Decadent Oysters with Asian inspired Mignonette

Posted in Appetizers/Small Plates, Condiments, Seafood by The Culinary Chronicles

I live for oysters.

So when I saw an instagram post by a friend who snapped pics of them topped with uni– I gasped! It was brilliant and I just had to make them for our Japanese themed Fam Din.

Using the gorgeous oysters we nabbed from Dry Dock Fish Co., I put together a simple mignonette with Asian flavors that provided the right amount of acidity and heat to the briny shellfish. Topped with an unctuous piece of uni and dollop of tobiko, these oysters brought decadence and indulgence to a whole new level!

A bit over the top?

Maybe.

Deliciously gluttonous?

Absolutely!

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Decadent Oysters with Asian inspired Mignonette

Ingredients:

Mignonette:
¼ cup ponzu sauce
1 tablespoon minced shallots
½ teaspoon freshly cracked coriander
¼ teaspoon finely minced Thai chili pepper
½ teaspoon finely chopped chives

2 dozen oysters (cleaned, shucked, on ½ shell)
5 ounces fresh uni (sea urchin roe)
tobiko
chives, cut into 1 inch pieces

Prepare the mignonette by whisking together all the ingredients until combined. Chill until ready for use.

Fill a large platter with ice. Lay the oysters on top of the ice and drizzle each with some of the mignonette. Lay pieces of uni on top of each oyster and top with a small dollop of tobiko. Garnish with the chives and serve immediately.

17Apr2013

Japanese themed Family Dinner and Lychee Saketinis! Kampai!

Posted in Drinks, Sunday Family Dinner by The Culinary Chronicles

I know I should be more humble about this but we really knocked it out of the park for this month’s Family Dinner where we took a gastronomic trip to Japan.

Dinner was at eldest seester’s house and we literally cooked and ate for 3+ hours straight! Right when we finished one dish, we would only take intermittent pauses to nosh while we worked on the next dish. Quite fun, actually!

My seester has been talking about a fishmonger near her house for ages but we’ve never had a chance to give it try. So with a Japanese themed menu, what better opportunity? We were able to snag a bunch of beautiful product from Dry Dock Fish Co. and lemme tell you—totally rad.

So instead of just describing our menu, how about I show you what we inhaled.

Using the oysters we got from Dry Dock Fish Co., I put together these indulgent beauties. I drizzled each oyster with an Asian inspired mignonette, topped some with uni and tobiko, and fresh chives.

Swoon…..

This gorgeous sashimi platter consists of salmon, hamachi, ahi and ahi poke. We picked up the ahi poke pre-made from Dry Dock Fish Co. but added additional scallions, soy sauce and sesame oil for a bit more depth. And of course, we had some beautiful spot prawns.

Drools….

The spot prawns were so incredibly fresh. How fresh? So fresh that they were still swimming when we brought them home. And for those a bit wary of eating prawns sashimi style–don’t be! These spot prawns were incredibly sweet and had a wonderful crunch to them.

Sorry, I just had to stop myself from licking the screen.

As for the heads—waste not, want not! My sis quickly flashed fried and then lightly salted them.

Crunchy and filled with unctuous goodness…….

There were also pork and shrimp filled gyozas (that I commissioned my niece, Nini to fold) and of course, some yummy maki rolls. The rolls above were my seester’s brainchild–filled with lump crab and avocado, then topped with seared steak, black sesame seeds, and chives (that she commissioned our niece, Nina to roll).

Yea, we put the kids to work that night….

And it would be hard for me to have a Japanese meal without some satisfying spicy tuna rolls.

Nina rolled these for me too

We also wolfed down these Honey Pork Belly Lettuce Wraps adapted from a recipe from the rad Nami of Just One Cookbook. Sis par cooked the pork on the stove and then finished them off in the oven which gave them a crunchy texture that was lip-smackingly awesome from the glaze.

And the salmon collar–which we nearly forgot about! Luckily Big Sis remembered them half way through dinner and crisped them under the broiler. Crispy goodness though it stayed quite moist. Not the greatest photo but it was darn oishii!

Finally, we finished the savory portion of our meal with my Uni Pasta —because apparently, we didn’t have enough to eat.

At this point, we were feeling a little guilty (okay, just a tad) and rallied for a walk before dessert. Well, the gals + Lucasaurus went for a walk while the big boys opted out—the guys had gone for a mountain bike ride pre-dinner so we gave them a pass.

Dessert was an Icebox Green Tea Cheesecake I made with a chocolate crust. Since it was considered a “no bake” cheesecake, it was actually quite light and fluffy and was the perfect dessert to end our meal. The matcha added a slight bitterness to the filling but not at all overpowering.

