Dry-Fried Pepper and Salt Shimp, a classic Chinese entrée that could bring home its own Gold Medal.
Today’s Wok Wednesday recipe choice has been a brain-buster for me. Not only is this dish bursting with flavor, but it sent my mind reeling with menu variations, those “with this I can do that” moments. While that may be a “Well, duh” moment for most of you, please understand that I’m a by-the-book cook. Really, I’m a by-the-book, black and white, follow-the-rules Person. My Goal? Get to GRAY.
When joining Wok Wednesdays I also thought I was introducing myself to a cuisine which I could successfully master and utilize portion control. Unless entertaining, I cook for “one” and am not particularly fond of never-ending leftovers (remember, I don’t improvise) or frozen anything. With today’s recipe, I was able to cut it in half, without sacrificing flavor.
I was able to cut the recipe in half, maintain the flavor and integrity of the dish, and still have leftovers for one additinal meal.
Although I love Chinese food, enjoying it in restaurants and to-go, I’ve not done homemade successfully. Grace Young’s cookbook, “Stir-Frying To The Sky’s Edge” is impressive and well-written. With her guidance, perhaps, I thought I could conquer the basics and move on to at-home Chinese glory. Surprisingly, Grace also responds to each WW participant’s Post, answering questions, pointing out problems and encouraging novices. Last week I received an e-mail, a comment and a Tweet from her. I didn’t even know I belonged to Twitter!!!
My suggestion? Buy the book. You’re welcome.
This week we made Classic Dry-Fried Pepper and Salt Shrimp. DO NOT MISS TRYING THIS. The entire recipe can be found on Grace’s own Site, http://www.graceyoung.com/recipes/. Although Dry Stir-Frying, a new technique for me, seems like an oxymoron, it’s actually classically Chinese and a stir-fry intended to have only enough sauce to cling to the main ingredients. Love that, don’t you? Simple to make. Few Ingredients. So satisfying.
Besides a tiny amount of salt, pepper, and sugar, our only other flavor friends are garlic, ginger, and chili.
And, this week, thanks to my daughter, Melissa, who was horrified to read that I was woking with a skillet, I received a new, gorgeous wok. Don’t you just love to embarrass your kids? Thanks, Mis.
My question to you, Grace, is about Brining. Because I was using frozen shrimp and dry cooking it, I first put it in a cold, sugar water Brine for 20 minutes. Then, I also swished it two times for 30 seconds each in salt water as you specified. I eliminated the sugar in your recipe. I thought the sugar brine would pop the flavor more. Any thoughts on that?
Beginning with a 20-minute sugar brine, a going-out-on-a-limb moment for me since Grace didn’t specify brining in her recipe.
Last night I enjoyed my Shrimp with plain rice and Tsingtau, my favorite Chinese beer. I could not have been happier. Tonight, as I march onward to GRAY, I’m using my few leftovers to make a New Orleans Shrimp Po’ Boy, Chinese-style.
A lovely lunch or light dinner: Tomato-Cheese Tartlet with steamed, chilled lentils and baby beets lying on an arugula bed. In the spirit of full disclosure, while the adults enjoyed their lunch, Clara opted for macaroni-and-cheese.
French Friday turned into an oops! moment last week as the day swept by without our even realizing my Dorista duties were beckoning. Let’s put the blame directly where it belongs…..at the feet of the nine-year-old cutie pie who was visiting me.
Since her Dad and 11-year-old sister, were hiking/camping the Pacific Crest Trail last week, she and her Mom decided to jump in the car and dash over to Grandma’s house. Never mind Nevada’s 111-degree heat. Our days were jam-packed with back-to-school shopping, craftwork (beading), jig saws (three 500-piece puzzles), swimming, nutritious meals tilted by tasty, sugary treats, all interspersed with cheering on the Americans (and, the Brits) at the Olympics and playing Jeopardy! (It was Kids Week and Clara held her own against the eleven-year-olds and, unfortunately, also her Mom and Grandmother.)
Needing to roll out the thawed puff pastry to a 13″ square, Clara grabbed the tape measure to be precise. A grandchild after her grandmother’s heart.
But Saturday morning, we got busy, pulled the puff pastry out of the freezer, waved our wand and created Tomato-Cheese Tartlets, an easy but showy pastry concoction that highlights the seasonal tomato harvest.
The technique to be learned this week, to my mind, is in the puff magic. ( I would sooooo like to finesse some dragon allusions into this week’s Post but am refraining from the obvious.) “These tartlets,” Dorie explains, “are built on a base of puff pastry that’s been weighted down so that it bakes to a flat crisp. These flat, rather sturdy discs can be grown into whatever you have on hand or want to pile on top of them.
