Recipe: Lobster (Seafood) Pot Pie/Newburg

Lobster (Seafood) Pot Pie/Newburg

inspired by a recipe from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, All Rights Reserved

Note: I slightly altered this recipe (replacing fennel with celery, halving the peas, adding saffron, and suggesting other shellfish as an alternative to or to mix with the lobster). also, instead of making it into a pot pie you can also treat it as an erstwhile “newburg” and serve without the pastry and poured over rice or noodles.

Prep Time: 30 min

Inactive Prep Time: 30 min

Cook Time: 1 hr 30 min

Serves: 4 to 5 servings

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups chopped yellow onion (1 large onion)

3/4 cup chopped celery (or fennel (1 fennel bulb))

1/4 pound unsalted butter

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

2 1/2 cups fish stock or clam juice

1 tablespoon dry sherry (optional)

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3 tablespoons heavy cream

1 pound cooked fresh lobster meat (or other shellfish)

3/4 cups frozen peas (not "baby" peas)

1 cups frozen small whole onions

1/2 cup minced flat-leaf parsley

To Taste:

Lemon Juice

Nutmeg

saffron

Pastry:

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

8 tablespoons cold fresh lard, diced (1/4 pound)

8 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, diced

1/2 to 2/3 cup ice water

1 egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon water or heavy cream, for egg wash

Directions:

Saute the onions and fennel with the butter in a large saute pan on medium heat until the onions are translucent, 10 to 15 minutes. Add the flour and cook on low heat for 3 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Slowly add the stock, Pernod, salt, and pepper and simmer for 5 more minutes. Add the heavy cream.

Cut the lobster meat into medium-sized cubes. Place the lobster, frozen peas, frozen onions, and parsley in a bowl (there is no need to defrost the vegetables). Pour the sauce over the mixture and check the seasonings. Set aside.

For the crust, mix the flour, salt, and baking powder in a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Add the lard and butter and pulse 10 times, until the fat is the size of peas. With the motor running, add the ice water; process only enough to moisten the dough and have it just come together. Dump the dough out on a floured surface and knead quickly into a ball. Wrap the dough in plastic and allow it to rest for 30 minutes in the refrigerator.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Divide the dough in half and roll out each half to fit a 9 or 9 1/2-inch round by 2-inch high ovenproof glass or ceramic baking dish. Place 1 crust in the dish, fill with the lobster mixture, and top with the second crust. Crimp the crusts together and brush with the egg wash. Make 4 or 5 slashes in the top crust and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, until the top is golden brown and the filling is bubbling hot.

From Food Network: Braised Chicken with Mushrooms and Almonds

Braised Chicken with Mushrooms and Almonds

Note: from the Food Network program “Secrets of a Restaurant Chef”. I particularly liked the part of the recipe where you use pureed almonds to flavor and thicken the sauce.

Recipe courtesy Anne Burrell, 2008

Prep Time: 40 min

Inactive Prep Time: 35 min

Cook Time: 1 hr 10 min

Level: Intermediate

Serves: 4 to 6 servings

Ingredients:

Extra-virgin olive oil

8 chicken thighs

Kosher salt

1/2 pound pancetta, cut into 1/2-inch dice

2 large onions, julienned

Pinch crushed red pepper flakes

4 cloves garlic, smashed

2 pounds assorted mushrooms, such as shiitake, oyster or cremini, cleaned and sliced

2 cups dry white wine

4 to 6 cups chicken stock

1 bundle thyme

4 bay leaves

1/2 cup whole blanched almonds, toasted

Sauteed Haricots Verts, recipe follows

Chopped chives, for garnish

Directions:

Coat a large, wide, deep pan with olive oil and bring to a high heat. Pat the chicken skin dry with paper towels and season generously with salt. Add chicken skin side down to the pan. You should hear a big sizzle as the thighs hit the pan. Do not try to move the chicken, the skin will stick itself to the bottom of the pan and will unstick itself when it is ready. If the pan is smoking excessively turn the burner down and continue to cook. When the skin is brown and crispy, turn the chicken over and brown it on the other side. Remove the chicken from the pan and reserve.