Divine!

Of course it wouldn’t be a Family Dinner if we didn’t mix up a few thirst quenching cocktails. To go with our theme, I shook up these delish Lychee Saketinis that were aromatic and floral. And although they went down smooth, don’t let these little buggahs fool ya. They pack a punch!

I’ll be sharing several of the recipes we enjoyed in the next few posts but for now, I’ll let you in on how to make these wonderful Lychee Saketinis.

Until next time, Friends – Kampai!

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Lychee Saketinis
Serves 2

Ingredients:

1 20-ounce can of lychee (in light syrup)
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
ice
juice of ½ lime
1½ ounces vodka
5 ounces sake

Pour the can of lychee and its syrup into a blender. Add the ginger and puree until smooth. Strain the lychee puree through a fine sieve, using a rubber spatula to push down on the pulp to release the liquid. Discard the pulp and set the lychee liquid aside.

Fill a large shaker with ice. Add the lime juice, vodka, sake and 5 ounces of the lychee liquid. Shake vigorously for 15-20 seconds and strain the contents between 2 glasses. Garnish with additional lychees and lime wedges. Cheers!

12Apr2013

Breakfast Biscuit Casserole

Posted in Breakfast/Brunch by The Culinary Chronicles

The last Friday of every month, my team does a gluttonous but delicious Breakfast Potluck. With 15 people on the team bringing in all types of goodies, you can imagine what kind of extensive spread we have.

Sure, some may think it’s not so productive to gorge ourselves so early in the morning. And yes, I’m usually in a food coma for the better part of the day—but it’s just so darn tasty.

At our last go around, I decided to make an easy but hearty breakfast casserole— a Breakfast Biscuit Casserole to be exact. And you want to know my shortcut? I use a can of ready-to-bake biscuits. Yup, the same type you use in monkey bread—–mmmmm, monkey bread.

The end results in something fluffy, eggy, cheesy and just plain über delish! The prep time is nothing at all and by the time your morning coffee is ready, you’ll have the casserole in the oven.

Easy. Peasy.

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Breakfast Biscuit Casserole
Serves 8

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
¼ pound breakfast sausage
1 cup chopped crimini mushrooms
3 eggs
½ cup milk
2 heaping tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
kosher salt
black pepper
1 can ready-to-bake biscuits (1 pound)
cooking spray
1 heaping cup shredded sharp cheddar
2 scallions, chopped

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In a skillet, heat the vegetable oil to medium and add the breakfast sausage. Use a wooden spoon to crumble the sausage and break into small pieces. Cook the sausage until browned and transfer to a plate. Add the mushrooms to the skillet and cook until just tender. Transfer to the plate with the sausage.

In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, and parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper.

Take each biscuit and cut them into quarters. Grease a 10-inch casserole dish with cooking spray. Spread the biscuit pieces evenly in a single layer on the bottom of the dish. Pour the egg mixture over the biscuits and sprinkle the sausage and mushrooms over the top. Top the casserole with the cheese and scallions. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm.

8Apr2013

Pomegranate Mojitos – A Super Cocktail!

Posted in Drinks by The Culinary Chronicles

Is it in poor taste that I’m starting off the week with a post on Cocktails?

Nah!!!!!!!!

Especially when the cocktails are these fab Pomegranate Mojitos! Mint + Pomegranate Juice + a little Booziness —how could that be bad?

And aren’t pomegranates a super food? So as far as cocktails go….you could think of this one as being somewhat “healthier” for you.

Yup. You’re welcome.
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Pomegranate Mojitos
Serves 1

Ingredients:

15-20 Fresh Mint Leave
½ lime, cut into small wedges
½ tablespoons sugar
2 ounces light rum
4 ounces pomegranate juice
2 ounces club soda
1-2 cups crushed ice

In a cocktail shaker, thoroughly muddle the mint leaves, lime wedges and sugar. Add rum, pomegranate juice and fill the shaker with ice. Vigorously shake for 20 seconds and strain the liquids into a tall glass filled with ice. Top off glass with club soda. Garnish with lime slices and mint leaves.

5Apr2013

Green Curry Chicken

Posted in Poultry by The Culinary Chronicles

I kind of have a thing for Green Curry.

Green Curry Chicken, Green Curry Tofu, Green Curry Prawns—you name it, I love it.

This is my go-to take on Green Curry Chicken.

You can use store-bought curry paste or try making your own. I use this recipe for green curry paste which is really quite easy-peasy. You simply throw the ingredients into a food processor and shjooge away.

Or is it juugge?

Shuaage?

Um…how about you just pulse away.

