Chinese New Year 2012

The Chinese New Year began on January 23, 2012 which is considered the Chinese New Year’s Eve and the celebration will continue for 15 days until February 6^th, with the Lantern Festival. At the Lantern Festival, the Chinese people will carry lanterns into the streets or light candles in their homes. This holiday is the most important and longest holiday for the Chinese people. This year marks the 4710^th Chinese New Year, and this time it is the Year of the Dragon according to the Chinese zodiac calendar.

The dragon is the 5^th sign of the Chinese zodiac and is regarded as an auspicious symbol which stands for power, good luck, success, and happiness. In ancient times the Chinese New Year was considered the time to honor ancestors and heavenly deities, but today it is time to organize family gatherings and family feasts. Many Chinese travel far to return to their families so trains and airports are packed during this time.

We were listening to NPR recently and they were talking about a new Chinese cookbook called The Cultural Revolution Cookbook by Sasha Gong and Scott D. Seligman. Sasha Gong had been a young girl during the Cultural Revolution and these recipes are the ones her family ate during those times. There was not much food, but they used what they had and the food was simple but tasty. I decided to give these recipes a try since I pretty much had everything in my pantry except the pork belly or pork shoulder.  As you will note there are very few ingredients and all are easily obtainable.

Steamed Savory Egg Custard (This dish was easy in the Cultural Revolution since it did not require oil which was strictly rationed.)

2 eggs

3 ½ cups cold water

Salt

¼ scallion (spring onion) (From our garden.)

½ tbsp. sesame oil

Sprig of cilantro or parsley (At this time of year you should have both in the garden.)

Beat the eggs and add 1 ½ cups water and salt as desired. Mix well.  Cut scallion into small pieces.  Put the mixture of eggs and water into a heat safe dish with a cover.  Add the remaining water to the wok and bring to a boil. Place the covered dish in the wok.  Then cover the wok, decrease heat to medium, simmer 10 minutes.  Sprinkle the custard with the scallion and drizzle with sesame oil; garnish with the cilantro or parsley. Serve.

Tofu with Scallions and Sesame Dressing (low in fat, high in protein)

1 scallion

1 cake firm tofu

2 tsps. Sesame oil

Pinch of salt

Shred the scallion into small pieces by cutting on a bias.  Rinse the tofu; put in a microwave safe serving platter; warm in the microwave 1 minute or heat gently in an oven.  Cut up the tofu into 1 ½ inch cubes, sprinkle with scallions, sesame oil and salt.  The Chinese soaked the tofu in hot water to warm (about 10 minutes) since during the revolution there were no microwaves or even an oven.

Brain Food

Chairman Mao loved his “brain food” which was a traditional dish in his native Hunan and was considered “brain food.”

1 pound pork shoulder (This dish was traditionally made with pork belly which is much fatter.)

1 large piece ginger, about 1 inch

1 tbsp. cooking oil

4 tbsp. sugar

4 tbsp. soy sauce

1 cinnamon stick or ½ tsp. cinnamon

½ cup rice wine

Cut the pork into cubes, 1 inch to a side.  Smash the un-pealed ginger.  Heat the wok and add the oil.  When the oil begins to smoke, add ginger, then the sugar.  When the sugar is dissolved, add the pork; stir fry until the liquid evaporates.  Then add soy sauce, cinnamon and wine.  Mix well, cover tightly. Decrease the heat to medium and simmer ½ hour.

Rice is a good accompaniment to the pork dish.

These recipes were all done on the same day and our favorite was the Brain Food or the pork belly dish. The pork belly really caramelized in the sauce and was wonderful. The other two dishes were very similar and pleasant tasting, but nothing to rave about. The tofu gave us much protein so that was good! We like things spicy so perhaps I should have added a pod or two of pepper to the tofu and some hot pepper flakes to the custard?

Gong Xi Fa Ca (wishing you prosperity) in this Year of the Dragon!

