cooked – Will Dao

January 25, 2011May 18, 2011

spicy soba

since coming back from asia, i’ve been experimenting with all sorts of soups and noodles trying to recreate the flavors that tickled my tongue throughout the trip. this has resulted in some odd mash-ups, one of which is this spicy soba dish. you know how some people are weird and don’t drink the noodle broth? well, this isn’t for you if you’re one of those people. this is for someone who likes licking up every drop! it’s a really satisfying, cold-weather dish. enjoy.

serves 4 / cooking time: 15 minutes

ingredients
5 cups of water for broth and additional water for soba
3 1/2 – 4 tablespoons of miso paste
1 bunch of soba noodles per serving
1 leafy head of bok choy or other greens (more if you like veggies)
1 tomato chopped
2 – 3 cloves of garlic
1 – 2 green onions chopped
2 – 3 chili peppers chopped
1/8th pound ground pork
4 – 8 beef balls halved
1 sheet of seaweed cut into strips
fresh ground pepper, to season

1. bring water to a boil in a medium pot. throw in the miso, garlic, and chili pepper. boil for 2-5 minutes.

2. shape the pork into little balls and add to broth with the beef balls. add the tomatoes, green onions, and half of the seaweed. simmer under medium low heat.

3. in a separate pot, boil more water. insert soba and cook until soft, but not mushy. drain and place noodles into serving bowl(s).

4. once the meat balls are cooked thoroughly and the greens are softened, turn off the heat. scoop enough broth into the bowls to cover the top of the noodles. add ground pepper, as desired. top with the vegetables and meat. add strips of seaweed and leftover green onions as garnish.

my suggestions:
i tried this recipe out for the third time today and played around with it by adding sliced ginger and about 1/2 teaspoon of lemon zest. the broth had an even richer flavor that balanced well with the saltiness of the miso.

also, i’ve tried cooking the soba in the broth versus cooking it separately. this method works really well, too (i actually prefer it), although there are pros and cons. the pro is that the noodles really pick up the spiciness that makes this dish so special. however, the inherent saltiness of the soba combined with the saltiness of the miso can be a bit overwhelming. an easy resolution would be to reduce the amount of miso paste you add. i’ve been doing one less tablespoon of miso than there are cups of water (e.g. 4 tablespoons of miso for 5 cups water, 5 tablespoons for 6 cups, etc.).

if you cook the soup and noodles separately, you can store the leftover broth for later. use it to cook MORE noodles or to drink as a standalone soup. seriously delicious.

this is a ridiculously easy to cook, quick, and healthy meal. enjoy!

October 29, 2010May 18, 2011

moroccan carrot soup

carrot soup

i’ve kinda been going crazy making soup lately. it’s been so cold that all i want to do is warm up in my cardigan, sweatpants, and hushpuppies by the fireplace drinking soup (see chicken soup … that i’m ALMOST finished eating finally).

i bought a bag of carrots for last week’s party, but totally didn’t get to use any of them. instead of letting it go to waste, i remembered that i visited a restaurant – perhaps le cheval? – that starts each meal with a bowl of the creamiest carrot soup. also, i thought an orangey soup would be fun, both in honor of the sf giants and in time for halloween!

so i looked up recipes and found this one from epicurious. i pretty much followed the instructions — minus the measuring (just do it by taste). the only other problem i had was figuring out which spice from my unlabeled spice rack was cumin and which one was allspice. because i didn’t have whole cumin seeds, i just used the packaged ground cumin, which seemed to work fine. overall, it turned out pretty deliciously and can’t wait to serve some to mgs when he gets home in a few minutes!

serves: 4 / cooking time: about 40 minutes

ingredients
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
1 cup chopped white onion
1 pound large carrots, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch dice (i used 3/4 of a 2lb bag)
2 1/2 cups low-salt chicken broth
1 1/2 teaspoons cumin seeds
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 cup plain yogurt, stirred to loosen

carrot soup

1. Melt butter in large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion; sauté 2 minutes. Mix in carrots. Add broth; bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until carrots are very tender, about 20 minutes.

2. Stir cumin seeds in small skillet over medium-high heat until fragrant, 4 to 5 minutes; cool. Finely grind in spice mill. (i didn’t do this, but let me know how that works out!)

3. Remove soup from heat. Puree in batches in blender until smooth. Return to same pan. Whisk in honey, lemon juice, and allspice. Season with salt and pepper.

4. Ladle soup into bowls. Drizzle yogurt over; sprinkle generously with cumin.

my suggestions: some of the other recipes i saw asked for cayenne pepper and/or curry. i think i might try adding a bit of both into the next batch just to see how it affects the flavor. i imagine the curry would give it a really nice punch. overall, this was SUPER easy to make and is a great soup for the times!

October 12, 2010May 18, 2011

chicken soup for the soul

last week, i had an intense craving for all things soupy. i wanted pho, ramen, tofu stew — anything that was wet, warm, and satiating. i’m sure the craving was a physical manifestation of some psychological need for “comfort’ in preparation for mgs’ departure. soup reminds me of home and as the great luther vandross (et. al.) once sang, “a house is not a home when the two of us are far apart…” well hey, if i can’t have mgs , then — let me have my soup! this recipe is adapted from several, but mostly improvised.

i always forget what advice my friends and mom have given me regarding whether or not to remove the skin. i think it’s better if you do because the skin is super fatty. i didn’t this time around, but had to do a lot of fat-skimming.

serves many / cooking time: 2 – 3 hours (the longer, the better)

ingredients
1 whole chicken (again – up to you whether to keep the skin or not)
1 chopped red onion
4 diced cloves of garlic
3 chopped green onions/chives (only the green part)
4-6 inches of ginger sliced into 1/2 inch chunks
6-8 diced campari tomatoes
3-4 carrots diced to small chunks
10 small potatoes quartered
1 teaspoon of olive oil
water
salt and fresh ground pepper, to season

1. rinse the chicken and, if you prefer, remove the skin and fat. even if you don’t remove the skin, make sure to remove as much fat as possible by cutting it off around and below the skin. set aside and let it dry.

