Flashback Friday - Rice Salad with Chinese Sausage and Roasted Broccoli

This post originally appeared on Minxeats.com on April 30, 2014.

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Have you ever read a food magazine and felt the urge to cook one of the recipes RIGHT NOW? As in, drop the magazine and run to the kitchen immediately? I had that feeling when I spotted the recipe for savory granola in the April 2014 issue of Bon Appetit. I had just turned the oven off 10 minutes earlier after removing a tray of roasted broccoli and knew I wouldn't have to wait for the thing to pre-heat (it takes forever, which can be a real buzz-kill during a cooking frenzy). We had most of the ingredients--old fashioned oats, walnuts, sesame seeds, fennel, seeds--and I substituted for a couple others (pumpkin seeds in place of sunflower seeds, skipped the pistachios entirely). I mixed up the ingredients pronto and banged them into the hot oven.

Now you must recall that I had just roasted broccoli. At 450°F. So the oven was a wee bit hotter than it needed to be, hence the charred appearance of my salad topping (some of the black bits are black sesame seeds though). No matter, even slightly burnt, the granola was AMAZING. It took all of my willpower not to shove handfuls of it into my face hole. The combination of nuts + fennel seeds is delicious and I wish I had thought of it myself.

Rather than eating all of it right then and there (it makes about 3 cups), I decided to use it as a component in the dinner I was preparing--cold rice salad with Chinese sausage and a peanut butter vinaigrette. Oh, and roasted broccoli.

I wanted the salad to have a peanut sauce flavor, but not a standard sweet peanut sauce. Instead, I made it ultra vinegary, using both rice wine and Chinese black vinegar (also called Chinkiang vinegar). Chinese black vinegar is, as Isaac Mizrahi is fond of saying, EVERYTHING, Darlings. It's mellow, malty, and woodsy, with a burnt caramel aspect. If you're a vinegar fan (and I know not everyone is...weirdos), then you have to try it. I then added a bit of agave syrup, soy, and sambal oelek for heat. (We use Huy Fong brand, the company that makes the ever popular "rooster sauce" sriracha. Oelek is different in that it's just crushed chiles in vinegar and salt, no garlic or sugar.) It was perfect on plain steamed rice garnished with Chinese sausage and scallions.

I tossed the broccoli into the salad after the sauce was added, because I didn't want the broccoli to have soggy florets. And then I sprinkled a bit of the granola on each serving.

So. Good. I need to make this again very soon.

Rice Salad with Roasted Broccoli

Roasted broccoli:
3 broccoli crowns
3 tablespoons olive oil
Kosher salt

Peanut sauce:
3 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 tablespoon agave syrup
1 tablespoon Chinese black vinegar
5 tablespoons unseasoned rice wine vinegar
2 teaspoons sambal oelek
1/4 teaspoon salt

To assemble salad:
3 cups cooked, room-temperature rice (Jasmine is nice, or basmati)
3 Chinese pork sausages, sliced into coins, lightly fried, and drained on paper towels
1/2 cup julienned carrots
3 scallions, white and green parts, chopped

Savory granola (optional, but delicious)

To make broccoli: Preheat oven to 450°F.

Remove thick stem from each broccoli crown. Break the floret into small pieces. Cut the stem into lengthwise slices. Toss both florets and stems with olive oil and salt and arrange in one layer on a rimmed baking sheet lined with foil. Roast for about 20 minutes, turning broccoli halfway, until tender and browning in spots. Remove from heat and set aside.

To make peanut sauce: In a large bowl, combine all ingredients and stir well. Taste for seasoning--it should be vinegary, lightly salty, and lightly spicy. Add more salt and sambal if you wish.

To assemble salad: Using a fork, stir rice into prepared peanut sauce until well-coated. Add the sausages, carrots, and scallions and toss to combine.

Serve at room temperature with a helping of broccoli and a sprinkle of the savory granola.

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Flashback Friday - Thai Red Curry Chicken Burgers

This post originally appeared on Minxeats.com on May 2, 2014.

