Boston Organics, Week 4

So with the last delivery, I made kale chips with the kale, used the mushrooms in hot pot, ate the grapefruit, apples, and bananas, used the pears and oranges for panna cotta, used the tomato to make tomato and eggs over rice, used the broccoli for pan-fried noodles (post coming soon), used the potatoes for potato leek soup with bacon, used the scallions for Peking duck and warm tofu with spicy garlic sauce, and gave the sprouts to Connie since I tasted a few and didn't like them.

This week I got 2 Anjou Pears, 1 Cameo Apple, 4 Fair-Trade Bananas, 2 Fuji Apples, 2 Minneola Tangelos, 1 Rio Star Grapefruit, 3 Valencia Oranges, 2 Artichokes, 1 bunch Broccoli, 1 lbs Carrots, 1 Green Cabbage, 1 bunch Swiss Chard, 1 bunch Kale, and 1.5 lbs Red Potatoes.

I don't really like carrots, so I will probably try making a carrot cake or cupcakes with those. The red potatoes will definitely be used to duck fat potatoes. I will probably make more kale chips with the kale. The chard already went into last night's hot pot. Never worked with artichokes before, but I'm thinking stuffed artichokes. The broccoli will probably go into a stir fry or maybe broccoli soup, and I'm still trying to figure out what to do with the cabbage. Any ideas?

Warm Tofu with Spicy Garlic Sauce

So the answer to the previous post is that the mix won. Surprised? I kind of wasn't. There's a reason Korean moms use the mix, and I'm not one to argue with them....

Another Korean dish I made recently (although it's from the March 2009 issue of Gourmet, so I don't know how authentic it is) was warm tofu with spicy garlic sauce. It's one of those incredibly easy (so easy I barely consider it cooking) but so good recipes. My mom makes something similar except it's cold silken tofu with soy sauce, sugar, scallions, and bonito flakes on top. Sometimes she adds thousand year eggs, too, but I don't really care for them. Anyways, this warm version should tide me through the rest of the Boston winter. Only 28 more days until Opening Day!

Warm Tofu with Spicy Garlic Sauce (based on this recipe)
makes an appetizer for 2-3 people or a light meal for 1

1 (12 oz.) package firm silken tofu
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
1/4 cup chopped scallion
2 teaspoons toasted sesame seeds
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon coarse hot red-pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon sugar

Carefully rinse tofu, then cover with cold water in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, then keep warm, covered, over very low heat.

Meanwhile, mince and mash garlic to a paste with a pinch of salt. Stir together with remaining ingredients (except tofu).

Just before serving, carefully lift tofu from saucepan with a large spatula, drain, and transfer to a small plate. Spoon some sauce over tofu and serve warm.

The original recipe called for soft, not silken tofu, but all I had was firm silken tofu, and it worked just fine, although you have to be extra careful when transferring it. I prefer the texture of silken tofu for this dish anyways, probably because it reminds me of my mom's dish. I also ended up estimating the measurements for all the ingredients for the sauce. I definitely didn't have a quarter cup of chopped scallions as I recently harvested almost all my scallions for the Peking duck. And I just realized that I forgot to crush the sesame seeds with the side of a heavy knife. Oh well, it was still delicious anyways. ^_^

Before and after

Korean Pancake Face-Off

As much as I love the traditional Chinese scallion pancakes, I have to admit, I love Korean pancakes (pa jeon or pajung or whatever) even more. I love how they're so moist on the inside but still super crispy on the outside. And even better, it's a great way to get rid of leftovers, which I really appreciate because some weeks I have a lot of leftover hot pot ingredients that I need to get rid of.

The only problem is, every time I ask a Korean how to make this from scratch, they just tell me that their moms make it from the mix. Seriously? I can't think of a single thing that my mom makes that uses a mix! Fortunately, I live close enough to several Korean grocery stores and can pick up the mix, which does deliver an almost no-fail pancake every time.

Looking at the list of ingredients, though (wheat flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, MSG), it just seems incredible that it can't be replicated from scratch. I've tried both David Lebovitz's and the New York Times versions, but they both couldn't compare to the mix. The last week I saw this post on The Kitchn. Could it be that I finally found a recipe that could replicate or even supersede the mix?

