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Basic Jook (a.k.a. Juk, Congee or Rice Porridge)

March 17, 2009 by 4 Comments

My boys gave me a cold this week.  I cannot tell you the joy this gives me.  Not because I love slobbering and running from the nose, eyes and every other mucus membrane on my head.  I’m just relieved that I got it from them instead of the other way around.  That way there is no guilt!  And since I was fully healthy to take care of the little shavers when they were under the weather, they got the royal treatment. From cartoons on t.v. to hearing their favorite stories fifty times to their favorite foods they got whatever their little pea-pickin’ hearts desired.  So again?  No guilt!  I was free to feel as punky as I actually did feel.  So I read my favorite stories to myself, watched ‘What Not to Wear’ on t.v. and made whatever I wanted to eat.  Namely, jook (a.k.a. juk or congee.)  I had made it for the kids, too, but it’s good for what ails you.  What can I say?

Tangent alert:  I will clear this up right now.  I have no claim to being an expert in the field of jook/juk/congee/lugau/rice porridge.   None whatsoever.  Crave info on it?  See this link.   I just know that millions upon millions of people eat some version of it daily and they do it for a multitude of reasons.  Among those reasons: It’s simple to prepare.  It’s dirt cheap to make.  It’s delicious.  It’s filling.  And it’s really, really hard to screw up.  This is a major bonus when you can hardly see through the bleary, cold-addled eyes in your head. Tangent over.

Okay, wait.  One more little bit of tangent.  I’m probably going to horrify a bunch of traditionalists with this recipe, but I’d like to reiterate that I’m not an expert.  I simply know how I like it.  Now the tangent is officially, seriously over.

How many of you out there want to slave over a pot of soup when you feel like crud?  I don’t see any hands going up. Yeah, I thought so.  I don’t either.  This is where jook is the king of all soups.

Last tangent today.  I promise.  Is it a soup?  Is it a porridge?  It’s both.  Depending on the rice/water ratio you use you can push it in either direction.  More water?  More like soup.  More rice?  More porridge like…

Jook is traditionally served with all kinds of accompaniments that vary depending on where in Asia you’re eating it.  In Korea it might get a side of kimchi.  In Japan?  Maybe some umeboshi or salmon.  In China it could be served with fish or century eggs, among other acoutrements.  I, not being bound by tradition, can put whatever the heck appeals to me.  And what appealed to me was the way I usually make it; chicken broth and short grain rice simmered until the rice disintigrates topped with green onions, sesame oil and Sriracha and a hard boiled egg.  Take that you nasty cold virus!

My head is clearing up just looking at this.

My head is clearing up just looking at this.

Make it any old which way you choose.  Throw a chicken neck in there and nix the chicken broth if that floats your boat.  Got a squirrely tummy?  Nix the chicken completely and prepare with just the rice and water and serve it with a drizzle of honey or sprinkling of brown sugar.  Feelin crazy?  Toss in some minced chile peppers while the rice and water simmer.  Make it yours.  As long as you keep close to the basic 1 part-rice-to-10-parts-water ratio you can do what you want to make it taste the way you want.  Make it for breakfast, lunch or dinner. The best part of this recipe is that it prepares itself in the slow-cooker while you loll about in your flannel jammie pants with a box of tissues and a good book. Isn’t cooking fun?

For a printer-friendly, photo-free version of this recipe, click here!

Basic Jook

  • 1 cup short grain rice (I use sushi rice)
  • 10 cups chicken broth (or you can use 10 cups water and 4 bouillon cubes *gasp*.  It’s not all awful, you know…)
  • 1 teaspoon neutral oil (like canola, vegetable, peanut, etc…)
I love sushi rice. I love it in sushi. I love it in jook. If you don't have some go buy some now. Or order some.

Not pictured? Chicken broth. If you've seen one mason jar of chicken broth you've seen 'em all...

 

Have you seen sushi rice before? See the stubby little grains? They are fabulous.

