Category: Cooking

On my last recently consumed post, I noted that I had gone through the two day process for making my mushroom risotto. This time around, I used up my parmesan rind in the stock to make the risotto….which added a wonderful flavor to the risotto, but also made it really rich, perhaps too rich for the Missus as we had a good amount leftover. The left me just the opening I needed to make something I'd been itching to try….Arancini, basically rice croquettes of Sicilian origin. Most arancini have additional filling, meat, a ragu, or the like, but the mushroom risotto had so much flavor I just moved forward "plain jane".

I did make a spicy fresh tomato sauce with some that were getting a bit soft paired with a nice fresh chanterelle mushroom ragu, that was pretty much like this. Roasted baby eggplant finished the whole thing off.

This was super easy….I used panko instead of breadcrumbs, but it was a total by-the-numbers egg wash deal.

I didn't want these too large, so used one of the missus' scoops for cookie dough, then rolled into a golf ball size orb.

Deep fry at 350, until they float, remove for a minute, then place back into oil for about another minute or so.

I knew that I'd enjoy these, but didn't know just how good they would be! Crunchy at first bite, then practically melting in your mouth…. Really delici-yoso!!!

The sauces were a nice compliment. The Missus didn't care for the tomato version, but I thought it really helped to cut the richness.

 I'm sure to be making these again…..it almost has me wishing for leftover risotto!

I'm still in "long weekend mode" so I hope you don't mind this post of stuff I've recently made at home. I'll have something new in San Diego tomorrow!

I mentioned working with leftovers from China Islamic, especially the suan cau yang rou, which really wasn't ready for prime time. By the next day however, the sour flavor of the preserved vegetable had permeated the broth and also tenderized the lamb. We added some frozen tofu and it was a very "cleansing" and hearty lunch served hot pot style.

As for the deep fried duck leftovers; I diced the meat and skin, crisped it up, then went at it "sisig style"…..which, at least to me, sounds much better then "gundam style", or as the Missus calls it "condom style"…..

Sour, spicy, salty….good stuff.

The "back up" canned goods we had was starting to get on the Missus' nerves, so it was time to use and replace them. Time to clear out the cupboards. The baby corn and straw mushrooms were the target of Her wrath, so I needed to use them up. The Missus hates the "tin-ny" taste, so I pour boiled water over them. Did a quick stir fry using both dried and red chilies as my base, hit it with white pepper and shaoxing wine…thickened with a combination of premium soy sauce-sugar-oyster sauce-sesame oil-cornstarch and topped with sesame seeds and cilantro.

We finally had enough left-over mushroom trimmings to make some mushroom stock….so of course that meant mushroom risotto. This time I further fortified the stock with old romano and parmesan cheese rinds….the hard parts, making it richer then ever. The Missus wanted pan seared halibut, so I went with a porcini crust…….

Really easy to do…..I ground up a couple of pieces of dried porcini mushroom with sea salt and added that to my usual seasoning. I dusted one side with potato starch to give it some crispness.

The dish needed some color and also something to cut the richness. So I sauteed some diced vegetables seasoned with dill and lemon juice. I used the leftover mushroom powder and the tomatoes worked well with the dill.

I reduced the leftover mushroom stock combined with onions, oven-dried tomatoes, and garlic confit left over from the risotto to make a nice pasta for me.

It was of course, made with garlic oil…….

And then there's this…..it's that time of the year. Can you guess what the Missus wanted a couple of weeks ago?

I hope everyone had a great long weekend!

Thanks for reading!

This is basically a very simple stir fry noodle I make at home. It's what I used to accompany my "Three Day Duck". Three oil noodle – three day duck….get it? OK, enough with the silly stuff. The foundation of this dish centers around three oils – garlic, scallion, and sesame. Premium light soy sauce and fresh Shanghai noodles finish the dish off. You can throw in greens, onions, in this case I topped it with some dried shrimp (more on that later), along with onions, sliced the thickness of noodles and left over pea shoots.

The key are two of the flavored oils….which I'll make when I have too many scallions…we always have too much garlic. Anyway, when I'm bored, I'll make these. Stored in the fridge in an airtight container, it'll keep for 3 months or more. I also use these in stir-fries, especially when using something a bit on the blander side like tofu.

Scallion Oil:
1 cup peanut oil
4-6 bunches green onions, green parts cut into 1 – 1 1/2" pieces, white portion roughly chopped.

– Heat wok until smoking
– Add peanut oil. when oil slightly shimmers, add scallions
– Lower heat. Let scallions lightly fry under low heat until the oil turns a greenish-brown, about 20 minutes. Do not burn scallions!
– Strain into a heat proof container

Garlic Oil:
1 cup peanut oil
3 whole bulbs of garlic, cloves peeled, and sliced thinly lengthwise

– Heat wok until smoking
– Add peanut oil. when oil slightly shimmers, add garlic slices
– Lower heat. Let garlic lightly brown under low heat. Do not burn garlic.
– Strain into a heat proof container. You can use the fried garlic for other dishes.

I'm not going to get all condescending on you and tell you how to stir fry noodles. I'm sure you can do that. Just a couple of key items; don't overcook your noodles and always use a bit more oil than you think. I use a combination of the scallion and garlic oil to get things started. Finish with sesame oil. I topped the dish off with these really tasty, slightly salty-sweet fried and dried shrimp we bought during one of our previous trips to Rowland Heights.

So there you go….real easy, huh?

I hope everyone made the most of that extra hour of sleep this "fall back" weekend!

