Caramelized Chicken (GA KHO)

I just made this tonight for our supper, served with steam Jasmine rice and simple saute Asian veggies. It was superb, otherwise I wouldn't post it and share it with you. Recipe can be found here. The taste of this chicken is kind of similar to my chicken nutmeg sans nutmeg. Will definitely make it over and over again. A simple and easy recipe definitely worth trying!!!

Spicy Shortribs With Ginger and Pineapple

Stress free, and easy to prepare recipe since you are basically just throw all ingredients in a slow cooker, and let the cooker to do work. This easy recipe is perfect for a family gathering, so you will spend less time in the kitchen, and more time with your family. Best serve with plain Jasmine rice, and simple saute vegetable. Cook the dish the day before, store in the fridge so that all the fat become solid and easily remove before reheating it.

Serve 6 to 8 people

5½ pounds beef shortribs
1 cup light sodium tamari

3 tbs fish sauce (use this brand if you can, it's less fishy)
2 tsp sesame oil
½ cup fresh pineapple chunk
4 large carrots, peeled and cut into big chuck (more or less 2 inches long)
15 dried chilles (use more or less if you wish)

5 -15 fresh red jalapenno, leave whole (use more or less if you wish)
3 slices (about an inch and ¹⁄₈ thick) peeled ginger
2 cloves garlic, crushed
15 dried shitake mushrooms, soak in hot water to soften, then drain (discard the water)
1 bunch scallion, cut into 2 inches long

• Put all ingredients in a slow cooker, but the scallions, cook on low for 12 hours (refer to manufacture how to use it). About an hour before the cooking process is finish, add the scallion to the pot, and continue to cook until it is done. Alternately,
• Put all ingredients in a heavy dutch oven except the scallion, put the lid on. Cook on a medium heat until its start to boil, turn the heat to low and cook for another 3 to 4 hours, until the meat is almost falling off the bone. About an hour before the meat is cooked, add the scallion to the pot, and continue to cook until it is done.

Note:
If you are planning to cook this dish a day before, the scallion can be added when you reheat it.

Tomato and Onion Galette

Seems like Stacey and I have the same affection for tomato, tomato tart, tomato pie, tomato salad, you name it. The different is that, she is good at posting them, and I am not. Not that I don't make them, it just that I make them when I have guess coming over, or my family is already waiting impatiently. Of course I never took photo when people are around me. So, here it is... she posted this interesting tomato tarte using mayonnaise. Hmmm, not really that fond of store bought mayo, but I like homemade mayo very very much. Anyway, I used to make onion tart and tomato tart separately, so I thought I'd combine the two tart ingredients together, and somehow I feel that this will be a delicious tart. You can go wrong with gruyere, and bacon right?! Everything will taste delicious with this two ingredients. Mayonaise? Well, I used crème frâiche instead.

Ingredients:

1 recipe galette pastry dough, keep cold

4 small size firm Roma tomatoes, sliced into ¼ inch thickness

1 onion, chopped

5 strips bacon, cut into small pieces (optional, but taste better with it)

32 oz homemade unsalted or store bought reduced salt chicken broth

½ cup crème frâiche

¾ cup grated gruyere

2 tbs chopped fresh tarragon, a few extra for sprinkle on top

freshly ground black pepper

a pinch of salt, optional

1 tbs olive oil

• Place chopped onion, bacon and chicken broth into a large soup pot. Bring to a gentle boil. Cook until the onion is translucent and just a little soft (but still somewhat firm when squeeze between your thumb and index finger). Drain on a colander, discard the liquid, let the onion and bacon to cool a little.
• Place them on a skillet, and fry with 1 tablespoon olive oil until a little brown (this will get rid of that oniony smell that I find too strong for my taste). Cool completely. When the onion and bacon have cooled, place them on a medium size bowl.
• In a small bowl, mix crème frâiche, fresh tarragon, ground black pepper, and pinch of salt. Transfer this mixture into onion-bacon mixture. Mix well, set aside while you preparing the dough.
• When you are ready to bake the galette, preheat oven to 400⁰F
• Prepare the galette: on a lightly floured counter top, roll out the dough into 11 to 12 inches circle with ¹⁄₈ inch in thickness. Transfer this dough onto a baking sheet. Spread the onion-bacon mixture all the way almost to the edge of the pastry, but leave about 2 to 3 inches from the edge (you will use this to pleat the dough).
• Arrange the tomato slices in concentric circle slightly overlapping them. Now fold the edge of the dough up covering some of the tomatoes. It will pleat naturally as you go around the galette.
• Bake for about 35 to 45 minutes until the pastry is golden browned.

