Maldita

Salmon & Potato pancakes

6 small potatoes

1/2 inch slice of fresh ginger

1/2 cup. fresh cilanto leaves

2 TB olive oil

1TB fresh lemon

1 tin salmon flakes

1 TB crushed garlic

1/2 cup panko (japanese bread crumbs)

Peel potatoes. Boil in a pot of water for 20-25 minutes. Drain. Cool. Set aside.

Salmon- make sure that bones are removed. Flake the salmon.

In a food processor, combine cilantro, crushed garlic, lemon juice and olive oil.  Set aside.

To make patties:

Using a hand mixer, process the potatoes until you get the semi-creamy consistency. Add the salmon flakes, cilantro pesto, and panko.  Make 2 inch patties.

Spray the large skillet with olive oil. Fry the patties (3-4 mins on each side until brown). 

Sauce:

combine yellow mustard and soy sauce.  Serve as a side to the salmon potato cakes. And salad greens.  

Caramelized onion, roasted pumpkin, and corn soup

I made this last night.  Another healthy but hearty vegetable soup that's a perfect meal for the cold weather. This recipe serves 4.

Ingredients:

To make roasted pumpkin:

1 small  pumpkin, skinned, seeds removed, sliced into chunks

olive oil

salt + pepper

sage + rosemary

In a pan, coat pumpkin chunks with olive oil and spices. Bake in pre-heated over for 30 minutes.

To make caramelized onion:

1 medium sized vidalia onion, sliced thinly

1 tbsp brown sugar

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 Tbps balsamic vinegar

Pour olive oil into sauce pan; add onions. Let onions sweat for 5 minutes. Add balsamic vinegar and sugar. Cook in low heat for another 5 minutes.  Set aside.

To the soup:

4 cups low sodium chicken broth

1 cup organic sweet  corn kernels  (frozen)

1/2 cup frozen spinach (organic)

Pour the chicken broth into a medium sized pot. Cook in low heat.

When the soup simmers, add the caramelized onion and roasted pumpkin.  Allow the soup to boil. Lower the heat. The using a hand blender, process the caramelized and pumpkin while the soup is cooking in low heat until you get a creamy consistency.  Stir inthe sweet corn and spinach and continue to cook in low heat for another 5 minutes. 

Serve with rustic italian bread and tomato, basil, and goat cheese salad.

Pair with a glass of shiraz.

Bacon & Goat Cheese French Toast with Honey

This is a relatively decadent brunch and was inspired by Nigella Lawson's bacon and maple waffles. I love the interplay between the tanginess of the goat cheese, the saltiness of the bacon, and the sweetness of the honey. This recipe serves 2. No pics for now. Ingredients: 2 strips of bacon, sliced into 2 inch strips, then browned 1/4 cup of goat cheese (plain), crumbled into pieces 4 slices of wheat rustic italian pane (bread) 2 eggs (organic) 1/4 cup soy milk 1/4 cup honey Preheat a large frying pan and spray with non-stick olive oil. In a square 3 inch deep container, combine the eggs and the soy milk. Whisk gently for at least 30 seconds. Dip the bread into the mixture and quickly transfer the bread into the heated pan. Cook one side for 1 1/2 minutes, then flip the bread over. Sprinkle the crumbled goat cheese over the bread sparingly. Use a fork to spread the melted goat cheese over the french toast. Cook until the side that's exposed to the pan is golden brown. Transfer french bread into individual plates (1 serving= 2 slices). Alternate with sprinkles of the cooked bacon. Spinkle some slivered almonds sparingly. Drizzle with honey sparingly. Add some sliced peaches, strawberries/blueberry mixtures, or sliced mangoes on the side. Serve with ginger chamomile tea or a glass of sauvignon blanc.

Speechless: Tales of A White House Survivor by Matt Latimer

This was my inflight reading material during a recent trip to LA. This memoir caused quite a furor even before it was released. Democrats were amused about the behind the scenes drama and ego-fights among senior Bush 43 advisers; and republicans were horrified for exactly the same reason.

 The first half of the book, where the author chronicles the developments that made him a republican (despite being raised by democrat parents); and the rest discusses the events that led to his stint in the White House to serve as a speechwriter for Bush 44. It is an entertaining read.  The author is sympathetic to Rumsfeld and (a bit) to Cheney; but has no love for Condi Rice and Karl Rove. 

Quick but Hearty Vegetable & Chicken Tomato Soup

This is my go-to dish when the temperatures drop and I am looking for a quick but healthy dinner. When pressed for time, I cheat and use frozen ingredients, most of which I procure from Trader Joes. This recipe serves 2 or 1 very hungry person.

1/2 piece roasted chicken breast

2 cups roasted tomato soup

1/2 cup frozen vegetables

1/4 cup sliced portobello mushrooms

1/2 cup frozen sweet corn kernels 

1/2 cup frozen spinach

1. Slice the roasted chicken into chunks.

2. In a small pot, add the tomato soup base and frozen vegetables. Cook in low heat for 4 minutes. Using a hand blender puree the vegetables while continuing to cook the soup.  Add the chicken chunks, portobello mushrooms, corn kernels and spinach into the pot. Cook the soup in low heat (#3 setting) for another 10 minutes.

