Paper Wrapped Chicken Bundles

Poulet en papillote. Chicken in parchment. There is a recipe for it in the South Beach Diet cookbook but I got bored with it. Since I'm cooking for Phase One, I left out the sugar. I also left out the salt because it really didn't need it.  In my iteration, marinated chicken is wrapped in parchment bundles with bits of vegetable, and,  instead of deep frying, it is baked for just 5 minutes. The secret is to add a little oil to the marinade and slice the chicken into thin slivers with a sharp knife. Try these variations, such as, other kinds of meat, fish, and shrimp. This recipe is adapted from the Better Homes and Gardens Oriental Cookbook.

Ingredients for marinade
2 chicken breasts sliced thinly on the diagonal
1 tablespoon minced scallion
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 tablespoon dry sherry
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon grated ginger root
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon Sriracha hot sauce
1/4 teaspoon sesame oil

Sliver of chicken sliced on the diagonal

Slice the chicken breast on the diagonal into 32 slivers of meat. To make it easier to slice, partially freeze the chicken. Place in a medium bowl with the marinade ingredients. Toss to coat thoroughly. Set aside at room temperature for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, cut parchment paper squares and prepare vegetables for bundles.

Ingredients for bundles
32 five-inch squares of parchment paper
32 snow pea pods sliced in half on the diagonal
4 scallions sliced on the diagonal in 1 1/2 inch lengths

Ingredients ready for assembling into paper bundles

Place a parchment square with a pointed side facing you. Put two halves of pea pods in the center with a few scallions. Put a sliver of chicken on top.

Fold the bottom of the parchment towards the top, covering the filling. Crease. Fold the sides towards the center. Tuck the top flap into the folds.

Paper wrapped chicken bundle

As you wrap, preheat the oven to 400˚F. Place the bundle on a baking tray. Continue bundling and wrapping.

Bundles on a baking tray

Bake the bundles for 5 minutes. Through the parchment paper, you will see the chicken has turned a creamy color and will no longer be pink.

Chicken "en papillote" with sesame rice salad

Potstickers

A potsticker is a Chinese dumpling appetizer--or a snack. I only made these because they were an America's Test Kitchen recipe but I wasn't sure if they had an authentic Chinese taste! Having eaten potstickers before, I made some adaptations to the recipe. Diana and AJ both said they were "delicate" in taste,  because I had used the lighter-tasting ground chicken instead of an "earthier" ground pork. This recipe makes more than 24 potstickers--I have leftover filling and dumpling dough.

Three cups napa cabbage

Napa cabbage chopped finely down to two and a half cups

Salted napa cabbage draining in a colander

Ground chicken, ginger, scallion, napa cabbage, egg whites, and seasoning

The filling

Ready to make potstickers

A scant tablespoon of filling

Mound the filling in a slightly oval shape

Wet the edges with a fingertip dipped in water

Fold the dumpling in half, pressing out any air pockets and sealing the edges

Only two potstickers left!

Yum!

For the potsticker filling
3 cups napa cabbage, chopped finely
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 pound ground pork or ground chicken
4 teaspoons soy sauce (recommend white soy sauce since it won't color the meat)
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
1 large egg white (original recipe: 2 egg whites)
4 medium scallions, chopped finely
1 large clove garlic (about 1 teaspoon), chopped finely

For the potsticker dumplings
1 package round gyoza or dumpling dough (See photo above)
2 tablespoons canola oil
1/2 cup water

Make the filling. Combine napa cabbage and salt in a colander and set over a large bowl to drain. Salting the vegetable releases excess water. Let stand for 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile, combine the remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Add the drained napa cabbage and combine lightly. The original recipe said to refrigerate 30 minutes or more until ready to fill dumplings, but I skipped this step.

Make the dumplings. Assemble dumplings as in the photographs above. Put each dumpling on a parchment lined baking tray. Be careful not to over lap the dumplings. The recipe said to make 24 but cook 12 at a time.  I froze the remaining 12 dumplings and refrigerated the leftover dumpling filling and dumpling dough. I will make more dumplings tomorrow.

Pan-fry the dumplings. Arrange 12 dumplings in a cold 12-inch skillet. Add oil and fry 2 minutes until the dumplings are browned on the bottom. Add 1/2 cup water to the pan by pouring it around the dumplings. It will sizzle, so be careful.  Cook, covered, until the water is absorbed, about 3 minutes. I found the water was not completely absorbed so I removed the cover and let the dumplings cook for another minute or so until the water cooked down to about a tablespoon. Serve with dipping sauce.

