Men Who Like to Cook - David Latt

Kick Away Winter Blues with Bright and Sunny Braised Chicken with Charred Orange Sections

2026-02-04T14:36:00.000-08:00

It's cold and, depending on where you live, the rain or snow has dampened your spirit. A trip to a sunny beach would cheer you up. But the solution to winter blues might just be in your kitchen.

Easy to make and delicious, braised meats are always a quick way to create a comfort meal. To my usual braised chicken thigh/legs stew with vegetables, I kicked up the flavors several notches by adding charred orange sections and Bibigo's Korean Gochujang (hot & sweet sauce). Acid, heat and sweetness combined to the savory dark meat chicken on the bone made a dish that made me warm and happy!

To the broth I added onions and parsley. The next time I make the dish, I'm preparing in for my wife who is pescatarian so instead of chicken, I'll use thin sliced, charred extra firm tofu as the protein and I will add more vegetables. I'm thinking, shiitake mushrooms (sliced), minced garlic clove and broccolini.

To soak up the sauce, I served Japanese steamed white rice on the side.

The recipe is written for one, so you can easily scale up the dish for as many as you want. You can also happily make more than you need for one meal because you will be rewarded with a lunch a day or two later.

That's what I did for my lunch today,

Left-Overs Make a Great Lunch

Consider this a second recipe from the same starting point. The next day, I removed the thigh bone from the left over meat, covered it with water, added the orange sections from the night before and simmered for 20 minutes. Strained, I had a cup of deliciously savory broth. After sautéing fresh vegetables (shiitakes, onions and broccolini) in olive oil seasoned with sea salt and black pepper, I added the left over chicken and picked all the meat off the bone and simmered until the liquid was reduced by half. Instead of steamed rice, I added cooked Borella spaghetti and a pat of sweet butter. Stirred together in the broth which I furthered reduced by half on a medium low heat. I sprinkled grated Parmesan cheese and sat down to enjoy a delicious lunch. A second day's gift from the previous night's feast.

I'm hoping you will make the entree and then gift yourself the bonus dish I just described for lunch or dinner. You'll love the second meal and you'll enjoy how easy it is to make affordable cooking.

Braised Chicken with Charred Orange Sections

To char, I use a Matfer Bourgeat carbon steel pan. The pans tolerate high heat and are very easy to clean.

Gochujang is available in Korean markets and some Asian sections of a supermarket or online. You will find that Gochujang deepens the flavor of stews and sauces.

For the original braise, you can add the vegetables (above) I used to make the next-day lunch (shiitakes and broccolini) as well as roughly chopped green cabbage, baby bok choy, spinach or carrots (peeled).

Serves 1

Time to prepare: 15 minutes

Time to cook: 60 minutes

Ingredients

1 large chicken thigh on the bone with skin, washed and pat dried

1 medium sized orange, washed, all discolored areas of the skin and the center part pith removed, cut into sections

1/2 cup roughly chopped onion, washed and peeled

1/2 cup finely chopped Italian parsley leaves (no stems) or curly kale (stem removed), washed

1 cup broth, preferably homemade chicken stock or water

2 tablespoons Gochujang

1 tablespoon sweet butter

2 cups cooked Japanese rice

Sea salt to taste

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

(Optional) 1 garlic clove, washed, peeled and finely chopped.

Directions

Heat the carbon steel pan on a medium-low flame. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of olive oil in the pan, being careful that the oil doesn't smoke.

Add the chicken thigh skin side down and season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. When the skin is browned, use tongs to turn over and brown the flesh side, then remove and set aside.

Add the remaining olive oil to the pan and char the orange sections, flesh and skin. Remove when browned.

Add vegetables, stir fry until wilted and browned.

Return charred chicken thigh and orange sections to the pan with the vegetables and garlic (optional).

Add chicken stock or water and Gochujang, stir well, cover and simmer.

Cook 10 minutes.

Remove the lid and add the sweet butter. Continue to simmer until the liquid is reduced by half.

Taste the sauce and adjust to taste with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Remove the chicken, vegetables, orange sections and the sauce, plate and serve with freshly steamed Japanese rice or a cooked pasta of your choice.

As an option, a friend tells me he tried this recipe but at the end, he used an immersion blender to combine the sauce with the orange sections. I think that sounds very good. I'll try it next time!

