Four courses

First I must apologize for being awol for a while. Life and work have been getting in the way lately of my blogging efforts. Although I have been cooking here and there and have several dishes to catch up on. I wanted to share a meal I made a couple weeks ago. This was a four course meal starting with a light Greek salad. The foundation of the salad is a bed of romaine and red leaf lettuce. That was tossed with a rather simple but flavorful lemon and olive oil dressing. The salad is topped with sliced red onions. I like to soak them first in ice water after slicing to tame down their heat. There's also some greek salad peppers, kalamata olives and, of course, feta cheese. The whole thing was garnished with a bit of sumac powder.

I have been on a real pasta kick lately and it started with this fettucine al fungi. Homemade pasta is so simple to make that I can't understand why I don't do it every day. I never really measure for my pasta. Sometimes I'll use egg, sometimes not. Just mix some flour, egg, water and salt, knead it until elastic, and let it rest for a bit before rolling out. I have a pasta roller that makes easy work of it. Nothing can beat the taste and texture of fresh pasta. This evening I made a mushroom, cream and cheese sauce for it. It has three kinds of mushrooms - dried shitakes (soaked), fresh shitakes, and fresh baby portabellos. These were sautéed in a pan with good olive oil and of course lots of garlic. A splash of cream and a splash of truffle oil were added and the fresh cooked pasta was tossed in. A handful of grated parmigiano reggiano was added and the pasta was plated up.

Beef was on the menu for the main course. As a unifying theme I went with beef and mushrooms but I moved from the Mediterranean to Asia with this sesame, garlic and soy marinated beef. It was a pretty simple stir fry but had plenty of flavor. I served it with polenta that had been cooked with the retained liquid from soaking the mushrooms. I also served up some baby bok choy seasoned with soy and sesame oil.

For dessert a rather simple chocolate mousse. Nothing fancy here. I just melted some good chocolate and folded it in to some whipped cream. That's it! Easy as mousse.

BBQ Chicken

Well, ok, not BBQ chicken breast or legs or wings. How about BBQ chicken feet? I've never made these before but I absolutely love chicken feet. It's probably for the more adventurous but they really are delicious if prepared well. There isn't really any meat to speak of. All the nutrition comes from the skin and the cartilage and connective tissues. Like any meat with lots of connective tissue, they need to be cooked for a very long time to break down and soften these tough proteins. If cooked properly they just melt in your mouth and you just spit out the bones.

Chicken feet do need some preparation before you can cook them. You'll notice that there are rather sharp claws on them buggers. So, the first thing one needs to do is clip them all off. Easy to do with a sharp pair of kitchen shears. Next I scrubbed them well with salt and washed them off. Then the feet were blanched for five minutes in a pot of boiling water. After that they are ready to be cooked however you like. I decided to use my pressure cooker and a sweet and sour BBQ mustard sauce. I started with about a half cup of good spicy commercial BBQ sauce. I'm partial to Famous Dave's Devil's Spit sauce. To this was added a few squirts of regular old yellow mustard, a sliced up onion, a few cloves of garlic, a couple tablespoons of citron marmalade and about a cup and a half of the cooking water that the feet were blanched in. The feet were added to the pot and it was cooked under pressure for about an hour and a half.

I actually made these chicken feet over two days. After cooking in the pressure cooker I put the feet, sauce and all, in the fridge to rest until the next evening. I placed the cooked feet on a baking sheet and baked them in a low 225 °F oven for about an hour until the feet were nicely warmed and the sauce sort of caramelized on them.

The feet were served atop a bed of brown rice. I reserved some of the tangy BBQ sauce and added that to the plate. I also had a side of stir fried vegetables. The chicken feet came out just as I had hoped. They tasted sweet and spicy with a hint of sourness. The bones just fell apart and the delicious broken down proteins just melted off of the bones in your mouth. I was happy and fortunately no one else would touch them so I get them all to myself!

Buckwheat Fettucine

I adore pasta. A simple food but one that is so satisfying. Fresh pasta is so much better than the dried kind too, and it's really not hard to make. It is especially easy if you have a pasta rolling/cutting machine to help you out (which I do). I had in mind to make a pasta last night and when I was rummaging through my pantry I saw a package of buckwheat flour that I had forgotten about. Perfect! Buckwheat pasta. I love Japanese soba noodles and thought I could use the flour in a more Italian inspired pasta. So, I made some fettucine. I made a rather soft dough using 1 cup of unbleached all purpose flour, 1/2 cup of buckwheat flour, 1 tsp of salt and about 3/4 cup of water. This was kneaded in my kitchenaid for about 5 minutes until it was nice and stretchy. I wrapped it in plastic wrap and let it sit for about an hour. I rolled it out using my pasta machine then ran it through the fettucine cutter to make long strands. I needed to use quite a bit of flour along the way as this was a pretty wet dough. I let this hang to dry for a while so it would be easier to handle. I have had problems before just piling up my pasta and coming back a few minutes later to find my nicely cut ribbons all stuck together in a big mass of dough. Hanging them helps to keep them from clumping together.

