baby rambutan

#2son can’t help but get tickled at the alias of Jaime Oliver and though i tried to explain what it means, he just can’t stop grinning and imagining things.

i didn’t watch many of his cooking shows because i got dizzy and motion sickness both from the handheld video camera shots and from his hyperactive leaps and jumps while cooking. Jaime Oliver is much more bearable agreeable to me in print, with his simply and starkly photographed dishes, than animated in a tv episode. also the techMaMa* of dis blag has highly endorsed his dishes, as seen on her foodblog.
and now i have a couple of his cookbooks, picked up my from my favorite salvage store, and i tried first the roasted chicken with sweet tomatoes sauce, from “Jaime Oliver’s Dinners.”

it was simply and starkly delicious, and well worth a train ride home in the pouring cold rain for my sick-of-dining-hall-food-famished #1son.

then i was inspired by his “concertina squid” with its Jean Paul Gaultier-style bands of squid…yes you guessed it i’ve been watching too much Project Runway! (i was rooting for Sweet P since the start )
what i got from the recipe is the special surgical technique (see below) to get that concertina/accordion effect–i roasted/broiled the marinated squid (garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper, thyme), surgically enhanced and skewered so they’d keep their shape) and served on top of a saute/stew of garlic, onion, parsley, red pepper, cubed potatoes, chick peas, and spinach and chorizo.



no one say “p-u-k-k-a” or else (eh ano nga ba’ng ibig sabihin non?)

yes! dis blag is fixed now, neverending cascading and undulating thanks to my *techMagicianGuru Thesserie for my transfer to a new bargain webhost … working so hard despite everything .

by dear darling husband.

from all recipesbaked Vietnamese-style chicken wings

roasted scrod with basil butter from epicurious.com.
(i apologize severely for these photos, i even tried to doctor them but alas no improvement. they were taken with the bright over head “green” lights at night. i know that natural day light would be perfect but these were our dinner items over the vacation week, when darling husband gave me a break and cooked from some new recipes he found on the web.)
anyway! they were really truly madly delicious! three thumbs up from the childrens!
recipes supplied, on request!

…based on Martin Yan’s Sichuan boneless chicken from A Wok for All Seasons.
can’t believe i haven’t posted this yet, one of my favorite winter foods, and it’s quick and easy to make.

5 chicken thighs, cut into bite size chunks with a cleaver (or use boneless chicken thighs; adjust cooking time)
2 tbsps. soy sauce
1 tsp. cornstarch

sauce ingredients:
1 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tbsp. Shao Hsing rice wine
4 tsps. rice vinegar
1 tsp. sesame oil
3/4 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. hot pepper paste

vegetable or canola oil for frying
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 spring onion, sliced thinly
1-inch knob of ginger, minced
6 pieces dried red chili peppers

marinate chicken in soy sauce and cornstarch for at least 30 minutes.

heat the wok, add the oil and brown chicken until it is no longer opaque and is caramelized.
transfer chicken to a platter. remove excess oil, then stir fry the garlic, ginger, green onions and chili peppers.
add the sauce ingredients, mix well, then simmer until chicken is done. add broth or water as needed.

serve over hot steamed rice.

…Wusthof knife, that is!

i should have gotten one sooner. i’ve never had so much fun slicing and dicing (and i haven’t even seen Sweeney Todd and hated the Hannibal movie, Silence of the Lambs).
i’m definitely getting more (but never at full price hehehe).
a fish filleting knife is next on my list.

so timely that i watched Anthony Bourdain’s 2008 premiere episode set in Singapore featuring chicken Hainanese that called for copious amounts of ginger, garlic and scallions.

“hare in red wine sauce”…it is not!
it would have been unforgiveable! so i used chicken and pork instead (chicken quarters and a little strip of pork belly).
i was going to make adobo, but lately the children have not been too enthusiastic about it. so it being a chilly day, in need of heating up the kitchen, and crazy me wanting to make something new, i pulled out the voluminous “Saveur Cooks Authentic French.”

the ingredient list is scary-daunting! i have to make a rich chicken stock first! it’s going to take hours and hours! 3 &1/3 cups of dry red wine?!

these thoughts i stifled and pushed to the back of the old brain and set to work.
so 1 stockpot, 1 casserole, 1 skillet and counters full of chopped-up vegetables later (i always measure the difficulty and repeat-performance possibility of a dish by how many pots i have to wash)….i ended up with a richly-hued (purplish) and saucy dish of complex and delectable quality. thumbs up ! pity i couldn’t utilize the ehem ehem meat and so i had skip the heart, kidney and liver required for the sauce (the original calls for bunny blood!) but it tasted great anyway.

not-bunny stew in red wine sauce, with caramelized shallots and mushrooms and crispy pork cubes.
am certain it’s not authentic French.

“the consequence of a particularly ruinous event.” yeah, ruined my diet, fer sure!

we kept a lot of old recipes, and added a few new ones. the crowd favorite: husband’s New England codfish chowder.

i’ll supply recipes/links later or upon request. it feels like i just ran the Boston Marathon.

starring roast turkey with oyster stuffing, with a fine supporting cast…

brussels sprouts with chestnuts

Southern Pride sweet cornbread (special request of my 3littlekids)

cranberry-dried mango sauce

taro sweet rice pudding by MaMa (Grandma)

shrimp with celery and and dried fungus from sis-in-law

20 of us for dinner! it was a tight squeeze…

the remains of the desserts…(it got pretty hectic after dinner, which was so contrary to how i felt: sleepy-tired, almost slumping over at the counter. must be that good old tryptophan!

