Braised Chicken Thighs

When I need to work long hours in my garden, this dish is one of the recipes that I like to prepare. The simple reason is that after the chicken is in the pot, all I have to do is to wait for it to cook slowly. The end result is a fantastic gravy that can be served with mashed potatoes or rice. All the ingredients are easy to find and most of them are always in our kitchen or the garden.

Ingredients:
1 to 2 lbs. chicken thighs
1/4 cup flour
2 tbs canola oil
Seasoning:
1/4 tsp each of paprika, garlic powder, cayenne, salt, and black pepper
Sauce:
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 small white onion, chopped
1 tbs fresh chopped rosemary
1 tbs fresh chopped marjoram
2 tbs soy sauce
1/4 cup white wine
1 tbs sugar
6 white mushrooms, each cut into 4 pieces

Garnish with chopped parsley

Directions:
Remove some of the fat and skin of the thighs. Cut thighs into big chunks and set aside.
In a bowl, combine the seasoning ingredients and flour. Mix well. Add the chicken into the bowl and coat completely. Shake off any excess seasoning and set aside.

In a large sauté pan with lid, add some oil and butter (1 tablespoon of each). Fry chicken on each side for 2 minutes until browned. Remove from pan.

 

 

In the same pan, add another tablespoon of oil and add onions, garlic, majogram and rosemary. Cook and stir until fragrant (about 3 minutes).

 Return the chicken and add mushrooms.

 Then add broth and wine. Bring to boil. Season with soy sauce and sugar.

Cover with lid and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes.

 Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve.

Indian Beef Curry

I am confused every time I order curry at an Indian restaurant. It has so many dishes with curry flavor. However, I love curry despite the confusion. I went through many Indian curry recipes – some with coconut milk and others with tomato sauce. I made one with coconut milk and posted the recipe on this blog. Today, I will make this recipe with tomato sauce. Some curry dishes include legumes, such as lentils, and a bowl of rice or nan bread. Eating and cooking in Asia is taken seriously. Therefore, fine tuning the body, both spiritually and physically, is a big part of eating. Indians, especially, have a tradition of combining different seasonings. To make Indian meals, those seasoning play an important role to making the successful dish. Most of the seasonings are very healthy for the body. Even there is a long list of spices, it is worthwhile because of the robust, unique flavor that more than any other cuisines comes from these spices.

Ingredients:
2 lbs. stewing beef, cut into 2-inch chunks
2 cups beef stock
1 tsp salt
14 oz crushed tomato
2 red onions, chopped
2 tbs ginger and garlic paste
Spices:
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp turmeric 
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp ground clove
1/ 4 tsp ground star anise
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
2 bay leaves
3 dried hot chilies
One 2-inch cinnamon stick
2 tbs peanut oil
1 tbs butter
1 cup cilantro stems, chopped

Directions:
Melt the butter and oil in a casserole dish with a tight-fitting lid over medium-high heat. Add the ginger-garlic paste and onions and cook for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring until the onions are softened.

 Add all spice ingredients and cook for 2 minutes or until you can smell the aroma.

Move all the spices off to the side of the casserole dish and add beef.

Brown the beef on all sides.

 Add tomato and stock. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to simmer.

 Cover tightly with lid. Cook for 1 ½ to 2 hours.

 Check occasionally that the meat still has plenty of stock. Add more water or stock, if necessary.

 

When meat is tender, season with salt and simmer uncovered until the sauce is reduced slightly. Sprinkle some chopped cilantro and serve with nan bread or basmati rice.

Stir-Fried Chicken with Potatoes (Thịt Gà Xào Khoai Tây)

Vietnamese people are familiar with stir fried beef with potatoes (Thịt bò xào khoai tây). This dish is one of my favorites because I love potatoes. Unfortunately, I am allergic to beef; therefore, I have to use chicken for this dish. I am very happy with the recipe. To prepare this dish, I bake the potatoes instead of deep frying as some of the recipes call for. This is another way to make this dish with less fat. the ingredients are easy to find and simple to make. Absolutely, guests and family will love this dish.

