Cold Ginger Chicken

I enjoyed the cold ginger chicken dish at Wo Fat Chinese Restaurant in Las Vegas recently and I thought I could make something similar using my Sous Vide. I thought the chicken would get the right infusion of flavor and a certain tenderness that I wanted.  Instead of a whole chicken I just used legs so everything would be done at the same time in the Sous Vide. I studied several recipes for Hawaiian Style Cold Ginger Chicken.

Basically Cold Ginger Chicken is made by simmering a whole chicken in water with ginger garlic and green onions. Then you pull it out of the liquid when cooked and then shock it with cold water and chop and serve with the sauce. At the restaurant they served the chicken with bones and skin that you had to remove. They also served it WARM so I also serve it warm. I prefer to remove the skin and bones before serving.

Not all but many of the recipes I looked at for the sauce included a large amount of oil that you heat up and add the minced green onions and ginger with a little garlic and cilantro. What I did different from most recipes was to cut the oil to only 1/4 cup and added some water. I didn’t want to use a large amount of oil for this dish. When I made the sauce I thought it was good but as it sat it turned more oniony than I wanted so I added 2 teaspoons of brown sugar and one teaspoon of rice wine vinegar. It seemed balanced after that but I don’t know if those are ingredients are authentic for a cold ginger chicken recipe but they taste good that way so there they are. This dish comes out FORKING AMAZING and different! It isn’t a strong ginger taste like you might expect. It just comes out DELICIOUS!

Ingredients Set Sous Vide to 176 degrees F 4-8 hours I’m doing 6

4 lbs. whole chicken legs

4 garlic cloves rough chopped

1/2 medium onion pealed and rough chopped

2 1/2 in. ginger chopped

1 carrot cut in a few pieces

1 small Thai chili cut in half

1 Tablespoon kosher salt

1 Tablespoon fresh cilantro

2 scallions chopped in half

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

2 oz. frozen chicken fat

Everything goes in your Sous Vide Bag. Just Vacuum and seal and let it cook about 6 hours at 176 degrees F. When it’s done you can put in an ice bath to stop the cooking process. Don’t use any of the vegetables. All the flavor came out of them, they are trash now. I like to remove the skin and take the chicken off the bones to serve. Reserve the liquid from your Sous Vide bag for serving. Skim off the fat and use a tablespoon or 2 of liquid for each serving of chicken.

Sauce Ingredients

10 scallions chopped

3 garlic cloves chopped

2 Tablespoons fresh cilantro chopped

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup grated ginger

1/4 cup canola oil

1/2 cup water

2 teaspoons dark brown sugar

1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar

Just blend up and heat before serving and pour over the chicken that might be warm.

Sous Vide Hawaiian Inspired Cold Ginger Chicken

This is a great recipe. Even people like my husband who hates ginger thinks this dish is delicious. Kept forking thanking me all night long for preparing this dish.

It’s FORKING Delicious and that’s The Forking Truth

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Duchess Inspired Kabocha Squash

One of the most delicious and most indulgent potato side dishes are duchess potatoes. They are like mashed potatoes but are over the top and are like on steroids. Duchess potatoes are cooked potatoes that are mixed with heavy cream, soft butter, egg yolks and a little nutmeg with salt and pepper. The potatoes get piped threw a pastry bag and and then baked in the oven to get tasty crisp ends. It’s a very rich dish and you sure don’t come by it often as it often was a dish that was usually served table side on a big silver platter with a chateaubriand also know as a Tenderloin for two. Those kind of dishes and restaurants with table side service seemed to disappeared around 1990. They seemed to have gone out of style.

I think I updated the recipe using much lighter healthier kabocha squash. To make a batch of either duchess potatoes or duchess inspired kabocha squash we start with a medium size squash or about 3 pounds of potatoes. The nutrition is significantly different.

about 3 pounds of potatoes is around 854 calories and about 248 carbs

about 3 pounds of kabocha squash is around 240 calories and about 42 carbs

I also cut in half the amount of butter I’d use to make duchess potatoes and instead of the 3 egg yolks I just used 1 whole extra large egg.

Because the flavor profile is different I did splurge on a 1/4 cup of dark brown sugar I thought we could afford.

Overall it’s very tasty and dinner guest will not be aware that this is a much lighter healthier alternative to a potato side dish.

Ingredients to make around 16 portions (extras can be frozen and reheated well)

1 medium kabocha squash roasted, seeded and flesh removed

2 oz. butter (room temperature)

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 extra large egg beaten

1/4 cup dark brown sugar

1 Tablespoon cinnamon

1/2 a very small fresh grated nutmeg

pinch salt

Directions Set oven to 350 degrees and you need lightly greased baking sheets

mash squash with potato masher and slowly add all the ingredients and mash till well combined. Fill your pastry bag about halfway with mixture and  twist the end to hold the mixture in.

Squeeze out the mixture with your hand holding on to the twisted end while pushing the mixture threw the tip. Make like your adding soft serve ice cream to a cone.

Place in 350 degree oven until the ends crisp up nice and look like they were torched. Depending on oven and the amount of pans in your oven that might take around a half an hour.

Use what you need and extras can be frozen. Around holiday time I like to top them with a mix of extra brown sugar, cinnamon, butter and some chopped up roasted chestnuts.

It’s Forking Delicious and that’s The Forking Truth

Purple Sweet Potato Salad with Gochujand

Gochujand  (go-choo-jahng – pepper paste) is a savory, spicy, pungent fermented staple Korean Condiment made from red chilis, glutinous rice, fermented soybeans and salt.

