Cold Rice Noodles with Peanut-Lime Chicken

This past Friday I made "Cold Rice Noodles with Peanut-Lime Chicken", a recipe from the blog Smitten Kitchen that I found via Pinterest. This was my first experience cooking with rice noodles.  It's so easy! The recipe itself isn't very hard either, and all of it can be done ahead of time and refrigerated.  The leftovers the next day were just as good, if not better since everything was cold (chicken was still hot when we ate it on Friday night).  I used chicken breasts versus thighs, because that is what I had on hand.  I grilled the chicken on the outdoor grill, and served the dish with oven baked spring rolls.  Great dish for a hot summer day!

Recipe below, copied from Smitten Kitchen, which was adapted from a recipe from David Tanis, via The New York Times

Serves 4 generously, 6 moderately
Dipping sauce
6 tablespoons Asian fish sauce
6 tablespoons brown sugar
12 tablespoons lime juice
2 garlic cloves, finely grated or minced
Small Thai or Serrano chiles, thinly sliced, to taste
Peanut dressing
3 tablespoons Asian fish sauce
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
9 tablespoons lime juice
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 one-and-a-half inch chunk ginger, peeled and sliced
6 tablespoons natural unsalted peanut butter
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
Pinch of cayenne
Chicken and noodle salad
1 1/4 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs (about 6)  - I used chicken breasts
8 ounces dried rice vermicelli or other rice noodles 
2 small cucumbers, cut in 1/4-inch half moons
2 medium carrots, cut in thin julienne
Additional vegetables, as suggested above
Small handful basil or mint or cilantro sprigs, or your favorite of the three (torn or roughly chopped)
4 or more scallions, slivered
1/4 cup crushed or chopped roasted peanuts
Lime wedges (to serve)


Make the dipping sauce: Whisk ingredients in a small serving bowl, making sure to dissolve the sugar. Leave to ripen for 15 minutes. Refrigerate any extra and use within a few days.


Make the peanut dressing: In a blender or small food processor, puree all ingredients to a smooth sauce, about the thickness of heavy cream. Pour into a serving bowl.


Marinate the chicken: Stir together 1/2 the dipping sauce and 1/3 the peanut dressing (you can eyeball this) in the bottom of a low-sided bowl or dish. Add the chicken to the mixture and toss to coat. Let marinate at least 15 minutes.


Cook the noodles: Bring a large pot of water to the boil, then turn off the heat. Add the rice vermicelli and soak for 7 to 8 minutes. (Package directions may vary; check for doneness by tasting.) Drain when noodles are al dente, and cool under running water. Fluff and leave in strainer to drain well.


Cook the chicken: Grill the chicken on an outdoor grill, a stove-top grill pan, or run under the broiler until nicely browned, about 3 to 4 minutes a side. Let cool slightly, then chop roughly into 3/4-inch pieces.


To serve: At this point, you can place everything on a large serving platter, with piles or small bowls for noodles, vegetables, chicken, the dressing and marinade and toppings (peanuts, herbs) and let your family and friends put it together in their own bowls as they wish. Or, you can assemble it for everyone as suggested:
Toss vegetables with 1 tablespoon dipping sauce in a small bowl. Divide the cooked noodles among 4 to 6 bowls. Top each bowl equally with vegetable mixture and chopped chicken. Toss each bowl with 2 teaspoons of each the dipping sauce and dressing, or more to taste (we wanted more). Add the herbs, peanuts and scallions to each bowl and serve with additional dressing and dipping sauce on the side.

Sauteed Salmon with Leeks from Bouchon Cookbook by Thomas Keller

I received Thomas Keller's Bouchon cookbook as a gift (what a great gift!), and this is the first recipe we've made from it.  Tonight my husband and I made this dish, and with it our first beurre blanc sauce.  Oh the sauce! And the leeks! I've had leeks before but they were not as memorable as these.  Below is our progression of cooking one of the most refined dishes we've ever made. Oh, and I highly recommend putting Bouchon cookbook on your wish list! Must have cookbook for sure. Looking forward to making more of the recipes.

