"Slow-cooked" Kale

I love kale, and this may be my favorite preparation of it yet, especially in these cold winter months. (Yes, it's cold here in southern California, at least for this weather wimp!)

This is inspired by Suzanne Goin's recipe for a dressing/stuffing, of which the base is comprised of slow-cooked Tuscan, or lacinato (or dino) kale. And despite the title, it really doesn't take all that long. It just takes longer than your usual sauté of kale, and I promise you that the extra minutes are well worth it.

For my girls' still developing palates, I've removed Chef Goin's chile de arbol and I've added zante currants for a little sweetness.

The key here is the stirring of the kale and a little patience. I normally would have taken the pan off the heat at the stage it is in the above pic, but just wait and stir a little bit more...

Et voila, it cooks down to this unctuously silky and luxurious blend of caramelized onions and chewy yet crispy-in-some-spots kale. Perfect for vegetarians if you're looking for a toothsome dish. And if there is anything left over, save even a tablespoon of this good stuff, as it is divine over creamy scrambled eggs.

I served this with my faithful slow-cooked chicken standby, along with Rancho Gordo ayocote morado beans (purple runners) and some leftover ratatouille quinoa. Verdict? Seven year-old Katie loved the kale, as did hubby and I. Four-year old Amanda? Not so much - "Too chewy!" pronounced she. Well, she'll get plenty of practice chewing on this dish, because this is at the top of my list!

Slow-Cooked Kale

(adapted from Suzanne Goin's recipe, Bon Appétit, November 2012)

Ingredients

Kosher salt

1 lb. Tuscan kale (no need to remove center ribs, but chop off tough stems at bottom)

1/4 cup olive oil (no need for EVOO, since you're cooking this for a while)

1/2 sprig rosemary

1 cup sliced yellow onion

Ground black pepper

2 garlic gloves, smashed and minced

1/4 cup zante currants (or raisins), optional

Preparation (you can do steps 1 and 2 somewhat simultaneously to save some time)

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Blanch for 2-4 minutes, until a light emerald green. Drain in colander, let cool, and squeeze out excess water. Coarsely chop and set aside.

2. Heat a large pan over medium heat for a minute. Add the olive oil and rosemary sprig, and let the rosemary infuse the olive oil for a minute. Reduce heat to medium-low and add the sliced onion. Sprinkle salt and pepper to taste. Cook for 5 minutes, and then add the garlic. Keep cooking until onion is tender and golden-brown.

3. Add the coarsely chopped kale to the pan, sprinkle a little more salt, and reduce heat to low. Keep stirring, about 20-30 minutes, until kale turns from emerald green to a dark, dark green. (see photos above). If you wish, add in the currants, stir. Taste and season more if needed.

Chicken Corn Soup

Yet another quick dish that the slow cooker chicken will yield for you on a busy day. It's a great bang for your buck kind of dish, in terms of both time and effort. And it gets raves, every time, from both of the girls and the hubby. If you have homemade broth on hand (another gift from the slow cooker chicken), it really adds a nice depth of flavor. But, in a pinch, chicken broth from the store will work fine as well.

Ingredients:

6 cups chicken broth

16-oz. bag of frozen corn

3 or 4 eggs (beaten)

1 1/2 cups shredded chicken

Salt

White pepper (optional)

Soy sauce (optional)

Toasted sesame oil

Chopped scallions and/or cilantro (optional)

Instructions:

Bring approximately six cups of chicken broth to a simmer and then add a 16-oz. bag of frozen corn kernels into the pot. If you have an immersion stick blender, then blitz here and there - the effect that you are aiming for is a creamed corn blend, while still leaving some corn kernels intact. If you don't have an immersion stick blender, then scoop up two or three cups of the corn broth into a regular blender, let cool and then blend (again, with the idea of getting a slightly chunky creamed corn blend - don't liquefy it). If using a regular blender, then return the blended corn broth into the pot.

Beat three to four eggs and then gently and slowly add the eggs to the pot in a figure eight motion. Add the shredded chicken to the pot. Add salt and white pepper to taste, with a tidge of soy sauce if you'd like. Add a few drops of toasted sesame oil - this really makes the dish sing. And top with chopped scallions and/or cilantro if you'd like. Comfort in a bowl! And it beats Chinese take-out's version every time!

Chawanmushi (aka Steamed Egg Custard)

This is one of the top dishes in my girls' book. Amanda even went so far to proclaim: "Dis is dee best deener in my life!" Granted, she's only four years old, but still, she's had over 1,400 dinners in her lifetime! It's magical, what some eggs and chicken broth can do, and then atop rice or quinoa? Total comfort. And it's easy for a certain someone to eat when she is missing two front teeth!

