Asian Chicken Noodle

I can't really call this Chicken Pho, since its not really pho. Although it was inspired by it. I was feeling lazy but hungry which made me really happy I had made chicken stock earlier last week. These types of dishes are precisely the time where good stock makes a big difference. If I were to do this with store bought broth, I'd be adding ingredients to mask flavors. With homemade stock, I'm trying to enhance the flavor.

The noodles are just dry flat rice noodles, boiled until soft in plain water. Sometimes I'll add some salt if I am going to saute the noodles, but for the most part you don't need it since the broth brings a lot of flavor and the noodles do a great job soaking that flavor in.

As for the broth, I used the recipe from The French Laundry Cookbook to make chicken stock. From there I added the following (all approximated to taste):

1 Thai Chili, sliced (with seeds)
1 tbsp Fish sauce
1 large clove garlic, smashed
pinch of nutmeg, cinnamon, white pepper

I brought the broth the a simmer and then poured it over the cooked noodles and chicken.

The chicken I used was actually from bits of chicken I pulled of the carcass after making stock. My father has always eaten meat off bones after its been used in stock and its something I've come to enjoy over the years. Even though its pretty tasteless, it does have this great texture I tend to enjoy. Meat that's soft and tender like a braise, but dry. Again, in this application the broth is so flavorful that it works perfectly.

After the soup went in I added a few splashes of rice wine vinegar to the dish.

Something very simple to put together and extremely satisfying.

Homemade Bacon

Geoff @ imafoodblog posted a pretty nice how to on making your own bacon. It caught my attention immediately and I have to say it was pretty simple. I didn't have access to a smoker but I don't think that taking that extra step would have complicated things much.

I started out with just a few lbs of pig belly from Chinatown. It may have not been the best choice of product to make bacon, especially with my Chinese being so bad but it was way better than buying it from whole foods at ridiculous prices.

The thing about buying the pork belly in Chinatown is that they sell it in slabs all the way to the bone, which is nice but not easy 1-2-3 for bacon making. When I do it again I'll have to do a better job in picking marbleized pieces and trimming the piece for bacon.

I had decided from the get go to just do a salt cure, just to see what 'plain' bacon would taste like and to test out the method. What I ended up with was a dry version of roasted pig belly from Chinatown. It did have some bacon qualities, which was good enough for me. What I realized later was that I only cured the belly for 2 days whereas Geoff mentioned that you should cure for at least 3 days.

As I mentioned I didn't have access to a smoker, so I put it in the oven at the lowest setting with a container of water on the oven floor. I pretty much let it sit until the internal temp reached 150.

The next time around, and there will be a next time, I think I'll do a simple maple bacon and a peppered bacon. I should also probably find a way to raise the belly from the container so that the liquid can drain better.

I actually can't wait to make this again. I mean c'mon its bacon, how can you mess it up. Even as sub par bacon, it was quite delicious.

Homemade Fried Chicken

I had been planning on making some fried chicken at home last night for quite some time. Monday night I decided to take action and start prepping making the chicken using a recipe Ed Levine had posted a while back. After breaking down a fresh chicken, I put it in the brine and proceeded to go to bed. In the morning I drained the chicken and then did a soak in buttermilk and by the time I got off work, the chicken was ready for breading and frying.



There are a few things I'd do differently. First, I'd make sure I lightly but thoroughly breaded the chicken. I had a big issue with a few pieces of chicken where I was over zealous with the breading. What it left me with was a pile of burnt flour at the bottom of my pan that proceeded to blacken my chicken (those pieces hidden in the back of the photo).

I'll probably end up using a little less salt. I found the chicken a bit salty.

Otherwise it was something I can see myself doing again and often. Maybe I'll mess around with the flouring a bit by adding some more spices. There was something extremely satisfying with how tender the chicken was.

Rice and Beans

My 'breakfast' last night was eaten at dinner. Overall it turned out good, especially for my first time making this. I've only recently (within the last year and half) started liking beans. I love it because it requires little effort, even though total prep/cooking time is long. But it smells wonderful as it cooks and when the foreplay is finally over, you can dig right in.



1/2lb dried black beans, soaked overnight
2cups water, for soaking beans
2cups water, for cooking beans
1 medium tomato, skin removed, chopped
4 strips bacon, chopped
2tsp finely chopped ginger
2 cloves garlick, minced
2 bay leaves
2tsp paprika
1tsp cayenne
1tsp chili powder
1tsp olive oil
kosher salt to taste

Serves 2-3

Soak the beans overnight. Combine all the ingredients in a pot (minus salt). Bring all the contents to a boil and simmer for ~3 hours or until liquid has evaporated and beans are tender. Salt to taste. Make rice. In a bowl, add beans with rice and a little vinegar. Eat.

Very simple. The bacon adds so much to the dish and removes the need to add salt. Everything else sort of just melts together to create this wonderful aroma and taste. I sort of also wished I had some japanese picked radish as it would have been the perfect compliment to this dish.

