Category Archives: Poultry

Roast Chicken with White Bean Stew

Beans, beans
Good for your heart
Beans, beans
GREAT for your heart!
— from the “Bean Cafe” skit on SNL

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We had finished gorging on the heavenly porchetta from Roli Roti at the San Francisco Ferry Building Farmer’s Market. Now we came to the real reason for going to the market – Rancho Gordo‘s heirloom beans :

After talking with the Ranch Gordo bean evangelists, Annie bought several packets of different kinds of beans, including kindney beans, Navy beans, and their most popular seller, Cannellini beans. We brought them home, and Annie found a recipe on Epicurious that she decided to adapt. Continue reading Roast Chicken with White Bean Stew

Chicken Quesadilla, Fresh Salsa, Roasted Stuffed Bell Peppers

"Cuostralee" heirloom tomato from last year’s harvest

I didn’t get a chance to weigh it but it must have been about a half-pound in weight and 5 inches in diameter. The amazing thing is the amount of flesh on the ‘mater – the whole center section is solid. What I liked about it was the pretty design that the seed pockets made.

Continue reading Chicken Quesadilla, Fresh Salsa, Roasted Stuffed Bell Peppers

Rotisserie Chicken, mango salsa

Annie and I were out on a date in Los Altos, a small town northwest of San Jose, one Thursday evening. We were going out for sushi but, when we got out of the car, we noticed a farmer’s market that was open in the evening one street over from the restaurant. We hadn’t been to a farmer’s market in over a month, so we went over to investigate.

It was a very bustling farmer’s market. As it turns out, a Roli Roti rotisserie truck was there selling rotisserie chicken and baked potatoes. We had read about Roli Roti in a post on EatingAsia that enthused about their porchetta (roast pork). Too bad only the San Francisco one sells it.

Even though we were planning on sushi that night, we still picked up half a rotisseried chicken to take home for the next night’s dinner. Here it is, served with kalamansi limes. It was very flavorful but, being reheated in the microwave, it probably would have been better eaten the day we bought it.

At the farmer’s market, Annie got some mangoes for cheap. She made a mango salsa using one of the mangoes, the tomatoes we bought, plus a mild, sweet pepper. Seasoned with lime juice, s&p, and ground cumin and coriander.

The porchetta will have to wait till another day.

Aloha, Nate

Beggar’s Chicken

Annie’s been meaning to make Beggar’s Chicken for a while. Legend has it that a Chinese beggar stole a chicken and cooked it by wrapping it in clay and tossing it in a fire. The chicken, sealed in the clay, came out moist and tender.

She got this modernized recipe from “At Home with Amy Beh”: Marinate a whole chicken in some salt, pepper, sesame oil, and a little Chinese rice wine. Stir-fry some ginger, carrots and mushrooms and add a sauce made from soy sauce, sugar, cooking wine, salt, thick soy sauce, and sesame oil. Stuff into bird.

Wrap chicken in lotus leaves, aluminum foil, and finally a salt dough. Bake at 200*C for 1 hour, then reduce to 190*C and bake until the dough is dark brown.

Crack the dough and split open the package.

The chicken is very moist, tender, and flavorful. The aroma of the lotus leaves added to the dish. The downside to this is the hard work making the salt dough and wrapping the bird. It may be easier to do in a clay pot.

Aloha, Nate