Porchetta

During the holiday season last year America's Test Kitchen had an episode titled "Home for the Holiday's" found here.  I watched that episode and was inspired by the porchetta recipe. When we lived in Queens we were invited to the Osorio's house in Astoria for a wonderful feast.  Chef Osorio works at an Italian restaurant in Manhattan, he's actually from Bogota Colombia and his wife Jen is from Queens.  I can't remember his name, anyway he is an amazing chef!  He prepared a traditional Porcehetta in a La Caja China, which is a wooden or metal box you grill a whole pig in basically.  His porchetta was a huge piece of pork rolled with fennel, and other traditional seasonings.  He had my husband Parley cut it into slices, Parley sliced it into one inch thick slices.  Which at the time I'm thinking these dinner plate inch thick pieces of porchetta are enormous!  It was the most delicious, flavorful, and moist pork I'd ever tasted.  I didn't think anything about trying to make it myself since I didn't have any way to cook something that big or even know where to find such a huge piece of pork.  Then I saw that Holiday special from America's Test Kitchen I mentioned earlier and the chef used a manageable easy to find pork butt roast and I knew then I could make porchetta in my home kitchen.  While at the store I saw pork butt steaks and decided why cut slits in the fat cap of a huge roast and try to flavor a huge butt roast when I could flavor each layer and use the steaks, that's my contribution to this recipe.   Funny enough I went to a local Italian market to get supplies for our second Christmas dinner we were having with our Serbian "daughter for the school year" and they had porchetta in the fridge section and they were huge one-inch dinner plate slices; so I apologize to my husband for dismissing his cutting skills.  Did I mention we have a "daughter for the school year" from Italy and Serbia right now?  Probably not, anyway they are loving the food and are great inspirations for our family trying new food from both Italy and Serbia.  Mina is our Serbian "daughter for the school year" and Camilla is our Italian "daughter for the school year."  I've been preparing our holiday meals according to some of the food they normally, like Christmas for example.  By way of a little known fact we have just learned, the Serbian Orthodox Church follows the Julian calendar for holiday's so they celebrate Christmas on January 7th and Easter is also a week later than we traditionally celebrate it.  We'll be having two Easter Celebrations as we did for Christmas and highlight some Italian and Serbian holiday celebrations.  

Porchetta

Ingredients:

2-3 lbs Pork Butt Steaks

3 Tablespoons Fennel Seed

1/2 Cup Fresh Rosemary

1/4 Cup Fresh Thyme

12 Cloves Garlic

1 Tablespoon Black Pepper

2 Teaspoons Kosher Salt

1/2 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Process:  

Grind Together all the herbs, and spices in a blender or coffee grinder.  

If making in a blender you can add the olive oil and grind and mix together into a paste.  

Using a boning knife remove the t-bones from the steaks. 

Rub paste between each steak and stack the steaks together.

Using three lengths of butcher twine, tie the layers together, double the first part of the knot to make it easier to get a secure knot.

Put on a rack of a roasting pan in the fridge, allow it to dry for up 24 hours.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Place pork in the oven covered with aluminum foil for 2 hours, make sure the pork reaches an internal temperature of 180 degrees.

Increase the oven temperature to 500 degrees, remove foil from meat and place in a lined pan with foil, add meat to pan with twine removed.  15-20 minutes, Cook meat until an internal temperature of 190 degrees. 

Rest 15 minutes, cut across the grain. 

Enjoy!

Chicken Pot Pie

As a kid I remember certain meals we had for dinner, like creamed peas over toast and liver and onions.  Other meals I remember were Banquet brand chicken pot pies and meatloaf.  The pot pies were always served with an extra helping of steamed carrots and peas.  This particular recipe I'm going to share is in honor of the chicken pot pie dinners I remember as a child but of course they're homemade.  Pie crust is one of the recipes I know almost by heart because it is so easy to remember the ingredients, but the real trick is how to handle the dough so the perfectly formed crust is tender and flaky.  Alton Brown has an awesome video with boxing hand puppets and everything explaining the delicate relationship of ingredients to create both a tender and flaky crust.  By far my favorite part of every pie is the crust, but in this case of my chicken pot pie both the filling and crust are perfect together, deliciously intertwined.

 Sometimes the best meal isn't pretty but very delicious.  I'm not a big fan of peas, in fact peas are rarely ever served at my table but this was a perfect reason to include peas.

