Cooking – Page 24

How To- Peel a pomegranate, Cook bacon, Make kale chips and a sweet-ish snack

December 3, 2010 Cathy Cooking, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is a blog about food. This episode will be hosted by Cathy. Because Kirk and ed(from Yuma) are not available to host.

Hi again. The Mister and I eat and cook at home, we don't always go out. I thought I would show you a few ways we work around the kitchen.
The humble pomegranate. In season now. You can purchase for about a dollar everywhere. It has a thick shell-like skin, membranes inside, which host a maze of juicy, flavorful seeds, called arils. The fruit/its juice is said to be a powerful antioxidant. However, the juice directly from the fruit stains clothes, furniture and your hands. To prevent this from happening,
get a large bowl or pot and fill it with water at least 3/4 of the way. So that you can put your hands in the water with the fruit and water won't overflow. Start to break the shell underwater(you can score it with a knife). Break the fruit up, without disturbing the arils/seeds. Start to peel the membrane away from the seeds, keeping the fruit-and your hands-
underwater the whole time. The seeds fall to the bottom. The membrane floats. It's physics. Remove shell/skin and membranes, drain and you have perfect pomegranate seeds! You eat the arils raw this way or make juice and strain the seed pulp out. Straining the fine seeds is much more work, and why you pay dearly for pomegranate juice items.

Bacon seems to be difficult for some people to cook. Really, it is simple and not messy. Line a cookie sheet-the kind with all sides raised- with a piece of foil and place pieces of raw bacon, not touching, on the foil. Bake in a 350° oven. If the bacon is thick, turn it after 20 minutes and bake about ten minutes more. If it is thin bacon, bake without turning for about 25 minutes.

You can see the bacon shrinks, but there is no spatter in the oven (or even onto the cookie sheet). Easy cleanup. (It is this foamy when you first take it out of the hot oven. Our parents told us that's how you know it is done cooking.) (These are the same pieces, which have been turned during cooking, in both photos)

The Farmer's Market Bag from Specialty Produce a few weeks ago was interesting. That yellow thing in the second photo is a citron, commonly called a Buddha's Hand. Yes, the bottom right corner of the second photo are purple potatoes. Everything in this bag was something we liked and could use to supplement our meals at home. Except it had been really hot and the kale (at the top in the 2nd photo) which I would normally use in a soup, was not going to happen, since we had had three days of temperatures hitting 100° out here. Kale is said to be an antioxidant and highly nutritious also, like the pomegranate. I decided to make kale chips.

I tore the kale into bite size pieces and placed in a bowl, topping it with olive oil,salt and pepper and tossing until all the kale was coated (that bunch in the photo made two batches- both for the bowl and for the cookie sheet). Place the pieces not touching on the cookie sheet.

I baked at 350° for 15-20 minutes, checking that the kale is crispy before removing.

I hope everyone is having a good day.

Oh. The Buddha's Hand was sliced (you can eat the pith and there is no juicy center) in about 1/4 inch pieces and boiled, on low heat, in 2 cups of water with 2 cups of sugar for about 2 hours until the liquid was almost gone. The pieces placed in a pan of sugar, coating on both sides and placed in the refrigerator. A tart and sweet snack treat!

I hope everyone is having a non-hectic month!

Spicy Misoyaki (Saiyko Yaki) Black Cod

October 15, 2010 mmm-yoso Cooking, Recipes

There comes a time when you make something literally hundreds of times where it just kind of loses its spark. It seems that my Misoyaki Black Cod (aka Misoyaki Butterfish). I've added the Saikyo Yaki description for the sake of my buddy Akira, who keeps telling me that I should call it by its appropriate Japanese name Gindara Saikyo Yaki…… even though I use White Shiro Miso, finding most Saikyo Miso to be too sweet.

The Missus hadn't asked for my misoyaki in a while, so I decided to have some fun with it. Spice it up a bit, and this what I came up with.

This is a good recipe if you think that my original recipe is on the sweet side.

