Coq au Vin

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Ingredients for Coq Au Vin

Chicken with bacon

Sauteed mushrooms and pearl onions

Flambeeing the chicken

Simmering the chicken in wine

Combining butter and flour

Coq Au Vin

Coq Au Vin

Ingredients:

4 oz bacon

6 tablespoons butter, divided

2 ½ - 3 lbs frying chicken, cut into 8 pieces

¼ cup cognac

3 cups full bodied red wine

1-2 cups brown chicken stock, or canned beef bouillon

½ tablespoon tomato paste

2 cloves mashed garlic

¼ teaspoon thyme

1 bay leaf

12-24 pearl onions, peeled

½ lb mushrooms

3 tablespoons flour

Salt and pepper

Parsley, optional

 

1.  Remove the bacon rind and cut into lardons (1/4” across x 1” long).   Simmer in a pot of water for about 10 minutes.  Rinse in cold water, drain, and set aside.
2. In a large casserole or Dutch oven sauté the bacon slowly in 2 tablespoons butter until very lightly browned.  Set bacon aside.
3. Brown the chicken pieces in the casserole.  Season with salt and pepper.  Return lardons to the casserole.  Cover and cook slowly for about 10 minutes. 
4. Uncover the casserole but have the lid ready.  Pour the cognac into the casserole.  Using a long match or utility lighter, ignite the cognac.  Shake the casserole back and forth several times until the flames subside.
5. Pour the wine into the casserole and add enough stock to cover the chicken.  Stir in the tomato paste, garlic and herbs.  Bring to a boil.  Cover and simmer slowly for 25-30 minutes, or until the chicken is tender.  Remove chicken pieces and set aside.
6. While the chicken is cooking, prepare the mushrooms and onions.  See instructions below.
7. Simmer the chicken cooking liquid in the casserole for a couple of minutes and skim fat.  Raise the heat and bring to a rapid boil.  Reduce the liquid to about 2 ¼ cups.  Turn heat to low, and remove the bay leaf.
8. Soften 2 tablespoons butter and blend with 3 tablespoons flour until it becomes a smooth paste (beurre manié).  Whisk the paste into the hot liquid.  Simmer for another couple of minutes.  The sauce should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon lightly.
9. To serve, arrange the chicken pieces on a platter and surround with the mushrooms and onions.  Pour the sauce over the chicken.  Sprinkle with minced parsley.

 

Sauteéd Mushrooms:

Combine 2 tablespoons butter and 1 tablespoon oil in a skillet.  Place over high heat.  When the butter foam starts to subside, add the mushrooms.  Shake the pan for about 4 minutes.  Remove mushrooms from the pan when they have browned lightly.

 

Sauteéd Onions:

Combine 1 ½ tablespoons butter and 1 ½ tablespoons oil in a skillet over medium heat.  When the mixture starts to bubble, add onions to the pan.  Cook for about 10 minutes, gently rolling the onions so they will brown evenly. 

 

This recipe is adapted from Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume One by Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle and Simone Beck, Knopf 1976.

 

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I made this dish because it is one of the most popular French dishes.  I’ve made other French dishes so this was sort of a rite of passage for me.  I felt that I couldn’t say I’ve cooked French food without having cooked Coq Au Vin!

 

I was excited to make this dish as I imagined how the chicken would taste after having been simmered in stock, cognac and wine.  Yes, there’s that cognac waiting to be lit again!  You’ll notice that the recipe calls for a whole frying chicken but my pictures show several chicken breasts.  Like most recipes, it’s just a matter of preference: my family likes white meat, although I like dark.  You’ll also notice that my bacon/lardons look quite lean.   It’s because this is my homemade bacon which I cut on the thick side.  I’ll teach you how to make bacon in a future post.  

