Category Archives: meat

Rice Stick Noodle and Beef Sauté

Posted by Dave in asian, meat and tagged with , , ,

Rice Stick Noodle and Beef Sauté

This dish is my approximation of a favorite a local noodle restaurant where it goes simply by the name “D8.” :-)

Stir fried in canola oil, ingredients are: sliced beef (I used relatively inexpensive Angus Beef stew meat), jalapeno slices, minced garlic, minced ginger, bean sprouts, scallion, egg scrambled in a bit of sesame oil, and combined with sauce consisting of fish sauce, soy sauce, oyster sauce, chili garlic sauce, rice vinegar, and honey, cooked until sauce reduced to desired consistency.

The noodles were extras, left over from my recent Pad Thai, and had been sitting in water in the refrigerator for a few days. (This seemed to neither hurt nor help; the noodles were just as they were after soaking only a half hour or so.)

This dish is a variation of fried flat noodles known as “Char Kueh Teow” as in the following recipes, popular in Malaysia and Singapore. It’s probably no surprise, then also, that it is somewhat similar to Pad Thai from adjacent Thailand, that is partially located on the Malay Peninsula.

“Fried Flat Noodles/Char Kueh Teow”
http://www.mykitchensnippets.com/2008/11/fried-flat-noodleschar-kueh-teow.html

“Char Kuey Teow (炒粿條/Penang Fried Flat Noodles)”
http://rasamalaysia.com/char-kuey-teow/2/

“Fried Flat noodle (Char Kueh Tiaw)”
http://www.chopstickdiner.com/index.php?m=recipe&c=show_recipe&recipe_id=96

A Tale of Two Enchiladas

Posted by Dave in meat, texmex, vegetarian and tagged with , , , ,

A Tale of Two Enchiladas: Olive and Chard Enchiladas, Chicken Enchiladas

Rick Bayless’ website says: “The word `enchilada’ simply means `in chile’ and in Mexico, the most beloved version is actually a street snack: a corn tortilla dipped in chile sauce that’s a far cry from the limp, stuffed tortillas swimming in a sea of red sauce and molten cheese that we’re familiar with in the U.S.”

This is the first time I’ve made enchiladas, so I made the familiar latter, molten, swimming variety. :-)

The vegetarian Olive and Chard Enchilada (center of plate) is a corn tortilla wrapped around a filling of sautéed chopped red swiss chard, sliced jalapeno-stuffed olives, finely diced fresh jalapeno (seeded), sliced scallion, minced garlic, cumin powder, and a pinch of salt. The sauce is a cheddar cream sauce made with whipping cream, sharp cheddar cheese, garlic powder, and a touch of cayenne powder.

For the Chicken Enchiladas, chicken breasts were boiled in strained tomatoes (a purée/juice in a box; V-8 juice would be a reasonable alternative) seasoned with salt and pepper, then cooled and shredded. Corn tortillas wrap a filling consisting of the shredded chicken combined with black beans, grated cheddar cheese, and a sautéed mix of finely diced white onion, diced fresh jalapeno and serrano (with seeds), minced garlic, seasoned with minced fresh cilantro leaves, crushed whole oregano, and cumin powder. The sauce is a smoky tomato sauce, based on the strained tomatoes used to boil the chicken, seasoned with smoked spanish paprika, salt, and a touch of cayenne powder.

Some enchiladas were topped with both sauces. The enchiladas were placed in a baking dish (sauce also in bottom), sprinkled with grated cheddar cheese and sliced scallion greens, then baked at 350°, first covered for 30 minutes, then uncovered for 10 minutes to slightly brown the top.

Served with sliced avocado, sour cream, and salsa.

Whew, that’s enough of cooking for today.

This recipe was inspired by some enchilada recipes on Epicurious using either green olives or chard, and these video recipes:

“Beef Enchiladas”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrGLSbFComI

“Chicken Chimichanga”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwlSZzdUFmc

Twice-Cooked Pork

Posted by Dave in asian, meat and tagged with , , ,

Twice-Cooked Pork

Szechuan Twice-Cooked Pork, a.k.a. Double-Cooked Pork, is one of my favorites and thankfully available at most every Chinese restaurant where I live. It almost always consists of sliced pork, cabbage, black mushroom, scallions, and a brown sauce that is a blend of sweet and spicy.
I added a bit more color with red pepper and carrot in this preparation of about 4 servings.

I’ve learned that twice-cooked pork is traditionally made with pork belly (but I’ve not seen that in american restaurants). I decided to use inexpensive, lean chops instead.

