Category: Cooking

The Missus has a "girl's night out" tonight and I decided just to stay home with Da' Boyz. I thought it would be a nice evening for some pork chops so I dropped by Seisel's on my way home. Unfortunately, they didn't have any of the Kurobuta Pork Chops I enjoy, so I decided to just get a thick cut pork chop…..the "other white meat" version. I knew this was going to need some help (no time to brine), so I decided to stuff it with what I had on hand. I had some fantastic pork chops stuffed with goat cheese and sun dried tomatoes in Crete….it was soooo good. I decided to just go for it.

I won't win any awards for food styling, but this was pretty tasty……

It turned out pretty well…I did the usual sear and finish in the oven, but perhaps a minute or ttwo too long. Still it was tasty. Unlike the really over-stuffed ones (mostly breadcrumbs) you see in the market, these weren't super-stuffed.

About an ounce of Chevre, two-three kalamata olives, one re-hydrated sun dried tomato. As you see in the photo above, it will still ooze. I used a wooden skewer cut at each length to keep things together. Don't forget to remove them after cooking. Cut a pocket into the pork chop (at least 1 inch or more thick) and stuff.

I'm used to searing off beef, so I think I'll go with a lower temp next time, though the crust was very tasty (just sea salt, pepper, and a touch of oregano).

I made the basic mushroom ragout, but used dried thyme and marjoram, making for a more intense flavor (along with more minced onion, garlic, black pepper, and salt) that I needed for a pasta sauce. Instead of butter, I used creme fraiche to thicken the sauce. You can't beat the flavor of porcini mushrooms and an aged parmesan. You know, I just realized how much stuff I have in fridge…..though I used up all the creme fraiche, olives, and my stash of dried porcini to make this.

Not bad for a last minute Monday dinner…….sometimes it's nice eating in…..

Yep, we're still kinda just eating at home….well if you call making a salad eating at home. This time, the Missus wanted something light, full of flavor, yet satisfying. I've always thought about crusting goat cheese with panko, then deep frying, and today was the day.

I cut 1 ounce slices of Lemon Chevre, rolled it into little balls, did the egg wash, then panko with a bit of granulated garlic. Let sit to come closer to room temp, then deep fried.  Man was this good, why doesn't everyone do this? We needed to use up all the baby arugula in the fridge, which I supplemented with 20 cents worth of spring mix. Sweet and slight spicy pickled red peppers, kalamata olives, sliced grape tomatoes, and toasted pine nuts completed the salad.

The Missus simply drizzled on some of that "liquid gold" olive oil we bought in Crete and She was good to go.  Man that cheese was fantastic, light, a bit of "goo", hints of lemon, savory, all wrapped in a fried crust. This was fast too. In the time it took me to bring the oil up to temp, I had everything prepped. The Missus did comment that a raspberry vinaigrette might go nice with this….. it also sounds like a pretty nice starter salad as well. Add another dish to my list…..

Cook anything new and different this weekend?

I don't know what "Dark Thursday" did to us, but we've sure been eating at home a lot. Nothing fancy and perhaps some a bit strange….I dunno, I'll let you decide.

This past weekend was recycle day for us. I used part of what I got for our old cans and plastic to buy some skirt steak from Seisel's. I had though about doing a Charcoal Grilled Skirt Steak or perhaps a Cumin and Sichuan Peppercorn Skirt Steak, but I just too lazy to get the charcoal going. So for lunch I made a simple pan seared skirt steak with some crumbled Danish Blue Cheese which I combined with a orzo and arugula salad.

For dinner I used the rest of the skirt steak to make what I call my Wa(t da) fu Steak.

I call it that because it's basically Wafu Steak, but I just kinda use what ever I have on hand. It's the three plus……soy sauce, mirin, and sake (the three). A tablespoon of white sugar, lemon juice, 1 dried chili, and two cloves of garlic (the plus). I like Shizuo Tsuji's method of salting (sea salt) then letting the meat stand to "extract the juices". I lightly sear the meat, remove from the pan, add onions, deglaze with the "sauce" and place the steak back into the pan to glaze.

