Justin & Meredith Winokur's Kitchen Cooking Notebook
Sitemap ·
Our Recipe Book ·
Steven's Recipe Book ·
Ann's Recipe Book ·
Meal Ideas ·
Copied Recipes
Random ·
Random Links
Home > 253
KitchenKatalog: Blog 253
Wednesday, September 24, 2014, 09:40 PM
Meredith and I made a quick meal of roasted broccoli (and arugula) soup with trout.
Meredith had read about a broccoli-arugula soup and we decided to do something similar but with roasting it (as we did for this recipe). We really didn't follow any recipe and just winged it. We roasted a good amount of broccoli on 400 for 25 minutes. Meanwhile, we sautéd an onion, added some garlic and then added the broccoli and water. We used about a gallon of water and used Better Than Bouillon to taste (a good amount).
It still needed some flavor so we added a good bit of smoked paprika, garlic powder, and pepper. Finally, we decided to add some smoked salt but accidentally poured a whole bunch in. Thankfully, we were able to skim a lot off before it mixed and the end product wasn't too salty.
Right before blending it, we added a large bunch of arugula. I am not convinced I could really taste the arugula but it adds nutrients. The dominant flavor was the broccoli with an accent of smokiness.
The trout was a pretty simple affair. We got two fish's worth (about 1 lbs) and broiled it butterflied with the skin on the bottom and some lemon and fresh thyme (from Meredith;s garden) on top. We broiled it for about 5+ minutes but should have stopped it at 5 minutes. It was a bit overcooked but not too bad. (this was also for dinner the next day).
We topped it with some fried capers using the method from Smitten Kitchen in this post. (I am not copying it below since it was pretty simple). Basically, drain and dry the capers then fry them for 5 minutes or so.
This page was converted from Wordpress with a custom script by Justin Winokur. Most links and images should still work. However, if any links are broken, see the HTML (or Markdown) source to try to deduce the intended destination.
Original WP Post ID: 8871
Original WP Pub Date: 2014-09-24_214032
Tuesday, September 23, 2014, 09:40 PM
Meredith and I made Yam Tuna and Miang Kham (with the propper leaves).
For the tuna, we again doubled the recipe but tripled the tuna. And again instead of palm sugar, I made a 1:1 (by weight) turbinado sugar syrup. The biggest change was that we just went heavy on all of the vegetables. Extra tomatoes (from Peter's garden) and we threw in a lot of the celery. Basically, we wanted to bulk it up. We used half regular lime juice and half key lime juice. The key limes were old and hard to juice but I got what I could out of them.
For the one-bit salad, we followed the recipe pretty closely. Actually, we were even closer this time since we added the coconut and peanuts to the sauce. The only real change for everything was that our coconut flakes were sweetened. To counter that, we dropped the brown sugar to a scant 1/2 cup. It was still plenty sweet.
The recipe is a bit confusing (I made it this time so I am not sure what Meredith did last time). It calls for reducing the sauce to 1 cup but you really only have 1/4 cup (or so) of liquid. The rest is solid matter but I guess it still makes enough. I think I reduced the sauce a bit too much as it was very thick and didn't make as much. We also added some cilantro to the options since we had it leftover
Using the proper leaves (cha-phlu) was a lot better than the betel leaves! I am curious how it is with broccoli leaves but cha-phlu_is_ the proper way.
I was a bit surprised by the amount of effort this meal took. Lots of prep and lots of chopping. It would probably be faster next time since I would know the recipe already
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 8866, 2014-09-23_214047
Monday, September 22, 2014, 01:10 PM
Another thrown together lunch. I sautéd some peppers and fresh tomatoes (from Peter's garden) then I threw in some egg and seasonings. Topped it off with cilantro.
I also toasted two fajita size tortillas and spread some coriander chutney on them.
A pretty fast and nice lunch.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 8863, 2014-09-22_131027
Friday, September 19, 2014, 01:35 PM
This was a meal basically made of what I had around. I intended to make something like the eggplant in garlic sauce but with a mixture of eggplant (the right kind this time) and cauliflower.