The recipe makes about a cup of paste and anything I don’t use, I divide into 1/4 cup portions and zip them up in little resealable baggies. I toss those baggies into the freezer and bada-bing-bada-boom —I have curry paste any time I need it.

And if you freeze things, don’t be like me and forget to label them because I’ve got a few containers/resealable baggies in my freezer that I can’t remember what the heck they are. But they could prove to be an adventurous meal by using all of the unidentifiable items from my freezer.

Back to the curry….

You can use any type of protein you prefer and feel free to swap whatever veggies you like— eggplants, snow peas, asparagus, etc. I also like my veggies to have a little more firmness to them and opt to add them in towards the end of the cooking process. However, if you like them a bit more tender, you may want to sauté them for a minute or 2 with the chicken.

Serve it up with a steaming bowl of jasmine rice and you’ll be curry-ific!!!

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Green Curry Chicken
Serves 4-6

Ingredients:
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasted
kosher salt and black pepper
3 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
½ cup diced white onions
1 tablespoon minced garlic
½ tablespoon minced ginger
1 Thai red chili pepper, minced (2-3 if you prefer more heat)
3 heaping tablespoons green curry paste
1 cup coconut milk
1 cup chicken stock
1 tablespoon fish sauce, more if needed
2 kaffir lime leaves, thinly sliced
1 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced into 1-inch strips
1 green bell pepper, seeded and sliced into 1-inch strips
2 cups sliced white mushrooms
¼ cup chopped Thai Basil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro, more for garnish

Cut the chicken into 1 inch pieces. Season with salt and pepper.

Heat a heavy bottom pot with 2 tablespoons of oil to medium-high. Add the chicken and sear on both sides until golden brown. Transfer the chicken to a plate and cover.

Lower the heat to medium and add in the remaining oil. Cook the onions until softened and then add the garlic, ginger, and red chili pepper. Sauté for an additional minute and then add in the curry paste. Stir and cook the items for one minute until they become fragrant.

Whisk in the coconut milk, chicken stock, fish sauce and allow the liquids to come to a boil. Lower the heat to medium-low and cook for 5-10 minutes to allow the sauce to thicken. Add the kaffir lime leaves, browned chicken, peppers, and mushrooms into the pot. Stir the items together and simmer (partially covered) for 10-15 minutes. Taste and add in additional fish sauce if needed. Stir in the basil, cilantro and plate.

Garnish with additional cilantro and serve immediately with rice.

3Apr2013

Middle Eastern Vegetable Salad

Posted in Vegetables/Vegetarian by The Culinary Chronicles

I’ve received a bunch of recipe inquiries about the salad we gobbled up during our last Family Dinner.

And I can’t blame ya because it was DEE-LISH!

My niece and seester prepared the dish using Ina Garten’s recipe for a Middle Eastern Vegetable Salad and it was a WINNER! It packed a huge punch of flavor from the abundance of herbs, feta cheese and citrus. It was extremely bright and would be a fab dish to enjoy on a warm day with a glass of pinot grigio and chunk of freshly baked bread. MMMMM!

We didn’t have fresh basil on hand and ended up omitting it. Truth be told, I didn’t really miss it—but I’m sure it would be wonderful with it.

Oh that Ina…..she knocks it out of the park—AGAIN! Think she needs a new bestie in the form of a quirky Vietnamese gal?

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Middle Eastern Vegetable Salad
Serves 6

Ingredients:

10 scallions, white and green parts, thinly sliced
1 pound ripe tomatoes, seeded, cored, and 1/2-inch-diced
1 hothouse cucumber, halved lengthwise, seeded, and 1/2-inch-diced
1 can or jar (12 to 16 ounces) chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/3 cup chopped fresh mint leaves
1/3 cup julienned fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (4 lemons)
1 tablespoon minced garlic (3 cloves)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup good olive oil
8 ounces good feta cheese

Place the scallions, tomatoes, cucumber, chickpeas, parsley, mint, and basil in a large salad bowl and toss to combine.

In a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the lemon juice, garlic, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper. Slowly whisk in the olive oil to make an emulsion.

Pour the dressing over the salad, tossing gently to coat all the vegetables. Add the feta, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and toss gently.

Recipe from Ina Garten

1Apr2013

Pistachio–Orange Blossom Cake

Posted in Desserts/Pastries, Sunday Family Dinner by The Culinary Chronicles

Our monthly Sunday Family Dinners have kind of morphed into Saturday Family Dinners. It may not have the same ring to it but after an evening of consuming tons of goodness, the last thing I want to do is to drive back home to San Diego to make it to work the next morning.

So last weekend, we held our monthly Fam-Din at my seester’s casa where we jumped into a Middle Eastern inspired menu. The seesters made Roasted Garlic Hummus, Cucumber-Chickpea-Feta Salad, Shish Tawook and Basmati Rice.

