Khoresh-e Ghormeh Sabzi. Iranian Beef Stew With Aromatic Herbs

I love this Iranian stew, it is so aromatic and delicious, and pretty versatile as well.  It can be made with almost any choice of meat your are fond of, lamb, veal, or even poultry. Although I haven't tried to make this with poultry, I heard that it is equally delicious as well, and of course it is healthier too. My brother in law's mother told me once, that she start to  turn it into a vegetarian meal by omitting the meat or poultry, and increasing the amount of bean.

Khoresh-e Ghormeh Sabzi

Recipe adapted from Najmieh Batmanglij's book: New Food Of Life

Serve 6

2 pounds beef shoulder, or boneless beef shank 

1 large  onion, chopped

2 tsp turmeric

1/3 cup Azuki bean

2 whole dried Limu Omani (Persian limes)

3 to 4 cups chicken stock, or beef stock

3 tbs olive oil

4 cups chopped fresh parsley

1 cup chopped fresh fenugreek leaves (if using dried fenugreek, use 1/2 cup)

1 cup chopped fresh cilantro

2 cups chopped fresh scallion

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

In a heavy casserole pan, add 1 tbs olive oil. Leave a few second to heat the oil, then add the chopped onion. Fry onion until soft and translucent. Add turmeric, beef shoulder, or shank, Azuki bean, and limu omani - stir to mix. Add water, and bring to a boil. Once it start to boil, turn the heat down and let it simmer.

In another shallow pan set over medium low heat, add the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add parsley, fenugreek cilantro, and scallion. Stirring continuously for about 20 minutes until the aroma of the herbs fill the air (-_-). It is important to keep stirring during the process, the least you want is having the herb burned, resulting a bitter taste of the stew. Remove from the heat, add it on to casserole pan. season with salt and pepper, and stir to mix. Now turn the heat to the lowest setting, cover the pan, and let it simmer for 2 hours until the meat is fork tender. 

Taste and adjust seasoning as needed. Serve with delicious Persian Rice. Which, I make very often using either lavash (as in the NYTimes recipe), or using potato (see the photo in the middle) which I like better. Delicious!

Ayam Goreng. Indonesian Fried Chicken With Coconut Water, Turmeric, and Coriander

This, I must say is my favorite fried chicken! It has the sweetness from the fresh coconut juice, and fragrant lemongrass, turmeric,  and coriander. This ayam goreng is quite popular in Indonesia. My mother would make this for us very often and we never seem bored eating it. The technique of cooking this ayam goreng is rather unusual as well. First you braised the hens with coconut water and fragrant spices until it is cooked, then frying it in oil to get that nicely brown and slightly crispy skin.

*To make this ayam goreng, you will need the water from fresh  coconut, do not confuse coconut water or juice with coconut milk, which come from the process of milking the flesh. When you buy fresh coconut,  look for the one that feel heavy for its size, then try to gently shake it to make sure  it still has water in it. The more water it contains the freshest the coconut. If there is no water in it, don't buy it! It is probably moldy even worse, rotten inside.

Ayam Goreng. Indonesian Fried Chicken With Coconut Water, Turmeric, and Coriander
Serve 4

2 (weigh less then 3 lbs total) cornish hens, cut in half
5 cloves garlic
1 - 2 tsp kosher salt
2 tbs coriander seeds
1 tsp turmeric powder
4 cups coconut water or juice from 2 fresh coconuts *
1 lemongrass, cut into pieces then smashed
1 sliced fresh galangal
2 -3 Indonesian bay leaf
canola oil for frying

Pound together garlic, coriander, and kosher salt into a smooth paste. Rub the hen pieces all over with this paste.

In a  shallow pan large enough to accomodate all hens add coconut water, turmeric lemongrass, galangal, and bay leaves, then arrange hen pieces in a single layer. Cook on medium heat about 35 to 45 minutes. Stir from time to time to ensure even cooking. Remove from the heat, transfer the hens onto a plate to cool completely.

When ready to serve, heat a skillet (iron skillet works best for me) over medium heat. Add about 3 to 4 tbs canola oil. When the oil is hot enough, carefully add the hen pieces. Since the hens are quite small, all four pieces will fit in a 12 inch skillet. Fry on both side until golden brown, about a minute or so depending on heat. Remove from the heat, place them on a cooling rack to drain all excess oil. Serve with steam rice, and simple saute vegetable. The addition of sambal (Indonesian chili sauce) is always delicious too.

Steam Bao With Chicken and Mushroom Filling

I almost always can't stand it  when I see my son comes home with savory buns he got from Chinese store. In my opinion they are pretty bad taste wise and the texture is too soft, almost like white bread. So,  I promise him that anytime he wants to eat savory Chinese bun, he just need to let me know, and I'll make it! Plus, I'd feel good about giving him something he likes, and not to worry about how many he'll eat since I know exactly what ingredients in it.

