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Chicken, Dinner, Recipes, Side Dishes, Vegan, Vegetarian, Veggies

Green Bean Stew with Roasted Chicken

January 30, 2014

One of my favorite dishes is beans slowly cooked in tomato sauce and spices served with a scoop of brown rice and tender lettuces dressed in lemon juice and olive oil. This particular recipe is adapted from Turmeric & Saffrons Khoresh-e-Loobia Sabz – Persian Green Bean Stew with Chicken. It’s very satisfying and leftovers are perfect for a work lunch.

My interest in Persian cuisine first developed when I came across a recipe for Jeweled Rice, a beautiful dish that includes ingredients such as cinnamon, cumin and turmeric, spices I love to cook with. I also found another fantastic Persian rice recipe from Shanna at Curls and Carrots. I’ve made Tah Dig many times now and it’s one of my favorite ways to prepare basmati rice.

With a very short list of ingredients, this green bean stew is delicious with or without chicken. I found that using the tender meat from a good, supermarket roasted chicken works so well I now use it instead of cooking my own chicken.

Green Bean Stew with Roasted Chicken

Adapted from Turmeric & Saffron blog

Serves 6

Ingredients

1 pound green beans, washed, trimmed and cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 cup finely chopped onion

3 small garlic cloves, minced

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 cup chopped tomato, peeled and seeded

1 1/4 cup tomato sauce

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

2 cups rotisserie chicken breast, torn into large pieces

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

Preparation

Trim the green beans, rinse in a colander and set aside.

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until soft and golden, about 6 minutes. Add minced garlic and sauté for another minute.

Add the turmeric, cumin, cinnamon and pepper flakes. Coat the onion mixture with the spices. Add the green beans, chopped tomato, tomato sauce, and enough water to just cover the beans. Add the salt and a few grinds of pepper. Stir to combine all of the ingredients. Cover the pan and simmer the beans for about 40 minutes, or until the beans are very tender. Add the chicken to the pan and stir gently to combine. Once the chicken is warm, taste and season with more salt and pepper if needed. Stir in lime juice and serve.

Appetizers, Dinner, Japanese, Recipes, Side Dishes, Vegan, Vegetarian, Veggies

Renkon no Kinpira – Sautéed Lotus Root

January 13, 2014

Lotus root, or hasu as we call it in Hawaii, is a unique delicacy. Once you peel and slice this rather homely root (or rhizome) you’ll see how beautiful it is. Only available in Hawaii for a few months each year, I buy it as often as I can. With its snowflake like appearance when sliced and its crunchy and delicate flavor, it is wonderful sautéed and served with brown or white rice. This is my favorite way to prepare it.

Peeled and sliced lotus root. It’s crunchy with a mild flavor some say reminds them of jicama.

A simple combination of a few ingredients will add just the right depth of flavor to sautéed lotus root. Besides sautéing, lotus root can be used in soups, fried (crispy tempura), pickled or steamed. Its crispy texture holds up very well regardless of how it is prepared.

Renkon no Kinpira – Sautéed Lotus Root

Adapted from mmm-yoso!!!blog

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 pound lotus root, peeled and thinly sliced

1/4 cup white vinegar

3 cups water

2 teaspoons sesame oil

2 teaspoons canola oil

2 tablespoons sake

6 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons mirin

Ichimi Togarashi or cayenne pepper

Toasted sesame seeds

Preparation

Pour vinegar and water in to a large glass bowl. Peel the lotus root, rinse and slice thinly. Place in vinegar water.

Combine sake, soy sauce, sugar and mirin in a small bowl. Set aside.

Drain lotus root, place on paper towels and pat dry.

Heat sesame and canola oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Sauté lotus root for about 5 minutes, Do not over cook. Add soy sauce mixture and simmer until most of the liquid evaporates about 2 minutes.

Remove lotus root to a shallow bowl. Sprinkle with Ichimi Togarashi (or cayenne pepper) and toasted sesame seeds. Serve at room temperature.

Dinner, Potato Salad, Recipes, Salad, Side Dishes

Eggy Potato Salad with Pickles

January 6, 2014

“Will Drive For Food. ” That’s one of my mottos! And that’s also the title of the article where I found this tasty potato salad recipe. The May 2012 issue of Bon Appétit caught my attention because I for one, will definitely travel for food. Anytime. In this particular article, the authors, Jenny Rosenstrach and Andy Ward, write of stopping at Sally Bell’s Kitchen in Richmond, Virginia, picking up their famous lunch boxes for their drive from New York to South Carolina. Jenny and Andy describe the lunch boxes as consisting of a Smithfield-ham and iceberg sandwich, a deviled egg, a frosted cupcake, and best of all, eggy potato salad topped with a sweet pickle chip. Doesn’t that sound like the perfect afternoon road trip meal?