Boiling the leeks

Start of the beurre blanc sauce, simmering shallots, bay leaf, thyme, parsley, peppercorns in white wine vinegar and  white wine

salmon

Incorporating butter to sauce, cream has already been added

Seasoned salmon, skin side

Sauteing salmon

Finished beurre blanc with fresh herbs added

Plating

Finished salmon with crispy skin but rare on top

Crispy skin

Ready to eat!

All done, close up

Chophouse at the Vintage Year - March 16, 2012

Last night we went to The Chophouse at the Vintage Year in Montgomery, AL for dinner with family for a birthday celebration.  We were very impressed, this was our second visit since the restaurant changed to The Chophouse (from The Vintage Year) a couple years ago.  We all ordered appetizers, which included:  Tuna spring roll with a wasabi and kalbi sauce, Fried Oysters with Caper Aioli, Poached Farm Egg, and Tobiko, Lobster cake with a remoulade sauce, and a take on fried chicken a waffles using a fried quail breast and a rice and pecan waffle.  We all had a taste of each (except I skipped the oyster), and all were delicious! Next time I will probably order the Lobster cake, although the quail and waffle dish was fun to eat!


For our entrees we ordered: Bone-in Ribeye, Pittsburgh style with a side of white-truffle cheddar mac and cheese and garlic mashed potatoes, two of us ordered the seared sea scallops on a bed of risotto (excellent!!), with sides of the mac and cheese, sweet potato bacon hash, and asparagus with balsamic and Hollandaise sauce. The last entree was the fish of the day, Grouper, Parmesan crusted on a bed of orecchiette pasta with nicoise olives and artichoke hearts. Everyone enjoyed their entrees and would order again. My favorites were the sea scallops, they were very large, cooked perfectly, and melt in your mouth tender.  The Parmesan crusted Grouper fillet was a large portion, again cooked to perfection!  


We all had dessert, trying the New Orleans style white chocolate bread pudding, the vanilla creme brulee with an almond tuile and raspberries, and the chocolate roulade with Grand Marnier and whipped cream.  Glad we saved room for dessert! 


All in all we had a meal close to perfection on all counts.  We will definitely return, especially if restaurant.com continues to offer great deals on gift certificates! Thank you Chophouse for a wonderful evening of delicious and elegant fine dining. 


website: www.chophousevy.com

Squid ink pasta - March 2012

We recently bought dried squid ink pasta at EarthFare. Made it tonight with sauteed shallots, garlic, onions, and mushrooms with a butter-olive oil sauce, fresh thyme and parsley. Served with roasted asparagus and Sister Schubert rolls.

Thomas Keller's Buttermilk Fried Chicken - February 2012

We recently received Thomas Keller's cookbook Ad Hoc at Home as a gift.  Having been to his Bouchon restaurant in Yountville, CA, we were eager to try his recipes.  The cookbook has excellent explanations for even the beginner cook.  We decided to try the fried chicken, which is apparently a hot ticket item at Ad Hoc, starting with butchering whole chickens. Thanks to YouTube I felt like I did a decent job, especially by the second one! We had fun doing everything from scratch. Next time we won't brine the chicken quite so long, the chicken was just a tad on the salty side.  The crust was excellent and want to make again just to eat the crust!

Two chickens butchered into 10 pieces each

Making the brine

Chicken is in the brine, ready to refrigerate

Breading station

Double batter station

Frying station

Frying the first batch - the thighs

Zac at work on the first batch

Fried Chicken is ready! Garnish of quick
fried thyme and rosemary

Dinner Tonight - Beer-Braised Chicken

Tonight attempted my first braise of chicken, and second braise ever. Recipe called for chicken thighs, but I had chicken quarters (bought on sale!), so I used both the legs and thighs.  I used Rachael's Ray's recipe for the ingredients, but used Stella Culinary recipe for the method.  Rachael Ray's didn't cook in the oven or reduce the sauce until it was thick. Enjoyed making this, nice to be able to clean up the kitchen and rest while the chicken is in the oven. Will definitely make again; the sauce was very flavorful and rich and the chicken moist and skins crispy (well at least before I drenched with sauce! Won't do that next time).

