Suffering Succotash

While we're all suffering the effects of SARS-CoV-2—and I should add that I truly hope you're suffering less than the worst, but I offer sincere compassion for all—I have still been cooking. I started the year with plans for more regular updates here but, yeah... COVID. The biggest change for my cooking is having to limit trips for ingredients, and thus doing meal plans and often making do with what I have. It's become a cheater version of Chopped: Quarantine Edition.

Southern Succotash

"Succotash" comes from a Narragansett word, sohquttahhash or msíckquatash, referring to corn kernels as boiled or broken, and the dish usually includes corn and lima beans. What I made here is a markedly Southern version which incorporates plenty of butter and bacon, plus seasonal homegrown okra, tomatoes, and basil, and I cooked it in that old cast iron skillet I cleaned up from Mississippi.

My mother and I have been (safely and responsibly) sharing ingredients and shopping trips, and we both planted a handful of vegetables and fruits in our yards as well. Her thumb is much greener than mine, but we've both still enjoyed some fresh produce and her okra has been producing very well. So we've been doing a slew of okra dishes with shared ingredients, hence Southern succotash. This wasn't quite the most adventurous so far, but it was super yummy and made for a very pretty picture!

Do You Like Fish Sticks?

This one isn't crazy gourmet, but when I caught it on a weekend cooking show we often watch, I was intrigued with one cook's seemingly obvious concept of elevating fish sticks by essentially making tempura inspired by seared tuna. I also happened to have the perfect side dish for it in mind, too.

Tuna Tempura Fish Sticks and Asian Slaw

The only things that really make this dish elaborate or laborious are the deep frying and the amount of ingredients in the slaw. I ended up blending a lot of ideas instead of just following exactly what I saw on TV. But at the end of the day, we have fresh tuna sliced like fish sticks, battered in a light tempura batter gently flavored with soy sauce, then finished with sesame seeds and flaky sea salt (everything bagel seasoning is a great idea, too). The sauce I made was from the show, which is basically a lemony wasabi-mayo. I liked it okay, but I think next time I'll whip up my go-to spicy tuna sauce or the lime-ginger-soy sauce I use with seared tuna.

This Asian slaw, which is a recipe I've been doing for years, is loaded with veggies like bok choy, napa cabbage, mung bean sprouts, ginger, snow peas, carrots, red bell pepper, etc, all tossed in a sesame-mirin-soy dressing and topped with crispy wontons (freshly fried since I already had oil at 375º).

Even though it's deep fried and the sauce and dressing has high fat content, the whole meal feels light and fresh. I didn't quite achieve a red center in the tuna even though I kept it in the freezer before going to the oil, but it was still tender and moist. I'm not sure how feasible something like emulating seared tuna is when deep frying, but that will be the challenge for next time!

Seafood Stew: Italian

Like my as-yet-unfinished Study in Fried Chicken, I've long wanted to do a study comparing seafood stews because every culture and nationality has (at least) one. I've done a few that I haven't written about here yet, but plan to eventually- Brazilian, Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese, French, etc. But for now, here is:

Italian Seafood Stew

What makes this stew unique is that the squid broth is to die for! Normally, squid is cooked fairly quickly- a couple minutes in the pan, deep fried, or grilled over high heat. This recipe slow cooks the squid with aromatics like onion and fennel before deglazing and fully reducing white wine and then adding puréed tomatoes and oregano. The squid imparts the lovely flavor of the sea, and the cooking method gives its texture a perfect snap without being tough or chewy.

* Funny side story- at the seafood counter, a couple next to me remarked, "Ew, look! They have squid tubes and tentacles!" Immediately after that the fishmonger asked what I wanted and I said, "A pound of squid tubes and tentacles, please." The couple ultimately ordered a bunch of bottom-feeding bivalves, scallops (which I also love).  It was just coincidence, but I laughed inside. Maybe they like "calamari" better ;-)

Anyway, the broth is slow cooked with strips of lemon zest and the whole stew is topped for brightness with a simple parsley and lemon zest gremolata (just a basic lemon and herb topping, often with garlic).

This version also includes mussels, shrimp, and firm white fish. Kara is allergic to clams (and only clams!) so I doubled the mussels and used seafood stock instead of clam juice. I also left just one intact mussel on each plate as garnish and shelled the rest just before serving so the dish didn't have a pile of shells on it requiring bowls just for refuse. I splurged for halibut as the fish component, but with so many flavors here, I think I'll use more affordable cod next time or... SCALLOPS!

Served with a baby kale and spinach side salad with homemade lemon vinaigrette and grilled bread with a compound butter made with roasted garlic to sop up the broth. And that wraps up this version of seafood stew. Hopefully I'll be able to write more about others later and then collect and consolidate my comments across all cultural takes on this popular dish.

Three Cup Lunar New Year

For quite a while now, I’ve kept with the tradition of celebrating Lunar New Year by cooking cuisine from countries that celebrate the holiday. This year we turned to China. After the traditional noodles for longevity and egg rolls for prosperity, the star was San Bei Ji, or Three Cup Chicken. Just as Pound Cake is named for a pound each of flour, butter, eggs, and sugar, Three Cup Chicken is named for the equal parts of soy sauce, sesame oil, and rice wine that combine to make the sauce.

