Chinese 5 Spice Chicken Thighs...oh my!

 
Several months back Marily and I were at the Fresh Market doing a little shopping and saw they had Chinese 5 spice in the seasoning display.  We had seen various recipes on cooking shows using it, but had never tried it ourselves. 

Well today was the day!  Marily was off having some "girl" time so I was left to fend for myself (LOL, you all know I don't have a problem taking care of myself in the kitchen).  I saw that we had chicken thighs...and then it hit me...hmmm, what can I do with that Chinese 5 spice?!  I quickly googled my favorite chef for some inspiration with the spice.   I found this recipe he did for Christmas Roast Goose.  While my chicken thighs were a sad substitution for a goose, it sounded delicious, so I said why not make some "Chris-mas Thighs" (if you translate that in Spanglish that's Chris-more Thighs!!)


Ingredients

• lime (zested and half for juice)
• Chinese 5 spice
• Orange blossom honey
• coarse sea salt
• fresh ground pepper
• chicken thighs (I'm sure other parts of the chicken would be equally delicious)
• Japense Blend frozen vegetables (mushrooms, green beans, red pepper & broccoli...fresh is always better, but I didn't have anything on hand)
• olive oil

Preparation

Rub the chicken thighs using a mixture of the coarse sea salt, ground pepper, Chinese 5 spice and lime zest.  Heat a saute pan and when up to temperature add olive oil to coat the pan.  Add the chicken thighs to the pan (laying away from you so not to burn yourself).  Try not to overcrowd the pan to ensure a good sear.  If you have more pieces then will fit in your pan, cook in batches using the oven to keep your chicken warm. 

Give the chicken about 2-3 minutes on the first side to give it some nice color and then flip.  Squeeze lime juice onto the chicken and then lightly drizzle with the honey.  Cook for another 2-3 minutes. 

Next flip the chicken once more then squeeze lime juice and drizzle this side with the honey.  Add in the vegetables and toss to coat with the cooking juices.  If your pan is too dry, add a little water to help steam the vegetables.  You should only need about 2-3 minutes to soften the vegetables, but cook to your preference.

I really enjoyed the aroma of cooking with Chinese 5 spice and the flavors were absolutely delicious.  I can't wait to try more dishes using this amazing spice!

Pear Tatin....DONE!

As I mentioned in the last post, one of our new favorite shows is Gordon Ramsay's F Word shown on BBC America. Last week we were watching one of the DVR'd episodes (our DVR is approximately 85% full of either the F Word or Kitchen Nightmares, lol). For those of you who haven't checked it out yet, the format of the show is a group of people (the "brigade") work in the F Word's restaurant kitchen to prepare a 3 course meal for a group of 50 people. In between courses, Ramsay has various segments which typically include healthy eating, celebrity cook off and the season's project (i.e. rearing pigs, lamb, veal calves to be butchered and cooked at the end of the season). We love the show and all recipes are available online! It's perfect for us home chefs ;-)

Marily and I had just finished eating our dinner while watching the episode when the dessert course came up. The brigade had to prepare a pear tatin...which looked absolutely delicious. Marily enthusiastically shouted out "I want that!" I started cycling through the ingredients in my head and realized we had most of them in the house. The only thing I thought we were missing was the puff pastry, until Marily reminded me we had some pie crusts in the fridge. So, I jumped up and excitedly ran to the kitchen to grab all the ingredients.

The original recipe can be found here: Ramsay's Pear Tatin

The website is UK based, so I've included the conversions and my adjustments below.

Ingredients

2 pears

4 star anise

1-2 vanilla pods

~21 oz puff pastry (refrigerated pie crusts will do the job in a pinch)

powdered sugar for dusting

vanilla ice cream

For the caramel

6 3/4 Tbsp granulated sugar

6 3/4 Tbsp butter

splash of dark rum

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 400˚F (I only did 350˚F as my non stick pan could only go that high)
2. Peel the pears, halve them and scoop out the cores with a melon baller to create a small, even circular hole.
3. Insert a star anise into each hole. Use a small knife to cut out the stalks at the top of the pears and replace them with the pieces of vanilla pod.
   
