Potato Leek Soup

I didn't have a chance to post since I have been feeling under the weather for a long time. Anyways, I'm back to cooking new dishes. My organic produce box is giving me new ideas and these freshly picked produce makes such good dishes!

First I highly recommend this hearty Potato Leek soup. It's great for lunch/brunch and light dinner!

ngredients

• 3 large leeks, cut lengthwise, separate, clean.
  
• 1/4 lb ham
  
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 2 cups water
• 2 cups chicken broth (or vegetable broth for vegetarian option)*
• 2 lbs potatoes, peeled, diced into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme, or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• Salt & Pepper

Method

1 Cook ham, leeks in butter with salt and pepper in a medium sized sauce pan. Cover pan, cook on low heat for 10 minutes. Check often. Do not brown leeks! Browning will give leeks a burnt taste.

2 Add water, broth, and potatoes. Bring to a low simmer and cook for 20 minutes. Scoop about half of the soup mixture into a blender, puree and return to pan. Add parsley, and thyme. . Add some freshly ground pepper, 1-2 teaspoons salt or more to taste.

Rachel Ray's clam stoup

This is like a paella dish. It looks like there is a lot of stuff but I seriously managed to pull this off in less than 30 min. It's pretty much dump it all in and it's done.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 3/4 pound kielbasa, diced
• 4 cups (half a 32-ounce bag) frozen diced hash browns
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 4 ribs celery, chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• 5 to 6 sprigs fresh thyme
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 rounded tablespoon seafood seasoning (recommended: Old Bay)
• 4 large ears corn on the cob or 3 cups frozen kernels
• 1 (15-ounce) can diced fire-roasted tomatoes
• 1 quart chicken stock
• 4 dozen littleneck clams
• Hot sauce, to taste
• 1 lemon, zested and juiced
• Handful fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped
• 4 jumbo sourdough English muffins, split
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 clove garlic, peeled
• 2 tablespoons chopped chives

Directions

Heat a large soup pot with extra-virgin olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the kielbasa and brown for 2 minutes; add the potatoes, onions, celery, bay, thyme, and salt and pepper and let the veggies soften up 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Pat shrimp dry and toss with a rounded tablespoon (a generous palmful) of seafood seasoning.

Invert a small bowl and place at the bottom of a larger bowl. Shuck corn and stand on end on the small bowl. Scrape off kernels. Add corn to soup pot.

Add the tomatoes and stock to the pot. Cover and bring to a boil. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes. Add the shrimp and clams and replace the cover. Cook until shrimp are pink and firm and the clams have opened up, 5 to 6 minutes. Finish stoup with hot sauce, lemon zest and juice and a handful of parsley.

While the seafood cooks, toast the English muffins. Soften the butter in the microwave. Mash the garlic cloves with a little salt and make a paste. Add the chives and garlic paste to the softened butter and mix. Rub hot toasted muffins with garlic/butter mixture and chop into large dice.

Serve stoup in shallow bowls with muffin croutons. Place an extra bowl at each setting to collect shells as you eat your Clam Bake Stoup.

Tuscan chicken

Who knew a recipe on the bag of Costco size chicken breast can be pretty good.

2 chicken breasts
1/2 cup basil
1/2 cup spinach
1/2 cup sliced mushroom
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup wine
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 grated Parmesan cheese

Heat 2 tsp of cooking oil in medium high heat. Cook seasoned (salt and pepper) breasts for 4 min on each side (if thick, cook for longer)
Add wine and wait for it to boil. Let simmer.
Remove chicken from pan.
Sautee mushroom for a couple of minutes. Add everything except the greens.
When the sauce is thickened, add basil and spinach and cook till it wilts.
Add chicken back to the pot and cook through.

Serve on pasta.

Mojito chicken

I found this long time ago from Foodnetwork.com's Guy's Big Bite. I can't believe I didn't save it here before. It's such a great recipe for a very citrusy flavor.

• 1 (2 1/2 to 3-pound) chicken or just chicken thighs with bones
  
• 2 tablespoons garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 2 tablespoons kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• Marinade, recipe follows
• 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• Mojito Glaze, recipe follows

Directions

Remove backbone of chicken with poultry shears; flatten chicken out by pressing firmly on skin part of chicken so it will sit evenly in a pan.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

Combine all the dry spices and rub chicken with spice mixture, especially under the skin. Put into a resealable plastic bag and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

In a large mixing bowl combine all the ingredients for the marinade, then add chicken to marinade and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Remove chicken from marinade and shake off excess marinade. In a large saute pan over medium to high heat, add 4 tablespoons of extra- virgin olive oil. When oil is hot, place chicken skin side down and sear.

