No electricity

Early morning, day after the snowstorm. Photo taken Friday, Feb. 26


We've been without power since Thursday, Feb. 25, the day of a huge snowstorm in the Northeast. Central Hudson Gas and Electric Corp., the major utility company in the area, said it was the most devastating storm in its history. About 150,000 people in Central Hudson's eight-county coverage area in New York were without power.  The number of residents without power has gone down significantly, but we're still without electricity and it might be until the middle of next week before we get it back.

Meanwhile, we're in a hotel. We're safe. We're warm. And I'm looking forward to a hot shower.

Clams and potatoes in bacon dashi stock

What kind of dish will get my attention? Bacon. What will make it even better? Potatoes, clams and bacon-infused stock.

My husband got me the Momofuku cookbook by David Chang and Peter Meehan for Christmas. When I flipped through the pages, I stopped at clams and potatoes in bacon dashi stock and started to salivate.

The theme that runs through this dish is bacon. Clams and potatoes are cooked separately in bacon dashi stock, or broth infused with kelp and bacon. Then more bacon is crumbled on top.

When I sat down to eat the dish for the first time, I tasted a whirl of flavors: smoky and salty with the sea mixed in. I drizzled scallion oil, or grapeseed oil infused with chopped scallions, over the clams and potatoes. It added a refreshing taste that contrasted well with the saltiness of the bacon and clams.

The dish is simple, but that's what makes it invincible.

I totally recommend buying the Momofuku cookbook. There are other bloggers who are HUGE fans of Momofuku restaurants that they're cooking the book. Check out Momofuku for 2 and i heart momofuku.

The bacon is the dominant flavor in the bacon dashi stock, but the kelp adds a faint taste of the sea. That subtle flavor naturally matches with the clams.

More photos:


Soaking clams to get the grit off.


Chopped up scallions to make scallion oil.


Grapeseed oil


Scallion oil

Grocery list

Making grocery lists is a hobby of mine. I'll sit down with a bunch of cookbooks and food magazines spread around me and I'll start making a list of ingredients. This list is from a few weeks ago. I made the list after I hadn't gone to a store in two weeks. When I started writing ingredients down, it just started to grow and grow and grow.

In the previous weeks, I had held off going to a store because I was trying to make meals using only the ingredients I had. When I did that, I started running out of things. But then, I wanted to make Mexican and Korean dishes I've never cooked before.

By the time I was done with the list (it went through a few sittings and different colored pens), I knew I would need to go to a store that caters to Latinos, another store that had Asian ingredients and a third store that had the local dairy products I like. That's what happens when I haven't gone to a grocery store in two weeks.

Winner of the Bourbon Maple Syrup Giveaway is...

The winner of the Bourbon Maple Syrup Giveaway is Terri, of Gone Once and for All! Congratulations!

You will get to use this maple syrup on pancakes, fruit, ice cream and anything else you want!

I just want to say thanks to everyone else who entered into the giveaway.

Terri, please e-mail me your full name and address to hummingbirdappetite@gmail.com.

Dashi stock, Korean style

I'm having a giveaway for maple syrup matured in a Kentucky Bourbon barrel! To enter, click here. The deadline is 5 p.m. Saturday!


Dashi stock, soup base used in many Asian dishes

My parents live in the Midwest and I live all the way in Upstate New York. I didn't start cooking until I was in college and I regret not paying attention when my mother made Korean dishes. Now I'm teaching myself how to make them.

A couple weeks back, I made sundubu jjigae, or spicy tofu stew. I had to figure out how to make dashi stock as the soup base for the stew.

A sushi man helped me out.

I was looking for ingredients at Hopewell Farm, an eclectic grocery store in Hopewell Junction, N.Y. The man behind the sushi counter helped me find dried kelp. I told him I wanted to make dashi stock.

Dried kelp

The store employee told me I only needed to leave the kelp in hot water for 10-15 minutes. If I did it any longer, the stock would taste bitter.