   
4. Roll out the pastry to a large sheet. Divide into 4 pieces. Mould each piece of pastry around the peeled side of each pear and trim away the excess pastry. Place the pears in the fridge to rest for 10 minutes.
   
   
5. 
   To make the caramel melt the sugar and butter in a large heavy-based ovenproof pan. Finish with a splash of rum to deglaze the pan and loosen the caramel.
   
   

6. Remove the pears from the fridge and place them cut-side down on top of the caramel. Generously dust the pastry with powdered sugar.
   
   


7. Bake the tatins for 8-10 minutes until the pastry is golden and crisp (since I used a lower heat, I cooked the pears for about 15 minutes). Leave to stand for a minute or so, then slide a palate knife under each pear and carefully lift and flip over on to a warmed plate.
8. Trickle over the caramelized pan juices and serve with scoops of vanilla ice-cream.

Chicken Soup au Pistou

I know, I know...it's been a looooong time since we've posted here at Cafe Huss. I admit, I sort of hit "cooker's block" if you will. Hopefully that will change with the new year!

My excitement started about two weeks ago when Marily went to Puerto Rico. I spent a lot of my free time watching my new favorite shows on BBC America: The F Word & Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares. On one of The F Word episodes, Ramsay prepared chicken fricassee that looked delicious. I have since cooked it twice and I think it's delicious! Not sure why that one didn't make the blog yet...but maybe you'll get a post next time ;-)

Marily has been feeling a little under the weather since our return from frosty Chicago. I wanted to make her some soup but she wasn't in the mood for her norm, asopoa. I did some research and found this French chicken soup recipe that looked tasty and she agreed. We can thank the movie Julie & Julia for my new found interest in French cooking (Sharmi, we can't wait to try those recipes when your mom gets here!)

Chicken Soup au Pistou

The only adjustments I made were using olive oil to saute the chicken (rather then cooking spray) and adding about4 cloves of garlic, simply crushed with the side of a knife (I added the garlic in with the onions during the prep). What we felt really made the recipe was the fresh pesto and freshly shaved Parmesan cheese. Don't skip out on either of these or you'll be doing your taste buds a complete disservice! You can pick up a block of Parmesan cheese at the grocery store (don't even think about using grated).

Oh, and don't forget some fresh buttered French bread.

Here is the recipe I used to make fresh pesto, rather then buying it from the store. It was simple to make and oh so delicious:

Classic Pesto

Since this is a French style chicken soup, pistou is prepared with the same ingredients as a pesto with the exception of pine nuts. I didn't realize this until I was writing this post and was doing research. So, needless to say, I prepared the soup with the pine nuts. It certainly doesn't take away from the dish...if anything it might give it a variation on the texture, but if you wanted to be authentic, skip the nuts.

Enjoy!

Thanksgiving Menu

It's been a very long time since either Chris or I have posted a blog and I refuse to let Thanksgiving come and go without an update.

This year we are hosting Thanksgiving in our home; we enjoy spending time with our families and really dislike having to split the holidays between homes, besides we really love to cook and host.

We have yet to figure out how to set up our dining area to host 20 people but we will squeeze everyone in one way or another. I have been searching on the internet for several weeks looking for decoration ideas (easy and inexpensive-darn economy!). Unfortunately, everything I find that is easy and inexpensive requires me to have a creative bone and well I think that bone never developed in the womb....we'll see what happens.

Here's a little teaser of what to expect on Thanksgiving....keep your eyes open for the next blog!!

Thanksgiving Menu

Appetizers

Cheese, crackers and fruit plate

Main Dishes

Pavochon

Huss Turkey

Arroz con Gandules

Debbie's Mash Potatoes

Sweet Potato Casserole

The Famous Huss Cheesy Greenbeans

3-Cheese Penne Casserole

Cranberry Sauce

Dinner Rolls

Dessert

Homemade Pumpkin Pie

Grandma's Pecan Cheesecake Pie

Homemade Old Fashioned Apple Pie

Homemade Vanilla and Cinnamon Almond Whipped Cream

Recipe Challenge

During a recent dinner out with our nephew, Keanu, I came up with an idea. I'm not sure why it came to my head at this time, as there was no correlation to the moment...I just had a random idea. Anyway, back to the point. Marily and I both enjoy cooking. We find it to be fun, exciting and challenging (and most times, quite delicious)! So, I thought...why don't we do a once a month event, where our friends & family can join us in our culinary adventures.

