Chao Ga

Chao ga is Vietnamese rice porridge, like congee, with chicken. It is some of the most comforting food I've ever put into my mouth. My brother recently ordered it at the best Vietnamese restaurant in town (Banh Mi So #1), and after I tasted it, I knew I had to try making it. Lucky for us all, today was chilly and rainy, and thus the perfect day for chao ga!

Chao Ga

Broth

1 whole chicken, quartered (use half a chicken if you don't want tons of leftovers)

4-5 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled

3-4 inches fresh ginger root, peeled and chunked

about 20 black peppercorns

1 T salt (or 1-2 T Vietnamese fish sauce, if you like that sort of thing... it's more authentic)

about 6 C cold water

Place the broth ingredients into a stockpot, using just enough water to cover everything (6 cups will be plenty for the porridge, add more as needed to make sure everything is submerged). Cover the pot and bring the liquid to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, reduce the heat and simmer for about 25 minutes, until the chicken meat is cooked (you can just pull it out and check it by piercing it - it's done when the juices run out clear). Pull the cooked chicken out of the pot, let it cool a bit, and remove the meat from the bones. Set the meat aside and place the bones back into the pot of broth. Simmer the broth with the bones, covered, for at least one hour.

Porridge

1/2 T sesame oil

1 small shallot, minced

2 t minced fresh ginger

1 large or 2 small garlic cloves, minced

1 C jasmine rice, rinsed and drained
broth from above

Vietnamese chili-garlic sauce

fried onion or shallot pieces (I am lazy, so I used fried onions from a can, but they're delicious, so sue me)

fresh cilantro

In a large saucepan, heat the sesame oil over medium heat. Add the shallot, ginger, and garlic and stir for about a minute. Add the rice and cook for another 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Strain the broth into the pot and bring to a boil (you may need to add water, depending on the consistency you would like... I think 6 cups of liquid to 1 cup of rice is good). Turn the heat down, cover, and simmer for 30-40 minutes, until the rice is very tender and the liquid starts to thicken. While the rice is cooking, shred the cooled chicken (yeah, I had a lot left over... on purpose).  Ladle the porridge into bowls and top with the chili-garlic sauce, desired amount of chicken, fried onion/shallot, and fresh cilantro.

Mix it all up and devour.

Serves 3 (very filling, could serve 4 with spring rolls!).

Salade Niçoise with Smoked Trout and Blood Orange Vinaigrette

Salade Niçoise is the queen of all salads. Contrary to popular belief, the part that makes it Niçoise is the olives. Gorgeous, tiny, salty Niçoise olives. Traditionally, canned tuna is the fishy topping of choice, but we've gotten totally hooked on Ducktrap Smoked Trout from Trader Joe's, so that's what's on my salad! The salad is pretty simple to make, but requires a bit of preparation. A good mis en place will help tremendously with the actual making of the salad. Also, make sure you're using the largest plates you've got!

Blood Orange Vinaigrette
juice of 1 blood orange (you can use orange, lemon, grapefruit, or a combination if you can't get blood oranges)
1 T red wine vinaiger
2 T olive oil
1 t Herbes de Provence (fresh would be best, but who has time for that?)
salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl and let stand until you are ready to make the salad.

Salade Niçoise with Smoked Trout
2 eggs
2 medium vine tomatoes
6-10 oz baby red potatoes
8 oz haricots verts, or small green beans
large head or bag of butter or Boston lettuce (I like butter lettuce and radicchio blend)
about 20 Niçoise olives
1/2 small shallot, thinly sliced (or red onion slices)
1 filet of smoked trout or a can of tuna (preferably packed in olive oil) or fresh grilled fish or shrimp
2 T capers, drained

A few hours before you plan to eat, hard boil 2 eggs (of course I always make a bunch because YUM) and then put them in the fridge to chill.

Have a bowl of ice water ready. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Cut a small X in the skin at the bottom of the tomatoes. Carefully lower the tomatoes into the water and boil until the skin at the X starts to peel back. With a spider or slotted spoon, remove the tomatoes from the water and place them in the ice water. Do not discard the boiling water. Let the tomatoes rest in the ice water for a few minutes, then remove them so they don't get soggy. Once cooled, remove the skin and seeds and roughly chop what's left. By the way, these are called tomatoes concassé and since I'm not terribly fond of tomatoes, this is how I prefer them in my Salade Niçoise. You can just use fresh quartered tomatoes if you're of that persuasion, though.

Cut the potatoes into bite-sized pieces and boil them until they are tender. Remove them with a spider or slotted spoon to a bowl and drizzle, while still warm, with 1-2 tablespoons of the dressing. Again, do not discard the boiling water. You can either put the potatoes in the fridge to chill or serve them slightly warm, that part is up to you.

Place the haricots verts into the boiling water for about 1 minute, or until they start to become tender and bright green. Remove them to a fresh ice water bath to stop them cooking and retain their color. At this point, you can discard the boiling water. Remove the green beans after a minute, drain them well, and toss them with about a tablespoon of the dressing.

Place the lettuce into the large bowl you made the dressing in and toss it up well. Pile the dressed lettuce in the middle of your large plates. Quarter the chilled hard boiled eggs and arrange them along with the potatoes, haricots verts, tomatoes, and olives around the lettuce. Lay the shallot or onion slices on top of the lettuce in the middle. Break up the trout fillets into bite-sized pieces and place on top of the shallot slices. Sprinkle the salad with the capers. Serve with some nice bread!

