Thai BBQ Chicken

We made wings with these last night.  Surprisingly, I didn't change the recipe at all!  I really really really love Thai flavors and this didn't disappoint.  Despite the in yo face ingredients, the chicken was actually quite subtle.  Oh, yes I did make some changes.  I didn't add the chilis so that my brother could eat some.  He's not a fan of hot stuff.  Steve cooked them on the grill - who knew he was such a grill master?!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/thai-bbq-chicken-recipe2/index.html

Ingredients

• 10 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
• 1 tablespoon coriander
• 1 stalk lemongrass, trimmed and cut into small segments
• 2 red or green Thai chiles
• 1/2 fresh chicken, quartered
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 2 tablespoons yellow curry powder
• 1/2 can coconut milk
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• Dipping Sauce, recipe follows

Directions

Heat a grill to medium.
Using a mortar and pestle, crush garlic cloves, peppercorns, coriander, lemongrass, and Thai chiles into a chucky paste. Using a large spoon, transfer the paste to a large mixing bowl. Add the chicken and the remaining ingredients and mix well. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to overnight.
Put the chicken on the grill, skin side down, and brush with the marinade. Grill for about 15 minutes then flip the chicken over and brush with the marinade. Grill the second side for about 15 minutes. Discard the marinade. When the chicken is cooked and tender transfer it to a serving platter and serve with warm dipping sauce.

Dipping Sauce:

• 1/2 cup rice vinegar
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 2 large garlic cloves or 4 small, minced
• 2 teaspoons Thai red chili sauce or Sriracha
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce

Put all ingredients in a saucepan and put on the grill. Stir and bring to a boil. Move the pan to a cooler part of the grill and let the sauce simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. The sauce will reduce and become thick. Serve warm with chicken.

Amazing Whole Wheat Pizza Crust

I almost gave up on you.  I believed in you but you failed time after time.  You were too wheaty, too chewy, not cooked enough.  Nothing was ever good enough from you!  I tried using your all white flour counterpart but the wheat guilt was too much for me to swallow. 

I finally found my true love.  Thin crust.  Rolls out easily.  Not too wheaty.  Crispy!  I love you thin crust wheat pizza dough.  I. love. you. 

You truly are amazing.

http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/amazing-whole-wheat-pizza-crust/Detail.aspx

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• 1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Directions

1. In a large bowl, dissolve sugar in warm water. Sprinkle yeast over the top, and let stand for about 10 minutes, until foamy.
2. Stir the olive oil and salt into the yeast mixture, then mix in the whole wheat flour and 1 cup of the all-purpose flour until dough starts to come together. Tip dough out onto a surface floured with the remaining all-purpose flour, and knead until all of the flour has been absorbed, and the ball of dough becomes smooth, about 10 minutes. Place dough in an oiled bowl, and turn to coat the surface. Cover loosely with a towel, and let stand in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
3. When the dough is doubled, tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and divide into 2 pieces for 2 thin crust, or leave whole to make one thick crust. Form into a tight ball. Let rise for about 45 minutes, until doubled.
4. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Roll a ball of dough with a rolling pin until it will not stretch any further. Then, drape it over both of your fists, and gently pull the edges outward, while rotating the crust. When the circle has reached the desired size, place on a well oiled pizza pan. Top pizza with your favorite toppings, such as sauce, cheese, meats, or vegetables.
5. Bake for 16 to 20 minutes (depending on thickness) in the preheated oven, until the crust is crisp and golden at the edges, and cheese is melted on the top.

My tweaks:

• I used organic sugar instead of white sugar.  It didn't affect anything except for my hippy quotient
• I hand kneaded this baby.  It didn't take too long.. about 8 minutes and it was actually fun.

Pineapple Dumpcake

I'm not a huge fan of eating pineapple all by its lonesome and neither are my children.  I needed a quick dessert for 6 kids, 3 moms, and 1 uncle today so I made a pineapple dumpcake.  For some extra spunk I added my homemade peach jelly into the bottom layer.   I got this from another website but I accidentally lost it.  This is not my recipe.

