I received a real chef's jacket for my bday. It even says "Executive Chef" under my name. It's really cute. :) One could say that my true passion in life is food; isn't that the same for everyone who eats on a daily basis? While I don't particularly have good knife skills, am able to keep a tidy mise en place and meals eventually get prepared, though not entirely in a timely manner.
For a food event like Thanksgiving, planning the dishes and prep times takes a few days of researching recipes and ingredients with what is locally and seasonally available. Planning is what allows a succession of dishes to be baked one after another at different temperatures before and after the turkey is roasted with the same oven.
This year I made the following side dishes:
a batch of skillet cornbread (from the Cast Iron Skillet cookbook; for the stuffing)
roasted brussels sprouts (Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa cookbook)
a loaf of beer bread (in case the cornbread wasn't enough for the stuffing)
rosemary and garlic roasted yams and sweet potatoes
burnt pecan vinaigrette
buttermilk biscuits
roasted garlic-sage butter (for the beer bread)
mushroom rosemary turkey gravy
The gravy and vinaigrette are new recipes; as they were made on the fly as I was doing it. I'll have these posted soon.
Chicken with Lemon and Olives
This recipe originates from Morocco; or at least that's what the Mediterranean the Beautiful Cookbook says. I've had Moroccan food before at a restaurant, and it involved eating everything (including the chicken) with my hands. This dish is intended to not replicate that experience but to use up a lot of preserved green olives that just happened to be on hand at the time.
The organic chicken from Trader Joe's was skimpy on giblets, so I wasn't able to take them or the chicken's missing liver to mash up into the sauce. The hardest part of the recipe was pitting the whole green olives using a cherry pitter. It's very hard work to do it by hand. Overall, this recipe process was very similar to making curry chicken.
The original recipe called for preserved lemon, and I only had fresh lemons on hand. Using a vegetable peeler, I removed the peel of a lemon and sliced the peel thinly then soaked the peel in lemon juice with a pinch of salt and sugar; because if I had two extra days, that's how the preserving could have started. Anyhow. The peel doesn't go into the pot until 30 minutes of cook time has transpired.
This dish was served with Israeli couscous that was cooked in duck broth and lightly spiced with ground cinnamon, ground ginger, ground cumin, and freshly ground black pepper.
Ingredients
1 whole organic chicken, cut into pieces
1 c white onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
1/4 c olive oil
2 c water (I used mushroom dashi that was leftover from a previous meal)
2 c good quality green olives, pitted
juice of two lemons
peel of one lemon, thinly sliced
Directions
1. Take a whole raw chicken and carve it into individual pieces (wings, thighs, drumsticks, etc). I thought the chicken breasts would have added too much meat to the recipe; so those were reserved for another dish. If you are going to trim off the excess fat, don't throw it out, toss it into the pot with the chicken.
2. In a large heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat, add olive oil. Add spices and onion and stir until the oil is fragrant, a couple minutes. Add the chicken pieces (including giblets, if any) and turn the pieces over to coat with the spices and oil. Add water or a neutral broth to cover (approx 2 cups). Bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes.
3. Add olives, lemon peel, and lemon juice. Cook for an additional 10-15 minutes. Transfer chicken and sauce to a platter. Serve hot.
The organic chicken from Trader Joe's was skimpy on giblets, so I wasn't able to take them or the chicken's missing liver to mash up into the sauce. The hardest part of the recipe was pitting the whole green olives using a cherry pitter. It's very hard work to do it by hand. Overall, this recipe process was very similar to making curry chicken.
The original recipe called for preserved lemon, and I only had fresh lemons on hand. Using a vegetable peeler, I removed the peel of a lemon and sliced the peel thinly then soaked the peel in lemon juice with a pinch of salt and sugar; because if I had two extra days, that's how the preserving could have started. Anyhow. The peel doesn't go into the pot until 30 minutes of cook time has transpired.
This dish was served with Israeli couscous that was cooked in duck broth and lightly spiced with ground cinnamon, ground ginger, ground cumin, and freshly ground black pepper.