Savory Sweet Potatoes

I am trying to do more seasonal cooking and cooking from the garden but the garden is rather bleak this time of year. We do have sweet potatoes in the cellar and some leeks in the ground. We like our sweet potatoes “savory,” not sweet, so I am always looking for ways to tone down the natural sweetness.  

Some people use the terms “sweet potato” and “yam” interchangeably, but the two root vegetables are actually unrelated. Sweet potatoes are native to the Americas. Yams are native to Africa. The entrenched misnomer and confusion are the result of at least three things. Spanish explorers came across the sweet potatoes growing in the Caribbean and called them batata, the same word they used for yams and white potatoes. About the same time, Portuguese explorers encountered sweet potatoes in Brazil and shipped them to Africa, where they were grown to provision Portuguese ships headed to the New World. Some enslaved Africans called them yams, probably from the West African word unyamo, which means ”to eat.” And in the 1930s, a moist orange sweet potato from Puerto Rico was marketed as a Louisiana yam to distinguish it from other sweet potatoes.

So much for the confusion.  They are healthy, Southern, and available right now.

My husband found this recipe somewhere, but cannot remember where he got it, so who knows where the credit should lie. It is a good, simple soup. So good with some hot bread.

Sweet Potato Leek Soup

Serve 4

2 leeks

2 tbs. olive oil

4 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into ½” pieces

2 cubes chicken bouillon

1 cup fresh cream or half and half

1 Tbsp. butter

Pinch ground cloves

Shredded parmesan cheese

Reserved leeks for garnish

Heat olive oil in a 2-quart pot. Add leeks and sauté them for 3 minutes. Add potatoes, bouillon, and enough water to cover and boil until tender, about 10-15 minutes. Reduce heat to low. Mash potatoes with potato masher and then add cream, butter, cloves, and cheese. Garnish with finely chopped leeks.

This recipe is taken from The New Southern Cookbook by Sheri Castle. My newest cookbook!

Twice-Baked Sweet Potatoes

Makes 4 entrée servings or 8 side dish servings.

4 medium sweet potatoes (about 8 ounces each)

¼ cup heavy cream, warmed

4 thick bacon slices, cut crosswise into ¼-inch strips (about 4 ounces)

1 cup chopped onion

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

3 cups stemmed and thinly shredded kale or other similar leafy green (I used our mustard in the garden)

½ cup chicken or vegetable stock

¾ cup freshly grated aged Gouda or Gruyère cheese, divided

¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Kosher salt and ground black pepper, to taste

Preheat the oven to 350⁰F. Pierce the potatoes in several places with a fork. Place in a single layer on the oven rack with a sheet of foil on the rack below to catch any drips. Roast the potatoes until tender, about 40 minutes. When cool enough to handle, cut each in half lengthwise and use a melon baller or small spoon to scoop out the flesh into a medium bowl, leaving a ¼-inch thick shell. Arrange the shells in a baking dish large enough to hold them upright in a single layer.

Mash the potato flesh until smooth with a fork. Stir in the cream.

Cook the bacon in a skillet over medium heat until crispy. Transfer with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain.

Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of the drippings and add the onion to the skillet. Cook, stirring often, until softened, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Stir in the kale and stock. Cover the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until the kale is tender, about 15 minutes. Uncover and cook until any remaining liquid evaporates.

Stir the kale mixture into the mashed potatoes. Gently stir in the reserved bacon and ¼-cup of the cheese. Season with the nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Divide the sweet potato mixture evenly among the 8 shells. Sprinkle the tops with the remaining ½ cup of cheese.

Bake until the potatoes are heated through and the cheese is melted, about 30 minutes. Serve warm.

If you have trouble with the shells or would just prefer, put the mixture into individual ramekins.

I am trying to do more seasonal cooking and cooking from the garden but the garden is rather bleak this time of year. We do have sweet potatoes in the cellar and some leeks in the ground. We like our sweet potatoes “savory,” not sweet, so I am always looking for ways to tone down the natural sweetness.  

