Korean/Chinese Mandoo

Last week my wife set up her jewelry kiosk in my office building, so we got to see each other more than usual. For lunch there are several places in my building, most pretty simple -- you know salads and sandwiches. One is a pretty good Chinese restaurant. Now I do like good Chinese food and the first time my building had a Chinese Buffet it was a disaster. Picture, if you would, a short line of various canned Chinese food in steamer trays. It was . . . . well . . . disgusting was the word that came to mind. It didn't last long!

A few years back a contractor came in and opened an actual Chinese lunch place. The menu has about 30 things, beef, chicken, pork and seafood and even a few vegetable dishes. Most are served with a side of rice, a fried honey chicken wing, and a Mandoo -- a Korean or Chinese fried dumpling. I had found myself partial to the Combination Rice, Sweet and Sour Pork, Chicken Lo-Mein, and Mongolian Beef. Since my wife also likes Chinese I introduced her to what is frequently her favorite, the Mongolian Beef. Surprising me, she loved the Mandoo. Her next day's lunch was an order of the Mandoo and a large iced tea.

So that got me thinking -- I know, dangerous -- why not try my hand at making them! So I did what I usually do and went digging for a recipe. I found one interesting on on Food Channel and another one a website I found through Google -- TasteMemories. At this point I'm not sure which one I will attempt, but both looked interesting. Food Channel looks easier, but TasteMemories looks much more flavorful. I'll let you know which I do on Saturday and how they turn out. If they are good I will post the recipe here, including any tweaks I might make :-) What I have loved about reading through the recipes, there isn't much you can't put into one of these dumplings and go wrong -- well I certainly hope not.

Did Chili again!

Ran the Chili recipe again, this time a double batch so I had some at home as well as taking in a small crock pot full for the office. An empty crock pot is a good sign!

Made a couple of small changes. Still use chuck roast meat, but I am not as happy with it's texture after 2 hours of cooking. It does fall apart nicely, but it still is a touch chewy. I am debating cutting into smaller pieces or braising the meat separately before building the chili itself. Still debating on that one. I do know I want the meat to be less chewy.

It also was a little on the thin side, sauce-wise. I used corn starch instead of corn muffin mix and I might not have used enough. It had a great taste, without the slight corn taste I get from the muffin mix. I might have to pick up some Masa Harina flour next time! That seemed to be the perfect thickening agent for chili, but I haven't found a small package. Five pounds of masa flour tends to go bad. Guess I might have to find another use for it. maybe homemade corn tortillas?

Gotta weekend coming up and might have a few inches of snow. So gotta think of a few new recipes, something nice and hearty. Maybe an Irish Stew one evening! Anyone have a good recipe?

Shrimp Scampi, I hope.

I would like to surprise my wife with a little Shrimp Scampi tomorrow night. Like most of the stuff I cook, I have never cooked shrimp outside of tossing some raw shrimp on a grill. So here is my plan:

I am going to start with a bag of pre-cooked shrimp. I know, it's cheating, but I want to concentrate on the butter-garlic sauce this time. Next time I'll try raw shrimp.

Following some advice, I picked up pre-cooked jumbo shrimp and made sure the only ingredient is Shrimp! I will defrost in some hot water for about 15 minutes before starting on the sauce.

The sauce, I was thinking about a verblanc sauce, but thought that might be too heavy, so I am going to simplify it down a bit. A stick of unsalted butter, melted, two minced garlic cloves sauteed for about a minute lightly. Then toss in the defrosted shrimp to heat through -- trying to be careful not to overcook it. A little lemon juice right at the end and a tablespoon of chopped fresh parsley, salt and pepper to taste. Serve with either rice or angel hair pasta. So how do you think it sounds?

I'll give it a shot and see what happens. I know many scampi recipes also call for wine or vermouth, shallots or onion, and even Parmesan cheese. I am going to keep it pretty simple.

Skirt Steak tomorrow night

I didn't get a chance at the Chili Verde, no tomatillos. I guess they aren't in season, so I'll be patient. In the meantime anyone who want to share a recipe, please pass it on.

Since I am holding off on that, I am thinking of some Skirt Steak with a bit of Chimichurri Sauce. Here is a recipe I will try. I'll pick up the fresh herbs on the way home. It's courtesy of Michael Chiarello. I'll let you know how it turned out.

