Winter is nearly over but I am still kind of in winter-mode and craving simmered dishes like stews or this one. Without the stick-to-your-bones gravy of most stews though, this is a pretty light dish that is heavy on vegetables and uses the konnyaku (almost calorie-less) to fill you up.
Chikuzen-ni (serves 4-5):
450g chicken thighs, diced in 2cm cubes
4-6 shiitake mushrooms
2 carrots, cut into rolling wedges
1 burdock root (gobo - pictured), cut into rolling wedges
1 cake konnyaku, sliced and twisted
1-2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 cup dashi
2 tbsp sugar
6 tbsp soy sauce
60g snow peas or green beans, parboiled
Heat 
the oil over high heat and add the chicken, konnyaku, mushrooms, carrot, and burdock. Cook for about 3 minutes, ensuring everything has a light coating of oil and is partially cooked. Next add the dashi and bring to a boil, then add the sugar and soy sauce. Cover with a drop lid (or a vent-lid like pictured) and simmer until reduced by about 1/3. Add in the cooked snow peas just prior to serving.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Chikuzen-ni
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Chicken, Fig and Mushroom Wilted Salad
This salad is perhaps the opposite of healthy. It is, however, extremely delicious. Also incredibly easy - made up on the fly, as it was - providing you have some pretty obscure ingredients to hand. Luckily, I had stopped by the Italian Centre on the weekend and noticed fresh figs (which I had not previously tried) and my freezer has goodies like the pan scrapings from a roast goose. Fabulous, and under 10 minutes to make.
Chicken, Fig & Mushroom Salad (serves 1):
100g chicken thigh or breast, cubed
large handful crimini mushrooms, sliced
1/4 onion, sliced
1 fresh fig, quartered
very large handful spinach leaves
1 tbsp goose fat
1/4 cup goose pan scrapings
salt & pepper
The pan scrapings and goose fat meant I did not have to spend any time worrying about flavouring for the meat. To start off, I melted the goose fat in a fry pan and cooked the onion and mushrooms until softened. Those were set aside and the pan scrapings were added to the pan with the chicken until cooked through. The spinach was topped with the mushrooms and onion and those were topped with the chicken. Then I added the fig and some good bread to mop up the drippings, and had a lovely al fresco dinner.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Cheese-y Chicken Quesadillas
While it's been so hot lately, I've been doing anything I can to avoid turning on the oven. My house is already a sauna, and there's no need to make it worse. My limited barbecue skills only get me so far, so my latest easy dinner has been quesadillas. Pretty much anything goes, so I can use whatever I have on hand to fill them.
Chicken Quesadillas (for 2):
2 chicken thighs, chopped in 1cm cubes
grapeseed oil
salt & pepper
rosemary, finely chopped
garlic, minced
1/4 small eggplant, chopped
1/4 small zucchini, chopped
2 button mushrooms, chopped
1/4 red pepper, chopped
2 multigrain tortillas
cheddar cheese, shredded
In a fry pan heat up a little oil and add the chicken, s&p, rosemary, and garlic and heat through. Remove to a bowl, then add the vegetables to the same pan and cook for 1-2 minutes until softened. Add the vegetables to the bowl with the chicken and mix together. Wipe clean the pan and put back on medium heat, lay down the first tortilla, add the mix and about 2 tbsp shreded cheese (or more!) to one side of the tortilla then fold over. Heat until nicely browned on both sides and the cheese is melted. Repeat.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Asian Inspired Turkey Salad
I'm back! Well, really I was always here, just not posting because I thought staying home with a baby would leave me tons of time to do a correspondence course through the University. All you mom's out there are probably laughing hysterically and wiping the tears from your eyes at the thought. I know, I know, that was a ridiculous move on my part. Anyhow, I now have a huge back log of photos to edit and write up for posting. This is something I made after Christmas with some of the left over turkey I was given (new moms are given tons of free food). I saw Jamie Oliver make it on the Food Network, and decided it looked good. It was actually pretty great!
