3 cup chicken

This dish became an instant favorite when I tried it for the first time at Facing East in Bellevue.  A dish that hits your nose and taste buds at the same time - the sesame oil, wine, soy sauce, as well as basil, combine to create an fragant aroma that is just hard to resist.  When I had spotted this dish in a recipe book that a friend had given me, I was so happy to see that this dish is within my reach, and actually fairly simple!

All the ingredients that you need:

Fry up the chicken, and cover, and bam!, you have yourself 3 cup chicken.

3 cup chicken  (serves 2)
(From "Chinese Rice and Noodles," author Su-Huei Huang)


1 ⅓ lbs chicken or chicken thighs
4 T sesame oil

12 slices ginger root
6 dried chili peppers

4 T each - cooking wine, soy sauce
½ cup water
½ T sugar

1 bunch of packaged bean threads
1 cup basil

2 cup cooked rice

1.  Wash chicken and pat dry.  Cut into pieces.  Soak the bean threads in water until soft; drain.
2.  Heat 4 T sesame oil, stir fry ginger and chili over low heat until ginger turns a golden color.
3.  Turn heat to high and fry chicken for 5 minutes, until both sides are golden brown.
4.  Add cooking wine, soy sauce, water, sugar in that order.
5.  Bring to a boil.
6.  Cover and cook over medium heat 15 minutes; stir occasionally during cooking.
7.  Add bean threads and basil, and stir fry until liquid is almost evaporated.  Serve with rice.

Famous Daves

Some of my friends had been raving about this place for a while and I quickly jumped on the bandwagon once I got my taste.   I've had to use their website photo for this page, because I was too busy eating and getting messy to take pictures.

The barbecue from this place is quite delicious and I've been told by friends who've had southern barbecue, that this is pretty close to the real thing.  They don't douse the food with sauce, instead the sauce comes in packets and the sauce is quite delicious and smoky.  It's so nice to control the amount of sauce on your meat.  They make take out super easy and their food is always consistent.  Finally, a food victory for the burbs, as this location is in Everett.  Their other locations in Washington are in Kent and Silverdale.

http://www.famousdaves.com/

My dad, the hot pot nazi

He is also an beer nazi, but that we will save that for another post.  My dad has certain ideas of how things should be and nowhere is he more opinionated than when it comes to food.  While we tend to butt heads a lot, I know that the best dishes that he and I make together are when we work together and LISTEN to each other's ideas.  Oh, this isn't a counseling post, so I digress.  :) 

Anyway, to qualify for his title, my dad not only dictates the order of the food that is to be dunked into the hot pot, but get this, he also mixes the dipping sauce for you - yes, that's right folks, he prepares a big batch of his special sauce.  While I take on my usual "I can't believe my dad does this and what happened to individuality" stance, Joe, on the other hand, is a big fan of my dad's philosophy in this area and has become a lieutenant in my dad's one man contingent.

The perfect bite and this is my self made sauce.  :)

Chocolate Lava Cake

This is a fave dessert that I love ordering with my girlfriends at Cutters or Daniel's Broiler, and I came across this recipe recently and it looked simple enough.  Served hot with vanilla ice cream, this is heaven in a bowl!  The best part about it is you can make it ahead of time and cook it later.  Here are all the ingredients you need.

And here's the melting of the chocolate over the stove, and then adding the butter in.

Ingredients (4 people):

6 oz. Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate (or use your favorite 70% dark chocolate bar)
6 oz. Butter (diced, room temperature)
3 Eggs
1/2 cup Granulated Sugar
1/3 cup Flour
Butter for Ramekins

How to Make It:

Preheat oven to 350°F
1. Melt chocolate on low flame in a bain-marie (double boiler). When melted, take of flame, and…
2. Stir in diced butter, until it melts.
3. In another bowl, beat eggs and sugar, until it starts to whiten.
4. Stir in melted chocolate and then the flour.
5. Butter 4 individual ramekins, and pour in chocolate batter.
6. Cook for about 10 minutes.
7. Tip ramekins upside down onto dessert plates and serve.

http://www.famousfrenchdesserts.com/chocolate-lava-cake-recipe.html

Roasted Veggies

I'm a huge fan of anything you can throw in the oven and forget about.  This turned out yummier than I had thought it would as I observed it cooking in the oven.  I set it for 30 minutes at 375 degrees and tossed the veggies in olive oil, salt, pepper, thyme, and rosemary, and loved how the eggplant and zucchini picked up flavors.

Roasted Cauliflower

Roasted carrot and butternut squash

Whipped and Mashed...

...potatoes that is!  I have been avoiding homemade mashed potatoes for a while for fear of lumps. I'm a texture girl and I want my mashed potatoes to be silky smooth.  I've found the solution - first mash the potatoes and then whip it with your mixer.  All lumps be gone!  I really like making mashed potatoes now and will not be making it from the box anymore.. I know, I've had a few raised eyebrows from admitting to this, but it was a family tradition from thanksgivings when we were younger and wanted to experience some American traditions..

Here's the recipe that I used.. I think adding roasted garlic would make it even yummier.