My fettucine was flavored with a creamy chicken, rosemary and pea sauce. I started by sautéing cut up boneless chicken breast. This was removed and set aside to be added back at the end. I caramelized some onion in a pan and near the end added chopped garlic. The peas went in along with a few tbsp of chopped fresh rosemary and this was cooked for just a minute. About a cup of milk with 2 tbsp of flour whisked in was added to make a thickening cream sauce. It actually thickened too much. I used way too much flour I think. I'll have to really cut it down next time. I did thin it out a bit with some of the pasta water, but it was still a little too thick and pasty in the end. Lessons learned! I threw in the chicken to reheat with the sauce. In went the freshly cooked pasta and a half cup of parmigiano reggiano. Overall it had a pretty good flavor. The texture of the pasta was very nice. Next time I have to make this the right way with cream and cheese to avoid the bland pasty sauce.

Olive stuffed chicken with polenta

I was kind of in a Mediterranean mood last night. My original thought was to make some kind of homemade pasta with chicken. I was thinking I would make something like my creamy chicken and rosemary pasta but with homemade noodles. But when I got home from work I had no flour to make pasta. So I had to look through my pantry to find something else. That's when I spied a big container of yellow corn meal that I haven't touched in a long time. Of course! Polenta. It's easy to make and delicious. You simply whisk in some corn meal and salted water and cook it with stirring until it is thick and creamy - about 40 minutes. You can add cheese to it if you like or even cream or butter. I left it non-fat as it was creamy and delicious enough. To go with the bed of polenta I made a stuffed chicken breast. I started with a boneless skinless chicken breast that was pounded out very thin. It was stuffed with a mixture of green olives, Italian peppers and a bit of feta cheese. This was just ground up in the food processor, slathered on the chicken and the whole thing was rolled up. I seared it on both sides in a hot pan and finished it off in the oven until it was cooked through. Accompanying the chicken and polenta is a bit of sautéed onions and baby spinach flavored with lemon juice.

Boiled Dinner

Well, that's what we call it when we start with some meat, throw in vegetables and water and boil away. I often make this from leftover roasts. A simple country dish, it really is easy to make. I started with some leftover pork shoulder roast that we had the other night. I just cut it up into cubes. Added a cut up onion - you want big pieces. Some carrots and potatoes went into the pot. I also added some kale and cabbage. This was covered with water and seasoned with salt and pepper. It was simmered until the potatoes and carrots were soft. To sop up the juices I threw together a quick whole wheat Irish soda bread. This was simply made from 3 cups of whole wheat flour, 1 cup of rolled oats, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp baking soda, about 1.5 cups of milk, and some salt. A little dense and dry but it was hearty and delicious soaked in the soup.

Asian Hot Pot

Many cultures have a variation on a hot pot dish. The idea is that you have a central pot with something hot that you cook foods in and eat. Fondue is a hot pot dish. You coat food with a hot cheese sauce, for example. In Asia most countries have a variation on this type of communal eating. In Japan it is called shabu shabu so named for the swishing sound thinly sliced beef makes when you cook it quickly in a pot of boiling broth. There's hot pot in China and in Korea. I love this dish. It is healthy, lowfat, and just plain fun. Often after eating the meats and vegetables, noodles are cooked in the boiling broth and it is eaten like a soup. It's a great way to eat and we really enjoyed our hot pot dinner tonight. This one was really a fusion of styles borrowing from Japan and Korea.

Here is a picture of the place setting. The sauce you see flavors the meat and vegetables after it comes out of the hot broth. It was simply made by whisking together a tablespoon of peanut butter, a teaspoon of Korean gochujang sauce (a sweet and spicy red chili sauce), some sesame oil, some mirin, rice wine vinegar and a bit of water.