The recipe calls for using only the egg yolks however I couldn’t waste those lovely egg whites so I included half of them in the salad. The others we ate on the spot, sprinkled with salt and pepper. Yum!

Yukon Gold or red potatoes work well in this salad. I found some nice Yukon Golds so that’s what I used.

The potatoes are coarsely smashed instead of cubed. This makes for a very creamy sort of potato salad.

The pickle juice adds a sweet and tart flavor to the dressing.

Eggy Potato Salad with Pickles

Adapted from Bon Appétit May 2012

Serves 6 as a side dish

Ingredients

2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled

1 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/3 cup mayonnaise

3 tablespoons sweet pickle juice plus 8 – 10 sweet-pickle chips

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

3/4 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/8 – 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

4 large hard-boiled eggs, separated, egg yolks smashed finely plus two egg whites finely chopped

1 tablespoon finely chopped red or Maui onion

1 tablespoon chopped flat leaf parsley

Paprika

Preparation

Place potatoes in a large pot. Add water to cover by 2 inches, add 1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and cook until potatoes are tender when pierced with a knife, about 20 minutes or so. Drain. Place potatoes in a large bowl and let cool slightly.

Whisk mayonnaise, pickle juice, Dijon, sugar, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and pepper in a small bowl.

Using a large wooden spoon, coarsely smash potatoes, leaving some larger pieces mixed with some well mashed pieces.

Add dressing, egg yolks, egg whites to potatoes and a toss to coat. Add onion and parsley, gently mix to incorporate. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and chill before serving.

Divide potato salad among small plates or bowls, dust with paprika and top with a sliced dill pickle chip or two.

Dinner, Recipes, Rice Dishes, Side Dishes

Beautiful Tah Dig ~ Persian Rice

December 1, 2013

I love rice. Brown, white, short, medium and long grain, basmati, jasmine, arborio, wild rice (not technically rice). Some of my favorite recipes are Sopa de Arroz, Japanese sushi rice, Korean bibimbap and now Tah Dig. I found a recipe on the internet for Persian Jeweled Rice. It was mesmerizing. This colorful, gorgeous rice dish was added to my list of must try recipes. This also led me to a rice recipe I had never heard of before, Tah Dig. Shanna over at Curls & Carrots inquired about the stone bowls used in my bibimbap recipe. She mentioned she had a Persian rice cooker that produces a crispy crust of rice just as the stone bowls do. Persian rice cooker? I had never heard of it before.

Many thanks to Shanna for posting her Easy Shabbat Tah Dig recipe. I could barely wait to try it.

The golden color of the rice comes from a pinch of turmeric and beautiful saffron.

I purchased my Pars Persian rice cooker on-line from Kalamala. Their shipping fees are reasonable and they have excellent customer service. Now to find space for another appliance….

I had some herb tofu in my refrigerator and quickly assembled the tofu on skewers with cherry tomatoes then briefly browned them in my grill pan. Tofu kebabs!

Tah Dig ~ Persian Rice

Adapted from Shanna’s recipe at Curls & Carrot s (Mahalo Shanna!)

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups white basmati rice

1 14.5 ounce can chicken broth

1 tablespoon Earth Balance butter, melted (or real butter for those who are not lactose intolerant)

1/2 teaspoon salt

a pinch of turmeric

a few pinches of saffron, crumbled

Preparation

Soak rice in a bowl of water for 1 hour. Rinse the rice until the water runs clear, drain well.

Place the rice, chicken broth, butter, salt, turmeric and saffron in a Persian, non-stick rice cooker. Give the ingredients a stir.

Place the cover on the rice cooker and cover it with a kitchen towel. Cook the rice for 45 minutes.

Turn off the rice cooker and let rice sit, undisturbed for at 15 minutes. Invert rice on a platter and serve.

Beef, Dinner, Recipes, Sauces

Filet Mignon with Morel Bordelaise & Béarnaise Sauce

November 25, 2013

Every now and then it’s nice to indulge in an extravagant dinner. That could mean going out to a favorite restaurant or as we did last night “put on the Ritz” at home. This dinner had its origin in our daughter Katie’s obsession with mushroom hunting. She lives in the Pacific Northwest, which is a mushroom hunter’s paradise. She sent us a few jars of her dried mushrooms. Her dried morels were the basis of a delectable sauce for a marvelous steak.

These dried mushrooms plump up beautifully once soaked in warm water for 15 minutes or so. It’s hard to tell they were ever dried.

There’s actually a novelty song called “I Just Love Morels Too Much.”

Sautéed morels.

I’ve learned that the best filet mignon are found at our local Whole Foods store. You will pay dearly, but they are worth it. The Whole Foods filets are in a category of their own. They are trimmed beautifully, tender and flavorful.