Serve with a slice of rustic bread.

Pair with a glass of shiraz.

Chicken Arroz Caldo

Philippine comfort food. My mum and grandmother served this dish whenever someone in the family has a cold or fever.  I made a couple of healthy substitutions. Use organic ingredients if possible.

6 pieces of chicken thighs

1 Tbps of minced lemon grass (bought frozen at the asian supermarkets)

1 medium sized fresh ginger root (sliced into chunks)

1 cup brown rice medley + 1 cup quinoa (in lieu of 2 cups white jasmine rice)

1  medium sized fresh lemon, skin washed then sliced into chunks (in lieu of kalamansi)

4 cups organic low sodium chicken stock

2 Tbsp fish sauce (nam pla)

fresh cilantro (chopped)

fresh basil (chopped)

1. In a rice cooker, combine rice + quinoa + low sodium chicken stock.

2. Rub coarse salt all over the chicken thigh pieces. Rinse with cold water. Pat dry with paper towels. Then transfer into a large pot.

3. Add the sliced ginger, minced lemongrass, and 6 cups of cold water into the large pot holding the chicken. Cook in low heat for about 30 minutes. Squeeze the lemon juice over the mixture, then throw in the lemon pieces. Cook in low heat for another 10 minutes. Skim the grease off the top of the broth, if there are any. Keep the pot cooking under low heat (#2 setting)

4. Carefully remove the chicken thighs from the pot. Meat should be very tender and fall off the bones very easily.  Use a fork to remove the skin. Detach the meat from the bones. Set this aside.

5. When the rice+quinoa mixture is cooked, scoop this out of the rice cooker, and add this to the pot of chicken broth. Add the de-boned chicken meat, chicken bones, fresh basil, fresh cilantro back into the pot. Add the fish sauce to taste.  Allow the soup to cook in low heat for another 30 minutes, sirring occasionally.

6. Remove the chicken bones, sliced ginger, and sliced lemons before serving.

7. Serve the soup with fried minced onions or pork floss (optional).

Independence

Seriously annoyed with business partners that behave in an unprofessional manner and expect analysts to repeat their talking points and pander to their whims.  Very unprofessional.

Hainan Chicken Rice

This dish is ubiquitous in Malaysia and Singapore. Every high-end restaurant, as well as, hole in the wall food stall offers this dish. I never really bothered to learn how to make this when I lived in Singapore because I thought it was complicated to make.  I also thought it was ridiculously unhealthy and complicated to make.  I was also under the assumption that the rice was cooked in coconut milk and chicken broth. I was so wrong!  There is no coconut milk added. This dish was very easy to make, albeit time consuming. 

I think it would also make a perfect dish for the fall and winter season.

I used the recipe from  a well-known food blog, Steamy Kitchen, but with a few minor modifications. My modifications: 

1- I added in the cilantro and fresh lime to the poached chicken both.

2- I added minced onions, ginger, garlic to the savory rice mixture.

3. I used brown rice instead of jasmine rice

4. I also used cherry tomatoes as a garnish.

Ingredients:

3 lbs whole chicken (organic)

small bunch of scallions/onions (with clean roots intact)

small bunch of cilantro

1/2 vidalia onion (minced)

1 large ginger, sliced into thin chunks

2 cups brown rice (the original recipe calls for jasmine rice)

Coarse sea salt/fine salt combo

Minced garlic

1 Tbsp olive oil

To make the poached chicken 
:

1. Rub the skin of the whole chicken gently with the salt combination. (To remove extra grime). The rinse the chicken in water and pat dry.

2. Sprinkle 1 tsp salt  inside the chicken cavity. Stuff the chicken cavity with the sliced ginger, scallions and cilantro. Use a string or rubber band to tie the ends together and close the cavity.

3. Place the chicken in a large pot of water.  Add the extra scallions, ginger slices and cilantro + 6 glasses of cold water.  Bring the water to a boil.  Lower heat and allow the broth to simmer.

4. Slice the fresh lime i half and add to the pot of poached chicken.  Allow the chicken to  simmer in the pot for 2 hours.

5. Prepare cold water + ice in a large mixing bowl.

6. Using 2 cooking ladles. Gently remove the poached chicken and transfer this into the ice bath . Allow this to sit for 10 minutes. Then remove from the ice bath and let it cool.  (This will stop the cooking and allow the skin to gel, resulting in a better looking texture.)

7. Wrap the cooked chicken in a plastic wrap and set aside. (You can place this in the chiller)

8.. Do not trhrow away the broth as you will use this to cook the rice.

To cook the Rice:

1. Mince the onion in the food processor.

2. Take the extra ginger from the broth. Rince in running water so it will cool. Peel the skin and slice into smaller pieces. Mince in the food processor.