Ingredients For Pie Crust:

2 cups All Purpose Flour
1 1/2 teaspoons Sea Salt
4 tablespoons cold Lard
5-7 tablespoons ice Water

Preheat oven to 425 Fahrenheit.

If you have a food processor, make your pie crust in it.  Put flour, salt, and lard in the processor with the dough blade and pulse until fine crumble consistency.  You may also use your finger tips to gently crumble the lard and flour together.

Slowly add the ice water to the flour, still pulsing or mix with your fingertips.  Not to much, mixing to much create gluten that doesn't make a flaky tender crust.  Knead until a somewhat loose disk is formed.  Place dough disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 20 minutes. 

Ingredients for Pie Filling:

2 cups Chicken Broth
3 tablespoons All Purpose Flour
3 tablespoons Butter
1 cup Carrots
1 cup frozen Peas
4 Green Onions
1 1/2 cups shredded Rotisserie Chicken
1 tablespoon Olive Oil
Sea Salt
Black Pepper

 Cut the carrots into small 1/2 inch dice, cut green onions including white part into 1/4 inch pieces.  Cut chicken into 1/2 inch chunks.

 Sauté carrots in olive oil over medium heat until tender. 

 Remove dough from the refrigerator, cut in half and roll them on flour to 1/8 inch thick rounds.  place the larger round in an 8 inch tart pan or pie pan.  Place the other round on a plate.  Place both pie crusts in the freezer.

Melt butter in a 12 inch saute pan over medium heat until the foam has subsided.  Add the flour and mix until combined and cook for a few minutes until flour taste is gone and replaced by a nutty flavor.

 Add the chicken broth and cook until thickened and bubbly.

 Mix in the frozen peas, sautéed carrots, green onions, and chicken.

 Add salt and pepper to taste.

Remove pie crust from freezer, pour the chicken filling in the crust.  Place second pie crust on top, press and seal.

 Cut slits into top crust to allow ventilation.  Place pie on a cookie sheet and bake in oven for 30 minutes. 

I took a piece before I took the after picture, its isn't as pretty but it was yummy.

Enjoy!

Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients For Pie Crust:

2 cups All Purpose Flour
1 1/2 teaspoons Sea Salt
4 tablespoons cold Lard
5-7 tablespoons ice Water

Process:

Cut the carrots into small 1/2 inch dice, cut green onions including white part into 1/4 inch pieces.  Cut chicken into 1/2 inch chunks.

If you have a food processor, make your pie crust in it.  Put flour, salt, and lard in the processor with the dough blade and pulse until fine crumble consistency.  You may also use your finger tips to gently crumble the lard and flour together.

Slowly add the ice water to the flour, still pulsing or mix with your fingertips.  Not to much, mixing to much create gluten that doesn't make a flaky tender crust.  Knead until a somewhat loose disk is formed.  Place dough disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 20 minutes. 

Ingredients for Pie Filling:

2 cups Chicken Broth
3 tablespoons All Purpose Flour
3 tablespoons Butter
1 cup Carrots
1 cup frozen Peas
4 Green Onions
1 1/2 cups shredded Rotisserie Chicken
1 tablespoon Olive Oil
Sea Salt
Black Pepper

Process:

Cut the carrots into small 1/2 inch dice, cut green onions including white part into 1/4 inch pieces.  Cut chicken into 1/2 inch chunks.

Sauté carrots in olive oil over medium heat until tender. 

Remove dough from the refrigerator, cut in half and roll them on flour to 1/8 inch thick rounds.  place the larger round in an 8 inch tart pan or pie pan.  Place the other round on a plate.  Place both pie crusts in the freezer.

Melt butter in a 12 inch saute pan over medium heat until the foam has subsided.  Add the flour and mix until combined and cook for a few minutes until flour taste is gone and replaced by a nutty flavor.

Add the chicken broth and cook until thickened and bubbly.

Mix in the frozen peas, sautéed carrots, green onions, and chicken.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Remove pie crust from freezer, pour the chicken filling in the crust.  Place second pie crust on top, press and seal.

Cut slits into top crust to allow ventilation.  Place pie on a cookie sheet and bake in oven for 30 minutes. 

Enjoy!