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We have a ton of stuff on our freezer. Other than ice cream, I mean. There are several quarts of gumbo from Cajun Kate's, leftover pork shoulder from that 8-lb behemoth I cooked last month, half a roast duck from the Great Wall grocery store in Catonsville, a leg of lamb, pasta sauce, various types of sausages (chorizo, andouille, lap cheong, hot dogs), ground beef, a skirt steak, bags of nuts, yeast, coffee, and bread, and more. And this is one of those standard above-the-fridge freezer jobbies, not a big ol' chest freezer. (So don't believe me when I say we have nothing in the house to eat. What I really mean is that there's nothing that I feel like defrosting and cooking.)

There was a pound of ground chicken in there too. I can't remember why we bought it exactly, maybe to make some laab, but there it was, looking slightly freezer-burned, buried under a pile of other foodstuffs. I determined that if it was not indeed funky with freezer burn, I'd make chicken burgers with it. And not just chicken burgers, but Thai red curry chicken burgers. We had two open jars of Thai Kitchen red curry paste in the fridge, and I've been looking for a way to use the stuff up. We also had a partial jar of  Maesri "chilli paste with basil leaves" and a jar of sliced Kaffir lime leaves. I love that chilli paste stuff and have used it in a number of things over the years. As for the lime leaves--have you noticed how difficult they are to find in the supermarket? And when you do find them, you have to use them right away or they'll go bad? Then I found sliced ones in a jar at H-Mart. They're not quite as powerfully-flavored as fresh, but they'll do in a pinch. And I think their flavor is an essential match to red curry paste.

So...back to the burgers. Ground chicken can often be unpalatably dry, so I always add some chia seeds soaked in water to add moisture. The omega-3 boost doesn't hurt, either. The curry paste also helps to make the meat moist. In fact, the raw mixture will be very moist, so don't be anal about trying to get perfectly round patties. Refrigerate them for a while before cooking so the flavors meld and the patties firm up a bit.

These were a big hit. The burgers were not only moist, but also super flavorful. We ate them both on bread and as-is with a salad, using the special sauce as dressing.

Thai Red Curry Chicken Burgers

2 teaspoons chia seeds soaked in 1 tablespoon water
1 lb ground chicken
1 tablespoon coconut milk powder
4 teaspoons Thai Kitchen Red Curry Paste
2 teaspoons finely minced Kaffir lime leaves
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons canola oil

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well to incorporate the chia and curry paste. Form into patties, between 4-8, depending on the size of your rolls, number of guests, or appetite. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour so the flavors will meld.

Heat canola oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet. When hot, add the chicken patties. Cook for 4 minutes on the first side, then flip and cook an additional 3 minutes.

Serve with Special Sauce.

Special Sauce

3 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 Tablespoon Maesri Thai chilli sauce with basil
1/2 roasted red bell pepper, diced
2 scallions, white and green part, chopped

Combine all ingredients. Serve with Thai Red Curry Chicken Burgers.

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Flashback Friday - Rice Salad with Chinese Sausage and Roasted Broccoli

This post originally appeared on Minxeats.com on April 30, 2014.

-----------------------------------------

Have you ever read a food magazine and felt the urge to cook one of the recipes RIGHT NOW? As in, drop the magazine and run to the kitchen immediately? I had that feeling when I spotted the recipe for savory granola in the April 2014 issue of Bon Appetit. I had just turned the oven off 10 minutes earlier after removing a tray of roasted broccoli and knew I wouldn't have to wait for the thing to pre-heat (it takes forever, which can be a real buzz-kill during a cooking frenzy). We had most of the ingredients--old fashioned oats, walnuts, sesame seeds, fennel, seeds--and I substituted for a couple others (pumpkin seeds in place of sunflower seeds, skipped the pistachios entirely). I mixed up the ingredients pronto and banged them into the hot oven.

Now you must recall that I had just roasted broccoli. At 450°F. So the oven was a wee bit hotter than it needed to be, hence the charred appearance of my salad topping (some of the black bits are black sesame seeds though). No matter, even slightly burnt, the granola was AMAZING. It took all of my willpower not to shove handfuls of it into my face hole. The combination of nuts + fennel seeds is delicious and I wish I had thought of it myself.

Rather than eating all of it right then and there (it makes about 3 cups), I decided to use it as a component in the dinner I was preparing--cold rice salad with Chinese sausage and a peanut butter vinaigrette. Oh, and roasted broccoli.

