I’ve been craving Sichuan since my favorite Sichuan Restaurant closed. The people there were nice and all the food tasted great. It was just like eating in a foreign land to me. The people eating there spoke a different language and all the food was nothing like I had anywhere else. The Sichuan dishes that they offered were made with Sichuan Peppercorns that do have an additive quality. Although those peppercorns are not hot they do numb the mouth so you can enjoy and tolerate more heat in your food. You enjoy spicy more and you crave spicy more.

I don’t know how to cook Sichuan so I look to others for their recipes.

The Hirshon Sichuan Mouthwatering Chicken by The Generalissimo I came across (www.TheFoodDictator.com) sounded like a really great one so I decided to try it. I had all the ingredients for it except the essential Sichuan Green Pepper Oil. I figured the dish has enough going on in it so for I felt I could leave the small amount of that one ingredient out. I also didn’t use the optional suggested garnish thousand year oil eggs after all it was OPTIONAL and I honestly don’t think I’d enjoy thousand year old duck eggs. I know what they are.

This recipe is special and uses many special ingredients and I thought was too much work for working with two pounds of chicken so I doubled the recipe and used four pounds. I didn’t want to serve it with non-crispy skin on the bone like it normally is served so I removed the meat from the bone and the skin. The chicken comes out with a unique silken texture and leaves a delicious chicken broth that you can use in many ways. This is a full flavored dish but I didn’t find it so fiery with heat as Sichuan Dishes normally are possibly due to leaving out the essential Sichuan Green Pepper Oil. (Sorry Food Dictator I know that was a slight fail on my part) Or possibly due to the dried peppers not being as fresh as I want them to be. I also note I never ordered Sichuan Mouth Watering Chicken before so this dish also may not be meant to be as spicy as other Sichuan Dishes I tried before. I advise to prepare the recipe as written and if you desire more heat keep a blend of red chili flakes mixed with crushed heated Sichuan Peppercorns on the side and sprinkle  on to your liking.

This recipe makes about seven servings.

First you need to make the Sichuan Chili Oil (You need all but 6 tablespoons for the sauce that you make latter)

1 cup oil

2 bay leaves

6 dried chili pods

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

2 star anise

2 slices ginger

Heat all this up in a sauce pan. I brought it to a boil and then reduced to simer and let it go about 10 minutes and let it sit till it cooled. Pick out the spices and add……

2 Tablespoons chili powder

1 teaspoon 5 spice powder (that I made fresh 2 teaspoons heated Szechun peppercorns (you need to heat them till they smell fragrant or turn a slightly darker color), 8 star anise 1/2 teaspoon cloves, 1 Tablespoon cinnamon, 1 Tablespoon fennel seeds – this all gets ground up)

1 1/2 teaspoons ground Sichuan pepper

1 Tablespoon sesame seeds

Mix well and put a side

Now for the Chicken

4 lbs chicken on the bone with skin either breast or whole legs

2 Tablespoons shaoxing wine or dry sherry

4 scallions cut up

4 Tablespoons grated ginger

2 teaspoons kosher salt

Directions

Place your chicken in a pot and add water till the chicken is covered. Add the seasonings. Heat up your pot to a medium boil and boil the chicken for eight minutes.

Then turn off the heat, cover the pot and let it sit twenty minutes. Start gathering lots of ice because you need to make a really big ice and water bath to chill the chicken and after about 15 minutes of chilling you will need to replace most of the melted ice with new ice. Picture below shows lots of ice that melted quickly. The Food Dictator states that the chicken must soak in the water and ice bath for at least an hour.

Now you prepare the sauce

10 Tablespoons Sichuan Chili Oil that you made

2 Tablespoons Sichuan pepper oil (green oil)

4 Tablespoons black zhenjiang vinegar

2 Tablespoons sesame oil (Kadoyo Brand is suggested)

4 Tablespoons shaoxing rice wine

1 teaspoon sugar

2 pinch salt

2 Tablespoons soy sauce

4 garlic cloves smashed

1 Tablespoon green onions minced

Finish with

3 thousand year old duck eggs chopped (optional)

Fresh Cilantro

toasted peanuts

toasted sesame seeds

The end result is very tasty. The next time I might prepare this kind of chicken in a Sous Vide to get the same result a little easier. It will be easier in a Sous Vide because it will be easier to pull the meat off a Sous Vide Chicken than from water bath chilled Chicken.

