31 May, 2008

Honey-Sesame Chicken Salad


I've been totally addicted to the combination of honey and sesame lately. The bitter-sweet combination of tahini paste and honey with apples, or on toast - or straight out of the jar. Crunchy almonds drizzled with honey and sprinkled with sesame seeds. The nutty-sweet sesame candies they sell in the Turkish supermarket. I can't get enough of the stuff.

Eventually, though, all the sweets and goodies had to give way to proper food. I started contemplating a honey-sesame treat that I wouldn't leave me worrying about my next trip to the dentist. And bingo! Inspiration came to me one day as I peered into my nearly empty fridge to find a head of napa cabbage and a lone chicken breast.

This salad is lightly sweet, nutty and mildly flavored, with a sharp kick from the ginger and pepper flakes. The Napa cabbage is a wonderful base - crisp, refreshing, and with none of the bitterness you get from lettuce. Combined with a light vinegar dressing, it's the perfect salad for a hot summer evening.




Honey-Sesame Chicken Salad for 2
I would use this marinade on damn near anything, given the chance. Tofu, veggies - you name it, it would probably taste good. I wasn't even hungry when I finished photographing everything, and I still couldn't resist snacking on a few morsels.

Ingredients:

1 Tbs light honey
1 tsp soy sauce
1 Tbs mild oil, like Canola
2 Tbs sesame seeds
1/2 in. cube ginger, minced
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4-1/2 tsp hot pepper flakes


6 oz chicken, cut into bite-sized, thin strips
1 head Napa cabbage
1/4 yellow bell pepper
1/4 red bell pepper
1-2 spring onions

3 Tbs rice vinegar (or other mild vinegar)
2 tsp Canola or other mild oil
1/4 tsp salt
pinch black pepper

1. Preparing the Marinade
Mix the first 8 ingredients together in medium-sized bowl. Add the chicken and stir everything again until the chicken is well-coated. Pop this in the fridge to marinate for at least 20 minutes.

2. Cutting the Vegetables
Slice the cabbage as finely as you can. Don't chop it - you want long, thin strips of cabbage when you're done. I like to use the whole cabbage, from the tips down to the base. Slice the bell
peppers thinly, like matchsticks. Chop the spring onions, including the green stalks. Divide the cabbage between the serving bowls, making sure each bowl gets an even blend of the curly leaves and the crispy base pieces.

3. Cooking the Chicken
Heat your pan on high, with a little extra drizzle of oil to help prevent sticking. When it is nice and hot, toss in your chicken and start stirring. Turn the heat down to medium, and cook until the chicken is no longer pink inside. Divide the chicken between the two salads.
4. Making the Dressing and Finishing the Salad
Let the pan cool briefly, then pour the rice vinegar in. Stir the vinegar around the pan - you will see its color darken as it collects the accumulated seasonings from the chicken. Pour this into a small bowl, add the oil, salt, and pepper, and whisk briefly with a small whisk or fork. Drizzle this over the salads, and sprinkle the green onion and bell pepper pieces over the chicken. Toss on a few pinches of sesame seeds for the finishing touch.
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09 May, 2008

An Evening in Little Tijuana - the Salsa Edition



Last week, two friends of mine came to visit Berlin. They've both been living out of the US, for over a year, which means they haven't had decent Mexican food in at least that long. And I'd been dying for an excuse to cook for a bunch of people.

The Menu:
Shredded pork, refried beans, mild salsa, spicy roasted red pepper salsa and HOMEMADE CORN TORTILLAS. Oh man. My stomach still hurt two hours later, and even with that I had to forcibly refrain from chowing down on leftovers.

This is home-style cooking the way it's meant to be. When I cook like this, I devote an entire day to it. I put the beans and meat on in the morning and let them simmer all afternoon. I roast peppers, chop vegetables, run to the market for things I forgot, and generally... cook. It's a meditation in flavor and textures, and sometimes it's as relaxing as yoga.

I love feeding my friends. I love watching everyone stuff their faces and grin and come back for seconds. I love that I can make something that makes everyone around me happy. It isn't about the compliments (although those are nice too) - it just makes me happy to see everyone around me sharing a meal and enjoying it.

The recipes I'm including here are starting points. I never follow them exactly. I go into these cooking sessions with an idea in mind - a concept, a list of ingredients. I taste as I go, adding a splash of this and a dash of that, until the flash of "Yes!" hits me. Then it's time to eat.





Mild Tomato Garlic Salsa
This salsa has practically no burn to it at all, so you can pile it on your food without overwhelming yourself with spiciness. We like to call it "kinder salsa" (kid's salsa) in my house.

Ingredients:
2-3 small onions
2 spring onions
3-4 medium tomatoes
1-3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 bunch cilantro

1/2 lime, juiced
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 pinch sugar
1/2-1 tsp salt
splash or two of vinegar

Chop the onions until each chunk is around the size of your little fingernail. Chop the spring onions finely. I use about half the green part of the spring onions as well as the white. Cut the tomatoes about the same size as the onions, maybe slightly larger. Mince the garlic as finely as you can, and chop the cilantro leaves coarsely. Dump these all into a bowl and mix together.

Now add your lime juice, pepper, sugar, and a 1/2 teaspoon or more of salt. A splash or two of vinegar will help give this salsa a little "kick". Toss everything a few times like a salad, and pop it in the refrigerator to marinate for at least 30 minutes.





Roasted Red Pepper Salsa
I don't know the name of the sweet peppers I used for this recipe. I buy them at the Turkish market and have never seen the name in German or English. They look like elongated bell peppers, and the taste is very similar - slightly sweeter and less tangy than a bell pepper, but I think either one could be used successfully for this salsa.

Ingredients:
4 - 5 large, sweet red peppers
3 onions
2-3 spring onions
3-6 (or more) Holland chilies

1/2 lime, juiced
1/2 - 1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
Splash or two of vinegar

1. Roast the Peppers
Start up your broiler. Cut the peppers in half and lay them on a baking sheet. (I recommend a layer of baking paper underneath, if you have it handy.) Leave them under the broiler for about 10-15 minutes, until the skin starts to blacken and blister as shown in the picture.

2. Chop the other ingredients
While the peppers roast, chop the onions into pinky-nail sized bits. Chop the spring onions finely, using about half or two-thirds of the green ends. Chop the Holland chilies as finely as you can - they're hot! If you can't find Holland chilies, you could try a few Thai chilies (the tiny, fiery hot peppers in many Chinese dishes) or any other fresh, hot chili you have available.

3. Peel the Peppers
When the peppers are done roasting, toss them in a paper bag or a covered bowl. The steam they produce will help soften the skins, making them easier to peel. After they have cooled a bit, slide the skins off. You should be left with big, meaty strips of roasted peppers. Chop these into chunks about the same size as the onion pieces.

4. Mix the Salsa
Toss all the chopped ingredients into a bowl. Add the lime juice, salt, and pepper. Again, a splash or two of vinegar gives this a little extra kick. Let this marinate in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.


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