I had picked out a box of tiny dried anchovies since my mother uses them to make stock. I showed the store employee the dried anchovies. He shook his head. He said I needed to get much bigger anchovies to make stock.

Thanks to him my stock came out really good.


Dried anchovies, each 3 inches long

Dashi stock, Korean style
Ingredients:
8 cups water
two pieces of dried kelp (roughly 3 by 5 inches each) Size is not crucial.
20 dried anchovies, each anchovy should be 3 inches long

2/20/2010 Update: Here's a great tip I just read about: Remove the head from each anchovy. Split each anchovy down the middle and remove the guts, so the room doesn't become smelly when you make the stock. Source: Discovering Korean Cuisine, edited by Allisa Park

Heat a pot of water until simmering. Rinse the dried kelp. Turn off the heat and drop it in the water. Let it steep for 10 minutes. Then discard. If you let the kelp sit in the water for too long, it will make the stock taste bitter.

Turn on the heat until simmering. Then drop in 20 dried anchovies. Simmer for 20-30 minutes. Bubbles will form around the anchovies. (You can skim the foam off if you want.) Taste the stock to make sure it really has the flavor of the anchovies. Strain the stock. Use as a soup base.

Note: There are other ways to make dashi stock, which is a mainstay in Japanese cooking. But Koreans use dried anchovies.

Print recipe


Dashi stock

Meatless meal: Zucchini pancakes

I'm having a giveaway for maple syrup matured in a Kentucky Bourbon barrel! To enter, click here.



Meatless meal

Zucchini is one of my favorite vegetables. For lunch one day, I decided to make zucchini pancakes and use up the vegetable I had in the fridge.

I made the pancakes a little crispy just the way I like savory pancakes to be. I used Ina Garten's recipe and added shallots instead of red onions because that's what I had. The pancakes were delicious!


Click here for Ina Garten's recipe.


For other meatless meals, try these blogs:
Jeroxie: Summer vegetables
Sense & Serendipity: Savory Breakfast Brown Rice Bowl

Dwaejigogi, or Korean spicy marinated pork

I'm having a giveaway for Bourbon maple syrup! To enter, click here.



For our Valentine's Day dinner on Sunday, I made dwaejigogi, or spicy marinated pork. It's a traditional Korean dish that's a variation of bulgogi, or Korean marinated beef. The marinade is made of kochukaru (Korean red pepper powder), sugar, soy sauce, garlic, sesame oil and other ingredients. Once you smell it, you know the pork is going to taste so good. The sweetness undercuts the spicy.

This is the first time I made the spicy marinated pork. It was really flavorful. Matt was pretty happy about it. All he wanted for dinner was meat and rice.

Dwaejigogi, or Korean spicy marinated pork
Adapted from "Discovering Korean Cuisine," Edited by Allisa Park
Serves 2
1 pound boneless pork shoulder, thinly sliced*
3 tablespoons kochukaru, or Korean red pepper powder
   Substitute: Cayenne pepper or chili powder
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon minced ginger
2 tablespoons mirin, or Japanese cooking wine, which tastes sweet
   Alternative to mirin: 2 tablespoons soy sauce and adjust taste of marinade with more sugar

Begin making rice in your rice cooker.

Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Add the pork and make sure it's well-coated. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and marinate pork for at least 30 minutes. Cook in a frying pan. Serve with rice.

*Note: I bought a 3-pound, bone-in half-pork shoulder for pretty cheap. I cut off a third to get roughly a pound to use for the recipe. Save the rest of the pork shoulder for other recipes.

Print recipe

Chipotle chilaquiles

I'm having a giveaway for Bourbon maple syrup! To enter, click here.



I love one-pot meals that I can just put in the fridge and take out whenever I'm hungry. Chilaquiles is one of those meals. It's a tortilla casserole dish. Basically, homemade tortillas are softened in pureed tomatoes and broth.

I prefer making homemade fried tortilla chips right before I make chilaquiles. For a shortcut, you can buy homemade tortilla chips at a Mexican grocery store.

I like it when the tortillas are still chewy, only slightly softened in the tomatoes and broth. The chipotles give it some pow.