Ingredients
1 whole organic chicken, cut into pieces
1 c white onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
1/4 c olive oil
2 c water (I used mushroom dashi that was leftover from a previous meal)
2 c good quality green olives, pitted
juice of two lemons
peel of one lemon, thinly sliced
Directions
1. Take a whole raw chicken and carve it into individual pieces (wings, thighs, drumsticks, etc). I thought the chicken breasts would have added too much meat to the recipe; so those were reserved for another dish. If you are going to trim off the excess fat, don't throw it out, toss it into the pot with the chicken.
2. In a large heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat, add olive oil. Add spices and onion and stir until the oil is fragrant, a couple minutes. Add the chicken pieces (including giblets, if any) and turn the pieces over to coat with the spices and oil. Add water or a neutral broth to cover (approx 2 cups). Bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes.
3. Add olives, lemon peel, and lemon juice. Cook for an additional 10-15 minutes. Transfer chicken and sauce to a platter. Serve hot.
Asiago Crisps
This recipe originated from the French Laundry cookbook under the guise of "Parmesan Crisps". FL's recipe called for "moist" Parmesan-Reggiano cheese, which doesn't seem to exist to the average consumer. When I look at it, it's a pretty darn hard wedge of cheese. Asiago cheese, while considered a semi-hard cheese, has enough--probably too much--moisture for this recipe; and is as strong-tasting as the goat cheese mousse I put in it.
To make the crisps, simply grate enough cheese. FL calls for a cup of grated cheese. This will make approx six 2" diameter crisps, when using a 2" biscuit cutter (the only round cutter in the kitchen). Using a Silpat mat is better than parchment paper.
Simply place the biscuit cutter on the Silpat and fill it up with a layer of grated cheese. Gently remove the cutter and repeat with more cheese, spacing the rounds of cheese about an inch apart.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Bake for 8-10 minutes.
If you just want to eat these flourless cheese "crackers", remove the baked cheese from the Silpat with a spatula and let cool on paper towels. Once cooled, you should remove the cheese from the towels to a plate since the paper will stick to the cheese if you don't.
If you are going a step further and using the cheese crisps as a carrier for another appetizer, say, as a tiny basket for goat cheese mousse, then immediately remove the crisps from the oven and gently stuff into small heat-proof bowls to form the "basket" curve. You can then let these cool while in the bowls until ready to use. Or, once cooled, you can place these into an empty egg carton. Instead of a small prep bowls, you can also use the egg carton to form the baskets.
Do not use a semi-soft cheese like cheddar to make crisps. There is simply too much liquid (high fat content) in the cheese to make them look or taste good.
Five Spice Roast Duck
It's been a while since I last made this dish and I ended up adjusting it because I roasted the duck in a pan that was too large for the duck and a lot of the tasty sauce boiled off during baking. When I took the duck out of the oven to baste it a second time, I had to deglaze the pan with some red wine and added another cup of water to the pan for the final hour of baking. I think my dad uses a 2-quart oblong casserole dish with a 3/4" rack inside.
Total cook time should be roughly 1.5 hours, but with taking the duck out to baste and pour off the oil, the cooking/prep time can easily be 3 hours. Plan ahead if you are using the oven to make other things.
This spice ratio is a family recipe; which, in our family means that my dad created it out of experimentation and someone bothered to write it down. No one has the time to grind a custom five-spice powder anymore; any store-bought mixture of Chinese five-spice powder will do.
Ingredients
1 whole duck, giblets removed
2 tbsp organic granulated sugar
3/4 tsp kosher salt
3/4 tbsp five spice powder
6 tbsp light soy sauce
3 tbsp Chinese rice cooking wine
+ 1 cup of water (for 2nd basting)
+ 1/4 c to 1/2 c wine (for deglazing the roasting pan)
Directions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Tear out a sheet of aluminum foil that is long enough to cover the entire duck. Poke holes in it with the tines of a fork.