Asian Inspired Turkey Salad:
• 2 large handfuls of brown turkey meat
• 1 large handful of cashew nuts
• 1 handful of dried cranberries
• 2 teaspoons ground five-spice
• a bunch of fresh mint, leaves picked (I left this out)
• a bunch of fresh coriander, leaves picked (I used parsley instead, since that is what I had)
• 4 large handfuls of mixed salad leaves such as chicory, rocket, spinach, watercress (a mixture)
• 1 tablespoon runny honey
• 1 fresh red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped (I used chilli powder)
for the dressing
• juice of 1 clementine
• juice of 1 lime
• 1 pomegranate, halved
• ½ red onion, peeled and coarsely grated
• extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• a thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger, peeled and coarsely grated
Shred the brown turkey meat into thin strips using your fingers and put it into a dry pan on a medium heat. Add the cashew nuts, dried cranberries and five-spice. Give it all a good stir then let it toast away while you get on with your salad. Give the pan a shake every now and then to make sure nothing catches.
Add the mint and most of your coriander leaves to a bowl with your mixed salad leaves. Make your dressing in a separate bowl by mixing the juice from your clementine and lime. Squeeze the juice from one of your pomegranate halves through your hands to catch any seeds then discard them. Stir in your grated onion. I tend to use 3 parts oil to 1 part acid when I’m making dressings, so look at what you’ve got in the bowl so far then pour in 3 times as much extra virgin olive oil. Add the soy sauce and sesame oil.
Squeeze in all the juice from your grated ginger then throw away the pulp.Give this lovely dressing a really good stir, and have a taste. If you want more salt, add a splash more soy. If you want more acid, add another squeeze of lime juice. Drizzle over enough dressing to coat the salad leaves then use your hands to toss and dress them.
Add the honey to the pan with the turkey meat and stir through until coated. Turn the heat up to full whack for the last few seconds to really crisp up the meat mixture. At this point, make sure your guests are all at the table and ready to eat so you can serve the salad as soon as the hot meat hits the salad leaves. Toss half of your pan-fried ingredients through the salad leaves and transfer to a serving platter.
Spoon the remaining nuts, cranberries and crispy meat over the top of the salad and add another drizzle of dressing. Hold the remaining pomegranate half over the salad and knock it on the back with a spoon so the seeds pop onto the salad. Garnish with a nice sprinkling of fresh red chilli, any remaining coriander leaves and serve right away.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
PB Chicken Marinade
The rest of this week looks like it is going to be great weather for BBQing, so today I am posting my peanut butter chicken marinade recipe. It would be a bit blasphemous to call this a Thai peanut sauce, although that is what the recipe did evolve from. It's one of those things where there are a number of people in my life that are intimidated by "foreign" food, but if I westernize things enough and then just rename them something safe like peanut butter chicken, then they are a go.
I make this recipe different ways depending on the season. In winter, it becomes a frying pan meal, where I increase the amount of sauce and onions, and then serve it over rice. I can't even begin to describe how filling and satisfying it is in the winter to eat a meal that is so filled with carbs (rice) and protein (chicken AND peanut butter). Once I started making it this way I noticed that when the weather got very cold, my body actually craved it as a bulk up strategy.
Anyway, back to the summer preparation, using it as a marinade for chicken kabobs. I'm sure many of you will echo the sentiment that BBQ chicken runs a high risk of either being under cooked (pink and scary!) or so dried out that it becomes unappealing. I find these kabobs to be the solution to both issues. It is hard to undercook the chicken when it is cubed and kabobbed because unlike breasts, they are a uniform thickness, and have a nice hot metal skewer running through the middle. Drying them out also becomes less of an issue because the peanut butter marinate is nice and oily, and prevents the chicken from drying out.