Some hot pots simply start with water and the meat and vegetables cooked in it flavor the broth by the end of the meal. I like to start with a broth already flavorful and seasoned. It makes for a more hearty and delicious meal. I started by taking some water and soaking dried shitake mushrooms in it for several hours. Then a large piece of konbu (Japanese seaweed) was added along with chopped garlic and some beef dashida powder. This was simmered for about an hour to create a flavorful broth and cook the mushrooms.

I have had inquiries about the dashi powders I refer to quite often. I buy Korean dashida from my local Asian market. Three staples I rely on a lot are shown below. There is a beef flavored soup powder, a clam flavored one, and a fish flavored dashi. They are great for quickly whipping up flavorful soups and broths.

My hot pot this evening featured beef. I love beef. Of course you could use anything you like in your hot pot. I used a well marbled rib eye steak this evening. You want a nice cut of beef that will be tender when barely cooked. I slice it very thinly so it cooks quickly in the simmering liquid. It's easy to slice if it is still partially frozen.

Vegetables make up the greatest portion of the meal. You can use anything you like. This evening we had a lot of mushrooms. On the platter below you can see (clockwise from the top) napa cabbage, soybean sprouts, carrots, the cooked shitake mushrooms, fresh oyster mushrooms, and enoki mushrooms.

The meal takes a while to eat which is just fine for me. I like to eat slowly. It's nice when the meal forces you to slow down and enjoy it. The meat and vegetables are cooked a little at a time, dipped in the spicy peanut sauce and enjoyed with wonderful company. After the meat and veggies are all consumed it is traditional to cook noodles in the remaining broth. Tonight I made homemade udon noodles. I was greatly inspired by Kevin at Closet Cooking and followed his recipe. Instead of flattening the dough out and cutting into strips I rolled and stretched them out by hand into ropes and cut them. They turned out great! Thanks Kevin!


I have to say by the end of the meal the broth was fantastic with the udon.

Chicken Stir Fry

For quick meals you really can't beat a good stir fry. And you can make it even healthier by changing up the rice for a better grain. In my case I used a bed of cooked coarse bulgur wheat. My stir fry was very simple - chicken breast, red bell peppers, onions, garlic, and ginger. It was flavored with soy, sesame sauce and lots of lime juice (I like it tangy). A bit of corn starch to thicken it and make it glisten was all it needed. The accompanying side dish is just shredded cabbage seasoned with soy and sesame oil.

Chicken Curry Barley Risotto

If you've followed my cooking exploits for a while you might know that I tried to make a healthier version of seafood risotto a while back using barley. It turned out well then and I've done another barley risotto this time using chicken and Indian curry flavors. Of course you can add whatever flavors you like to a basic risotto method. This is just what I had on hand last night when I was throwing together dinner at the last minute. For this risotto I used the following ingredients.

1 medium onion, diced small
3 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
2 large carrots, diced small
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
1 cup red bell pepper, cut into small strips
14 oz boneless, skinless chicken breast, cubed
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cups pearled barley
~6 cups beef broth (made from water and beef dashi powder)
2 tbsp Madras curry powder
1/2 tsp asafoetida powder

I started by heating a large flat pan. In went the olive oil followed by the onions, carrots and mushrooms. They were seasoned with salt, pepper, curry powder, and asafoetida and cooked together for a few minutes until they began to soften. Then I threw in the garlic and barley. These were tossed together in the pan for about a minute. Then began the risotto process. I added a couple cups of beef stock to the pan. This was cooked with stirring now and then until the stock reduced. More stock was added in small amounts and stirring/cooking was continued until the barley was toothsome but tender, about 35 minutes. I then added the chicken and pepper. I made sure there was enough liquid for it to cook for another 8-10 minutes. This was cooked down until the broth was all absorbed and the chicken was cooked thoroughly.

Next time if I were to plan this I would add some lemon juice at the end to give it more zing. I might also add some green chilis to the mix to give it more fire. Of course if I had fresh cilantro that would be added to the top after it was plated up. You can't really go wrong with this. I can envision a Thai inspired version using green or red curry paste for flavor and some coconut milk/chicken stock for the broth.