First, I boiled three whole pork chops in water with salt and pepper, cooled them (with ice cubes in the water), then thinly sliced them diagonally so that cuts are across the grain and so the slices can be wider than the thickness of the chop.

To prepare the sauce: start with about a cup of stock (I made the stock with some granulated chicken-flavor instant bouillon and the water used to boil the pork), add minced fresh ginger and garlic (4 cloves), coarse ground black pepper, sugar or honey (1-2 T.), soy sauce (2-3 T.), oyster sauce (4 T.), rice vinegar (1-2 T.), a dry red wine (1 T.), black bean paste (1 T.), chili garlic sauce (1-3 T.), and a couple teaspoons of corn starch. Be sure to taste-test the sauce for the right balance of sweet, sharp (vinegar), and spicy. There’s plenty of salt in soy sauce and bean paste, so don’t add salt!
This resulted in about 2 cups sauce before reduction, which worked well, since I like my pork saucy, like my … oh you know the joke.

To fry: in canola oil, stir-fry the pork slices to brown edges, coat with some sauce, then remove. Next stir-fry the vegetables, occasionally adding sauce slowly (to coat and reduce): carrot, green and red bell pepper, scallions, then sliced black mushroom (fresh or reconstituted), and then chopped cabbage and scallion greens. Return the pork to the pan, add remaining sauce and reduce to your liking.

Serve with sticky rice and enjoy!

I read a lot of recipes and watched videos while researching this one. Here are some of the most useful:

“Chinese Twice Cooked Pork”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07L92tgRVfY
– I really like this guy’s amateur video… he seems like a kindred spirit. :-) He would have been fine if he’d just stir-fried the pork before putting in the vegetables that release moisture.

“Twice-cooked pork”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDhnq0v7ck8
– This chef shows an interesting stir-fry technique and a minimal recipe.

“Double Cooked Pork Slices”
http://www.tastehongkong.com/recipes/

UPDATE (March 2013):

I’ve made this dish many times, most recently with pork shoulder roast ($1.99/lb.) and skipped the mushroom and substituted white onion for scallions, simply because I didn’t have them on hand. It always comes out great.

Twice-cooked pork.

Twice-Cooked pork

Chicken Tikka and Curried Potato

Posted by Dave in indian, meat and tagged with , , , ,

Chicken Tikka and Curried Potato

Served with basmati rice and cucumber raita.

Chicken: bite-sized chicken breast pieces marinated for hours then broiled. Marinade: goat milk yogurt, toasted cumin seed, minced fresh garlic and ginger, lime juice, salt, turmeric, garam masala, black pepper, cayenne, paprika.

Potato: prepared in a covered skillet, with canola oil, diced russet potato, minced garlic, white onion, water, chopped cilantro leaves, fennel seed, hot curry powder, garam masala, salt, green peas (frozen).

Here are some useful related recipes:

“Chicken Tikka”
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Chicken-Tikka-109308

“Chicken Tikka Masala”
http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/chicken-tikka-masala

“Vegetarian Tikka Masala Recipe with Potato, Cabbage, and Peas”
http://melissaraydavis.hubpages.com/hub/Vegetarian-Tikka-Masala-Potato-Cabbage-Peas

“Cucumber Raita”
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Cucumber-Raita-104741

Sweet Clementine Chicken and Szechuan Green Beans

Posted by Dave in asian, meat and tagged with , , , ,

Sweet Clementine Chicken and Szechuan Green Beans

At Christmastime I made a slightly spicy Clementine marmalade, and still had some left, so decided to use it in this orange chicken dish.

Orange Chicken: carrots, baby bok choy, peanut oil, sliced chicken breast, minced fresh garlic and ginger, water, rice vinegar, soy sauce, five spice powder, salt & pepper, red pepper flakes, sliced scallion greens, Clementine marmalade, toasted slivered almonds, and (frozen) green peas, corn starch to thicken sauce as necessary. Served with sticky Calrose rice.

One “trick” I discovered is to cut the carrots the way many Chinese restaurants do, so that the slices have slanted ends and ripples on the long side edges: first slice the carrot diagonally into thick “chips” with a ripple blade (or mandolin), then lay the chips flat and cut them into relatively thin strips.  Here’s a 1 minute video on Fancy Cut Carrot.

Szechuan Beans: green beans, peanut oil, minced fresh garlic and ginger, minced scallion (white portion), chili garlic sauce, sesame oil, toasted sesame seed.