It turned out rather well…….

Since I had blue cheese left from my first meat dish and creme fraiche from my mushroom ragout, I made the Missus's favorite Blue Cheese Dressing, fried up some bacon, and made a wedge salad.

Oh, and I made some tater tots…topped with a bit of aged white cheddar and truffle oil……..

So, what have you been eating this week?

Heh…..maybe I'm getting a little too cute for my own good…… The Missus has been bugging me to make some smoked salmon since She had the smoked salmon sandwich at Kitchen 4140.She's applied a bit more pressure since returning there and having an uneven meal…different bread, standard tomatoes, etc, etc, etc….. So on the way this evening I stopped by Nijiya Market and picked up some Cherry Blossom white bread, medium cut, next stop the Fruit Stand on Morena for some tomatoes, and finally a little comparison between Bay Park Fish and Seisel's to see who had better salmon…… on this day, the Scottish Salmon from Seisel's won out. The rest of the stuff we had at home…..

Seasoned with some fresh ground pepper, sea salt, and some smoked salt, 20 minutes in the stove top smoker (can't believe I've had the thing for over six years now!) and that's it…… took about forty minutes total, not bad for a week night.

 
Actually, I cut the veggies……and most importantly made this while the fish was smoking:

The Missus is a closet mayo lover….. She keeps telling me how much She hates mayo…. but I guess a dill-caper mayonnaise is a different story, especially with salmon.

1/2 cup mayonnaise
2-3 Tb chopped dill
1-2 Tb chopped capers (you should rinse, but the Missus likes it briney)
lemon zest

Chill to let the flavors meld before serving….

That honking piece of salmon is perhaps a bit too much for a single sandwich….but if you want to take even further over the top; perhaps a couple of slices of crisp bacon might do it???

But heck then you could call this a SS-BLAT??? Or even B.S. SALT???

Happy Monday everybody!

Well, I finally went and did it….. I made Sichuan Cold Noodles at home. I'm not quite sure why I never made this at home…..perhaps it's because I love the version at Ba Ren so much, or maybe I could never find noodles that I thought were worthy… or maybe I was just too darned lazy???

I had really never intended to make Sichuan Cold Noodles….. but like all extreme actions, there was a triggering event. In this case it was Santouka's limited time Hiyashi Tan Tan Mian offering back in June. I had read Dennis's wonderful post on it…. the boiled egg looked so lovely that I left my mind open to trying it out. But when I arrived at the Mitsuwa food court and looked at the folks eating the stuff, I changed my mind. I'm not a big fan of Hiyashi Tan Tan Mian, heck, I've rarely found Dan Dan Mian (担担面) that I consider edible. At that instant, I changed my mind and decided to have the Hiyashi Chuka instead…. until I reached the counter and the very perky young lady told me that I should have the Tan Tan Mian…it was only for a few more days…and they "only make 20 bowls a day!" So I relented and ordered it………

And was severely underwhelmed….. as always, I enjoyed the noodles (this was a pretty small serving), but this was pretty bland and had hardly any spice. The egg looked like one-third of an boiled egg, and I actually placed the yolk back in the white since it was on other side of the bowl. And for some reason, paying over nine bucks for this tiny bowl got to me……. The Missus took a bite and told me, "come on…. really? You paid nine bucks for this? Lettuce and a tablespoon of some kinda meat, with some shredded daikon and carrots? You are a sucker….." I guess the ridicule kinda got me wound up as well…… I guess Japanese Tan Tan Mian is just not my thing.

At that moment I decided that I'd go home and make Sichuan Liang Mian. I had a package of Sun Noodle Cold Udon in the fridge…. I like the noodles… I usually through away the other stuff that comes with it. So long you don't over cook it, the noodles have a nice al dente stretch and pull to them.

Sichuan Cold Noodle Sauce:

1 Tb sesame paste (use a pure sesame paste – like the brand I use for my Purple Cabbage slaw)
1 Tb dark soy sauce
1 Tb light soy sauce
2-3 Tb Chinkiang vinegar
1 Tb white sugar
5-6 cloves garlic minced
1 tsp ground Sichuan Peppercorn
1 Tb sesame oil
Multiple heat sources…… I used what I had around the house:

Some red chilies, ground red chilies, sambal olek, and home made chili oil.