Chimichurri Sauce:

• 1 bunch fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 teaspoons smoked paprika
• 1 tablespoon fresh oregano leaves, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
• 1 1/2 cups extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

I have seen a number of other recipes, including finely chopped onion, lime juice, green onions, even a mild pepper like a poblano. The first time with a recipe I usually stick to it and then mess with it the next time, especially if there seemed to be something missing. For some reason the onions seem like they would be a good fit, well we shall see. If I mix it up and it doesn't have the expected impact, I always have some yellow onion in the house :-)

The skirt steak will be pretty simple. I love it quick grilled on a hot grill pan with nothing but a little oil, salt, and pepper. Skirt steak cooks in a flash, so don't turn your back on it. Now some might suggest that Chimichurri is a bit overkill on skirt steak and that a bottle of A1 is all you need. Sorry, A1 is OK, but I think it's overkill on thin cut like a skirt. I prefer a sauce that will add it's own level of flavor and still allow the meat to shine. A1, , is good with a thick cut, like a sirloin, but for skirt it's like using a shotgun on a mosquito.

Santa must like to eat! (Chili Verde)

Let's see, Santa brings my wife, among other things, a new computer and a Blue-Ray DVD player. I get a new 9.5 quart enameled cast iron dutch oven and the full 10 years of America's Test Kitchen Cookbook. Around here, that's pretty normal. One year I got a wok and she got a CD player. So in my opinion, Santa must like to eat because I have new toys to play with in the kitchen! Chili Verde, here I come! Anyone have a great recipe?

Now before you start digging, I prefer the spicy New Mexico style of chili verde, at least I think I was in Albuquerque. We were traveling so much it might have been Tucson. No, I think it was Albuquerque. I am pretty sure that in New Mexico when asked if you want green or red, green is spicier than the red. in Arizona it was the opposite. Luckily I like spicy so when I got them confused I wasn't disappointed because while the red wasn't as spicy -- it was delicious. Now the poor Major I was traveling with . . . well let's just say he will never forget which is which!

So seriously, anyone have a really good recipe for spicy New Mexico-style Chili Verde? Here is a recipe I am thinking of scaling up, in volume and maybe in heat. I got it from the Food Channel, courtesy of Mary Sue Milliken & Susan Feniger! Yea, the 'Too Hot Tamales' themselves!

Ingredients

• 4 pounds pork butt or shoulder, trimmed of fat and cut into 2-inch cubes
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• Flour for dredging
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 3 yellow onions
  
• 2 green bell peppers, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 2 Anaheim or Poblano chiles, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 2-3 jalapenos, seeds removed, and finely chopped
  
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 1/2 pounds tomatillos, roasted, peeled and chopped
  
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 tablespoons coriander seeds, crushed and soaked in a scant amount of water
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 bunch cilantro leaves, cleaned and chopped
• 4 cups chicken stock

Directions

• Season the pork meat generously with salt and pepper, lightly flour.
  
• Heat oil in a heavy-bottomed skillet over medium high heat and brown pork chunks well in small batches, on all sides.
  
• Lift pork out of pan and place in a wide soup pot.
  
• Discard fat and place the onions and peppers in the same skillet and sweat over moderate heat, stirring occasionally until limp, about 5 minutes.
  
• Add all of the chiles and cook an additional 3-4 minutes, then add the garlic and cook 1-2 minutes more.
• Add the Sauteed vegetables, chopped tomatillos, dried herbs and cilantro to the meat, cover with the chicken stock and bring up to a boil and reduce to a slight simmer.
  
• Cook for 2-3 hours uncovered or until the pork is fork tender.

Christmas Dinner/lunch

I haven't been cooking much, things have been insane. Work has been a bit busy and I got a bit behind on a project! Luckily I work with a terrific team and they got me unjammed! Mike and Kiki are my heroes and TJ really keeps us on track!

In addition my wife opened up her own flower shop, you can imagine how busy things have been for the Christmas season. But tomorrow is Christmas Eve and then Christmas! So gotta plan up a bit of a Christmas dinner. Well in our case more of a Christmas lunch. My daughter and her husband are coming down for a lunch with us and then dinner with his family later. But we still plan on a pretty nice meal.

