Recipe : Chicken Adobo

Chicken (and pork) adobo is a dish that has been completely under the radar for me. A couple of years ago, Saveur ran an article which included a recipe for pork adobo but that was the extent of my knowledge of adobo. Despite that, for some strange reason, I decided to cook my chicken legs as chicken adobo rather than proceeding with my original plan of making chicken and dumplings.

I looked at a number of different recipes on the web, comparing common ingredients, regional differences, techniques used, etc.,. After reading what seemed like dozens of different recipes, I came up with the one that follows. I don't know how close I came to "real" chicken adobo, since I've never had it before, but what a revelation this dish is! Its vinegary sauce is like crack...completely addictive and hard to get enough of.



Chicken Adobo

4 chicken legs with thighs attached
4 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
2-4 Bird's eye chiles
3 bay leaves
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup white vinegar
1 cup water

1 T cornstarch
water

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Cut thighs from chicken legs and place in a braising pan, along with garlic, chiles, bay leaves, soy sauce, vinegar, and water. Cover dish and braise in the oven for 90 minutes.

Remove dish from oven and turn on the broiler. Remove chicken pieces from the braising liquid and place skin-side up on a foil-lined sheet pan or on a broiler tray.

Remove remaining solids from the braising liquid and discard. Boil liquid over high heat until it's reduced by 1/3 or so. Dissolve cornstarch in water and stir into the braising liquid. Reduce heat and let simmer until thickened slightly.

Meanwhile, place chicken pieces under the broiler until the skin is browned and crispy.

Serve chicken with sauce.

Recipe : Roasted Winter Squash Soup

Butternut squash is the crowd favourite for making squash soup but, for my money, I'll take a red kuri squash soup any day. Red kuri squash is sweet and not at all fibrous, making it the perfect squash for anything requiring a puree.

And it's hard to beat that colour!



Roasted Winter Squash Soup

1 winter squash, seeded and quartered
1 T. olive oil
1/2 cup minced onion
4 cups chicken broth
a sprinkle of nutmeg
a sprinkle of white pepper
1 cup whipping cream
salt to taste

Preheat the oven to 400 F.

Place squash chunks, cut side down, in a baking dish. Add enough water to just cover the bottom of the dish with about 1/4" of water. Roast squash for 45 minutes then remove from oven and let cool slightly. When it's cool enough to handle, scoop out flesh with a spoon and set aside.

In a large pan, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Sweat onions in oil until soft then add squash flesh and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and let the soup simmer until the squash is very soft. Season with nutmeg and white pepper.

Puree the soup in batches, using a blender or food processor (or an immersion blender). When the soup is completely smooth, return the soup to the stove and add the cream. Allow the soup to warm but don't let it boil.

Season to taste with salt.

Recipe : Membrillo

Quinces are still available at the local farmers' markets and a great way to eat them is as membrillo.

Although I'd never tasted it before, pictures of this reddish jelly-like paste drew me in. It just looks so exotic and exciting! (Okay, maybe I don't get out enough.)

At any rate, the recipe for membrillo couldn't be any easier and, when its sweetness is combined with the saltiness of prosciutto and manchego, the results of that recipe couldn't be tastier.



Membrillo

1 kg quince
water

600 g sugar
1 T. balsamic vinegar

Peel, core, dice the quince, and place all the pieces in a medium-sized pot. Cover the fruit with water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and continue to simmer the quince until very soft, about 30 minutes.

Drain the quince and puree it in a blender or food processor (please remember to be careful when pureeing the hot fruit!).

Weigh the fruit puree and then return it to the pot. Add an equal weight of sugar and cook over low heat until a thick paste is formed, anywhere from 60 to 90 minutes. Stir in balsamic vinegar. (The longer you cook it, the redder it gets. The batch I made was cooked for about an hour and is only reddish brown.)

Pour the paste into a greased mould (I used an 8 x 8 baking dish) and let it cure overnight.

Wrap in plastic wrap or foil and then store the membrillo in the fridge.

