4 posts tagged “rice”

Every time I stop by the Happy Family Farms stand to get eggs (they have the best eggs) I ask if they have any ducks left. They never do.  They are just that popular. They always tell me to check back at noon in case somebody doesn't pick theirs up. I never do. Finally I had a brief moment of enlightenment and I asked them to reserve one for me the following week. Now why didn't I think of that before?

The following weekend I felt like the king of the world walking up to their stand, knowing that this time I would not be leaving duckless. I was way too proud of myself. I shelled out $22 for a 5lb 7oz free range, organic duck - for those of you who are curious. That weight includes the neck and organs, which made me very happy. I love being able to use the whole animal. The neck, heart and giblets are perfect for stock.
 

I'm on day three of my six day "vacation". I call it a "vacation" since I'm just visiting the family for the holidays (no sunny island getaways). It's nice to get out of LA once in a while, though my blood has thinned and I've been freezing my tushie off. :)

Tonight I cooked for the family. I wanted to make something fun without venturing too far from their normal diet. I made a visit to the local asian market and settled upon a beautifully marbled piece of pork belly (rib in for the extra flavor and meat). To contrast the rich pork, I picked up some fillets of rock cod. I had been dying to try out the whole wrapping in banana leaf thing, so this was exciting for me. Baking the fish in banana leaves is like the "en papillote" method, where the fish steams as it bakes.

I bypassed a shopping trip to get the pork belly into the slow cooker, since it would take a few hours to cook. I sauteed onions, ginger and carrots... deglazed with red wine...added vegetable broth... and left it to work for five hours. Pork belly is the true gluttons dream.

I was able to prep the fish packets in advance also. I went with asian flavors such as ginger, cilantro, soy sauce and sesame sauce. I wrapped up individual-sized packets and they were ready to pop into the oven once dinner time rolled around.

Once the clock struck 9 pm I began. I preheated the oven to 450 degrees. Placed my fish packets to bake for 15 minutes. Next I moved onto the pork. I was planning on crisping up the outside. I began by sliding the rib bones out of the pork belly. They came out with such ease... like a hot knife on butter. I cut the belly into individual-sized pieces and pan fried them with minced garlic and diced jalapeno until it had a crispy browned crust. Yum. Stir fried gai lan (Chinese broccoli) and simple steamed, white rice accompanied the meal. We finished with some winter melon soup (compliments of Dad). By the way, I just thought of something... by cooking the fish in banana leaves you avoid the whole fishy stench that sometimes lingers in the air. That's a very good advantage that I highly recommend. I'll definitely be cooking my fish that way again.

What exactly does it mean when you whip up tomatillo salsa, pico de gallo, mole, chocolate cake and chocolate chip cookies all in one evening right in front of your boyfriend, and he doesn't suspect AT ALL that you're throwing him a surprise dinner party??? It just might mean that I cook too much, but I don't really think that's possible. This year for his b-day, I thought I would throw him a surprise dinner party. There's nothing better than good food and good friends.
I've been inspired lately by a co-worker who makes homemade taquitos to die for. For these taquitos, the 1% carnivore left in me comes out. They are that good. I've been picking his brain for his Mexican cooking secrets. His parents owned a Mexican restaurant, enough said. The two most important things that he has opened my eyes to are to boil your jalapeños before you broil them for red salsas, and Lawry's Seasoning Salt (his secret weapon). I thought I'd see if if I could pull together a Mexican themed surprise party based on his tips.

So we begin our Mexican fiesta. I thought I'd try something new. I had never made mole before and thought I would make some vegetarian enchiladas with mole sauce. Mole is on the borderline as being one of those foods that might not be worth it to make. It is very labor intensive. We begin by soaking our dried ancho and pasilla chiles and grinding our spices. I actually got the BF to do it. He was able to put much more muscle into it than poor little me, who has trouble opening jars. I swear it's from my job. All the repetitive typing/10-keying is weakening my wrists. My unsuspecting BF ground up 1" of a cinnamon stick, cloves, peppercorn and star anise with a mortar and pestle. I added some raisins to the to the soaking chiles. It's amazing how many different ingredients are in mole and how many different varieties there are. Just google "mole" I dare you.

Next, I toasted up raw almonds and raw pepitas in a few teaspoons of oil. Once they were getting golden I threw in the spices, so that I would get the most out of them. The kitchen was smelling nutty, smoky and sweet all at the same time. I pureed everything in batches in my food processor and also added one round of Mexican Ibarra chocolate. Once it was at this step, I left it for the next day when I thinned it out with half a beer and water and let it simmer for a few hours. I tasted it before I cooked it and thought I had seriously done something wrong. Once it's cooked, the taste totally mellows out and fully develops.
For my enchiladas, I used tatuma (aka Mexican white squash), spinach, onions and broccoli. I chose queso fresco and sharp cheddar to go along with the veggies and topped the casserole of with a nice aged cotija (mexican parmasan).

I planned on this being a buffet style dinner. It's just way too hard to have a sit down dinner for 20 people in an apartment. With that in mind, I made sure to have plenty of foods that would be easy to eat standing up. That being said, there is no such thing as a Mexican fiesta without quesadillas. I made mango, brie and arugala quesadillas that I served with a chunky guacamole. I had planned on adding grilled pineapple also, but seeing as my iron chef skills were not up to par, I ran out of time. I guess I'll have to have a cinco de mayo party. To go along with the theme, I served grilled kumquat-lime shrimp skewers. I literally have a cupboard full of preserves. I went through a jamming phase a while back. My parents have a kumquat tree, so I made jars upon jars of kumquat-tangerine marmalade.  This was the perfect opportunity to use some of it. I made a marinade out of the marmalade, fresh lime juice, olive oil, oregano, red pepper flakes and some salt and pepper.   I was lucky enough to have help through the whole ordeal - Thanks Misa.  I'm forever indebted to you. Just let me know when you want to throw a party and I'll be there with Sponge Bob pinata in hand. She was amazing at time management and I learned something new about her that day. Besides her party decorating skills, the girl's got some mad talent when it comes to vegetable platter arrangements. Check it out...
Of course, we also had to have our staple beans and rice. I mixed it up by making the Spanish rice out of brown rice and black beans that I had cooked in beer (the other half from the mole) and seasoned with onions, garlic and Mexican oregano. I ended up mixing them together and topping it all with crumbled Cotija.
We finished our meal with a flourless Mexican chocolate cake, chocolate chip cookies and lots and lots of digestifs. What does it say about you when you get six different types of whiskey for your birthday? It means you're going to have a very good birthday. Happy birthday, Brock!