Thanksgiving Appetizers Make a Statement - Deviled Eggs with Crab and Charred Corn Kernels

2025-11-16T13:59:00.000-08:00

Say "Thanksgiving" and of course "turkey and sides" pop into your mind. But for me, when I think of the Thanksgiving feast, my brain says "appetizers." Turkey is great. Corn bread stuffing, roasted sweet potatoes and cranberry sauce are all great, but Thanksgiving is the time for lots of great appetizers.

To begin the feast, appetizers set the stage, whet the appetite and get the party going.

I'll make prosciutto with Hami melon, home-cured salmon on sourdough crisps with cream cheese, home-made tapenade with lavash crisps, hearts of palm rounds topped with a dab of mayo & a splash of Tabasco, an assortment of soft and hard cheeses, Castelvetrano Green olives and the pièce de résistance, deviled eggs with charred corn and Dungeness crab.

Easy to make, visually fun and delicious, deviled eggs get everyone talking because I add crab (or lobster or shrimp) which isn't what most people think of when they say "deviled eggs."

My mom introduced me to deviled eggs when she would take my sister and me to the beach. I didn't like the ocean because the cold dark water in Santa Monica Bay wasn't and still isn't very nice. But I loved the picnic lunch she would pack. Fried chicken, fresh fruit salad and deviled eggs. Hers were classic with the egg yolks mixed with Best Foods mayo, salt, pepper and a bit of paprika. Easy-peasy.

My version borrows the simplicity of her approach but adds fun with the crunch of charred corn and the luxuriousness of shell fish. I love crab if I can find it fresh, otherwise, shrimp is very available and lobster the most extravagant but all are delicious in their own way.

The filling can be made a day ahead and kept in a refrigerated piping or pastry bag. The easiest kind of bag to use is made out of plastic or choose a reusable cloth pastry bag.

DEVILED EGGS PERFECT FOR PICNICS AND SPECIAL OCCASIONS

Serves 4

Time to cook 20 minutes

Time to cool 5 minutes in ice cold water

Time to prepare 15 minutes

Total time 40 minutes

Ingredients

4 large or extra large eggs

1/2 cup cooked crab, shrimp or lobster, washed, finely chopped

1/4 cup mayo, preferably Best Foods

1/4 cup corn kernels, off the cob, charred, cooled

Sea salt to taste and to salt the water

1/4 teaspoon dried dill (optional)

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Pinch of finely ground pepper flakes, Italian or Korean

Directions

Place 4 eggs in a quart saucepan with enough water to cover the eggs. Add 1/4 teaspoon of sea salt to the water and bring to a gentle boil over a medium flame. After 20 minutes, transfer the hardboiled eggs to fresh, cold water. Add ice cubes to cool the water. Allow to rest 15 minutes, Remove from the water and peel. Discard the shells, wash and pat dry the eggs being careful to remove all bits of the shell.

Using a sharp pairing knife, slice each egg the long way so you have 4 quarters. Carefully remove the yolks so the white part doesn't tear. Place the yolks int a bowl and the white "triangles" into a sealed container in the refrigerator.

Using a folk, break up the cooked egg yolks.

Place a frying pan on the stove top. Turn the heat up to medium high. When hot, add the corn kernels. Toss gently until the kernels are toasted/browned. Remove and cool.

In the bowl with the egg yolks, add the toasted corn kernels, season with sea salt, dry dill (optional), freshly ground black pepper and pepper flakes. Using the folk, toss well to combine.

For the shellfish, if available, use raw crab, shrimp or lobster in the shell. Boil a pot of water large enough to hold the shellfish. Cook the crab or lobster 5 minutes. If using shrimp in the shell, boil in water 2 minutes. Remove and cool in cold water. Set aside to cool. Remove the shell and reserve 1/2 cup of cooked meat.

If using already cooked shellfish, all you need do is remove the shells and rinse to get rid of any packaging flavors.

Being careful to remove all shells, roughly chop a 1/2 cup of shellfish meat. Reserve the remainder to make soups, salads or cocktail appetizers.

Add 1/2 cup of shellfish meat to the seasoned egg yolks and stir well to mix.

Add mayo and combine well. Taste and if needed adjust the seasonings or add more mayo. The mixture should be creamy.

Spoon the filling into the pastry bag and reserve until just before serving.

To serve.

