VOL 4 NO 1 MID-WINTER 2007 Celebrate Chinese New Year with fresh Asian vegetables. This year, Chinese New Year, the Year of the Pig, begins on February 18th. It’s a 15 day celebration, beginning on the ﬁrst day of the second new moon after the winter solstice, and ending on the full moon. It is also the biggest holiday in Chinese culture, celebrated with festivities, ﬁreworks, brightly colored lights, special meals with family and gift giving - and a tremendous amount of food. Many foods have symbolic meanings. Oranges, tangerines, and pommelos signify wealth, because of their golden color - as do egg rolls (shaped like gold bars), as well as yellow noodles. See our recipe for a Pommelo-Chicken Salad on our website for January. Whole ﬁsh and chicken represent completeness, togetherness and abundance. Noodles, especially Continued on page 4 Take away that mid-winter chill with flowers and chocolate from Russo’s! Bring home a bouquet of our magniﬁcent long-stemmed roses to brighten up your day! Celebrate Valentine’s Day and beyond with one of the many other colorful and distinctive freshly-cut arrangements from our Floral Department. If you are looking for something sweet and unique, our Bakery Department has a wonderful selection of cakes and hand-made pastries, baked fresh every day. You are sure to warm someone’s heart with a delightful Chocolate Trufﬂe Cake or a specialty cake decorated with cut ﬂowers. Russo’s also has a unique selection of chocolates and imported candies, perfect for any occasion. Even though it’s cold outside, inside the store, you will ﬁnd many warmweather fruits to accompany your chocolate of choice. When you pass the fresh strawberries, you can’t miss the amazing sweet smell! Baby Bok Choy Add some color and spice to the long winter with the many fresh, thoughtful and affordable products from Russo’s. Visit our website at www.russos.com for a romantic “Dinner for Two” recipe and more! INSIDE What’s Best Right Now • Jambalaya recipe for Mardis Gras • Chinese Chicken Noodle Soup recipe WHAT’S BEST RIGHT NOW ASIAN FRUITS & VEGETABLES Red Pommelo Warm Season Crops While it’s not exactly the ‘warm season’ right now, you can still ﬁnd these items in our store trucked in from Florida, California, or Louisiana. Chinese Eggplant Very long and slender, this lovely vegetable is used in deep fried dishes, stir fries and grilled platters. Try cutting it into 1” sections and tossing them with whole garlic cloves, onions sliced into half-moons, a bit of rice vinegar and sesame oil, then roasting in a 350 degree oven until tender. Bitter Melon A kind of squash, with a somewhat bitter ﬂavor. Fabulous when sauteed and added to an omelet, or in a stir-fry with black bean sauce. To remove the bitterness, you may want to sprinkle the sliced melon with salt and squeeze out the juices after a few minutes. Long Beans Also called ‘Asparagus Beans’, this isn’t really a bean at all, but is used much in the same way green beans are used in Western cooking. Eat the crisp, tender pods both fresh and cooked; you can cut them into short sections for stir fries or Asian-type cooked salads with garlic and chilis. Fuzzy Melon Peel or scrub well before cooking. Delicious cut into chunks and steamed, scooped out and ﬁlled then steamed, stir-fried with oyster sauce or stir-fried with meat. Cool Season Crops Most greens belong to this category. Bok Choy One of the most popular of Chinese greens, this is also known as Chinese chard. The most common type has thick white stalks with large, dark green, oval-shaped leaves. Russo’s carries various sizes of this vegetable, including two miniatures. Slice the larger ones into strips and toss into soups and braises. Use the smaller ones quartered or even left whole in a stir-fry with garlic and ginger and a splash of soy sauce for a delicious side dish. Chinese, Garlic & Flowering Chives Use much like the familiar, hollow-stem chive: chop or slice, and toss into broths at the last minute, or add to a stir fry for a delicate onion-y