Category: Recipes

(Bubble and Squeak, with Fried Egg and Spicy Tomato Sauce, by Reggie Soang)

One of the best ways to use up your root vegetables and leftovers is to make Bubble and Squeak; mash everything together and fry it gently until nice and golden brown. What is a “Bubble and Squeak”?…you’ll have to try it, because it comes from the sound of bubbling, squeaking, and sizzling of your food! A wonderful way to fill up your apartment with the smell of love and joy!

For the latest COVID – 19 Home Cooking Series, I present you:

Bubble and Squeak, with Fried Egg and Spicy Tomato Sauce
Serves: 2 adults and 2 children

Ingredients:
640g Potatoes, roughly mashed
2 cup Sautéed Onions
1 cup Kale, cooked and chopped
1 cup Broccoli Rabe, cooked and chopped
2 Tablespoon Grain Mustard
4 Tablespoon EVOO, plus more for frying egg
2 t Salt
1 Egg
Spicy Tomato Sauce, as much as you like

1. Pre-heat oven to 350F
2. Mash up the potatoes roughly with a fork and mix with the rest of the ingredients
3. Form patties with the potato mixture to about 1/2 inch thick
4. Heat up oil in a non-stick skillet on medium high heat until shimmering. Place potato patties into skillet and fry them until golden brown. Flip the patties and put the skillet into the oven for 4 to 5 minutes.
5. Once the second side is golden brown, your patties should also be nice and warm on the inside. Take the patties out and drain them on paper towels. The patties will be fragile, so don’t worry if they fall apart.
6. Wipe off the oil in skillet and put it back on medium high heat. Heat up 2 tablespoons of EVOO until it shimmers. Crack your egg and let it fry and sizzle, season with salt and pepper. Right before the egg is done, put in a little knob of butter and baste the egg white to finish. This is your sunny side up egg. If you want over-and-easy, base the surface of the yolk couple times with your hot butter, a nice trick to cook the egg without having to flip it.
7. Serve your Bubble and Squeak with the fried egg on top, and place a dollop of spicy tomato sauce on the side. Bon Appétit!

(Crispy Potato Pancake, Poached Egg, Spicy Tomato Sauce, Arugula, by Reggie Soang)

Really wanted a crispy potato dish for my brunch…turning to one of my favorite potato recipes!

For the latest VOCID 19 Home Cooking Series, I present you: 

Crispy Potato Pancake with Poached Egg, and Spicy Tomato Sauce
Serves: 2 adult and 2 kids

Ingredients:
For Potato Pancake:
1 & 1/2 pound Potatoes, cut into strips
150g (about 1 and 1/2 stick) Butter
6g Salt

For Lemon Vinaigrette:
2 lemons
EVOO
Salt, to taste

To Serve with:
1 Poached Egg
Handful of Arugula, dressed in lemon vinaigrette
3 Spoonfuls of Spicy Tomato Sauce

1. Peel potatoes and thinly slice them into coins, 1/16-inch thick, on a Japanese mandolin.
2. Stack up the potato slices and cut them into thin strips
3. Rinse potato strips under cold water for 5 seconds to get rid of excess starch and prevent from turning color. Dry potatoes with paper towel. At the meantime, melt butter.
4. Put potatoes in a mixing bowl and add melted butter and salt. Mix to combine.
   Pre-heat your oven to 400F (375F if you have a convection setting). Heat up a non-stick skillet on high heat. When the skillet is hot, add your potatoes, and they should start to sizzle.
5. Use a spatula to press potatoes down and flat. Once you see the potatoes are frying on the edge and getting a little crispy, you could put the skillet into the oven.
6. After 25 minutes, the pancake should be golden brown underneath. Flip the pancake onto a lid and slide it back into the skillet with the other side facing down.
7. Fry your pancake on the stove top for couple minutes on medium high heat. Put the skillet back in the oven for another 10 minutes to finish the second side.
8. Flip the pancake onto a cutting board and let rest for 5 minutes before slicing into wedges.
9. To serve, place a wedge of potato pancake on one side of a plate. Place arugula, dressed in lemon vinaigrette, off to the side with a poached egg resting in between the salad and pancake. Add a dollop of spicy tomato sauce and serve. Bon Appétit!