PB Chicken Marinade (for two breasts worth, but can be adjusted up or down depending on how much flavouring you like - I also will cook some extra for dipping if people are into it):
1/4 onion, diced fine
1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter
2 tbsp ketchup
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp milk (can use coconut milk)
1/2 tsp hot sauce (adjust to taste)
Cut your chicken into nice even sized cubes. Combine marinade ingredients in a tupperware container, and throw the chicken cubes in. Use your hands to rub the marinade all over the chicken (it still has close to peanut butter consistency, so really, it is just smeared on). Sit it in the fridge for a few hours or however long you have. Skewer the chicken cubes and smear any extra marinate all over the kabobs (or increase the liquid components and cook it on a side burner as a dipping sauce, but make sure it gets good and hot for a while since it has been in contact with raw chicken).
Cook the skewers on the BBQ at about 400 degrees for about 5 minutes a side. To be safe, cut into one of the cubes to verify that it is not longer pink in the middle. You will know a side is cooked when it gets easy to pull it off of the grill because cooked meat covered in peanut oils will come off easily, whereas raw meat will still stick.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Spice Up Your Spinach Salad
My garden lettuce is still in miniature, but the spinach has been up for weeks and seems to be growing faster than I can eat it. After a weekend of overindulging I've been off desserts and dairy, so here's a rare salad that doesn't include cheese. Topping my spinach is a quick dressing of pureed mango with curry powder, fresh ginger, and a little olive oil. The remainder of the mango was sliced and added to the salad along with steamed chicken breast. For dessert, a handful of raw almonds... so healthy I'm feeling a little too angelic now.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Duck, Brie and Pesto Sandwhich
The other day, I made duck confit (again!), and had leftovers to work with the next day. I looked around on Tastespotting, and found myself a great sandwich idea on the Echronicles. It's a simple one to put together, as long as you have the duck ready, but it seems sophisticated and Frenchy. It really brightened up an otherwise boring day.
Duck Sandwich:
Bread of your choice
Duck confit
Brie
Pesto
Throw them all together, easy peasy, and chow down. Nice!
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Earl Grey Smoked Duck
I had been thinking about doing a tea-smoked duck breast for a few years now, and finally worked up the courage to try it. Once I got started, I realized it is a lot easier than it sounds. Most of my hesitation came from the fact that I had never tried smoked meat and therefore was not sure what it was supposed to taste like... although really, what does that matter as long as it tastes good to me? Also, there was the worry that I would smoke out the condo and trip the fire alarm (not an unfounded fear, as my fire alarm goes off at the drop of a hat). In truth, there were absolutely no problems with this; happily, the smoke stayed entirely contained in the steamer leaving me with a deliciously fragrant and tender - and perfectly cooked - duck breast which I served with my version of the 4th and Vine salad.
Earl Grey Smoked Duck Breast:
2 duck breasts
salt
4 tbsp earl grey tea leaves
4 tbsp long grain rice
4 tbsp brown sugar
star anise (optional)
Score the fat on the duck breasts and rub it with salt - this will help the fat get crispy later. I find the thickness of fat on a duck breast a bit much if it hasn't had a chance to get crispy. Next, line the bottom of a wok with 2 layers of tin foil. Mix together the tea leaves, rice, brown sugar, and star anise and add to the wok. This amount should do 1-2 breasts (or possibly 3); if you're making more, just increase each ingredient in the smoke mixture in an even ratio.
Place the duck in a bamboo steamer or on a trivet in the wok & tightly cover with foil. I put a layer of foil over the duck before covering it with the steamer lid to ensure it was almost air-tight. The foil at the bottom should also be tight around the base of the steamer.