Some people use the terms “sweet potato” and “yam” interchangeably, but the two root vegetables are actually unrelated. Sweet potatoes are native to the Americas. Yams are native to Africa. The entrenched misnomer and confusion are the result of at least three things. Spanish explorers came across the sweet potatoes growing in the Caribbean and called them batata, the same word they used for yams and white potatoes. About the same time, Portuguese explorers encountered sweet potatoes in Brazil and shipped them to Africa, where they were grown to provision Portuguese ships headed to the New World. Some enslaved Africans called them yams, probably from the West African word unyamo, which means ”to eat.” And in the 1930s, a moist orange sweet potato from Puerto Rico was marketed as a Louisiana yam to distinguish it from other sweet potatoes.

So much for the confusion.  They are healthy, Southern, and available right now.

My husband found this recipe somewhere, but cannot remember where he got it, so who knows where the credit should lie. It is a good, simple soup. So good with some hot bread.

Sweet Potato Leek Soup

Serve 4

2 leeks

2 tbs. olive oil

4 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into ½” pieces

2 cubes chicken bouillon

1 cup fresh cream or half and half

1 Tbsp. butter

Pinch ground cloves

Shredded parmesan cheese

Reserved leeks for garnish

Heat olive oil in a 2-quart pot. Add leeks and sauté them for 3 minutes. Add potatoes, bouillon, and enough water to cover and boil until tender, about 10-15 minutes. Reduce heat to low. Mash potatoes with potato masher and then add cream, butter, cloves, and cheese. Garnish with finely chopped leeks.

This recipe is taken from The New Southern Cookbook by Sheri Castle. My newest cookbook!

Twice-Baked Sweet Potatoes

Makes 4 entrée servings or 8 side dish servings.

4 medium sweet potatoes (about 8 ounces each)

¼ cup heavy cream, warmed

4 thick bacon slices, cut crosswise into ¼-inch strips (about 4 ounces)

1 cup chopped onion

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

3 cups stemmed and thinly shredded kale or other similar leafy green (I used our mustard in the garden)

½ cup chicken or vegetable stock

¾ cup freshly grated aged Gouda or Gruyère cheese, divided

¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Kosher salt and ground black pepper, to taste

Preheat the oven to 350⁰F. Pierce the potatoes in several places with a fork. Place in a single layer on the oven rack with a sheet of foil on the rack below to catch any drips. Roast the potatoes until tender, about 40 minutes. When cool enough to handle, cut each in half lengthwise and use a melon baller or small spoon to scoop out the flesh into a medium bowl, leaving a ¼-inch thick shell. Arrange the shells in a baking dish large enough to hold them upright in a single layer.

Mash the potato flesh until smooth with a fork. Stir in the cream.

Cook the bacon in a skillet over medium heat until crispy. Transfer with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain.

Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of the drippings and add the onion to the skillet. Cook, stirring often, until softened, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Stir in the kale and stock. Cover the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until the kale is tender, about 15 minutes. Uncover and cook until any remaining liquid evaporates.

Stir the kale mixture into the mashed potatoes. Gently stir in the reserved bacon and ¼-cup of the cheese. Season with the nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Divide the sweet potato mixture evenly among the 8 shells. Sprinkle the tops with the remaining ½ cup of cheese.

Bake until the potatoes are heated through and the cheese is melted, about 30 minutes. Serve warm.

If you have trouble with the shells or would just prefer, put the mixture into individual ramekins.

Burns Dinner

Through the years we have gone to several Burns dinners and enjoyed them overall.  On our trip to Scotland last summer we visited Ayshire for the first time.  Bobby Burns, the poet of Scotland, was born there January 25^th 1759.  We bought a book –‘The Ultimate Burns Supper Book’.  As it is billed this “practical (but irreverent) guide to Scotland’s greatest celebration” gave us the idea to host our own Burns Dinner. We love all things Scottish and a Burns Dinner to celebrate the bard should be fun.

The evening will begin with a Scotch of course! We brought back several kinds from the distilleries we visited last summer.  Our favorites are the smoky ones from the islands.