Note: don't be alarmed if the galette seem too watery while baking in the oven. At the end of the cooking, I found out that all liquid (I assume it was from the tomatoes) was gone or evaporated.

KEBAB Wrapped In Eggplant Baked in Tomato Sauce

I saw this delicious eggplant recipe at Nihal's blog, and love it right away. If you like Turkey's food, this is the place to borrow the recipes. This eggplant parcels are pretty easy to make, they are delicious and full of flavor. Is not a quick recipe, but it really worth the effort. This recipe particularly good when you are going to have friends coming over for dinner. Everything can be made ahead, then assemble just before you are going to serve it.

For the KEBAB:

1 lb ground lamb

¼ cup chopped parsley

¼ cup chopped cilantro

¼ cup chopped mint

5 cloves garlic, finely chopped

¼ cup finely chopped onion

1 tbs ground cumin

1 tbs ground coriander

½ tbs ground ginger

½ tsp limu omani powder, optional (scroll all the way down on the link)

salt and pepper

• Mix everything together until well combine in a bowl. Cover the bowl with cling wrap, refrigerate while you preparing the eggplant.

For the Eggplant Wrap:

Depending how large your eggplant is, you will need about 3 or 4 large eggplants

Enough salt to purge the eggplant slices

2 green bell pepper, slice about an inch wide

2 red bell pepper, slice about an inch wide

olive oil for frying

• Slice the eggplant lengthwise, about a ¼ inch to a ³⁄₈ inch in thickness. Sprinkle with salt, place them on a colander, soak for an hour to let the water drain from the eggplant, and this minimize the bitter.
• After soaked for an hour, rinse the eggplant under cold running water, to get rid of the salt. Pat dry with paper towel, make sure to pat them well.
• In a large skillet, fry the eggplant lightly just enough to soften them. Drain on a paper towel to get rid the excess oil.

For Tomato Sauce:

1 (28 oz) can fire roasted whole tomatoes, roughly chopped, reserve the juice

¼ cup finely chopped onion

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

½ cup chicken stock, or chicken broth, or water

1 tbs olive oil

salt and pepper

• Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat, add onion, and fry until soft, add garlic and fry for another minute. Add the tomatoes including the juice, stir, pour the chicken broth or the chicken stock, season with salt and pepper. Cook for about 15 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed. Turn of the heat.

To Assemble:

• Preheat oven to 375⁰F.
• Transfer the sauce on a deep baking dish. Set aside.
• Follow this step by step on how to make the eggplant parcels.
• Arrange the eggplant parcels on top of the tomato sauce neatly. Place the green and red bell pepper slices in between the parcels. Sprinkle with parsley if you wish.
• Bake for 35 to 45 minutes until the bell pepper are soft and the lamb are cooked.
• Serve with plain rice, or plain couscous.

A Quick, Easy and Simple Samosa Using Wonton Wrapper.

I never really serve this as an appetizer, it's too heavy and very filling. By the time you serve you main dish, your guests will be too full to fully appreciate the star of the dish. If you do want to serve this as an appetizer, maybe you can make it into bite size, and don't make too much. I would normally make it as an afternoon snack when we have friends coming over to visit with their kids, or just a nice gathering in the afternoon.

Deep frying this Samosas with olive oil make myself feel less guilty, choose any oil you like if you think using olive oil is too expensive. Using wonton wrapper is also very convenience, and doesn't really bother me that much if my samosas is not an authentic one.

Ingredients:

1 package wonton wrapper (depending on how many samosas you are going to make, you my or may not have left over)

3 large potatoes, boiled and coarsely mashed

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground cumin

1 shallots, finely chopped

2 green chilies, finely chopped (optional)

½ cup frozen peas

1 tbs olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

egg white for sealing the wonton wrapper

olive or any vegetable oil for frying the samosas

• Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat, add chopped shallot, fry until soft and translucent. Add the frozen peas along with ground coriander, ground cumin, finely chopped green chilies. Stir and cook until the peas are fully cooked. Add mashed potatoes, season with salt and pepper, mix well. Turn off the heat. Let this filling cool completely before proceed to the next step.
• When the filling is cooled completely, lay one wonton wrapper on the flat working area, add about 1 to 2 tablespoon of filling in the middle, brush the edge with egg white, take another wrapper and lay it on top. Press down to close completely. Repeat the process until you have as much or as little samosas you are wanting to make.
• Fry until golden brown on medium high heat. I use very small high pan (6½" wide and 4 " high), and put about ¾ cup of olive oil, and fry them one at a time. This way I don't have oil splatter every where. Transfer to rack set on a baking sheet to catch all of the dripping oil. Serve with tamarin chutney, coriander chutney, mint chutney, or any hot and sweet chutney of your preference.