If anything, I think it sure looks pretty……

If you've ever read my post on Misoyaki Black Cod, you'll notice that I enjoy adding a bit of Aka (Red) Miso to add additional savory notes. This recipe is basically that basic recipe minus the Aka Miso, replaced with this:

Yes, Kochujang and garlic in place of Aka Miso. Not even close to traditional in any way. I've found that I like to use Sunchang Kochujang. I found the flavor of this Kochujang to be a bit more spicy, and not as sweet as other brands. Apparently, this Kochujang is made in the city of Sunchang, with sun dried peppers and sweet rice.

You can really tell the difference in look and smell. Take a look at the two:

Versus my more traditional version.

Instead of the usual three day marinade, the strong flavor of Kochujang means that I'd recommend making this after 1day, 2 days max. After that it gets exponentially more spicy. Also, remember to save maybe 1/3 cup of the marinade to use as a glaze before broiling. My usual way of making this is to start in a 400-425 degree heated toaster oven until almost cooked, then adding a layer of glaze and broiling to finish.

In the end, the Missus thought this was good, but really enjoyed the batch of my usual misoyaki, so next time it's back to the same 'ol same 'ol…… unless I find another new way of making this!

Spicy Misoyaki Black Cod:

3/4 Cup White Shiro Miso
3-4 Tb Kochujang
2 cloves garlic finely grated
1/2 Cup Sugar
1/4 Cup Sake
1/4 Cup Mirin
1-2 Tsp Whole Bean Real Soy Sauce

Combine Mirin, Sake, Garlic, and Sugar in a small pot. Bring to a simmer stirring constantly until sugar is dissolved. Simmer for 2-3 minutes, until all the alcohol burns off.
Remove from heat, and add Soy sauce to stop boiling.
Slowly add Miso and Kochujung mixing until sauce is creamy.
Do Not ever boil miso.
When sauce is cooled marinate black cod completely coating the fish.
Marinate for at least 1 day, not more than 2.
If using a conventional oven, pre-heat at 450 and bake fish for 8-10 minutes.
When fish is almost cooked baste with some left over sauce if desired, then broil for an additional 2-3 minutes until well caramelized.

Purple Cabbage Slaw with Sesame Dressing

September 23, 2010 mmm-yoso Cooking, Recipes

This was the purple cabbage dish we were served during the family dinner in Jinan. It really caught our attention, and it has become a pretty regular item at home. It is very simple, and can be put together in just a few minutes.

The dressing itself has basically five items, but everything comes through real well. The key item is using a good, pure sesame paste, which provides a wonderful savory – nutty flavor. The oil in the sesame paste also acts like an emulsifier. Chinese black vinegar and white sugar are the other two key components. The surprise is the addition of wasabi, which gives the dressing real zip. Everything is balanced out with some sea salt, and that's it.

I start with 3 tablespoons of well mixed sesame paste (remember to mix the sesame paste well, since the oil has usually separated in the bottle). I add an equal amount of white sugar, then 1/3 cup of Chinese Black Vinegar, and combine well. I taste and make adjustments to our taste(you may need to add sugar or vinegar), and suggest that you do the same. The "dressing" needs to be pourable. I then add some wasabi paste to taste, and finish up with sea salt. It's not the prettiest looking concoction.

I finely shred/slice half a head of purple cabbage. The Missus likes the cabbage sliced finely. In Jinan, the cabbage was blanched, but we've found that a fine slice does just fine.

I combine the cabbage with 3/4 of the dressing, mix well, and put in the fridge for 15-20 minutes, to let the flavors meld. After the short chill, I add about a handful of chopped cilantro leaves and 2-3 bunches of finely sliced scallions (green parts only). I mix, then adjust with more dressing if necessary and more salt. I add a sprinkle of sesame seed to top things off. This will keep for a day or two, (or maybe three) if refrigerated.

Easy, huh? I feel almost guilty doing an entire post on this, but it is quite good.

A couple of notes; I quarter the half of the cabbage I use and cut off the tough core. If you can't get good quality Chinese Black Vinegar, you can use Japanese Rice Vinegar, but cut the sugar in half before combining, then add more if necessary. We were told that finely julienned and blanched carrots are a good addition. I'm sure you can think of other good additions to this. We also had a version of this in Beijing, so stay tuned for that post.

