CityMama™

Vietnamese Chicken Salad with Mint and Lime

This refreshing salad is from Nigella Lawson.  It's a perfect use of that pre-shredded cabbage that comes in a bag if you don't have the time nor inclination to shred it yourself. You can easily substitute lettuce if you don't like raw cabbage. It calls for a whole bunch of chopped mint, but don't be alarmed--it's essential to the taste, and it's lovely in the salad and not at all over-powering.  I added some broccoli slaw for extra crunch.  I used red jalapeno peppers because they are milder and I didn't want to overwhelm it with spiciness for the kids, but I made a separate little dish of fish sauce with chopped up thai chilis to spoon over my serving. DY-NO-MITE!

This is an example of me trying to sneak spicier foods into my kids' meals.  Both J. and I love spicy food, the hotter the better. I am getting frustrated with not being able to order my favorite spicy dishes as restaurants or having to tone down meals at home because the kids won't eat it. I want them to understand the beauty that is pasta tossed with just garlic, chilis and olive oil or a Korean Yuk Gae Jang (beef and chili pepper soup with an angry red broth) that almost makes you cry it hurts so good.

Bunny is coming around and will now eat kimchis, curries, and salsa.  Wallie is still in wimp mode but will at least try things with a glass of water at the ready.  They're going to have to get with the program if they want to remain in this family. (Of course, I kid.)

Chicken soup with homemade noodles

Last night I was craving chicken noodle with chewy, wide, hearty "noodles," so Bunny and I decided to make some together. (See photos here. Note: I've decided I'm "Post-DSLR." I don't care about taking perfect food shots, I just want to be able to document on the fly with my camera phone and hope they come out semi-pretty.)

To make the noodles you combine about 2 cups of AP flour with about a cup of water (add more flour or water a little at a time as needed) until you have a smooth, elastic, workable dough.  Knead for about 5-10 minutes until the dough is no longer sticky, then let it rest for 20-30 minutes, covered in saran wrap, on a floured board.  Roll out the dough as thick or thin as you like and cut into noodley shapes. I use a pizza cutter for this.

The soup was a snap to make since I already had a couple of quarts of veggie stock in the freezer plus a leftover roasted game hen from last week, so I defrosted the stock, added in some carrots, parsnips, and celery, brought it to a boil, then dropped in the noodles.  They cook up in about 5 minutes, and best of all retain their al dente chewyness (because they are so thick), rather than sogging-up like regular pasta.

If you have never made homemade noodles, give it a go.  You don't need any fancy equipment, trust me.

PS I am only using roasted game hens for my chicken noodle soup from now on.  The flavor was ohmygodtodiefor.

Chicken and Fresh Thyme Dumplings

I need to sneak in a shot of this dish because I promised a dear reader I would. Plus, for those that are tired (already) of looking at kitchen gadgets, here's something that might make you hungry.

I made chicken and dumplings last week because I had a hankering for something warming on a rainy day. I followed the chicken fricasee recipe in the Joy of Cooking to the letter (about 5 lbs of chicken, carrot, celery, onion, and 3 cups of water simmered). I also followed the dumpling recipe from Joy of Cooking to the letter but added 1/4 cup (sounds like a lot but it isn't) of fresh thyme leaves to the dough.

OMG.

I'm still trying to figure out how something so simple tasted so damn good. Some recipes are better left un-messed with, and chicken and dumplings is one of those recipes.

Yogurt-marinated chicken and spiced potatoes

This summer, I've committed to learning more about cooking Indian food, a cuisine I seriously love and could not live without. I am using Madhur Jaffrey's iconic cookbook, An Invitation to Indian Cooking, and have been taking my girls on field trips to explore our local Indian market.

One of the flavor combinations I love the most is chicken marinated in yogurt. The yogurt not only tenderizes the chicken, but it lends a mellow, slighty tangy flavor. For this recipe, I combined some easier-to-find Indian spices along with yogurt to add a little spicy-ness to the chicken.

1 whole (preferably organic) chicken, rinsed and patted dry
2 cups of plain yogurt
2-4 cloves of garlic, smashed
a 2-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated or finely minced
1 teaspoon each: ground turmeric, ground cardamom, ground cumin
1/2 tsp each: ground cloves, ground cinnamon
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and finely chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Combine yogurt with all the ingredients and rub all over the chicken, inside and out and esp under the skin that covers the breast. Let sit covered on the counter for two hours (minimum) so that chicken comes to room temperature before cooking. Or you can leave it overnight in the fridge but do bring it to room temp before roasting.

