Soup Time: Turkey Meatball Soup

I know it's been a couple of weeks since my last post so for that I apologize.  With a birthday party for baby A, my sister visiting from Hong Kong and all sorts of distraction, it was easy for me to procrastinate.  But, here I am again and I promise I will try to keep this a little more regular.

Now that baby A has just turned one, we have the unenviable task of introducing her to solid foods. This really is a game of patience with a good dose of old fashioned trial and error.  Some days are better than others but we've resolved to pretty much feed her what we are eating at the table.  That also means better meal plans so we stay within reason of what's acceptable to feed a one year old.

This turkey meatball soup was made with that in mind.  We wanted to sneak in as many green vegetables as we can, and make it nutritious and tasty for both baby A and mommy and daddy.  We were able to sneak in some herb and spices that weren't overly powerful but just enough to start training that young palette. The verdict - she loved it and so did we :-)

Turkey Meatballs
 1/2 ground turkey
1 egg
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
1 small handful of cilantro, finely chopped (about 3 tbsp after you its chopped)
1 table spoon of olive oil
1/2 cup of bread crumbs
1/2 tsp of cumin, crushed in pestle and mortar our through a spice grinder
salt and pepper

Heat olive oil on medium heat and add garlic - let it sweat a minute careful to not let it brown.
Remove from heat and let it cool down.
Mix all ingredients including garlic olive oil together.
Mix well, but try to keep it loose and not overwork it.
Form small meatballs (about a small teaspoon worth of meat) and set aside in the fridge until ready to use.

Soup Base
2 celery stock, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
1 bunch of leeks, finely chopped (clean this well - leeks tend to carry a lot of soil/dirt)
1/4 head savoy cabbage, finely chopped
2 sprigs of thyme
2 bay leafs
2 liters of chicken stock (I use my own, but you can always use 2 cartons of store bought low sodium stock to make life easier)

In a large stock pot, saute celery, carrots, cabbage and leeks on medium heat - let this saute and sweat for 5-10 minutes, letting veggies slowly release sugars but don't let it burn.
Add chicken stock, thyme and bay leaves and bring this to a boil and then lower heat to medium low.
Let stock simmer for 30 minutes.
Add uncooked turkey meatballs into the soup and let it cook for another 20 minutes
Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner Part 2: Lou's Roast Chicken Dinner

So K had a craving for a roast chicken dinner the other day and it was a Sunday so I acquiesced.  Who am I kidding here, there was no protest at all and I fully went into top gear to get one of my favorite meals together.

Roast chicken is a universal comfort food and ubiquitous in many family's kitchens.  But too many times, without proper love and care, the chicken turns out overcooked, dry and just unpleasant.  I've honed my roast chicken recipes for a few years now and have a pretty good version to call my own. It starts with grain fed, all natural, hormone free chicken.  I always brine my chicken the night before to ensure it stays moist through the roasting process and helps penetrate additional flavors deep into the meat.  I will let the chicken air dry in the refrigerator for a couple of hours to help dry out the skin and ensure a nice crisp.  Next be sure to truss your bird. It keeps everything tight while roasting and ensures a nice even cooking bird.  I baste it with butter to add flavor and help with browning/crisping the skin.  Lastly, I coat the chicken with my own spice rub to add another layer of flavor to that lovely skin.  I know many people are trying to eat healthy and would do all that they can to avoid the fatty skin blah blah blah. I get it, but the skin is what makes roast chicken, thus the extra care to make it special.  Lastly, the secret sauce is the pan gravy.  This is the essence of the chicken flowing down into your roast pan, sizzling and browning with little bits of the rub and chicken caramelizing. It would be a travesty to have all that go to waste.

For this chicken dinner, I serve a variety of sides with it, but for this Sunday's dinner, we had roasted root vegetables.

This recipe takes some time and TLC.  You can skip the brine and the air drying but why go with my recipe if you don't follow the key steps?  Make this on the weekend and ensure you have time to go through the process. I promise it's fantastic.

Lou's Roasted Chicken with Pan Gravy

1 grain fed, free range, hormone free chicken (about 3-4 lbs)
Lou's roast chicken spice rub (recipe below)
5 liter chicken brine (recipe below)
2 sprigs rosemary
2 sprigs of thyme
1 lemon cut in half
2 cups of chicken stock
2 tablespoons of flour
1/2 cup of melted butter

Put chicken in brine and let it brine overnight (at least 8 hours)
Remove the chicken from the brine, pat dry and put the chicken in the refrigerator with no covering and let it air dry for at least 2 hours
Preheat oven to 450 degrees
Take chicken out of the fridge and let it sit for 20 minutes to get the chill out of it before roasting
Stuff the cavity of the chicken with the thyme, rosemary, and lemon
Truss the bird (here's a how to if you need help)
Baste the entire bird with butter
Rub the spice rub all through the bird
Put the chicken on a wire rack in a roasting pan that's stove top safe - breast side up
Put the chicken in the oven, roast at 450 degrees for 20 minutes
Lower the heat to 350 and roast for another 1:10 to 1:30 minutes, depending on size of the bird, basting the chicken with pan juices every 20 minutes
Chicken is done when juices run clear and hits an internal temperature of 165 degrees - careful not to overcook the chicken
Take the chicken out of the oven and keep it warm.

To make the pan gravy, remove wire rack, put the roasting pan on your stove top and turn it to medium high heat.
Discard some of the fat leaving about 3 tablespoons.
Add flour to the hot pan and stir it in with the fat, scraping up the brown bits.
Let this cook to a nut brown color but careful not to let it burn.
Add your chicken stock and whisk it till you get a smooth gravy, add more stock if necessary to get the right consistency.
Season with salt and pepper as needed.