Here's how it would work, our friends & family would submit recipes to us. It could be a recipe that is simply to challenge us, a recipe that sounds delicious but is too intimidating for them to attempt, or even a family recipe they just don't have the time to make but would love to eat. The submitter would be responsible for purchasing any necessary groceries, then we would cook and host the meal. Assuming there are multiple entries, we would randomly draw the winning recipe the week before and all remaining recipes would be automatically entered into the next drawing. The recipe challenge would be held once a month on a Saturday (i.e. 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th we'll figure it out later) so nobody has to worry about work.

We think this would be a great idea and is a "win-win" for everyone. We get help picking out new recipes to try and the lucky winner gets to sit back and relax while someone else does the cooking. If the meal turns out to be a disaster due to our preparation and not because the recipe was a train wreck to begin with, then we'll treat the winner to a meal on Cafe Huss...one that's tried and true. So, what say you? Let us know what you think and if there is any interest we'll get this party started!

Foodies Meeting #2

Today marks the second Foodies Meeting.  I took a backseat in the kitchen and took the role of dish washer & sous chef.  Like any good sous chef, I first poured myself a drink ;-).  OK, it's not the manliest of drinks, but like a chef, I had to make something good out of the ingrediants on hand...in today's case, it was Grey Goose Citron & Cherry 7-Up...mmm, yum.

OK, back to the meeting.  Tonight's menu consisted of the following selections:

Entrée:

Maple Pork Tenderloin with Carmelized Apples (recipe from The Finest Chef website)

Side:

Parmesan Roasted Potatoes (recipe from the For the Love of Cooking blog)

Dessert

S'mores Brownies (recipe courtesy of the Food Network)

Marily has been wanting to cook with fruit ever since my brother's wedding where they had roasted pears in the salad.  So, we had some pork tenderloins on hand and the Maple Pork Tenderloin recipe sounded delicious.  Debbie was craving chocolate and the s'mores brownies recipe caught her attention.  So, there you go...the makings of a wonderful menu!!

Here are some pictures from tonight's prep & cooking...

The Maple Pork Tenderloin with Caramelized Apples were A-MAZ-ING! The sweetness of the maple syrup and caramelized apples was complemented perfectly by the rosemary.  The pork tenderloins were cooked perfectly by Head Chef, Marily and our trusty oven probe.  The parmesan roasted potatoes were a great concept and the flavors were almost there...but we'd probably like them to be seasoned a little more and roasted a little longer to give it a nice crispy texture.

"Nom-nom-nom-nom," said Debbie as she dove into the s'mores brownies.  The marshmallow topping was pure yummy gooeyness.  We almost had a major incident as we pulled the brownies from the oven seconds before the marshmallows were to bust into flames!  We should have headed the warnings left by others in the "comments & reviews" section of the recipe on the Food Network's website.   Debbie thought the brownie and graham cracker crust fell flat, but Marily and I thought it was pretty good...perhaps slightly overcooked as the outer edges of the brownie weren't as fudge like as the center.

All in all, the night was a success.  We had some good food and learned a few lessons as we continue our journey to hone our kitchen skills.  Until next time...

Marily finally started cooking!

After a few weeks of feeling like I had been knocked down by a cement truck I got the energy and motivation to start cooking again. I figured I would start out by making something light to fit my mood.

As you can recall we purchased specialty pasta during one of our Farmer's Market excursions, I decided to try out the Sun Dried Tomato Fettuccine. After looking online for about an hour for a recipe it dawned on me to go to the website for the pasta maker...who would have thought!! I then found the recipe for Double Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta with Broccoli and Pecorino Cheese; seemed easy and we had everything we needed in our kitchen. Of course, I decided to change it up a bit and add a few things extra that we love.

To start, I marinated a medium sized petite sirloin in EVOO, sea salt, fresh cracked pepper, and Worcestershire for about an hour. I then chopped a few cloves of garlic (we LOVE garlic) and a very small onion and set them aside with the sun dried tomatoes.

