Brown food really does taste good ... really good. This sauce is really flavorful and easy to make. It is time consuming, so make sure you have a few hours to spend. I will admit, I changed a few things and rushed the cooking time. I wanted to make this sauce on a week night after dinner, cool it down, so that it would be ready for the next night's dinner. I didn't have the full three to four hours to simmer the sauce, I didn't have two cups of tomato paste, and I didn't have three pounds of ground beef. You're probably asking why in the world I decided to make this sauce when I was missing so many key ingredients, and maybe you're also asking what ingredients I did have. I wanted to make this sauce because I had a pound of ground beef in the freezer, six really ripe tomatoes, fresh thyme, and jalapeños. My husband has been growing chile plants and now they all have fruit. We also have a forest of thyme in our front and back yards. This sauce seemed like a good way to use up a bunch of ingredients I had lying around.
I pulverized the chiles with the onion, garlic, carrot, and celery. After they were good and brown, although admittedly I probably could have gone a bit darker, the beef went in. A pound of beef seemed like plenty of meat, and my husband couldn't believe that the recipe called for two more pounds. I added the wine next because I didn't have tomato paste. During all of this, my husband roughly chopped the tomatoes and then ran them through the food mill. The tomatoes went into the pot and then we added water to the appropriate level. We also added in a good bunch of thyme and bay leaves at this point and then, as Anne Burrell likes to say, we "BTBRTS". We added more water twice to the pot during our 2-1/2 hour simmer period. From my very few data points, I would interpolate that we would need to add water twice more with a longer simmering period. And that's it. Pulverize and brown veg; brown meat; deglaze with wine; add tomatoes, herbs, and water; simmer and add water as necessary. In the future when I make this I would keep the chile and maybe increase the beef just a little. I really liked the fresh tomatoes, and seriously? Who has two cups of tomato paste lying around? I used to have those little cans of tomato paste, but it felt so wasteful only using a tablespoon or two at a time so I switched to buying the tube of tomato paste. I'm sure the tomato paste version tastes good too, but if you have happen to have fresh tomatoes I highly recommend using them. I highly recommend this recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/anne-burrell/pasta-bolognese-recipe/index.html
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Bobby Flay's Turkey Pot Pie with Sage Crust
Our herb garden is in full bloom, and Bobby Flay's recipe for Turkey Pot Pie with Sage Crust uses Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme [insert song here]. I thought it might be a perfect recipe to showcase our fresh herbs. I think the sage crust, which is full of other herbs, was really good, but the turkey filling was pretty bland and unremarkable. I also wanted to try cooking with turnips. I had never had a turnip before, and I thought that it would be an interesting addition. The turnip is very similar to Daikon. It smelled spicier to me, more like a radish, but I didn't actually try eating it raw to see if that was actually the case. Unfortunately it was cooked way too long in the broth, and then again in the oven. This dish was really disappointing especially for containing such interesting ingredients. The vegetables were cooked way too long. I like my vegetables to have some bite and these were mush. There was quite a bit of fat in this dish, and I don't think it was necessary because it really didn't add much flavor. The crust was good, but it used a lot of butter and shortening. I can forgive this though because the crust was definitely flakey.
In the future, I'd use the filling recipe from Ina Garten's Chicken Stew with Biscuits. I'd modify the sage crust such that it was a sage "biscuit". Instead of a sheet of pastry for the crust I'd make biscuits. I'd cut the fat in the biscuits as well. I probably won't attempt this until it's cooler because pot pie isn't really a summer dish. I guess I better start drying herbs.
In the future, I'd use the filling recipe from Ina Garten's Chicken Stew with Biscuits. I'd modify the sage crust such that it was a sage "biscuit". Instead of a sheet of pastry for the crust I'd make biscuits. I'd cut the fat in the biscuits as well. I probably won't attempt this until it's cooler because pot pie isn't really a summer dish. I guess I better start drying herbs.
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Let's reintroduce ourselves... and talk about japchae
Welcome to the Xin Gan Food Blog. My mother's nickname for me is Xin Gan, which is Chinese for "Heart and Liver". Yes, my mother calls me her heart and liver, because that's how precious I am to her. Actually, as she tells it, she started calling all of her children Xin Gan because my older sister got mad at her one day when my mom confused her for me on the phone. But let's get back to the food...
I have always loved eating, creating, sharing, and learning and talking about food. My husband, who also shares my passion for food, decided it was time for me to start writing about food, and thus this blog. Sadly, I haven't been as enthusiastic about the writing. I'm a PhD student in a very competitive program, and cooking is my creative outlet. Every week I test new recipes. I have post-it notes in all of my cookbooks with tips and comments about specific recipes I've tried. It's about time I start keeping track of everything, and hopefully other people will find it useful too.
So let's get started!
This week I made Korean Japchae - a quick noodle dish with lots of vegetables and meat. This is a perfect weeknight dinner because it's fast and it doesn't require any extra sides to round out the meal. I grew up eating meals that always had starch, protein, and vegetable components. If one of those components is missing from my meal, I usually end up craving it and getting hungry at 10:30PM -- not the best time to be eating.
