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Linguine with Clams

Sep 2nd, 2009
by dave.
2 comments

Linguini w/ Clams

Last week, the roommate picked up 200 clams from a wholesaler on the waterfront for a BBQ. We ended up eating a little over half of them, leaving clams as this week’s special cooking ingredient!

This time, decided to go with something more Western, Italian in fact (Been cooking a ton of Asian food lately). I’ve got this big Italian cookbook, the Silver Spoon, which is supposed to be one of the best Italian cookbooks one can find. But I’ve only cooked 3-4 different things from it, lame right? So I figured now would be a good time to try another recipe.

So I jotted down this recipe and consulted with a reliable source, the Internet, to come up with a recipe I liked. Most recipes used a little too much butter for my liking so I cut that down and also added something I saw from Mario Batali’s recipe, pancetta! Now, I’m not one of those guys that always thinks adding things like bacon and other meats to an otherwise meat-less dish always makes it better, but in all honesty, pancetta sounded absolutely delicious and I thought it’d add a new dimension to the dish’s flavor.

I ended up using Colavita linguine but in all honesty, use whatever pasta you like best (I made this another time with Stop&Shop brand linguine =P) I wish I had time to run to Dave’s to pick up some fresh pasta but alas, I was already tired from running around all day and didn’t feel like trekking out to Somerville just for linguine. Maybe they should just open another store next door!

For the white wine, I used a chardonnay from Roche Winery, one of the many keepsakes from my visit to the West Coast.

Linguine with Clams

Time : 45 minutes
Serves 4

Ingredients:
- 1 pound linguine
- 1/2 medium red onion, minced
- 1/4 pound pancetta, diced
- 6 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
- 6 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 2 pounds clams, scrubbed and rinsed
- 2 cups dry white wine
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1/3 cup finely chopped fresh Italian parsley

Method
1. Bring six quarts of water to boil and add 2 tablespoons salt.
2. In a large sauté pan, sauté red onion, pancetta and garlic over medium heat until onion is very soft and pancetta is translucent, about 10 minutes. Add red pepper flakes, clams, white wine and butter and bring to a boil. Cook until all clams have opened, and then set aside.
3. Boil the linguine in the prepared stock pot. While softened but still firm, drain and toss into pan with clams and stir gently to mix. Add chopped parsley and serve.

Notes:
Adapted from the Silver Spoon and Mario Batali’s Recipe
The pancetta can be removed if you like

Szechuan String Beans w/ Minced Pork

May 14th, 2009
by dave.
1 comment

Szechuan String Beans

One thing I never seem to do enough of is to stir fry vegetables with meat/other as more of a garnish. More often than not, I tend to reverse that trend, using vegetables as those “extra” things just to feel good about eating healthier. But I’m starting to appreciate that there are other things than meat that can be the main attraction to a dish :)

I’ve had this a few different times at restaurants and at family friends’ dinners, but I’ve never tried making these string beans myself. The recipe generally calls for an extremely hot wok, and one ends up crisping the beans a little bit (in some households, the shriveled beans are fought over!). It’s actually an extremely quick dish to cook once the ingredients are prepared, taking probably 30 minutes total from start to finish (I’m slow, so it takes me a little longer).

Add some thai chillies or some red pepper flakes for that extra spicy tang if you so desire.

Original recipe seen in Grace Young’s Breath of a Wok

Szechuan String Beans w/ Minced Pork

Serves 4 with rice
Time : 30-40 minutes

Ingredients:
- ¼ cup chicken broth
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 4 tbsp canola oil
- 1 pound string beans, ends removed
- 1-inch piece of ginger, grated
- ¼ pound ground pork
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp chopped scallion
- 2-3 thai chillies, chopped (and/or some Sriracha)

Method:
1. Combine broth, sugar, and salt.
2. Heat a wok over high heat. Add in 3 tbsp vegetable oil, pan fry the beans until they begin to wrinkle, about 3-4 minutes. Can break this into two steps if your wok is smaller. Remove from wok
3. Swirl in the rest of the oil, add ginger and ground pork, stir-fry until pork is cooked and broken up with a spatula.
4. Add in the broth mixture, bring over high heat.
5. Add the beans, chillies/sriracha, and toss to combine. Cook until most of the liquid is gone, about 2-3 minutes.
6. Add vinegar, sesame oil, and chopped scallions, serve with rice.

Chicken and Veggie Stir Fry

Apr 29th, 2009
by dave.
No comments yet

Chicken and Veggie Stir fry

In the same mold as last week’s recipe, I ended up making this with all of the leftover vegetables. Ended up a little more flavorful (added some oyster sauce among other things) than the veggie stir fry, but I still think it could use a little more taste in the sauce (I really do think I have a bad habit of using too much meat and vegetables and never balancing out the sauce well enough).