ﬂavor. The yellow chives we often carry are simply the green variety grown in the dark, to prevent chlorophyll from forming. The ﬂavor is perhaps a bit more delicate than that of the green. Chinese Broccoli (gai lan) Also known as Chinese Kale, this is one of the most popular vegetables. The leaves are not considered so important, it’s the stem that’s the choicest part The stems have a tough skin: peel and split before cooking in lightly salted boiling water with a spoonful of peanut oil added until tender-crisp. Drain well, splash a little oyster sauce over and serve hot. Choy Sum (flowering cabbages) A number of different varieties fall into this category. All have closed yellow ﬂower buds, and a mild, pleasant ﬂavor. Cook like Chinese Broccoli. Delicious in pork dishes! Chinese Celery In spite of the name and ﬂavor, this is quite distinct from the familiar Western variety of celery. The ﬂavor is markedly stronger - but a little less astringent, and the vegetable is never eaten raw. It’s great in stir fries and soups: just chop up the entire plant and toss in along with other vegetables to your next dish. Mustard Greens (Gai Choy) Essential for New Year’s! It’s usually pickled, braised, or added to soups, where the mustardyspicy ﬂavor really shines. Pea Shoots These are sweet, tender, and have a strong pea taste. You cook them as you might any green– very quickly in hot oil with, perhaps, salt, garlic, and a splash of sherry or rice wine. Chinese New Year starts on February 18th! Why not use the occasion to learn a little more about the many varieties of Asian vegetables at Russo’s? Check out the Chinese Chicken Noodle Soup in this issue! AVAILABLE at RUSSO’S Mid-Winter Blood Oranges Grapefruits Kiwi Persimmons Tangerines Red Grapes Sweet Potatoes Kale Avocado Cauliflower Artichokes Parsnips Chinese New Year Tangerines Oranges Pommelos Chinese Eggplant Bitter Melon Long Beans Fuzzy Melon Bok Choy Chinese Celery Pea Shoots Chines Chives Garlic Chives Flowering Chives Gai Lan (Chinese Broccoli) Choy Sum (Flowering Cabbage) Gai Choy (Mustard Greens) Recipes CHINESE CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP FOR THE NEW YEAR Makes 6 generous servings 3 1/2 to 4-pound chicken, cut into 2-inch pieces through the bone with a cleaver or sharp knife note: cut chicken into large pieces ﬁrst, then chop up into smaller ones 8 thin slices fresh ginger root, peeled or not 1 bunch scallions, trimmed and cut into thirds 3 quarts water 3/4 cup Chinese rice wine (shao-hsin), or medium-dry Sherry 2-3 ounces dried rice-stick noodles (rice vermicelli) Leave the noodles long: it means a long life! 1/2 pound fresh spinach, coarse stems discarded and leaves washed, drained, and chopped coarse (about 4 packed cups) 3/4 cup thinly sliced fresh garlic chives or regular fresh chives Broth (may be made 3 days ahead): Bring a large kettle of lightly salted water to a boil and blanch chicken for 1 minute. Drain and rinse under cold water. With ﬂat side of cleaver or knife lightly smash ginger root and scallions. Wipe out the kettle and bring 3 quarts of water to a boil, along with chicken, ginger, scallions, and rice wine. Simmer, uncovered, skimming froth occasionally, for 2 hours. Remove chicken with a slotted spoon and cool slightly. Remove chicken from bones, and pull off skin. Chop the meat of one thigh and one half breast into bite-sized pieces, reserve the rest of the meat for another use, perhaps a chicken a chicken salad. Pour broth through colander lined with triple thickness of cheesecloth into a large heatproof bowl. Wipe out kettle again, and return broth to it. Bring to a boil. Add noodles and bring to a boil again. Stir in chicken pieces and then stir in spinach; simmer, stirring once or twice, until chicken is heated through and spinach turns bright green and is just tender, about 2 minutes. Stir in chives and salt and pepper to taste and simmer 1 minute. To serve Using tongs, place noodles into bottom of individual deep serving bowls, and ladle hot broth