Weeknight Grilling: Grilled Chicken and Potatoes with Spicy Cilantro-Garlic Sauce

September 9, 2010 mmm-yoso Cooking, Recipes

Honestly…. I guess I'm just not able to grill up pretty looking food on weeknights. Probably because my objective is to get the food to the table in less than an hour, clean up, and then have some time to do a post….. But I gotta say, it ain't easy being green.

And in fact, if you consider that I par boiled the potatoes the night before with the intent to throw them on the grill, perhaps this doesn't even qualify for one of my weeknight grilling posts.

The recipe itself, is based on what Rick Bayless calls his "chimichurri" in his latest book, Fiesta at Rick's. If you ever wanted a recipe for a gallon of Michelada, this is the book for you. In fact, I've kinda planted the seed in the minds of my friends….. just the fact that they are considering digging a pit in their Mom's backyard to do the recipe for a 30 pound lamb based on the recipe in the book…. well, you get the point. In his book, his "chimichurri" is used for a ceviche. I've posted on a more traditional Chimichurri before, but when Bayless mentioned that this was great on chicken; well, I had to just give it a try.

The actual sauce recipe didn't use any acid, which Rick Bayless added in later as part of his ceviche. And for the skin on, boneless chicken legs and the potatoes, I didn't use any acid. The recipe itself is a bit different from what's in the book, I usually use recipes as more of a guideline, and make adjustments for my taste preferences anyway. In this case, I cut down the flat leaf parsley, since I didn't care for an overwhelming chlorophyll taste. I also bumped up the garlic (of course) and the serrano chilies (of course again), and added a bunch of scallions to the whole mess for some additional punch. The sauce came out pretty thick, like a pesto, and smelled wonderful. And to tell you the truth, it isn't particularly spicy either……

So form the time I got my chimney starter going……

Spicy Cilantro-Garlic Sauce

16 cloves of garlic
5 serrano chilies
2 medium bunches cilantro, hard stems removed
1/2 of a small bunch flat leaf parsley, hard stem removed
1 bunch green onions
2/3 cup olive oil
2-3 Tb Sea Salt

– Roughly chop cilantro, parsley, serrano chilies, and green onions. (For less heat, remove the seeds and "veins" from the serranos before using)
– Place in a blender with garlic
– Slowly add olive oil while pulsing the blender.
– Scrape excess unblended ingredients off the sides of the blender, and then blend until fairly smooth.

This will make about two cups, more then enough for several uses.

For the chicken pieces, I put about 1 1/2 tablespoons of sauce on one side and lightly rubbed over the chicken. I then turned the chicken over and did the same. I put the chicken in the fridge for about 15 minutes to marinate, and prepped my potatoes. I had sliced two russet potatoes into 3/4 inch slices the night before and parboiled. I rinsed well, to remove excess starch, made sure they were nice and dry, and put them in the fridge. I took them out right before I got my charcoal started. I seasoned with sea salt and fresh ground pepper, rubbed with extra virgin olive oil, and split into two groups. Right before grilling, I tossed one group with red wine vinegar. The other group was grilled on one side, and after turning, I brushed on some of the sauce on the grilled side of the potato. After turning I repeated with the other side, making sure to grill the potatoes, without burning them. Of course I was grilling up the chicken as well.

It turned out to be pretty good.

Regular readers may recall that the Missus doesn't eat chicken anymore, so I also grilled up some eggplant, zucchini, and red peppers.

Toasted some ciabatta bread rubbed with garlic oil on the grill. I mixed about 1/2 cup of the sauce with a few squeezes of lime to add some acid, which the Missus used as a spread for sandwiches, which She loved. In fact, She had a couple of days worth of sandwiches.

A couple of days later, I repeated the sauce with lime, added a touch more salt, and a few turns of black pepper, and made a salad dressing.

Tomatoes, cucumbers, avocado, green leaf lettuce, a few sprigs of cilantro, and pepinos, made for a nice salad.