Lou's Roast Chicken Rub
1 sprig of thyme de-stemmed and finely chopped
1 sprig of rosemary finely chopped
1 teaspoon of fennel seeds
1 teaspoon of coriander seeds
1 teaspoon of black peppercorns
1 teaspoon of celery seeds
1 tablespoon of salt

Put all the ingredients into a pestle and mortar and grind it down to a fine rub herb rub.  You can save any extra in air tight container for a week or two and use it for other meats.

Chicken Brine

5 liters of water
1 1/2 cups of kosher salt
1/2 cup of brown sugar
2 sprigs of thyme
2 sprigs of rosemary
1 lemon
6 cloves of garlic, smashed flat with a knife
1 tablespoon of black peppercorns
2-3 bay leaves

Bring 1 liter of water up to a boil.
Add the rest of the ingredients and take the pot off the heat
Stir till sugar and salt is fully dissolved
Add 4 liters of ice cold water to the mixture
Ensure the brine is cool before you put the bird in for brining

Roasted Root Vegetables
1 parsnip
1 yukon gold potato
1 carrot
1 onion
1 sweet potato
1 head of garlic, peeled and cloves left whole
1 sprig of thyme de-stemmed
olive oil
salt and pepper

Chop all the vegetables into even 1 inch cubes, except for garlic left whole
Toss vegetables in olive oil with salt and pepper
Preheat roasting pan in 350 degree oven for 10 minutes to get pan nice and hot (this helps with caramelizing the veggies)
Add the veggies into pan and roast for 35-40 minutes

What we ate for dinner: pollo alla cacciatora

 I love pollo alla cacciatora, aka, the chicken cacciatore.  This hearty italian dish literally means chicken in the hunter's style.  This should tell you that it is meant to be a nice rustic rendition of chicken stew.  I used to prefer a more bastardized version of it where I made this primarily with onions, peppers and tomatoes.  But as I matured, my taste buds also matured and I started refining this dish to where it's a lot closer to its traditional origins.  I love this dish because firstly, I love slow braised meats in whatever form or flavor. Secondly, I love doing easy one pot dishes which makes life easier, prep quicker and leftovers tastier.  I have started to incorporate beans into this dish to make this a true 1 pot dish.  But if you like, you can skip the beans and serve this dish with pasta or some warm crusty bread.  If you are like me, trying to cut down on carbs, beans are the way to go.  I also like using the whole chicken, its more economical, more natural and I like having a variety in different cuts of the chicken. If you want to go all legs or breasts, feel free to do so.

Lou's Pollo alla Cacciatora 
1 whole chicken (3-4 lb bird) cut into 10 pieces (legs, drumsticks, wings, breasts cut in half)
flour for dusting
1 red pepper - sliced thickly
1 medium onion - sliced thickly
1/2 cup of black olives (i prefer the sun dried Moroccan style ones, but you can use whatever you like)

mise en place

3 anchovy fillets
1 thick slice (size of pinky finger) of pancetta (about 100g) diced up
6 cloves of garlic crushed
2 sprigs of rosemary
3-4 bay leaves
1 can of premium tomatoes (crushed by hand)
2 cups of nice red wine (italian preferred - i.e. chianti)
2 cups of dried white cannellini (white kidney) beans - soaked overnight
1 cup water
Salt and pepper


1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Season chicken pieces with salt and pepper, and dust with flour.
3. Heat heavy oven proof pan with oil to medium high heat (I use my large Le Crueset casserole pan, any large dutch oven will do)
4. Working in batches, brown the chicken pieces on both sides, flipping only once (2-3 minutes each side)
5. Set chicken aside when done
6. Lower heat to medium, add pancetta and brown for a couple of minutes
7. Add garlic, anchovy, olives, onion and peppers and let these carmelize together (about 4-5 minutes)
8. De-glaze with red wine and let it reduce in half
9. Add can of tomatoes you have hand crushed already, 1 cup of water, rosemary, bay leaves, and beans
10. Cover and bring to a simmer
11. Put the pot into the oven and let it braise for 1.5 hours
12. Remove from oven, let rest for 10 minutes and serve.

Enjoy!

Memories and Homemade Wontons

Some of my earliest and fondest food memories came from watching and helping my mom make wontons.  It was more than the food experience or the delicious shrimp and pork dumplings.  It was a family ritual and wrapping wontons with my mom was something my siblings and I loved doing. We would get really excited when we found out that mom was planning a wonton session.  I'm hoping in a few years when Baby A is old enough, she and I will share the same experiences.  In the meantime, I have to practice lots so that I'm well prepared to share my recipe with Baby A.  Since my wife K is allergic to shrimp, I made 2 batches of wontons here.  I have a ground pork and enoki mushroom wonton and a more traditional shrimp with pork wonton.  For the soup base I've deviated from the traditional stock of shrimp shells, pork bones and dai dei fish (dried flounder).  I went with chicken bones, celery, onion, and dai dei fish.  I've provide the recipes for the filling and the stock here.  You can buy wonton wrappers from most supermarkets.  To wrap, there are different methods, but the easiest to do is to put the wrapper in the middle of your hand, fill the middle with a little filling, wet the the sides of the wrapper and fold together and squeeze the skins together to make a little pouch with the filling in the middle.

I like these wontons in the soup on its own with a little scallion and cilantro.  I also like serving these with noodles in the soup to make it a hearty lunch.  Cook the wontons and noodles separately in a boiling pot of water, drain and then pour hot soup over the wontons and noodles.

