Zucchini Bread

I'm still not feeling so great but here is a recipe for zucchini bread.




3 extra large eggs
½ cup canola oil
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 ¾ cups sugar
2 cups zucchini, shredded
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Prepare 2 loaf pans. (I line the pans with parchment paper and spray canola oil on the sides.)

In a large mixing bowl, whisk eggs until foamy. Add oil, butter, sugar, zucchini and vanilla and mix well.

In another large mixing bowl, combine flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Using a bowl scraper (or rubber spatula) carefully fold until combine. Do not overmix or you will get tunneling in the finished product.

Divide batter between two loaf pans and bake approximately 60 to 70 minutes of until tester comes out clean. Eat.

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Stir-Fried Butternut Squash with Lemon Basil: My Version of Pad Fuk Thong

I really don’t make stir-fries with exact proportions. I just throw everything together. The ingredients vary depending on my mood. This time I started with just butternut squash but found a bag of sugar snap peas in the fridge and decided to throw in some color.

This stir-fry is very similar to a Thai dish called Pad Fuk Thong. Fuk Thong is a Thai pumpkin. It looks very much like Kabocha or Japanese pumpkin (maybe they're the same thing but I'm not 100% sure so don't quote me). I think Buttercup squash also looks very similar to Kabocha and I've been known to use them interchangeably. I usually make this dish with Kabocha but I happen to have leftover butternut squash in the fridge so I decided to try this stir-fry with the butternut squash. It turned out really well. I also usually use chicken breasts in my stir-fries but I had a package of ground chicken that I had defrosted.

Ingredients:
2 teaspoons canola or olive oil
1 pound ground chicken or sliced chicken breast
2 cloves garlic
salt
pepper
MSG
1 medium onion, sliced
3 cups butternut squash, sliced (or kabocha or buttercup squash)
two handfuls of sugar snap peas
basil (lemon, sweet and/or thai)
2 green onions, sliced
Fish sauce, to taste
Maggi sauce, to taste
1 tablespoon sugar

Method (this time in pictures):

Heat a saute pan or wok, add oil, allow oil to heat and then add chicken, garlic, salt, pepper and MSG. Allow chicken to brown.

Add squash and onions.
Cover with a lid and allow the squash to steam until slightly tender. (I suppose I should have specified a pan with a lid. I'm using a 4 quart/12" inch saute/simmer pan. I didn't feel like fetching the wok and this pan was a compromise. It has the rounded sides of a skillet but the depth of the a saute pan.)

The squash and onions will look like this after cooking for several minutes.
Toss in a couple handfuls of sugar snap peas. (Another of my favorite items from Costco.)

Toss in large handfuls of basil and sliced green onions. (Preferably lemon basil but you can use sweet or thai basil. I used a combination of the three.)
Add fish sauce, Maggi sauce and sugar. Stir everything together and cook just until the green onions and basil wilts a bit.

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Chicken Chow Mein

I am in a somber mood so I really don’t feel like telling the story behind this dish. There is a story and maybe I will come back and write about it. But for now this is my post.

1 package chow mein or lo mein noodles, cooked according to package directions (boil)
3 tablespoons canola oil
1 pound chicken breast, sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 onion, sliced
3 ribs celery, sliced
2 carrots, julienne or shredded
napa cabbage, sliced (huge handfuls)
1 teaspoon Shao Xing wine
3 tablespoons Maggi Sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
salt
pepper
MSG
1 bunch green onions, roughly chopped

Sliced Vegetables:

1. Heat wok on high heat, add oil, when oil is hot, add sliced chicken and garlic. Cook through. Add onions and cook until onions are translucent.

2. Add vegetables and cook a few minutes. Add noodles and season with wine, Maggi sauce, soy sauce, salt, pepper and MSG. Cook

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Engagement Chicken in a French Oven

I decided to make engagement chicken again. I haven't made it in a while and I had a few whole chickens in the freezer. This time I decided to add a little thyme to the chicken since the original recipe calls for just lemon, salt and pepper. I also roughly diced a carrot and place the carrot pieces on the bottom of the pot and then set the chicken on top of the carrot. I usually do this when I'm not roasting with a rack. It raises the chicken up from any liquid and it prevents the chicken from sticking to the pot or pan. Sometimes I also use onions and celery in addition to the carrot but I was lazy so I only used a carrot.