I wanted the salad to have a peanut sauce flavor, but not a standard sweet peanut sauce. Instead, I made it ultra vinegary, using both rice wine and Chinese black vinegar (also called Chinkiang vinegar). Chinese black vinegar is, as Isaac Mizrahi is fond of saying, EVERYTHING, Darlings. It's mellow, malty, and woodsy, with a burnt caramel aspect. If you're a vinegar fan (and I know not everyone is...weirdos), then you have to try it. I then added a bit of agave syrup, soy, and sambal oelek for heat. (We use Huy Fong brand, the company that makes the ever popular "rooster sauce" sriracha. Oelek is different in that it's just crushed chiles in vinegar and salt, no garlic or sugar.) It was perfect on plain steamed rice garnished with Chinese sausage and scallions.

I tossed the broccoli into the salad after the sauce was added, because I didn't want the broccoli to have soggy florets. And then I sprinkled a bit of the granola on each serving.

So. Good. I need to make this again very soon.

Rice Salad with Roasted Broccoli

Roasted broccoli:
3 broccoli crowns
3 tablespoons olive oil
Kosher salt

Peanut sauce:
3 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 tablespoon agave syrup
1 tablespoon Chinese black vinegar
5 tablespoons unseasoned rice wine vinegar
2 teaspoons sambal oelek
1/4 teaspoon salt

To assemble salad:
3 cups cooked, room-temperature rice (Jasmine is nice, or basmati)
3 Chinese pork sausages, sliced into coins, lightly fried, and drained on paper towels
1/2 cup julienned carrots
3 scallions, white and green parts, chopped

Savory granola (optional, but delicious)

To make broccoli: Preheat oven to 450°F.

Remove thick stem from each broccoli crown. Break the floret into small pieces. Cut the stem into lengthwise slices. Toss both florets and stems with olive oil and salt and arrange in one layer on a rimmed baking sheet lined with foil. Roast for about 20 minutes, turning broccoli halfway, until tender and browning in spots. Remove from heat and set aside.

To make peanut sauce: In a large bowl, combine all ingredients and stir well. Taste for seasoning--it should be vinegary, lightly salty, and lightly spicy. Add more salt and sambal if you wish.

To assemble salad: Using a fork, stir rice into prepared peanut sauce until well-coated. Add the sausages, carrots, and scallions and toss to combine.

Serve at room temperature with a helping of broccoli and a sprinkle of the savory granola.

Posted on Minxeats.com.


Posted on Minxeats.com.

Spring Has Sprung at Seasons 52

Seasons 52 opened in the summer of 2014 as one of the new shops and restaurants in Columbia Mall's outdoor extension. A national chain in the Darden Restaurants group (which also owns Bahama Breeze, Capital Grille, and Olive Garden, plus a few others not in the Baltimore area yet) Seasons 52 is all about "what's good now." Their food is seasonal (but not necessarily local) and designed not to bankrupt anyone's calorie budget for the day/week/month. That's not to say that they serve diet food - not at all! But you won't find a deep fryer in the kitchen, or french fries anywhere on their menu. Instead, entrees tend to include something starchy and something vegetal and average around 580 calories or so.

We were invited in to Seasons 52 to sample selections from the spring menu, with wine pairings; the multiple courses of deliciousness were a treat.

As we waited for the rest of our party of local food bloggers to arrive, we sampled two of the restaurant's seven flatbreads. New for spring are the lobster and fresh mozzarella (with roasted sweet peppers, scallions, and lobster sour cream) and the crispy prosciutto and asparagus (with Camembert and chervil). They are true flatbreads, with a very thin and crisp crust, and not just oddly-shaped pizzas. Toppings are generous and flavorful, with the lobster flatbread's creamy drizzle having a particularly pleasing lemony kick.

With the flatbreads, we enjoyed a Chartogne-Taillet Cuvee Sainte Anne, a lovely floral champagne.

Once we were seated, we received a spoonful of an intensely flavored chilled asparagus soup with lemon chantilly cream, paired with lightly effervescent Aveleda Vinho Verde.

Next up was a spinach salad dressed in a white balsamic vinaigrette, tossed with spring strawberries, toasted pine nuts, nuggets of Gorgonzola, and fresh pea tendrils, and drizzled with some 15-year aged balsamic. I felt the delicate greenness of the pea tendrils (also called pea shoots) was lost in all those assertive vinegar flavors, but sweet strawberries + toasty nuts + funky cheese are one of my favorite flavor combos.