It seemed likely. Not only did this recipe include rice flour, which I always assumed was used in pa jeon because of the light, moist texture, but it also used seltzer water to add airiness to the batter. So I decided to have a side-by-side comparison of the two pancakes. The ground rules:

1. I used the same filling for both: scallions, diced and sweated bok choy stems, sliced fish cake, marinated and sauteed beef, sliced and sauteed Chinese sausage.
2. I would use the same non-stick pan and the same amount of oil (exactly 2 tablespoons of canola) for each.
3. I would cook both the same way: 4 minutes on each side at medium heat.

Homemade Korean Pancake from Scratch (based on this recipe)
makes 1 big pancake

1.2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup rice flour
1 egg, lightly beaten
3/4 cups cold unflavored seltzer water
1/2 tablespoon canola oil, plus extra for the pan

In a large bowl, gently mix flours, eggs, seltzer, and oil until smooth. Let rest a few minutes and then stir in filling, tossing to coat.

Heat a large frying pan over medium heat and coat with 2 tablespoons of canola oil. When pan is hot, add batter and spread out so it's no more than a half-inch thick. Turn heat down to medium-low.

Cook about 4 minutes, flipping when pancake no longer resists, then cook about 4 minutes on the other side. Pancake should be crispy and brown, with no liquid inside.

As you can see from the pictures, I had a hard time flipping the pancake over in one piece, but that's due to user error and not one of the criteria for this contest.

Korean Pancake Mix (from the back of the bag)
makes 1 big pancake

1 cup Korean pancake mix
3/4 cups water

In a large bowl, mix mix and water until there are no lumps. Add filling, mixing to coat.

Heat a large frying pan over medium heat and coat with 2 tablespoons of canola oil. When pan is hot, add batter and spread out so it's no more than a half-inch thick. Turn heat down to medium-low.

Cook about 4 minutes, flipping when pancake no longer resists, then cook about 4 minutes on the other side.

The batter for the mix version was definitely a lot drier due to the fact that there was no egg or oil added, and you definitely had to "push" the batter around in the pan to get it to an even thickness. And once again, I tore the pancake in two trying to flip it over. So I guess both versions are even there. =P

For the dipping sauce, I mixed equal portions of rice wine vinegar and aged soy sauce and added a splash of sesame oil and a pinch of sugar.

Side-by-Side

Comparing the two, all testers found that one was definitely more moist and generally had a preferable texture (less dense) to the other. Otherwise, there didn't seem to be too much of a difference in flavor, although Jenny did mention that because we were using a dipping sauce, just about anything would've tasted the same.

Can you guess which version won the taste test? Answer in the next post.

The Feng Family Secret Peking Duck Recipe

So the story is, Jeff won Ilene's family over by making Peking duck for them before asking her parents' permission for her hand in marriage. And I happened to have a duck defrosting in the fridge, so I asked him if I could get his recipe. I'd perused many on-line versions, and they all seemed very complicated. Some had you drying the duck for hours, pouring boiling water over the skin and then drying it again before glazing it and drying it even more, and some even included using a bicycle pump to inflate the space between the duck skin and meat. Thankfully, the recipe that Jeff gave me was a lot simpler. The only stipulation: that I not post it because it's been handed down through his family over the years. I did get permission to post pictures of it, though, so here you go.

Day 1

Day 3

Stuffed

Day 3 + 1 hour

Day 3 + 2 hours

Day 3 + 2 hours and 10 minutes

Homemade Chinese pancakes

Duck meat, skin, scallions, and Hoisin sauce on pancake

Wrapped

Jenny and Matt came over to taste test, and there were comments like, "I just don't want this to ever stop; it's so good."

So Ilene, you don't have to marry Jeff just to get the recipe; I can give it to you if you want it. ;)

Everyone else, I'll be accepting (and reserving the right to decline) marriage proposals. ^_^

More pictures here.

Panna Cotta, Take 2

This is my second attempt at a panna cotta version of the traditional Chinese dessert, almond tofu. As you may recall, last time the major issue was that the panna cotta barely jelled. As a minor issue, I didn't like the way the white wine reduction turned out because I had been hoping the dried cherries would have pureed more to thicken the reduction. Instead it ended up being a muddy reddish-brownish liquid that the pears ended up being immersed in on top of the panna cotta. Not terribly pretty to look at, but fortunately still rather tasty.