3. In a medium sized pot, add 1 Tbsp of olive oil. Add the onions, let it sweat and caramelize.

4. Add the minced garlic and minced ginger. Stir fry for 2 more minutes.

5. Add the 2 cups of brown rice and stir fry for 3 minutes.

6.  Add 4 cups of the ginger-scallions-cilantro-chicken browth into the pot. (Use a sieve to make sure that none of the meat and herbs are added to the rice). Bring the pot to a boil.  Then, lower the heat (to 1 or 2) and allow the rice mixture to simmer until its dry and the rice is cooked.

To serve the Hainan Chicken Rice.

1. For each serving, add 1 cup of rice to the serving plate. Slice the chicken pieces into thin slices. (probably 1/4 of the chicken). Arrange this nicely on the plate. 

2. Garnish with thin cucumber slices, sliced chili peppers, and fresh cilantro.

Note: You can use chili sauce for added flavor. (You can purchase the chili sauce at the Asian supermarkets).

Grilled scallops (w/ vietnamese style marinade) in a bed of couscous salad

Yesterday, I remembered that I had frozen a pound of fresh scallops that I purchased at the farmer's market 2 weeks ago. I made this for sunday brunch served on a bed of couscous salad. I've always enjoyed the flavours of vietnamese style barbecue, so I decided to recreate that taste by using a vietnamese style marinade. This recipe serves 4.

A. Scallops: 1 lb scallops rubbed in 1/4 c. sea salt + 1 Tbsp maple rub (for seafood) (available at the farmer's market)

B. Marinade:

1 c. chopped fresh cilantro

1/4 c. chopped fresh basil

1/4 c. chopped ginger and lemongrass (you can purchase this at the frozen food section of the asian supermarket)

2 TBsp. sesame oil

1/4 c. sesame oil

1 whole fresh lime juice

C. Salad: Couscous and tomato salad

2 c. low sodium chicken stock

1 1/4 c. couscous

1 c. grape tomatoes (sliced in half)

1 lemon (juice)

1 c. fresh basil leaves (roughly chopped)

1. Mix the marinade

2. In a non-metalic bowl, rub 1/4  c. sea salt all over the 1 lbs of scallops.   Pour the marinade over the scallops and let marinate for 20 minutes.

3. In a preheated grill (that's been sprayed with non-stick spray); grill the scallops until it's golden brown and tender. (Remember to turn constantly).

Serve in a bed of couscous salad.

To make the couscous salad:

1.  Heat the chicken stock in a pan until it boils slightly.

2. In a non-metallic bowl,  Pour the dried couscous. Add the chicken stock over the  dried couscous.  Allow the heat to cook the couscous and fluff the mixture with a fork constantly. Allow to cool.

3. Slice the cherry tomatoes in half. Add to the couscous mixture.

4. Roughly chop the fresh basil leaves and add to the couscous.

5. Slice lemon in half and pour the juice over the couscous salad mix. Sprinkle in some olive oil (around 2 Tbsp).

6. Toss the salad.

Spread the salad over 4 individual plates.

Place the grilled scallops over the bed of couscous salad.

Clink @ the Liberty Hotel

I've been meaning to try out the food at Clink for the longest time.  Clink, for those who don't know, is on the second floor of the Liberty Hotel.   This staid Beacon Hill hotel bldg used to be an old prison.  You will see from the picture that the hotel owners kept the bars that used to separate the individual prison cells as part of the overall decor.  I've gone here for after-work drinks with friends a few times; but we usually go to the Alibar Bar, which is on the street level and right off the driveway.  Alibi Bar is a cool place for hanging out, especially if you live on Beacon Hill. Apartments in this area are ridiculously expensive and tiny, I doubt if I will ever move there. I am quite happy in my current neighborhood.  Unless I have Giselle Bunchen's annual income; then perhaps I would reconsider my position. :-)

Last thursday, we attended this fashion show/ cocktail party. For some reason, we thought that the show was at 8pm (when it turned out to be 10pm). We were kind of over the menu of Alibi and were too lazy to walk over to Charles street (which was only a block away). So we decided to try out Clink. Surprisingly, the hostesss was able to seat us in 10 minutes even if we didn't have reservations. Sign of the times?

I wasn't very hungry so I only ordered the mozzarela burrata--and it was to die for. It is very rare to find a restaurant that serves melt-in-your-mouth buffalo mozzarela cheese and organic heirloom tomatoes in one's caprese salad.  It was tongue-asms galore for me. :-0  Clink also had a pretty expansive wine selection and I was impressed. Since I already had a glass of Yalumba viognier before dinner, I decided to have the D'arenberg shiraz with my salad.  It was a good choice. The shiraz 's spiciness complemented the tomato and buffalo mozzarela's tangy essence.   Unfortunately, we had no pictures because dinner was unplanned. My friend ordered arugula, endive and frisee salad with roquefort balsamic dressing and a cocktail (but i forgot what it was).  It wasn't too bad apparently.

The fashion show that we later attended was a bit of a disappointment.  Clothes were boring and looked cheap.  After 15 minutes, we left the show and went to our next party....Hmm.. i should have asked if this week was Boston Fashion Week.