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November, 2009:

Cooking Catchup

Nov 25th, 2009
by dave.
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Chicken Parmesan

No new recipe this week, just a few things I’ve cooked recently (that are already posted). Since it’s getting close to the Holidays (and travel-time), I’ve been trying to cut down all the stuff I have in the freezer (not as easy as it sounds). So while I’ve been getting some decent enough meals together, in my haste, they’re probably not really post worthy =P

I am, however, still drooling over a ton of the recipes out there for the winter. Looking forward to trying to make pulled pork (and the Chinese braised style!), numerous roasts and oven-based things, and lets not forget staples like meatloaf and mac & cheese!

More on this soon! And have a great Thanksgiving!

Roast beef

Roasted root veggies

Kalbi

Chicken Teriyaki

Nov 18th, 2009
by dave.
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Chicken Teriyaki

This isn’t the first time I’ve made Teriyaki sauce but surprisingly (after leafing through my notes), I’d never made Chicken Teriyaki before. Boggles my mind actually, I could only find notes on making Salmon Teriyaki over the past 2-3 years.

So here it is. I ended up slicing a full chicken breast in half and then pounding the halves flat prior to marinating overnight. I also used grated ginger instead of ginger powder this time, which I think works out better too. It’s not in the picture here, but I’ve also cooked up an egg for one of the leftover meals, it works pretty well too!

One more thing, I did end up making Japanese sushi rice to go with the chicken. It’s just some mirin, rice vinegar and sugar mixed together and added to cooked Japanese short-grain rice.

Chicken Teriyaki

Time : 20 minutes
Serves 4

Ingredients:
1 lb Chicken Breast, halved, pounded thin
1 Onion, sliced
Broccoli Florets
Sesame seeds, for garnish

Marinade:
3 tbsp Light soy sauce
3 tbsp Mirin
2 tbsp Sake
2 tsp sugar
A little grated ginger
Dash of garlic powder

Method:
1. Marinate Chicken breasts overnight.
2. Add reserved marinade and onion to a frying pan, saute for a few minutes.
3. Add chicken to pan and cook undisturbed for a couple minutes.
4. In the meanwhile, boil the broccoli florets for 2 minutes.
5. Stir-fry chicken and onions for another couple minutes.
6. Serve over rice.

Beef stir-fried with Ginger and Scallions

Nov 11th, 2009
by dave.
2 comments

Beef w/ Ginger & Scallions

Quick update on the recipe listings. I’ve hit the quarter pole and counting this week (phew!). I think I’ll end up culling out a few of the recipes as I keep going on but at this rate, I might be done sometime next year…if not later (oy). I’ve had a few clunkers for sure, nothing inedible, just a few things I didn’t like very much but for the most part, I’d say that most of the recipes have been good ones and that some I’ll be making regularly now! Got a couple new cookbooks on the wishlist and trying to work through more recipes from the most recent ones as well!

One thing I’ve been eating less of lately (due to the whole healthy kick) is beef. I’ve been trying hard to eat more chicken and seafood in addition to less starch and vegetables but this time, I thought it was time for a treat. This is a classic home-style Chinese dish and incredibly easy to make which makes it perfect for a weeknight meal. And, most of the ingredients I’d keep in the fridge anyway, which is a plus.

I found a couple similar recipes in a couple cookbooks but two blogs actually stood out in particular : Wokking Mum and Soy & Pepper. They both emphasized that quickly cooking the dish after marinating the beef overnight yields the best results. I added a little bit of garlic and sesame oil to the marinade just for a little extra taste.

Beef stir-fried with Ginger and Scallions

Serves 4
Time : 10 minutes (overnight marinate)
Ingredients:
- 1 lb Beef (I used steak tips)
- 4 stalks Scallions, sliced diagonally, roots removed
- 1-inch piece of ginger, sliced
- 2 tbsp Canola oil
- 1/2 tbsp ShaoHsing Rice Wine
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1/2 tbsp Ketjap Manis (Dark sweet soy sauce)
- 1/2 tbsp sesame oil
- 4 tbsp water
- 2 tsp corn starch

Marinade:
- 1/2 tbsp ShaoHsing Rice Wine
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 2 tsp corn starch
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 tsp sesame oil

Method:
1. Marinate beef overnight
2. Mix rice wine through corn starch and set aside.
3. Heat oil in wok. Add spring onion and ginger and saute till fragrant.
4. Add beef and quickly stir fry till 75% cooked.
5. Add sauce and stir fry in heat heat till sauce thickens and beef is just cooked. Serve immediately.

Pari Pari Chicken

Nov 4th, 2009
by dave.
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Pari Pari Chicken

For the record, I met my October goals and successfully lost 6 pounds. Funny though, I don’t think I really changed my eating habits all that much (well, except for maybe eating out only 1-2 times a week instead of 4-5). I have been eating more chicken lately and cutting out some of the carbs (Crazy how much rice I sometimes use with a meal). But I think it has to do more with the exercise. After all, if you work it all off, you should be able to eat everything you want right?

I’ve also been accumulating cookbooks lately, trying to find a couple cookbooks that “define” a particular cuisine. Two of the most recent have been Japanese cookbooks, one of the Asian cuisines I’m not very familiar with, except for maybe a few things I’ve tried on my own like Katsu or Teriyaki. One cook I’ve read a lot about is Harumi Kurihara, one of the most renowned writers in Japanese cooking. She’s likened as the Japanese Martha Stewart and has just started releasing cookbooks in English! I picked up Harumi’s Japanese Home Cooking, trying to pick a cookbook that had a more homestyle feel to it.

Today’s recipe is the first one I’ve tried out of this cookbook and probably the easiest one too. It’s a quick chicken marinade with a little bit of extra sesame oil for flavor and can be paired with any medley of vegetables, I chose to slice up and stir-fry some bok choy.

Pari Pari Style Chicken

Serves 4
Time : 30 minutes active time (overnight marination)

Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 lb Chicken Thighs (boneless, skin better for marinating)
- 1 tbsp Dry sherry
- 1 tbsp Light Soy sauce
- 1/2 tbsp sesame oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- Couple grinds of white pepper
- 2 tbsp Sesame oil for brushing on chicken
- Worcestershire sauce on the side

Method:
1. Mix together the chicken with everything but the 2 tbsp Sesame oil and worcestershire sauce. Marinade at least 15 minutes but overnight would be the best.
2. Bake chicken at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for about 20 minutes.
3. Brush the extra sesame oil on the chicken and then bake another 10 minutes or so.
4. Serve over rice with some worcestershire sauce on the side and some vegetables.