Snow Day Treat: Chicken Daikon Soup

First snow day of the winter, and I was craving soup. Fortunately I had most of the makings of this  recipe on hand. My variation, below, turned out really well -- rich and chickeny, with just a barely sour tang.

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 2 heaping tablespoons ginger, julienned
• 1.5 lb. chicken (four bone-in thighs)
• 2 lb. daikon (two big roots), chopped into 1-2 in. chunks
• 2.5 tablespoons soy sauce (plain Kikkoman)
• 2.5 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• 1 heaping teaspoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons Better than Boullion chicken (no shame in my game)
• 5 cups water
• 2-4 scallions, for garnish (one entire one pictured above - I love scallions)

In a pot, heat the vegetable oil, then saute the onion and ginger till soft, 2-5 minutes. 

Remove the aromatics if you like (I left them in, since I was feeling lazy) and lightly brown the chicken on both sides till slightly colored. Return the aromatics (if you took them out) then add the soy sauce, rice wine vinegar and sugar to the pot. Stir.

Mix the Better than Boullion into the water and add to the pot along with the daikon. Bring to a boil then simmer till chicken is done and daikon is to your taste (I like it on the crunchy side, which took about 25 minutes). Adjust seasoning if necessary.

Serve garnished with scallions.

Quick Lunch: Mackerel Fried Rice

One of the pleasures of having a day off is making a quick lunch from things in the fridge and pantry. While I don't have a wok and was too hungry to brown this more thoroughly, it was still tasty. It was also a welcome reminder of how easy and fulfilling it is to cook.

1-1/2 T vegetable oil
2 fat scallions
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup day-old rice
2 T soy sauce, plus more to taste
1 4.375 oz. tin of mackerel (this one was water-packed), flaked

Over high heat, quickly saute the scallions and garlic.

Add the rice, stirring constantly until it's coated with the oil.

Add the soy sauce and mackerel and cook till the fish and scallions are starting to brown.

Enjoy!

Afritadang Manok 2

Chicken not pictured - this was a meatless helping for breakfast.

Based on the contents of our fridge, I refined this afritada recipe, with happy results. Turned out perfectly, with the vegetables cooked through but still firm. And like all good stews, it tasted even better the next day.

3 T vegetable oil
4 chicken thighs, skin-on (about 1.75 lbs.)
1 head garlic, minced
1 large onion, chopped
1 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes
3 T fish sauce, plus more to taste
1 cup tomato sauce (I used about 5 oz. tomato paste and 3 oz. water, seasoned with salt and pepper)
2 cups chicken stock (used Better than Boullion)
5 carrots, chopped into 1-1/2 inch pieces (about 1 lb.)
6 small red potatoes, quartered/eighthed (about 1 lb.)
1 green pepper, cut into strips

Brown the chicken thighs in the oil then set aside.

Saute the onion and garlic till they begin to soften, 3-5 minutes. Add the diced tomatoes and stir them around the bottom of the pot, making sure to loosen all the browned chicken bits.

Add the fish sauce, tomato sauce, stock, carrots and potatoes. Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer, cover and cook till vegetables and chicken are almost done, about 30 minutes.

Add green pepper strips and cook a few minutes more to desired doneness. Tweak seasoning if necessary. Serve over rice.

Dinner

Dinner, originally uploaded by essgee51.

Last night, John made lamb chops, roast potatoes and asparagus.