Preheat oven to 425º. Truss chicken and place in roasting pan breast side up. Roast at 425º for 20 minutes, then reduce heat to 325º and continue cooking for about an hour until legs move easily in their joints. Remove from oven and let sit 15 minutes tented with foil before carving.

SPICED POTATOES

Boil 2 pounds of small new potatoes until just tender. Drain and set aside. You can do this earlier in the day. I used fingerlings so I cut them up, but if your new potatoes are small enough, you can leave them whole.

In a large frying pan place:

2 tbsps of vegetable oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 a red onion, sliced
a 1-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated or finely minced
5 cardamom pods
6 whole mustard seeds
a half-palmful of cumin seeds
1 fresh curry leaf (if you can find them)
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and finely chopped (optional)

Cook the above over medium heat until fragrant and seeds are popping. Add in potatoes and toss gently. Heat through. Season with salt and pepper and garnish with cilantro leaves (optional) before serving with the roast chicken. Note: do not eat cardamom pods or curry leaf, they are just for flavor.

I also discovered these treasure at the Indian market. They look screaming hot, but surprisingly they weren't. And also surprisingly, I much preferred the mango pickle to the red chili pickle. I love spicy foods, which is why I thought I would go for the chili, but the tart green mango in the mango pickle won me over. My mouth is watering just looking at this photo!

Fresh local organic cornish game hens—a total score

These beauties came from Petaluma, California.

And the easiest one dish meal ever.

I dumped a pound of quartered fingerlings and 2 cut up parsnips into a pyrex baking pan, drizzled everything with fruity olive oil and tossed with sea salt, pepper, herbs, and garlic. Then I put the two seasoned hens atop the root veg and stuffed them with fresh rosemary. The prep took maybe 10 minutes.

Baked the whole thing at 325º for about an hour then removed from the oven and tented it for about 15 minutes before carving and serving. Tasty, easy, and yummy. This is one reason why I don't use a Crock-Pot.

Braise the roof

beautiful ox tails

Nothing ruins dinner plans faster than forgetting to take whatever you were going to cook out of the freezer. Or maybe that's just me. My back up in this situation is usually eggs or PB&J's, but I am always disappointed with this option because—while my kids don't care—I'm never satisfied when dinner isn't what I planned it to be. Then I spend the whole evening grouchy and/or digging in the cupboards for something, anything to snack on.

Today, in a rare moment of clarity, I had my act together and defrosted not one, but two items: 3 lbs of ox tails and a package of chicken legs. Since today is cold and drizzly, I'm cooking up both, making two dinners at the same time. Boy does the house smell delish. (Photos to come as soon as everything is cooked.)

Garlic Roasted Turkey Breast

The blackened bits sticking up are the tips of the garlic cloves.

A friend of the family packs her Thanksgiving turkey with pockets of minced garlic mixed with salt. When you eat it, it's like a flavor explosion in your mouth of salty-garlicky goodness. It's sharp, savory, and sweet all at once. It's just delicious.  I had a hankering for it this week, so I made my own, much less labor-intensive version. I used a 3-4 pound kosher turkey breast from Trader Joe's and it was moist and juicy all the way through.

In the San Francisco Bay Area you can also find (usually frozen) kosher turkey breast at Mollie Stone's and at Fulton Street (Albertson's) Market or any grocery store that caters to a kosher clientele.  If you can't find a kosher turkey breast, no worries, just dry-brine it for at least 12 hours or up to over night before cooking.

GARLIC ROASTED TURKEY BREAST

This would be perfect for Sunday dinner.

• 1 3-4 pound kosher turkey breast (with ribs attached)
• 12 cloves of garlic peeled and halved (24 halves total)
• sea salt
• fresh ground pepper
• a half palmful of dried oregano

Preheat oven to 325º. Starting with the rib side of the turkey, make 3-4 (1/4-in. deep) slits in the meaty part of the turkey and put a garlic half into each slit. Stuff the garlic as far down as you can so most of it is inserted into the turkey. Season that half with salt and pepper. Flip over.

Continue making slits all over the turkey breast and stuff the remaining garlic halves into those slits. My slits ended up being about an inch or two apart. Season with salt, pepper, and oregano.

