Crostini with Tomato-Fennel Sauce

EDIT 1/2/09: originally I envisioned this as a bite with grilled tri-tip; however, the sauce is good on crostini alone, and reminds me of an italian version of Spanish "tomato bread", known as pa amb tomaquet. My version is a lot more juicy and flavorful from the fennel.

Sauce is based on what I found earlier this week on Epicurious, and very tasty. Would be good for pasta or pizza; I like the sweet fennel notes that come from both the seeds and the root.

20 crostinis (recipe follows)
1 cup of Tomato Fennel Sauce
Fresh fennel fronds

Assembly: spread about 1 tbsp tomato sauce on crostini. Top with small piece of fennel frond.

Crostini

1/2 cup olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
Baguette or other good-quality crusty bread, cut into 1" x 2" pieces
Salt + Pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350F
   
2. In a small bowl, combine olive oil and garlic. Let rest at least 30 minutes
3. Lay sliced bread out on cookie sheet.
4. Brush bread with infused oil on both sides.
5. Season "up" side with salt and pepper
6. Bake for 7 minutes, flip pieces, and bake for 8 to 13 minutes more (15-20 minutes total).
   

Tomato-Fennel Sauce
Makes about 2 cups

* 1/4 cup olive oil
* 4 garlic cloves, chopped
* 1 cup chopped fresh fennel
* 1 1/4 teaspoons fennel seeds
* 1 28-ounce can Italian tomatoes
* 2 tablespoons tomato paste
* 1 teaspoon dried oregano
* 1/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
* 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

Heat oil in heavy large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add garlic, fennel and fennel seeds and sauté until tender, about 12 minutes. Add tomatoes with their juices and next 4 ingredients. Simmer until sauce thickens, breaking up tomatoes with back of spoon, about 25 minutes. Blend about 1 cup of sauce in blender til smooth; stir back into sauce. Season with salt and pepper. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover; chill. Rewarm before using.)

Chicken stir fry with Brown Sauce

Don't know how better to describe this one. I made chicken stir fry over the weekend, and was enjoying some leftovers this evening, and after tasting the leftover brown sauce I thought "boy that's good!" Too bad it was relatively improvised, so I'm not sure on the quantities; but I am sure on the ingredients.


Chicken Stir Fry with Green Beans

2 chicken breasts
1 cup Brown Sauce (recipe follows)
1 cup frozen green beans
1 small onion, halved and sliced thin
1 large or two small red bell peppers, cored, seeded, and sliced thin
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced into rounds
2 tbsp vegetable oil
4 tbsp hot bean paste
Salt + pepper

1 tbsp corn starch
1 tbsp beef stock

Start the sauce first, and keep it simmering on a burner.

Over high heat, heat 1 tbsp oil in skillet until almost smoking. Add onion, season with salt, stir 3x and cook undisturbed for 2 minutes. Add bell peppers, stir 3x and cook undisturbed for 1 minute. Stir occassionally and cook for 1 more minute. Add 2 tbsp hot bean paste + garlic, cook for 30 seconds, then transfer pepper-onion mixture to a bowl/plate.

Blanch the green beans in Brown Sauce for about 2 minutes, and remove using wire skimmer. Add to pepper onion mixture. In a small bowl, combine cornstarch and beef stock to form a slurry. Whisk into brown sauce, and reduce heat.

Season chicken liberally with salt + pepper. Heat remaining 1 tbsp oil in skillet over high heat until almost smoking. Add chicken all at once, and spread out quickly into single layer. Let cook undisturbed for 2 minutes. Stir and cook for 2 more minutes. Add hot bean paste, and stir. Add onion/pepper/bean mixture to chicken. Add in about 1/2 cup sauce, and cook for 1 minute, until sauce bubbles and thickens. Taste and adjust seasonings.

Serve immediately with white or brown rice.

Variations:

• Try marinating chicken in cornstarch/brandy/salt/pepper
• Add orange zest/orange peel to veggies at the beginning
  

Brown Sauce

2 cups beef stock
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp kecap manis (sweet soy sauce)
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tbsp quality balsamic vinegar (or lower quality balsamic vinegar, cooked to reduce by 50%)
2 tbsp brown sugar
1/4 cup orange juice
2 tbsp brandy
Salt + pepper to taste
1 tbsp fresh ginger (minced) or ginger juice (optional)

Combine all ingredients, bring to a boil, turn down and let simmer uncovered for 30 minutes until reduced. Adjust seasonings to taste. Ready to use, or refrigerate overnight for better flavor.

