Hansheng Lee

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The Art of Everyday Cooking

Welcome to the Kitchen
This is more than a recipe blog—it’s a living archive of flavor, memory, and cultural roots.

Here, you’ll find everything from everyday meals to deep dives into the ingredients and dishes that carry meaning.

 

Expect thoughtfully written recipes, food-focused stories, seasonal tips, and guides to ingredients worth knowing. Some entries are simple and nostalgic; others explore history, technique, or the why behind what we eat.

 

Whether you're here to cook, learn, reminisce, or just get hungry—there’s always something simmering.

Not every meal has to be a masterpiece—but it can still be meaningful. This space honors the full spectrum of eating, from fast weekday meals thrown together between tasks to artfully composed dishes meant to slow you down and savor. Whether you’re cooking with five ingredients or twenty, there’s joy in the act of feeding yourself and others. Here, you’ll find recipes and ideas that fit into your life—whatever time, energy, or intention you bring to the table.

Food is more than sustenance—it's memory, identity, and a vessel of culture passed hand to hand, generation to generation. Every dish carries a story, whether whispered from ancestors or reinvented in your own kitchen. Here, we explore those threads—how flavors connect us to where we come from, who we are, and the people we love. Through recipes and reflections, this space invites you to taste the stories that shape our shared human experience.

What we eat begins long before it hits the plate. In this space, we'll explore how to choose ingredients with care—whether from the local market or your own backyard. From seasonal picks to garden-grown vegetables and herbs, this is a space to reconnect with the roots of nourishment. Knowing where your food comes from and tending to it with your own hands is one of the deepest forms of self-care and respect for the earth.

Red Wine Chicken:

Recipe Serves 4-8 Approximate Cooking Time: 30 Minutes

 

So this was a recipe that I ended up developing because I felt like having Coq au Vin, but I didn't feel like waiting hours for it to cook traditionally.

 

You need 4-8 Pieces of Chicken, bone-in (I usually use thighs for this) 

2 Cups     Red Wine (Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon)

2 Cups     Port or a sweeter table wine (Chianti works well for this as well) 

Salt and Pepper to taste

2 Tbsp.     Chopped fresh Rosemary or Dried (1Tbsp) 

1 Tbsp.     Chopped fresh Parsley

3 Tbsp.     Good Olive Oil

2 Tbsp.     Worcestershire Sauce

1 Tsp.        Paprika

1 Cup        Chicken stock

And a thickening paste (beurre manié) of 2 tbsp butter and 2 tbsp flour 

 

First, get your pan nice and hot and make sure that it's slightly deep (at least 4" tall on the sides).

A nice deep saucepan works great for this.

Add in the olive oil and put in the chicken, season it with salt and pepper first because we want the chicken to soak in the flavors. 

Once the chicken is in and browned on both sides.

Then, add in both the red wine and the port and let the alcohol simmer out a little bit (2-5 minutes), then immediately add in the rosemary and the parsley. You want the alcohol to bring out the rosemary and parsley and rehydrate them a little bit.

Also, at this time, add in the chicken stock, salt, pepper, paprika, and Worcestershire sauce.

Cover and cook for 20-30 minutes or until the chicken is tender and cooked.

Once the chicken is cooked, add in the beurre manié to give the sauce a nice gloss.

 

 

I love making this dish because it's homey and very comforting.

This dish is one of my go-tos for a large dinner as it is easily scaled up and feeds a crowd without taking too much time, and it's still loaded with flavor. 

It's great for a rainy day or a cold winter night's dinner.

Please enjoy!