When skin is golden brown flip chicken and add 1/2 cup of marinade into pan; place pan in oven and cook the chicken for 25 minutes or until chicken has internal temperature of 165 degrees F. on an instant-read thermometer.

Remove the chicken from oven and brush with Mojito Glaze. Place chicken under broiler for 5 minutes. Remove from broiler, cut and serve immediately with more glaze on the side.

Marinade:

• 1 cup orange juice
• 2 limes, juiced
• 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon sliced garlic
• 1/4 cup dark rum

Combine all ingredients in mixing bowl.

Mojito Glaze:

• 1/2 cup dark rum
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons cold water
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1/4 cup chopped mint leaves
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

In medium sauce pot, place rum, chicken broth and brown sugar. Reduce by 1/3 over high heat. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together water and cornstarch. When rum mixture is reduced, add cornstarch mixture slowly to simmering liquid and whisk for 3 minutes, until 50 percent thicker. Keep in mind that you might not need all of it. When glaze is at desired thickness, add mint leaves and transfer to small bowl. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Baked chicken strips and baked yam fries

Chicken Strips

• 2 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/2 cup Corn Starch
  
• 2 cups finely crushed cracker crumbs or plain breadcrumbs
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon table salt or kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon italian seasoning

Cut the chicken breast into small pieces.
Dip the chicken in corn starch, and then egg, and then the mixture of crumbs and seasoning.
Bake in 375 degree for 20 minutes

Baked Yam Fries

So I have tried tons of times to make baked yam and it always turns out soggy. I did a little digging online and turns out what I need to do is preseal the starch in yam. And viola, crispy baked yam!

1 Yam
Olive oil

Quarter the yam
Cut the yam further into 3-4 equal size wedges
Soak the yam in hot water for 10 minutes
Thoroughly dry the yam and mix it with olive oil.
Bake in 375 degree oven for about 20 minutes. Take them out when the corners are turning brown.

Korean Chicken Noodle Soup

Most of the recipes I have found online is for Chicken Ginseng noodle soup, but since I am sensitive to ginseng and usually can't fall asleep after having it, I changed the recipe to plain Chicken noodle soup.

1 whole chicken
5 cloves of garlic
2 seaweed sheets (the kind used to wrap sushi)
3 big green onions
korean noodle (there is enough soup for at least 4)
2-3 cups of Bok choy/spinach or squash.

Get a big stock pot and throw the whole chicken. green onion, garlic in it.
Bring to a boil and simmer for about an hour
Take out the chicken and pick all the meat. Toss everything back in. If you don't break up the chicken, the flavor doesn't get into the soup as well.
Simmer for another half an hour. Take out the carcass.
Add the seaweed sheets, noodle and vegetables.
Cook until the noodle is done according to the package.

I never knew chicken soup with seaweed can taste so good!

Chicken Donburi

I totally have to save this cuz it's SOOO good.

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons salad oil
• 1 onion (6 oz.), peeled and thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
• 1 cup fat-skimmed chicken broth
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 4 teaspoons sugar
• 1/2 pound boned, skinned chicken breast, rinsed and cut into 1/4" strips
• 6 cups (about 6 oz.) baby spinach leaves, rinsed and drained
• 3 large eggs
• 6 cups hot cooked rice

Preparation

1. In a deep 10- to 12-inch frying pan over high heat, stir oil, onion, and ginger until onion is lightly browned, about 2 minutes.

2. Add broth, soy sauce, and sugar. Add chicken strips to pan. Bring to a boil.

3. Add spinach, cover, and cook until wilted, about 1 minute. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, beat eggs to blend.

4. Reduce heat to low, evenly distribute mixture in pan, and pour in eggs. With a spatula, push vegetables aside slightly so egg mixture can flow down through sauce. Cover and cook just until eggs are softly set, 2 to 2 1/2 minutes.

5. Meanwhile, spoon rice into bowls. Top equally with egg-spinach mixture, including juices. Sprinkle with tomato.