I start out by beating four eggs, and as you can see, I'm not the smoothest operator when it comes to cracking eggs!

Meanwhile, I have my flavor-packed broth from the bottom of the slow cooker chicken. This pic is before I strained the broth. Also, I have two big handfuls of thawed bay shrimp (no pic, sorry).

Then I strain the four beaten eggs and two cups of broth into a bowl. I didn't add any seasonings because the broth was already so flavorful and had plenty of salt. If you are adding chicken broth from a can or box, you may want to add salt and white pepper to taste.

If you have a steamer, go for it. I don't have a steamer, so I place a steamer insert on top of a ramekin in a pot, and then I add some water to the pot.

Pour the egg/broth mixture into four bowls or ramekins. And here is where you can get creative. You can leave it be, or you can add chopped up fishcakes, sliced shiitake mushrooms, gingko nuts, pieces of chicken. My girls don't like too much texture, as it can offset the smoothness, so add according to your tastes. I added some bay shrimp to this dish. (Note: whatever you add will sink to the bottom, and that's okay).

Steam for about 20 minutes and let rest about 5 minutes. The great thing is that this can be done from start to finish in about half an hour, making it pretty doable for a weeknight dinner. I scooped it over some brown rice and served with some braised yellow squash. The girls inhaled this, and Katie claimed the leftovers for the next day's lunch. It may not be the prettiest dish, but the velvety, smooth custard is addictive. Katie had four helpings!

Slow Cooker Chicken aka Manna From Heaven

This is the dish that keeps on giving. And the best part is what a wonderful result you get for such little effort. Honestly, the hardest thing for me has been to remember to push the on button before I leave for work. It was a woefully sad moment the day I forgot to turn on the slow cooker, and lo, when I came home expecting the aroma of chicken, lemon, garlic and thyme, I was faced with having to throw away an uncooked chicken. Do not let this happen to you! So, after a year or so of tweaks, I've settled into my routine for this dish. You can prep the night before, stick the chicken in the fridge and then cook in the morning. In fact, I like it better this way, because the salt has a brining effect, making the chicken more flavorful and tender.

I like to use an organic whole chicken; it's worth the price, considering how many meals this provides, along with the chicken stock you can make from the bones. Rinse and pat dry. Be sure to remove the gizzards, liver, heart and neck from the cavity. (If I were more ambitious, I'd save the liver to make chicken liver mousse, but that's for another phase of my life, maybe after the girls have left for college.) GENEROUSLY salt with kosher salt (I use Diamond or Morton's) and add freshly ground pepper. Rub, rub, rub - outside and inside the cavity.

Add half a lemon, a few unpeeled cloves of garlic and a few sprigs of fresh thyme.

When you are ready to cook, set it on low for 6 to 8 hours. 

(For reference, I use a nearly decade-old Rival slow cooker - am coveting a fancy schmancy stainless steel cooker that I can brown food in, but can't justify buying a new one when this one works fine. And it was a wedding gift, and I am ever the sentimental loyalist.)

And this tip is mainly for me: TURN THE SLOW COOKER ON!

Leave the house, twirl around and tra la la, be prepared to be assailed with the wonderful aromas of chicken, citrus, garlic and herbs - and behold wondrously tender meat. Seriously, the meat falls off the bones. And the top part yields crispy skin that is not fatty at all - such a treat. 

(Apologies for my shadowy iPhone shot!)

The slow-cooked lemon infuses the chicken beautifully - it has that preserved lemon yumminess that you enjoy in some Middle Eastern dishes. And the cloves of garlic? They are like buttah - spread those little gems on some of the meat or on pita bread - unctuously velvety decadence.

And the possibilities! So good atop some rice or quinoa and some steamed broccoli or green beans. Awesome in quesadillas, chicken tacos, chicken salad... And oh so good in my chicken corn soup, which will be in my next post. 

Freeze the bones if you don't have time to make stock right away. And don't dump the broth that pools under the chicken! Put it in a container and put in fridge overnight. Then use a spoon to scoop off that layer of congealed fat. Use the broth as a base for soup, to flavor rice or pasta, or.... use it for one of my girls' faves: chawanmushi - steamed egg custard. It makes all the difference in this dish, which I'll write about soon. Please try this slow cooker chicken dish. It is SO easy and healthy! And best of all, tasty!

Quick Fried Rice

My mom makes the best fried rice; it's packed with flavor. She shared her tips with me, and I built on that to create my own version of FLAVORFUL fried rice. I bought some of TJ's applewood smoked bacon - the bits and ends, so to speak - which is cheaper than the package with the perfect strips. I keep it in my freezer, which actually makes for easier cutting. For this dish, I cut off a bit of the bacon and then sauté it in my wok. First step of flavor-building. Then the next step is from my mom. If you have scallions or shallots on hand, chop them up and add them to the mix. Brown those babies up. This adds tons o' flavah to the bacon fat, as if it needed any more. Then I add day-old rice, which is the other tip. Fresh rice won't fry up quite as nicely. Frozen peas are a must. I add a bit of soy sauce, salt, black pepper, sesame oil and ketchup. Here, I also added some cubed chicken from my bi-weekly slow cooker chicken.