Pork and Enoki Mushroom Wontons
1 lb of pork shoulder
1 teaspoon of corn starch
1 teaspoon of Chinese cooking wine
1 teaspoon of light soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon of salt
large pinch of pepper (preferably white)
1/2 teaspoon of sugar
drizzle of sesame oil
1 small egg
1 small package of enoki mushrooms coarsely chopped

Hand chop the 1 lb of pork shoulder until its a coarse ground.  You want it almost like ground meat but some little pieces that will give it some bite.  Mix in the rest of the ingredients together and its ready to fill.

Shrimp and Pork Mushroom Wontons
1/2 lb of pork shoulder
1 lb of medium sized shrimps peeled
1 teaspoon of corn starch
1 teaspoon of Chinese cooking wine
1 teaspoon of light soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon of salt
large pinch of pepper (preferably white)

1/2 teaspoon of sugar
drizzle of sesame oil
1 small egg


 Hand chop the 1/2 lb of pork shoulder until its a coarse ground.  Chop the peel shrimp coarsely.  You want it small enough to fit into the small wrappers but still a decent size you to give you a bit of bite.  The shrimps should be cut to about the size of the tip of your pinky.  Mix in the rest of the ingredients together and its ready to fill.

Too cook wontons, bring a pot of salted water to boil.  Put wontons into boiling water, careful  not to overfill or crowd the pot.  Work in batches if necessary.  Once the wontons float, they are ready.  

Wonton Soup Stock
Chicken bone/carcasses from 2 chickens
1 piece of dai dei fish (dried flounder) - found in Chinese herb aisle of most Chinese food markets
2 stalks of celery chopped
1 medium onion chopped
Light soy sauce
Salt and pepper
Sesame oil

Put the chicken bones into a pot of cold water. 
Bring the pot of water with chicken up to a boil. 
Discard the water and rinse the chicken in cold water.
Put the cooked chicken bones, dai dei fish, onions and celery into a pot with 5 litres of water.
Bring to a boil and turn down the heat immediately to medium-low and let the stock simmer for 1.5 hours.
Strain the soup stock and discard the bones and veggies.
Season the soup stock with salt and pepper, soy sauce and sesame oil.

What we ate: Braised Lamb Shanks

We had one of my best friends over for dinner the other night.  It was actually supposed to be brunch but sick cats and little babies threw a wrench into our plans. Going from brunch to dinner was a bit of a scramble.  Baby A usually goes to bed at 6:30, and Keith and Amanda were bringing their baby for the visit. I didn't want to spend the night cooking so I wanted to have something I can do ahead.  This braised lamb shank was the perfect answer.  The slow braise makes the meat tender and moist.  The slow cooking breaks down the cartilage, collagen and fat and turns   Braising is a simple and easy one put meal.  It is typically highly economical since you would typically use tougher (less expensive) cuts of meat for braising.  You can get creative with different kinds of meat (chick, pork, beef, lamb), veggies (root vegetables, mushrooms, cabbage, artichoke), aromatics (cinnamon, star anise, fennel seeds), braising liquids (wine, stock) but the method and elements are always the same.   Braising is a slow building and layering of flavors.  It always starts with browning of the meat and forms the foundational flavor.  Add aromatics and spices and then a little liquid.  Always go low and slow - low heat, long time.  This braised lamb shank recipe is a great example on how to do this.  I serve this with a simple couscous side and green salad.

mise en place

Braised Lamb Shanks
4 lamb fore shanks
1 can diced tomatoes
1/2 cup golden raisins
1 cup red wine
4 cup of beef stock
1 medium onion thinly sliced
6 cloves of garlic finely chopped
Flour for dusting (season with salt and pepper)
Spice Rub (recipe below)

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
Rub a generous amount of the spice rub on each of the lamb shanks.
Dust each lamb shank with the seasoned flour.
Heat a heavy bottomed dutch oven (Le Crueset or something similar) to medium-high heat
Sear and brown the lamb shank, working in batches if necessary (don't crowd your pot)

A nice sear helps build flavor in the braise

Set the lamb shanks to the side, turn heat down to medium
Add onions and garlic into the pot and let this cook down and carmelize but don't let it burn (about 8 minutes)
Add in the raisins, remaining spice rub and diced tomatoes and let it cook for 3 minutes
Add in red wine and let it reduce for another 3-5 minutes

Keep building flavors with aromatics and reducing wine

Add in the beef stock and put the lamb shanks back into the pot
Cover with lid and put the whole pot into the oven and let it braise for 2 hours.
Remove from oven when done and let rest for 10 minutes before serving.

Optional - if you want to make this more refined, you can remove the lamb shanks, skim the braising liquid, put the braising liquid through a food mill and then put it through a fine sieve for a silky smooth sauce.


Spice Rub
1 tsp of coriander seeds
1 tsp of black peppercorns
1 tsp of fennel seeds

1 tsp of caraway seeds
1 tsp of cinnamon
3 tsp of kosher salt

Grind the first 4 ingredients together in a pestle and mortar
Mix in cinnamon and divide the spice mixture in half
Add salt to 1/2 of the spice mix and use that for rubbing the lamb shanks
Reserve the other 1/2 of the spice mix (without salt) and you will use this to put into the braise itself.

 I like to serve this family style with the dutch oven on the table.  We had a green salad and a couscous with raisins and almonds as a side.  Enjoy!


Couscous with toasted almonds and raisins
2 cups of prepared couscous (prepare your couscous either quick server or full grain as per preparation instructions)
1/4 cup of santana raisins
1/4 cup of almond slivers toasted
handful of fresh mint finely chopped
1/4 lemon wedge for juicing
olive oil

Fluff out couscous.
Top with almonds, raisins and chopped mint
Squeeze lemon juice on top and drizzle with olive oil
Mix at the table and serve with lamb.

