Pollo Guisado, braised chicken

Growing up in NYC, we were exposed to the rich and delicious flavors of Latin Caribbean cooking.  We grew up with friends with families that hailed from Puerto Rico, Trinidad and the Dominican Republic, the origin of one of my favorite dishes, Pollo Guisado.  It is basically a braised chicken dish with a tomato base.  It is super easy to make and delicious with rice and beans. Living in LA, I have grown to love the fresh and bright flavors of Mexican cuisine but oh do I miss my Pollo Guisado, pernil and sancocho!  This past weekend I woke up with a hankering for these flavors and ran to the market to grab my ingredients.  Make this for your families and they will love you even more.  Make a big batch so there are leftovers!! 

Pollo Guisado
6 chicken legs split into thighs and drumsticks (organic, I insist!)
4 plum tomatoes chopped
1 8oz can tomato sauce 
1 green bell pepper diced
1 large onion diced
6 cloves garlic smashed (keep pieces big)
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon cumin (optional)
1 generous pinch red pepper flakes (optional)
1 bay leaf
1 cup of green Spanish olives
salt and pepper to taste
fresh cilantro chopped

• brown chicken, set aside
• saute garlic, onion 
• add bell pepper then chopped tomatoes
• add a pinch of salt to this mix
• when the sofrito is nice and cooked, add the chicken back
• after 5 mins, add the tomato sauce, cumin and bay leaf
• bring back to boil and add olives
• add water if necessary to almost cover the chicken
• bring back to boil and lower heat to slow simmer
• cook for 45 mins, add salt, pepper and red pepper to taste

Serve with rice, beans, sliced avocado and fried plantains sprinkled with brown sugar.  Sprinkle fresh cilantro over the chicken to finish.  

Here is my easy black bean recipe:
1 lb black beans dry (soaked overnight)
1 onion chopped
4 cloves garlic minced
1 green bell pepper diced
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper to taste

• discard soaking water and rinse beans
• add 9 cups water (don't salt water! will make beans tough)
• bring to a boil, lower to a simmer
• simmer for 45 mins and add bay leaf
• in a separate pan, saute onion, garlic and pepper then add to beans
• simmer for another hour 
• salt and pepper to taste 

Enjoy!

Drunken Chicken with Shitaki Mushroom and Ginger - Steamed

Drunken chicken,  marinated chicken in rice wine. 

And yes, I love it very marinated, the wine just does something magical to the meat - helps tenderize and gives it this lovely aroma.

Often reminds me of the chicken wine soup Mama Ng likes to cook for us from time to time. Very popular in the cold seasons as it helps promotes the blood circulation. It is very strong in flavor but delicious and best consumed in small amounts. Will post more on Mama Ng chicken wine soup one day.

Here is my version. 

Steamed Chicken with Mushroom and Ginger 

I used boneless chicken thighs, marinated in rice wine mixture over night.

Steamed it with 2 types of mushroom and a lot of ginger. With the tender chicken soaking in the ginger rice wine mushroom broth.... delicious ! You can serve it over noodles, rice or congee. We had it with white rice and Chinese broccoli on the side.

Ingredients 

- Chicken - Boneless thighs - slice into 1 -2" size

- Shitake Mushroom - cut to 1 "

- Wood ear mushroom - cut to 1 "

- Ginger - cut in matchsticks

- Garlic - minced

- Scallion - cut slant

Marinade for the meat 

-ShoaXing - Rice wine

-Light soy sauce

-Sesame oil

-brown sugar

-white pepper

-garlic and scallion - minced

* combine together in a bowl and adjust the seasoning to your liking

Wood ear and Shitake Mushroom

Most of the flavor you get is from the shitaki and not much from the wood ear but you get a fun jelly texture.

Soak into warm water until soften then slice in bite size pieces.

Mix together the marinated chicken with mushrooms garlic and ginger.

Top with scallion ( I like to drizzle a few drops of fish sauce right before steaming)

Steam for 20 - 30 mins depending on the amount of meat. 

while the chicken was cooking I quickly stirred fry Chinese broccoli with garlic and oyster sauce.

