Flaky, yet firm.  Mild yet flavorful.  Plentiful and sustainable.  Farmed rainbow trout is a great fish to include in the weekly diet, but many home cooks tend to avoid it because thin filets of fish can be intimidating to cook.  Either the fish results in being too dry, or it breaks up into pieces before it ends up on the plate.  Rainbow trout is available year-long in most supermarkets and filets usually weigh in at around 4 ounces, which is a perfect serving size.  While baking is a viable method, nothing beats pan-searing. There’s something about getting the skin turn golden brown and crispy.  Here are some of my tips.

1. Don’t cook the fish right out of the refrigerator, instead, cook it when the flesh is cool to the touch, not cold.
2. Spray the skin side with a bit of cooking spray, season the other side, and spray with cooking spray.
3. Heat up 1 tsp of olive oil in a wide stainless steel pan over low heat.  Coat the pan well.
4. Cook the fish on the skin side first.
5. Cook the fish on low heat, 3 minutes each side, or until the flesh turns opaque.
6. Flip once!
7. If the fish sticks to the pan, carefully nudge it loose from the sides with a flat spatula.

Go ahead, give it a try.  No practice needed, and easy to master.

Kin

When I was a kid, I  hated bitter melon.  It was too bitter for my taste and I didn’t understand why grown-ups liked it so much.  When my parents cooked it with pork, I wouldn’t even eat the pork because it had made contact with the melon.  Then something changed in my mid-twenties.  I gave it another try and it actually tasted pretty good.  I’m not sure how I acquired a taste for it, but I liked it.  Remember the first time you had beer?  Yeah, it didn’t taste great the first time, but somehow it turned into the most delicious beverage in the world.

Ingredients

2 bitter melons
1lb ground chicken breast or pork
lemongrass, minced (15g)
1 teaspoon of xiao shing cooking wine
1 teaspoon of salt
1/4 teaspoon of dried thyme
2 teaspoons of extra virgin olive oil

Bitter melon is featured in many Asian dishes, especially stuffed bitter melon.  It isn’t difficult to prepare, and I decided to stray away from the usual ingredients that go into making it.  Lemongrass and thyme seem to be good ingredients to balance out the flavor of the melon.

First off, cut off the upper third of the lemongrass stalk, and a bit off the bottom.  Slice it into little discs and then mince very well.  Save half of the minced lemongrass for some other time or dish.  Mix the rest, along with the salt, olive oil, cooking wine, and dried time into the ground meat.  Cover it and let it sit in the refrigerator for three hours.

Cut off the ends of the bitter melons and slice them into 1-inch rings.  Remove the inner seeds and inner tissue with a spoon.  Add the bitter melon into boiling water and cook for 4 minutes.  Remove from the water and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process.  Lay the melon slices on a paper towel and pat dry.

This is optional, but it seems to help the ground meat adhere to the melon better:  Coat the inside of the melon slices with a bit of raw scrambled egg.

Fill the melon slices with the ground chicken meat.  Overstuff it a little bit because the meat will shrink a bit when it cooks.

Heat up a non-stick pan at low-medium heat.  Add in a bit of cooking oil.  When the oil is ready, add the stuffed melons and cover.  Cook for 4 minutes, remove the cover, flip to the other side, and cover again for another 4 minutes.  Make sure the chicken is cooked throughout.  On average, 4 to 4.5 minutes per side seemed to work for me.

Ingredients

• 1 clove of black garlic – chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• 1/4 teaspoon of ground coriander seed
• 2 teaspoons of olive oil
• 2 servings of spaghetti
• 5 ounces of chicken breast, cubed (marinate overnight with extra virgin olive oil and salt for more tenderness)

Instructions

• Cook the pasta and keep 1/2 cup of the pasta water for later.
• Heat up the olive oil on low heat and sauté the black garlic for a minute
• Add the chicken and cover.  Cook for about 2.5 minutes on each side.  Remove the chicken when done.
• Set the heat to high and deglaze the pan with the pasta water.
• Add the turmeric, salt, and coriander.  Let the liquid reduce by 25% (more or less).
• Add the spaghetti and toss well.
• Transfer to a plate, top with the chicken and garnish.

The black garlic might be hard to find, but it looks like certain Whole Foods and Korean supermarkets do carry the item.

Ingredients
3 cups of frozen broccoli florets
3 garlic cloves
1.5 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
dash of salt
pinch of pepper

Chop the garlic into evenly sliced chips.  This lets them brown evenly.

Heat up the pan on low heat and add the olive oil. Once the oil is hot, add in the garlic.  Cook until the half of the garlic starts to brown. Remove from heat and let the garlic cook until the color turns golden.  If the garlic turns dark brown, it’s overcooked and will taste bitter.

Transfer the cooked garlic on a paper towel for the oil to absorb.  Leave some oil in the pan.

Steam the frozen broccoli for about 7 minutes and then sauté for about 30 seconds in the pan containing the infused garlic olive oil.  Toss the broccoli around while adding the salt and pepper.

Transfer to a plate and pour the garlic chips over the broccoli.

