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Recipe: Chilled Melon Soup

Filed Under: Festive Fare

The thermostat is soaring. Company is coming over. The last place you want to be is in the kitchen. Don’t worry, Vibrant Table has your back. Chef Brockman shares this delicious — and beautiful — recipe for chilled melon soup topped with strawberry and mint relish. It’s quick, refreshing, and a fun twist to items common at summer entertainment. Even better, this chilled soup takes minutes to prepare and can be made ahead of time. So get out of that kitchen, grab a glass of wine, and join your friends on the patio.
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Chilled Melon SoupLIST OF INGREDIENTS

  • 1 each honeydew melon
  • ¼ cup Midori
  • Salt to taste
  • Sugar to taste
  •  ½ cup small diced strawberries
  • 1 teaspoon chopped mint

Instructions

  1. Peel and remove seeds from the melon, chop into chunks.
  2. Add melon and Midori to a blender and puree until smooth.
  3. Chill thoroughly and adjust seasoning.
  4. Combine diced strawberries and mint in a separate bowl.
  5. Serve in a chilled bowl (or shot glass!) and garnish with the strawberry relish.

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Recipe Feature: Hum Bao

Filed Under: Festive Fare

BBQ Pork Hum Bao

The Chinese New Year joins us on Valentine’s Day, so Chef Brockman selected the perfect recipe to celebrate both holidays. Pork Hum Bao! Tender and chewy dough shells encase bright bursts of juicy, Asian-seasoned pork. Now doesn’t that say “I love you”? Plus, both dough and filling can be made in advance, leaving you more time for romance.

These were a huge hit at the opening for the China Design Now exhibit at The Portland Art Museum last fall. Enjoy! (And let us know how it turns out!)

Ingredients

Dough

1 cup flour
1 ¼ t baking powder
3 ½ T sugar
3 ½ T milk
2 1/3 T water
1 ½ T canola oil

Filling

2 lb pork shoulder (can substitute shrimp or chicken)
12 ea shitake mushrooms, stem removed & chopped
1 Tbl canola oil
1 Tbl ginger, chopped
2 Tbl bamboo shoots, sliced
4 ea green onions, chopped
1 Tbl oyster sauce
1 Tbl soy sauce
1 Tbl sesame oil
1/4 tsp kosher salt
2 Tbl cornstarch

Instructions

Dough

  1. Sift together flour and baking powder then stir in sugar.
  2. Combine wet ingredients in a small bowl.
  3. Gradually add wet ingredients to flour mixture until it forms a soft dough.
  4. Knead on floured surface until smooth, wrap in plastic and chill at least 1 hour. Dough can be stored longer if preparing ahead.
  5. Roll into logs 2″ thick and slice into 1″ pieces. Cover with a damp towel.

Filling

  1. Bake pork shoulder, covered, at 325° until it reaches an internal temperature of 165° (apx 45 – 90 minutes) and is fork tender. Moisten with stock if required.
  2. Let cool at least 15 minutes to absorb the moisture.
  3. Shred or chop meat.
  4. Chop and saute mushrooms, let cool.
  5. Fry ginger in oil over medium heat until aromatic.
  6. Add pork, cook 3-5 minutes.
  7. Stir in bamboo, scallions, oyster sauce, soy, sesame, salt and cornstarch.

Putting it all Together

  1. If filling has been premade, reheat.
  2. Flatten dough sections to 1/4″ thick and add 1 Tbsp filling in middle. Form a ball around the filling with the dough. Pinch dough together to seal.
  3. Place pinched-side down in paper-lined bamboo steamer and steam until done. No steamer? Brush tops with egg yolk and bake at 350° for 18-25 minutes. Have extra? You can freeze and bake later!
  4. If desired, serve with a sweet chili sauce for dipping. (Available at grocery stores.)

Photo by Leah Nash Photography.

Recipe: Lamb Osso Bucco and White Bean Cassoulet

Filed Under: Festive Fare

If you are anything like me, you’re getting excited about the next big culinary adventure of the holidays now that the turkey leftovers are long gone. For this month’s recipe feature, Chef Steve Brockman has selected a dish that makes a delectable main course for Christmas, Hannukah,  Eid-al-Adha, Kwanzaa, Winter Solstice or any other of this chilly season’s celebrations: lamb osso bucco. Lamb shanks are slowly cooked with vegetables in wine and broth. The lamb is served over a white bean cassoulet and topped with apple slaw. Even better, the lamb and beans can be prepared ahead, leaving you time to actually relish the company of friends and family.

Ingredients

Lamb Osso Bucco

Lamb Osso Bucco

6 ea. Lamb shanks
1 ½ T Chipotle powder
1 ½ c Flour
1 ea. Onion (chopped)
1 ea. Carrot (chopped)
6 ea. Celery stalks (chopped)
4 ea Garlic cloves, whole
2 c Apple juice
4c Chicken broth
1 ½ c Demi glace
2 c Red wine

White Bean Cassoulet

2c White Beans
1 ea. Onions (diced)
2 ea. Celery stalks (diced)
2 ea. Bay leaf
2T Fresh thyme
½ lb Smoked lamb sausage (diced)
2c Chicken broth
Water

Apple Slaw

1 ea. granny smith apples (julienned)
1ea. Red pepper (julienned)
1 bh. Scallion (thinly sliced on bias)
½ c Apple juice
Salt (to taste)

Instructions

Lamb Osso Bucco

  1. Mix flour, chipotle, salt & pepper.
  2. Dredge lamb in flour & sear in pan.
  3. Add vegetables & sauté about 3 minutes.
  4. Deglaze with the red wine, reduce by 1/2.
  5. Add apple juice, reduce by 1/3.
  6. Add chicken broth & demi glace in a dutch oven. There should be enough liquid just so the lamb is not covered.
  7. Cover & place in 300°oven.
  8. Cook until fork tender.
  9. Cool in cooking liquid.
  10. Strain liquid before serving. Save sauce to finish plate.
  11. If preparing ahead of time, reheat in dutch oven.

White Bean Cassoulet

  1. Soak beans over night.
  2. Drain & rinse the beans.
  3. Saute onions & celery, add beans, broth, water, bay leaf & thyme.
  4. Cook until almost tender, season & cool in broth.
  5. Saute sausage, heat the beans & drain & add together.

Apple Slaw

  1. Mix the apple, pepper & scallion,. Add just enough apple juice to moisten & season.