What we ate: Pan fried ocean perch, sauteed Kale and asapargus risotto

Much like pasta, rice also holds a special place in the heart of the Lo household.  Being Chinese, rice is what fuels me and keeps my blood flowing.  Rice is good anytime, for any meal and cooked in any way.  But admittedly, one of my favorite preparations of rice is not Chinese, but the Italian one.  Creamy smoth risotto perfumed with condiments and sharp parmigiano-reggiano.  I just love it.  There are a few misconceptions about risotto and hopefully this post will do away with some of your fears on making risotto.  First of all, it really doesn't take that much time to make, it should take no more than 18 minutes to al dente from beginning of cooking to the end.  That's all you need.  Second of all, you don't need to stand there and stir it constantly. Sure you need to stir occasionally and you need to keep an eye on it, but as long as you have a good heavy bottomed pan, you are golden.  Third, it should be silk smooth and relatively loose.  It should not be clumpy or thick or pasty.  If you serve it on a plate, the risotto should be loose enough to spread flat on the plate. Finely, use the right rice.  You want the short grain variety and something with a high starch content, which will help make your risotto nice and rich.  I commonly see people use arborio rice for risotto but I tend to stay away from that. I think Carnaroli is the best type of rice for risotto, or vialone nano is a very good rice as well, but it can overcook easily.

Risotto is very flexible and acts as a blank canvas.  You can change up the recipes very easily to make different kinds of risotto. You can use different flavored stocks, different veggies, different meats and even different juices (e.g. Chef Massimo Capri's beet juice risotto is a favorite). 

For this post, I have an asparagus risotto that's scented with lemon zest.  This is great served with fish and was a perfect accompaniment to the fresh ocean perch I bought at the market.  I sauteed some kale to complete the dish.

Asparagus Risotto
Half a bunch of asparagus, bottom inch of the stock removed (set aside and used for flavoring chicken stock) and cut into small pieces on a bias
2 shallots finely diced
1 cup of carnaroli rice
1 cup of dry white wine
3 cups of chicken stock
2 tablespoons of cold butter
1 cup of parmigiano-reggiano
zest of 1 lemon

Take the bottom 1 inch stocks of asparagus and add that to chicken stock and bring it to a boil, turn heat down but keep stock hot (this will help impart some asparagus flavor into the stock)
In heavy bottom pan (I use my Le Crueset dutch oven), heat to medium and add about a tablespoon of olive oil.
Add diced shallots and let it sweat out (cook to translucent but  don't let it burn).
Add carnaroli rice and let the olive oil coat each grain of rice, let it cook for a minute or 2 so the rice 'toasts'. 
Turn the heat up to medium-high, add the cup of white-wine and let the white cook down the rice.  Let it evaporate as this will infuse each grain with some white wine.
As wine evaporates, add a couple of ladles of stock and stir the rice a bit, let the stock cook down and evaporate.
Add more stock and continue the process for about 3 - 4 times (this process should take about 16 minutes from beginning to end)
Add your asparagus to the rice after the 3rd time you add stock.
Taste the rice for doneness.  It should have a bit of a bite in the middle (al dente). Then add one more ladle of stock for the last time to risotto so its nice and loose and turn the heat off (the risotto will cook with only residual heat the rest of the way).
Add the cup of cheese and lemon zest to the risotto and stir this vigorously (to whip air into the risotto and make it light and airy).  Risotto should be a bit loose, add a bit of stock if necessary. 
Add butter and continue to stir butter in vigorously until its all melted. (remember to use cold butter).
Risotto is done.

Pan fried Ocean Perch
4 small Ocean Perch fillets - drizzled with salt and pepper
1 tablespoon of capers
2 shallots thinly sliced
juice 1/2 lemon
tablespoon butter

Rinse perch fillets and pat dry with paper towels (make sure fish is very dry or it will stick)
Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
Heat heavy bottomed fry pan to medium-high
Add tablespoon of butter and tablespoon of olive oil (butter for flavor and oil to prevent butter from burning)
Make sure butter and pan is hot and add fillets skin side down first.
Fry for 3 minutes (don't fuss and move it around, let it fry as is)
Turn the fish over and fry for 3-4 minutes (total cooking time should be around 7-8 minutes)
Remove fish from the pan and set aside.
Add a bit more butter into the pan, add shallots and let the shallots soften and brown a bit.
Add capers and lemon juice, reduce this a bit and scoop shallots and pan juice on top of the fish fillets.

Sauteed Kale
1 bunch of kale - washed and roughly chopped
1/4 white wine
1 clove of garlic finely diced
1 pinch of red pepper flakes
1 anchovy chopped
olive oil

Heat olive oil in pan at medium-high heat
Add garlic, red pepper flakes, and anchovy and sautee for 30 seconds
Add kale and then deglaze pan with white wine
Sautee for 3 - 4 minutes until kale is cooked and softened.

The mise en place

Timing and plating:
The kale can wait a bit but fish and risotto should never have to sit and wait for each other.  These dishes are best served once its ready.  The key to this is having a properly prepped mise en place before you start cooking. Assemble all your ingredients.  Wash, chop and prep all your ingredients and have it all in once place.

I saute the Kale first and set it aside and keep it warm until its ready to be served.
Start with the the risotto and after the second filling of stock (about 10 minutes in) start cooking your fish.  Remember, its important to keep an eye on the risotto and stir occasionally, but it doesn't need constant attention.  The fish takes about 10 minutes from start to finish and should time out nicely with the risotto.  When you put the fish in the pan, don't touch it, let it fry, which gives you a few minutes to tend to the risotto.