Instant Chicken Ramen Noodles

This post has been a long time coming.  My family has had a lot of changes these past few months, really the past year has been crazy.  Our youngest daughter turned one in December and my dear little one has been kind enough to teach me a new level of exhaustion this past year.  The exhaustion was a big part of my absence, but the other part was my daughter really really doesn't like me to share attention for her with a computer, and her naps were few and far between.  She likes to have her nap when I drive my other children to school, and wake up when we get home.  If that wasn't enough, we decided it was time to leave Queens, leave New York completely actually.  That was a huge and hard decision.  Our children were very distraught about the move.  On November 2, we moved into our very own house in Garner, North Carolina.  For now I've decided to remain the Queens Foodie Mama, maybe I'll rename my blog/website, but for now it will remain the same.  I promise to do better about posting.

My children love ramen noodles, so we have had a variety of instant ramen noodles in our home. One of my friends, Sarah and her son, are unable to eat Soy.  Every instant ramen seasoning packet, in every package of Ramen Noodles, has soy.  Since a food challenge is one of my favorite motivations for cooking, I decided to take on the ramen challenge.  A few months ago I created this recipe for my friend Sarah.  She also helped taste test our instant ramen.  She offered some advice, so hopefully when you try it, you will enjoy this new take on a college dorm favorite.

Soup, food for the body and soul.

Ingredients:

1 Packet Per Jar Chicken Flavor Broth (Trader Joe's sells one without soy)
1 teaspoon whole Black Pepper
1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1 teaspoon ground Turmeric
1 teaspoon ground Ginger
1 teaspoon dried Onion Flakes
1 teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
1 teaspoon Sesame Seeds
Dried Udon Noodles

4 Pint Jars

Grind the whole spices and herbs in a spice grinder or a blender until a powder is formed.

Break noodles to desired length and place in pint jar.  Fill half way up.  Add 1/2 teaspoon

seasoning to jar.  Place lid and ring on jar and screw on lid with chicken broth packet in lid.

Add hot water to 300 ml line and instant chicken broth.  Microwave for 1 minute, close jar with lid and allow to sit for 1 minute.

Allow to cool and enjoy and jar of instant ramen noodles.

Enjoy!

Instant Chicken Ramen Noodles

Ingredients:

1 Packet Per Jar Chicken Flavor Broth (Trader Joe's sells one without soy)
1 teaspoon whole Black Pepper
1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1 teaspoon ground Turmeric
1 teaspoon ground Ginger
1 teaspoon dried Onion Flakes
1 teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
1 teaspoon Sesame Seeds
Dried Udon Noodles

4 Pint Jars

Process:

Grind the whole spices and herbs in a spice grinder or a blender until a powder is formed.

Break noodles to desired length and place in pint jar.  Fill half way up.  Add 1/2 teaspoon

seasoning to jar.  Place lid and ring on jar and screw on lid with chicken broth packet in lid.

Add hot water to 300 ml line and instant chicken broth.  Microwave for 1 minute, close jar with lid and allow to sit for 1 minute.

Allow to cool and enjoy and jar of instant ramen noodles.

Enjoy!

Spring Salad Balsamic Vinaigrette

For my son's 5th birthday in December last year, I made a salad to go with the homemade pizza.  The salad was sort of like a salad my sister-in-law Kandi made for family holiday dinner's.  Our friend Carmen asked me for the recipe.  I told her I would be posting it, and here we are months later.  I'm sorry Carmen, this took way too long to post.  This salad even won over her husband Tom, go figure! If you happen to be like my friend Angela, and love salads, then this is for you. 

 If you like salad, and your into everything in your salad, this will fit the bill nicely.

Brown Sugar Pecans Ingredients

1 cup raw Pecans

3 tablespoons Butter

1/2 brown Sugar

 Place a medium size skillet over medium heat.  Add butter to pan and allow to melt.

 Add brown sugar to butter and stir.

 Allow butter and sugar to melt and bubble.

 Place pecans in pan with melted sugar.

Stir pecans until coated and shining.  Allow to cook for a couple of minutes.
Be careful they will burn.

Pour pecans on a piece of parchment paper on the counter to cool.  Break up when cool.

Balsamic Vinaigrette Ingredients

2 tablespoons Honey 
1 tablespoon Spicy Brown Mustard 
1/2 teaspoon Sea Salt 
1/2 teaspoon freshly crushed Black Pepper
1 large crushed Garlic Clove
1/4 cup Balsamic Vinegar 
3/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

 Place all ingredients in a pint size mason jar with lid and ring screwed on.
Shake the jar to combine.