So, a good number of people are asking for the recipe for the Japanese cheesecake I made.  It’s not my recipe, but the instructions are mine.  The original instructions were far too vague and confusing, so I did some research online to find a clearer way in making it.

This recipe takes some time and patience, but the best things come to those who wait.

So, here is what you need.
2 large mixing bowls
Small bowls for holding the ingredients
Hand Mixer
Kitchen Scale (digital – grams or ounces)
8 or 9 inch baking pan
Large baking pan for the water bath

Ingredients
140g/5 oz. fine granulated sugar (regular sugar)
6 egg whites
6 egg yolks (make sure no egg yolk makes it into the whites, not even a little bit)  Set aside for about 20 minutes to warm up. `
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
50g/2 oz. butter
250g/9 oz. cream cheese
100 ml/3 fluid oz. fresh whole milk (6 Tablespoons)
1 tbsp. lemon juice (use fresh lemons)
60g/2 oz. cake flour /superfine flour
20g/1 oz. corn flour (cornstarch)
1/4 tsp. salt

I separated the instructions into 3 parts to make things easier.

Part 1:  The Cake Batter

• Step 1.  Melt the cream cheese, butter, and milk together in a double boiler.  A double boiler can be made by placing metal mixing bowl on top of a pot of low boiling water.   Make sure the boiling water doesn’t touch the bottom of the mixing bowl and that the bowl is larger than the pot.  Also, use an oven mitt as the mixing bowl can get pretty hot.  Stir until all the ingredients are melted together.  Set aside to cool down.  15 minutes should do.
• Step 2.  Once the batter is cooled, fold in the egg yolks, salt, cake flour, corn flour, and lemon juice.  Mix well, the batter should be smooth with no lumps.  A whisk is particularly useful for this.  Set aside.
• Step 3.  Prepare the water bath.  Details on preparing a water bath can be found here.

Part 2:  The Meringue

• Step 1.  Whisk the egg whites with the hand mixer on low for about 15 seconds.  It should get bubbly.
• Step 2.  Continue mixing and add in the cream of tartar.  Increase the power two levels.  5 seconds.
• Step 3.  Slowly add in the sugar.  Increase the power another level.  Add in the first half of the sugar one tablespoon at a time while mixing.  Slowly pour in the remaining half while mixing.
• Step 4.  Increase the speed one more time if available and keep mixing.  Eventually, it will thicken up.  Mix until soft peaks form.  Meaning when you remove the mixer, the meringue will peak up and the tips will slowly curl back down.  It should also be light and airy.

Part 3.  Combine the Batter and Meringue, Baking

• Step 1.  Mix the batter into the meringue and fold (not whisk) until the 2 mixtures turn into one
• Step 2.  Pour the combined mixture in a greased or cooking sprayed baking pan.
• Step 3.  Place the baking pan into the water bath.
• Step 4.  Bake in the oven in a water bath at 325 degrees for 1 hour, 10 minutes.   Don’t forget to preheat the oven.
• Step 5.  After baking, carefully remove the pan from the water bath and let it settle for 30 minutes at room temperature.
• Step 6.  Top with your favorite topping.

Yeah, it takes some work. It’s a good recipe to try if you’re stuck at home with nothing to do on a rainy day.

Here is an easy short ribs recipe.  All you need is your favorite marinade and a pack of thick-cut short ribs.

Ingredients

• Your favorite marinade
• Short ribs cut up into large chunks (each chunk should have a piece of bone attached to it)

Place the cut up short ribs into a sealable bag, pour in your marinade and let it sit in the refridegerator over night.  Before you cook the ribs the next day, let the meat warm up for about half an hour at room temperature.  Sear each side on the grill for about two minutes and let the meat finish cooking in a 500 degree oven for 15-20 minutes for medium rare doneness.

It’s been a long time since I’ve posted a recipe, so here goes.

I learned this cooking technique from watching Alton Brown on one of his Food Network segments.  It’s a great and fast way to cook that yields excellent results.  On the downside, the preparation of the dish requires a panini-press or equivalent, and something heavy, say close to fifteen pounds, to keep the panini-press closed tight.

Roasted Garlic Paste

Peel of all the extra skin.  Chop of the top of the garlic to expose the cloves.  Drizzle a teaspoon of olive oil over the cloves and then wrap in aluminum foil.  Place it on a baking pan and into a preheated 375 degree oven for thiry-five minutes.  Once the garlic is cool, squeeze out each clove from the bottom into a small bowl.  Start mashing up the cloves, I find the bottom of the spoon quite handy for this task.  There might be some hardened burnt layers of garlic, just remove them and eat them if you want.  Add about 2 teaspoons of extra virgin olive oil and mix with your fingers until a paste forms.  If it is too thick, just add more olive oil.  The paste needs to be vicous enough to be applied with a brush.  Set aside.

pics from http://www.elise.com

Roasted Garlic Pressed Game Hen

First, you will need to butterfly (spatchcock) the game hen.  Here are excellent instructions on how to do that.  Sprinkle liberal amounts of salt, pepper, and garlic powder onto both sides of the bird. Apply cooking spray to the panini press cooking plates.  Set the bird onto the panini-press that’s set on high heat.  Close the panini press and press down to flatten the hen.  Set a heavy, non-flammable object on top of the panini press to keep the pressure on for the duration of the cooking process.  I used a cast-iron grill plate.  Be careful not to hurt yourself!  Cook the chicken on high heat for about 5-6 minutes, then reduce the heat to medium.   Cook for another 6-7 minutes.  Brush the hen with the roasted garlic paste and serve with lemon wedges.