This multi-tasking may take some practice but once you've done it a few times it becomes second nature. Once you've made your fair share of risotto, you'll get to know the timing and temperament of the dish and be able to work around it as you prepare other stuff. 

Enjoy!

Soup Time - Kale and White Bean Soup

I finish this with some grated Parmesan and drizzle of olive oil

Soup is definitely one of my favorite things to eat.  Soup is ubiquitous in the Chinese culture, and I can tell you with confidence that my mom has a soup for every ailment you can think of.  For me, soup is just comfort food.  It's food for the soul. It makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside.  It's fantastic to have a pot of soup in your fridge that you can eat throughout the week.  I was at the St Lawrence Market over the weekend and saw these beautiful ham hocks.  I knew right away they would be perfect for a soup.  I bought one and asked the butcher to cut into 4 smaller pieces. I used one for this soup and put the rest in the freezer for later use.

The mise en place

Ingredients:

Ham hock (1/4 piece, your butcher can cut it for you)

2 carrots - diced

2 stalks of celery - diced

1 medium onion - diced

3 sprigs of thyme

1 bay leaf

2 cups of dried white beans - soaked over night

1/2 bunch of Kale chopped finely

4 litres of water 

1) Heat a heavy bottomed pan to medium-high and add some olive oil. 

Let the veggies sweat but don't burn

2) Sweat carrots, onion and celery - saute until onion becomes translucent, but don't burn the vegetables (about 5-10 minutes)

3) Add ham hock, thyme, bay leaf and beans to the pot.  Cover with water and bring to a boil.

4) Lower heat and let it simmer gently for 45 minutes

5) Remove thyme stems, bay leaf and ham hock from pot.  Let ham hock cool down on the side. Let soup continue to simmer

6) Remove 1/3 of soup with beans and either puree with a hand blender or through a food processor.  Put the pureed soup back into the pot.

7) Remove meat from ham hock and finely chop this and add back into the soup.  Add chopped kale into the soup and let simmer for another 10 minutes.

8) Season with salt and pepper -Optional - grate some Parmesan cheese on top and serve.

Something to keep in mind is that I don't really measure things out nor do I cook off a recipe.  I do this by feel and when you are making this soup, use some discretion.  Watch and taste your soup.  There should be a good balance between broth and veggies/meat.  I generally like my soup to be 1/3 solids and 2/3 broth when the soup is done.  I also like to give my soup lots of time to simmer and let the flavors build.  That means I will ensure I have lots of liquid to start, knowing that I will let it simmer and reduce.  And finally the only time to season your soup is when its done.  If you add salt early in the process, the soup will just cook, reduce and get saltier the longer you cook the soup.  Season once and only at the very end.

Enjoy!

Winner winner, chicken dinner - cleaning out my pantry

Fig and Goat Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breast with Balsamic Honey Reduction

Many of my most delicious creations come from cleaning out what I have in the fridge and pantry.  I find that my creativity works best when I have little structure in what I am going to do, but also constrained by what I have available to me.  This dish I did today is not so creative, but it was delicious and let me get rid of dried figs I had sitting in my fridge, half opened package of chevre I used for salad the day before and forced me to butcher the chicken I bought because I wanted to use the bones for stock.  So here it is: Fig and Goat Cheese stuffed Chicken Breast with Balsamic Honey Reduction.

Ingredients:
2 Skin on, boneless chicken breast
6-8 dried black mission figs - halved and stemmed
1 teaspoon of juniper berries
1 teaspoon of whole black peppercorns
2 cloves
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon of honey
1 tablespoon of butter
1 teaspoon of dijon mustard
1 cup chicken stock
salt and pepper
1/2 package of soft goat cheese (its about 4 tablespoons)

1) Put vinegar, water, cloves, juniper berries, peppercorns, honey into pot and bring to a boil.  Put figs into pot and let it gently simmer for 5 minutes.  Take the pot off the heat, cover and let it stand and cool for 30 minutes.

2) Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

3) Drain the figs and set to the side.  Pour poaching liquid through a sieve to remove any solid bits.  Put the pot of poaching liquid back on to the burner and add in the cup of chicken stock. Bring this to a boil and lower the heat to medium and let it continue to simmer and reduce until you are left with about 1/3 cup of sauce. (You can go to step 4 while you let this simmer, it will take awhile).  Once reduced to 1/3 of a cup, finish the sauce by whisking in 1 tablespoon of butter and dijon mustard. The sauce should thicken slightly and emulsify into a silky smooth reduction.

4) Slice a pocket into the chicken breast by cutting a horizontal cut along the thick side of the chicken breast.  Stick your finger in there and widen it to give yourself a 2 - 3 inch pocket inside the chicken breast.  Stuff each chicken breast with 2 tablespoons of goat cheese and half of the figs.  Season the whole chicken breast with salt and pepper.

5) Heat an oven-safe, heavy bottomed saute pan (i.e. cast iron skillet) to medium-high. Add olive oil and bring it up to heat.  Put chicken breast skin side down first.  Let it sear and brown (about 2 minutes).  Turn the chicken breast over and immediately put into pre-heated oven.  Bake for about 20 minutes or internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.  Take it out of the oven and let it rest for 5 minutes.

6) Serve with balsamic honey reduction.

This turned out really well for a brand new recipe. I'm sure many people have made a similar dish at some point but this was a good way to clean out stuff I already had and I will definitely add this to the repertoire. Hope you enjoy it as much as K and I did.

