A LITTLE CELEBRATION

For Dan's Birthday, I was planning to make something new. It was an excuse to do something that was unnecessary for normal people to do. So I did 2 new dishes... The first dish was my creation: White Fungi Floret with Shanghai Bok Choy and Chicken in White Sauce. The second was Cassia Pork, a traditional dish from Northern China, a better version of Moo Shu Pork by my favorite teacher, Grace Chu.

I am proud of my White Fungi dish. Usually White Fungi is prepared for sweet dish ( as I know it). I like the texture of White Fungi. It is crunchy and meaty at the same time, a unique combination. What I did was to soak the fungi in the warm water and simmer them in ginger chicken broth for almost 1 hr. I placed it on a bed of Shanghai Bok Choy and pour a garlic chicken sauce with green pea. This dish is very light, savory, with layers of texture and taste. 

The second dish is very unique. It is basically chinese vegetarian tacos with scrambled egg. Again, texture is the main character of this dish. Very balance in taste and very refreshing.

The combination of cloud mushroom, black mushroom, golden needle (dried tiger lilly buds) with dried scramble eggs is a perfect fillings for chinese tortilla made of flour, water, and vegetable oil ( Mrs. Chu called it doilies).  

If you think about it, the preparation of these dish wasn't practical at all for regular night dinner. But considering this was Dan's birthday, It worth an effort. I even make my own doilies.

Well... I like the experiment. Am I crazy?? not really, considering I make my own clay bowl for the dish... ha!

Happy Birthday Dan!

RESTAURANT REVIEW 0901: GRAHAM ELLIOTT, CHICAGO

Location:

Downtown Chicago, off from the hustle and bustle of Mag. Mile.

www.grahameliott.com

 

Price: $$$

 

Culinary type: Creative, Playful

 

Rating: ** ½

 

Chef: Graham Elliott Bowles

 

My story:

I like this restaurant. It is less pretentious and definitely has a sense of neighborhood place. You will be comfortable to dine in this place for regular “dining-out” night, first date, or want something that is not spectacular from the restaurant ambiance point of view. Definitely it is a restaurant that makes an effort to stress on the food itself.

 

I knew I will be spending my birthday in Chicago for a business trip. So there you go, I ask Linda to help me making a reservation on the restaurant that was reviewed as the most “playful” in Chicagoland area. I think it was a smart move.

 

It was a very delightful evening with Jim, Paul, Peggy. After a little shopping excursion, we headed to this restaurant and surprised by the warmth of the service. Seems like the whole restaurant atmosphere is very relax.

 

Instead of bread, we have seasoned popcorn (with ranch and herbs), and it was a surprise. It was gone within no time. I decided to pair my dinner with GREAT wine that Paul ordered. It was a pinot by Ken Wright.

 

My first course was Kung Pao Sweet bread, which is very playful. The whole dish is celebration of texture and layer of taste with a touch of Orient. The sweet bread was deep-fried to create crunchiness from the outside, and very tasty and perfect consistency inside. It was compliment by the crunchiness of seasoned broccoli floret. What impressed me was the layering of taste to the sauce: Kung Pao sauce with taste of peanut brittle, black sesame, and chili oil.  This is an A-dish for me.

 

I choose Grilled Colorado Lamb over Pistachio Stuffed Pork. It was delightful and for sure playful, but I think it is rather complicated dish for my palette. If only they move one of the ingredients of the menu. Unlike the sweetbread, which I would consider simple, this dish has too many stuff to think about. And usually I do not want to think when I eat… Complicated me!

 

I tasted a little soup that Peggy and Jim ordered. It was quite tasty. Peggy thought it was a bit too sweet. Paul like the Bison that he ordered but he said it is a bit chewy. I think it was normal for Bison. It has so many fiber.

 

Overall, for a neighborhood restaurant, it was a good experience. Great waiter, great food delivery, good food and comfortable atmosphere.  I would give 2 ½ stars from 4 stars rating for this restaurant. The price is bit high for this restaurant, but considering the food quality, preparation and the high rent of the restaurant, it was ok. What do you think???