The usual grace said is the Selkirk Grace (said by Burns himself at the table of the Earl of Selkirk, July 1793):

               Some hae meat and canna eat   

               And some wad eat that want it

               But we hae meat and we can eat

               An sae the Lord be thankit.                                                                                                                                                    

              

The appetizer will be smoked salmon on potato cakes.  

Potato Pancakes with Smoked Salmon

Serves 4

1 lb. floury potatoes, peeled and quartered

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

1 oz. butter

1 oz. plain flour

¼ pint double cream (use heavy whipping cream if your cannot find the double cream)

2 tbsp. freshly chopped parsley

5 tbsp. crème fraîche (can use sour cream)

1 tbsp. horseradish sauce

8 oz. smoked salmon, slices

Salad leaves, to serve

Cook the potatoes in a saucepan of lightly salted boiling water for 15-20 minutes until tender. Drain thoroughly, then mash until free of lumps. Beat in the whole egg and egg yolk, together with the butter. Beat until smooth and creamy. Slowly beat in the flour and cream, them season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in the chopped parsley.

Beat the crème fraîche (sour cream) and horseradish sauce together in a small bowl, cover with cling-film and reserve.

Heat a lightly oiled, heavy-based frying pan over medium-high heat. Place a few spoonfuls of the potato mixture in the hot pan and cook for 4-5 minutes until cooked and golden, turning halfway through cooking time. Remove from the pan, drain on absorbent kitchen paper towels and keep warm. Repeat with the remaining mixture.

Arrange the pancakes on individual serving plates. Place the smoked salmon on the pancakes and spoon over a little of the horseradish sauce. Serve with salad and the remaining horseradish sauce and garnish with lemon slices and chives.

Now is the time for the ‘address to a Haggis.’  My husband will be in his kilt and will bring in the Haggis (which I will purchase not make), but since we have no piper, a tape of some bagpipes will have to suffice.  My husband will do an abbreviated version of the address:

               Ye Pow’rs wha gie us a’ that’s gude……And on our board, the king of food, A glorious Haggis!

To make this course more palatable I plan to serve it on an oatcake. I am going to try and make my own oatcakes. I have read that the secret is coarse oatmeal. Guess I will have to go to a good food store to fine this! You can buy these in gourmet food stores. They are served all over Scotland and especially at breakfast.

Oatcakes

Makes about 35-40

1 ½ cups self-rising flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

2 2/3 cups (coarse Scotch oats)

1 ¼ sticks butter

3 oz. water and milk mixed together

Sift the flour, soda and salt into a bowl and stir in the oatmeal. Rub the butter into the dry ingredients, then stir in the milk and water mixture. Sift some extra flour onto a table or work surface, and roll out the dough. Cut into rounds about 2 inches in diameter, and carefully lift them on a baking sheet.

Bake in a preheated moderate (350⁰F.) until golden pale brown, 10-12 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. When the oatcakes are cold, store them in an airtight container.

To freshen up oatcakes which have been kept for several days, heat them on a baking sheet in a moderate oven for 5 minutes-they taste slightly toasted and delicious.

A Shepherd’s pie with lamb, topped with neeps and tatties (turnips and potatoes) mashed with cream of course will be the main course. The final course will be sticky toffee pudding…and perhaps some Scottish cheeses (if I can find them) coffee and maybe a Scottish liqueur. Somewhere in the finishing of the meal we will toast the Queen, the President (or a toast to his replacement in 2012 depending on your politics.) Traditionally there is a speech known as ‘The Immortal Memory’ which I think we shall skip.  We can do the ‘the toast to the Lassies’ and ‘the toast to the Laddies.” We will end with the singing of Auld Lang Syne.

Citrus in January

Winter can have a bright spot by using citrus in your cooking. My husband always has some lemons that are just big and juicy in the winter and are so much nicer than any you can find in the grocery store---a good reason to have a couple of dwarf lemon trees in pots at home. (Fertilize in February.  Maybe water in dry spells in the summer.  Have near a garage or the like so they can be moved inside if the weather gets into the 20’s as lemons are not as hardy as satsumas and kumquats.) He also has a couple bushes of blood oranges and kumquats. I went looking for recipes to use these wonderful fruits and recently did pasta with lemon and mint and a salad with beets and blood oranges. Citrus can provide great shortcuts to flavor and can wake up any winter dish. And our winter is the season for citrus which for us is local or almost.