Here's dinner... and don't forget the chili garlic hot sauce!

Roast Cornish Hen with Garlic Lemon Rosemary Butter

Cornish Hens are one of my favorite things to roast.

It's not that I don't like regular chicken, it's just that I find with a smaller bird the sauce and flavors distribute more evenly and with a shorter cooking time. Sometimes you will see they are labeled "Game Hens".

Don't let the name fool you, they are just young chickens and not gamy at all.

This birdie looks pretty big in the photo but only 2.5 lbs.

Shall we start!

Roast Cornish Hen

Ingredients:

1 Cornish hen - 2.5 llb

compund butter ( rosemary )

lemon - 1

garlic - 1

rosemary - few stalks

onion -1

salt + pepper

1. Clean bird, pat dry - dryer the crispier, season inside and out with salt + pepper (can let it sit in the fridge to dry more while you prep).

2. Bring the butter to room temperature

- add minced garlic ( half of head) into the butter use the rest for stuffing. Cut lemon in half.

3. Rub the bird with lemon and then use your hands to butter inside and out, gently under the skin.

- stuff with the lemon halves, rest of the loosened garlic cloves and some rosemary inside.

4. On a roasting pan or foil - I do not have a roasting rack so I layer the base with big slices of onion. This way it does not stick- extra flavor for the bird and sauce.

5. Roast the bird in a oven of 350' degrees for 1 hr 15 mins.

Covered loosely with foil for the first 45 mins then

uncover for the rest of 30 mins

( to check if it is cooked, place a tiny cut at the upper thigh - done if the juice is clear)

can you see my 4 slits.....

Came out delicious juicy and perfect for two.

Cheers!

** EXTRA CRISPINESS**

broil for a few minutes

Steamed Chicken with Bitter Melon and Jujube

Our family loves Bitter Melon with Chicken stir fried with black bean garlic sauce.

I decided to do something different this time, I've added jujube ( red dates) and steamed instead of stir fry.

Ingredients:

1 lb - chicken drums + wings

1- bitter melon

Handful - jujube -red dates

garlic

ginger

scallion

Marinade: 

soy sauce

black bean sauce ( LKK )

cooking rice wine

cornstarch

sugar

white pepper

water

* mix marinade together, taste to your liking then add to chicken

Put all ingredients together, mix well.

Marinate for an 1-2 hours or overnight.

When ready, steam for 30-40 minutes.

Steaming was a very good idea. All the flavors came together really well.

 Can you see the delicious sauce!

Pan Roasted Deboned Chicken Stuffed with Sausage and Cranberries

I was known for my knife skills when I was in culinary school. My teacher, Chef de Herbs (he really liked his herb.. *wink, wink) even wanted to hire me as his butcher for his restaurant. One of my favorites was deboning a whole chicken. It's pretty fascinating to see the finish results. You cut out the carcass and bones while keeping the skin and meat intacted. Adam is also amazed at how well I handle a knife. I think he should be scared...

Recipe:

3 to 4 pound chicken ( deboned)- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPkN90pPyR0

1 pound of your favorite sausage, casing removed

1/2 cup of dried cranberries

2 tablespoon of chopped parsley

1/2 teaspoon of finely chopped garlic

2/3 of dried bread crumbs

2/3 grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese

1/4 cup of oil

1/2 white wine

1 tablespon of butter

Trussing needle and thread

1-Combine sausage, parsley, garlic, salt, pepper, bread crumbs, cranberries and grated cheese in a bowl. Knead with hands until well blended.

2-Place deboned chicken skin side down. Fill legs with mixture. Take the rest of the stuffing and shape it into the center of the chicken. Bring the bird's skin around to cover the stuffing completely. Overlapping the skin by 1 inch. Mold the stuffing under the skin with hands to restore the chicken to its's original shape ( as best as you can)

3- Using the trussing needle and string sew up the chicken, starting from the neck down to the tail.