 

I learned something new with this recipe which is how to make beurre manié.  This is what transforms the simmering stock and wine into a velvety sauce.  It is similar to a roux in that they both contain wheat flour and fat, and are used as thickeners.  However, a roux is made at the very start of a dish and oil or lard may be used for the fat, while a beurre manié is made with butter and is incorporated into the dish while it is cooking. 

 

As I was making this dish I imagined Julia Child and her cohorts cooking at L’Ecole Des Trois Gourmandes.  It must have been exhilarating to talk about, develop and test all sorts of classic French dishes.  It must have also been neat to learn different cooking techniques from them.  I was feeling a bit like a gourmande as I cooked the different parts of the dish and then set them aside, and then cook something else and set them aside, and so on.  In the end when everything came together it was sublime!

 

For anyone who wants to learn how to cook French food, I highly recommend getting the book this recipe was based on.  It’s not merely a collection of recipes but a cooking school in print.  Sure there are cooking videos, but reading a recipe step-by-step recipe ensures you won’t miss anything there is to learn. 

 

Merci Julia, Louisette et Simone!

2014 Winter Fancy Food Show

Gorgonzola 






 
Boxes










 
                                                                                  Cacao


                                                                                                        







    France Pavillon










   IndianLife 



           


Italy Pavillon

Jams

                                        

Jose Andres

Locatelli Cheese

Mama Sita's

MangoMango




                                                                         

                         Mexico  Pavillon

Pearl River Chef

Principe Foods

                                                                      

                                                              The Republic of Tea

    Toby with Duff Goldman of Charm City Cakes

                                                          

                                                   Wagyu Beef from Japan

Hello friends, and Happy New Year!

You are probably wondering why I haven’t written in over a month.  No, I didn’t fall off the earth.  I have been busy.  Busy doing research.  In my last blog I told you about the debut of Hummingbird Hill Artisanal Jams.  Since everyone’s response was very positive, we (Ray, Toby and I) have been looking into the possibility of turning this into a serious business.  As with any endeavor, a lot of research, testing and refining is necessary.  My sister-in-law Jeanne suggested that we attend the Fancy Food Show in San Francisco, CA.  And so we did.

I registered the three of us under our company name: Hummingbird Hill Kitchen, last month.  The cost was reasonable at $45 per person.  Registration and confirmation were both online and was quite easy.  We were receiving emails from the organizers and exhibitors prior to the event.  Jeanne and the website both advised us to wear comfortable shoes as there will be over 320,000 square feet of space to cover.  We dressed business casual as this was a convention after all, and not a county fair.

We were giddy with anticipation on the morning of Sunday, January 19 as we walked towards Moscone Center in San Francisco, CA.  People wearing Show badges were walking to and from the Center.  As we entered the lobby area, there was a sea of people checking in to get their badges.  The air was palpable with excitement!  We presented our credentials and were given our “Manufacturer/Producer” badges.  We were official conventioneers.  We descended to the exhibit area where security scanned our badges.  As we walked through the doors we were awed and mesmerized!  There were aisles and aisles of exhibitors, and booth after booth of all kinds of specialty food.  There were about 1300 exhibitors showcasing the latest and best in specialty foods and beverages representing 35 states and countries.  Over two aisles were dedicated to cheese alone!   How I wished the convention were at least a week long.  How else would one be able to sample the 80,000 products on offer?  Yes, you read right – eighty thousand!