Peach Pineapple Dump Cake Recipe

Ingredients

    * 1 (15 ounce) can sliced peaches in syrup
    * 1 (20 ounce) can crushed pineapple
    * 1 package white cake mix
    * 2 cups brown sugar
    * 1-2 cubes margarine, melted
    * Ice cream (any flavor)

Method

Preheat the oven to 350°F and lightly grease a 13 by 9 inch baking pan with butter or margarine. Pour the canned pineapple in an even layer in the baking pan. Over this, pour the canned peach syrup, forming another even layer. Then, sprinkle the white cake mix over the two layers of fruit, evenly and drizzle the melted butter or margarine over cake mix. Sprinkle some brown sugar over this and place the baking pan in the preheated oven. Bake for around an hour and serve with ice cream when it is done.
My changes:

• Instead of peaches in syrup I used homemade peach jam
• Instead of crushed pineapple I used 1 fresh pineapple cut into chunks
• I omitted the brown sugar, just because I forgot.  It was super sweet anyway so I don't think it really needed it.
• I used real butter - 1.5 sticks, melted

Minestrone Soup

I don't think I've ever made minestrone soup at home before.  I had just a few leftover green beans.. not enough to make a batch of roasted green beans with oil, salt & pepper (amazing might I add).  So I found this recipe and man it was good.  Easy, too.  I did not add celery and I chopped up the carrots into itty bitty pieces so that my almost preschooler couldn't detect them with his Carrot Radar.  I also used my homemade chicken stock.  Since this is a low fat recipe I had to mess with it... so I added a dollup of pesto sauce right on top of the soup.  Dynomite!

Ellie Krieger minestrone soup

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 large onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 1 large carrot, diced
• 1/3 pound green beans, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 28-ounce can no-salt-added diced tomatoes
• 1 14-ounce can crushed tomatoes
• 6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 15-ounce can low-sodium kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• cup elbow pasta
• 1/3 cup finely grated parmesan cheese
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

Directions

Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 30 seconds. Add the celery and carrot and cook until they begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Stir in the green beans, dried oregano and basil, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and pepper to taste; cook 3 more minutes.

Add the diced and crushed tomatoes and the chicken broth to the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer 10 minutes. Stir in the kidney beans and pasta and cook until the pasta and vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes. Season with salt. Ladle into bowls and top with the parmesan and chopped basil.

Per serving (2 cups): Calories 260; Fat 8 g (Saturated 2 g); Cholesterol 5 mg; Sodium 560 mg; Carbohydrate 37 g; Fiber 10 g; Protein 15 g

Jamaican Rice and Peas

I'm back!  Sorry for the hiatus in posting.

I love Caribbean food.  My new favorite obsession is The Cooking Channel.  It's what Food Network used to be, you know, cooking shows.  One episode the host made rice and peas, which is just the Caribbean way of saying rice and beans.  Instead of using water for the rice you use coconut milk.  The recipe actually tells you how to milk your own coconut (heh heh milk a coconut)... needless to say I did not follow those directions.  The addition of allspice and I threw in a little clove makes this so addictive.


http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/recipes/rice-and-peas-recipe/index.html

Ingredients

• 1 fresh coconut
• 3 1/3 cups warm water, plus more as needed
• 1 (14-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 onion, coarsely chopped
• 1 hot red chile, preferably Scotch Bonnet, whole and undamaged
• 1 green onion, bruised with a rolling pin

• 1 clove garlic, peeled
• 7 allspice berries
• 2 fresh thyme sprigs
• 2 tablespoons butter
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 16 ounces Basmati rice

Directions

First you will need to break into your coconut. Choose one of the 3 eyes that you are most likely to be able to puncture. Cook's Note: Youll see them at one end. Only one will work.

Try to penetrate the eye with a strong, sharp-tipped knife. If the hole doesnt give, try the others. Pour the coconut water out through its eye and set it aside in a small bowl. Smash the coconut open, and, using a small, sharp knife, lever the coconut flesh away from the shell. Cook's Note: Doing this outside against some concrete is a good idea.

Grate the coconut into a bowl. Pour 2 3/4 cups water over the shreds, and stir. Strain the coconut flesh from the water in fistfuls, and squeeze out all its juices over the bowl. Place the squeezed clumps of grated coconut into a sieve, transfer the coconut water to a saucepan and tip the squeezed coconut back into the bowl. Cover the coconut shreds with the remaining clean water and, once again, lift the coconut flesh up from the water in fistfuls and squeeze out all its juices. Transfer the prepared coconut water to the saucepan, and discard the squeezed-out flesh.

If desired, incorporate the fresh coconut water to the saucepan at this stage. Then, add the black beans, onion, chile, green onion, garlic, allspice berries, thyme, butter, and adjust their seasonings with salt, and black pepper. Bring everything to a boil, cover, and then turn down the heat to medium, and simmer for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, rinse the rice under cold running water until the water runs clear. Drain the rice, and then add the rice to the saucepan with the reserved prepared coconut water or base in the saucepan. You may need to add some additional water to bring the liquid about 1-inch above the level of the rice. Season the cooking liquid with salt, and black pepper, bring it to a boil, and then cover the rice immediately. Turn the heat down to its lowest level, and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Cook's Note: Don't stir it and don't peek inside!

Once the rice is tender, fish out the chile, green onion, and thyme sprigs, fluff the rice with a fork, and serve immediately.