The cashews really complemented the dish, adding a nice crunch to some of the bites. I’ve never really cooked with cashews (or any other sort of nut for the record) but I think I’ll definitely end up trying using them more soon!

Probably will be posting sometime this weekend, got a lot of backed up posts that need to make it on some way or another :)

Chicken and Veggie Stir Fry

Serves 4
Time : 45 minutes

Ingredients:
- 1 red bell pepper
- 2 tbsp chicken broth
- 2 tsp Shao Hsing rice wine
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp oyster sauce
- Dash of white pepper
- 1 cup sugar snap peas
- 1 carrot, thinly sliced
- 1 pound chicken thighs
- 1 zucchini, sliced
- 1 tbsp canola oil
- 2-3 cloves minced garlic
- 2-3 pieces ginger, sliced
- 4 scallions, sliced
- ½ cup cashews, unsalted

Method:
1. Prepare the vegetables. Peel and slice carrot. Remove strings from snap peas, slice zucchini. Combine broth, rice wine, oyster sauce, ½ tsp salt, and pepper in a small bowl.
2. Bring 1-2 quarts of water to boil over high heat, add the remaining ½ tsp salt. Add sugar snaps, boil another 30 seconds. Add carrots, boil another 30 seconds. Add zucchini, boil 30 more seconds. Drain vegetables in a colander and rinse thoroughly under cold water.
3. Heat a wok over high heat. Add oil, garlic, and ginger, let sizzle. Add the chicken in, stir fry until about halfway cooked through. Add the scallions and tofu, toss well for a few seconds. Add the vegetables, stir fry for another minute. Add in the sauce mixture, stir fry for another minute or so. Throw in the cashews and give a quick toss
4. Serve over rice.

Minced Chicken with Thai Basil over Rice (Pad Kra Pow)

Apr 8th, 2009
by dave.
3 comments

Pad Kra Pow

Short writeup today. Just got back from California a couple days ago and haven’t had much chance to breath since. More on that soon.

Anyway, I’ve always been interested in a lot of the quick and simple ethnic foods and this recipe was no exception. Normally, I’ve had this made with ground chicken or ground pork, but since I had some chicken thighs to use, I figured minced (to the best of my limited ability) would be enough.

The dish itself is known for having an intense set of flavors, with fish sauce mixed with sugar and basil providing most of the punch. Ended up being not as flavorful as I’ve had, but I attribute that more to needing a little more sauce and perhaps me not getting the proportions entirely correct.

Recipe compiled from numerous sources and from word of mouth. Original I worked with is at Serious Eats. I somewhat doubled the recipe to use all of the chicken I had.

Minced Chicken with Thai Basil over Rice (Pad Kra Pow)

Serves 4
Time 30 minutes

Ingredients:
- 3 tbsp canola oil
- 4-5 red bird’s eye chilies
- 1 large shallot, minced
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ red bell pepper (or a small one), chopped
- ½ yellow onion, chopped
- 1/3 lb green beans, ends removed
- 1 – 1.5lb pound ground chicken
- 6 tbsp fish sauce
- 6 tsp sugar
- A handful of thai basil leaves
- Fried eggs (optional)

Method:
1. Heat oil in wok under high heat. Add chilies, shallots, and garlic and stir fry until golden and fragrant, 30-45 seconds.
2. Add green beans, bell pepper, and onion, stir fry for about 5 minutes
3. Add ground chicken, stir fry for another 5 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
4. Add fish sauce and sugar, mix well, adjust as needed for your tastes.
5. Reduce heat to medium and add basil leaves. Stir fry until leaves are wilted.
6. Serve with rice. Add a fried egg on top (optional)

An easy way to cook fish

Mar 4th, 2009
by dave.
No comments yet

Arctic Char

So I’ve been on this “quick and easy” cooking spree as of late. By easy I mean dishes that don’t require a ton of prep and probably have less than 10 total ingredients. And by quick…well, I’ll let you guess :)

Part of the reason has been that I’m tired of eating at 9pm and the other part is my own laziness. But mainly, an hour or more of prep and cooking was getting a little tiresome and I needed a little bit of a change. I used to get home, cook, eat, and by the time I was finished (cleaning included), I was ready for bed!

So last week I picked up some Arctic Char from Whole Foods partially because it fits the “quick and easy” bill as well as being pretty healthy (I’ve been trying to eat fish/seafood at least once a week). Fish also has a very tasty flavor all by itself and doesn’t necessarily require too much additional sauce or seasoning. I sprinkled a little bit of olive oil, salt, and pepper on the fish and cooked it in a skillet for about 4-5 minutes on each side. It ended up still being pink on the inside (medium-rare), which was fine with me, I actually enjoy fish better that’s slightly undercooked as opposed to the other way around (In fact, I dread overcooking fish). Throw that together with some pita and metch from Russo’s, and I had a meal in under 15 minutes.

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