Update: I was in the Wall Street Journal for this recipe!!!

I bought Michel Richard’s Happy in the Kitchen book a few months back, and while I can gleefully tell you that its my favorite eye-candy boyfriend cookbook, I have only attempted to make one thing from the book, for fear that I could never replicate the dish and please HiK. My dish would just be a sad version of what was on the page, fully disappointing HiK, who would probably tsk-tsk me and leave me for a more competent cook.  I am totally content to just have HiK please me and wow me with the lovely recipes, inventive techniques and lush food porn.

Yes, it is entirely a one-sided relationship and I am ok with that…well…that is, until this past weekend.

For Memorial Day, I wanted to make the Chicken Faux Gras again, which is a creamy pate spread made with chicken liver and a very clever play on words (real foie gras is made from expensive duck liver.) Michel Richard describes this as, “Absolutely the creamiest thing on earth. If you don’t tell people what it is, they will think it is Foie Gras and that you are an extravagant host.” The last 2 times that I made this recipe, I had followed the directions exactly. I even measured exactly, timed with a stopwatch and never deviated from HiK one iota. But today, I felt a little mischievous. “Hmmmm…..what if I added shitake mushrooms, chopped parsley and Cognac?” Of course, I didn’t say this too loudly and I quickly put HiK back on the shelf and snuck into the kitchen.

Yes. I cheated….and it tasted SO good. I will continue to cheat on HiK and feel absolutely no guilt

I showered my fling with praise, affection and a Perfect Loaf of French Bread .

At 1:30am, I even tiptoed to the kitchen for a quickie sneaky snack. The best part??…my husband even watched!

Secrets to this dish:

1. Truth be told, this Faux Gras is creamy, rich and addictive….but it doesn’t replicate the silky, fattiness of the real Foie Gras.  It is a GREAT substitute (and affordable - $4 ingredients vs. $70 a pound) and I feel better eating this than thinking about the horrible things that Foie Gras producers do to the geese and ducks.

2. When cleaning the livers, remove the dark bloody spots and the white, thin connective membrane. Notice that I didn’t have any photos of prep work. This is because raw liver is not pleasant to look at. Just remember not to lick your fingers, ya know?!

3. While I enjoyed the creamy smooth original version, I was really yearning for a little more texture and flavor, thus I added Cognac and finely chopped Shitake. If I had truffles, I would have used those. But I don’t and I can only dream about it. Don’t have Shitake? Use a different mushroom. 4. This really was an easy recipe. It only took 30 minutes of real work in the kitchen, but several hours to chill. You can spend $8 for a small 5 oz. slice of pate at your gourmet grocer or $3 in chicken livers and mushrooms to make it yourself and feed a party of 20.

Shitake & Cognac Faux Gras

Inspired by Happy in the Kitchen. You can make this up to 3 days before serving. You’ll need several hours to chill and set the pate, so its best to do it the evening before or early in the day. Makes 4 small 1-cup ramekins or 1 terrine.

The Pate
2 sticks of unsalted butter, at room temperature (16oz)
3/4 cup finely chopped onions
2 garlic cloves, smushed with a garlic press or grated with microplane grater
1/2 cup heavy cream 1 pound chicken livers, rinsed and any dark spots removed (I also remove the stringy connective membrane)
1 teaspoon fine sea salt (or 2 teaspoons kosher salt)
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup finely diced shitake mushrooms (1/4″ cube or smaller)
2 tablespoons finely minced parsley 2 tablespoons Cognac

The Parsley Gelee
1/2 English cucumber cut into 2″ pieces
1 teaspoon gelatin
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
pinch of sea salt
1-2 drops Tabasco sauce
2 to 3 tablespoons minced Italian parsley

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

1. Saute the Mushrooms: In a saucepan, melt 1 tablespoon of butter. Add the shitake mushrooms and saute for 1 minute, until soft and cooked through. Add chopped parsley. Add Cognac and let simmer for 30 seconds. Remove mixture to a bowl and set aside.

2. Cook the Onion: Wash the saucepan and put back on stove. Add 2 tablespoons of butter on medium heat. When the butter starts bubbling, turn the heat down to low and add the onions. Cover and cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. The onions should be soft and translucent. Add the garlic, salt and pepper. Saute until garlic is fragrant. Add the cream and bring to simmer. Cover and cook for 5 minutes. Add all of the remaining butter. Stir until melted. Turn off the heat.

3. Puree the Liver: Put livers in a blender. Pulse a few times until the liver becomes a little smoother. Add the onion mixture. Puree on high for 2 minutes until the mousse becomes pale color and totally smooth. Strain the mixture, using the back of a spoon to push through. You should have about 3 cups strained mousse. If you don’t have that much, put the solids back in the blender and puree again.

