Stewed Chicken Wings with Chestnuts

Cleaning up the pantry yielded several 100-gram bags of ready-to-eat shelled roasted Chinese chestnuts and a really large one I got from Costco. I feel like a squirrel for hoarding so much chestnuts. I can't help it; they are my most favorite thing in the world either for snacking or adding to sweet and savory dishes. Like stewed chicken, Chinese style...so delicious with fried rice.

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Food Friday: Chestnuts

candied chestnuts

Roasted and candied chestnuts are my all-time favorites during Christmas season. I specially love the aroma of roasting chestnuts. And when I have the time I candy (marrons glacés) some of them which are a real treat...sooo delicious.

Pork and Me: A Love Story

My love affair with pork came late in my life. Growing up we didn't have much pork dishes because my parents specially my dad didn't like it. He didn't mind small portions of pork as a flavoring in vegetables, noodles, and in chicken pork adobo, and maybe once a year he was fine having grilled pork chops. I myself didn't cook pork very often and only have been cooking it more frequently since I started this blog 4 years ago. Better late than never in discovering its goodness, I guess.

I read in our local news here in Ashburn about a competition among chefs to prepare locally produced ingredients and this year pork is at center stage. The winner will be named King or Queen of Porc. Read more about the competition at their website: Cochon 555. I'd like to crown myself the princess of pork but I know there are many others who can out-pork me.^_^

Well, pork, how do I love thee, let me count the ways:

bagnet, lechon kawali, or pork belly confit

I made these bacon appetizers today. They are so porklicious specially the bacon candy.

Chestnuts Wrapped in Bacon

a few rashers thin smoked bacon, cut into 3 pieces
whole roasted chestnuts (or water chestnuts)

• Wrap the chestnuts in bacon pieces and place on a wire rack cut side down. Place the wire rack on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. Bake in a preheated 350°F oven until bacon is golden and cooked through.

Bacon Candy

crrrunch!

thin smoked bacon rashers, cut into 1 inch pieces
brown sugar

• Dredge the bacon pieces in brown sugar. Place on a wire rack and put the wire rack on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. Bake in a preheated 350°F oven until caramelized and darkish brown (do not burn). They will become crisp as they cool.

Sweet Potato Gnocchi With Chestnuts And Sage

I never imagined gnocchi could be so delicious. I've had these in restaurants many years ago and also bought ready made ones from the refrigerated section at the grocery stores, not too often, just a few times. They were not too exciting and I remember them being chewy. I never had them again until I saw a recipe of sweet potato gnocchi with chestnuts and sage in the Gourmet magazine October 2009 issue. Anything that has chestnuts gets my attention right away, and the article describing the gnocchi as pillowy soft made me salivate even more. And it's true, they are pillowy soft, a bit sweet, and the simple combination of butter, crispy fried sage leaves, and chestnuts enhances these little orange gems. These are the best gnocchi I ever had, gnocchi-dding! Sorry for the bad pun.:D

Sweet Potato Gnocchi With Chestnuts And Sagerecipe adapted from Gourmet magazine

1 pound yukon gold or white potato
¾ pound sweet potato
1 large egg
½ teaspoon grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese plus more for serving
1½ cups all-purpose flour plus more for dusting
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup sage leaves
1/3 cup roasted chestnuts, crumbled
2 tablespoons salted butter

• Scrub both potatoes, place in a large pan, cover with water, and boil until soft (or bake them, if preferred). Cool potatoes slightly, then peel and force through ricer into a sheet pan, spreading in an even layer. Cool potatoes completely.
• Lightly flour 2 or 3 large baking sheets or line with parchment paper.
• Beat together egg, nutmeg, and salt in a small bowl.
• Gather potatoes into a mound in sheet pan and form a well in center.
• Pour egg mixture into well, then knead into potatoes. Knead in cheese and 1 and ¼ cups flour, then knead, adding more flour as necessary, until mixture forms a smooth but slightly sticky dough. Dust top lightly with some of the flour.
• Cut dough into 6 pieces. Form 1 piece of dough into a half-inch-thick rope on a lightly floured surface. Cut rope into ½-inch pieces and lightly dust with flour. Repeat with remaining pieces of dough.
• Turn a fork over and hold at a 45-degree angle, with tips of tines touching work surface. Working with one at a time, roll gnocchi down fork tines, pressing with your thumb, to make ridges on one side. Transfer gnocchi as formed to baking sheets. Occasionally rub clean and flour the tines as it gets sticky.
• Heat oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium heat until it shimmers. Fry sage leaves in 3 batches, stirring, until they turn just a shade lighter and crisp (they will continue to crisp as they cool), about 30 seconds per batch. Transfer to paper towels to drain. Season lightly with salt. Fry the chestnuts briefly and transfer into a plate.
• Add butter to oil in skillet and cook until golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes. Turn off heat.
• In a large pot, bring well salted water into a boil, add half the gnocchi and stir. Cook until they float to the surface, about 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to the skillet with butter sauce. Cook remaining gnocchi in same manner, transferring to skillet when cooked.
• Heat gnocchi in skillet over medium heat, add chestnuts, and stir to coat. Transfer into a serving plate. Serve sprinkled with fried sage and grated Parmesan.

Gourmet note: Uncooked gnocchi can be frozen up to 1 month. Freeze in one layer on a baking sheet then transfer into resealable freezer bag/s. Do not thaw before cooking.

I buy Chinese roasted chestnuts from the Korean grocery. They are about a dollar for a 3.6-ounce packet, which contains more than enough for this recipe. In my opinion these small chestnuts from China are the best tasting and they are a bit sweeter than other varieties.

Stuffed Baby Chicken In Broth (Young Gye Beck Sook)

I had this Korean chicken soup in Seoul many years ago, I have made it maybe a couple of times before. In restaurants it's cooked and served in individual earthen pots, which means one chicken to a person. When I learned it was a whole chicken I asked one of the people I was travelling with to help me finish it but the chicken was super tiny and delicious I ended up eating the WHOLE thing, including the rice!

Young Gye Beck Sook
adapted from THE KOREAN KITCHEN by Copeland Marks

1 very small chicken or cornish game hen, about 1½ pounds
1/3 cup sweet rice, washed and drained
10 garlic cloves, peeled
2 pieces fresh ginseng, each 2 inches long
½ inch fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
5 jujubes (Korean dates)
5 whole chestnuts
2 teaspoons sea salt, or to taste

roasted chestnuts, dried Korean jujubes, garlic, ginger and fresh ginseng and sweet rice

• Rinse out the body cavity of the chicken with cold water. Sew up the neck part to seal in the ingredients. Stuff the chicken with the rice, 5 of the garlic cloves and ginseng. Sew up the opening.
• Put the chicken in a pot and add water just to the top of the chicken. Add the ginger, the other 5 garlic cloves, jujubes, chestnuts, and salt and bring to a boil over moderate heat. Skim off and discard foam, reduce heat to low, cover the pan and simmer for 1 - 1½ hours. About halfway through the time, turn the chicken over to cook on the other side. Serve hot in a large tureen.