 Then I beat a few eggs and create a well in the center of the wok (which I didn't do in the below picture, as you can see.) Do as I say, not as I do - ha ha!

 Stir the egg around in a figure eight pattern, and then when cooked, stir through. Taste and add more seasonings if needed.

This dish is a fave of the girls and they love having it for lunch. Amanda's preschool is awesome about warming up her lunches, and I bought a bento thermos thing in Little Tokyo for Katie - the next best thing to freshly warmed up lunches. You can do this with white rice, brown rice, quinoa, etc. Yum!

Fish Tacos with Slaw

The girls clamor for tacos every so often, and when I'm in a pinch for time, my fallback has been the pork carnitas at Trader Joe's - so fast and tasty, along with the TJ's wheat and corn tortillas. This time, I decided to honor the girls' request for tacos, but decided to change things up by making fish tacos. Easy and relatively quick - the fish cooked while I got the rest of the fixings ready. I found some frozen hake at TJ's (yes, there is a theme running through my posts - we live on TJ's!) and rubbed some olive oil and salt over both sides. I can't seem to find a photo, but will post if/when I find it. I baked the fish at 400 for about 10-12 minutes. Meanwhile, I washed a bag of shredded cabbage and a bag of shredded carrots. Mixed in some vegenaise and pickle relish, and heated up the tortillas. I used a fork to break apart the fish, et voila, a tasty taco dish that we all loved. Katie was so enamored with the slaw that she asked to have it by itself and for some for her lunch at school the next day. This one will be in our repeat rotation!

Roasted Cauliflower

Here's a simple veggie dish that does the cooking, allowing you to prep the rest of the meal while the cauliflower roasts. This was one of those mishmash dinners, where I had some leftover frozen TJ's pasta with chicken and mushrooms (tried something new to us, and it was passable, probably not a repeat purchase), some homemade chicken and veggie egg rolls from Katie's generous piano teacher, and one dish that I had energy to prepare after a tiring day.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. I took a head of cauliflower and sliced it - some pieces on the ends will break up into florets, which is fine. Place on cookie sheet covered with aluminum foil. I sprinkled salt on both sides, rubbed the cauliflower in some olive oil and also rubbed some dried coriander on one side. You can stop here and roast for approximately 20 minutes, turning the cauliflower over halfway through. This time, I decided to punch up the flavor, inspired by my friend Sokesei, who raved about a dish prepared by a friend of hers. So I added a couple tablespoons of capers. After the cauliflower was done, I sprinkled some slices of honey roasted almonds (TJ's - love!) and the dish was a happy marriage of nutty cauliflower, sweet briny capers, and crisp almond slices. Definitely a repeat in my arsenal of veggie dishes!

Creamed Swiss Chard

Another quick and easy side dish that Katie and her dad really enjoy. And it's something for which Amanda will not turn up her nose - a win in my book! Sauté some chopped onions in olive oil. Sprinkle some salt in, and when nicely browned, add a few pats of butter, brown the butter and then add a few teaspoons of flour. Then cook the flour into a roux and then add some 1% milk, about 1/2 cup or so. Meanwhile, I've boiled some chard, cooked until tender and then set the chard in a colander with some ice cubes. Once cool (or kinda cool), hubby helped by squeezing out the excess water. Then I chopped the chard. Add the chard to the onion mixture, sprinkle a little nutmeg, add salt and pepper to taste, and voilà, a lighter but richly flavored creamed veggie dish.

Reverse Engineering

Yesterday, I took a co-worker friend to Baco Mercat for her belated birthday, and one of her choices was a blistered tomato quinoa salad with pecorino, corn, chives and mint. It was delicious, albeit a tad heavyhanded with the salt. What was really intriguing was that the mint was sautéed; the subtle flavor permeated the dish. I told her that I would try to reverse engineer it and create my version for dinner. I mentioned that I had some cooked quinoa on hand, cherry tomatoes from the farmers market, mint, cheese and frozen corn. She demurred, saying that the corn was fresh in the dish we had shared. True, but here's my philosophy, especially when it comes to weeknight cooking: we all know what's ideal, but the key to staying sane is doing the best you can with what you've got in your fridge and pantry at home. There is no need to rush to the store on the way home to pick up one special ingredient. It's about making a delicious, healthy meal in a way that won't be too tiring or overwhelming. There is no requirement out there that you perfectly replicate the restaurant dish you just tried. It's about being inspired by new dishes, by the ideas of others, and then building on that.