I'm always happy to find these recipes that can be used for multiple purposes……. it makes life so easy.

Easy Easy Ceviche

August 20, 2010 Cathy Cooking, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is about food. The handful of us who write on this blog enjoy eating. We also enjoy cooking. Today, Cathy is 'cooking'.

Hi. We have had some hot days lately and I just do not feel like turning on the stove inside or even cooking on the grill outdoors. In this kind of weather, I also seem to have cravings for ceviche, but don't want to drive and look for a restaurant. I know I can cook, and this is one of my 'usual' lazy day recipes. Last week, I showed you the two pounds of whitefish fillets I got for $12 from Catalina Offshore and two meals I had made from one fillet. Here's another meal (and snacks) I made from one whole fillet.
I took one whole fillet (so about 2/3 of a pound) and chopped into bite size pieces.
Then I squeezed the juice from six limes (from my backyard, hence the imperfectness) (limes are also on sale, 10 for $1 at most grocers right now) into the bowl with the chopped fish, covering the fish.
I put the whole bowl into the refrigerator for at least four hours (you can let it go overnight).
Drain out the lime juice (don't rinse). See how the fish is all cooked? Chop tomatoes, cilantro, some onion, one garlic clove and add about one Tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil. Mix. Taste, if you need salt and/or pepper, add it and mix again.
It is ready to eat. You could chill it before eating or chill any leftovers…
I eat it with whole grain Saltines and sometimes add some hot sauce.

You can make it with raw shrimp also. Cut the shrimp and tomatoes and onions into similar size pieces.

Cathy's Simple Ceviche

You don't have to measure; use what you have. For this recipe I used:

2/3 lb raw seafood, chopped, cover with juice from 6 limes (enough juice to cover the chopped seafood). Put to chill in refrigerator at least four hours.

Drain the seafood (do not rinse). Add:

Four Italian plum tomatoes (chopped), 1/3 bunch of cilantro (chopped), one thick slice of red onion (chopped), one garlic clove (minced) and two Tbs Extra Virgin Olive oil.

Add salt and pepper to taste. Ready to eat or can be chilled and consumed later.

Serve with Saltines and hot sauce….and a cold beverage.

I hope it cools down soon! Have a fun weekend!

Weeknight Grilling times two – Cumin and Sichuan Peppercorn Skirt Steak and Grilled Vegetables

August 17, 2010 mmm-yoso Cooking, Recipes

We grilled the last two evenings, so I figured I'd do one last weeknight grilling post. We've been enjoying weeknight grilling…. it's all about timing, and objective is to get everything to the table in less than an hour. I've already done a post on skirt steak, so I hope you don't mind another. On Monday, I picked up some skirt steak and a ciabatta on the way home…….. I thought I'd do the simple grilled skirt steak, but when I got home I decided something else.

I was inspired by something I had in Xi'an……

They call it Rou Jia Mo…… you can call it a sandwich if you want to…….

Basically heavily seasoned meat stuffed in bread. And Xi'an being the end of the Silk Road, you can bet this was wonderfully cumin, salt, and chili heavy.

I was also itching to use the very potent five spice from QingDao that Fifth Aunt sent home with us. It's the same five spice that she uses in her own home made sausage. First I got the hardwood charcoal going in my chimney starter. This was basically a retread of my Cumin Lamb and Grilled Cumin and Sichuan Peppercorn Lamb Chop recipes. And you all know how much I love cumin lamb.

I marinated the skirt steak in shaosing, premium soy sauce, premium dark soy sauce, five spice (just a pinch, a little of this goes a long way) and cumin. I was out of sweet bean paste, so I used some sambal olek to add some zip.

I sliced three cloves of garlic lengthwise and sauteed them over medium-low heat until soft. I added sliced green bell pepper and sliced onion. I was going for a bit of color, and wanted the natural sugars to develop. I didn't want it too sweet, but I added some shaosing, sea salt, cumin(of course), and a dash of premium soy sauce.I'd use this as the veg for my sandwich. Figuring that this was going to be pretty strong flavorwise, and perhaps teetering on the salty side, I decided to grill some tomatoes along with the meat to add a bit of "acid" to the dish. Once everything was ready to go I seasoned the skirt steak with more ground cumin, ground Sichuan Peppercorns, sea salt, and ground chili.