Fish and Seafood Chowder

I love a good chowder and haven't had any in quite a while. So I threw together this New England inspired soup with an eye for making it light and healthy, but very tasty. I started with a medium onion chopped finely. This was sweated in a hot pan with a splash of olive oil and some salt and pepper. Once the onions began to turn translucent I threw in a good healthy dose of chopped garlic and a couple cups of finely diced cabbage along with two finely diced potatoes and a cup of frozen corn. After sautéing for a few minutes I added 3 cups of skim milk and 3 cups of water. I also seasoned the broth with some clam dashi powder to give it more of a seafood flavor. I also sprinkled in a tsp or so of Old Bay seasoning. I let this simmer for about 15 minutes until the vegetables were thoroughly cooked. At the end I added 1 can (~15 oz) of pink salmon, 8 oz of imitation crab meat, about 20 peeled raw shrimp and 6 oz of chopped up pollock filets. This was cooked for an additional 8-10 minutes just until the fish was cooked through. Even though the chowder was low fat with all the fish and seafood it had a wonderful texture and an even more wonderful hearty flavor. It was very satisfying.

It's all about MeMe

Yes, I've been tagged. Astra Libris of Food for Laughter fame has tagged me with a MeMe. You know the drill on these things. One blogger tags you with something where you have to ask questions then you get to tag five others to do the same thing. Kind of like a blogger chain mail but more fun. We get to find our more about everyone. Now, you all have to put my name on a list and send me $5 to continue the chain. Oh wait, wrong chain letter. Let's get back to ME, shall we? Interesting questions.

What were you doing 10 years ago?

Oh boy, I can hardly remember what I was doing yesterday. Now I have to think about 10 years ago? Let's see - February 2008. I had just moved from California to Fargo in July 1996 and was right in the middle of my second year as an Assistant Professor. My lab was set up and running and my first graduate student was working my research group. We had survived the worst winter on record in North Dakota and the flood of the millenium. My son was born just six months before and we were in our first house. Life was good.

What were you doing 1 year ago?

After 10 years I was still in Fargo. I was an Associate Professor and had won the college teaching award. Last year at this time I had (and still have) a thriving research group looking for new anticancer compounds. I was preparing for a two week trip to France in May which turned out spectacular. I was also enjoying my new kitchen remodel that we completed a few years ago.

Five snacks you enjoy:

I have to pick five? That's hard. Let's see what I can come up with.

1. Raw vegetables. Yes, I like carrots, celery, broccoli, cauliflower - all the typical vegetable platter raw vegetables.
2. Dill Pickle potato chips. I love the tangy taste of these. I can't buy them because I'll sit down and eat every last one as soon as the bag is opened.
3. Mixed nuts. Good for you but calorie and fat dense. I have to be careful with my portions.
4. Chocolate. Love the stuff. Especially dark chocolate.
5. Red wine! Is that a snack? It is to me!

Five things you would do if you were a millionaire:

A tough question. I've never imagined myself as a millionaire, so it's hard to decide. A million dollars is not a lot these days. I guess I will think about what I would do if money were not an object for concern.

1. Start a winery.
2. Buy a new car.
3. Take a long cruise with my family.
4. Really outfit my kitchen with every gadget and dish I like.
5. Give to every charity that asks.

Five bad habits:

I don't have bad habits. I'm perfect!

1. I like to argue and play Devil's Advocate.
2. I leave my dirty socks on the bedroom floor.
3. I procrastinate.
4. I don't call my father often enough.
5. I don't hear what people are saying when I'm concentrating on something else.

Five things you like doing:

This one is easy.

1. Running.
2. Cooking.
3. Gardening.
4. Photography.
5. Enjoying wine.

Five things you would never wear again:

Hmm, that would imply that I have worn them before. This MeMe business must have been started by a woman! Men don't think about what they wear.

1. Red heart boxer shorts.
2. Black 'Member's Only' jacket.
3. Cowboy boots.
4. V-neck sweater.
5. Velcro tennis shoes.

Five favorite toys:

Another easy peasy question. Of course I have lots of kitchen toys, but I'm not sure if they are my favorites compared to these.

1. iPod Touch.
2. iPod nano.
3. Macbook air
4. Apple TV
5. Canon Rebel XT.

Can you tell I like Apple products?

Now it's the hard part. I have to pick five other bloggers to tag. The problem is there are way too many? How do I decide who to tag? Ok . . here's five that I think will have fun with this.

First - Kevin at Closet Cooking. He makes some fantastic food and I want to see how another guy will answer these silly questions.

How about Anne over there in Sweden? She is such a prolific blogger. I can't keep up with all the wonderful stuff on her blog.

I'd like to call out Christine who is much more than a Fledgling Cook!

Miss Bliss the frolicking foodie hasn't been blogging that long. Time to share with us who you are!

And last, but certainly not least, Nora with Life's Smörgasborg. She has some very interesting food from down under, and I think she's a runner too!

Oh, there are so many more I could have called out for this. Sorry if you weren't picked. I love all your blogs.