I also saved the broth from the chicken and used it to cook rice.  I also had enough left for soup.

 

This recipe is adapted from Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi. Spiced Chickpea and Vegetable Salad ….well sort of.  I changed it so much I’m not sure……The short story is that I kept the seasons for the chickpeas from their recipe.

The long story is…….

Instead of using dried chickpeas like in the recipe I used low sodium Canned Chickpeas because in my area dried beans are often old and an old bean never gets tender (this happens about 50% of the time). I’ve found that the low sodium canned beans don’t have that strong canned taste like regular canned beans so they aren’t the best but they are ok I do note the farmers market dried beans are the best and come out creamy and very sweet but often I miss small rocks that are mixed in and I FORKING HATE small rocks in my beans and that is the reason I am partial to canned low sodium beans.

I had this very sweet tasting purple daikon radish that I thought would be great with the cucumbers I had. I didn’t have the red bell pepper or the tomatoes to make the original recipe so I left them out. I thought the salad needed another element so I added chopped apple for balance and texture.

Other changes I made were that I like to use less oil and increase the lemon juice. I made a home made cheese that came out similar to fresh feta cheese and I thought it embellished the salad well. You might like to garnish yours with a little feta cheese.

Ingredients for 8 servings

2 English cucumbers diced

1 1/2 cup radish diced (I used sweet giant purple daikon)

2 small apples pealed and diced

1/2 sweet onion diced

1/2 cup parsly chopped

15oz can reduced sodium chickpeas drained and rinsed well

1 teaspoon cardamon

1 1/2 teaspoon allspice

1 teaspoon cumin

2 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1/4 teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt

1 lemon zest and juice

3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 garlic clove minced

1 1/2 Tablespoons sherry vinegar

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Directions set your oven to 350 degrees F

Combine your cucumber, radish, onion, apple and parsley in a big bowl and set to the side.

In a medium sized bowl toss your chickpeas with 2 Tablespoons of oil, cardamon, allspice, cumin, and the 1/4 teaspoon salt. Get a sheet pan and place chickpea mixture on a baking sheet and toast the chickpeas for about 25 minutes till they get a slight crispness to them. Set to the side.

Either mix up the remaining ingredients in a small bowl and combine everything or keep the chickpeas on the side and garnish like croutons to keep the chickpeas crisper.

Serve with feta cheese if desired.  I thought the flavors were best after a couple days.

 

 

 

 

Everybody does make kofta’s different. Basically a kofta is a meatball or meatloaf. It’s usually but not always beef, pork or lamb or a combination. Kofta’s may also be vegetarian made. The basic seasonings for a Middle Eastern Style kofta are onion, parsley, allspice, black pepper and salt. Just about any cooking method can be used.

If you were eating a kofta right now somewhere in the Middle East most likely it might be made from ground lamb and cooked over live coals on a stick. Lamb and poultry are popular meats in the Middle East as they don’t have the room for raising cows and pork is forbidden to practicing Muslims and Jews so you won’t forking find pig there.

I decided I wanted to make a roasted style kofta because I don’t often cook on charcoal but I note charcoal would be tastier. I didn’t want to use lamb so I used beef because in America beef is popular.

I used kosher beef for a few reasons. #1 kosher beef taste much better and is cleaner.  Only non- diseased animals are used and all meat is inspected unlike randomly inspected regular meat.  #2  kosher beef might be fecal free. I’m not liking about what I read on consumer reports about grocery store purchased ground beef. I know kosher beef is only from the front quarter of the cow and I imagine it is most likely free of fecal mater.

I read contradicting information about Halal beef. According to Wikipedia all parts are used. But I also read on other websites such as www.TheKitchn.com that only the front quarter is used.

These koftas I made are very juicy and flavorful….For this recipe I also added my unique spin to insure a moist juicy kofta. I didn’t add bread or crumbs but did use egg to combine and my trick is adding some water to the mixture. It works every time. The formula is perfect for this recipe. If you change it it’s not my fault if it doesn’t come out. The koftas aren’t mushy and are  juicy, nicely browned and delicious.

I wanted to make a very juicy kofta so the mixture happens to comes  out real soft so I thought it would be best to use a pastry bag to shape them.

Most restaurants serve beef kofta with a simple garlic sauce made from olive oil, lemon, garlic and salt and other restaurants serve beef kofta with hummus. I didn’t bother with sauce because they are flavorful enough and juicy.