Rachael Ray's recipe:

Ingredients

• 8 pieces bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 link andouille sausage, casing removed and chopped, or 4 slices bacon, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 ribs celery, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 2 to 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
• 1 rounded tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 (12-ounce) bottle lager beer
• 1 (14-ounce) can diced tomatoes with chiles or stewed tomatoes
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 2 tablespoons hot sauce
• Scallions, white and green parts, thinly sliced, for garnish
• Warm baguette, for mopping

Directions

Pat the chicken thighs dry, and season with salt and pepper.

Heat 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat, add the chicken and brown on both sides in 2 batches.  (Here I referred to Stella recipe for how long to brown, etc).

Remove the chicken to a plate and spoon out 1/2 the drippings, and add the andouille sausage. Brown for 2 minutes and then add the onion, celery, pepper, garlic, and thyme, and cook to soften, for about 10 minutes over medium heat.

Add the flour, stir 1 to 2 minutes, and then pour in the beer and let the foam subside. Stir in the tomatoes, stock, and hot sauce. Let the sauce thicken a bit, and then slide the chicken into the pot and simmer to cook through. (Here is where I jumped to other recipe completely. I only added chicken back to simmer, put in oven, and continued with Stella's recipe). 

Stella Culinary blog recipe:

How To Braise Chicken Thighs


Start by searing the chicken over medium-high heat, skin side down in a heavy bottom sauté pan, and then flip it over when the skin becomes a beautiful golden brown. The crispy skin is 80% of my motivation to eat chicken in the first place and is the secret to any great chicken dish.


Once the chicken skin is nice and crispy, remove it from the pan and set aside.

(skip to Rachael's recipe for cooking vegetables, etc, up to point where chicken is added back to sauce)

After the above ingredients have gotten good and acquainted, add in enough chicken stock to cover the thighs by 3/4s, leaving only the skin exposed.


Like I said before, there is nothing better than good, crispy, chicken skin, and soaking them in braising liquid for an hour ruins all the hard work that it took to get them to that beautiful state in the first place. Notice in the picture below, the chicken thighs are carefully nestled in the pan so that the whole thigh is covered except for the skin. This is the secret to perfectly braised chicken thighs!


Once you have all the chicken thighs submerged in the braising liquid, bring it to a simmer on your stove top and then place into a 400 degree oven for about 45 minutes to an hour depending on the size of the thighs.


When the thighs have braised for about an hour, pull them out of the oven and remove the chicken thighs from the pan, setting them aside on a clean plate for later.


Place the sauté pan back on your stove top and turn your burner to medium-high heat and allow the braising liquid to reduce by about 3/4s or until it becomes thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

Now it's time to eat!

Dinner Tonight - Beer and Cheddar Soup

Recipe courtesy Food and Wine magazine, posted below. The recipe has alot of steps but is well worth it! This is seriously my new favorite soup. Made recipe exactly as directed with no substitutions. Added some home-made croutons on top, thanks to Zac. Used the leftover challah bread from breakfast casserole I made for Christmas Eve with Zac's family.

Zac did all the prep. Very nice chopping and dicing job! Garlic, onion, celery, jalepeno (seeded), and thyme.

I cooked the bacon, removed from the pan along with some of the fat. Next we sauteed the vegetables, garlic, and thyme in remaining bacon fat.

Lots of cheese! 

Other ingredients: cooked bacon, chicken stock, heavy cream, and lager

Added half of lager and stock to pot to reduce

Zac making the roux, almost ready to add to the soup

Cheese, bacon, cream, and remaining lager have been added. It's almost ready!

Finished product.  Added croutons and enjoyed!