Dipping sauce
1/4 cup soy sauce (recommend Kikkoman's)
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons mirin
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon chili oil, optional
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1 scallion, minced

I recommend, for an authentic Chinese taste, or just to spice things up, crumble a dried red chili in your fingers or chop up a fresh chili pepper and add to the dipping sauce. To make the sauce less spicy, remove the seeds and veins from the fresh chili, if preferred.  Put up any leftover sauce in the refrigerator. Caution: if you add dried or fresh chilies to the sauce it will marinate and become hotter!

P.S. I made 17 additional dumplings out of the leftovers!

Peruvian-Style Fried Rice

Chinese people have immigrated to every hemisphere and brought home style cooking with them. This version of fried rice comes from Peru and uses one local ingredient, Spanish chorizo sausage. It's a hard sausage, which reminded me of the Chinese sausage (fah chung in the Hakka dialect), except chorizo can be either spicy or mild. Fried rice is versatile, allowing cooks to use up leftovers or to just use whatever is on hand. So, of course, I added my own ingredient to this fried rice, celery. This recipe is adapted from Every Day with Rachel Ray.

Peruvian Style Fried Rice

Egg "tortilla"

Chorizo

Ingredients
2 eggs, beaten
cooking spray
1 tablespoon Asian sesame oil (3 tablespoons were too strong, so I reduced the amount and added canola oil)
2 tablespoons canola oil
3 cloves garlic, minced (my addition; optional)
1 medium onion, halved and sliced 
1 cup celery, chopped (optional)
1 cup chorizo, mild or spicy, chopped
1-2 cups large shrimp, deveined, with tails on
3 cups cooked white rice, cooled slightly
1/4 cup white soy sauce (Can be used to salt but won't darken food)
2 tablespoons rice wine
Cilantro and scallion, chopped, for garnish

Make the egg tortilla. Spray a 12 inch skillet with cooking spray. Heat the pan on medium high heat. Swirl the eggs in the pan to make a thin omelet. When it sets, roll up, and remove to a cutting board. Cut into 1/4 inch wide strips and set aside.

Cook the ingredients. To the same skillet, add the oils and heat until shimmering. Add the garlic, onion,  and celery, if using. Cook until the vegetables become fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the chorizo and shrimp.  Cook until the shrimp are no longer transparent, about 1-2 minutes. Add the rice to the pan. Use the back of a slotted spoon to break up any large chunks of rice. Toss to coat thoroughly in oil. The chorizo and sesame oil will make the rice reddish-brown. Add the soy sauce and wine. Toss to coat thoroughly.

Garnish the rice. Top the rice with the reserved egg tortilla strips and sprinkle cilantro and scallion. Serve hot with extra cilantro/scallion garnish and a hot sauce, such as Sriracha.

When Anna came to dinner...

Dinner ingredients (the grapes are a snack)

Anna, Diana's daughter was coming to dinner. Anna is a vegetarian so tonight's menu had to include tofu as well as meat for the rest of us who choose to eat meat. Tonight's menu included Tofu and Broccoli Stir-Fry, Meatloaf Roll with Spinach and Feta Cheese, Green Bean Medley, Asian Avocado Salad,  and for dessert, Almond Lake with Mandarin Oranges (that's just rice pudding, people). 

Extra firm tofu cut into triangles in preparation for pressing out the water

Tofu press

Martha Stewart, whose recipe this is, recommends using canned goods to  weight down the tofu. But this is the Teeny Tiny Kitchen here and I don't keep cans of food on hand. The only can in the cupboard was a tin of spam I inherited from a previous tenant. But we have LOTS of books. Looking at the spines, you can tell what we're reading (and studying) these days...

Tofu with Broccoli Stir-Fry (adapted from Martha Stewart.com)

1 package firm tofu (I used extra firm)
1 1/2 pounds or 3 cups broccoli florets
salt
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 cup cashews, toasted (optional)
Salt and pepper or Maggi seasoning to taste

Cut off the tough broccoli stems and trim the florets. Boil 4 cups of water with a little salt. Put the broccoli florets in the water for 2 minutes or until they turn bright green. Remove broccoli with a slotted skimmer and rinse in cold water to stop the cooking. Set aside.

This is the easiest way to cut the tofu into uniform triangles. First, cut the tofu cake in half. Cut each half in half then cut each quarter in half.  Place the triangles on a baking sheet lined with 2-3 layers of paper towels. Top with another layer of paper towels. Either put another baking tray on top and weight it down with canned goods (or books). Or, as I did, put a layer of plastic beneath the books. Let stand for 20 minutes. Discard the paper towels.