Go to meals: Pan Roasted Herb Chicken Breast

My mantra for go to meals is built on simplicity.  It has to be quick, has to be simple, has to be delicious and hopefully it's somewhat healthy.  So for this post, I give you my pan roasted herb chicken breast.  Depending on the mood, I may serve this with different veggies and starch but this week I decided to go with a nice mixed green salad with sunflower seeds, feta and raisins.  I use skin on, bone on chicken breast but you can definitely use skinless, boneless chicken breasts.  Personally I prefer to buy my chicken with skin and bones because its much cheaper and easy to de-bone and take the skin off.  It's also more flavorful with skin and bones and the skin acts as a self-basting mechanism.  (Did I just refer to skin as mechanism?  Just goes to show that I may know about food, but I won't ever make a living as a writer)

The flavor accelerators

Give your breast some herb love

Pan Roasted Herb Chicken
2 bone in, skin on, chicken breast
2 sprigs of Thyme - pull thyme off the stock and discard the stock
2 sprigs of Rosemary - pull rosemary off and chop finely, discard the stock
1 clove of garlic finely minced
zest of 1 lemon
1 tsp salt
1tsp pepper
3 tbsp olive oil

Mix thyme, rosemary, garlic, zest, olive oil, salt and pepper together to form a paste.
Rub paste into the chicken breast and let it marinate in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours
Pull chicken out of the fridge at least 30 minutes before cooking and let it rest to room temperature
Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Heat a cast iron skillet or oven proof heavy bottomed pan to medium-high heat
Add a bit of olive oil into the pan
Sear chicken skin side down for till it turns golden brown - 2-3 minutes
Flip chicken and immediately put into oven to roast for about 18 minutes (time may vary depending on size of chicken breast - internal temperature should be at least 165 degrees, but try not to overcook it as chicken breast gets real dry, real fast)
Take it out of oven and let it rest for at least 5 minutes before serving.

Mixed Green Salad
Spring Mix
Feta Cheese
Shredded Carrots
Sliced Red Onions
Sliced Celery
Cherry Tomatoes
Sliced Cucumbers
Raisins
Sunflower Seeds

Dressing
1 tsp Dijon Mustard
1 tsp Honey
1 tbsp White Wine Vinegar
1 tbsp EV Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients for dressing and whisk till it is all incorporated and emulsified.
Toss in with all salad dressing ingredients and serve. Enjoy!

Go to meals: Meatballs

I have professed my love for eating and cooking Italian food many times over.  I know spaghetti and meatballs is not really all that 'traditional' but hey, its red sauce dining, North American style at its finest.  I usually make a  big pot of meatballs that we can eat through out the week on pasta or in a sandwich.  If I make too much, like I usually do, I will portion out and freeze for a easy weeknight dinner when time is tight.  I can tell you there is no better smell to fill your home with than this pot of meatballs slowly simmering away on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

 Meatballs

The mise en place

1/2 lb of ground veal
1/2 lb of ground pork
1/2 lb of ground beef
2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
1small onion finely chopped (cut really really small)
1 1/2 cup of italian style bread crumbs
1 cup of grated parmesan
1 large egg
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp salt
1tsp pepper

Tomato Sauce
2 cans of premium plum tomatoes (spend the extra $1 to get good canned tomatoes)
1 small onion - finely chopped
1 clove of garlic - finely chopped
basil

Start with the tomato sauce so it has time to simmer. 
Heat a large heavy bottom pot or dutch oven to medium heat (I use my 4 gallon Le Crueset)
Add onion and saute until it becomes translucent - don't brown
Add garlic and saute for 20 seconds - don't burn it
Add cans of tomatoes
You can crush tomato by hand before you add into pot for a more rustic sauce or use a hand blender to puree like I do.
Let sauce simmer on low while you make the meatballs.

For the meatballs I start by making a soffritto of sorts.  I put the finely chopped onions and garlic in a pan with olive oil. Cook onion and garlic in olive oil at medium-low heat for 10 minutes.  This will soften the onion and garlic, turn it translucent and carmelize a bit - don't burn it.

Set onion/garlic oil to the side and let cool.
In a large mixing bowl, add meat, bread crumbs, egg, salt, pepper, cheese, and onion/garlic oil.
Mix really well with hands until all ingredients are well mixed together.
Using a loose hand, form about a tablespoon of meat into small balls (stay light and don't press meatballs to hard)

 Once all meatballs are formed, brown meatballs in a skillet with a little oil in small batches.***

Once meatball has been browned, put directly in tomato sauce and let simmer for at least 45 minutes - 1 hour. I like to let it simmer on really low heat for a couple of hours so all the tomato sauce and meatballs cook nicely together. 

I finish with torn fresh basil in the sauce. Serve with pasta, on its own or in a meatball sub.

*** if you don't want to fry the meatballs, you can put meatballs on baking sheet and bake in a 375 degree oven for 20 minutes and then put them into the sauce to simmer.

What we ate: Saturday Night Steak Dinner

Being a full fledged carnivore, I eat my fair share of steaks.  I'm not really what you would call a 'steak and potatoes' guy (labels are so high school) but I do appreciate a nice slab of juicy beef here and there.  What I rarely do is eat steaks at a restaurant. I just wouldn't typically go out for a steak.  Why? Because honestly, most of the time the experience is underwhelming.  Don't get me wrong, there are many good steak restaurants in Toronto but the really good ones are on the expensive side and most of the other places for steak, are again, underwhelming.  Places like the The Keg isn't that bad but they aren't that good either.  So once in awhile I will get a treat and go to a fine steakhouse, but most of the time, I prefer to buy a really beautiful steak and do it right myself.  You gotta remember, a good steak starts with the meat itself.  There shouldn't be a lot of fussing around.  Don't get me wrong, I fully appreciate a beurre monte bath for a nice piece of steak resting to temperature, but we can't go with a butter poached steak everyday.  That being said, we decided Saturday night would be steak night and this time we are having a nice filet mignon.  My favorite cut is the bone-in rib steak but filet was on special so that's what we're having.  We also decided this would be a no starch night so we have 3 side non-carb side dishes to accompany our steak dinner.