over. Visit www.russos.com for more traditional and easy recipes to help you celebrate The Chinese New Year! VEGETARIAN MARDIS GRAS JAMBALAYA Makes 6 servings A traditional Jambalaya usually contains crawﬁsh, tasso (a spicy preserved ham from Louisiana), and sometimes duck or other hearty fowl. This vegetarian version relies on roasted eggplant, onions, and peppers for some of its chunkiness. Smoked Spanish paprika (in our spice section) hints at the tasso. And try adding Tofettes, a cooked and seasoned tofu product from our dairy case! For roasted veggies: 1 medium eggplant 1 red pepper 1 green pepper 1 medium onion 3 whole garlic cloves, cut into thirds 2T olive oil salt and pepper to taste For Jambalaya sauce:. 3 T olive oil 1 small onion, coarsely chopped 2 stalks celery, coarsely chopped 1 green pepper, coarsely chopped 1 t garlic, minced 1 16-ounce can diced tomatoes with juice 2 T tomato paste 1 t ﬁle powder (optional) 1/2 t smoked Spanish paprika 1/2 bunch parsley, chopped 1 t Tabasco sauce, or more to taste 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 c water 1 1/2 cups cooked or canned pinto beans (rinsed if canned) optional (but very good): 1 package Tofettes, Hot-and-Spicy or Jamaican Jerk varieties (in our dairy case) Heat oven to 400 degrees. Cut the roasting vegetables (eggplant, onion, peppers) into bitesize chunks and toss with the garlic, 2 T olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste. Place in an oven-proof dish and roast, stirring now and then, until tender and beginning to char, about half an hour. While vegetables are roasting, In a large pot, heat 1 1/2 T olive oil over medium heat until hot. Add onion, celery, and green pepper and saute for 5 minutes, or until the vegetables begin to soften. Add garlic, tomatoes, tomato paste, ﬁle powder, parsley, paprika, Tabasco sauce, salt, and water. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes, or until the vegetables are soft. Stir in the pinto beans and the roasted vegetables with their juices. If using Tofettes: Heat the remaining 1 1/2 T olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add Tofettes and cook until slightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add Tofettes to tomato mixture and simmer about 5 minutes, until ﬂavors are well blended. Adjust seasonings and serve over hot cooked rice. Feel free to give us your feedback on the recipes in this issue. Email us at [email protected] Continued from front cover yellow egg noodles left long and uncut, stand for a long life. On New Year’s Day, a vegetarian dish called Jai is traditional. Visit our website at www.russos.com, for this and other Chinese New Year’s recipes. �� While you are in the store, pick up our new Hors d’oeuvres Menu or you can view a printable version on our webbsite at www.russos.com. As in festivals all over the world, many traditions are associated with the New Year. While times change, many still practice the old customs – whether they are believed or not. After all, it is tradition that offers continuity with the past and provides the family with an identity. The entire house should be cleaned before New Year’s Day. On New Year’s Eve, all brooms, brushes, dusters, dust pans and other cleaning equipment are put away. Let Russo’s Catering help you plan your next special event. Russo’s Catering department is ready to help you plan a special get-together at home or an event at work and will make sure that it’s the best ever. We have an extensive list of freshly-made hors d’oeuvres, entrees, party platters and mouth-watering desserts perfect for any size gathering. To place an order, call us at 617.719.4107 or call our main number at 617.923.1500. Ask for Catering. Those born in the Year of the Pig are peacemakers, tolerant, honest and straight forward. You can ﬁnd all our menus in the store and on our website at www.russos.com. Store Hours Monday - Saturday, 8am - 7pm Sunday, 8am - 6pm 560 Pleasant Street Watertown, MA 02472 tel 617.923.1500 fax 617.926.6960 www.russos.com