A year in the "making"

Korean Seafood Pancakes

I love kimchi so whenever I see a recipe that features it I have to make it. This recipe from April’s Food and Wine magazine for Korean Seafood Pancakes looked promising. I did omit the squid and rice flour as called for in the original because, believe it or not I did not have them on hand.

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 large egg, beaten

3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons seltzer or sparkling water

1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

Salt

1/2 cup spicy kimchi, drained, pressed dry and chopped

7 large shrimp (26/30) shelled, deveined and chopped

4 large scallions, thinly sliced

Light olive oil, for frying

1 tsp chopped chive

1 tsp sesame seeds

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup unseasoned rice vinegar

In a large bowl, whisk the flour with the egg, seltzer, toasted sesame oil and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Add the kimchi, shrimp and scallions to the batter.

In a large cast iron skillets, heat 1/4 inch of vegetable oil. Spoon a mound of the batter into the skillet and gently spread into a large ¼ inch thick pancake. Cook over moderately high heat until golden and crisp on the bottom, 4 to 5 minutes. Carefully flip and cook until golden and crisp and the batter is cooked through, about 3 minutes longer.

When cooked transfer the pancakes to a paper towel-lined plate to drain.

Repeat until all the batter is used.

In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce and rice vinegar to use as a dipping sauce.

Cut the seafood pancakes into wedges, sprinkle with chives and sesame seeds. Serve with the dipping sauce.

These turned out okay, they did not have a very kimchi-ee flavor and they were not as light as what I have had in a restaurant, maybe because I had no rice flour. Last June I blogged about Okonomiyaki, a Japanese pancake I had made, as Asian Pancakes go it was better. I guess I can make those again and just add some kimchi for a good Asian Pancake fix.

December 20, 2011

Sweet and Sour Shrimp

My inner Asian needs feeding; the Subgum did not satisfy the craving so tonight it’s Sweet and Sour Shrimp from January, 2012 Food and Wine Magazine.

This recipe seems quick and easy and I actually have all the ingredients, yes, all of them.

2 tablespoons ketchup

2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce

3/4 cup chicken broth

2 teaspoons sugar

1 teaspoon Chinese chili Paste, like Sambal Oelek

2 teaspoon cornstarch

1 1/2 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 garlic clove, minced

2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger

14 extra large shrimp, 16-20 per pound, peeled

In a small bowl, whisk the ketchup with the soy sauce, chicken broth, sugar, chili paste, cornstarch and vinegar.

Heat a large skillet until very hot. Add the oil and swirl to coat the pan. Add the ginger and garlic and cook for 10 seconds, until fragrant. Add the shrimp and cook until curled, but not cooked through, 1 to 2 minutes.

Whisk the sauce and add it to the pan.

Cook, stirring, until the sauce is thickened and the shrimp are cooked through, 3 minutes.

I served this with coconut rice and steamed broccoli.

This was quick and delicious. The sauce was quite good; it reminded me of the sauce my local Thai restaurants uses in their Duck and Shrimp in Chili Sauce. I mistakenly used 1 tbs of chili paste instead of the 1 tsp as directed. A happy accident, this made it nice and nose running spicy.

I am putting this in the keep file and will be making it again as soon as my inner Asian requests it.

December 4, 2011

Honey and Spiced Glazed Chicken

Tonight I want a nice quick dinner. This recipe for Honey and Spiced Glazed Chicken, another recipe from the to do pile, I ripped this out of a Food and Wine magazine back in October of 2006. Better try it now before the paper disintegrates form age. Should take 30 minutes, we’ll see.

1/8 cup honey

1 garlic cloves, minced

1 tbs fresh lemon juice

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1/2 tsp sweet paprika

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

2 boneless skinless chicken breast

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 425°. In a small bowl, stir together the honey, garlic, lemon juice, mustard, paprika and cayenne.

Put the chicken breasts on a rimmed baking sheet. Using a sharp knife, make 2 deep slashes in each breast. Season the breasts with salt and black pepper, and then brush most of the honey glaze all over them. Bake for 15 minutes. Brush the remaining honey glaze over the chicken breasts and bake for about 10 minutes longer, until just cooked through.

Remove the chicken breasts from the oven and preheat the broiler. Brush the juices from the baking sheet onto the chicken and broil for about 1 minute, or until the chicken browns lightly.

This came out great and was within the 30 minutes as stated. The chicken was incredibly moist and had a nice sweet and heat thing happening. This is a definite keeper.

November 16, 2011

Flemish Beef Stew

I love Jacques Pepin, that man could build a house with a spoon and a knife. In Octobers Food and Wine magazine they featured a few of his recipes from his new book Essential Pépin, one of the recipes was for Carbonnade a la Flamande or Flemish Beef Stew. It two of the essential food groups, beer and meat, I must make it.

