EASY RECIPE BOX

• 27Dec

  Chicken and Wild Rice Stuffed Tomatoes

  

  1/4 cup wild rice
  8 large tomatoes
  3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  1 onion, chopped
  4 ounces mushrooms, coarsely chopped
  1 pound ground chicken
  1 tablespoon sweet smoked paprika
  1/2 cup sour cream
  1 bunch dill, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
  Salt

  Prepare the wild rice according to the package instructions.
  Meanwhile, cut a 1/2-inch slice off the top of each tomato. Scoop out and discard the seeds, most of the flesh and excess juice. Place the tomato shells on a baking sheet and set aside. Preheat the oven to 350°.
  In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 3 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook for 1 minute. Add the ground chicken and cook for 6 minutes, breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon until crumbly. Stir in the smoked paprika. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the cooked wild rice, sour cream and dill. Add salt to taste.
  Stuff the rice mixture into the tomatoes. Brush the outside of the tomatoes with the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil and season lightly with salt. Cover loosely with foil and bake until the tomatoes are tender and the filling is hot, about 25 minutes.

  Filed under: Chicken, Rice & Grains
  1 Comment
• 26Dec

  Waldorf Salad

  My first run-in with Waldorf salad was when the Salad place at SM Megamall in Manila opened back in the early 90s. After trying several versions, this one proved to be my favorite. I got this from the William-Sonoma site and had been serving it with the herbed chicken recipe I posted two days ago.

  Oscar Tschirky, the maître d’ of the old Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City, created the original recipe for Waldorf salad, which consisted of equal amounts of chopped apples and celery blended with mayonnaise. Later, walnuts were added, increasing the salad’s popularity, and over time the recipe has been embellished with various ingredients to fit the tastes of the period.

  
  INGREDIENTS
  3/4 cup walnut
  4 crisp apples, such as McIntosh
  Juice of 1 lemon
  1 cup finely diced celery
  1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
  3 green onions, including some of the tender green portions, finely chopped
  3/4 cup sour cream
  1 Tbs. Dijon mustard
  1 1/2 Tbs. honey
  Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
  1 or 2 heads Bibb lettuce

  PROCEDURES
  Preheat an oven to 200°F. Spread the nuts on a baking sheet and bake until lightly toasted, 6 to 7 minutes. Coarsely chop and set aside.

  Peel, core and quarter the apples, and cut into 1/2-inch dice. In a bowl, toss the apples with the lemon juice. Add the celery, bell pepper, green onions and nuts and stir to combine.

  In another bowl, combine the sour cream, mustard and honey. Whisk until well blended, and season with salt and pepper.

  Separate the lettuce leaves and use only the crisp inner leaves; reserve the larger outer leaves for another use. Arrange the lettuce leaves around the rim of a serving platter. Add the dressing to the apple mixture and mix well. Spoon the salad onto the center of the platter. Serves 8 to 10.

  Adapted from Williams-Sonoma Kitchen Library Series,Thanksgiving & Christmas,by Chuck Williams (Time-Life Books, 1993).

  Filed under: Salads
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• 24Dec

  Chicken Pandan

  Ingredients:
  ½ kg chicken thigh fillet, cut into large bite size pieces

  1 fresh pandan leaf, chopped
  16 pieces pandan leaves, washed
  oil for deep frying

  Marinade:
  3 tbsp Oyster Sauce
  2 tbsp All Purpose Cream
  1 tbsp sesame oil
  2 tbsp chopped garlic
  1 tbsp chopped ginger
  pinch of freshly ground black pepper
  1 tbsp all purpose flour

  Sauce:
  1 ½ tbsp sugar
  1 tbsp water
  1 tbsp patis
  1 tbsp. calamansi juice
  1 tbsp soy sauce or knorr seasoning

  Chicken Pandan Cooking Instructions:
  Marinate chicken in the marinade mixture for at least 2-3 hours.

  Wrap a piece of chicken in 2 pieces of inter locking pandan leaves.

  Repeat procedure for the rest of the chicken. Set aside.

  Heat oil for frying over medium heat.

  Deep fry pandan wrapped chicken for at least 10 minutes each.

  Arrange cook chicken on a platter and serve with the prepared sauce on the side.

  Pinoy Recipe Tips:
  Skinless chicken breast may also be used instead of chicken thigh fillets. Make sure not to overcook the chicken to prevent it from drying.

  Filed under: Chicken
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• 24Dec

  Peanut Brittle

  Peanut brittle has been my favorite since I was little. Every time there is someone I know goes to Baguio, I ask for a jar of peanut brittle. It was joy when Martha Stewart featured this as the cookie of the day. I will have to try it sometime.

  

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  Unsalted butter, room temperature, for baking sheet
  1 1/2 cups sugar
  3/4 cup cold water
  1/2 cup light corn syrup
  Pinch of salt
  2 1/2 cups unsalted dry-roasted peanuts
  1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  1 teaspoon baking soda
  Vegetable oil, for spatula

  Butter a nine-by-13-inch rimmed baking sheet; set aside. In a medium saucepan, bring sugar, water, corn syrup, and salt to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar has dissolved.
  Continue cooking, without stirring, until mixture reaches the soft-ball stage on a candy thermometer (238 degrees to 240 degrees), swirling pan occasionally; wash down sides of pan with a pastry brush dipped in water to prevent crystals from forming. Stir in nuts, and continue cooking, stirring frequently to prevent nuts from burning, until mixture is light amber.
  Remove pan from heat; carefully stir in vanilla and baking soda (mixture will foam up in pan). Pour onto prepared baking sheet; quickly spread into a 1/2-inch-thick layer with an oiled metal spatula. Let stand until completely cool.
  Break brittle into large pieces, and store in an airtight container at room temperature up to one month.
  First published

  Filed under: Seafood
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• 23Dec

  Saffron

  I just thought that this deserves a post by itself. On my post last night I said, I wanted to make paella. And real paella calls for real saffron. So after trudging along the icy but posh Newbury Street I found a small neigborhood gourmet store to get my Spanish Sweet Paprika from and Saffron.

  

  This safron cost about $14

  Saffron remains to be the world’s most expensive spice. It takes about 75000 blossoms or 225000 stigma to yield about a pound of saffron. It is the hand labor that makes this so expensive. Pure saffron is made up of tiny, bright-red threads, from the stamen of the plant, saffron crocus. The redder the saffron, the higher the quality. The tips of the threads should be a slightly lighter orange-red color. This will show that it is not cheap saffron that has been tinted red to look expensive.

  In the Philippines there is a saffron wannabe in the form of kasubha. While it does the same yellow coloring you wanted from saffron it does not have the same flavor. Kasubha has no flavor. It is mostly used in making java rice or arroz caldo. In a tight pinch or in test run of paella and other recipes that will call for saffron, I think it will do the job. But once you taste and smell the difference, there is no turning back.

  I found this bottle of saffron threads by Morton and Bassett at the store for about $14 per .01 oz. There are four vials inside and hopefully one is enough for my dish.

  Filed under: Seafood
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