Have you seen sushi rice before? See the stubby little grains? They are fabulous.

optional for serving:

  • 1 cup milk, either dairy or soy
  • thinly sliced green onions
  • leftover shredded meat
  • hard-boiled eggs
  • julienned carrots
  • soy sauce
  • hot sauce
  • toasted sesame oil
  • congee eggs

 

In the bowl of a large slow-cooker, stir together 1 teaspoon of neutral oil and the short-grain rice until the rice grains are coated.  Add the chicken broth (or your desired substitute) and stir to combine.  Place the lid on the slow-cooker, turn heat to ‘LOW’ and allow to cook for 8 hours.  Just prior to serving, bump the heat up to ‘HIGH’.  If you’re using milk, stir it in now.  Recover the slow-cooker and allow to cook for 30 minutes.  Turn off the cooker, uncover and stir prior to serving.

To eat the Foodie With Family way, drizzle with a little toasted sesame oil and soy sauce, top with sliced green onions, add a few drops of Sriracha and chop a hard-boiled egg into the jook.  This may not cure the cold, but it sure makes you feel better!

This is my comfort food. This makes me very, very happy.

This is my comfort food. This makes me very, very happy.

 

Back to normal programming tomorrow.  If you want to play along here’s what you’ll need:

  • 2 lbs dried cannelini beans (a.k.a. white kidney beans)
  • 1 onion (or the frozen tops of two onions… were you paying attention here last week???)
  • olive oil
  • Herbes de Provence
  • salt and pepper.   But you had that anyway, right?  Please say yes.
  • garlic, darling… You must have the garlic.
  • pita chips, crackers, breadsticks or bread.

Are you interested?

 

…Just in case you, like me, live in the middle of nowhere and can’t buy sushi rice at your local mini-grocery, here’s a link to my life-line: Amazon.com.  What do these people NOT sell I ask you.

Filed Under: Breakfast Foods, Component Foods, Healthy Foods, Instructional, Main Dish, Rebecca, Recipes, Side Dishes, slow-cooker, Soups & Stews Tagged With: , , , ,

According to Jim, it’s Pretty Good Soup

October 25, 2008 by 1 Comment

Now, admittedly, I do follow some recipes for a lot of dishes I prepare,  but soups and stews are very forgiving foods to make, very flexible and a great way to use up those bits and pieces that don’t seem to have anywhere else to go. And most of these creations are dubbed by Jim as being “Pretty Good Soup.” This is high praise indeed, and I always know there won’t be much leftover when I hear those words floating on the air.

 

So, today’s venture:  Outside of a few minor chores, I spent much of today reading, but when this afternoon rolled around, I knew I wanted to come up with something warm and savory for supper, since Jim was spending a good deal of the day outside dealing with some hefty chores in the cold Northern Michigan air. (We are preparing for our first major snowfall that is expected tomorrow night, and he was ‘battening down the hatches.”)  When I checked the refrigerator looking for supper inspiration, I found a few slices of fairly lean bacon, some sliced mushrooms and a couple cups of leftover beef broth, and that was enough to get things going. I started by chopping the bacon into large pieces and threw them into a pot to brown and render their fat. While the bacon fried, I took a couple of minutes to roughly chop some onion and a handful of potatoes. Once the bacon was browned, I tossed in the onion for a few minutes, threw in the mushrooms for a bit longer, then tossed in the potatoes, letting it all cook together for a couple minutes more. Everything in the pan went into the crockpot, I deglazed the pan with the beef broth, pouring that over the ingredients in the pot, added a little more water, some pepper and a good amount of dried thyme leaf. Popping the lid on, I turned the pot on high and went back to my book.

 

Before…

 

 

About a half hour before dinner time, I added some bits of buerre manie (flour and butter creamed together) into the soup to thicken the broth a bit, wrapped a loaf of cheese bread in foild and tossed it in the oven to heat. Half an hour later, dinner is served! Bowls full of good hearty soup, warmed slices of bread, followed by a handful of cold, juicy green grapes.  Simple, warm, delicious and satisfying–Pretty Good Soup.

 

After…

 

Sorry, we gobbled it all up before we even thought about getting the camera out!!