The Steak:

Splurge a little and buy a nice cut of steak. The higher the grade, the more marbling you will find, which will give you a tastier and juicier steak.  Don't cook a steak straight from the refrigerator.  Let it rest to room temperature, this will give it a nice even cook.  I try and take it out of the fridge at least 30 minutes before I'm set to cook it and let it rest to room temperature. Just before I cook it, I will brush it with olive oil and season with fresh cracked pepper and salt.  I usually use this alderwood smoked sea salt because I like the smokey flavor it imparts, but kosher salt will work just fine.  Try to stay away from table salt - its too salty and lacks real flavor.  Since I'm in a condo, I cook my steak in my cast iron skillet.  Use a BBQ if you have it or any heavy bottom skillet will do.  Steaks should not be flipped over and over again.  It should cook on one side and flipped once to cook on the other side.  I had a couple of 8 ounce filets that were about an inch thick.  I like mine medium-rare.  For that, I had my skillet on medium high and cooked the steak 3 1/2 minutes on each side.  I take it off the heat and top it with a small piece of butter, tent it and let it rest for at least 5 minutes.  Resting the meat is important as it allows the fibres of the steak to relax and all the juices to redistribute through the steak rather than leech out if you cut it right away.

The 3 sides we had with dinner tonight were Brussel Sprouts sauteed with bacon, Sauteed portabello mushrooms and maple balsamic glazed beets with goat cheese.


Brussel Sprouts:
Trim brussel sprouts (about 10-12) and cut in half
Finely chop 1 clove of garlic
3 strips of bacon chopped


Blanch brussel sprouts in salted water for 2 minutes and drain
Brown bacon in saute pan at medium heat until golden brown but not crispy or burnt - add chopped garlic
Add brussel sprouts into pan with a tablespoon of water and toss
Let cook for about 2 minutes, season with pepper (it will be salty already from bacon and blanching)
Keep warm until ready to serve.

Sauteed Portabello Mushroom
4 portabello mushroom cut into half and then sliced

Finely chop 1 clove of garlic
1/4 of red wine
1 teaspoon of olive oil
1 tablespoon of butter (optional)

Heat skillet to medium-high heat
Add olive oil and garlic and let saute for 10 seconds, careful not to burn garlic
Add mushrooms and toss and sautee for 1 minute
Add red wine to de-glaze pan and toss - cook for 5 minutes until mushroom is soft and tender
finish with tablespoon of butter (optional), season with salt and pepper

Maple Balsamic Glazed Beets with Goat Cheese
This is one of my favorite side dishes of all time.  I love beets and I like them like this warm or cold.  This take some time so make in advance.

3 small/medium sized beets
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon butter
1tablespoon maple syrup
olive oil
salt and pepper
Soft goat cheese

Wash beets and place in foil lined baking sheet - drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper and bake in 375 degree oven for 60 minutes then let beets cool.
Peel and slice beets into half disc slices (or however you want to cut them).
Melt tablespoon of butter in a pan at medium-high heat
Add beats to butter, toss and add maple syrup and balsamic vineger
Let beets cook for about 5 minutes - you should see a nice glaze form over the beats
Season with salt and pepper
Let beets cool down for 10 minutes (you want to serve it warm, not hot. its also good cold)
Top with small pieces of soft ripened goat cheese.


It was a fantastic steak dinner in the comfort of my home while we watched the Leafs lay a beating on Ottawa.  Oh so gratifying in so many ways.

Go to meals - Spaghetti Carbonara

Pasta is a natural go to meal in the Lo household.  K loves pasta and so do I.  Its quick, its simple and its so damn good.  When I say quick and simple, I don't mean Primo Pasta and Sauce folks. Making a good pasta is not that difficult.  Fresh ingredients, don't overcook the pasta, keep it simple and finish with love.

So without further ado - here's what we had last night before I got some time away from the family at the ACC to watch the Leafs beat the Penguins.  Spaghetti Carbonara is one of our favorites at home.  I say at home because too many restaurants in North America has butchered this dish with cream.  I take a more traditional approach to my Carbonara but do add deviate a bit from tradition by adding onions but I love the sweetness it brings.

The mise en place

Ingredients to serve 4 - Cut recipe in half to serve 2
1 500g package of spaghetti - I personally always use Barilla No. 5 spaghetti
1/2 lb of sweet pancetta - dice this into small cubes
1 small onion - diced to same size as pancetta
1/2 cup of grated parmigiano reggiano
1/2 cup of graded pecorino romano
2 large eggs -beaten

Note on the cheese: I like using half parmigiano and half pecorino and since these are staples in my home, its easy to do.  If you don't want to fuss and buy two kinds of cheese, you can use a full cup of either or.  If you are using only one, I would suggest pecorino romano.  I also freshly grate my cheese from a block so it comes out a little looser and thus 1/2 cup each.  If you use the pre-grated stuff from the store (still the real cheese, not the fake Kraft stuff), its much denser and you will likely need to use less (e.g. 1/4 cup of each or 1/2 cup total).