Ichimi togarashi is a common chili pepper seasoning used in Japanese noodle and grilled dishes. I of course, was looking to use this seasoning in a non-traditional way. I mixed a teaspoon of the seasoning into breadcrumbs to add some spice to my baked chicken tenders. This recipe is simple and delicious. I’m not a fan of cooking chicken tenders and cutlets in oil, and the oven was a great alternative.

Togarashi Tenders

Ingrdients

• 1 tsp – Ichimi Togarashi seasoning
• 1 tsp – Garlic powder
• 1 tsp – Ground coriander powder
• salt
• pepper
• 2 Large chicken breasts
• 2 Eggs
• Flour
• Breadcrumbs
• Lemon

Prepare one plate with flour, and another one with the breadcrumbs

Mix the ichimi togarashi, garlic powder, coriander powder, salt, and pepper into the breadcrumbs. If you like it spicy, add more of the chili seasoning. Since everyone has a different tolerance level with spicy foods, you’ll have to be the judge on how much to mix in.

Beat the two eggs and set them to the side

Cut the chicken breasts length-wise into strips. The strips should be from 1 to 1.5 inches wide, and about 3/4 of an inch thick. You might have to do some trimming. And save the trimmings for another dish.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

One by one, coat each chicken strip in the flour,then in the egg, and finally, in the bread crumbs. Place the chicken in an oven-safe pan coated with cooking spray.

Bake for twenty minutes.

Drizzle fresh lemon juice over the chicken strips and serve immediately.

~ Kin

Please make sure all food is thoroughly cooked before consumption to prevent food-borne illness.

I discovered this recipe by accident while I was trying to make hummus without using any oil. I think I’m starting to understand the necessity of emulsifiers in cooking. After some grinding in the food processor with just garbanzo beans, lemon juice, and garlic, the mixture was dry and wasn’t creamy. The addition of water didn’t help. I had a couple of avocados out on the counter and one was just ripe. Since avocado has high fat content, I figured it would help bind the ingredients together. I threw in half of an avocado into the processor and ground the ingredients until it reached my desired consistency. I used the rest of the avocado as garnish.

Avocado Garlic Hummus

Ingredients

• 1 Can of garbanzo beans (chick peas)
• 1/2 Avocado
• Juice from 1/2 lemon
• 1 Clove of garlic
• 1/2 Cup of water
• Salt (optional)
• Pepper (optional)

Grind up all ingredients except the water in a food processor. If the consistency is too thick, add a small amount of water until the mixture reaches your desired consistency. Serve as dip or stuff it into a red pepper for a healthy snack.

~Kin

You might think that my fridge is always filled with food. Well, sorry to burst your bubble, I rarely have a fridge full of food. In fact, I do it on purpose because I’m only cooking for one, and I can only cook so much during the week. Besides, there are busy nights when I don’t even get a chance to cook. Having a fridge full of food that I know that I’ll never have a chance to cook is the same as throwing money down the drain. However, with a limited supply of food in the fridge at times, it gives me a chance to be creative and a chance to try out new and odd combinations. Basically, I’ll throw something together with what’s left in the fridge. That’s one of the best things about cooking, randomly throwing stuff together and seeing what the end result is. Sometimes the dish comes out great, and sometimes, not so great. How do you think new dishes are created sometimes? It’s purely accidental!

Salmon w/ Grilled Spinach and Crab Mushroom Salad

What I had left in the fridge:

• Salmon Filet
• Partially used ginger
• 4 Drying scallions
• 1 small shallot
• 1/8 bottle of Soy Sauce
• 2 lemon end pieces
• Garlic
• Small pack of crab mushrooms
• 1/2 bag of spinach
• 1/2 small red onion

How I created the dish:

I diced up 3 scallion stalks, diced up the shallot, minced the ginger, and placed them in a zip lock bag. I put the salmon in the bag and poured in the rest of the soy sauce. I took one of the lemon ends and squeezed the juice into the bag and threw in the lemon as well. I zipped up the bag and let the fish marinate for half an hour. I then grilled the fish on medium heat for about 8 minutes on each side.

Meanwhile, I finely chopped the garlic and set it aside. I cleaned the mushrooms and blanched them in boiling water for about a minute. I then added some oil into a pan and when it got hot enough, I threw in the garlic, spinach, and mushrooms. I added a pinch of pepper and a dash of salt. Then I took the other lemon half and squeezed lemon juice over the spinach. I removed the food from the pan onto a plate. I sliced the red onion into very thing slices and placed it on top of the spinach.

Afterwards, I took whatever leftover scallion and ginger I had left and garnished the fish with it.