Tuesday, July 18, 2006

lots of chicken this week - per usual

so far this week dinner has consisted of the chicken part of Cinnamon-Roasted Chicken with Harissa Sauce and i shall soon be having lemongrass chicken with sticky rice (the chicken is cooked the rice is cooking - it shall be done with in four min. these two recipies might just be my favorite recipies of all time with the latter being the one i like the most and the one i suck at cooking (and thus my mom cooks it). i also made garlic knots where oh so tasty...soo tasty.

lemongrass chicken and sticky ricegarlic knots

garlic knot recipie:
2 tablespoons olive oil plus additional for greasing pan
2 lb frozen pizza dough, thawed
1 garlic clove
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 oz Parmigiano-Reggiano, finely grated (1/2 cup)

Put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 400°F. Lightly oil 2 large (17- by 13-inch) baking sheets.

Divide dough in half. Keep half of dough covered with a clean kitchen towel (not terry cloth). Gently roll out other half into a 10-inch square on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin. (Use your hands to pull corners. If dough is very elastic, cover with a clean kitchen towel and let rest about 3 minutes.)

Cut square in half with a pizza wheel or a sharp heavy knife, then cut each half crosswise into 15 strips (about 2/3 inch wide). Cover strips with a clean kitchen towel.

Keeping remaining strips covered, gently tie each strip into a knot, pulling ends slightly to secure (if dough is sticky, dust lightly with flour) and arranging knots 1 inch apart in staggered rows on 1 baking sheet. Keep knots covered with clean kitchen towels.

Roll out and cut remaining dough, then form into knots, arranging 1 inch apart in staggered rows on second baking sheet. Bake, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until golden, 20 to 25 minutes total.

While knots bake, mince garlic and mash to a paste with salt, then stir together with oil in a very large bowl. Immediately after baking, toss knots in garlic oil, then sprinkle with parsley and cheese and toss to coat. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Cooks' Note: Knots can be baked, but not coated, 2 hours ahead. Reheat knots on a large baking sheet in a preheated 350°F oven until hot, 3 to 5 minutes, then toss with garlic oil and sprinkle with parsley and cheese.

Makes about 5 dozen knots.
Gourmet
July 2006
Lillian Chou

I cut it in half because really, i am not going to eat 5 dozen garlic knots - they also ended up yelding far less than projected. Also, I don't know why they say to put them in a 400 degree oven for 20 min, but i put them in for maybe 15 and some of the bottoms were a little burnt so look after them.


Lemongrass chicken -
2 tablespoons peanut oil
1 1/2 pounds skinless boneless chicken breast halves, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-wide strips
1 medium onion, sliced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/3 cup minced lemongrass*
3 tablespoons Thai fish sauce (nam pla)*
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 cup chicken stock or canned low-salt chicken broth
2 tablespoons spicy oyster sauce*

Heat oil in heavy large skillet over high heat. Add chicken, onion and garlic; stir-fry until chicken is partially cooked, about 4 minutes. Add lemongrass and next 4 ingredients; stir 2 minutes. Add beans, stock and oyster sauce; reduce heat and simmer until sauce thickens and chicken is cooked through, about 4 minutes longer. Season with salt and pepper.

*Available at Asian markets and in some supermarkets.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Bon Appétit
September 2000
Le Colonial, West Hollywood, CA

i haven't changed a thing in this one - they say to serve them with green beans but um...i don't like green beans and thus i shall not be eating chicken with them.

Saturday, July 15, 2006

smoothie?

so far my new fav. moothie concotion consists of cherry (bing i think) sorbet (that i made), juice from one lime, frozen mango (never fresh - bad results will insue), and...mint leaves! mint you ask - well i saw some in the fridge while i was getting the like and figured what the hell and it turned out to be an amazing addition. its pretty and purple and i'm about to make one now.

Friday, May 26, 2006

A day of cooking

If this blog were to have existed before yesterday this would have been up earlier this week but, alas, that isn't the case.

On wendsday the 24th I imbarked on some sort of cooking mania complete with pictures. First came the shells for would would be ice cream puffs. The sheer fact that I am able to even think about making these with out much worry about moisture absorption reminds me that I am no longer in NY but in my oh so wonderful, but quirky home of Portland Oregon

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I thank whomever made silpats (though the picture above is of the dough on a silpat alternative) from the bottom of my heart because the dough is rediculiously sticky (you could use it as an adhesive if you really wanted to because of all of the eggs in it) I couldn't imagen trying to get them off of a non lined baking sheet, though you could use parchment but that would be more wasteful.

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Clearly I should have smoothed out the sides and top more because I didn't have a pastery bag or tips though I was highly amused by the little devil like horn sticking out of the puff on the left. The puff on the right is one that I smoothed out a little.

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The finished product stuffed with peppermint icecream that I made ealier that week. All and all, a very tasty desert.


Promptly after finishing the cream puffs and cleaning up I started making the focaccia.

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A few years back I use to not be too good with yeast, I could never figure out how hot the water needed to be but clearly I've gotten better. Above is what you get when you mix 1 tsp of yeast desolved in half a cup of warm water and 3/4 cup of flour...granted it rose for 40 min. I have a feeling that I let it rise too long - that shall be fixed next time I make focaccia.

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After rising twice for a total of 2 hours and 10, being minipulated into a pan (I would have used a baking sheet but my baking sheet that has sides is in storage at SLC), poked and prodded with my fingers, sprinkled with fresh rosemary from the garden and salt as well as being drizzeled with olive oil this is what we get - a pretty pale dough ready to go in the oven (as well as a very run-on sentence).

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And the end product - could have been more moist but i really have a feeling that the sheer bulk of the sponge had something to do with that.

Thursday, May 25, 2006

First post

so this is the custimary first post on this blog. i decided to start a cooking blog because, as most of my friends know, i cook...all the time. it was my first love and i hopefully will always enjoy it.

a bit abt me (in the form of bullets)
-i'm 19 and go to sarah lawrence college in bronxville, NY but am currently in Portland, OR
-i've been playing flute for about 9 years
-when i have an abundence of free time (read when i was in high school) i do a lot of community organizing and activism
-the firs thing i cooked on my own was an omelette te (i think i was around 7 or 8)
-i'm really, really bad at spelling (but only in english, when i studied german i was pretty good at spelling and i'm currently studying spanish and haven't had any problems spelling wise)