4. Bake the Pate: Add the shitake/cognac mixture into the strained mixture. Stir to incorporate the mushrooms evenly throughout the mousse. Pour into 4 1-cup ramekin dishes. Cover with aluminum foil and place in a large deep baking dish. Make sure the bowls don’t touch each other. Carefully pour in enough boiling water to reach halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake 30 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool to room temperature. Refrigerate to chill. Once it is chilled, you can prepare the gelee.

Now its time to make the Gelee. I did not deviate too much from HiK on this portion.

1. Place cucumber in food processor and process until liquefied. Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer (or alternatively you can put it in a double thickness cheesecloth and squeeze). You should end up with 1/2 cup of cucumber water.

2. In microwave bowl, combine gelatin and 1/4 cup of cucumber water. Microwave this to just melt the gelatin - but do not allow to boil. Stir. Add lemon juice, sugar, salt and Tabasco and the remaining cucumber water into the bowl. Add the parsley, a tablespoon at a time until the gelee is dense with parsley but the green of the cucumber water is still visable.

3. Remove Faux Gras from refrigerator. Spoon 2 tablespoons of gelee on top of each ramekin. Refrigerator until gelee is set, about 1 hour. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving. The Gelee adds a beautiful green contrast to the pate and serves to keep air from touching the Faux Gras (which would oxidize and turn the pate grayish).

I’d suggest not skipping the gelee - the cucumber water is refreshing and delightful. I am sure to find other interesting uses for the cucumber gelee.

**Want other recipes from Happy in the Kitchen? Serious Eats has them.
**Gourmet’s Diary of a Foodie also made Faux Gras
**In Good Taste Store has a review of the book
**In case you’re stuck in the desert, you can make Ari’s pita bread to along with this **hmmm…maybe next time I make this I’ll make a cranberry gelee instead of cucumber/parsley
**Smear it in a sandwich between 2 waffles a la Brilynn
**Sliced with Molasses gingerbread with candied ginger from La Tartine Gourmande
**or…next time I just make the pate without the gelee and sear them just like I would the real Foie Gras….make a deep, dark cherry-chocolate reduction and maybe it would taste just like the real thing?
**Cookthink just inspired me to make this with my leftover Faux Gras (instead of the pork loin)

Inspired by Bon Appetit’s May issue featuring Xiao Long Bao and deliciously elegant Kuidaore, I decided to try making XLB for the first time. If you’ve never had XLB before, its one of those foods that you absolutely must try in your lifetime. Inside the dumpling are little pockets of gelatinized broth made from chicken, pork and cured ham. When you steam the dumpling, the broth gelatin melts. If you would like to be seduced, read on. If you aren’t in a spot where you can comfortably moan out loud (like at work, or at school, or if your kids are running around), I suggest that you close this site, come back another time with a glass of wine - you really can’t skip the foreplay. Read the full story

Oh how I so wish that the title of this post was Peking Duck, not Peking Chicken….sigh….while I’ll go to any lengths to satisfy my cravings, this one was just a little too involved. I mean, I’d have to go buy a frozen duck, defrost it, air-dry in front of a mighty fan for 4 hours, roast it and then eat. By then, my ADHD-like cravings might have gone on to the next thing, like Cod Fish Sperm Sac. So, this was my little “make-do” - using chicken breasts. And yes, I know its supposed to be Pancakes, not Steamed Buns, but heck, I really yearned to sink my teeth into a steaming hot, soft bun. On top of that, I wanted to show my kids that it was really the Chinese who invented the hamburger.

Naturally, I called my Mom. “Hi Mom! Can you teach me to make Steamed Buns?”

“You bery hungwy?”

“Yes. VERY HUNGRY.”

“Ok, do lazy shortcut! Go to store, buy Pews-bewry dough in can. Make steam bun.”

So, off to the store I went, in search of the Pews-bewry dough in can. Wait. Did she say breadsticks? croissant? extra buttery stab me with a butter churn waiting for heart attack dinner rolls? Hmmm…..pwobee betta buy craw-sant.

Ooooh….no. Steaming the croissant was a disaster. Result was a globby mess of greasy disks. My son grabbed one, did a little jig and said, “Mommy! Sponge Bob Circle Pants!” Time for PLAN B….luckily I had this:

Its in Vietnamese, which I can’t read, but has English directions. Basically, I think the translations says, “Betta dan steam craw-sant stupid girl.”

Yes….it worked beautifully. But I wonder why my Mom told me to get the Pillsbury in a can? She’s never steered me wrong. Is she getting old and getting her recipes mixed up? It wasn’t until the next day:

“Oh, I find recipe-ah! Pews-bewry sou-wa-doh bis-cit!”