Sadly, my wok rusted and I didn't (don't?) know how to fix it so I had to make it in a regular pan. Honestly, it worked ok though needed more oil and it was harder to toss everything. I much prefer the wok for stir-frying.
But anyway, I also tried ot crack two eggs into it. It worked okay but the eggs ate up most of the sauce making it hard to really spread it out.
Overall, the lunch was fine but not as good as I think it could have been.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 8860, 2014-09-19_133531
Wednesday, September 10, 2014, 02:00 PM
This is going to be a big project style post.
I am attempted to make Pho Ga (Chicken Pho). I am detailing the process below. Note that some of this is being written during and some after.
I charred the onions and smashed ginger in the oven at 400 for 35 minutes
I had been saving a few chicken carcasses from rotisserie chicken. This includes all of the fat, skin, bones, remaining meat, etc. (which caused issues as I will note later).
I also bought a 5.64 lbs chicken and quartered it. I watched a few videos on how to do it and they all seem to be basically the same with maybe a few more or fewer steps. I eventually settled on this one from the Food Network. Well, I also kind of butchered it (pun intended). I got most of the meat as I should but I didn't do the greatest job in the world. I added all of it to the broth
![quartered. [left] remains [right] main meat](/media/2014/09/20140909_183317117_iOS.jpg)
I used about 6 qts of broth since I seemed to be enlarging the recipe.
I let it all simmer (2/10 on induction) for about 40-50 minutes. The recipes all say 30 but I read somewhere to add time for a larger raw chicken. I then pulled out the main meat parts and, under cold running water to cool it,separated the meat.
I added back the bones and let it go another 3 or so hours and strained it to get everything out. I picked through the remains a bit but mostly just tossed the meat.
Also, I added another Tbsp of salt later.
The biggest issue with my broth was that it was super, super fatty. There was just so much on the top that it was nasty and unappetizing. I did some reading and it seems like my issue was the carcasses. First of all, I apparently made a brown broth since much of the meat was roasted and I had the skin. Also, by cooking it all together, a lot of fat from the skin and remains just rendered in to the broth. Finally, complicating it all, I likely had the boil too strong at times causing it to mix and emulsify.
I read and tried various ways to get it out. I tried skimming the top but, when I poured it into a glass cup, I could see that I still mostly got broth. I tried letting it sit for 15 minutes off heat but that didn't do anything. I tried taking bits at a time into a glass cup so I could see the separation and skimming that but it was slow and basically futile.
Also, the broth tasted like chicken broth and not Pho broth; though it still lacked the fish sauce. I think it was because I didn't increase the spices for the addition of the extra water.
I finally decided my best bet was the refrigerate it to skim the fat. I put the broth in a mini-fridge (so as to not warm the main fridge too much) and I planned to address it the next day
In the morning, I was able to skim a little bit off but still not much. I put it back in the fridge for longer
Later, after lunch, I took a look and there was...JELLO! The top was mostly fatty jello with some broth and the bottom was mostly broth jello with some fat. I think this is a good sign!
I skimmed off the fat as best I could and put it back on the heat!
As I mentioned, I was unhappy with the broth being mostly chickeny and still lacking flavor. I figured that it was enough chicken, but lets try to make it taste like Pho again with spices.
First, I needed to char more onions and ginger. I didn't feel like using the oven so I tried two methods. The first was to use the cream-brulee torch. I torched the stuff and, in the process also melted the aluminum foil (who knew I could do that). This worked out but really only seemed skin deep with the char.I then tried the open gas burner. This seemed slower but also gave a nicer char. Though, it was kind of annoying trying to get all of the pieces to stay put
I toasted those and then added it to the broth with
I strained the broth and then added
and let it simmer for a bit longer. At this point, it was flavorful but too salty so I added 2 cups water and let it come back to a simmer.