Our game plan for the first day was to just look at everything and scope out exhibitors we would want to speak with.  Well you can’t just “look” and walk by all that yummy food.  Exhibitors were literally calling our name to try their products.  I never thought I’d say no to cheese and salumi but after about a hundred bites, I sadly declined offers but promised I’d come back.  The variety of these specialty foods was staggering!  There were new exhibitors who proudly showed their single product, and there were large established companies who beckoned you with over twenty products.  Very interesting to see were the pavilions from Italy, Spain, Philippines, Argentina, Turkey,  Japan, Greece, Ecuador, UK and Peru.  There were over twenty product categories such as baby food, baked goods, beverages, condiments, confectionary, dairy & eggs, food services, frozen, grain/cereal/pasta, sauces/seasonings, oils, seafood, snacks, soups, spreads & syrups, vegetables/fruits, vinegars, etc.  Needless to say, our game plan to see everything that first day didn’t work out.  There were simply too many things to see…and sample!  Unlike your typical Las Vegas buffet where you stuff yourself within an hour, this was an eating marathon that stretched from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM.  Some samples were dainty little morsels of cheese chiseled from a 2 foot wheel of Italian parmesan or pecorino romano, others were sauces or salsas on spoons or chips, others were miniature tarts/quiches/ pastries, and others were full sized bottles of beverages or ice cream bars.  The most opulent sample someone handed me was a small plate of San Daniele prosciutto (14 months and 16 months), mortadella, bresaola and speck which I walked around with savoring the different flavors.  Speaking of prosciutto, I’ve never been surrounded by so many artisanal hams both from Parma and San Daniele.   The meat had an even red color and was rich in flavor without too much salt, while the fat was creamy and luscious!  A fellow attendee commented that I’d better eat the samples or the plate might get snatched from my hand. 

The second day was more of the same: looking and sampling.  We visited with members of the Philippine delegation and I remarked how pleased I was with their presence.  We were proud of some of their new innovative products and are considering how to partner with them.  We visited suppliers of jars, boxes and labels.  On the third day we spoke to two co-packers and learned a little bit of how we would relate to them.

We went to San Francisco with many questions about the jam business.  We came back with more questions about other avenues we would like to explore.  The show filled our tummies with exceptionally made food, and planted seeds of new ideas in our brains.  We have a lot to digest.

Spicy Persimmon & Ginger Beef Stir-fry

Ingredients for Spicy Persimmon & Ginger Beef Stir-Fry
 

Searing the beef
 

Colorful, mildly sweet and spicy beef

Most of you know that I have been making jam for a little while now.  This is something I learned from my awesome sister-in-law, Jeanne while visiting her up in Northern California.  After getting down the basics, I decided to try making jam with uncommon fruits.  Uncommon to jam-making , that is.    Since my mother loves persimmons I chose that to be my first step in canning outside of the box. 

I have gone beyond persimmons since then and I’ll share my adventures in future posts.  This Spicy Persimmon & Ginger Beef Stir Fry is one of the first recipes my son, Toby, and I have collaborated on.  Most of the ingredients as well as the technique are basic, but the addition of chile pepper flakes and persimmon jam gives this dish an updated exciting taste.

 

Spicy Persimmon & Ginger Beef Stir Fry

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons oil

2 teaspoons garlic, minced

1 tablespoon ginger, mince

½  teaspoon chile pepper flakes, or more to taste

2 lbs London broil or other lean cut of beef

3 medium carrots peeled, sliced diagonally

½ cup rice wine

1 leek, white and light green parts sliced ¼” horizontally

1 cup sliced green onions

8 tablespoons Hummingbird Hill Persimmon Jam

 

On high heat sauteé garlic, ginger and chile pepper flakes until fragrant.  Add beef and let cook until just a little bit pink.  Allow juices to evaporate, or remove with a spoon, leaving no more than 1 tablespoon.  Add carrots and 1 ½ tablespoons rice wine.  Stir fry until all the liquid has been absorbed.  Add leeks and scallions.  Add more rice wine if meat and vegetables begin sticking to pan.  Add 8 tablespoons Hummingbird Hill Persimmon Jam and stir to coat beef slices.  Cook another 3 minutes.  Remove from heat and serve immediately.