4- Heat an enameled cast-iron pot( size that can contain the bird snugly) with oil and butter. Sear the chicken well starting with the stitched side down first. Brown the bird well all over. Handle the bird gently! Add wine, salt and pepper and cook at a very slow simmer with lid slightly askew. About 1.5 hour ( depending on the size of the bird.. 20 mins per pound). Turn chicken occasionally while it cooks. Add a little water or wine if it becomes dry.

5-Transfer chicken to a carving board and let it rest.

6- Use the remaining juices in the pot as sauce by spooning off some fat, adding a couple of tablespoon of water and reduce a little.

This is beautiful. I hope you'll enjoy this as much as I did :)

The freezer

I've been giddy all day. Partly because I had a nice lunch date with the hubby on a rare day off with the munchkin at day care. But really because I salted 2 whole chickens and a rack of baby back ribs and threw it all in the freezer. I went to Trader Joe's and bought 2 packs of Empire kosher chicken, you know the one that's a whole chicken cut into 8 pieces and some ribs. The ribs were in place of pork neck bones. I can only find those at the Asian market and figured the ribs would work for soup just as well. I got home and broke open the chicken, took off the skin, trimmed the fat rinsed and dried. Then I poured kosher salt into a bowl and got to work. I salted, wrapped and bagged the chicken into portions for chicken rice. Then I did the same with the ribs. Then I spent the rest of the day thinking about what soup I was going to make with the ribs. Maybe I'll make sae mae tong? Maybe I'll make Lisa's soup again. I also thought a lot about the salted chicken and how it was going to be so easy to make chicken rice on one of those work nights that I'm exhausted. I'm so giddy. Think I'm going to go to 99 Ranch and get some more bones to salt next week. Should I salt a fish while I'm at it?

Sunday Lunch - Shanghai Nice Green Bo

Nice Green Bo Restaurant, Have any of you tried this place yet? I mentioned on one of my earlier post that Goodies Restaurant was one of my favorite for soup dumplings but sadly they relocated out of Chinatown. Here I discovered my new Goodies right on Bayard St between Mott and Elizabeth Street.

As you walk in you will be introduced to the lovely smell of the soup dumplings steaming on the right.

Look at this perfect little dumpling !

We also ordered the Drunken Chicken, chilled marinated chicken with wine. Geoff thought it might be sherry instead of wine since the taste reminded him of Christmas. Funny enough it did kind of feel like the holidays with all the Chinese musical toys playing right outside of the restaurant.

Ding dinnng ding dong dinnng ding dong.....

-Chilled Marinated Goose web with chili sesame oil /vinegar tossed with celery, nice and refreshing!

Final dish arrives , Shrimp fried rice - it was ok the rice was fried well but the shrimp was disappointing.

Waitress asked if we like the rice "white or soy". We chose soy but I should've chosen white which probably is lighter without the soy ( you can always add the soy yourself) . Nice to have options.
I wonder how the NYC Dumpling Festival went?

Nice Green Bo Shanghai Restaurant - Click for the full MENU *

* just found a recipe for the drunken chicken!!! very similair to the Hoi Nam recipe

slow poached then steam with seasoning until done then shock with ice and marinate with wine for 24 hrs in the fridge. I might try it with a smaller bird - Cornish hen...

I knew she would have it ...wonderful blog :http://rasamalaysia.com/drunken-chicken/

Moon - Fall Festival

Last weekend  Oct.3 was our traditional Moon Festival.

 ( some people like to call it Fall festival , Luna , Winter, Feasting festival...up to you) 

It is a holiday where families like to get together to welcome and celebrate the Fall Season.

And how we like to celebrate is to have a ........feast!

very simliar to Thanksgiving but we have our traditional dishes.

 Geoff and I decided to start the day with Dim Sum, straight to Chinatown we went.