Spring Salad Balsamic Vinaigrette Ingredients

Brown Sugar Pecans
Balsamic Vinaigrette
Spring Salad Greens
1/2 cup dried Cranberries
1/4 cup Feta

Rinse and dry spring salad and place in a large bowl.  Add pecans, cranberries,
and crumbled feta.  Toss with Balsamic Vinaigrette.   Add as much you prefer.

Serve with pizza or any other entree.  

Enjoy!

Brown Sugar Pecans Ingredients

1 cup raw Pecans

3 tablespoons Butter

1/2 brown Sugar

Process

Place a medium size skillet over medium heat.  Add butter to pan and allow to melt.

Add brown sugar to butter and stir.

Allow butter and sugar to melt and bubble.

Place pecans in pan with melted sugar.

Stir pecans until coated and shining.  Allow to cook for a couple of minutes.  Be careful they will burn.

Pour pecans on a piece of parchment paper on the counter to cool.  Break up when cool.

Balsamic Vinaigrette Ingredients

2 tablespoons Honey 
1 tablespoon Spicy Brown Mustard 
1/2 teaspoon Sea Salt 
1/2 teaspoon freshly crushed Black Pepper
1 large crushed Garlic Clove
1/4 cup Balsamic Vinegar 
3/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Process

Place all ingredients in a pint size mason jar with lid and ring screwed on.  Shake the jar to combine.

Spring Salad Balsamic Vinaigrette Ingredients

Brown Sugar Pecans
Balsamic Vinaigrette
Spring Salad Greens
1/2 cup dried Cranberries
1/4 cup Feta

Rinse and dry spring salad and place in a large bowl.  Add pecans, cranberries, and crumbled feta.

Toss with Balsamic Vinaigrette, add as much you prefer. Serve with favorite entree.

Enjoy!

Frikadellers

Two days after my last post, I went into labor and baby Gwendolyn was born on December 8.  She has been taking all of my time.  Maybe an apology is in order for not posting sooner, but she is so cute, and I'm kind of tired.  My mom made frikadellers when I was a kid, little meatballs in a sweet sauce. Traditional frikadellers are a Danish pork/veal meatball in brown gravy.  Now my mom's version is different.  I asked about the history and she said my grandmother made them with a sweet sauce and found the recipe and used it because it was Danish. My mom is the youngest of three daughters, so I decided to ask her older sisters about the recipe. The middle daughter, Julene, responded to my request and told me the history of the recipe.  My Aunt Julene's husband worked for Hunt-Wesson, and the company had a campaign promoting Hunt's Ketchup and a frikedeller recipe was created and shared.  My uncle Val changed the recipe to include apple sauce, which is the sweet element in the sauce.  This recipe is a family favorite thanks to my Uncle Val.  My fikedellers are a little different from frikedellers that my family grew up eating.

 Tender meatballs with a sweet tangy sauce, reminds me of my mom and childhood.

Ingredients:

1/3 lb. ground Veal
1/3 lb. ground Pork
1/3 lb. ground Beef
3 large Honeycrisp Apples
1 Yellow Onion
1 Egg
3 Slices of Bread
1/2 cup Ketchup
1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon Sea Salt
1/2 teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
Olive Oil

Wash, core and cut apples into big chunks.  Place in pressure cooker with 1/4 cup
ketchup and brown sugar.

Cook on high for 8 minutes.

Puree apple mixture with an immersion blender.

Chop onion in blender.  Remove from blender and put in a mixing bowl.  Chop bread
in blender.  Remove crumbs to bowl with the onions. 

Mix onion, bread crumbs, meat, salt, pepper, egg, and nutmeg together.

Heat 1/4 inch of Olive Oil in 12 inch skillet over medium heat.

Form meat into 1 inch balls and cook in skillet until browned on all sides.

Pour apple tomato sauce on frikadellers.  Cover pan with lid and cook for 8 minutes.

Enjoy!

Frikadellers

Ingredients:

1/3 lb. ground Veal
1/3 lb. ground Pork
1/3 lb. ground Beef
3 large Honeycrisp Apples
1 Yellow Onion
1 Egg
3 Slices of Bread
1/2 cup Ketchup
1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon Sea Salt
1/2 teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
Olive Oil

Process:

Wash, core and cut apples into big chunks.  Place in pressure cooker with 1/4 cup ketchup and brown sugar.

Cook on high for 8 minutes.

Chop onion in blender, remove from blender and put in a mixing bowl.  Chop bread in blender, remove crumbs to bowl with the onions. 