Recipe:

Beer-and-Cheddar Soup

Contributed by Jonathon Erdeljac

• ACTIVE:

• TOTAL TIME: 45 MIN

• SERVINGS: 6

Ingredients

1. 2 large garlic cloves, minced
2. 1 celery rib, finely chopped
3. 1 small onion, finely chopped
4. 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
5. Salt and freshly ground pepper
6. Garlic-rubbed toasts, for serving
7. 1 cup heavy cream
8. 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
9. 1 tablespoon chopped thyme
10. 1 large jalapeño, seeded and chopped
11. One 12-ounce bottle lager or pilsner
12. 1/2 pound piece of slab bacon, sliced 1/3 inch thick and cut into 1/3-inch dice
13. About 2 1/4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
14. 1/2 pound sharp yellow cheddar cheese, coarsely shredded
15. 4 ounces smoked cheddar cheese, coarsely shredded

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large saucepan, cook the bacon over moderate heat until the fat is rendered and the bacon is crisp, 7 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to a bowl. Add the celery, onion, jalapeño, garlic and thyme to the saucepan and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until softened, 8 minutes. Add half of the beer and cook until reduced by half, 5 minutes. Add 2 1/4 cups of chicken broth and bring to a simmer.
2. In a small skillet, melt the butter. Add the flour and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Whisk this roux into the soup until incorporated and bring to a simmer. Cook until thickened, about 8 minutes. Add the heavy cream, cheddar cheeses and the remaining beer and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thick and creamy, about 5 minutes. Stir in the bacon and season with salt and pepper. Add a few tablespoons of broth if the soup is too thick. Serve the soup with garlic toasts.

MAKE AHEAD

The cheddar soup can be refrigerated overnight. Rewarm gently and thin with additional broth.

Souffle!

June 21, 2011 - First attempt at a Ham and Cheese souffle.  Used Hubert Keller's recipe (below), and watch his show before hand to make sure we had all the steps just right.  It turned out perfectly! Well, next time I won't fill up the souffle dish quite as much.

perfect prep is essential! This is after step 7, right before 

the egg whites are folded into the batter.

Use the oven light to keep watch, don't open the oven door!

Almost done!

Ready to serve

Ham and Cheese Souffle
Serves 6
Makes 1, 2‐quart Souffle

For Souffle Dish:
1 tablespoon softened butter
¼ cup flour

For Souffle:
6 tablespoons butter
¾ cup flour
2 ¼ cup whole milk, chilled
5 egg yolks
½ pound Gruyere cheese, grated
½ cup ham, diced small
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
10 egg whites

Directions:
1. Generously butter and flour a 2‐quart soufflé dish. Remove any excess flour.
2. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
3. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Whisk in the flour
and stir for approximately five minutes to make a roux. Add the milk slowly
and whisk until the mixture is very smooth. Continue whisking over
medium‐high heat and cook until the mixture comes to a boil. Continue
cooking for 4‐5 minutes until the mixture gets very thick.
4. Remove from the heat and whisk in the egg yolks one at a time until fully
incorporated.
5. Using a wooden spoon, mix in cheese until melted. Add chopped ham, and
season with salt and pepper.
6. Transfer the mixture to a medium mixing bowl.
7. In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites with an electric mixer on mediumhigh
speed to soft peaks.
8. Using a rubber spatula, transfer ¼ of the egg whites into the soufflé mixture
and stir until fully combined.
9. Add half of the remaining egg whites and fold gently together until mixture is
smooth. Add the remaining egg whites and fold in gently, being careful to
keep the airiness and lightness of the mixture.
10. Spoon the mixture into prepared soufflé dish, and bake 40 minutes or until
soufflé raises and is golden brown. Serve immediately.

40 Cloves and a Chicken

June 11, 2011

Earthfare in Montgomery opened recently, and gave out a "free meal" coupon that included a whole raw chicken, organic carrots, and pre-made mashed potatoes.  We made Alton Brown's 40 Cloves and a Chicken with our free chicken.  It was delicious! Super simple, will definitely make again.  Recipe below. 

Recipe:

Ingredients

• 4 lbs whole chickens, cut into 8 pieces
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 10 sprigs fresh thyme
• 40 garlic cloves, peeled
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Toss with 2 tablespoons olive oil and brown on both sides in a wide fry pan or skillet over high heat.
2. Remove from heat, add oil, thyme, and garlic cloves. Cover and bake for 1 1/2 hours.
3. Remove chicken from the oven, let rest for 5 to 10 minutes.