Grilled medium rare, stacked on the bread toasted on the grill, all finished off with scallions and cilantro.

Maybe if this was a weekend I could talk the Missus into making Dan Bing…. but heck this was a weeknight.

This evening I thought I'd want something a bit lighter. I stopped by Seisel's with nothing in mind, and ended up leaving with just a couple of Veal Bratwursts……. and weeknight grilling on my mind. I picked up some local asparagus from the fruit stand, went home, got my charcoal started…. and came up with this.

I tried to use stuff we had on hand. While prepping the vegetables, I simmered the Brats in Killian's Red…. because there was a bottle in the fridge. The eggplant was coated in olive oil, oregano, and salted. The tomatoes in oil I had leftover from making garlic confit and oregano. Same oil for the asparagus, along with sea salt, and finely ground black pepper.

I grilled the vegetables…. the asparagus were thin so I didn't have to peel them. We still had ciabatta left so I sliced it, grilled it slightly with the garlic oil, and spread a little Boursin I had in the fridge.

I got my vegetable peeler and shaved some leftover imported parmigiano reggiano, and I had dinner. Funny thing the brats was my least favorite part of the meal. And it was done pretty quickly…..

I realize that these really aren't recipes per se, so thanks for hanging in there and reading. But it was fun grilling over charcoal and getting the table in less then an hour. I'm going to continue doing stuff like this over the summer and fall, but I'll get back to writing out regular recipes in the future.

The Farmers’ Market Bag from Specialty Produce..and the first meals.

August 13, 2010 Cathy Cooking, Farmer's Markets/Night Market, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is a blog about food. Today's episode is written by Cathy. Kirk and ed(from Yuma) are researching future posts.

Hi. This is an unplanned cooking episode/$5 Friday of our blog. Let me explain. Here is a link to the website: SpecialtyProduce.com It's in an obscure part of town, close to the airport. Once you find it, park on the street and walk down near the railroad tracks to the side of the building and up some stairs and go inside the warehouse loading dock (there are footprints painted on the floor). There are racks of kind of fancy and bulk fancy groceries (salts, oils, noodles) and a desk where you check in (and sign a waiver if it is your first time visiting) and then you can walk into the refrigerators and see many many other products. Some are sold by the case and some by the package. There are microgreens and wraps and eggs and Dulcinia cantaloupes and watermelons and stuff that normally restaurants use (cases of squash blossoms, 5 lb bags of mixed lettuces, gallons of heavy/whipping cream). There are no prices marked, but you can ask and compared to other places, the prices are really good for the quality. The cash drawer closes at 4 but the building is open until 6 p.m. daily, when I have seen restaurant owners and chefs coming in to buy stuff for their kitchen.

