Vietnamese Carmelized Chicken, Pickled Carrots and Coconut Rice

Vietnamese cuisine sounds intimidating, I know. But please believe it is the farthest thing from difficult. Most recipes are delicious, light, healthy, and absolutely elegant. Understandably so, it is an Asian country, in a hot climate with a strong french influence.

My sweet chicken sautee with coconut rice and fresh veggies is a wonderful summer meal. You and your family are only 30 minutes from a gourmet meal from Nam Viet. I find it easiest to make the carrots, then the rice and then the chicken. Mostly because the carrots pickle to perfection, the rice bubbles away, all the while you leisurely mix some chicken in a hot pan.

Now, if you don't have fish sauce use half soy and half worchestire sauce. If you don't have Thai basil, use regular. The most important part is that the chicken carmelizes. I realize that not all cooks are greedily drawn to the market grabbing anything new and exciting. I realize that I am strange and find my pantry and place of solace and beauty. But, it is the qualities that makes us friendly and the quirks that make us lovely.

30-minute Easy Pickled Carrots

Ingredients

3 carrots julienned or match sticked

1 cup of white vinegar

½ cup of white sugar

Method

Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Let sit for 30 minutes. Drain to serve. Delish…

Coconut Rice

Ingredients

1 cup of rice

2 cups of coconut milk (1 16oz can)

Method

Combine ingredients in rice cooker. Push button on. Oh how I love technology. Fluff with fork when ready to serve.

Lemongrass Chicken

Ingredients

2 tablespoons fish sauce
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons plus 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
3 tablespoons cooking oil
2 fresh lemongrass stalks, tender inner white bulbs only, minced1 large shallot, thinly sliced
Chopped veggies, cilantro, Thai basil and peanuts for garnishing

Method:

1. In a small bowl, combine the fish sauce, garlic, ginger, salt, and sugar.

2.Slice the shallots into thin half moons and add the minced lemongrass. Cook in a hot wok with oil until the shallots are tender and the lemongrass is fragrant. Add the chicken and sautee until cooked through but still tender.

3. Add the sauce to the hot wok and coat chicken. Cook this delicious concoction until the ginger and garlic are fragrant. Turn the heat off add some of the Thai basil and cilantro and deeply inhale.

4. Serve over rice noodles, coconut rice, with chopped veg and peanuts. I love to make pickled carrots (see below) and add slices of cucumber, chopped green onions, and chopped peanuts. All under a heaping mound of cilantro and Thai basil.

As always, happy cooking, much love, and many blessings.

Summer Peach Icecreaming

Ahh summer... sweet creamy summer. I love peach ice cream it has an innocent quality about it. Somehow, this cream colored icey confection takes you to childhood. It reminds me of summers on the southern Florida canals, little canoes, and bike rides through the park.

Unfortunately, this does require an ice-cream maker. However, I am sure that one could pour it into a dish to hard and then just blitz in a food prep to create that creamy consistency.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup of half and half

1/2 cup sugar

3 egg yolks

3/4 cup of heavy cream

1 can of drained peaches and mushed to pulp

Method:

1. In a heavy bottomed saucepan heat gently the half and half with the sugar. Turn off the heat once the sugar has dissovled.

2. Seperate your eggs in a bowl. Reserve your whites for meringue or a healthy omlette. Whisk the yolks together.

3. Temper the yolks by adding a little bit of the warm half and half. You don't want to the eggs to cook. Add the warmed egg yolk mixture.

4. Add the heavy cream and stir until combined.

5. Chill in the refridge until cold, at least 30 minutes.

6. Add to the ice cream maker and let spin until the icy mixture starts to seem to be the consistency of thick milkshake. This is delicious already so by all means indulge if needed.

7. Pulp the peaches to a thick paste with little bits. I am always amazed at how disturbingly satisfying this is. Add the golden paste to the ice cream maker.

8. Store in airtight container in the freezer to firm up. However, you will probably succumb to temptation, but I cannot blame you.

9. Enjoy!

As always, much love, many blessings, happy ice-creaming, and happy summer!

Dark Chocolate Ganache Topped Vanilla Cupcakes

I love cupcakes. I will admit, I am on the verge of obsession. Truthfully, it is the flexibility and freedom you find with these mini cakes. They are so easy to bake and only take 20 minutes, but most importantly you can put anything in them, top them with anything, and everyone loves them. I am quite certain even the most evil of individuals would warm up to large tray of these lovely sweet bites.

