Monthly Archives: September 2010

Everything Else Recipes Veggies

PFB #2 – Classic Chinese Scallion Pancakes

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Sliced Scallions

And then there were 400.  My first entry on Project Food Blog was judged good enough to advance to the next challenge, The Classics.  If you haven’t already, you can see my contest profile here.  The contestants are supposed to make a classic dish from a culture other than their own, that they are not familiar with cooking.  Most people would have planned out their contest entries, but that is not the way I work.  Whenever I plan ahead, the Universe laughs at me for thinking I actually have some control over things!  That control thing ended when I gave birth.

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

Cheryl D Lee on Foodista

Recipes

Cooking 101: How to Make a Basic Brine

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Kosher Salt, Raw Cane Sugar, Peppercorns, Bay Leaf, Fennel Seeds, Thyme and Oregano

Soaking meats or poultry in a brine is a great way to add flavor and juiciness.  Meat loses a lot of  juices while cooking, so when you start by brining your meats or poultry before cooking, you essentially start with more juice.  Therefore when you lose the juices to cooking, you still have more than you would if you did not brine!

That is the simple explanation for why a brine is a good thing, but if you would like a more scientific explanation, try this article from Fine Cooking by noted food scientist Shirley Corriher.

Brining is not an exact science, as the amount of salt you use can vary.  I generally like to use 1 cup of kosher salt per gallon of water.  From there you can add just about any flavorings you would like. Herbs, spices, fruit zest, fruit juice, sugar, maple syrup, molasses, hot sauce, chili peppers, whatever!

Larger items, such as whole turkeys, whole chickens and pork roasts can and should stay in a brining solution longer than smaller items.  When I brine a whole bird I give it at least 8 hours to 24 hours in the brine.  Shrimp, chicken pieces, and pork chops should stay in brine for a much shorter time.  Shrimp only need to brine about an hour, chicken parts  and pork chops for 2-4 hours.

Some will tell you that brines must be brought to a boil, then cooled down before use.  I say just throw all your ingredients into a big pot or bowl, stir until the salt has dissolved, stick your meat or bird in and refrigerate!  But do make sure to use a non-reactive container, such as a resealable plastic bag or a stainless steel pot or bowl.

When you are ready to cook, be sure to pat the meat or poultry dry. Your meat should be fully flavored at this point, but if I am making chicken or turkey I will rub the dried skin with butter or olive oil for browning. Do Not Add Any More Salt If You Are Adding Other Seasoning!

Here are a few brine flavor suggestions to try.  Don’t be afraid to try your own favorite flavors!

  • Apple juice, maple syrup and thyme
  • Ancho and/or chipotle chili powder, cumin seeds, coriander seeds and sliced jalapeno chili
  • Fresh herbs such as thyme, oregano, basil, parsley and tarragon
  • Garlic, honey, soy sauce and five spice powder
  • Rosemary, Garlic, and lemon
  • Wine, garlic, onions, and herbs

Basic Brine for Meat and Poultry

1 gallon of water

1 cup of kosher salt

1/4 cup raw cane sugar

6 whole peppercorns

1 bay leaf

1 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp fennel seeds (this is optional, but since that is what was in my brine when I took the picture, I included it)

Place all the ingredients into a non-reactive container, stir to dissolve the salt and sugar, then add the meat or poultry of choice.  Be sure the brine completely covers the meat or poultry.

Cheryl D Lee on Foodista

News 'n' Stuff

PFB #1 – Just Who Is The Black Girl in Chef’s Whites?

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Before you find out who the black girl is, first you should find out what PFB is.  Project Food Blog is a competition with over 1500 food bloggers vying to become “The Next Food Blog Star!” (the crowd roars, the applause swells) For the next 10 weeks the entries will be judged, and the contestants whittled down until one blogger will win $10,000 and lots of free publicity by being featured for an entire year on Foodbuzz.  Yeah, that wouldn’t suck.

