KFC (no, not the Colonel's recipe)

As a treat for a couple of friends, I made Korean Fried Chicken. The link is from Modernist Cuisine, a site dedicated to the technical side of cooking.  I'd heard about the dish on the Food Network, but I didn't know it could be made at home. After going to my local Asian food store and picking up a few ingredients, I was ready to cook. Instead of doing chicken wings, however, I  quadrupled the amount of ingredients and cooked an entire chicken. This left me with extra sauce, but considering that it's absolutely delicious (I'm going to have to try it on ribs next time), I really don't mind.

The only criticism that I have about this recipe is that it takes a couple of hours to make--this is not a quick night's dinner. The Modernist Cuisine website gives you an idea of this by the exact nature of their recipe; don't get thrown off by the use of both grams and cups as well as percentages (and this is why I didn't want to post the recipe here, since they do a much better job). I'd save this for a good weekend dinner, but in the end, it's worth it.

Hot Chai, Winter in the City..

Back in December, I took a trip to Oregon, where a friend and I had some of the most delicious chai tea I've ever had. Now, spring is here in my little West Coast town, and I've been hit with a sudden craving for chai.  I decided to try to make my own as soon as I could afford the supplies.

My first attempt was OK, but it tasted a bit medicinal--too much cardamom and cloves, not enough of every thing else. My second attempt was much milder and smoother, and that's the recipe I'm giving you today. This makes enough for four people instead of one, because let's be honest--who's really going to drink just one cup? And if you multiply these ingredients by three, you'll have enough for twelve cups, which should get you through the week (or at least a few days, in our house).

Chai tea for four

Liquids:
 3 cups water
2 cups Half-and-Half
 4 full teaspoons / 2 tea bags of British black tea (Tetley seems to work nicely)

Spices:
4 pods green cardamom
1 thumb sized piece (or 2 inches) fresh ginger, crushed up or at least chopped up
4 whole black peppercorns
1/2 a cinnamon stick
1/2 a cup of brown sugar

Combine the liquids and the tea into a pot and set the heat to medium. Get a ziplock bag and put all the spices and ginger together, then crush them either with a pot or a rolling pin ( you can stop when you can see the cardamom pods break open and the cinnamon break up). Dump the spices into the liquid, then stir frequently for 30 minutes, or until the liquid level drops by roughly half an inch. Strain the solids out, add the brown sugar and stir till dissolved. Serve hot or ice cold.

Fabulous Frybread

My students, as part of their final projects, are required to do a Powerpoint presentation on a topic, usually a family dish of some kind. One of my students happens to be Native American; not only did she do her presentation on frybread, but she brought some in for the class. It was a good lunch. :)

I had to attempt this recipe a few times, but I finally got it to work. When you take a look at the ingredients, you'l be able to figure out why this probably shouldn't be eaten very often--yes, I did use both sticks of Crisco. And no, the 2 tablespoons of baking powder is not a mistake. This will make at least six or seven good sized frybreads. Get a big container of honey or taco fixings, because you'll be needing them. 

Fabulous Frybread

4 cups flour

2 tsp salt

2 tbsps baking powder (more if necessary)

1 tbsp powdered milk

1 1/2- 2 cups water

2 sticks butter flavored Crisco

Honey, powdered sugar, or taco toppings

Combine the first four ingredients and stir lightly till blended. Add the water sparingly until the ingredients just come together. Shape into a ball, then let it rest for 30 minutes to an hour. Melt the Crisco in a pan. Pull off  medium size pieces of dough, shape them into balls, then roll them  into flat circles. (Be careful not to make them too thin!) Carefully place each circle of dough into the hot Crisco. Fry on each side until puffy and golden. Serve hot, with either honey and powdered sugar or taco toppings. 

Flapjack Flash

Hey, it's been a while! I've been hesitating to post lately because my camera crashed and burned on me, but then my friend Michelle at delishiono posted an amazing recipe for District 12 cheese buns. So I decided to use pics from my Blackberry instead. By the way, you should go to Michelle's site and check out her recipes. Like, now.

Anyway, before I got distracted by her cheese buns (Ha!) I ended up making flapjacks. those of us here in the US immediately think of pancakes when we think of flapjacks, but the Brits know it as a granola bar type thing--crunchy on the outside, slightly soft and chewy on the inside. Remember that the recipe says the oats should be "coated"--think the process for making Rice Krispie treats. they shouldn't be swimming in the butter/sugar mix (as good as that sounds).