 

Ingredients for four servings set oven to 350 degrees F

1 lb. ground beef (85% kosherAngus)

1 cup sweet onion  grated

2 garlic cloves minced

3/4 cup fresh parsley chopped

1 hot pepper chopped fine or a fresno if you are a wimp

1/3 teaspoon cinnamon

1/3 teaspoon allspice

1 XL egg beaten

2 teaspoons ground black pepper

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1/4 cup water

Nonstick cooking spray

Directions

Mix all your ingredients till combined. Spray your baking sheet(s) with nonstick spray. I used a disposable pastry bag, cut the end and rolled back the end and filled about 3/4s with meat mixture.

On two small baking sheets I squirted out 8 1/2 squiggled keftas. In my oven they took only 15 minutes to cook.

I served them with a rice like nutty tasting grain called freekeh that also only takes 15 minutes to cook. The perfect amount of freekeh to use is 1 cup freekeh, 2 1/2 cups water 1 teaspoon salt. I also added one crushed clove of garlic, a shredded carrot, a small chopped tomato and about 1/4 cup of scallions. I also served the dinner with some vegetables.

 

 

 

This recipe is adapted from Food Network Magazine.

Pots de Creme is the ultimate chocolate pudding. If you like chocolate you will forking love this recipe. It’s dense and smooth and so chocolatey. I’ve found that this is a crowd pleaser. It’s the best forking chocolate pudding in the whole world kind of chocolate pudding. You can make Pots de Creme in an oven with a water bath but this recipe I like better.  I slightly changed this recipe from Food Network Magazine. I found that this is the best way to make Pots de Creme because it’s fool prof and anybody can make this indulgent delicious dessert.

Ingredients makes about 8 servings

12 oz semi sweet chocolate chopped or just use semi sweet chocolate chips and purchase a quality brand

1 1/2 cups whole milk

1 cup heavy cream

6 extra large egg yolks

5 Tablespoons sugar

1/4 teaspoon kosher or sea salt

Directions

Put chocolate in a container that holds your blending wand or a blender. Whisk milk, cream, yolks and sugar in a sauce pan over medium heat until thickened and almost boiling. Pour mixture over the chocolate and blend. Pour into cups and chill in refrigerator over night.

You want to serve these topped with whipped cream. I found that guest prefer to use a can of Ready Whip but for home use you will want to prepare your own fresh whipped cream.

You only need 1/2 cup heavy cream and 1 Tablespoon 10x sugar and just whip it. Wa la Whipped Cream!

It’s normally served in a coffee kind of cup but I only have 4 because I don’t drink coffee so…. I think Espresso Cups would be idea to use.

According to Yahoo under their Master Class Recipes They Claim that this is Chef Thomas Keller’s Favorite Pickle Recipe. The recipe is actually by Betty Breeden who is the grandmother of  The French Laundry’s Chef de Cuisine David Breeden.

Chef Keller’s Restaurants have been using this recipe for a number of years now and now you can too!

Any who it goes like this…

Ingredients for about 10 servings

4 cups water

1 cup white vinegar

1/4 cup sugar

1 Tablespoon yellow mustard seeds

1 Tablespoon tellicherry peppercorns

1 teaspoon chili flakes

1 teaspoon allspice

1 teaspoon star anise

1 teaspoon coriander

2 celery stalk to fit in jar

4 garlic cloves -pealed and cut in halves

3 sprigs dill

2 lbs. cucumbers- washed well with blossom ends cut off.

Directions

In large pot bring water, vinegar, sugar and salt to a boil staring to dissolve sugar and salt. Add remaining ingredients and steep for 30 minutes. Pour over cucumbers and let sit 5 days but best after 3 weeks.

We’ll see how it comes out!

I taste them after 5 days. These pickles are uniquely flavored. Kind of complex. The spices hit you first. The garlic and pepper hit you afterwards. They are nothing like a dill pickle. Very uniquely flavored. Don’t think they will be around for three weeks.

 

 

I wasn’t sure about what to call this sauce but I discovered it’s quite good with eggs, fish and cheesy potatoes so I just forking called it green sauce that is good with eggs, potatoes and fish. It’s very tasty with a little heat but not much heat. You can easily make it hotter by adding a jalapeno to this recipe but that will unbalance the seasonings.