I basically used the same recipe as before, except I only had 1 1/3 cups milk and a little more than 1 cup of heavy cream. Since my issue last time was that the panna cotta didn't set enough, I figured I'd try using the same 1 tablespoon of gelatin and hope it wouldn't get too hard. And after seeing Tartelette's beautiful panna cottas, I figured I'd try something a little different for the pears.

Red Wine Poached Pears Puree
makes enough for 6 panna cotta servings

1/2 vanilla bean
Zest from one orange
1 cup red wine (it was all I had left)
1/2 cup sugar
2 D'anjou pears

Split the vanilla bean lengthwise in half with a knife and scrape out the seeds.

Add the vanilla seeds and pod and orange zest to the red wine and sugar in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil and stir until the sugar is completely dissolved. Reduce to a simmer.

Peel the pears, leaving the stem intact. Slice off the bottom 1/8" of each pear to create a flat, stable base.

Add the pears to the simmering poaching liquid, laying them on their sides. Cook, turning pears occasionally so they become saturated on all sides, until they are just tender when pierced with a fork, about 7 minutes.

Allow pears to cool completely in their poaching liquid.

After the pears have cooled, remove the core and stem and roughly chop the pear. Add just enough braising liquid to cover and let sit until the pear reaches the desired color. (I only gave it about 15 minutes.) Drain as much of the liquid as possible and reserve.

Using an immersion blender or regular blender, puree the pears.

To assemble the panna cotta, I divided the pear puree equally between 6 ramekins (oh what I wouldn't give for the cute glasses that Tartelette uses!).

Carefully pour the panna cotta mixture (after the gelatin has been added to it) through a sieve on top of the puree. I was not so careful on my first attempt and pretty much lost the bottom layer.

The other ramekins fared a little better.

There was still some of the puree that ended up floating on top of the panna cotta mixture, but I wasn't too worried because there was going to be a third layer. But before that, let the panna cotta sit in the fridge for at least 3 hours, until firm. In the meantime, heat the red wine braising liquid (you didn't throw it out, did you?) in a small saucepan and reduce to about 1/3 cup volume.

Once the panna cotta has set, spoon the wine reduction on top. For a final touch, place a peeled mandarin orange section on top as garnish.

I found that this time the panna cotta was actually a little firmer than I wanted. I also noticed that when I was straining the mixture into the ramekins that there was a fair amount of gelatin left in the strainer. According to Tartelette's recipe, she strains the mixture before adding the gelatin, so maybe the first time I made the recipe the reason it wasn't set enough was because I was leaving too much gelatin in the strainer. At the same time, I don't really want heterogeneous bits of hard gelatin settling at the bottom of the panna cotta. I guess next time I make this (yes, there will be a next time!) I will try dissolving the gelatin in a bit of reheated cream mixture before adding it to the rest of the cooled mixture.

French Red Onion Soup

My first encounter with French onion soup came after my family had moved to Ohio when I was 13. We were staying at a hotel until we could find more permanent housing, and as a treat, my parents chose to eat at the hotel restaurant for dinner. Back then, going to McDonald's was still a special thing for me, so this was probably the first sit-down meal I had where a waiter served me and everything. My mom ordered the French onion soup, and when she let me try some, it was love at first bite. The melty, salty cheese and not yet soggy bread crouton floating on top of the beef broth and sweet onions was the undoing of me. If such a thing existed in this world, then I was all the more glad to be living in it.

Fast forward to my undergrad days at Cornell. At the Ivy Room, one of the a la carte dining halls, they served French onion soup every day. Of course, being on meal plan, it didn't really make sense for me to be eating there because I could have been getting all-you-can-eat at Oakenshields next door, but that didn't stop me from going to the Ivy and getting my favorite soup at least once a week. Unfortunately, by my junior year, they had stopped serving it there, although they had started making paninis, which is how I had my first Cubano, but that's another story for another day.

I've never made French onion soup myself because the usual recipes call for beef broth, baguette bread, and cheese, which are 3 ingredients I don't usually have in my fridge or pantry. But then I ended up with 2 red onions from Boston Organics which I didn't know what to do with and in the same week, came across this recipe for French red onion soup from the September 2008 issue of Gourmet, which uses chicken broth instead of beef broth. I already had all the ingredients except for the baguette and Gruyere, but I figured just this one time I could shell out for them, and boy, am I glad I did.