Cut 1" off the end of the plastic pastry bag. Line up the egg white quarters on a plate and squeeze out enough filling to make an attractive mound in the middle of each egg white quarter. Serve cold with ice cold beer or a crisp white wine.

Make Lox Your Way In Your Kitchen

2025-07-24T15:16:00.000-07:00

I love lox. Who doesn't like lox and bagels for breakfast? Served with a salad and you have a delicious, healthy lunch or light dinner.

Sold in vacuum packed packages, lox is readily available in the refrigerated section of most markets or sold hand-sliced paper thin at specialty deli counters, like New York City's Zabar's or Russ and Daughters.

Lox is an easy to enjoy dish. Thin sliced, on a bagel or a slice of toast, with cream cheese, capers, tomato and red onions, lox is a delicious treat in the morning or any time of the day.

Lox is also surprisingly easy to prepare at home at a fraction of the cost.

The technique I have developed works for any kind of salmon, but my preference is to always use wild caught salmon, not farmed because the flesh has better texture and flavor.

If you are lucky enough to return from a fishing trip with pounds of salmon that were frozen on board the ship, thaw a piece to make delicious cured salmon.

You can use any part of the salmon, the area close to the tail or the fat mid-section. To ensure even curing, cut the salmon so that the filet is the same thickness through out. If you use the fat mid-section, cut off the thin part of the filet. You can use the thicker part of the mid-section for a sautéed salmon dish and use the thin part to make cured salmon. Or, visa versa

The thicker the filet you use, the longer you will want to leave the salmon to cure. A thin part will cure in a week. The thick part will cure in two-three weeks.

When buying salmon, look for flesh that has a good color. The flesh should be smooth, without fissures.

Your lox is only as good as the ingredients, so use salt that has not been treated with chemicals. I prefer Diamond Cyrstal Kosher Salt.

Home Cured Lox

You can use any part of the salmon, the area close to the tail or the fat mid-section. To ensure even curing, cut the salmon so that the filet is the same thickness through out.

If you use the fat mid-section, cut off the thin part of the filet. You can use the thicker part of the mid-section for a sautéed salmon dish and use the thin part to make cured salmon. Or visa versa.

The thicker the filet you use, the longer you will want to cure the salmon. A thin filet will cure in a week. The thicker part will cure in two-three weeks.

Add flavor with dried aromatics. Dill works very well. If you enjoy a bit of heat, use dried pepper flakes or Korean pepper powder.

Ingredients

1/2 pound fresh salmon, washed and pat dried

1/2 cup Diamond Cyrstal Kosher Salt

1 teaspoon dried aromatic like dill weed

1/4 teaspoon dried pepper powder (optional)

Directions

Use tweezers to remove all the pin bones, those very thin bones that are located in the middle of the filet. Discard.

Many people do not like the darker flesh close to the skin. Using a sharp knife, cut the dark parts of the flesh and the skin. Remove and reserve to thinly slice and deep fry for a delicious treat to serve on steamed rice.

On the kitchen counter, lay a sheet of plastic wrap 5" larger than the filet. Sprinkle the kosher salt onto the plastic wrap. Place the deboned filet on top of the kosher salt. Add the dry aromatic flavoring and (optional) pepper powder on top of the filet. Sprinkle the remaining kosher salt on the filet.

Pull up the edges of the plastic wrap and seal the filet. If needed, use a second sheet of plastic wrap so that the filet is completely sealed in the plastic wrap.

Place the sealed and seasoned filet into an air tight container that is larger than the filet so it can lie flat.

Refrigerate.

Every 24 hours, turn the container over so the filet cures evenly.

You will notice that very quickly the dry seasonings become a slurry as the salt pulls moisture out of the salmon.

Continue turning over the container every 24 hours. One week for thin filets. Two weeks for thicker filets. As you perfect your technique, you may choose to cure the salmon filets longer, depending on your taste.

The filets will not spoil for up to a month.

Serving

Remove the filet from the container and the plastic wrap. Rinse thoroughly in clean, running water. Pat dry. Use a sharp knife and cut the filet into paper thin slices. You don't need to eat all of the filet at one time. Use as much as you want. Rewrap in plastic wrap any unused portions, place into an air tight container and refrigerate for up to a month.

To make a bento-box style treat, cut bread into 2" square pieces, toast and add cream cheese, capers and a slice of your homemade lox. If desired, sprinkle with sea salt and top with a thin slice of tomato.