Ingredients:
1 lb. chicken breasts and thighs, boneless and skinless
1 lb. potatoes, peeled, sliced, and cut into thick strips
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 shallot, chopped
1 tbs fish sauce
1 tbs cooking wine
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
Sauce:
1/2 cup water
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp sugar
Other ingredients:
3 green onions, cut into 3 inch lengths
1 medium white onion, cut into wedges
1 medium tomato, cut into wedges
Chopped cilantro

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375°.
Slice chicken into 1/4 inch thick pieces and place into a mixing bowl. Add minced garlic, shallot, cooking wine, and fish sauce. Marinate for 1 hour.
On a baking sheet, spray cooking oil. Without touching each other, arrange the potatoes on the baking sheet.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Spray cooking oil on top of the potatoes and bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes or until crispy.

Combine the sauce and set aside.
In a large sauté pan, add 2 tbs of peanut oil. Add chicken and cook for 3 to 5 minutes.

 

 

 Add white onions and tomatoes. Stir and cook for 2 minutes.

Add sauce and baked tomatoes. Stir to combine.

 Add green onions and cilantro.

 

Serve with rice.

Trains of Life

Life is like a journey on a train –other people go on the train at the station. Occasionally, there are accidents, there are things that surprise, and there are moments of extreme sadness between stations.
At birth, it is like when we first step onto the train. We then meet people whom we thought would stay with us throughout this trip – they are our parents! Unfortunately, the reality is different. Our parents will step off at some station, leaving us a lack of love, affection, and companionship. However, many other people will get on the train and they become very important to us: they are our brothers and sisters, friends, and someone wonderful whom we love.

There are those who see the journey as a promenade concert.
There are others who see only sadness during the trip.
There are people who are always present and ready to help those in need.  
There are more people who just get on and get right off – we barely see them stop. 

We are surprised when some passengers whom we love choose to sit in a different car and leave us alone on the journey. Of course, no one can forbid us from going to find them everywhere on the train. Sometimes, unfortunately, we cannot sit by them because the seat had already been taken. But it is nothing like that. The journey is challenging with many hopes and dreams with many times saying goodbye without knowledge of ever meeting again. Try to make a wonderful journey!!

Remember, in every moment of the trip, a companion trembles and falters and needs our sympathy. We do too!! We can falter, and someone will always be able to understand us. The great mystery of our journey is not knowing when we will get off forever. Nor do we know when our companions will get off the train, not even the people sitting right next to us. 

Do you think you will be sad to leave the train? It certainly seems that way! If I said farewell to all my friends that I met on the train, would it be painful? Leaving your loved ones alone is sad, but be sure that someday you will come back to the Central Station, and you see them arrive without any luggage with them to step on board. Furthermore, you will be glad to contribute to make their inventory richer. All of us should try to make a good journey and leave good memories for everyone else when we get off.

Source Internet

Stir-Fried Rice Noodles with Vegetables (Phở Xào Chay)

Eating too much meat during the week made me think about making this dish. In Vietnam, rice or rice noodles are part of the main meal. Bánh Phở is rice noodles with two sizes, small and large. I like to use the larger size of this noodle to make stirfry. Where I live, I cannot get the fresh rice noodles, but the dry one is fine. Most Vietnamese recipes for this dish use the dark green leaf called "Cải Ngồng", but I use whatever vegetables are on hand. In the springtime, the asparagus is a very good vegetable to use for this recipe. This dish can be made in less than thirty minutes and gives a satisfied feeling with all the protein and fiber that is needed for a meal.

Ingredients:
1/2 lb. dry rice noodles, soaked in water
1 block of firm tofu, about 8 oz.
1/2 tsp salt and black pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne
2 shallots, sliced
1/4 cup oil
Sauce:
1/2 cup water
2 tbs soy sauce
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbs tamarin juice or lemon juice
2 tsp sugar
1 tbs rice wine
Vegetables:
1 carrot, julienned
1 cup green beans, cut into 2 inch lengths
5 asparagus, cut diagonally
1 cup baby spinach
1/2 cup broccoli
1/2 cup white onions
2 garlic cloves, minced
Garnish:
Bunch of chives (cut into 2 inch lengths), cilantro, and some mints
fresh tomatoes
Directions:

After soaking dry noodles until soft, drain in a colander to dry off.

Combine the sauce ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
Combine salt, black pepper, and cayenne in a small bowl. Rub the spices over the tofu (you can skip this step – I like to flavor the tofu).

In a sauté pan, add 1/4 cup of oil. Add the sliced shallots to the oil and fry until crispy. Remove the crispy shallots and set aside.

Fry the tofu until golden brown. Let cool completely before slicing the tofu.

Bring a small pot of  lightly salted water to boil. Blanch all the vegetables except the baby spinach.