• 5 potatoes, peeled and quartered
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1/8 cup milk

Directions

1. Fill a medium size saucepan half full of water, and add a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil. Add potatoes to pot; the water should cover the potatoes. Simmer for 10 minutes, or until potatoes are easily pierced by a fork. Drain.
2. Transfer potatoes to a large mixing bowl. Add butter or margarine and milk, and mash with a potato masher. When well mashed, whip for a minute or two with an electric mixer set on medium speed.

http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/whipped-mashed-potatoes/Detail.aspx

King Crab

I'm not the biggest fan of the casino, but the Snoqualmie Casino buffet is hard to beat - on sundays, they serve King Crab and prime rib.  It's usually $30/person, but people, it's all you can eat King Crab.  If you can pack it in, it's worth it.  The line is super long, so you should get there around 5.  I can only hope that this becomes a family tradition because I know that my cousins and I are definitely getting addicted to it.

Shrimp Toast

My friend got me addicted to shrimp toast, many years ago, when she served this at a party.  We loved the rich shrimp flavor and the crunchy toast.  I finally found a simple recipe that doesn't involve a food processor (I refuse to clean one), and if you are lazy like me, even roughly chopped shrimp works, because it adds to the texture.  Also, I randomly came across french bread that was cut up into slices and it made the toasts super crunchy and soft - definitely worth the upgrade from Wonder bread.  I found this brand at a QFC.

I would add a little white pepper and even more green scallions to this recipe.  I fried the toast in a deep skillet and it worked great.  (You don't need a ton of oil, just enough to cover about half the height of the toast.)  Also, I only used about 6 slices of bread because I like to slather on the paste generously and there wasn't enough for 10 slices.

1 lb. shrimp, fresh, minced
1 egg
1 tsp. scallions, chopped
1 tsp. ginger, fresh, chopped
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/3 c. flour
1 tsp. vegetable oil
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. white wine
10 slices day-old white bread
Vegetable oil for deep frying

Clean and peel the shrimp. Mix together the shrimp, egg, scallions, ginger, baking powder, flour and oil. Add salt and wine. Then make into a paste.

Cut bread into 4 sections each slice and spread on the shrimp paste. Heat oil to 300 degrees in a deep pan. Fry toast with shrimp side down, for 2 minutes. Turn over and fry other side for 30 seconds more. Remove, drain and serve hot or cold.

the perfect salad

I finally came across my favorite combo of veggies for a fresh salad - romaine lettuce, tomato, red pepper, roasted sunflower seeds, and Trader Joe's sweet poppy dressing.  I love a no fuss salad where the flavors are still interesting - nutty, sweet, and crunchy.  There's no cheese in this salad and I don't miss it at all.

Chicken Braised in Garlic and White Wine

Braised short ribs is the big thing these days, but I found a cheaper alternative.  This dish uses the same concept of browning the meat, then throwing in veggies and wine/stock to simmer with the meat. 

Here's the recipe from Real Simple magazine.  If you end up trying the recipe, let me know what you think!  I tried the recipe with chicken breast cutlets and it worked, but I think the bones in the chicken thighs make for a more flavorful sauce.

2 tsp dried oregano
kosher salt and pepper

8 small chicken thighs (or 1.5 pounds of chicken)

¾ cup all purpose flour
2 T olive oil

3 small yellow onions, quartered
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
3 jarred hot cherry peppers, seeded and roughly chopped

3 T of the brine

1 cup dry white wine
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth

In a small bowl, combine oregano, ¾ tsp salt, and ½ tsp pepper.
Pat the chicken dry with paper towels, season with the spice mixture and dredge in the flour.  

Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat and brown the chicken, 4 minutes per side.
Transfer to a plate.

Add the onions to the pot and cook until golden, about 5 minutes.
Add the garlic and cherry peppers and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes.
Add the pepper brine, wine, and broth, and bring to a boil.
Return the chicken to the pot and bring to a simmer.
Cook, covered, until the chicken is cooked through, about 30 minutes.

Fried Calamari

I love cleaning squid.. not sure why, but I have been doing it since I was kid when I would help my mom with dinner. Yes, it's weird, but I just love ripping the guts out and cutting the tentacle (the best part!) off the head.  So yesterday, when I was at Ranch 99, it hit me - fried calamari!  And it turned out great, although it could have used more salt and pepper.  This was gone in seconds between Joe and I.

Here's the recipe I used - just simple flour and spices. 
http://bellaonline.com/articles/art1499.asp

Ingredients

• 1/2 to 1 pound calamari sliced into rings
• 1 cup flour
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• Enough vegetable oil to fill bottom of heavy skillet to 1/2"

Directions

1. Clean calamari and keep chilled.
2. Mix flour, paprika and cayenne in shallow bowl.
3. Heat oil to 375 degrees.
4. Toss a handful of calamari with flour, shake off excess.
5. Fry for 3 or 4 minutes or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels and salt to taste.

Here's how to clean the squid:
http://greekfood.about.com/od/greekcookingtips/ht/cleansquid.htm

Tandoor

A favorite of our friends within the U-district, this is a lovely little restaurant, and if you hit them around 5pm on a sunday, you get the dining room almost all to yourself.  We had a small feast - butter chicken, chicken tikka masala, chicken tandoori, and aloo gobi (cauliflower and potato).  It's such a vibrant meal - I love all the different colors.

