Recipe: Middle Eastern Couscous with Sautéed Veggies

This dish is my go-to when I simply don't know what to make. I usually have mushrooms and bagged spinach in my fridge – I always manage to use these week after week. I also always have chicken broth. I know that most, if not all, chefs cringe at the mere mention of canned or prepackaged broth or stock. However, ordinary, non-chefs as ourselves don't normally have the time or resources to make stock night after night. My favorite broth to use is Whole Foods' 365 brand Organic Chicken Broth. There's always at least one carton in my pantry. I also always have middle eastern or Israeli couscous - it's cheap, filling and fairly readily available (I buy it in the bulk aisle at Whole Foods). I also like to use Meyer lemon when it's available. It's different from regular lemons because it imparts a much more fragrant aroma - it hints at lemons without adding too much tartness and just the right amount of acidity.

I like pairing this meal with simply prepared meats, like grilled chicken breast, marinated in salt, pepper and olive oil. I've also served this dish with sautéed porterhouse and romesco sauce, which is a traditional Spanish dipping sauce made from nuts and roasted red bell peppers.

Middle Eastern Couscous with Sautéed Veggies

Veggies:

1/4 lb button or cremini mushrooms, sliced thinly

1/2 bag baby spinach, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 TB butter

2 tsps olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Couscous:

1 c Middle Eastern/Israeli couscous

1 c chicken broth

zest from 1 meyer lemon

juice from 1/4 meyer lemon

1 TB olive oil or white truffle oil

salt and pepper to taste

For the Veggies:

Heat a small sauté pan to medium. Add 1/2 TBSP butter and 1 tsp olive oil. Sauté half of the minced garlic for about a minute. Add mushrooms. Sauté until somewhat browned. Add a pinch of salt. Transfer to a bowl. In the same pan, add the rest of the butter, olive oil and garlic. Add spinach and a pinch of salt. The spinach will greatly wilt because of the salt. When all of the spinach is wilted, transfer to a bowl.

For the Couscous:

Put raw couscous in a large bowl that can be covered. Heat broth in a saucepan to boiling. When the broth boils, turn heat off and immediately pour over the couscous. Cover the bowl. After about 8 minutes, the couscous is cooked. Add the sautéed mushrooms and spinach to the couscous. Add the olive oil and truffle oil. Add the zest and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper.

Enjoy!

Recipe: Saveur's Peruvian Chicken Noodle Soup, Leicafied

It's winter and the city has been gripped by intensely cold temperatures. To alleviate the shivers, I made some fabulous noodle soup last night and it was comforting, warming and absolutely delicious.

I have been dying to try this recipe ever since I saw the it in Saveur magazine. And what better time than a cold, snowy evening? Since I didn't have the time to make my own broth, I used store bought broth (I find that Trader Joe's Organic Free-Range Chicken broth has the most flavor, but any brand will do). With a little help from my husband's taste buds, I also employed some Asian ingredients to amplify the flavors, bringing more richness and depth to the dish.

Ingredients:

1 TBSP olive oil

1/2 medium onion, finely diced

1 carrot, finely chopped

2 stalks celery, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 inch piece of ginger, grated

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs, thinly sliced

1/4 tsp pepper

2 32oz cartons chicken broth

3 TBSPs soy sauce

pinch of cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp garlic powder

4 large handfuls of Wide Egg Noodles

Garnish:

lime wedge

chopped scallions

chiffonade of cilantro

hard boiled egg (optional)

In a small stock pan or dutch oven, pour olive oil over medium high heat, add onions, carrots and celery and sauté until softened, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and ginger. Sauté for another 1 minute. Add chicken strips and saute until somewhat browned. Season with pepper. Add both cartons of broth and bring to a boil. Lower heat to a slow simmer and cover. Cook for 10 minutes.

Season with soy sauce and garlic powder. Bring back to a boil and add the egg noodles. Lower heat to a medium simmer and cover. Simmer until noodles are cooked.

To serve, ladle soup in a bowl, sprinkle lime juice (from one small wedge) onto soup. Top with scallions and cilantro. If you'd like, put a halved hard-boiled egg into the soup.

Enjoy!

Recipe: Leicafied Hainese Chicken Rice

I've never been to Singapore. I hope to visit and consume mass quantities at the storied Hawker centers, to indulge in Makansutra.

Apparently, Singapore is a fantastic place to explore a variety of cuisines and what I would consider true Fusion. In Singapore, Indians, Chinese, Thai, Filipino and other Asian ethnicities have made their home. Can you even imagine the kind of food you can find there with every step, every smell of the flavor-filled air?

One of my uncles, though, has visited on numerous occasions. I'm quite envious. During my last trip to Northern California, he and his wife were also visiting. They provided us with quite a few jars of Singaporean pastes and sauces. One of them was chicken rice to be stirred into the water with the uncooked rice, before you press the button on the rice cooker.

It's basically concentrated chicken flavor with a bit of chicken fat. The luscious smell while it cooks is indescribable. I'm smelling it at the moment and my salivary glands have gone crazy.