 

Ps.. I love the logo of this restaurant.

Sorry the pictures are not too great! I need better camera

VELVET CHICKEN AND BEAN SPROUT SALAD

I have been doing some research about Velvet Chicken dish. I am really intrigue by it. From what I heard is a delicacy, but from what I ate and experience it is nothing but a greasy dish.

 

I tried to research the technique of velveting chicken and the look of final product. It still does not have any clear image what it should be. So what I did is to compare different kind of new and old recipe. From Cecilia Chiang, Shun Lee, Ken Hom, etc. I think I found about 10 recipes that said it is original. I compare the ingredients and decided will try Mdm. Grace Chu recipe. 

 

Mdm. Chu mentioned that the key is to beat the white egg until it is stiff and fold the paper-thin chicken to it. The other tricks that I got from other recipes are that the oil should be cool enough to white the chicken, but not too hot to cook the chicken.

 

So, here it is. First, I cut all the scallion, bamboo shots (not the canned one – too hard), Virginia ham (that’s what Cecilia Chiang use). I cut chicken paper thin (1/8” thick across the grain) – ½ chicken breast.

 

Since I do not want to have a greasy food, I use less oil, and found out if I use ½ Tb spoon more, it would be better. I cook the chicken/white egg mixture for 2 minutes until it is white and take it out with slotted spoon.  Next is to stir-fry the rest veggies and ham, fold the chicken-mixture back in and pour some wine.

 

Now I get it, why people called it velvet chicken. The chicken is super tender, covered by velvety egg and cornstarch mixture, and each bite, I taste something different. What a delightful surprise. I’ve never tried the chicken dish so good.

 

To accompany this I make bean sprout salad. Bean sprout, scallion, thin julienne egg, and rice wine vinegar sauce… SO refreshing. It compliments the chicken as the star of the dish.

 

It was a very delightful dinner. Very clean tasting and VERY healthy for sure.

The only technique that I need to master is to velvet the chicken in the right temperature and right way to stir it… I will keep you posted on another try.

Still it is a great success and I really look forward to share it with you… AnytimeJ

 

Recipe of the week. V 09.01 Spiced Beef Stew with Carrots and Mint

Another read of the day…

I came across Bon Appetit Magazine that I almost throw out.  It is not Chinese nor French, but Mediterranean. It looks like easy to make, sound very healthy and most of all…looks very very good. What intrique me is the pumpkin pie spice that I’ve never used before… Wonder how it differ from Chinese 5 spice.

 

For the photo and official links to recipe you can go to:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Spiced-Beef-Stew-with-Carrots-and-Mint-237295

 

I will try to make it this week and give a report to you on how it turn out and how’s my spin on the recipe make a difference. So stay tuned.

 

Spiced Beef Stew with Carrots and Mint

Bon Appétit  | March 2007

 

Makes 2 servings

 

This North African-inspired stew is good over couscous with a little lemon juice and chopped mint. Because it's made with beef tenderloin, it's ready in minutes instead of hours

 

 

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided

12 ounces beef tenderloin, cut into 1-inch cubes

1 cup sliced shallots (about 3 large)

8 ounces peeled baby carrots

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon all purpose flour

2 1/2 cups beef broth

1/3 cup chopped fresh mint, divided

 

Preparation

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in large nonstick skillet over high heat. Sprinkle beef with salt and pepper. Add beef to skillet and sauté until cooked to desired doneness, about 2 minutes for medium-rare. Using slotted spoon, transfer beef to bowl. Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil to skillet. Add shallots and carrots and sauté until golden, about 3 minutes. Add all spices; stir 30 seconds. Sprinkle flour over; stir 30 seconds. Stir in broth and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium; simmer until carrots are just tender, about 8 minutes. Return beef to skillet; cook until sauce thickens slightly, about 1 minute. Season stew to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in 1/4 cup chopped mint. Transfer stew to bowls. Sprinkle with remaining chopped mint and serve.