Using a bowl with a diameter of 6″ as a guide, Clara used the point of a paring knife to score and then cut out 4 rounds of dough.
For this week’s recipe, spread the baked, browned pastry base with tapenade or pesto. Then overlap circles of heirloom tomatoes with mozzarella dressed in olive oil or aged, drippy and languid balsamic vinegar. I preferred to let my cheese melt just a smidgen so I placed it in the oven for a few minutes before dressing it.
Lay the rounds on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper. Prick each disc carefully with a fork so the puff pastry won’t even think about puffing.
Place the cookie sheet with pricked rounds in the oven, cover the top with parchment paper before placing another cookie sheet on top to weigh the pastry down.
Pop a bit of basil on top. It’s lunch or a light dinner. It’s lovely.
By far the most difficult part of this recipe is deciding what to do with the puff pastry scraps. Wouldn’t it be a shame to toss those morsels in the trash? Clara and her mom decided to rescue the leftovers from such a fate. Using a crystal Lalique wine glass as her cookie cutter (Yes, I blanched at that but said not-a-word.), Clara made twelve pastry rounds, brushed each one lightly with melted butter, sprinkled them heavily with Grandma’s ample stash mixture of cinnamon-sugar-and-chopped walnuts and baked until brown and puffy.
Being Foodies, we all know the Games of the XXX Olympiad cannot officially begin until we have our menu planned for tonight’s opening ceremonies. Luckily this week’s French Fridays with Dorie recipe choice, with a tweak or two, fits nicely into my All-American lineup.
The star is Barley, which Dorie calls “an odd-man-out kind of grain” in the French (and, American) kitchen. Also called “groats”, barley is a hardy, earthy grain, commonly used for animal fodder and beer. This week we’re using its most polished version, Pearl Barley, to create Lemon Barley Pilaf. Since we are still suffering 110 degree temperatures here, I preferred Dorie’s Bonne Idee and made a cold Ham & Barley Salad.
A delicious cold Summer entrée: HAM and BARLEY SALAD.
I cooked the barley, as suggested, and let it cool to room temperature before putting it in the refrigerator. Meanwhile, I cored, seeded and cut one red bell pepper into small cubes and sliced a dozen black olives. I tossed that together with 3 cups of diced ham (a 1 1/2 pound center-cut slab) and refrigerated it also.
A look at the butter, finely chopped onion, salt, pepper and pearl barley as it initially cooks before the broth, water and bay leaf are added.
For the dressing, I made a lusty whole-grain mustard vinaigrette:
Ingredients:
1/2 cup white vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
3 tablespoons whole-grain Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1-2 teaspoons salt (since the ham is salty, back off a bit, if you wish)
1 tablespoon minced garlic
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3-4 drops of Sriracha
Directions:
In a small bowl, whisk together all the ingredients until thoroughly blended. Chill. Just before serving, pour lightly over the combined barley, ham and vegetables until thoroughly coated and to taste.
This salad will make 4 ample servings. I plan to add sliced heirloom tomatoes (seasoned), chunks of American swiss cheese, and crusty country bread to the plate. Beer, wine or soda all compliment this menu.
After adding the broth, water and bay leaf, everything comes to a boil and then simmers, covered, for 45 minutes (longer than Dorie suggested).
You can’t miss the Olympics, even if you try. NBC will broadcast 272 1/2 hours, starting with the opening ceremony tonight (Friday). MSNBC has 155 1/2 hours with NBC Sports picking up 292 1/2 hours of team sports. CNBC has 73 hours of boxing. Bravo has 56 hours of tennis. There’s more: NBCOlympics.com will live stream every event for a record total of 5,535 hours.
With memories of and honoring the Israeli athletes murdered forty years ago at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games, my wish is for a safe, harmonious, and peaceful global competition during the next two weeks.
I’ll be hooting and hollering for my country’s athletes just as other FFWD bloggers, Paula, Andrea, Mardi, Rose, and Cakelaw, to name a few, are cheering for theirs.
A French technique for a Chinese speciality dish: Mise En Place. Be sure you have all 18 ingredients on hand. The recipe is quite simple and you will use these products, spices and oils over and over again in Asian cooking.
There have already been two woks in my cooking past. Now, it seems, there will be a third. I prefer “third times the charm” rather than “better luck next time,” don’t you?