Filed Under: Getting Creative With Leftovers, Recipes, slow-cooker, Soups & Stews, Valerie Tagged With: ,

Frito Pie

September 29, 2008 by 2 Comments

I think it is safe to say that with five sons, one loving husband, two useless male hound dogs and a male goldfish I inhabit a man’s world.  I am outnumbered 9 to 2.  That the cat is also ‘non-male’ is immaterial.  She can run and hide under beds or our vast piles of laundry.  Me?  Not so much.

 

Don’t misunderstand me, please:  I’m not complaining.  I like being the one who makes everything a little more exciting.  The Queen Bee, the salt pork in the can of pork and beans *Even a can of beans is nothing without the salt pork, right? , the chocolate wrapped in croissant- that’s me.  I dig it. 

 

Digging it does not preclude me living a life thoroughly confused by their manly-male antics.  Growing up in a family where sisters had a 4 to 2 lead over the brothers the girls ruled the roost.  We pestered the boys into submission, dressed an unnamed brother in our nightgowns, ‘did his hair’, painted little stubby boy finger nails, mercilessly teased the poor boys about how they loved Belinda Carlisle’s ‘Circle in the Sand’, and other humiliating things like that.  I missed out on a stellar opportunity to prepare myself for my adult life.  I should’ve figured out what made my brothers tick.

 

Over the last almost eleven years I have had ample opportunity to make up for my juvenile slights to my brothers.  I have learned some of the ways of man and pre-man (that’d be boy…)  Please allow me to share some of my observations with you.

 

  • Sports are more important than anything else.  Period.
  • Girls are okay as long as they like Star Wars, Avatar and/or Bionicles.  Any girl who likes all three is worthy of marriage.
  • Hannah Montana is pure evil.
  • Watching and photographing the entire, horrific, two-hour long process of a snake swallowing a frog in the side-yard is more than ample justification for skipping an extended family picnic.
  • The answer to the question, “How long does it take 6 males to eat a full ‘family-sized’ bag of chips?” is “2.4 minutes”.  Also acceptable is the answer, “Five seconds less than it takes the mother to excuse herself to wash her hands before eating.”
  • Food should be plentiful and constantly available or starvation of a very dramatic and vocal sort will occur almost instantly.
  • Football rocks.
  • Baseball rocks.
  • Hockey rocks.
  • Golf rocks.
  • Tennis rocks.
  • Bowling rocks.
  • Gymnastics rock.
  • Televised sports rock.
  • Johnny Damon= Benedict Arnold
  • Food.  More.  Now.

 

I feel some guilt for the treatment of my little brothers.  I feel guilty enough to have been convinced to play Fantasy Football this year with my little brother Luke and his buddies who’ve been paying attention to NFL statistics and trends since they were 12.  Luke is now 27.  They have a few years on me.  I have no idea what I’m doing.  I’m trying really hard and so far I’m not in last place.  Whether this is through undiscovered skill or pure beginner’s luck remains to be seen.  All I know is that I’ve risen in the esteem of my sons and I’ve impressed my husband since I wondered aloud how many receptions Frank Gore had in a game last week.

 

Speaking of football and fantasies, last Sunday was close to the best sports fanatic’s day ever for my husband.  The U.S. won the Ryder Cup -”It’s like the Super Bowl of golf, but only once every two years, honey.  You can see why I have to watch the whole thing, right?” , the Cowboys won an exciting game and the Red Sox took a step closer to closing out the Yankees for the wildcard slot in the AL East.  The only way it could’ve been better is if my husband was sharing his Sunday sports grub in our living room with Tiger Woods, Papi Ortiz and Troy Aikman.  Oh yes, life was good last Sunday.