Shish Tawook are chicken skewers that are marinated in yogurt, citrus, spices and then grilled. My seester served them with toum which was a super garlicky sauce that she was obsessed with. Truth be told, I had no idea what toum was before this weekend but it was fantastic over the chicken. As for the salad, it went really well with the Shish Tawook as the acidity helped to cut and brighten the dish.

Initially I was going to bake fresh pita to serve alongside with the hummus and chicken but well…I got lazy, really lazy. And since one of my seesters lives down the street from a wonderful Middle Eastern grocery store, I decided to pick up some of their delicious sangkak that they bake fresh throughout the day. Sangkak is a Persian flatbread that is slightly chewy and the one I picked up from Aria was about 36 inches long, speckled with sesames seeds, and was steaming hot.

As for my homemade contributions to dinner, I made a Pistachio-Orange Blossom Cake for dessert and Pomegranate Mojitos. Yea, yea….I know mojitos are Cuban but I considered it a fusion since I used pomegranates and fresh mint for this cocktail—totes Middle Eastern flavors.

As for the cake, well…..truth be told, this was an 11th hour addition. The original dessert I had planned to make was a Pistachio Pound Cake but when it cooled, it weighed a gazillion pounds and was as hard as a brick!!! It totally confounded me as the recipe appeared “normal” and I didn’t over bake it but that’s how new dessert recipes roll sometimes. Hit or miss. But if I didn’t experiment on my loved ones, who would I try new recipes on?

So with dinner just a few hours away, I pulled out one of my tried and true recipes and modified it a bit to compliment our Middle Eastern themed menu. To a trusted cake batter, I added finely ground pistachio nuts, fresh orange zest and a few dashes of orange blossom water that I had picked up when I grabbed the sangkak.

With a hope and a prayer, I served my “do-over” cake with fresh berries, a citrus scented whipped cream and crushed pistachios. And guess what? The seebs and kids really liked it! Really! Because if they didn’t, they would’ve told me in a heartbeat. That’s the thing with family. They give brutally honest feedback–something I completely appreciate it….when it comes to cooking, that is.

The cake was rather light and beautifully aromatic from the pistachios and orange flavors. And although I did cover it with a glaze, it wasn’t too sweet and paired well with the fluffy whipped cream I scented with orange zest. As for the berries, wonderfully tart and bright.

All in all, it was a delicious and successful Fam-Din! And true to form, we hadn’t finished 1/2 of our meal before we started planning April’s menu—Japanese!

The Vapors would be so proud.

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Pistachio–Orange Blossom Cake
Serves 8-10

Ingredients:

Cake Batter
2¼ cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1¼ cups buttermilk
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1½ cups sugar
1½ tablespoons fresh orange zest
½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 tablespoon orange blossom water
½ cup finely ground pistachios

Glaze
½ cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon heavy cream
1 teaspoon fresh orange zest
¼ cup roughly chopped pistachios

Orange Scented Whipped Cream
1 cup heavy cream, chilled
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoons fresh orange zest

Preheat oven to 350˚ F.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk together the milk and eggs in another bowl.

In a bowl of a stand mixer, combine the sugar, orange zest and rub them together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and fragrant. Add the butter and with the paddle attachment beat at medium speed until ingredients are light and fluffy. Beat in the almond extract and orange blossom. Then add 1/3 of the flour mixture, still beating on medium speed. Mix in ½ of the milk-egg mixture, then beat in 1/3 of the remaining dry ingredients until incorporated. Add the rest of the milk and eggs, mixing until the batter is well mixed, then add the last of the dry ingredients. Continue beating for another minute to ensure that the batter is thoroughly mixed and then add in the ground pistachios. Mix until just combined. Pour the cake batter into a well greased bundt pan and bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 10 minute before carefully inverting onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Once the cake has completely cooled, create the glaze. In a large measuring cup, combine all the glaze ingredients except the nuts. Microwave in 20 second intervals until the glaze has just combined (whisking in between). Slowly spoon the warm glaze over the cake, allowing it to soak in between spoonfuls. Sprinkle the crushed pistachios over the cake and let it cool for 1 hour before slicing and serving. *The glaze is quite thin. For a thicker consistency, double the amount of powdered sugar.

Before serving, prepare the whipped cream. Using a standing mixer fitted with the balloon whisk attachment, whip the chilled heavy cream on high until it just holds stiff peaks. Slowly sprinkle in the sugar until you reach a thick consistency. Add in the zest and whip until combined.

Serve the cake with dollops of whipped cream, additional chopped pistachios and fresh raspberries (optional).

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