2. in a large pot, saute the onion until it is caramelized. add the ginger, garlic, and 2 green onions. heat until the ginger and garlic are brown and the green onion is bright green. add the chicken and slightly brown each side. add the carrots.

3. pour enough water to cover the entire contents of the pot. the chicken should be submerged at least 1-inch below the water. bring to a boil and reduce to medium heat. cover and let it simmer for 1 – 1.5 hours. occasionally open the lid and skim off surface oil.

4. carefully remove the chicken from the soup. using your hands or tongs, pull off the majority of meat from the bones. you can save the meat for chicken salad or — whatever people do with chicken. i personally like to remove only the white meat. keep the dark meat on the bones and throw it all back into the soup. toss in the potatoes and tomatoes. boil for another .5 – 1 hour then salt and pepper to taste.

5. serve by carefully scooping out the soup, carrots, tomatoes, and potatoes into a bowl. top it off with the extra green onion and toss in some of the white meat that was removed earlier. salt and pepper more as desired.

my suggestions: what’s great about chicken soup is its versatility: it’s really not just one dish, but several. you can drink the soup as is or strain just the liquid for stock and noodle soups. as mentioned above, you can use the meat to make sandwich fillings, salad, congee, pot pies — whatever. chicken soup is a great option for the budget-conscious.

which brings me to seasoning: usually for chicken soup, i never know how i’ll be using it so i’ll wait until the end to salt and pepper it. i like to err on the bland side when it’s in the pot. once i figure out how i’m serving it, then i’ll add the appropriate amount of salt amd pepper to enhance the flavors.

this recipe produces an insane amount of soup. if you’re not able to eat it all by yourself (like moi), it can be frozen and reheated when you’re ready to eat it later. enjoy!

September 7, 2010May 18, 2011

breakfast smoothie

this morning i opened the fridge and realized i forgot to buy eggs for breakfast! necessity is the mother of all invention (… hunger in this case) so i combed through the fridge to see what i could make instead. we had a lot of fruit – both frozen and fresh – so i decided to create a breakfast smoothie. i didn’t have a chance to take a picture of the finished product this morning — it was so good, mgs and i devoured it pretty quickly. BUT it was super healthy and super easy to make. i paired it with an english muffin (use butter, jam or whatever your preferred spread is) and, of course — bacon.

serves 2 / prep time: 10 minutes

ingredients
8-10 frozen strawberries
1 banana chopped into 1/4 inch slices
1/4 of an avocado
fistful of raspberries
1 cup soy milk
1 tablespoon granola

1. throw all fruit – strawberries first since they’re frozen – and soy milk into a blender. crush at high speed until the strawberries are reduced then switch to liquefy until you get a smooth consistency.

2. to serve, pour the smoothie into a glass tumbler. sprinkle the granola on top. if preparing other dishes (such as heating up your english muffins or bacon), leave in fridge to chill until it’s time to eat.

as simple as that. it was so healthy that i didn’t feel bad for stuffing my face with this for lunch:

August 26, 2010May 18, 2011

chicken burrito

chicken burrito, originally uploaded by willdao.

this is a recipe that mgs and i tried using an nytimes chicken negimaki recipe featured in this article: for moister chicken, tuck the flavor inside

i adapted it for indoors using an oven and improvised the stuffing (you can use anything that you think might go well with chicken). i also added a little side tomato salad that compliments the dish pretty nicely. very summery, satisfying and healthy!

serves 2 / cooking time: 45 minutes

ingredients for the chicken
2 chicken breasts
5 bunches of spinach
4 diced cloves of garlic
2 tablespoons mirin
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons jalapeno chutney (my brand is sukhi’s gourment indian food from the farmer’s market)
honey, to coat
salt and fresh ground pepper, to season
toothpicks or cooking twine

ingredients for the salad
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 handfuls of mixed cherry tomatoes
10 pearl onions
1 teaspoon chopped basil
2 slices of mozzarella cheese
salt and fresh ground pepper, to season

to cook the chicken:
1. preheat the oven to 400F.

2. blot the chicken breast dry and wrap loosely in saran wrap. using a kitchen hammer or a heavy pan, beat the chicken breast until it’s flat. salt and pepper the chicken on both sides. spread the chutney on one side of the chicken like you would tomato sauce on a pizza, leaving the edges clear of sauce.

2. heat the olive oil in a skillet and toss in all the garlic when hot. saute the spinach until slightly wilted and then pour in the mirin and soy sauce. add a dash of salt and pepper. remove from heat when you think the spinach is cooked.

3. spread the cooked spinach in the center of each flattened breast. then, carefully roll the chicken up like a cigar. use string or toothpicks to hold the chicken in a roll.

4. place in oven for 40 minutes or until cooked. make sure to baste after 20 minutes using the leftover sauce from sauteing the spinach. when it’s 5 minutes until done, coat the top of the chicken with honey.

5. when finished, cut in half, plate, and serve warm.

to cook the salad:
1. heat the olive oil in a skillet and toss in the tomatoes and onions. turn to medium heat and saute until tomatoes are slightly charred and onion is slightly browned. salt and pepper to taste

2. plate tomatoes and onions. toss mozzarella and basil on top.

my suggestions: the next time i try the chicken, i would probably brown the outside a bit on the stove top in a pan first and then put it in the oven. i’d also add tomatoes and cheese in the center.