Peking “Chicken”

(a.k.a Chinese Hamburger!)

4 chicken breasts, skin on
1-1/2 teaspoons five spice powder
3 slices of ginger, smashed with side of knife
3 tablespoons dark soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon Shao Hsing rice wine (or dry sherry)
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
2 teaspoons kosher salt (or 1 tsp table salt)
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1. Using the tines of the fork, prick holes through the skin and meat of the chicken. This allows for the marinade to seep through. Combine all the rest of the ingredients and marinate the chicken breasts for up to 4 hours.

2. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Drain the breasts, discard marinade, and pat the chicken very dry, especially the skin side. Heat 3 tablespoons of cooking oil in large oven proof fry pan on high heat. When oil is hot, place chicken, skin side down in the pan. Fry until the skin is golden and crisp, about 3 minutes. (tip: don’t move the chicken when you are frying it. just leave it alone and let it fry to crisp up) Turn skin side up and place oven proof fry pan in the oven for 15 minutes, until cooked through. Timing really depends on how thick your chicken breasts are. I always use a quick read thermometer to check the chicken about 80% of the way through - internal temperature of the chicken breast should be 160 degrees. This method beats guessing and assures me that I don’t overcook the chicken. Also, if you don’t have an oven proof fry pan, just transfer the chicken to roasting pan or baking sheet.

3. Remove from pan and let rest on cutting board for 10 minutes. Carefully cut the chicken breast into thin 1/2″ slices - try cutting on the diagonal to get nice, long, thin slices.

Steamed Bun

(makes approximately 12 buns - look on the package for specifics)

1 package of steamed bun mix (I used D&D Gold)
12 squares of parchment or wax paper, 4″x4″
sesame oil & pastry brush

1. Follow package directions on mixing and kneading the dough.

2. After letting dough rest for 10 minutes. Shape the dough into a long log, about 1-1/2″ in diameter. Using a knife or pastry scraper, cut dough into 12 equal sized “golf ball” sized pieces. While working with one piece, keep the rest covered under a towel.

3. Roll one piece in the palms of your hands to make a nice, smooth ball. Roll out into a circle with a rolling pin. Use a cookie cutter 3″ wide (or get a small canned food item, open top and bottom and use that as a cutter. thats was my improvisation) to cut the dough into an even circle. Using the back of your knife, gently crease the middle of the circle (careful not to cut all the way through - just a little crease). This is your folding mark - the crease will help keep the bun folded while steaming. Fold the dough in half on the crease. Place the dough on the parchment paper. Brush surface with a little bit of sesame oil. Cover with towel. Repeat with rest of dough. 4. Place all dough in bamboo steamer, making sure that they aren’t too crowded and that they don’t touch. Steam for 10 minutes. Turn off heat and let it sit undisturbed for another minute. 5. Just before serving, re-steam for an additional 2 minutes to warm up the bun. Its best served steaming hot and in the bamboo steamer to keep them all warm.

To Serve

1 English or Japanese cucumber, cut into very thin julienned strips, soaked in 1 cup ice cold water, drain before serving
3 green onion stalks, cut into the thinnest possible shavings, soaked in 1 cup of ice cold water. drain before serving
1/2 cup Hoisin Sauce

To Eat

Open bun up (careful not to break it apart!), slather some Hoisin sauce, add 3 slices of chicken, a few cucumber strips, some green onion shavings. Open mouth wide. Eat your Chinese Hamburger.

***
Chinese Steamed Fish

Chinese BBQ Pastries

Host your own Sushi Party

I don’t know about you, but cooking a chunk of meat larger than the size of my head sometimes intimidates me. How do I get the thing to cook evenly? Do I need to rotate it? Breast side up or down? Will it implode like Clark Griswold’s turkey on Christmas Vacation? Ah, I have the perfect recipe for you..the chicken skin thin and crisp, the meat succulent and the sauce divine. Best of all, its so easy.

I was inspired by watching Joanne Weir’s cooking show on PBS last night. The secret is to flatten the bird by using sharp kitchen shears to cut out the backbone. With the whole bird on the cutting board, breast side down, take your shears and start at the tail end, about 1″ to the right of the backbone. Cut all the way up to the neck. Repeat on the other side of the backbone. Flip the bird over, and using the palms of your hands, push to flatten out the bird even more. The flatter, the better, as more of the surface will touch the hot pan and crisp the skin.

The sauce is so simple and only takes minutes to finish. For the photo above, I used fresh artichoke that I trimmed and sliced. But to make the recipe even easier, use baby portabella mushrooms. (if you want to make the artichoke version, read to the end of the recipe) The sauce is pan drippings plus some wine and a quick squeeze of a lemon half. The absolute best way to eat this bird is to pile it on one large plate, pan dripping sauce and all, and devour it with a friend. Here is another roast chicken recipe to try:

Szechuan Peppercorn Roasted Chicken

The Best Roast Chicken Recipe

from Joanne Weir(serves 4) - well, in our case, it was just the 2 of us, but it was so darn good that we ate it all.