You can also do what I have started doing, ordering the Farmers' Market Bag (look at the top left corner on the site). You place an order for a bag by Sunday at Midnight and then pick up the bag on Thursday or Friday. You don't know what is in the bag until you pick it up (or see a video of it, posted online about 6 p.m. Wednesday Here is a link to the SP videos of prior Farmers' Market Bags ) (Or click onto the 'Past Boxes' link). The bag is $20, different each week and includes fruits and vegetables from about 12 farms in Southern California. I believe in buying and consuming fresh/local/California products when I can, without having the obligation of joining a CSA , which has waiting lists, membership fees and sometimes gives you pounds and pounds of vegetables you get tired of eating and are basically inflexible with ordering weekly (i.e., you can't skip a box). Plus there are a few variables to the SP bag which you can order (like 2 lbs of fresh seafood from Catalina Offshore for $12, again,not knowing what you will get or a special bread or baguette from Bread on Market, chocolates from Chuao Chocolatier, Jackie's Jams, Peerless Coffee or some California cheese). So, anyhow, this week's bag:
From the top left- two ears of white corn from Gloria Tamai Farms; four Lipstick peppers from Beylik Farms; five Heirloom tomatoes from Coastal Organics; Freckles lettuce form Coleman Farms; sage, rosemary and thyme from Rutiz Farms; a pound of mixed Pee Wee fingerling potatoes from Weiser Farms…but, there is more
From the top left: another pound of all white fingerlings (a bit larger than the Pee Wees) from Weiser Farms; the optional seafood- this week two pounds of skinless ocean whitefish fillets from Catalina Offshore , one of a handful of places I buy seafood anymore; two New Jersey Apples from Windrose Farms; two Goldmine nectarines and a White peach from Fitzgerald Farms; about a pound of Summer Muscat grapes from Murray family Farms and six Cippolini onions from McGrath Farms. So, $32. (The bag is $20 and the optional seafood is $12)and I am going to make three preparations of the fish (one fish fillet per prep, but some will turn into two meals).
Right now it is very hot out. I am going to make "packets" in foil to cook on the grill. For my lunch.
I took the largest fingerlings, tossed in olive oil and tore the leaves off of one of the sprigs of rosemary. I sealed the packet and put it on the grill to begin cooking while I prepared the fish. Pretty much steam from the oil will do the cooking.
The Whitefish is so very fresh that I just want to taste it and not other flavors, so I coated it with olive oil and some dry slightly seasoned breadcrumbs. (I dry leftover pieces of bread and put some Herbes de Provence in the container once I crush the dry bread). Fold the foil tight- again, steam will cook the fish.
Here are both packets on the center grill. The potatoes were on about 8 minutes before I put the fish packet in the center. I turned the heat on high on the two sides of the grill; there is no direct heat under the packets. It is kind of just an oven, without turning on the one inside my non-air conditioned home.
The potatoes are done when you can easily poke a fork.
The fish is done when just translucent. That bottom left end of the photo above shows the fish needing less than a minute more of heat/steam; I re-sealed the foil so the steam cooked it the rest of the way. The fish was on the grill for about 6 minutes; so the potatoes went for about 14 minutes.
I made a salad with about half the head of the Freckles lettuce, a Lipstick pepper and one heirloom tomato, topped with olive oil and balsamic. The tomatoes are so very sweet, the red pepper is pretty much a red pepper and the lettuce has the texture of Romaine but is more delicate tasting, like a red leaf lettuce.
The potatoes still got cooked to a lovely brown crispiness on the bottom, taste so perfectly sweet and the fish just needed the six minutes on the grill. The fish was so perfectly sweet in flavor. I hope the rest of the fillet will be there for The Mister's dinner…
I chopped one of the New Jersey apples -grown in Paso Robles, but never seen anywhere but from Specialty Produce- and put it in a bowl with some grapes and had some coffee for dessert. The apples have the most wonderful strawberry undertone scent and in the flavor…they are different and tart and I like tart apples. They are also a bit softer in texture than a MacIntosh, my favorite. The Summer Muscat grapes are sweet, with a softness in texture. A pleasant grape. The two fruits did not really compliment each other and each could have stood on its own, but I don't want to finish anything without The Mister tasting it.
The Mister got home late Thursday night and everything needed to be reheated, so I took the already cooked fish, topped it with sliced Heirloom tomatoes and some Parmesan and put it under the broiler, just to get the cheese melted, sliced and sauteed the leftover potatoes with some of the red pepper and made a half assed omelete(i.e., an egg pancake instead of the proper fluffy goodness with crispy crust that is an omelette) and filled it with some fresh Mozzarella and sauteed Swiss chard bought on sale, from Henry's, this week. A fresh, filling and tasty dinner.

Specialty Produce is open 7 days a week, so you can drop by on the weekend to see what they have and just enjoy what they have to sell and sign up for a Farmers' Market Bag online by Sunday night. It is always an adventure. A very fresh adventure.

Specialty Produce 1929 Hancock Street San Diego 92110 (easiest way to get there is to be on San Diego Avenue, which goes through Old Town all the way to Washington and then go under the I-5 on Noelle Street. Then right on Hancock. It's on the left (West) side of the street.) 619-295-3172 Open 7 days. 8 a.m.-6 p.m.