The steps:
1.  Mix cheese with egg - this should turn into a pasty thick mixture

2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and generously salt this
3. Warm up a large saute pan to medium-high heat
4. Put the spaghetti into pot of water to boil - this will take 8 minutes to al dente (for the pasta I use, check instructions if you use some other kind)
5. Put a tablespoon of olive oil into saute pan and add pancetta - brown for 2 minutes
6. Add diced onions into saute pan and cook with pancetta until softened - about 5 minutes - turn the heat off (this is important -because we don't want the egg mixture to cook and scramble when we add it)

7. Spaghetti should be done now, drain spaghetti (IMPORTANT - keep pasta water as this will help us make sauce) and add this into saute pan with pancetta and onions
8. Add the egg and cheese mixture into the pan (remember there should be no direct heat, only residual heat)
 
 9. Toss and mix spaghetti while adding a scoopful of pasta water. The egg and cheese should start dissolving with the pasta water.  Keep mixing, tossing and adding more water until a silky smooth but not watery sauce forms

Pasta is now done.  Serve with a green salad for a simple and quick weekday meal.  Some keys to remember, the egg and cheese mixture is key to this recipe, you want it to melt and emulsify, not cook.  Remember to take it off direct heat and let the residual heat 'cook' the sauce.  Pasta water is a crucial part of the sauce, make sure you have left enough of it to make the sauce.  Getting the sauce to the right consistency may take some practice.  It should look creamy, silky and smooth with all the cheese, egg and pasta water emulsified into one sauce.  Hope you enjoy!

The finished product

Sunday Pork Roast

I was starting to wonder when I would be able to get this post up.  I’ve been battling the flu for the past 5 days and I really haven’t had the energy to do much.  All the energy I did have was channelled towards writing a proposal response at work – because we all have to find ways to put food on the table.  With 4 days in Dallas for training and a side trip to San Francisco wedged in there, I was afraid I would go more than a week without a post - a dangerous proposition for a new blog trying to win a regular following.

But thanks to American Airlines for a 2 hour delay at the Dallas-Fort Worth airport that I am able to get some writing time in.  Sure there are interesting distractions like the skater boy who is telling another waiting passenger how to get 100’s of XBOX games on a flash drive to the lady beside me who is complaining to a sympathetic friend on the other end of her cell phone that her husband is the most pathetically passive man in this world and how she will divorce him when she gets back to San Francisco.  But enough of that, it’s time for me to focus on this post.

For K’s family, Sunday is roast day.  At least that was the case before everyone went off and started their own family. We haven’t necessarily picked up this tradition, partially because we are mercy to our own whims and partly because a roast dinner can be a lot of work and lot of food for 2 people.  But from time to time, we crave for the comforts of roasted meat and lush rich gravy.  We do beef a lot but we also like pork.  So here’s a simple and quick pork tenderloin roast dinner that should take no more than 30-45 minutes to prepare and cook.

The menu and ingredients (for 2 people with leftovers):

Roast Pork Tenderloin

• Pork tenderloin 1.5-2 lbs well seasoned with salt and pepper

Mushroom Peppercorn Sauce

• 2 cups Chicken stock
• Cremini or button mushrooms (6-8 mushrooms) – thinly sliced
• Small onion – thinly sliced
• 1 table spoon of Black peppercorns cracked coarsely with pestle and mortar (or coarse ground pepper if you don’t want to fuss)
• ¼ cup of cream
• 2 tablespoon flour
• 1 tablespoon of butter

Rosemary Honey Glazed Carrots

• 1 bunch of carrots – washed and peeled
• 2 sprigs of rosemary
• 1 tablespoon of butter

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

• 2-3 yukon gold potatoes – peeled and cut into quarters
• ¼ cup of light cream or sour cream
• 2 cloves garlic – finely chopped
• Tablespoon butter

The mise en place

Crack peppercorn or coarsely ground will do.

Again, remember the mise en place.  Get everything prepped and gather all your ingredients together before you start cooking. It will allow you to finish everything at the same time and cook in an efficient manner. 

Follow these steps in sequence and dinner should be done in 30-45 minutes.

Sear the tenderloin to a nice golden brown

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Put potatoes in pot of cold water and bring to boil and cook until soft (about 20 minutes)
3. In the mean time, using a cast iron skillet or any heavy bottomed oven safe pan, heat to medium high, add a bit of oil and sear the pork tenderloin on 1 side (about 2 minutes)
4. Turn the tenderloin over and immediately put into the oven (this will take about 15 minutes to my preferred medium and about 18-20 minutes for medium well to well)
5. Put some water in a sauté pan and bring it to a boil, put the carrots in and let it boil for 3 minutes, then drain the water and put the pan back on the stuff on medium heat.
6. Add a tablespoon of butter, the 2 sprigs of rosemary and drizzle some honey (about 2 tablespoons) – let this slowly cook for about 5 minutes and then set aside
7. By this time, your potatoes should be done - drain the potatoes and set aside 
8. Melt some butter in your sauce pan, add the garlic and cream and let the cream warm up a bit.  Put the potatoes back into the pot and mash it all together.  Season with salt and pepper.
9. By this time, check on your tenderloin, it should be done by this point – take it out of the oven and set the tenderloin aside and cover with a piece of foil to let it rest.
10. Put the same skillet you cooked the pork in back on the burner and turn it to medium-high heat.  Add in the sliced onions, cracked peppercorns and mushrooms and sauté until softened and brown (about 5 minutes)
11. Add the flour and sauté for 2-3 minutes until the flour is cooked and browned a bit (be careful not to burn it)  - I like to cook the flour to a dark brown which gives it a nice rich nutty flavour
12. Add your chicken stock and stir this while your gravy thickens and comes to a boil
13. Add your cream, stir for a 30 seconds and take it off the heat – your gravy is done
14. Cut the roast on a bias, plate with mash potatoes, carrots and gravy 
15. Enjoy!

Butter, honey and rosemary - you will love these carrots

It sounds like a lot of steps but really it’s pretty simple to do as long as you do all the cutting and prepping in advance of cooking. This should give you a pretty good pork roast dinner in 30-45 minutes.