Pickled Vegetables

This week in class Chef Jesse taught us how to pickle everything under the sun. We did beets, tomatoes, jalapenos, squash and carrots. We used the carrots for the Mango and Mung Bean Sprout Slaw, the tomatoes and beets for the bahn mi (picture below) and the jalapenos for a green sriracha sauce.

Pickled Vegetables

Yield: 2 quarts pickling liquid

Active Time: 10 mins
Inactive Time: 45 mins + 1-2 days

Ingredients
8 c rice wine vinegar
3 c sugar
1 c salt
1 cinnamon stick
3 star anise
1 T coriander
1 T black peppercorns

Directions
Toast all spices until fragrant. Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove from saucepan and let cool. Pour over any vegetables and let sit in the fridge for 1-2 days. For the vegetables: half cherry tomatoes, slice beets and squash 1/8 in thick, julienne or grate carrots and slice or leave jalapenos in large chunks.

Mango and Mung Bean Sprout Slaw

This was a light but flavorful slaw that Chef Jesse served with some sous vide chicken, green curry rice and wok charred vegetables. Don't worry about getting a ripe mango for this slaw, since you actually want a greenish mango which are usually plentiful that to market during the summer. This would go great with any BBQ or asian flavored meats. I will post the recipe for the brine for the pickled carrots as well.

Mango and Mung Bean Sprout Slaw

Servings: 15

Time: 30 mins

Ingredients
1 c mung bean sprouts
1 c pickled carrots, julienne
1/2 head nappa cabbage, julienne
1 large greenish mango, julienne
1/4 c tamarind paste
1/4 c fish sauce
1/4 c lime juice
2 inch lemongrass, inner part only
1/2 tsp shrimp paste
1 dried de arbol chili

Directions
In a food processor, blend lemongrass until it is as broken down as possible. Add the tamarind, fish sauce, lime juice, shrimp paste and chili. Blend for 2 minutes or until a uniform dressing with no large chucks is formed. Mix with the mung beans, pickled carrots, cabbage and mango.

Cured Pork

This is a great way to cure pork belly or pork butt/shoulder. The meat gets a great crust on it and it was one of the best pieces of pork I have had, though I was starving, so that may have been a factor. We used this to make pork buns as well as bahn mi sandwiches (will post those too). This can be used for non-Asian applications as well.

Cured Pork

Active Time: 15 mins
Inactive Time: 1day, 3 hours

Ingredients
5 lbs pork belly or shoulder
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c salt

Directions
If using shoulder, cut into large slabs about 1.5 inches thick. Rub with salt and sugar. Place on a wire rack over a sheet pan and cover. This will allow some of the liquid to drain. Let sit for about 24 hours. To cook, preheat an oven to 250F and cook on the wire rack (uncovered) for 3 hours.

Corn Fritters with Chili Carmel Sauce

These fritters were bright green in the center with nice kernels of fresh corn. They were light and fluffy and paired amazingly with this chili carmel sauce for a sweet/spicy/savory appetizer. You can also serve this sauce with grilled shrimp as Chef Jesse does at Happy.

Corn Fritters with Chili Carmel Sauce

Yield: 25-30 fritters

Prep Time: 20 mins
Cook Time: 40 mins
Total Time: 1 hr

Ingredients for the Fritters
8 cups fresh corn kernels
2 shallots, minced
1 bunch cilantro, mostly stems
1 clove garlic
1 tsp salt
1/2 jalapeno (with or without seeds)
1/2 tsp white pepper
3 eggs, lightly beaten
2/3 c flour
1/2 tsp baking powder

Ingredients for the Chili Carmel
1.5 c sugar, preferably raw
10 dried de arbol chilies, stems removed and pulsed in a food processor
1/2 c veggie stock

Directions
In a food processor, puree 4 cups corn, shallots, cilantro, garlic, salt, pepper and jalapeno until smooth. Sift flour and baking powder together. Fold eggs into the vegetable mixture. Then fold in the sifted mixture and then fold in the remaining corn. The batter can then be held for a few hours in the fridge, if desired. Fry in a wok with 1.5 inches of oil at ~350 degrees. Drop by the spoonful into the wok. They take about 8 minutes each to cook depending on the oil temp.
For the carmel sauce, place sugar in a small sauce pan over medium heat. Let the sugar caramelize and do not over stir, just let it be. Once it is light brown in color add hot veggie stock and chilies. Be careful when doing this because the sugar may splatter. Keep on the heat for at least 15 more minutes to infuse the flavors. If the sugar seizes up, put back on the heat and try to melt it, this generally works.
Toss the fritters with the carmel sauce and garnish with green onions.

