Mama Lee's Braised Spicy Korean Chicken Stew (Dak Dori Tang)

You likely won't find this traditional Korean dish in a restaurant.  It's a homemade favorite in many Korean kitchens.  It's got a kick to it, but you can adjust the spice level by using less gochugaru (Korean pepper flakes) and jalepenos.  I do not recommend omitting them...they really make the dish special.  This dish is super easy, you can't screw this up, I promise.  Be sure to check out the notes at the bottom of the post.

Ready to serve

Braised Spicy Korean Chicken Stew (Dak Dori Tang)

2 tablespoons of sesame oil
10-12 skinless boneless chicken thighs (you can also use skinless drumsticks). Trim excess fat
2 medium onions, chopped
2 Large Russet potatoes, peeled and cubed into 1-2"ish pieces
3/4 cup soy sauce
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup cooking wine - mat sul (optional)
1 tablespoon of minced ginger
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 teaspoon sugar
1-2 tablespoons, depending on how spicy you want it, gochugaru (Korean red pepper flakes)
1 jalepeno, sliced
1 bunch green onion, sliced into 2 inch strips
Korean sticky white rice to serve on the side

1. Heat sesame oil in large Dutch oven or pot.
2. Brown chicken thighs (make sure you've trimmed the excess fat). Don't worry about getting a good sear.  It doesn't matter in this stew.
3. Add the onions and potatoes to the chicken.  Stir.
4. In a bowl, mix together the soy sauce, water, cooking wine, ginger, garlic, sugar, gochugaru, jalapeno, and green onion.
5. Pour mixture into pot.
6. Stir and bring to a boil.
7. Lower to a simmer and cover.
8. Keep covered until potatoes are done.
9. Simmer, uncovered for another 15-20 minutes...or until desired thickness.
10. If you see some grease pool on the surface of the stew, move the pot over so half of it is at a boil.  The grease will pool to the side thats not heated.  Carefully skim the fat off of the surface.

Serve on a plate next to a side of rice.

Before it was brought to a boil:

Right before I boiled and covered. 

Notes:
-- Most of these ingredients are readily available in your supermarket.  The two you might not find are Gochugaru (Korean red pepper flakes) and Korean cooking wine (mat sul).  I've included links to images of the two so you if you happen to be in the International food store you can bring this along to help you!  If you happen to have a lot of the gochugaru left over, keep it fresh in a ziplock in the freezer.
-- I STRONGLY suggest serving this with traditional sticky Korean white rise.  My favorite brand is Kokuho Rose.  You should be able to find a small 5lb bag at the grocery store or International store. I recommend making this in a rice cooker.  Be sure to rinse the rice well before cooking.  I wash the rice until the water is just barely foggy.
-- Do not add any salt.  Braising the chicken in the soy salt adds plenty of seasoning.  Trust me.
-- You can substitue the chicken for 3-4 chicken breast halves cut into strips.  I prefer thighs because it really is much more flavorful.

Another Easy Roast Chicken: We unite Ina Garten and Meredith Grey

Every Thursday I take part in a ritual I'm slightly mortified to be a participant of.  Obviously not enough to be including this detail of my life on a blog.  My friends and I unite for a delicious homemade feast (usually using ingredients from the CSA, not so much these days) then gather around to watch Grey's Anatomy.  Don't judge.  There are a handful (ok, a dozen) shows I compulsively watch.  I've watched it since college and it's just something I have to hold on to.  Whatever, I don't have to explain myself to you.

From pretty much my favorite episode when Meredith lights all the candles and is all like  "Because I believe that we can be extraordinary together rather than ordinary apart ".  Weeeeep.

I digress.

This week I was short on time, and not feeling very creative.  So, I give you, my version of Ina Garten's Roasted Engagement Chicken.  It's actually exactly the same, but I promised Bortz I'd post it for her:

Roast Chicken
Serves 4

1 (4 to 5 pound) roasting chicken
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 lemons
1 whole head garlic, cut in 1/2 crosswise
Good olive oil
2 Spanish onions, peeled and thickly sliced
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup chicken stock, preferably homemade
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 425F.