So I drove home, pullled the quinoa out of the fridge, broiled the cherry tomatoes with some sea salt and olive oil until they blistered and chopped some mint. I sautéed the mint in some olive oil, added the quinoa, some salt and the rest of the frozen corn I had in the freezer. When the tomatoes were done, I tossed them into the wok along with the tomato juices, and gave the whole thing a quick toss. I looked for some parmesan in the fridge and found some ricotta salata instead and grated some into the mix. Verdict: the girls loved it all but for the tomatoes, which I am still working on with them. Husband pronounced it "excellent!" And I found it to be packed with flavor but delicate at the same time.

I also made some creamed chard and baked some Trader Joe's fish nuggets. Another secret to maintaining my sanity: your dinners can be a mix of homemade and convenience foods. No need to feel pressure to have everything be homemade, sourced locally and be organic. Do the best with what you've got, and it turns out you can have a pretty special meal.

A Light Lunch

After a late breakfast on Sunday, a light lunch was in order: strawberries and grapes from the farmers market along with some slices of persian cucumbers, cubes of aged gouda and some wafer thin graham crackers. 

Bitter Melon

I've had a hankering for bitter melon recently, partly out of nostalgia for childhood foods and also as fall approaches, I've been craving that slightly bitter but rounded out texture that only bitter melon provides. And a part of me figures it's pretty healthy, too.

So, inspired by my friend Sokesei, who described over dinner a few weeks ago a bitter melon stir fry she concocted, I bought a couple of bitter melons from the Alhambra Farmer's Market (they have a lot of great Asian produce at this market), and they've been sitting in my fridge all week. Today, I thought it was the day to cook them - my first foray into cooking these guys.

I sautéed some ground chicken, about half a pound, in the wok, with some safflower oil. Added some salt and a few dribbles of soy sauce. I had sliced the bitter melon up into thin half-moons and then added them to the wok with the chicken, after the chicken was browned. After about 8 minutes of stir-frying, the stiff walls of the bitter melon surrendered to the heat and softened. I added some more salt and soy sauce, along with some black pepper and hoisin sauce. Would have done Chinese black beans, but with none on hand, I improvised. And I figured the girls would be more open to the sweetness from the hoisin sauce. Then I beat three eggs together and threw them into the wok. The result was this deliciously eggy, stewy combination of soft bitter melon with fragrant chicken. I added some sriracha sauce to my serving, and I ended up having three servings over the course of the day.

Verdict from my family? Katie and Amanda spit out the bitter melon and ate the egg and chicken. I think bitter melon may be an acquired taste, and this was their introduction to the vegetable. And hubby wasn't interested in trying it. Ah well, more for me!

Just Do It

There are a few layers of meaning to the title of this post. A few of my friends are probably quite tired by now of my vowing for the past three years to start a blog about food. I've had so many excuses: "I have a full-time job, I don't have enough time, I don't have a good camera, I need to get back into writing first before I can write on a blog, blah, blah, blah." So tonight, I told myself, "Just do it." This is really about creating a journal of sorts so I can look back on the meals I have made for my husband and daughters, and me.

And this afternoon, I was feeling a bit tired, after a long and busy week. But then again, I feel tired every week by the time Friday rolls around. I was thinking of reaching for that reliable standby in our household: Trader Joe's frozen macaroni and cheese. But then I thought: "Just do it. You have the ingredients in the fridge. You can make something quick, delicious and healthy for the kids." (Hubby and I had plans for a date night in, with him picking up sushi for us to dine on after the girls went to bed.)

So I did a mental inventory: leftover poached chicken waiting to be shred, some baby carrot sticks, some old celery a bit past its prime, leeks and the treasure of them all - homemade chicken stock I had made earlier in the week.

Here's a rough outline, not even a recipe, of what I did. First, I got working on my mise en place. I sliced the leeks and chopped the carrots and celery. I heated up some olive oil in my soup pot and sautéed the leeks until they were nice and tender. I sprinkled some salt in, stirred the leeks around and then added the carrots and celery. Once they seemed tender, I added in the chicken broth, brought it to a boil and threw in some ditalini pasta. Added more salt and some black pepper along with a few squeezes of lemon juice. Meanwhile, I shred the chicken and added it to the pot after the pasta was al dente. And voila, in 30 minutes, a delicious dinner.

Verdict: Katie had seconds. Amanda ate most of it (which is a win these days). And hubs pronounced it "excellent."

In an ideal world, I would have used uber fresh veggies from the farmers market, but it felt good to use what I already had in my fridge and pantry. And it felt like quite a treat to have a nourishing meal at the end of a busy workweek.