Demi-glace is a key ingredient in this recipe and a little goes a long way. We like the veal demi-glace from Williams-Sonoma.

Red wine, shallots, thyme and a bay leaf. The liquid is reduced to just a few tablespoons as shown above. The thyme sprigs and bay leaf are removed and the demi-glace is added to the reduction. Soon you’ll have one of the best home-made sauces imaginable!

Filet Mignon with Morel Bordelaise & Béarnaise Sauce

Serves 2 (Recipe can be doubled or tripled to serve more)

Ingredients

3/4 ounce dried morels

2 teaspoons butter or olive oil

salt and pepper

1 cup chicken or beef broth

2 tablespoons Williams-Sonoma demi-glace (veal or beef)

1 cup red wine (or white wine for the red wine sensitive)

2 small shallots, finely diced

2 four inch sprigs fresh thyme

1 small bay leaf

1 tablespoon butter

2 tablespoons sour cream

2 six to eight ounce filet mignon rubbed with olive oil and seasoned with coarse sea salt and fresh ground black pepper, grilled or pan fried to desired doneness.

Bearnaise Sauce recipe

Preparation

Rehydrate morels in a bowl filled with warm water for about 15 minutes. Drain and pat morels with paper towels to absorb excess water. Chop morels into small pieces and sauté in butter or olive oil until warm, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Heat and whisk the chicken or beef broth with the demi-glace in a small saucepan until blended into uniform consistency. Remove from heat and set aside.

Place red wine, diced shallots, thyme and bay leaf in a medium saucepan over medium – medium high heat and reduce until most of the liquid is gone (about 10 minutes). Remove from the heat and discard thyme and bay leaf. Add demi-glace mixture and morels. You can prepare the sauce up to this point earlier in the day and store in the refrigerator. Just before the steaks are done, return the sauce to the stove over medium heat. Once warm, stir in the butter then whisk in the sour cream and reduce if a thicker sauce is desired.

Spoon Morel Bordelaise sauce on a dinner plate, place filet mignon on sauce and top with a dollop of Béarnaise sauce. Excellent accompaniments are Potato & Leek Gratin and Glazed Carrots with Tarragon.

Dinner, Recipes, Sauces

Lactose Free Béarnaise Sauce

November 15, 2013

The French have taken the art of “sauce” to its supreme level. The dictionary of French cuisine, “Larousse Gastronomique,” lists over 300 different sauces and their variations. While I have tried only a small fraction of these, if I could choose just one sauce, it would be the classic Béarnaise. Until the advent of lactose free dairy products and substitutes, many, if not most of the classic French sauces were off limits for those of us who are lactose intolerant. No more! Drizzled on asparagus, served along side a grilled steak, on poached eggs or with fish, Béarnaise sauce is the perfect accompaniment to so many dishes. And, it really is quite simple to make at home. I used Earth Balance Buttery Sticks to make a lactose free version.

Béarnaise sauce in restaurants can be hit or miss. Where is the fresh tarragon?!

Pasteurized eggs are a safe bet when making Béarnaise sauce (as well as hollandaise sauce).

White wine, white wine vinegar, shallots, tarragon, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Let the liquid reduce until you’re left with just about 1 tablespoon.

An egg yolk is added to the reduced liquid and set over a double boiler, which in my case, was a saucepan perched on top of another saucepan. Voila! A double boiler.

Just half of an Earth Balance Buttery Stick is added slowly while you whisk away. Soon you will have the best Béarnaise sauce to drizzle over…everything!

Lactose Free Béarnaise Sauce

Recipe adapted from Sur la table

2 servings

Ingredients

1/8 cup white wine

1/8 cup white wine vinegar

1 teaspoon minced shallots

2 teaspoons minced fresh tarragon

1 egg yolk (I used a pasteurized egg yolk)

1/8 pound Earth Balance Buttery Stick (1/2 stick)

salt and pepper to taste (I added just a pinch of salt and a few grinds of pepper)

Fresh lemon juice (optional)

Preparation

In a small saucepan, bring wine, vinegar, shallots, tarragon, salt and pepper to a boil over medium high heat and reduce to about 1 tablespoon, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat, cool slightly.

Beat in egg yolk until smooth. Place the saucepan over another saucepan filled with 1 inch of simmering water (or use a small double boiler if you have one). Whisk sauce until it begins to thicken. Whisk in Buttery Stick bit by bit. Before serving, add just a few drops of fresh lemon juice.

Of course, this recipe can be made with butter for those who are not lactose intolerant.

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Dinner

Green Bean Stew with Roasted Chicken

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Renkon no Kinpira – Sautéed Lotus Root

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Eggy Potato Salad with Pickles

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Beautiful Tah Dig ~ Persian Rice

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Filet Mignon with Morel Bordelaise & Béarnaise Sauce

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Lactose Free Béarnaise Sauce

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