Tapioca Brulee

Sorry it has been so long since I last posted a recipe. This week in class we had Chef Jesse Yolt from Happy in Boulder come to class and teach us a lot about Asian food. I will be posting a bunch of his recipes, which were all amazing!
We made this tapioca brulee and it was awesome. I have never had tapioca pudding, but those in my class that had said this was way better than any pudding they had ever had, so don't shy away from this dish just because it is tapioca. We used shallow ramekins and everyone agreed that we should have used deep ones so that we could have more of the tapioca and less of the sugar on top, which added a nice crunchy contrast, but we would have liked a bit less. I think in the future I am going to make this with mango instead of pineapple purely because I love Thai mango sticky rice and this reminded me of that. We served it with carbonated pineapple! There is not a particularly easy way of doing this for home cooks, but it is do-able so let me know if you want to know how.

Tapioca Brulee

Servings: 12-16 individual desserts

Active Time: 1hr
Inactive Time: 2hrs
Total Time: 3hrs

Ingredients
1 bag tapioca pearls
1/2 pineapple, skin removed and pureed
1.5 cans coconut milk
sugar, to taste
salt, to taste

Directions
In a large pot, bring 2 gallons of water to a boil. Salt the water. Add tapioca and cook until al dente, or until there is a small sphere of white surrounded by a clear layer of about the same thickness as the white dot in the center. Drain tapioca. While the tapioca is boiling, blend pineapple and coconut milk. Bring to a simmer. Add al dente tapioca and sugar to taste. Cook unti the tapioca is cooked through and the mixture has the consistency of custard. Portion into deep ramekins and place in the fridge to cool for about 2 hours. To finish sprinkle with sugar and brulee as with a creme brulee.

Chocolate Tart

This is my family's favorite tart by far. It is a class out of Joy of Cooking and I take no credit for it, it is just a great, classic recipe. I serve it cold and top it with whipped cream. Sometimes I even get out a star tip and decorate it with the whipped cream. If you have two tart pans, I recommend making two because this is a favorite of any chocolate lovers. You can also use my recipe for pate sucre, but the shortbread crust is much easier and I think it adds something to this recipe.

Chocolate Tart

Servings: 1-9.5"-10" tart (serves 8-12 people)

Prep Time: 20 mins
Cook Time: 40 mins
Total Time: 1 hour

Ingredients for shortbread dough
1.25 cups AP flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp lemon zest (optional)
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 large egg yolk

Directions for shortbread
Combine the flour, sugar, lemon zest and salt in a food processor. Add the butter. Pulse until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add 1 large egg yolk. Mix until the dough just comes together into a ball. If the dough is too soft, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 mins or up to 2 days. Press the dough into one 9.5"-10" 2-piece tart pan or eight 3.5" tartlet pans. Prick the bottom and sides with a fork. Optionally, cover and refrigerate for 30 mins (I never do this, but the recipe says to). Cook at 400F until it is a deep golden brown, about 18-22 minutes. Let cool before filling

Ingredients for filling

1 cup heavy cream

8 oz bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

1 large egg, lightly beaten

Directions for the filling
Preheat oven to 375F. In a small sauce pan, bring 1 cup of heavy cream to a simmer. Remove from heat and add chocolate. Whisk until the chocolate is melted, then whisk in the egg (already lightly beaten). Pour into shortbread crust and bake until the center only slightly quivers when the pan is tapped, about 15-20 minutes. Let cool to room temperature and then I refrigerate it before serving. Top with whipped cream before serving.

Mediterranean Chicken

The key to this recipe is the brine. This was some of the most juicy and flavorful chicken I have had in a long time. I have to give some well-deserved credit to my dad who did an awesome job grilling it. I put the same rub on some lamb (which I did not brine) and it was great as well. It went really well with the grilled veggies, sauces and pita that I made for this mediterranean feast. Any type of chicken will work with this, bone-in or boneless, skin or no skin, light meat or dark meat. You can use this recipe and change the herbs/spices in the rub to make chicken to complement any type of cuisine you want.

Mediterranean Chicken

Servings: 4-6

Active Time: 30 mins
Inactive Time: 1.5-2 hrs
Total Time: 2-2.3 hrs

Ingredients
4 chicken breast or 4 chicken leg quarters or 8 chicken thighs
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup kosher salt
4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 T lemon zest
1/4-1/2 cup olive oil
1 T thyme
1 T rosemary
1 T basil
1 T oregano
1 T pepper

Instructions
In a large, gallon-sized ziplock bag, combine sugar and salt with cool water (this is called a brine). Fill the bag with about a quart of water to dissolve the salt and sugar. Add the chicken and press out as much air as possible before sealing. Refrigerate for about 1.5 hours, turning the bag halfway through.
Remove chicken from brine and pat dry with paper towels. To make the rub, mix together the remaining ingredients (garlic through pepper). This can also be done in a food processor or blender if you want all of the spices really broken down (I did not do this step). If your chicken has skin then spread it under the skin otherwise just rub it on the chicken. If you let the chicken sit for another 30 minutes or so it will have a absorbed a lot of flavor from the marinade/rub, but either way it will taste great.
When ready to cook, heat grill on medium high heat. Place the chicken on the grill and once it is seared on both sides turn the heat down to medium-low and cook until done (this will depend on the cut of chicken used).