Stuck in heavy traffic so we decided to get out and walk,then realized that it must be a long wait at most restaurant that serves Dim Sum.This holiday explains the super business in chinatown...... standing around ......Hmmmmmm....and then I saw " East Boat Lobster House"

we looked at each other and grinned. Entered the restaurant, look just like a seafood shack with red gingham table cloth...cute.( It has been awhile since I last ate here) Geoff first time and gave it 2 thumbs up!

Menu was great...all photos with desciptions, english and chinese. Decided on the platter for 2:

Dungeness Crab - Steamed whole with side of lemon and butter - it was so sweet we actually did not need it. Can pick any style of your choice...fried , steamed, stir fry with garlic black bean.

Roasted Crispy whole Squab

Salt and Pepper Baked Shrimp

Baked Scallop with Onion and Cheese ( sooo Kraft Singles ) it was still tasty!

Let's see what else came with this platter...... chinese sausage fried rice ( good) omg i just remember , this is a not so heathly move  I had some of the Crab roe and juice with the rice...yup tasty! and Calamari stir fried with pepper and black bean sauce, and also a salad which you can skip..mushy sweet weird...

Did not regret we stumbled here :)

The following night, friends and family got together and decided to dine out...Vegan style.

Ate at this place called " Wild Ginger" it was surprisingly good. Super cute restautant. We had a nice night.

Next night.... of course Mama Ng need to whip up some of her traditional goodies! Love it! Love it!

 Buddah's Delight

 Slow Poached Chicken ( like Hainanese style) with oyster sauce and coleman HOT mustard....itwas very juicey mmmm ( got the recipe that night from mom)

Chinese Broccoli with Garlic and oyster sauce

Steamed Whole Sea Bass with Ginger Garlc and Soy Scallion

Here are some of the snacks she likes to make on any Chinese Holiday  

...Boiled Salted fresh Peanuts and Taro Root except the Moon cakes was bought.

It was very cozy nice night ........and how did you spend yours?

Em's chicken stew

I love making chicken stew! And every time I make it, it is a little different. It's always a tomato and stock base alternating latin, moroccan and mediterranean flavors. Tonight I made it with mushrooms, carrots, green squash and olives. Got all the veggies from the farmer's market. Molly liked it but of course rejected the squash. However, she ate the sauteed broccolini that I made for a side. Go figure. Veggies are a challenge for the mo-ster.

Here's the recipe, its for a large pot. I love leftovers.

6-8 chicken thighs or 1 chicken cut up in 8-10 pieces

onion, garlic

1 can san marzano tomatoes hand crushed, use the puree they sit in too

chicken stock (use more for a thinner stew, less for thicker)

any herbs and seasonings you like (use coriander, cumin and paprika for morrocan style)

any veggies you like

brown chicken, add onion garlic, add seasonings and herbs, add tomato, add long cook veggies, simmer for half hour, add quick cook veggies, simmer until chicken almost falls off bone

Serve with rice, cous cous or noodles....

emily - chicken adobo

I made boring chicken adobo again. But John LOVES it! In case you guys want to do it, its easy...and you can use any kind of meat really....maybe not dog....dooog

meat

garlic

onion

black peppercorns

bay leaf

1 part coconut vinegar (datu puti brand, I feel very fillipino when i buy this)

2 parts soy sauce

stock or water if it gets too rich or salty

tomato if it is too sour

brown meat, add stuff, simmer till stuff falls off the bone

I'm not going to post national geographic pictures like lisa of this adobo since it was not very good looking this time. I made it with thighs but skinless boneless...beauty-less. it tasted damn fine tho.

Lisa - Chicken Watercress Ginger Tomato Dish

Heat the wok and start!

-ginger, garlic and the dau se ( fermented black bean ) you can also use Lee Kum Kee Bean and garlic sauce ( Recommended)

- add the chicken ( I used wings and drums for this dish )
-soy sauce , rice wine , seasame oil , sugar , white pepper
-added cilantro along with diced stems and quartered tomatos with juice
-watercress the last touch to keep the crunch

served it with avocado slices over rice.
geoff had seconds!

i think it was mama ng fried red snapper that inspired me with this dish. YUM !