Remove the gross bag inside the chicken.  Okay, it's not that gross, but not everyone enjoys organ meat.  I for one like to saute up the chicken liver.  So now you know. I like Grey's Anatomy and chicken livers.

Pat the chicken dry.  This is so you can achieve a nice, crispy brown skin.  No one likes a soggy chicken.  Salt and pepper the inside cavity.

Cut the lemons into quarters and stuff the cavity with the 2 quarters of a lemon and all of the garlic (it doesn't matter if it's not peeled).  Truss.  Tuck the wings under so they don't burn.  Rub olive oil all over it's body.  Place in a roasting pan.

In a bowl toss together the onion and the rest of the lemons in olive oil.  Salt and pepper. Arrange around the chicken.  Make sure it's all kind of snug in there.  If the pan is too big, the onions may burn.

Roast the chicken for about 1 hour and 15 minutes or until the thermometer reads 165F on the thickest part of the chicken.  Or the leg is easily twisted in its socket.  That's an old culinary school trick.

Move the chicken to a platter and tent.  Transfer the roasting pan to the stove.  Deglaze with the wine, scraping up all the good stuff...and bits you don't want to scrub later.  Add the stock and flour.  Stir until it thickens.  Transfer any juices from the platter into the sauce.  Spoon over chicken and enjoy.

RECIPE: Chicken with Leeks and Garlic (THE EASIEST chicken recipe ever)

This recipe would easily make my greatest hits recipe mix CD.

This versatile dish stands up to being served to guests or a constant on your weekday menu.  Serve along side a starch that can sop up the delicious sauce (pictured, wild rice, parsley, mushroom salad, recipe below as well).  Try this with thighs, breasts, legs...whatever you have in your fridge.  I recommended boneless, skinless chicken thighs.

Chicken with Leeks and Garlic
Serves 3-4

2 tsp grapeseed or olive oil
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 leek, white and light green parts only.  Sliced lengthwise, sliced into 1 inch half moons
2 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
2 (or so) cups of white wine
1 small pat of cold butter (Let's say under a tablespoon, but no one's stopping you from adding more.)
2 tablespoons of fresh parsley, chopped
salt and white pepper, to taste

Prep the leeks:

If you don't know how to prep leeks for cooking, not to worry.  It's super easy.  First, cut off the root end and discard.  Next, cut right where the light green starts to turn to dark, tough green.  You don't want the tough, dark green part...rinse and save for stock.  Leeks grow in sand and are pretty dirty when you get them at the market.  So now you need to remove the sand.  Easy!  Cut down the white/light green stalk you've reserved lengthwise.  Next, cut crosswise, into 1 inch half moons.  Place your sliced leeks into a large bowl of cold water.  Agitate.  Let sit for a few minutes (15 or so).  The sand will sink to the bottom and your clean leek will float to the top!

Season your chicken with salt and pepper.  Preheat medium skillet (one that has a tight-fitting lid and is big enough to hold all of the chicken comfortably) on medium high heat.  Add oil.  When the oil is hot (shimmering, almost smoking), place your chicken in the pan.  After 2-3 minutes, turn.  Cook on the opposite side for another 203 minutes...until you get a nice brown sear.  Set aside.  Don't worry about cooking it all the way through, we'll finish them off later.

In the same pan add leeks, cook until soft, about 1 minute.  Add garlic, keep it all moving for another minute...until everything is nice and fragrant.  Add your chicken breast back on top of the leek mixture.  Pour wine in to just about cover the chicken, but not quite.  This will be your braising liquid.  Bring to a boil, then tune it down to a low simmer.  Put the lid on.  You should be on low heat now.  Walk away for 20 minutes  (less time if you are using breasts...those tend to get too tough when you over cook them).