Mix it up, and adjust to your taste…..I ended up adding more vinegar and the Missus thought it could use even more. I dumped the sauce on the noodle, added some sliced cucumber, cilantro, and scallions…….

Actually, if you got some ground pork and preserved vegetable, mixed with some chilies, dumped it into a hot wok with peanut oil, then added a couple of splashes of light soy sauce to this you'd probably have a close approximation of Dan Dan Mian.

Anyway, this stuff is easy to make…. I've made it a couple times since. Once we had a nice meal….. I made the Missus some Karei Karaage and had some smoked duck legs I had in the fridge…..

 The Missus told me that sometimes it's "fun getting you all riled up….." Well, I guess this time it was pretty tasty as well.

Here's a quick recipe for grilling on a week night. Hawaii has its own style of Chinese food, dishes like "Cake Noodle", "oyster sauce chicken", and a big favorite "Cold Ginger Chicken", were a big part of my youth. We didn't have much money, so Chinese food was something special. As I grew older, and my income larger, I enjoyed meals from now defunct places like McCully Chop Suey (the first air conditioned Chinese restaurant in Honolulu!), Hee Hing, King Tsin, and our neighborhood Chinese restaurant Kwok's. And for special occasions like weddings, there were places like Oceania, a floating Chinese restaurant…. the first place I ever had duck, there's a really funny story, perhaps someday I'll do a post. Lau Yee Chai is still around…. though we considered it very "high maka maka" (snobby) in those days, I wonder what its like now?

Anyway, waaay back when we first moved to San Diego, I was feeling, well, kinda homesick, in a food related way. Having dinner with a friend, "Howard" who has long moved back to Oahu, he mentioned the Kwai Fei Chicken at a place called Golden City, which was then located on Convoy. I couldn't wait to try it out. Over the years, Golden City has moved, the Kwai Fei Chicken has been decent on most days, and I've even gotten the chance to introduce some of my favorite food bloggers to the dish; which may be off putting to some since it's a cold chicken dish where the chicken is an off white in color….looking very pale, and to some even perhaps close to raw?

At this point, I've pretty much taken more time typing this post than it took to get my hardwood charcoal going in the chimney, so I'll stop with the digression. The point of all this is….

Now the cold ginger chicken I make from a recipe on an old index card is chicken that is blanched in hot water with star anise until barely done, carry-over cooking will finish the job, It is then brushed with sesame oil, cooled and refrigerated overnight… and has been hit and miss for me as well. I'm pretty sure that the Kwai Fei Chicken at Golden City is rubbed with five spice and salt and steamed.

Well, it's a weeknight… and even when it's not, I really don't want to be doing the blanch chicken thing….I believe I'll try the steamed soon. So……. I bought some boneless chicken legs from Marukai. Even though the meat takes a bit of work, removing excess skin, trimming off sinew and fat, etc, etc….. the skin to meat ratio is great. If you're not on a diet. All of this can be done while the charcoal is getting lit….as can making the ginger-scallion mixture, all of which I did by hand. By the time the coals were ready, so was the chicken, which had been rubbed with sea salt, white pepper, and five-spice. Oh, and this was also done:

I didn't even use the food processor. I grated the garlic and ginger, mixed in the scallion and cilantro, added the hot (not smoking) peanut oil. By that time the coals were hot, I poured the coals out, arranged them in the typical two level grilling thingy, placed the grate on the grill to heat. Came back in….by this time the oil had cooled enough to taste…I then added sea salt and white pepper to taste…..with the understanding that the flavors will become stronger over time. I put the entire thing in the the fridge to cool (actually in the freezer for a couple of minutes, then the fridge). You could do the whole sauce thing the day before…..

When the chicken was nearly done, I brushed on a coating of sesame oil……

Not quite a work of art…….but it looked, and tasted quite good.