Front and center is a 'Heavenly Ham' from Dorothy Lane Market. It's along the same line as a 'Honey-Baked Ham' but we found it is a little less sweet for our tastes. The crust is more brown sugar than honey. Delicious! The cooking for us will be the side dishes. Still debating a couple of those, but the planned menu seems to be:

• Heavenly ham
• Stuffing
• Mashed potatoes
• Glazed baby carrots
• Green beans almondine
• Rolls

The carrots and green beans are the same ones from Thanksgiving. Nothing succeeds like success. Haven't decided on the potatoes, but I am thinking of more a smashed red potatoes. It's easy, here is the recipe:

Ingredients

• 4-5 lbs of red potatoes, skin on (Baby potatoes or fingerlings work as well)
  
• 1/2 stick of soft, unsalted butter
• 8 oz of cream cheese (softened to room temperature)
• 1/2 cup of milk, half-and-half, or cream

Prep and cook

• Cut the potatoes into about equal size pieces for even cooking. Us the smallest potato for a guide. the larger the pieces are, the more 'smashed' the final product will look.
  
• Boil the potatoes in heavily salted water until a fork slides in easily. This is important, a fork, not a paring knife. A paring knife would slide in too easily and the potatoes are normally not quite done.
• Drain well and toss into the mixing bowl of a stand mixer. I have found a hand mixer just isn't strong enough. Alternatively, mix by hand with a pretty stuff wooden spoon or hand masher.
• Add the butter, cream cheese, and milk (or half and half/heavy cream).
• Mix until just combined. It should be very lumpy. That's why I call it 'Smashed' as opposed to 'mashed'. You can mix it until it's smooth, but the skins will look funny in there.

Good stuff, if I do say so myself. We are still hashing things out, but I think it will be close to what we end up with. I'll post afterward if anything changes. Gotta work on cookies for Santa and some appetizers. Although since we are eating early the appetizers might be munchies for later. My wife is planning on deviled eggs and I am thinking about some shrimp cocktail.

Well Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all! I hope your culinary adventures for Christmas are fun and taste terrific! Pass me any interesting recipes!

Southwestern-Style Rub London Broil

Picked up a nice looking London Broil. I was after a flank steak, but the only ones in the meat case were too small, so London Broil it is. Now I really do like Flank Steak, I think it is a more flavorful cut, so I plan to jazz up the London Broil with a take on a Southwestern-style rub.

Now why do I call it 'Southwestern-style'? For one reason I think the cumin and coriander take this part of the way there, but this rub isn't very spicy -- which seems to be the hallmark of most southwest rubs. My wife and one of my daughters don't like things too spicy, so no cayenne, no hot peppers, but still lots of great flavor!

Ingredients:

• 3 tsp Chili Powder
• 2 tsp Hot Smoked Paprika
• 1 1/2 tsp Cumin Seed (freshly ground)
• 1 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
• 1 1/2 tsp Crushed Oregano
• 1 tsp Roasted Smoked Coriander
• 1 tsp Onion Powder
• 1 tsp Kosher Salt
• 1 tsp Freshly Ground Black Pepper
• 1 1/2 - 2 lb London Broil
  

Prep and cook:

• Mix all the ingredients except for the London Broil
  
• Trim any excess from the steak
• Rub the Southwestern Rub on all sides
• Place in a Ziploc Bag, squeezing out as much air as possible
• Let it marinate in the fridge for several hours. I usually leave it for 6 hours
• Heat up a grill pan over medium-high heat
• Grill the steak on each side for 7-8 minutes, or as long as 10-12 minutes depending on the thickness of the cut.
  
• Allow the meat the rest for about 10 minutes
• Slice in about 1/4 inch slices making sure to go against the grain of the meat. I usually slice on the bias so each piece has a bit more of the crust of the meat.

I did this the other night and while I think it was a success, my wife and granddaughter did not. It wasn't to unexpected of the granddaughter, she doesn't seem to like any spices. I thought my wife would like it because it wasn't spicy hot, but she thought it was. Oh well, I'm still going to chalk it up to a success because I liked it. My daughter will try the leftovers and I think she'll like it as well.