The only broccoli we had in the house were frozen, so I improvised a little. I cooked the broccoli for half the time it asked on the steam bag and set them aside. I then sautéed the onions and garlic in EVOO until fragrant then added the broccoli. The recipe did not ask for this part but I figured...hey why not! I chopped a few sun dried tomatoes and added them to the mix of garlic, onions and broccoli in the pan, I let that heat for a little on the pan then covered and set it aside while I finished the pasta.

While I was cooking the veggies I had boiled the water for the pasta with some salt. Once the water was at a boil I added the pasta and let it cook for approximately 8 minutes, drained and also set them aside.

I now poured the veggies into a bowl and in the same pan I cooked the veggies I sautéed some more garlic and onions in some EVOO and then added the sirloin to the pan. I cooked the sirloin for 2 mins then flipped it over for another 2 minutes. I then turned the stove off and flipped the sirloin one more time and let it sit for 2 more mins. I then removed it from the pan and let it sit on the cutting board for approx 10 mins to let it rest.

While the meat rested I mixed the pasta and broccoli mixture together, chopped up some fresh basil that we got from our neighbor (Thanks Sharmy and Bill). I also grated some fresh Pecorino Romano cheese, lots of it actually...this cheese is amazing with food, and chopped a few more sun dried tomatoes. I then tossed everything together.

Now, for some reason in our home when it comes to cooking a piece of steak on the pan (even oven) we can't seem to get it right. We love our steaks Medium and at times Medium Rare and we always seem to over cook them. So the pressure was on to make a perfect steak, to show that I have learned from our past mistakes and to prove that I CAN DO THIS!!!!

I let Chris do the honors of slicing the sirloin and after the first slice I rejoiced to myself by saying...."HA!! I AM THE STEAK MASTER!!!!!!!" Seriously, it was all in my head I didn't want to rub it in that I am THAT good.

After my little happy dance in my head it was time to plate the meal. I was very tempted to just eat right out of the bowl because it smelled amazing!!!

Overall, I loved how light the meal was, even with the steak the meal wasn't heavy on your stomach. With all the colors on the plate it was very eye pleasing. However, Chris and I both expected a little more from the pasta...the taste of sun dried tomatoes in the pasta was very faint for me and non existent for Chris. Now this doesn't mean that we will not try another type in the future, especially since we still have 1/2 lb of lemon basil fettuccine.

Bon Appetit!

Foodie's Meeting #1

This past weekend, my aspiring pastry chef, Debbie ;-) suggested we get together with her foodie friend Diane today to make dinner.  Originally she called it a cook off...but I was like "Debbie...we aren't competing...we're just getting together to cook some good food!"  That has led to what I hope becomes a weekly tradition....her newly dubbed "Foodies Meeting."

Marily was sick last week and we didn't get a chance to use the leeks we picked up from the Winter Park farmer's market.  When presented with the task to make the main entree during our inaugural Foodie's Meeting, I immediately looked for recipes I could use our leeks in before they went to waste.  I was clicking through options on Food Network's site before Marily came across the one I ended up going with (read on to see what we chose!).


To get thing started, Marily sliced some fresh pears and gruyère cheese as our first course.  We paired this great combination with the wine I opened for the main dish (Woodbridge by Robert Mondavi, Sauvignon Blanc, 2007) and also one we picked up specifically for the pear and gruyère (Butterfield Station, Chardonney, 2006).  Both worked well with the flavors of the cheese and the fresh, crispness of the pears.

Diane also roasted some garlic and put together a simple, yet delicious combination of roasted garlic, olive oil and essential seasonings to top the fresh bread her and Debbie picked up from the supermarket. Loved it!!!  How easily we forget to do such simple things like throwing garlic heads with a olive oil drizzle into the oven for things like this!

The entree would be Braised Chicken Breasts on Creamy Leeks (recipe here) on epicurious.com which was adapted from a recipe created by Swiss chef, Frédy Girardet.  We can all read, so I'll just summarize things here...as this was my first time working with leeks, I didn't really make any changes.


