Check It Out: The Yunnan Cookbook

I have a fabulous cookbook recommendation to share with you, I am very giddy about this book and can't wait to dive into it further.

The Yunnan Cookbook: Recipes from China's Land of Ethnic Diversity could just as easily be a coffee table presentation piece as it is a book of recipes. Located in southwest China where it borders Vietnam, Laos, and Burma, the Yunnan Province has an ethnic diversity that is reflected in the dishes presented in this book. Coupled with essays and vignettes of the people and food of Yunnan are gorgeous photos (read: food porn) of featured dishes.

Some of the treats you will find inside are Steamed Pumpkin with Walnut and Herb Salad, Pan-fried Spicy Squid, Crispy Spring Onion Cakes, Stir-fried Pork with Jicama and Asparagus.  If you are a fan of condiments, there is a chapter on Preserves, if you are interested in Street Foods, they have that covered too, and if you love Mushroom, they've got you covered.

The authors have done amazing research and have modified the recipes (only slightly) to make it more general-user friendly in terms of being able to find what you need. Fresh ingredients are the key and these days most are pretty accessible, especially if you have an international market near you, so you don't have to worry about not being able to find ingredients. Whether for yourself or the cookbook-collecting foodie in your life, I think you should definitely check it out.


The Yunnan Cookbook: Recipes from China's Land of Ethnic Diversity
Annabel Jackson and Linda Chia
Blacksmith Books, 2014
ISBN-10: 9881613973
ISBN-13: 9789881613973
List price: $26.95

The New Southwest: Pomegranate and Lime Chicken Thighs

Okay, this was the recipe that originally caught my eye when I was checking out The New Southwest.  Takes a little more time than the enchiladas did, but the flavor is pretty outstanding.  I ended up making the enchiladas as a side dish to go with the chicken thighs and it made for an outstanding meal together.

The original recipe is set up for grilling the thighs, but because I do not have a working grill, I made some modifications and prepared them stovetop.  My modifications are noted below, but I've provided the recipe as is in the book.

Pomegranate and Lime Chicken Thighs

For the thighs

1 cup Green yogurt plain
1/2 cup pomegranate juice
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs I used 5 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
Pomegranate arils for garnish (optional)

For the Pomegranate and Lime Glaze

2 cups pomegranate juice
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice = juice from 2 small limes
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

To marinate chicken, combine the yogurt, pomegranate juice, salt and garlic powder in a ziptop bag.  Add chicken thighs and toss well to coat.  Refrigerate for at least two hours or up to overnight.  I whisked the yogurt, juice and spices in a bowl first to get them well blended, then poured them over the trimmed chicken thighs in the bag.



Once you are ready to cook the thighs, preheat your grill to medium heat.

To prepare the glaze, place the pomegranate juice, sugar, lime juice, honey, and mustard in a small saucepan, whisk together and bring to a boil.  Reduce to a simmer and cook until thickened, approximately 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

Meanwhile, place chicken thighs skin side up on heated grill, cover, and cook until chicken has browned and is no longer pink, approximately 25 to 30 minutes.  Uncover, flip thighs, and cook for just 2 to 3 minutes more to crisp and slightly char the skins.  Remove cooked thighs, top with glaze, garnish with arils, if desired, and serve immediately.

Okay for the grill-free folks out there, I went stovetop.  I put them in a deep skillet over high heat for a few minutes, then drained off the excess liquid.

I continued to cook them over high heat until they were seared, then lowered the temperature. 

I added about half of the glaze to the pan (holding some back the rest to drizzle over the thighs when I plated them), and continued to cook the thighs, turning every couple of minutes until they were no longer pink inside.

I garnished them with fresh arils and then served them up with some stacked squash enchiladas on the side.

Muy bueno!

YIELD: 2 to 3 servings

NOTES

I found the small container or arils at Harris Teeter.  You should check the produce area at your grocery store to see if they sell them separately.  Otherwise, pomegranates are currently in season and easy to find whole.

The flavors in this dish are really well balanced.  I could tell because when we started eating, Dad said that he could really taste the lime in the glaze, Mom said the honey was the first thing she tasted and for me the stand-out flavor was the Dijon, so we enjoyed a difference experience form the same dish.

