Author: anj68

Alice uses cast iron pots and wooden utensils and keeps the recipes as close to the traditional recipe as possible. She even utilizes a fire pit located outside her home to test authentic recipes. For more information about Alice the Cook, visit her website at http://www.alicethecook.com In future blogs, I will offer recipes, kitchen hints, and historical cooking lessons.
Posted on

Passover Seder Traditions

Preparing the Seder meal requires several hours of work. I strongly recommend that the main cook gets other members of the house to help, so that the meal will be completed before the Seder would begin at sunset. It is best to prepare all the seder foods before the onset of the Holiday in order to avoid pre-meal chaos or halachic questions.

The Passover meal allow the family to think and reflect and has plenty of meaning and allusion. The Seder plate has six items on it, arranged in a special order. The plate is placed on top of the covering of the three matzo and is placed in front of the head of the household.

The foods of the Seder plate are listed below, with the reason each is included, the method of preparing it, and its role in the Seder meal.

Continue reading “Passover Seder Traditions”

Posted on

Chinese Spicy Chicken Recipe

I must apologize to my fans.  I’ve been remiss in entering stories and recipes on my blog.  I’ve been busily preparing for new season, planning shows, doing further research, writing articles, etc. I hope you all will be able to forgive me.

I plan on not disappointing.  Going off of the beaten track, I thought I would offer readers something different this time.  Below is an Asian dish that has been 4291_90601597470_86152807470_2339105_7366297_nmodernized for today’s kitchen.  A fairly easy recipe that busy people can cook eat or save in bulk for future meals.

In the near future I hope to offer more of my traditional faire of cuisines.

Feeds 4:

Chilli chicken

  • 10 small skinless chicken drumsticks
  • 3/4 cup of dark soy sauce
  • 1 large onion
  • 4 garlic cloves
  • 4 green finger chillies
  • 2 tbsp sunflower oil

Soak the chicken in the soy sauce. Chop the onion into large pieces, the chillies into little ones and slice the garlic.

In a wok or kadai, bring the oil to heat on high. When it’s hot, fry the garlic until golden then add all the other ingredients and stir every few minutes until the chicken is cooked. You’ll know because the chicken will separate from the bone. While it’s cooking make the noodles.

Hakka noodles

  • 1/2 package of medium egg noodles
  • 1 large tea mug shredded cabbage
  • 1 large tea mug shredded carrot
  • 1 green pepper
  • 5 spring onions
  • 1.5 tbsp chilli garlic sauce (any Chinese one will do nicely)
  • 1.5 tbsp dark soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp white vinegar
  • 1 garlic clove
  • Salt and pepper
  • 2 tbsp flavourless white oil

Cook the noodles and set aside. Chop the garlic clove and mix it together with the sauces. Slice the green pepper finely and chop the spring onions.

Next, bring the oil to heat on high in a wok or kadai. When the oil starts sizzling, pour in the sauce mixture and in a few seconds the vegetables, bar one chopped spring onion. Cook for about two minutes until they soften, then mix in the cooked noodles, add salt and pepper to taste.

Sprinkle the noodles with the remaining chopped spring onion and eat straightaway.

Posted on

Blood Orange Ahi Tuna

Now that winter is here, some of my favorite fruits – blood oranges, have come into season.  As well as Cara Cara oranges, I take great delight in zesting, juicing, and eating these dark, rich, and sweet citrus fruits.

Last weekend, I did some prep work in juicing and zesting several types of citrus including oranges (blood, navel, and Cara Cara), lemons, and limes.  It took several hours and the product  is now safely in my freezer for future use in cooking and baking.

During this process, I discovered an over abundance of blood oranges.   As someone who does not like to waste food, I had zested my share of blood oranges, but had more than enough juice.  I wanted to try something nice and light for dinner and came up with the recipe below.  I really hope you like it.

blood oranges

Blood Orange Ahi Tuna

Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 (8 ounce) ahi tuna steaks
1/2 cup white wine
1 tablespoon butter
1 medium shallot, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 cups blood orange juice
1/2 teaspoon of blood orange zest

Directions
In a skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Sear tuna on one side for about four minutes. Flip and sear other side for three and a half minutes, or until tuna is cooked to your satisfaction. Remove from skillet and allow to rest.

Return skillet to heat and slowly add the white wine. Scrape bottom of pan with spatula to remove any seared tuna bits from sticking to the pan. Reduce heat to medium and add shallot and garlic. Cook and stir until shallot is clear, approximately 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in blood orange juice. Boil until the liquid has reduced to half its original volume or until it thickens. Add tuna briefly to cook on each side.  Remove from heat.

Slice the tuna across the grain. Fan the slices out onto a place and drizzle with blood orange sauce.  Sprinkle the zest on the dish for garnish.

I enjoy this dish when the tuna is served on top of a bed of spinach greens.  Enjoy.

Posted on

Stuffed Trout with Lemon & Planked Trout

A fan of mine recently pointed out that I have not posted any fish or seafood dishes on my site.  My apologies; I’ve been distracted with the holidays, personal life, and my friend’s appearance on the Food Network’s Iron Chef America.

I have two favorite recipes both using trout:   Both dishes are easy to make, tasty, and low fat.  I really enjoy using trout as it is a mild tasting fish.  If it smells fishy, it may be past its prime.  Usually the high-end grocery stores carry fresh trout, but it is my experience one can buy fresh fish inexpensively by visiting an Asian market.