 

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I used a cut of beef called London Broil because it is lean and uniform in size but any other lean cut will work.  Placing the beef in the freezer for about 30 minutes prior to slicing and using a very sharp knife aids in achieving thin slices.  The essence of stir frying is to cook food very quickly over high heat.  Thus it is imperative to have all the ingredients ready and prepped beforehand, and have them lined up close to the wok.  As soon as the wok is very hot, pour a thin line of room temperature oil down the side of the wok.  Sautéeing the dry aromatic ingredients like garlic, ginger and chile pepper flakes first infuses the oil which will later flavor the meat.  Toby, in his artistic and perhaps Le Cordon Bleu-trained way laid the beef slices one by one flat against the wall of wok to sear them.  Chinese cooks would probably toss the whole lot into the wok!  When Toby saw that there seemed to be a lot of juice from the beef accumulating at the bottom of the wok, he removed most of it to prevent the meat from steaming.  We want them seared after all! 

You will notice that my carrots are crinkly.  I use a crinkle cutter to add dimension and texture to my vegetables.  The crevices are also a good place for the yummy sauce to cling to.  Although this is a stir-fry, liquid is added to prevent the ingredients from sticking to the wok.  Rather than using water, I use alcohol or broth to add flavor.  And finally, the jam is added last to prevent it from caramelizing too much and burning in the hot wok. 

None of the flavors overpowered each other; everything came together well.  The persimmon jam’s sweetness is the first to hit your taste buds, followed by rich beefy flavor tempered by the sweet leeks, and then you get little (or a lot!) explosions from the chile pepper flakes.  You calm your mouth down with steamed white rice, and then it craves more of that scrumptious flavor, and the cycle starts all over again. 

Stay tuned to more recipes using our extraordinary jams. 

What would you use Hummingbird Hill Persimmon Jam for?

Hummingbird Hill Kitchen Artisanal Jams

Hummingbird Hill - a virtual French cafe

Our delicacies in front of the Louvre.

                                                                                 

                                                                                

                                                                                 

                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                     English Scones

       Macadamia Mango Cheesecake
                                                                                                    
                                                                                                               Macadamia Persimmon Bars

Macadamia Mango Cheesecake with Toasted Coconut
                                                                                
                                                                                   Passion Fruit, Plum Sage, Meyer Lemon Curd, Persimmon


I want to share something very special with all of you: the debut of Hummingbird Hill Jams. As you may know I’ve been making jams for about a year now thanks to my awesome sister-in-law and culinary creator, Jeanne.  Right away I decided to make unusual jams; flavors you don’t normally see in grocery stores.  The first unconventional flavor I made was persimmon because my mom loves persimmons.  By having persimmon jam, she could enjoy this flavor throughout the year, not just November through January. 

There were so many fruits to try!  I was making so much jam I couldn’t give them away fast enough!  Around the middle of the year several of my college friends and I had a get-together.  We usually get together about once a year or whenever someone is in town.  So anyway, I gave them jars of jam, too.  A few weeks later one of my BFFs, Ray, called to tell me he’s gained a lot of weight because of the jams.  My question was, “But did you like them?”  His response was an overwhelming YES!  He was delighted about the unusual flavors, and in particular about the jackfruit jam.  Jackfruit, or langka as it is known in the Philippines, is a tropical fruit native to South and Southeast Asia.  It is also found in parts of Africa and the Caribbean.  The jam captures the jackfruit’s essence so completely that you will be transported to the tropics!  We talked about the potential of these jams and he encouraged me to keep experimenting. 

In August my son, Toby and I met with Ray to kick ideas around about jams and food in general.  Ray told me to read food blogs.  I asked, “What is a blog?”  After his explanation, Ray suggested I look into writing one myself.  After “looking” into it, I realized the only way to learn it is to jump in feet first.  My other sister-in-law who is equally awesome and creative in other ways, Marie, told me all about her blog.  The next day I had a blog called KitchenCanDo.  So I took pictures and wrote posts.  Along the way, we decided on Hummingbird Hill as our name, and the blog changed accordingly.  It looked like we were going to go into business.  Another of my BFFs, Rose Mary, told me about Cottage Food Operations, a newly passed bill in California where people can legally make food in their home kitchens to sell to the public.  It may be legal but it is by no means easy.  In the meantime, I played around with more flavors and recipes, and Ray, Toby and I honed the look of our jams.