Chipotle chilaquiles
To get the recipe for authentic chipotle chilaquiles, I encourage you to buy Mexico One Plate at a Time by Rick Bayless. I've been cooking so much from the book that I feel guilty I'm giving too much away by posting recipes online.

Click here for a shorter version of the recipe, which is posted on the Food and Wine magazine Web site. This recipe calls for store-bought tortilla chips and making tomato sauce from canned tomatoes.

I made my own tortilla chips. I also made tomato sauce by broiling plum tomatoes, six minutes per side. Then I peeled off the skins and pureed the tomatoes.

Valentine's Day Giveaway! Bourbon maple syrup

Happy Valentine's Day!

I'm giving away a bottle of maple syrup matured in a Kentucky Bourbon barrel. The maple syrup is made by 3 Chicks Sugar Shack of Lanza Farms, in Garrison, N.Y. Joni Lanza gave me a bottle to give away. The syrup is great on pancakes and ice cream.

I've been getting all my maple syrup since 3 Chicks Sugar Shack has had a booth at the Cold Spring Farmers' Market. I LOVE their maple syrup products.

Here are a few links:
Banana milk shake with bourbon maple syrup
Roasted pears in bourbon maple syrup

Please comment on this post if you'd like the maple syrup. You have until 5 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 20 to enter. I'll pick the winner out of a hat. Unfortunately, only those in the United States can enter to win.

Homemade fried tortilla chips

Frying tortillas to make chips is so satisfying. The other night, I was standing there in front of the pot of oil, watching tortilla triangles bubbling away. After I put them gently on a wire rack and salted them, I quickly ate a few. They were so good!

Homemade fried tortilla chips
Adapted from Mexico One Plate at a Time by Rick Bayless
12 corn tortillas
vegetable oil or peanut oil
salt to taste

Stack 4-5 corn tortillas. Cut tortillas into six wedges as if you are cutting a zigzag through them.

Pour oil into a heavy pot, like a Dutch oven, until the depth is at least 1 inch or 1.5 inches high. Heat oil until it reaches 375 degrees F. It's best to use a thermometer that you can attach to the side of your pot.

Fry tortillas in batches of 12 wedges or so. If the oil bubbles away as you fry the tortillas, that's good. If there's no sizzle, the oil is not hot enough. When the oil is at 375 degrees, gently dip the tortillas into the oil with a strainer. Tap them to make sure the wedges don't stick together.

When the chips have tanned a little and gotten hard, take them out and put them on a wire rack to drain. Sprinkle with salt. After you fry each batch, wait until the oil is back up to 375 degrees F before you fry the next batch. Eat right away or use for other Mexican recipes.

Print recipe

More photos:
Here's how I cut my tortillas. You can also cut your tortillas in even triangles.


Tortilla chips sizzling away.

Thomas Keller: "I don't really consider myself a celebrity chef"

Chef Thomas Keller, far right, tastes a contestant's salmon plate at the Bocuse d'Or USA finals on Feb. 6 at The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y. Chef Daniel Boulud, far left, and CIA President Tim Ryan, middle, also try the salmon.

Walking down a street, Thomas Keller probably wouldn't be recognized. But if he walks down a hallway at a culinary school, he's a hero. Keller is the only American-born chef who has earned three Michelin stars at two restaurants. Those restaurants are The French Laundry in Yountville, Calif. and Per Se in New York City.

During the Bocuse d'Or USA finals Feb. 5-6, students at The Culinary Institute of America constantly asked Keller for his autograph. Some dedicated fans came four hours before his 45-minute book signing event to wait in line. Even so, Keller stayed at least 30 minutes longer to sign as many books and to take as many photos with fans.

I asked Keller what he thought about being a celebrity.

Keller said: "I don't really consider myself a celebrity chef. I think I'm more an industry leader. Celebrity doesn't really work for me. But of course I'm aware. I want to give back to young culinarians. It's something they're asking me for, whether it's a simple picture, signing a book or giving them some advice. I think it's very important for myself to be able to interact with them in a meaningful way and it doesn't take long. It could be 15 seconds, a handshake and a brief conversation. I enjoy that. I know they enjoy that."