The first challenge is to define who I am as a food blogger.  My culinary journey has been one of twists and turns, and incredible rewards.  Chef’s whites, also known as a white chefs coat, is the uniform worn in a professional kitchen.  I was always THE black girl in chef’s whites in a kitchen full of white and Hispanic guys, with the occasional Asian or black guy thrown in.  When I graduated from culinary school and moved to New York to work, I found a challenging, rewarding and sometimes estrogen deprived world in professional kitchens.  My coworkers would take cigarette breaks, and I would take testosterone breaks.  Don’t get me wrong, I had a lot of fun while learning so much about the world of cooking in a professional kitchen.

From that world I went in the complete opposite situation, becoming the Assistant Test Kitchen Director of Woman’s World Magazine.  A kitchen full of women, all day, every day!  But I was still THE black girl, though this was a more causal environment, and only had to wear an apron.  (Black Girl in an Apron is just not a catchy blog title, no?) Woman’s World is a weekly magazine with a lot of recipes, and a great place to learn how to develop, write and edit a good recipe.

I moved home to California to be near family, especially my mother who was dealing with major health issues.  I took a job teaching at a Le Cordon Bleu cooking school, where I found I enjoyed sharing my knowledge and experience with my students.  I then worked for a food photography stock photo agency.  I was surrounded by food all day, but only images of it. As a photo editor, I saw beautiful photos from some of the best food photographers in the world.   Although I am still learning how to take a beautiful food photograph, I at least know what one should look like.  And the next photo is NOT what one should look like!

Fresh tomatoes and oregano

My photography is getting better, but I am still learning.

Warm Caprese Salad

My collective experiences in the culinary world formed who I would become as a blogger.  I originally came to blogging both out of necessity and out of my love of teaching others to cook.  After I gave birth to my daughter I decided to cash in some investments, and stay home with her for awhile.  I left my job as a photo editor and became Mama. Since I waited until I was practically menopausal to have her, I didn’t want to miss a thing!  When she was about a year old, I was ready to get back into the work force, and started my personal chef  business.  Right about that time the economy went downhill FAST and hiring a personal chef was a luxury that was easily cut out of the monthly budget. Uh Oh. . .

While waiting to hear back regarding all those resumes I was sending out (cricket, cricket) I decided to use my extensive archive of recipes, and began working as the National Recipe Examiner for Examiner.com.  I had forgotten my deep passion for writing, but it slowly began to return.  I started my own recipe blog, showcasing my original recipes along with a few of my observations of life as a single mother and caregiver to an elderly parent.  Because of my situation, time is a luxury.  But I still like to eat well, even though I cannot spend hours in the kitchen making gourmet meals anymore.  And I also want my daughter to learn to eat well, and not be afraid to try new foods.  Now that she is three that is becoming harder.  She looks at a dish, turns her cute little nose up and says “hmmph!” What am I supposed to do with that?!

I am a caterer, personal chef, recipe developer, recipe editor, chef instructor, food stylist, photo editor, mother, sister and daughter.   All these experiences melded together to become Black Girl Chef’s Whites.  I cook, I eat, I write about it, it’s a living.  And I LOVE it!

So now my blog features Recipes for the Real World, which means family friendly, not too difficult and flavorful foods.  I work hard to introduce new culinary ingredients that may not be familiar to all.  I strive to make my recipes easy to follow.  I like to push the envelope a little and put together tastes and textures that you might not have thought of.  I want my readers to want to use my recipe as a base, and to make my recipes THEIRS.  I publish what my family is having for dinner, so all the photography is real, no food styling allowed.  I want to teach people how to make good food to share with their friends and family.  Or just for themselves.

That last paragraph sums up why I think I have what it takes to be The Next Food Blog Star. Isn’t that what a food blog is about, teaching and sharing recipes with people, so they can then go on and teach and share also?

Please check out my profile on Project Food Blog.  Do you think I have what it takes to be The Next Food Network Star?  There will be a Reader’s Choice vote, so if you like what you see please vote for me.

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