Heat oil in a large skillet. Fry the tofu triangles 5-6 minutes on one side until golden brown. Carefully turn and fry for an additional 5-6 minutes on the other side. Set aside to drain on a paper towel. Pat the top with another paper towel. Set aside. Or keep warm in a low oven.

In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, and cornstarch. Set aside. To the pan, add the broccoli and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the soy sauce mixture and toss to coat. Add the tofu and toss gently. Add the cashews, if using. I adjusted the seasoning by adding salt and pepper. Anna drizzled a little of the wasabi/rice vinegar dressing for the salad on it and said it tasted great!

Tofu with Broccoli Stir-Fry

Meat Loaf Roll with Spinach and Feta Cheese (from grouprecipes.com)
This meat loaf is moist and full of flavor. It isn't necessary to cook the spinach first. It looks and tastes better when rolled up using fresh spinach. 

2 pounds lean ground meats (preferably a meat loaf mix of beef, lamb, and pork)
3/4 cup finely ground bread crumbs (I used Panko crumbs processed in a blender)
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
2 carrots, finely grated
1 onion, finely grated
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon or more dried herbs (I used dill and oregano)
1 pound fresh spinach, chopped
2 oz. feta cheese

Preheat oven 350˚F. Line a baking tray with foil (for easy clean up). Line 9x13 inch baking tray with waxed or parchment paper.

In a large bowl, combine meat, bread crumbs, milk, egg, carrots, onion, salt, pepper, and herbs. Turn out onto the waxed paper. With your fingertips, spread out the meat as evenly as possible. Sprinkle the chopped spinach on top, leaving an inch border. Sprinkle the feta cheese on top of the spinach.

Roll up the paper, jelly-roll fashion. Lift up the paper at one of the shorter edges and gently roll away from you, not too tight but not too loose either,  easing up the paper as you roll the meat and the filling into a log. Moisten your fingers and seal the edges closed. Smooth the seam and any cracks closed. Gently roll the meat log onto the foil lined tray, sliding the paper away. It won't need any oil. I rolled it seam-side down on the baking tray. Bake 45 minutes or until the inside temperature is 160˚F. Turn off the oven. Let the meat loaf rest in the oven for 5 minutes.

I was afraid the meat loaf might be dry so I made a gravy. I poured the pan drippings into a small saucepan. Then, I added 1 tablespoon cornstarch and 3/4 cup of water to the drippings. Next, heat until the gravy begins to thicken. Add salt and pepper to taste. It turned out I didn't need it but some people might like a gravy with meat loaf.

Meatloaf Roll with Spinach and Feta Cheese

Green Bean Medley
This vegetable dish is from the Betty Crocker Cookbook and it's a family favorite.

1 pound fresh string beans, cut into 2 inch lengths
2 carrots, cut into 2 inch sticks
8 oz. mushrooms, sliced
2 tablespoons oil
1/2 medium red onion (optional)
2 garlic cloves, minced
Salt and pepper to taste

Boil 4 cups water with a little salt. Boil the carrots 2 minutes or until bright orange. Use a slotted skimmer to remove and rinse in cold water. Repeat with the green beans. In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons oil, add garlic and onion, if using. Cook until just fragrant. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring for two minutes. Add carrots and green beans. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Green Bean Medley

Asian Avocado Salad (adapted from: Epicurious.com)
Originally called Asian Avocado Salsa, I adapted this recipe into a salad. It has a fiery wasabi dressing. Here's a tip to keep the apple and avocado from browning: sprinkle with lime or lemon juice.

Salad
2 cups coarsely chopped and trimmed romaine lettuce hearts
1/2 cup apple, chopped
2 avocados, peeled and cut into chunks
1 cup grape tomatoes
Scallion and cilantro, chopped (optional)

Salad dressing
2 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar
1 tablespoon mirin
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons Asian sesame oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar (optional)
1 teaspoon wasabi paste (optional)

Asian Avocado Salad

Almond Lake with Mandarin Oranges (from a Chinese cookbook by Alison Burt)
This dessert is a lightly sweet and creamy rice pudding with the crunchy taste of almonds. 

1/3 cup white rice, ground finely
2 1/2 cups milk
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 cup almond flakes, toasted
1x15 oz. can Mandarin oranges in syrup

In a medium saucepan, add the rice, milk, sugar, and almond extract. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to simmer, and stir occasionally until thickened. Cool. Serve at room temperature or chilled. Top with mandarin oranges, syrup, and almond flakes.