(Chocolate Chip Cookies, by Reggie Soang)

To set up for a productive weekend, I made cookies. And so should you!

For the latest COVID – 19 Home Cooking Series, I present you:

Chocolate Chip Cookies
Serves: Quite a bit of people

Ingredients:
300g ( 2 & 1/4 cup ) AP Flour
5g (1 teaspoon ) Baking Soda
2g ( 1/2 teaspoon ) Salt
175g ( 3/4 cup ) Sugar
160g ( 3/4 cup ) Brown Sugar
2 (1 cup) Sticks Butter
1 Egg
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
12 oz. ( 2 cup ) Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

1. Bring your butter out of the fridge for 1 hour to temper
2. Combine dry goods and set aside
3. Using a stand mixer or an electric mixer, cream butter with sugars
4. Mix in egg and vanilla Extract
5. Add your dry goods to butter mixture in 3 stages. Mix in dry goods on low speed
6. Add in your chocolate chips and mix to combine
7. To portion your cookie dough, cut out few pieces of parchment paper, roughly 12-in by 17-in each. For each piece of paper, put some cookie dough at the bottom half of the paper in length. Slowly roll up your cookie dough in parchment paper to make 1 and ½ -inch logs. Chill the cookie dough logs for at least 1 hour before baking
8. Pre-heat your oven to 375F
9. Take out your cookie dough and cut them into pucks (about ½ -inch thick), weighing about 1.2 to 1.3 oz. each.
10. Lay your individual cookie dough 2 inches apart on a sheet tray lined with a piece of parchment paper, and bake for 13 minutes.
11. Let cookies rest on a rack for 5 minutes. Bon Appétit!

(White Bean Soup with Kale and Poached Egg, by Reggie Soang)

Whites beans and kale are great combo when you need to make something healthy, hearty, and easy. Do soak the beans overnight if you are using dried ones, or you’d be spending all day looking over your pot and waiting impatiently for them to get cooked. I love poached eggs over a stew or soup…velvety yolk comforts me, and it’s also very sexy to look at. Go on and try this recipe!

For the latest COVID – 19 Home Cooking Series, I present you:

White Bean Soup with Kale and Poached Egg
Serves: 2 adults and 2 kids

Ingredients:
1 pound Dried White Beans
1 tsp Black Peppercorn, whole
1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp EVOO
3 pieces Bay Leaves
Water
1 piece Yellow Onion, medium dice
15 cloves Garlic, thinly sliced
2 Tablespoon Za’atar Spice
2 teaspoon Black Pepper, ground
1 Tablespoon Dried Chili Flakes
1/2 Cup Tomato Sauce
1/3 Cup Coconut Milk
Salt to Taste
1 Tablespoon fresh chili, sliced thin

1. Soak beans overnight. Cover dried beans with four times amount of water to beans in ratio (eg. 4 cups of water to 1 cup of dried beans)
2. Drain beans the next day, cover the beans with water to 2-inch above the surface, add bay leaves, whole black peppercorn, 2 tablespoon EVOO, and a pinch of salt.
3. Bring water to a boil and turn down to simmer. The beans will take about 15 to 20 minutes to cook. Beans should be nice and soft. Reserve liquid
4. In a separate pot, heat up the rest of the EVOO. Once oil shimmers, add onions, garlic, and kale to sauté, season with salt.
5. Once the veggies are soft and fragrant, add your spices and dried chilies. Toast spices and chilies until fragrant, and then add tomato sauce to deglaze
6. Add reserved bean cooking liquid and coconut milk. Bring to a boil and season to taste.
7. Poach an egg, and toast 2 pieces of bread. Smear toasts with kale pesto. Place your poached egg in the middle and garnish with fresh chilies and drizzles of EVOO. Bon Appétit!

(Caci e Pepi with Gnocchi, by Reggie Soang)

Potatoes and flour are probably the cheapest and best ingredients to buy and store (though don’t let your potatoes sprout!). Making gnocchi is one of the few ways to combine those two humble ingredients and make something delicious and crowd pleasing. I learned this recipe at my first job as a line cook in a wine bar. This recipe is a true grandma-recipe, which could change depending on the feel of the gnocchi dough. One could taste the love of this gnocchi dish when the cook pays attention to the details.

