Week 8–Slow Cooking: ItaLatino Chicken Stew?

I again push the deadline on posting something for the 52 Weeks of Cooking challenge on Reddit. But by the time this posts, it should be before midnight in my time zone. Heck there is plenty of time before it is midnight in Hawaii. But enough apologizing, on to the soup.

I again am doing something mostly by the seat of my pants in this case. Looking for a few recipes gave me a good idea of what would work; unfortunately, I didn’t have all the ingredients to any particular recipe, so I just borrowed some ideas from a few recipes and went with it.

So why is it ItaLatino Chicken Stew? One because it sounds ridiculous, and I’m open to new names. Two because it uses “Italian style” crushed tomatoes and fajita seasoning. And Italian Fajita soup just sounds even more wrong. And there’s not really that many fajita ingredients in this dish. And while there’s a slightly chili like quality to the dish, I know people are really particular about what to call chili, and I don’t feel like offending anyone today.

There’s a whole lot of delicious though, and it was a pretty good way to slightly empty out the freezer and pantry, which is always appreciated in this household.

Stomach Roaring? Roar back with Lion’s Head Meatballs!

No, it’s not some bizarre exotic and illegal headcheese, it’s actually just a pork and vegetable dish with a pretty great name. I guess this is an unofficial bonus dish to 52 weeks of cooking to follow up my last post on Ma-Po Tofu.

While looking for alternatives to Ma-Po tofu (which is delicious) my cousin offered up Lion’s Head as an option. The name itself is enough to give one pause. Just why is it called that?

Probably because the size of these quarter pound pork meatballs is evocative of a Lion’s head, particularly when surrounded by Bok Choy which might seem like a mane. Actually that’s exactly why according to the recipe I used.

Ingredients are chicken broth, black pepper, soy sauce, salt, cooking wine, sesame oil, an egg, starch (corn or potato works), ground pork, ginger and scallions.

The Third Day of Seven Days of Alton Brown: Miso Soup!

Yesterday we made some Dashi. Now to put it to good use by using it to make some miso soup. If you’ve ever eaten at a Japanese restaurant, you’ve probably had a serving of this lovely soup, with it’s light cloudiness filled of goodness, with a wonderful warming quality to it. And apparently good for dealing with radiation sickness according to various sources (two links!)

Lots of healthy stuff in this application for sure. Two quarts of Dashi, 1 12 oz. block of tofu for protein, red and white miso, and some scallions for color and texture.

Tofu will need some preparation before getting started on the other stuff, because everything after this goes really fast.

Double wrap it in paper towels.

Then cover with a plate and weight down with one 28 ounce can. These two fourteen ounce cans had to do for me.

After twenty minutes of pressing take it out and slice into quarter inch cubes.

Now for the fun part. This will be really fast if you’ve freshly made some Dashi. Put it on medium heat, medium high if cold. At 100 F, reserve a cup for the next step.

I halved the recipe so this is just a half cup by the by.

Now add some miso. Six tablespoons of dark.

Two tablespoons of white.

Whisk it together thoroughly.

Once your Dashi hits a simmer, add in the cup of miso mixture and mix thoroughly!

Then add the tofu and scallions and heat through, about a minute or so.

Then serve and enjoy!

A great application, warm, earthy and delicious. If you’re in the mood for some meatless umami that you can slurp, this is the AB application for you!

Thanks for joining me and stay tuned for tomorrow’s post.

Turning Vietnamese Episode 2 - Bún bò Huế

If you know anything about Vietnamese food, you probably have heard of Phở, but it may be slightly less likely that you have heard of bún bò Huế. If phở is that comfortable mother who keeps you warm on a gloomy day, then bún bò Huế is that awesome aunt who sits you in front of a roaring fireplace and maybe offers you some chili peppers. Chances are you’d want to introduce your friends to your mom before the aunt, because you kind of need to work up to that.

The reason I say this is because bún bò Huế requires a bit more of a tolerant palate than phở. Phở’s broth has most of its flavor come from a good stock of bones and several spices heated for a long period to draw out the flavor of the bones, really playing on the love of umami. Bún bò Huế is similar in its broth making with the difference in an added ingredient, shrimp paste, which while completely awesome, might intimidate some people with its strong flavor profile.

This is the assembling of a bowl so you have an idea of what you’re getting into. My dear mother had most of the ingredients ready for me so I can’t give you too much insight into the whole process this time. 

I wish this was a better picture, but here is the broth with some large pieces of pork in it to break down.

Rice noodles are then put into boiling water for about 8 minutes and set in a strainer to rest and finish softening up. Mom's tip, don't boil it to softness all the way in the water, as this will create a mushier end product, better to air dry it for a while.

 

The pork has softened a bit and is sliced up.

And placed in the on top of some of the noodles, a garnish of sliced onions and cilantro. Some stewed beef slices are also arranged on top.

Finally, top with broth and get ready to enjoy. I'm aware I went a bit overboard with the meat here, but I was trying to help clean out the fridge. That's the reason....yeah, that's it.

I wish this was one of the earlier bowls I had. You'd really see more of the shiny red from the soup base, which really helps to add a kick and a bit of nice color to the bowl.