Lower the heat if you have not already done so and ditch most of the excess fat. Add the pancetta and brown. When the pancetta has started to get brown and crispy add the onions. Season with salt and crushed red pepper and sweat over medium heat for 7 to 8 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another 1 to 2 minutes. Add the mushrooms, season with salt and saute for 3 to 4 minutes or until they release their juices. Add the wine and reduce by half. Return the chicken to the pan. Add chicken stock to almost cover the chicken. Add the thyme and bay leaves. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Simmer the chicken for 30 to 35 minutes. Add more chicken stock, if needed.

While the chicken is cooking puree the almonds in the food processor. Drizzle in a little olive oil while the machine is running to make this a loose paste. Season with salt and reserve.

Once the chicken has cooked for 30 to 35 minutes, remove it from the pan and reserve. Taste the sauce for seasoning and stir in the almond puree. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer to thicken the sauce, if needed. The almond puree will help to thicken the sauce and to make it very rich.

Serve the chicken over Sauteed Haricots Verts or your favorite green vegetable. Spoon the mushroom almond sauce over and garnish with chopped chives.

Side Dish

Sauteed Haricots Verts

1/2 pound haricots verts (baby string beans), stem ends removed

Extra-virgin olive oil

2 garlic cloves, smashed

Pinch crushed red pepper flakes

Kosher salt

Bring a large pot of well salted water to a boil. Set up a bowl of well salted ice water for shocking.

Add the beans to the boiling water and cook until the beans are tender but still toothsome about 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from the boiling water and place immediately into the salted ice water. Once the beans are cool, remove them from the water and set aside until ready to use.

Coat a large saute pan with olive oil. Add the garlic and the crushed red pepper and bring to a medium-high heat. When the garlic has become golden and very aromatic, remove it and discard. It has fulfilled its garlic destiny. Add the beans to the pan and saute until they are hot and coated with oil. Season with salt and serve right away.

Yield: 4 servings

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 10 minutes

Hainanese Chicken Rice

Dinner Tonight: Hainanese Chicken Rice

Note: from a blog i like to check out from time to time...

Originally Posted by Nick Kindelsperger, September 29, 2008

Hainanese chicken rice dish from a recent Singaporean street food demo in New York.

I'll be very honest: Hainanese chicken rice looks like one of the most boring dishes on this fair Earth.

The white chicken pieces sit atop a blob of white rice. Looks more like a meal fit for the worst of diets, as opposed to a delicious Singaporean dish. While watching Anthony Bourdain in Singapore, I felt like everyone was raving about the national dish. Not only does the chicken have no color, the sucker is boiled in water. How good could this monochromatic dish be?

Awfully good, as it turns out, which we confirmed a couple weeks ago at a Singaporean street food demo in New York. The white chicken is slowly cooked and infused with garlic and ginger while the white rice cooks in the water leftover from the cooking chicken. Every ounce of this meal has a quiet, haunting flavor, which makes it the perfect foil for the ringing condiments. A garlic and ginger paste adds the zing, and a blazing hot red chili sauce, the fire. As Bourdain described on the show, how you mix the condiments with the "chicken rice" is almost as important as the dish itself. I like mine real spicy.

Since this was my first time trying the dish, my rave has to be qualified with ignorance. I found this version in Saveur. It does feel good to be completely shocked by a meal, kind of like I felt after making Batali's Chicken with Green Sauce. The total preparation takes a little over an hour, but its turning into a weekly exercise.

About the author: Nick Kindelsperger is a co-founder of The Paupered Chef, a blog dedicated to saving time and money while enjoying food in every way possible. He sells wine for a living and lives in Columbus, Ohio.

Hainanese Chicken Rice

- serves 4 -
Adapted from Saveur

Ingredients:
1 chicken
1 large piece of a ginger, peeled
12 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
1 scallion
1 1/2 cups jasmine rice
5 tablespoons canola oil
4 shallots, finely chopped
Salt
6 red chilies
1 lime
1/2 teaspoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar

Procedure

1. Bring 5 quarts of water to a boil in a very large pot. Sprinkle the outside and inside of the chicken with salt. Tuck 2 cloves of garlic, one small thumb-sized piece of ginger, and the scallion into the cavity. Tie the legs together with kitchen string, keeping the cavity closed. When the water reaches a boil, add the chicken to the pot. Bring the water back to a boil, then reduce the heat to very low, cover the pot, and let cook for 30 minutes. Once done, remove the chicken and toss in enough ice water to completely cover the chicken. (At least 2 ice cube trays full should work.) The point is to cool down the chicken for 10 minutes, as much as possible. Drain and set aside.