Thai Chicken Pizza

slim pickins 'n' thai chik'ns...

I like leftovers; they're very "homey" eating. Yesterday was mac & cheese & a leftover slice California Pizza Kitchen Thai Chicken Pizza. I personally think CPK's food is delicious. My standard meal at CPK is a 1/2 Caesar salad and a BBQ Chicken Pizza.

I came across their recipe for Thai Chicken Pizza as listed in their book (available on Amazon.com), so I thought I'd share it. NOTE: the dough must be prepared the night before for best flavor. Worst case, you can use the dough after the first rise.

MAKES 2 PIZZAS
Spicy Peanut Sauce
1/2 c. peanut butter
1/2 c. hoisin sauce
1 tbsp honey
2 tsp red wine vinegar
2 tsp ginger, minced
2 tbsp sesame oil (Chinese or Japanese)
2 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp Vietnamese chili sauce (like Sambal Oelek?) or dried chili flakes
1 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp water

1 tbsp olive oil
10 oz. boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into 3/4 inch cubes
Pizza stone

Pizza Dough
2 c. Mozzarella cheese, shredded
4 scallions, slivered diagonally oriental style
1/2 c. white bean sprouts
1/4 c. Shredded carrot
2 tbsp chopped, roasted peanuts
2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

To prepare Peanut Sauce, combine sauce ingredients in small pan & over medium heat, bring mixture to a boil, and boil gently for one minute. Set aside. You will use 1/2 on the chicken and 1/2 on the pizza.

Heat pan over high heat, add olive oil, and cook chicken stirfry-style for 5-6 minutes. Do not overcook. Set aside in refrigerator until chilled through. Once chilled, coat with 1/4 cup of Spicy Peanut Sauce. Return to refridgerator to chill again.

Heat pizza stone in a very hot oven (500 degrees F.) for 1 hour. Shape dough into pizza round, and spoon 1/4 cup sauce evenly over pizza, spreading it around. Cover sauce with 3/4 cup of mozzarella. Save rest of mozzarella for later.

Next, add to pizza in the following order:
1. chicken pieces
2. green onions
3. bean sprouts
4. carrots
5. An additional 1/4 cup of shredded mozzarella
6. roasted chopped peanuts

Bake pizza in oven for 9-10 minutes, until crust is golden and cheese at the center is bubbly. Remove pizza from oven, sprinkle with 1 tbsp cilantro.

Pizza Dough
1 tsp active dry yeast
1/2 c. plus 1 tbsp warm water (105 -110 F)
1.5 c bread flour (preferred) or all purpose flour
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil (for coating)

Dissolve yeast in water and set aside for 5-10 minutes.

Place dry ingredients (flour, sugar and salt) into a 4-6 quart mixing bowl. Make a weill in the middle & pour in yeast/water mixture and 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil. Use a wooden spoon to combine ingredients. Once mixed, lightly oil your hands and knead dough for 5 minutes. When done, dough should be slightly tacky; that is, it should be barely beyond sticking to your hands. Don't knead more than 5 minutes, or the dough could be tough and rubbery; the same goes if you overmix the dough in a electric stand mixer. Incidentally, if you use a stand mixer, use the mixing paddle and not the dough hook for this batch size; the dough hook is too small to be effective for this batch size.

Lightly oil the doughball and the interior of a 1 quart glass bowl. Place dough ball in bowl and seal bowl with plastic wrap, with as much an "air-tight" seal as possible. Set aside at room temperature to rise until doubled; this should take about 1.5 to 2 hours at 70-80 deg. F.

1st rise has been completed. Punch down the dough, reform it into a round ball & return it to the same bowl, covering it again tightly with plastic wrap. Place the bowl in the refridgerator overnight.

2nd rise has been completed by the next morning. About 2 hours before you are ready to build your pizza, take the dough out of the refridgerator. Cut the dough into two pieces with a sharp knife. Roll the smaller doughs into round balls on a smooth, clean surface. Place newly formed balls in a glass casserole dish, spaced far enough apart to allow them to double in size. Seal dish with plastic wrap, as airtight as possible. Set aside at room temperature to allow them to double in size (about 2 hours). Now they should be smooth and puffy.

The 3rd rise has been completed. You can now carefully stretch out the pizza dough into rounds as desired. Dust your pizza peel in cornmeal, semolina, or flour, and transfer the stretched dough to the peel. Top your pizza with ingredients & bake.

Enjoy the pizza and buy the CPK Cookbook at Amazon.com.