To assemble, I very finely sliced an onion (thinnest on the mandoline) and chopped some green onions. We placed both onions down and then the noodles. On top of that I put about 1.5-2 oz of chicken from the day before and the broth.
Meredith made the toppings including
Finally, we served it with serving utensils from Thailand
This was quite the project and it leaves me with a lot of ideas for next time
One is to follow some of the quick pho recipes I have seen and change them a bit. What I am thinking is using chicken stock (not broth) and then still poaching the raw chicken in it but not all of the old rotisserie carcasses. Then, I can also remove more of the fat and skin to make it much less fatty and to avoid all of the issues I faced. This should also give a lighter flavor. Our soup was super rich almost to a fault.
In general, I want to aim for a lighter broth no matter how I do it. And_much_ less fat!
Meredith also things we should back off a bit on the spices; especially cinnamon.
Chicken Pho (From Charles Phan via Smitten Kitchen)
Local Copy -- password is the name of my dog, all lower case
Chicken Pho (From Rasa Malaysia)
Local Copy -- password is the name of my dog, all lower case
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 8798, 2014-09-10_140035
Tuesday, September 09, 2014, 06:00 PM
The original plan was to make sloppy joes but we decided on tacos instead. I used 1 lbs of extra lean beef and added half a medium head of cauliflower roughly chopped. The idea was the expand the amount we would get. Since there was more to the "beef" mixture, I used a bit more water with the taco seasoning and added all kinds of spices such as:
The cauliflower worked well to bulk up and extend the meal. Thus it also ended up being only 1/4 lbs of beef per person.
We still had another half of the cauliflower so, to continue my obsession, I stir-fried it with some sliced bell peppers. I simple used salt and Penzy's Chinese FiveSpice. The spices were interesting. Almost a little sweetness but also well rounded. (I bet it would be good on popcorn)
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 8834, 2014-09-09_180018
Monday, September 08, 2014, 11:00 PM
We made Bahn Mi sandwiches There wasn't too much to them. Meredith made mushroom pate the day before. We pressed firm-tofu and then pan fried it. The first batch used a lot of oil but I then just used pam after that. It took a more careful watch but honestly, the results with pam were nicer than with the oil. We then brought all the tofu together and put some Kikkoman low sodium Teriyaki and tossed it to combine.
We thin sliced some cucumbers and added some jalapeño and cilantro. We were going to used some picked carrots but they were super old and we didn't trust them. The bread was stale since we pushed off this meal but the flavors were mostly there. It could have used the carrots,
We also ate leftover Miang Kham (one bite salad) but without the leaves. We just assembled it on a spoon.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 8830, 2014-09-08_230028
Monday, September 08, 2014, 01:10 PM
I was looking for a quick lunch and I wanted to use up some rotisserie chicken I had left. Of course, continuing my stir-fry kick, I decided to make something with it.
I stir-fried half an onion and a few small bell peppers in 1Tbsp of oil. I did actually measure it so I knew what I was using. I let them stir-fry for a little while until mostly cooked and had some charring. I also added a bit of garlic powder at this point. Side note: I am getting better. I do not use water and I can get a nice char on the veggies. I think the trick is heat on 8/10 (medium high) instead of a full heat; patience; and alternating 20-40 seconds sitting still and continual tossing/mixing. Oh, and not overcrowding the pan. Use batches if needed.
Anyway, meanwhile, I made 1/2 cup of chicken broth (from Better Than Bullion) and added it it a bunch of Emril's Cajun Seasoning. I am not sure how much I used. I then added 1 Tbsp of corn starch. When the veggies were done, I added the broth and let it bubble and thicken (was very fast). Finally, I added about 6 oz of rotisserie chicken (skin removed, mostly white meat) and tossed to combine. Finally, I garnished it with a good bit of cilantro (which was really good with the rest). The sauce was fine. Nice and thick which I liked for coating and the whole thing was pretty good!
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 8787, 2014-09-08_131023