I've made  other version of Chinese bun using beef filling, so  I tried to use chicken this time.  My bao was a little bit dimply, but the texture was exactly the way I like it, a bit chewy, and the best part, it tasted delicious. My son was pretty happy to eat a few of them, so did my husband. Hope you do too!

Steam Bao With Chicken & Mushroom Filling
makes 12 buns

Bao dough, recipe follows
3 boneless and skinless chicken thigh, chopped
1 cup chopped button mushroom
1/2 cup chopped water chestnuts
1 tbs reduce sodium tamari, or soy sauce
2 tbs Shaoxing rice wine
1/4 cup chopped scallions
1/4 tsp white pepper
2 tbs canola oil

Preheat  a large frying pan over high heat, add canola oil  and swirl it around. Now, add the chopped chicken, and stir fry until the chicken is no longer pink. Add mushroom and the rest of the ingredients. Cook for another 5 minutes until the chicken is cooked thoroughly. Taste and adjust seasoning according to your liking. Remove from the heat, and cool completely.

Knock out the risen dough to to let the air out, then leave it to rise again, about 15 to 30 minutes. After it is risen for the second time, turn it onto work surface. Lightly knead the dough for about a minute or so. Shape into a log, then cut the dough  into 64 grams each.

Working with a piece of dough at a time, and coverung the rest with clean kitchen towel, roll it out into circle. Place about 1 - 2 tbs filling in the center. Enclose the filling completely. PLace it on top of parchment paper, cover with kitchen towel. Repeat with the ramaining dough. Let the buns rest for another 15 to 30 minutes.

Prepare the steamer over high heat, and make sure that the water is rolling boiling before you add the buns. Arrange the bao on a steamer, leave enough space in between (about 2 inches). Steam the bao for 15 to 20 minutes. Enjoy!

Bao Dough

Recipe adapted from Fushia Dunlop's Land Of Plenty

Yield 764 grams

3 cups all-purposed flour

1 tbs dried yeast

2 tbs sugar (her recipe use only 1 tbs)

2 tbs canola oil

In a small bowl, dissolved the sugar and yeast with 1 cup lukewarm water. Set aside for 15 minutes until the yeast is bloomed.

Place the flour in a mixing bowl, make a well in the center, and pour the yeast mixture. Add about 1/4 cup of water, mix well. Turn the dough onto kitchen counter top, knead for 5 to 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic. Form into round ball, and place it in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover the bowl with damp kitchen towel, and leave it a in a warm, draft - free place until double in size, about 1 to 2 hours.

For YeastSpotting!

Spicy Lobster With chinese Chives Kaffir Lime

How's everyone doing? Hope you all had a nice holiday season, and wishing you all for the best year 2012. I was busy cooking and baking during the holiday, enjoying my time with my family, and met couple of friends to share the holiday as well. It was truly my favorite time of the year, and I am sure it was yours as well. 

Today, I am sharing with you my simple spicy lobster recipe, I hope you'll like it.

So, if someone offer me to choose between crab or lobster, I must say that I prefer lobster. It  is my favorite seafood, and I can eat it in anyway, let it be plain, or spicy, simply steamed, boiled or grilled, I love them all. Unfortunately my family pretty much prefer crab, that doesn't mean they'll reject it though, they just eat less, and you what that mean, I am the lucky one to eat the rest. 

Anyway, I am still not that brave enough of killing any live crustaceans, so I always take ask the fish guy to do the job for me.

Spicy Lobster With Chinese Chives and Kaffir Lime
serve 2 - 4

1 large fresh live lobster (about 4 - 5 pounds), I asked the fish guy to kill it first, if you afraid of killing it.
1/4 cup chopped shallots
1 cup roughly chopped Chinese chives
2 Roma tomatoes, chopped
5 - 10 fresh cayenne pepper
2 kaffir lime, juiced but do not discard the limes
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
canola oil

Bring a lare pot of water to boil, drop the lobster, then cook for about 10 minutes. Remove from the boiling water, let it cool a little bit, then separate the from the head, cut the tail in half. Remove the claws, smash a little bit (using hammer), just enough to crack the shell in few places, this will help the sauce penetrate the meat. 

Process shallots, tomatoes, and cayenne pepper in a food processor until smooth (paste consistency). 

Heat a large wok over high heat, add canola oil. Add the paste, fry until fragrant, about a minute. Add chopped chives, and the juice of kaffir lime, including the limes. Stir for a few seconds, now add the lobster pieces, season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, cook, stirring from time to time about 5 - 10 minutes until lobster is cooked. Remove from the heat. Serve immediately with hot steam rice.