deep dish apple pie from Cook’s Illustrated

pumpkin cheesecake with streusel topping

pumpkin flan with toasted pumpkin seeds

kids had their own “dessert buffet” with the leftovers…this is #2son’s plate.

my favorite photo:

found at his usual spot, positioned right in front of his favorite shrimp cakes brought by a GooGoo (paternal auntie). later on during dinner, “i don’t know why i feel so full…”

we know why #2son !!!
my brunch the day after

and i am not above rewarding myself with a treat, what i call my “kiss-the-cook” trophy:

i had this sudden craving for chicken curry. what a difference a week makes! what was once so sunny and balmy, has now turned into cold and chilly.

so naturally stew-y dishes with rich creamy sauces come to mind. and belly.

this roti recipe i downloaded from recipezaar a while back. i’d been looking for a right proper roti (unleavened flat bread) recipe to go with the Malaysian style curry and though it’s not quite buss up shirt style (flakey, light, and crispy at the same time–Trinidad and Tobago cuisine–i will try next time!), it is reminiscent of what we had from a favorite Malaysian restaurant in Boston’s Chinatown.

roti:

4 cups flour

1 tsp. salt

approximately 1 & 1/2 cups hot water

a little less than one half stick of butter, at room temperature

sift flour and salt (or whisk) then add hot water in a steady stream, mixing only until dough is moist but not sticky. (watch out for the hot water). incorporated softened butter into the dough and mix well. roll out into flat rounds. heat up the griddle (i used a crepe pan) and rub oil into pan with a paper towel. the flat breads turn somewhat translucent with brown spots. keep warm until ready to serve by tenting a piece of foil loosely over them. (mine turned out very oddly shaped! amateurish…)

chicken curry: (adapted from Gourmet Cook Book edited by Ruth Reichl)

5 chicken thighs

4 large cloves of garlic, chopped

6 large shallots, chopped

1 inch piece of ginger, chopped

2-3 tbsps. water

2 tbsps. curry powder

1 cup coconut milk

1 & 1/2 cups water or chicken broth

1 cinnamon stick

1 star anise

1 clove

salt and pepper to taste

cubed potatoes and sweet potatoes

pound the garlic, ginger and shallots in a wide mouthed mortar and with a pestle; alternatively, puree in a food processor or blender; until mixture reaches paste-like consistency. add up to 3 tbsps. water.

brown seasoned chicken (salt and pepper) in hot oil until meat is no longer pink. do this in batches so the meat will brown. remove from oil and set aside in a platter.

remove excess oil and add the shallot-ginger-garlic paste. stir fry for one minute. add curry powder and stir fry one minute more. add the chicken and the rest of the ingredients except potatoes and sweet potatoes and stir well. let simmer until chicken is almost tender then add the potatoes and sweet potatoes. cook until done.

or why we had Chinese (Mandarin) food (from the same restaurant!) for the two nights we were in Quebec City….

no one seems to agree on how it was so named after a General. it is a dark, spicy and tangy variation on sweet and sour pork, using dark soy and mild vinegar and chicken instead.

whatever it was, the version from Elysee Mandarin* (and perhaps the fact that we’d had enough of pasta, pizza, fast food burgers on the road) that we were famished for rice and saucy Chinese food.

there’s also a switch in husband’s brain that automatically turns on whenever we travel to a new and faraway place: find Chinese food.

my version, based on several recipes i found googling, isn’t quite there yet. i suspect that for this chicken dish, subtle is better, less is more. mine was too dark, too sour and salty.

deep fried battered dark meat chicken (marinated in soy sauce and white pepper), sauced with a finely balanced magic potion of dark soy, vinegar, sugar and rice wine.

*Elysee Mandarin is on Rue St. Auteuil, just inside the walled Old City. we discovered it 17 years ago on our first visit with our first-born, and we were elated to see they’d maintained their elegant restaurant’s quality very well. (i huffed and puffed all the way up the steep street, husband dragging me along but it was well worth the breathlessness!)

…except i don’t have a tagine. only a cute little miniature.

the word tagine or tajine refers to both the homey Moroccan fare cooked in them, and to the clay casserole dish with a steep conical cover. it has a vent-hole on the tip for releasing some steam, while the steep sides allows moisture to return to baste the dish. no matter, i just used a cast-iron Dutch oven with a tightly fitting lid that must be left slightly askew to vent it properly.
so the dish is chicken in the spirit of tagine.
i think the raw chicken getting its spice treatment looks prettier than the cooked stew.

the dish must have this ingredient which i found in the nearby halal meat and spice store tucked away next to our family dentist…preserved lemons (seems easy to make this at home, using this recipe). this one has saffron and black seeds (sesame? onion?) i’m just guessing because it is not on the label.

served with fried potato quarters…

with a taste just faintly similar to arroz con pollo but more tangy and deep, the kids loved it! when i interviewed them like the food critics that they are: what do you think? not too spicy huh? you like the sauce? ..only #2son said it needed salt (i think he was mainly playing with the shaker though…)

recipe from the Boston Globe, May 9 2007, developed by Sheryl Julian. (more…)

fingerling, schmingerling….i couldn’t find any, within reasonable driving distance, so i substituted baby red potatoes (or use any other thin-skinned variety).

this recipe is from the New York Times, in one of the “pairings with wines” sessions. it is meant to be enjoyed with a bottle of Condrieu.

the dish is only as good as the components you put into it: fresh chicken–dark meat only!, a rich hearty stock and not-too-cheap brand-name chardonnay. oh, and high-fat (meaning imported European? i just used storebrand) unsalted butter.

you end up with a dish that has such a deeply flavorful sauce, so good mopped up with a spongy bread (my kids used pan de sal).

(more…)