Remove just the chicken on to a plate, tent with foil to keep warm.  Reduce the liquid by a third.  Remove the skillet from the heat.  Swirl in the cold butter.  Add the parsley.  Taste it!  Season it! Spoon over chicken.

RECIPE: CSA "Take Out" Thai Chicken Noodles

My favorite recipes are the ones that create food that fool you into thinking they are horrible for you.  Honestly, I'll take a plate of pork belly with salted shrimp and cabbage  (a Korean fave) over a bowl of oatmeal any day.  But there's a serious misconception that good food HAS to be bad for you.  I'm not going to promise you a healthy donut or fat free pork belly (are you listening God, it's me, Virginia)...but a healthy stir fry recipe can always deter me from stuffing my face with greasy take out (sometimes).

The recipe below for me, was a two-fer.  I not only recreated one of my favorite Thai takeout meals BUT used several CSA ingredients from our weekly share (fresh, local, organic: green beans, basil, cilantro, cucumber, carrots).  I subbed out veggie oil for grape seed oil. Grape seed oil is a great alternative to olive oil.  Nutritionally, they are basically twins (though if you are in need of some Omega 3, look into adding flax or just stick to the olive oil), but their personalities are quite different.  Grape seed oil, though has a slight grapey aroma, lacks the strong olive taste of extra virgin olive oil.  It also has a higher smoking point, which makes grape seed oil more preferable for frying, and in this case, sauté-ing at a high heat.

PHOTO BY VIRGINIA LEE

Thai Chicken Noodles

Serves 4

Around 1/2 lb of whole wheat spaghetti, enough to make about 2-3 cups cooked  (2 cups of brown rice can also be substituted)

1 TB grape seed oil

2 chicken breast halves, sliced thin

2-3 cloves of garlic, chopped

2 carrots, peeled and julienned

1 red bell pepper, julienned

1/2 medium onion, chopped

Handful of fresh green beans, trimmed

1 small cucumber, peeled, seeded, and chopped

1 small tomato, seeded and chopped

Handful of fresh basil, julienned

1 TB of fresh cilantro, chopped

1 TB fresh mint, chopped (optional)

1 lime, juiced

1/2 TB red pepper flakes

2-3 tsp fish sauce (don't be scared!)

1 TB low sodium soy sauce

Fresh ground black pepper

Boil water in a large pot.  Add pasta.  In a large, deep skillet or wok, heat oil on medium, about 1 minute.  Add red pepper flakes, raise heat to medium high, about another minute.  Brown sliced chicken until cooked.  Throw in onions and garlic.  Stir until onions slightly soften.  Add carrots, bell pepper, and green onion.  Continuously stir to prevent burning and sticking.  When green beans have softened a little, add al dente pasta.  Reserve about 1/2 cup of pasta water in case you like a saucier dish..I find the moisture from the pasta is just fine, especially of you take the pasta right form the pot instead of draining it first.  Combine all ingredients well.  Add tomatoes, fish sauce, soy sauce, basil, cilantro, mint and lime.  Mix well, taste and adjust by adding more fish sauce or soy sauce.  Garnish with cold cucumbers.

Notes: Want to make chicken slicing less slimy and easier to prep?  Pop the chicken into the freezer about 1/2 hour before you plan on prepping it.  Freezing the chicken just a touch firms it up so it's easier to slice.

RECIPE: Easy Roast Chicken Breast

After much struggle getting the computer all set up at Fresh Lunch (I am now best friends with the Dell representative as well as the Verizon customer service lady, I think I was invited to her baby shower), I looked at the clock and realized it was 6pm.  Jamie was coming over for dinner at 7pm.  That gave me....about 10 minutes at the grocery store.  In a frenzy (and NO LIST) I grabbed some lemons, a bulb of garlic, 3 bone in chicken breasts in a package, fresh asparagus and a bag spinach salad (something to hold us over while the chicken was cooking).  With my stomach growling I threw together roast chicken dish in minutes. Good thing we had some wine to distract Jamie.

