Black Girl Chef's Whites|Recipes for the Real World

Chinese Scallion Pancakes

Posted on January 22, 2012 by CherylDLee

This post was published last year, but in honor of the Chinese New Year I am posting it again. If you have never tried to make scallion pancakes, this easy to follow recipe is worth trying.

Scallion Pancakes

I love all Asian foods, from Chinese to Japanese to Korean and Indonesian and Thai. Maybe because my last name is Lee? In college I always used to get invited to the Asian Alliance meetings, until I showed up one day! Jaws dropped, laughing ensued, no more invitations sent. I decided to make one of my favorite things to eat when I go to a good Chinese restaurant, scallion pancakes. Who does not love fried dough of one sort or another? Every culture has a version of fried dough, either sweet or savory, deep fried or pan fried, filled or plain. And let’s be honest, you have most people’s attention at the word fried.

Scallion pancakes require few ingredients, but do require time and technique. While I love to eat them, I do not make them. Ever. I needed to do some serious research, and fast! I looked around the internet and found a few posts on making scallion pancakes, some with pictures, some with easy to follow directions and some that just confused me! From all those posts I reached a happy medium, and came up with a recipe to work with.

Scallion pancakes make a great party appetizer when served with a dipping sauce. They can be made ahead, wrapped in foil and heated up in the oven. Or try them as an after school snack for the kids. For the big kids such as myself, serve them with a cold beer.

Scallion Pancakes

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Classic Chinese Scallion Pancakes

by Cheryl D Lee September-26-2010

With just a few ingredients you can make these savory, scallion filled pancakes that are great for snacking, or as an appetizer.

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup very hot water
2 tablespoons + more for frying vegetable oil
1 teaspoon sesame oil
kosher salt
1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced

Instructions

Place the flour into a food processor fitted with the blade attachment. With the machine running, add the water slowly, until the dough is formed.Scrape the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Have extra flour on the board in reach in case it is needed.
Knead the dough until it becomes smooth and soft.Place the dough into a clean bowl and cover with a damp cloth for 30 minutes. Combine 2 TB of vegetable oil with the sesame oil. Place the sliced scallions and salt (separately) into small bowlsCut the dough into 6 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball. One at time roll out a piece of dough.Brush the dough lightly with the combined oils, sprinkle generously with salt and about a tablespoon of scallions.Carefully roll the dough up like a cigar or rug. Curl the cigar shaped dough into a spiral, like a snail shell, then press down lightly with your palm. Roll out the spiral until it is about 1/8 inch thick. Repeat with the remaining dough, oil, salt and scallions.Heat a large (10-12 inch) skillet over medium high heat, then coat the bottom with vegetable oil. Fry the pancakes for 3-4 minutes, until golden brown. Flip the pancake and cook the other side until it is golden brown. Repeat with the remaining pancakes.Place the pancakes onto a plate lined with a paper towel to drain any oil. Cut each pancake into six pieces and serve with our favorite dipping sauce.

Details

Prep time: 40 mins Cook time: 10 mins Total time: 50 mins Yield: 6 pancakes

Pancake Dough Before Kneading

Knead the dough until it becomes smooth and soft. ( I was taught that when dough is properly kneaded it should feel like a babies butt.)

Pancake Dough After Kneading

Place the dough into a clean bowl and cover with a damp cloth for 30 minutes. Combine 2 TB of vegetable oil with the sesame oil. Place the sliced scallions and salt (separately) into small bowls.

Oil, Kosher Salt and Sliced Scallions

Cut the dough into 6 pieces.

Dough Cut Into Six Pieces

Roll each piece into a ball. One at time roll out a piece of dough.

First Rolling Out of Pancake Dough

Brush the dough lightly with the combined oils, sprinkle generously with salt and about a tablespoon of scallions.

Dough with Oil, Kosher Salt and Sliced Scallions

Carefully roll the dough up like a cigar or rug.

Roll Up the Pancake Like a Cigar

Curl the cigar shaped dough into a spiral, like a snail shell, then press down lightly with your palm.

Scallion Pancake Rolled into A Spiral

Roll out the spiral until it is about 1/8 inch thick. Repeat with the remaining dough, oil, salt and scallions.

Scallion Pancake After Final Rolling Out

Heat a large (10-12 inch) skillet over medium high heat, then coat the bottom with vegetable oil. Fry the pancakes for 3-4 minutes, until golden brown. Flip the pancake and cook the other side until it is golden brown. Repeat with the remaining pancakes.

Frying the Scallion Pancake

Place the pancakes onto a plate lined with a paper towel to drain any oil. Cut each pancake into six pieces and serve with our favorite dipping sauce.

Scallion Pancakes

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Posted in Everything Else, Recipes, Veggies | Tagged appetizer, Chinese food, Chinese New Year, food, onion pancake, Recipes, savory, scallion, scallion pancake, vegan, vegetable, Vegetarian, Year of the Dragon | 4 Comments

White Bean and Kale Stew

Posted on January 16, 2012 by CherylDLee

When its cold outside there is nothing I love more than a big bowl of chili or stew or soup. Something that warms me from the inside out, and sticks to my ribs, causing me to lean back in my chair and rub my belly with satisfaction.

Sadly (or awesomely) it was in the 80′s here in Southern California on New Year’s Day and just cooled down again. Winter in California is SO not like my winters in Brooklyn. Not that I am complaining, because I do not miss the feeling of my contact lenses freezing in my eyes from the cold weather! Or my nose being so cold I could not tell if it was running or not. Yeah, good times, good times. . .

Now that is a little cooler here, I made a rib sticking, hearty vegetable stew with white beans and one of my favorite vegetables, Tuscan kale. To really give it some smoky flavor I used the skin from my homemade bacon. If you want to make it vegetarian or vegan, do not use any bacon or smoked meats, and use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth. It will still be fantastic, just without the smoky layer.