Other posts on the Bocuse d'Or USA finals, which I covered as a reporter for the
Poughkeepsie Journal:
Covering the Bocuse d'Or USA finals
Flickr photo gallery

Check out Flickr photo gallery of Bocuse d'Or USA finals

Students at The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., had Chef Daniel Boulud sign their foam knife. They were determined to have as many chefs sign the knife during the Bocuse d'Or USA finals on Feb. 6, 2010. Boulud handed his camera to someone to have his picture taken signing the knife.

I went through my photos and posted them on Flickr. Click here to view the photos.

Covering the Bocuse d'Or USA finals in Hyde Park, NY

Chef Thomas Keller tastes a salmon dish made by a Bocuse d'Or USA finalist at Saturday's competition at The Culinary Institute of America. From left to right: Chef Jerome Bocuse, Chef Daniel Boulud, CIA President Tim Ryan and Keller. 

I covered the Bocuse d'Or USA finals at The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., on Saturday. (I'm a reporter for the Poughkeepsie Journal.) The winner James Kent, sous chef at Eleven Madison Park in New York City, will go on to the 2011 Bocuse d'Or World Cuisine Contest in Lyon, France. Chef Paul Bocuse created the competition in 1987.  It is the preeminent international culinary competition in which teams of one chef and one commis from 24 countries compete.

For the past two days, I was in a location with the highest concentration of renowned chefs in the world.

Click here to read an updated story.
Click here to read a story on Friday events. A culinary student got to eat salmon cooked by Chef Charlie Trotter, her idol. 

More pictures to come later...

Sundubu jjigae (Korean soft tofu stew)

Korean food isn't just about barbecued beef and kimchi. It's full of rich soups, like spicy tofu stew, or sundubu jjigae.  Sundubu means soft tofu and jjigae means stew. I've been wanting to make spicy tofu stew since I visited South Korea last October. 

Stews are made in ddukbaegi, or earthenware pots, like the one pictured below, or they're made in dol sot, or stone pots.

I had really flavorful spicy tofu stew at a hospital cafeteria in Seoul.

I never made this dish before. I actually don't remember if my mom made it for me. After looking at several recipes online and in a cookbook, I figured out a recipe that fit my own tastes. When I made the soup, I couldn't believe that it actually tasted really good. It was spicy hot, but not overly spicy. It was filled with tofu and clams and kimchi and scallions.

It's the ingredients that make the stew tasty.

Left to right: Cabbage kimchi, salted shrimp and kochu karu, or Korean red pepper powder.

Kimchi is made up of spicy, fermented vegetables. Salted shrimp is used to make kimchi. It's spelled saewoojeot, or saeujeot in Korean. Kochu karu is the Korean version of cayenne pepper and it is also used to make kimchi and flavor dishes.

Tip: Salted shrimp has a very strong smell. As soon as you bring some home, I'd put the salted shrimp in a jar that seals really well.


Salted shrimp, a close-up

Sundubu jjigae (Spicy tofu stew)
Alternate spellings: soondubu jjigae, soondubu chigae
Serves 4-6
Ingredients:
For the dashi stock:
two pieces of dried kelp (roughly 3 by 5 inches each) Size is not crucial.
dried anchovies, each anchovy should be 3 inches long
8 cups water

For the stew:
1/3 pound pork belly for the soup (If you bought a pound of pork belly, you can cook all of it or save it.)
2 tablespoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons sugar
kochukaru, or Korean red pepper powder. Substitute: Red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper
1 dozen littleneck clams
1/2 cup kimchi, chopped
sesame oil to taste
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 (14-ounce) package silken tofu
1/2 teaspoon salted shrimp (optional)
4 scallions, chopped into the size of matchsticks
1 jalapeno pepper, sliced thin cross-wise
2 eggs

Start making the rice in your rice cooker. Clean clams in a large bowl of cold water. Scrub them until they no longer feel gritty. Get rid of any clam that is chipped on the mouth and shows a hole.