Cold Ginger Chicken Sauce – makes about a cup plus change
2 cloves garlic finely minced
3-4 Tb ginger finely minced
1/4 cup green onion finely minced
3 Tb cilantro finely minced
1 tsp sesame oil
salt and white pepper to taste
1/2 cup peanut oil

One item on my recipe card that I did not use was MSG. I don't keep any in the house. But just in case your sauce is missing a bit of umami……

Combine first five ingredients
Heat oil until hot, but not smoking
Remove oil from heat source and let sit for 30 seconds
Pour over the ginger mixture
When the mixture is cool enough add salt and pepper to taste
Refrigerate completely before using

Now I know all you folks are really observant…….and will notice that I'm not using a whole "cup plus" of this stuff…especially since the Missus still doesn't eat chicken. Remember that I threatened to use the sauce for Char Siu Lamb Chops on chicken? Well, I bought one of those jumbo packs of chicken and actually marinated some chicken that night.

 And made Char Siu Chicken Sandwiches (on yet another weeknight – you gotta love the long days!)….which actually tasted pretty good!

So what does this have to do with the cold ginger chicken sauce? Well, the Missus loves the sauce on rice…. but geeez, rice and a sandwich? Maybe for FOY (friend of yoso) "AZ", but I can't do it. So I grilled some potato slices…..real easy…microwave first, slice, brush with canola oil, salt, and grill. The potatoes are already cooked, and pretty darn hot (be careful handling), so grilling will create a nice crust. And dipped into some of this sauce………. 'nuff said. It had the Missus seal of approval.

 
Don't let my over-long post scare you….. this is real easy stuff….even on a week night!

Happy 4th everyone! It's been a while since I've last had the grill out. Probably February or so…..I guess I'm getting a late start this year, but that's the great thing about San Diego, you can grill year round.

I've been enjoying Alan Wong's The Blue Tomato, which operated much like Thomas Keller's cookbook, giving us insight as to how dishes are developed and put together. Browsing through the book, one of the recipes caught my attention…. first, it was quite easy, second it sounded like something I'd like to eat.…. Char Siu Lamb Chops. It's a riff on the classic Chinese BBQ Pork recipe and made on the grill. I've made Char Siu, so this wasn't much of a leap…and as a bonus, less messy than making it in the oven. This recipe uses ginger, garlic, and kecap manis. Sherry is used instead of Shaoxing wine. It was quite good. I made adjustments to taste, and since I used the very potent five-spice from QingDao I cut back a bit on that as well.

I simply mixed everything together and marinated overnight.

Of course I wasn't making 3 pounds of the stuff so that factored into everything as well. I also hedged my bets and made some simple Greek style lamb chops as well.

The most difficult part of the whole process was grilling the chops. Because of the sugar, you had to watch and move to ensure they didn't burn……..two level grilling is a must.

Char Siu Lamb Chops

Makes 1 – 1 1/2 pound of Lamb Loin Chops

1 Cup Hoisin Sauce
1/2 Cup Sugar
1/4 Cup Honey
3 Tb Sherry
1 Tsp ginger juice (grate ginger then squeeze pulp)
2 cloves garlic grated
2 Tb soy sauce
2 Tb kecap manis
1 Tb Chinese Five Spice

– Mix ingredients together. Set aside 1/4 cup of marinade for basting.
– Marinate lamb chops in the fridge overnight.
– Bring to room temperature before grilling

I served the chops with some grilled shiitake mushrooms and bok choy which I basted with a mixture of soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, sambal olek, chili oil(the stuff I make at home), and sesame oil. I gotta work on my bok choy grilling technique… the leaves tend to burn too quickly. And no, I'm not soaking them in water as they turn out mushy…..

The lamb chops tasted good, but much of the gamey flavors were muted. The Missus thinks the marinade will work great for chicken; so maybe I'll do that next time. The Greek style chops tasted very good and were super tender…..

It was a nice way to start up grilling again.

While driving back from the market this morning I came across this in the middle of the intersection of Balboa and Clairemont Drive….. looks like a boat decided to fall off its trailer. I'm glad no one was hurt.