Recipe : Braised Pork Shank with Chiles

Recently, Elise Bauer of Simply Recipes blogged about Chile Verde. In the past, I've attempted to recreate the "green chile" available at the El Rancho Hotel of Gallup, New Mexico. I think I succeeded in that attempt but I had never tried the thick, porky stew-like Mexican dish available here in California. I'd planned on using my Bledsoe pork shoulder for chile verde but then changed my mind (as I am wont to do). However, after buying a pork shank from Bob Sorensen of Coffee Pot Ranch at the Auburn Farmers' Market, I figured it was incumbent upon me to defrost some of my roasted Anaheim peppers, get off the stick, and make some chile verde!

What I ended up making is nothing like the Chile Verde of Simply Recipes but it was a filling, home-style version of this classic Mexican dish.

And it tasted damn good!



Chile Verde

Serves 2

1 T. olive oil
1 fresh pork shank
1/4 cup minced onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 tsp. cumin seed
1/4 tsp. oregano
1 bay leaf
2 roasted and peeled Anaheim peppers*
250 mL white wine

* you can substitute tinned chiles if fresh are not available

Heat the oil in a heavy pot. Brown the pork shank on all sides and then remove from the pan. Reduce heat slightly and add the onion and garlic to the pan. Saute until they are just beginning to soften, then add the cumin seed and oregano to the pot. Continue to cook until the herbs are fragrant, then add the bay leaf, peppers, and wine.

Return the meat to the pot, cover, and reduce heat. Simmer until the pork is tender, about 2 hours.

Remove the pork shanks from the pot and cut the meat from the bone. Return the meat to the pot and allow to simmer for a few minutes.

Serve with rice, refried beans, and tortillas.

Local Food : Bledsoe Pork

A trip to the downtown market this Sunday past allowed me the opportunity to buy some pork from John Bledsoe. I've been lucky enough to have his pork once before a couple of years ago but, as he sells at either the Davis market or the downtown Sacramento market, it's not a product that's made it into my regular rotation.

More's the pity!

The Davis Wiki puts Bledsoe Pork in Woodland but a more in-depth article from Edible Sacramento puts the Bledsoes in Woodland and the pork elsewhere (another article places his Durocs in Dunnigan).

Initially, I'd wanted a pork loin roast but, after seeing the size of it (it was the whole loin!), I opted for a pork shoulder instead. The roast I purchased was a shade over 3 pounds and had some skin attached. (How do you spell crackling? Crackling? Cracklin'? Cracklin?)

As I walked away from his stall, John Bledsoe called out "225 for 5 hours".

Those who know me, know that I can't leave well enough alone and so, rather than following the simple instructions, I went out on my own.

The skin was scored and then rubbed with a 1:1 mixture of freshly ground pepper and freshly ground sea salt. The roast was placed on a rack within a roasting pan and allowed to rest while the oven heated up to a balmy 425.



The roast was put in the oven and, after 30 minutes, the temperature was reduced to 250. And there it sat for 4 hours (or until the internal temperature reached 170).

Recipe: Quince and Apple Crisp

It can be hard to get into the Thanksgiving mood when all your friends and neighbours are still a month and a half away from thinking about it. So, we don't celebrate Thanksgiving every year but, this year, I felt like it.

A dinner of roast chicken, sausage stuffing, Brussels sprouts, and caramelised onion mashed potatoes was followed by a quince and apple crisp.



The Rome apples are from Patrick's Garden, a local organic farmer who sells at the Sunrise farmer's market. I also picked up two quinces at the market to include in the dessert.

Quince and Apple Crisp

3 cups water
1.5 cups sugar
2 quinces, cored, peeled, and cut into eighths
3 apples, cored, peeled, and cut into quarters (I used Rome apples)

1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup butter

Preheat oven to 350.

Heat water and sugar over medium heat until the sugar is completely dissolved. Continue to heat until the syrup sends up little bubbles; you don't want to boil it but it needs to be hot enough to poach the quince.

Add the quince sections to the syrup and reduce the heat to a good simmer. Cook for 15 minutes until the quince are soft. Remove fruit from the syrup and set aside. Reserve the syrup for another use (may I recommend using it to sweeten your tea?).

Combine flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and oatmeal in a medium bowl. Cut in butter.

Butter a 1.5 liter baking dish. Combine the quince and apple and put both into the buttered dish. Top with oatmeal mixture and bake for 55 minutes.

Serve with cream or ice cream.