Rabbit and Mung Bean Congee (Viet Dish)

Before I was a vegetarian, approx. three years ago, I was in Vietnam one summer and my cousin and I dropped by a local congee/rice porridge street vendor and ordered some rabbit and mung bean congee. Since I had been a fan of gamey meats, the rabbit was right up my alley. The restaurant served piping hot congee topped with mung beans, minced rabbit meat, scallions and a vegetable that I cannot find here nor know what it is called. It is similar taro stems, an ingredient used to make the delicious Vietnamese Spicy and Sour Soup. Since I did not have that particular ingredient, I omitted it in my version of the dish.
The rabbit was purchased at a Chinese supermarket, frozen and creepy looking as heck. Thawed and unpackaged, it looked even worst hahaha! This was my first time ever cooking with rabbit so it was a little nervous but the thing was dead, so whatever hahaha. (God I am a bad vegetarian...)
Instead of mincing the meat like the street vendor did, I chopped the bunny up and seasoned it slightly before adding it to a pot of water to create a Bugs Bunny stock. I had toasted some rice in my conventional oven before adding it to the boiling pot to slowly cook and break down.
Mung beans are amazing and these little green pellets were given as a gift to me on my last trip to Vietnam. Mung beans are so versatile as an ingredient. They are used to make savory and sweet dishes as well as bean sprouts, providing a good source of fiber and protein.  I placed 1 1/2 cup into my slow cooker the night before so that they would be nice and tender the next day. As soon as the rice cooked down and the soup was getting thicker because of the starch, I drained the cooked mung beans and added them to the pot.
Served piping hot with sliced scallions and fresh ground black pepper.

Silly Rabbit...

Mung Beans (photo from the web)

 

Curried Leg of Lamb Pot Roast

Made this for dinner today: boneless leg of lamb dry-rubbed with curry spice, salt, pepper, then browned in a little bit of grape seed oil and popped in the oven to roast with 1 1/2 cup of beef broth and a splash of red wine; onions, garlic, leeks, carrots and chayotes. I roasted mine for around 1 hour at 420 F but follow the packaging on your leg to see what it suggests for cooking time. Served simply over hot rice with generous scoops of the au jus and veggies. It would be great with rustic mashed potatoes as well! My dad loved it (he had three huge slices of the lamb, yikes!).
If you do not have time to wait an hour and want to eat it as soon as you're off work/school/whatever you do, then just pop everything in a slow cooker before you leave (cut things up and season the night before). The meat will be extra tender and you could serve it in anyway you see fit (as a sandwich, on rice, on potatoes, with quinoa etc.)!
Happy eating!!

Raspberry Chipotle Flat Chicken

Hello all! I have been away to Montana since the last time I posted and I haven't had time to cook or bake since I got back. My dwelling is undergoing major renovations and that also includes a re-installment of cabinets and the counter top in our kitchen including refinishing and repainting walls and tiles. Before completely demolishing our kitchen, I made this dish using a sauce I bought in Helena, Montana. It's a "Roasted Raspberry and Chipotle Sauce," and though the idea of a fruit and spices usually does not mix well for me, this sauce had me go head-over-heels. I found this beauty at the local Costco Warehouse, sampled on a thin whole grain cracker with brie cheese. I basically melted along with the soft cheese as soon as the morsel was in my mouth. Tangy-sweet with a bit of savoriness from the cheese and cracker, it was a divine bite. What was even more incredible was the little kick of spiciness that rocked all the flavors together. It was f****ing delicious. Back at home with my prized bottle of the sauce, I couldn't wait to try it on the suggested meats (poultry, pork, salmon) and appetizer suggestions.
This chicken dish is the first time I have used the sauce since I bought it and I loved the color it gave the roasted chicken (as my family gobbled up almost all the bird). I decided to flatten (butterfly) the chicken so that it would be seasoned better, cooked faster and carved better.  To flatten a chicken, all you do is remove the spine and the breast bone (keel bone) so that you can flatten the bird out and have less bones to worry with when carving. When you season, the spices you use will be better penetrated into the meat so that your bird will be seasoned all over rather than just on the skin. Here's a great instructional video with how to butterfly a chicken.