I also quartered a few Klondike Rose potatoes and added them to the pot. I cooked the chicken in an oval enamel french oven with a lid on and removed the lid to allow the chicken to brown.

Cook until internal temperature reaches almost 165 degrees.

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Chicken Red Curry

I have no recipe to share today.

The above picture is of my latest batch of curry. I make a pretty darn good red curry. I really do. It is so good that I've actually had people grab the bowl and drink the leftover sauce. I make red curry at least once a month and it is never the same each time. I vary the ingredients based on what I find in the store and what I am in the mood for. This time I used chicken, butternut squash, potatoes, red bell peppers, bamboo and fresh Thai basil from my little balcony garden.

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Basil Pasta Salad with Pine Nuts and Peas

I made this dish for one of my friends. She is allergic to cow’s milk (not lactose intolerant but actually allergic). She sometimes will eat a piece of chocolate and then pay for it later but for the most part she tries to stay away from it. I know that with her first baby, she had to completely cut it out because she was breastfeeding and her baby was also very allergic to cow’s milk. I wanted to be very careful about not cooking with cow’s milk since I’m not sure if her second baby is also allergic.

When I decided to make this, the cheese I naturally reach for is parmesan but in this case I use a semi-hard and crumbly sheep’s milk cheese called petit basque. Manchego and even feta will also work.
This is a very simple dish but the flavors scream summer.


½ pound mini farfalle pasta (or regular farfalle)
¼ cup olive oil
1 clove garlic, finely minced
2 cups frozen petite peas
1 cup pine nuts, toasted
parmesan or pecorino cheese, grated
½ cup basil chiffonade
sea salt
pepper, freshly ground

1. Boil pasta in salted water, drain and immediately toss with olive oil
2. Mix in the rest of the ingredients and toss. Serve cold or at room temperature.

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Fond Blanc de Volaille (White Poultry Stock)

My first class in culinary school was Stocks and Sauces 101. I made all sorts of different stocks in huge pots the size of bathtubs.

Now, whenever I debone chicken and have no use for the bones, I stick them in the freezer. I had a nice collection of various chicken, turkey and duck bones. I even had the carcass of a chicken I roasted the other day. When I do not have enough bones collected and need to make stock, I will go out and buy chicken feet and chicken wings for the stock. They both make a very nice gelatinous broth.

The difference between stock and broth is stock is made using primarily the bones and broth is made using primarily meat with some bones. Broths are used for soups and stocks are used for sauces. I find it weird that you mainly find broth in grocery stores and we never made broth in school. We only made stocks. We made fifteen different types of stocks but no broths.

A few years ago I felt a little ambitious so I made duck demi glace starting by making duck stock and then espagnole and then demi glace. I could have reduced it more to make glace de viande but I stopped there. I froze the demi glace in little ice cube trays and stored them in a little baggie. I had instant sauces for many many meals.

When making chicken stock or fond de poulet, I stick with the classic mirepoix for the aromatics. When making a brown poultry stock (fond brun de volaille) we usually roasted the mirepoix with the bones and when making a beef stock we also roasted a tomato product such as tomato paste with the bones and mirepoix. When making a delicate fish stock, we used something called a white mirepoix, which omits the carrots and subbed leeks for the onions.

Poultry bones (combination of chicken, turkey and duck)
Water, to cover
Celery
Carrots
Onions
Parsley (I had some parsley that I needed to use up. We usually threw all of our parsley stems into the large stockpot that we usually had simmering.)
Peppercorns
Bay leaves

In a large stock pot, add all the ingredients and cover with water. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a low simmer. Simmer for several hours and skim off the foam (depouiller). Strain through a chinois. Pour into freezer safe containers and lable with name of stock and date.

(I reduced mine a little longer for a more concentrated stock because freeze space is very precious to me. I usually dilute it a bit with more water when I use in recipes. I also never salt my stocks like how I never cook with salted butter. This way it allows you to have more control when seasoning.)