Weeknight Grilling: Chao Shao Kao Ji – the Ugly Barbecue (Grilled) Chicken experiment

August 9, 2010 mmm-yoso Cooking, Recipes

On our visit to Beijing, we encountered a dish that we loved. It was called "ugly fish"……. a day later we went to a restaurant that served something very similar, the specialty was called "Wushan Fish"….. it is the stuff of later posts, but I'll give you a preview of the "Ugly Fish":

It is kinda ugly, eh??? But this was among the five best dishes we had during our visit to China, which we'll cover in a future post. My thing was to make this on a weeknight…. and I chose boneless chicken legs as my subject. So this is my first attempt at "Ugly Chicken".

I'll admit that I didn't reach the pinnacle of ugliness….. but even grilling with charcoal, I finished everything within an hour which is what I think weeknight grilling is all about.

So in sequence, this is the blow by blow……I marinated some boneless (but still with skin) chicken legs with a tablespoon of sweet bean paste, some shaosing wine, and two tablespoons of premium soy sauce. I went and got some hardwood charcoal started in my chimney starter…..

And when things got hot enough, I mixed a blend of sea salt, a tablespoon of white sugar, cumin powder, I ground some Sichuan Peppercorn from Sichuan (roasted from from my "stash"), and ground chili, and set out to make the ugliest chicken I could find…….

What came out was some major "Ma – La" (numbing hot) stuff……

Those toasted Sichuan Peppercorns from Chengdu numbed me from my nasion to my chin! Man those peppercorns are really top-notch!

It tasted fantastic with rice……

It was pretty darn good……. which reinforces my belief that you can grill up some pretty good stuff on weeknights…….

Weeknight Grilling: Charcoal Grilled Skirt Steak

August 2, 2010 mmm-yoso Cooking, Recipes

This past weekend, we had the pleasure of celebrating a wonderful housewarming party given by two of my favorite folks! Congrats MrC and TammyC, we had a great time. While doing some serious munching TammyC asked me, "how come it seems like you don't cook much anymore?" I had to laugh, and I explained that I've just been doing a lot of the same stir fry, and have made a few dishes that we had in China, but am waiting until after I do my post on China before publishing them. Anyway, I thought I'd do a post on what we had for dinner tonight. The Missus wanted skirt steak, AKA "harami" or "arrachera". You'd be hard pressed to beat the wonderful flavor of grilled skirt steak. You really don't need to do much to it……. and it's pretty quick. Even grilling on charcoal (a combo of hardwood & mesquite), along with a couple of ears of corn, some eggplant, zucchini,sliced onions and green bell peppers, and making a chipotle-tomatillo salsa took only a shade more than an hour total.

This is not a recipe…. I mean, can I call meat plus four ingredients a recipe????

Anyhow, I used Rick Bayless's recipe from his book Authentic Mexican as my source, only adding some Mexican Oregano.

There are just a couple of key points. After grilling, remember to let the meat rest a few minutes to let the juices redistribute. Shirt steak will be a tough cut, unless you slice it across the grain in 1/4" to 1/3" slices. Don't do that, and you might as well eat shoe leather. Skirt steaks are pretty thin so it's over direct heat all the way…..

So what's the recipe???

Not much really. 1 1/2 lb shirt steak, seasoned with sea salt, pepper, and a pinch of crumbled Mexican Oregano. Grilled 'til medium rare.

Really…… that's it!

I'm figuring this'll be good in tortillas, maybe as fajitas, in a sandwich perhaps….. or on top of rice.

And now it gives me no excuse for not grilling on a weeknight. Heck, if I had a gas grill, it would be even quicker…..

QingDao: Dinner at Sixth Aunt’s

July 18, 2010 mmm-yoso China, Cooking, Memorable Meals, QingDao, Travel

Our day which started with breakfast at Pi Chai Yuan, the Wedding Banquet for lunch, was not quite done. After a visit at Fourth Aunt's son, the only boy cousin's very nice home, we arrived at Sixth Aunt's for dinner. While some of the younger members of the family got a well deserved break.