2. Meanwhile, start making the sauces. Toss about 2 thumb-sized pieces of ginger, 2 teaspoons of salt, and 3 tablespoons of canola oil into a blender. Process until smooth. Set aside. Wash out the blender for the second sauce.

3. Add the serrano chilies, 1 shallot, 1 thumb sized piece of garlic, 3 cloves or garlic, juice of 1 lime, 1 tablespoon water, the rice vinegar, and the sugar. Process until blended. Set aside.

4. In another large pot, pour in two tablespoons of canola oil and turn the heat to medium-high. Add 3 of the chopped shallots, and 5 chopped garlic cloves. Cook for about 30 seconds, then dump in the rice and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.

5. Add three cups of the water leftover from cooking the chicken. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes.

6. Remove the skin from the chicken, and slice the meat into 1/2-inch thick strips. Pile the rice on a plate, top with the chicken, and stir in the condiments as you see fit.

Printed from http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2008/09/hainanese-chicken-rice-singapore-recipe.html

© Serious Eats

Recipe: Caribbean Chicken Wings

Caribbean Chicken Wings

Recipe courtesy Sunny Anderson, 2008

Prep Time: 15 min

Inactive Prep Time: 4 hr 0 min

Cook Time: 40 min

Serves: 4 to 6 servings

Ingredients:

1 habanero, seeded and chopped

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons fennel seed

2 teaspoons cayenne pepper

2 teaspoons allspice

2 teaspoons dried thyme

1 teaspoon ground ginger

4 garlic cloves, chopped

4 green onions, chopped

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup lime juice

1/4 cup orange juice

7 pounds chicken wings

Directions:

In a food processor, blend together all the ingredients but the chicken until smooth. Reserve 1 cup of marinade. Place chicken wings into a large resealable plastic bag and pour remaining marinade over them. Seal and marinate in the refrigerator 4 to 6 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 sheet trays with parchment. Remove chicken from bag and place on the baking sheets. Bake 20 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan bring reserved marinade to a boil. Reduce by 1/3 until it thickens slightly, about 10 minutes.

After 20 minutes, remove chicken from oven. Brush chicken with the glaze. Raise the heat to 400 degrees F and cook chicken until cooked through, another 20 minutes.

Recipe: Fried Codfish With Chiles

Fried Codfish With Chiles

Created by The MDM Team

For the love of cod, try this spicy entree. A wonderful blend of onion, ginger, chiles and garlic, this marinade is used to give cod a fresh taste.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lb. firm cod fish fillets
2/3 cup of chicken broth
1 tbsp. soy sauce
2 tbsp. rice vinegar
1 tbsp. chili sauce
1 tsp. cornstarch
1/4 cup of cornstarch
1/2 tsp. garlic pepper seasoning
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
1/2-1 small onion, thinly sliced
1 tsp. peeled and grated gingerroot or dried ginger
2-3 small hot chili peppers, seeded, cored and finely minced
2 garlic cloves, minced

Methods/steps:

In small bowl, combine chicken broth, soy sauce, vinegar and chili sauce. Blend in 1 tsp. of the cornstarch; set aside. Place remaining 1/4 cup of the cornstarch in shallow dish. Sprinkle fish with garlic pepper and dip in cornstarch to coat.

Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. When oil is hot, add fillets; cook 3 minutes. Turn fish and cook 2 minutes more to sear.

Remove fish to platter.

Using same skillet, add onion, ginger, chiles and garlic to heat; cook 30 seconds on “high”. Reduce heat to medium and stir in broth mixture. Cook and stir until mixture begins to thicken. Return fish to skillet spooning sauce over fish to coat. Cover and cook 3 to 5 minutes more or until fish flakes with fork. Serve fish with sauce.

Ready in 20 min