I dry rubbed my chicken with salt, pepper, and garlic powder (around 1-2 tsp of each) and roasted it at 200-250 degrees Celsius for about 45 minutes in my glass conventional oven* until the skin was semi-golden brown. I then brushed the bird with 2 tbsp of the Raspberry Chipotle and let it roasted for another 5 minutes until the sauce melted right into the chicken and the skin was glossy and golden. I let the bird rest for 15 minutes before carving so that the meat would retain heat and not dry out. I served the chicken with brown rice, pea tips sauteed in garlic and baked zucchini rounds. Our "last supper" before our kitchen's doomsday.

*butterfly chicken is awesome on the BBQ too so go ahead and preheat your grill to medium-high heat and grill the bird to your liking!

Boneless Cornish Hen with Wild Rice and Cornbread Stuffin'

 So, last night, I made something like a ballontine, a French way of serving meat, fish or poultry by completely boning the meat, stuffing it and then roasting it. I used a small Cornish Hen and I used a method of de-boning that keeps the whole bird intact, whereas I do not cut along the spine of the bird in order to remove the carcass.
 Stuffed with a mixture of cornbread and wild rice. Unfortunately, I used the rice and stuffing from a box because I was too lazy to make them from scratch...which didn't give me the exact results I wanted but what can I do? A mistake to learn from for next time lol.

VIDEO:

Mattar Paneer

I made one of my favorite Indian curry dishes today, Mattar Paneer (Green Pea Curry with Indian Cheese). Makes my mouth water every time I say it...(yes, I am a curry fanatic). I used the recipe from Auntie Manjula's Youtube video. I served mine with Brown Basmati Rice, cooked with saffron.
 Yum, Yum, Yum!!

Mahi-Mahi Fillet with Jewel Coconut Rice

Mahi-Mahi Fillet with Jewel Coconut Rice

This is a little fish dish I cooked up for dinner tonight. Mahi-mahi is a fish that I have never cooked before so it was interesting. Doing some research, I found that the fish resides in subtropical waters thus I decided to make a Hawaiian inspired dish. When thinking of Hawaii I think of pineapples, coconuts and fresh ingredients as well as bright colors. So thus, I made the pineapple puree and the rice.

I did not want to challenge the natural flavor of the fish so I only lightly seasoned the fillets with salt, pepper and a little bit fish sauce. I pan fried the fillets in olive oil and served it with Jewel Saffron-Coconut Basmati Rice and a Spicy n' Sour Pineapple Puree. Very healthy and delicious!

Mahi-Mahi Fillet with Jewel Coconut Rice

Pineapple Puree
1 can of chunked pineapples in juice
1/4 cup reserved pineapple juice
1 tsp salt
1 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp chopped chilis
2 tsp cornstarch

In a sauce pan, mix all ingredients together and cook over medium heat until pineapples produce more juice. Remove from heat, cool and pulse in a blender. Return to sauce pan and heat through, keeping warm before serving.

Rice
2 1/2 cup of brown basmati rice, rinsed and drained
1 can coconut milk
2 1/4 cups of water
1 pinch of saffron
1/2 red pepper, diced
1/2 green pepper, diced
5 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped

In the rice cooker pot, combine all ingredients and turn switch to cook.
If you don't have a rice cooker, combine all ingredients in a pot and turn heat to medium-high. Cook for covered for 30 minutes or until rice is cooked.
Saute red and green peppers with 1 tsp salt until peppers are tender.
In a large bowl, mix around 2 cups of cooked rice with the sauted peppers. Season more according to your taste. Add in cilantro. Set aside.

Fish
4 Mahi-Mahi fish fillets
2 tsp pepper
2 tsp salt
4 tbsp fish sauce*
1 tbsp olive oil

Season the fillets with salt, pepper and the fish sauce (1 tbsp each fillet). Heat the oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Cook skin down until skin is crispy around 3-5 minutes. Flip over and cook other side for 2-3 minutes.

Serve hot with puree and rice. Garnish with a sprig of cilantro if desired.

*I used the Squid Brand which is lighter or I use the Three Crab Brand which is a bit more bold.