Chicken rice is basically rice cooked with chicken fat, served with boiled chicken, dipping sauces and several garnishes. It's rather simple, but so satisfying.

I don't much care for boiled chicken unless I shred the meat and make chicken salad for lunch. So, here's my take on Singapore's national dish:

Chicken Rice:

Various chicken parts or a whole chicken
Salt
Pepper
Soy sauce
Sesame oil

Chili Garlic Dipping Sauce (all measurements are approximations, please taste taste taste):
2 Tbsps chili paste
2 cloves minced garlic
1-inch piece of peeled and minced ginger
Juice of 1/2 lime
1 Tbsp white vinegar
2 Tbsps sugar
1 Tbsp chicken broth

Rice:
Instead of water, use chicken broth as the cooking liquid

Garnishes:
Cilantro
Diced tomatoes
Diced cucumber

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Brush with a little vegetable oil. Pop in the oven using a roaster with a rack. Cook for an hour, or until the skin turns golden brown. The skin turn crispy, the fat drips onto the pan.

For the chili garlic sauce:
Mix all of the ingredients together. Let sit for about fifteen minutes, taste and adjust. It should have a tangy, sweet and spicy taste.

To serve, put chicken on a platter, drizzle soy sauce and sesame oil, then sprinkle coarsely chopped cilantro. Serve with rice, the diced garnishes and the dipping sauces.

Enjoy!

Scrumptious Serbian Comestibles

Armed with positive reviews from various publications, Ben and I sought out Ilija's Place, a Serbian restaurant just eight blocks from our new house, on the corner of Squire and Kirkwood.

Moving to our house was wonderful. It was a definite upgrade: a Viking kitchen, beautiful woodwork, a fireplace, a garage and so on. It's beautiful and perfect for us and we absolutely love it. However, the location was a certain downgrade. Cudahy. Coo-dah-haaay. Where every bar is a smoky dive and the imaginary needle drops when a brown person walks through their doors. 

Be that as it may, Cudahy seems to have a decent selection of good restaurants and one of them is Ilija's Place. 

A family-run establishment, Ilija manages, his wife cooks, one of his sons serves and bartends.

The atmosphere may be a bit kitschy, but it is a nice escape from the nearby mullet-festooned watering holes.

Upon being seated at our table, soft bread, cream cheese and a red pepper tapenade-like spread called ajvar were ready for consumption. On our first visit, we ordered the veal sweetbreads appetizer. It was absolutely delicious! It was our first time having sweetbreads and I was surprised with how savory it is. A little lemon juice before eating and the flavors just burst in my mouth. It reminded me of seared foie gras.

Ben ordered the lamb shank and I, the raznici, which are grilled cubes of marinated veal. Each dish had potatoes and vegetables. The lamb shank was so wonderfully savory. The potatoes accompanying it were so flavorful. The raznici was bold and juicy. I don't know what the constituents of the marinade were, but I have never had grilled veal with that much flavor. Suffice it to say, we thoroughly enjoyed the experience. We found ourselves talking to the couple seated next to our table, a Polish woman and German man. I should say that the atmosphere at Ilija's Place is genial.

On our second visit, we ordered the sweetbreads yet again. It was even better this time around. Ben had the venison goulash. It was very good. Tender chunks of venison piled high atop noodles. A definite must during those cold Wisconsin evenings. I ordered the chevapcici. They're logs of grilled ground meat (lamb, pork and beef). It's the eastern European Kifta. Yet again, it was full of savory flavor.

Ilija told us to come back this Saturday - he's making a special tripe soup with me in mind. They are also roasting a pig on a spit. I can't wait!

Absinthe, Absaaanthe

So, I had absinthe for the first time tonight.

Licorice-ey.

A bit of a waxy aftertaste and I'm burping licorice.

It's nice.

I like the ritual. I am a romantic at heart. Van Gogh. Rimbaud. Verlaine. Wilde.

Don't think I'll have it again.

Recipe: Little Hong Kong in Cudahy

One of the things I miss from our trip to Asia last year, besides my family, is having char siu noodle soup for breakfast. While in Hong Kong, we had it every morning. It was filling, satisfying, comforting and delicious. The scrumptious morsels of barbecued pork, the savory broth, the tender noodles...mmmmm! My mouth is currently watering.

Milwaukee is not known for having traditional, authentic Hong Kong style restaurants. In fact, I believe, there are none. What we have are grease pots filled with sesame chicken, sweet and sour meat and crab rangoons. No thanks.

So when that insatiable craving for Cantonese cuisine strikes, all we can do is look at the pictures and reminisce. Until I tried making it myself. It may not be the most authentic noodle soup, but the savory qualities are there.

This is my semi-homemade very easy recipe for Char Siu Noodle Soup:

Note: I prefer purchasing my meats from Whole Foods. I know it's more expensive, but the quality is exponentially better. I don't mind paying a few extra dollars more for meat that is more tender, better tasting and juicier.