Here's a fun little recipe, adapted from Cecilia Chiang's autobiographical cookbook, The Seventh Daughter. I've been fascinated by the book, not only are the stories great, but the recipes are deceptively easy. Almost too easy. I finally got around to making a couple of things and I have to say, even though I think the recipes are a bit gringo-ized, the duck turned out very crisp, nicely infused with flavor, though a bit on the dry side. I did bump up a lot of the seasoning, but I was happy with the result.

I'll probably use a glaze like the one for my Char Siu Glazed Duck next time, or maybe I'll come up with something more interesting. Though this duck takes three days to prepare, it's pretty easy stuff……. So here goes:

Day 1

1 1/2 Tb Five Spice Powder (we used the stuff we brought back from QingDao)
1/4 cup Shaoxing wine (when using wine of any sort/country, get the drinking variety)
1 thumb size piece of ginger, skin removed (use a spoon), cut into thin slices – about 6-7
2 stalks scallions, green parts cut into 2" pieces, white parts chopped and smashed
1 Tb sea salt
2 duck breast halves

– Mix all ingredients together
– Place duck in marinade and rub well
– Place in a ziploc bag and let marinate overnight

The next day you'll remove the duck from the marinade and take off straggling pieces of ginger and scallions.

Day 2

– Steam these babies for 30 minutes
– Remove from plate and liquid and place on a plate lined with paper towels to cool (I gotta figure something to do with all the oil/liquid that came out of the duck)
– I actually seasoned with a bit more salt and five spice….just because
– Once cool place in the fridge (DO NOT cover) to let dry overnight

The next (big) day these babies will look like they've suffered a bit of shrinkage, which they did.

Day 3

– In my cast iron pan, I heated about an inch and a half of oil to 350 (like I really measured)
– Fry the duck breasts for about two minutes each side

Seemed a bit dry so I served with Hoisin Sauce and sliced scallions.

In her book Cecilia Chiang calls this Sichuan Crispy Duck….but I really don't think that's correct. But whatever you call it, it pretty delicious.

Last weekend when I was bored, I used up five stalks of scallions that were starting to go brown and made some scallion oil. I then used two bulbs of garlic and made some garlic oil…really…I do stuff like that when I'm bored. I served the whole thing up with some Scallion and Garlic Oil Noodles.

Three days, but not much overall time involved…..step 1 I did in the middle of a post when I got bored. Step 2 meant turning on the stove. Step three was tonight……

It was a nice dinner three days in the making.

I'm thinking this is something a bit different. Doesn't really look like much……

We were checking out the "frozen protein zoo" in the back of Seisel's and the Missus had the great idea of cooking up something a bit different….after all, it's getting tougher to come up with stuff for the blog. I've almost exhausted all the basic stuff I've made for years. Actually, I wanted to get the ground kangaroo meat and make burgers….I'd call them "hoppers"….the Missus wasn't amused and immediately said that burgers weren't allowed. So I bought about a pound and quarter of frozen ground antelope, with no idea of what to make.

While discussing potential dishes, shepherds pie came up….well why not? But the Missus came up with the caveat….it couldn't be just any shepherds pie, oh no. So I came up with topping the thing with polenta. In doing a bit of research, I found that antelope was pretty lean….which means dry to me. The Missus didn't want beef stock and I really didn't feel like simmering a bunch of bones on a Saturday. I often use my roasted mushrooms as a base for various dishes and the Missus had bought one of those gigantic bags of oyster mushroom from Zion market. Heck, I had to roast these for Her anyway, right?

So on Saturday evening, I roasted up those mushrooms. On Sunday, I made a double recipe of polenta, 2 cups corn grits to six cups water which I seasoned well. Since butter is persona non grata in our household, I used a good amount of roasted garlic olive oil as a fat. When the polenta was done, I separated off the estimated excess amount, which I formed in an oiled square container. The Missus is having fried polenta cakes with these. The rest I tasted, up the seasoning and fat and mixed in about a cup of thinly sliced scallions, mostly for color. I retrospect, I probably could have added some roasted red peppers or even diced sun dried tomatoes.

As for the base of the Shepherd's Pie, here it is….just a listing. Antelope meat is very lean and very mild with a distinct, almost flat finish. It's easy to come up with a tasteless dish, but this came out pretty well.

1 1/4 lb ground antelope
bacon fat – olive oil – grapeseed oil
1 medium onion diced
4 cloves garlic minced
4-5 cups of roasted wild mushrooms
3 cups (or more) mushroom roasting liquid
2 tb dried Turkish oregano
1 tb dried thyme
2 Bay leaves crushed
1 cup red wine
3 tb sherry vinegar
3 tb Worcestershire Sauce
more salt than you think you'll need
fresh ground black pepper

Luckily the roasted mushroom brought a lot to the dish, not only in mushroom flavor, but there's a good amount of garlic and onions as well. If I do this again, I'll not only use the bacon fat, but lardons of a couple of slices of bacon to start as well. I cooked the mess down until it hit the right consistency, but it into a baking pan…topped with the polenta, which wasn't as easy as it seems and baked at 400 for 20 minutes.

It was actually pretty good. Not much in terms of "exotic" flavors, very lean and chewy. Loved the polenta topping. The top was on the crunchy side, while the part laying on top of the ragout was moist and creamy.

Oh, and this is what the bacon was used for.

The Missus actually made this. After all these years, the Missus is starting to find the joy of cooking! I can't help but laugh when I see Her crushing herbs in Her palm to extrude the oils, all the stuff She used to hassle me about! Now it's sharp knives, the immersion blender, and the Dutch oven, go figure…..

Anyway, I'm thinking we'll do something like this every couple of weeks. Any suggestions???