Today I decided that a lovely dark chocolate heavy cream ganache was in order.

To make the cupcake I use a food prep, but a mixer, a bowl and wooden spoon, nearly anything with a mixing capacity will do.

Cupcake

Ingredients

1/2 cup or 1 stick of melted butter
3/4 cup of self rising flour
1/4 cup of sugar
2 eggs
slosh of vanilla extract (a teaspoon) please use excellent quality all natural real vanilla extract
big slosh of milk (two tablespoons)

Method

1. Set the oven to 400 degrees, and line a cup cake tin with liners
2. Melt the butter in the microwave
3. Place all of the ingredients save the butter into a mixing vessel
4. Mix, blitz, or whirl
5. Add the butter and mix-in
6. Spoon into lined tins and bake for 20 minutes or until brown and toothpick comes out clean

Ganache

1/2 cup of choco buttons
2 tablespoons of double cream

Method

1. In a bowl add the chocolate and cream
2. Melt in the microwave together at 30 second intervals
3. Stir quickly between each melting session. Calmly and quickly stir the chocolate. The chocolate may seize (harden up and seem grainy) continue to melt and stir, it will come around.

Spoon on your ganache crowning your vanilla cupcakes. Bejewel with your adornment of choice, I love sugar pansies, but M&Ms, and anything else will be just lovely. Or leave them be in all of their chocolately gloriousness.

Voila, enjoy.

As always, many blessings, much love, and happy baking.

Strawberry and Rhubarb Cream Pie

I have been waiting impatiently for the local farmers market to color and smell explode with gorgeous fruits and vegs. And now that it has, I am truly reveling it. Now in Virginia sweet, very red, strawberries are only here for May and June. To celebrate I whipped together this all together joyously easy pie, and it is cinch to entertain with. If you can't find rhubarb do with out and add a little lime juice to cut through the creamy sweetness.

Ingredients

One pre-baked pie shell any kind is fine

1/4 pound of rhubarb (small stems are so much easiers)

3 tablespoon of strawberry jam

1 eight ounce package of cream cheese

1/4 cup of sugar

a squich of half a lime for juice

25 or so stemmed strawberries

1 tablespoon of apple or apricot jelly to glaze

Method

1. Set a heavy bottomed saucepan on the burner. Chop up the rhubarb into very small little chucks. I would call it a dice if I had better knife skills, but truly, it is only baby little chunks. Set on medium high heat with the strawberry jam and rhubarb. Cook until the rhubarb is soft and the liquid is absorbed.

2. In a standing mixer whip together cream, cooked rhubarb, sugar, and lime juice. Until it is light and fluffy. Fill the pie shell with this yummy creamy concotion.

3. Set the stemmed strawberries point side up on the cream filled pie.

4. Melt the apple jelly in the microwave and brush the shiny warm liquid on the strawberries. Making them glisten in the sugary goodness.

5. Set in the fridge to chill, slice, and enjoy.

Ok, so this less than cooking, and less than baking, more like assembling. But it is delicious regardless of the run-away treatment.

As always, happy baking, much love, and many blessings.

Spiced Carrot Cake

I adore carrot cake. There is something unabashedly irreverent about the legitmacy of a vegetable placed in a indulgent spiced cake deluged in whiped creamcheese frosting. It is a perfect contradiction in terms. This is actually a very simple and fast carrot cake. I do not mess about with raisins or pecans, but if you wish you can add a cup of both or none. Since I bake for my office, I usually don't include nuts for fear of allergies. But I believe, in the kitchen especially, you should cook to please those you love and yourself. And by all means, please convince yourself that carrot cake is actually good for you.

