Tsai Ming's Cranberry Hoisin Chicken Rice

This chinky-eyed versatile Asian chef with heart of gold works from TV shows "Simply Ming", to charity to actual cooking, has never failed to fascinate his clientele. His creative West cooking styles opened doors with not just foods, but a personal approach of pursuing a balanced lifestyle focusing on his healthy East-West style of cuisine.

I'm sure you too will get fascinated with his hoisin-taste-of-home light recipe for all ages, it's his Cranberry Hoisin Chicken Rice.

Ingredients:

8 chicken thighs, skin on
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 bunches scallions, sliced, save 1/4 cup of green scallions for garnish
2 cups jasmine rice
1 cup red wine
1cup fresh cranberries
1/2 cup hoisin
3 cups water
Canola oil for cooking
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Place an oven-proof casserole with a tight lid over medium-high heat and coat very lightly with oil. Season the chicken thighs and color on all sides, set aside.

2. In the same vessel now filled with tasty chicken fat, sauté garlic and scallions, then add the rice, season and sauté for about 3-5 minutes. Deglaze with red wine and reduce by 3/4.

3. Add the cranberries, hoisin and water and check for flavor. Add back the chicken, bring to a simmer, cover and transfer to oven for 20-30 minutes. Let rest out of oven for 10 minutes, then serve family style.

4. Serves 4.

Ignite your palate with more of Ming's East-West style dishes.

Wild Flour Bread

Do you want something unique for your bread?

One of the best bread escapade I have had is the wild flour bread experience. This is the sound of organic sourdough breads, biscotti and scones, in a cup of white chocolate, double chocolate, espresso, hazelnut, ginger, apricot... you name it!

Producing bread in a wood fired oven makes especially thick crusts. Sour dough does not necessarily mean sour but rather breads that are risen only with organic sour dough (fermented flour and water). This is not just great-tasting but very healthy and breads that can last until tomorrow or the next day.

There's this Wood Fired Brick Oven Baked Bread Bakery & Organic Garden, located in Freestone, California near Sebastopol who have breads arrive by the hundreds, they make make up to 900 loaves daily and sell only in that bakery! You can imagine that. Generally they have 10 to 12 kinds of bread daily. Each day the variety of breads changes. Like wine tasting, they sample all of their breads so that you can experience a huge variety of tastes.

That's making the breads in wood-fired oven. I have been thinking of baking my own thick-crusted bread, or the wild flour breads but I still have to decide whether or not to get my own brick oven. Well, there sure is a better way to get this ancient baking technique to my kitchen.

So, the next time you travel California, this wood-fired baked oven bread bakery can be a great stop. I have been there a couple of times and thick-crusted bread are truly fun!

Chef John Folse's Louisiana Shrimp Scampi

Chef John Folse is a cooking master and a culinary diplomat. He is very famous for his teaching that only the freshest food yields their true flavors. He defines Louisiana food as the marriage of both the rich, complex Creole cuisine, and the country-style Cajun cuisine presented in a conventional plate.

John Folse was born in Louisiana, and raised in a family of sugarcane farmers and great cooks. At a young age he has learned to utilize ingredients from the swamp floor pantry. His inate culinary imagination inpired him to season raw ingredients with his passion for Louisiana culture and cuisine, then he would cook his creation in his cast iron pots. He became very famous for his teaching that only the freshest food yields their true flavors.

Treat yourself in this famous Louisiana brown shrimp scampi. Top it on your pasta, rice, fish or chicken. You decide.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds (20-25 count) Louisiana shrimps, peeled
1/2 cup flour
Salt and cracked black pepper to taste
Tabasco Pepper Sauce to taste
1/2 cup olive oil
6 cloves garlic, sliced
1/4 cup shallots, chopped
2 tbsp fresh basil
2 tbsp fresh oregano
1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced
1/4 cup parsley, minced

1/2 cup dry white wine

Directions:

Combine flour, salt, and peppers in a medium mixing bowl and blend thoroughly. Dust shrimps evenly with seasoned flour and set aside. In a large sauté pan, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add garlic. Sauté for 1-2 minutes or until edges are golden. Add the shrimp, shallots, basil and oregano. Occasionally turn shrimp on each side until pink and curled. Add the mushrooms and parsley, and deglaze with white wine. Season with salt and pepper. Serves 4.