This recipe was actually pretty simple (actually some of the best ones are made from fewer ingrediants rather then being overly complex...just see Tom Colicchio's Diet Coke commerical).  I started out by prepping all the ingredients, as it is so much easier to cook when you have your ingredients all measured out:

(I totally forgot to slice the leeks lengthwise before cutting into 1 inch pieces as seen in this picture!  I made up for it later, but just a reminder that I need to actually READ the directions.  Pictured: white wine, leeks, chicken stock, unsalted butter, heavy cream)

(Simply seasoned with kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper)

From here, I seared the chicken breasts for a few minutes on each side and then removed them from the saute pan.  Next up, I added the wine to deglaze the pan and introduced the leeks to the party.  

A few minutes later as the leeks were just waking up and sipping the wine, the chicken breasts made there way back to the pan to join the fun.  Shortly thereafter, I removed the chicken, added the heavy cream, and got in the "thick" of things...then it was time to plate.


In the mean time, Debbie and Diane prepared some "Huss" roasted garlic mashed potatoes to accompany the braised chcken, which worked out perfectly.

Braised Chicken on Creamy Leeks with Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes

The braised chicken was outstanding...the chicken was prepared perfectly (pat on my back, lol) and the creamy sauce was delicious with the leeks (and even with the mashed potatoes, thanks to gravity).  The only thing I could have asked for was a better plate to show this on, lol (mental note, buy nice white plates for pictures).  To top off a great meal, Debbie and Diane made dessert...and a darn good one too!!!

The dessert was based off this recipe found on the Joy of Baking website. Kudos to Debbie and Diane for choosing to glaze the crust with melted chocolate as well as drizzling it with melted chocolate once served....yum, yum, yum (OK, I'm a little biased since I'm a choc-o-holic, but still!)!  The girls did an amazing job at layering the fruit (wow, I think someone needs to become a pastry chef)! Debbie is now officially in charge of desserts going forward.  I highly recommend checking out the Joy of Baking website for further baking inspiration (I already found one I can't wait to try).


We were all very pleased with the outcome tonight, and we can't wait till the next one!!!  Diane, start thinking now...you are in charge of the entree ;-)  Let's see those skills you've picked up!!


Meeting adjourned.

Vietnamese Sweet Pork

When I moved out of my parents house and realized I had to cook for myself (I was not going to be one of those college students living off ramen noodles!), I asked my mom to teach me a few things.  For those that don't know, I'm Vietnamese-American...a product of the Vietnam War (my parents met while my father was stationed there and the rest is history).  I wasn't going to waste any time, so I  asked her to teach me how to make her sweet pork.  This is a relatively simple dish made with products you should be able to find in your local grocery store (of course the best fish and oyster sauces come from an Asian market like Dong A Market off Mills Ave in Orlando.  Below is the recipe, as best as I can share...home cooking isn't exactly measured out ;-)  You know your mom always told you, "...a little of this and a little of that."

This recipe makes enough for 2-3 servings.  Increase the ingredients appropriately for more.

Pork
2 Pork chops, cut meat away from bones and cut into slices, reserve bones (pork riblets work well also)
1 Green onion, chopped
2 Tbs + 1 Tbs granulated sugar
2-3 Tbs Oyster Sauce
Fish Sauce, to taste (a 1/2 Tbs is probably a good place to start)
1/2 cup water

In a sauce pan, heat 2 Tbs granulated sugar on low heat to caramelize (be careful not to burn).  Add sliced pork, bones and chopped green onions to sauce pan.  Increase to medium heat and stir to coat the pork with the caramelized sugar.  Add remaining sugar, oyster sauce, fish sauce and water.  Stir ingredients to mix well and let simmer, until pork is fully cooked (about 15 minutes).

Sautéed Green Beans

Fresh green beans (cut off ends)

Sliced garlic (at least 2-3 cloves...or more!)

Chopped onions (about 1/2 cup)

2 Tbs Olive Oil

Fish sauce, to taste

Water

In a wok or large sauté pan, heat olive oil with sliced garlic and onions on low heat.  Once the aroma is released from the garlic, add green beans and fish sauce.  Toss to coat.  After a couple minutes add some water to the pan and cover with a large lid (pseudo steaming), until the green beans are tender to your liking.

Serve green beans on top of rice, topped with the sweet pork.  Add sauce from sweet pork to wet the rice. If available, add sliced cucumbers.