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Deep Dish Apple Pie with Butter-Lard Crust

The bf convinced me to get a pie dish the last time we were at the Le Creuset store. It is a DEEP dish pie dish so it holds a lot of apples. Today when he came home, he asked me to make apple pie. I told him I couldn’t remember the last time I made pie but I will give it a try. I think I pied myself out the year I made nine apple pies for Thanksiving.

Filling:
4 pounds baking apples, peeled, cored and sliced (I don’t like straight granny smiths so I used a mix of pink lady and gala apples)
2 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon ground Saigon cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground ginger
¾ cups sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch

Crust:
3 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoon sea salt
2 tablespoons sugar
¾ cups unsalted butter, very cold and cut into large chunks
¾ cups lard, very cold and cut into large chunks
ice cold water (as needed)

1. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a blade, add flour, salt and sugar. Mix well. Add butter and lard. Pulse until coarse. (You can also cut the fat with the flour using two knives or a pastry cutter. I learned to make pie crust using the two knives method.)

2. Add water a tablespoon at a time until dough forms. Divide dough into two balls, with one ball slightly larger than the other. Flatten the dough into approximately 5-inch disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until cold.

3. Meanwhile, combine the ingredients for the filling.

4. Roll out the larger of the two disk for the bottom crust and fit into pie dish. Pile the apples into the dish. Roll out the smaller disk for the the top crust. Trim and flute edges.

5. Bake in 425 degree oven for 15 minutes. Lower heat to 350 degrees and bake an additional 45 minutes. Cool on rack (or trivet) before slicing.

Roll out the crust into a circle about 2 to 3 inches larger than your pie dish. I won't go over the the technique for rolling out pie crust but basically you roll from the center towards the edges. I see too many people roll the crust back and forth. Use a bench scraper to help you get the crust off your work surface and wrap the crust around the rolling pin for easy transporting.

Wrap it around the rolling pin and carry it to your pie dish.
Carefully fit the crust into the pie plate.
Trim the crust.
Fill with apples.
Roll out the top crust, wrap around the rolling pin and place on top. Trim edges about an inch or so around the dish and tuck the edges of the top crust under the bottom crust.
Flute the edges. (It was a little difficult for me because of my nails.)

Bake in 425 degree oven for 15 minutes and then for an additional 45 minutes at 350 degrees.

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Latkes: Malisa’s Preference

Let me preface this by saying that I am not Jewish so my own preference may differ from those who grew up eating latkes made by their mothers or grandmothers. Although I am not Jewish, I think I can make a mean matzo ball soup. I was tasked with making matzo ball soup for Passover dinner. I did my research, procured all the necessary ingredients and then proceeded to make the most wonderful broth in the world. My secret ingredient? Shh…chicken feet. Yes the gelatin in the chicken feet and wings made a broth with a very nice mouthfeel.

I digress. I’m not posting about matzo ball soup. I’m posting about latkes (aka potato pancakes). I was first introduced to this wonderful fried piece of heaven in the fifth grade. We had a year long substitute teacher named Ms. Feldgreber. We made latkes in class. Over the years I experimented a bit but never really found perfection until just a few years ago.

I was invited to Hanukkah dinner at a friend’s house. I asked if I could come early to help (watch) the preparation. I paid careful attention to the part where she was preparing the latkes. After peeling the mountain of potatoes (she invited 12 to dinner) my friend lugged her Cuisinart out of the cupboard. Hmm…interesting. I always thought that the best latkes were made using a box grater. My friend is all about making the task easier for herself, while I am the one who obsess about perfectly macedoine potatoes for the soup that will later be blended.


The Cuisinart produced these wonderful long and thin shreds of potatoes that fried up perfectly crisp. She didn’t use much to bind the potatoes. She merely added a few eggs and fried them up in her “chicken fryer.”

I resisted the urge to replace my broken food processor for many years. I told myself I have too many kitchen equipment and a food processor was an unnecessary appliance. (It is like my resistance to buy a slow cooker even though I do envy my friend Jenny’s Cuisinart slow cooker.) Every single time I see my friend use her Cuisinart it made me want one.