Here’s the story. I enjoy reading Catherine’s blog entitled My Culinary Mission. She currently posted a speciality dish entitled Yin Yang Beans. That plate of spicy green beans piqued my palate’s interest as much as it did her describing being part of the Wok Wednesday group piqued my curiosity. Now, I’d heard of Foodie Friday, Daring Bakers, Sunday Suppers, Baked Sunday Morning, Daring Cooks, and belong to French Friday with Dorie and Tuesdays with Dorie/Baking with Julia…………to name a few. But, Wok Wednesdays? That was a language I didn’t speak and had been a failure at cooking it as well.
I went to the library to check out “Stir-Frying To the Sky’s Edge”, the cookbook of choice written by award-winning author Grace Young. At home, with the book in hand, I pulled out my 12-inch skillet and put together Yin Yang Beans. They tasted every bit as good as their name implied. The cookbook seemed, as advertised, “the ultimate guide to mastery, with authentic recipes and stories.” With this book, I reasoned, I could do more with vegetables, portion control and even say “Au revoir” to my local China-a-Go-Go. I signed up and became a Wok Wednesdays wonk. (That’s my moniker, not theirs.)
One pound of chicken, cut into 3/4-inch cubes, is mixed with ginger, garlic, cornstarch, soy sauce, rice wine, sugar, salt and cold water.
Combine and stir together chicken broth, balsamic vinegar, dark soy sauce, sesame oil and rice wine as the liquid mixture.
Last night I made Kung Pao Chicken, (p. 113), this week’s recipe choice. Although we are restricted from printing the recipe, you can find it on the New Asian Cuisine site.
The chicken, seared beautifully, was melt-in-your-mouth delicious. While I realize the orange bell pepper is not as colorful as its red sister, the taste was the same. Next time, red.
Although, like in many Asian recipes, there are many ingredients required, they are all easy to find and purchase and will be necessary for upcoming dishes and meals. Why had I thought this so difficult before —- all I needed to do was cut, chop, mince, shred, grate, snip, and pour. The cooking time was less than 8 minutes.
Last night I served this with white rice. For me, a filling meal and because of the sauce, needing no additional soy sauce. When eating the leftovers today, I am going to add this salad I just found on food52:
If you wish to see other WW’s chefs’ Kung Pau Chicken, go here. I already can confidently suggest you add Grace Young’s “Stir-Frying to theSky’s Edge” to your cookbook library. Delightful, interesting and nutritious recipes. A good read.
My Wok Wednesdays Posts are dedicated to and honor my friendship with cook extraordinaire, Renée Deutsch, who now lives in Arizona. In the 1980s-90s, she and her husband, Bob, owned the Charcuterie, the best deli Aspen has ever known. Late one afternoon in those days, she and I were both at the check-out counter of our local Aspen grocery store. She spotted my groceries, a can each of LaChoy Chicken Chow Mein, Water Chestnuts, and Crispy Noodles. I said, “We feel like Chinese tonight.” I will never forget the look of pure horror on her face. She grabbed the cans, replaced them on the shelves and said, “Mary, just bring Michael and come over for dinner tonight.” We enjoyed an Asian feast that night, one of many food memories while gathered around Bob and Renée’s table. Renée, honey, this “wok’s” for you.
A French Friday’s with Dorie Feast: Salmon with Basil Tapenade, Yin-Yang Beans, and Semolina Bread to mop up the extra tapenade sauce.
Shortly after my daughter Melissa arrived to spend some time with me after the death of my husband, she made a suggestion. “I think, Mom, this is a time to stock up on Comfort Foods, just eat what makes you feel good.” Somehow, to hear her now irreverently tell it, I translated “Comfort Foods” into “all the Junk Food that you want” and went on a binge. My menu, for more days than I’d like to admit was:
Fritos, the Original Corn Chip;
Cheetos Crunchy Cheese Flavored Snacks;
Archway Original Windmill Cookies; (with milk)
Caramel Corn (Farmers Market); and
Premium Saltine Crackers (crumbled and mixed with sugar and milk).
Toss in one-half a Blueberry-Marscapone Roulade and a whole loaf of Semolina Bread and, to me, that spells c-o-m-f-o-r-t. For about ten days. After that, it spells j-u-n-k-f-o-o-d. That’s why it was a nice jog back to reality when this week’s French Fridays with Dorie recipe choice was Salmon with Basil Tapenade.
Wild Sockeye Salmon Fillets
There’s nothing difficult about this tasty main course which is explained beautifully here. It’s simply tapenade coaxed into two “pockets” created in each 5 ounce, thick, center-portion of salmon. The fillets cook 4 minutes in the skillet before heading into the oven for another 6. Add some leftover tapenade sauce for a lovely dinner entrée.