Although many professional chefs already know this, but many of my readers are not chefs, and, with the current economy, are finding ways to eat well without hurting the pocketbook.  I can buy fresh fish and seafood at Asian markets at a fraction of the cost at a seafood market or specialty store.  The exception to this suggestion are the coastline seafood markets.

For this recipe, you will need trout that is gutted and boned.  Although many stores can sell a fish that is dressed (innards removed), but many do not know how to bone a fish.  Before the recipe, I thought I would list directions on how to remove the bones of a fish prior to cooking.

  1. Place the cleaned and dressed fish on cutting surface.
  2. Hold the fish by the head (if the head is still attached; it doesn’t need to be) and slice into the fish behind the gill until you feel the knife touch backbone.
  3. Turn the knife so it’s flat against the backbone, touching the ribs. The edge should face the tail.
  4. Cut along the backbone through the fish from head to tail, under the fillet.
  5. Turn fish over and repeat. At this point two sets of bones will remain in the fillet.
  6. Cut away the rib cage bones, which will be visible, by sliding the edge of the knife between the rib bones and the meat of the fillet.
  7. Pull out the smaller set of bones, called pin bones, that run through the center of the fillet.
  8. Use your finger to feel for the pin bone tips sticking out of the fillet. Use tweezers or needle-nose pliers to grab the tips and pull them out.

After following the instructions above, your fish is ready to be cooked.  Not all recipes will call for deboning, but it will make the dish easier to eat.

Stuffed Trout with Lemon
4 pink trout, gutted and boned
1 fresh lemon
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 cup of fresh parsley
Kosher or sea salt (to taste)
Black pepper (to taste)

Zest the lemon and pare away and discard the white pith of the lemon.   Slice the lemon and cut it up into small pits.  Mix the lemon and zest, garlic, parsley along with the salt and pepper.   Stuff each fish with some of the mixture and allow mixture to penetrate the fish prior to cooking (20 minutes).  Bake the fish for 15-20 minutes in an oven preheated to 400 degrees.  Serve hot or cold.

Apart from red dot holographic sights, food is the best part of camping. The next recipe is fun for camping or cooking out on the grill.

Planked Trout alice2
Grill or campfire
4 pink trout, cleaned and dressed
1 fresh lemon
4 cloves of garlic, minced
Kosher or sea salt (to taste)
Black pepper (to taste)
4 Untreated oak or cedar planks (no more than a foot long and six inches wide)
Steel nails

Begin heating up the grill or start the campfire.

Zest and juice the lemon.  Add the minced garlic to the lemon juice.  While that sits for two minutes, slit the belly so that it goes from neck to tail and open the body cavity larger.  Using five nails, attach the the each fish to each board (one nail for the head, two nails for each side), this will open up the fish to expose the inside.

Using a spoon, drizzle the lemon juice and minced garlic mixture to the interior flesh of the fish and let it sit for 3 minutes.  Sprinkle fish with the lemon zest (reserving half of it for later), and sprinkle salt and pepper.

Place the planks so that the heat from the grill/fire can slow cook the trout.  The planks may have to be rotated 180 degrees for even cooking.  DO NOT LET THE PLANKS CATCH FIRE, as it will cause a loss of the fish.  Depending on the size of the fish, anywhere between 15-30 minutes, the fish should be done.  Serve with a nice white wine.

Posted on

Cold and Flu Season Food-Related Remedies

9230_159768396349_511191349_3967211_4613462_n
Photo courtesy of Deadbishop.org/gallery

As we progress into winter, more of us are encountering the cold and flu season.   There are several home remedies that don’t necessarily cure the cold, but they do help with the symptoms.  Below are a pair of recipes that are my favorites.

Alice’s Tea

1 part dried ginger root, shredded
1 part dried licorice root, shredded
1 part dried peppermint leaves

Blend well and add hot water.  It should create a spicy tea that helps the throat and calms an anxious stomach.  This tea is also good for performers (actors and singers) as it is a better treatment for the throat than cough lozenges and calms stage fright.  No lemon or honey will be needed for this tea.

Asian Chicken Soup

One of my family’s favorite recipes for the sick is my Asian influenced Chicken Noodle/Vegetable Soup.  The secret to this recipe is baby/young ginger root that can be acquired at various Asian markets.  It is sweeter than standard ginger and contains vitamins C, B6, B12, A, antioxidants, and beta carotene.  It’s tasty too.

1 quart chicken broth
1 quarter chicken, skinned and de-boned
2 medium sized carrots
2 cloves of garlic
2 pieces of baby ginger, minced or sliced
1/2 cup of pea pods
1/4 cup of green onions, diced
1/4 cup of shelled edemade/soybeans
Rice noodles or rice
Salt or pepper to taste
optional ingredients: red peppers, bean sprouts, water chestnuts, baby corn, mushrooms, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, cabbage, and cilantro

Begin my putting the broth on low heat and cut up the chicken.  Saute the chicken in a separate pan to slightly brown it before adding it to the broth.  While browning, slice up the carrots, baby ginger, green onions, and garlic.  Add these vegetables with the chicken and then add to the broth.  Keep the soup on a low simmer.  Add the noodles or rice and continue cooking until almost done.  Add the pea pods and the soybeans and any other green vegetables.  The rice or noodles should be done, but the green vegetables should be served el dente – cooked, yet crisp.  Season with salt and black pepper.

This dish can become more colorful with the use of the optional vegetables and ingredients as well.  If it doesn’t cure you, it will certainly taste good and make you feel better.

I wish you all happiness in this season and hope for a great new year!