Tuscan kale and white bean ragout

Image via WikipediaThis is an article lifted from Heraldnet.com, and it tells the value in food when it is home-cooked, much like comparing a piece of furniture that is handcrafted with one that is coming from an assembly line...
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It's time to put the value back into the value meal.

That's the rallying cry of a new movement that's sweeping the nation's dinner tables.

Slow Food USA's $5 Challenge is part of a larger Food Day celebration scheduled for Oct. 24.

To read on, follow the source article here:
The real value meal: Home-cooked and cheaper than fast food
By Jackson Holtz, Herald Writer


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And here is the recipe from the same article:


Tuscan kale and white bean ragout

This recipe easily can be enhanced with leftover chicken, a stewed chicken carcass, or pasta. Make it a soup by adding more broth.

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 cloves garlic, smashed and roughly chopped
• ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1 small red onion, sliced
• 1½ pounds Tuscan kale,* rinsed, patted dry and cut crosswise into 1-inch-wide slices
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more if needed
• 2 15-ounce cans no-salt-added cannellini beans or white beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 cup canned no-salt-added diced tomatoes, with their juices
• ½ cup vegetable stock or canned low-sodium vegetable broth
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling

1. Heat the olive oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. When it is hot, add the bay leaf, garlic, crushed red pepper and red onion. Cook until the onion begins to wilt and the garlic begins to turn golden around the edges, 3 to 4 minutes. 
2. Add the kale and pepper, and cook for another 2 minutes. Then add the white beans, tomatoes and stock. Cover, and cook until the kale is wilted and cooked through, about 15 minutes. Taste and season with up to ½ teaspoon salt.
3. Transfer the ragout to a serving dish, and drizzle it with extra-virgin olive oil. Serve hot.

Per Serving: calories 410; fat 16 g; sat fat 2 g; protein 17 g; carbs 53 g; fiber 13 g; cholesterol 0 mg; sodium 410 mg.

*Tuscan kale is also known as lacinato kale, black kale and dinosaur kale.

Makes 4 servings

Adapted from "Farm to Fork" by Emeril Lagasse

Courtesy of Food Day

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Hainanese Chicken Rice

Image via Wikipedia

I've always been in search of food that are both delectable, and at the same time, can be prepared at home. We've always enjoyed white sauce noodles, or what they serve in the restaurants as fettuccini ala-so and so, or the like, and we were wondering how to cook dishes like these.

Today my colleagues were talking about how to cook chicken rice, and why the chicken, after boiling for a while, gets to a point where the meat is separating. One says, 'overcooked', or that it has been boiling for too long. "There is a way to do it," she said, and still, another is already looking it up in the web.

She passed around the recipe when she found it (from another mother's website), and I'm posting it now.
 
Here goes!


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How to make Singapore Hainanese Chicken Rice


Ingredients:

Ingredients for Chicken:

• 1 Chicken, preferrably Kampong Chicken
• 8 clove Garlic, lightly smashed with skin intact
• 5 slices Ginger
• 1 - 2 teaspoon Salt
• Water

Ingredients for Rice:

• 3 cup Long Grain Rice
• Broth from cooking chicken
• 4 slices Ginger
• 5 glove Garlic, lightly smashed with skin intact
• 8 Pandan leaves, tied in a knot
• Salt to taste

How to do it (Chicken):

1. Stuff garlic and ginger in chicken and seal with toothpick.
2. Blanch chicken.
3. Boil a pot of water and add salt.
4. Simmer the chicken for about 20 - 25 minutes or till cooked.
5. Retain broth for use on rice, chilli sauce and soup.
6. Plunge chicken in ice water for about 15 minutes or till chicken is no longer hot.
7. Remove from water and drip dry.
8. Cut chicken into pieces.

How to do it (Rice):

1. In a wok, add 2 teaspoon oil, preferably oil from frying chicken skin or the congealed fats you get when you refrigerate your chicken broth. Otherwise, vegetable oil is fine.
2. Saute ginger and garlic till fragrant.
3. Add in washed rice and saute till rice is coated well with the oil.
4. Add salt to taste (about 1 teaspoon is enough).
5. Stir to mix well.
6. Pour rice with ginger and garlic to your rice cooker.
7. Add in broth from chicken you cooked earlier instead of your usual water.
8. Add in the pandan leaves.
9. Let your rice cooker do the cooking. ;)

My recipes for the soup and chilli sauce ... please refer to my site here.

Happy cooking!


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Easy does it - Tomato and onion relish

Image via Wikipedia

Brought to you by FairPrice

FairPrice Pan Fry Satay takes the elbow grease out of this perennial favourite

ANNETTE TAN

food@newstoday.com.sg

Satay is one of those all-time favourites that can take ages to make but is eaten in seconds.

From the marinating of the meat and preparing of the accompanying peanut sauce, to the slow grilling process, it can take almost an entire day, not to mention plenty of effort, to yield this dish of succulent skewers of marinated meat.

FairPrice Pan-Fry Satay takes all the elbow grease out of satay without sacrificing flavour and tenderness. Its chicken, mutton and beef varieties (all of which are halal) are free of MSG and preservatives. They are made by following a traditional recipe, using fresh and good quality ingredients that include various herbs and spices.

My personal favourite is the chicken satay, which is juicy, moist and extremely tasty.

The accompanying peanut sauce is also delicious and not too greasy.

Best of all, FairPrice "healthier choice" Pan-Fry Satay can be ready in just minutes. Take it out of the freezer, give it a whiz in a microwave to defrost and then pan-fry until the marinated meat is slightly caramelised.

And to make them easier to eat, they do not come on skewers.

Still, for purposes of presentation - if, perhaps, you're having guests over - you can skewer the meat with bamboo sticks after frying it. No one would ever know that your satay came from a vacuum pack.

I'm not a fan of raw onions or cucumbers. So, I decided to serve my satay with a side of tomato and onion relish.

Refreshing and tasty, this salad is a great accompaniment to any spicy dish (especially sambals and curries). Its piquant combination of tomatoes, onions, coriander and lemon cuts through any oil and helps cool the palate.

FairPrice Pan Fry Satay ($6.06, 500g) is available at all FairPrice supermarkets.

Tomato and onion relish

Serves 4

• 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
  
• Juice of 1 lemon
  
• 4 ripe tomatoes (preferably vine), diced
  
• A handful of coriander leaves, chopped
  
• 1/2 tsp salt
  
• 1 tbsp sugar
  

1. Place onion and lemon in a glass or plastic bowl (don't use a metal bowl as it will react with the onion and acidity of the lemon juice, affecting the taste). Mix, cover with cling film and leave in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
   
2. Place the rest of the ingredients in the bowl and mix well. Serve.
   

From TODAY, Food – Thursday, 17-Sep-2009

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