Place in roasting pan and roast until a thermometer registers 180º. (Takes about an hour and a half.) I take the turkey out at 170º then cover it with foil and let it rest. The temperature will continue to rise another 10 degrees even though it's out of the oven. This helps to prevent an over-cooked, dried-out turkey.

Slice and serve. Serves 6-8. (We have tons left over. Which is a good thing.)

A side view of the sliced turkey with garlic.

Chicken Drumsticks Two Ways

I can't resist a good five pound pack of chicken drumsticks. I prefer dark meat anyway, so scooping up a pile of chicken for around five bucks is no big whoop to me (and easy on my wallet).

Drumsticks (and thighs) are the best for shoyu chicken anyway, and once cooked they make great additions to a lunch box or are yummy to munch on at midnight while standing over the sink. Because they are so versatile, I like to cook them all different ways, some fancier and more time consuming, some completely the opposite.  If I'm going to cook a whole package and I am short on time, I will often do two super-easy preparations at once. Like this.

You'll need:

•five pounds of chicken drumsticks, thighs or wings

•1 bottle each of any of the following *two* sauces (I used barbecue and garlic black bean sauce):

• barbecue sauce (my preference is Noh's Hawaiian because it doesn't have that fake smoky taste)
• teriyaki sauce
• chipotle-raspberry sauce
• Jamaican jerk sauce
• oyster sauce*
• hoisin sauce
• garlic black bean sauce* (super yum!)
• chili-garlic-black bean sauce* (delicious mixed with equal parts honey and spooned over chicken)

*These are salty and very flavorful. A little goes a long way, so use sparingly.

Make a couple of shallow slashes through the meaty part of each leg or thigh (not too deep, do not cut all the way to the bone). This helps to speed cooking and allows the sauce to work down into the meat.

Place half the chicken in to a pan and slosh some of your chosen sauce onto it. You could shake it up all together in a bag, but I don't even bother.  This is a very forgiving technique and great if you are in a hurry. The chicken still tastes great, even when the sauce doesn't evenly coat the chicken.

Place the rest of the chicken into another pan. Slosh some of the second sauce onto that. For the saltier sauces like the garlic-black bean,  I spoon 2-3 tablespoons of of the sauce into a bowl. Then I spoon/shmear the sauce onto each chicken leg, applying sparingly. (Put the sauce into a bowl so you don't dip our raw chicken spoon back into the jar.)

Bake at 325º for 50 minutes to an hour.  Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Serves four with plenty of leftovers for lunches, or 6 without leftovers.

20 minute meal: Japanese Yellow Curry

Curry and rice is nice...and would be even better with a side of kimchi.

Japanese yellow curry is one of those comfort foods that reminds me of my childhood. A steaming-hot bowl of curry and rice just hits the spot sometimes. Thankfully, it's easy to make using boxed curry which contain bricks of curry paste. I like S&B or Vermont brands, available at any Japanese store and some well-stocked supermarkets in the Asian section.

Just add water, protein (chicken, beef, shrimp, tofu) and veggies + the curry mix and you are done. This curry is also wonderful atop udon (with or without broth) or even over spaghetti (a Hawaii thing.)

Put on a pot of rice, and by the time that's done, so is the curry. Just follow the directions on the box.

Simply delicious: Baked Barbecue Chicken

Sometimes, it's the simple meals that are the best. The above meal was a hit and received "mmmmm's" all around.

Tuesday evenings are gymnastics night around our house.  We get home around 6pm and the girls are hungry. Before I left, I popped some chicken breasts into a 325º oven (covered with foil so they wouldn't dry out). When I got home, I removed the foil and let them continue cooking for another 10-15 minutes or so while I put together the rest of the meal: buttered corn and a green salad with sweet onion and avocado in a mustardy vinaigrette.

I realize people might not feel comfortable leaving their oven unattended while not at home, but I'm okay with it when cooking something that isn't spattery.  (Mom, I know.)

I marinated the chicken for about two hours in a combination of a mild and not-too-smoky barbecue sauce and honey. (I'm not a fan of most BBQ sauces because of that fakey liquid smoke taste. Check the ingredient list.) I seasoned them with sea salt and pepper before putting them into the oven. Originally I had paillard plans for those breasts, but when I realized too late that I wouldn't have time to pound them out and grill them, I turned to my oven. I written before about how unpounded chicken breasts really aren't my favorite part of the bird, but these came out moist, not dry.

This would have been really tasty on the grill, too, though I would definitely pound out the breasts before marinating.