Cooking in the morning

The hard thing about cooking in the morning is the waking up. Its especially disappointing when you start preparing the night before. Last night I had a craving for rice and beans. I figured it would make a nice breakfast or possibly even lunch. So I cleaned the kitchen, prepped the ingredients, soaked the black beans, and set the alarm clock for 5am. Just early enough to get the beans cooking slowly and be ready right before I needed to head to work. Unfortunately, I slept through 2 alarms and ended waking up right when I needed to head out. Sometimes things just aren't meant to be. I guess I'll have to wait for dinner in order to have my breakfast. Thankfully, beans and rice are good for any meal.

Potato Gnocchi: Second Attempt

My second battle with gnocchi was a major success. There are two major things that helped me along.

Instead of mashing the potatoes with a fork (to simulate a potato ricer), I used a cheese grater instead. This helped me create a really fluffy grated potato that allowed me to handle the dough a bit more than I was probably supposed to. Hopefully when I get the technique and dough/potato ratio down, using a grater will allow me to create a lighter gnocchi.



The second thing I did was add quite a bit more flour. My original dough was a bit starchy to the mouth and didn't hold well after being frozen. Adding more flour fixed these issues. The thing about gnocchi is that it cooks fairly quickly, which allows you to slowly add flour and test your dough for the correct taste and consistency.

After sitting in the freezer for a couple of nights, I finally found the time to make myself a quick meal. The ragu I created was a little lacking, but the gnocchi tasted great. I was hoping to do a nice simple light sauce with the gnocchi, but I found myself wanting more contrasting textures. I'm thinking maybe a nutty pesto and a nice piece of fish or shellfish next time. Although Mom's braised goat was delicious, it was had a little too much bone for this dish.

Guilty Pleasures: Instant Noodles

Last night, after a long bus ride from Boston back to NYC, I needed something comforting to eat. Something easy to make. And what else fits that descrition than a bowl of Top Ramen. For me, it really is a childhood comfort (like mac and cheese).

Growing up, it was always a treat to make some ramen for myself. It was easy. It tasted good. I didn't know any better. During my college years, when I ate it our of neccessity, I learned how to throw away the MSG packets and make it a tastier treat. When it comes down to it, anything you do to ramen, you can do to other staple asian carbs. You can replace it with rice or even better noodles, for the same price. But what you can't replicate is the texture of those noodles. Its that texture that brings me back to my childhood and that's always a good feeling.

What I love about this preperation is that I always end up with extra Japanese curry, which I end up eating with rice (another comfort food I enjoy). Adding parmeson to curry helps add an extra layer of creaminess. The grilled tomato is amazing in this dish. It adds a degree of freshness to a heavy dish, plus a little acidity and sweetness (from the burnt kosher salt). And who doesn't love a poached egg on top of anything.

Ramen with Japanese Curry; onions, grilled tomato, & poached egg

2 packages of Top Ramen
1 4.1 oz packet S&B Golden Curry Hot or any instant curry
1 handful Parmeson rinds (optional)
1 small onion halved and sliced
1 large tomato cut into 1 inch slices
1 large egg
2 handfuls grated Parmeson
3 cups water
1 tbsp hot oil
Butter
Kosher salt


Start off by melting some butter in a wok. Add the onions and cook until they became translucent. Add the water and bring to a boil. Add the curry paste(cut into small cubes) and some parmeson rinds(optional). Stir until paste breaks down and sauce becomes thick. Turn down the heat, keeping the curry at a simmer. At this point start working on the rest of the dish while keeping an eye on the curry, stirring occassionally.

Start a 2 pots of boiling water. one for the ramen and another to poach an egg.

Melt some butter in a pan. Cut a tomato into 3 large slices. Sprinkle a little bit of kosher salt on a flat side. Cook the tomato on the pan until you get a slight burn. Turn off the heat in the pan. Let the tomato rest.

Cook the ramen without the MSG packet. Drain. Mix in a little hot oil (pepper flakes soaked in oil). This will add some flavor to the noodles, while keeping them from clumping together.

Put the noodles in a bowl. Add some grated parm on top of the noodles. Pour some of the curry over the noodles and add more grated parm on top. Add the 'grilled' tomato. Poach the egg and add on top.

Eat.

Gnocchi: First batch jitters Part 2

So some quick research after it seems like I WAS supposed to freeze them before cooking. So maybe my real issue is the consistency with the dough. I did rice the potatoes with a fork...

Gnocchi: First batch jitters Part 1

So it seems I misread the gnocchi recipe. Apparently you are supposed to cook and then freeze, instead of freezing and then cooking like I did. Maybe it doesn't really matter but when I went to cook my frozen gnocchi, it fell apart a bit in the boiling water. I think I need more flour. The flavor is spot on. Execution is a bit off, which is the hard part. I'm going to attempt it again tonight with a potato ricer and maybe even a bench knife.

I think I'll set up the camera for this one too.

Making Potato Gnocchi

I spent 3.5 hours last night making gnocchi. I think I did OK for my first time. Although I have a feeling that my dough isn't consistent enough. Maybe I do need a potato ricer. I wanted to take some pictures of the process, but after everything was said and done, I had forgot. Hopefully I can get some pictures of the final product tonight.