Almond Lake with Mandarin Oranges and Almond Flakes

Personalize a collage

Not-Fiery Pork Skewers with Sesame Rice Salad

Everything went wrong with this recipe. I didn't have teriyaki sauce so I substituted soy sauce. The problem is teriyaki is sweeter than soy sauce so I should have adjusted the sugar in the recipe. I didn't have red wine vinegar because I couldn't find a small enough bottle of the stuff to fit in the teeny tiny cupboard of the teeny tiny kitchen. I substituted mirin and white wine. The red pepper flakes imparted no flavor and no heat whatsoever to the pork. This recipe needs a stronger pepper flavor and that comes from using crushed dried chilies or sambal which is an Indonesian chili sauce. And worst of all,  9 minutes cooking time was way too long.  The taste? It was well-done and salty.

Not-so-fiery pork skewers with sesame rice salad

 "Fiery" Pork Skewers (from: Allrecipes.com)
2 tablespoons teriyaki sauce
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
3/4 pound pork tenderloin, trimmed of fat and cut into 1 inch cubes

In a medium bowl, mix teriyaki sauce, vinegar, oil, brown sugar, and pepper flakes. Add pork tenderloin cubes to mixture and toss to coat.

You can do this on a grill but I have a New York apartment with no backyard so I fired up the broiler. Cover a baking tray with foil and lightly spray with cooking spray. Thread the meat on the skewers, about 4-5 cubes per skewer. Place on the prepared tray. Cook 10-12 minutes (ye gods! 9 minutes was long enough to dry them out. Try 5-7 minutes.) Turn frequently (every 3 minutes) and brush with remaining marinade.

Pork on skewers

Should you soak the skewers first and won't they burn? It's not necessary to soak the skewers, and yes, they will char a bit, but not to the point of bursting into flames--unless you do something else and forget you've got dinner in the oven.

****

The sesame rice salad is from the South Beach Diet cookbook. It has another name in the book but I've made the recipe so many times that I've made it my own. The trick is to make the vegetables crisp-tender and you do that by blanching them in boiling water.

2 cups cooked brown rice, warm or room temperature
1/2 pound green beans cut in 1 inch lengths  (asparagus in the original recipe)
1/2 pound sugar snap peas, whole, trim ends to pull off the strings
2 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons sesame oil
3 tablespoons sesame seeds
3 scallions, sliced on the diagonal
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped (optional)

Put 4 cups of water in a saucepan on to boil. Immerse the beans. I never time them. Just watch them turn bright green. When they do, use a slotted skimmer to remove the beans at once. Immerse in cold water to stop the cooking process. Repeat with the sugar snap peas. Drain well and set aside.

In a skillet, brown the sesame seed until a light golden brown. Set aside. In a small bowl, whisk the oil, soy sauce, and sesame oil until blended together. Set aside

In a large bowl toss the rice with the soy sauce mixture. Add the beans and peas. Add the sesame seeds. Combine. Sprinkle the scallions and crushed red pepper on top. I add the cilantro to this recipe because it adds a savory flavor and crunchy texture.

Lettuce Sandwiches and Chinese Style Barbecued Ribs

Ground pork lettuce sandwich sprinkled with mustard

This recipe for Lettuce Sandwiches is another family favorite that my mother-in-law taught me to make. It's basically the same idea as the ground meat with bean threads except you leave out the egg and the bean threads. Sometimes I'm lazy and I make it with garlic powder. This time I made it with fresh minced garlic and it tastes much better!

Lettuce Sandwiches
1 pound ground meat (I used pork)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 scallion, chopped fine
1 carrot, diced
2 tablespoons cooking oil
Soy sauce to taste
Black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons mustard
2 tablespoons water
Soy sauce for serving
Lettuce leaves (I recommend Cos/Romaine, leaf or iceberg lettuce)

Heat the oil in a saucepan. Add the carrot and cook for one minute. Add the garlic and scallion and fry until fragrant. Add the meat and cook, stirring, until no longer pink. Season to taste with soy sauce and black pepper. The recipe can be doubled.

In a small bowl, mix mustard and water until it is smooth and no longer lumpy. If desired, serve with soy sauce. 

Spoon meat over lettuce, sprinkle soy sauce and/or mustard on top,  pop in mouth and eat!

***

I like surfing the internet for new recipes. This one came from backofthebox.com but I adjusted it right away when I saw how much garlic was in it. Not enough! I used twice the garlic but halved the recipe because I'm only cooking for two now, just AJ and me.

