Last night we spent a lovely evening with a friend we had not seen in forever. She is from Sicily originally, and understands the value of great food as well as quality ingredients. And she knows wine. Fortunately, I had a few days to plan our menu, a subject I approached by deciding what I would not make, which was anything even vaguely resembling Italian cuisine. No point creating unnecessary stress, on both of us.
So, what did that leave? Nothing too heavy, foods appropriate to summer and the available fresh produce. Glancing at my cookbook shelf, I spotted the Momofuku cookbook - and remembered the fried chicken recipe within.
Daunting may be a theme here. Most recipes in this book are actually a compilation of multiple recipes, or multiple cooking approaches, making the cooking more of a journey than a task. The up side is bold, unique flavors, using the occasional unfamiliar ingredient.
So, the menu. A traditional summer picnic, Momofuku style:
Fried chicken
Cherry Tomato Salad with soft tofu & shiso
Roasted Sweet Summer Corn with miso butter, bacon and roast onions
Fried Chicken
4 cups lukewarm water
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c kosher salt
3-3 1/2 lb chicken cut into quarters
4 c neutral cooking oil (I used veg oil)
Octo Vinaigrette (yup - recipe within a recipe)
1. Combine water, sugar, and salt. Add chicken in a sealed container. Refrigerate for 1-6 hours. Turn the chicken occasionally to distribute the brine.
2. Drain the chicken. Steam the chicken for 40 minutes(keep an eye on the chicken - if it feels done take it out - I would go shorter next time - some of the white meat was a bit dry, over med heat, leaving the lid on the steamer slightly ajar. Let the chicken cool then refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight.
3. Remove from the fridge at least 30 before frying.
4. Heat oil in fryer to 375 degrees. Oil should be deep enough to submerge the chicken. Fry til golden 6-8 min. Drain on a paper towel lined plate.
5. Cut into pieces. Toss with the vinaigrette ( recipe below), and serve hot.
Octo Vinaigrette . You can use this on anything - it's that good.
2 Tbsn finely chopped garlic
2 Tbsn finely chopped ginger
1/4 tspn pickled chiles
1/4 c rice wine vinegar
1/4 c light soy sauce
2 Tbsn neutral oil
1/4 tspn sesame oil
1 1/2 Tbsn sugar
Black pepper
If you have the time and inclination, this is a great recipe. All the prep is ahead of time, with just the frying at the end.
Now on to the sides.
Cherry Tomato Salad
Ingredients:
12 oz of silken tofu drained
(I completely understand the addition of tofu - like mozzarella, the idea is to neutralize the acid from the tomatoes. However, if you use really flavorful cherry tomatoes, honestly, it is not necessary. It is an absolute pleasure to have that explosion of tomato and vinaigrette in your mouth, with nothing to dull it. Your choice, of course)
2 pints of cherry tomatoes
GOOD ONES!!! DON'T SKIMP HERE
1/4 c sherry vinegar
1 Tbsn light soy sauce
1 tspn sesame oil
1/2 c neutral oil ( I used olive oil)
Kosher salt and pepper
6 shiso leaves thinly sliced
To find shiso, a relative of basil with a different flavor, I went to my Japanese market. They did not have fresh shiso leaves, so the Owner pointed me to a package, completely in Japanese. When I opened it to appeared to be the dried remnants of something that bore no resemblance to the pictures in the book. It had a slightly peppery flavor, so a used it anyway. I have no idea what it was. Probably not shiso.
Recipe:
1. Cut the tofu block in half. Using a 2" ring mold, cut cylinders of tofu out. Carefully slice those cylinders in half to produce eight thin rounds of tofu.
2. Bring a saucepan of salted water to a boil. Prepare an ice bath in a large mixing bow. Cut an small x in the bottom of 2/3 of the tomatoes. Drop them in batched into the water for 10 sec then pull out with a slotted spoon and place in the ice bath to cool.slip off the skins. Put them in the fridge for 10 min to cool.
3. Cut the remaining tomatoes in half.
4. Stir together the vinegar, soy sauce, and oils in a mixing bowl. Add all the tomatoes and toss to coat.
5. To serve, place two tofu rounds in a shallow bowl, sprinkle with salt. Top with 1/2 c of tomatoes/sauce and sprinkle with salt, pepper and top with shiso leaves.
This is pretty, delicious and actually quick to make. I recommend this one!
Roasted Sweet Corn
Finally, the corn. This is a very complicated recipe, that I am going to simplify significantly. No picture - it was not a pretty dish. (There's no picture in the book either, apparently David Chang doesn't think it's pretty either). With that said, the flavor is pretty spectacular.
1. Combine 2 Tbsn of shiro (white miso) and 2 Tbsn unsalted butter. Make sure you mix it so it is one color, not streaky. Take a taste - you will want to put it on everything.
2. Slice a large sweet onion thinly. Heat 2 Tbsn oil over med high heat for 1 1/2 min. Add onions. Don't touch them at all for three minutes. Then add a pinch of salt and turn them gently. Let the onions alone to cook another 4 minutes it so, then turn the pile and reduce the heat to med low. Turn every 10 minutes for a total of 45 minutes. The object is carmelized but not dried out or burned. Keep an eye on them, they should be soft and golden. Put aside to cool.
3. Cook six slices of smoky bacon in a skillet until lightly crisp - do not overcook. Drain on paper towels and remove the fat from the pan.
4. Add 1 Tbsn oil and heat on high till it smokes. Add 4 cups fresh corn kernels. Sauté 3-4 minutes till the kernels turn yellow and start to brown. If they start to pop, reduce the heat.
5. Add the bacon and onions to the corn. Add miso butter, 1/2 c chicken broth ( the recipe really calls for ramen broth, an all day adventure that combines the flavors of seaweed, shiitakes, chicken, pork, bacon and vegetables. And I'm sure it added dimension to my dish, but for only half a cup, seriously, chicken broth is fine.), a pinch of salt and pepper. Glaze the corn mixture with butter and broth by stirring for a minute or two.
6. Serve warm with sliced scallions on top.
All in all, not a bad showing. And the likelihood of a pasta making session in my future. Life is good.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Rockville, MD
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