FDMW的部落格

Kitchen Sink Salad (清倉沙拉)

Today's lunch, odds and ends from the frig.
今日的午餐， 清理冰箱垃圾。




Braised Oxtail (紅燒牛尾)

This is a delicious one pot meal. It’s a little time consuming in cooking it, but once you prepare and put everything into the pot, let it come to boil then turn down the heat; the pot can simmer for the next 3-4 hours or longer if you like. I prefer to cook oxtail in a heavy enamel cast iron pot (I use a Le Creuset pot) because of good heat retention; the heavy lid helps maintain pressure while it cooks. I do not favor pressure cooker for cooking less tender meats. While a pressure cooker may do a good job of “tenderizing” tough meats, but it also rendered the meat taste like sawdust. Making oxtail stew in a slow cooker yields a bland taste, it is also difficult to reduce the cooking liquid into a rich sauce unless you pour out the cooking liquid into a different pot and reduce it on stovetop. A clay pot works well except you have to brown the meat in a skillet before braising the meat in the pot. A stainless steel pot will do the job also but you have to braise the meat longer due to its thin wall which does not retain heat well. Okay, so much about pots
here are the ingredients:

2      pkg    oxtail--browned
1      bun     leeks—cut & browned
1      lg        sweet onion—cut & browned
4-6  roma    tomatoes—cut
4-5              carrots—cut
4 turnips or 1 diakon--cut
3      tbsp      cooking wine (I use sake)
2      pc       star anise
1/3 cup soy sauce
2      tsp       brown sugar (opt)
No other seasonings needed.*
Enough water to just barely cover the top of the oxtail.
Other vegetables: anything you like such as beans, peppers, corns, potatoes, etc.

Directions:
1. In a large pot, brown onions and leeks, remove from heat.
2. In the same pot, brown the oxtail.
3. Return the browned vegetables into the pot, and add the rest of the vegetables, wine, soy sauce, star anise and water.
4. Bring the pot to boil, reduce heat to medium-low, keeping the liquid inside the pot to small bubbles. Check for tenderness after 3-4 hours, cook another hour or two if necessary; and taste for additional seasonings if needed.
5. If there are lots of liquid left in the pot, turn up the heat and reduce it to a sauce.
The oxtail should be very tender by now, it falls apart if poke with a chopstick/fork, the vegetables are soft and creamy, and the meat is well seasoned by all the vegetables natural juices. Serve with rice or pasta.

*You don’t need extra seasonings if you use lots of vegetables; natural sweetness from fresh vegetables blends well with
  soy sauce.

Note:  There are many reasonably price enamel cast iron pots on the market nowadays. They are all well made and well below the price of Le Creuset if “brand” is not your thing, some are less than 1/2 the price of LC, they cook just as well as the famous brand. Check out Mario Batali and Lodge brands, Target sells a 3-4 qt pot for about $40, but I don't remember the brand name.

 
Pan Fried Rice Noodle with Shrimp (乾炒蝦河)

I  was going to make rice noodle with beef,  but I don't have any beef on hand so I substitute the meat with shrimp. It is just as good with yesterday's homemade rice noodle.
本想做乾炒牛河的，剛好牛肉用完就用蝦吧，一樣好吃呢。


沙河粉的做法請按這裡  

 

所有圖片文字皆來自 Mac 的部落格  Simple Pleasures