2 tbs unsalted butter

1 ½ pounds blade steaks cut into 1/3-inch-thick slices, about 3 inches wide

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1 ½ cups thickly sliced onions

¼ cup all-purpose flour

2 12-ounce Dark Belgian beers

¼ tsp dried thyme

1 bay leaf

Chopped parsley, for garnish

In a Dutch oven or soup pot, melt 2 tbs of the butter.

Season the beef with salt and pepper and add half of it to the casserole. Cook over moderate heat until lightly browned, 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a bowl. Repeat with remaining beef.

Add the onions to the pot cover and cook over low heat, stirring, until browned, 8 minutes.

Stir in the flour until the onions are well-coated, and then slowly add the beer.

Return the meat to the casserole along with any accumulated juices. Add the thyme and bay leaves, cover and simmer over low heat, stirring, until the beef is tender, 2 hours.

Uncover and transfer the meat to a bowl. Simmer the sauce over moderate heat until thickened slightly.

Discard the bay leaves.

Return the meat to the casserole and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with parsley.

This is a great starter stew, very few ingredients and very easy to make although it does taste that way. Very basic flavor, maybe the beer I used didn’t have strong enough flavors. I used a Magic Hat #9 and a Yuengling Black and Tan, both said Belgium on the label.  The meat breaks down a lot and the onions totally dissolved into the sauce.

My favorite thing about his recipes is he breaks them down in easy to follow steps so you can take the recipe and add your own touches to it. Use a different beer, or substitute stock or wine. Maybe add a few more herbs.

Thanks Jacques for another great lesson.

September 2, 2011

Grilled Maple Chile Chicken

If you are still looking for something to grill on the long holiday weekend give this recipe for Grilled Maple Chile Chicken from Food & Wine magazine a try. It is a little sweet and a little spicy, only has five ingredients and can be done in less than an hour.

1 medium onion, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced

Kosher salt

1/2 cup pure maple syrup (Do not use that fake maple syrup crap, use only the real thing.)

2 tablespoons Chinese chili paste with garlic

8 large skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (about 4 pounds), pounded 1/3-inch thick

In a large zip lock bag toss the onion with 1 1/4 tablespoons kosher salt. Let stand until the onion releases most of its liquid, about 15 minutes, and then add in the maple syrup, chili paste and the chicken breasts. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or for up to 1 hour.

Light a grill. Remove the chicken from the marinade, brushing off most of the onion. Grill the chicken over a moderately hot fire for about 4 minutes per side, or until lightly charred and cooked through. Transfer to a platter and serve hot.

Try this, you will love it.

August 19, 2011

Zucchini Ricotta Fritters

This month’s Food and Wine Magazine had a recipe for Zucchini Ricotta Fritters by Mario Batali, I have never made any of his recipes but I did eat at his first restaurant Po many years ago and it was good so why not give it a try.

2 medium zucchini (about 7 ounces each), coarsely shredded

2 garlic cloves, very thinly sliced

3 large scallions, very thinly sliced

1/2 cup ricotta cheese

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

Olive oil, for frying

In a large bowl, combine the zucchini, garlic, scallions, ricotta, eggs, lemon zest and 1 teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Stir well, and then add in the flour just until incorporated.

In a large skillet, heat 1/4 inch of olive oil until shimmering. Working in batches, add 2-tablespoon mounds of the zucchini batter to the hot oil, spreading them to form 3-inch fritters. Fry over moderately high heat, turning once, until browned and crisp, about 3 minutes. Drain the fritters on the paper towels and serve right away, with lemon wedges.

The fritters turned out good but could have used more zucchini, not enough zucchini for the amount of batter and a few tablespoons of lemon juice and some fresh herbs would add a ton of flavor to these fritters.

Mario suggest to serve with lemon wedges, I like to dip my fritters so I made a Lemon Vinaigrette, see August 16, and Tzatziki Sauce, see March 28, both went really well with the fritters.

Easy to do and would be a great party app.

Thanks Mario!

July 29, 2011

Omelet Souffle

The funnest thing I have made in a while.

This Omelet Souffle recipe is from Food and Wine magazine and it is very simple.

Separate 2 eggs; whisk the yolks with a bit of salt. In another bowl whisk the egg whites until soft peaks, then whisk in 1/4 of the whites into the yolk. Next fold the york mixture into the whites until fully incorporated. Melt 1 tsp of butter in a cast iron skillet, add egg mixture to the skillet and evenly distribute, sprinkle on 1/4 cup finely grated cheddar cheese and place under broiler for 3 minutes or until lightly brown and puffy.

Sprinkle with herbs, slide onto a plate and serve, delicious.

I love puffy food.