Gochujand

I thought my purple roasted potato would make a delicious salad with this gochujand and it DID come out FORKING DELICIOUS!

Ingredients makes about 8 servings

1 lb. 10 oz of purple sweet potato roasted and pealed and then chopped in cubes

1 scant cup celery chopped

1 scant cup sweet white onion chopped

1 small apple pealed, cored and chopped

1 purple carrot shredded (purple just looks right in this dish)

1/4 cup chopped dates

1/4 red bell pepper chopped

3/4 cup low fat mayonnaise   ( I don’t use real mayo for often because of high fat content, I rather get my fat from something forking fried, something buttery, something cheesy or dessert) (Real mayo for me is reserved for deviled eggs)

1 Tablespoon gouchjang

2 Tablespoons rice vinegar

1 Tablespoon kosher salt

3 Tablespoons fresh Thai Basil chopped (preferably any fresh basil from your garden. I find that home grown basil of all kinds has much more flavor than store bought and doesn’t fall apart as much in dishes)

Directiones

You need one large bowl and one small bowl. In your large bowl combine purple potatoes, celery, onions, apple, carrot, dates, bell pepper and set a side.

In your small bowl mix up your mayo, gouchjang, rice vinegar and salt.

Gently mix the small bowl into the large bowl and when combined fold in the fresh basil. Top with a few chopped scallion greens if you have them.

Purple Sweet Potato Salad with Gochujand

This one is forking good and that’s The Forking Truth

Cucumber Tomato & Fresh Corn Salad

This salad has more punch to it than a typical tomato or cucumber salad. This salad has more texture with the addition of the fresh corn and more flavors are going on with the fresh herbs. This is a cool light salad that’s forking easy to prepare for a hot day! Most people might add a little oil to a recipe like this but I don’t think it’s necessary here. I cut back when I can and forking indulge in other areas, mostly on the weekends.

Ingredients makes about 8 servings

2 cups of fresh roasted corn kernels (must be fresh or you won’t have the texture or right taste)

2 large cucumbers pealed and sliced in slightly thick slices.

6 campari tomatoes sliced as thin as the cucumbers (or any tomato you like but campari tomatoes are like bigger cherry tomatoes and are usually very sweet)

1/2 large sweet onion sliced thin

1 garlic clove minced

1 cup sugar

2 cups red wine vinegar

2 Tablespoons kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1/2 cup chopped fresh basil

2 sprigs oregano chopped fine (make sure you chop very fine because oregano can be very over-powering)

1/2 teaspoon fresh rosemary chopped fine

Cucumber Tomato and Fresh Corn Salad

Just combine chill, adjust seasonings if necessary and serve!

It’s good and that’s The Forking Truth

Malted Whole Wheat Cinnamon Pancake

These pancakes are quick easy to prepare. This great recipe is foolproof. The pancakes come out very light, moist and fluffy with a different flavor than your regular pancake. You can bling them up with a little bananas, dates and whipped cream if you care too but they are just right this way too.

Ingredients This recipe makes around 15 smaller pancakes and is about 3 servings

1 cup wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 cup malted milk powder

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

2 Extra large eggs beaten

1/2 cup heavy cream

2 oz. melted butter (room temperature)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Canola cooking spray for your fry pan

Directions in a large bowl combine your dry ingredients and in a smaller bowl combine your wet ingredients and mix well..

now add the wet bowl to the dry bowl and mix well. The batter is on the thick side.

Get your fry pan on medium heat. (I use regular fry pans because I FORKING HATE nonstick pans)  Spray with canola oil and wait till it looks hot and melted and then use a tablespoon and make 3 or four pancakes depending on the size of your pan.

When they bubble like this flip them over.

See how fluffy they come out!

Malted Whole Wheat Cinnamon Pancakes

They are Good Stuff and that’s The Forking Truth

What inspired me to come up with this dish was rutabagas that were unusually strong in flavor with an extra fiber texture. I tried to use them anyway and I decided I needed to infuse sweetness cut with some vinegar with beet essence.

I roasted up a few beets with rutabagas in a covered pan with a little water, sugar, and rice wine vinegar till they were fork tender. Around an hour.

Then I fried the rutabagas, beets and scallions in a combination of butter and canola oil till they were slightly crisp. I sprinkled the hot vegetables with fresh ground sea salt and pepper.

To serve I slice the rutabagas and beets in slices. I topped them with the fried scallions, blue cheese, heated walnuts and some shredded pepper.

Adding sweetness with beets to the rutabagas and the strong blue cheese mellowed the rutabagas in a way where they became edible and more beet like. This was the perfect flavor combination for this dish.  The scallions got slightly candied from the sugar coming out in the fry pan from the root vegetables.

The Forking Truth!

Refreshing Rosemary Cucumber Salad

Rosemary is very aromatic and the key to this recipe being successful is a careful hand adding the rosemary. This recipe is simple but is light and refreshing.

Ingredients makes about 8 servings

2 large cucumbers pealed and sliced I sliced mine slightly thick so they won’t get too soggy

1 red onion pealed and sliced thin

1 cup sugar

2 Tablespoons kosher salt

2 cups red wine vinegar

1 Tablespoon fresh rosemary chopped fine

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper

Directions

Just combine, chill adjust seasonings if necessary and serve

It Forking Good and that’s The Forking Truth!