Serves 2.

Blackberry Beggar's Purse

My husband loves blackberries, so I picked some up to make him an anniversary dessert (we're doing our real anniversary celebration when we go to New York City the first week of June). Of course, on our actual anniversary, he suggested that we go out for pizza, so I made this the day after (last night). I had some puff pastry in the freezer. I don't remember why I bought it, but I figured blackberries and puff pastry can't be wrong. Years ago, there was a restaurant here that served a dark chocolate-cherry-walnut beggar's purse, which gave me the idea for what to do with these blackberries and puff pastry.

Blackberry Beggar's Purse
1/3 sheet frozen puff pastry
12 oz fresh blackberries, rinsed and dried
2-6 t sugar (depending on the sweetness of the berries and your taste)
gelato or whipped cream for serving (I went with Talenti Sicilian Pistachio YUM)

Thaw the puff pastry according to package directions. Preheat oven to 375°F. Cut the third of a sheet of puff pastry in two and roll each on a lightly floured surface into a 7- or 8-inch square. Place the puff pastry squares on a parchment-lined baking sheet (this I did not do, and transferring the filled sheets from the counter to the baking sheet was not very fun). Pile about half of the blackberries in the middle of each square (I saved a few berries for garnish) and sprinkle with sugar.

Don't do this. Put the pastry on the baking sheet first!

Fold the corners of the pastry in to the middle and pinch together. Use a little water if the corners don't stick together, or use egg wash (that seemed like a waste of an egg, but you could brush the pastry for a nice shine, too).

That one edge looks ragged because it was the edge of the puff pastry.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the pastry is golden. Serve with a scoop of gelato or a dollop of whipped cream and some fresh berries.

Makes 2 purses.

Scallion and Chèvre Frittata

When I went to Italy a long time ago, I stayed in this amazing villa surrounded by countryside. They grew their own lemons, olives, grapes, and scallions. They probably grew other stuff, too, but those were the things I noticed. One afternoon for lunch, the lady of the villa made an amazing frittata with just a ton of scallions, and a chunk of fresh bread on the side. A while back, while in the throws of replicating this frittata, inspired by my grandfather, I added slivers of cream cheese before popping it in the broiler. Then I realized, "cream cheese is good, but chèvre would be amazing." Add some fresh basil and... perfection.

Scallion and Chèvre Frittata
6 eggs
1 T half & half (or cream or milk)
1 T butter
6 scallions, chopped
2-3 oz fresh chèvre
6-8 large basil leaves
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to broil. Beat the eggs and half & half with some salt and pepper until the consistency is uniform. Heat the butter over medium heat in a large oven-proof skillet and then add the scallions. Cook the scallions until they are slightly soft, just a couple of minutes.

Pour in the egg mixture and stir, bringing the cooked egg from the bottom in toward the middle and allowing the raw egg to settle and cook around the edges, like an omelet.

Once the bottom has set and the top is still slightly liquid, crumble the chèvre over the top and place the pan under the broiler until the frittata is golden brown and fluffy.

Meanwhile, chiffonade the basil and then sprinkle it over the frittata once it's done.

We split one frittata with a chunk of bread and salad for a meal, but you could cut it into several pieces for an appetizer or snack. You can also put leftover cold frittata into a sliced piece of baguette... so delicious.

Serves 2.

White Bean Hummus and Fridge Pickles

I couldn't fall asleep last night thinking of all the delicious and nutritious foods I wanted to make today. I bought some white beans because I'm trying to get more potassium and decided I could make "hummus" with them (it's just white bean dip, but hummus is more descriptive). My mouth started watering thinking of a wrap with white bean hummus and veggies. Then I thought, "I could pickle some of those veggies." Luckily, I was somehow psychic when I went shopping yesterday morning and I bought a pack of Persian cucumbers. Those plus the fresh jalapeños I had in the fridge equal perfect pickles.

Tortilla, white bean hummus, fridge pickles, shredded carrot, red bell pepper, spinach

White Bean Hummus
1 can white beans
4 cloves garlic
juice of 1 lemon
1 T olive oil
salt and pepper

Smash and peel the garlic cloves, drain the beans, and give them a whir together in a food processor. Add the lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste, and whir it again. With the food processor going, slowly drizzle in the olive oil (this makes a creamy emulsion).

Pop it in the fridge for a couple of hours to meld and chill. Spread it on a wrap or sandwich and enjoy. To serve on its own, drizzle some olive oil and sprinkle some chopped flat-leaf parsley over it. Great with baguette, pita, vegetables, and so many other things.

Fridge Pickles
2 C white vinegar
2 C water
2 t sugar
1 T salt
3 Persian cucumbers
8 jalapeños

Put everything except the veggies in a saucepan and bring just to a low boil. While that's happening, slice the cucumbers and jalapeños about 1/4" thick. Put the sliced veggies in a large mason jar or some other airtight glass container. Wash your hands very well after handling the jalapeños! Once the liquid has just begun to boil, pour it over the veggies so that they're completely covered. You can always add a bit more vinegar if you need to. Refrigerate for at least an hour before using. PLEASE NOTE these are not shelf-stable pickles - you MUST keep them refrigerated and use them within a week to be safe. If you just want some quick pickles, boil the veggies in the liquid for about 10 minutes, drain, chill, and eat!