Kick Away Winter Blues with Bright and Sunny Braised Chicken with Charred Orange Sections

It's cold and, depending on where you live, the rain or snow has dampened your spirit. A trip to a sunny beach would cheer you up. But the solution to winter blues might just be in your kitchen.

Easy to make and delicious, braised meats are always a quick way to create a comfort meal. To my usual braised chicken thigh/legs stew with vegetables, I kicked up the flavors several notches by adding charred orange sections and Bibigo's Korean Gochujang (hot & sweet sauce). Acid, heat and sweetness combined to the savory dark meat chicken on the bone made a dish that made me warm and happy!

To the broth I added onions and parsley. The next time I make the dish, I'm preparing in for my wife who is pescatarian so instead of chicken, I'll use thin sliced, charred extra firm tofu as the protein and I will add more vegetables. I'm thinking, shiitake mushrooms (sliced), minced garlic clove and broccolini.

To soak up the sauce, I served Japanese steamed white rice on the side.

The recipe is written for one, so you can easily scale up the dish for as many as you want. You can also happily make more than you need for one meal because you will be rewarded with a lunch a day or two later.

That's what I did for my lunch today, 

Left-Overs Make a Great Lunch

Consider this a second recipe from the same starting point. The next day, I removed the thigh bone from the left over meat, covered it with water, added the orange sections from the night before and simmered for 20 minutes. Strained, I had a cup of deliciously savory broth. After sautéing fresh vegetables (shiitakes, onions and broccolini) in olive oil seasoned with sea salt and black pepper, I added the left over chicken and picked all the meat off the bone and simmered until the liquid was reduced by half. Instead of steamed rice, I added cooked Borella spaghetti and a pat of sweet butter. Stirred together in the broth which I furthered reduced by half on a medium low heat. I sprinkled grated Parmesan cheese and sat down to enjoy a delicious lunch. A second day's gift from the previous night's feast.

I'm hoping you will make the entree and then gift yourself the bonus dish I just described for lunch or dinner. You'll love the second meal and you'll enjoy how easy it is to make affordable cooking. 

Braised Chicken with Charred Orange Sections

To char, I use a Matfer Bourgeat carbon steel pan. The pans tolerate high heat and are very easy to clean. 

Gochujang is available in Korean markets and some Asian sections of a supermarket or online. You will find that Gochujang deepens the flavor of stews and sauces.

For the original braise, you can add the vegetables (above) I used to make the next-day lunch (shiitakes and broccolini) as well as roughly chopped green cabbage, baby bok choy, spinach or carrots (peeled).

Serves 1

Time to prepare: 15 minutes

Time to cook: 60 minutes

Ingredients

1 large chicken thigh on the bone with skin, washed and pat dried

1 medium sized orange, washed, all discolored areas of the skin and the center part pith removed, cut into sections

1/2 cup roughly chopped onion, washed and peeled

1/2 cup finely chopped Italian parsley leaves (no stems) or curly kale (stem removed), washed

1 cup broth, preferably homemade chicken stock or water

2 tablespoons Gochujang

1 tablespoon sweet butter

2 cups cooked Japanese rice

Sea salt to taste

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

(Optional) 1 garlic clove, washed, peeled and finely chopped.

Directions

Heat the carbon steel pan on a medium-low flame. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of olive oil in the pan, being careful that the oil doesn't smoke. 

Add the chicken thigh skin side down and season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. When the skin is browned, use tongs to turn over and brown the flesh side, then remove and set aside.

Add the remaining olive oil to the pan and char the orange sections, flesh and skin. Remove when browned.

Add vegetables, stir fry until wilted and browned. 

Return charred chicken thigh and orange sections to the pan with the vegetables and garlic (optional).

Add chicken stock or water and Gochujang, stir well, cover and simmer.

Cook 10 minutes. 

Remove the lid and add the sweet butter. Continue to simmer until the liquid is reduced by half.

Taste the sauce and adjust to taste with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Remove the chicken, vegetables, orange sections and the sauce, plate and serve with freshly steamed Japanese rice or a cooked pasta of your choice.