The New Southwest: Stacked Squash Enchiladas

 

So I wanted to feature a recipe from The New Southwest, the cookbook I told you about last weekend.  There were really too many delicious dishes to choose from so I settled on one vegetarian (today's post) and one non-veg (post on Wed).  If these don't convince you to add this book to your collection, nothing will.

This recipe works well as either a side dish or a main course.  The roasted peppers give a nice weight to the flavor without overpowering it.

Stacked Squash Enchiladas
recipe from book with side notes by yours truly

3 large zucchinis, ends removed, cut into large chunks
2 large yellow longneck squash, ends removed, cut into large chunks
2 Hatch green chiles, stemmed, halved vertically (Anaheim chiles may be substituted)
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
salt for roasting and seasoning to taste
8 green onions, ends removed, halved horizontally
juice of 1 large lemon
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1-1/2 teaspoons ground coriander
6 7-inch tortillas
2 cups shredded Monterrey Jack cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the zucchini and yellow squash pieces along with the Hatch chile halves on a large rimmed baking sheet, toss with olive oil and a pinch of salt, and roast for 60 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside to cool slightly.

I found that mixing my squash chunks in a bowl first with the oil and salt was easier. Kept pieces from flying about and then I could just pour them out onto the cookie sheet and place the pepper pieces with them.



Place green onion pieces, lemon juice, and cooled squash and chile pieces in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and process together to a uniform mixture.

Season with cumin, coriander, and salt to taste, and pulse process just to blend.  Pour mixture into a large bowl.

 

Set up a small assembly line with your bowl of enchilada sauce, tortillas, cheese and a 9-inch nonstick pie plate.  Begin assembly by dipping each side of one tortilla in the sauce, then placing in the bottom of the pie plate.  Note that this sauce is quite thick so don't worry if the sauce doesn't really adhere to the tortilla -- you're just trying to dampen the tortilla.

Instead of dampening the tortillas, I put a thin layer of the sauce on the bottom and then just started the assembly process. I ended up using just 5 tortillas because 6 would have put it well over the edge of my pie dish.

Next spread a generous layer of the sauce on top of the tortilla and top with a sprinkle of cheese. Repeat with the remaining tortillas.  Once your stack is assembled top with any remaining cheese.

 

Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until cheese is melted and tortillas are slightly crisp at the edges.  You may opt to broil your enchiladas for an additional 1 to 2 minutes, just to crisp up the melted cheese on top.

Remove baked enchiladas from oven, slice, and serve immediately.

YIELD: approximately 4 servings.

NOTES

Don't forget, the best way to prevent inadvertent eye or face burning is to wear gloves when handling the raw peppers.

If you want your enchiladas to have a bit more bite, you can always roast the peppers with the seeds.

Check It Out: The New Southwest

 

Yep, got a new cookbook for the collection that I want to tell you about.  If you are a fan of southwestern cuisine, I would highly recommend running out to pick up a copy of The New Southwest by Meagan Micozzi, either for yourself or a gift for someone else.  Is that Christmas just around the corner? Huh.

I love how she takes ingredients from different regions through the southwest and pulls them together in new and interesting ways. I've not done a lot of southwest-based cooking, but I'm anxious to get in the kitchen and start trying out some of these dishes:

-- sweet glazed avocado doughnuts
-- caramel-soaked Mexican chocolate pancakes
-- sage and honey skillet biscuits
-- chipotle twice-baked sweet potatoes
-- coffee-rubbed lamb chops with weeknight mole
-- pomegranate and lime chicken thighs
-- dulche de leche layer cake with sweet pecan "pesto"

Should I go on or do you need a minute to wipe the drool from your chin?

She provides a short guide in the front part of the cookbook to ingredients that should grace a Southwestern panty followed by a section called "Building Blocks" that includes a series of recipes introducing the ingredients that she uses throughout the book.

So check it out, I think you'll like it and I'll test out a couple of her recipes for you this week.

The New Southwest
by Meagan Micozzi
Hippocrene Books, Oct 2013
978-0-7818-1315-0 / 256 pages
$35.00 USD