For the latest COVID 19 Home Cooking Series, I present you:

Cacio e Pepi a la Gnocchi
Serves: you,  your partner, and your children

Ingredients:
300g Potatoes, cooked and passed through a food mill
70g AP Flour
1 Tablespoon Butter
1 teaspoon Black Pepper, ground
Parmesan
Kale Pesto…yes! the same one we made last weekend, still good!

1. Roast you potatoes in 375F oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Test out doneness by inserting a small knife, and it should go through the potatoes without any resistance
2. Scoop out your potatoes and pass them through a ricer or food mill
3. Spread out your mashed potatoes on the counter and chill them quickly by fanning and cutting the potatoes with a dough or bench scraper
4. Sprinkle flour over potatoes. Use your bench scraper to cut the flour into potatoes. Trust me…it works! Do this in 3 stages.
5. Once potatoes can form a dough without sticking to your fingers, then the dough is ready to be worked into a log and portioned into 3 pieces.
6. Roll each dough to strips 1/2-in thick, and cut the strips to 1-inch pieces.
7. Boil a pot of water, set up your butter sauce, and cook your gnocchi in boiling water until they float to the top.
8. Add your gnocchi to butter sauce and toss. Add a big pinch of black pepper and toss. When gnocchi are coated with butter sauce, slide them into your bowl.
9. Garnish with kale pesto and grated parm. Bon Appetit!

(Chicken ‘n Dumplings, by Reggie Soang)

One of my go-to dishes to make for staff meal when I worked in WD~50 was Chicken ‘n Dumplings. It’s one of the best comfort foods to serve in fall and winter. The dumpling recipe was given to me by my Chef, Sam Henderson. I’d thought it’d be the perfect dish to make since my smart phone is telling me rainy days ahead. Soup it is!

For the latest COVID – 19 Home Cooking Series, I present you:

Chicken ‘n Dumplings
Serves: Multiple Meals or a Family with 5 Kids

Ingredients:
For the soup:
1 & 1/2 Medium Size Yellow Onion, medium dice
2 Medium Size Carrots, sliced into moon shape
16 cloves Fresh Garlic, sliced
1/2 piece Cabbage, medium dice
3 pieces Habanero Pepper, (or any fresh chili) roughly chopped
1/2 Cup Oil
5 pieces Star Anise (optional)
6 pieces Bay Leaves
1 small bunch Fresh Oregano
1 Tablespoon Szechuan Peppercorn (optional)
1 Tablespoon White Peppercorn (optional)
1 Tablespoon Black Peppercorn (optional)
1 Tablespoon Garlic Powder (optional)
1 Tablespoon Onion Powder (optional)
1 Tablespoon Madras Curry Powder (optional)
1 Tablespoon Turmeric Powder (optional)
5 pieces Dried Chili (optional)
2 Chicken Drumsticks
2 Chicken Thighs
Extra Chicken Bones if You Have Them Around
12 oz. Hominy, canned (optional), drained and rinsed
3 pieces secret chicken bouillon cubes, from Knorr (optional…but buy some!)*
Water…just to cover everything
1/4 Cup Parsley, chopped

For dumpling:
240g (just under 2 Cups) AP Flour
1/2 Tablespoon Black Pepper, ground
3 Tablespoon Shortening (butter or animal fats work just as well)
2.5g (pinch) Salt
3/4 Cup Water

1. Cut your vegetables to bite size, and gently saute them on medium heat in a pot with oil
2. Once your veggies are fragrant and soft, add the following spices: Star Anise, Szechuan peppercorn, White Peppercorn, Black Peppercorn, Curry Powder, Turmeric, and Dried Chili, Toast until fragrant
3. Add onion powder, garlic powder, fresh oregano and. Further toasting the spices and herbs until bottom has a thin layer of brown bits. Now quickly add your chicken and water to deglaze, and then add hominy if you’d like.
4. Add enough water just to cover the entire pot and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to simmer and cook the soup for 1 to 1 and 1/2 hours.
5. Add the secret bouillon cubes…taste for seasoning. (you will need to add salt if you don’t use bouillon cubes)
6. To make Dumplings, rub fats into flour until it feels a little moist in a mixing bowl.
7. Make a well in the mixing bowl and add water. Use two fingers to bring flour together to form a dough. The dough should be moist but not sticky. Cover, and let rest in the fridge until your chicken soup is ready.
8. To cook the dumplings, bring a pot of water to boil. Rip off a piece of dough and stretch it thin before it breaks, and then drop it into boiling water. When the dough floats to the top, let it boil for another 2 minutes. Transfer dumpling to a cold water bath to stop cooking or you could add it right into the soup. Do the same procedure for the entire dough (You may also drop your dumplings right into the chicken soup to cook)
9. Mix your dumplings and soup, bring them back to a boil, add chopped parsley. Serve hot.
10. Bon Appetit