As an option, a friend tells me he tried this recipe but at the end, he used an immersion blender to combine the sauce with the orange sections. I think that sounds very good. I'll try it next time!

Hot Soup for a Cold Day: Homemade Vegetable Soup

In the blink of an eye, summer disappeared. It seems like the 4th of July was just yesterday when we wore short sleeve shirts and shorts, had a picnic in the park, and watched fireworks explode overhead.

Now we're trying to keep warm and dry as dark clouds matte out the sky and cold winds push thick rain drops against our bodies. At a time like this, happiness is a good parka and thick socks!

Wrapping up in a thick blanket or cozying up to a well-stoked fireplace fortifies body and soul against the chill. For internal weatherproofing, though, nothing beats the cold better than homemade soup.

Simple is often best and that is doubly true in soups. When I'm cold, I want my soup hot, fresh tasting, and flavorful.

Vegetable soup is easy-to-make and nourishing. Perfect any time of the day, but when the weather's cold and rainy, I like soup in the morning. It's better than a cup of coffee or tea to get me out the door.

8 Vegetable Soup

For visual appeal, the vegetables are all cut the same size as corn kernels.

Please check out the Variations below. The soup makes a good base for the addition of other flavors and ingredients.

Yield: 4 servings

Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

1 medium yellow onion, skin removed, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, skins removed, finely chopped
1 medium potato, peel on, washed, finely chopped
1 ear of corn, husks and silks removed, kernels cut off
2 carrots, washed, trimmed, peeled, finely chopped
1 cup Italian parsley, washed, dried, leaves and stems finely chopped
1 cup brown mushrooms, washed, pat dried, finely chopped
10 cherry tomatoes, washed, quartered
3 cups spinach leaves and stems, washed thoroughly, finely chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
8 cups water
1 tablespoon sweet butter (optional)
Sea salt and pepper

Method

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over a medium flame. Saute the onions and garlic until lightly browned. Season with sea salt and pepper. Add the other vegetables. Cook until softened, about 5 minutes.

Add the water, bring to a light boil. Continue to simmer for 30 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning. For a creamier texture, add the sweet butter.

Serve hot, topped with croutons, preferably homemade.

Variations

Use chicken or meat stock instead of water

Trade out any of the vegetables for broccoli, zucchini, leeks, squash, kale, or any vegetable you like

Use chopped arugula instead of the spinach

For a hearty soup, in the final 5 minutes, add 1 cup cooked pasta, like ziti, penne, fussili or 1 cup cooked rice or 1 cup cooked white beans

Add 1 cup cooked, shredded chicken meat

Add 1 cup roughly chopped sauteed sausage

Season with 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary or oregano added to the saute

Just before serving, sprinkle with freshly grated Parmesan or Romano cheese

For a touch of heat, dust the saute with cayenne

Ramen at Home, Quick and Easy

At some point in their lives, everyone eats Cup o' Noodles. They're so easy to make. Just pour boiling water into the styrofoam cup with it's nest of noodles and bits of dried vegetables, cover, and a minute later you have overly salted "soup" and mushy noodles. On a cold, drizzly day, that can be ok, but it's not a meal-of-choice. Ramen is a step up from Cup o' Noodles, but the same principle applies. Boiling water + instant noodles + "flavor packet" = soup and noodles with vegetables bits. Real ramen bears no resemblance to the packaged ramen in the market. In Japan, ramen restaurants are favorite neighorhood hangouts, usually with a counter and several tables. I've noticed that patrons in ramen restaurants don't do as much talking as they do in other kinds of restaurants. I think that's because the ramen is simply too delicious to want to talk.

People who love ramen get very obsessive about their noodles. The Official Ramen Homepage has hundreds of recipes for packaged ramen contributed by fans. Rickmond Wong is the ramen fan-extraordinaire. Profiled in the LA Times by Russ Parsons, Wong's web site rameniac.com gives a comprehensive survey of ramen restaurants in LA. Everyone has their favorite. Anne Lai sent me to Little Tokyo to try the ramen at Daikokuya (327 E. 1st Street, Los Angeles 90012, 212/626-1680).