Mix onion, bread crumbs, meat, salt, pepper, egg, and nutmeg together.

Heat 1/4 inch of Olive Oil in 12 inch skillet over medium heat.

Form meat into 1 inch balls and cook in skillet until browned on all sides.

Pour apple tomato sauce on frikadellers.  Cover pan with lid and cook for 8 minutes.

Enjoy!

Phở Gà (Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup)

Rememebr when I made Phở Bò (Beef Pho)? This is a chicken version, and I've made it as simple as possible.  We all like simple right?  This was our dinner shared with two bachelor friends. Our gentlemen guests were so excited to have a home cooked meal and were completely impressed.  It has been cloudy and cold, so soup was wonderful to come home to.  Plus when I went to pick up our friends, I was on the wrong side of the street.  Anywhere else this woudn't be a big deal, but next to the Queensboro Plaza Train Station, it meant a whole lot of lanes and barriers, dividers, and no way to cross.  I ended up turning too soon and going across the bridge to Manhattan and coming back to Queens.  Thankfully, we finally made it back to the apartment and a wonderful wafting smell from my pressure cooker where the broth was cooking.  I highly reccomend making broth of any kind in a pressure cooker.  The results are always fabulous and fast.

 This is a steaming hot bowl of flavor beyond any chicken soup you have ever experienced.

Ingredients:

4-5 pound Rotisserie Chicken (Costco really has the best price and sized chicken)
2 large bunch of Green Onions
7 large cloves of garlic
3 pieces of Dried Ginger
Roots and Stems of 1 bunch of Cilantro
2 whole star anise
12 cloves
2″x1″ piece of Cassia Bark (a.k.a. Saigon Cinnamon)
1/2 teaspoon Black Pepper
80g Light Brown Sugar
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon Kosher Salt

1 Jalapeno

1 Lime

Water

Japanese Noodles or Rice Noodles

Remove chicken from bones.  Place chicken bones in pressure cooker pot with 1 whole bunch
 of green onions, 1/2 bunch of Cilantro, star anise, cloves, cassia bark, black pepper, sugar, fish
sauce, salt, and add water to the top of the fill line for your pressure cooker (mine is 16 cups).  

Set pressure cooker to high for one hour.

Strain broth through a fine mesh sieve into a large stock pot.

Bring to a boil.  We used Japanese noodles, but you can use traditional rice noodles if you want.  Cook noodles in broth according to package instrucitions.

Slice jalapeno thinly.  Slice remaining bunch of green onions.  Remove remaining cilantro
from stems.  Place all ingredients aside on a serving plate.  Cut chicken or shred chicken into bite
size pieces and serve next to the broth and plate of vegetables.

This is a build your own Phở Gà bowl.  Add ingredients then the noodles and broth over top.
We really had fun building our soup bowls and customizing how much of each ingredient.

Enjoy!

Phở Gà (Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup)

Printable recipe Found Here

Ingredients:

4-5 pound Rotisserie Chicken (Costco really has the best price and sized chicken)
2 large bunch of Green Onions
7 large cloves of Garlic
3 pieces of Dried Ginger
Roots and Stems of 1 bunch of Cilantro
2 whole Star Anise
12 Cloves
2″x1″ piece of Cassia Bark (a.k.a. Saigon Cinnamon)
1/2 teaspoon Black Pepper
80g Light Brown Sugar
2 tablespoons Fish Sauce
1 tablespoon Kosher Salt

1 Jalapeno

1 Lime

Water

Japanese Noodles or Rice Noodles

Process:

Remove chicken from bones.  Place chicken bones in pressure cooker pot with 1 whole bunch of green onions, 1/2 bunch of Cilantro, star anise, cloves, cassia bark, black pepper, sugar, fish sauce, salt, and add water to the top of the fill line for your pressure cooker (mine is 16 cups).  

Set pressure cooker to high for one hour.

Strain broth through a fine mesh sieve into a large stock pot.

Bring to a boil.  We used Japanese noodles, but you can use traditional rice noodles if you want. Cook noodles in broth according to package instrucitions.

Slice jalapeno thinly.  Slice remaining bunch of green onions.  Remove remaining cilantro from stems.  Place all ingredients aside on a serving plate.  Cut chicken or shred chicken into bite size pieces and serve next to the broth and plate of vegetables.

This is a build your own Phở Gà bowl.  Add ingredients then the noodles and broth over top.  

Enjoy!