PHOTO BY VIRGINIA LEE

Easy Roast Chicken Breast
Serves 2-3

3 bone in, skin on chicken breasts  (the skin and bones make for a juicy chicken)
1/2 bulb of garlic, peeled and crushed
1 lemon, sliced into wheels
1 onion, sliced
Couple of sprigs of thyme
Couple glugs of olive oil
Salt and cracked pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In a roasting pan, or small baking dish (big enough to hold all of the breasts) spread onions, lemon wheels, thyme sprigs, and garlic down evenly to make a bed for the chicken.  Rub outside of chicken breast with olive oil and sprinkle salt and pepper.  Roast in oven 45-50 minutes, until juices run clear or thickest part of the breast reaches 165-170 degrees.  If you are scared of cooking chicken, seriously, invest in a meat thermometer.  Don't forget to calibrate them in ice cold water to calculate the temp difference.

Skin should be nice and crispy when you take it out.  Let rest 15 minutes or so. If you want to present (like the picture above), place the breast down on the a cutting board, slice down away from you and against the grain of the chicken (crosswise against the bone).  Drizzle some juices from the pan, and include some roasted garlic cloves on each plate.  I like to rub the roasted garlic all over the breast for more intense garlic flavor.  Served here in the picture with roasted asparagus (that I placed on the rack below the chicken with lemon and olive oil).

Note: If you have the time, marinate this up to a day, at a minimum an hour, ahead with some buttermilk, paprika, and salt.  When you're ready to roast, drain marinade and pat VERY dry.  Move forward with the rest of the recipe.  Marinating it in buttermilk before roasting or throwing it on the grill makes the chicken even more tender.

RECIPE: Chicken in LIGHT Mushroom Sauce

I've been thinking a lot about heart healthy recipes, mainly because of my father.  The man runs over 5 miles a day, marathons, and still manages to have a clogged artery.  So there it is folks...no matter how much you work out, it still matters tremendously what we put in our bodies.  Papa Lee, a lean athletic man, can take down a Big Mac in less than five minutes and loves his red meat and pork products.  My mother says he's resistant to chicken and fish, but I'm wondering if maybe he just loves the flavors associated with the above, and it's not necessarily the actual protein that he craves.  What if I could make a dish so flavorful, that he'll forget that it's healthy?

I took this as a challenge for Mother's Day, as that was the next occasion we were to eat together after his diagnosis.  Sure enough, he was surprised to hear this was one of many possible heart healthy dishes allowed in his diet.  I didn't have my camera on hand, but I was able to snap a picture with my Blackberry.  Served here with a side of braised kale and light mashed potatoes:

Instead of traditional French sauces that can be super heavy on the butter and fats, I thicken the sauce with a little flour.  Make sure you cook the mixture well before serving, as you want to eliminate a floury taste in your sauce.

Chicken in Light Mushroom Sauce
Serves 4

2-3 Chicken breasts, sliced again in halves (lay breast flat on cutting board and slice in half, parallel to cutting board)
1 package of mushrooms, cleaned and dry
1 shallot, finely chopped
1.5 tablespoon of flour
1/2 cup of dry white wine
3/4 cup of low sodium chicken stock (keep warm while preparing sauce)
2 tablespoons of rosemary, finely chopped
Handful of flat leaf parsley, chopped
3 teaspoons of olive oil

In a non-stick skillet heat 2 teaspoons of olive oil, cook chicken all the way through.  Place on a plate and tent with aluminum foil to keep warm.  Heat remaining oil in the same skillet, or a large saucepan if working simultaneously.  Sauté shallots until soft.  Push shallots to the perimeters of the pan, add mushrooms to the middle. Be careful not to crowd the pan, work in batches if you need to.  You want a nice, dark sear on the mushrooms for flavor.  In a small bowl, whisk flour and white wine together until there are no more lumps.  Pour into cooked mushroom and shallot mixture.  Cook, stirring continually, for about 2 minutes.  Stir in warm chicken stock.  Bring to a boil, simmer until sauce has thickened.  Add in rosemary.  Spoon over chicken pieces and sprinkle parsley for color.