A narrow passageway of a restaurant, Daikokuya is on the north side of 1st Street, half-way between San Pedro and Alameda. Of the half-dozen ramen restaurants on the block, only Daikokuya is packed with people at the tables and bar. Besides ramen, Daikokuya also has other traditional Japanese dishes: rice bowls, bento boxes, chicken teriyaki, mixed tempura, pork cutlet, sushi, and sashimi. But it's the ramen I came for, and while there are a dozen varieties to try, I wanted the specialty of the house: Daikoku Ramen, a large bowl of pork soup with noodles, fatty Kurobuta pork, a whole boiled egg, seasoned bamboo shoots, bean sprouts, and green onions.

I took my place at the counter and watched the cooks drop baskets of noodles into the large pot of boiling water. The customer to my right, Jason, could tell I was a first-timer. He helpfully suggested I add some of the minced garlic and pickled ginger condiments to the soup. A good call.

All the ingredients are delicious, but it's the soup itself that makes the ramen at Daikokuya so memorable. If you've seen the Japanese comedy, Tampopo, you know how hard the shop keeper struggles to perfect her pork bone broth. She has to work from early in the morning until late in the evening to get the flavors just right.

I like to adapt restaurant techniques to cooking at home, but while I love the broth, that's too much work for me. I'll use homemade chicken stock instead. What I do take away from Daikokuyo is the realization that fresh ingredients can turn a lifeless package of noodles into a sumptuously refreshing meal.

At home, ramen is quick and easy to make as long as you have a good supply of homemade chicken stock in your freezer. For the dried ramen noodles, there are hundreds of brands, flavors, and varieties. Try to find one that has the least amount of chemicals in their ingredients' list. Health Food stores sometimes carry packages of organic ramen. Almost any of your favorite fresh vegetables and cooked meats will work.


Ramen at Home
Yield: 1 serving
Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients

1 package ramen
½ carrot, washed, peeled, cut into thin rounds
½ cup broccoli crowns, washed, sliced
1 shallot, peeled, thin sliced
2 Italian parsley sprigs, washed, use only the leaves, whole or chopped
½ cup shredded chicken, cooked
2 cups homemade chicken stock
1 teaspoon scallions, washed, sliced into rounds, green and white parts (optional)
1 hardboiled egg, sliced (optional)
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon soy sauce

Method

Follow the directions on the package to make the ramen noodles, then drain them and set aside. In a small pot, sauté the vegetables and chicken in the sesame oil until lightly browned, add the chicken stock and soy sauce and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the cooked noodles. Stir well and serve in a large bowl, topped with the scallions and the hardboiled egg if you want.

Smoky Leek Soup

It's January cold. The sky is overcast, a very heavy rain storm on the way. Of course in Southern California, a day like today is an 'event' and that means we can indulge in an East Coast afternoon, with the fireplace going and a comfort-food lunch.

The Sunday farmers' market had baby leeks, so it's going to be Smoky Leek Soup and a corned beef sandwich with coleslaw--leftovers from yesterday's visit to Nat 'n Al's in Beverly Hills.

To put a bit more flavor into the soup, add sauteed smoked bacon and lightly brown the garlic and leeks.

Smoky Leek Soup

Yield: 4 servings

Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients

1 bunch leeks, green stems and roots cut off and discarded
1 tablespoon finely chopped smoked bacon
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 tablespoon sweet butter (no salt)
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cloves garlic, peeled, finely chopped
3 cups stock, duck or chicken
1/4 cup homemade croutons

Method

Wash the trimmed leeks in a bowl of water, letting them soak for 5 minutes to get rid of any grit. Heat a saucepan on a medium-low flame. Sauté the bacon until lightly browned. Cut the leeks into thin rounds. Add the leeks, olive oil, butter, and and garlic to the bacon.

Traditionally leeks are only supposed to be softened, but lightly browning them gets more sweetness into the soup and adds a layer of flavor.

Sauté for 10 minutes on a medium-low flame. Add the stock and simmer for 30 minutes.

Laddle the soup into 2 bowls and top with the croutons.