(The salad was huge, and at 250 calories, when paired with an under-500-calorie flatbread, the combination would make a lovely lunch for two. Just a suggestion!)

With the salad we enjoyed a Tilia Torrontes redolent of jasmine, honeysuckle, and rose.

We then received two appetizers. The first, Meyer lemon ricotta ravioli with brown butter, roasted peppers, and English peas, was an actual appetizer. With it we drank a Robert Sinskey Los Carneros Pinot Noir, the earthiness of which worked well with the rich brown butter and overall sweetness of the citrussy ricotta filling.

The second "app" we sampled was actually an entree. Six handsomely-sized scallops with lemon risotto, English peas, and roasted asparagus won me over. I've complained many a time about the insane cost of scallops in a restaurant. You're lucky to get three puny ones for $30. Seasons 52 serves six big babies, perfectly cooked, for $23.50. The accompanying risotto was delightfully creamy and Mr Minx and I found ourselves fighting for the last morsels on the plate.

With the scallops we drank a Mer Soleil Chardonnay, which, while delightful on its own with its unusual almost-sweet butterscotch and apple flavors, didn't work so well with the scallops. The wine made them fishy on my palate. YMMV, of course. The wine is generally recommended for seafood.

We also sampled two entrees, the Asian-glazed Chilean Sea Bass with organic black rice, snow peas, shiitake mushrooms, and micro wasabi. I loved it. The somewhat sticky black rice positively oozed with heavenly brown butter flavors, and the fish was ultra fresh and very moist. The sauce, which could have erred on the too-sweet side, was just right to my palate. Mr Minx and I also finished every last drop of this dish, along with the accompanying Selbach-Oster Kabinett Reisling, apple-vanilla sweet with nice lime-y acidity.

Our last savory dish was the wood-grilled rack of lamb with spring vegetables (including English peas, asparagus, fiddlehead ferns, pearl onions, carrots, and mushrooms), Yukon Gold mash, and shallot jus. The chops were cooked to a juicy and well-rested medium-to-medium rare, and all the veg were crisp-tender. With them we drank a smooth Cab blend from South Africa, the De Taren Fusion V, with flavors of berries, licorice, and spice.

But wait kids, that's not all! We were also served desserts. Just about all of them. As part of Seasons 52's reasonably caloried meals, desserts are wee parfait-style treats that range between 220 and 370 calories (and if they have that many calories, just think of what a full-sized slice of pie a la mode is worth!). We sampled pecan pie, strawberry cannoli, key lime pie, Belgian chocolate s'mores, mocha macchiato, chocolate peanut butter torte, and a tiramisu-style concoction that came with a pipette of amaretto. All rich and tasty; the cannoli, chocolate peanut, and key lime concoctions were our faves. We had another nice Selbach-Oster Reisling, a Bernkasteler Badstube Auslese, with dessert.

It was an excellent meal, all said, with the strawberries, pea shoots, asparagus, and fiddleheads adding happy hints of spring here and there. Seasons 52 is certainly worth a visit, not only for the lovely food, but also the great selection of wines. (The 52 in the restaurant's name indicates the 52 wines available by the glass. One hundred are usually available by the bottle.) Just don't fall in love with any of them, because, as is almost always the case for us, few if any are available in local stores (the Mer Soleil being an exception).



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Fatty Crab

I'm occasionally amused by the way restaurants view themselves. Fatty Crab, a Malaysian-influenced restaurant owned by a non-Malaysian, Zak Pelaccio, seems to think it's a "joint." The Web site makes the place seem really funky, but it's just a small Meatpacking-district restaurant with tall front windows and a menu with lots of interesting and tasty stuff on it. Maybe we ate early, and the funky/joint stuff happens after dark. I'll never find out, nor do I particularly care. I have never been a scenester, so vibe isn't nearly as important as the food, and the food was good.

My semi-regular NY dining companion, David, and I chose to split three apps and one entree. We got the green mango and papaya salad, which was the typical Thai-style salad with chili, lime, and peanut. It was tasty, but not the best version I've had. The mango wasn't particularly green, but it was appropriately fiery.