Barbecued Ribs

Chinese Style Barbecued Ribs

Marinade
2 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
4 cloves garlic, chopped
3/4 pound pork spareribs separated into 1-rib pieces

Glaze
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon honey

In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, hoisin sauce, and garlic. Put the ribs in a plastic bag and pour the soy sauce marinade over it. Press air out of the bag and turn bag to ensure even coating. Let sit in the refrigerator for at least an hour or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350˚F. Cover a baking tray with tin foil and lightly spray with cooking spray. Place the ribs on the prepared pan, meat side down. Prepare the glaze. Loosely cover with spare ribs with foil and bake for 50 minutes. Glaze the ribs with half the prepared glaze. Bake uncovered for 10 minutes. Turn ribs and cover with the remaining glaze. Bake uncovered for an additional 10 minutes. Remove from oven and eat with your fingers!

Our dinner

Ma Po Tofu and Bean Sprouts with Scallion

Teeny Tiny Kitchen

 I have a tiny kitchen so it doesn't pay to invest in a lot of pots and pans. So I got one good one, a Calphalon Everyday Pan that can be both a skillet and a pot. To go with the tiny kitchen is a tiny apartment sized refrigerator that doesn't hold much. I'm constantly juggling leftovers with freshly cooked food. The fridge was getting full so it was time to move stuff. I had half a cake of firm tofu and a pound of bean sprouts both left over from this week's pad thai. Hence, dinner! First, Ma Po Tofu is simply bean curd in a spicy meat sauce. The Bean Sprouts with Scallion is my own invention using whatever is on hand.

Ma Po Tofu (Spicy Bean Curd)

Ma Po Tofu
1 cup bean curd
1/2 pound ground pork
1 scallion minced
1/2 inch of ginger root, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 chili, chopped
1 tablespoon chili sauce (sold in Asian markets as sambal)
1 teaspoon sesame oil
3 tablespoons oil
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon water


Pour hot water over the bean curd and let sit about 5 minutes. Drain and cut into bite size pieces.

Combine scallion, ginger, garlic, and chili pepper in a small bowl. Heat 3 tablespoons oil over high heat in a large skillet. Add scallion mixture and fry until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add meat and cook until no longer pink. Add chili sauce, sesame oil, and chicken stock. Cook until bubbly. Add the bean curd and gently turn to combine. Mix cornstarch and water together. Add to the sauce to thicken. Remove to a serving bowl and keep warm. Serve hot with steamed rice.

Bean Sprouts with Scallion
1 lb bean sprouts, picked over
1 scallion, cut into 1 inch lengths
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon oil
1 tablespoon water
Salt and pepper to taste
Fish sauce to taste, if desired

Pinch off the root and any brown bits on the bean sprouts. Wash and drain.

Wipe out the skillet used to make the Ma Po Tofu with a paper towel.  Heat the oil in the skillet. Add the scallion and garlic and fry until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the bean sprouts and combine. Add the water and cook uncovered until the bean sprouts just turn transparent. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add fish sauce, if desired.

Ah, dinner!

Ants in Trees

This sounds like the beginning of a great Anansi story but it is actually a recipe my mother-in-law taught me when Malika was born. In one Chinese cookbook it is given the fanciful name "Ants Climbing a Tree" presumably because when it is cooked, tiny balls of ground meat (ants) stick to each bean thread (the tree). This dish is a family favorite and I have made it in every city we have lived in: Milwaukee, Chicago, Bangkok, and now, New York. I haven't quite set up the kitchen the way I like so there's some improvisation!

The ingredients: note the steak knife used to chop vegetables!

1 pound ground meat
2 bundles of bean threads
2 eggs,  lightly beaten
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 stalks scallion, sliced
2 tablespoons oil
Soy sauce, salt, and pepper to taste
Scallion and cilantro for garnish, if desired

Soak the bean threads in warm water until the bundles loosen and begin to feel limp. Drain well.

Over high heat, heat the oil. Add the garlic and scallion and fry until fragrant. Add the ground meat and cook until no longer pink. Season to taste with soy sauce, salt, and pepper.

Soaked bean threads added to meat mixture

Add the bean threads and toss to coat thoroughly. Pour the egg all over and toss  to coat until the eggs are thoroughly cooked and no longer shiny. Adjust seasoning if desired.

Beaten eggs added to the meat-bean thread mixture

 Serve over steamed rice. Garnish with scallion and cilantro if desired.

Result: one pot meal