It happens every year. I start January off with daily cardio, sugarfree this, sugarfree that and only a month later my healthy streak comes to a screeching halt with the biggest junk food fest all year: the Superbowl. That extra dollop of ranch dressing on your salad or the second spoonful of sugar in your morning coffee pale in comparison to the smorgasbord that is the Superbowl. Eating a salad in the back corner while every other sports jersey donned guest melts their face off with buffalo wings, potato skins, and queso is not only a guarantee of becoming a social pariah, but doing so would be just plain un-American.
So what’s a girl who loves pigging out to do? Grab that handy cast iron skillet of course! I’ve so often found that when I’m craving something crunchy and deep fried, a good crispy sear from my skillet ends up doing the trick. Additionally, chicken thighs are another great compromise for when I’ve gotten bored of ultra lean protein. Not only is dark meat itself more flavorful, it absorbs other spices and marinades more robustly than lean white meat. And to throw in another perk, chicken thighs are usually sold in bulk and much cheaper than other chicken cuts – perfect if you’re hosting a big, hungry crowd.
For this year’s football showdown, I’ll be sauteing some chicken thighs in a sweet and sticky ginger honey glaze. The best part of this recipe? Everything goes in one pan. Now THAT’s a touchdown.
A new year, a new beginning. While the latter half of 2016 may have ushered in several unpleasantries, I can’t deny that I have been blessed with many wonderful opportunities this year. First and foremost, I finally moved back to New York City (and convinced a nice Midwestern boy to tag along)! As you may have surmised, I am living the foodie’s dream come true! From three star Michelin restaurants to late night dollar pizza, anything I could dream of eating can be found here.
Unfortunately, I have distanced myself from my usual cooking adventures by spoiling myself with thousands of amazing restaurants all over the city. But fear not! Nothing like the combo of a chilly winter and depleted bank account to bring me right back into the kitchen. In my absence, I discovered that even my most treasured hobbies can accumulate dust in my mental calendar. And the longer these pastimes go unparticipated, the harder it becomes to reengage in them. And the harder things become to do, the easier the excuses come. I lost efficiency in a craft that was once second nature to me, making time a new barrier to entry, a barrier that kept multiplying the longer I went unpracticed. For me, I knew the best way for me to ease back into cooking was to reidentify what first drew me to the kitchen. Like many journeys of self-revelation, the answer starts with home.
If I could encapsulate one aroma that embodies home for me, I would easily choose the smell of fresh steamed bánh bao. Interestingly, although it has always been one of my favorite Vietnamese treats, we didn’t have it very often growing up; these were reserved for special birthdays and occasional pit stops in Chinatown. Now, whenever I return home for the holidays, I reliably wake up to the scent of fresh buns and Vietnamese coffee for breakfast. I suppose it’s my mother’s way of signifying that my homecoming is a special occasion – and what else could feel more like home than that.
So as we move forward in ringing in a new year, let us first take a step back to retrieve what we thought was lost and revive our passions with the hope and promise that arrives with the first stroke of midnight.
For those of you whose New Year’s resolutions involve baos, baos, all types of baos, see instructions below.
12piecesof wax or parchment papercut into 3" x 3" squares
For the filling
1lbground pork
1yellow or white onionfinely chopped
1tbspsugar
1tbspblack pepper
2tspsalt
3boiled eggsquartered
3Chinese sausage linksthinly sliced.
Instructions
Mix together self rising flour, milk, sugar, and vegetable oil. Cover with a damp cheese cloth or towel for 30 minutes until dough has risen.
While dough is rising, mix together ground beef, chopped onions, sugar, black pepper, and salt. Roll into meatballs approximately 2 inches in diameter. Place a quarter of a hardboiled egg into the meatball and cover with sliced Chinese sausage.
Once dough has about doubled in size, knead dough and divide into 12 equal parts. Roll each part into a ball and flatten to create a circle about 4 inches. Put meat filling in the center and fold the dough over filling, gathering and twisting at the top.
Place bao over parchment paper square and steam for 15-20 minutes.
Rainy days, lots of spare time, and a brand new ice cream maker leads to dangerous and delicious outcomes. As with most things in life, once you master making anything from scratch, it’s difficult to return to the status quo. I certainly feel that way about ice cream. There is something so redeeming about bringing the simplest of ingredients together and achieving the highest quality taste. Some cream, milk, sugar and fresh flavors of your choice (and a little technology) will satisfy that sweet tooth in the most natural, healthiest way possible.