Over medium to medium-low heat smoke the duck for 12 minutes - this basically just means turn the heat on; as soon as the wok heats up the dry mixture will start smoking. Next, remove the wok from the heat and let it sit 5 minutes still covered, then place the duck fat-side down in a fry pan over medium heat for 5 minutes to crisp up the fat. When that is done, remove the duck breasts and set aside to rest for 5 minutes. With the large salad I had, 1 breast was enough for 2 servings.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
A Duck Showstopper - Plum and Fig Glazed
I have been going through a duck phase lately. It's gotten so bad that I have actually used the term "ducklicious" more than once in the past week. Clearly, I was thrilled to discover that Sobey's has duck products! I assume it is just for the holiday season, but in the freezer section, whole duck and duck breasts were available this past weekend (and possibly still) at the Sobey's in St. Albert. Usually I have to head down to the Sobey's Urban Fresh to get the duck breasts they bring in from Green Eggs and Ham, and that is a bit of a trek for me. Not only did I find these nearby, but the price ($4-7 depending on the size) was pretty reasonable. The ones shown in the pictures below were the $4 ones, so plenty large in size.
I served the duck with duck fat roasted potatoes (instructions in the previous duck post), and green beans in a dressing that I will post about in the future.
The first step in preparing the meal is to sear the skin side of the breasts. Start by scoring the skin so that when you sear it, the heat can get in and reduce the layer of fat between the skin and the meat. Heat up a skillet until it is very hot, and put the duck breasts in skin side down. Be very careful during this step not to burn yourself with splattering fat. It is like 
cooking bacon that way. Leave the breasts on the heat until they look crisp and golden. Take off the heat and place in a baking dish until you are about 10 minutes away from being finished dinner. Leave the fat in the skillet to roast the potatoes.
Prepare all your side dishes, and start on the glaze. The glaze is very quick seeing as it is thick enough that it does not require reduc
tion. Thinly slice some shallots and caramelize them. You will need to combine equal parts plum jam, fig jam, whole grain mustard and the onions that you have caramelized. Once the shallots are done, add in the remaining parts and warm until it just barely simmers.
When you are 10 minutes from being ready to go with the rest of the dinner, throw the duck breast in to the oven at 400 F for 10 minutes. When it is ready, slice it into medallions, and top with the glaze. If you have left over glaze, it is also very nice on pork. As with a number of good pairings, the key here is having the sweet elements - caramelized onions, fig and plum - balanced by the tart mustard.
This dish is easy and fast, but it seems so sophisticated that people will think you slaved over it. For me, the best part is that you can prep it with the searing, and then just finish it later that day when the rest of your meal is almost done. It also looks great plated, so it is a good choice when you want to be fancy and plate dinner instead of serving it family style.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Cold Kickin' Chicken Soup
My sister was coming over for dinner the other night, and she (like everyone else these days) is suffering through a cold. I figured I would make her some soup in hopes that it would help her feel better. Chicken Noodle soup is the standard cold cure food, but I thought I could kick up its cold fighting powers and add some flavor at the same time by throwing in some items high in vitamin C, like red pepper and lemon.
Chicken Soup:
1 chicken breast, cooked and shredded
4-5 cups chicken stock
1 Bunch fresh Thyme (bound into a bouquet)
1 large leek finely chopped
2 garlic cloves minced
1/4 red pepper minced
2 tbsp white wine
1/2 lemon (use the zest and juice)
Start the stock simmering in a pot with the thyme bouquet submerged. Cut the chicken breast into smaller pieces, and cook in olive oil in a frying pan. Once cooked, remove from heat. Saute the leeks, garlic and red pepper in the same pan for a couple of minutes. Mince the chicken further if needed, and add the chicken and sauted vegetables to the stock. Use the white wine to deglaze the pan (swirl it around to get all the flavor) and pour it into the the stock. Add the lemon zest and juice, and simmer for about half an hour. Remove the thyme bouquet and serve.
If you like noodles add them during the simmering as per their cook time. I didn't add them this time because I was looking to make more of a hearty broth with just the protein, not additional carbs, just in case the cold was decreasing her appetite.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Cashew Butter Chicken
I love Indian food in the way most white people love it - that is, I love Butter Chicken and Lamb Korma. This recipe is fragrant but not too spicy for the curry novice - though you can certainly increase the curry if you like (I normally do when I'm cooking for myself). It's very easy to increase/decrease portions, and if you run out of something you can usually just substitute something else without affecting the resulting deliousness.