Sixth Uncle, the artistic one, gave us a "tour" of sorts of his collection of various works. One of his many talents is woodworking, which is displayed through out the condo.

All of the ornamental lattice work, paneling, and doors had been created by his hands.

Barely having the ability to draw "stick figures" I admire hand crafted work of any kind. Sixth Uncle also has an eye for form and function, as he displayed with a rock he found and polished.

His keen eye discerned the resemblance to a traditional drinking vessel, so he carved a base, and mounted the stone. and there's the stone that looked like a drinking bottle……

Along with the article he helped research on the evolution of Chinese writing, those were two of the most impressive items I recalled.

It's no wonder that their daughter teaches art…….

One quick thing about hospitality in China. When you visit a home, there's always a good amount of food brought out to snack on. This is true everywhere……. even after a large dinner; if you were to visit a home, snacks would suddenly appear out of nowhere. It's just the proper thing to do……

By now the entire family understood my interest in food…… there are folks here in the states who find my interests strange. But here, it was accepted….. good local food is appreciated. There were more then a few times when the Missus was told that, "we feel bad that 柯克 cannot get good food like this in America!". Of course I snuck into the kitchen to see what was on the menu….

The razor clams really got my attention……

Soon enough, dinner started, and we gathered around the table.

One real change the Missus has noticed, is the amount of raw vegetables eaten nowadays. This was a nice plate of Daikon Sprouts with a nice black vinegar and sugar "dressing", which does well to complement the pungent sprouts.

Here's something interesting. We first had this at the Pig's Feet Banquet. I really enjoyed the herbaceous flavor, but had never figured out what it was.

I thought it was some kind of purslane, but before doing this post, I the Missus sent out an email to Her Mom and Dad, and pretty soon the answers came pouring in. From Fifth Aunt, and Sixth Aunt's Daughter, I found out this is Tian Qi(田七)or Shan Qi(三七), also called Pseudo-Ginseng or Notoginseng. It is supposed to be an amazing blood remedy. In fact, while I was doing a bit of research, read that during the Vietnam War, Vietnamese Soldiers carried the powder of this herb with them as a field treatment for gunshot wounds until they got real medical care. I'm not sure if that's true or not, but it does make for a great story.

It was also during this meal where we first encountered bittermelon that had been shaved. The bittermelon in China already seemed to be sweeter and less bitter than what we have in the states, and this was even less bitter. Here they served it with honey for dipping. But to be honest, I just loved it raw and plain.

The Missus had always claimed that the crab She grew up eating in QingDao were the sweetest She's ever had…..

You know, I have to agree…. The Missus, and cousin Long Hui were just in crab nirvana. The one I ate was especially good…. it was the only female with eggs….. which Sixth Aunt picked for me. Man, this was good….. good crab doesn't need anything else added to it, no sauces or condiments……. it's so sweet and delicate.

The one dish that really got to me, was the simple braised fish. It was just a basic soy sauce and ginger braise, but it really tugged at me. The reason being, it tasted like how my Mother made fish….so it took me home. And personally, I loved this more than any fish I had during any banquet in QingDao. This was comfort food to me……

Speaking of comfort food. Next up was a plate of perfect Xiang Chung Ya (salted shoots of the Chinese Toon Tree).

The Missus had two bowls of Green Bean and Rice Porridge, and most of two plates of the Xiang Chung Ya. For Her, this is real comfort food…..

Razor Clams….so sweet, so delicious…..

There was one last big surprise. At the end of the meal, a bottle of Laoshan Cola was broken out. This Missus let out an "ooohh", She had forgotten about Laoshan Cola. I had a taste, and well a bit more…. it was really good. Great flavor, much better than the NFCS Coke here in the states. In fact, made with mineral water with additional herbs, it was really good stuff, like a good boutique cola. Of course, with the packaging, I heard that there's an ongoing trademark dispute going on with Coca-Cola.

We rolled out after dinner, and caught a cab back to our hotel…. full and happy. There's nothing like family and food…….