Kitchen Chick

Roasted Bok Choy

I was helping Tammy cook one of her supper club dinners, and we had to do something quick with the baby bok choy she bought. I don't like bok choy all that much. A bite or two is fine, but otherwise... meh. But I don't care for cauliflower all that much, and I love it roasted. And I didn't think I liked brussel sprouts either... until I tried them roasted. (Deep fried is also good.) So we roasted the bok choy, and it turned out pretty darn good. Good enough that even Joe ate his serving (though he qualified it with saying that he's still not a big fan). Good enough that I made some for myself the next day. Twice.

Roasted (or broiled) Baby Bok Choy
The leaves crisp up quickly, while the body of the bok choy retains its water and crunchiness.

Baby bok choy (The tiny ones that are around 4-5 inches long. Tammy found hers at a local Asian grocery store)
Olive oil
Kosher salt
Black pepper

Heat oven to 400-450 F, or you can use your broiler if you have a good hot one.

Halve the bok choy. Toss with a bit of olive oil (It doesn't take much!) and kosher salt and pepper to taste. Spread boy choy in single layer on cookie sheet. The oil should keep them from sticking to the pan, but you can use parchment paper or a silicone baking mat if you prefer.

Roast at a nice high temp 400-450-ish F until leaves are crispy and beginning to blacken. Watch them carefully or you'll end up with blackened bok choy! Alternatively, you can put them under a broiler. When I made the bok choy shown above, I used the broiler setting in our toaster oven rather than heat my large oven.

Variations: add some zested lemon or lemon juice, or perhaps a bit of mirin or sherry.

Neehee's – Current Article & Photo Tour

We loved Neehee's so much that we couldn't resist sharing it with our Current readers too, so we've got a review of Neehee's in the latest issue of Current Magazine!  We checked out a lot of additional dishes.  You won't see us in Current in November, but we'll be back in December.  And don't worry, you'll see some Kitchen Chick posts too...

Check the Current review out here (previous Current reviews include Northpoint, Marnee Thai, and Sabor Latino).

See our previous Neehee's review on Kitchen Chick here.

As always, we've got some additional tasty photos to go with our Current review, so enjoy...

 

Samosas with pea and potato filling, accompanied by the traditional tamarind and coriander chutneys

Special Bhel, which adds peanuts to the classic Bhel Puri for an extra crunchy treat 

 

Utthapam with pineapple and jalapeño — South Indian fermented rice pancake, with some non-Indian additions

 

Noodle Dosa — thin, crispy rice crepe stuffed with stir-fried Indo-Chinese noodles

 

Methi Gota — deep-fried balls of chickpea batter, fresh spinach, and dried fenugreek leaves; excellent!  (Unless of course you don't like fenugreek, in which case this isn't for you.)

Dabeli (also known as a "Double Roti") — hamburger bun, filled with spicy-sweet potatoes, onions, and a few nuts for crunch

North African-Style Roasted Pepper & Tomato Salad

Summer always catches me by surprise. There's the long build up through Spring, with strawberries and other early crops, while my imagination dances in anticipation for summer peaches and blueberries. In June I watch my garden warily, convinced that none of my tomato plants are going to fruit. I worry that my crop will be small. Then comes the first green tomato, followed by another, and then suddenly my plants are full of tomatoes hiding among the leaves. My first sungold cherries ripen, and I pluck them off the vine and eat them right in the garden. Finally, my veggie garden announces that summer really is here.

This year I also planted a number of pepper plants, and when my first cubanelles and banana peppers showed themselves, I eagerly picked them.

Then I had to find something to do with them...

North African-Style Roasted Pepper & Tomato Salad
adapted from Kitty Morse's Vegetarian Table : North Africa

Use approximately equal amounts of tomatoes and peppers. For example, if you use four medium tomatoes, then use four medium-ish bell peppers. If you are using smaller peppers, then you'll need more peppers per tomato. I used sweet cubanelles with a few hot banana peppers for a touch of heat, but you can also use bell or anaheim peppers. Do not use jalapeño, thai, cayenne, or other peppers that are normally used primarily for their heat as the main peppers, but they can be a nice accent with other milder peppers.

Two medium tomatoes
Equivalent amount of peppers
1 small onion, peeled and sliced
4-6 garlic cloves, unpeeled
1/2 tsp ground coriander
dash garlic powder
dash ground caraway
dash chili powder
olive oil (1 Tbs max)
lemon juice (~approx 1 - 1.5 Tbs)
salt to taste
Garnish: olives, capers (drained)

Roast garlic cloves at 350 F until very soft — about 15 - 25 minutes, depending on size of cloves. (A toaster oven is perfect for this!)

Grill peppers and tomatoes until evenly black all over. (Either under the broiler or over a gas stove or grill. Watch out for sparks!) Put in a plastic bag or container and let sit. When peppers and tomatoes are cool enough to handle, pull off the blackened skins. Slit the peppers and remove the seeds and membranes. Chop very, very finely. De-seed the tomatoes and chop finely. Put tomatoes and peppers in a colander to drain.

Meanwhile, grill onions until they begin to brown. (You can use your broiler, gas burner, gas grill, or that toaster oven again on the broiler setting.) Chop the onions finely. Squeeze the garlic pulp out of its skins and mash with a fork. Mix all ingredients, salt to taste, and add the olive and caper garnish.

Quick, before they're gone... fresh peas!

Like many kids, I hated vegetables. Well, fresh vegetables were okay - tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots. But cooked? Yuck!

My mom had a rule for vegetables that I didn't like: I had to eat three of whatever was being served. Three green beans. Three cooked carrots. Three peas. You'd think that eating three peas would be a trivial event. They are so small, after all. Open wide and swallow. All done. But no, it was pure torture. I had to sit at the table (or couch — we ate a lot in the living room) until I ate those peas. I'd stare at those peas for a really really long time, screw up my face, and tentatively take a bite. It was the texture, more than the taste. The skin, followed by mushy insides. (grossed out yet?) I remember one particularly large pea that I just couldn't eat on a night when we were going to the movies. Mom threatened that if I didn't eat that pea, she'd go to the movies without me. Oh, the torture.

So I hated peas for many years until a friend introduced me to freshly shelled peas, boiled briefly, then tossed with some butter and a little salt. The brief cooking preserved a more pleasing firm texture, and their fresh almost nutty flavor shone. And, well, just about everything tastes better with butter.

It's fresh pea season. Probably the tail end of fresh pea season. So grab them while you can. You can boil them up (but not too long!) and toss them with some butter and salt, or add an Asian twist...

Peas with Sesame Oil

freshly shelled peas
sesame oil
sea salt to taste

Boil peas until just done (or done to your preferred amount of done-ness). Drizzle a teaspoon or two of sesame oil, add some sea salt, and toss.

Or for a spicy ma la style...

Peas with Sichuan Peppercorns
freshly shelled peas
1/2 up to 2 tsp (or more?) sichuan peppercorns, toasted and ground. Adjust the amount depending on how big a batch of peas you're doing
1/2 tsp or so ground sichuan chilies (i.e. "facing heaven" chilies) or some cayenne (again, adjust amount)
peanut oil or vegetable oil
salt to taste

Boil peas until almost done. Heat a bit of oil in a wok until almost smoking. Add chili powder. Stir fry for a few seconds. Add Sichuan peppercorns. Stir fry another few seconds. Add the peas and stir fry very briefly to coat them with the seasonings. Salt to taste, if you think they need salt.