*I love Knorr Chicken Bouillon cubes. I don’t always have chicken in my fridge to make chicken soup or stock. I’d also bulk up the flavor of any soup that I make with Knorr’s bouillon cubes. In addition, not only do bouillon cubes take up a lot less space than chicken (bones), but they also cost a lot less. Knorr’s bouillon cubes are the perfect solution to bring flavors and satisfaction to your meal at this time! (and in the future).

(Pizza, with Habanero Peppers, and Kale Pesto, by Reggie Soang)

We worked hard over the weekend cooking! We’ve made tomato sauce, kale pesto, and learned how to bake…now let’s put it all together!

For the latest COVID – 19 Home Cooking Series, I present you:

Pizza

Ingredients:
For the Pizza Dough
500g AP Flour
10g Salt
5g Yeast
2 Tablespoon EVOO
350g water
More EVOO for Greasing the Baking Pan

For the Toppings:
Shredded Mozzarella, as much as you like to put on
2 pcs Habanero Peppers ( or Scotch Bonnet), thinly sliced
1 Cups/8 oz. Tomato Sauce
Kale Pesto, as much as you like to put on

*Give yourself at least 4 to 6 hours for the dough to proof.

1. Mix AP Flour, salt, and yeast. Add Water and 2 Tablespoon EVOO to the dry goods. Mix to combine. You don’t have to knead the dough at all! Just leave it on the counter at room temp, and then it will proof nicely.
2. After 4 to 6 hours, turn your oven to 450F.
3. Grease up your baking vessel with generous amount of EVOO to cover. The oil will help creating a crust.
4. Once the dough is proofed, gently fold it over few times to smooth out surface. Lay the dough into the baking pan (deep dish cast iron, or any dish that conducts and holds the heat well) and let rest for another 45 minutes.
5. Use your fingers (WASH YOUR HANDS FIRST) to stretch the dough to the edge, and then add your toppings.
6. I started with tomato sauce, and then followed by adding cheese, and sprinkled on thinly sliced habanero peppers.
7. Bake your pizza in the oven for 20 minutes at 450F oven. Let rest and cut into slices.
8. Spoon on some of the kale pesto that we made over the weekend…Bon Appetit!

(Buttermilk Pancake, by Reggie Soang)

This is the recipe I use to feed my staff at work. We love this recipe and it works every time!

For the latest COVID – 19 Home Cooking Series, I present you :

Buttermilk Pancake

Ingredients:
2 Cup (275g) AP Flour
2 teaspoon (6g) Baking Powder
1 teaspoon (4.5g) Baking Soda
1 teaspoon (4g) Salt
4 Tablespoon (50g) Sugar
2 Large Eggs
2 Cups (410g) Buttermilk
2 Tablespoon Butter, Melted
More butter for cooking!

1. Add the dried ingredients together
2. Whisk eggs and buttermilk together in a separate bowl. Slowly drizzle in butter and whisk to combine
3. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir to combine. Let rest for 15 minutes, and the lumps will start to disappear.
4. Heat a non-stick skillet at medium high heat and melt some butter.
5. Ladle your batter into skillet and cook the first side until you see the bubbles on top are set. Gently flip pancake over to the other side and cook until it feels a little bouncy when you press the middle.
6. Do this for rest of the batter. To keep pancakes warm, cover pancakes with paper towel and leave them in the oven on the lowest setting (usually 200F).
   When pancakes are ready…sky is the limit on how you serve it! Bon Appetit!