1. If using a frozen duck, thaw completely before roasting. If using fresh duck, wash the duck inside and out with water and remove all the giblets from inside. If you intend to trim the excess fat, do not discard it. Place the excess fat and giblets on the bottom of the roasting pan under the rack. The fat will melt during baking and can be used in any lard-based recipe. Place in baking dish.
2. Combine spices and wine in a bowl. Using a spoon, pour the sauce over the duck. Flip the duck and baste the other side of the duck. It shouldn't matter which side is up for the first or second bastings, it should just be the opposite side... ehh if that makes any sense.
3. For example, if the duck goes in breast-side up then for the second basting, the duck should be turned so that it is breast-side down. The goal here is to get both sides of the duck roasted to a gorgeous golden brown.
Roast for:
20 mins, breast side up
45 mins, remove duck from oven, baste with pan juices, breast side down
60 mins, remove duck from oven, baste, cover with aluminum foil
4. Remove from oven when the duck breast or thigh meat measures 165 degrees F with a meat thermometer. Let rest for 15 minutes before carving. Serve warm (with steamed bao, if using).
Total cook time should be roughly 1.5 hours, but with taking the duck out to baste and pour off the oil, the cooking/prep time can easily be 3 hours. Plan ahead if you are using the oven to make other things.
This spice ratio is a family recipe; which, in our family means that my dad created it out of experimentation and someone bothered to write it down. No one has the time to grind a custom five-spice powder anymore; any store-bought mixture of Chinese five-spice powder will do.
Ingredients
1 whole duck, giblets removed
2 tbsp organic granulated sugar
3/4 tsp kosher salt
3/4 tbsp five spice powder
6 tbsp light soy sauce
3 tbsp Chinese rice cooking wine
+ 1 cup of water (for 2nd basting)
+ 1/4 c to 1/2 c wine (for deglazing the roasting pan)
Directions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Tear out a sheet of aluminum foil that is long enough to cover the entire duck. Poke holes in it with the tines of a fork.
1. If using a frozen duck, thaw completely before roasting. If using fresh duck, wash the duck inside and out with water and remove all the giblets from inside. If you intend to trim the excess fat, do not discard it. Place the excess fat and giblets on the bottom of the roasting pan under the rack. The fat will melt during baking and can be used in any lard-based recipe. Place in baking dish.
2. Combine spices and wine in a bowl. Using a spoon, pour the sauce over the duck. Flip the duck and baste the other side of the duck. It shouldn't matter which side is up for the first or second bastings, it should just be the opposite side... ehh if that makes any sense.
3. For example, if the duck goes in breast-side up then for the second basting, the duck should be turned so that it is breast-side down. The goal here is to get both sides of the duck roasted to a gorgeous golden brown.
Roast for:
20 mins, breast side up
45 mins, remove duck from oven, baste with pan juices, breast side down
60 mins, remove duck from oven, baste, cover with aluminum foil
4. Remove from oven when the duck breast or thigh meat measures 165 degrees F with a meat thermometer. Let rest for 15 minutes before carving. Serve warm (with steamed bao, if using).
(Sweet) Steamed Bao
This week I made this twice: once with salt and again without. The unsalted bao ("bread") tasted better. One thing to note about this bread recipe is that leftover rounds of dough can't be left out (even in a food storage container) overnight. The dough will rise and deflate again, and if there isn't enough room, the balls of dough will stick to each other making it a terrible (but edible) mess.
One batch of dough yielded 12 bao. It'll be a good base recipe when get around to making sweet black bean steamed buns. The smooth consistency of the black bean brownies will make a good addition to this future recipe.
To make cake flour: Substitute 2 tbsp cornstarch per cup of flour for flour. An easy way to measure this out is to first put the cornstarch in a two-cup measuring cup and fill it up with all purpose flour. For this recipe, put in 4 tbsp cornstarch and fill the rest of the two-cup measuring cup with flour to make two cups of cake flour.