 

I, of course, played a major part in last week’s sports fantasy fulfillment.  I made the food.  What did you THINK I would say?  One super important component of a successful sports Sunday around here or Monday night depending on whether the Cowboys, Bills and/or Jaguars are playingis the spread of food.  Food that can be eaten in the living room is a must.  Anything on a stick is great.  Anything with a dip is even better.  Some of my XYs favorite game-day munchies are:

 

  • Frito Pie
  • Snails (pretzel wrapped little smoked sausages)
  • Bones (chicken wings)
  • Supreme Nachos
  • Homemade Pizza
  • Bread:  Fully loaded!
  • Chili with cornbread

 

The Frito Pie recipe, as I make it, is based on the one my Mom brought back from a brief sojourn in New Mexico, but with much, much more meat including an indecent amount of bacon.  Of course, the bacon and beef can be omitted for a vegetarian version of this.  It’ll be great, but I lurve the bacon.  Truly.  Madly.  Deeply. 

 

And score another point for meals that please the whole family.  I whip together the refried beans,  taco meat and bacon and put that in a casserole dish, line up the other toppings in bowls on the countertop and let everyone top their own plate.  Then there are no, “But Mooooooom!  I hate tomatoes!” greeting me.  One word of warning:  When once you’ve made Frito pie you must be prepared to make it again.  Frequently.

 

You can make the beans and meat a day or so ahead of time.  It’ll save you time on game day!

 

Foodie Frito Pie

 

Serving the toppings in separate bowls has another advantage:  Not only does it store better, but you can reheat the beans and meat without having to wilt your lettuce, mush-up your tomatoes and cook your green onions. 

 

If you would prefer, you can use canned refried beans in place of the homemade ones here.  Just substitute 3 cans refried beans.

 

Ingredients for the refried beans:

  • 1 1/2 lbs dried pinto beans, rinsed and picked over.
  • Several cups of boiling water
  • 1 whole onion, peeled, but otherwise intact
  • 2 whole cloves garlic, peeled, but otherwise intact
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 Tablespoons plus 2 Tablespoons chili powder, divided
  • 1 Tablespoon plus 1 Tablespoon paprika, divided
  • 2 teaspoons plus 2 teaspoons cumin, divided
  • 4 Tablespoons bacon fat and drippings
  • salt and pepper, to taste
  • 1 lb of uncooked bacon, sliced into thin strips

 

Method:

 

Put rinsed and picked over pinto beans into a large slow-cooker.  Add enough boiling water to cover by at least 2 inches.  Pop the whole, peeled onion and garlic cloves in, cover and cook on high for three hours.  Keep an eye on the crockpot.  If it looks like the water is getting low, add a little bit more boiling water just to cover the beans. After three hours, check the beans by removing a couple from the pot with a spoon and blowing gently on them.  If the skins curl, you’re ready to proceed.  If the skins don’t curl away from the beans, cook them an hour longer and check again.

 

Add 2 Tablespoons of chili powder, 1 Tablespoon of paprika, 2 teaspoons of cumin, and salt and pepper to taste to the beans, cover again, lower heat and cook for one more hour.

 

When the hour is up, remove onions and garlic and discard.  Do not discard liquid from the beans.  That stuff is like gold!

 

In a large, heavy bottomed skillet  -I use my biggest, baddest, meanest cast iron skillet for the job- over medium high heat, add the bacon strips and cook until they reach the desired crispness.  Use a slotted spoon to remove bacon to a paper towel lined plate and set aside.  Remove all but 4 Tablespoons of bacon drippings from the pan.  If you don’t have sufficient bacon drippings add olive oil until you have about 4 Tablespoons of fat in the bottom of your pan.  Using that slotted spoon again, scoop your now cooked beans into the skillet.  Turn your heat to medium, add minced garlic, remaining chili powder, paprika and cumin, salt and pepper to taste and mash with a potato masher or the back of a wooden spoon, adding liquid from the bean pot (this is called bean liquor) until you reach your desired consistency.  When the beans are as thick or thin, as smooth or lumpy as you’d like them, transfer to a clean casserole dish or heat-proof bowl.  Cover with a piece of waxed paper or plastic wrap and move on to preparing the meat.