For the marinade:
1 package Char Siu marinade (available at Asian Stores, it comes in powder form)
2 lbs pork shoulder roast cut into two long cylindrical pieces
2 Tbsps. hoisin sauce
2 tsps. sugar

For the broth:
Note: When I have the time and enough chicken bones, I do make my own stock. However, I can't do that all the time so here's my alternative:

1 carton chicken broth
1 carton chicken stock
soy sauce to taste, about 3 Tbsp (start with one and go from there)
1 tsp sesame oil

For the noodles:
I like purchasing Chinese yellow noodles, dried, not fried

Sliced Scallions for garnish

Combine the marinade ingredients together and marinate overnight.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Put pork in a roasting pan with a rack, so that the fat drips and you're not left with soggy, oily pork.

Roast the pork for approximately 45 minutes to an hour, basting with the following mixture:

3 Tbsps vegetable oil
1 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp hoisin sauce

When the pork is done, let it rest before slicing into it, to let the juices reconstitute.

While the pork is cooking, make the soup broth. Combine ingredients together in a small stockpot or whatever you have available that can hold that much liquid.

Also, cook the noodles in boiling water. When cooked to al dente, strain and pour cold water to stop the cooking process.

To assemble the soup:
Put a serving of noodles in a deep bowl
Put thinly sliced pork on top of noodles
Sprinkle scallions on top of pork and noodles
Ladle broth into bowl

Enjoy!!

Recipe: Cassoulet-ing It

Traditionally, cassoulet is a rather laborious dish to make. Duck fat, various sausages, legumes, meats, etc. cooked slowly over a long period of time. It's certainly a lovely dish to have when it's horrid and cold outside, like tonight.

Even with weekends, I don't normally have that kind of time to cook.

I found a chicken cassoulet recipe on cooking.com that is easy to prepare, healthier and tastes fabulous. Of course, I made adjustments to suit my palate, what my husband refers to as "Leica-fying."

Here is my version (by the way, I'm not one of those people who measure when cooking, so my measurements are approximate, adjust to your own taste):

4-6 strips of honey-smoked bacon, chopped

1 onion, finely diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

5 chicken thighs or any part of the chicken you prefer

1 cup white wine (sauvignon blanc is nice)

2 cups or more chicken broth

2 cans white beans (cannellini will work), 1 can mashed, 1 intact

1 turkey kielbasa, cut on the bias or crosswise

fresh thyme or a couple pinches of dried thyme

monter a beurre (optional - softened butter mixed with flour)

So, in a large dutch oven, over medium high heat put in bacon. Cook until browned. Add diced onion and minced garlic. Lower heat to medium and cook until onion is translucent. Transfer onion-bacon mixture to a bowl and set aside. In the same dutch oven, lay chicken skin side down and brown. Flip to brown the other side. Transfer to a plate and drain the fat off the pan. Return pan to heat and pour in white wine. Scrape those lovely browned bits at the bottom while the wine simmers. Add chicken, onion-bacon mixture, kielbasa and chicken broth. Then add the mashed beans. Mix. Add the intact beans and the thyme. Let simmer for about 30 minutes, covered. Uncover and let simmer for another 5-8 minutes, or until slightly thickened. I like adding the monter a beurre for a little extra richness and silky finish to the dish.

Season to taste. I find that it doesn't need much extra salt since there's bacon, broth and kielbasa.

Garnish with parsley.

Eat and enjoy! It tastes even better the next day, when you have it for dinner again.

Why food?

Why not?

I am going to be candid here. My love affair with food started at a young age. I remember watching my mom and grandmother prepare amazing meals in the smallest of kitchens.

The first dish I cooked by myself, at about 8 or 9 years old, was fried rice. I remember craving it and no one wanted to cook it. I asked my uncle (who is a formidable cook as well) how to make fried rice. He told me how and I did it.... with some minor adjustments: since I was not allowed to handle a big knife, I did not use garlic. I did use quite a bit of salt in lieu of the garlic. It turned out beautifully. The sense of accomplishment coupled with how good it really tasted allowed me to fully savor each and every bite. 

Fast forward a few years. The rebellion had started and I decided to turn vegetarian. To be honest, I did it to mask a more serious problem: I was entrenched in the early stages of anorexia. In order to lose weight, I chose to stop eating meat (I'm sure PETA members are not too pleased to hear that I was a leather-wearing veggie). When I told my mother the news, she refused to cook without meat. Who could blame her? When you come from a country where meat is expensive, you certainly are not going to take it for granted. I had two choices: eat meat or cook for myself. I chose the latter. It also enabled me to control what went into my mouth, which is characteristic of anorexia.

Let me explain this: when you're starving, all you can think about is food. When you're starving ALL the time, you think about food ALL the time. I started watching cooking shows on PBS (we didn't have cable), borrowing recipe books from the library, etc. I also started creating dishes I would fancy eating. I cooked a lot; however, as the disease progressed, my food intake became less and less, amounting to almost nothing. At that point, tasting the food for seasoning was enough. 

After years of struggle, I was able to overcome the eating disorders (I also had a brief stint with bulimia). I have been in recovery for 7 years.

The eating disorders may have gone, but the passion for food and cooking remains.