Chipotles

Another family similarity - our love for Chipotles - at least for most of the girl cousins, we love their burrito bowls - some like chicken, some like steak.  We went at least 2-3 times in a week and loved every meal!

Bibimbap

This is the first time that I have had homemade bibimbap and there is just something extra when it is made with a little TLC.

I got to make my own bowl, topped with veggies and meats, to my liking.  My favorite part is mixing in the sesame oil and hot sauce, so fun!

Spicy Noodle - the chewiness of the noodle and the spicy sauce makes it a taste adventure in your mouth!

San Francisco

Joe and I have been been fortunate enough to travel to SF quite bit in the last few years and we just love the city.  Here's a proud hubby moment - he found this sandwich joint, called Naked Lunch, and it is by far my favorite place to go.  Here is a open face egg, arugla sandwich.

My pick was the grilled octopus salad..it is truly an amazing sandwich.

Braised Short Ribs

My cousin made short ribs for us and demonstrated her mad cooking skillz.  She first browned the short ribs on both sides, and then sauteed the vegetables in the oil.

Red wine, rosemary, bay leaf, peppercorn, beef stock and tomato paste were added to the vegetables.

The finished product - the bones fell off without effort and the juices were reduced by half to make the sauce.

Here's the recipe, per my cousin's friend.

Short ribs

Season short ribs w. salt and pepper

Brown short ribs on high head until brown (don’t need to cook).

 Remove and set aside.

Toss in: garlic (cloves), onions, celery, carrots (not for eating..although you may).
Sauté lightly. (5-7 min)

Stir in 2tbs of tomato paste and a bit of flour.

Keep stirring.

Add some sprigs of rosemary & thyme, black peppercorns. 2 bay leaf.

Pour in 1.5-2 cups of red wine. (port?)

Let wine reduce by ½ or 1/3

Pour beef stock in, enough to cover short ribs.

Cover and put into oven at 375

Cook for about 2 hours?

Set ribs aside.

Strain the broth into a pan. Reduce liquid by a half (thick enough to coat the back of a spoon)

Put ribs back to warm them up.

Serve with potatoes and veges.

Strawberry Shortcake

The best part about family is when you discover similarities.  My cousin had researched this strawberry shortcut recipe endlessly, to recreate a cake that she had at her favorite bakery.  I was so proud of her efforts and so excited to enjoy this cake.  The recipe requires quite a bit of eggs and it turned out to be a family project.  Everyone got into the fun!

Here's the link to the recipe.  Mascarpone cheese was hard to find at Safeways, best bet is Central Market.  http://hecooksshebakes.blogspot.com/2009/11/strawberry-shortcake.html 

Din Tai Fung

The soup dumpling, positioned for the slide into my mouth.  It was good, but not mind blowing, as I expect most foods to be, given the amount of hype the restaurant got. 

We got dessert dumplings as well, but the skin was definitely tough, so stick to the dessert buns.  By the time that I went, they had worked out some of their major kinks (most people complained about lukewarm dishes that arrived, etc), but they definitely need more practice to making soup dumplings.

The owner (young!) of the restaurant came to see how our meal was.  He shared his vision of the restaurant - wanting to serve a great meal, in a restaurant that was beautifully designed and had great ambiance.  That vision was achieved with us - we definitely had a great time.

Flying Fish

Ahi Tuna Poke with won-tons and wasabi tobiko marinade

Two of my friends were nice enough to invite me along to an annual tradition of theirs - going to Flying Fish to partake in a evening of crab - the salt and pepper crab, to be more specific.  We started out with the poke appetizer and while it was good, the flavors were somewhat bland. 

Salt and Pepper Dungeness Crab with sesame noodles and carrot daikon salad

The crab, however, did not disappoint.  It was absolutely amazing and after the second bite, I signed myself for next year's dinner.  The waiter shared his wisdom and helped us figure out that sharing the platter of crab was quite plenty.  The crab was completely covered in salt and peppercorns, and the flavors burst in my mouth, along with the delicate, sweet crab.  It was a very messy ordeal as we were up to our elbows in salt and pepper/crab shells, so as much as I wanted pictures of us, I'm glad that we didn't take pictures.

Never a bad meal...

A meal at the Segundo's never disappoints.  This is the most consistent place for a good meal, and good cheer.  There is always plenty of food and they have introduced a complete set of dishes that I've never had, but can never live without ever again - the list is long.. soybean rice, broiled sushi, kalbi, spam musubi, butter mochi, cornflake chicken, chicken sukiyaki, etc.

Ginza

This restaurant is always busy - weekdays or weekends.  The quality of the sushi is always good and there is a great selection of other dishes that are great.  Below is the soft shell crab tempura that a friend had suggested and it has become a must order item for me.

Eel fried rice - smoky, sweet and texture rich, this is a yummy dish.

The pumpkin fried rice has great presentation but lost points for having less flavor compared to the eel fried rice.

The Ginza experience made even more enjoyable with a group of girlfriends that love to eat as well!