Dashi stock:
Heat a pot of water until simmering. Rinse the dried kelp. Turn off the heat and drop it in the water. Let it steep for 10 minutes. Then discard. If you let the kelp sit in the water for too long, it will make the stock taste bitter. Turn on the heat until simmering. Then drop in 20 dried anchovies. Bubbles will form around the anchovies. Simmer for 20-30 minutes. Taste the stock to make sure it really has the flavor of the anchovies. Strain the stock. Set it aside.

Pork belly:
You just need one long, thick strip of pork belly for the stew. Mix together the salt and sugar. Rub the mixture all over the pork belly. If you have the time, let the pork marinate in the refrigerator for 5 hours. If not, season the pork with salt and sugar. Cut into bite-size pieces. Add oil to a heated pot. Use a Dutch oven or cast-iron pot. Sear the pork belly in the pot. When the pork belly is almost fully cooked, set aside.

Add stock and chopped kimchi. Season with sesame oil and garlic. Bring to a boil.

Before you add the clams, wash each one again under the faucet to get rid of grit.

Add clams to the stew. Add silken tofu. The clams are cooked when they open. Add salted shrimp (optional). Season soup with salt. Add chopped scallions and sliced jalapeno peppers. Add the pork back into the soup. Drop one egg at a time into the pot. When the eggs are cooked, the soup is done. Serve with rice.
Print recipe

More photos:

Pork belly with salt and sugar rub




Dried kelp


Dried anchovies. Each one is about three inches long.


Steeping the kelp


Discarding the kelp


Simmering the anchovies.


Strain the stock.


Searing the pork belly.


Chopping the kimchi.


Look! A clam has opened.


Waiting for the soup to be ready.

Achiote chipotle chicken

I've set my DVR to record all episodes of Rick Bayless's Mexico One Plate at a Time. Lately, episodes that air at 2 a.m. every day in Upstate New York show his visits to the Yucatan region of Mexico.

In many of the recipes he used, he mixed achiote paste with other ingredients to make a marinade. Achiote, otherwise known as annatto, is a red-orange seed with an earthy flavor that is primarily used in the Yucatan. The seeds are ground into a paste.


I found the achiote paste at a grocery store that caters to Latinos.



I adapted Bayless's achiote-chipotle marinade for a whole chicken. The chipotle is what makes the marinade spicy hot, not the achiote.


That is one fire engine red chicken that's ready for the oven.



You could taste the heat from the chipotle and the earthiness of the achiote on the crispy skin. The vegetables weren't cooked all the way through, but the juicy chicken made up for that.

Achiote-chipotle roasted chicken
Marinade adapted from Rick Bayless's Tacos al pastor recipe
Method to roast chicken adapted from The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook 2006
For the Achiote-chipotle marinade:
A 3.5 ounce (100 gram) package of achiote paste. Preferred brand: Yucateco
3 canned chipotle chiles
4 tablespoons canning sauce of the chipotle chiles
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup water

1 3-4 pound whole chicken
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
vegetable oil or softened butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. To make the marinade, mix the achiote paste, chipotle chiles, canning sauce, vegetable oil and water in a blender.

Pat the chicken dry with paper towels. Mix a tablespoon of vegetable oil or softened butter with the salt and pepper in a small bowl. Loosen the skin over the breast of the chicken. Then season the breast of the chicken with the oiled salt and pepper.

Oil a V-rack. Flip the chicken over on its back. Baste the skin on the outside of the chicken with the marinade. Turn over the chicken and place it on the V-rack in a roasting pan. Baste the rest of the chicken. Tie the legs together with twine.

Note: Pour 1 cup of water in the bottom of the pan.

Cook chicken at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Baste the chicken with more marinade if you think you need to. Then turn the pan around in the oven, increase the heat to 450 degrees and cook until the thickest part of the chicken breast is 170 degrees. It could take another 15-30 minutes. When the chicken is done, let rest for 20 minutes.