RECIPE: Spinach Artichoke Stuffed Chicken

I'm a sucker for spinach artichoke dip.  You can use half of this recipe for the chicken and the other half topped with Parmesan and baked into the oven for a dip.  You can even spread it on top of salmon before popping it into the oven.   The purple stuff on the plate is the other half of the red cabbage used for the Purple Slaw fish taco recipe.  It was braised with some sautéed bacon and onion, about 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar, and a 1/2 cup of stock.  Delicious.

PHOTO BY VIRGINIA LEE

Spinach Artichoke Stuffed Chicken

Serves 2-3

2-3 chicken breasts (or breast halves I guess, technically)

1 package of frozen chopped spinach (it's just as good as the fresh stuff, but less hassle), drained well

1 can of artichoke hearts packed in water, drained, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

1 package of softened reduced fat cream cheese

1/4 cup of shredded Parmesan

2 teaspoons of olive oil

1 lemon

Heat 1 teaspoon of olive oil in a large oven proof skillet.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Sautee onion until soft. Add artichokes and spinach.  Cook for about 7 minutes...until most of the moisture from the mix is gone.  Season (crushed red pepper if you want, salt, pepper, white pepper works well too).  Set aside mixture to cool.  Add cheeses to the mixture and combine well.  Take about a cup of the mixture and refrigerate the rest for another recipe.

Take one breast, lay it flat on a cutting board.  With a sharp knife, slice parallel to the cutting board, opening the breast piece up like a book, but do not completely slice through.  Smear 1/3 of the mixture on inner sides, then close  the "book".  Repeat with remaining pieces of chicken.  Lightly sprinkle tops with salt.

Heat remaining olive in the same pan.  Carefully lower each stuffed chicken piece down in the pan.  After 5-6 minutes, carefully flip.  I find that tongs work best at keeping everything together.  If you are nervous about this all falling apart, keep it together with some sturdy toothpicks. After another 5-6 minutes, flip again and finish them off in the oven.  About 15 minutes or until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165.  Remove from the oven, squeeze lemon on top and serve.

RECIPE: Chicken with Lemon Caper Sauce

Life got crazy yesterday...with work, 5 attempts to go to the gym (one was FINALLY successful), and preparing for my catering gig this weekend. As with most nights, my time to unwind is in the kitchen with good tunes and my husband not far. But last night, I was just hungry, tired, and didn't want to undo an hour at the gym by taking the easy route with carry out.  I know there are plenty of healthy choices to carry out, but you guys have to understand...I'm weak.  Plus, I had a bunch of chicken breasts I had defrosting in the fridge and fresh (and it's seasonal) asparagus.

This is a simple, sophisticated recipe that plates pretty well. No one will know it took less than 30 minutes.  Pictured here with roasted asparagus.

  PHOTO BY VIRGINIA LEE

Chicken with Lemon Caper Sauce
Serves 2-3

2-3 chicken breast halves, sliced into cutlets (or pounded thin).  Tips on how to slice thin.  Or shortcut it and buy the already thin slices at the store
1.5 tablespoon of olive oil
1 shallot, finely diced
2 tablespoons of capers, drained
1/2 to 3/4 of a cup of chicken broth or stock
Juice from half of a lemon
1/8 tablespoon of butter

Heat a large skillet (I don't recommend non-stick) on medium/medium high and add olive oil.  I like to start out my All Clad pan out on low, and then gradually increase the heat.  That way there is a more even temperature all around the pan, instead of getting choppy spots when you crank the heat from the get go. Once the oil is nice and hot and shimmering, add chicken breast.  Lightly salt the uncooked side.  The capers give this dish a ton of salty flavor, so go easy on the chicken.