The first time I tried to make these, I burned them. The second time, they came out perfectly (I turned my oven down to 325 instead of 350 and moved them to the middle rack of my oven).I put the original recipe here just to be accurate, but feel free to use my pointers. If you don't have access to golden syrup (aka dark corn syrup), use honey; you can also add dried fruit and/or nuts. Make a big batch for the week!

British Flapjacks (courtesy of Bon Appetit magazine)

Ingredients

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1/4 cup golden syrup*
2 1/3 cups quick-cooking oats (not instant or old-fashioned)
Pinch of salt

* A type of syrup popular in Great Britain; available at some supermarkets, specialty foods stores, and British import shops.

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 8x8x2-inch metal baking pan. Combine first 3 ingredients in heavy medium saucepan. Stir constantly over medium-low heat until butter melts, sugar dissolves, and mixture is smooth. Remove from heat. Add oats and salt; stir until coated. Transfer mixture to prepared pan and spread out in even layer.
Bake until top is golden (edges will be darker), about 25 minutes. Cool in pan on rack 5 minutes. Cut into 4 squares; cut each into 4 triangles (mixture will still be soft). Cool completely in pan before serving.

Happy Mardi Gras! Shrimp n Grits

So a friend of mine called me at the last minute because she'd decided to throw a Mardi Gras party at another friend's house. "We need Southern food," she said. "What're you bringing?"

Now, considering that my friend is originally from Texas, I personally thought *she* would have been the official judge in that category. My family's Southern, but I was born and raised here in California. But hey, what do I know? I decided to make it easy on myself and make shrimp and grits.

This particular version is pretty and tasty. Just make sure you season the grits before you cool them (a mistake I made on the first batch). This can easily be modified for people with food allergies too. Issues with MSG? Swap the cajun seasoning for good old salt and pepper or come up with your own spicy blend. Can't have shrimp? Cook up some chicken and cut it into pieces. No dairy? Skip the cheese.

Shrimp N Grits

3 1/2 cups water
1 tsp. salt
Cajun seasoning or salt and pepper
1 1/4 cups grits or cornmeal
Shredded cheddar cheese
Cooked shrimp (large, at least 24 of them)

Spray an 8" square pan and a cookie sheet with nonstick spray. Set aside. Preheat the oven to "broil" and place a rack at the top.

Combine the water,seasonings and salt till boiling. Slowly pour in the grits or cornmeal, and start whisking as you pour. Continue whisking until there are no lumps. Allow grits/cornmeal to cook for five minutes or until thickened. Once thickened, quickly pour into the square pan and allow to cool completely.

Slice cornmeal into squares and place on the cookie sheet. Add cooked shrimp to the top of each square and add shredded cheese. Place cookie sheet into preheated oven for 3-4 minutes or until cheese has melted. Serve immediately.

More Southern Food Recipes

I just found a new site called Mommy's Kitchen that has killer soul food recipes. Her hot water cornbread recipe is delicious--light, airy and crunchy (I made, erm, a test batch, so I'll have to make another and take pictures). Check out the site, it's definitely worth your time!

Curry, curry everywhere...

I decided tonight to make curry, but all the recipes I'd seen were pretty complicated. I managed to stumble across yet another one in Allrecipes.com that was surprisingly simple. I had to change a few things--the original recipe had tomato sauce, not tomato paste, as well as crushed tomatoes (which I had none of). Nevertheless, the household loves it. Hmm, I guess curry really isn't that hard to make after all...

Ingredients

2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
1 teaspoon salt and pepper, or to taste
1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons curry powder
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 (14 ounce) can coconut milk
1 (8 ounce) can tomato paste
8 ounces water
3 tablespoons sugar

Directions

Season chicken pieces with salt and pepper.
Heat oil and curry powder in a large skillet over medium-high heat for two minutes. Stir in onions and garlic, and cook 1 minute more. Add chicken, tossing lightly to coat with curry oil. Reduce heat to medium, and cook for 7 to 10 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink in center and juices run clear. Mix the tomato paste with water and blend till smooth.

Pour coconut milk, tomatoes, tomato paste mix, and sugar into the pan, and stir to combine. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, approximately 30 to 40 minutes.