 

Ingredients for the taco meat:

  • 1 lb ground beef
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 small onion, diced
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 2 Tablespoons stone ground corn meal
  • 2 Tablespoons chili powder
  • 1 Tablespoon paprika
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • 1/4-1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, optional
  • salt and pepper, to taste

 

Method:

In a large, heavy-bottomed skillet over medium high heat, break up the ground beef until it is browned.  If there is excess fat, drain the beef and return to the skillet.  Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.  Lower heat to allow the meat to simmer until the sauce is thickened and most of the water is evaporated.  Scoop the meat over the refried beans in the casserole dish.  Top the whole thing with the crispy bacon and stick a few spoons around the perimeter of the dish.  Serve with plentiful corn chips and a variety of toppings.  Our usual toppings include:

 

  • Chopped tomatoes (when they’re out of season we fall back on jarred salsa picante)
  • Sliced green onions or chopped sweet onions
  • Shredded cheddar, asadero or Monterey Jack cheese.
  • Sliced avocados
  • Shredded lettuce
  • Sour cream or plain yogurt
  • Hot sauce
  • Black olives
  • Salsa Verde
  • Chopped fresh cilantro
Filed Under: Appetizers & Snacks, Getting Creative With Leftovers, Kitchen Techniques and Hints, Meat, Party Food, Rebecca, slow-cooker, Vegetarian Tagged With: , , ,

Slow-cooker Vanilla Bean Tapioca

September 8, 2008 by 2 Comments

In today’s Record-Eagle column, I ran a recipe for Slow-Cooker Vanilla Bean Tapioca Pudding.  (I’ll link to the full column when I’m back from vacation, but in the meantime the recipe is posted below.)

Slow-Cooker Vanilla Bean Tapioca

This pudding takes the perennial favorite tapioca pudding and dresses it up. Served warm, it’ll heat you up from the inside out on chilly fall days. Using a real vanilla bean gives the pudding a sumptuous velvet-like texture and flavor. If you don’t have access to vanilla beans, I weep for you, but you can still make a delicious version of the recipe by substituting for the beans with 2 teaspoons of real vanilla extract.

Ingredients:

  • ¼ cup fine pearl tapioca (not granulated)
  • ½ cup granulated sugar
  • ½ of one vanilla bean
  • 2 cups milk**
  • 2 eggs plus 1 egg yolk, beaten in a medium bowl
  • non-stick cooking spray or butter for greasing the slow-cooker

**Low fat milk works fine in this, but it’s silkier and richer if you use whole milk or a combination of whole milk and half&half or even GLORY, GLORY heavy cream.

Method:

Heat milk in a microwave safe container until very hot. Spray slow cooker crock with nonstick cooking spray or butter generously. Split vanilla bean lengthwise and use the blunt spine of the knife to scrape the ‘seeds’ from the bean pod. Add the vanilla bean and ‘seeds’ into the crock along with the tapioca, sugar, and milk. Stir well, put cover on the slow cooker and cook for 1 1/2 hours on low, or until tapioca is soft.

Use a spoon to carefully break up any clumps that have formed in the crock. Slowly pour a ladle of the hot tapioca mixture into the eggs while beating vigorously with a wire whisk. When it is fully incorporated, pour the mixture slowly back into the crock while whisking. Recover and continue cooking on low for 30 minutes more. When the time is up, vent the lid, turn the heat off, and allow to sit for 30 minutes more. Serve warm, room temperature or chilled. If you choose to chill the pudding, place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface before refrigerating.

If you want to make this pudding something pretty enough for a special occasion or dinner guests just dollop some of the warm pudding in the bottom of a wine glass.   Top with a layer of blueberries equal in height to the layer of pudding and continue on until you reach the top of your glass.

The pudding is great alone, but when you layer it with fresh blueberries in parfait form?  Spectacular.  If you have a sprig of mint the top of this parfait is where it belongs.  If you don’t have mint, don’t sweat it.  No one will care when they’re eating this!

Can you see all those little flecks of vanilla in the pudding?  This is one of my new favorite week-night desserts.  It’s so easy to make and the vanilla is so silky.

Filed Under: Desserts, Rebecca, slow-cooker Tagged With: , , ,
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