Fill a small plastic baggie with the olive tapenade. Then cut off a small tip of a corner and hold the “cone” tightly with your hand. Use this make-shift tube to fill the slit “pockets” in each salmon fillet. Massage gently to evenly spread the tapenade.
I thought that Yin Yang Beans, a favorite recipe from Grace Young’s “Stir-Frying to the Sky’s Edge” cookbook and featured on PBS a year ago, might be a complimentary side to the salmon. Even without the ground pork, which I left out, these green beans still have the tangy, spicy flair that is delicious with this salmon. So good, in fact, that I’ve joined Wok Wednesdays, a new twice-monthly cooking group that is woking it’s way through Young’s book. Next week, Kung Pao Chicken. If you want to see what others chose to serve with their salmon this week, go here.
It would be remiss and most ungracious of me not to acknowledge your many kindnesses and concerns expressed since the death of my husband. Quite remarkable, really. Six years ago, Michael wrote a letter telling me the life he hoped I would lead after he could no longer live it with me. Now, keeping in mind this is a Man’s Idea of how a Woman should live, he did leave behind good marching orders. Since by nature, I am a happy, optimistic woman, always willing to choose joy over sadness, he’s now made that even easier. In that vein, I am off to California this week-end to celebrate a lovely young lady’s 11th birthday. Life is Good.
Isn’t it delightful, at times, to experience a civilized moment?
Living in the moment is good. If it’s civilized? So much the better.
Thanks to a love affair with trout, yesterday I was “ a lady who lunches” meets Walden Pond. Like that old rascal, Thoreau, I savored the solitude and silence of my own backyard. Admittedly, mine is man-made. But that was then, 1854, and this is now, 2012.
When I closed my eyes this was Walden Pond. Eyes opened? My own backyard.
For lunch, in my continuing effort to expand my salad repertoire, I made Smoked Trout & Potato Salad with Buttermilk Vinaigrette, included a baguette from local BonjourBakery and washed it down with a Strawberry Rosé Spritzer. Okay, two spritzers. After all, I was really into being civilized.
Smoked Trout & Potato Salad with Buttermilk Vinaigrette, a satisfyingly delicious lunch or light dinner.
Smoked Trout & Potato Salad with Buttermilk Vinaigrette
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon of lemon zest
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons Olea Farm Lemon Blush Olive Oil
1 tablespoon freshly chopped dill
Diamond Crystal Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
The salad:
1 tablespoon Olea Farm Olive Oil
6 baby red potatoes, sliced into thin coins
1 cup chicken stock (enough to cover)
6 ounces smoked trout, skin removed Diamond Crystal Kosher salt
Directions:
For the dressing, mix together the buttermilk, vinegar, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Slowly whisk in the olive oil (or drip, drip, drip in the food processor) before adding the chopped dill. Season liberally with salt. Pepper, to taste.
For the salad, heat olive oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the potatoes and another generous pinch of salt. Sauté for a minute or two before adding chicken stock. Bring to a gentle boil. Cook the potatoes until tender, not mushy, about 6-8 minutes. Drain and pour into a glass bowl.
After removing the skin, flake the trout into small pieces over the potatoes. Pour about half the dressing over the trout/potato mixture and kindly fold until combined. Add additional dressing to taste. Garnish the salad with dill sprigs and serve at room temperature.
Note: Let the trout be the star of the show. This nutritious and tasty plate asks for only two primary ingredients. Two is the magic number here. While I believe this salad is best served at room temperature, I also enjoyed a “refrigerated version” for breakfast this morning. Yes, for breakfast. Still yummy.
In The Spirit of Full Discloser: Realizing that Thumper, Peter and other pesky wabbits had enjoyed my dill, I substituted dried dill for fresh in the dressing and found the last sprig standing for the salad. Long Live Elmer Fudd.
3-4 tablespoons sugar, according to the sweetness of berries
Stir together the strawberries and sugar in a bowl. After an hour or two, they will be sugar-soaked. Put 1/2 of the berries in a plastic bag and throw in the freezer to make ice cubes. Puree the remaining berries in a blender, and then pass the puree through a fine mesh sieve. Set aside.
Spritzer:
3 tablespoons strained strawberry puree
3 ounces Rosé (choose your favorite)
Soda Water
Directions:
For One drink, throw 3 or 4 frozen strawberries, depending on their size, into a red wine glass. Add the strawberry puree and rosé and stir together. Top off the pour with soda water. Stir once, gently. Delicious.
Note: Most of the time I total and this summertime drink lends itself well to teetotalers like me. To make the non-alcoholic version, just increase the puree and add soda water or ginger ale. It’s good and lets you feel like “one of the crowd.”