I love the flavor of Tuscan kale, also known as black kale, dinosaur kale and lacinato kale. You can easily use other types of kale, or even fresh spinach, collard or mustard greens.

I make sure to coat the beans in the flavored oil before adding the broth, to insure that the flavors soak into the beans as they cook.

Once you add the broth and water you can walk away, returning for an occasional stir and to make sure there is enough liquid in the pot. Depending on how old your beans are, they may suck up more liquid than you expect, so add more water if needed.

When the beans are almost done, stir in the chopped kale. Cook until the kale is as tender as you like it. Some people like raw kale, but I am not among them! I like it to be nice and tender, but not mushy and squishy.

Enjoy it with some crusty bread to soak up all that good juice! I also recommend a nice bottle of pinot grigio.

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White Bean and Kale Stew

by Cheryl D Lee January-16-2012

This hearty one pot meal is filled with savory white beans and healthy Tuscan kale, a meal packed with not only flavor, but nutrients.

Ingredients

4 ounces bacon skin (or substitute with a smoked ham hock or turkey wing)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 yellow onion, sliced
4 garlic cloves, sliced
2 cups small white beans, soaked
2 teaspoons dried basil
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried oregano, preferably Mexican
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 large spring fresh rosemary
4 cups low sodium chicken broth
4 cups water
1 bunch Tuscan kale, roughly chopped
2 teaspoons sea salt

Instructions

In a large pot over low heat, cook the onion and bacon skin in the olive oil, until the onions are softened.
Add the garlic to the pot, cook an additional 2 minutes, until just fragrant.
Add the beans and stir to coat them well with the onion and garlic mixture.
Add the herbs, broth and water. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cook the beans for 1 – 1 1/2 hours, until the beans are almost tender.
Stir in the kale and continue to simmer the beans until the kale is wilted and tender, about 10 minutes. Season the stew with the salt, adjusting as needed for the saltiness of the bacon or smoked meat.

Serve the stew with crusty bread to soak up the juices.

Details

Prep time: 10 mins Cook time: 2 hour Total time: 2 hour 10 mins Yield: 6 cups

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Posted in Recipes, Veggies | Tagged beans, dinner, food, healthy, kale, legumes, meal, Recipes, side dish, stew, Tuscan kale, vegetables, white beans | 6 Comments

Bacon Smashed Potatoes

Posted on January 7, 2012 by CherylDLee

Welcome 2012! A lot of blogs, morning television shows, and other random people are talking about keeping resolutions, New Year-New You transformations, healthy recipes and the like. Well, not this gal.

I am hitting the ground running with a recipe all about smoky pork, silky soft potato and skin crisped by bacon fat! Oh yeah. . .

Recipes for smashed potatoes of all kinds can be found on the internet these days, because it is such a simple but pleasurable taste treat. You can roast them or fry them after smashing, depending on the flavor you want or how decadent you want to be. I guess I was feeling a bit decadent.

I recently went on a tour of Melissa’s Produce, and learned about all sorts of cool new products coming to the market near you! They were kind enough to have samples of all sorts of things, and one product caught my eye immediately. . . Ruby Gold Peewee Potatoes. I am totally biased towards anything with the word Ruby in the title, as this is my kids name. Now that she is beginning to read I like to ask her to find a familiar word, and she always gets a huge grin when she recognizes her name on a book or package.

I quickly snatched up a bag (food bloggers and writers are quick to grab samples so you have to move fast) and toted them home. My friend Holland came by to drop off her super-cool Christmas present of homemade vanilla extract and a huge jar of vanilla sugar, and saw the potatoes. She mentioned recently having some smashed potatoes that had been fried in duck fat, and an idea was born. I didn’t have duck fat, but I sure do have a lot of bacon fat! When you make your own bacon, you are sure to save all the good rendered fat!

Chop up and few slices of bacon, and cook them until crisp in a large skillet. Remove the bacon and drain well on a paper towel. While the bacon is cooking, boil the potatoes about 10 minutes, or until they are fork tender.

Smash the potatoes with the bottom of a CLEAN glass.

Fry the potatoes in the bacon fat for 3-4 minutes, until lightly golden brown. Place the potatoes onto a serving dish, then sprinkle with the reserved bacon pieces. You can also sprinkle with a little course salt. I used a beautiful pink salt from Hawaii. I also added a few fresh thyme leaves for an additional pop of flavor.

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Bacon Smashed Potatoes

by Cheryl D Lee January-7-2012

This simple recipe is all about smoky pork, silky soft potato and skin crisped by bacon fat! A one or two bite pleasure, perfect for an appetizer table.

Ingredients

1 pound Ruby Gold Peewee Potatoes, or other very small potato
3-4 ounces thick cut bacon, chopped
to taste salt
optional fresh thyme leaves

Instructions

Boil the potatoes for around 10 minutes, or until fork tender. Rinse with cool water, drain and cool.
While the potatoes are cooking, in a large skillet over medium low heat, cook the bacon until it is crispy. Remove the bacon to a plate lined with a paper towel to drain. Reserve the fat in the pan.
With the bottom of a clean glass, smash the potatoes flat. Place them in a single layer into the skillet, frying them in batches. If needed, add more bacon fat or other oil to the skillet.
Fry the potatoes for 3-4 minutes or until they get a lightly golden color. Place them onto a serving platter.
Sprinkle the reserved crispy bacon pieces over the potatoes. If desired, sprinkle a small amount of course salt and some fresh thyme leaves for an extra layer of flavor.

Details

Prep time: 5 mins Cook time: 25 mins Total time: 30 mins Yield: 1 pound