Quickly submerge the cooked vegetables into a bowl of cold water to stop the cooking and preserve the bright green color.

Using a wok or large sauté pan, heat the shallot oil. Add the white onions and garlic and cook until fragrant.

Add soaked noodles and add half of the sauce to soften the noodles. Add some extra soy sauce at this point to the noodles, if needed.

Return all the blanched vegetables, spinach, fried tofu, and the rest of the sauce.

Add chives and mix well.

 Place noodles on a serving plate. Sprinkle with chopped cilantro and mints. Crushed roasted peanuts can be served on top too.

Easy Chicken Rice (Cơm Gà Hainan)

Rice is a staple of the Asian world, and for the majority of people on Earth, rice plays an integral part of every meal. Simple plain rice is cooked with water as the main dish for Vietnamese families.  Most Vietnamese people feel that they haven't eaten if they don’t have their bowl of steamed rice. As an old saying states, "cơm tẻ mẹ ruột", which means "rice is mother”. In China, a simple greeting between friends is the inquiry whether “rice has been eaten", or a when a family meal is served, it is announced that "rice is ready". In Vietnam, rice is eaten three times a day, and the leftover rice makes fried rice or rice soup for an afternoon snack. Growing up in the devout Buddhist tradition, rice is never wasted because as a Buddhist, we would starve in the next life whenever a grain of rice dropped on the floor. Basically, the lesson is not to waste any food. Naturally, rice plays such an important part of a meal; therefore, there are so many recipes for making rice: Cơm Hoàng hậu (royal rice), Cơm hến (clam rice), Cơm tay cầm (rice cooked in a clay pot), Cơm dừa (coconut rice), Cơm gà luộc (chicken boiled), etc... The chicken boiled rice in Vietnam is one of my favorite dishes, and it is similar to Cơm Gà Hainan of China. However, making Hainan chicken rice is not that hard, but when the serving this dish on a special occasion, free range chicken must be used for this recipe and there are many ways to create the dipping sauce for the chicken .  I love preparing this rice often, so I created this easy boiled chicken rice recipe. I used chicken parts instead of a whole free range chicken that I could not get my hands on. Trust me – it still tastes wonderful!!

Ingredients:
2 lbs chicken parts, legs and thighs (bones in and skin on)
6 cups water
2 oz. fresh ginger, smashed
2 shallots, sliced
1 cup of chopped white onions
A bunch of fresh young garlic or 3 cloves of garlic 
Salt and black pepper
For the rice:
2 cups short grain rice (Jasmine is best)
3 cups chicken broth (the broth after chicken is cooked)
2 tbs peanut oil
1 knob of fresh ginger, minced
1 garlic minced
1 shallot, thinly sliced
Rice cooker
Sweet chili dipping sauce:
Red hot chili, sliced
1 garlic minced
2 tbs fish sauce
2 tbs vinegar or lemon juice
1 tbs sugar
1 tbs  chicken broth if desire


Garnish with cucumbers, tomatoes, and cilantro

Directions:
Wash the chicken and set aside.
Bring to boil a pot with 6 cups of water with ginger, white onions, shallots, and young garlic.

Drop the chicken into the boiling water.

Turn down heat and simmer. Skim off any scum floating to the surface – this guarantees the broth is clear.

Do not let the water boil over the top. Season with salt. Simmer for 15 minutes, cover with lid, and then turn off the heat.

Let chicken cook in the broth for another 15 minutes. Remove chicken and place into cold water to keep chicken from discoloring. After removing all residue, keep the clear broth to make rice to serve on the side later, if desired.
To make rice:
Wash Jasmine rice under cold water and drain.

In a sauté pan, heat oil. Stir fried ginger, shallots, and garlic until fragrant.

 Add drained rice into the sauté pan. Stir the rice with herbs until the grains of rice look opaque. Pour  rice into a rice cooker.

Add two and a half cups to 3 cups of broth into a rice cooker. Close the lid and turn on (the amount of water used might have to be adjusted, depending on the quantity of short grain rice used). I use the Chinese ratio method to make rice. After placing your hand flat on the rice in the pot, add water until it rises three quarters of the way up your hand or up to the first joint of your pointed index finger as it touches the top surface of the rice (the Vietnamese method) to determine the correct ratio.
To serve:
Chop chicken in big chunks. Place cooked rice on a serving plate, and top with chicken. Garnish with cucumbers, tomatoes, and cilantro. Combine all the dipping sauce ingredients and serve on the side.