Chicken Wings Aren't Just Bar Food Anymore

Most weeks, due to a fairly busy schedule, I cook my dinners with the idea that there will be leftovers for at least 1 or 2 nights.  I found myself today with a need to cook dinner that yielded no leftovers since we usually do not eat at home for dinner on Friday and Saturday nights and by Sunday I have no interest in eating food I cooked Thursday. It was this premise in mind that I decided to try thisrecipe from Ferran Adria's new cookbook The Family Meal. 

If' you're a crazy food stalker like me, you'll recognize the name of Ferran Adria as the owner and chef  of the former el Bulli in Spain.  His new cookbook contains recipes not from his restaurant but from those foods that was often cooked for his staff behind closed doors. With this in mind, I decided to tackle this rustic recipe that not only looked delicious on paper but is also budget minded, utilizing the lowly chicken wing and elevating it beyond that of bar food. 

As I proceeded cooking this dish, there were a few thing that I found appealling

1) The transformation from this...

....to this.

And with the addition of a few spices and some cremini mushrooms, I can go from this...

....to this

Viola!!

Overall, the dish takes about 40 minutes to cook, of which 30 minutes is spent cooking the wings on medium heat to get a high-index crispiness that gives both texture and fantastic flavor.  A very simple dish (it only uses 7 ingredients, 5 of which I already had in my pantry), and at $8 for dinner for two , it is certainly worth a try.

Thanks for reading!!

Chasing Windmills (Star Anise-Ginger Chicken)

Earlier this year we took our semi-regular trip to Taiwan to visit my wife's extended family.  I always look forward to this trip, not for the sights and shopping but for the food, naturally.  Over the years, I have become accustomed to the flavor that can be found here.  Overall it is Chinese food that is simple, slightly spicy, and always packed with flavor.  However on this last trip, I was blind-sided by what I can only attest to being the best chicken dish I have ever had.

Best chicken dish ever

Known to us non-Chinese speaking people as 3 Cup Chicken, it's essentially 3 cups of chicken, 3 cups or garlic, 3 cups of ginger cooked in a sort of soy-flavored stew and served over rice.  What made this dish at this specific restaurant particularly amazing is that they finish the dish in a stone bowl bake it so that most of the liquid has been reduced and you are left with a sticky glaze and lots of chicken, garlic, and ginger (all equally edible due to the long cooking time). 

Having declared it the best chicken dish I have ever had, I have been chasing this flavor since I returned to Hawaii and have been failing miserably in my efforts to recreate this dish.

The other day, I ran across this recipe for Star Anise-Ginger Chicken which by it's description sounded eerily like that dish I had in Taiwan.  Since seeing this over the weekend I took the opportunity to make it tonight for dinner.

My Western version

Overall, the taste was pretty close which I think was due to the addition of honey, which all 3-Cup Chicken recipes I've found online do not utilize.  As for the reduction, while this recipe uses the liquid reduction as a sauce, I decided to toss it with my chicken and use it as a glaze, to see if I could replicate that elusive flavor.

Having come this close, I will probably stick with this recipe and continue to tweak it.  I do think, however, that until I buy some stone bowl to bake in the oven, I will probably still be more far then near.

Thanks for reading!

My First Challenge (Part III) - Pork, Mushroom, Tomato Curry

It has been a couple of weeks since my last Food Challenge entry and I felt the need to take a few more off the board.  Unfortunately, my craving for more curry took over the task of the challenge.

Based on the moderate success (or failure) of my last curry, I needed to redeem myself with another shot at a recipe from Addicted to Curry, the manga that centers around a curry shop and it's curry savant chef.

The one that caught my attention was a recipe for Mushroom Curry.  I am a big mushroom fan and am always looking for a way to include mushrooms into dishes that make sense.  Still, other than Shitake mushrooms, there really aren't many varieties in Hawaii that would be able to stand head to head with the strong flavor of curry powder.  Due to this, I decided to add some sliced pork tenderloin (an alternative to the mainstream beef choice).

 Carmelizing my onions

My 3 mushroom medley (porcinis hidden under the white buttons)

Add spices, tomatoes, mushrooms and cook

The final product (I need a better camera)

At the end of the day, I ended up with a more Indian curry as opposed to a Japanese style curry.  What I liked about this one was the sourness of the tomatoes as well as the use of yogurt (and the liquid from the tomatoes) over a stock as it's soup base.  Visually, it's not the prettiest of curries, but I would recommend it as an alternative over the usual beef curry, especially if your local Farmer's Market is having a sale on mushrooms come this fall. 

As for my spice list, here is the most recent update: 

1. Cardamom
2. All Spice
3. Cloves
4. Almond Extract
5. Pumpkin Spice
6. Garam Masala
7. Vanilla Beans
8. Saffron
9. Nutmeg
10. Ground Mustard
11. Turmeric
12. Coriander
13. Sage
14. Thyme
15. Celery Seed
16. Tarragon
17. Cumin

On a side note, I did try to use the Almond Extract with some yogurt the other day (it seemed to make sense), and it tasted awful.  I have the feeling that this one is going to be a bit of a challenge lest I just give in and make some Almond Cookies.

Thanks for reading!

What's for Dinner? (Chicken and Pea Curry)

You never know when a recipe will present itself and just speak to you.  Being a foodie on many levels, I tend to look for food opportunities from various sources.  I'll go to new restaurants when it pops up.  I search for food blogs through Google based on what I'm craving that week.  I watch all Food Network programming like it's speaking directly to me.  For today, my recipe comes from an unlikely sources...Manga.

Some of you know that I still read comics as well as manga.  What makes manga great is that you can pretty much find a story based on any topic that you might be interested in.  Recently, I've been reading Addicted to Curry which is pretty self explanatory.  Basically a chef helps an old friend's daughter run a curry shop that is on it's last legs.  Because said chef is a curry savant, everything he makes is amazing.  What's nice about this manga is that at the end of every few chapters, they will include the recipes of whatever curries have been discussed.  I decided to try to try the Chicken and Pea Curry to see if the recipes have any merit. 

I followed the recipe as written, which also provided the bonus of letting me use Turmeric which is a spice listed on my Food Challenge.

My Spice Mix

Mix to carmelized onions

Add to chicken, peas, carrots, and broth

Voila!!

Overall, it's a little spicy and a not as savory as I would have liked.  The recipe called for 4 cups of water and eventhough I knew I should have substitued half of that with chicken stock, I stuck with the original measurements.  The only modification I made was to add about 3/4C of corn starch slurry to thicken the mixture.  If you like more soupy Indian style curry then just forego the corn starch.  

If you already have the spices, this is extremely easy to make.  I think the whole process from cutting the chicken to putting it in a bowl to eat took about 40 minutes.  If anyone makes this, let me know what you think.  It is probably too spicy for my 3 year old but hopefully my wife likes it.  If anyone wants the modified recipe, just leave a message in the comments.

Thanks for reading.