Next up were pork belly buns served with a sriracha soy sauce and a cilantro salad. These were really nice, with tender fatty pork and nicely pillowy buns. The pork was flavorful enough without needing the sauce, and the cilantro salad added a bit of herbaceousness to cut the fat.

Not to be redundent, but we also tried the Fatty Sliders, made from a blend of beef and pork with sambal aioli and caramelized onions on potato rolls. The aioli was incendiary, but the burgerettes are something I'd love to replicate for one of summer's many grilling occasions.

Finally, we had the beef rendang, which was gorgeous. Short ribs had been braised forever in a mild lemongrass chili sauce and served with coconut rice and a side of pickles. So much better than the local version I had earlier in the year, I wished I didn't have to share this dish with someone else.

We didn't order dessert, but were brought little squares of sweet glutinous rice cakes, which were delish.

There are lots of other interesting items on the menu, including chili crab (with Jonah or snow crab, at either 45/60 bucks - a little rich for my blood) a clay pot chicken, a Malaysian fish fry, and Szechuan pepper lobster.  Maybe next time I'll splurge.






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Asian BBQ Chicken

It doesn't seem (to me) that I cook chicken very often. I'm not sure why, since its probably my favorite meat. Maybe it's just boring, I don't know. But I got it in my head that not only did I need to make chicken, but it needed to be basted in a thick bbq-style sauce with Asian flavors. I had this picture in my head of a beautiful brown chicken leg, glistening with sauce. Just like in that photo above. Isn't it gorgeous?

Most chicken recipes direct cooks to make sure the meat reaches an internal temperature of 165°F. While that's fine for chicken breasts, I really prefer dark meat to be cooked to closer to 180°F. Dark meat is more moist, and at the lower temperature it still seems vaguely raw to me. It's fairly hard to overcook (unless you burn it), so I tend to leave the chicken on the heat for a bit longer than usual. Your mileage may vary, of course. If you like your dark meat less-cooked than I do, then by all means, cook it to 165°F.

If you're a regular Minxeats reader, you might have noticed that Mr Minx and I are absolutely in love with the rich, slightly-burnt, caramelly flavor and aroma of Chinese black vinegar. It's one ingredient that needs to be purchased in an Asian grocery, so if you don't want to make the trip, then use balsamic vinegar instead. It won't be exactly the same, but it will still taste good.

Asian BBQ Chicken

For sauce:
1 cup onion, chopped
Oil
3 cloves garlic, crushed
4 tablespoons dark brown sugar
3 tablespoons light soy sauce
3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon black vinegar
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
1-2 teaspoons sambal oelek or sriracha
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

For chicken:
2 tablespoons black vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 cloves garlic, crushed
4 skin-on, bone-in chicken leg quarters, or 4 legs and 4 thighs
1 tablespoons canola oil
1 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 green onions, chopped

To make sauce: Saute onion in a bit of oil until translucent. Add the garlic and cook an additional minute or so. Add the soy, hoisin, brown sugar, vinegars, ginger, and sambal. Bring to a boil. Once boiled, remove from heat and puree mixture with a stick blender. Stir in toasted sesame oil.

To make chicken: Combine black vinegar, soy, and garlic in a large zip-top plastic bag. Prick the chicken all over with the tip of a knife and add to the bag. Press out the air, seal the bag, and shake to coat the chicken. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 4 hours.

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Add the oil to a large oven-safe skillet or casserole and heat over high heat. Add the butter, and once melted, add the chicken, skin side-down, and any juices from the marinade bag. Cook 3-4 minutes, until chicken is browned on skin side, then turn the chicken pieces skin side-up. Place pan in preheated oven and cook for 8 minutes. Remove pan from oven and brush tops of chicken with some of the bbq sauce. Return to oven for another 8 minutes. At that time, reapply the bbq sauce and return to oven. Roast for 30-40 minutes, until a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh reads 165°F (or 180°F, if you're like me and want slightly drier meat). Apply another coating of sauce and sprinkle with green onions before serving.

Serves 4.



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Chinese Cassoulet?

