The Cooking Thread
 

I Shall start with the duck of which I posted the photo of in the photography thread.



Name: Honeyed Duck Breast with Chinese Cabbage

Source: Marie Claire: Fresh by Michele Cranston

Course: Main Course

Category: Unfiled

Rating: 0

Difficulty: 0

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 15-20 minutes

Yield: 4 servings

Description:

Ingredients:
4 Duck Brests
5 mL Chinese five-spice powder
5 mL Salt
30 mL Butter
500 g Chinese Cabbage finely sliced
30 mL Honey
2 Oranges juiced

Directions:

1: Preheat the oven to 200 deg c (400 deg f). Score the skin of the duck breasts in a criss-cross pattern and rub the five-spice powder into the skin along with the salt.

2: Melt the butter in a frying pan over a moderate heat, add the cabbage, then saute for several minutes until the cabbage is soft and slightly transparent. Season and reduce the heat to low.

3: Drizzle the honey over the duck breasts and put them into the preheated oven for 15 minutes. Check that the breasts are cooked through, allow them to rest for a minute covered in foil and then slice them thinly.

4: Serve the duck with the cabbage and a drizzle of fresh orange juice. (Serves 4)

^^ that looks easy and awesome. fucking a!

now, i make sound like a pusswad, but i've been eating a lot of vegetarian lately--- i'm wondering how this would work w/ a quorn roast-- it's good shit, really. not duck, for sure, but hey--

ps- what is "chinese 5-spice powder"? never heard of it before.// never mind. i googled.

How to make Chinese Five-spice powder:

1. In a dry skillet, roast 2 teaspoons of Szechuan peppercorns by shaking the pan over low to medium heat until the aroma of the peppercorns is released (about three minutes).
2. Grind the roasted peppercorns and 8 star anise in a blender or pepper mill.
3. Strain the blended seasonings.
4. Mix in 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves, 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon, and 1 tablespoon ground fennel seeds.
5. Grind the seasonings until very fine.
6. Store in an airtight container.

However, I buy mine premade from the market in the spice section.

sweettt... now what about that photogenic chicken??

ill post that one tomorrow

should i reciprocate & post a recipe?

if you like, don't have to though

let's see-- "solid" breakfast quinoa. 100% vegan & a nice hot breakfast.

source: my breakfast experiments.

-----

1 cup quinoa, very well rinsed. you don't want it to be still soapy when you cook it.
1 box (4 cups/1qt./1 liter) unsweetened soy milk, rice milk, or almond milk (i prefer almond-- not sweet and no ball-shrinking estrogens)
1/2 stick (how do you measure this) of cinnamon
1 clove
orange peel, grated (fresh is best)
vanilla extract (or vanilla bean)
1/2 cup raisins or black currants
1 cup or so raw almonds

---
pour the liquid into a pan. add quinoa, cinnamon, clove, orange peel, raisins. slowly bring to a boil. turn down the fire so it very slowly boils. you don't want the thing bubbling up & spilling all over. turn with a wooden spoon every now & then so that scum doesn't form at the top.

after about 20 minutes of slow boiling, the quinoa should "pop" and instead of the hard grains you'll see the little coils open. that's good-- those coils = protein.

stir for another 5 minutes in slow heat letting it soak in the liquid.

take out from fire. add vanilla extract and toss in some almonds. if using vanilla bean i'd add the last 5 minutes.

eat.

makes a bunch of portions, depending on how much you eat. the boiled cinnamon stick is tasty to chew. experiment with different dried fruits (apricots, figs, dates, blueberries), different spices (lemon peel, cardamom), different nutmeats, cow/sheep/goat milk if you wish.

that sounds nice

quinoa is very nutritious but doesn't have the best taste-- infused with spices however it's quite edible.

Spicy Roasted Chicken in Banana Leaves




Name: Spicy Roast Chicken in Banana Leaves

Source: The Food of India: Priya Wickramasinghe and Carol Selva Rajah

Course: Main Course

Category: Unfiled

Rating: 4

Difficulty: 3

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook Time: 1.5 hours

Yield: 6 servings

Description:

Ingredients:
1 2kg Chicken
3 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
1 Tablespoon Oil
2 Onions Roughly Chopped
4 Cloves Garlic Crushed
1 4cm Ginger Rouchly Chopped
1 30gm Almonds Ground
1/2 Teaspoon Chilli Powder
1 Teaspoon Tumeric Ground
2 Teaspoon Garam Masala
3 Coriander Roots Chopped
4 Tablespoon Coriander Chopped
3 Banana Leaves Young

Directions:

1: Trim off any excess fat from the chicken. Pat the chicken completely dry with paper towels and prick all over with a skewer so the marinade can penetrate the flesh. Rub the lemon juice and 1 teaspoon of salt all over the skin and inside the cavity of the chicken.

2: Heat the oil in a heavy based frying pan over low heat, add the onion and cook until the onion starts to brown. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for two minutes, or until soft. Add the almonds, chili powder, tumeric, garam masala and cook for 1 minute. Allow the onion to cool completely.

3: Place the cooled mixture in a food processor or a pestle and mortar, along with the coriander roots and leaves. Grind to a smooth paste and rub the paste thoroughly all over the chicken and inside the cavity. Cover and refrigerate for 6 hours or overnight.

4: Peheat the oven to 200 deg c (400 deg f). Soften the banana leaves by dipping them into a pan of very hot water. Wipe the pieces dry as they become pliant. Tie the legs of the chicken together to keep them in place.

5: Wrap the chicken in the banana leaves, making sure that it is well covered. Tie a piece of kitchen string around the chicken like a parcel. If you can't buy banana leaves, wrap up the chicken in a large sheet of foil instead. Place the chicken in a roasting tin and bake for 1 1/2 hours. Unwrap the banana leaves or the foil from around the top of the chicken, baste the chicken with some of the juices and return it to the oven for 10 minutes, or until well browned. Check that the chicken is cooked by pulling away one leg - the juices should run clear. Rest the chicken for 10 minutes before carving.

^^^ hot damn man that looks complicated. sounds like weekend cooking. i'll have to investigate my local asian market first.

as long as you follow the recipe it is easy. i left the almonds out because im allergic bt it isnt a huge part of the flavour. and yes the asian market should have the banana leaves. the leaves add flavour that doing it in foil doesn't.

yeah, my grandma used to live in the amazon jungle. banana leaves were like her microwave.



those weird things are huge rice balls in banana leaves called "juanes"-- they have chicken pieces and what not.

So do these banana leaves actually taste like banana?
Last night I made some awesome banana fritters with golden syrup, fine desert.

you don't eat the banana leaves, some of the flavour infuses into the skin or the bird

last night I made some boca burgers, the night before some vegan french toast with soy milk. delicious. when I can figure out the vegan maple bar I will be in business...