Chicken and chores (1): Chinese Chicken Salad

I'm not chickening out with this blog, but sometimes my preoccupations lie elsewhere. Cooking then is done in advance for a few meals to have perfunctorily. I had chicken, I had veggies, so lots of things could be done. The Barefoot Contessa's Chinese Chicken Salad, a recipe for parties and 12 people seemed a good ticket to draw on a Saturday fraught with chores. I give original sizes. See my notes at the end.

Chinese Chicken Salad (From: Ina Garten, Barfoot Contessa, Parties!)

8 split chicken breasts
olive oil
salt, pepper

1 pound asparagus, rends removed, cut into thirds diagonally
2 red bell peppers, cored, seeded, cut into thin strips
4 scallions, sliced diagonally
2 tablespoons white sesame seeds, toasted

Dressing:
1 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/3 cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons dark sesame oil
1 tablespoon honey
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
1 tablespoon white sesame seeds, toasted
1/2 cup peanut butter
4 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon black pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 °F (I did at 180 °C)
Put the chicken in an oven pan, coat generously with the olive oil, and season with salt and pepper, roast for 35-40 minutes until it is just cooked. Set aside, until cool enough to handle.

Blanch the asparagus until al dente, combine with the bell pepper strips and the scallions. When the chicken is cool enough to handle, cut it in strips, and mix with the vegetables.

Combine all ingredients for the dressing, pour over chicken-vegetable mix. Lastly, add the scallions and sesame seeds. Can be eaten cold or at room temperature.

Notes
Great party idea, with some changes here:
I used small pieces of steamed broccoli instead of asparagus.
I used 1/4 of a red onion instead of scallions.
I used 1/2 teaspoon garam masala instead of honey (I never ever believe that in Chinese food sugar is original).
I didn't bother toasting those sesame seeds.
I used white sesame paste instead of peanut butter, and light sesame oil.

Seven: A table of six is a good idea.

The tree -made in China- has been hauled from the cellar and led lights are already shining on its decoration. The florist had a bough of mistletoe which is already above the entrance door. A menu has been decided on for a festive dinner with friends that's becoming a tradition. We're two days early, step two of three or four is for manhana.

The suggestion here is not: plan ahead and have fun in the process, which we heed anyway. The suggestion is that of the Barefoot Contessa: a table of six is a good idea. Not too small, not too big. And quantities you can handle.

Zucchini tart and string beans

Don't just think that hardly any time for food excludes the home-made vegetable tart. Here is a meal gilded by the evening light of a side order of string beans, stewed in some oil and their own juices, and a vegetable tart filled with zucchini and goat cheese. Hey, why not a string beans and goat cheese tart next time?

Key message of this post: Jason Epstein's memoir Eating has liberated me once and for all of the imperative that we should at all cost let a dough of pâte brisée (in some older posts on vegetable tarts I've spoken of pâte sablée) rest after blending the ingredients. Epstein doesn't bother, and I don't either, ever.

Pâte brisée (my recipe, see also Taty's in her book Tartes et Légumineuses)
10 dl (100 ml) cold water
250 g flour
125 g butter
pinch of salt (or add other spices e.g. paprika, curry)

Combine until you have the consistency of a soft leather glove. Quickly flatten and in one move, drape over a round baking tin. Cut off remaining edges if needed, form a smaller ball with them, and use the next day for something else (like a covered fruit dessert for instance).

Side Order of Stuffed zucchini

Spotting some round zucchini at the supermarket resulted in a simple gesture later at home: stuffing them. An easy side dish for meat (see next post). Explaining the procedure takes longer than preparing.

Side Order of Stuffed zucchini

Serves 4

4 round zucchini
2 onions, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
optional: fresh herbs (e.g. sage) or parsley
cheese (soft -pâte molle- I used Pas de rouge -cow's milk, with red washed rind)

Cut of the heads of the zucchini, then with a knife cut loose a quadrangle, then scoop out the zucchini flesh with a tablespoon until you arrive at a nice stuffable round hole.

Steam these zucchini bottom up with the lids quickly, perhaps only 2 minutes, until 3/4 done. Everything should still be firm.

Meanwhile stew the chopped onion, garlic together with the chopped flesh of the zucchini (the firm parts with less seeds). Season, add herbs or parsley and pieces of cheese at the end until the cheese melts. I used some slices of pakhsoy as decoration (and not sage, as I wrote previously).

Fill the zucchini with this mixture, and serve. Variations are legion.

A Festive Meal

Dessert's no sweat for my sister, especially since four little helpers have been baking and helping themselves to servings during the preparations for our festive meal on Christmas Eve (for a photo essay, see next post). This is what we had:

Champagne;
My Broccoli-Pakshoi soup;
My brother-in-law's cold fish terrine with mushroom, in a chives & joghurt dressing;
Stuffed turkey with small potatoes, green beans and snow peas, Belgian endives, pears with cranberry compote (see previous post);
My sister's opulent home-made dessert plate with among others vanilla cream filled puff pastries.