French Red Onion Soup (based on this recipe)
makes 4 servings

2 cups homemade chicken stock
2 cups water
2 whole star anise
6 black peppercorns
2 lbs. red onions, cut into 1/2-inch wedges3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup dry red wine
4 (1-inch-thick) slices of baguette
2 cups coarsely grated Manchego or Gruyère (6 to 7 oz)

Bring broth, water, spices, and 1/2 teaspoon salt to a boil. Remove from heat and let steep 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook onions in oil with 1/4 teaspoon salt in a heavy medium pot over medium heat, covered, stirring occasionally, until deep golden, about 15 minutes. Add wine and boil, uncovered, until reduced to 2 tablespoons, about 1 minute. Strain broth through a sieve into onion mixture and briskly simmer, uncovered, 10 minutes. Season with salt.

Preheat broiler.

Ladle soup into 4 ovenproof bowls set in a 4-sided sheet pan. Place baguette slices on top and sprinkle each with 1/2 cup cheese. Broil about 6 inches from heat until cheese is melted and bubbling, about 2 minutes.

I wish I had oven-proof bowls that were closer in diameter to the size of the baguette slice for aesthetic purposes. For gastromic purposes, it didn't really matter as the cheese that melted on top of the soup stayed nice and melty while the cheese on top of the bread protected it from getting too soggy. This particular recipe had a bit more onions in the soup than I prefer, but the taste of the soup itself was sublime. I couldn't even tell that it came from a chicken stock and not a beef broth, that's how much depth and body the caramelized onions, spices, and reduced red wine gave the soup.

Potato Leek Soup with Bacon

When I was a college student living in a apartment with 3 other girls and a tiny kitchen and a small, small budget, I loved going to Costco and getting a big tin of Bear Creek Creamy Potato Soup. It was delicious by itself, but once you added some cheese, broccoli, corn, or bacon, it became awesome. And because it came in powder form, you didn't have to worry about it going bad if you didn't end up cooking for a while.

Now that I'm grown up and getting potatoes from Boston Organics, I figure it was time to learn how to make a potato soup from scratch, especially after reading the ingredients of the powdered soup: Dehydrated Potatoes, Food Starch-modified Corn Starch Solids, Sweet Whey, Partially Hydrogenated Canola, Cottonseed, and Soybean Oil, Onions, Salt, Monosodium Glutamate, Sodium Caseinate (Milk Protein), Titanium Dioxide Color, Maltodextrin, Disodium Inosinate and Sodium Guanylate, Dipotassium Phosphate, Autolyzed Yeast Extract, Spices, Parsley, Dry Sherry Wine, Garlic Natural and Artificial Flavoring, Chicken Broth Arabic Gum, Rendered Chicken Fat, Casein (Milk Protein), Citric Acid, Silicon Dioxide, Yellow No. 5, Mono and Diglycerides, Annatto Color.

Scary.

This recipe from The Kitchn, on the other hand, only has 2 ingredients. Well, 4, if you add bacon and substitute homemade chicken stock for water. And 5, if you count salt. (I don't like pepper, so it doesn't count.) Take that, Bear Creek!

Potato Leek Soup with Bacon (based on this recipe)
makes 4 servings

5 cups peeled and cubed potatoes
2 1/2 cups sliced leeks
3-4 slices bacon
1 quart homemade chicken stock (or water)

Wash the leeks very, very well. Leeks are notorious for having a lot of dirt and sand in between layers. Drain and set aside.

In a large saucepan, brown bacon until crisp. Remove bacon and let drain on some paper towels.

Saute the leeks in the hot bacon fat left in the pan until wilted. Add potatoes and toss to coat. Add chicken broth to cover, about 1 quart. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer until potatoes are soft and cooked through, about 30 minutes.

With an immersion blender, or very carefully in batches in a food processor, or even with a potato masher and your own brute strength, blend until the mixture reaches the consistency you prefer.

Salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot with crumbled bacon, grated cheese, and chopped scallions on top, if you prefer.

Other variations: Add chopped broccoli stems at the same time you add the potatoes. Add fresh or frozen corn kernels after blending the soup and heat through. Top with sour cream or creme fraiche.

I found that the soup needed a lot more salt than I thought it would, but otherwise I was very pleased with the result, especially since I was able to get a nice, creamy consistency without needing any dairy products. Adding the fresh, chopped scallions also brings out an unexpected vibrancy to the soup.