Here are the recipes I consulted for ideas:

“Spicy Orange Chicken Stir-Fry”
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Spicy-Orange-Chicken-Stir-Fry-353398

“Szechuan Green Bean Recipe”
http://chinesefood.about.com/od/vegetablesrecipes/r/greenbean.htm

“Clementine Marmalade”
http://ming.com/foodandwine/recipes/simply-ming-season-4/clementine-marmalade.htm

Pork Tenderloin with Clementine Marmalade over Rice and Wine-simmered Vegetables

Posted by Dave in asian, meat and tagged with , , , , ,

Pork Tenderloin with Clementine Marmalade over Rice and Wine-simmered Vegetables

I marinated this pork tendorloin in olive and sesame oils, red pepper flakes, and minced fresh garlic and ginger and cooked separately. The wine sauce with vegetables was made similarly to that in the recipe below.

This was inspired by recipies on the television program Simply Ming. Personally, I found the combination of both the sweet simmer sauce and the sweet marmalade to be too sweet overall, so I’d use one or the other instead of both.

“Braised Lamb Shank with Clementine Marmalade”
http://ming.com/foodandwine/recipes/simply-ming-season-4/braised-lamb-shank-with-clementine-marmalade.htm

“Clementine Marmalade”
http://ming.com/foodandwine/recipes/simply-ming-season-4/clementine-marmalade.htm
(I halved the amount of most of the marmalade ingredients, thus essentially doubling the ginger and thai bird peppers)

Frittata

Posted by Dave in meat, mediterranean and tagged with , , ,

Italian Sausage Frittata

This Frittata was prepared in a cast iron skillet, so that I could finish it in the oven.  Additional ingredients were: Italian sausage, mushroom, garlic, bell pepper, spinach, fresh basil, oregano, fennel seed, red pepper flakes, cheddar and parmesan-reggiano cheeses.

Earlier today I watched this rather pedantic, condescending cooking show, “Food for Thought with Claire Thomas.” While she’s beautiful and quite possibly a wonderful person, I found it annoying; even the name of her blog: “The Kitchy Kitchen?” Ugh.
Anyway, here’s a video clip from the show: Farmer’s Market Frittata (sic).

I hadn’t made a frittata before, so here it is. Take that, Claire Thomas; thanks for teaching me something.

Here’s her recipe for reference:

Gyros

Posted by Dave in meat, mediterranean and tagged with , , , ,

Gyros

This is a pretty easy meal to make at home, especially as I did here using pre-marinated Burgundy & Pepper Lamb Tips from Trader Joe’s. These tips are pre-packaged and sold by weight, for 4 generous servings (8 medium-sized gyros) I chose the least expensive package at about $12.

First, prepare the tzatziki sauce consisting of Greek style plain yogurt (e.g., Trader Joe’s), peeled cucumber – cut into small pieces, minced garlic, lots of dill (fresh and/or dried), black pepper, and a bit of apple cider vinegar or other vinegar if you like a bit more sharp flavor.
Tzatziki is great for other dishes and sandwiches, so just put the left-over portion back in the yogurt container and keep even up to a week or more.

Trim the lamb tips to remove any fat and sinew, cut the pieces across the grain to bite or two-bite size and sauté the pieces in a bit of oil until cooked to just nearly medium well.

Warm pita in a pan until they just begin to brown, both sides (brush pita first with olive oil if the pita doesn’t contain oil, such as those from Trader Joe’s), and serve topped with lamb, slather on the tzatziki sauce, and add thinly sliced red onion, fresh tomato.

Orange Chicken and Brussels Sprouts

Posted by Dave in asian, meat and tagged with , , , , ,

Orange Chicken and Brussels Sprouts

Boneless skinless breasts baked in a marinade (later reduced to a sauce) including fresh orange juice & zest, honey, soy sauce, sesame oil, minced garlic & ginger, red pepper flakes, and cilantro. The chicken, sliced after cooking, was served on rice, accompanied by steamed Brussels sprouts with chinese hot mustard butter.

Here are a couple related recipes:
“Fragrant Orange Chicken with Scallion Mashed Potatoes”
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Fragrant-Orange-Chicken-with-Scallion-Mashed-Potatoes-355349

“Mustard Butter”
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/mustard-butter/

Poached Eggs Italia

Posted by Dave in breakfast, meat and tagged with , ,

Poached Eggs Italia

Sourdough topped with sliced Parmesan Reggiano, sliced heirloom tomato, oregano, sliced scallion. Toasted in toaster oven, along with slices of dry salami sliced into strips, to brown slightly. Once toasted, topped with poached egg, salami strips and scallion greens.

Inspired by this recipie for Poached Eggs Caprese: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/poached-eggs-caprese/detail.aspx