Ingredients
1 pkg active dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
1/3 c warm water (110 degrees F)
1/4 tsp organic granulated sugar
2 c cake flour
1/4 c organic granulated sugar
3 tbsp dry milk powder
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 c warm water (110 degrees F)
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt (optional)
Directions
1. In a small bowl, proof yeast in 3 oz warm water (110 degrees F) with 1/4 tsp sugar. After 10 minutes if the yeast hasn't turned foamy, it is probably dead or the water was too hot. There is a tiny bit of baking powder in the recipe, but if your yeast is dead, the dough won't rise properly.
2. In a larger mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, olive oil, milk powder, and water. Mix well, but don't overwork the dough. Add in the yeast water. Mix again. Gently knead the dough by hand and form it into a ball. Cover the mixing bowl with a clean kitchen towel and let rise for an hour.
3a. Knead the risen dough until it is smooth and elastic. The dough will be sticky at this point, and a little bit of flour can be added while kneading. Roll out dough into a log or to 1/2" thickness with a rolling pin. Separate the dough into equal portions and roll each portion into a ball, if making steamed bao.
3b. This recipe is the same for making steamed bao for roast duck, and balls can be rolled out to a 2" diameter, 1/4" thick circle. Brush some vegetable oil on half the circle and fold it in half. Set aside on a 4" square parchment paper. Repeat until done.
4. Heat a pot with a steamer rack inside to boiling. The amount of water in the pot should be just below the height of the steamer rack. If using bamboo steamer baskets, make sure that the boiling water doesn't touch the bottom-most basket. Place prepared dough (with the parchment paper) into the baskets. If you don't want to be scalded by the hot steam, you could turn off the heat, insert the steamer basket, cover the pot, then crank the heat again. Steam bao for 10 minutes. When done, immediately remove from pot and baskets. Peel off the parchment paper and serve.
One batch of dough yielded 12 bao. It'll be a good base recipe when get around to making sweet black bean steamed buns. The smooth consistency of the black bean brownies will make a good addition to this future recipe.
To make cake flour: Substitute 2 tbsp cornstarch per cup of flour for flour. An easy way to measure this out is to first put the cornstarch in a two-cup measuring cup and fill it up with all purpose flour. For this recipe, put in 4 tbsp cornstarch and fill the rest of the two-cup measuring cup with flour to make two cups of cake flour.
Ingredients
1 pkg active dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
1/3 c warm water (110 degrees F)
1/4 tsp organic granulated sugar
2 c cake flour
1/4 c organic granulated sugar
3 tbsp dry milk powder
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 c warm water (110 degrees F)
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt (optional)
Directions
1. In a small bowl, proof yeast in 3 oz warm water (110 degrees F) with 1/4 tsp sugar. After 10 minutes if the yeast hasn't turned foamy, it is probably dead or the water was too hot. There is a tiny bit of baking powder in the recipe, but if your yeast is dead, the dough won't rise properly.
2. In a larger mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, olive oil, milk powder, and water. Mix well, but don't overwork the dough. Add in the yeast water. Mix again. Gently knead the dough by hand and form it into a ball. Cover the mixing bowl with a clean kitchen towel and let rise for an hour.
3a. Knead the risen dough until it is smooth and elastic. The dough will be sticky at this point, and a little bit of flour can be added while kneading. Roll out dough into a log or to 1/2" thickness with a rolling pin. Separate the dough into equal portions and roll each portion into a ball, if making steamed bao.
3b. This recipe is the same for making steamed bao for roast duck, and balls can be rolled out to a 2" diameter, 1/4" thick circle. Brush some vegetable oil on half the circle and fold it in half. Set aside on a 4" square parchment paper. Repeat until done.
4. Heat a pot with a steamer rack inside to boiling. The amount of water in the pot should be just below the height of the steamer rack. If using bamboo steamer baskets, make sure that the boiling water doesn't touch the bottom-most basket. Place prepared dough (with the parchment paper) into the baskets. If you don't want to be scalded by the hot steam, you could turn off the heat, insert the steamer basket, cover the pot, then crank the heat again. Steam bao for 10 minutes. When done, immediately remove from pot and baskets. Peel off the parchment paper and serve.
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