One 3.5-lb organic chicken, split (see above)
kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper
8 ounces baby portabella mushrooms
1/2 tsp dried Thyme
1/2 tsp freshly chopped parsley
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 lemon

1. Preheat your oven to 475 degrees. On your stovetop, heat a large fry pan on high heat(big enough to fit the bird, and one that can withstand high heat in the oven). Add 2T canola oil to the pan. While the pan heats up, make sure your bird is patted as dry as possible. When the pan is smoking hot - gently place the bird SKIN side down in the pan. Season the top of bird with salt and pepper. Immediately place the entire pan in the 475 degree oven for 10 minutes.

2. Carefully remove hot pan from oven. flip the bird over. The skin should be beautifully golden and crisp. Generously season the skin side with salt and pepper. Return pan to the oven. Roast another 25-30 minutes. Remove from oven, place chicken on a plate and tent with aluminum foil to keep warm.

3. Put the hot pan (careful! the pan is very hot still!) on the stovetop. Discard all but 3T of the pan drippings. Add mushrooms and fry until softened, about 2 minutes. Season with salt, pepper, dried Thyme, lemon. Reduce the sauce by half, about 2 minutes more. Finish with a sprinkling of chopped parsley. Serve chicken with sauce. Eat. Enjoy. Eat more. Can you tell I REALLY love this recipe?!

Fresh Artichokes I’m so frugal-minded that I have a hard time purchasing a large, heavy artichoke and after trimming, end up with a tiny, 3-bite bit. My preference is to steam the whole thing, and slowly savor each and every leaf with a dipping in home made bagna caulda. But today, I was determined to use it in my Roast Chicken sauce.

Here’s a step-by-step on how to trim, complete with photos to teach you. After trimming the artichoke, I sliced thinly and placed in a bowl with lemon wedge to prevent browning while I heat up my pan. In a small fry pan, heat a little olive oil over medium heat. Add 1 tsp minced garlic, fry for 20 seconds until fragrant. Add artichokes and 1/4 cup of chicken broth. Turn heat to low and cook until artichokes are softened, about 5 minutes. Set aside until you are ready to make the pan sauce. Then, just add the sauteed artichokes to the pan sauce in place of the mushrooms in above recipe. Enjoy!

I’m cooking once a week for a friend whose family is on a No-gluten, No-sugar, No-soy diet, All-organic diet. Their little 4 yr old daughter has cancer. They are going in this diet to try to prolong her life as much as possible. Sugar feeds cancer, and the Soy interferes with her medication. Fermented soy (soy sauce) is ok, so I’m saved by Organic Tamari! Agave is a sugar derived from a cactus plant, and is processed differently than regular sugar in the body, so we can use that. I’ll be posting recipes - I’m sure there are many other cancer patients on a similar diet. This week, I chose one of the most nourishing, warming dishes to prepare. While soup is easy to prepare, there are multiple steps, including cleaning the chicken by boiling it for 5 minutes.

Healthy Chinese Chicken Soup

All the ingredients I used were organic.

When I purchase a whole chicken for the purpose of making soup, I carve out the precious breast and reserve for another dish.

1 3-lb organic chicken, or 3lbs of chicken pieces
5 stalks green onion, cut into 3″ pieces
2″ piece of ginger, cut into 4 “coins”
2 carrots, cut into large chunks
2 stalk celery, cut into large chunks
salt

1. Using very sharp, heavy cleaver, cut up the chicken into as many 2″-3″ pieces as you can. The smaller the pieces, the more flavor will be extracted into the soup.

2. Boil 1 quart of water in a large stockpot. Once the water boils, add the the chicken pieces. Boil for 5 minutes. Have a large strainer ready at the sink - and dump the entire stockpot into the strainer. The cloudy and scummy water will go down the drain. Wash your stockpot, getting rid of any scum that clings to sides. Rinse the chicken pieces and return to the stockpot. Refill stockpot with 1 1/2 quarts cold water.

3. Add rest of the ingredients to stockpot. Bring to barely a boil and immediately turn down the heat to low. Simmer for 1 1/2 hours, never letting the stock bubble and boil. Periodically check the stockpot and remove any scum on surface. Strain, reserving stock. Congratulations, you’ve just made a very clean and healthy stock! Return stock to the stockpot.

4. Add 1 tsp salt. Taste, adjust salt as needed. Strain the soup, discard ginger and green onion. Using your fingers, shred the chicken meat and return the chicken and vegetables to the stockpot.