minutes)
• Taste and adjust the seasoning

• Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces (optional) and rub with sesame oil
• Drizzle some of the Ginger Scallion sauce over it, serve over the rice and sprinkle with scallion or cilantro
• You can also serve serve the (heated) stock with some scallion in a small bowl on the side

Ginger Scallion Sauce

Ingredients:
1/4 cup minced (or grated) fresh ginger
1/2 cup chopped scallion
1 or 2 clove garlic, grated
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup peanut oil or neutral oil (I used canola oil)

Directions:

• Mix the ginger, scallion, garlic and salt together in a heatproof bowl
• Put the oil in a small saucepan or skillet over high heat until smoking
• Carefully pour the hot oil over the ginger scallion mixture (Note: it will sizzle a lot)
• Mix well and serve or refrigrate for up to 3 days

Roasted Half-Chicken with Crispy Drippings Bread and Spring Vegetables

Spring is officially here. Yesterday, I noticed that there were lots of beautiful green vegetables at the Farmers Market so I went a bit crazy and got baby artichokes, asparagus, green garlic, green onions, pea shoots, potatoes, spinach and tomatoes. Afterwards, I felt a bit guilty and decided I needed to use them right away... so I dragged myself to the Mission Meat Market to get a whole chicken so I could make Roast Chicken with Spring Vegetables.


I used the NYTimes' Roasted Chicken recipe because I loved the idea of having crunchy bread full of chicken drippings. Here is the recipe with some adjustments since I only used half of the chicken:

Ingredients:
1/2 loaf of sourdough baguette, sliced at least 1/2-inch thick
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 whole chicken (brined overnight and patted dry)
1 garlic head, sliced in half horizontally
1 bay leaf
1/2 lemon
A bunch thyme sprigs
Artichokes
Asparagus
Green Garlic
Green Onion

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Arrange oven rack so that it is in center of oven. Lay bread slices in a thick, heavy-duty metal roasting pan in one layer. Drizzle liberally with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
• Rub 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper inside cavity of chicken. Put the garlic, bay leaf, lemon and thyme underneath the half-chicken. Rub outside of chicken with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and sprinkle all over with remaining salt and pepper. Place it breast side up on bread.
• Roast chicken until it is deeply browned and juices run clear when thigh is pricked with a knife, about 45-50 minutes. Let rest for 10 minutes before carving.
  
• Thirty minutes in to cooking, drizzle baby artichokes with olive oil, salt and pepper and put them on a separate pan and into the oven.
• While you're waiting for the chicken to rest, put the rest of the vegetables onto the pan with the artichokes and season with olive oil, salt & pepper.
  
• Serve chicken with bread from pan and the roasted vegetables.

So here is the result and my Sunday dinner...

Soy-Braised Chicken

Tonight, I made Soy-Braised Chicken from Appetite For China. It's good, easy to make and I think it's pretty healthy. What do you think?

Chicken in Spiced Coconut Sauce and Chayotes Stew

Tonight I had Mo-Fo Duo, ShunBun, Danny and Craig over for an Indonesian dinner at my place. I made Chicken in Spiced Coconut Sauce (Opor Ayam) and Chayotes Stew (Sayur Labu Lodeh). I used to have them for Cap Go Meh (Chinese New Year Lantern Festival) growing up.


ShunBun brought a Chinese New Year Rice Cake (Nian Gao) which he deep-fried with some sugar, flour & water coating. It was my first time having it and I liked it. It reminded me of Japanese mochi cake.


I spent the afternoon making the spice paste for both main courses by grinding the spices using a mortar pestle and cutting up the chayotes into small toothpick-sized juliennes.


I used my Mom's family recipe for the Chicken in Spiced Coconut Sauce and Chayote Stew. To keep the recipe in the family (and close and trusted friends)... here's the NYTimes version.


End product: Chayote, egg, yellow tofu and chicken sprinkled with fried shallots.


Danny brought some French Macaroons and a couple of Chocolate Cakes from La Boulange Cafe & Bakery and I deep-fried some bananas for dessert - although the fried bananas tasted good, the texture was a bit too gooey for me. Next time, I will use plantains instead.


We washed down our dinner with these yummy wines.