Ingredients

Carrot Cake

2 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground black pepper (I love this addition)
1 tablespoon ground cardamom
¼ teaspoon ground cloves

¼ teaspoon ground allspice

good scraping of nutmeg
½ teaspoon free-flowing table salt

6 carrots, peeled
1 ½ cups sugar-bowl sugar
½ cup brown sugar packed
4 large eggs
1 ½ cups canola oil (nearly any oil will do, except olive)

Cream Cheese Frosting

Vanilla bean seeds, scraped from 1 vanilla pod
1 package of cream cheese, softened
5 tablespoons unsalted butter softened,

1 tablespoon sour cream
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ¼ cups icing sugar

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F
2. In a bowl stir together all the dry ingredients including the spices. Whisk together rather than sift, it is much faster.
3. In a food prep shred the carrots. Set aside the gorgeous orange chaos of carrots.
4. In the processor whip together the sugars and eggs until creamy and bothered. Drizzle in the oil through while the prep is running through the tube.
5. Stir together all of the ingredients, food preped egg mixture, the dry goods, and the carrot shreds.
6. Pour into prepared muffin cups and bake for about 22 mins.
7. In the mean time, whip together using your food prep or standing mixer all of the ingredients for the cream cheese frosting.
8. Cool cupcakes on a wire rack.
9. When cooled decorate to please. I just adore those cute miniature fondant carrots. It is as if a small cartoon bunny will jump up to steal them. There is never too much kitch in the kitchen.

Here is to hoping for an early spring.

As always, much love, many blessings, and happy baking.

Stuffed Peppers

Anything stuffed in Arabic is called mashi, and Egyptians, they will stuff anything, grape leaves, tomatoes, zucchinis, they'll stuff you if you stand still long enough. But, I digress. My favorite mashi is stuffed peppers. For the most part it is usually vegetable stuffed with a rice, meat, tomato sauce mixture. For this rendition, I made a vegetarian, Greek stuffing with Israeli cous cous, chick peas, olives, feta, and fresh herbs.

I took my inspiration for the Mediterranean.

Ingredients

2 cups Israeli cous cous

1 cup chicken stock

3 Tablespoon of chopped Kalamata olives

4 oz of chopped feta

2 Tablespoons of fresh parsely

2 Tablespoons of fresh basil

1 teaspoon of fresh mint

3 Tablespoons olive oil

1 Tablespoon of cumin

1 teaspoon of Pimenton (smoked paprika)

a pinch of cayenne

1 teaspoon of dried oregano

2 cloves of garlic minced

1 can chick peas, drained

4 cored red peppers

Method:

Preheat your oven to 400 F.

1. Cook the cous cous by heating the chicken stock in the microwave to a near boil. Out of the microwave add the cous cous, cover with plastic wrap and let sit for five minutes.

2. Stir together the olives, feta, and fresh herbs.

3. Heat the olive oil in a pan, add all of the dried herbs and the garlic, stir until fragrant. Add the chickpeas and just allow the chickpeas to sautee and really soak up the delicious flavors of the herbs and garlic.

4. Mix all the ingredients together, cooked cous cous, herb/feta mixture, fragrant chickpeas.

5. Fill the peppers with the stuffing. Place in a shallow dish and cook for 20 minutes at 400 F.

6. Garnish with fruity extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and some more fresh herbs.

Enjoy...

Much love, many blessings, and happy stuffing!

Poulet Basque

Literally, Poulet Basque translates to Basque Chicken, but more figuratively it translates to succulent buttery chicken, golden pepper ragout, and heavenly spiced rice. My mother bought me my latest recipe book, "1001 foods to die for" and while the inspiration came from this lovely volume. The recipe is inherently an Egyptian and Spanish fusion, a science experiment gone beautifully and deliciously wrong.

For the Chicken

6 Skin-on boneless chicken thighs

Pimenton (Smoked Paprika)

Salt

Pepper

Heat up a large skillet with two tablespoons of vegetable oil until it shimmers. Generously clothe the chicken on both sides with your pimenton, salt, and pepper cloak. Sear the chicken on both sides to reach a reddish burnish. Set asside.

For the Ragout

1 Large Onion

Thyme

Salt

Pepper

1 Large Red Pepper

1 Large Yellow Pepper

1 Large Tomato

Place all of the diced ingredients into a large bowl. Place in a large skillet and place the almost cooked chicken thighs on the bed of vegetables. Heat your oven to 400 degrees F. And cook your chicken until an internal temperature reaches 180 degree F, or until the juices run clear about 30 mins.

For the Rice

While the chicken is cooking prepare the rice in a rice cooker.

3 cups of chicken broth

1 and half cups of white rice

10 threads saffron

Pinch of Pimenton

Pinch of Cayenne Pepper

Pinch of Cinnamon

1 bay leaf

Place all the ingredients in your rice cooker and set.

Once the rice and chicken is cooked through serve with an excellent Spanish Wine like Temparillo and enjoy.

As always, much love, many blessings, and happy cooking.