I know there are two camps when it comes to food processor or box grater. For me, I like the long thin strands of potatoes versus the short and squat pieces you get from a box grater. The long strands intertwine together and help keep the little bird’s nest shape. Before I had to use flour (or matzo meal) as an additional binding ingredient to help keep the potatoes together. I didn’t like the “doughy” texture of the cakes. Hey I know some people like that “doughy” texture and some even like latkes made with mashed potatoes. I even tried a tip I read somewhere about using the potato starch that sinks to the bottom of the bowl when you strain the potatoes. No luck.

The next decision is choosing the variety of potato. For years I belittled the ordinary russet in favor of the newer varieties on the market. I always reached for the bag of Yukon or Klondike Rose potatoes. With these potatoes I made substandard latkes. The latkes were always too “mushy” for me. After eating these substandard latkes, I turned my attention back to russets. Remember reading “Fast Food Nation” and the potato varieties selected for McDonald’s French fries? Russet and russet burbank potatoes are among the very few varieties that are used by McDonald’s. So after many years of being anti-russet I am rediscovering the taste and texture of russets. The bf went grocery shopping and came back with a large bag of russets. I didn’t want to waste them to I started cooking with them. Wow! I had forgotten the taste and texture of russets.

So below is my ideal latke recipe.

2 cups yellow onions
5 cups russet potatoes (approximately 6 medium potatoes)
3 eggs
salt and pepper, to taste
paprika
mild tasting oil (such as canola)

1. Using a Cuisinart fitted with a medium shredding dish, process the onions followed by the potatoes.
2. Transfer the potato and onion mixture to a strainer and squeeze out as much water as possible. (You can use a flour sack towel for this.)


3. Transfer the potato mixture into a large mixing bowl. Add the eggs and seasoning and mixture. Fry immediately in a large frying pan. (Russets discolor rather quickly. The onions and eggs help with the oxidation but you still don’t want to hold this mixture for too long.

Some people ask me how to prevent food from sticking to a non non-stick pan. I learned to cook using non non-stick pans. My mom did not own any non-stick pans. After several failed attempts at cooking eggs, I finally asked my mom how to cook in her pans. She told me to make sure I heat the pan first, add the oil, let the oil heat up and then place the food in the pan. Don't attempt to move the food until it is cooked on the bottom.

See no sticking. I don't cook everything in non non-stick pans. I own a few cheap Bialetti non-stick pans from Costco. I used one today to make an omelet for the bf. I remember I bought a set of T-Fal pans for my mom. She didn't use them much.

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Shredded Pollo Asado Chicken: aka Costco Chicken

I love Costco (maybe not as much as my mom). My mom loved Costco so much that when they changed from accepting Discover to American Express, she also changed from Discover to American Express. She said she wanted to make sure she was able to pay for all of her Costco purchases. Many of our Costco purchases were well over $500. My mom likes to carry cash but even she sometimes did not have enough cash to cover the purchase.

Why was our bill so high? My mom purchased almost everything (except for the Asian food) for a family of five Costco. She purchased toothbrushes, toilet paper, mayonnaise, peanut butter, Eucerin lotion, frozen Foster Farms chicken corn dogs…the list goes on and on. I, of course do not spend as much as Costco but it is still a very dangerous place. I walk in with the intention of buying tortillas and end up with a set of down pillows.

On one of my trips to Costco I decided to buy the Ojai Cook Carne Asada Marinade. I’ve been eyeing this marinade for a while because they had it on demo and it was delicious.

2 pounds chicken tenders (also purchased at Costco)
2 cups of Ojai carne asada marinade
1 onion, sliced
oil
2 stalks green onions sliced
tortillas

Directions:

1. Rinse chicken tenders and pat dry. Marinate the chicken in marinade for a few hours or over night.
2. In a sauté pan or large skillet, heat a little oil and sauté onions until soft. Add the chicken tenders and sauce and cook through.
3. Shred the chicken. (I shredded it in the pan). Top with green onions and serve with tortillas. This makes great a great filling for tacos, burritos and enchiladas. I served with tortillas, Mexican rice and beans.

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