Three Cup Chicken

The dish interested me in part because I enjoy a history lesson with my cooking. Legend has it that this was first served to Wen Tianxiang, a hero of the Song Dynasty who is still revered today in China as a sign of patriotism and righteousness. After his capture by Kublai Khan’s Yuan army and four years of torture in captivity, a warden took pity on him and used the few available tools and ingredients to serve Wen his last meal before his execution, and San Bei Ji was born.

Traditionally, the three cups of liquids are used to slow cook a whole chicken in a clay pot until the sauce is mostly absorbed and evaporated so the chicken is left sizzling. The version I made trades some of the traditional techniques and textures for convenience, but keeps much of the flavor. Chicken thighs were easier than a whole chicken and I used less sesame oil, adding it at the end, but in keeping with common preparations, I cooked it along with scallions, large slices of ginger and garlic, and most uniquely, wilted leaves of Thai Basil. It’s sweet, salty, umami, and spicy from ginger, but you can add as much red pepper as you want for more heat. Delicious.

Enjoy your Year of the Rat!

Post-Christmas Goose

For years I have wanted to cook the classic Christmas goose, and I finally made it happen! Holiday schedules placed the meal on January 4th, but that's close enough ;-)

Roast Goose with Prune and Apple Stuffing and Red Wine Giblet Gravy

This entire meal was comparable to a full-on Thanksgiving dinner- a three day cooking event. The goose itself was cooked in a manner similar to Peking Duck, which is boiled for just a minute or so to tighten the skin before being left to dry for a day or more, so the skin crisps up when cooked. You know it's done boiling when you see... goosebumps. This was the first bird I ever stuffed and trussed (stitching up with a needle and thread), and in this case the bird was stuffed with apples, ham, bread, plenty of veggies, and prunes soaked in sherry. The gravy consisted of a slow cooked red wine goose stock, more sherry, and minced heart, liver, and gizzard. It was delicious and rich. I would place the flavor of the goose itself, which is all dark meat, somewhere between duck and dark meat turkey. The cooking methods kept the meal balanced, allowing the goose's fat to melt away, just moistening the meat, and being repurposed for stuffing and gravy, so it wasn't too heavy. Duck still holds its #1 place in my heart, but this was fabulous.

I served this with a Wild Mushroom Soup (a favorite simple recipe courtesy of the late Anthony Bourdain), Colcannon, Rosemary-Butter Yeast Rolls, and Broccolini and Swiss Chard with Peas and Seared Lemons. Dessert was a Blueberry Crumble.

Quiche

This dish represents my first hired food job! My sister-in-law, Tori, owns TWO art schools and wanted to thank her support team. What began as a question about where to buy quiches for that thank you became a request for me to make them. I do a lot of work for the schools' flyers, calendars, banners, etc, so I was more than happy to make them some food. Having never cooked it before, I did a test run...

Over the Top Mushroom Quiche
Quiche, a pastry crust filled with egg and cream, is considered French, but original variations date back to Italy and the word is thought to have come from German, "kuchen," meaning cake. The most popular quiche is arguably Quiche Lorraine, which adds lardons (a French version of fatty bacon), but you can put pretty much anything in it that you want. For this project, I'm staying vegetarian so I made a quiche with wild mushrooms from the farmer's market (oyster and white button) and layers of Jarlsberg cheese (similar to Swiss). You can see the layers clearly in the picture. I also made the pie crust myself in a tall springform pan, but I don't know that I'll do that again—it's a pain and I really don't like baking! We happened to be spending the day with our niece, so she was a test subject, but I think it came out very well. We all ate a full serving and I shared leftovers with my mother the next day. It's very rich, but sort of light at the same time, so you feel like you've indulged, but you don't feel heavy after eating it. This particular recipe is deep dish quiche and the star chef who created it insists that quiche has to be several inches high. (I think it might be easier to make AND eat when a little smaller.)

Bánh Xèo

In a perfect example of Vietnamese cuisine as a blend of French and Asian influence, this dish is very similar to a crêpe in concept, but the result is quite different. The batter contains no egg, rice flour is used instead of wheat, throw in some coconut milk, turmeric, scallions, and a lot of oil for cooking, and you get a much crispier, more flavorful thin pancake than the springy French crêpe. Bánh Xèo translates to "sizzling cake" due to the sound it makes when the thin water-based batter hits the hot oil in the pan. It's eaten kind of like a lettuce wrap- you tear off a chunk and wrap it in red leaf lettuce with sprigs of mint, and dip it in a sauce (there is no seasoning in the filling itself).

This is the kind of dish that takes some practice to properly execute; like a crêpe, it's tricky to flip or fold perfectly. I made two versions. My first go was okay and I learned a lot. My second try was better, but still not spot on. I just need experience to nail it.

Bánh Xèo with Vegetables
Vegan AND gluten free! Featuring fried tofu strips, wood ear mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, garlic, carrots, celery, cellophane noodles, and mung bean sprouts. Served with a soy-based dipping sauce (yes, there's gluten in soy sauce, but there are easy alternatives- I'm looking at you, tamari).

Bánh Xèo with Shrimp and Pork
This is the more simple, traditional iteration: shrimp, pork, onions, and mung bean sprouts. I served it with a fish sauce-based dipping sauce. As much as I wanted to like the vegan one, I ended up liking this one better, in large part due to the pungent sauce.

As a final note, I'm a stickler for proper pronunciations, and bánh xèo is pronounced like "bon-SAY-oh". With an attempted accent for a Western tongue, it's closer to "bon-SOW" – "bon" rhyming with John and "sow" rhyming with how. No matter what, it's a great dish!