This past weekend we had the opportunity to participate in my parish’s Christmas Market.  This was going to be a litmus test for our products.  We went into it without any expectations. Ray’s car was packed to the hilt with props, and it took us a few hours to set up our booth.  As you can see from the pictures, we had a virtual French café complete with bistro tables and chairs.  My jams were on a pedestal in their handsome new jars and sleek (and chic) labels!  Some of Ray’s world famous decadent desserts were served, this time infused with our jams.  The table was laden with our goodies, and set in front of a painting of the Louvre done by Toby. 

So how was the response you ask?  Well, it was simply wonderful!!  People grazed on our samples and drank our tea.  They were bowled over by our display!  Many commented they felt like they were in Europe!  People sat at the tables eating their goodies, chatting amiably with other parishioners.  Others asked about our products and remarked at how delicious they were.  A few people even asked if we cater.  Yes, we do!  We can bring our display to your party, we told them.  We can do just a dessert table, a tea party, a luncheon, or whatever you want.  We are caterers and party planners.   

Our current lineup of preserves is: Jackfruit Jam, Kiwi Jam, Mango Jam, Meyer Lemon Curd, Passion Fruit Jam, Persimmon Jam, and Plum Sage Jam.  And as you can see in the pictures, we have delectable cakes and pastries. 

We wish to thank everyone that believes in us, supports our vision, and has helped us in any way.  I urge you to tune in frequently to see our progress, and hopefully someday soon we will meet at Hummingbird Hill. 

Hui Guo Rou (Stir-fried Pork Belly with Chinese Chives)

Sliced cooked pork with other ingredients

Paste, black bean sauce and sweet bean sauce in hong you.

Hui Guo Rou

A couple of months ago (September 3, 2013) I posted a piece about Hong You, or Sichuan Red Chile Oil.  While spicy, it isn’t really a condiment by itself.  Rather, it is a key ingredient in many Sichuan dishes like Lu Rou (Triple-Cooked Spareribs with Chiles) and Mapo Tofu (Sichuan Tofu and Ground Beef in Red Chile Sauce).  You are probably familiar with Mapo Tofu as it is a staple in most Chinese restaurants.  The question is, do they use Hong You? 

I decided to make the following dish because spicy crispy pork belly sounded divine!  I also had an extra slab of pork belly from when I made bacon.  This is adapted from a recipe in Saveur (March 2013).

Hui Guo Rou (Stir-fried Pork Belly with Chinese Chives)

Ingredients:       1 ½ lbs skin-on pork belly

                                2 cups cooking oil

                                1/3 cup hong you (Sichuan red chile oil)

                                2 tablespoons douban jiang (Chinese red chile bean paste)

                                2 tablespoons dou chi (Chinese fermented black soybeans)

                                4 teaspoons tian mian jiang (Chinese sweet bean paste)

                                1 teaspoon sugar

                                10 suan miao (Chinese chives, blossoms discarded) or scallions, sliced into 1”  pieces

 

1.        Bring pork and 12 cups water to a boil in a 6-qt. saucepan over high heat.  Reduce to medium-low heat and cover.  Cook until pork is tender when pierced with a fork, 1 – 1 ½ hours.  Transfer pork to an ice bath.  Drain and dry completely with paper towels.  Slice very thinly crosswise into ¼” pieces and set aside. 

2.       Heat cooking oil in a wok or large pot.  The same 6-qt. sauce pan may be used.  When temperature reaches 350°F, add pork slices.  Be ready with the saucepan cover as oil will splatter.  Cook the pork until slightly crisp, 5-10 minutes.  Using a slotted spoon, transfer pork to a bowl lined with a paper towel.  Set aside.