Give the chicken some space.  Don't crowd the pan and don't flip too early.  Let the heat naturally release the breast from the pan.  Plus, you want that nice brown coloring on the breast.  Turn cutlets over to cook other side.  Once each piece of chicken is done (you may have to work in batches the halves may yield 2 cutlets each) put aside on a plate and tent with foil to keep warm.

In the same pan, there should be brown bits and spots all over.  That's fine, as long as it's not black, you're in good shape.  That fun stuff there is called "fond" and is where the flavor from the sauce will come from.  Add shallots and cook until soft...maybe a minute or two.  Start deglazing the  pan by adding the chicken stock and lemon juice.  With a wooden spoon, scrape up all the brown bits.  You'll notice it should come right up and incorporate into the sauce.  Reduce by about a half of the liquid.  Add capers, warm them through.  Take the pan off the heat and swirl in the butter.  Spoon mixture over chicken and serve.

RECIPE: Spicy Peanut Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Diffuse this salt bomb recipe by using low sodium soy sauce, thinning out the soy sauce with a little water, and when eaten on it's own, add some fresh steamed broccoli.  This dish tastes great wrapped up in lettuce (fairly guilt-free), or over a bed of steamed brown rice (both are shown below with a side of kimchee).  I tossed the brown rice with some leftover chopped parsley and green onions for a little color and flavor.

PHOTO BY VIRGINIA LEE

Spicy Peanut Chicken Lettuce Wraps
Serves 4

2.5 tablespoons of chunky peanut butter (I used Smart Balance Rich Roast chunky)
1 hefty tablespoon of Sambal Oelek (Asian chili paste, it's next to the Sriracha usually at the grocery store)
4-5 tablespoons of low sodium soy sauce
2 chopped green onions, reserve a tablespoon or two for garnish
1 head of leafy green lettuce
4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, fat trimmed.  Cubed.
1 teaspoon canola oil

Whisk first four ingredients in a bowl and set aside.  If it's looking a little too thick, add a tablespoon or two of water.  Heat oil in medium non-stick pan on medium heat.  Add chicken and cook until done.  Pour in sauce mixture.  Stir and combine until the mixture is bubbling.  Serve with lettuce wraps or over steamed rice. Garnish with remaining green onion.

Variation: Try it with chicken break or shrimp.

PHOTO BY VIRGINIA LEE

RECIPE: Parmesan Crusted Chicken

Parmesan Crusted Chicken

Serves 3-4

1/2 cup flour mixed with a pinch of salt and pepper  

1 egg beaten

1 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese (not the stuff in the can. I take shredded parm and grate in a small food processor)

2-3 chicken breasts sliced into cutlets (See note)

Olive oil

Coat each cutlet with flour mixture (in a shallow dish or put flour mixture in a plastic bag to evenly coat) shake well to take off excess flour, dip in the egg, then coat both sides with the grated Parmesan until well covered.

Cook both sides of cutlet in hot olive oil until cooked through.   I use a non-stick for this one.  Outside should become golden with some brown edges. These cutlets should be thin...so cooking time isn't that long.  165 degrees on the meat thermometer for chicken.

Drain on paper towels.  Sprinkle with a pinch of salt if desired.

The crust is so very crispy and cheesy.  I don't like breaded cutlets because they are often greasy and soggy...but these come out perfect each time. This chicken goes great with just about anything.   I pair it with steamed veggies.  Or sometimes over pasta with fresh parsley and a flavored olive oil.  You can even make it the base for a quick chicken parm...after draining just melt some cheese over it in the oven and serve it with some pasta and marinara.  Sometimes I put it on a bun for a "fried" chicken sandwich.  You can also change up the flour mixture to flavor it up a little more.  Or..instead of chicken, I've used tilapia fillets.  They work great too.  Go with it.

 

Note: Start with the chicken breast flat on a cutting board, slice parallel to the board carefully through the thickest section and open like a book. This should create two halves.  Separate) Or you can pound them thin.