This is an easy sauce to make. I had some extra fresh prepared seasoned spinach and onions, A roasted poblano pepper, fresh cilantro, lemon and a few spices, oil and just whipped it up.

Ingredients for 6 large servings

2 cups seasoned prepared fresh spinach and onions

1 large roasted poblano pepper – skin, seeds and stem removed – rough chopped

1/4 cup fresh cilantro – rough chopped

1 lemon – just the fresh squeezed juice

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Directions – just blend it up and heat to use.

This just was an easy to make healthy and tasty sauce.

The lemon cucumber is the best cucumber you ever tasted. It’s so sweet and crispy. This recipe will NOT forking work with any other cucumber.

I love the smell of lemon verbena

and I thought these special lemon cucumbers would make a delicious light refreshing salad paired with fresh squeezed lemon, lemon verbena and crisp sweet apple. The recipe is very simplistic. I want the ingredients to shine.

Ingredients for about 6 servings

7 lemon cucumbers (no need to peal but trim the flower ends) sliced in chip shapes

1 honey crisp apple – pealed, cored, sliced in chip shapes

1 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (about three lemons)

8 lemon verbena leaves finely chopped

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup rice wine vinegar

1 Tablespoon kosher salt

Directions

Place your cucumbers and apples in a large bowl. In a small pan slowly bring the rest of ingredients to a boil and let simmer around five minutes. Pour mixture over the cucumbers and apples and refrigerate over night.

This salad is delicious and so light. I think everyone would like it.

These beans I’m told by several people are just amazing. They are very rich and luxurious. The secret ingredient is chicken fat that you save from your roasted chicken. Only chicken fat can give that deep intense  taste that is the backbone to this dish. Also instead of adding salt I use chicken base and think of it as chicken flavored salt for more flavor. The taste with the beans, spices with tomato and chicken is almost like pasta fagioli. This is one of those recipes that I don’t usually measure but made a point this time to measure.

I also make this dish slightly different because that depends on what I have in my pantry. Last time I used canned Italian tomatoes in this dish and this time I used fresh roasted tomatoes.

I’ve made these beans often using local dried beans from the farmer’s market. Those are the only dry beans that come out well all the time. Often the beans from any store are old and an old bean will never be tender. Although the farmer’s market beans are by far the best I ever cooked I went with the second best bean, the low sodium canned varieties. I had one problem with the farmer market’s beans and they are always packed with small stones and I always miss a few. I don’t want to damage my teeth or anyones so I went with low sodium beans because they taste the best of the canned beans.

Ingredients for 20 small servings

1/2 onion chopped fine

3 garlic cloves smashed

6 hot/sweet cherry peppers chopped fine (maybe 4 if you don’t want heat)

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup chicken fat

1/4 cup flour

3 cups chicken stock

1 6.2oz. can tomato paste

2 15.5 cans reduced sodium cannelloni beans rinsed well and drained

1 15.5 oz. can reduced sodium garbanzo beans rinsed well and drained

1 15.5 oz. can reduced sodium pinto beans rinsed well and drained

1/2 cup roasted bell peppers chopped

1 cup (heaping) roasted tomatoes – rough chopped

2 15.5 cans of large  butter beans rinsed well and drained

1 15.5 can reduce sodium cannelloni beans rinsed well and drained

1 15.5 can reduce sodium kidney beans rinsed well and drained

1 15.5 can reduce sodium garbanzo beans rinsed well and drained

2 teaspoons reduced sodium all natural chicken base ( I use better than bullion brand) (this is instead of salt)

1/4 cup dry white wine

1 Tablespoon pluss 1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary

1 Tablespoon dried basil

1 Tablespoon savory

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper (cut to 1/4 if you don’t want heat)

1 Tablespoon sugar

Directions

In your medium/large sauce on medium high heat add your, onion, cherry peppers, and olive oil after a minute or two add your garlic and cook a few minutes till onions are translucent. Remove mixture from pot and set  to the side. Add your chicken fat and flour and cook till it bubbles. Whip in the chicken stock, tomato paste, 2 cans cannelloni beans, garbanzo beans and pinto beans and blend this all up with your stick mixer. Bring this to a slow boil. Next is adding everything else you have left. Lower heat slightly and bring to slow boil and lower again to low and let simmer at least a half hour.

You will have this much left after someone in your house helps himself to two bowls.

Freezes well to be used for latter.

People just forking love this dish.