A while back, we tasted a seafood cassoulet made by B&O American Brasserie's new chef, Mike Ransom. While it had multiple proteins and white beans, I suggested that it could do with a bit of sausage, perhaps Spanish chorizo. Of course Spanish chorizo wouldn't be typically used in cassoulet, which is a French dish, but I am no traditionalist. (Neither is the chef, it seems.) That got me to thinking about what other sausages would work with beans. As I was nibbling on leftover dim sum, Chinese sausages came to mind. Cold weather was afoot; why not warm up the house with a cassoulet-style dish of duck and beans and...Chinese sausage?

I've decided that it's a fine idea to keep a package of duck legs in the freezer. We get them at Great Wall, a Chinese grocery store in Catonsville, but you can pick them up at most Asian grocers or a fancy supermarket. They're not cheap, but they take up far less room in the freezer than a whole duck, with the added benefit that they thaw more quickly and are less hassle to roast. Roasting duck really makes the house smell great. Great, that is, to a carnivore. Not sure how vegetarians would feel about the fatty aromas that emanated from my oven not too long ago, but I was a happy camper.

I had originally wanted to try the type of Chinese sausage we normally buy, the long, slender, and wrinkled type that are cured, dried, and lightly smoked, but we were out. Mr Minx popped over to Asia Foods on York Road but could only find stubby, fat, uncured sausages. Fortunately, they turned out to be absolutely perfect for this dish.

While the duck got a head start on roasting, I opened up a couple cans of cannelini beans and added a bit of flavoring. I didn't want to overdo it, so started with equal parts doubanjian (a spicy Chinese bean paste), soy sauce, and black vinegar. If you've never used black vinegar, you're missing out on some amazing caramelized goodness. One tablespoon of each was perfect - the beans were spicy, salty, and tangy, with that lovely molasses-y flavor of the black vinegar. Then I added a bit of sugar to round everything out. Mixed with sauteed onions and scallions, the beans, studded with chunks of Chinese pork sausage, made a tasty bed for the duck legs as they finished roasting to a brown crispness.

Cassoulet with Asian Flavors

2 duck legs
1/2 cup duck or bacon fat
Kosher salt
1/2 pound Chinese pork sausages, preferably xiang chang--small, fat, uncured sausages
1 medium onion, chopped
6 scallions, chopped
6 cloves garlic
1/2 cup chicken stock
2-15 1/2 ounce cans of cannelini beans, drained and rinsed
1-2 tablespoons doubanjian
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 tablespoon Chinese black vinegar
Pinch sugar
Cilantro

Preheat the oven to 300°F.

Pour the duck or bacon fat into the bottom of an 8" or 9" baking pan. Put the legs on top, rolling them around in the fat to get them coated. Sprinkle with salt, cover the pan with foil, and bake for 20 minutes.

Remove the foil from the pan. Pour out a tablespoon of fat and reserve; prick the duck skin all over with the point of a knife to help render out more fat. Add the Chinese sausages to the pan. Turn oven temperature up to 350° and put duck and sausages into the oven. Bake for an additional 15 minutes.

In a saucepan over medium heat, cook the onion and scallions in the reserved tablespoon of duck fat. When they are translucent, stir in the garlic. Add the stock, beans, doubanjian, soy, vinegar, and sugar. Bring to a simmer, then remove from the heat.

After the duck has been in the oven for the additional 15 minutes, remove sausages and duck from the pan. Pour out the fat and discard (or, reserve for a later use). Cut sausages into thick diagonal slices and stir into the bean mixture. Pour the bean mixture into the pan, then top with the duck legs. Put pan back into the oven and cook for an additional 45 minutes or so. The duck will get crispy and brown, as will the exposed areas of beans. If you want a saucier cassoulet, you can add more chicken stock. Personally, I like the beans on the dry side.

Serve 1 leg per person, with some of the beans. Garnish with cilantro.

Serves 2, with extra beans for lunch.



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Thai Red Curry Chicken Burgers

We have a ton of stuff on our freezer. Other than ice cream, I mean. There are several quarts of gumbo from Cajun Kate's, leftover pork shoulder from that 8-lb behemoth I cooked last month, half a roast duck from the Great Wall grocery store in Catonsville, a leg of lamb, pasta sauce, various types of sausages (chorizo, andouille, lap cheong, hot dogs), ground beef, a skirt steak, bags of nuts, yeast, coffee, and bread, and more. And this is one of those standard above-the-fridge freezer jobbies, not a big ol' chest freezer. (So don't believe me when I say we have nothing in the house to eat. What I really mean is that there's nothing that I feel like defrosting and cooking.)