Cashew Butter Chicken: (serves 4 generously)
4 tbsp/60g clarified butter
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 onions, minced
1 tbsp curry paste
1 tbsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
750g boneless chicken thighs, in 2 cm cubes
60g ground cashews
1 cup/250 ml heavy cream
1/3 cup/85 ml coconut milk
1 tbsp tomato paste (optional)
Melt the bu
tter in a pan over medium heat until it separates; at this point you can skim off the top to make clarified butter (but I usually don't bother). Add the onions and garlic and cook for 3-5 minutes. Stir in the curry paste, coriander, and nutmeg and cook for 2 minutes, then add the chicken and cook for 5-7 minutes. Add the cream, coconut milk, and cashews (and the tomato paste if you want the colour a bit darker) and stir in. Bring this to a simmer and cook for 30-40 minutes until tender, stirring occasionally.
You can change this up a bit - I've tried it with ground almonds instead of cashews and I often replace the nutmeg with cumin, and Court usually uses curry powder rather than paste. I find I end up with a darker curry if I use a regular fry pan rather than a non-stick. I served this with naan and "a little bit Indian" brown rice (as I ran out of basmati) which I made by tossing 2 cardamom pods and a 1/2 stick cinnamon into the rice cooker with the rice.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Sunday Duck Confit
I have been reading French Leave by John Burton Race. It is a book based on his experience of moving to Montferrand, France for a year with his family to learn about rural French cooking, and was also done as a TV show on the Food Network. Seeing as I love French food (what's not to love about a culture that worships food and never uses the low fat version of anything), reading it is making me salivate almost to the point of choking. The book is divided up by season, and then the second half has all the recipes for the food he has been writing about. Yay! I too can eat duck now in at least three different ways. This past Sunday I decided to give the Duck Confit a go. The recipe is very simple, the only hitch is that the cooking time is 2 hours, which would make it a no go for me on a week night. It definitely fit the bill though for a Sunday afternoon when I didn't want to leave the house.
This dish did take some planning, because I don't keep duck in my freezer, and none of the local grocery stores carry it regularly enough for me to look close by. Off I went on Saturday morning to T&T Asian grocery in West Edmonton Mall. I know that they almost always have duck legs, and indeed they did.
Duck Confit (for two):
2 duck leg and thigh quarters
Salt
Pepper
1 clove of garlic, sliced
1 bay leaf
2 juniper berries
I never have juniper berries, but I do usually have gin, and since gin is flavored with juniper berries, a splash of it is a fine substitute. Saturday afternoon I rubbed the duck with all of the aromatics, and left it overnight to marinade. Burton Race indicates that even he will just marinate for a few hours if he doesn't think of it the night before, so do the best you can.
Two hours before eating time, rinse off all the rub by running the duck under cold water, then toss it in a baking pan or roaster for two hours. That is seriously the end of the instructions. I told you it is not as hard as it sounds.
I also made potatoes roasted in duck fat to accompany it, since I rarely have the duck fat to work with. I sliced up potatoes (about a centimeter thick), and then about 20 minutes before the duck was done, took out the roaster and ladelled some of the fat into a skillet.
The potatoes take about 8-10 minutes a side on medium heat to get nice and brown and crispy. If you do not like them quite so crispy, just keep an eye on them and turn them when they are brown enough for your liking. They should all be arranged in a single layer, and I rinsed them before putting them in the fat so that with the lid on, there would be some steam created.
You can serve the duck legs just roasted, but I shredded the meat off seeing as duck confit is frequently served this way, and I preserved the leftover meat by packing it in it's own fat.
Duck cooked in it's own fat served with potatoes cooked in duck fat may seem a bit on the unhealthy side, but as Burton Race states, this is all part of the French paradox of fatty foods, and a low incidence of heart disease. It is thought that the type of fat present in most French foods is better because it is natural saturated fat as opposed to hydrogenated and trans fats. I will leave that to you to decide, but when it comes to duck, there is no arguing that the fat is delicious! None the less, I do like serving the above with a side salad.