Japchae noodles are made from sweet potatoes, but not the orange/red kind that we're used to seeing in the States. The noodles are a translucent greyish color -- I know it doesn't sound all that appetizing, but no one here is eating plain noodles so it'll get better I promise! The noodles are boiled for ~10 minutes, then cut into smaller pieces. When you buy the dried noodles they are really long, and sweet potato noodles are really chewy once cooked, so don't forget to cut them. While I'm waiting for the water to boil, I prepare all the vegetables and meat. I tried both chicken and beef, and they were both delicious. I cut the meat into thin slices across the grain. For chicken, I used breast and I marinated the slices in Chinese cooking wine, salt, and white pepper. For the beef, I used sirloin flap and I marinated the slices in Chinese cooking wine and soy sauce. I use the sirloin flap for stir-frying applications because it's pretty cheap and tastes great. I used to use flank steak which costs almost twice as much! While the meat marinates, I prepare all the vegetables. It's really important to get all the ingredients prepped before you start stir-frying, because once the wok is on there's no waiting around. You'll end up with mushy vegetables or rubbery meat if you wait around with a hot wok. Sliced onions, minced garlic, and 1-in chopped green onions are a must. I think julienned carrots are necessary for some sweetness and color, but I'll be the first one to admit that julienning carrots is a pain so if you don't have the time just skip it. I like leafy greens so I chopped up some bok choy and threw in some spinach. Nappa cabbage and romaine would be great too. Kale, beet greens, and chard may be a bit tough for this application -- I may try it one day but I would blanch it first. I also used zucchini, bell pepper, and fresh Shitake mushrooms.
When there are 5 minutes left for the noodles, I heat the wok on high. I use a little oil, and stir fry the meat. As soon as the meat is cooked through I take the meat out of the wok. There should still be liquid in the wok, but if not add some more oil. Cook the onions and garlic next. Add some soy sauce at this point to help soften the onions. When the onions are soft which should take only a minute or two, add in the rest of the vegetables. Thicker vegetables first and leafy vegetables last. The seasoning is soy sauce, sesame oil, and sugar. I add some chicken broth to increase the amount of "sauce" that I want the noodles to soak up. As soon as the last leafy vegetable goes in, dump in the noodles. Add in the meat, and mix it all up. Let the noodles soak up all the delicious sauce. Just turn the burner off and walk away. Let it sit for a couple minutes, come back, mix it up and walk away for another couple of minutes. It's delicious, healthy, and quick! I'm sorry, there aren't any pictures for this post -- we were too hungry and excited to eat our Japchae to remember to take pictures.
I have always loved eating, creating, sharing, and learning and talking about food. My husband, who also shares my passion for food, decided it was time for me to start writing about food, and thus this blog. Sadly, I haven't been as enthusiastic about the writing. I'm a PhD student in a very competitive program, and cooking is my creative outlet. Every week I test new recipes. I have post-it notes in all of my cookbooks with tips and comments about specific recipes I've tried. It's about time I start keeping track of everything, and hopefully other people will find it useful too.
So let's get started!
This week I made Korean Japchae - a quick noodle dish with lots of vegetables and meat. This is a perfect weeknight dinner because it's fast and it doesn't require any extra sides to round out the meal. I grew up eating meals that always had starch, protein, and vegetable components. If one of those components is missing from my meal, I usually end up craving it and getting hungry at 10:30PM -- not the best time to be eating.
Japchae noodles are made from sweet potatoes, but not the orange/red kind that we're used to seeing in the States. The noodles are a translucent greyish color -- I know it doesn't sound all that appetizing, but no one here is eating plain noodles so it'll get better I promise! The noodles are boiled for ~10 minutes, then cut into smaller pieces. When you buy the dried noodles they are really long, and sweet potato noodles are really chewy once cooked, so don't forget to cut them. While I'm waiting for the water to boil, I prepare all the vegetables and meat. I tried both chicken and beef, and they were both delicious. I cut the meat into thin slices across the grain. For chicken, I used breast and I marinated the slices in Chinese cooking wine, salt, and white pepper. For the beef, I used sirloin flap and I marinated the slices in Chinese cooking wine and soy sauce. I use the sirloin flap for stir-frying applications because it's pretty cheap and tastes great. I used to use flank steak which costs almost twice as much! While the meat marinates, I prepare all the vegetables. It's really important to get all the ingredients prepped before you start stir-frying, because once the wok is on there's no waiting around. You'll end up with mushy vegetables or rubbery meat if you wait around with a hot wok. Sliced onions, minced garlic, and 1-in chopped green onions are a must. I think julienned carrots are necessary for some sweetness and color, but I'll be the first one to admit that julienning carrots is a pain so if you don't have the time just skip it. I like leafy greens so I chopped up some bok choy and threw in some spinach. Nappa cabbage and romaine would be great too. Kale, beet greens, and chard may be a bit tough for this application -- I may try it one day but I would blanch it first. I also used zucchini, bell pepper, and fresh Shitake mushrooms.
When there are 5 minutes left for the noodles, I heat the wok on high. I use a little oil, and stir fry the meat. As soon as the meat is cooked through I take the meat out of the wok. There should still be liquid in the wok, but if not add some more oil. Cook the onions and garlic next. Add some soy sauce at this point to help soften the onions. When the onions are soft which should take only a minute or two, add in the rest of the vegetables. Thicker vegetables first and leafy vegetables last. The seasoning is soy sauce, sesame oil, and sugar. I add some chicken broth to increase the amount of "sauce" that I want the noodles to soak up. As soon as the last leafy vegetable goes in, dump in the noodles. Add in the meat, and mix it all up. Let the noodles soak up all the delicious sauce. Just turn the burner off and walk away. Let it sit for a couple minutes, come back, mix it up and walk away for another couple of minutes. It's delicious, healthy, and quick! I'm sorry, there aren't any pictures for this post -- we were too hungry and excited to eat our Japchae to remember to take pictures.
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