MOVED FROM THE OTHER BLOG SITE TO HERE.. FROM 3 days ago...

From Jajang Myun to Beef Tenderloin

No cooking in the great length today. But the experience has been better than the 1st blog. It started yesterday. Beer Burger.. Who do not love that... Simple angus burger, with Dan's signature beer (We use Tsingtao beer), dill, salt and pepper, fresh tomato and boston bib lettuce on wheat bun... YUMMY!...  After long bike ride to Newport, KY, I prepare myself Jajang Myun.. not from scratch, but it is pretty damn good.. I think I ate too much for lunch, but hell with it... it was good...  Peggy's party was awesome. She hire a chef from culinary school that I am looking into. Beef Tenderloin, rare, with bernaise sauce, Asparagus (and zuchinni plus slice of eggplant), GREAT bake potato with rosemary - most probably covered with hungarian paprika. Great wine overall Thanks for Kate.. she is such a great somalier. Ohhh... I almost forget Kate fresh apple pie.. so good.. so fresh. The highlight of today is my study on chinese medicinal cooking.  I am trying to find good recipe for Jujube, but found out lots of soup that is have great health quality that I need to practice on. Nope I am not going to do Dragon and Phoenix soup, nor Snake and black bean soup. I think I will start from basic, like pork and tofu... Wait... I have spare ribs.. I will do that tomorrow... I think I need to start cooking again tomorrow. 2 days without chinese food is a killer for me.

MEMORIAL DAY

Of course I need to do something about memorial day. Since this is my first Memorial Day as a citizen, I need to celebrate and honor it by having the best burger ever... Tobias way.. which of course has Chinese and French influence in it). 

So I decided to create the patty from scratch. Angus ground sirloin with Tobias secret recipe. A lot of herbs and sauces in the composition that I can not reveal to you. I make it 1" thick, so it is quite juicy when it is done. Of course with Dan's influence, we soak it in beer for a while to make it even more savory...

3 big patties, with fresh tomatoes, onion, boston bib lettuce, and American cheese..make it perfect for memorial day. It is not the most Chinese or French thing, but the technique of preparation basically come in from Chinese and French cooking method... My contribution to my new country, and for the people that serve to protect this country... Salute!

SPARE RIBS, COLD TOFU, and BITTER MUSTARD

As I said yesterday, today, we are starting again with Chinese cooking practice.

I want something special today, something that I would eat in the GREAT chinese restaurant at home...so when I was reading the cook book... (yes, it is like a bible to me - I read it page per page, as literature, not just to cook) spare ribs and black bean sauce caught my eyes. 

I just spent around $70 on sauces and all the wierd stuff that you would normally not going to buy, except when you are going to open a restaurant. I want black bean sauce that I used to eat in great restaurant in china town in Jakarta. It happen I have 1 lb of spare ribs... so I thought that would be great idea. And surprise.. I have all the ingredients!

So Spare ribs... would like to do the steam spare ribs with black bean sauce, but I do not have the right plate small enough to fit to the bamboo steamer (I have that too - CRAZY! - and I might need to buy bigger steamer). So I do braised Spare Ribs. I use dried fermented black bean, garlic, and ginger sauteed in peanut oil, and spare ribs. It is not savory enough, so I use VERY little soy sauce, shiao xing wine and very little black bean paste. I braised the ribs a little longer, and it turn out VERY YUMMY!.

To go with it, I thought I make cold salad, tofu with sesame oil, very very little ijen soy sauce, and scallion.. VERY GOOD.. served very cold, a great opening for spare ribs. For vegetable, I do sauteed Bitter Mustard with dried mushroom and dried tiger lilly... it is so bland, that it highlight the spare ribs nicely.

Very good combo today, I am proud of it... After a small bowl of rice, and all the food, I do not feel stuffed, and NOT greasy at all... Very balance, and feel clean...That what chinese food suppose to be...