There was a pound of ground chicken in there too. I can't remember why we bought it exactly, maybe to make some laab, but there it was, looking slightly freezer-burned, buried under a pile of other foodstuffs. I determined that if it was not indeed funky with freezer burn, I'd make chicken burgers with it. And not just chicken burgers, but Thai red curry chicken burgers. We had two open jars of Thai Kitchen red curry paste in the fridge, and I've been looking for a way to use the stuff up. We also had a partial jar of  Maesri "chilli paste with basil leaves" and a jar of sliced Kaffir lime leaves. I love that chilli paste stuff and have used it in a number of things over the years. As for the lime leaves--have you noticed how difficult they are to find in the supermarket? And when you do find them, you have to use them right away or they'll go bad? Then I found sliced ones in a jar at H-Mart. They're not quite as powerfully-flavored as fresh, but they'll do in a pinch. And I think their flavor is an essential match to red curry paste.

So...back to the burgers. Ground chicken can often be unpalatably dry, so I always add some chia seeds soaked in water to add moisture. The omega-3 boost doesn't hurt, either. The curry paste also helps to make the meat moist. In fact, the raw mixture will be very moist, so don't be anal about trying to get perfectly round patties. Refrigerate them for a while before cooking so the flavors meld and the patties firm up a bit.

These were a big hit. The burgers were not only moist, but also super flavorful. We ate them both on bread and as-is with a salad, using the special sauce as dressing.

Thai Red Curry Chicken Burgers

2 teaspoons chia seeds soaked in 1 tablespoon water
1 lb ground chicken
1 tablespoon coconut milk powder
4 teaspoons Thai Kitchen Red Curry Paste
2 teaspoons finely minced Kaffir lime leaves
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons canola oil

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well to incorporate the chia and curry paste. Form into patties, between 4-8, depending on the size of your rolls, number of guests, or appetite. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour so the flavors will meld.

Heat canola oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet. When hot, add the chicken patties. Cook for 4 minutes on the first side, then flip and cook an additional 3 minutes.

Serve with Special Sauce.

Special Sauce

3 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 Tablespoon Maesri Thai chilli sauce with basil
1/2 roasted red bell pepper, diced
2 scallions, white and green part, chopped

Combine all ingredients. Serve with Thai Red Curry Chicken Burgers.










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Rice Salad with Chinese Sausage and Roasted Broccoli

Have you ever read a food magazine and felt the urge to cook one of the recipes RIGHT NOW? As in, drop the magazine and run to the kitchen immediately? I had that feeling when I spotted the recipe for savory granola in the April 2014 issue of Bon Appetit. I had just turned the oven off 10 minutes earlier after removing a tray of roasted broccoli and knew I wouldn't have to wait for the thing to pre-heat (it takes forever, which can be a real buzz-kill during a cooking frenzy). We had most of the ingredients--old fashioned oats, walnuts, sesame seeds, fennel, seeds--and I substituted for a couple others (pumpkin seeds in place of sunflower seeds, skipped the pistachios entirely). I mixed up the ingredients pronto and banged them into the hot oven.

Now you must recall that I had just roasted broccoli. At 450°F. So the oven was a wee bit hotter than it needed to be, hence the charred appearance of my salad topping (some of the black bits are black sesame seeds though). No matter, even slightly burnt, the granola was AMAZING. It took all of my willpower not to shove handfuls of it into my face hole. The combination of nuts + fennel seeds is delicious and I wish I had thought of it myself.

Rather than eating all of it right then and there (it makes about 3 cups), I decided to use it as a component in the dinner I was preparing--cold rice salad with Chinese sausage and a peanut butter vinaigrette. Oh, and roasted broccoli.