3.       Discard cooking oil.  Add red chile oil to wok and heat over medium-high heat.  Add paste, beans, sauce and sugar.  Be ready with the pan lid as oil will splatter.  Cook, stirring constantly until sugar dissolves, about 1 minute.  Add reserved pork and chives.  Cook, stirring constantly until chives have wilted, about 3 minutes.  Serve with rice.

 

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I cooked the pork up to step 1 then froze it as I didn’t have the other ingredients on hand.  When I finally got everything together, I thawed the pork and dried each slice with a paper towel.  Then I started cooking the rice.  The house smelled heavenly as the pork was frying!  I almost couldn’t wait.  Then the smell became pungent when I added the paste, beans and sauce.  The moment was fast approaching!  In went the pork and chives.  It only took a couple of minutes for the chives to wilt and the pork to be coated with the spicy mixture.  The rice was already waiting expectantly on the plate.  While I was turning off the heat with one hand, my other hand was spooning several pork slices onto the rice.  Then oooohhhh, mmmmm, yummmmm! 

The pork provided a satisfying crunch, the sauce was piquant, salty and a little sweet, while the rice was the perfect vehicle for the whole taste experience.   Remember what I wrote last time about Sichuan peppercorns which are present in most Sichuan food?  Compounds in Sichuan peppercorns activate the nerves in our mouth and produce a tingling sensation.  That is the ma effect.  The capsaicin in chiles then kicks in with the spiciness which is the la effect.  Thus Sichuan dishes have that one-two punch. 

Although this dish had a lot of heat I was seeking, I found it a little on the salty side.  So for those of you who are a bit sensitive to salt, cut the bean paste and fermented soy beans to 1 ½ tablespoons each.  And do keep that saucepan lid handy.  You don’t have to clamp the lid down, just lay it on the pan slightly askew.  Otherwise you’re going to have oil all over the place.  You’re going to want to eat this as soon as it is cooked, not be cleaning up a greasy mess. 

I thought it was so good I had it 2 meals in a row!  While the rest of my family was eating pork chops and mac ‘n cheese, I was savoring my Hui GuoRou!

So what is one of the most anticipated dishes you ever made?

 

Steak Au Poivre

Steaks coated with ground pepper

Steaks sauteeing in butter

Flambeeing with Cognac

Steak Au Poivre

 

 

 

 

Steak au Poivre

Ingredients:

 4 7-oz fillet steaks

2 tablespoons oil

6 tablespoons black peppercorns, crushed

1 ½ oz butter

3 tablespoons Cognac

¼ cup white wine

½ cup heavy cream

 

1.        Rub steaks on both sides with the oil and press the crushed peppercorns into the meat.  Melt the butter in a large frying pan and cook the steaks for 2-4 minutes on each side, or to desired doneness.

2.       Add the Cognac and flambé by lighting the pan with a match.  Stand back when you do this and have a pan lid in case of a flare up.  Put the steaks on a hot plate.  Add the wine to the pan and boil, stirring, for 1 minute to deglaze the pan.  Add the cream and stir for 1-2 minutes.  Season and pour over the steaks.

 

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In 1983 my parents celebrated their 30^th wedding anniversary by taking our entire family to a fancy restaurant for dinner.  As I was enamored with the French language at the time I decided to practice by ordering the Steak au Poivre.  I don’t know whether it was the waiter’s ignorance or the background chatter going on but what I got wasn’t Steak au Poivre.  So when I saw this recipe I had to make it.  I’ve waited 30 years to taste this dish!

I thought that the steaks were merely coated with crushed/ground pepper.  I was surprised to read that they are fried in butter and flambéed.  Oh goody, another chance to flambé something!! 

Oh, it was delicious!  Frying crushed peppercorns on the meat mellowed out its spicy bite.  The steaks were tender, and the creamy sauce was velvety.  Definitely something to have again!