This pasta dish needed some more hotness and some more zest. So next time I will know what to do and you can be warned. Thai chilies are hard to find so I just substituted jalapeños. Since I plan to do more ethnic cooking I am buying some Thai pepper seed for the summer garden.

These two recipes are taken from the January, 2012 issue of ‘bon appétit’.

Linguine with Crab, Lemon, Chile, and Mint

2 servings

8 oz. linguine

Kosher salt

4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, divided

2 Tbsp. olive oil, divided

¼ cup minced shallots

1 tsp. minced garlic

1-2 Fresno chilies, red jalapeños, or red Thai chilies, seeded, sliced into rounds

1 ½ Tbsp. (or more) fresh lemon juice, divided, plus 2 tsp. (packed) finely grated lemon zest, divided

Freshly ground black pepper

8 oz. cooked lump crabmeat, picked over for shells

1/3 cup fresh mint leaves, gently torn, divided (I hope you have some growing in your yard.)

Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water, stirring occasionally, until al dente. Drain, reserving 1 cup pasta cooking liquid.

Meanwhile, melt 1 Tbsp. butter with 1 Tbsp. olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add shallots and stir until just soft, 3-4 minutes. Add garlic and 1 chili and cook, stirring often, until fragrant, about 1 minute.

Add ½ Tbsp. lemon juice and 3 Tbsp. cooking liquid to shallot mixture; add a pinch of pepper. Stir until liquid is almost evaporated, about 1 minute.

Transfer pasta to a skillet and add ½ cup reserved pasta liquid. Increase heat to medium-high. Cook, tossing pasta or stirring with tongs, until liquid is almost evaporated and pasta becomes glossy, about 2 minutes. Add the remaining 3 Tbsp. butter, 1 Tbsp. oil, 1 Tbsp. lemon juice, 1 tsp. lemon zest, crab, half of mint, and more chili rounds, if desired.

Stir pasta until butter melts and pasta is well coated, adding more pasta cooking liquid if dry. Divide between bowls; top with remaining 1 tsp. lemon zest and mint. Sprinkle with more lemon juice is desired.

This is a beautiful salad. My husband produced the fennel along with the blood oranges.  Fennel is another vegetable in the winter garden and another one that could well fit into a flower garden or herb garden. It tolerates our summers too.  Unfortunately our beet crops haven’t been good lately.

Blood Orange, Beet and Fennel Salad

4 -6 servings

2 medium red beets, tops trimmed

2 medium golden beets, tops trimmed (I used red beets for all)

3 blood oranges

1 medium navel orange

1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

1 Tbsp. fresh lime juice

½ small fennel bulb, very thinly sliced crosswise

¼ red onion, very thinly sliced

Good quality olive oil or walnut oil

Coarse sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

¼ cup loosely packed fresh cilantro (another crop in the winter garden)

Preheat oven to 400⁰. Wash beets, leaving some water on skins. Wrap individually in foil; place on a rimmed baking sheet and roast until tender when pierced with a knife, about 1 hour. Let cool.

Meanwhile, using a sharp knife, cut all the peel and white pith from all oranges; discard. Working over a medium bowl, cut between membranes of 2 blood oranges to release segments into bowl; squeeze juice from membrane into bowl and discard membranes. Slice remaining blood orange and navel orange crosswise into thin rounds. Place sliced oranges in bowl with the segments. Add lemon juice and lime juice.

Peel cooled beets. Slice 2 beets crosswise into thin rounds. Cut remaining 2 beets into wedges. Strain citrus juices; reserve. Layer beets and oranges on plates, dividing evenly. Arrange fennel and onion over beets. Spoon reserved citrus juices over, then drizzle salad generously with oil. Season to taste with coarse sea salt and pepper. Let salad stand for 5 minutes to allow flavors to meld. Garnish salad with cilantro leaves.