I wanted the salad to have a peanut sauce flavor, but not a standard sweet peanut sauce. Instead, I made it ultra vinegary, using both rice wine and Chinese black vinegar (also called Chinkiang vinegar). Chinese black vinegar is, as Isaac Mizrahi is fond of saying, EVERYTHING, Darlings. It's mellow, malty, and woodsy, with a burnt caramel aspect. If you're a vinegar fan (and I know not everyone is...weirdos), then you have to try it. I then added a bit of agave syrup, soy, and sambal oelek for heat. (We use Huy Fong brand, the company that makes the ever popular "rooster sauce" sriracha. Oelek is different in that it's just crushed chiles in vinegar and salt, no garlic or sugar.) It was perfect on plain steamed rice garnished with Chinese sausage and scallions.

I tossed the broccoli into the salad after the sauce was added, because I didn't want the broccoli to have soggy florets. And then I sprinkled a bit of the granola on each serving.

So. Good. I need to make this again very soon.

Rice Salad with Roasted Broccoli

Roasted broccoli:
3 broccoli crowns
3 tablespoons olive oil
Kosher salt

Peanut sauce:
3 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 tablespoon agave syrup
1 tablespoon Chinese black vinegar
5 tablespoons unseasoned rice wine vinegar
2 teaspoons sambal oelek
1/4 teaspoon salt

To assemble salad:
3 cups cooked, room-temperature rice (Jasmine is nice, or basmati)
3 Chinese pork sausages, sliced into coins, lightly fried, and drained on paper towels
1/2 cup julienned carrots
3 scallions, white and green parts, chopped

Savory granola (optional, but delicious)

To make broccoli: Preheat oven to 450°F.

Remove thick stem from each broccoli crown. Break the floret into small pieces. Cut the stem into lengthwise slices. Toss both florets and stems with olive oil and salt and arrange in one layer on a rimmed baking sheet lined with foil. Roast for about 20 minutes, turning broccoli halfway, until tender and browning in spots. Remove from heat and set aside.

To make peanut sauce: In a large bowl, combine all ingredients and stir well. Taste for seasoning--it should be vinegary, lightly salty, and lightly spicy. Add more salt and sambal if you wish.

To assemble salad: Using a fork, stir rice into prepared peanut sauce until well-coated. Add the sausages, carrots, and scallions and toss to combine.

Serve at room temperature with a helping of broccoli and a sprinkle of the savory granola.

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Spicy Korean Tofu

One day not long ago, I ate mostly carbs. A sugary yogurt for breakfast, leftover noodle casserole for lunch. Waffles with maple bacon syrup for dinner. The next day, I craved protein big time. Breakfast was eggs, and dinner involved tofu.

There were any number of proteins in the freezer: a skirt steak; sausages; chicken thighs. But I wanted something easy. You may be thinking, "How is tofu easy? It takes some work to make that stuff taste like anything!" Hey--some of us like tofu in its original bland state. It's soft and soothing. But yeah, I wanted something a bit more flavorful for dinner. And since tofu soaks up flavor like a sponge, it is indeed easy to make delicious.

I made a simple glaze with the spicy Korean condiment, gochujang, and brushed it onto thinly-sliced tofu that I blasted in a hot oven. The heat evaporated some of the tofu's moisture and even gave it a slightly chewy texture. The sauce gave it a flavorful kick. And a pile of roasted broccoli--cooked at the same time--added a necessary bit of green and garlic.

Baked Korean Tofu

1 package of extra firm tofu
2 tablespoons gochujang
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
4 teaspoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons honey
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
Sesame seeds
Chopped scallions

Cut the tofu crosswise into ten slices. Arrange them in one layer on a paper towel-lined plate or baking pan. Cover with another piece of paper and press down lightly to absorb some of the liquid in the tofu. Replace both layers of towels and refrigerate tofu until ready to use.

Combine gochujang, sesame oil, soy, honey, and vinegar in a bowl. Set aside until ready to use.

Preheat oven to 450°F. Place tofu in a single layer on a foil-lined baking sheet sprayed lightly with release spray. Brush some of the sauce onto the top side of the tofu and place the tray in the oven. Bake for 7-8 minutes, remove tray from oven, and turn tofu pieces with tongs. Brush other side with the sauce and replace in the oven for another 8 minutes or so. Remove tray from oven and turn pieces again. Turn oven up to broil and broil tofu for 3-4 minutes per side, until edges start to get crusty.

Serve with garnished with sesame seeds and scallions, and a bit of sauce on the side.



Posted on Minxeats.com.