While I live in a tiny apartment and any available counter space is a godsend, I can’t imagine parting ways with my new ice cream maker. The beauty of being able to craft my own ice cream at home is that I get to be a mad little food scientist for a few hours (or as Jay likes to call my experimenting, “Frankensteining”). My three favorite ice cream flavors in no particular order are green tea, mint chocolate chip and coffee. FINALLY I no longer have to choose; I can have all three at the same time. Who says you can’t have your ice cream and eat it too? I know it sounds outrageous, but Matcha Mint Mocha Chip Ice Cream is easily one of my favorite original recipes to date. Ah the life of the hedonist can be oh so sweet.
I start with crafting my mocha chips. I’ve seen some home ice cream recipes that call for using straight up chocolate chips. That’s just plain lazy. Don’t do that. They’re supposed to be crispy and melt in your mouth people. Melt your chocolate chips, coconut oil and instant coffee over medium heat, stirring constantly. I too have been guilty of getting too impatient, turning up the heat to melt the chocolate faster or leaving the chocolate on the stove to get a head start on my next step. Trust me, you will end up with a pot of burnt chocolate and is there anything more guilt inducing than rendering chocolate inedible? Once your chocolate is silky smooth, slowly pour the melted mixture onto a wax paper lined baking sheet. The trick here is to use the biggest baking sheet you have and roll the pan around (similar to the way you would grease a baking pan) so you have the thinnest possible sheet of chocolate. Place your chocolate sheet in the freezer for at least 30 minutes.
Then comes the fun part. Rough day at work? Homemade chocolate chunks ought to relieve the stress. Chocolate has never been so therapeutic.
Meanwhile, simmer fresh chopped mint leaves in your half and half for about thirty minutes. You should start to see a pale green color form over time. What’s great about adding in the matcha is not only that it cuts the sweetness of the chocolate chips, but it adds a robust green color to our ice cream without the food coloring. Once you’ve strained the chopped mint leaves from your half and half, add it to your sugar and matcha powder. You may want to let the ice cream mixture chill for a bit before adding to your ice cream machine, depending on your machine’s specifications. I also recommend you add in the chocolate pieces towards the end of the ice cream mixing process as the chocolate may clump together while the ice cream is still in liquid form.
And that’s all there is to it folks. So simple, so sexy.
I just returned from a long overdue family vacation in Savannah, Georgia and while it’s true that there’s no place like home, I do miss me some of that Southern charm. My parents are thinking about places they may want to retire in the next 15 years or so and naturally Savannah came to mind; warm weather, beautiful beaches and easy going pace (aka slow as molasses to native New Yorker like me), what’s not to love? While we were there, as enchanting as the Spanish moss and centuries old colonial mansions were, it was not easy finding vegetables to eat down there, at least not any that weren’t deep fried in batter or breadcrumbs. Luckily, my exhaustive search for everyday vitamins and minerals lead me to discover my love for collard greens. I’d seen them on the menu at a handful of Southern and soul food restaurants in the past but usually glossed over them in favor of fried chicken, corn bread, and sweet potato pie.
To my pleasant surprise, these sturdy leafy greens were not only full of flavor but full of health benefits as well. Collard greens are in the same family as kale and broccoli and actually contain even more Vitamins A, C and K than the hipster loved kale. What I especially love about collard greens is the texture; the leaves are quite tough like kale which means that you can simmer them for longer periods of time and not have to worry about them falling apart like spinach. I haven’t yet tried, but I’m willing to bet you could make a solid batch of chips with these leaves. The best part about this dish is that traditionally it is a little bit spicy and often accompanied with some bacon or ham hocks. If you’re looking for a ton of flavor without too much fat, try using chili, lime, ginger or lemongrass to flavor your greens instead. I personally like just a little chicken broth, fresh chopped Thai chili peppers and a spritz of lime juice to embolden your tastebuds and give your body a nutritional boost!
They do take about an hour to simmer but prep takes less than 5 minutes. The stems can definitely be eaten but I personally prefer the leaves because they soak up the most spice. If you want to discard the stems, chop the large leafy halves from the center and chop the leaves into 1 inch thick pieces. Simmer them in broth and in an hour you’ll have the most flavorful side of leafy greens you’ve ever had!
